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HISTORIC INDIANA

BEING CHAPTERS IN THE STORY OF THE
HOOSIER STATE FROM THE ROMANTIC
PERIOD OF FOREIGN EXPLORATION AND
DOMINION THROUGH PIONEER DAYS, STIR-
RING WAR TIMES, AND PERIODS OF PEACE-
FUL PROGRESS, TO THE PRESENT TIME

JULIA HENDERSON LEVERING

CENTENNIAL EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED

ILLUSTRATED

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
^be f?nicI?erbocker press
1916

JULIA HENDERSON LEVERING
Copyright, 1916

JULIA HENDERSON LEVERING

Vbe Ytnicberbocber prcee, new CorK

to the memory of

My Father and Mother

whose noble lives and characters
were a part of the influence of
the past recalled in this volume

|4 hOb^'^

"Whatever the worth of the present work may be, I have striven
throughout that it should never be a 'drum and trumpet history.*
If some of the conventional figures of military and political history
occupy in my pages less than the space usually given them, it is
because I have had to find a place for figures little heeded in com-
mon history — the figures of the missionary, the poet, the painter,
the merchant, and the philosopher."

. . « Green's Slwrt History of the English People.

) i

PREFACE

THE history of Indiana is rich in minor incidents
of real interest and of importance; but not in
events exclusively its own. The State had its
share of the romantic and chivalrous adventures per-
taining to the dawn of Western history, its share in
the encounter with a savage race, in the self-sacrifice of
pioneer days, and the heroic patriotism of the war
periods. Following this, it had its decades of social and
material development, common to the Middle West.
It is a goodly land, most advantageously located, and
always ready for its part in the national responsibilities.

The history of Indiana's past is the story of her
fast vanishing frontier life and the gradual changes
which come in meeting modem conditions. The
differences in social life broaden so rapidly in this
country, that later generations take a keen pleasure
in pages that preser^'e the scenes and experiences of
those earlier days.

Unless it is ^often retold, the memory of heroic en-
deavors grows dim. Through history and literature
the past accomplishments of a people are peipetuated,
and their example has a manifold influence. From
the pages of story and verse, the virtues and deeds,
the energy and leadership of the best citizens are
recalled to the remembrance of another generation.

The intention of -this book is to include in a single
volume an account of various phases of the develop-
ment of the Commonwealth, whose history must be
learned from many sources, not always accessible.
Many who have not time for research, and others

vi Preface

who have no taste for reading history, may take an
interest in the romance of foreign dominion on the
Wabash, and in a plain tale of the early settlers. Some
may have aroused within them a just pride in their
State, in reading of Indiana's valiant part in war,
the development of her vast natural resources, and the
advanced position which she has taken among the
states in provisions for universal education, and
the enactment of beneficent laws.

The author's lifelong familiarity with the scenes,
the characters, the movements, and the events men-
tioned, insures to the reader a sympathetic treatment
of the subject. Fireside recitals by aged pioneers,
addresses at old settlers' meetings, local historical
society papers, reminiscences of early citizens, State
records, scholarly monographs and histories have
all gone to the making of these pages.

An attempt has been made to accredit, either in
the text or in the appended bibliography, the state-
ments and facts, freely gleaned, from every known
authority. Acknowledgment and thanks are grate-
fully rendered to them, and to old settlers for their
reminiscences.

The centennial year of the State's history calls for a
new and revised edition of this book. Its friendly
reception indicates a general interest in the events
recorded in its pages. Being a narrative of things
accomplished by her own people rather than a political
history, it has found its way into the schoolrooms and
by the firesides, where it is pleased to remain; honored
by the recognition and giving hail and farewell to the
century past and the years to come.

J. H. L.

Lafayette, Indiana, 1916.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. — La Salle and the Exploration

II. — French Dominion ....
III. — British Occupation
IV.— How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana

V. — American Conquest
VI. — The Pioneers ....

VII. — Indiana Territory — 1763-1816
VIII.— The New State — 1816
IX. — Early Churches in Indiana

X. — Crimes of the Border
XI. — The Trail — from Birch-Bark

Electric Trolley
XII. — The Social Experiments at

MONY

XIII. — In the Forties and Fifties

XIV.— Indiana as Affected by the

XV. — Picturesque Indiana

XVI. — An Indiana Type

XVII. — Letters and Art in Indiana

XVIII.— Education in Indiana

vii

Canoe tc
New Har

Civil Wa

PAGE

44
60

106

139
167

184
200

242
R 295

359
421

viii Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XIX. — The Quality of the People

XX. — Agriculture in Indiana .

XXI. — Natural Resources

XXII. — The State Civilization in Indiana as
Shown by her Laws

Bibliography .....

Additional Bibliography

Index ......

465
477
498

512

551

555
557

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Scenery along the Tippecanoe . . Frontispiece

From a photograph.

Robert Cavelier de la Salle .... 4
From an engraving of the original painting.

"The Missionaries Came from Afar" . , .18

Redrawn from an old print.

"Facsimile of Governor's Patrick Henry's Private
Letter to Colonel Clark . . -46

Two letters of instructions were given to Col. George Rogers
Clark. This is the letter directing the capture of the
outposts.

\ Typical Pioneer Scene . . . . .62

Redrawn by Marie Goth from an old print.

The Spinning-Wheel Was the Stringed Instru-
ment of the Household . . . . .64

The Heroism of the Pioneer Women . . ,68

From an old print.

A Map of Indiana in 181 7 . . . . .80

From an old print.

A View of the Ohio River from Hanover
College ....... 92

The Ohio was the front door into Indiana.
From a photograph.

The Site of Tippecanoe Battle Ground at the
Present Time . . . . . . .120

Illustrations

Prophet's Rock ....... 122

The Prophet stood on the high ground and chanted
war songs in a loud voice and assured his followers
of victory.

William Henry Harrison ..... 130
From an engraving after the painting by Chappel.

The Old State House at Corvdon, Indiana . . 136

From a photograph by Mowrer.

"Constitutional Elm" at Corydon, Indiana. . 140

This elm is still standing.
From a photograph by Mowrer.

An Old Indiana Bridge ..... 196

These picturesque old bridges are fast giving place to

modern iron structures.
From a photograph.

The Indian Persisted in Believing that the
Threatening Creature Was an Offense to the
Gentle River ....... 208

From an old print.

'Journeying to their New Homes you Passed
People Seated in the Great Canvas-topped
CoNESTOGA Wagons" ...... 218

From an old print.

"Often from Morning until Night there was a
Continual Rumble of Wheels, and when the
Rush was Greatest there never was a Minute
that Wagons were not in Sight" . . . 220

From an old print.

"We Could Hear the Driver Winding his Horn
and it all Seemed too Fine and Grand" . . 222

From an old print.

Illustrations xi

PAGE

The Old Canal and the Deserted Towpath . . 228

The Passengers Sat on Deck Arrayed in Holiday
Attire ........ 230

From an old print.

Old Mahogany Furniture Brought to the
Wabash by River and Canal .... 276

From a photograph.

The Dress of the Forties ..... 278

From a photograph of the period.

An Advertisement of the Underground Rail-
way 286

(From The Western Citizen, published July, 1844.)

One of the Old Colonial Homes Long Since
Passed into other Uses . . . . . 292

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument . . . 322

A View on one of the Beautiful River Roads of
Indiana ........ 328

The Entrance to Donnehue's Cave in Lawrence
County, Southern Indiana . . . . 330

From a photograph.

The Clifty Falls, near Madison, Indiana . . 332

One of the Gorges of Montgomery County . 334

. An Old Mill ....... 336

One comes upon these old mills unexpectedly at a turn
of the road, set amidst the most charming scenery.
From a photograph.

Albert Henderson ...... 340

xii Illustrations

A Miami Indian

Sketched from life by William Winter on the Miami
Reservation.

PAGE

The Early Poets all Sang of the Beauties of
Forests and Streams ..... 3^1

Benjamin Harrison ...... 403

From a photograph by Clark, Indianapolis.

John L. Griffiths ...... 405

The Daughter of Chief Massaw .... 409

From a sketch from life by William Winter on the Miami
Reservation.

413

Young's Chapel, Consolidated School, Union
Township, Montgomery County, Indiana . . 424

Hacks ready to start home.

A Scene near Hanover College .... 436
From a photograph.

Consolidated School in Union Township . . 43^

From a photograph.

From the Stately Entrance You Look out over
the Beautiful Campus of "St. Mary's of the
Woods" 440

Student Building, Indiana University, Bloom-
ington, Indiana ...... 444

From a photograph.

Industrial Training in the Public Schools . . 449

From a photograph by Miner, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Cabinet Work Done in the Public Schools of
Bluffton ........ 455

Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University 461

Illustrations xiii

PAGE

The Entrance to School Garden, Delphi,
Indiana 479

Children Crating their Tomato Crop in the
School Garden at Delphi, Indiana . . . 482

Prize Crop Raised by a Member of the Boys'
Corn Club in Laporte County, Indiana . . 486

The Entrance to Purdue University . . . 490

The Picturesque Sand Dunes Cast up by the
Great Lakes ....... 504

Lower Falls Cataract, Styner's Falls . . 510

Such falls as Styner's Cataract await their develop-
ment as generators of electric power.

The State Capitol, Indianapolis .... 519
From a photograph by W. H. Bass Photo Co.

The Indiana Reform School for Boys . . . 530
From a photograph by Deweese, Plainfield, Ind.

ON THE BANKS OF THE WABASH, FAR AWAy

* Round my Indiana home-stead wave

the corn-fields.
In the dlB-tance loom the wood-lands

clear and cool; ^

Of ten-times my thoughts re-vert to

scenes of child-hood.
Where I first re-celved my les-sons-—

Na-ture's school,

But on6 thing there is raiss-ing in

the pic-ture,
With-out her face it seems so in-

oom-plete:
I long to see my mother in the

do or- way
As she stood there years a-go, her

boy to greets

CHORUS

Oh the moon-light's fair to-night
a-long the Wa-bash,

From the fields there comes the
breath of new-mown hay;

Thro* the sycamores the candle lights
are gGl^am-ing,

On the banks of the Wa-bash far a-way.

HISTORIC INDIANA

CHAPTER I

LA SALLE AND THE EXPLORATION

FLOWING through the most fertile part of the
land which stretched from the Alleghanies to
the Mississippi, was the beautiful river known
to the Indians as the Ouabache. It was through the
wilderness bordering on that stream that the ex-
plorers came who first revealed to Europeans the
country south of the Great Lakes.

We are familiar with this domain as a busy section
of an established coimtry. We know it as a group of
great States, dotted with thriving towns and crossed
by thousands of railways; whose trains flash past
cultivated farms, and caiTy their products to the cities
which have grown up within the territory. But this
is only recent history.

Three centuries ago the region north of the Ohio,
then covered with a dense wilderness, was a land of
adventure, of tragedy, and of romance. Here the
red man, tracking through his endless forests, en-
countered a new race, that was to deprive him of his
hunting-grounds. Other events contributed to the

2 Historic Indiana

stirring elements of the drama. Searcely had the
canoes of the white race crossed the Lakes, and drifted
down the rivers, of what is now known as Indiana,
before the history of the Northwest was but the echo
of the strife between the Powers of the Old World,
and the ominous contest between their colonists
with the aborigines. It requires a little imagination
to realize that kings and monarchs exercised do-
minion over Indiana. Nevertheless, from the time
that the gallant La Salle opened the way, until the
beginning of the nineteenth century, all of the
territory of which it is a part was an interna-
tional shuttlecock. The whole Mississippi Valley
was claimed, ceded, and re-ceded by the nations of
Europe, as well as by the native chiefs and the
American government.

^ During all of this time, the tragic part of its history
was the ever-present menace of the savage tribes,
who were being despoiled of their heritage. Such con-
ditions can hardly be called prosaic, and when the
true story of explorer, friar, fur-trader, and pioneer
are added, it would be a tale hard to match.

It was more than a hundred and seventy-five years
after Columbus discovered America, before any Euro-
pean explored the country south of the Lakes, and
revealed those magnificent regions to the world.
The beginning was the first journey of La Salle. For
fifty years the English settlers had been peopling
the Atlantic Coast, while Canada had been the ob-
jective point of the adventurous French. Following
the accessible water-routes, their explorers had reached
out along the region north of the Lakes, as far as Lake
Superior; and their fur trading-posts and mission-
houses had been established at the strategic points.

La Salle and the Exploration 3

South of Detroit and the Lakes, the vast territory of
fertile soil and more temperate climate lay unexplored.
This was from fear of the fierce Iroquois tribes, who
intimidated the most courageous traders.

In the year 1669, a new name w^as enrolled among
the intrepid spirits who were willing to dare further
dangers of the wilderness for fame and fortune; and
the heroic figure of Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle,
appears. This brave young man had come out from
France three years before, and after studying the
explorations already made by others, and addressing
himself to the acquisition of seven or eight Indian
languages, he considered himself prepared to under-
take the realization of his dreams of exploration.
Selling all he possessed to defray the cost of the ex-
pedition, he threw his whole energies into preparation
for the daring venture. His plan was to explore thp
far country where the "Great River" was said to
be, and claim the territory for France. With a little
band of fourteen followers, in four frail canoes, he
started on the journey from ]\Iontreal. The hints
grudgingly imparted by the natives, as to the Great
River which flowed into the sea, as to fabulous mines
in the southwest, and as to a passage to China, he
followed eagerly. Except the information regarding
the river, the tales were but will-o'-the-wisps.

The "Mississippi" was a name repeated about
Canadian camp-fires and in the manors of French
chevaliers long before any bold voyageur had travelled
far enough from his fellows to reach its banks. Four
years after La Salle's initial journey toward the west,
Joliet and Marquette, going by Lake Michigan and
the Illinois River, reached the "Father of Waters";
and published their achievement of that fact to the

4 Historic Indiana

world, but it is claimed that this first voyage of La
Salle was probably by another route. The eminent
historian Parkman tells us that, by the loss of old
records, which have disappeared since 1756, we are
deprived of the account of La Salle's movements dur-
ing the two years following his departure from Canada,
on this first mission of adventure. The memorandum
that is preserved says that, after leaving Lake Erie,
six or seven leagues distant, he finally came to a
stream which proved to be a branch of the river
we call the Ohio; and that descending it for a long
distance he joined that river. Some have maintained
that he went beyond the confluence of the Ohio with
the Mississippi. As the source of the Wabash is near
the west end of Lake Erie, a voyage down that river
would naturally lead to the discovery of the Ohio.
Doubtless, then, the Wabash country was approached
from Lake Erie and the Maumee River, as this route
was followed in later journeyings of the French. After
crossing the broad Lakes in their slight boats, and
paddling up the Maumee to its source, they probably
made a short portage of their canoes and camp lug-
gage to the head-waters of the Ouabache, only a few
miles overland, and launched their boats for the first
voyage through Indiana.

No incident could appeal more to the imagination
than this advent of those birch-bark canoes, filled with
the denizens of countries overseas, paddling down
the newly discovered stream whose rippling waters
had flowed for centuries through the vast forest, all
undreamed of by white men. The shores they passed
were lined with enormous forest trees, festooned
with vines and filled with singing birds. Fish abounded
in the placid stream, and wild game came unafraid

Robert Cavelier de la Salle.

From an engraving of the original painting.

La Salle and the Exploration 5

to the water's brink. Leagues on leagues and miles
on miles of unknown lands, sparsely inhabited by
savage peoples, stretched away from the narrow
river which carried the slight canoes with their hand-
ful of men. It is a picture to remain in the mind,
this first coming of the old world into the new west.
Such slight records of those earlier journeys have
been preserved that we must await further research
for verification, and for details of the happenings.
We know that on later voyages, in the years 167 1
and 1672, and again in 16 79-1 680, La Salle entered
the State from Lake Michigan through the St. Joseph
River and traversed the northwestern part of what
is now Indiana. Following the suggestions of the
Indians, he ascended the St. Joseph to about three
miles from the present site of South Bend. Here a
slight elevation separates the waters that drain into
the Gulf of Mexico from those that flow toward the
St. Lawrence, and the land flattens out into great
stretches of swamp and meadow. Across the grassy
plains, covered with game and wild fowl, and strewn
with the skulls and bones of buffalo, they carried
their boats four or five miles to the origin of the Kan-
kakee. Coming to a little clear thread of water, in
the surrounding swamp, it is recorded that they set
their canoes on it, and pushed down the sluggish
streamlet, looking at a distance like men who sailed
on land. Fed by an unceasing tribute of the spongy
soil, which extended on either side over sixteen hun-
dred square miles of valley, the stream quickly widened
into a winding river, with its two thousand bends.
On this stream they floated amidst that voiceless soli-
tude toward the Illinois, and through it to the
Mississippi, which was the goal of their wanderings.

6 Historic Indiana

From these two journeys through the region that
is now called Indiana, La Salle may in truth be called
its discoverer. The routes he opened up were followed
for many decades by succeeding voyagers. The two
parts of the State that he explored were widely dif-
ferent in their physical features. The Wabash Valley
was heavily wooded, and the surface of the country
high and rolling, while the lands south of Lake Mich-
igan were vast plains dotted with lakes. The ex-
plorers wrote to France that they had found the
country good and pleasant; that the climate was
admirable, and the soil extraordinarily fertile. They
found game in abundance, and mentioned partic-
ularly the wild turkey.

These first excursions of La Salle into the Indiana
wilderness, at the opening of his career, and before
jealous enemies tried to thwart his far-reaching plans
of dominion, were full of hope and expectation.
Later there w^ere stirring tales of his courageous ad-
ventures on the Mississippi; the history of his long
journeys to France for authority and funds, the coun-
terplotting of Canadian foes, his triumphant recog-
nition by the King, and, last of all, his early death
at the age of forty-three, in the Louisiana wilderness.
In the preface to JouteVs Journal, the following recog-
nition of La Salle's services to France places him
among the illustrious heroes sent out by the Grand
Monarch. There it is urged:

"Let us transmit their names to posterity in our writings,
for the consequences of their labor are most honorable
and advantageous to the Nation. ... La Salle was dig-
nified, bold, undaunted, dextrous, insinuating, not to be
discouraged at anything, ready at extricating himself
out of any difficulty. No way apprehensive of the greatest

La Salle and the Exploration 7

fatigues. Wonderful steady in adversity, and, what was
of extraordinary use, well versed in several languages.
Having such extraordinary talents, he was very accept-
ably employed in these affairs"^

and added a domain larger than Central Europe to the
possessions of his sovereign.

The quaint language of the faithful Henri de Tonty,
friend of La Salle, in his tribute to that leader, pic-
turesquely presents the discoveries as they impressed
the explorers themselves.

"Monsieur, the plunderers of your fortune cannot take
away that discovery, or blot out the World you then
opened. And what is Europe compared to this vast
country? At the height of his magnificence, Louis cannot
picture to himself the grandeur of this Western Empire.
France is but the palm of his hand beside it. It stretches
from endless snow to endless heat; its breadth no man
may guess. Nearly all the native tribes affiliate readily
with the French. We have, to dispute us, only the Eng-
lish, who hold a little strip by the Atlantic, the Dutch
with smaller holdings inland, and a few Spaniards along
the Gulf. It is an Empire, which Louis might drop France
itself, to grasp."

There can be no doubt that La Salle had a clear
comprehension of the value, to France, of his explor-
ations, for he not only established trading-posts for
gain, but he also endeavored to carry thither people
to colonize and preempt the territory. The sad ending
of his short life came all too soon for the successful
carrying-out of his dreams of an Empire, but enough
was accomplished by La Salle and Tonty to place

> JouteVs Journal of La Salle's Last Voyage, Introduction, page
J 6, Reprint of Caxton Club, 1896.

8 Historic Indiana

them as the great frontier knights of the middle West
in the dawn of its history.

For many years after these first voyagers paddled
down the Wabash, the only travellers to the region
were the hardy and adventurous coureurs de bois.
No records were kept of their journeys, — how soon
they followed the explorers, or how often they came
and went; but long before the French government
established military outposts, these wandering traders
and trappers, with an occasional zealous priest, were
the sole visitors to the wilds of what is now Indiana.

The coureurs de hois of Canada ranged over the
whole northern and western part of the new con-
tinent from Hudson Bay to Louisiana in search of
adventure, and to trade with the Indians. They be-
longed, largely, to the lower classes of adventurers
who came out continually from France; but their
numbers were constantly augmented by impoverished
members of the nobility, or reckless gallants who
were reduced in fortune, or fugitives from justice.
Inspired by love of adventure, or seeking the oblivion
of the forest, these men of gentle blood joined fortunes
with the reckless, shiftless voyageurs. Hunting, trap-
ping fur-bearing animals, trading with the Indians,
and living with the natives in utter abandonment of
previous civilization, was the life into which they
drifted. As they rowed down the streams, their
paddles kept time to the gay strains :

Tous les printemps, . . .
Tant de nouvelles . . .

Tous les amants .
Changent de maitresses .

Jamais le bon vin ne m'endort . . ,
L'amour me reveille . . .

La Salle and the Exploration 9

Tous les amants . . ,

Changent des maitresses . . .

Qu'ils changent qui voudront ...
Pour moi je garde la mienne . . .

Le bon vin n'endort

L'amour me rdveille . . .

They married the squaws; sold spirits to the braves
against all law; ofttimes discarded all clothing; and
sometimes conspired against the authorities. They
have been known to leave the explorer or missionary
alone in the wilderness, to the mercies of the savages.
Such were those dauntless adventurers, the coureurs
de bois, who were peculiar to early Canadian life and
history. As most of the territory of which Indiana
formed a part was included in that domain in the
eighteenth century, these romantic characters were
its first white inhabitants. They did not found any
homes or towns. They came singing down the rivers
in their light canoes, and lodged with the Indians,
traded with them, drank with them, and monopolized
the forest bargaining. It was through these gay
French vagabonds that the savages obtained their
bright-colored blankets, their gaudy trinkets, and
also the powder, the arms, and the firewater, which
made them more dangerous than before. Only such
irresponsible, w^eather-hardened voyageurs could have
endured the privations of that savage life; and their
daring adventurous spirit secured to them the fur-
trade of the forest. Not a trace of their existence in
Indiana remained at the time of the conquest of 1779,
when the French still inhabited the posts. No name,
habitation, or landmark was left of those who thus

lo Historic Indiana

entered and disappeared from the rivers and woods of
the Wabash, and whose history reads hke a legend.

When the first white explorers came down the
Indiana rivers, they found few settled tribes of Indians.
This was on account of the recent Iroquois w^ar. But
later, numerous Indian tribes, of many different
names, roamed the territory, and all belonged to the
great Algonquin race, which occupied the whole of
the middle West, and the New England coast. These
allied families of Algonquins, while often warring
among themselves, united their strength in terror
of their bitter foes located on either side of them.
The cruel Iroquois separated the Eastern forces by
occupying the region now known as New York and
southward; while the bloodthirsty Siouan tribes held
the country west of the Mississippi. The Miami con-
federacy, whose barbarian villages dotted the central
and northern part of Indiana, included the Weas, the
Foxes, the Piankeshaws, the Pottawattomies, the Shaw-
nees, the Ouiatanons, and the Kickapoos, with whose
barbarous names the early settlers, alas! were to
become so familiar, and who were all branches of the
Algonquin race.

The regions now called Indiana and Kentucky were
reserved as hunting-ground, but they were also per-
petual battle-fields. Across this expanse surged these
countless allied tribes and their hereditary enemies.
Back and forth from east to west, from north to
south, from Florida to the Dakotas, they fought in
endless warfare against each other and against Ihcir
foes. To and fro, defeating or defeated, seldom utterly
vanquished, unless exterminated, they came and
went on the war-path, always planning to return to
the fray, if checkmated in their savage raids, when

La Salle and the Exploration 1 1

new combinations with more tribes should render
them strong enough for a fresh attack.

All of the tribes were passionately fond of the ex-
citement of games of chance, and sat about the fires
and gambled until their last possessions were gone;
staking clothing, weapons, pipes, ornaments, or wife
on the last throw of the dice. It is said that if invited
to "come eat" it was unheard of to refuse; the per-
son invited took his dish and spoon and went ; grunted
"Ho!" upon entering, and to every remark that
interested him.

Many of the wigwams or huts of the Indians were
fashioned of bark or of skins and were covered on the
inside with rude sketches of scenes from the chase
and battle, commemorating their deeds of valor.
Most of the aborigines painted their faces and bodies
with soot, ashes, and the juice of plants. Very often
they were cruelly tattooed. They were naturally
very fond of ornaments, and were easily beguiled
by gifts of finery. One possession all Indians valued
above any other, was the belt of wampum. This con-
sisted of beads, white and purple, made from the
inner part of certain shells. They were made at the
expenditure of great care and labor. The wampum
was at once their currency, ornament, pen, ink, and
parchment. It is affirmed that no compact, no speech,
or clause of a speech, to the representatives of an-
other nation, had any force unless confirmed by the
delivery of a string or belt of wampum. It was the
task of certain braves, detailed for that duty, to
remember and reproduce what each bead recorded.
The Indian's idea of music was crude, discordant,
and unpleasant soimds, a drum or tom-tom being the
most universal instrument of tone. His perceptions

12 Historic Indiana

of good and evil were shadowy, and belief in a
future state of reward and punishment was by no
means universal. He thanked the Good Spirit for
blessings and prayed to the Evil Spirit, whom he re-
garded as the agent of disease, death, and mischance.

The Indian had a very material notion of the
happy hunting-grounds, and his idea of the fate
of the wicked was that he should be doomed to
eat ashes in cold dreary regions where there was
always snow. All tribes were the dupes of their
medicine-men, sorcerers, and witches. As a matter
of course, so limited an intelligence believed in
magic, in the realities of dreams, and in signs
and tokens. Their limited knowledge of the laws
of nature kept them in perpetual thraldom to fears
of which civilized man knows nothing. Although
inhabiting the most desirable area, and living in the
most favorable climate on the continent they had
attained little intellectual or material advancement
and gave no promise of any. Their life was a round
of hunting, eating, and fighting. In summer the
braves were hunting and fishing when not on the
war-path, but with little thought of the future, they
stored up meagrely for the needs of the long and cruel
winter. The men condescended to build wigwams,
fashion the weapons, make their wonderful pipes, and
shape their canoes, but to the women fell all the
drudgery. They gathered the fire-wood, dressed the
skins, made the cordage and cloth, and prepared
the food. In addition they tilled the land for the
scanty crops of corn and beans and pumpkins. They
planted, hoed, and harvested laboriously with the
little stone tools. On the march it was the squaws
that bore the burdens and slaughtered the game. In

La Salle and the Exploration 13

battle they often bore a part. In consequence of
their hard hfe they changed early from comely girls
to hideously repulsive hags, many of them more
fierce, cruel, and vindictive in war than the men.
The children showed no advancement beyond the
generation before and were trained in the grim lessons
of savage stolidity, superstition, and endurance shown
by their ancestors. When food was plenty they all
gorged to repletion, and when there was no provender
they lived on the roots, bark, and buds of trees.

Indians showed no tenderness or consideration
towards the sick or disabled. Each shared with all,
in weal or woe. Upbraiding or complaints were
unheard.

The Miami tribes of Indians that were living in
Indiana were of a degraded type, who practised
cannibalism in its most revolting forms, and con-
tinued the practice for a hundred years after La Salle's
appearance in the West. They had great dread of
the e\'il spirits, whom they tried to propitiate, charm,
and cajole. A description of these natives by an
explorer characterizes the ro\^g Indians as possess-
ing the sagacity of a hound, the penetrating sight
of a lynx, the cimning of a fox, the agility of a boimd-
ing roe, and the unconquerable fierceness of a tiger.

There have been many romantic notions of the
Indian, and the early settlers were often pressed to
the opposite sentiment of vindictive hate. To im-
prejudiced persons the native was recognized as full
of contradictions. The same man who would give
way to demoniacal fury, at other times held himself
in the most taciturn self-restraint. His pride would
sustain him at the stake but did not prevent his beg-
ging for whiskey or cast-off food. His skill at himting

14 Historic Indiana

and trapping showed him full of perception of nature
and his resources in constructing boats, traps, pits,
and spears gave evidence of his cunning, but he
had little power of reasoning. They had their own
form of humor and were fond of telling tales of their
prowess by the camp-fire. A practical joke, or the
awkwardness of a white man would move them to
roars of laughter, and like the white man they were
fond of a joke at the expense of the weaker §ex. Such
were the natives of the Indiana region when the white
man came in, and with whom the coming settlers
must be brought into close contact. From the mis-
takes of governments, and the impossibihty of the
two civilizations mingling peaceably, both races suf-
fered untold misery. No imaginary tale could be
more harassing. Their woes appear on each succeed-
ing page of history, insuring them the sympathy of
posterity. After the natives acquired from the white
man the use of whiskey and firearms, they became
what Mr. Roosevelt terms the most formidable savage
foes ever encoimtered by colonists of European stock.

Parkman remarks that "there is a disposition to assume
that events like that just recounted were a consequence of
the contact of white man with red; but the primitive Indian
was quite able to enact such tragedy without the help of
Europeans. Before French or English influence had been
felt in the interior of the continent a great part of North
America was the frequent witness of such scenes, still more
lurid in coloring and on a larger scale of horror. In the first
half of the seventeenth century from Lake Superior to
Tennessee and from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi was
ravaged by wars of extermination in which tribes large and
powerful, by Indian standards, perished, dwindled into
feeble remnants, or were absorbed by other tribes and
vanished from sight. '"■

» A Half Century of Confiicl, vol. i., p. 296. Little, Brown & Ca

CHAPTER II

FRENCH DOMINION

A CENTURY and a half between La Salle and
the beginning of histor>^ in the Indiana ter-
ritory! Truly the new domain waits for its
settlement. Silent as the records are of any account
of life in the wilderness, we know that the hardy
coiireurs de hois came down the rivers and sojourned
among the Indians, trapping and trading for pelts.
"For a century and a half fur was king."

A few fugitive voyageurs among the more adven-
turous probably tarried, but the first French colo-
nists, or rather the first inhabitants who made their
homes at the posts and brought their families out
with them, were the soldiers. The wandering boatmen
came and went singly and in pairs without intention
of remaining. It was their route for barter, the Indi-
ana rivers being a part of the marvellous continuous
watenA'ay from the Lakes to the Mississippi.

" In the opening of the North American Continent,"
says Mr. Ogg, "the Frenchman had this great advantage
over some of his rivals — that he entered the land from the
right direction, and at a very strategic point. The St.
Lawrence set them on the most inviting path to the vast
interior, through the Great Lakes and into the eastern
tributaries of the Mississippi, finally down that noble

i6 Historic Indiana

stream to the Gulf. As a consequence of this, and to the
further fact that by nature the Frenchmen who came to
America were of a more roving disposition than the Eng-
lish, their explorations moved much more rapidly. They
had ranged and mapped the country continuously from
Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, before the English yet
knew the upper courses of even the James, the Hudson,
and the Connecticut."^

And yet, if their exploration and trade were more
sweeping, their colonization was far less effective and
permanent in that far West.

Following La Salle's constant urging of the impor-
tance of establishing military posts from Quebec to
New Orleans, for the purpose of maintaining the
sovereignty of France, against the Spanish and the
English, the government of Louis XIV. made some
weak establishments on the Lakes and the Mississippi ;
but they were barely a roof for the wandering mis-
sionaries to the savage nations, or a trading station.
It is not certain that any posts were established on the
Wabash until 1720, and the visitations of the zealous
priests to the Indians were the only means of control
which France maintained over the wilds of Indiana until
that time. During all this period the missionaries were
always followed, and sometimes preceded, by a class of
traders who gave intoxicating liquors to the Indians
in exchange for furs and pelts. "The drink among
the Indians is the greatest obstacle to Christianity,"
wrote the good friars; "they never purchase it, but
to plunge into the most furious orgies of riot and
bloodshed." For all their despair of the savage char-
acter, the Jesuit fathers and the holy friars persisted
in their labors, growing old and perishing in their

« Ogg, Fredk., Opening of the Mississippi.

French Dominion 17

attempts. Younger ones stepped into their vacant
places, and took passage with the voyageurs whose
little barks penetrated every wilderness.

The gradual movement westward by the British,
from the Atlantic Coast, was what prompted the
French to establish new posts, and strengthen old
ones, along the water-routes from Canada to Louis-
iana. These prominent points along the courses
were selected and fortified, in the rude frontier fashion
ot palisades and blockhouses. In these primitive
stockades were installed a handful of French soldiers
and their families, the priest who guided their very
wandering footsteps back to religion, an occasional
slave, some half-breed Indians, and a few domestic
animals — all of whom were a part of the French
system of trade and religion. In a short while each
had a plot of garden cultivated by the women, and
fruit soon hung on their trees. The posts were not
powerful enough for conquest, but they were sufficient
to protect the trade with the natives, and to that
industry the activities of the lazy little colonies were
mainly limited. The post was a convenient rendez-
vous for the trapper and hunter, and the voyageurs;
and a point from which the priest reached out to
convert the Indians to his faith.

As time went on and trade increased, it came about
that, beside the commandants, the most prominent
individuals at the trading-posts were the French
merchants. The old French merchant, at his post,
was the head man of the settlement. Careful, frugal,
without much enterprise, judgment, or rigid virtue,
he w^as employed in procuring skins from the Indians
or traders, in exchange for manufactured goods. He
kept on good terms with the Indians, and frequently

i8 Historic Indiana

fostered a large number of half-breed children. The
intermittent traffic on the rivers formed the means
of communication between these soHtary posts and
the outside world. Post Ouiatanon, the first estab-
lished on the Ouabache, was near the site of the present
city of La Fayette, and opposite a group of Indian
villages of the Ouiatanon tribes. This post and Fort
Miamis, now Fort Wayne, were under the rule of the
Canadian Governor and reported to the commandant
at Detroit. The post of Vincennes, whose establish-
ment is lost in the unrecorded past, "dating any\vhere
from 1680,"' was under the dominion of Louisiana.
Of the Ouiatanon post, so beautifully located, and
connected with so many traditions of the past, few
traces remain. Its location and career are part of
the history of the aboriginal time. The city of La
Fayette, which later was founded in that beautiful
environment, is located on the hills north of the Indian
hamlet. Ouiatanon was the head of navigation on
the Wabash for the larger pirogues, on account of
the shallow rapids below the present city. All
peltries destined for Canada must here be trans-
ferred to canoes, and this made the post a natural
resting place and point for barter. Twenty thousand
skins a year were shipped from Ouiatanon during 1720
and 1730.

"To watch the English and expel them in case they
approach" were the directions to the commandant
who established the post at Fort Miamis, now Fort
Wayne. The point was an important one as it was
near the head of the Maumee River, where the voya-
geurs from over the Lakes re-embarked their canoes
for the long river journey. Unlike Ouiatanon, it con-
tinued through many vicissitudes and much warlike

« Post Vincennes. F. A. Myers, Evansville, Ind.

'*-!

4->

U-l

■§

ctS

-a

fii

-d

French Dominion 19

history, to be the nucleus of a town, and in the present
day has grown into one of the important cities of the
State.

Post Vincennes also has had a continuous existence
from the early part of the eighteenth century; which
in Indiana seems like ancient history. The story of
Vincennes and vicinity is a large part of the history
of the French impression on the State. There were
a few scattered families identified with the history
of other sections, but all that Indiana knew of a com-
munity largely French may be claimed by its oldest
town. In 1787, an American soldier writing from
Vincennes and giving a description of the mixed pop-
ulation of nine hundred French and four hundred
Americans, said: "This town has been settled longer
than Philadelphia, and one half of the houses are yet
covered with bark like Indian wigwams." ^

Life at the different posts at that early time was
much alike. We are told that each had its large com-
mons for the pasturage of stock, also its common
fields, in which each individual's tract was marked
off. The houses were grouped about the fort within
a stockade as a protection from the savages. After
all, the most abiding memory of the influences of the
French posts in the early settlements, is that of the
brave missionaries, so often spoken of in every record
of that remote past. None of the posts contained a
large population. The long distances from the coast,
either at Quebec or New Orleans, the constant danger
of surrounding savages, the rude quarters and great
privations, made the interior settlements unattractive
to the gregarious French people: Their garden plots
were attractive but the agriculture was very shiftless.
As the soil was fertile, Indian corn, wheat, tobacco, and

« Joseph Buell.

20 Historic Indiana

all kinds of fruits and melons were easily produced.
In time they possessed swine and black cattle, and
brought horses from the Spanish settlements in the
Southwest. The only vehicle they ever acquired, in
their most luxurious days, was the two- wheeled ca-
leche, which was the only serviceable thing in the
wilderness without roads. The rivers were the ar-
teries of commerce, and no one could pole a boat like
the French Canadian. The priest and chapel held
the little isolated communities to something of the
old forms and ceremonies of their abandoned civil-
ization, kept them to the prayers and sacraments,
taught them to transplant some of the arts of living
to the frontier.

They had windmills to grind the wheat into flour,
when the earliest English settlers, who lived in a
more scattered way, had only corn-meal ground by
hand. The women did not spin and weave as the
English pioneers did, and the family washing was
beaten on the banks of the stream, as was the custom
in their home country. French cookery, even in those
rude surroundings, was superior to that of other fron-
tier people. Game was plentiful, and their fare in-
cluded fish, prairie chicken, roast duck, venison pasty,
and broiled quail. The costume of these people was
picturesque and becoming — it consisted of a buck-
skin coat, knee breeches, moccasins, and always leg-
gins; a tasselled capote, or in summer a peaked hat
of straw, braided by the women, as they gossiped on
the little front piazzas. They were fond of wearing
a bit of bright color around the throat and at the
waist, or bedecked themselves with beads in Indian
fashion. In cold weather both men and women wore
a long cloak with a hood. The women looked much

French Dominion 21

like the peasants in the old country, with bodice,
short full skirt, and little caps.

With true French vivacity and love for social life
and amusement, the inhabitants of each little post
celebrated feast days, name days, christenings, and
weddings with dancing, songs, processions, and feasts ;
lasting in the case of weddings for two or three days.
Fetes on the river, a row by moonlight, a Christmas
morning carol beneath each window, always the New
Year's calls by the gentlemen, and the Mardi Gras
celebration before the penances of Lent, were the
simple round of frontier festivities. We can imagine
the scene. Clustered within a palisaded enclosure,
surrounded by the interminable forest, were the rude,
little w^hitewashed cabins, bedecked with vines and
flowers, and a tiny garden at the side ; in the narrow
street the small, wiry, dark-skinned French peasants
trooping about, babbling in their strange Canadian
jargon, the negro slaves, perchance, answering in
Creole patois ; some neighborhood Indians, clad in gay
blankets and wonderful eagle-feather head-dresses,
looking on in grave curiosity — silent, as the hab-
itants were noisy and chattering. Far from the lands
of their ancestry, each nationality lives out its racial
traits in the remote wilderness home.

It has always been noted that between wars, there
was general friendliness between the French and In-
dians, in striking contrast to the enmity among the
English and the red men. It was the policy of the
English to remove the Indians, and of the French
to attract them for purposes of trade. Hence, the
natives often gathered in settlements around the
French posts. They learned a little agriculture and
Romanism, but, alas! they also acquired the taste

22 Historic Indiana

for rum, notwithstanding the selHng of guns, ammu-
nition, and "firewater" was against the mandates
of the King, and of prudence.

The first slaves in Indiana were owned by these
early French settlers. Their holding and treatment
were regulated by the French government, in elab-
orate laws, so that they were not left entirely to the
mercy of the owners. The Canadian slaves were gen-
erally Indians, called panis; and those of the Louisiana
district were mostly negroes, brought from the French
West Indies. The two races of slaves frequently inter-
married, and the government required all to be bap-
tized and instructed in the Roman Catholic faith.
The frontier Frenchman was an easy master, lacking
thrift and having no pressure of competition.

In trading with the natives for peltries the settlers
gave in exchange bright colored cloth, blankets,
gunpowder, knives, hatchets, animal traps, kettles,
hoes, war paint, ribbons, beads, and rum. By trading
and trapping they collected great quantities of furs
during the season, which were mostly carried to the
Canadian market for European shipments. They
raised wheat and ground it into flour at their com-
munity windmills. Tobacco was raised and baled.
Some pork was cured, then with no undue haste or
competition these stores were accumulated, and when
a sufBcient cargo was secured, a fleet of batteaux
would be formed, for mutual protection against the
Indians, and the event of the year began ; that is the
journey thither to Detroit and Montreal, or five hun-
dred leagues down the rivers to New Orleans, which
they called "going to town to see their friends." This
trip down the river was a long, lazy, delightful journey
to those pleasure-loving people. They drifted with

French Dominion 23

the current, telling endless stories of adventure, while
they watched the ever-changing views on either shore.
Sometimes convoys came from far-off Montreal, to
enjoy the winter season. They stayed in New Orleans
as long as they could, ofttimes until their money was
gambled away. The more enterprising bartered
their produce for merchandise, for the return trip,
and carried back sugar, rice, cotton, and manufactured
articles from France. After much feasting and many
formal conges among acquaintances they departed
for their homes, and then began the long, tedious,
toilsome ascent of the river.

From the time when France found it necessary
to establish outposts, to protect her interests, until
the day that Quebec fell into the hands of Great
Britain, there were struggles innumerable between
the two Powers over their claims to the Western ter-
ritory. These wars always involved the frontiers-
men and the Indians in deadly conflicts, and the
blackest pages in American colonial history are the
sins of the old world Powers in instigating the natives
to massacre the settlers. At length, the English won
the great victories at Quebec and along the Lakes.
The acquisition of the whole of Canada followed. The
Treaty of Peace was concluded in 1763. The English
claim included the upper Indiana territory. The in-
habitants remained at ease, heeding little of the great
change of government and destiny; but the treaties
of 1763 closed the brilliant explorations and dreams
of American Empire for France. Illustrious ex-
plorers, courtly cavaliers, devout priests, reckless
voyageurs, skilful trappers, and frugal colonists had
crossed the Atlantic and traversed the inland lakes
and rivers to fotmd a new French dominion and a

24 Historic Indiana

home in the West. "In the laying of the foundations
for an abiding poHtical power they failed. They
could have maintained themselves as against the
Spaniard or any other possible European competitor,
except the very one with whom they had to contend.
The contest was essentially a conflict of civilization,
the results appear no less inevitable, than necessary
to the future of the country."

The suicidal policy of the mid-eighteenth century
rulers of France brought to naught the brilliant scheme
of her empire builders. Those significant metal plates
bearing the Royal Arms of the Louises, which marked
here and there the long chain of the territorial claims,
were henceforth but historic curiosities. The only
strain of French blood which could have settled the
wilderness for France were her industrious Huguenots.
But they were hounded away from the ports of Canada
and New Orleans, by orders of priest and king, because
of their Protestant faith. Later they had become one
of the most valuable elements in the Colonial American
population. At the end of the Seven Years' War
France sacrificed the substance of vast dominion in
New France for the shadow of European advantages.
The fanaticism and paternalism of French Canadian
rule ceased.

At the time of the cession to Great Britain there
were probably north of the Ohio and east of the ]\lis-
sissippi only about twelve hundred adults, eight hun-
dred children, and nine hundred negroes, the latter were
slaves. Many of the French people retired to the
western bank of the Mississippi, to the point now
called St. Louis, rather than remain British subjects.
The French colonies had always been dependencies.
Gradually, as the control of the fur trade passed from

French Dominion 25

France to England, the posts languished when they
had to depend upon themselves. After a few years,
when the Americans in turn took them from the
British, the forts were used by the young republic
as outposts to protect the settlers against the Indians.
Gradually they fell into desuetude, as the native
tribes w'ere sent to the farther frontiers. 1791 is given
as the date of the final disappearance of Ouiatanon.
Towns arose on the site of the other two French posts
in Indiana territory, at Fort Wayne and Fort Vin-
cennes. The little French posts of the early half of
that century are only a memory. The log chapel
where the black-robed priest christened the babe and
married the blooming bride, has gone to decay. The
vine-covered balcony and its gay peasant family
have alike crumbled into dust. There are left no
traces of the volatile, pleasure-loving people from
overseas, and the silent savage has vanished w^ith
his forests. But still a tinge of romance lin-
gers over the palisaded station and its denizens.
"Such," says Mr. Dunn in describing those denizens,

"were the French settlers of Indiana — yet not such; for
we have scanned too closely what we might esteem their
faults, and given little heed to what we must admit to
be their virtues. In many respects they were admirable.
They were simple, honest, and patriotic. In their social
life they were kindly, sympathetic, and generous. The
ancient habitant rises before us lithe and erect as in his
prime. The old capote is there, the beaded moccasins,
the little ear-rings, and the black queue. His dark eyes
glisten beneath his turban handkerchief as of yore. There
stands his old caleche. He mounts upon it and moves
away — away — away, until its creaking sounds no longer,
and we realize that he is gone forever."'

« Dunn, J. P., History of Indiana, page. 130.

CHAPTER III

BRITISH OCCUPATION

WHEN Great Britain secured Quebec and
the control of the St. Lawrence from the
French, her grasp of the Western depend-
encies, along the waterways, followed naturally.
The strongholds of French supremacy were in north-
em and eastern America. The vast tract, inland,
was acquired without more fighting, and its fortunes
rose and fell with those of Canada. Within a few
years of the time that Spain assumed dominion over
the Mississippi River, and consequently come vitally
into contact with the interests of its tributaries, which
we mention elsewhere, England gained possession of the
lands through which those rivers flowed. The history of
the little settlements on the Maumee and the Wabash
under English rule was part of the same period that
the struggling settlements were hampered by Spanish
interference, at New Orleans,

The British crown owned the territory that is now
Indiana less than twenty years. It occupied the
scattered military posts scarcely fifteen years before
General George Rogers Clark and his little band of
American frontiersmen took possession of them in
the year 1779. England's title to the wilderness do-
main made little difference to the scattered French

British Occupation 27

settlements on the Wabash. It being the policy of
Great Britain to leave the customs, language, and
religion unchanged, the happy-go-lucky class of fron-
tier Frenchmen cared little what government ruled.

When the English troops took possession, in 1765,
there were only eighty or ninety French families
living at Post Vincennes; and there had been about
fourteen families at Fort Ouiatanon during its oc-
cupancy, and at the post in the northeastern part of
the State there were nine or ten French houses. These
three small colonies were, at that time, the only white
settlements within the territory which is now the
State of Indiana. After the British commandant,
with a small detachment of redcoats, had taken
possession of the fort, under the Cross of St. George
instead of the Lilies of France, and issued a specific
proclamation to the settlers, the isolated camps real-
ized little difference by the change of sovereignty.
When England took possession of every stronghold
from St. Lawrence and the Lakes, south, there were
scarcely any American colonists north of the Ohio
River and west of the Alleghanies. The savage Iro-
quois had prevented immigration overland. The
American traders who came from the Atlantic col-
onies, by way of the rivers, were a mere handful and
lived among the French at the posts. As soon as
Great Britain had extended her control over the West,
many English traders and land hunters began to go
thither. The home government immediately feared
that the section might feel itself so remote, and be-
come so self-reliant, that the settlers would declare
an independent government. In consequence of this
apprehension, the King of England issued a procla-
mation forbidding any emigration to the newly

28 Historic Indiana

acquired section. Six years later, the commander-
in-chief wrote to the Colonial Department,

"as to increasing the settlements (northwest of the river,
Ohio) to respectable provinces — and to colonization in
general temis in the remote countries — I have conceived
it altogether inconsistent with sound policy. I do not
apprehend the inhabitants could have any commodities
to barter for our manufactures, except skins and furs,
which will naturally decrease as the country increases in
people, and the deserts are cultivated; so that, in the
course of a few years, necessity would force them to pro-
vide manufactures of some kind themselves, and when
all connection upheld by commerce with the mother coun-
try shall cease, it may be expected that an independency in
their government will soon follow."

Notwithstanding all these prohibitions by the home
government, there was an ever-increasing number
of hardy pioneers, who ventured down the river from
Pennsylvania, or tracked through the forests of Ken-
tucky from Virginia and the Carolinas, to the territory
northwest of the Ohio. A few of these came into
Indiana. Despite the interdict of Great Britain, and
the forbidding attitude of the savages, the population
of the English colonists from tidewater kept in-
creasing along the rivers of the West. During all the
years of the British occupation, there was a constant
menace to the whole border population south and
north of the Ohio, from the Indians, who were be-
coming more and more alarmed at the white man's
invasion. It was a time of midnight surprises, swift
and sudden attacks and massacres; then an uprising
by the whites, and war to the death against the sav-
ages. Year in and year out there were always alert

British Occupation 29

anxiety and dread of further disaster, while bitterness
of feeHng between the races grew ever more deadl3\
The Indians had no enduring confidence in French,
Spanish, or English. They had been used by each in
turn, against the other; and were bewildered by the
conflicting policies of Europe, which were being fought
out in the wilderness.

The situation was most disastrous to both races,
and the trouble seemed interminable to the hapless
frontiersman.

It was owing to the constant friction with the na-
tives that General George Rogers Clark first came out
with a commission from Virginia to help protect the
border toward the Ohio River, maintaining that a
country which was not worth defending was not
worth claiming. It was in defence of Kentucky
settlers that he came to the Wabash and the Mis-
sissippi. A far more momentous result of that cam-
paign is part of the story of the Revolution. It was to
end the dominion of England over the wilds of Indiana.
While the puny settlements on Western rivers were
struggling with the primeval forces, little affected by
the troubles of the American colonists on the Atlantic
shore, these colonists had for three years been en-
gaged in a life-and-death struggle for liberty from
British rule. The strictures upon emigration to the
new lands were part of the cause of revolt. Concen-
tration of population to the narrow strip of country
between the Alleghanies and the ocean was resented
by the Southern colonies as much as unjust taxation.
In fact the war has come to be recognized as a revolt
against the attitude of Great Britain in regard to
America on many questions. The colonists felt the
genius for control of their own affairs.

$o Historic Indiana

It required little more than a decade, from the
conquest of the French possessions in North America,
for the American colonies to throw off the claims of
Great Britain. In fact, the military part taken by the
colonial troops in that conquest gave them the assur-
ance to begin a protest to the crown.

Professor Hinsdale says:

"The history of French America is far more picturesque
and brilliant than the history of British America in that
period, but the English were doing work far more solid, val-
uable, and permanent than their northern neighbors. The
French took the lakes, rivers, and forests; they cultivated
the Indians; their explorers were intent upon discovery;
their traders on furs; their missionaries on souls. The
English did not either take to the woods or cultivate the
Indians; they loved agriculture and trade, State and
Church, and clung to the fields, shops, politics, and churches.
As a result, while Canada languished, thirteen English
states grew up on the Atlantic Coast, and became popu-
lous, rich, and strong. They spread to other colonies.
There were 80,000 white inhabitants in New France, and
1,160,000 in the British Colonies at the close of the
period." ^

During the War for Independence, the dramatic
movements of General Clark and his Southern soldiers
in the Northwestern wilderness were so successful, that
the settlements on the Wabash and the Mississippi
passed from British control before the contest was
over on the Atlantic coast. Indiana territoiy became
an American possession by these brilliant achieve-
ments, in February, 1779, four years before England

> Hinsdale, B.A. The Old Northwest. N. Y., 1888. P. 69.

British Occupation 31

gave up the hope of retaining her colonies.' Al-
though the British garrisons Hngered, as late as 1796,
under one pretext and another, they were but a sur-
\ival of the past, and scarcely received passing no-
tice from the settlers. The wilderness had become
American.

' " Napoleon said he knew the full value of Louisiana and had been
desirous of repairing the fault of the French negotiators who abandoned
it in 1763; but 'the English shall not have the Mississippi which they
covet. If, however, I leave the least time to our enemies I shall only
transmit an empty title to those republicans whose friendship I seek.
I already consider the colony as entirely lost.' In the hands of this
growing Power it will be more useful to the policy and commerce of
France than if I should attempt to keep it.' How little the residents of
the Atlantic seaboard appreciated the acquisition of this domain is
shown in a New York paper of f 803, which said that it should in candor
be said that whether the possession of any territory west of the river
Mississippi will be advantageous is entirely problematical."

CHAPTER IV

HOW SPANISH RULE AFFECTED INDIANA

SPANISH doubloons paid for the first Indiana
homesteads, Spanish silver was the only coin
of the realm on the Wabash until 1838. It
was barter, or Spanish " pieces of eight," for twenty
years after the territory became a State. From whence
came this coinage and how did it become the circu-
lating medium of Hoosierdom? Down the Mississippi
and its tributaries, was the outlet for the produce of
the great valley, and back from the Gulf came pay
in Spanish money. The free and uncontrolled navi-
gation of the Mississippi, as the highway to the sea
and to Europe, was of the utmost importance to all
the adjacent territory, and became the bone of con-
tention for two centuries, among the three great
Powers and the colonies. In this way Indiana felt
the dominion of Spain, and it became a part of her
history, although the territory was never within the
possessions of his Most Catholic Alajesty.

To appreciate the conditions in the interior along
the Wabash, the Ohio, and all the other tributaries
of the Mississippi River, a glance at the Spanish claims
on this continent is necessar>'. De Soto had dis-
covered the lower Mississippi River in an overland
march from Florida, in search of gold, in 1542. He

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana

-1 -»

was buried in its waters — that the Indians might not
learn that he was mortal — a hundred and forty
years before the Frenchmen, La Salle and Tonty,
came down the river from the Great Lakes. In ac-
cordance with the custom of nations, De Soto's little
band had declared possession in the name of the
Spanish monarch, as had been done for all the southern
L shores. Ever since Columbus's discovery^ ships had
been sailing away from Spain with their prows turned
to the southwest. They had colonized the edges of
the shores between Mexico and Argentina before there
was a single English settlement on the Atlantic coast.
Very naturally the Spanish Government set up priority
of claim to the lands along the Gulf. What a vision
it must have been to the unaccustomed eyes of the
natives of the forest

"when through the gloomy pines there flashed the brilliant
arms and trappings of the Spanish cavaliers and their
soldiers, whom the Indians took to be gods. They were
wearied and tattered with the long and fruitless search
for strange cities and gold. Their horses were jaded and
their men gaunt, from malaria and lack of food, but when
i they came upon this mighty river, they compared it to an
inland sea and kneeling on the banks, the gallant De Soto
declared it to be the possession of the Crown of Spain." ^

But the aim of De Soto and those who followed him
was gold and booty; no colonies were ever foimded
in the section. A century and a half later, after La
Salle had set up the cross of St. Louis, D'Iberville
founded the first fort and town on Biloxi Bay, to
establish possession. After these two dramatic in-
cidents, the control of New Orleans and the river
changed several times betw^een these two nations and

1 Fiske, John, Discovery of America, vol. i., page 68.

34 Historic Indiana

for years to come the question was weaving like a
shuttle, back and forth, through all the diplomacy of
the centuries. The earliest eflorts at making settle-
ments in the entrance to the Mississippi were dis-
couraging, but by 1 718 Prance had founded a per-
manent colony at New Orleans, which proved to be
a most loyal and persistently French settlement.
We pass over the interesting history of how New
Orleans lived through many changes of French rulers,
sent out by the kings; under the Treaty of Utrecht,
Spain had ceded all of the great territory called Louis-
iana to France. In 1769 Spain got it all back again
and took formal possession of the city, the river, and
of the Louisiana territory, by virtue of a secret treaty
with France. This compact was made seven years
before as a recompense for Spain's loss of Florida to
Great Britain, when she was helping France. During
this time, in 1763, France, beaten and bankrupt, had
finally lost to Great Britain all her dominion of Canada.
Until 1800 the Western settlers in the Indiana ter-
ritory, with all their trade dependent upon the river
transportation, were at the mercy of the Spanish gov-
emment. The boatmen, with their boats laden with
produce and pelts, must await the pleasure of Spanish
customs officials. Discommoded as the river voyagers
were, under the change of dynasty in 1769 they could
not compare with the despondent French citizens
of New Orleans. Ten thousand Creoles, loyal to their
king, resented being used like pawns upon his chess-
board, to propitiate a Power whose help he needed
in his wars at home. Still the gay Creole population
of the lower Mississippi submitted without combat to
the change, but business was neglected and festi\4ties
suspended. The new Spanish Government hung the

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana 35

most prominent French loyalists, ordered the Spanish
language to be used, and encouraged immigration from
Castile. Then came the sweeping proclamation of
dire import to all the upper country, that the Mis-
sissippi should be closed to all trade outside this prov-
ince, prohibiting all foreigners from passing through
Spanish territory without a passport, and any im-
migration from the American colonies. These orders
could only be overcome by fees and bribes, and all
traffic became corrupt and disastrously im certain.
Cargoes decayed on the boats and wharves, at great
loss to the settlers along the rivers. In time many
of them abandoned tillage and trapping, became
more shiftless than ever, and poverty overtook them.
Three years later the new Governor, Unzaga, regained
the confidence of the French at New Orleans, the
colony increased, and agriculture was resumed. Fur-
ther improvement came under his successor, Galvez,
who gradually permitted more heavily laden cargoes
to come down the river, and trade revived.

Besides the disasters to the river transportation of
Indiana's produce, she encountered Spanish inter-
ference in a dash of troops from the little fort at St.
Louis, to capture Fort St. Joseph and claim occupation
of territory. This was in 1781, during the Revolution-
ary War. When the claim thus set up reached the
distant King of England he had the new American
envoys from the colonies to checkmate the design.
Great Britain had then lost the war, and Spain's hold
on Indiana territory was but as the m^^siug* of a

shadow. b 0 b ^^

It was during Galvez's occupancy of the governor-
ship of Louisiana that the struggling American col-
onies were engaged in the War of Independence.

36 Historic Indiana

This contest might have affected far-away Indiana
and the other river colonists very slightly, had not
Spain engaged in the conflict by declaring war against
Great Britain in 1779. This move of the Powers in
Europe ruined the commerce on the Gulf of Mexico
by checking all shipments to Europe; consequently
it again acted disastrously on the sorely tried settlers
all the way to the Great Lakes. The cabals at Madrid
meant hardships on the frontier. Hopes of perma-
nent relief from all the vexatious hindrances to
transportation were revived by the treaty of peace
granting American independence, in 1783, wherein,
it was fully stipulated that the Mississippi should
remain forever free, from its mouth to its source, for
navigation by all British subjects and by all citizens
of the United States. It would seem that this should
have settled the whole matter and there was an im-
mediate response to this measure by increased im-
migration. Industry and traffic were revived. Alas!
Spain was slow to obey the articles of the treaty.
Twenty years of delay and continuous vexation fol-
lowed. They were years of diplomatic dawdling and
exasperating fencing, between the commissioners of
the American Congress and the ministers of Spain.
All this time the patience of the pioneers was tried
beyond endurance by their losses in commerce. Prop-
erty was seized and confiscated from Natchez on down
the river.

In 1793 the French Minister, Genet, tried to induce
Kentucky and Tennessee to join his standard, in an
invasion of Spanish territor>^ and rid themselves and
the French settlers of the foreign yoke. General George
Rogers Clark even accepted a command to accomplish
this much desired end; but the Federal Government

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana 37

demanded the recall of Genet, and that threatened
uprising subsided.

At the same time another form of insidious attack
by the Spaniards exasperated the founders of the
young republic, struggling hard to establish a stable
government. This was the constant intrigues, through
a long term of years, on the part of the Spanish gov-
ernors of Louisiana to induce the Southern and Western
settlers to secede from the United States, and form
an independent government west of the Alleghany
Moimtains, or join the Spanish territor>^ The long
years of delay in gaining a free outlet to the sea had
worn on the disaffected settlers. The Spanish Gov-
ernor, Jiliro, incumbent at the time, and his successor
Carondelet, sent emissaries through the South and
through the Indiana territory', tr>^ing to wean the
inhabitants from the new American government, and
join them to the Spanish territor>' of Louisiana. They
made a secret compact with the American General
Wilkinson, who was at the same time engaged in the
ser\4ce and pay of the American Government; making
his treachery correspond to his influence. When the
leading influential traders came down the river with
their fleets, the Spanish Governor granted them ex-
traordinary privileges, and endeavored, in every way,
to induce them to join forces with him, and help
annex the whole eastern valley of the Mississippi to
the western side. From this territory they would
create a great internal Spanish domain, reaching from
the Alleghanies to the Rocky' Mountains. This was
during the years 1795 to 1797.

Added to these complications, the new struggling
Union had to contend with other foes threatening
the continued adherence of the Western settlers. The

38 Historic Indiana

British, who had kept control of Canada after the
Revolutionary War, endeavored to win the frontiers-
men to their standard. The country along the Ohio
Valley north and south of that river was infested with
emissaries of these insidious and crafty schemers from
Canada and the Louisiana territor>" to win the settler
from his loyalty to the United States, but it was all
in vain. During all this time the Spanish governors
realized the antipathy of the French element among
their subjects, from Vincennes to New Orleans. Es-
pecially was this so during the French Revolution
and the war at that time between France and Spain.
In the metropolis on the Gulf, in the little hamlet of
Vincennes or Fort Chartres, from the river boatmen
poling their batteaux of produce to market down the
river, floated the strains of the Marseillaise. In the
streets of New Orleans the mobs bawled the Jacobin
songs, and drank toasts to liberty and equality. In-
cendiary letters and documents had to be suppressed
and a Spanish alliance with the Indians was made
for fear of an uprising of the French against the Spanish
rule. In spite of the interdicts on foreigners coming
into Spanish territory, in 1795, when Bore introduced
the culture of sugar-cane, which proved so immensely
profitable, there was a large immigration from the
States.

Spain began to fear a dangerous preponderance of
Americans in her meagre settlements. She passed
laws restricting immigration, discriminating against
Protestants, and denying na\4gation and the right
of deposit of goods. Until the year 1800, these reg-
ulations renewed the exasperation of the settlers, to
the point of ^ threatened invasion, when the interdict
was removed. Again trade revived, immigrants

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana 39

poured in from the United States, taking up the best
lands and starthng the Spaniards, until the king
ordered that there should be no more grants of land
to citizens of the United States, giving as the reason
that it would be only a few more years until the tide
would rise too high to be resisted. Louisiana would
be lost to the king, lost to the Holy Pilgrims, given
over to freedom, republicanism, and error. This is
a mere outline of the Spanish occupation of that part
of America, which so vitally affected the early set-
lers in Indiana territory. It has left few traces of
its connection with the history of the State, but is
part of the story of the past. Indiana and Illinois
were so dependent in that far-off time, for access to
the outside world, upon the Mississippi River, that
its centur>' of contest for free na\agation was the
tragedy of the frontier, second only to the dangers
from the Indians. The infant nation on the Atlantic
coast hardly dared assert itself against the European
Powers who alternately held the fortunes of the
West in their hands. As ever, right made slow progress
against might. Added to the actual weakness of the
American government, some of the seaboard colonies
regarded the Mississippi Valley as an undesirable
dependency, much as Alaska w^as afterwards regarded,
so that Congress was as slow to act in behalf of the
valley as it is slow to act in behalf of suffering Alaska
to-day.

During the administration of the Spanish governors,
corruption in office was practised in the most unblush-
ing v.'ay, indeed both French and Spanish officials,
down to the close of foreign domination, were too
far from home to pay any heed to an accounting.
This, of course, had its effect on the city, and on the

40 Historic Indiana

river tradesmen ; creating very lax morality. To
New Orleans came the river boatmen from Indiana
and the adjoining territory'- with their produce. This
was where they lingered "to see the world" until
their money was squandered.

The more important traders and distinguished
men from " up-the-river " also found in New Orleans
a social circle that was attractive. The charmingly
refined and engaging home life among the upper
classes was most delightful after the crude life of the
wilderness. We are reminded that throughout the
eighty-seven years of foreign control, a steady, if
slender, stream of the best blood of France and Spain
had trickled into Louisiana. The French Revolution
also drove many noble citizens into exile there. From
these elements there grew to be a proud and exclusive,
if limited, circle of citizens in this wilderness city.
Owing to the possession of slaves, and the tropical
climate, luxury and ease of life were most alluring
to this class. A peculiar phase of society was gradually
evolved from these conditions. Social circles possessed
little learning perhaps, but the fine manners of the
gay polite members could not be surpassed on the
continent. French taste, speech, and customs dom-
inated society. After years of control the Spanish
had but one school in the city in 1795. Merchants
and traders from the Ohio or the Wabash were fas-
cinated with the hospitalities of the exporters with
whom they had dealings. They brought home tales
of the rose-embowered balconies overhanging the
shaded streets, and the low rambling houses with
the gay home life within ; where light-hearted Creole
hospitality made New Orleans vsociety famous. As
time went on many elegant house furnishings and

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana 41

European importations of silver, mahogany, silks,
laces, and satins found their way in the return loads,
destined for the homes of the settlers farther up the
rivers.

Finally to this Spanish-ruled French city came vagtie
rumors from overseas, that the great Napoleon, who
was now ruler in France, had ambitions to regain
France's dominion on the Western Continent, and
was wringing the Louisiana province from Spain.
Such a bargain had really been made. Napoleon
ceding Parma in exchange, at Ildefonso, October i,
1800. But the far-off colonists were left in a state of
expectancy, and the Spanish officials were anxious
and uncertain, until the treaty was ratified at Madrid
in 1 80 1. Even then the French did not come over
to take up the government, and all was mystery in
the colony. Napoleon had planned to advance to
the control of the Louisiana territor}^ from his West
India islands, but, being at war with England, that
government's fleet ruled the sea and prevented his
entering into possession. Political complications on
the continent were crowding the French Emperor.
He dared not undertake the recovery of the American
pro\'inces, but he was determined he would not forfeit
Louisiana to Great Britain. Without consulting his
own statesmen, he suddenly opened negotiations with
the commissioners from the United States, for the
cession of that province to the American government.
The American commissioners, ]\Ir. Li\angston and Mr.
Monroe, were in Paris, interceding for free navigation
of the Mississippi, and imploring the First Consul
to sell their government the island of New Orleans,
in order to insure control of the river. In the midst
of these modest negotiations, the American gentle-

42 Historic Indiana

men were astounded when Napoleon proposed to them
the sale of the whole province. This was so far beyond
their instructions, and even their fondest dreams,
that they were dumbfounded. But such a vast ac-
quisition of territory in the heart of the continent
being too great a prize to lose by delay, or waiting
for power from Congress, they closed the sale forth-
with, for sixty million francs, and the fate of the
Mississippi navigation was settled forever. Fiske
says of this dramatic moment that the payment of a
few million dollars, a few strokes of the pen, a discreet
silence until the proper moment, and then prompt
action, secured what twenty years later could not
have been bought with all the treasure of the nation.
Jefferson was President at the time, but the purchase
was closed before he could even have news of the offer.
In the meantime the colonists in the far-off Mississippi
Valley were expecting the French to assume control, not
even being asked by your leave in all these transactions,
which so vitally affected their interests. In the spring,
a French Commandant came over to New Orleans, and
was received in state by the Spanish Governor. With
great pomp, and surrounded b}^ his soldiers in full
uniform, with the whole populace crowded into the
streets, the flag of Spain was lowered and the flag of
France went up. It was only as a matter of form
to mark the transfer of dominion. On the following
December 17th (1803), the French Governor Laussat
delivered the province, in the name of France, to Gov-
ernor Claiborne, the representative of the United
States; and the foreign iiile of Louisiana was over
forever.

It is interesting to note that the northern part of
the new Territory of Louisiana was joined to Indiana

How Spanish Rule Affected Indiana 43

for purposes of government. Governor Harrison and
the Judges of Indiana Territory were the first officials
of the newly purchased district, north of the Oi leans
province, and administered the laws until a perma-
nent Territorial organization was established by the
United States Congress.

Spain was furious when she learned that Napoleon
had violated his pledge not to cede Louisiana to any
other Power and only her weakness prevented her
going to war with France, but upon the great territory
had finally been bestowed a permanent government
with the heritage of freedom and independence. The
traffic from the Indiana country could go down the
rivers un vexed to the sea, and her settlers be relieved
of Spanish interference with trade. For many decades
Spain had possessed parts of the territory of the
United States along the Gulf and was constantly a
power to be reckoned with in any advance in that
direction. Our colonial ambassadors had many times
"cooled their heels" impatiently in the anterooms of
the court at Madrid tr>"ing to obtain justice for the
frontier, yet after all this history the imprint of that
nation was soon effaced. Only along the borders
towards Mexico are there any traces of Spanish lan-
guage and customs. There were few architectural
monuments left to bear record of her sw^ay, the rem-
nants of the population were absorbed by the later
immigration , and only a few Spanish names are extant
in the geography of Indiana or in the families of the
State.

CHAPTER V

AMERICAN CONQUEST

BY the time that the colonies had engaged in
the War for Independence, Kentucky and the
Ohio River had become the front door of the
Northwest Territory; of which Indiana formed a part,
and aU of which was claimed by Virginia. Settlers
from the tidewater colonies were going over the
mountains to the fertile valleys beyond, and some of
these pioneers were looking towards the rich lands of
southern Indiana and Illinois. Many of these daring
frontiersmen were of the best families in the coast
colonies. Among the foremost of these young spirits
must be named George Rogers Clark, whose life be-
came so closely identified with Indiana, and whose
career is the next phase of her histor>'.

Clark was only nineteen when he crossed the moun-
tains to locate lands for himself, and at the same
time act as surveyor for other settlers. Three years
later he writes home, "I have engaged as a deputy
surveyor under Captain Hancock Lee, for to lay out
lands on ye Kentuck, for ye Ohio Company at ye rate
of 8o;£ per year, and ye privilege of taking what land
I want." A richer or more beautiful country had
never been seen in America, he said. After this sur-
veying journey Clark revisited his Virginia home, and

American Conquest 45

in the spring of 1776 returned to Kentuck>% resumed
his residence, and soon became a leader. His bi-
ographer, ]\Ir. English, describes him as brave, ener-
getic, bold, prepossessing in appearance, of pleasing
manner, with all of the qualities calculated to win
a frontier people. The unorganized and chaotic con-
dition of the country needed such a man, and the
man had come. In common with other Virginia
emigrants his first object was the desire to secure
productive lands, but those lands were of no use un-
less the inhabitants were safe from the incursions of
the savages. George Rogers Clark developed into a
political and militar>^ leader; it was he who secured
the organization of Kentucky into a county of Vir-
ginia, and persuaded that State to furnish powder for
the defence of this outlying possession. He had served
in the Dunmore war, and now he organized and com-
manded the irregular militia, for the defence of the
meagre settlements against the savages, and did most
effective work in their protection. At the same time,
his alert mind grasped the situation of the whole North-
west. The Revolutionary War was in progress, and the
bloodthirsty raids into Kentucky by the Indians were
prompted by the British, as well as from their own
hatred of the settlers. The order had gone out:

"It is the King's command that you should direct the
Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton to assemble as many of
the Indians of his district as he conveniently can, and
placing a proper person at their head to conduct their
parties, and restrain them from committing violence on
the well-affected, inoffensive inhabitants, employ them in
making a diversion and exciting an alarm on the frontier
of Virginia and Pennsylvania." ^

1 Dunn, J. P. , History of Indiatta, page 131, from Haldimand Coll.

46 Historic Indiana

To make them more docile, Hamilton made them an
offer of a reward for the greatest number of scalps
brought in, from the heads of Americans.^ The
price was one poimd, in British money, for the scalp
of each woman or child, or for them as prisoners;
three poimds for a man's scalp, but no reward for
him as a prisoner. They paid five pounds for young
women prisoners, and secured by this means some of
the comeliest daughters of the frontier as their \4ctims.
It was to put an end to this nefarious warfare that
Clark and his compatriots enlisted. They were well
aware that they had to face the combined forces of
the British at the military posts and their savage
allies. There is no reason to think that these men
did not have visions of securing territory from the
British, as well as stopping the Indian forays on their
settlements. Certainly Clark moved directly fonvard
along this line. He felt that w4th a few valiant men
he could accomplish much more for the government
than to join the army in the East. Nothing but ex-
pedition and secrecy could give success to the enter-
prise. Mr. Clark went to Virginia, took the Gov-
ernor, Patrick Henry, and Jefferson, Wyeth, and Mason
into his confidence, and secured the necessary au-
thority to raise troops, a fund of 1200 pounds in
money, and promises of land grants to the troops if
successful.

Clark had left Kentuclo>^ in October. By the fol-
lowing January, 1778, he had secured his authority
and instructions, appointed his officers in Kentucky
to enlist men, enrolled a little handful of 150 men in
Virginia, and returned down the Ohio before six
months had elapsed. In Kentucky the frontier re-

> Cockrum, Wm. M., A Pioneer History oj Indiana, page 26.

r^<

^^^^^r/^nt::^ f*'^y^ '^'^^'^ ^^'^/O

r»t

^*^^^^^ ^!b^=irr-fi^^;(^ .^j^-^^^^X^^^.^- /t:^^^ «^,^./<? -^v*-.^--' ^.-^^

Colonel Clark's Private Letter of Instructions from the Governor of Virginia.

Original in the possession of the author.

/^ «^ ^ ^/t^<^^^,^^^^ ^t^^J^^fi^i^ <^^ir-2ti^ ».^*^<^ ;^rE5i2^

<,^ -*-r^

^^^;, /,^r,/^ *r^<^,.— ^

<;«^

Y^^nU^

tiffif^r*

XJL^ ^*-

»y;tf» r^»-« .

.ff,^^^^^^^^

tMA^OcL/t^ «/^

(^^

/t^rt^^^£^ >

Colonel Clark's Private Letter of Instructions from the Governor of Virginia.
Original in the possession of the author.

American Conquest 47

emits joined him. All were volunteers, clad in buck-
skin, and armed with their own flint-lock rifles and
tomahawks. Officers and men were guiltless of uni-
form or badge. Loyalty to their leader, and hatred
of Indians, was the bond which held them together
and spurred them forward toward danger. By the
last of May the little band of soldiers and followers
dropped down the river to the falls of the Ohio, and
encamped on Com Island. Here they left their fami-
lies and a guard, ha\4ng only one hxmdred and seventy-
five men to accomplish the great undertaking which
they had in hand. Clark moved quickly forward on
his desperate enterprise. In his account of this very
dramatic journey in his own memoir, he says: "One
bright June morning in 1778 our forces embarked
in the boats prepared to transport them down the
river. We left the little island, ran about a mile up
the river in order to gain the main channel; and shot
the Falls at the very moment of the sun being under
a great eclipse, which caused various apprehensions
among the superstitious. As I knew that British spies
were kept on the river, below the town of the Illinois,
I had resolved to march part of the way by land."J
Running the boats four days and nights, with relays
of oarsmen, they landed three leagues below the mouth
of the Tennessee, ran up into a small creek, and rested
over-night. Not having enough men to leave a guard,
they impressed some hunters, who came along the
river from Kaskaskia, into their service as guides,
and started across the Illinois country to that post,
one hundred and twenty miles, through swamp and
wilderness. Clark's warriors had no wagons, pack

•Extract from Memoirs of Gen. Geo. Rogers Clark, to the
Governor of Virginia. Dillon, page 121.

48 Historic Indiana

horses, or other means of conveyance for their muni-
tions of war or baggage.

Continuing Clark's own report of the campaign to
the Governor of Virginia, w^e read ^ :

"On the evening of the Fourth of July we got within three
miles of the town of Kaskaskia, having a river of the same
name to cross before we could reach the town. After
making ourselves ready for anything that might happen,
we marched after night to a farm that was on the same
side of the river, about a mile above the town, took the
family prisoners, and found plenty of boats to cross in,
and in two hours transported ourselves to the other shore
with the greatest silence. I immediately divided my
little army into two divisions, ordered one to surround
the town, with the other I broke into the fort, secured
the governor, Mr. Rochblave, in his bed, in fifteen minutes
had every street blocked. Sent runners through the
town ordering the people on pain of death to keep to their
houses, which they observed, and before daylight had
the whole town disarmed. Thus were the British dis-
possessed forever of this important military post, and of
the old historic town of Kaskaskia, about which lingered
so much romantic interest."

Bowman, one of the commanders, says that Roche-
blave, the British commandant, was made prisoner,
with all his instructions received from time to time,
from the several governors at Quebec, to set the In-
dians upon the Americans with great rewards for our
scalps.

This is the simple recital of the night surprise and
bloodless capture of the post, as told by the comman-
ders. One historian says that Clark had no cannon
or means of assaulting the fort, and therefore must

' Extract from Memoirs of Gen. Geo. Rogers Clark, to the Gov-
ernor of Virginia. Dillon, page 124.

American Conquest 49

use stratagem. One of his aids and a small detach-
ment of men entered the fort, and found an American
within who conducted them to the very bedchamber
of the sleeping governor. The first notice that Roche-
blave had that he was a prisoner was Simon Kenton
tapping him on the shoulder to awaken him. Later
the commandant was sent to Virginia and his goods
confiscated. Another pretty stor>' has always been
told of this night; that there was a ball being given
by the officers of the fort, and that the gay Creoles,
both men and girls, were surprised at the dance, when
Clark and his men looked in on them. He had placed
his men on guard, secured the exits, and was calmly
leaning against the doorpost, looking at the dancers,
when an Indian lying on the floor of the entry, looking
up, saw a new pale face and sprang to his feet with
the war-whoop. As the dancers rushed towards the
door they encountered the commander, but Clark,
standing unmoved and with unchanging face, grimly
bade them continue their dancing, but to remember
that they now danced imder the flag of Virginia and
not Great Britain. The story is so like the life at the
French posts and the cool composure of Colonel Clark,
that it is welcome as a reflection of the life and the
persons concerned, whether true or not.

The fort, inmates, and stores secured, Clark sent
a messenger back to Com Island to give the good
news of a bloodless conquest to those left behind.
He then addressed himself to allaying the fears of
the inhabitants of the post. The French people
fully expected to be at least exiled from their for-
est homes, and begged, through their good priest,
only not to have their families separated, and to be
allowed to take with them some provisions and

50 Historic Indiana

clothing. To this Colonel Clark says that he replied
vigorously :

"Do you mistake us for savages? My countrymen dis-
dain to make war on helpless innocents. It was to prevent
the horrors of Indian butchery upon our wives and chil-
dren that we have taken arms and penetrated this remote
stronghold of British and Indian barbarity; and not the
despicable prospect of plunder. I fui'ther told them that
the King of France had united his powerful arms with
those of the Americans. . . . That their religion would
not be a source of disagreement, as all religions were
regarded with equal respect by American laws. And
now to prove my sincerity you will inform your fellow-
citizens that they are at liberty to conduct themselves
as usual without the least apprehension. . . . Your
friends who are in confinement shall be immediately
released."*

He soon made friends and aUies of the impression-
able French and easily attached them to his standard,
as they were never in sympathy with their British
rulers. Meantime Colonel Clark's assistant. Captain
Bowman, with a detachment of thirty mounted men,
was sent immediately up the Mississippi River the
very night of Fort Kaskaskia's capture to surprise and
take possession of the three other Httle towns, Prairie
de Roche, St. Phillips, and Cahokia. Weary as they
were, these determined patriots, without sleep for
three more nights, secretly and swiftly marched to,
and seized all the hamlets; and within ten days ad-
ministered the oath of allegiance to three hundred
inhabitants of those towns, where Captain Bowman
remained to retain possession.

> Memoirs from the copy in William H. English's Conquest of
the Northwest, page 480. Indianapolis, 1896.

American Conquest 51

Although the British claimed dominion at this
time, all the inhabitants of the posts, were still French
and their dislike of English rule greatly facilitated
Clark's taking peaceful possession. Bowman says
that as the towns of white people in the Illinois country
east of the Wabash had now been secured Clark was
looking with great anxiety to securing Post Vincennes,
on the east bank of that river, which he regarded
as the most important of all. Father Gibault, the
beloved and honored priest of the district, who had
labored with his little flock for twenty years, was ap-
proached by Colonel Clark with overtures to conduct
a peaceable occupation of Vincennes. He knew that
the English Governor Abbott had left Vincennes a
short time before, leaving the fort and town virtually
in the possession of the French settlers. The priest
offered to tr>^ to secure the feality of the post with-
out a conflict; especially, as he could carr>^ them the
news of the new American alliance with France. Ten
days after Major Clark's occupancy of Kaskaskia
Father Gibault, a French gentleman named Lafont,
and a retinue pro\'ided by Clark, which included one
of his spies to insure fair play to the American forces,
made the journey across the prairies of Illinois to the
Wabash River, and accomplished the conciliation of
the inhabitants of the post at Vincennes. They ad-
ministered the oath of allegiance in the little log chapel,
raised an American flag for the first time on Indiana
territory, garrisoned the fort, and returned to Colonel
Clark with the joyful news of the peaceful occupation,
by the first of August! Every plan had worked out
with amazing success. A bold commander with his
handful of men, and a peace-loving missionary, had won
an area fit for an empire. Captain Helm was placed

52 Historic Indiana

in command at Vincennes. By securing the sworn
allegiance of "Tobacco's son — The Grand Door of the
Wabash," a Piankeshaw chief who ruled the tribes
along the river, he soon extended the same amicable
relations to the Indian towns up the Wabash, as far
as the Post Ouiatanon. The whole campaign so far
had been a bloodless conquest.

After the British posts were thus secured, and the
French habitants so peacefully reconciled to American
control. Colonel Clark spent all his energies on making
treaties with the surrounding Indians, who had been
allied with the British. He showed great tact and
sagacity as well as a consummate knowledge of the
Indian nature in these negotiations.

When the marvellous news of the peaceful oc-
cupation of all the western posts reached Virginia,
it created the wildest enthusiasm. The Governor
communicated the tidings to the membefs of the Con-
tinental Congress, and planned to accede to Colonel
Clark's urgent appeals for help, by sending new troops
to the far off wilderness forts.

Two months later the British governor, Hamilton
of Detroit, learning that the "American Rebels" had
captured the Western outposts, enlisted the services of
the Indians in his cause, and with a force of fn-e hun-
dred men of both races, four hundred of whom were sav-
ages, came across Lake Erie and down the Wabash,
on the six-hundred -mile journey, to recapture the lost
posts. As the fort at Vincennes was so miserably
weak, and manned by the French habitants, with
only two Americans, it was obliged to capitulate on
the 15th of December, 1778. But Hamilton did not
pursue his advantage and push on to Kaskaskia, as
the indomitable Clark would have done with such

American Conquest 53

a force. He contented himself with sending Indian
forces to the Ohio River to capture any troops that
might be sent to Clark's relief. By intercepting all
messengers, Hamilton prevented Colonel Clark from re-
ceiving any word of the recapture of Fort Vincennes
by the British until January, when some of the
Vincennes men deserted and crossed to Clark's post at
Kaskaskia. Later, Colonel Vigo, a Spanish merchant
travelling from Vincennes, gave Clark all the details
of the strength of the post, and the news that Ham-
ilton had gone back to Detroit to prepare for a spring
campaign. He intended to recover the whole country
from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi River. Of
course, the Httle bands on the Mississippi were dis-
tressed at the recapture by the British of Fort Vin-
cennes, and immediately set about preparations for
what proved to be the most spectacular relief expe-
dition in the historv^ of border wars.

Clark's records state that on the first of Februar>^
men were put to work building a large boat, called
a galley or bateau. This boat was to take army
supplies and a detachment of troops down the Kas-
kaskia and Mississippi, and up the Ohio and Wabash
to a designated point below Vincennes, probably
the mouth of White River, there to await further
orders. The vessel w^as put in condition for use in
a few days, and loaded with two four-pound cannon,
four swivels, ammunition, pro\'isions, and other army
supplies. Nothing equal to this craft had ever been
seen at Kaskaskia before, and this added to the already
intense military excitement. On the fourth of Feb-
ruary, The Willing, which was the name given the
boat, dropped down the river, amid the cheers of the
forty-six men on board, and the applause of four or

54 Historic Indiana

five companies of soldiers on shore, and most of the
men, women, and children of Kaskaskia. After the
boat had left on its circuitous water route to Vin-
cennes, the balance of the little force of soldiers, num-
bering less than two hundred in all, started on foot
across the country.

It was one hundred and sixty miles to the point
where they were to join those who had gone by boat.
The troops going overland had some pack-horses,
but no tents, and the whole of this remarkable cam-
paign was made in the worst possible February
weather. It rained constantly, and the men were
without shelter, or any suitable place to cook or rest.
The journals left by the commander and his aide give
a most graphic picture of the mid-winter journey. They
tell of the constant rain, and the submerged country
which only the early settlers, who have seen the Wa-
bash out of its banks, can realize. He says that, after
receiving a lecture and absolution from the priest,
they crossed the Kaskaskia River with one hundred
and seventy men. For a week, they marched over
plains covered with water, and encountered incredible
difficulties, until they came to the Little Wabash,
which was swollen to an expanse of five miles. "I
viewed this sheet of water," says Clark, "with dis-
trust, but immediately set to work, without holding
any consultation or suffering any suggestions, and
ordered a pirogue to be built immediately." ^ In a
day it was finished and the baggage and the men
ferried over the stream. The horses swam across and
were reladened. For seven more days it was their
lot to march through water, which in many places
was three and four feet deep, or was still deeper where

' Extract from Memoirs.

American Conquest 55

they had to swim. The countr>^ was so drowned that
no game was obtainable. The men were famished
for food and growing weak and miserable. Stopping
on a rise in the ground to rest, they made a rude canoe
and sent men out in it to steal boats from the shores.
The French volunteers wanted to return to Kaskaskia,
and the boats were full of the sick and exhausted.
Many times the indomitable Clark resorted to solemn
or frivolous expedients to hearten his men and urge
them on. Once when the water was appallingly deep
and swift he set the little Irish drummer on the shoul-
ders of a good-natured six-foot Virginian sergeant,
and ordered an advance, with the drummer beating
the charge from his lofty perch, while Clark, sword
in hand, gave the command to forward march. Elated
and amused the men followed and, holding their rifles
above their heads, they reached the dry land. A
canoe of Indian squaws coming up to town was dis-
covered. The men gave chase, took the canoe, on
board of which, it is told, was near half a quarter of
buffalo, some com, tallow, kettles, etc. This was a
grand prize. Broth was immediately made and served
out to the weakly with care.

Plodding along through further swamps and swollen
streams, after eighteen days of this dreary, cold, dis-
heartening, dangerous marching, they finally reached
a spot of high ground overlooking the post.

"Our situation was now critical [writes Clark]. No
possibility of retreat in case of defeat, and six hun-
dred men in the fort. Our crew on the galley would
now have been a re-enforcement of immense magnitude,
but it had not come. The idea of being made prisoners
was foreign to almost every man, as they expected torture

56 Historic Indiana

at the hands of savage allies, if they fell into their hands.
Nothing but the most daring conduct would insure success." ^

Colonel Clark now rapidly made his preparations for
the assault. He wrote and sent by a Frenchman , whom
they had captured out hunting, a friendly proclama-
tion to the French habitants, telling them that he
was going to attack with a large force and warning
them to stay in their houses on pain of death. Then
with flying banners and many evolutions on the edge
of the forest he deceived the villagers with the idea
of great numbers of troops, and they gave no warning
to the soldiers within the post. As dark came on,
he divided his Httle troop and silently advanced. One
detachment surrounded the Httle French town ; the
other swiftly advanced on the fort, completely sur-
prising the gaiTison by a rifle attack from behind
trees, palings, and huts. So keen and deadly was
the marksmanship of the concealed Americans that
in a little while no Britisher dared man the cannon
in the blockhouses. By morning the tide of battle
was in their favor, and they stopped long enough to
eat the first breakfast they had had in a week. Clark
sent a vigorous and intimidating invitation to the
fort to surrender, but it was declined by Hamilton
and the fight was resumed. "These frontiersmen
were at that time the best marksmen known to the
world, and at these distances, from sixty to one hun-
dred yards, a silver dollar was as large a target as they
cared for."^ Whenever a figure appeared at a port-
hole, there was one less defender within the fort.
Naturally the British became discouraged, and a truce
was asked for. After a parley between the officers,

> Extract from Memoirs.

' Dunn, J. P., History of Indiana, page 146.

American Conquest 57

Clark modified his terms of an unconditional surrender,
and required that they surrender as prisoners of war
with all stores and supplies.

The fort capitulated ; the little army of frontiersmen
had conquered with the wounding of only one man.
The weary march and unequal task had ended in
extinguishing the claim of British dominion on the
Wabash. On February 25, 1779, the American flag
floated over the post; and two days afterward The
Willing, ladened with the other troops, arrived. They
were too late for the storming of the fort, but in good
fighting trim for the very exciting seizure, two days
later, of the British re-enforcements coming down
the river from Detroit. This picturesque encounter
of the British fleet of canoes, filled with red-coated
soldiers and their naked savage allies, surprised at a
bend of the wilderness stream by the hardy band of
Kentucky pioneers, clad in buckskin and armed with
their own keen rifles, was a dramatic scene that has
never been surpassed on the Wabash. The surprise was
complete, and when the British surrendered it meant
that they gave up the whole vast interior of the United
States. It was Colonel Clark's great desire to push on
and capture Detroit, and perhaps secure Canada; but
his own handful of troops were worn out, and con-
gressional scrip, wherewith troops were paid, was held
at half its face value. No re-enforcements were sup-
plied from the East, and the expedition, greatly to
his sorrow, was never resumed. Had he been allowed
to gain possession of Canada, the United States could
have held it when peace came.

There was great rejoicing in Virginia and all of the
Eastern colonies when the news finally travelled over
the mountains that the Western outposts were in the

58 Historic Indiana

hands of the American forces. The results of this
campaign were far-reaching in the settlement with
Great Britain four years later, when the final treaty
of peace was ratified. As a consequence, all the ter-
ritory between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes be-
came United States possession. In his desolate old age
General Clark said, "I have given the United States
half of the territory they possess, and they suffer me
to remain in poverty."

Colonel Clark returned to the Falls of the Ohio at the
close of the victorious summer of 1779, where he after-
wards founded the present city of Louisville. Until
the close of the war with England he and his volunteers
were hard pressed, protecting the frontier from the
savages, who were still incited by the British to make
raids on the inhabitants. After that war was over,
he was for years at the head of the territorial forces
who were still called out to contend in bitter warfare
against the Indians. Indeed it was a trying time on
the frontier. It is known that during the period be-
tween the close of the War of the Revolution and the
War of 181 2, more than two thousand men, women,
and children w^ere carried into captivity from Ken-
tucky and the Northwest Territory! To all these
heartrending separations, and terrors that dire dis-
asters were surely being visited upon the loved ones
thus rudely torn from their families, there was the
added sorrow of uncertainty, for only a tithe of the
captured ones were ever heard of afterward by their
families. Many of those who were carried oft" were
burned at the stake, after being scalped, while the
savages gleefully danced around the slow fire. All
of the historians concede that there was no more
valuable service rendered to the nation, in the War

American Conquests 59

for Independence, than that of these knights of the
frontier and their commander. Winsor says that the
conquest not only dispossessed England but ruled
out the pretensions of Spain and France, who claimed
all of the territory from Louisiana to Quebec. "Actual
present possession prevailed," says Mr. English, "when
the boundaries were finally established, . . . But
for General Clark's services, and certainly that of his
little band of soldiers, the boundary of the States in
the Northwest might have been the crest of the
Alleghanies."

Indiana's historian, Mr. Dunn, pays fitting personal
tribute to General Clark when he says: "Of all those
who preceded or followed him, La Salle is the only one
who can be compared to him in the wonderful com-
binations of genius, activity, and courage that lifted
him above his fellows." ^

Professor Hinsdale gives recognition of the impor-
tance of the acquisition of this great territory of which
Indiana forms a part: "Next to the planting of English
civilization on the Atlantic slope in the first part of
the seventeenth century, the planting of American
civilization in the Great West in the second part of
the eighteenth century is the most impressive event
in our history." 2

' Dunn, J. P., History of Indiana, page 176.
2 Hinsdale, Professor, The Dial, 1900.

CHAPTER VI

THE PIONEERS

WHEN the very earliest adventurers travelled
westward from the Atlantic colonies in the
quest for knowledge of the great unknown
country, the Indians sent a "speaking bark" from tribe
to tribe, passing the word westward, that a new race
of pale-faces, neither French nor Spanish, was making
its appearance on the western slopes of the Alleghanies.
After General Clark and his company of southern
pioneers had wrested the west from the British, many
of his little band of soldiers returned to the Territor>%
and took up lands, which later were granted them
by the government for their services. Following them
down the Ohio, or on up the Wabash, came others
from the South. These men selected homesteads
along those rivers, or their tributaries, wherever there
was a sightly spot that could be reached by water
transportation.

This process was not rapid. In 1787, there were
only four hundred Americans within the borders of
what' is now the State of Indiana. The lands were
not ceded by treaty, until 1804. But every little while
a quaint flatboat would come floating down from
Fort Pitt, or be poled over from the Kentucky shore,

and land a family, with its handful of household goods

The Pioneers 6i

and bare necessities of life, on the banks. Then thei''
would walk, until they found a site that answered their
purpose, and another home in the wilderness would be
begun. The French settlers had always clustered
around the military' posts, but each pioneer of English
speech built his solitary cabin on his own homestead,
in the forest.

Knowing all that they afterwards passed through,
it impresses us as a pathetic picture, this, of the primi-
tive craft, drifting down the wilderness rivers, ladened
to the water's edge with their nondescript freight and
their groups of courageous humanity. They were ex-
posed at any turn in the stream, to the danger of the
merciless arrows of savages in ambush, or pursuing
canoe. If the newcomers journeyed overland, and
most of these walked the entire way, the road was
even more perilous. A pioneer said that he knew of
few forms of exertion that so thoroughly tested the
mettle of men, as journeying across the wilderness.
There was nowhere visible the slightest sign that
others had ever preceded them, it was all an unbroken
virgin forest. The trees were veritable monarchs of
the ages. The wind moaned through them; and their
dead leaves, of the years before, rustled uncannily
under the tread, as they went on and on. Or, warned
by native guides, they descended into dark and gloomy
ravines, dank with decaying vegetation, to escape the
observation of a passing band of savages. It was
surely no holiday jaunt. Only the brave started,
and only the brave and strong got through. When a
newly married couple, or a family, had decided to
go to the frontier, their departure meant a long fare-
well and occasioned many heartaches. As the time
really arrived, and the dear ones were to leave, the

fi2 Historic Indiana

kinsfolk and neighbors assembled, prayers were said,
and hymns sung, such as:

" When shall we meet again,
Meet ne'er to sever? "

Then heart-rending good-byes were said, and the
wagon creaked off over the trail toward the west.
Doctor Ezra Ferris, minister of the Duck Creek Church,
has left a graphic account of the journey of his father's
family from New England. He says:

"A short time before my father started on his journey
to the west, and after he had determined to do so, a ser-
mon was preached at his home on the occasion, from Gene-
sis xii., i: "Now the Lord said unto Abraham, Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." On
the twentieth of September, 1789, according to previous
arrangement, my father left his native village (Stanwick,
Conn.) ; and separated himself and family from all the
associations and endearing ties which had been formed
during a life of fifty years, to seek for himself and them
a home in the western wilderness. Though I was a boy
of only six years of age, I have a very distinct and vivid
recollection of the affecting occasion. The enterprise at
that time was so novel and daring, it drew together a
vast crowd of people to witness the parting scene. Some
feared we would fall a sacrifice to savage cruelty; others
predicted that we would all be drowned in descending the
western rivers. We went down the road on the north
side of Long Island Sound to the City of New York. Thence
we passed over into New Jersey, travelled through that
State and Pennsylvania, over the mountains, down the
Youghiogheny, thence down the Monongahela to Pittsburg,
thence down the Ohio to Fort Miami, at which our family
arrived two months and twenty days after starting on the

A Typical Pioneer Scene.
Redrawn by Marie Goth from an old print.

The Pioneers 63

journey. In approaching the shore we were met by a
crowd of smiling faces, to bid us a hearty welcome, and
offer us all the assistance circumstances would admit of.
An apartment in the fort (of about sixteen feet square)
was assigned each family, in which for a time they resided.
There were about thirty or more families. Rest was only
temporary. Much was to be done to provide for coming
wants, and that too in the face of danger. The difficulties
were, however, all overcome; who dares to prescribe
bounds to what human industry and enterprise may
accomplish."^

This was a typical journey from the south and east,
to the Wabash countr>\ They camped under the stars
when night shut down, and often wolves howled
about them. Well-to-do families, coming over the
mountains from Virginia and Carolina, moved all
of their household goods on pack-horses ; even bedsteads
and bureaus were thus transported. Occasionally
a settler would bring out a cow, which must also walk
all the way by the wagon side ; as at least one maiden
did from Carolina, who was too energetic to be content
in the slow-moving wain.

Many little bands were surprised by skulking
savages, and murdered or scalped by their own camp-
fires.

The forest through which they journeyed afforded
them plenty of game, and beautiful fish were caught
in the streams. In the fall, wild turkey, ducks,
and pigeons swarmed in the sky. As the emigrants
went, they "blazed" their way by chopping the bark
from one side of the trees to guide their return, or
mark the way for any one who should come after
them. Upon reaching a desirable location, the new

' From an old letter.

64 Historic Indiana

settlers camped out until they felled trees for a cabin
home.

With the help of neighbors, the logs were laid up,
notched, and saddled; hand-riven clap-boards were
laid on for the roof, and fastened down by weight poles
and wooden pegs, never a piece of iron to be had for
construction. Nails and hardware were entirely lack-
ing on the frontier. The great fireplaces, five to eight
feet wide, and the "cat and clay" chimney were built
of stones or sticks, and plastered with clay, and a
wide clay hearth was made. The door was rived out
of logs, by hand, and battened together with similar
boards. This strong barricade was then hung on
wooden hinges, and fastened by a heavy wooden latch,
which was lifted from the outside by a leather thong
made of buffalo or deer hide. This was the latch-
string which proverbially hung out, as a token of
welcome, and was pulled to the inside only at night,
or when Indians were lurking about. At such times
the strong door served as a real protection from the
invaders.

A puncheon floor was hewed and laid, and the
shelter considered complete. Later the chinks be-
tween the logs would be filled up before winter set
in, and when it was safe from Indians the window
openings were cut in the logs and they were " glazed "
with greased paper or deer hide. Some of the log
taverns and homes were built two stories high, but
this was unusual. The rustic logs often put forth
leaves, and the outside of the cabin would be
covered with green, making a fine screen from the
Indians.

John Finley, a pioneer poet, in terms as old-fash-
ioned as his theme, is always quoted as giving in his

The Spinning-wheel was the Stringed Instrument of the Housenold.

The Pioneers 65

Hoosier Nest the most vivid description of the sur-
roundings of the "squatter" on new lands:

"The emigrant is soon located —
In Hoosier life initiated —
Erects a cabin in the woods,
Wherein he stores his household goods.
Ensconced in this, let those who can
Find out a truly happier man.
The little youngsters rise around him.
So numerous that they quite astound him.
I 'm told, in riding somewhere west,
A stranger found a Hoosier's nest.
And fearing he might be benighted
He 'hailed the house,' and then alighted.

The Hoosier met him at the door.
The salutations soon were o'er ;
He took the stranger's horse aside
And to a sturdy sapling tied.
Then having stripped the saddle off,
He fed him in a sugar trough.

The stranger stooped to enter in
The entrance, closing with a pin.
And manifested strong desire
To seat him by the log-heap fire.

Invited shortly to partake
Of venison, milk, and johnny-cake,
The stranger made a hearty meal,
And glances round the room would steal.
One side was lined with divers garments,
The other spread with skins of varmints ;
Dried pumpkins overhead were strung,
Where venison hams in plenty hung;

66 Historic Indiana

Two rifles placed above the door,
Three dogs lay stretched upon the floor.
In short, the domicile was rife
With specimens of Hoosier life.

Erelong the cabin disappears,

A spacious mansion next he rears;

His fields seem widening by stealth.

An index of increasing wealth;

And when the hives of Hoosiers swarm,

To each is given a noble farm.*

In this crude fashion the best of the settlers were
obliged to begin life in the wilderness, for the distances
were so great, and means of transportation so primitive
and slow, that no one brought much with him.

There was, at an early period of the settlements, an
inferior kind of land title, which was known as a
tomahawk right. This claim was designated by dead-
ening a few trees near the head of a spring, and marking
the bark of some of the trees on the boundaries with
the initials of the person who thus set up a claim to the
tract. Sometimes these rights had to be verified, or
paid for, if they were very desirable; but it is certain
that they were bought and sold, for a long time. The
entry price of regular government land was generally
$1.25 per acre.

Some of the early settlers came over the mountains
in the spring, and raised a crop of corn, leaving their
families at home until a crop was assured. An old
pioneer used to tell how his father had brought his
wife and children with him when he first came,- and
the corn-meal gave out six weeks before a new^ crop

' Indianapolis Journal, Carriers' Address, 1833.

The Pioneers 67

was ripe. For that length of time they had to live
without bread. The grown people told the children
to call lean venison and the breast of the wild turkeys
bread ; the flesh of the bear was called meat. Alas !
this artifice, he says, did not deceive the stomach;
and for some time they were sickly, being tormented
with a sense of hunger. The little ones watched the
growth of the potato tops, pumpkins, and corn. They
recall to this day the delicious taste of the roasted
potatoes; and later the young corn, when they were
permitted to pull the new ears. When the corn was
hard enough to grate for johnny-cakes, they became
healthy, vigorous, and contented. As soon as possible
the settlers brought cattle and swine from the older
settlements, either driving overland or floating down
the river on flatboats. The live stock contributed
greatly to their comfort.

There were few household implements, or farm tools,
in any cabin home. The shovel plow was the only
cultivator. The mortar, in which they pounded the
corn into hominy, was made by burning out a hollow
in a near-by stump. The corn, for meal bread, was
crushed between two flat stones, under a weight.
When the corn was still green, they grated and dried the
pulp to use for hoe-cake. The trenchers and bowls
for kitchen use were hewn from sections of maple logs,
and then burned and scraped smooth. Long-handled
gourds, of every shape and size, were raised and dried
for dippers and drinking cups. Never a cool sparkling
spring or cider barrel but had the useful gourd hanging
by it. Many of the poorer immigrants, who had walked
all of the way from their old homes, had but a single
skillet in their cabin. Often they made pots of clay,
with their own hands, that served until they could have

68 Historic Indiana

iron ones. In the more comfortable homes, the cooking
was done in iron kettles, hung from a crane, which
had been built into the walls of the capacious fireplace.
The baking was done in a covered skillet called a "spi-
der." This utensil stood upon feet and was heated
on the hearth with hickory coals piled under and over
it; no flame was suffered to blaze around the baker.

The apples that were roasted before the fire, and
the potatoes and corn which were "roasted in their
jackets" in the ashes, had a flavor fit for an epicure.
The hoe-cake or johnny-cake was baked on a smooth
board, in front of the fire, and there the meatw^as roasted
on a spit or broiled on the coals. When a family be-
came prosperous, they would have a Dutch oven built
of bricks, or of clay and boulders. In shape these
were long mound-like affairs, and sometimes had great
caldrons set in the top, for making apple butter or
rendering lard. Fire was built in this oven, and when
it was thoroughly heated, the fire was scraped out,
the space was swept and garnished, and the rows of
bread and pies were put in to bake. There were few
cook-stoves, or stoves of any kind, within the State
before 1825 to 1830. The furniture of the cabins was
all made of riven logs, put together with wooden pins.
The bedsteads were made by driving posts in the floor
and pegs into the walls ; from these, cords or straps of
deer hide were drawn, over and across, in place of
springs. This network held the pine boughs and
afterwards the great feather beds, which were the pride
of every housekeeper's heart. Many of the children
born on the frontier were rocked in a poplar trough,
such as were made for use in sugar camps, and used as
a cradle. Lamps were modelled of clay, in the form
of cups, fastened on a plate. These were filled with

The Heroism of the Pioneer Women,
From an old print.

*-*

The Pioneers 69

bear's-grease, and the wick was made from cotton raised
in the door-yard.

A few dishes of pewi;er-ware brought from home, and
some hickory chairs with sphnt bottoms, were possessed
by the more luxurious families, but all had stools and
benches, rived out of logs, to sit at table. Every
household had its rude loom, and spinning-wheels.
Every woman was a weaver, and each householder
tanned his own leather, moulded his own bullets, and
fashioned his own axe-handles. The dress of the
frontier was home-made from centre to circumference.
The hunting shirt, breeches, and leggins were made of
buckskin, ornamented with fringe of the same. The
moccasins were made of the same material, or of the
heavier buffalo hide. This foot covering was always
made by the people themselves, and was often orna-
mented with beads in the Indian fashion. In winter
the hair of rabbits, squirrels, or deer was placed inside
the shoe, for warmth. Buckskin was chosen for
clothing, not only because it was available, but because
it resisted nettles, briars, the bites of the rattlesnake,
and was, as an outside garment, an excellent pro-
tection against the cold. Even deerskin had its draw-
backs and discomforts, for when it was wet, as must
often be the case, the garment would draw up a third
of its size, and become stiff and unwieldy. As soon
as they could protect a flock of sheep from the wolves,
the pioneer had woollen clothing as well. The women
made their own soap, moulded their own candles,
cured the meats, churned the butter, as soon as they
had cows, and wove all of the garments worn by the
whole household. They wove linsey-woolsey — the
warp of flax and the woof of wool — for winter garments,
and tow-linen for summer. The raising of flax was

70 Historic Indiana

one of the earliest industries in Indiana. Cotton-seed
was brought from the South, by the Carolina women,
but it would not reach the perfection that it attained
in the warmer States. The women spun both wool
and cotton yarn for knitting the stockings of the whole
household — a task which was eternally in evidence.
No one could sit down and hold their hands in that
time. 'Coonskin caps and buffalo overcoats formed
the outer covering for the men. The women wore
shawls, of their own weaving, and the head was
covered with a thick quilted hood in winter, and a sun-
bonnet in summer. This was universal. When a
young girl was married, she put on caps, and henceforth
her tresses were covered. All wore mittens made of
squirrel or beaver skins, tanned by. themselves and
stitched by the women of the family.

Horse mills were set up in crudest fashion, as soon
as wheat was raised; but as early as possible, in every
neighborhood where there was available water-power,
one of the settlers would build a dam, and start a mill,
either for manufacturing woollens, or grinding grain,
or both. The people rode from ten to thirty miles
to these mills, and often had to wait three or four days
and nights for their grist. The grain was brought in
bags on horseback and the boys or men camped about
the mill, visiting, playing games, and telling stories
until their turn came. The miller took "toll" for his
work, generally at the rate of one fourth of the grain
ground, and every man had to bolt his own flour
from the chaff. From that fact you could always
tell when a man had been to mill. In An Old Settler's
Story Riley gives us a graphic picture of going to mill :

' ' The Settlement was n't nothing but a baby in them days,
far I mind 'at old Ezry Sturgiss had jist got his saw and

The Pioneers 71

griss-millin' agoin', and Bills had come along and claimed
to know all about millin', and got a job with him; and
millers in them times was wanted worse 'n congressmen,
and reckon got better wages; fer afore Ezry built, ther
wasn't a dust o' meal er flour to be had short o' the White
Water, better'n sixty mild from here, the way we had to
fetch it. And they used to come to Ezry's fer ther grindin'
as fer as that; and one feller I knowed come from what
used to be the old South Fork, over eighty mild from
here, and in the wettest, rainyest weather; and mud!
law!"i

Every settler tried to have horses, and a horse-thief
was punished by beating or death, if caught. The
Indians soon learned the luxury of having a beast of
burden, other than their squaws, although they had
never thought of taming or training the buffalo or any
wild animal to work for them; but they were always
stealing the horses of the white men. Where there
were no roads, wagons were little known. There was
only one in the Territory in 1776 and for many years
horseback was the general mode of travel. There be-
ing no bridges, every stream had to be forded if it
was too wide for a tree to span it. In case a tree
had been felled across the creek the horses must be
trained to "toe the log" across the stream. The
few who made themselves wagons, as time passed,
made their harness of strips of deer hide and hickory
bark, and the horse-collars were braided of corn husks.
But horses were very scarce, and two men would often
"ride and tie" on their way to town. That is, one
would ride a mile or two, then tie the horse and walk
on. When the other man came up, he would untie
the horse and ride until he overtook his companion.
When a man and his wife went on a journey, she rode

« Riley, J. W., Pipes of Pan, page loi. Indianapolis, 1889.

72 Historic Indiana

behind on the same horse; generally both carried a
young child in their arms. All of these crude substi-
tutions for our everyday conveniences make us realize
what frontier life, of necessity, was.

In those days a new flame must be made by striking
fire from two flints, or a flint and a piece of steel. The
spark dropping on some inflammable material started
the flame. Knots or growths taken from old hickory
trees, and called punk, were treasured by every boy
for this purpose. Every household had a "tinder-
box," which contained pieces of flint from the creek,
a bit of steel, a horn of powder, and some punk. This
was to rekindle the fire; but when a fire yas once
lighted on a hearth it was carefully tended, and
the embers covered at night, for matches were then
unknown.

The food the frontiersman ate was simple as the
rest of his living, but his vigorous exercise gave him
a prodigous appetite. Housewives varied in the ex-
cellence of their cooking then, as now. Corn-pone,
hominy, roasting ears, beans, pork, venison, and game
were the universal articles of diet. Wheaten bread,
tea, and coffee were luxuries seldom seen. Sassafras
tea and spicewood tea had to take their place, but the
pioneer had the best of syrup and sugar, from the maple
trees in the forest. To supply variety for the table,
and to take the place of desserts that were no longer
obtainable, many new experiments were tried. Sorrel
was made into pie, and acorns used for flour. Wild
fruit and nuts were eagerly gathered in season and
stored for winter. Perhaps no country ever produced
a greater variety of wild fruit and berries than the
wide, fertile bottom lands of the Wabash and its tribu-
taries. Wild plum trees and crab-apples, gooseberries,

The Pioneers 73

strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries, paw-paws
(the Indiana banana) , persimmons and haws, as well as
the many varieties of woods grapes, were gathered
by the early settlers, through the years that they were
waiting for cultivated orchards. An idea of how
plentiful wild game was may be formed from a list of
the fur-bearing animals which were hunted for their
pelts by the trappers. Bear, deer, buffalo, lynx,
wild-cat, opossum, beaver, otter, marten, raccoon,
muskrat, and mink were found in great numbers in
Indiana. Black, gray, and prairie wolves were so
numerous and trespassed so persistently until late
times, that the Legislature granted a bounty on
wolves' scalps, to encourage their extermination.
Buffalo were in such vast herds that the Indians were
known to have killed hundreds in a season, to obtain the
price of two shillings which they received for the hide !
Deer were often shot from the doorstep by the settlers,
while wild turkey, pigeons, pheasants, and quail were
everywhere. Fire-hunting the deer was a favorite
way of killing that animal, which was so much in use
for meat and pelt. The hunter would go along the
stream in his canoe, with a pine knot or torch flaming
from the bow of the boat; when the deer came down
to the water's brink to slake his thirst, the light would
"shine his eyes," and, startled, he would stand im-
movably gazing at it while the rifle of the boatman
laid him low. The white men learned from the Indians
their manner of curing the meat of the deer. It was
called jerked venison. An old-timer said that a
"hunk of venison" almost invariably hung from the
rafters, near the chimney- jamb, in every cabin; and
when "a neighbor man" from any number of miles
around entered for a visit, he would draw out the

74 Historic Indiana

universal hunting knife, and vslice off a portion of
this smoked venison to chew on as the conversation
progressed.

Whiskey was invariably offered to a guest in those
times. Total abstinence was an innovation of later
years, and the farmer who did not supply his field hands
with liquor was considered too stingy to work for.
There was plenty of this home-made liquid, that was
often so cheap that in summer it soured and in winter
it froze! " Two fips" a gallon was the price paid for
this beverage.

The settlers had great difficulty in securing salt
for their food, and to preserve their game. It was
the one cash article of commerce, along with powder.
Pilgrimages were organized to go to the "licks,"
in large companies, as a guard against surprises by
the Indians. Once arrived at the salt springs, the
men camped about until they had evaporated enough
salt for a year's supply. One of the perquisites claimed
by the Indians, from the government, in settlement
of treaties, was their "annuity salt."

The desirable qualifications of a settler were muscu-
lar strength and a homely hospitality. One old-timer
is glorified in the memory of an early chronicler as
a man who had killed more deer, wolves, and rattle-
snakes, caught more fish, found more bee-trees, and
entertained in a hospitable manner more land-hunters,
trappers, and traders than any other private citizen
between Vincennes and south of the Solamonie.

After the settler had raised all the provender needed
for "man and beast" on his own place, the remainder
was bartered down the river, for other necessities.
The more enterprising and industrious he was, the
more he had to exchange for these luxuries.

The Pioneers 75

The first thing the settler could produce to realize
money from was fattening pigs on "oak and beech
mast," nuts and acorns, and shipping the pork to New-
Orleans. Later when a sufificient clearing could be
made, and crops raised, he had begun to be a farmer.

At this time a cabinet official of the government
referred to the Wabash as marking the uttermost
bounds, on the west, of the civilization of the republic.

Neighborhoods grew up, schools were gradually-
started, and "meetings" were held, when the itinerant
preachers came around on their circuit of the isolated
settlements. One of the characteristics of the early
days was the liberal hospitality connected with the
religious meetings. Wherever the associational, syn-
odical, or quarterly meetings were held, each settler
of the immediate neighborhood would provide for
a score of people that might come from a distance.
Long shelves of pies and cakes would be baked, and
great quantities of spring chicken, mashed potatoes,
corn-pone, succotash and hot biscuits would be provided.
As the "meetin' broke," the mother in Israel would
go about among the congregation, and gather up a
dozen or more of the attendants from the more remote
settlements, and take them home to dinner with her.

The social pleasures of the earliest days were largely
connected with the helpful neighborhood assistance in
the homely, necessary tasks of the frontier. If a new
cabin was to be built, the neighbors assembled for the
house-raising, for the logs were too heavy to be handled
alone. When a clearing was made, the log-rolling fol-
lowed. All the men for miles around came to help,
and the women to help cook and serve the bountiful
meals. Then there were corn-huskings, wool-shear-
ings, apple-parings, sugar-boilings, and quilting-bees.

76 Historic Indiana

Each of these community tasks was the occasion for
a prodigal feast and a visit. Then the isolated house-
holds came together for much-needed companionship.
After the hard work was over, these rugged laborers
were still equal to wrestling matches, shooting for a
prize, pitching quoits, tug of war, lap jacket, or any
of the tests of strength or skill on which the frontiers-
man prided himself. Even in the work itself, they
"chose sides" and made their labors a contest, to
see which could outdo the others. When husking
corn they would sit in a circle on the barn floor, so
that they could play "brogue it about" (as children
play pass the thimble) while they were at work.

Sleigh-riding to the singing- school, or the spelling-
match, was the great joy of the winter months, as soon
as there were roads made through the forest. For rude,
unconventional enjoyment, there have been few
pleasures that have atoned for hard labor on the part
of the young, equal to the bob-sled with its wagon bed
full of country folk, gaily singing as they sped through
the clear frosty night. And then the friendly rivalry
of the spelling-match at the end of the ride! Ranged
in two long lines under their leaders were the contest-
ants, who had been chosen for their knowledge of
the columns of the blue-backed spelling-book. The
swains and belles of the district spelt each other down,
until the best speller was left standing in his or her
glory, the object of parental or family pride — for all
of their elders were either in the class or ranged around
the walls. Of equal social importance was the singing-
school, taught by the local "singing master"; tuning
fork in hand, and without any accompaniment, he
trained the whole neighborhood in reading "buck-
wheat" notes, and singing the hymns from the Sacred

The Pioneers 77

Melodeon, or the Missouri Harmony. The little
log schoolhouse, or church, would be crowded for
these occasions. The classes were divided into the
treble, tenor, and bass singers; few of the older books
recognizing the alto and baritone parts. The churches
reaped the benefit of this practice, in the improvement
of their congregational singing. A wedding was also
the occasion of all-day hospitality to every one far
and wide. While waiting for the ceremony the young
fellows used to "run for the bottle" — that is, race
their horses for a stake, which was a bottle of whiskey,
and then stand treat. Generally the country fiddler
came in the evening, and there was a dance on the
rude puncheon floor by the light from the fireplace.
With swooping flourishes on his violin, his foot patting
the accent, and at the same time calling the figures
in uncouth buffoonery, the fiddler set merry feet to
flying, to the tune of Old Zip Coon, Jay Bird,
Old Dan Tucker, or Possum up a Gum Stump. The
dancing was as vigorous as the music. There were
"opera reels" and "French fours" and maybe a
game of "hunt the squirrel." There was little glide
in the movements : high steps and a flourishing swing,
with a jig or a "hoe-down" thrown in, was good form
in those days. Whitcomb Riley gives the spirit of
those parties in his old fiddler's monologue ^ :

"My playin's only middlin' — tunes picked up when a

boy,
The kindo'-sorto-fiddlin' that the folks calls "cordaroy."

The Old Fat Gal, and Rye-Straw, and My Sailor 's on the

Sea,
Is the old cowtillions I 'saw,' when the ch'ice is left to

me.

> Riley, James Whitcomb, Poems, 1888.

78 Historic Indiana

And so I plunk and plonk and plink,
And rosum-up my bow,
And play the tunes that make you think
The devil's in your toe."

The roystering element among the Hoosiers of the
backwoods as well as the better families were extremely
fond of dancing, and as they were a vigorous, outdoor
lot of people their dancing was suited to their natures.
The gay ones cut "pigeon wings" or threw in an extra
double-shuffle to fill out the measure. Some of the
"calls" for the square dances were the product of
the wits of the frontier (each neighborhood had its
own caller), and for their very crudity are worth pre-
serving. We give one as an example:

" Balance one and balance eight,
Swing 'em on the corner like you swing 'em on the gate
Bow to your lady and then promenade.
First couple out, to the couple on the right,
Lady round the lady and the gent solo,
And the lady round the gent and the gent don't go.
Ladies do-ce-do and the gents, you know.
Chicken in a bread-pan, pickin' up dough.
Turn 'em roun an roun, as pretty as you can.
An' why in the world don't you left alaman.
Right hand to partner and grand right and left,
And a big, big swing, an' a little hug too,
Swing your honey and she '11 swing you.
Promenade eight, when you get all straight.

First couple out to the right —

Cage the bird, three hands round —

Birdie ^op out and crow hop in.

Three hands round and go it agin;

Alaman left, back to partner, an' grand right an' left,

The Pioneers 79

Come to your partner once an' a half,
Yellar canary right, and jay-bird left,
Next to your partner and all chaw hay,
You know where an' I don't care,
Seat your partner in the old arm-chair."

There were some circles where dancing was not
approved of, and with these, the chief amusements were
forfeit games and marching plays. The frontier
youth played with vigorous zest, ' ' We 're marching
down to old Quebec," "Old Dusty Miller," "I suppose
you 've heard of late of George Washington the Great,"
"Come, Philander, let 's be a marching," or "Oh!
Sister Phoebe, how merry were we, the night we sat
under the juniper tree, the juniper tree high ho,"
with scores of others that were sung to simple airs,
while marching with rhythmic motions similar to
the quadrille or the Virginia reel. Kissing was less ta-
booed than the dance. The forfeit games, like "Build-
ing the bridge," "Picking cherries," "Drop the
handkerchief," "I want no more of your weev'ly
wheat," "Chase the squirrel if you please and catch
your love so handy," and dozens of others, were the
same as are still played by children.

The field sports of the border would be the envy of
present-day sportsmen. Besides the daily chance shots
at game, for food, there were most exciting neighbor-
hood hunts for wolf, fox, wild hogs, and bear, that re-
quired mettle and muscle, and the chase was some-

1 time kept up for days, and much game bagged.

; Horses and cattle were most necessary to the pioneers
but they were often deprived of their valuable live

I stock by the bite of poisonous snakes. This occasioned
another pursuit; in the early spring days when the
warm sunshine began to awaken nature, and great

8o Historic Indiana

numbers of snakes would crawl out of winter hiding,
the frontiersmen would collect themselves into bands
and go forth to slay these enemies, often killing hun-
dreds in a day. As to snakes, says an old settler,
there was no end to them. Like Pharaoh's frogs of old,
they were everywhere, in the forest, yard, house, and
among the children. They were met by willing hands
and welcomed to hospitable graves.

Young people of the present time can hardly realize
that wild beasts were really plentiful within the State,
but a couple of true stories, told by Colonel Cockrum,
will show that such animals were apt to turn up
at almost any place in the woods. In 1817 Joseph
Lane — who was afterwards a General, a United States
Senator, and a Vice-Presidential candidate — had
taken a contract, in partnership with some other
young men, to raft several hundred logs down the
Ohio to Mr. Audubon's saw-mill, which was over the
river, at Henderson, Ky. It was the same Audubon
who was, afterwards, the great ornithologist.

"We had landed our fine raft of poplar logs," writes
General Lane, "near the mill; and while the raft was
being measured, we went to the shanty near by, to eat
our dinner. As Mr. Audubon went back to the mill, two
large black bears and a small one ran out of the mill, and
into a clump of bushes near by. The engineer started
up the mill machinery, the saw being an up and down gear.
When the men got ready to commence sawing, they dis-
covered that a young bear was under the carriage, with
his head fast in a grease pot, which was much smaller at
the top than in the middle. The bear had got his head
in and could not get it out. When one of the men caught
it by the leg, it set up a screaming, strangling noise and
the two old bears rushed to its rescue. All of the em-
ployees made it convenient to get out of danger. I climbed

A Map of Indiana in 1817.

From an old print.

The Pioneers 8i

up a centre post to a crossbeam. The bears had the mill
all to themselves. They tried to get the young one away;
would roll it and try to make it go, without much success.
The engine was running, the saw going up and down.
The larger bear was rubbed by the saw; in a minute he
threw his paws around the frame it ran in, and such
a pounding as that bear got! He kept his hold until he
was exhausted, and fell down near the saw blade, which
touched his shoulder. He jumped up and made a grab
for it. In less than a minute his life was sawed out of
him. In the frantic efforts of the old mother bear to
release the cub, she pushed it off of the platform on a pile
of logs; which broke the pot, released the cub, and he
ran off with the rim of the kettle around his neck."i

Another tale that Colonel Cockrum tells, is of two
young boys who came out west in the early twenties,
to visit their uncle, Robert Stockwell.

" A neighbor, who was wise in the lore of wild animals,
took the boys out on a longed-for hunting trip. They
had gone five or six miles from the village, when they
spied a large bear running away from them. Mr. Johnson
instructed them to tie their horse to a tree, go to a place
he pointed out, and not move from there, on any account,
until he returned. On walking around, after waiting a
long time, they saw two little animals wrestling much
as boys do, rolling and tumbling over each other. They
did not have the least idea what they were, but slipped
up as close as they could and made a rush to catch them,
which they found hard to do, as the little cubs were much
more nimble than they looked. They chased them round over
chunks and brush. Finally one of them ran into a hollow
log and the younger boy crawled in after it. The older boy
finally caught the other little bear, when it set up a whining

> Cockrum, W. M., Pioneer Hist, of Ind., page 511. Oakland
City, Ind., 1907.

82 Historic Indiana

noise and at the same time scratched and bit him. In
a few minutes he heard the brush crackling, and looking
up, saw the old bear coming at him with full force. He
let the cub go and climbed up a little tree, fortunately
too small for the bear to climb. She would rear up on
the tree as though she intended to climb it, and snarl
and snort at the boy, who was dreadfully scared. About
this time the little boy in the log had squeezed himself
through, so that he could reach the other cub, whereupon
it set up another cry. The old bear left the treed boy
and ran to the log, and over and around it, uncertain
where the noise came from. She commenced to tear
away the wood, so she could get to her cub, for she was
too large to get more than her head in the hole. The
boys were thus imprisoned for more than two hours, when a
shot was fired not far off. The boy up the tree set up a
terrible hallooing, and Mr. Johnson soon came in sight.
A second shot soon killed the old bear. The young bear
was caught, and tied; and the little boy came out of the
log, dragging the other cub, which they also took home
for a pet." ^

In ye olden time, stump speaking during a political
campaign was a great social feature and drew the whole
countryside together; for the Anglo-Saxon must hear
all there is to be said on politics. An old settler writing
of these canvasses said that the population was so
sparse in the district in which their candidate for Congress
was electioneering that it extended from the Ohio River
to Lake Michigan, but it contained more Indians, wolves,
and w^ild varmints than voters.

Trading was a feature of every assembling of the
people, social, religious, or political. They stood
about the church doors before and after "meetin'," or

■ Cock rum, W. M., Pioneer Hist, of Ind., page 511. Oakland
City, Ind., 1907.

The Pioneers 8

around the public square on "court day," to dicker
about the articles they needed; for then barter was
universal, owing to the dearth of currency. An editor
announced that he would take his pay for subscriptions
in com, ginseng, honey, flour, pork, or almost anything
but promises. The articles advertised for sale which
could be had "for cash only" were powder, shot,
whiskey, and salt.

One of the greatest privations of the pioneer's exile
was the absence of letters from home. There was no
post and every one was dependent upon chance travellers
to "fetch and carry mail." When any one was going
on a journey it would be known, and the whole region
would bring letters for him to take with him, for postage
on a letter cost forty cents. Many of these missives
from the frontier were written with a quill pen, dipped
in pokeberry juice for ink. It was a great thing, wrote
an old lady in later times, when the pioneers began to
get mail regularly twice a month. Soimding his
horn, the postman approached on horseback, and every
one came trooping out of the house hoping to get a
letter from "back east." Sometimes he would be
several days behind time, on account of high water.
It often happened that the postmaster had to spread
the mail out in the sun to dry.

The loneliness of their isolated situation made the
pioneers very hospitable in their welcome to visitors.
One of them writes of the attendance at a land-sale;
if men had ever been to the same mill, or voted at the
same election precinct, though at different times, it
was sufficient for them to scrape an acquaintance upon.
Very soon it would come to be known which house-
wife, on a trail, was the best cook and housekeeper,
and that cabin would be singled out as the goal foi

^4 Historic Indiana

the day's journey. In this way some of the best
famihes began to "keep tavern." If they did not
make a charge, hospitable people were imposed upon
by a^class of travellers who invariably "sponged their
way," as it was termed, for an entire journey There
were men who profited greatly by the "likker sold and
set up reg'lar." To be able to sell liquor, a man must
have a tavern license, certifying that he was a free-
holder, and that he had two spare beds and two
stalls, that were not necessary for his own use' i^Iany
wayhouses where the owners would not dispense Hquor
needed no license and advertised their places as "pri-
vate entertainment." The usual charges were twenty-
five cents for a meal and a "fip" for a "dram." The
patrons that the tavern host welcomed came on horse-
back. Their boots had been well tallowed to resist
water, and their legs were swathed in leggins of green
baize. They generally dismounted grimy with dust
or bespattered with mud; and were met on the long
low porch by a boy with a pair of moccasins or "pomps "
in which their feet were shod, while their heavy boots
were dried by the great open fire. The merchants
and professional men carried a brace of pistols, and
across their horse was a pair of saddle-bags. In this
receptacle, now obsolete, the gentleman could stow
away all of his papers, law books, bottle of bitters
an extra pair of horseshoes, and wearing apparel for
the journey. They rode good horses, which often had
to be "tethered out" on grass at night for lack of
stable room. Other guests of the inn were wagoners
driving oxen or mule teams over the heavy roads to
the river towns where they shipped the loads of produce
to market. Each tavern had to provide large yards
for the wagoners, and for hogs being driven overland

The Pioneers 85

The accommodations for travellers, in these early
i taverns, were very primitive, a near-by stream or
the pump and a "roller towel" doing duty for a bath,
and high feather beds welcoming the weary to rest.
Some of these hostelries were noted for the prodigality
of plain food and good cheer which was offered to the
patrons. Card-playing and toddy, in an upper room,
were very general where the landlord was not a temper-
ance man. Then the wee small hours saw lands and
chattels change hands, as the game waxed in interest.
Memories of old signboards that used to creak on
the comer of these historic buildings come back to old
settlers. We are told of one that was fashioned like
a gate, and on the pickets was printed,

" This gate hangs high and hinders none,
Refresh and pay, then travel on.

"John Fernly."

On another notable work of art, which was executed
for a tavern on the National Road, there was a portrait
of General La Fayette in full uniform. We are told
that the board on which it was painted was not long
enough for the heroic scale on which the picture was
begun, so the legs were cut short and the feet put on
where the knees should have been! Red Horse Inn
on the old State Road had for its sign a warhorse
rampant and fully caparisoned for battle. The recent
War of 181 2 with England suggested the sign for another
tavern — the painting represented an eagle picking out
the eyes of a lion. Like the old "Buck Horn Tavern,"
which in the palmy days of the National Road, is said
to have kept over a hundred guests of a summer night,
by the aid of the hay-mows and covered wagons of
the movers, no hostlery of log cabin days would ever

86 Historic Indiana

care to acknowledge that there was not room for one
more.

Religious meetings in those days were thronged
by young and old, wherever a travelling preacher gave
out an "appointment" to speak. Some came in ox-
carts, others on foot, but mostly the people came on |
horseback, two and three on behind each other.
From eight and ten miles around they flocked to hear
the gospel. ]\Iarriages were solemnized all along his
circuit, and funeral sermons were preached for all the
departed who had been buried without any religious
rites, in the preceding months since a minister had come
that w^ay — even if the remaining bereaved one had
been consoled by a subsequent marriage.

Generally these preachers were ver>' practical in
their exhortations. The eccentric Lorenzo Dow an-
nounced his subject as Repentance.

"We sing, 'while the lamp of life holds out to burn, the
vilest sinner may return.' That idea has done much
harm and should be received with many grains of allow-
ance. Let me illustrate. Do you suppose that the man
among you who went out last fall to kill his deer and bear
for winter meat, and instead killed his neighbor's hogs,
salted them down, and is now living on the meat, can
repent while it is unpaid for? I tell you, nay. Except
he restores a just compensation, his attempt at repent- I
ance will be the basest hypocrisy. 'Except ye repent,
truly ye shall all likewise perish.'" ^

His sermon lasted thirty minutes. Down he stepped,
mounted his pony, and in a few moments was moving
through the woods at a rapid gait, to meet another
appointment. Restitution before claiming a clear

' Smith, O. H., Early Trials, page 96. Cincinnati., 1858.

The Pioneers 87

conscience would still be a good doctrine to hold forth.
As an example of how primitive the conditions, and
unconventional the speakers might be, it is told of one
of these circuit riders that he interrupted his discourse,
at an outdoor service, by exclaiming, as he gazed
upward into a tree, "I want to say right here, that 3'on-
der is one of the best forks for a pack-saddle I ever
saw in the woods, and when the services are over,
we will get it."

Besides the preachers, there were colporteurs, now
long obsolete and forgotten, who went about distribut-
ing Bibles and tracts from the publication societies.
They were far more welcome to those isolated inhabi-
tants than we can imagine, in these sophisticated
days.

Next to the ministers, the most accepted nomadic
characters were the tinkers, who travelled through
wide regions, repairing the clocks. In later times the
spinster tailors, and the local cobblers, who came semi-
annually, to mend and make clothes and shoes for the
entire family, were a regular institution. If one could
not get to the shop the shop must come to the customer.
These welcome tradesmen had their rounds, and their
coming was counted on ; not only for the very necessary
services they rendered, but for the gossip they brought,
from far-off neighborhoods.

A frontier personage who has passed into oblivion with
the water-diviner, is the bee-hunter. Sweets were a
great rarity. Map] e sugar and wild honey were the con-
fections of the wilderness. The wild bees made their
honey in the hollows of the trees and the bee-man was a
wonderfully acute naturalist, who, by long observation of
the habits of the bees, could tell in which tree the honey
could be found. On his decision, great trees were felled.

88 Historic Indiana

even on a stranger's land, to secure the coveted honey.
One long, lank bee-hunter, who looked like a ferret,
declared that "on a clear day I can see a bee a mile."
In those times peddlers, with packs on their backs,
journeyed through the country with "notions and
small ware" for exchange or sale.

The frontiersman's most valued possession was a
dog ; this animal was not only a prized friend and hunt-
ing companion, but was invaluable to give warning
of approaching Indians.

In those troublesome times, the militia were always
being called out for actual warfare against the savages,
and there was regular "muster day" and an attempt
at regular drill. Muster day was the great gala occasion
of the border. People gathered from far and near
to visit together. Oliver Smith gives us a hint of the
crude equipment with which the men appeared for duty,
by the commands given on the parade ground which
he rehearses: "Officers to your places. Marshal your
men into companies, separating the barefooted from
those who have shoes or moccasins ; placing the guns,
sticks, and cornstalks in separate platoons. Form the
line ready to receive the Major." ^ They were not
a very gallant looking troop perhaps, but they were
brave, and wise in the cunning of the savage forms of
warfare.

The schooling of this pioneer period in Indiana
was of the crudest form. The schoolhouses were like
the homes, log cabins with puncheon floors and great
open fireplaces into which the big boys must roll in
logs for the fire. Those who sat near roasted, and the
pupils farther away froze their toes. The seats were
logs or benches, without either backs or desks. The

' Smith, O. H., Early Trials, page 167. Cincinnati, 1858.

The Pioneers 89

theory of instruction was "no lickin' " no larnin'. "
There was a long writing-bench placed against the wall.
It was made of a riven board or a puncheon, smoothed
ofif and supported by great wooden pegs. At this
the pupils took turns in copy-book work, writing with
a pen made from a goose-quill, and using pokeberry
juice for ink. A spelling match on Friday afternoon
was an inalienable right of every district school, — an
older custom even than speaking pieces, that universal
practice which occasioned so much tremor and glory
among the pupils. Boys and girls often attended
school in the fall long after the hard frosts came, and
even after the ice had begun to form, with their feet en-
cased in old socks or stockings. Sanford Cox, in his
Wabash Valley, draws a graphic picture of juveniles
skating upon the ice, some with skates, some with
shoes, and some barefooted. The author of the
History of Monroe County says that it was then the
custom to go to school, winter and summer, bare-
footed. That seems unreasonable, but it was done.
The barefooted child, to begin with, had gone thus
so long that his feet were hardened and calloused to
resist the cold by several extra layers of epidermis.
He would take a small piece of board, say a foot wide
and two feet long, which had been seasoned and
partially scorched by the fire, and after heating it until
it was on the point of burning, he would start on the
run toward the schoolhouse, with the hot board in his
hand, and when his feet became too cold to bear any
longer, he would place the board upon the ground and
stand upon it imtil the numbness and cold had been
partly overcome, when he would again take his " stove."
in his hand and make another dash for the schoolhouse.
Sometimes a fiat, light piece of rock was substituted

90 Historic Indiana

for the board and was much better, as it retained
heat longer. Often boys would rouse up a cow
and stand in the place she had warmed, to prevent
their feet from freezing. To save their shoes, it was
very general for people to walk barefooted along the
dusty roads, until they approached the " meeting
house," and then sit down by the roadside and put on
their stockings and shoes.

New homes were sometimes started with very little
capital in hand. Many stories are told of these primi-
tive weddings. It is recorded that one morning, a
certain Esquire Jones saw a young man ride up with
a young lady behind him. They dismounted; he
hitched his horse and they went toward the house and
were invited to be seated. After waiting a few minutes
the young man asked if he was a 'squire. He informed
him that he was. He then asked the " 'squire " what
he charged for tying the knot. "You mean for marry-
ing you?" — "Yes, sir." "One dollar," says the 'squire —
"Will you take it in trade ? "— " What kind of trade? "
"Beeswax." — "Bring it in." The young man went
to where the horse was tied and brought in the beeswax,
but it lacked forty cents of being enough to pay the
bill. After sitting pensive for some minutes, the
young man went to the door and said: "W^ell, Sal,
let 's be going." Sal followed slowly to the door,
when, turning to the justice, with an entreating look,
she said: "Well, 'Squire, can't you tie the knot as far
as the beeswax goes anyhow," and so he did, and they
were married.

One of the customs in the very first settlement of the
territory was that those arrested for crimes and misde-
meanors were chained to a tree or pinioned under some
logs until trial could be held, if not more summarily

The Pioneers 91

disposed of by the Regulators! Afterwards there
were jails built of logs, as also were the court-
houses, and the prisoner worked out his sentence
by grubbing stumps to clear the streets of the
town.

Sickness was one of the ever-present dreads of the
frontier. The very fertility of the soil in Indiana
made it miasmatic. Ponds and streams bred mosqui-
toes to spread malaria to the — all unknowing — settlers.
Exposure in all kinds of weather, and the opening
up of the forests, the turning up of the new earth, all
contributed to slow fevers, and the shaking ague then
so universal. Many years in the autumn season there
were more people sick than were well. Sometimes there
were scarcely enough in health to care for those who
were ill. Quinine bark, calomel, and boneset were the
principal articles of commerce at those times.

One of the worst ills with which those people had
to contend was what was known as milk sickness.
Even scientific men, with all their investigation, have
not been able to discover what plant caused this pesti-
lence. They only know that with increased cultivation
of the fields it disappeared, but in the early part of the
Western settlement whole families were prostrated
in a week, from using the milk of one cow. Sometimes
they would drag around like living skeletons, and
finally succumb. It destroyed the value of the lands,
as people moved from neighborhoods where it was
known cows had got access to it. Sometimes the
settlers would move away, on the theory that it was
the water.

Whiskey was a remedy in almost universal use against
malaria. It did not require a physician's prescription,
but the effects were often worse than the malady.

92 Historic Indiana

In Mrs. Blake's Heart's Haven^ there is a pen picture of
a typical cabin home on the lower Wabash, and the
effect of the deadly malaria and whiskey used as an
antidote:

"They were rich in youth, health, and courage, and the
young wife's bright spirit turned the difficulties and pri-
vations into a romantic experience. She helped to clear
the land, build the cabin, and plant the fields. She learned
to shoot bears, defend herself from Indians, and kill snakes;
to weave, to brew, and to nurse sick neighbors. Every
year she brought a child into the world of want and hard-
ship, until now there were two little graves in the woods
for those who could not stay, and six little creatures in
the comfortless cabin, that was no larger and no better, for
all of their work and self-denial. The wife was changed,
gaunt, sallow, shaken by ague, consumed by fevers, worn
by toil, hardened and embittered by life's broken promises.
The change maddened the husband. He saw that hard-
ship was destroying her, — hardship that he was powerless
to help. He could not conquer circumstances, he could
only suffer in them, but he could drug his feelings in
whiskey, — whiskey which made it possible to counteract
the miasma of the middle West; which was the panacea
for ague, snake bites, and poisons. It also fortified men
for explorations, Indian raids, struggles with wild beasts,
and Herculean toil, and it could also make them forget
their hard conditions. Alas! it could also instigate foolish-
ness and cruelty."

Many tales are told of the doctors, to whose practices
the early settlers were subjected. In Mr. Duncan's very
interesting reminiscences, he humorously remarks,
that they generally provided themselves with a goodly
supply of the largest lancets and unmeasured quantities
of English calomel. A flaring sign painted on a clap-

> Blake, Mrs., Heart's Haven, Indianapolis, 1905.

'^— «

Jj_,

M-(

l-H

Q
-*-"

c
c

■M

-*->

^^-1

■s

< Q

The Pioneers 93

board was hung out, and as opportunity offered they
went forth ; first to take from the unfortunate patient
all the blood that could be extracted from his veins
without killing on the spot; then he was dosed with
calomel enough to kill a gorilla, confined in a close
room, and was to neither eat nor drink. The treat-
ment killed quickly but cured slowly. Many of these
early practitioners were dubbed "Death on a pale
horse." Doubtless the openness of the log cabins, ad-
mitting plenty of air, saved many a poor soul racked
with fever. Some of these men were educated, but
others entered on their careers with the barest prepa-
ration possible, and those who brought the profession
into contempt often had no knowledge of medicine at
all. There were root doctors and mesmerists and all
sorts of frauds who hung out their sign and made
themselves dangerous to the community. To one
ignorant pretender, who had gone into the practice
without any preparation, an acquaintance said : "Well,
Doctor, how goes the practice? " — " Only tolerable; I
lost nine fine patients last week, one of them being an
old lady that I wanted to cure very bad, but she died in
spite of all I could do. I tried every root I could find,
but she steadily grew worse." And still he got patients.
An old pioneer told, in the following quaint fashion,
his experience with the early practitioners. About his
seventeenth year he was taken ill. The neighbors said
he had a kind of bilious fever. The only doctor was
living over on Middle Fork, several miles away; he
came on horseback with his saddle-bags of medicine,
comprising tartar-emetic, calomel, jalap, castor oil,
salts, and a thumb and spring lancet. After counting
the beats of the patient's throbbing pulse, he proceeded
to give him an emetic, then had him take calomel and

94 Historic Indiana

jalap. Returning two days later he administered
more emetics and bled him with his spring lancet until
the boy fainted. The doctor said he was taking
him through a course of medicine to prostrate his
system, to break the fever. After continuing his
visits for about two weeks, he said he always succeeded
in curing by salivating his patients. The boy on the
bed was now reduced to a mere skeleton. To be sure
the fever was broken, for there was little left to create
a fever. "The old doctor believed that the salivation
was the salvation of me, but with all due respect,"
said he in after years, "I believe nature got the upper
hand and cured me in spite of his strong medicine,
bleeding, and tinkering; but he damaged my tenement
irreparably."

Unfortunately, from these old stories, some still as-
sociate these early ailments with Indiana at its present
state, when in fact it is one of the healthiest sections of
the Union. Cultivation of the soil and drainage have
eliminated the danger which beset the health of the
early settlers.

In later years, when the prairies attracted emigration,
another terror of the frontier was experienced by the
settlements of the northern part of Indiana. This
was the prairie fires. From fall to spring, the season
when the grass was dry and Indians or campers' fires
might spread disaster, the settlers would sleep with
one eye open, to be ready to fight the destruction of
their homes and improvements. It was an unequal
combat at best. Often the lurid light of the oncoming
flame would light the whole visible world. Sometimes
the wall of fire would reach from ten to fifty feet in
height. A horse could not outtravel it. Snakes,
wolves, and deer would run before the advancing heat,

The Pioneers 95

and frightened birds would fly screaming before the
flames. After the fire had passed, the smoke was
suffocating, and for months afterwards the charred
and blackened waste marked the path of the fire. ^"J
Often the only shelter of the poor settlers was left
in ruins.

Earlier than we should now think possible, when we
consider how entirely the Western pioneers were cut off
from communication with the older settlements, those
hopeful toilers added to their homes more and more of
the comforts of life. Many of the large log cabins were
covered with weather-boarding, and stood for years as
substantial colonial homes. The example of the thrifty
helped the more shiftless to improve. Fruits and vines
were planted. Houses were added to, and furniture
and china were brought up the river. Neighborhood
cabinet-makers fashioned cupboards, beds, and bureaus
of the wild-cherry lumber, and owing to the honest
workmanship they last until this day. All the con-
ditions of living constantly improved. Innovations
were a source of wonderment to the real backwoods
element, and amusing instances happened. In one sec-
tion where the Rev. Samuel R. Johnson had brought a
piano out with him, when he moved his family from
New York, it happened that a parishioner from the
Wild-Cat Prairie called to see the Rector. In the
parlor of the parsonage she saw, for the first time
in her life, a piano, and had no idea what it was.
Pianos were square in those days and this one was
closed, with the round stool placed in front of it.
After looking a long time at the great polished piece of
furniture she exclaimed: "Well, that is the biggest
work-box and the mightiest pincushion I ever saw."
The first stoves that were brought into any section

96 Historic Indiana

drew curious visitors from miles around, to see the
new invention for making life easy!
r "We are having innovations betokening too much
fashion, ' ' says an old letter ; ' ' one of our dandies appears
daily wearing silver spurs and embroidered gloves!"
In those days patterns and styles came ambling at a
deliberate pace, to the remote West, one year or the
next making little difference.

There was little money in circulation then, and it
took very little to sustain life on the frontier. At
twenty years of age, a man, afterwards famous, started
in as a lawyer in Indiana, with the noble ambition of
securing a practice worth four hundred dollars a year.

In the life of privation and toil on the border, there
were many homes where the traditions of gentleness and
culture were maintained, and every effort to improve
their growing children was made.

In writing his very interesting history of the Lake
counties, and their early settlement, Mr. Ball says of
that section, what was true of the whole frontier: that
home life being an important part of true life, and as
w^e have looked into these early homes, we have seen
that warmth and light, and industry and thrift were
there. In these homes you would find the mother and
sisters knitting or spinning, the father and boys,
fashioning a new axe handle or braiding a whiplash,
and another roasting the apples and mulling the cider
on the hearth, while an older sister or the boarding
"school-ma'am" reads aloud from Robbie Burns or
Bunyan or Shakespeare. We realize that isolation in
the forest, sometimes, meant time for culture, as well
as toil. If they were shut in to themselves, there was
an uninterrupted existence which our rapid trans-
portation, with its flittings south in the winter, to the

The Pioneers 97

sea-shore or mountains in summer, and maybe Europe
in between times, may have destroyed; and some
of the pleasures of continuous family life may have
been lost.

In a country so free and where all had equal oppor-
tunity, men were ambitious. Only the most ignorant
and benighted were ever content, unless they were
increasing their possessions. Work was so honorable
that these pioneers ostracized a man who was considered
"a little slack in the twist" about avoiding labor.
In marked contrast to the dull hopelessness of the Old
World from which the foreign settlers had emigrated,
was the determined purpose of the people of the West.
As has been truly said, through the whole household
there shone the light of a fine vigor and bright expect-
ancy. The women were as courageous, as capable, and
as zealous as the men. They became inured to toil,
privations, and dangers. A story is told of one woman
on the prairies when the wind was blowing a perfect
hurricane, to the great terror of a transient guest:
the hostess gently admitted, that the wind "'was
noticeable y Many a woman, when notified that the
Indians threatened a raid, refused to leave her cabin
to their desolating firebrands, and they defended
their homes by firing through the chinks between the
logs, until help came from the settlements. When
widowed, they kept their children together, and with
the help of their boys they ran the farm in the lonely
clearing.

"There are many diseases now, unheard of then,"
said Mrs. Rebecca Julian who was one of these very
pioneers, " such as dyspepsia, neuralgia, etc. It was
not fashionable at that time to be weakly. We could
take up our spinning-wheel and walk two miles to a

gS Historic Indiana

spinning frolic, do our day's work after a first-rate
supper, join in some amusement for the evening.
We never thought of having hands just to look at."'
A managing mother would take a probable suitor
for her daughter's heart around the cabin and show the
bundles of yam the young girl had spun, and the cover-
lids she had woven. The frontier mother's hands were
never idle. From flax to linen from wool to cloth,
from spinning the yam to finished stocking, she was
the manufacturer for her household. Nor was it
possible to accomplish all of these duties by daylight.
Back and forth by the firelight of the great open fire
which enabled the father and son to shape the scythe
handles and cobble their own shoes, the graceful girl
passed to the hum of the whirring wheel. Her swift
expertness as she deftly turned the thread in her fingers,
made a picture of industry and skill, very captivating
to the country swain. The spinning-wheel, wrote
Judge Ristine, was a stringed instrument which fur-
nished the principal music of every household, high
or lowly. These home manufacturers dyed their
yams with the ooze from the bark of different trees,
and vied with each other in the skill of coloring.

A traveller in 1830, writing of the excellent dames of
Brookville, including the wife of the United States
Senator, said they, in the exercise of "woman's rights,"
milked their own cows, churned their own butter, and
made their own brooms.

A few extracts from the private journal of a new-
comer among these pioneer mothers will give an idea
of their lives upon the frontier.

"November loth — To-day was cider-making day and
all were up at sunrise.

» Personal Reminiscences.

The Pioneers 99

"December ist— We killed a beef to-day, the neighbors
helping.

"December 4th — I was very much engaged in trying
out my tallow. To-day I dipped candles and finished the
Vicar of Wakefield.

"December 8th — To-day I commenced to read the Life
of Washington, and I borrowed a singing book. Have
been trying to make a bonnet. The cotton we raised
serves a very good purpose for candle-wicking, when spun."

It seems incredible that the own granddaughters
of these toiling women now find themselves on the
very same spot, living in a factory age where every
article they use or eat may be bought ready-made.
Truly, as Jane Addams has pointed out, the
present generation of women should feel and show
every consideration for the factory hand, who per-
forms the labors by machinery which formerly must
all be done in the homes. Factory labor has lifted
the burden of actual manufacture of every article
used in the home from the women of the third
generation.

Many a frontier mother, in addition to all her toil,
taught her children their lessons, before there were any
schools available. Had there been less labor, and no
terror of the savages, wild beasts, and snakes, nor
anxiety over wasting fevers, still the isolation and
homesickness in the wilderness would have been enough
to make the stoutest hearts quail before the undertaking.

But the dark side of the picture of early emigration
seems to have had an overweaning bright side, which
drew the people like a magnet to the West.

In an old-settlers' meeting a pioneer of Milton was
called on for his experience. He gave an account of
his removal to the region, and the gratification he

loo Historic Indiana

felt in exchanging the red soil, full of fiint stones, of
his native Carolina, for the black and fertile lands of
Indiana. In the vigor of his youth, he regarded not
the Herculean labors and hardships which then rose
before him, for, to use his own words, he felt that he had
a fortune in his own bones. These from well-to-do
Southern families immediately took an interest in
politics and gained preferment in office-holding, as
well as lucrative law practice. Land speculation was
in the minds of those who had some money. It was
not only the rich soil, the broad acres, the greater op-
portunity for the young beginner, which lured them
hither. With many, it was a vision of the greater
freedom in the wilderness, the sense of space on the
prairies. It is often a matter of wonder to older civili-
zations, why these pioneers came to the forbidding
frontier. Often they left good homes, friends, families,
comforts, safety, and advantages of culture and social
intercourse. As Julian Hawthorne has said, pioneer-
ing was in their blood, and in their traditions. They
had listened in childhood to tales of adventure told
by the fireside, half true and half apocryphal. They
were familiar with the log cabin, the rifle, and the saddle.
They went forth to win an independent footing in the
world. It was seldom the hegira of an organized
community; each individual or family set forth on an
independent basis.

Besides these families of sterling character who came
West and made the "bone and sinew" of the nation, we
have seen that there were many individuals known
as " poor whites," of no occupation, who migrated two
or three times in one lifetime. Starting from "Ole
Caroline," they came up through ' ' Kcntuck," sojourned
a year or two in Indiana and moved on westward, until

The Pioneers loi

their bones finally rested in Pike County, across the
Missouri. The story of one of these migratory families,
who formed an entirely different class from the real
pioneer settlers, is told by a centenarian daughter of
one of these men.

"When I was a woman grown and married, with children
of my own, my man and daddy took a notion they 'd try
Injianny. So we all came, with just one wagon to carry
our things and the children, while the rest of us walked,
me toting my baby. We didn't seem to do as well here,
and by 'n' by daddy wanted to go back and we went with
him. Then we seemed to do worse than ever there, and
daddy said he'd try Injianny again, and we come. Inji-
anny didn't 'pear to be much better than Tennessee, and
daddy took a notion again. I was getting despert tired
of travel, but daddy coaxed me and mammy coaxed me, and
this time they promised they would stay, and seeing they
were bent on it I agreed. So five times, I walked back and
forth between Tennessee and Injianny, kase I would have
[ followed my daddy and mammy to the ends of the
earth."!

But it was not alone the shiftless ones who changed
their abiding-places. " I must be moving on" quoth
Daniel Boone, who had come out from the New
Carolinas to the wilds of Kentucky. ' ' Why, a man has
taken up a farm right over there, not twenty-five
miles from my door." He could only breathe freely
in vast solitude. These hardy adventurers were not
the only emigrants. Some of the best English families,
well-to-do where they were, moved forward in each gen-
eration. The Lincolns, through which the President's
genealogy is traced, were for six generations, with a
single exception, pioneers in the settlement of the new

B, > Indiana Magazine of History, vol. i., page 107.

I02 Historic Indiana

countries. John Richmond left an ancient manor in
south England, to establish a sea-coast colony in
Massachusetts; his descendants moved to the Berk-
shire Hills, in the western part of that State; and their
son settled in eastern New York. After John, of the
next generation, had seen Fulton take the first steam-
boat up the Hudson River, he moved to the West,
and was an old settler when he witnessed the first
railroad train come into Indianapolis. To take up
lands unhampered by the towns, his son Corydon
Richmond moved his medical practice to the wilder-
ness of Howard County, then still in the possession of
the Indians.

Miss Anna Jenners tells of a pioneer woman who it
must be admitted, had endured the extreme experiences
of this spirit of Westward Ho ! She used to recount how
her father and mother had been one of the earlier
couples to migrate from the East to Ohio, where they
settled themselves in the wilds of the forest, and hewed
out for themselves a home. In time, they acquired
the comforts of home life, including all of the necessarv'
buildings, gardens, and orchards of the most prosperous
settlers. Here it would be supposed thej^ would have
lived to an old age ; but the new lands opened to settle-
ment in Indiana attracted the father; and after selling
his beautiful homestead, he carried his family to the
more fertile banks of the Wabash. In a rude cabin
in the woods, where at night they often heard bears
scratching on the low roof, they began the task anew.
Always prosperous, the father cultivated his virgin
acres successfully, until broad fields were added, and
a large house was planned. For the new residence he
sent all the way back to Ohio and had bricks hauled out,
and interior finish and cabinet work made, which it

The Pioneers 103

was not possible to have manufactured on the frontier.
When the comforts and luxuries had become attainable,
the daughter married ; and soon the broad prairies of
Kansas lured her husband toward that new territory ;
and again she passed through the discomforts and ex-
periences of border life. In her old age, though possessed
of a good home and vast acres, she was dragged to the
new Dakotas by her son, who perpetuated the pioneer's
longing for the frontier.

When Marion County was still a wilderness, one of
its young men, feeling crowded by incomers, slung
his rifle over his shoulder and disappeared farther
west beyond the Mississippi, and was never heard of
again by his family, until the Civil War broke out.
Then he reappeared as a bugler in an Oregon regiment,
old and gray, but still ready for adventure and unafraid
of hardships, as long as it was life in the open.

These sketches of family histories are outlined be-
cause they are widely typical of many of Anglo-Saxon
lineage, who had the love of the soil in their blood.

The same impulse which prompted the Teutonic
race to make their incursions on Britain, and led
their descendants across the Atlantic, seemed to have
possessed each succeeding generation until the Pacific
was reached and the western coast was settled. The
Middle West was but the Atlantic colonies transferred
to a freer life and ideals one more remove from Old-
World standards. The opening up of new fields to
the race proved a wonderful stimulus to the national
life, and the growth of the United States as a world
power. When these people settled the western
borders they took with them their intelligence, virility,
love of country, passion for liberty, and desire for
knowledge. Hence, orderly governments, schools,

I04 Historic Indiana

courts of justice, and charitable institutions sprang
up from their efforts. The wilderness, to such natures,
meant opportunity and freedom. As one said, " You
do not need to keep on the path for there is no path.
Each may mark out a future for himself, nor did we
miss the satisfaction that comes from the constant
victory over odds."

In addition to this love of space and freedom,
many frontiersmen had a perception of the picturesque
and the poetic. Their letters were full of the beauties
of river, woodland, and flowers. The verse of the
day was largely descriptive of the ocean-like prairies,
the brook that runs murmuring by, the arching sky
and flowering earth, and "The Bonnie Brown Bird in
the Mulberry Tree."

We have spoken of the earliest settlers in Southern
Indiana as being largely from the South Atlantic
States; for, of the fifty to seventy thousand persons
who filed through the Cumberland Gap before 1788,
a fraction of them were attracted north of the Ohio.
Many more of them had sons in the army of defence
against the Indians, who became familiar with the
rich lands of Indiana and settled there. But it must
not be forgotten that occasional Yankees and many
Scotch-Irish mingled their fortunes with the Southerners
in the tier of counties along the Ohio. As the lands of
Central and Northern Indiana were ceded by the
Indians they were settled, principally, by people from
the New England and Eastern States, who came either
direct by the lakes, or down the river. Many from
the east decided to move on into Indiana after having
stopped in Ohio for a time. It was this contingent
of the population which is spoken of elsewhere as
infusing into the commonwealth the sturdy, virile, in-

The Pioneers 105

telligent characteristics of the sections from which they
emigrated.

On the frontier, equaHty of circumstances, common
dangers, hopes, privations, and mutual interests
created a homely tie of brotherhood and true democ-
racy, dear to the Anglo-Saxon nature. As time passed
in their forest isolation, intermarriages of the families
strengthened the bonds of union.

Of the character of these first pioneers, no better
portrayal could be made, than in the eloquent tribute
of Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones to the father of
Abraham Lincoln.

"Only he who knows what it means to hew a home
out of the forest; of what is involved in the task of re-
placing mighty trees with com; only he who has watched
the log house rising in the clearing and has witnessed the
devotedness that gathers around the old log school house
and the pathos of a grave in the wilderness can under-
stand how sobriety, decency, aye, devoutness, beauty, and
power belong to the story of those who began the mighty
task of changing the wild west into the heart of a teeming
continent. In pleading for a more just estimate of Thomas
Lincoln, I do but plead for a higher appreciation of that
stalwart race who pre-empted the Mississippi Valley to
civilization, who planted the seed that has since grown
school houses and churches innumerable. They were men
not only of great hearts, but of great heads, aye, women,
too, with laughing eyes, willing hands, and humble spirits." ^

« Address at Lincoln Centre, 1906.

CHAPTER VII

INDIANA TERRITORY
1763-1816

** f SHALL Stand 'til morning in the path you are

I walking," said the Chief Pontiac to Major Rogers,
who, with his English forces, was sent out from
Montreal to take possession of the western posts,
after the French had surrendered Canada. To a
council of Indians the same Chief said: "The Great
Spirit has appeared and spoken, — why do you suffer
these dogs in red clothing to enter your country and
take the land I gave you." ^

Such was the first effect of English victories and
the withdrawal of the French authority.

From the earliest landing of the first Europeans
in America, there had been innumerable and contin-
uous conflicts between the races. Although not ap-
pearing in this conflict so early as the Atlantic colonies,
the Northwest Territory, of which Indiana formed a
part, suffered in consequence of the war of races,
from the time La Salle first explored her forests to
within the memory of persons now living. And the
history of Indiana's Territorial period is the story of
that encounter.

After Pontiac's War in the autumn of 1764, when

« Dillon, J. B., History of Indiana, page 68. Indianapolis, 1859.

106

Indiana Territory 107

peace with the Indians was declared, the British again
assumed control of all the Western posts and held
them, until, as we have recorded, fourteen years later,
General George Rogers Clark captured the forts for
the American colonies. One of the pioneers has
left an interesting account of the mode of savage
warfare which prevailed through all the years of
settlement. He says that the Indians in attacking
a place are seldom seen in force upon any quarter,
but dispersed, and acting individually or in small
parties; they always conceal themselves in the bushes
or weeds, or behind trees or stumps, or waylay the
path or field where the settlers are obliged to work,
and when one or more can be taken down, they fire the
gun or let fly the arrow. If they dare they advance
upon this killed or crippled victim and take his scalp
or make him prisoner. They cut off the garrison by
killing the cattle and watch the watering-places and
pick off the inhabitants in detail. They crawl towards
a fort imtil within gimshot and wait, and whoever
appears gets the first shot. They often make feints
to draw out the garrison on one side of the fort, while
some of their numbers surprise another entrance. In
combat they were brave, in defeat they were dextrous,
in victory they were cruel. Neither sex nor age nor
the prisoners were exempt from their tomahawk or
scalping-knife. When the Indians went off for game
or into camp, the white man would plough his com,
or gather his crop, or hunt deer, or get up his cattle
for his own food. Often the women would keep watch
with rifle in hand w^hile the father or husband drove
the plough.

An old settler tells us of the manner in which he
used to work in those perilous times :

loS Historic Indiana

"On all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk, and
hunting-knife, with a loaded pistol in my belt. When I
went to plough, I laid my gun on the ploughed ground and
stuck a stick by it for a mark, so that I could get it quickly
in case it was needed. I had two good dogs. At night
I took one into the house, leaving the other out. The
one outside was expected to give the alarm, which would
cause the one inside to bark, by which I would be awak-
ened, having my fire-arms always loaded. During the
two years I never went from home with any certainty of
returning. " ^

Neither was there any certainty of finding his family
unmolested upon his return. Many times children
were sent for wood or water and were captured or
scalped within sight of the home, and boys were mur-
dered at the wood-pile. So harassed were the settlers
that in one of the records of those times we find that
in 1794 a reward of one hundred and thirty-six
dollars was offered on the Kentucky shore for every
Indian scalp having the right ear appended. An
old army oi^cer of the time has left a graphic de-
scription of one of the many councils when General
Clark was trying to negotiate a treaty with the tribes
in 1785.

"Three hundred of their finest warriors set oflf in all
their paint and feathers, filed into the council houses;
their number and demeanor was altogether unexpected
and suspicious. The United States stockade mustered
only seventy men as against their three hundred. In the
centre of the hall at a little table sat the commissioners,
and General Clark, the indefatigable scourge of those
very marauders. On the part of the Indians an old council
sachem and a war chief took the lead; the latter a tall,
raw-boned fellow with a bold, villainous look, made a

' Conversational Reminiscences.

Indiana Territory 109

boisterous speech, which operated effectually on the
passions of the Indians, who set up a prodigious whoop
at every pause. He concluded by presenting a black and
white wampum, to signify that they were prepared for
either event, peace or war. General Clark exhibited the
same unalterable and careless countenance he had shown
during the whole scene, his head leaning on his left hand
and his elbow resting on the table, with very little cere-
mony. Every Indian immediately started from his seat
with one of those sudden, simultaneous, and peculiar
savage sounds, which startle and disconcert the stoutest
heart, and can neither be described nor forgotten. At
this juncture Clark rose and the scrutinizing eyes cowed
at his glance. He stamped his foot on the prostrate and
insulted symbol of wampum and ordered them to leave
the hall. They did so involuntarily. They were heard
all that night debating in the bushes near the fort. The
chief was for war, the old sachems for peace; the latter
prevailed, and the next morning they came back and
sued for peace." ^

When General Clark made the conquest of the
Northwest, it was the fourth white man's government
the natives had encountered claiming rule over that
region. With their limited knowledge of the Old
World and their confused ideas of what Europe really
was, what wonder that their minds were befogged
and perplexed over the changes from French King
to Spanish and from English Monarch to American
Congress. First one "Big Knife," would solicit them
as an ally to kill off the other nation, and then the
next power to gain authority would announce that
their chief was the "Great Father," and they in turn
would use the savages against the settlers.

In recalling the intercourse between the natives and

> Vincennes, Western Sun, Oct. 21, 1820.

no Historic Indiana

the white man, it is interesting to look over the articles
for which the Indians bartered with the Europeans,
and the following is the price received in 1775 in ex-
change for a great tract of land on the Ouabache River,
well and truly delivered for the use of the several
tribes: " Four hundred blankets, twenty-two pieces of
Stroud, two hundred and fifty shirts, twelve gross of
star gartering, one hundred and fifty pieces of ribbon,
twenty-four pounds of vermilion, eighteen pairs of
velvet-laced housings, one piece of malton, fifty-two
fusils, thirty-five dozen large buck-horn handle knives,
forty dozen couteau knives, five hundred pounds of
brass kettles, ten thousand gun flints, six hundred
pounds of gunpowder, two thousand pounds of lead,
five hundred pounds of tobacco, forty bushels of salt,
three thousand pounds of flour, three horses; also
the following quantities of silverware, viz. : Eleven
very large arm bands, forty wristbands, six whole
moons, six half moons, nine ear-wheels, forty-six
large crosses, twenty-nine hairpins, sixty pair of ear
bobs, twenty dozen small crosses, twenty dozen nose-
crosses, and one hundred and ten dozen brooches;
wherefore we have granted, bargained, sold, altered,
released, enfeoffed, ratified, and fully confirmed unto
the said gentlemen, etc."

Many stories are told of children who were stolen
by the Indians in Territorial days and carried off,
sometimes never heard of again. None of these tales
has a more romantic interest than the well-known
one of Frances Slocum, who lived as the wife of a Miami
chief on the Mississinewa River near Peru, Indiana, until
1847. I^ "f^he far-off country near Wilkesbarre, in the
month of July and the year 1778, a tribe of Delaware
Indians, incited by the British troops, swooped down

Indiana Territory m

on the Wyoming Valley, made a sudden attack upon
the little settlement, killed the boys that were out
of doors, and every one rushed for protection. In the
stampede, little five-year-old Frances was forgotten,
and knowing there was danger she crawled under the
stairway to hide from the savages who were ransacking
the house. Unfortunately they spied her little feet stick-
ing out and pulling her out one of them swung her over
his shoulders and they carried her and a neighbor boy
away. Although pursued by soldiers sent out to the res-
cue, the Indians circumvented the troops, and the child
disappeared from their ken. Within a month her
father was murdered by the savages. She was taken
to New York State near the falls of Niagara and was
adopted by the chief; dressed out in blanket and
gay wampum she grew up among the savages, and
the Indians were good to her. In time there was
only a hazy memory of her origin. She was called
the White Rose and had been married to a Delaware
Indian who proved unworthy of her and later she
was wed by her adopted father to a Miami chief,
She-buck-o-nah, who was deaf. After the death of
her adopted father she and her husband left New
York State and went to the home of his tribe in Indi-
ana. She had three daughters. Frances's Indian name
was Ma-con-a-quah. In the year 1839, Mr. George
Winters, an Indiana artist, went to Deaf Man's Village,
on the Mississinewa River, near Peru, and painted a
portrait from life, of Frances Slocum ; and he describes
her as she appeared in her old age, arrayed as she
wished to be painted. She was dressed in a red calico
"pes-mokin" or skirt, figured with large yellow and
green figures. Her nether limbs were clothed with
red leggings winged with green ribbon, her feet were

112 Historic Indiana

bare and moccasinless. Her forehead was singularly
interlaced with angular lines, and the muscles of her
cheeks were ridgy and corded. There were no indi-
cations of unwonted cares upon her countenance,
beyond time's influence. Her hair, originally brown,
was now frosted. The ornamentation of her person
was very limited. In her ears she wore small silver
ear bobs.

Colonel Ewing, a successful trader, who knew the
Indian language, and had known Frances Slocum by
her Indian name for many years, was called in one
day when she was so ill that they thought death was
near. The nameless longing, of which she had never
spoken, came over her, and she revealed her life's
story to Colonel Ewing. She told him she had been
carried away, and had never heard of her people
again; that it was far back "before the last two wars."
She remembered her family name of Slocum, but had
forgotten her own given name. After recovery from
this illness, she relapsed into her Indian reserve, and
told no one of her history^

Colonel Ewing wrote an account of the revelation
made to him by this aged white woman, who was
known as an Indian; and in 1837 i^ "^"^"^.s published
in a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, newspaper, with an
appeal for news of the family. The story became
widely circulated throughout the State, and finally
reached the ears of her two brothers and a sister. The
mother had died thirty years before, grieving to the
last for the loss of her baby girl. She had spent thou-
sands of dollars in searching and advertising for the
child. A purse of five hundred guineas had been
offered for her restoration. Eleven years after Frances
was kidnapped an exchange of prisoners was arranged

Indiana Territory 113

on the frontier, and ^Irs. Slocum journeyed thither
to see if her child was among the little ones, but she
had to return home saddened by disappointment.
She was not among the white prisoners. For thirty
years more the sorrowing mother waited and watched
for some tidings of the lost daughter and died without
the sight. Her brothers and sister grew to be pros-
perous citizens and were past middle life before this
published account of the confession of the aged white
woman, out among the Miamis, was brought to their
notice. With impatient speed they arranged to journey
westward for an interview. It was in the month of
September, 1837, fifty-nine years after the abduction,
that the sister and brothers reached the Indian village
on the Mississinewa. They had to communicate with
her through an interpreter, for she had entirely lost
her mother tongue. Her older brother identified her
beyond doubt by the nail being gone from her left
front finger, as it had been when she was lost, and
she recalled her name of Frances when it was spoken
to her. They learned that she had always been kindly
treated by the Indians, and universally respected by
the savages and w^hite settlers. They begged her to
return with them, if only for a sight of old home sur-
roundings, but she resisted their pleadings. She said,
"I am an old tree and cannot be transplanted." By
long habit she had become an Indian with precisely
their manners and customs. It is interesting to learn
that her changed environment at such an early age
caused her to grow so exactly like the savage people
with whom she was thrown. We are told by all that
she looked entirely like an Indian, talked like one,
slept, ate, and reasoned like them, and was as stoical
and reserved. The only difference seemed to be in

114 Historic Indiana

the purity of her life and behavior, and the fact that
she acquired property, and provided for the future, in
a way unknown among the aborigines. On the day
after the surprise of the visit of her family, according
to her promise to them, she rode into town to return
their visit arrayed in her best barbaric attire and
accompanied by her daughter and son-in-law and
carrying a quarter of a deer for a present. She seemed
to feel that their relations were established and en-
joyed her visit, but again would not listen to their
plans to have her return with them, seeming to feel
no longings for home or kindred or race. With tearful
adieus on their part and stoical reserve on hers, at-
tended by her Indian offspring she mounted her pony
and rode back to her forest home. Frances Slocum's
history is but one of many tales of Indian kidnapping
and reprisals which, if they could be given a place,
would be more thrilling than any in fiction.

The story is told of a family near Pendleton, that had
one son of the house who was proverbially slow. He was
sent by his mother for an armful of fire- wood with the
admonition, " Now don't be gone seven years." An
Indian lurking in the woods near by seized the boy
and carried him off. It was seven years before the
lad found an opportunity to steal away from the tribe
and return to his home; as he neared the house, the
memory of his taking-away came back to him vividly
and he gathered up an arm-load of wood and carried
it in to his mother, who had long mourned him as
dead. A young girl in Ohio County named McClure
saw all of her kindred tomahawked before her eyes
and then the Indians carried her off and sold her to
the British with whom she remained in captivity until
recaptured at the battle of the Thames.

Indiana Territory 115

In the earliest settlement of the Whitewater country,
one of the Holman families suffered the kidnapping
of their son by the Indians, who kept the youth for
seven years. Among the thrilling experiences of his
captivity was one time when he is said to have refused
to carry a heavy burden which he had been ordered
to shoulder. A council of savages was held to deter-
mine what they should do with him. The usual pun-
ishment was decided upon, of nnining the gauntlet
between two files of men and squaws who were to
buffet him as he passed or discharge their arrows at
him. He was too useful to them to be killed and he
finally escaped from the savages and lived to a good
old age in southeastern Indiana.

John Conner, the founder of Connersville, was
taken by the Shawnee Indians when a mere youth
and was brought up and trained in Indian life, language,
and manners. He knew their nature so well that in
after life he was saved from their treachery while
travelling in the northern part of the State, by a feel-
ing that they were ill-intentioned and keeping himself
awake. His apprehension was justified, for about
midnight a friendly Indian came to his tent and warned
him not to be there or his life would be forfeited.
When dressed in their costume and painted it was
difficult to distinguish Conner from a real savage. On
one occasion in later years he came to Andersontown,
then the lodge of a large band of Indians under Chief
Anderson. He was dressed and painted as a Shawnee
and his granddaughter says, when he heard Tecumseh
was absent, he pretended to be that warrior. As
is usual with the Indians, he took his seat on a log in
sight of the Indian encampment, quietly smoked his
pipe, waiting the action of Anderson and his under

ii6 Historic Indiana

chiefs. After an hour he saw approaching him the
old chief, himself, in full ceremonial dress, smoking
his pipe.

"As the old chief walked up to me I rose from my seat,
looked him in the eyes, we exchanged pipes, and walked
down to the lodge without exchanging a word. I was
pointed to a bearskin — took my seat with my back to
the chiefs. A few minutes later I noticed an Indian, who
knew me well, eying me closely. I tried to evade his
glance, when he bawled out in the Indian language, at
the top of his voice, — interpreted, 'You great Shawnee
Indian, you big John Conner.* The next moment the
camp was in a perfect roar of laughter, all yelling over
the great joke. Chief Anderson ran up to me, jumping,
throwing off his dignity, 'You great representative of
Tecumseh,' and burst out in a loud laugh." ^

His granddaughter, Mrs. Christian, says that the
Indians seemed to retain an affection for her grand-
father, but hated his second wife who was a white
woman.

The Indians were always fond of making grave dec-
larations in the councils, when treaties were being ar-
ranged. Many of the set speeches were incorporated in
and could be unearthed from the commissioner's reports
to the government. None of these orations are more
familiar, to those who declaimed it when school chil-
dren fifty years ago, than the stirring address of Logan,
the Shawnee chief, which was translated by General
Gibson.

"I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered

Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if he

ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During

' " Reminiscences of Sarah C. Christian " in Indiana Magazine of
History, vol. iii., No. 2, page 87.

Indiana Territory 117

the course of the last long bloody war, Logan remained
idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my
love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as they
passed, and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white men.'
I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the
injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in
cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations
of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There
runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living
creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought
it ; I have killed many ; I have fully glutted my vengeance ;
for my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do
not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan
never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his
life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one." ^

Tecumseh, who came to be the best known chief
in the Northwest Territory, was not only a leader of
shrewdness and intelligence but his powers of oratory
were so great that he fascinated even groups of savages
who listened to his eloquent speeches, and other chiefs
were wont to shield their tribes from his influence.

The effect on the natives of contact with the white
race was flattering to neither. The historians of the
early periods of American history have all testified
to the disastrous results from the sale of firearms
and liquor, and drink is still the worst enemy of the
remaining tribes on the reservations. Of the abor-
igines in Indiana Territory, Mr. Dunn, says: "It
does not appear that the French civilization had
any material effect on the manners and customs of
the Indians in general. Some of them were converted
to Catholicism, a few undertook something like an
agricultural life ; as a rule these advances were merely

« Dillon, J. B., Hist, of Indiana, page 97. Indianapolis, 1859.

ii8 Historic Indiana

grafted on the savagery which still remained."
The Reverend Isaac McCoy, a Baptist missionary,
who, with his faithful wife, labored with the Potta
wattomies, the Miamis, and Kickapoos for years and
taught them agriculture and instructed their children,
in his last days sighed over their inability to grasp
the truths — "How few of the Pottawattomie tribes
have reached the abode of the blessed." In one respect,
at least, they were infinitely worse off than they were
before the white man came. They acquired the ap-
petite for rum, to satisfy which they were ready and
willing to sacrifice anything they possessed. No tribe
escaped this curse. The Indians themselves, in their
sober moments, lamented their weakness, but there was
no cessation of debauchery. In 1805, when Governor
Harrison was urging the Territorial Legislature to adopt
some measure to prevent this drunkenness, he said :

"You are witnesses to the abuses; you have seen our
towns crowded with furious and drunken savages; our
streets flowing with their blood; their arms and clothing
bartered for the liquor that destroys them; and their
miserable women and children enduring all of the ex-
tremities of cold and hunger. So destructive has the
progress of intemperance been among them, that whole
villages have been swept away. A miserable remnant is
all that remains to mark the names and situation of many
numerous and warlike tribes. In the energetic language
of one of their orators, it is a dreadful conflagration, which
spreads misery and desolation through the country and
threatens the annihilation of the whole race," 2

Contemplate this picture drawn by Governor
Denonville in 1690:

1 Dunn, J. p., Hist, of Indiaiia, page 122. Boston, 1888.

2 Burr, S. J., Life and Times of Wm. H. Harrison, page 86. N. Y.
and Phil., 1840.

Indiana Territory 119

"I have witnessed the evils caused by Hquor among the
Indians. It is the horror of horrors. There is no crime
nor infamy that they do not perpetrate in their excesses.
A mother throws her child into the fire; noses are bitten
ofT. It is another hell among them during their orgies,
which must be seen to be credited. There is na artifice
that they will not have recourse to, to obtain the means
of intoxication." ^

Notwithstanding all the terrors and sorrows it
brought to the settlers, the people who trafficked in
liquor still sold it to the natives just as they do to
our own people in the present day. Many Indians
would get drunk to incite themselves to fresh atrocities
on those they hated. They would sell anything they
possessed to obtain "fire-water." Said a Shawnee
chief in 1732" "The Delaware Indians wanted to
drink the lana' .avay "; whereupon w^e told them,
"Since some of you are gone to Ohio, we will go there
also, we hope you will not drink that aw-ay too." But
they did drink much of Ohio away and many other
lands Besides their passion for liquor the Indians
ol Territorial Indiana were very fond of games of chance
and there were many forms of gambling in vogue
among the various tribes. The game of "Moccasin
and Bullet" as played by those inveterate gamblers,
the Delawares, the Miamis, and the Pottawattomies,
is thus described by Mr. Robert Duncan in his memoirs.
He well recollected frequently seeing them playing
the game, which was played in this wise: The profes-
sional gambler w^ould spread upon a smooth level
grass plot a large, well-dressed deerskin, upon which
he would place in a semicircular form, within convenient

« "N. Y. Col. Doc," vol. ix., quoted on page 123, Dunn's Indiana.
Boston, 1888.

120 Historic Indiana

reach of the player, a half-dozen newly made moccasins.
The game consisted in the use of a large-sized bullet
held in his hands, and shown to those looking on and
desiring to take part in the game. Then in a hurried
and very dextrous manner he would place his hand un-
der each moccasin, leaving the bullet under one of them.
Betting was then made as to which one of t ':e moccasins
the bullet was under. As the manner of shuffling
the hands under each moccasin was do le so rapidly
and skilfully that it was impossible for the bystanders
to see under which the bullet was left, it will be seen
that the chances were largely in favor of the gambler.

The names of some of the Indians of this time we
learn from their signatures on old land sales. Twenty
Canoes, Full Moon, Dogs 'Round the Fire, Dancing
Feather, Corn Planter, Loaded Man, and Thrown in
the Water, were among those on r ^^jj^v- ^^s ceding their
titles to the invading settlers.

A detailed history of the Indian wars in Indiana
Territory would be wearisome. It was an intermin-
able maze of attacks by the natives, counter-attacks
by the whites, in a few months, fresh reprisals, and
then revenge taken on some other settlement. Often
there were raids made on some innocent neighborhood
for an injustice done to Indians miles away. Then
the militia would be ordered out and the whole border
"checkered" by the troops, in search of marauders.
When it is remembered that over forty different
treaties, in regard to the lands alone, not to mention
peace pipes that were smoked pledging temporary
peace, were made with the different tribes between
1796 and 1840, it is easy to imagine the constant
conflict during that whole period. If Canada had
been secured when the Independence of the United

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Indiana Territory 121

States was declared, the situation would have been
greatly bettered. For many of the savage raids in
the Northwest were incited by the British who kept
the Indians constantly stirred up against the colonists.
As an example, the tribes knew there was to be fighting
between the two nations, long before the war was
declared in 181 2. British commanders had summoned
the chiefs to Canada, and British agents went all over
the West, distributing presents to the tribes and
stirring up the bloodthirsty natives against the Amer-
icans. Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, died in the Brit-
ish service, and his brother, " The Prophet," received a
pension from the British Government until his death
in 1834. Nor were the French guiltless for they had
always incited the savages against the English settlers.
There was continued fighting in scattered localities
throughout the Territory during the whole of the
disturbance from 1808 to 181 5, occasioning much
misery and suffering, but wearisome to recall in detail.
The battle of Tippecanoe was one of the best remem-
bered of those Indiana conflicts. It was fought by
General Harrison and his troops against the Prophet
Elkswatawa (Loud Voice) who was a brother of the
Shawnee chief Tecumseh and Kanskaka, triplets born
at one birth. Tecumseh was a man of vast influence
with all of the Miami Confederation. Tecumseh, who
was an Indian of talent, skill, and bravery, and became
one of the most celebrated aborigines on the conti-
nent, came down the Wabash attended by a large ret-
inue of four hundred braves, fully armed, and appearing
before Governor William Henry Harrison in August,
1 8 10, made a long speech against allotting particular
tracts of land to each tribe, and against the late pur-
chase of lands by the white people.

122 Historic Indiana

" I am a warrior," said he, "I am the head of them all, and
all the warriors will meet together in two or three moons
from this, then will I call for those chiefs who sold you
the land and shall know what to do with them. I will
take no presents from you. By taking goods from you,
you will hereafter say that with them you purchased
another piece of land." *

Tecumseh had no claim or title to any of the lands
which had been sold by the six tribes and their own
chiefs. For ten days the haughty Shawnee chief and
Governor Harrison held daily councils, — the Governor
trying to reason and explain the new conditions to
the aboriginal mind. Events that follow^ed showed
that the lengthy pow-wow, and all subsequent warn-
ings, accomplished nothing. At the close of the visit
Harrison told Tecumseh that his claims and preten-
sions would not be acknowledged by the President
of the United States. "Well," said the astute Indian,
by his interpreter, "as the Great Chief is to determine
the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense
enough in his head to induce him to direct you to give
up this land. It is true, he is far off and will not be
injured by this war; he may sit still and drink his
wine while you and I fight it out." 2 After this, the
chief and twenty followers, who probably had in-
tended to make an attack on Vincennes at this time,
but were overawed by the presence of the United
States troops, passed on down the river to the South
to enlist more tribes in a great revolt they had planned
embracing the whole territory from the Lakes to the
Gulf. While he w^as gone on this mission, his brother,
the Prophet, stirred up the natives and continued the

1 Dillon, John B., Hist, of Ind., page 444. Indianapolis, 1859.
^Ibid.

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Indiana Territory 123

agitation in the Territory. Two months afterward
the Governor, in his message to the Territorial Legis-
lature warned them of the ominous clouds hovering
over the Wabash; told them of the failure to induce
the natives to take up agriculture, as game disappeared,
and settle down on lands of their own.

" As long as a deer is to be found in these forests they
will continue to hunt. Are then these extinguishments
of native titles which are at once so beneficial to the Indian,
the territory, and the United States to be suspended on
account of the intrigues of these few individual leaders?
Is one of the fairest portions of the Globe to remain in a
state of nature, the haunt of wretched savages, when it
seems destined by the Creator to give support to a large
population? "^

Until the present moment these are the arguments
of the opposing civilizations. Four hundred years of
contact since the discovery have not changed the point
of view of either race. Governor Harrison, ever wise
in his dealings with the natives, endeavored to break
up the confederacy of the Indians at the Prophet's
town. He sent them the following letter addressed
to the Prophet and his brother:

"Brothers, listen to me. This is the third year that
all the white people in this country have been alarmed
at your proceedings. You invite all the tribes of the North
and West of you to join against us. You shall not sur-
prise us as you expect to do. As a friend, I advise you
to consider well of it. Brothers, do you really think that
the handful of men you have about you are able to con-
tend with the seventeen fires (U. S.) or even that the
whole of the tribes united could contend against the

« Burr, S. J., Life of Wtn. Henry Harrison, page 127, N. Y. and
Phil., 1840.

124 Historic Indiana

Kentucky fire alone? Brothers, I am myself of the Long
Knife fire; as soon as they hear my voice, you will see
them pouring forth their swarms of hunting-shirt men,
as numerous as the mosquitoes on the shores of the Wabash.
Brothers, take care of their stings. It is not our wish to
hurt you. With regard to the lands, it is in the hands
of the President; if you wish to go and see him, I will
supply you with the means." ^

For months these negotiations were kept up, the
Indians denying the threatened uprising and promising
that they would send messengers among the tribes to
prevent depredations. At the same time the Prophet
was drawing the natives to his standard. In the
autumn the signs grew ominous and Governor Har-
rison having lost hopes of a peaceful solution of dif-
ficulties determined upon an aggressive policy. He,
with a force of troops, marched northward from
Vincennes toward the Prophet's town to settle the
question before winter set in, and ere Tecumseh should
return from the South. The malign influence of the
Prophet had reached all the tribes. In a speech to
his followers, the Prophet had declared that his toma-
hawk was up against the whites, that nothing w^ould
induce him to take it down, unless the wrongs of the
Indians about their lands were redressed. When
Governor Harrison and his troops drew near the
Indian forces the Prophet sent out a chief to call
them to halt. Governor Harrison explained that he
had no intention of attacking him, until he dis-
covered that they would not comply w^ith his demands.
"At present my object is to find a good piece of
ground to encamp on, where we can get wood and

' Burr, S. J., Life of Wni. Henry Harrison, page 127. N. Y. and
Phil., 1840.

Indiana Territory 125

water." * The chief pointed out an oak grove which has
since become so famous. It was on a table-land of the
lower ground, which the troops settled on, and mutual
promises were made for a suspension of hostilities
until there was an interview on the following day,
when General Harrison hoped to make peace settle-
ments. Nevertheless, the army encamped in battle
array and slept on their arms, for Governor Harrison
was an old Indian fighter and knew their ways. He
was none too wary. Before sunrise the Indians at-
tacked so suddenly that they were in the camp before
many of the soldiers could get out of their tents, and
the battle of November 7, 181 1, was on. The Prophet
stood on high ground and chanted war songs in a
loud voice and assured his followers of victory. When
they were vanquished and the day was lost, they
lost faith in the Prophet, deserted his standard, and
he slipped away from the vengeance of the whites
and joined the Wyandots.

It was on the return march from this battle of Tip-
pecanoe that the soldiers from Kentucky gathered the
seed of the blue grass which they found growing in
Indiana, and carried it home with them thinking it
was a superior variety, because it satisfied the hunger
of their horses so that they would not eat their corn.
It flourished so well on the limestone soil of central
Kentucky that it made that State famous. Among
the immediate results of the battle of Tippecanoe
were the signal destruction of the Prophet's influence
over the tribes, their dispersion from their settlements
on that river, the complete defeat of chief Tecumsch's
designs for a general uprising of all the allied tribes,

« Burr, S. J., Life of Wm. Henry , Harrison, page 142. N. Y. and
Phil., 1840.

126 Historic Indiana

and a little relief to the frontier from the incursions
of the savages.

An appreciation of William Henry Harrison's official
services to Indiana Territory belongs in its history.
He understood how to deal with the Indians and by
his victories in the border forays at Tippecanoe, at
Fort Meigs, and jointly with Lieutenant Perry in
making peace, he made it possible for the settlements
throughout the whole Ohio Valley to enjoy a measure
of safety. It is vastly to his honor that in the hotly
contested campaign of 1840, when he was the Presi-
dential candidate, it was never intimated that any
taint of misapplied funds, or dishonest dealings could
be attached to his administration, either as a com-
missioner, a military officer, or as an Executive. His
zeal in the service and fidelity to the Territory made
for General Harrison a most honorable record.

It is always to be remembered, in the annals of these
Territorial days in Indiana, that the relief accomplished
by any battle was temporary, that there would often
be an outbreak in some other section in a short time.
For example, a distressing massacre occurred in the
following year, within the present limits of Scott
County. In 181 2, there was a place that was called
the Pigeon Roost settlement. It consisted of a few
families, isolated from other settlements, by a distance
of four or five miles. During the afternoon of the
third of September two of the men, who were out
hunting for "bee trees" in the forest, about two miles
from home, were surprised and killed by a party of
Indians, consisting of ten or twelve warriors, mostly
Shawnees, who afterwards attacked the settlement and
in an hour, about sunset, killed one man, five women,
and sixteen children, during a determined defence on

Indiana Territory 127

the part of the few settlers. As soon as it grew dark
two men, one woman, and five children eluded the
savages, struck out through the woods, and by day-
light reached the home of a neighbor six miles distant.
The militia went to the scene of the disaster only
to find the houses a smoking ruin and the victims
of the savage warfare burned in their cabins. They
buried the murdered persons in one grave on the spot
where they died, and which they had suffered so much
to attain.

The same month of the disaster of the "Pigeon
Roost" settlement, Fort Wayne, which was more
than a hundred miles away, was surrounded and held
until the troops from far-off Ohio and Kentucky
relieved it by dispersing the savages. Again, two
months later, troops had to be sent to the Missis-
sinewa River, to destroy the Miami villages and dis-
perse those warlike bands. Only a few of the many
conflicts between the natives and the white settlers
can be recounted here. Indeed the alarms were so
frequent that in 181 2 the Territorial Legislature did
not convene in regular session because so many of the
members of that body were on military duty. Mr.
Dillon says that twenty battle-fields and the ashes
of fifty Indian towns are among the memorials of
that triumph of civilized man in this region. The
deaths and desolate homes of the white people have
never been fully enumerated. Their graves are un-
marked. Near their forest homes many times the
ashes of both were found together and told the tale.
The whole situation was deplorable, and continued so
for years, but enough has been recounted for later
generations to appreciate the conditions of living in
Indiana when it was a Territory. Many interesting

128 Historic Indiana

details of the encounters with the Indians in this
particular State may be found in Colonel Cockrum's
Pioneer History of huiiana. Throughout the con-
tinent the white man was a usurper from the Indian's
standpoint, whether the lands were purchased or
appropriated. It was their hunting ground they
wanted preserved. It has been said that the
English race of settlers extinguished the Indian
title by the simple expedient of extinguishing the
Indian. All of the European races who came in
must ever stand accused of many violations of faith
with the natives, and of horrible retaliations for all
the savage atrocities committed by the red man.

Unless the whole continent was to be retained as
a vast hunting ground, and forever closed to the over-
crowded population of the rest of the world, border
war was inevitable. The tribes had always battled
among themselves for the same reason, and constantly
depleted their own race in appalling conflicts for their
" game preserves." If the white race finally conquered,
it was not an easy victory, as we have seen.

In Indiana Territory the Indians resisted the advance
inch by inch. Pleadings, protestations, strategy, cun-
ning, cruelty, and massacre were tried to maintain
their sway in the land. It is needless now to deplore
or recriminate for the part our nation played in the
Indian question. Like negro slaver>', it was instituted
by the different European nations who started the
settlement of this continent before there was any
American government. English, Spanish, French, and
Dutch trafficked in slaves, and pushed the Indians
back long before the Republic existed. We may
regret it, deplore it, and be thankful that slavery
finally was abolished ; but the inception of both Indian

Indiana Territory 129

and negro injustice was European, and the American
nation inlierited the two problems with the domain.
We must shoulder our own share of the responsibility
for mistakes in trying to adjust the difficult relations
between the different civilizations, but Europe must
share with us the beginning of sorrows. Neither of
the two dark races has been able to develop suf-
ficiently to " catch step" with the descendants of the
Europeans. An ironical form of the Indian's retali-
ation for the loss of domain might be recognized in
the money loss to the world by his introduction of
the use of tobacco. Possibly the living descendants
of the departed braves could spend the rest of their
days in computing the cost, to the nations, of the
wealth " gone up in smoke" from the use of the weed
made known to the white man on the banks of the
James. It might be a grim satisfaction to Big Chief,
fretting on Western " farms in severalty," to reflect that,
at an ever-increasing ratio, his mild poison is absorbing
the revenues of the European races; that the value
of his lost lands will be a mere bagatelle, compared
with the cost of the tobacco which is being consumed
at the rate of four hundred million dollars a year,
within that same domain.

Notwithstanding the continued Indian troubles, the
Northwest Territory increased in population and in
material wealth. After the Revolutionary War, in
1785 the disbanded soldiers began drifting westward
in large numbers. After Virginia and the other Atlantic
colonies had ceded their individual claims to the
Federal Government, Congress completed the organi-
zation of the lands north of the Ohio and east of
the Alleghanies into the tract known officially as
the Northwest Territory, and adopted the famous

130 Historic Indiana

" Ordinance of 1787 " for its government. In the year
1800, with a population of 4700 white people, an
independent territory, extending to the Mississippi
River, and called Indiana, was organized with William
Henr>' Harrison as Governor. Four years later it was
granted a Representative in Congress. In 1808, when
the population had increased to 17,000, the part
east of the Wabash River was divided from Illinois.
In 1816, Indiana was admitted into the Union. " She
has come in free," was the glad word carried from
hamlet to village. This meant that slavery existed
on this soil, in the early history'' of Indiana. Slaves
were brought with the settlers from the South, others
were sold "up the river" by the Spanish; and Louis
of France, by a royal ordinance in 1721, had authorized
the importation of negro slaves into his territory,
and slaves were still held by Americans who had
come from the South. When the United States secured
control of the territory the struggle began between
those who wished slavery continued within its borders,
and those who strenuously opposed it. Mr. J. P.
Dunn, in his interesting and exhaustive histors^ of
Indiana as a Territory, and its redemption from sla-
very, covers every phase of the discussion the reader
may wish to investigate. He gives due weight to the
historical fact that the local slavery question was
the paramount political influence in Indiana up to the
time of the organization of the State government ; and
he brings clearly to light the causes which produced
the pro-slavery feeling, and the difBculties which the
anti-slavery sentiment was obliged to overcome. Here
it will suffice to recall that, as the French settlers
already had slaves under the crown, which they brought
up the river upon their return from the trading trips

William Henry Harrison.
From an engraving after the painting by Chappel.

Indiana Territory 131

to New Orleans, it was natural that the early pioneers
from the South who had slaves should retain them,
it still being in accordance with the law. At the same
time there had come into the Territory many Quakers,
who always discountenanced slavery. Also large num-
bers of the citizens from the South, who had left slave
States at great sacrifice, on account of their disap-
proval of slavery, many of whom were of Huguenot
descent, had been joined by people from New England.
These elements made a strong minority, who persisted
in a conscientious and continued fight against per-
petuating the practice in the new Territory-. It is a
fact that, when the constitution for the new State
was adopted by the commission appointed for that
purpose, freedom won by only two votes! A trav-
eller through Indiana at this time wrote home:
"These people are forming a State government. The
question in all its magnitude, whether it should be a
slave-holding State or not, is just now agitating.
Many fierce spirits talked about resistance with blood,
but the preponderance of more sober views and
habits of order and quietness prevailed." Indiana
came in as a free State.

One of the perplexing and vexatious things in
frontier life was the frauds practised in entering
claims to the public lands. The times were so threat-
ening in 1804 that the Commissioners, appointed to
adjust the land titles for the Federal Government,
in closing their report, said: "We close this melancholy
picture of human depravity by rendering our de-
vout acknowledgment that it has pleased Divine
Providence to preserve us both from legal murder
and private assassination."^ The rapacity of land

• Dillon, J. B., History of Indiana, p. 434. Indianapolis, 1859.

132 Historic Indiana

speculators, the dishonesty of land agents, and the grasp-
ing covetousness of some settlers kept up a constant
source of hardship and discontent. Soldiers and the
earlier inhabitants sometimes sold their lands to
cunning speculators as low as thirty cents an acre,
and then were paid in bogus scrip. The very first
settlers came into the Territory before there were any
surveys, and had to prove up after the government
was ready to grant a title. Actual settlers tried to
adjust their selections without dissensions or bidding
against each other, sometimes casting lots to decide
who should secure a certain tract. We read in an
old journal that "the settlers tell foreign capitalists
to hold off till they enter the tract they have already
settled upon, and that then they may pitch in; that
there will be land enough for all. If a speculator
makes a bid or shows a disposition to take a settler's
claim from him, he soon sees the whites of a score of
eyes. A few days of public sale sufificed to relieve
hundreds of their cash, but they secured their land,
which will serve as a basis for their future wealth and
prosperity, sure as time's gentle progress makes a
calf an ox." Some speculators swept whole townships
at a purchase. The fortunes of many who were after-
wards the rich men of Indiana were made by securing
cheap government lands, and not "signing deeds." The
story is told by Sanford Cox of a clever ruse played
upon land speculators that were constantly scouring
the country.

" A man who owned a claim on Tippecanoe River, near
Pretty Prairie, fearing that some one of the numerous
land hunters might enter the land he had settled upon
before he could raise the money to buy it, seeing one day
a cavalcade of land hunters riding in the direction of his

Indiana Territory 133

claim, mounted his horse and started off at full speed to
meet them, swinging his hat and shouting at the top of
his voice: ' Indians! Indians! The woods are full of them,
murdering and scalping all before them! ' They paused
a moment, but he cried: 'Help! Longlois, — Cicots, help! '
They turned and fled, giving the alarm to the settlements,
and never came back. As soon as the alarmer could
gather up money enough, he slipped down to the land-
office town, and entered his land, chuckling in his sleeve
over outwitting the land hunters. ' ' ^

At one time " land spies " and "land sharks " were cir-
cumvented by a whole neighborhood of settlers dressing
up like Indians and making a noisy attempt to sur-
round the speculators, who hastily left and spread
the alarm of savages coming.

In December, 181 1, the month after the battle of
Tippecanoe, Territorial Indiana and the whole Mis-
sissippi Valley experienced the terrors of an earth-
quake. It was the first disturbance of that character
since the country had been explored, and no seismic
phenomena have ever been so violent in the Middle
West since. The first shock occurred the fifteenth of
December, and they were repeated at intervals for two
or three months. A resident of the valley at that
time wrote that the shocks of these earthquakes must
have equalled, in their terrible upheavings of the earth,
anything of the kind that has been recorded. We
are accustomed to measure this by the buildings over-
turned and the mortality that resulted, but here the
country was thinly settled. The houses, fortunately,
were of logs, the most difficult to overturn that could
be constructed. Yet, as it was, whole tracts of land
were plunged into the river. This was the "Great

> Cox, Sanford C, Old Settlers, p. 53. La Fayette, i860.

134 Historic Indiana

Shake" of 1811, as it was felt in the centre of the
district ailected. Up and down the tributary rivers
the terror was only less felt, as the settlements were
distant from that centre. Indiana Territory had so
few towns, of any size, at that time that the experience
came mostly to cabin settlements and solitary home-
steaders in their isolated clearings.

An interesting fact in connection with the Mississippi
River intrigues was that in the year 1806 the Ter-
ritory of Indiana had many valuable accessions, in
the deluded followers of Aaron Burr. These learned
on their way down the Ohio that Burr's followers were
regarded as traitors by the government; that if they
proceeded farther toward the Mississippi they would
be seized by soldiers, who had been detailed to watch
the river and make arrests of the adherents of Burr.
These deluded people saw the dreams of empire, with
which that conspirator had enticed them away from
their homes, to join with him in his scheme of establish-
ing a great inland, independent government, vanish
into an illegal myth. To protect themselves, they
left the rivers and retired into the fastnesses of southern
Indiana, where they began anew, under gi"eat hard-
ships, to make homes for themselves. They be-
came valuable settlers, but cherished no regard for
that arch schemer, who lured so many from their old
habitations.

We have already recounted, in the chapter on Spanish
dominion, how in 1803, shortly after Indiana attained
the rank of separate Territorial government, the long-
drawn question of the free navigation of the Missis-
sippi River, whereby the commerce of the Wabash
and the Ohio might have an outlet, was finally settled
by Napoleon selling the whole of Louisiana Territory

Indiana Territory 135

to the American Government. During these trouble-
some times on the frontier, the settlers upbraided the
New Englanders for their indifference to the troubles
of the West. They wrote to them that

"three times the quantity of tobacco and com can be
raised on an acre here than can be within the settlements
on the east side of the moimtains, and with less cultivation.
Do you think to prevent the emigration from a barren
country, loaded with taxes, to the most luxurious and
fertile soil in the world? We are determined that the
Spaniards shall not trade up the river, if they will not
let us trade down it. In case we are not succored by the
United States, our allegiance will be thrown off and some
other power applied to. Great Britain stands ready with
open arms to receive and support our claims. When once
re-united to them, 'Farewell, a long farewell' to all your
boasted greatness. You are as ignorant of this country
as Great Britain was of America."^

This whole question, which had annoyed the settlers
for two decades, we dispose of in a few paragraphs,
but their vexations had been most disheartening, and
they hailed the opening of the river with rejoicing.

Seemingly this would have ended forever the battles
of the river, but nine years afterwards, in the War
of 181 2 betw^een the United States and Great Britain,
the Western border was again disturbed and Indiana's
commerce congested by the blockade of New Orleans,
whereby it was intended to make a permanent con-
quest of the lower Mississippi, and to secure for Great
Britain in perpetuity the western bank of the river.
Says Fiske: "In order to effect all this, it seemed
necessary to inflict upon the Americans one crushing
and humiliating defeat. That this could be done few

> Ind. Magazine of History, 1906, vol. ii.

136 Historic Indiana

Englishmen doubted, and so confident was the ex-
pectation of victory that Governors and Command-
ants for the towns along the Mississippi River were
actually appointed and sent out in the fleet." ^ Thus
we see the great significance to the Indiana settlers,
clustered along the Ohio and Wabash with all their
tributary streams, of the great victory gained by
Andrew Jackson at New Orleans. His army of
scarcely six thousand sturdy frontiersmen were from
the valley territory, when he met a force of twelve
thousand British regulars on that December day in
1814.

"The faultless frontier marksmen, who thought nothing
of bringing down a squirrel from the top of the tallest
tree, wasted very few shots indeed. In just twenty-five
minutes the British were in full retreat, leaving 2600 of
their number killed and wounded. The American loss
was only eight killed and thirteen wounded, for the enemy
were mowed down too quickly to return an effective fire.
This victory, like the three last naval victories of the
war, occurred after peace had been made by our Com-
missioners at Ghent. Nevertheless, no American can
regret that the battle was fought. Not only the insolence
and rapacity of Great Britain had richly deserved casti-
gation, but Jackson's victory decided that henceforth the
Mississippi Valley belonged indisputably to the people of
the United States." 2

And it was the last struggle with a foreign powder for
its possession.

The state of advancement in Indiana at this time
may be understood from some passages in the Gov-

» Fiske, John, Essays, Historical and Literary, vol. i., "Andrew
Jackson," p. 248. New York, 1902.
^Ibid., page 251.

The Old State House at Corydon, Indiana.
From a photograph by Mowrer.

Indiana Territory 137

emor's message to the Territorial Legislature when
it met in 1813. Governor Posey rehearsed the causes
<^f the war then going on with England, and then
urged the Assembly to pass laws for raising revenues
for roads and schools and the reorganization of the
militia for better protection against the Indians! In
the formal response of the Legislature, that august
body of pioneers, clad in deerskin, replied in im-
perious language, calling attention to the fact that
the American nation had been forced into the war
by the indignities practised on her by Great Britain,
and added: "With you. Sir, we abhor that cringing
and detestable policy which would submit to British
aggression, and cherish a hostile colony — a scourge
on our borders. We are astonished at the mistaken
and obstinate policy of the New England States, in
opposing the junction of the Canadas to the Union." ^
After living under the Territorial form of govern-
ment for seven years, Congress granted Indiana the
right to call a convention for the purpose of framing
a constitution preparatory to admission into the Union
of States. This convention assembled in the little
town of Corydon, which had just been made the
capital. It was in the month of June. In southern
Indiana, when the com is growing finely, the tempera-
ture can be like the torrid zone. The honorable body
which had assembled for the work found such weather
prevailing, and held most of the sessions under a great
spreading elm-tree, which still stands. The limbs of
this tree cover nearly one hundred and twenty-five
feet in diameter, and its shade was gratefully cool
to the ardent law-makers who were assembled to
close the Territorial stage of her history.

» Dillon, J. B., History of Indiana, page 529. Cincinnati, 1858.

138 Historic Indiana

With the opening of the nineteenth century, Indi-
ana was to come into the galaxy of States, nearly
a century and a half after La Salle revealed her fertile
lands and streams to the people of the other con-
tinent, and under conditions daily growing more
favorable to peaceful occupancy.

CHAPTER VIII

THE NEW STATE — 1816

INDIANA Territory, as well as the others west of
the intervening Alleghany ^lountains, was a long
distance from the immediate watch-care of the
Central Government. In common with Territories at
the present day, it felt the delays and the indifference
to its necessities and peculiar conditions. In 1815,
Congress received a petition from the settlers of Indiana,
reciting that they now had 60,000 white inhabitants
within their borders, and asking that honorable body
to order an election for representatives to form a State
government. Very significantly they expressed at the
same time the hope that if a State was organized,
it would be permitted to be a free and not a slave
State. " Let us be on our guard when our convention
men are chosen," wrote good old Dennis Pennington,
in 1815,, "that they may be men opposed to slavery."
The following April, a bill favorable to the organiza-
tion of a new State was passed in Congress, and a
month later the election occurred. The commission
sat in June to frame the constitution. Of those hardy
frontiersmen who were to assume the responsibilities of
forecasting the future commonwealth, Mr. Dillon says:

"The convention that formed the first constitution of
the State of Indiana was composed mainly of clear-headed,

139

I40 Historic Indiana

unpretending men of common-sense, whose patriotism
was unquestionable and whose morals were fair. Their
familiarity with the theories of the Declaration of In-
dependence— their Territorial experience under the pro-
vision of the Ordinance of 1787 — and their knowledge
of the principles of the Constitution of the United States
were sufficient, when combined, to lighten materially their
labors in the great work of forming a constitution for a
new State."*

This is really a modest estimate of the commission,
when we compare the instrument which they prepared
with State measures originated by others, even in this
day! The new constitution was comprehensive, digni-
fied, and so liberal in its provisions for the future
that it was a half century in advance of the times. It
declared for reform and not vengeance, as the object
of State punishment for crimes; it imposed on future
Legislatures the requirement of providing asylums for
the unfortunate; it prohibited the establishment of
banks for the purpose of issuing bills of credit, or
bills payable to order or bearer, except the regular
State bank and its branches; and it is claimed that,
previous to Indiana, no State had in its constitution
declared for a graduated system of schools, extending
ffom the district schools to the university, equally
open to all, on the basis of gratuitous instruction.
The legislation of the next thirty-five years did not
accomplish the ideal of these early framers of the first
constitution in regard to education, and it was over
three quarters of a century before the penal code of
the State contained as enlightened provisions as they
had outlined.

> Dillon, J. B., History of Indiana, page 559. Cincinnati, 1858.

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The New State — 1816 141

As an illustration of the primitive conditions which
prevailed, at that date, it is recalled that the com-
mission held its sessions under a great elm in the yard,
and the chairman of the Constitutional Commission,
who w^as also the builder that was erecting the new
State-house, was often called from hammer and trowel,
to decide upon questions of State.

The duties of Statehood were assumed by thirteen
sparsely settled counties lying along the Ohio and the
southern part of the Wabash River. Less than one-
fourth of the territory had been ceded to the white
race. Two-thirds of the domain was still the hunting-
ground of the Indians.

The men who had controlled political affairs duriiig
the Territorial time led in the organization of the
State and portioned the offices and honors among them-
selves, very much after the present fashion in politics.
Jonathan Jennings became Governor. James Noble
and Walter Taylor were elected to the United States
Senate, and Williams Hendricks went to Congress.
The first Assembly after the State was admitted into
the Union convened in the new capital at Corydon on
November 4, 181 6. Governor Jennings's message to
the first General Assembly was full of appreciation
of the dignit}^ and importance of the occasion, and the
responsibilities of the Legislature in striking a high plane
for their deliberations and enactments. An idea of
the issues of the day may be gleaned from the points
brought out in his address, some of which still have
a familiar ring, and others passed with the passing of
the pioneer conditions. He pointed out the necessity
of providing for general education ; urged the necessity
for better roads; that certainty of punishment must
be established, as the surest way of preventing crime.

142 Historic Indiana

He urged better protection from the Indians, and that
there was need of laws prohibiting any attempts to
seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally
entitled to their freedom, and at the same time laws
to prevent slaves, from elsewhere, seeking refuge
within the limits of the State.

The tax rates for the year of admission into the
Union are also interesting as an index of the times.
For each one hundred acres of best land, the tax was
one dollar. For each bond-servant over twelve years
of age, three dollars ; thirty-seven cents for each horse
or mule. For each ferry across streams, from five
to twenty dollars. Town lots were assessed fifty
cents ; and each "pleasure carriage" with two wheels,
one dollar ; four wheels, one dollar and a quarter ; each
silver watch, twenty-five cents; gold watch, fifty cents;
for every billiard table, fifty dollars. We wonder of
how many the crude wilderness towns could boast?

At this time there was not a mile of turnpike, plank
road, or canal in the State! The Indian trails, which
could only be travelled by a rider on horseback, were
the only roads outside of the towns. It took the
members elected to the National Congress twenty-eight
days to travel on horseback to reach the sessions of that
body.

The description of the diminutive county towns,
in William Dudley Foulke's very interesting biography
of Governor Oliver P. Morton, gives the reader a
graphic picture of the county seat in that early time.
He says that

"thither flocked the men of the county upon all great
occasions, to the trials and to the musters. They brought
with them their own food in their wagons or saddle-bags,
and sought the shelter of the Court-house or of the great

The New State — 1816 143

trees near by. The men were clad in deerskin trousers,
moccasins, and blue homespun hunting-shirts, with a belt
to which hung a tobacco pouch made of polecat skin.
The women wore gowns of homespun cotton, with calico
or gingham sun-bonnet. The country folks came to town
on horseback, the women sitting behind the men on the
same horse." *

At the same time the people in the towns were
surrounding themselves with better homes and more
of the conveniences of life. The impetus given to the
development of the State, by having its own govern-
ment and increased security from Indian raids, may
be realized when it is recalled that the population
increased eighty-seven thousand in the next four
years. By 1820, there were 147,178 people in the
State. New settlements were founded, homes rebuilt
or enlarged, schoolhouses and churches built, orchards
planted, and roads hewn through the forest.

There w^ere few newspapers anywhere in that day,
and on the border candidates for office were wont
to issue flaming handbills, and broadsides, setting
forth their own virtues, and the drawbacks from the
election of their opponents. There were no caucuses
or conventions then. Every candidate brought him-
self out and ran on his own merits. Modesty generally
was its own reward! Then, the best men succeeded
in capturing office by sounding their own praises from
the stump. It really was stump-speaking in those
primitive times. The political candidate would round
up a few voters at a battalion muster on training-day
and harangue them ; or, appoint a meeting, where there
were a few logs in a clearing for the benches, on which
the choppers gathered to listen. He would mount a

' Foulke, Wm. D., Life of Oliver P. Morton. Indianapolis, 1900.

144 Historic Indiana

broad stump from which to speak and then you had a
"log convention," such as downed slavery in the new
Territory. Many amusing stories are told of these
frontier campaigns. When Jonathan Jennings, who
afterwards was the first Governor of the State, was run-
ning for Congress against Mr. Randolph, they both went
about among the different neighborhoods 'lectioneering.
Mr. Dunn tells the story of Mr. Randolph coming to a
log-rolling on horseback, being received by Farmer Ruse
with the salutation, * ' 'Light you down " ; he dismounted,
and after chatting a few minutes was asked into the
house. Randolph accepted the invitation, and, after
visiting with the women folks a short time, rode away.
On the next day Jennings came, who had a similar recep-
tion, but to the invitation to repair to the house, he re-
plied, "Sendaboy up with my horse and I '11 help roll,"
and help he did until the work was finished, and then
he threw the maul and pitched quoits with the men,
taking care to let them outdo him, although he was
very strong and well skilled in the sports and work of
frontier farmers. So he went from house to house.
People used to treasure up their anecdotes of his doings
in his campaign, and how he would take a sc>i:he and
keep ahead of half a dozen mowers.

Captain Lemcke, with his keen sense of humor, has
told in his Reminiscences of an Indianian a very
amusing story of a canvass for votes which he made in
his youth. It was in a contest for sheriff of Vander-
burg County to which he had been nominated, against
his vigorous protest.

"I found this race a bitterly contested fight and no
comfortably padded job. Through the out townships,
over rough and muddy roads, in buggy and on horse-
back, day and night I beat the bush. And all the

The New State— 1 8 1 6 145

time there rang in my ears the professional office-seeker's
chant:

He greets the women with courtly grace,

And kisses the babies' dirty face ;

He calls to the fence the farmer at work,

And bores the merchant, and bores the clerk;

The blacksmith while his anvil rings.

He greets. And this is the song he sings:

'Howdy, howdy, howdy do?
How is your wife, and how are you?
Ah! it fits my fist as no other can.
The homy hand of the working-man.'

" One day when riding along a country road looking
for voters, I spied a dilapidated old Reuben plowing a
field. No sooner had I tied my horse than the intelligent
agriculturist left his plow and came over to the fence.
After shaking his gnarly claw in the hearty manner that
candidates have, I began my spiel. He listened patiently
until I got through, and then with hems and haws said:
'Well, Cap, I 'd like to vote for you firstrate, but the
other fellow is sort o' kin to me and I don't like to vote
agin him.' Rather taken back, I queried what relation-
ship he claimed with my opponent; when he, with subdued
pride, drawled out, 'Well I got an idee that he's the father
of my oldest boy.' " ^

Politicians were often the butt of the proverbial
Hoosier humor, and on account of it sometimes lost
their election. Of one politician it w^as said that there
was no tangible objection to him, but it was rumored
that he could see a short rich man over the head of a
tall poor man. The same humor sometimes came
out in plea for office, as when a candidate for justice
of peace boasted that he "had. been sued on every

> Lemcke, J. A., Reminiscences of an Indianian, page 66. Indian-
apolis, 1905.
10

146 Historic Indiana

section of the statutes, and ought to know all about
the law."

Political influence and office went in the olden time,
as much as now, to the lawyers; commercial life had
a narrower horizon in those days than at present, and
the young men of w4t, who were selecting a career,
turned very often to the profession of law. In the
reminiscences of one of these men, who figured largely
in the early bar of Indiana, he says that the lawyers
were the most important personages in the country.
They were universally called " 'squires " by old and
young. Queues were much the fashion, and nothing
was more common than to see one of these 'squires
with a queue three feet long, tied from head to tip
in an eel skin, walking in evident superiority, in his
own estimation, among the people in the court-yard,
sounding the public mind as to his prospects as a can-
didate for the Legislature. The crowds of that day
thought the holding of court a great affair. The
people came hundreds of miles to see the judges and
hear the lawyers plead, as they called it. When court
adjourned, the people returned to their homes and
told their children of the eloquence of the attorney.

The dress of the prominent men of this time was of
blue cloth with brass buttons, buff small-clothes, a
white vest, and fine linen ruffled shirts, the hair in a
queue, and the hat of beaver. A list of prices charged
for tailor's work in 181 6 mentions three dollars as
the charge for making a gentleman's cloak, five-fifty
for a surtout, two-seventy-five for hussars, three
dollars for shirrivallies, two-fifty for short breeches,
and five dollars for making a dragoon's coat. If mother
did the sewing, as in most families at that time she j
did, the tailor would cut a man's coat for a dollar, and

The New State — 1816 147

the waistcoat and pantaloons for thirty-seven and
a half cents each.

The court-houses in those days were built of logs,
and the sheriffs seem to have been selected as officials,
on account of their fine voices to call the jurors and
witnesses from the woods to the door of the court
building, and their ability to run down and catch
offenders. The condition under which justice was
dispensed is reflected in the memory of a prosecuting
attorney in the Third District. He says:

' ' We rode the circuit on horseback. There were no bridges
over the streams, but we rode good swimming horses, and
never faltered for high water, but plunged in and always
found the opposite side somehow. The great variety of
trials and incidents in the circuit gave to the life of a
travelling attorney an interest that we all relished exceed-
ingly. There was no dyspepsia, no gout, no ennui, no
neuralgia. All was good humor, fine jokes well received,
good appetites and sound sleeping, cheerful landlords and
good-natured landladies at the head of the tables in the
taverns. We rode first-class horses, costing from fifty to
ninety dollars, the highest price. They were trained to
travel on cross-pole and to swim the creeks."

The story of the change of capitals is a reflection
of the development of the Territory from the French
trading era through American settlement to a real-
ization of future conditions, when the whole State
should be inhabited. Vincennes was one of the oldest
towns in the western part of the continent. We know
it first as the French trading-post/ The antiquity
is not so great as the lack of written history. Judge
Law claimed 17 10 as the year of the building of the
fort, and that Father Mermat was the first mission-
ary, and was sent to the post in 171 2. Mr. Myers

* Publications of the Indiana Historical Society, vol. iii., page 255. ^

148 Historic Indiana

has made most interesting researches into the sub-
ject, and Mr. Dunn, after a careful survey of all of
the evidence obtainable, places the first foundation
of a town on the site of the old military post at Vin-
cennes, about the year 1731. From the first it was
included by the French Government in the Province of
Louisiana; it was located on the east bank of the
Wabash amidst broad prairies. Gradually English-
speaking people were added to the original French
inhabitants, and when the American Congress granted
Territorial government Vincennes was designated as
the little capital, and the Legislature sat there until
181 4. Governor William Henry Harrison had oc-
cupied this town as his official residence, while ruler
of the Northwest Territory. The Vincennes University
was granted a charter in 1807, and with it authority
to raise by lottery twenty thousand dollars for its
establishment and maintenance. In that time lot-
teries constituted a very prevalent way of raising funds
with which to build churches and schools, to pave
the streets, to construct turnpikes, and to buy fire-
engines. When the Territorial Legislature was in
session, in 18 13, it passed a bill, much against the
wishes of the old French town, removing the seat
of Territorial government from Vincennes to the town
of Corydon, in Harrison County, where the Assembly
met the following December. One argument that
was used for the necessity of this removal was the
peril from hostile Indians on the border of the State,
and the danger in which the archives might be found
in case of an incursion! Madison, Salem, and other
towns aspired to become the seat of government;
the latter village threatened to take up the capital,
and bear it off bodily! Madison offered one thousand

The New State — 1816 149

dollars bonus to secure it! In the year 1820, after
much heated discussion, and many objections from
the southern section of the State, the General Assembly
of Indiana appointed ten commissioners, from as
many different counties, to select a site for the per-
manent seat of the State government. It was rec-
ognized that in time the capital must occupy a central
location. This would make the proposed site come
within what was then the wilderness, called the
"New Purchase," a tract ceded by the Indians ten
years before. It would also rule out any favoritism
toward sections already occupied. The commission
met at the house of William Conner, on the west
fork of the White River, in May of the same year.
That well-known citizen, General John Tipton, one
of the commissioners, has left a journal, which is a
circumstantial account, of great interest, describing
the journey taken in the work of determining the
exact location for the future permanent capital of
Indiana. General Tipton had been a soldier in the
battle of Tippecanoe, nine years before, and knew the
territory that was to be traversed. It was he who
purchased the land on which that battle was fought,
where the soldiers, who fell in that conflict, were
buried, and presented the historic field to the State.
He was afterwards United States Senator. A few
extracts from General Tipton's diary will give an
idea of the frontier conditions which prevailed at
that time where the new capital was to be founded.
We reproduce it without corrections. He says :

"On Wednesday the 17 of May 1820 I set out from Cory-
don in Company with Gov'r Jennings. I had been ap-
pointed by the last legislature one of the commissioners
to select & locate a site for the permanent seat of govern-

150 Historic Indiana

ment of the state of Ind'a (we took with us Bill a Black
Bouy) Haveing laid in plenty of Baker [bacon?] cofTy &c
and provided a tent we stopt at B. Bells two hours then
set out and at 7 came to Mr. Winemans [?] on Blue River,
stopt for the K't [night] "thursday the i8th. "some
frost; set out early Stopt at Salem had breckfast paid
$1.00 B &c and Bo't some powder paper &c paid 2.12 ^
Set out at II crost Muscakituck paid 25 cts and stopt at
Col Durhams in Vallonia who was also a Commissioner
here we found Gen'l Bartholomew one of the commissioners
I cleaned out my gun after dinner we went to shooting"

"Sunday 21 set out at J p 4; at 5 passed a corner of
S36TiiNofR4E passed a plaice where Bartholomew
and my self had encamped in June 1813 missed our way
traveled east then turned Back; at 8 stopt on a mudy
Branch Boiled our coffy set out at 9 or ^ p 9. I killed
a deer the first I have killed since 18 14 at 10 came on the
traice at creek, found tree where I had wrote my name
and dated the 19th June 1813 we traveled fast and at 7
encamped on a small creek having traveled about 45
miles (horseback of course)

Monday, 2 2d

"a fine clier morning we set out at sunrise at J p 6 crost
fall creek at a ripple stopt to B [bathe?] shave put on
clean clothes &c this creek runs between 30 & forty miles
perrelled with White river and about 6 or 8 miles from
it in this creek we saw plenty of fine fish; set out at 9
and passed a comer of S32& 33 in T17N of R4E at 15
p II came to the lower Delaware Town crost the river
went up to the n w side and at once came to the house
of William Conner the place appointed for the meeting of
the commissioners he lives on a Prairie of about 250
acres of the White R bottom a number of Indian Huts
near his house : on our arrival we found G Hunt of Wayne
County John Conner of Fayette Stephen Ludlow of Dear-
born John Gilliland of Switzerland & Thos Emmison
(Emerson) of Knox waiting us Wm Prince and F Rapp

The New State — 1816 151

not being up, we waited until late in the evening We
then met and were sworn according to law and adjourned
until tomorrow evening"

"Wednesday the 24th a dark morning, at 9 Gov'r
Jennings with the other comr. came on us set out for the
mouth of fall creek Last Kt I staid in an Indian town
saw some drunk Indians this morning sat at the Table
of a Frenchman who has long lived with the Indians and
lives with them he furnished his table for us with eggs:
altered times since 18 13 when I was last there hunting
the Indians with whom we now eat drink and sleep they
have now sold their land for a trifle and prepareing to
leave the country, where they have laid their fathers and
relatives, in which we are now hunting a site for the seat
of Govrt of our State,"

After selecting a site near Fall Creek and having it
surveyed, they started homeward, concluding the
journal with this entry:

"Sunday the 11. Stopt at Major Arganbrites [?], had
dinner, etc. At dark got safe home, having been absent
27 days, the compensation allowed us commisioners by
the law being $2 for every 25 miles traveled to and from
the place where we met, and $2 for each day's service
while engaged in the discharge of our duty, my pay for
the trip being $58 — not half what I could have made in
my office. A very poor compensation." ^

The site selected was a heavily wooded miasmatic
wilderness, sixty miles from nearest civilization, and
at that time most inconveniently inland, so far as
real navigation was to be had; and this remained
the handicap of Indianapolis for a decade. Indian
trails were the only paths to the place, and there

> Tipton, John, "Journal," published in vol. i.. No. 2, p. 74, Ind.
Mag. of Hist., 1905.

152 Historic Indiana

were no accommodations upon arrival. There were
few people in the village, and settlers were so slow
to choose it as a place to live, that at the end of the
time named, when the Legislature should actually sit
in the new capital, it had only one thousand popu-
lation. The jealousy felt by the other sections against
the new seat of government was shown in many
ways. In 1820, Brookville had been made head-
quarters for the entries of lands, for all the State,
northward of the Wabash. All purchasers must visit
that village. For five years, the little town had en-
joyed the prosperity and distinction of being the
political and social centre of that part of the State.
When the land office was moved to the new capital, the
change was most bitterly opposed. In a pompous
speech by one of the local celebrities, he referred to the
little insignificant capital in the woods, as a place buried
in miasmatic solitude and surrounded by a bound-
less contiguity of shade. There was much discussion
about what the embryo capital should be called.
Indian names seemed to be in the minds of all. "Te-
cumseh " was rejected, as too closely connected with
past horrors, and "Suwarrow" was also dropped.
Finally Indiana-polis was agreed upon, as combining
a notion of the aborigines and a future metropolis.

The county was organized, and in 1821 Alexander
Ralston and his assistants laid out the capital on the
present beautiful lines. Ralston was a Scotchman of
ability, and fortunately had seen Old World cities and
had assisted in the work of surveying the city of
Washington, which gave him the advantage of a
broader view of the future requirements of a capital
city than would have been supplied by a frontiersman.
To this training, and the sense of space which the

The New State — 1816 153

wilderness must have impressed on one, the city is
indebted for its broad streets and liberal plan.

The lots were offered for sale to secure funds to build
the State buildings, but few buyers came forward.
The important business lots of the present day, on the
comer of Washington and Delaware Streets, sold for
$560.00, and others likewise. After ten years the author-
ities put the price at $10.00 for the lowest lot, and in
1842, they had closed thecity out for $125,000.00! With
this fund they built the State-house, Court-house, Gov-
ernor's residence, Clerks' Office, and Treasurer's Office,
which would not allow much margin for ' 'graft," even in
the crude architecture adopted for these State buildings.
In November, 1824, Mr. Samuel Merrill, the Treasurer,
brought the State papers and books from Corydon to
the new capital in one wagon, with his family in another.
The roads were so execrable at that season of the year
that twelve miles and a half a day was all the distance
they could cover. In January, 1825, the first Legisla-
ture met in Indianapolis, and the permanent capital
was established. For several decades many other
towns in the State, especially those on the rivers, were
of more commercial importance, and more attractive
socially, than Indianapolis. The meeting of the Legis-
lature was the only event of interest; and it was
twenty-two years before the first railroad made the
town accessible.

In 1825, when General de La Fayette made a tour of
America, he could not journey to the capital of the new
State and Indiana's Governor went to Jeffersonville,
on the Ohio River, to welcome the hero to Indiana soil.
In the forest adjoining that village a feast was spread,
to which the General was conducted by the State
militia and children strewed flowers in his path. At

154 Historic Indiana

the head of the long two-hundred-and-fifty-foot table,
was an arch with the inscription, "Indiana welcomes
La Fayette, the champion of liberty in both hemi-
spheres."

After Indianapolis actually became the seat of govern-
ment, the authorities being anxious to have the streets
opened up, gave the magnificent timber, in what is now
Washington Street, to the contractor for removing it.
When the trees were felled, there were no mills to cut
them up, and no demand for lumber, so the logs were
rolled up in piles and burned, to the loss of the contrac-
tor and the regret of later generations. Great sugar
groves occupied the ground where the Soldier's Monu-
ment now stands, and where the State-house is situated.
The first mail route was established in 1822 by popular
subscription, and in the same year a newspaper ap-
peared, as the forerunner of that brilliant series of
journals which have since characterized the city. In
the following year, a Union Sunday-School was started
and the first of several Presbyterian Churches was
organized a few months later. Said Henry Ward
Beecher when pastor of one of them: "We have given
Indianapolis a deep-blue Presbyterian tinge, which
should last for several generations to keep her straight."

The first violators of the law in the village had to be
sent sixty miles overland to Fayette County, to the
nearest jail ; and the earliest couples that were married
went to the same county-seat to get a license. As
there was no outlet to markets, com sold for ten cents
a bushel, butter from three to eight cents a pound,
eggs for five cents a dozen, and chickens for sixty cents
a dozen. Dr. W. H. Wishard said in an address on
the medical men and the practice in the early day in
that city:

The New State — 1816 155

" Indianapolis was laid out in a dense forest with a heavy
undergrowth of spice wood, prickly ash, weeds, and grape-
vines, that made it impossible, in many places, for a man
to go through the forest on horseback. There was but
one road open that might be called a highway. That was
from Brookville. There was an Indian trail from Straw-
town and Conner's Prairie to Vincennes. In 1821, there
was not one well person in ten. Dr. Coe was the only
physician able for duty. He could be seen at all hours
of the day and night wending his way from cabin to cabin,
through the most impenetrable forest; the owls hooting
and the wolves serenading him in his lonely walk, and the
rattlesnakes shaking their tails every few rods to notify
him that they were on the warpath. This picture is not
overdrawn. The sickness and fatality of that year brought
Indianapolis into such disrepute that it discouraged
emigration. As the doctors had to ride into the country
ten or fifteen miles, it was no unusual thing for a doctor
to get lost and have to spend the night in the saddle or
up a sapling. Such nights were not the most pleasant.
The music was varied between the panthers, wolves, owls,
and raccoon fights."^

In this fashion the practice of medicine was followed
in Indianapolis when the capital was moved to the
town in 1824. In those times, the regular practition-
ers had the competition of certain old crones, who
gathered herbs and simples in the right time of the
moon, and administered this tea with weird and
mysterious incantations, which the ignorant believed
was working wonderful cures. There were no grist
mills, and all the flour and meal mu::t be carted a
distance of sixty miles. The "cassimeres, bombazettes,
dress shawls, cap-stuff, nankeen, and cambrick," that

' Wishard, Dr. W. H., Address, printed by State Medical Society
of Indiana.

156 Historic Indiana

were advertised for my lady's Sunday apparel, were
brought from Cincinnati in pack-saddles, when the
roads were too bad for the professional teamsters to
pass over the trail. Teaming was a calling in those
days for the stout-hearted. They decorated their
horses with bows over the hames, which were hung
with bells to make music wherever they floundered.
Tw^elve days from Cincinnati, and ten from Lawrence-
burg, was the length of time required when the roads
were at their best. Two dollars a hundredweight was
the minimum charge, and it took four horses to pull
the load even when the weather was fine.

But in time, fertile lands and ofBcial importance off-
set the lack of river transportation, and gradually an
excellent class of settlers was attracted to central
Indiana. Mr. Fletcher WTote back to a Virginia friend :

"I am much pleased with the inhabitants of this new
purchase. We have none here but independent free-
holders, and a much more enlightened set of people than
any others I have seen in a western country. We have
emancipators from Kentucky, who are a sober class, and
we have the thrift of Ohio. Our laws and constitution
are truly republican. All fines on military delinquents
and for misdemeanors are appropriated to the use of the
county seminaries in the State. "^

Judge Banta told of one bully, who used to boast that
he maintained one corner of Johnson County Seminary,
by his fines for disturbing the peace.' Through two

■ Indiana Magazine of History, vol. ii., 1906.

^ " There was a most excellent law in relation to the use of profane
language. A fine of $1 was imposed for each oath, but no one could
do more than ten dollars worth of swearing in any one day. It seems
that a gentleman from Indian Creek especially fluent in the use of bad
language came to town to sell a cow. In the course of the transaction he

The New State— 1816 157

decades, Indianapolis sought by the construction of
turnpikes, the National road, and canals, to overcome
the disadvantages of its inland location until railroads
were introduced. After the Civil War, Indianapolis
became the metropolis as well as the beautiful capital.
In the last quarter of a century, she attained her
present reputation for commercial, intellectual, and
social leadership, as well as being the official centre of
the State.

The new State was now steadily growing in population
and wealth, in fact the population doubled between
1830 and 1 84 1, but in 1832 there was a border war that
startled the settlers and brought out the State militia
and a large number of volunteers from Indiana. Black
Hawk, the chief of the Sac Indians, with headquarters
on Rock River in Illinois, had refused to submit peace-
fully to the banishment of the tribes west of the Mis-
sissippi. He was a cunning and skilful leader and
rallied the Fox and Sac tribes into armed resistance.
The northwestern part of Indiana was but sparsely
settled at that time. The lonely homes that dotted the
prairies, west and north of the Wabash River, were still
exposed to attack from any band of Indians that
might steal upon them from northern Illinois. The
Pottawatomie and ^liami tribes were still on their
reservations, on the Mississinewa River. In May,
1832, the Governor of Illinois had called his troops
to arms; and the news came that several persons had
been murdered on Hickory Creek, and that the hostile
Indians were infesting the country around Chicago.

literally swore away his 'dumb critter.' For his profanity was so loud
and long that the justice of the peace levied on the innocent animal,
which didn't bring enough to wipe out its owner's eloquence." — Julia
L. Knox.

158 Historic Indiana

The counties along the Wabash hastily assembled
bands of volunteers, and rode forth to defend the out-
lying borders. Scouts ranged over the country in
every direction, hunting for detached bands of savages.
The settlers on the border, from Vincennes to La
Porte, flocked into the villages and camped around
the towns for protection. The scattered people in the
outlying counties gathered into the fort and block-
houses, in terror of the scalping invaders. Many
false reports further terrified the poor squatters: at
one time it would be that the Miamis were rising; at
another that the Indians, a thousand strong, were
crossing Nine-Mile Prairie killing as they went; again
word would come in from Sugar River that the whoop
of the invaders was ringing through the forest there.
Meanwhile the Illinois troops fought several fierce en-
gagements and were driving the savages from their
State towards Wisconsin. On the second of August
Black Hawk was overtaken, his troops defeated, and
he foiled in his desperate plans. The chief was made
a prisoner; which terminated the horrors of that short
but savage war. Indiana was not invaded ; the troops
she raised were not needed, but there was every reason
for the terrors of the settlers and the prompt response
of the volunteers. The people throughout that region
were familiar with danger from experience not long
past. The bloody tragedies enacted in the earlier
settlements were fresh in their memories. There were
but few families then residing in the State who had
not lost some of their number by the hostile Indians.
Col. Cockrum tells a droll story of this war, illustra-
tive of the courage of pioneer women. The head of a
family, living west of Lafayette, in great affright,
gathered up his children in a cart, and, driving up to

The New State— 1816 159

the door, was amazed to find that his wife had no in-
tention of running from the savages on hearsay of
danger. She told him that if he wished to go he might,
but that when he recovered from his scare he would
find her and the baby at the same old cabin. Bidding
lier a final, affectionate farewell, he still insisted on her
going with him. "No," she said; "take the children
and go. If I never see you again, I shall die with the
satisfaction of knowing that I had a husband who
thought too much of his scalp to permit any Indian
to have his black glossy locks as an ornament to his
helmet." The husband and children remained away a
few days, and no Indians materializing, he returned and
found Bowser and Tige barking a welcome. Upon
going into the cabin, they were welcomed by the
courageous wife, who had one foot on the rocker and
the other on the treadle of the spinning-wheel, while
both hands were busy with the distaff. Looking
around the house, the brave man espied a fine wild
gobbler ready for dinner and a fresh coon-skin hanging
on the wall. With beautiful consistency he exclaimed :
"Mandy, why in thunderation have you been so free
in using my powder?" She composedly replied:
"Never mind, Ebenezer, there is plenty left. If you
hear of an Indian crossing the Mississippi River, you
wont need it, for you '11 be on the go to Lafayette
again."

In the beginning of Indiana's history as a separate
commonwealth there was no State currency in cir-
culation. Barter was universal. The only specie ever
seen was the British and Spanish silver coinage.
There were no gold coins in circulation in this section
of the country until after the discovery of gold mines
in California. For srnall change, Spanish dollars were

i6o Historic Indiana

cut into quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. These were
called "bits," "two-bits," and "fo-pence" pieces. A
fip was equal to five cents, you often heard an article
priced at a "fip-and-a-bit. ' The government de-
manded cash payments for lands, but aside from this
purchase only salt, hardware, and a few such imported
commodities brought actual money ; all else was trade
in the West.

The first constitution of Indiana had tried to safe-
guard the currency of the future ; but financial troubles
began before the organization of the State, with the
volume of Ohio bank-notes, which were disbursed by
the General Government during the War of 1 812-14.
The Territorial bank which had been chartered at
Vincennes was made a State institution in 181 7, with
branches at Corydon, Brookfield, Vevay, and Madison.
This little chain of banks began well, and would have
been a great financial blessing to the new country had
they not drifted into reckless ways. Soon they con-
tracted debts to an amount double that of their de-
posits, embezzled large sums from those deposits, and,
issuing currency beyond all possible means in their
power of redemption, brought ruin upon themselves and
thousands of people. This heedless pace caused them
to forfeit their charter in 182 1. The one at Madison
was more honestly managed, and eventually redeemed
its notes. So serious was the condition of affairs that
it became necessary for the Federal Government to
reduce the price of entry lands from two dollars to a
dollar and a quarter per acre, to cancel its claims to
interest, and permit a re-arrangement of smaller hold-
ings, clear of debt, for the larger tracts then in the
possession of settlers. At this time the demand for
the produce of the West had fallen off, three years of

The New State—i8i6 i6i

devastating sickness prevailed in the section, and the
new State passed through a period of the deepest gloom,
followed by fairer sailing and better times, A deter-
mination to overcome the lack of transportation facili-
ties originated the system of internal improvements,
which was inaugurated in 1832, and prosecuted during
the years immediately following. Again there was a
season of prosperity. As the public works progressed,
and the amount of money in circulation increased
from the dispersion of United States Bank funds, the
population of the State and nation plunged into an
orgy of land speculation on credit. They based the
prospect of immediate increase of values on the use-
fulness of the coming canals and roads. The con-
tractors brought disaster by paying the laborers, very
largely, in the fiat money just then being issued by
Michigan, which would not pass current in the sea-
board centres of trade, where the merchant must meet
his obligations. In 1832, President Jackson had
abolished the United States Bank and the people of
Indiana had begun to agitate the pressing need of some
provision by the State for a safe currency. After
conservatively adjusting their differences of opinion,
the charter of 1834 was granted for the State Bank
of Indiana. This bank with its centre at the capital
and thirteen branches in the larger towns, was
established on sound principles, and throughout its
history was so well conducted on conservative lines,
that it remained a model for other States, and was a
safe institution during the life of its charter, which ex-
pired in 1857. It was this institution that was required
to hold every branch thereof mutually responsible for
all of the debts and engagements of each other. In

case of failure the debts of an insolvent branch must
II

i62 Historic Indiana

be paid by the others, in proportion. As each branch
was represented on the general board it insured un-
remitting vigilance, and a close watch being kept on
the departments by all of the others. The board of
control had unlimited authority over all of the branches.
It was devised by the founders that the accumulated
profits were to be turned over to the school fund, at the
termination of the charter, which resulted in netting
three million dollars to the permanent endowment
of the public school system. There were many far-
sighted provisions in the law founding this bank, which
insured to the people a safe place of deposit and the
advantage of a sound currency for twenty years. The
conservative management and high moral standard
of the men in control of the institution assured the
great success which it enjoyed, and distinguished it
from other State banks of that time. It outrode the
panic of 1837, and the financial difficulties which
stranded the treasury of the State on the shoals of no
more credit for public improvements.

National and foreign credit was at this time ex-
hausted, as well as that of the Western States.* To
assist the treasury of Indiana, the Legislature of 1839
authorized the issue of State scrip to the amount of a
million and a half dollars ; and private individuals, also
disdaining the lessons of history, proceeded to try for
themselves the experiment of manufacturing money by
the printing-press, regardless of any specie basis. Not
only were the State treasury notes floated as currency,
but shop-keepers, packers, and traders issued bills in

* The National condition in 1837 was the same. "Land speculators
organized a ' bank,' got notes if appointed a deposit bank; if they could,
issued notes, borrowed them, and bought land; these notes were de-
posited; they borrowed them again, and so on indefinitely." — Page
393, Life of Andrew Jackson, Sumner, American Statesmen Series.

The New State — 1816 163

payment for debts. When all of their fictitious values
were depreciated, the State money came to be known as
"Red Dog," from the paper on which it was printed;
and the plank-road scrip was called in derision "Blue
Pup." It seems strange that so few saw that ruin
was inevitable. This currency was soon worthless,
business was prostrated, and values destroyed.

The successful State Bank was a monopoly. As the
years passed, others grew envious of its prosperity and
wanted like opportunities. The discontented element
secured a clause m the new constitution of 185 1 em-
powering the Legislature to grant new charters. A
free banking law was the result. This statute opened
the door for another season of disaster. Banks of
issue sprang up ever>n\^here on hilltops, on a stump,
anywhere that a man chose to issue currency. These
firms made no pretension to be banks of deposit, their
only business being to issue and float notes. "A few
men would get together, purchase a few thousand dol-
lars worth of the depreciated bonds of some far-away
municipality, deposit them with the auditor of State,
and receive authority to enter upon the manufacture
of paper money." They would issue bills, to an
amount two or three times greater than the value
of the securities deposited, put them in circulation, and
then the bank, the officers, and the directors would
disappear and the notes be worthless. Forty-eight
hours was too long a time to pass, without a decision
whether the money you had received was worth fifty
cents or a dollar. Many of these free banks started
on their career with no more actual capital than was
expended on the engraving of their currency notes,
and desk room in an office. Mr. McCulloch says,
"Their life was pleasant and short; their demise

i64 Historic Indiana

ruinous and shameful. As soon as their notes began
to be presented for payment they died without a
struggle."' The panic of 1857 put an end to the
inglorious existence of the fraudulent concerns. The
exploit of basing a currency on nothing and floating it
in the air was never more wildly attempted than at this
time in Indiana. No doubt it was the experience of this
debased money that made the State spurn the free silver
doctrine a half century later.

As the time approached for the expiration of the
charter of the reliable State Bank, and the citizens
realized the necessity of a safe currency, a group of
influential men united in a quiet movement to secure a
charter from the Legislature of 1855 for the Bank of
Indiana. After obtaining this valuable franchise they
sold to the old organizations the permit for the dis-
tricts where they were so honorably established and
new ones were organized for other sections. This
institution was guided into a safe and honorable career
by its first president, the Hon. Hugh McCulloch. It
weathered the financial storm of '59 in great credit.
At a time when old established banks in New York
and everywhere were obliged to suspend, and private
institutions went to the wall by the score, the Bank of
Indiana redeemed its obligations in specie without
interruption. This institution went into liquidation I
when the tax was increased on other notes than those of
national banks, and most of the branches reorganized '
under the Federal statute. No safer banking laws j
could be found any^vhere than the statutes of this |
State thereafter, the savings banks being modelled j;
for the benefit of depositors, and to induce frugality, j!

' McCulloch, Hugh, Men and Measures of Half a Century, page 126,
New York, 1888.

The New State— 1816 165

The securities allowed are based on real estate, the
improvements are not included in the valuations.

The new constitution was adopted by Indiana in the
fifties to replace the one formulated for primitive
times, when it was not so queer to have the Legislature
regulate local and even personal affairs. Under the
old law, the granting of divorces, electing part of the
State officers, abolishing county offices, and creating
new ones, and the granting of charters for the incor-
porating of railroads and business concerns, whereby
abuses crept in and legislators were corrupted, were all
in the hands of the legislative body! In the new con-
stitution this was corrected. A reminder of the old
contention in Indiana, regarding negroes, was incor-
porated in the later organic law, when it was provided
that no negro or mulatto should have the right of
suffrage, and furthermore that they should not come
into, or settle in the State. Even after the Civil War
was over, when the fifteenth amendment to the Federal
Constitution was submitted to the Legislature, the
Democratic members all resigned, rather than ratify
it ; and upon the newly elected ones also tendering their
resignations, the amendment was declared passed by a
Republican speaker ruling that a quorum was present,
by counting the Democrats as present and not voting.
In the next session, when the Democrats attempted to
rescind the action of the preceding assembly, the Re-
publican members prevented its repeal by resigning.

After the adoption of the new constitution, Indiana
may be said to have passed from the pioneer period of
her history. By the progressive measures adopted
then and by the school legislation which followed, by
the improved means of transportation, which gradually
ensued upon the introduction of railroads, her future

i66 Historic Indiana

was assured. The increase of population has been un-
interrupted, and the accessions have been a desirable
class. Fifteen counties have had no emigrants from
foreign countries in late years. The manufacturing
centres and the mining regions have had many, but
they are industrious. The foreigners, who came into
the State two or three decades ago, have become as-
similated with the general population, and have con-
tributed to the sum of good citizenship within the
State. The future status of Indiana must depend
upon the quality of the representatives that she sends
to the State Legislature.

CHAPTER IX

EARLY CHURCHES IN INDIANA

IN fancy we may picture the long procession of
churchgoers, during the different decades of
history in Indiana, as they are reflected in the
mirror of the past.

In the very beginning, we see the zealous French
priest, arrayed in his long black robes, holding a
crucifix aloft, as he stands in the little log chapel, at-
tached to the military post, and blesses his wildwoods
parishioners. It is a saint's day. The Jesuit father
has come hundreds of miles in his canoe to instruct
and absolve the sins of the little isolated flock. Filing
into his presence, we see the motley throng that lives
within the stockade. First comes the haughty com-
mandant in the full uniform of Louis of France, at-
tended by a detachment of soldiers in their blue coats
with white facings, and short clothes. Following
them come the peasants wearing the long, coarse blue
surtout, red sash, and cap, of their native land, and the
deerskin moccasins which they have adopted from the
Indian. With them come the women in short skirts
and bodice, wearing the peasant's cap, and the rib-
bons, ornaments, and beads, brought by some admiring
boatman, upon his return from far-off Canada. The
reckless coureurs de hois, dressed in fringed buck-

167

i68 Historic Indiana

skin and embroideries, with a knife in the belt, lounge
in with the half-breeds. Following these are the taci-
turn savages, from the forests round about. With
great satisfaction in the forgiveness of all their mis-
deeds, the assembly kneels on the floor of the rude
chapel, counts its beads, and gains absolution. After
the benediction, and making the sign of the cross from
the font, they pass out into the sunshine; and the hap-
piness of a volatile pleasure-loving people is theirs, as
they spend the rest of the day, gaily dancing upon the
green. •

Before these scenes have passed away, the Anglo-
Saxon race has straggled into the wilderness. In one
of their own cabin homes, or in summer, in the groves,
which were God's first temples on the frontier, the
scattered settlers gather for worship. It might be said
.to hear preaching, for the service is wholly unlike the
Canadian Frenchman's at the post. In buckskin and
homespun these settlers came together during two
whole generations. The backwoods preacher who
travelled far and wide on horseback, and ministered
unto the scattered settlements, was as the faithful
"voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the
way of the Lord." During long weeks between their
visitations, there was no observance of the Sabbath,
except where a godly father or mother took down
the old Bible, and read aloud to the family. In a
wide country, with large districts, sparsely populated,
there were comparatively few stationar>^ ministers;
but there were many, embracing all denominations,
who traversed the whole countr>^ They formed an
itinerant corps, who visited in rotation, within their
respective bounds every settlement, town, and village.
Living remote from each other as the people then

Early Churches in Indiana 169

did, and spending much of their time, in domestic soH-
tude in vast forests, or widespreading prairies, the
"Appointment" for preaching was often looked upon
as a gala day.

In organization, Charleston, on Silver Creek, claims
that the first Protestant Church was organized there,
in November, 1798. It was a Baptist Church, and
had a struggle for existence. The first Methodist
Church organized, is dated in 1803, and the Presbyterian
in 1806. Whether Methodists or Baptists were the
first to enter on evangelistic work in Indiana, matters
not. People belonging to both denominations came
early, and their travelling preachers came with them.
These hardy, zealous, earnest men built their own
cabins and then began their spiritual ministrations
throughout the thinly scattered population.

The Baptists were much hampered in their progress,
at first, because of the large number, of what was then
known, as "Hard-shell Baptists." This sect was a non-
progressive people who were against all missionary
efforts, because of their belief that all who were pre-
destined to be saved, would be saved, without any
missionaries. The Missionary Baptists were a live
progressive body, and were independents in organiza-
tion. They were a revolt from tradition and church
authority back to the Bible — the Bible only. Their
pioneer preachers were noted for their simple eloquence
and the democratic methods of their teaching. The
Methodist preachers of that early time were uncon-
ventional, candid, brusque, emotional speakers, and
were picturesque and rugged characters. It is said
that Rev. Asbury, during a long ministry, rode a dis-
tance that would have taken him twelve times around
the world. No doubt Peter Cartwright and several

I/O Historic Indiana

other faithful exhorters on the Wabash could score as
many leagues in their ministrations.

Alexander Campbell made a great impression on the
people of many sections of Indiana. The sect he
founded, especially at the capital, is still large and has
an educational institution of prominence, originated
by its membership.

Owing to their disapproval of slavery, many of the
early settlers from the Carolinas, who came into the
free State of Indiana, were Quakers. Wherever this
peace-loving people formed a settlement, they imme-
diately established a " meeting ", and at the same time,
a school for the instruction of their youth. The south-
eastern part of the State, particularly, felt the high
moral influence of the Society of Friends, in the develop-
ment of social conditions. Their churches and schools
were a controlling, repressing, quieting, elevating in-
fluence, over the boisterous element of the frontier.
The numberless teachers supplied by this sect extended
this influence, and made known the tenets of freedom,
sobriety, education, and a simple living, held with
such tenacity by that congregation. The Presby-
terians instituted, from the first, a centralized system
of organization, and held to a rigorous theology. They
maintained an educated ministry, and located their
little churches in the tow^ns, instead of in the country.
This gave them a prestige, from the very first. There
were many educated persons in their membership
and little sensationalism in their service, or preaching,
to attract the multitude. The schools this denomina-
tion established were among the most enduring in-
fluences of the new State.

Many who had been Congregationalists before
coming West united with Presbyterian churches, but

Early Churches in Indiana 171

after 1834 there were more New England people among
the incomers, and the Home Missionaries sent out by
that organization gathered the scattered Congrega-
tionalists into churches of their own. They were
recognized as among the most enlightened acquisitions
that the communities boasted.

Of the faithful men who ministered unto the border
people, too much cannot be said in praise. They
were often men of intellect, as well as of zeal. They
found their way to the baclavoods, and preached
Christ from a cabin door, or from the shade of a spread-
ing tree, to the sunburned men and women gathered
from the region round about. It was thanks to
these fervid laborers that the little church was erected
as soon as the log cabin afforded the shelter of a home.
The contemptuous application of "North C'lina church"
was applied to men of notoriously worldly or otherwise
wicked character.

The trials and privations of the earlier preachers,
if told to-day, would be beyond belief. Isaac McCoy
and his wife, who spent their lives as missionaries to
the Indians, labored the w^hole time in direst poverty,
utter isolation, constant danger, failing health, and
great privation, before rest came in death. He wrote
that he did not know what to do about taking his
fourteen-year-old daughter into the wilderness, away
from all educational advantages; but that the Lord
solved the problem by suddenly taking her to himself.
The women in these families were left alone in their
solitary cabins, when the minister went off on his long
itinerary. Sickness, raids of savages, wild beasts were
the dangers they had to face, while the minister trav-
elled the circuit. Most of the ministers cleared, and
cultivated their own homesteads and supported their

172 Historic Indiana

families by other labor, at the same time ministering
unto the people on the Sabbath day.

There have always been men, in every locality, \vho
were independent in their thinking, and identified with
no church. One of the earliest settlers of Indiana,
bom in 1781, left the following record of his religious
views, written in his seventy-third year.

"As to religion: 'Happy is he, the only man, who, from
choice, does all the good he can,' The world is my country,
and my religion is to do right. I am a firm believer in the
Christian religion, though not as lived up to by most of
its professors of the present day. In the language of
Jefferson, I look upon the 'Christian Philosophy, as the
most sublime and benevolent, but most perverted system
that ever shone on man.' I have no use for the priesthood,
nor can I abide the shackles of sectarian dogmas. I see
no necessity for confession of faith, creeds, forms, and
ceremony. In the most comprehensive sense of the word,
I am opposed to all wars, and to slavery; and trust the
time is not far distant when they will be numbered among
the things that were, and viewed as we now look back
upon some of the doings of what we are pleased to style
the dark ages." •

To an Orthodox woman who thought a soul lost that

did not belong to a church, an old pioneer — in fact

the first Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana — answered,

God is love. Love never lost anything. It is infinitely

tender, and infinitely forgiving."

In Indiana, as elsewhere in America, the freedom of
thought and independence of character, fostered by

> Anonymous, Reminiscences.

Early Churches in Indiana 173

frontier life and an absence of ecclesiastical control,
occasioned the rise of many religious sects. Some
of these have entirely disappeared from the theological
horizon. Their very names would have no significance
now. There was a great variety of opinions on minor
subjects, even in the earliest times and this occasioned
the scores of denominations. In an address by a
citizen of Indianapolis, delivered in the fifties, it was
proudly claimed that there were twenty thousand
inhabitants, and behold the spires of her twenty-seven
churches, of the different denominations of Christians,
shooting upward toward the clouds! Rev. Nathaniel
Richmond wrote from a little hamlet in central In-
diana in 1843: "There are two kinds of Methodists,
two of Quakers, and two kinds of Presbyterian Churches
here. And all of the talk is of ' means and anti-means.'
The Baptists are mostly anti-mission. Dr. Dollinger
exclaimed, 'How can I live in a country where they
found a new church every day!'" EvangeHcal de-
nominations recognized little difference between liber-
alism and infidel or atheistic sentiments. The discourse
lasted from three to five hours, many of the audience
being unable to find seats. Reading sermons was not
tolerated on the frontier. The minister must speak
extemporaneously, and with fire and zeal. The preach-
ing, as well as the discussions of laymen, was largely
doctrinal and controversial, as was the custom of the
times, elsewhere.

Series of debates between noted preachers were
held, and people went miles to the "meeting." They
debated on such points as free-will versus predesti-
nation, falling from grace versus the final persever-
ance of the saints, good works versus justification by
faith, immersion versus sprinkling, and election versus
free grace. Good men believed these subjects vital,

174 Historic Indiana

and the certain terrors of hell ^^•ere imminent, for
those who did not settle the question. It was the
vividness of this impending danger, which wrought up
the otherwise grave and unexcitable people, to such
strong, emotional excitement. The differences of opin-
ion were dwelt upon and this held the people apart.
It was said in jest, that the only difference between
the new school and old school of one denomination
was that one stood up, and the other sat down when
they prayed in church. Sects sprang up, named for
their founders who started the agitation. Alexander
Campbell won thousands of followers, and then an-
other branch had New Light. An estimate given by
an old timer, of the preachers to whom he listened, in his
youth, gives an excellent idea of the type of men who
were then acceptable to the ministr^^ Of one he says :

" He was the Napoleon of the Methodist preachers of
eastern Indiana, I knew him well. He seemed to be made
for the very work in which he was engaged. He had a
good person, a strong physical formation, expanded lungs,
a clear and powerful voice, reaching to the verge of the
camp-ground, the eye of the eagle; and his talents as a
preacher were of a very high order. I never heard but
one man that was like him in his meridian days. He
could feed his babes with the ' milk of the Word ' and
hurl the terrors of the law at old sinners." ^

The itinerant preacher riding up to the cabin, and
"hallooing the house" to see if any one was at home
and unloading his saddle-bags to stop for the nighty
was a welcome occurrence on the frontier. In the
isolation of the wilderness the settlers longed for
companionship, and as the minister was the most
considerable personage of the community, he was

< Smith, Oliver H. Early Trials, page 264. Cin., 1858.

Early Churches in Indiana 175

always sure of a warm welcome and a good chicken-
dinner. These men were representative of the muscular
Christianity required on the frontier and were a part
of what Mr. Nicholson has termed, that vigorous
Protestant evangelization of Indiana, which triumphed
over mud and malaria, and carried the gospel far
beyond the sound of church bells. There were many
union churches formed on the frontier, when there
w^re few of each denomination in a neighborhood.
Differences of opinion were tenaciously held in those
days, and the various sects in the congregation would
soon arrange to hold services of their own on alternating
Sundays. * ' Once a month ' ' preaching, or four churches
to each minister, was the rule, in all the struggling
communities. Congregational singing was universal in
the early churches. Often there was a choir to lead,
but there were no organs. Indeed, the innovation of
an organ or fiddle being introduced has repeatedly
been the occasion of churches dividing. There were
few hymn-books; the minister "lined off" the hymns,
the leader gave the pitch from his tuning fork, and
all joined in with enthusiasm and fervor. In those
days, there was a holy awe of the terrors and punish-
ments awaiting the unconverted. The consequent
spiritual exaltation, and fervor of those who hoped
they had escaped these terrors by the grace of God,
was as extremely emotional. From the scarcity of
buildings, there grew up the custom of holding camp-
meetings in the beautiful forests. An old annalist
gave the following quaint account of the first of these
meetings held during the years 1799 and 1801. A
vast concourse of people assembled under the foliage
of the trees, and continued their religious exercise
day and night. This novel way of worship excited
great r/jtention. In the night, the grove was ilium-

176 Historic Indiana

inated with lighted candles, lamps, or torches. This
together with the stillness of the night, the solemnity
which rested on every countenance, the pointed and
earnest manner with which the preachers exliorted
the people to repentance, prayer, and faith, produced
the most awful sensations in the minds of all present.
At these gatherings, the people fell under the power
of the Word " like com before a storm of wind " ; many
thus affected arising from the dust wath divine glory
beaming upon their countenances gave utterance to
strains of ecstatic gratitude.

Few escaped without being affected. Such as tried
to run away from it were frequently struck on the
way, or impelled by some alarming signal to return.
Great numbers fell unconscious, and remained so for
hours. To prevent their being trodden under foot by
the multitude, they were collected together and laid
out in order, where they remained in charge of friends,
until they should pass through the strange phenomena
of their conversion. At times the whole grove re-
sounded with the praise of God, and at other times
was pierced with the cries of distressed penitents.
The number that "fell" at some of these meetings in
trance or ecstasy of excitement reached the number of
three thousand! This form of religious meeting was
found in every Western State.*

Home Missionaries sent out by Eastern churches and

partly supported by them, held many of the pulpits

in isolated neighborhoods until the sixties.

» " A camp meeting was held on the Wayne Circuit in the summer of
that year. During the meeting marty were converted, and some would
begin to laugh and would continue doing so for hours. After the laugh-
ing commenced it seemed practically impossible to stop it. Opinion
was so divided on the matter that the minister preached and advised
concerning it from the pulpit, suggesting that those who laughed ' should
not invite the exercise,' and those who scoffed 'should not doubt the

Early Churches in Indiana 177

About 1843 there arose a religious frenzy over the
immediate second advent of Christ, which swept over
the country, and made a distinct impression on certain
temperaments in Indiana. The belief in the speedy
return of Christ for a glorious reign on earth has
always elicited enthusiasm, and in the early part of
the nineteenth century-, in New England, William
Miller became the founder of a sect holding peculiar
views on the subject of the millennium. His followers
increased until there were over 50,000 people in America
and England who had embraced his hopes. The
Millerites believed that their leader had found out
the meaning of Daniel's incomprehensible prophecies;
that he had worked out like a sum in arithmetic, the
exact day when the end of the world was to come,
and that was in August, 1843. They became fanatically
responsive to the exhortation to be ready for the
immediate Judgment Day, and thought the clergy
inconsistent, who professed to believe in prophecy
and yet discarded this revelation. These teachings
had spread over the East, and made their way as
far as the Western frontier.

The fierce polemical discussions and the conclusive
sectarianism of that day had taught the people any-
thing but the "modesty of true science," and we are
told by the people who were living at that time, that
the unsolvable problems of the centuries were taken
out of the hands of puzzled scholars, and settled
summarily and positively by the imaginative laymen.

Many persons in various parts of the country had

sincerity of their brethren, for they could not help seeing that the thing
was involuntary when once commenced.'" — Holliday, Indiana Method-
ism.

178 Historic Indiana

become such fanatics that they had sold or given
away their lands and possessions, in awestntck an-
ticipation of the immediate end of all things; also
as a testimony to their belief. Shrewd sharpers pla^-ed
upon credulity and bought up for a small pittance
the property of the deluded. This happened in various
localities east and west. Later, when the catastrophe
did not take place, there were many lawsuits and
lifelong feuds over property so disposed of. We are
told by old citizens who remember this wave of fanat-
icism, that trade took up the craze. One enterprising
manufacturer had table covers of oil-cloth, printed,
on which was a design of a wheel displaying all these
figures of Daniel's prophecies. They were eagerly
bought by the deluded followers, and were used long
after the failure of the millennium to appear; and the
ascension robes did duty as frocks for festival oc-
casions. After months of preaching and exhortation
to be ready for the end, the religious excitement
reached its culmination as the tenth and eleventh of
August came on. Some made ascension robes. Work
w^as suspended everyw^here. The people who did not
believe in the new cult, felt sorry for the frenzy of
the deluded ones and wished the time were passed.

A witness of the scene said that the sun on the
eleventh of August rose gloriously. People pointed to
it with trembling and said it would rise no more.
Men said: "Behold the beginning of the fervent heat
that shall melt the elements." Night grew on, and
every " shooting star" was a new sign of the end. In
their different neighborhoods the people assembled
out of doors to await the coming. They sang hymns, 1
exhorted each other, shouted with excitement, some
fainted from sheer terror, and some nervous temper-

Early Churches in Indiana 179

aments lost their reason during the strain of the last
hours. In many districts the torrid summer heat was
broken by violent thunder-storms, which added to
the agitation and terror of the excited multitudes.
The lightning flashed, and the rain poured down in
torrents on the kneeling congregations.

When the tragical night had passed, without the
day of judgment being ushered in, and the clear fresh
morning dawned, cool and refreshed by the rains, it
found the credulous people dazed and exhausted.
The reaction, was, in many ways, disastrous to belief
and morals.

Early settlers from the Atlantic States, had never
known of Sunday-schools, and brought no plans with
them for such services. Indeed many church members
in Eastern cities at that time would not permit their
children to attend the "new f angled" Sabbath-schools.
The little children sat, or slept, through three-hour
sermons, and that was the limit of their Sabbath-day
diversions. In Indiana, as elsewhere, when Sunday-
schools were inaugurated they were used to instruct
children and adults, how to read; and many an
ignorant pioneer youth has learned his letters from
Watts's Hymns or the Bible. One of the verses com-
mitted to memory by the children of those days will
give an idea of the cheerful character of the theology
taught :

" Why should I love my sports so well.
So constant at my play,
And lose the thoughts of heaven and hell;
And then forget to pray?"

From Historical Sketches of Suitday-school Work by
Wra. H. Levering, who spent his life in the work, and

i8o Historic Indiana

sixty years of that time laboring in the Indiana field,
we learn the following facts regarding Sabbath-schools
in Indiana:

"While much has been done and written about the
early churches yet almost no mention was made of Sunday-
schools. This was owing to the fact that there were but
a few or none; for be it known that prior to a half a cen-
tury ago, Sunday-schools were in disfavor with a large
number of the churches. The writer well remembers that
in his earliest experiences the churches gave a cold shoulder
to Sunday-Schools, faithful women persisted in maintaining
them, and in time, when their great value as a ' nursery
of the church' was forced upon the attention of the ruling
members the church opened its heart and its doors." ^

In the year 1828, a young Christian missionary came
from Connecticut to Washington in Daviess County,
Indiana, the Reverend Ransom Hawley, and much
of his earliest efforts and time were devoted to or-
ganizing and building up Sunday-schools in Washing-
ton, and its vicinity. The houses of worship were
cold, and many of these country schools could not be
kept open in the winter months. Mr. Plawley has
recorded that

" some who commenced with the alphabet can now read.
Those who religiously instruct their offspring have found
Sabbath-schools not interfering with their rights, but an
auxiliary in bringing up their children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord."

This old memorandum reminds us of two facts re-

« Levering, Wm. H., Pamphlet, Historical Sketches." La FayettCt
1906.

Early Churches in Indiana . i8i

garding the changes since the Sabbath-school movement
began. Now spelling lessons are no longer necessary,
and to-day, perhaps, the Bible training is largely from
the Sunday-school, instead of at the mother's knee.
Committing verses of Scripture to memory was a
marked feature of the teaching in those days. Whole
books of the Bible were recited each Sabbath. Great
familiarity with the text of Holy Writ was acquired
and remained in the memory.

Reverend Hawley adds:

" At first our books were the New Testament and Watts's
Psalms and Hymns. On August 7, 1829, we sent $40.37^
to New Albany for books. These were library books
published by the American Sunday-school Union, and
spelling books published by the same society. All of these
schools were conducted on Union principles — that is all
denominations participating. I do not know of any other
kind of schools until after 1840. My journeying in preach-
ing was done mostly on horseback, and I have ridden thus
more than 90,000 miles. One, Reverend Isaac Reed,
Presbyterian missionary, arrived in New Albany in 1818
and there organized the first Sunday-school in Indiana."

After two previous short-lived attempts, a per-
manent organization of the State Sabbath-school
forces was accomplished in 1865 and is still flourishing
under the name of the Indiana State Sunday-school
Union. The last statistics that he records gives the
number of Sabbath-schools in the State as 5617;
ofificers and teachers, 45,600; scholars, 515,568. Mr.
Levering was nine times elected president of this
State union. As in other States the Sabbath-schools of
Indiana now may truly be called the Church at work.

In the temperance work, the early churches took little

i82 Historic Indiana

part; but their good membership formed various
organizations for the control of the Hquor traffic and
the persuasion of the intemperate. The first tem-
perance paper published in the West is credited to
an Indiana man. John W. Osborne, a worthy citizen
of Greencastle began issuing the Temperance Advo-
cate, in 1834; and for many years he sent out this
sheet at his own expense. There have been many
temperance organizations of Christian people since
then and the sentiment against general drinking is
very different from pioneer times.

Many counties of the State had representatives of those sterling
immigrants, now termed Scotch-Irish, but who were in fact Ulster
Scots or Ulster Presbyterians.

These rugged pioneers had flocked to America in such numbers that,
at the time of the Declaration of Independence, they formed one-sixth
of our entire population and there was little cessation for some decades.
These settlers were originally from the Lowlands of Scotland who had
been induced by the English government to move into northern Ireland,
where they in time formed a distinct breed of people. When the re-
pressive laws were made which pressed too heavily upon them, they
emigrated to America: first to the frontier district of New England,
afterwards, in far greater numbers to Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
From these States they spread to the West. Whererer they migrated
they constituted the border garrisons, acted as a buffer between the
Indians and the older settlements.

They were a hardy, energetic, resolute, opinionated people. Self-
reliance, courage, and endurance were their undoubted characteristics,
with a very decided practical faculty and ofttimes a dour exterior. Their
blue Presbyterian faith, with its iron-clad rule and regulations of every
phase of their lives, they carried with them wherever they went. Gener-
ally their pastor led the flock to its new destination. Indiana received
a share of these peculiar people, who intermarried with the other settlers,
and their influence was diffused throughout the Commonwealth. There
is no doubt that this radical element helped to hold the whole Presby-
terian denomination to the strict line and letter of their creed, and in
turn their rules reacted on other sects.

There were experiences during the Civil War period
that worked important changes in the congregations.

Early Churches in Indiana 183

The membership of the sects were brought together in
humanitarian bands, styled Soldiers' Aid Societies.
There the citizens worked together in self-forgetfulness
for a common cause. Patriotism and anxiety for
the army filled their hearts. Old denominational
differences were softened. The worldly character of
the amateur entertainments, which were given to raise
funds, familiarized the provincial congregations with
theatricals and amusements which had been frowned
upon as "sinful pleasures."

The experiences of the thousands of soldiers who
went out from village families widened their horizon.
After this period of storm and stress, the whole people
were undoubtedly more tolerant of differences of relig-
ious opinion. Theology was slowly humanized. Co-
operation ensued in the form of societies of Christian
Endeavor, Charity Organizations, Christian Associa-
tions, and Civic Leagues.

Later decades have witnessed the diminution in
Church attendance, as compared with the increase of
population. Liberal thought has taken the place of
the fervid convictions of previous periods. Progress
toward a broader faith, shown forth in service to
humanity, inspires believers with hope, but the
present generation has entered into the fruits of the
ardent labors of pioneer churches and their ministers.
A knowledge of their heroism, a sympathy with their
unselfish lives, must elevate our own, and help us
to realize our indebtedness to these Christian fore-
fathers.

CHAPTER X

CRIMES OF THE BORDER

IN common with all other frontiers, Indiana had
grave tales of outlawry and crime in the early-
days. The reprisals on the Spanish traders of
the river towns and the confiscation of their goods
were among the earliest depredations that occurred
after the Americans were responsible for the Territor3^
In their anger over the closing of navigation on the
Mississippi River, the settlers would become completely
exasperated over the embargo and confiscation of
their goods. In this temper, they would form bands
of raiders and seize every boatload of commerce, on the
sm.all rivers, belonging to Spanish boatmen. They
would also appropriate every vestige of merchandise
owned by Spanish merchants in the towns on the
shore. These forays would be followed by appeals
to the Spanish Governor at New Orleans, and the
whole matter of reprisals and open navigation would
be carried on up to Madrid. These international
squabbles on the frontier made stirring times in
Indiana Territory. The Indian warfare is recounted
in the story of the Territorial period. We come now,
upon the consequences of that warfare. The very
license and necessity of carrying deadly weapons for

defence against the savages made the people familiar

184

Crimes of the Border 185

with arms and bloodshed. Every pioneer carried a
rifle, a knife, and a tomahawk or axe, when he was
laboring. The members of the organized militia were
: required by law to attend church in full fighting trim,
to be ready for any surprise by the Indians. From
these customs, it came about that, in any sudden heat
of passion or enmity, assault was pretty sure to follow
an encounter. It is also necessary to remember that
some of the frontier people had come from the rougher
border element of the Southern mountains. While
having their own code of honor, which governed their
fights, they were essentially a rude, boisterous, drink-
ing, fighting class of people. They were always a
source of displeasure and offence to the much larger
class of law-abiding citizens. When they gathered,
as was their custom, on Saturday afternoon or on
muster day, and whiskey had circulated freely, the
causes for which they might take umbrage increased
hourly. During the homeward ride, on horseback,
the road was one wild "halloo" of racing and banter,
often ending in a free-for-all fight. They had an
unwritten code which required that "all fights must
be fit fairly"; and when the "under dog cried 'nuff"
the striking, gouging, kicking, and hair-pulling con-
test must be acknowledged settled, at least for that
time. Much of this fighting was pure banter, without
any quarrel to start the fray. Mr. Parker recalls the
fact that differences of opinion were not even necessary.
Neat clothing, correct speech, and gentlemanly bearing
were often a sufficient provocation; or a bully might
choose to "Renown it" by drawing a circle about
fc himself, and defying any one to enter the space,
claiming that he could "whup " the whole town.
Political strife in hotly contested campaigns some-

i86 Historic Indiana

times called into use the handy weapons that were
worn for defence. And so through all the experiences
of the border there crept in lawless deeds among the
hardy frontiersmen. It is not only of these encounters,
but of organized bands of freebooters, horse-thieves,
counterfeiters, kidnappers, and the excesses of the
bands of Regulators, that sensational stories were
told by old settlers.

Shortly after the War of 1812, before steamboats
w^ere in use on the rivers of Indiana, there was a class
of bargemen who used to loaf about the landings.
They were a hardy, roistering, fearless set of fellows,
and none of them more muscular or more daring than
one Mike Fink. With his drinking, laborious, sturdy
crew, he spent much of his time, when the river was
low, in the towns along the Ohio. Mike and a friend
named Carpenter used to practise rifle-shooting, by
filling a tin-cup with whiskey, placing it, in turn, on
each other's head, and shooting at it at the distance of
seventy yards. It was always pierced, without injury
to the one on whose head it was placed. After showing
their confidence in each other in this way for a number
of years, they quarrelled over an Indian squaw, and
henceforth there was smothered hate. Later they
pretended to "make up and call it off with a drink."
To show that peace was declared they were to shoot
for the cup, as of yore. Bequeathing his trusty rifle,
shot-pouch, powder-horn, and wages to a friend.
Carpenter took his position with the cup of whiskey
on his head. Mike loaded, picked the flint, drew
a bead, and called out: "Hold your noddle steady;
don't spill the whiskey — I shall want some presently."
Cocking his rifle again he took aim, and his foe fell,
shot in the centre of the forehead. The law was too

Crimes of the Border 187

uncertain, and Fink was " removed " by a friend of the
murdered man. He also went unpunished. Mike
Fink was once convicted for shooting off a negro's
heel as he was standing on the wharf. He gave as
his justification, that the darky's heel projected too
far behind, preventing him from wearing a genteel
boot, and he wished to correct the defect. Such
marksmen as these used to pride themselves on " bark-
ing a squirrel " — that is shooting so close to it, without
scratching it, that the animal was killed by concussion.
They were fond of snuffeig a candle, at fifty yards,
for the drinks.

As horses were the most necessary possession of the
new settler, the loss of an animal meant great hardship
and was desperately resented. Until the middle of
the last century, farmers in the outlying districts
suffered from the depredations of horse- thieves. They
were the boldest of all the marauders of the border.
They often went in gangs, rode away with the best
horses in the neighborhood, and divided the plunder
among them. Stringent laws were passed for their
punishment. The code was, that a man who was
guilty of stealing a horse should be whipped fifty to
one hundred lashes; for a second offence, hanging
was the penalty. Receiving stolen horses was a
crime punishable by death. Very often the thief was
whipped, and then drummed out of the country.

In the earliest time, when courts were few and
distant, the people often took the law into their own
hands, and were regularly organized into " Regulators."
These bands hunted down marauders. They also
often held court, very informally, for flagrant mis-
demeanors, and Judge Lynch executed sentence.
The lash was considered very efficacious in 181 6,

i88 Historic Indiana

and was the punishment imposed by law universally.
Twenty strokes were given and a fine of five dollars
was added for altering bounds. For manslaughter, a
man was branded in the hand with the letters M. S.

Prompt measures often checked further disturbance
to the settlers. A story is told of a frontier judge
whose common-sense rulings stopped the incursions of
one gang. Indiana was still a Territory. The country
was a wilderness, except a few posts and settlements.
Governor William Henry Harrison had moved to
Vincennes, as the Executive of the Territor>^ The
country was filled with Indians, friendly and hostile,
when a gang of desperate horse-thieves from Ken-
tucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia began to
cross the river and steal and drive away the horses of
the white men and Indians, indiscriminately. The
settlers were for lynch law and hanging, or at least
whipping; but the opinion of the Governor, that the
laws should be enforced upon the offenders, prevailed,
and many thieves were taken and confined, ready
for the sitting of the court. At the next term, trial
after trial, with convictions, was held, but the United
States Attorney was a young green lawyer, and every
conviction was followed by successful motions in
arrest of judgment, for some defect in the indictments.
The clamor against the court reached the ears of the
judge and he resigned, when General Marston G.
Clark, a cousin of General George Rogers Clark, was,
by consent, appointed judge to fill the vacancy. The
General was no lawyer — was brought up in the woods
of Kentucky, could scarcely read a chapter in the
Bible, and wrote his name as large as John Hancock's
in the Declaration of Independence. He was about
six feet in his stockings, very muscular — wore a hunting-

Crimes of the Border 189

shirt, leather pants, moccasins, and a foxskin cap, with
a long queue down his back. Court came on. Judge
Clark on the bench. The jail was full of horse-thieves.
The penalty was not less than thirty-nine lashes on
the bare back. The grand jury turned into court
indictments against each of the prisoners. Here is
an account of the proceedings:

" Judge Clark — ' We will try John Long first, as he seems
to be a leader in this business. Bring him into court."
Sheriff — ' There he sits, I brought him with me. John
Long, stand up.' — 'You are indicted for stealing an Indian
pony ; guilty or not guilty ? ' Counsel — ' May it please
the Court, we plead in abatement that his name is John
H. Long.' — 'That makes no difference; I know the man,
and that is sufficient.' — 'We then move to quash the
indictment before he pleads in chief.' — 'State your ob-
jections.'— 'First. There is no value of the horse laid.
Second. It is charged in the indictment to be a horse,
when he is a gelding.' — ' I know an Indian pony is worth
ten dollars; and I shall consider that a gelding is a horse;
motion overruled.' Plea of not guilty; jury impan-
elled; evidence heard; proof positive; verdict, guilty;
thirty-nine lashes on his bare back. Counsel — 'We move
in arrest of judgment, on the ground that it is not charged
in the indictment that the horse was stolen in the Territory
of Indiana.' — 'That I consider a more serious objection
than any you have made yet. I will consider on it till
morning. Sheriff, adjourn the court, and keep the prisoner
safe till court meets.' The judge kept his seat till the
sheriff returned from the jail. — 'Sheriff, at twelve o'clock
to-night you and your deputy take Long into the woods,
clear out of hearing, and give him thirty-nine lashes on
his bare back, well laid on; put him in jail again; say
nothing, but bring him into court in the morning.' The
order was obeyed to the very letter, and the next morning

190 Historic Indiana

Long was in the box when court opened, his counsel ig-
norant of what had taken place. Judge Clark — ' I have
been thinking of the motion in arrest, in the case of Long;
I have some doubts that the evidence proved that he did
steal the horse in this Territory, and I think I ought not
to sustain a motion that, I understand, will discharge the
prisoner after he has been found guilty by the jury, but
I feel bound to grant a new trial.' — Long, springing to
his feet, cried out : ' Oh, no, for heaven's sake ! I am whipped
almost to death already. I discharge my attorneys and
withdraw their motion.' Judge Clark — ' Clerk, enter the
judgment on the verdict, and mark it satisfied.' The
other prisoners were brought up in succession, and con-
victed. No motion to quash, or in arrest, was aftervN'ard
made. The prisoners were whipped and discharged,
carrying with them the news to all of their comrades.
Not a horse was stolen in the Territory for years after-
ward." ^

Sometimes the self-constituted "Regulators" were
the ones w^ho w^ere in the wrong. One of the most
substantial men of the whole countryside in central
Indiana was for many years pointed out as the man
who had been hung and yet was alive. His history
was that in the early times, before the days of rail-
roads and mail communication, he had gone overland
to the Territory of Illinois. He had journeyed with
another man who drove his own team of horses, hitched
to his spring wagon. They investigated the prairie
lands and the stranger decided to settle there; but
the man from Indiana preferred to return to his ow^n
section. He purchased the horses and wagon, from
the man, and drove back to his former neighborhood-
From the intimations of some evil-disposed persons,

« Smith, Oliver H., Early Trials, page i6o. Cincinnati, 1858.

Crimes of the Border 191

^;\•ho wished to do the young man a harm, the report
gained credence that he had murdered the stranger
out on the lonely plains and taken the vehicle and
horses. Of course he stoutly denied the slanderous
story, but it grew with the telling of it, until the word
went around that the whole tale was known to be
true. The Regulators took it up, and seized the young
man for murder and horse-stealing. Because he ad-
mitted that he had no witnesses to prove his innocence
of the terrible charges, the border ruffians put a rope
around his neck, passed it over the limb of a tree, and
hanged him. After a few awful seconds, they eased up
on the rope and let him down on to the ground. Some
of the less cruel ones in the crowd tried to resuscitate
the victim. Their efforts were rewarded with signs
of life, and when the man could speak again, he prom-
ised them that, if they would give him a chance to
have a court trial, he would take them to the spot
where he had buried the man ! This was news indeed.
The next day a posse of men went with the accused,
and after a long journey across countr>' he led them
about from one settler's cabin to another, until he
found and produced the man, alive and well, whom
they had accused him of killing! He explained to
them that he had only promised them that he would
point out the burial-place just to gain time and an
opportunity to convince them of his innocence by
showing them the man. He told them that he rec-
ognized the fact that in their unreasonable frame
of mind it was the only way to secure a reprieve
long enough to clear himself for all time.

In early days, counterfeiting seemed to be a most
fascinating way of making money easily. Driving
through the lonely districts of the State, in after years,

192 Historic Indiana

a mysterious cave or a deserted cabin would be pointed
out to the traveller as the place where some noted
counterfeiter's band had been taken " red-handed."
Desperate characters, who would dare to pass off
spurious currency, would ally themselves with a more
or less skilled engraver with a moral bias; and while
he plied his expert trade in seclusion, the "gang"
would roam to other parts, and buy guns, ammunition,
horses, or lands with the false coin or scrip. The
price he paid the men was generally " sixteen to one,"
but in counterfeit dollars. In Mr. Howe's tales of
The Great West, he gives an account of one of the
most successful of these counterfeiters, named Stude-
vant, who lived in several States — as the exigencies
of his business demanded, — but whose imitation cur-
rency was circulated all over Indiana. Mr. Howe
says that he was a man of talent and address, pos-
sessed mechanical genius, was an expert artist, skilled
in some of the sciences, and excelled as an engraver.
For several years he resided in secluded spots, where
all of his immediate neighbors were his confederates,
or persons whose friendship he had conciliated. At
any time, by the blowing of a horn, he could summon
from fifty to a hundred armed men to his defence.
He was a grave, quiet, inoffensive-looking man, who
commanded the obedience of his comrades and the
respect of his neighbors. He had a very excellent
farm; his house was one of the best in the country.

"Yet this man was the most notorious counterfeiter that
ever infested the country, and he carried on his nefarious
art to an extent which no other person ever attempted.
His confederates were scattered over the whole Western
country, receiving, through regular channels of inter-
course, their regular supplies of counterfeit bank-notes.

Crimes of the Border 193

for which they paid him a stipulated price — sixteen dollars
in cash for one hundred in counterfeit bills. His security-
arose partly from his caution in not allowing his subordi-
nates to pass a counterfeit bill or do any other unlawful
act in the State in which he lived — measures which effect-
ually protected him from the civil authority."^

But he became a great nuisance from the immense
quantity of spurious paper which he threw into cir-
culation; and Studevant, though he escaped the arm
of the law, was at last, with all his unprincipled con-
federates driven from the country by the enraged
people. As late as 1840, a man who had been passing
counterfeit money, in payment for labor, supplies,
and implements, made a narrow escape from the
officers of the law. They had traced the offence to
some passenger on the boat which had landed at the
last town and they boarded the canal boat. Immedi-
ately the guilty one recognized the officers, and before
they could identify him he slipped into the hold of
the boat, and secreted himself in the part where the
mules were kept. As soon as it was dark, so that he
could not be seen by the passengers on deck, he slipped
into the water, unfastened the belt from arotmd his
waist, in which the false coin was secreted, and dropped
it silently into the waves. This done, and no traces
of his guilt remaining, the man swam to shore and
disappeared in the shadows of the forest. The officers
of the law were baffled; the guilty man reappeared
later, and pursued his career of amassing wealth.

Travellers in those early days travelled overland
on horseback, or later by driving. They almost always
carried their funds with them, in the form of coin

» Howe, H., The Great West.
13

194 Historic Indiana

or currency, as there were few banks to honor checks
or drafts. This fact was well known, and often promp-
ted highway robbery. The well-known stage driver,
Winslow, once had a large sum in coin to carry over-
land. When stopping at the tavern for dinner, he
took off his overshoes and slipped a sack of gold into
each shoe. He carried the shoes in his hand into the
dining-room, placed them under his feet at table, where
he could feel the money safely resting, and no one was
the wiser of his treasure. The bandits generally plied
their trade in twos and threes. They would often
stop at the same tavern, with the man of business,
learn the direction he was going, and ride on ahead, or
join him socially as he was leaving. When well out
of hearing of any settlement, or in some lonely spot,
the thief would be joined by a confederate, and after
a struggle they would secure the booty. Sometimes
mine host of the inn was in partnership with the
outlaws, and many a citizen has lodged where he
would not allow himself to fall asleep for fear of an
attack. Travellers in those days always provided
for such alarms by wearing a brace of pistols and a
bowie-knife; the money was carried in a belt about
the waist, or in the saddle-bags. Hardy frontiersmen
were often as good shots as the freebooters, and de-
clined in vigorous fashion to surrender their posses-
sions, and there would be one less robber on the
highway after such an encounter. Prairie bandits
infested Newton and Jasper counties, within the
memory of some of the citizens now living in those
sections. Many of the streams in Indiana were
spanned by heavy wooden bridges which were covered,
both on the sides and roof, to preserve the timbers.
These long tunnel-like structures are now fast dis-

Crimes of the Border 195

appearing before the modem iron bridges, but they
were almost universal in an earlier day. They proved
a refuge in time of storm, and a source of terror
to many a faint heart who had heard tales of high-
way robbery committed in their dark interiors.

One of these stories is so typical that it must be re-
counted. A well-to-do citizen, had sold his cattle in the
great market at Cincinnati, and was feeling so good over
his returns for the year that he bought some "store
goods" for the goodwife at home, had a round game
of poker at the tavern, and started homeward. It
was later than he would have had the hardihood to
attempt had he not imbibed a drop too much over
the friendly game. Owing to these circumstances
the farmer did not reach the inn, where he was ac-
customed to " put up for the night " on his regular
trips. The darkness fell when he was emerging from
the hills, and where the lands were so poor that no
one was very prosperous. Consequently, the land-
lord of the log tavern was not above suspicion. But
convivial indulgence had limited the hours of day
and determined the stopping-place for the night. Our
traveller entered the hostelry with suspicion, which
turned into foreboding after supper was over, and
he surveyed the groups about the bar-room. A lame
peddler asleep on his pack was the most innocent
guest about the fire, and he looked like a cutthroat.
The keeper of the road-house was playing a desperate
game of cards with some men who turned out to be
confederates of his in waylaying travellers. The
man of means slept with his pistols ready and arose
weary in the dawn to resume his journey. Against
his wishes, two of the men who were at the card-
table the night before rode out of the stables, as he

196 Historic Indiana

was leaving, and hallooed him as a fellow traveller.
They rode along but a few miles when they said they
must turn off at the crossroads, and, much to his relief,
bade him adieu. Five miles down the road, where
the way narrowed into one of those long bridges,
a bear ran across from a thicket, pursued by three
hunters. Our traveller's horse shied at the animal,
ran into the bridge, and threw his rider heavily against
the timbers, just as the highwaymen thought he
would. But the man was not so unconscious from
the fall as they had hoped. When they were absorbed
in rifling his saddle-bags, he raised on one arm, and
drawing his big horse-pistol shot two of the thieves,
and was wounded by the third. With this one he
then entered into a life-and-death struggle. Both
men were so furiously engaged that they did not
hear the approach of a settler who had heard the
shots, and, knowing the presence in the woods of
the gang of outlaws, had crept up to the entrance of
the bridge to see what was going on. Realizing the
desperate straits of the traveller, he clipped off the
brigand with his rifle and ended the life of the last
one of the thieves that had infested the neighborhood
for months. The bear was part of their plot to take
travellers at a disadvantage, for he was a pet and
had often been used. One of those who lay dead
was the landlord of the tavern. The two others were
his guests of the night before, all disguised as half-
breed Indians.

Along the Wabash there were many rough-and-
tumble fights among the belligerent Irish who were
brought in to dig the canal. These immigrants were
in no sense highwaymen, their "ructions" were gen-
erally en masse, a free-for-all fight without warning,

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Crimes of the Border 197

and generally without any provocation — unless it was
cheap whiskey. A misunderstanding was enough
to set them all at loggerheads, and soon the whole
gang would be using their shillalahs. An old citizen
of the Wabash tells the following incident, which
is so very characteristic of these laborers from Erin
that it may be accepted as typical of scores of other
occurrences. In 1834 there had been a freshet suf-
ficient to float a steamboat as far up the river as Peru
and Chief Godfrey's village. The steamboat was
just leaving the little town of Peru for the return
trip. He tells the tale in this wise :

" I made haste to get on board, and just as I was step-
ping on board the plank that led on to the boat, a fight
commenced between a party that came up from Logans-
port and some Peruvians, which blocked up the gang^'ay
so that I could not get on the boat. The excitement ran
high throughout the crowd. The Logansport party was
about to prove too hard for their antagonists, who began
to sing out for help. There were several hundred Irish-
men near at hand, working on the Wabash and Erie canal,
who, observing the foray, and considering it a free fight,
could no longer resist the temptation to pitch in; and
gathering their picks and spades, they rushed in platoons
upon the belligerents, and soon vanquished the party
that had proved strongest in the mel^e, compelling them
to betake themselves to the boat, in double-quick time,
shouting, 'The Greek, the Greek.' On looking up and
down the line of the canal for a mile and a half in either
direction, Irish recruits were seen pressing for the scene
of action, with picks in their hands and wrath on their

faces. 'We will sink your d d dugout, be jabers'

rung like a knell upon the ears of the astonished boat
crew, who at the Captain's command pulled in the plank
and pushed off into the river, to keep the enraged Hiber-

198 Historic Indiana

nians from demolishing his vessel. At first the boat di opped
slowly along with the current, and the Captain motioned
for those who had failed to get on board to follow along
the shore where he would land and take them on."^

From the time that Indiana came into the Union
a free State, there were crimes committed continually
in the kidnapping of free negroes within the State,
and selling them into Southern slavery. Sometimes
the ignorant blacks were persuaded to go aboard
river boats to work, in some instances they were
carried forcibly by outlaws across the river, in all
cases, when once over the line, they were taken in
bands to the Cotton States and heard, of no more.
This lucrative iniquity, as Captain Lemcke termed
it, was very profitable, and the guilty bands of
desperadoes would cross from one State to another,
eluding pursuit. It is said that they were regularly
organized, having rendezvous and passwords, leaders,
and methods of distributing the spoils of their trade
in human suffering. As late as 1833, an attempt was
made to steal two black boys from a field as far north
as the Wea plains. After the Fugitive Slave Law
of 1850 was passed, there were great numbers of
slave-hunters raiding the border States under the
authority of that obnoxious statute. It continued
to be a disastrous time for negroes, who were enticed
from their own masters, then claimed as runaway
slaves and sold by their persecutors into slavery;
some negroes were resold three and four times at a
thousand dollars apiece. Fortunately the abolition
of slavery ended these crimes.

> Cox, Sanford C, Recollections of the Wabash Valley, page 145.
La Fayette, 1861.

Crimes of the Border 199

Immigration was so continuous and the population
increased so rapidly that Indiana very early passed
from the condition of a border State, and excepting
the outrages by isolated bands of white-cappers in
the hill counties, the crimes peculiar to a frontier
country ceased.

CHAPTER XI

THE TRAIL — FROM BIRCH-BARK CANOE TO ELECTRIC

TROLLEY

THE pirogue of the French coureurs des bo is
gUding athwart the Indians' birch-bark canoe,
on the gently flowing Ouabache, is the earHcst
picture of the first modes of travel in Indiana, It
was only on foot or by boat that there was any way
of penetrating the wilderness, for many decades
following its exploration. The American aborigines
had no horses at the time of the disco ver>^ and when
they first saw the Spanish soldier on horseback, the
natives thought horse and rider were one, and im-
agined they were gods. When the Indian learned
the usefulness of the horse in covering distances with-
out the fatigue of long marches, it became his most
valued possession, and appealed to his cupidity to
secure by any means in his power, be it theft or mur-
der. The deftness and skill shown by the Indians
in fashioning their birch-bark canoes and dugouts
indicated the experience of ages of savage ancestry.
Into the Indiana region, birch canoes must be brought
from the north and east, but the natives there made
canoes of hickory or elm bark turned inside out ; and
their dugouts were fashioned from the trunks of large

200

The Trail 201

trees, hollowed out by burning and scraping, and the
ends pointed with their stone axes. These pirogues
were long and strong, and as claimed by a traveller,
"required us and everything in them to be exactly in
the bottom and then to look straight forward and
speak from the middle of our mouth, or they were other
side up in an instant." The rivers could tell many
tales of adventure, of battle, and of romance, but they
are all silent about the long procession of French fur-

t traders, Spanish merchants, British soldiers, and
American settlers, whose primitive barques have
' glided down the Indiana waters into oblivion. There
are many old settlers still living, who recount lively
tales of the commerce by boat when the homes were
I being pre-empted along the streams. When the
American colonists opened up the forests for farming,
they brought beasts of burden to their aid. There

(was only a "blazed traice " through the trees for many
years, and the universal means of transportation
across the country to the river landing was by horse-
back. The Indian understood so thoroughly the
topography of the country, that the white man could
rarely improve on the routes which his stealthy foot-
steps had traced through the forests for ages. Along
those narrow defiles, on horseback, until the boat
was reached, the commerce of the West was carried
for more than a century and a half. The early Amer-
ican settlers in Indiana followed the same natural
outlets to the sea that the French had before them.
They brought rowboats with them, and the shaping

: of canoes was learned from the Indians; but the
settlers soon astonished the savages by a new craft.

. These were the fiatboats, which were shaped like
scows, sometimes having a shed over the centre of

202 Historic Indiana

the craft. Of these useful boats, so well adapted to
the shallow streams, it was quaintly said that they
drew about as much water as a sap trough. There
was a long steering oar at the stem of the boat, and
a sufficient number of side oars to propel it, with
the help of a pole, which was handled by a man who
stood in the stem, to push over sand-bars and ob-
structions. Wags used to say that these boats, in
going down-stream, managed to keep up with the
current. Coming up-stream, the boats were cordelled,
as the French boatmen had named the process of
towing by hand. There was scarcely a man of large
undertakings but shipped his fleet of flatboats, rafts,
and scows down the Mississippi to market. There
he sold his produce, bartered for supplies for his
neighborhood, and came back by rowboat, or mayhap
walked the entire distance home, as did Abraham
Lincoln. Mr. Henry T. Sample, a veteran pork packer,
told the writer that he had walked from New Orleans
to the Wabash country sixteen times.

Before a merchant left on one of these tours, weeks
and months were consumed in bartering for his cargo
of grain, pelts, venison, bear's grease, lard, flour, and
pork; also in gathering the great rafts of logs, to
be taken down and sold for their lumber. Pork-pack-
ing for export to the seaboard was, during the win-
ter season, the most lucrative industry of river
towns, and it laid the foundation of many early for-
tunes. Three hundred barrels of pork was the usual
load for the average flatboat, and that product was
one tenth of the export trade, and another tenth
was lard. Com was the great crop of Indiana, then
as now, and from five to ten thousand bushels of com
could be carried on one of these boats. Cattle, horses,

The Trail 203

oats, venison hams, hickor>' nuts, and walnuts made
up the balance of the annual $1,000,000 trade by
flatboat.

Many boats were collected to make up these fleets.
It took nearly a month to pole this type of craft to
New Orleans, and the merchant capitalist generally
accompanied his cargo and crew. The flatboats were
generally sold or abandoned at the end of the journey.
A return cargo of sugar, tobacco, rice, furniture, and
dn>' goods was brought up the river on the return
trip, in rowboats, or keel boats poled and pulled by
oars or sweeps, at a snail-like pace. These boats
made a long hard journey up-stream, and the labor
was excessive. By avoiding the swift current and
keeping close to the shore, and employing oars, poles,
and a cordelle or tow line, a distance of six miles
was all that could be made in a day ! " I shall long
remember," writes Captain Lemcke, "the low-lying
islands, tedious bends, long reaches, treacherous cut-
offs, and bristling snags ; the confusing fogs, and the
sombre density of the unbroken forests." ^

The first line of "Packet Boats " on the Ohio River,
in which Indiana people were carried to their new
homes, was advertised in 1793. These were flatboats
for hire, to accommodate passengers. They were to
leave Cincinnati every Saturday for Pittsburgh, and
one month was the required time for a round trip ! In
the advertisement of the new line of transports, we
have a picture of the border life. The management
stated that no danger could be apprehended from
the enemy, as every person on board would be under
cover, made proof against rifle or musket balls, and

> Lemcke, J. A;, Reminiscences of an Indianian, page 142. Indian-
apolis, 1905.

204 Historic Indiana

that there were portholes for firing out! They were
also amply supplied with ammunition and strongly
manned with choice hands to fight the Indians! A
separate cabin was to be portioned off for the accom-
modation of the ladies. This enterprising line of up-
to-date boats did not always go on schedule time,
as there is a record extant that the packet which was
to leave November 30th did not get away until De-
cember loth, and the passengers had to await its
departure !

From twelve to fifteen hundred flatboats a year
went from the White River, and the Wabash country,
to New Orleans. The Emigrants' Guide, published in
1832, said that at least one thousand flatboats entered
the Ohio from the Wabash in one month in the previous
spring. When a fleet would be ready, all the village
would assemble on the bank of the river to see it de-
part on its long journey, and be there again to welcome
the weary boatmen upon their return.

We can imagine the lively interest taken in the
contents of the return load, with its barrels of syrup,
sacks of coffee, quaint Chinese boxes of tea, its sugar
loaves, and all its suggestions of the outside world,
so remote from their wilderness home. China and
silks from France, mahogany and silver from England,
found their way, as time went on, into the river hamlets
of this far West.

During these days, the travel across country being
on horseback, the invariable outfit of the traveller
was a pair of saddle-bags which could be thrown
across the horse, to carry the rider's wardrobe and
papers. His limbs were always wrapped in leggins
of heavy green baize cloth, now no longer sold ; these
were to protect his clothing from the mud. If it

The Trail 205

were wintry weather he wore a buffalo overcoat and
coonskin cap. The early preachers and lawyers,
whose calling made it necessary for them to "ride
the circuit," came to know the best trail through
the woods, just how their horses would ford the
streams, and where the most hospitable cabins were
located, from whose occupants they could ask a night's
lodging.

A new epoch dawned in transportation for the
inhabitants along the Ohio River when they hailed,
with eager curiosity and delight, the first steamboat,
which "was run from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, in
the year 181 1. It was built by a relative of the
President, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, and made the
trip in the wonderful time of fourteen days. For
several years there were other small steamboats ply-
ing on the river, but flatboats and barges continued
to be the principal means of transportation, as the
small rivers were always too shallow to make it prof-
itable to use steam for propelling their craft. Mr.
Dunn says that no steamboat ascended the Wabash
until the summer of 1823. When it came the villagers
gathered on the river banks to welcome the new-
fashioned transport, — the wonderful new craft which
could go up-stream as well as down! How was the
flatboat to stand against such a competitor? Now
prosperity would bless the frontier!

Mr. Condit tells us in a graphic way the effect upon
the savages :

"The barge or keel-boat, and the skiffs, though they
had surprised the Indians, yet they neither alarmed nor
offended them, but upon the first appearance of the steam-
boat, breathing out its white steam, black smoke, and
belching forth its red fiery sparks, the poor affrighted

2o6 Historic Indiana

Indian fled as from a huge unearthly monster. Even
after explanations and assurances were given, and he had
become somewhat acquainted with its working, he was
still superstitious and fearful, and persisted in believing
that this ugly, threatening creature was an offence to the
gentle river."*

To the white man, it was a wonderfully advanced
method of reaching the outside world, and brought
a great increase in population and prosperity; and
soon regular packet boats had their appointed days
of arrival and departure. When Nathaniel Bolton's
mother came west in 1820, she refused to travel on
the steamboat, thinking it a dangerous-looking craft,
and her husband secured transportation on a timber
boat. Upon this, her daughter records, the family
floated down the river quite comfortably. The lude
craft had fireplaces at each end, in front of which they
did their cooking. In a few years it came to be a
regular event for a fleet of steamers to be seen wending
its way up the Wabash, laden with passengers and
merchandise. When the boats from New Orleans
would pull up at the wharf at La Fayette — which
was the head of navigation for the larger steamers —
the whole landing was the scene of liveliest interest.
Barrels of sugar, coffee, molasses, and tobacco would
be unloaded, and rolled up along the side of Main
Street, for blocks away. The odor of teas and savory
spices pervaded the air. Mysterious bales and boxes,
suggestive of new fashions and fabrics, lined the ap-
proaches to the wharf. The names of some of these
old steamers are still remembered; as, the Paul Pry,

I Condit, Blackford, D. D., History of Early Terre Haute, page
a6. New York, 1900.

The Trail 207

the Daniel Boone, the William Tell, the Facility, and
many whose names suggested the frontier, and whose
whistles could be recognized a mile away by all
of the small boys along the shore. The youth of the
river towns aspired to the career of being steamboat
captains. As Captain Lemcke recalls, from an early
day, it was the ardent wish and nightly dream of
exevy barefooted boy on the banks of the rivers to
be or become the commander of one of these fiery
dragons with glittering interior.

In the towns located on the rivers were great ware-
houses, generally owned by the leading capitalist of
the town. They were built as places of storage for
every kind of river merchandise, and costly freight
and furniture that had voyaged, said William Tark-
ington, from New England down the long coast,
across the Mexican Gulf, through the flat delta. They
had made the winding journey up the great river a
thousand miles; and almost a thousand miles more
up the great and lesser tributaries. There was in this
cargo cloth brought from Connecticut; and Ten-
nessee cotton, on its way to Massachusetts and Rhode
Island spindles. These imports lay there beside huge
mounds of raw wool, from near-by flocks, ready for
the local mills. Dates and nuts from the Caribbean
Sea, lemons from the tropics, cigars from the Antilles,
tobacco from Virginia and Kentucky were on the
wharf; and most precious of all, the farmers' wheat
from the home fields. This was the commerce of
the Indiana rivers, as carried on in the packets and
steamboats, before the days of railroads. The first
steamboats were little, ill-smelling, craft, with a
single dining-cabin, around which was a row of berths,
hidden by faded curtains. Early in the forties,

2o8 Historic Indiana

however, there were announced the splendid three-
decked monarchs of the rivers, surpassing in luxury
any sea-going vessel. The most picturesque life was
then on the river. Taking trips by boat was a
novelty. Society often went afloat, and the proven-
der was fine. There was always music on the big
boats, and an almost permanent feature was the
singing of the crew as the steamer landed or resumed
her course in the channel. One of the favorite songs
of the deck hands was :

"The Captain's in a hurry, and I know what he means;
He wants to beat the other boat down to New Orleans.
Then, roll out and heave that cotton,
Roll out and heave that cotton,
For we ain't got time to stay."

When the first steamboat went down the Ohio
River, it made the seven hundred miles from Pitts-
burgh to Louisville in seventy hours, down-stream.
A citizen of the place, at that time, has left an account
of the impression that the wonderful new craft made
on the frontier people. He says that the novel ap-
pearance of the vessel, and the fearful rapidity with
which it made its passage over the broad reaches of
the river, excited a mixture of terror and suq^rise
among the people gathered on the banks, whom the
rumor of such an invention had never reached. On
the unexpected arrival of the vessel before Louisville,
near midnight on a still moonlight night, the extra-
ordinary sound which filled the air as the pent-up
steam was suffered to escape from the valves on round-
ing to produced a general alarm, and multitudes rose
from their beds to ascertain the cause. It is said the
general impression was, that the comet had fallen

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The Trail 209

into the Ohio. The comet had been the sensation
of the year.

As the steamboats became factors in the life along
the tributaries of the Mississippi River the frontier
settlements rejoiced in their touch with the outside
world. A writer in the Western Monthly Review,
in 1827, said:

" An Atlantic cit, who talks of us under the name of
backwoodsmen, would not believe, that such fairy struc-
tures of oriental gorgeousness and splendor as the Wash-
ington, the Walk in the Water, the Lady of the Lake, etc.,
etc., had ever existed in the imagination, much less that
they were in actual existence, rushing down the river, as
on the wings of the wind, or plowing up between the
forests, bearing speculators, merchants, dandies, fine
ladies, everything in the form of humanity, with pianos,
stocks of novels, and cards, and dice, and flirting, and love-
making, and champagne drinking, and on deck perhaps
three hundred fellows who have seen alligators, and neither
fear whiskey, nor gunpowder. A steamboat coming from
New Orleans brings to the remotest villages of our streams,
and the very doors of our cabins, a little of Paris, a section
of Broadway, or a slice of Philadelphia, to ferment in the
minds of our young people the innate propensity for
fashions and finery."^

Steamboats reduced the freight rates along the rivers
to one third the former price. The great impetus to
agriculture created a surplus which developed the
interior of the country, and attracted so many settlers
that by 1835 the exports had accomplished the eco-
nomic independence of the United States.

As may be imagined, all this traffic did not go on

' Western Monthly Review, May, 1827, i., 25.
14

210 Historic Indiana

without frights and delays and accidents. There were
whole months when the rivers were so low that snags
and sandbars endangered craft of the lightest draft.
In fact the old joke about the boats being obliged
to run on a heavy dew originated along these Western
streams, where there were such extremes of low water
and great freshets. One accident on the Ohio River,
near where Evansville stands, was of national interest.
It was in the year 1825, when the illustrious General
La Fayette was touring the country, as the guest of
the grateful nation. The General and a distinguished
party of civilians and military men were on board the
steamboat Mechanic, coming up the river. It was
in the month of May and all the passengers had retired
for the night ; suddenly the boat struck a snag in the
very middle of the stream, and immediately began
to settle. The night was dark, most of the travellers
and crew were asleep, and the call of danger caused
great confusion. General La Fayette was hurried on
deck, and helped over the side of the steamboat, where
a small boat had been launched to take him ashore.
In the haste and excitement, he fell overboard, and
was nearly drowned before assistance reached him.
The General lost all of his effects, and eight thousand
dollars in money, as did the captain, who also suffered
the loss of his steamer.

Travel on the steamboats was more picturesque
than on the modem railway. The voyage was long,
and people took time to draw leisurely breaths of
enjoyment. There was usually a pleasure party on
board. Sometimes they were bound for the Mardi-
Gras. They danced, they flirted, and they always
gambled. An old traveller recalls that every boat
had its corps of courteous, low-voiced, well-dressed

The Trail 211

gentlemen, who lived by "running the river." The
traveller who knew them excused himself from playing
with them; if he did not know them, he paid the
penalty. The "river blackleg" was the typical sinner
of that day. He was recognized as an emissary of
Hell, and pointed the moral of many a sermon.

No one has pictured the traffic by steamboat so
graphically as Mark Twain. He makes one live over
again those deliberate times when the commerce was
spasmodic, and the sleepy towns drowsed between
arrivals of the transport. We see how presently a
film of dark smoke appears above a remote point,
some lusty wagoner on the lookout for trade yells,
" S-t-e-a-m-b-o-a-t a-comin'," and the scene changes.
The town drunkards stir; the clerks wake up; a
furious clatter of drays follows. Every house and
store pours out its human contribution, and all in a
twinkling the dead town is alive and moving. Drays,
carts, men, boys all go hurrying from all quarters to
a common centre, the wharf. After the cargo is un-
loaded, and new freight and passengers taken on, the
boat steams away over the placid waters, and the town
resumes its normal state.

Mr. Cottman has given an interesting account of
river navigation in Indiana, and the vital importance
which that form of transportation assumed in early
days. Among other things, he tells of the strenuous
insistence on considering, as navigable, streams that
were hopelessly useless for such purpose, ofttimes
approaching the ludicrous. As an example, Indian-
apolis, for nearly two decades after its founding,
would have White River a highway of commerce, in
spite of nature and the inability of craft to get over
ripples, sandbars, and drifts. As early as 1820, it

212 Historic Indiana

was officially declared navigable. In 1825, Alexander
Ralston, the surveyor, was appointed to make a
thorough inspection of the river and to report in
detail at the next session of the legislature. The
sanguine hopes that were nourished at the young
capital are shown by existing records.

" For three years past efforts had been made by Noah
Noble to induce steamboats to ascend the river, and . . .
very liberal offers had been made by that gentleman to
the first steamboat captain who would ascend the river
as far as this place. ... As early as February, 1827,
he offered the Kanawha Salt Company $150 as an induce-
ment to send a load of salt, agreeing to sell the salt without
charge.

"In 1830, Noble offered a Capt. Stephen Butler $200
to come to Indianapolis, and $100 in addition if Nobles-
ville and Anderson were reached, though what efforts
were made to earn these bonuses is not known. From
time to time the newspapers made mention of boats which,
according to rumor, got ' almost ' to the capital and
eventually one made for itself a historic reputation by
performing the much-desired feat. This one was the
Geiteral Hanna, a, craft which Robert Hanna, a well-known
character in early politics, had purchased for the purpose
of bringing stones up the river for the old National road
bridge. The Hanna, which in addition to its own loading,
towed up a heavily-laden keel-boat, arrived April 11,
1 83 1, and, according to a contemporary chronicle, every
man, woman, and child who could possibly leave home
availed themselves of this opportunity of gratifying a
laudable curosity to see a steamboat. On Monday evening
and during the most of the succeeding day, the river bank
was filled with delighted spectators. Captain Blythe and the
artillery company marched down and fired salutes. The
leading citizens and the boats' crew peppered each other

The Trail 213

with elegant, formal compliments, and the former, in
approved parliamentary style, ' Resolved, That the arrival
at Indianapolis of the Steamboat General Hanna, from
Cincinnati, should be viewed by the citizens of the White
River country and of our State at large, as a proud
triumph and as a fair and unanswerable demonstration of
the fact that our beautiful river is susceptible of safe
navigation.'

" A public banquet in honor of the occasion was arranged,
and the visiting navigators invited to attend, but they
were in haste to get out of the woods while the water
might permit, and so declined with regrets. Legend has
it that the boat ran aground on an island a short distance
down the river, and there lay ignominiously for six weeks,
and that was the last of the ' proud triumph ' and White
River 'navigation.'

" But despite these and many similar absurdities, the
Indiana streams were a factor, and an important one, in
our earlier commerce. The number of rivers and creeks
that have been declared ' public highways ' by our legis-
lators is a matter for surprise. An examination of the
statutes through the twenties and thirties discloses from
thirty to forty. According to Timothy Flint, who wrote
in 1833, the navigable waters of the State had been rated
at 2500 miles, and this estimate he thought moderate.
These streams ranged in size from the Wabash to insig-
nificant hill drains that run down the short water-shed
into the Ohio, some of which, at the present day at least,
would scarce float a plank. Such streams were, however,
supposed to have sufficient volume during high water to
float flatboats and the purpose of the legislation was to
interdict impeding of the waterway by dams or otherwise,
and the clearing of the channel was under State law.
To this end many of these streams were divided into
districts, as were the roads, and worked."^

> Magazine of History, 1907, Geo. S. Cottman, Editor.

214 Historic Indiana

That Is, the streams were cleared of drifts, and other
obstructions, by the male residents living adjacent to
either shore.

During all this time of steamboat commerce, the
wagon roads were being slowly opened up through
the forests to the river towns. The lands were so
rich and mellow, through which the roads passed,
that these highways were a vexation to the soul of
the settlers for many years, until the days when they
were made into turnpikes. In that early time the
cattle and hogs were driven overland to the packing
centres, the drivers walking the weary way back and
forth. Hog driving was a separate occupation, and
teaming was a regular business. An idea of the toil
and weariness encountered on these overland trips
may be gleaned from Mr. Smith's story of John Hager.
He says:

" As I was travelling one rainy day on horseback through
the woods, between Indianapolis and Connersville, near
where Greenfield now stands, I heard a loud voice before
me, some half a mile off. My horse was wading through
the mud and water, up to the saddle-skirts. I moved
slowly on, until I met John Hager driving a team of four
oxen, hauling a heavy load of merchandise, or store goods,
as he called it, from Cincinnati to Indianapolis, then in
the woods. He had been fifteen days on the road, and it
would take him three days more to get through, but
said he must move on, as they would be anxiously looking
for him at Indianapolis, as they were nearly out of powder
and lead when he left, and they could get none until he
got there, as his was the only wagon that could get through
the mud between Cincinnati and Indianapolis, and it was
just as much as he could do. He hallooed to the oxen,
plied the lash of his long whip, and the team moved on

The Trail 215

at the rate of a mile an hour — the wheels up to the hub
in mud, carrying the whole commerce between the Queen
city and the Railroad city of the West, in that early
day."i

When the Rev. Thomas Goodwin, the pioneer
Methodist preacher, was journeying to Asbury College
in 1837, he passed over the roads when the fifty miles
toward Indianapolis were one great quagmire. He
tells the old story of the passengers having to get rails
from the near-by fence, to help pry the stage-coach
from the mudholes. When the wagon broke down
beyond repair, the driver took young Goodwin's trunk
on the horse before him, and the mail agent, with
his mail-bag in front of him, and the student up behind,
rode the other horse into the capital. When he reached
his destination, he had travelled four days and two
nights, to cover 124 miles.

It would look very strange to the moderns, ac-
customed as we are to rapid transit means of loco-
motion, to see slow plodding oxen used, but in that
day they were worked on all of the Western roads.
Hea\'y loads over rough highways could be hauled
by these strong beasts of burden even better than
by horses. Until after the Civil War, the making of
neck-yokes was a regular trade in every community,
and the patient ox was a common sight on the roads.

The fertility of the soil, which produced such
spreading forests, shading the lands and preventing
the equally deep soil on the roads from dr>'ing out,
was what attracted immigration, and also what made
it necessary to build roads, before the country could
properly develop. Four years after the organization

• Smith, O. H., Early Trials, page 583. Cincinnati, 1858.

2i6 Historic Indiana

of the State, and when it had been determined to
place the capital inland, a real system of wagon roads
was projected. Twenty-six turnpikes were planned
in 1820; five were to centre at Indianapolis, the others
were to connect the older towns of the State ; and
the revenues for their establishment and maintenance
were designated from the sale of public lands, and a
road tax, and labor per capita, to be rendered. As
in other public works, the enactment of laws did not
make good roads immediately. Travelling by land
was still travelling by mud and water, as the depressed
Professor Hall termed it, at that time. Legislation
was but a beginning. The work went slowly on through
corduroy and toll roads, until the belated discovery
that they had excellent gravel beds within the borders
of the State made it improvident to have further
delays. Even the National road limped lamely across
Indiana; the only real work being the clearing of
the trail, and plowing drains by the side of the road-
way. East of the Alleghanies and across Ohio, it
gave emigrants and commerce a famous highway
toward the West, When Ohio and Indiana were
admitted into the Union, Ohio fourteen years previous,
there was a provision made by Congress reserving
two per cent, from the sale of public lands within their
limits, to be held and applied to the construction of
a public highway, leading from the coast to a point
to be designated within their borders. In 1806,
Congress authorized President Jefferson to appoint a
commission to lay out the best route; and the trail
from Cumberland, Maryland, across a part of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia, on into Ohio was chosen. It
was eventually carried forward, in a much less thorough
manner, and very imperfectly constructed, through

The Trail 217

Indiana to Vandalia, Illinois. For a half-century,
the legislation regarding this highway had dragged
its way through political campaigns, the sessions of
Congress, and the various legislatures. It was never
satisfactorily constructed at full length, and was very
shiftlessly maintained; but it served a great purpose.
It developed a vast territory, and ser\^ed as a bond of
communication and union between the tide-water
States and the prairies. It also connected a network
of State roads, which gave access to the whole interior
of the Ohio Valley. It reduced freight rates one half.
In 1820 three thousand wagons ran from Philadelphia
to Pittsburgh for this trade, reaching a value of eighteen
millions annually.

Travel was not then the matter-of-course affair of
a few hours to the coast that it is in these days. The
coaches driven over that old Cumberland road went
across the mountains at the rate of five miles an
hour, changing horses three or four times a day, and
stopping for rest over night at the famous old way-
side taverns. The merchant who went east in those
days, and the belle who had spent a season in Phil-
adelphia or Boston, were envied personages, who
really had seen the world, had actually known life!
If a citizen and his wife contemplated a journey to
their old home, on the coast, it was an event to be
planned months in advance. A new dozen of shirts,
all of finest linen, must be hand-stitched for the jour-
ney. His best blue broadcloth clothes, and flowered
waistcoat, must be brushed, his gold fob polished,
and the beaver hat remodelled and ironed. Mother
would content herself with a made-over outfit, so
that she might purchase "brand new" peau de soie
and French merino at the centres of fashion. Their

2i8 Historic Indiana

clothes were packed in the old hair trunk, studded
with brass nails; and the things for the journey were
placed in the huge carpet-bag of gay flowered brussels.
In it, were letters from all of the neighborhood, to
friends in the East; for postage was ruinously high
then, and it was a matter of etiquette for every
traveller to carry mail for his friends. Funds for the
journey were carried very secretly in a belt about the
waist, with a brace of pistols for defence against pos-
sible highwaymen. Family and friends gathered at
the gate to say good-bye to the travellers when the
gay stage-coach, with its six spirited horses, drew up
at the door with many a dash and flourish. The
fellow-passengers, who were held in close companion-
ship for this long journey, had plenty of time to exhaust
topics of conversation. The talk ranged from pre-
destination, high tariff, federalism, border wars, and
early planting, to the latest news from the State and
National capitals. And then there was always politics
to be discussed, and new stories to be told. If there
were lady passengers, no man would presume to light
a cigar, for in those days such a lack of deference was
unknown in America. Hospitable inns, with great
blazing fires and a lavish table of homely fare, were
established at intervals on the route. There is said
to have been a score of these old taverns in Wayne
County alone, which shows how much travel there
was by the old National road. Recalling these jour-
neys, an old timer mused : What stories they told, too,
around that fire after supper! Men took time to tell
stories in that day. Each had his half-dozen nar-
ratives, carefully elaborated, and given with dramatic
effect. It was something to be a raconteur on the road.
The best drivers, too, of these coaches on the pike

" Journeying to their new homes you passed people seated
in the great canvas-topped Conestoga wagons."

From an old print.

The Trail 219

reached a position of national distinction. Sometimes
in lonely stretches of interminable forest, your only
vis-k-vis might be a villainous-looking cutthroat,
whose side glances would make one feel to see if his
holsters were in place. Journeying to their new homes,
you passed people seated in the great canvas-topped
Conestoga wagons, going towards the setting sun.

" Old America seems to be breaking up and moving
westward," wrote Morris Birkbeck in 1817. On the
National road he said that "we are seldom out of sight
of family groups, behind and before us. No possessions
but two horses and sometimes a cow or two; excepting
a little hard-earned money, for the land office of the dis-
trict, where they may obtain a title for as many acres
as they have half dollars, being one fourth of the purchase
price. The family are seen before, behind, or within the
vehicle, according to the road, the weather, or perhaps
the spirit of the party. Sometimes a horse and a pack
saddle afford the means of transfer."^

A traveller would pass in one journey four to five
thousand hogs being driven to the Eastern market.
In Benjamin Parker's reminiscences, we gain a vivid
impression of the vast commerce and travel, which
passed toward the West; and also have a quaint
picture of the little Indiana boy, who was afterwards
to be noted as one of her writers, as he sat by the
roadside of the great national way, and observed the
travel from that mysterious East toward the setting
sun. He wrote :

" From morning till night there was a continual rumble
of wheels, and, when the rush was greatest, there was

> Birkbeck, Morris, Notes on a Journey from Virginia, pages 25, 26.

220 Historic Indiana

never a minute that wagons were not in sight. Many
famihes occupied two or more of the big red wagons then
in use, with household goods and their implements, while
extra horses, colts, cattle, sheep, and sometimes hogs
were led or driven behind. Thus, when five or ten families
were moving in company, the procession of wagons, men,
women, and children and stock was quite lengthy and
imposing. Now and then there would be an old-fashioned
carriage, set upon high wheels to go safely over stumps
and through streams. The older women and little children
occupied these, and went bobbing up and down on the
great leather springs, which were the fashion sixty years
ago. But everybody did not travel in that way. Single
families, occupying a single one or two horse wagon or
cart, frequently passed along, seeming as confident and
hopeful as the others. With the tinkling of bells, the
rumbling of wheels, and the chatter of the people as they
went forever forward, the little boy who had gone to the
road from his lonesome home in the woods was captivated,
and carried away into the great active world. But the
greatest wonder and delight of all was the stage-coach,
radiant in new paint, and drawn by its four matched
horses in their showy harness, and filled inside and on
top with well-dressed people. We could hear the driver
playing his bugle as he approached the little town, and it
all seemed too fine and grand to be other than a dream." *

In the early thirties, a new mode of reaching the
centres of trade was advocated. Steam, applied to
the running of boats, had worked wonders for those
sections lying adjacent to the navigable streams.
Alas! the fertile districts along shallow streams, and
those remote from the waterways, including the in-
land capital of Indiana, were greatly retarded in their

' Parker, Benjamin, " Pioneer Days," in vol. iv., Ind. Mag. Hist.,
igo8.

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The Trail 221

development by lack of adequate transportation.
Railroads had only appeared on the horizon, and the
agitation for the building of canals began. To-day
we should hardly regard a slow-going canal-boat,
travelling at the rate of eight miles an hour, as a great
socializing influence; but in that earlier time, when
the canals were first opened up, a traveller wrote
back home from Ohio, that it was well worth while
to make a trip to Cincinnati or Toledo, just to enjoy
the luxury of the passage.

The development of the State under this new mode
of transportation is a ver^'- definite and interesting
phase of Indiana's history. As Mr. Dillon has said:

" the State system of internal improvement, which was
adopted by Indiana in 1836, was not a new measure, nor
did the adoption of the system at that time grow out of
a new and hasty expression of popular sentiment. For a
period of more than ten years, the expediency of providing
by law for the commencement of a State system of pub-
lic works had been discussed before the people of the
State by governors, legislators, and distinguished private
citizens."^

They instanced the Erie Canal, which was begun by
New York State in 18 17, and within a decade after
its completion the tolls repaid the cost of construction.
In 1823, two years before steam was applied to the
locomotive, the subject of connecting the Maumee and
Wabash rivers by a canal over the old Indian trail,
thus opening up navigation to the Lakes, had at-
tracted the attention of the legislative authorities of
Illinois and Indiana. The agitation entered politics,

I Dillion, J. B., Hist, of Ind., page 569. Indianapolis, 1859.

222 Historic Indiana

divided families, and sundered friendships. In 1816,
the year that the State was admitted, there was an
act passed by the legislature reserving five per cent, of
the proceeds of sales of all public lands within its
territory as a fund for the construction of roads and
canals and three-fifths of this fund was to be expended
by act of legislature. In 1821, this famous "three
per cent, fund " was first drawn upon. In 1826, the
State obtained from the general government a grant
of land two miles and a half wide on each side of the
proposed canal and projected State road, making
3200 acres per mile, and the whole grant was valued
at a million and a quarter of dollars. The sale of the
government lands was to aid in the construction of
the proposed improvements. Great inland districts
were to be connected with shipping privileges. The
rivers had long been hampered by the obstructions in
their channels, and canals were to be substituted,
as a better means of transportation, with lateral
canals and turnpikes, opening up other districts.
These ambitious and far-reaching plans for internal
improvements included the Wabash and Erie Canal,
covering 4595 miles, and extending from Lake Erie
down the Wabash where it was to be connected with
the Ohio River, which Mr. Benton, in his very in-
teresting monograph on the canal, calls the Indiana
Appian Way ; the Central Canal which was to connect
the inland city, Indianapolis, with the Wabash and Eric,
via Muncictown and the White River Valley, and
another branch to place the capital in connection with
Evansville; there was also to be built the White-
water Canal, which was to be a cross-cut canal from
the Ohio River and was completed to Brookville;
the Erie and Michigan Canal, from Fort Wayne to

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The Trail 22^

Lake Michigan, and the National road. The last
was the turnpike continuing that road from the Ohio
State line, and extending thence to Indianapolis, and
from there west to Illinois, and by a State road toward
the north to Lake Michigan. There were also to be
constructed turnpikes from the capital to La Fayette,
and to Jeffersonville. The Wabash River channel
from Vincennes to the Ohio was to have the obstruc-
tions removed. Before these grand schemes for trans-
portation in Indiana were entirely outlined, steam
had been applied to railroads in England, and such
a road was added to the project and planned to run
from Madison to Indianapolis. Other railroads were
also suggested. Even a casual glance at this bare
outline of roads and canals, mapped out by the
State Commissioner, will reveal the deeply felt demand
for means of reaching the markets.

When we follow the itinerar>^ of a load of merchan-
dise from New York to Indiana, we can realize through
what a tortuous journey it passed and what length of
time it took to transport articles. From New York,
goods by freight were taken by boat up the Hudson
River, to Albany, then fifteen miles over the turnpike
to Schenectady, up the Mohawk by man power,
through the canal and eight locks, around the Falls, and
on from Utica to Lake Oneida by a canal and creek,
through that lake to Onondaga and Oswego River —
into Lake Ontario; thence to Lewiston, then overland
along the Niagara, by boat on Lake Erie; thence by
land to Fort Boeuf, again by water to Pittsburgh and
down the Ohio and up the Wabash River. One hun-
dred thousand bushels of salt, aimually, passed this
way from Central New York to Indiana.

The passage of the bill authorizing the internal

224 Historic Indiana

improvements was vastly popular.* The news was
carried from village to village and celebrated with
the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and processions
marching through the streets. The people rejoiced
over the prospect of an outlet to the seaboard for
the products of the country, of which they could raise
so much more than they could use. Work was begun
on the Wabash Canal in 1832, on the White-water
in 1836, and on the Central Canal in 1837. It was
undertaken in sections, and in different parts of the
State at the same time, by different contractors.
Immediately, labor was in demand, and immigrants
from Ireland and Germany were brought into the
State to work on the canals. These families remained
as permanent residents, and many of them became
prosperous. In time, they were thoroughly absorbed
into the body politic, as loyal citizens. For the next
four years, the work went on throughout the projected
system of public improvements. Along the lines of
the canals, Paddy, just over from Ireland, and Hans
from Germany, were making the dirt fly ; and laborers,
already resident, w^ere employed on the turnpikes,
or in building w^arehouses and wharves, for the opening
of commerce. The only grumbling heard came from
the counties through w^hich none of the projected
highways were to pass. There were citizens who,
for economic reasons, had opposed the w^hole scheme
of internal improvements being undertaken by the
State; but the majority had won. As soon as the bill
had passed, the wildest speculation in lands ensued;
farmers added to their farms and investors flocked
into the State. If all had been paid for, distress need

' "Labor and capital were withdrawn for a time from agriculture, and
devoted to means of transportation. Wheat and flour were imported in
1836!" — Lije of Andrew Jackson, page 378, Sumner.

The Trail 225

not have followed, but many of the ventures were
undertaken on credit, and ruin of fortunes came.
People had visions of the revenues from the canals
and roads paying all taxes, and the dawn of a new
era was prophesied. While manual labor on the
various public works was progressing in many sections,
a cloud appeared on the commercial horizon, to dis-
quiet careful citizens. Grave errors in financing the
system of highways were made, which brought finan-
cial disaster to the State, long before anything had
approached completion. The total of the canals,
turnpikes, and railroads surveyed and included in the
estimates, under the Act of 1836, was about twelve
hundred and eighty-nine miles; which, it -was es-
timated then, would incur an expenditure of $19,914,-
244.00. A permanent Commission was created to
represent the State, in organizing the department of
construction, and negotiating for funding the debt
to be assumed. To meet the amounts necessary,
so large for a frontier commonwealth, required wisdom
and exceedingly provident management. This, the
momentous question certainly failed to receive. Many
mistakes were made. One of the fundamental errors
was the result of pressure from each section, that
their improvements should be executed at once; and
the Board tried to satisfy public clamor, by endeavor-
ing to construct all of the projects simultaneously.
Then when the bonds were issued to raise the funds
to build the canals and roads, they were sold on credit.
As a consequence, there was, very soon, no money
to meet the demands of contractors for supplies and
construction. The wages of laborers went far in arrears
and, of course, this immediately affected the small
shopkeepers and general trade. Construction would

be suspended for months, until funds might be forth-
15

226 Historic Indiana

coming, causing great unrest and distress. To add
to the misfortunes of the people, the memorable panic
of I S3 7 swept over the nation, and financial disaster
was general to the whole country-.

An additional short-sighted financial measure at
the veiy beginning was, that even the money to pay
the very interest on the debt was borrowed; which
compounded the indebtedness to the further embar-
rassment of the Treasury. In 1839, a large portion
of the contemplated improvements were abandoned.
The construction of the railroads w^as left to private
enterprise. The Wabash Canal, which had been
started before the General Improvements Bill had
passed, w^as now in use over part of the route and
yielding a revenue. This was not abandoned, as it
had the land grants from the general government still
unsold, from which it could yet realize funds. In 1842,
when of the tw^elve hundred miles of improvements
contemplated, 281 miles had been completed, the State
found itself in debt, for all causes, $207,894,613. Thus,
Indiana, like several other States at that period, faced
bankruptcy. It w^as often heard said, Indiana cannot
pay the interest on her public debt. Her resources
were very much crippled on account of her remoteness
from markets, which limited production. As in some
other States, it was openly claimed that the indebted-
ness would have to go by default, but this was abhorrent
to honest citizens and was very widely opposed.
Sensational speeches were made in the State Assembly
about "preserving the honor of the State, sir," one
member asserting that he w^ould chop wood to pay
his proportion of the State debt before he would listen
to repudiation. Mr. Butler and others representing
the foreign bondholders spent season after season

The Trail 22-]

In the State, trying to avoid total loss, and have the
work go on until revenues might be realized. Finally-
most of the works were permanently abandoned,
and the Wabash and Erie Canal, with its lands and
tolls, was taken in part payment of the claims, the
bondholders promising to complete the canal. This
they did by 185 1. This waterway extended from
Evansville, on the Ohio, to Toledo, 379 miles of it
lying within the State of Indiana. After the intro-
duction of railroads had made the canal unprofit-
able, the legality of the compromise was questioned,
and the bondholders wanted the State to pay half of
the debt for which the canal had been taken, as they
claimed they had been defrauded of tolls, on account
of the franchise granted to the railroads. They never
realized more than 92% of their principal, making the
investment disastrous individually. The whole project
had been so to the State exchequer; but the canal was
a wonderful impetus to the development of the West.
It has always been conceded that the economic and
social influence of the public works was far reaching.
Every mile of improved transportation by turnpike
facilitated the mail service and overland immigration,
and made it possible for the inland settlers to reach
the waterways with their produce. The canal in-
creased the production of the country in a wonderful
way. Before its completion, trade was stagnant.
There was little incentive for industry among the
■ people, for there was no market for more produce
than could be consumed within their own territory,
and lands lay idle. At one time, when Mr. Henry
T. Sample was going overland, collecting pelts for a
cargo, his business led him across the fertile Wea
plains, fit to be called the Garden of the Gods. He

228 Historic Indiana

soliloquized thus to himself and his gray pony: " This
stretch of country is beautiful beyond compare, but
I would not give this bale of pelts for the whole of it,
as I could not sell what it would produce." He lived
to see the plains then stretched before him, worth
millions of dollars.

Before the canal was built, wheat sold for 37 to 45
cents a bushel and corn from 10 to 20 cents a bushel,
while at the same time for their imports they paid
$10.00 a barrel for salt, and sugar brought from 25
to 35 cents per pound. A Putnam County settler
says that prior to the completion of the canal he hauled
a load of wheat (25 bushels) to Hamilton County,
Ohio, a distance of 150 miles, for which he received
38 cents a bushel.

In less than two years after the canal reached a
district, wheat advanced to 90 cents a bushel and
salt could be bought for less than $4.00 a barrel. Mr.
Benton says that

"before the opening of the canal in 1844, the zone of the
Maumee and upper Wabash valleys had sent towards
Toledo only 5622 bushels of corn, five years later the
exports from the same region, sent to that port, reached
2,755,149 bushels.

" For home consumption, the large number of laborers
added to the population increased the demand for pro-
duce, and much more money than ever before came into
circulation.

" When the canal was begun, the upper Wabash Valley
was a wilderness. There were only 12,000 scattered pop-
ulation in all that district, but people began to flock in
by wagon-loads so that the number had increased to
two hundred and seventy thousand by 1840. In 1846,
over thirty families every day settled in the State. Five

o
H

u
m
in

-3
C
cS

H
a

The Trail 229

new counties were organized in three years following the
opening of the first section of the canal from Fort Wayne
to Huntington. Thirty per cent, of the emigrants entering
the port of New York passed into the group of States
where the Erie Canal and its connections were being con-
structed. The boats that took grain up the canal brought
back emigrants and homesteaders from the East. Thirty-
eight counties in Indiana and nine in southeastern Illinois
were directly affected by the new waterway. Long wagon
trains of produce wended their way to the towns on the
shores of the canal. In the year 1844, four hundred wagons
in a day were waiting to unload at points like La Fayette
and Wabash." 1

Towns rose and grew as a result of the canal com-
merce, and the larger ones, which grew into cities,
owed their first impetus to the same cause, and the
railroad which succeeded it made their existence
secure. We are told that in 1836 alone the land
sales in Indiana amounted to three million acres. In
addition to the enormous impetus given to agricul-
tural exportation, the canal also supplied water-power
for manufacturing. In one year nine flour mills were
built along the new line, and eight saw-mills, and
paper, woolen, and oil mills came into existence, doing
a flourishing business. The population of the counties
bordering along the canal increased 397% from 1840
to 1850, while counties containing better lands, but
more remote from the waterway, only increased 190%
in the same decade. The incoming population was
of the most desirable quality, the majority being from
Eastern and Northern States, and it was this inter-
state migration of American-bom people which caused

1 Benton, Elbert Jay, The Wabash Trade Route in the Development
of the Old Northwest, Indiana Hist. Soc. Publications.

230 Historic Indiana

an entire political change in the State. The element
which came in from the North helped to counter-
balance the early settlement of Southern pro-slavery
people along the Ohio and lower Wabash rivers.
The canal, also, largely reversed the tide of trade
from New Orleans to New York, and changed the
centre of population. In 1830, five-sixths of the
people within the State lived in the southern tier of
counties bordering on the navigable streams. Ten
years later, says Mr. Benton,

"the line had pushed up and by 1850 there was an equal
distribution, about as many living in the canal zone as
the river counties. In i860, the population on the Wabash
was from forty-nine to ninety to the square mile, while
along the Ohio River it varied from eighteen to forty-
five persons to the square mile." ^

The Virginia, Carolina, and Kentucky settlements
formerly had outnumbered the combined totals of New
England and Middle State emigration. The finest
flower of the Western States was from the intermar-
riage of these families from the East joined with the
South. Of the valuable acquisition of foreign laborers,
it should be remembered that the Germans who came
in were tired of monarchical traditions, and, attracted
by the name and the opposition to slavery^ they very
largely attached themselves to the Republican party.
Owing to the Know-Nothing agitation, just at this
time the Irish became to a great extent affiliated
with the Democrats, all of which helped to maintain
the balance of numbers between the two parties in
Indiana, and made it, proverbially, a battle-ground
in politics.

' Benton, E. J., The Wabash Trade Route, Publications of Ind,
Hist. Soc.

The Passengers Sat on Deck Arrayed in Holiday Attire.
From an old print.

The Trail 231

The period from 1841 to 1843 saw the opening of
through traffic on the Wabash and Erie Canal from
the Lake to La Fayette. Ten years later, after passing
through deep financial hindrances, as we have seen,
it was completed — the 459 miles to Evansville. The
years from 1847 to 1856, says Mr. Benton, may be
considered the heyday of the canal. Within that
period the tolls and income reached the highest mark,
amounting in 1852 to $193,400.18. The passenger
"packets " ran regularly, proceeding in a most leisurely
way, stopping at every wharf for produce and pas-
sengers. The little towns on the way could be recon-
noitred during the delay of taking on and putting
off freight, and one could call upon a friend, or conclude
a business transaction, before the next stage of the
journey was begun! Weary with the monotony of
the journey, travellers often strolled along the tow-
path ahead of the boat, while it was going through
the locks, and they would gather berries or wild flowers
along the banks. If it chanced to be in the autumn,
they sometimes went nutting in the near-by forests.
Games at cards were a great relief to the tedium of
the voyage, and often the play ran high, and bunco
men followed the line, as they did on the river steamers.
There was time for reading and reflection on such a
journey. Lifelong friendships were formed during
the leisurely passage, and children played about as if
at home. In pleasant weather the passengers always
sat about on the top deck of the boat, arrayed in
holiday attire, now unknown in travelling, and gliding
smoclhly along past field and forest, they found it
a delightful way of seeing the country.

Sometimes we read tales of hot summer nights in
stuffy staterooms and cabins, and marvellous stories

232 Historic Indiana

of swarms of mosquitoes, which were probably the
cause of malarial fevers often contracted en route.
One young girl has left a bitter complaint, in print,
of her various experiences along the way, and added
that all the mosquitoes ever hatched in the mud
puddles of Indiana were condensed into one humming,
ravenous swarm about their heads.

Notwithstanding the beneficial effects on commerce,
from the introduction of steamboat and canal trans-
portation, as compared with old flatboats and wagon
trains, their doom in turn was approaching. Steam
had been applied to rail locomotion; even before
Indiana's dearly bought system of internal improve-
ment had been fairly inaugurated, the very masses
of immigrants brought in by the waterways made
more rapid transit of merchandise imperative. Says
Mr. Benton:

" While the canals were immensely stimulating the
business of the State and encouraging immigration, the
very enlargement of the volume of traffic, in turn, called
for a more general system of transportation. As a direct
result, there grew up a railroad system which ruined the
canals."^

In the thirties, the friends of internal improvement
were sharply divided concerning the relative merits
of canals and railroads. It was admitted that for
novelty and speed, a railroad might be preferable to
stage-coaches and canal boats, but it was contended
that for a long journey, or for a man travelling with
a family, a canal was better! It was pointed out that
on a canal boat passengers could eat their meals,
could walk about, write a letter, or play a game of

« Benton, E. J., Wabash Trade Route, Indiana Hist. Soc. Pub.

The Trail 233

poker, whereas in a railway carriage these things
were impossible! In a canal boat, too, the passengers
were as safe as at home, whereas in a railway car
nobody could tell what might happen! The incoming
of the railways was necessarily gradual and river
traffic died as gradually. For example, it took eight
years to complete the first railway in the State, and
it stretched only from the Ohio River to the capital
of the State. Vast sums had been expended in the
canal ventures, and the bondholders tried to maintain
the business. Steadily, the whole system refused to
become profitable, and repairs were too expensive to
be undertaken in the face of the new steam power.
After dragging along for years in a dying condition,
the Whitewater Canal was sold, for railroad right of
way, in 1862 and 1865. The last section of the Wabash
Canal was abandoned in 1874. Only the towns that
chanced to lie along the route that was touched by
the railroads survived. The immense old warehouses
were abandoned to humbler uses, and to this day
may be seen, where there is no longer any sign of
the old canal save a depression in the surface of the
land, grown up with reeds and rushes. Shadowy
advertisements of the imports of teas, coffees, and
spices may be deciphered, we are told, on the beams
and walls; but the channel, which carried that mer-
chandise, has gone like a tale that is told. Only a
right of way for some other mode of transportation
can be resurrected from its past.

The old National road, already referred to, proved
to be an open sesame to the West, a great impetus
to immigration and commerce. For years it was the
highway from the Southeast.

During the years that the Internal Improvement

234 Historic Indiana

Act was being carried out by the building of turnpikes
and canals to give other outlets to market, the traffic
southward by steamboats on the rivers had continued
to prosper. There were always passengers travelling
on the steamers, as well as the freight they carried,
all of which was often interrupted by obstructions
in the rivers. The streams continued difficult of
navigation, and the building of railroads was urged
to further commerce. The same innovation which
caused the canals to be unprofitable and finally
abandoned, also made the river traffic languish and
die.

When the national tragedy of the Ci\dl War was
ended, the steamboat owners awoke to the fact that
their calling was gone forever. That enemy of the
river boats, the railroad, whose growth even the war
could not check, had rapidly stretched its fingers out
over the land. By consulting a map of forty-five
years ago, it will be seen that the railroads of that
time closely followed the banks of the rivers. They
reached out, like the strands of a craftily laid net, to
ensnare the business of the steamboats. In the face
of such odds, defeat was inevitable. The river boats
had to go, but the fight was an obstinate one. Says
an old record:

" For ten long years the struggle between the railroads
and steamboats went on; fierce and bitter for the first
five, and, for the steamboats, vindictive and heroic to
the last. Millions of dollars were invested in the great
white vessels that glided up and down the Mississippi
and its tributaries, but they dropped out of the race one
by one, to be tied up to the bank and become the sport
of time. Some far-seeing owners, knowing the fight lost
for all time, dismantled their vessels and sold the fittings

The Trail 235

and machinery. Others, more obstinate or hopeful, kept
their boats trim and clean, ready against the day when
public sentiment and the flow of business should again
come their way. Every spring they painted them, every
day they polished the brasswork. Through the long idle
summers, they would sit in the pilot-houses watching the
railroad engines write, in letters of smoke, against the sky,
the story of their doom. The hungry race for cargoes
was responsible for more than one river tragedy, during
the period of waning trade. Where, six years before,
captains had haughtily steamed past landings, regardless
of the frantic signals of planters whose cotton, wheat,
or hemp was piled on the shore, they now found them-
selves driven to the humiliating expedient of arguing with
shippers in favor of their boats, as against the railroads.
Captains scented cargoes from afar. The wind seemed
to carry news of a waiting shipment, and idle boats raced
to the scene, like a school of sharks. The first to arrive
nearly always secured the cargo."

In an address on the future prospects of the inland
capital of Indiana, a pioneer orator dilated on its
improved prospects owing to the new invention of
the propelling power of steam on land which was to
revolutionize the channels of commerce. About the
same time, when Judge Test was running for Congress,
he sought to attract popular approval by referring
to the new steam roads: "I tell you, fellow-citizens,
that in England they are now running the cars thirty
miles an hour, and they will yet be run at a higher
speed in America."^ This was enough, said his
competitor for the office, the crowd set up a loud laugh
at the expense of the Judge. An old fellow standing
by bawled out: "You are crazy, or do you think

> Test, Judge, Campaign Address.

236. Historic Indiana

we are all fools? a man could not live a moment at
that speed." The Judge was lost. His successful
opponent had reason to wish the trains were then
running, as it took him seventeen days on horseback
to reach Washington City. The people were so enthusi-
astic in projecting railroads, that in 1832 the legis-
lature granted six charters in one day, but building
them was quite another affair. The one from Madison
to Indianapolis was the first one to be built in Indiana.
It was constructed part of the way by the State, at a
very gradual pace; and the remainder of the distance
by private persons, enjoying a subsidy of land from
the State. In 1839, this road had been completed
twenty miles, to Vernon, and so deliberate was the
extension that it did not reach Indianapolis until 1847 !
With the exception of the Madison road all of the
first railways in Indiana, as in other States, were laid
with "strap iron" on wooden rails. When other
roads were being constructed, the Madison Railroad
officials complained that their monopoly was being
ruined by the competition of the other roads, since
the State had passed a law granting charters to them !
At first the railroads of Indiana were not parts of
great through systems of transcontinental roads; but
rather they radiated from the capital like the spokes
of a wheel, connecting that city with river and lake
ports. These roads traversed counties possessing
wonderfully rich soil, and their agricultural products
and live stock traffiic enriched the companies that
built them. The capitalists of each to^\^l imagined
that they saw fortunes in railroad-building, and by
1853 there had been over fifteen opened to traffic.
The mileage increased constantly. After the Civil
War, on account of Indiana's geographical position,

The Trail 237

which made it necessary for the roads running east
and west, north of the Ohio River, to pass across the
State, her roads were made part of the great trunk
systems. In a few years the surface of the common-
wealth was a network of railroads. In 1907, there
were 6976 miles of railways within the State. The
development of Indiana attributable to steam roads
is so in common with that of the whole country that
it needs no special mention. The first telegraph line
in the State was put up in 1848.

About the time that railroads were first penetrating
the West, there arose a great craze for the building
of "plank roads." This was in response to the urgent
demand for better wagon roads whereon to reach
the markets. Timber was plentiful and cheap, and
this material seemed to offer a solution of the good
roads question. By the year 1850, four hundred
miles of planked roads, at a cost of twelve to fifteen
hundred dollars a mile, had been completed in the
State. But by that time the first roads constructed
had begun to show the weak points of the method
of paving. When new, these roads carried the traveller
along swimmingly; but when the planks began to
wear thin, and the sills to rot out, and the grading
or foundation to sink away, they became justly called
"corduroy" roads, and were certainly a weariness to
the flesh. In some low places, the construction sank
entirely out of sight. Many miles of the roads became
so execrable that the farmers drove alongside in the
mud rather than "jostle their bones" over the logs
and ruts of the artificial road.

By the time the people were recovering from the
great losses of money from this form of highway,
and their discouragement about better roads, it was

238 Historic Indiana

discovered that Nature had endowed the State in
many districts with vast gravel beds, unsurpassed
for the construction of turnpikes. Companies were
chartered to build and operate toll roads. These
proved very profitable, and were also a blessing to
the farmers who used them for heavy traffic. They
served their day, and passed into the free gravel
roads now owned by the counties.

Mr. Riley represents his old pioneers as talking
reminiscently ^

" Of the times when we first settled here, and travel was

so bad.
When we had to go on horseback, and sometimes on

'shanks mare,'
And 'blaze' a road fer them behind that had to travel

there.

"And now we go a-trotten' 'long a level gravel pike,
In a big two-hoss road-wagon, jest as easy as you like :
Two of us on the front seat, and our wimmen-folks behind,
A-settin' in theyr Winsor cheers in perfect peace of mind ! "

The little toll-house at the side of the road with
the superannuated couple on the front stoop has gone.
The "pole and sweep" for closing the highway has
disappeared. Better roads are still needed in most
parts of the State, to bring it up to the high plane
demanded for the truest economy and broadest civ-
ilization, but those advantages are surely, if slowly,
becoming general in more neighborhoods. At the
close of the year 1905, there were in Indiana 16,268
miles of gravel roads.

A new means of transportation has dawned on the

' Riley. James Whitcomb, Neighborly Poems, page 23. Indian-
apolis, 1891.

The Trail 239

State, and is becoming a great social factor through-
out Indiana. The interurban trolley roads are ex-
tending in all directions with astonishing rapidity.
One corporation alone is operating over six hundred
miles of electric lines and there are already twenty-one
hundred miles of electric roads within the bounds of
the State and two thousand miles more projected.
More than fifty millions have been invested. Indian-
apolis is the greatest electric railway centre in the
world. Passengers are carried through the State for
one half former railroad fares, and parcels at reason-
able rates. What this pleasant and rapid transpor-
tation means to the rural population can hardly be
realized by the denizens of cities. From a position
of great social isolation, the farmer's family, along
these routes, may come into close touch with near-by
towns and cities.

Automobiles have come into use rapidly. First in
the cities, but soon the progressive farmer recognized
their usefulness to himself and his family, many using
them for power on the farm, as well as for pleasure on
the road. Motor wagons, both for travel and hauling,
will further eliminate distance between country life and
town, and add in every way to the advantage of both.
The Wright brothers, one of them born in Indiana, have
added the flying machine to the marvels of this century,
but who shall say what may come next.

With the national awakening to the vast oppor-
tunity for improving transportation facilities by
utilizing the natural arteries of commerce to create
deep waterways through the heart of the continent,
Indiana must share in the benefits, not only because
of her nearness to other great streams, but because
of her geographical position, and by the develop-

240 Historic Indiana

ment of her own tributaries to the Mississippi. When
these new plans for inland navigation are developed
to their consistent goal, the old "Appian Way " will
again be dotted with the commerce of the East, on
its journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. Through
the Wabash route, the produce of a great interior will
join the Mississippi deep waterway. Through the
Ohio with its improved channel, which flows along the
entire southern border of the State, the traffic of that
district will be accommodated. The Calumet, deepened,
will furnish an outlet for the regions about Chicago;
while by a canal across the northern part of Indiana,
from Lake Erie, by way of the Maumee, to Lake Mich-
igan, the shipping between New York and Chicago
may avoid the detour of five hundred miles of stormy
lake travel, around the peninsula. Canals were once
bankrupted by the incoming of railroads, and became
obsolete; but with the enormous increase in the pop-
ulation and foreign commerce, the traffic of the coun-
try has outgrown the railroads; and, with the aid of
electricity for rapid propelling power, canals must
come into their own again. The shades of the early
pioneers who worked so hard for improved transpor-
tation may hover over the fleets on their way across
the State, and contemplate Indiana as a sea-going
community !

We have travelled the centuries from pirogue to
automobile and electric trolley; we have seen the
first white man paddle his canoe to the trading-post;
have jogged with the pioneer over muddy roads, and
immigrated with the early settlers in the prairie
schooner, or with them have poled their flatboats up
the rivers. We have welcomed, with them, the little
steamers and packets on the waterways; have seen

The Trail 241

steam applied to land locomotives, relegating all
other modes of transportation to desuetude; and in
turn have seen this, with all other methods, being
surpassed by electricity. Before us has passed the
panorama of the evolution of transportation, epito-
mizing the progress of civilization in Indiana.

As the quaint vehicles of the past roll slowly down
the highways toward oblivion, we wave good-bye.
With a sigh for the wearisome journeys they entailed,
we look forward with wonder and interest to what
the future has in store, in the development of the

means of transportation.
16

CHAPTER XII

THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS AT NEW HARMONY

THOSE who are interested in the social problems
of the day may wish to review the record of
the experiments at New Harmony. They are
an example of the failures in the establishment of
socialistic communities, in a State where individualism
is the pronounced belief of the whole people. Whether
collectivism, in any form, will be congenial to the
American spirit, it is too soon, perhaps, to declare.
In that earlier day, however, the hardy frontiersmen
looked upon the experiments of Owen and Rapp as
a theory of social life which was in direct opposition
to the independent freedom which they had come
into the wilderness, at a great sacrifice, to secure.
Individual initiative was the key to the character of
the Westerner. He made it his creed. He was aroused
to suspicion and antagonism by any encroachments
of dictation regarding the forms of his religious belief,
the family life, or contract for his labor. Hence the
neighbors of the autocrat of Harmonic, and afterward
the social reformer, David Owen, were lacking in
sympathy and appreciation of the colossal efTorts of
the two great innovators. A few of the settlers sent
their young people to the incomparable schools es-
tablished by Owen. More of them bought articles

242

Social Experiments at New Harmony 243

that were manufactured by the Rappite community.
Sympathy with the theories of the communists, they
had none. A few visionaries, in different parts of the
southern section of the State, and in other States,
followed afar off, and made experiments of their own,
in community life which lasted but a few months. But
the settlers, in general, combated the ideas promulgated
at New Harmony.

This little village in southern Indiana will interest
us by its unique history, two socialistic communes
having succeeded each other on this attractive spot
in the lower Wabash Valley. These communities,
established in the early part of the nineteenth century,
live only in history; but they brought to Indiana one
of the most interesting phases of co-operative life
known to the nation. Many volumes have been
written on the history of the communities, the theo-
ries that they represented, and the lives of their
founders and co-workers, but a brief account of their
existence is necessary in any story of Indiana.

In the spring of 181 5, George Rapp led his German
peasant followers from their settlement in Pennsyl-
vania to the wilderness of Territorial Indiana. They
came down the Ohio River and fifty miles up the
Wabash in flatboats ladened with the community
goods, implements of labor and manufacture, and
landed at the beautiful location previously chosen by
Frederick Rapp. In imagination we see the eight
hundred men, women, and children, clad in the quaint
costume of their native Wiirtemberg, kneeling on the
bank of the forest stream, and joining with Father
Rapp in dedicating " Harmonic" to the purposes
of a primitive, Christian brotherhood. These people
belonged to the stolid German peasant class, and

244 Historic Indiana

joined their fortunes with George Rapp, to emigrate
to a free country, and worship God according to their
own peculiar beHefs, which were the teachings of
Father Rapp. He was a strong-willed man, a very-
arbitrary over-lord, and the simple band implicitly
followed where he guided them. The newly ac-
quired estate comprised about thirty thousand acres,
of the most fertile lands that bordered on the river.
The tract was covered with the magnificent prime-
val forest usual in Indiana. The hillsides were suited
to the planting of vineyards; and the river, as was
foreseen, furnished a highway to the markets and
water-power for their various mills. A dozen years
before this time, their autocratic leader had led his
followers forth from the fatherland to the wilds of
Pennsylvania, and had planted a wonderfully suc-
cessful community there. They had labored with
such industry and plodding faithfulness, under the
wise management of George Rapp and his adopted
son Frederick, that their common property was con-
sidered sacrificed, when it was sold for one hundred
thousand dollars, upon their departure for Indiana.
The Territory of Indiana at that time had but few
settlers, and these were located through the southern
tier of counties, on scattered clearings, and in tiny
villages. There, the zealous Rappite community soon
found that the opening up of the fertile acres exposed
them to the prevailing malaria, which had proven so
deadly to all the pioneers. The mortality among
their membership, the first four or five years, ap-
palled them, and, it is said, determined their resolution
to sell the great plantation as soon as it could be made
attractive to a purchaser. Gradually, however, as
the lands were cultivated, the unhealthfulness dis-

Social Experiments at New Harmony 245

appeared; until, in the latest years of their sojourn,
there were only two or three deaths a year. These
thrifty people planted orchards, and vineyards, and
broad acres of grain. Their gardens were models,
and their flocks and herds multiplied in the meadows.
After they had provided themselves with temporary
cabins, they built a village of homes and commu-
nity houses, a fort, a granary, saw-mill, woollen mill,
brickyard, distillery, brewery, and a silk factory.
Eventually, they built shops in the town for all the
trades.

The homely buildings they erected are still in use,
testifying to the integrity of their workmanship, if
not to their artistic sense of design. One of the large
community houses is now used as a tavern, another
as a theatre, and one as a general store; and on the
outer wall the same old sun-dial marks the hours for
the twentieth century inhabitants, that served to
assemble the plodding peasants for their march to
the iields. The church in which all worshipped was
built on the plan which Father Rapp claimed had
come to him in a revelation. It was in the form of
a Greek cross and was nearly one hundred and twenty
feet in length. The roof was supported by twenty-
eight pillars of walnut, cherry, and sassafras wood.
The walnut logs measured six feet in circumference.
The exterior of the church was not attractive archi-
tecturally, but an English traveller wrote that one
could scarcely imagine himself in the wilds of Indiana,
on the borders of the Wabash, while walking through
the long resounding aisles and surveying the stately
colonnades of this cathedral-like church.

During all their sojourn in the State, this pecu-
liar people saw nothing of the outside world and its

246 Historic Indiana

attractions. The adopted son, Frederick Rapp, was
the business representative for the community. He it
was that introduced any saving leaven of variety into
their Hves. Flower-gardens and a band of music were
allowed them to relieve the dead monotony of the
prescribed round of their existence. The people, both
men and women, toiled in the shops and fields for the
common treasury. Each day they rose before six
o'clock, and after breakfasting went forth in a procession
to the daily tasks. Marriage was not allowed, and the
only increase in their numbers were the accessions
from Germany. The squatters on the lands near the
community were too fond of their free and independent
life to be attracted to such an autocracy. The homely
dress worn was all of their own manufacture; both
men and women wore home-made straw hats, short
jackets of coarse material, and a skirt or trousers of
the same goods. There were flowers in the doorways,
and there was a pleasant regulation which provided
an excellent band of music that played in the public
garden at sunset, and on the hillsides, when the
peasants were laboring in the fields. The people were
industrious, kind, strictly temperate — not even the
use of tobacco being allowed. Their honest and
upright dealing assured their communal success,
everything that they sold being of excellent quality
and strictly as they represented it to be. The trade
of the community extended from Pittsburg to New
Orleans, and they had branch stores at Vincennes
and across the Illinois line.

In any estimate of the achievements of this experi-
ment in community life, it must be remembered
that the membership was united by a strong religious
bond, that they were all producers, were all peasants

Social Experiments at New Harmony 247

who had been accustomed to being suppressed, and
that they were ignorant of the language of America.
They were from a dull and stolid social stratum, and
had enjoyed little religious or political liberty in
Germany, very meagre material comforts, and few
pleasures, so that the lack of freedom of initiative in
their restricted existence at Harmonie seemed, to
most of them, offset by the creature comforts sup-
plied to all of the commune.

The good business management of the leaders and
the patient, plodding industry of the united member-
ship, celibacy which restricted the increase of un-
productive members, and their belief in the near
approach of the judgment day which made them
careless of owning private property, contributed
toward the increase of community wealth. It was
said that when the Harmonists left Indiana their
funds amounted to a million dollars, which in that
primitive time was a vast sum. "In May, 1824, we
have departed," was scrawled under the stairway in
one of the community houses. Back to Pennsylvania,
this time on the borders of the Ohio River, eighteen
miles below Pittsburg, George Rapp led his stolid
followers to a new place which they named Economy.
Was it to prevent any measure of rest being their
portion, a fear that luxurious living might entice his
flock from strict obedience ? Or was it to be nearer the
Eastern markets?' No statement is left to tell why
the autocrat sold Old Harmonie, and began the labori-
ous task of creating a new settlement. Mrs. Blake,
in her story of the commune, called Heart's Haven,
gives a vivid impression of the life in that circum-
scribed community, with all of its suppressed emotions
of mother love, and natural longing for separate homes,

248 Historic Indiana

and a return to their marriage vows, and recognition
of the family Hfe.

When Richard Flower, a neighboring communist on
the Illinois side of the Wabash, was going back to
England, George Rapp commissioned him to sell the
Harmonic estate, if possible, and Flower received
$5000 for accomplishing the transfer. He made the
sale to Robert Owen, a famous Scotch philanthropist,
who had been conducting a successful commune in
the manufacturing town of New Lanark. Mr. Owen
took over the whole of the great property with its
substantial improvements, paying about $150,000 for
it. It is said that double the sum received would
have been a modest estimate of the value of the princely
estate and well-built town. When the faithful Rappists
had settled in their new location in Pennsylvania,
the same industry and capable leadership continued
their material prosperity. George Rapp died in 1847.
He was succeeded in command by Elders elected by
the community. "These men were able and honorable,
we are glad to know ; for the sake of the quiet creatures
drowsing away their remnant of life, fat and contented,
or driving their plows through the fields, or sitting on
the stoops of the village houses when evening comes." ^
In 1874, years after their exodus, the Rappists sent
back to their old community in Indiana and repur-
chased the church edifice. They used part of the stone
and brick for a wall about their ancient burying-
ground ; giving the lot and the wing of the building
for the Working Men's Institute Library, in memory
of the Harmonic Society founded by George Rapp
in 1815.

The prosperity of the commune, in their new location,

1 Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 34.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 249

was so great that in the seventies the wealth of the
Rappists was estimated to be any sum from ten to
thirty miUions of dollars. These values dwindled with
the passing of the membership by death and from the
poor management of later leaders. The community
ceased to exist, and became a corporation of individual
holdings. From a material point of view it was one
of the few successful communes, but Robert Owen
saw wherein it was a failure. It contravened an
important law of nature when it forbade family ties.
The animal nature had been sufficiently cared for,
they looked well fed and decently clothed and free
from business anxieties, but Rapp's disciples had
bought this immunity from bread-and-butter cares
dearly — even at the expense of the heart and head.
By the greatest imaginable contrast, the leaders of
the new community, which entered into the possession
of New Harmony, as they re-christened it, were as-
sembled for the pursuit of the things of the spirit
along intellectual paths — for culture for its own sake,
for research in science, and particularly for educational
advancement.

Robert Owen was a dreamer. He was of those
who have visions of a better future for mankind. To
obtain the right environment for instituting a new
social system, on the community plan, he bought
the magnificent estate of New Harmony. Of this
selection he said:

" No site for a number of communities, in close union
together, can be found finer than that which surrounds
us. Its natural situation and the variety of its natural
productions exceed anything I have seen in Europe or
America; the rich land, intermixed with rivers, islands,
woods, and hills in beautiful proportions to each other,

250 Historic Indiana

presents a prospect which highly gratifies every intelligent
beholder."*

The village on the domain, which had been built by
the Rappites, the new commune diverted to the
various needs of the different classes of inhabitants.
The factories were retained, the community houses
were used for the members and for the new boarding-
schools. The vast church was converted into an
assembly hall, for the town meetings, weekly concerts
and balls, and the various lectures that were given.
The second-story rooms in the wings were used for
reading, debating, and music rooms. The frame
church was retained for religious meetings, and day
and night schools.

Of Robert Owen, the founder of New Harmony,
his biographer, Lloyd Jones, tells us that the great
reformer was born in Wales in 1771. After a few
short years of schooling, which he appreciated so
unusually, the lad, at the age of ten, went to London
as a draper's apprentice. In the home of his employers
he found a library, and read omnivorously during
every leisure moment. After learning his trade, he
worked at it until his eighteenth year, saving every
cent possible; for in his whole life, it is said, he never
indulged in an injurious or expensive habit. Starting
in a manufacturing business with five hundred dollars
capital, he went steadily onward, through various
changes of partnerships, in the cotton spinning and
allied trades, until he had accumulated a large fortune.

During these years of marked success in business,
Robert Owen had constantly devoted much of his
time and thought to the amelioration of the wretched

' Lockwood, Geo. B., page 70. New York, 1905.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 251

condition of the laboring classes throughout the
United Kingdom. After acquiring the factory town
of New Lanark, which was typical in its drunkenness,
squalor, and ignorance, he made that village renowned
as a happy and orderly community of factory hands.
At that time he met and was married to Miss Dale,
whose name was coupled with that of Owen in naming
each of their children. To New Lanark, it is said,
came representatives of royalty, philanthropists, and
educators from all parts of Europe, who journeyed
thither to study the processes which Mr. Owen put
in operation for the betterment of the w^orking people
in his mills, making them the most happy and orderly
in all England. At the same time, in agitation and
in national legislation, every social movement, every
real advance in England on behalf of the workers,
linked itself to the name of Robert Owen. He wrote
voluminously, and labored unceasingly, for the re-
form of factory laws, for the establishment of co-
operative societies, and for better conditions of living
for the wage-earners. Frederick Engles has left the
statement that as long as Robert Owen was merely
a philanthropist he was rewarded with applause,
wealth, honor, and glory. He was the most popular
man in Europe, not only with men of his own class,
but with statesmen and princes, who listened to him
approvingly.

This was the man who entered into the project of
establishing in Indiana a communistic colonization
scheme which he had long advocated. His son has
recorded that the offer of the Rappites to sell a village,
already built on a vast tract of land capable of sup-
porting tens of thousands of people, in a new and
free country, was the determining cause of Mr. Owen's

252 Historic Indiana

closing the purchase of Harmonie. He and his sons
gave up every comfort and luxury in England that
he might have a vast theatre in which to try his plans
of social reform.

It was in 1825 that Mr. Owen came into possession
of the thirty thousand acres of land, three thousand
of which were under cultivation. Full of hope and
noble enthusiasm, he inaugurated the plans for the
"new moral world," which was to be an organ-
ization of society to rationally educate and employ
all classes, giving a new existence to man by surround-
ing him with superior circumstances only. In contrast
to the Rappite theory, education, pleasant environ-
ment, culture, and freedom of thought were to take the
place of ignorance, an absence of amusements, and of
an arbitrary ecclesiastical autocracy, to hold the band
of people together.

Invitations to membership included all who were
in sympathy with Robert Owen's belief in the need
of a new form of society. In the course of his address
in the halls of Congress at Washington, he said :

" In the heart of the United States, and almost in the
centre of its unequalled internal navigation, that Power
which governs and directs the universe, and every action of
man, has arranged circumstances which were far beyond
my control, and permits me to commence a new empire
of peace and good-will to men, founded on other principles
than those of the present or the past. I have, however,
no wish to lead the way. I am desirous that governments
should become masters of the subject, adopt the prin-
ciples, encourage the practice, and thereby retain the
direction of the pubHc mind for their own benefit, and
the benefit of the people. But as I have not the control
of circumstances in this public course, I must show what

Social Experiments at New Harmony 253

private exertions, guided by these new principles, can
accomplish at New Harmony, and these new proceedings
will begin in April." ^

During the year 1825, students of public questions
in Europe and America were agog over the new pro-
ject and visionaries of every description were attracted
by the experiment. Mr. Owen was an extreme liberal
in his religious views and many of those who drifted
into the community were free-thinkers. Before he
himself reached the scene there had swarmed into
New Harmony so many eccentric and curious people,
so many with hobbies to carry out and others who
wished to attain a life where they would not have
to labor, that Mr. Owen was deprived of a choice of
inhabitants, upon whom to try the new social scheme.
The first address of the great heart who founded the
commune seems almost pathetic in the light of its
brief history. His followers and the curious people
from the country round about were assembled in the
vast church, now rechristened the Hall of Harmony.
"I am come to this country," he said, "to introduce
an entire new system of society ; to change it from an
ignorant and selfish system to an enlightened social
system which shall gradually unite all interests into
one, and remove all causes for contest between indi-
viduals." 2 The change must be gradual, he explained,
and after a sincere, candid, and hopeful explanation
of the details of his plans, he laid the proposed con-
stitution for the preliminary society before them. It
was adopted four days later, and in it his purposes in
founding the community were comprehensively stated.

' Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 70.
New York, 1905.
' Ibid., p3ige 75.

254 Historic Indiana

This document may be found in the old library of the
village, or more conveniently consulted in the pages
of Mr. George Lockwood's most interesting work on
The New Harmony Movement. The points can only
be touched upon here. The constitution is prefaced by
the declaration that the society is instituted generally
to promote the happiness of the world. It then sets
forth that persons of all ages and descriptions may
become members. Persons of color may be received
as helpers, or for future colonization by themselves.
No rank was to be recognized, no artificial inequality
acknowledged. Precedence was to be given only to
age, experience, and those chosen to office. As Mr.
Owen, the founder, had purchased the property, paid
for it, and furnished the capital to consummate the
plans, it was modestly claimed that he should have
the appointment of a committee of integrity and
experience, to direct and arrange the affairs of the
society. His expectation was announced that a
sufficient number of trained members would be
gathered to form an association, at the end of two
or three years, who could establish an independent
community of equality and self-rule. The formation
of other societies of like order, it was hoped, would
follow. Those who wished to become members were
to sign the constitution, were to occupy dwellings
assigned to them, provide their own household fur-
niture and utensils. The society was not to be answer-
able for the debts of any of its members. They were
to be temperate, regular and orderly in conduct,
diligent in their employments, and were to apply
themselves to acquire an occupation. They were to
help protect the whole property from injury, and
enter into the society with a determination to promote

Social Experiments at New Harmony 255

its peace, prosperity, harmony, and social equality.
In return the members were to receive such advan-
tages, living, comforts, and education for their children,
as the present state of New Harmony afforded. In old
age, in sickness, or when accident occurred, care was
to be taken of all parties, medical aid afforded, and
every attention shown to them that kindness could
suggest. Each member should, within a fixed limit,
have the free choice of food and clothing. Each
family was to receive credits in proportion to the
number of its useful members. Members were to
have the privilege of receiving their friends to visit
them, provided they be answerable for the conduct
of such sojourners. The children were to be educated
at the expense of the community. Parents that
preferred placing their children in the boarding-school
after they had attained two years of age could do
so by special arrangement, week by week. Members
were allowed complete liberty of conscience, and were
afforded every facility for exercising those practices
of religious worship which they preferred. They
could quit the society on a week's notice, taking with
them the productions of the establishment, to the
value of what they brought. Families or members
might be dismissed on the same terms, by the com-
mittee. ' Equality of rights and duties, community
of property, co-operative union in business and
amusements, freedom of speech and activity, acqui-
sition of knowledge, obedience to the laws of the
State and nation, preservation of health, courtesy in
all intercourse, kindness in all actions' — were declared
to be the principles of New Harmony's foundation.

Proceeding upon this foundation, Robert Owen,
assisted in his plans by his talented sons, and his

256 Historic Indiana

enlightened co-worker William Maclure, went hope-
fully forward toward the establishment of the com-
mune upon a substantial basis. Free schools for the
youth, and all who wished for them, was the first
care of the founders. Well regulated amusements
were held to be a large part of the community's in-
terest, and every Friday evening there were concerts.
Tuesday evening was designated as the night for the
weekly balls, for which an excellent band of music
was supplied. Wednesday evening the public meetings
of the society were held, for the discussion of all
subjects relating to the well-being of the commune. In
time these meetings must have come to be veritable
fields of contest, when what has been described as
the heterogeneous collection of radicals, enthusiastic
devotees to peculiar principles, honest latitudinarians,
and lazy theorists had assembled, and each wanted
to put in practice his personal views. Thursday was
officially a day of rest for the commune; some made
it a day of recreation, also. Permission to speak in the
village church was given to any minister who asked it,
his creed not being inquired into. The New Harmony
Gazette was established as the official organ of the com-
mune, with the beautiful motto, " If we cannot recon-
cile all opinions let us endeavor to unite all hearts."
By Christmas, eight months after the organization
of the society, the Gazette announced that the pop-
ulation of the community numbered one thousand
persons. The next month, on January 18, 1826,
Robert Owen returned from Europe and a tour of the
Atlantic cities, accompanied by the famous "boat-
load of knowledge." These were teachers, scientists,
and eminent men who had been enlisted in the work
of uplifting the world.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 257

Let us follow in a bare outline Mr. Locla\'ood's
graphic summary of events and the characters that
gave New Harmony its brilliant place in the dawn
of the nineteenth century. ^

' ' Notable as New Harmony was in its own time as
the scene of an ambitious effort at social regeneration,
the perspective of years is necessary to an adequate
portrayal of its importance in American history."
There the doctrine of universal elementary education
at public expense, without regard to sex or sect, as a
duty of the State, was first proclaimed in the Middle
West, and equal educational privileges for the sexes
established. There the Pestalozzian system of teach-
ing, now so generally followed every'TV'here, was first
successfully instituted in the United States. William
Maclure's manual-training and industrial and trade
school, in connection with regular school instruction,
was the first of its kind in America. Through the
prominent scientists who pursued their researches
at New Harmony, it became the greatest scientific
centre on this continent. It possessed a museum
which contained the remarkable collections of Thomas
Say, Maclure, and Owen, and a scientific library
unexcelled in the New World. In New Harmony
w^omen w^ere first given a voice and vote in the local
legislative councils; and there the doctrine of equal
political rights for all, without regard to sex or color,
was first proclaimed by Frances Wright. Through
this brilliant woman, too, New Harmony became one
of the earliest centres of the AboKtion movement,
and by her was founded there what is known as the
first woman's literary club in the United States. The

» Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 3. New
York, 1905.
17

258 Historic Indiana

community dramatic club, which endured from 1828
to 1875, was one of the earliest clubs of that kind that
were organized in the country, and trained many
actors for the profession. The first prohibition of
the liquor traffic, by administrative edict, was made
in this community in 1826. By William Maclure's
provision, New Harmony gave to the State and to
Illinois a system of mechanics' libraries for more than
a hundred and fifty communities in those States,
Josiah Warren of New Harmony originated a philos-
ophy of individualism, which was a rebound from
their own communism, and has impressed itself in-
delibly upon modern economic thought. And from
the scheme of the "time store" and "labor notes,"
originated by that early philosopher and inventive
genius, it is said Robert Owen derived the central
idea of the great labor co-operative societies of Great
Britain, which constituted the most successful labor
movement of the last century. A leaven of liberality
in religious thought was also introduced into the
commonwealth which helped to dispel the narrow
type of religion then so general.

Surely, if advanced thought and enlightenment could
insure success, the great scheme should have at-
tained it by the superior character of its leadership.
By the October following the organization of the
commune, the Gazette stated that every State in the
Union with the exception of two and almost every
country in the north of Europe had contributed to
make up the population! What response was there
to all of the endeavors for their welfare, by these
adherents? What were the one thousand residents
producing with all the grand equipment that had
been provided, and how were they demeaning them-

Social Experimejits at New Harmony 259

selves under the liberal rules passed for the control
of the community? What activity had been shown
in shop, factory, vineyard, and field? Alas! we read
in their records that there were already those who
felt that" they performed more than their share of
labor; that some of the great mills were idle for lack
of workmen. Accessions of skilful hands in nearly
all these branches (jf industry, as well as in some
other departments, is still desirable, pleads the Gazette.
Notwithstanding this poverty of laborers, and the
surplus of idlers or incompetents, when Mr. Owen
returned from England, with characteristic optimism,
he proceeded to strike off two years from the three
of the probation! He announced that he was so well
pleased with the progress made that he would proceed
to organize those of the society who wished it into
a community of perfect equality! After a week of
meetings for discussion and framing of the plans, a
very comprehensive constitution and declaration of
principles was framed, and adopted. This document
is of too great length to reproduce here, but among
other things, equal privileges and advantages, without
regard to services, were assured to every member
who should unite with the society. The son Robert
Dale Owen aftenA^ards wrote that it was liberty,
equality, and fraternity in downright earnest, but
that he made no opposition, for he had too much of
his father's all-believing disposition to anticipate
results which any shrewd, cool-headed business man
might have predicted. How rapidly they came. One
curious result of the adoption of the permanent con-
stitution was the immediate defection of whole groups
of persons, who formed societies of their own and were
allowed to establish themselves on different parts of

26o Historic Indiana

the domain. There seemed to be quantities of persons
in the colony who, it has been said, discovering them-
selves out of place and at a discount in the world
as it is, rashly concluded that they were exactly fitted
for the world as it ought to be. No more convincing
commentary on Robert Owen's freedom from com-
mercially interested motives could be asked for
than his pleasure at the increase of these detached
communities. Not only to the offshoots that located
on the estate, but to the other communities modelled
on the New Harmony plan, he gave a gracious wel-
come and rejoiced at the spread of the ideas. No less
than twenty communes sprang into existence in the
country, twelve of which were in Indiana, three in
New York, three in Ohio, one in Pennsylvania, and
one in Tennessee. In five years they had all passed
into oblivion, but Owen had given them every en-
couragement. He had a passion for the regeneration
of society. His propaganda in the cities of both con-
tinents, and before the most illustrious people in
public life, showed that it was a sublime interest in
humanity, and not personal aggrandizement, that
prompted his investment, and subsequent endeavors.

In establishing the educational departments of New
Harmony, Robert Owen gave his co-worker William
Maclure sole charge of that feature of the new reforms.
Mr. Maclure had joined in the experiment, by investing
a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and engaging
to make the community the centre of his plans for
educational work in America, according to the new
Pestalozzian system of instruction. William Maclure
was a Scotchman by birth, and had come to America
to make a geological survey of the United States.
On account of his invaluable services in this science,

Social Experiments at New Harmony 261

he is called the Father of American Geology. He
was the principal founder of the Philadelphia Academy
of Natural Sciences, and for twenty-three years its
president. He was one of the first men to advocate
industrial education, and had founded an agricultural
school in Spain, on an estate of 10,000 acres, which
he lost as the result of a political revolution. While
visiting in Scotland, after he had retired from a suc-
cessful mercantile career, William Maclure made the
acquaintance of Robert Owen at New Lanark. He
had gone there to study the model factory community,
and especially the schools that Mr. Owen had es-
tablished. The two men had many opinions and
aspirations in common, and both were devoted to
the cause of improving the conditions of existence
for the lowly. It was natural that when Mr. Owen
came to America, to establish the New Harmony
commune, William Maclure should join him in the
great enterprise. They brought out with them
Thomas Say, the illustrious "Father of American
Zoology," Dr. Gerard Troost, the geologist, and John
Chapplesmith, the famous engraver. Those who w^ere
to be instructors in the great educational institu-
tions planned were Professor Joseph Neef, Madam
Frotageot, Phiquepal d'Arusmont, and their assistants.
These teachers were trained in Pestalozzi's famous
school in Switzerland. In taking so much care to estab-
lish a broad educational system at New Harmony,
including industrial features, the founders were ex-
emplifying their creed, that the formation of char-
acter was the chief end of all training, and that the
school was the great means for social regeneration.
The children were to be surrounded solely by cir-
cumstances favorable to their development. William

262 Historic Indiana

Maclure showed by his Hfe-work that he beheved
that free, equal, and universal schools were the only
means of raising the masses to the estate of comfort
and enlightenment; and he addressed himself to that
phase alone of the community life at New Harmony.
He firmly believed the sensible doctrine that every
child of the productive classes should be taught a
trade, in order that he might be self-supporting when
through with school.

The advanced section of the schools, numbering as
many as eighty pupils, and called the school of adults,
was also taught chemistry^ by the famous Dr. Troost,
drawing by the French artist Lesseur, and natural
history by Thomas Say — truly as brilliant a group of
instructors as could have been found in any college,
on either side of the water. In all of the departments,
girls were received, and taught, on an equality with
the boys, for the first time in the history of the country.
Although the schools were established for the commune,
they attracted pupils from every section of the country,
from New Orleans to New York. It is pathetic to
think that only three counties distant the lad Abra-
ham Lincoln, hungering for knowledge, knew of these
schools but had no possible means of availing himself
of the great opportunity. Later Mr. Maclure attempted
to maintain a seminary for young men and women,
called an orphans' manual training school, and free
of any expense to them; and still another w'as started
called The School of Industry. We are told that
w^hen, one by one, his educational experiments, in each
of which he placed such high hopes, came to naught,
William Maclure, still eager to do something for the
cause of education, and for the productive classes,
directed his philanthropy toward the formation of

Social Experiments at New Harmony 263

an educational society for adults called The Society
of Manual Instruction, which was really a mechanics'
institute. This school, with all of the others, after
failing health obliged Mr. Maclure to go to Mexico,
went out of existence. Although the commune had
failed and his earlier schools had passed into oblivion
with it, Mr. Maclure in his closing hours provided
for the widely known plan for the Working Men's
Institute and Library.

Mr. Maclure was forced to leave his new work
and go to Mexico ; twelve years afterward he died on
his way back to the village. In his will he had pro-
vided for a system of libraries for the working-people
of the country. Hear from Mr. Dunn's article the
foreign-sounding list of investments, that were to be
devoted to the Hoosier libraries: Besides his property
in New Harmony he set aside over a million reals in
Spanish securities, his house in Alicante, his convent
of St. Gives and accompanying estate of ten thousand
acres in Valencia ; his convent and estate at Grosmano ;
his estate of Carman de Croix; the valley of Murada;
forty-one thousand francs in French securities; notes,
and mortgages on properties scattered from Big Lick
plantation in Virginia to various parts of England,
France, and Spain; his vast collections of minerals
and prints, and near two thousand copper plates of
engravings and illustrations. By the provisions made
in his will, and after legal vicissitudes and organization
of many temporary societies, to fulfil the requirements
before obtaining an interest in the bequest, one hun-
dred and sixty libraries were created in as many
different counties of Indiana and Illinois!

" Unfortunately there was nothing in their formation to
insure, and but little to encourage, perpetuity. The

264 Historic Indiana

preliminary library required, of one hundred volumes,
as a nucleus, before the county could receive a donation
of books, was often valueless; and after the little libraries
were established it was a sad fact that there was neither
a competent custodian nor suitable quarters; what with
lack of supervision and rough usage, they melted away.
And there was neither taxation nor endowment to replace
them."i

The township libraries, organized by the State of
Indiana in 1854, were often combined with what was
left of the Maclure foundation. Memories of a dusty,
musty attic, festooned with cobwebs and located
over the dingy shop and office of the township trustee,
caused a grateful sentiment in the heart of the writer
toward that Maclure benefaction to Indiana. With
her brother, in earliest childhood, the children, guided
by a student father, found the forgotten heaps of
books, and read with eager interest the classic juve-
niles and standard works included in that old col-
lection. Nibbled by mice, mutilated by careless
hands, many of the volumes lost, and more of them
unretumed by previous readers, the old library was
but a tattered ghost of William Maclure's intention;
but, with other collections established by that bequest,
it had been a means of inspiration and culture to
many men and women in the frontier communities,
who thirsted for knowledge. It is a pleasant relief,
from this account of dispersed libraries, to record the
faithful preservation and extension of the Maclure
Working Men's Library at New Harmony itself. That
village, aided by the Rappite memorial and the sub-
sequent munificent bequest of Dr. Murphy, one of
its own citizens, has built a handsome building, in

> Dunn, J. P., Report on Public Libraries. Supt.'s Report, 1904.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 265

which are housed the Hbrary, a museum, an art galler>%
and the village auditorium. The value of the library's
holdings, since the bequest of Dr. Murphy, is estimated
at two hundred thousand dollars ; enabling the manage-
ment to continually add books to the twenty thousand
volumes now on the shelves. It has, also, the very
important collection of the scientific works of its
founders. The records and publications regarding
the unusual history of New Harmony and similar
communes are carefully preserved. The library is of
great interest to the student of history, or of sociology.
The cheap lands of the New World have attracted
many dreamers of the possibility of community life
solving the problems of existence, but few of them
have had the element of persistence. Robert Owen's
great plans for others failed to solve the riddle, and
within three years the commune passed into oblivion!
To the labors of this distinguished group of educators,
who were a full half-century in advance of their time,
Mr. Lockwood pays a beautiful tribute :

" Immediate results there were none — they were proph-
ets and seers upon the mountain- top. But one * cannot see
'neath winter's field of snow the silent harvest of the future
grow.' For measured by its after effect the educational ex-
periment at New Harmony deserves to rank among the most
important educational movements in this country. * The
precious seed which was sown on frontier soil, after many
days ripened into a golden harvest. When Owen's social
system dissipated into thin air, there went forth from brief
homes on the Wabash men and women who, scattering in
every direction through the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and
becoming the instructors of the pioneer youth, sowed in
almost every isolated hamlet the tenets of the educational
creed which Pestalozzi and Neef and Maclure had espoused.

266 Historic Indiana

Coupled with the actual teaching influence was the pres-
ence of the eminent scientists who made New Harmony a
rendezvous, and were themselves bearers of good seed and
glad tidings. Their achievements and contributions drew
renewed attention to the best features of the educational
light that failed." 1

Various reasons have been ventured as the cause
of the failure of the vast, unselfish, philanthropic
scheme. After all are recounted it seems attributa-
ble to selfishness and the perversity of human nature,
and the previous living in competitive communities.
No doubt a more gradual settlement of adherents,
with Mr. Owen's presence constantly in command,
would have prolonged the experiment. It was surely
more benevolent than practical. Mr. McDonald, who
studied the history of the undertaking, on the prem-
ises, a quarter of a century afterward, said that there
were some noble characters among the membership
who set examples of industry and self-denial w^orthy
of a great cause. There were others who came and
lived as long as they could get supplies for nothing,
but had no conception of the sentiment of the com-
munity's foundations. It is touching to read how,
when one theory failed, with cheerful optimism Mr.
Owen would substitute another plan; not once or
twice, but again and again, he would make new ar-
rangements of the property, to suit new vagaries
among groups of members.

"He seems to have forgotten that if one and nH the
thousand persons assembled there had possessed all the
qualities which he wished them to possess, there would

• Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 289.
New York, 1905.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 267

be no necessity for his vain exertions to found a com-
munity, because there would of necessity be brotherly
love, charity, industry, and plenty; and all of their actions
would be governed by nature and reason."^

By many persons, the entire freedom of opinion and
absence of any religious bond or authority has been
assigned as the reason of the dispersion at New Har-
mony. The partial severing of the family relation,
by placing the children apart at school, was an ele-
ment of disintegration. It is agreed that there was
a deplorable lack of members who were skilful and
industrious or who were willing to work. Years
afterward, Robert Dale Owen gave the gist of the
matter when he said that equal remuneration to the
skilful and industrious and the ignorant and idle
must work its own downfall. It must of necessity
eliminate the valuable members who find their services
reaped by the indigent, and retain only the improv-
ident, unskilled, and vicious members. In confessing
his defeat in the great hall at New Harmony in 1828,
Robert Owen said :

" I had hoped that fifty years of political liberty had
prepared the American people to govern themselves
advantageously. I supplied houses, the use of capital,
and I tried, each in their own way, the different parties
who collected here, and experience proved that the attempt
was premature. It all proves that families trained in the
individual system have not acquired those moral char-
acteristics of forbearance and charity necessary for con-
fidence and harmony. I can only feel regret, instead of
anger. My intention now is to form such arrangements
on the estate as will enable those who desire to promote

' Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 178.
New York, 1905.

268 Historic Indiana

the practice of the social system to live in separate fam-
ilies and yet to unite their general labor, or to exchange
labor for labor, on the most beneficial terms to all, or to
do both or neither as their feelings or apparent interest
may influence them; while the children shall be educated
with a view to an establishment of the social system in the
future. I will not be discouraged by any obstacle, but
will persevere to the end."^

Many members of the commune, who took individual
holdings, remained as residents of the beautiful valley,
where their descendants still live. It is this remnant
of former intelligence in the settlement that makes
the community differ from other sections. At present,
New Harmony is a little town with some commercial
ambitions, and takes a pride in its historic past. If
Robert Owen had done nothing more for the State
than to bring within its borders his noble family,
and the famous individuals whom we have men-
tioned as sojourning, at times, in New Harmony, he
would still be the most valuable and distinguished
pioneer of the commonwealth.

After the passing of the commune, Mr. Owen's
sons, when not studying or writing elsewhere, re-
mained as citizens of New Harmony, where he often
came to visit them. Indeed the most brilliant period
of New Harmony's history was after Mr. Owen's
"splendid social bark went to wreck upon the rocks
and shoals of human nature." Many of the eminent
scientists continued to make the village their regular
residence or rendezvous, and other scholars and
travellers, attracted by the fame of the social exper-
iment and the scientific researches, travelled thither.

> Lockwood, Geo. B., The New Harmony Movement, page 174.
New York, 1905.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 269

on tours of investigation. From this centre, Thomas
Say sent out his numerous scientific papers, his finished
American Entomology and the American Conchology,
for which his talented wife made the beautiful colored
illustrations. The gray, gaunt figure of the picturesque
Rafinesque roamed over the hills about New Harmony,
collecting botanical specimens, and added his name
to the illustrious roll of occasional residents. Thither
came Prince Maximilian von Neuweid, accompanied
by his taxidermist and illustrator, to preserve the
results of his excursions into nature's virgin territory.
He spent the winter of 1832 in making studies in
natural history, in collecting valuable specimens, and
having drawings executed. Sir Charles Lyell came to
study the geological collection and library brought
together by David Dale Owen. Audubon, the great
ornithologist, visited the place. Charles Lesueur
added lustre to the group of resident scientists by his
publications and his explorations of the Indian
mounds. It was he who painted the -scenery for the
community theatre, and taught drawing and the arts
in the school. John Chapplesmith, the engraver, and
his gifted wife lived in New Harmony the year they
were making the illustrations for the United States
Geological Reports, issued by David Dale Owen. Dr.
Gerard Troost continued his researches in chemistry
and mineralogy, until called to the University of
Tennessee. Robert Fauntleroy, who married Jane
Dale Owen, spent several years in New Harmony,
making scientific experiments. The name is still one
of the honored ones in the community. There was
a whole group of brilliant men associated with David
Dale Owen in his work as United States Geologist.
It was in the museum at New Harmony that he treas-

2/0 Historic Indiana

urcd his valuable collections made during that survey.
Richard Owen devoted many years of useful labor
to the State as State Geologist, served in the Mexi-
can War, and as Colonel of the 6oth Indiana Regi-
ment in the Civil War, and afterwards as Professor
of Natural Sciences in Indiana University. Another
son, William Owen, had taken an important part in
the commune as trustee, as an editor of the New
Harmony Gazette, and as head of their commercial
relations. Of the most widely known of Robert Owen's
useful sons, Robert Dale Owen, it has been said, in
connection with the socialistic community, that he
was the embodiment of the spirit of his father and
William Maclure. He believed in its mission, was an
enthusiastic helper in its maintenance, and regretful
over its failure. After his labors, he was in New York
for a time, as associate editor of the Free Enquirer.
But it is in connection with his work in his adopted
State of Indiana that Robert Dale Owen's life of
usefulness became so illustrious. As Mr. John Hol-
liday once wrote of him :

" In scholarship, general attainment, varied achieve-
ments as author, statesman, politician, and leader of
a new religious faith, he was unquestionably the most
prominent man Indiana ever owned. Others may fill now,
or may have filled, a larger place in public interest or
curiosity for a time, but no Hoosier was ever so widely
known, or so likely to do the State credit by being known,
and no other has ever before held so prominent a place,
so long, with a history so unspotted by selfishness, du-
plicity, or injustice." *

Mr. Owen began his political career as a member of

« Holliday, J. H., Indianapolis News.

Social Experiments at New Harmony 271

the State Legislature of 1836, and was also an Elector
that year, and one of the most desired speakers of
the campaign, being a most logical reasoner and
rising above the rancor and personal attacks of the
stump speaker. Afterwards he served two terms in
Congress, and while there was instrumental in passing
the bill founding the Smithsonian Institute, and, as
a member of the first Board of Regents, largely guided
the nature of the work it was to undertake. In 1851,
Mr. Owen became the most efficient member of the
Constitutional Convention of Indiana; and in that
convention and the following Legislature he merited
the reputation for unselfish and far-seeing statesman-
ship. Again it should be remembered that while he
was in the Legislature his conscientious and persistent
efforts advanced legislation for women, until he pro-
cured the enactment of the laws securing their right
to own and control their separate property during
marriage, and the right to their own earnings; laws
which abolished the simple dower of the common law,
and procured for widows the absolute ownership of
one third of the deceased husband's property. He
modified the divorce laws of the State so as to enable
a married woman to secure a relief from habitual
drunkenness and cruelty. The women of the country
owe Robert Dale Owen recognition for his successful
eft'orts to establish equitable property rights in one
State as a pattern for others. In 1851, a group of
Indiana women presented him with a testimonial of
their esteem and appreciation of his services to their
sex; and the State Federation of Clubs is to place a
portrait bust of the distinguished man in the halls of
the State-house. Of Mr. Owen's labors for the nation,
during the Civil War, it would require volumes to

272 Historic Indiana

recount in detail, when only a passing mention can be
made here. He was Governor Morton's most valued
co-worker. He procured arms and supplies to equip
the troops hurriedly sent to the front, and looked
after the men on the field. His stirring appeal to
President Lincoln, so the President averred, helped
nerve that great Executive to the issuing of the Eman-
cipation Proclamation. Mr. Owen served as head of
the Freedman's Bureau, and he issued a strong protest
to the Northwest against the proposed compromise
with the South. He opposed extending the suffrage
to the blacks, but labored for years as the efficient
friend of the freedmen. He served as Charge d' Affaires
at Naples for six years, and wrote with conviction in
advocacy of spiritualism. Robert Dale Owen died
in 1877. In his death "the last of the great figures
conspicuous in the New Harmony communes passed
away, but the great movements to which they had
given origin and direction still sweep onward in an
ever widening current, — the failure of George Rapp's
success standing out in vivid contrast to the success
of Robert Owen's failure." ^

Groups of men have impoverished themselves in
their efforts to alleviate human misery, and for the
advancement of their fellow-men on the community
plan; but there is no nobler example than that of
Robert Owen and his co-workers at New Harmony,
in their groping toward the light, in the endeavor to
emancipate humanity from ignorance and poverty.
This group of illustrious men conferred great honors
sOn Indiana.

jj^

' Lockwood, Geo. B., Thg New Harmony Movement, p. 377.
ew York, 1905.

CHAPTER XIII

IN THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES

NOT the least merit of Mr. Tarkington's story of
the Vanrevels is the passing glance it gives
into the social life of the Indiana villages some
fifty years ago. He embodied in the atmosphere of
the story, memories of his grandmother's days, and
the life and hospitalities on the Wabash of which her
family and their neighbors were representative. This
phase of the past is apt to escape us. In placing the
period of Indiana's civilization, we are apt to carry
forward the pioneer times equally in all districts;
whereas the southern inland and river towns were
quite old settlements, before the aborigines were
banished from the northern third of the State.

As the Indians were pushed back, the State gradually
emerged from frontier conditions, and the little towns
in the southern tier of counties took on themselves the
pleasures and gayeties of high-life in a provincial way.
The present generation knows little of this charming
social life w^hich prevailed in the days before the Civil
War. As Edward Eggleston said of the town of
Madison when he first knew it, life took an aspect
of ease and serenity nowhere shabby, new, or raw.
It is true the life was simple, as it was elsewhere in
youthful America, and there was little difference
18 . 273

274 Historic Indiana

between the material conditions of the classes, for
none were vastly rich ; but the tone of society was
the same as in Carolina and Virginia from whence so
many families had come, and the infusion of Eastern
blood added to the sterling qualities of citizenship.
The mellowing grace of family traditions, and past
history to be lived up to, miarked the intercourse of
these people. Many of the joys were almost rural,
and there was a mingling of the home-made appoint-
ments with imported luxuries in household articles
and furniture. But the personal demeanor and punc-
tilious manners of the period were far more stately
and formal than those of the present. The language of
correspondence, of public addresses, and of personal
salutation was more elaborate. The style of oratory
then in vogue may be recognized in this opening of
a patriotic address on the Fourth of July in 1843, by
the orator of the day:

"Once more my countrymen, we are permitted grate-
fully to behold the Anniversary sun of American Inde-
pendence. Once more we salute the Star Spangled Banner,
and rejoice that the cherished emblem of our Union and
liberty, spotless and peerless as ever, still waves over a
land and nation. All this assembling of beauty and chivalry
and mtelligence and piety, with religous rites and martial
music, announce the virtuous emotions over this patriotic j
celebration." i

In the days when such speeches were the custom,
correspondence was made a fine art. People com-
posed letters then. Men of political life wrote as if
for biographical purposes. The belles of the towns
were constantly receiving and sending scented billets-
doux, sealed with the little glazed wafers or sealing-

In the Forties and Fifties 275

wax. Girls were taught letter-writing and the proper
way of composing, signing, and addressing letters.
The swain addressing the fair object of his affections
in verse or prose, wrote with a quill, inditing flowery
paragraphs descriptive of the beauty and grace of
the object of his gallant n>', to whom he prayed to be
permitted to pay his respects.

"I am alone and have been gazing upon the mild
and peaceful moon gliding with majesty through the
deep blue expanse," writes Almira to her "shining
specimen of perfection." Continuing, she says that
"this ever inclines me to sadness more than formerly
and is a pleasing contemplation in which I love to
indulge. Perhaps at this moment one that I admire
at West Point is gazing on the same lovely orb, per-
haps in the same train of thought. How delightful
the idea." These elaborate effusions made the greet-
ings and communication among young people much
more dignified than the modern "hello!" over the
telephone, or "so long" in closing a letter. At the
same time ' ' keeping company ' ' was a very informal
proceeding. No chaperone was thought of and a
gentleman's intentions were not sought, until he was
ready they should be known.

The service at table was simpler, in that time, and
the present fashion of serving food had not come in,
but the quality of the viands in these homes was
delicious. Housekeepers vied with each other in
culinary skill. The storeroom and cellar of a house-
holder, in those bountiful times, would provision a
half-dozen families of the present day. The "festal
board " — as it was termed in the poetry of the time —
fairly groaned with the prodigal variety of dishes.
The log cabin of pioneer times had been succeeded by

276 Historic Indiana

more spacious colonial homes. George Gary Eggleston
said, reminiscently, that in the early forties the
thrift and ambition among the well-to-do landowners
had dotted the region along the Ohio with spacious
brick dwellings — most of them with stately colon-
naded porticos in front and ornamented lawns sur-
rounding them. Wealth abounded in the towns and
luxury was there also. Some of the residences would
be accounted fine in our large cities of to-day. Speak-
ing of Madison, which was, during the Grimean War,
the most important pork-packing centre in all the
world, and consequently amassed wealth, he said
that the city was beautiful, with its broad, well-shaded,
and smoothly gravelled streets, and ornamented
grounds surrounding all of the best houses. Of Vevay
it was said that " the town is the most beautiful one I
have anyivhere seen in America." A hint of the style of
some of these homes may be seen in a description of an
old one which was being advertised as a young ladies'
seminary. It was an old residence in 1843, but "its
large halls, commodious drawing-room and parlors,
airy galleries and unusual number of bedrooms
rendered it especially adapted to the needs of a female
seminary"; which occupied it for a long and flourish-
ing term of years.

The drinking of wines and whiskies was almost
universal before the temperance waves passed over
the country. Many of the wines and fine brandies
were imported and came up the river from New Or-
leans. But the home-made cherry bounce and peach
brandy were offered everywhere. In the taverns and
on the boats where men of the world congregated, it
often happened that drink was deep and play was
high. In those days, gentlemen prided themselves

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In the Forties and Fifties 277

on their own cure of hams, venison, and beef. Game
was plentiful at all times, and poultry, cream, butter,
and fruits were abundant and cheap. Chickens could
be bought for six cents each and turkeys for twenty-
five cents. Entertaining was not costly, the people
were heartily hospitable, and the lack of other amuse-
ments made them largely dependent on one another's
society. Social visiting seemed to be going on every
day, in the forenoon as well as in the afternoon and
evening. In these hospitable homes, large families
were reared, filling them with gayety and life. To
them young gallants brought home their blooming
brides, by stage-coach or steamboat, or mayhap on
horseback, from the neighboring towns or States.
When these happy events occurred, a week of village
festivities set in, always beginning with the "infair" —
which was the name of the reception given by the
parents of the groom, and was an invariable custom.

In some of these homes you would find heavy old
mahogany furniture, and silver, glass, and "sprigged"
or gold-band china, which had been brought out the
long weary way from the East, or up from New Orleans.
Every spinnet, piano, hauteboy, or four-poster made
of mahogany which is inherited by the present gen-
eration represents what was then a treasure, brought
out West with toil, and patience over long delays.
Local cabinet-makers skilfully made sideboards, bu-
reaus, and cupboards of the native cherry wood,
which ranked next to mahogany in beauty; and these
pieces are worthy of preservation, as examples of
good handicraft.

The fashions for a gentleman were much more elab-
orate at that time than now. His waist must be of
the hour-glass form. He wore a colored broadcloth.

278 Historic Indiana

claw-hammer coat, finished with a low velvet collar
and brass buttons, over a buff waistcoat. A black
satin stock or flowered neckerchief, with flowing ends,
was worn about the extremely high collar. He wore
pointed shoes, and the hat that he carried in his
hand, as he swept a low bow of salutation, was a
bell-crowned beaver made of white fur. A long
camlet cloak and gold-headed cane finished the toilet
of the gentleman on the Wabash in the early forties.

The manners of the old school went well with the
picturesque costume of the period. The gentleman
who flourished his cane as he walked, was much puffed
out above the waistcoat, by the plaited or ruffled
shirt-front, and had a fashion of swearing and b'godding
for emphasis.

The ladies wore stiff brocades, shining taffetas,
and peau de sole of quaint designs. If these garments
had to do duty many more seasons than the frail
chiffons of the present day, still the material was
elegant, the style formal, and the gowns were worn j
with the grand dame air of the time. Our modem '
belles still like to reproduce the costumes worn in
the forties. Capes, mantles, and shawls were the J
outside wraps then in vogue. To obtain the stately
silks they bartered eighty bushels of com in New
Orleans for a single yard, and my gentleman gave in
exchange, one hundred bushels for a yard of broad-
cloth, and eight bushels for a single yard of cotton
print. Most beautiful furs were worn in that day.
The trappers of the West were still sending their
pelts to the markets, and one of Mr. Astor's agents,
who had gathered wealth in the fur-trade — one doub-
loon for John Jacob, and two for himself, making him
a man of importance by 1840 — dressed his wife in

The Dress of the Forties.

Froni a photograph of the period.

In the Forties and Fifties 279

furs that were fit for a queen and they were copied
by every land speculator's and pork packer's wife
on the Wabash.

The universal fashion of that day prescribed very
full dress skirts, much be-flounced, and worn over a
large hoop. From the sloping shoulders of the tight
"basque" a shawl was draped — lace in summer and
broche in winter. The muffs were enormous, measur-
ing eighteen to twenty-two inches in length, and a
deep "perline' was worn about the shoulders. Bon-
nets were universal for old and young, and their large
round fronts were filled with a garden of flowers for
"face trimmings." Men and women travelled about
everywhere, on stage-coach and steamboat, in these
showy toilets. For evening, garlands of flowers were
worn in the hair and around the low neck and skirt
of the gown, and curls were worn so universally that
one wonders if fashion has changed the nature of
locks since then.

The girls of the little towns were educated at the
Academy, or had been away to some Young Ladies
Seminary to be "finished" in music and French.
Those who went to St. Mary's Convent learned to
embroider in chenilles, to make wax flowers, and do
the old masters in cross-stitch. They attempted the
harp and guitar, and most of them "took piano
lessons."

A description of one of these Indiana schools, by
Mrs. Carleton, gives an excellent idea of most of them.

" In addition to solid attainments, the young women
were taught French and German with piano, guitar, and
harp lessons, vocal music, drawing, and painting in oil
and water. Piano and guitar-lessons were twenty-five
cents each, while French, and lessons in painting and

28o Historic Indiana

drawing were ten cents each, and vocal music at two
cents per lesson! From North and South, East and West
came young women to this noted classical school for girls.
Many of the instructors were from New York State, and
the pupils were on the records from Oswego and Saratoga,
from Mobile and New Orleans."

Ballads were in vogue, and many a sweet girl
sang in simple style but with fresh young voice,
"Shepherds have you seen my love?" "The harp
that once through Tara's halls," and other forgotten
airs. "Manners" were also taught in every good
school, including the curtsy and the dance. The
dancing masters of that day still wore the ruffled
shirt, knee breeches, and buckled shoes of the colonial
period.

The curriculum of many of the schools was not
very serious; was generally finished in a couple of
years and girls married while yet in their teens. When
the young ladies had finished their schooling, they
came home bearing their worsted flowers, and were
welcomed with a June party, while the garden
roses and honeysuckles made a bower of the porches
and strawberries were plentiful. A bountiful supper
followed by cake and ice-cream, mint-julip and punch,
were the refreshments served in that day. Young
and old were bidden together and the gentlemen
were not too blase to enjoy the festivities. When
once a belle was out of school there were informal
gayeties going on constantly. Though informal,
the dancing parties were called balls, and the figures
of the lancers and quadrilles were as stately as their
name implied. The ladies in stiff brocades or flounced
muslins glided through the dance and curtsied deeply
with due appreciation of their grace and dignity.

In the Forties and Fifties 281

Their partners never slurred the music nor hurried
the low bow. Nothing but the after-supper frolic
through Tucker ever approached the romp of a modem
two-step.

Horseback riding continued to be a very general
pleasure, long after the pioneer paths through the
wilderness had broadened into roads. The lady's
riding-habit of that day had a long flowing skirt,
sweeping almost to the ground, the gloves worn were
deep gauntlets, and for gala occasions a plume was
worn in the hat; at other times a veil floated out
behind the fair equestrienne. Gay cavalcades of the
young people attended country parties or a neighbor-
ing village festival. The carriage of the period was
a large capacious affair, fashioned like a landeau,
which had an aristocratic rumble as it bowled along
the shaded streets. The ponderous steps let down
with a rattle as the barouche drew up at the curb-
stone and the door was opened for my much-fur-
belowed lady to alight. These carriages have entirely
disappeared and nothing quite so impressive in style
has taken their place.

In all Indiana households "before the war," and
especially in the many homes where dancing was not
approved of, the favorite entertainment was the tea-
party, sometimes followed by kissing games. At
early candle-light, a hostess would assemble her
guests, young and old, around her table, ladened with
everything the culinary skill of the time produced.
The substantial dishes were flanked by pickles, "jells,"
preserves, hot rolls, the feast culminating in that
pride of the village, "at least three kinds of cake."
As one of these very hospitable ladies said in her old
age, "In my time we had a roast turkey at each end

282 Historic Indiana

of the table and mashed potatoes in the middle and
when you sat down you could know there was really
going to be something to eat." For these occasions
the treasured silver and egg-shell china were brought
forth, and home-made ice-cream, then a luxury,
crowned the feast. It was during this decade that the
thrifty housewives learned the art of canning fruits,
and they vied with each other in friendly rivalry
which could only be decided at the County Fair.

By this time spinning and weaving were practised
only in backwoods homes, but sewing-machines were
not yet introduced and when ladies went to "spend
the day," they always carried their stint of sewing
or eyelet embroidery. Spending the day meant
a bountiful noon dinner and they went at eleven
o'clock and stayed until five. While they stitched
wristbands or worked buttonholes, they gossipped of
neighborhood doings, went over the church troubles,
and settled affairs of state. These women were as
alert, intelligent, and interested in questions of the
day as their descendants of present club-land. In the
scarcity of literature, books and journals were freely
loaned and one's volumes sometimes travelled far
and wide. A copy of Scott, or The Children of the
Abbey, or Scottish Chiefs, or Moore's Poems some-
times wandered so far by horseback, or stage-coach,
that they never returned to their owners again. There
was not so much literature published every year, in
those days, but the English classics and standard
Reviews were familiar to Indiana men and women
and there was, perhaps, more time for reflection upon
what they did read. Godey's Ladies' Book and
Peterson s Magazine were the fashion plates, univer-
sally consulted by Hoosier ladies for styles and patterns.

In the Forties and Fifties 283

In the social life "before the war," there was much
more'light-heartedness and gayety than in the present
time. The country^ was in its youth. Communities
had not plunged into the seething turmoil of social
unrest. Literature and the drama were not depressed
by morbid introspection and joyless disillusionment.
Few were richer than they needed to be, and not
many more were poorer than they should have been.
There was little misery to depress the fortunate that
could not be relieved by my Lady Bountiful sending
her basket of provisions and necessities to the needy.
Each neighborhood took care of its own unfortunate
and shiftless.

"This gay insouciance, this forgetfulness that the world
existed for any but a single class," says Lowell, "has
been impossible of late years. Perhaps opportunity for
all was the touchstone of blithe spirits. There was a
cheerfulness and contentment with things as they were,
which is no unsound philosophy for the mass of mankind.
It certainly was a comfortable time. If there was dis-
content, it was individual, and not in the air; sporadic,
not epidemic. Responsibility for the universe had not
yet been invented. Post and telegraph were not so im-
portunate as now. Now all the ologies follow us in our
newspapers to our burrows and crowd upon us with the
pertinacious benevolence of subscription books. Even the
right of sanctuary is denied. One has a notion that in
those old times the days were longer than now, that a
man called to-day his own, by a securer title, and held
his hours with a sense of divine right, nov/ obsolete."

The West being detached from great cities and their
depressing poverty, led this unharassed life, and it
was reflected in the simple joys of their social inter-

284 Historic Indiana

course. Indiana towns had few idle persons, work
was a necessity for all; but there was time for rest
as well as for toil; and there was a rural freedom to
pursue one's bent.

Hospitality toward incoming settlers was proverbial.
If a desirable family came into a neighborhood, the
very fact that it was to cast in its lot with the town
was enough to warrant a welcome. Naturally, society
was provincial. In the community all knew each
other, and felt at liberty to follow their impulses. As
Mr. Tarkington says, they were a natural people who
had not learned to be self-conscious enough to fear
doing a pretty thing openly, without mocking them-
selves for it.

An ever-present interest in Indiana was politics,
and that question certainly absorbed the attention
of all classes in 1840. The principal events of the
year, both social and political, clustered about the
campaign of William Henry Harrison for the Pres-
idency, against Martin Van Buren, who was then the
incumbent. Harrison had not only been famous on
this frontier as an Indian fighter and shrewd in
management, but had been appointed Governor of
Indiana while it was yet a Territory, and also was the
hero of the battle of Tippecanoe. Naturally his party,
in the State where he had dwelt so long, rallied with
great enthusiasm to his support. Very spectacular
mass meetings, barbecues, celebrations, and proces-
sions were a part of the means to keep up the excite-
ment of the time. One Indiana celebration is still
recalled as the most unique of its day. That was the
great gathering on the scene of General Harrison's
victory at Battle Ground. From far and near, even
from New York State to Illinois, the Whigs came in

In the Forties and Fifties 285

long processions to the event. There were wagons
with log cabins on them. Standing in the door, men
served hard cider from barrels, to the throng as they
passed along, using long-handled gourds. Other wag-
ons held canoes filled with young ladies who were
dressed in white, with sashes of the national colors.
There were great "floats," made to represent the
conditions of frontier life when Harrison began his
career in Indiana; and on these wagons were glee
clubs singing the lately improvised campaign songs.
One very popular topical song began :

"What has caused this great commotion, motion, motion
the Country through ?
It is the ball a rolling on, for Tippecanoe and Tyler too,
With them we '11 beat little Van,
Van, Van is a used up man.

Farewell, dear Van,

You 're not our man.

To guide the ship of state."

Owing to this enthusiasm, and the "hard times"
cry which made the masses demand a change, the
Whigs swept the country when election day arrived.
Indiana was jubilant over the election to the Pres-
idency of her favorite candidate. •

About 1840, a very tragic phase in the history of
the country vitally affected the States along the Ohio
River. The anti-slavery sentiment, which each year
had grown more intense, crystallized into united
efforts of individuals, advocating the emancipation
of the slaves, and rendering assistance to those who
stole away and made a break for freedom. Al-
though four fifths of the people in the southern
counties were in sympathy with the South still,

286 Historic Indiana

Indiana had many ardent spirits who entered into this
opposition to slavery. After the passage of the Fugi-
tive Slave Law, fourteen Northern States practically
nullified the national statute, by enacting State legis-
lation for the protection of runaway slaves. Zealous
opponents of the trafBc sometimes advocated armed
resistance to the slave-owner seeking to reclaim his
human chattels. Abolitionists despaired of a remedy
by law, and gradually worked out a system of friendly
routes and welcoming stations for fugitive slaves, which
came to be known as the "Underground Railway."
The league had boats in which they transported the
negroes across the Ohio River at five or six points,
and started them northward. The homes that would
aid the runaways formed many routes in the chain
from Dixie to Canada, where the slave reached foreign
territory and freedom. Solitary and in groups, the
negroes came trembling across the Ohio in the dead
of night, shoeless and ill-clad, to the homes of free
negroes or of their white deliverers. The women
maintained sewing-circles to prepare clothing for these
fugitives, and the men carried them forward in wagons
to the next resident who was known as a member of
the Underground Railway. In the course of a year,
thousands of blacks made this effort to escape and
were helped along the Indiana routes toward freedom.
Mr. Hanover, the chief of the workers, assured Colonel
Cockrum that for seven years more than an average
of four thousand fugitive slaves passed, each year,
through the hands of the men who were on duty in
the Indiana district. Not forgetting other human-
itarians who labored in this cause, it is conceded
that the members of the Society of Friends were
among the foremost in acting upon their convictions

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In the Forties and Fifties 287

against the traffic in human beings. Benjamin Thomas
gave a farm at Spartansburg, for a school for the
fugitives; Benjamin Stanton, Pusey Graves, and
others pubHshed an anti-slavery paper, without
profit, for the promulgation of anti-slavery ideas.
William Lacey, who rescued Eliza, of Uncle Tom's
Cabin fame, and sent her by the Indiana route to
Canada, was one of the secret-service band that pa-
trolled the banks of the Ohio watching for escaping
slaves, and directing them where the^^ might find
protection. Levi Coffin's house is said to have afforded
shelter for thousands of fugitives. Joel Parker and
Nathan Thomas not only expended untiring energy
in helping slaves on their way, but they also conducted
free-labor stores for the many citizens who, at great
inconvenience to themselves, would not use the
products of slave labor. Dr. Posey used his coal
mines to secrete the travellers; and a lumber barque
was maintained on Lake Michigan to carry fugitive
slaves across to foreign territory. Orators like Dr.
Bennett and Mr. Graves lectured throughout the
State, and elsewhere, amidst great persecution and
contumely. One of the songs sung at this period to
arouse enthusiasm for the wronged began:

" Ho the car Emancipation
Moves majestic through the nation,"

Colored men who were natural orators spoke at
these meetings, telling their experiences and struggles
to gain freedom, making stirring appeals for their
race, that moved the people to sympathy and action
in their behalf. The self-sacrificing labors of the
anti-slavery people, throughout all of those dark
years, was not undergone for any pleasure there was

288 Historic Indiana

in it. Their endeavor came from deep convictions
prompting them to the performance of hazardous
duties and distasteful ministrations. The Fugitive
Slave Law made it a crime to aid escaping slaves, and
the masters, following close upon the trail of their
"property," searched houses and caused arrests of
suspected citizens. Neighbors who sympathized with
the Southern section scorned the acquaintance of
the "black abolitionists." Through danger of arrest
and social ostracism these single-hearted people hero-
ically maintained their unceasing efforts for the free-
dom of the slaves, during the forties and fifties; until
the Emancipation Proclamation removed the necessity
for their efforts, and the shadow of slavery from the
land.

In 1844, the electric telegraph was invented, and
an Indiana lady. Miss Annie Ellsworth, dictated the
first message transmitted: "Behold what hath God
wrought."

An amusing phase of village life at that time in
Indiana were the primitive appliances for protection
against fire. Mr. Condit's droll description of the
conditions at Terre Haute shows them to be typical
of the other towns of the State :

" In the early history of the village, the first organ-
ization of a fire company was, in a sense, no organization,
that is, the Village Bucket-line brigade was a voluntary
affair. By common consent, every villager, old and young,
was a member. Next to the ringing of the bell of the
public crier and his loud cry, 'A child lost!' nothing ap-
pealed to the sympathies of the community so strongly
as the midnight cry of, ' Fire ! fire ! fire ! ' The words were
taken up by every villager as he issued from his gate,
bucket in hand, on the run, guided by the light of the

In the Forties and Fifties 289

blazing building. At the fire every man was his own
chief, and with a quick eye was called to see, and to do,
the most needful thing. So each one quickly found his
place either in rescuing the sick and helpless; in carrying
out furniture; in manning the pumps or wells; in falling
into lines for passing the full buckets of water and re-
turning the empty ones to be again refilled; or it may be
in standing upon the roof and fighting the flames with the
buckets of water as they were passed up to him. The
fiercer the fire the harder the fight, in which every volunteer
was enthusiastic; knowing that his work was important
though his place was only in the bucket-line. The Village
Bucket-line brigade held sway till 1838; when by action
of the Common Council the first hand engine was purchased.
This was a real live engine, to be worked and pulled by
hand, yet it was worthy of having a house and a special
keeper. In 1839, the Council ordered the following pre-
miums to be awarded. For the first hogshead of water
delivered at the fire, three dollars; for the second, two
dollars; and for the third, one dollar; and after that,
for every hogshead, till the fire was extinguished, twenty-
five cents. When a fire alarm came, every drayman in
town started on a mad race to the fire; but first it was
helter-skelter for the river, where his hogshead was quickly
filled. It was a wild and exciting scramble of odd-looking
men, and old drays and spavined horses." •

Indiana people were greatly disturbed over the sudden
death of President William Henry Harrison, whom they
regarded as their own representative; and events did
not reconcile them to his successor. Naturally the
Whig element in the State became greatly disgruntled
with Vice-President Tyler's policy during the remaining
four years of the term, but the State was largely
Democratic, and sided with him regarding the annex-

^Condit,B., Early History of Terre Haute, pa.g^e 168. New York, 1900.
X9

290 Historic Indiana

ation of Texas. There was, also, much bluster through-
out the West during President Polk's campaign,
over the claims of Great Britain regarding Oregon,
With the other States west of the Alleghanies, Indiana
joined in the cry of her own United States Senator,
Edward Hannegan, of "Fifty-four forty or fight."
But when the boundary line was peaceably settled,
by treaty, on the 49th parallel, the South and West
accepted that solution of the question, and resumed
the agitation over Mexico's denial of our claims regard-
ing the Rio Grande, as the boundary line between
the two countries, Indiana being largely settled by
people of Southern birth, who scoffed at any fears
of slavery extension, the State fell in line with the
prevailing sentiment of the South, and West, as against
the East, and favored a war with Mexico. Indiana
village life was greatly excited over the issue. There
was much speech-making, and "resolving" that Texas
was in the right.

When it was declared by the government on May
15, 1846, that "War existed by the act of Mexico" —
when she was but defending her own territory — the
State of Indiana was "roused to arms." In the ap-
proaching conflict with Mexico, Indiana was ready
for her part. New England was declaring that the South
had incited the war, to increase slave territory. The
majority in Indiana asserted, with the South, that
Texas was already independent of Mexico; that the
Republic had asked for annexation, and if it was per-
sistently refused admission into the Union, might form
European alliances which the United States would, in
the end, have to destroy for her own safety. Better an
immediate war with Mexico, declared the statesmen,
than to leave Texas in nominal independence, to

In the Forties and Fifties 291

involve us in ultimate war with France and England.
Whatever justice there was in the arguments of the
factions, it ended in the American army of occupation
moving towards the border, and when the Mexican
troops crossed the Rio Grande, volunteers were called
for amidst the greatest enthusiasm in Indiana. Bells
were rung, mass meetings were called, and enlistment
was so vigorous that eight regiments of Indiana
infantry responded to the call. The services of five
regiments were accepted by the War Department. All
of these passed through many of the trials and dangers
of the war; many companies were decimated by
disease on the scorched plains and the low river
banks. Others were fortunate enough to be ordered
forward, and distinguished themselves in action. The
First Indiana regiment was left by General Zachary
Taylor, the commanding General, to languish in the
miasma at the mouth of the Rio, until, as General
Patterson said twenty years later, while he knew his
action in sending the troops on was without authority,
still it was a venture with humanity at the bottom,
for such a want of wholesome food, such hopelessness
in suffering, such wholesale dying, he had never thought
to see in an American camp. The gallant Third
Indiana regiment had a more brilliant opportunity to
make a record at the front. The Second regiment
suffered from unjust military reports of General
Taylor and Jefferson Davis, regarding an unequal
engagement, at Buena Vista; where, fighting a force
of Mexicans, eighteen to their one, they were called
by their mistaken Colonel to retreat. In surprise and
panic they obeyed; but not before they had left
ninety of their three hundred and sixty men dead or
wounded on the field. Afterward, the remaining

292 Historic Indiana

troops rallied without the Colonel, and fought bravely
to the end. It is to the honor of the State, that In-
diana did not give her electoral vote for President
to General Taylor after his unwarranted report re-
garding the Second regiment ; and the enduring
enmity of the people followed Jefferson Davis for
his unfair criticisms. Many of the volunteers from
Indiana, in this unholy war, as General Grant always
called it, learned the arts of war in these campaigns,
only to use their knowledge in the greater civil conflict,
a few years later on.

When the treaty of peace was signed in 1848, and
General Taylor was elected President on the glory
gained at Buena Vista, the Indiana troops returned
to their homes, the heroes of their generation. Peace
celebrations were held in every district, and "Re-
member the Alamo" was heard on every tongue.
There are many people still living who recall the
fervor of the welcome home to the sun-bronzed soldiers
from the Mexican plains. Many of these volunteers,
said Judge Ristine, in a touching memorial of his old
neighbors, sleep their last sleep on the plains of Mexico;
others returned to die at home; a few are with us
yet. Among the settlers of that rude frontier of Texas,
were Hoosier soldiers who remained to enter lands
in the new domain. Many of the men who served
on the long marches over those southwestern plains,
and the trail to the Pacific, returned in the following
year on the pilgrimage for the quest of gold. They
had secured the California country to the United
States, and explorations had begun immediately;
gold was discovered and the craze of '49 swept the
country. Most of the people who went out to the
coast from Indiana journeyed overland in the long

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In the Forties and Fifties 293

trains. The gold-seekers travelled in company as a
protection against the Indians. Besides the dangers
from the savages, many other hardships were endured
by the emigrants. Burning deserts were traversed,
where only alkaline waters were to be found. Six
months was not an unusual time for the long journey.
The pace was necessarily snail-like. They travelled
in covered wagons drawn by horses or oxen. Slowly
these great caravans plodded the weary way toward
the Pacific. Indiana women who had been gently
reared died of sickness and exposure on the way.
Children were born to them out on the great solitary
plains, and husbands felt their hold on life slip from
them, and said farewell to their helpless families, as
they closed their eyes in death beneath the stars on the
mountain heights. A few of the Hoosier gold-hunters
found paying mines; many others, as the chances for
fortunes disappeared, straggled back to old Indiana as
to an Eldorado. Some remained and prospered in
commercial or professional life. This excitement over
California gold absorbed the attention of the nation
from '49 to '53, but nowhere did it enlist more interest
than among the enterprising and venturesome Hoosiers.
Along in the fifties, the agitation regarding slavery
swayed and rocked the nation, and Indiana was a
storm centre. As General Wallace has said:

"The whole North was alive with 'isms,' some purely
sentimental, some sound in morals, each one, however an
army of zealots. These, it is to be added, all had in their
organization men of far sight, scheming and struggling to
bring about a general coalition, without which there could
be no effective opposition to the Democratic party. It
was from these nebulous conditions that the new Re-
publican party was formed. Old party lines were broken

294 Historic Indiana

up and many life-long Democrats found themselves aligned
with Whigs whom they had combated in many a previous
campaign."^

Indiana had been regarded as safely Democratic, in
the all-powerful grasp of Senators Bright, Thomas A.
Hendricks, and Joseph E. McDonald, but the Whigs,
and one wing of the Democratic party, gradually
joined forces to make up the working staff of the
Republican party in Indiana. They had, as leaders,
such men as Henry S. Lane, John Defress, Schuyler
Colfax, George W. Julian, Owen, Allen, and Morton.
Through great tribulation and the weighing of prin-
ciples on the slavery question against a possible national
conflict, came these thousands of men into the ranks
of a new political party; and the fifties passed out
of the calendar of years, in Indiana, amidst sharp
political divisions between old neighbors; and as the
decade closed, there were ominous signs of the strife
which broke upon the country in 1861.

> Wallace, Lew, Autobiography.

CHAPTER XIV

INDIANA AS AFFECTED BY THE CIVIL WAR

TO trace Indiana's part in the Civil War would
be to write her history during that period,
for Indiana lived the war, and scarcely any-
thing else for four years. But many of the happenings
within her borders, during that time, differed from
some of the Northern States and resulted from the
character of her early settlement. Governor Morton
expressed a truth when he wrote to President Lincoln
that "the case of Indiana was peculiar in that it had,
probably, a larger proportion of inhabitants of Southern
birth or parentage — many of these, of course, with
Southern proclivities — than any other free State."
Indeed, southern Indiana was considered one of the
outlying provinces of the empire of slavery. When
we recall that, as a territory, she was almost rent
asunder over the question of entering the Union as
a free State; that the State was admitted with slaves
still in the possession of a part of the settlers; that
all of the fourteen counties which comprised the new
State were mainly settled from slave States, and that
south of the National Road the Southern sympathizers
had a controlling political majority; that in 1840,
when William Henry Harrison was elected Presi-
dent, but one vote was recorded for the abolitionist

295

296 Historic Indiana

candidate; that in 185 1, when Indiana's new constitu-
tion was adopted, it included a provision for the exclu-
sion and colonization of negroes and mulattoes and that
this article was submitted, as a distinct proposition,
to the people of the State for their approval, and
was adopted by a vote of 109,976 to 21,066; again
that for forty-four years after the admission of the
State — that is, from 18 16 to the election of Lincoln
in i860 — the electoral vote of Indiana was given to
the Democratic party, with the. exception of two
campaigns when William Henry Harrison was the
candidate of the Whigs in 1836 and 1840; — recalling
these significant facts in the history of Indiana, it
will be easy to picture the state of mind which pre-
vailed at the approach of the war with their Southern
neighbors, and during that struggle; for all of the
citizens were not pro-slave in sentiment.

A visitor to the State a dozen years before the war,
in commenting on an ordinary national election, as
he saw it in Indiana, said that a stranger to our
government, looking on, would naturally suppose that
it was the last night we were to enjoy our Union;
would think that the excited parties would never be
reconciled to the success of their opponents, but rally
under their leaders and contest their power at the
point of the sword. It is not difficult to imagine the
strained relations existing between such violently
opposed factions, and the result of such sentiments
during the deplorable conflict. Ties of kindred were
severed, neighborhoods became divided, the bitter
dissensions knew no sex, no church, no age. Ministers
of the gospel took sides, and found Bible texts for
either side of the question. Newspapers were full
of incendiary utterances. Orators fulminated and

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 297

people wrangled and argued as they never have
since.

"Ef dey's one thing topper God's worl yo' pa do
despi'cibly and contestibly despise, hate, cuss, an'
outrageously 'bominate, it are a Ab'litionist, an'
dey's a considabul sprinklin' erroun' 'bout de kentry,"
said a knowing Indiana servant before the war. This
was true of a vast number of the residents who were
of Southern extraction, — they had a violent hatred
of abolitionists. On the other hand many of these
same abolitionists, defiantly if secretly, allied them-
selves with the "Underground Railway." Slavery
was just over the border. In their opinion that in-
stitution was mortally wicked. Danger did not deter
them from aiding the slave to escape from his master,
and gain freedom in Canada. Earnest men and women
in Indiana secretly helped Sambo and Chloe along
another stage in their journey. The true story of the
efforts of that secret band — it can hardly be termed
an organization — would be a thrilling tale. Before day
dawn, the hunted slave or groups of slaves would
tremblingly approach a homestead, be quietly given
a day's rest, shelter, food, fresh clothing, and then at
night passed on to the next station of the Underground
Railway. In a few hours more if hunters from the
South came for their "property," they also must be
fed, and detained as long as possible. No record,
perhaps, exists of the members of this society or of
the unfortunates whom they helped. It was against
the Fugitive Slave Law and only justified by the
greater law of humanity. Suspicion often prompted
espionage, and this engendered hate and recrimination.
Householders were sometimes imprisoned for helping
slaves to escape and then it became known that their

298 Historic Indiana

neighbors had informed against them. It was not a
happy time, either North or South, those anti-bellum
days; and the border States were in a very unhappy
position which is now fortunately at an end. Composed
of this divided population, Indiana heard the news
of April 12, 1861: " Sumter has fallen." An Indiana
woman who lived and labored through those thrilling
times afterwards wrote:

" No man living within the limits of America will ever
forget that despatch. The old earth itself seemed to reel
under a blow, and no longer to afford a sure foothold.
Through the long Saturday, business was at a stand.
That night, from the banks of the Ohio to the sand-hills
of Lake Michigan, from the Quaker towns on the eastern
border to the prairie farms on the western line, the streets
of Indiana towns were black with breathless people, still
awaiting tidings of the loyal men in the unfinished Fort
Sumter, bombarded by the thousands of raging rebels.
When the banner was unfurled — the banner which within
the memory of the present generation had only idly flut-
tered in holiday breezes — a new meaning seemed to stream
from its folds. At ten o'clock a despatch announced,
Sumter has fallen, and another, President Lincoln will
issue a Proclamation to-morrow calling for 75,000 volun-
teers. Governor Morton's proclamation followed the
President's. It was as the blast of a war trumpet. In-
diana's quota of the 75,000 troops was six thousand.
Fifteen thousand men answered the call. Eight thousand
came up to the Capital. The clerk dropped his pen, the
woodsman his axe, the machinist his tools, and more than
all in numbers, the farmers left their ploughs in the furrows
and came to their country's call. By dint of coloring
his hair and beard, an old soldier of 181 2 found his way
into the ranks. ' If I were only four years younger,' sighed
Major Whittock, the contemporary of William Henry
Harrison; 'ninety is not too old in such a cause, and the

Indiana as Afifected by the Civil War 299

young people know nothing of war. Fifty years of peace
have made no soldiers.' " ^

Men who had scarcely opened a book since leaving
school became attentive students of tactics. It is
averred that for the military terms "right and left"
it was necessary to substitute "gee and haw" to the
farmers' boys. In some cases, it is said, officers ordered
whisps of straw wound round one foot and hay about
the other, and the drilling began easily with, "hay-
foot!" "straw-foot!" Of these new recruits, in their
first engagement, a Confederate General said, "Can't
make me believe that volunteers stand fire that way,"
and thus Hoosiers entered the four years' contest.

We cannot follow these troops beyond the bounds
of the State. They placed their own names in the
temple of fame. It is a matter of record that an In-
diana soldier was the first to yield his life on the battle-
field, and that the last battle of the war was fought
by Indiana troops. The last Union soldier killed in
battle was John J. Williams of the Thirty-fourth
Indiana regiment. Indiana left her dead in seventeen
States and Territories. Ere the war closed the Hoosier
state with 246,000 voters had furnished over 259,000
troops. Three hundred and ninety-five men, only,
served as conscripts ; and that was after the State had
furnished 8000 men in excess of her quota, the draft
being the result of an erroneous computation of the
muster rolls at Washington. The Indiana soldiers
were the tallest men in the army, and were noted for
their droll humor. The first men responded from
the principle of patriotism and the fire of enthusiasm.

' Merrill, Catherine, The Man Shakespeare and other Essays.
Indianapolis, 1902.

300 Historic Indiana

Some joined the army from love of adventure or
expected glory. Not all that stayed in the service
were heroes; but "there was no stain upon a single
regiment or battery of all those sent out by Indiana."
They bore themselves heroically and no State's soldiers
won a prouder position. "We now occupy, alone,
the proud position," said the Journal, "of offering
volunteers to the government in advance of any call,
while many of the other States are still behind, even
with the draft."

No State could possibly have found herself, on the
eve of a great war at her very threshold, in a more
hopeless state of unpreparedness. Indiana had officials
known as Quartermaster and Adjutant Generals,
but they were undoubtedly on a peace footing with
the world. It is doubtful if the whole State could
have furnished arms for two regiments and the militia
would not have supplied a half dozen regiments. The
munitions of war were absolutely lacking. The depart-
ment had no knapsacks, no canteens, no tents, and
there was no money. It was a fact that members of
the legislature and other State officers had been paid
from the school fund, so empty was the treasury!
Fortunately in this crisis Indiana had a great man for
Governor.

Many a time has been recalled to memory the
explanation which the wise old Quaker gave Oliver
P. Morton of the reason why he was not to be elected
United States Senator. Mr, Foulke tells the circum-
stances of Mr. Morton having expressed his preference
for the Senatorship, when the Friend said, "Oliver,
we cannot let thee go to the Senate." "Why not?"
asked Morton. "Because thee is a good man for
either of these places, and Henry Lane would make

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 301

a good Senator but he would not make a good Gov-
ernor. So he must go to the Senate and thee must
stay and be Governor"; and Mr. Foulke very truly
says that if Mr. Morton could have looked into the
future and seen the career which opened before him,
he would have valued the place given him more highly
even than the Senatorship which he was not to have
(until in later years), for the very reason that his
abilities fitted him for the other place. How great
these abilities were was gradually revealed in every
pressing need and crisis of the next four years. Loyalty,
foresight, fearless courage, tireless industry^, resource-
fulness in extremities, tenderness for his soldiers,
influence over his people, political sagacity, business
ability, and an intuitive knowledge of men; these
were the traits of character w^hich Governor Morton
developed and which made him so successful in his
administration.

It may be of interest to younger readers, who have
come upon the scene since the Civil War, to recall
the different party elements in the commonwealth
and the opinions they held at the opening of that
conflict. The war w^as not a sudden calamity. Fore-
bodings of the disaster had been felt in all sections
of the nation for more than a decade, and party lines
were drawn on the questions involved in the struggle
over slavery. In Indiana, at the beginning of the war,
there were two elements in the new Republican party.
A large number who had come into its ranks from
the Democratic party, and others who were conserv-
ative, were disposed to conduct the war strictly for
the preservation of the Union and the maintenance of
the Constitution as it was, and an early pacification
of the South. The other wing of the Republican

302 Historic Indiana

party, chief of whom in Indiana were those illustrious
men, George W. Julian and his co-workers, stood
resolutely and uncompromisingly for the abolition of
slavery, come what might. They felt that Lincoln
had expressed a vital truth when he declared that
there could be no lasting peace with a nation half
slave and half free and they held that the sooner the
question was settled forever, the better it would be
for the whole country. Both of these classes of Re-
publicans came up unitedly and inflexibly to the
support of President Lincoln and Governor Morton
in the prosecution of the war until the Union should
be restored. In the Democratic party there were three
divisions in the national campaign preceding the war.
In Indiana, twelve thousand of the party had voted
for Breckenridge, and were known as the nucleus of
the party of the anti-war Democrats. Five thousand
had voted for Bell, the constitutional candidate, and
Douglas had a following of one hundred and ten
thousand ; most of whom gradually came to be known
as war Democrats, and were staunchly loyal. These
men joined in the plans for a vigorous prosecution
of the war, and many of them served in the army.
They held that all party strife should be put aside,
until the federal authority was again established in
every State. The anti-war Democrats, called derisively
Copper-heads, were opposed to coercing the Southern
States in any way, made a bogy of race equality,
asserted States' rights, and were openly in sympa-
thy with the Confederates. United States Senator
Bright from Indiana, who belonged to this branch
of the party, was expelled from the Senate for alleged
complicity with the rebellion. Many of his associates
engaged in secret treasonable organizations, and some

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 303

of them were arrested for attempting warlike pre-
parations for resistance to government. From this
political alignment of the inhabitants of the State,
it can be imagined that the division of sentiment
caused much excitement. Present discussions, rancor,
and political dissensions pale into personal pleasantries
when compared with the rending of life and limb in
those combats. It was not all a battle of words. In
the history of the world, there cannot be found a
more loyal people than the patriotic population of
Indiana was. They not only rallied at once to the
support of the government by sending more troops
than were called for, but among those who did not
go to the line of battle there was a great loyal majority
who upheld the hands of the Governor.

Business men subscribed money, forwarded supplies,
and went to the front with goods and provisions for
the soldiers. Indiana men organized the first Sanitary
Commission, and the people supplied the funds for
it to furnish the comforts and necessities which the
government could not. Citizens served on this Com-
mission without pay, and followed the soldiers on
the march, in camp, and in the hospital, with every-
thing needed for the sick or wounded. Governor
Morton took special pride in the Commission's work
and was never tired of devising ways and means of
improving its efficiency. Four hundred and fifty
thousand dollars' worth of supplies was donated by
private contribution through this channel by the
people of the State. Nor were the women of the
State backward in patriotic endeavor. They toiled
unremittingly during the entire war. In October
of the first year of the struggle, Governor Morton
issued an appeal to the patriotic women of the State,

304 Historic Indiana

calling their attention to the approach of winter and
the possibilities of suffering which the troops would
undergo unless help from other sources than the gov-
ernment should reach them. He asked for blankets,
knit gloves, socks, and hospital supplies. The response
to this suggestion was so liberal that, in the latter part
of the winter, the Quartermaster-General issued a
letter stating that there were already enough con-
tributions to supply the needs. What was sent?
Necessities, comforts, and luxuries. Women canned
fruit for the soldiers; they knit stockings and mittens
for them. Aid societies made great bales of hospital
shirts and warm underwear; children spent their
Saturdays and holidays in scraping lint and rolling
bandages. They wrote kindly letters and placed them
in the useful "house- wife," which was a bag made
with pockets and filled with needles, buttons, and
patches for the soldiers' use. Each company that
started for the front was accompanied to the station
or boat-landing by the whole village, cheering them
on to duty, and lading them with good things to eat.
Every passing regiment was hurriedly given a feast in
the court-house or station. As one of these noble helpers
wrote: "And people did not tire of liberality. Hands,
houses, and hearts were open to our soldiers. The
war was no sixty -day affair, as had been promised. It
went on and on, and recruiting went steadily on.
The troops in the capital, though always changing,
were never gone." Many Indiana mothers saw every
son march away to the army. Tenderly reared women
went as hospital nurses. Brides of an hour said good- f
bye to their soldier lovers, and old gray-haired fathers
went into the harvest fields that the sons might serve
at the front.

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 305

Robert Dale Owen, who himself stood next to the
War Governor in tireless labors for the soldiers, was
appointed by the Executive as agent, and purchased
all the arms and equipment for the State with honor-
able and efficient ability. From some of the colleges
of Indiana every man went that was able to go to
war. Several of these schools closed for want of
students until after the struggle was over. In any
estimate of the progress made by Indiana, it must
always be borne in mind that the State lost a valuable
element of her population in the men who died during
those four years, which detracted greatly from her
future greatness.

At the opening of the war, not only individual
citizens but the State, through its Legislature, responded
to the call of the War Governor. Later, as we shall
see, the Executive had to meet a newly elected Legis-
lature which tried his soul to the last extremity, by
their lack of loyalty, but the men who were assembled
in extra session in April, 1861, voted and placed under
the control of Governor Morton, within a fortnight
after the fall of Fort Sumter, a half million dollars
for arms and ammunition, and one hundred thousand
for military contingencies. They also voted a million
dollars for enlisting, maintaining, and subsisting troops.
Responding with vigor to the sentiment of the people
of Indiana, the Legislature (then in office) sustained
the Governor in his arduous task. With all of this
great patriotism on the part of the large majority of
the people of Indiana, there was a minority whose
acts afforded some reason for the Confederate General
Morgan supposing that his invasion of the State in
1863 would be welcome to a larger following than he

found. As there were Union people w^ithin the Southern
20

3o6 Historic Indiana

States, there were also Secessionists in the North, and,
so far as they could, and dared, the Southern sym-
pathizers in Indiana plotted and conspired against
the Executive and endeavored to thwart his plans
for the defence of the nation. To-day we can afford
to forgive, but mention of the proceedings of this
minority in Indiana, during the war, is necessarily
a part of its history. Steadily but secretly the leaven
of disloyalty to the government and its policies per-
meated one section of the conservative party. In
several counties of the State, secret organizations
were effected, and conspiracies against the government
were planned. Military drill was a part of the business
of the regular meetings of the "Knights of the Golden
Circle" and the "Sons of Liberty," as these secret
societies called themselves. The Union neighbors and
old friends of the men in these bands debated with
and counselled them in vain, on the futility and wrong
of their plans. When the war had gone on through
two years they became bolder in their teachings and
movements.

There had been disastrous battles at the front, the
Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, there
were large numbers of Union men absent serving in
the army, and treasonable sentiments grew more out-
spoken. Owing to these circumstances it had come
about that at the Congressional elections of 1862
many of the returns went against the administration,
and, excepting the Governor, all of the State ofificers
and a majority of the Legislature who were elected
were Democrats and many of these were anti-war
men. The Legislature sought to enact laws tying
Governor Morton's hands in enlisting troops and
raising militia. To prevent the passage of such a

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 307

law the Union legislators withdrew from the sessions
until the term closed by limitation. Governor Morton
said, in his carefully prepared message to this seditious
Legislature: "I believe that the masses of men of all
parties are loyal and are united in their determination
to maintain our government, however much they
may differ upon other points; and I do sincerely
hope that all will be willing to subordinate their
peculiar opinions to the great cause of preserving
our national law and existence." Even after this
appeal secessionist sympathizers of this Legislature
continued throughout the session to oppose, obstruct,
and misrepresent the acts of the Executive and the
Federal officials. Mr. Foiilke says in his biography
of Governor Morton :

" Scores of grotesque and preposterous resolutions
were tossed into the seething cauldron. There were
propositions for an armistice, for a withdrawal of the
Emancipation Proclamation, for peace conventions to
consider impossible compromises. There were dismal
wailings at the calamities of war, at the overthrow of
'sacred rights and liberties' by 'tyrants and usurpers,' — ■
incoherent ravings against the President, the Governor,
the Abolitionists, the Negroes, the ' Massachusetts Yan-
kees,'— a great tumult of words and dissonant eloquence." ^

But Mr. Foulke goes on to show what a stinging rebuke
was administered to this misguided Legislature, by the
letters and resolutions from the army of 60,000 soldiers
in the field, who were naturally enraged and indignant
over these stabs in the back. Their protests became
general, and on the twenty-third of January resolutions
adopted by the officers of twenty-two regiments and

' Foulke, William Dudley, Life of O. P. Morton. New York, 1904.

3o8 Historic Indiana

four batteries and approved by the soldiers were
sent from the Indiana troops at Murfreesboro. These
protests were followed by similar representations from
the soldiers at Corinth, in Arkansas, and from the
Army of the Cumberland. Said this remonstrance
from the soldiers to the Assembly:

"We have watched the traitorous conduct of those
members of the Legislature, who, misrepresenting their
constituencies, have been proposing a suspension of hos-
tilities, plotting to divest Governor Morton of the rights
vested in him by our State Constitution and laws, and
we calmly and firmly say : ' Beware of the terrible retribution
that is falling upon your coadjutors at the South, which,
as your crime is tenfold blacker, will swiftly smite you
with tenfold more horror should you persist in your dam-
nable deeds of treason.' "

To be fair, it must be borne in mind that Indiana was
not alone in having Southern sympathizers within its
borders. All of the Northern States had this to con-
tend with ; but these communications, coming directly
to the Legislature from the army, were marvellously
efficaciou's in clearing the atmosphere about the State-
house. They enabled the legislators, at least, to see
national patriotism in its true perspective, and modest
resolutions were passed protesting against being mis-
understood.

Encouraged by the evil example of their lawmakers,
the Southern sympathizers in the State grew more
bold and insolent. Secret societies, with disloyal
intent, multiplied; and leaders were found who en-
deavored to alienate the people from their loyalty and
to organize the disloyal element. Cheers were heard
for Jeff Davis, and there was always some one ready
to respond "a rope to hang him with." Peace at any

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 309

price, even the recognition of the Southern independ-
ence, was the purpose of those in control of the Legis-
lature, and of those who were members of these
societies. Assassination of the Governor was openly-
threatened. In the back districts men and women
wore homespun clothes dyed with butternut juice;
and in the towns many of them wore brooches made
of the shell of a butternut, to denote their sympathy
with the South.

A conspiracy to overthrow the State government was
planned. And this too at a time when our national
existence hovered betw^een life and death. In the
words of Mr. Foulke :

" At other periods it would have been only a subject
for scornful jest, but at that time was dangerous, and
demanded additional energy from those who had already
expended the strength of Hercules in the efforts to subdue
an armed rebellion. It was fortunate that there was at
this time at the head of affairs in Indiana a man whose
resources were equal to every emergency, whose autocratic
will supplied everything there was lacking in a disloyal
Legislature and a partisan judiciary."^

Governor Morton said of this period, a dozen years
afterwards in the United States Senate, that the State
was honeycombed with secret societies formerly known
as the Knights of the Golden Circle and later as the
Sons of Liberty. They claimed to have 40,000 members
in the State; they were lawless, defiant, plotting
treason against the United States and the overthrow
of the State government. In some counties their
operations were so formidable as to require the militia
to be kept on a war footing, and throughout 1863 and
until the final explosion of the organization in 1864

' Foulke, William Dudley, Life of O. P. Morton. New York, 1904.

310 Historic Indiana

they kept the whole State in agitation and alarm
Certain leaders of the Democratic party felt them-
selves handicapped in their ambitions by these or-
ganizations. So bold were they in the summer oi
1863 that General John Morgan of Kentucky was en-
couraged to invade the State with his forces, in the
belief there would be a general uprising in his support.
In 1864, so numerous were these organizations and
so confident were they of their strength, that they
matured a plan for a general uprising in the city of
Indianapolis on the sixteenth of August. The plan
that was discovered, as shown by the subsequent
confession of some of the leading conspirators, was
to march on the capital city, release on that day
about 7000 Confederate prisoners confined at Camp
Morton, seize the Arsenal and arm these prisoners,
overturn the State government, and take possession of
the State. The arrival of a detail of infantry hastily
broke up the mass meeting.

"Some of the more frantic climbed on the shoulders
of those in the rear in their efforts to escape. The order
was given to search every man attempting to leave the
city. Three hundred revolvers were taken from the pas-
sengers on one train. Hundreds of them were thrown
through the windows by their owners, into Pogue's Run. 1
Pistols were given to women, believing that they would |
not be searched. Seven were found on one woman. Thus !
ended the farcical Battle of Pogue's Run, whose waters i
were filled not with the blood of combatants, but with I
firearms prudently cast away."i

The whole plan having been discovered, was abandoned
and denied by the leaders, three of whom were State

'Griffith, Frank. Detailed for this duty from 83d Regiment
Indianapolis Star, August 23, 1908.

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 311

officers ! They quickly sent out orders countermanding
the march of the forces on Indianapolis. In a short
time the seizure of arms and ammunition collected
at Indianapolis for treasonable purposes (some of
them labelled Sunday-school books) and the capture
of the records and the rituals of the Sons of Liberty,
as well as the arrest of eighty of the ringleaders,
gradually caused the breaking up of organizations
in the more remote neighborhoods. By actual in-
voice it was learned that in two of the preceding
months nearly 30,000 guns and revolvers had been
brought into the State, followed at later times by
larger quantities of arms for the bands amounting to
60,000 revolvers and 6000 muskets. The Southern
records show that these organizations and the leaders
of the Confederacy were in constant correspondence
and negotiation by a cipher code. Later w^hen the
tide of war was turning against the South, in 1864,
the greatest hope of succor of Jefferson Davis's Cabinet
was from the treasonable societies of the North, and
the States which bordered on the Ohio River were
depended upon for an uprising against Federal control.
While the administration was struggling with trea-
sonable legislators and bands within its borders, the
whole Commonwealth was startled by a raid upon
its own soil. There had been two scares previous
to this, but on July 8, 1863, there occurred one of the
most daring, most spectacular events of the war. This
was the invasion of Federal territory along the Ohio
River, with the avowed purpose of bringing the war
home to the Northern States, and giving the Southern
sympathizers an opportunity to show their colors and
join their friends from the South. There had never
been any arrests of Southern sympathizers up to

312 Historic Indiana

this time and no tests were made of their courage.
General John Morgan, commanding between two or
three thousand Confederate cavalry, was cut off from
Bragg and Buckner's army and determined to carry
the war into the enemy's country, make an "astounding
diversion " that would call off some of the Federal
forces that were pursuing his chief. Probably six
hundred adventurers bent on plunder were with this
troop. It was a brilliant cavalry manoeuvre, from
a military standpoint. War is no holiday play, and
the raid won lasting notoriety for its commander, but
he was disappointed in its results; for few if any i
Northern secessionists joined him. He found that all i
the men he added to his numbers, he was obliged to !
capture.

It is said that riding at the head of his troops to
the Kentucky shore. General Morgan dramatically
pointed to the northern bank of the Ohio River and
said, "Boys, over there is Yankee land, we will cross
over and possess it "; and that after they were safely
over, he ordered the boats burned, denoting no in-
tention of a return and no chance of being followed
by the Federal troops who were close upon their heels ;
so near, in fact, that the Johnny Rebs in the boats i
called back to some of them, * ' Got any word want
sent your ma? "

The present generation can make a very fair estimate
of this "secesh " element of the Indiana backwoods
population, from a little lifelike sketch by George S.
Cottman. He introduces it with a description of a
"Dixie" neighborhood where these poor whites lived
in their log cabins in the woods. Isolated not only
by location but by nature these squatters remained
Southern in sentiment and sympathy. "

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 313

"Stray newspapers, carried in like bones into a den,
to be read at leisure, passed from hand to hand and so
kept them apprised of the doings of the outside world.
Suddenly the news came that John Morgan was invading
the state and the squatters in ' Dixie ' settlement met to
consider the question of joining him.

" One day Mr. Jabez Baughman issues a call for all
Dixieites to convene at his cabin that evening to discuss
questions of moment. Of the resultant meeting no minutes
were preserved; you will find no mention of it in the
Adjutant-General's reports, nor elsewhere, and the only
authority I can claim for it is the oral account of Mr.
Andrew Jackson Strickler, a member of the convention,
who afterwards became reconstructed and reconciled to
the Government. As faithfully as I can quote him here
he is, Tennessee dialect and all: ' It was,' said Mr. Strickler,
'in July of '63. I disremember adzactly the date, but
it was after the hayin' was done an' the wheat harvest
about over. We heerd tel' o' John Morgan crossin' the
river an' headin' our way, an' was consid'ble intrusted
like, an' so w'en Jabe Baughman's boys went eroun' the
settlement tellin' all the men folks their pap wanted us
to meet at their house late that night, we jest natchally
fell in with it, kase we knowed from the sly way it 'as
done thar was somepin' up. None of us was to come
till after ord'nary bed-time, an' none of us was to carry
'ary light, an' that putt ginger in it, see? Well, w'en
night fell' the weather got ugly, .and I mind, way about
ten o'clock, as I felt my way through the thickets, how
everlastin' black it was, an' how the wind rasseled the
trees erbout, roarin' like a hungry lion seekin' who he
may devour. It made me feel kind o' creepy, kase it
'peared like the elerments an' man an' everything was
erbout to do somepin' — kinder like the bottom was goin'
to drap out o' things, y' understand.

" 'Well, the fellers come steerin' into Jabe's one by one,
an' by 'leven o* the clock ever' man in Dixie was thar.

314 Historic Indiana

Jabe's young 'uns an' womern folks hed been sent out In
the stable to sleep, an' so ever'thing was clair fer business,
but we all sat eround talkin* hogs for a spell, kase we felt
a mite unsartin; but by-m-by Baughman, says he: " Gent'-
I'men, I call this meetin' to order." Then my oldest boy
whose name was Andy, too, and who'd been to two or
three public meetin's before an' felt kind o' biggoty over
it, he hollers out; "I second the motion." Then young
Jerry Stimson says; "I move that Mr. Baughman take
the cheer," an' my boy seconded that, too, an' it was so
ordered. Then Baughman riz an' said he hadn't hardly
expected that honor (which was a lie), but sence they
had putt it on him he'd try to discharge his duties to the
meetin'.

'"After that we made young Stimson secatary, seein'
he was somepin' of a scholard, an* then Jabe he made us
a speech sayin' as how we'd orto stick by the grand old
South, w'at was even now sendin' her conquerin' hosts
to our doors, an' how we'uns should be ready to receive
her to our buzzums. It wa'nt all quite clear to me, an' I
ast how we was goin' to take her to our buzzums. " Wy,
give her our moral s'port," says Jabe. "How '11 we give
our moral s'port," says I, an' then says Jabe slow an'
solemn like: "Gent'l'men," says he, "w'en our sister
States found it was time fer 'em to be up an' adoin' —
w'en they found the Union wa'nt the place fer 'em, w'at
did they do?" Here Jabe helt his fire, an' ever'thing was
stock-still fer a spell, w'ile the wind howled outside. It
'peared like no one hadn't the grit to tackle the question,
an' Jabe had to do it hisself. "Gent'l'men," says he,
"air we men enough to run risks for our kentry? W'en
John Morgan 's histes the flag of the grand ol' Confede'cy
over the Injeany State House who 's goin' to come to their
reward, them as helt back skeert, or them as give him
their moral s'port?"

" ' At this my boy Andy who was gettin' all het up like
with the idee o' doin' somepin', bellers out: "Mr. Cheer-

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 315

man, I move 'at we air all men, an' 'at we ain't afeerd
to give the South our moral s'port." Then Jabe grabbed
the cow by the tail an' w'ipped her up. " Do I understand
the gentl'man to mean," says he, "that we'd orto do
w'at our sister States hez done, an' draw out o' this yere
Union, an' ef so, will he put a movement to that effeck
before the House?" "I make a move then," says Andy
again, as bold as Davy Crockett, "that we don't whip
the devil eround the stump no more, but that we git out
o' the Union an' we git out a-flyin'." I was right proud
o' the boy, not kase I thought he had a dum bit o' sense,
but kase he went at it with his coat off like a man bound
to make his mark. That got all of us spunky like an' nigh
ever' one in the house seconded the move. Then says
Jabe: " Gen'l'men, the question is before you, whether
we will lend the Southern Confeder'cy our moral s'port
an' foller our sister states out'n the Union. All in favor
of this yere motion signify the same by sayin' 'aye.'"
"Aye," says ever' livin' soul with a whoop, fer by that
time we shore was all runnin' in a flock. " All contrary-
wise say no," says Jabe, an' we all waited quiet fer a
minute, kase that 'as the proper way, y' know, w'en all
of a suddent, above the roar o' the wind outside, thar
was a screech an' a tremenjus racket; the ol' house shuk
like it was comin' down ; the daubin' flew from the chinks,
an' overhead it 'peared like the ol' Scratch was clawin*
his way through the clabboards. Next he came a-tearin'
at the floor of the loft above us, an' a loose board swingin'
down hit Jabe a whack an' knocked the candle off'n the
table, an' the next thing it was black as yer hat. Jabe
I reckon, was consid'able flustered, kase he gathered,
hisself up an' yelled: "The Devil's after us — git out o*
here, fellers! " An' you bet we got.

" 'It tuck me a full hour to find my way home through
the bresh, an' w'en I did git thar, at last, an' was tryin'
to tell w'ich side o' the house the door was on, I bumped
up, agin Andy groopin' his way too. "Andy," says I,

i6 Historic Indiana

"I move we git in jest as quick as the Lord '11 let us,"
an' says Andy, "I second the motion."

" 'The next day w'ens we went back to Baughman's to
see w'at we c'ud lam we found a good-sized ellum had
keeled over again the roof-poles an' poked a limb down
through the clabboards. It 'as never settled among us jest
w'at it meant. Some said it 'as the Lord's way of votin'
no again our goin' out o' the Union, an' others allowed
it was the Lord's way o' savin' us from our brashness,
kase, as ever' one knows, John Morgan didn't git to Injun-
oplis after all, an' as things turned out it wa'nt jest best
fer us ti be seced, y' know.' " i

It was this sort of disloyalty, north of the river,
that all unwittingly, the dashing cavalrymen were
depending upon. Crossing the Ohio River General
Morgan entered Harrison County in Indiana and passed
eastward across the entire river districts and on
into the adjoining State of Ohio. His plans were well
laid and he was extremely bold in action. Through
farm and village they swept capturing and paroling
prisoners, appropriating the finest horses as they
went, helping themselves to the fat of the land, as
is the wont of military raiders. Out through every
town in the State alarm bells were rung and the
Governor's call for troops was sounded. The response
was magical. Within forty-eight hours sixty-five
thousand men had tendered their services, and were
on their way to report for duty. Within three days,
thirty thousand men, fully armed and organized had
taken the field at various points to meet the enemy.
Not being expected, on first landing Morgan's men
found only a handful of troops to oppose them, and

» Cottman, George S., Indiana Magazine of History, page 52, i
vol. i., number i.

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 317

these were driven back; but within twenty-four
hours, when attempting to penetrate into the interior
of the State and afterwards to retire across the river,
they were confronted in both attempts by bodies of
armed men. Soon their march was quickened into
a flight which in five days, carried them across the
eastern border into Ohio and on over that State. Those
were five exciting days in Indiana and the other
border States. Frantic telegrams for help from raided
towns, and daring dispatches from the invaders,
wherever they had tapped the telegraph lines, located
the raiders now here, now there. The Confederate
general was so rapid and sudden in his movements
as frequently to confound both friends and enemies.
Morgan's army was reported as ten, twenty, and
thirty thousand strong. The atmosphere was rife
with excitement. Unharvested fields of over-ripe
wheat stood golden in the sun. No raid had been
believed possible by the farmers. Burning bams
w^as fun as well as policy to this band. As they went
they emptied ovens and pantries. Money and horses
were gathered in as necessities of war. The banks
throughout the State sent their gold and most of
their currency to New York. People concealed their
valuables and men hurried to enlist. Cold shivers
reached even to the Capital. The damages in the
raided States, to railroads, steamboats, bridges, and
public stores was not less than ten millions of dollars.
The troops plundered private properties, burned all
bridges to prevent pursuit, detached parties right
and left to cut off communication and destroy
stores.

And what of the invaders? It was an adventurous
band. From an interesting note-book of one of the

3i8 Historic Indiana

troop we learn their feelings when two broad States
lay between them and their comrades.

"Kentucky grew too warm for us and we determined
to cross over into Indiana and try to stir up the Copper-
heads. We had no trouble in supplying provision. The
chickens strolled before the doors with a confidence that
was touching but misplaced. The good women baked
wheaten bread in large quantities twice a week and we
took the whole baking. The raw militia that was en-
countered were badly armed and had had no drill. A
great fear seemed to have fallen upon that part of Indi-
ana and they acted as if stunned. Often our men would
throw away plunder to pillage afresh, generally without
method or reason. A horn, seven pairs of skates, a bird
cage, and cards of horn buttons would dangle from one
man's saddle. The disposition for wholesale plunder
exceeded anything that any one had ever seen. The men
seemed actuated by a desire to pay off in the enemy's
country, all the old scores that the Federal Army had
chalked up in the South. The fatigue of the marches was
tremendous. We often averaged twenty-one hours in
the saddle. There was battle and death and destruction,
but many ludicrous things happened during our raid.
We rode into Salem and a small swivel gun, used by the
younger population, four days before, for the Fourth of
July Celebration, had been planted to obstruct our way.
It was about eighteen inches long, loaded to the muzzle
and mounted in the public square, by being propped
against a log of fire wood. It was not fired for the man
deputed to perform that important duty, somewhat
astounded by our sudden dash into the town, dropped
the coal of fire with which he should have touched it off,
and before he could get another the 'rebels' captured
the piece."

At Vernon, the Confederates were confronted by

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 319

several hundred hastily gathered mihtiamen. To
Morgan's demand for their surrender the raw troops
rephed, " Come and take us " — but the enemy moved
off toward Dupont.

Sometimes a mischievous cavalryman would coerce
a farmer's daughter into riding a part of the way with
the troop, and then set her down at a farmhouse far
away from home. Often a whole squad would occupy
the front porch while waiting for the good dinner
they had compelled the household to cook for them.
A favorite trick of the raiders was to send alarming
messages to the towns farther north that they were
at their doors; and another was to "cut in" and
take messages and orders that were intended for the
Federal officers who were after them; or listen to the
news of the panic they were causing in the State. All
this frolic, and many dark and terrible experiences
fell to the lot of the invaders as well as to the residents
of the river counties. The loss of life on either side
was not great, perhaps, but all too many when it is
remembered the combatants were from sister States.
Some of the raiders crossed to Kentucky. Over in
Ohio the commander, and those who had not been
killed or woimded, were captured. An amusing story
is told of an Irish Quartermaster who was captured
by Morgan on one of these forays.

"Lieut. Igoe had a horror of regulations. Monthly,
quarterly, and semi-annual reports, required by the de-
partment, were treated with easy neglect; not that the
eccentric Quartermaster did not honestly discharge his
duties; but because he regarded all such reports as 'a
piece of magnificent tomfoolery.' A twelvemonth went
by, and no report had been received at Washington of
the state of affairs in the Quartermaster's department

320 Historic Indiana

of the Irish Regiment. A note from headquarters to the
Colonel brought the report question to a head. Igoe at
once gathered up all his receipts, vouchers, and loose
papers, and putting them carefully in a keg, headed up
the concern, and respectfully forwarded them to Washing-
ton, with a note, stating that as the clerks in the depart-
ment had more time than he had, they could assort and
arrange the papers to suit themselves; remarking, too,
that if they could make anything out of them, it was
more than he could do himself. The reply from Washington
was what might have been expected. Notice was served,
that if he did not make out a report in full form, he would
be sent for. Nothing disconcerted, the subject of our
sketch sat down, and, as report goes, wrote the following
exceedingly polite letter:

" ' Headquarters Irish Regiment,
" ' Quartermaster's Department.

" ' Dear Sir: — Your kind and friendly note of the

inst. is before me. I regret exceedingly you can not make
anything out of the keg-full of papers forw^arded some two
months ago. In order to facilitate the solution of the diffi-
culty, I take pleasure in sending another box-full. I have
long contemplated a visit to the capital of this mighty na-
tion; but my finances being in such a dilapidated condition,
I have been forced to forego that pleasure. I will be pleased
to make a visit to your, I am told, delightful city, under
the auspices, and at the expense, of our much afflicted
Government,

" ' Accept the assurance of my most distinguished con-
sideration.

'"M. Igoe,
'"Lieut. & A. Q. M.'

"Of course the bureau of 'Contracts and Quartermas-
ters' was not satisfied; but John Morgan, having a short
time afterwards captured the hero, with his books, papers
(all not 'kegged up'), and wagons, Igoe made a final
statement, and a satisfactory settlement, by stating in

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 321

a humorous way the facts and incidents of his capture.
It has been his boast ever since that John Morgan kindly
settled all his affairs, with the big * conostrophies ' at
Washington."

A Confederate who was with General Morgan thus
describes the end of the raid.

"Straight ahead he rode, passing the Indiana border
and thundering desperately on upon the highways of
Ohio. On he swept, brushing aside one foe, eluding another,
and defying the telegraph, the steam-cars, the Generals,
the swarming Militia. No time for the rest nor to replace
the vitality that was constantly being expended. . . He
baffled his enemies in three states. From day to day
his men were killed or captured, singly or in groups. An-
other Sunday dawned, the 26th of July. There were
left only three hundred of the three thousand troops who
had crossed less than a month before. Many of the men,
feverish almost to delirium from wounds received in
fights on previous days, reeled in their saddles as they
went. About two hundred of his command crossed the
river and escaped. General Morgan and a few hundred
men were finally driven to a blufi from which there was
no escape, except by fighting their way through or leaping
from a cliff. Finding themselves thus cooped Morgan's
command surrendered. The gray fox was cornered at
last in the open, but he had led a long chase."

The five hundred miles and more that they had trav-
ersed had been a succession of sudden encounters,
skirmishes, and battles. Fire, panic, terror, and
sorrow followed in their wake. The same Confederate
asks, "Was anything accomplished by them save their
own destruction?" I will answer, "Yes: the victory
six weeks later by Bragg's Confederate Army in the
great battle of Chickamauga. Of the forty thousand
Northerners that we were led to believe would join

322 Historic Indiana

us not one rose up to help." The Confederate troopers
taunted the inhabitants of the region openly, with
being a pack of cowardly curs, who could plot in
secret, and stab in the dark, and curse the Govern-
ment, but when it comes to fighting like men would
not come out in the open. By superior numbers and
equal bravery, the hastily assembled Northern volun-
teers had hedged in the raiders, defended assailed
points, repulsed attacks, fought many skirmishes, and
finally captured or dispersed the whole command.
They had been greatly delayed in accomplishing their
task by the bridges being destroyed, roads obstructed,
and an utterly unprepared state of defence. It had
taken several days to assemble volunteers and start in
pursuit. Some of the Commands rode for a fortnight
with only four hours' rest in the twenty-four. One
hundred miles were sometimes covered in thirty hours
by the fugitives. The inhabitants on the last stretch of
the raid barricaded the highways to hinder their pro-
gress. There was no hesitancy among the war recruits
in meeting the foe, when they could overtake them.

General Morgan's hotly pursued forces were over-
taken in the valley near Buffington Island, where
they were waiting for the dawn to clear the fog, so
that they might cross the Ohio River at the ford and
escape into West Virginia. The Federal troop came
into the valley on the rear of the raiders; and fresh
re-enforcements landing from the steamboats on the
river, approached about the same time. All hope
for escape, by fording the shallow place in the Ohio
Vv^as gone. The one desperate chance was by the
road leading out of the upper end of the valley; and
toward this outlet Morgan's confused troopers swept
through the standing grain fields of the fertile farms,

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.

' And the answer came ; ' We would build it

Out of our hopes made sure.
And out of our purest prayers and tears,

And out of our faith secure."

'And see that ye build it stately,

In pillar and niche and gate,
And high in pose as the souls of those
It would commemorate. "

James Whitcomb Riley.

Indiana as Affected by the Cival War ^^it,

the Federals following in hot pursuit. Immediately
after the stampede began, said one of the Union
officers who was present, each one of Morgan's troopers
began to unload the plunder carried on his horse.
Boots, shoes, stockings, corsets, gloves, skates, sleigh-
bells, bird cages, were scattered to the winds. Then
the flying horsemen let loose their bolts of muslin
and calico, holding one end, and each cavalryman
let the whole hundred yards stream out behind him.
Instantly we found ourselves to be rainbow chasers.
No road could accommodate such a confused mass of
flying horsemen, and they spread across the valley.
In the gorge and on the hills beyond many were
captured. Here the Indiana-Ohio raid practically
ended although Morgan himself was not captured
here, but, with a small part of his men, escaped and
fled nearly to Lake Erie, being captured at New
Lisbon. Colonel Allen tells of an amusing incident
which happened with his detail of prisoners, im-
mediately after their capture, which illustrates the
fraternal feeling which manifested itself numberless
times during the Civil War.

"The prisoners and guards rested for a few minutes
on the river bank, all gazing wistfully at the water. It
must be borne in mind that both Morgan's and Hobson's
command had been in the saddle for about three weeks,
during all of which time we had ridden in the clouds of
dust which our thousands of horses raised on the country
roads in midsummer, and these dust clouds were so dense
that at times it was impossible for the rider to see his
horse's ears. It can readily be understood that under
these circumstances a bath would be most desirable.

"As we sat on the river bank, first one man, then an-
other, asked permission to go to the water's edge and
wash his face, till soon about one-half of the men, both

324 Historic Indiana

Union and Confederates, were at the river's edge washing
their faces and digging dust out of their eyes, ears, and
nostrils. This proved to be such a half-way sort of busi-
ness, and so unsatisfactory, that the men asked permission
to go in swimming. Recognizing the merit of this request,
I gave permission for one-half the prisoners and one-half
the guards to go in swimming together, the other half to
stand by and take their turn. Soon both 'Yankees' and
'Johnnies' were splashing in the water together, enjoying
the most necessary bath they ever had in all their lives.
The first detachment having completed their scrubbing,
the second detachment took their turn. While the men
were bathing, one of the Confederate officers turned to
me, and pointing to the naked soldiers in the water said,
'It is difficult to tell t'other from which.' I quickly agreed
with him as I was at that moment debating in my mind
whether there was any danger of 'getting the babies
mixed,' but a glance at the line of men in dusty blue on
the shore with their Spencer carbines reassured me and I
permitted the boys to gambol in the water to their heart's
content.

"After the baths the guards shared the fried chicken
in their haversacks with the prisoners, and we spread
ourselves out on the grass under the shade of the trees,
in regular picnic fashion, resting and waiting for orders." ^

During the raid General Morgan's losses in killed
and wounded were two hundred and fifty men, and
twenty-eight commissioned officers killed and thirty-
five wounded. The loss on the Union side was two
hundred killed and three hundred w^ounded. The raid
had lasted but a few days, leaving a blackened, devas-
tated trail across the summer landscape and across
the hearts of loving friends North and South whose

1 Allen, Col. T. F., "A Thousand-Mile Horse Race," Trottwood's
Monthly, 1907.

Indiana as Affected by the Civil War 325

dear ones fell in the fight for the invasion of the enemy's
country or the defence and protection of their homes.

After this invasion, the men of Indiana who were
called out for the little brush, as the raiders called
it, returned to their homes and the Governor directed
a more permanent and effective organization of the
militia, especially along the Ohio River. There, bus-
iness places were to be closed after three o'clock, so
that able-bodied citizens might meet and drill, for
not less than two hours each day, to be prepared for
any further raid.

It seems strange that in this late war the question
of navigation on the Mississippi River should again
come up, after a quietude of sixty years, but it cer-
tainly was a disturbing feature in 1864. The sympa-
thizers with the South, living in the Northwest, had
encouraged the emissaries from the South to think
that those States might join with the Confederacy.
Overtures to this effect had passed between them.
The control of the mouth of the Mississippi River was
in the hands of the Confederates. Railroads were
not yet universal and this was used by the disaffected
element as an argument that the interests of the
Northwest were identified with those of the South.
Governor Morton recognized this influence on political
opinion in Indiana and the conquest of the Mississippi
became, in his eyes, a matter of supreme importance.
This conquest was accomplished by Grant's campaign
at Vicksburg, and the ultimate extinction of the Con-
federate control of the Mississippi. The gaining con-
trol of that highway of commerce, the banishment of
Morgan's raiders, and the breaking up of the treason-
able organization of Sons of Liberty were the closing
scenes of the drama of internal dissensions in Indiana.

326 Historic Indiana

The war was prosecuted to its close beyond the borders
of the State. The remainder of the struggle meant a
consuming anxiety on the part of those who awaited
tidings of battle, the sorrow for lost ones, the prayers
for the absent, and the joys of victory. When peace
was declared in June, 1865, the Indiana boys in blue
began returning to Indianapolis to be mustered out
of service. Loving parents and wives came up to
the capital to welcome them home. The clouds of
war were lifted and bells rang out in jubilee over the
return of peace. As the long lines of soldiers marched
up the streets, tears of joy and shouts of pride greeted
the battered battle flags; but always, among the
throng, silent and pathetic in their black robes of
woe, were they who mourned for their loved ones
who never would return. "Deaf to the welcoming
shouts, blind to the rejoicing crowd, they saw shad-
owy figures following the flag, and dim faces that
would smile no more." The living were welcomed
home with universal joy, the dead were remembered
with unspeakable sorrow. But the sorrow was in-
dividual; the joy was general, for the country was
saved! — the country that above all others was the
hope, and is the hope, of the world. No more South,
no more North, no more bickering about slavery.
An undivided country, and in time a united country.
In a third of a century the scars of dissension had
healed even in Indiana.

CHAPTER XV

PICTURESQUE INDIANA

TO the traveller who sees Indiana from the car
window only, the State may seem uninteresting.
Railways run along the lines of least resistance
and through the most productive but not the most
picturesque regions, and the endless stretches of wav-
ing corn grow monotonous to the tourist ; but there is
another point of view. Should you journey about
the state with a naturalist, in each neighborhood you
would find attractive places worthy of a special excur-
sion. There is natural beauty of scenery hidden away
in many sequestered spots only short drives from the
main line of travel. There is hardly a spot in the
State, says Mr. Nicholson, that touches the imagi-
nation with a sense of power or grandeur, and yet there
are countless scenes of quiet beauty. The early
writers of Indiana all sang of the beauty of forest
and stream, of the birds and flowers that surroimded
them.

In the northern tier of counties, toward Lake Mich-
igan, or bordering on the sinuous Kankakee, over a
thousand little lakes are nestled among the farms of
that region. For many years sportsmen and summer
tourists, from far and near, have frequented these
waters for pleasure and sport. Herds of wild game

327

328 Historic Indiana

and birds, and shoals of fish, have been taken from
these haunts.

The topography of the middle and southern coun-
ties differs from the lake districts, and there are many
picturesque places along the watercourses of these
sections. The rivers of Indiana have ceased to be
used for commerce, since railroads usurped trans-
portation, but a boating trip on any of the beautiful
streams repays one during a summer holiday. Along
their banks the enormous soft maples, elms, and
sycamores stand like giant sentinels white and far
reaching, casting long afternoon shadows over the shal-
low waters. In no other way can one realize the
wild beauty of the Tippecanoe, the Mississinewa,
the Whitewater, the Wabash, or the countless small
creeks and streams which flow into that river and
the Ohio. The English cover the placid Thames with
pleasure craft, and write verses to the gentle stream
that they prize so dearly; but the Hoosiers have a
world of sylvan beauty lying within their domain
unexplored, save by the immediate neighborhood
people. There are no less than a hundred and thirty
named creeks flowing into the twelve rivers of Indi-
ana; besides many smaller streams which feed these
creeks. All of these waters, somewhere in their course,
flow through picturesque ravines, and gorges hung
with vines and ferns. Wild flowers cluster along the
banks and, as has been pictured, all about the splen-
did elm trees stand, and stately green thorn trees fling
their delicate fern-like foliage athwart the gray and
white spotted boles of the tall leaning sycamores.
Many of these streams rush along stony rapids, and
plunge over cliffs, making waterfalls imposing in their
grandeur. The banks are miniature canyons, which

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Picturesque Indiana 329

astonish one who approaches them from the level
farms above.

"A hidden host of chiming springs
Like countless harps with silver strings
■ Are singing songs eternal.

Like clustered chords of sweeping sound

Adown the pebbly ledges
The loosened waters laugh and bound
To splash the swaying sedges." ^

These living springs were known and frequented by
the Indians, when the wilderness was theirs. Around
the sparkling pools were the trading-points where
groups of red men and white traders met to barter skins
of fur-bearing animals for ammunition and trinkets.
The aborigines are gone from their old hatints, but
the beautiful springs of water still flow for the traveller.
An old settler revisits his native State and rejoices that
now as of old the banks of the Wabash are lined with
the richest verdure, wild flowers intermingle with the
tall grass. Blossoms of wild plum, hawthorn, dogwood,
and red-bud make the air redolent with their familiar
perfume. The prairies, rich beyond belief, for which
the speech of England has no name — gardens of the
desert — the imshom fields, are still boundless and
beautiful.

Some of the beauty of southern Indiana clusters
about the entrances to numerous caves, to be found
in a half-dozen counties in the limestone area. Here
numberless sink -holes occur; through the fissures of
many of them, adventurers have penetrated into the
underground caverns beneath. Doubtless there are
undiscovered caves throughout that region ; some that

« Stein, Evaleen, Fugitive Pieces.

330 Historic Indiana

are known are unexplored. The entrances to some
of the larger caves are wildly beautiful. The rugged
vine-wreathed approaches to their mysterious cav-
ernous depths are framed in a jungle of evergreens
and ferns. Of the picturesque opening into Porter's
cave in Owen County, which makes it, alone, reason
for a pilgrimage to the place, the State geologist says
that it is the most beautifiil of any that he has visited
in his journeys through the State. It is in the side
of a hill at the head of a narrow canyon, which has
been eroded by the stream which flows from the
cavern. This stream falls perpendicularly thirty feet
from the floor of the cave to the bottom of the gulch.
"The rock down which the water flows is covered
with moss, and in the early mom, when the sunbeams
light up the interior of the cave for a distance of
seventy-five or more feet and the waters glisten and
sparkle from the background, the scene is a most
entrancing one." ^ This cave may be traversed eight
or nine hundred feet. The entrance to Shawnee cave,
located in Lawrence County, is also surrounded by
scenery of marvellous beauty. In Crawford County,
among the rugged hills between the Ohio and Blue
rivers, are Marengo and Wyandotte caves, which are
natural caverns of immense dimensions; the latter
second only to Mammoth cave in extent and beauty.
Marengo was discovered in 1883, is nearly four thou-
sand feet in extent, and is noted, as also is Shiloh
cave, for the number and brilliancy of the interior
chambers, glittering with myriads of beautiful stalac-
tites. Wyandotte may have been the resort of the
natives during the stone age, and was well known

' Blatchley, W. S., Gleanings from Nature, page 105. Indianap-
olis, 1899.

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Picturesque Indiana 331

to the later Indians, who used some of the large dry
chambers in which to store their seed corn. The
vaulted domes and great apartments, vast in size and
colossal in height, its fluted columns supporting the
arched roof, give the interior the appearance of an
immense cathedral. It contains large deposits of
satin-spar, nitre, epsom salts, and plaster of paris.
The running streams and dry tortuous paths, the
enormous stalactites and stalagmites, crystal and
glittering, sometimes reaching seventy f^et in cir-
cumference, make scenes of beauty quite unsuspected
from the surface above. A description of one of
the Indiana caves would not answer for all. They
vary in extent, in the loftiness of their interiors,
and in brilliancy; but in most of them, we are told,
the roof and sides of the chambers are studded
with pendants of glittering water-tipped carbonate
of lime, that flash in the light of a torch like jewels
of crystal. As with many other things in Indiana
the caves have not been exploited and advertised to
attract tourists.

The mineral springs of Orange, Martin, Morgan,
Warren, Owen, and other counties of Indiana are well
worth a journey for the enjoyment of their environ-
ment. These "licks " were well known to the Indians,
and the waters have long been regarded as valuable
for their medicinal qualities. Indeed, as cures, the
Indiana springs are only on the threshold of their
history; they are steadily becoming celebrated spas.

The Switzerland of Indiana is in the country along
the Ohio -River. In that part of the State the scenery
is, in many localities, beautiful. The drives and
walks about Madison, Hanover College, Vevay,
and other southern towns are unsurpassed in the

332 Historic Indiana

Middle West. In all of these counties, there are
picturesque retreats worth a journey to see them.

Among the pleasures of driving in different parts
of the State, is the coming upon the old mills which
were such an essential feature of the early settlement.
Many of these old buildings still stand between the
placid mill-race and the necessary stream, which winds
about through the hills, and is crossed by the pictur-
esque bridges. These old mills are tucked away in
the valleys, or hang over the falls, where one comes
upon them unexpectedly at a turn in the road. They
are set amidst the most charming scenery, making
one long to stop and stay through the golden October
days. Nowhere else may the beauty and gorgeousness
of the forest trees in their autumn foliage be so in-
timately known and enjoyed, as around these old
mill sites. Here the stream makes its windings,
past steep bluffs and sloping banks, covered with
primeval oaks, maples, and walnut trees, clothed in
their scarlet and gold. To the busy man who has
known these nooks in childhood days, there is no
greater joy than to return from life's round of cares
and renew his youth in the old valley. The mystical
haze of autumn mellows the brilliant sunshine and
gaudy coloring of the foliage. The squirrel still scolds
him, as in days of yore, for gathering the nuts on his
preserves. He browses on the wild grapes and black
haws, and thinks with Mr. Howells who recalled years
afterward in historic old Venice, when he heard the
market boy cry his wares 'neath the Rialto Bridge,

" ' Mulberries! fine mulberries here.' "
Though I hardly should count these mulberries dear
If I paid three times the price for my pleasure.

The Clifty Falls, near Madison, Indiana.

Picturesque Indiana 333

For you know, old friend, I have n't eaten

A mulberry, since the ignorant joy
Of anything sweet in the mouth could sweeten

All this bitter world for a boy." ^

Native Hoosiers love their woods and wild flowers
and gentle streams, as the old salt loves the sea.
None of Whitcomb Riley's poems express the feelings
of his people more truly than do the verses about
the banks of the creeks, the fields and farms, and
the old swimming-hole. Evaleen Stein — who is pre-
eminently the Hoosier poet of the green meadows, the
grassy road-sides, the shimmering streams, the mys-
terious marshes, the beautiful birds and the dim
forests which she claims as "the sweet familiar things
of the ever dearest home-lands," voices the feelings
of the true Indianian, in the next line, "I think those
fields are fairer than any anywhere." ^

From any one of the towns it is not far to the woods,
and it has always been part of the life of the children
to wander forth on holdiays and get into the real
country ; gathering wild flowers or nuts, as the season
happens to afford ; exploring the old rail fence corners,
where the wild cherry and the elder bushes grow,
where the ground -cherries and the sassafras are found,
under the wild-rose tangle; and a boy may be sure of
arousing a rabbit or a Bob-white. Sitting on the old
worm-fence, watching the wrens and thrushes flitting
in and out, intent on family cares, many a Hoosier
youth has planned the career that he determined,
then, should be his. Many a comely maiden has
dreamed of the future awaiting her, as she filled her
basket with blackberries, where the vines had clam-

' Howells, Wm. D., Poems.

2 Stein, Evaleen, Among the Trees Again. Indianapolis, 1902.

334 Historic Indiana

bered over the old "stake and riders." This home
of the golden -rod and sumach is fast passing from
the roadsides; but the picturesque fences, with their
neglected comers of lovely wild things, will live in
the memory of the native of the West. It is the same
with the great forests, and the love they inspire in the
Hoosier breast: as Miss Dunn felt marooned in a
bleak prairie town she fell to dreaming of an Indiana
woodland, musical with birds and the singing of a peb-
bly brook ; arrow-grass edged the bank ; yellow, w^axen
buttercups gleamed near. A great mottled sycamore
leaned over a deep pool splendid with shiners. Some
frogs croaked farther down the bank, and opposite,
a billow of ferns were reflected daintily on the surface.
Some magnificent beeches and splendid oaks, on a
little knoll beyond, threw deep shadows that called
to comfort on the mossy beds and leafy carpets of
the natural groves of old Indiana. It is the beauty
of these woodland scenes that looks forth from the
canvases of artists like Bundy, and there is little
wonder that the impression of the forests and fields
is present in the writings of Hoosiers. Surely nowhere
outside of the tropics was there a greater profusion
of wild flowers, ferns, and trees than on the hills and
valleys and over the plains of this State. The mag-
nificence of the primeval forests of Indiana is a matter
of history. The present "dweller in the land " cannot
fully realize their vastness, well wooded as it still
may seem to them.

As the State slopes toward Lake Michigan the
forests grow light, until there are only straggling
oaks, and undergrowth; but other beauties of nature
compensate here for the products of a more fertile
soil. It is a peculiar country, — a succession of shel-

One of the Gorges of Montgomery County.

Picturesque Indiana 335

tered prairies, rounded sand hills and reedy marshes,
interspersed with quiet lakes and by a net-work of
sluggish streams. The lakes in northern Indiana,
writes Mr. Blatchley, are the brightest gems in the
corona of the State. They are the most beautiful
and expressive features of the landscape, in the region
wherein they abound. Numbered by hundreds, they
range in size from an area of half an acre up to five
and a half square miles. The whole number of these
pretty lakes cannot be less than one thousand. They
were caused by glacial action and are scattered over
the fourteen or fifteen northern counties. Their depth
varies in different localities from five to one hun-
dred and twenty feet. Many of them have groups of
cottages, hotels, and club-houses around their shores.
Some are still without settlements. On their banks,
adds Mr. Blatchley, one can pitch his tent with no
fear of invading the privacy of some cottage. Over
its deeper pools he can troll or cast for black bass,
with the assurance that he will cause that gamy
denizen to rise and strike, or alongside the weed-
covered bars he can at times pull in blue-gill, catfish,
ringed perch, and warmouth at fast as he can bait
his hooks. Still farther in the northwestern part
of the State, the swamps that are tributary to the
Kankakee River covered half a million acres be-
fore the modem scheme of drainage was begun.
These swamps have been the paradise of the sports-
man, and are still visited by hundreds of hunters
in the duck-shooting season. Most of the hunting
is done in boats poled along in the current, or pushed
about among the reeds. If approached from the
plain, the huntsman is in danger of losing his way
in the interminable swamp, or of getting in beyond

336 Historic Indiana

his depth, in the soft ooze of the marsh. It is a weird
landscape of vast stretches of land, covered with
tall grass and prairie flowers, almost impenetrable
because the soil is like a sponge. Through this great
area of lowland the beautiful little river bends about
as it winds its slender way through the wide marsh.
A river is known to be there, writes Mr. Ball — the
blue lines of trees marking its course can be discerned
from the prairie heights; but only occasionally in
mid-winter or in a time of great drought can one come
near its water channel. So far as any ordinary access
to it from Lake County is concerned, it is like a fab-
ulous river, or one the existence of which we take on
trust.

"Ah, surely one would never guess
That through that tangled wilderness,
Through those far forest depths remote,
Lay any smallest path, much less
A way wherein to guide a boat." ^

The banks of the river itself are bordered by trees,
hung with vines and filled with singing birds. Floating
dreamily down the stream, under the depths of its
shade the idle angler looks through the trees and
across the marsh, and recalls Evaleen Stein's descrip-
tion of the scene:

' ' And now and then a wild bird flies

From hidden haunts among the reeds ;
Or, faintly heard, a bittern cries

Across the tasselled water-weeds ;
Or floating upward from the green
Young willow wands, with sunny sheen
On pearly breast, and wings outspread,
A white crane journeys overhead.

« Stein, Evaleen, One Way to the Woods, page 21. Boston, 1898.

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Picturesque Indiana 337

For leagues on leagues no sign is there

Of any snare
For human toil, nor grief nor care;

The fields for bread lie other-where.
Only the wild rice, straight and tall.

The wild race waving over all." ^

The lover of solitude and sylvan joys may set his canoe
on the shaded waters of the Mississinewa, or drop
down the shallow sparkling Tippecanoe, or hunt the
course of Lost River, for pleasures unalloyed by sound
of trade. He may take a tramp over the rugged hills
of Brown, or ramble along the route of the old canal,
the while he recalls the vanished travellers who once
glided past the woodland beauty that still borders
the old towpath. If in search of the grandeur of
nature, he may rove through the stretches of primeval
forest in Montgomery County, misnamed the Shades
of Death. There naught but a feeling of exultation
in the mysterious beauty comes to the beholder ; may
within the boundaries of his own State enjoy tranquil
sojourns made interesting in the exploration of hidden
nooks of untold beauty. He may renew his youth
by long tramps through the fields of waving grain or
under the shadows of trees, where the singing of
birds invites to joys undreamed of by the tourist
who knows Indiana scenery only from the highways
of travel.

> Stein, Evaleen, One Way to the Woods— poem, "The Marshes."
Boston, 1898.
22

CHAPTER XVI

AN INDIANA TYPE

A BIOGRAPHICAL sketch of a native Indianian,
who was representative of a class of citizens
in that State, is given here to show another
element that entered into the settlement of the com-
monwealth. The typical Hoosier of dialect stories is
known to all. Among those who were bom amid the
crude conditions of frontier life, there was another
class of men and women. These people maintained
the traditions of their ancestry amidst the rude sur-
roundings and scarce educational advantages. They
grew up in the wilderness, but became the public-
spirited citizens who stood not only for law and order
on the border, but for the gentle graces of social life,
w^hen the neighborhoods developed into villages and
cities.

The characteristics of this type of Americans, where-
ever found, were the love of country and of religious
liberty, a deep pervading sense of the priceless value
of education and every means of culture; with the
desire to establish equal opportunity for all. There
was about them a true knightly quality of noblesse
oblige. They were reformers without being visionary,
for they w^ere the active men of affairs. The frank
manner, erect figure, sterling integrity, betokened the

338

An Indiana Type 339

high-bred gentleman and man of action. This type
had representatives in every section.

The number of these citizens in Indiana was not
small, but even smallness of number never deterred
such men and women from initiative in movements
of progress toward their high ideal for the individual
and the country. Unfettered by Old World conditions,
they saw the opportunity of the New World, and
each bore his personal part of the responsibilities. It
was of such that Lowell said in his immortal ode
concerning Lincoln :

" For him her Old- World moulds aside she threw,
And, choosing sweet clay from the breast

Of the unexhausted West,
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new,
Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true.

The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man,
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,
New birth of our new soil, the first American."

Albert Henderson was one of this class who wrought
without thought of rewards or honors. He was bom
within the territory on the tenth of January, the year
before it was admitted into the Union. His father
was of Carolina Quaker stock; and his mother came
of Southern blood, tracing their ancestry through
colonial service back to Scotch-Irish distinction in
past history. Albert Henderson embodied the elements
of this combination of lineage, and showed it through-
out his life. The Quaker grandparents had come to
the new territory because of their convictions in
opposition to slavery, but they were possessed of lands
and chattels as that frugal people is apt to be. His
mother's family had always owned slaves, but came

340 Historic Indiana

away from their kindred and people for the same
reason. Her forefather, Robert Orr, the founder of
the American line, had served as a colonel in the
Revolutionary War, with seven sons in the service,
and the little grandson, who afterward emigrated to
Indiana, was a powder-maker to the Carolina forces.

In 1811, this branch of the family left South Car-
olina with a party of relatives and neighbors, who had
determined to cast in their lot with a free State. After
the long journey over mountains and down the rivers,
they settled in the Whitewater Valley. Here they
took up tracts of forest lands, and here, a little later,
one daughter married the Quaker John Henderson,
who had been suspended "from meeting" for serving
in the War of 1812, but whose family life, and training,
continued in that simple faith.

It was easy to trace the heritage of such antece-
dents in the character and bearing of their son, Al-
bert. His simple tastes, his courtly old-time manner,
his ardent patriotism, his craving for knowledge, his
own correct life, with its gentle tolerance of others'
shortcomings, all told plainly of the combination of
the proud Southern blood with the Quaker strain,
and he was as attached to the one family history as
to the other.

Mr. Henderson's life may be considered as rep-
resentative of the careers of those Western men who
were his contemporaries. At sixteen years of age
he was apprenticed, and learned to be a "master
builder." He built many of the important buildings,
and residences, in his part of the State. He drew his
own plans and made the specifications. He moulded
the brick in his own brick-yards, and burned the lime
in his own lime-kilns. His own workmen reared the

Albert Henderson.

An Indiana Type 341

walls, plastered the interior, and put on the carpenter's
finish. Complete from "plans to occupancy" was his
enterprising announcement. The construction was
sound and meant to last. Many of those buildings
are still standing, a monument to honest work. In
later life he took up the stone and granite business,
but at all times he was a farmer. The love of the soil,
a passion for seeing things grow, a knowledge of rear-
ing live stock, and the Anglo-Saxon wish for lands
made him a persistent farmer, although he never lived
on a farm after his childhood days. Covington, in
Fountain County, was one of the rising river towns.
before the railroad innovation, when Mr. Henderson
settled there, and his early manhood was identified
with that section, and he w^as a member of the first
Town Council of Covington after its incorporation.
There he married a wife from the Ristine family, who
came into the State with the earliest settlers. Her
useful life closed within a few years.

Mr. Henderson was a man of indomitable energy,
great initiative, and extremely enterprising for the
times. Old settlers are fond of telling how he and
his workmen built a house for a farmer near the
Wabash while obliged to wait for the river to rise, so
they could proceed on their journey to New Orleans
with a flotilla of lime boats and lumber with which
they had started to market.

He was a man of commanding presence, and noble
bearing, with the manners of the old time. He had
a keen sense of humor, without any of the buffoon-
ery of the border. While making no pretensions to
oratory he was an excellent speaker and presiding
officer, to which duty he was often called in his
community.

342 Historic Indiana

In 1844, he married Lorana, the daughter of Dr.
John Lambert Richmond, one of the pioneer surgeons
of IndianapoHs. Dr. Richmond was a very original
man, of great talent, and possessed a mind enriched
by years of study and investigation. In this union
of Southern and Northern families, on Indiana soil,
the life of Mr. Henderson is again typical of the West.
Lorana Richmond was of New England-New York
parentage, and of English descent, with an historic
ancestry from the days of the Conqueror to colonial
settlement, and through Revolutionary service in
Massachusetts and New York. The marriage was an
ideal one, uniting two persons who had the same
noble aspirations and aims in life. She was a woman
of judgment, wide reading, conservative tempera-
ment, and graciously hospitable. The home which
these young people set up was ever full of good cheer
and hospitality. Visitors from far and near, relatives,
pensioners, ministers, educators, and lecturers of note
filled the house at different seasons and on various
occasions. In the town, Albert Henderson and his
helpmeet were always identified with the charities
and philanthropic endeavors. By her kindly min-
istrations, her baskets of food, and flowers, and the
sheltering home offered in time of need or sorrow,
his wife was as his other self in helpfulness in this
community.

In the church it was Deacon Henderson, and he
was ever the "right-hand man" to the minister.
Educational advantages for every child was his life
maxim. He maintained a private school for his own
family and the immediate neighborhood. While he
was a young man, and before he had children of his
own, the great struggle for free public schools through-

An Indiana Type 343

out the State came up, and Mr. Henderson was one
of the staunchest supporters of Caleb Mills and his
coterie of helpers, in their long agitation for enact-
ments to further universal education. These friends
of free schools, in his district, called conventions, and
organized a circuit of county meetings, over which he
presided and which he also addressed. This group
of men won their victory with the adoption of the new
State Constitution in 185 1, and continued to agitate
for increased facilities.

In the early days the use of alcoholic drinks in the
West was very general and was clearly leading into
widespread drunkenness, most threateningly disastrous
it seemed to the minds of temperate citizens. From
this foreboding sprang the "Washingtonian movement,"
which swept the country. Mr. Henderson cast his
influence with the movement and, being a teetotaler
during his life, always co-operated fearlessly with the
temperance work.

Covington was a very thriving town in those days,
with the lively commerce of the new canal and river,
and eclipsed the capital of the State in business pros-
pects. In the village there was a coterie of young
men, who had settled there because of the flattering
business outlook. Many of them became famous
afterwards in State and national politics. Such
men as Senator Edward Hannegan, Judge Ristine,
Daniel Voorhees, David Briar, Daniel Mace, and Lew
Wallace resided in the town, with others equally honor-
able, but who attained less fame. Mr. Henderson
was associated with these men in a lyceum and
literary club, with the object of sharpening their
own wits, in tilts against each other, and for the
purpose of bringing noted lecturers to the town for

344 Historic Indiana

the benefit of the general pubHc, and to sustain a
town Hbrary. Like other pioneers he was deprived
of early advantages, except for the winter term of the
district school, but he never lost a moment's oppor-
tunity to improve himself. He kept up his studies
until long past middle life; poring over books of
history, biography, travel, mathematics, philosophy,
and science, making his own crude experiments in
physics and chemistry by improvised methods, like
Isaac Watts with his teakettle. He w^as up before
daylight, for the real study was during the morning
hour. His children never remember having seen him
abed, in all their earlier years. The training which
this kind of thoughtful struggle for knowledge gave
him was a thoroughness of education seldom attained
in the schools. As was said of another, "he himself
disclaimed credit for being what is called a self-made
man. It is true that he had his own way to make,
but he began with all the benefits of good ancestry,
and he was, in his phrase, born into an intellectual
atmosphere." His family on both sides had cared
for the things of the spirit, and for learning. Their
advantages were only those of the frontier, but the
love of nature and of books was their continuous
heritage in each generation.

There was something almost pathetic in the quench-
less thirst for learning and respect for education
which this man and others of his type had throughout
life. Judge Darrow says of his own father, in his
great solicitude for the education of his children: "I
could not know why my father took all this trouble
for me to learn my Latin grammar, but I know to-day.
I know that it was the blind persistent effort of the
parent to resurrect his own buried hopes in the greater

An Indiana Type 345

opportunities and broader life that he woiild give his
child."

The early and continued care of others hampered
Mr. Henderson's personal undertakings. Throughout
life, he kept his own ambitions within possible attain-
ment, consistent with his duties to those in his care;
but for his children and his wards, his own sacrifices
made it possible for them to have advantages that
he had missed. He carried his youngest brother and
five other youths in a wagon, overland, to Franklin
College, and installed them there for their " schooling,"
the best to be had in that day. For many years he
contributed to this school, and was a member of the
Board of Trustees until his death.

Like many of the pioneer boys brought up in the
country, he had a knowledge of trees and woodcraft,
all sorts of wise intimacies with nature, a practical
knowledge of live stock and crops, which made him
a successful farmer, although an "absentee." He had
a genuine love of the soil and all growing things.
Until his last days he took great pleasure in making
children acquainted with trees and shrubs, with the
flavor of wild strawberries and the tang of the wild
grapes. To take a group of little ones to the woods
for a nutting expedition, or for spring flowers, to show
them where to find paw-paws and his favorite black
haws, to let them wade in the creek, and learn the
habits of birds — all this was a perennial source of joy
to him and to them. He could not bear to have them
grow up without the close contact with nature which
had been the joy of his youth.

Next to his care for his father's and afterwards
his own family, and wards, Mr. Henderson took a
most vital interest in civic and state affairs and was

346 Historic Indiana

a man who made known his convictions by his
efforts to better things. He exerted his energies to
influence others, who were bound by narrow views,
prejudices, and indifference in educational and civic
affairs. He was of Southern family and their dislike
of slavery, which had impelled them to leave that
environment, and journey to free soil, had descended
to him; but in early life he was a Democrat in pol-
itics. The struggle over the extension of slavery was
approaching. His father-in-law, Dr. Richmond, who
had retired from his medical practice at Indianapolis,
and was living with him, was an ardent colonizationist,
and a member of the circle who carried on the "under-
ground railway." He would often say, after reading
the discussions in Congress, "I shall not live to see it,
but the storm will be upon us soon." It came within
a half-dozen years. Together, the old and the young
man discerned the cloud that was settling over the
nation. In the new alignment of forces, those Dem-
ocrats who regarded slavery with horror joined the
new Republican party, as did Governor Morton and
many leaders of men. Sorrowfully Mr. Henderson
left the party of his youth, and voted with the new
one looking towards the abolition of slavery. By
this time national events moved rapidly towards the
crisis of '6i, and the future confirmed him in the stand
he had taken.

From the time Sumter was fired upon, through
all the years of that sad war, Mr. Henderson, with
the men and women who held to the staunch principles
of universal rights, sav/ troublous times in Indiana.
These men who held for the Union were the strength
and support of their great war governor. They were
tireless in their efforts to uphold his hands and give

An Indiana Type ' 347

him the encouragement he so much needed. These
citizens gave their personal services, forwarded sup-
pHes, donated quantities of food, clothing, delicacies
for the sick, books, and hospital necessities. Every
passing regiment on its way to the war was fed ; and
men went to the front to bring back the wounded to
be cared for at home. The largest part of this labor
of love was done at the capital, but every county and
town constantly contributed men, women, and funds
for the work. In the central and southern districts
of Indiana many of the people were of Southern ex-
traction, and, naturally perhaps, sided with the South.
Loyal men, who had been lifelong Democrats, like
Mr. Henderson, now devoted much of their energies
towards reclaiming this element to loyalty. Knowing
many of them personally, their family history, and
their previous record, he went to scores of them during
the darkest days of the war, trying to persuade them
to see the right, denouncing their disloyalty and
dispersing their mistaken following. Mr. Henderson,
and the men of like convictions, would ride all night
to disband a traitorous organization. No complete
roll of honor has been kept of those men and women
who helped the cause at home. Their name was
legion. In every village, hamlet, and town, both
North and South, the people who waited and watched
at home worked and suffered for the firing line. Their
reward had to be a consciousness of duty performed,
as they could reach it ; and (in the North) the triumph
of the cause they held to be just and right. The San-
itary Commission aids, the hospital supply workers,
sewing societies, and the men who quietly aided
Governor Morton, were effective forces which he felt
were backing him in the struggle at home and in the

348 Historic Indiana

field. Of this element were Albert Henderson and
his wife. With their neighbors they spared neither
labor, funds, nor time. This whole group of citizens
devoted the years to continuous service for the troops
and the cause.

During the anxious war time, financial disaster
had come to the subject of our sketch. Not from
personal failure, but from "going surety for others."
It was before the day of bond companies, and every
land-holder was apt to be asked to go on paper. As
John Clay said in his father's biography, "one helped
another, and this man backed many a worthless note.
He took his losses good-naturedly and the friendship
continued." So with Albert Henderson — it w^as his
one vice. He was always helping some one else to
his own inconvenience, and the failing he never over-
came. In the sixties it caused the crowning regret
of his life. He had sacrificed the accumulated property
of years of labor to cancel these security accounts,
and in justice to those dependent upon him, he could
not enlist in the army. Not to go to the front during
the war caused his patriotic heart many sorrowful
and weary nights. Because of these losses he declined
to represent his district in Congress, saying that if
he could leave home it must be for the "line of battle."

Although faithful at the primaries, and conscientious
about his ballot, he never held political office. Near
the close of the war, after paying his large indebted-
ness, and readjusting his financial affairs, he moved
to Lafayette and henceforth his life was passed in
that community, where he and his wife started anew
in life with limited means, but with the same ideals
and earnest purposes. They went on performing
the duties of the hour as the days brought them forth.

^ An Indiana Type 349

The hopefulness of their youthful start in life could
not be repeated; but the years that followed were
years of usefulness and full of quiet pleasures, of
books, of friendships, and family life.

Mr. Henderson's interest in civic affairs, in edu-
cational movements, and public questions continued
unabated during life, and he was always abreast of
the times. Besides many benefactions, he was a
"building and loan association" to all of his steadily
employed workmen. By his accommodation and
foresight for them, they all built homes for themselves.

When Mr. Henderson was over seventy years of
age he wrote: "I have enjoyed my reveries of silent
planning for the wrong-doer, for the homeless, and
the enforced idleness of those who say, 'because no
man hath hired us ' ; in planning for co-operative
labor, as a cure for the cry against monopolies and
capital, and sometimes in directing spiritual work.
But having no time to spare, and not being inclined
to leadership, I have tried to content myself by advis-
ing individuals as they come in my way ; starting and
encouraging young people to qualify for business, by
a word, or the small loan of means for a beginning."
This "small loan of means" meant a hearthstone and
home for many an employee.

Mr. Henderson was for a number of years president
of the Tippecanoe Fair Association and took an active
part in the development of farming and live-stock
interests.

During the last years of his life a rash young clergy-
man, with the instincts of a pope, proposed to the
congregation of the Baptist church, of which Mr.
Henderson was a member, that they adopt a written
creed; which was thereupon produced. The " church

350 Historic Indiana

meeting" had taken it up and were discussing the
proposition, to which Mr. Henderson Hstened until
all were through, and the young minister asked, "Are
you ready for the question ? " Here Deacon Hender-
son, for whose opinions all had such respect, arose
and gravely said:

"My young brother and friends, in these days when
the whole religious world is 'groaning and travailling
in pain' trying to rend asunder the bands of their
creeds, which are their heritage of the past, and an
incubus to their present life and growth, it impresses
me as a very dangerous and unnecessary proceeding
for a congregation in a denomination w^hich has always
boasted freedom from any creed, save the New Testa-
ment, to foist upon itself and load itself down with
one, at this late day. Brethren, I move that the
proposition be laid upon the table, and that we adjourn
with the singing of ' Praise God from whom all blessings
flow.'" In which all joined, and went out wiser and
better for his clear vision and foresight.

At the last week-night meeting of the church that
he was ever able to attend, he arose and spoke of
"two articles which have come to my notice during
the last fortnight. One is the account in a current
magazine of the great work being accomplished by
the Salvation Army under General Booth and the
vast good being done by that noble band, whose work
at first was like our Saviour's, so 'despised and re-
jected of men.' The other is a little book on charity,
or love, written by Henry Drummond, and called
The Greatest Thing in the World. I have not strength
to comment on their usefulness to you, but I commend
them to you for your careful and prayerful reading."

In closing this sketch of the everyday career of a

An Indiana Type 351

representative Western man, who was a type of the
best citizenship of Indiana, no tribute could have
been especially written of Albert Henderson more
fitting than the following words of Mr. Howells written
about a man of similar character :

"He had all the distinctive American interest in
public affairs. He was in full sympathy with the
best spirit of his time. His conscience was as sensitive
to public wrongs and perilous tendencies, as to private
and personal conduct. He voted with strong con-
victions and labored with tender love for all. It was
a life beneficent to every other life that it touched,
and of the most essential human worth, charm of
character, and truest manhood. His admirable mind,
the natural loftiness of his aims, his instinctive sym-
pathy w4th every noble impulse and human endeavor,
his fine intellectual grasp of every question, all made
for him friends of the best men and women of his
time and neighborhood."

Of the influence of heredity, from both parents and
their ancestry, and of the development of opportunity
in Indiana, for a widened career, no example could be
found more illustrative than in the life of Charles
Richmond Henderson, the son of the subject of this
sketch; whose useful life closed on March the 29th,

1915.

As was said of William Rathbone and his father:

"But for the incidents of birth and death, they might
seem, at least on a cursory view which ignored the
differences of individuality and power, to be but a
single life extended over two generations." Mr. Hen-
derson was born in Indiana, December 17, 1848; and
his years were spent in the Middle West. He was
pastor of the Baptist Church in Terre Haute and

352 Historic Indiana

afterwards in Detroit. From the beginning of its his-
tory, in 1892, he was Professor of Sociology in the Uni-
versity of Chicago, and its Chaplain. But his work
reached out toward Europe and the Orient. His
influence was felt in International Councils wherever
the living questions of Charities, Corrections, Unem-
ployment, Prison Reform, and Labor legislation were
under consideration.

Professionally, his career was shaped by the traits
inherited from his forbears, who had also addressed
themselves to the development of better conditions for
all of the people.

From earliest manhood, the impression that Charles
Henderson made, was that of a man whose sincere
beliefs were seriously carried out. A man who had a
firm hold on the reaHties, a calm energy, stern integrity,
and an instinct of moral balance, as had his father
before him.

His personal characteristics were positive. A natural
student, he loved the seclusion of the library, an inti-
mate association with the scholarship of all ages, and
the agreeable fellowship of poets, philosophers, and the
sages. On the other hand, he possessed to an unusual
degree the scientific qualities of precise observation,
perseverance, and concrete perception. Truth, to him,
must be sought in everything. There was no conflict
if the truth was really the object being attained, or the
aim in view; then, with energy, patience, skill, and
tolerance it must be made a living thing to all humanity;
as a result his life alternated from the study to the field
of labor for mankind.

So mightily did the pressure of what was to be done
in the world possess him, that Mr. Henderson will be
remembered as the Apostle of Work. If his years were

An Indiana Type 353

less than they should have been, it is to be recognized
that he did the work of three men while he lived.

Work was his life — his panacea for disappointment
and sorrow, his refuge in wavering faith and in the
dimning of dogma. If others failed, he must take up
the work of two. If associations were uncongenial,
work must supply the place of companionship. If one
way failed, the problem must be attacked from another
side; patience with persistence must insure success.
One of his colleagues. Dr. Small said of him: "His
was an imperative to labor, but not license to demand
the instant fruits of his labor." What all this effort
was for, has been expressed by the same friend: "He
was sure that a working conception of the right life
would not be seriously at fault if it took, as the main
business of a Christian man, steadfast endeavor to find
out how the world may be made to yield the best
values to the largest number of people, and how the
largest number may co-operate so that they may more
equitably share the world's common achievements."

His mission was to set forth to his generation that
the rapid development of competitive industry had
ruthlessly imposed new conditions of life on the masses
of humanity, and that to prevent industrial anarchy,
men should be willing to act as guides to justice and
order. He toiled to this end. He felt that Industry
has its own greatness and beauty, embodying the
sacred virtue of effort; but that in its headlong pursuit
of gain, the system had displaced law and order, and
acted as an influence for social disintegration, which
all must help to overcome.

To this object he devoted his life. Just a month
before the end, he wrote in a letter to his sisters: "I
wish I could rest a few weeks, but fear I cannot do so,

354 Historic Indiana |

for I have three bills for laws before the Legislature,
and I must push (I have no pull) ; I have the backing
of the best men of the State, but having studied the
problems of unemployment, for several years, I must
see the work through. In June I will rest. My health
is good, but I am so tired. , . . But we must learn to
endure. Duty is sure in any case, and it is good to
know what our duty is and be certain of something,"

These were the last words that he penned to his
family. The flesh was weary but the spirit was valiant,
and on duty his voice rang clear. The bills before the
Legislature referred to here, and his last book, entitled
Citizens in Industry, were finished in the closing days
of life. He passed away in the zenith of his usefulness.

The impression which that life made on his time may
be best learned from his colleagues. Speaking of Dr.
Henderson, Professor Burton said: "Because he lived
among us for two decades, as he lived, we find it easier
to believe. He has put new life into the words of Jesus,
that 'the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto
but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.' We ourselves have seen such a life in the
twentieth century. We love to recall him to-day as an
orator. With what passion, what sweet persuasiveness,
he was wont to speak here, and before large audiences
throughout the country and in other lands. The
students of America, India, China, and Japan delighted
to listen to his words. What he had was strong convic-
tions on great subjects, deep sympathy with his fellow
men, downright sincerity, and a voice singularly ex-
pressive of his great soul."

The United Charities Association in its resolutions
on his death said: "Dr. Henderson has served, not
only his city, but State, Nation, and the world. The

An Indiana Type 355

humanitarian tasks he undertook were manifold, ab-
sorbing, and exhausting. He was an international
authority on subjects related to social, civic, and indus-
trial reform. The world is very much better because he
lived, and other continents than ours also bear witness."

The Association of Commerce entered upon its re-
cords this minute in testimony to the virtue and service
of a citizen of more than ordinary worth : ' ' Professor
Charles R. Henderson's work was the application of
science, guided by heart in the study of the problems of
society, involving the cause and effect of poverty,
crime, unemployment, and the forces contributing to
social injustice and unrest. With tireless and fatal
energy he sought human betterment, with a compassion
enveloping knowledge."

His friend. Dr. Shailer Mathews, recalled "his noble
presence, his invincible good-will, his marvellous voice,
his simplicity of heart, his Christian faith, his uncom-
promising determination to be an investigator before
he was a reformer, and, above all, the sweetness and
spirituality of his manhood made him one from whom to
gain calmness of spirit, courage for service, and patience. ' '

President Judson, of his University, reminded the
students of their honored teacher and said : ' ' Scholar,
teacher, chaplain — in all these fields Charles Richmond
Henderson rendered devoted service to the University —
service inspired not merely by a strong sense of duty
but far more by his burning enthusiasm for humanity.
He was citizen first of all, a scholar and a university
professor as a means to realize his high ideals of citizen-
ship. His sympathies lay first with those who were in
need; it was to their help that he devoted his tireless
energies, his splendid intellect, his tender affection.
His courage was dauntless; he never shrank from the

356 Historic Indiana

penalties of a minority ; he never spared the truth when
his conscience demanded that it be spoken. He was
in the best sense a friend of humanity. His most fitting
monument should be, not marble or bronze, but the
triumph of the causes to which and for which his life |
was given."

As the years passed, in the performance of what he
recognized as his duty, he came to a keen realization
that many of the aggressive certainties have crumbled.
But the firm convictions which remained are of interest
to those who walk in his footsteps.

On positive assurances of belief only his own words
should speak for him. In writing on the subject of
social service and the possible use of the Church to
humanity, he said: "Believers in Christianity will
continue to hold what is here taught, that the spiritual
contents of this faith are, in themselves, the supreme
good of mankind, and it will be generally acknowledged
that a social organization for the propagation of spiri-
tual truth is reasonable and necessary. But the very
fact that the religious life has brought together powerful
social organizations implies corresponding responsi-
bilities. Power means duty, and duty is determined for
the Church by its creed of love and by the needs of
the world in which it is planted. It is not conceivable
that a church can continue to exist with such a creed
and not feel under obligations to use all practicable
means of diminishing the evils connected with pauper-
ism, misery, and crime. The unrest of conscience, the
sense of glaring inconsistency between creed and deed,
and the pressure of educated public opinion force the
Church to take hold of such social problems. " '

' Page 342, Dependents, Defectives, and Delinquents, Heath & Co.,
Boston.

An Indiana Type 357

If. Speaking in Madras, India, to the men of another
race he said: "The life within is the outcome of a
belief that the Will of God, which is in everything, is
pure, righteous, and holy. This is a real belief reflecting
itself in conduct. Social reform in all its branches is
the fruit of the inner life. It has been said that every
Christian should reincarnate Christ. This is not ir-
reverent, it is true. We are under the obligation to be
Christ to our fellow men to the limit of our capacity. "
Addressing the students of his own University he said :
"Let us make as precise a statement of our claim that
the reign of our God is everlasting ; for it seems to many
a bold and unwarranted promise for the future. . . .
Our confidence in the eternity of religion rests on our
rational assurance that a certain spiritual and moral
quality is the essence of the universe in which we live,
of which we form an organic part. . . . We ourselves
do not wish to rest upon a delusion nor to cheat our
reason with pleading fallacies. We are ready to admit
many and serious difficulties and objections, but we
cling to our conviction because it is the only positive
and luminous working hypothesis which brings agree-
ment into our rational life and enables us to act. The
good man is not the one who never has a doubt; but
he is one who determines to act, in spite of all difficulties,
upon the theory that righteousness ought to control;
and he waits for objections to disappear of themselves,
while he does his duty hour by hour. . . . The King-
dom of God is everlasting because it is justice realized,
and righteousness can never pass away. ... It is
permanent because it is essentially vital, ascending,
transforming. . . . The spiritual energy which we call
Christianity is itself the creator of new forms, new
demands, new activities, new situations. Christianity

358 Historic Indiana

— the righteous divine life — is responsible for all the
mental agitation, the invention, the exploration, the
restlessness of scientific curiosity. Surging commotion
in the souls of men is evidence of the working of Chris-
tianity. The Kingdom of God is like leaven, so Jesus
said: 'I make all things new.' There can never come a
time, in any world, where by any possible justice, love,
faith, hope will not be the supreme good of intelligent
spirits. These abide. If we trust to reason at all,
even to expose errors in religious creeds, we must
assume that righteousness is at the foundation of the
world of order. Any other assumption makes the pur-
suit of philosophy, science, action, bereft of moral
quality. . . . Changes of creed are signs of life and
expansion. He who builds on the divine will has
abiding foundations for his immortal hopes. "*

' University Sermons, University of Chicago Press, 1915.

CHAPTER XVII

LETTERS AND ART IN INDIANA

THE prevalence of authorship in the Hoosier
State has occasioned one of its prominent
writers to remark that one is distinguished
in Indiana if he has not appeared in print. Recognizing
the fact of this phase in the development of Indiana's
people, no sketch of the State's growth would be
complete without some notice of the manifestation
of their interest in letters and the arts.

When it is remembered that Hoosiers have hitherto
been of necessity hewers of wood and drawers of
water, that only within the last generation have they
emerged from actual frontier conditions, it will be
evident, to the most casual thinker, that there has
been scant time for artistic development. Mr. Riley
felt and expressed this when he said that our brief
history as a nation, and our finding and founding
and maintaining of it, left our forefathers little time,
indeed, for the delicate cultivation of the arts and
graces of refined and scholarly attainments. Their
attention was absorbed looking toward the protection
of their rude farmhouses and their meagre harvests
from the dread invasion of the Indians. WTien William
Coggeshall published his Anthology of Western poets
in i860, he called attention to the short time which

359

36o Historic Indiana

his collection of verses covered, and said that it had
been a period significant for perilous wars, for hard
work, for amazing enterprises; all of which furnished
materials for literature, but, until the mellowing
influences of time have long been hung over their
history, repel poetry. Very few of these early singers
made literature a profession. It has been noted that
the poets of the West have been lawyers, doctors,
teachers, preachers, mechanics, farmers, editors,
printers, and housekeepers. They have written at
intervals of leisure snatched from engrossing cares
and exacting duties. Their story is touching. The
author of Ben Hur had made his difficult way in the
world as a lawyer, had fought in two wars, served as
governor of a territory, and given much attention
to politics, before he found time to complete his Tale
of the Christ, begun so many years before. Maurice
Thompson wrote his stories between times, while
doing his work in the world as a soldier, civil engineer,
and lawyer. Benjamin Parker was surprised that
the personal experiences in his poems about The
Log Cabin in the Clearing, and other pioneer scenes,
had found readers to exhaust the first edition within
sixty days.

The material development and natural resources
of the West have been exploited until, as an observer
said, there is little wonder if the world has come to
think of that section's ambition as bounded by acres
and bushels and dollars. It is another kind of wealth
and attainment that now arrests attention. In the
individual expression of thought and fancy, on the
canvas and in literature, Indiana is manifesting the
effects of the dawn of more leisure for study, and
what has been termed comparative freedom from

tuo

W
H

(

Letters and Art in Indiana 361

worry about crops and clients. It has been truly
said that an era of business prosperity in the Middle
West means a succeeding era of intellectual activity,
more attention to higher education, more search for
culture, and higher standards of intellectual ability.

Mr. Maurice Thompson calls attention to the youth
of the commonwealth, when comparing her production
to those of older literary centres. He reminds us that
Indiana was only eighty years a State when Old Glory
was written, where New England was two hundred
when Bryant produced Thanatopsis; that Ben Hur
was given to the world less than a century after Clarke
captured Vincennes in the howling wilderness.

It is significant of the extent of the attempt at
literary expression that a sufficient number of talented
people could be assembled within the first half-century
of its settlement to form so flourishing a society for
the advancement of general culture as the Association
of Western Writers. Mr. Hamilton has collected a
full volume, giving only a page to each author, of the
fugitive pieces of Indiana writers; making it seem
that the State had sprung full-handed from pioneer
conditions into literary work. Remembering, then,
the newness of habitation and the dearth of advantages
for culture and instruction in art, the world is prepared
to forgive any lack of constructive skill, of delicacy
of style, of notable development of character, and
of extraordinary literary achievement.

A poem published in 1787 lays claim to being the
first Indiana production, and by the early date of
1827 a writer acknowledged that "we are a scribbling
and forth-putting people." The most noticeable
characteristic of the earliest writers in Indiana is their
response to the charms of nature lying all about them.

362 Historic Indiana

In William Coggeshall's collection, he assembles
twenty-three writers of poetry, from the earliest
Indiana scribblers. Their verses are full of the love
of nature and of sentiment — many of them sentimental.
They are idyllic songs of the forest home and experi-
ences of frontier life. The rhetoric is rosy and they
indulge in rhapsodical flights. Their chief claim on
our interest is the reflection of the times in which
they were written. The spell cast on poetic souls by
forest and stream breathes through all of them. In
the "Poet's Corner" of the newspapers of the time,
in the Ladies' Repository, in the Literary Messenger,
or in Mr. Prentice's encouraging columns, these poets
presented their songs to the Western world. One
wrote of how she

" Loved the thoughtful hour when sinks
The burning sun to rest,
And spreads a sea of flowing gold
Along the illumined west."

A poet then very famous pictured the setting for
her story, out

" In a green meadow, laced by a silvery stream,
Where the lilies all day seem to float in a dream
On the soft gurgling waves in their bright pebbled bed,
Where the emerald turf springs up light from the tread."

Another poet, in time of grief, expressed the wish
that the fair loved one might be buried

"In the vale where the willow and cypress weep;
Where the wind of the West breathes its softest sigh ;
Where the silvery stream is flowing nigh."

Sarah T. Bolton, who was one of these pioneer writers
that lived on into the nineties, voices this feeling of
response to their environment, in the lines:

Letters and Art in Indiana 363

" I learned to sing in nature's solitude,

Among the free wild birds and antlered deer;
In the primeval forest and the rude
Log cabin of the Western pioneer.

" They loved the whisper of the leaves, the breeze,
The scent of rivulets, the trill of birds,
And my poor songs were echoes caught from these
Voices of Nature set to rhythmic words."

In the later collection of Poets and Poetry of Indiana,
made by Benjamin Parker and E. Hiney, we find
that they have included one hundred and forty-six
writers of verse, and the same pleasure in the fields,
flowers, and forests is shown in all of the selections.
Many of these poets are now known only by being
preserved in these collections, but, like the local
painters of those times, they were the pride of the
village, in their day.

In the earliest times, when there were fewer period-
icals and books published, oratory, in the most pon-
derous and lofty style, and the addresses framed in
sonorous periods with soaring flights of eloquence,
beyond what would be acceptable now, took the place
of printed composition. The oration had then a
real literary influence. In this form of expression
Indiana has always occupied a position of prominence.
Her public men have enjoyed a national reputation
for eloquence, both at the bar and in political life.

Another form of writing, among the very earliest
publications which emanated from the State, were
the contributions of the group of scientific men in
the New Harmony community, mentioned elsewhere.

The collections of William Coggeshall, of Benjamin
Parker and E. Hiney, coupled with Meredith Nichol-

364 Historic Indiana

son's book on the literary performances of Indiana,
entitled Hoosiers, makes any detailed mention of
particular writers and their books unnecessary, ex-
cept as illustrating the development of authorship
within the State. Continuing to be a "scribbling
and forth-putting people," so many authors have
appeared that Wilbur Nesbit facetiously declared at
the Sons of Indiana dinner in Chicago that "envious
outsiders look up from their Hoosier books long
enough to speak satirically of Indiana as the literary
belt. They mention the dialect-poetry regions, and
the historical-novel districts, and the counties wherein
the ballad and rondeau flourish with the prodigality
of commerce. They have even prepared maps showing
by means of shaded and unshaded portions where
the traveller must strike in order to find or avoid
certain brands of literature."

It has been said that none of the literary work yet
done in Indiana rises to the first magnitude; none
has achieved the highest eminence; that no "greatest
American author " may be claimed by that State.
If this be true, it must be admitted that the average
attained by the group has been high, and that the
books published by the State's coterie of writers
compare favorably with contemporaneous American
literature. It might be asked. What other State, at the
present time, can claim a poet who surpasses James
Whitcomb Riley in expression of the humor, pathos,
and experience of the lives about him? Who has
written more interestingly and with more information
on foreign affairs than John W. Foster or Alpheus H.
Snow? Who tells a finer story than Beaucaire, or
excels Evaleen Stein in delicacy of feeling and senti-
ment in the description of wood, river, and sky ?

Letters and Art in Indiana 365

What American has written more interesting essays
and biography than Dudley Foulke or more convincing
addresses than George W. Julian? What juveniles are
awaited more eagerly by the children than the tales
by Mrs. Catherwood, Evaleen Stein, or Annie Fellows
Johnston and her sister.

While loyally enjoying the successes of its literary
guild, the people of literary taste, within the State,
have not lost their discrimination, and scarcely set
too high a valuation on these publications. They
are fully conscious that the work done by their neigh-
bors must be measured by universal standards and
not by current popularity. Ignoring then the recent
trade announcement that "of the six best-selling
novels of the season three of them were written by
Indiana authors," it may still be claimed that where
there is such a large circulation some measure of
approval must be granted. A wit has termed the com-
monwealth "a state of mind," but sometimes the face-
tiousness regarding the Hoosier's reputation of having a
"monopoly of gray matter" turns out very droll.
George Ade tells the story of meeting in New York
a gentleman who said: "At last we have found here
in New York a native humorist who is just as keen
as any of those fellows out West. He is as droll as
Riley, as quaint as Mark Twain, and as fanciful as
Bill Nye. You ought to meet Simeon Ford." A short
time after that I had the pleasure of meeting Mr.
Ford, and during the conversation I referred to him
as an Eastern man, whereupon he said: "I am living
here because I have interests in New York City, but
as a matter of fact I was born in Lafayette, Indiana."
"So what 's the use?" inquires Mr. Ade. A New York
wag was provoked into saying that the Boston pundits'

366 Historic Indiana

plaint that "somebody somewhere was writing good
Hterature which never gets into print," might be true,
but not of Indiana.

People of culture within the State would be the
last ones, simply from local pride, to blindly give
promiscuous praise to everything that is published
from their State. They would be much more apt to
say of any poor writing, as Sidney Lanier once wrote
of a very popular Southern novel emanating from
his own section:

" From all I can hear 't is a most villainous, poor, pitiful
piece of work, and so far from endeavoring to serve the
South by blindly plastering it with absurd praises, I think
all true patriots ought to unite in redeeming the land from
the imputation that such books are regarded as casting
honor upon the section. God forbid we should really be
brought so low as that we must perforce brag of such M^orks ;
and God be merciful to that man who boasted that sixteen
thousand of these books have been sold in the South."

An Eastern reviewer has said: "Whether Hoosiers
have or have not a right to set up as literateurs, a
lusty lot of them have successfully assumed the respon-
sibility and against the tide of adverse influence made
their way to distinguished recognition." Maurice
Thompson, in writing of this development, said that

"the preposterous legend which somehow has linked Indi-
ana's name with illiteracy and ill-breeding is a legend, and
nothing more. The fact is that Indiana has always been
a leader in literature among the Middle West States, just
as she is now, and her literary people have won recognition
strictly on the merits of their work. We have the best
schools in the world — not universities and great colleges
indeed, but schools for the people in which our entire popu-
lation is trained to love books. We create a demand for all

Letters and Art in Indiana 367

sorts of good literary v/ares. As Indiana goes, so goes the
Union, may yet be as true in literature as in politics — time
alone is the arbiter of quality in all book-making. Even the
Indianians themselves, in their pitch of honest pride, are
not yet venturing to boast that this remarkable vogue of
their local writers has drawn around Indianapolis the
sacred circle of literary primacy, or that their capital
dome is the axis of the universe."

On the contrar>^ most of the men and women of In-
diana who have published are students with an ever-
receding ideal, to which they never attain, thinking
lightly of what they have produced, in comparison
to that which they have in mind.

When Edward Eggleston wrote his stories of Indiana
in 187 1, portraying the Hoosiers of the backwoods
district, in the southern counties, as he had known
them "back in the fifties," many people in the State
resented their publication. They declared that the
life delineated, and the local coloring of the tales,
was a libel on the community. Even at that time,
which was more than forty-two years ago, many
native-bom Hoosiers had never seen the type of squat-
ters that Eggleston depicted, had never even heard
the dialect spoken, and in long residence within the
towns had not encountered the lean, gaunt type of
people who had come thither and squatted on lands
in the back districts of Indiana. These citizens felt
that outrageous grammar and a drawling dialect
would be eternally associated, in the minds of the out-
siders, with their State, and that it would bring dis-
credit upon all the people. They maintained that it
misrepresented the large contingent of its educated
population.

As Mr. Nicholson says, "this criticism has come

368 Historic Indiana

largely from a new generation that does not view
these tales as instructive foot-notes to the history of
education in Indiana." ^ It is true that outside people
did come to associate the dialect with the State. This
is unfortunate; but they may learn that the class
of people delineated in those stories was never large,
and has diminished before the illuminating influence
of public schools. The dialect bears the same relation
to the speech of educated Hoosiers that Yorkshire or
Cockney dialects do to the language of educated
English residents of Great Britain. At all events,
the lives of these settlers afforded picturesque material
for verse and story, and it is a fact that such people
were in the State, although never much wanted. The
backwardness and inertia of these people was an
element which always had to be contended with, in
every progressive movement in southern Indiana in
the last century.

This class was made up of three streams of im-
migration: the mountain whites from the South; the
well born, but uneducated frontiersmen from the
same sections; and people of foreign parentage, from
east of the AUeghanies. The first of these three classes
and its presence in Indiana makes a study of its origin
interesting. The peculiar character and speech of
these poor whites, and the taint of their illiteracy
within the State, make a passing mention necessary.

Three or four generations before the first settlement
of southern Indiana, there had been brought into the
tide-water colonies, from England, a class of debtors,
derelicts, and political offenders. It was before the
days of negro slavery. These people were indentured
for service to the planters, and after a few years of

• Nicholson, Meredith, Hoosiers. New York, 1900.

Letters and Art in Indiana 3^9

labor they were freed and many drifted to the western
frontiers, belonging to Virginia. Convicted criminals
were sent over in great numbers. Kidnapped boys
and girls from the streets of London, Bristol, and
other seaports were huddled on board ship and brought
to the Southern colonies to work as house servants
and on the farms. There was also a fair proportion
of white servants there, who had sold themselves
into slaver>'' for a brief term, to defray the expense
of the voyage over. The latter were known as re-
demptioners and many of them became the respectable
small farmers of Virginia.

Among the transported persons there were those
who had been guilty of trivial offences, only; many
were political offenders and prisoners of war. Cromwell
ordered no less than two thousand over, and in turn
the monarchists sold so many Nonconformists into
servitude that it created an insurrection in England,
in 1663. From which it follows that among all of the
indentured whites who were "involuntary emigrants,"
many were upright and valuable settlers. After
the general introduction of negro slavery, manual
labor became a mark of servitude. As a consequence
of this, there came to be a class of shiftless white
people, who must either move on or starve. In time,
many of these withdrew from the settlements, and
drifted to the frontier. Here in their mountain fast-
nesses they became a peculiar people. Of unmixed
English blood, retaining many of the forms of speech
of the seventeenth-century British, gradually becoming
a law unto themselves, bereft of all educational ad-
vantages, they became half savage in their customs
and passions. Their descendants may still be found,

and are known as "moonshiners" in the mountains
24

370 Historic Indiana

of Kentucky and Tennessee; as "corn-crackers" in
Georgia, and in Florida they are "clay-eaters." All
of the lowlanders seem to be of a lower type, morally,
and were probably of a lower origin, than the moun-
taineers. All are of the same gaunt, shiftless type;
living on corn, pork, wild fruits, and crude whiskey.
It is estimated that there are more than three millions
of them in the Southern sections at the present time.
Into these same mountainous districts there drifted
nomadic characters, adventurers, hunters, escaped
criminals, and stranded unfortunates, who joined
their fortunes with the early immigration. A hardly
credible isolation from all civilizing contact with the
world has made this marooned element of the pop-
ulation, what we find them to-day, the most distinct
and neglected people in the States.
• We do not associate this tribe of Ishmaelites with
the section north of the Ohio, and there were com-
paratively few of them that settled there permanently ;
but we know that many of these "movers," as they
were called, did abide for a time in Indiana, and some
stayed on after the others had journeyed toward the
Missouri. These itinerant whites used to pass along
the Kentucky roads toward the north in a listless
way. They were lank, cadaverous, clay-colored vag-
abonds, going overland in rickety wagons, drawn
by raw-boned horses, and a raft of unkempt children
and mongrel dogs were their only possessions. They
were clad in homespun and wore dun-colored hats,
that matched their visages. North they went in
springtime to "Indeanny," and very often back to
the South in winter.

It was these descendants of the "poor whites" of
the South who brought into the North the language

Letters and Art in Indiana 371

of the mountaineers of Tennessee, the CaroHnas, and
Kentuck>^ When they emigrated to the West, they
seemed incapable of change and improvement. In
Indiana they were known as renters, seldom acquiring
land of their own, though there were rich acres all
about them. Their methods of cultivation were
shambling and haphazard ; they neglected their meagre
crops for hunting and fishing, in which they were
tirelessly occupied. The tale of more game beyond
would lure them from the clearing they had be-
gun, and they would sell out for a pittance, and
move on into the vanishing wilderness. They were
a silent people unless they drank too much cheap
whiskey, and then they were apt to be quarrel-
some, but they were honest and generally inoffen-
sive. Their language was that of the common
people of England, which had been astray on the
heights for generations. They were hopelessly super-
stitious, a characteristic so well depicted in Dr. Taylor's
very dramatic dialect verses entitled The Theng.
This emigrant drift was densely ignorant. Their
democracy was absolute, and they were loyal to the
Federal Government. These people have been
strangely persistent in type wherever found, perpet-
uating the more than conservative, the really negative
qualities of their peculiar class.

Their history has been traced here, because, in ac-
counting for the dialect found in the non-progressive
districts of Indiana, these people must have first place.
They were the people who tainted the language of the
trans- Alleghany pioneers, from Tennessee to the Lakes.
Besides these vagabond immigrants, there* came into
the new State decidedly larger numbers of people
from the South who were descended from far better

372 Historic Indiana

stock, but whose families had migrated westward
each time new territory had been opened up, without
waiting to teach their children to read. They were
often persons of estate and substance at home, but
it is to be remembered that educational opportunities
for the English settlers on the Atlantic coast, in the
seventeenth century, were meagre in the extreme.
When we recall that the members of these families,
however well born, journeyed over the mountains
and settled in solitary clearings in Kentucky and
Tennessee, and that their sons moved on to Indiana
Territor>% always seeing other frontier peoples, we can
easily imagine that superior English speech was hardly
more than a tradition by the time the third generation
is encountered along the Ohio Valley. Most of the
men could read and write, and their minds were keen,
but they were not cultured. Many of these hardy
pioneers settled in Indiana. As late as the end of the
nineteenth century, fully 70,000 residents gave Ken-
tucky as their place of birth, not to mention Virginia.
North Carolina sent a large contingent, not only of
good Huguenot and Quaker stock, but also the Hoosier
dialect class. These Southerners were patriotic,
hospitable people; but in letters they had the dis-
advantage of three generations of poverty of learning.
These were the Hoosiers who had that sense of humor
and dry philosophy still so characteristic of Indianians.'
In severing the ties binding them to the home com-
munities, the better Southerners often threw off the
family traditions of culture and gentle life. Many a
pioneer has retrograded on the frontier. Most of
these last-mentioned people were of the slave-holding
class, and had the Southern accent. The sayings,

» As when one of them said of the character of a political candidate
that, ' it would take a special act of Providence to raise the man to the
level of total depravity.'

Letters and Art In Indiana 373

superstitions, and omens, as well as the expression
and speech current among them, had been acquired
by contact with the colored race, in infancy. The
religion of these Southerners was largely Old School
Presbyterian and "Hard Shell Baptist," and in politics
they were with the South.

Besides these two classes of settlers from the South,
who influenced the speech of Indiana, and the Scotch-
Irish people, there was another vein of immigration.
In the uncultured strata of the State there were
people of foreign descent who came over the Alleghanies
into the richer lands of the Ohio Valley, within the
three States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. They
made good settlers for the border States, because
they w^ere laborious and dependable, but they spoke
the English language in a most barbarous way; much
of it incorrectly bunched together by American people
as Pennsylvania Dutch. Large numbers of the early
settlers, also, had the broad Scotch-Irish dialect.
These foreign people added another element to the
"folk-speech" of the new West, and a few of them
came into Indiana. It was the opinion and prejudices
of some of these classes which it was so difficult to
counterbalance, by the efforts of the educated people
of clear English descent, who came into the State
from the East and South. As late as 1850, there were
fifty thousand of them who voted against free schools.

It was the speech of these people which came to be
known as the Hoosier dialect and it vitiated the
English of those about them. They had little learning
and scarcely knew how little. They all came from
other States and brought their characteristics of speech
with them ; few, if any, were coined on Indiana soil.

Mr. Hayworth and his collaborator O. G. S., WTiting

374 Historic Indiana

in the Indianapolis News, five or six years ago, and
discussing folk-speech in Indiana in the most interesting
manner, said many true things, from which we make
the following extracts :

"Not only has folk-speech never been uniform through-
out Indiana, but exact geographical bounds cannot be
given to the Hoosier dialect. The fact is, it has always
been true, and never more so than in these days of rapid
communication and shifting population, that in nothing
is the student of folk-speech so liable to error as in assigning
geographical limits to a phrase or word. Our local dialects,
as well as the local English dialects from which we get
many of our folk words and phrases, are pretty thoroughly
mixed. Probably some if not all of the following words
and phrases are more frequently used in the benighted
regions of Indiana than elsewhere: 'Heap-sight,' as in
'more ground by a heap-sight'; 'juberous,' as in *I felt
mighty juberous about crossin' the river'; 'jamberee,' in
the sense of a 'big time'; 'flabbergasted,' i. e., exhausted;
'gangling,' i. e., awkward; 'I mind that,' for 'I remember
that.' But the individuality of a dialect is, in fact, far
more a result of accent, or of pronunciation, than of
the possession of expressions peculiar to itself. As has
just been pointed out, Indiana has but few provincialisms
that are peculiarly her own. But where else than among
these settlers would one hear the long-drawn flatness of
the ' a ' in such words as ' sasser,' ' saft,' ' pasnips,' etc. ? . . .
One would hear such a sentence as ' I swum straight acrost
the crick, an' kep' agoin' right ahead through the paster,
an' dim plum to the top of yan ridge over yander, an'
wus consid'rable tired-like comin' down t'other side, but
at last got to that air road,' pronounced as a citizen of
'Hoopole kyounty, Injeanny,' would have pronounced it
forty years ago. ' Between you and me and the gate-post '
is a formula used in impressing the necessity of secrecy,
'When he gits a dollar it's got home' is an admirable

Letters and Art in Indiana 375

description of a stingy man. An old woman from the hills
of Brown County once expressively described to one of
the writers the feelings experienced after a night spent
in dancing by saying, ' When I 'us goin' home in the momin'
both sides of the road 'ud belong to me." *

Mr. Nicholson very truthfully observes that

"it may be fairly questioned whether, properly speaking,
there ever existed a Hoosier dialect. A book of colloquial
terms could hardly be compiled for Indiana without in-
fringing upon prior claims of other and older States, and
the peculiarities that were carried westward from tide-
water early in the century. The distinctive Indiana
countryman, the real Hoosier, who has been little in
contact with the people of cities, speaks a good deal as
his Pennsylvania or North Carolina or Kentucky grand-
parents did before him, and has created nothing new.
His speech contains comparatively few words that are
peculiar to the State." ^

The origin of the very name of Hoosier, as applied
to the settlers of Indiana, is lost in the twilight of the
wilderness. Whether it came from a drawling pro-
nunciation of "who 's-heyer?" or was a corruption of
"Hussar," as applied to deserters from the ranks of
the hirelings in the British army of the Revolution,
is not known. At all events the word has always
been used by trans-AUeghany pioneers as a general
term to designate a verdant or uncouth person, and
later to the outlanders, living across the Ohio River.
In time it became attached to the extreme border
territory of that period; which happening to be In-
diana and Southern Illinois, it clung to that section.
The dialect by that name was used by the border

' Hayworth, Paul L., and O. G. S. Indianapolis News, Aug. 15, 1900.
' Nicholson, Meredith, Hoosiers. New York, 1900.

376 Historic Indiana

people generally, not alone by the few of them who
became residents of Indiana.

After this digression to determine the sources of
the backwoods use of English as it was practised in
Indiana, and allied districts, we return to the state-
ment that the preservation of this passing form of
speech, in story and verse, should not be resented by
Indianians. The thought, the sentiments, and the
environment of the early settlers had been embodied
by them in the verses written, in more classic English,
by many of the contributors to the "Poet's Comer"
in the local papers, and have since been included in
permanent collections; but none of them wrote in
dialect. In fact, these very earliest writers used
Addisonian phrases — the best of evidence that the
Hoosier dialect was not universal.

The stories of Mr. Eggleston were the first to fully
delineate the life in the hill districts. The dialect in
Mr. Eggleston's tales was not so true to life as is that
in Mr. Riley's poems, but he gave the true frontier
setting in which it occurred, and his characterizations
are generally faithful. The actual personalities of
the backwoodsmen stand before you. Sometimes he
verges on caricature, but in the main, he is true to
the life that he is trying to portray. The schoolhouse
with its puncheon floor and great fireplace, the scarc-
ity of schoolbooks, the rough, unruly, uncouth boys,
were the very scenes to which the barefooted pupils
went for instruction in the three R's. Mr. Eggleston
reproduces vividly the superstitiously religious life of
part of the people, as contrasted with the rude royster-
ing of their drinking neighbors, of whom they heartily
disapproved. He pictures the drawbacks of the bad
roads, and the poverty of life's conveniences, and

Letters and Art in Indiana 377

necessities as well. He depicts the sensational ex-
hortations of the itinerant preachers, and the effect
of their hell-and-damnation preaching on their ignorant
hearers. He shows the grovelling materialism of the
toothless old crone as she smokes her cob pipe by the
fireplace and reiterates, "While yur gitten git a
plenty, sez I"; pictures the easy-going husband,
chopping a handful of wood out in the weather, until
the old cracker reappears in all his hereditary shift-
lessness. Among these life-like reproductions, he does
not neglect to bring out the occasional poetic soul,
always found amongst the rudest people — a young girl,
or youth, born amid such discouraging surroundings,
trying to develop according to the longings within
their isolated natures. All these are actual pictures
of real neighborhoods, happily passing into oblivion,
and even now only history.

"I call him the first of the Hoosiers," writes George
Gary Eggleston, of his older brother, "because he was
the first to perceive and utilize in literature the pic-
turesqueness of the Hoosier life and character, to
appreciate the poetic and romantic possibilities of that
life, and invite others to share with him his enjoyment
of its humor and his admiration for its sturdy man-
liness." ^ It may be regretted that unt ravelled people
take Eggleston's stories of backwoods life, nearly
extinct a half-century ago, as a reflection of present
conditions in Indiana cities, just as Europeans do
Fenimore Cooper's Indian stories of New York State' —
but that must pass. The grammar, the quaint terms,
the peculiar pronunciations, the nasal drawl of all
the dialect stories seem picturesque to a new gen-
eration, but that dialect was a menace to the speech

* Eggleston, Geo. Gary, The First of the Hoosiers. Ferno, 1903.

378 Historic Indiana

of the early settlers and unconsciously affected the
English of whole neighborhoods of people who were
of widely different birth. In the crude conditions of
living and the democratic mingling of all classes on
the frontier, children drifted into lax habits of speech
and constantly borrowed words and phrases from
illiterate neighbors, farm-hands, or the household help.
In the third generation, graduates of a college, with
an advanced degree from a German university, have
been guilty of lapses into this primitive speech,
still clinging to them from their early environment.
None will say that the dialect was not delightfully
full of surprises in the phrasing, in the rural com-
parisons, now nearly obsolete, and in the quaint
humor, the stoical philosophy, and droll illiteracy
of a frontier people. "The material waited only for
the creative mind and sympathetic intelligence," and
again found a faithful interpreter in James Whitcomb
Riley.

As an evidence of the integrity of his portraiture
and characterizations, it is noted that these very
people enjoy hearing his verses read, as much as any
city audience. They feel the genuineness of his sym-
pathetic acquaintance, recognize his types of char-
acter, his love of nature, enjoy the humor of the
situations, the drollery of the talk, and are touched
by the pathos of the stories. Mr. Riley tells most
entertaining stories of his acquaintance with these
people :

" Sometimes some real country boy gives me the round
turn on some farm points. For instance here comes one
stepping up to me, — 'You never lived on a farm,' he
says. 'Why not?' says I. 'Well,' says he, 'a turkey-cock
gobbles, but he don't ky-ouck, as your poetry says.' He

Letters and Art in Indiana 379

had me right there. It 's the turkey-hen that ky-oucks,
' Well, you '11 never hear another turkey-cock of mine
ky-ouckin,' says I."

Naturally, Mr. Riley finds it difficult to get the
present-day illustrators to seize his idea of the char-
acters he is trying to portray. Mr. Christie got That
Old Sweetheart of Mine through school, in a real log
schoolhouse, with sun-bonnet on her tangled curls,
and bare feet going along the meadow paths, but
when grown to womanhood he painted. her in city garb
with city airs and graces. In speaking of this difficulty,
Mr. Riley said:

" I do not undertake to edit nature, either physical or
human. I can't get an artist to see I 'm not making fun.
They seem to think if a man is out of plumb in his language,
he must be in his morals. Now old Benjamin looks queer,
I '11 admit. His clothes don't fit him. He 's bent and
awkward; but that don't prevent him from having a fine
head and deep tender eyes, and a soul in him you can
recommend."

These countrymen drive miles to an evening enter-
tainment at some schoolhouse or church to hear
recitations from Riley's pages. If loaned a copy of
his verses, they will ask for everything else that he
has written. They feel, as one of his biographers
has remarked, that Mr. Riley never satirizes, never
ridicules his creations; his attitude is always that of
a kindly and admiring advocate. The countrymen
also appreciate his poems of correct literature, not
written in dialect. Outside of these native admirers,
Mr. Riley was soon received with universal enthusiasm.
Mr. Garland wrote of him several years ago that no
poet in the United States has the same hold upon

380 Historic Indiana

the minds of the people as Riley. He is absolutely
American in every line he writes. His work is ir-
resistibly comic, or tender, or pathetic. In this re-
viewer's estimation, the man is the most remarkable
exemplification of the power of genius to transmute
plain clods into gold, that we have seen since the
time of Burns. Of himself, he has said, "I 'm only
the 'wilier' through which the whistle comes." Mr.
Riley's inimitable readings from his own composition
testify that he is a natural actor; this is the verdict
of every audience. Amy Leslie, the dramatic critic,
wrote when she heard him years ago in Chicago:

"To hear Riley recite his own poems is a treat to re-
member an entire life. He has the oddest, most gray and
toneless face. There is a three-cornered smile and a two-
edged glance which illuminates his face like a shower of
stars. Tears come at the call of words so simple as to
have a tinge of comedy, where the softest minor chords
tremble. All that is quaint and humorous ignites the
pleasantries within him, all that is true and innocent
inspires him. He never broods, nor rails, nor chants
ecstasies, but laughs and weeps and ties brave old-fashioned
true love-knots. I imagine he may not read at all well
as elocution is accounted. I do not know, except that
it is the loveliest reading I have ever heard, and the sweetest
poetry."

Mr. Garland quotes him as saying, of himself, "I 'm
so blamed imitative, I don't dare to read everything."
His ability to imitate was fully established when he
published on a wager, and in a newspaper, lines en-
titled Leonanie which trapped England and America
into treasuring them as Poe's verses.

A critical reviewer said of the Hoosier poet that
the qualities which secure his poetry a wider reading

Letters and Art in Indiana 381

and heartier appreciation than any other hving Amer-
ican are wholesome common-sense, and a steady
cheerfulness, freedom from dejection and cynicism
and doubt, and untainted by the mould of sensuality.
At his best he is original and sane, full of the sweetest
vitality and soundest merriment. His poetr}" neither
argues, nor stimulates, nor denounces, nor exhorts;
it only touches and entertains us.

"While his poems in dialect gained him a hearing,"
says Mr. Nicholson, "]\Ir. Riley strove earnestly for
excellence in the use of literary English. His touch
grew steadily finer. He had begun to write because
he felt the impulse and not because he breathed a
literary atmosphere or looked forward to a literary
career." ^ Lacking the advantages of an earlier
training in the schools, and having a natural appreci-
ation of the best in literature, he formed his style by
private study without losing his individuality, his
humor, and his inimitable sense of character and
situation, which make him a natural writer of comedy.
Apparently, he can dramatize a scene almost instan-
taneously, as the personcB assemble themselves in
the fancy. After years of recognition by the public
and many tokens of their appreciation, he was invited
by one of the oldest universities to accept an honorary
degree. At the Yale convocation in 1902 that uni-
versity conferred the degree of Master of Arts upon
James Whitcomb Riley. In receiving the candidate.
President Hadley spoke of Mr, Riley as an exponent
in poetic art of the joy and pathos of American country
life. When the hood was placed on his shoulders,
the prolonged applause of the vast throng assembled
made that scholar's emblem as a crown of laurel.

» Nicholson, Meredith, Hoosiers. New York, 1900.

382 Historic Indiana

Old alumni and. undergraduates joined in giving the
Hoosier poet a great ovation, and felt that old Yale
honored itself in honoring him. The graduating class
of that June day loves to claim that James Whitcomb
Riley was of their class of '02.

" Thou gayest thy gifts to make life sweet ;
There shall be flowers about thy feet."

Primitive living and frontier environment have
seldom prompted the subjects of the later Hoosier
writings. Showing not the faintest resemblance, in
either literary style or subject, to the preceding writers
who have preserved the earlier Hoosier life in their
pages, another loyal Indianian, with a widely different
temperament from theirs, has written in the West
his stories of the Orient. General Lew Wallace was
born and reared in Indiana when it was actually
a Western frontier, but his books are about ancient
peoples; one concerned with the Aztec civilization,
and the rest Asiatic tales. Nothing in his youthful
life could have suggested the themes which his talent
developed into the Prince of India and Ben Hur.
That General Wallace has told an interesting tale is
shown by the fact that a million and a half copies of
Ben Hur have sold in the English version and it has
also been translated into every language of Europe,
into Arabic, and Japanese, and printed in raised-
letter for the blind. This Tale of the Christ, so guardedly I
received at first, has grown steadily in the favor of [
the people until, in presentation in a dramatized
form upon the stage, the story met with a sensational
reception. Ben Hur and his other books brought great
distinction to the author. That General Wallace was,
above all things, a writer who could enlist the interest

Letters and Art in Indiana 383

of the reader is shown in the Autobiography pubhshed
since his death. Surely his native commonwealth
could show no greater honor to a son than Indiana
has in placing General Wallace's statue in the Hall
of Fame.

Mrs. Wallace shared her husband's triumphs and
had honors of her own, from her writings regarding
the Pueblos, some early poems, The Repose in Egypt,
and The Storied Sea. Mrs. Wallace was also a native
of Indiana, born in the literary atmosphere of Craw-
fordsville, and one of the Elston family, all of whom
were known as interesting conversationists. Hon.
Henry S. Lane married into this family, and added
to the brilliancy of the reputation of the college
town for its leadership in culture during those early
days.

Within this same town, Maurice Thompson, an-
other prolific writer, and native Indianian, passed
most of his life, after the Civil War. Without once
dreaming the dreams that came to his neighbors,
the Wallaces, Mr. Thompson wrote several novels,
a widely known book on Archery, and some out-
of-door poems. His story entitled the Banker of
Bankersville, (unfortunately, for it has little to do with
either, and does not distinguish it as it deserves), is
an excellent picture of village life in Indiana ; not the
backwoods, but the average small towns. His essay
on Ethics of Literary Art deserves embodiment in
every course in English literature. Although a civile
engineer, and a lawyer, Mr. Thompson's later life
was more constantly devoted to literary work than
any of the other Indiana writers up to his time. In
the closing days of his career, he enjoyed the triumph,
if he cared for popular favor, of having his name on

84 Historic Indiana

every tongue, for his sweet story of Alice of Old Vin-
cennes captured the people.

Will H. Thompson, brother of Maurice, was also
born in Indiana and practised law in Crawfordsville
for many years. While living in the State he wrote
that great war poem High Tide at Gettysburg and also
the Bond of Blood.

The Soldier of Indiana in the War for the Union,
by Catherine Merrill, is a record of the part performed
by individual soldiers who went out from this common-
wealth. It was written soon after that war, and the
purpose of the author was the patriotic one of com-
memorating the sacrifice and heroism of the ordinary
soldier. She knew the reality of that which she penned,
for she served many months as a nurse in the hospitals
during the war. Without any noise or announcement
she had intense patriotism, both civic and for her
country,

" She was far from being an organizer of movements,
or a trampler of platforms. She cared neither to agitate nor
to fulminate [says her biographer]. All of the civic and
social betterment, in which she engaged so much of her
strength and vitality, came from her great love of our
neighbor, and from the impulse toward action, help, I
beneficence, the desire for removing human error, clearing
human confusion, and demolishing human misery, the no-
ble aspiration to leave the world better and happier than
she found it." ^

This memorial to the soldiers was written in her
earlier years, by the woman who probably led more
families along the paths towards real culture than

' Merrill, Catherine, Memoir in The Man Shakespeare and Other
Essays. Indianapolis, 1867.

1^1

Letters and Art in Indiana 385

any other Indiana woman. Catherine Merrill "in-
culcated in the minds of three generations a discrim-
inating taste for literature," and what Matthew Arnold
calls a liberal and intelligent eagerness about the
things of the mind. Miss Merrill's printed work
includes this war record of the troops for whom she
worked in her early womanhood, a series of literary
criticisms given to the press, and a slender volume
of essays selected by the literary club which bore
her name. These essays were included by them
with biographical sketches from her friends Professor
Melville B. Anderson and the naturalist Mr. John
Muir. The volume is entitled The Man Shakespeare
and Other Essays. Although Miss Merrill left so little
published writing, no story of Indiana's development
would be complete without a reckoning of the im-
pression which her life made on all those with whom
she came in contact. Other notable teachers of the
State have faithfully instructed more pupils in the
schools, and added to the usefulness and enlightenment
of their students; but it has fallen to the lot of few
people to have formed a literary taste and deepened
the moral insight of the youth of one generation, to
execute the same loving task for their children, and
to perform a like service for their grandchildren.

Miss Merrill was a daughter of the pioneer State
Treasurer, Samuel Merrill, whose influence and that
of his descendants has stood for the value of culture
and literary training as a means of creating a culti-
vated citizenship. During all of her professorship at
Butler University, and later when she held private
classes, Miss Merrill found time to take part as
a member in the literary clubs of Indianapolis, to
prepare addresses for other circles, and to conduct

386 Historic Indiana

classes at the earnest solicitation of old pupils, in
neighboring cities.

Professor Anderson's sketch of Miss Merrill places
before us a correct valuation of her career. Among
other things he says that her life teaches us we should
bear in mind particularly that Catherine Merrill's
fine wide culture offers the most signal and cheering
example of the educative power of English literature.
With her beloved sister they made their own home
the centre of humanizing culture and elevated thought,
seemingly unconscious of the joy it was to every one
to come within the charm of their presence, "preaching
without sermons, informal as sunshine." Mr. Muir,
appreciating the great points in Miss Merrill's character,
adds, ' ' Nothing in all her noble love-ladened life was
more characteristic than its serenity," and an equally
strong habit of her mind was "tracing the springs
of action through all concealment. She never left
herself in doubt as to motives, rejoicing in all truth,
especially happy when she discovered something to
praise." ^

From this slight sketch of Miss Merrill, a dim idea
may be gained of the reasons for her influence over
the large number of persons in Indiana who came
under her guidance. It follows that "those who had
the good fortune to know a human being so large
and excellent should take pious care that her memory
does not fade with the passing of the lives she im-
mediately touches." 2 Perhaps the greatest value of
the publication of the little memorial volume is its
power to recall to minds of her old pupils the teachings

» Muir, John, Memoir of Miss Merrill in introduction to The Man
Shakespeare and Other Essays. Indianapolis, 1900.
2 Ibid.

Letters and Art in Indiana 387

of that voice they shall never hear again. Reading
these pages one may experience the conviction, the
exaltation, the enthusiasm of the classroom under that
severe but impressive teacher. Calmly she again
reminds them through the printed pages that

" ' Superficial judgment, hasty and ill-formed opinion,
blunt the power of discrimination and dull the sense of
right.' 'Slovenly and false work of any kind tells on
character.' 'Prejudice is twin sister of ignorance and is
a stupendous bulwark against knowledge.' 'The individual
preserves his mental integrity by doing his own thinking
and maintaining a sense of justice and candor.' 'We
hold in grateful remembrance the hand that planted the
tree that shades our door, and we owe grateful rever-
ence and love to him who made for us a good book, who
gave us nobler loves and nobler cares. We owe nothing
for the books that are no better than wolves in sheep's
clothing. We owe it to none to call ugliness beauty,
awkwardness grace, falsehood truth, or wrong, in any
way, right. Black is black, crooked is crooked, wrong
is wrong, whatever the reason, wherever the place.'

In inculcating a love for books she would say:

"It is true that the best society and the most accessible
may be found in the library. Here the solitary and the sor-
rowful, the disappointed and the erring, the betrayed and
the deserted, the unthanked benefactor, the young who are
sensitive as to the limitations of poverty, the old who
have neglected to repair their friendship, the slow who
have been left behind, the weary, the over-burdened may
find company, solace, stimulus, and the happy and strong
may find increase of happiness and strength." ^

• Merrill, Catherine, The Man Shakespeare and Other Essays.
Indianapolis, 1902.

388 Historic Indiana

Passing to another writer who was also greatly
revered, we are reminded that Indiana has been
honored by her historians. To Mr. John Dillon the
State owes a lasting debt, for his conscientious history
of the territorial period and his monographs on different
phases of its development. Mr. Dillon was an earnest
student and painstaking historian. His methods were
the modern scientific ones. His facts were gleaned
from State archives, from private sources, and from
territorial records. His histories must live, for the
account of the transactions in the periods covered
by his writings may only be added to; everything
that he committed to paper is of value. "He had
certain noble ideals, severe and simple, as to the
office of historian, and no artist was truer to his art
than he to this ideal."

As General Coburn has said, Mr. Dillon knew that
his work would endure. He had no profession but
letters, and in the solid result of his best labors neither
money nor applause added to his satisfaction. No
library in America can be considered complete without
his histories. Mr. Dillon wrote some verses, but it is
from his History of Territorial Indiana and the mono-
graphs on the same subject that his place as an author
is assured.

"Forty years of honest, conscientious devotion, four
books that people would not buy, in his life-time, and
death in a lonely garret, face to face with grim poverty,
because he wrought for the love of truth, and not for
dollars [says Mr. Cottman] this is the life story of John
B. Dillon. He is buried in Crown Hill, next to the soldiers'
graves, and the friends who were kind to him in life have
erected a fitting monument to his memory. That he lies

Letters and Art in Indiana 389

beside the heroic dead is well, for he, too, gave his life
to a cause and did his country a service. " ^

The vogue of Indiana novels has not, very naturally,
been accorded to her historians, but their work will
live. It has been thorough, scientific, and con-
scientious. Mr. Jacob P. Dunn's History of Territorial
Indiana, and her redemption from slavery, and his
monographs on different periods of the history of the
State are enduring contributions to the records of
the West. Mr. Dunn goes to original sources for his
information. He is a tireless student of documents,
records, and official papers, and restates the whole
story in an interesting style. He has the ability,
none too common, said a critic, to write history at-
tractively, without imperilling his authority.

Col. William Cockrum, one of the representative
pioneers, has written very interesting histories of Pioneer
Days in Indiaria and of the Underground Railroad on
hath Sides of the Ohio River. In a simple story-telling
style he gives to the reader most valuable information.

In a similar manner has Mr. Dudley Foulke's Bi-
ography of Governor Morton, and his Times, served as
an accepted authority on that most interesting period
the Civil War. The students of Indiana's part in the
great struggle must go to that biography for light
on the inside history of the troubled times, and for a
knowledge of both the well known and the obscure
facts of the history of those years.

Dr. Logan Esarey, of the State University, has
brought the history of Indiana down to the year 1852,
when the new Constitution came into power. This
volume is of great importance as it places within the
reach of all the results of many years' research and

I Cottman, Geo. S., in Indiana Magazine oj History, vol. i., No. I. ,

390 Historic Indiana

careful investigation of every available document and
source of information disclosed up to the present time.
Dr. Esarey's history has the merit of an interesting style
as well as accuracy of data and statement.

Hon. John W. Foster's Twenty Years of Diplomacy
is an interesting book, written by one who has taken
a brilliant and valued part in the department of the
government service of which this volume and others
by the same author treat.

The historical writings of Professor John Clark
Ridpath, while not pertaining to the State, in par-
ticular, are of importance in this sketch because he
was a native of Indiana, was educated in one of her
universities, and was afterwards a member of the
faculty of Asbury for a number of years. His^ his-
torical work was voluminous, and was both national
and general in its scope. His career as a professor
with his alma mater formed a valuable element in
the educational work in Indiana. Other teachers
in the various Indiana colleges, as Professor Ogg,
Professor Moran, and many others have contributed
valuable special studies in history, but they cannot
be enumerated as native Hoosiers.

The most interesting pages on Indiana history, and
kindred topics, are issued in the Indiana Historical
Society Publications, which are sent to each member
of the Indiana Historical Society. The men who have
been most intimately identified with the events occur-
ring in the States have been members of this association.
Many of them contributed articles of interest to these
publications which are invaluable to the student of the

history of the State.

The Centennial History and Handbook of Indiana has
been prepared by George S. Cottman in collaboration

Letters and Art in Indiana 391

with M. R. Hyman. It gives a valuable general survey
of the State and counties.

The student of Indiana's history will find invaluable
information in the histories, biographies, reminiscences,
and historical papers by George W. Julian, William
Henry Smith, Augustus L, Mason, Julia S. Conklin,
William W. Woolen, Captain J. A. Lemcke, William
H. English, W. W. Thornton, Richard G. Boone,
Timothy E. Howard, Colonel Cockrum, David Turpie,
F. A. Myers, R. P. De Hart, M. M. Pershing, Professor
Rewles, Judge Howe, and Rev. T. H. Ball. Each
of these has occupied a prominent place in the districts
of the State in w^hich they lived, and they knew whereof
they wrote. The books and monographs by W. F.
Harding, Frederick Barte], and George B. Lockwood
are full of information on local or special phases of
Indiana history, and the interest they enlist in historical
subjects is enhanced by their literary style. W. S.
Blatchley, W. W. Woolen, and others have written
nature studies that are attractive to the young and old.
The Hon. Hugh McCulloch, during a career as a fin-
ancier and cabinet officer, wrote authoritatively on
financial subjects and left a volume on Men and
Measures of Half a Century. Colonel Richard Thomp-
son not only served his State and nation, in military
and political life, but closed his career with his very
interesting Recollections of Sixteen Presidents. The
annalists have performed a service in preserving lo-
cal history by their records and reminiscences. San-
ford Cox's Recollections of the Wabash Valley, Rev.
Thomas Goodwin's Reminiscences , Blackford Condit's
Recollections of Early Terre Haute, may be enumerated.
County histories, the published addresses of Wayne
and other county celebrations, the Hon. William

392 Historic Indiana

Holloway's and Mr. Berry Sulgrove's histories of
Indianapolis are valuable contributions to the State's
records of the past,

Mr. Sulgrove was also a journalist, and exerted
a wide influence through his writings for the press,
extending over a number of years. He was the close
friend and adviser of Governor Morton during the
Civil War. His judgment was excellent and his
opinions reliable. It is said that he possessed a
wonderful memory, and that, his mind being stored
with information, he was an unusually interesting
conversationist. In 1866, when Mr. Sulgrove was in
Paris with Governor Morton in a company of dis-
tinguished men, one evening a discussion arose between
two gentlemen present about a quotation from Horace.
When the debate between the British guests seemed
hopeless of decision, Mr. Sulgrove modestly begged
leave to give the quotation and also added a half-
page or more of the context, to the wonderment of
the learned gentlemen, who marvelled at his memory
and scholarship. The story is told of Mr. Sulgrove
that in his later years he was in London with a friend
from Indianapolis. This friend was invited to dine
with the Lord Chief Justice and declined the honor,
saying that he had a friend with him whom he could
not very well leave. Lord Coleridge would not let
the gentleman off and stipulated that he should bring
his friend, Mr. Sulgrove, with him. After the dinner
there was brilliant talk of affairs, of the world's
happenings, of literature, science, and travel, in all
of which Mr. Sulgrove joined with the interest which
a lively interchange of thought provokes in the re-
sponsive American. The next day the host called on
his guest and inquired who this friend from Indiana

Letters and Art in Indiana 393

was; said that after they had said good-night, he and
his guests had declared they had never heard such
an interesting talker and they had searched in every
encyclopedia, biographical dictionary, and list of
people in the United States on the shelves of the
library, to learn who B. Sulgrove was; for they were
sure they could not be ignorant of the career of such
a brilliant man.

Very naturally the period of stress and storm
which Indiana passed in common with the rest of the
States during the Civil War gave rise to stanzas of
more heroic measure than the earlier wildwood poems.
These were the years when Forsythe Willson wrote
The Old Sergeant, and Will H. Thompson gave out
his High Tide at Gettysburg. There were other hearts
that found a place in the "Poet's Comer" for their
expression of patriotism, and pent-up sorrows over
those lost on the field of battle. The fugitive writings
of Ben D. House, Daniel L. Paine, Lee 0. Harris,
and others who wrote then, have been collected by
appreciative friends and published.

In the years since the war, Indiana has produced
Maurice Thompson, James Whitcomb Riley, Aleredith
Nicholson, Wm. Vaughn Moody, Evaleen Stein, Eliz-
abeth Conwell, the Fellows sisters, and others, all of
whom have written in both poetry and prose, to the
great pleasure of thousands of readers. The same
note of enjoyment in all of nature's charm, the breath
of out-of-doors, still rings through the Hoosier verse,
but it is coupled with human interests and the style
of composition conforms to modem forms. There is
a facility, a grace, and strength unknown to the earlier
period.

It is interesting to note how many of the poems

394 Historic Indiana

that have become famiHar household words were
penned by Hoosier writers. There are Little Brown
Hands, Six Little Feet on the Fender, Paddle Your Own
Canoe, The Patter of Little Feet, Better Late than Never,
Some Say This World is an Old, Old World; Yes, the
Smiling Clouds are Angels; Papa, What Would you Take
for Me?; Sleep, Little Sweetheart, Sleep; Love Came to Me
in a Life so Late; The Curfew Shall Not Ring To-Night,
and many others too well known to need recall.

Mr. Meredith Nicholson had secured a hearing by
his journalistic work before he published either story
or verse. Few lines by present-day poets, in this
country, have the charm of some of his poems. His
fiction seems less analytical, less reflective than his
friends would have expected from him, perhaps,
but his stories seized upon popular approval at once.
In The House of a Thousand Candles he has created
an exciting plot-story, with a series of startling epi-
sodes, crowding one upon another. The interest is
sustained, as it also is in his later story The Port
of Missing Men. Mr. Nicholson's essays contributed
to the various periodicals, and his book on Indiana
entitled Hoosiers, have received their meed of com-
mendation from the writer, in the liberal quotations
from their pages in this volume.

"Is the novel destined to devour all other forms of
literature?" asks a critic; certainly its prevalence
would seem to indicate the sweep of a wide and power-
ful imagination, but very much of current fiction
produced everywhere is crude, and still less cbver.
Imaginative writing requires more art than is fre-
quently accorded it, and few are free from the im-
putation of hurried work. The number of In-
diana writers at the present day, who have attracted

Letters and Art in Indiana 395

attention by their popularity, is indicative of this
wide interest in fiction. Evidently the public, as
Mr. Riley said of his own leisure hours, "read a good
deal of chop-food fiction and browse with relish."
It is a matter of congratulation that the Hoosier
writers in general have given out healthy, wholesome
stories, devoid of morbid sentiments and taint of
moral decadence.

The variety of subjects that interest Indiana authors
is also to be remarked. Scarcely any two have written
upon the same theme. Within one family, we have
John A. Wilstach devoting his years to classical studies
and publishing his translations, with voluminous
critical notes, of Virgil and Dante; his son, Walter
Wilstach, writing a biographical sketch of Monta-
lembert, and another son, Paul, issuing a manual
on The Game of Solitaire, some short stories, several
acting plays, and a notable work of dramatic review
in his Biography of Richard Mansfield followed by a
brochure on Mt. Vernon.

Again, we have Louise Closser Hale interpreting
phases in the life of The Actress, which her success in
that profession fits her to tell with so much cleverness;
later, she produces We Discover New England, another
of her charming books of travel. Environment and
nature's charms suggested subjects to the earlier writers,
but General Wallace dwelt on Oriental themes, in far-
away lands. Robert Dale Owen, who was of Scotch
birth, but one whose life was passed in Indiana, WTote a
spiritualistic book. On the Boundaries of Another World,
a volume of fiction, many vigorous state papers and
public addresses. William Dudley Foulke urged civil
service reform, wrote a biography of absorbing in-
terest, and published a translation, with scholarly

396 Historic Indiana

notes, of Paul the Deacon's History of the Longohards.

Again, an Indiana lawyer turns back the hands
of time to the days When Knighthood Was in Flower.
His are no problem novels. Charles Major knows
that the average reader wants sensation; wants
scenes and circumstances depicted with w^hich he is
not familiar; wants something that will take him out
of the daily round of everyday life. Mr. Major has
supplied tales of the days of chivalry, and the public
has rewarded his efforts.

Another story by an Indianian carries us back
to the seventeenth century, in Dutch New York,
Professor Henry T. Stephenson's Patroon Von Falkon-
burg being a tale of that period. George Barr
McCutcheon, within a half-dozen years, has dashed
oft' a stream of stories of adventure, written in a popular
vein, that has given him a multitude of readers. His
stories have had a wide vogue, and he seems to agree
with a pronouncement of Sir Leslie Stephen's, that
the author of the future may give up bothering himself
about posterity, and be content with writing for his
contemporaries, and the immediate present.

The Gentleman from Indiana has gone far and wide
for material, since his first Hoosier stories, and his
style improves with time. The lightness and delicacy
of Beaucaire would be difficult to surpass, but In the
Arena, Hector, His Own People, and the longer novel
The Guest of Quesnay, are stories that show keen
discernment and an intimate knowledge of Ameri-
cans, their characteristics, and their life. Mr. Tark-
ington has the gift of expression, an artistic touch,
and a sense of character that is most satisfactory.
His Penrod is a capital creation, amusing, but in it lurks
many a lesson for our elders. In Turmoil he has pro-
duced a vivid criticism of the abuse of aesthetic surround-

Letters and Art in Indiana 397

ings in American cities, and the striving after mere
bigness. Is it not to Booth Tarkington that the people
of the State are looking to write of the real gentleman
from Indiana? Mr. Eggleston, Mr. Riley, and others
have given the Hoosier with the dialect; but the
native-bom Hoosier of straight English descent, with
his perfectly natural manners, and decided individ-
uality, has not yet "been put in a book." Mr. Tar-
kington knows him. He will be recognized by his
droll humor, his keenness for knowledge, without
great learning' — generally a "fresh water" college man,
if a college man at all. In physique he will be tall and
sinewy; unconventional in dress. Not at all peculiar
in character, but indefinably a Westerner. Earnest,
but self-controlled, full of ideas and not afraid to
mention them, and, as was said of John DeFrees,
with a courage that seemed to have no weak side,
mental, moral, or physical. He will be moral and
religious, but one will hardly call him pious; he will
be patriotic, fond of his family and home, and gen-
erally possessing both; insistent upon having good
schools; a regular newspaper-reader, interested in
every subject, and always interested in politics. Being
fond of travel, he and his family are to be met in any
quarter of the globe. In all his characteristics the
typical Indianian awaits portrayal in literature.

An author who has written sympathetically and
with appreciation of the early people in Indiana,
is Miss Alexander. In a story by this journalist of
Candle Lit Days, which she calls Judith, there is a
reminiscent strain which will help to preserve memories
of that past.

Without previous announcement or heralding of lit-
erary skill, Elizabeth Miller issued the stor^^ of The
Yoke. The book differs entirely from the others pro-

398 Historic Indiana

duced by Indiana authors, and is another illustration
of the variety of subjects chosen by this group. The
scenes in The Yoke were of the Orient and life of the
Nile. It at once created a stir and arrested attention.
The same region and people are delineated in her
latest drama, The City of Delight, a tale of the siege of
Jerusalem.

Besides the stories of Indiana already mentioned,
there are Millard Cox's The Legionaries and Miss Krout's
Knights in Fustian, which are both interesting tales
of the Civil War as it affected Indiana. In both
stories, there are correct pictures of the localities
involved in the struggle, and the incidents are true
to history.

Enoch Willoughby, by Mr. Wickersham, is a novel
of decided interest. Lucy Furman's Leadings and
A Sanctified Town and Anna Nicholas's An Idyl of
the Wabash are stories of provincial characters and
village life. They are more analytical than the stories
of some of the writers mentioned and show an ob-
servation and knowledge of character, and of the
people and places depicted. They write sympatheti-
cally, and show a touch of the characteristic Hoosier
humor.

Indianapolis has produced many volumes of interest
by authors who have written only occasionally. It
would be impossible to name all of them deservedly
in a chapter like this, but sketches and stories from
Mrs. Judah, Mrs. Alice Woods Ulman, Marjorie Cook,
and others have interested many readers, and the same
may be said of occasional authors in Bloomington,
Fort Wayne, Evansville, and other Indiana cities. It
has been claimed that Richmond alone offers one
hundred! In My Youth delights the reader.

Letters and Art in Indiana 399

It is no part of the intention of this chapter to give
extended mention of each individual author who has
written on Hoosier soil. Only enough are mentioned
to illustrate in part, the development in this direction
and the reason for the fame that the State has acquired
in authorship.

Some of the most famous writers of Indiana, in
history and fiction, have passed from the scene, and
their place is secured by the work they have left.
The young novelists who occupy the stage have the
assurance of a sympathetic appreciation by the public.
Conscientious work will improve their art, and the
style will be more finished when there is less haste
to publish. Psychological insight, more intense inner
life, finer artistic conscience, less materialism will ap-
pear in their writings as character is deepened by
culture and the experiences of life.

There is a dramatic quality in the stories by Hoosiers
which has been very successfully utilized in the re-
production of these romances on the stage. Ben Htir,
Bemtcaire, The House of a Thousand Candles, Alice
of Old Vincennes, Brewster's Millions, and When
Knighthood Was in Flower may be cited as examples
of this adaptability. In a greater degree this dramatic
talent is shown in the plays produced by William
Vaughn Moody, Booth Tarkington, Wilbur Nesbit,
Paul Wilstach, and George Ade, which have delighted
audiences in England and America season after season.

If the novels produced by Indianians have shown
little of the keen sense of humor which is characteristic
of the native Hoosier, that trait has certainly appeared
in Lincoln's drolleries, in Riley's dialect stories, in
McCutcheon's cartoons, in George Ade's satires, and
in the communications from A Country Contributor,

400 Historic Indiana

The native Hoosier cannot be called vivacious or joyous
in temperament, but for whimsical humor, and a keen
enjoyment of by-play and anecdote, he has always
been noted. All of these humorists show the par-
ticular kind of dry wit, told with a long face, and
told on one's self rather than miss a joke, that is so
characteristic of Hoosierdom. Odd characters, the
weaknesses of a local capitalist or political celebrity,
a "greenie from the New Purchase," have always
been touched off by the wag of the town. And now
this same droll way of putting things has come into
print from a group of native Indianians. In Ben
McCutcheon's newspaper stories, in Wilbur Nesbit's
verses, in the late John DeFrees's editorials and Orth
Stein's fanciful sketches, in Simeon Ford's drollery,
in George Ade's fables, in Cy Warman's comedy poems,
in Riley's poetry, in Gil]ilan's tales and in John Mc-
Cutcheon's cartoons, with their explanatory foot-notes,
we see the gentle cynicism, the naturalness, the fresh-
ness which belongs to youth and to life, in communities
where opportunity is unhampered and impulses are
spontaneous; where there is a sense of sheer fun, and
a wholesome ironic way of dealing with the faults
and frailities of the people. We see the quick obser-
vation of passing events, the knowledge of human
nature — especially of American people — that was
demanded of stump speakers in the backwoods times,
and of which the early preachers were not guiltless.
When kindly Mr. Howells, who knows his American
so well, and who has a keen scent for everything of
every sort in literature, came upon George Ade's first
productions he recognized at once, through all of the
slang, that a new spice had been added to life. In an
extended review he declared this conviction, and said:

Letters and Art in Indiana 401

"Both Mr. Ade's touch and material are authentic
and genuine. The sense of character which so richly
abounds, without passing into caricature, in these pictures
of unerringly ascertained, average American life, has
enabled liim to go straighter to the heart than any former
humorist. In Mr. Ade the American spirit arrives, puts
down its grip, looks around, takes a chair, and makes
itself at home. It has no question to ask, none to answer.
There it is, with its hat pushed back, its hands in its pockets,
and at its feet the whole American world. The author
posts his varying people in their varying situations without
a word of excuse or palliation for either, in the full con-
fidence that so far as you truly are American you will
know them. He is without any sort of literary pose, and
his sarcasm is of the frankest sort," ^

The plays by this author fill the same position;
indeed, The County Chairman and his other comedies
surpass any of the Fables which won Mr. Ade's audience
for him. This same droll way of looking at life's
frailities, and showing the peculiarities and failings
of the people and parties, which we have noticed as
being so characteristically Western, finds another
exemplification in cartoonist McCutcheon. Of his
w'ork it may be truly said as was remarked of Punch
that his aim was to provide relaxation for all, fun
for all, without a spice of malice or a suspicion of
vulgarity, humor without a flavor of bitterness, satire
without reckless severity, and nonsense so laughter-
compelling as to be absolutely irresistible from its
very absurdity. It may be an humbler mission to
tickle the midriffs of men than to labor for the sal-
vation of their souls. But both are legitimate vo-
cations. The world laughs too little anyway, and

» Howells, William D.
26

402 Historic Indiana

when we consider the influence of the pictured lesson
we realize the mission of the cartoonist in fashioning
opinion.

As a poet and dramatist the literary world has
accorded to William Vaughn Moody a high place in
his generation. Born in Spencer, Indiana, in 1869, he
died at forty-one, too young, perhaps, to have attained
his greatest powers, but his recognition as a force in
letters was ample. In his play The Great Divide, he is
regarded as typically American in spirit and expression.
His published letters are a reflection of his varying
moods and most revealing of his personality. Of his
poetry it has been said : ' ' One can only hint, here, at the
profundity of thought, the scope of his vision, the social
consciousness, the civic ideals that imbue his work."
His poems and great dramas are characterized in form
by luxuriance of metaphor; and in spirit by their deep
sounding of the problems of man and his destiny.
Poets give his Ode in Time of Hesitation a place with
the classic odes of literature.

More than a passing mention must be made of
another form of expression of thought. As we have
noticed, public speaking, in an early day on the frontier,
was the easiest way of reaching the public. Before
there were many books issued, oratory was cultivated
as an art, among people of Southern extraction, who
were the first settlers in Indiana. Stories are told of
young attorneys and politicians rehearsing their
speeches in the forests, and learning to round their
periods as they journeyed on horseback from one
court town to another. The backwoods voters were
fond of pitting one political candidate against another,
while they sat about on newly felled logs. There
were no canvasses or nominating conventions in those

/*s^^

Benjamin Harrison.

From a photograph by Clark, Indianapohs.

-':\'m

Letters and Art in Indiana 403

days; candidates brought themselves out, and the
settlers voted for the man who captured their ballot
by his off-hand oratory. Public debate on religious
and political questions would draw the people from
twenty miles around.

Indiana's political leaders were all orators, each
possessing his own personal style. Vice-President
Hendricks, Henry S. Lane, Vice-President Colfax,
Governor Morton, Daniel Voorhees, were representative
of the different types of effective speakers during
the Civil War period.

Commenting on the little that President Benjamin
Harrison has published, it was very justly remarked
by a critic that "the most finished orator in American
political life to-day is not dependent upon book-
writing for a literary reputation." Mr. Harrison's
oratory was, no doubt, the model of the best form in
public speaking of his time. Thoughtful, logical,
clear, unimpassioned, and convincing, his addresses
may be read now with an interest second only to
hearing them delivered.

Of another Indiana man, John L. Griffiths, American
Consul-General to London, the editor of the London
Observer said: "His oratorical power was wonderful
in its spontaneous felicity and ease, and we know what
strong ability underlay that happy humor. Wherever
he went in this country his presence seemed to radiate
kindness, geniality, sympathetic understanding, and
conciHatory influence. To many a good cause he gave
his eloquent help. No man ever won such wide popu-
larity and confidence in this country as Consul-General
of the United States." ' '

Some of the literary addresses prepared for public
occasions by men and women of Indiana in recent

404 Historic Indiana

years, and many of the club papers, desen-e to
rank with the published essays of the country. As
the essay is pre-eminently the product of meditation
and leisure, it could hardly be expected that the
industrial State of Indiana should up to this time
excel in that form of literary expression. Nevertheless,
the work of Arthur Middleton Reeves, Oliver T.
Morton, Judge Baldwin, Charles R. Williams, and
others, with a number of papers by members unknown
to fame, give such evidence of a just regard for literary
values, a skilful use of language, a play of imagination,
and withal a vigorous way of setting things forth,
that their publication would add more to Indiana's
claim for recognition in real literature than her score
of popular novels. No one, unfamiliar with this class
of productions in the State of Indiana, can rightly
estimate the degree of virile, thoughtful study and
discussion which goes on among the people. This
certainly prepares the men and women of the common-
wealth for authoritative opinions of affairs and an
enjoyment of the literary productions of others. As
Lowell has said, "their obiter dicta have the weight
of wide reading, and much reflection, by people of
delicate apprehension, and tenacious memory for
principles."

It is interesting to recall in this connection that
there were clubs in Indiana before it was a State; not,
perhaps, in their present-day form, but men on the
frontier who had literary taste, or those with wishes
for intellectual improvement, banded themselves to-
gether for an interchange of thought, and to practise
the expression of opinions. Evidence of the existence
of these primitive clubs is found in an old record that
in a diminutive cross-roads hamlet, which never even

John L. Griffiths.

Letters and Art In Indiana 405

attained the size of a village, " a polemic society was
organized which was strongly attended by debaters
from Weaver's neighborhood east of the river, and
Judge Clark's neighborhood in Warren County. At
one time there appeared to be a strong probability of
a lyceum and academy being established there, but
a few cabins and a small frame house soon brought
the village to its culminating point, and it was in
a few years entirely gone." ^ A half-century ago,
clubs took the form of debating societies, mock
legislatures, and lyceums.

The members of these imitative assemblies assigned
themselves counties and discussed the measures that
came before real legislatures, and not infrequently
with more intelligence and spirit than the august
body that they represented. It is said that they
elected a governor as often as they wanted to hear
an inaugural address, which was sure to be humorous
and full of local hits and personalities. These sham
legislatures were in vogue from 1824 to 1836, and
were revived again in '42 and '43.

A form of literary endeavor customary during the
middle of the century was the lyceum. Besides the
papers and addresses by the members there was
generally maintained a lecture course. During the
succeeding period came the rise of the modem club.
The writer has never belonged to a club, but feels
assured, from an interested observation of others'
enjoyment of such a'ssociations, that in Hoosierdom
at least they have been a decided impulse in letters,
art, and music.

From these assemblies for the study of literature and
for self -improvement there has developed the vigorous,

' Cox, Sanford C, Recollections of the Wabash Valley, chapter xxv.

4o6 Historic Indiana

progressive movement of constructive, practical work
for the community. To be able to accomplish more
by united strength, the clubs formed themselves into a
federation which has grown with each year. The State
Pederation of Clubs has been a real dynamic force in
the Commonwealth. It has advanced legislation and
formed public opinion on civic questions and conserva-
tion of resources. One of the first endeavors was for
the founding of the Library Commission, and it is to
the club women that the credit must be given for the
sustained effort which has succeeded in establishing the
public libraries in the towns.

The founding of the Juvenile Court was advocated
by the Federation, also the labor laws governing women
and child labor, pure food regulations, temperance
reform, equal franchise, and the very important housing
laws, are a few of their achievements.
I The activities cover a wide range, such as lecture
courses, Chautauquas, art exhibits, libraries, public
concerts, reciprocity days, Arbor Day, clean-up day,
municipal Christmas trees, public playgrounds, school
gardening, school equipment, parent-teacher organiza-
tions, domestic arts, visiting nurses, hospitals, health
exhibits, rest rooms, and contributions for Belgian
sufferers. Responding for the twenty-three thousand
club members, Mrs. Grace Julian Clarke said at the
Indiana Conference of Charities: "Our State Federa-
tion is more than educational, and club women have
come to be among the leaders in all sorts of public
service enterprises. In travelling over the State it is
gratifying to come across evidences of public libraries,
rest rooms, playgrounds, and social centres. They
have introduced art exhibits and lecture courses, and
visiting nurses; have persuaded authorities to employ

Letters and Art in Indiana 407

police matrons, to inaugurate domestic science courses
in schools, and to undertake civic house-cleaning.
They have helped to build hospitals, have furnished
wards or rooms in many of these, have sold Red Cross
seals by the million, and have put forth their utmost
exertion in the cause of public health. "

Nor are their endeavors more than inaugurated, if we
may judge by their programme for the future. In the
closing years of the State's first century, at the ninth
annual convention of the Federation, the chairmen of
the various departments reported progress, and were
continued in their labor for peace propaganda, voca-
tional school development, promotion of parent-
teachers clubs, circulation of art exhibits, immigrant
aid, and preservation of site for State parks.

The family, home, and civic interests were the im-
mediate, practical demands which are the objectof their
endeavors.

Whether as a medium of literary expression or
as representing the personal political interests, the
newspapers of Indiana have always had a large cir-
culation and commanded an influence not easily
overestimated, when considering the development of
the State. The most influential journalists have
helped to mould public opinion; nor have these men
and women held their mission in light esteem. In
addition to presenting the current events, the editors
of Indiana's best papers have striven to make their
publications representative of the best writing available
to the State. In all the years that are past, local
literary talent has found the columns of the new^spapers
open to its efforts. Editors have also shown a belief
in the truth that a man who maintains a wholesome
tone in the daily press serves his country well ; hence

4o8 Historic Indiana

the moral tone has been conserved. Editorial writ-
ing certainly exhausts a disproportionate amount of
energy for the ephemeral fame it secures, as compared
with other forms of literary labor. As the veteran
editor Mr. Samuel Morse expressed it, at the close of a
nonsense rhyme:

" And thus for more than thirty years I worked
But all was written for the day,
And ere the day was done
It found its straight and certain way into oblivion."

Elihu Stout is credited with establishing the first
newspaper in Indiana Territory, in the year 1804, at
Vincennes, which was then the capital. It was called
the Indiana Gazette and, after many vicissitudes, still
flourishes under the name of the Western Sun. Through
his publications, his public spirit, and his fine character,
Mr. Stout wielded a wide influence for half a century.

The number of newspapers increased slowly, as
new counties were organized. The story is told of
one of the earliest sheets that it was printed with
swamp mud used for ink, and run off on a cider press.
The editor complained that the lack of mails made
it difficult to gather enough news to issue a newsy
paper! The paper on which the earliest journal was
printed was brown wrapping paper. Sometimes it
was printed only on one side of the sheet. After it
had been read, the subscriber would return his sheet
and have it printed on the reverse side the next issue.
There was little currency in those days, and the edi-
tors often advertised that they would forgive debts if
produce was brought to the sanctum. Maple sugar,
jeans, tow-linen, oats, chickens, corn meal, firewood,
and coon skins or deer hides were solicited in pay-

The Daughter of Chief Massaw.
From a sketch from life by William Winter on the jNIiami Reservation.

Letters and Art in Indiana 409

ment of arrears, "before winter set in." Articles
advertised in these early newspapers included knee-
buckles, spinning-wheels, flint rifles, buckskin and
saddle-bag locks. Notices of murders and kidnapping
by the Indians were among the local items of the day.

Besides the usual titles of Journal, Times, Register,
or Express, some of the names given to the weekly
papers published in wilderness towns had the flavor
of frontier life. The Broad Axe of Freedom, The Whig
Rifle, The Coon-Skinner, The Pottawattomie, and Miami
Times live only in the treasured files of public libra-
ries, but they once passed current as regularly as the
uncertain mails would permit.

In his reminiscences of Brookville, Mr. Johnson tells
this story of early journalism: The newspaper then
published in the town was called the Brookville En-
quirer. Robert John was the editor, and subsequently
there was associated with him I. N. Hanna, a sprightly
and talented young man. The editors, however, soon
got at loggerheads. During the ensuing Presidential
campaign, Robert John was for John Quincy Adams
and I. N. Hanna was for Henry Clay. An editorial
would, therefore, come out for Adams, followed by
another signed "Junior Editor" for Clay, creating
considerable sensation among the politicians of Brook-
ville-— and indeed all the citizens were politicians.

If one is tempted to feel that a difference of opinion
on political subjects is eternal, he should contemplate
the peaceful demise, within a short period of each
other, of the great newspaper combatants at the
capital, the Journal and Sentinel. Both were historic
organs, dating from older papers established in the
'20's, and representative of their respective parties.
For many decades they were ably edited, and were

410 Historic Indiana

a reflection of the sentiments and principles of the
two great political parties that formed their constit-
uency. For years they fought the party battles with
energy and virulence. The Sunday edition of the
Journal, under the editorship of Miss Anna Nicholas
of late years, was a model family paper. The cause
of the passing of the Sentinel and Journal is perhaps
not obscure, and is certainly an interesting indication
of a new phase of party politics in the State. The
notable editors had passed from control. The Dem-
ocratic party has for several years been divided in
its convictions on public policies, and probably did
not sustain a party organ. The Republicans have
grown more independent of party control and they
read independent papers. How much personal in-
difference of candidates and private financial reasons
mingled in allowing the two journals to be submerged,
is not told, but, as the Lafayette Courier said in its
requiem,

"It is impossible to note the passing of the old-timers
without regret, for they recall a vigorous journalism and
bring back the days of intense political rivalry, when
loyalty to party was second only to loyalty to country.
Times have changed, and doubtless for the better. We
have more independence now in the newspapers, but there
is no gain-saying the statement that the old days were
interesting."

The record of brilliant talent which has been em-
ployed in Indiana journalism would make a long
roll of distinction. Journalists received due honors
in their day, and their interesting careers form part
of the history of their respective fields of labor. There
is a great temptation to make personal mention of

Letters and Art in Indiana 411

individuals, but their life's story should have a volume
to itself. Nor is there a dearth of good work through
the State at present. At the capital, the literary-
ability of those regularly engaged on some of the
papers has never been excelled.

The State takes a commendable pride in its writers
on scientific subjects. Beginning with the scientists
at New Harmony, who joined David Owen in his
community experiment in the wilderness, and since
then, there have always been scientific men in Indiana
who have made valuable contributions to the literature
of their especial branches. Some of these men were
born in the State, and others, coming from elsewhere,
have identified themselves with the history of Indiana.
Their useful labors have been within the State, and
their national recognition located them in this common-
wealth, and has reflected honor upon it. Most of
these scientists were members of the faculty of some
of the colleges. Indeed by far the largest part of the
intellectual development of the State has been through
the labors of its teachers in the schools and colleges.
Many of these men and women have published critical
and historical works, and others the results of their
original investigations. It could only be a list if all
these books were mentioned, but they represent the
patient research, the scholarship, and literary skill
of the best trained minds in the State. They are
honored and honorable within its borders.

The monographs published by the Sti.lo Historical
Society, the scientific societies, and tlic educational
bodies are of a high order of literary merit, sound
scholarship, and of national importance in the
knowledge they impart on the subjects treated.

Hoosier books may be more widely known than

412 Historic Indiana

the pictures painted by Indiana artists, but there
has been no Hterary work done that is better than
the artistic work done by the present-day "Hoosier
Group" of painters. The efforts of the pioneers were
naturally directed to perpetuating the features of
their loved ones; consequently the early artists of
Indiana devoted their talents to portrait-painting.
Later an occasional one, like George Winter, or Jacob
Cox, ventured into the delineation of Indian life, or
the landscapes about them. In the frontier life, the
painter was a person apart from the everyday world.
It was regarded as little short of lunacy for a man
to attempt to live by art, but if he would, then the
neighbors pointed him out as a celebrity; even if
lack of patronage kept him indigent. General Wallace
tells us in his Autobiography of his father's commands,
when he showed an early predilection for art, which
the family feared would become a passion:

"'You must give up this drawing. I will not have it.
If you are thinking of becoming an artist, listen to me:
In our country art is to have its day. The day may not
come in your time. To give yourself up to the pursuit
means starvation.' 'But Mr. Cox' — 'Oh, yes,' he replied,
'Mr. Cox is a good man, but he had a trade to fall back
upon — a shop to help him make ends meet. I suppose
you do not want to be a poor artist — poor in the sense of
inability as well as poverty. To be a great painter two
things have always been necessary — a people of cultivated
taste, and education for the man himself. You have
neither. '" ^

The extinguishment of the beautiful dream left him

» Wallace, Lew, Autobiography, page 50. New York, 1906.

A Miami Indian.

Sketched from life bv William Winter on the Miami Reservation.

Letters and Art in Indiana 413

disconsolate. And thus the artistic yearnings of the
youthful Lew Wallace, like those of many another
frontier boy, were quenched by his discouraging
environment. "I resolved to give up the dream,"
he says, "still it haunts me. At this day even, I
cannot look at a great picture without envying its
creator the delight he must have had the while it
was in evolution." ^

In this story we have revealed to us the repression
of the artistic temperament in the life of many a
frontier youth. The early painters had only self-
training, and it may be said felt their way toward the
light. The pathos of the isolated artistic nature, far
away from any atmosphere of encouragement, could
scarcely be depicted by brush and pencil. The work
of these men, and those who immediately followed
them, is interesting as a portraiture of the times, and
as examples of the state of art "before the war."

After the painters of pioneer days, the Munich
and Paris schools were attended by students from
different towns in Indiana. Some of them remained
abroad, and others settled where there was more
encouragement and patronage. They reflected credit
on the State of their birth wherever they were, by
the quality of their productions. To those who came
back to Indiana, well trained in their art, the common-
wealth is now indebted for its enviable position in
the Association of Western Artists. They are known
throughout the country as the Hoosier Group, and,
while differing individuall3% there is a certain kinship
in the products of their brush. They paint the things
about them, the hills of Brown, the citizens of the
towns, the drooping beeches of the wood, the bit of

414 Historic Indiana

upland from their own studio window, a homelike
landscape just out of town, or the gray beach in front
of their summer cottage. The Hoosier Group have
succeeded too. They have maintained their ideals
for the encouragement of art within the State; they
have secured an appreciative patronage, and they
command the attention of students who are to become
the painters of the future.

Indianapolis, being the capital and the centre of
things in many ways, has always had successful artists
who have led in the effort to create a distinct oppor-
tunity for the development of the talent about them.
A very interesting fact in connection with the growth
of art in Indiana has been the occurrence of little
detached groups of men, outside of the capital, as
in Madison, in Muncie, and in Richmond, who have
worked along their own lines, and have come into an
appreciative recognition, wherever their canvases have
been shown. These men paint scenes which have the
very breath of the woods; and the coloring in their
pictures is a joy to the possessor. In the blending of
realism and idealism, they are very happy. They
feel and express the sentiment of their own beloved
landscapes.

In the spring of 1903, the Hoosier artists assembled
an exhibit in Indianapolis consisting solely of the
work of Indiana painters "contemporary and retro-
spective." This collection made it very evident to
the visitor that the springtime of art had already
dawned upon the State; that the patient, persistent
work done by the men born within its bounds had
nursed the feeble impulse toward artistic expression,
by brush and pencil, until the State could now take an
honorable place in the field of art.

Letters and Art in Indiana 415

While this exhibit may not have been so stirring
as a military review, it was a greater source of pride
and congratulation. The gentle arts of peace had
brought honors to the State, not attainable by war.
It was a noticeable fact that there were so many
canvases that one would like to live with. The sub-
jects chosen were never morbid, or the inspiration of a
degenerate nature. The coloring was pleasing, natural,
and there was little straining after sensationalism.
Lovely woods were pictured by Bundy and Conner and
Girardin and Ball and Nordyke. There were great
portraits by William M. Chase, T. C. Steele, and others ;
marines by the illustrious Richards; sea pictures and
landscapes by such favorites as Forsythe, Gruelle,
Snyder, Adams, Stark, Forkner, and Love; genre and
figure paintings by Henry Mosler, Stark, and many
others whose gentle scenes and charming coloring live in
the memory when the name of the artist has slipped
from recollection. The water-colorists and illustrators
also made a most interesting contribution. As noted
in the catalogue, "the point of great interest in the
exhibition was this: that the body of this work was
done by the natives of Indiana in Indiana, who love
the State and love art, and who feel and know that
here as well as anywhere art can be created; and
they venture this ambitious effort to, as far as possible,
prove the fact. " It is important for the future of art
in the State to be assured of opportunities for elemen-
tary instruction that are available for the youth, that
they shall know how to appreciate and execute line and
form and color; and that possible patrons of art may
have the cultural advantages which promote apprecia-
tion of the best things in art.

Of the first importance is the attitude of the artists,

4i6 Historic Indiana

who have attained a national reputation, towards the
younger students and exhibitors. When the men,
whose names have been mentioned, show their best
canvases at the local exhibitions, as they do, and
annually serve on the committees, the life of those
events is assured to the public. These exhibits of the
State and Western Society of Artists are occurrences
for the encouragement of exhibitors and students. In
the spirit of progress, and in the interests of new
forms of expression, the jury includes a wide variety of
methods and conceptions, to bring out strong and
original work.

At the Capitol, the Herron Art Institute, under
Director Harold H. Brown, is co-operating with other
educational forces in helping to widen the usefulness of
that institution. For its own city, there are many
special exhibitions of architecture, sculpture, decorative
art, pottery, and paintings. These are made practical
for the school pupils by correlating the exhibits with
their school work. The children have instruction in
drawing and color and there is an annual exhibition of
school work. Besides the regular school of art, the
museum conducts a Summer School which is attended
by teachers and those unable to go to the winter sessions.
An exhibition of paintings is made at the State Fair
which is worthy of study by the thousands of country
people who throng there. The art section of the
Woman's Department Club is another active agency
for the assistance of artistic talent and the dissemina-
tion of the knowledge of art news.

One of the most promising activities for the spread
of the art impulse through the State is the Library Art

Letters and Art in Indiana 417

Club, organized by the Federation of Clubs and the
Library Commission. The exhibit they send out may
remain in the local library building three weeks, where
it is seen by the whole village. From one point it is
moved on to the next Hbrary, and thus passes through
the entire State for the pleasure and instruction of
thousands of people, who would otherwise have no
opportunity of becoming familiar with the masterpieces
of art.

Another permanent means of instruction is through
the two State universities, who give courses in the
history and technical part of art and instruction in
drawing and color.

Indiana also profits by the services of the American
Federation of Arts, of Washington, which is doing a
great service in gathering together collections of paint-
ings, prints, sculpture, and other objects of art which
are sent on circuit. In this way it is possible to arrange
for exhibits of high quality at comparatively little
expense. The Indiana Artists' Travelling Exhibition
of their own paintings is also sent to the cities of the
State. The influence of these travelling collections must,
in time, remove the rural districts from pioneer condi-
tions, and afford great pleasure as well as diffuse the
art spirit.

An unusual art manifestation was the labor of love
by a number of artists who executed the mural decora-
tion of a hospital in Indianapolis. These pictures are,
perhaps, the most ambitious wall decorations executed
in the State. Under the general direction of William
Forsythe the well-known members of the Indiana group,

Messrs. Bundy, Steele, Stark, the two Adamses, Graf,
37

4i8 Historic Indiana

Anderson, Baus, Isnogle, Wheeler, Scott, and others
with Misses Morlan, King, Hibben, and Richards worked
for months in picturing scenes, glowing with color to
cheer the sick. Tablets of bronze, commemorating the
donor, and a fountain that will plash cool waters in
the roof garden, were modelled in bronze by these
women. It was in the thoughts of these artists that
through the years to come, in words quoted from Dr.
Bray ton, "These beautiful and peaceful decorations
may minister to a mind diseased and pluck from the
memory a rooted sorrow."

One of the most important demonstrations of the
art movement is the annual exhibition at the Museum,
in Indianapolis, of the work of Indiana artists. Any
artist who is a resident of the State or who was born,
or who has lived in the State in the past, is eligible
to send work to this exhibition. The perennial in-
terest in these exhibits and the steady improvement
in the quality of the work shown are an evidence
of the sustained endeavor of the exhibitors in their
profession.

The exhibition of these artists which closed the first
century of the State's history showed that the average
in merit was rising year by year. It included paintings
in oil and water colors, drawings, pastel, and etchings, a
few specimens of sculpture and handicraft. The cata-
logue showed one hundred and seventy-six numbers;
and Hoosier artists from the East, West, and South
sent their contributions. It is of interest to note that
two negro artists were among the exhibitors ; one sent a
portrait and William E. Scott sent pictures of life in
France, where he has studied.

Besides the exhibitors who have long ago been
accorded their honors in the West, and have helped

Letters and Art in Indiana 419

later comers to reach their aspirations, there were
many newer names whose pictures fixed the attention.
About twenty women exhibited and twoscore of the
towns were represented. The variety in the style of
execution indicates the individuality which develops
unhampered by any wish to discriminate between
schools or methods. Time has been when painting
was regarded as drawing, with color laid over; now,
form is built up by color on the canvases of many of
the moderns. There were exponents of the earlier
tradition and of the late ideas. Some glowed in theatri-
cal coloring, others touched the visitor by their mystical
tones and depth of feeling, or aroused one by their
sparkle and zest. It must be said that in the modelled
art and in the pictures there was an integrity of pur-
pose to render the things as seen by the artist, the skill
varying, of course, in cleverness of execution, as well as
in their strength and charm.

Among those whose pictures the jury selected to
represent the State at the Panama-Pacific exposition
were Mr. Steele, Forsythe, Adams, Anderson, and
Stark.

General recognition comes slowly to talent in the
provinces, and those who work and retain their in-
dividuality in home surroundings, instead of going to
the art centres for inspiration, may long be "to fortune
and to fame unknown"; but the exhibitors at the
annual show, who are too many to have due mention
here, have the distinction of closing the century of the
State's history with honorable mention for their con-
tribution to the development of art in the Common-
wealth.

The books that have been written by Indiana
authors have attained greater fame, perhaps, than

420 Historic Indiana

the pictures of her painters, because the printed form
of expression is more easily disseminated to the
multitude. But it is very certain that the Hoosier
painters have produced beautiful work, and have fully
shown the development of the artistic impulse in the
commonwealth.

CHAPTER XVIII

EDUCATION IN INDIANA

IN the very earliest dawn of Indiana's history, when
there were only a few families at each of the
scattered French military posts, the only instruc-
tion given was by the French priests. In 17 19, Father
Marest wrote back to his superior, "as these people
have no books and are naturally indolent, they would
shortly forget the principles of religion, if the remem-
brance of them was not recalled by these continued
instructions. We collect the whole community in
the chapel and after answering the questions put by
the missionary, to each one without distinction of
rank and age, prayers are heard and hymns are sung."
In after years when there was a resident priest, an
effort was made to teach the children to read and
write, but the happy-go-lucky frontier Frenchman
resisted mental effort even more than he avoided
physical toil. We are told that their WTitten language
was much worse than their speech (which was tolerable
French) . All that they knew was handed down from
father to son. They had no education. There never
was a school in the territory until during the American
occupation. In 1793, Father Rivet held what was
probably the first regular school in Indiana; it was
in Vincennes. There is record of a little school in a

421

422 Historic Indiana

settlement in Dearborn County three years later.
After the Americans gained control of the territory,
and settlers began to come in from the East and South,
the children were at first taught in the homes. Colonel
Cockrum recalls, in his Pioneer History of Indiana,
that in the very first years of settlement, when there
was such great danger from Indians and wild beasts,
the teacher was employed to go to the houses and
spend about one third of the day with the family in-
structing the children. In this way, with six families
he could give three lessons each week to all of the
children. These circulating teachers, as they were
called; did a good work. When it became less dan-
gerous for the children to pass through the forests
they would congregate at the home of the family
most centrally located in the neighborhood, in a
lean-to built at the side or end of the pioneer's cabin.
Here if there were enough settlers within reach of
each other, one of the mothers or an older sister would
collect the children of the scattered families together
and teach them to read and write and "cipher." As
soon as possible the neighborhood would get together
and build a log cabin in which to hold the school, and
a "master" would be "hired" for three months of
the year. A site was selected near a living spring, if
possible ; and the memory of drinking the cool spark-
ling waters from the long-handled gourd which always
hung by the spring brings back one of the joys of
childhood.

Judge Banta tells us in his interesting recollections,
published in the Indianapolis News, of the old school-
houses and the buildings which were made to do duty
as such; he speaks of a school that was taught in 1808,
in the dwelling-house of John Widner, which house

Education in Indiana 423

was almost a fort, having been constructed with special
reference to making resistance against attacks of
Indians.

"Indeed, there is direct authority for the statement,
that schoolhouses were constructed in Washington County
with port- holes, for shooting at the Indians, and if in
Washington County, we have good reason to suppose that
they were likewise so constructed elsewhere at the same
time. The first school in Martinsville was a summer
school on a gentleman's porch taught by Dr. John Morri-
son. Barns were given up during part of the temperate
season to the pedagogue and his pupils. Mills were also
utilized on occasions. The first school ever taught in the
English language in the town of Vevay was by John Wilson,
a Baptist minister, in a horse mill. An early school in
Waynesville, Bartholomew County, was taught by a
retired distiller, in a blacksmith shop, which school, for
reasons not stated, was attended by young men and boys
only. In Spencer County a deserted tannery was utilized.
In Knox, in Jackson, and perhaps elsewhere, the old
forts, after the close of the Indian wars, were turned into
schoolhouses."^

Old settlers give graphic pictures of their schooldays,
in these surroundings. " Pleasing reminiscences come
before me," said Barnabas Hobbs, "when I think of
the pioneer schoolhouses. They were made of hewed
logs and had puncheon floors and capacious mud and
stick chimneys with great fire-places. They had
benches without backs or desks, and there were two
long wooden pins above the teacher's desk on which
his whips were laid. These were generally well-
trimmed beech or hazel rods, from two to six feet
in length- — some well worn and others kept in reserve.
Teachers were expected to govern on the home plan —

> Banta, D. D., in Indianapolis News, 1892.

424 Historic Indiana

'spare the rod and spoil the child.'" They believed
the rod had a twofold virtue. It was not only a terror,
to evil-doers but was a specific against stupidity.
Beech and hazel rods had a wonderful stirring effect
on both mind and body. The State at this time had
no school revenue to distribute, so each voter must
become a builder. By common consent the neighbors
divided themselves into choppers, hewers, carpenters,
and masons. If any could not report for duty on the
schoolhouse, they might pay an equivalent for work
in nails, glass, or boards for the roof. If they neither
worked nor paid, they could be fined thirty-seven
and one half cents a day. These school buildings
were well ventilated, not only by the great open fire
but from the chinks between the logs.

Whence came the pioneer teachers? They were
generally adventurers from the East, or from England,
Scotland, or Ireland who sought temporary employ-
ment during the winter, while waiting for an opening
for business. Some of these were first-class men, and
they left a lasting impression on the communities.

Schools commenced then at seven in the summer
and half-past seven in the winter. There was one
hour at noon and five-minute recesses; fully ten
hours in school in summer. In the pioneer period
"loud schools" were in universal esteem. By this is
meant, that all of the pupils studied out loud. The
theory was that sound intensified the memory. Boys
and girls were taught to think in the midst of noisy
surroundings. In those ungraded district schools the
younger pupils listened to the instructions and re-
citations of the older ones and bright pupils stepped
from one class to another as rapidly as they were able
to progress. The geography lessons were taught to

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Education in Indiana . 425

the whole school at one time in concert. Many an
old timer can recall his States and capitals to this
day, better than his grandson, by humming over
"Maine — Augusta on the Kennebec River," etc.
Manual labor was also a part of the school life, for
the great open fire-places must be kept replenished
with logs and these must be chopped by the older
boys of the school who rather enjoyed the reprieve from
study.

Mr. Hobbs said : A very accomplished lady teacher
who came from a bright centre in North Carolina
taught a summer school in southern Indiana in the
early days. Many had doubts about her success.
It was not considered possible for a woman to govern
a school. She had read much and had a happy way
of illustrating prose and poetry by anecdotes of history
and biography. She stirred within the pupils a love for
classic literature, history, and "art, and the question was
settled that a lady could teach school as well as a man.
The compensation received by the early pedagogues
was not such as to encourage an over-supply of teachers.
Judge Banta says in his reminiscences that seventy-
five cents per quarter was a price quite commonly
met with as late as 1825, or even later, but the price
varied. In some sections $1 per scholar seems to
have been the ruling price, in others $1.50, while in
a very few instances $2 was paid. Some teachers
eked out their earnings by chopping timber at night
and on Saturdays. In many cases, probably a majority,
the teacher was obliged to take part of his pa^'- in
produce. Wheat, com, bacon, venison hams, dried
pumpkins, flour, buckwheat flour, whiskey, leather,
coon skins, and other articles are mentioned as
things given in exchange for teaching. At the ex-

426 Historic Indiana

piration of the three-months term, says one old set-
tler, the teacher would collect the tuition in wheat,
com, pork, or furs, and take a wagon-load to the
nearest market, and exchange it for such articles as
he needed. Very little tuition was paid in cash. One
schoolmaster of the time contracted to receive his
entire pay in com, which, when delivered, he sent
in a flat-boat to the New Orleans market. Another,
an Orange County schoolmaster, of a somewhat later
period, arranged to teach a three-months school for
$36.50, to be paid as follows: $25 in State scrip,
$2 in Illinois money, and $9.50 in currency. This
was as late as 1842, and there w^ere seventy school
children in his district. A large per cent, of the un-
married teachers "boarded around," and thus took
part of their pay in board. The custom in such cases
was for the teachers to ascertain by computation the
time he was entitled to board for each scholar, and
usually he selected his own time for quartering himself
on the family. In most instances it is believed that
the teacher's presence in the family was very accept-
able, for the isolation was always felt in the wilderness,
and as books and papers w^ere scarce the conversation
of an intelligent teacher was very welcome. Later
it became quite common to have a schoolmaster's
house erected by the district, hard by the schoolhouse,
for the use of the married masters.

"A few years ago," continues Judge Banta, "I had
occasion to look into the standing and qualifications of
the early teachers of my own county, and on looking over
my notes I find this statement: 'All sorts of teachers
were employed in Johnson County. There was the " one-
eyed teacher," the "one-legged teacher," the "lame
teacher," the "teacher who had fits," the "teacher who

Education in Indiana 427

had been educated for the ministry but, owing to his
habits of hard drink, had turned pedagogue," and the
" teacher who got drunk on Saturday and whipped the en-
tire school on Monday."' A paragraph something like
this might be truthfully written of every county south
of the National road, and doubtless of every one north
of it. The lesson this paragraph points to is that whenever
a man was rendered unfit for making his living any other
way, he took to teaching. The first schoolmaster of Van-
derburg County lived the life of a hermit ; and is described
as a rude, eccentric individual who lived alone and gained
a subsistence by hunting, trapping, and trading. John
Malone, a Jackson County schoolmaster, was given to
tippling to such excess that he could not restrain himself
from drinking ardent spirits during school hours. He
carried his bottle with him to school but he seems to have
had regard enough for the proprieties not to take it into
the schoolhouse, but hid it outside. Wesley Hopkins, a
Warrick County teacher, carried his whiskey to school in a
jug. Owen Davis, a Spencer County teacher, took to the
fiddle. He taught what was known as a 'loud school,'
and while his scholars roared at the top of their voices
the gentle pedagogue drew forth his trusty fiddle and
played Old Zip Coon, The Devil's Dream, and other in-
spiring profane airs, with all the might and main that
was in him. Thomas Ayres, a Revolutionary veteran,
who taught in Switzerland County, regularly took his
afternoon nap during school hours, 'while his pupils,'
says the historian, 'were supposed to be preparing their
lessons, but in reality were amusing themselves by
catching flies.' One of Orange County's early school-
masters was an old sailor who had wandered out to the
Indiana woods. Under his encouragement his pupils, it
is said, 'spent a large part of their time roasting
potatoes.' "^

1 Banta, D. D., "Early Schools of Indiana." Articles in the
Indianapolis News, 1892.

428 Historic Indiana

Thus we see that an odd character who had a Httle
learning, or a lame soldier who "had seen some
schoolin' " in his mother country, or a Yankee tinker
who could combine some useful trade with a few
months' teaching the three R's to the frontier children,
were generally the teachers found in the cabin schools.
They solicited their pupils from house to house, telling
or submitting in writing, to the parents, where they
would hold the school, that they would teach spelling,
reading, writing, and arithmetic as far as the single
rule of three. They announced what their charges
would be, and sometimes added, the discipline
would be, for being idle, two lashes with a beech
switch, for whispering, three lashes, for fighting, six
lashes. The text-books used were not closely graded:
as may be imagined. The children learned to read
from whatever book the family happened to possess,
the Bible, Gulliver's Travels, Pilgrim's Progress, a
dream book, or the moral maxims at the foot of the
page in the old blue speller. Colonel Cockrum tells a
touching story of this dearth of text-books, when
parents were obliged to cut up a volume and paste
the parts on boards for the different children of the
family. A pointed goose-quill was used for the pen
and the ink for "copy-book work" was manufactured
from oak balls saturated in vinegar.

The children walked miles through the forest to
gain the meagre rudiments of knowledge these ec-
centric masters might impart to them. This poverty
of advantage in youth was another pathetic phase
of the tragedy of the frontier. From Georgia to Mich-
igan, we may picture to our minds these eager, in-
telligent youths, rising in the gray winter dawn to
"do the chores" about the farm and chop the wood

Education in Indiana 429

for the cavernous fire-places which required cords of
wood a day to warm the open house. After their
early breakfast they trudged through the woods with
dinner-basket on arm to the little log schoolhouse.
" In imagination I can still hear the squish, squish of
water-soaked shoes as their wearers crossed the pun-
cheon floors to repeat their lessons," writes a pioneer.
Many a time these pioneer children encountered the
skulking savages, the wild beasts, or were terrorized
by snakes, on the way to school. Colonel Cockrum
relates a true incident in the school-days of Mrs. Nancy
Gulick, who lived near where the town of Hazleton
now stands. One of the patrons of the school near
White River had started out hunting and gone by the
school to see one of his boys. While there the hunter's
dogs treed a young panther, not far from the school-
house. The children went out to see what the dog
was barking at, and the hunter, on coming up, shot
it, and told his boy to drag it to the schoolhouse and
when he went home to take it with him and save the
hide. A short time after "books were taken up,"
the teacher and pupils were startled by the awful
scream of the old mother panther, as she came bounding
along the way the young one had been dragged. They
had forethought enough to close the door and put
the window-bench in place and fasten it there. The
furious animal rushed up to the carcass of her kitten
and when she found that it was dead she broke forth
in terrible screams and howls of lamentation. Looking
around for something on which to avenge its death,
she made a rush for the schoolhouse, ran two or three
times around it, and then leaped on top of it and
commenced tearing across the roof from side to side,
as if hunting some place where she could get in to the

430 Historic Indiana

imprisoned teacher and scholars. After a while she
gave three or four most terrible screams; presently
the answering screams of another panther were heard
some distance off. It was but a short time before
her mate came rushing up ; they gave several screams,
one after another, and made a rush for the building,
bounded on the top of it, and for the next half-hour
kept up a screaming such as the helpless scholars
and frightened teacher had never heard before. Major
Robb had several men working for him at that time.
They heard the fearful noise, and by the direction
were sure it came from the schoolhouse. Three men
took their rifles and hurried to the rescue. Several
dogs had followed the men, and they set up a loud
barking, which frightened the panthers into a tree
which stood near the schoolhouse and they were
soon shot to death by the hunters.

At night the school children studied their lessons
and "worked their sums" by the firelight, or the
feeble flame of a "tallow-dip." This is not alone
the picture of the conditions which surrounded Abra-
ham Lincoln's childhood and others known to fame;
but it was the common lot of all the children in the
early Indiana settlements, whose lives afterward went
into the foundation of the sturdy commonwealth.
They were the men and women who so conscientiously
laid the foundation for better conditions of instruction
for later generations of Indiana children. Nor did
these men and women in after days claim that their
early years were a time of woe, unmixed with rural
pleasure. The privations and dangers became in
memory partly offset by the joys of a vigorous child-
hood in close contact with nature. They had found
pleasure in the long walks to and from school. They

Education in Indiana 431

had gathered nuts, berries, and acorns by the way.
The hunting of May-apples, paw-paws, calamus-root,
or blackberries had often beguiled their footsteps
from the direct path, to where they knew the biggest
and best fruits to be lurking.

" In the fields we set our guileless snares

For rabbits and pigeons and wary quails,
Content with the vaguest feathers and hairs
From doubtful wings and vanished tails." ^

Thus, in later life, reminiscences of early trials and
pleasures seemed almost balanced; and "the good
old times" became a term of reproach to modem
degeneracy.

When the "man teacher" was found to be unne-
cessary to cope with the muscle and brawn of hardy
overgrown boys who came for the three months'
schooling, and the power of personality and gentleness
was found to be a more efficient civilizer, then women
often became the instructors. Some of these women
had a talent for inspiring their pupils with a love of
learning which made them invaluable instruments
of progress and culture in those crude surroundings.
Many of them were of New England birth, and had
been thoroughly taught. Often they had received
their training from a clergyman father whose classical
scholarship and general culture moulded most excellent
instructors for the frontier. Some of these intelligent
women married soon after coming out West and
their descendants were among the especially en-
lightened citizens of the State. Sometimes the women
continued to teach after their marriage, owing to
the scarcity of good instructors. The little libraries

> Howells, Wm. D., Poems.

432 Historic Indiana

they brought v/ith them were loaned far and wide
to eager readers, who were starved for good Hterature,
just as the people on the frontier are now.

Although the earliest schools in Indiana were started
and maintained by the parents who were anxious
for the development of their own children, the demand
for popular education was included in the very first
ordinance for the formation of the Territory. In
1785, and in 1787, the famous laws passed for
the government of the Northwest Territory declared
that "religion, morality, and knowledge being ne-
cessary to a good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall
forever be encouraged," and provisions were incor-
porated in that ordinance, setting aside a thirty-sixth
part of all lands for the maintenance of public schools
for all the people. This provision was a wise one.
By the year 1825, it was estimated that the common
school fund consisted of 680,207 acres valued at $2.00
an acre. These lands formed the endowment for the
future means of maintaining common schools, but for
many years there were no available funds, until the
broad acres could be sold or a revenue could be obtained
from them. It was during this period that the little
"entry" schools, with paid tuition, of which we have
been speaking, performed their mission for the strag-
gling settlements.

In 1807, the Territorial Legislature passed an act
incorporating the Vincennes University, originating
the first of those weak academies with the high-sounding
titles. This "University," according to the language
of the bill, was to be for the instruction of youth in
the Latin, Greek, French, and English languages;
mathematics, natural philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and

Education in Indiana 43

the laws of nature and of nations! Special provision
was made, in the charter, for the education of the
Indians. The University was to provide all expenses
for them, including maintenance and clothing, to
induce them to embrace the opportunity for an edu-
cation. At the same time, the frontier was so con-
stantly threatened that Governor Harrison, at a
later session, earnestly recommended a military branch
in every school to instruct the youth in defence against
the savage. Only one Indian is said ever to have
availed himself of the opportunity of an education
at Vincennes University! At the time of granting
its charter, the Legislature gave it authority to raise
$20,000 by lottery for its establishment. And this
privilege was used for the next sixty years to main-
tain the school !

When the first constitution was formulated for
the new State government in 18 16, it included provision
for township schools, for county seminaries, and a
State university, ascending in regular order, with free
tuition and open to all who wished an education.
None of the lands that had been granted to the State,
by the Federal Government, for school purposes,
could be sold before 1820; and actually none were
sold until eight years later. The legislation from
time to time for public schools was as advanced as
in any of the States, but there were no funds to main-
tain the authorized schools. There were many reasons
for this, — the sparseness of population, slender school
revenues from taxation, lack of qualified teachers,
"opposition of the few and indifference of the many,"
who needed their children to work at the clearing of
the forest and the planting and gathering of crops.
Superintendent Cotton reminds us that "the settlers

434 Historic Indiana

were busy felling the forest, draining swamps, and
making homes. They exhausted their time and en-
ergies, in providing for their families the necessities
of life, and in baffling malaria. They had no leisure
for the contemplation of educational problems, and
the spiritual life had to wait. The day of free schools
was afar off and illiteracy grew apace." ^ Even the
elementary schools were left to private enterprise.

At this very early point in the history of the edu-
cational affairs in Indiana there occurred within the
borders of the State the most brilliant experiment
that could be found on the national soil; that is, the
schools established at New Harmony, by David Owen
and William Maclure, which are described in the
chapter on that socialistic community. From those
short-lived schools, there went out teachers over the
whole West, whose influence on education cannot be
calculated.

In 1824, a law was passed providing for county
seminaries and about fifty counties availed themselves
of the provision, but the schools were all supported
by private tuition fees, and money was so scarce that
many of the children w^ere not able to attend. The
prevailing theory of that time, all over the country,
was that parents alone were responsible for the edu-
cation of their children; the rights of a child and the
necessity of the State requiring and providing elemen-
tary education in its own defence had not yet been
accepted. It was during this period of half a century
before the full inauguration of public schools over
the State that private citizens established those
academies and denominational colleges which dotted

'Cotton, Fassett S., Report of Supt. of Public Instruction, 1904.
Indianapolis.

Education in Indiana 435

all of the districts then popiilated. These schools
must be borne in mind, by the student of the State's
history. They are an enduring testimony to the
intelligence of the pioneer settlers. They \Yere de-
termined that their children should have the advantages
of which they had been deprived, and for which they
had hungered in their youth, and tried to supple-
ment by solitary studies. While the conviction ne-
cessary to the establishment of public schools, for all
of the youth, was slowly coming to the people, the
more enlightened men and women subscribed the
funds necessary to establish what were known as "pay
schools." There were fully seventy of these seminaries
opened before the middle of the century.

It was commonly held, that the various religious
denominations should undertake the higher education
of the young and each sect tried to provide a school
for its own following. Many of these institutions did
good work for their time, and have passed into oblivion
with their founders. They served the purpose of
their day and generation, and deserve honorable
remembrance. They were a large part of the up-
lifting influences of the frontier, and were built and
supported at great sacrifices on the part of the parents
of two generations ago. As they have so entirely
passed beyond the ken of the present generation, they
must be embodied in every history of the State, or
due justice will not be rendered to the pioneers' in-
telligence, and the wise provision for their children.

These schools educated the men and women who,
in their turn, established the State universities, the
public school system, and provided for the denomi-
national colleges. In that early time many a tow-
haired youth, barefooted, and with his scanty outfit

436 Historic Indiana

tied up in a "meal-poke," kissed his mother good-
bye and walked the distance to the seminary. In
his ears rung his mother's benediction, and the father's
urgent counsel to "get learning while he had the
chance." At home the father chopped and tilled, and
the mother spun and wove, to pay the slender price
charged at these academies for board and tuition.
The principals and teachers who supplied the thorough,
if limited, instruction have long since gone to their
reward, but their place in the annals of the States,
and in the esteem of posterity, is by the side of the
self-sacrificing parents. As General Wallace intones,
for many others, the praise of one, in his autobiography :

"Step by step Prof. Hoshouer led me into and out of
depths I never dreamed of and through tangles and ap-
preciations which proved his mind as thoroughly as they
tried mine. That year was the turning point in my life,
and out of my old age and across his grave, I send him,
Gentle Master, hail, and all sweet rest! Now I know
wherein I am most obliged to you — unconsciously, per-
haps, but certainly you taught me how to educate myself
up to every practical need."^

Several of those early foundations have survived.
Vincennes University, which was the first college
established in the Territory, has suffered throughout
its history on account of its endowment. First because
its wild lands were unremunerative, and later because
of the lottery feature, which hurt it when that form
of raising funds was no longer approved of; then in
1830 the Legislature assumed control, sold the land
grants, and put the proceeds into the general treasury
of the State ! Thirteen years later the trustees brought

* Wallace, Lew, Autobiography, page 58. New York, 1906.

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Education in Indiana 437

suit to recover their rights, in hopes of resuscitating
the school; and after years of htigation and at a cost
of one third of the sum in attorney's fees, they gained
their suit, and the school was reopened with the good
wishes of all who recall its ancient foundation that
the new century may be kinder to Vincennes Uni-
versity and bring it greater prosperity. If it were
called an academy it then might live up to its name.

The State was still in its infancy and the material
resources for maintaining the population still un-
developed, when the first settled district along the
Ohio River began to establish advantages for higher
education. In 1827, the Presbyterians, who always
stood for an educated ministry, made the beginning
of Hanover College, in a little log cabin at Hanover
village, on the Ohio River, near Madison. The college
has continued its existence through a most honorable
history ; and in the present day attracts many students
on account of its excellent instruction, high standards
of scholarship, healthful location, and the marvellous
beauty of the incomparable scenery which surrounds
it. Only five years after establishing the college, on
the southern line of the State, the Presb>^erians
started another school at Crawfordsville. This little
tow^n was then on the very edge of civilization; but
Wabash College has had a continuous existence, in
the little city which has always been known as a
centre of culture. This school on its beautiful wood-
land campus welcomed its first students imder the
guidance of Caleb Mills, the man who afterward did
so much for the cause of public schools in Indiana.
Wabash College has been most fortunate in its pres-
idents and through the poverty of the pioneer days,
the vicissitudes incident to the Civil War, and the

438 Historic Indiana

later competition with more richly endowed schools
has been known as a strong institution sending out
useful men. It is hoped that the new course to be
offered in pedagogy will help to raise the standard
of teaching in the State.

The Society of Friends, which was always foremost
in the agitation against slavery, and against oppression
and ignorance, was among the first to aid in the
cause of education in the State. Being opposed to
the support of schools from the military fines from
the enforced militia system of that day, they estab-
lished schools of their own immediately. Settled
in large numbers in the southeastern part of Indiana,
they established many minor schools as well as Spice-
land Academy in 1834, the Bloomingdale Manual
Labor School in 1845, ^^^ "the well-known Earlham
College, for both men and women, which was opened
at Richmond in 1847, ^^^ has always stood in the
front rank. The graduates of this school have been
a valuable teaching force in many other institutions.
All these schools, and other seminaries founded by
the Friends in other localities, at later times, are
recognized as giving practical and thorough edu-
cational facilities.

In 1834, the Baptists founded Franklin College
under the leadership of such representative members
as Henry Bradley, Reverends Eliphalet Williams,
Reuben Coffey, Ezra Fisher, Moses Jeffries, William
Rees, J. V. A. Woods, and the two brothers, Reverend
Nathaniel Richmond and Dr. John L. Richmond —
the latter had already, on his way toward the West,
lived long enough in Ohio to help establish Dennison
University. Franklin College was organized as a
manual labor institute; and fulfilled that provision

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Education in Indiana 439

many years, for most of the students supported them-
selves by real toil. In an old letter written by a student
at Franklin in 1842, we get a breath of the primitive
conditions surrounding the student as he wrote :

"Dear Brother:

" I found I could earn 40 cents a day by chopping beech
timber at 20 cents a cord. So I rolled up my sleeves and
went at it. I walked two and a half miles to the place
and every Saturday I earn that much. I want to stay
on for another term if possible. I never felt the impor-
tance of trying to get an education before. My landlord
offers to board me for fifty cents a week, and find every-
thing and candles in the bargain. I can get shoes for $1.50
a pair and Mr. Lancherson will make a coat for me for
$3.75 and take it in old scrip. A cloth coat will not cost
any more than a jange coat which I am now wearing. I
want to go to school as long as I can and if you can send
me the cloth for a coat instead of the money, you can
send it by the stage coach. I must close now as it is after
ten o'clock and I have 21 pages to commit for to-morrow."

This letter, yellow with time and sealed with wafers,
reflects many of the phases of frontier life and the
early college environment. During the Civil War the
patriotic body of students at Franklin responded so
universally to the call for troops that the college was
closed for lack of students. Only two pupils, sad
and regretful, remained within its halls, and they
were both lame. It was at this time that Dr. Silas
Bailey, that great man and great educator, resigned
the presidency. After the war closed, classes were
resumed and Franklin College is still living and only
needs larger endowment to make its usefulness com-
mensurate with the hopes and sacrifices of the long
roll of Baptists who have fostered the institution.

440 Historic Indiana

The Methodists laid the corner-stone of Asbury — •
now Depauw — University in 1837. Through varying
fortunes but "all leading to ultimate victories" this
school still lives. Its influence has been useful within
the Methodist Church. Like the other denominational
colleges of the State it is "rich in traditions and in
the sacrifices that have been made for it, and is firm
in faith for the coming years."

As early as 1846 the Fort Wayne Female College
was opened, but later it became a co-educational
school and still flourishes at Upland as Taylor Uni-
versity.

Moore's Hill College is another of the early schools
established for both sexes, that still maintains its
corps of instructors and sends out its army of grad-
uates. The Methodists have reason to be proud of
the history of this school that they founded in pioneer
times and have continued until now.

Indianapolis being an inland town was settled
later than the section where these other schools are
located and has no college extant that w^as organized
before Butler University ; which was founded in 1850, by
the Church of the Disciples. This school, so beautifully
located in the environs of the rapidly growing capital
of the State, and with the record it bears of a useful
past and vigorous present management, only needs
the personal interest and an endowment from the citi-
zens of Indianapolis to make it one of the leading
colleges of the West.

In 1840, six brave Sisters of Providence came out
from France and established the Convent School, at
Terre Haute, of St. Mary's of the Woods. This school
has attracted pupils from all classes and many of
the young ladies of the earlier time went there to

Education in Indiana 441

secure the accomplishments not elsewhere obtainable,
and they still revisit their loved alma mater. The
school has grown to be a little world within itself, and
is nestled in the lovely park which gives it its name.

Terre Haute is also the home of the State Normal
School and Rose Polytechnic Institute; giving that
city three influential educational centres. The Poly-
technic was opened in 1883, and is intended for the
higher education of yoimg men, especially for the
profession of engineering. There are over two hundred
students enrolled. They come from all parts of the
country and are offered excellent advantages under
its corps of instructors.

The grov^lh of the Roman Catholic college at Notre
Dame would read like a fairy story to the members
across the sea of the order which founded that school.
No longer ago than 1842, its founder, Father Sorin,
arrived from France. On a bleak November day a
boy, who two years later entered as the first student,
guided the stranger through an unbroken forest to
the shores of the lake, where there stood a lone cabin
surmounted by a cross. In sixty-six years, this
Old World religious society, transplanted to virgin
soil and adapting itself to new conditions, and the
New World demands of its following, has planted
in northern Indiana a vast establishment. This com-
munity includes a primary school for children, an
academy for youth, St. Mary's Convent School for
girls, a theological seminary, and a university; all
of which are flourishing, and their facilities must be
constantly increased to meet the demands of the
people. The university comprises schools of letters,
science, laws, and engineering, Notre Dame is also a
church publishing centre, for various influential church

442 Historic Indiana

journals and books. Learned writers dwell within
its walls and the influence of its journalists is inter-
national. The head of the Order of the Holy Cross
has now moved the headquarters from France to this
point. If one is seeking for a marked example of
the rapid strides made by Ameiican institutions,
and at the same time an instance of how a conservative
Old World congregation may adapt itself to the spirit
and progressiveness of the New World, no more striking
instance could be found than the Roman Catholic
school at Notre Dame.

The University of Indiana has control, through its
Medical College, of the State Hospital given by Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Long, for the use of all the counties.
The usefulness of the State colleges may be extended
by adding departments for training court and prison
offlcers in the sciences of penology and criminal psychol-
ogy, so important now.

The old Lutheran Concordia School transferred to
Indiana soil at Fort Wayne, and the Merom College
in its beautiful surroundings, were both founded before
the Civil War. There are many schools all over the
State, such as Culver Military School at Lake Maxin-
cuckie — the largest school of that kind in the country, —
the immense schools at Valparaiso, at North Manchester,
Oakland City, and elsewhere, that are doing excellent
work, but have been established in later times than
the pioneer schools of which we are speaking. Those
mentioned will show the character of the work done
by the early settlers in the foimdations they laid for
the future generations. In the history of both the
early and later schools established, "each educa-
tional institution is replete with examples of heroism
and self-sacrifice on the part of many faithful
friends."

Education in Indiana 443

Of the State schools, Indiana University was the
first one estabHshed after the State was organized.
The constitution provided for such a college and the
Legislature authorized its organization. Bloomington
opened its doors in 1824, w4th ten pupils and President
Hall as the only teacher, serving at a salary of $250.00
a year. He constituted the whole faculty, and if we
may believe his reminiscences of The New Purchase
or Seven and a half Years in the West, he felt that a
Princeton graduate was lost to the world while teaching
in the wild West. Those were the days when the
classics were insisted upon, and Greek and Latin
were the only branches taught there for the first three
years! To this some of the practical frontier people
very naturally objected. State politicians were as
vague in their standards of culture at that time as
they are still accused, at times, of being. One is
quoted as declaring that ' ' it was a right smart chance
better to have no college at all, nohow, if all folks
had'ent equal rights to lam what they most liked
best." The common branches were soon added to the
schedule of dead languages and the institution grew
apace. Later it became co-educational, added an
efficient school of pedagogy, was chartered as a uni-
versity, and it has attained a most honorable position
among the State schools of the Union. It now has
nineteen departments, an enrolment of over fifteen
hundred students, and a large faculty of instructors.
The members of the faculty of Indiana University
have made notable contributions to our national
literature in history, criticism, and science.

In addition to the establishment of the denom-
inational schools and the State University, there
were always far-sighted men, who saw that many
children were unprovided for. Looking into the

444 Historic Indiana

future, they maintained with Caleb Mills that in a
government like ours, the State ought to provide
free education for every child, sufficient to enable
him to become an intelligent citizen. This seems
self-evident truth now, but the movement for common
schools, supported by taxation, had to be worked out
in each State separately, and each State in turn has
had to meet the same objections and the obstructive
tactics of those who opposed the movement, Mas-
sachusetts went into the campaign for universal
education very early in the history of the nation, and
other sections followed. But after all these years,
there are still neglected districts where the instruction
within the grasp of the youth is meagre in the extreme,
with a corresponding benighted condition of the
population. In our day, we cannot imagine the war-
fare waged in the different States against free schools
in the last century. All the objections now used against
forward movements like taxation for public libraries,
or old age pensions, were then in vogue against public
schools. Some of the arguments were that the in-
dustrious should not be taxed to support the indolent ;
that free schools would pauperize the poor and make
them depend entirely upon government help; that
people who had no children should not be taxed for
those who had more than they could bring up ; that
paternalism was in danger of creeping in; that free
schools would make education too common! And
some objected to people being made benevolent by
law. These and other arguments were brought forward
by short-sighted people in each State, as it swung
into the line of progress. It seems strange now to
read of mass meetings being held to oppose the move-
ment, but they were, and speakers harangued the

Student Building, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

From a photograph.

Education in Indiana 445

crowds with all these arguments to try and stem the
tide of opinion which had set in so strongly favorable
to general education. For years pamphlets were
circulated and long newspaper editorials were written
against the proposition. Indiana was no worse than
many other sections of the Union. Indeed she was
in advance, for from Territorial times there had been
statutes anticipating the future needs of the West.
The Ordinance of 1787, Territorial laws, and the first
State Constitution, as we have seen, provided for
township schools, seminaries, and colleges, but there
being no revenue from taxation the schools during
all these years and for many years longer depended
wholly on the sentiment of the community. Not-
withstanding the advanced citizens had established
such numbers of "pay schools" there were so many
children growing up in ignorance, whose parents
either could not or did not send them for instruction,
that the agitation for the tax levy was begun. It
was claimed by careful investigators in 1834, that
only one child in eight between five and fifteen years
of age was able to read. Even the capital did not
have a free school until 1853, and that one was kept
open only two months, and this in spite of many
citizens in different parts of the State, working for
a change. At many places these men and women
were seeking to awaken public sentiment in favor
of free schools. The laws were on the books but the
masses were very slow, as in all the States, in taxing
themselves for the laws' fulfilment.

While affairs were at this stage, a New England
settler, Caleb Mills, who had come out to act as a
professor at Wabash College, became the grand leader
of the forces who were agitating for effectual leg is-

446 Historic Indiana

lation. Over the signature, "One of the People,"
he addressed a series of six most urgent and convincing
messages, directly to the Legislature, under the head-
ing, Read, Circulate, and Discuss. These pamphlets
were issued four years in succession. Mr. Mills set
forth earnestly and plainly in the most pungent and
telling manner, the illiteracy prevalent, because of the
lack of common schools, and the responsibility of the
legislators to formulate plans for their organization.
He reminded them that to attend the schools then
extant, it was necessary to pay tuition, which many
v.^ere utterly unable to do. That owing to this fact
only one in three of the children of school age attends
any school, "that the constitution has committed to
your charge the primary schools, the only institution
to which nine tenths of the rising generation will
ever have access." Like other legislative bodies they
were slow to act on self-evident propositions. Friends
of general education in different sections of the State
rallied to the cause, and common school conventions
were held in many localities. In almost every county
the newspapers published communications from local
leaders, presenting the arguments in favor of free
schools. Many pamphlets on the subject were cir-
culated for the general enlightenment of the people
and to enlist more ardent interest in the immediate
attention to the question. One of these circular letters,
issued in 1847, expressed the hope that the free common
school system may throw its broad mantle over the
thousands of children of the poor — a helpless class of
innocent sufferers — to shield them from infamy.

As a result of these combined influences, after two
years of further delay, a referendum was ordered by
the Legislature. The records tell us that at the fall

Education in Indiana 447

election of 1848, after a voter had deposited his ballot,
he was asked by the judge of the election, viva voce,
"Are you in favor of free schools?" When the vote
was counted it was found that 78,523 had voted for
free schools, and 61,887 against them! Notwith-
standing this opposition of the short-sighted element,
the voters of Indiana had endorsed free schools, by
a majority of 16,636. But the 60,000 non-progressives
must be kept in mind, if we are to appreciate the
heroic work done by the really active friends of uni-
versal opportunity. This element was a dead weight
that the more intelligent portion of the community
carried, until they had succeeded in elevating Indiana
to her present educational eminence; and are still
carrying while combating the inertia of the ignorant
and indifferent. Since the victory for no slavery' in
the new State had been won, when Indiana came
into the Union, this triumph for free schools was the
most important result reached at the polls by the
commonwealth.

Even after this popular endorsement another session
of the Legislature passed without that body devising
any measures for relief! In 1849, the campaign was
renewed. Again Caleb Mills addressed the Assembly,
urging the members to have the independence to
enact, and the wisdom to devise, a system that would
be an example to the sister States, adding further
valuable statistics of the prevailing conditions and
outlining a remedy.

Following all these efforts of educators and citizens,
the Legislature, guided by Governor Whitcomb, passed
an act, giving the people of the State power to call a
convention, to draft a new constitution. Robert
Dale Owen, both as member of this convention and

448 Historic Indiana

afterguards as a member of the State Legislature,
was efficient in promoting the legislation. Professor
John V. Morrison, as a member of this convention,
and an enlightened educator, proved to be a guiding
hand in the educational provisions secured to the
people in that instrument.

The new constitution, after being submitted to the
people, went into operation in 1852. It contained
the long desired authority for the actual establishment
of a free school system, and the necessary enactments
followed. This blessing had not fallen easily into the
lap of the State. Detailed mention of the battle for
popular education is made, that the present generation
may not forget that their present extensive privileges
did not come to them without a struggle.

The townships had now become the political and
school unit of administration, a fact of the largest
significance. As, also, was the provision for administra-
tion of the law, by the creation of a Superintendent of
Public Instruction. Under the new law, if the local
tax was too meagre to supply funds it was to be aug-
mented from the State fund. The decade after the
Civil War saw several adjustments, by legislation, of
contentions over the working out of the fundamental
provision, and step by step Indiana has developed a
most admirable free school system from kindergarten
up to the universities. One of the chief factors in this
steady growth of opportunities for all the children of
the State has been the service that Indiana has received
from successive Boards of Education and State Super-
intendents of Public Instruction. If one is skeptical
regarding the sum of good citizenship he should be
encouraged by the record of the incumbents of these
positions. Notwithstanding that the superintendent's

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Education in Indiana 449

is an elective office, and the candidate changes with the
political party in power, each of the parties from the
beginning has secured good men who had the advance-
ment of the schools at heart. A cursory view of some
features of late legislation for State education should
give a feeling of satisfaction to the interested citizens.
Among the most important changes was the consoli-
dation of the weak country schools into stronger central
ones. The little red schoolhouse at the crossroads
made a sentimental picture in verses about old times
and in the biographies of aspiring politicians ; but it was
a sorry substitute for the advantages supplied in city
schools. The tax affording only six months' schooling,
with one lone teacher trying to instruct twenty classes —
very often with one pupil to a class — the single ungraded
school, held in an uncomfortable room, remote from
most of the homes, has been the real truth about the
conditions of school surroundings in the solitary school-
houses, where fifty per cent, of the children of the
State were instructed. In 1899 the Legislature passed
a bill authorizing the township trustees to transport
pupils at public expense to a stronger central school.
Eight years later the law required the trustees to dis-
continue weak schools where there were twelve pupils
or less; and when such a school was abandoned, made
it their duty to provide means of transportation for the
pupils to a central school. This statute gave an impetus
to the movement, which was beyond the experimental
stage.

Statistics of the results of these laws are misleading
for they are outgrown by the time they are published.
But it conveys an idea of the progress made when
it is recorded that of the ninety-two counties of the

State, seventy-one report satisfaction with consolidated
29

450 Historic Indiana

schools, and the remainder would approve of them, no
doubt, if their roads were in better condition. Over
thirty-five per cent, of the rural pupils attend merged
schools. Some of the more energetic townships report all
of their isolated schools abandoned. Notwithstanding
that the money paid for transportation of pupils seems
a large sum, still the cost is less to the State than the
expense of maintaining the soUtary crossroads schools.
Comfortable covered wagons and motors are in use for
conveying the pupils from their homes to the central
schools and there is less exposure than when all of the
children walked to the isolated schools. Among the
many advantages gained for the pupils of the rural
districts are better teachers, access to libraries, labora-
tory work, and drawing. Instruction in music, domes-
tic ' science, and elementary agriculture has been
added. The statute has enabled villages to merge
with the township and erect high school buildings,
where no higher grade could have been maintained
by the tax fund. Probably one half of the commis-
sioned high schools in the State are of the consolidated
type.

The elevating influence of such a social centre is
felt to the very extremities of the township. A strong
school awakens educational aspirations, stimulates
efforts, and arouses mental energies. The buildings for
the centralized schools are used for lectures, art loan
exhibits, musicales, club meetings, parents' evenings,
oratoricarcontests, and children's festivals. The play-
grounds may be as carefully supervised as the work
in the schoolrooms. It is found that a community
consciousness is created, that the sacredness of property
rights is instilled in the minds of the coming genera-
tion, and that the number of pupils who continue on

Education in Indiana 451

into the high school work is increased. Superintendent
Greathouse says that "many of the central buildings
become the centre of community interest because of
their use in accommodating the non-partisan meetings
of the community. They have increased the school
interest, bettered the health, morals, and social standing
of the pupils. ""^

Poor roads is the plaint of those districts not yet
gathered into the fold of central buildings. The move-
ment must go on until the remaining five thousand
isolated schools, which so much need improved ad-
vantages, are merged and surrounded with modern
opportunities for instruction.

Another important step in the efficiency of educa-
tional direction was the Compulsory Attendance
laws, requiring attendance at school of all the children
of the State until the age of fourteen, and the fifth
grade was finished; and until the sixteenth year, if the
child is not in regular employment, blind and deaf
mute children being required to be sent to the State
schools provided for them. They must go between the
ages of seven and eighteen, continuously.

The law also provides that books and clothing
shall be furnished when there is necessity. Onl}^ one
written notice of habitual truancy is required to be
sent to the parent or guardian in any one year. The
appointment of attendance officers is obligatory in
every county and town, with penalty of fine for fail-
ure to perform the duties as defined. Loitering is by
this means discouraged before habits are fixed. Sepa-
rate schools are provided for confirmed truants and
incorrigibles.

The employment law prohibits hiring a child under

» Annual Report of State Superintendent,

452 Historic Indiana

sixteen years of age while school is in session. Medical
inspection of school children is required, and helps to
prevent epidemics, and discloses diseases and defects;
the treatment of which is of great service to the pupils
and the community, and has improved the scholarship
of many.

The Sanitary Building Law, which is most compre-
hensive, details the specification required of trustees
in selecting building sites and materials; in planning
the lighting, heaj^ing, seating, water supply, ventila-
tion, and plumbing for schoolhouses ; with penalties of
fine and imprisonment for contractors who sell to the
trustees apparatus or supplies that do not conform to
this law. This enactment has revolutionized the char-
acter of school buildings being erected for the rural
districts. It also gives the rules laid down for the
inspection for disease and personal cleanliness of pupils,
janitors, and teachers; with specifications for disinfec-
tion and cleansing of buildings. It requires instruction,
in the fifth grade of every school, regarding the primary
principals of hygiene and sanitary science.

Open-air schools are authorized whenever trustees
think best to establish them.

A carefully drawn statute requires uniform text-
books throughout the State, and has contributed greatly
to the efficiency of the rural schools.

Pre-vocational training in elementary agriculture,
domestic science, and industrial art subjects, is required
in all schools of the State as a part of the regular course
of instruction. This work is intended to give the whole
mass of pupils an elementary basis for the choice of a
trade and to fit them for the special vocational training
which has been introduced for the youth who are over
fourteen years of age, and have decided what occupa-

Education in Indiana 453

tions they wish to follow. This pre-vocational training
accompanies the regular school lessons which are
maintained for all pupils as general, cultural studies.

In 1 913 a new era was inaugurated in the school
system of Indiana, by the passing of the Vocational
Education Law. This measure is so far-reaching in its
prospective utility, that a volume might be devoted
to it, instead of the limited study for which there is
space here. Developed and changed as it may have to
be, as it is put into practical use, the mere opening out of
such a system is transforming. The object of this law,
which was developed with great care under Mr. John
A. Lapp's supervision, is to give to the young people of
the State the kind of instruction which will fit them for
productive work in the shop industry, the home, and
on the farm. It is intended for the eighty per cent, of
the population who find their life occupation in those
departments of labor.

From the beginning of the history of the State,
Indiana statutes had provided university instruction
for the professions. Law, Medicine, Teaching, and
later Engineering and Agriculture were taught in the
State colleges. The new law extends the system of
State vocational education to those who are to be fitted
for manufacturing and agricultural pursuits and home
industries; and now the State professional schools at
Bloomington and Lafayette are in turn devoting whole
departments of their equipment to teaching the in-
structors and supervisors who are to carry out this new
law for the whole mass of the people.

Three types of schools have been provided which
include the all-day school, designed to fit the youth
who are over fourteen years of age for a chosen occupa-
tion, their full time being devoted to instruction and

454 Historic Indiana

training which shall fit them for skilled occupations.
Then there may be part-time schools, which are in-
tended for young workers between the ages of seventeen
and twenty-five years, who wish to become more pro-
ficient in the occupations they have entered. They may
be in school part of the day, week, or month, and en-
gaged in profitable employment the remainder of the
time. The third provision of this law is for evening
vocational schools, designed for workers over seventeen
years of age who wish to become more proficient in their
work. A city or community may establish one, two, or
all three of these types of schools, as its needs demand.
High schools are required to offer instruction in domes-
tic science and industrial training, which helps to retain
many pupils.

As ninety per cent, of the women of the State are
engaged in the business of homemaking, either for
themselves or for others, their need of preparation for
these duties is recognized in this law. Thirty-eight per
cent, of the men of the State are engaged in agriculture
and thirty per cent, in manufacturing and mechanical
pursuits. The State assumes that this sixty-eight per
cent, of its men must have vocational guidance.

This law also includes the provision for elementary
instruction already spoken of, to be given in agriculture,
domestic science, and the industrial arts as part of the
regular course in ell of the schools of the State.

As it is always said that the laws are good enough
if they are only carried out, the framers of the recent
statutes have incorporated in them provision for super-
vision and direction. A high school inspector has been
installed in the State Department, whose duty it is to
look carefully after the instruction and equipment
employed by the teachers and schools. More uniform

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Education in Indiana 455

qualifications and a better understanding of the results
aimed at are the objects of this supervision. It has
already brought an increased enrollment in the high
schools.

Supervisors have also been authorized for the town-
ships under the direction of the county superinten-
dents; these are assistants for the elementary schools,
whose duty it is to assist the teachers in planning the
work of the schools, the best way of presenting subjects,
the peculiar need of each district, and what equipment
is required. As a result of closer supervision increasing
numbers of grade pupils are able to pass into the high
schools.

These laws of recent years are on broad lines and of
the deepest significance for the future of the State. It
is recognized that it must take years to develop the
plans to their full intention.

Above and beyond the letter of the law, it is inspiring
to note the esprit du corps found in the educational staff
from the Board of Education and State Superintendent,
the State University authorities, the county superinten-
dents, and the township supervisors on down through
the teaching staffs of the centralized schools. There
is working the leaven of mutual responsibility and
co-partnership.

Included in this spirit of co-operation must be counted
the parent- teachers' associations. These neighborhood
leagues are organized for the mutual understanding
of the problems concerning the children, their home
environment, their Hfe at school, and the interests of the
community. These circles have become decided aids to
school progress.

Individual enthusiasm, in obtaining results under
the advanced legislation, and personal initiative, in

456 Historic Indiana

trying various educational methods appear in many
directions throughout the State.

Thoughtful consideration must be accorded to the
beneficial tendency toward utilizing the school buildings
as social centres for the whole district, not only in the
country schools but in towns as well; notably, Super-
intendent Valentine's efforts for the people, where in
one of the school buildings in Indianapolis, exclusively
for colored pupils, the modest establishment has been
utilized, when the school is not in session, for settlement
work. The intention, which was carried to success, was
to make the school a place where the poor people of a
crowded district might learn to be competent, healthy,
happy, and public-spirited citizens. The Superinten-
dent's idea is, that aside from the regular round of
school lessons, the pupils and their families must be
taught how to earn a living, how to use their leisure
hours, and to be given decent surroundings in their
living conditions. To this end the pupils are taught
carpentering, cobbling, plumbing, and housekeeping.
They are taught sewing by making articles for their
own practical use, and cooking for the school luncheons,
which are sold to those who need them. The same
opportunities for instruction are given in the day and
night schools and in the summer vacation schools. As
a result of these activities truancy has decreased, the
homes in the vicinity have been improved, the savings
banks accounts have increased, and the parents' clubs
have been enlisted for the promotion of good citizenship.
Healthful recreation is offered in the club rooms in
place of dissipation and rowdyism. This trial in making
for the submerged masses, a healthy, prosperous,
cleanly neighborhood is wholly applicable to schools
in any immigrant section, and the changed spirit of the

Education in Indiana 457

people shows what a public school may mean to its
neighborhood if the officials and teachers are inspired
by the wish to maintain a vital connection with the life
of the people about them.

For many years the defects in the public school
system of the United States, which was the pride and
hope of the nation, have come under the earnest observa-
tion and grave criticism of its best friends. Its lack of
adaptation to the hfe of the community and of practical
preparation for the future career of its pupils, the
demand to utilize more continuously the capital in-
vested in school property and equipment, the need of
accommodations for more children during more hours
of the year, the necessity of more flexibility in dealing
with individual pupils, and the growing insistence on
industrial training being coupled with text-book in-
struction have been the items insisted on as among
the questions to be solved in the management of the
schools, education being an activity that should ad-
just itself constantly to the changing needs of society
and the fimdamental agency for the enlightenment of
the whole people. To meet the exactions of its duty to
a democracy, the school system must come up to the
standard of securing for all the youth opportunities
for training which shall enable them to go forward in
life. That is, it is held that it must produce healthy
bodies, capable minds, and skilful hands for their part
in the work of the community.

A portion of this work must be done in the graded
schools before the child goes out to secure employment.
The failure, in the United States, of ninety-three out of
every hundred pupils continuing in any high school,
also arrests the attention. The fact that the course of
study must be vitalized so that the youth may see the

458 Historic Indiana

value of his school work and remain for further training
was admitted. Preparation for actual employment
must also be considered.

Various plans have been suggested to meet these
pressing conditions, and Indiana educators have not
been remiss about studying them.

An object lesson in rational methods has been under
national observation in the public schools of Gary,
Indiana. This is the work, play, and study plan, worked
out by Superintendent William Wirt. The idea was
to utilize the whole environment of the child for its
complete education. Industrial, academic, and physical
instruction is employed simultaneously throughout the
year.

The methods of teaching and the equipment secured
by Mr. Wirt, who is a native of Indiana, have estab-
lished in the Gary schools an all-year-round use of the
buildings and apparatus which includes night, Satur-
day, and summer sessions.

All-day occupation and recreation for pupils at the
school gives them sheltered surroundings, instead of the
streets, for their play. While one group of pupils
studies another relay works in the shops, and the
remainder may take their physical exercise in the
gymnasium or playground. The opportiinities and
equipment for both occupation and pleasure are pro-
vided. The system of alternating the work of different
groups makes it possible to hold two schools in the
same building, with the same facilities and teachers,
thus reducing taxation and supplying the same c /aip-
ment for evening school for adults. As many aclts
attend the night schools as there are day pupils.

If children are not strong they are kept in school to
be built up in health, instead of being sent home, and

Education in Indiana 459

the community is the gainer by their increased efficiency.
The work is so varied and planned so progressively
that the pupils retain their enthusiasm and are regular
in attendance. The industrial work is practical and
comprises learning to make their own clothes and to do
office and school work. The lunch room is conducted
by the cooking department, which must do its own
buying of food, make its own daily menu, serve hot,
wholesome food cheaply, and make the room pay ex-
penses. Actual work in bookkeeping, accounting, print-
ing, typewriting, plumbing, building, and all every-day
trades are practised and taught in connection with
their arithmetic, English, geography, and science
lessons. Although specific trades are not taught, still
practical preparation is given. All the work is produc-
tive, for the shops and offices are manufacturing plants
for the Gary schoolrooms. The result is, the pupils feel
the reality of their drawing, designing, measuring, and
arithmetical problems. The school press prints bulle-
tins of the relative opportunities and salaries, which
open up to pupils of the different grades, as they leave
school. The children co-operate in reporting the need
of inspection of the health bureau, and help in practical
civic spirit by the care for their own district's cleanli-
ness.

If a pupil is below grade in a study that is difficult
for him, he may take that branch with a lower class,
while going on in a higher class in other studies, which
keeps him from dropping out in discouragement. No
note is taken of the usual step from grades to high school,
and fewer regard their education as over when the
elementary studies are finished.

Many other useful innovations have been instituted
in this plan of conducting a public school, but we

4^0 Historic Indiana

have not space for describing them. So important is
the school question that innumerable addresses and
columns in the newspapers have been devoted to
accounts of Mr, Wirt's methods in the Gary schools.
Here, it may only be instanced as a contribution to the
better solution of this problem.

As part of the general provision for education of all
the youth of the State, Indiana places the special schools
for the blind, the deaf mute, the defectives, and soldiers'
orphans on the same plane of free instruction as for the
other children and not as charities. Industrial training
is combined with the regular school work in these in-
stitutions.

The opportunities planned for instruction in agricul-
ture are told in the chapter on that industry,

Indiana's complete system of free instruction from
kindergarten and elementary schools, through high
school, normal training, and the universities has been
inaugurated as set forth in the first Constitution one
hundred years ago. The academic school, developed
into the State University at Bloomington, has already
been described.

In 1874 the School for Agriculture and Science was
founded at Lafayette and known as Purdue University.
It was established under the act of Congress of 1862
founding the land grant colleges for all of the States
who would avail themselves of the statute.

The act stated that the schools to be organized were
for the promotion of agriculture and the mechanic arts,
without excluding other scientific and classical branches
of study.

The growth of Purdue University and its service to the
State have been notable. Its enrollment of over 2500
students comes from Indiana and many other States

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u
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Education in Indiana 461

and foreign countries. The faculty, numbering over
200 instructors, is an ever-increasing body, as the labors
expected of it by the State multiply. The campus and
experimental farm comprise 180 acres of land. The
fine laboratory and shop apparatus and buildings must
be added to continually in the effort to keep pace with
their needs. Scientific and agricultural investigation
moves rapidly, and such schools are always in need of
increased facilities for their work.

The United States Experiment Station, as part of the
institution, was established for research, but its force is
drafted into missionary work for the scientific instruc-
tion of the State.

The Schools of Engineering have attained a national
reputation. The important Agricultural School activi-
ties are noted in the pages on that subject.

It is hoped that a School of Design, for arts and
crafts, which is so much needed in Indiana, may be
added to Purdue University. The artistic taste and
skill which lie dormant in this State should be guided
and developed for the sake of the industries of the
future.

It will be seen that in this first century of its existence
Indiana has taken her place among the foremost States
in outlining a plan for popular education. In time the
backward districts will be brought up to the general
standard, and supplementary legislation and appropria-
tion will increase the efficiency of the laws already in
force. Fortunately these enactments effect all of the
counties of the State, and as most of them are manda-
tory, progress is insured.

The teachers in the Commonwealth being the group
of most importance to its well being in the training of
its future citizens, the rules for the advancement of the

462 Historic Indiana

members of this profession are of the greatest interest.
First in importance, perhaps, is the law requiring all
teachers to have a license before they may be employed.
The rates of wages are founded on the preparation and
experience of the applicant.

The Minimum Wage Law for teachers has raised the
average of compensation and encouraged better prepara-
tion; requiring, as it does, a higher educational grade.
The law required that Normal Schools and Colleges
that wish to be accredited must conform to the standard
required by the State Board of Education; that body
being empowered to act as a teachers' training board
and to determine what schools shall have place in the
State system. There are in the State Normal School
at Terre Haute, and the pedagogical department at the
State Universities, and in the independent schools as at
Manchester, Oakland City, Marion, Winona, and Val-
paraiso thousands of students who are preparing to
take their places as teachers in the district schools.
The Indiana Kindergarten Training School at Indian-
apolis does invaluable work in the training of primary
teachers.

The Indiana Teachers' Association and its Reading
Circle, with the Young People's Reading Circle, which it
organized and directs, are of far greater value to the
communities than is realized. This guidance of the
reading of thousands of youths, one generation after
another, is of inestimable service.

As part of its educational work the first Indiana
constitution provided for libraries in counties; and
subsequent legislation has fostered the organization of
public libraries for the whole population. The rural
districts are still to be reached through more adequate
laws for organization by counties, but the record at the

Education in Indiana 463

close of the first century encourages the belief that each
county will have its permanent library before the year
closes. The spirit of co-operation between those in
authority is an added inspiration. The universities,
colleges, State Superintendent, federation of clubs, the
Public Library Commission and its Secretary, all work
together for the extension of the libraries. The Com-
mission, authorized in 1899, is the vital agent of the
activities in increasing the number of buildings, the
efficiency of libraries, the training of librarians, and of
circulating the Travelling Libraries. This Commission
holds the summer schools for the instruction of libra-
rians, advises about the construction of the permanent
buildings, secures legislation to extend the facilities for
circulating books throughout the countryside, arranges
for lecture courses, art exhibits, and serves the public
in every way for the further advancement of library
work. Four hundred stations are now served by the
Travelling Libraries with the number constantly increas-
ing. There are more than 187 public libraries in sub-
stantial buildings of their own, with Kbrarians in charge
to care for the books and serve the patrons. To these
may be added seventy-two libraries in colleges and
State institutions. There are seventy-seven thousand
members of the Young People's Reading Circle and
more than eight hundred collections of books in the
school buildings for the use of the pupils. Books are
also sent out to citizens from the State Library by the
payment of the transportation.

The Indiana University and Purdue help the Library
Commission by furnishing lecturers, bibliographies, and
study outlines for clubs; and Earlham and Hanover
Colleges have opened their halls to the Summer Library
Schools and have furnished lecturers.

4^4 Historic Indiana

There are many details of the labors of the Library
Commission and of the Superintendent of Public In-
struction which would be of interest if there was space
to enter into an account of them.

The plans for the second century of universal instruc-
tion for the State are broad and enlist the co-operation
of all citizens and legislators.

CHAPTER XIX

THE QUALITY OF THE PEOPLE

WHAT do you value most of all that you have
won?" was asked of a frontier woman.
Without an instant's hesitation she replied,
"The standards by which generations of my family
were bred." The ruling class among the early settlers
of Indiana were of this mind. It was the severing of
these ties, as well as personal loneliness, that added to
the pathos of their isolation on the frontier.

No one regrets the extreme democracy of the West.
This social freedom, permitting superior individuals
no matter what their ancestry was, to rise to their
appropriate level, infuses hope into the soul of both
the humble of native birth and the Old World immi-
grant. It develops a vigorous, efficient, and capable
population, but it inevitably brings down the average
of culture, for several generations. Social conditions
in Indiana are typical of the Republic. New people
of varying traditions have come into all the States,
faster than they could be assimilated and at the
same time the general tone of information and culture
be kept up to the standard of the most enlightened.

Of this better class are the people who are recognized
as being the responsible, representative citizens, who
have been the leaders of thought and action in the
first century of Indiana's history. No one has given

30 465

466 Historic Indiana

more fitting recognition of this element, which has
controlled the State in its short past, than the editor
of the Dial when he said :

"There is in the middle West, indubitably, a social
temper which seeks the best in things of the mind and
of the spirit. We have fallen heir — legitimately enough,
surely — to the idealism of the New Englander. Perhaps
the twin spirits of idealism and shrewd utilitarianism
which were pretty clearly to be distinguished in our Yan-
kee forebears have fused in some degree in us, so that at
one angle we seem to have lost one, and at another angle
the other. Yet they both remain, modified but active,
and the result is a social life in reality finer, stronger, more
wholesome, at least more vitalized, one may say without
offence, than in that older region. Nowhere in America
are ideas more welcome. Nowhere are they examined
with more self-control. We are the most teachable of
communities and we are, beneath everything, the most
aspiring. If we are naive, if we lack urbanity, finish, it
is because we are fresh, exuberant, and very young. But
those who come to know the life of the West come to
realize that its humanity is large and deep, and that its
grave and kindly spirit will bear us far. The quality of
moral and intellectual earnestness, that is, the main current
of the life of our region, is pretty generally underestimated.
Yet it is the factor, one believes, of greatest importance
in the life of America to-day. It is well for the West to
recognize this, not boastfully, but with a sense of all it
involves."

To say that Indiana differs in enlightenment in
any respect from the other States is not in accordance
with the facts. The dominant race, the master force
in its civilization, has remained the Anglo-Saxon
strain which was attracted by the fertile acres. They
came over the mountains from the Englibh families

The Quality of the People 467

settled in the sea-coast colonies and later from the
other States. Colonel Cockrum, who knew so many
of the old settlers, says: "As a whole the people who
were the pioneers of this State were from the best
families of the countries from which they moved;
intelligent, brave, hearty, and honest." The change of
habits, the new environment, the very fertility of
the soil, the remoteness from older civilizations, the
untrammelled spirit of the frontier, produced a variant
of the type, without doubt; but the racial character-
istics, and relative social position, have been main-
tained. Indiana, like the other States, has had her
share of immigration from foreign countries. There
was the handful of French who were left of the settle-
ments at the posts on the Wabash, the early accessions
of Scotch-Irish, the Swiss vineyard-planters who set-
tled along the Ohio, and a wave of European refugees,
fleeing from the ill-fated conditions in their father-
lands during the Napoleonic wars. Later there were
hordes of Irish and German laborers, who were imported
into the central counties to work on the canals and
other internal improvements. Then gradually, as the
years passed, and factories were established, and the
coal mines were developed, all nationalities joined
the original population; but there has been com-
paratively little intermarriage between the educated
people of the English strain and later arrivals. They
were welcomed and they prospered, but they became
one with the communities without these alliances.
It has required all of the energies of the progressive
<sitizenship to assimilate these accessions. Ere the
whole population could become enlightened, self-
o,ontrolled, and delicately considerate of others, there
was a new immigration at hand.

468 Historic Indiana

In Indiana, education was early regarded as the
"deepest hope of all ultimate, attainable qualities,"
and the public school and university system was
established. There are few congested centres of
population in the commonwealth, and there is work
for all who are able to do manual labor, but it is a
slow process to bring these accessions up to the average.
The cause of backward conditions in material improve-
ments which are the outward manifestation of progressive
people seems to be the force of inertia in these un-
cultured classes. This inertia also reaches into the
class elected to office, and prevents desirable State
and municipal legislation. The shiftlessness and ig-
norance of this minority are what hampers the progress
toward well-kept cities and farms, but this fact is
common to all of the States,

Formerly, the term Hoosier meant a backwoods-
man, to a resident on the Atlantic coast. As late
as the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia, two
gentlemen of birth and lineage from the Wabash,
both descended from old colonial stock, and both
of commanding presence, personally, overheard an
Eastern woman say: "Well, I've seen the glories of
the earth here. I 've seemed to travel from the Oc-
cident to the Orient, but before I go home I should
like to see a genuine Hoosier." The humor of the
situation was too much for our unintentional eaves-
droppers. The two gentlemen, with habitual courtly
grace, turned, and bowing said, "By your leave,
madam, we present ourselves as humble citizens of
Indiana." Disillusioned, one more denizen of the
East went home after a friendly interstate chat
with the gentlemen — with a fairer appreciation of
Hoosierdom.

The Quality of the People 469

By the part played in the Civil War, Indiana placed
herself, as it were, among the States. The gallant
record of her troops, and the conspicuous ability of
her war governor and citizens, revealed to the East
the position the State had gradually grown to occupy,
while they had still been thinking of the Wabash as
the frontier, and Hoosiers as benighted. In 1906,
the New York Sun called attention to the fact that
Indiana was the only State which had a solid delega-
tion of college-bred men in the two houses of Congress.
Massachusetts had theretofore ranked highest in this
particular. The Indiana men, however, have an
unbroken record of collegiate education.

It is admitted that the West in general has "con-
tributed to manners a certain frankness of demeanor,
a certain unquestioning sincerity in the attitude of
man to man, w^hich has a beauty, no less than moral
value, quite beyond appraisal. In course of time
the manner developed from this fundamental trait
of frankness, and coupled with real refinement, should
become the most gracious and altogether charming
that American life has yet evolved." Nevertheless,
"vulgarity is an eighth deadly sin," as Lowell says,
"and worse than all the others put together since
it perils your salvation in this world." But Europeans
and Chinese criticise the manners of our older States,
with condescension; and mayhap it will always be
that the older civilizations will be critical of the
younger.

Indiana people of culture especially resent the pro-
nouncement of one of their prominent politicians,
that " Indiana achieves the true meaning of the common
people. It is the home of the average American."
They claim that such a statement belies history-, that

470 Historic Indiana

such an assertion proceeds from the demagogue who
is fond of referring to the people, but never claims
to belong to them unless he is running for office.
Gentle birth has been the heritage of the real leaders
of thought and life in the Hoosier State from its begin-
ning. It is interesting to note in Oliver Smith's
reminiscences how many gentlemen with talents and
manners he found among the pioneers who continued
in public life until his time. Speaking of some, he
tells of their "energy that never slumbered, their
integrity that was never questioned, their high con-
ception of morality and religion, coupled with social
qualities of the first order." Again he introduces to
us a group of which one was * ' a courteous and polished
gentleman," another " is a fine scholar and well-read
man," and another "a distinguished specimen of the
last generation."

General Lew Wallace says of his father, who was
one of the pioneers of the State :

"Added to the graces, he had a pleasant voice and
manner more stately and gracious than we meet to-day;
the urbane sweetness to which we give the name of high
breeding. There were fewer books then, and they were
of the best, and constant familiarity with them gave a
stateliness of speech and a certain dignity that comes of
keeping good company. They dined with Horace and
supped with Plutarch, and were scholars without knowing
it."i

An early settler tells of a new book that was reported
in a neighboring settlement: "At last there came a
day when my father could spare a horse from the
plow, and I went in quest of the book, which was

" Wallace, Lew, Atitobiography. New York, 1906.

The Quality of the People 471

found, borrowed, and read with a zest now -unknown,
for it was one of Sir Walter Scott's immortal stories."
The gentle influence of these cultured families was
a welcome leaven in frontier neighborhoods ; and
later, as Mr. Nicholson has said, "the older Indiana
towns enjoyed in their beginning all the benefits
that may be bestowed upon new communities by a
people of good social antecedents. In no old com-
munity of the seaboard had loftier dignity been
conferred by long residence or pioneer ancestry, than
in Indiana." ^ Hon. Hugh McCulloch came out
from New England and settled in Indiana in 1833,
and knew the whole State well; of it he says:

"Indianapolis was fortunate in the character of its
early settlement. Such men are rarely found in any
place. Their superiors in intelligence, in enterprise, and
moral worth can be found nowhere. What was true in
regard to the early settlers of Indianapolis was also true
of those in many other Indiana towns. Nor have their
successors been degenerate. No State has been more
prolific of superior men than Indiana." 2

Writing of one of the older towns, George Gary Eg-
gleston said : "I have before me a long list, which
I forbear to copy, of men who made Madison, or its
near neighborhood, their home at that time, and
who were conspicuously distinguished in State and
nation for their intellectual achievements."^

The careers of public men who have place in the
pages of history cannot be touched upon in a volume

< Nicholson, Meredith, Hoosiers. New York, 1900.

' McCulloch, Hugh, Men and Measures of Half a Century, page 72.
New York, 1888.

' Eggleston, George Gary, First of the Hoosiers. Fenno, New
York, 1903.

472. Historic Indiana

like this, but their abilities and their attainments
must be considered in any estimate of the State's
average of citizenship. Running over the list of gov-
ernors, senators, and congressmen from the earliest
time, the Indiana officials will be found representative
of American ability, occupying those positions in each
decade. A State which has furnished a President
and three Vice-Presidents to the United States, who
have all "magnified the office," and done honor to
the commonwealth in those exalted positions, may
lay claim to sending out representative men. The
numerous Cabinet officers called from Indiana, in
the course of the history of the country, have shown
the quality of the State's public men, one of whom
served as Secretary of the Treasury for three differ-
ent Presidents. The rank of Indiana diplomatists at
foreign courts and consulates has been second to none,
and they have rendered distinguished service to the
nation in these positions. As naval and military
commanders, of high and low degree, no State has
surpassed the officers of Indiana. Nor were any
men braver fighters than the Hoosier regiments.

In letters and the arts there are men whom all
delight to honor, and her faithful educators compare
with any other section of the country. Scientists she
has the results of whose investigations are watched
for all over the world. It may be safely claimed
that there is not a capital city of any other State in
the Union whose citizens have maintained, through
a quarter of a century, a club of representative men
that could surpass the well-known Gentlemen's Lit-
erary Club of IndianapoHs. In the national fame of
its membership, the interest of the papers and dis-
cussions, the quality of its literary work, and the

The Quality of the People 473

breadth of view and wide reading of the men who
for many years past have served on its programs,
there is no commonwealth but would be honored in
possessing such a circle. The same might be claimed
for similar circles in the other cities of Indiana.

It is not alone the men and women who have
remained and labored within the State that show
the quality of its people. The men who were bom
there, but who have gone out from Indiana, in earlier
or mature years, also denote the character of her
settlement. John Hay, one of the greatest premiers
the United States has had, was bom at Salem, Indiana,
and his writings and great diplomatic career reflect
credit on the State of his birth. John B. Eads, the
civil engineer of the Mississippi jetties and constructor
of St. Louis bridge, came from the Hoosier State.
Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras, first looked
upon nature from the hills of southern Indiana, and
the young poet William Vaughn Moody was bom in
the State. Dr. Billings, who managed the libraries
of all Manhattan Island, was born at Rising Sun,
Indiana. Hiram Powers, the sculptor, was from
this State, and William M. Chase, the noted painter,
who encourages and inspires, aids and cheers, the
rising artists who come up to New York, was bom
in Johnson County, and began his art work in Indi-
anapolis. Henry Mosler, the talented genre painter,
now claimed by Cincinnati, is a native of Indiana.
General Joseph E. Johnston, Generals Camngton and
Bumside of great military fame, and Admiral Glisson
and Commander Herndon were bora in the White-
water Valley. General Lawton has added laurels
to his name and that of the State ; and Erasmus
Weaver serves the nation, as well as his native common-

474 Historic Indiana

wealth, in the councils of war and defence. Robert
U. Johnson, long the editor of the Century Magazine,
was bom in Indiana, and Mr. Roswell -Smith went
from the State to found that periodical. Another
editor who honors the field of Eastern journalism
is George Gary Eggleston, also from the Hoosier State.
Gharles Denby gave the most valuable years of his
life to the service of the nation as its representative
during those trying years in the Orient. John W.
Foster, though living in Washington, keeps closely
in sympathy with his native State, and no man of
the present day has rendered more brilliant service
to his country in diplomacy. Janet Scudder, whose
artistic modelling commands admiration in Eastern art
centres, went from Richmond, Indiana. The work of
Harvey W. Wiley in the United States Agricultural
Department, for pure foods and the advance of science,
reflects great credit on the Hoosier State, of which he is
a native. Judge Landis of the Federal Court is a mem-
ber of a large family who have served Indiana. Inter-
national recognition of Charles R. Henderson as an
authority on measures for social betterment, in charities
and corrections and kindred works, is also a recognition
of an Indiana man, and the State's interest in those
matters. Professor John W. Coulter's pre-eminence
in botanical research means a credit mark to an
Indiana family, as well as the work in the same line
done within the State by Dean Stanley Coulter. Pro-
fessor Gharles Barnes has distinguished himself in the
same science, and the Director of Dresden's great
orchestra is Clark of Indiana.

The membership of the "Indiana Society of
Chicago" shows that the Hoosier State has contributed
judges, authors, poets, artists, bankers, journalists,

The Quality of the People 47c

and engineers of note and signal ability, to Chicago's
commercial and intellectual life. Those of Hoosier
birth in that city are too many to enumerate; but
they are known to all, as now occupying places of
honor and great responsibility in that busy centre
of the nation.

The list of past and living Hoosiers who have added
to the history of achievement throughout the Re-
public might be lengthened indefinitely. But enough
have been mentioned to emphasize the statement
that the character of the population of the State, how-
ever plain and simple, is not the "common people."
Indiana produces men and women of marked ability,
who, whether they go out from her borders to do
their life-work or remain identified with the history
of the State, show that they are more than the
' ' average American . "

In writing of his exhaustive and analytical search
into the origin of the term Hoosier, Mr. Dunn very
truly says: "The essential point is, that Indiana and
her people had nothing whatever to do with its origin
or significance. It was applied to us in raillery, and
our only connection with it is that we have borne
it meekly for some three score years and ten, and
have made it widely recognized as a badge of honor,
rather than a term of reproach." In the language
of Mr. Maurice Thompson, "Say Hoosier, if you like,
but say it with admiration and pride."

When we give due importance to the immigration
into Indiana from New England and New York, which
followed the influence of the earlier immigration from
the South, it must be recognized that the Middle West
represents the coalescence of two distinct elements of
our Colonial population.

47^ Historic Indiana

"There is no better explanation of our varied tastes
and industries — of our composite character. Is it not
also the most fundamental explanation of our balance
of temperament and our character ? " ^

The National turnpike and the Wabash and Erie
Canal were consciously planned to facilitate commercial
interests with the East, to offset the natural line of
transportation down the rivers to New Orleans market.
Washington himself looked to these means of intercom-
munication as necessary to solidify the two sections.
To this Eastern immigration, often after a short stay in
the State of Ohio, Indnana owes many of her thrifty
farmers, bankers, educators, and commercial managers.
The quality of the people received much of its virility,
enterprise, and provision for the universal education
from this stock.

' W. E. Henry, "Some Elements of Indiana's Population," Indiana
Historical Society Publications.

CHAPTER XX

AGRICULTURE IN INDIANA

IN the very opening of the history of Indiana, the
French settlers did little in agriculture beyond
cultivating, in communistic fashion, the gardens
and fields about the forts, under the encouragement
of the priests. The French trader opposed agricultural
settlements, because they destroyed his trade in
peltries, and the Jesuit was sometimes hostile to
them, because they dispersed the Indians and removed
his mission field. The French Government gave no
land grants, at many of the posts, hence there was
no permanency of settlements as where some system
of land-holding prevailed. When the American settlers
came out from the Eastern coast, it was to make
homes and cultivate the land.

Marquis Duquesne himself had shown the Indians,
before he left in 1754, the difference there would
be to them between the English and French colo-
nization: reminded them that the Frenchman was
not a menace to their game areas, that they could
hunt to the very walls of the French forts, and that
those forts were placed conveniently for trading-
stations with the natives ; that the inhabitants
were only a garrison; and they had their lands as
tenants of the crown. On the other hand, the English

477

478 Historic Indiana

moved the frontier forward, only to possess the land.
They felled the forests, planted the ground, and the
game disappeared. Congregations and communities
were established at every favorable landing where
the products of the soil might be shipped to the markets
of the world. They grew steadily into independent
States, instead of remaining dependent colonies that
had to be fed from over seas. The magnificent forests
that were found growing over a large part of Indiana
indicated an exceedingly rich soil, more productive
than any State east of it, and from the time of the
first clearings it has been pre-eminently an agricultural
State, there being but few acres of its twenty-three
million that cannot be cultivated.

"After a personal inspection of a great part of the
United States, I have seen no portion of the Union
more beautiful in appearance or one combining so
many advantages as that which is watered by the
Wabash River," wrote Henry L. Ellsworth when he
was Land Commissioner at Washington, and he took
up great tracts of land in the valley of that river.
In 1843, in his message Governor W^hitcomb said:
"Our position, soil, and climate point to that branch
of labor devoted to agriculture as our chief reliance
for lasting wealth and prosperity. This calling should
rank first in respectability as it is unquestionably the
first in importance to the State."

An old settler, speaking of Indiana's geographical
position as a great factor in her future prosperity,
said that "lying directly across the track, for all time,
of all the great artificial improvements that can ever
be made connecting the East with the Pacific, over
the valley of the Mississippi, coupled with the fact
that she is so highly favored in climate, soil, mineral,

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o

"o
o

o
CO

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M

Agriculture in Indiana 479

wood, water, and rock, we can see that Indiana com-
bines all of the elements of a great and growing State."

The aborigines had raised their crops by making
holes in the ground with bone hoes and dropping in a
seed, to come up without further cultivation than
scratching the soil a little. Into this fertile territory
the first farmers came. They began their primitive
culture by cutting down or girdling the forest trees,
and cultivated their first crops between the stumps.
Generally they paid for their lands by selling the
pelts of the wild animals which they had shot in the
woods. Often the ploughshare was the only piece of
iron in their equipment. The rest of that implement
was made by the farmer himself from white oak; as
also was made his harrow, both timbers and teeth.
All of the farmer's implements were well pinned to-
gether with hickory pins. The holes for these pegs were
burned out, for he had no auger. In winter rudely
fashioned sleds, hauled by plodding oxen, carried the
farmer's crops and timber to market. Wooden rakes
were universal, and pitch-forks were made from the
forked boughs of a tree, or the antlers of an elk. The
cabin of the settler, the mortar for grinding grain,
the cider press, the tannery, the implements of toil,
were all made at home, and without nails, screws,
or bolts.

Comfortable homes, granaries, and bams have long
ago displaced these primitive surroundings. It is
interesting to recount the various movements and
influences that have contributed to the rapid progress
of the farming community. First, because earliest
and most continuous, must be accounted the rural
churches and Sabbath-schools, with the social as-
sembling of all ages for worship and friendly inter-

480 Historic Indiana

course, as the greatest means of the development in
Indiana farm life.

Next to the church gatherings, the earliest stimulus
the farmer had to do better things, materially, was
the organization of the State and county fairs. There
had been several successful county fairs held in Indiana
before the first State fair occurred in 1852, and Gov-
ernor Wright urged the people to organize a State
institution for the promotion of friendly rivalry in
agriculture. It was a new idea in the Western States
and the first exhibition was a success. The records
show that the first Indiana State fair lasted through
three days, each one of which was marked by the
balmy sunshine of Indian summer; over thirty thou-
sand Indiana people were on the fair grounds dur-
ing the three days, and this first State fair was a
successful one for the times, in a financial way, in
exhibits, and in attendance. It called together
town and country men from remote sections of the
State. People started from home days before the
fair opened, some driving horses, and others being
content with the slow pace of oxen that drew their
wagons. It was the first general exhibit of the products
of the labor and skill of the people. The stock-raisers
of Indiana sent their sleekest cattle to the fair in 1852,
as they have done every year since. They also sent
their largest and finest horses, the fattest from their
herds, the best products from the field and orchard,
and the best from their looms.

There were plowing contests between farmer boys,
who drove either horses or oxen. There were exhib-
its of many new inventions in farm machinery, very
helpful in informing the farmer. The new art of
taking daguerreotypes claimed many patrons. Staves

Agriculture in Indiana ' 481

cut by machinery collected a crowd of sight-seers.
Homespun fabrics and spinning-wheels were shown
side by side with the recently introduced invention
called sewing-machines, which enlisted the greatest
curiosity, because of their novelty. There were half
a dozen railroads in operation in the State by that
time, and they carried in thousands of people to the
fair who had never been on a train before ! The plank
roads passed animals free of toll, and the roads were
lined with exhibits going into town. One newspaper
contained the editorial announcement that it was
sure the State fair would infuse into the farmers a
just pride in the utility and greatness of their pursuits,
and "that a laudable ambition to have the mantel
decorated with a silver cup will actuate all, and, thus
feeling and acting, who can calculate the ultimate
result?"

In the earlier years of the State fair, energy was
directed to building up public interest in the enter-
prise, and with this purpose in view the fair was
held at various points in the State. The chief reason
for this was to bring it within reach of all the people,
and to maintain the interest that the first fair had
won. The other reason was, the State Board of Ag-
riculture w^as in its infancy; its treasury had nothing
behind it but the faith and good-will of the people.
It had no permanent home. The State Board borrowed
from county fair associations the use of their grounds
in these earlier years. In 1853, the second State fair
was held, at Lafayette. Horace Greeley delivered
the speech, which was made one of the chief attractions.
The next season the State fair was held at Madison.
Until 1868, the fair was migratory. In 1861, the
strife of war cast a gloom over its career. Soldiers
31

482 Historic Indiana

were camping on the grounds, and no exhibition
could be held that year. The misfortunes of the
war followed the fair through the years of 1862 and
1863, when the institution lost money. In 1868, it
came back to Indianapolis, to wander no more from
county to county. The attendance has increased
since its salad days with the growth of the population,
until now fully 164,000 people are in attendance.

The social side of all of the agricultural fairs cannot
be overlooked in estimating the benefits derived from
them. The people come up to their county exhibitions,
renew old friendships, and make new acquaintances,
which is a most wholesome variation of the daily
treadmill of their isolated existence. Citizens have
been loyal to these local institutions too; one pros-
perous farmer's wife, who was going for a tour of
Europe, said: "I shall not go until after our county
fair; my husband and I have not missed a session
since its organization." Lectures and demonstrations
in agriculture and domestic science are generally held
on the grounds in connection with the exhibition.
These advantages contribute to their educational value.

The fairs have always been the largest means of
making know'n improvements in farm machinery,
which has manifolded the labors of each man on the
farm. To appreciate the lightening of toil by invention
applied to farm implements, we only need to recall
that until 1840 grain was mown with scythe and
sickle; and great bands of reapers w^ere necessary to
gather the golden crop. These troops of men went
from the southern to the northern part of the State,
garnering the harvest as it ripened in each district.
After the grain-cradle was introduced, a man could
reap the great area of two acres a day! In those

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Agriculture in Indiana 483

times the grain was threshed out with a flail or tramped
out by horses and winnowed through sieves. The
first crude threshing-machines had a capacity of
thirty to sixt}^ bushels of wheat a day, and the chaff
must be separated by men using wooden rakes and
forks in the choking dust. Afterwards they dropped
the grain from an elevation, at the same time dex-
terously fanning it with a tow sheet. Lieutenant
Governor Cumback used to be fond of telling that
when his father bought an improvement for this
labor, in the form of a fanning-mill, he was taken
to task by a devout neighbor, who maintained that,
as it was a " wind contrary to nature, " it must be
displeasing to the Almighty. Soon there were travelling
threshers, with six horses and twice as many men,
who astonished the agricultural world by threshing
two hundred bushels a day! Later steam machines
appeared and two thousand bushels were threshed
out, and the dust blown far from the sweltering
laborers. The improvement in farm machinery for
other purposes was equally startling. Indiana now
stands near the head of the line in the manufacture
of these implements and vehicles.

The introduction of machinery was the greatest
factor in the increase of the comforts of living and
the efficiency of labor on the farm, in Indiana, as
elsewhere. When we remember the primitive im-
plements of the past, we think with patience of the
boys who left the farm. The future before the Hoosier
on the farm is the ideal life, where the work is to be
done by the combined use of brains and machines,
when electricity from the streams will perform the
toil, and science w411 have added to the productiveness
of the acres.

484 Historic Indiana

The first Governor of the infant commonwealth,
Jonathan Jennings, was a farmer and deserves the
honor of being the man who introduced clover into
the State. He imported the seed from England in
1832, paying thirty-five dollars a bushel for it.

In 1862, President Lincoln gave his approval to the
bills creating the Agricultural Commission, and to
the land grant act, establishing colleges of agriculture
in all the States, which Buchanan had vetoed two
sessions before. This grant was the largest ever made
to education, and was the foundation of industrial ed-
ucation in America, which is to revolutionize methods
of higher instruction. In Indiana, the results of this
act, and a further one of the State Legislature taking
advantage ot it, was the establishment of Purdue
University at Lafayette in 1874. The value of the
agricultural department of this school to the State
is only limited by the appropriations made by the
Legislature for its further upbuilding. Other States
should not be allowed to outstrip it, either in the
initiative of its management or in its equipment, if
Indiana is to keep pace with its neighbors on every
side. The Agricultural University gives instruction to
thousands of the people of the State.' This large
number of persons is reached through various depart-
ments, including the regular college course, four years,
through the Experimental Station activities, the Short
Course in Agriculture, given in January each year; the
Fruit Growers' Short Course; the Farmers' Institutes,
held in every section of the State; the Winter School
of eight weeks, where they give a practical course in
farming and home economics. Also through its very

■ 7600 teachers who are engaged in teaching agriculture in the schools
of the State were assisted last year.

Agriculture in Indiana 485

important department of Agricultural Extension, the
school carries the experimental work to the farmers who
cannot attend the University, but are seeking knowledge
of theory and practice in the actual field work. Added
to these accommodations for the people is the Summer
School for the training of teachers who are to carry out
the required pre-vocational instruction in agriculture
and domestic science in the public schools.

The University also selects and supervises the County
Agents who are to perform so important a part in carry-
ing out the Vocational Education Law. Each county
is to have its own trained agriculturist sent to it by the
University Extension Department, to assist the teachers
of agriculture in the rural schools. While at the head
of this important work the County Agent instructs the
farmers how to increase the income from their farms.
He gives practical field demonstrations on their farms
and lectures to assemblies of them, on seed testing,
building silos, orchard management, character and
treatment of soils, and how to improve the fertility of
that in their own neighborhood. He gathers the farmers
into community-centre clubs, in each township, to
accelerate the work of instructing and interesting the
men and women in improved methods of tillage and
management.

The University also supplies the State Supervisor
of Agricultural Education for the public schools, and
also his assistants and co-operative agents. The soli-
darity of the university and community life is rendered
more complete.

Live-stock shows are held at the University, and
judging cattle is taught.

The regular four years' course is similar to the educa-
tion in science and letters offered in other colleges with

486 Historic Indiana

the additional technical instruction for the profession of
agriculture, preparing the student for the farm, or for
teaching of art or for work in the bureaus of husbandry.

The courses that Purdue University offers in domestic
science must also be enumerated among the opportuni-
ties offered by the State to the agriculturist. Many
young women fit themselves for the home or a profession
in this department. School years are used as years of
active apprenticeship.

The grange, as now organized and conducted, is
one of the important steps for improvement instituted
by the agricultural classes. Being on a co-operative
and educational basis, and non-political, it can work
for the betterment of conditions in rural life along
so many lines that its influence in the future should
be vast. In Indiana its membership is growing steadily.
As it is a "family club" and holds county, State,
and national meetings, it necessarily follows that
when the grange chooses to address itself to vital
questions it can sway a multitude of opinions, and
be a great force in the commonwealth.

Agricultural and live-stock journals, and kindred
departments in the regular newspapers, have been a
most potent influence in the history of Indiana farm
life. They bring inspiration, information, and en-
tertainment into the farmer's home. The ability
and knowledge engaged in this editorial work is com-
mensurate with the wide influence of their pages.
Perhaps the periodicals of no other trade or calling
have more attractive pages than those published for
country life. Not only the useful reading matter is
valuable, but the illustrations are instructive and beau-
tiful. To be a progressive farmer in this day, without
the agricultural and live-stock periodicals, is not to

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Agriculture in Indiana 487

be imagined. The State publications and all other
journals of merit have their hosts of subscribers in
rural Indiana. It requires but a glance over the
papers on the table of a representative farmer to
estimate their usefulness to him.

Indiana is showing the results of all these influences
in the increased productiveness of her areas, the
.extension of good roads, the comfort of the farm-
houses, and barns for cattle, and the improvement
in schools. The survey of the soil of each county, by
the State Geologist, places at the command of the
farmer a knowledge of his fields and what they may
produce.

The Rural Life Conference, fostered by Hanover
College, brings to the attention of farm people the many
agencies which have been placed at his disposal to make
rural life comfortable. The modemly equipped Robert
Long Hospital was established for the sick from any
county. Expert advice from the Board of Health is
available. There is State supervision of seed selection,
of soil culture, of breeding and feeding cattle, of com-
bating disease, of testing the products of the dairy,
and the healthfulness of the water supply. Books may
be secured through the Travelling Libraries. Indiana
University, through its Extension Department, wiU
instruct young or old; the Department of Agriculture
furnishes plans for homes. These and many other
facilities Indiana holds out to each member of its rural
districts.

Probably nothing of more importance has been
inaugurated on Hoosier soil than the movement to
introduce elementary study of agriculture into the
free public schools, to which we have alluded in the
chapter on Education. In time this work should

488 Historic Indiana

revolutionize farm life in Indiana. It gives an idea
education for the average farmer's sons and daughters,
and turns the attention of town youths toward the
country. In speaking upon this important innovation,
a lecturer from the university said truly: "The study
of agriculture in country schools, in most of its ram-
ifications, is of perennial and universal interest. It
sustains a vital relation to the life and well-being of
the individual, and of the community. The subject
is not only interesting and inspiring, but it is also
definitely practical. It has to do with the problem
of bread and butter. It deals with the here and now."
Another reason for the study of elementary agri-
culture, which applies particularly to the rural schools,
is the right of the country children to a school training
which will specially prepare them for life on the farm.
The great majority of these children do not attend
school beyond the eighth grade. If special instruction
in the elements of agriculture is denied them before
that grade is finished they must be greatly handicapped
in their efforts to win success and become useful
citizens. The pupils in the grades have found that
scientific agriculture is profitable. Boys who have
followed the instruction obtained in these classes, on
the problems of corn growing, have produced, annually,
from sixty to one hundred and twenty-eight bushels
of com per acre. The average production of corn per
acre, by the boys, has exceeded the average production
of the State by forty-seven bushels, and at an average
cost of twenty-one cents per bushel against thi^' five
cents for the State. Seed is tested for the farmei^ oy
the home schools. Improvement has also been notable
in the dairy interests. Fruit and vegetable growing has
received attention in the schools. The best feature of

Agriculture in Indiana 489

the plan is that the experiments are made practical
because they are tried on the home orchards and
gardens. The important work of poultry raising has
been carried on successfully in the home yards. The
care and management of live-stock has been so well
taught that farmers have been awakened by the
profitable returns. An increased knowledge of their
home soils and the school testing of seeds "have
netted the farmers of the State an amount equal to
a snug fortune." The gardening work, last year,
engaged the efforts of twenty thousand boys and
girls in the town and city schools. As a new cen-
tury opens, there are 7600 teachers engaged in teach-
ing agriculture in the schools of the State along the
lines that insure more skilful farming and a fuller
country life. Teachers have also been employed to
supervise the summer work of the pupils at home,
making it more practical and thorough. Community
clubs for the promotion of scientific methods of cul-
ture, through the object lessons given by the schools,
have been organized.

The high cost of living should be materially affected
by the increased knowledge and enthusiasm promoted
by this elementary instruction. To this primary work
must be added the effect in time, of the very important
vocational provision for education in household science
and farming for youths over fourteen.

Co-operative agencies, inaugurated under the direc-
tion of the County Agents, are among the most favor-
able possibilities for continued development in the
country. The position of the individualistic farmer
has not been crowded enough for him to realize the full
significance to his business, of co-operation. In buy-
ing, marketing, preventive measures, and community

490 Historic Indiana

improvements there is a great future for "team work"
by the agriculturist.

The history of the agricultural districts in Indiana
shows that they have steadily endeavored to throw
off the yoke of intemperance, which hampers pros-
perity in the cities and reaches out for the countryman.
Three fourths of the townships of the State now pro-
hibit the sale of liquor, and every year the list of
"dry" townships, and even counties, grows longer.
This movement against the liquor traffic in the country
districts is full of hope for the future, and will prove
of priceless value to the commonwealth.

When factories superseded, to a certain extent, the
home-made productions, agricultural Indiana added
a new industry in the form of truck farming. The
canning establishments which have sprung up within
the factory era have provided an enlarged market for
the produce of the small farmer living near these enter-
prises. Several hundred thousand acres in the State
are now devoted to this purpose, and it gives a greater
chance for variety of crops. Probably 2 ,goo,ooo bushels
of tomatoes alone are now produced annuall}^

The labor of woman on the farms, in the raising
of poultry and fruits and the making of butter, has
become a marked economic factor in rural commerce.
Except where it is made a special business, the poultry
and eggs are raised by the women ; and the value of this
product in the last year reached over fifteen and a
quarter millions of dollars. The influence of women
in the agricultural communities of Indiana does not
stop with the commercial side. Her part in the
Farmers' Institutes, Sunday-school conventions, church
meetings, sessions of the grange, in the day schools,
and the county and State fairs is fully equal to that

Agriculture in Indiana '491

of the men. Mrs, Virginia Meredith of Indiana is a
well known exponent of agricultural instruction and
progress, in theory and practice; but she can call
to her aid scores of efficient workers, from every part
of the State, in all forward movements for the rural
communities.

With a soil so rich as that in Indiana, good roads
were felt, from the very dawn of her history, to be
a vital necessity, as there seemed to be no bottom
to the trail through the forests. The early settlers
were ever floundering through mud-holes, fording
streams, and helping one another's teams out of a
quagmire. The improvement of the highw^ays has
been steady but very deliberate. Some districts are
still far in advance of others, with a consequent effect
on their prosperity. Wells County built one hundred
and tw^o miles of gravel roads last year, while another
county built but one. The constant agitation of the
subject by a few enterprising men in each district
has added a thousand miles a year since 1900 to the
sum total of good roads, which now reaches the number
of 16,268 miles. Shades of the forefathers, who had
to travel on horseback through the mud, bear witness
and hope for more! Indiana may take pattern from
the interesting story told by Joseph Brown, apropos
of better roads, and how one neighborhood attained
them. His story goes that

"After John Tyler retired from the presidency of the
United States, his neighbors of the other party, as a sort
of a practical joke, and also perhaps to show their opinion
of his capacity, got together and elected him roadmaster,
but they wot not that they were casting a boomerang.
John accepted the ofifice. The Virginia law gives this
functionary almost unlimited power in calling out citizens

492 Historic Indiana

for road service, and the distinguished roadmaster made
the most of his privilege. For about three months that
year, in season and out of season, he worked his constituency
on the public highways, till they wished they had n't done
it. Tyler stood the joke better than they did, and the
travelling public got the benefits."

Purdue University authorities have for some time
been making a careful study of the good roads question
in the State, and received reports from hundreds of
farmers, some of whom live on good roads once bad,
and others on roads still bad. From these reports
they have computed statistics, showing that the
difference between good and bad roads amounts to
seventy-eight cents an acre annually on the farms.
Multiplying this amount by the entire State — 23,264,-
000 acres — we have the sum of $18,145,920. Of this
amount, fully two thirds is wasted every year in the
State in the loss of time, and in the loss of opportunity
in securing the best market for the produce of the
farm. As State Geologist Blatchley points out, Indiana
is rich in clay suitable for vitrified brick, rich in gravel,
rich in stone for macadam roads. There are plenty
of convicts needing the exercise, who could manu-
facture these products in private. There is no reason,
therefore, why every public road of any importance
in the State should not be improved, so that it can
be travelled with ease any day in the year.

Rural mail delivery, where the roads warrant it,
has added more to the convenience and pleasure of
country life than any provision of the government
since regular mail service was first provided.

Another event in rural Indiana's history w^as the
building of electric roads which have been extended
across the State. Over thirteen hundred miles of

Agriculture in Indiana 493

these rapid transit conveniences now pass the doors
of Indiana farmers, bringing them in close commun-
ication with town and market. Telephones and
automobiles have also added to the luxury of living.
Land values are increased by the combined agencies
of these modem conveniences; and the isolation
which causes so many to desert the farm, and makes
labor so scarce, will be largely overcome by rapid
transit.

The greatest single instrument of progress in agri-
culture in Indiana has been the progressive spirit
of individuals. In the -century of her history, from
territorial days onward, there have been so many
men who have led their immediate district into more
progressive agricultural practices, that any personal
mention would leave out great numbers who have
been a blessing to the State by improving the con-
ditions in their own neighborhoods. Biographies
of statesmen, politicians, and military men figure
largely in history, but the available "short and sim-
ple annals" of farmers are so scarce that it is al-
most necessary to treat of them as a group. To
improve the quality of seed com or potatoes, or to
import better live-stock into a region, deserves the
commendation of him who "makes two blades of
grass grow where one grew before." Some of these
progressive residents of the State were individuals
whose business did not permit them to live in the
country, but who had such a genuine love for the
soil that they have always been farmers in addition
to their other duties, and have found pleasure and
profit to themselves and their neighbors in practical
agriculture. These men have helped to inspire their
farmer acquaintances with increased pleasure in

494 Historic Indiana

country life, and enthusiasm in tilling the soil. They
have encouraged road-building, and better rural
schools, introduced new fruits, poultry, and grain, and
raised the grade of cattle and horses.

Among the first registered live stock in Indiana,
it is said, were the pure-bred short-horn cattle brought
into the State in 1825 by Edward Talbott. Since
that time, the values in live-stock farming have been
immensely increased by the interests maintained in
Indiana on the special breeding farms. The cattle
and horses shown every year by experienced and
enterprising men in Indiana have commanded prizes
in State and international exhibitions. These leaders
have stood for high standards in pure breeding. The
value of their famous herds of cattle, and breeding
farms of horses, sheep, and swine, to the general
farming interests of Indiana, is not to be calculated
by their own financial returns.

"We have a self-satisfied way of considering [says
the Gazette] that all the pioneering has been done in the
work of live-stock improvements in America. We could
not think farther off the true line. The whole rural
community must be brought forward. It is easy enough
to have faith in that which is demonstrated before our
eyes by these breeders of pedigreed stock; and we may
go ahead along a line marked out by a neighbor, when we
hear the clink of the golden coin as it jingles in his pocket."

The National Registry Associations, which main-
tain the "strict letter of the law" in live-stock ped-
igrees, have always had Indiana men identified with
their management. The active secretaries have given
many years to the supervision of correct registry of
live stock, as a means of keeping up the standards

Agriculture In Indiana 495

to the highest grade, and these citizens must be en-
rolled among the vital influences of progress in the
industry.

Regarding the outlook for the future of agriculture
in Indiana, the following statements in the Indiana
Farmer regarding farming in the middle West are
very pertinent.

"The writer moved five hundred miles east, to his
present location, because of the rapid division of Western
ranges and ranches into small farms. By thus increasing
the value of the arid lands they place the East on a fair
competing basis with the far West. Western ranges which
formerly yielded unlimited free grass to all comers are
now on an acre basis; it must be seen that the middle
West is now able to compete fairly with the far West
in cattle-raising."

Another reason for expecting continued prosperity
in the profession of farming is that Indiana's field
crops are fairly divided into the great staple products
of wheat, oats, timothy, and clover, averaging between
one and two million acres of each; all of which are
in steady demand. For com the average runs over
four million acres.

Dairy farming in Indiana has been very largely
confined to the northern counties, and near the capital.
But her geographical position seems to indicate a
sustained future demand for this industr>^ Indeed,
Indiana farmers are fortunate in being about the
centre of things, for markets, temperate chmate,
fertility of soil, and transportation. Under these
favorable conditions, intensive farming is an assurance
of increased income in the future.

In closing a sketch of Indiana's progress in agri-

496 Historic Indiana

culture, it is not amiss to recall again that, owing to
her geographical position, the State is spread before
the eyes of the travelling world. If she has shiftless
farms and untidy villages, they are " seen of all men,"
More thrift is desirable, not only for increased revenues
to individuals, but for the good name of the State.
The population of the State is changing. Indiana has
become a "Mother State" within the first century of
her history. She sends out a larger population than she
receives immigrants, but the population is still homo-
geneous in that the dominant class is of English descent
and less than six per cent, is foreign born. Mr. Leon-
ard's^ statistics indicate that the native population is
increasing more rapidly than the foreign.

The majority of her residents are no longer occupied
in agriculture, being now about evenly divided
between urban and farm pursuits. This alone would
mean an increased cost of living, as there are fewer
acres cultivated to feed the dwellers of cities who are
at the same time increasing in numbers. These condi-
tions point to the necessity for the full development of
the Vocational Education Law outlined in the chapter
on Education.

The boys' and girls' clubs have proven themselves
a most valuable adjunct to the courses of study. They
consist of canning, cooking, sewing, gardening, poultry,
and com clubs. These circles sustain the enthusiasm
and rivalry in agriculture and domestic science, and
add the social note which promotes perseverance.
Indiana realizes that there must be more intelligent
management, more intensive cultivation, and voca-
tional training is planned to direct the youth towards
farming, which with the other measures recounted must

' A Study of the People of Indiana.

Agriculture in Indiana 497

make that life more attractive and remunerative.

Farm tenantry means State decadence, and land
ownership is to be encouraged by every available means.
Absentee landlords do not build up the interests of the
rural district or the cities.

As the country grows older and more populous the

middle States must utilize the less productive areas on

hillsides, and angles about the farm, for nuts and fruits

which add to the utility as well as the beauty of the

farmer's domain.
32

CHAPTER XXI

NATURAL RESOURCES

OST of the natural products necessary for
modern existence may be found within the
limits of the State of Indiana. Without
surpassing States that have a larger area, she comes
within the first ten in the development of a large
range of products and deposits. This makes residence
within her borders far more desirable than if she
possessed in abundance any one of the precious metals,
to the exclusion of necessities. The variety of the
agricultural resources of the State has been considered
elsewhere. They have always been counted as her
chief source of wealth, but the geographical position
of the State, and the development of the deposits
in the geological strata underneath the surface, make
manufacturing also a great source of profit. Most
of the natural resources of Indiana lie undeveloped,
and none of them has been exhausted. The maxi-
mum of agricultural crops has not been approached ;
the mineral deposits await the demands of the future.
The uses to be made of Indiana's limited lake shore
is an undeveloped feature of the great commercial
life that is only dawning upon its business world.
Already great manufacturing interests have recognized
the availability of combined harbor and railway

498

Natural Resources 499

facilities possessed by the extreme northwestern
portion of the State. This district formerly had
no inhabitants but hunstmen in quest of game.
Now, industries which will require a great popula-
tion to carry them on, are being established, making
the whilom sand dunes and marshes of commercial
importance.

Of the wealth of timber once possessed by the State
there is but a fraction remaining. Statistics show
that more than four-fifths of the area, at its settlement,
was heavily timbered w4th the most valuable varieties
of forest growth. There were the many varieties of
oaks, walnut, ash, cherry, poplar, elm, maples, hick-
ories, beech, cottonwood, sycamore, and more than
one hundred other varieties. Much of this timber
was very large ; an early explorer left a memorandum
of blazing a sycamore that was forty feet around.
The official measurements of the State Statistician
gives authentic record of oakS' — black, white, burr,
and scarlet varieties' — that were six and seven feet in
diameter and a hundred and ninety feet in height.
This fine timber was an encumbrance to the early
settler, who had no market for it and must raise bread-
stuffs. What would now be worth billions of dollars
was rolled into great piles and burned, when there
w^as more than could be used for fences and fuel,
in order to clear the land for cultivation of crops.
For many years the corn raised on these same lands
would not sell for more than ten cents a bushel. As
lumber came into demand, later on, Indiana was
almost devastated of hard-wood timber. Her forests
furnished enormous amounts of the hard woods used
in the manufactories of the country. In the early
days, there were great areas covered with sugar-maple

500 Historic Indiana

trees, which served the settlers as "sugar orchards,"
and sugar-making time was a season of harvesting
the annual sweets. The Indians were as fond of maple
sugar as the white man. One red chief, who had been
sent west of the Mississippi to a reservation with his
tribe, stole off and wandered back to his old haunts
in Indiana, grunting "must have maple sugar."
Most of the present timber areas are second growth,
except in the hill regions of the southern counties.
The statistics of 1905 report that there were still a
million three hundred and seventy thousand acres
of timber land in Indiana, but probably not more
than half a million acres that could be called mer-
chantable for manufacturing purposes. Professor
Stanley Coulter, than whom there is no greater
authority on the flora and forests of Indiana, sa^^s,
that, originally, seven-eighths of the 21,673,760 acres, ^
comprising the area of the State, was covered with
a dense growth of timber. Many of the most valuable
hard-wood forms reached their maximum development,
both as regards size and number, within the bounds
of this State; what remains can but little more than
remind us of the wealth of the past. Of the one hundred
and thirteen species of trees found within the State,
seventy-five were in use in manufactures, and hence
had a market value. Professor Coulter makes an
eloquent plea for a systematic reforestation of un-
tillable lands.

"It was of course necessary to reduce the original timber
lands in order to gain agricultural areas; but the demand
for crop areas being satisfied, the remaining timber lands
should be so treated as to secure their constant reproduction
and betterment. The present impoverished condition of
the forests is very largely the result of the neglect of such

Natural Resources 501

precautions on the part of the preceding generation of
landowners." ^

The day is coming when timber will be a more paying
crop on some lands than corn. Systematic and scien-
tific reforestation should be the watchword of en-
lightened landholders in a State where the native
forests indicate exceptionally superior natural adapta-
bility of soil and climate for tree-growing. That
growth showed what the results of planting may
insure in the future. There is no aesthetic and mer-
chantable future for denuded hillsides, made barren
of verdure by the removal of trees and incapable of
producing crops. The lowlands are the natural home
of the nut trees, and a little attention to forestry will
again make both hills and valleys a source of profit
and beauty.

The coal deposits of Indiana form one of her greatest
resources. Eighteen counties contribute to the total
production. Some of the mines produce block and
others bituminous coal, making it possible for the
State to furnish both superior and cheap grades of
fuel. The better grades have great heat, steam, and
gas properties. The production of coal has increased
rapidly and uninterruptedly during the last dozen
years, having trebled, in that period from 3,905,779
short tons in 1896 until in 1907 it reached 12,492,255
tons. Coal is at present the greatest tonnage of any
commodity moved in the State. Fifty million tons,
annually, could be produced from her own mines if
there was a demand; nearly ten million dollars are
paid in wages to miners of this product each year.

» Coulter, Stanley, " Flowering Plants, Ferns, etc., Indigenous to
Indiana," 24th Annual Report of Dept. of Geology and Natural
Resources, 1899, page 574.

502 Historic Indiana

The State Geologist shows that no State in the Union,
except Pennsylvania, possesses a better and cheaper
supply of fuels than Indiana. The coal is used to
great advantage in the creation of "producer gas,"
which is largely used for manufacturing purposes,
since the failure of natural gas.

Indiana has developed oil fields in four different
sections of the State, and in as many different geo-
logical strata, varying in depth from loo to 1350
feet, with an annual output, in late years, of from
eight to eleven million barrels annually. The Trenton
rock area, covers portions of nine counties, in the
central northeastern part of the State, and belongs
to the same field as the Lima-Ohio oil and gas.
A smaller field, in the region of Terre Haute, pro-
duces petroleum, from the Corniferous limestone,
and there is an almost abandoned field in the same
formation in Jasper County. The Princeton field,
in the southwestern part of the State, near the Illinois
line, has developed deposits of oil in the Huron sand-
stone strata, after disclosing five different veins of
coal in boring the wells, but the region about Princeton
has been very superficially tested, and further develop-
ment will probably reveal greater deposits. There is
no way of determining, in Indiana, by any surface
indications, whether petroleum or gas may be found.
Both lie in pockets, and may be developed in remun-
erative quantities for years to come, one well being
no test for any location even a few feet away. No
doubt oil exists beneath many localities where there
has never been any prospecting, and where the ex-
ploration has been too shallow to reach the great
depth at which the deposits are found in this State.
In the future, when there is greater scarcity elsewhere,

Natural Resources 503

the fields within the State will be more carefully
developed.

An interesting revelation is that the clays of Indiana
rank in value next to coal and petroleum. The State
Geologist demonstrates that Indiana has within her
counties the raw material in abundance for making
every kind of clay product used within her borders.
Kaolin of the purest quality occurs in quantities,
the veins extending through miles of territory where
outcroppings reveal deposits that have never been
uncovered. "There it lies," writes Mr. Blatchley,
"a great mineral resource of untold value, unworkcd,
unutilized, awaiting only the coming of energy and
capital to make it up into many kinds of products
which are now brought into the State from distant
lands." ^ Fire-clays of fine quality also await the
manufacturer. In many different counties there are
small industries engaged in the manufacture of building
brick, paving brick, encaustic tile, terra-cotta, drain
tile, stoneware, and some white wares. These factories
are multiplied annually, and those already established
find it profitable to increase their capacities. The
materials for road construction have been revealed
in inexhaustible quantities. The stone for macadam,
the gravel deposit, and clays for brick are unsurpassed.
Of the deposits of shale, so available in Indiana, the
State Geologist says that a dozen years ago those
great soft beds of soft blue-gray, thin-layered rock,
which occur over vast areas in the coal-bearing counties,
were looked upon as a wholly valueless nuisance,
which had to be removed or tunnelled through before
the underlying veins of coal could be reached. To-day

« Blatchley, William S., State Geological Report, 1906. Indian-
apolis.

504 Historic Indiana

the smoke is pouring forth from hundreds of kilns
where these shales are being burned into paving brick,
sewer pipe, hollow brick, conduits, drain tile, pressed
front, and ordinary building brick. Not only have
the carboniferous shales been proven in the highest
degree suitable for the best of such products, but
the knob-stone shales, which were accounted even
more valueless, are now being utilized for vitrified
and pressed brick as well as the clay ingredient of.
Portland cement. These knob-stone shales are very
available, lying, as they do, close to the surface, over
an area three to forty miles wide and extending from
Jasper County to the Ohio River. Allied to these
industries is the very interesting development of
making superior building brick from the white sands
of the lake counties, where clays are scarce. Combined
with eight to tw^elve per cent, of unslacked lime, and
moulded under steam pressure, a cream-colored build-
ing brick is manufactured. Unlimited quantities may
be made from the mountains of sand cast up by the
lake.

Lying near the Chicago market for building ma-
terial are the extensive deposits of marly clay, excel-
lent for the manufacture of a terra-cotta fire-proof
material for building purposes. These marl beds
in the lake counties of Indiana are also suitable for
the making of Portland cement. This greatest of
modem commodities may also be created from the
limitless quantities of limestone found in all sections
of the State. The growth of the values of concrete
for the manufacture of structural materials, and the
use of the clay products in Indiana for those purposes,
show that capital is awakening to the resources
immediately at the door of the great markets, and

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Natural Resources 505

their availability on account of the State's central
location and transportation facilities.

Indiana has become justly famous for her quarries
of unrivalled building stone, outranking any other
State in the desirability and variety of stone for
purposes of construction. Twenty-three counties have
working quarries in operation. The Oolitic lime-
stone, known to commerce as the Bedford stone,
which possesses so many qualities of excellence for
architectural monuments, is only on the threshold
of its development. The formation stretches from
Putnam County to the Ohio River, in a tract from
two to fourteen miles in width ; and occurs in a stratum
near the surface and varying from twenty-five to
one hundred feet in thickness. This stone is easily
carved when first quarried, has beauty of color, fire-
resisting properties, and the stratum is so massive
that the size of the blocks quarried need only be limited
by the facilities for its transportation. Its availability
is further enhanced by its immediate location along
the lines of railways. Perhaps the building stone
which ranks next in importance in the State is the
Niagara limestone, which also occurs over a wide
area and in very accessible localities. It is found
lying in natural seams, making it easily quarried
without blasting. It is handsome in color and very
durable. There are also beautiful sandstones for
building purposes, in abundance along the lower
western border of the State. Stones adapted to
paving, the manufacture of concrete, macadam, bal-
last, flagging, and other purposes are found in all
sections of the State; the formations used in the
manufacture of lime have been notable since the
first settlement of this State, as have also the grind-

5o6 Historic Indiana

and whet-stone. The interesting Madison County
hmestones, showing a fibrous quaUty in the process
of manufacture, are being converted into mineral
wool for building and refrigerating purposes.

As by-products of the great stone quarries, Indiana
ranks second only to Pennsylvania as a producer of
Portland cement, and since the process of hydrating
lime has done away with the objections to hot limes by
making them easy and safe to handle, the Indiana waste
rock produces a superior lime for most uses. The ex-
tensive stone duraps at the quarries could burn eight
million cubic feet more of waste limestone annually,
than is now used in the manufacture of lime. This
would place Indiana in the front rank of producers of
that commodity. ^

The discovery and the waste of natural gas has a
lesson which should not go unheeded. The finding
of natural-gas deposits was a most important factor
in the development of the eastern-central part of
Indiana. This gas and petroleum area covers four
thousand-square miles, with its centre about Anderson.
In Indiana, gas is found in Trenton rock or sand,
and then only when the formation is very porous,
which accounts for the borings that have failed to
be productive. The first well that was really utilized
was drilled in March, 1886, and for ten or twelve
years there was the most phenomenal development
of the fields, attracting a large number of industries.
The finding of gas and the development of the facilities
ot transportation increased the value of the manu-
factured products of Indiana three hundred and
sixty million dollars in the last half century, plac-

' Edward Barrett, State Geologist's Thirty-Ninth Annual Report.

Natural Resources 507

ing her eighth in rank in the Union as a manufac-
turing State. Manufactories of all sorts flocked to a
territory where free fuel was offered to all comers.
The population increased rapidly. Factories were
built, towns arose where there had been fields of
grain, and little hamlets grew into cities. Seventeen
counties produced gas in paying quantities. In a
dozen years four of these quiet agricultural counties
increased their assessed valuation fifty-eight million
dollars; by 1893, over three hundred million dollars
had been invested in Indiana factories, and sub-
stantial and permanent properties were established
throughout the region. The gas field in Indiana was
larger than that of any other State. If this great
natural product, so bountifully stored away by nature,
had been properly conserved, it might have continued
to enrich the State for years to come. Never have
ignorance, wastefulness, and oblivious carelessness of
fast-passing resources, freely bestowed and vastly val-
uable, been more surely shown, than in the almost
criminal waste of natural gas in the central States.
All through the fields in Indiana and Ohio, if a
"gusher" came in suddenly, it was allowed to run
for days without capping, merely for advertising
purposes. There was a great waste of gas from wells
used for obtaining oil. Pipe lines were crude and
wasteful, their disjointed condition causing great
leakage. Factories squandered it like water and
flambeaux flared unextinguished, night and day, at
every farm gate on the highway. In the zenith of
production, 100,000,000 cubic feet of this valuable
fuel was wasted in every twenty-four hours. The
farmers claimed the right to waste all they pleased,
as it came from their own wells! The law of '91,

5o8 liistoric Indiana

forbidding this wanton exhaustion was not enforced
for five years after its passage. Some have resorted to
the use of other fuel, but the extensive coal-fields are
near, and at a very low price other fuel is available.
The factories are so advantageously located with regard
to markets and the transportation facilicies in Indiana
are so exceptional that most of the factories have
continued where they were established.

The passing of natural gas is a sad commentary on
the lack of foresight and thrift, even in a material
age, and a striking example of the carelessness of
nature's benefactions in a country so gloriously en-
dowed. The waste of introducing "civilization" on
a continent may be traced in the sacrifice of the timber
and the exhaustion of natural gas within the bounds
of Indiana. The Indians only destroyed each other
and such game as they could consume. The white
man came, and, as we have seen, billions of dollars'
worth of timber was sacrificed. The whole aboriginal
race was swept from the face of the country. The
greatest variety of game found in any region was
annihilated. Beautiful lakes have been drained to
enlarge farm areas, and myriads of fish in all the
waters have been ruthlessly exhausted before there
was any care taken toward replenishing the stream.
Whole species of beautiful birds have become extinct.
Something may be done to redeem the waste by re-
forestation and restocking the streams with fish in
the immediate future. These are not only possibilities,
but economic necessities. Sentiment awaits a recom-
pense for the devastations.

In the earlier days, Indiana was considered an
iron-producing State ; there were a dozen blast furnaces,
and ore has been mined in a score of counties. With

h Natural Resources 509

the building of the largest steel mills in the United
States on her northern border, the deposits of iron
will, doubtless, again be found worth developing.
Ad:ineral paints, partaking of the nature of iron oxide,
and many ferruginous clays are found in great quan-
tities in southern Indiana, sufficient to make them
a valuable commercial commodity.

Very interesting deposits of peat and muck are
found in the lake counties of Indiana. By a wise
provision of nature, in the 7500 square miles of the
northern part of the State, where there is no coal
or wood, there were found beds of peat, which is
only less valuable than coal, when dried or pressed
into form for fuel. When made into coke or charcoal,
it has a high commercial value; and by changing it
into producer gas, peat will be a most valuable fuel
for the future throughout the region where the for-
mation occurs.

The muck fields, which formerly were considered
worthless spots on the farm, are now being burned
over or mixed with clay or sand and planted to fields
of vegetables; these lands, when brought under cul-
tivation, bringing three or four times the price per
acre of the surrounding ground.

This chapter cannot serve the purpose of a complete
report of the natural resources of Indiana, but may
give a slight idea of the wealth stored beneath the
surface which is being constantly revealed. Very
few acres of the State will be found worthless. There
are no great stretches of wholly unproductive land
to be traversed before paying areas can be reached ;
all are near transportation. Either from the soil or
beneath the surface the landholder may find a reward
for his investment. What were regarded as waste

5IO Historic Indiana

places at one time, it is being demonstrated by the
geologists is invaluable territory.

In utilizing the natural resources of the Common-
wealth, no gift of nature has been more neglected
than the waters of Indiana. The beautiful lakes
that dot the northern counties, the rivers, the gush-
ing springs, the flowing wells, and the limpid streams
which flow through the central and southern dis-
tricts have yet to be made a factor of wealth and
pleasure. Nothing has been done toward irrigation,
and with very few exceptions the farmers have not be-
gun to appreciate the value of stocking with fish the
waters, bordering on their lands. An intelligent co-
operation of State and landholder will, in the future,
render these bodies of water a perennial source of
food to the whole population. Another source of
wealth and lightening of labor flows all undreamed
of past village and farm. The sparkling waterfalls
in the streams and woodland brooks, and the hundreds
of turbulent rapids in the placid rivers, await their
development as generators of electric power. As the
waters slip past farm and town they murmur of energy
that they might lend to the overworked farmer and
his tired wife; how light, heat, and power could be
taken from the rippling streams. They invite the
village factory and mill to expand, by the use of little
wires connecting their dynamos with a turbine in
the waterfall. Independent of coal mines or syndicate
power-houses, the power is theirs right at hand. Nor
is it necessary to dwell on the banks of the streams,
for the power may be transmitted far and wide.
Twenty counties might have electricity by water-
power generated by the Wabash; White River and
its tributaries could serve as many more. Such falls

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Natural Resources 511

as those at Pendleton, at Shields, at Flat Rock, at
Styner's cataract, and the great rapids in the Ohio
River could furnish light, heat, and motive power
for all of the factories, interurban lines, farms, and
homes in Indiana. Italy calls this water-power,
which she is turning to such economic advantage,
her white coal, and uses it to turn wheels, spindles
and trolley lines many miles from the torrent's source.
The graduating engineers from Purdue and Rose
Polytechnic have at hand a brilliant career, in the
conservation of such a force within the State. "To-
morrow, the day's fuel may be dipped from the brook,"
if the waters of Indiana are utilized, and the forests
about their sources are preserved.

Among the natural resources of the State that give
promise of increasing in attractiveness are the natural
springs of medicinal waters. Among those that are
becoming well-known are West Baden, Martinsville,
Mudlavia, and French Lick Springs. As their curative
properties become more widely famed, and the popula-
tion of the country increases these spas will vie with the
European health resorts.

CHAPTER XXII

THE STATE OF CIVILIZATION IN INDIANA AS SHOWN BY

HER LAWS

THE public sentiment and the legislation of a
state define her status in civilization. The
provisions made for equal opportunity for all
of the people is a test of enlightenment. Indiana
must measure herself by these standards. With the
passing of pioneer conditions, when our country
lived the untrammelled life of a backwoods boy,
when there was much more than room enough for
all, and a struggle to live meant manual labor at the
very most, when no one was very rich or very poor,
when there was no clashing of class interests, for all
might rise by their own efforts; with the passing of
that time when all planted and built and prospered,
we have come to the time when, with the increase
of population and the narrowing of opportunity, the
State must often intervene for the protection of the
individual and for the good of society. In Indiana,
as in other States, when new laws for the Common-
wealth are necessary, there is often a long striving
after righteousness by the elect, before party strife
and narrow-mindedness will permit disinterested legis-
lation. Indiana has not been exempt from this handi-
cap, and in any estimate of public sentiment due

512

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 513

allowance must be made for this baleful influence in
delaying legislation. It is necessary to remember
that after 1872, when the reaction of the patriotic
fervor of the Civil War period had passed, neither
party carried the State at two consecutive Presidential
elections for a quarter of a century. When there is
this marked conflict of political opinion, the men
who gain office, in any State, are not always those
who are enlightened enough to lend their efforts to
the broadest measures, and the legislation accom-
plished represents compromise rather than the very
best thought of its citizenship. Step by step, only,
may its ideals be realized. Bearing these facts in
mind, it will be recognized that Indiana has embodied
enough advanced plans in her statutes to place her
among the foremost States in the Union in enlightened
provisions for her population. More than forty years
ago, in commenting on Robert Dale Owen's part in
successfully inaugurating all of the pioneer legislation
for the advancement of woman's control and equitable
rights over her own property, the London Times
said that "Indiana has attained b}^ this step the
highest civilization of any State in the Union," and
in all of the years since, few States have approached
her position on this question. The common-law
dower was abolished, and absolute ownership of one
third of the whole of the deceased husband's estate
is conferred upon the widow. Women can own and
control their own separate property during marriage,
have a right to their own earnings, and can contract
every legal obligation that men can, except to become
security for another person.

In the chapter on Education, an outline is given
of the legislation which has been enacted founding

514 Historic Indiana

a comprehensive system for universal instruction of
all the youth of Indiana. It is shown that a most
admirable State school system has been developed,
beginning with compulsory attendance through the
primary and grammar grades until a child is fourteen
years old, from thence he may pass into the high
schools, which are gradually adding vocational and
manual training. Following this, there is the pro-
vision for higher learning, in the normal schools and
State universities. Opportunities which are unsur-
passed in possibilities for general culture of all her
communities are thus afforded, if future legislatures
do not deprive the system of the necessary appro-
priations to maintain the structure built on the broad
foundations already established.

Coupled with this educational plan, are the enact-
ments authorizing tax levies to promote the formation
of public libraries in the towns, and the creation of
a commission to supervise that work, and also to
have charge of a system of travelling libraries, which
are furnished by the State for small villages and the
rural districts. This legislation enables every school,
every reading-circle or club, where five persons will
join together in requesting the service, to have these*
collections of books sent for their use, making it
unnecessary for the most isolated persons in Indiana
to be deprived of good literature.

The temperance laws of Indiana have shown a
steady advance, of late years, towards the regulation
of the liquor traffic. This control has been assumed
through the form of regulation by local option rather
than by a sweeping State prohibition. The laws have
been secured as a result of the gradual conviction
in the minds of an ever-increasing number of citizens

Her Civilisation as Shown by Her Laws 515

that the habit of drinking intoxicants was growing and
that its effects were ruinous to the people. By far the
larger portion of the inmates of the penal and correc-
tional institutions and asylums, and the recipients of
out-door relief come upon the State for maintenance,
through the effects of intemperance. Aside from the
misery and unhappiness entailed, it was recognized as a
bad business proposition, when the total license fees
from the sale of liquors brought into the treasury a
mere bagatelle compared with the large sum expended
by the Commonwealth in caring for the wrecks of
humanity caused by drink. After enacting numerous
laws by great effort and ceaseless agitation, from year
to year, defining who should be granted license to sell;
stipulating that they should not sell to minors, to habi-
tual drunkards, to prisoners, to intoxicated persons ; that
liquors should not be sold near schools, churches, sol-
diers' homes, nor in rooms not on the ground floor, nor
in drug stores except by a physician's prescription, nor
on Sundays and election days, nor in a "blind tiger";
and after prohibiting saloon-keepers from allowing
minors to loiter in the place, and making them liable for
harm to the family of the one to whom they sold
liquor; and requiring that the effects of alcoholic
drinks be taught in the schools; and fining minors
for misrepresenting their age to obtain liquor, and
intoxicated persons for being found so in public; and
after years under laws making it the duty of county
commissioners, prosecuting attorneys, mayors, police
commissioners, and the judiciary to enforce these
laws, another statute was tried. Under the Moore
amendment to the Nicholson Law, to which the
Supreme Court had given its approval, the citizens
worked for years. At present a person may not sell

5i6 Historic Indiana

liquor without a license, and it is the privilege of any
voter, of the applicant's township to remonstrate, in
writing, against the granting of such a license. The
local option law applies to cities, town, and town-
ships outside of incorporated cities, as units of control.

Backward steps were taken in 191 1 which must be re-
traced. This was the passing of the "model license law,"
drafted by the attorney of the brewers' association. Any
control of local stands for retailing liquor by manufac-
turers is extremely detrimental to the community.
Happily, statistics are soon obsolete, so pressing is the
campaign against the traffic everywhere, but it may be
said that a majority of the townships of the State have
no saloons. The bill making prohibition by townships,
instead of for the whole county, was much regretted.

Indiana has a law against the promiscuous sale of
harmful drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, and opium; and
an anti-cigarette law prohibiting the selling, buying,
receiving, or using them under the age of twenty-one.
A provision for punishment by fine and imprisonment
accompanies both these acts.

Pasteur treatment for the poor is assured out of a
State hydrophobia fund, derived from five per cent, of
the dog tax. It has been made unlawful to inflict what
is known as "the third degree," upon persons under
arrest, to extort evidence or confession.

The welfare of children is to be looked after under the
drastic law for the prevention of infant blindness, a
medical inspection of school children, child labor laws,
the teaching of hygiene in the schools, and the sanitation
of schoolhouses. These with the pure food laws, the
quarantine and antitoxin provisions and city anti-fly
ordinance, secured by the labors of Dr. Hurty, are a
lasting memorial to the achievements of that public-

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 517

spirited citizen who has led in the scientific measures
for health in this country. Indiana's supervision of the
medical and pharmaceutical professions, and its sani-
tary law are notable.

Governor Ralston said in his address at the Panama-
Pacific Exposition: "I know I shall be pardoned for
saying in this connection, that I have the honor of
having issued as Governor the first proclamation in
this country asking the people of a State to observe
a day as Disease Prevention Day. This proclamation
attracted favorable attention throughout the nation,
physical health being the surest foundation of mental
and moral health. "

The fines authorized for violation of gambling laws, if
imposed, might leave little to make the breaking of
those sweeping statutes worth tempting the further
infraction of the law.

The enactments of pure-food laws are sufficient, if
enforced, to protect the health of the State inhabitants.
There is a regulation exacting sanitation of all food-
producing establishments, and the assurance of the
purity and wholesomeness of the products therein,
and of the health of the operatives.

The laws in Indiana for the incorporation of cities
have modernized the modes of city government,
and the enactments for reform of county and town-
ship administration, which provide for supervision and
legislation by Boards of Control, separating legislative
and executive functions, are intended to regulate
local abuses and insure business methods in county
affairs. The new laws tending to equalization of
taxation have been found worthy of being copied
by other States. The decision of the Supreme Court
of Indiana that, according to its laws, if a man is

5i8 Historic Indiana

guilty of bribery of a voter whose support he desires
to enlist, he is ineligible to hold the office, even if he
is elected without including the purchased vote, shows
the desire to maintain the purity of the ballot. This
decision holds true of votes in convention also. Indi-
ana was one of the first States to adopt the Australian
ballot, and also introduced improvements which were
copied by other communities. The State's fee and
salary law, whereby officials are paid a fixed salary
and the fees pass into the treasury, was a great moral
advance, as also were the franchise license laws of
1 89 1, regulating the granting of commercial privileges.
Besides the general codes for the benefit of wage-
earners, common to many of the States, there are
statutes in the interests of the laboring classes that
show Indiana's regard for the welfare of her workers,
and that their well-being is of the very greatest im-
portance. A Labor Commission was created in 1899,
one member of which must come from the employing
class, and the other must represent the wage-earners.
This Commission is to serve as a mediator, look
after the interests of laborers, endeavor to conciliate
in times of trouble, and arbitrate opposing interests.
Factory inspection has been instituted to look after
the bodily welfare of workmen, including the sani-
tation of buildings, protection of belts and machinery,
fire-escapes in high buildings, safety appliances where
needed, light and air, temporary floors in buildings
which are in course of construction, and other measures
of protection. Employers as well as employees are
gratified with the results of these enactments. There
are laws regulating the conditions of employment of
women and children, including the prohibition of
taking children under fourteen years of age, and

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Her Civilisation as Shown by Her Laws 519

under sixteen, except during school vacation, of
children who cannot read and write. Ten hours is
the longest day for labor by women, and night
labor by them in manufactories between the hours
of ten and six is prohibited. There is a statute to
insure weekly payment of wages, and forbidding the
assignment of future wages, A law fixes the limit of
hours for a day's work, and provides for the noon
hour. The large coal-mining business is on the eight-
hour basis and the laws relating to labor unions are
very liberal. Enactments have been passed forbidding
the discharge of persons because they were members
of labor unions. There are provisions for the pro-
tection of trainmen, miners, and engineers. There
have been decisions from appellate and supreme
courts, interpreting the laws affecting the liability
of the employer for accidents, in a manner much
more favorable to the employee than the interpretation
of similar laws in sister States, Thoughtful citizens
of Indiana look for^vard to state regulation of work-
ing men's insurance and laws providing pensions for
old age. In the words of Charles R. Henderson, a
native of Indiana, who has worked for years collecting
international data for these measures, "We are laying
a demand upon the legislatures of the countr>' to
make laws conform, not to conditions which have
been outgrown, but to conditions as we face them
to-day. I speak with the emphasis of conviction,
with the hope that we are seeing the dawn of the
result of a long study of a great subject, and of a
successful striving for a righteous end,"

As a result of the laws for the protection of laborers,
and the conciliatory methods of adjustment by a
commission, the conditions in Indiana have become

520 Historic Indiana

more favorable to order. Annual contracts, and
settlements of demands by arbitration, have reduced
the number of strikes in the proportion of twenty to
one. Especially is this the gratifying state of affairs
in the case where the workers are skilled, and are
members of a union.

A Workman's Compensation Law was passed in 191 5.
It was the first step towards the prevention of industrial
accident and provision for medical or surgical care for
injured employees with compensation for personal
injuries or death.

The Family Support Law or Lazy Husbands' Law,
supplementing the previous Family Desertion and
Neglect Law, is intended to reach cases of non-support,
and stipulates that the wages earned by the arrested
father shall go to the paroled prisoner's dependent
family.

Indiana's saving banks are organized on a plan to
insure the safety of the people's savings. These
banks were planned to be philanthropic institutions,
and were not intended to make money for the incor-
porators, or for the directory. Their securities are
on the basis of unimproved real estate values and
farm property. Provisions for penny and dime sav-
ings have also been made by the State.

It is conceded that the provision for the disburse-
ment of charities, and the care of the flotsam and
jetsam of humanity, is also a distinct gauge of the
advancement made by a commonwealth. In Indiana
there are higher planes to be attained, but by 1889
the State had advanced to the position of creating a
Central Board of State Charities, to supervise the
expenditure of the funds, and the whole system of
public charities to which the State contributes. This

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 521

board is intended to be purely advisory and represents
the people in visitation, inspection, and reporting
any recommendations considered desirable. It is
composed of representative citizens serving without
pay, and required by law to have the oversight of
every department of charities and correction, from
the great State prisons and insane hospitals to the
small town lock-up, and the thousand and more
township trustees, the county jails, poor asylums, and
every children's orphan asylum. All these institutions
are under the inspection of this strong board. It had
long been recognized that the county is too small a
govermental unit, with too restricted resources, to grap-
ple successfully with all of the problems of relief. It was
felt that a central supervisory body was the only wise
and economical way in which to influence the adminis-
tration of the affairs of the commonwealth. It is now
this State Board's duty to see that every inmate of
every public institution receives proper care; that the
public funds are honestly expended, although it does
not direct the expenditure; and that the institutions
are properly conducted. No more important office
can be bestowed upon a citizen of the State than
that of an appointment on the Board of State Charities.
At present, the care of 86,000 persons is under the
board's supervision, and an oversight of the expend-
iture of over two million seven hundred thousand
dollars. When a citizen recalls the haphazard methods
of administering the charities and corrections under
the former customs, and which are still practised in
too many States, the wisdom of centralized control
is most evident. Under the persistent recommen-
dations of this board a steady improvement in the
laws has been accomplished; and as a consequence,

522 Historic Indiana

the conditions in the various institutions are so im-
proved that it is extremely gratifying to the citizen
who has a humane interest in the unfortunate. He
can also feel assured that there is a continuous over-
sight and frequent inspection, that was not possible
before. This board has secured laws which insure
non-partisan boards of trustees; four trustees are
appointed by the governor to administer the affairs
of each State institution, not more than two of whom
may be of the same political affiliation. Each board
appoints its own superintendent, and the superin-
tendent in turn appoints all officers and employees
under him. No other qualification than fitness must
be taken into consideration in making appointments;
and the trustees are prohibited frcm interfering in
the selection or discharge of employees. The appoint-
ment of separate trustees for each institution insures
more direct personal responsibility and interest in
the administration of that particular institution's
affairs than if there was a general board for all of
the State's wards. As the demands on the time cf
the trustees are less, they can be more faithful to the
trust imposed in them by their acceptance of ap-
pointment. Non-interference on the part of any of the
trustees in the selection of employees makes the
superintendent entirely responsible for the work done
by his assistants. Since the new regime of admin-
istering the State charities, under the watch-care of
a strong advisory board, which has had the advantage
of the valuable services as secretaries of such men
of national fame as Ernest P. Bicknell, Alexander
Johnson, and at present Amos W. Butler as field
officer, the supervision has so greatly improved the
business methods that the expenditures have been

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 523

economized in many particulars. No State of the
Union has been so favored as Indiana in the good
fortune of having such men at the head of its Bureau of
Charities and Corrections. The Legislature rests as-
sured of the practical wisdom and humanity of the new
measures urged by the secretary. The standards of the
institutions have been raised in every particular. More
humane treatment of the State's wards has been
assured, and better instruction given than could have
been imparted in the isolated county asylums. All
of this improvement in administration has secured for
the plan of central supervision the confidence of
the people, the support of the press, and an influ-
ence with the legislative body for further betterment.
Among the wise laws, and amendments to laws,
that the board has secured, a few may be mentioned,
to show the position attained by the State, in com-
parison with other sections. The Board of Children's
Guardians has been authorized for every county,
and the terms neglected and dependent have been
explicitly defined, so that there need be no doubt as
to the rights of boards to act. It adds to uniform-
ity of administration that, throughout the State, no
child can be made a public dependent except by the
judge of the Juvenile Court. Any citizen can, without
personal expense, bring the case to the attention of the
Juvenile Court. In cases where such children are
brought before the Juvenile Court, the parents or those
having the custody of the children, who wilfully neglect
their duty to them, may be brought before the court and
fined any sum not exceeding $500. But, in accordance
with the new theories of dealing with the criminal
classes, the court has the power to suspend the sen-
tence, and release the person so found guilty, putting

524 Historic Indiana

him or her on probation for two years, on condition
that he or she shall appear before the court at such
times as shall be designated, and show that he or
she has provided and cared for the children. In
such cases the children may be given to them, but
if they, in any way, violate the parole they may be
sentenced at any time. This gives the court the
necessary hold on the parent or guardian, w^hich is
most effective in keeping them to their duties. Few
parents will neglect their children, or contribute to
their delinquency, if they are in danger of being sent
to prison for a long term. At the end of two years,
if there has been no violation of the court's order,
the person is free from the sentence. The Legislature
has also given the Board of Guardians a general power
to take a child under their care where the associations
of such a child are such as to contaminate and cormpt
it. This gives the board the power to act when it
may be unable to prove specific charges, although it
is evident that the w^elfare of the child is at stake.
Not only has Indiana provided for a special court
for juvenile offenders, either by special judge in cities
of 100,000 or more inhabitants, or in other counties,
by the regular judge of the circuit court sitting, but it
has increased his jurisdiction by empowering him to
hear juvenile cases in vacation time. The powers
of the court are almost concurrent with the juris-
diction of the criminal court, for the judge is given
power to punish any person that the evidence shows
is guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a child,
if such contributing act be a misdemeanor. If it is
shown to be a felony, the juvenile court is given the
power to bind him over to the criminal court. An
act has been passed making it a felony, and sub-

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 525

jecting the offender to a term of two to fourteen years
imprisonment, to contribute to the delinquency of girls
under eighteen years, by enticing them into a wine-
room, saloon, or other questionable place for immoral
purposes. A White Slave Law defines pandering and
prohibits it, under penalty of not less than two nor more
than ten years imprisonment and a fine of from $300
to $1000 for the first offence; for any subsequent
offence, imprisonment from five to fourteen years.
There has been State legislation authorizing county com-
missioners of adjoining counties to unite in the erection
of asylums for the care of dependent children, who have
heretofore been kept in the county poor asylums. Better
still is the provision made for the placing of such chil-
dren in homes, and the continuous watch-cafe over
them afterward. Prolonged institutional life is recog-
nized as a great wrong to a child, and a "childless home
for every homeless child" is the object of this method
of caring for dependent children, as soon as it is possible.
Desertion of wife and children has been made a
felony. The granting of marriage licenses has been
more strictly regulated by the law passed in 1905.
This law makes the county clerks liable to a pen-
alty should they issue a marriage license without the
observance of its provisions. Under this statute, the
first of its kind probably, no license to marry shall
be issued where either of the contracting parties
is an imbecile, epileptic, of unsound mind, or under
guardianship as a person of unsoimd mind ; nor to
any male person who is, or has been within five years,
an inmate of any county asylum, or home for indigent
persons, unless it satisfactorily appears that the cause
of such condition has been removed and that such
male applicant is able to support a family and likely

526 Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws

to so continue. Nor shall any license be issued when
either of the contracting parties is afflicted with a
transmissible disease, or at the time of making ap-
plication is under the influence of intoxicating liquor
or narcotic drug. Uniform blanks to be filled out
are required for the whole State alike ; and no license
to marry shall be issued except upon written and
verified application. This application, stating in full
the previous history and condition of the applicants,
becomes a matter of record, and open to public
inspection.

Under the supervision of the State board, the poor
asylums have been improved in administration, and
their complete renovation urgently pressed upon the
various counties that are remiss in this particular.
Before the new regime, they were as great a stigma
on the good name of the State as are the county
jails. Legislation relating to the county jails and
asylums must be the next step in advance in the
history of Indiana's progress. Indiana has a pro-
vision for police matrons in the police stations of the
cities of 10,000 population or over, and jail matrons
in counties having 50,000 population or over. There
is also a later law providing that condemned women,
sentenced for ninety days, shall be sent to the State
workhouse, where they are taught an industry, in-
stead of lying in idleness in the county jail. These
are all very gratifying advance measures. The State
board also serves in an advisory capacity in the plan-
ning of new county jails, and poor asylums, as to
their arrangement and sanitary provisions.

One of the most desired objects was obtained
when the village of epileptics was authorized. With
a number reaching four thousand in the present pop-

Historic Indiana 527

ulation, the wisdom of providing separate care for
these afflicted ones, and a possibihty of their having
an opportunity to be self-supporting, was recognized
by all workers for humanity. Twelve hundred and
forty-five acres, near the town of Newcastle, was
selected for the village; and the necessary buildings
are to be erected as they are needed. This institution
will, in time be partially self-supporting, as many of
the inmates are capable people when not ill. Accom-
modations should be arranged promptly until there is
room for all who are now found at county farms. The
handicap of this disease will be less cruel when the con-
ditions of living are accommodated to the inmate's
misfortune.

The feeble-minded children are no longer to be
kept in the county poor asylums, but have provisions
made for them in a State school at Fort Wayne. This
home is situated on a farm of three hundred and
ten acres. More buildings are needed for the accom-
modation of other unfortunates that are suffering
for the care given here ; but the institution is managed
on the most humane lines, and the children are taught
all that they are capable of learning. It is recognized
that segregation is imperative in State asylums for
both feeble-minded children and adults, as well as
for the incurable insane.

By a law enacted in 1903, Indiana recognized the
humanity of the State pro\nding for its sick, and
authorized the establishment of hospitals by county
commissioners and their maintenance afterwards.
They may do this in conjunction or without the
aid of hospital associations. Indigent patients may
be received into such hospitals from other counties,
by a payment of the cost; and it is also provided

528 Historic Indiana

that two or more counties may unite in building a
hospital, for the use of those counties; making it
possible, by either of these methods, for even the most
backward communities to care for the sick and afflicted.

Aware of the awful waste of life from that dread
disease tuberculosis, Indiana has made provisions for
a State hospital for the treatment of patients suffering
from this affliction. A State Tuberculosis Hospital
has been established at Rockville on a farm comprising
five hundred acres, for cases in the incipient stage,
preference being shown to indigent applicants. There
is no age limit. Another law permits any county or
group of counties to establish and maintain a tuber-
culosis hospital or department of a county hospital.

Indiana has five hospitals for the insane, and a farm
colony, which merits being duplicated elsewhere, as it
gives out-door occupation and makes much needed
room for waiting patients. There is also established a
state soldiers' home, located at Lafayette which is open
not only to old soldiers and sailors, but also to their aged
wives and widows. Here they may not have the hard-
ship of separation added to poverty and old age. The
orphans of soldiers and sailors are provided for in
a home and school at Knightstown, on a farm of two
hundred and forty-seven acres.

Since the Board of State Charities has suggested
needed legislation, the whole system of out-door
relief of the poor has been rearranged. In State
supervision of local relief-giving Indiana was a pioneer.
The township trustee is the overseer of the poor. The
tax is levied upon the property of the township. The
County Council orders the approximate appropriation
and the County Commissioners audit and pay the bills,
through the auditor, presented by the trustee, with full

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 529

reports concerning the persons aided. This system of
direct supervision has effected an enormous saving to
the taxpayers, amounting to hundreds of thousands of
dollars; and also insures more careful investigation
into the conditions of the family assisted.

The progress made in the State's laws for the pre-
vention and punishment of crime has been most
marked. First, the laws for the care of children are
being modelled with the object of preventing crime
and pauperism, if possible, before the evil is done;
this is shown in the provisions for universal education
enforced by truant officers, the establishment of the
Juvenile Court, industrial reform schools, and the
children's guardian laws, whereby it is provided that
there should be a board of children's guardians in every
county in the State.

In the laws for the punishment of criminals, Indiana
has taken the position that it is correction, and not
degradation nor vengeance, that the State wishes to
accomplish by the punishment awarded. Says Alex-
ander Johnson: "The fundamental principle of it all
was adopted nearly a hundred years ago; for in the
first constitution of the State is a magnificent dec-
laration, never surpassed in a written constitution, on
the subject. The eighteenth section of the bill of
rights declares that 'the penal code should be founded
on the principles of reformation and not of vindictive
justice.'"^ Although it was many years before this
prophetic statement, of some advanced thinker, came
to be fully incorporated in the statutes, still the truth
has been gradually formulated in the later laws. In
this spirit the four correctional institutions of the

> Johnson, Alexander, in an address before the State Conference.
April Bulletin, 1907.
34

530 Historic Indiana

State are certainly administered. The Indiana boys'
School at Plainfield is an industrial school to which
are admitted boys over eight and under sixteen years
of age who are guilty of vicious conduct. Such boys
are committed until they attain the age of eighteen
years; but through good conduct they may obtain
release from the board of control by discharge, but
are still under the watch-care of the institution. Should
such a boy's presence in the school prove detrimental
to its w^elfare, if committed for crime, he may be
transferred to the Reformatory, with the consent of
the governor, after he is sixteen years old. The State
prison at Jeffersonville is the Indiana Reformatory
and the State prison north, at Michigan City, is the
real prison. "The Reformatory is governed," says
Alexander Johnson, "by the best laws on the subject
upon the statute books of any state of the Union." ^
All men between the ages of sixteen and thirty years
who are found guilty of a felony, other than treason,
or murder in the first degree, are committed to the
custody of the board of managers of the Reformatory.
Men guilty of treason, or of murder in the first or
second degree, and all men convicted of any felony
who are over thirty years of age, are sentenced to
the State prison. To both of these institutions men
are committed under the indeterminate sentence and
parole law. There is an allow^ance for transportation,
clothing, and necessary money, to all men who get
out on parole. Another very advanced position was
taken when the State added the law enabling circuit
and criminal courts of Indiana to suspend a sentence
which they had just imposed, and release upon pro-

» Johnson, Alexander, in an address before the State Conference.
April Bulletin, 1907.

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Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 531

bation persons convicted of crime and misdemeanors,
in certain cases. While still keeping them under the
surveillance and control of the prison authorities,
the offender is subject to all of the laws applying to
paroled prisoners; also subject to the court, which may
revoke the parole at its discretion, and order im-
prisonment to begin. This vast change in penal law
was undertaken to give guilty ones another opportunity
to start right in life without the shadow of a prison
record. There was also enacted a law ordering life
imprisonment for all habitual criminals, upon a third
conviction of crime in any State. This is to prevent
degenerates from resuming their criminal careers
upon release from every sentence, endangering the se-
curity of life and property. To check the important
part played by heredity, a law was passed making
it the duty of all State institutions intrusted with
the care of confirmed criminals, idiots, rapists, and
imbeciles, to have such surgery performed, by experts,
on these specified incurable inmates, as would prevent
procreation. Insane criminals are to be transferred
from the State prisons to hospitals for the insane.

Indiana was the first State in the Union to establish
a woman's prison. The State has also provided an
institution called the Indiana Girls' School, which is
located eight miles northwest of Indianapolis, and
which is intended for the training of wa>'ward girls.
Its regulations are similar to the Plainfield school for
boys, and it is constructed on the cottage plan. There
are thirty girls in each cottage, which is a complete
home in itself. Here they are taught life's tasks and
given school lessons throughout their period of com-
mitment. In maintaining this industrial correctional
institution for girls, and a separate woman's prison,
the State provides for the complete separation of

532 Historic Indiana

the sexes, and also divides the adult female criminals
from the younger delinquents. Industrial training,
and the rudiments of an education, are provided in
both of these institutions; and the indeterminate
sentence and parole laws apply also to these inmates,
the same as in the prisons for males. The State work-
house already spoken of has also been established
for women who are sentenced for ninety days or less;
they would otherwise have to serve out their sentence
in the county jails, in idleness, and are here taught
to be of some use. The men are sent to the Farm.

Trade schools are conducted in the State Reform-
atory, intended to train men in useful trades, and to
provide for the manufacture of products needed in
the various State institutions. The State prison employs
about half of "its population on contract work, and
the remainder are employed on the farm, or in the
manufacture of binder twine, and on articles for the
State. Under these arrangements, in all of the penal
institutions, the inmates have the advantage of the
saving grace of employment, at the same time lowering
the cost to the State of their maintenance. These
were prepared, and passed, with the approval and
co-operation of the labor leaders of the State, and of
those citizens directly interested in the management
of the penal institutions.

A law empowering the managers of the State Prison
and Reformatory, to arrange with county commis-
sioners for the employment of prisoners on the public
highways, has been passed. Useful occupation for
convicts is still the problem.

The results of carrying out the reform methods of
punishment and the indeterminate sentence and
parole system are of interest in making an estimate

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 533

of the value of Indiana's humanitarian laws. Economy
of funds, stricter oversight, more careful assignment
to the institution best suited to the individual case,
scientific treatment, home instead of institutional life
for normal children, and less pauperizing of the derelict
members of the communities, are some of the results
of the modern methods in charities and corrections.
In the years that the new penal laws have been in
force, we find, says the superintendent at Jeffersonville,
that boy prisoners from sixteen to thirty years of age
are being educated and taught trades; that every
influence is thrown around them to make them useful
and respected citizens. It is not an uncommon experi-
ence for the management to be requested by the boy
himself, that he be not paroled, but be held in the
institution until he has finished his education and
trade. These boj^s when paroled are given tailor-made
suits, costing less than did the misfits that were given
them a few years ago. Positions at good wages are
found for them before they are allowed to go out. While
on parole, friendly advice and encouragement are given
w^hen needed. Under these conditions, both in the
State prison and reformatory, we find that sixty per cent,
of the men and boys who leave the institutions become
law-abiding and useful citizens. We find, further, that
prisoners are now serving in the prison and reformatory,
an average of two years and four months. Counting
the year on parole, it amounts to an average of three
years and four months that the State has control of
the convicts; while under the old method of fixed
sentences they were held but one year and nine
months; which means that the management is not
turning confirmed criminals loose upon society as
rapidly as was done under the old law. An outline

534 Historic Indiana

of the methods used with convicted prisoners, upon
entrance, under the present laws, is useful in passing
judgment on their desirability. After a boy is registered
as an inmate, and his previous record and sentence
have been duly recorded, a bath is administered and
an entire suit of military clothes given him. He then
undergoes a strict physical examination, and a school
test. A complete history of himself and his family
is taken. After instructions about the rules and
regulations, and an invitation to the religious services,
the boy goes to the general superintendent, who
impresses him with the fact that each officer of the
institution is there as his friend and adviser, and
that they are there for the purpose of making a man
of him. A psychological study is made to test the
mental causes which led to crime, and a cure is at-
tempted according to his needs. They tell him that
his sentence does not mean one year, nor fourteen years;
but that he is sent to the institution exactly as a patient
is sent to a hospital, with a case of typhoid fever;
and that he will not be paroled, or discharged, until
he is cured. He is informed that he is to be given an
education to at least the seventh grade, and taught
some trade, so that he will be an asset rather than
a liability to the State when he is released. The boy
is then placed in the school of letters, under a com-
petent teacher, for two hours each day. Here he is
given instructions on how to study, and how to prepare
his lessons for the next day while in his cell in the even-
ing, as he is provided with an electric light in his cell
until time for retiring, at nine o'clock p.m. In addition
to his school work, the boy is placed in one of the trade
schools, usually the one that he prefers. The trade
school, if it be printing, or any other, is under a com-

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 535

petent instructor, who gives his time to teaching this boy
so that he may be a practical workman on leaving the
institution. There is employment for every inmate.
During the first year he learns to read and write, and to
be able to earn at least seven dollars a week. Then the
board of managers hear his story, and the reports of
his good behavior in the institution. They may grant
him a parole, if they think best. Employment is
found for each one, before he goes out into the world ;
and a strict watch-care kept over him for the remain-
der of the sentence. Not, said Professor Freudenthal
at the international penological conference, "by a
police oversight, but a well-wishing friendly interest
which is maintained by parole officers. These serve
either for pay, or for the honor of it, or they represent
a combined system of both kinds of parole officers as
in the model state for parole, Indiana." The paroled
one reports regularly to the superintendent his earn-
ings and expenses. If he proves recreant to the trust
placed in him, he is returned to the prison; but if,
at the expiration of his time, his conduct is approved
he is discharged free. Superintendent Whittaker
reports on the life within the walls, and speaking
from the experience he has had in the last few years
in the work says:

"I find there is nothing that will prevent crime more
than education and instruction in some useful and practical
occupation, and there is no better means of bringing about
reformation with the class of our citizens such as we re-
ceive at the Reformatory than instruction from a competent
educator in a school of letters, followed up with practical
instruction in some useful trade. We also find that any
method adopted in such institution that humiliates the
inmate in the eyes of the other prisoners or of the officers

536 Historic Indiana

brings no good results from the standpoint of reformation;
hence we have discontinued the use of stripes for clothing,
abolished the lock-step, and instead we give each inmate
in the institution a suit of cadet blue clothing, cut in
military style, and permit them to march in twos in mil-
itary order. Seventy-five per cent, of the iioo boys
we have to-day come from broken homes and from en-
vironments that were bad when they were children, or
where the parents were dead. Much has been said of our
divorce laws. The best law, in my judgment, that could
be enacted for those who secure a divorce would be, if
they had children under sixteen years of age, for the
court to take charge of such children and see that they
are placed in proper homes and given a high school edu-
cation, the parents having nothing to say in the rearing
of the child after divorce has been granted." ^

And what of these paroled men? Secretary Butler's
reports show that more than half of them have re-
mained faithful to the trust imposed in them. Of
the thousands of prisoners paroled, since the law has
been in force, he says that seventy-four per cent, have
maintained themselves and been saved to society.
Most of these men were not wage-earners before their
incarceration, yet they have earned $2,000,000 while
on parole, and eighty-six per cent, of their employers
approved of the law as very beneficial. The paroled
men, without exception, have a favorable opinion of it;
and professional crooks, who do not expect to reform
all denounce the law. The secretary's deduction
from all of his data is, that is it much better for the
State as an organization that it be relieved of this
expense; and for society that these men be returning
to it professing reformation and willing to prove their

• Whittaker, William H., Address at Fifteenth State Conference
of Charities and Corrections.

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 537

profession by becoming working, earning members of
it, instead of coming out with the hopeless outlook
of the discharged convict, under the old regime ; since
a much larger per cent, of those discharged under the
old system return to lives of crime, and a far greater
per cent, of those discharged on parole manage to keep
out of prison. Under the new system, by far the
larger number of those released after the parole test
become law-abiding citizens, and but a small per cent,
again find their way behind the prison walls. As
stated by former State Auditor Hart, "to-day the
reformatories are giving wayward boys and girls
educational facilities, industrial training, and Christian
counsel, so that, instead of being schools of crime, the
worthy among the young offenders are coming back
to society prepared for honorable responsibilities."
For the older prisoners, the State Bar Association, in
common with other citizens, had doubts of the wisdom
of the reform statutes ; but its committee reported at
its annual meeting that the law was "a distinct advance
in the State's attitude toward the treatment of crimi-
nals. The great majority of men paroled sustain the
confidence placed in them, and not only perform the
conditions, but merit their discharges, and become
honorable citizens."

Under the County Jail Suspension Law the person
who offends against the laws of Indiana, now, is a
prisoner of the State; and is under the jurisdiction of a
State ofiicer — the Judge of the Circuit Court. If that
judge fulfils his duty he should enforce thorough regula-
tions of the county jail relating to food, building, cloth-
ing, conduct, and sanitary quarters for the imprisoned.
He has authority to make the rules for the care of
prisoners, and the duties of the officers ; and can enforce

53^ Historic Indiana

them as other laws are enforced. This gives interested
citizens a tangible means of reaching the deplorable
conditions in the county jails, by demanding pledges
of candidates for election to circuit judgeships, that
they will reform the administration of these places
intended for detention.

The Indiana State Farm, authorized by the Legisla-
ture in 1913, is established in Putnam County. It is
six miles from Greencastle, has sixteen hundred acres
of land, a beautiful running stream, access to two rail-
roads, and possesses a variety of soils for farm, orchard,
and stock purposes, with clay and limestone for manu-
facturing; from all of which products for the State
institutions are to be produced. Here the misdemean-
ants are sent to serve out their term in useful labor for
the State, instead of lying in idleness in the county
jails. The Correctional Department of the Woman's
Prison was established for the same purpose. With an
indeterminate sentence secured, these two beneficent
institutions offer untold possibilities of reform for the
ever-recurring jail population of the State. To build
up the hopeless, ignorant, and vagrant who are useless to
themselves and the community is the purpose of these
institutions, if made use of by the judges of the various
counties in sentencing prisoners.

"Of 219 women offenders sent up one year, ninety-
two were in bad physical condition. Nine were addicted
to morphine, four were epileptic, one feeble-minded,
while half of them were alcoholic. Is any county jail
equipped to care for such inmates and make them
fit to go out into the community in thirty, sixty, or
ninety days? If sent to this State institution for mis-
demeanants and the men to the State Farm, under an
indeterminate sentence, the unfortunate men and

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 539

women who have erred through folly or ignorance and
are not yet hopeless, are often aroused to better things
and a new life."' Here is a perpetual opportunity for
the humane in various districts, to see that their county
avails itself of this provision by the State.

The law creating the office of Court Matron in the
larger cities is a most important step. The Matron's
duties will be to investigate and report upon the history
and condition of life of all women and girls awaiting
trial in the city court, and exercise supervision of such
persons, while not in actual custody, until final disposi-
tion of charges against them.

Secretary Butler says that the operation of the Sus-
pended Sentence Law resulted in 1 794 men and women
being placed on probation, to be sent to prison only in
case they violated the conditions of their release. The
percentage of violations was 33.67 in eight and a half
years of enforcement of this law.

The establishment of the Robert W. Long Hospital
at Indianapolis has added another State institution of
great value to the people of the whole Commonwealth.
This gift from the man and his wife whose name it
bears, places a hospital with all the modem equipment
and scientific and professional knowledge of a city
establishment, at the disposal of those who live in
rural communities where there are no infirmaries.
It is for the poor, the little children, and the public
wards of the State. There is a training school for
nurses connected with it, and the Indiana University
School of Medicine administers the affairs of the
hospital. No more beneficent gift to the State has
been recorded.

Laws authorizing cities and larger towns to establish

» Mrs. Jacob P. Dunn, Member of the Board of Directors.

540 Historic Indiana

and maintain public bathhouses and playgrounds, by
taxation, now enable the officials to provide these
accommodations.

Free Employment Agencies maintained by the State
were authorized for the larger cities; and industrial aid
for the blind was established. There is to be kept a
complete registration of the blind, the maintenance of a
bureau of information to find employment, teach in-
dustries, and market the products; establishment of
industrial training school for the blind and requirement
that State institutions and divisions purchase the articles
produced under the State board.

The accomplishment of Housing Reform was finally
secured by two bills for tenement control which in-
cludes all incorporated cities. The requirements are for
sufficient space to afford the minimum of light and
ventilation. Some protection from fire is required, and
a more sanitary disposal of waste with a mandate about
water provision and against excessive overcrowding.
While the law is not all that its author and champion,
Mrs. Albion F. Bacon, could wish, it was all that could
be secured at the time, and will ameliorate the condi-
tions of living in congested districts, if inspectors are
vigilant in their duty. Supervision by voluntary helpers
is invited.

Laws have been passed authorizing the use of school-
houses and other public buildings as social centres;
which permit non-partisan gatherings for civic, social,
and recreational purposes; light, heat; and janitor
service being furnished gratuitously.

There is an indication of the much needed improve-
ments in county administration, in some directions.
A law providing for a four-year term of office for
Superintendents of Poor Asylums holds promise of

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 541

better management; and that they have organized a
State association for their mutual training for their
duties. County Commissioners are required to visit
and inspect the asylum once every three months and
spread on their record a report of the conditions and
needs of the institution, signed by each of the members
of the board.

In claiming an advanced position for the legislation in
Indiana, it is natural to ask what is left to be desired.
Active citizens for the public good see many needs.
Especially do they deplore the backward condition of
county affairs and in the buildings used for jails and
poor asylums already mentioned. The tardiness of
county officials in availing themselves of the empowering
statutes, that are not mandatory, suggests the desir-
ability of further State control.

Indiana has not taken her place in the advanced
ranks of legislation on the subject of suffrage for women.
Notwithstanding most of the instruction and the
civilizing influences of life in the State have been
furthered by the mothers in the Commonwealth,
the ballot has not been extended to them. This with
other progressive measures may be accomplished
before the State's second century of history is fully
opened.

Among the more pressing demands is that the
School Attendance Laws be universally enforced, not
only by more liberal appropriations for salaries, but
also by a perennial interest shown by clubs and in-
dividual citizens in supervising their own neighborhood
conditions, accompanied by closer control by the school
authorities where the courts are indifferent. There
will be, perpetually, the opportunity for personal
service to the State, in helping to secure to each child

542 Historic Indiana

the benefits of the broad provision for universal
education. '

Laws placing the office of Prosecuting Attorney on a
salary basis, in all judicial courts; a complete elimina-
tion of the fee system in caring for prisoners in jails and
a prohibition on using jails except as places of detention,
before conviction, are remedies for existing intolerable
conditions which should be abolished, by immediate
legislation.

The most serious demand on legislation and public
opinion is the accomplishment of complete segregation
of the feeble-minded, and increased preventive measures
against the causes of the growing number of dependents,
defectives, and delinquents that must be cared for by
the State. The institutions are crowded to their
utmost by the victims of alcoholism and its effects ; and
heredity is increasing the number yearly. ^

' " There are a number of factors determining the extent of school pre-
vention of deHnquency but we have time to consider only the administra-
tion of the truancy law before closing this discussion. It is generally
admitted that this law is excellent. The more I study and use it, the
more do I realize its far-reaching possibiHties for social betterment, and
the more do I regret that its full state- wide utilization is years off. When
township trustees and school boards, school teachers and principals,
judges and prosecutors, realize its possibilities and importance, when
attendance officers are adequately paid and properly qualified, when the
State inspects the administration of the law in every community, then
we can look for adequate results from the law." — Superintendent
Dr. Shane at State Conference of Charities and Corrections.

^ " In eighty-seven of the one hundred and five counties in Kansas,
where they have a prohibition law, there are no insane; in fifty-four
counties there are no feeble-minded ; in ninety-six there are no inebriates.
Thirty-eight county poor asylums are empty and most of them have
been so for the best part of the decade. The pauper population of the
State falls a little short of six hundred, an average of one pauper for
every three thousand inhabitants. At one time not long ago the jails
in fifty-three counties were empty and sixty-five counties were on the
roll as having no prisoners serving sentence in the penitentiary. Some

544 Historic Indiana

of the State laws in reference to wrong-doers, that to
carry out present laws and advance to higher planes
it is evident that the thing most needed is personal
interest in the public welfare, and individual service on
the part of the best citizenship. "The patriotism
of public duty enters very largely into the vitality of
civic righteousness." In common with other common-
wealths, this is, and will continue to be, the greatest
need of the State.

In the retrospect of the past, one recalls the extended
influence and the amount of good accomplished in the
last one hundred years by the educators of the State,
the men who carried through the Civil War activities,
the ministry of the churches, the various agencies for
improved conditions in rural life and congested city
quarters, the public-spirited legislators who accom-
plished, in the face of great odds, so many remedial
measures and the officials who have worked for love
as well as fame. The thoughts of these endeavors and
the things they have accomplished inspire great hope
for the opening century. Not only individuals but
clubs, that were originated for self-culture and commun-
ion of kindred intellects, have extended their usually
ephemeral existence by widening their philacteries and
broadening their horizon to include a working interest
in everything that pertains to humanity and securing
advantages for all the people.-

The labors of individuals show that public enterprise,
the spirit of noble civic endeavor, and a recognition of
personal responsibility have not disappeared with the
passing of the pioneers who established the foundations
for the future of the Commonwealth.

Military heroism may become a legend of the past,
and political office be but one of the honors worth striv-

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 543

It will be seen from this cursory study of a few
subjects of legislation in Indiana, that each year has
marked some advancement; and that enough en-
lightened laws have been passed to insure a measure
of support in the emergencies of existence, and humane
treatment of the defectives and the delinquents, to
serve as a guarantee of further progress. "Let us
count ourselves, then, as not having attained, but
as pressing forward," said Alexander Johnson in
the State Conference of Charities. "Real and great
progress has been made and the tendency is ever
forward to sounder principles, to improved methods,
to increased efficiency, to decreasing relative cost, to
the saving of wasted money, to the saving of wasted
humanity." It is also a significant indication of ad-
vance that the president of the State Conference
felt justified in claiming that "to-day there is no State
freer from partisan control, from scandal in the manage-
ment of its public funds, than is our own, no state
where the unfortunates are so humanely and scien-
tifically cared for as in Indiana." ^ This improvement
has resulted from the united efforts of an enlightened
contingent of workers for the public good, acting
upon the conviction that self . nd not pauperism

must be inculcated. Insisting aiat education and
criminality are opposite forces in civilization, and
that prevention and reformation are the duties

counties have not called a jury to try a criminal case in ten years. The
ratio of illiterates is two per cent. ; thirty years ago it was forty-nine per
cent. The death rate is seven per thousand. Something would seem
to be the matter with Kansas. That something we believe can be boiled
down into these fourteen words constituting an amendment made to her
Constitution in 1881: 'The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liq-
uor shall be forever prohibited in this State.'" — Philadelphia American.

1 Whittaker, W. H., Bulletin of Charities and Corrections, page 86.
April, 1907.

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 545

ing for, but the rewards of conscience in doing one's
duty in civic affairs are perpetual in a democracy. To
serve without pay on a board of county charities is a
kindly office that enables a citizen of tact and discretion
to be of use to the community. To be a parole officer, a
truancy inspector, or an efficient library or school
trustee requires the judgment, initiative, and informa-
tion to a degree that should enlist the foremost citizens
of a neighborhood in these services, which are not and
can not be remunerated. The recompense to men and
women of talent for doing these things which are
"nobody's business" comes with the doing. As was
said by the promoter of one of Indiana's most notable
endeavors: "There is that in the work itself which
ought to recommend it to any woman. At my age so
many women find life closing. The children are almost,
or quite grown, and there are many hours that may be
idle hours which were once full to overflowing. Old
age seems imminent with nothing more interesting
than a secondary interest in life, through the children.
But if one addresses themselves to civic uplift the whole
aspect of existence is different. I feel that I am on the
threshold of a second lif le interest of the work is

vital and the work itseii is worth while. Every day
brings a new outlook and a fresh fund of enthusiasm. " *
What is needed said an organizer in rural life, are
leaders. When the best results are to be obtained, in
the various commonwealths, their citizens, of the most
acumen and foresight, will be found willing to take time
and thought to serve in the town council and legislative
assemblies. Disinterested public spirit is the hope of
the Democracy. Indiana is not alone in the struggle to
induce the lawmakers to legislate in accordance with the

» Mrs. Albion Fellows Bacon.

54^ Historic Indiana

conclusions of the leaders of thought. All of the other
State assemblies and the National Congress are remiss.
It is not merely frugality on their part to guard the
treasury, for often the rejected measures are for the
purpose of conserving the resources of the State and
humanity. Personal interest, political combinations,
lack of information of the imperative need, block the
way. A worker for the good of the community voiced
the experience of many, in agitating for a forward
movement ; on the legislative field it means grim battle.
Here in my desk are four legislative directories, repre-
senting as many sessions, that I never see without a
shudder. Those black marks along the edge, opposite
certain names — what struggles they bespeak! They
bring back the sights and sounds of those days, the roar
of mingled voices in House and Senate, the ring of the
gavel, the confusion of the halls and lobbies, the sus-
pense of critical moments, even the feeling of exhaus-
tion, the headache and heartache."

When a man solicits the votes of a community he
gives the usual evidence of being an average citizen.
After he has taken his place in the legislative halls, he
seems a different person. Before, he begged for votes ;
later, the people had to petition, cajole, and wheedle
the representative, for legislation the need of which is
self-evident. This time and energy which is frittered
away in trying to accomplish the simplest forward step
is a cause of the widespread complaint of the inefficiency
of our form of government. "All over the world, it is
asserted, there are unmistakable signs that Democracy
will not practically work in the face of the modern tasks
to which the world has set itself."

Experiences repeat themselves. Of late, a citizen
said that when they were working to extend a tried law

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 547

to the remaining cities of the State a long and bitter
struggle, lasting the entire session, ensued. Property-
owners packed the lobby. The House passed it by
almost a unanimous vote, but the Senate held back its
final reading until the last night of the session. Victory
was then wrested away by the vote of one person who
acknowledged that it effected property which he owned.
Long ago in 1839 it was recorded that: "The Assembly
through a long session of eighty-five days was a hot-
bed of petty politics. This body, after a stormy,
protracted, and useless session has at last adjourned,
and may Heaven for all time save us from such
another."'

The ideal of Democracy is equality of opportunity
and it is the privilege of chosen representatives to bring
about the realization of this ideal by wise legislation,
advancing the whole State into the position of enlighten-
ment and the best conditions of living.

It will be seen that in her educational system, in
the supervision of the health department, in ad-
ministering charities and corrections, in the oversight
of game and fisheries, in the appointment of city
police commissioners, and in the methods of taxation,
Indiana has steadily developed a closely centralized
system of administration. It will be remarked that
the State has taken the direction and control from
the individual counties, and assumed the responsibility
of enforcing uniform laws for the whole commonwealth.
Formerly in other departments, as in the school system,
"each community was a law unto itself. There was
neither unity or uniformity. With closer organization
order began to come out of chaos." This method
has proved so efficient in accomplishing the wishes
of the best citizens that it has attracted the attention

' Indiana Journal.

54S Historic Indiana

of serious students from other States, as worthy of
imitation. Indiana owes much to these general laws
for all the counties. They have pushed forward civ-
ilization in the outlying districts a full quarter of a
century. Professor Rawles gives us a most excellent
valuation of the results of this centralization in his
very illuminating thesis on the subject :

"Both theory and practice demonstrate that this gravi-
tation towards centralization in administration is in
harmony with our progress, our political ideas, our
pecuniary interests, and our highest prosperity and hap-
piness. This conclusion does not relegate the theory of
local self-government to the limbo of obsolete doctrines.
There will always remain a field within which the people
of the respective communities will have free choice as to
their policies. This conclusion does not, therefore, mean
an abandonment of the ideals of the fathers. The evidence
has been sufficient to demonstrate that this centralization
has resulted in a more efficient administration, has secured
a greater safety of funds, has protected more thoroughly
the interests of the whole people, has ameliorated the
condition of the unfortunate classes for whose care and
education the State is responsible, has led to the reformatory
in place of the vindictive principle, and has helped to
elevate the social and moral tone by diffusing knowledge
and culture through the agency of the common schools.
An increase of population is of itself a sufficient cause
for the extension of governmental functions and a more
careful organization of the machinery of administration;
for any form of government is devised and instituted to
promote the welfare of the society within which it is
established." ^

' Rawles, W. A., The Centralizing Tendency in the Administration
of Indiana. Columbia University, New York.

Her Civilization as Shown by Her Laws 549

Judged by the accomplishment of increased good to
all of the people, there can be no doubt that State
control in Indiana has resulted in a more scientific,
humane, and economical administration of affairs.

Eminent statesmen try to impress upon the nation
the importance of keeping the delicate balance of
power between the States and the federal authority
adjusted to prevent encroachments. Indiana has
enacted such laws for the regulation of her local affairs
and the establishment of a vigorous self-government
that the State is often cited as an example of
the direction in which the individual States should
move to lessen the necessity of federal jurisdiction
intervening.

In making a summary of the legislation in Indiana
to determine her rank in civilization among the States,
we quote the statement of one of her citizens of national
fame — "We have led in many ways, we are behind the
most progressive in but few."

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552 Bibliography

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INDEX

Adams, J. Otis, 419

Addams, Jane, 99

Ade, George, 401

Agriculture in Indiana, 477;

French, 477; and early settlers,

479; at Purdue University, 4S4;

taught in schools, 488; women's

part in, 490
Agriculture, Journals of, 4S6
Alexander, Aliss, author of Jti-

dilh, 397
Algonquin Indians, 10
Anderson, JMartinus, 417, 419
Anderson, Melville B., 385
Anglo-Saxon love of the soil, 103
Art exhibition of great merit,

414
Artists of Indiana, 412
Audubon, John J., story of mill,

80 .
Automobiles, 239

Ball, Rev. T. H., 336; on the cul-
ture in frontier homes, 96

Ball's paintings, 415

Bandits of the border, 192, 193

Banks, first, 160; in first con-
stitution, 160; charter can-
celled, 160; State bank of
Indiana, 161; wildcat cur-
rency, 162; disastrous free
banking laws, 163; Bank of
the State of Indiana, 164;
national banks begun, 164;
present wise laws, 164; sav-
ings banks, 164

Banta, Judge D. D., 427

Baptist Church first organized,
169

Bartel, Frederick, 391

Bee-hunters, 87

Ben Ilur, 382

Benton, Elbert J., brochure on
the Wabash and Erie Canal,
222, 22g

Bicknell, Ernest P., 522

Billings, Dr. John S., 473

Black Hawk War, 157

Blake, Airs. Katherine, on pio-
neer life, 92; on Rappites,

247
Bloomington, State University,

44>^
Blue grass carried to Kentucky,

125

Breeders of pure bred live-stock,
a source of wealth and im-
provement to the State, 493

British incite Indians to massa-
cre, 45, 58

Bundy's pictures, 415

Burr, Aaron, his deluded fol-
lowers in Indiana, 134

Cabins of pioneers, 64, 65
Campbell, Alexander, 170, 174
Camp-meeting first held, 175
Canada, part of Indiana included
in, 18; French ceded it to
Great Britain, 23; the West
wished it incorporated in the
United States, 137
Cannibalism among the Miamis,

13
Capitals of Indiana, first, 147:

second, 148; present, 151
Carleton, Airs., description of

boarding-schools, 279
Carrington, General, 473
Catherwood, Mary H., 365

557

558

Index

Chappelsmith, John, and wife,

261
Churches, early, 167
Civil War period, 295
Civilization measured by the

laws, 512
Clark, General George Rogers,

46, 51. 57
Clay deposits in Indiana, 503
Clubs, 404; federation of, 406
Coburn, General John, tribute

to Mr. Dillon, 388
Cockrum, Wm. AI., 80, 81, 389
Coe, Dr., pioneer physician, 155
Coggeshall, Wm., Anthology, 362
Condit, Rev. Blackford, 391
Conklin, Julia S., 391
Conner, J. D., jr.. Secretary of

Registry Association, 494
Conner's paintings, 415
Constitutional Commission, in

1815, 140; in 1850, 447
Constitution, wise provisions of

first, 140
Corn Club, 496
Corydbn, second capital, 137,

148
Cottman, Geo. S., 390
Coulter, Dr. John, 474
Coulter, Dean Stanley, 474, 500
Counterfeiting, 191
Coureurs de bois, 8; pursuits, 8;

character of, 9
Covington, thriving river town,

343
Cox, Jacob, 412
Cox, Sanford C, 392; story of

Irish canal laborers, 196
Crimes of the border, 184
Culver Military School, 442
Cumberland Road, 217

Dairy farming, 496

Dale, Miss, married Robert
Owen, 251

D'Arusmont, Phiquepal, at New
Harmony, 261

Davis, Jefferson, unfair in re-
port, 291

De Frees, John, character of, 400

Democracy of the West, 469

Democratic party during the war,
302

Denby, Charles, 474

De Pauw University founded,

440
Dial, the, quoted, 466
Dillon, John B., 221, 388
Doctors of early times, 92, 93
Dress, in 1816, 146
Duncan, Robert, quoted, 119
Dunn, Jacob P., 59, 130, 389
Duquesnd, Marquis, regarding

French colonization, 477

Eads, John B., 473

Earlham College founded, 438

Earthquake in 1811, 133

Economic waste, 508

Education in Indiana, 421; in-
dustrial, 451; compulsory, 453

Educational sj^stem, 460

Eggleston, Edward, 376

Eggleston, George Cary, 276;
quoted, 377

Electric power from streams, 511

Ellsworth, Annie, sent first tele-
gram, 288

Ellsworth, Edward E., at Cen-
tennial, 468

Ellsworth, Henry L., quoted, 478

English, Wm. H., 59

Erie, Lake, crossed by La Salle, 4

Esarey, Logan, 389

Europeans, contact with In-
dians, 128

Explorers in Indiana, 4, 5

Factory Age lightens home labor,

Factory inspection, 518

Farmers, 493

Farmers' Institutes, 484

Federal and State authority, 549

Fellows sisters, writings, 393

Fertility of soil, 135

Finley, John, poem Hoosier Nest,

Fire companies in early times,
288

Fiske, John, 135

Flatboats, 202

Fletcher, M., letter about the
character of Indianapolis set-
tlement, 156

Fletcher papers, extract from, 99

Index

559

Ford, Simeon, 365, 400

Forkner's paintings, 405

Forsythe's paintings, 405

Fort Wayne, 18

Foster, John W., 390

Foulke, Wm. Dudley, 142, 307,

309, 389. 395
Franklin College, 438
French dominion, 19, 20
Furnham, Lucy, 398

Game, wild, in Indiana, 63, 73

Gary schools, 458

Gazette on live-stock improve-
ment, 494

Genet, citizen, creates trouble
in the West, 36

Gibault, Father, priest in North-
west Territory, 51

Gillilan's tales, 400

Girardin, Frank, paintings, 405

Glisson, Admiral, 473

Gold fever in '49, 292

Goodwin, Rev. Thomas, 215

Grange, 486

Gril'iiths, John L., 403

Grist mills in early times, 70

Gruelle, Justin, painter, 415

Hamilton, Lieut.-Gov., instruct-
ed by Great Britain, 45; re-
captures Vincennes, 52; loses
it forever, 57

Hamilton's collection of Indiana
writers, 361

Hannegan, Edward, 290, 343

Hanover College, 437

Harding, W. F., monograph on
Indiana, 391

Harmonic Commune, 242

Harrison, Benjamin, 403

Harrison, Wm. Henry, 125, 126,
130

Hay, John, native of Indiana,

473
Hay worth, Paul, and O. G. S.,

373
Helm, Captain, in charge of Post

Vincennes, 51
Henderson, Albert-, a memoir, 338
Henderson, Charles R., sketch

of his life, 351

Hendricks, Thomas A., 403
Herndon, Commander, 473
Herron Art Institute, 416
Hibben, Helen, 418
Hines, Fletcher, Secretary of

Registry Association, 494
Hiney, Enoch, collection of

poems, 363
Hinsdale, Prof., on British colo-
nization, 30; on American
occupation of the West, 59
Hobbs, Barnabas, 423
Hoosier, origin of name, 375
Hoosier dialect, 368, 374-376
Hoosier Group of painters, 412,

415

Hoosier writings, 399

Horse- thieves, 188

Hoshoucr, Prof., as a teacher, 436

Hospitality of pioneers, 282

Housing reform laws, 540

Howard, Judge Timothy E., His-
tory of St. Joseph County, 391

Howe, Judge, quoted, 192

Hyman, M. R., 391

Illinois, separated from Indiana

Territory in 1808, 130
Indiana, first explored, I, 15;
under French rule, 15; British,
26; territorial daj's, 106; fer-
tility of soil, 135; State or-
ganized, 139; future rank of
State depends on legislators,
166; in the forties and fifties,
273; slavery in, 293; provision
for education, 433; character
of population, 465; geograph-
ical position favorable, 495;
natural resources varied, 498;
character of laws, 512
Indiana Fanner quoted, 495
Indiana Society of Chicago, 474
Indiana University founded, 443
Indianapolis, site of, selected,
151; capital moved to, 153;
first sale of lots, 153; early
settlements, 154-156; as a
railway centre, 236; art school,
416
Indians, all Algonquins in In-
diana, 10; barbarity, 10, 127;
customs, 11-12; religion, 12;

56o

Index

Indians — Co7itinued

influence of friars, l6; intox-
ication, 16, 118, 119; send a
"speaking bark," 60; conflict
with white race, 106, 127-129;
forms of warfare, 107; General
Clark's dealings with, 108, 109;
articles bartered with, no;
games, 119; treaties with, 120;
names of, 120

Industrial schools, 453

Industrial training in the schools,
453

Internal improvement system,
214, 221; effect on State, 225;
abandoned by State, 234

Iron deposits, 508; iron oxide for
paint, 509

Jeffersonville received General
La Fayette, 153

Jenners, Anna, story of a
pioneer, 102

Jennings, Jonathan, first Gov-
ernor, 141

Johnson, Alexander, 529, 530

Johnson, Robert Underwood,
native of Indiana, 474

Johnston, Gen. Jos. E., 473

Jolict and JMarquette discovered
the Mississippi, 3

Jones, Rev. Jenkin Lloyd, trib-
ute to Thomas Lincoln, 104

Jones, Lloyd, Life of Robert
Owen, 250

Joutel's Journal quoted regarding
La Salle, 6

Judah, Mrs. John, stories by,
398

Julian, Geo. W., agitator for
abolition of slavery, 302;
author, 391

Kankakee River, La Salle's ex-
ploration of, 5; picturesque-
ness, 335

Kaskaskia, Fort, captured by
Clark, 48

Kentucky volunteers, with Clark,
46; guard the frontier, 58; at

the battle of Tippecanoe, 124;

carry home blue grass, 125
Kindergarten Training School

(State), 462
Knights of the Golden Circle, 309
Krout, Caroline, author, 398

La Fayette, General de, visits
Indiana in 1825, 153, 210

La Fayette, city of, 204

Lakes in Indiana number one
thousand, 335

Land Commissioners to adjust
claims of settlers, 131

Land sharks in the early settle-
ment outwitted, 133

Lane, Henry S., 294, 300

Lanier, Sidney, quoted, 366

La Salle, Robert Cavelier de, ar-
rived in Canada, 3; learns
Indian languages, 3; ambition
to explore the West, 3; sells
his estate to raise funds, 3;
starts on his first voyage to
find a passage to China and
discovers the Great River, 3;
makes another voyage west
and down the Illinois to the
Mississippi, 5; enemies in
Canada, 6; goes to France to
enlist the support of Louis,
6; Tonty's friendship for, 7

Laws for the new States, 141

Lawton, General, 473

Lawyers in early times, 146;
riding the circuit, 147

Legislation in Indiana, regard-
ing Australian ballot, 518;
board of State Charities, 520,
521; bribery, 518; care of
orphans, 523, 525; centraliz-
ing tendency of, 548; child
labor, 516; compulsory educa-
tion, 451, 514; county adminis-
tration, 521; county hospitals,
527; drugs, 516, 517; favorable
to women, 513; family desertion,
525; feeble-minded, 527; in-
corporation of cities, 517; indus-
trial reform schools, 530; insane,
528; insane- criminals, 531;
juvenile court, 523 ; labor regula-
tions, 519; for Libraries, 514;

Index

561

Legislation — Continued

labor regulations for women
and children, 518; marriaj^e
license, 525; out-door relief,
528; parole of prisoners, 535;
police matrons, 526, 539; pre-
vention of crime, 529; pure
food, 516; reformatory, 533;
results of reformatory laws, 532 ;
savings banks, 520; State work-
house, 538 ; suspended sentence,
539; temperance, 514-516;
tuberculosis, 528; women's
prison, 531

Legislators sent to Assembly
hold State's destiny in hands,
166, 546

Lemcke, Capt. J. A., his political
canvass, 144; on steamboating,
203

Lesueur, Charles A., at New
Harmony, 269

Levering, Mortimer, Secretary
of Registry Association, 494

Libraries, Maclure's, 264, 265

Library Commission, 406

Lincoln, Abraham, lived in
Indiana, 262 ; Emancipation
Proclamation, 306; signed ag-
ricultural college bill, 484

Lincoln, Thomas, pioneer, 105

Literary development in Indiana,

359

Live-stock Registry Association,

influence of, 495
Log Convention, 144
Logan, chief, speech, 116
Long, Robert W., State Hospital,

539
Looms in every house, 99
Lotteries, common form of rais-
ing funds in the early days,

148
Louisiana, held dominion over

Southern Indiana, 18; was

ceded to France, 34; to Spain,

34; re-ceded to France, 34;

Napoleon ceded it to U. S.

in 1803, 41
Lowell, James Russell, on gayer

spirit of earlier times, 283;

on the first American, 339;

people of wide reading,

404
Lutheran Concordia School,

442

McCulloch, Hugh, banker,

Secretary of Treasury, and
author, 391; quoted, 164
AfcCutcheon, Ben, 400
McCutcheon, George Barr, 396
McCutcheon, John, great car-
toonist, 401
Maclure, William, geologist, 260;
established schools at New
Harmony, 261, 262; established
libraries, 264
Madison, 276; bank, 160
Mails in early days, 83
Major, Charles, novelist, 396
Maple sugar, groves in Indi-
anapolis, 154; Indians fond
of, 500
Marest, Father, wrote of the

French posts, 421
Marl beds in northern Indiana,

504
Marquette and Joliet discover

the Mississippi 132 years after

De Soto, 3
Maumee River and portage, 4,

18
Merom College, 442
Merrill, Catherine, quoted on

the Civil War, 326; sketch of

her work in Indiana, 384;

paragraphs from her essays,

387

Merrill, Samuel, Treasurer of
Indiana in 1824, 153

Methodist Church, early founded,
169; schools established, 440

Mexican War, 290

Miami Indians in Indiana, 10, 13

Milk sickness or "tires," 91

Miller, Elizabeth, writer, 397

Miller, Joaquin, the poet, bom
in Indiana, 473

Millerism in 1843, 177

Mills, Caleb, successful agitator
for public schools, 444, 445, 447

Mills, old, 332

Mineral springs, 331

Mississippi River, discovered, 3;
contention over its free navi-
gation, 34, 35; commerce on,
40; contention settled in 1803,
135; battle of New Orleans
in 1 8 14, 136; element of dis-
sension in the Civil War, 325

562

Index

Monetary craze in the fifties, 1 62

Moody, William Vaughn, writer,
393, 402

Moore's Hill College, 440

Morgan's raid during Civil War,
310, 312

Morton, Oliver P., great War
Governor, 300

Mosler, Henry, artist, 415; na-
tive of Indiana, 473

Muir, John, tribute to Catherine
Merrill, 386

Muster day, great event in
pioneer times, 88

Natural gas, 502, 506

Natural resources of Indiana.

498
Negroes, slaves in Indiana, 22,
131, 139; Fifteenth Amend-
ment passed, 165; free ones
kidnapped, 297
Nesbit, Wilbur, writer, 400;
facetious reference to Indi-
ana's literary fame, 364

New Harmony, 242; location,
243; first in many movements,
257; principles in the Owen
commune, 255; population
attamed, 256; variety of
followers, 258; cause of failure,
266; after the passing of the
commune, 268; the village
at present, 270

New Orleans, founded, 34; the
market place for the Missis-
sippi and its tributaries, 40;
ceded to U. S., 42

Newspapers in Indiana, 407;
Elihu Stout establishes first
one, 408; their influence and
character, 407

Nicholas, Anna, author, 398
editor of Sunday Journal,
410

Nicholson, Meredith, writer, 394;

^ quoted 327, 367, 375, 381

Nordyke s pamtings, 405

Normal Schools, State, 441, 462;
control of certificates by Board
of Education, 462

North Manchester College, 442

Northwest Territory, of which
Indiana was a part, 44; Clark's '

conquest of, 44; value of, 58,
59
Notre Dame University, 441

Oakland City College, 442
Ogg, Frederick, on favorable
entrance of French into the
continent, 15
Ohio River, discovered by La
Salle, 4; open door to Southern
Indiana, 60
Oil fields of Indiana, 502
Ordinance of 1787, 130, 140, 445
Ouabache (Wabash ) River, first
navigated by white explorers,
^4

Ouiatanon, first post in Indiana,
18; established in 1720, 18;
location, 18; importance of, as
trading station, 18; final dis-
appearance of, in 1 79 1, 24
Owen, David Dale, United States

geologist, 269
Owen, Jane, married Robert

Fauntleroy, 269
Owen, Robert, sketch of, 250,
251; purchases New Harmony,
249; establishes a commune,
253; failure of community
plan, 265; most valuable pio-
neer, 268
Owen, Robert Dale, State geolo-
gist, 270; work at New Har-
mony, 270; subsequent career,
271; Indiana's chief citizen,
2-J2; legislation secured by, 272;
legislation for women, 272;
Civil War record, 305
Ox teams in use, 213

Painters of Indiana, 412

Parker, Benjamin, author, 360;
early pioneers, 360; collection
of poets, 363

Parkman, Francis, 4, 14

Peat beds in northern Indiana,
509

Pennmgton, Dennis, letter re-
garding slavery, 139

Pershing, M. M., historical
sketches, 391

Index

563

Pestalozzian system of educa-
tion introduced at New Har-
mony, 261
Petroleum in Indiana, 502
Pigeon Roost massacre, 126
Pioneering in the blood, lOO, 107
Pioneers, 60; their amuse-
ments, 75-77, 79; agriculture,
478; bee-hunters, 87; build-
ings, 64; cobblers, 87; crude im-
plements, 67, 68; culture, 96,
466; dances, 78; defence, 107,
108; dress, 69; field sports, 79;
going to mill, 70; games, 79;
help each other, 75; hopeful-
ness,_ 97, 99; hospitality, 75,
83; industry, 96, 98; journey
to the West, 61, 62; marriages,
86, 90; modes of travel, 71,
72; schools, 88; scarcity of
letters, 83; sickness, 91; re-
ligious meetings, 86; women's
part in pioneer life, 69, 97, 98,

Poetry by Hoosier writers, 362,

3S1', 393
Poets and Poetry of Indiajia col-

lacted by Benjamin Parker

and E. Hiney, 363
Poets, early, 362
Political parties of Indiana, 513
Pontiac, Chief, warning, 106;

war in 1764, 106
Poor whites from the South, 368;

character, 369; dialect, 371
Portage at the head of the

Wabash, 4, 18
Portland cement, 506
Posts established by the French

in Indiana, 16, 17
Pottawattomie Indians, 118
Powers, Hiram, sculptor, born

in Indiana, 473
Prairies in northern Indiana, 94;

prairie fires, 95
Preachers of early times, 86, 87
Prentice, George D., publisher

of early Hoosier poems, 362
Presbyterians, first church was

organized in 1806, 170
Priests of the French settle-
ment, 16
Prophet, the, received pension

from the British, 121; at battle

of Tippecanoe, 124
Purdue University, 460, 484, 492

Quakers in Indiana, 170; objec-
tion to slavery, 286; connec-
tion with the Underground
Railway, 286; their schools,
438

Races, conflict of, 128, 129

Railroads, first in the State, 223;
later, 237; centre at Indian-
apolis, 237

Ralston, Alexander, laid out
the city of Indianapolis, 152

Ralston, Gov., 497

Rapp, Frederick, assisted in the
commune at Harmony, 243,
246

Rapp, George, with his followers,
founds settlement at New
Harmony, 243; returns to
Pennsylvania, 247; death, 248

Rawles, W. A., 391; on central-
ization of State administra-
tion, 548

Reading circle of State teachers,
462

Reeves, Arthur Middleton, 404

Reforestation urged, 501

Registry Associations, secretaries,

494
Regulators, 190

Republican party formed, 293, 301
Richards, William, marine paint-
er, 405
Richmond, Dr. Corydon, 102
Richmond, Dr. John L., 102,

342, 346, 438
Richmond, Rev. Nathaniel, writes

of multiplicity of sects, 173;

one of the founders of Franklin

College, 438
Rivet, Father, held first school

in the territory of Indiana,

421 ...

Rose Polytechnic Institute, 441

Saddle-bags, 204

Salt, scarcity of, in pioneer times,

74; expedition to evaporate,

74; cost of, 186
Sample, Henry T., on the Wea,

flatboating to New Orleans, 202

564

Index

Sand of lake shore, valuable for
building material, 504

School gardens, 489

Schools, early, 88, 423; for blind,
deaf and dumb, 451 ; circulating
teachers, 422; consolidated
schools, 449; county seminaries,
434; denominational, 435, 437-
440; industrial, 532; "loud"
schools, 424; at New Harmony,

434

Scientific writers, 411

Shale deposits, vast and valu-
able, 504

Slavery in Indiana, 22; negro,
22, 130, 131; efforts in behalf
of fugitives, 285, 286

Slocum, Frances, story of her
being kidnapped by the In-
dians, no

Smith, Oliver H., riding the cir-
cuit, 147; writes of early
preachers, 174, 189; of horse
thieves, 188, 189, 190; recalls
pioneer gentlemen, 470

Smith, Wm. H., history of In-
diana, 391

Smith, W., How to Raise One
Thousand Bushels of Corn per
Acre on Worn-out Soil, 556

Snakes in early days, 79

Snow, Alpheus, writes of colo-
nial possessions, 364

Social life before the war, 283

Sons of Liberty, 306

Southern settlers in the State,
230, 295; many of them came
because of disapproval of
slavery, 131

Spanish money in Indiana, 32;
dominion over the Mississippi,
33; goods confiscated, 34, 36;
efforts to divert West to dis-
loyalty, 37

Spinning in early times, 98

Squatters, a peculiar class, loi

Stage-coach days, 217, 218

Stark, Otto, artist, 415

State institutions of Indiana,
benevolent, 526, 527, 528, 529,
539; reformatory, 530, 531, 538

Steamboats, first in Indiana
waters, 205; offence to Indians,
205; importance to commerce,
206; passengers on, 208; route
of commerce, 208 ; Mark Twain's '

description of, 211; cause of
dechne, 234; decline of traffic,

235
Steel, manufacturing in north-
western Indiana, 509
Steele, T. C, artist, 405
Stein, Evaleen, 329, 336, 393
Stephenson, Henry T., 396
St. Mary's-of-the-Woods school,

440
Stone of Indiana unrivalled, 505;

easily quarried, 505
Stout, EHhu, estabhshed first
newspaper in the State, 408;
his fine character, 408
Studevant, counterfeiter, 192
Stump speaking, 143
Sulgrove, Berry, journalist, 392
Sunday-schools, 179, 180, 181
Superintendent of Public In-
struction, 448

Tarkington, N. Booth, writer,
273, 396

Tarkington, William, quoted, 207

Taverns of old times, 84; primi-
tive accommodations in, 85;
unique sign-boards, 85

Taylor, Dr., poem, The Theng,

371

Taylor, Zachary, elected Presi-
dent, 292

Teachers, early, 424; debt of
State to, 461 ; reading circle, 462

Teaming an occupation in early
times, 214

Tecumseh, Shawnee chief, 117,
122, 123; great leader, 121;
opposed the advance of white
race, 121; visits General Har-
rison to protest, 121; de-
parts for the South, 122;
battle of Tippecanoe fought
while he was gone, 124; died
in the British service, 121

Telegraph line, first in state,

237
Terre Haute, the French bound-
ary line between Louisiana
and Canada, 18; early fire
protection, typical, 288; school
centre, 441
Text-books in pioneer times, 428
Thompson, Maurice, writer, 383

Index

565

Thompson, Col. Richard, Recol-
lections of Sixteen Presidents,

391

Thompson, Will H., 384
Thornton, W. W., writer, 391
Timber found in the State, 499
Tinder-box in every house, 72
Tippecanoe, battle of, in 181 1,

121, 124, 125
Tippecanoe River, beauty, 328
Tipton, General John, passages

from his journal, 149
Tomahawk right, 66
Tonty, Henri de, appreciation of

La Salle's explorations, 7
Training for teachers, 462
Travelling in the olden times,

2 1 0-2 1 7
Twain, Mark, description of

steamboat traffic, 211
Tyler, ex-President, as a road-
master, 491

Underground Railway, 286; ex-
tent of the movement, 287;
numbers of slaves helped to
Canada, 286; work ceased, 288

Universities of Indiana, at

Bloomington, 443; Purdue, at
La Fayette, 460

Valentine, Supt., school as social
centre, 456

Valparaiso College, 442

Vevay scenery, 331

\'igo. Col. Francis, acquaints
Clark with condition at Vin-
cennes, 53

Vincennes post established, 18;
French life there, 19; Fort, 19;
captured by American forces,
51; recaptured, 57; territorial
capital, 147; university estab-
lished, 148, 436; capital re-
moved from, 148

Wabash College founded, 437

Wabash River, explored by
La Salle, 3; highway of com-
merce, 206, 209
Wallace, Gov. David, quoted,

412
Wallace, General Lew, author,

360; quoted, 412
Wallace, Susan, author, 383
Water-power of the State un-
developed, 510
Waterways of Indiana, 213
Weaver, General Erasmus, 473
Western characteristics, 466
Whiskey used in early times, 74,

91, 92
White River declared navigable,

213
Whitewater Valley and other

settlements of Friends, 131
Whittaker, Wm. H., quoted,

535. 543
Wickersham's novel, 398
Wild fruits in the State, 73
Wild game found in Indiana, 63,

73
Wiley, Harvey W., 474
Wilkinson's treachery, 37
Willing, the, built for Col. Clark's

expedition, 53
Willson, Forsythe, poet, 393
Wilstach, John A., translations,

395
Wilstach, Paul, author and play-
wright, 395
Wilstach, Walter, biography, 395
Winsor, Newton, quoted, 59
Winter, George, description of
Frances Slocum, no; painted
Miami Indians, 412
Wirt, Wm., Supt. of the Gary

schools, 458
Wishard, Dr., description of
early practice of medicine,

'54

Woman's suffrage, backward m
the State, 541

Woods-Ulman, Alice, stories, 398

Woolen, Wm. W., historical
sketches, 391; natural history
articles, 391

Wright, Frances, at New Har-
mony, 257

.'1

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Full text of "Historic Indiana; being chapters in the story of the Hoosier state from the romantic period of foreign exploration and dominion through pioneer days, stirring war times, and periods of peaceful progress, to the present time"

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