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Gc 

977    201 

M33s 

1147133    j 


GENEALOGY   COLLECTION 


ijjf'-'-EN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  02300  1784 


HISTOKY 


[NDIANAPOIvIS 


MARION  COUNTY, 


INDIANA. 


B.  R.  SULGROVE. 


I  Xj  Xj TJ  S  T  I?y  j^T  E  ID. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
I..    H.   EVERTS     &    CO. 

1884. 


PREFACE.  1117133 


In  a  history  mainly  composed  of  the  incidents  that  indicate  the  growth  of  a  community, 
and  the  direction  and  character  of  it,  where  few  are  important  enough  to  require  an  extended 
narration,  and  the  remainder  afford  little  material,  it  is  not  easy  to  construct  a  continuous  narra- 
tive, or  to  so  connect  the  unrelated  points  as  to  prevent  the  work  taking  on  the  aspect  of  a  pre- 
tentious directory.  To  collect  in  each  year  the  notable  events  of  it  is  to  make  an  excellent  ware- 
house of  historical  material ;  but,  however  authentic,  it  would  hardly  be  interesting.  Like  the 
country  boy's  objection  to  a  dictionary,  "  the  subject  would  change  too  often."  To  combine,  as 
far  as  practicable,  the  authenticity  of  an  annuary  like  that  of  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown  in  1868, 
which  has  been  freely  used,  or  the  compilation  of  statistical  and  historical  material  made  by  Mr. 
Joseph  T.  Long  for  Holloway's  History  in  1870,  which  has  furnished  valuable  help  in  this 
work,  with  some  approach  to  the  interest  of  a  connected  narrative,  it  has  been  thought  best  to 
present,  first,  a  general  history  of  the  city  and  the  county  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war, 
throwing  together  in  it  all  incidents  which  have  a  natural  association  with  each  other  or  with 
some  central  incident  or  locality,  so  as  to  make  a  kind  of  complete  affair  of  that  class  of  incidents. 
For  instance,  the  first  jail  is  used  to  gather  a  group  of  the  conspicuous  crimes  in  the  history  of 
the  county,  the  old  court-house  to  note  the  various  uses  to  which  it  was  put  during  the  city's 
progress  through  the  nonage  of  a  country  town  to  the  maturity  of  a  municipal  government. 
Since  the  war  the  historj^  was  thought  more  likely  to  be  made  intelligible  and  capable  of  reten- 
tion and  reference  by  abandoning  the  form  of  a  continuous  narrative  interjected  with  groups  of 
related  incidents  or  events,  and  divide  it  into  departments,  and  treat  each  fully  enough  to  cover 
all  the  points  related  to  it  that  could  be  found  in  an  annuary,  or  a  separation  of  the  events  of 
each  year  to  itself.  Thus  it  has  been  the  purpose  to  throw  into  the  chapter  on  schools  all  that  is 
worth  telling  of  what  is  known  of  the  early  schools,  besides  what  is  related  of  them  in  the  gen- 
eral history,  with  no  special  reference  to  the  date  of  any  school,  while  the  history  of  the  public 
schools  is  traced  almost  exclusively  by  official  reports  and  documents.  In  manufactures  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  present  a  consecutive  account  if  a  chronological  order  had  been  followed, 
for  the  facts  are  scattered  through  fifty  years,  from  1832  to  1882.     By  taking  the  whole  subject 


PREFACE. 


apart  from  the  events  with  whicli  its  various  parts  are  associated  by  date,  it  is  possible  to  group- 
them  so  as  to  present  a  tolerably  complete  view  of  tiie  origin  and  progress  of  each  part  and  of 
the  whole.  The  militar}'  rosters  contain  all  the  names  of  Marion  County  soldiers  in  the  civil 
war  who  enlisted  for  three  years.  The  list  of  civil  officers  of  the  county  is  complete  and  accu- 
rate, and  was  compiled  for  this  work.  It  is  the  first  ever  published,  as  is  that  of  the  township 
and  city.  The  entries  of  land  from  1821  to  1825  will  be  found  an  interesting  feature  of  the, 
work,  and  will  recall  the  name  of  many  an  old  settler  who  is  almost  forgotten  now.  Mr.  Now-| 
land's  interesting  reminiscences  and  those  of  the  late  Hon.  O.  H.  Smith  have  been  freely  used,  \ 
as  well  as  the  memories  of  some  old  settlers,  as  Mr.  Robert  B.  Duncan,  Gen.  Coburn,  William  i 
H.  Jones,  Daniel  Noe,  and  the  writer's  own  occasionally.  The  histories  of  the  townships  have  ' 
been  compiled  substantially  from  the  accounts  of  the  oldest  and  best-known  settlers  in  each. 

B.  R.  S.      J 
Indianapolis,  Feb.  14,  1884.  I 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

Location  of  Marion  County — Topographical  and  General 
Description — Geology  of  the  County — The  Indian  Oc- 
cupation           1 

CHAPTEK   II. 

Special  Features  of  the  City  of  Indianapolis — Area  and 
Present  Condition — General  View  and  Historical  Outline       10 

CHAPTER   III. 

First  Period — Early  Settlements — Organization  of  Marion 
County  and  Erection  of  Townships— Erection  of  Public 
Buildings — Notable  Events  and  Incidents  of  the  Early 
Settlement  and  of  Later  Tears — Opening  of  Roads — 
Original  Entries  of  Lands  in  the  County 21 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Social  Condition  of  the  Early  Settlers — Amusements — Re- 
ligious Worship — Music — General  Description  of  Pio- 
neer Life  in  Marion  County — Diseases  once  Prevalent 
— -Causes  of  Diminution 68 

CHAPTER   V. 
Second  Period— The  Capital  in  the  Woods 96 

CHAPTER   VI. 
CiTT  OF  Indianapolis 132 

CHAPTER   VII. 

City  op  Indianapolis  (Continued). 

Commercial  and  Mercantile  Interests  of  the  City 151 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

City  of  I.vdianapolis  (Continued). 

The  Bench  and  Bar 169 

CHAPTER  IX. 

City  of  Indianapolis  (Continued). 

Banks,  Bankers,  and  Insurance 215 


CHAPTER   X. 

City  op  Indianapolis  (Continued). 


CHAPTER  XI. 
City  of  Indianapolis  (Continued). 
Public    Buildings — Public    Halls — Theatres — Lectures — 
Concerts  —  Musical  and  Art  Societies  —  Literary  and 
other  Clubs— Hotels 249 

CHAPTER    XII. 

City  of  Indianapolis  (CoH(i'imed). 

Medical  Practice  and  Practitioners 274 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Military  Matters. 
Military  Organizations  in  Indianapolis— Marion  County 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 300 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

Marion  County  in  the  War  of  the  Rbbellion. 
Sketches  of  the  Services  of  Regiments — Roster  of  Officers 
and  Enlisted  Men  from  Marion  County  serving  in  the 
Several  Regiments 322 

CHAPTER   XV. 
Orders,  Societies,  and  Charitable  Institutions  of  In- 
dianapolis      366 

CHAPTER   XVI. 
Churches  op  Indianapolis 387 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Schools  and  Libraries  of  Indianapolis 417 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
Manufacturing  Interests  of  the  City  of  Indianapolis    440 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
CiTiL  List  of  Indiakapolis  and  Marios  Codnty 

CHAPTER   XX 

PAOE 

....     486 
501 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

575 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

596 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

...     506 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

613 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

...     519 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

623 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 
Lawrence  Tow.ssoip 

...     534 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
Wayne  Township 

647 

ILLUSTKATIONS. 


Aston,  George  W facing  603 

Atkins,E.C ' "  470 

Atkins,  E.  C.  A  Co.,  Works  of. "  469 

Ayres,  Levi "  506 

Bank  of  Commerce 21S 

Bates,  Hervey facing  35 

Beaty,  David  Sanford "  154 

Bell,  W.  A 426 

Bessonies,  J.  F.  A 410 

Bird,  Abram facing  155 

Blake,  James "  86 

Bobbs,  John  S "  281 

Brown,  Hirara 171 

Brown,  S.  M facing  296 

Butler,  John  M "  204 

Butler,  Ovid "  176 

Canby,  Samuel "  502 

Carey,  Jason  S "  461 

Carey, Simeon  B "  159 

Caven,  John "  209 

Chamber  of  Commerce 167 

Comingor,  J.  A facing  284 

Compton,  J.  A "  288 

Cooper,  John  J "  218 

Dean  Brothers,  Works  of "  467 

Defrees,  John  D "  240 

Douglass,  John 235 

Dumont,  Ebenezer 308 

Duncan,  Robert  B 174 

Edson,  H.  A facing  398 

Emigrant  Scene 73 

Evans,  I.  P.  &,  Co.,  Manufactory  of facing  482 

Fletcher,  Calvin,  Sr "  169 

Fletcher,  M.  J "  440 

Fletcher,  S.  A.,  Jr "  468 

Fletcher,  S.  A.,  Sr "  219 

Fletcher,  W.  B "  285 

Funkhouser,  David "  279 

Gall,  Alois  D "  293 

Gordon,  J.  W "  180 

Griffith,  Humphrey "  161 


PAOE 

Hannah,  Samuel facing  216 

Hannaman,  William "  163 

Harvey,  T.  B "  282 

Haughey,  Theo.  P 227 

Haymond,  W.  S facing  290 

Henderson,  William "  205 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A "  200 

Hetherington,  B.  F "  466 

Holland,  J.  W 154 

Holliday,  William  A facing  392 

Holmes,  W.  C "  226 

Howard,  Edward "  291 

Howland,  E.  J "  505 

Howland,  Morris "  595 

Hyde,  N.  A 414 

Indianapolis  in  1S20 facing  30 

Johnson,  James "  665 

Johnson,  Oliver "  646 

Johnson,  William 158 

Jones,  Aquilla facing  474 

Kingan  &  Co between  444,  445 

Lilly,  J.  0.  D facing  480 

Macy,  David "  229 

Malott,  V.  T "  224 

Mansur,  Isaiah "  225 

Marion  County  Court-House "  250 

Marion  County  Court-House  in  1823 251 

McCarty,  Nicholas facing  99 

McDonald,  J.  E "  202 

McGaughey,  Samuel "  297 

McKernan,  J.  H "  166 

McLaughlin,  G.  H "  400 

McOuat,  R.  L "  160 

Merritt,  George "  478 

Moore,  .John "  503 

Moore,  Thomas "  604 

Morris,  Morris "  217 

Morris,  T.  A "  301 

Morton,  Oliver  P "  186 

Mothershead,  John  L "  278 

National  Road  Bridge  over  White  River 108 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

New,  George  W % facing  292 

Norwood,  George **  442 

Palmer,  N.  B "  215 

Parry,  Charles "  276 

Patterson,  S.  J "  441 

Pattison,  C.  B "  157 

Peck,  E.  J "  156 

Perkins,  S.  E "  182 

Piel,  William  F "  452 

Porter,  A.  G "  206 

Ramsay,  John  F "  165 

Ray,  James  M "  105 

Ritzinger,  Frederick "  230 

Rockwood,  William  0 "  472 

Root,  Deloss "  465 

Schooley,  Thomas "  533 

Sharpe,  Thomas  H "  220 

Site  of  Union  Passenger  Depot  in  1838 137 

Sinker,  E.  T facing  464 

Spiegel,  Augustus "  456 


PAGE 

Streight,  A.  D facing  314 

Sullivan,  Wm "  178 

Thomas,  John "  471 

Talbott,  W.  H "  162 

Todd,  R.  N "  283 

Tomlinson,  Geo "  596 

Toon,  Martin  S "  534 

United  States  Arsenal "  305 

Vance,  L.  M "  153 

Wagon-Train  on  National  Road 95 

Walker,  Isaac  C facing  286 

Walker,  Jacob  S 164 

Walker,  John  C facing  294 

Washington  Street,  Views  of 266  and  267 

Wood,  John 152 

Woodburn  "Sarven  Wheel"  Co facing  460 

Woollen,  Wm.W "  214 

Wright,  C.  E "  287 

Yandes,  Daniel "  100 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


FAQE 

Atkins,  E.  C 469 

Ayres,  Levi 506 

Barbour,  Laoian 214a 

Bates,  Hervey 35 

Beaty,  David  Sanford, 153 

Bell,  W.  A 426 

Bessoniea,  J.  F.  A 409 

Bird.  Abram 155 

Blake,  James 86 

Bobbs,  John  S 281 

Bradley,  John  H 214b 

Brown.  Hiram 171 

Brown,  John  G 505 

Brown,  S.  M 296 

Butler,  John  M 204 

Butler,  Ovid 175 

Can  by,  Samuel 503 

Carey,  H.  G 228 

Carey,  Jason  S 461 

Carey,  Simeon  B 159 

Caven,  John 209 

Coburn,  John 214c 

Comingor,  J.  A 284 

Compton,  J.  A 288 

Cooper,John  J 217 

Culley,  David  V 236 

Dcfrees,  John  D 239 

Douglass,  John 235 

Dumont,  Ebenezer 308 

Duncan,  Robert  B 174 

Edson,  H.  A 397 

Elliott,  B.  K 214d 

Finch,  F.  M 214d 

Fletcher,  Calvin,  Sr 169 

Fletcher,  M.  J 440 

Fletcher,  S.  A.,  Sr 219 

Fletcher,  S.  A.,  Jr 468 

Fletcher,  W.  B 285 

Funkhouser,  David 279 

Gall,  Alois  D 293 

Gordon,  J.  W 180 


PAOI 

GriflSth,  Humphrey 161 

Hannah,  Samuel 215 

Hannaman,  William 162 

Harrison,  Gen.  Benjamin 214d 

Harvey,  T.  B 282 

Haughey,  Theodore  P 226 

Haymond,  W.  S 290 

Henderson,  William 205 

Hendricks,  A.  W 214f 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A 199 

Hetherington,  B.  F 466 

Hines,  Judge 214e 

Holland,  J.  W 154 

Holman,  John  A 185 

Holmes,  W.  C 226 

Holliday,  William  A 392 

Herd,  Oscar  B 214p 

Howard,  Edward 291 

Howland,  E.  J 505 

Howland,  Morris 595 

Hyde,  N.  A 414 

Jameson,  Patrick  H 280 

Johnson,  James 665 

Johnson,  Oliver 646 

Johnson,  William 158 

Jones,  Aquilla 474 

Knefler,  Fred 214b 

Lilly,  J.  0.  D 480 

Macy,  David 229 

Malott,  V.  T 223 

Mansur,  Isaiah 225 

McDonald,  J.  E 201 

McCarty,  Nicholas 99 

McGaughey,  Samuel 297 

McKernan,  J.  H 165 

McLaughlin,  G.  H .399 

McOuat,  R.  L 160 

Merritt,  George 478 

Moore,  John 503 

Moore,  Thomas 504 

Morris,  Morris 216 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


PAOE 

Morton,  Oliver  P 186 

Morris,  T.  A 301 

Motbershead,  John  L 278 

Newoomb,  Horatio  C 214a 

New,  George  W 292 

New,  John  C 214f 

Norwood,  George 442 

O'Neal,  Hugh 214a 

Palmer,  N.  B 215 

Parry,  Charles 276 

Patterson,  S.  J 441 

Pattison,  C.  B 157 

Perkins,  S.  E 182 

Peck,  E.  J 156 

Porter,  A.  G 206 

Piel,  William  F 453 

Qaarles,  William 214a 

Ramsay,  John  F 163 

Ray,  James  M 105 

Ritzingcr,  Frederick 230 

Root,  Deloss 465 

Rockwood,  William  0 472 

Scbooley,  Thomas 533 


PAO 

Sharpe,  Thomas  H 220 

Sinker,  E.  T *64 

Spiegel,  Angustns '156 

Streight,  A.  D 314 

Sullivan,  William HS 

Talbott,  W.  H 162 

Taylor,  N.  B 214c 

Thomas,  John 471 

Todd,  R.  N ^ 283 

Tomlinson,  George 596 

Toon,  Martin  S 533 

Vance,  L.  M 153 

Walker,  Isaac  C 286 

Walker,  Jacob  S  164 

Walker,  John  C 294 

Wallace,  David 203 

Wallace,  William 214b 

Wishard,  William  W 594 

Wood,  John 152 

Wright,  C.  E 287 

Woollen,  William  W 213 

i,  Daniel 100 


HISTOET 

OP 

INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Location  of  Marion  County — Topograpliical  and  General  De- 
scription— Geology  of  the  County — The  Indian  Occupation. 

Marion  County,  in  which  is  the  city  of  ludian- 
apolis,  the  capital  of  Indiana,  occupies  a  central  posi- 
tion in  the  State  (as  is  mentioned  more  particularly 
hereafter),  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  coun- 
ties of  Boone  and  Hamilton,  on  the  east  by  Hancock 
and  Shelby,  on  the  south  by  Morgan  and  Johnson, 
and  on  the  west  by  Hendricks  County.  Its  shape 
would  be  almost  an  exact  square  but  for  an  inac- 
curacy in  the  government  survey,  which  makes  a  pro- 
jection of  four  miles  or  sections  in  length  by  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  width  at  the  northeast 
corner  into  the  adjoining  county  of  Hancock,  with  a 
recess  on  the  opposite  side  of  equal  length,  and  about 
one-fourth  of  the  width,  occupied  by  a  similar  pro- 
jection from  Hendricks  County.  The  civil  townships 
of  the  county  follow  the  lines  of  the  Congressional 
townships  in  direction,  except  at  the  division  of  the 
townships  of  Decatur  and  Perry,  which  follows  the 
line  of  White  River,  taking  off  a  considerable  area  of 
the  former  and  adding  it  to  the  latter  township. 
The  area  of  the  county  is  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  acres. 

Topography  and  General  Features. — Indian- 
apolis, which  is  the  county-seat  of  Marion  as  well  as 
the  State  capital,  lies  in  latitude  39°  55',  longitude 
86°  5',  very  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  State  and 
county.  Mr.  Samuel  Merrill  makes  it  two  miles 
northwest  of  the  centre  of  the  State,  and  one  mile 
1 


southwest  of  the  centre  of  the  county.  Professor 
R.  T.  Brown's  Official  Survey,  in  the  "  State  Geol- 
ogist's Report,"  regards  the  entire  county  as  part  of  a 
great  plain,  nowhere,  however,  actually  level  over  any 
considerable  areas,  with  an  average  elevation  above 
low  water  in  the  river  of  about  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five feet,  and  of  eight  hundred  and  sixty  above 
the  sea-level.  Occasional  elevations  run  to  more  than 
two  hundred  feet  above  the  river-level,  and  probably 
to  nine  hundred  above  the  sea.  The  West  Fork  of 
White  River,  running  for  twenty-two  miles  in  a 
very  tortuous  course  twenty  degrees  east  of  north  and 
west  of  south,  divides  the  county  unequally,  the 
western  fraction  being  little  more  than  half  as  large 
as  the  eastern,  or  one-third  of  the  whole  area.  The 
river  valley  varies  from  one  to  four  miles  in  width, 
presenting  a  bluff  on  the  west  side  of  fifty  to  two 
hundred  feet  through  most  of  its  extent,  and  on 
the  east  side  a  gentle  slope.  Where  the  bluff  comes 
up  to  the  water  on  one  side  the  "  bottom"  recedes  on 
the  other,  sometimes  swampy,  and  frequently  cut  up 
by  "  bayous"  or  supplementary  outlets  for  freshets. 
The  current  is  on  the  bluff  side,  usually  deep,  swift, 
and  clear.  Occasionally  the  low  "  bottom"  land  comes 
up  to  the  water  on  both  banks,  but  not  frequently. 
There  are  many  gentle  slopes  and  small  elevations  in 
and  around  the  city,  but  nothing  that  deserves  the 
name  of  hill,  except  "  Crown  Hill,"  at  the  cemetery 
north  of  the  city,  and  one  or  two  smaller  protuber- 
ances a  mile  or  two  south.  All  the  streams  that  drain 
this  undulating  plain  flow  in  a  general  southwesterly 
direction  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  south- 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


easterly  on  the  west  side,  proving,  as  the  first  secre- 
tary of  the  State  Board  of  Health  says,  that  Indian- 
apolis lies  in  a  basin,  the  grade  higher  on  all  sides 
than  is  the  site  of  the  city,  except  where  the  river 
makes  its  exit  from  the  southwest. 

Subordinate  Valleys. — Dr.  Brown  says  that  "the 
glacial  action,  which  left  a  heavy  deposit  of  transported 
material  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  county,  has  at 
the  same  time  plowed  out  several  broad  valleys  of 
erosion,  which  appear  to  be  tributary  to  the  White 
River  Valley."  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  comes 
down  from  the  northeast,  between  Fall  Creek  and 
White  River,  is  about  a  mile  wide  at  the  lower  end, 
narrowing  to  the  northeast  for  six  or  seven  miles,  and 
disappearing  near  the  northern  line  of  the  county. 
The  grinding  force  has  cut  away  the  surface  clay,  and 
in  places  filled  the  holes  with  gravel  and  coarse  sand. 
South  of  the  city  and  east  of  the  river  are  two  other 
valleys  of  the  same  kind.  One,  about  a  mile  wide, 
extends  from  White  River,  a  little  north  of  Glenn's 
Valley,  about  five  miles  to  the  northeast,  with  well- 
defined  margins  composed  of  gravel  terraces.  The 
other  lies  chiefly  in  the  county  south  of  Marion,  and 
between  it  and  the  first-mentioned  is  a  ridge  called 
Poplar  Hill,  composed  of  sand  and  gravel  on  a  bed  of 
blue  clay.  West  of  the  river  there  is  but  one  of  these 
valleys.  It  begins  in  Morgan  County,  and  running 
a  little  north  of  east  enters  Marion  County,  passing 
between  West  Newton  and  Valley  Mills,  and  connect- 
ing with  White  River  Valley  near  the  mouth  of 
DoUarhide  Creek.  A  water-shed  between  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  West  Fork  of  White  River  and  the  East 
Fork,  or  Driftwood,  enters  the  county  two  miles  from 
the  southeast  corner,  passing  nearly  north  about 
twelve  miles,  makes  an  eastward  bend  and  passes  out 
of  the  county.  Unlike  water-sheds  generally,  this 
one  is  not  a  ridge  or  considerable  elevation,  but  a 
marshy  region  overflowed  in  heavy  rains,  when  it  is 
likely  enough  the  overflow  runs  into  either  river  as 
chance  or  the  wind  directs  it.  These  swampy  sections 
lying  high  are  readily  drained,  and  make  excellent 
farming  land. 

Streams. — Except  Eagle  Creek  and  its  affluents, 
there  are  no  considerable  streams  entering  the  river 
in  the  county  on  the  west  side.     There  are  Crooked 


Creek  north  of  Eagle,  and  Dollarhide  Creek  south, 
and  several  still  smaller  and  unnamed,  except  for 
neighborhood  convenience,  but  they  are  little  more 
than  wet  weather  "  branches,"  or  drains  of  swampy 
sections.  Dr.  Brown  explains  this  paucity  of  water- 
courses by  the  fact  that  a  large  stream  called  White 
Lick  rises  northwe.st,  flows  along,  partly  in  Hendricks 
and  partly  in  Marion  Counties,  parallel  with  the  course 
of  the  river,  and  enters  the  latter  in  Morgan  County, 
thus  cutting  off  the  eastward  course  of  minor  streams 
by  receiving  their  waters  itself.  On  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  which  contains  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  area 
of  the  county,  a  considerable  stream  called  Grass  Creek 
runs  almost  directly  south  for  a  dozen  or  more  miles 
very  near  the  eastern  border  of  the  county,  and  finally 
finds  its  way  into  the  East  Fork.  It  has  a  half-dozen 
or  more  little  tributaries,  as  Buck  Creek,  Panther 
Run,  Indian  Creek,  Big  Run,  Wild  Cat  and  Doe 
Creek.  Of  the  east  side  streams  tributary  to  the 
West  Fork  of  White  River — far  better  known  as 
White  River  than  the  short  course  of  the  combined 
East  and  West  Forks  to  the  Wabash — Fall  Creek  is 
much  the  most  considerable.  Except  it,  but  a  single 
small  stream  called  Dry  Run  enters  the  river  north 
of  the  city.  Fall  Creek  enters  the  county  very  near 
the  northeast  corner,  and  flowing  almost  southwest- 
erly enters  the  river  now  near  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  city.  It  formerly  entered  west  of  the  centre 
of  the  city,  but  a  "  cut-ofi'"  was  made  nearly  a  mile 
or  more  farther  north  for  hygienic  and  economic 
reasons,  and  the  mouth  has  thus  been  shifted  con- 
siderably. The  main  tributaries  of  Pall  Creek  are 
Mud  Creek  on  the  north,  and  North  Fork,  Middle 
Fork,  Dry  Branch,  and  Indian  Creek  east  and  south. 
The  duplication  of  names  of  streams  will  be  observed. 
There  are  two  Buck  Creeks,  two  Dry,  two  Lick  (one 
White),  two  Indian,  and  two  Eagle  Creeks  in  the 
county.  As  few  of  these  names  are  suggested  by 
any  special  feature  of  the  stream  or  country,  except 
Fall  Creek,  which  is  named  from  the  falls  at  Pendle- 
ton, and  Mud  and  Dry  Creeks,  the  duplication  may 
be  set  down  to  the  whims  of  the  pioneers.  South  of 
the  city,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  the  streams 
flowing  directly  into  the  river  are  Pogue's  Creek, 
passing    directly   through    the    city;    Pleasant  Run, 


TOPOGRAPHY  AND  GENERAL  FEATURES. 


mainly  east  and  south,  but  cutting  into  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  city  (Bean  Creek  is  tributary  to  the 
latter),  Lick  Creek,  and  Buck  Creek. 

Bottom  Lands. — The  valley  of  White  River,  says 
the  Official  Survey,  is  divided  into  alluvium  or  bottom 
land  proper  and  the  terrace  or  second  bottom.  In 
that  portion  of  the  valley  that  lies  north  of  the  mouth 
of  Eagle  Creek  it  consists  chiefly  of  second  bottom, 
while  the  first  bottom  largely  predominates  in  the 
southern  portion.  Much  of  this  latter  is  subject  to 
overflow  in  times  of  freshets,  so  that  while  the  soil  is 
exceedingly  fertile  and  easy  of  cultivation  a  crop  is 
never  safe.  Levees  have  been  made  for  considerable 
distances  below  the  city,  on  the  river  and  on  some  of 
the  larger  creeks,  to  remedy  the  mischief  of  overflows, 
but,  the  Survey  says,  with  only  partial  success.  The 
primary  difiiculty  is  the  tortuous  courses  of  the 
streams,  and  of  the  river  particularly,  that  runs  a 
distance  of  sixteen  miles  to  the  lower  county  line, 
which  is  but  nine  in  a  straight  line.  This  not  only 
diminishes  the  fall  per  mile,  but  the  water,  moving 
in  curves  and  reversed  curves,  loses  its  momentum, 
the  current  becomes  sluggish,  and  when  freshets 
come  the  accumulation  overflows  the  low  banks,  and 
covers  large  districts  of  cultivable  and  cultivated 
land,  to  the  frequent  serious  injury  of  crops,  and  the 
occasional  destruction  of  crops,  fences,  and  stock. 
A  straightened  channel  would  increase  the  fall  and 
the  strength  of  the  current,  and  in  the  sandy  forma- 
tion of  the  beds  of  most  of  the  streams  would  soon 
cut  a  way  deep  enough  to  secure  the  larger  part  of 
the  land  against  overflow.  This  would  be  cheaper 
than  making  levees  along  a  crooked  course  that  re- 
quired two  miles  of  work  to  protect  one  of  direct 
length,  but  it  would  have  to  be  carried  out  by  a  con- 
cert of  action  on  the  part  of  riparian  proprietors, 
which  would  be  hard  to  efifect,  and  it  would  also  di- 
vide a  good  many  farms  that  are  now  bounded  by 
original  lines  of  survey  terminating  at  the  river, 
which  was  made  a  navigable  stream  by  law  but  not 
by  nature.  Changing  the  bed  would  confuse  the 
numbers  of  sections,  and  possibly  disturb  some  land 
titles.  This  objection  is  presented  to  this  policy  in 
Professor  Brown's  Survey,  but  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture might  open  a  way  for  concerted  action,  and  pro- 


vide against  the  confusion  of  lines  and  disturbance  of 
rights. 

Flora. — The  central  region  of  Indiana  was  a  favor- 
ite hunting-ground  of  the  Indian  tribes  that  sold  it 
in  1818.  Its  woods  and  waters  were  unusually  full 
of  game.  There  were  no  prairies  of  any  extent  and 
not  many  swamps.  The  entire  surface  was  densely 
covered  with  trees.  On  the  uplands,  which  were 
dry  and  rolling,  the  sugar,  white  and  blue  ash,  black 
walnut,  white  walnut  or  butternut,  white  oak,  red 
beech,  poplar,  wild  cherry  prevailed  ;  on  the  more 
level  uplands  were  bur-oak,  white  elm,  hickory,  white 
beech,  water  ash,  soft  maple,  and  others ;  on  the  first 
and  second  bottoms,  sycamore,  buckeye,  black  wal- 
nut, blue  ash,  hackberry,  and  mulberry.  Grape- 
vines, bearing  abundantly  the  small,  pulpless  acid 
fruit  called  "  coon"  grapes,  grew  profusely  in  the 
bottoms,  covering  the  largest  trees,  and  furnishing 
more  than  ample  stores  for  the  preserves  and  pies  of 
the  pioneer  women.  Under  all  these  larger  growths, 
especially  in  the  bottoms,  there  were  dense  crops  of 
weeds,  among  which  grew  equally  dense  thickets  of 
spice-brush, — the  backwoods  substitute  for  tea, — 
papaw,  wahoo,  wild  plum,  hazel,  sassafras,  red  and 
black  haw,  leatherwood,  prickly  ash,  red-bud,  dog- 
wood, and  others.  The  chief  weed  growths,  says 
Professor  Brown,  were  nettles  and  pea-vines  matted 
together,  but  with  these  were  Indian  turnip, — the 
most  acrid  vegetable  on  earth  probably, — ginseng, 
cohosh,  lobelia,  and,  in  later  days,  perfect  forests  of 
iron-weeds.  There  are  a  good  many  small  remains  of 
these  primeval  forests  scattered  through  the  county, 
with  here  and  there  patches  of  the  undergrowth,  and 
not  a  few  nut-trees,  walnut,  hickory,  and  butternut, 
but  the  hazel,  the  spicewood,  the  sassafras,  the  plum 
and  black  haw  and  papaw  are  never  seen  anywhere 
near  the  city,  and  not  frequently  anywhere  in  the 
county.  The  Indian  turnip  is  occasionally  found, 
but  ginseng  has  disappeared  as  completely  as  the 
mound-builders,  though  in  the  last  generation  it  was 
an  article  of  considerable  commercial  importance. 

Fauna. — The  principal  animals  in  these  primeval 
woods  were  the  common  black  bear,  the  black  and 
gray  wolf,  the  buiFalo,  deer,  raccoon,  opossum,  fox, 
gray  and  red  squirrels,  rabbits,  mink,  weasel,  of  land 


HISTOEY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


quadrupeds ;  of  the  water,  otter,  beaver,  muskrat ; 
of  birds,  the  wild  turkey,  wild  goose,  wild  duck,  wild 
pigeon,  pheasant,  quail,  dove,  and  all  the  train  of 
wood  birds  which  the  English  sparrow  has  so  largely 
driven  off, — the  robin,  bluebird,  jaybird,  woodpecker, 
tomtit,  sap-sucker,  snowbird,  thrush.  For  twenty 
years  or  more  laws  have  protected  the  game  birds, 
and  there  is  said  to  be  a  marked  increase  of  quail 
in  the  last  decade,  but  there  is  hardly  any  other  kind 
of  game  bird,  unless  it  be  an  occasional  wild  pigeon, 
snipe,  or  wild  duck.  Buzzards,  hawks,  crows,  owls, 
blackbirds  are  not  frequently  seen  now  near  the  city, 
though  they  were  all  abundant  once.  Flocks  of  black- 
birds and  wild  pigeons  occasionally  pass  along,  but 
not  numerously  enough  to  attract  the  hunter.  In 
fact,  there  is  very  little  worth  hunting  in  the  county, 
except  rabbits,  quail,  and  remote  squirrels.  For  fish 
the  game  varieties  are  almost  wholly  confined  to  the 
bass  and  red-eye.  Water  scavengers  like  the  '•  cat" 
and  "  sucker"  are  thick  and  big  in  the  off-flow  of  the 
city  pork-houses,  and  in  the  season  form  no  inconsider- 
able portion  of  the  flesh-food  of  the  class  that  will 
fish  for  them,  but  game  fish  must  be  sought  for  from 
five  to  ten  miles  from  the  city.  In  early  days,  and 
for  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  existence  of  the 
city,  the  river  and  its  larger  affluents  supplied  ample 
provision  of  excellent  fish, — bass,  pike,  buffalo,  red- 
eye, salmon  rarely,  and  the  cleaner  class  of  inferior 
fish,  as  "  red-horse,"  suckers,  cats,  eels ;  but  the  im- 
providence of  pioneers,  who  never  believed  that  any 
natural  supply  of  food  could  fail,  and  the  habits  ac- 
quired from  them,  particularly  the  destructiveness  of 
seining,  has  reduced  the  food  population  of  streams 
till  it  needs  stringent  laws,  and  the  vigilance  of  asso- 
ciations formed  to  enforce  the  laws,  to  prevent  total 
extirpation.  Even  with  these  supports  it  will  take 
careful  and  prolonged  efforts  at  restocking  to  repro- 
duce anything  like  the  former  abundance. 

Mineral  Springs. — Although  they  form  no  con- 
spicuous feature  of  the  topography  of  the  county, 
and  have  never  been  used  medicinally,  except  by  the 
neighbors,  it  may  be  well  to  note  that  there  are  a  few 
springs  of  a  mineral  and  hygienic  character  in  the 
county,  where  the  underground  currents  of  water  rise 
through  crevices  in  the  overlying  bed  of  clay.     One 


of  these,  called  the  Minnewa  Springs,  in  Lawrent;e 
township,  a  mile  and  a  half  northeast  of  the  little 
town  of  Lawrence,  was  talked  of  at  one  time  as  ca- 
pable of  being  made  a  favorite  resort,  and  some  steps 
were  taken  in  that  direction,  but  nothing  came  of 
them.  Another  very  like  it  is  within  a  half-mile  of 
the  same  town.  Southwest  of  the  city  is  one  on  the 
farm  of  an  old  settler  that  has  been  famous  in  the 
neighborhood  as  a  "  .sulphur  .spring"  for  fifty  years. 
A  couple  of  miles  nearer  the  city  is  another  on  the 
farm  of  Fielding  Beeler,  which  Professor  Brown 
says  is  the  largest  in  the  county.  "  It  forms  a  wet 
prairie  or  marsh  of  several  acres,  from  which  by 
ditching  a  large  stream  of  water  is  made  to  flow." 
The  water  of  all  these  springs  contains  iron  enough 
to  be  readily  tasted,  and  to  stain  the  vessels  that  are 
used  in  it.  and  this  peculiarity  gives  it  the  misname 
of  sulphur  water. 

Swavips. — There  were  once  considerable  areas  of 
marshy  land,  or  land  kept  wet  by  the  overflow  of  ad- 
jacent streams,  but  many  of  these  have  been  entirely 
drained,  and  considerable  portions  of  others  larger 
and  less  convenient  for  drainage.  With  them  have 
measurably  disappeared  the  malarial  diseases  that  in 
the  first  settlement  of  the  city,  and  for  a  good  many 
years  after,  came  back  as  regularly  as  the  seasons. 
There  is  not,  probably,  a  single  acre  of  land  in  the 
county  that  is  not  cultivable  or  capable  of  being 
made  so.  Between  three  and  four  miles  southwest 
of  city  lay  a  swampy  tract,  nearly  a  mile  long  liy  a 
quarter  or  more  wide,  entirely  destitute  of  trees, 
which  was  long  known  in  the  vicinity  as  "  the  prairie," 
the  only  approach  to  a  prairie  in  the  county. 

Geology  of  the  County.' — Marion  County  rests 
on  three  distinct  geological  members,  two  of  them  be- 
longing to  the  Devonian  formation  and  one  to  the 
Carboniferous.  Neither,  however,  shows  itself  con- 
spicuously on  the  surface.  Upon  these  lies  a  deposit 
of  drift,  or  transported  material,  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  thick.  This  forms  the  surface 
of  the  country,  and  moulds  its  general  configuration. 
But  the  rock  foundation,  in  spite  of  the  depth  of  the 


1  Condensed  from  Professor  R.  L.  Brown's  Official  Survey,  in 

the  Report  of  Professor  John  Collett,  State  Geologist. 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE   COUNTY. 


drift  upon  it,  aflFects  the  face  of  tlie  country  some- 
what, most  obviously  along  the  line  where  the  Knob 
sandstone  overlaps  the  Genesee  shale.  The  line  of 
strike  dividing  the  geological  members  traverses  the 
county  on  a  line  from  the  south  thirty  degrees  north- 
west. This  line,  as  it  divides  the  Corniferous  lime- 
stone from  the  Genesee  shale  or  black  slate,  passes 
between  the  city  and  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
two  miles  west.  Borings  in  the  city  reach  the  lime- 
stone at  a  depth  of  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet.  It  is 
the  first  rock  encountered  in  place.  At  the  hospital 
forty  feet  of  shale  was  passed  through  before  reach- 
ing the  limestone.  This  shows  the  eastern  part  of 
the  county  as  resting  on  the  Corniferous  limestone, 
and  the  western  on  the  Delphi  black  slate  or  Gen- 
esee shale.  Under  a  small  area  of  the  southwestern 
corner  of  the  county  the  Knob  or  Carboniferous 
sandstone  will  be  found  covering  the  slate.  On  a 
sand-bar  in  the  river,  a  short  distance  north  of  the 
Johnson  County  line,  Professor  Brown  noticed  after 
a  freshet  large  pieces  of  slate  that  had  been  thrown 
out,  indicating  that  the  river  had  laid  bare  that  rock 
at  some  near  point.  This  gives  the  level  of  the  bed 
of  the  river  in  the  lower  half  of  its  course  through 
the  county.  But  a  short  distance  west  of  the  west 
line  of  the  county  some  of  the  small  tributaries  of 
White  Lick  lay  bare  the  lower  members  of  the 
Knob  sandstone.  There  are  indications  both  on 
Pogue's  Run  and  Pleasant  Hun  that  the  limestone 
lies  very  near  their  beds,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  stone 
can  ever  be  profitably  quarried  in  the  county.  Geo- 
logical interest  attaches  to  the  deep  deposits  of  drift 
that  cover  the  stratified  rocks. 

Drift. — The  drift  that  covers  our  great  Western 
plains,  continues  Dr.  Brown's  Survey,  is  foreign  in 
character  and  general  in  deposition.  It  is  not  a  pro- 
miscuous deposit  of  clay,  sand,  water-worn  pebbles, 
and  bowlders,  like  the  Eastern  glacial  drift.  These 
are  all  found  in  it,  but  with  nearly  as  much  regu- 
larity and  order  as  is  usually  found  in  stratified  rocks. 
At  the  base  of  this  formation  is  almost  invariably 
found  a  very  compact  lead-colored  clay,  with  but  few 
bowlders,  and  those  invariably  composed  of  quartzite, 
highly  metamorphosed  or  trap  rocks.  Occasionally 
may  be  found  thin  deposits  of  very  fine  gray  or  yel- 


low sand,  but  they  are  not  uniform.  Between  the 
clay  and  the  rocks  on  which  it  rests  is  generally  in- 
terposed a  layer  of  coarse  gravel  or  small  silicious 
bowlders,  from  three  to  six  feet  thick.  Sometimes, 
but  rarely,  this  is  wanting,  and  the  clay  lies  directly 
upon  the  rock.  In  Marion  County  this  clay-bed 
ranges  from  twenty  to  more  than  a  hundred  feet 
thick,  and  is  very  uniform  in  character  throughout, 
except  where  the  light  strata  or  fine  sand  occur. 
Chemically  it  is  an  alumina  silicate  in  a  very  fine 
state  of  division,  and  mechanically  mixed  with  an 
exceedingly  fine  sand,  which  shows  under  the  micro- 
scope as  fragments  of  almost  transparent  quartz.  It 
is  colored  by  a  proto-sulphide  of  iron.  A  small  por- 
tion of  lime  and  potassa  and  a  trace  of  phosphoric 
acid  can  be  discovered  by  analysis.  Above  tliis  is 
generally  found  a  few  feet  of  coarse  sand  or  fine 
gravel,  and  on  this  is  twenty  or  thirty  teet  of  a  true 
glacial  drift,  of  the  promiscuous  character  of  the 
glacial  drift  described  by  Eastern  geologists.  In  and 
upon  this  drift  are  large  bowlders  of  granite,  gneiss, 
and  trap,  which  are  not  found  in  their  proper  place 
nearer  than  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  whence  they 
have  been  carried,  as  is  attested  by  the  grooves  and 
scratches  in  the  exposed  rock  surfaces  over  which 
they  have  passed.  In  this  upper  drift  are  the  gravel 
terraces,  from  which  is  obtained  our  best  available 
material  for  road-making.  The  mass  of  it  is  a  yellow 
or  orange-colored  clay,  with  a  considerable  quantity 
of  sand,  and  lime  enough  to  make  the  water  passing 
through  it  hard.  There  is  an  astonishing  number 
and  size  of  bowlders  in  and  upon  this  clay-bed.  Two 
were  measured  by  Dr.  Brown  which  were  nearly  ten 
feet  long  by  five  wide,  with  four  feet  exposed  above 
ground,  and  nobody  knows  how  much  below.  In  a 
few  places  bowlders  are  so  thickly  scattered  as  to  ob- 
struct cultivation.  In  the  central  and  northern  por- 
tions of  the  county  they  are  almost  invariably  of 
granite,  in  the  south  generally  of  gneiss  or  trap. 

Gravel  Terraces. — The  gravel  terraces  are  gen- 
erally found  in  a  succession  of  mound-like  elevations, 
ten  to  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
plain,  and  usually  rest  on  a  compact  clay.  They  are 
frequently  arranged  in  lines  running  north,  a  little 
northeast  and  southwest.     North  of  these  mounds  is 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


generally  found  a  considerable  space  of  level  and 
often  swampy  lands,  indicating  the  position  of  a 
mass  of  ice,  under  which  a  torrent  has  rushed  with 
great  force,  excavating  the  clay  below,  piling  up  the 
heavier  gravel  and  sand,  and  carrying  the  lighter  clay 
and  finer  sand  to  be  distributed  over  the  country. 
When  the  ice  disappeared  the  excavation  would  be  a 
little  lake,  finally  filled  up  with  the  lighter  material 
borne  from  other  terraces  farther  north.  These  ter- 
race formations,  or  "  second  bottoms,"  bordering  the 
river  on  one  side  or  the  other  nearly  everywhere, 
have  almost  the  same  character  and  history  as  the 
gravel-beds  of  the  uplands.  They  consist  of  deposits 
of  gravel  and  coarse  sand,  resting  on  the  lower  blue 
clay,  into  which  the  river  has  cut  its  present  channel. 
Formerly  these  plains,  frequently  three  or  four  miles 
wide,  were  regarded  as  lake-like  expansions  of  the 
river  which  had  been  silted  up  by  its  sediment,  but 
an  inspection  of  the  material  shows  that  the  water 
from  which  the  deposit  was  made  was  no  quiet  lake, 
but  a  current  strong  enough  to  bear  onward  all 
lighter  material,  leaving  only  the  heavier  gravel  and 
Band  behind. 

Lower  Blue  Clay. — The  Ofiicial  Survey  concludes 
that  the  lower  blue  clay  was  deposited  before  the 
strata  of  clay,  sand,  and  gravel  that  rest  upon  it,  and 
are  clearly  traceable  to  glacial  action,  and  that  the 
conditions  of  its  deposit  were  very  difierent  from  the 
rush  and  tumult  of  water  pouring  from  a  melting 
glacier,  though  evidently  deposited  from  water.  The 
greater  part  of  the  material  is  very  fine,  and  could 
have  come  only  from  very  quiet  waters,  and  from  very 
deep  waters  too,  as  its  compactness  and  solidity  prove 
the  existence  of  great  pressure  necessary  to  the  pro- 
duction of  those  qualities.  Besides  the  superposition 
of  the  glacial  strata,  the  precedent  deposition  of  the 
lower  blue  clay  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the 
glacial  action,  exhibited  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
country,  made  excavations  in  it  by  undermining  cur- 
rents from  dissolving  glaciers  which  now  form  the 
small  lakes  so  numerous  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State.  The  southern  end  of  Lake  Michigan  rests  on 
this  clay,  and  is  excavated  into  it  to  an  unknown 
depth.  Another  fact  attesting  the  deposit  of  the 
lower  clay  anterior  to  the  grinding  and  crushing  era 


of  moving  mountains  of  ice,  is  the  discovery  at  the 
bottom  of  it  of  the  unbroken  remains  of  coniferous 
trees,  probably  cypress  or  hemlock.  In  digging  wells 
in  the  county  logs  ten  to  fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  i 
well  preserved,  have  been  found.  Glacial  action  ac- 
companying or  following  the  deposit  of  these  trees 
would  have  crushed  them.  Dr.  Brown  suggests  a 
theory  of  the  deposition  of  this  clay-bed.  If  the 
glacial  era  was  preceded  by  an  upheaval  that  raised 
the  region  of  the  Arctic  Circle  above  the  line  of  per- 
petual congelation,  there  would  necessarily  have  been 
a  corresponding  depression  south  of  the  elevation, 
which  would  be  an  inland  sea  of  fresh  water.  During 
the  whole  period  of  the  progress  of  this  upheaval 
north  and  sinking  south  (in  our  region)  torrents  of 
water  loaded  with  sediment  would  have  rushed  down 
and  filled  the  huge  hollow.  As  the  waters  became 
quiet  the  sediment  would  be  slowly  deposited.  The 
color  of  the  clay,  caused  by  the  combination  of  sul- 
phur and  iron,  proves  that  these  waters  were  originally 
charged  with  sulphurous  gases  produced  by  volcanic 
agencies.  The  presence  of  these  gases  explains  the 
absence  of  life  in  this  fresh-water  sea  till  the  sulphur- 
tainted  sediment  was  entirely  deposited,  when  the  in- 
creasing cold  would  cover  it  with  an  impervious  crust 
of  ice,  cutting  off  all  access  of  air  and  the  possibility 
of  life.  There  are  no  fossil  remains  in  the  clay.  With 
the  end  of  the  Ice  Age  came  a  reversal  of  conditions, 
the  northern  regions  sinking,  those  about  here  rising 
and  pouring  their  waters  southward  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  in  furious  torrents  strengthened  by  the  melt- 
ing of  great  masses  of  ice,  thus  furnishing  much  of 
the  material  of  the  Mississippi  delta,  and  leaving 
marks  of  denudation  on  the  hills  of  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, and  Alabama. 

Economical  Service  of  the  Clay-Bed. — This  lower 
clay  stratum  when  exposed  to  the  air  for  a  few  years 
undergoes  chemical  changes  which  make  it  the  basis 
of  a  very  fertile  soil.  Frost  breaks  down  its  adhe- 
siveness and  makes  it  a  mass  of  crumbling,  porous 
earth.  The  oxygen  of  the  air  converts  the  sulphur 
into  an  acid  which  unites  with  the  potash  and  lime 
accessible  to  it  and  makes  slowly-soluble  salts  of  them, 
which  supply  valuable  elements  of  fertility  for  years 
of   cultivation,    needing   only  organic   matter    to    be 


GEOLOGY   OF   THE    COUNTY. 


available  at  once  for  use.  It  is  an  excellent  absorbent 
owing  to  the  fineness  of  its  material,  and  might  be 
advantageously  used  in  composting  manures,  as  it 
would  retain  ammonia  as  sulphate.  Of  greater  value, 
at  least  to  the  city,  than  its  fertilizing  quality  is  its 
action,  as  a  filter,  securing  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
pure  water  in  the  bowlders  and  gravel  beneath  it.  In 
a  region  as  level  as  Marion  County,  and  as  prolific  of 
vegetation,  the  surface  water  must  become  charged 
with  organic  matter,  which  the  porous  upper  strata  of 
soil,  sand  and  clay,  but  imperfectly  retain,  so  that 
the  water  of  springs  and  shallow  wells  is  rarely  so 
pure  as  to  be  suitable  for  domestic  use.  These  im- 
purities are,  of  course,  increased  in  the  vicinity  of 
residences,  barns,  and  stables,  and  still  more  in  cities, 
where  there  are  large  quantities  of  excrementitious 
matter.  Surface  water  more  or  less  tainted  in  this 
way  is  readily  absorbed  by  the  porous  soil,  and  may 
reach  the  bottom  of  wells  of  twenty  feet  in  depth. 
Against  the  inevitable  and  incalculable  evil  of  a  cor- 
rupted water  supply,  as  that  of  Indianapolis  would  be 
if  there  were  no  other  resource  than  the  surface  water 
of  shallow  wells,  this  blue  clay  stratum  is  an  ample 
and  admirable  provision.  It  acts  as  a  filter  to  the 
reservoir  in  the  gravel  and  bowlder  bed  beneath  it. 
The  water  there  is  free  from  organic  matter,  though 
always  sufficiently  tainted  with  iron  to  be  easily  tasted 
and  to  color  vessels  used  in  it.  This  iron  taint  is  an 
invariable  characteristic  of  the  water  filtered  through 
this  blue  clay,  and  gives  the  popular  reputation  of 
mineral  water  to  springs  of  it  that  rise  through  fis- 
sures in  the  clay  to  the  surface.  The  best  known  of 
these  springs  have  been  already  referred  to.  In  the 
city  and  several  places  outside  of  it  wells  have  been 
sunk  to  the  sub-clay  water  through  sixty-seven  to  one 
hundred  and  eight  feet,  the  water  rising  to  various 
distances  from  the  surface  from  eight  to  forty  feet. 
The  blue  clay  stratum  runs  from  eight  to  sixty  feet 
in  thickness.  The  reservoir  of  water  under  this  clay 
has  no  outlet  except  through  openings  in  the  clay, 
and  in  consequence  can  never  be  exhausted  by  natural 
drainage.  To  a  large  manufacturing  centre  like  In- 
dianapolis the  power  derived  from  water  in  stream  or 
steam  is  indispensable,  and  that,  says  the  Survey,  "  we 
have  under  every  acre  of  land  in  Marion  County." 


Character  of  Soil. — The  glacial  drift  furnishes 
the  material  for  a  soil  that  meets  every  demand  of 
agriculture.  Says  the  Survey,  "  Being  formed  by  the 
decomposition  of  almost  every  variety  of  rook,  it 
holds  the  elements  of  all  in  such  a  state  of  fine  divis- 
ion as  to  give  it  excellent  absorbent  properties,  and  . 
enables  it  to  retain  whatever  artificial  fertilizers  may 
be  added.  In  its  natural  state  the  soil  of  the  county 
generally  has  but  one  prominent  defect, — the  very  fine 
material  of  which  it  is  made  lying  so  nearly  level  is 
easily  saturated  with  water,  and  having  no  drainage 
below,  except  by  slow  filtration  through  the  clay,  is 
kept  wet  longer  than  usual.  This  necessitates  the 
escape  of  a  great  part  of  it  by  surface  evaporation, 
and  this,  especially  in  spring,  delays  the  warming  of 
the  soil  and  its  early  preparation  for  summer  crops. 
The  condition  of  saturation  has  an  unfavorable  eflFect 
on  the  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil,  excluding  it  from 
free  contact  with  the  air,  and  arresting  its  rapid  de- 
composition, often  changing  it  into  humic  acid,  a 
chemical  product  injurious  to  crops.  In  the  first  and 
second  bottom  lands  this  defect  is  remedied  by  a 
stratum  of  gravel  or  coarse  sand  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface,  which  rapidly  passes  the  water  downwards 
and  relieves  the  saturated  surface.  The  same  eflFect 
is  produced  on  the  clay  uplands  by  a  system  of  tile 
drainage. 

Ideal  Section  of  the  County.  —  The  following 
measurements  of  the  diflferent  strata  of  an  ideal  sec- 
tion of  the  county  are  given  by  Dr.  Brown  from  natu- 
ral sections,  borings,  and  excavations  made  in  different 
parts  of  the  county.  Beginning  with  the  most  recent 
formations,  we  have : 

Transported  Material. 

1.  Alluvium,  or  bottom  land....  from  10  to     20  feet. 

2.  Terrace    formations,    gravel 

and  sand from  50  to  100  feet. 

3.  True  bowlder  clay  (glacial),   from  40  to  110  feet. 

4.  Blue  sedimentary   clay    and 

sand from  20  to  120  feet. 

5.  Bowlders  and  gravel from    5  to    15  feet. 

Rock  ill  Place. 

6.  Knob  sandstone  (Carboniferous) 25  feet. 

7.  Genesee  slate  (Devonian) 80  feet. 

8.  Corniferous  limestone  (Devonian) 50  feet. 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


The  corniferous  limestone  has  been  penetrated 
fifty  feet,  but  its  entire  thickness  at  this  point  is 
undetermined,  as  its  eastern  outcrop  is  concealed  by 
the  heavy  drift  deposit.  Nos.  1,2,6,  and  7  underlie 
only  portions  of  the  county  ;  the  other  members  are 
general  in  their  distribution. 

The  Indian  Occupation. — The  State  of  Indiana 
formed  the  central  and  largest  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory "  held  by  the  Miami  Confederacy  from  time  im- 
memorial," as  Little  Turtle,  who  led  the  Indians  in 
St.  Clair's  defeat,  told  Gen.  Wayne.  There  were  but 
four  tribes  in  this.  Confederacy,  the  leading  one  being 
the  Miamis,  or,  in  early  times,  the  Twightwees ;  but 
divisions  of  four  others  quite  as  well  known  by  his- 
tory and  tradition  were  allowed  entrance  and  resi- 
dence,— the  Shawanese,  Delawares,  Kickapoos,  and 
Pottawatomies.  The  Delawares  occupied  the  region 
in  and  around  Marion  County,  but  the  abundance  of 
fish  and  game  made  it  a  favorite  hunting-ground  of 
all  the  tribes  from  the  valley  of  the  White  Water,  or 
Wah-he-ne-pay,  to  the  valley  of  the  White  River, 
the  Wah-me-ca-me-ca.  On  this  account  it  was  ob- 
stinately held  by  the  Confederacy,  and  only  surren- 
dered by  the  treaty  of  St.  Mary's,  1818.'  One  of  the 
principal  Delaware  towns  stood  on  the  bluff  of  White 
River,  at  the  Johnson  County  line,  where,  says  Pro- 
fessor Brown,  was  the  residence  of  Big  Fire,  a  lead- 
ing Delaware  chief  and  friend  of  the  whites.  A 
blunder  of  ignorance  or  brutality  came  near  making 
an  enemy  of  him  in  1812,  as  Cresap  or  Greathouse 
did  of  Logan  in  1774.  A  band  of  Shawanese,  an 
affiliated  tribe  of  the  Confederacy,  but  residing  far- 
ther south,  between  the  East  Fork  of  White  River 
(the  Gun-daquah)  and  the  Ohio, acting  doubtless  on 
the  hostile  impulse  imparted  by  the  great  chief  of 
the  tribe,  Tecumseh,  massacred  a  white  settlement  at 
the  Pigeon  Roost,  in  Scott  County,  in  1812.  The 
Madison  Rangers  in  revenge  penetrated  to  Big  Fire's 
town,  on  the  southern  line  of  the  county,  and  de- 
stroyed it.  It  would  seem  that  there  should  have 
been  little  difficulty,  to  men  as  familiar  with  the  loca- 
tions and  modes  of  warfare  of  the  Indians  as  these 
rangers,  in    ascertaining  whether    the  war   party  of 

'  With  a  reservation  of  occupancy  till  1821. 


the  Pigeon  Roost  massacre  came  from  the  north  or 
not ;  but  whether  there  was  or  not  no  discrimination 
was  made,  and  it  required  all  Governor  Harrison's 
diplomacy  to  keep  Big  Fire  and  his  tribe  from  joining 
the  forces  against  the  government.  "  But  few  remains 
mark  the  site  of  this  ruined  town,"  says  the  professor. 
In  Washington  township,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river,  tradition  places  the  site  of  another  village  older, 
— how  much  it  is  impossible  to  say  or  guess,  further 
than  the  vague  direction  of  conjecture  by  the  fact 
that  the  place  is  overrun  by  a  wood  of  sixty  years' 
growth.  Near  the  river  i.s  an  old  cemetery  of  the 
tribe,  and  near  it  are  some  unique  remains  of  Indian 
residence,  both  uncovered  occasionally  by  floods. 
These  remains  are  "  pits  or  ovens  excavated  in  a  very 
compact  clay,"  as  Professor  Brown  describes  them, 
about  two  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter  and  the  same 
in  depth,  and  burned  on  the  inner  surfaces  like  brick. 
In  them  have  been  found  coals  and  ashes,  and  around 
them  fragments  of  pottery.  Their  condition  and  con- 
tents would  indicate  that  they  were  a  sort  of  earthen- 
ware kettle,  constructed  by  the  ready  process  of  dig- 
ging out  the  inside  clay  and  burning  the  surface  of 
the  outside,  instead  of  taking  the  clay  for  each  in  a 
separate  mass,  and  moulding  it  and  burning  it  and 
putting  back  in  its  new  shape  in  the  hole  it  came 
from  in  its  old  one.  The  Indians  of  this  fertile 
region  all  cultivated  corn  and  beans  and  pumpkins, 
and  made  sugar  of  "sugar  water"  in  the  early  spring, 
by  freezing  it  during  the  night  and  throwing  away 
the  ice,  which  contained  no  sugar,  afterwards  boiling 
it  down  and  graining  it.  Flint  arrow-heads,  stone 
hatchets,  chisels,  and  other  implements  of  the 
"  Stone  Age"  are  found  occasionally  in  the  soil 
and  gravel,  especially  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
county,  near  Glenn's  Valley,  and  these  are  said  by 
Professor  Brown's  Report  to  be  made  in  many  cases 
of  talcose  slate,  a  rock  found  no  nearer  this  region 
than  the  Cumberland  Mountains  or  the  vicinity  of 
Lake  Superior.  The  curious  forms  of  some  of  them 
make  it  impossible  to  determine  their  use.  The 
Official  Survey  reports  no  mounds  or  earthworks  of ' 
the  mound-builders  or  other  prehistoric  race  in  the 
county  except  these  relics  of  the  "  Stone  Age." 
There  may  be   none   now,  but  forty-five    years    ago 


THE    INDIAN   OCCUPATION. 


there  were  two  considerable  mounds  in  the  city  near 
the  present  line  of  Morris  Street,  one  near  the  inter- 
section of  the  now  nearly  efiFaced  canal  and  Morris 
Street,  and  the  other  a  little  farther  east.  The  exca- 
vation of  the  canal  opened  one  of  them,  and  some 
complete  skeletons  and  scattered  bones  and  fragments 
of  earthenware  were  found  and  taken  possession  of 
by  Dr.  John  Richmond,  then  pastor  of  the  only  Bap- 
tist Church,  as  well  as  a  practicing  physician.  The 
other  was  gradually  plowed  down,  probably  after 
being  opened  at  the  same  time  the  first  was,  but  no 
record  or  definite  memory  settles  the  question. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  agency  of  the  Indians 
of  Central  Indiana  was  held  at  Conner's  Station, 
some  sixteen  miles  north  of  the  city  and  about  four 
beyond  the  present  county  line.  William  Conner,  the 
first  settler  of  the  White  River  Valley,  established 
himself  there  about  1800,  after  spending  most  of  his 
youth  and  early  manhood  among  the  Indians,  a  num- 
ber of  whose  dialects  he  spoke  fluently,  and  whose 
names  and  customs  and  modes  of  life  he  understood 
as  well  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  the  race.  He  was 
well  acquainted  with  all  the  chiefs  of  the  Shawanese, 
Miamis,  Delawares,  and  other  tribes,  and  was  fre- 
quently employed  as  an  interpreter  and  guide  by 
Gen.  Harrison.  He  was  the  guide  of  the  army  in 
the  campaign  that  ended  with  the  battle  of  Tippe- 
canoe, and  in  that  made  memorable  by  the  "massacre 
of  the  Raisin  River."  He  accompanied  Gen.  Har- 
rison in  the  march  into  Canada  that  was  triumphantly 
concluded  by  the  battle  of  the  Thames  and  the  death 
of  Tecumseh,  the  greatest  of  all  the  Western  Indian 
leaders,  except  possibly  Pontiac. 

This  particularity  of  reference  to  him  is  not  im- 
pertinent, for  his  settlement  was  closely  connected 
with  that  of  the  county,  and  he  was  long  in  active 
business  as  a  merchant  in  the  city.  It  may,  there- 
fore, be  apt  as  well  as  not  uninteresting,  to  present 
the  reader  a  fact  almost  wholly  unknown  in  connec- 
tion with  the  death  of  Tecumseh.  Vice-President 
Col.  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  was  long 
credited  with  the  honor,  such  as  it  was,  of  killing 
the  Shawanese  hero,  but  it  was  later  claimed  for  one 
or  two  others,  and  the  famous  question  "  Who  struck 
Billy  Patterson  ?"  was  hardly  a  burlesque  on  the  idle 


babble,  oral  and  printed,  that  worried  the  world  as  to 
who  killed  Tecumseh.  Mr.  Conner  could  iiavo  set- 
tled the  question  if  he  had  been  disposed  to  thrust 
himself  in  the  face  of  the  public.  But  he  was  not, 
and  the  information  comes  now  from  Robert  B.  Dun- 
can, a  leading  lawyer  of  the  city,  who  was  clerk  of  the 
county  for  over  twenty  years,  and  when  a  lad  lived 
with  Mr.  Conner  as  early  as  1820.  To  him  Mr.  Con- 
ner told  what  he  knew  of  the  death  of  Tecumseh. 
He,  as  usual,  was  Gen.  Harrbon's  guide  and  inter- 
preter. After  the  battle  of  the  Thames  was  over  the 
body  of  a  chief,  evidently  of  great  distinction  from 
his  dress  and  decorations,  was  found,  and  Mr.  Conner 
was  sent  for  to  identify  it.  He  said  it  was  Tecum- 
seh's,  and  he  knew  the  chief  well.  The  situation, 
as  he  described  it  to  Mr.  Duncan,  showed  that  the 
chief  had  been  killed  with  a  very  small  rifle-ball, 
which  fitted  a  small  rifle  in  the  hands  of  a  dead  youth, 
who  apparently  liad  been  an  aid  or  orderly  of  a  major 
who  lay  dead  near  him,  killed  by  a  large  ball,  appar- 
ently from  Tecumseh's  gun.  The  solution  of  the  case 
was,  probably,  that  Tecumseh  had  killed  the  officer, 
the  boy  had  killed  the  chief,  and  one  of  the  chief's 
braves  had  killed  the  boy. 

The  payments  made  to  the  Indians  of  this  county 
and  the  adjacent  territory  by  Mr.  Conner  at  his 
agency  were  made  in  the  spring,  always  in  silver  and 
always  with  strict  honesty,  but  not  always  with  ade- 
quate security,  or  any  at  all,  against  the  payments 
getting  back  to  the  agent's  hands  in  four  prices  for 
buttons  and  beads  and  calico,  and  more  for  whiskey. 
The  process  of  payment  was  peculiar  and  curious. 
The  Indians  sat  in  a  circle,  each  family  in  a  separate 
group.  The  money  came  in  due  proportions  of 
amount  and  denomination  to  pay  the  man  in  dollars, 
the  wife  in  half-dollars,  and  the  children  in  quarters, 
each  getting  the  same  number.  Each  recipient  was 
given  in  advance  a  number  of  little  sticks  equal  to 
the  number  of  coins  he  was  to  get,  and  as  he  received 
a  coin  he  was  to  give  back  a  stick,  and  when  his  sticks 
were  all  gone  he  knew  he  had  got  all  his  money. 

By  the  treaty  of  cession  of  1818  the  Indians  re- 
served the  occupancy  of  the  ceded  territory,  or  "  New 
Purchase,"  till  1821  ;  but  a  few  lingered  about  the 
streams,  trapping  and  fishing,  till  the  spring  of  1824, 


10 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


when  a  company  of  freebooting  whites,  remnants 
of  the  old  days  of  incessant  Indian  warfare,  consist- 
ing of  a  leader  named  Harper,  Hudson,  Sawyer  and 
son,  and  Bridge  and  son,  killed  two  families  of 
Shawanese,  consisting  of  nine  persons, — two  men, 
three  women,  two  boys,  and  two  girls, — to  rob 
them  of  their  winter's  collection  of  skins.  The  mas- 
sacre was  on  Fall  Creek,  where  the  Indians  had  been 
trapping  through  the  winter,  a  few  miles  above  the 
present  county  line.  It  alarmed  the  early  settlers  of 
the  county  greatly,  for  such  murders  had  made  local 
Indian  wars,  and  brought  bloody  reprisals  often,  just 
as  they  do  to-day.  All  but  Harper  were  caught, 
the  older  murderers  hung,  young  Sawyer  convicted  of 
manslaughter,  and  young  Bridge  of  murder,  but  par- 
doned by  Governor  Ray  on  the  scaiFold  under  the 
rope  that  had  killed  his  father.  These  are  said  to 
have  been  the  first  men  executed  in  the  United  States 
by  due  process  of  law  for  killing  Indians.  The  paci- 
fication of  the  irritated  tribes  was  complete,  and  this 
is  about  the  last  ever  seen  or  known  of  Indians  in  or 
about  Marion  County,  except  the  passage  of  the 
migrating  tribes  through  the  town  in  1832.  For 
many  years  there  was  visible  a  trace  of  Indian  occu- 
pancy in  a  deep  "  cut"  made  in  the  blufi'  bank  of  the 
old  "  Graveyard  Pond,"  near  where  Merrill  Street 
abuts  upon  the  Vincennes  Railroad.  It  was  believed 
to  have  been  made  by  a  military  expedition  from 
Kentucky,  on  its  way  to  the  Wabash  or  the  Wea 
settlements,  for  the  convenience  of  getting  baggage- 
or  ammunition-wagons  up  the  precipitous  bins',  but 
nobody  appears  to  have  been  sure  of  either  its  pur- 
pose or  its  constructors. 

Though  not  particularly  relevant  to  the  matter  of 
this  history,  it  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  its  readers 
to  know,  as  very  few  do  know,  that  the  celebrated 
speech  of  Logan,  the  Cayuga  (sometimes  called  the 
Mingo)  chief,  which  has  been  admired  in  all  lands  for 
its  manly  and  pathetic  eloquence,  beginning,  "  I  ap- 
peal to  any  white  man  to  say  if  he  ever  entered 
Logan's  cabin  and  he  gave  him  not  meat,  etc.,"  was 
made  to  John  Gibson,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  In- 
diana Territory  with  Governor  Harrison,  and  the 
second  Governor.  In  his  deposition  on  the  subject, 
quoted    in   Dillon's   "  History  of  Indiana,"  he   says 


that  when  Lord  Dunmore,  of  Virginia,  was  approa(;h- 
ing  the  Shawanese  towns  on  the  Scioto  in  1774,  the 
chief  sent  out  a  message,  requesting  some  one  to  be 
sent  to  them  who  understood  their  language.  He 
went,  and  on  his  arrival  Logan  sought  him  out, 
where  he  was  "  talking  with  Cornstalk  and  other 
chiefs  of  the  Shawanese,  and  asked  him  to  walk  out 
with  him.  They  went  into  a  copse  of  wood,  where 
they  sat  down,  and  Logan,  after  shedding  abundance 
of  tears,  delivered  to  him  the  speech  nearly  as  re- 
lated  by  Mr.  Jefierson  in  his  '  Notes  on  Virginia.'  " 
It  may  be  remarked,  in  conclusion  of  this  episode, 
that  Logan,  in  consequence  of  the  cruelty  practiced 
upon  him,  joined  Cornstalk  and  Red  Hawk  in  lead- 
ing the  warriors  in  the  battle  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Big  Kanawha,  in  September,  1774,  which  was  a 
bloodier  battle  to  the  whites,  though  a  less  decisive 
victory,  than  the  much  more  celebrated  battle  of 
Tippecanoe. 


CHAPTER     IL 


Special  Features  of  the  City  of  Indianapolis — Area  and  Present 
Condition — General  View  and  Historical  Outline. 

Special  Features  of  the  City. — The  general 
contour  of  the  surface  of  the  city  site  and  vicinity 
in  Centre  township  is  in  no  way  different  from  that 
of  the  other  parts  of  the  county.  It  is  level  or 
gently  undulating,  except  where  the  bluffs  bordering 
the  "  bottoms"  of  streams  make  more  abrupt  eleva- 
tions, and  none  of  these  are  considerable.  Following 
the  eastern  border  of  the  valley  of  Pogue's  Run, 
which  divides  the  city  from  northeast  to  southwest, 
is  a  ridge,  or  range  of  swells  rather  than  hills,  from 
the  extreme  southwest  corner  to  near  the  northeast 
corner,  where  it  leaves  the  present  city  limits,  and 
these  are  the  only  "  high  grounds"  in  the  city.  In 
improving  the  streets  these  little  elevations  have  been 
cut  down  and  the  hollows  filled,  till  in  hardly  any  street 
can  be  discerned  any  change  from  a  level,  except  a 
slight  slope  or  depression.  For  the  past  thirty  years 
or  so,  before  any  considerable  improvements  had  been 
made  on  the  natural  condition   of  the  site,  several 


SPECIAL   FEATURES    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


11 


bayous,  or  "  ravines,"  as  they  were  generally  called, 
traversed  it  through  a  greater  or  less  extent,  two 
being  especially  noticeable  for  volume  and  occasional 
mischief.  They  drained  into  the  river  the  overflow 
of  Fall  Creek  into  a  large  tract  of  swampy  ground 
northeast  of  the  city,  from  which,  at  a  very  early 
period,  a  ditch  was  made  by  the  State  into  Fall 
Creek  at  a  point  a  mile  or  two  farther  down.  The 
smaller  or  shorter  of  these  ran  through  the  eastern 
side,  in  a  slightly  southwesterly  direction,  crossing 
Washington  Street  at  New  Jersey,  where  the  former, 
a  part  of  the  National  road,  crossed  on  a  brick  cul- 
vert, and  terminating  at  Pogue's  Creek.  The  other 
passed  nearer  the  centre  of  the  city,  turning  west  a 
little  above  the  State-House  Square,  and  passing 
along  the  line  of  Missouri  Street,  afterwards  the  line 
of  the  Central  Canal,  from  near  Market  to  Mary- 
land, and  thence  curving  southward  and  again  west- 
ward and  northward,  entered  the  river  at  the  site  of 
the  water-works,  where  some  indications  of  its  exist- 
ence can  still  be  seen,  and  about  the  only  place 
where  there  is  a  relic  of  this  once  prominent  and 
very  troublesome  feature  of  the  city's  topography. 
In  several  low  places,  mainly  north  and  east  of  the 
centre,  there  were  considerable  ponds,  the  drainage 
of  heavy  rainfalls,  and  in  the  south  was  one  or  two, 
but  these  have  all  been  improved  out  of  existence 
many  a  year.  The  only  one  of  these  that  was 
perennial  and  distinguished  by  a  name  was  the 
Graveyard  Pond,  near  the  old  cemetery,  formed  by 
the  retention  of  overflows  of  the  river  in  a  bayou 
following  the  bluff  of  the  river  bottom.  The  whole 
site  of  the  city,  both  the  original  mile  square  and  all 
the  outlying  "  donations"  and  all  the  "  additions," 
were  at  first  densely  covered  with  woods  and  weeds 
and  underbrush,  of  which  there  remain  only  one  or 
two  trees  in  Pogue's  Creek  Valley  in  the  east,  and 
a  few  sycamores  and  elms  near  the  creek  mouth  at 
the  southwest  corner.  Fall  Creek  and  Pleasant  Run 
may  be  regarded  as  the  northern  and  southern  limits 
of  the  city  now. 

Divisions. — Pogue's  Creek  divides  the  city,  leaving 
one-third  or  more  on  the  southeast  side,  the  remainder 
on  the  northwest  side.  The  latter  contains  the  bulk 
of  the  business  and  population.     A  small  tract  west 


of  the  river  was  added  to  the  site  selected  on  the 
east  to  compensate  for  a  part  of  one  of  the  four  sec- 
tions cut  off  by  a  bend  of  the  river.  This,  called 
Indianola,  forms  part  of  one  of  the  city  wards.  A 
still  smaller  area  south  of  this,  on  the  west  side,  has 
been  added  to  the  city,  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
tract  west  of  the  river  and  south  of  Oliver  Avenue 
has  been  organized  into  an  independent  town  gov- 
ernment by  the  name  of  West  Indianapolis.  North- 
west is  another  suburb,  but  not  attached  to  the  city, 
called  Haughsville.  Farther  to  the  north  is  North 
Indianapolis,  also  independent,  while  northeast  is 
Brightwood,  unattached  ;  and  east,  nearly  five  miles, 
is  the  handsome  little  town  of  Irvington,  mainly  oc- 
cupied by  residents  whose  business  is  in  the  city,  and 
by  the  faculty  and  students  of  Butler  University. 
Southeast  is  the  little  suburb  of  Stratford.  A  num- 
ber of  city  additions  have  separate  names,  as  Oak 
Hill,  Brookside,  Woodlawn,  Woodruff  Place,  but 
none,  except  the  last,  is  in  any  way  distinguishable 
from  the  city  adjacent  to  it. 

The  Creek. — -More  pertinently  here  than  elsewhere 
may  be  noticed  the  connection  of  the  two  streams 
that  enter  the  city,  Pogue's  Creek  and  the  river, 
with  its  history.  The  former  was  named  for  the 
traditional  but  disputed  first  settler  on  the  city  site, 
George  Pogue.  It  rises  about  a  mile  east  of  the 
northeast  corner  of  Centre  township,  flows  south- 
westerly through  almost  the  whole  diagonal  length 
of  the  city,  and  enters  the  river  at  the  angle  formed 
by  the  southern  city  boundary  and  the  river.  Until 
street  improvements  turned  a  large  part  of  the  town 
drainage  into  it  the  water  was  clear,  well  stocked  with 
the  same  sort  of  fish  as  other  streams,  and  a  favorite 
swimming  resort  for  school-boys.  The  bottom  was 
heavily  wooded,  subject  to  frequent  overflows,  and 
often  swampy.  Gradually,  as  the  town  grew,  and 
manufactures  and  general  business  followed  railroad 
enterprises,  the  vicinity  of  the  creek  became  the  site 
of  foundries,  machine-shops,  mills,  and  other  indus- 
trial establishments,  and  a  little  later  of  the  gas- 
works, and  these,  with  the  flow  of  street  gutters, 
turned  the  clear  little  woods  stream  into  an  open 
sewer.  Worse  still,  the  rapid  inflow  of  street  drain- 
age, with  other  less  artificial  influences,  made  it  sub- 


12 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


ject  to  violent  and  sudden  overflows,  which  in  the 
last  twenty  years  have  done  so  much  mischief  that 
suits  have  been  repeatedly  brought  against  the  city 
for  indemnity.  Very  recently  a  judgment  for  ten 
thousand  dollars  was  obtained  on  one  of  these  suits 
by  a  large  wholesale  house.  The  current  has  been 
obstructed  and  diverted  by  the  piers  and  abutments 
of  street  and  railway  bridges,  by  culverts  and  the 
arches  of  the  foundations  of  large  buildings,  and  in 
some  places  "  washes'"  have  cut  away  the  banks  so  as 
to  seriously  impair  the  value  of  adjacent  lots,  and 
even  to  imperil  houses,  and  the  result  of  all  these 
co-operating  evils  has  been  the  recent  appointment  of 
a  committee  of  the  City  Council  and  Board  of  Alder- 
men, in  conjunction  with  several  prominent  private 
citizens,  to  devise  a  complete  and  uniform  system  of 
protection  from  overflows,  washes,  and  all  forms  of 
damage.  As  it  follows  the  line  of  lowest  level  in 
the  city,  draining  the  site  from  both  sides,  it  has 
sometimes  been  proposed  to  deepen  its  bed,  wall  and 
arch  it  in,  and  make  a  main  sewer  of  it.  A  very 
large  portion  of  it  on  both  banks  has  been  walled  in, 
and  many  hundreds  of  feet  arched  in  by  street  cul- 
verts and  other  works,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
it  will  sooner  or  later  be  covered  throughout,  and 
made  to  carry  oS  the  whole  natural  flow  as  well  as 
the  street  drainage  not  diverted  to  other  sewers.  But 
very  little  of  it  is  left  in  its  old  bed,  its  crooks  having 
been  straightened  into  angles  and  right  lines.  Occa- 
sionally it  runs  dry  in  long  droughts. 

TJie  Canal. — Although  no  natural  feature  of  the 
city's  topography,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  it  is 
efiaced,  the  canal  is  still  conspicuous  enough  both  in 
its  topographical  and  economical  relations  to  require 
notice.  The  section  from  the  feeder-dam  in  the  river 
at  Broad  Ripple,  some  eight  or  nine  miles  north,  to 
the  city  is  all  that  was  ever  completed  of  the  "  Cen- 
tral Canal,"  which  was  one  of  the  system  of  public 
improvements  begun  by  the  State  in  1836.  In  places 
it  was  almost  completed  for  twenty-five  or  thirty 
mUes  south  of  the  city,  and  nearly  as  far  north,  but 
nothing  was  ever  done  wiih  it  but  to  leave  it  to  be 
overgrown  with  weeds  and  underbrush,  except  a 
short  stretch  three  miles  south,  where  its  bed  was 
very  level,  and  the  country  people  used  it  for  a  race- 


course. Until  within  ten  years  or  so  the  completed 
section  from  Broad  Ripple  passed  clear  through  the 
city,  mainly  along  the  line  of  Missouri  Street  to 
Merrill  Street,  and  in  early  times  was  used  for  fishing, 
swimming,  skating,  ice-packing,  occasional  baptisms 
by  churches,  and  semi-occasional  cargoes  of  wood  in 
flat-boats.  The  State  sold  it  a  few  years  after  its 
completion  to  the  "  Central  Canal  Hydraulic  and 
Water- Works  Company,"  and  that  sold  to  others 
till  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  company  which 
established  the  water-works,  and  used  it  as  a  motive- 
power,  some  dozen  years  ago.  Then  the  portion  south 
of  Blarket  Street  was  deepened,  and  a  sewer  built  in 
it,  connecting  with  the  Kentucky  Avenue  trunk 
sewer,  and  it  was  filled  up,  graded,  and  partially 
improved,  and  is  now  a  street.  Above  Market 
Street  it  continues  in  its  former  condition,  used 
for  boating  and  ice-packing  by  permission  of  the 
proprietary  company,  and  for  bathing  without  it. 
Below  the  line  of  Merrill  Street  to  the  city  limits 
the  canal  passed  through  private  property,  which 
has  reverted  to  the  original  owners  or  their  assigns, 
who  have  left  hardly  a  visible  trace  of  it.  When 
first  completed,  an  enlargement  or  basin  was  made 
on  the  site  of  the  present  steel-rail  mill,  and  a  culvert 
was  made  over  the  creek  that  occasionally  broke  and 
made  trouble.  The  culvert  is  almost  the  only  relic 
of  the  lower  end  of  the  city  section.  On  each  side 
of  Washington  Street,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  canal, 
a  square  basin  opening  into  it  was  made,  each  about 
two  hundred  feet  square.  These  have  long  disap- 
peared, and  with  them  a  ditch  along  the  south  side 
of  Washington  Street,  extending  east  to  within  a 
short  distance  of  Mississippi,  then  turning  directly 
south  to  Maryland  Street,  and  there  turning  west 
entered  the  canal  at  the  Maryland  Street  bridge.  The 
bridges  were  all  made  with  "  tow-paths"  beneath  ' 
them  on  the  west  side.  These  disappeared  with  the 
basins  and  ditches.  A  couple  of  wooden  locks  were  : 
built  at  the  south  line  of  the  "  donation,"  but  never 
finished.  They  became  a  favorite  fishing-place,  as 
did  the  place  where  the  water,  while  it  lasted,  emptied 
into  Pleasant  Run,  near  the  river.  Water  never 
passed  farther  south.  A  stone  lock  was  built  at 
Market  Street,  and  used  a  few   times.     From   this 


GENPJRAL   FEATURES    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


13 


lock  an  arm  of  the  canal  ran  west  two  blocks  or  so, 
a  few  feet  north  of  Market  Street,  where  it  entered 
a  basin  some  four  or  five  hundred  feet  long,  extend- 
ing north  into  the  "  Military  Ground."  From  the 
north  end  of  this  basin  a  "  tumble"  let  the  water 
down  a  dozen  feet  into  a  race-way  that  turned  south, 
crossed  Washington  Street,  and  entered  a  sort  of 
natural  basin,  formerly  one  of  the  old  "ravines," 
whence  the  water  fell  by  another  tumble  into  the 
river  at  the  site  of  the  present  water-works.  The 
water  was  let  into  the  canal  at  the  feeder-dam  in  the 
spring  or  early  summer  of  1839,  and  the  State  im- 
mediately leased  water-power  to  one  woolen-  and  one 
oil  mill,  and  to  two  each  of  grist-,  saw-,  cotton-,  and 
paper-mills.  These  were  located  at  the  Market 
Street  lock,  on  the  river  bank,  where  the  race-way 
fell  into  the  river,  and  at  the  south  end  of  the  basin 
in  the  Military  Ground.  Some  years  later  a  grist- 
mill south  of  the  donation  obtained  its  power  from 
the  canal.  The  water-works  company  now  owning 
it  have  recently  replaced  the  decayed  aqueduct  over 
Fall  Creek  with  one  of  the  most  substantial  charac- 
ter, and  have  at  one  time  or  another  greatly  im- 
proved the  feeder-dam.  Its  present  use  is  mainly  to 
supply  power  to  the  pumping-engines  of  the  water- 
works. 

The  Kiver  {the  Wa-me-cn-me-ca). — From  the 
upper  to  the  lower  bridge  of  the  Belt  Railroad  the 
river  may  be  considered  a  part  of  the  city  site, 
though  but  a  small  portion  bounds  the  site  on  the 
west,  and  a  smaller  portion  divides  it  from  the  In- 
dianola  suburb.  This  section  is  pretty  nearly  three 
miles  long  in  a  straight  line,  and  nearly  four  following 
the  banks.  Originally  it  was  a  stream  of  considera- 
ble volume,  averaging  probably  four  hundred  feet  in 
width,  and,  except  upon  a  few  shoal  spots,  too  deep 
to  be  fordable.  There  was  a  ford  a  little  way  below 
the  "  Old  Graveyard,"  near  the  present  site  of  the 
Vincennes  Railroad  bridge,  and  in  use  till  some 
dozen  or  fifteen  years  ago,  when  an  iron  bridge  was 
built  a  few  hundred  feet  above  it.  Another  ford  on 
the  Lafayette  wagon-road  was  a  good  deal  used  later, 
and  known  as  "  Crowder's"  and  "  Garner's  Ford." 
Another  iron  bridge  has  superseded  it.  In  the  town 
communication  was  kept  up  with  the  west  side  by  a 


ferry  a  little  below  the  National  road  bridge.  Di- 
rectly west  of  the  "  Old  Graveyard,"  and  three  or 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  site  of  the  present  iron 
bridge,  was  a  low  sandy  island,  containing  a  couple 
or  three  acres,  and  covered  with  large  sycamores  and 
elms,  called  "  Governor's  Island."  At  the  head  of 
it,  where  a  narrow  "  chute"  separated  it  from  the 
high  and  heavily-wooded  ground  of  the  cemetery, 
was  a  huge  drift  that  was  for  many  years  a  favorite 
fishing-place  of  the  towns-people.  A  little  above 
this,  on  the  west  side,  a  considerable  "  bayou"  ran 
out,  circling  irregularly  around  an  extensive  tract,  a 
perfect  wilderness  of  woods  and  weeds,  spice-bush 
and  papaw,  and  re-entered  the  river  a  half-mile  or 
so  lower.  A  wing-dam  at  the  upper  mouth  con- 
verted it  into  a  race-way  for  a  grist-mill  erected  on 
the  south  bank,  near  the  present  line  of  the  Belt 
Railroad,  in  the  year  1823.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  mills  built  in  the  county.  A  little  way  east  of 
it,  nearer  the  river,  the  first  distillery  in  the  county 
was  established  near  the  same  time,  turning  out  for 
several  years  a  small  quantity  of  "  forty-rod"  whiskey 
that  was  known  as  "  Bayou  Blue."  Some  remains 
of  the  mill  were  discernible  a  dozen  years  ago,  but 
all  are  gone  now,  and  the  bayou  itself  is  measura- 
bly effaced  by  plowing  and  naturally  drying  out. 
"  Governor's  Island"  has  entirely  disappeared  too. 
The  river,  during  the  freshets  that  have  almost  an- 
nually occurred  ever  since  the  first  settlement  was 
made,  has  cut  away  the  eastern  bank  along  the 
"  Old  Graveyard"  line  until  its  entire  volume  is  now 
east  of  the  site  of  the  island,  and  that  once  con- 
spicuous feature  is  merged  in  the  broad  low  sand-bar 
that  fills  the  old  bed.  The  channel  has  shifted  at 
this  point,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  west  bank,  four 
hundred  feet  or  more.  A  like  change,  and  even 
greater,  has  taken  place  below,  where  the  current  has 
out  the  west  bank,  and  filled  in  on  the  east  side  a 
wide  swampy  tract  of  several  acres  below  and  along 
the  Graveyard  Pond  site,  and  at  the  foot  of  what 
used  to  be  called  the  High  Banks.  Within  a  few 
years  freshets  have  cut  through  a  sharp  elbow  on  the 
west  side  at  this  same  place,  and  instead  of  whittling 
away  the  point  piecemeal  as  before,  the  future  action 
of  the  water  seems  likely  to  take  the  main  volume 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


bodily  some  hundreds  of  feet  inland.  The  same 
agencies  have  cut  a  number  of  small  channels  through 
the  "  bottom"  a  little  lower,  and  threaten  to  make  a 
tolerably  straight  course  from  near  the  old  ford  down 
to  a  point  a  little  below  the  lower  mouth  of  the  old 
bayou.  These  are  the  most  notable  changes  in  the 
river-bed  in  or  near  the  city. 

There  has  come,  with  the  clearing  of  the  country, 
the  drainage  of  swamps,  and  disappearance  of  little 
springs  and  rivulets,  the  same  change  that  has  come 
upon  all  the  streams  of  the  country  and  of  the  world 
under  the  same  conditions.  The  volume  of  water  is 
smaller,  low-water  mark  is  lower,  the  freshets  more 
sudden  and  evanescent.  It  happens  frequently  now 
that  in  protracted  droughts  the  volume  of  water  is 
reduced  to  that  of  a  very  moderate  creek,  not  ex- 
ceeding fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  width  in  very  shoal 
places,  and  the  tributary  streams,  Eagle  and  Pleasant 
Run,  go  dry  altogether  near  their  mouths.  Fall  Creek, 
however,  is  not  known  to  have  ever  been  so  greatly 
reduced.  Before  settlement  and  cultivation  had 
changed  the  face  of  the  country  so  greatly  the  an- 
nual freshets, — sometimes  semi-annual, — usually  in 
the  latter  part  of  winter  or  spring,  were  used  to  carry 
some  of  the  country's  products  to  market  down  on 
the  lower  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  This  was  done  in 
flat-boats,  measuring  fifty  or  sixty  feet  long  by 
twelve  to  fifteen  wide,  covered  in  with  a  sort  of 
house,  the  roof  of  which  was  the  deck,  where  long, 
heavy  side-oars  and  still  longer  and  heavier  steering 
oars  were  managed.  The  current,  however,  was  the 
motive-power.  In  this  floating  house  was  stored,  ac- 
cording to  the  business  or  fancy  of  the  shipper,  baled 
hay,  corn,  wheat,  or  oats,  whiskey,  pork,  poultry, 
these  chiefly.  They  were  run  out  at  the  height  of 
a  freshet,  so  as  to  pass  over  a  few  dams  that  stood  in 
the  way,  and  were  the  source  of  the  greatest  peril  to 
these  self-insured  shippers.  This  sort  of  commerce 
was  maintained  at  intervals  for  probably  twenty 
years,  but  most  largely  from  about  1835  till  the 
Madison  Railroad  oflFered  a  better  way  out,  in  the 
fall  of  1847.  During  the  first  few  years  of  the 
city's  existence  occasional  cargoes  of  corn  and  game 
were  brought  down  the  river  by  the  Indians,  and  up 
the  river  in  keel-boats  by  poling  and  "  cordelling,"  or 


hauling  along  with  ropes,  in  canal-boat  faishion.  Not 
much  of  either  was  ever  done,  however,  the  new 
settlement  depending  mainly  on  land  transportatinn 
from  the  White  Water  and  on  its  own  products. 

The  prominent  event  in  the  history  of  the  city's 
connection  with  the  river  is  the  attempt  to  make  it  or 
prove  it  what  Congress  had  declared  it  to  be,  a  navi- 
gable stream.  A  full  account  will  be  given  in  another 
place,  but  it  may  be  noted  here  that  a  survey  was 
made  in  1825  which  maintained  the  practicability  of 
navigation  three  months  in  the  year  for  a  distance  of 
four  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  at  an  annual  expense 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  A  reward  of  two  hundred 
dollars  was  ofi'ered  to  the  first  steamer's  captain  whu 
should  bring  his  boat  to  the  town,  and  in  1830  one 
came  as  far  as  Spencer,  Owen  Co.,  and  another 
came  up  about  the  same  distance  or  a  little  nearer, 
but  in  the  spring  of  1831  the  "  Robert  Hanna,  " 
bought  for  the  purpose,  it  was  said,  of  carrying  stcjne 
from  the  Bluffs  of  the  river  for  the  piers  and  abut- 
ments of  the  National  road  bridge,  came  clear  up  tu 
the  town,  raising  a  great  excitement  and  high  antici- 
pations of  river  commerce.  She  remained  a  cou])le 
of  days,  ran  upon  a  bar  going  back,  and  stuck  a 
month  or  two,  and  finally  got  into  safe  water  some 
time  during  the  fall.  This  was  the  last  of  the  navi- 
gation of  White  River,  except  by  the  flat-boats  n- 
ferred  to  and  a  little  pleasure  steamer  in  1865,  that 
made  a  few  trips  during  the  year  and  was  wrecked 
the  next  summer.  Within  the  present  year  a  little 
picnic  steamer  has  been  built  at  Broad  Ripple,  but  it 
can  hardly  be  deemed  an  exception  to  the  universal 
failure  of  White  River  navigation. 

There  have  been  a  few  freshets  in  the  river  so  high 
and  disastrous  that  they  deserve  special  notice.  The 
first  was  in  1828,  following  an  unusually  wet  spring. 
During  that  rise  an  old  hunter  paddled  his  canoe 
through  the  fork  of  a  large  tree  on  Governor's  Island, 
a  height  of  overflow  that  has  probably  never  been 
equaled  since.  The  "  bottom"  lands  for  many  miles 
were  seriously  damaged,  fences  washed  away,  stock 
drowned,  crops  in  store  injured,  though,  as  suggested 
by  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown,  less  damage  was  done  than 
by  smaller  floods  following  when  the  country  was 
better   settled.     The   Legislature   made  some  relief 


GENERAL   FEATURES    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


15 


provision  for  the  sufferers  by  remitting  taxes.  The 
next  great  flood  was  early  in  January,  1847.  The 
water  then  for  a  time  threatened  the  National  road 
bridge.  It  broke  through  the  little  suburb  of  In- 
dianola,  or  "  Stringtown"  as  it  was  then  called,  from 
its  being  strung  out  along  the  National  road,  and  cut 
two  deep  gullies  through  the  solidly-graded  and 
heavily-macadamized  pike,  churning  out  on  the  south 
side  in  the  soft,  loose  soil  of  the  river  bottom  huge 
holes  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty  or 
more  deep.  Several  houses  were  washed  away,  and 
one  was  left  on  the  slope  of  one  of  the  big  holes, 
where  it  remained  tilted  over  and  apparently  ready 
to  fall  for  several  months.  The  third  big  flood  was 
in  1858.  In  1875  came  two  nearly  equal  to  that  of 
1847,  the  first  in  May,  the  next  in  August,  both 
reaching  about  the  same  height.  But  for  the  levees 
then  built  along  the  west  bank  for  a  mile  and  more 
the  whole  of  the  country  west  of  the  river  to  the  bluff 
of  the  "  bottom"  would  have  been  drowned.  In  the 
early  part  of  February  of  this  year  (1883)  the 
highest  flood  ever  known,  except  possibly  that  of 
1847  and  that  of  1828,  occurred,  filled  a  large  num- 
ber of  houses  in  Indianola,  driving  out  the  occupants 
and  damaging  walls  and  furniture,  and  sweeping  clear 
over  the  National  road  for  the  first  time  since  1847. 
It  was  more  than  a  foot  higher  than  either  flood  of 
1875.  Levees  now  protect  the  west  side — the  only  one 
endangered  by  floods  to  any  extent  within  the  limits  of 
costly  improvements — for  nearly  three  miles  south  of 
the  Vaudalia  Railroad  to  a  point  opposite  the  mouth 
of  Pleasant  Run.  These  will  be  extended  in  time 
parallel  with  the  levees  on  the  east  side  below  Pleasant 
Run.  These  are  the  chief  levees  on  the  river.  Some 
small  ones  have  been  made  along  the  south  bank  of 
Fall  Creek  at  the  northern  limit  of  the  city  site. 

Until  1852  the  only  bridge  over  White  River  in  or 
near  the  town  was  that  built  by  the  national  govern- 
ment for  the  great  national  highway,  the  "  Cumber- 
land road."  This  was  finished  in  1833,  and  is  still 
in  constant  use,  considerably  dilapidated  through  cul- 
pable neglect,  but  still  solid  in  its  arches  and  service- 
able. In  1852  the  Vandalia  Railroad  Company  put 
up  a  bridge  for  their  line  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of 
the  old  one.     Since  then  there  have  been  built  for 


railroad  or  ordinary  service  no  less  than  nine  bridges, 
all  of  iron  or  mixed  iron  and  timber.  They  are,  be- 
ginning at  the  north,  the  Lafayette  or  Crawfordsville 
road  wagon-bridge,  the  Upper  Belt  road  bridge,  the 
Michigan  Street  and  Washington  Street  wagon- 
bridges,  the  old  National  road  bridge,  the  St.  Louis 
Railroad  bridge,  the  Vandalia  Railroad  bridge,  the 
Old  Cemetery  wagon-bridge,  the  Vinoennes  Railroad 
bridge,  the  Morris  Street  wagon-bridge,  the  Lower 
Belt  road  bridge, — eleven  in  all.  The  bridges  on 
the  smaller  streams  and  the  remainder  of  the  canal 
are  too  numerous  to  be  worth  special  notice. 

Turnpikes. — All  the  wagon-roads  out  of  the  city 
are  now  graveled,  and  little  inferior  to  macadamized 
roads.  For  a  few  years,  some  thirty  years  or  so  ago, 
a  sort  of  mania  for.  plank-roads  ran  over  the  State, 
and  the  western  division  of  the  National  road  was 
planked.  It  had  then  been  given  to  the  State  by  the 
general  government  (as  had  all  the  remainder  of  the 
road  to  the  States  through  which  it  passed),  and  by 
the  State  had  been  assigned  to  a  plank-road  company, 
which  made  this  improvement.  It  was  a  failure  after 
the  first  few  mouths.  The  planks  warped,  the  ends 
turned  up,  and  the  covering  soon  became  a  nuisance, 
and  was  abandoned  for  coarse  gravel,  which  packs 
solidly  and  makes  a  fairly  smooth,  durable,  and  dry 
road.  Many  of  the  county  and  neighborhood  roads 
have  been  improved  in  the  same  way.  Most  of  these 
improved  roads  are  held  by  companies  and  are  main- 
tained by  tolls,  which  in  the  case  of  the  city  roads 
prove  to  be  a  handsome  return  upon  the  investment. 
Some  of  them  have  been  sold  to  the  county  and  made 
free,  but  several  are  still  held  by  the  companies.  The 
principal  roads  leading  out  of  the  city  are  the  east  and 
west  divisions  of  the  National  road ;  northeast,  the 
Pendleton  road ;  southeast,  the  south  division  of  the 
Michigan  road  and  the  Old  Shelbyville  road  ;  south, 
the  Madison  road,  the  "Three  Notch"  road,  the  Bluff 
road ;  southwest,  the  Mooresville  road ;  northwest, 
the  Crawfordsville  and  Lafayette  road  and  the  north 
division  of  the  Michigan  road  ;  north,  the  Westfield 
and  the  Old  Noblesville  road. 

Area  and  Present  Condition. — The  original  city 
plat  was  a  square  mile,  laid  off  in  the  centre  of  four 
square  miles  donated  by  Congress  in  1816  for  a  site 


16 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


for  the  State  capital.  The  half-mile  border  around 
this  square  was  made  "  out-lots,"  and  used  as  farm 
lands  for  years,  but  after  1847  was  rapidly  absorbed 
into  the  city,  until  at  the  commencement  of  the  civil 
war  the  entire  "  donation"  was  included  in  the  city, 
and  was  more  or  less  compactly  built  over.  The  town 
government  was  extended  over  the  whole  four  sections 
in  1838,  but  it  was  ten  years  later,  following  the 
completion  of  the  first  railway,  before  any  consider- 
able occupancy  of  this  tract  was  attempted,  and  then 
it  was  mainly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  new  railway  depot. 
Many  additions  of  greater  or  less  extent  have  been 
made,  more  than  doubling  the  area  of  the  original 
four  sections  of  the  "donation."  It  is  estimated  now 
(1883)  that  an  area  of  about  eleven  square  miles  (or 
seven  thousand  acres)  is  included  in  the  limits  of  the 
city.  It  occupies  a  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
area  of  Centre  township,  which  is  a  little  larger  than 
a  Congressional  township  of  six  miles  square. 

Population. — The  first  estimate  of  population  rests 
upon  an  enumeration  made  by  visitors  of  the  Union 
Sunday-school  in  the  spring  of  1824,  when  100 
families  were  counted  upon  the  "donation,"  making 
a  probable  population  of  500  or  more,  represented  by 
100  voters,  or  120  possibly,  with  50  voters  repre- 
senting nobody  but  themselves,  or  a  total  population 
of  near  600.  In  1827  a  careful  census  was  taken, 
and  the  population  found  to  count  up  1066.  In 
1830  it  was  about  1500;  in  1840,4000;  in  1850, 
8034;  in  1860,  18,611;  in  1870,  48,244;  in  1880, 
75,056.  It  is  now  estimated  at  about  95,000,  of 
which  one-sixth  is  foreign-born,  mainly  Irish  and 
Germans,  the  former  counting  a  little  more  than 
half  of  the  latter,  or,  with  all  other  foreign-born 
population,  making  a  little  more  than  half  of  all 
of  that  class.  In  1880  the  whole  of  German  birth 
was  6070  :  of  Irish  birth,  3660  ;  and  of  all  other 
foreign  nationalities,  2880.  The  proportions  are 
now  about  8000,  4000,  and  3000.  The  basis  of  the 
estimate  of  population  that  gives  the  closest  as  well 
as  the  most  trustworthy  result  is  that  of  the  enu- 
meration of  school  children  under  the  law.  This  is 
made  every  year  to  determine  the  ratio  of  distribu- 
tion of  the  State's  school  fund,  and  is  probably  as 
accurate  as  the  national  census.     It  shows  the  pro- 


portion of  children  of  "  school  age"  (from  six  to 
twenty-one)  in  1880  to  have  been  to  the  whole  popu- 
lation as  one  to  two  and  four-fifths.  The  school 
enumeration  for  1883  makes  the  total  33,079,  which 
gives  at  the  ascertained  ratio  a  population  a  little 
less  than  93,000.  The  estimate  of  the  secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  is  100,000,  but  no  safe  basis  of 
calculation  will  give  that  result.  A  fair  estimate  on 
the  1st  of  January,  1884,  makes  the  population 
95,000. 

Governinenf. — The  city  government  is  composed 
of  a  mayor.  Board  of  Aldermen,  Common  Council, 
clerk,  treasurer,  and  assessor,  elected  by  popular 
vote  ;  marshal,  chief  of  the  fire  department,  attorney, 
elected  by  the  Council ;  and  a  Board  of  Police  Com- 
missioners, appointed  by  the  State  officers  and  paid 
by  the  city,  who  have  entire  control  of  the  police 
force,  also  paid  by  the  city.  The  officers  elected  by 
the  people  serve  two  years,  the  others  one.  The 
police  commissioners  go  out  and  are  replaced  in  suc- 
cessive years,  one  in  one,  one  in  two,  and  one  in 
three. 

Police. — The  police  force  consists  of  a  chief,  two 
captains,  and  sixty-five  men.  Besides  the  regular 
force  there  are  three  or  four  specially  in  charge  of 
the  Union  Depot,  authorized  by  the  city  but  paid 
by  the  Union  Railway  Company.  The  merchants' 
police,  a  small  force  of  men,  is  appointed  by  the  city, 
but  paid  by  the  citizens  whose  property  is  specially 
in  their  care. 

The  Fire  Department  consists  of  a  chief  and 
his  assistants,  and  a  working  force,  held  in  this 
service  exclusively,  of  seventy-seven  men,  including 
the  officers  named.  It  has  six  steam-engines,  four 
hose-reels,  two  hookand-ladder  wagons,  uses  six 
hundred  and  twenty-two  hydrants,  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  cisterns,  ranging  in  capacity  from  one 
thousand  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  barrels,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty  electric  signal-boxes  or  alarm 
stations. 

Streets. — There  are  four  hundred  and  fifty  streets, 
and  larger  alleys  used  as  streets,  all  more  or  less 
improved  by  grading  and  graveling  or  bowldering. 
A  very  few  are  paved  with  wooden  blocks,  and 
one  of  these  has  within   a  year  been   torn   up  and 


AREA   AND   PRESENT   CONDITION   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


17 


replaced  by  bowlders.  A  large  number  of  streets 
are  bowldered,  but  much  the  larger  portion  are 
graded  and  covered  heavily  with  coarse  gravel, 
which  is  found  to  make  a  good  durable  street,  given 
to  grind  into  dust  and  mud,  but  always  available  and 
cheap.  The  aggregate  length  of  streets  is  not  accu- 
rately known,  but  as  a  few  are  four  miles  long  or 
more,  and  a  great  many  from  one  to  two  miles,  the 
aggregate  length  is  conjectured  to  be  probably  be- 
tween seven  hundred  and  eight  hundred  miles.  On 
them  is  a  total  length  of  water-main  of  fifty-one 
miles,  with  twenty-five  large  iron  drinking-fountains 
"  for  man  and  beast."  With  these  are  ninety  miles 
of  gas-mains  and  two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  lamps.  There  are  thirteen  lines  of 
street  railways,  owning  five  hundred  mules  and  em- 
ploying one  hundred  drivers.  All  belong  to  one 
company. 

Parks. — A  very  pleasing  feature  of  the  city  is  its 
parks,  of  which  there  are  four:  1st,  Circle  Park,  in- 
teDded  to  have  been  put  in  the  centre  of  the  "  dona- 
tion," as  the  site  of  the  Governor's  official  residence, 
but  never  used  for  that  purpose,  and,  on  account  of 
the  propinquity  of  Pogue's  Run  bottom,  put  a  little 
aside  from  the  central  point,  which  is  a  half-square 
south  of  the  southeast  corner  of  Washington  and 
Illinois  Streets ;  2d,  Military  Park,  the  remains  of  a 
military  reservation  ;  3d,  University  Park,  held  by 
the  city  on  consent  of  the  Legislature,  but  given 
originally  to  help  endow  a  State  University  at  the 
capital;  4th,  Garfield  Park,  originally  Southern  Park, 
a  large  tract  at  the  extreme  south  of  the  city,  pur- 
chased some  years  ago  to  give  the  population  of  that 
part  of  the  city  a  place  of  recreation,  but  so  far  in- 
adequately improved. 

Taxes. — The  levy  for  general  purposes  last  year 
was  90  cents  on  $100,  for  school  purposes  22  cents, 
making  a  total  of  $1.12,  the  legal  limit  of  taxation 
for  city  purposes.  This  rate  is  levied  on  a  total 
valuation  of  $52,633,510,  divided  into  "realty," 
$22,863,525;  "improvements,"  $16,363,200;  "per- 
sonal," $13,406,755.  There  are  .some  slight  discrep- 
ancies in  these  statements,  as  the  assessors'  returns 
had  not  been  corrected  when  this  report  was  given. 
The  total  valuation  of  property  for  taxation  in  1850 


was  $2,326,185  ;  in  1860,  $10,700,000  ;  in  1866,  the 
first  valuation  after  the  close  of  the  war,  $24,835,750 ; 
in  1870,  $24,656,460.  A  decline  in  real  estate  came 
in  1868,  the  valuation  dropping  from  $25,500,000  in 
1867  to  $24,000,000  in  1868,  and  to  $22,000,000 
in  1869,  recovering  partially  in  1870,  and  rising  to 
$30,000,000  in  1871.  The  rise  continued  till  1874, 
then  the  financial  crash  of  1873  began  to  operate, 
and  a  second  decline  began,  which  is  now  about 
overcome.  The  city  revenue  for  the  last  year  was 
$591,312. 

Business. — The  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
reports  for  the  year  ending  with  the   end  of  1882 
that  there  were  772  manufacturing  establishments  in 
the  city,  with  $12,270,000  of  capital,  employing  an 
average  of  12,000  hands  at  an  average  rate  of  $2.20 
a  day,  using  $18,730,000  of  material,  and  producing 
$30,100,000  of  merchantable  goods.     The  wholesale 
trade  in  sixteen  lines  of  business  amounted  to  $25,- 
[  440,000.     The  total  clearances  of  the  clearing-house 
I  was  $101,577,523.     There  are  12  banks  in  the  city, 
I  6   national    and    6   private,  with   a   total    capital   of 
$2,880,000.     The  average  of  monthly  deposits  was 
$11,435,000.     Total  receipts  of  grain  for  1882,  21,. 
j  242,897  bushels;   of  coal,  about  400,000  tons,  or 
i  202,711    for  the   last    six   months.      Of  live-stock, 
j  5,319,611  hogs,  640,363  cattle,  849,936  sheep,  50,- 
795  horses,  of  which  there  was  disposed  of  in  the 
city  3,020,913  hogs,  106,178  cattle,  70,543  sheep, 
2533   horses.      Of  lumber,   125,000  M's,  or  125,- 
000,000  feet.     The  Board  of  Trade  has  1000  mem- 
bers. 

Railroads. — Counting  the  two  divisions  of  the 
JefFersonville  Railroad  separately,  as  they  were  built 
and  operated  at  first,  there  are  fourteen  railroads  com- 
pleted and  in  operation  centring  in  Indianapolis, 
running  altogether  114  passenger  trains  both  ways 
daily,  and  handling  here  an  average  of  2500  freight 
cars  daily,  each  car  having  a  capacity  of  twelve  tons 
at  least,  and  making  a  total  daily  tonnage  of  30,000 
tons,  equal  to  the  trade  of  a  seaport  receiving  and 
sending  out  thirty  vessels  daily  of  1 000  tons  each. 
Besides  the  fourteen  lines  of  railroad  centring  in 
the  city,  there  is  the  Union  Railway  Company  with 
a  length  of  track  enough    to    connect    them  all   at 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


the  Union  Passenger  Depot,  and  now  by  lease  in 
control  of  the  Belt  Railway,  which  very  nearly  en- 
circles the  city,  and  connects  all  the  roads  for  freight 
purposes  by  a  line  that  enables  transfers  of  cars  and 
trains  to  be  made  outside  of  the  city,  avoiding  the 
obstruction  of  many  streets.  Two  new  roads  are  in 
progress.  Every  county  in  the  State  but  three  can 
be  reached  by  rail,  and  nearly  every  county-seat  can 
be  visited  and  a  return  made  the  same  day. 

Newspapers  and  Periodicals.  —  There  are  six 
daily  newspapers  in  the  city,  all  morning  issues  ex- 
cept one.  There  is  one  semi-weekly,  twenty-five 
weeklies  (including  the  weekly  editions  of  dailies), 
one  semi-monthly,  and  seventeen  monthlies. 

Amusements. — There  are  four  theatres,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  public  halls,  four  military  companies, 
four  musical  societies,  and  three  brass  bands  ;  ten 
libraries,  including  the  State  and  City  and  County, 
and  the  State  Geological  Museum,  containing  over 
100,000  specimens,  and  valued  at  over  $100,000. 

Business  Associations. — Insurance  fifteen ;  for  man- 
ufactures and  other  purposes  incorporated,  sixty-one, 
with  a  capital  of  $8,300,000 ;  building  and  loan  socie- 
ties nineteen,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $1,755,000 ; 
miscellaneous  associations,  fifty-five  ;  hotels,  forty. 

Professions. — Lawyers,  two  hundred  ;  physicians, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two.  (School-teachers  and 
preachers,  see  Schools  and  Churches.) 

Secret  Societies. — The  secret  societies  number  23, 
with  143  lodges  or  separate  organizations.  The  Ma- 
sons have  21  lodges  of  whites  and  6  of  colored  mem- 
bers ;  the  Odd-Fellows  have  23  in  all ;  the  Knights 
of  Pythias  have  13  ;  the  Hibernians  have  3.  Be- 
sides these  the  Red  Men,  and  Elks,  and  Druids,  and 
several  other  orders  have  each  one  or  more  lodges. 

Churches. — Baptist,  13  ;  Catholic,  7  ;  Christian, 
6  ;  Congregational,  2  ;  Episcopal,  5  ;  Reformed  Epis- 
copal, 1 ;  Evangelical  Alliance,  1  ;  United  Brethren, 
1  ;  Friends,  1  ;  German  Reformed,  3  ;  Hebrews,  2  ; 
Lutheran,  6  ;  Methodist,  23  ;  Protestant  Methodist, 
1;  Presbyterian,  14;  Swedenborgian,  1;  United 
Presbyterian,  1.  In  all  there  are  88  churches  in  the 
city.  Two  denominations  that  at  one  time  were  quite 
prominent,  the  Universalist  and  Unitarian,  have  disap- 
peared altogether  in  the  last  few  years  as  distinct  sects. 


Health  and  Sanitary  Conditions.  —  The  station 
at  Indianapolis  of  the  United  States  Signal  Service 
reports  for  the  last  year  an  annual  mean  of  tempei:i- 
ture  of  53.8  ;  an  annual  mean  of  humidity  of  71.1  ; 
107  clear  days,  141  fair  days-,  and  117  cloudy  days  ; 
a  mean  fill  of  rain  and  snow  of  53.68  inches ;  the 
highest  temperature  94°,  the  lowest  10°  below  zero. 
Drainage  is  efiected  by  an  incomplete  but  steadily 
advancing  system  of  sewage,  with  two  trunk  lines  at 
present  on  Washington  and  South  Streets,  and  a 
number  of  small  tributary  sewers.  The  health  of 
the  city  is  surpassed  by  no  city  and  not  many  rural 
regions  in  the  world.  The  last  report  of  the  Board  of 
Health  covers  seven  months  from  January  to  July, 
inclusive,  1883,  and  shows,  with  the  months  of  the 
preceding  year  back  to  July,  an  average  of  less  than 
140  a  month.  This  gives  a  death-rate  of  18s  in 
1000  ;  that  of  London  i.s  21 1  per  1000,  of  Paris  26], 
of  Vienna  29,  of  New  York  29f .  Very  few  rural 
communities  in  Europe  or  this  country  show  a  death- 
rate  lower  than  19  in  1000. 

Schools. — The  free  school  system  went  into  opera- 
tion in  1853,  when  the  accumulation  of  public  funds 
had  allowed  the  previous  purchase  of  grounds  and 
the  erection  of  houses  sufficient  for  the  town's  needs, 
a  popular  vote  six  years  before  having  authorized  a 
special  city  tax  for  school  purposes.  The  average  at- 
tendance at  the  outset  in  April,  1853,  was  340'.  In 
three  years  it  was  1400.  It  is  now  (1883)  9938, 
while  13,685  children  are  enrolled  on  the  school  rec- 
ords, and  the  city  contains  a  juvenile  population  of 
school  age  (from  six  to  twenty-one)  of  33,079.  The 
enrollment  is  considerably  less  than  half  of  the  popu- 
lation, while  the  attendance  is  about  one-third.  This 
is  a  reduction  of  three  per  cent,  in  two  years.  There 
are  now  belonging  to  the  public  school  system  29  brick 
houses  and  2  frame.  Of  these  2  are  one  story,  25 
are  two  stories,  3  of  three  stories  ;  8  have  four  rooms 
or  less,  11  have  eight  rooms,  12  have  nine  rooms. 
In  all  there  are  245  rooms,  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
12,746,  nearly  equal  to  the  entire  enrollment.  Value 
of  grounds  and  buildings,  $938,419.30.  There  are 
19  male  teachers,  234  female  teachers  ;  21  are  col- 
ored, 232  white.  Salaries  in  the  High  School, 
I  maximum  $2000,  minimum  $700,  average  $1037  ; 


GENERAL   VIEW    AND   HISTORICAL   OUTLINE. 


19 


in  Primary  schools,  maximum  $1100,  minimum 
$650,  average  $900.92  ;  grade  teachers,  maximum 
$650,  minimum  $300,  average  $500. 

Private  schools  are  nearly  as  numerous  as  public 
schools,  but,  of  course,  less  largely  attended.  There  are 
twenty-six  of  these,  some  of  them  of  a  denominational 
character,  some  wholly  secular,  but  most  of  a  higher 
grade  than  the  primaries  of  the  public  system.  A 
few  will  rank  with  the  preparatory  schools  of  the 
best  colleges.  Besides  there  are  five  kindergartens. 
Of  the  collegiate  class  of  educational  institutions, 
there  are  four  medical  schools  authorized  to  give 
diplomas  and  degrees,  one  law  school  of  the  same 
grade,  and,  more  considerable  than  these,  Butler  Uni- 
versity, now  at  Irvington,  formerly  the  Northwestern 
Christian  University,  and  located  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  city. 

Under  the  same  management  as  the  public  schools 
is  the  Public  Library,  supported  by  a  tax  of  two  cents 
on  one  hundred  dollars,  and  containing  about  forty 
thousand  volumes. 

General  View  and  Historical  Outline. — A  sum- 
mary of  the  history  of  the  city  and  of  its  dififerent 
stages  of  growth,  with  a  glance  at  its  present  condi- 
tion, will  give  the  reader  a  more  definite  and  durable 
impression  of  such  points  as  he  may  desire  to  retain 
for  his  own  purposes  or  for  the  information  of  others, 
than  he  could  obtain  from  the  best  methodized  and 
most  complete  system  of  details  unaccompanied  by 
such  an  outline.  This  "general  view"  will,  there- 
fore, present  the  epochs  in  the  progress  of  Indianap- 
olis, and  leave  the  details  of  development  in  each  to 
the  chapters  treating  the  different  departments  which 
make  up  the  body  of  its  history. 

The  first  settlement  of  Marion  County  may  be 
safely  dated  in  the  spring  of  1820,  though  there  is  a 
probability  of  the  arrival  of  one  settler  a  year  earlier, 
and  contemporaneously  with  the  Whetzel  (relatives 
of  the  noted  Indian-fighter  of  West  Virginia,  Lewis 
Whetzel)  settlement  at  the  bluffs  of  White  River, 
or,  as  the  Indians  called  it,  Wah-me-ca-me-ca.  In 
the  fall  of  1818  the  Delaware  tribes  by  treaty  ceded 
to  the  United  States  the  region  now  known  as  Cen- 
tral Indiana,  with  a  reservation  of  possession  till 
1821.     Little  more  regard  was  paid  to  Indian  rights 


then  than  since,  and  settlers  began,  with  leave  or 
without  it,  to  take  up  lands  in  the  "  New  Purchase," 
as  it  was  called,  within  six  months  after  the  bargain 
was  made.  By  midsummer,  1820,  there  was  a  little 
village  collected  along  and  near  the  east  bank  of 
White  River,  and  on  the  7th  of  June  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  State  Legislature  selected  it  as  the  site 
of  the  future  capital.  Congress  had  given  the  State, 
on  its  admission  into  the  Union  in  1816,  four  sec- 
tions, or  two  miles  square,  for  a  capital  site,  on  any 
of  the  unsold  lands  of  the  government,  and  at  the 
junction  of  Fall  Creek  and  White  River  the  location 
was  fixed.     The  town  was  laid  out  in  the  summer  of 

1821,  one  mile  square,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
four  sections  divided  round  it  into  "  out-lots."  The 
first  sale  of  lots  was  held  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  the 
proceeds  to  go  to  the  erection  of  such  buildings  as 
the  State  should  require  at  its  capital.  Here  begins 
the  first  stage  of  the  city's  existence. 

First  Period. — From  the  first  undisputed  settle- 
ment in  the  spring  of  1820  to  the  removal  of  the 
State  offices  from  Corydon  in  the  fall  of  1824,  and 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Legislature  the  following 
winter,  a  period  of  nearly  five  years,  Indianapolis  was 
a  pioneer  village,  scattered  about  in  the  dense  woods, 
grievously  troubled  with  chills  and  fever,  and  little 
more  encouraged  for  the  future  than  any  other  little 
county   town.     The    first   newspaper  was  started  in 

1822,  the  next  in  1823  ;  the  first  Sunday-school  in 
1823;  the  first  church  was  built  in  1824;  the  post- 
oifice  opened  in  March,  1822. 

Second  Period. — From  the  arrival  of  the  capital, 
in  a  four-horse  wagon  and  ten  days  from  the  Ohio, 
to  the  completion  of  the  first  railway  in  October, 
1847,  an  interval  of  nearly  twenty-three  years,  the 
town  was  passing  through  its  second  stage.  It  grew 
from  a  village  to  a  respectable  town,  with  several  par- 
tially developed  germs  of  industrie.s,  which  have  since 
become  second  to  very  few  in  the  Union,  and  with  a 
mayor  and  Council  and  the  name  and  airs  of  a  city. 
For  the  first  eleven  years  of  this  period  the  State 
Legislature  met  in  the  county  court-house.  In  1832 
came  the  first  town  government  by  "  trustees," 
changed  to  "  couneilmen"  in  1888,  and  to  "  mayor 
and   Council"   in    1847.     In    1835   the   old   State- 


20 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


House  was  completed,  and  the  first  fire-engine  bought. 
In  1834  the  first  bank  (the  old  State  Bank)  was 
chartered.  In  1832  the  first  manufacturing  enter- 
prise was  put  in  operation,  and  failed  in  a  year  or 
two  more.  The  fir.st  brewery,  tobacco-factory,  linseed- 
oil  mill,  paper-mill,  merchant  flour-mill,  woolen-mill, 
soap-factory,  the  first  pork-packing,  all  date  from 
about  1835  to  1840.  An  iron  foundry  was  at- 
tempted in  1832,  but  failed  very  soon.  In  1842 
the  first  steps  were  taken  to  establish  the  Asylum  for 
the  Insane.  In  1843  the  first  tax  was  levied  to  pre- 
pare for  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  In 
1845  a  similar  levy  was  made  to  establish  the  Asylum 
for  the  Blind.  These  are  all  located  in  or  near  the 
city.  This  was  a  period  of  planting  rather  than 
growth.  The  failure  of  the  "  Internal  Improve- 
ment" system  in  1839  left  the  town  with  a  few 
miles  of  useless  canal.  The  river  was  never  naviga- 
ble except  for  flat-boats  in  spring  freshets.  But  one 
steamer  ever  reached  the  town,  and  it  did  not  get 
back  for  six  months.  There  were  no  means  of  trans- 
portation, natural  or  artificial,  but  dirt-roads  "  cross- 
layed"  or  "  corduroyed,"  and  covered  four-horse 
wagons  hauling  from  Cincinnati  at  a  dollar  a  hun- 
dred. All  this  restriction  of  business  and  inter- 
course changed  a  good  deal  with  the  completion  of 
the  old  Madison  Railroad,  which  had  formed  part  of 
the  State's  system  of  improvements,  and  been  sold  to 
a  company  when  the  State  failed.  Within  a  half- 
dozen  years  came  a  half-dozen  more  railroads,  and 
the  city  entered  what  may  be  called  its  "  third 
period,"  though,  except  in  its  greater  rate  of  progress, 
there  is  little  to  distinguish  it  from  that  which  fol- 
lowed it  and  covers  the  city's  history  to  the  present 
time. 

Third  Period. — From  the  completion  of  the  first 
railroad,  Oct.  1,  1847,  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war  in  April,  18t)l,  a  period  of  thirteen  years 
and  a  half,  there  was  a  decided  quickening  of  the 
city's  energy  and  development.  To  it  belongs  the 
establishment  of  the  free  school  system  in  1853,  and 
the  permanent  establishment  of  all  the  present  lead- 
ing industries  in  iron,  lumber,  grain,  and  pork. 
There  were  the  seeds  and  some  wholesome  sprouts  of 
all   these  before,  but  with   the   opening  of   railroad 


transportation  came  an  impulse  that  made  almost  a 
new  creation.  The  Jefi'ersonville  Railroad,  the  Belle- 
fontaine  (Bee  Line),  the  Vandalia,  and  the  Lafayttte 
were  all  completed  in  1852,  and  portions  of  all  were 
in  operation  a  year  or  two  earlier.  The  Central  (Pan 
Handle)  was  completed  in  1853,  the  Peru  in  1854, 
the  Cincinnati  (now  with  Lafayette  making  Cin- 
cinnati, Indianapolis,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago)  in 
1853,  the  Union  tracks  and  depot  in  1853.  With 
the  concentration  of  the  State's  troops  here  dur- 
ing the  war,  and  the  business  of  all  kinds  requireil 
for  their  care,  equipment,  and  transportation,  came 
a  sudden  force  of  growth  which  compelled  business 
to  betake  itself  to  several  convenient  streets,  when 
previously  it  had  been  confined  mainly  to  Wasli- 
ington  Street  and  the  vicinity  of  the  Union 
Depot.  Population  more  than  doubled  during  this 
period,  from  eight  thousand  in  1850  to  eighteen 
thousand  in  1860,  but  it  nearly  tripled  from  1860  to 
1870.  The  civil  war  and  the  changes  it  forced  or 
aided  may,  therefore,  properly  mark  an  epoch  in  the 
city's  history  and  begin  the  "  fourth  period." 

Fourth  Period. — From  1861  to  1883,  twenty-two 
years,  population  increased  from  forty-eight  thousand 
to  about  ninety-five  thousand,  and  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness increased  in  a  still  larger  proportion.  The  Junc- 
tion, the  Vincennes,  the  Bloomington  and  Western, 
the  St.  Louis,  the  Springfield  and  Decatur,  the  Chi- 
cago Air  Line,  and  the  Belt  Railroads  have  all  been 
built  in  this  period,  and  two  others  projected.  Other 
results  are  better  exhibited  in  a  condensed  state- 
ment of  the  present  condition  of  the  city,  produced 
by  the  changes  and  advances  in  the  sixty-three  years 
covered  by  these  four  periods.  One  form  of  these 
combined  results  may  be  stated  in  the  favorite  boast 
of  the  citizens,  that  "  Indianapolis  is  the  largest 
wholly  inland  city  in  the  United  States."  It  has  not 
and  never  has  had  any  navigable  water  nearer  than 
the  Ohio  and  the  lower  Wabash,  except,  as  already 
remarked,  that  freshets  in  the  river  occasionally  let  a 
few  flat-boats,  loaded  with  grain,  or  whiskey,  or  pork, 
or  poultry,  or  hay,  down  into  the  Mississippi  to  the 
towns  in  the  cotton  and  sugar  region.  But  these 
opportunities  were  uncertain,  and  the  voyages  were 
uncertain  when  opportunities  were  used,  so  that  flat- 


EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 


21 


boating  never  contributed  sensibly  to  the  growth  of 
Indianapolis. 


CHAPTER    III. 

First  Period  —  Early  Settlements — Organization  of  Marion 
County  and  Erection  of  Townships  —  Erection  of  Public 
Buildings — Notable  Events  and  Incidents  of  the  Early  Set- 
tlement and  of  Later  Years — Opening  of  Roads — Original 
Entries  of  Lands  in  the  County. 

Although  the  treaty  of  1818  expressly  conceded 
the  occupancy  of  the  "  New  Purchase,"  as  it  was  called 
by  the  whites,  to  the  Indians  till  1821,  its  profusion  of 
game,  its  fertility,  its  abundance  of  excellent  building 
timber  began  to  allure  settlers  from  the  White  Water 
Valley  before  a  year  had  passed,  and  from  the  Ohio 
River  before  the  reservation  had  expired.  It  will 
give  the  reader  a  suggestion  of  the  natural  attractions 
of  the  country  to  suggest  that  Mr.  William  H.  Jones, 
a  leading  dealer  in  lumber  in  the  city,  aided  when  a 
boy,  in  1824,  in  catching  young  fawns  iu  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  site  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad  depot 
and  of  the  corner  of  West  and  Merrill  Streets ;  that 
Robert  Harding,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  killed  a 
deer  on  the  area  called  the  "  donation"  for  the  first 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  and  barbecue  in  1822  ; 
that  as  late  as  1845  or  later  wild  turkeys  in  their 
migrations  made  a  roost  in  a  large  sugar  grove  tliat 
covered  the  portion  of  the  present  city  site  about 
Meridian,  Illinois,  and  Tennessee  Streets  above  the 
crossing  of  St.  Clair  or  thereabouts.  As  late  as  1845 
a  turkey  scared  from  this  roost  by  hunters  ran  into 
the  city  and  into  the  basement  of  what  was  called  the 
"  Governor's  House,"  in  Circle  Park,  and  was  caught 
there.  Lost  quail  were  frequently  heard  piping  in  the 
back  yards  of  residences.  In  1822  saddles  of  veni- 
Bon  sold  at  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents,  wild  turkeys  at 
ten  to  twelve  and  a  half,  a  bushel  of  wild  pigeons  for 
fwenty-five  cents.  An  early  sketch  of  the  condition 
of  the  country  says,  "  A  traveler  who  ascended  the 
river  a  few  years  prior  to  the  settlement  saw  the  banks 
frequently  dotted  with  wigwams  and  the  stream  en- 
livened by  Indian  canoes.  At  night  parties  for  '  fire- 
hunting'    or   '  fire-fishing'   were  frequent  among  the 


Indians,  and  occasionally  formed  by  thoii-  white  suc- 
cessors." 

The  first  settlers  drawn  to  the  New  Purchase  were 
Jacob  Whetzel  and  his  son  Cyrus.  The  former  was 
the  brother,  the  latter  the  nephew  of  the  noted  scout 
and  Indian-fighter,  Lewis  Whetzel,  or  Wetzel,  dis- 
tinguished in  the  bloody  annals  of  West  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania.  "  The  elder  Whetzel,"  says  Mr.  Now- 
land,  in  his  "  Promment  Citizens,"  "  soon  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  St.  Mary's  treaty  went  to  Ander- 
son, bead  chief  of  the  Delawares,  who  lived  in  the 
large  Delaware  town  named  for  the  chief  and  retain- 
ing the  name  still,  and  from  him  obtained  pormi.ssion 
to  '  blaze  a  trace'  from  the  White  Water  in  Franklin 
County  to  the  Blufi's  of  White  River.'  It  may  be  as 
well  to  explain  for  the  benefit  of  later  settlers  that 
"  blazing"  was  cutting  away  a  large  strip  of  bark  and 
wood  from  a  tree-trunk  on  the  side  next  to  the  pro- 
posed "  trace"  or  road.  Such  a  mark  would  remain 
conspicuous  for  many  months  in  an  interminable 
forest  without  a  sign  of  human  presence  except  that, 
and  a  series  of  them  close  together  along  the  line  of 
a  proposed  road  would  be  a  sure  and  easy  guide  to 
backwoodsmen  or  any  traveler  with  sense  enough  to 
be  trusted  alone.  The  two  Whetzels  came  to  the 
BluiFs  in  the  spring  of  1819,  before  the  government 
surveys  were  completed  or  commenced  in  some  cases. 
Their  settlement  was  a  little  below  the  present  south 
boundary  of  the  county. 

"  The  first  white  residents  of  the  county,"  Mr.  Dun- 
can (before  referred  to)  says,  "  were  Judge  Fabius 
M.  Finch,  his  father  and  family,  who  came  to  the  site 
of  Noblesville  or  near  it  in.  the  spring  of  1819,  '  that 
region  being  then  a  part  of  the  county,  but  separated 
in  a  few  years.  In  the  fidl  of  1818  one  Dr.  Douglass 
came  up  the  river  from  below  to  the  Blufi's,  and  re- 
mained there  a  short  time,  and  in  January,  1819, 
James  Paxton  came  down  the  river  from  the  upper 
waters  to  the  site  of  the  city,  and  came  again  a  year 
later  in  1820.  The  first  settler  in  the  present  area  of 
the  county  will  probably  remain  an  unsettled  ques- 
tion for  all  time,  as  it  was  a  disputed  point  in  1822, 
has  been  ever  since,  and  is  more  peremptorily  disputed 
now  than  ever.  The  prevailing  tradition  is  that 
George  Pogue,  a  blacksmith  from  the  White  Water 


22 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


settlements,  came  here  March  2,  1819,  building  a 
double  log  cabin  on  the  line  of  Michigan  Street  a  little 
way  east  of  the  creek,  on  the  high  ground  bordering 
the  creek  bottom,  and  lived  there  with  his  family, 
the  solitary  occupants  of  Marion  County  within  its 
present  limits,  till  the  27th  of  the  following  February, 
when  John  and  James  McCormick  arrived  with  their 
families  and  built  cabins  on  the  river  bank  near  the 
old  National  road  bridge.  The  priority  of  settlement 
lies  between  these  families  and  Mr.  Pogue's.  Within 
a  few  months  past  one  William  H.  White,  of  Han- 
cock County,  claims  that  he  was  born  on  the  city  site 
Oct.  4,  1819,  near  where  Odd-Fellows'  Hall  now 
stands,  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Pennsyl- 
vania Streets.  Old  settlers  as  early  as  1820-21 
have  no  recollection  of  any  account  of  such  an  occur- 
rence, and  births  were  too  rare  in  those  days  to  allow 
the  first  one  in  the  county  or  any  suggestion  of  it, 
however  vague  or  doubtful,  to  be  forgotten.  The  im- 
pression seems  to  be  that  Mr.  White  has  been  misled 
by  some  accidental  confusion  or  by  the  failing 
memory  of  his  relatives.  He  may  be  right,  but  he 
is  distrusted  by  settlers  who  arrived  here  within  a 
year  of  the  alleged  occurrence,  and  discredited  by 
the  opportunities  of  knowing  the  truth  of  many  who 
arrived  within  two  years  and  repel  his  claim. 

In  the  summer  of  1822,  a  little  more  than  a  year 
after  Pogue's  death.  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell,  the  old- 
est physician  in  the  place,  published  in  the  Gazette, 
the  first  paper  in  the  place,  a  discussion  of  the  pre- 
tensions of  Pogue  to  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
settler,  in  which  he  maintained  that  the  McCormicks 
were  the  first,  and  that  Pogue  came  a  month  later, 
about  the  time. the  Maxwells  and  Cowan  came.  No 
reply  was  made  to  this  direct  attack  on  the  general 
opinion  of  the  settlers,  which  certainly  suggests  a 
reasonable  probability  that  its  statement  was  indis- 
putable, and  that  the  tradition  of  a  general  concur- 
rence in  awarding  Pogue  the  credit  is  ill-founded. 
But  there  comes  in  here  the  countervailing  considera- 
tion that  the  pioneers  of  the  backwoods  were  little 
given  to  glorifying  the  pen  or  looking  to  the  papers 
for  instruction.  Nobody  may  have  been  disposed  to 
take  the  trouble  to  contradict  what  he  knew  nobody 
but  Mitchell  believed,  or  he  may,  very  fixirly,  have 


concluded  that  in  a  little  two-year-old  village  in  the 
woods  it  would  be  less  trouble  to  contradict  the  story 
"  by  word  of  mouth"  to  every  man  in  the  place  than 
to  attempt  so  unusual  a  feat  as  writing  for  the  papers. 
But  this  early  and  public  contest  of  Pogue's  claim  by 
an  intelligent  man,  at  a  time  when  there  could  hardly 
have  been  an  adult,  male  or  female,  who  did  not  know 
the  truth,  creates  a  strong  doubt  against  the  current 
of  tradition.  The  probability  inclines  to  Mrs.  Pogue's 
statement  at  an  "  Old  Settlers'  "  meeting  in  1854,  as 
Mr.  Robert  B.  Duncan  remembers  it.  She  was  more 
than  fourscore  years  old  then,  but  her  memory  of 
early  events  seemed  clear  and  accurate.  She  said 
that  her  husband  and  family  came  here  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1820,  and  the  McCormicks  came  on  the  7th 
of  the  same  month.  This  seems  to  be  final  as  to  the 
first  settlement  being  made  in  1820  instead  of  1819, 
as  has  generally  been  believed,  whether  it  settles  the 
question  of  individual  pi'iority  or  not.  Where  two  or 
three  families  arrive  at  a  place  in  a  primeval  forest 
within  four  or  five  days  of  each  other,  and  a  mile  or 
two  apart,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  each  set  of  the  sepa- 
rated settlers  may  suppose  itself  the  first.  Virtually 
they  are  simultaneous  arrivals,  and  the  truth,  or  at 
least  the  probability,  of  history  compromises  this 
long-mooted  question  by  concluding  that  the  Pogues 
and  McCormicks  were  all  first  settlers. 

Whether  Pogue  was  the  first  man  to  live  here  or 
not,  he  was  certainly  the  first  to  die  here.  Mr.  Now- 
land's  description  of  the  man  and  account  of  his  death 
so  strikingly  exhibit  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
time  and  country  that  it  is  reproduced  here.  "  George 
Pogue  was  a  large,  broad-shouldered,  and  stout  man, 
with  dark  hair,  eyes,  and  complexion,  about  fifty  years 
of  age,  and  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  His  dress 
was  like  that  of  a  Pennsylvania  Dutchman,  a  drab 
overcoat  with  many  capes,  and  a  broad-brimmed  felt 
hat.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and  the  first  of  that  trade 
to  enter  the  '  New  Purchase.'  To  look  at  the  man  as 
we  saw  him  last,  one  would  think  he  was  not  afraid  to 
meet  a  whole  camp  of  Delawares  in  battle  array,  which 
fearlessness,  in  fact,  was  most  probably  the  cause  of 
his  death.  One  evening  about  twilight  a  straggling 
Indian,  known  to  the  settlers  as  well  as  to  the  In- 
dians as  Wyandotte  John,  stopped  at  the  cabin  of  Mr. 


EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 


23 


Pogue  and  asked  to  stay  all  night.  Mr.  Pogue  did 
not  like  to  keep  him,  but  thought  it  best  not  to  refuse, 
as  the  Indian  was  known  to  be  a  bad  and  very  des- 
perate man,  having  left  his  own  tribe  in  Ohio  for  some 
oflFense,  and  was  now  wandering  among  the  various 
Indiana  tribes.  His  principal  lodging-place  the  pre- 
vious winter  was  a  hollow  sycamore  log  that  lay  under 
the  bluff  and  just  above  the  east  end  of  the  National 
road  bridge  over  White  River.  (Above  the  site  of 
the  bridge,  Mr.  Nowland  means,  as  the  bridge  was  not 
buUt  for  more  than  ten  years  after.)  On  the  upper 
side  of  the  log  he  had  hooks,  made  by  cutting  the 
forks  or  limbs  of  bushes,  on  which  he  rested  his  gun. 
At  the  open  end  of  the  log  next  to  the  water  he 
built  his  fire,  which  rendered  his  domicile  as  comfort- 
able as  most  of  the  cabins.  After  John  was  furnished 
with  something  to  eat,  Mr.  Pogue,  knowing  him  to  be 
traveling  from  one  Indian  camp  to  another,  inquired 
if  he  had  seen  any  white  man's  horses  at  any  of  the 
camps.  John  said  ho  had  left  a  camp  of  Delawares 
that  morning,  describing  the  place  to  be  on  Buck 
Creek,  about  twelve  miles  east,  and  near  where  the 
Rushville  State  road  crosses  that  creek  ;  that  he  had 
seen  horses  there  with  iron  hoofs  (they  had  been 
shod),  and  described  the  horses  so  minutely  as  to  lead 
Mr.  Pogue  to  believe  they  were  his.  Although  the 
horses  were  described  so  accurately,  Mr.  Pogue  was 
afraid  that  it  was  a  deception  to  lure  him  into  the 
woods,  and  mentioned  his  suspicions  to  his  family. 
When  the  Indian  left  the  next  morning  he  took  a 
direction  towards  the  river,  where  nearly  all  the  set- 
tlement was.  Pogue  followed  him  for  some  distance 
to  see  whether  he  would  turn  his  course  towards  the 
Indian  camps,  but  found  that  he  kept  directly  on 
towards  the  river.  Mr.  Pogue  returned  to  his  cabin 
and  told  his  family  he  was  going  to  the  Indian  camp 
for  his  horses.  He  took  his  gun,  and  with  his  dog 
set  out  on  foot  for  the  Delaware  camp,  and  was  never 
afterwards  seen  or  heard  of.  We  remember  that  there 
were  a  great  many  conflicting  stories  about  his  clothes 
and  horses  being  seen  in  possession  of  the  Indians, 
all  of  which  were  untrue.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Wyandotte  told  Mr.  Pogue  the  truth  in 
regard  to  the  horses,  and  in  his  endeavor  to  get  pos- 
session of  them  had  a  difficulty  with  the  Delawares 


and  was  killed,  at  least  that  was  the  prevailing  opinion 
at  the  time.  Nothing  has  ever  been  learned  of  his 
fate  to  this  day,  further  than  that  he  was  never  seen 
or  heard  of  again,  though  the  settlers  formed  a  com- 
pany to  search  all  the  Indian  camps  about  within  fifty 
miles  to  find  some  indication  that  might  lead  to  a 
clearing  up  of  the  mystery."  Pogue's  Creek,  once 
the  pride  and  now  the  pest  of  the  city,  takes  its  name 
from  the  proto-martyr,  if  not  proto-settler,  of  the  city 
and  county. 

Within  a  week  or  two  after  the  arrival  of  the  Mc- 
Cormicks,  John  Maxwell  and  John  Cowan  came  and 
built  on  the  high  ground  near  the  present  crossing  of 
the  Crawfordsville  road  over  Fall  Creek,  very  near  the 
site  of  the  City  Hospital.  During  the  following 
three  months  a  number  of  new-comers  arrived,  and 
settled  principally  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river.  Those 
best  remembered  are  the  Davis  brothers  (  Henry  and 
Samuel),  Isaac  Wilson  (who  built  the  first  cabin  on 
what  was  afterwards  the  old  town  plat  in  May),  Robert 
Harding,  Mr.  Barnhill,  Mr.  Corbaley,  Mr.  "Van  Blari- 
cum.  About  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  last  of  this 
first  group  of  pioneers  the  State  capital  was  located  here 
by  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature 
for  that  purpose. 

When  the  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union, 
April  19,  1816,  a  donation  of  four  sections — four 
square  miles — was  made  by  Congress  for  the  site  of 
a  capital,  to  be  located  wherever  the  State  might 
choose  upon  unsold  lands  of  the  government.  No 
selection  had  been  made  or  attempted  in  the  four 
years  since  the  State's  admission.  The  capital,  which 
had  been  kept  at  Vincennes  by  Governor  Harrison 
during  his  administration  as  Territorial  Governor, 
from  1801  to  1812,  was  removed  to  Corydon,  Harri- 
son Co.,  by  the  Legislature,  May  1,  1813,  and  re- 
mained there  till  its  permanent  settlement  here  in 
the  fall  of  1824.  On  the  llth  of  January,  1820, 
the  Legislature  appointed  ten  commissioners  to  make 
selection  of  a  site  for  a  permanent  capital.  They 
were  John  Tipton  (an  old  ludian  trader),  John  Con- 
ner (brother  of  William  above  referred  to,  and  like 
him  reared  from  childhood  among  the  Indians,  the 
founder  of  Connersville),  George  Hunt,  John  Gilli- 
land,  Stephen  Ludlow,  Joseph  Bartholomew,  Jesse 


24 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


B.  Durham,  Frederick  Rapp,  William  Prince,  Thomas 
Emerson.  They  were  ordered  to  meet  at  Conner's 
place  (north  of  the  city)  early  in  the  spring.  Appar- 
ently only  half  of  them  served,  as  only  five  votes 
were  given  in  determining  the  selection.  But  Mr. 
Nowland  says  there  were  nine  when  the  party  got  to 
Conner's,  Mr.  Prince  alone  being  unable  to  attend. 
If  this  is  correct  there  must  have  been  four  commis- 
sioners who  did  not  like  any  of  the  sites  examined 
and  declined  to  vote.  A  part  of  them  met  at  Vin- 
cennes  about  the  middle  of  May,  1820,  and  were 
joined  there  by  the  father  and  uncle  of  Mr.  Nowland, 
who  were  on  their  way  to  Kentucky  from  Illinois, 
but  were  persuaded  to  accompany  the  commissioners. 
The  party  ascended  the  river  to  the  Bluflfs,  where 
the  Whetzels  had  settled  the  year  before  and  had 
been  joined  by  four  or  five  other  families.  After 
resting  a  day  at  this  point  and  making  an  examina- 
tion of  it,  they  came  on  up  to  the  mouth  of  Fall 
Creek,  and  remained  a  day,  some  of  them  expressing 
themselves  pleased  with  the  country  and  disposed  to 
put  the  capital  here.  Mr.  Nowland  told  the  commis- 
sioners that  if  the  location  were  made  here  he  would 
move  out  in  the  fall,  and  do  all  he  could  to  induce 
other  Kentuckians  to  join  him.  The  mouth  of  Fall 
Creek  had  been  the  customary  place  of  crossing  the 
river  by  the  whites  ever  since  the  White  River  Valley 
had  been  known  to  them.  Mr.  Nowland  (the  author) 
says  that  Lieut,  (afterwards  General  and  President) 
Taylor  told  him  that  he  had  crossed  the  river  here 
with  his  force  when  going  from  Louisville  to  the  Wa- 
bash to  build  Fort  Harrison,  now  Terra  Haute,  in 
1811.  While  the  force  was  here  Col.  Abel  C.  Pep- 
per, United  States  Marshal  of  the  State  under  Taylor, 
met  Tecumseh,  who  was  on  a  mission  to  the  Dela- 
wares,  doubtless  to  induce  them  to  join  his  combina- 
tion against  the  whites.  The  party  went  on  to 
Conner's,  some  sixteen  miles  north,  as  before  stated, 
and  examined  the  situation  there.  One  or  two 
seemed  to  favor  it,  but  the  whole  party  returned  here, 
and  after  re-examining  the  country,  decided  on  the 
7th  of  June,  1820,  by  vote  of  three  to  two,  for  the 
Bluffs,  to  locate  the  capital  here.  On  the  6th  of 
January  following,  1821,  the  selection  was  approved 
by  the  Legislature  and  the  location  decided  irrevocably. 


The  commissioners  reported  that  they  had  selected 
Sections  1  and  12,  east  and  west  fractional  sections 
numbered  2,  east  fractional  section  numbered  1 1 , 
and  so  much  of  the  east  part  of  west  fractional  sec- 
tion numbered  3,  to  be  set  off  by  a  line  north  and 
south,  as  will  complete  the  donation  of  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Township  15, 
Range  3  east.  The  Legislature,  after  approving  the 
location,  named  the  future  city  and  capital  Indianapo- 
lis, the  "  city  of  Indiana."  The  name  was  suggested 
by  the  late  Judge  Jeremiah  Sullivan,  in  the  com- 
mittee charged  with  the  preparation  of  the  confirma- 
tory bill.  He  gave  an  interesting  account  of  the 
affair  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Baker,  which  may  be 
pertinently  introduced  here : 

"  I  have  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  the  great 
diversity  of  opinion  that  prevailed  as  to  the  name 
by  which  the  new  town  should  receive  legislative 
baptism.  The  bill,  if  I  remember  aright,  was  re- 
ported by  Judge  Polk,  and  was  in  the  main  very 
acceptable.  A  blank,  of  course,  was  left  for  the 
name  of  the  town  that  was  to  become  the  seat  of 
government,  and  during  the  two  or  three  days  we 
spent  in  endeavoring  to  fill  the  blank  there  wa.^ 
in  the  debate  some  sharpness  and  much  amuse- 
ment. Gen.  Marston  G.  Clark,  of  Washington 
County,  proposed  '  Tecumseh'  as  the  name,  and 
very  earnestly  insisted  on  its  adoption.  When  it 
failed  he  suggested  other  Indian  names,  which  I 
have  forgotten.  They  all  were  rejected.  A  member 
proposed  '  Suwarrow,'  which  met  with  no  favor. 
Other  names  were  proposed,  discussed,  laughed  at, 
and  voted  down,  and  the  House,  without  coming  to 
any  agreement,  adjourned  until  the  next  day.  There 
were  many  amusing  things  said,  but  my  remem- 
brance of  them  is  not  sufficiently  distinct  to  state 
them  with  accuracy.  I  had  gone  to  Corydon  with 
the  intention  of  proposing  Indianapolis  as  the  name 
of  the  town,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  adjourn- 
ment above  mentioned,  or  the  next  morning,  I  sug- 
gested to  Mr.  Samuel  Merrill,  the  representative 
from  Switzerland  County,  the  name  I  proposed. 
He  at  once  adopted  it,  and  said  he  would  support 
it.  We  together  called  on  Governor  Jennings,  who 
had  been  a  witness  of  the  amusing  proceedings  the 


EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 


25 


day  previous,  and  told  him  what  conclusion  we  had 
come  to,  and  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the 
Dame.  He  gave  us  to  understand  that  he  favored 
it,  and  that  he  would  not  hesitate  to  so  express  him- 
self When  the  House  met  and  went  into  com- 
mittee on  the  bill,  I  moved  to  fill  the  blank  with 
Indianapolis.  The  name  created  quite  a  laugh.  Mr. 
Merrill,  however,  seconded  the  motion.  We  dis- 
cussed the  matter  fully,  gave  our  reasons  in  sup- 
port of  the  proposition,  the  members  conversed  with 
each  other  informally  in  regard  to  it,  and  the  name 
gradually  commended  itself  to  the  committee,  and 
was  adopted.  The  principal  reason  in  favor  of  adopt- 
ing the  name  proposed — to  wit.  that  the  Greek  ter- 
mination would  indicate  to  all  the  world  the  locality 
of  the  town — was,  I  am  sure,  the  reason  that  over- 
came the  opposition  to  the  name.  The  town  was 
finally  named  Indianapolis  with  but  little  if  any  op- 
position." One  may  well  feel  puzzled  to  understand 
the  force  exerted  by  the  argument  that  "  the  Greek 
termination  of  the  name  would  indicate  the  locality 
of  the  town."  The  termination  means  "  city,"  and 
that  is  all.  The  other  half  of  the  name  would  in- 
dicate locality  though,  and  the  combination  would 
fairly  enough  suggest  a  State  capital,  so  that  its  apt- 
ness is  evident,  whether  the  argument  that  secured  it 
was  sound  or  not. 

By  the  same  act  of  approval  and  naming  the  new 
capital  the  Legislature  appointed  Christopher  Harri- 
son (no  relative  of  the  general's),  James  Jones,  and 
Samuel  P.  Booker  commissioners  to  lay  oif  the  town. 
They  were  directed  to  meet  on  the  site  on  the  first 
Monday  of  April,  1821,  to  perform  that  duty,  and 
make  plats  or  maps  of  the  town,  one  for  the  Secretary 
of  State  and  one  for  the  State  agent.  They  were 
also  to  advertise  and  hold  a  sale  of  the  lots  as  soon  as 
practicable,  reserving  the  alternate  lots.  The  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  were  to  be  used  in  erecting  the 
buildings  required  by  the  government.  Harrison  was 
the  only  one  of  the  commissioners  who  attempted  to 
perform  his  duties.  He  was  a  Marylander  by  birth, 
a  very  eccentric  man,  of  excellent  education  and  cul- 
tivated tastes,  who  came  to  Southern  Indiana  early 
in  the  century,  and  some  years  after  the  completion 
of  his  work  as  commissioner  returned  to  Maryland, 


and  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.  It  is  said  on  good  au- 
thority that  he  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Patterson,  a  noted  belle  of  Baltimore,  but 
the  attentions  of  Prince  Jerome  Bonaparte  over- 
powered her  scruples  and  her  fiiith,  and  she  married 
the  brother  of  the  great  Corsicau,  only  to  find  herself 
repudiated  by  him  and  excluded  from  the  ambition 
that  had  betrayed  her.  Mr.  Harrison  came  to  Jeffer- 
son County  about  1804,  and  lived  there  the  life  of 
a  hermit  with  his  dogs  and  books  for  several  years, 
then  removed  to  Salem,  Washington  Co.,  and  there 
his  rare  attainments — rare  in  the  backwoods  at 
least — and  his  abilities  forced  him  into  public  life, 
and  finally  into  the  position  of  founder  of  the  city  of 
Indianapolis.  He  came  to  the  little  yearling  village 
at  the  time  appointed,  and  selected  as  surveyors  Alex- 
ander Ralston  and  Elias  P.  Fordham,  with  Benjamin 
I.  Blythe  as  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners. 

Mr.  Blythe  lived  to  an  advanced  age  in  the  city, 
and  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  enterprising  men 
who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  city's  pork-packing 
prosperity.  Of  Mr.  J^ordham  little  appears  to  have 
been  known  at  the  time,  and  nothing  can  be  learned 
now.  Ralston  was  a  Scotchman,  a  man  of  marked 
ability  and  rare  attainments  as  well  as  high  chaiacter. 
When  quite  young  he  had  been  employed  in  assist- 
ing the  laying  out  of  Washington  City,  and  may  have 
got  then  the  preference  for  wide  streets  and  oblique 
avenues  which  he  exhibited  so  signally  and  benefi- 
cially here.  He  became  associated  with  Burr's  expe- 
dition, presumably  in  ignorance  of  its  real  character, 
as  most  of  the  conspirator's  following  were,  came  West 
in  connection  with  it,  and  remained  when  it  failed. 
He  remained  in  Indianapolis  after  completing  his 
work,  and  in  1825  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature 
to  survey  White  River  and  make  an  estimate  of  the 
expense  of  removing  the  drifts  and  snags  and  other 
obstructions  to  navigation,  and  reported  the  following 
winter.  He  built  a  brick  residence  on  West  Mary- 
land Street,  a  half-square  west  of  Tennessee,  and  lived 
there  till  his  death,  early  in  1827.  He  was  buried 
in  the  "  Old  Cemetery,"  and  his  grave  was  long  un- 
known. A  few  years  ago,  however,  some  old  resi- 
dents made  a  close  examination  and  found  it,  or  were 
confident  they  had. 


26 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


The  Indiana  Journal  of  Jan.  9,  1827,  contained 
an  obituary  notice  of  him,  which  from  his  prom- 
inence in  the  settlement  may  be  reproduced  here. 
He  died  on  the  5th,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  "  Mr. 
Ralston  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  but  emigrated 
early  in  life  to  America.  He  lived  many  years  at 
the  city  of  Washington,  then  at  Louisville,  Ky., 
afterwards  near  Salem,  in  this  State,  and  for  the  last 
five  years  in  this  place.  His  earliest  and  latest  occu- 
pation in  the  United  States  was  surveying,  in  which 
he  was  long  employed  by  the  government  at  Wash- 
ington, and  his  removal  to  this  place  was  occasioned 
by  his  appointment  to  make  the  original  survey  of  it. 
During  the  intervening  period  merchandise  and  agri- 
culture engaged  his  attention.  In  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  he  was  our  county  surveyor,  and  his  leisure  time 
was  employed  in  attending  to  a  neat  garden,  in  which 
various  useful  and  ornamental  plants,  fruit,  etc.,  were 
carefully  cultivated.  Mr.  Ralston  was  successful  in 
his  profession,  honest  in  his  dealings,  gentlemanly  in 
his  deportment,  a  liberal  and  hospitable  citizen,  and 
a  sincere  and  ardent  friend.  He  had  experienced 
much  both  of  the  pleasures  and  pains  incident  to 
human  life.  The  respect  and  esteem  of  the  generous 
and  good  were  always  awarded  to  him,  and  he  found 
constant  satisfaction  in  conferring  favors,  not  only  on 
his  own  species,  but  even  on  the  humblest  of  the 
brute  creation  ;  he  would  not  willingly  set  foot  upon 
a  worm.  But  his  unsuspecting  nature  made  him 
liable  to  imposition  ;  his  sanguine  expectations  were 
often  disappointed.  His  independent  spirit  some- 
times provoked  opposition,  and  his  extreme  sensi- 
bility was  frequently  put  to  the  severest  trials. 
Though  he  stood  alone  among  us  in  respect  to 
family,  his  loss  will  be  long  lamented."  Mr.  Now- 
land  adds  that  the  old  bachelor's  house  "  was  kept 
for  him  by  a  colored  woman  named  Chaney  Lively," 
who  was  the  second  colored  person  in  the  place.  Dr. 
Mitchell  brought  the  first,  a  boy  named  Ephraim 
Ensaw.  These  were  the  first  colored  residents,  but 
a  colored  man  came  out  with  Mr.  Maxwell  in  1820, 
and  remained  here  a  few  months.  His  name  was 
Aaron  Wallace,  and  a  few  years  ago  he  returned  here 
to  reside  permanently,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
sixty  years.     "  Aunt  Chaney,"  as  she  was  called,  was 


well  known  to  the  South  Side  school-boys  forty-five 
or  fifty  years  ago.  Her  residence  was  the  north- 
west corner  of  Maryland  and  Meridian  Streets.  She 
married  a  barber  named  Britton. 

On  the  completion  of  the  surveying  force,  work 
was  begun  at  once  in  marking  out  the  sections  and 
fractions  selected  by  the  locating  commissioners  in 
June,  1820.  The  whole  donation  lay  upon  the  east 
bank  of  the  river  except  a  fractional  section  on  the 
west  bank,  where  Indianola  stands.  A  plat  of  one 
mile  square  was  set  in  the  middle  of  the  donation, 
and  almost  in  the  middle  of  the  plat  the  Circle  was 
placed,  to  be  made  the  site  of  the  Grovernor's  resi- 
dence. It  was  not  used  for  that  purpose,  however, 
though  a  large  house  was  erected  there  in  1827  at 
considerable  expense,  some  six  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  publicity  of  the  situation  made  it  un- 
desirable as  a  family  residence,  and  it  was  used  ex- 
clusively as  rooms  for  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  State  auditor  and  engineer,  the  State 
Library  and  State  Bank,  and  occasionally  for  local 
or  individual  purposes.  It  was  proposed  at  one 
time  to  add  wings  on  each  side  and  make  a  State- 
House  of  it.  It  was  sold  as  old  building  material  in 
April,  1857,  for  six  hundred  and  sixty-five  dollars, 
and  torn  down  and  carried  ofi"  in  the  last  days  of  the 
same  month.  The  Circle  was  not  put  in  the  centre 
of  the  donation,  because  if  the  centre  of  the  town 
had  corresponded  with  the  centre  of  the  donation,  it 
would  have  thrown  too  much  of  the  central  portion 
of  the  town  plat  into  the  valley  of  Pogue's  Creek. 
The  point  where  the  four  sections  of  the  donation 
"  corner"  is  about  ten  feet  west  and  five  feet  south  of 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  lot  occupied  by  the  Occi- 
dental Hotel.  The  Circle  was  set  nearly  a  square 
east  and  two  squares  north  for  the  purpose  stated. 
A  natural  elevation  at  this  point,  thickly  covered 
with  a  growth  of  tall  straight  sugar-trees,  aided  its 
nearly  central  situation  iu  making  it  the  centre  of  the 
original  town  plat.  It  contains  between  three  and 
four  acres,  and  is  surrounded  by  an  eighty-feet  street. 

Extending  north  and  south  from  the  Circle  on  a 
meridian  line  is  Meridian  Street,  and  crossing  the 
latter  from  east  to  west  is  Market  Street,  both  carried 
to  the  limits  of  the  city,  except   the  west  end  of 


EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 


27 


Market,  which  is  blocked  at  Blackford  Street.  Par- 
allel with  Market  and  one  square  south  is  Washing- 
ton Street,  the  main  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  wide.  The  whole  plat,  one 
mile  square,  is  surrounded  by  ninety-feet  streets, 
called  respectively,  from  their  location,  North,  South, 
East,  and  West.  The  area  inside  these  limits  is  di- 
vided into  eighty-nine  blocks  and  fractions  by  nine 
streets  north  to  south  and  nine  east  to  west,  each 
ninety  feet  wide  except  Washington.  The  blocks 
are  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  square,  and  are 
divided  into  four  equal  parts,  each  containing  one 
acre,  by  alleys  fifteen  feet  wide  running  north  and 
south,  and  thirty  feet  running  east  and  west.  All  of 
the  streets,  except  the  two  central  ones  meeting  at 
the  Circle,  the  main  street,  and  the  four  bounding 
the  plat,  are  named  for  the  States  of  the  Union  in 
1821.  The  most  marked  features  of  the  original  de- 
sign of  the  city  are  the  Circle  and  the  avenues  radi- 
ating from  it,  and  starting  at  the  corners  most  re- 
mote from  it  of  the  four  blocks  that  adjoin  it. 
These  are  named  for  States  like  the  others.  The 
squares  are  broken  by  six  fractions  and  three  con- 
siderable irregular  tracts  in  Pogue's  Run  Valley,  so 
that  the  number  of  completed  squares  is  only  eighty- 
nine.  The  intersections  of  the  streets  would  have 
made  one  hundred  if  completion  had  been  possible. 
Three  lots  were  made  of  each  quarter  of  a  square  or 
acre,  giving  to  each  lot  of  the  original  plat  one-third 
of  an  acre.  Few  of  these  now  retain  their  original 
dimensions.  They  were  sixty-seven  and  one-half 
feet  wide  on  the  streets  by  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  feet  deep,  being  longer  where  they  abutted  upon 
the  narrow  alleys.  The  half-mile  of  the  donation 
lying  all  round  the  mile  square  in  the  middle  of  it, 
except  on  the  river  side,  was  not  platted.  In  1822 
the  Legislature  ordered  the  fraction  west  of  the  river 
to  be  laid  off  in  tracts  of  five  to  twenty  acres  by  the 
State  agent,  and  in  1831  he  was  ordered  to  lay  off  all 
the  remainder  of  the  donation,  some  nineteen  hun- 
dred acres,  into  lots  of  two  to  fifty  acres,  and  sell 
them  at  a  minimum  price  of  ten  dollars  an  acre. 
These  were  used  chiefly  for  farming  purposes  and 
pastures  till  the  growth  of  the  city  began  to  overrun 
them.     It  was  never  imagined  that  the  city  or  town 


would  extend  to  these  exterior  lots  at  all,  and  that 
they  should  be  covered  by  it  would  have  been  as  in- 
credible as  an  Arabian  Night  tale.  Now  the  city 
covers  nearly  three  times  the  area  of  tiie  donation. 
The  four  streets  bounding  the  old  plat — North, 
South,  East,  and  West — were  not  in  it  at  first,  but 
were  put  there  at  the  solicitation  of  James  Blake, 
who  represented  to  Commissioner  Harrison  the  ad- 
vantages such  streets  would  be  as  public  drives  and 
promenades  when  the  town  grew  up. 

The  act  of  the  Legislature  creating  the  commission 
to  lay  off  the  town  required  the  appointment  of  an 
agent  of  the  State  at  six  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  a 
term  of  three  years,  who  was  to  live  at  Indianapolis 
and  attend  to  the  disposal  of  the  lots.  Gen.  John 
Carr  was  the  first  agent.  The  place  was  subsequently 
held  by  several  persons,  among  them  James  Milroy, 
Bethuel  F.  Morris,  Ebenezer  Sharpe,  B.  I.  Blythe, 
clerk  of  the  commission,  Thomas  H.  Sharpe,  and 
John  Cook.  The  duties  were  finally  transferred  to 
the-Secretary  of  State.  The  commissioners,  or  rather 
one  of  them,  having  completed  the  survey  and  plat, 
advertised  the  first  sale  for  the  second  Monday  in 
October,  1821,  and  it  took  place  at  the  tavern  of  Mat- 
thias Nowland,  father  of  John  H.  B.,  author  of 
"  Prominent  Citizens  of  Indianapolis."  This  stood 
near  Washington  Street,  west  of  Missouri;  and  at 
the  request  of  the  State  agent,  Mr.  Nowland  had 
built  an  addition  to  serve  as  an  office.  Oct.  9, 1821, 
was  "  a  raw,  cold  day,"  says  a  sketch  of  the  city's 
early  history  written  some  twenty-five  years  or  more 
ago ;  "  a  high  wind  prevailed,  and  a  man  in  attend- 
ance came  near  being  killed  by  a  falling  limb."  The 
town  was  very  much  crowded.  Strangers  from  vari- 
ous quarters  had  come  to  settle  in  the  new  place  or 
to  secure  property.  The  three  taverns,  kept  by 
Hawkins,  Carter,  and  Nowland,  were  crowded,  and 
in  many  cases  the  citizens  were  called  upon  to  share 
their  homes  with  the  new-comers  till  they  could  erect 
cabins.  The  bidding  at  the  sale  was  quite  spirited, 
and,  considering  the  position  and  advantages  of  the 
settlement,  high  prices  were  obtained  in  some  cases. 
"  The  reservation  of  alternate  lots  was  begun  by  the 
commissioner  by  reserving  lot  No.  1."  The  best 
sales  were  north  and  east  of  the  bulk  of  the  settle- 


28 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


ment,  which  was  on  and  near  the  river,  owing  to 
the  prevalence  of  chills  and  fever  the  summer  before, 
when  everybody,  old  and  young,  was  down  at  one 
time  or  another,  except  Enoch  Banks,  Thomas 
Chinn,  and  Nancy  Hendricks.  This  visitation  gave 
an  eastern  impulse  to  settlement,  and  accounts  for 
the  higher  prices  of  lots  more  remote  from  the  river. 
The  number  of  lots  sold  amounted  to  three  hundred 
and  fourteen,  mostly  in  the  central  and  northern  parte 
of  the  plat,  and  the  total  value  of  the  sales  was  thirty- 
five  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety -six  dollars  and 
twenty-five  cents.  The  highest  price  brought  by  a 
single  lot  was  by  the  lot  on  Washington  Street,  west 
of  the  Court-House  Square,  which  brought  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  dollars.  That  on  the  same  street, 
west  of  the  State- House  Square,  brought  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  intervening  lots  sold  from  one 
hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars  each.  The  condi- 
tions of  the  sale  required  the  payment  of  one-fifth  of 
the  purchase-money  down,  and  the  remainder  in  four 
equal  annual  installments. 

The  sales  continued  a  week,  and  the  amount  paid 
down  was  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents.  Thomas  Carter  was  auc- 
tioneer, and  the  late  James  M.  Ray  clerk  of  these  first 
sales.  Not  a  few  of  these  lots  are  now  worth  one  thou- 
sand dollars  a  front  foot,  some  are  worth  more.  "  Out- 
lots"  that  were  sold  at  first  for  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty 
dollars  could  not  be  bought  now  for  as  many  thou- 
sands, in  some  cases  twice  that.  Of  the  lots  purchased 
at  this  first  sale,  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  were 
afterwards  forfeited,  or  the  payments  made  on  one  lot 
were  transferred  to  another,  under  an  act  passed  a  little 
later  "  for  the  relief  of  purchasers  of  lots  in  Indian- 
apolis." The  early  sketch  already  referred  to  says, 
"  These  forfeited  lots  and  the  reserved  lots  were  once 
or  twice  afterwards  offered  at  public  sale,  and  kept 
open  for  purchase  all  the  time.  But  prices  became 
depressed,  money  scarce,  sickness  caused  general  de- 
spondency, and  for  several  years  after  the  winter  of 
1821-22  there  were  but  few  lots  sold.  The  amount 
of  cash  reserved  by  the  State  for  donation  lands  up 
to  1842  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars."  This  the  law  made  a  public  build- 
ing fund,  out  of  which  was  erected  a  State-House, 


court-house.  Governor's  house  (in  the  Circle),  treas- 
urer's house  and  office,  office  of  clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  a  ferryman's  house  at  the  foot  of  Wash- 
ington Street. 

The  settlers  brought  to  the  new  capital  by  the  re- 
port of  its  selection  for  that  purpose  speedily  trebled 
its  population,  and  more.  During  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1820  there  came  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell, 
John  and  James  Givan  (among  the  first  merchants  I, 
William  or  Wilkes  Reagan,  Matthias  Nowland,  James 
M.  Ray,  James  Blake,  Nathaniel  Cox,  Thomas 
Anderson,  John  Hawkins,  Dr.  Livingston  Dunlap, 
Daniel  Yandes,  David  Wood,  Col.  Alexander  W. 
Russell,  Dr.  Isaac  Coe,  Douglass  Maguire,  and  others 
unnamed  and  not  easily  identified  as  to  the  time 
of  arrival.  Morris  Morris  is  said  by  one  of  these 
early  sketches  to  have  come  here  in  1819,  in  the  fall 
(probably  inadvertently  for  1820),  when  he  came  only 
in  the  fall  of  1821.  Mr.  Nowland  says  that  James 
M.  Ray,  James  Blake,  Daniel  Yandes,  the  Givans, 
Dr.  Mitchell,  Dr.  Coe,  Dr.  Dunlap,  Col.  Russell  came 
the  following  spring  and  summer,  1821,  and  with 
them  Daniel  Shaffer,  the  first  merchant,  who  died  in 
the  summer  of  1821,  Robert  Wilmot,  and  Calvin 
Fletcher,  the  first  lawyer.  It  is  impossible  now  to 
make  a  complete  list  of  the  settlers  up  to  the  layini: 
out  of  the  town  and  the  first  sale  of  lots,  but  with 
the  help  of  such  records  as  have  been  made,  and  such 
memories  as  are  accessible,  a  muster-roll  of  consid- 
erable interest  can  be  made : 

George  Pogue  (blacksmith),  possibly,  1819,  spring. 

Fabius  M.  Finch  (lawyer),  1819,  summer. 

John  McCormick  (tavern),  1820,  spring. 

James  McCormick,  1820,  spring. 

John  Maxwell  ('squire),  1820,  spring. 

John  Cowan,  1820,  spring. 

Robert  Harding  (farmer),  1820,  spring. 

Van  Blaricum  (farmer),  1820,  spring. 

Henry  Davis  (chairmaker),  1820,  spring. 

Samuel  Davis  (chairmaker),  1820,  spring. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley  (farmer),  1820,  spring. 

Robert  Barnhill  (farmer),  1820,  spring. 

Isaac  Wilson  (miller),  1820,  spring. 

Matthias  Nowland  (mason),  1820,  fall. 

Dr.  S.  G.  Mitchell,  1820,  fall. 


EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 


29 


Thomas  Anderson  (wagonmaker),  1820,  fall. 

Alexander  Ralston  (surveyor),  1820,  fall. 

Dr.  Isaac  Coe,  1820,  spring. 

James  B.  Hall  (carpenter),  1820,  winter. 
■"  Andrew  Byrne  (tailor),  1820,  fall. 

Michael  lugals  (teamster),  1820,  winter. 

Kenneth  A.  Seudder  (first  drug-store),  1820,  sum- 
mer. 

Conrad  Brussell  (baker),  1820,  fall. 

Milo  R.  Davis  (plasterer),  1820,  winter. 

Samuel  Morrow,  1820,  summer. 

James  J.  iMcIlvain  ('squire),  1820,  summer. 

Eliakim  Harding  ('squire),  1821,  summer. 

Mr.  Lawrence  (teacher),  1821,  summer. 

Daniel  Larkias  (grocery),  1821,  summer. 

Lismund  Basye  (Swede),  1821,  fall. 

Robert  Wilmot  (merchant),  1820,  winter. 

James  Kittleman  (shoemaker),  1821. 

Andrew  Wilson  (miller),  1821. 

John  McClung  (preacher),  1821,  spring. 

Daniel  Shaffer,  1821,  January. 

Jeremiah  Johnson  (farmer),  1820,  spring. 

Wilkes  Reagan  (butcher),  1821,  .summer. 

Obed  Foote  (lawyer),  1821,  summer. 

Calvin  Fletcher  (lawyer),  1821,  fall. 

James  Blake,  1821,  spring. 

Alexander  W.  Russell  (merchant),  1821,  spring. 

Caleb  Soudder,  1821,  fall. 

George  Smith  (first  publisher),  1821,  fall. 

James  Scott  (Methodist  preacher),  1821,  fall. 

0.  P.  Gaines  (first  Presbyterian  preacher),   1821, 
summer. 

James  Linton  (millwright),  1821,  summer. 

Joseph  C.  Reed  (first  teacher),  1821,  spring. 

James  Paxton  (militia  officer),  1821,  fall. 

Daniel  Yandes  (first  tanner),  1821,  January. 

Caleb  Soudder  (cabinet-maker),  1821,  fall. 

George  Myers  (potter),  1821,  f\dl. 

Nathaniel  Bolton  (first  editor),  1821,  fall. 

Amos  Hanway  (cooper),  1821,  summer. 

John  Shunk  (hatter),  1821,  fall. 

Isaac  Lynch  (shoemaker),  1821,  fall. 

James  M.  Ray  (coach-lace  maker),  1821,  summer. 

David  Mallory  (barber),  1821,  spring. 

John  Y.  Osborn,  1821,  spring. 


Samuel  Henderson  (first  postmaster),  1821,  fail. 

Samuel  Rooker  (first  painter),  1821,  summer. 

Thomas  Johnson  (farmer),  1820,  winter. 

Robert  Patterson,  1821,  fall.  . 

Aaron  Drake  (first  mail),  1821. 

William  Townsend,  1820,  summer. 

J.  R.  Crumbaugh,  1821. 

Harvey  Gregg,  1821,  fall. 

Nathaniel  Cox  (carpenter),  1821. 

Some  thirty-three  years  ago  the  late  Samuel  Mer- 
rill, Treasurer  of  State  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of 
the  capital  from  Corydon  to  Indianapolis  in  the  fall 
of  1824,  and  charged  with  the  supervision  of  the 
work,  prepared  a  map  illustrating  the  progress  of  the 
town  at  different  periods,  1821,  1823,  1835,  and 
1850,  to  accompany  the  first  historical  sketch  of  the 
city,  prepared  by  him  for  the  first "  Gazetteer,"  issued 
in  1850  by  Chamberlain  &  Co.,  booksellers  in  the 
town.  The  reader,  understanding  the  old  plat  of  the 
city,  and  observing  that  its  western  boundary  at 
West  Street  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
river,  will  see  quite  accurately  the  size  and  location 
of  the  infant  settlement  of  1821  from  a  description 
of  the  outline  on  this  map.  It  extended  along 
Washington  Street,  wholly  south  of  it,  to  a  point 
a  little  less  than  a  block  east  of  West  Street,  and 
was  less  than  a  block  in  width  for  a  distance  equal  to 
two  blocks,  when  it  began  widening,  and  at  the  river 
reached  from  about  the  point  where  Georgia  Street 
strikes  the  bank  to  the  old  National  road  bridge. 
The  little  settlement  of  Maxwell  and  Cowan  farther 
north,  near  the  site  of  the  City  Hospital,  seems  to 
have  been  completely  detached  from  the  main  body 
of  the  village.  In  1823,  the  year  before  the  arrival 
of  the  capital,  the  settlement  had  shifted  entirely 
away  from  the  river,  its  western  extremity  being 
near  West  Street,  and  it  extended  in  a  narrow  line 
about  a  block  in  width  on  each  side  of  Washington 
Street  to  Meridian  Street,  where  a  point  ran  south  to 
Georgia  Street  on  each  side  of  Meridian,  while  east 
of  it,  and  passing  east  of  the  Circle,  another  point  pro- 
jected north  as  far  as  Ohio  Street,  and  a  third  point 
along  Washington  carried  the  settlement  to  a  point 
about  half-way  between  Alabama  and  New  Jersey 
Streets.     The  shape  of  it  is  an  exact  cross,  with  one 


30 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


arm  a  little  higher  than  the  other.  In  1835  the 
town  had  been  under  its  own  government  by  trus- 
tees for  two  or  three  years,  had  established  a  brewery 
and  several  manufactures,  besides  those  for  custom 
service,  had  been  the  capital  for  over  ten  years,  had 
nearly  completed  the  State-House,  had  a  population 
of  about  two  thousand,  and  the  County  that  year,  as 
announced  by  Mr.  Calvin  Fletcher  in  a  public  ad- 
dress, contained  thirteen  hundred  farms,  and  had 
produced  one  million  three  hundred  thousand  bushels 
of  corn.  In  this  condition  of  things  the  town  formed 
an  irregular  figure,  much  like  a  balloon,  with  the  neck 
near  West  Street,  and  the  "  bulge"  opening  pretty 
rapidly  up  north  to  Michigan  Street,  reaching  east  to 
New  Jersey,  and  then  south  to  Georgia  and  a  little 
below ;  at  the  widest  place,  north  to  south,  covering 
seven  squares,  and  it«  greatest  length  along  Washing- 
ton Street  very  nearly  covering  the  mile  of  the  plat. 
In  1850  it  covered  all  of  the  plat  but  the  northwest, 
southwest,  and  southeast  corners,  and  more  than  made 
up  for  these  deficiencies  by  projecting  beyond  it  on 
the  northeast,  the  east,  and  the  south  along  the  Bluff 
road  or  South  Meridian  Street. 

In  May,  1820,  in  three  months  after  the  first  set- 
tlement, or  in  any  case  after  the  first  indications  of  a 
possible  settlement  of  more  than  a  family  or  two, 
there  were  fifteen  or  twenty  families  on  the  donation. 
These  increased  to  thirty  or  forty  during  the  succeed- 
ing year  to  July,  when  the  sales  of  government  lands 
in  this  and  adjoining  counties  began  at  the  land- 
office  in  Brookville,  Franklin  Co.  Happily  for 
the  pioneers  of  1820,  there  was  not  so  much  sick- 
ness as  might  have  been  expected,  and  nothing  com- 
parable to  the  visitation  the  next  year,  and,  quite  as 
happily,  nature  had  provided  a  "  deadening,"  in 
which  they  raised  with  little  labor  comparatively  all 
the  corn  and  vegetables  they  needed  to  make  a  com- 
fortable subsistence  with  the  abundance  of  fish  and 
game  to  be  had  close  at  hand  and  with  little  trouble. 
This  natural  "  deadening"  lay  at  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  the  donation,  and  contained  some  hundred  or 
more  acres.  The  trees  had  been  killed  by  eater- 
pillars,  and  the  pioneers  cleared  ofi'  the  underbrush 
together,  and  held  the  field  in  common,  simply 
marking  off  each  family's  share  by  what  Mr.   Now- 


land  calls  "turn-rows."  This  was  known  as  the 
"big  field"  for  several  years.  Its  products  were 
chiefly  corn  and  pumpkins.  In  addition  to  this  pro- 
vision for  the  staples  of  vegetable  food,  each  family 
had  a  truck-patch  in  the  rear  of  their  log  cabin, 
where  they  raised  such  vegetables  as  they  required 
for  immediate  use,  including  the  "love-apple,"  or 
tomato,  which  nobody  dreamed  of  eating  for  twenty 
years  afterwards.  Little  more  belongs  to  the  history 
of  this  first  year  of  the  city's  settlement  than  an  ac- 
count of  the  condition  and  modes  of  life  of  the  set- 
tlers, and  that  being  much  the  same  for  all  the  early 
years  of  the  settlement  will  be  told  for  all  at  once. 

The  year  1821  was  an  eventful  one  for  the  infant 
capital.  During  the  summer  the  donation  had  been 
surveyed  and  the  original  city  plat  made,  and  a 
number  of  the  men  who  were  to  be  most  conspicuous 
in  its  after-history,  in  spreading  its  business,  estab- 
lishing its  industries,  founding  its  schools,  main- 
taining its  morality,  its  Fletcher,  Yandes.  Blake, 
Ray,  Morris,  Russell,  Dunlap,  Brown,  Landis, 
had  come  or  were  on  the  way.  It  was  a  year  of 
universal  sickness,  privation,  and  suffering.  Says  an 
early  account,  "  Towards  the  end  of  summer  and 
during  the  fall  epidemic  remittent  and  intermittent 
fevers  and  agues  assailed  the  people,  and  scarcely  a 
person  was  left  untouched.  (In  another  place  it  is 
told  that  Nancy  Hendricks,  Enoch  Banks,  and 
Thomas  Chinn  were  all  that  escaped.)  The  few 
healthy  ones  were  employed  day  and  night  in  minis- 
tering to  the  wants  of  the  sufferers,  and  many  in- 
stances of  generous  and  devoted  friendship  occurred 
at  this  time.  The  recollection  of  their  bitter  suffer- 
ings bound  the  early  settlers  together  in  after-life. 
The  new-comers  might  well  be  appalled  at  the  pros- 
pect before  them,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  extrava- 
gant stories  were  circulated  of  the  sickness  at  In- 
dianapolis. Although  nearly  every  person  in  the 
settlement  was  more  or  less  assailed,  and  several 
hundred  cases  occurred  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
epidemic,  not  more  than  twenty-five  terminated 
fatally.  As  winter  approached  the  health  of  the 
community  improved,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  it 
was  entirely  restored.  No  cause  was  discovered  for 
the    unparalleled  visitation,   which    the    old    settlers 


EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 


31 


hold  to  this  day  in  vivid  remembrance."  The  report 
of  this  calamity  went  abroad,  and  for  many  years 
more  or  less  aifected  the  otherwise  strong  induce- 
ments of  the  settlement  to  new  settlers,  and  for 
thirty  years  malarial  disorders  came  almost  as  regu- 
larly as  the  seasons.  The  "  sickly  season"  was  as 
well  known  and  well  defined  a  period  as  the  "  dog- 
days,"  and  continued  so  till  the  general  clearing  of 
the  county  and  drying  out  of  low  bottom  lands  and 
swamps  had  diminished  the  sources  of  malarial  influ- 
ence. The  effect  of  the  epidemic  of  1821  on  the 
settlement  was  to  force  it  back  from  the  river,  and 
extend  it  eastward  past  the  Circle  and  Court-House 
Square  along  Washington  Street. 

The  first  death  in  the  settlement,  by  tradition,  was 
that  of  Daniel  Shaffer,  a  merchant,  who  came  early 
in  the  year,  opened  a  store  on  the  high  ground  south 
of  the  creek,  near  the  present  line  of  South  Street, 
and  died  in  the  summer  following.  The  first  woman 
that  died  was  the  wife  of  John  Maxwell,  one  of  the 
first  two  settlers  after  the  McCormicks  in  the  spring 
of  1820.  She  died  3d  of  July,  1821,  and  was  buried 
on  the  bluff  of  Fall  Creek,  near  the  site  of  the  City 
Hospital.  Eight  persons  were  buried  there  during 
the  epidemic.  Mr.  Commissioner  Harrison  was  seared 
off  home  by  it,  but  before  he  went  he  authorized 
Daniel  Shaffer,  James  Blake,  and  Matthias  R.  Now- 
land  to  select  a  site  for  a  cemetery.  "  One  Sunday 
morning  early  in  August,"  says  Mr.  J.  H.  B.  Now- 
land,  "  they  selected  the  place  now  known  as  the  Old 
Graveyard.  One  week  from  that  day  Mr.  Shaffer  was 
buried  there."  If  his  memory  is  correct  Mrs.  Max- 
well's was  the  first  death  in  the  settlement,  and  the 
traditional  burial  of  Shaffer  near  the  corner  of  South 
and  Pennsylvania  Streets,  and  subsequent  removal  to 
the  "  Old  Graveyard,"  now  "  Greenlawn  Cemetery,"  is 
a  mistake.  Most  of  the  burials  during  the  epidemic 
were  in  that  first  cemetery. 

Following  this  visitation  came  another  hardly  less 
intolerable.  The  universal  sickness  prevented  the 
cultivation  of  the  "  caterpillar  deadening,"  and  the 
influx  of  settlers  at  and  after  the  first  sales  of  lots 
made  provisions  distressingly  scarce.  Coffee  was 
fifty  cents  a  pound ;  tea,  two  dollars ;  corn,  one  dollar 
a  bushel ;  flour,  four  to  five  dollars  a  hundred  ;  coarse 


muslin  or  "  factory,"  forty-five  cents  a  yard.  There 
were  no  roads  into  the  settlement,  nor  anything  better 
than  cow-paths.  All  goods  and  provisions  had  to  be 
carried  on  horseback  from  the  White  Water  Valley, 
sixty  miles  away.  The  nearest  grist-mill  was  Good- 
lander's,  on  the  White  Water.  Corn  was  mainly 
bought  of  the  Indians  up  the  river  and  brought  down 
in  boats.  Later  keel-boats  brought  considerable  car- 
goes of  flour,  whiskey,  and  powder,  chiefly  up  the 
river.  The  settlers  considered  each  one's  stock  of 
provisions  the  property  of  all  that  needed  it,  and 
divided  with  unstinted  generosity. 

The  year  1821  was  marked  by  the  establishment 
of  the  first  business  house,  the  store  of  Daniel  Shaffer. 
He  was  followed  in  a  short  time  by  James  and  John 
Givan,  the  latter  of  whom  became  a  vagrant  and 
pauper,  supported  by  an  annuity  contributed  by  the 
merchants  of  the  city,  and  died  only  a  few  years  ago, 
a  very  old  man,  with  a  marvelous  memory  of  events 
and  persons  of  that  early  time.  Robert  Wilmot  began 
merchandising  about  the  same  time,  or  perhaps  a  little 
earlier,  near  the  present  corner  of  Washington  and 
West  Streets,  in  a  row  of  cabins  called  "  Wilmot's 
Row."  Luke  Walpole  opened  in  the  same  business 
in  the  fall  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  State-House 
Square,  Jacob  Landis  on  the  southeast  corner,  and 
Jeremiah  Johnson  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Market 
and  Pennsylvania.  The  first  log  school-house  was 
built  the  same  year,  about  where  Kentucky  Avenue 
enters  Illinois  Street,  near  a  large  pond.  The  first 
teacher  was  Joseph  C.  Reed,  afterwards  the  first 
county  recorder.  The  first  log  house  on  the  old  city 
plat  was  built  by  Isaac  Wilson  in  the  spring  of  1820, 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  what  was  afterwards  the 
State- House  Square.  The  first  frame  house  was  built 
by  James  Blake  on  the  lot  east  of  Masonic  Hall  in  the 
fall  of  1821.  The  timber  had  been  cut  during  the 
summer  by  James  Paxton  on  the  donation.  This  was 
the  first  plastered  house.  That  winter  Thomas  Carter, 
the  auctioneer  of  the  lot  sales,  built  a  ceiled  frame 
tavern  about  where  No.  40  West  Washington  Street 
is,  and  called  it  the  "  Rosebush,"  in  the  old  English 
fashion  of  naming  taverns,  from  a  rough  painting  of 
that  object  on  the  sign.  It  was  long  after  removed 
to  a  point  near  the  canal,  and  then  to  West  Street 


32 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


near  Maryland.  John  Hawkins  had  built  a  log  tavern 
the  fall  before  on  Washington  Street,  north  side,  near 
the  middle  of  the  block  east  of  Meridian.  It  may  be 
noted  in  this  connection,  though  chronologically  dis- 
located, that  the  first  brick  building  was  erected  for 
John  Johnson  in  1822-23,  on  a  lot  opposite  the  site 
of  the  post-ofiice.  It  was  torn  down  a  few  years  ago 
to  make  room  for  a  better  structure.  Though  the 
Johnson  house  was  undoubtedly  the  first  brick  build- 
ing in  the  town,  it  is  not  so  certain  that  it  was  the  first 
in  the  county.  Old  residents  of  Wayne  township,  like 
Mr.  Blattern  and  Mr.  Gladden,  say  that  a  two-story 
brick  residence  was  built  by  John  Cook  in  1821,  in 
what  is  now  Maywood,  near  the  line  of  Wayne  and 
Decatur  townships.  In  its  latter  days,  thirty-five  or 
forty  years  ago,  it  cracked  through  the  middle,  and 
was  held  together  by  a  hoop  of  large  square  logs, 
notched  at  the  corners  and  wedged  tight,  between  the 
lower  and  upper  stories.  It  was  a  rare  style  of  repair 
for  a  building  of  any  kind,  and  may  still  be  remem- 
bered by  old  residents  on  that  account.  It  stood  on 
the  northern  blufi"  of  a  low,  level,  wet  prairie,  the 
only  one  in  the  county,  of  which  the  now  drained  and 
cultivated  remains,  with  possible  patches  of  the  orig- 
inal condition,  are  on  the  southern  border  of  May- 
wood,  and  near  the  residence  of  Fielding  Beeler,  Esq. 
James  Linton  built  the  first  two-story  house,  a  frame, 
in  the  spring  of  1822,  on  the  site  of  No.  76  West 
Washington  Street.  He  also  built  the  first  saw-mill 
on  Fall  Creek,  above  the  Indiana  Avenue  or  Craw- 
fordsville  road  bridge,  and  about  the  same  time  built 
the  first  grist-mill  for  Isaac  Wilson  on  Fall  Creek 
bayou,  now  known  as  "  the  race,"  near  the  line  of 
North  Street. 

The  year  1821  saw  the  beginning  of  moral  and 
intellectual  culture  as  well  as  business.  A  school 
was  taught  by  Mr.  Reed  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  year,  and  Rev.  John  McClung,  a  preacher  of 
what  was  called  the  "  New  Light"  denomination, 
preached  in  the  spring,  some  say  in  the  sugar  grove 
on  the  little  knoll  in  the  Circle.  It  is  a  question 
among  the  few  old  settlers  who  remember  the  occur- 
rence whether  that  was  the  first  sermon  heard  in  the 
New  Purchase  or  one  preached  not  far  from  the 
same  time  by  Rev.  Rezin   Hammond.     Mr.  Nowland 


says  that  if  Mr.  McClung  preached  in  the  settlement 
that  spring  it  must  have  been  at  Mr.  Barnhill's,  who 
belonged  to  the  same  denomination  but  lived  outside 
of  the  donation.  An  old  settler  wrote  in  one  of  the 
city  papers  recently  that  Mr.  Hammond  preached 
near  the  site  of  the  old  State  Bank,  corner  of  Illinois 
Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue,  near  a  pond,  which 
must  have  been  close  to  the  site  of  the  first  school- 
house,  while  others  say  he  preached  in  the  woods  on 
the  State-House  Square.  Mr.  Nowland,  years  after- 
wards, met  Mr.  Hammond  at  Jeffersonville,  and  this 
first  sermon  was  recalled.  The  party  surveying  the 
town,  under  Ralston,  were  then  at  work  near  the 
Circle,  and  they  prepared  on  Saturday  evening  for 
the  sermon  next  day  by  rolling  logs  together  for 
seats  and  building  a  rough  log  rostrum.  Not  more 
than  forty  or  fifty  persons  attended.  "  A  few  mo- 
ments after  the  services  commenced,"  says  Mr.  Now- 
land, "  an  Indian  and  his  squaw  came  by  on  their 
ponies.  They  halted  a  moment,  and  passed  on  to- 
wards the  trading-house  of  Robert  Wilmot.  He  was 
in  the  congregation,  and  at  once  rose  and  followed 
them  ;  but  before  he  was  out  of  hearing  Mr.  Hammond 
said,  '  The  pelts  and  furs  of  the  Indians  had  more 
attractions  for  his  Kentucky  friend  than  the  words 
of  God.'  There  can  be  little  doubt,"  Mr.  Nowland 
concludes,  "  that  this  was  the  first  sermon  preached 
in  Indianapolis ;  it  was  so  regarded  at  the  time." 
In  August  of  the  same  year  Rev.  Ludlow  G.  Gaines, 
a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  preached  in  the  grove 
south  of  the  State-House  Square.  No  church  or- 
ganization was  attempted,  however,  till  the  spring  of 
1823.  In  July  it  was  completed,  and  steps  taken  to 
build  a  church  on  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  on  the 
site  of  the  Exchange  Block.  It  was  finished,  at  a 
cost  of  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  occupied  in  1824. 
The  "  Indianapolis  Circuit"  of  the  Methodist  Church 
was  organized  by  Rev.  William  Cravens  in  1822, 
under  authority  of  the  Missouri  Conference,  but 
Rev.  James  Scott  had  preached  here  in  private 
houses  as  early  as  October,  1821,  by  appointment  of 
the  same  authority.  A  camp-meeting  had  been  held 
in  1822,  September  12th,  and  a  second  one  in  May, 
1823,  aft«r  the  organization  of  the  circuit,  but  no 
house  was  occupied    specially  as   a  church    til!    the 


I 


EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 


33 


summer  of  1825,  when  a  hewed-log  house  on 
Maryland  Street  near  Meridian  was  bought  for 
three  hundred  dollars  and  used  for  four  years.  In 
1828-29  a  brick  building  was  erected,  at  a  cost  of 
three  thousand  dollars,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Circle  and  Meridian  Streets,  which  became,  when 
replaced  in  1846,  "  Wesley  Chapel."  The  first 
Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  September,  1822, 
but  held  services  in  private  houses  or  in  a  log 
school-house  "  on  and  partly  in  Maryland  Street," 
between  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  Streets,  which 
could  be  had  "  without  interruption,"  as  a  committee 
reported  in  May,  1823,  till  a  brick  house  was  built 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  Maryland  and  Meridian 
Streets  in  1829.  These  were  the  beginnings  of  the 
three  pioneer  churches  in  Indianapolis  and  the  New 
Purchase.  They  are  noted  here  to  present  as  com- 
plete a  view  as  possible  of  the  early  settlement  and 
history  of  the  city  and  county. 

In  the  summer  of  1821  the  first  marriage  oc- 
curred. The  bride  was  Miss  Jane  Reagan,  the 
groom  Jeremiah  Johnson,  who  had  to  walk  through 
an  unbroken  and  pathless  forest  sixty  miles  to  Con- 
nersville  for  his  license  (this  county  at  that  time 
having  no  organization),  and  the  walk  back  made  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles.  He  was  an  eccentric 
man,  witty,  cynical,  with  a  fashion  of  retracting  his 
lips  when  talking  so  as  to  show  his  yellow,  tobacco- 
stained  teeth,  giving  him  something  of  the  expression 
of  a  snarling  dog.  He  was  full  of  humorous  conceits 
and  quaint  comparisons,  and  a  delightful  companion  for 
young  men  when  he  was  "  tight"  enough  to  feel  jolly, 
as  he  frequently  was.  When  the  first  telegraph  line 
was  completed  to  the  city  in  1848,  "  Old  Jerry"  saw 
it  as  ho  was  passing  along  Washington  Street  com- 
fortably "  full,"  and  broke  out  in  a  sort  of  apostrophe, 
"  There !  they're  driving  lightning  down  the  road, 
and  with  a  single  line  at  that !"  Any  one  who  has 
seen  a  team  driven  by  a  "  single  line"  will  appreciate 
"  Old  Jerry's"  joke.  He  died  very  suddenly  in 
1857. 

Among  other  first  events  that  have  traditionally 
marked  this  year  was  the  birth  of  the  first  child.  But 
the  tradition  of  that  interesting  occurrence  is  con- 
tested by  two  living  witnesses,  who  rather  confuse 


one's  faith,  and  leave  a  slight  leaning  to  the  skepticism 
which  would  doubt  if  any  child  was  born  at  all. 
The  traditional  opinion,  supported  by  two  or  three 
historical  sketches,  is  that  Mordecai  Harding  was 
that  memorable  infant,  but  tradition  and  history  are 
both  impeached  by  Mr.  William  H.  White  (before  re- 
ferred to)  and  by  Mr.  Shirts,  of  Hamilton,  who  claims 
that  Mr.  Corbaley's  son  Richard  was  the  first,  in 
August,  1820,  at  his  residence  in  the  western  part 
of  the  donation.  Mr.  Nowland  denies  the  donation, 
says  Mr.  Corbaley  lived  west  of  the  west  donation 
line,  but  concedes  the  principal  fact.  Mr.  White's 
claim  is  disputed  by  the  general  opinion  of  old  set- 
tlers, but  the  other  seems  to  be  settled. 

During  the  whole  of  the  year  1820  the  "  New 
Purchase"  formed  part  of  Delaware  County,  which, 
then  unorganized,  vaguely  covered  most  of  the  northern 
and  central  portions  of  the  State,  and  was  attached 
for  judicial  purposes  to  Wayne  and  Fayette  Counties. 
The  residents  of  White  River  Valley  were  sued  and 
compelled  to  answer  in  the  courts  of  the  White 
Water  Valley,  sixty  miles  away,  and  the  compulsion 
was  costly,  irritating,  and  intolerable.  The  jurisdic- 
tion was  disputed  and  resisted,  and  the  Legislature, 
to  avoid  further  and  graver  trouble,  passed  an  act 
of  Jan.  9,  1821,  authorizing  the  appointment  of 
two  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  new  settlements, 
with  appeals  to  the  Bartholomew  Circuit  Court. 
In  April,  1821,  Governor  Jennings  appointed  John 
Maxwell,  but  he  retained  the  office  only  a  few 
months,  and  resigned.  The  settlers  then  elected 
informally  James  Mcllvaine,  and  the  Governor 
commissioned  him  in  October.  He  is  described 
by  the  old  residents  who  remember  him,  and  by 
the  sketches  that  speak  of  this  period  of  the  city's 
history,  as  holding  court  at  the  door  of  his  little 
log  shanty,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Michigan  Streets,  with  the  jury  sitting  on  a 
log  in  front,  his  pipe  in  his  mouth,  and  Corbaley, 
the  solitary  constable,  vigilantly  crossing  the  plans 
of  culprits  to  get  away  into  the  thick  woods  close 
about,  as  they  are  said  to  have  done  sometimes  in 
spite  of  him.  The  late  Calvin  Fletcher  was  then 
the  only  lawyer,  and  the  primary  court  of  informal 
appeal  for   the  easily-puzzled  old   squire.     The  po- 


34 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


sitions  of  counsel  and  judge  are  not  often  consoli- 
dated in  the  same  hands, — it  is  too  easy  for  one 
to  use  and  abuse  the  other ;  but  it  was  never 
charged  that  Mr.  Fletcher  misled  his  confidant  in 
his  own  interest. 

The  first  especially  exciting  incident  in  the  quiet 
course  of  the  settlement  brought  the  judicial  power 
into  a  dilemma,  from  which  it  escaped  by  a  pro- 
cess that  did  more  credit  to  its  ingenuity  than  its 
sense  of  justice.  On  Christmas-day,  1821,  four 
Kentucky  boatmen  who  had  come  up  White 
River  from  the  Ohio  in  a  keel-boat  to  the  Bluffs, 
thought  that  the  new  settlement  farther  up  would 
be  a  good  place  for  frolic,  and  they  came  and  got 
howling  drunk  before  daylight  at  Dan  Larkins' 
"  grocery,"  as  liquor-shops  were  called  in  those 
days,  and  frequently  were  a  mixture  of  saloon  and 
grocery-store.  As  usual  with  the  "  half-horse  and 
half-alligator"  men  of  the  Mike  Fink  breed,  the 
predecessors  of  the  "  cow-boy,"  they  began  smashing 
the  doggery  as  soon  as  they  had  got  all  the  liquor 
they  wanted.  The  row  roused  the  settlement,  and 
the  gentlemen  from  Kentucky  were  respectfully  re- 
quested to  desist  and  make  less  noise.  They  re- 
sponded with  a  defiance  backed  by  knives.  The 
settlers  consulted.  They  did  not  want  the  whiskey 
wasted,  and  they  did  want  a  quiet  Christmas,  or 
at  least  to  make  their  own  disturbance.  They  de- 
termined to  put  down  the  rioters.  James  Blake 
proposed  to  take  the  leader  single-handed  if  the 
rest  of  Indianapolis  would  "  tackle"  the  other  three, 
and  the  consolidated  remainder  of  the  embryo  cap- 
ital agreed.  Blake  and  the  Kentuckian  were  both 
large,  powerful  men,  but  the  Hoosier  was  sober 
and  resolute,  and  the  Kentuckian  drunk  and 
furious,  so  the  rioters  were  captured  and  taken  to 
Squire  Mcllvaine's.  They  were  tried,  fined  severely, 
and  in  default  of  payment  ordered  to  jail.  There 
was  no  jail  nearer  than  Connersville,  and  it  would 
cost  as  much  as  their  fines  to  take  them  there  in 
the  dead  of  winter  under  guard,  so  they  were 
kept  under  guard  here,  with  instructions  to  allow  a 
little  relaxation  of  vigilance  in  the  night,  and  the 
hint  was  followed  by  the  convenient  escape  of  the 
whole  party. 


Notwithstanding  the  appointment  of  justices,  the 
courts  of  Wayne  and  Fayette  Counties  still  claimed 
jurisdiction,  and  doubts  were  entertained  of  the  va- 
lidity of  the  appointment  of  Maxwell  and  Mcllvaine. 
To  remedy  all  difficulties  the  citizens  held  a  meeting 
at  Hawkins'  tavern  to  discuss  the  matter,  and  James 
Blake  and  Dr.  S.  G.  Mitchell  were  appointed  repre- 
sentatives of  the  settlement  to  attend  the  next  session 
of  the  Legislature  at  Corydon  as  lobby  members  to 
secure  an  organization  of  the  county.  On  the  28th 
of  November  the  Legislature  legalized  the  acts  of 
Commissioner  Harrison,  he  having  acted  alone  in  sur- 
veying the  donation  and  laying  off  the  town.  It 
may  be  noted  here  as  an  indication  of  the  readiness 
of  the  Legislature  to  encourage  the  growth  of  the 
place  that  on  the  31st  of  December,  1821,  an  act 
authorized  Gen.  Carr,  the  agent,  to  lease  to  McCart- 
ney and  McDonald  forty  acres  of  the  donation  for 
ten  years  free,  to  be  occupied  as  a  mill-seat.  On  the 
same  day  an  act  was  passed  organizing  the  county, 
and  requiring  the  organization  to  be  completed  on  the 
1st  of  April,  1822.  It  applied  the  present  Court- 
House  Square  to  that  purpose,  and  provided  for  the 
erection  of  a  court-house  fifty  feet  square  and  two 
stories  high,  and  appropriated  eight  thousand  dollars 
to  it.  The  courts  that  held  sessions  in  the  capitol. 
Federal,  State,  and  county,  were  to  use  it  forever  if 
they  chose,  and  the  State  Legislature  was  to  use  it 
for  fifty  years  or  till  a  State-House  should  be  built. 
Two  per  cent,  of  the  lot  fund  was  to  be  given  for  the 
founding  of  a  county  library.  The  sessions  of  court 
and  the  elections  were  to  be  held  at  Gen.  Carr's  till 
the  court-house  was  built.  Johnson,  Hamilton,  and 
a  large  part  of  Boone,  Madison,  and  Hancock  were 
attached  to  this  county  for  judicial  purposes.  Marion, 
Monroe,  Owen,  Greene,  Morgan,  Lawrence,  Rush, 
Hendricks,  Decatur,  Bartholomew,  Shelby,  and  Jen- 
nings Counties  were  formed  into  the  Fifth  Judicial 
Circuit.  William  W.  Wick,  of  Connersville,  was 
elected  president  judge  by  the  Legislature,  and 
Harvey  Bates,  of  the  same  place,  was  appointed 
sheriff  by  the  Governor.  They  both  came  on  and 
assumed  their  offices  the  following  February,  1822. 
The  latter,  by  a  proclamation  of  Feb.  22,  1822,  or- 
dered an  election  to  be  held  on  the  1st  of  the  next 


i 


iCi^^yCl^ 


EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 


35 


April  for  two  associate  judges,  a  clerk,  recorder,  and 
three  county  commissioners.  The  voting  precincts 
were  fixed  at  Gen.  Carr's,  in  the  town  ;  John  Page's, 
at  Strawtown,  in  Hamilton  County  ;  John  Berry's, 
Andersontown,  Madison  Co. ;  and  William  McCart- 
ney's, on  Pall  Creek,  near  Pendleton.  Returns  were 
to  be  forwarded  by  the  3d  of  April. 

William  W.  Wick  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth, 
but  came  to  Connersville,  in  this  State,  when  a  young 
man,  and  from  there  came  to  Indianapolis  to  assume 
the  duties  of  his  oflBoe.  Ex-Senator  Oliver  H.  Smith 
said  that  in  182-t  "he,  though  a  young  lawyer,  had  had 
a  good  deal  of  experience  in  criminal  cases."  During 
his  term  as  judge  of  the  huge  circuit,  now  formed 
into  a  half-dozen,  he  was  elected  brigadier-general  of 
militia,  no  unimportant  position  in  those  days 
to  an  ambitious  young  man.  He  was  Secretary 
of  State  for  four  years,  from  1825  to  1829,  then 
prosecuting  attorney,  and  in  1833  was  beaten  for 
Congress  by  George  L.  Kinnard.  He  was  success- 
ful though  in  1839,  and  served  in  the  House 
during  the  memorable  "  log  cabin  and  hard  cider" 
campaign  of  1840.  He  was  elected  again  in  1845, 
and  re-elected  in  1847.  In  1853  he  was  made  post- 
master by  President  Pierce,  and  on  the  expiration  of 
his  term  in  1857  be  retired  from  public  life  alto- 
gether. Soon  afterwards  he  went  to  Franklin  and 
made  his  home  with  his  daughter,  and  died  there  in 
1868. 

Hervey  Bates,  who  was  appointed  sheriff  by 
Governor  Jennings,  was  a  son  of  Hervey  Bates,  who 
was  a  master  of  transportation  during  the  Indian  war 
under  Gens.  Wayne  and  Harmar,  and  chiefly  engaged 
in  forwarding  provisions  and  munitions  of  war  from  the 
frontier  posts  to  the  army  in  the  wilderness.  His  son 
Hervey,  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  was 
a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  born  in  that  place 
in  1795,  when  it  was  called  Fort  Washington.  When 
but  about  six  years  of  age  he  lost  his  mother,  and,  his 
father  having  married  again,  he  left  the  paternal  roof, 
and  in  Warren,  Lebanon  County,  Ohio,  met  with 
friends  through  whose  agency  he  received  a  sufiBcient 
English  education  to  qualify  him  for  the  ordinary 
pursuits  of  life.  On  attaining  his  majority  he  came 
to   Brookville,   Franklin    County,  where   he  married 


Miss  Sidney  Sedwick,  cousin  of  the  late  Gen.  James 
Noble,  United  States  senator.  During  the  year  1816 
he  cast,  in  Brookville,  his  first  vote  for  a  delegate  to 
form  a  new  constitution  for  the  State  of  Indiana. 
Soon  after  Mr.  Bates'  marriage  he  removed  to  Con- 
nersville, and  made  it  his  residence  until  February, 
1822,  when  Indianapolis,  then  a  mere  hamlet,  became 
his  home.  Jonathan  Jennings,  the  first  Governor 
after  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union,  ap- 
pointed William  W.  Wick  president  judge  of  the 
then  Fifth  Judicial  District,  and  Hervey  Bates,  sheriff 
of  Marion  County,  which  then  embraced  several  neigh- 
boring counties  for  judicial  purposes,  investing  the 
latter  with  full  power  for  placing  in  operation  the 
necessary  legal  machinery  of  the  county.  This  he 
did  by  issuing  a  proclamation  for  an  election  to  be 
held  on  the  first  day  of  April,  for  the  purpose  of 
choosing  a  clerk  of  the  court  and  other  county  oflBcers, 
which  was  the  fir.st  election  of  any  kind  held  in  the 
new  purchase.  Mr.  Bates  was,  at  the  following  elec- 
tion held  in  October,  made  sheriff  for  the  regular  term 
of  two  years,  but  declined  a  subsequent  nomination, 
having  little  taste  for  the  distinctions  of  oflBce.  Mer- 
cantile pursuits  subsequently  engaged  his  attention, 
to  which  he  brought  his  accustomed  energy  and  in- 
dustry, and  enjoyed  success  in  his  various  business 
enterprises.  J-i^ViSG 

Mr.  Bates  was  the  earliest  president  of  the  branch 
of  the  State  Bank  located  in  Indianapolis,  and  filled 
the  position  for  ten  years,  during  which  time  it  en- 
joyed a  career  of  unparalleled  success,  and  greatly 
advanced  the  interests  of  the  business  community. 
Through  the  substantial  aid  afforded  by  this  bank, 
most  of  the  surplus  produce  of  this  and  adjacent 
counties  found  a  profitable  market.  Mr.  Bates  was 
also  instrumental  in  the  formation  of  the  earliest 
insurance  company,  was  a  stockholder  in  the  first 
hotel  built  by  a  company,  in  the  first  railroad 
finished  to  the  city  of  his  residence,  the  earliest  gas- 
lifbt  and  coke  company,  and  in  many  other  enter- 
prises having  for  their  object  the  public  welfare.  In 
1852  he  began  and  later  completed  the  spacious  hotel 
known  as  the  Bates  House,  at  that  time  one  of  the 
most  complete  and  elegant  in  the  West.  It  was 
erected    at    a    cost   of    sixty    thousand    dollars,    and 


36 


HISTOEY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


modern  improvements  added,  making  a  total  cost  of 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  Many  other  public 
and  private  buildings  in  various  portions  of  the  city 
owe  their  existence  to  the  enterprise  and  means  of 
Mr.  Bates.  He  was  a  generous  contributor  to  all 
worthy  religious  and  benevolent  objects,  and  willingly 
aided  in  the  maintenance  of  the  various  charitable 
institutions  of  Indianapolis.  Rev.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  found  in  him  a  cordial  friend  when  a  resi- 
dent of  the  city,  and  in  his  less  prosperous  days. 
The  death  of  Mr.  Bates  occurred  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1876,  in  his  eighty-third  year,  his  wife  having  died 
previously.  His  children  are  Hervey  Bates  and  Mrs. 
L.  M.  Vance,  both  of  Indianapolis,  and  Elizabeth  H., 
deceased. 

While  this  first  election  is  pending  a  return  may 
be  made  for  a  moment  to  pick  up  some  incidents  of 
the  settlement  that  occurred  between  the  sale  of  lots 
in  October,  1821,  and  the  election,  April  1,  1822. 
No  clearing  of  the  streets  had  been  attempted  when 
the  sales  took  place.  Each  little  cabin  was  stuck 
away  in  its  own  little  hole  in  the  dense  woods,  and 
they  were  so  dense  that  a  man  standing  near  the  site 
of  Bingham  &  Walk's  jewelry-store  could  not  see  a 
house  half-way  down  the  block  on  the  other  side  of 
Washington  Street,  west  of  Meridian  ;  so  say  old  set- 
tlers and  common  tradition.  Gen.  Morris  once  said 
that  it  was  just  like  camping  out  in  a  forest  on  a 
hunting  expedition  when  he  came  here  with  his 
father  in  1821,  except  that  the  camping-places  were 
cabins  instead  of  tents  or  brush  houses.  One  neigh- 
bor could  not  see  the  next  one's  house.  Hawkins 
built  his  tavern  of  logs  cut  on  the  lot  in  the  very 
centre  of  Washington  Street.  For  many  years  the 
less  settled  streets  were  more  or  less  filled  with  trees 
and  brush,  and  the  only  way  along  them  was  a  cow- 
path.  In  order  to  open  Washington  Street,  which 
the  plan  of  the  town  had  appointed  for  the  principal 
thoroughfare,  an  offer  was  made  by  the  settlers  to  give 
the  timber  to  anybody  who  would  clear  off  the  trees. 
It  would  have  been  a  very  profitable  contract  a  year 
later.  The  offer  was  accepted  by  Lismond  Basye,  a 
Swede,  who  had  come  from  Franklin  County  that 
same  fall.  The  trees  were  oak,  ash,  and  walnut 
chiefly,  and  he  thought  he  had  a  small  fortune  safe. 


When  he  had  got  them  all  down,  and  the  street "  to  be" 
was  worse  blocked  than  before,  and  there  was  no  mill 
to  saw  them,  he  gave  up  the  job  in  despair,  and  the 
people  burned  the  superb  timber  as  it  lay.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1822,  the  Legislature  ordered  the  opening  of  a 
number  of  roads,  and  appropriated  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  it,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
entirely  isolated  settlers.  In  the  same  month  the 
State  agent  was  instructed  to  lease  unsold  lots  on 
condition  that  the  lessees  would  clear  them  in  four 
months,  and  this,  as  a  step  towards  getting  the  settle- 
ment in  something  like  civilized  condition,  was  a 
gratifying  measure.  The  lessees  were  allowed  forty 
days  to  remove  their  improvements  if  the  lots  should 
be  sold  during  their  occupancy  of  them. 

On  the  28tli  of  January,  1822,  the  first  newspaper 
of  the  settlement  was  issued  by  George  Smith  and 
Nathaniel  Bolton,  his  step-son,  called  the  Indianapolis 
Gazette.  Mr.  Nowland's  memoir  of  Mr.  Smith  says 
"  the  printing-ofiice  was  in  one  corner  of  the  cabin  in 
which  the  family  lived,"  and  the  cabin  was  near  a 
row  of  cabins  built  by  Mr.  Wilmot,  called  "  Smoky 
Row,"  west  of  the  line  of  the  future  canal  and  near 
Maryland  Street.  In  the  second  year  the  oflice  was 
moved  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  State-House 
Square.  Mr.  Smith  learned  the  printer's  trade  in  the 
oflice  of  the  Observer  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  subse- 
quently worked  upon  the  Liberty  Hall  and  Gazette 
of  Cincinnati,  under  the  noted  editor,  Charles  Ham-  ■ 
mond.  In  later  life  he  lived  in  a  frame  house  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee  Streets, 
the  ground  now  forming  a  part  of  the  Catholic  prop- 
erty about  the  St.  John's  Cathedral  and  the  bishop's 
residence.  Here  about  1840,  John  Hodgkins  estab- 
lished the  first  ice-cream  or  "  pleasure  garden,"  as  it 
was  called,  and  built  the  first  ice-house,  and  laid  down 
a  little  circular  railway  with  a  little  locomotive  to  run 
upon  it.  Mr.  Smith  served  two  terms  as  associate 
judge  of  the  county,  and  was  the  first  man  in  the 
place  to  open  a  real  estate  agency,  which  he  did  in 
1827.  Some  years  before  his  death  he  bought  a 
farm  at  Mount  Jackson,  which  now  forms  part  of  the 
grounds  of  the  Insane  Asylum,  and  there  he  died  in 
April,  1826,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  He  was  rather 
an  eccentric  man,  but  notoriou.sly  liberal  to  the  poor. 


ORGANIZATION   OF   COUNTY   AND   ERECTION  OF  TOWNSHIPS. 


37 


He  and  Governor  Ray  wore  "  cues"  in  the  old  Revo- 
lutionary fashion.  The  Governor  discarded  his  in 
his  old  age,  but  Mr.  Smith  held  to  his  as  tenaciously 
as  a  Chinaman.  Some  catarrhal  affection,  probably, 
brought  a  fit  of  sneezing  on  him  nearly  every  morn- 
ing early  after  he  had  dressed  and  got  out  of  doors, 
and  that  sonorous  sound  could  be  heard  by  all  the 
neighbors  as  far  and  as  plainly  and  about  as  early  as 
the  morning  song  of  his  roosters. 

Nathaniel  Bolton  was  a  book-binder  by  trade.  He 
became  much  better  known  to  the  Indianapolis  people 
than  Mr.  Smith.  He  continued  to  edit  the  Gazette 
after  the  other  had  sold  out  his  interest,  when  he  had 
a  larger  constituency  to  speak  for,  and  his  wife,  Sarah 
T.  Barrett,  of  Madison,  the  earliest  and  most  gifted 
and  conspicuous  of  the  poetesses  of  the  State,  helped 
his  reputation  by  the  abundance  of  her  own.  He 
was  made  consul  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  1853, 
whence  his  wife  wrote  many  letters  to  the  Journal, 
then  under  the  direction  of  an  old  friend,  Mr.  Sul- 
grove.  In  May,  1857,  he  came  back  in  consequence 
of  failing  health,  and  died  in  a  few  months.  For 
several  years  after  he  had  sold  his  interest  in  the 
Gazette,  he  and  his  wife  kept  a  country  tavern  on  the 
farm  that  BIr.  Smith  lived  on  before  his  death  at 
Mount  Jackson.  Mrs.  Bolton  is  now  living  in  a 
pleasant  house  in  the  country  about  three  miles 
southeast  of  the  city,  and  still  frequently  publishes 
fugitive  verses  on  passing  occurrences  that  interest 
her,  especially  the  death  of  old  friends,  marked  with 
all  the  fertility  of  fancy  and  grace  of  style  of  her 
earlier  poems. 

The  mechanical  processes  of  the  first  paper  were 
primitive  enough.  The  ink  was  partly  compounded 
of  tar,  and  the  press-work  was  slow  and  hard.  Com- 
position rollers  were  unknown  till  the  secret  of 
making  them  was  brought  here  just  ten  years  later 
by  the  late  David  V.  Culley,  for  many  years  presi- 
dent of  the  City  Council.  There  were  no  mails  at 
all  at  first,  and  when  a  post-route  was  established 
soon  afterwards  its  deliveries  were  so  irregular  that 
the  editors  had  to  apologize  once  for  the  deficiency  of 
matter  by  saying  that  the  failure  of  the  mails  had 
left  them  without  any  news  from  abroad  or  any  suit- 
able material.    Several  post-routes  were  opened  during 


the  spring,  in  addition  to  one  to  White  Water,  opened 
a  few  weeks  after  the  paper  appeared  first,  but  they 
came  too  late  to  relievo  the  urgent  necessity  of  the 
winter  and  spring.  The  incessant  and  heavy  rains 
greatly  obstructed  the  main  mail-route,  and  com- 
pelled the  entire  suspension  of  the  paper  from  the 
3d  of  April  to  the  4th  of  May  by  catching  the  editors 
away  from  home  and  keeping  the  streams  too  deep  to 
be  forded.  The  first  number  appeared  on  the  28th 
of  January,  the  second  on  the  11th  of  February,  the 
third  on  the  25th,  the  fourth  March  6th,  the  fifth  on 
the  18th,  the  sixth  April  3d,  the  seventh  May  4th. 
The  growth  and  changes  of  the  Gazette  will  be 
noticed  particularly  in  the  sketch  of  the  "  Press." 

The  first  mail  came  very  closely  after  the  first  paper. 
For  nearly  two  years  such  correspondence  as  had  been 
maintained  between  the  new  settlement  and  the  older 
ones  east  and  south  on  the  White  Water  and  the  Ohio, 
had  been  carried  on  by  the  hands  of  neighbors  and 
occasional  travelers.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1822, 
a  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at  the  "Eagle  Tavern" 
(Hawkins')  to  devise  means  to  maintain  a  private 
mail.  The  hope  of  a  government  mail  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  strong  enough  to  be  cultivated.  Aaron 
Drake  was  selected  for  the  duty  of  private  postmaster 
and  mail-carrier.  He  notified  the  postmasters  all 
around  of  the  arrangement  that  had  been  made,  and 
asked  them  to  forward  all  letters  for  Indianapolis  to 
Connersville,  where  he  would  get  them.  "  He  re- 
turned from  his  first  trip,"  says  an  early  sketch  of  the 
city,  "  shortly  after  nightfall,  and  the  loud  blasts  of  his 
horn  were  heard  far  through  the  woods,  and  the  whole 
people  turned  out  in  the  bright  moonlight  to  greet 
him  and  hear  the  news."  This  effort  aroused  the 
general  government,  and  President  Monroe  appointed 
Samuel  Henderson  first  postmaster  in  February,  1822. 
He  opened  the  ofiice  the  first  week  in  March.  A  his- 
tory of  the  ofiBce  will  be  found  in  its  proper  place,  and 
nothing  more  need  be  said  of  it  here,  except  that  the 
first  list  of  letters  awaiting  delivery  contained  five 
names,  one  of  them  that  of  Mallory,  the  colored  barber, 
and  first  barber  in  the  place.  For  some  years,  it  is 
hard  to  say  just  how  long,  the  mails  were  carried  on 
horseback,  subsequently  they  were  taken  in  stage- 
coaches, and  Indianapolis  became  nearly  as  conspic- 


38 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


uous  a  stage  centre  as  it  is  now  a  railroad  centre. 
For  many  years  the  J.  &  P.  Vorhees  Company  had 
large  stables  and  coach-making  and  repairing  shops 
here  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania Streets.  They  were  abandoned  about  1852, 
when  the  advancing  railroad  lines  began  to  absorb 
mails  and  passengers ;  but  the  music  of  the  "  stage- 
horn"  was  long  a  pleasant  sound  in  the  ears  of  the  old 
settler,  for  it  brought  him  the  principal  variation  of 
the  monotony  of  a  village  life,  except  the  regular 
winter  sessions  of  the  Legislature.  For  a  short  time 
during  the  administration  of  Van  Buren  a  mail-route 
or  two  was  run  here  on  horseback  in  extra  quick  time, 
and  called  "  express  mails."  The  riders  came  gal- 
loping along  Washington  Street,  blowing  little  tin 
horns  with  a  din  that  delighted  the  school-boys,  and 
for  many  a  week  they  made  night  hideous  with  their 
horns. 

The  winter  of  1821-22,  in  spite  of  the  prostration 
and  starvation  of  the  preceding  summer  and  fall,  was 
pleasantly  passed  in  the  main.  The  settlers  becoming 
better  acquainted,  and  frequently  rendering  each  in- 
dispensable neighborly  offices  in  sickness  and  destitu- 
tion, were  naturally  well  dispo.sed  to  relieve  the  lone- 
liness of  an  unusually  severe  winter  in  an  impassable 
forest  with  such  social  entertainments  as  were  within 
reach,  so  they  kept  up  an  almost  unbroken  round 
of  quilting  and  dancing  parties  and  other  modes 
of  killing  time  when  there  was  nothing  to  do  to 
enable  them  to  make  a  better  use  of  it.  "  A  mania 
for  marrying  took  possession  of  the  young  people," 
says  the  early  sketch,  "  and  there  was  hardly  a  single 
bachelor  left  in  the  place."  The  snow  was  very  deep, 
and  the  river  frozen  so  hard  that  large  logs  were 
hauled  across  it  on  heavy  "  ox-sleds."  On  the  25th 
of  February  the  Gazette  said  that  a  good  deal  of 
improvement  had  been  going  on.  Forty  residences 
and  several  work-shops  had  been  built,  a  grist-mill 
and  two  saw-mills  were  in  operation,  and  more  were 
in  progress  near  the  place.  There  were  thirteen  car- 
penters, four  cabinet-makers,  eight  blacksmiths,  four 
shoemakers,  two  tailors,  one  hatter,  two  tanners,  one 
saddler,  one  cooper,  four  bricklayers,  two  merchants, 
three  grocers,  four  doctors,  three  lawyers,  one  preacher, 
one  teacher,  seven  tavern-keepers.     These  alone  would 


indicate  a  population  of  about  three  hundred.  But 
these  were  not  alone :  there  were  probably  enough 
more  adult  males  to  complete  a  roll  of  one  hundred, 
and  show  a  population  of  five  hundred. 

The  first  election  was  coming  close  as  the  pro- 
tracted winter  began  to  loosen  its  grip  on  the  iron 
ground  and  let  the  spring  blossoms  out  to  the  sun- 
light. Candidates  were  pretty  nearly  as  numerous  as 
voters.  There  were  two  parties,  but  not  separated  by 
national  party  divisions.  This  was  the  "  era  of  good 
feeling"  in  national  politics.  The  old  "  Federal"  and 
"Republican"  differences  were  growing  dim  and  the 
names  unfamiliar.  The  division  in  the  first  election 
in  Indianapolis  was  geographical.  "  White  Water" 
and  "  Kentucky"  were  the  names  of  might,  and  the 
voters  took  sides  according  to  the  direction  they  had 
traveled  to  get  here.  Just  what  sort  of  a  compromise 
was  made  by  the  settlers  who  came  in  the  first  place 
from  Kentucky,  and  resided  for  a  while  in  the  White 
Water  before  moving  to  the  New  Purchase,  there  is 
no  indication  to  direct.  The  "  White  Water"  leader 
was  James  M.  Ray,  the  "  Kentucky"  chief  Morris 
Morris,  father  of  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  the  real 
general  and  victor  in  the  first  campaign  in  West  Vir- 
ginia. The  candidates  for  associate  judges — there 
were  two — were  Robert  Patterson,  James  Mcllvaine, 
James  Page,  Eliakim  Harding,  John  Smock,  and 
Rev.  John  McClung.  The  candidates  for  clerk  were 
James  M.  Ray,  Milo  R.  Davis,  Morris  Morris,  Thomas 
Anderson,  and  John  W.  Redding.  For  recorder  there 
were  Alexander  Ralston,  James  Linton,  Joseph  C. 
Reed,  Aaron  Drake,  John  Givan,  John  Hawkins, 
William  Vandegrift,  and  William  Townsend.  No 
record  is  left  of  the  candidates  for  the  three  county 
commissionerships,  but  it  is  said  there  were  about 
fifteen  of  them.  There  were  no  caucuses  or  conven- 
tions or  primaries,  and  no  obstruction  to  the  ambition 
of  any  man  that  wanted  to  be  a  candidate.  The  poll 
in  the  town  showed  two  hundred  and  twenty-four 
votes,  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  probably  being 
residents  on  the  donation.  In  the  county  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  votes  were  cast,  including  a  good 
part  of  all  the  counties  around  it.  James  Mcllvaine 
and  Eliakim  Harding  were  elected  associate  judges ; 
James  M.  Ray,  clerk;    Joseph    C.   Reed,  recorder; 


ORGANIZATION   OF   COUNTY   AND   ERECTION   OF   TOWNSHIPS. 


39 


and  John  McCormick,  John  T.  Osborn,  and  William 
McCartney,  county  commissioners.  James  M.  Ray 
received  two  hundred  and  seventeen  votes,  which  was 
the  highest  vote  for  any  candidate. 

The  newly-elected  county  commissioners  qualified 
and  held  their  first  session  on  the  15th  of  April,  in 
the  house  at  the  corner  of  Ohio  and  Meridian  Streets. 
On  the  next  day  they  divided  the  county,  em- 
bracing the  very  large  area  already  described,  into 
Fall  Creek,  Anderson,  White  River.  Delaware,  Law- 
rence, Washington,  Pike,  Warren,  Centre,  Wayne, 
Franklin,  Perry,  and  Decatur  townships.  The  first 
four  were  in  the  territory  afterwards  formed  into 
other  counties.  The  following  are  the  formally  de- 
clared boundaries  of  the  townships  as  first  consti- 
tuted, which  have  composed  the  county  ever  since, 
with  a  very  few  slight  changes.  Only  the  "corners" 
are  given,  as  they  will  enable  an}'  one  to  follow  the 
lines  readily : 

"  Lawrence"  township,  in  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  county,  was  given  the  following  corners :  The 
northeast  corner  of  Section  15,  Town  17  north  of 
Range  5  east,  is  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town- 
ship ;  the  southeast  corner  of  Section  15,  Town  16 
north  of  Range  5  east,  is  the  southeast  corner ;  the 
southwest  corner  of  Section  15,  Town  16  north  of 
Range  4  east,  is  the  southwest  corner ;  and  the 
northwest  corner  of  Section  16,  Town  17  north  of 
Range  4  east,  the  northwest  corner.  The  township 
contains  forty-nine  sections,  seven  each  way. 

"  Washington"  township,  immediately  north  of 
Centre,  has  the  following  corners :  Od  the  northeast, 
northeast  corner  of  Section  17,  Town  17  north  of 
Range  4  east ;  on  the  southeast,  the  southeast  corner 
of  Section  16,  Town  16  north  of  Range  4  east;  on 
the  southwest,  the  southwest  corner  of  Section  15, 
Town  16  north  of  Range  3  east;  and  the  northwest, 
the  northwest  corner  of  Section  16,  Town  17  north 
of  Range  3  east.  This  township  contains  forty-nine 
sections,  seven  each  way,  like  Lawrence.  Three  sec- 
tions were  subsequently  taken  from  Pike,  in  Town  16 
north  of  Range  3  east,  so  that  the  southwest  corner 
of  Section  16,  Town  17  north  of  Range  3  east,  is  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  township. 

"  Pike"  township,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 


county,  is  now  somewhat  different  from  the  bounds 
set  by  the  commissioners  at  this  session.  The  four 
corners  as  set  by  them  at  this  time  are  as  follows : 
The  northeast  is  the  northeast  corner  of  Section  17, 
Town  17  north  of  Range  3  east ;  the  southeast  is 
the  southeast  corner  of  Section  16,  Town  16  north 
of  Range  3  east ;  the  southwest  is  the  southwest 
corner  of  Section  16,  Town  16  north  of  Range  2 
east;  the  northwest  is  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
county.  The  east  and  west  boundaries  were  both 
changed  after  this,  so  that  the  southeast  corner  is 
the  southeast  corner  of  Section  17,  Town  16  north 
of  Range  3  east,  giving  to  Washington  three  sec- 
tions ;  and  on  the  west  the  bounds  of  the  county 
were  changed,  giving  the  four  east  halves  of  sections 
to  Pike,  thus  making  the  area  forty-four  sections, 
seven  miles  north  and  south,  six  miles  on  the  south 
side  and  six  and  a  half  on  the  north  side. 

'•  Warren"  township,  on  the  east  of  Centre,  was 
described  with  the  following  corners :  The  northeast, 
the  northeast  corner  of  Section  22,  Town  16  north 
of  Range  5  east ;  the  southeast,  the  southeast  corner 
of  Section  22,  Town  15  north  of  Range  5  east ;  the 
southwest,  the  southwest  corner  of  Section  22,  Town 
15  north  of  Range  4  east;  the  northwest,  the  north- 
west corner  of  Section  22,  Town  16  north  of  Range 
4  east.  The  township  contains  forty-nine  sections, 
seven  sections  each  way,  being  almost  exactly  square, 
and  has  never  been  changed. 

"  Centre   township  shall   consist   of   the   territory 

I  included  within  the  following  bounds,  to  wit :  Be- 
ginning at  the  northeast  corner  of  Section  21,  Town 

i  16,  Range  4  ;  thence  south  on  the  section  line  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  Section  21,  Town  15,  Range  4 ; 

I  thence  west  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Section  22, 
Town  15,  Range  3;  thence  north  on  the  section  line 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  Section  22,  Town  16, 
Range  3;  thence  east  on  the  section  line  to  the 
place  of  beginning."  The  township  contains  forty- 
two  sections,  seven  miles  north  and  south,  six  east  and 
west,  and  has  never  been  altered. 

"  Wayne"  township  had  and  still  has  the  follow- 
ing corners,  having  remained  unchanged  :  The  north- 
east, the  northeast  corner  of  Section  21,  Town  16 
north  of  Range  3  east ;  the  southeast,  the  southeast 


40 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


corner  of  Section  21,  Town  15  north  of  Range  3 
east ;  the  southwest,  the  southwest  corner  of  Section 
21,  Town  15  north  of  Range  2  east;  the  northwest, 
the  northwest  corner  of  Section  21,  Town  16  north 
of  Range  2  east.  The  township  contains  forty-nine 
sections,  being  of  the  same  shape  and  size  as 
Warren. 

"  Franklin"  township  is  of  the  same  size  and 
shape  as  Centre,  but  has  its  greatest  extension  east 
and  west.  The  corners  are  as  follows :  The  north- 
east, the  northeast  corner  of  Section  27,  Town  15 
north  of  Range  5  east ;  the  southeast,  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  county  ;  the  southwest,  the  southwest 
corner  of  Section  22,  Town  14  north  of  Range  4 
east ;  the  northwest,  the  northwest  corner  of  Sec- 
tion 27,  Town  15  north  of  Range  4  east.  This 
township  also  has  never  been  changed. 

"  Decatur"  and  "  Perry"  townships  were  at  first 
given  bounds  which  made  them  parallelograms,  but 
they  have  since  been  so  changed  that  the  river  forms 
a  boundary  line  between  them.  The  four  corners  of 
"  Perry"  township  were  as  follows  :  The  northeast, 
the  northeast  corner  of  Section  28,  Town  15  north 
of  Range  4  east ;  the  southeast,  the  southeast  corner 
of  Section  21,  Town  14  north  of  Range  4  east ;  the 
southwest,  the  southwest  corner  of  Section  22,  Town 
14  north  of  Range  3  east ;  the  northwest,  the  north- 
west corner  of  Section  27,  Town  15  north  of  Range 
3  east.  This  made  an  area  of  forty-two  sections,  the 
same  shape  and  size  as  Franklin,  seven  miles  east  and 
west,  six  north  and  south.  The  township  now,  how- 
ever, has  about  forty-five  sections,  making  the  river 
the  west  boundary  line. 

"  Decatur"  township  had  the  following  corners  : 
The  northeast,  the  northeast  corner  of  Section  28, 
Town  15  north  of  Range  3  east;  the  southeast,  the 
southeast  corner  of  Section  21,  Town  14  north  of 
Range  3  east ;  the  southwest,  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  county ;  the  northwest,  the  northwest  corner  of 
Section  27,  Town  15  north  of  Range  2  east.  This 
gave  the  township  thirty-six  sections,  while  it  contains 
now  but  about  thirty-three  sections. 

"  On  account  of  lack  of  population"  certain  of 
the  townships  were,  until  other  regulations  were 
made,  to    be    united    and    to   be  considered  as   one 


township.  They  were  Centre  and  Warren,  to  be 
called  "  Centre- Warren"  ;  Pike  and  Wayne,  "  Pike- 
Wayne"  ;  Washington  and  Lawrence,  "  Washington- 
Lawrence"  ;  Decatur,  Perry,  and  Franklin,  all  three 
to  be  known  as  "  Decatur-Perry-Franklin"  township. 
Each  combination  was  assigned  two  justices  except 
Centre- Warren,  which  was  given  three. 

Some  of  them  were  soon  separated,  the  first  being 
Decatur  township,  which  was  disunited  on  the  12th 
of  August,  1823.  The  next  separation  was  of  Pike 
township  from  Wayne,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1824,  a 
petition  to  that  end  having  been  presented  by  some 
of  tlie  citizens  of  the  J,ownship  ;  and  the  commission- 
ers considering  the  population  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
order,  Warren  and  Centre  townships  were  separated 
by  an  order  of  the  Board,  May  1,  1826. 

Washington  and  Lawrence  were  separated  Oct.  6, 

1826.  Franklin  and  Perry  were  separated  Sept.  3, 

1827,  on  a  petition  presented  by  the  people  of  that 
township. 

On  March  3,  1828,  three  sections  in  Pike  town- 
ship, 3,  9,  and  10,  were  attached  to  Washington. 

On  the  next  day  after  the  townships  were  formed 
the  County  Board  ordered  the  election  of  "  magis- 
trates" in  all  the  townships,  assigning  two  to  the 
joint  town.ships  of  Washington  and  Lawrence,  two 
to   Pike  and   Wayne,   two    to    Decatur,   Perry,   and 

i  Franklin,  and  three   to    "  Centre- Warren,"   as   it  is 

I 

j  always  written    in  the  records.     The    11th  of  May 

j  was  set  for  the  election.     In  Centre-Warren,  Obed 

Foote,    Wilkes    Reagan,   and    Lismund    Basye   were 

{  elected,  and  their  election  contested  by  Moses  Cox. 

The  case  was  heard  by  the  Board  at  a  special  session 

j  on  the  16th  of  May,  on  a  summons  by  the  sheriff, 

[  with  whom  notice  of  contest  had  been  filed.     Some 

1  preliminary  argument  and  ruling  were  made,  and  the 

I  next  day  the  Board  decided  that  the  election  should 

'■  be  set  aside  and  held  as  null  and  void."     A  second 

election  was  ordered  on  the  25th  of  May,  eight  days 

j  later,  which  was   duly  held,  and  the  same  men  re- 

I  elected.     That  election  was  not  disturbed. 

j       At  the  same  May  session  of  1822  the  first  consta- 

I  bles    were    appointed :     for    Washington    and    Law- 

!  rence,  William  Cris  and  John  Small ;  for  Pike  and 

I  Wayne,  Joel    A.    Crane   and    Charles    Eckard ;    for 


ERECTION   OF   PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 


41 


Centre- Warren,  Israel  Harding,  Joseph  Duval, 
Francis  Davis,  George  Harlan,  William  Phillips, 
Caleb  Reynolds,  Daniel  Lakin,  Lewis  Ogle,  Samuel 
Roberts,  Joseph  Catterlin,  Henry  Cline,  Joshua 
Glover,  and  Patrick  Kerr, — a  larger  force  than  the 
two  townships  have  ever  had  since. 

At  the  April  session,  on  the  evening  of  the  17th, 
a  county  seal  was  adopted,  thus  described:  "  A  star 
in  the  centre,  with  the  letters  '  M.  C.  C  around  the 
same,  with  inverted  carved  stripes  tending  to  the 
centre  of  the  star,  and  '  Marion  County  Seal'  written 
thereon."  On  the  14th  of  May  this  seal  was 
changed  for  the  present  one,  thus  officially  described : 
"  The  words  '  Marion  County  Seal,  Indiana,'  around 
the  outside,  with  a  pair  of  scales  in  the  centre  em- 
blematical of  justice,  under  which  is  a  plow  and 
sheaf  of  wheat  in  representation  of  agriculture." 
The  first  roads  opened  or  ordered  in  the  county  were 
considered  upon  the  petition  of  William  Townsend 
and  others,  and  "  viewed"  by  Joel  Wright,  John 
Smock,  and  Zadoc  Smith  for  the  one  running  "  to 
the  Mills  at  the  Falls  of  Fall  Creek,"— the  old  Pen- 
dleton road ;  and  by  William  D.  Rooker,  Robert 
Brenton,  and  George  Norwood  for  the  other,  running 
from  "  the  north  end  of  Pennsylvania  Street  to 
Strawtown," — the  old  Noblesville  road.  The  next 
road  was  along  the  line  of  the  present  National  road, 
upon  petition  of  Eliakim  Harding  ;  the  fourth,  a  road 
to  McCormick's  Mills,  on  White  River,  upon  peti- 
tion of  John  McCormick  ;  the  fifth,  the  old  Moores- 
ville  road,  upon  petition  of  Demas  L.  McFarland. 
These  were  all  in  May,  1822. 

On  the  17th,  continuing  the  same  session,  the 
County  Board  established  the  following  tolls  "  on  the 
ferry  on  White  River  opposite  Indianapolis,"  which 
was  established  by  an  act  of  the  preceding  Legislature  : 

"  For  each  wagon  and  four  horses  or  oxen $0.62i 

"  wagon  and  two  horses  or  oxen 37i 

"  wagon  (small)  and  one  horse  or  ox 31i 

'*  extra  horse  or  ox 12i 

"  man  or  woman  and  horse 1-i 

"  head  of  neat  cattle 03 

"  head  of  swine 02 

"  head  of  sheep 02 

"  footman OBJ." 

At  the  same  session  of  the  Board  the  following 
"  tavern  rates"  were  established  : 


"  Each  half-pint  of  whiskey S0.12J 

Each  half-pint  of  imported  nun,   brandy,  gin,  or 

wine 25 

Each  quart  of  cider  or  beer 12A 

Each  quart  of  porter,  cider  wine,  or  cider  oil 25 

Each  half-pint  of  peach  brandy,  cordial,   country 

gin,  or  apple  brandy ISjf 

Each  meal 25 

Each  night's  lodging 12i 

Esieh  gallon  of  corn  or  oats 12i 

Each  horse  to  hay,  per  night 25." 

The  tax-payers  of  to-day  will  be  interested  in  the 
modes  and  rates  of  taxation  fixed  by  the  County 
Board  in  the  first  year  of  the  county's  organization. 

At  a  session  of  the  Board  held  on  the  14th  ot 
May,  1822,  the  following  rates  were  established  for 
taxation  : 

"  For   every  horse,  mare,  gelding,  mule,  or    ass  over 

three  years  old $0.37^ 

For  stallions,  once  (their  rate  for  the  season) 

For  taverns,  each 10.00 

For  every  ferry 6.00 

For  every  SlOO   of.  the   appraised  valuation  of  town 

lots 50 

For  each  and  every  pleasure  carriage  of  two  wheels...     1.00 

For  each  pleasure  carriage  of  four  wheels 1.25 

For  every  silver  w.atch 25 

For  every  gold  watch 50 

For  every  head  of  work-oxen  over  three  years  old  and 

upwards,  per  head 25 

On  each  male  person  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years..       .50 

"  Provided,  That  persons  over  the  age  of  fifty  years  and  not 
freeholders,  and  such  as  are  not  able  from  bodily  disability  to 
follow  any  useful  occupation,  .  .  .  and  all  idiots  and  paupers 
shall  be  exempt  from  said  last-named  tax." 

At  the  same  session  in  which  the  tax  rates  were 
settled  an  order  was  made  for  the  erection  of  the 
first  jail.  The  sherifiF,  Hervey  Bates,  was  appointed 
county  agent  to  receive  bids.  The  specifications 
required  as  follows : 

"  It  is  to  be  built  fourteen  feet  in  the  inside,  two 
stories  high,  of  six  and  a  half  feet  between  floors, 
to  be  of  hewed  logs  twelve  inches  thick  and  at 
least  twelve  inches  wide,  with  two  rounds  of  oak 
or  walnut  logs  to  be  under  ground;"  and  "the 
second  floor  and  the  side  logs  to  be  of  the  same 
size  of  walnut,  oak,  ash,  beech,  or  sugar-tree;" 
and  "  the  third  or  upper  floor  to  be  of  logs  six 
inches  thick  and  at  least  one  foot  wide."  The 
roof  was  to  be  of  jointed  shingles.  There  was  to 
be  a  window  in  the  lower  story  or  dungeon  twelve 
inches  square.     The  grate-bars  for    it  were    to    be 


42 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


one  inch  and  a  quarter  in  thickness,  and  there 
was  a  window  two  feet  by  six  inches  in  the  second 
story,  opposite  the  door  by  which  the  jail  was  en- 
tered. This  door  was  four  feet  by  two,  of  two 
thicknesses  of  two-inch  oak  plank,  with  a  heavy 
stock-look  between,  and  also  heavy  strap  hinges. 
There  was  to  be  a  ladder  leading  up  on  the  out- 
side to  the  door  in  the  second  story,  and  another 
door,  a  trap  two  feet  square,  in  the  floor  of  the 
second  story,  leading  down  into  the  lower  story, 
which  was  to  be  fastened  with  a  hasp  and  pad- 
lock." 

The  contract  was  awarded  to  Noah  Leaverton, 
some  time  in  Mayor  June,  1822,  by  Hervey  Bates, 
and  was  submitted  to  the  commissioners  for  in- 
spection, and  accepted  on  August  12th. 

"  The  Board  approve,  adopt,  and  permanently 
establish  the  building  erected  of  hewed  logs  .  .  . 
on  the  Court-House  Square,  near  the  corner  of 
Market  and  Delaware  Streets,  in  Indianapolis,  as 
the  county  jail."  It  cost  three  hundred  and  twelve 
dollars.    (Pages  27,  28,  29,  Commissioners'  Record.) 

The  jail  looked  a  good  deal  like  a  small,  re- 
spectable residence,  bating  the  suggestive  quality  of 
the  heavy  iron  gratings.  In  the  summer  of  1833  a 
negro  came  to  the  town  wearing  a  black  cap  with 
a  red  leather  band  around  it,  and  leading  sometimes, 
sometimes  riding,  a  buffalo.  He  made  a  show  of 
it  on  the  streets  occasionally,  and  was  followed  by 
the  usual  crowd  of  curious  boys,  who  gave  him  a 
name  that  another  man  has  lately  made  famous, 
"  Buffalo  Bill."  He  was  arrested  for  some  offense, 
larceny  probably,  and  put  in  jail.  That  night  he 
set  it  on  fire  to  make  his  escape,  and  came  near 
being  burned  in  it.  The  hole  in  the  ground  where 
the  two  lower  courses  of  logs  had  lain  was  visible 
for  twenty  years.  Jeremiah  Johnson  was  the  first 
jailer.  It  was  succeeded  by  a  brick  jail  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Court-House  Square,  one  end  abut- 
ting directly  upon  Alabama  Street.  In  this  the 
jailer  was  provided  with  rooms  for  residence.  In 
1845  a  hewed-log  addition  was  made  on  the  north 
and  used  for  the  confinement  of  the  worst  pris- 
oners. It  was  built  of  logs  hewed  to  one  foot  square, 
and  laid  in  three   courses,  the  first    horizontal,  the 


one  outside  of  it  and  bolted  to  it  perpendicular  or 
oblique,  and  the  third,  exterior  to  that,  horizontal. 
An  exterior  casing  of  the  same  kind,  consisting  of 
one  vertipal  and  one  horizontal  course  of  hewed 
logs,  was  put  round  the  first  jail  some  time  after 
it  was  built. 

In  1852  the  present  jail,  in  the  east  corner  of 
the  Court-House  Square,  was  begun  and  com- 
pleted in  1854,  when  the  old  jail  was  torn  away. 
Several  additions  have  been  made  to  the  present  one, 
at  an  aggregate  cost  of  near  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  but  the  increase  of  crime  in  a  city  so  con- 
venient to  scoundrels,  from  its  facilities  for  escape, 
and  so  largely  made  up  at  all  times  of  transient  resi- 
dents, has  constantly  exceeded  the  county's  ability  to 
take  adequate  care  of  the  criminals.  Escapes  have 
not  been  very  infrequent,  and  grand  juries,  whenever 
they  make  an  examination,  are  pretty  sure  to  report 
insuflScient  room. 

In  this  connection  may  be  noticed  more  appro- 
priately than  in  the  detached  accounts  following  a 
chronological  order,  the  crimes  which  have  met  the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law  in  the  present  jail,  as  well 
as  the  first  offenses  in  the  history  of  the  settlement. 
Until  within  the  last  decade  no  sentence  of  death  had 
ever  been  passed  upon  any  murderer  in  Marion 
County.  Then  William  Cluck  was  convicted  of  the 
murder  of  his  wife  and  sentenced  to  be  hung.  The 
sheriff  had  the  gallows  built  and  in  place  in  the  jail- 
yard,  but  a  day  or  two  before  that  set  for  the  execution 
the  murderer  got  poison  and  killed  himself  In  the  fall 
of  186!-,  Mrs.  Nancy  E.  Clem,  William  J.  Abrams, 
and  Silas  W^.  Hartman,  Mrs.  Clem's  brother,  were 
indicted  for  the  murder  of  Jacob  Young  and  his  wife, 
— a  horrible  affair,  in  which  the  body  of  Mrs.  Young 
was  partially  burned  after  she  had  been  shot  through 
the  head, — known  as  the  "  Cold  Spring"  murder,  and 
the  woman  was  convicted  of  murder  in  the  second 
degree  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life  early 
in  March,  1869.  Just  one  week  afterwards  her 
brother  cut  his  throat  in  his  cell  to  escape  an  inevita- 
ble death  by  the  halter.  These  were  the  nearest 
approaches  made  to  the  death  penalty  in  this  county 
till  its  first  actual  infliction  in  January,  1879.  The 
frequent  escape  of  murderers  whose  crimes  deserved 


ERECTION   OF   PUBLIC   BUILDINGS. 


43 


death  had  stirred  a  strong  feeling  into  public  expres- 
sion against  the  wealcness  of  the  law  as  a  protection 
of  the  community,  and  the  almost  certain  escape  of 
every  offender,  whatever  his  crime,  if  he  could  pay 
well  for  a  defense,  had  strengthened  this  feeling.  It 
appeared  in  the  editorials  and  communications  of  the 
papers,  in  allusions  in  public  speeches  and  sermons, 
in  social  conversation,  and,  more  emphatic  than  all,  in 
frequent  lynchings  all  about  in  the  State.  Mrs.  Clem, 
though  twice  convicted,  finally  worried  the  law  by 
appeals  and  change  of  venue  and  postponement  till 
she  was  discharged,  and  this  more  than  any  other  one 
thing  had  set  the  community  hard  against  any  lenity 
to  the  next  murderer. 

In  November,  1878,  John  Achey  was  convicted  of 
the  murder,  by  shooting,  of  George  Leggett,  a  partner 
in  a  gambling  operation,  and  sentenced  to  death  on 
the  29th  of  January,  1879..  On  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1878,  William  Merrick,  a  livery-stable  keeper  on 
South  Street,  was  convicted  of  the  murder  of  his 
wife.  She  had  been  a  school-teacher,  and  saved  a 
considerable  sum  of  money.  While  paying  her  his 
addresses  he  borrowed  all  her  money,  seduced  her, 
and  only  after  much  solicitation  married  her.  Within 
a  day  or  two  of  her  confinement  he  took  her  out 
riding  after  dusk,  gave  her  strychnine  in  a  glass  of 
beer,  which  caused  premature  child-birth  in  the 
agonies  of  death,  and  then  drove  with  the  dead 
bodies  to  a  small  wood  near  the  Morris  Street  bridge 
over  Eagle  Creek,  where  he  dug  a  shallow  hole  on 
the  creek  bank,  put  the  bodies  naked  in  it,  and 
covered  them  with  logs.  He  burned  in  his  stable  the 
clothing  he  took  from  his  wife's  corpse  in  the  dark- 
ness of  midnight  and  the  woods,  and  no  discovery 
was  made  for  several  days.  Then  a  boy  going  along 
the  creek  found  the  bodies,  the  wife  was  identified  by 
some  physical  marks  still  discernible  through  the  de- 
composition, and  very  soon  after  the  husband  was 
arrested.  The  horrible  brutality  of  the  crime,  the 
cool,  callous,  calculating  cruelty  in  every  stage  of  it, 
the  beastliness  of  the  burial,  all  provoked  so  hot  an 
exasperation  of  popular  feeling  that  for  the  first  time 
there  were  serious  threats  of  lynching.  He  was 
sentenced  to  be  hung  at  the  same  time  Achey  was, 
January  29th.    Some  attempts  were  made  to  obtain  a 


commutation  for  Achey,  whose  provocation  had  been 
great,  and  would  have  saved  him  a  death  sentence  in 
any  other  condition  of  feeling  of  the  community,  but 
nothing  was  done  for  Merrick.  They  were  hung  on 
the  same  gallows  at  the  same  instant,  Merrick  sullen, 
dogged,  and  silent  to  the  last,  though  indicating  a 
desire  to  speak  at  the  moment  the  drop  fell.  Louis 
Guetig  was  convicted  the  same  year  of  the  murder  of 
Miss  McGlue,  a  waiter  in  the  hotel  kept  by  his  uncle 
whom  he  had  been  courting,  but  who  had  discarded 
him.  He  shot  her  in  the  courtyard  of  the  hotel 
while  imploring  him  not  to  kill  her,  and  imperiled 
several  other  girls  who  were  present,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  hung  with  Achey  and  Merrick  ;  but  his 
counsel  obtained  on  appeal  a  reversal  of  some  trivial 
instruction  of  the  court  below,  and  a  second  trial  fol- 
lowed, with  a  second  conviction  and  death  sentence, 
and  he  was  hung  on  Sept.  19,  1879,  the  anniversary 
of  the  murder.  These  are  the  only  death  sentences 
ever  passed  or  inflicted  in  Marion  County,  except  that 
of  a  colored  man  named  Greenly  for  murdering  his 
sweetheart.  He  was  sentenced,  but  the  Governor 
commuted  his  punishment  to  life  imprisonment. 

The  first  grand  jury  of  the  county  returned  twenty- 
two  indictments  by  Joseph  C.  Reed,  the  first  recorder 
and  school-teacher,  of  which  six  wore  non  pressed. 
They  were  pretty  much  all,  except  one  assault  and 
battery,  for  selling  liquor  without  a  license,  a  class  of 
offenses  which  has  always  been  a  strong  one  in  In- 
dianapolis and  is  yet.  The  first  sufferer  of  thousands 
of  lawle.ss  liquor  dealers  through  a  course  of  two  gener- 
ations was  John  Wyant.  So  many  indictments  at  the 
first  term  of  court  in  so  small  a  settlement,  with  no 
roads  and  no  navigable  streams,  and  no  neighbors  but 
Indians,  would  indicate  the  presence  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  lawless  element  that  always  mixes 
itself  up  with  the  real  pioneer  and  improving  element, 
though  there  was  much  less  of  it  and  of  a  less  dan- 
gerous quality  than  that  appearing  on  the  present  fron- 
tiers of  civilization.  The  first  felony  appears,  from 
Mr.  Nowland's  recollection,  to  have  been  a  burglary 
committed  by  an  old  man  named  Redman,  and  Warner 
his  son-in-law,  on  the  grocery-store  of  the  late  Jacob 
Landis  in  1824.  Col.  Russell  was  the  sheriff,  and  a 
search-warrant  enabled  him  to  find  the  missing  goods 


44 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


or  most  of  them.  Warner's  wife  attempted  to  con- 
ceal them  under  her  clothing,  but  was  detected.  The 
offenders  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  several 
years.  The  first  murder  was  committed  long  after- 
wards in  1833,  and  will  be  noticed  particularly  in  its 
place. 

The  Court-House  Square,  like  all  the  rest  of  the 
town,  was  a  dense  wood  when  the  first  jail  was  put 
there,  and  a  little  later  when  the  first  steps  for  a 
court-house  were  taken,  on  the  representations  of 
James  Blake,  the  county  commissioners  made  an 
order  that  in  clearing  the  square  two  hundred  trees 
(sugars  or  maples  it  was  understood)  should  be  spared 
for  a  grove.  No  special  direction  having  been  given 
the  contractors  they  left  the  largest  trees,  which, 
when  the  surrounding  protection  of  forest  had  been 
cut  away,  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  every  wind  that 
blew,  and  were  soon  so  greatly  damaged  that  they 
were  cut  down  and  cleared  away  entirely.  The  con- 
tractors for  clearing  were  Earl  Pierce  and  Samuel 
Hyde,  for  fifty-nine  dollars.  Many  years  after  an  at- 
tempt was  piade  to  reproduce  a  little  shade  by  a  grove 
of  suitable  trees,  but  the  saplings  were  killed  by 
drought  or  carelessness,  mischievous  boys  or  breachy 
cattle.  There  has  never  been  any  shade  worth  speak- 
ing of  in  the  Court-House  Square  since  the  primeval 
forest  was  cut  away  in  1822.  With  the  progress  of 
the  present  court-house  the  square  has  been  filled 
from  a  shallow  depression  to  a  very  handsome  eleva- 
tion, and  some  fine  trees  would  become  both. 

On  Thursday,  the  15th  of  August,  1822,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  "  Commissioners'  Record"  (page  45), 
the  County  Board  ordered  the  clerk  to  advertise  in 
the  Indianapolis  Gazette  for  bids  for  a  court-house, 
to  be  built  upon  plans  furnished  by  John  E.  Baker 
and  James  Paxton.     The  specifications  in  brief  were : 

The  building  was  to  front  on  Washington  Street, 
to  be  forty-five  by  sixty  feet,  and  ninety-four  feet 
high  from  the  ground.  It  was  to  be  of  brick,  and 
two  stories  high.  The  foundation  was  to  be  of  stone, 
eighteen  inches  in  the  ground  and  three  feet  and  a 
half  out  of  the  ground,  and  three  feet  thick.  The 
walls  of  the  lower  story  were  to  be  twenty-seven 
inches  thick,  and  of  the  second  story  twenty-two 
inches.     There  was   to    be  a  cupola    in    the    centre 


twenty-two  and  a  half  feet  high,  on  top  of  it  a  dome 
five  feet  high,  then  a  shaft  twelve  feet,  and  finally 
an  iron  spire  with  a  gilt  ball  and  vane.  On  the  first 
floor  were  a  court-room  forty  and  a  half  feet  square, 
and  another  small  room  and  a  hall,  each  thirteen  feet 
three  inches  square.  In  the  second  story  there  were 
to  be  a  court-room  forty-one  feet  three  inches  by 
twenty-five  feet,  two  rooms  sixteen  feet  square,  the 
hall  and  a  room  thirteen  feet  six  inches  square,  and 
an  entry  eight  and  a  half  feet  wide.  The  first  story 
was  fifteen  and  a  half  feet,  the  second  fifteen  feet. 
There  was  a  "  Doric  cornice  gutter  on  the  roof,  and 
four  tin  conductors  with  capitals."  The  roof  was 
to  be  of  poplar  shingles,  jointed,  five  inches  to  the 
weather. 

At  a  special  meeting  held  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1822,  the  commissioners  examined  bids  for  building 
the  house,  and  awarded  the  contract  to  John  E. 
Baker  and  James  Paxton  for  thirteen  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars.  Operations  were  to 
commence  before  the  1st  day  of  April,  1823,  and  the 
building  to  be  completed  in  three  years.  The  build- 
ing was  inspected  by  the  commissioners,  who  were  still 
in  office,  and  this  was  their  last  official  act.  It  was 
on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1825.  Only  a  little 
painting  and  other  work  remained  uncompleted. 
(Commissioners'  Record,  pages  45,  46,  47,  and  54.) 

Until  the  completion  of  the  court-house  court  was 
held,  as  the  law  required,  at  the  residence  of  Gen. 
John  Carr,  a  double  log  cabin  on  Delaware  Street, 
about  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  court-house.  The 
first  session  was  held  here  on  the  26th  of  September, 
1822,  with  Judge  William  W.  Wick  presiding,  the 
newly-qualified  associates,  Mcllvaine  and  Harding, 
assisting,  James  M.  Ray  as  clerk,  and  Hervey  Bates 
as  sheriff.  After  the  court  was  organized  it  ad- 
journed to  Crumbaugh's  house,  west  of  the  line  of 
the  future  canal.  Calvin  Fletcher  was  made  the 
first  prosecutor,  continuing  for  three  terms,  and  fol- 
lowed by  Harvey  Gregg,  Hiram  Brown,  William 
Quarles,  Philip  Sweetser,  James  Morrison,  Hugh 
O'Neal,  Governor  Wallace,  Governor  Hammond, 
and  others  more  or  less  eminent  in  the  profession. 
There  were  thirteen  civil  causes  on  the  docket,  and 
twenty-two  indictments  found,  of  which,  as  already 


ERECTION    OF    PUBLIC    BUILDINGS. 


45 


related,  six  were  non  prossed.  Eleven  lawyers  were 
present,  five  of  them  being  residents.  The  session 
lasted  three  days,  naturalized  an  Irishman,  Richard 
Good,  licensed  John  Hawkins  to  sell  liquor,  indicted 
a  dozen  or  more  for  selling  without  a  license,  and 
established  "  prison  bounds"  for  the  unfortunates 
airested  and  confined  for  debt,  that  relic  of  barbarism 
being  still  in  mischievously  vigorous  condition  here. 
The  first  civil  case  was  Daniel  Bowman  vs.  Meridy 
Edwards ;  the  first  criminal  case,  State  vs.  John 
Wyant,  for  violation  of  license  laws.  The  second 
session  was  opened  May  5,  1823,  at  Carr's,  and  ad- 
journed to  Henderson's  tavern,  on  the  site  of  the 
"  New  York  Store."  Here  appeared  the  first  divorce 
ease,  Elias  Stallcup  vs.  Ruth  Stallcup.  The  third 
session  was  opened  at  Carr's,  as  usual,  Nov.  3,  1823, 
but  adjourned  to  Harvey  Gregg's  house.  The  fourth, 
April  12, 1824,  adjourned  from  Carr's  to  John  John- 
son's, and  the  fifth  met  at  Carr's,  Oct.  11,  1824,  and 
adjourned  to  the  partially  completed  court-house,  and 
never  afterwards  left  it  till  it  was  torn  down  in  1870 
to  make  room  for  the  present  one. 

This  old  court-house  was  practically  the  only  pub- 
lic building  in  the  town  from  1825  to  1835.  The 
Legislature  made  a  State-House  of  it  for  three 
months  every  winter.  The  Federal  Court,  the  Su- 
preme Court,  the  County  Court,  and  the  County 
Board  all  met  and  did  business  there.  More  than 
this,  after  the  completion  of  the  State-House,  and 
the  removal  of  that  portion  of  public  business  to  its 
own  quarters,  the  old  court-house  became  the  City 
Hall,  the  place  of  conventions,  the  ready  resort  of 
every  gathering  that  could  not  go  anywhere  else  and 
could  pay  for  lights  there.  The  county's  fuel  usually 
warmed  all  that  got  iu.  whether  public  charity  or 
private  show.  Joseph  G.  Marshall  and  James  Whit- 
comb,  two  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  United  States  in 
the  days  of  the  giants,  held  their  debate  there  when 
opposing  candidates  for  Governor  in  1843.  The 
eccentric  wandering  preacher,  Lorenzo  Dow,  preached 
there  in  1827.  Professor  Bronson  gave  his  first  lec- 
tures on  "  Elocution"  there.  Col.  Lehmanowski  lec- 
tured there  on  "  Napoleon's  Wars."  Preachers  "  out- 
side of  any  healthy  organization,"  as  the  Southern 
senators  said  of  Seward  and  Sumner,  who  could  not 


get  the  "  Old  Seminary,"  could  always  get  the  court- 
house. "  Nigger  minstrels"  gave  the  first  of  their 
performances  there.  A  ventriloquist  gave  a  show 
there.  John  Kelly  played  the  fiddle  there.  Wil- 
liam S.  Unthank  lectured  there  on  electro-magnetism 
as  a  motive-power  more  than  thirty  years  ago.  County 
conventions  and  city  meetings  assembled  there.  But 
a  year  or  two  before  it  was  torn  down  the  citizens 
held  a  meeting  there  to  take  measures  to  get  the 
Agricultural  College,  for  which  Congress  had  made 
provision  in  all  the  States,  located  here,  against  the 
competition  of  Lafayette  and  John  Purdue.  A  Mr. 
Keeley  in  1844  made  experiments  in  mesmerism 
there,  and  set  half  the  fools  in  town  mesmerizing  the 
other  half.  Few  buildings  in  a  new  country,  or  any 
country,  have  had  a  greater  variety  of  experiences  in 
as  short  a  life.  It  was  State-House,  court-house,  oc- 
casional church,  convention  hall,  lecture-room,  con- 
cert-room, show-room,  ball-room  in  forty-five  years. 

During  the  time  the  present  court-house  was  in 
course  of  erection,  from  May,  1870,  to  July,  1876, 
the  courts  were  held  in  a  large,  cheap  two-story 
brick  building  at  the  west  gate,  near  where  the  west 
entrances  from  the  street  now  are.  In  front,  and  to 
the  east  a  few  feet,  were  the  old  oflBces  of  the  county, 
the  clerk  and  treasurer,  recorder  and  auditor,  the 
last  two  in  the  second  story,  the  others  on  the  ground- 
floor.  In  1827  the  Legislature  appropriated  five 
hundred  dollars  to  build  a  little  double-room,  one- 
story  brick  house  at  the  west  entrance  of  the  Court- 
House  Square,  for  the  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
then  and  for  many  years  afterwards  Henry  P.  Coburn, 
one  of  the  foremost  of  the  old  citizens  in  all  good 
work.  He  was  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  town 
government,  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  the  Old 
Seminary,  and  one  of  the  first  three  trustees  of  the 
city  schools,  a  position  in  which  he  contributed  as 
largely  as  any  man  to  their  wise  and  beneficent  estab- 
lishment. He  was  always  put  in  for  gratuitous  pub- 
lic services,  and  never  made  any  difference  in  the 
faithfulness  and  efficiency  of  his  discharge  of  them. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and  a  college-mate 
with  Edward  Everett,  came  to  this  place  with  the  State 
government  in  1824,  was  the  father  of  Gen.  John 
Coburn  and  Henry,  of  the  firm  of  Coburn  &  Jones, 


46 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


and  died  July  20,  1854,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four. 
This  little  building  was  torn  down  in  1855,  and  the 
clerk's  office  was  removed  to  the  State-House.  The 
present  court-house  was  completed  in  six  years  from 
the  removal  of  the  old  one,  at  a  cost  of  one  million 
four  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand  three  hundred 
and  seventy-one  dollars  and  seventy-nine  cents,  a  lit- 
tle more  than  one  hundred  times  as  much  as  the  old 
house  of  1823-25  cost.  Costly  as  it  was,  and  re- 
cently as  it  has  been  completed,  it  is  said  to  show 
signs  of  dilapidation.  The  State  is  once  more 
making  a  eapitol  of  the  county's  house  while  wait- 
ing for  its  own  building,  as  it  did  from  1825  to 
1835,  but  it  had  a  right  to  the  first  one,  for  it  paid 
for  it  and  used  it  as  an  owner.  It  has  no  right  to 
this  one,  and  must  pay  as  a  tenant.  The  city  has 
found  quarters  for  its  offices  in  the  same  building, 
after  moving  about  from  the  old  Marion  Engine  house 
on  the  Circle  to  any  convenient  rooms  it  could  get  till 
it  found  something  like  a  permanent  location  in  the 
Glenn  Block,  and  another  later  where  the  Mfenner- 
chor  Hall  is.  It  will  stay  now  where  it  is  till  it  gets 
a  hall  of  its  own.  The  only  other  buildiag  ever 
erected  on  the  Court-House  Square  was  a  large  tem- 
porary frame,  built  by  the  political  parties  for  cam- 
paign meetings  in  1864  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  square.  It  remained  for  some  time  after  its 
special  use  was  completed,  and  was  made  a  sort  of 
public  hall. 

Following  the  incidents  of  the  organization  of  the 
first  court  and  the  occupancy  of  the  Court-House 
Square  has  carried  this  narrative  beyond  the  order  of 
time,  and  it  may  now  return  to  the  further  action  of 
the  first  ses.sion  of  the  County  Board.  On  the  16th 
of  April  the  commissioners,  under  an  act  of  the 
Legislature,  appointed  Daniel  Yandes  county  treas- 
urer, to  serve  for  one  year,  or  till  the  next  February 
session,  which  was  the  regular  time  of  appointment. 
On  the  13th  of  November,  1822,  he  made  his  first 
report,  and  it  will  be  found  interesting  at  this  day, 
when  the  revenues  and  expenses  of  the  county  are 
equal  to  those  of  the  State  at  that  time  : 

"  Daniel  Tandes,  County  Treasurer,  Dr. 

To  amount  of  receipts  up  to  this  date,  for  store 
licenses,  tavern  licenses,  and  taxes  on  certificates 
and  sales  and  writs $169,934 


To  certified   amount  of  county  revenue  assessed  for 

1822 726.79 

To  the  balance  in  your  favor  on  settlement  this  day....       79. Hi 

S975.84 

Treasurer,  Cn. 

By  payment  to  grand  jurors  to  this  date S2.25 

'*  to  county  commissioners .36.00 

"  to  listing,  appraisers,  etc 70.50 

*'  to  prosecuting  attorney 15.25 

"  to  expenses  of  the  courts  and  juries 40.50 

"  to  returning  judges  of  elections 9.50 

"  to  building  county  jail  account 140.50 

"  to  work  on  Court-House  Square 59.00 

"  to  viewers  and  surveyors  of  roads 8.12J 

"  on  poor  account 5.00 

"  on  school  section  accuunt 1.50 

*'  for  printing 32.87^ 

S421.00 

To  treasurer's  per  cent,  on  $421.00  at  5  per  cent 21.00 

By  amount  of  county  revenue  yet  due  from  Harris 

Tyner,  collector,  for  the  year  1822 490.844 

By  amount  deducted  from  revenue  by  delinquents...        42.S7i 

$975.84" 

Mr.  Yandes  was  reappointed  Feb.  10,  1823,  to 
serve  for  one  year,  and  was  reappointed  annually  till 
1829.  The  following  are  the  dates  of  his  later  ap- 
pointments:  Feb.  11,  1824,  Jan.  3,  1825,  Jan.  6, 
1826,  Jan.  1,  1827,  Jan.  8,  1828.  James  John- 
son was  appointed  in  1829.  Hervey  Bates  was 
elected  sheriff  at  the  regular  State  election  in  August, 
and  served  till  1824,  when  Alexander  W.  Russell 
succeeded  him,  and  was  succeeded  in  1828  by  Jacob 
Landis.  Harris  Tyner  appears  from  the  report  of 
Mr.  Yandes  to  have  been  the  first  tax  collector. 
James  Paxton  was  the  first  assessor,  by  appointment 
of  the  County  Board,  April  17, 1822.  George  Smith, 
of  the  Gazette,  was  elected  coroner  at  the  regular  elec- 
tion in  August,  but  seems  not  to  have  served,  and 
the  first  in  service  was  Harris  Tyner,  commissioned 
Sept.  1,  1823.  A  complete  list  of  county  officers 
will  be  found  in  a  more  appropriate  connection.  The 
purpose  here  is  only  to  notice  the  first  occupants  and 
duties  of  the  officers. 

On  the  29th  of  May  two  keel-boats  came  up  the 
river,  the  "  Eagle"  from  the  Kanawha,  and  the 
"  Boxer"  from  Zanesville,  the  former  loaded  with  fif- 
teen tons  of  salt,  whiskey,  tobacco,  and  dried  fruit,  the 
latter  with  thirty-three  tons  of  dry-goods  and  print- 
ing material  for  Luke  Walpole,  one  of  the  earliest  of 
the  merchants,  who  then  had  a  store  on  the  Court- 


NOTABLE   EVENTS   AND   INCIDENTS. 


47 


House  Square.  Stores  then  and  for  years  after 
kept  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware,  queensware, 
liquor,  everything,  as  old  baokwoodsmeo  used  to  say, 
'■  from  scythe-snathes  to  salt  fish,  hymn-books,  calico, 
and  tobacco,"  and  a  strip  of  red  flannel  hung  over  the 
door  was  the  usual  sign. 

On  the  17th  of  June  a  meeting  was  held  at 
Hawkins'  tavern,  on  Washington  Street,  to  prepare 
for  the  first  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July.  It 
took  place  on  the  "  Military  Ground,"  which  then 
covered  pretty  much  all  the  area  north  of  Washington 
Street  and  west  of  West  Street,  then  a  country  lane, 
to  the  road  along  the  edge  of  the  bluflP  of  White  River 
and  Fall  Creek  bottoms,  now  called  Blake  Street,  and 
north  to  Michigan  Street.  It  was  heavily  wooded, 
largely  with  hackberries,  whose  little  black  beads 
of  fruit  with  a  mere  scale  of  covering,  as  sweet  as 
any  bee  ever  made,  were  a  favorite  indulgence  of  the 
school-boys  of  a  later  day.  A  few  of  these  old  hack- 
berries  are  still  standing  in  what  is  left  of  the 
[  "  Military  Ground"  in  Military  Park.  The  opening 
ceremony  of  the  occasion  was  a  sermon  by  Rev.  John 
MoCluug,  the  "New  Light"  pioneer  preacher,  on  the 
text,  from  Proverbs,  "  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation, 
but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people."  Rev.  Robert 
Brenton  "  closed  with  a  prayer  and  benediction."  Be- 
tween the  two  religious  extremes  there  came  a  brief 
address  from  Judge  Wick  on  the  events  and  charac- 
ters of  the  Revolution,  closing  with  the  Declaration. 
Squire  Obed  Foote  read  Washington's  Inaugural 
Address,  with  remarks  appropriate  to  the  subject, 
and  John  Hawkins  read  the  Farewell  Address,  with 
suitable  reflections.  The  audience  certainly  got  a 
better  quality  of  literature  and  sentiment  than  they 
would  have  been  likely  to  get  from  a  larger  infusion 
of  original  matter.  The  more  material  enjoyment  of 
the  day  was  a  deer  killed  the  day  before  by  Robert 
Harding  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  donation, 
and  "  barbecued"  in  a  sufiicient  hole  dug  near  a  big 
elm.  A  long  table  was  set  under  the  trees,  and  a 
better  feast  made  than  could  be  got  for  less  vigorous 
appetites  at  ten  dollars  a  mouth  at  a  Delmonico's. 
During  the  dinner  the  inevitable  speeches  were  made 
by  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell  and  Maj.  John  W.  Red- 
ding.    The  festivities  were  completed  by  a  ball  at  the 


house  of  J.  R.  Crumbaugh,  just  west  of  the  site  of  the 
canal  near  Washington  Street. 

The  observance  of  the  Fourth  of  July  was  kept  up 
faithfully  for  about  the  third  of  a  century.  Then  it 
began  to  fail  in  interest,  and  the  war  put  an  end  to  it. 
For  much  the  greater  part  of  this  long  period  the 
celebration  was  confined  to  the  Sunday-schools  almost 
wholly,  only  a  rare  parade  of  mechanics  or  firemen 
breaking  the  current.  Early  in  the  morning  the 
children  of  each  school  would  meet  at  the  church, 
form  a  procession  with  banners,  the  least  in  front,  and 
march,  under  the  superintendent,  to  some  point  near 
the  Circle,  where  all  would  fall  in  and  make  a  pro- 
cession of  several  thousands  in  the  latter  days,  always 
under  the  marshalship  of  James  Blake,  and  go  to  the 
State-House  Square  or  to  some  convenient  grove, 
where  a  platform  and  seats  had  been  provided,  and 
there  hear  a  prayer,  a  reading  of  the  Declaration  by 
some  young  fellow  of  promising  qualities,  and  an 
oration  of  the  stereotyped  kind  from  a  lawyer  or 
preacher  or  some  one  of  a  pursuit  inclining  to  oratory. 
Governor  Porter  achieved  his  first  local  distinction  by 
a  Fourth  of  July  address  in  the  grove  on  West 
Street,  afterwards  the  site  of  the  Soldiers'  Home.  It 
was  not  of  the  stereotyped,  eagle-screaming,  sun- 
soaring  style,  however.  He  had  a  Revolutionary 
soldier  on  the  platform,  and  made  as  efi'ective  a  use 
of  him,  in  a  less  degree,  as  Webster  did  of  his  old 
soldiers  in  his  speech  on  Bunker  Hill.  Another 
striking  address  on  a  like  occasion  was  that  of  ex- 
Governor  Wallace  in  the  State-House  Square  the 
year  before,  not  far  from  the  middle  of  the  decade  of 
1840  to  1850.  The  conclusion  of  the  celebration 
was  a  liberal  distribution  of  "  rusks"  and  water,  and 
a  benediction  that  sent  all  home  before  the  unpleasant 
hour  of  noon.  Since  the  war  the  Fourth  has  been  a 
sort  of  general  picnic  holiday,  or  occasion  for  a  fes- 
tive celebration  by  some  one  of  the  many  associations 
in  the  city.  For  about  thirty  years  it  was  steadily 
maintained  by  the  Sunday-schools,  from  1828  to 
1858. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  three  days  after  settling 
upon  the  mode  and  means  of  celebrating  the  Fourth, 
the  citizens  held  another  meeting  at  the  school- 
house,    near    the    present    intersection     of    Illinois 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue,  to  settle  the  ar- 
rangements for  a  permanent  school.  Trustees  were 
appointed,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  selected  as 
teachers.  The  school  was  maintained  for  some  years. 
Mr.  Reed,  the  first  teacher  in  the  settlement,  did 
not  keep  his  place  more  than  one  quarter, — all 
schooling  was  counted  by  the  quarter  (of  twelve 
weeks)  in  those  days, — but  others  succeeded  him 
till  this  permanent  arrangement  was  made  in  Jun^, 
1822.  Who  the  first  trustees  were  there  is  no 
record  to  tell,  and  no  reminiscence  recalls  them, 
but  it  would  not  be  a  wild  guess  to  say  that 
James  Blake  or  James  M.  Ray  or  Calvin  Fletcher 
was  among  them. 

The  first  State  election  in  the  New  Purchase  oc- 
curred on  the  5th  of  August,  1822.  William 
Hendricks,  uncle  of  ex- Governor  and  ex-United 
States  Senator  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  received  three 
hundred  and  fifteen  out  of  the  three  hundred  and 
seventeen  votes  cast  for  Governor.  He  served  two 
terms  in  the  National  Senate  after  leaving  the  Ex- 
ecutive chair.  This  vote  would  indicate  a  popula- 
tion of  fifteen  hundred  to  sixteen  hundred  in  the 
county  with  the  enlargement  then  appended  to  it. 
As  above  noted,  Mr.  Bates  was  elected  sheriff  at 
this  election,  and  served  a  full  term  of  two  years. 
George  Smith,  elected  coroner,  was  succeeded  in 
1824  by  Harris  Tyner.  In  the  militia  election  of 
the  6th  of  the  next  month,  James  Paxton  was 
elected  colonel  of  the  Fortieth  Regiment,  Samuel 
Morrow  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Alexander  W.  Rus- 
sell major. 

The  leading  events  of  the  three  years  of  the 
first  settlement  of  the  city  may  be  summed  up 
thus:  in  1820  the  selection  of  the  capital  site, 
birth  of  first  child,  cultivation  of  the  "  caterpillar 
deadening;"  in  1821  the  first  appointment  of  justices, 
laying  out  the  town,  the  epidemic  and  the  famine, 
the  first  sermon,  the  first  marriage,  the  first  death, 
the  first  store,  the  first  sale  of  lots,  the  first  school- 
house  and  school, — a  year  of  first  things ;  in  1822 
the  organization  of  the  county,  designation  of  town- 
ships, measures  for  county  buildings,  first  tax  levy 
and  report,  and  generally  the  incidents  of  the  tran- 
sition of  a  community  from  an  accidental  collection 


into  an    organized    body  prepared    to    support    and 
take  care  of  itself. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  1822  the 
chief  incidents  of  which  any  record  or  recollection 
remains  was  a  camp-meeting,  beginning  September 
12th,  east  of  the  town,  presided  over  by  Rev. 
James  Scott,  sent  here  by  the  St.  Louis  Confer- 
ence in  1821,  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  this  class 
of  assemblages  held  in  or  about  the  donation,  and 
still  kept  up,  in  an  improved  form  with  perma- 
nent arrangements,  at  a  convenient  point  southeast 
of  the  city,  near  the  little  town  of  Acton,  on  the 
Cincinnati  Railroad.  The  "  Military  Ground"  was  a 
favorite  location  for  some  years.  Then  they  were 
held  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  donation,  in  a 
sugar-grove  east  of  the  canal,  known  as  the  "  Tur- 
key Roost,"  and  the  general  resort  of  the  school- 
boys for  little  sugar  saplings  for  "shinny  clubs."  The 
camp-ground  was  in  the  western  edge  of  it.  For  some 
years  a  grove  near  the  present  site  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  Asylum  was  used,  then  for  a  considerable 
time  they  were  abandoned  about  here  altogether. 
Their  revival  and  establishment  permanently  at 
Acton  is  an  affair  of  the  last  decade  mainly.  For 
a  whole  generation  the  most  prominent  and  eSec- 
tive  preacher  at  camp-meetings  was  Rev.  James 
Havens,  irreverently  called  by  the  ungodly  "  Old 
Sorrel,"  a  man  of  rugged  and  powerful  structure, 
both  physically  and  intellectually,  as  fearless  as  the 
famous  Peter  Cartwright,  and  as  well  able  to  pro- 
tect himself  from  the  violence  that  he  sometimes 
had  to  encounter  or  expect  from  the  "  roughs" 
who  sought  diversion  in  disturbing  the  meetings. 
The  most  notable  incident  in  all  that  is  remem- 
bered of  these  gatherings  about  here  is  his  en- 
counter with  a  man  named  Burkhart,  commonly 
called  "  Buckhart,"  the  leader  of  a  lawless  crowd 
brought  here  by  the  work  on  the  National  road 
and  the  Central  Canal,  and  left  here  idle  when 
those  works  were  abandoned.  They  lived  by  dig- 
ging wells  and  moving  houses,  when  they  did  any- 
thing but  steal,  and  when  they  could  not  do  better 
lived  on  the  corn  and  potatoes,  pigs  and  chickens 
of  the  farms  that  then  covered  the  greater  part  of 
what  is  now  the  city.    They  were  called  the  "  chain- 


NOTABLE   EVENTS   AND   INCIDENTS. 


49 


gang."  Two  or  three  met  violent  deaths  in  affrays 
a  few  years  later,  but  Burkhart  left  the  town,  went 
down  about  the  "  Bluffs,"  and  died  in  his  bed  at 
a  ripe  old  age,  in  better  moral  condition  than  he 
had  lived  for  most  of  his  life.  The  camp-meeting 
which  was  the  scene  of  the  incident  was  held  on 
the  "  Military  Ground."  "  Old  Dave  Buckhart" 
appeared  there  on  the  skirts  of  the  assembly  pretty 
drunk,  and  wandering  /barefooted  in  the  simple 
costume  of  a  dirty  shirt  and  pair  of  pantaloons, 
his  usual  style  of  dress,  from  one  point  to  another, 
singing  a  ribald  song,  or  couplet  rather,  of  his  own 
making.  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  the  hero  of  the 
We.'t  Virginia  campaign,  the  credit  of  which  Mc- 
Clellan  absorbed,  and  Hugh  O'Neal,  one  of  the  fore- 
most criminal  lawyers  of  the  State,  had  learned  some- 
thing of  the  purpose  of  the  chain-gang  to  disturb 
the  camp-meeting,  and  went  there  expressly  to  pre- 
vent it  and  punish  the  rowdies.  As  soon  as  Burk- 
hart's  singing  was  seen  to  attract  attention  they 
went  to  him,  and  at  almost  the  same  instant  Mr. 
Havens  came  up.  A  peremptory  order  of  silence 
was  met  by  a  drunken  defiance,  which  the  legendary 
account  says  was  followed  by  a  blow  "  from  the 
shoulder"  by  the  preacher  that  knocked  the  rowdy 
senseless.  But  Gen.  Morris  says  he  is  not  sure 
that  Mr.  Havens  struck  Burkhart,  and  that  there 
was  no  knock-down.  This  phase  of  the  story  took 
form  from  an  occurrence  the  next  day,  when  Burk- 
hart was  before  Squire  Scudder  for  disturbing  the 
meeting.  He  was  "  gostrating"  to  the  crowd  at- 
tending the  trial,  and  the  late  Samuel  Merrill, 
thinking  that  the  most  effectual  way  to  "  squelch" 
the  leader  of  the  "  chain-gang"  and  hold  it  in 
more  wholesome  dread  of  the  law-abiding  commu- 
nity would  be  to  beat  him  at  his  own  game,  and 
show  him  that  rowdies  were  not  as  formidable  an- 
tagonists as  better  men,  challenged  him  to  wrestle 
with  him.  The  rowdy  was  heavily  and  easily  thrown 
by  the  sober  and  muscular  lawyer,  greatly  to  his 
chagrin  and  the  discomfiture  of  the  gang.  It  was 
not  long  after  this  that  he  left  the  town,  and  never 
returned  except  for  a  brief  visit. 

An  incident  of  the  fall  of  1822,  still  well  remem- 
bered by  the  survivors  of  the  early  settlers,  was  an 
4 


invasion  of  gray  squirrels  that  came  from  the  east 
going  westward.  They  were  liberally  killed,  but  the 
massacre  made  no  impression  on  their  countless  num- 
bers. They  destroyed  a  large  portion  of  the  corn 
they  found  in  the  line  they  followed  as  undeviatingly 
as  a  bullet,  in  spite  of  fences  and  streams  and  swamps. 
In  1845  another  such  emigration  occurred,  but  of 
less  extent  and  destructiveness.  After  this  last  there 
came  a  gradual  change  upon  the  character  of  the 
squirrel  population  of  the  county.  Previously  the 
"  gray"  was  the  only  variety  known,  except  a  very 
rare  red  or  "  fox"  squirrel.  Afterwards  the  latter 
became  the  larger,  and  displaced  the  other  almost  as 
largely  as  it  had  itself  been  displaced.  But  this  sort 
of  game  disappeared  rapidly  after  the  completion  of 
the  first  lines  of  railroad,  and  now  it  is  rarely  seen 
nearer  the  city  than  a  half-dozen  miles. 

The  fall  of  1822  was  signalized  by  the  first  at- 
tempts to  open  roads  under  the  act  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  preceding  session.  These  roads  must  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  county  roads,  ordered  by  the 
County  Board  on  petition,  and  examined  by  "  view- 
ers," which  constituted  so  large  a  part  of  the  care  of 
the  county  government  in  early  days,  and  ever  since 
in  fact.  They  were  surveyed  and  some  work  done 
upon  them  under  direction  of  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  act  authorizing  them,  but  little  seems 
to  have  been  accomplished,  except  to  clear  away  the 
trees,  leaving  the  stumps  nearly  as  serious  an  ob- 
struction. The  White  Water  region  was  that  with 
which  the  settlement  naturally  desired  the  earliest 
intercourse,  and  the  roads  in  that  direction  were  first 
opened,  with  one  southward  toward  Madison,  over 
which  early  in  the  winter  a  public  meeting  at  Carter's 
tavern  demanded  a  weekly  mail  to  Vernon,  Jennings 
Co.,  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  at  Cory- 
don.  The  roads  of  this  period  and  for  many  a  year 
afterwards  were  about  as  bad  as  any  civilized  com- 
munity ever  had  to  put  up  with.  They  were  pass- 
able for  wagons  and  loads  only  when  dried  up  in 
summer  or  frozen  up  in  winter,  and  even  in  these 
favorable  conditions  there  were  long  stretches  that 
had  to  be  "  cross-layed"  with  rails  or  logs,  filled  in 
with  chunks,  to  be  passable  even  to  a  traveler  on 
horseback.     Since   the  advent  of  railroads,  and   the 


50 


HISTORY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


diminished  reliance  of  the  community  on  wagon- 
roads  for  any  but  neighborhood  communication,  these 
latter  have  been  improved  greatly  everywhere,  and 
now  there  are  none  entering  the  city  that  are  not 
well  graded  and  graveled,  and  as  passable  at  one 
season  as  another. 

The  first  change  from  the  primitive  condition  of 
the  roads  was  the  "  macadamizing"  of  the  National 
road  by  the  government.  An  effort  was  made  early 
in  the  settlement  to  get  Congress  to  run  the  line  of 
this  then  great  national  work  through  Indianapolis, 
but  nothing  was  accomplished  till  Oliver  H.  Smith, 
afterwards  founder  of  the  "  Bee  Line"  Railroad,  be- 
came a  member  of  Congress  from  the  eastern  district 
of  the  State  in  1827.  The  line  would  have  passed 
near  Columbus,  in  this  State,  Mr.  Smith  says  in  his 
"  Early  Indiana  Sketches,"  but  he  succeeded  in  car- 
rying an  amendment  that  brought  it  here,  and  along 
our  principal  street,  then  and  for  a  whole  generation 
better  known  as  "  Main  Street"  than  Washington. 
The  "  metaling"  of  this  road  extended  through  the 
town  and  beyond  the  river  to  a  point  a  few  hundred 
feet  west  of  Eagle  Creek,  but  it  stopped  in  the  town 
at  the  eastern  end,  near  East  Street,  leaving  a  con- 
siderable distance  uncovered  to  a  point  where  a  short 
stretch  east  of  Pogue's  Creek  was  "  metaled."  The 
survey  of  this  road  was  made  by  the  late  Lazarus  B. 
Wilson,  engineer  of  the  "  Louisville,  New  Albany 
and  Chicago"  Railroad.  He  also  planned  the  wooden 
arch  bridges  on  the  line,  which  have  been  in  constant 
use  with  little  repair,  except  replacing  the  soft  slate 
of  the  first  stone-work  of  the  river  bridge  with 
durable  limestone,  since  1833.  William  Wernweg 
and  Walter  Blake  were  contractors  for  these  bridges. 

"  Cross-laying,"  as  often  as  otherwise  called  "  cross- 
waying,"  was  the  universal  substitute  for  better  road- 
making  during  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  existence 
of  the  city.  All  the  "  bottoms"  of  streams  were  thus 
made  roughly  passable,  with  frequent  repair  and  re- 
placing of  rotten  rails  and  logs.  The  old  Madison 
road,  through  Franklin  and  Columbus,  was  especially 
improved  or  infested  with  cross-way  work.  Not  lono- 
before  the  Union  Depot  was  built  the  whole  breadth 
of  Pogue's  Creek  bottom,  the  head  of  this  road,  from 
Louisiana  Street,  at  the  foot  of  the  rise  on  which  the 


residence  of  Morris  Morris  stood  on  South  Meridian 
Street,  to  the  rise  on  the  other  side  at  the  "  White 
Point,"  built  by  Dr.  John  B.  McClure,  and  long  oc- 
cupied by  Nicholas  McCarty,  was  a  mass  of  rails  and 
saplings  and  chunks  and  swamp-slush,  bordered  by  a 
willow-fringed  cow-pasture  on  the  west  side  and  a 
corn-field  on  the  east,  where  the  Eagle  Machine- Works 
stand.  In  making  the  later  substantial  improvements 
of  this  street  some  indications  of  the  old  condition 
were  discovered.  The  town  streets  were  little  better 
than  the  country  roads  for  many  years.  Even  after 
the  trees  were  cut  out, — and  trees  were  standing  in 
some  streets  that  are  now  built  solidly  for  squares  as 
late  as  1842  or  1843, — the  stumps  were  left  for  the 
wagon-way  to  wander  around  as  crookedly  as  a 
"  bottom"  bayou,  reinforced  by  frequent  mud-holes, 
turned  by  large  bodies  of  unrestrained  hogs  into  hog- 
wallows.  The  fences  along  each  side  were  "  worm- 
fences,"  and  sidewalks  were  pig-tracks  hugging  closely 
the  corners  of  the  fences  when  a  big  mud-hole  had  to 
be  circumvented.  But  a  few  of  the  more  central  were 
better. 

One  of  the  last  incidents  of  the  year  was  the  elec- 
tion by  the  Legislature,  early  in  December,  of  Bethuel 
F.  Morris,  grandfather  of  the  distinguished  young 
naturalist  and  Amazonian  explorer,  Ernest  Morris, 
State  agent  in  place  of  James  Milroy,  a  non-resident, 
appointed  by  the  Governor  to  succeed  Gen.  Carr,  who 
had  re.signed.  Mr.  Morris  was  subsequently  president 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  cashier  of  the  Indian- 
apolis Branch  of  the  State  Bank.  He  died  some 
twenty  years  ago,  after  a  long  period  of  retired  life, 
at  his  home  near  the  crossing  of  Morris  Street  and 
Madison  Avenue.  About  the  time  of  his  appointment 
to  the  agency  on  the  7th  of  December,  the  first  sale 
of  lots  for  delinquent  taxes  took  place.  It  was  a 
long  one,  and  the  fact  that  the  greatest  delinquency 
was  but  two  dollars  eighty-seven  and  one-half  cents, 
and  the  range  ran  all  the  way  down  to  twenty-five 
cents,  showed  that  money  was  hard  to  come  by  when 
such  small  amounts  could  not  be  commanded  for  so 
important  a  purpose  as  the  redemption  of  town  lots. 
Fortunes  were  going  begging  then  if  anybody  had 
known  it.  Some  few  may  have  neither  known  nor 
guessed  it,  but  were  lucky  enough  to  take  "  the  tide 


NOTABLE   EVENTS    AND   INCIDENTS. 


51 


at  the  flood."  With  most,  however,  it  was  the  story 
of  the  man  who  could  have  got  the  half  of  the  site 
of  Chicago  for  a  pair  of  boots,  but  had  not  the  boots. 
Some  of  the  largest  fortunes  in  the  city  date  from  this 
tax  sale  and  the  condition  of  general  finances  it  in- 
dicated. A  proposition  to  incorporate  the  town  this 
year  was  beaten. 

The  winter  of  1822-23  was  made  a  pleasant  sea- 
son, like  that  of  the  year  before,  by  social  enjoyments 
and  free  commingling  of  all  the  settlers  in  pursuing 
them,  though  it  followed,  like  the  other,  a  summer  of 
much  sickness,  and  fell  in  a  time  of  great  financial 
trouble.  The  county  was  settling  up  pretty  rapidly. 
Two  hundred  and  five  entries  of  land  had  been  made 
in  Centre  township  outside  of  the  donation  during  the 
years  1821-22,  and  many  of  the  purchasers  had  be- 
come residents.  In  Decatur  township  forty-five  en- 
tries were  made  in  those  two  years ;  in  Wayne,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-eight;  in  Pike,  twenty-nine;  in 
Washington,  one  hundred  and  forty-six ;  in  Law- 
rence, ten;  in  Warren,  nineteen;  in  Franklin,  fif- 
teen ;  in  Perry,  eighty-one.  It  is  noticeable  that  the 
townships  more  remote  from  the  older  settled  por- 
tions of  the  State,  from  which  immigrants  might  be 
expected,  received  more  land-buyers  than  those  on 
the  east  side  and  nearer.  Wayne  had  a  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  to  nineteen  in  Warren,  Decatur  forty-five 
to  ten  in  Lawrence,  Pike  twenty-nine  to  fifteen  in 
Franklin.  Land-buyers  thought  the  western  part  of 
the  county,  with  portions  of  the  central  tier  of  town- 
ships, contained  the  most  desirable  land. 

The  first  act  of  the  Legislature  in  the  new  year  of 
1823  was  the  assignment  of  a  legislative  representa- 
tion to  the  two-year-old  county,  January  7th.  Can- 
didates began  to  show  up  with  characteristic  Ameri- 
can promptness  at  once,  and  the  canvass  of  merits 
was  kept  up  briskly  till  the  election  the  next  August. 
Early  in  the  spring,  as  already  related  in  the  account 
of  the  first  religious  movements  in  the  settlement, 
the  Presbyterians  took  steps  to  build  the  first  church 
in  the  town,  on  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  pretty 
nearly  opposite  the  Grand  Opera-House  site,  and  on 
the  completion  of  the  church  organization  the  follow- 
ing July,  Rev.  David  C.  Proctor,  of  Connecticut, 
who  had   been  retained  as  a  missionary  in  1822-23, 


was  the  first  pastor,  succeeded  in  September,  1824, 
by  the  celebrated  oriental  scholar  and  religious 
"  free-lance,"  Professor  George  Bush,  who  was  much 
such  another  as  the  more  noted  Orestes  A.  Brownson, 
except  that  he  did  not  turn  Catholic  as  the  latter  did. 
The  religious  vagaries  of  no  two  men  in  the  country, 
backed  by  rare  abilities  and  profound  scholarship  as 
they  were,  have  attracted  so  much  attention.  Pro- 
fessor Bush  continued  in  charge  to  March  20,  1829. 
On  the  7th  of  March  the  second  newspaper  of  the 
New  Purchase  made  its  first  appearance  under  the 
name  of  Western  Censor  and  Emigrant's  Guide,  with 
the  customary  ambition  of  papers  in  new  settlements 
taking  a  name  better  proportioned  to  its  hope  than 
its  importance.  It  was  published  and  printed  in  a 
building  on  Washington  Street,  opposite  the  site  of 
the  New  York  Store,  by  Harvey  Gregg  and  Douglass 
Maguire.  Not  much  is  known  of  the  former  now 
more  than  that  he  was  a  lawyer  of  good  abilities  from 
Kentucky,  and  appeared  in  the  bar  at  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  court.  Mr.  Nowland  relates  an  incident 
of  his  first  visit  here  at  the  time  of  the  lot  sales  in 
1821  which  illustrates  his  characteristic  absent- 
mindedness  and  the  solid  honesty  of  the  people  and 
the  times.  He  had  brought  a  considerable  sum  with 
him  to  buy  land,  and  had  about  two  hundred  dollars 
in  gold  left  after  making  his  first  payments.  He 
missed  this  one  morning,  and  supposed  he  had 
dropped  it  from  his  pocket  somewhere  where  he 
had  been  examining  land.  He  gave  it  up  for  gone 
and  went  home.  The  following  spring  Mrs.  Now- 
land found  it  under  the  rag-carpet  of  the  room  he 
had  slept  in  with  sixteen  other  men,  all  of  whom 
might  have  seen  him  stick  it  under  the  carpet,  and 
probably  did,  but  had  no  more  thought  of  meddling 
with  it  than  they  would  if  it  had  been  locked  in  a 
dynamite  safe.  Travelers  and  moralists  have  boasted 
that  the  Finns  have  no  word  for  steal,  and  know  no 
use  for  locks.  The  primitive  settlers  of  Indianapolis 
might  have  contested  the  Monthyon  prize  of  virtue 
with  them.  It  may  be  enough  to  suggest  that  the 
condition  of  society  has  changed  in  sixty-two  years, 
and  it  would  not  be  safe  to  put  two  hundred  dollars 
under  a  carpet  with  sixteen  other  men  in  the  room, 
with  any  expectation  of  seeing  it  again.     He  was  the 


52 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


second  lawyer  to  settle  in   the  new  toivn.     He  died 
early. 

Douglass  Maguire,  his  partner,  long  sJrvived  him, 
and  was  far  better  known.  He  came  to  the  place  in 
the  spring  of  1823  from  Kentucky,  was  the  last  State 
auditor  elected  by  the  Legislature  but  one  before 
the  Constitution  of  1850  went  into  operation,  and 
was  one  of  the  four  delegates  from  this  county  to 
the  convention  that  framed  that  instrument.  Gover- 
nor Wallace  being  the  other  Whig,  and  Alexander  F. 
Morrison  and  Jacob  Page  Chapman  the  two  Demo- 
crats. Mr.  Maguire  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to 
Henry  Clay  both  in  form  and  feature,  and  was  to  the 
full  as  generous  and  warm-hearted.  The  Western 
Censor  and  Emigrant' s  Gruide  was  the  precursor  of 
the  Journal,  as  the  Gazette  was  of  the  Sentinel.  Like 
its  rival,  its  first  issues  were  irregular.  The  second 
number  appeared  on  the  19th  of  March,  the  third  on 
the  26th  of  March,  the  fourth  on  the  2d  of  April 
the  fifth  on  the  19th,  the  sixth  on  the  23d,  after 
which  its  issue  was  regular.  On  the  removal  of  the 
capital  to  Indianapolis  in  the  fall  of  1824,  the  State 
printer,  John  Douglass,  bought  the  paper  and  changed 
the  name  to  the  Journal.  The  Journal  it  has  been 
ever  since,  nearly  sixty  years  now.  The  old  editor, 
Mr.  Maguire,  retained  an  interest  for  some  years  with 
Mr.  Douglass,  and  the  firm  was  Douglass  &  Maguire, 
— very  nearly  a  repetition  of  Mr.  Maguire's  name. 

About  a  mouth  after  the  appearance  of  the  second 
paper  the  first  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  the 
cabinet-shop  of  Caleb  Scudder,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  State-House  Square,  April  6,  1823.  It  proved 
a  very  popular  as  well  as  wholesome  enterprise,  mus- 
tering no  less  than  seventy  pupils  the  third  Sunday. 
When  the  weather  became  bad  in  the  fall  it  was  sus- 
pended till  the  next  spring,  and  was  revived  a  year 
after  its  formation  in  April,  1824.  The  first  Presby- 
terian Church  was  completed  that  spring  and  summer, 
and  the  school  taken  there.  It  was  never  suspended 
again.  In  1829  it  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July  in 
the  fashion  above  described,  and  thenceforward  the 
Sunday-schools  monopolized  the  national  holiday  till 
its  general  celebration  was  abandoned  except  as  a 
mere  day  of  idling  and  making  pleasant  parties.  The 
average  attendance  the  first  year  was  reported  to  be 


about  forty,  the  second  year  fifty,  the  third  year 
seventy -five,  the  fourth  one  hundred  and  six,  the  fifth 
one  hundred  and  fifty.  In  1827  a  library  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  volumes  had  been  procured.  Up 
to  1829,  when  the  Methodists  completed  their  first 
church,  all  denominations  united  in  this  school,  and 
it  was  thence  called  the  "  Union  School,"  superin- 
tended and  mainly  promoted  by  Dr.  Isaac  Coe.  It 
may  be  noted  here  that  in  all  the  Sunday-school  pro- 
cessions on  the  Fourth  of  July  from  1829  for  thirty 
years  nearly  James  Blake  was  the  marshal,  if  he  was 
at  home.  In  1829  the  Methodist  scholars  colonized 
in  their  own  church,  and  the  Baptists  followed  in 
three  years,  as  soon  as  they  had  a  suitable  place  in 
their  church.  But  the  co-operation  of  all  the  schools 
was  secured  by  a  Sunday-school  Union,  in  which  all 
were  represented. 

There  were  other  indications  of  the  solid  growth  of 
the  town  than  the  establishment  of  a  second  paper 
and  the  acquisition  of  a  representation  in  the  Legis- 
lature. The  agent  sold  four  acres  of  the  donation,  at 
sixty-five  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  an  acre,  for 
brick-yards.  Better  structures  than  the  frames  that 
were  partially  replacing  logs  were  contemplated, 
though  but  one  brick  house,  that  of  John  Johnson, 
already  referred  to,  was  in  progress.  About  the  1st 
of  June  two  enterprising  settlers,  William  Townsend, 
a  pioneer  of  1820,  and  Earl  Pearce,  later,  put  a  set 
of  woolen  machinery  in  the  mill  of  Isaac  Wilson,  on 
Fall  Creek  race,  where  Pattison's  mill  stood  for  many 
years  in  the  later  days  of  the  town.  FoUowiog  close 
upon  this  came  two  new  hotels  of  a  more  pretentious 
character  than  their  log  predecessors.  I'he  first  was  a 
large  frame  built  by  Maj.  Thomas  Carter  opposite  the 
court-house,  opened  on  the  6th  of  October,  and  the 
scene  of  the  first  Baptist  sermo^  on  the  26th  of  the 
same  month.  Though  a  regular  Baptist  Church 
organization  had  existed  from  September  of  the  year 
before,  and  a  Mr.  Barnes  had  been  engaged  as  a 
preacher  in  June,  third  Saturday,  1823,  yet  the  first 
regular  sermon  seems  to  have  waited  this  chance  in 
the  house  of  one  of  the  most  devoted  and  deserving 
of  the  members.  The  hotel  was  burned  Jan.  17, 
1825,  during  the  first  session  of  the  Legislature,  and 
the  proprietor,  in  the  days  long  before  insurance  was 


NOTABLE   EVENTS    AND   INCIDENTS. 


53 


known  in  the  New  Purchase,  lost  all  he  had,  with  no 
indemnification.  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown,  illustrating 
the  folly  that  sensible  men  will  commit  during  the 
excitement  of  a  fire  if  they  are  unused  to  such 
calamities,  says  that  a  squad  of  the  citizens  thought 
to  save  the  sign  which  swung  in  country  fashion  to  a 
tall  post  in  front  of  the  house,  and  chopped  it  down 
as  they  would  a  tree,  the  fall  smashing  the  sign  all  to 
splinters,  as  they  would  have  known  if  they  had  not 
lost  their  heads.  Some  months  afterwards  Mr.  Carter 
replaced  the  burned  house  with  that  of  Mr.  Crum- 
baugh  near  the  site  of  West  Street,  and  kept  his 
tavern  there  prosperously  for  several  years  till  his 
death.  The  other  hotel  lived  to  become  by  itself  and 
successor  the  most  noted  in  the  town  or  the  State  for 
about  thirty  years.  This  was  the  "  Washington 
Hall,"  a  frame  on  the  site  of  the  New  York  Store, 
built  by  James  Blake  and  Samuel  Henderson  at  the 
same  time  as  Mr.  Carter's  house,  but  opened  three 
months  later,*  Jan.  12,  182-1.  Mr.  Henderson  had 
kept  a  smaller  tavern  there  previously.  The  successor 
of  the  '•  Hall"  in  1836  was  a  brick,  and  made  the 
name  famous  under  the  management  of  the  late  Ed- 
mund Browning.  The  old  frame  was  moved  to  the 
next  lot  east,  and  there  for  a  number  of  years  was  a 
shoe-shop  in  the  lower  story,  and  the  law-office  of 
Governor  Wallace  in  the  upper,  where  Lewis,  his  son, 
— now  a  distinguished  general  of  the  civil  war  and 
novelist  and  minister  to  Constantinople, — wrote  sev- 
eral chapters  of  a  novel  in  the  style  of  G.  P.  R.  James 
called  the  "  Man  at  Arms,"  a  tale  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

Mr.  Ignatius  Brown  notes  that  early  in  the  spring 
of  this  year — 1823 — three  young  settlers,  named 
Stephen  Howard,  Israel  Jlitchell,  and  Martin  Smith, 
started  for  the  Russian  settlements  on  the  Pacific  by 
way  of  Pembina.  Nothing  was  ever  heard  of  them, 
except  that  they  reached  Fort  Armstrong  early  in 
May,  and  on  the  15th  of  August,  three  months  and 
eleven  days  after  reaching  the  fort  on  the  Mississippi, 
got  to  Fever  River,  having  seen  no  white  man  for 
twenty-three  days  after  leaving  the  Vermillion  Salt- 
Works,  and  having  been  robbed  by  the  Indians  and 
nearly  starved.  During  the  same  spring  the  "  In- 
diana Central  Medical  Society"  was  formed  to  license 


physicians  to  practice  under  the  law  then  in  force, 
with  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell  as  president,  and  Dr. 
Livingston  Dunlap  as  secretary,  the  forerunner  of 
many  a  medical  association  and  college  since.  The 
Fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  at  the  cabin  of 
Wilkes  Reagin,  near  the  crossing  of  Market  Street 
and  Pogue's  Run.  He  fed  the  company  with  an- 
other barbecue,  and  the  company  included  a  rifle 
company,  commanded  by  Capt.  Curry,  of  whom 
nothing  more  appears  to  be  known.  Mr.  Reagin  was 
a  conspicuous  man,  being  the  first  butcher,  the  first 
auctioneer,  and  one  of  the  three  first  justices  elected 
by  the  people.  Rev.  D.  C.  Proctor  and  Rev.  Isaac 
Reed  performed  the  religious  services  of  the  occasion, 
and  Daniel  B.  Wick,  brother  of  the  judge,  read  the 
Declaration,  and  Morris  Morris  delivered  the  address. 
The  September  succeeding  showed  a  population,  ac- 
cording to  the  new  Censor,  of  six  or  seven  hundred, 
with  a  better  state  of  health  through  the  summer  than 
had  been  generally  believed.  The  Censor,  true  to  its 
name,  used  the  occasion  to  censure  the  jealousy  with 
which  other  towns  in  the  State  regarded  the  still  un- 
used capital. 

The  August  election  for  first  members  of  the 
Legislature  resulted  in  the  choice  of  James  Gregory, 
of  Shelby,  as  senator,  and  James  Paxton,  of  this 
county,  as  representative.  There  were  the  usual 
winter  diversions  to  close  the  year,  but  varied,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Brown's  citation  of  an  announcement 
in  the  Gdizette,  by  a  theatrical  performance  of  "  Mr. 
Smith  and  wife,  of  the  New  York  theatre,"  in  the 
dining-room  of  Carter's  tavern,  on  the  last  night  of 
the  year.  Mr.  Nowland  puts  this  first  dramatic  exhibi- 
tion in  the  winter  of  1825-26,  and  says  the  performer 
was  a  Mr.  Crampton,  a  strolling  actor.  The  difi'er- 
cnce  is  of  no  consequence  as  long  as  there  is  entire 
concurrence  on  the  main  feature  of  the  affair.  Music 
was  needed,  of  course,  and  there  was  nobody  to  make 
it  but  Bill  Bagwell,  a  jolly,  vagabond  sort  of  fellow, 
who  made  the  first  cigars  in  the  place  in  a  cabin  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Maryland  and  Illinois  Streets, 
and  played  the  fiddle  at  the  pioneer  dances  and  wed- 
dings. Maj.  Carter  was  a  rigid  Baptist,  of  the  kind 
called  by  "  unrespective"  unbelievers  "  forty-gallon" 
Baptists,  who,   though   sober  men,  were   not  at  all 


54 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


fanatical  in  their  views  as  to  the  use  of  liquor,  but 
he  was  immovably  convinced  of  the  sinfulness  of 
playing  or  hearing  a  fiddle.  To  get  his  consent  to 
allow  Bagwell  to  play  orchestra  to  the  performance, 
the  actor  and  musician  both  had  to  assure  him  that 
the  instrument  of  the  occasion  was  not  a  fiddle  but  a 
violin,  and  the  performance  of  a  hymn  tune  satisfied 
him  of  the  difference.  Mr.  Nowland  says  the  major 
interrupted  the  exhibition  to  stop  the  orchestra  in 
playing  the  depraved  jig  called  "  Leather  Breeches," 
and  it  required  considerable  diplomacy  and  the  per- 
formance of  church  music  to  appease  him.  The  pieces 
performed,  the  ''  Doctor's  Courtship,  or  the  Indulgent 
Father,"  and  the  "Jealous  Lovers";  tickets,  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  cents.  Several  performances  were 
given,  and  the  couple  returned  the  following  June 
but  failed,  and  left  suddenly,  probably  helped  to  the 
determination  by  a  criticism  of  the  Censor,  which 
rated  tlie  performance  rather  low. 

It  may  have  been  a  mere  whim  of  a  couple  of  over- 
sanguine  new-comers,  or  it  may  have  been  a  larger 
promise  of  prosperity  than  appears  now  to  have  been 
credible  or  possible  at  that  time,  but  it  is  true,  never- 
theless, that  a  Maj.  Sullinger  opened  a  "  Military 
School"  here  on  the  13th  of  January,  1824,  for  "the 
instruction  of  militia  ofiScers  and  soldiers."  Nearly 
at  the  same  time  William  C.  McDougal  opened  the 
first  real  estate  agency,  though  the  Gazette  shows  that 
its  proprietor,  George  Smith,  as  before  noted,  opened 
a  similar  est.ablishment  a  year  or  two  later.  The 
month  of  January  was  signalized  to  the  pioneer  par- 
ticularly by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  25th, 

ordering  the  permanent  removal  of  the  capital that 

is,  the  State  offices  and  records — by  the  10th  of  the 
following  January,  1825,  the  Legislature  to  meet  that 
day  in  the  court-house  capitol  of  the  new  capital 
for  the  first  time.  No  doubt  the  promptness  of  the 
passage  of  this  act  was  due  in  part  to  the  delegation 
from  the  New  Purchase,  and  the  power  of  two  votes 
to  help  those  who  helped  the  owners.  On  the  return 
of  Mr.  Senator  Gregory  and  Representative  Paxton 
on  the  21st  of  February,  a  public  banquet  was  given 
them  by  the  grateful  citizens,  and  the  occasion  illus- 
trated with  highly-colored  views  of  the  prosperity  that 
would  follow  the  change.     Their  dreams  have  been 


more  than  fulfilled,  but  not  till  all  who  were  old 
enough  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  were  in  their 
graves. 

The  nest  incident  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  settle- 
ment was  the  most  startling  and  alarming  that  had 
yet  occurred.  This  was  the  murder,  on  the  22d  of 
March,  1824,  of  a  company  of  nine  Indians  of  the 
Shawanese  tribe, — two  men,  three  women,  two  boys, 
and  two  girls, — some  eight  miles  above  Pendleton,  by 
a  company  of  six  whites,  four  men  and  two  boys. 
An  account  of  this  cruel  massacre  was  given  in  a 
sketch  of  the  occupancy  of  the  New  Purchase  by  the 
Indians,  but  there  may  be  added  here,  as  illustrative 
of  the  early  condition  of  the  white  settlements,  the 
account  both  of  the  crime  and  the  trial  made  by  Hon. 
Oliver  H.  Smith,  ex-United  States  senator,  who  wit- 
nessed the  trials,  and  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  lead- 
ing lawyers  of  the  State. 

"  The  Indians  were  encamped  on  the  east  side  of 
Fall  Creek,  about  eight  miles  above  the  falls.  The 
country  around  their  camping-ground  was  a  dense, 
unbroken  forest  filled  with  game.  The  principal  In- 
dian was  called  Ludlow,  and  was  said  to  be  named  for 
Stephen  Ludlow,  of  Lawrenceburg.  The  other  man  I 
call  Mingo.  (His  name  appears  from  other  accounts  to 
have  been  Logan.)  The  Indians  had  commenced  their 
season's  hunting  and  trapping,  the  men  with  their  guns, 
the  squaws  setting  the  traps,  preparing  and  cooking 
the  game,  and  caring  for  the  children, — two  boys  some 
ten  years  old,  and  two  girls  of  more  tender  years.  A 
week  had  passed,  and  the  success  of  the  Indians  had 
been  only  fair,  with  better  prospects  ahead,  as  spring 
was  opening  and  raccoons  were  beginning  to  leave 
their  holes  in  the  trees  in  search  of  frogs  that  had 
begun  to  leave  their  muddy  beds  at  the  bottoms  of  the 
creeks.  The  trapping  season  was  only  just  com- 
mencing. Ludlow  and  his  band,  wholly  unsuspicious 
of  harm  and  unconscious  of  any  approaching  enemies, 
were  seated  around  their  camp-fire,  when  there  ap- 
proached through  the  woods  five  white  men, — Harper, 
Hudson,  Sawyer,  Bridge,  Sr.,  Bridge,  Jr.  Harper 
was  the  leader,  and  stepping  up  to  Ludlow  took  him 
by  the  hand  and  told  him  his  party  had  lost  their 
horses,  and  wanted  Ludlow  and  Mingo  to  help  find 
them.     The  Indians  agreed   to  go  in  search  of  the 


NOTABLE   EVENTS   AND   INCIDENTS. 


55 


horses.  Ludlow  took  one  path  and  Mingo  another. 
Harper  followed  Ludlow  and  Hudson  trailed  Mingo, 
keeping  some  fifty  yards  behind.  They  traveled  some 
short  distance  from  the  camp,  when  Harper  shot 
Ludlow  through  the  body ;  he  fell  dead  on  his  face. 
Hudson,  on  hearing  the  crack  of  the  rifle  of  Harper, 
immediately  shot  Mingo,  the  ball  entering  just  below 
his  shoulders  and  passing  clear  through  his  body. 
The  party  then  met  and  proceeded  to  within  gunshot 
of  the  camp.  Sawyer  shot  one  of  the  squaws  through 
the  head,  Bridge,  Sr.,  shot  another  squaw,  and  Bridge, 
Jr.,  the  other.  Sawyer  then  fired  at  the  oldest  boy, 
but  only  wounded  him.  The  other  children  were 
shot  by  some  of  the  party.  Harper  then  led  the  way 
on  to  the  camp.  The  two  squaws,  one  boy,  and  the 
two  little  girls  lay  dead,  but  the  oldest  boy  was  still 
living.  Sawyer  took  him  by  the  legs  and  knocked 
his  brains  out  against  the  end  of  a  log.  The  camp 
was  then  robbed  of  everything  worth  carrying  away. 

"  Harper,  the  ringleader,  left  immediately  for  Ohio, 
and  was  never  taken.  (He  is  said  by  tradition  to 
have  reached  Ohio,  eighty  miles  away  through  the 
woods,  in  twenty-four  hours.)  Hudson,  Sawyer, 
Bridge,  Sr.,  and  Bridge,  Jr.,  were  arrested,  and 
when  I  first  saw  them  they  were  confined  in  a  square 
log  jail,  built  of  heavy  beech  and  sugar-tree  logs, 
notched  down  closely,  and  fitting  tight  above,  below, 
and  on  the  sides.  The  prisoners  were  all  heavily 
ironed  and  sitting  on  the  straw  on  the  floor.  Hud- 
son was  a  man  of  about  middle  size,  with  a  bad  look, 
dark  eye,  and  bushy  hair,  about  thirty-five  years  of 
age  in  appearance.  Sawyer  was  about  the  same  age, 
rather  heavier  than  Hudson,  but  there  was  nothing 
in  his  appearance  that  would  have  marked  him  in  a 
crowd  as  any  other  than  a  common  farmer.  Bridge, 
Sr.,  was  much  older  than  Sawyer,  his  head  was  quite 
gray  ;  he  was  above  the  common  height,  slender,  and 
a  little  bent  while  standing.  Bridge,  Jr.,  was  a  tall 
stripling  some  eighteen  years  of  age.  Bridge,  Sr., 
was  the  father  of  Bridge,  Jr.,  and  the  brother-in-law 
of  Sawyer. 

"  The  news  of  these  Indian  murders  flew  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind.  The  settlers  became  greatly 
alarmed,  fearing  the  retaliatory  vengeance  of  the 
tribes,  and  especially  of  the  other  bands  of  the  Sen- 


ecas  (Shawanese).  The  facts  reached  Mr.  John 
Johnston  at  the  Indian  agency  at  Piqua,  Ohio.  An 
account  was  sent  from  the  agency  to  the  War  De- 
partment. Col.  Johnston  and  William  Conner  visited 
all  the  Indian  tribes  and  assured  them  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  punish  the  ofienders,  and  obtained 
the  promises  of  the  chiefs  and  warriors  that  they 
would  wait  and  see  what  their  '  Great  Father'  would 
do  before  they  took  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 
This  quieted  the  fears  of  the  settlers,  and  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  the  trials.  A  new  log  build- 
ing was  erected  at  the  north  part  of  Pendleton,  with 
two  rooms,  one  for  the  court  and  one  for  the  grand 
jury.  The  court-room  was  about  twenty  by  thirty 
feet,  with  a  heavy  puncheon  floor,  a  platform  at  one 
end  three  feet  high,  with  a  strong  railing  in  front,  a 
bench  for  the  judges,  a  plain  table  for  the  clerk  in 
front  on  the  floor,  a  long  bench  for  the  counsel,  a 
little  pen  for  the  prisoners,  a  side  bench  for  the  wit- 
nesses, and  a  long  pole  in  front,  substantially  sup- 
ported, to  separate  the  crowd  from  the  court  and  bar. 
A  guard  day  and  night  was  placed  around  the  jail. 
The  court  was  composed  of  Mr.  Wick,  presiding 
judge,  Samuel  Holliday  and  Adam  Winchell,  associ- 
ates. Judge  Wick  was  young  on  the  bench,  but 
with  much  experience  in  criminal  trials.  Judge 
Winchell  was  a  blacksmith,  and  had  ironed  the  pris- 
oners. Moses  Cox  was  the  clerk.  He  could  barely 
write  his  name,  and  when  a  candidate  for  justice  of 
the  peace  at  Connersville  he  boasted  of  his  superior 
qualifications  :  '  I  have  been  sued  on  every  section 
of  the  statute,  and  know  all  about  the  law,  while  my 
competitor  has  never  been  sued,  and  knows  nothing 
about  the  statute.'  Samuel  Cory,  the  sheriff,  was  a 
fine  specimen  of  a  woods  Hoosier,  tall  and  strong- 
boned,  with  a  hearty  laugh,  without  fear  of  man  or 
beast,  and  with  a  voice  that  made  the  woods  ring 
as  he  called  the  jurors  and  witnesses.  Col.  John- 
ston, the  Indian  agent,  was  directed  to  attend  the 
trial  to  see  that  the  witnesses  were  present  and  to 
pay  their  fees.  Gen.  Noble,  then  a  United  States 
senator,  was  employed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
prosecute,  with  power  to  fee  an  assistant.  Philip 
Sweetzer,  a  young  son-in-law  of  the  general,  of  high 
promise  in  his  profession,  was  selected  as  assistant. 


56 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Calvin  Fletcher,  then  a  young  man  of  more  than  or- 
dinary ability,  and  a  good  criminal  lawyer,  was  the 
regular  prosecuting  attorney.  '  In  another  allusion 
to  these  cases  Mr.  Smith  mentions  the  lawyers  who 
were  present, — Gen.  James  Noble,  Philip  Sweetzer, 
Harvey  Gregg,  Lot  Bloomfield,  James  Rariden, 
Charles  H.  Test,  Calvin  Fletcher,  Daniel  B.  Wick, 
and  William  R.  Morris,  of  this  State,  and  Gen. 
Sampson  Mason  and  Moses  Vance,  of  Ohio.  These 
last  were  defending. 

The  conviction  and  execution  of  the  prisoners,  ex- 
cept Harper,  who  escaped,  and  young  Bridge,  who 
was  pardoned,  are  related  in  the  sketch  already  re- 
ferred to.  Mr.  Nowland  describes  the  novel  gallows 
that  was  used :  "  A  wagon  was  drawn  up  the  side  of 
the  hill  on  planks,  so  that  the  wheels  would  move 
easily.  A  post  was  placed  on  the  side  of  the  hill, 
just  above  the  wagon.  To  this  post  the  wagon  was 
fastened  by  a  rope,  so  that  when  the  rope  was  cut  the 
wagon  would  run  down  the  hill  without  aid.  The 
two  old  men  were  placed  in  the  tail  of  the  wagon, 
the  ropes  adjusted,  and  at  the  signal  the  rope  was 
cut,  and  the  wagon  ran  from  under  the  men.  Sawyer 
broke  his  arms  loose,  caught  the  rope,  and  raised  | 
himself  about  eighteen  inches.  The  sheriflF  quickly 
caught  him  by  the  ankles,  and  gave  a  sudden  jerk, 
which  brought  the  body  down,  and  he  died  without 
another  struggle."  The  extended  quotation  from 
Mr.  Smith's  reminiscences  is  interesting,  not  only  as 
an  account  of  an  afikir  of  national  importance,  and 
especially  important  to  the  settlers  of  Indianapolis 
and  the  country  around,  but  as  a  picture  of  the 
primitive  backwoods  court-house  and  modes  of  court 
business.  These  executions,  as  before  remarked,  are 
claimed  to  be  the  first  that  ever  occurred  in  the 
United  States  as  the  penalty,  judicially  inflicted,  of 
the  murder  of  Indians  by  whites.  Hudson  escaped 
once  after  his  sentence,  and  hid  in  a  hollow  log  in 
the  darkness  of  an  unusually  dark  night,  but  was 
soon  discovered  and  arrested.  Many  years  ago  it 
used  to  be  told  among  the  old  settlers  and  their  chil- 
dren that  Governor  Ray,  in  the  speech  announcing 
the  pardon  of  young  Bridge,  June  30,  1825,  after 
his  father  and  Sawyer  had  been  hung,  said  to  the 
young  murderer  :  "  There  are  but  two  powers  in  the 


universe  that  can  now  save  your  life.  One  is  the 
Almighty  God  and  the  other  is  the  Executive  of 
Indiana."  It  was  probably  a  joke  manufactured 
after  the  old  Governor's  eccentricities  had  become  so 
striking  and  notorious  that  such  an  imputation  could 
not  harm  him.  He  was  long  a  noted  citizen  of  In- 
dianapolis. 

Governor  Ray  was  Lieutenant-Governor  with  Gov- 
ernor Hendricks,  and  from  February  25th,  when 
Hendricks  went  to  the  National  Senate,  he  was  act- 
ing Governor.  He  was  subsequently  elected  two  full 
terms,  and  left  the  office,  the  last  he  ever  held,  in 
December,  1831.  He  came  to  the  capital  about  the 
time  the  Legislature  met,  Jan.  10,  1825,  bought 
property  here,  and  remained  here  till  he  died,  about 
1850.  He  owned  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
square  on  Washington  Street,  opposite  the  court- 
house, near  where  Carter's  tavern  had  stood,  and  in 
his  later  life,  when  his  mind  began  to  be  considerably 
unsettled,  he  imagined  a  magnificent  railroad  system, 
of  which  this  block  of  his  was  to  be  the  centre.  Ra- 
diating lines  were  to  penetrate  the  country  in  all  di- 
rections, with  villages  every  five  miles,  tow_ns  every 
twenty  miles,  and  cities  every  fifty  miles.  Deep 
gorges  among  hills  were  to  be  crossed  on  a  natural 
trestle-work,  made  by  sawing  oif  the  tops  of  trees 
level  with  the  track,  and  laying  sills  on  these. 
Oddly  enough  this  very  expedient  has  been  used  on 
the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Narrow-Gauge  Road,  or 
a  road  among  the  mountains  in  that  region.  Not 
less  singular  is  the  fact  that  this  "  dream  of  a  sick 
brain,"  as  everybody  thought  it  when  it  was  told 
and  talked  about,  has  proved  a  most  substantial 
reality,  except  that  Governor  Ray's  court-house 
block  is  not  the  site  of  the  great  central  hub  depot. 
In  1826  his  influence  with  the  Indians,  says  Mr. 
Nowland,  when  he  was  a  commissioner,  with  Gen.  Tip- 
ton, of  this  State,  and  Gen.  Cass,  of  Michigan,  to  pro- 
cure a  cession  of  the  lands  of  the  Pottawatomies  and 
Eel  River  and  Wabash  Miamis,  secured  from  the  In- 
dians a  grant  to  the  State  of  one  section  of  land  for 
every  mile  of  road,  a  hundred  feet  wide,  from  Lake 
Michigan  through  Indianapolis  to  the  Ohio,  at  any 
point  fixed  by  the  Legislature.  It  was  a  most 
valuable    donation,  and    the    ''  old  Michigan    road," 


NOTABLE   EVENTS   AND   INCIDENTS. 


57 


running  through  Shelbyville,  Greensburg,  Napoleon, 
to  Madison,  the  point  selected  by  the  Legislature, 
was  long  the  best  improved  road  in  the  State,  and 
never  inferior  to  any  but  the  completed  portions  of 
the  National  road.  The  Governor's  son,  James 
Brown  Gay  Ray,  died  when  a  boy,  but  a  daughter 
survived  him,  and  continues  his  abilities,  without  his 
vagaries,  in  some  of  our  best  citizens. 

The  usual  Fourth  of  July  celebration  was  held  at 
Reagin's,  as  the  year  before,  with  Gabriel  J.  Johnson 
as  orator  for  the  citizens  and  Maj.  J.  W.  Redding  for 
the  militia.  Squire  Foote  was  the  reader.  The 
August  election  following  showed  a  change  in  the 
lines  of  parties  from  the  position  in  1822,  when 
"  White  Water"  was  arrayed  against  "  Kentucky." 
Now  the  contestants  were  two  Kentuckians,  Col.  A. 
W.  Russell  and  Morris  Morris,  candidates  for  sheriff 
to  succeed  Mr.  Bates.  Russell  was  elected  by  two 
hundred  and  sixty-five  to  one  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  for  Mr.  Morris.  At  the  Presidential  election 
in  November,  Clay  received  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
votes,  Jackson  ninety-nine,  and  Adams  sixteen.  Clay 
had  all  the  "  Kentucky"  strength  and  a  good  deal  of 
the  "White  Water."  The  poll  in  the  county  was 
one  hundred  and  two  less  in  the  Presidential  than 
in  the  State  election,  supposed  to  have  been  the  re- 
sult of  removals  to  the  adjacent  regions  in  the  inter- 
val. In  April  the  Sunday-school  visitors  reported  a 
resident  population  on  the  donation  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-two  voters,  and  forty-five  single  women 
from  fifteen  to  forty-five.  The  voters  would  indicate 
a  population  of  about  eight  hundred.  A  little  more 
than  two  years  before  the  Gazette,  as  before  noted, 
had  enumerated  sixty-one  men  of  seventeen  different 
pursuits,  who  were  supposed  to  be  about  half  of  the 
adult  male  population  of  the  spring  of  1822,  indi- 
cating a  total  population  of  about  six  hundred.  This 
was  not  increased  in  the  election  on  1st  of  April. 
So  the  growth  of  the  town  in  two  years,  from  April 
22d  to  April  24th,  seems  to  have  been  about  three 
hundred  residents.  It  does  not  fairly  show  the  addi- 
tional immigration  in  that  time,  however,  because  a 
good  many  who  came  to  the  town  afterwards  re 
moved  to  the  country.  A  large  emigration  to  the 
Wabash   passed  through    the    town  this  year.     The 


streets  and  the  lots  along  Washington  Street,  and  di- 
verging from  it  in  some  places,  were  more  or  less 
cleared  of  trees,  the  court-house  was  in  progress,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  well  advanced,  a  school-house 
built,  two  or  throe  religious  organizations  holding 
regular  services,  two  new  and  superior  hotels  ad- 
vancing, a  distillery  on  the  bayou,  a  woolen-mill  and 
three  or  four  grist-  and  saw-mills  at  work,  so  that 
there  was  no  cause  for  serious  discouragement,  though 
progress  was  not  rapid  enough  to  excite  any  very 
sanguine  hopes.  The  river  and  all  its  tributaries 
were  flooded  during  the  spring,  and  a  keel-boat 
called  the  "  Dandy"  came  up  on  the  rise  on  the  22d 
of  May,  with  twenty-eight  tons  of  salt  and  whiskey. 
This  flood  is  said  by  the  sketch  of  1857  and  that  of 
Mr.  Merrill  of  1850  to  have  been  the  greatest  ever 
known  in  the  river.  It  was  probably  equaled  by 
that  of  1828  and  1847,  and  very  closely  approached 
by  that  of  February  of  this  year  C1883).  The 
State's  revenue  from  Marion  County  in  1824  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  dollars  and  twenty-five 
cents. 

In  anticipation  of  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature 
the  citizens  formed  a  "  mock"  body  in  the  fall  of  1824 
called  the  "  Indianapolis  Legislature,"  the  members 
of  which  assigned  themselves  to  any  counties  they 
chose,  and  discussed  pretty  much  the  same  questions 
as  the  real  Legislature  had  discussed,  or  would  when 
it  met.  It  elected  its  own  Governor  about  as  often  as 
it  wanted  to  get  a  fresh  message  or  inaugural,  which 
was  sure  to  be  a  humorous  affair,  and  its  debates  were 
not  unfrequently  a  good  deal  better  than  those  of  the 
body  it  represented.  The  men  who  engaged  in  them 
were  sometimes  ex-members,  and  occasionally  actual 
members  of  the  real  body,  and  the  information  and 
arguments  elicited  in  the  sham  debate  more  than 
once  decided  the  result  of  the  real  one.  The  meet- 
ings were  continued  till  about  1836.  They  were  dis- 
continued then  for  several  years,  but  revived  for  a 
while  during  the  winter  of  1842  or  1843  or  there- 
abouts. In  November,  Samuel  Merrill,  treasurer  of 
the  State,  arrived  at  the  capital  with  several  wagon- 
loads  of  records  and  money,  and  thenceforward  the 
chosen  capital  was  the  real  one. 

During    the    preceding    summer  and   fall   a   brick 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


house  had  been  built  for  the  residence  of  the  treas- 
urer, with  a  little  brick  office  at  the  west  side,  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Washington  and  Tennessee 
Streets,  where  the  State  buildings  now  are.  Mr. 
Merrill  was  the  first  occupant,  keeping  the  place  till 
1834,  when  he  gave  way  to  the  late  Nathan  B. 
Palmer,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  treasurer  s  office 
by  election  of  the  Legislature.  He  remained  here, 
however,  and  became  one  of  the  men  who  gave  the 
town  its  impulse  to  intellectual  and  moral  as  well  as 
material  improvement. 

Samuel  Merrill  was  born  in  Peacham,  Vt.,  Oct.  29, 
1792.  He  died  in  Indianapolis,  Aug.  24,  1855. 
He  entered  an  advanced  class  in  Dartmouth  College, 
but  did  not  graduate,  for  in  his  junior  year  he  left 
to  join  his  elder  brother,  James,  in  teaching  in  York, 
Pa.  There  he  spent  three  years  in  teaching  and 
studying  law,  having  for  his  familiar  associates  Thad- 
deus  Stevens,  John  Blanchard,  and  his  elder  brother, 
James  Merrill,  all  from  Peacham,  Vt.,  and  all  men 
who  have  made  their  mark  on  their  age.  At  the  end 
of  this  time  he  removed  to  Vevay,  in  this  State,  and 
established  himself  in  the  practice  of  law.  In  1821 
he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  for  two  years,  and 
during  his  term  of  office  he  was  elected  trea.surer  of 
State.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  this  office 
he  removed  first  to  Corydon,  and  thence  in  1824  to 
this  place.  He  held  the  office  of  treasurer  of  State 
till  1834,  when  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  State 
Bank.  The  duties  of  this  office  he  discharged  with 
the  most  unwearied  fidelity  and  unimpeachable  honesty 
till  1S44,  when  his  public  life  terminated,  with  the 
exception  of  four  years  of  service  as  the  president  of 
the  Madison  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  Company. 
For  several  years  before  his  death  he  was  engaged 
in  the  book  trade,  still  continued  by  his  son.  His 
daughter  Kate  until  very  recently  was  Professor  of 
English  Literature  in  Butler  University.  Mr.  Merrill 
assisted  in  forming  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  church 
here,  and  was  all  his  life  after  most  earnest  and 
devoted  in  all  good  works. 

The  following  account  of  the  journey  of  the  capi- 
tal from  Corydon  to  Indianapolis,  written  by  a  mem- 
ber of  Mr.  Merrill's  family,  is  interesting,  not  only  as 
the  first  account  of  the  migration  ever  published,  but 


as  a  very  graphic  description  of  the  condition  and 
ways  of  life  of  the  Indianians  nearly  .sixty  years  ago  : 
"  The  journey  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
occupied  two  weeks.  The  best  day's  travel  was 
eleven  miles.  One  day  the  wagons  accomplished 
but  two  miles,  passages  through  the  woods  having  to 
be  cut  on  account  of  the  impassable  character  of 
the  road.  Four  four-horse  wagons  and  one  or  two 
saddle-horses  formed  the  means  of  conveyance  for 
two  families,  consisting  of  about  a  dozen  persons, 
and  for  a  printing-press  and  the  State  treasury  of 
silver  in  strong  wooden  boxes.  The  gentlemen  slept 
in  the  wagons  or  on  the  ground  to  protect  the  silver, 
the  families  found  shelter  at  night  in  log  cabins 
which  stood  along  the  road  at  rare  though  not  incon- 
venient intervals.  The  country  people  were,  many 
of  them,  as  rude  as  their  dwellings,  which  usually 
consisted  of  but  one  room,  serving  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  domestic  life, — cooking,  eating,  sleeping, 
spinning  and  weaving,  and  the  entertainment  of  com- 
pany. At  one  place  a  young  man,  who  perhaps  had 
come  miles  to  visit  his  sweetheart,  sat  up  with  her  all 
night  on  the  only  vacant  space  in  the  room,  the  hearth 
of  the  big  fireplace.  He  kept  on  his  cap,  which  was 
of  coonskin,  the  tail  hanging  down  behind,  and  gave 
the  children  the  impression  that  he  was  a  bear." 

At  the  time  of  the  removal  William  Hendricks 
was  Governor,  but  was  elected  to  the  National  Senate 
that  winter,  and  on  Feb.  12,  1825,  acting  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Ray,  who  had  been  made  president  of  the 
Senate  when  Lieutenant-Governor  Ruiliff  Boone  re- 
tired, succeeded  to  the  Governorship,  and  was  regu- 
larly elected  the  following  August,  and  again  in  1828. 
The  Secretary  of  State  was  Robert  A.  New,  from 
1816  to  1825,  succeeded  by  W.  W.  Wick  ;  the  audi- 
tor, William  H.  Lilley,  from  1816  to  1829,  suc- 
ceeded in  1829  by  Morris  Morris,  who  held  till 
1844;  the  treasurer,  Samuel  Merrill,  from  1823  to 
1834,  succeeded  by  Nathan  B.  Palmer.  The  Legis- 
lature, which  met  in  January,  took  the  court-house 
before  it  was  entirely  finished,  the  House  sitting  in 
the  lower  room,  the  Senate  in  the  upper.  The  treas- 
urer occupied  the  building  especially  erected  for  him, 
and  the  other  State  officers  went  where  they  could. 
For    nearly  thirty    years    after    the    erection  of  the 


ORIGINAL   ENTRIES  OP   LANDS   IN   THE   COUNTY. 


"  Governor's  house''  in  the  Circle  in  1827,  as  before 
noted,  the  Supreme  judges  had  their  "  chambers" 
there,  and  most  or  all  of  the  State  officers  were  there 
for  a  time  except  the  treasurer.  His  residence  and 
office  were  abandoned  before  the  late  war  and  rented. 
It  would  be  useless  if  it  were  possible  to  hunt  out  all 
the  rooms  the  State  auditor  and  secretary  occupied 
up  to  the  time  they  took  permanent  possession  of  the 
building  expressly  erected  for  them  in  1865,  but  it 
may  be  noted  that  after  the  completion  of  Masonic 
Hall,  in  1850,  they  went  there,  and  subsequently 
moved  into  the  "  McOuat  Block,"  on  Kentucky 
Avenue,  where  they  remained  till  their  final  change. 
The  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  previously  had  his 
office  in  a  little  building  in  the  Court-House  Square, 
and  when  that  was  torn  down  went  to  the  State- 
House.  The  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  has 
never  had  a  public  office,  and  the  attorney-general 
and  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  after  their 
offices  were  created,  found  accommodations  where 
they  chose  till  the  "  State  Building"  was  erected  and 
enlarged.  The  State  Library  was  kept  in  the  "Gov- 
ernor's house"  for  a  time,  in  charge  of  the  State  offi- 
cers there,  but  in  IS-ll,  John  Cook,  a  bustling,  "  log- 
rolling," pushing  little  fellow,  recently  from  Ohio, 
got  himself  made  librariau,  and  the  library  was  put 
in  the  south  rooms,  west  side,  of  the  State-House. 
Cook  was  succeeded  in  1843,  under  a  Democratic 
Legislature,  by  Samuel  P.  Daniels,  an  old  resident 
and  a  tailor,  and  he  by  the  late  John  B.  Dillon,  au- 
thor of  two  "  Histories  of  Indiana,"  and  he,  in  1850, 
by  Nathaniel  Bolton,  first  editor  of  the  town,  as  al- 
ready related.  The  adjutant-general's  office  was 
hardly  a  visible  appendage  to  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  State's  army  and  navy  till  1846,  when  the 
Mexican  war  made  it  a  place  of  large  responsibility 
and  heavy  duties,  with  Gen.  David  Reynolds  as  occu- 
pant. During  the  late  war  it  became  again  one  of  the 
most  important  offices  of  the  State,  and  was  held  by 
Gen.  Wallace,  Gen.  Noble,  and  Gen.  Terrell.  It  has 
never  been  reduced  since  to  the  unimportance  of  its 
early  existence,  It  and  the  State  Library  and  the 
State  geologist's  office  are  now  in  a  building  opposite 
the  east  entrance  of  the  new  State-House.  The  library 
is  now,  in   addition    to  its  proper  use,  a  museum  of 


relics  of  the  Mexican  war  and  the  civil  war,  while  the 
geologist's  office  is  one  of  the  finest  museums  of  geo- 
logical and  paleontological  specimens  in  the  world. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  1824,  John  Douglass, 
State  printer  at  Corydon,  who  had  come  out  with 
Mr.  Merrill,  bought  the  interest  of  Harvey  Gregg  in 
the  Western  Censor  and  Emigrant's  Guide.  On 
the  11th  of  January,  the  day  after  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Legislature,  the  paper  appeared  as  the  In- 
diana Journal,  a  name  it  has  retained  through  many 
changes  of  ownership,  with  a  reputation  and  influence 
as  unchanging  as  its  name.  Much  of  the  early  suc- 
cess of  the  paper  was  due  to  Mr.  Douglass. 

The  first  period  of  the  history  of  the  city  and 
county — substantially  identical — ends  with  the  ar- 
rival of  the  State  capital.  Of  improvements,  trade, 
political  movements,  increase  of  population  as  accu- 
curate  a  view  has  been  presented  as  can  be  obtained 
at  this  remote  period,  but  a  glance  at  the  settlement 
of  the  surrounding  townships  and  at  the  county 
business  will  make  it  more  comprehensive  and  satis- 
factory. Prom  1821,  when  the  government  lands  in 
the  New  Purchase  were  first  opened  to  sale,  till  1824 
or  the  beginning  of  1825,  when  the  capital  was  fully 
established  here,  the  entries  of  land  in  the  different 
townships,  as  appears  from  the  "  Tract  Book"  in  the 
county  auditor's  office,  were  as  appears  in  the  follow- 
ing list.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  larger  portion  of 
the  entries  of  the  first  two  years  were  in  Centre  and 
the  two  lines  of  townships  west  and  about  it,  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  county  attracting  little  immi- 
gration till  the  central  and  western  were  pretty  well 
filled  : 

Centre  Township  outside  the  Citv. 
Town  15  Norlh,  Rang^  3  Eaut. 
Name  and  Date.  Acres.       ^j^^ 

Robert  Harding  and  Isaac  Wilson,  July,  1821 258  3 

Jesse  McKay  and  Joseph  Frazee.  July,  1821 59  3 

James  Rariden,  July,  1821 80  10 

Eliakim  Harding,  July,  1S21 80  10 

Eliakim  Harding,  July,  1821 80  10 

Jonathan  Lyons,  July,  1821 80  10 

Daniel  Yandes,  July,  1821 160  10 

William  Myers,  July,  1821 80  10 

James  H.  McClure,  July,  1821 80  10 

Daniel  Yandes  and  Ephraim  D.  Reed,  July,  1821.       95  11 

William  Sanders,  July,  1821 160  13 

Richard  T.  Keen,  July,  1821 80  13 

James  H.  McClure,  July,  1821 80  13 


60 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

David  Wood,  July,  1S21 100 

John  HiiDt,  July,  1821 SO 

John  Smock,  July,  1821 SO 

Armstrong  Brandon,  July,  1821 80 

James  Pell,  July,  1821 42 

William  A.  Johnson,  July,  1821 95 

John  Stephens,  December,  1821 66 

Alexander  Ewing,  July,  1821 63 

William  Wiles,  July,  1821 74 

James  Pell,  July,  1821 98 

John  Stephens,  February,  1821 73 

Michael  Vanblaricum,  July,  1821 SO 

Joel  Wright,  July,  1821 80 

Morris  Morris,  July,  1821...; 160 

Jacob  Ogle,  August,  1.S21 80 

Zadoc  Smith,  August,  1821 80 

Laben  Harding,  July,  1S21 160 

Cornelius  Vanarsdal,  July,  1821 104 

Cornelius  Vanarsdal,  July,  1S21 80 

Abraham  Heaton.  August,  1S21 71 

Noah  Sinks,  October,  1823 54 

John  G.  Brown,  July,  1821 80 

Alexander  Ewing,  July,  1S21 80 

James  Lewis,  August,  1821 ...  60 

John  Stephens,  December,  1821 73 

Robert  Brenton,  July,  1821 100 

Elial  T.  Foote,  July,  1S21 68 

George  Vandegritf,  July,  1821 SO 

James  T.  Bradley,  July,  1821 80 

Henry  Bradley,  July,  1S21 SO 

John  Cutler,  July,  1821 80 

John  Smock  and  John  Cutler,  July,  1821 80 

Wickliff  Kitchen,  July,1821 160 

John  Smock,  July,  1821 160 

Town  15  iXorth,  liamje  4  Eaut. 

Mjcajah  Ferguson,  July,  1S21 48 

Alexander  Ewing,  July,  1821 80 

Micajah  Ferguson,  July,  1821 80 

Isaac  Kinder,  July,  1821 160 

James  Linton,  July,  1821 150 

George  Porter,  July,  1821 153 

John  G.  Brown,  July,  1S21 160 

John  F.  Ross.  July,  1.821 77 

Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1821 77 

James,  George,  and  Benjamin  Barrett,  July,  1S21  75 

Joseph  MeCormick  and  Noah  Noble,  July,  1821..  75 

James  Givan,  July,  1821 77 

Cassa  Ann  Poguc,  July,  1821 77 

John  Wilson,  July,  1821 160 

John  Robinson  and  John  D.  Lutz,  July,  1821 76 

William  Craig,  July,  1821 76 

John  Wilson,  July,  1821 80 

Daniel  Stephens,  July,  1821 80 

Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1S21 76 

Abel  Potter,  July,  1821 76 

Willis  G.  Atherton,  July,  1S21 80 

Wickliff  Kitchell,  July,  1821 80 

Wickliff  Kitchell,  July,  1821 80 

Robert  Smith,  July,  1821 -. 80 

William  McLaughlin,  July,  1821 160 

John  Shafer,  July,  1S21 80 

Nathan  Aldridge,  August,  1821 80 

Harvey  Pope,  July,  1821 160 

Willis  G.  Atherton.  July,  1821 160 


tion. 
13 


Name  and  Date.                                       Acres.  ^j^^^ 

David  Acre,  February,  1823 80  9 

Hervey  Gregg,  Janu.iry,  1823 80  9 

Robert  Weightman,  November,  1822 SO  9 

Jonathan  Gillam,  July.  1821 80  9 

William  McLaughlin,  October,  1821 80  17 

John  Graham,  August,  1821 80  17 

John  Graham,  August,  182 1 80  17 

S.  G.  Huntingdon,  August,  1821 SO  17 

William  Sanders,  July,  1822 SO  17 

Maxwell  Chambers,  January,  1822 80  17 

Jacob  Mason,  January,  1822 80  17 

Obcd  Foote,  October,  1821 SO  17 

Joseph  Catterlin,  July,  1821 SO  18 

Archibald  C.  Reid,  July,  1821 80  18 

■John  W.  Redding,  July,  1S21 155  18 

David  Mallery,  Augu.'it,  1821 SO  18 

Humphrey  Griffith,  August,  1821 80  18 

James  Curry,  August,  1821 7S  18 

James  Curry,  August,  1821 78  IS 

Henry  Bowser,  August,  1821 160  19 

Jacob  Moyer,  September,  1821 158  I'J 

Henry  Bowser.  August,  1821 160  19 

Henry  Bowser,  August,  1821 78  19 

John  Dickson,  July,  1821 78  19 

Otis  Hobart,  December,  1821 80  20 

John  Hobart,  December,  1821 80  20 

Hervey  Bates,  June,  1822 80  20 

Hervey  Bates,  June,  1822 80  20 

John  Hobart,  December,  1821 80  20 

Joseph  Greer,  July,  1822 80  20 

Isaac  Liinpus,  July,  1821 80  20 

Robert  McGill,  July,  1822 SO  21 

William  Brindle,  November,  1822 80  21 

William  Brindle,  November,  1822 80  21 

Jacob  L.  Doup.  August,  1821 80  21 

Joseph  Scott,  November,  1822 160  21 

Samuel  Dickson,  October,  1S21 160  21 

Town  16  North,  Range  3  East. 

Thomas  Bishop,  July,  1821 174  22 

Francis  Griffin,  August,  1821 126  22 

John  Moler,  July,  1S21 160  22 

James  Vanblaricum,  July,  1821 60  22 

John  Burns,  July,  1821 76  22 

Noah  Wright,  July,  1821 160  23 

William  D.  Booker,  July,  1821 80  23 

William  Nugent,  July,  1821 80  23 

Levi  AVright,  July,  1821 160  23 

Joseph  Hanna,  July,  1821 80  23 

Abraham  Barnett.  July,  1821 80  23 

John  G.  Brown,  July,  1821 160  24 

William  Powers,  July,  1821 80  24 

Noah  Wright,  July,  1821 80  24 

John  Gallaher,  July,  1821 160  24 

David  Huston,  July,  1821 100  24 

Isaac  Kinder,  July,  1821 80  25 

John  Sutherland,  July,  1821 80  25 

John  Sulberland,  July,  1S21 100  25 

William  Reagan,  July,  1821 100  25 

Thomas  O'Neal,  July,  1821 160  25 

Robert  Smitb,  July,  1821 160  20 

Josephs.  Benson,  July,  1821 80  26 

William  Nugent,  July,  1821 80  26 

John  Wolfington,  July,  1821 80  26 

Richard  Williams,  July,  1821 80  26 


ORIGINAL   ENTRIES   OF   LANDS   IN  THE  COUNTY. 


61 


Name  and  Date  Acres. 

Noah  Flood,  July,  1S21 80 

James  Raiiden,  July,  1S21 SO 

Francis  Davis,  July,  1821 80 

James  Mcllvain,  July,  1821 80 

James  Mcllvain,  July,  1821 65 

Benjamin  McCarty,  July,  1821  79 

Alexander  Ewing,  July,  1821 95 

Samuel  P.  BooUer,  July,  I82I 160 

Edward  Carvin,  July,  1821 143 

Samuel  Glass,  July,  1821 160 

Fielding  Geter,  July,  1821 95 

Zenas  Lake,  July,  1821 83 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 78 

Isaac  Wilson.  July,  1821 74 

Jesse  McKay  and  E.  D.  Reed,  July,  1821 101 

Jesse  McKay  and  Jacob  Collip,  July,  1821 160 

Cyrus  C.  Tivis,  July,  1821 160 

Robert  Smith  and  H.  Gregg,  July,  1821 160 

John  Moler,  July,  1821 SO 

James  Linton,  July,  1821 SO 

Jeremiah  Johnston,  July,  1S21 160 

Samuel  Henderson,  July,  1821 160 

Robert  Culbertson,  July,  1821 160 

Jonathan  Lyon,  July,  1821 80 

John  Carr  and  Samuel  P.  Rooker,  July,  1821 80 

Town  16  North,  Jiange  4  East. 

Noah  and  Thomas  G.  Noble,  July,  1821 160 

Christopher  Hager,  July,  1821 76 

Enoch  Clark,  July,  1821 76 

Joseph  Curry,  July,  1821 160 

Reason  Reagan,  July,  1821 151 

Newton  Claypool,  August,  1821 160 

Newton  Claypool,  August,  1821 160 

Tobias  Smith,  August,  1821 160 

Joseph  Curry,  July,  1821 160 

James  D.  Conrey,  October,  1823 80 

John  Chamberlin,  June,  1822 160 

William  Mitchell,  August,  1821 160 

Benjamin  Taffe,  June,  1822 80 

Tobias  Smith,  August,  1821 160 

William  Mitchell,  August,  1821 80 

Tobias  Smith,  August,  1821 80 

Baiil  Roberts,  August,  1821 160 

Tobias  Smith,  August,  1821 160 

George  Buckner,  April,  1823 80 

John  Senour,  October,  1823 80 

Jiired  Sayre,  October,  1821 80 

Newton  Claypool,  August,  1821 75 

Isaac  Kinder,  July, 1821 75 

David  Bloyd,  October,  1821 80 

Jacob  Bloyd,July,  1821 80 

Jared  Sayre,  October,  1821 76 

Jeremiah  Johnson,  Jr.,  July,  IS2I 76 

John  Shafer,  August,  1821 160 

Stephen  Bartholomew  and  Wm.  Smith,  July,  1821  15i 

William  McCleery,  July,  1821 160 

John  Carr,  July,  1821  79 

Elial  T.  Foote,  July,  1821 79 

John  Carr,  July,  1821 SO 

George  Taffe,  August,  1821 80 

Vincent  Rawlings,  October,  1821 80 

Lewis  Robinson,  October,  1821 80 

Daniel  Pattengill,  July,  1821 160 

Daniel  Pattengill,  July,  1821 160 


78 
160 


160 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

John  F.  Right,  August,  1821 160 

Levi  Beebee,  1821 160 

David  Johnson,  April,  1821 80 

Isaac  Cool,  April,  1821  80 

Decatck  Township. 
Town  14  North,  Range  2  EohU 

Ludwell  Gains,  August,  1824 77 

Ludwell  Gains,  August,  1821 140 

Ludwell  Gains,  August,  1821 SO 

John  Cook,  June,  1824 160 

John  Kenworthy,  July,  1824 SO 

Joshua  Compton,  December,  1825 80 

Reason  Reagan,  November,  1826 78 

Jesse  George,  January,  1826 77 

John  Ballard,  October,  1823 78 

Thomas  J.  Matlock,  July,  1821 

Caleb  Easterling,  November,  1S22 

Joseph  Allen,  February,  1824 

Caleb  Rhoads,  November,  1822 

Isaac  George,  December,  1823 

Isaac  George,  November,  1823 

Robert  Furnas,  January,  1826 

Robert  Furnas,  January,  1826 

Uriah  Carson,  June,  1826 

Thomas  Davis,  January,  1825 

Azel  Dollarhide,  July,  1821 

Absalom  Dollarhide,  January,  1825 

Aaron  Coppock,  August,  1S26 

Aaron  Coppock,  February,  1826 , 

Zimri  Brown,  May,  1824 

Zimri  Brown,  December,  1826 

Abner  Co.k,  December,  1824 

William  Barnett,  December,  1S25 

Jesse  Barnett,  December,  1824 

William  Barnett,  1823 

Thomas  Barnett,  1823 

James  V.  Barnett,  1823 8 

Athanasius  Barnett,  1823 8 

James  Haworth,  November,  1824 8 

James  Haworth,  November,  1824 8 

James  Haworth,  October,  1826 8 

James  Ilorton,  November,  1824 £ 

James  Horton,  November,  1824 S 

Christopher  Wilson,  November,  1822 8 

Christopher  Wilson,  November,  1822 S 

Christopher  Wilson,  November,  1S22 16 

Jonathan  Clark,  February,  1824 S 

Joseph  Jessup,  December,  1823 

Richard  Mendenhall,  October,  1823 160 

Christopher  AVilson,  November,  1822 80 

Christopher  Wilson,  December,  1824 SO 

Christopher  Wilson,  December,  1824 SO 

Gasper  Koons,  February,  1824 80 

Joseph  Mendenhall,  October,  1823 160 

Samuel  Dodds,  July,  1821 160 

Samuel  Dodds,  July,  1821 80 

Azel  Dollarhide,  July,  1821 80 

John  Dollarhide,  July,  1821 80 

John  Dollarhide,  November,  1828 80 

Christopher  Wilson,  December,  1824 80 

Town  15  North,  Range  3  East. 

Eli  Sulgrove,  August,  1821 430 

Eli  Sulgrove,  October,  1822 


80 


160 


206 


62 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

Eli  Sulgrove,  August,  1821 3i 

George  Miller,  July,  1821 160 

Jesse  Wright,  July,  1821 160 

Ludwell  a.  Gains,  August,  1821 229 

John  Thompson,  July,  1821 80 

Demas  L.  McFarland,  August,  1821 160 

Demas  L.  McFarland,  July,  1821 160 

Aaron  Wright,  May,  1823 109 

Levi  Hoffman,  August,  1821 llli 

Cornelius  Hoffman,  August,  1821 112J 

Levi  Beebee,  July,  1821 160 

Seth  Goodwin,  July,  1821 80 

Toion  14  Xorth,  Runge  3  Easl. 

Joseph  Beeler,  George  H.  Beeler,  July,  1821 131 

Samuel  Winter,  August,  1S21 49 

Elijah  Elliott,  July,  1821 160 

Azel  Dollarhide,  July,  1S21 107 

Azel  Dollarhide,  July,  1821 107 

Evan  Dollarhide,  August,  1821 74i 

Zirnri  Brown,  November,  1822 40 

Charles  Beeler,  March,  1824 47i 

Charles  Beeler,  September,  1826 106 

Seth  Curtis,  July,  1821 60 

Seth  Curtis,  October,  1822 106 

Seth  Curtis,  July,  1821 55i 

Seth  Curtis,  October,  1822 67i 

Seth  Curtis,  October,  1822 106i 

Sibert  Waugh,  August,  1821 53 

Levi  Wooster,  August,  1821 53 

John  Cox,  December,  1823 66J 

Martin  D.  Bush,  June,  1821 240 

Town  15  North,  Range  2  Enel. 

Cader  Carter,  June,  1823 80 

John  Rozier,  October,  1824 80 

Levi  Hoffman,  September,  1821 80 

Christopher  Ault,  December,  1825 80 

Adam  Rozicr,  December,  1825 80 

John  McCreery,  April,  1824 SO 

Parker  Keeler,  April,  1824 80 

Joshua  Compton,  June,  1824 80 

Peter  Hoffman,  December,  1825 80 

Henry  Ault,  February,  1825 80 

Charles  Merritt,  August,  1825 80 

Charles  Merritt,  December,  1826 80 

Charles  Merritt,  April,  1822 80 

Peter  Hoffman,  December,  1825 80 

John  Kenworlhy,  July,  1824 160 

Caleb  Cook,  November,  1822 , 160 

Jesse  Hawkins,  December,  1822 80 

Reason  Reagan,  April,  1825 80 

Wayne  Township. 
Town  15  Xorlh,  Range  2  Easl. 

Joseph  Frazee,  July,  1821 169 

Nicholas  Hendricks,  October,  1821 85.5 

James  Parker,  January,  1822 85.5 

David  Cassett,  July,  1821 160 

John  Gallaher,  July,  1821 160 

James  Parker,  January,  1822 84 

John  M.  Jamison,  January,  1822 160 

William  Castolo,  May,  1822 166 

Samuel  Castolo,  May,  1822 80 

William  Gladden,  December,  1821  165 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

William  Gladden,  November,  1822 82 

John  Moore,  February,  1824 82 

Samuel  Castolo,  May,  1822 80 

John  Houghton,  November,  1822 80 

John  Houghton,  November,  1822 160 

Reuben  Houghton,  November,  1822 160 

Reuben  Houghton,  November,  1822 80 

Sarah  Barnhill,  January,  1822 80 

John  Miller,  October,  1820 80 

Moses  Silvery,  September,  1822 80 

John  Fawcett.  October,  1822 160 

Joseph  Scott,  November,  1822 160 

J.  R.Crumbaugh,  John  Skinner,  August,  1821....  80 

Franklin  C.  Averill,  October,  1821 80 

Jacob  Railsback,  July,  1821 160 

Obadiah  Harris,  December,  1826 80 

Joseph  Scott,  April,  1825 80 

Joseph  Scott,  January,  1823 160 

Joseph  Scott,  February,  1823 80 

Joseph  Scott,  January,  1823 80 

Robert  Furnas,  November,  1822 80 

Robert  Furnas,  November,  1822 80 

Caleb  Easterling,  November.  1822 SO 

Isaac  Furnas,  November.  1822 160 

John  Furnas,  November,  1822 160 

John  Porter,  November,  1822 160 

William  McVey,  December,  1825 SO 

William  McVey,  September,  1829 SO 

John  Byrkett,  December,  1826 SO 

.Toseph  Scott,  January,  1823 80 

James  Rhoads,  October,  1821 80 

Joseph  Scott,  January,  1823 80 

John  Hendricks,  March,  1823 SO 

Andrew  Hoover,  May,  1823 80 

James  Rhoads,  January,  1822 80 

Andrew  Hoover,  December,  1825 80 

Town  16  North,  Range  2  Eatt. 

Enoch  D.  Woodbridge,  August,  1821 160 

Jacob  P.  Andrew.  December,  1825 80 

Jacob  P.Andrew,  December,  1825 80 

John  M.  Strong,  August,  1821 160 

John  Adams,  October,  1823 80 

Enoch  Railsback,  December,  1825 SO 

William  Ivers,  January,  1822 80 

Robert  Barnhill,  July,  1821 160 

Robert  Barnhill,  July,  1821 160 

Robert  Barnhill,  July,  1821 160 

George  Avery,  April,  1824 SO 

John  Fox,  April,  1824 80 

Enoch  Railsback,  December,  1825 80 

Enoch  Railsback,  June,  1830 SO 

Jesse  Lane,  December,  1822 80 

Jesse  Lane,  July,  1821 160 

Merrick  Sayre,  R.  Armstrong,  September,  1822...  80 

James  Logan,  March,  1S24 80 

John  Stoops,  August,  1821 80 

Robert  Stoops,  August,  1821 SO 

Isaac  Pugh,  August,  1821 80 

William  Criswell,  August,  1821 80 

John  Hall,  August,  1821 80 

Stephen  H.  Robinson,  August,  1821 80 

Isaac  Pugh,  August,  1821 160 

James  Miller,  July,  1821 160 

Jacob  Pugh,  August,  1821 80 


ORIGINAL  ENTRIES   OF   LANDS   IN   THE  COUNTY. 


63 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

Jacob  Pugli,  July,  1821 80 

Jacob  Pugh,  July,  1S2I 160 

Jacob  Pugh,  July,  1821 160 

Robert  Barnhill,  July,  1S21  160 

Robert  Barnhill,  July,  1821 160 

Asa  B.  Strong,  August,  1821 160 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  August,  1821 80 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  September,  1821 80 

William  Adams,  June,  1824 80 

James  Adams,  August,  1825 80 

Joel  Conroe,  August,  1821 80 

James  L.  Givan,  December,  1821 80 

Uriah  Hultz,  October,  1821 160 

-  Francis  McClelland,  July,  1821 160 

Israel  Phillips,  October,  1821 160 

Hans  Murdough,  October,  1822 80 

Reuben  Houghton,  November,  1822 80 

Adam  Kemple,  October,  1821  SO 

Jacob  Moyer,  September,  1821 160 

Francis  McClelland,  October,  1822 80 

Bartis  Boots,  March,  1826 80 

Aaron  Masterton,  June,  1825 80 

Hans  Murdough,  October,  1822 80 

Jacob  Pugh,  August,  1821 80 

Martin  Martindale,  July,  1821 80 

James  Andrew,  Jr.,  July,  1821 SO 

James  Andrew,  Sr.,  July,  1821 80 

George  L.  Kinnard,  May,  1825 80 

Archibald  Boyle,  January,  1825 80 

Archibald  Boyle,  January,  1825 80 

Hiram  HornaJay,  November,  1822 80 

Martin  Martindale,  July,  1821 160 

Martin  Martindale,  August,  1821 SO 

Martin  Martindale,  September,  1822 80 

Samuel  Johnston,  July,  1821 160 

Lewis  Smith,  May,  1826 80 

Martin  Martindale,  December,  1829 80 

Town  15  North,  Ranfje  3  Enxt. 

Jesse  McKay  and  Joseph  Frazee,  July,  1821 174 

Jesse  McKay  and  Joseph  Frazee,  July,  1821 177 

Enoch  Warman,  July,  1821 160 

Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1821 160 

Joseph  Hanna,  July,  1821 87 

John  Holmes,  July,  1821 87 

Noah  Noble,  July,  1821 180 

Israel  Harding,  July,  1821 160 

Noah  Noble  and  Enoch  McCarty,  July,  1821 160 

Samuel  Harding,  July,  1821 180 

Amos  Higgins,  July,  1821 107 

Noah  Noble  and  Enoch  McCarty,  July,  1821 80 

John  Holmes,  July,  1821 80 

John  Holmes,  July,  1821 55 

Jesse  Cole,  July,  1821  160 

Jesse  Cole,  July,  1821 160 

Gilbert  Fuller,  July,  1821 104 

James  Oliver,  July,  1821 160 

Amos  Higgins,  July,  1821 160 

Thomas  Clarke,  July,  1821 80 

David  Hardman,  July,  1821 80 

Frederick  Waltz,  July,  1821 160 

Enoch  AVarman,  July,  1821 80 

Obadiah  Harris, 1821 SO 

Obadiah  Harris,  July,  1821 80 

Abel  Potter,  July,  1821 ." SO 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

Jonathan  Lyon,  July,  1821 160 

lehabod  Corwin,  July,  1821 160 

Solomon  Stewart,  July,  1821 160 

John  Fox,  October,  1822 80 

Amos  Higgins  and  James  Burns,  July,  1821 160 

James  W.  Johnston,  October,  1821 160 

Hannah  Skinner,  July,  1821 80 

Lawrence  Miller,  October,  1821 80 

James  W.  Johnston,  October,  1821 160 

Samuel  Covington,  January,  182.S 51 

George  Bell,  October,  1S21 51 

Joshua  Glover,  October,  1S21 103 

Daniel  Closser,  October,  1823 80 

Jesse  Jackson,  November,  1821 80 

John  Byrkett,  December,  1825 104 

Daniel  Closser,  July,  1821 80 

Daniel  Closser,  September,  1821 80 

Daniel  Closser,  February,  1823 53 

John  Hendricks,  March,  1823 53 

Andrew  Hoover,  July,  1821 80 

John  Miller,  July,  1821 80 

John  Miller,  July,  1821 80 

John  Miller,  August,  1821 80 

William  McClary,  July,  1821 160 

Abraham  Miller,  July,  1821 160 

Levi  Beebee,  July,  1821 160 

Noah  Wright,  July,  1821 160 

Levi  Beebee,  July,  1821 160 

Luke  Bryan,  April,  1824 SO 

Daniel  Closser,  February,  1S24 80 

Town  16  North,  Ranye  3  East. 

Isaac  Kelly,  August,  1821 80 

John  Fox,  July,  1821 160 

William  Wolverton,  April,  1822 80 

Frederick  Hartman,  July,  1821 80 

Isaac  Kelly,  August,  1821 80 

John  C.  Lane,  August,  1S21 80 

William  D.  Jones,  August,  1821 80 

William  McCaw,  August,  1821 160 

John  Carr,  July,  1821 77 

John  Carr,  July,  1821 66 

John  Carr,  July,  1821 3 

Archibald  C.  Keed,  July,  1821 160 

Jonathan  Lyon,  July,  1821 142 

Elial  T.  Foote,  July,  1821 6 

Jonathan  Lyon,  July,  1821 160 

Samuel  Hoover,  July,182I 80 

Abraham  Coble,  Jr,  July,  1821 80 

Jonas  Hoover,  October,  1823 80 

Benjamin  McCarty  .and  James  Wiley,  July,  1821..  160 

William  Walker,  July,  1821 80 

John  Senours,  October,  1823 SO 

Levi  Beebee,  July,  1821 160 

John  Biggs,  August,  1821 55 

Martin  Martindale,  August,  1821 55 

Benjamin  McCarty,  Sr.,  July,  1821 160 

Dempsey  Reeves,  July,  1S21 54 

Samuel  Johnston,  July,  1 821 54 

Joseph  Hanna,  July,  1821 80 

David  Stoops,  July,  1821 80 

David  Stoops,  July,  1821 SO 

William  Stoops,  August,  1823 80 

George  H.  and  Joseph  Beeler,  July,  1821 160 

Thomas  G.  Noble,  July,  1821 160 


i>4 


HISTOEY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Acre 


Name  «nd  Date. 

Elial  T.  Foote,  July,  1821 43 

Jonathan  Lyon  and  Thomas  Anderson,  July,  1821  95 

John  AVolf,  July.  1S2I SO 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 80 

Jesse  McKay  and  Jarret  Van  Blaricum,  July,  1821  160 

Pike  Township. 
Town  16  North,  Range  2  East. 

Seth  Rhodabaugh,  June,  182.3 80 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1822 75 

Isaac  Pugh,  August.  1821 75 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1821 160 

Isaac  Pugh,  August,  1821 75 

George  Muse 

Abraham  McCorkle,  May,  1825 SO 

Abraham  McCorkle,  May,  1825 .,...  SO 

Sarah  Barnhill,  April,  182.3 80 

Jacob  Whitinger,  June,  1823 80 

Thomas  Jones,  April, 1823 80 

John  Jones,  December,  1822 80 

Anthony  Swaim,  March,  1824 160 

David  McCurdy,  December,  1825 80 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1821... 160 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1824 80 

David  McCurdy,  March,  1822 160 

Aaron  Gullifcr,  November,  1822 SO 

Aaron  Gullifer,  February,  1824 SO 

Valentine  Kinoyer,  December,  1825 80 

David  Fo.'j,  October,  1823 80 

Thomas  Burns,  October,  1S21 80 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1821 'lOO 

Thomas  Burns,  October,  182 1 80 

Thomas  Burns,  October,  1821 80 

Thomas  Burns,  August,  1821 ;.  80 

Toxon  16  North,  Range  3  East. 

John  Fo.\-,  April,  1824 80 

Amos  Robertson,  July,  1821 "  150 

Seth  Rhodabaugh,  December,  1825 52 

Aaron  Gullifer,  June,  1823 56 

William  AV.  Wilson,  March,  1823 112 

Joseph  Staten,  January,  1823 SO 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 160 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 80 

John  Fisher,  July,  1S21 160 

John  Fisher,  July,  1821 160 

Martin  Davinport,  February,  1825 30 

Martin  Davinport,  February,  1825 56 

7*01011  17  North,  Range  2  East. 

James  Harman,  October,  1823 80 

Chesley  Wray,  September,  1822 80 

John  B.  Harmon,  November,  1S22 160 

David  McCurdy,  April,  1823 SO 

Elijah  Fox,  September,  1822 80 

Henry  Jackson,  August,  1825 80 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1822 160 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1822 80 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1822 SO 

David  McCurdy,  September,  1822 160 

James  Duncan,  December,  1823 80 

Alexus  Jackson,  September,  1822 SO 

William  Conner,  September,  1S22 80 

John  Duncan,  December,  1S23 80 

John  Railsback,  September,  1822 160 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

John  Railsback,  September,  1822 80 

David  Wilson,  December,  1825 SO 

Robert  Rhea,  September,  1822 80 

Washington  Township. 
Toxon  16  NortJi,  Range  3  East. 

Jesse  McKay  and  Jacob  Collip,  July,  1821 160 

Jesse  McKay  and  Jacob  Collip,  July,  1821 160 

Andrew  Jones,  July.  1821 150 

Andrew  Jones,  July,  1821 160 

John  Pugh,  July,  1821 59 

Alexander  Pugh,  August,  1S21 120 

Alexander  Pugh,  August,  1821 76 

Joseph  Swett,  June,  1823 76 

Samuel  Stephens,  April,  1823.  76 

Isaac  Stephens,  April,  1823 

Andrew  Jones,  July,  1821 160 

Jacob  Miers,  October,  1823 155 

John  Fo.\,  October,  1822 80 

Jeremiah  Roberts,  November,  1822 80 

Nimrod  Ferguson,  December,  1823 80 

John  T.  Ba.sye,  February,  1824 80 

John  Fox,  October,  1822 SO 

Eli  Wright,  November,  1.S23 80 

John  Roberts,  Jr.,  November,  1822 80 

Jeremiah  and  Edward  Roberts,  November,  1822..  80 

Xoah  Leaverton,  July,  1821 71 

Edward  Roberts,  November,  1822 80 

Joseph  ."^wett,  June,  1823 6 

John  Pugh,  July,  1821 77 

Lismund  Basye,  October,  1821 55 

Andrew  Jones,  October,  1821 61 

Andrew  Jones,  July,  1821 94 

David  Huston,  July,  1821 160 

William  Jones,  July,  1821 SO 

j  David  Huston,  July,  1821 80 

i   Jesse  McKay  and  Jacob  Collip,  July,  1821 160 

'   Henry  Hardin,  July,  1821 60 

1  Jacob  Wright,  July,  1S21 SO 

1- William   Hardin,  July,  1821 160 

I  William  Sanders,  July,  1821 80 

i   Daniel  Aiken,  July,  1821 80 

j   Daniel  McDonald,  July,  1821 160 

Simeon  Slawson,  July,  1S21 160 

I    Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1821 160 

Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1821 80 

Isaac  Stipp,  July,  1821 SO 

James  Givan,  July,  1821 l60 

William  Appleton,  July,  1821 70 

Thomas  McOuat,  October,  1821 78 

Jonas  Hoover,  July,  1821 80 

Sylvanus  Halsey,  July,  1821 80 

Thomas  McOuat,  October,  1821 SO 

William  Sanders,  July,  1821 80 

William  Sanders,  July,  1821 89 

Jacob  Whitinger,  July,  1821 60 

Jacob  Whitinger,  July,  1821 73 

Samuel  McCormick,  April,  1823 78 

AViUiam  Sanders,  July,  1821 89 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 74 

Ephraim  D.  Reed,  July,  1821 67 

William  C.  Vanblaricum,  July,  1821 59 

Tnnin  16  North,  Range  i  East. 

James  Griswold,  December,  1825 63 

Philip  Ray,  July,  1821 160 


ORIGINAL  ENTRIES   OF  LANDS  IN  THE   COUNTY. 


65 


Name  and  DatB.                                    Acres.  ,^=- 

Philip  Ray,  July,  1S21 SO  4 

James  Ellis,  November,  1S24 80  i 

William  Tucker,  July,  1821 138  5 

Enoeli  Clark,  Xovember,  1S21 68  5 

Elijah   Fox,  July,  1821 68  5 

John  Jarrett,  August,  1821 160  5 

Nicholas  Criss,  October,  1823 80  5 

William  Bacon,  July,  1821 80  5 

Elijah  Fox,  July,  1821 68  6 

Hezekiah  Smith,  July,  1821 68  6 

Jonas  Huffman,  July,  1821 128  6 

William  Bacon,  July,  1821 80  6 

Robert  Dickerson,  March,  1822 80  6 

Moses  Huffman,  March,  1822 75  6 

William  Rector.  July,  1821 T5  6 

William  Bacon,  July,  1821 80  7 

Lewis  Nichols,  October,  1821 80  7 

Robert  Smith,  October,  1821 75  7 

Christian  Hager,  July,  1821 75  7 

William  Hardin,  July,  1821 80  7 

William  McCleery,  July,  1821 80  7 

William  McCIeery,  July,  1821 150  7 

Abraham  Epler,  July,  1821 160  8 

James  Williams,  July,  1821 80  8 

Richard  Williams,  July,  1821 80  8 

John  McClung,  July,  1821 160  8 

John  Hendricks,  July,  1821 160  8 

James  Templer,  August,  1821 80  9 

Enoch  Clark,  July,  1821 SO  9 

Christian  Hager,  July,  1821 160  9 

John  Whittaker,  October,  1821 160  9 

Jonas  Huffman,  July,  1821 160  9 

Daniel  Rumple,  May,  1822 80  17 

Joseph  Bartholomew  and  Rezin  Hammond,  July, 

1821 80  17 

Joseph  Bartholomew  and  Rezin  Hammond,  .July, 

1821 160  17 

Joseph  Bartholomew  and  Rezin  Hammond,  July, 

1821 80  17 

Joseph  Bartholomew  and  Rezin  Hammond,  July, 

1821 80  17 

William  D.  Rooker,  July,  1821 80  17 

Henry  Hardin,  July,  1821 160  IS 

William  Hardin,  July,  1821 75  18 

William  D.  Rooker,  July,  1821 75  18 

Samuel  Glass,  July,  1821 160  18 

Jeremiah  Johnson,  July,  1821 76  18 

Rezin  Hammond,  July,  1821 76  18 

Toion  17  Jforth,  Range  3  Fast. 

John  Vincent,  September,  1822 80  13 

Thomas  Todd,  October,  1S24 80  13 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1823 80  23 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 80  24 

Abraham  Bowen,  September,  1822 SO  24 

J.acob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 80  24 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 SO  24 

William  Hob.son,  September,  1822 SO  24 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 81  25 

Levi  Wright,  September,  1822 55  25 

Levi  Wright,  September,  1822 77  25 

Levi  Wright,  September,  1822 62  25 

Samuel  Ray,  November,  1822 67  25 

James  Bonnell,  September,  1822 147  25 

James  Bonnell,  August,  1823 SO  26 

5 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

John  Roberts,  November,  1822 160 

Joseph  Gladden,  September,  1822 109 

Thomas  Ellis,  February,  1824 86 

Samuel  and  Jeremiah  Johnson,  April,  1823 50 

Elijah  Dawson,  November,  1822 106 

James  Young,  September,  1822 139 

James  Young,  September,  1822 63 

Charles  Rector,  March,  1825 45 

Jonas  Huffman,  September,  1822 60 

Jesse  McKay  and  John  Collip,  September,  1822...  88 

Jesse  McKay  and  John  Collip,  September,  1822...  59 

Town  17  North,  Range  4  East. 

Morgan  Parr,  November,  1822 80 

George  Midsker,  December,  1823 80 

Thomas  Reagan,.September,  1822 19 

William  Sanders,  September,  1822 127 

George  Midsker,  December,  1823 140 

Eliakim  Harding,  September,  1822 160 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 160 

Joseph  Coats,  December,  1822 SO 

Lewis  Huffman,  September,  1822 80 

John  Vincent,  September,  1822 80 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 147 

Jacob  AVhitinger,  September,  1822 161 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 141 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 160 

Thomas  Reagan,  September,  1822 Ill 

Thomas  Reagan,  September,  1822 117 

Thomas  Reagan,  September,  1822 160 

Thomas  Reagan,  September,  1822 160 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 26 

William  Sanders,  September,  1822 26 

Joseph  Coats,  October,  1823 80 

Joseph  Coiits,  September,  1822 160 

William  Wilkinson,  November,  1823 80 

Michael  West,  October,  1822 80 

Silas  Moppit,  November,  1823 80 

Jacob  Burkitt,  September,  1822 80 

William  Coats,  November,  1822 80 

Thomas  Brunson,  December,  1825 80 

James  Tarr,  September,  1822 80 

Fielding  Jeter,  September,  1822 137 

Jacob  Whitinger,  September,  1822 119 

John  G.  Mcllvain,  July,  1824 80 

John  6.  Mcllvain,  March,  1824 40 

James  McNutt,  October,  1S22 77 

Levi  Wright,  September,  1822 83 

Levi  Wright,  September,  1822 80 

Charles  Daily,  September,  1822 80 

Charles  Daily,  September,  1822 80 

Eliakim  Harding,  September,  1822 80 

Hiram  Bacon,  September,  1822 160 

Jonath.an  Hawkins,  September,  1822 160 

Aaron  Carter,  September,  1822 160 

William  Bacon,  November,  1822 80 

Harlan  Carter,  September,  1822 160 

William  Bacon,  November,  1822 160 

Lavtrence  Township. 
Town  16  North,  Range  4  Eait. 

Hugh  Beard,  November,  1822 74 

John  Johnson,  July,  1825 71 

John  Johnson,  July,  1824 74 

Samuel  Marrow,  August,  1824 71 


66 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Niime  and  Date.  Acres. 

WilMam  Hardin,  July,  1821 142 

William  Hardin,  July,  1821 141 

Ephraim  Morrison,  August,  1824 70 

Robert  McClaine,  September,  1S21 70 

Peter  Casteter,  October,  IS21 69 

William  McCIaren,  Jr.,  April,  1S24 69 

David  Sheets,  March,  1824 SO 

Daniel  Ballinger,  October,  1823 80 

Daniel  Ballinger,  October,  1823 80 

Philip  Rny,  July,  1821 80 

Adam  Eller,  August,  1824 80 

Leonard  Eller,  April,  1825 80 

James  Templer,  August,  1821 SO 

David  Jamison,  Jr.,  June,  1S24 160 

William  D.  Rooker,  April,  1823 160 

John  North,  September,  1823 80 

John  North,  September,  1823 160 

Leonard  Eller,  April,  1825 80 

Joseph  Eller,  March,  1824 80 

John  Eller,  March,  1824 SO 

Robert  Kelley,  December,  1822 80 

Town  17  Xorlh,   linnije  4  Eail. 

Gilbert  A.  Cheney,  March,  1825 40 

Jesse  Enlow,  October,  1822 160 

Joshua  Reddick,  December,  1825 80 

Robert  Warren,  October,  1824 80 

Town  17  North,  Ranije  5  Eaal. 

John  and  Daniel  Runs,  February,  1824 80 

James  Wilson,  December,  1825 160 

Christian  Beaver,  October,  1824 80 

Daniel  Rumpal,  October,  1824 80 

Christian  Beaver,  October,  1824 80 

Daniel  Rumple,  October,  1824 80 

Jesse  Enlow,  October,  1822 160 

Warrex  Township. 
Town  15  Xorlh,  Range  4  £o«t. 

Joseph  Charles,  November,  1822 80 

Samuel  Ferguson,  January,  1825 SO 

David  E.  Wade,  March,  1824 SO 

William  Ferguson,  February,  1825 64 

Asa  Grewell,  December,  1823 80 

William  Riley,  December,  1825 80 

Jacob  W.  Fisher,  October,  1822 160 

William  Clemens,  August,  1S21 136 

William  Clemens,  August,  1S21 70 

Michael  and  Zinna  Skinner,  August,  1821 70 

Jacob  Sowduski,  January,  1822 160 

Jacob  Sowduski,  January,  1822 80 

John  Wilson,  October,  1821 SO 

Joshua  Stephens,  October,  1824 SO 

Benjamin  Atherton,  December,  1823 SO 

Edward  Heizer,  August,  1823 80 

Edward  White,  December,  1823 SO 

John  Hall,  October,  1821 160 

William  J.  Morrison,  December,  IS25 80 

Andrew  Morehouse,  August,  1823 160 

Jacob  Sowdusky,  August,  1824 80 

David  Buckhannon,  February,  1824 80 

Joel  Blaeklidge,  October,  1823 80 

Ambrose  Shirley,  November,  1S22 80 

Edward  Morin,  December,  1825 SO 

William  Morin,  December,  1825 SO 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

William  S.  Whitaker,  October,  1824 80 

John  Grewel,  December,  1823 80 

Samuel  Ferguson,  January,  1825 80 

Henry  Brady,  December,  1S23 SO 

Benjamin  Atherton,  December,  1823 80 

Jacob  Blaeklidge,  October,  1823 80 

Andrew  Morehouse,  March,  1824 80 

Jacob  Sowduski,  August,  1S24 80 

Robert  Brown,  February,  1824 SO 

John  W.  Redding,  January,  1823 160 

Levi  Becbee,  July,  1821 160 

James  Doylo,  March,  1822 180 

James  Doyle,  January,  1822 160 

Jacob  Daringer,  November,  1823 160 

David  Buckhannon,  February,  1824 80 

Archibald  C.  Reed,  August,  1824 80 

Town  15  North,  Range  5  East. 

Lorenzo  Dow,  May,  1S26 56 

William  Sanders,  December,  1S25 80 

Samuel  Fullen,  October,  1825 80 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 56 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 55 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 55 

Calvin  Fletcher,  James  Rariden,  November,  1826..  80 

Cornelius  Williams,  December,  1825 SO 

James  Holliday,  April,  1822 160 

Stephen  Brown,  November,  1826 112 

Joseph  Bray,  December,  1825 SO 

Cornelius  Williams,  December,  1825 80 

Stephen  Brown,  November,  1826 160 

Stephen  Brown,  November,  1826 113 

Stephen  Brown,  November,  1826 87 

Stephen  Brown,  November,  1826 160 

Willoughby  Conner,  September,  1826 43 

Joseph  Charles,  November,  1822 43 

Daniel  Yandes,  November,  1824 63 

Demas  L.  McFarland,  December,  1825 80 

James  Harris,  November,  1824 SO 

Polly  Holliday,  January,  1823 80 

James  Holliday,  April,  1S22 80 

Jacob  Blaeklidge,  November,  1823 160 

Samuel  Ferguson  and  John  Pogue,  January,  1825  80 

John  Ketley,  December,  1825 80 

Benjamin  Sailor,  March,  1823 80 

Bishop  k  Stevens,  January,  1825 SO 

Benjamin  Sailor,  March,  1823 80 

Benjamin  Sailor,  April,  1S23 SO 

Samuel  Beeler,  August,  1823 80 

Nathan  Harlan,  October,  1823 80 

Town  16  North,  Range  4  EiikI. 

Robert  Kelley,  December,  1S25 SO 

Jacob  Mason,  August,  1822 80 

William  Vanlaningham,  March,  1822 SO 

Harris  Tyner,  January,  1823 80 

David  Shields,  December,  1821 160 

Thomas  Askren,  September,  1825 IfiO 

Razain  Hawkins,  August,  1825 80 

Razain  Hawkins,  .-iugust,  1825 SO 

Fraxklix  Towxship. 
Town  14  North,  Range  4  East. 

Nehemiah  Smith,  December,  1825 SO 

Abraham  Lemasters,  February,  1825 80 


tion. 
12 


ORIGINAL  ENTRIES  OP  LANDS  IN  THE  COUNTY. 


67 


Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 80 

Luke  Bryan,  April,  1825 SO 

Luke  Bryan,  April,  1S25 SO 

Town  14  North,  Banr/e  5  East. 

Jeremiah  Bernight,  February,  1823 78 

Moses  Huffman,  March,  1S22 78 

William  Rector,  January,  1822 78 

John  Dawson,  January,  1823 80 

Benjamin  Rector,  March,  1825 SO 

Powlcr  Hibs,  December,  1825 SO 

Hugh  Beard,  December,  1825 80 

John  Dawson,  January,  1823 160 

Peter  Mann,  October,  1822 80 

William  Rector,  January,  1822 SO 

Jacob  W.  Fisher,  October,  1822 160 

Andrew  O.Porter,  October,  1821 160 

Peter  Carberry,  July,  1822  80 

John  Dawson,  January,  1823 160 

Jacob  Smock,  December,  1824 40 

William  Morris,  December,  1S24 40 

Town  15  North,  Range  4  East. 
Robert  McCather  and  Isaac  Erazleton,  December, 

1825 80 

Stephen  Yager,  December,  1825 80 

George  Smith,  April,  1825 80 

William  Townsend,  December,  1825 160 

Toicn  15  North,  Range  5  East. 

John  Patterson,  November,  1821 80 

John  Patterson,  November,  1821 80 

Josiah  Bisbee,  July,  1821 80 

Charles  W.  Wilson,  August,  1821 80 

Michael  Cloyd,  August,  1821 80 

Isaiah  Bisbee,  July,  1S21 SO 

Michael  Cloyd,  August,  1821 80 

Reuben  Adams,  October,  1824 160 

Reuben  Adams,  February,  1S25 80 

Charles  W.  Wilson,  August,  1821 160 

William  Griffith,  October,  1S24 160 

Perby  Township. 

Town  14  North,  Range  3  East. 

Henry  D.  Bell,  October,  1821 154 

Isaac  Kelly,  August,  1821 152 

Peyton  Bristow,  May,  1S23 80 

Henry  Riddle,  September,  1824 80 

Henry  Riddle,  September,  1822 80 

Elijah  T.  Foote,  July,  1821 75 

Elijah  T.  Foote,  July,  1821 75 

Peyton  Bristow,  May,  1823 80 

Peyton  Bristow,  August,  1821 160 

John  Johnston,  July,  1821 74 

Philip  W.  Sparger,  October,  1821 80 

John  Bowen,  December,  1821 80 

John  Watts,  October,  1821 80 

David  C.  Cassett,  July,  1821 80 

Rudy  Daily,  March,  1823 69 

Rudy  Daily,  March,  1823 85 

Elijah  Elliott,  July,  1821 88 

Martin  D.  Bush,  July,  1S2I 80 

James  Martin,  July,  1823 80 

Richard  Watts,  July,  1821 160 


Name  and  Date.  Acrea. 

Henry  Myers,  August,  1821....  80 

Denipsey  Overman,  July,  1S21 160 

John  Watts,  July,  1821 160 

Henry  Alcorn,  July,  1821 80 

Henry  Alcorn,  July,  1821 80 

Martin  Riley,  July,  1821 So 

James  Burns,  July,  1821 80 

David  Marrs,  October,  1821 80 

Cline  Roland,  December,  1825 80 

Dempsey  Overman,  July,  1821 SO 

Jacob  Pence,  August,  1822 80 

James  Cully,  July,  1S21 SO 

James  Cully,  July,  1821 80 

Thomas  Shelton,  December,  1825 SO 

David  Marrs,  October,  1821 160 

Robert  Murpby,  April,  1825 80 

Jacob  Pence,  August,  1822 80 

Samuel  True,  December,  1825 80 

Samuel  Dabney,  December,  1823 80 

Samuel  Dabney,  September,  1825 SO 

Richard  Good,  February,  1S25 SO 

Jacob  Fullenweider,  December,  1825 80 

Henry  Alcorn,  March,  1831 SO 

Samuel  Dabney,  December,  1825 80 

Moses  F.  Glenn,  May,  1822 80 

George  Vandegriff,  July,  1821 80 

William  McBride,  July,  1825 80 

Joseph  Smith,  December,  1822 160 

Anthony  W.  Bowen,  December,  1821 80 

Henry  Hardin,  May,  1822 160 

Robert  Hunt,  July,  1821 80 

Robert  Hunt,  July,  1821 160 

Hezekiah  Smart,  August,  1.S22 160 

Hezekiah  Smart,  December,  1823 80 

Town  14  North,  Range  4  East. 

Robert  White,  December,  1824 73 

Thomas  Carle,  September,  1S25 73 

Thomas  Bryant,  April,  1325 147 

Mary  Aldridge,  February,  1825 80 

Jacob  Turner,  September,  1S25 SO 

Jacob  Turner  and  Thos.  Bryant,  December,  1S25.  SO 

Peter  Demott,  November,  1826 147 

Isaac  Helms,  October,  1824 71 

Baker  F.  Ewing,  March,  1825 79 

John  Danner,  June,  1S23 79 

Francis  Vorie,  December,  1825 158 

JacobSmock,  May,  1S22 80 

Samuel  Brewer,  October,  1823 80 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 160 

Luke  Bryan,  December,  1825 SO 

Abraham  Lemasters,  December,  1825 80 

Gerrardus  R.  Bobbins,  November,  1822 160 

Jacob  Smock,  M.iy,  1822 SO 

Samuel  Smock,  November,  1826 80 

Nehemiah  Smith,  December,  1825 80 

William  McClain,  December,  1825 80 

Robert  Brenton,  August,  1822 160 

Cornelius  Demott,  May,  1822 160 

Randal  Litsey,  October,  1822 160 

Randal  Litsey,  October,  1822 160 

William  Sanders,  August,  1825 SO 

William  Sanders,  December,  1825 80 

David  Brewer,  December  1S24 80 

Daniel  A.  Brewer,  December,  1824 160 


68 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Town  15  North.  Range  3  East. 

Name  and  Date.  Acres. 

Simeon  Smock,  October,  1S21 160 

John  McFall,  August,  1821 160 

Lewis  Nichols,  October,  1821 80 

Peter  Demott,  October,  1821 80 

Peter  Demott,  October,  1S21 80 

Henry  Brenton,  August,  1821 80 

George  Marquis,  November,  1824 80 

John  Shaffer,  August,1821 80 

Lewis  Davis,  August,  1821 160 

James  Andrew,  Jr.,  July,  1821 SO 

Isaac  Senseney,  August,  1821 80 

Abraham  Lemasters,  July,  1821 80 

Joseph  S.  Benham,  July,  1821 80 

Lewis  Davis,  August,  1821 80 

William  Vandegriff,  July,  1821 30 

William  Sanders,  July,  1821 160 

William  Sanders,  June,  1822 43 

Richard  Vest,  November,  1821 70 

Samuel  Whitcher,  April,  1822 139 

Emanuel  Glympse,  March,  1823 80 

William  Myers,  July,  1821 160 

William  Sanders,  January,  1823 80 

John  D.  Lutz,  August,  1821 80 

William  Townsend,  July,  1821 160 

George  Norwood,  July,  1821 160 

Abraham  Lemasters,  July,  1821 160 

Amos  Cook,  July,  1821 160 

Henry  Ballinger,  July,  1821 160 

John  Smock,  July,  1821 160 

Henry  Brenton,  August,  1821 80 

David  Marrs,  October,  1821 80 

John  Poole,  July,  1821 160 

Town  15  North,  Range  i  East. 

Williams.  Hughey,  April,  1825 80 

Nathan  AUdridge,  November,  1823 80 

Susannah,  Jacob,  and  Azariah  Mosly,  February, 

1823 SO 

James  Thompson,  June,  1824 160 

William  Arnold,  August,  1824 160 

James  McLaughlin.  July,  1823 80 

Sarah  Jane  Smith,  December,  1825 160 

Lawrence  Demott,  October,  1821 157 

Henry  Comingore,  November,  1822 156 

John  Smock,  August,  1821 80 

Richard  Corwine,  July,  182] 15T 

John  Smock,  July,  1821 160 

Stephen  Miller,  January,  1822 159 

S.  G.  Huntington,  August,  1821 80 

S.  S.  Huntington,  August,  1821 80 

John  Smock,  August,  1821 80 

Milton  White,  October,  1824 80 

Milton  White,  September,  1824 80 

Jacob  Coffman,  August,  1821 160 

Benjamin  L.  Crothers,  August,  1821  160 

George  Petro,  August,  1821 80 


tion. 
25 
25 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Social  Condition  of  the  Early  Settlers — Amusements — Religious 
Worship — Music — General  Description  of  Pioneer  Life  in 
Marion  County — Diseases  once  Prevalent — Causes  of  Dimin- 
ution. 

Thus  far  this  history  has  followed  as  closely  as  any 
record,  or  accurate  memory,  or  other  authentic  ac- 
count would  permit,  the  course  of  events  in  the  first 
settlement  and  growth  of  the  town  and  county  up 
to  the  opening  of  the  year  1825,  occasionally  pausing 
to  group  about  some  conspicuous  locality  or  occur- 
rence such  incidents  of  the  later  history  as  closely 
connected  themselves  with  it,  and  presented  at  a 
single  view  a  summary  of  the  subject,  which  would 
be  less  intelligible  if  broken  up  by  scattering  the 
points  about  in  chronological  order.  Brief  biograph- 
ical references  also  have  been  introduced  with  the 
first  appearance  of  citizens  who  were  then  or  sub- 
sequently became  conspicuous  for  services  to  the 
community.  But  there  is  a  good  deal  more  of  the 
history  of  any  State  or  town  than  appears  in  its 
public  records  and  the  accounts  of  its  material  growth 
and  development.  How  the  people  lived,  worked,  and 
amused  themselves  is  quite  as  much  to  the  purpose 
of  a  faithful  chronicle  as  the  building  of  mills,  open- 
ing streets,  and  holding  courts.  For  the  first  two  dec- 
ades of  the  existence  of  the  town  and  the  settlement 
about  it  the  social  conditions  were  so  little  changed 
that  an  account  of  any  part  of  that  period  will  be  no 
misfit  for  any  other  part.  The  changes  towards  x;ity 
development  and  conditions  were  not  distinctly  shown 
till  the  impulse  of  improvement  that  ran  a  little 
ahead  of  the  first  railway  began  to  operate.  There- 
fore the  incidents,  anecdotes,  and  descriptions  in  this 
division  of  the  work  are  used  as  illustrative  of  a 
period  of  substantially  unchanging  conditions,  and 
not  of  any  particular  year  or  condition.  They  are 
substantially  true  of  any  year  for  two  decades  or 
thereabouts. 

For  the  first  few  years  the  relations  of  the  settlers 
and  Indians  were  occasional  points  of  interest  or 
alarm.  One  or  two  incidents  will  show  that  the 
New  Purchase  was  not  difi"erent  in  its  chances  of 
Indian  trouble  from  settlements  beyond  the  Missis- 


SOCIAL   CONDITION   OF  THE   EARLY   SETTLERS. 


69 


sippi  twenty  years  ago,  and  beyond  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains now.  Mr.  Nowland  describes  one  of  these  ' 
incidents :  "  John  McCormick  kept  the  first  tavern 
or  place  of  entertainment  in  the  place,  and  provided 
for  the  commissioners  a  portion  of  the  time  when 
they  were  here  for  the  purpose  of  locating  the 
capital.  His  house  stood  on  the  east  or  left  bank 
of  the  river,  a  few  steps  below  where  the  National 
road  now  crosses  it.  One  bright  sunny  morning 
about  the  middle  of  March  my  father  and  I  took 
a  walk  to  the  river.  When  within  about  fifty  yards 
of  the  cabin  of  Mr.  McCormick  we  heard  cries  of 
'  Help !  Murder !'  coming  from  the  house.  We  ran, 
and  by  the  time  we  got  there  several  men  had 
arrived.  A  well-known  and  desperate  Delaware, 
called  '  Big  Bottle,'  from  the  fact  that  he  generally 
carried  a  large  bottle  hung  to  his  belt,  had  come  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  and  commanded  Mrs. 
McCormick  to  bring  the  canoe  over  for  him.  This 
she  refused  to  do,  knowing  that  he  wanted  whiskey, 
and  when  drinking  was  a  dangerous  Indian.  He 
set  his  gun  against  a  tree,  plunged  into  the  river, 
and  swam  over,  and  when  we  reached  the  house  was 
ascending  the  bank,  tomahawk  in  hand,  preparatory 
to  cutting  his  way  through  the  door,  which  Mrs. 
McCormick  had  barricaded.  At  the  sight  of  the 
men  he  desisted,  and  said  he  only  wished  to  '  scare 
white  squaw.'  He  was  taken  back  to  his  own  side 
of  the  river  in  a  canoe,  and  admonished  that  if  he 
attempted  to  scare  the  '  white  squaw'  again  her  hus- 
band would  kill  him.  This  rather  irritated  him. 
He  flourished  his  scalping-knife  towards  her,  and 
intimated  by  signs  from  her  head  to  his  belt  that  he 
would  take  her  scalp." 

Not  far  from  the  time  of  this  pleasing  incident  of 
aboriginal  amiability  another  of  a  more  serious  char- 
acter occurred,  illustrating  the  inevitable  proclivity 
of  whites  to  cheat  Indians,  and  the  very  probable 
efi'ect  of  the  cheat  when  discovered.  Mr.  Now- 
land  is  authority  for  the  story.  "  Robert  Wilmot, 
the  second  merchant  (Daniel  Shaffer  was  a  little 
earlier),  had  a  small  stock  of  Indian  trinkets,  and 
for  a  short  time  carried  on  trade  with  the  Indians, 
but  a  little  occurrence  frightened  him,  and  he  soon 
returned  to  Georgetown,  Ky.,  his  former  residence. 


A  Delaware  Indian  named  Jim  Lewis  had  pledged 
some  silver  hat-bands  (there  is  something  to  open 
the  eyes  of  the  '  dudes'  of  1883  [)  to  Wilmot  for 
goods,  and  was  to  return  in  two  moons  to  redeem 
them.  He  kept  his  word,  but  when  he  came  back 
Wilmot  had  sold  the  bands  to  another  Indian,  which 
so  exasperated  Lewis  that  he  threatened  if  he  ever 
caught  Wilmot  going  alone  to  his  corn-field  he  would 
take  his  scalp.  This  frightened  him  so  much  that 
he  never  would  go  alone,  but  often  requested  and 
was  accompanied  by  Dr.  Livingston  Dunlap.  His 
alarm  grew  so  serious  finally  that  he  sold  out  and 
returned  to  Kentucky.  As  it  was  pretty  generally 
known  that  Lewis  was  the  murderer  of  the  white 
man  found  near  the  Blufis,  on  an  island  of  the  river, 
this  threat  against  Wilmot  had  a  tendency  to  alarm 
and  put  on  their  guard  other  settlers." 

The  Indians  had  been  greatly  irritated  by  the 
intrusion  of  the  whites  into  their  favorite  hunting- 
ground,  and  occasional  manifestations  of  enmity  were 
to  have  been  and  were  expected  ;  still,  the  relations 
of  the  races  were  not  always  those  of  ill-will  and  ill- 
service.  The  late  James  Sulgrove,  who  came  to  the 
settlement  in  1823,  and  at  his  death  in  1875  was 
the  oldest  business  man  in  the  city  continuously  in 
the  same  business,  used  to  tell  a  little  incident  of  the 
good  feeling  of  the  Indians  that  may  go  to  set  ofi' 
the  less  pleasant  ones.  His  father,  while  riding 
through  the  dense  woods  where  West  Indianapolis 
now  stands,  with  a  child  before  him,  saw  an  Indian 
following  at  a  rapid  pace,  as  if  to  overtake  him. 
Feeling  a  little  alarmed,  he  hurried  his  horse  ahead, 
but  saw  that  the  Indian  hurried  too.  Knowing  the 
impossibility  of  escaping  by  speed  in  the  deep,  miry 
mud  of  the  river  bottom  with  the  child  to  take  care 
of,  he  slackened  his  pace  and  let  the  native  come  up. 
As  he  approached  he  held  out  a  child's  shoe  in  his 
hand,  which  had  dropped  from  the  foot  of  the  little 
fellow  on  the  horse,  and  been  picked  up  by  the 
Indian,  who  had  followed  pertinaciously  through  the 
mud  to  return  it.  Trivial  as  such  an  afi'air  is,  it  is 
worth  noting  as  an  evidence  that  the  Indians  then, 
i  as  now  and  always,  treat  the  whites  in  much  the 
'  same  way  the  whites  treat  them.  If  there  is  no 
special  cause  of  dislike  or  hostility,  the  Indians  are 


70 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


as  well  disposed  to  be  kindly  and  hospitable  as  other 
men.  If  they  are  swindled  and  abused  they  can 
hardly  be  more  vindictive,  if  we  may  trust  the  early 
reports  of  revengeful  white  murders. 

Of  the  homes  and  modes  of  life  of  the  early  set- 
tlers some  little  suggestion  has  been  made  in  occa- 
sional allusions,  but  a  better  idea  is  given  in  Mr.  Now- 
land's  account  of  the  way  his  father's  family  settled 
themselves  here  in  the  fall  of  1820  on  their  arrival. 
He  says  that  a  Quaker  from  Wayne  County  by  the 
name  of  Townsend,  the  same  who  afterwards  joined 
in  putting  in  operation  the  first  wool-carding  machine 
here,  had  come  out  to  the  settlement  and  built  a 
cabin  and  covered  it,  but  had  left  the  sawing  out  of 
the  necessary  openings  to  a  more  convenient  season 
and  returned  to  the  White  Water.  Mr.  Nowland's 
father  took  possession,  by  the  advice  of  a  friend,  but, 
for  fear  of  cutting  openings  for  doors,  windows,  and 
a  chimney  in  the  wrong  place,  decided  to  cut  none  at 
all,  and  made  an  entrance  by  the  novel  process  of 
prying  up  two  corners  of  the  house  and  taking  out 
the  third  log  from  the  bottom.  A  few  clapboards 
taken  from  the  middle  of  the  roof  let  the  smoke  out, 
and  the  whole  aifair  was  about  as  comfortable  as  a 
wigwam.  The  fire  was  built  on  the  ground,  which 
was  the  floor,  and  rag  carpets  wore  hung  round  the 
walls  to  exclude  the  wind,  against  which  there  was 
no  provision  of  "  chinking  and  daubing."  The 
neighbors,  in  the  generous  fashion  of  the  backwoods, 
all  assisted  readily  in  anything  that  required  their 
help,  and  a  cabin  of  their  own  was  soon  provided  for 
the  family.  There  may  possibly  be  in  the  city  yet 
one  of  these  primeval  cabins  weather-boarded  over, 
as  a  good  many  were,  and  made  most  excellent  resi- 
dences too,  as  handsome  as  a  frame  and  as  solid  as 
a  brick ;  but  the  unhewed  cabin,  unfaced  and  left  in 
its  native  roughness,  probably  disappeared  with  the 
burning  of  a  double  log  house  on  the  bank  of  Pogue's 
Run,  near  Mississippi  Street,  some  years  before  the 
war.  The  double  cabin  was  the  palatial  structure 
of  the  early  settlements  of  the  New  Purchase.  A 
two-story,  hewed-log  house  was  sometimes  built,  but 
it  was  as  phenomenal  as  Vanderbilt's  marvelous 
home.  There  was  one  on  Maryland  Street,  south 
side,  west  of  Meridian,  near  the  present  east  end  of 


the  Grand  Hotel,  that  was  occupied  by  a  family 
named  Goudy  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  by  some 
of  the  hands  employed  on  the  National  road  in  1837 
or  1838  or  thereabouts.  It  may  have  been  the  first 
house  used  by  the  Methodists  as  a  place  of  worship 
in  1825,  for  they  did  use  a  hewed-log  house  on 
Maryland  Street,  near  Meridian.  It  disappeared 
forty  years  ago.  One-story  houses  frequently  made  a 
sort  of  second  story  of  the  garret  by  a  ceiling  of 
loose  plank  or  puncheons  and  a  ladder,  and  this 
was  sometimes  the  children's  room  and  sometimes  a 
guest's  room.  Doors  were  usually  battened,  swung 
on  large  wooden  hinges,  and  fastened  with  a  wooden 
latch,  lifted  from  the  outside  by  a  string  fastened  to 
it  and  passing  through  a  hole  in  the  door  above. 
The  hospitable  assurance  of  a  backwoodsman  that  his 
"latch-string  was  always  out"  can  be  readily  appre- 
ciated with  this  explanation.  It  meant  that  his 
house  could  be  entered  at  any  time  by  anybody.  If 
the  latch-string  were  drawn  in  through  the  hole  a 
person  outside  would  have  no  chance  to  get  in.  A 
close-jointed  hewed-log  house  was  warmer  in  winter 
and  cooler  in  summer  than  a  brick,  and,  except  that 
it  would  rot,  was  preferable.  Unhewed  houses  were 
always  more  or  less  subject  to  the  intrusion  of  va- 
grant breezes  and  curious  eyes  by  the  falling  out  or 
knocking  out  of  the  "  chinking"  and  "  daubing"  that 
filled  the  .spaces  between  the  logs.  This  was  usually 
made  of  blocks  of  split  wood,  from  six  inches  to  a 
foot  long  by  three  or  four  inches  wide  and  an  inch 
or  two  thick,  laid  in  oblique  rows  between  the  logs 
and  covered  thick  with  the  mud  of  the  country. 

Chimneys  were  usually  built  clear  outside  of  the 
house,  against  a  hole  eight  or  ten  feet  wide  by  five 
or  six  high  cut  out  of  the  logs  or  left  by  measure- 
ment when  the  logs  were  cut  before  the  raising,  as 
other  openings  were  arranged  for  frequently.  The 
square  of  the  chimney  at  the  bottom,  as  high  as  the 
fireplace  inside,  was  built  of  heavy  split  timber . 
notched  like  the  logs  of  the  wall  and  heavily 
"  daubed."  The  upper  part  was  narrowed  from  the 
square  structure  below  to  the  usual  size  of  a  smoke- 
vent  of  brick,  but  made  of  small  split  sticks  laid  on 
each  other  in  courses  of  pairs  and  thickly  plastered 
with  clay  or  mud.     As  dangerous  as  such  work  would 


SOCIAL  CONDITION   OF  THE  EARLY   SETTLERS. 


71 


appear  in  such  close  contact  with  the  huge  fires  of 
the  backwoods,  there  was  not  more  danger  if  the 
"  daubing"  was  well  looked  to  than  there  is  in  the 
"  defective  flue"  that  is  the  terror  of  city  house- 
holders and  the  pest  of  insurance  companies.  Be- 
sides, if  a  chimney  should  take  fire  it  could  be  dis- 
cerned at  once,  for  the  whole  extent  of  the  flue  was 
as  open  as  the  door,  and  a  tinful  of  water  could  do 
all  that  a  steam-engine  is  needed  to  do  now,  and  with- 
out damaging  anything,  where  the  engine  would  do 
as  much  harm  as  a  fire.  With  all  the  rudeness  and 
lack  of  luxuries  and  even  of  conveniences,  the  pio- 
neers of  the  West  had  some  countervailing  advan- 
tages even  in  the  structure  of  their  houses. 

Log  cabins  were  abundant  here  when  cooking- 
stoves  came  round,  but  they  had  been  going  out  for 
some  years,  and  there  was  never  any  considerable 
association  between  the  home  of  the  backwoods  and 
the  kitchen  of  the  city.  The  cooking  of  the  cabin 
was  all  done  in  the  big  fireplace.  Mr.  Nowland  tells 
how  the  fires  were  made.  The  back-log,  cut  the  full 
length  of  the  fireplace,  was  laid  at  one  end  on  a  sled 
called  a  "  lizard,"  and  hauled  into  the  house  by  a 
horse  till  it  was  opposite  the  fireplace,  when  it  was 
rolled  in,  and  followed  by  a  "  forestick"  of  the  same 
size,  and  brought  in  the  same  way.  Smaller  wood 
filled  in  the  space  between  the  two  on  the  heavy  and- 
irons,— sometimes  stones  or  smaller  logs,— and  with 
proper  attention  to  the  small  fuel  such  a  fire  would  last 
twenty-four  hours.  The  baking  was  done  in  skillets, 
set  in  front  of  the  fire  on  a  bed  of  coals,  with  the  lid 
covered  with  coals.  If  it  was  a  "johnny-cake"  that 
was  to  be  baked,  it  was  spread  out  by  hand  till  it  was 
a  foot  or  so  long  and  half  as  wide  or  more  by  nearly 
an  inch  in  thickness,  and  then  laid  on  the  "johnny- 
cake  board,"  about  like  the  half  of  a  modern  sleeve- 
board,  and  set  on  edge  before  the  fire,  supported  by 
a  big  chip  or  a  stone  or  anything  handy.  Nothing 
more  savory  was  ever  made  of  grain  than  a  "johnny- 
cake."  The  frying  was  done  like  the  baking,  and 
not  unfrequently  with  the  same  utensil.  For  boiling, 
an  iron  crane  usually  hung  in  the  fireplace,  with  two 
or  three  heavy  iron  hooks,  that  could  be  moved  along 
the  lever,  like  the  weights  on  a  steelyard,  to  find  the 
best  spot  of  the  fire.     Against  the  end  walls  of  the 


big  fireplace  it  was  a  common  sight  to  see  venison 
hams  hanging  to  dry,  or  "jerk,"  as  the  phrase  is  now. 
Pumpkins  cut  into  thin  strips  and  dried  were  fre- 
quent adornments  of  strings  or  poles  near  the  ceiling 
or  along  the  walls.  A  "  smoke-house,"  to  cure  the 
winter's  bacon,  was  an  usual  adjunct  of  the  cabin, 
and  the  fiimily  meat  was  kept  there  with  other  pro- 
visions. Before  there  were  any  mills,  or  when  low 
water  prevented  them  from  grinding,  corn  was  often 
made  into  "  lye  hominy,"  or,  when  just  hardening 
from  the  roasting  ear  into  maturity,  was  grated  on  a 
half-cylinder  of  tin  punched  outwardly  full  of  holes, 
the  outturned  edges  of  the  hole  rasping  an  ear  away 
rapidly  in  the  deft  hands  of  a  backwoods  housewife. 
Potatoes  were  roasted  in  the  hot  ashes  and  embers, 
and  the  boy  who  has  eaten  them  thus  cooked,  and 
will  not  swear  that  no  other  cooking  is  comparable, 
is  "  fit  for  stratagems"  and  all  other  bad  things. 

In  the  year  1830,  Mr.  John  Finley,  of  Wayne 
County,  wrote  a  New  Year's  address  for  the  Indian- 
apolis Journal,  at  the  close  of  which  occurs  so 
admirable  a  description  of  a  "  Hoosier"  pioneer  cabin 
that  no  apology  is  required  for  reproducing  it  here : 

"  I'm  told  in  riding  somewliere  West 
A  stranger  found  a  '  Hoosier's  nest,' 
In  other  words,  a  buckeye  cabin, 
Just  big  enough  to  hold  Queen  Mab  in. 
Its  situation,  low  but  airy. 
Was  on  the  borders  of  a  prairie; 
And  fearing  he  might  be  benighted, 
He  hailed  the  house,  and  then  alighted. 
The  Hoosier  met  him  at  the  door, 
Their  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, 
Where  half  a  dozen  Hoosieroons, 
With  mush  and  milk,  tin  cups  and  spoons, 
White  heads,  bare  feet,  and  dirty  faces. 
Seemed  much  inclined  to  keep  their  places. 
But  madam,  anxious  to  display 
Her  rough  but  undisputed  sway, 
Her  offspring  to  the  ladder  led. 
And  cuffed  the  youngsters  up  to  bed. 


72 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


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  overheard  were  strung. 

Where  venison  hams  in  plenty  bung; 

Two  rifles  placed  above  the  door. 

Three  dogs  lay  stretched  upon  the  tioor. 

In  short,  the  domicile  was  rife 

With  specimens  of  Hoosier  life. 

The  host,  who  centered  bis  aflFections 

On  game  and  '  range'  and  '  quarter  sections,' 

Discoursed  his  weary  guest  for  hours. 

Till  Somnus'  all-composing  powers 

Of  sublunary  cares  bereft  them. 

And  then No  matter  how  the  story  ended. 

The  application  I  intended 
Is  from  the  famous  Scottish  poet. 
Who  seemed  to  feel,  as  well  as  know  it. 
That '  burly  chiels  and  clever  hizzies 
Are  bred  in  sic  a  way  as  this  is.'  " 

The  nickname  of  an  ludianian,  "  Hoosier,"  occurs 
in  this  poem  the  first  time  that  it  ever  appeared  in 
print,  say  some  old  settlers.  It  could  not  have  been 
very  old  or  generally  known  throughout  the  country 
if  it  originated,  as  the  most  credible  accounts  relate, 
in  a  fight  among  the  hands  employed  in  excavating 
the  canal  around  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louisville. 
Some  big  Irishman,  after  keeping  out  of  the  shindy 
as  long  as  he  could  stand  it,  at  last  went  in  and 
knocked  down  four  or  five  of  the  other  party  in 
quick  succession.  Jumping  up  in  high  glee  he 
cracked  his  heels  together,  and  shouted,  "  I'm  a 
husher."  The  boast  crossed  the  river,  and  was 
naturalized  by  the  residents  there,  and  thence  passed 
all  over  the  State  and  into  other  States.  Except 
"  Yankee,"  no  other  State  or  sectional  nickname  is 
so  well  known,  and  it  is  not  unfrequently  used  as 
a  designation  of  a  Western  man,  as  "  Yankee"  is  of 
an  Eastern  man.  Grovernor  Wright,  of  Indiana,  once 
told  a  foreign  visitor  that  the  name  originated  in  a 
habit  of  travelers  calling  out  when  they  would  ride 
up  to  a  fence  at  night  with  the  purpose  of  staying 
till  morning,  "  Who's  here  ?"  Repetition  made  one 
word  of  it,  and  finally  made  a  name  for  backwoods 
settlers  of   it,  which  in  some  unexplained   way  was 


appropriated  to  Indiana.  Another  explanation  is 
that  Col.  Lehmanowski,  a  Polish  ofiicer  of  the  first 
Napoleon,  who  occasionally  visited  this  place,  and 
preached  here  to  a  Lutheran  association  and  lec- 
tured on  Napoleon's  wars,  about  1840  to  1842, 
started  the  name  by  his  pronunciation  of  the  word 
"  Hussar,"  which  some  "  gostrating"  fellow  got  hold 
of  and  used  to  glorify  himself.  This,  however,  oc- 
curring as  late  as  1840,  will  not  explain  the  use  of  the 
word  in  Finley's  poem  in  1830,  except  in  the  fashion 
of  "  Merlin's  prophecy,"  made  by  the  "  Fool"  in 
"  Lear." 

Dr.  Philip  Mason,  of  White  Water,  in  his  "  Au- 
tobiography," gives  an  account  of  the  agricultural 
implements  in  use  on  the  farms  of  these  "  Hoosiers" 
that  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  later  generation 
of  farmers.  "  The  plow  was  the  common  shovel- 
plow  mostly,  though  a  few  called  the  '  bar-share' 
were  used.  This  was  a  bar  on  the  land  side,  with 
a  broad,  flat  share  running  to  a  point  at  the  forward 
end,  attached  to  a  coulter  with  a  steel  nose  in  front. 
The  coulter  extended  up  through  the  wooden  beam  of 
the  plow.  Two  wooden  handles,  one  attached  to  the 
beam  and  the  bar,  and  to  the  bar  of  the  land  side  of 
the  plow,  the  other  handle  connected  with  a  wooden 
mold-board,  which  pressed  out  the  dirt  and  partially 
turned  it.  It  was  connected  with  the  other  handle 
by  wooden  pins  or  rounds.  Horses  were  often  at- 
tached to  the  plow  without  an  iron  clevis.  The 
double-tree  was  connected  with  a  fixture  not  unlike 
a  clevis ;  the  single-tree  fastened  to  the  double-tree 
by  a  hickory  withe,  sometimes  with  a  kind  of  wooden 
clevis.  The  horses  were  mostly  geared  for  plowing 
with  a  collar  made  of  corn-shucks  ;  hames  made  from 
the  roots  of  the  ash  or  oak,  fashioned  as  best  they 
could  be  with  a  drawing-knife,  a  hole  at  top  and  bot- 
tom, so  as  to  fasten  with  a  cord  or  a  thong  made  of 
rawhide ;  not  uncommonly  a  hole  was  made  with  an 
auger  near  the  middle  of  the  hame  to  take  in  the 
trace,  which  was  made  of  hemp  or  flax  tow,  and  spun 
and  made  on  a  rude  rope-walk.  The  trace  was  run 
through  the  hole  in  the  hame  and  secured  by  a  knot, 
and  looped  over  the  end  of  the  single-tree,  on  which 
there  was  a  notch  at  the  back  part  to  keep  it  in  place. 
For  a  back-band  a  strong  piece  of  tow  cloth  doubled 


SOCIAL   CONDITION   OF   THE   EARLY   SETTLERS. 


73 


was  used.  The  horses  were  guided  by  a  bridle  with 
a  rope  headstall  and  a  rope  line,  mostly  driven  with 
one  line.  When  using  two  horses  they  were  coupled 
together  by  a  rope  at  the  bits,  sometimes  by  a  stick, 
with  strings  tied  to  the  stick  and  then  to  the  bridle- 
bit.  Double  lines  were  seldom  used  in  driving  one 
or  two  horses.  Even  a  four-horse  team  was  driven 
with  a  single  line  attached  to  the  near  forward  horse. 
Salt  and  iron  were  obtained  at  Cincinnati,  and  fortu- 
nate was  he  who  could  by  any  means  obtain  salt 
enough  to  preserve  his  meat  and  salt  his  food.  Corn 
was  often  sold  at  six  cents  a  bushel,  and  wheat  at 
twenty-five  cents.  Salt  was  often  as  high  as  two 
dollars  and  a  half  and  three  dollars  a  bushel." 


seasoned.  From  these  I  made  a  high  post  bedstead, 
which  has  been  in  use  ever  since  till  the  last  seven 
years."  The  common  chair  of  the  backwoods  was  the 
"  split-bottom,"  still  made  and  used  occasionally,  and 
superior  to  anything  of  the  fashionable  kind  made 
now.  Long  thin  strips  of  tough  wood  that  would 
split  in  flakes  about  an  inch  wide  were  used  to  weave 
the  seat.  They  wore  out  or  broke  readily,  but  were 
readily  replaced.  Sometimes  buckskin  was  stretched 
and  tacked  to  the  frame  of  the  seat,  and  made  a  better 
chair  than  any  costly  cushioned  affair  of  this  day, 
until  it  stretched  into  too  deep  a  cavity,  as  it  always 
did  sooner  or  later. 

From  this  account  of  a  pioneer  it  will  be  seen  that 


AN    E3IIGRANT 


Although  the  pioneers  all  had  to  build  their  own 
houses,  they  were  not  all  nor  generally  so  destitute 
as  to  be  forced  to  make  their  own  furniture.  Dr. 
Mason  thus  describes  his  labor  in  this  direction  :  "  My 
next  object  was  to  make  us  seats.  For  this  purpose  I 
went  into  the  creek  bottom  and  selected  a  suitable  blue 
ash  tree,  cut  it  down,  then  cut  notches  into  the  sides, 
and  split  off  pieces  of  suitable  length  and  width  for 
benches.  With  the  broad-axe  and  drawing-knife  they 
were  made  smooth.  Some  were  made  for  a  single  per- 
son and  had  three  legs,  while  the  longer  ones  had  four 
legs.  Our  next  object  was  a  bedstead.  I  found  on 
the  place  some  black  walnut   rails  which  were  well 


farmers  did  a  good  deal  towards  making  for  themselves 
the  appliances  and  implements  they  needed.  It  was 
often  their  only  chance,  consequently  it  was  no  un- 
usual thing  to  see  about  a  farmer's  barn  or  back  yard 
a  rough  carpenter's  bench  with  a  wooden  clamp  or 
vise,  or  a  "  horse"  with  a  treadle,  and  a  notched  head 
pressed  by  the  treadle  down  on  a  stick  to  hold  it  fast 
against  the  "horse"  for  the  use  of  the  "drawing- 
knife,"  the  universal  tool  of  the  backwoods,  only  less 
indispensable  than  the  axe.  The  ready  adaptability 
of  the  American  pioneer  was  balked  by  little  in  the 
way  of  wood-work,  but  blacksmithing  was  too  much, 
and  the  blacksmith-shop  was  universally  coeval  with 


74 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


the  tavern  and  village  store.  He  made  the  crane  for 
the  fireplace,  the  "  dog-irons"  or  andirons,  the  shovel 
and  tongs,  the  plowshare  and  clevis,  the  horse's  bit 
sometimes,  the  gearing  of  the  wife's  loom,  the  irons 
of  the  husband's  wagon,  shod  the  horses,  sharpened 
the  plows,  made  the  grubbing  hoes  and  the  fishing 
gigs,  hammered  smooth  the  battered  poles  of  axes, 
riveted  the  blade  in  the  boy's  broken  knife,  and  some- 
times ventured  to  repair  the  broken  lock  of  the  hunter's 
rifle.  Pretty  much  all  else  the  family  did  for  them- 
selves, even  to  the  wagon-making  once  in  a  while. 
The  spinning,  weaving,  cutting,  and  clothes-making 
were  the  good  wife's  work,  with  plenty  more  besides, 
and  if  she  didn't  make  as  neat  fits  or  graceful  drapery 
as  a  fashionable  tailor  or  dressmaker  to-day,  her 
breeches  were  sound  and  durable,  her  "  wamuses" 
comfortable  and  convenient,  her  dresses  admirably 
adapted  to  the  service  and  situation.  Buckskin  was 
largely  used  for  clothing  and  frequently  for  moccasins. 
It  is  queer  that  the  infinite  superiority  of  the  latter 
in  comfort  to  all  other  forms  of  foot-gear  for  those 
distressed  by  the  distortions  and  excrescences  of  civil- 
ization has  not  reintroduced  them,  at  least  among  sen- 
sible people  who  care  more  for  comfort  than  appear- 
ances. Buckskin  wamuses  and  breeches  disappeared 
forty  years  ago,  except  in  rare  instances  of  well-pre- 
served pioneer  relics.  The  deer  was  driven  off  into 
the  remotest  parts  of  the  county  even  before  that, 
and  the  hides  becoming  scarce,  and  dear  in  a  double 
sense,  were  gradually  replaced  in  saddlery  and  other 
manufactures  by  sheepskin,  by  no  means  its  equal. 
Ex-Coroner  Dr.  Wishard  tells  an  amusing  .story  of 
Emmanuel  Glympse,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Perry 
township.  He  had  been  wearing  a  pair  of  ill-tanned 
buckskin  breeches,  which  got  soaked  in  a  shower  as 
he  was  going  from  home  to  a  school  he  kept  in  the 
neighborhood.  They  were  pliable  enough  when  he 
sat  down  in  them  wet,  but  they  dried  before  he 
attempted  to  rise,  and  then  they  were  as  hard  as 
sheet-iron,  and  he  had  to  get  water  and  resoak  them 
before  they  would  allow  him  freedom  of  muscle 
enough  to  walk.  It  was  much  such  a  case  as  "  Sut 
Lovengood's"  shirt.  For  a  number  of  years  carding 
machinery  was  frequently  attached  to  the  motive- 
power   of   mills    to    make    "  rolls"   of    the    farmers' 


wool,  but  a  farmhouse  was  rarely  without  its  pair 
of  cards  for  hand-made  rolls  if  an  emergency  required 
them.  As  late  as  1832  or  1833  there  was  a  carding- 
machine  run  by  horse-power — a  huge  wheel  fifteen 
feet  in  diameter  set  at  a  slope  with  a  vertical  shaft 
in  the  centre,  on  the  lower  side  of  which  a  horse 
was  in  constant  motion — on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Maryland  and  Illinois  Streets,  and  another  on  Ken- 
tucky Avenue  near  where  the  first  tobacco-factory 
was  situated.  These  were  used  for  no  other  purpose, 
but  in  at  least  two  mills  near  the  city  the  same  kind 
of  machinery  was  attached  to  the  water-power.  One 
was  on  Fall  Creek  race,  the  other  on  the  bayou,  near 
the  present  line  of  the  Vincennes  Railroad,  in  a  mill 
erected  by  the  late  Daniel  Yandes  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Andrew  Wilson.  Spinning  and  weaving  machi- 
nery came,  temporarily  and  uselessly,  in  a  big  steam- 
mill  enterprise  some  years  later,  but  it  failed,  and 
woolen  manufacture  was  left  to  show  itself  nearly 
twenty  years  later.  "  Store  clothes"  were  by  no 
means  unknown,  but  a  large  dependence  was  held  on 
the  mother's  skill  in  the  country,  and  to  some  extent 
in  the  town  too,  where  a  good  deal  of  the  country 
life  was  retained  in  the  woods  and  corn-patches  that 
surrounded  many  of  the  houses.  It  was  not  till  the 
settlement  was  getting  into  its  teens  that  it  began  to 
put  on  city  airs  and  distinguish  itself  and  its  ways 
from  the  country. 

A  portion  of  the  home  labors  of  the  backwoods 
was  of  a  kind  that  required  co-operation,  and  these 
were  made  occasions  of  fun  and  frolic,  though  rarely 
to  the  neglect  of  the  real  business.  Among  these 
were  the  "  quiltings"  for  women  and  girls,  with  the 
necessary  attendance  of  young  men  later,  when  the 
games  of  the  period  were  zealously  kept  up  as  long 
as  it  seemed  decorous.  These  were  much  the  same 
as  country  games  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  of 
English  origin  and  traditional  repute,  and  rarely 
mixed  up  with  later  inventions  till  the  town  and 
country  began  to  be  less  closely  assimilated.  The  point 
or  purpose  of  most  of  them  was  a  kiss  claimed  as  a 
forfeit  or  penalty.  The  more  intellectual  entertain- 
ments, like  making  and  solving  puzzles,  were  not  so 
popular  as  those  with  a  little  material  satisfaction 
lodged  in   their  conclusion.      "  Apple-parings"  were 


AMUSEMENTS. 


75 


not  so  common  here  as  in  the  East,  but  they  were 
another  kind  of  co-operative  work  that  was  made  an 
amusement.  "  House-raisina"  was  a  male  task  with 
a  similar  accompaniment  belter  adapted  to  masculine 
tastes;  "log-rolling"  was  another.  The  trees  that 
had  been  cut  down  to  clear  the  land  for  cultivation 
had  to  be  put  out  of  the  way,  and  no  way  was  so 
expeditious  as  to  roll  them  into  great  heaps  and  burn 
them,  trunks,  chips,  limbs,  brush,  and  leaves.  So 
the  neighbors  gathered  to  a  "  log-rolling"  as  to  a 
"  raising,"  and  many  a  rivalry  of  strength  and  skill 
with  the  handspike  was  raised  or  settled  tliere.  There 
was  fighting  of  course,  especially  on  visits  to  town 
and  to  the  "grocery,"  as  the  liquor-shop  was  called 
then ;  but  the  exhibition  at  a  "  log-rolling"  was  quite 
as  satisfactory  proof  that  a  man  was  a  "  good  man," 
"stout,"  "hold  his  otrn,"  and  so  on,  as  a  successful 
fight  at  Jerry  Collins'  corner.  "  Sugar-making" 
was  frequently  turned  into  a  frolic,  though  co-opera- 
tion was  not  so  necessary  to  it  as  the  other  work. 
The  processes  were  much  the  same  as  now,  except 
that  the  "  troughs"  were  not  buckets  or  crocks,  but 
wooden  vessels  roughly  hewed  in  the  halves  of 
short  logs  split  in  two,  unhandy,  easily  overturned, 
and  readily  inclined  to  get  dirty.  They  were  visited 
at  regular  intervals,  and  the  sugar-water  emptied 
into  a  barrel  on  a  sled,  or  in  a  wagon  if  there  was 
not  snow  enough  for  a  sled,  and  reset,  while  the  sled 
with  its  load  went  back  to  the  fire,  usually  made 
between  two  good-sized  long  logs,  on  which  the 
kettles  rested.  Here  the  evaporating  water  was  re- 
placed from  the  barrels  till  it  was  sweet  enough  to 
finish  with,  and  then  came  the  fun,  "  the  stirring  off," 
and  hunting  out  lumps  to  eat,  or  filling  egg-shells 
with  thick  syrup  to  harden  into  a  lump  like  a  stone, 
or  pouring  a  great  mass  into  a  pan  of  sugar-water  for 
the  boys  and  girls  to  pull  at,  or  making  cakes  of  it, 
or  scalding  fingers  with  it  for  some  favorite  to  doctor. 
"  Sugar-making"  was  capable  of  being  made  the 
most  entertaining  event  of  the  year,  and  it  was  often 
done. 

Besides  the  amusements  made  of  occasions  of  really 
necessary  neighborly  co-operation,  the  men  of  both 
town  and  country  during  the  first  decade  of  the 
settlement,  or  in  some  cases  the  first  two,  contrived 


amusements  that  made  no  pretence  of  work.  The 
chief  of  these  were  "quarter  races"  and  "shooting 
matches."  For  some  years  the  portion  of  West 
Street  along  the  Military  Ground  was  the  favorite 
race-track,  the  outcome  being  near  the  crossing  of 
West  and  Indiana  Avenue  on  the  Michigan  road. 
Nags  taken  from  the  plow  or  the  wagon,  and  ridden 
by  the  owners  or  by  some  boy,  were  the  contestants, 
and  the  stake  was  anything  from  a  plug  of  tobacco 
to  ten  dollars,  the  latter  not  usually  risked  on  any 
animal  that  had  not  a  local  reputation.  Forty  years 
ago  or  more  these  quarter  races  on  West  Street  took 
place  nearly  every  Saturday,  and  were  usually  dec- 
orated with  a  fight  or  two. 

A  conspicuous  character  concerned  in  them  fre- 
quently was  a  very  remarkable  man  named  Nathaniel 
Vise,  who  settled  and  named  the  town  of  Visalia,  in 
California.  Though  constantly  associated  with  drink- 
ing men  all  his  life  and  making  drinking-places  his 
principal  haunts,  he  was  never  known  to  drink. 
Though  he  gambled,  he  was  notoriously  as  honorable 
a  man  as  there  was  in  the  place.  Possessed  of  phe- 
nomenal strength  and  agility,  and  living  among  fight- 
ing men,  he  never  fought  when  he  could  help  it,  and 
he  never  fought  without  whipping  his  man.  His 
checkered  career  took  him  to  Texas  after  he  left  here, 
and  he  became  the  intimate  friend  of  Jack  Hays,  the 
noted  "  Texas  Ranger."  They  went  to  California 
together,  and  there  his  amazing  strength  and  skill 
made  him  so  formidable  that  not  one  of  the  many 
noted  prize-fighters  then  in  San  Francisco,  like 
"  Yankee"  Sullivan  and  "  Country"  McClusky,  would 
fight  him  "  rough  and  tumble"  for  ten  thousand 
dollars.  He  was  killed  but  a  year  or  so  ago  by  the 
fall  of  a  building  in  Texarkana.  He  came  to  this 
place  a  mere  lad  with  his  father  from  Kentucky,  and 
grew  up  here.  At  one  time,  about  1839,  he  had  a 
contract  on  the  Central  Canal,  near  the  town,  and 
when  the  public  works  were  suspended  that  year  he 
made  a  pro  rata  division  of  all  the  money  he  had 
among  his  hands.  They  came  to  the  town  and  got 
drunk  on  it,  and  were  then  easily  persuaded  by  a 
fractious  Irishman  that  they  had  been  cheated  and 
ought  to  lick  Vise.  Happening  to  pass  along  the 
street  where  a  group  of  them  was  gathered,  a    little 


76 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


east  of  Meridian  Street  on  Washington,  they  assailed 
him,  first  with  savage  language  and  then  with  their 
clubs  and  fists.  He  knocked  and  kicked  down  a 
half-dozen  of  them  before  he  got  clear  of  them. 
His  activity  was  so  great  that  he  jumped  high  enough 
to  kick  both  feet  in  the  stomach  of  one  of  the  mob 
and  prostrate  him  senseless.  He  once  beat  a  pro- 
fessional foot-racer  in  racing  costume,  without  chang- 
ing a  single  thing  he  wore,  and  beat  him  so  badly  in 
a  hundred  yards  or  so  that  at  the  outcome  he  turned 
and  walked  towards  his  antagonist,  meeting  and  laugh- 
ing at  him.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Judge  N.  B.  Taylor, 
of  the  Superior  Court.  So  much  notice  of  him  is 
due  to  the  conspicuous  place  he  held  among  the  early 
settlers  and  the  reputation  he  left  here. 

After  the  abandonment  of  the  canal,  its  bed  south 
of  Pleasant  Run,  where  there  was  a  long  stretch  of 
level  bottom,  was  made  a  race-track  by  the  ambitious 
residents  of  Perry  township,  especially  the  section  of 
it  some  half-dozen  miles  south  of  the  town  in  the 
river  bottom,  called  "  Waterloo,"  a  region  noted  for 
fighting,  drinking,  betting,  and  wild  frolics  of  all 
kinds.  Here  lived  the  Snows,  the  Stevenses,  the 
Fanoillers,  the  Mundys,  the  Glympses,  the  Myerses, 
some  quiet  and  orderly,  some  a  good  deal  like  the 
modern  "  cow-boy."  All  were  ■'  drinking"  men, 
however. 

"  Shooting  matches"  continued  to  be  a  popular 
amusement  till  near  the  time  the  completion  of  the 
first  railroad  changed  the  direction  of  men's  minds  to 
the  graver  occupations  of  establishing  industries  and 
multiplying  business.  There  were  two  kinds  of 
matches.  In  one  the  shooting  was  done  at  a  target, 
in  the  other  at  the  object  which  was  made  the  stake. 
In  the  first  case  the  usual  prize  was  a  beef  divided 
into  five  "  quarters,"  the  fifth  being  the  hide  and 
tallow,  and  worth  more  cash  value  than  either  of  the 
others.  In  the  second  case  the  object  shot  for — ^a 
turkey  commonly,  sometimes  a  goose — was  set  against 
a  tree  or  stump,  with  a  log  rolled  before  it  so  as  to  con- 
ceal all  of  it  but  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the  neck. 
The  contestants  stood  oflF  an  agreed  distance,  usually 
sixty  yards,  and  shot  at  the  head  "  ofi'  hand."  The 
first  to  bring  blood  won  it.  Each  contestant  put  in 
enough  to  make  the  aggregate  a  good  price  for  the 


fowl.  The  rifle  was  the  only  weapon  of  the  time  in 
the  backwoods,  whether  the  game  were  deer  or  bear, 
turkey,  quail,  or  squirrel.  Small  game  could  usually 
be  hit  close  enough  about  the  head  to  leave  the  eat- 
able portion  uninjured.  But  nobody  could  shoot  a 
running  turkey's  head  off  with  a  rifle,  as  one  of  T. 
B.  Thorpe's  apocryphal  stories  makes  Mississippi  old- 
time  hunters  do  frequently.  It  might  be  possible  if 
a  turkey  were  running  directly  away  from  or  towards 
a  hunter,  but  barely  possible  then,  and  utterly  impos- 
sible, except  by  accident,  in  any  other  direction.  The 
shot-gun  was  thought  beneath  the  dignity  of  hunters 
and  marksmen,  and  even  boys  disdained  it.  The  rifle 
was  the  weapon  of  a  man  ;  "  shot-guns  will  do  for 
girls,"  said  an  old  pioneer  once  in  Mr.  Beck's  gun- 
smith-shop. It  was  not  till  the  German  immigration 
began  to  afi'ect  social  conditions  that  the  shot-gun  be- 
gan to  displace  the  rifle.  Now  the  hunter  here  never 
uses  the  rifle,  and  the  shot-gun  has  become  the  es- 
pecial agent  even  of  the  humanizing  murders  of  our 
enlightened  land.  Several  prominent  citizens  were 
noted  for  skill  with  the  rifle.  Robert  B.  Duncan  was 
probably  the  most  formidable  of  all,  but  Squire  Wea- 
ver and  Nathaniel  Cox  and  several  others  were  little 
inferior,  if  at  all.  Mr.  Cox  was  one  of  the  conspicu- 
ous pioneers  of  the  New  Purchase.  He  was  a  me- 
chanical genius,  and  was  employed  to  do  all  sorts  of 
work  that  nobody  else  could  or  would  try.  He  was 
carpenter,  cabinet-maker,  cooper,  turner,  painter,  boat- 
builder,  anything  that  was  wanted, — a  quaint,  humor- 
ous, generous  man,  full  of  queer  stories  and  dry  fun, 
passionately  fond  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and  always 
at  it  when  he  had  no  work  to  do.  In  1842,  when 
he  wanted  to  run  for  county  treasurer,  probably,  he 
announced  himself  in  handbills  as  "  Old  Nat  Cox, 
the  Coon-Hunter."  He  was  the  drummer  of  militia 
musters,  and  made  his  own  drums.  He  lived  west  of 
Missouri  Street  on  Washington  for  a  great  many 
years,  and  died  about  1851.  According  to  Mr.  Now- 
land,  he  was  the  prototype  of  "  Sut  Lovengood" 
in  drinking  the  two  components  of  a  Seidlitz  powder 
separately  and  letting  them  mix  in  his  stomach,  an 
experiment  that  he  said  "  made  him  feel  as  if  Niagara 
Falls  were  running  out  of  his  head."  He  was  a 
Marylander,  and  came  here  in  1821. 


AMUSEMENTS. 


77 


Another  amusement  of  the  early  settlement  of  the 
place  was  "  gander-pullino;."  This  was  imported  from 
the  South  by  the  settlers  from  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee,  of  whom  there  were  a  good  many.  Those 
who  have  read  some  of  the  sketches  of  Southern  life 
and  scenes  by  Hooper  and  Lonestreet  will  know  all 
that  can  be  known  about  a  "  gander-pulling"  without 
taking  part  in  it.  One  of  the  places — possibly  the 
only  one — where  it  was  practiced  in  this  county  was 
at  Allisonville,  in  Washington  township,  on  the  road 
to  Conner's  place  and  Noblesville.  Here  two  resi- 
dents, Lashbrook  and  Deford,  oflFered  an  enlightened 
and  Christian  public  the  refined  and  intellectual  en- 
tertainment of  a  "  gander-pulling"  at  such  times  as 
promised  to  make  the  speculation  profitable.  An  old 
gander  was  caught,  his  neck  stripped  of  feathers  and 
thickly  covered  with  soft  soap,  and  hung  by  his  legs 
to  a  strong  but  yielding  limb  of  a  handy  tree.  The 
contestants  mounted  their  horses  and  in  turn  rode  at 
full  speed  under  the  swinging  fowl,  catching  its  soapy 
neck  with  one  hand  and  holding  on  with  all  their 
might  to  pull  the  head  oif :  that  was  the  victory. 
There  is  no  record  or  recollection  of  the  frequency  of 
this  elegant  sport  or  of  the  persons  that  took  part 
in  it. 

It  may  savor  a  little  of  the  extravagance  of  a  joke 
to  suggest  that  one  of  the  primitive  entertainments 
of  the  settlement  was  fighting,  and  yet  the  frequency 
and  ready  reconciliation  of  that  sort  of  enlivenmant 
certainly  looked  that  way.  Fighting  at  elections  is 
common  now,  but  it  was  inevitable  then  ;  and  it  was 
a  rare  Saturday  that  didn't  see  a  "  passage  at  arms" 
of  the  backwoods  kind,  "  a  rough  and  tumble"  fight, 
at  some  of  the  "  groceries."  Occasionally  the  diversion 
was  diversified  by  fisticufi'  duels  of  a  more  sedate  if 
not  satisfactory  character  than  the  whiskey-nurtured 
rows  of  street  corners  and  handy  open  lots.  Pretty 
early  in  the  annals  of  the  village  one  of  these  affairs 
occurred  between  Andrew  Wilson,  one  of  the  owners 
of  one  of  the  early  mills,  and  a  neighbor  by  the  name 
of  Zadoc  (universally  called  "  Zedick")  Smith.  The 
pair  went  off  alone  into  the  thick  woods  about  the 
mill  situated  on  the  "  old  bayou,"  near  the  crossing 
of  the  Belt  Railroad  and  Morris  Street,  and  fought 
out  their  quarrel,  came  back  roughly  handled,  and 


never  to  their  dying  day  told  anybody  which  was  the 
victor.  Not  improbably  the  result  was  a  good  deal  like 
that  of  the  fight  celebrated  in  a  "  nigger"  ballad  of  this 
period  between  "  Bill  Crowder"  and  "  Davy  Crockett" : 
"  We  fought  half  a  day,  and  then  agreed  to  stop  it, 
for  I  was  badly  licked,  and  so  was  Davy  Crockett." 
Another  fight  of  the  same  secret  and  undetermined 
kind  took  place  later  between  Captain  Wiley  and  Jim 
Smith,  both  tailors  and  "  sports,"  and  both  unusually 
stalwart  and  fine-looking  men.  They  went  off  to  the 
State  House  Square,  a  remote  and  rural  spot  then, 
and  settled  the  matter,  but  how  they  never  told. 
So  infectious  was  this  fighting  humor  that  Calvin 
Fletcher  when  prosecutor  took  offense  at  some  action  of 
Squire  Obed  Foote,  and  undertook  to  thrash  him  in 
his  own  oflace,  with  poor  success,  however,  which  he 
signalized  by  informing  on  himself  and  having  himself 
indicted  and  fined.  Eye-gouging  and  biting  were 
practiced  in  these  affairs  in  the  Southern  fashion,  but 
never  or  rarely  to  the  maiming  or  serious  injury  of 


Of  this  period  militia  musters  and  militia  ofiBcers 
form  too  important  an  element  to  be  overlooked. 
When  the  county  was  organized  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans  was  but  .seven  years  old,  and  that  was  a  militia 
battle  on  our  side.  There  was  enough  military  spirit 
in  the  people  to  demand  a  military  system  of  some 
kind,  and  to  sustain  it  till  it  got  to  be  an  old  song  and 
the  events  of  the  last  war  with  England  had  faded 
into  legend,  and  a  militia  force  was  organized  of  all 
the  adult  male  population  with  some  exceptions, 
divided  into  regiments  by  counties  and  brigades  by 
Congressional  districts.  Judge  William  W.  Wick  was 
the  first  brigadier  of  this  district ;  James  Paxton  was 
elected  the  first  colonel,  Samuel  Morrow  the  first  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and  Alexander  W.  Russell  the  first 
major,  as  before  stated.  Musters  were  held  annually^ 
possibly  oftener,  and  the  turn-out  was  expected  to 
embrace  about  all  the  able-bodied  voting  population 
who  were  not  specially  exempted.  But  it  did  not,  as 
there  were  always  plenty  to  look  on  besides  the  troops 
that  followed  the  march.  The  parade  was  formed  at 
the  court-house  usually,  with  no  uniforms  except 
what  the  ofiicers  wore,  and  no  guns  but  "  squirrel 
rifles,"  and  many  without  them  taking  canes,  papaw 


78 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


sticks,  broken  hoe  handles,  or  pieces  of  split  plank. 
The  march  was  sometimes  out  east  to  a  grove,  but 
oftener  west  down  Washington  Street  and  Maryland 
to  the  open  ground  between  Georgia  and  Louisiana 
Streets  west  of  Tennessee,  where  the  force  was  put 
through  an  hour  of  drilling  and  marching,  and  another 
hour  of  idling  about  and  talking  and  eating  apples, 
and  then  the  parade  was  dismissed,  with  about  as  much 
improvement  of  military  knowledge  and  spirit  as  if 
all  hands  had  stayed  at  home.  But  the  parade  was  a 
great  event.  The  regimental  officers  made  a  most 
inspiriting  show.  They  were  in  their  glory,  as  a 
"  militia  officer  on  the  peace  establishment" — as  Cor- 
win  said  of  Crary — ought  to  be  at  a  militia  annual 
parade.  It  was  the  day  for  which  the  other  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  were  made.  They  galloped  back 
and  forth,  their  red  and  white  plumes  swaying  and 
bobbing,  their  sword-sheaths  rattling,  their  blades 
flashing,  when  they  were  not  rusty,  their  voices  duly 
husky  with  dust  and  duty,  while  old  Peter  Winchell 
and  Nat  Cox  kept  the  drums  rattling  till  no  one  could 
hear  more  than  an  infrequent  squeal  of  Glidden  True's 
fife.  Little  boys  ran  along  and  screamed,  dogs  barked, 
sedate  old  hogs  in  fence  corners  got  up  and  ran  off 
grunting,  women  stood  in  their  doors  holding  up  their 
babies  to  see  the  gorgeous  spectacle,  and  for  one  hour 
of  glorious  life  the  militia  officer  had  a  right  to  feel 
that  he  was  a  bigger  man  than  any  man  without  a 
commission. 

Although  the  militia  sy.stem  was  intended,  as  Burke 
said  of  the  feudal  system,  to  be  "  the  cheap  defense 
of  the  nation,"  and  the  military  tastes  of  the  people 
were  as  strong  as  those  of  any  people,  yet  so  incessant 
were  the  demands  of  urgent  duties  and  labors  that 
little  time  was  left  for  such  as  availed  only  in  remote 
and  improbable  emergencies.  Thus  it  came  that  after 
the  settlement  of  the  New  Purchase  there  was  never 
anything  more  made  of  the  militia  system  than  an 
annual  show  and  a  little  personal  distinction  fre- 
quently used  for  political  effect  by  the  officers.  This 
will  explain  the  reference  to  it  here  instead  of  in  the 
general  course  of  the  history,  where  its  infrequency 
would  make  it  more  irrelevant. 

Ex-United  States  Senator  Smith  gives  an  account 
of  the  "  end  of  the  militia  system"  on  the  White 


Water,  which  is  at  once  so  amusing  and  so  fully  illus- 
trative of  the  condition  of  the  system  all  over  the 
State  that  it  is  reproduced  here.  Premising  that  an 
ambitious  young  fellow  named  Lewis  had  been  elected 
major  of  the  regiment,  and  that  he  was  possessed  by 
a  large  idea  of  the  importance  of  his  position,  Mr. 
Smith  goes  on  thus:  "  The  great  and  memorable  day 
at  last  arrived.  The  aide-de-camp  of  the  major  came 
galloping  into  the  field  in  full  uniform  directly  from 
headquarters,  and  halted  at  the  marquee  of  the  adju- 
tant. In  a  few  minutes  the  order  from  the  major  was 
given  in  a  loud  military  voice  by  the  adjutant,  mounted 
on  a  splendid  gray  charger,  '  Officers  to  your  places, 
marshal  your  men  into  companies,  separating  the  bare- 
footed from  those  who  have  shoes  or  moccasins,  plac- 
ing the  guns,  sticks,  and  cornstalks  in  separate  pla- 
toons, and  then  form  the  line  ready  to  receive  the 
major  !'  The  order  was  promptly  obeyed,  when  at  a 
distance  Maj.  Lewis  was  seen  coming  into  the  field 
with  his  aids  by  his  side,  his  horse  rearing  and  plung- 
ing very  unlike  '  Old  Whitey'  at  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista.  The  line  was  formed,  the  major  took  position 
on  a  rising  ground  about  a  hundred  yards  in  front  of 
the  battalion ;  rising  in  his  stirrups,  and  turning  his 
full  face  upon  the  line,  he  shouted,  '  Attention,  the 

whole '     Unfortunately  the  major  had  not  tried 

his  voice  before  in  the  open  air,  and  with  the  word 
'  attention'  it  broke,  and  '  the  whole'  sounded  like  the 
whistle  of  a  fife.  The  moment  the  sound  reached  the 
line  some  one  at  the  lower  end,  with  a  voice  as  shrill 
as  the  major's,  cried  out,  '  Children  come  out  of  the 
swamp,  you'll  get  snake  bit !'  The  major  pushed 
down  the  line  at  full  speed.  'Who  dares  insult  me?' 
No  answer.  The  cry  then  commenced  all  along  the 
line,  '  You'll  get  snake-bit  1'  The  major  turned  and 
dashed  up  the  line,  but  soon  had  sense  enough  to  see 
that  it  was  the  militia  that  was  at  an  end,  and  not 
himself  that  was  the  object  of  ridicule.  He  dashed 
his  chapeau  from  his  head,  drew  his  sword  and  threw 
it  upon  the  ground,  tore  his  commission  to  pieces,  and 
resigned  on  the  spot.  The  battalion  dispersed,  and 
militia  musters  were  at  end  from  that  time  forward 
in  the  White  Water  country."  The  system  made  a 
less  comical  exit  in  the  White  River  country,  but  it 
went  out  about  the  same  time  and  as  completely.     Its 


AMUSEMENTS. 


79 


offices  ceased  to  be  of  any  value  even  as  means  of 
electioneering  for  political  positions.  When  it  began 
to  be  replaced,  as  it  was  in  ten  or  a  dozen  years  after 
the  removal  of  the  capital  to  the  White  lliver  region, 
the  substitute  took  the  form  of  voluntary  associations, 
always  sure  to  be  more  efficient  than  any  statutory 
system  in  a  country  that  couldn't  enforce,  and  wouldn't 
trj',  a  conscription  in  time  of  peace. 

In  the  way  of  ordinary  amusements,  such  as  usu- 
ally divert  the  inhabitants  of  towns,  there  was  nothing. 
A  theatrical  performance  had  come  and  gone,  and  that 
was  all  till  1830,  when  the  first  circus,  McComber  & 
Co.'s,  exhibited  in  the  rear  of  Henderson's  tavern. 
Such  diversions,  besides  those  referred  to,  as  the 
young  capital  had  to  regale  itself  with  it  contrived 
for  itself,  owing  nothing  and  paying  nothing  to  any- 
body else. 

Thus  it  came  that  for  the  first  decade  or  two  the 
town  and  country  were  as  closely  assimilated  in  their 
amusements  and  general  social  condition  as  if  the 
town  had  never  been  platted  or  its  streets  cleared,  and 
in  business  and  in  ordinary  duties  the  separation  was 
little  more  distinct.  The  town  was  merely  a  little 
thickening  of  the  country  settlement. 

Mr.  Mason  speaks  of  the  scarcity  of  money  in  In- 
diana in  the  first  few  years  after  the  State's  admis- 
sion into  the  Union,  and  all  the  survivors  of  the  first 
dozen  years  of  the  settlement  of  the  New  Purchase  say 
that  most  of  their  trading  was  barter.  Money  was  hard 
to  come  by,  and  what  little  was  encountered  in  this 
region  was  Spanish  almost  altogether  or  Mexican. 
The  old  copper  cent,  as  big  as  a  half  dollar,  was  the 
only  home  coin  that  circulated  in  any  considerable 
force;  the  next  smallest  was  the  "  fip,"  or  "  fipenny 
bit,"  a  little  Spanish  coin  rated  at  six  and  a  fourth 
cents,  the  sixteenth  of  a  dollar.  In  later  years,  after 
flat-boats  began  running  to  New  Orleans  with  our 
corn  and  pork  and  whiskey  and  hay,  we  imported 
the  Southern  designation  and  called  it  a  "  picayune." 
The  next  coin  was  Spanish  too,  worth  two  of  the 
first,  and  called  a  "  levy,"  sometimes  a  "  'leven- 
pence,"  changed  by  Southern  influence  into  "bit." 
Another  Spanish  coin  worth  eighteen  to  twenty 
cents  was  called  a  pistareen.  It  was  so  nearly  the 
same  size,  as  the  Spanish  quarter  that  it  was  easily 


passed  for  that  if  worn  so  much  as  to  make  the 
stamp  undiscernible.  The  quarter  had  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules  on  the  reverse,  and  the  pistareen  had  not. 
These  coins  were  the  common  medium  of  business 
when  money  was  used  at  all,  except  that  the  dollar 
coin  was  frequently  Mexican,  sometimes  a  French 
five-franc  piece  helped  out  by  a  fip,  but  never  an 
American  dollar.  If  the  "  daddies"  had  it,  they 
kept  it.  Paper  money  began  to  show  itself  with  the 
organization  and  operation  of  the  old  State  Bank  in 
1834.  The  first  American  coins,  except  an  occa- 
sional ten-cent  piece  of  the  old  pattern  (the  first 
with  the  seated  figure  of  Liberty)  ever  brought  to 
Indianapolis,  so  far  as  can  be  now  ascertained,  were 
brought  in  the  summer  of  1838  by  a  jeweler  named 
Foster  on  his  return  from  the  East,  and  by  him 
placed  in  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  Christ  Church, 
which  was  the  first  corner-stone  laid  in  the  place. 

The  primitive  condition  of  the  country  and  the  un- 
sophisticated character  of  the  people  can  be  better 
judged  by  a  few  incidents  related  by  eye-witnesses  than 
by  chapters  of  elaborate  description,  wherefore  it  is 
deemed  best  to  add  here  some  of  the  anecdotes  of  the 
early  settlement  of  the  White  lliver  Valley,  preserved 
in  O.  H.  Smith's  and  Mr.  Nowland's  reminiscences. 
The  latter,  in  his  sketch  of  a  noted  character  of  the 
early  days  of  Indianapolis,  "  Old  Helvey,"  tells  an 
amusingly  illustrative  story  of  a  wedding  there. 
"  After  the  bride  and  groom  had  retired  the  whiskey 
gave  out.  There  was  no  way  of  getting  more  except 
at  Mr.  Landis  grocery.  He  was  present,  but  there 
was  no  pen,  pencil,  or  paper  with  which  an  order 
could  be  sent  to  the  clerk.  Old  Helvey  suggested 
that  Mr.  Landis  should  send  his  knife,  which  would 
be  recognized  by  the  young  man,  and  would  certainly 
bring  the  whiskey.  This  was  done,  and  the  whiskey 
came,  to  the  great  joy  of  all  present.  Mr.  Helvey 
thought  the  bride  and  groom  must  be  dry  by  this 
time,  so  he  took  the  jug  to  them  and  made  them 
drink  the  health  of  the  guests." 

Another  incident  related  by  Mr.  Nowland  indicates 
a  stronger  matrimonial  exclusiveness  in  a  portion  of 
the  early  settlers  than  prevails  now,  or  ever  prevailed 
in  most  of  the  country.  This  was  the  first  dance 
given  in  the  settlement,  by  Mr.  John  Wyant,  at  his 


80 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


cabin  on  the  river  bank,  near  where  Kingan's  pork- 
house  is,  in  December,  1821.  Mr.  John  Wyant  was 
the  first  man  prosecuted  criminally  in  Marion  County. 
His  oflFense  was  selling  liquor  without  a  license. 
There  was  a  charge  of  twenty-five  cents  admittance 
for  each  adult  male,  to  furnish  the  fluids,  which  were 
the  only  costly  articles  used  on  these  occasions.  The 
guests  had  begun  to  arrive,  and  while  the  landlord 
was  in  "  t'other  house,"  as  the  second  cabin  was  called, 
Mr.  Nowland  (father),  "having  been  educated  in  a 
different  school  of  etiquette  from  that  of  Mr.  Wyant, 
thought  it  but  simple  politeness  to  invite  Mrs.  Wyant 
to  open  the  ball  with  him.  She  gracefully  accepted, 
and  they  with  others  were  going  in  fine  style  when 
the  landlord  returned.  He  at  once  commanded  the 
music,  which  was  being  drawn  from  the  bowels  of  a 
dilapidated-looking  fiddle  by  Col.  Russell,  to  stop. 
He  said,  '  As  far  as  himself  and  wife  were  concerned 
they  were  able  to  do  their  own  dancing,  and  he 
thought  it  would  look  better  for  every  man  to  dance 
with  his  own  wife  ;  those  who  had  none  could  dance 
with  the  gals.'  This  order,  as  far  as  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wyant  were  concerned,  was  strictly  adhered  to  the 
remainder  of  the  night.  When  the  guests  were 
ready  to  leave  at  the  dawn  of  day  they  were  still 
'  bobbing  around'  together."  Not  a  bad  example  of 
matrimonial  fidelity,  which  it  can  do  no  harm  to 
recall  at  a  time  when  a  divorce  is  granted  about 
every  day  in  the  year  in  their  own  county. 

Of  one  of  the  earliest  marriages — the  second  prob- 
ably— Mr.  Nowland  says,  "  As  the  two  rooms  were 
already  full  the  bride  had  to  make  her  toilet  in  the 
smoke-house,  where  she  received  the  bridegroom  and 
his  retinue."  The  wedding  dinner  is  thus  described  : 
"  On  either  end  of  the  table  was  a  large,  fat,  wild 
turkey,  still  hot  and  smoking  from  the  clay  oven  in 
which  they  were  roasted.  In  the  middle  of  the  table 
and  midway  between  the  turkeys  was  a  fine  saddle 
of  venison,  part  of  a  buck  killed  the  day  before  by 
Mr.  Chinn  (the  bride's  father  ;  the  bridegroom  was 
Uriah  Gates,  a  well-known  citizen)  expressly  for  the 
occasion.  The  spaces  between  the  turkeys  and  veni- 
son were  filled  with  pumpkin,  chicken,  and  various 
other  pies.  From  the  side-table  or  puncheon  Mrs. 
Chinn,  assisted  by  the  old  ladies,  was  issuing  cofi"ee. 


which  was  taken  from  a  large  sugar -kettle  that  was 
hanging  over  the  fire.  By  the  side  of  the  coffee-potr 
on  this  side-table  was  a  large  tin  pan  filled  with  maple 
sugar,  and  a  gallon  pitcher  of  cream."  Delmonico 
could  not  have  got  up  a  better  dinner  at  twenty  dol- 
lars a  head.  Mr.  Nowland  adds  that  "  the  dancing 
was  continued  for  two  days.  I  remember  that  father 
and  mother  came  home  after  daylight  the  second  day, 
slept  until  the  afternoon,  and  then  went  back  and  put 
in  another  night." 

An  incident  of  the  first  Fourth  of  July  celebration 
is  related  in  the  same  interesting  collection  of  remi- 
niscences :  '■  On  the  morning  of  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1822,  my  father's  family  was  aroused  before  daylight 
by  persons  hallooing  in  front  of  the  door.  It  proved 
to  be  Capt.  James  Richey,  who  lived  at  the  Blufis, 
and  a  young  man  and  lady  who  had  placed  themselves 
under  his  charge  and  run  away  from  obdurate  parents 
to  get  married.  Mr.  Richey  and  father  soon  found 
the  county  clerk,  the  late  James  M.  Ray,  at  Carter's 
'Rosebush'  tavern,  procured  the  necessary  legal  docu- 
ment, and  Judge  Wick  married  them  before  breakfast. 
They  had  scarcely  arisen  from  the  breakfast  table 
when  the  young  lady  was  confronted  by  her  angry 
father.  Capt.  Richey  informed  him  that  he  was  just 
a  few  minutes  too  late,  and  instead  of  losing  a  daugh- 
ter had  gained  a  son.  The  parties  were  soon  recon- 
ciled and  invited  to  attend  the  barbecue  and  ball  given 
in  honor  of  the  day,  which  they  did." 

Mr.  Smith  tells  the  following  in  the  same  humorous 
vein : 

James  Whitcomb,  Governor  of  the  State  in  1843, 
and  United  States  senator  in  1848,  dying  1852, 
was  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  in  the  State,  and 
practiced  pretty  much  all  over  it,  as  did  his  lead- 
ing cotemporaries.  In  the  New  Purchase  he  and 
all  the  bar  were  in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  Capt. 
John  Berry's  tavern  in  Andersontown  (he  was  the 
man  who  blazed  out  "  Berry's  trace,"  one  of  the 
first  from  the  South  into  the  White  River  region) 
and,  as  his  custom  was,  the  eminent  lawyer,  who 
greatly  resembled  the  English  premier  Disraeli  in 
face  and  complexion  and  fastidious  taste,  changed 
his  shirt  at  night.  Capt.  Berry  was  exceedingly 
sensitive    to    any    disparagement  of   his    hotel,    and 


FASHIONS   OP   THE   TIMES. 


81 


this,  says  Mr.  Smith,  "was  well  known  to  Calvin 
Fletcher,"  who  appears  to  have  been  the  wag  of  the 
bar  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  benefi- 
cent of  the  founders  of  the  prosperity  of  Indianapo- 
lis. "  Taking  the  captain  to  one  side,  he  said,  '  Do 
you  know,  Capt.  Berry,  what  Mr.  Whitcomb  is 
saying  about  your  beds  ?'  '  I  do  not ;  what  does  he 
say  ?'  '  If  you  will  not  mention  my  name,  as  you 
are  one  of  my  particular  friends,  I  will  tell  you.' 
'  Upon  honor,  I'll  never  mention  your  name  ;  what 
did  he  saj  ?'  '  He  said  your  sheets  were  so  dirty 
that  he  had  to  pull  ofi'  his  shirt  every  night  and  put 
on  a  dirty  shirt  to  sleep  in.'  '  I'll  watch  him  to- 
night.' Bed-time  came,  and  Capt.  Berry  was 
looking  through  an  opening  in  the  door  when  Mr. 
Whitcomb  took  his  night-shirt  out  of  his  portman- 
teau and  began  to  take  oflF  his  day-shirt.  He  pushed 
open  the  door,  sprang  upon  Whitcomb,  and  threw 
him  upon  the  bed.  The  noise  brought  in  Mr. 
Fletcher  and  the  other  lawyers,  and  after  explana- 
tions and  apologies  on  all  sides  the  matter  was  set- 
tled. Tears  afterwards  Mr.  Whitcomb  found  out,  as 
he  said,  what  he  suspected  at  the  time,  that  Mr. 
Fletcher  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  matter." 

Among  the  fashions  of  the  times  was  the  disfavor 
of  beards.  Side-whiskers  of  the  "  mutton-chop" 
style  were  not  uncommon,  and  occasionally  they  were 
allowed  to  grow  around  the  face,  except  a  couple  of 
inches  or  so  on  the  throat  and  chin,  but  this  was  the 
limit.  A  "  goatee,"  or  "  imperial,"  or  "  moustache" 
would  have  been  as  strange  a  sight  as  a  painted 
Indian  as  late  as  1840.  A  full  beard  would  have 
been  very  generally  considered  a  freak  of  insanity. 
Even  whiskers  were  held  "  dandyish,"  and  the  wearer 
of  low  esteem.  Though  Judge  William  W.  Wick 
cherished  them  when  in  Congress,  he  could  not  make 
them  fashionable.  Forty  years  or  more  ago  Joseph 
M.  Moore  laughed  at  them  in  some  satirical  verses  in 
the  Journal,  and  accused  him  of 

"Using  'Columbia's  Balm'  to  make  iiis  whiskers  grow, 
As  forked  as  three  WWW's  all  standing  in  a  row." 

The  first  moustache  that  appears  of  record  was  worn 
by  the  then  young  'Than  West   forty  years  ago  or 
thereabouts,  as  perpetuated  in  a  young  lady's  poetical 
6 


address  to  some  of  the  young  bloods  of  the  town. 
She  refers  to  the  ornament  in  speaking  of  Mr.  West's 
avoidance  of  young  ladies, — 

"For  fear  that  they  should  kiss  him, 
Has  raised  a  thorn-hedge  on  his  lip." 

The  best-known  wearer  of  the  moustache,  how- 
ever, and  the  most  effective  agent  of  its  diffusion  in 
respectable  society  was  Mr.  Charles  W.  Cady,  one 
of  the  first  insurance  men  of  early  times.  Beards 
began  to  "  increase  and  multiply"  in  area  and  num- 
ber before  the  civil  war.  That  momentous  experi- 
ence was  the  end  alike  of  slavery  and  universal 
shaving. 

A  case  related  by  Mr.  Smith  illustrates  the  slender 
respect  with  which  the  early  settlers  sometimes  re- 
garded the  law  and  its  ministers.  A  grand  jury, 
while  Mr.  Fletcher  was  prosecutor,  had  found  an 
indictment  against  a  man  for  selling  liquor  without 
a  license,  much  the  most  frequent  offense  of  that 
time.  The  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  refused  to 
sign  it ;  the  prosecutor  urged  it.  "  I  shall  do  no 
such  thing,  Mr.  Fletcher ;  I  sell  whiskey  without  a 
license  myself,  and  I  shall  not  indict  others  for  what 
I  do."  "  If  you  don't  sign  it  I  will  take  you  before 
Judge  Wick."  "  What  do  I  care  for  Judge  Wick? 
he  knows  nothing  about  such  matters."  "  The  grand 
jury  will  follow  me  into  court."  In  the  court-room, 
"  This  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  refuses  to  sign  his 
name  to  a  bill  of  indictment  against  a  man  for  selling 
whiskey  without  a  license."  Judge  Wick :  "  Have 
twelve  of  the  jury  agreed  to  find  the  bill  ?"  "  Yes, 
eighteen  of  them."  "  Foreman,  do  you  refuse  to 
sign  the  bill  ?"  "  I  do."  "  Well,  Mr.  Prosecutor,  I 
see  no  other  way  than  to  leave  him  to  his  conscience 
and  his  God  ;  the  grand  jury  will  return  to  their 
room."  In  the  jury-room  the  foreman  said,  "I  told 
you  Judge  Wick  knew  nothing  about  such  cases." 
Mr.  Fletcher  :  "  I  am  only  taking  legal  steps  to  have 
the  bill  signed."  "  What  are  you  going  to  do  now? 
what  are  you  stripping  off  your  coat  for?"  "The 
law  requires  the  last  step  to  be  taken."  "  What  is 
that  ?"  "  To  thrash  you  till  you  sign  the  bill." 
"  Don't  strike,  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  I'll  sign."  He  did, 
and  the  jury  returned  to  the  court-room.     "  Has  the 


82 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


foreman  signed  the  bill  ?"  "  He  has.'  "  I  thought 
his  conscience  would  not  let  him  rest  till  he  had 
signed  it." 

Pertinent  to  this  connection  is  Mr.  Smith's  account 
of  the  hardships  of  a  political  campaign.  A  year  or 
so  after  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Indianapolis  he 
was  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  eastern  district 
of  the  State,  then  extending  the  whole  length  of  the 
State  pretty  nearly.  In  a  portion  wholly  unsettled 
he  hired  an  Indian  guide.  They  swam  some  of  the 
streams  on  their  ponies,  but  at  last  found  one  they 
could  not  cross  in  that  way. 

"  The  moment  we  reached  the  river  the  Indian 
jumped  down,  peeled  some  bark  from  a  hickory  sap- 
ling, and  spanceled  the  fore  legs  of  the  ponies ;  I 
sat  down  on  the  bank.  The  Indian  was  out  of  sight 
in  a  moment  in  the  woods,  and  I  saw  nothing  of  him 
for  an  hour,  when  he  returned  with  the  bark  of  a 
hickory-tree  about  twelve  feet  long  and  three  feet  in 
diameter.  The  bark  was  metamorphosed  into  a  round- 
bottomed  Indian  canoe  when  the  sun  was  about  an 
hour  high.  The  canoe  was  launched,  my  saddle, 
saddle-bags,  and  blanket  placed  in  one  end,  and  I  got 
in  the  other.  With  my  weight  the  edges  were  about 
an  inch  above  the  water.  I  took  the  paddle,  and  by 
the  use  of  the  current  landed  safely  on  the  other 
side,"  paying  the  Indian  two  dollars  for  his  services. 

During  the  rather  indefinite  period  covered  by  this 
attempt  to  present  an  idea  of  the  condition  of  the 
settlement  aside  from  its  material  changes  (loosely 
put  at  twenty  years),  there  had  been  organized  some 
ten  churches, — one  Baptist,  two  Presbyterian,  two 
Methodist,  two  Lutheran,  one  Christian,  one  Catholic, 
one  Episcopal,  and  all  had  places  of  worship  of  their 
own.  The  intention  here  is  not  to  present  a  summary 
of  the  condition  of  the  religious  element  of  the  settle- 
ment at  this  time,  but  merely  to  notice  some  of  the 
early  fashions  and  forms  of  public  religious  conduct. 
Until  near  the  close  of  this  first  twenty  years  of  the  set- 
tlement the  forms  of  worship,  except  in  the  Episcopal 
and  Catholic  Churches,  were  not  so  fixed  as  they  are 
now.  They  were  controlled  more  by  the  wish  of  the 
preacher  or  the  impulse  of  the  occasion.  A  written 
sermon  was  an  unknown  performance  to  many  of  the 
pioneers,  and  to  some  of  them  would  have  looked  like 


a  profanation.  Choirs  were  unknown  until  introduced 
by  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  except  in  churches  with 
established  rituals.  Mr.  Beecher's  brother,  Rev. 
Charles,  an  accomplished  musician,  was  the  first 
choir- leader  of  a  non-ritualistic  service.  Among  the 
first  choristers  were  Mrs.  Dr.  Ackley,  Mr.  John  L. 
Ketcham,  Lawrence  M.  Vance,  A.  G.  Willard, 
Augustus  Smith.  The  churches  generally  held  to 
congregational  singing,  which  was  led  by  some  man 
with  an  approved  voice  and  taste,  who  could  be 
trusted  to  select  a  good  air  of  the  right  metre,  and 
start  it  with  a  pitch  that  all  could  readily  follow. 
Not  unfrequently  the  starting  was  a  volunteer  effort, 
coming  from  some  one  in  the  body  of  the  congrega- 
tion with  a  pet  tune  for  the  special  metre  of  the  oc- 
casion. Familiar  hymns  were  sung  right  along,  with 
or  without  books ;  but  when  there  were  no  books  or 
but  few,  and  for  a  good  while  after  they  became  com- 
mon, the  preacher  would  "  line  out"  the  hymn,  or 
"  deacon"  it,  as  the  Yankees  called  it,  by  reading  two 
lines  and  waiting  for  the  congregation  to  sing  them 
before  reading  another  couplet.  This  would  produce 
an  odd  effect  now  to  most  hearers,  even  to  those  who 
were  familiar  with  it  in  childhood  and  youth,  but  it 
certainly  in  no  measure  or  way  affected  the  solemnity 
or  sincerity  of  the  worship.  Sermons,  as  before  re- 
marked, were  unwritten,  and  not  unfrequently  unpre- 
pared,-— by  no  means  identical  conditions  necessarily, 
but  often  made  so.  They  were  uniformly  longer  than 
now,  an  hour  being  neither  an  unusual  nor  unreason- 
able duration.  Probably  they  exercised  a  stronger  im- 
mediate influence  on  the  feelings  of  the  audience  than 
their  shorter,  pithier,  more  methodical  and  logical 
successors  from  the  writing-desk  do  now.  There  was 
room  for  dramatic  action  and  effect,  for  variety  of 
tone  and  feeling,  for  a  vigor  that  comes  involuntarily 
with  a  fresh  thought,  and  there  is  not  much  chance 
for  these  agencies  of  oratory  to  get  at  an  audience 
through  a  carefully  thought  out  and  written  out 
sermon  of  the  year  of  grace  1883. 

There  were  a  few  hymns  so  popular  from  their 
spirit  or  the  air  usually  associated  with  them  that 
everybody  knew  them.  One  of  the  finest  of  these  is 
still  unmatched  in  sacred  hymnology  for  the  pious 
pertinence  of  the  poetry  or  the  spirited  but  stately 


MUSIC. 


83 


movement  of  the  music, —  •'  Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  j 
cross?"  Another  was  "Come,  thou  fount  of  every 
blessing,"  frequently  sung  to  the  air  that  Rousseau 
dreamed ;  a  third  was  "  Come,  humble  sinner,"  the 
air  of  which  was  a  "  minor"  evidently  adapted  from  an 
old  Irish  air  called  the  "  Peeler  and  the  Goat"  ;  an- 
other, sung  by  John  Brown  on  the  scaffold,  "  Blow  ye 
the  trumpet,  blow"  ;  another,  "  Oh,  love  divine,"  to  a 
most  spirited  and  pleasing  air  that  is  never  heard 
now.  Besides  these  there  were  camp-meeting  tunes 
not  greatly  different  from  some  that  prevail  among 
the  Southern  colored  churches  now.  "  Old  Rosin  the 
Bow"  was  one  of  these,  adapted,  and  thus  first  named, 
to  a  secular  and  satirical  song,  "  Old  Rossum  the 
Beau,"  wholly  Southern  however;  "John  Brown's 
Body"  was  another  ;  and  one  of  them  was  profanely 
applied  by  some  "  unrespecting  boys,"  about  the  end 
of  the  period  in  question,  to  a  comic  song  about 
"  The  Great  Sea-Snake."  Music  was  not  much  cul- 
tivated in  a  scientific  or  systematic  way  then,  though 
occasional  teachers  formed  classes  and  gave  lessons 
from  the  "  Missouri  Harmony"  in  the  "  square  note" 
system.  The  "  round  note,"  or  "  do,  re"  system  came 
along  about  the  time  that  church  choirs  did,  and  the 
diffusion  of  a  taste  for  the  higher  kinds  of  music 
than  ballad  airs  and  dancing  jigs  came  with  the  in- 
flux of  German  immigration.  The  adoption  of  the 
piano  as  a  piece  of  fashionable  furniture  was  a  coeval 
movement.  Musical  improvement  made  it  fashion- 
able, and  it  made  music  fashionable. 

There  has  been  an  almost  complete  reversal  of  con- 
ditions since  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  musical 
culture.  Then  the  young  lady  who  could  play  the 
piano  or  "  sing  by  note"  was  the  exception  ;  now  the 
young  lady  who  cannot  is  the  exception.  Of  classic 
music  very  little  was  known,  so  little  that  when 
Madame  Bishop  first  sang  here  in  Masonic  Hall  in 
November,  1851,  the  first  time  that  a  celebrated  vo- 
calist had  ever  appeared  here,  her  performance  of 
"  Casta  Diva''  provoked  a  general  smile,  and  not  a 
few  called  it  "  squalling."  Now  there  are  i&yf  edu- 
cated ladies  in  this  city  who  are  not  familiar  with 
most  of  the  best-known  efforts  of  the  great  composers. 
It  may  amuse  them  to  learn  the  kind  of  songs  that 
were   usually   sung   for  social  entertainment  by   the 


young  people  who  are  now  their  parents  or  grand- 
parents. Along  in  1837  or  1838,  when  work  on  the 
canal  was  going  on,  a  song  much  liked  by  the  country 
boys  and  girls  related  to  that  sort  of  occupation.  It 
began  in  this  way :  '•  I  landed  in  sweet  Philadelphia, 
but  being  quite  late  in  the  fall,  I  didn't  stay  long  in 
that  city,  but  anchored  out  on  the  canawl."  Another, 
with  a  touch  of  broad  humor,  sang  the  horrors  of  a 
wreck  on  the  "  raging  canawl"  :  "  We  had  a  load  of 
Dutch,  and  we  stowed  'em  in  the  hold ;  they  were  not 
the  least  concerned  about  the  welfare  of  their  souls. 
The  captain  went  below,  and  implored  them  for  to 
pray,  but  all  the  answer  he  could  get  was  '  Ich  kan 
se  nich  versteh'."  Of  the  amatory  kind  there  was 
the  "  Gallant  Hussar,"  the  "  Minstrel  returned  from 
the  Wars,"  "  Gaily  the  Troubadour,"  "  Barbara 
Allen,"  some  of  Burns'  songs,  popular  everywhere, 
"  William  Riley,"  with,  a  few  years  later,  a  profusion 
of  the  earlier  efforts  of  the  colored  muse,  and  a  few 
as  early  as  1839  or  thereabouts,  such  as  "  Jenny,  git 
your  hoe-cake  done,"  "  Jim  Brown,"  "  Clar  de 
Kitchen,"  and  the  like.  Patriotic  songs  were  popu- 
lar and  far  more  frequent  than  patriotic  songs  now, 
though  far  inferior  in  style  and  literary  qualities,  but 
by  no  means  deficient  in  the  spirit  of  the  airs.  One 
of  these  was  known  all  over  the  West  as  the  "  Hunters 
of  Kentucky,"  and  celebrated  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans. Another  little  less  popular  paid  tribute  to 
Perry  and  his  heroes,  beginning,  "  The  tenth  of  Sep- 
tember let  us  all  remember  as  long  as  the  world  on 
its  axis  rolls  round."  Another  lamented  St.  Clair's 
defeat.  Another  crowed  lustily  over  the  victory  on 
Lake  Champlain,  under  the  title,  "  The  Noble  Lads 
of  Canada."  The  chorus  of  the  first  verses  ran  thus  : 
"  We're  the  noble  lads  of  Canada,  come  to  arms,  boys, 
come  !"  that  of  the  last  verse,  owning  defeat,  changed 
tone,  "  We've  got  too  far  from  Canada,  run  for  life, 
boys,  run !"  Among  the  settlers  from  Guilford 
County,  N.  C,  there  was  the  fag  end  of  a  queer  old 
patriotic  song  touching  the  French  and  English  wars 
of  the  time  of  Wolfe  and  the  conquest  of  Canada: 
"  We'll  send  the  news  to  France,  how  we  made  those 
Frenchmen  dance  when  we  conquered  the  place 
called  Belle  Isle,"  followed  by  a  chorus  that  appeared 
to  be  a  jumble   of  unmeaning   French  words,  or,  if 


84 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


ever  intelligible,  so  spoiled  in  pronunciation  as  to  be 
mere  gibberish.  There  were  a  number  of  comic 
songs  that  were  frequently  sung,  of  which  four  or 
five  will  serve  for  samples :  "  Poor  Old  Maids," 
"Near  Fly-Market  lived  a  dame,"  "  Sukey  Suds,  she 
stood  at  her  washing-tub"  (a  parody  on  "  Lord 
Lovel"),  "  The  Cork  Leg,"  "  Billy  Barlow,"  "  Three 
Jolly  Welshmen,"  "  I  fell  in  love  with  a  cook." 
Most  of  these,  sentimental,  patriotic,  and  comic,  were 
contained  in  some  of  the  collections  called  "  Western 
Songster"  or  "  Columbian  Minstrel,"  or  something 
of  that  kind.  They  are  pretty  much  all  forgotten 
now,  except  by  an  occasional  relic  of  old  times  who 
retains  them  as  indications  of  what  old  times  were. 
People  of  education  and  cultivated  tastes  sang  better 
songs,  of  course,  but  those  cited  were  the  favorites, 
or  of  the  class  of  favorites  of  the  great  mass  of  town 
and  country  people. 

During  this  period  of  comparatively  primitive  con- 
ditions of  life  there  was  a  steady  increase  of  both  edu- 
cational facilities  and  of  the  disposition  to  use  them. 
The  schools  were  all  private,  however,  taught  for  two 
to  four  dollars  a  quarter  per  pupil,  sometimes  in  pri- 
vate houses,  sometimes  in  churches,  and  sometimes 
in  buildings  erected  or  altered  purposely  for  them. 
The  elementary  course  of  instruction  was  much  the 
same  as  in  all  schools  of  that  time,  and  not  greatly 
different  from  what  it  is  now, — "  Kirkham's  Gram- 
mar," "  Olney's  Geography,"  "  Pike's  Arithmetic," 
"  English  Reader"  or  "  School  Companion,"  "  Day's 
Algebra."  The  "  Anthon  Classics"  and  "  Davies' 
Mathematics"  came  later.  "  Webster's  Spelling- 
Book"  was  first  seen  here  about  1833,  shortly  pre- 
ceding the  other  illumination  from  the  great  star 
shower  in  November.  It  was  blue  bound,  and 
actually  "  in  boards."  The  sides  were  made  of  thin 
veneers  of  sugar  or  beech  apparently,  pasted  over 
with  blue  paper,  and  the  usual  calamity  of  the  text- 
book was  a  back  split  and  more  or  less  of  it  torn  off. 
The  blackboard  was  not  generally  used,  except  in  the 
town.  Classic  studies  were  rather  unusual  till  the 
second  decade  of  the  settlement  was  well  advanced. 
Music  was  taught  to  the  boys  in  the  "  Old  Seminary" 
by  Rev.  James  S.  Kemper  and  his  brother,  and  in 
the  female  seminaries  of  course.     With  the  County 


Seminary  and  the  rival  schools  that  followed  it,  and 
the  female  schools  of  higher  pretensions  than  the 
mixed  schools  that  had  preceded  them,  which  also 
came  in  the  track  of  the  Old  Seminary,  came  a  more 
extended  course  of  study.  In  not  a  few  cases  it  cov- 
ered as  thorough  a  reading  of  the  usual  classic  authors 
as  any  Western  college,  and  the  mathematical  course 
ran  the  whole  length  of  the  science,  from  algebra  and 
Euclid  to  the  "  Differential  Calculus"  and  "  McLau- 
rin's  Theorem."  So  far  in  advance  of  the  general 
mathematical  instruction  of  the  period  was  the  course 
pursued  in  the  "  Old  Seminary"  that  Mr.  Kemper's 
class  in  "analytical  geometry"  had  to  copy  his  manu- 
script treatise  on  "  Conic  Sections,"  prepared  by  the 
late  celebrated  astronomer.  Professor  Mitchell,  but 
never  published,  and  study  that.  A  fanciful  but  by 
no  means  idle  variation  of  the  usual  school  course 
was  introduced  here  about  1843  or  1844  by  an  itin- 
erant teacher,  who  made  a  specialty  of  geography, 
and  taught  it  by  the  "  singing"  method.  A  large 
map  of  one  of  the  continents  was  set  where  all  could 
see  it,  and  the  teacher  with  a  long  stick  would  point 
to  one  object  and  another,  and  call  its  name  in  a  sort 
of  sing-song  or  "  intoning"  fashion,  and  the  pupils 
would  repeat  it  after  him.  He  would  take  the  bays 
along  the  ocean  coast,  for  instance,  beginning  with 
the  most  northerly,  and  call  them  over  in  this  sing- 
ing way  in  exact  succession,  going  back  to  the  first 
after  each  addition,  thus  keeping  the  whole  series 
constantly  in  mind,  and  repeating  it  till  it  became 
fixed  and  indelible.  Location  was,  in  a  general  way, 
conveyed  in  the  order  of  names,  and  the  teacher's 
stick  helped  its  deflniteness  by  indicating  it  on  the 
map  as  the  name  was  sung.  In  the  same  way  the 
capes,  lakes,  rivers,  capitals,  principal  cities,  and 
other  important  geographical  features  were  taught 
more  rapidly  and  effectively  than  by  the  humdrum 
method  of  ordinary  schools.  The  lessons  drew  large 
audiences  to  the  Methodist  Church,  where  they  were 
given.  Lessons  in  penmanship  were  given  by  the 
usual  infallible  methods  in  from  six  to  a  dozen  lessons 
by  wandering  teachers ;  so  was  music,  and  occasion- 
ally modern  languages.  French  was  always  taught  in 
the  female  seminaries,  and  was  also  taught  in  the 
"  Old  Seminary"  by  Mr.  Kemper,  and  in  "  Franklin 


GENERAL  DESCRIPTION   OF  PIONEER  LIFE. 


85 


Institute"  by  Mr.  Marston,  but  German  was  never 
taught  at  all,  or  only  in  a  very  few  unsuspected  cases, 
till  about  1848,  when  Professor  Samuel  K.  Hoshour, 
afterwards  president  of  Butler  University,  and  one 
of  the  most  noted  teachers  of  Eastern  Indiana,  formed 
a  German  class  here,  and  Mr.  Paul  Geiser,  a  young 
German  of  good  abilities  and  attainments,  then  editing 
the  Volksblatt,  the  first  German  paper  here,  taught  a 
private  class  for  a  short  time. 

The  games  of  the  pupils  were  much  the  same  as 
now, — tops,  marbles,  hop-scotch,  ball,  prisoner's  base, 
shinny.  The  games  requiring  room  were  more  com- 
mon then,  because  adequate  room  cannot  be  had 
now,  and  it  was  all  around  most  school-houses  forty 
or  more  years  ago.  Several  forms  of  ball  games  were 
practiced, — "  cat,"  with  one  or  two  bases,  "  town  ball," 
very  similar  to  base  ball,  ''bull-pen,"  "ante  and  over," 
"  hand  up,"  the  last  three  rarely  seen  or  heard  of 
since  the  town  began  filling  up.  In  "bull-pen"  four 
corners  were  occupied  by  four  players,  who  threw 
the  ball  from  one  to  the  other  till  one  saw  a  chance 
to  hit  one  of  the  players  in  the  square,  called  the 
"  pen,"  who  ran  constantly  from  one  part  to  another, 
to  keep  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  ball.  If 
he  missed  he  was  out.  If  he  hit,  the  boy  who  was 
hit  or  any  one  in  the  "pen"  who  got  the  ball 
first  threw  it  at  any  one  of  the  corner  players  who 
was  handiest,  and  if  he  was  hit  he  was  out ;  if  he 
was  not,  the  other  was  out.  In  "  hand  up"  the  ball 
was  knocked  against  a  wall  with  the  bare  hand,  usually 
at  the  "bounce."  In  "ante  and  over,"  or  "  antuy 
over,"  the  players  stood  in  two  groups,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  school-house.  The  one  with  the  ball 
threw  it  over  the  house,  calling  out  "  ante  and  over." 
If  the  other  side  caught  it  they  ran  round  the  house 
to  hit  some  of  the  players  of  the  throwing  side. 
Shinny,  though,  was  the  king  game  of  the  school-boy 
of  the  latter  part  of  this  period.  It  was  played  with 
a  stout  club  curved  at  the  bottom. — young  sugars 
were  usually  taken,  as  their  roots  ran  close  along 
the  surface  of  the  ground, — and  frequently  charred 
to  make  them  hard  and  prevent  them  from  splinter- 
ing in  their  violent  collisions  with  stones  and  gravelly 
surfaces.  A  ball,  usually  of  wood,  a  couple  of  inches 
in  diameter,  was  the  other  implement  of  the  game. 


The  players  were  arrayed  in  lines  facing  each  other, 
their  respective  goals  or  "  homes"  being  the  limits  of 
the  play-ground.  The  game  was  for  one  side  or  the 
other  to  carry  the  ball  "  home"  against  the  resistance 
of  the  other  side  trying  to  carry  it  to  their  "  home." 
Two  players  in  the  middle  began  the  game  by  one 
taking  the  ball  and  calling  to  the  other,  "  high  buck 
or  low  doe,"  and  throwing  the  ball  in  the  air  or  on 
the  ground  according  to  the  answer.  The  struggles 
were  violent  always,  and  the  misdirected  blows  some- 
times serious ;  scalps  were  laid  open,  legs  lamed,  eyes 
blacked,  fingers  and  noses  broken,  shins  skinned  or 
bruised.  A  hard  shinny  player  was  rarely  without  a 
sore  or  limp  or  sprain  somewhere.  Though  abandoned 
long  ago  by  the  school-boys  of  the  later  generation, 
partly  from  its  violence  and  partly  from  the  lack  of 
convenient  room,  shinny  is  still  revived  at  the  annual 
reunions  of  the  "  Old  Seminary  Boys,"  who,  if  they 
did  not  intend  it,  made  it  the  ruling  game  of  the 
time  forty  odd  years  ago.  And  the  bald-headed 
grandfathers  who  play  it  now — the  judges,  gen- 
erals, preachers,  editors,  doctors,  legislators — some- 
times exhibit  a  good  deal  of  the  skill  they  learned 
before  the  "  hard  cider"  campaign  of  1840.  The 
history  and  condition  of  the  schools  will  be  treated 
in  a  special  division  of  the  work.  The  purpose  here 
is  merely  to  notice  such  incidental  subjects  connected 
with  the  schools  and  pupils  of  early  times  as  will 
give  the  reader  some  idea  of  them  beyond  their 
studies,  and  that  could  not  be  so  readily  introduced 
into  the  body  of  a  work  dealing  with  public  afiairs. 

The  reference  to  the  occupations  and  diversions  of 
the  school-boy  of  the  first  generation  would  be  incom- 
plete if  it  omitted  an  account  of  one  almost  universal 
duty  and  one  entirely  universal  diversion.  Driving 
cows  to  pasture  and  home  was  the  duty,  and  swimming 
was  the  amusement.  A  large  portion  of  the  donation 
outside  the  old  plat  of  the  town  was  used  as  farm- 
land and  pastures,  with  no  small  share  of  the  vacant 
squares  inside  the  town  limits.  For  a  trifle  a  cow- 
owner,  and  that  was  pretty  much  everybody  that  had 
a  house  and  family,  could  rent  one  of  these  pastures, 
keep  a  cow  from  straying,  keep  her  well  fed,  and  have 
her  handy  whenever  she  was  wanted.  A  boy  any- 
where from  six  to  sixteen  could  drive  her  out  in  the 


86 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


moroing  after  milking  and  back  in  the  evening  after 
school.  It  was  something  for  idle  hands  to  do.  Cow- 
driving  was  a  part  of  every  Indianapolis  boy's  disci- 
pline in  early  times.  Of  course  he  got  fun  out  of  it 
as  well  in  gathering  nuts,  chasing  ground-squirrels, 
or  taking  surreptitious  swims.  The  chief  "  swimming- 
holes"  in  the  creek  were  Noble's  and  Morris',  the 
former  on  the  property  of  Governor  Noble,  near  Market 
Street  and  the  creek,  the  latter  just  south  of  the  house 
of  Morris  Morris  on  South  Meridian  Street.  The  spot 
is  now  covered  by  the  south  side  of  the  Union  Depot. 
In  the  river  the  larger  boys  made  their  favorite  resort 
at  the  "snag,"  near  the  site  of  Kingan's  upper  pork- 
house.  The  "  tumbles"  of  the  canal,  or  rather  of  the 
"race"  from  it  into  the  river,  one  in  the  Military 
Ground  at  the  north  end  of  the  basin,  the  other  at  the 
river,  where  it  still  remains  close  to  the  water-works, 
were  also  favorite  bathing-places.  It  is  among  the 
amusing  traditions  of  the  adventures  of  the  boys  in 
their  indulgence  of  this  diversion  that  one  Sunday, 
instead  of  decorously  betaking  themselves  to  Sunday- 
school,  a  dozen  or  so  slipped  off  to  Morris'  hole.  James 
Blake  found  it  out,  and  mounted  his  horse,  called  his 
colored  man  to  follow  him,  and  went  down  to  the 
"  old  swimming-hole."  The  darkey  captured  the 
clothes  unperceived,  and  gave  them  up  suit  at  a  time 
as  his  master  directed  till  all  were  dressed.  Then  the 
old  superintendent  started  the  darkey  ahead,  kept  the 
frightened  boys  close  together  following,  and  brought 
up  the  rear  himself  to  prevent  escapes.  Thus  the 
delinquent  procession  marched  up  to  the  old  Presby- 
terian Church,  on  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  and 
the  "  hookey  players"  were  forced  to  do  proper  Sun- 
day duty.  It  was  said  that  the  stern  old  Puritan 
even  ventured  to  give  some  of  them  an  occasional 
clip  with  his  whip  as  a  reminder  of  their  double  sin 
of  running  away  from  school  and  enjoying  themselves 
on  Sunday. 

James  Blake  was  the  son  of  James  Blake  who 
came  from  Ireland  in  1774,  and  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety-nine  years,  being  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
York  County,  Pa.,  where  his  son  was  born  March  3, 
1791.  He  when  a  youth  enlisted  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  marched  to  Baltimore  when  that  city  was  threat- 
ened by  the  British  forces,  serving  in  the  army  until 


the  declaration  of  peace  in  181.5.  He  then  resumed  his 
trade  of  a  wagoner,  and  drove  a  six-horse  team  between 
Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh.  In  November,  1818,  he 
started  on  horseback  for  the  West,  going  as  far  as  St. 
Louis,  and  returning  the  following  spring  to  complete 
arrangements  for  a  final  removal  thither.  On  the 
25th  of  July,  1821,  he  settled  at  Indianapolis,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death.  His  history  for  fifty  years 
was  the  history  of  Indianapolis,  and  no  citizen  has 
ever  been  more  closely  identified  with  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  city  and  its  philanthropic  and  benevo- 
lent institutions  than  he.  He,  with  Nicholas  McCarty 
and  James  M.  Ray,  nearly  fifty  years  ago  built  the 
first  steam-mill  in  Indianapolis,  and  thus  was  the  pio- 
neer in  the  manufacturing  which  is  now  so  vital  an 
element  in  the  city's  prosperity.  As  a  surveyor,  he 
assisted  in  laying  out  and  platting  the  city.  He  was 
selected  as  commissioner  to  receive  plans  and  proposals 
for  the  old  State-House.  He  was  the  first  to  urge 
upon  the  Legislature  the  importance  of  establishing  a 
hospital  for  the  insane,  and  opened  a  correspondence 
with  the  Eastern  States  on  the  subject.  To  him  was 
intrusted  the  duty  of  selecting  a  location  for  that  in- 
stitution. He  was  an  early  friend  and  member  of  the 
first  board  of  directors  of  the  Madison  and  Indianap- 
olis Railroad,  and  was  also  director  of  the  Lafayette 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad.  He  was  a  trustee  of 
Hanover  College,  Indiana,  and  of  the  Miami  Univer- 
sity, of  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  at  his  death  the  Indiana 
commissioner  for  the  erection  of  the  Gettysburg 
Monument.  For  thirty-five  years  he  was  president 
of  the  Indianapolis  Benevolent  Society,  and  present 
at  every  anniversary  with  two  exceptions.  In  1847 
he  was  the  most  liberal  contributor  to  the  relief  of 
starving  Ireland.  Mr.  Blake  was  a  prime  mover  in 
the  organization  of  the  Indiana  Branch  of  the  Amer- 
ican Colonization  Society.  He  was  the  founder  of 
the  Indianapolis  Rolling-Mill,  and  embarked  a  large 
part  of  his  fortune  in  that  undertaking,  having  also 
started  the  first  wholesale  dry-goods  house.  On  all  pub- 
lic occasions  Mr.  Blake  was  looked  to  as  the  leader  and 
manager  of  aff'airs.  When  the  people  of  Indianapolis 
assembled  to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  a  deceased 
President,  Governor,  or  other  great  man,  Mr.  Blake 
was    selected    to    conduct    and    manage    the    matter. 


V/^/^^ 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION  OF   PIONEER  LIFE. 


87 


When  Kossuth,  the  distinguished  HuDgarian,  visited 
iDdiana,  when  the  soldiers  returned  from  the  Mexican 
war,  when  the  farmers  came  in  with  a  procession  of 
wagons  filled  with  food  and  supplies  for  soldiers'  fami- 
lies, when  the  Indiana  soldiers  came  home  from  the 
South,  Mr.  Blake  was  the  marshal  of  the  day,  and  no 
public  pageant  seemed  complete  without  him.  His 
whole  life  was  crowned  with  useful  labors.  There 
was,  in  fact,  no  enterprise  or  movement  appealing  to 
public  spirit  in  which  Mr.  Blake  was  not  conspicuous, 
constant,  and  efficient.  He  was  among  the  first  to 
organize  a  Sunday-school  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis, 
and  was  ever  foremost  in  this  Christian  work.  For 
thirty  years  his  majestic  form  headed  the  long  and 
beautiful  array  of  Sunday-school  children  in  their 
Fourth  of  July  celebration.  In  the  temperance 
movement  as  in  other  matters  he  was  a  leader,  and 
his  adhesion  to  the  Democracy  was  first  broken  by 
its  conflict  with  his  former  adhesion  to  the  cause  of 
temperance.  He  was  the  patriarch  of  his  church, 
admired  and  revered  by  all.  In  every  relation  of 
life — as  head  of  a  family,  leader  of  society,  chief  of 
his  church,  or  manager  of  business  enterprises — he 
was  always  foremost,  always  honored,  equally  for  his 
power  and  his  disinterestedness.  If  Mr.  Blake  had 
pursued  his  own  advantage  with  half  the  zeal  he  de- 
voted to  the  service  of  others  and  the  good  of  the 
city,  he  might  easily  have  counted  his  wealth  by  mil- 
lions. His  ambition  to  become  a  useful  citizen  and  a 
public  benefactor  outweighed  all  other  considerations. 
He  was  not  politically  ambitious,  and  never  held 
public  office  other  than  that  of  county  commissioner. 
His  desire  for  power  never  seemed  to  extend  beyond 
the  command  of  a  Sunday-school  procession  or  the 
presidency  of  a  charitable  meeting.  The  city  of 
Indianapolis  lost  in  him  a  man  of  intrinsic  worth  and 
a  useful  citizen,  and  the  community  a  kind  and  sym- 
pathizing friend.  Mr.  Blake  was  married  in  March, 
1831,  to  Miss  Eliza  Sproule,  of  Baltimore,  to  whom 
were  born  four  children, — William  McConnell,  James 
Ray,  Walter  Alexander  (deceased),  and  John  Gurley. 
The  death  of  James  Blake  occurred  Nov.  26,  1870. 

A  prominent  figure  in  the  memories  of  most  school- 
boys of  that  day  is  Henry  Hoagland,  the  idiot  son  of 
a  bricklayer  of  high  respectability  and  good  sense. 


Henry  was  a  mere  animal,  with  no  human  sense  and 
hardly  any  human  expression.  He  wandered  harm- 
lessly everywhere,  bareheaded  and  barefooted,  because 
he  preferred  to  be,  carefully  avoided  by  very  small 
children  and  carefully  followed  and  incessantly  tor- 
mented by  larger  ones,  who  wanted  to  hear  his  queer 
muddled  oaths  and  gabble.  Sometimes  he  was  dan- 
gerous when  worried  by  his  nimble  persecutors  too 
far,  and  he  frequently  frightened  women  in  his  furious 
moods  and  sometimes  hurt  the  boys  he  caught.  He 
was  kept  at  the  "  County  Asylum"  or  "  Poor-House" 
for  many  years  after  it  was  put  in  condition  for  the 
care  of  such  inmates,  but  he  frequently  got  away  and 
wandered  into  town.  Another  of  later  arrival  and 
pleasanter  character  was  John  D.  Hopkins,  who  ap- 
peared here  first  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  decade 
of  the  settlement,  bareheaded  and  barefooted,  with  a 
Bible  or  hymn-book  in  his  hand,  and  walking  at  a 
brisk  pace  with  a  peculiar  stifi"-kneed  step  along  the 
streets  talking  to  himself.  At  times  he  would  mount 
a  horse-block  or  a  goods-box,  sing  a  hymn  of  his  own 
making,  and  preach  a  wild,  rambling  sermon.  Very 
early  among  his  visits  here  he  brought  with  him  a 
number  of  sheet-copies  of  a  song  he  called  the  "  Good 
Gathering,"  sung  to  an  old  camp-meeting  tune.  These 
he  sold,  and  he  supported  himself  on  such  little  gratui- 
ties as  the  crowd  that  stopped  to  hear  him  sing  or  to 
joke  with  him  would  give  him.  The  song  may  be 
judged  by  one  couplet, — 

'*Good  gathering  is  sailing  around,  round,  and  rounds 
Amidst  many  waters  and  hath  no  bounds; 
Come  join  the  good  gathering  army," 

the  last  a  refrain  to  every  couplet.  During  the  po- 
litical campaigns  he  changed  from  a  preacher  to  a 
stumper,  and  made  speeches  at  five  cents  apiece  on 
any  side  the  purchaser  wished.  He  was  said  to  have 
entered  the  army  during  the  civil  war,  and  died  there. 
At  all  events  he  has  not  been  seen  here  since,  and  had 
not  but  rarely  for  some  time  before.  He  was  believed 
very  generally  to  be  careful  of  his  money,  and  to  have 
bought  a  good  farm  with  it.  At  least  he  was  sober, 
healthy,  unusually  robust,  and  when  he  chose  to  work 
few  could  equal  him.  His  wanderings  appear  to  have 
been  the  efi'ect  of  a  sort  of  periodic  mental  disturb- 
ance.    Another  well-known  character  of  this  period 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


was  "  Old  Charley,"  a  withered,  weak-minded  old 
colored  man,  who  was  the  first  auction  bell-ringer  here. 
There  was  nothing  about  him  to  make  him  noted  but 
the  fact  that  everybody  saw  him  oftener  than  anybody 
else  who  was  not  in  the  family.  His  bent  form,  his 
old  plug  hat  with  an  auction-bill  tied  in  front,  his 
noisy  bell,  traveling  up  and  down  Washington  Street, 
were  as  familiar  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  as 
the  court-house  steeple.  Dr.  Cool,  in  his  later  years, 
became  a  sort  of  public  character  in  consequence  of 
his  constant  drunkenness.  He  came  here  in  1821, 
an  experienced  and  reputable  physician,  but  bad 
habits  got  the  mastery  of  him,  and  in  his  last  years 
he  was  little  better  than  a  vagrant. 

Joe  Lawson,  known  to  both  the  early  and  later 
generation  for  his  vagrancy,  oddity,  "  dirt,"  and  oc- 
casional gleams  of  wit  and  sense,  figured  contempo- 
raneously in  part  with  Hopkins  and  Old  Charley,  but 
not  so  conspicuously  as  later.  He  was  the  brother  of 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Soule,  one  of  the  earliest  resident 
dentists,  and  son  of  Bishop  Soule,  of  Tennessee. 
It  was  said  Joe  was  always  dirty,  harmless,  and  good- 
humored,  too  much  crippled  to  work,  and  too  much 
indisposed  if  he  had  not  been  incapacitated.  He 
usually  lived  on  the  "  crumbs"  of  hotel  tables,  and 
wore  any  clothes  that  anybody  gave  him.  No  human 
being  in  forty  years  or  more  has  seen  him  clean  and 
decently  dressed.  He  used  to  make  great  fun  for  the 
boys  and  for  members  of  the  Legislature  by  singing 
sentimental  songs  and  reciting  Shakespeare.  He 
lived  at  the  County  Asylum  a  long  time,  and  was 
then  brought  to  the  city,  given  a  little  shanty  in 
Blake's  woods,  and  supported  by  contributions  of  old 
residents.  The  last  of  the  Indianapolis  characters 
was  the  late  John  Givan.  He  and  his  brother  James 
came  here  in  1820,  in  the  fall  or  winter,  opened  one 
of  the  earliest  stores  here,  and  were  botli  among  the 
most  prominent  and  active  citizens.  John  was  one 
of  the  half-dozen  or  more  candidates  for  recorder  at 
the  first  county  election  in  April,  1822.  After  the 
death  of  his  brother  his  business  declined,  and  he  be- 
came a  sort  of  "  old  junk"  dealer  near  the  court- 
house. Then  he  quit  all  pretence  of  merchandising 
and  lived  a  loose,  half-vagrant  life,  supporting  him- 
self mainly  by  little  services  for  men  occupying  rooms 


in  connection  with  their  offices,  and  by  serving  as 
nurse  to  sick  men  who  had  no  families  or  home. 
The  last  four  or  five  years  were  smoothed  for  him  by 
a  provision  made  up  by  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
other  business  men,  of  which  a  committee  used  to 
clothe,  house,  and  feed  him  comfortably.  It  was  a 
tribute  to  the  remains  of  the  oldest  merchant  in  the 
city  and  the  remains  of  a  once  honorable  and  esti- 
mable man.  Liquor  ruined  him,  but  to  the  last  his 
memory  was  amazingly  tenacious  of  dates  and  little 
events  of  the  early  history  of  Indianapolis,  and  he 
was  always  more  than  ready  to  tell  them  to  anybody. 
He  died  three  or  four  years  ago. 

Among  the  early  settlers  were  a  good  many  from 
the  slave  States  of  the  class  since  widely  known  as 
"  poor  whites,"  who  brought  here  all  the  silly  super- 
stitions they  had  learned  among  the  slaves  at  home. 
A  belief  in  witchcraft  was  the  most  conspicuous  of 
these,  with  a  score  of  omens  and  portents  and  pro- 
phetic dreams.  Some  of  this  class  used  to  talk  of  a 
widow  by  the  name  of  Myers,  whose  husband  had  a 
pottery  where  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  is,  as  a 
witch  and  liaving  bewitched  the  cows  of  several  of 
the  neighbors  whom  she  had  a  grudge  against.  The 
persecuted  cattle  either  gave  no  milk  or  gave  bloody 
milk,  or  the  milk  would  not  churn  to  any  purpose, — 
"  the  butter  would  not  come,"  as  they  called  it, — and 
the  calves  died,  or  the  cows  had  "  hollow  horn"  or 
the  "  tail-worm,"  all  the  efiect  of  witchcraft.  No  one 
of  the  set  seemed  to  think  it  possible  the  ailments 
were  the  effect  of  natural  causes.  Some  sort  of 
remedy  was  applied,  partly  of  mild  incantation  and 
partly  of  suitable  medicine,  but  nobody  ever  learned 
the  composition  of  eitheT. 

In  one  case  the  victim  was  a  boy  of  a  family  by 
the  name  of  Catlin,  or  something  like  it,  living  on 
the  southeast  corner  of  Alabama  and  Washington 
Streets.  Who  tlie  victimizing  witch  was  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  known.  The  boy  was  ailing  and 
distressed,  and  witchcraft  was  finally  decided  to  be 
the  source  of  the  trouble,  and  Dr.  John  L.  Rich- 
mond, pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  as  well  as  prac- 
ticing physician,  was  applied  to  for  an  effective  exor- 
cism of  the  evil  spirit.  The  old  doctor  was  a  good 
deal  of  a  wag  as  well  as  a  shrewd,  hard-headed  man. 


GENERAL  DESCRIPTION   OF  PIONEER  LIFE. 


89 


aud  he  concluded  that  a  remedy  adapted  to  the  faith 
and  brains  of  the  family  would  be  the  best  he  could 
use,  so  he  arranged  with  one  of  his  students,  Mr. 
Barrett,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Bolton,  the  Hoosier  poet- 
ess, to  play  the  defeated  and  exorcised  witch  when 
the  proper  ceremonies  had  been  completed.  He  com- 
pounded in  the  presence  of  the  awe-struck  family  a 
charm  of  magic  power  in  the  shape  of  a  ball  of  cat's 
hair,  hog's  lard,  and  a  lot  of  other  Macbeth  remedies, 
and  after  a  proper  incantation,  with  many  flourishes 
and  ceremonies,  threw  the  ball  into  the  fire.  The  lard 
blazed  up  at  once,  and  as  it  burned  out  the  lights 
were  put  out,  till  at  last  all  was  dark,  and  then  Bar- 
rett, the  witch,  ran  through  the  house  sprinkling 
beef  blood  as  he  went,  to  indicate  that  the  witch's 
blood  had  been  spilt  and  her  power  was  at  an  end. 
The  victim  was  cured  at  once,  but  was  attacked  again 
in  a  week  or  two  and  another  ceremony  applied. 
What  the  outcome  was  the  legend  does  not  relate. 
The  incident  is  worth  preserving  to  show  that  the 
negroes  of  the  South  who  believe  in  voodoo  and 
fetish  are  not  so  much  more  ignorant  than  some  of 
the  white  ancestors  of  the  city  as  we  should  like  to 
believe. 

Among  the  fancies  of  this  past  generation  was  one 
that  if  a  boy  killed  a  toad  his  father's  cow  would 
give  bloody  milk  ;  if  a  man  met  a  funeral  procession, 
and  did  not  turn  back  and  accompany  it,  the  next 
procession  would  be  his  own ;  if  a  knife  was  dropped 
from  the  table  a  visitor  was  coming ;  if  the  nose 
itched  a  visitor  was  likely  to  come ;  if  a  dog  howled 
long  at  night  a  death  was  soon  going  to  occur  in  the 
house ;  if  a  cat  rubbed  its  face  frequently  the  weather 
was  going  to  be  dry  ;  if  one  pared  his  nails  on  Sun- 
day he'd  be  made  ashamed  of  something  before  the 
end  of  the  week ;  if  he  killed  a  snake  and  left  it 
lying  belly  upward  there  would  be  rain  before  night ; 
the  first  note  of  a  dove  in  the  spring  would  be  heard 
in  the  direction  in  which  the  hearer  would  travel 
farthest  that  year ;  a  new  moon  lying  flat  on  its 
back  portends  a  dry  moon,  because  the  water  cannot 
get  out  of  the  hollow  of  the  crescent,  but  if  it  is 
sloping  or  vertical  the  omen  is  of  a  wet  month,  be- 
cause the  hollow  can  be  emptied, — this  is  an  Indian 
fancy ;  water  in  which  a  gold  coin  has  lain  for  some 


hours  is  a  remedy  for  scrofula ;  abundance  of  dog- 
fennel  indicates  a  sickly  season  ;  dreams  were  accepted 
as  •'  signs,''  and  "  dream  books"  were  no  unusual 
accompaniment  of  combs  and  brushes  on  a  woman's 
toilet  table. 

The  Hoosier  dialect  has  been  frequently  attempted 
by  authors  of  more  or  less  pretension,  but  with  no 
great  success.  "The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster,"  though 
written  professedly  as  a  picture  of  Hoosier  life  and 
language,  misses  the  latter  sometimes  as  badly  as  an 
Englishman  misses  the  Yankee  dialect.  Our  young 
poet,  James  W.  Riley,  strikes  it  more  fairly  than 
any  other  delineator,  but  some  of  its  peculiarities, 
or  those  of  the  people  using  it,  which  gave  it  a  tone 
and  a  turn  of  humor  similar  to  that  noticed  in  the 
Lowland  dialect  of  the  Scotch,  had  measurably  dis- 
appeared before  Mr.  Riley  was  old  enough  to  catch 
it  in  its  full-grown  raciness  and  quaintness.  If  he 
were  twenty  years  older,  we  might  expect  from  him 
as  perfect  a  picture  of  Hoosier  backwoods  life  as  we 
have  of  the  South  in  "  Georgia  Scenes"  and  "  Simon 
Suggs,"  or  of  Yankee  land  in  the  "  Bigelow  Papers." 
The  prevailing  dialect  of  Indiana  was  that  of  the 
South.  The  bulk  of  the  first  settlers  were  from 
Kentucky  or  Tennessee  or  the  Carolinas  through 
the  older  portions  of  this  State,  or  of  Ohio  some- 
times, sometimes  by  direct  immigration.  The  East- 
ern immigration  was  mostly  modified  into  a  Western 
tone  by  a  preceding  residence  in  some  part  of  the 
West.  Thus  little  of  the  Yankee  got  here  in  so 
decided  a  form  as  to  stay  or  afi'ect  the  conditions 
around  it.  Correct  pronunciation  was  positively 
regarded  by  the  Southern  immigration  as  a  mark  of 
aristocracy  or,  as  they  called  it,  "  quality,"  and  the 
children  in  some  cases  discountenanced  in  acquiring 
or  using  it.  The  "  ing"  in  "  evening"  or  "  morning" 
or  any  other  words  was  softened  into  "  in',"  the  full 
sound  being  held  finical  and  "  stuck  up."  So  it  was 
no  unusual  thing  to  hear  such  a  comical  string  of 
emasculated  "  nasals"  as  the  question  of  a  promi- 
nent Indiana  lawyer  of  the  Kentucky  "  persuasion," 
"  Where  were  you  a  standin'  at  the  time  of  your 
perceivin'  of  the  hearin'  of  the  firin'  of  the  pistol  ?" 
Other  mispronunciations  went  to  the  Hoosier  shibbo- 
leth, as  tenaciously  maintained    as   this.     To   "  set" 


90 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MAKION  COUNTY. 


■was  the  right  way  to  "  sit" ;  an  Indian  did  not 
"  scalp,"  he  "  skelped"  ;  a  murderer  did  not  "  stab," 
he  "  stabbed"  ;  a  child  did  not  "  long"  for  a  thing,  he 
"  honed"  for  it, — slang  retains  this  Hoosier  archaism  ; 
a  woman  was  not  "  dull,"  she  was  "  daunsy"  ;  com- 
monly a  gun  was  "shot"  instead  of ''fired"  in  all  moods 
and  tenses.  Indianapolis  usually  lost  the  first  three 
syllables  and  became  "  Nopolis."  It  took  the  life- 
time of  a  generation  to  teach  the  country  settler  to 
twist  the  "  dia"  of  Indianapolis  into  the  Yankee 
"  j"  and  make  "  Injenapolis"  of  it.  Most  of  them 
do  not  do  it  fully  yet,  and  probably  never  will.  One 
good  feature  of  the  backwoods  dialect  was  that  it 
had  no  euphemisms.  There  were  no  delicate  names 
for  dirty  things.  If  a  woman's  virtue  was  smirched 
she  was  not  a  "  courtesan,"  or  even  a  "  prostitute," 
the  name  was  hard  Saxon.  A  drunken  man  was  not 
"  intoxicated,"  or  "  tight,"  or  "  full,"  or  "  slewed," 
or  "  screwed,"  he  was  plain  drunk.  It  was  an 
honest  dialect. 

The  race  prejudices  of  the  South  were  imported 
with  its  dialect  into  the  New  Purchase  in  full  vigor. 
The  colored  man  counted  for  little  and  claimed  noth- 
ing. The  inborn  tribal  animosity  of  the  time  occa- 
sionally broke  out  in  riots,  the  only  serious  disturb- 
ances of  the  peace  ever  known  here  till  the  outbreak 
of  the  civil  war.  Probably  the  first  exhibition  of  it 
was  the  meanest,  though  the  least  violent.  Cader 
Carter,  a  quadroon,  with  the  unmistakable  eyes  and 
heavy  features  of  his  colored  ancestors,  was  an  un- 
usually active  politician  of  the  Gen.  Jackson  school. 
He  lived  in  1836  or  thereabouts  with  Jesse  Wright, 
one  of  the  leading  Democrats  of  the  county  and  at 
one  time  one  of  the  County  Board.  When  Mr. 
Wright  was  a  candidate  he  was  warmly  opposed,  and 
Carter  made  himself  conspicuously  active  for  his  patron. 
The  opposing  party  resolved  to  put  Carter  out  of  the 
fight  and  the  election  by  drawing  his  colored  blood, 
so  to  speak,  and  they  proved  bis  African  contamina- 
tion beyond  the  legal  limit,  and  the  active  and  blatant 
politician  was  silenced.  The  Whigs  did  that.  When, 
as  heretofore  noticed,  the  public  works  in  this  State 
were  abandoned  in  1838-39,  a  large  body  of  idle  and 
worthless  men  were  left  here  to  live  as  they  could. 
They  soon  made  quarrels  with  the  few  colored  resi- 


dents here,  and  several  times  the)'  attempted  to  mob 
a  family  by  the  name  of  Overall,  living  on  what  was 
then  open  ground  a  little  east  of  the  Military  Ground, 
between  Market  and  Ohio  Streets.  The  negroes  de- 
fended themselves  with  fire-arms,  and  the  mob  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  nothing  more  than  making  an  alarm 
a  few  times.  Not  long  after  the  completion  of  the 
first  Episcopalian  Church  in  1838,  a  young  lady  was 
brought  here  from  the  East  to  play  the  organ.  With 
her  came  her  sister,  who  married  a  colored  man  within 
a  few  months  after  her  arrival.  The  aflfair  got  wind 
in  some  way,  and  a  mob  of  unruly  men  and  half- 
grown  boys,  led  by  Josiah  Simcox,  surrounded  the 
house  containing  the  bridal  party  and  captured  the 
groom.  The  bride  was  not  badly  used,  but  the  col- 
ored offender  was  ridden  on  a  rail  (it  is  not  believed 
that  he  was  tarred  and  feathered  to  any  distressing 
extent)  and  warned  to  leave,  which  he  and  his  wife 
did  at  once.  In  18-15,  some  years  beyond  the  limit 
of  the  period  to  which  this  sketch  of  the  social  and 
moral  condition  of  the  city  and  adjacent  country  re- 
lates, but  logically  connected  with  the  subject  of  race 
prejudices,  a  negro  by  the  name  of  John  Tucker  was 
murdered  by  a  mob,  near  the  corner  of  Illinois  and 
Washington  Streets,  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  As 
usually  happens  in  such  cases,  the  least  guilty  of  the 
offenders  was  caught  and  punished,  the  worst  escaped 
and  never  returned.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  the 
leader  of  the  mob  in  the  miscegenation  case  never 
dared  to  return  to  the  town  openly,  though  he  did 
secretly  at  times.  The  only  other  disturbance  of  the 
public  peace  that  originated  in  race  prejudice  oc- 
curred at  the  election  in  1875.  One  negro  was 
killed  and  one  or  two  others  hurt.  The  police  were 
mixed  in  it,  and  it  was  at  least  as  much  a  political 
as  tribal  difficulty.  The  colored  citizens  of  Indianap- 
olis have  been  in  the  main  as  orderly,  respectable,  and 
industrious  as  any  class  of  the  population. 

If  the  Southern  immigrant  brought  his  dialect  and 
race  prejudices,  the  Eastern  immigrant  brought  his 
bigotry  in  no  less  fullness  of  fragrance,  and  made  the 
whole  social  structure  redolent  of  it.  Maj.  Carter's 
antipathy  to  the  fiddle,  as  related  in  Mr.  Nowland's 
anecdote,  was  but  a  slight  exaggeration  of  the  feeling 
1  of  a  large  element  of  the  community.     Social   pleas- 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION    OF    PIONEER   LIFE. 


91 


ures,  pleasant  games,  dances  were  discountenanced 
as  downright  immoral  or  tending  in  that  direction. 
It  is  only  within  the  last  two  decades  that  dances  at 
private  houses  have  been  conceded  a  reputable  char- 
acter not  inconsistent  with  religious  duty.  Many  a 
gay  young  soul  has  been  '•  hauled  over  the  coals"  by 
elders  and  pastors  for  dancing,  and  it  is  barely  twenty- 
five  years  since  the  Widows'  and  Orphans'  Society 
squarely  refused  a  benefit  tendered  it  by  Mr.  Sher- 
lock, of  the  old  Metropolitan  Theatre,  soon  after  its 
opening,  in  the  fall  of  1858.  The  society  needed 
money  badly,  and  had  been  begging  for  contributions. 
The  benefit  would  have  given  it  full  five  hundred 
dollars.  But  the  Puritanical  exacerbations  that  came 
in  the  early  settlement  of  the  place  condemned  the 
theatre  as  immoral,  and  would  have  none  of  its  avails. 
The  male  advisers  of  the  female  directors  so  decided, 
and  so  it  was  done.  It  did  not  occur  to  them  that 
Christ  never  asked  the  young  man  to  whom  he  said, 
"  Go  sell  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor," 
whether  his  father  had  made  his  money  by  selling 
rotten  olives  in  Tyre  or  charging  Pompey's  soldiers 
five  prices  for  wheat.  As  long  as  he  came  by  it 
fairly  and  could  use  it  for  good,  it  was  to  be  used  for 
good.  Ten  years  afterwards  this  same  society  sup- 
ported and  conducted  an  amateur  dramatic  exhibition 
of  regular  stage  comedies  to  raise  money  it  needed, 
showing  what  a  change  in  public  sentiment  had  been 
made  in  the  period  including  the  war  and  a  few  years 
of  peace  at  either  end  of  it.  Now  social  dances  are 
as  common  as  social  conversations.  Clubs  for  diver- 
sion or  instruction  are  to  be  counted  by  scores.  Dra- 
matic societies,  operatic  associations,  masquerades, 
fancy  dress  balls,  and  all  manner  of  forbidden  delights 
are  held  as  innocent  as  the  old-time  "  singing-school" 
and  "  quilting"  or  "  corn-shucking." 

Among  the  notable  exhibitions  of  religious  zeal  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  period  covered  by  this  sketch 
were  public  debates  on  points  of  sectarian  theology. 
Challenges  were  issued  by  denominational  "  sluggers" 
in  the  very  spirit  of  a  challenge  to  Hanlon  for  a 
rowing  match  or  to  SchaflFer  for  a  game  of  billiards, 
except  that  there  was  no  "stake"  and  no  "gate- 
money."  They  were  really  an  opportunity  for  a  little 
personal  parade,  and  that  was  no  doubt  the  frequent 


motive  of  them,  though  the  parties  persuaded  them- 
selves they  were  doing  the  Lord's  service  therein. 
Probably  nobody  was  ever  converted  by  such  discus- 
sions, except  from  a  moderate  into  a  bigoted  sectarian. 
The  old  denominations  were  not  forward  in  these 
demonstrations.  They  took  the  defensive  against  the 
attacks  of  recent  organizations  like  the  "  Disciples," 
as  they  were  then  called,  now  the  "  Christians,"  and 
by  nickname  always  "  Campbellites,"  and  the  Univer- 
salists.  It  was  as  common  to  see  challenges  from 
noted  debaters  of  those  denominations  in  their  de- 
nominational papers  as  it  is  to  see  boxing  or  rowing 
challenges  now  in  sporting  papers.  The  first  one  was 
held  in  the  early  part  of  1830,  beginning  January 
21st,  on  the  subject  of  "  Eternal  Punishment,"  be- 
tween Rev.  Edwin  Ray,  a  distinguished  pioneer  Meth- 
odist preacher,  and  Rev.  Jonathan  Kidwell,  a  Uni- 
versalist.  Probably  the  most  noted  of  these  debates 
occurred  in  1838,  between  Rev.  John  O'Kane,  a  dis- 
tinguished evangelist  of  the  "  Disciples,"  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Haines,  a  Baptist  at  Belleville,  Hendricks  Co. 
Several  have  been  held  in  the  city  the  last  ten  or  a 
dozen  years  ago  between  President  Burgess,  of  But- 
ler University,  and  ReV.  W.  W.  Curry,  the  one  a 
"  Christian,"  the  other  a  Universalist.  One  day  in 
1840,  while  the  excitement  of  the  "  log  cabin  and 
hard  cider"  campaign  was  at  its  height  and  had  filled 
"  Main  Street" — as  Washington  Street  was  then 
called — with  a  big  Whig  procession  and  the  attendant 
crowd,  Mr.  O'Kane  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  met 
on  the  corner  where  the  Palmer  House  (now  Occi- 
dental) was  in  course  of  erection,  and  good-humoredly 
discussed  polities  during  the  passing  of  the  procession, 
but  getting  upon  more  familiar  ground  when  it  had 
passed,  talked  of  religious  matters,  and  Mr.  O'Kane 
said,  "Suppose  we  have  a  debate  on  it."  "No," 
said  Mr.  Beecher,  laughing  ;  "  you'd  use  me  up,  and 
I  can't  afford  to  be  demolished  so  young."  It  is 
worth  noting  that  certain  preachers  of  that  early  day 
were  noted  revivalists,  as  Moody  and  Sankey  and  Mr. 
Harrison  are  now.  Edwin  Ray,  father  of  John  W. 
Ray,  of  this  city,  and  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Nowland, 
was  one  of  these;  John  Strange  was  another,  both 
Methodists.  John  L.  Jones,  a  Baptist,  and  later  a 
Christian,  and  James  McVey,  also  a  Christian,  were 


92 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


widely  known  for  their  persuasive  powers  or  "  exhor- 
tations." They  were  all  men  of  rare  native  eloquence, 
like  Wirt's  Blind  Preacher,  and  like  him  almost  un- 
known outside  of  the  denominations  that  cherished 
and  admired  them.  Lorenzo  Dow,  who  preached  here 
in  1827,  and  was  once  a  national  notoriety,  was  merely 
an  oddity  of  no  great  force  of  any  kind  except  in  his 
legs, — he  traveled  well. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  severity  of  religious 
opinion  held  by  the  professedly  religious  settlers  may 
have  reacted  upon  the  portion  less  rigidly  trained  and 
made  them,  externally  at  least,  more  indifferent  than 
they  would  have  been.  At  all  events,  among  a  con- 
siderable section  of  the  Southern  immigration  dis- 
paraging or  even  scandalous  jokes  on  preachers  and 
prominent  church  members  were  no  unusual  enter- 
tainment of  social  or  accidental  gatherings.  Some 
parodies  of  camp-meeting  songs  and  occasional  popu- 
lar phrases,  now  forgotten,  also  indicated  this  re- 
pellance  of  overstrained  discipline  and  harsh  judg- 
ment. The  nickname  of  Rev.  James  Havens,  "  Old 
Sorrel,"  came  in  this  way.  The  "  experience"  of 
"  Uncle  Jimmy  Hittleman,"  an  enthusiastic  but  illit- 
erate Methodist,  of  genuine  piety,  was  a  frequent 
theme  of  joke  and  coarse  parody.  A  favorite  revival 
song  was  made  to  read, — 

"  I  went  behind  a  stump  to  pray, 
Glory  hallelujah  ! 
The  devil  came  and  scared  me  away, 
Glory  hallelujah  ! 
Oh,  Zion  hallelujah  !" 

Popular  phrases  and  proverbial  sayings  were  some- 
times framed  from  this  sentiment  of  antagonism  to 
ironclad  religious  feeling.  One  man  was  said  to 
"  pray  his  congregation  to  hell  and  back."  A 
preacher  of  an  orthodox  sect  once  boasted  that  the 
members  of  his  church  could  be  found  "  all  the  way 
from  heaven  to  hell."  "  Yes,"  retorted  a  heterodox 
adherent  of  another  denomination,  "  and  the  nearer 
hell  the  thicker  you'll  find  them."  "  Grace  was  said 
when  the  hog  was  shot"  was  a  common  announce- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  a  dinner  to  put  aside  for- 
malities. 

Until  the  Washingtonian  temperance  movement 
reached  here,  along  in  1840  or  1841,  under  the  lead 


of  a  Mr.  Matthews,  the  use  of  liquor  was  hardly  less 
general  or  habitual  than  the  use  of  coffee.  Nowa- 
days the  exceptional  man  of  good  social  position  is 
the  man  who  drinks  publicly.  In  the  early  days 
under  consideration  the  exceptional  man  was  the 
man  that  would  not  drink  anywhere,  publicly  or 
privately,  though  excess  was  rarer  then  than  now. 
Liquor  at  social  gatherings  of  the  most  respectable 
settlers  was  quite  regular  and  in  good  taste,  if  the 
liquor  was  good.  It  was  not  esteemed  a  solecism  of 
even  clerical  conduct  for  a  minister  to  "  take  some- 
thing." Whiskey  with  tansy  was  considered  a  good 
general  prophylactic,  or,  as  Gen.  S.  F.  Gary  used  to 
say,  he  was  told  by  his  father  "  it  was  good  for 
worms"  in  children,  and  for  almost  anything  in 
adults.  Dogwood  bark  and  prickly  ash  made  a  good 
medicine  for  the  chills,  or  the  whiskey  they  were 
soaked  in.  Though  excess  was  not  common,  it  was 
not  considered  so  disreputable  as  now.  A  strictly 
temperance  beverage,  antedating  lemonade  and  "pop," 
though  very  like  the  latter,  was  "  spruce  beer."  It 
was  largely  consumed  with  the  "  gingerbread"  of  the 
period,  cut  in  fipenny-bit  squares  called  "  quarter 
sections."  This  luxury  was  so  great  a  favorite  as  to 
be  very  generally  called  "  Hoosier  bait."  Spruce 
beer  was  not  unfrequently  made  in  households  and 
consumed  by  the  family  like  milk  or  coffee,  youth- 
em  settlers,  accustomed  to  "  persimmon  beer,"  were 
the  chief  or  only  home  manufacturers.  "  Mead" 
and  "  metheglin"  were  occasionally  made  of  honey, 
but  at  home  usually.  Whiskey  was  different.  Among 
the  very  first  manufactured  products  of  the  settle- 
ment, as  early  probably  as  the  removal  of  the  capital, 
was  whiskey  distilled  at  the  little  establishment  on 
the  bayou,  near  the  site  of  the  Nordyke  &  Marmon 
Machine- Works,  and  called  "  Bayou  Blue."  It  could 
not  have  been  of  a  very  high  quality,  but  it  was  cheap 
and  plenty,  with  occasional  reinforcements  brought 
by  keel-boats  "  cordeled"  up  the  river.  Whiskey 
and  gunpowder  were  the  leading  articles  of  importa- 
tion for  a  good  while.  In  1828  a  temperance  society 
was  formed  here,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any 
public  or  concerted  effort  was  made  to  arrest  drink- 
ing, though  the  very  existence  of  such  an  association 
among  the   best   class  of  citizens  would   have  some 


DISEASES  ONCE   PREVALENT. 


93 


good  eflFect.  A  change  in  society  sentiment  may 
have  begun  with  this  society,  but  it  grew  with  the 
Washingtonian  movement,  and  has  grown  steadily 
wider  and  stronger,  till  to-day  the  reversal  of  condi- 
tions of  the  use  of  liquor  is  complete.  The  senti- 
ment against  it  is  as  general  and  fixed  as  it  was  for  it 
in  early  times. 

The  reports  of  the  Board  of  Health  show  that  the 
death-rate  of  Indianapolis  is  smaller  than  that  of 
most  cities  of  any  considerable  size,  and  lower  than 
that  of  Philadelphia,  which  is  the  healthiest  large 
city  iu  the  world.  But,  as  already  related,  the  first 
years  of  the  settlement  were  disastrously  unhealthy, 
and  ill-repute  of  the  place  repelled  settlement  and  de- 
layed improvement  so  greatly  that  it  would  hardly  be 
too  much  to  say  that  the  ague  had  shaken  the  town 
out  of  five  years'  growth.  The  change  has  come 
slowly.  The  "  sickly  season"  thirty  years  ago  was 
as  definite  a  dread  as  Indian  summer  is  a  pleasurable 
anticipation.  There  were  plenty  of  old  residents  who 
expected  the  chills  just  as  the  victim  of  hay-fever 
expects  his  annual  swelled  nose  and  watery  eyes. 
How  this  change  has  come,  what  influences  have 
worked  towards  it,  will  be  best  exhibited  in  a  paper 
read  to  the  Medical  Society  of  this  county  by  Mr. 
George  W.  Sloan,  of  Browning  &  Sloan,  late  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Pharmaceutical  Association. 

"  Those  who  have  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  or  longer  have 
noticed  a  material  change  in  many  of  the  forms  of 
disease  incident  to  this  locality,  and  especially  a  dim- 
inution in  the  amount  of  those  forms  commonly 
known  as  bilious  fever  and  fever  and  ague.  In  the 
first  place,  it  should  be  remembered  that  this  State 
was  for  the  most  part  den.sely  timbered,  and  this  was 
supplemented  by  a  thick  matting  of  underbrush. 
These  combined  influences  protected  the  surface  from 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  hence  there  was  but  little 
chance  for  rapid  evaporation.  The  result  was  a  thick 
slimy  ooze,  which  was  kept  renewed  by  each  rain 
during  the  early  summer  months.  This  condition  ex- 
tended over  a  large  portion  of  this  and  adjoining 
States,  especially  in  the  valleys  formed  by  the  various 
water-courses.  We  there  have  with  the  addition  of 
heat  the  proper   conditions  for  decay  and   the  con- 


sequent production  of  noxious  gases  incident  thereto, 
which  gases  during  the  early  summer  are  absorbed  by 
the  tender  succulent  leaves  of  the  plants  and  trees. 
But  as  the  summer  advances  these  leaves  become 
hardened  by  the  heat  and  continued  dryness  of  the 
later  summer,  and  their  power  of  absorption  is  very 
much  lessened.  Hence  the  above-mentioned  products 
of  decomposition  were  given  ofi"  into  the  atmosphere 
from  an  extended  surface  of  country,  and  the  conse- 
quent result  was  a  poisonous  air.  In  addition,  the 
people,  or  at  least  a  large  portion  of  them,  lived  in 
poorly-constructed  houses,  often  built  of  logs,  with 
the  floor  resting  upon  the  ground,  and  were  compelled 
to  breathe  air  tainted  with  decaying  woody  matter. 
Frequently  the  same  apartment  was  used  for  the  pur- 
poses of  cooking,  eating,  and  sleeping,  while  the  food 
was  often  the  same  articles  three  times  a  day, — pork  in  '  i^V^ 
some  form,  corn-bread,  and  coffee.  It  would  be  diflS- 
cult  to  name  three  articles  more  difficult  of  digestion. 
The  water  was  often  of  poor  quality,  owing  in  many 
cases  to  shallowness  of  the  wells,  and  no  care  being 
taken  to  protect  them  from  surface  pollution. 

"  From  the  foregoing  statement  of  the  condition  of 
things  within  a  few  years  past,  in  which  we  have  an 
unwholesome  atmosphere  to  breathe,  poor  and  un- 
healthy homes  to  live  in,  indigestible  food  to  eat,  and 
polluted  water  to  drink,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
sickness  was  rife  ?  It  is  within  the  memory  of  many 
that  the  sick  were  more  numerous  than  the  well,  when 
the  fall  sickness  was  as  confidently  expected  (and  the 
people  were  rarely  disappointed)  and  prepared  for  as 
was  the  winter.  These  were  the  influences  that  made 
Indiana  known  as  the  home  of  fever  and  ague,  and 
the  times  when  one  of  our  drug-houses  could  spring 
the  price  of  quinine  by  simply  telegraphing  an  order 
to  the  Eastern  market  for  one  or  two  thousand  ounces 
of  that  staple.  This  State  was  also  the  paradise  of 
the  patent  medicine  men  who  made  liver  pills  and  ague 
remedies. 

"  This  condition  has  very  materially  changed  within 
a  few  years,  consequent  upon  a  clearing  off  of  the  tim- 
ber, the  ditching  and  draining  of  the  swamps,  and  tile 
draining  of  the  surface  of  the  country.  This,  together 
with  the  replacing  of  the  cabins  with  good  brick  or 
frame  dwellings,  with  cellars,  plastered  walls,  separate 


94 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


apartments  for  living,  eating,  and  sleeping,  an  abund- 
ance of  the  best  of  food,  pure  air,  and  good  water  has 
done  the  work.  To  this  also  may  be  added  an  improve- 
ment in  the  manner  of  clothing.  It  is  not  many  years 
since  the  use  of  woolen  underclothing  was  the  exception, 
while  overcoats,  especially  for  children,  were  almost 
unknown.  Now  all,  both  young  and  old,  are  clad  with 
warm  underwear,  and  in  addition  a  majority  are  sup- 
plied with  water-proof  garments  which  protect  them 
from  the  dampness.  These  have  removed  the  causes 
from  which  a  great  deal  of  the  bilious  type  of  disease 
was  derived. 

"  Again,  another  effect  of  the  drying  of  the  surface 
has  been  to  more  nearly  equalize  the  temperature  of 
the  days  and  nights.  As  the  low,  swampy  morasses 
did  not  contain  water  of  sufficient  depth  to  retain  an 
adequate  amount  of  heat  to  radiate  during  the  night, 
the  consequence  was,  when  the  heat  of  day  was  past, 
condensation  began  almost  simultaneously  with  the 
setting  of  the  sun,  the  result  being  hot  days  and  cool 
nights.  To  this  latter  course  many  thinking  minds 
have  attributed  the  so-called  malarious  disturbance. 
Nevertheless,  my  mind  clings  to  the  former,  and  as 
an  additional  argument  in  its  favor  will  cite  what 
frequently  happens  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  especi- 
ally in  our  cities,  after  a  severe  winter.  The  remnants 
of  the  last  year's  vegetation,  with  the  droppings  from 
domestic  animals,  together  with  the  usual  amount  of 
kitchen  refuse  that  finds  its  way  into  our  streets  and 
alleys,  have  accumulated  during  the  winter  months. 
This  has  been  held  solid,  as  it  were,  by  the  ice  and 
snow  until  perhaps  the  last  of  March,  at  which  time 
the  sun  is  high  and  its  power  great.  The  result  is 
that  almost  at  once  this  mass  of  matter  begins  the 
process  of  decomposition  under  the  combined  influ- 
ence of  heat  and  moisture.  This  period  of  the  year 
is  fruitful  of  neuralgia,  rheumatism,  and  other 
diseases  that  are  attributed  to  a  malarious  cause, 
and  this  condition  lasts  until  the  fresh  leaves  put 
forth  upon  the  trees  and  the  green  grass  appears, 
when  almost  within  the  space  of  a  week  the  major 
part  of  the  sickness  disappears,  and  then  ensues  the 
most  healthful  portion  of  the  year,  the  season  when 
the  vegetation  is  fresh  and  its  absorbing  power 
greatest." 


Although  the  indigenous  diseases  were  the  chief 
dread  of  the  settlers,  they  were  not  free  from  alarms 
of  epidemics.  On  the  17th  of  May  a  colored  woman 
by  the  name  of  Overall  was  found  to  have  the  small- 
pox, and  a  panic  ensued.  A  public  meeting  was  called 
and  a  Board  of  Health  formed  of  all  the  leading 
physicians  of  the  place, — Drs.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell, 
Isaac  Cox,  Livingston  Dunlap,  John  H.  Sanders,  John 
E.  McClure,  Charles  McDougal,  John  L.  Mothershead, 
and  William  Tichnor.  They  were  authorized  to  take 
any  measures  they  deemed  necessary  to  arrest  the  dis- 
ease. Nothing  was  done,  however,  as  no  other  case 
made  its  appearance.  In  June,  1833,  a  case  or  two 
that  were  supposed  to  be  cholera  excited  alarm.  The 
churches  appointed  and  kept  the  26th  as  a  fast-day. 
The  fatal  prevalence  of  the  epidemic  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  State,  especially  in  Salem,  Washington 
Co.,  renewed  the  fear  here  that  had  been  allayed 
by  its  disappearance,  and  a  public  meeting  was  held 
in  the  court-house  on  the  17th  of  July,  a  thousand 
dollars  contributed  by  the  citizens  for  sanitary  pur- 
poses, a  Board  of  Health  appointed,  consisting  of  five 
doctors  and  five  citizens,  sanitary  committees  appointed 
in  each  ward,  medicines  obtained,  and  the  Governor's 
house,  in  the  Circle,  fixed  upon  as  the  hospital,  with 
Dr.  John  E.  McClure  as  superintendent.  Better  pro- 
vision for  a  possible  calamity  was  apparently  made  in 
that  emergency  fifty  years  ago  than  was  made  after- 
wards, except  in  the  provision  of  the  City  Hospital. 
The  city  has  been  unusually  free  from  fatal  epidemics, 
the  smallpox  being  the  only  one  that  has  appeared, 
and  it  has  never  become  epidemic  here. 

During  all  this  early  period  of  the  history  of  the 
city  and  county  the  primitive  habits  and  conditions 
of  the  settlement  were  but  little  changed,  though 
changes  were  on  the  way  and  at  work  in  scattered 
influences  both  in  the  family,  school,  and  church,  and 
social  and  business  conditions.  The  universal  brother- 
hood of  the  days  when  there  were  no  streets,  or  they 
were  full  of  stumps  and  mud-holes,  with  cow-paths 
for  sidewalks  and  worm-fences  for  borders,  was  giving 
way  to  the  inevitable  separation  into  classes  and 
coteries.  "  Stores"  were  dropping  one  and  another 
article  or  class  of  the  miscellaneous  stock  they  had 
been  keeping  and  approaching  the  specialties  of  city 


CURRENCY  AND   MANUFACTURES. 


95 


establishments.  They  were  leaving  sugar  and  coflFee 
to  grocery-stores,  abandoning  liquor  altogether,  con- 
fining themselves  more  exclusively  to  dry-goods, 
and  putting  away  their  red-flannel  door-signs  as  un- 
becoming their  maturer  years.  Barter  was  passing 
away  before  the  advance  of  cash,  and  the  supply  of 
home  necessities  trusted  less  and  less  to  the  foresight 
of  the  head  of  the  fiimily.  The  winter's  supply  of 
meat,  which  for  years  had  been  contracted  for  during 
the  fall  with  one  or  another  farmer  and  cut  up  and 
cured  at  home,  was  gradually  coming  more  and  more 
largely  from   the  butcher  as  the  day's  needs  required. 


cious  but  liberal  management  was  a  great  help  to  the 
early  growth  of  Indianapolis  and  the  region  of  which 
it  was  the  centre  and  depot.  When  the  crash  of 
1837  was  followed  by  the  "  hard  times"  of  1839  to 
1845,  the  State  Bank's  money  was  all  the  people 
had  that  they  could  trust.  The  State  itself  issued 
"  scrip"  or  "  treasury  notes"  receivable  for  taxes,  and 
at  first  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest,  but  with  all 
these  advantages  the  money  was  discredited.  It 
passed  with  difiiculty  at  par  here,  and  would  not  pass 
at  all  in  Cincinnati,  or  only  at  a  ruinous  discount  of 
fifty  per  cent,  or  more.     This  was  a  grievous  embar- 


WAGON   TBAIN    ON    NATIONAL    ROAD. 


Home-made  sugar  was  giving  place  to  "  Orleans,"  but 
no  backwoods  boy  or  man  alive  or  that  ever  lived 
will  substitute  "  Orleans"  molas.ses  for  "  home-made." 
"Store  tea"  was  supplanting  "spice-bush"  and  sassa- 
fras without  being  better  or  half  as  pure.  Custom 
shops  were  sometimes  encouraged  to  manufacture 
a  little  for  stock  and  the  chance  of  a  market.  The 
new  State  Bank,  with  its  branches  at  the  principal 
points  of  the  State,  furnished  an  excellent  though 
by  no  means  abundant  currency,  and  by  loans  to 
enterprising  men  encouraged  such  industries  as  were 
adapted  to  the  condition  of  the  country.     Its  judi- 


rassment,  and  largely  neutralized  the  benefit  the  Legis- 
lature hoped  to  find  in  thus  "  inflating"  the  currency. 
Some  few  who  were  wise  in  their  day  made  money 
of  the  situation.  They  would  go  to  Cincinnati  with 
State  Bank  money  or  specie  and  buy  State  six  per 
cent,  scrip  for  fifty  or  even  forty  cents  on  the  dollar. 
At  home  it  was  good  in  trade,  would  buy  anything 
or  pay  any  debt,  though  not  always  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  creditor  or  seller.  Others  who  could  afford  it 
hoarded  it  for  the  interest  and  found  their  account  in 
it.  One  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  was  one  of  the 
least  expensive  men  in  the  world,  took  his  salary  in 


96 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


"  scrip"  and  saved  it.  By  the  time  the  State  re- 
deemed it  the  accumulation  of  interest  nearly  equaled 
the  principal.  These  financial  incidents,  though  re- 
mote from  the  first  settlement  of  the  city,  are  still 
more  remote  from  the  present  time,  and  will  serve  to 
illustrate  to  the  present  generation  a  condition  of 
things  that  will  never  come  again.  A  previous  issue 
of  treasury  notes  had  been  made  shortly  after  the 
State's  admission  into  the  Union,  and,  though  re- 
ceivable for  taxes,  were  considerably  depreciated,  and 
in  consequence  embarrassed  the  purchasers  of  town 
lots  seriously. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  "  hard  times," 
from  1839  to  1845,  interstate  emigration  did  little 
for  Indiana  or  the  New  Purchase.  The  "  repudiation 
of  the  State  debt,"  as  it  was  oflen  called, — the  failure 
to  pay  interest  on  the  bonds  of  1836, — had  a  bad 
effect  on  the  hunters  of  new  homes,  and  they  passed 
through  the  State  to  Illinois  and  Missouri  and  Iowa. 
The  National  road,  incomplete  as  it  was,  afforded  so 
much  better  a  route  than  others  that  it  was  largely 
used  by  emigrants.  Long  trains  of  wagons  passed 
every  day  from  sun-up  till  sun-down,  sometimes  in 
long  procession,  sometimes  in  groups,  rarely  singly. 
There  were  four-,  three-,  and  two-horse  wagons,  cov- 
ered sometimes  with  canvas,  sometimes  with  bed- 
quilts,  with  chairs  tied  about  the  "  end  gate,"  a  tar- 
bucket  swinging  to  the  coupling  pole,  a  dog  hitched 
to  the  hind  axle,  tow-headed  children  stuck  about 
among  feather-beds  and  bureaus  in  front,  a  sturdy 
man  on  foot  driving,  and  as  sturdy  a  woman  trudg- 
ing by  his  side  with  a  baby  in  her  arms,  and  the  older 
children  following  with  the  cows  and  sheep.  Thus 
came  to  their  new  homes  many  a  man  who  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  bar,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the 
school,  in  the  doctor's  office,  in  legislation,  on  the 
bench,  on  the  battle-field. 

"  And  buirdly  ohiels  and  clever  hizzies 
Are  bred  in  sic  a  way  as  this  is" 

in  the  backwoods  to  this  day  occasionally,  but  the 
land  was  full  of  them  at  the  time  referred  to. 


CHAPTERV. 

Second  Period— The  Capital  in  the  Woods. 

The  second  period  of  the  history  of  Indianapolis 
is  broken  by  conspicuous  events  into  three  divisions 
of  nearly  equal  length, — first,  from  the  removal  of 
the  capital  to  the  incorporation  of  the  town  in  1832  ; 
second,  from  that  event  to  the  abandonment  of  the 
public  works  in  1839;  third,  from  that  time  to  1847, 
when  the  impulse  of  improvement  ran  ahead  of  the 
opening  of  the  first  railroad.  The  whole  period  was 
so  uneventful,  and  in  the  main  so  unpromising  (except 
during  the  unfortunate  real  estate  inflation  that  accom- 
panied the  "  Internal  Improvement  System"),  that  it 
can  be  treated  more  intelligibly  by  associating  its 
events  in  logical  rather  than  chronological  connection. 

The  removal  of  the  State  capital  to  Indianapolis 
produced  two  beneficial  changes.  It  improved  the 
tone  of  society  by  a  large  annual  admixture  of  the 
best  intelligence  of  the  State.  The  meeting  of  the 
Legislature  was  for  nearly  a  generation  the  great 
event  of  the  year.  The  members  came  usually  on 
horseback,  with  the  now-forgotten  "leggings"  and 
"  saddle-bags."  In  later  days  such  as  were  on  stage 
lines  had  the  aristocratic  privilege  of  riding.  It  was  . 
not  till  1852  that  they  began  to  come  mainly  on  rail- 
ways, and  to  be  regarded  as  of  little  more  consequence 
than  other  men.  The  hotels  were  all  "  taverns"  for 
many  a  year,  and  the  modes  of  life  as  simple  and 
primitive  as  they  were  in  any  country  town.  Farmers 
came  in  with  their  families  to  see  the  Legislature. 
Visitors  from  other  parts  of  the  State,  besides  those 
with  "  axes  to  grind,"  came  often,  and  it  was  long 
before  even  the  townspeople  lost  their  curiosity  to  see 
its  proceedings.  There  were  strong  men  among  the 
legislators  of  the  State  in  those  days.  The  pay  was  a 
trifle,  and  a  trifling  man  could  not  afford  to  take  such 
a  place.  It  was  usually  a  man  who  was  needed  by 
the  interests  of  his  locality  or  a  man  of  conscious 
ability  who  took  a  place  in  one  house  or  the  other  as 
his  first  step  in  the  ladder.  Elections  were  rarely 
riotous  and  never  corrupt,  though  electioneering  then 
no  more  disdained  mean  arts  and  artifices  than  now. 
There  was  no  money  to  buy  votes,  the  consequence 


THE   CAPITAL   IN   THE   WOODS. 


97 


was  a  better  class  of  men,  in  the  average,  than  do 
the  law-making  now.  Moreover,  most,  if  not  all, 
of  them  were  immigrants,  with  the  push  and  persist- 
ence of  men  who  have  enterprise  enough  to  go  from 
home  to  seek  fortune,  and  brains  enough  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  chances  that  oflFer.  In  a  little  town 
numbering  but  a  hundred  families  the  preceding 
spring,  and  probably  not  more  than  six  hundred 
inhabitants  when  the  first  legislative  session  was  held 
here,  the  advent  and  free  association  of  such  a  body 
of  men  could  not  but  be  improving. 

The  other  benefit  following  the  change  of  the  cap- 
ital was  the  improvement  in  the  material  prospects  of 
the  village.  With  no  immediate  or  decided  change, 
there  was  a  confidence  of  prosperity  that  held  up  the 
courage  of  the  settlers  against  the  terrors  of  annual 
chills.  The  fulfillment  of  this  promise  was  long  in 
coming.  It  took  twenty  years  to  bring  the  first  evi- 
dences of  probable  prosperity  and  progress  beyond  a 
country  town. 

The  Legislature  was  always  ready  to  do  all  that 
might  be  properly  done  to  help  the  place,  and  fre- 
quently stepped  in  with  relief  laws  for  the  embarrassed 
purchasers  of  town  lots.  At  its  second  session  here, 
on  the  20th  of  January,  1826,  it  came  to  the  relief 
of  the  ague-shaken  debtors  who  could  not  pay  the 
deferred  installments  of  the  purchase-money  of  their 
lots  and  extended  the  time  for  payment,  and  allowed 
the  cash  payments  on  lots  that  the  holders  could  not 
keep  and  wanted  to  surrender  to  go  upon  the  lots  that 
were  kept,  thus  wiping  out  in  a  large  measure  an 
indebtedness  that  would  finally  have  proved  ruinous. 

The  condition  of  things  urging  this  action  is  clearly 
set  forth  in  a  little  article  in  the  Journal  of  Dec.  15, 
1825,  about  a  month  before  the  bill  was  passed. 
After  remarking  that  a  bill  to  consolidate  payments  on 
lots  would  be  introduced  in  a  few  days,  the  Journal — 
it  had  then  borne  this  name  less  than  a  year — said, 
"  Many  circumstances  combined  to  make  lots  sell  for 
more  than  they  were  worth.  At  the  time  of  the  sale 
treasury  paper,  with  which  payments  were  authorized 
to  be  made,  was  plenty  and  at  a  considerable  discount. 
Now  payments  which  were  expected  to  be  made  in 
depreciated  paper,  and  in  consequence  of  which  lots 
sold  very  high,  have  to  be  made  in  specie  or  its 
7 


equivalent.  Many  persons  also  paid  enormous  prices 
for  lots  contiguous  to  the  State-House  Square,  under 
a  belief  that  a  State-House  would  be  speedily  erected, 
and  that  their  property  would  consequently  rise  in 
value.  We  hope  the  Legislature  will  give  this  sub- 
ject due  attention,  and  if  they  do  not  see  the  propriety 
of  the  measure  suggested  they  will  probably  agree  to 
extend  the  time  of  making  payments."  The  Legis- 
lature did  both.  It  was  wiser  than  its  latter-day  suc- 
cessors, and  took  the  suggestions  of  the  press  with 
becoming  alacrity  and  deference.  There  is  a  consid- 
erable ray  of  light  let  in  upon  the  condition  of  things 
in  the  first  year  of  the  new  capital  by  this  little  ex- 
position. The  donation  outside  of  the  town  plat  was 
partly  sold  by  an  act  of  Jan.  24,  1824,  when  eighty 
acres  were  laid  off  in  four-acre  blocks, — -the  size  of  the 
city  squares, — and  sold  on  the  25th  of  January,  1825, 
by  auction,  the  highest  bringing  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  dollars,  the  lowest  sixty-three  dollars.  On 
the  12th  of  February  of  the  first  session  here,  in  1825, 
an  act  was  passed  ordering  twenty  more  four-acre  out- 
blocks  to  be  laid  off  north  and  south  of  those  pre- 
viously sold, — they  were  on  the  north  and  south  sides 
of  the  city,  thus  making  a  double  tier  on  those  two 
sides, — and  sold  on  the  2d  of  May.  The  same  act 
ordered  the  sale  of  the  reserved  lots  on  Washington 
Street,  the  clearing  of  Pogue's  Run  Valley  at  an 
expense  not  to  exceed  fifty  dollars,  and  the  lease  of 
the  ferry  at  the  foot  of  Washington  Street  for  five 
years.  The  second  series  of  out-blocks  brought  four- 
teen hundred  and  sixty-seven  dollars,  or  about  eighteen 
dollars  an  acre.  The  Washington  Street  reserved  lots, 
even  under  the  elevating  influence  of  the  possession 
of  the  State  capital,  did  not  approach  the  figures  of 
the  first  sale  nearly  four  years  before.  The  highest 
brought  three  hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  the  lowest 
one  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars.  An  aggregate 
of  street  frontage  equal  to  three  squares  brought  but 
three  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dol- 
lars. 

The  relief  act  for  embarrassed  lot-holders  had  the 
effect  of  concentrating  the  settlement  in  the  centre  of 
the  town  plat,  along  Washington  Street,  as  heretofore 
noted.  The  court-house  and  State  capitol  in  one  was 
east  of  a  central  line,  and  the  taverns  and  business 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


houses  were  gathering  upon  that  direction.  So  the 
lot-holders  who  wished  to  surrender  any  of  their  pur- 
chases gave  up  those  nearest  the  river,  and  applied  the 
money  paid  upon  them  to  lots  farther  east  which  they 
wished  to  keep.  This  tendency  away  from  the  river 
continued  till  the  "  internal  improvement"  impulse 
became  so  strong  as  to  force  the  great  "  improvement 
system"  through  the  Legislature  of  1836.  Antici- 
pating this  a  real  estate  speculation  took  wing  in  1835, 
and  from  that  time  till  the  panic  of  1837  got  this  far 
west  the  course  of  development  was  westward  towards 
the  line  of  the  canal  on  Missouri  Street,  where  ware- 
houses were  to  grow  thick  and  mills  wake  the  echoes 
all  night  long.  When  this  westward  bulge  was  broken 
by  the  hard  times  the  town's  business  settled  down 
hopelessly  on  the  two  sides  of  Washington  Street  from 
Delaware  to  Illinois,  while  the  residences  spread  about 
two  blocks  farther  east  and  west,  and  only  in  widely- 
scattered  clumps  or  single  houses  got  as  far  north  as 
North  Street  or  as  far  south  as  South  Street.  In 
February  of  1826  a  local  census  showed  a  population 
of  but  seven  hundred  and  sixty,  with  a  Sunday-school 
attendance  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-one, — a  very  large 
and  healthy  disproportion. 

For  convenience  and  coherence,  all  the  legislation 
of  the  State  directly  affecting  the  town,  during  the 
interval  from  the  change  of  capital  to  the  first  incor- 
poration, may  be  thrown  together  in  this  connection. 
The  first  act  was  on  the  26th  of  January,  1827,  or- 
dering the  State's  agent  to  survey  and  sell  seven 
acres  on  the  river  for  a  site  for  a  steam-mill.  The 
company  that  bought  it  at  a  mere  nominal  price  was  in- 
corporated a  year  later,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1828, 
and  was  mainly  composed  of  the  oldest  and  most 
prominent  citizens, — Nicholas  McCarty,  James  Blake, 
James  M.  Ray,  Daniel  Yandes,  Noah  Noble,  William 
Sanders.  This  steam-mill,  which  stood  till  1853  very 
near  the  east  end  of  the  old  National  road  bridge, 
was  the  first  manufacturing  enterprise  in  the  history 
of  the  place,  and  on  that  account  may  be  particularly 
noted  here.  The  Legislature  favored  it  to  an  extent 
that  would  be  tolerated  for  no  enterprise  now.  On 
the  6th  of  January,  1831,  the  company  was  given 
the  right  to  extend  the  time  of  completing  the  mill 
another  year,  and  next  day  were  given  authority  to 


cut  any  timber  they  needed  on  any  of  the  lots  held 
by  the  State.  With  good  transportation  facilities 
this  grant  alone  would  have  been  a  nice  little  fortune. 
The  mill  was  a  very  large  frame,  three  stories  high, 
with  a  two-story  attic,  so  solidly  put  together  by  a 
noted  workman  of  the  time,  James  Griswold,  that 
after  thirty  years  of  neglect,  abuse,  and  total  aban- 
donment, it  was"  as  strong  when  it  was  burned  as  it 
was  the  day  it  was  erected.  The  western  and  smaller 
and  lower  division  was  a  saw-mill,  the  lower  part  of 
the  main  building  a  grist-mill,  and  the  upper  stories 
a  wool-carding  mill.  The  machinery  was  brought 
here  from  Cincinnati,  partly  by  wagon  and  partly, 
some  say,  by  the  first  and  only  steamer  that  ever 
came  so  high  up  White  River.  The  building  was 
finished  in  December,  1831.  The  saw-mill,  a  less 
formidable  structure,  was  finished  and  at  work  the 
fall  before.  The  grist-mill  began. operations  in  Jan- 
uary, 1832,  for  the  first  time  since  the  settlement  of 
the  "  New  Purchase,"  giving  its  customers  bolted 
flour.  Previously  flour,  like  corn-meal,  had  to  be 
sifted  at  home.  For  over  two  years  the  establish- 
ment was  maintained  in  an  inefi'gctive  way,  fre- 
quently idle  and  never  remunerative,  and  was  finally 
abandoned  in  1835  and  the  machinery  offered  for 
sale.  For  a  number  of  years,  however,  portions  of 
the  saw-mill  works  were  left  for  idle  boys  to  abuse  or 
break  up  and  sell  for  old  iron,  and  the  building  was 
made  the  haunt  of  thieves  and  strumpets,  except 
during  the  occupancy  of  the  Messrs.  Geisendorfi'  with 
their  woolen-factory,  from  1847  to  1852.  The  enter- 
prise was  too  big  for  the  place.  It  could  supply  a 
home  demand  treble  that  to  which  it  could  look  for 
business,  and  beyond  that  it  could  do  nothing. 
The  cost  of  getting  flour  to  the  Ohio  River  or  any 
shipping  market  would  have  been  as  much  as  the  cost 
of  the  flour  itself  It  is  among  the  traditions  of  this 
first  enterprise  and  failure  that  it  took  a  hundred 
men  two  days  to  raise  the  frame- work,  and  that  they 
used  no  liquor  in  the  labor.  The  singularity  of  this 
abstinence  no  doubt  gave  life  to  the  legend.  Liquor 
at  a  "  house-raising"  or  "  log-rolling"  or  "  corn-shuck- 
ing" or  any  of  the  co-operative  labors  or  neighborhood 
frolics  was  as  indispensable  as  food  or  Rouse's  or 
I  Bagwell's   fiddle,   though,   as  previously   noted,   mis- 


^ffl^i^^^L^r^i 


THE   CAPITAL  IN   THE   WOODS. 


99 


chievous  excesses  were  far  less  frequent  than  now. 
Three  of  the  men  conspicuously  connected  with  this 
enterprise  were  quite  as  conspicuously  connected 
with  the  whole  history  of  the  earliest  development 
of  the  city's  industrial  and  commercial  interests. 
These  were  Nicholas  McCarty,  Daniel  Yandes,  and 
James  Blake.  Others,  like  Calvin  Fletcher,  Morris 
Morris,  Hervey  Bates,  and  James  M.  Ray,  were  as 
closely  identified  with  the  general  progress  of  the 
city,  but  less  so  with  the  special  interests  indicated. 
Mr.  McCarty  and  Mr.  Yandes  were  the  chief  capital- 
ists, so  far  as  can  now  be  learned.  The  former  .stands 
as  the  representative  of  the  commercial  as  the  latter 
and  Mr.  Blake  of  the  manufacturing  development  of 
the  city.  Though  Mr.  McCarty  was  behind  neither 
of  his  compeers  of  their  own  special  direction,  he  is 
best  known  as  the  leading  merchant  of  Central 
Indiana. 

Nicholas  McCarty  was  born  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1795,  in  the  town  of  Moorefield,  Harding 
Co.,  W.  Va.,  among  the  Alleghanies.  His  father 
dying  when  he  was  very  young,  his  mother  removed 
to  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  where  he  remained  until  he 
was  well  advanced  toward  manhood,  with  little 
opportunity  for  early  school  education.  While  still 
under  twenty  he  left  Pittsburgh  for  Newark,  Ohio, 
where  as  a  boy  he  won  the  favor  of  BIr.  Bucking- 
ham, then  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Ohio,  by 
the  sterling  qualities  that  in  later  years  won  him  the 
respect  of  every  honorable  man  to  whom  he  was 
known.  He  speedily  made  himself  master  of  the 
mercantile  business,  so  far  as  it  was  developed  within 
his  range,  and  Mr.  Buckingham  made  him  superin- 
tendent of  one  of  his  branch  houses  near  Newark. 
His  success  was  as  speedy  and  conspicuous  here  as  in 
a  lower  position,  and  in  a  few  years  he  had  acquired 
both  the  experience  and  the  means  to  begin  business 
for  himself.  His  trade  was  large  and  prosperous 
from  the  beginning.  Here  his  career  gives  the  key- 
note of  his  character, — a  sensitiveness  of  honor  that 
feels  a  reproach  like  a  stab,  a  strength  of  gratitude 
that  counts  no  sacrifice  a  loss  in  returning  the  good- 
will he  has  received.  Finding  that  his  business  was 
growing  at  the  expense  of  his  benefactor's,  when  he 
had  counted  confidently  on  a  sufficiency  for  both,  he 


sold  out  and  came  from  Newark  to  Indianapolis  in  the 
fall  of  1823,  at  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 

He  established  himself  in  a  building  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Washington  and  Pennsylvania  Streets, 
known  for  thirty  years  as  "  McCarty's  Corner,"  and 
south  of  this  building  some  years  later  built  an  im- 
posing brick  residence,  the  home  of  the  family  for 
many  years.  He  was  the  first  merchant  educated  to 
business  who  conducted  it  systematically.  He  began 
in  a  larger  way,  too,  than  others,  and  his  success  was 
proportional.  He  established  branch  stores  in  Laporte, 
Greenfield,  Covington,  Cumberland,  and  Waverly,  and 
trained  several  young  men  afterwards  conspicuous  in 
the  business  of  the  city  or  State,  imbuing  them  all 
with  his  own  scrupulous  and  resolute  integrity.  It 
was  reserved  for  the  great  crisis  of  his  hfe  to  exhibit 
his  best  qualities  at  their  best.  When  the  panic  of 
1837  and  the  subsequent  hard  times  had  made  his 
great  resources,  largely  in  real  estate,  unavailable,  he 
became  involved,  and  made  a  settlement  with  his 
creditors  upon  such  terms  as  to  enable  them  to 
realize  more  than  the  principal  and  interest  of  his 
obligations. 

James  Blake  had  come  to  Indianapolis  in  1821, 
under  the  advice  of  some  Philadelphia  friends,  with 
an  eye  to  the  preparation  of  ginseng — a  profuse 
growth  of  the  woods  all  about  the  settlement  at  that 
time — for  shipment  from  Philadelphia  to  China, 
where  it  sells  at  high  figures,  and  its  use  is  universal 
now,  as  it  was  then.  He  established  a  drying  and 
purifying  apparatus  in  a  little  house  south  of  the 
creek,  on  the  present  East  Delaware  Street,  and  Mr. 
McCarty  here,  and  by  his  agents  at  his  branch  stores 
and  elsewhere,  collected  the  roots  from  farmers  and 
their  families,  who  frequently  helped  out  a  short  corn 
crop  with  what  they  called  "  sang."  A  little  hoe 
was  made  especially  for  this  use  called  a  "  sang-hoe," 
obsolete  for  forty-five  years  or  more.  The  extent  of 
his  business  in  a  little  place  of  less  than  two  thousand 
people  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the  freezing  of 
the  Ohio  in  1829  compelled  him  to  haul  in  wagons 
his  entire  season's  stock  from  Philadelphia,  requiring 
sixteen  six-horse  Conestoga  wagons  to  do  it.  The 
freight  of  ginseng  back  made  the  audacious  enterprise 
profitable, — an  illustration  of  his  business  perception 


100 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


and  prompt  decision,  for  the  cold  snap  froze  the  Ohio 
just  as  his  goods  reached  Pittsburgh  to  take  steam 
passage  to  Madison.  Besides  his  ordinary  mercantile 
business,  he  took  large  contracts  for  Indian  supplies, 
and  made  himself  quite  familiar  with  the  dialects  of 
two  or  three  of  the  tribes  on  the  "  Miami  Reserva- 
tion." 

His  enterprise  appeared  repeatedly  in  attempts  to 
introduce  new  industries  or  develop  new  resources. 
He  was  largely  interested  in  the  eflFort  to  establish 
silk-growing  about  1835,  and  went  with  character- 
istic energy  into  the  planting  of  the  Morus  mvlti- 
eaulis.  A  few  years  later  (about  18-40)  he  began 
one  of  the  most  important  enterprises  of  his  life, 
though  the  distress  of  the  country  was  too  great  and 
general  to  permit  it  the  success  it  would  probably 
have  achieved  a  half-dozen  years  later.  This  was 
the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  hemp  on  his 
"  bayou  farm,"  now  "  West  Indianapolis,"  where  are 
located  the  "stock-yards,"  "car-works,"  and  other 
improvements.  The  fibre  was  rotted,  broken,  and 
cleaned  in  vats  and  mills  on  the  bluflF  bank  of  the 
creek  just  below  the  present  line  of  Ray  Street  at 
Church,  Carloss,  and  Wilkins  Streets.  Proving  un- 
profitable, the  enterprise  was  abandoned  in  two  or 
three  years. 

Mr.  McCarty's  personal  popularity  was  so  great 
that  the  Whigs,  who  had  been  placed  under  the 
cloud  of  "hard  times"  from  1843  onward,  thought 
it  possible  to  save  a  seat  in  Congress  by  him,  and  ran 
him  against  Judge  Wick  in  1847.  It  was  his  first 
experience  as  a  politician,  but  his  native  shrewdness 
served  him  better  than  many  an  older  politician's 
more  devious  ways.  He  made  no  pretence  of  oratory, 
and  for  that  reason  made  a  stronger  impression  by  his 
solid  sense  and  effective  humor  than  his  opponent, 
who  was  really  an  unusually  good  speaker  when  he 
chose  to  be.  But  the  Whigs  were  not  strong  enough 
to  win  even  with  a  man  stronger  than  the  party.  A 
few  years  later  he  ran  for  the  State  Senate  in  the 
county  and  was  elected,  serving  three  years,  the  last 
three  under  the  old  Constitution.  In  1852,  much 
against  his  inclination,  he  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated by  the  dying  Whig  party  for  the  first  guber- 
natorial term  under  the  new  Constitution.     He  made 


an  admirable  canvass  against  Governor  Joseph  A. 
Wright,  one  of  the  best  "  stumpers"  in  the  United 
States,  and  by  familiarity  with  public  speaking  had 
become  a  ready,  perspicuous,  and  forcible  speaker. 
The  Democrats,  however,  being  greatly  in  the  ma- 
jority, he  was  defeated. 

He  was  married  in  Boone  County,  Ky.,  July 
27,  1828,  to  Margaret,  daughter  of  Rev.  Jameson 
Hawkins,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Baptist  preachers 
of  the  county,  and  died  May  17,  1854,  in  his  fifty- 
ninth  year.  Three  children  survive  him, — Margaret, 
(Mrs.  John  C.  S.  Harrison),  Nicholas,  and  Francis  J. 
Susannah,  the  eldest  daughter,  and  wife  of  Rev. 
Henry  Day,  many  years  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  died  sevel-al  years  ago.  Mr.  McCarty  was 
an  example  of  Christian  purity,  integrity,  and  char- 
ity during  his  whole  life.  He  was  generous  "  as  the 
day,"  tolerant  of  offenses  that  affected  only  himself, 
peaceable,  frank,  and  honorable.  No  man  that  ever 
lived  in  the  city  was  more  sincerely  or  generally 
loved  and  honored,  and  certainly  none  ever  deserved 
it  better.  He  was  always  prompt  in  his  aid  of  be- 
nevolent efforts,  and  one  of  the  most  active  in  urging 
the  organization  of  the  Orphans'  Home.  A  meeting 
of  the  citizens  held  on  the  occasion  of  his  death 
adopted  the  following  resolution,  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  James  M.  Ray,  Robert  Hahna, 
Bethuel  F.  Morris,  Calvin  Fletcher,  John  D.  De- 
frees,  John  M.  Talbott,  and  Nathan  B.  Palmer : 

.  "  Regnlced,  That  in  the  departure  of  our  fellow-citizen,  Nich- 
olas McCarty,  Esq.,  we  realize  the  loss  of  one  who,  since  the 
early  days  of  the  city,  has  deservedly  ranked  as  a  most  worthy, 
generous,  and  valuable  man,  and  who,  by  his  aflfectioniite 
heart,  clearness  of  mind,  and  strict  integrity  of  purpose,  had 
warmly  endeared  himself  to  all  who  knew  him.  In  the  im- 
j  portant  public  trusts  committed  to  him — as  commissioner  of 
the  canal  fund  in  effecting  the  first  loan  of  the  State,  as  sena- 
tor of  this  county,  and  in  other  engagements — he  manifested 
remarkable  judiciousness  and  ability.  It  was  with  reluctance 
he  was  drawn  into  the  pursuit  of  official  station,  and  with  de- 
cided preference  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  an  attached  circle 
of  family  and  friends.  His  hand  and  heart  were  ever  at  com- 
mand for  the  need  of  the  atHicted,  and  his  counsels  and  sym- 
pathies were  extended  where  they  could  be  useful  with  unaf- 
fected simplicity  and  modesty." 

Daniel  Yandes  belonged  to  that  class  of  men  who 
naturally  become  pioneers.     He  was  born  in   Fayette 


,c^< 


-U) 


THE   CAPITAL   IN   THE   WOODS. 


101 


County,  Pa.,  in  January,  1793,  when  it  was  yet  a  new 
country,  with  fertile  soil,  a  hilly  but  beautiful  surface, 
and  underlaid  with  coal.  He  was  the  son  of  Simon 
Yandes,  whose  wife  before  marriage  was  Anna  Cath- 
arine Rider,  both  natives  of  Germany.  His  parents 
lived  upon  a  farm  near  the  Monongahela  River  west 
of  Uniontown.  They  had  two  sons,  Daniel  and 
Simon,  who  received  only  the  limited  education  usual 
at  that  time.  Both  of  the  sons  worked  on  the  farm. 
They  enlisted  in  the  year  1813  under  Gen.  Harrison, 
in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  served  six 
months  in  Northern  Ohio,  but  were  not  engaged  in 
battle.  The  father  of  Governor  Albert  G.  Porter  en- 
listed in  the  same  company.  In  1814,  when  Wash- 
ington City  was  first  threatened  by  the  British,  they 
again  enlisted,  and  Daniel  Yandes  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  was  elected  major  of  the  regiment.  Before  leaving 
the  place  of  rendezvous  the  order  to  march  was  coun- 
termanded, and  the  troops  were  not  again  ordered 
out.  In  1815  occurred  the  most  fortunate  event  of 
his  life,  and  that  was  his  marriage  to  Anna  Wilson, 
the  oldest  daughter  of  James  Wilson  and  his  wife, 
Mary  Rabb.  James  Wilson  was  a  leading  farmer 
and  magistrate  of  the  county.  The  Wilsons  were 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  and  the  Rabbs  Scotch- 
English  Presbyterians,  and  Anna  Wilson  was  a 
Presbyterian.  Her  educational  advantages  were  but 
moderate  as  compared  with  those  at  present.  James 
Wilson's  father,  Alexander  Wilson,  was  born  in  1727, 
and  removed  from  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  to  Fayette 
County,  where  he  died  in  1815. 

After  the  marriage  of  Daniel  Yandes,  he  acquired 
a  mill  and  opened  a  coal-mine.  In  1817  his  father 
died,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  and  in  1818,  when  the 
advantages  of  the  fertile  soil  of  Indiana  were  heralded 
in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  enthusiasm  aroused,  he, 
with  his  wife,  mother,  and  two  children,  floated  down 
the  Ohio  to  Cincinnati,  and  went  from  thence  to 
Fayette  County,  Ind.,  where  he  opened  a  farm  in  the 
woods  near  Connersville.  In  the  spring  of  1821  he 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  which  had  been  fixed  upon 
as  the  seat  of  government  for  the  State,  and  resided 
there  until  his  death  in  June,  1878,  at  the  age  of 
eiii;hty-five  years  and  five  months.  His  portrait  and 
signature  represent  him  at  the  age  of  eighty.     His 


first  residence  was  a  log  cabin  which  he  built  near  the 
northeast  corner  of  Washington  and  Illinois  Streets. 
In  1822  he  erected  and  resided  in  a  double  log  cabin 
near  the  southwest  corner  of  Washington  and  Ala- 
bama Streets,  opposite  the  Court-House  Square.  In 
1823  he  built  a  new  frame  residence  of  three  rooms 
in  that  locality.  About  1831  he  erected  a  two-story 
brick  residence  where  the  Citizens'  National  Bank 
now  stands,  and  part  of  the  same  building  included  a 
store-room  where  Harrison's  Bank  now  is.  In  1837 
he  was  the  owner  of  an  acre  of  ground  where  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  now  stands,  and  where  he 
built  a  large  plain  two-story  brick  residence.  Here 
he  lived  until  it  was  sold  to  the  above  church  in  1863, 
and  here  his  wife  died  in  1851.  After  her  death  he 
did  not  marry  again. 

He  came  to  Indianapolis  with  about  four  thousand 
dollars,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  that  constituted 
him  the  largest  capitalist  of  the  incipient  metropolis 
for  the  next  ten  years.  That  amount  included  the 
total  of  his  inheritance  and  of  his  own  acquisitions 
up  to  1821.  He  was,  in  common  with  pioneers  gen- 
erally, a  man  of  rugged  health,  and  hopeful,  confiding, 
and  enterprising.  He  was  fond  of  building  mills, 
manufactories,  and  introducing  other  improvements. 
On  his  arrival  in  Indianapolis,  with  his  brother-in-law 
he  erected  the  saw-  and  grist-mill  on  the  bayou  south- 
west of  the  city  where  the  McCarty  land  now  is,  the 
dam  being  built  across  White  River  at  the  head  of 
the  island  which  was  opposite  the  Old  Cemetery.  This 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  mill  in  the  New  Purchase. 

About  1823  the  firm  of  Yandes  &  Wilkens  estab- 
lished the  first  tannery  in  the  county,  and  continued 
in  that  business  together  about  thirty  years.  The 
active  partner  was  John  Wilkens,  a  man  well  known 
for  his  uncommon  merits.  Afterwards  Daniel  Yan- 
des continued  the  same  business  with  his  nephew, 
Lafayette  Yandes.  After  the  death  of  Lafayette  he 
formed  another  partnership  with  his  nephew,  Daniel 
Yandes,  Jr.,  and  James  C.  Parmerlee  in  au  extensive 
tannery  in  Brown  County,  and  in  a  leather-store  at 
Indianapolis.  About  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Yandes  be- 
came the  partner  in  a  store  with  Franklin  Merrill, 
brother  of  Samuel  Merrill.  Stores  in  the  early  history 
of  Indianapolis  contained  a  miscellaneous  assortment. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


more  or  less  extensive,  including  dry-goods,  groceries, 
queensware,  hardware,  hats,  shoes,  etc.  About  1831 
he  became  the  partner  of  Edward  T.  Porter,  and  the 
store  of  Yandes  &  Porter  was  in  a  brick  building 
which  preceded  that  where  Harrison's  Bank  now 
stands.  At  nearly  the  same  time  he  started  Joseph 
Sloan  in  business  as  a  merchant  at  Covington, 
Ind.,  and  continued  his  partner  for  several  years. 
In  1833  he  and  Samuel  Merrill,  treasurer  of  State, 
dug  a  race  along  Fall  Creek,  and  built  a  grist-mill, 
a  saw-mill,  and  the  first  cotton-spinning  factory  in 
this  region.  A  few  years  afterwards  he  and  William 
Sheets,  then  late  Secretary  of  State,  built  on  the  canal 
west  of  the  State-House  grounds  the  first  paper-mill 
in  the  county.  About  the  same  time  he  became  the 
partner  of  Thomas  M.  Smith  in  a  store,  and  about 
1838  was  the  partner  of  John  F.  Hill  in  another 
store,  both  of  which  were  on  the  north  side  of  Wash- 
ington Street,  a  little  west  of  Pennsylvania  Street. 
In  1839,  under  great  difficulties,  he  alone  built  at  La- 
fayette, Ind.,  a  grist-mill,  saw-mill,  and  paper-mill, 
and  opened  with  his  son  James  a  large  store.  While 
engaged  in  this  enterprise  the  panic  was  precipitated 
upon  the  country,  and  Mr.  Yandes  found  himself  in- 
volved heavily  in  debt,  both  as  principal  and  indorser, 
at  Indianapolis  and  Lafayette.  While  he  enjoyed  the 
good-will  of  his  creditors,  he  did  not  command  their 
entire  confidence  as  to  his  solvency,  and  during  the 
years  1839  to  1841  judgments  in  Marion  County 
accumulated  against  him  to  the  amount  of  over  twenty- 
two  thousand  dollars,  when  he  sacrificed  some  of  his 
most  valuable  property  at  much  less  than  cost.  At 
the  same  time  he  was  under  protest  at  the  bank  at 
Lafayette.  In  due  time,  however,  he  paid  the  full 
amount  of  his  debts,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  honest 
pride  that  he  and  his  children  have  always  paid  in 
full  individual  and  all  other  indebtedness.  About  the 
year  1817  he  and  Thomas  H.  Sharpe  built  the  Col- 
lege Hall,  a  brick  building,  which  preceded  the  Fletcher 
&  Sharpe  bank  and  store  property,  at  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Pennsylvania  Streets ;  and  a  few 
years  afterwards  he  erected  the  brick  building  where 
Ritzinger's  Bank  now  is.  In  1847  he  built  ten  miles 
of  the  Madison  Railroad,  which  was  completed  about 
September  of  that  year,  and  was  the  first  railroad  to 


Indianapolis.  The  same  year  he  joined  in  building 
a  grist-mill  at  Franklin.  In  1852  he  and  Alfred 
Harrison  built  thirty  miles  of  the  eastern  end  \a 
Indiana  of  the  Bellefontaine  Railroad.  Previous  to 
this  time  he  had  twice  ventured  successfully  in  send- 
ing large  cargoes  of  provisions  by  flat-boats  from  In- 
diana to  New  Orleans.  About  the  year  1854,  during 
the  Kansas  excitement,  his  desire  for  the  freedom  of 
that  State  impelled  him  to  aid  some  young  men  to 
settle  there,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the  West. 
About  1860  he  joined  Edward  T.  Sinker  as  partner 
in  the  Western  Machine- Works,  where  he  continued 
for  some  years. 

One  of  his  most  curious  traits  was  the  manifestation 
of  unusual  energy  and  labor  for  a  series  of  years  until 
an  enterprise  could  be  put  upon  a  solid  basis,  after 
which  he  evinced  unusual  indolence  and  inattention 
to  details  for  several  years  until  he  became  again  en- 
listed in  a  new  enterprise.  As  a  consequence,  after 
new  enterprises  were  fairly  started  and  tested  he  lost 
interest  in  them,  and  in  a  few  years  would  usually  sell 
his  interest.  ■  He  was  senior  partner,  and  in  most  cases 
the  capitalist.  Although  he  matured  his  plans  pa- 
tiently and  carefully,  he  was  nevertheless  a  little  too 
fond  of  hazard. 

If  his  business  career  had  terminated  when  seventy- 
five  years  of  age  he  would  have  been  a  successful 
business  man  ;  but  an  undue  fondness  for  enterprise, 
and  a  hopeftil  enthusiasm,  together  with  the  fascina- 
tions of  the  far  West,  an  over-confidence  in  others,  and 
the  deterioration  incident  to  old  age,  with  his  unwil- 
lingness to  be  advised,  resulted  in  disaster.  He  lost 
a  considerable  amount  in  mines  in  the  West,  and  a 
large  sum  in  the  Brazil  Furnace,  stripping  him  in 
effect  of  his  property  when  he  was  past  the  age  of 
eighty.     One  of  these  mines  is  now  more  promising. 

In  politics  he  was  a  very  decided  Whig  and  Re- 
publican, but  cared  little  for  the  distinctions  of  office. 
He  was,  however,  the  first  treasurer  of  Marion  County, 
and  in  1838  Governor  Noble,  unsolicited,  appointed 
him  one  of  the  Board  of  Internal  Improvements  to 
aid  in  carrying  out  the  extensive  system  of  improve- 
ments provided  for  by  the  Legislature  in  1836. 

In  church  matters  he  was  a  Lutheran  by  preference, 
but  there  being  no  church  of  that  denomination  at 


THE    CAPITAL   IN   THE   WOODS. 


103 


ludianapolis  in  early  times,  he  became  a  Presbyterian, 
and  was  for  somre  years  one  of  the  first  elders  and 
trustees  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  From 
1823  to  1845,  and  until  the  failure  of  his  wife's  health, 
his  house  was  one  of  the  favorite  stopping-places  of 
the  Presbyterian  clergy.  Rev.  Mr.  Proctor,  and  after- 
wards Rev.  George  Bush,  were  his  guests  for  months. 
He  was  liberal  to  chanties  and  the  church,  having 
given  away  up  to  1865  about  sixty  thousand  dollars. 
It  would  require  at  least  double  that  amount,  according 
to  the  present  value  of  money,  to  be  an  equivalent. 

Five  of  his  children  died  young.  His  daughter, 
Mary  Y.  Wheeler,  died  in  1852,  leaving  five  children, 
three  of  whom  yet  survive.  His  children  yet  living 
are  Catharine,  the  widow  of  Rev.  Elijah  T.  Fletcher  ; 
Elizabeth  Y.  Robinson;  Simon,  formerly  a  lawyer; 
James  W.,  formerly  a  merchant;  and  George  B.,  now 
president  of  the  Citizens'  National  Bank. 

Besides  the  favor  extended  by  the  Legislature  to 
the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  town  in  the  cheap  sale 
of  the  steam-mill  site,  a  direct  appropriation  of  four 
thousand  dollars  was  made  to  build  an  official  resi- 
dence for  the  Governor  in  the  Circle.  This  was  done 
on  the  26th  of  January,  1827.  A  contract  for  the 
work,  at  a  cost  of  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars, 
was  made  on  the  17th  of  March,  with  Austin  Bishop, 
Robert  Culbertson,  William  Smith,  and  William 
Speaks,  by  Samuel  Merrill  and  Benjamin  I.  Blythe, 
on  the  part  of  the  State.  It  was  of  brick,  about 
fifty  feet  square,  two  stories  high,  with  a  sort  of  Man- 
sard roof,  containing  a  level  space  in  the  centre  about 
fifteen  feet  square,  surrounded  by  a  railing,  standing 
upon  a  basement  some  six  feet  above  the  ground, 
with  a  large  hall-door  in  the  middle  of  each  of  the 
four  sides,  and  separated  by  ten-feet  halls  crossing 
each  other  in  the  middle  into  four  large  rooms  in 
each  corner.  Its  complete  exposure  on  all  sides 
made  it  an  undesirable  residence  for  a  family,  and  it 
was  never  occupied  except  for  public  offices,  chambers 
of  the  Supreme  Court  judges,  and  in  its  later  days 
for  almost  any  use  that  respectable  applicants  desired 
it  for.  As  heretofore  related,  it  was  sold  for  old 
brick  and  torn  down  in  1857.  School-boys  used  to 
make  a  "  circus"  of  its  basement-rooms,  and  one  day, 
some  forty  years  ago,  a  wild  turkey,  scared  by  hunters 


from  the  noted  "  turkey-roost"  in  the  sugar  grove 
near  the  line  of  Seventh  and  Illinois  Streets,  ran  into 
one  of  these  basement-rooms,  and  was  caught  there 
by  a  school-boy  of  the  period.  Another  house,  built 
at  the  same  time,  was  the  little  brick  at  the  east  gate 
of  the  Court-House  Square,  for  an  office  for  the  clerk 
of  the  State  Supreme  Court.  At  the  preceding  ses- 
sion the  Legislature  had  ordered  the  State  agent  to 
contract  with  Asahel  Dunning  for  a  two-story  brick 
ferry-house  near  the  foot  of  Washington  Street,  on  the 
south  side.  It  was  built  in  1827,  partially  burned  in 
1855,  repaired,  and  reoccupied  until  some  half  dozen 
or  so  years  ago,  when  it  was  torn  down. 

In  this  connection  belong.s  the  act  ordering  the  first 
State-House,  which  passed  10th  of  February,  1831, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  a  committee  at  the  ses- 
sion of  1829-30.  The  report  estimated  the  cost  at 
fifty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  stated  that  the  unsold 
land  in  the  donation  would  be  fairly  estimated  at  fifty- 
eight  thousand  dollars.  James  Blake  was  appointed 
commissioner  to  attend  to  the  work  and  obtain  mate- 
rial (three  hundred  and  sixty  perches  of  stone  by  the 
second  Monday  of  May  was  specified),  with  an  appro- 
priation of  three  thousand  dollars.  He  was  instructed 
to  ofier  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  a  plan,  embrac- 
ing halls  for  the  two  houses,  rooms  for  Supreme  Court 
and  State  Library,  and  twelve  rooms  for  committees, 
with  such  others  as  would  be  needed,  and  report  to  the 
next  Legislature.  The  cost  was  limited  to  forty-five 
thousand  dollars.  The  commissioner  procured  a  plan 
from  Ithiel  Town,  a  distinguished  architect  of  New 
York,  and  I.  J.  Davis.  The  Legislature  approved 
Jan.  20,  1832,  and  appointed  Noah  Noble  (Gov- 
ernor), Morris  Morris  (auditor),  and  Samuel  Merrill 
(treasurer),  Feb.  2,  1832,  as  commissioners  to 
superintend  the  work,  employ  architects,  andnise  the 
material  purchased  by  Mr.  Blake.  The  work  was  to 
be  finished  by  November,  1838,  and  to  be  examined 
and  approved  by  a  committee  of  five  from  each  house 
before  acceptance.  The  contract  was  made  with  Mr. 
Town  at  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars.  Work  began  in 
the  spring  of  1832.  The  site,  previously  a  dead  level, 
was  plowed  and  scraped  into  an  elevation  in  the  centre 
under  the  survey  and  supervision  of  Gen.  Thomas  A. 
Morris,  then  a  young  West  Pointer,  after  serving  a 


104 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


faithful  term  at  the  printer's  "  case."  The  building 
was  so  far  completed  as  to  be  ready  for  oecupaqpy 
when  the  Legislature  met  on  the  7th  of  December, 
1835.  The  actual  cost  was  sixty  thousand  dollars, 
but  two  thousand  dollars  in  excess  of  the  estimate. 
It  was  two  hundred  feet  long  by  one  hundred  feet 
wide,  and  two  stories  high.  The  style  was  the  Doric 
of  the  Parthenon,  spoiled  by  a  contemptible  little 
dome  that  was  about  as  suitable  in  that  place  as  an 
army-cap  on  the  Apollo  Belvidere.  The  basement 
was  of  blue  slate  from  the  Bluffs,  and  soon  began  de- 
caying. The  whole  exterior  was  stuccoed,  and  looked 
well  till  frost  and  thaw,  damp  and  heat  began  to 
make  it  peel  off,  and  then  it  looked  worse  than  a 
beggar's  rags.  It  was  so  dilapidated  as  to  be  unsafe 
before  it  was  torn  down  in  1878.  The  trees  planted 
in  the  square  made  a  fine  grove  there,  which  was  the 
favorite  resort  of  Sunday-school  celebrations  of  the 
Fourth  of  July  and  the  usual  out-door  place  for 
political  meetings. 

At  the  same  time  the  order  was  made  to  sell  the 
steam-mill  site  all  the  reserved,  forfeited,  and  unsold 
lots  in  the  town  were  ordered  to  be  sold.  It  was 
done  on  the  7th  and  8th  of  the  following  May,  when 
one  hundred  and  fifty-three  lots,  of  which  twenty-four 
were  on  Washington  Street,  were  offered,  with  over 
thirty  squares  of  four  acres  each.  Sales  were  made 
of  one  hundred  and  six  lots  at  one  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars  an  acre,  and  thirty-eight  out-lots  and 
squares  at  twenty-three  dollars  an  acre.  On  the  22d 
of  January,  1829,  an  act  extended  the  time  of  pay- 
ment of  the  deferred  installments  of  the  purchase- 
money  of  out-lots,  and  declared  inoperative  the  for- 
feitures worked  under  the  existing  law  by  delinquent 
payments.  The  next  legislative  order  touching  the 
town  arid  the  State's  property  was  made  on  the  9th 
of  February,  1831,  when  the  agent  was  directed  to 
plat  the  whole  donation  outside  the  town  into  out-lots 
and  sell  them  at  public  auction.  The  subdivision 
was  made,  and  the  aggregate  of  lots  offered  in  and 
out  of  the  town  plat  was  nearly  nineteen  hundred 
acres.  The  divisions  ranged  from  two  to  fifty  acres. 
The  minimum  price  was  ten  dollars  an  acre,  but  only 
a  portion  was  sold.  It  may  be  noticed  here  that  the 
order  for   the   clearing  of  Pogue's   Run   Valley  was 


never  executed,  probably  because  the  fifty-dollar  limit 
was  too  little.  Property-holders,  however,  gradually 
cleared  it,  and  improved  the  health  of  the  place  by 
it.  The  low,  swampy  "  bottom"  and  dense  woods  and 
underbrush  made  the  very  home  of  malarious  disor- 
ders, and  they  trooped  out  in  force  during  the  sickly 
season.  There  is  nothing  but  two  or  three  shivered 
stumps  left  of  this  dense  woods  now,  except  for  a  short 
distance  above  the  mouth  of  the  creek  and  near  the 
Morris  Street  bridge.  Here  some  old  sycamores  and 
elms  still  remain,  but  one  of  them  was  blown  over  by 
the  tornado  that  did  such  damage  to  some  of  the 
manufacturing  establishments  on  the  West  Side  last 
summer.  All  the  papaws,  black  haws,  apple  haws, 
ginseng,  prickly  ash,  spice-brush,  and  hazel-bushes 
are  gone  as  completely  as  if  such  things  had  never 
grown  there,  yet  it  was  a  valley  prolific  of  wild  fruit, 
as  its  clear  stream  was  of  good  fish. 

At  the  time  the  order  of  Jan.  26,  1827,  was  made 
for  the  sale  of  forfeited  and  reserved  lots  certain 
squares  and  alleys  were  vacated.  Square  22  was  re- 
served for  a  State  hospital,  and  square  25  for  a  State 
university  ;  it  is  now  University  Park.  The  "  State 
University"  at  Bloomington  has  tried  to  get  possession 
of  this  valuable  property  under  cover  of  a  title  it  has 
assumed  since  that  dedication  was  made,  but  has  failed. 
On  the  26th  of  January,  1832.  the  agent  was  em- 
powered to  lease  the  square  to  the  trustees  of  Marion 
County  Seminary  for  thirty  years,  with  the  proviso 
that  if  it  should  be  needed  for  a  university  in  that 
time  a  half  acre  should  be  sold  in  fee-simple  in  either 
the  southwest  or  southeast  corner,  where  a  seminary 
building  was  authorized  to  be  erected  under  the  lease. 
The  trustees  built  the  "  Old  Seminary"  in  the  south- 
west corner  in  1833-34,  the  most  noted  local  school 
of  the  State,  and  maintained  with  unvarying  success 
and  wide  benefit  for  twenty  years.  It  will  be  noticed 
more  fully  in  the  department  of  this  work  assigned 
to  "  Schools."  In  October,  1827,  Miss  Matilda 
Sharpe,  the  first  milliner,  came  to  Indianapolis, — 
not  the  least  important  event  of  the  year. 

While  the  Legislature,  as  above  related,  was  dis- 
posing of  unsold  lots,  erecting  buildings,  and  forward- 
ing the  improvement  of  the  place,  the  citizens  were 
not  inactive  in   their  own  moral  and  social  interests. 


THE   CAPITAL  IN  THE   WOODS. 


105 


though  it  was  late  before  their  enterprise  turned  to 
points  of  business  advantage,  and  with  no  great  good 
fortune  to  encourage  them  when  they  did  turn.  In 
April,  1825,  the  Indianapolis  Bible  Society  was 
formed,  and  is  still  living  in  the  Indianapolis  Female 
Bible  Society,  a  most  active  and  beneficent  agency 
among  the  soldiers  during  the  civil  war.  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Givan  was  the  first  president,  and  the  wife  of 
Professor  George  Bush,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  and  since  then  known  all  over  the  literary 
world  for' eminence  in  oriental  scholarship,  was  one  of 
its  most  active  promoters.  On  the  13th  of  November, 
1825,  the  Marion  County  Bible  Society  was  formed, 
with  Bethuel  F.  Morris  as  president  and  James  M. 
Ray  as  secretary.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  Mr. 
Ray  was  secretary  of  pretty  much  every  organiza- 
tion ever  formed  during  the  first  thirty  years  of  the 
city's  existence.  Whether  town-meeting  or  bank 
directory,  fire  company  or  missionary  society,  James 
M.  Ray  was  invariably  made  its  business  manager  or 
secretary.  It  is  to  his  undying  honor  that  he  always 
served  and  was  never  paid.  He  was  born  in  the  first 
year  of  this  century,  in  New  Jersey,  and  learned  the 
trade  of  making  coach  lace,  came  West  to  Kentucky 
when  a  young  lad,  and  worked  there  with  his  family ; 
came  later  to  Lawrenceburg,  in  this  State,  and  came 
here  in  the  summer  or  fall  of  1821.  His  intelligence, 
activity,  and  integrity  put  him  at  once  among  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  settlement.  Quiet,  unobtrusive,  vigi- 
lant, never  idle,  never  careless,  his  word  was  as  good 
as  any  other  man's  oath,  and  his  aid  in  any  good  work 
as  confidently  expected  as  the  continuance  of  his  ex- 
istence. It  would  be  impossible  to  gather  up  here  all 
the  associations  of  which  he  was  secretary  at  one 
time  or  another  in  more  than  fifty  years  of  active  life 
in  the  settlement  and  city,  but  it  is  really  no  exagger- 
ation to  say  that  the  first  generation  of  settlers  trusted 
him  with  every  work  of  that  kind  that  they  had  to 
do.  He  was  the  first  county  clerk,  as  already  noted, 
and  served  till  he  was  made  cashier  of  the  old  State 
Bank  in  1834.  He  continued  in  that  position  as  long 
as  the  bank  lived,  and  then  went  into  its  successor, 
the  "  Bank  of  the  State."  He  was  Governor  Mor- 
ton's most  trusted  agent  during  the  war,  and  managed 
all   the   external   finances  of   the  State  during   that 


momentous  period.  Financial  disaster  overtook  him 
in  some  unfortunate  mining  operations  to  which  he 
had  given  his  means  largely,  and  several  years  of  his 
later  life  were  passed  in  an  easy  but  well-paid  position 
in  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington.  During 
the  last  year  or  so  he  returned  to  his  old  home,  and 
died  here  Feb.  22,  1881. 

The  Indianapolis  Tract  Society  was  another  kindred 
organization  made  during  the  same  year,  1825  ;  and 
on  September  3d  the  first  agricultural  society  was 
formed  by  the  late  Calvin  Fletcher,  Henry  Bradley, 
Henry  Brenton,  and  others.  The  following  year  .an 
artillery  company  was  formed  under  Capt.  James 
Blake,  upon  the  reception  of  a  .six-pounder  iron  gun 
sent  here  by  the  government.  It  blew  off  William 
Warren's  hand  while  firing  a  salute  to  the  "  Bloody 
Three  Hundred"  in  1832,  when  mustering  to  march 
away  to  the  Black  Hawk  war.  It  afterwards  blew  off 
one  of  Andrew  Smith's  hands.  Mr.  Smith  is  still 
living  in  the  county,  a  hale  and  venerable  gentleman, 
far  beyond  the  scriptural  limit  of  life,  after  many  years 
of  service  in  important  county  offices.  On  the  20th 
of  June,  1826,  the  first  fire  company  was  formed, 
with  John  Hawkins  as  president  and  James  M.  Ray 
as  secretary.  Its  implements  were  buckets  and  lad- 
ders, and  its  alarm  general  yelling  and  the  ringing  of 
church  and  tavern  bells.  It  was  incorporated  in  1830, 
and  continued  in  existence  till  the  formation  of  the 
"  Marion  Fire-Engine  Company"  in  1835,  when  the 
old  company  was  absorbed  into  the  new  one.  In 
July,  1828,  the  Indianapolis  Library  Society  was 
formed,  the  library  being  made  up  of  donations.  It 
lasted  half  a  dozen  years  or  so.  A  musical  association 
called  the  Handelian  Society  was  formed  in  the 
spring  of  1828.  In  August  a  cavalry  company  was 
formed  by  Capt.  David  Buchanan.  On  the  24th  of 
April,  1829,  the  Methodist  Sunday-school  was  colo- 
nized from  the  Union  School  on  the  completion  of  the 
old  church  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Circle  and 
Meridian  Streets.  It  began  with  eleven  teachers  and 
forty-six  scholars,  and  in  a  year  had  twenty-seven 
teachers  and  one  hundred  and  forty-six  scholars.  In 
November,  1829,  the  Colonization  Society  was  organ- 
ized, with  Judge  Isaac  Blackford  as  president.  On 
the  11th  of  December,  1830,  the  Indiana  Historical 


106 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Society  was  formed,  with  Benjaniin  Parke  as  presi- 
dent and  Bethuel  P.  Morris  as  secretary.     John  H.  I 
Farnham  was  afterwards  secretary,  and  the  books  and  ' 
papers  were  long  kept  in  the  office  of  Henry  P.  Co-  ' 
burn,  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court.     The  library  was 
given  to  the  Union  Library  Society  about  1846,  and 
when  that  association  went  to  pieces  the  library  went 
to  pieces  too.     The  Historical  Association  numbered 
among  its  members  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  in  the  State,  and  among  its  "  honorary  members" 
were  Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster,  Lewis  Cass,  John  i 
C.  Calhoun,  and  other  men  of  national  renown.     It  i 
has  been  revived  within  a  few  years  by  some  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  the  State,  who  arc  interested  in 
historical  affairs,  and  promises  to  be  a  useful  as  well 
as  durable  organization.     In  the  fall  of  1831  the  In-  ' 
dianapolis  '■  Lyceum"  or  "  Athenisum"  was  organized 
to  promote  literary  culture  by  lectures  and  scientific  , 
discussions.     It  lasted  usefully  for  a  few  years,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Young  Men's  Literary  Society 
in  1§35.     This  organization  was  superseded  by  the  I 
Union    Literary    Society,    composed    mainly   of    the 
elder  pupils  of  the  "  Old  Seminary,"  which  collected 
a  considerable  library,  was  iucorporated  in   1846  or 
1847,  and  began  the  lecture  system  hereby  procuring 
lectures  from  Mr.  Beecher,  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr. 
Fisher,  of  Cincinnati,  and  others.     It  was  disbanded  [ 
by  gradual  decay,  but  in  1853  its  last  effort  obtained  ' 
a  lecture  by  Horace  Greeley  on  Henry  Clay.  i 

In  1831,  near  the  end  of  the  first  division  of  the 
city's  second  period  or  stage  of  growth,  came  the  first 
illusive  promise  of  public  improvements,  which  soon  ; 
grew  strong  enough  to  realize  itself  partially,  and  to  j 
send  a  forecast  nearly  twoscore  years  ahead  of  the  } 
fact  that  only  began  to  be  forcefully  felt  in  1850  or 
just  before.     The  Legislature  on  the  2d  and  3d  of  ! 
February  chartered  a  group  of  railroads  that  reads  in  j 
its  titles  very  much  like  a  time-table  in  the  Union  , 
Depot  today.     There  was  the  Madison  and  Indianap-  I 
olis,  the  Lawrenceburg  and  Indianapolis,   the  New  , 
Albany,  Salem  and  Indianapolis,  the  Ohio  and  In- 
dianapolis.    Surveys  were    made  on    all    them,    and  j 
some  grading  done  in  patches,  but  nothing  came  of 
any  of  them  except  the  Madison  and  Indianapolis, 
which  was  incorporated  in  the  State's  great  and  disas-  \ 


trous  "  Internal  Improvement  System"  of  1836.  This 
reference  is  all  that  need  be  made  here,  as  the  history 
of  the  city's  railroad  system  will  appear  fully  in  its 
proper  place. 

Almost  contemporaneously  with  the  charters  of 
these  railroads  came  the  only  steamer  that  ever  reached 
Indianapolis.  It  was  on  the  11th  of  April,  1831. 
The  steamer  was  the  "  Robert  Hanna,"  owned  by 
Gen.  Robert  Hanna,  one  of  tlie  prominent  citizens, 
and  some  of  his  associates,  who  intended  to  use  it  in 
the  transportation  of  stone  and  timber  for  the  work  on 
the  National  road,  a  contract  for  which  they  held.  The 
arrival  created  a  great  excitement.  Between  a  steamer 
actually  at  the  wharf,  as  it  were,  and  the  recent  charter 
of  four  or  five  railroads  the  victims  of  chills  and 
many  disappointments  began  to  take  heart  and  hope 
that  their  dreams,  when  the  capital  came,  might  be 
prophecies  after  all.  The  cannon  was  fired,  crowds 
visited  the  vessel,  a  public  meeting  was  held  on  the 
12th,  with  Judge  Blackford,  president,  and  Judge 
Morrison,  secretary,  to  make  a  formal  welcome,  and 
a  banquet  for  the  officers  and  owners.  Resolutions 
demanded  the  improvement  of  the  river,  and  the 
speeches  expressed  the  usual  invariable  confidence  of 
"  the  realization  of  our  most  sanguine  expectations." 
That  was  the  end  of  it.  After  making  a  couple  of 
little  excursions  up  the  river  on  the  12th,  she  started 
back  down  the  river  on  the  13th.  It  was  a  slow 
voyage.  The  pilot-house  and  chimneys  got  in  the 
way  of  the  tree  limbs,  the  bends  were  too  short  for 
her  length,  the  bars  too  frequent  and  shallow.  She 
knocked  off  her  pilot-house  and  damaged  her  wheel- 
house  in  one  of  her  excursions,  and  scared  her  un- 
familiar passengers  so  badly  that  a  good  many  jumped 
off  into  the  water.  With  such  ill  omens  and  a  slow 
voyage  down,  probably  nobody  was  surprised  to  hear 
that  she  had  grounded  at  Hog  Island,  where  the 
captain's  child  was  drowned,  and  never  got  off  till 
the  fall  rise  came.  Hopes  of  river  navigation  never 
flourished  after  this  experiment.  It  was  a  very  gen- 
eral belief  that  the  river  would  be  made  practically 
navigable  as  Congress  had  formally  declared  it  to  be, 
and  to  this  impression  must  be  attributed  the  early 
preference  of  settlers  for  locations  near  the  river.  On 
the  12th  of  February,  1825,  Alexander  Ralston,  who 


THE   CAPITAL  IN  THE   WOODS. 


107 


had  laid  out  the  town,  was  appointed  by  the  legisla- 
tive commissioners  to  make  a  survey  of  the  river  and 
estimate  the  cost  of  clearing  out  the  obstructions 
and  the  extent  of  practicable  navigability. 

During  the  summer  he  made  the  survey,  and  re- 
ported that  an  annual  outlay  of  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars would  make  the  stream  navigable  for  three  months 
in  each  year.  From  Sample's  Mills,  in  Randolph 
County,  to  Indianapolis  was  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles,  from  here  to  the  junction  with  White  River 
proper  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles,  and  from 
there  to  the  Wabash  forty  miles,  with  a  fall  of  eighteen 
inches  eight  miles  above  Martinsville,  and  another  of 
nine  feet  in  three  hundred  and  ten  miles  above  the 
junction,  with  a  great  drift  at  the  line  of  Daviess  and 
Greene  Counties.  On  the  basis  of  this  report  Congress 
was  several  times  petitioned  by  the  Legislature  to 
make  an  appropriation  for  the  proposed  improvement, 
but  nothing  was  ever  done.  The  State  made  some 
considerable  appropriations,  expended  by  the  County 
Board  along  the  river,  but  no  improvement  of  any 
real  value  could  be  made  by  such  disjointed  labors  and 
slender  means,  if  indeed  anything  could  be  done  by 
any  possible  expenditure  short  of  a  system  of  "  slack- 
water"  dams  and  locks.  Schemes  for  this  sort  of 
improvement  were  urged  upon  the  Legislature  by 
John  Matthews  and  others  for  several  years  after 
18.30,  and  renewed  again  in  1851,  when  the  "White 
River  Navigation  Company"  was  chartered  for  twenty 
years.  That  was  all  that  was  ever  done.  In  1865  a 
little  picnic  steamer  called  the  "  Governor  Morton" 
was  built  by  some  of  the  citizens,  and  made  some 
short  excursions  during  the  year  following,  but  she 
never  amounted  to  anything.  She  sank  below  the 
old  bridge  after  a  life  of  a  year,  and  her  machinery 
was  taken  out  and  put  into  some  sort  of  a  mill.  This 
is  all  of  the  history  of  the  navigation  of  White  River, 
except  that  the  steamer  "  Traveler"  came  up  as  far 
as  Spencer  in  1830,  and  the  "  Victory"  came  up 
within  fifty-five  miles  of  this  place  the  same  year. 
Of  the  use  of  the  river  for  commercial  purposes  more 
will  be  said  under  the  head  of  "  Transportation." 

The  first  stage  line  into  the  town  was  started  by 
Mr.  Johnson,  a  relative  of  Col.  Richard  M.  Johnson, 
to  Madison  in  the  summer  of  1828.     Mr.  Johnson 


about  the  same  time  established  a  coach-making  or 
repairing  shop  on  the  block  where  the  post-oflBce  and 
the  Odd-Pellows'  Hall  stand.  On  the  8th  of  July, 
1827,  the  National  road  commissioner,  Mr.  Knight, 
was  in  the  town,  and  fixed  the  lino  to  this  point. 
The  next  year,  in  September  and  October,  the  con- 
tracts for  the  work  were  let,  greatly  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  town,  which  had  been  so  long  locked  up  by 
cow-paths,  Indian  trails,  and  swampy  roads  cross- 
layed.  The  old  bridge  across  the  river  was  built  by 
William  Wernweg  and  Walter  Blake  for  eighteen 
thousand  dollars,  on  plans  furnished  by  the  late  Laza- 
rus B.  Wilson.  It  was  completed  in  1834,  the  con- 
tract being  let  July  26,  1831.  The  macadamizing  of 
the  road  was  completed  nearly  through  the  town  and 
about  three  miles  west,  just  beyond  Eagle  Creek,  and 
abandoned  in  1839  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of 
Congress  to  continue  the  appropriations.  The  road 
following  Washington  Street  enabled  that  thorough- 
fare to  get  the  first  improvement  that  any  street  ever 
got  in  the  place,  but  no  sidewalk  work  was  done  for 
several  years.  After  remaining  in  this  incomplete 
condition  for  a  number  of  years  Congress  finally  sur- 
rendered to  each  State  the  portion  of  the  National 
road  in  its  limits,  and  about  the  time  the  railroads 
began  advancing  pretty  rapidly  the  State  gave  the 
road  to  a  "  Plank-Road  Company,"  which  covered  it 
with  narrow,  heavy  oak  plank,  and  made  an  admirable 
road  till  the  plank  began  to  warp.  In  a  few  years 
the  plank-work  was  abandoned  and  the  road,  like 
hundreds  of  others  all  over  the  State,  was  heavily 
graveled  and  made  an  excellent  turnpike,  in  which 
condition  it  remains  to-day. 

The  first  "  show,"  McComber's  Menagerie,  ap- 
peared in  the  town  on  the  26th  and  27th  of  July, 
1830,  and  exhibited  on  the  open  space  back  of  Hen- 
derson's tavern,  about  where  the  Central  Engine 
house  is,  or  a  little  north  and  east  of  it.  Another 
exhibited  at  the  same  place  on  the  23d  and  24th  of 
August  of  the  same  year,  showing  among  other  curi- 
osities a  "  rompo."  Tradition  does  not  retain  a  de- 
scription of  this  mysterious  beast.  The  next  sum- 
mer saw  the  introduction  here  of  the  first  soda  foun- 
tain in  Dunlap  &  McDougal's  drug-store  on  East 
Washington  Street,  near  the  middle  of  the  block  be- 


108 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


THE   CAPITAL   IN  THE   WOODS. 


109 


tween  Pennsylvania  Street  and  the  alley  west  of  it  on 
the  north  side,  subsequently  kept  by  Scudder  &  Han- 
neman.  In  February,  1831,  the  first  artist,  a  por- 
trait-painter by  the  name  of  M.  G.  Rogers,  came 
here  for  a  professional  visit.  The  8th  of  January, 
80  long  celebrated  in  one  way  or  another  by  the  ad- 
mirers of  "  Old  Hickory,"  was  celebrated  in  Indian- 
apolis for  the  first  time  in  1830,  when  an  address  was 
delivered  by  Alexander  F.  Morrison,  brother  of  the 
late  Judge  James  and  the  banker  William  H.,  who 
had  recently  removed  here  and  started  an  administra- 
tion paper  called  the  Iiiduma  Democrat.  It  suc- 
ceeded the  Gazette,  and  became  the  Sentinel  in  1841, 
as  will  appear  more  fully  in  the  history  of  the  press. 
The  celebrations  of  the  Fourth  of  July  were  kept  up, 
and  in  1830  there  were  two,  one  of  the  Sunday- 
schools  under  Marshal  James  Blake,  and  one  of  the 
citizens  under  Marshal  Demas  McFarland.  The 
deaths  of  Adams  and  Jefi'erson  were  celebrated  here 
on  the  12th  of  August  with  appropriate  funeral  cere- 
monies. The  first  three-story  brick  building  was 
erected  by  William  Sanders,  north  side  of  Washing- 
ton Street,  a  little  west  of  Meridian,  in  the  summer 
of  1831.  It  is  still  standing  in  an  improved  condi- 
tion. That  same  summer  showed  Indianapolis  the 
first  elephant,  two  of  them  in  fact,  an  adult  and  a 
baby.  They  were  not  in  a  menagerie,  but  traveling 
on  their  own  merits.  The  population  of  Centre  town- 
ship by  the  census  of  1830  was  one  thousand  and 
ninety-four. 

Pretty  nearly  midway  between  the  statement  of 
the  census  and  the  condition  of  the  settlement  at  the 
removal  of  the  capital  is  the  estimate  of  February, 
1827,  in  the  Journal.  The  town  had  then  the  new 
■'  court-house,  a  Presbyterian  Church  with  thirty 
members,  a  Baptist  Church  with  thirty-six  members, 
a  Methodist  Church  with  ninety-three  members, 
worshiping  in  a  cabin  but  building  a  brick  church," 
the  walls  of  which  were  completed  and  inclosed 
in  the  fall.  A  Sunday-school  had  been  in  exist- 
ence five  years,  and  had  then  twenty  teachers  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  There  were  twenty- 
five  brick  hou.ses  in  the  place,  sixty  frames,  and  eighty 
hewed  and  rough  log ;  rents  were  high  and  houses  in 
demand.     The  Governor's   house   in   the  Circle  was 


then  in  progress,  and  six  two-story  and  five  one-story 
brick  houses  with  a  large  number  of  frames  had  been 
built  that  year.  The  editor  thought  the  condition  of 
things  promising  enough  to  inaugurate  an  era  of 
manufiietures  and  steam-power  to  produce  at  home 
the  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  brought  from 
abroad.  Among  the  year's  importations  were  seventy- 
six  kegs  of  tobacco,  two  hundred  barrels  of  flour,  one 
hundred  kegs  of  powder,  four  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds  of  yarn,  and  two  hundred  and  thirteen  bar- 
rels of  whiskey,  besides  seventy-one  made  here  (Bayou 
Blue),  a  pretty  profuse  supply  of  whiskey  for  a  popu- 
lation of  but  little  more  than  one  thousand,  and  a 
considerable  number  of  them  women  and  children, 
who  could  not  be  expected  to  drink  much.  Probably 
half  was  sold  to  the  country  around  or  even  farther 
away,  but  even  the  half,  or  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
barrels,  about  five  thousand  gallons,  would  make  five 
gallons  for  every  mouth,  little  and  big,  in  the  dona- 
tion, and  twenty  probably  for  every  adult  male.  The 
large  importation  of  powder  shows  that  no  little  de- 
pendence was  still  placed  in  the  rifle  as  the  food 
provider. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  1832,  the  news  of  the  out- 
break of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  under  Black  Hawk 
reached  the  town,  and  next  day  a  call  was  made  for  a 
hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the  Fortieth  Regiment, 
belonging  to  this  county,  and  for  as  many  more  from 
the  adjoining  counties,  to  rendezvous  here  on  the 
9th,  each  man  mounted,  and  armed  with  rifle,  knife, 
and  tomahawk,  and  a  supply  of  powder  for  the  cam- 
paign. When  assembled  here  they  were  organized 
in  three  companies,  under  Capts.  James  P.  Drake, 
John  W.  Redding,  and  Henry  Brenton.  There  was 
some  competition  for  the  command  of  the  battalion 
between  Col.  A.  W.  Russell  and  George  L.  Kinnard, 
a  member  of  Congress  in  1835,  and  scalded  to  death 
by  the  explosion  of  a  steamer  on  the  Ohio,  while  on 
his  way  to  the  national  capital.  He  began  here  as  a 
school-teacher  a  few  years  before  this  military  expe- 
dition. An  adjustment  was  made  which  gave  the 
command  to  Russell  and  the  adjutancy  to  Kinnard. 
The  night  before  the  expedition  started  a  consider- 
able portion  was  encamped  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  Military  Ground,  at  the  present  crossing  of  Wash- 


110 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


ington  and  West  Streets,  and  the  next  morning,  while 
the  people  of  the  town  were  gathering  round  ob- 
serving the  unwonted  spectacle,  the  men  were  mould- 
ing bullets  by  their  camp-fires,  or  throwing  toma- 
hawks at  a  mark.  When  all  were  mounted  and 
ready  to  march  they  made  as  fine  a  body  of  men  as 
could  have  been  found  in  any  army  in  the  world. 
They  went  from  here  to  Chicago,  then  a  fort  and  an 
Indian  trading-post,  guided  by  William  Conner,  found 
the  war  virtually  at  an  end,  and  marched  round  the 
end  of  the  lake  to  South  Bend,  where  the  late  John 
D.  Defrees,  then  editing  a  paper  there,  gave  them  the 
name  they  have  worn  ever  since,  and  will  as  long  as 
the  memory  or  history  of  the  expedition  remains,  the 
"  Bloody  Three  Hundred."  It  was  said  that  some  of 
them  wanted  to  fight  about  it,  but  the  cooler  heads 
dissuaded  them.  The  only  warlike  incident  of  the 
little  campaign  was  the  firing  of  a  frightened  picket  at 
a  vagrant  cow  one  night,  which  alarmed  the  whole 
camp.  The  battalion  returned  on  the  3d  of  July, 
and  took  part  in  the  celebration  next  day.  The  fol- 
lowing January  they  were  paid  by  Maj.  Lamed. 
William  Warren,  whose  hands  were  blown  oflF  while 
firing  a  salute  to  the  command,  was  afterwards  pen- 
sioned by  act  of  Congress,  obtained  by  Mr.  Kinnard, 
under  some  neat  little  confusion  of  him  with,  the 
military  expedition,  with  which  he  had  no  more  to 
do  than  he  had  with  the  "  Russian  Expedition." 
He  was  digging  a  cellar  when  he  joined  the  gun 
squad.  The  "good  old  times"  were  not  so  much 
more  squeamish  or  scrupulous  than  ours  after  all. 

During  the  summer  and  early  fall  of  1832  sub- 
scriptions were  made  and  steps  taken  to  build  a 
market-house,  the  leading  men  being  Charles  I. 
Hand  and  the  late  John  Givan,  then  a  prominent 
and  honored  citizen,  in  later  life  a  pauper  and  semi- 
tramp.  It  was  built  the  following  summer  where  it 
still  stands,  greatly  extended  to  be  sure,  but  other- 
wise unchanged,  and  wholly  inadequate  to  its  pur- 
poses. Efibrts  have  very  recently  been  made  to  re- 
place the  old  structure  with  one  suitable  to  the  size 
and  needs  of  the  city,  built  with  the  bequest  made 
some  years  ago  by  the  late  Stephen  Tomlinson,  but 


and  the  alleged  probability  that  the  expense  would 
exceed  the  bequest  and  create  a  necessity  for  more 
city  tax,  and  some  technical  oversight  in  letting  the 
contract  brought  an  injunction  from  the  court  on  the 
project,  and  thus  it  still  lies.  Thomas  McOuat, 
Josiah  Davis,  and  John  Walton  were  the  committee 
charged  with  the  supervision  of  the  work  on  the  first 
and  present  market-house.  Under  the  act  of  Jan. 
26,  1832,  authorizing  a  lease  of  a  seminary  site  to 
the  trustees  of  the  county  seminary,  Demas  McFar- 
land.  Dr.  Livingston  Dunlap,  and  J.  S.  Hall,  the 
trustees,  obtained  the  lease  the  same  year,  and  began 
measures  for  erecting  the  building.  The  most  im- 
portant event  of  this  year,  however,  was  the  incor- 
poration of  the  town  under  the  general  law. 

There  was  no  separation  of  the  town  from  the 
rest  of  the  county  till  now.  All  had  been  gov- 
erned alike  by  State  laws  and  the  oflBcers  appointed 
by  them.  On  the  3d  of  September,  1832,  a  public 
meeting  was  held  in  the  court-house,  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  incorporate  the  town  under  the  general  in- 
corporation act.  An  election  for  five  trtistees  was 
held  the  same  month,  and  Henry  P.  Coburn,  John 
Wilkins,  Samuel  Merrill,  Samuel  Henderson,  and 
John  G.  Brown  were  chosen.  They  organized  by 
making  Mr..  Henderson  president  and  Israel  P.  Grif- 
fith secretary.  Five  wards  were  made  of  the  old 
plat, — First,  all  east  of  Alabama  Street ;  Second, 
from  Alabama  to  Pennsylvania ;  Third,  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  Meridian;  Fourth,  from  Meridian  to 
Tennessee ;  Fifth,  all  west  of  Tennessee.  The  first 
marshal  and  collector  was  Samuel  Jennison  ;  the  first 
assessor,  Glidden  True ;  the  first  market-master, 
Fleming  T.  Luse.  Other  officers  were  appointed 
later.  In  December  two  general  ordinances  were 
published,  one  for  the  general  regulation  of  the 
town,  the  other  relating  specially  to  the  markets. 
The  general  ordinance  created  the  offices  of  clerk, 
marshal  and  collector,  treasurer  and  assessor,  all  held 
under  bond  and  security.  Assessments  were  to  be 
made  in  January,  and  tax  collections  reported  to  the 
treasurer  in  June.  It  will  not  be  uninteresting  to 
note  the  leading  ofienses  defined  by  this  first  act  of 


considerable  opposition  was  made  in  consequence  of     municipal  legislation, — firing  guns  or  flying  kites  on 
the  coupling  of  a  city  hall  with  the  market  building,     the  streets,   leaving   cellar-doors   open   or   teams  un- 


THE   CAPITAL  IN   THE  WOODS. 


Ill 


hitched,  driving  across  or  on  foot-paths,  racing 
horses,  letting  hogs  run  at  large,  keeping  stallions 
on  Washington  Street,  keeping  piles  of  wood  on  the 
same  street  more  than  twelve  hours,  or  piles  of 
shavings  anywhere  more  than  two  days,  keeping  a 
drinking-house  or  a  "show"  without  license.  Of- 
fenders were  to  be  sued  in  twenty  days  before  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  in  the  name  of  the  trustees. 
Meetings  of  the  Board  were  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Friday  of  each  month,  but  at  any  time  on  a  proper 
call.  The  market  ordinance  provided  for  markets  on 
Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  two  hours  after  daylight, 
the  market-master  to  look  after  weights  and  the  qual- 
ities of  marketable  articles,  as  he  does  now.  Huck- 
stering was  prohibited.  Town  elections  were  to  be 
held  annually  in  September. 

Under  this  first  municipal  organization  the  town 
continued  till  1836,  then  the  Legislature  passed  a 
special  act  of  incorporation  legalizing  the  action  of 
the  trustees  previously.  The  wards  were  left  un- 
changed, but  the  election  was  shifted  from  September 
to  April.  The  trustees  were  to  elect  a  president, 
clerk,  marshal,  lister  or  assessor,  collector,  and  other 
customary  town  officers.  They  were  also  to  levy 
taxes  and  improve  the  streets  and  sidewalks  at  the 
cost  of  the  owners  of  the  adjacent  property.  The 
rate  of  taxation  could  not  exceed  one-half  of  one  per 
cent.,  and  could  only  be  levied  on  property  within 
the  town  plat.  The  act  of  incorporation  included  the 
whole  donation  for  all  purposes  but  taxation.  The 
new  Board  continued  the  old  ordinances  mainly  un- 
changed. Settlement  was  made  by  the  former  officer 
to  April,  1836,  the  treasurer  showing  the  receipt  of  a 
revenue  for  the  year  of  sixteen  hundred  and  ten  dol- 
lars, and  the  expenditure  of  all  but  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  dollars,  a  far  more  liberal  margin  than  can 
be  found  between  receipts  and  expenses  nowadays. 
On  the  17th  of  February,  1838,  a  reincorporation 
act  was  passed,  making  no  material  change,  however, 
except  increasinsr  the  wards  to  six,  electing  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  by  a  general  popular  vote,  and 
each  ward  trustee  by  the  voters  of  the  ward.  Pre- 
viously all  had  been  elected  by  a  general  vote.  The 
Board  was  to  be  the  "  Common  Council,"  and  elected 
annually,  four   to   make  a  quorum.     The   president 


had  the  jurisdiction  and  powers  of  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  the  marshal  those  of  a  constable.  The 
trustees  received  twelve  dollars  a  year,  or  one  dollar 
for  each  regular  monthly  meeting.  The  new  wards 
were :  First,  all  east  of  Alabama  ;  Second,  to  Penn- 
sylvania;  Third,  to  Meridian;  Fourth,  to  Illinois; 
Fifth,  to  Mississippi ;  Sixth,  to  the  river.  Tax  sales 
for  delinquencies  could  be  made  by  the  new  charter, 
and  the  first  was  made  on  the  25th  of  October,  1839. 
The  four  boundary  streets  of  the  city  plat,  North, 
South,  East,  and  West,  had  previously  been  mere 
alleys,  or  closed  altogether  in  places,  but  the  new 
Council  ordered  them  opened.  This  city  organiza- 
tion continued  until  it  was  changed  for  something  like 
a  regular  city  government  of  a  mayor  and  Council, 
in  1847.  Some  amendments  were  made  from  time 
to  time,  but  nothing  that  affected  the  general  course 
of  public  business.  In  February,  1839,  the  taxes 
collected  in  West  Indianapolis  (now  Indianola),  west 
of  the  river,  were  ordered  to  be  expended,  and  alleys 
were  authorized  to  be  opened  in  the  donation.  In 
1840,  in  February,  councilmen  were  required  to  serve 
two  years  instead  of  one,  and  were  given  twenty-four 
dollars  a  year.  In  February,  1841,  the  marshal  was 
elected  by  popular  vote,  and  on  Jan.  15, 1844,  all  the 
town  officers  were  changed  from  appointment  by  the 
Council  to  election  by  the  people.  No  effort  at  street 
improvement  was  made  till  1836,  and  no  city  engineer 
employed  till  that  year.  No  grading  or  paving  of 
sidewalks  was  attempted  till  1839  or  thereabouts. 
The  first  survey  attempted  for  any  such  purpose  was 
made  by  William  Sullivan,  for  many  years  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  at  one  time  a  teacher  in  the  Old  Semi- 
nary, and  one  of  the  most  honored  of  the  old  resi- 
dents. He  made  a  survey  of  the  street  and  alley 
between  Meridian  and  Pennsylvania,  north  side  of 
Washington,  in  1838.  In  1841,  James  Wood  was 
employed  to  make  a  general  survey,  and  did  so.  His 
grades  were  followed  till  it  was  found  that  his  whole 
scheme  of  survey  was  based  on  the  idea  of  turning 
the  city  surface  into  an  inclined  plane  sloping  to  the 
southwest  corner  and  into  the  river,  without  regard 
to  natural  features  favoring  a  less  artificial  and  ex- 
pensive drainage.  Of  the  changes  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment after  the  first  organization  as  a  city  in  1847, 


112 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


an    account   will   be   found   under   the   heading   of 
"  Municipal  Government." 

For  the  first  twelve  years  of  the  existence  of  the 
town  its  history  and  that  of  the  county  are  identical. 
The'  laws  and  officers  of  both  were  the  same,  the 
taxes,  improvements,  and  changes  the  same,  so  far  as 
they  were  dependent  on  public  and  official  action. 
For  a  period  still  longer,  as  before  suggested,  there 
was  a  close  identity  of  social  condition.  The  sepa- 
ration legally  came  in  1832,  but  the  other  only 
became  distinct  a  decade  later.  There  is  not  much 
to  say  of  the  county  outside  of  the  town  in  this 
period  of  identity.  After  the  erection  of  the  public 
buildings,  already  noted,  there  was  little  to  do  and 
little  means  to  do  with.  The  following  statement  of 
receipts  for  the  first  half-dozen  years  of  the  county 
organization  will  tell  the  story  of  its  financial  condi- 
tion. Treasurer  Yandes'  report  for  1822  shows  that 
the  total  receipts  from  licenses  and  taxes  was  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  and  eighty-four 
cents.  Another  statement  shows  the  net  revenue  of 
this  first  year  to  be  eight  hundred  and  fifty-five  dol- 
lars. The  following  table  of  receipts  and  expenses  of 
the  county  from  its  organization  to  the  separation  of 
the  town  by  incorporation  is  compiled  from  the 
records  of  the  County  Board  : 


HeceiptB. 

For  1822 S855.00 

"  1823 730.29 

"  1824 689.60 

"  1825 845.93 

"  1826 915.91 

"  1827 1157.87 

"  1828 918.69 

"  1829 1786. 73i 

"  1830 2095.48i 

"  1831 2242.454 

"  1832 3176.21  J 


Expenses. 

For  1822 Not  stated. 

"     1823 $863. 70i 

"     1824 962.27J 

"     1825 1235.18* 

"     1326 501.73 

"     1827 683.69 

"     1928 688. 15i 

"     1829 1034. 13i 

"     1830 1045.34i 

"     1831 1330.59 

"     1832 2788.03+ 


The  County  Board,  when  the  county  was  organized, 
consisted  of  three  commissioners,  as  already  noted. 
On  the  31st  of  January,  1824,  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture changed  this  mode  of  doing  county  business  for 
a  board  composed  of  all  the  justices  of  the  peace  of 
the  county.  This  was  repealed  in  February,  1831, 
and  the  board  of  three  commissioners  restored.  In 
1835  this  was  again  made  to  give  place  to  a  board  of 
justices,  which  was  once  more  and  finally  displaced  by 
commissioners  in  1837.      The   first  meeting  of  the 


board  of  justices  was  on  the  6tb  of  September,  1824, 
at  the  house  of  John  Carr,  the  court-house  not  being 
quite  finished  yet.  Joel  Wright  was  elected  presi- 
dent over  Wilkes  Reagin  and  Obed  Foote.  The 
members  present  were  Joel  Wright,  Henry  D.  Bell, 
Obed  Foote,  Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  John  C.  Hume, 
William  D.  Rooker,  Sismund  Basye,  Wilkes  Reagin, 
and  Joseph  Beeler.  It  may  be  noted  as  a  mark  of 
the  culture  of  the  times  that  the  president  of  the 
board  signs  himself  "  Preasadent  of  the  Bord." 

The  work  of  the  Board,  whether  of  justices  or  com- 
missioners, was  largely  of  a  routine  character  ;  receiv- 
ing petitions  for  the  opening  of  county  roads  and 
neighborhood  roads,  appointing  "  viewers"  to  examine 
and  report  on  the  proposed  lines,  allowing  little  claims 
for  services  or  labor  of  one  kind  or  another,  licensing 
stores  composed  the  bulk  of  it.  Occasionally  a  con- 
stable was  appointed  and  a  list  of  grand  and  petit  jurors 
provided  for  the  clerk  to  draw  from  in  court  terms. 
The  first  roll  of  grand  jurors,  selected  from  among  the 
tax-payers  of  the  county  at  the  May  session,  1822, 
and  numbering  "  fifty-four  discreet  householders,"  will 
not  be  uninteresting : 

Alexander  Ralston.  John  McClung. 

Joseph  C.  Reed.  Thomas  O'Neal. 

Isaac  Wilson.  Reuben  Putnam. 

Thomas  Anderson.  John  Allison. 

Joseph  Catterlin.  William  C.  Blackmore. 

Asahel  Dunning.  William  Dyer. 

Elijah  Fox.  Samuel  D.  Honelly. 

Samuel  Harding.  William  Conner. 

Aaron  Lambeth.  Curtis  Mallory. 

Morris  Morris.  Wilkes  Reagin. 

George  Norwood.  George  Smith. 

Daniel  Pettingill.  Joel  Wright. 

WUliam  D.  Rooker.  Robert  Brenton. 

John  Myers.  Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley. 

James  Paige.  John  Fox. 

Judah  Leaming.  John  Hawkins. 

Collins  Thorp.  Alexis  Jackson. 

John  Finch.  Samuel  G.  Mitchell. 

Archibald  C.  Reed.  Samuel  Morrow. 

John  Smock.  James  Porter. 

David  Wood.  William  Reagin. 

George  Buckner.  Peter  Harmonson. 


THE   CAPITAL   IN  THE   WOODS. 


113 


Isaac  Coe. 
Francis  Davis. 
James  Givan. 
Jeremiah  Johnson. 
Zenas  Lake. 


Isaac  Stevens. 
Amasa  Makepeace. 
Joseph  iMcCormick. 
William  Bush. 
William  Forster. 


A  sample  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the  county 
will  serve  as  well  as  a  full  copy  of  the  records  to 
inform  the  reader  of  its  character.  Here  is  an  allow- 
ance:  "  It  is  ordered  that  Calvin  Fletcher  be  allowed 
five  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  three  days'  services  in 
appraising  town  lots  under  the  direction  of  the  lister 
(Col.  James  Paxton),  and  Caleb  Scudder  be  allowed 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  one  day's  similar  services, 
all  payable  out  of  the  county  treasury."  "  Allowed 
Joseph  Clark,  for  making  two  jury  boxes  to  contain 
the  selected  names  for  the  grand  and  petit  jurors, 
one  dollar."  "  It  is  ordered  that  Calvin  Fletcher  and 
John  Packer  be  appointed  to  serve  as  overseers  of  the 
poor  in  Centre- Warren  township  for,  during,  and 
until  the  next  session  on  the  second  Monday  of  May 
next."  "  Allowed  Francis  Davis,  David  Wood,  and 
Demas  L.  McFarland  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  each 
for  two  days'  services  in  viewing  Harding's  road  (line 
of  old  National  road),  and  to  Alexander  W.  Russell, 
for  two  days'  services  in  surveying  the  same,  two  dol- 
lars, payable,"  etc.  Whenever  a  road  was  petitioned 
for  and  favorably  considered — usually  the  result, 
though  sometimes  remonstrances  were  put  in  and  the 
road  disallowed — three  reputable  citizens  and  house- 
holders were  appointed  to  "  view  '  it,  and  upon  their 
report  the  road  was  ordered  opened.  The  routes  were 
always  indicated  by  the  lines  of  the  Congressional 
survey,  "  section,"  "  township,"  and  "  range,"  and 
marked,  as  the  reports  frequently  say,  "  with  two  hacks 
with  tomahawk"  or  "  two  chops  with  an  axe"  on  the 
trees  at  certain  points.  Some  petitions  wanted  the 
road  opened  "  to  the  centre  of  town."  There  were 
no  cleared  streets,  not  even  Washington,  at  the  first 
meetings  for  county  business.  Roads  out  of  and 
through  the  town  were  cow-paths  or  stumpy  openings 
too  densely  closed  in  with  trees  and  brush  to  allow 
one  neighbor  to  see  the  house  of  anotlier  within  hail- 
ing distance.  These  will  serve  as  specimens  of  the 
county  road-work,  and  it  was  a  large  portion  of  all  that 
was  done.     At  every  session  there  were  from  two  to  a 


half-dozen  road  petitions  to  act  on,  "  viewers"  to  ap- 
point, and  reports  to  receive.  Here  is  a  specimen  of 
a  "  store  license :"  "  James  Givan  and  son  bavin" 
satisfied  the  Board  that  they  have  not  in  amount  more 
than  one  thousand  dollars  in  stock  of  foreign  merchan- 
dise, it  is  ordered  that  on  producing  the  treasurer's 
receipt  for  ten  dollars  they  receive  a  licen.se  to  retail 
foreign  merchandise  in  this  county  for  one  year."  The 
tavern  license  was  twelve  dollars,  and  three  taverns 
paid  it  in  1823, — Hawkins',  Carter's,  and  Blake  & 
Henderson's.  Occasionally  allowances  were  made  for 
the  support  of  paupers  by  private  citizens  for  a  short 
time,  and  like  allowances  were  made  to  doctors  for 
services  to  the  same  class.  Once  in  1825  an  allow- 
ance of  three  dollars  is  made  to  Samuel  Duke  for  a 
coffin  for  a  drowned  negro,  apparently  the  first  person 
drowned  in  the  settlement.  The  following  order 
possesses  the  interest  of  novelty,  at  least  to  the  great 
majority  of  readers,  who  are  not  aware  that  debtors 
could  be  imprisoned  like  thieves  in  Marion  County  in 
early  times  :  "  Allowed  to  Hervey  Bates  for  meat  and 
drink  furnished  to  John  J.  E.  Barnett  and  Samuel 
Roberts  (one  of  the  first  constables),  insolvent  per- 
sons confined  in  the  county  jail  at  the  suit  of  the 
State."  The  amount  is  not  given,  as  the  item  is 
one  of  several  allowed  to  Mr.  Bates  as  sheriff.  The 
appointment  of  supervisors  of  roads,  of  school  dis- 
tricts, of  the  poor,  the  resignations  and  elections  of 
justices  and  constables,  levies  of  taxes  will  about 
complete  the  list  of  the  labors  of  the  County  Board, 
added  to  those  above  named,  during  the  twelve 
years  that  the  town  and  county  governments  were 
identical. 

The  events  and  incidents  illustrating  the  develop- 
ment of  the  town  during  seven  years,  from  the  organ- 
ization of  the  first  municipal  government  in  1832  to 
the  abandonment  of  the  public  works  in  1839,  which 
forms  the  second  division  of  the  second  period  of  the 
city's  history,  may  be  treated  in  four  groups :  1st, 
The  temporary  improvement  in  business  and  real 
estate  values,  originating  in  the  confidence  of  an  early 
completion  of  the  State's  "  Internal  Improvement 
System  ;"  2d,  The  first  establishment  of  some  of  the 
industries  which  are  now  among  the  chief  agencies  of 
the  city's  prosperity  ;  3d,  Enlarged  educational  ad- 


lU 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


vantages ;  4th,  The  organization  of  some  of  the  usual 
business  conveniences  of  cities. 

1st.  Within  three  years  after  ihe  organization  of 
the  town  government  the  swell  of  the  "  Internal  Im- 
provement" tide  began  to  be  felt.  Prices  of  lots  stiff- 
ened and  speculation  began  to  reach  out  for  chances. 
The  State  had  spent  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
making  roads,  but  that  could  not  go  far  in  creating 
transportation  facilities  in  a  country  of  dense  woods 
and  few  settlements.  What  the  people  wanted  was 
means  of  getting  away  and  getting  home  with  goods 
and  produce,  and  country  roads  were  a  very  inade- 
quate provision.  Railroads  were  a  recent  improve- 
ment about  which  the  whole  country  was  excited,  and 
Indiana  wanted  railroads.  The  Wabash  and  Erie 
Canal  was  advancing  with  the  help  of  Congressional 
grants,  but  water-ways  were  wanted  for  the  central 
and  eastern  parts  of  the  State.  A  canal  to  connect 
the  Ohio  with  the  Wabash  Canal  was  to  pass  through 
here.  A  railroad  to  make  a  similar  connection 
higher  up  the  Ohio  was  also  to  pass  through 
here.  Other  railroads,  as  before  noted,  aimed  here 
either  as  a  terminus  or  necessary  junction.  The  Leg- 
islature of  1835-36,  the  first  that  met  in  the  new 
State-House,  was  confidently  expected  to  go  largely 
into  the  improvement  business  and  give  Indianapolis 
an  especially  elevating  lift.  Thus  started  the  first 
speculative  movement  in  the  history  of  the  city.  The 
Legislature  did  not  disappoint  expectation.  The 
"  Internal  Improvement  Bill,"  giving  State  aid  to  five 
or  six  railroad,  turnpike,  and  canal  projects,  notably 
the  Central  Canal  and  the  Madison  Railroad,  and 
ordering  the  issue  of  ten  million  dollars  of  bonds 
to  make  the  aid  effective,  was  passed  on  the  26th  of 
January,  1836,  and  was  welcomed  in  advance  on  the 
16th  with  bonfires  and  a  brilliant  illumination,  the 
first  ever  witnessed  here,  and  the  saddest  in  the  out- 
come that  was  ever  witnessed  anywhere.  The  canal 
it  was  known  would  pass  through  one  of  the  western 
streets,  and  speculation  moved  that  way.  Some  of 
the  heaviest  sales  that  had  ever  been  made  were  of 
lots  on  Washington  Street,  along  the  two  blocks  be- 
tween Mississippi  and  Missouri.  William  Quarles, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  criminal  lawyers  of  the 
State,  built  a  residence  as  close  to  the  line  of  the 


canal  as  he  could  get.  The  settlement  which  had  so 
long  been  moving  eastward,  away  from  the  river  and 
the  site  of  the  first  settlement,  began  moving  back. 
Houses  were  rising  rapidly  and  settlers  coming  in  en- 
couragingly. The  great  crash  came  the  next  year, 
but  it  did  not  disturb  the  confidence  of  the  people 
here.  The  State's  bonds  still  supplied  money,  kept 
the  public  works  going,  and  furnished  means  of  spec- 
ulation and  appearances  of  prosperity;  but  in  1839 
the  shock  fell  with  full  force  here,  after  sending 
ahead  premonitory  tremors  for  several  months.  Prices 
fell  and  speculators  were  ruined  ;  business  was  univer- 
sally embarrassed  ;  real  estate,  both  town  and  country, 
was  abundant  but  unavailable, — it  would  not  bring 
cash  and  could  not  pay  debts.  A  good  many  sacri- 
ficed all  they  had  and  even  then  did  not  pay  all  they 
owed.  Many  others  made  compromises  that  enabled 
them  to  look  around  and  wait  for  chances,  and  finally 
came  out  with  a  good  start  in  another  race.  The 
Bankrupt  Act  of  1841  proved  a  great  help  to  strug- 
gling honesty  with  unavailable  means,  yet  fewer  of 
the  business  men  of  Indianapolis  than  of  probably 
any  town  in  the  State  sought  its  relief.  The  great 
"  Internal  Improvement  System,"  which  was  expected 
to  prove  so  great  a  blessing,  turned  out  an  almost 
unmitigated  curse.  For  six  years  it  burdened  the 
tax-payer  and  for  twenty  discredited  the  State.  The 
failure  to  keep  up  the  interest  in  1841  and  thence 
on  to  1846,  when  the  Butler  compromise  with  the 
bondholders  was  completed  (by  giving  up  the  Wabash 
Canal  for  seven  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
half  of  the  principal  debt,  and  issuing  two  and  a 
half  per  cent,  bonds  for  the  unpaid  interest  and  five 
per  cent,  bonds  for  the  other  half  of  the  principal), 
placed  Indiana  among  the  repudiating  States,  and  was 
a  drag  on  her  and  the  capital  town  for  many  a  year. 

The  canal  and  railroad  intended  for  this  place  were 
not  wholly  thrown  away,  however.  The  Madison 
Railroad  was  completed  and  running  north  to  Vernon 
a  year  or  two  before  the  panic  struck  it.  Until  1843 
the  State  operated  it  with  little  advantage  to  anybody. 
Then  it  was  sold  to  a  company,  as  will  be  more  par- 
ticularly related  in  the  part  of  the  work  treating 
of  "  Transportation"  and  railroads.  The  canal  was 
worked  in  many  places  at  once  along  a  large  part  of 


THE    CAPITAL   IN    THE    WOODS. 


115 


its  length,  but  mainly  from  the  river  at  Noblesville  to 
the  lower  part  of  Morgan  County.  A  large  force 
was  engaged  in  and  near  the  town,  and  it  was  at  that 
time,  from  1837  to  1839,  that  songs  of  "  the  canawl" 
were  so  popular  with  the  "  uncultured."  Some  allu- 
sion to  them  was  made  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Of  course  there  were  frequent  rows  and  bloody  fights. 
On  one  occasion  in  1838  two  factions  of  the  Irish 
hands  kept  up  a  fight  nearly  all  day,  engaging  some 
hundreds  altogether  and  furnishing  a  good  many  sur- 
gical subjects,  but  none  fortunately  for  the  sexton. 
For  two  years  long  lines  of  little  shanties,  stuck  in 
among  heaps  of  sand  and  piles  of  logs  and  brush  cut 
out  of  the  line  of  the  canal,  were  conspicuous  features 
of  a  dreary  scene  that  they  made  doubly  dreary. 
Simultaneously  with  the  canal  work  was  going  on  the 
grading  and  metaling  of  the  National  road,  and  the 
two  evil  attractions  brought  here  an  unusual  force  of 
worthless  or  mischievous  characters,  as  noted  in  a 
previous  chapter.  Their  outrages  both  of  violence 
and  theft  became  intolerable,  and  a  public  meeting 
was  called  to  devise  a  remedy.  It  was  decided  to 
make  an  organization  of  the  citizens,  something  like  a 
Vigilance  Committee,  with  the  conspicuous  difference 
that  it  was  intended  to  enforce  instead  of  supersede 
the  laws.  This  movement  had  a  wholesome  effect, 
which  was  strengthened  afterward  by  the  rough  hand- 
ling of  the  leader,  Burkhart,  as  related  in  the  sketch 
of  the  history  of  camp-meetings. 

The  canal  was  entirely  completed  between  the  city 
and  Broad  Ripple,  wliere  there  was  a  feeder-dam,  and 
for  a  time  used  a  little  for  the  legitimate  purpose 
of  transporting  wood  and  corn  and  occasional  loads 
of  hay  or  lumber,  and  a  good  deal  for  the  less  legiti- 
mate purpose  of  bathing  and  fishing.  If  passengers 
ever  used  it  they  did  it  in  a  skiff.  An  eager  run  was 
made  for  water-power,  as  will  be  noticed  further  along 
in  the  account  of  the  manufactures  of  this  period. 
A  stone  lock  was  put  in  at  Market  Street,  and  a  race- 
way taken  westward  north  of  Market,  as  may  be  seen 
to-day,  for  mills  nearer  the  river.  Two  wooden  locks 
were  put  in  at  the  bluff  of  the  swamp  called  "  Palmer's 
Glade,"  near  the  line  of  Kansas  Street,  but  never 
finished.  The  canal  was  never  used  for  anything  but 
a  mill-race  below  the  stone  lock,  and  for  many  of  its 


last  years  it  was  not  used  for  that.  It  was  made  a  sort 
of  open  sewer,  into  which  eveiybody  who  lived  handy 
threw  their  old  boots  and  dead  cats,  ashes  and  rotten 
cabbage,  till  it  was  too  offensive  to  be  borne.  In  1870 
it  was  abandoned  altogether  below  Market  Street,  and 
a  sewer  was  laid  in  the  bottom  of  it  from  Market  to 
Louisiana  Street,  where  it  connected  with  the  main 
sewer  down  Kentucky  Avenue.  Then  it  was  rapidly 
filled  up  as  far  down  as  Merrill  Street,  and  in  scattered 
places  farther  south,  till  it  was  measurably  effaced. 
Recently  it  has  been  built  in  and  over,  and  on  the  site 
of  the  steel-rail  rolling-mill  has  been  so  completely 
destroyed  that  the  most  familiar  eye  fails  to  discern  its 
place,  and  only  in  a  short  "  reach"  above  Morris 
Street  can  any  remains  be  detected.  From  Market 
Street  to  the  Ripple  it  is  now  an  important  adjunct  of 
the  water-works,  and  is  used  for  boating,  swimming, 
fishing,  skating,  and  in  packing  far  more  than  the 
river  is  or  ever  was.  The  account  of  the  changes  in 
this  portion  of  it  belongs  to  the  sketch  of  the  water- 
works. The  owners  of  the  ground  (or  their  assignees) 
through  which  the  canal  diverged  eastward  from 
Missouri  Street  at  the  crossing  of  Merrill,  reaching 
nearly  to  Tennessee  Street,  when  abandoned  by  the 
State's  assignees  as  a  means  of  navigation  and  hydraulic 
power,  reclaimed  their  proprietary  rights.  The  In- 
dianapolis, Cincinnati  and  Lafayette  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  had  purchased  of  the  State's  assignees  the 
lower  part  of  the  work,  brought  suit  to  restrain  them 
from  filling  it  up  or  obstructing  it.  Judge  Drum- 
mond,  of  the  United  States  Court,  in  an  elaborate 
opinion,  sustained  the  rights  of  the  original  owners  of 
the  ground,  and  thus  this  costly  work  was  legally 
allowed  to  be  wiped  out,  so  far  as  the  lower  station  of 
it  is  concerned.  It  was  virtually  finished,  except  an 
aqueduct  at  Pleasant  Run  and  some  of  the  southern 
creeks,  nearly  or  quite  to  the  Bluffs,  but  after  the 
abandonment  of  1839  it  was  never  used,  never  held 
water,  and  was  soon  overgrown  with  underbrush. 

2d.  Before  the  organization  of  the  town  govern- 
ment no  attempt  was  made  at  manufacturing  other 
than  the  usual  custom  work  of  the  mechanics  who 
are  among  the  early  settlers  of  all  towns,  except  in 
iron,  leather,  pottery,  and  the  preparation  of  ginseng. 
There  were  two  pottery  establishments  in  the  place 


116 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


as  early  as  1832  or  earlier,  and  a  third  not  far  from 
the  same  time.  One  of  the  early  two  was  on  Mary- 
land Street,  near  Tennessee,  the  site  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Myers ;  the  other 
was  removed  to  make  room  for  the  State  Bank  build- 
ing in  1840,  and  was  established  by  Robert  Brenton. 
It  occupied  the  peak  between  Illinois  Street  and 
Kentucky  Avenue,  very  near  the  first  school-house. 
The  third  was  on  Washington  Street,  north  side, 
near  New  Jer.?ey,  and  set  its  furnace  in  the  "ravine" 
that  ran  through  the  ground  down  to  the  creek,  as 
described  in  the  ''  topography"  of  the  town.  These 
probably  made  ware  for  stock,  besides  what  was  made 
on  order,  before  the  town  organization.  Daniel 
Yandes,  one  of  the  industrial  pioneers  and  benefactors 
of  the  settlement,  in  connection  with  John  Wilkius, 
carried  on  a  tannery  on  Alabama  Street,  near  the  site 
of  the  city  station-house,  for  several  years  before.  As 
early  as  1830  or  earlier  James  Blake  and  Nicholas 
McCarty  established  a  ginseng  or,  as  it  was  called  in 
its  day,  a  "  sang"-factory,  on  the  south  bluflF  of 
Pogue's  Run  Valley,  near  the  Cincinnati  Railroad 
depot  site.  Mr.  McCarty  bought  the  ginseng  of 
farmers  here,  and  through  his  agents  and  branch 
stores  in  other  places,  and  Mr.  Blake  attended  to  the 
preparation  of  it  and  its  shipment  to  Philadelphia 
for  the  Chinese  market.  Very  near  the  time  of  the 
first  town  organization  Joshua  Grover  did  some  iron 
foundry  work,  but  nothing  of  any  importance  was  at- 
tempted till  August,  1832.  Then  R.  A.  McPherson 
&  Co.  established  a  considerable  foundry  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  then  in 
progress.  It  failed,  however,  about  the  same  time 
the  big  steam-mill  enterprise  failed,  as  before  related. 
These  are  all  of  the  more  extended  industries  that 
preceded  the  town  government.  There  were  the 
grist-  and  saw-mills  and  carding-machines,  and  the 
usual  blacksmith,  carpenter,  wagon-maker,  tailor, 
shoemaker,  cabinet,  and  other  shops,  and  the  town 
fiddler.  Bill  Bagwell,  made  cigars  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Illinois  and  Maryland  Streets,  but  the 
workmen  usually  kept  no  journeymen,  and  did  all 
their  own  work  for  cu.stomers.  For  twenty  years  or 
more  apprentices  were  taken  under  indenture  to  learn 
the  trade  and  live  with  their  masters,  getting  a  sum 


of  money  and  a  suit  of  clothes  at  twenty-one,  but  the 
apprentice  system  passed  away  with  the  changes 
brought  by  the  railroads.  It  is  supposed  that  Mr. 
Johnson,  who  established  the  first  stage  line  in  1828, 
opened  a  shop  for  coach  repairs,  and  later  for  manu- 
facture, about  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the 
town  government. 

Enterprise  began  to  appear  more  conspicuously 
soon  after  this.  In  1834,  John  L.  Young  and  Wil- 
liam Wernweg  started  the  first  brewery,  on  Maryland 
Street,  south  side,  halfway  between  Missouri  and 
West.  About  1840  it  was  taken  by  Joseph  Laux, 
and  later  by  Mr.  Meikel.  About  the  same  time  a 
rope-walk  was  started  on  Market  Street,  east  of  the 
market-house,  and  a  linseed-oil  mill  was  put  in  opera- 
tion by  John  S.  Barnes  and  Williamson  Maxwell  in 
a  stable  on  the  alley  south  of  Maryland  Street,  near 
Missouri,  close  to  the  grounds  of  the  present  ward 
school.  Scudder  &  Hannaman  got  it  the  next  year, 
and  moved  it  to  the  river  bank  in  1839.  In  1835 
the  same  enterprising  firm  began  the  manufacture  of 
tobacco  in  the  log  building  on  Kentucky  Avenue, 
below  Merrill,  where  a  carding-machine,  run  by 
horse-power,  had  previously  been  operated.  In  that 
year  James  Bradley,  with  one  or  two  associates,  cut, 
cured,  and  packed  pork  in  Myers'  old  pottery-shop, 
on  the  site  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  place.  It  was  the  feeble 
beginning,  ending  in  failure,  of  what  has  grown  to  be 
the  largest  industrial  interest  of  the  city.  Its  ill- 
fortune  warned  enterprise  away  for  several  years,  but 
when  it  came  again,  a  half-dozen  years  later,  it 
"  came  to  stay."  In  1835,  Robert  Underbill  and 
John  Wood  started  a  steam  foundry  on  Pennsyl- 
vania Street,  near  the  site  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  maintained  it  successfully  in 
making  plow  points,  mill  gearing,  and  domestic  hol- 
low-ware till  1852,  when  he  removed  to  South  Penn- 
sylvania Street,  began  a  larger  establishment,  failed, 
and  left  the  building  to  other  uses,  and  it  was  burned 
in  1858.  In  1836-37,  Young  &  Pottage,  carrying 
on  the  hardware  business,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Meridian  and  Washington  Streets,  engaged  John  J. 
Nash  to  make  carpenters'  planes,  and  the  excellence 
of  his  work  commanded  a  profitable  trade  as  long  as 


THE    CAPITAL   IN   THE    WOODS. 


117 


the  firm  continued.  In  1836,  Hiram  Devinney  be- 
gan the  manufacture  of  mattresses,  cushions,  and 
similar  work,  near  Maryland  Street  and  the  line  of 
the  canal.  In  1839,  Scudder  &  Hannanian  built  a 
carding-mill  on  the  river  bank,  near  the  site  of  the 
water-works,  and  added  some  spinning,  weaving, 
and  fulling  machinery.  About  the  same  time  Na- 
thaniel West  established  a  mill  of  the  same  kind  at 
the  crossing  of  the  canal  and  the  Michigan  road, 
long  called  Cottontown.  He  also  carried  on  cotton- 
spinning  there  at  the  same  time.  At  very  nearly 
the  same  time  a  German  by  the  name  of  Protzman, 
the  first  leader  of  the  first  brass  band  in  the  town, 
began  the  manufacture  of  soap,  on  the  canal,  near 
McCarty  Street,  then  a  lane,  among  cow-pastures  and 
cornfields;  and  about  that  time,  too,  Nicholas  Mc- 
Carty began  the  manufacture  of  hemp,  grown  on  his 
Bayou  farm,  on  the  canal,  near  the  present  line  of 
Ray  Street.  Within  a  few  months  William  Sheets 
established  the  first  paper-mill  on  the  canal  and  race 
at  Market  Street,  and  maintained  it  successfully 
nearly  all  his  life  after.  In  1839  or  1840  a  hay- 
press  was  set  up  on  the  lot  opposite  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  State-House  Square,  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  hay  was  pressed  there  for  shipment  by 
flat-boats  down  the  Mississippi  River.  There  were 
two  or  three  at  one  time,  but  the  business  was  not 
maintained  long.  These  early  industries  will  be  noticed 
more  particularly  in  the  department  of  Manufactures. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  several  of  the  industries  re- 
ferred to  here  were  started  in  1838  and  1839,  just 
before  the  failure  of  the  public  works.  The  canal, 
it  was  confidently  believed,  would  some  time  be 
completed,  and,  in  any  event,  it  supplied  a  consider- 
able water-power,  which  could  be  leased  on  favorable 
terms  of  the  State.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the 
matter.  By  the  11th  of  June,  1838,  sites  were 
leased  for  one  woolen-mill  and  one  cotton-mill,  two 
paper-mills,  one  oil-,  two  grist-,  and  two  saw-mills, 
and  the  buildings  soon  after  erected  and  set  to  work. 
There  was  long  complaint  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
power,  and  the  frequent  obstructions  from  grasses 
and  other  vegetable  growths,  and  of  the  ofi'ensiveness 
of  the  canal-bed  when  the  water  was  shut  off  to  allow 
the  grass  to  be  cut.     The  Legislature  ordered  it  sold 


Jan.  19,  1850,  and  it  was  sold  in  1851  to  Gould  & 
Jackson,  who  sold  the  next  fall  to  the  "  Central 
Canal  Hydraulic  Water- Works  and  Manufacturing 
Company,"  an  association  whose  multitudinous  name 
was  the  best  part  of  it.  From  that  concern  the  canal 
passed  to  other  hands,  and  finally,  as  already  stated, 
into  the  possession  of  the  present  W^ater-Works 
Company,  where  it  is  likely  to  stay. 

In  February,  1835,  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
was  chartered  by  the  Legislature,  with  James  Blake, 
Larkin  Siinms,  John  Owen,  and  M.  M.  Henkle  direc- 
tors, of  whom  Mr.  Blake  was  president,  and  Mr. 
Henkle  secretary.  They  offered  premiums  for  essays, 
and  made  rules  for  the  organization  of  county  asso- 
ciations. A  State  Agricultural  Convention  was  held 
in  the  State-House  Dec.  14,  1835,  and  two  or  three 
smaller  meetings  were  held  annually  afterwards,  but 
the  enterprise  was  premature.  A  County  Society  was 
formed  in  June,  1835,  with  Nathan  B.  Palmer  as 
president  and  Douglass  Maguire  as  secretary,  and  col- 
lected subscriptions  for  a  premium  fund,  aided  to  the 
extent  of  fifty  dollars  by  the  board  of  justices,  which 
was  disbursed  on  the  last  day  of  October  in  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  dollars  of  premiums  on  exhibi- 
tions made  in  the  court-house  yard  at  that  time.  For 
the  premiums  of  the  next  fair  four  hundred  dollars 
was  subscribed,  and  the  exhibitions  promised  to  be- 
come as  permanent  as  the  State  Fairs  are  now,  but 
the  crash  of  1837  ruined  this  with  many  another 
promising  project  of  improvement.  The  "  Benevolent 
Society,"  still  the  most  extensive,  active,  and  effective 
of  the  city's  charities,  was  organized  in  November, 
1835,  with  much  the  same  arrangement  as  now, — a 
president,  secretary,  treasurer,  depositary,  and  visitors. 
The  latter  collected  clothes,  money,  household  goods, 
groceries,  anything  that  the  destitute  could  use,  and 
stored  them  with  the  depositary,  to  be  delivered  on 
proper  orders.  Several  associations  have  been  formed 
on  the  same  plan  since,  particularly  the  "  Ladies' 
Relief  Society"  and  the  "  Flower  Blission,"  but  one 
has  disbanded,  and  the  other,  active  and  beneficent  as 
it  is,  can  hardly  hope  to  reach  the  extent  of  service 
of  the  association  now  nearly  a  half-century  old. 

3d.  The  improvement  of  educational  agencies  in 
this  interval  following  the  institution  of  the  town  gov- 


118 


HISTOKY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MAKION   COUNTY. 


ernment  was  hardly  less  conspicuous  than  the  improve- 
ment of  business  and  real  estate,  and  it  was  much 
more  durable.  The  "  Old  Seminary"  was  finished  in 
1834,  and  first  occupied  by  the  late  Gen.  Ebenezer 
Dumont,  Sept.  1,  1834.  The  following  January  he 
was  succeeded  by  William  J.  Hill,  who  afterwards 
taught  in  the  old  carpenter-shop  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Market  and  Delaware  Streets,  where  he  was 
succeeded  in  1836  by  Josephus  Cicero  Worrall,  as  he 
always  signed  himself  in  his  magniloquent  quarterly 
announcements.  Thomas  D.  Gregg,  who  died  some 
years  ago  and  left  a  handsome  bequest  to  the  city, 
succeeded  Mr.  Hill  in  May,  1836,  in  the  seminary, 
and  William  Sullivan,  for  many  years  a  justice  of  the 
peace  and  still  living,  honored  by  everybody,  followed 
in  December,  1836.  Rev.  William  A.  Holliday, 
father  of  John  H.,  the  founder  of  the  Indianapolis 
Mews,  came  next  in  August,  1837.  James  S.  Kem- 
per, still  annually  honored  in  the  reunions  of  the 
"Old  Seminary  Boys,"  succeeded  Mr.  Holliday  in  the 
summer  of  1838,  and  continued  till  1845,  when  Rev. 
J.  P.  Safibrd,  recently  deceased  in  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
succeeded  for  a  short  time,  and  was  followed  by  Mr. 
B.  L.  Lang  till  1852.  Mr.  Kemper's  methods  and 
success,  and  his  long  retention  of  the  school,  made 
him  and  the  seminary  so  popular  as  to  draw  pupils 
from  other  States,  and  the  course  of  study  was  as 
thorough  in  all  branches  as  that  of  most  colleges.  A 
large  number  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  city  and 
State  were  pupils  at  the  Old  Seminary.  Five  years 
ago  they  formed  an  association  called  the  "  Old  Semi- 
nary Boys,"  gray-headed  and  bald-headed  fathers  and 
grandfathers,  to  hold  annual  reunions,  and  with  their 
families  renew  old  games,  associations,  and  memories. 
Twice  Mr.  Kemper  and  his  wife  have  been  present, 
and  once  Mr.  Lang  was  present.  The  officers  now 
are :  President,  Calvin  Fletcher ;  Secretary,  George 
W.  Sloan ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Oliver  M.  Wilson ; 
Treasurer,  Ingram  Fletcher ;  Historian,  B.  R.  Sul- 
grove.  In  1878,  at  the  first  reunion,  there  were 
"  Old  Boys"  present  who  had  not  met  their  old 
school-mates  and  teacher,  Mr.  Kemper,  in  forty  years. 
It  was  a  gathering  almost  unique  in  any  country  of 
the  world,  and  entirely  so  in  Indiana.  A  meeting  of 
the  school-boys  and  teacher  of  a  school  long  past  in  a 


house  long  torn  away,  after  the  lapse  of  forty  years, 
was  something  to  remember,  at  least  for  the  partici- 
pants. The  seminary  in  1853  was  taken  into  the 
free-school  system,  then  first  made  practical.  More 
wil>  be  said  of  the  schools  in  the  proper  place. 

A  few  years  later  than  the  opening  of  the  County 
Seminary,  mainly  for  boys,  though  girls  attended  for 
a  short  time,  the  Misses  Axtell  opened  a  school  of 
corresponding  grade  for  girls  exclusively.  It  was 
called  the  "  Indianapolis  Female  Institute,"  and  was 
chartered  by  the  Legislature  at  the  session  of  1836— 
37.  The  first  term  began  June  14,  1837,  in  the 
upper  story  of  the  Sanders  Block,  on  Washington 
near  Meridian  Street.  Subsequently  a  removal  was 
made  to  the  upper  rooms  on  the  same  street  a  half- 
block  east  of  Meridian,  where  the  city  offices  were 
kept  for  a  time,  and  burned  in  the  winter  of  1851-52. 
Soon  after  a  frame  building  was  erected  on  the  grounds 
of  the  old  Presbyterian  Church  on  Pennsylvania 
Street,  south  of  the  Exchange  Block,  and  the  insti- 
tute taken  there,  where  it  remained  while  the  Misses 
Axtell  lived.  These  two  schools  were  a  great  ad- 
vance on  those  previous  to  their  establishment ;  but 
they  were  not  "  alone  in  their  glory."  In  October, 
1847,  Gilman  Marston,  since  of  national  reputation 
as  a  member  of  Congress  from  New  Hampshire,  a 
general  during  the  civil  war,  and  a  Territorial  Gov- 
ernor since  the  war,  opened  a  school  in  the  rooms 
afterwards  taken  by  the  Axtells,  in  connection  with 
Mrs.  Eliza  Richmond.  The  next  summer  they  re- 
moved to  a  frame  specially  built  for  them  on  Circle 
Street,  near  the  site  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  W.  H. 
English.  It  was  called  "  Franklin  Institute,"  and 
looked  like  a  country  church.  Mr.  Marston  left  it 
the  following  year,  1839,  and  was  succeeded  by  Or- 
lando Chester,  who  died  in  1840,  and  then  Mr.  John 
Wheeler  took  it  and  kept  for  a  couple  of  years,  when 
it  was  abandoned.  In  November,  1839,  Mrs.  Britton, 
wife  of  the  Episcopalian  minister,  opened  a  female 
seminary  on  Pennsylvania  Street,  near  the  Underbill 
foundry,  afterwards  removed  to  the  building  north  of 
Christ  Church,  and  long  known  as  "  St.  Mary's  Semi- 
nary," under  Mrs.  Johnson,  wife  of  a  successor  of 
3Ir.  Britton  in  the  rectory. 

From   1836,  Josephus  Cicero  Worrall  kept  what 


THE   CAPITAL   IN   THE   WOODS. 


119 


he  called  the  "  Indianapolis  Academy"  in  the  old 
building  above  referred  to.  He  was  a  "  character," 
and  not  by  any  means  a  pleasant  one.  He  did  not 
know  much,  but  he  could  make  polysyllabic  poluphlos- 
boyant  announcements  of  the  approaching  opening 
of  his  terms  that  puzzled  the  little  dictionaries  of  the 
day,  and  would  have  delighted  the  classic  ears  of 
"  Lorenzo  Altisonant."  They  were  the  periodical 
jokes  of  the  town.  His  tastes  and  habits  were  as 
eccentric  as  his  literature.  His  fondness  for  tobacco 
was  a  ravenous  hunger.  He  tore  it  off  in  wads  of  a 
mouthful,  and  crunched  it  with  the  eagerness  of  a 
hungry  Hoosier  at  a  show  on  a  "  quarter  section"  of 
gingerbread.  He  smoked  as  much  as  he  chewed, 
and  he  smoked  while  he  chewed.  When  he  didn't 
smoke  he  kept  the  stub  of  a  cigar  in  his  mouth 
and  mumbled  it,  while  he  rolled  a  quid  as  a  sweet 
morsel  under  his  tongue.  When  he  undertook  to  ex- 
plain some  mathematical  intricacy  to  a  pupil  he  would 
spit  a  shower  of  damp  tobacco  flakes  on  the  slate  and 
rub  them  off  to  one  side  like  snow  off  a  sidewalk. 
He  whipped  incessantly,  with  little  care  for  provoca- 
tion, but  usually  contented  himself  with  a  single  stroke 
of  a  beech  switch  applied  to  the  pupil  in  her  seat, 
face  to  the  wall  and  back  turned  out,  as  the  house 
was  arranged.  He  generally  made  a  circuit  of  the 
three  seated  sides  of  the  room  about  four  times  in  each 
session  of  the  day,  and  whipped  about  one  pupil  in  three 
in  each  round.  He  made  the  boys  saw  or  chop  his 
wood  and  carry  it  into  his  residence,  which  was  a 
little  shed  adjoining  the  school-house  on  the  north. 
Some  of  them  were  required  to  lose  their  Saturday's 
holiday  to  help  him  move  to  a  little  frame  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Delaware  and  Ohio  Streets.  The 
girls  were  made  to  help  his  wife  take  care  of  the 
baby,  or  wash,  or  do  other  housework.  Of  course 
everybody,  boys  and  girls,  detested  him.  On  Christ- 
mas-day, 1837,  they  "  barred  him  out,"  the  first  and 
only  time  that  this  old  game  was  played  with  a  teacher 
in  Indianapolis.  He  was  not  allowed  to  get  in  till  he 
"  treated,"  which  he  did  with  a  half-dollar's  worth  of 
cider  and  apples,  and  got  most  of  both  himself  His 
school  continued  in  a  feeble  way  after  Mr.  Kemper 
took  the  seminary  for  five  or  six  years. 

Contemporaneously  with  Mr.  Worrall  another  char- 


acter, that  would  be  called  in  the  apt  slang  of  the  day 
and  Guiteau  a  "  crank,"  taught  a  small  school  of  small 
boys  in  the  lower  room  of  a  frame  building  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Market  Street  from  the  "  Academy." 
His  name  was  Main,  and  he  was  a  Scotchman  of  un- 
doubted but  utterly  unavailable  learning.  He  was  as 
fond  of  snuff  as  his  compeer  of  the  other  school  was 
of  tobacco,  and  he  carried  a  Scotch  "  mull,"  made  of 
horn  and  capped  with  silver,  that  would  hold  a  half- 
pint  at  least.  He  was  very  absent-minded,  and  given 
to  sitting  with  his  spectacles  dropped  low  on  the  tip 
of  his  nose  and  gazing  away  off  in  the  atmosphere, 
as  completely  lost  to  his  surroundings  as  if  he  were 
asleep,  or  holding  his  head  squeezed  between  his  hands 
with  his  elbows  on  the  table,  staring  fixedly  at  a 
crack  or  a  nail-hole  as  a  mesmeric  subject  stares  at  a 
dime  to  induce  sleep.  In  the.se  moods  he  noticed 
nothing  about  him.  The  boys  could  play  marbles, 
or  pull  pins,  or  run  out-doors  and  roll  round  in  the 
weeds  in  perfect  safety.  If  the  old  fellow  should 
come  out  of  his  reverie  he  would  notice  no  disorder, 
and  had  usually  to  bo  prompted  to  know  what  his 
next  class  was.  If  he  wandered  off  dreaming  while 
hearing  a  recitation,  as  he  sometimes  did,  he  had  to 
be  told  what  the  class  was  and  where  the  recitation 
had  stopped  when  he  came  to  himself.  Not  unfre- 
quently  he  would  sit  through  the  better  of  a  half- 
day's  session  and  never  think  of  calling  a  class  unless 
reminded  by  some  importunate  and  preposterous  pupil, 
a  weakness,  however,  that  very  few  boys  could  re- 
proach themselves  with.  He  taught  but  a  single 
quarter,  and  then  removed,  with  his  brother,  a  tailor 
and  his  brother-in-law,  the  first  stone-cutter,  or  one  of 
the  first,  a  Mr.  Spear,  to  Arkansas.  But  very  few, 
even  of  the  old  residents,  ever  knew  anything  of  him 
or  can  now  recall  him,  he  was  so  retiring  and  indif- 
ferent to  company.  Of  the  earlier  private  schools 
and  of  the  public  schools  an  account  will  be  given  in 
the  chapter  of  schools,  with  a  notice  of  all  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  city. 

4th.  During  the  short  period  under  consideration 
were  established  some  of  those  business  conveniences 
which  in  old  communities  soon  become  necessities ; 
that  is,  banks  and  insurance  companies  and  protection 
against,  as  well  as  indemnity  for,  damage  by  fire.    The 


120 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION  COUNTY. 


State  Bank  was  chartered  Jan.  28,  1834,  to  run  for 
twenty-five  years.  The  State  took  half  of  the  stock, 
and  appointed  the  president  and  half  of  the  directors. 
Bonds  called  "  bank  bonds"  were  issued  to  pay  out  the 
State's  stock,  and  made  payable  from  the  State's  divi- 
dends. These  dividends  were  to  be  employed  as  a 
sinking  fund,  and  make  loans  to  accommodate  farmers 
and  purchasers  of  land  primarily  on  mortgage  security ; 
the  president  of  tlie  bank  to  be  president  of  the  fund 
management.  The  profits  of  the  fund  as  well  as 
the  principal  were  to  be  applied  first  to  pay  the  bank 
bonds,  and  the  remainder  was  to  go  to  the  school  fund. 
So  judiciously  was  this  fund  managed  that  when  it 
was  wound  up  finally  some  twenty  years  ago  it  paid 
to  the  support  of  free  schools  a  permanent  fund  of 
nearly  four  million  dollars.  The  first  president  of 
the  bank  and  fund  was  Samuel  Merrill,  State  treas- 
urer ;  the  first  State  directors,  Calvin  Fletcher,  Seton 
W.  Norris,  Robert  Morrison,  and  Thomas  H.  Scott. 
James  M.  Ray  was  appointed  cashier,  and  remained 
so  till  the  bank  was  wound  up.  In  the  first  place  ten 
branches  were  created  in  the  principal  towns  of  the 
State,  but  the  number  was  finally  increased  to  sixteen. 
Samuel  Merrill  was  president  till  1840,  when  he  was 
made  president  of  the  Madison  Railroad.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Judge  James  Morrison  till  1850,  he 
by  the  late  Gen.  Ebenezer  Dumont  till  1855,  and 
he  by  Hugh  McCulloch,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
succeeding  Mr.  Fessenden.  W.  H.  Talbott  was 
president  of  the  sinking  fund  in  its  last  years  while 
closing  up,  about  1863  to  1864.  The  first  location 
of  the  mother-bank  was  in  the  Governor's  house  in 
the  Circle,  then  on  Washington  Street,  and  was  re- 
moved to  its  own  building,  corner  of  Illinois  Street 
and  Kentucky  Avenue,  in  1840.  In  1837,  when  the 
great  financial  crash  came,  the  bank  and  all  its 
branches  suspended  specie  payment  May  18th,  and 
remained  suspended  till  Jan.  15,  1842,  when  the 
Legislature  ordered  resumption.  This  course  did  not 
impair  either  the  credit  or  usefulness  of  the  institu- 
tion. 

The  Indianapolis  Branch  was  organized  Nov.  11, 
1834,  with  Hervey  Bates,  president,  and  Bethuel  F. 
Morris,  cashier.  The  location  was  on  the  south  side 
of  Washington   Street,  on   the   site  of   the    present 


Vance  Block.  The  oflBcers  and  location  were  retained 
together  till  1840,  when  the  building  corner  of 
Pennsylvania  Street  and  Virginia  Avenue,  corre- 
sponding in  situation  to  the  parent  bank,  was  finished 
and  the  institution  removed  there.  Some  years  after 
Calvin  Fletcher  was  made  president  in  place  of  Mr. 
Bates,  and  Thomas  H.  Sharpe  cashier  in  place  of  Mr. 
Morris,  and  these  remained  till  the  bank  was  wound 
up.  Of  the  Bank  of  the  State,  the  successor  of  the 
State  Bank,  but  with  no  State  interest  in  it,  an  ac- 
count will  be  found  under  the  head  of  "  Banks,"  with 
a  notice  of  all  the  banking  establishments  of  the  city. 
In  this  connection  may  be  noticed  the  first  private 
bank  ever  opened  here.  It  was  owned  by  Mr.  John 
Wood,  one  of  the  firm  in  the  Pennsylvania  Street 
foundry,  and  began  business  in  1838.  He  failed  in 
September,  1841.  In  1839,  Edward  S.  Alvord  & 
Co.  did  a  private  banking  business  for  four  or  five 
years.  At  the  same  time  Stoughton  A.  Fletcher, 
brother  of  Calvin,  began  the  same  business,  either  at 
first  or  soon  after  joined  by  William  D.  Wygant,  on 
Washington  Street,  and  that  was  the  beginning  of  a 
most  successful  business,  now  in  its  forty-fourth  year, 
as  Fletcher  &  Churchman's  bank. 

The  first  insurance  company  was  organized  here 
March  16,  1836,  under  a  fifty-year  charter,  with  a  cap- 
ital of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Douglass  Ma- 
guire  was  president,  and  Caleb  Scudder  secretary.  It 
never  did  much,  but  was  in  operation  till  shortly  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  war.  In  1865  the  stock  passed 
into  the  hands  of  able  managers  and  a  new  company 
was  organized,  with  William  Henderson  as  president, 
and  Alexander  C.  Jameson  as  secretary.  The  Indi- 
ana Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  was  chartered 
Jan.  30,  1837,  and  organized  the  next  month,  with 
James  Blake  as  president,  and  Charles  W.  Cady  as 
secretary  and  actuary  and  general  manager.  It  did 
well  for  a  few  years,  but  the  plan  was  said  to  be  inef- 
fectively contrived,  and  it  met  some  serious  losses  and 
became  insolvent,  going  out  altogether  about  the  year 
1850. 

On  the  completion  of  the  State-House  in  1835,  the 
Legislature  provided  for  its  protection  from  fire  by 
ordering  its  insurance  and  the  purchase  of  twenty 
leather  fire-buckets,  and  ladders  long  enough  to  reach 


THE    CAPITAL    IN   THE    WOODS. 


121 


the  roof.  It  also  proposed  to  pay  half  of  the  cost  of 
a  fire-engine  if  the  citizens  would  subscribe  the  other 
h;ilf.  A  meeting  was  held  February  12th  to  consider 
the  proposition.  The  old  fire  company  of  1827  reor- 
ganized as  the  Marion  Fire  Hose  and  Protection  Com- 
pany, famous  for  many  a  year  after  the  ''  Old  Marion,"' 
and  the  main  dependence  of  the  volunteer  department 
for  more  than  twenty  years.  Caleb  Scudder  was  the 
first  captain.  The  meeting  requested  the  trustees  to 
levy  a  tax  to  pay  the  town's  share  of  the  cost  of  the 
engine,  and  it  was  done,  aided  by  individual  subscrip- 
tions, and  the  Marion  end-brake  hand-engine,  manned 
by  twenty-eight  to  thirty  men,  and  able  to  throw  an 
inch  stream  two  hundred  feet,  was  bought  of  Merrick 
&  Co.,  Philadelphia,  for  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars.  The  State  built  a  little  one-story  house  for  it 
in  18.36,  but  in  1837  the  town  built  a  two-story  frame 
north  side  of  the  Circle,  with  a  room  for  the  Council 
on  the  second  story.  It  was  burned  in  1851.  The 
company  was  incorporated  the  next  year.  A  second 
company  was  formed  in  18-10,  but  an  account  of  the 
whole  fire  department  from  the  first  will  be  found 
under  that  caption.  Five  fire-wells  were  made  in 
1835-36. 

The  State  militia  system,  as  already  described,  fell 
into  disuse  and  discredit  soon  after  the  settlement  of 
the  town,  and  no  substitute  was  attempted  by  State  or 
local  or  individual  influence  till  1837.  Then  a  meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  22d  of  February  to  form  a  mili- 
tary company.  Alexander  W.  Russell,  the  old  militia 
colonel,  was  made  captain,  and  succeeded  the  next 
year  by  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  then  but  a  few  years 
out  of  West  Point.  He  distinguished  himself  in  the 
first  campaign  of  the  civil  war  in  West  Virginia  by 
really  doing  all  the  planning  and  work  that  made  that 
so  brilliant  a  success.  Gen.  McClellan  was  still  in  the 
East,  and  arrived  just  in  time  to  see  the  completion 
of  Gen.  Morris'  work,  and  appropriate  all  the  credit 
of  it.  This  company  continued  to  drill  and  parade 
and  decorate  public  occasions  by  its  excellent  drill  and 
handsome  gray  uniform  faced  with  black  velvet  till 
1845.  The  company  was  incorporated  in  1838.  The 
following  year  the  Marion  Rifles  formed  a  company 
under  Capt.  Thomas  McBaker.  Their  uniform  was 
a   blue   cotton   "hunting-shirt"    fringed,   with   blue 


breeches,  and  they  were  armed  with   the   clumsiest 
breech-loading  rifles  that  were  ever  invented. 

A  notable  event  of  this  period  was  the  completion 
and  opening  of  what  may  be  fairly  called  the  first 
"hotel"  in  the  place,  in  1836,  the  "Washington 
Hall,"  turned  into  the  "  Glenn  Block"  and  New 
York  Store  in  1859.  It  was  kept  for  many  years  by 
the  late  Edmund  Browning,  and  was  the  Whig  head- 
quarters as  long  as  there  was  a  Whig  party,  as  the 
Palmer  House  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Dem- 
ocracy. A  complete  account  of  the  hotels  will  be 
found  in  another  part  of  the  work.  The  Palmer 
House,  now  Occidental,  it  may  be  observed  here,  was 
begun  in  the  latter  part  of  1839,  and  opened  in  18-11 
by  John  C.  Parker,  of  Charleston,  Clarke  Co.,  Ind. 
The  first  editorial  convention  was  held  here  May  29, 
1837.  The  first  ladies'  fair  was  held  December  31st 
of  the  year  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ladies'  Missionary 
Society,  and  made  two  hundred  and  thirty  dollars. 
Professor  C.  P.  Bronson,  the  first  noted  elocutionist 
that  visited  Central  Indiana,  lectured  Aug.  30,  1836. 
At  the  second  meeting  of  the  County  Agricultural  So- 
ciety, Calvin  Fletcher,  the  orator  of  the  occasion,  said 
that  one  million  three  hundred  thousand  bushels  of 
corn  had  been  produced  on  thirteen  hundred  farms  in 
the  county.  Luke  Munsell  and  William  Sullivan  both 
published  maps  of  the  town  in  1836,  the  former  May 
30th,  and  the  latter  in  October.  Revs.  James  Havens 
and  John  C.  Smith  held  a  great  camp-meeting  that 
year  on  the  Military  Ground,  August  25th  to  30th, 
and  made  one  hundred  and  thirty  conversions.  In 
1837,  while  the  metaling  of  the  National  road  in 
Washington  Street  was  going  on,  the  trustees  took 
measures  to  improve  the  sidewalks.  They  were  made 
fifteen  feet  wide  in  the  original  plan,  but  were  subse- 
quently widened  to  twenty,  and  the  ninety-feet  street- 
walks  were  originally  changed  from  ten  to  twelve,  and 
later  to  fifteen.  The  property-holders  resisted  the 
changes  because  it  increased  the  expense  of  improve- 
ment, which  was  charged  against  the  property.  This 
was  the  first  street  improving  ever  attempted.  The 
first  clothing-store  was  opened  here  in  1838  by  Ben- 
jamin Orr.  In  1839  a  mistake  of  eight  acres  was 
discovered  in  the  original  survey  of  the  donation. 
Congress  generously  added  the  ground  to  the  donation 


122 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


in  1840,  on  the  memorial  of  the  Legislature.  The 
first  Thanksgiving  ever  held  in  the  State  was  in  1839, 
.on  a  proclamation  of  Governor  Wallace  fixing  Thurs- 
day, the  28th  of  November,  as  the  day.  The  winter 
of  1838-39  saw  the  first  attempt  at  a  regular  the- 
atrical exhibition  with  orchestra,  scenery,  and  all  the 
usual  adjuncts  of  the  stage.  The  manager  was  a  Mr. 
Lindsay.  His  theatre  was  the  wagon-shop  of  Mr. 
Ollaman,  on  Washington  Street,  opposite  the  court- 
house. He  returned  in  1840-41,  and  made  a  theatre 
of  an  old  printing-ofBce  on  the  present  site  of  the 
News  building.  A  few  years  later  another  company 
gave  concerts  and  dramatic  exhibitions  in  the  upper 
room  of  Gaston's  carriage- factory,  site  of  the  Bates 
House. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1839,  the  Legislature 
ordered  the  State  officers  to  buy  the  residence,  re- 
cently finished,  of  Dr.  John  H.  Sanders,  corner  of 
Illinois  and  Market  Streets,  for  a  residence  for  the 
Governor.  Until  that  time  the  need  of  an  official 
Executive  residence  had  not  been  felt.  Governor 
Noble,  the  predecessor  of  Governor  Wallace,  was  a 
resident  of  the  town,  and  lived  during  his  two  terms 
in  his  own  house.  So  did  Governor  Ray,  who,  as 
acting  Governor  for  a  year  succeeding  iu  the  fraction 
of  the  term  of  Governor  Hendricks,  who  had  gone 
to  the  National  Senate,  and  for  two  terms,  or  six 
years,  as  regularly  elected  Executive,  held  the  office 
nearly  all  the  time  after  the  removal  of  the  capital 
from  Corydon.  But  Governor  Wallace  came  from 
Brookville,  had  no  residence  here,  and  for  some  time 
lived  in  a  two-story  house  on  the  south  side  of  Wash- 
ington Street,  just  west  of  the  canal.  The  Executive 
mansion  was  occupied  all  the  time  from  1839  till 
1863,  in  the  fall,  when  Governor  Morton  abandoned 
it  on  account  of  its  unhealthiness,  and  went  to  board- 
ing with  his  family  till  he  made  a  purchase  of  the 
residence  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  Streets,  where  he  lived  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  and  died  in  the  fall  of  1877.  The  Governors 
all  suffered  in  that  house.  Governor  Bigger,  who 
succeeded  Governor  Wallace,  seems  to  have  contracted 
there  the  disease  that  carried  him  ofi'  soon  after  he 
left  the  office.  Governor  Whitcomb,  who  married 
while  occupying  the  house,  lost  his  young  wife  there. 


Governor  Wright  lost  his  first  wife  there.  Governor 
Willard's  wife  was  always  ill  while  there.  Governor 
Lane  only  held  the  office  two  or  three  days,  and  never 
had  a  chance  to  test  the  morbific  influence  of  the 
house,  but  Governor  Morton  did  and  left.  It  and 
the  quarter  of  a  square,  or  one  acre,  of  ground  about  • 
were  sold  in  1865,  and  compact  masses  of  business 
houses  cover  the  whole  space. 

In  May,  1838,  the  split  that  had  for  some  time 
been  moving  deeper  into  the  Presbyterian  brotherhood 
reached  Indianapolis  and  a  division  was  made,  fifteen 
members  withdrawing  and  forming  the  Second  Church, 
Nov.  19,  1838,  under  Rev.  J.  H.  Johnson.  In  May, 
1839,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  called  from  Lawrence- 
burg,  where  he  began  his  now  famous  ministry,  and 
served  here  till  Sept.  19,  1847.  The  Episcopalians, 
who  had  been  using  the  court-house  for  a  church 
since  1835  occasionally,  organized  a  church  in  the 
spring  of  1837,  and  built  Christ  Church  the  next 
year.  A  sketch  of  the  history  of  all  the  churches 
will  treat  these  more  fully. 

The  first  murders  in  the  town  took  place  in  the 
seven  years  of  this  period  which  have  been  under 
consideration.  On  the  8th  of  May,  Michael  Van 
Blaricum  drowned  William  McPherson  while  ferrying 
him  across  the  river,  just  below  the  line  of  the  present 
Washington  Street  bridge,  by  wilfully  rocking  and 
upsetting  the  boat.  His  motive  appears  to  have  been 
a  sort  of  contemptuous  dislike  of  his  victim,  whom 
he  regarded  as  what  in  these  days  is  called  a  "  dude," 
and  probably  meant  no  worse  than  to  duck  him  and 
spoil  his  clothes.  He  asserted  that  he  intended  no 
more.  But  he  was  convicted  and  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary for  three  years  in  October,  1834.  He  was  par- 
doned when  his  time  was  about  half  out.  He  was  the 
ferryman  of  the  ferry  at  that  point.  The  second 
murder  was  bloodier  and  less  excusable.  It  was 
committed  April  27,  1836,  by  Arnold  Lashley  on 
Zachariah  Collins.  Lashley  was  a  coach-maker,  who 
had  succeeded  the  Johnsons  in  the  establishment  on 
the  site  now  occupied  by  the  post-office  and  the  busi- 
ness houses  north  of  it  on  the  east  side  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Street,  a  Kentuckian  and  a  hot-tempered  fellow. 
Collins  was  a  charcoal-burner  who  supplied  Lashley's 
establishment.     On  the  day  of  the  homicide  he  had 


THE   CAPITAL  IN   THE   WOODS. 


123 


brought  in  a  wagon-load  of  coal,  and  was  unloading 
it  in  the  usual  place,  when  Lashley  complained  that 
the  coal  was  dirty,  and  ordered  him  to  stop  unloading 
it.  Collins  seems  to  have  been  as  surly  as  Lashley 
was  fiery,  and  went  coolly  on  with  his  work ;  after  a 
few  words  more  of  remonstrance,  Lashley  seized  a 
single-tree  lying  on  the  floor  and  struck  Collins  on 
the  head  or  neck,  killing  him  instantly.  He  was 
arrested,  and  after  a  preliminary  examination  held  to 
bail.  While  under  bail  he  ran  away  and  was  never 
seen  or  heard  of  here  again.  Not  long  after  this  an 
Indianapolis  or  Marion  County  man  of  the  name  of 
McDowell  had  a  quarrel  with  some  one  at  a  race  in 
Hamilton  County,  and  killed  him  by  a  blow  that 
broke  his  neck. 

In  1838-39  a  market-house  was  built  for  the 
western  part  of  the  town  on  the  west  side  of  Ten- 
nessee Street  at  the  crossing  of  Ohio.  Ephraim  Cole- 
/Stock  was  paid  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  it,  and  for  making  an  addition  to  the  East 
Market.  The  new  house  was  not  used  at  all  for  four  or 
five  years,  and  never  was  used  like  the  old  one,  though 
a  larger  and  every  way  better  house.  The  south  end 
of  the  same  square  (held  by  the  State)  was  occupied 
by  the  Arsenal  during  the  war.  When  the  State  de- 
cided to  build  a  new  State-House,  the  city  surrendered 
the  market-house  and  vacated  Market  Street,  thus 
giving  the  State-House  two  unbroken  squares,  with 
the  intervening  street  making  nearly  nine  acres. 

The  last  division  of  the  second  period  of  the  city's 
history  is  that  extending  from  the  abandonment  of 
the  public  works  to  the  completion  of  the  first  rail- 
road and  the  organization  of  the  town  under  a  city 
charter  in  1847.  Its  leading  features  are :  1st,  The 
establishment  of  the  State  benevolent  institutions  or 
asylums,  or  the  adoption  of  measures  with  that  object, 
in  1843  and  the  two  or  three  succeeding  years ; 
2d,  Political  events  and  excitements  ;  3d,  Incidents 
wholly  local  and  not  important,  but  worth  attention 
as  marks  of  a  development  ;  4th,  Religious  move- 
ments. 

1st.  The  Legislature,  having  been  repeatedly  so- 
licited by  petitions  and  memorials  to  make  some 
provision  for  the  insane,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  blind 
of  the    State,   in   1839   addressed    Congress   on  the 


subject  of  a  grant  to  assist  in  making  such  a  pro- 
vision. This  was  never  done,  and  there  was  no  good 
reason  why  it  should  have  been  done  or  should  have 
been  asked.  On  the  31st  of  January,  1842,  Gover- 
nor Bigger  was  ordered  by  the  Legislature  to  corre- 
spond with  the  Governors  of  other  States  and  the 
officers  of  like  institutions  and  ascertain  the  cost  and 
modes  of  construction  and  management  of  insane 
hospitals,  and  on  the  13th  of  February,  1843,  was 
ordered  to  obtain  plans  to  be  submitted  to  the  next 
Legislature.  This  was  done,  with  the  effect  of  se- 
curing a  tax  of  one  cent  on  one  hundred  dollars  to 
create  a  "building  fund  for  an  insane  hospital  here. 
This  was  the  15th  of  January,  1844.  On  the  13th 
of  January,  1845,  Dr.  John  Evans,  Dr.  L.  Dunlap, 
and  James  Blake  were  appointed  commissioners  to 
select  a  site  of  not  exceeding  two  hundred  acres. 
They  chose  Mount  Jackson,  then  the  home  of  the 
Indiana  poetess,  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bolton,  and  her  hus- 
band, the  first  editor  in  Indianapolis  or  the  New  Pur- 
chase. They  reported  the  selection  with  a  building 
plan  to  the  Legislature  the  following  session  of  1845- 
46,  and  on  the  19th  of  January,  1846,  they  were 
ordered  to  begin  work  on  the  building,  and  to  sell 
Hospital  Square  22,  and  apply  the  proceeds,  with 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  from  the  State  treasury,  to 
the  work.  The  central  building  was  begun  the  same 
year  and  finished  in  1847,  at  a  cost  of  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars.  The  south  wing  was  added  in 
1853-56,  and  the  north  wing  in  1866-69.  A  great 
many  minor  changes  and  additions  have  been  made  at 
one  time  or  another.  The  frontage  is  six  hundred 
and  twenty-four  feet.  The  centre  building  is  five 
stories  high,  including  a  basement  and  top  half-story. 
A  belvidere  on  the  centre  building  is  one  hundred 
and  three  feet  above  the  ground.  The  wings  are  three 
and  four  stories  high.  The  third  floor  of  the  build- 
ing in  the  rear  of  the  centre  is  used  as  a  chapel, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  three  hundred.  The  other 
two  stories  are  used  by  the  employes  as  kitchen  and 
dining-room,  steward's  office,  sewing-rooms,  and  the 
like.  In  the  rear  of  this  building  is  the  engine 
building,  with  pumps  and  heating  pipes  and  other 
necessary  apparatus.  A  sewage  system  discharges 
into  Eagle  Creek.     Water  is  supplied  by  a  system  of 


124 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


water-works  on  the  Holly  plan,  like  that  of  the  city, 
with  ample  protection  by  fire-plugs  and  hose  against 
fire.  The  whole  structure  is  lighted  with  gas.  It 
can  accommodate  six  hundred  or  more  patients  at  a 
time,  with  the  necessary  attendants.  The  superin- 
dents  have  been,  in  order  of  succession,  Dr.  John 
Evans,  Dr.  R.  J.  Patterson,  Dr.  James  S.  Athon, 
Dr.  James  H.  Woodburn,  Dr.  Wilson  Lockhart,  Dr. 
Orpheus  Everts,  Dr.  Rogers,  and  Dr.  William  B. 
Fletcher.  The  last  has  very  recently  introduced  the 
system  of  intelligent  restraint  and  kind  treatment 
in  place  of  manacles  and  strait-waistcoats,  with,  so 
far,  decided  success.  A  few  years  ago  the  Legisla- 
ture concluded  to  make  additional  provision  for  the 
insane,  who  could  not  be  accommodated  in  the  old 
building,  and  ordered  a  new  one,  directly  north  of  the 
old  one,  on  a  plan  furnished  by  the  late  Edwin  M.ay, 
architect  of  the  new  State-House.  It  was  two  or 
three  years  in  building,  and  has  but  recently  been 
finished.  It  is  used  mainly  or  wholly  for  female  pa- 
tients, and  will  accommodate  suitably  some  seven 
or  eight  hundred.  The  frontage  is  about  eleven 
hundred  feet,  with  a  centre  building  and  three  wings 
on  each  side  of  it,  each  one  retiring  some  feet  back 
from  the  line  of  the  other,  making  the  front  a  series 
of  steps.  It  is  nearly  three  hundred  feet  through 
the  centre  to  the  line  joining  the  rear  of  the  extreme 
wings.  Within  the  year  sites  have  been  selected  by 
commissioners  for  asylums  for  the  incurably  insane, 
for  whom  hitherto  no  provision  has  been  made,  though 
warmly  urged  by  Governor  Baker  ten  years  ago. 
There  are  to  be  five  of  them,  located  at  different  suit- 
able points  in  the  State.  The  sites  selected  are  Fort 
Wayne,  Evansville,  Richmond,  Terre  Haute,  and  La- 
fayette. At  present,  and  ever  since  the  asylum  has 
been  open,  patients  found  to  be  incurable  have  been 
returned  to  their  friends  to  make  room  for  curable 
patients.  In  1857,  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of 
appropriations  in  a  party  quarrel  in  the  State  Sen- 
ate, the  asylums  were  all  closed  and  the  inmates  re- 
turned to  their  homes.  The  insane  in  some  cases 
were  put  in  poor-houses.  In  others  the  counties 
made  arrangements  to  pay  for  their  care  in  the  State 
institution  here.  This  paralysis  continued  for  four 
or  five  months,  and  then  Governor  Willard  concluded 


to  borrow  money  and  reopen  the  institutions,  but  it 
was  some  time  before  they  fully  recovered  from  the 
blow. 

On  the  13th  of  February,  1843,  the  Legislature 
levied  a  tax  of  one-fifth  of  a  cent  on  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, for  a  fund  to  establish  an  asylum  for  deaf  mutes. 
In  the  spring  following  William  Willard,  a  deaf 
mute  teacher  in  the  Ohio  institution,  came  here  and 
opened  a  private  school  for  similar  sufferers  in  Octo- 
ber, receiving  sixteen  pupils  the  first  year.  On  the 
15th  of  January,  1844,  the  Legislature  made  the 
school  a  State  institution,  and  Governor  Whitcomb, 
Secretary  of  State  William  Sheets,  Treasurer  of 
State  George  H.  Dunn,  Rev.  Phineas  D.  Gurley, 
Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Rev.  Love  H.  Jameson, 
Judge  James  Morrison,  Dr.  L.  Dunlap,  and  Rev. 
Matthew  Simpson  were  appointed  trustees,  with 
authority  to  rent  a  room  and  employ  necessary 
teachers.  They  rented  the  residence,  a  large  two-^ 
story  frame,  recently  erected  by  Dr.  George  W.  Stipp, 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  Maryland  and  Illinois 
Streets.  The  State  Asylum  or  school  was  opened 
here  Oct.  1,  1844,  one  year  after  the  opening  of  Mr. 
Willard's  private  school.  In  1845  the  Governor  by 
authority  appointed  a  new  board  of  trustees,  but  con- 
tinued most  of  the  old  members  on  it.  In  1846  the 
school  was  removed  to  the  three-story  brick  Kinder 
building  on  the  south  side  of  Washington  Street  near 
Delaware,  and  remained  there  four  years,  till  the 
completion  of  the  asylum  building  at  the  corner  of 
Washington  Street  and  State  Avenue,  in  October, 
1850.  This  site  was  selected  in  1846,  the  trustees 
making  a  purchase  of  thirty  acres  for  the  necessary 
grounds.  The  building  was  erected  in  1848-49,  at 
a  cost  of  thirty  thousand  dollars.  Additions  have 
since  been  made  to  it  and  to  the  ground,  so  that  the 
latter  now  contains  one  hundred  and  five  acres,  and 
the  aggregate  cost  of  the  former  has  been  about 
two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The 
grounds  are  beautifully  ornamented  with  forest  and 
other  shade-trees  and  various  kinds  of  flowers  and 
shrubbery,  with  winding  walks  and  drives  and  a  con- 
servatory, besides  playgrounds  and  an  orchard  and 
vegetable  garden.  The  larger  portion  is  used  for 
pasture  and  farm  ground.     Mr.  Willard  was  superin- 


THE   CAPITAL   IN   THE   WOODS. 


125 


tendent  till  1845,  then  James  S.  Brown  was 
appointed,  and  served  till  1853,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Thomas  Molntyre,  who  was  retired  under 
a  change  of  system  and  management  about  three 
years  ago.  The  number  of  pupils  varies  from  year 
to  year,  but  will  run  from  two  hundred  and  fifty 
to  three  hundred  usually.  Successful  efi"orts  have 
recently  been  made  to  teach  articulate  speech  by 
motion  of  the  lips. 

In  1844-45,  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature, 
some  of  the  pupils  of  the  Kentucky  Blind  Asylum 
came  here,  under  charge  of  the  late  William  H. 
Churchman,  and  gave  exhibitions  at  Bcecher's  church, 
which  the  legislators  attended  largely,  and  seemed 
deeply  interested  in  one  of  them.  Mr.  Dirk  Rous- 
seau, senator  from  Greene,  and  brother  of  the  late 
Gen.  Lovell  H.  Rousseau,  proposed  an  arithmetical 
problem  for  one  of  the  blind  boys  to  solve  by  mental 
process,  and  not  making  it  very  clear  in  his  oval  state- 
ment he  wrote  it  out,  took  it  up  to  the  pulpit,  and 
carefully  held  it  before  the  sightless  eyes,  reading  it 
slowly,  and  tracing  every  line  with  his  finger.  For  a 
moment  the  absurdity  of  the  thing  did  not  strike  the 
audience,  and  then  it  all  came  at  once  in  a  roar  that 
shook  the  house,  and  that  first  wakened  the  senator's 
attention.  He  blushed,  laughed,  and  came  down  to 
his  seat.  The  Legislature  was  fully  satisfied  with  the 
evidence  afl'orded  by  this  exhibition,  and  levied  a  two- 
mill  tax  to  establish  a  blind  asylum.  The  Secretary  of 
State,  John  H.  Thompson,  Auditor  Horatio  J.  Harris, 
Treasurer  Royal  Mayhew,  with  James  M.  Ray  and 
Dr.  G.  W.  Mears,  were  made  commissioners  at  the 
following  session  to  apply  the  two-mill  fund,  either 
in  approving  a  school  here  or  maintaining  the  State's 
pupils  at  the  Ohio  or  Kentucky  institutions.  Mr. 
Churchman  was  appointed  to  address  the  people  of 
the  State  on  the  subject,  and  ascertain  the  number 
of  blind  requiring  public  assistance  in  acquiring  an 
education.  On  the  27th  of  January,  1847,  Dr. 
George  W.  Mears,  Calvin  Fletcher,  and  James  M. 
Ray  were  appointed  commissioners  to  provide  the 
necessary  buildings  and  make  arrangements  for  a 
school  here,  with  an  appropriation  of  five  thousand 
dollars  for  a  site  and  furniture  and  other  necessaries. 
Seton  W.  Norris  replaced  Mr.  Fletcher,  who  declined. 


and  the  school  was  opened  Oct.  1,  1847,  in  the  same 
building  that  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  School  first  occupied, 
southeast  corner  of  Maryland  and  Illinois  Streets. 
Nine  pupils  attended  at  first,  but  there  were  thirty 
during  the  session.  In  September,  1848,  a  removal 
was  made  to  a  three-story  brick,  erected  for  a  work- 
shop, on  the  asylum  grounds, — the  two  squares  north 
of  North  Street,  between  Pennsylvania  and  Meridian 
Streets,  formerly  "  Pratt's  Walnut  Grove."  Here 
the  school  was  kept  till  the  completion  of  the  asylum 
proper  in  February,  1853.  It  was  begun  about  three 
years  before.  The  cost  of  the  original  building  and 
grounds  was  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars. 
The  main  central  building  is  ninety  feet  front  by 
sixty -one  feet  deep,  and  five  stories  high  ;  at  each 
end  is  a  wing  four  stories  high,  thirty  feet  front  by 
eighty-three  feet  deep.  The  total  front  from  east  to 
west  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  A  Corinthian 
cupola  crowns  the  centre  building.  A  portico  stands 
in  front  of  the  centre,  and  iron  galleries  or  colonnades 
surround  the  two  lower  stories  of  the  wings.  The 
average  attendance  of  pupils  is  over  one  hundred,  a 
considerable  majority  of  whom  are  usually  females. 
The  superintendents  have  been  William  H.  Church- 
man, from  Oct.  1,  1847,  to  Sept.  30,  1853;  George 
W.  Ames,  brother  of  the  bishop,  from  Oct.  1,  1853, 
to  Sept.  30,  1855 ;  William  C.  Larrabee,  previously 
a  professor  at  Asbury  University,  and  afterwards 
editor  of  the  Sentinel  for  a  short  time,  from  Oct.  1, 
1855,  to  Jan.  31,  1857  ;  James  McWorkman,  from 
Feb.  1, 1857,  to  Sept.  10, 1861 ;  William  H.  Church- 
man again,  from  Oct.  10,  1861. 

The  Female  Prison  and  Reformatory,  a  short  dis- 
tance northeast  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  was 
recommended  in  the  message  of  Governor  Baker  in 
1869,  and  an  appropriation  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
made  for  it,  under  the  management  of  a  board  con- 
sisting of  Judge  Elijah  B.  Martindale,  of  the  city, 
Gen.  Asahel  Stone,  of  Winchester,  and  Joseph  I. 
Irwin,  of  Columbus.  They  obtained  a  plan  of  Mr. 
Hodgson,  architect  of  the  court-house,  and  went  on 
with  the  work  as  far  as  they  could  with  the  money. 
The  failure  of  appropriations  in  1871  delayed  and 
greatly  embarrassed  the  Board,  and  the  institution 
was  not  ready  for  the  reception  of  subjects  as  early  as 


126 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


it  should  have  been  by  two  or  three  years.  It  has 
now  been  in  successful  operation  some  eight  years, 
under  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Smith,  and  has 
realized  all  the  reasonable  expectations  formed  of  its 
service.  A  good  deal  of  trouble  has  been  caused  by 
the  sewage  of  so  large  a  house  with  so  many  inmates, 
but  the  last  Legislature  made  an  arrangement  with 
the  city  to  assist  in  building  a  sewer  to  connect  with 
the  city  system,  which  will  remove  all  ground  of  com- 
plaint. The  Reformatory  is  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  feet  long,  consisting  of  a  main  central  building, 
with  side  and  traverse  wings,  one  hundred  and  nine 
feet  long.  The  whole  structure  is  two  stories  high, 
with  a  basement  and  Mansard  story.  The  completed 
portion  is  but  a  fraction  of  the  whole  contemplated 
structure,  which  is  to  be  five  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet  long.  The  character  and  purpose  of  the  institu- 
tion may  be  best  judged  from  the  definition  of  them 
in  the  act  creating  it,  drawn  by  Governor  Baker.  A 
"  House  of  Refuge  for  the  Correction  and  Reforma- 
tion of  Juvenile  Ofienders"  was  provided  for  by  an 
act  of  the  Legislature  approved  March  8,  1867,  with 
an  appropriation  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  and  a  board 
of  managers  consisting  of  Charles  F.  Coffin,  of  Wayne 
County,  Judge  A.  C.  Downey,  of  Ohio  County,  and 
Gen.  Joseph  Orr,  of  La  Porte  County.  The  "  family 
system"  of  treatment  was  adopted  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Frank  B.  Ainsworth  and  his  wife,  who 
began  their  service  Aug.  27,  1867.  On  the  1st  of 
January,  1868,  a  workshop  and  three  residences  were 
completed,  and  the  Governor  issued  a  proclamation 
that  the  institution  was  ready  to  receive  inmates. 
The  grounds  contain  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres,  a  half-mile  or  so  south  of  Plainfield,  Hendricks 
Co.  The  number  of  inmates  is  about  two  hundred 
usually.  The  institution  is  noticed  here,  though  not 
in  the  county,  because  it  forms  part  of  the  same  system 
as  the  Female  Reformatory,  and  it  was  really  drawn 
to  a  central  location  by  the  capital. 

2d.  Until  the  fall  of  1840  no  man  of  national  dis- 
tinction had  visited  Indianapolis.  Gen.  Harrison  was 
here  for  a  week  in  January,  1833,  came  on  the  11th, 
was  banqueted  and  made  a  speech  on  the  17th,  and 
came  again  on  the  13th  of  January,  1835  ;  but  at  that 
time  Gen.  Harrison  was  little  known  outside  of  the 


"  Northwest  Territory,"  which  was  so  largely  indebted 
to  his  courage  and  judgment,  and  it  would  be  strain- 
ing terms  a  little  to  speak  of  him  as  a  man  of 
"  national  reputation."  In  those  days  of  slow  com- 
munication and  of  newspapers  that  troubled  them- 
selves little  with  news,  what  was  known  in  one  sec- 
tion was  not  quite  so  readily  diffused  in  others  as  now, 
when  a  night  incident  on  the  Pacific  is  known  all 
along  the  Atlantic  on  both  sides  the  next  morning  at 
breakfast.  The  nomination  at  Harrisburg  in  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  was  a  revelation  to  a  good  many  well- 
informed  men  east  of  the  AUeghanies.  For  a  number 
of  years  the  general  had  been  clerk  of  Hamilton 
County,  withdrawn  from  public  sight  and  interest,  and 
that  seclusion  had  helped  to  make  his  an  unfamiliar 
name  even  at  home  among  the  generation  that  had 
grown  up  since  the  days  of  Tippecanoe  and  Tecum- 
seh.  Thus  it  came  that  Indianapolis  was  all  in  a  fer- 
ment on  the  13th  of  October,  1840,  to  see  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States  and  the  reputed  slayer 
of  the  great  Indian  chief,  the  statesman.  Col.  Richard 
M.  Johnson.  He  passed  the  night  of  the  13th  at 
a  tavern  a  few  miles  east  of  town,  Aquiila  Parker's 
probably,  and  came  in  next  morning  at  the  head  of 
a  long  procession  which  had  gone  out  two  or  three 
miles  to  meet  him.  He  was  taken  to  the  Walnut 
Grove,  on  the  square  north  of  the  site  of  the  Blind 
Asylum,  and  made  a  very  indifferent  little  speech,  in 
which  occurred  two  exhibitions  of  indifferent  taste, 
short  as  it  was.  Something  required  an  allusion  to 
the  preceding  Sunday  and  something  he  had  done 
that  day,  and  he  said  he  had  no  scruples  about  doing 
necessary  work  on  Sunday,  adding  by  way  of  humor- 
ous enlargement  that  he  "  had  written  his  Sunday 
mail  report  on  Sunday."  This  was  a  report  on  a  series 
of  petitions  from  over-zealous  religionists  asking  the 
suppression  of  the  transportation  and  distribution  of 
the  mails  on  Sunday,  made  in  1828  and  so  well  con- 
structed that  a  good  many  believed  somebody  else 
wrote  it.  Whether  true  or  not,  it  was  impertinent  and 
sure  to  be  offensive  to  the  religious  element  of  the 
population  to  say  it  was  a  Sunday  job.  In  reference 
to  his  public  services  he  said  he  had  "  that  morning  at 
the  tavern  stripped  to  the  buff  and  showed  a  friend 
who  shared  the  room,  the  scars  of  five  wounds  re- 


THE   CAPITAL   IN    THE    WOODS. 


127 


ceived  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames."  As  he  was  on 
an  electioneering  tour,  and  within  a  month  of  the 
election,  there  was  a  rather  unpleasant  savor  of  Roman 
mode  of  electioneering  in  this  public  parade  of  his 
wounds  to  solicit  votes.  He  was  a  better  fighter  than 
statesman.  Tilghman  A.  Howard,  who  had  been 
beaten  for  Governor  the  August  before,  made  the 
speech  of  that  occasion. 

On  the  11th  of  June,  1842,  ex-President  Van 
Buren  came  here,  and  was  received,  like  Col.  John- 
son, by  a  procession  of  military  companies,  firemen, 
citizens  on  foot  and  horseback  and  in  wagons  and 
carriages,  with  the  music  of  the  first  brass  band,  and 
taken  to  the  Palmer  House,  where  he  was  welcomed 
in  a  formal  speeeh,  and  responded,  standing  in  the 
open  carriage,  in  a  very  neat  and  graceful  little  ex- 
pression of  gratitude  and  the  usual  civilities  of  such 
occasions.  He  had  a  reception  at  the  State-House, 
by  request  of  Governor  Bigger,  in  the  evening.  The 
next  day  being  Sunday,  he  attended  Beecher's  church 
in  the  morning  and  the  Methodist  in  the  evening,  and 
left  on  Monday  by  stage  for  Terre  Haute,  getting  an 
upset  at  Plainfield,  it  was  said  at  the  time. 

Henry  Clay,  about  whom  a  greater  curiosity,  and 
for  whom,  in  consequence  of  the  strength  of  the  Ken- 
tucky settlers,  a  greater  admiration  was  felt  than  for 
any  other  man  in  the  nation,  came  here  on  the  5th  of 
October,  18-12.  He  was  received  east  of  the  town  by 
a  greater  crowd  than  was  ever  assembled  here  before, 
and,  says  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown,  "  considering  the 
means  of  travel  then  and  since,  a  greater  crowd  than 
has  ever  been  gathered  since."  A  fine  woods  pasture 
belonging  to  Governor  Noble,  east  of  his  residence, 
was  the  place  of  ceremonies,  which  consisted  of 
speeches  and  a  profuse  "  lunch"  it  would  be  called 
now,  but  wa.s  called  a  "barbecue"  then.  There  were 
two  or  three  speaking-stands,  but  none  but  his  own 
were  used  while  Mr.  Clay  was  speaking.  He  spoke 
for  more  than  an  hour,  and  certainly  did  not  surpass 
anybody's  expectations.  There  was  no  occasion  for 
feeling  or  enthusiasm  in  a  formal  speech  of  response 
to  a  popular  reception,  and  there  was  none  on  his  side 
and  none  due  to  his  eloquence  on  the  other.  He  was 
followed  by  Senator  John  J.  Crittenden  and  Governor 
Thomas  Metcalf, "  the  Old  Stone  Hammer,"  who  both 


made  better  speeches  than  their  chief.     They  were 

followed  by  Joseph  Little  White,  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  the  Madison  District  of  this  State,  and  he 
made  the  best  speech  of  the  day.  He  was  capable  of 
doing  it  at  any  time,  except  when  Mr.  Clay  was  fully 
roused.  He  was  a  born  orator,  like  Sargent  S.  Pren- 
tiss, whom  he  greatly  resembled  in  intellectual  readi- 
ness and  affluence.  Other  speeches  were  made  by 
home  orators,  but  they  have  passed  away  with  the 
occasion  and  are  forty  years  deep  in  oblivion  now. 
The  entertainment  continued  for  two  days  longer,  in 
which  a  review  of  the  military  companies  was  held 
by  the  Governor,  a  display  of  fire-works  made,  an  agri- 
cultural show  visited,  and,  it  was  said,  a  three-mile 
race  witnessed  between  "  Bertrand"  and  "  Little  Red" 
on  the  first  race-course  ever  opened  here.  It  was 
maintained  but  a  few  years,  three  or  four  from  1841, 
and  was  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Crawfords- 
ville  road,  about  a  mile  west  of  the  river. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  1844,  Gen.  Cass  visited  the 
town,  and  was  received  like  his  distinguished  prede- 
cessors, though  with  hardly  so  large  a  display  of  pop- 
ular interest,  and  was  escorted  by  the  procession  to 
the  Military  Ground,  where  Governor  Whitcomb 
made  a  welcoming  address,  and  the  general  re.sponded 
at  considerable  length.  A  Presidential  contest  was  at 
its  height,  and  he  made  a  strong  and  long  electioneer- 
ing speech,  followed  by  Senator  Edward  A.  Hannegan 
and  others.  He  held  a  reception  at  the  Palmer  House, 
and  left  in  the  evening  for  Dayton. 

The  great  Presidential  contest  of  1840  excited  no 
more  feeling  in  any  town  in  the  Union  than  in  Indian- 
apolis. Local  meetings  and  mass-meetings,  speeches, 
Tippecanoe  songs.  Whig  emblems,  "log  cabin"  breast- 
pins, little  canoes, — the  significance  of  which  must  be 
traced  through  the  final  syllables  of  an  Indian  name 
that  had  no  relevancy  to  causes, — ostentatious  parade 
of  cider-barrels,  and  imitations  of  "  latch-strings," 
and  scores  of  varied  forms  of  enthusiasm  that  every- 
body felt  to  be  silly  when  the  fever  was  gone,  kept 
the  whole  community  in  an  incessant  turmoil  for 
nearly  a  year.  Processions  in  weather  so  cold  that 
enthusiastic  Whigs  froze  their  ears  by  keeping  their 
hats  waving  to  their  "  hurrahs"  too  long,  great  "  dug- 
out" canoes  filled  with  young  ladies  and  little  flags, 


128 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


imitation  cabins  drawn  on  big  ox-wagons,  enormous 
choruses  to  very  silly  songs  were  the  leading  features 
of  the  Whig  side  of  the  contest.  On  the  corner 
where  the  Bates  House  stands,  a  cabin  of  buckeye 
loCTg — a  compliment  to  Gen.  Harrison's  Ohio  residence 
— was  built,  and  barrels  of  cider  kept  constantly  run- 
ning when  there  was  a  Whig  meeting  in  the  town. 
One  of  the  Whig  songs,  and  the  most  popular,  because, 
like  the  lion's  part  in  the  "  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream,"  it  "  was  nothing  but  roaring,"  and  capable 
of  employing  all  the  strength  of  all  the  lungs  within 
the  radius  of  a  half  mile,  began  thus : 

"  What  has  caused  this  great  commotion,  motion,  motion. 
The  country  through? 
It  is  the  ball  a  rolling  on  for  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too, 
And  with  them  we'll  beat  little  Van. 
Van,  Van  is  a  used  up  man, 
And  with  them  we'll  beat  little  Von  !" 

It  makes  one  feel  cheap  to  think  that  such  rubbish 
as  that  could  have  any  effect  on  the  opinions  or  action 
of  a  great  nation,  but  it  had.  "  Lillibullero"  was  not 
better,  and  it  helped  James  II.  ofF  the  throne,  so 
our  folly  of  1840  was  not  singular.  On  the  Demo- 
cratic side  the  contest  was  managed  in  a  much  more 
decorous  way.  They  could  not  help  it,  for  they  had 
nothing  in  their  cause  or  candidate  to  excite  enthu- 
siasm, and,  in  the  expressive  slang  of  to-day,  the 
Whigs  had  "got  the  bulge."  The  Democrats  had 
too  many  sins  of  a  long  period  of  power  to  answer  for. 
Centre  township  gave  thirteen  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  votes  in  the  Presidential  election  in  November, 
and  Harrison  got  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two  to 
five  hundred  and  fifteen  for  Van  Buren.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  town  in  1840  by  the  census  was  two 
thousand  six  hundred  and  uinety-two. 

The  contest  of  1844  was  not  so  one-sided.  The 
Democrats  did  quite  as  much  fooling  as  the  Whigs. 
They  raised  hickory-poles  and  the  Whigs  raised  ash- 
poles,  a  suggestion  of  Mr.  Clay's  home  at  Ashland, 
about  as  apt  and  significant  as  the  canoe  of  1840. 
Both  sides  had  singing  clubs,  and  sang  the  silliest  of 
rhyming  rant  to  the  most  monotonous  of  "  nigger" 
tunes,  then  in  the  first  full  tide  of  popularity.  "  Old 
Dan  Tucker,"  "Lucy  Long,"  '-The  Blue-Tailed  Fly," 
"  Buifalo  Gals"  were  the  favorite  airs  of  both  sides. 


The  Whigs  for  some  reason  made  the  "  coon"  a  party 
symbol,  but  what  it  symbolized  nobody  appeared  to 
know.  It  was  paraded  numerously  in  processions  and 
mass-meetings,  and  Whigs  often  alluded  to  themselves 
as  "coons,"  and  spoke  of  the  thieving  little  beast  with 
afi'ectionate  rapture.  One  of  their  songs  expressed 
this  preposterous  sentiment : 

"  In  Lindenwald  the  fox  is  holed. 
The  coons  all  laugh  to  hear  it  told. 
With  ha!  ha!  ha!  what  a  nominee 
Is  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee!" 

Van  Buren's  "  pet  name''  was  the  "  fox"  in  1840, 
and  Lindenwald  was  his  home.  But  out  of  aj\  this 
fuss  and  flummery  there  never  came  any  intelligible 
reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  coon  as  a  party  symbol 
or  suggestion.  The  Democrats  ought  to  have  balanced 
the  case  by  adopting  the  "  possum,"  but  they  did  not. 
In  1840  the  Democratic  ladies  made  little  show  in  the 
parades,  while  the  Whig  ladies  were  active  and  con- 
stant in  all  that  could  help  their  friends.  In  1844 
the  female  part  of  the  contest  was  very  evenly  bal- 
anced. That  was  the  last  of  the  roaring,  singing, 
pole-raising,  political  folly.  The  annexation  of  Texas, 
the  Mexican  war,  and  the  growing  prominence  of  the 
slavery  problem  made  issues  too  serious  for  empty  or 
ribald  songs  and  the  puerile  agencies  that  had  served 
their  turn  and  needed  to  be  forgotten. 

3d.  There  may  be  grouped  here  a  number  of  little 
items  of  city  progress  of  no  special  importance  in 
themselves,  but  worth  notice,  as  first  things  always 
are,  if  they  grow  to  importance  later.  In  the  spring 
of  1840  the  Council  made  two  fire  cisterns,  the  first 
of  the  kind.  In  July,  1842,  T.  W.  Whitridge,  who 
subsequently  became  quite  a  distinguished  artist  in 
New  York,  opened  the  first  daguorrean  gallery  here, 
but  afterwards  betook  almost  exclusively  to  painting. 
At  this  time  and  before,  Jacob  Cox,  the  oldest  and 
most  eminent  artist  in  the  State,  was  painting  por- 
traits occasionally  while  working  at  his  trade  as  a 
tinner.  During  the  fall  of  1842,  James  Blake, 
always  foremost  in  enterprise,  or  only  mated  by 
Nicholas  McCarty,  began  the  manufacture  of  molas- 
ses from  the  juice  of  corn-stalks,  a  prophecy  of  the 
later  sorghum  manufacture  which  he  lived  to  see. 
The  enterprise  failed  soon,  because  the  product  was 


THE    CAPITAL   IN   THE    WOODS. 


129 


tinged  with  an  acid  taste  that  seriously  impaired  it. 
Still,  a  good  many  used  it  while  they  could  get  it 
because  it  was  cheap.  The  manufactory  was  near 
Mr.  Blake's  barn,  on  North  Street,  between  Mis- 
sis.sippi  and  the  canal,  or  in  that  vicinity.  The 
Indiana  Horticultural  Society  was  organized  Aug. 
22,  1840,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  being  one  of  its 
leading  promoters.  It  gave  several  fine  exhibitions 
of  fruits  and  flowers  during  the  half-dozen  years 
of  its  existence.  On  the  10th  of  April,  1841,  a 
public  meeting  was  held  to  make  arrangements  for 
appropriate  services  on  the  occasion  of  President 
Harrison's  death,  and  on  the  17th  business  was 
suspended,  an  imposing  funeral  procession  formed, 
and  addresses  delivered  by  Governor  Bigger  and 
Mr.  Beecher.  The  4th  of  May  was  observed  as  a 
fast-day  all  over  the  country  for  the  President's 
death.  On  the  25th  of  April,  1842,  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  a  loud  explosion  was  heard  in  the  gro- 
cery of  Frederick  Smith,  a  little  one-story  frame  on 
the  south  side  of  Washington  Street,  near  Delaware. 
Those  who  heard  it  and  hurried  in  found  him  lying 
in  a  heap  of  laths  and  lime,  and  shattered  plank, 
and  fragments  of  grocery-goods,  terribly  burned  and 
bruised  and  unconscious,  but  not  dead.  He  was  left 
so  for  some  hours  till  the  coroner  came.  He  after- 
wards recovered  and  left  the  place.  On  a  fragment 
of  plank  or  the  lid  of  a  goods-box  he  had  scrawled 
in  German  with  chalk  an  unintelliuible  account  of 
his  reasons  for  his  suicidal  attempt,  but  the  only 
decipherable  words  were  "  envy  of  bread."  He  was 
thought  to  have  been  partially  insane,  and  to  have 
tried  to  go  out  of  the  world  in  the  blaze  of  an 
exploding  keg  of  powder.  Why  he  didn't  was  a 
mystery.  This  was  said  at  the  time  to  be  the  first 
suicidal  attempt  in  the  town.  Not  far  from  the 
same  time  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ellis  committed 
suicide  by  hanging  himself  in  his  barn  in  Wash- 
ington township.  The  Smith  explosion,  however, 
was  not  the  first  case  of  suicidal  mania.  Some  years 
before  it  a  boy  by  the  name  of  Alexander  Wiley,  a 
brother  of  W^illiam  Y.  Wiley,  long  a  prominent  and 
respected  citizen,  drowned  himself  in  the  river  some- 
where below  the  bridge,  for  some  difference  with  his 
father,  Capt.  Wylie,  then  a  popular  tailor  on  Wash- 


ington Street;  at  least  that  was  the  universal  belief 
at  the  time.  The  body  was  found  a  week  afterward.? 
in  a  drift  a  few  miles  down  the  river,  terribly  muti- 
lated by  fish  or  carrion-birds.  The  annual  Methodist 
Conference  met  here  Oct.  21,  1840,  with  Bishop 
Soule  as  presiding  officer.  During  the  fall  of  1842 
lecturers  on  mesmerism  excited  a  good  deal  of  inter- 
est and  had  a  good  many  believers. 

In  February,  1843,  "  Washington  Hall"  took  fire, 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  was  fought 
zealously  all  day,  and  barely  extinguished  and  safe 
at  dusk.  The  engines  had  to  be  supplied  with  water 
by  lines  of  buckets  from  pumps  at  the  corner  of 
Meridian  Street,  and  in  front  of  Mothershead's  drug- 
store on  Washington  Street,  and  from  several  private 
wells.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  one  of  the  most 
daring  and  effective  of  the  workers,  and  got  his 
clothes  frozen  on  him  and  his  hair  full  of  ice,  as  did 
hundreds  of  others.  The  Old  Seminary  boys  were 
dismissed  by  Mr.  Kemper  to  go  down  and  help  in 
the  bucket  line.  The  loss  was  but  three  thousand 
dollars,  but  that  was  the  biggest  fire  that  had  ever 
happened  here  at  that  time.  Miss  Lesner  opened 
the  Indianapolis  Female  Collegiate  Institute  in  the 
"  Franklin  Institute"  house,  on  Circle  Street,  Sep- 
tember, 1843.  In  June,  1843,  Robert  Parmelee 
began  the  manufacture  of  pianos  here  on  the  south 
side  of  Washington  Street,  a  little  west  of  Meridian. 
It  did  not  last  long  or  amount  to  much.  The  fall 
before  1842,  E.  J.  Peck  and  Edwin  Hedderly  began 
the  manufacture  of  lard-oil  on  Washington  Street. 
In  April,  1844,  was  laid  out  the  "  Union  Cemetery," 
east  of  and  adjoining  the  "  Old  Graveyard."  In  1833 
Dr.  Coe  had  added  a  considerable  section,  and  in 
1852  Messrs.  Blake,  Ray,  and  Peck  made  a  much 
more  considerable  addition  on  the  east  and  north, 
long  known  as  the  "  New  Graveyard."  With  the 
addition  made  in  1844  the  cemetery  extended  from 
the  river  to  Kentucky  Avenue,  and  northward  to  the 
Vandalia  Railroad.  In  1860  a  large  plat  between 
the  last  addition  and  the  river  was  platted  as  an 
addition,  and  used  chiefly  for  the  burial  of  Con- 
federate prisoners  who  died  in  the  camp  hospitals 
here.  But  little  else  of  it  was  ever  used  as  a  ceme- 
tery, and  after  Crown   Hill  was  ready  for  use   the 


130 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION  COUNTY. 


dead  were  removed  there,  and  the  ground  occupied 
by  the  Vandalia  Railway  Company  for  freight-yard 
tracks,  wood-sheds,  blacksmith-shop,  round-house,  and 
engine-house,  and  Ferguson's  pork-house  was  put  on 
a  part  of  it.  Washington  Street  was  graded  and 
graveled  in  July,  1845.  In  the  same  year  the  old 
Methodist  Church,  erected  in  1827-29,  began  to 
crack  and  grow  unsafe,  and  was  torn  down  and  re- 
placed next  year  by  Wesley  Chapel.  In  1843  the 
Methodist  Church,  growing  unwieldy,  divided,  and 
one  part  retained  the  old  church  on  the  corner  of 
Circle  and  Meridian  Streets,  the  other  used  the  court- 
house while  they  were  building  a  new  house,  known 
as  Roberts'  Chapel,  on  the  corner  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Market,  the  present  site  of  the  Journal  office. 
It  was  completed  in  1844,  under  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  J.  S.  Bayliss.  In  1868  this  church  was  sold 
and  converted  into  the  Martindale  Block,  and  a  new 
church  was  soon  begun  on  the  corner  of  Delaware 
and  Vermont  Streets.  It  is  of  stone,  and  not  yet 
fully  finished,  but  it  is  one  of  the  finest  church 
edifices  in  the  State.  The  first  city  clock,  built  by 
John  Mofiatt  in  1853-54,  was  set  in  the  steeple  of 
Roberts'  Chapel  in  1854,  and  remained  until  1868, 
when  it  was  removed  by  the  fire  engineers.  In  the 
summer  Seton  W.  Norris  built,  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Washington  and  Meridian  Streets,  the 
block  torn  away  a  few  years  ago  to  make  way  for 
the  present  Hubbard  Block.  It  was  the  finest  build- 
ing in  the  place  in  its  day.  The  Locomotive,  for 
several  years  a  popular  literary  weekly  paper,  was 
started  by  the  apprentices  in  the  Journal  office.  In 
the  summer  of  1846  the  audacity  of  the  gamblers 
provoked  the  citizens  to  harsh  measures,  and  a  public 
meeting  appointed  Hiram  Brown,  the  oldest  member 
of  the  bar,  and  one  of  the  ablest,  to  the  special  duty 
of  prosecuting  them.  His  work,  with  a  repetition 
of  the  public  meeting  the  following  year,  drove  off 
the  worst  of  the  dark-legged  fraternity.  The  depot 
of  the  Madison  Railroad  was  built  in  1846,  and  was 
a  substantial  intimation  that  the  long  isolation  of  the 
town  would  soon  be  broken.  Property  had  already 
taken  an  upward  turn,  and  values  were  improving  in 
the  hopeless  section  of  East  South  Street,  then  a 
country  lane,  and  Pogue's  Run  Valley.     Complaint 


was  made  of  the  selection  of  so  remote  a  site  as  South 
Street  east  of  Pennsylvania,  but  being  fixed  the 
Council  began  improving  the  streets  leading  down 
there  across  the  swampy  bottom,  and  the  property- 
holders  straightened  the  creek  from  Virginia  Avenue 
to  Meridian  Street. 

Governor  Whitcomb  issued  his  proclamation  calling 
for  volunteers  for  the  Mexican  war  May  23,  1846, 
and  Capt.  James  T.  Drake  speedily  raised  a  company, 
with  John  McDougal,  afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  California,  as  first  lieutenant,  and  Lew  Wallace, 
now  general  and  minister  to  Turkey,  as  second  lieu- 
tenant. It  was  made  part  of  the  First  Indiana  Regi- 
ment, of  which  Capt.  Drake  was  made  colonel.  '  It 
spent  the  whole  year  of  its  enlistment  guarding  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  where  Luther  Peck,  son 
of  the  first  Lutheran  clergyman  here,  was  drowned. 
Two  other  companies  were  raised  in  May  and  Sep- 
tember, 1847,  by  Edward  Lander,  elder  brother  of 
Gen.  Frederick  Lander,  and  Capt.  John  McDougal. 
They  were  put  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Regiments. 
It  may  be  noted  here  that  in  numbering  the  regiments 
raised  by  the  State  in  the  civil  war,  the  five  Mexican 
regiments  were  counted  first,  and  the  first  Indiana 
regiment  in  the  late  war  was  the  sixth. 

4th.  During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1842  and  the 
early  spring  of  1843  a  strong  religious  excitement 
prevailed  throughout  the  West,  and  nowhere  more  ab- 
sorbingly than  in  Indianapolis.  The  preaching  of  the 
"  Second  Advent"  by  Samuel  Miller  had  attracted 
the  attention  even  of  those  who  had  not  the  slightest 
faith  in  his  calculations  or  his  interpretations  of 
Daniel's  "  time,  times,  and  an  half"  The  spirit  of 
religious  revival  was  abroad,  and  in  spite  of  the  in- 
evitable extravagancies  of  religious  enthusiasm  it 
wrought  as  much  permanent  good  probably  as  any 
that  ever  disturbed  the  self-seeking  of  any  community. 
The  "  second  coming"  gave  especial  force  to  the  ex- 
hortations of  the  time,  and  when  the  great  comet 
blazed  out  all  along  the  western  horizon  it  gave  a 
special  force  to  the  predictions  of  the  "  second  coming." 
One  of  the  portents  was  there  before  the  eyes  of  all 
the  world,  and  it  gave  encouragement  to  the  invention 
of  many  more ;  meteors  went  flashing  down  the  sky, 
leaving  fiery  trails  that  broke  up  into  little  patches 


THE    CAPITAL   IN   THE    WOODS. 


131 


which  finally  took  the  Ibrm  of  letters  and  read,  '■  The 
Lord  is  coming."  Strange  intimations  of  the  great 
catastrophe  were  found  in  marks  on  leaves,  sometimes 
on  prophetic  eggs  of  strangely  inspired  pullets,  some- 
times on  the  bark  of  trees,  or  the  accidental  lines  of 
rain-drops.  They  were  all  paraded  with  gloomy  ex- 
ultation in  the  Midnight  Cry,  a  paper  of  the  Second 
Advent,  published  in  Cincinnati  by  Joshua  V.  Himes. 
The  "  unrespective"  secular  press  laughed  at  these 
fantastic  phenomena.  They  called  the  "  Second  Ad- 
vent" organ  the  Midnight  Howl  and  the  Evening  Yell, 
and  insisted  that  the  mysterious  letters  made  of  a 
meteor's  tail  spelled  "  Pay  the  printer."  But  the  re- 
vival went  on,  not  exactly  separated  from  the  advent 
excitement  but  independently  of  it  ;  all  the  churches 
felt  it.  About  the  time  the  comet  appeared  a  young 
preacher  of  considerable  ability,  who  had  given  the 
"  advent"  prophecies  close  study,  came  to  the  town 
and  preached  a  series  of  connected  sermons  on  the 
subject  in  several  of  the  churches,  principally  in  the 
Christian  Church  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  and  the  First 
Lutheran  Church  on  Ohio  Street  near  Meridian.  One 
gloomy,  rainy  night,  when  he  was  preaching  at  this 
latter  place,  there  was  a  strange  lurid  glare  all  over  the 
western  sky,  reaching  up  to  the  zenith,  and  looking  as 
if  the  world  were  really  on  fire  in  the  back  yard,  as 
the  congregation  was  dismissed  and  got  out  of  doors 
into  the  drizzling  rain.  The  sermon  had  described 
with  considerable  graphic  power  the  portents  that 
would  precede  Christ's  second  coming,  and  the  impres- 
sion was  still  vivid  on  the  minds  of  many.  That 
awful  red  light  spreading  over  the  thick  clouds  all 
around  both  poles  and  up  to  the  zenith  seemed  a  reali- 
zation of  the  most  terrible  anticipation  of  the  sermon. 
Nobody  fainted  or  screamed,  but  a  good  many  women 
and  not  a  few  men  looked  at  it  as  they  never  before 
had  looked  at  an  earthly  conflagration.  It  proved  to 
be  the  burning  of  a  few  large  ricks  of  hemp  cut  and 
stacked  on  a  farm  on  the  river  bank  at  the  ford  of  the 
Crawfordsville  road. 

Several  of  the  most  confident  of  the  Adventists  made 
themselves  ascension  robes,  and  some  sold  or  gave  away 
their  property.  One  of  the  leading  men  sold  out  and 
joined  the  Shakers  in  Ohio.  One  woman  became  per- 
manently insane  and  was  afterwards  put  in  the  asylum. 


The  failure  of  the  world  to  "  come  to  time,"  or  rather 
eternity,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1843,  or  thereabouts, 
which  was  the  date  that  Miller's  calculations  had  de- 
termined to  be  the  limit,  did  not  undeceive  any  of  the 
devout  adherents.  The  prophet  or  interpreter  of 
prophets  recast  his  calculation  and  concluded  that 
June  was  a  safer  limit  than  April.  The  failure  then 
began  to  tell  on  the  delusion  of  pretty  much  all  who 
had  not  undeceived  themselves  before,  and  the  "  Second 
Advent"  fancy  disappeared  entirely. 

It  will  not  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  local  history 
to  notice  in  this  connection  that  there  were  three  places 
chiefly  used  for  the  baptism  of  converts,  where  the  rite 
was  applied  by  immersion, — the  river  at  the  old  ferry, 
as  often  on  the  west  as  the  east  side,  because  the  water 
shoaled  very  gradually  on  that  side,  and  on  the  east 
there  was  a  "  stepping  oif"  place  that  would  take  a 
man  in  a  swimming  depth  in  a  few  steps  ;  another 
was  in  the  canal  at  Washington  Street,  but  less  used 
than  the  canal  at  the  Kentucky  Avenue  bridge.  It 
was  here  that  Mr.  Beecher  first  practiced  immersion, 
after  a  declaration  that  he  had  no  more  faith  in  the 
efiicacy  of  the  rite  in  that  form  than  any  other,  but 
would  administer  it  in  the  way  that  best  pleased  the 
subject  of  it.  A  very  common  feature  of  Sunday 
was  a  procession  or  crowd  going  from  some  up-town 
church  to  the  river  or  canal  to  administer  baptism  at 
the  close  of  the  morning's  services.  When  pork- 
houses  spoiled  the  river  and  sewage  befouled  the  canal 
the  churches  betook  themselves  to  baptisteries.  The 
colored  brethren,  whose  church  was  on  Georgia  Street 
west  of  Mississippi  and  very  near  the  canal,  went  to 
the  Georgia  Street  foot-bridge.  The  creek  was  never 
used  for  this  service,  or,  if  at  all,  very  early  in  the  set- 
tlement's religious  development. 

The  beginning  of  the  year  1847  was  marked  by 
the  highest  flood  ever  known  in  the  river  before  or 
since,  though  that  of  last  February  could  have  been 
but  little  below  it.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  the  new 
year  the  water  was  at  its  highest.  It  covered  the 
whole  of  the  river  bottom,  Fall  Creek  and  Eagle 
Creek  bottoms,  and  in  many  places  came  up  level  with 
the  surface  of  the  bluffs.  It  ran  over  the  top  of  the 
middle  pier  of  the  National  road  bridge,  and  several 
times  the  big  trees  and  masses  of  drift  borne  down  on 


132 


HISTOKY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


the  furious  current  looked  as  if  they  must  striiie  the 
sills  and  girders  and  sweep  the  structure  away.  The 
National  road  west  of  the  river  was  covered  "  hub 
deep"  from  the  bridge  to  the  bluflF.  In  two  places  the 
current  was  so  strong  as  to  cut  great  gaps  across  the 
heavily  macadamized  roadway,  and  pour  down  the 
south  slope  of  the  grade  into  the  low  iiround  of  tiie 
bottom  in  a  violent  cataract  that  churned  the  soft  allu- 
vial soil  into  thin  mud  and  carried  it  off.  In  this  way 
two  deep  pits  were  dug,  the  largest  of  which  was  prob- 
ably one  hundred  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty  feet 
deep.  A  frame  house  on  the  south  side  of  the  road 
was  washed  off  by  the  flood  and  lodged  in  this  hole, 
where  it  stuck,  leaning  dangerously  over  for  several 
months,  but  was  finally  removed,  and  is  still  standing 
near  its  former  site  in  Indianola.  These  two  huge 
scars  left  by  the  flood  remained  more  or  less  conspic- 
uous for  twenty  years.  The  mischief  done  by  it  was 
so  general  and  serious  that  the  Legislature  extended 
the  time  of  paying  taxes  by  land-owners  in  the  river 
bottoms,  and  probably  remitted  them  altogether  in 
cases  of  especial  hardship.  The  canal  bank  along  the 
river  near  the  Michigan  road  was  washed  away,  the 
feeder-dam  injured,  the  Fall  Creek  aqueduct  washed 
out,  and  the  Pogue's  Run  culvert  on  Merrill  Street 
torn  away.  The  old  "  ravines"  in  the  town  made 
their  last  serious  disturbance  in  that  flood. 

The  22d  of  February,  1847,  was  celebrated  by  a 
procession  of  the  mechanics  of  the  city,  who  marched 
to  the  Christian  Church  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  and 
were  addressed  by  the  late  John  D.  Defrees,  then  re- 
cently become  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Journal. 
On  the  26th  a  general  meeting  of  the  citizens  was 
held  at  the  court-house  to  take  measures  for  assisting 
in  the  relief  of  the  distress  in  Ireland.  A  good  deal 
of  good  work  was  done  here  by  committees  and  by 
individual  liberality. 


CHAPTER    VL 

CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


There  was  not  much  change,  except  in  name, 
when  the  "  town"  became  the  "  city"  of  Indianap- 
olis, but  it  marked  the  beginning    of  a   very  posi- 


tive and  great  change  produced  by  the  close  approach 
of  the  first  railroad,  so  it  may  fitly  indicate  the  be- 
ginning of  the  "  third  period"  of  the  city's  history, 
a  period  of  vigorous  growth  and  solid  promise.  The 
leading  events  are:  1st,  The  changes  in  the  munici- 
pal government  and  its  departments ;  2d,  The  intro- 
duction of  the  free  school  system  and  the  taxation  to 
maintain  it ;  3d,  The  development  of  the  railroad  sys- 
tem, and  the  improvement  in  business  and  material 
condition  produced  by  it;  4th,  Associations  for  busi- 
ness or  charity,  churches,  private  schools,  lectures, 
and  means  of  intellectual  culture  or  diversion.  As  the 
history  of  the  municipal  government  will  be  treated 
separately  and  fully,  nothing  need  be  said  here  except 
as  to  its  general  course.  The  public  schools,  churches, 
railroads,  and  manufactures  are  in  the  same  category. 
First. — On  the  13th  of  February,  1847,  the  Legis- 
lature enacted  a  city  charter  for  Indianapolis,  and  left 
it  to  be  accepted  or  rejected  by  a  popular  vote  on  the 
27th  of  March,  the  Governor  being  required  to  make 
proclamation  of  the  operation  of  the  charter  if  it  were 
accepted.  The  city  was  divided  into  seven  wards, — 
four  north  of  Washington  Street,  the  First,  Second, 
Third,  and  Fourth ;  and  three  south  of  it,  the  Fifth, 
Sixth,  and  Seventh.  The  First  contained  all  of  the 
city  (which  covered  the  whole  donation  east  of  the 
river)  east  of  Alabama  Street,  north  of  Washington  ; 
the  Second,  all  westward  to  Meridian ;  the  Third,  all 
to  Mississippi;  the  Fourth,  all  west  to  the  river, 
south  of  Washington  Street ;  the  Fifth  Ward  took  all 
west  of  Illinois  Street;  the  Sixth,  all  east  to  Dela- 
ware ;  the  Seventh,  all  the  donation  east  of  Delaware. 
The  first  city  election  was  to  be  held  on  the  24th  of 
April,  the  mayor  to  serve  two  years,  with  a  veto  on 
the  Council  and  the  jurisdiction  of  a  justice,  his  pay 
to  be  his  fees.  The  wards  to  elect  one  councilman  each 
for  one  year,  with  a  salary  of  twenty-four  dollars,  or 
two  dollars  for  each  regular  meeting.  They  had  all 
the  usual  powers  of  municipal  bodies,  and  were  re- 
quired to  elect  secretary,  treasurer,  assessor,  marshal, 
with  a  constable's  powers,  street  commissioners,  city 
and  such  other  officers  as  they  deemed  necessary. 
Taxation  could  not  exceed  fifteen  cents  on  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  except  by  special  authority  from  a  popu- 
lar vote.     The  most  important  question  to  be  settled 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


133 


at  the  election  of  April  24th  for  city  officers  was  that 
of  which  least  was  said,  the  levy  of  a  special  tax 
to  establish  and  maintain  a  free-school  system.  The 
State  school  fund,  at  that  time  mainly  derived  from 
the  sale  of  the  "  school  section"  reserved  in  each  Con- 
gressional township  for  school  purposes,  and  thence 
called  the  "  Congressional  Township  Fund,"  was  not 
sufficient  to  accomplish-  anything  of  consequence, 
and  it  was  proposed  to  assist  it,  and  make  an  efficient 
system  with  the  addition  of  a  local  school  tax.  The 
people  were  to  vote  "  yes"  or  "  no"  on  that  proposi- 
tion at  the  first  city  election.  The  president  of  the 
expiring  Town  Council,  or  Board  of  Trustees  at  first. 
Squire  Joseph  A.  Levy,  a  very  respectable  black- 
smith on  Washington  Street,  issued  his  proclamation 
for  an  election  on  the  27th  of  March  to  decide  upon 
the  acceptance  of  the  charter.  It  was  accepted  by 
four  hundred  and  forty-nine  votes  to  nineteen.  Gov- 
ernor Whitcomb  proclaimed  the  charter  in  force  on 
the  30th.  Then  President  Levy  issued  his  second 
proclamation  for  an  election  of  city  officers  and  the 
decision  of  the  school-tax  question.  The  election 
was  held  in  the  new  seven  wards,  and  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Samuel  Henderson,  the  first  president  of 
the  old  Council  or  Board,  as  mayor ;  Uriah  Gates, 
councilman  from  the  First  Ward ;  Henry  Tatewiler, 
Second ;  Cornelius  King,  Third ;  Samuel  S.  Rookeri 
Fourth  ;  Charles  W.  Cady,  Fifth  ;  Abram  W.  Har- 
rison, Sixth ;  William  L.  Wingate,  Seventh.  The 
new  Council  organized  the  1st  of  May,  with  Mr. 
Rooker  as  president ;  James  G.  Jordan  as  secretary, 
at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars;  Nathan  Lister, 
treasurer,  fifty  dollars  ;  James  Wood,  engineer,  three 
hundred  dollars;  William  Campbell,  marshal  and  col- 
lector, with  a  per  cent,  pay  for  the  latter  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  fees  for  the  former ; 
Andrew  M.  Carnaban,  city  attorney,  paid  by  fees; 
Jacob  B.  Filler,  street  commissioner,  one  hundred 
dollars ;  David  Cox,  mes-senger  of  the  Marion  Fire 
Company,  and  Jacob  B.  Fitler  of  the  Relief,  each 
twenty-five  dollars ;  Sampson  Barbee  and  Jacob 
Miller,  market  clerks  or  masters,  at  fifty  dollars ; 
Joshua  Black,  assessor,  paid  by  the  day  while  en- 
gaged ;  Benjamin  F.  Lobaugh,  sexton.  The  total  of 
the  tax  duplicate  for  1846-47  was  four  thousand 


two  hundred  and  twenty-six  dollars ;  the  aggregate  of 
taxable  property,  about  one  million  dollars.  The  vote 
of  the  wards  is  worth  recording  here.  About  five 
hundred  votes  were  polled  altogether.  In  the  First 
Ward,  108;  Second,  85;  Third,  122;  Fourth,  35  ; 
Fifth,  37 ;  Sixth,  41  ;  Seventh,  66.  The  vote  on 
the  school  tax  was  four  hundred  and  six  for  it, 
twenty-nine  against  it. 

Second. — -The  authority  given  by  the  popular  vote 
on  the  24th  of  April  for  the  school  levy  was  promptly 
used.  Each  ward  was  made  a  district  with  a  trustee, 
houses  were  rented  and  teachers  engaged,  but  the 
fund  would  only  maintain  one-quarter  of  the  four 
free.  Donations  were  asked,  lots  purchased  cheaply 
in  1848  and  1849,  and  substantial  one-story  brick 
houses  built  in  1851  and  1852,  and  so  arranged  as  to 
allow  enlargement  by  a  second  story  when  necessary. 
This  was  added  in  the  First,  Second,  and  Fifth 
Wards  in  two  or  three  years.  All  have  been  greatly 
enlarged  since,  except  the  old  house  on  Pennsylvania 
Street  a  little  south  of  South  Street.  It  is  a  machine- 
shop  now.  A  two-story  house  was  built  in  the  first 
place  in  the  Seventh  Ward,  on  Virginia  Avenue,  in 
1857,  and  made  a  three-story  in  1865.  Lots  were 
bought  in  the  Fourth  Ward  and  what  was  afterwards 
the  Ninth  in  1857,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  in 
1865  and  1866  large,  handsome,  commodious  three- 
story  structures,  with  high  basements  and  all  im- 
provements for  warmth  and  ventilation,  were  built  at 
a  co^t  of  thirty-two  thousand  dollars  each.  In  1867 
the  first  four-story  house  was  built  in  what  was  then 
the  south  part  of  the  Sixth  Ward  at  a  cost  of  forty- 
three  thousand  dollars.  Three  times  as  many  school- 
houses  as  all  these  have  been  added  to  the  system 
since,  and  will  be  noticed  in  the  division  of  the  work 
treating  specially  of  schools  and  colleges.  The  first 
tax  levy  in  1847  yielded  .S1981  ;  in  1848,62385; 
in  1849,  $2851.  The  aggregate  of  collections  up  to 
1850  was  S6160,  of  which  $5938  were  spent  in  the 
following  year  for  lots  and  houses.  In  1857  the 
annual  proceeds  were  $20,329.  The  first  expendi- 
tures were  wholly  for  lots  and  buildings,  the  teachers 
getting  their  pay  as  the  teachers  of  private  schools 
did,  from  parents.  After  house-room  had  been 
secured,  the  revenue  could  go  in  part   for  tuition, 


134 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


for  longer  terms  and  more  teachers.  In  this  half- 
formed  condition  the  schools  were  forced  by  lack  of 
means  to  continue  till  the  accumulations  of  the  tax 
and  State  fund  enabled  them  to  make  a  fair  start  in 
a  real  free-school  sy.stem.  This  was  done  in  1853, 
when  the  Council  made  Henry  P.  Coburn,  Calvin 
Fletcher,  and  Henry  F.  West  trustees  for  all  the 
schools,  instead  of  making  each  ward  a  district  with 
a  trustee  as  before.  A  system  of  regulations  was 
drafted  by  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  on  the  25th  of  April, 
1853,  the  schools  were  opened  free  for  the  first  time, 
with  two  male  and  twelve  female  teachers.  Up  to 
that  time  the  number  of  scholars  had  not  exceeded 
three  hundred  and  forty.  In  the  first  week  of  the 
new  system  it  was  seven  hundred,  and  over  one 
thousand  of  the  two  thousand  six  hundred  children 
of  school  age — from  six  to  twenty-one — were  enrolled. 
The  new  arrangement  soon  provided  for  the  use  of 
uniform  test-books  and  unity  of  method  in  teaching, 
and  in  August  a  system  of  grades  was  adopted,  the 
divisions  being  the  Primary,  Secondary,  Intermediate, 
Grammar,  and  High  Schools.  All  the  lower  grades 
were  kept  together  with  the  Grammar  schools  in  the 
same  building,  the  latter  under  the  "  principal" 
teacher.  The  old  County  Seminary  was  repaired 
and  made  the  High  School  building  under  Mr.  E.  P. 
Cole,  with  an  assistant. 

Until  1855  the  trustees  themselves  did  all  the 
work  appertaining  to  the  system  outside  of  the 
school-houses,  and  did  it  without  compensation.  In 
February,  1855,  they  made  Silas  T.  Bowen — now 
head  of  the  oldest  book  house  in  the  State,  Bowen, 
■Stewart  &  Co. — superintendent,  with  a  salary  of 
four  hundred  dollars  a  year.  He  improved  the 
schools  greatly,  but  could  not  spare  the  time  that  they 
needed,  and  gave  place  to  George  B.  Stone,  at  one 
thousand  dollars  a  year.  He  had  previously  had 
charge  of  the  High  School,  succeeding  Mr.  Cole.  His  i 
salary  was  one  thousand  dollars,  and  he  gave  his  whole 
time  and  mind  to  the  work.  Under  him  the  system 
was  fully  developed,  and  worked  as  well  as  it  ever 
has  since  with  costlier  oflScers  and  greater  pretensions.  ' 
His  success  overcame  all  prejudices  and  objections, 
and  no  tax  was  paid  so  cheerfully  as  the  school  tax. 
The  income  increased   as  the  city  grew,  and   more  i 


teachers  were  employed,  new  houses  built,  old  ones 
enlarged,  and  the  average  attendance  increased  from 
three  hundred  and  forty  in  April,  1853,  when  the 
system  went  into  operation,  to  fourteen  hundred  in 
1856  and  eighteen  hundred  in  1857.  Ten  houses 
had  been  built,  forty-four  per  cent,  of  the  children  of 
"  school  age"  enrolled,  and  seventy-three  per  cent,  of 
the  enrollment  was  in  average  daily  attendance.  Just 
in  this  most  promising  condition  the  Supreme  Court 
struck  the  system  a  blow  that  prostrated  it  at  once 
and  paralyzed  it  for  five  years.  At  the  suit  of  Fow- 
ler, of  Lafayette,  the  court  held  that  local  taxation  in 
aid  of  schools  was  not  the  "  uniform  taxation"  re- 
quired by  the  Constitution,  and  could  not  be  enforced. 
The  opinion  was  very  general  at  the  time,  and  has 
only  grown  stronger  since,  that  there  was  nothing  but 
the  thinnest  of  distinctions  to  sustain  this  disastrous 
ruling.  It  was  made  in  January,  1858.  The  Coun- 
cil at  once  met  to  see  what  could  be  done,  and  called 
upon  the  citizens  of  each  ward  to  hold  meetings  with 
the  same  object.  This  was  done  on  the  29th  of  Jan- 
uary. Subscriptions  were  taken  to  maintain  the 
schools  anyhow,  and  three  thousand  dollars  were  con- 
tributed. This  would  not  go  far,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
current  quarter,  seeing  that  without  a  revenue  backed 
by  law  nothing  of  value  could  be  done,  the  effort  was 
abandoned,  the  schools  closed,  the  teachers  left  the 
city  many  of  them,  and  the  houses  were  rented  for 
private  schools  sometimes,  and  when  they  were  not 
they  were  occupied  by  thieves  and  strumpets.  The 
houses  were  kept  in  indifferent  repair  by  a  small  tax, 
and  the  State  fund  allowed  a  free  term  of  a  few 
months,  amounting  to  four  months  and  a  half  in 
1860  and  1861.  No  attempt  at  free  schools  was  made 
in  1859.  In  1862  the  Supreme  Court  reviewed  its 
decision,  the  system  was  reorganized,  the  tax  re-estab- 
lished, and  the  flourishing  condition  of  1857  fully 
restored  and  improved.  The  further  history  of  the 
public  schools  will  be  treated  in  its  department,  as 
above  intimated. 

Third. — The  Madison  Railroad,  in  its  progress 
towards  the  capital,  after  the  State  had  sold  it  to  a 
company  in  1843,  was  slow,  halting  for  several  months 
at  temporary  stations,  as  North  Vernon,  Sand  Creek, 
Clifty    Creek,  Columbus,    Edinburg,  Franklin,  and 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


135 


Greenwood.  It  reached  the  last  station  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  summer  of  1847,  and  that  left  but  ten  miles 
of  staging  from  the  city.  The  influence  of  the  great 
public  improvement,  as  already  intimated,  had  gone 
ahead  of  it,  aud  inspired  the  most  active  and  prom- 
ising enterprise  and  permanent  progress  that  had  yet 
appeared.  Thousands  of  the  old  settlers  had  never 
seen  a  railroad,  not  even  this  one,  which  for  a  half- 
dozen  years  had  been  within  fifty  miles  of  them. 
The  curiosity  about  it  was  universal,  and  there  was 
plenty  of  time  for  it  to  grow  full-size  and  spread  as 
far  as  convenient  access  could  reach.  The  citizens 
held  a  meeting  a  few  days  before  the  1st  of  October, 
the  day  track-laying  would  be  completed  to  the  depot 
already  in  progress  on  South  Street,  and  made  arrange- 
ments to  celebrate  the  occasion  in  a  suitable  manner. 
The  last  spike  was  driven  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  Oct.  1,  1847,  and  the  rail  was  barely  in 
place  and  ready  when  two  big  excursion  trains  came 
up  from  the  lower  part  of  the  road,  and  were  received 
with  much  shouting,  shooting,  and  spouting.  Spald- 
ing's Circus,  with  the  band,  led  by  Ned  Kendall,  the 
famous  bugler,  was  in  the  city,  and  the  whole  availa- 
ble portion  of  it  turned  out  to  decorate  the  occasion. 
Governor  Whitcomb  made  a  .speech  from  the  roof  of 
a  car  at  the  depot,  aud  an  illumination  and  display 
of  fire-works  at  night  closed  a  demonstration  that 
events  proved  was  not  the  glittering  illusion  of  the 
popular  rejoicing  ten  years  and  more  before  when  the 
project  of  the  road  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature. 
Tlie  good  effect  of  a  means  of  transportation  that 
could  be  depended  on,  and  would  not  consume  the  full 
value  of  the  article  in  the  cost  of  getting  it  where  some- 
body would  buy  it,  was  speedily  felt.  The  pork  packed 
here  and  at  Broad  Ripple  by  the  Mansurs  since  1841, 
and  sent  down  the  river  in  flat-boats  on  the  spring 
floods,  could  go  anywhere  now,  choose  a  market, 
and  run  no  risk.  Corn  and  wheat  doubled  in 
price  before  Christmas,  while  goods  brought  from 
abroad  were  cheapened  by  the  same  process  that  en- 
hanced home  products.  Further  notice  will  be  taken 
of  the  changes  produced  by  this  first  admission  of 
the  city  to  the  commercial  connections  of  the  country 
and  by  its  successors  a  little  later. 

From   the  time   the    completion  of  the    Madison 


Road  became  a  certainty  railroad  enterprise  moved 
more  energetically,  and  finally  with  long  bounds  that 
have  not  ceased  yet  and  hardly  slackened,  except  as 
financial  straits  have  forced  it.  The  Peru  and  In- 
dianapolis line  was  chartered  in  1815-46,  completed 
to   Noblesville,  twenty-one    miles,   in   the   spring  of 

1851,  and  to  Peru,  seventy-three  miles,  in  April, 
1854.  The  Bellefontaine  (Bee  Line)  was  chartered 
two  years  later,  but  was  completed  to  Pendleton, 
twenty-eight  miles,  three  months  sooner,  and  to  the 
State  line  at  Union  City  in  December,  1852,  over  a 
year  sooner.  The  Terre  Haute  Road  (Vandalia), 
chartered  in  1846,  was  finished  to  Terre  Haute,  sev- 
enty-three miles,  in  May,  1852.  The  Jefferson ville 
Road,  begun  in  1848,  was  finished  to  Edinburg,  sev- 
enty-eight miles,  and  connected  with  the  Madison  in 

1852.  The  Lafayette  (now  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis, 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  or  Big  Four)  was  begun  in 
1849,  and  finished  to  Lafayette,  sixty-five  miles,  in 
1852.  The  Central  (Pan  Handle)  was  begun  in 
1851,  and  finished  to  the  State  line  near  Richmond, 
seventy-two  miles,  December,  1853.  The  Cincin- 
nati Road  (now  part  of  the  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis, 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago)  was  begun  in  1850,  but  not 
chartered  as  a  through  road  till  1851,  because  it 
would  cut  off  all  the  up-river  trade  of  the  Madison 
Road.  It  was  completed  to  Lawrenceburg,  ninety 
miles,  in  October,  1853.  The  Junction  Road,  to 
Hamilton,  Ohio,  was  begun  in  1850,  but  delayed  by 
one  obstruction  or  another,  so  that  it  was  not  com- 
pleted to  the  city  till  May,  1868.  The  Vincennes  Road 
was  started  in  1851,  and  the  company  organized  under 
the  late  John  H.  Bradley  in  1853,  but  nothing  of 
consequence  till  a  reorganization  was  made  under  the 
late  Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside,  in  1865.  It  was 
then  pushed  vigorously,  and  completed  to  the  city  in 
1868.  The  city  gave  it  a  subsidy  of  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  An  "  Air  Line"  road  to  Evansville  was  pro- 
jected in  1840,  and  taken  up  in  1853  by  Oliver  H. 
Smith,  the  founder  of  the  Bellefontaine  Road,  to  con- 
nect with  the  latter  and  make  a  through  line  from 
the  lower  Ohio  to  Lake  Erie,  and  under  this  organ- 
ization surveys  were  made  and  work  advanced  vigor- 
ously till  the  financial  crash  of  1857  stopped  it,  and 
before  the  effects  of  that  had  passed  away  Mr.  Smith 


136 


HISTOKY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


died,  and  the  "  Air  Line"  is  still  a  project  instead  of 
a  fact.  A  "  Short  Line"  road  to  Cincinnati  was  pro- 
jected in  1853,  surveys  and  contracts  made,  but 
stopped  in  1855  by  financial  stress,  and  has  remained 
dead  ever  since.  The  Toledo  and  Indianapolis  Road, 
a  direct  line  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles, 
was  organized  in  1854  for  a  short  lake  connection, 
but  hard  times  killed  it.  The  Indiana  and  Illinois 
Central,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  to  Decatur,  111., 
was  projected  in  1852,  and  organized  in  1853,  began 
work  and  advanced  hopefully  till  the  "  hard  times" 
came  upon  it.  Later  it  was  reorganized  as  the  Indian- 
apolis, Decatur  and  Springfield  Road,  and  was  com- 
pleted in  1881.  In  1866  the  Cincinnati  Road  wanted 
a  connection  to  reach  Chicago  business,  and  its  mar^ 
agement  projected  a  rival  line  to  the  Lafayette  through 
Crawfordsville,  to  which  the  city  voted  a  subsidy  of 
forty-five  thousand  dollars.  Work  was  begun  and 
progressing  favorably,  when  the  Lafayette  was  bought 
and  absorbed  and  the  Crawfordsville  abandoned. 
This  did  not  please  the  people  of  the  rich  corn  and 
pork  section  traversed  by  the  proposed  line,  and  then 
another  company  was  formed,  contracts  re-let,  and  the 
road  completed  to  the  city  as  the  Indianapolis,  Bloom- 
ington  and  Western  in  1869.  The  Indianapolis  and 
St.  Louis  Road  was  begun  in  1867  to  make  a  Western 
connection  for  one  of  the  great  Eastern  trunk  lines, 
and  was  finished  in  1869.  Within  the  last  two  years 
the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  and  Western  has  made 
an  eastern  extension,  entering  the  city  beside  the  Bee 
Line  tracks,  and  about  a  year  ago  consolidated  the 
Indianapolis,  Decatur  and  Springfield  Company  with 
itself,  running  both  lines.  The  "  Chicago  Air  Line" 
road,  after  a  long  period  of  embarrassment  and  ob- 
struction, was  completed  into  the  city  last  spring,  1883. 
The  Union  Railway  Company,  wholly  confined  to  the 
city,  was  organized  in  1S49,  mainly  by  Gen.  Thomas 
A.  Morris,  Oliver  H.  Smith,  Chauneey  Rose,  and 
Edwin  J.  Peck.  The  Union  tracks  were  laid  in  1850, 
and  the  depot,  upon  Gen.  Morris'  plans,  in  1853. 
Previously  the  Bellefontaine  trains  had  started  from 
the  Terre  Haute  (now  Vandalia )  Depot,  on  Tennessee 
and  Louisiana  Streets,  one  square  west  of  the  Union 
Depot.  A  Belt  Road,  to  connect  outside  of  the  city  all 
the  roads  entering  it,  by  which  the}-  could  transfer 


cars  and  trains  from  one  to  the  other  without  passing 
through  the  city,  was  projected  and  partly  graded  by 
a  company,  mainly  composed  of  other  railroad  com- 
panies, eight  or  ten  years  ago,  but  abandoned  in  the 
stress  of  finances.  In  1876  it  was  taken  up  by  a 
company,  mainly  of  capitalists  in  the  city  or  con- 
nected with  the  railroads  centring  here,  and  on  popu- 
lar approval  by  a  vote  the  city  indorsed  the  company's 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, taking  a  mortgage  on  the  road  and  stock  to 
secure  itself,  and  the  road  was  rapidly  built  in  con- 
nection with  the  stock-yard,  and  opened  for  business 
in  November,  1877.  Within  a  year  it  has  been 
leased  by  the  Union  Company,  and  both  are  now 
under  one  management. 

The  first  telegraph  line  was  constructed  in  the 
spring  of  1848,  from  here  to  Dayton,  by  a  company 
organized  by  Henry  O'Reilly,  under  a  general  law 
passed  the  preceding  February.  The  first  dispatch 
was  sent  from  here  to  Richmond  on  the  12th  of  May  ; 
tiie  first  published  dispatch  appeared  in  the  Sentinel 
of  May  24th.  The  first  operator  was  Mr.  Isaac  H. 
Kiersted,  and  his  office  was  in  the  second  story  of  the 
building  where  the  Hubbard  block  now  stands.  Two 
years  later  a  .second  line  was  built  by  Wade  &  Co., 
but  consolidated  with  the  other  in  April,  1853.  Other 
lines  have  been  built  and  absorbed  here,  and  all  over 
the  country.  The  operators  here  have  been  Isaac  H. 
Kiersted,  J.  W.  Chapin,  Anton  Schneider,  Sidney  B. 
xMorris,  J.  F.  Wilson,  and  John  F.  Wallaok.  The 
last  was  made  superintendent  here  when  an  officer  of 
that  kind  was  first  found  necessary,  and  he  has  filled 
the  place  ever  since,  nearly  twenty  years.  For  the 
first  eight  or  ten  years  dispatches  were  taken  by  im- 
pressions of  the  Morse  alphabet  on  long  ribbons  of 
heavy  paper ;  and  newspaper  men  had  to  copy  these, 
fill  out  the  abbreviations,  and  arrange  them  in  some 
sort  of  coherent  order  each  for  himself.  A  very  few 
years  before  the  war  operators  here  began  to  read  by 
sound,  Coleman  Wilson  being  the  first  resident  sound 
reader.  From  that  time  forward  the  operators  made 
manifold  copies  for  the  press,  and  saved  editors  a  good 
deal  of  work.  The  most  notable  event,  next  to  the 
first  appearance  of  the  electric  telegraph,  was  the  suc- 
cessful laying,  so  soon  ruined,  of  the  first  Atlantic 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


137 


138 


HISTORY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


cable,  in  August,  1858.  There  was  an  illumination 
and  bonfires,  and  a  general  congratulatory  time  that 
night.  Governor  Wallace  made  a  speech,  and  Gov- 
ernor Willard  had  a  pleasant  reception  at  the  executive 
residence.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  appro- 
priation which  enabled  Professor  Morse  to  build  his 
experimental  line  to  Baltimore  was  carried  in  com- 
mittee by  the  vote  of  Governor  Wallace,  and  but  for 
that  vote  the  appropriation  and  pregnant  experiment 
would  have  both  failed  for  another  year  at  least.  The 
committee  on  commerce,  in  which  the  appropriation 
of  forty  thousand  dollars  was  considered,  was  evenly 
divided,  as  it  happened,  and  Governor  Wallace's  name 
coming  last  on  the  roll  his  vote  decided  the  question 
for  the  appropriation.  At  the  ensuing  congressional 
election  his  antagonist  used  this  vote  against  him 
with  such  eiFect  that  it  helped  to  defeat  him.  Faith 
in  electricity  forty  years  ago  was  hardly  as  wide  and 
solid  as  it  has  grown  to  be  since. 

In  February,  1851,  the  Indianapolis  Gaslight  and 
Coke  Company  was  given  a  special  charter  by  the  last 
Legislature  under  the  old  constitution  to  run  fifteen 
years,  and  on  the  6th  of  March  stock-books  were 
opened,  stock  subscribed  readily  to  the  amount  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  the  capital  limited  by  the 
charter,  and  on  the  26th  an  organization  made  by  the 
choice  of  David  V.  Culiey  as  president,  Willis  W. 
Wright  as  secretary,  and  H.  V.  Barringer  as  superin- 
tendent. The  projector  of  the  aflFair  was  Mr.  John 
J.  Lockwood.  The  city  gave  the  company  the  sole 
right  to  make  and  supply  gas  here  for  public  or  private 
use,  requiring  street  gas  at  the  price  of  that  in  Cin- 
cinnati. In  July  the  company  bought  a  small  tract 
of  half  swampy  creek  bottom  on  the  east  side  of 
Pennsylvania  Street,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  creek, 
and  erected,  in  a  small,  cheap  way,  the  buildings 
needed.  Mains  were  laid  in  Pennsylvania  and  Wash- 
ington Streets  at  the  same  time.  On  the  10th  of 
January,  1852,  the  first  gas  was  furnished  for  regular 
consumption.  In  the  following  April,  1853,  a  few 
weeks  over  a  year  after  the  organization  of  the  com- 
pany, seven  thousand  seven  hundred  feet  of  pipe  had 
been  laid,  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  burners  were 
supplied  for  one  hundred  and  sixteen  consumers,  and 
thirty  bushels  of  coal  were  used  per  day.     Previously 


Masonic  Hall,  and  the  two  street  lamps  in  front  of  it, 
had  been  lighted  with  gas  made  by  a  little  apparatus 
of  its  own.  The  enterprise  ran  heavily  at  the  start 
till  a  superintendent  who  knew  his  business  was  ob- 
tained, and  the  works  were  enlarged  and  improved. 
A  special  tax  to  pay  for  lighting  the  streets  with  gas 
was  defeated  at  the  city  election  of  1852,  and  the 
lighting  of  Washington  Street  from  Pennsylvania 
Street  to  Meridian  was  paid  for  by  the  property 
owners.  In  December,  1854,  a  contract  was  made  with 
the  company  to  light  the  central  portions  of  Washing- 
ton and  the  adjacent  streets,  and  it  was  done  in  1855. 
From  that  time  a  steady  annual  addition  was  made, 
the  property  holders  paying  for  the  posts  and  lamps, 
till  in  1868  the  totail  length  of  mains  was  twenty- 
three  miles,  and  of  service-pipe  seventy-five  miles, 
with  fifteen  hundred  and  fifty  consumers  of  gas,  and 
an  average  daily  production  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  feet.  The  largest  gas-holder  is 
on  Delaware  Street,  and  has  a  capacity  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  cubic  feet.  In  February,  1859,  the 
Council  decided  to  put  four  lamps  to  a  square,  the 
opposite  corners  to  be  lighted,  and  the  two  intermedi- 
ate lamps  to  be  allowed  equal  intervals  from  the  other 
two  and  each  other,  one  on  each  side  of  the  street. 
The  original  charter  expired  March  4,  1866.  The 
City  Council,  thinking  to  get  better  terms  than  before, 
ordered,  in  May,  1865,  an  advertisement  for  proposals 
to  light  the  city  for  twenty  years.  No  bid  was  made 
but  by  the  old  company,  and  its  demand  not  being 
satisfactory,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate 
the  matter,  and  made  a  report  of  terms  and  conditions 
that  the  company  would  not  accept.  In  this  emer- 
gency, R.  B.  Catherwood  &  Co.  made  a  proposition 
on  the  5th  of  March,  1866,  to  take  a  charter  for 
thirty  years,  with  the  exclusive  right  of  the  city,  and 
furnish  gas  for  three  dollars  per  one  thousand  feet, 
the  city  to  contest  a  claim  for  longer  continuance  made 
by  the  old  company.  The  gas  committee  made  a 
counter-proposition  to  charter  the  "  Citizens'  Gaslight 
and  Coke  Company,"  with  an  exclusive  city  right  for 
twenty  years  instead  of  thirty,  reserving  the  right  to 
buy  the  works  after  ten  years,  and  dividing  equally 
the  profits  above  fifteen  per  cent.  The  new  company 
was  to  attend  to  the  litigation  with  the  old  one,  the 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


139 


capital  was  to  be  appraised  every  five  years,  the  com- 
pany was  to  fix  the  gas  rate  annually,  in  March,  at 
not  more  than  three  dollars  per  one  thousand  feet, 
vpere  to  extend  mains  wherever  fifteen  burners  to  a 
square  were  promised,  insure  their  works,  and  forfeit 
their  charter  if  they  made  default  in  the  conditions. 
This  move  started  the  confident  old  company  to  a 
serious  consideration  of  the  case,  and  while  the 
counter-proposition  and  ordinance  of  the  Council 
were  pendiusr,  it  advanced  a  proposal  to  take  a  twenty 
years'  charter,  supply  gas  at  three  dollars  per  one 
thousand  feet,  extend  mains  and  fill  all  other  con- 
ditions required  of  the  new  company,  and  lower  the 
price  of  gas  if  improved  processes  of  manufacture 
would  allow  it.  The  city  would  light  and  clean  the 
lamps,  and  have  the  amount  and  quality  of  gas  tested. 
The  bargain  was  closed  and  is  still  binding.  In  a  little 
while,  however,  it  was  found  that  the  gas  bills  were 
getting  to  be  bigger  under  the  new  arrangement  at 
three  dollars  per  one  thousand  feet  than  the  old  one  at 
twenty-eight  dollars  and  forty-four  cents  a  lamp,  for 
gas,  lighting,  and  cleaning.  A  committee  investigated 
the  matter,  and  found  that  more  lamps  were  charged 
for  than  had  been  used  and  more  gas  charged  for  than 
had  been  needed,  and  a  gas  inspector  was  recommen- 
ded. George  H.  Fleming,  excellently  qualified,  was 
appointed,  rules  for  testing  the  quality  and  pressure 
of  gas  were  made,  the  number  of  hours  of  lighting 
fixed,  and  all  the  lamps  but  those  on  the  corners  were 
shut  oiF  at  midnight,  thus  saving  twenty  thousand 
dollars  a  year.  Since  that  time  there  have  been  some 
considerable  changes. 

In  1877  a  new  gas  company  was  organized  here  in 
competition  with  the  old  one,  called  the  "  Citizens' 
Company."  Works  were  built  at  the  west  end  of  St. 
Clair  Street,  and  a  considerable  extent  of  mains  laid, 
private  consumers  supplied,  and  a  fair  prospect  of 
good  business  opened.  The  gasometer  exploded  soon 
after  operations  began,  and  in  a  short  time  the  old 
company  bought  the  new  one.  It  operates  the  new 
works,  however,  in  connection  with  the  old  ones,  now 
so  greatly  enlarged  as  to  cover  more  than  half  of  the 
square  between  the  creek  and  South  Street.  Some 
ten  years  ago  a  branch  establishment,  for  the  conven- 
ience of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city,  was  opened 


near  the  crossing  of  the  Peru  Railroad  and  Seventh 
Street. 

The  first  suggestion  of  a  street  railway  was  made 
in  November,  18G0,  and  renewed  in  1863,  when  a 
company  was  formed  with  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris 
as  president,  Wm.  Y.  Wiley  as  secretary,  and  W.  O. 
Rockwood  as  treasurer.  They  applied  to  the  Council, 
and  while  the  application  was  pending,  a  rival  com- 
pany was  formed  by  R.  B.  Catherwood,  of  New  York, 
and  some  citizens  here,  with  Col.  John  A.  Bridgland 
as  president.  They  proposed  better  terms  than  the 
earlier  company,  and  oifered  security  to  fill  their  con- 
tract ;  but  the  "  Citizens'  Company,"  as  it  was  called, 
finally  lost  the  charter,  and  it  was  given  to  the  Indian- 
apolis company  and  refused  ;  whereupon  it  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  other,  and  the  conditions  settled.  These 
facts  are  familiar  to  most  readers,  from  the  frequent 
controversies  of  the  press  with  the  company.  Owing 
to  unavoidable  delays,  the  Council  granted  an  exten- 
sion of  time  for  sixty  days  in  1864,  in  the  latter  part 
of  August,  in  fulfilling  all  the  conditions,  but  portions 
of  the  work  had  been  done,  and  the  Illinois  Street 
Line  to  the  Union  Depot  had  been  opened  with  due 
ceremony  by  the  city  authorities  in  June  of  that 
year.  The  company,  consisting  of  Catherwood  and 
his  associates,  sold  to  Wm.  H.  English  and  E.  S. 
Alvord  in  1865,  and  these  a  few  years  later  sold  to 
the  Messrs.  Johnson,  the  present  proprietors.  The 
present  extent  and  condition  of  the  business  of  the 
company  is  stated  in  the  summary  in  the  last  chapter. 
It  only  needs  to  be  noticed  further  here,  that  within 
the  past  year  the  stables  and  shops  have  been  enlarged 
and  cover  an  acre  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Louisiana 
and  Tennessee  Streets,  with  a  half-acre  more  on  the 
oppo.site  side  of  Tennessee  Street  which  is  laid  down 
with  tracks  and  shelter  for  cars  not  in  use.  A  stable 
and  car-house  have  been  built  in  Indianola  within  a 
little  more  than  a  year,  for  the  service  of  the  line 
running  to  Mount  Jackson  and  the  Insane  Asylum. 
The  Tennessee  Street  establishment  was  seriously 
damaged  by  fire  a  few  years  ago,  but  it  was  not  al- 
lowed to  interfere  with  the  operations  of  the  company 
at  all.  Within  a  few  months  past  attempts  have  been 
made  to  charter  a  second  street  railway  company, 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Metropolitan,"  but  so  far  they 


140 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


have  not  succeeded,  though  backed  by  some  of  the 
best  men  in  the  city.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of 
January,  1884,  the  stables  of  the  "  Citizens' "  company 
were  again  seriously  damaged  by  fire. 

The  first  proposal  for  a  water  supply  was  made  in 
1860  by  a  Mr.  Bell,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  but  idly. 
The  company  that  had  come  into  possession  of  the 
canal  renewed  it  in  1864  as  idly  as  Mr.  Bell.  Mayor 
Caven  recommended  to  the  Council  the  initiation  of 
a  water  system,  with  Crown  Hill  as  the  site  for  a  , 
reservoir,  but  the  Council  decided  that  while  a  supply  ) 
system  was  desirable,  it  was  not  desirable  that  the 
city  should  make  it.  Nothing  further  was  done  till 
1866,  when  the  mayor  again  brought  the  matter  before 
the  Council,  and  in  November  of  that  year  the  inevit- 
able Catherwood  came  forward  and  accepted  a  charter 
requiring  the  water  to  come  from  the  river  f;ir  enough 
up  to  avoid  contamination,  with  other  conditions 
needless  to  specify,  as  nothing  came  of  the  affair.  In 
1869  the  Central  Canal  Company,  then  mainly  j 
a  resident  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  tried  to  get  the 
Council  into  a  joint-stock  company  to  introduce  the 
Holly  scheme,  which  acts  by  direct  force  without  a 
reservoir,  and  put  in  their  canal  as  the  source  of  sup- 
ply, at  a  price  that  would  make  that  theretofore 
useless  property  remunerative  ;  but  that  would  not 
work.  In  the  fall  of  1869,  Mr.  Woodruff  organized 
a  company  for  a  water  supply  on  the  Holly  plan 
independently  of  the  city,  and  he  was  given  a  charter 
under  strict  limitations,  and  introduced  the  supply 
slowly  and  not  very  successfully  at  first.  The  com- 
pany has  changed  a  good  deal,  and  is  now  under  the 
presidency  of  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  with  Mr.  I 
John  L.  Ketcham  as  secretary,  and  supplies  a  large 
part  of  the  domestic  and  manufacturing  service  of  the 
city  and  all  its  fire  service.  Two  or  three  years  ago, 
the  sources  of  its  supply  being  suspected  of  impurity, 
it  was  decided  to  bring  the  whole  of  it  from  a  point 
so  far  above  the  city  as  to  make  contamination  im- 
possible, and  a  point  was  selected  near  the  river 
above  the  Fall  Creek  "  cut  off."  This  has  been 
reached  by  a  costly  conduit  which  brings  water  from 
a  "  gallery,"  or  elongated  well,  about  twelve  hun-  , 
dred  feet  long  by  fifty  wide  and  fifteen  deep,  which 
cannot  be  damaged  by  river  infiltration,  or  by  any  1 


cause  that  does  not  equally  damage  all  springs.  Below 
its  bed,  about  forty  feet,  is  a  second  current  which  has 
been  reached  by  boring,  and  rises  above  the  surface 
of  the  "  gallery"  water.  This  can  be  depended  on 
to  maintain  a  pure  supply  if  needed.  Several  analyses 
have  proved  the  "gallery"  to  be  as  nearly  pure  as 
anything  drawn  from  the  ground  and  undistilled  can 
be. 

For  some  years  Governor  Wright  had  made  a 
specialty  of  agriculture  and  its  requirements,  and  in 
1853  the  Legislature  chartered  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture,  with  the  Governor  as  president,  the  late 
John  B.  Dillon  as  secretary,  and  State  Treasurer 
Mayhew  as  treasurer.  The  first  fair  was  held  in 
Military  Park  in  October,  1852,  from  the  19th  to 
the  25th,  with  thirteen  hundred  and  sixty-five  entries. 
The  next  was  held  in  Lafayette,  October  11th  to 
13th.  Horace  Greeley  delivered  the  address.  Then 
it  went  to  Madison,  where  its  success  was  so  indif- 
ferent that  it  returned  to  Indianapolis  for  four  years. 
In  1859  it  was  taken  to  New  Albany,  and  returned 
to  Indianapolis  for  five  years,  till  1864,  none  being 
held  in  1861  on  account  of  the  war.  In  1865  it 
went  to  Fort  Wayne,  then  came  again  to  Indianapolis. 
Since  then  it  has  remained  here.  Up  to  1860  it  was 
held  in  Military  Park ;  then  the  State  Board  bought 
a  tract  of  some  thirty  acres  north  of  the  city,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  railroads,  and  held  the  fair  there 
that  year.  During  the  war  it  was  used  both  as  a 
camp  for  national  troops,  and  as  a  prison  camp  for 
prisoners  of  war.  Some  years  ago  an  association  of 
citizens  and  railroads  joined  the  State  Board  in 
erecting  the  "Exposition"  building,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  maintaining  an  annual  exhibition  of  such 
products  of  skill  as  could  not  be  advantageously 
shown  in  ordinary  fiiir  buildings.  The  success  of  the 
enterprise  was  not  such  to  encourage  its  continuance 
long,  and  the  State  Board  took  the  building  with  the 
assurance  of  protecting  the  obligations  incurred  in  its 
erection. 

Belonging  to  this  same  period  is  the  origin  of  the 
City  Hospital.  As  already  related,  the  city,  during 
an  epidemic  alarm  in  early  days,  was  going  to  use 
the  Governor's  house,  in  the  Circle,  as  a  hospital ; 
but  the  alarm   disappeared  and   nothing  further  was 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


141 


done.  In  1848  another  serious  fright  was  caused  by 
an  outbreak  of  smallpox,  in  which  a  prominent  In- 
diana politician  died  at  the  Palmer  House,  now  the 
Occidental.  A  general  vaccination  was  ordered,  and 
a  lot  bought  and  contract  made  for  a  hospital.  The 
fright  passed  away,  the  citizens  protested  against  a 
tax  for  a  hospital,  and  the  material  was  given  to  the 
contractor,  with  a  bonus  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  in  consideration  of  his  surrender  of  the 
contract.  He  built  a  three-story  frame  hotel  with 
the  means  thus  wasted  by  the  city,  and  it  is  still  in 
use  on  Market  Street,  near  the  Sentinel  oflBce.  Again, 
in  1855,  a  smallpox  scare  occurred,  and  it  was  again 
determined  to  erect  a  city  hospital.  A  large  tract  of 
ground  on  the  bank  of  Fall  Creek,  at  the  end  of  In- 
diana Avenue,  was  purchased,  a  house   begun  in  the 


pastor  of  St.  John's  Catholic  Church,  asked  its  dona- 
tion to  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  as  a  prison 
for  females.  At  the  same  time  he  asked  the  comple- 
tion of  the  city  house  of  refuge  on  the  Bluff  road, 
south  of  the  city,  of  which  a  very  substantial  and 
costly  foundation  had  been  laid  for  a  year  or  two  and 
left  unfinished  for  want  of  means,  on  ground  donated 
by  the  late  S.  A.  Fletcher ;  but  the  opposition  of 
other  denominations  defeated  these  applications,  and 
the  hospital  was  left  vacant  for  a  few  months,  when 
furniture  and  supplies  were  obtained  at  the  sale  of 
government  stores  in  JeflFersonville,  a  superintendent 
and  consulting  physician  appointed,  and  the  hospital 
opened  July  1,  1866.  The  old  government  additions 
becoming  dilapidated,  the  city  decided,  about  a  year 
a<io,  to  build  two  substantial  and  commodious   addi- 


usual  fashion  of  failure,  and  f\iiled  when   the   alarm  ']  tions   of  brick,  three  stories  high,  and  one   was   re- 


subsided.  But  the  affair  was  not  allowed  to  die 
quietly  or  lie  easily  in  its  grave  this  time.  Dr.  Liv- 
ingston Dunlap,  alluded  to  heretofore  as  a  pioneer  of 
the  city,  was  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  kept  the 
subject  in  a  chronic  state  of  resurrection  till  the 
house  was  fiui.shed,  at  a  cost  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars, in  1859.  No  use  occurring  for  it,  nothing  was 
done  with  it,  but  as  a  resort  for  strumpets  and 
thieves,  and  it  was  proposed  to  sell  it.  The  Council 
decided  that  it  was  better  to  rent  it,  though  it  was 
not  rented.     Then  there  was  a  suggestion  to  make  it 


cently  completed  and  opened  for  the  admission  of  pa- 
tients. It  may  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  the 
hou.se  of  refuge  desired  by  the  Catholic  association 
was  soon  afterwards  finished  and  put  in  charge  of  one 
of  the  Catholic  charitable  associations. 

The  hospital,  during  its  occupancy  by  the  general 
government,,  was  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  John  M. 
Kiletun  and  Dr.  P.  H.  Jameson,  who,  with  their 
assistants,  treated  thirteen  thousand  patients  there  in 
four  years.  During  the  few  months  that  intervened 
after  the  government  ceased  to  use  it  as  a  hospital — 


a  city  prison  or  home  for  friendless  women,  or  to  let  ]  from  July,  1865,  to  April,  1866 — it  was  occupied  as 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  make  a  hospital  of  it ;  but  ,  a ''Soldiers'  Home,"  under  Dr.  M.  M.  Wishard.  The 
these  projects  were  defeated.  It  was  at  last  granted  |  first  superintendent  of  the  institution,  after  it  had 
to  an  association  of  ladies  for  a  "  Home  for  Friend-  been  completely  organized  and  provided,  and  made 
less  Women,"  but  not  being  used,  it  was  given  rent  i  ready  for  service  as  a  city  hospital,  in  fulfillment  of 


free  to  somebody  to  take  care  of  it.  Few  charitable 
schemes  or  means  have  lived  through  harder  trials, 
and  the  hospital,  now  so  important  a  feature  of  the 
city  government,  would  probably  have  gone  the  way 
of  other  such  efforts  if  the  outbreak  of  the  war  had 
not  compelled  the  national  government  to  use  it  for 
its  original  purpose.  The  government  made  some 
considerable  additions,  besides  improving  the  grounds, 
and  these  came  to  the  city,  with  the  uses  of  the  struc- 
ture settled  by  four  years  of  occupancy,  in  place  of 
the   rent  of  it.     A  short  time  after  the  government 


its  original   purpose,  was   Dr.  G.  V.  Woollen.     The 
present  superintendent  is  Dr.  W.  N.  Wishard. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  traces  its  origin  to  this 
period.  A  Merchants'  Exchange  was  formed  in  June, 
1848,  but  died  in  early  infancy,  and  was  succeeded 
by  one  formed  in  August,  1853,  by  a  citizens'  meet- 
ing, which  appointed  Nicholas  McCarty,  Ignatius 
Brown,  John  D.  Defrees,  A.  H.  Brown,  K.  J.  Gat- 
lin",  and  John  T.  Cox  a  committee  to  make  a  con- 
stitution, prepare  a  circular  and  map,  and  obtain 
money.     Douglas  Maguire  was  made  president,  John 


returned  it  to  the  city.  Rev.  Augustus  Bessonies,  the     L.  Ketcham  secretary,  and  R.  B.  Duncan  treasurer. 


142 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


Mr.  Ignatius  Brown  prepared  the  map  and  circular 
setting  forth  the  situation  and  condition  of  the  city, 
and  they  were  sent  all  over  the  country,  for  the  first 
time  giving  the  outside  world  some  knowledge  of  the 
city's  advantages  as  a  manufacturing  and  commercial 
centre.  After  a  beneficial  existence  of  two  years  it 
died  of  inanition,  and  was  revived  in  1856,  and  con- 
tinued for  two  years  more,  dying,  as  before,  for  want 
of  means.  It  was  succeeded  or  revived  in  1864  as 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which,  after  a  feeble  life 
of  a  few  years,  began  to  develop  under  the  great 
impulse  given  to  business  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
is  now  a  powerful  and  permanent  body  of  a  thousand 
members,  representing  forty-five  to  fifty  classes  of 
business,  of  which  eighteen  are  railroad  and  transpor- 
tation companies.  Operating  with  it  for  a  time  was 
the  "Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Association,"  iu 
1868,  and  in  1873,  for  a  year  or  two,  a  "  Real  Estate 
Exchange"  was  formed,  with  an  especial  eye  to  the 
development  of  real  estate  business.  It  died,  how- 
ever, when  the  panic  of  1873  culminated  here  in 
1875. 

Many  of  our  leading  educational  and  benevolent 
institutions  date  from  the  same  period,  from  the 
adoption  of  a  city  form  of  government,  in  1817,  to 
the  war.  The  Masonic  Grand  Lodge  Hall,  begun  by 
the  purchase  in  1847  of  the  site  it  still  retains,  was 
completed  far  enough  for  occupancy  by  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention  of  1850,  and  dedicated  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  The  Widows'  and  Orphans'  Society 
organized  in  December,  1849 ;  the  Northwestern 
Christian  University  (now  Butler),  removed  a  few 
years  ago  to  Irvington,  chartered  in  1852  ;  an  Adams 
Express  office  was  opened  first  on  September  15, 
1851 ;  the  grand  hall  of  the  Odd-Fellows  was  begun 
in  1853,  and  completed  in  1855,  at  a  cost  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars ;  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation was  organized  on  March  21,  1854;  in  1853 
the  free  schools  were  first  put  in  efiective  operation. 
These  all  remain  in  vigorous  existence.  Besides  these 
a  number  sprang  up,  flourished  for  a  while,  and  dis- 
appeared. Among  these,  those  deserving  notice  now 
are  the  Central  Medical  College,  organized  in  the 
summer  of  1849,  with  a  faculty  composed  of  Drs. 
John  S.  Bobbs,  Richard  Curran,  J.  S.  Harrison,  G. 


W.  Mears,  C.  G.  Downey,  L.  Dunlap,  A.  H.  Baker, 
and  David  Funkhouser.  Its  location  was  the  south- 
east corner  of  East  and  Washington  Streets,  its 
existence  protracted  for  about  three  years.  The  In- 
diana Female  College  is  another,  opened  by  Rev.  T. 
L.  Lynch,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Ohio  and  Me- 
ridian Streets.  It  was  continued  there  by  his  suc- 
cessors till  1859,  and  suspended.  In  1852,  Dr.  Mc- 
Lean opened  a  female  seminary  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Meridian  and  New  York  Streets,  and  con- 
tinued it  successfully  till  his  death,  in  1860,  when 
Professor  Todd  and  others  maintained  it  till  1865. 
In  1865  the  Indiana  Female  College  was  re-estab- 
lished in  the  McLean  building,  and  maintained  for 
two  or  three  years,  when  the  premises  were  sold  to 
the  Wesley  Chapel  congregation  for  the  site  of  the 
present  Meridian  Church.  A  commercial  college 
and  reading-room  were  begun  in  1851  by  Wm.  M. 
Scott,  but  they  lived  only  a  few  years,  the  reading- 
room  but  a  year. 

Most  of  the  existing  considerable  manufactures  had 
their  commencement  in  the  same  period.  Pork- 
packing,  previously  a  restricted  and  uncertain  busi- 
ness, became  enlarged  by  additional  establishments 
and  by  the  increased  product  and  trade  of  all.  Iron 
had  been  rather  an  occasional  infusion  of  trade  than 
a  permanent  element.  Grain-  and  lumber-mills  mul- 
tiplied ;  planing-mills  made  their  first  appearance, 
so  did  furniture-factories  and  coopering  establish- 
ments, and  agricultural  machinery  and  carriage-fac- 
tories that  kept  carriages  in  stock.  The  opening  up 
of  means  of  transportation  that  were  not  dependent 
on  freshets  in  the  river  or  the  condition  of  "  cross- 
layed"  roads  gave  a  positive  and  speedy  boom  to  all 
classes  of  business  that  was  only  increased  by  the 
war.  Naturally  this  dozen  years  was  to  be  expected 
to  prove  encouraging,  though  no  one  did  expect  such 
results  so  speedily. 

The  first  course  of  lectures  held  here  was  in  the 
early  months  of  1847.  The  "  Union  Literary  So- 
ciety," composed  at  first  mainly  of  pupils  of  the 
"  Old  Seminary,"  but  in  its  later  years  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  young  men  unconnected  with  the 
school,  and  finally  absorbed  by  them,  secured  by 
the  contributions  of  citizens  means  enough  to  obtain 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


143 


the  use  of  suitable  places  for  free  lectures  by  Dr. 
Johuson,  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Rev.  S.  T.  Gillet, 
Hon.  Godlovo  S.  Orth,  and  others.  The  same  asso- 
ciation had  previously  obtained  a  lecture  from  Rev. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  his  church,  but  it  was  a 
single  address  without  a  succession.  In  1847  or 
1848  the  society,  with  the  assistance  of  citizens  as 
before,  procured  a  short  course  of  lectures  from  a 
Cincinnati  clergyman,  and  occasional  lectures  were 
obtained  from  citizens.  In  May,  1851,  John  B. 
Gough  delivered  three  or  four  of  his  noted  temper- 
ance lectures  in  Masonic  Hall.  In  1853  the  Union 
Literary  Society,  then  in  the  act  of  expiration,  ob- 
tained a  lecture  from  Horace  Greeley  in  the  fall. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  succeeded 
the  following  year,  and  had  annual  courses  of  lectures 
regularly  for  a  number  of  years  thereafter.  A  further 
reference  will  be  made  to  these  in  a  chapter  on  "Lec- 
tures and  Entertainments." 

In  1855  came  a  financial  disturbance  that  amounted 
to  nearly  a  panic.  It  grew  out  of  the  condition  of  the 
currency  and  the  banks.  The  Legislature,  in  1852, 
had  passed  a  "  Free  Banking"  law,  authorizing  the 
issue  of  bills  by  private  banks  on  the  security  of  our 
State  bonds,  or  those  of  any  State  approved  by  the 
State  ofiBcers.  Under  a  lax  construction  of  this  act, 
or  the  laxity  of  its  provisions  which  no  construction 
could  tighten,  a  large  number  of  banks  had  grown  up 
all  over  the  State,  some  well  fortified  with  securities 
of  circulation,  some  indiflFerently,  and  .some  hardly 
protected  at  all.  For  a  while  their  issues  all  went 
ofi'  freely  at  home,  though  a  good  deal  distrusted  out- 
side of  the  State.  The  State  officers  had  exercised 
less  than  due  care  in  distinguishing  between  the 
securities  offered,  and  some  of  a  doubtful  character 
had  been  accepted,  and  issues  upon  them  thrown  into 
the  current  of  business.  Governor  Wright,  who  had 
come  to  doubt  the  operation  of  the  act,  determined  to 
test  the  strength  of  some  of  the  banks  by  sending 
them  tlieir  bills  to  redeem  in  gold.  One  in  Vermil- 
lion County,  in  the  slang  of  the  day,  "  squatted." 
This  began  an  impulse  of  distrust  and  discrimination 
which  culminated  in  1855,  and  continued  after  the 
Governor  had  been  succeeded  by  Governor  Willard. 
Free  bank   paper  became   the  plaything  of  brokers. 


One  would  refuse  it,  another  would  take  it ;  one 
would  accept  it  to-day  and  refuse  it  to-morrow.  Banks 
that  redeemed  on  demand,  or  in  any  way  maintained 
lair  credit,  as  some  did,  were  called  "  gilt-edged,"  and 
were  good  with  all  brokers  and  business  men.  Others 
of  a  less- assured  character  were  discounted  at  any  rate 
that  a  broker  pleased.  The  brokers,  in  fact,  fixed  the 
value  of  the  currency  of  the  free  banks,  and  the  daily 
papers  of  the  city  made  their  first  essays  at  "  Money 
Articles"  in  noting  the  fluctuations.  They  made 
three  classes, — the  absolutely  good,  the  uncertain,  and 
the  bad, — and  these  changed,  the  lower  once  and  a 
while  rising  into  the  upper,  but  the  general  tendency 
was  downwards.  Gradually  the  weaker  banks  were 
closed  up,  the  stronger  became  better  established,  and 
the  disturbances  disappeared  till  in  1863.  When 
national  banks  were  first  organized,  their  notes 
were  not  considered  any  better  than  the  others,  but 
they  possessed  the  vast  advantage  of  being  equally 
good  everywhere.  That  was  not  the  ca.se  with  free 
bank  paper,  which  sometimes  failed  in  a  man's 
pocket  when  he  was  out  of  the  State,  though  pos- 
sibly still  current  at  home,  and  left  him  in  as  un- 
pleasant a  situation  as  that  of  "  Titmarsh  in  Lille." 
The  free  banks  of  Indianapolis  were  the  Bank  of  the 
Capital,  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,  the  Central 
Bank,  the  Traders'  Bank,  and  the  Metropolitan  Bank. 
In  this  connection  may  be  noticed  the  appearance 
of  the  first  permanent  theatre  in  a  building  erected 
for  it,  the  Metropolitan,  now  the  Park.  There  had 
frequently  been  temporary  theatrical  establishments 
in  improvised  buildings,  but  in  1857-58,  Mr.  Val- 
entine Butsch  built  the  Metropolitan,  on  the  corner 
of  Washington  and  Tennessee  Streets,  a  favorite  loca- 
tion for  circuses  in  earlier  times,  and  opened  it  in  the 
fall  of  the  latter  year.  It  did  not  prove  remunerative 
till  the  outbreak  of  the  war  collected  large  bodies  of 
idle  men  here,  either  as  soldiers  organizing  in  camp 
or  as  hangers-on  of  the  army.  Then  it  improved  so 
greatly  that  ten  years  later  the  same  enterprising 
"■entleman  purchased  an  incomplete  building  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Illinois  and  Ohio  Streets,  and 
converted  and  completed  it  into  the  Academy  of 
I  Music,  which  was  burned  some  half-dozen  years  later, 
i  Of  the  earlier  dramatic  enterprises  here,  those  of  an 


144 


HISTORY   OP  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


occasional  character  in  temporary  quarters,  and  those 
later  than  this  period  of  the  city's  history,  an  ac- 
count will  be  given  in  a  chapter  assigned  to  such 
entertainments. 

Municipal  Government. — The  history  of  the 
city  and  county  during  the  war  will  be  treated  in 
its  own  division,  and  since  the  war  so  much  of  it  is  a 
matter  of  recent  occurrence,  within  thousands  of  mem- 
ories, that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  present  it  except 
in  the  details  of  the  different  special  topics  to  follow. 
These,  except  as  to  their  early  history,  have  not  been 
sought  to  be  presented,  as  any  intelligible  account 
must  bring  remote  periods  together  in  a  body  that 
would  break  up  entirely  the  course  of  the  general 
history.  A  sketch  of  our  manufactures,  to  illustrate, 
would  have  to  mass  together  all  material  facts  between 
the  steam-mill  in  1832  and  the  car-works  in  1882,  a 
period  of  fifty  years,  and  to  thrust  such  a  mass  into 
the  course  of  the  general  history  would  make  an  irre- 
coverable disconnection.  It  would  be  the  same  with 
our  schools,  churches,  press,  banks,  entertainments, 
and  other  special  subjects  vitally  connected  with  the 
city's  history,  but  readily  separable  from  the  general 
narrative. 

The  first  special  subject  is  naturally  that  of  the 
city  government,  of  which  something  has  already 
been  said.  The  first  municipal  organization  was  in 
1832.  From  that  time  the  history  of  the  county 
and  that  of  the  city  are  measurably  separated.  The 
changes  up  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  city 
form  of  government  have  been  already  noted ;  those 
since,  till  the  addition  of  a  Board  of  Aldermen,  may 
be  very  briefly  stated.  In  1853  the  general  charter 
law  was  adopted,  by  which  the  elections  were  changed 
from  April  to  May,  the  terms  of  all  officers  to  a  single 
year,  each  ward  given  two  councilmen,  all  elections 
given  to  the  people,  and  the  mayor  made  president 
of  the  Council,  as  he  has  continued  to  be  ever  since. 
In  1857  the  Legislature  amended  the  general  charter 
act,  which  made  the  terms  of  all  oflicers  two  years, 
and  vacated  half  the  seats  in  the  Council  each  year. 
In  1859  an  amendment  made  the  Council  terms  four 
years  instead  of  two.  In  1861  the  First  Ward  was 
divided  and  the  Ninth  made  of  the  eastern  half, 
and   a   similar    division    of    the    Seventh    made   the 


Eighth  of  the  eastern  half  In  1865  a  new  charter 
was  put  in  operation,  which  made  all  terms  of  office 
two  years,  created  the  office  of  auditor,  and  made  the 
auditor,  assessor,  attorney,  and  engineer  elective  by 
the  Council.  In  1867  this  was  changed  so  as  to 
create  the  office  of  city  judge  and  give  to  the  people 
only  the  choice  of  mayor,  clerk,  marshal,  treasurer, 
assessor,  and  judge.  The  offices  of  auditor  and 
judge  were  abolished  in  1869,  the  duties  of  auditor 
going  to  the  clerk  and  those  of  judge  to  the  mayor. 
The  charter  remained  unchanged  till  1877,  when  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  was  created ;  then  the  terms  of 
councilmen  were  made  one  year  and  of  aldermen  two 
years.  In  1881  a  change  was  made,  giving  a  term 
of  two  years  to  both  and  changing  the  time  of  the 
city  election  from  May  to  October.  The  nine  wards 
of  1861  remained  unchanged  till  1876,  when  they 
were  increased  to  thirteen.  When  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  was  created  they  were  increased  to  twenty- 
five  and  a  councilman  assigned  to  each  one,  while  the 
whole  were  divided  into  five  districts  with  two  alder- 
men to  each. 

In  noting  the.se  political  indications  of  the  growth 
of  the  city  it  may  be  noted  that  the  first  addition  to 
the  territory  of  the  city  was  made  by  John  Wood, 
the  banker,  in  June,  1836.  In  1854  and  1855 
Blake,  Drake,  Fletcher,  Mayhew,  Blackford,  and 
others  made  considerable  additions.  Mr.  Ignatius 
Brown  estimates  that  between  sixty  and  eighty  ad- 
ditions had  been  made  up  to  1868.  Taking  into 
account  the  enormous  additions  and  subdivisions  of 
additions  made  during  the  real  estate  speculations 
after  1868  up  to  1875,  the  whole  number  can  hardly 
be  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Not  a  few  of 
these  have  since  relapsed  into  their  original  condi- 
tion to  avoid  city  taxes,  but  the  territory  of  the  city 
still  is  very  nearly  three  times  as  large  as  the  dona- 
tion and  a  dozen  times  as  large  as  the  original  plat 
of  the  town.  The  city  assessments  for  taxes  since  the 
organization  of  the  city  government  are  as  follows: 


Year.  Tii.vables. 

1847 $1,000,000 

1850 2,326,186 

1852 4,000,000 

1853 5,131,682 

1854 6,500,000 


Tear.  Taxables. 

1855 $8,000,000 

1856 9,146,000 

1857 9,874,000 

1858 10,475,000 

1859 7,146,607 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


145 


Tear.  Taxables, 

1S6U $10,700,000 

1861 10,000,000 

1862 10,250,000 

1863 18,578,683 

186+ 19,723,732 

1865 20,913,274 

1866 24,835,750 

1867 25,500,605 

1868 24,000,000 

1869 22,000,000 

1870 24,522,261 

1871 27,908,820 


Yenr.  Taxables. 

1872 .$34,746,026 

1873 61,246,311" 

1874 67,309,193 

1875 69,251,749 

1876 60,456,200= 

1877 55,367,245 

1878 50,029,975 

1879 48,099,940 

1880 .-. 50,030,271 

1881 51,901,217 

1882 52,612,595 

1883 53,128,150 


The  present  assessment  of  the  county  is  about  | 
§75,000,000.  That  of  the  city  constituting  two- 
thirds  of  it,  the  fluctuations  of  the  latter  have  caused 
equal  variations  in  the  other.  The  tax-rate  of  the 
county  is  70  cents  for  all  purposes  ;  that  of  the  city 
SI. 12,  which  is  the  limit.  Something  of  the  extent 
of  the  real  estate  speculative  fever  in  1873  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  the  sales  in  1872  were 
reported  by  the  Board  of  Trade  as  double  those 
of  1871,  and  those  of  1873  doubled  those  of  1872, 
amounting  to  over  $32,500,000.  Since  that  time 
there  has  been  no  such  inflation  of  speculation.  In 
1864  an  ordinance  required  the  issue  of  a  "  permit" 
from  the  city  clerk  to  authorize  the  erection  of  a 
building.  In  1865  it  was  found  that  1621  buildings 
were  erected  ;  in  1866,  1112  ;  in  1867,  747  ;  in  1870, 
840  ;  in  1873,  600.  Since  then  the  decline  has  been 
heavy  and  continual  until  within  the  last  two  years. 
The  decrease  in  the  number  of  buildings,  which  will 
be  observed,  was  more  than  compensated  by  the  in- 
creased value  till  the  general  financial  disturbance 
broke  down  building  of  all  kinds  almost  entirely. 

The  first  street  improvement  made  by  the  city  was 
in  1836-37.  At  that  time  the  national  government 
was  metaling  the  National  road  through  the  city,  and 
the  occasion  ofiered  a  very  obvious  motive  to  the  trus- 
tees to  do  something  for  their  sidewalks.  The  some- 
thing was  not  much,  but  it  accomplished  some  brick 
pavements  and  some  grading  down  of  inequalities. 
About  that  time,  too,  some  shade-trees,  principally 
locusts,  were  set  out  on  the  street  then  and  for  a  good 

"  An  act  of  the  Legislature  this  year  required  appraisement 
at  cash  valuation,  and  all  real  property  advanced  all  over  the 
State. 

2  The  effect  of  depreciation  following  the  panic  of  1873. 
10 


many  years  called  Main  Street,  and  in  various  parts 
of  the  city.  Some  of  these  old  locusts  were  standing 
on  the  corner  of  Meridian  Street  for  twenty  years. 
On  the  other  streets  they  remained  longer,  and  a  few 
are  still  standing  in  scattered  localities.  A  general 
plan  of  street  improvement  and  drainage  was  made 
by  James  Wood,  in  1841,  upon  an  order  of  the 
Council,  but  nothing  was  done  with  it  at  the  time, 
though  later  it  was  partially  carried  out  where  prac- 
ticable at  all.  The  sidewalks  of  Washington  Street 
were  widened  from  the  fifteen  feet  of  the  original 
plat  to  twenty,  and  those  of  the  other  streets  from 
the  original  ten  to  twelve,  and  later  to  fifteen.  Pave- 
ments were  occasionally  made,  but  more  frequently 
graveled  walks  took  their  place  all  along  the  interval 
from  1836  to  1859,  and  the  grading  and  graveling 
of  streets  went  on  too ;  but  the  first  substantial  im- 
provement was  bowldering  Washington  Street  from 
Illinois  to  Meridian.  From  that  time  onward  street 
improvement  has  gone  on  with  little  interruption, — 
some  of  it  of  a  costly  kind,  as  the  block  pavement  of 
Delaware  and  other  streets,  which  soon  wore  out  and 
required  replacing  by  bowlders.  A  recent  effort  has 
been  made  to  replace  the  bowlders  of  Washington 
Street  and  the  blocks  of  Market  with  Medina  stone, 
but  the  cost  of  that  material  makes  it  unlikely  to 
displace  bowlders  on  any  but  streets  largely  occupied 
by  wealthy  residents.  In  1855  an  attempt  was  made 
to  number  the  houses  on  Washington  Street,  but  it 
was  indifferently  done,  and  nothing  further  was  at- 
tempted in  that  direction  till  1858,  when  A.  C.  How- 
ard, on  a  Council  order,  numbered  all  the  streets; 
but  counting  only  the  houses  then  erected,  the  faulty 
plan  was  soon  disclosed,  and  in  1864  he  renumbered 
them  on  the  Philadelphia  plan  of  making  fifty 
numbers  to  a  block.  The  most  extensive  and  costly 
improvement,  however,  has  been  the  sewage  system, 
adopted  in  1870.  It  began  with  a  main  sewer  of 
eight  feet  in  diameter  from  Washington  Street  to 
the  river,  down  Kentucky  Avenue.  A  branch  was 
carried  up  the  bed  of  the  canal  from  the  avenue  to 
Market  Street,  which  effaced  the  canal  that  far. 
Another  branch  was  carried  along  South  Street  to 
Fletcher  Avenue,  and  down  that  avenue  to  its  ter- 
mination.    Since  then  a  branch  has  been  constructed 


146 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


on  Illinois  Street,  Pennsylvania  Street,  and  other 
streets,  and  the  trunk  line  extended  to  the  creek  at 
Noble  Street  to  connect  with  a  line  to  the  Female 
Reformatory.  In  1868  a  fifteen-cent  sewage  tax  was 
levied,  and  a  sewer  on  Ray  Street,  from  Delaware 
to  the  creek,  was  made,  terminating  under  Ray  Street 
bridge,  at  a  cost  of  sixteen  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  later  and  larger  aifair  cost  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  dollars.  The  contractors  were 
Wirth  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati.  Their  competitors  were 
Symonds  &  Hyland,  who  were  alleged  at  the  time  to 
have  offered  the  city  more  favorable  terms,  and  their 
rejection  by  the  Council  caused  open  charges  of  cor- 
ruption to  be  repeatedly  urged  in  some  of  the  city 
papers.  The  other  street  improvements — the  street 
lamps,  railway  lines,  and  the  water  supply — have 
already  been  referred  to,  and  do  not  belong  to  an  ac- 
count of  works  prosecuted  by  the  city.  In  1871  the 
perils  of  crossing  the  union  tracks  on  busy  streets 
caused  the  erection  of  an  iron  viaduct  on  Delaware 
Street,  some  six  hundred  feet  long  and  high  enough 
under  the  upper  span  for  the  easy  passage  of  engines 
and  cars.  It  was  but  little  used,  however,  and  in 
1874  was  taken  down  and  the  iron  used  in  making 
canal  and  creek  bridges.  In  1873  a  more  effective 
relief,  it  was  thought,  would  be  given  to  the  crowded 
business  of  Illinois  Street  at  the  west  end  of  the 
Union  Depot  by  a  tunnel  extending,  with  its  ap- 
proaches, from  near  South  Street  to  near  the  middle 
of  the  block  north  of  Louisiana  Street.  It  was  built 
at  a  cost  of  forty  thousand  dollars, — so  stated  at  the 
time, — with  two  wagon-tracks,  in  separate  arches,  and 
an  elevated  foot-passenger  track  on  each  side  some 
three  feet  higher.  The  latter  were  soon  found  to  be 
used  for  vile  purposes,  and  were  closed.  The  main 
tunnel  was  maintained  in  good  order,  but  surren- 
dered wholly  to  the  street-railway  company,  which  has 
two  tracks  in  it.  In  heavy  rains  the  tunnel  is  so  flooded 
as  to  be  frequently  impassable  for  a  time.  The  amount 
of  street-work  done  in  twelve  years — from  1836  to 
1848 — may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  it  had  all 
made  a  debt  of  but  six  thousand  dollars,  and  that 
only  because  the  city  would  not  bear  a  tax  heavy 
enough  to  pay  its  way.  An  election  was  held  in 
1849  to  determine  whether  a  special  tax  of  ten  cents 


should  be  levied  to  pay  it,  and  the  proposition  was 
carried  by  only  eleven  votes.  That  made  the  whole 
tax-rate  forty-five  cents  on  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
I  made  a  general  growl  of  discontent.  Aside  from 
these  necessary  improvements,  the  citizens  have  made 
a  beautiful  and  desirable  one  of  their  own  in  the 
lines  of  shade-^rees — the  maples,  and  catalpas  occa- 
sionally— that  border  all  the  principal  streets  of  resi- 
dence, making  continuous  arches  of  grateful  shade 
for  miles.  Much  pride  is  taken  in  this  voluntary 
decoration  of  the  streets,  and  the  Council  has  sup- 
ported it  by  appointing  a  forester  to  look  after  the 
general  interests  of  shade-trees  in  streets  and  parks. 

The  city  has  four  parks, — the  Circle,  Military, 
University,  and  Garfield.  The  last  is  far  larger  than 
all  the  others  together,  and  is  the  only  one  the  city 
really  owns,  and  the  only  one  the  city  has  never  tried 
to  improve.  It  lies  a  little  south  of  the  southern 
boundary,  at  the  junction  of  Pleasant  Run  and  Bean 
Creek,  contains  about  one  hundred  and  ten  acres,  and 
possesses  an  agreeable  diversity  of  forest  and  meadow, 
level  and  ascent,  and  might  easily  and  cheaply  be 
made  a  popular  resort.  It  cost  about  one  thousand 
dollars  an  acre.  The  other  three  parks  belong  to  the 
State,  but  are  given  to  the  city  as  places  of  recrea- 
tion on  condition  of  their  proper  care  and  mainte- 
nance. They  have  all  been  handsomely  laid  out 
with  walks  and  turf-plats  and  patches  of  trees  and 
shrubbery,  with  a  considerable  pond  and  fountain  in 
Military  Park.  It  is  the  remains  of  the  old  Military 
Ground,  or  Reservation,  that  figures  so  frequently  in 
the  early  history  of  the  city.  It  contains  about 
twenty  acres,  the  others  about  four  acres  each. 

The  city  had  no  police  force  till  1854.  In  Septem- 
ber of  that  year  it  appointed  fourteen  men  to  that  ser- 
vice, with  Jefferson  Springsteen  as  captain.  The  ordi- 
nance creating  this  force  was  repealed  Dec.  17,  1855, 
partly  because  the  citizens  grumbled  at  the  expense, 
and  partly  because  an  attempt  to  arrest  some  offend- 
ing Germans  in  August — under  the  prohibitory  liquor 
act  which  went  into  force  the  preceding  June  and 
was  never  regarded  by  anybody — made  a  riot  on  East 
Washington  Street  that  ended  in  several  of  the  Ger- 
mans being  wounded  by  pistol-shots.  The  citizens 
and  the   Council   sustained  the  police,  but  the   Su- 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


147 


preme  Court  speedily  killed  the  prohibitory  luw. 
The  expense  was  serious,  the  police  services  not 
conspicuous  then,  and  the  Germans  were  bitterly 
exasperated  at  the  force.  Early  in  the  following 
year,  however,  a  second  force  of  ten  men,  under 
Capt.  Jesse  Van  Blarioum,  was  created.  This  was 
ended  the  next  May  by  hostile  party  action,  which 
made  a  substitute  of  one  officer  in  each  ward  ap- 
pointed by  the  marshal.  The  next  May  saw  a  i 
change  of  party  power,  and  another  police  force 
of  seven  men,  under  Capt.  A.  D.  Rose,  was  created. 
Two  men  were  added  to  this  force  the  next  year, 
1858,  under  Capt.  Samuel  Lefevre.  Rose  went  back 
in  1859,  and  the  force  was  increased  to  two  men 
from  each  ward  in  18(51,  making  fourteen  men. 
Rose  held  till  October,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Thomas  Ramsey.  Two  men  were  dropped  the  same 
year,  and  John  R.  Cotton  took  command  the  next 
May,  1862,  when  the  two  day-patrolmen  were  re- 
placed, and  the  force  uniformed  at  the  city's  expense. 
Thomas  D.  Amos  was  made  captain  in  1863,  the 
force  increased  by  a  lieutenant  and  twenty-five  men, 
— eighteen  for  the  night-  and  seven  for  the  day- 
patrol.  David  M.  Powell  succeeded  as  chief  the 
same  year,  and  the  city  obtained  material  help,  in 
preserving  peace,  from  the  military  authorities,  which 
were  then  strong,  and  the  force  of  rowdies  and 
scoundrels  equally  strong,  and  needing  the  com- 
bined repression  of  both  powers.  The  ordinance  of 
March,  1864,  established  police  districts,  and  Sam- 
uel A.  Cramer  was  made  captain  in  May.  During 
the  State  Fair  of  1864  twenty-six  special  policemen 
were  added.  On  the  5th  of  December  an  ordinance 
added  sixteen  men  till  the  following  May,  and  made 
the  chief's  salary  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  The  pay 
of  the  men  was  also  increased  in  1863  and  1864,  being 
fixed  finally  at  two  dollars  and  a  half  and  three 
dollars  a  day.  In  1865,  Jesse  Van  Blaricum  was 
again  made  chief,  with  two  lieutenants,  nine  day-  and 
eighteen  night-patrolmen,  two  detectives,  and  sixteen 
specials.  He  was  succeeded  in  April,  1866,  by 
Thomas  S.  Wilson,  and  he  in  1870  by  Henry  Paul. 
Eli  Thompson  came  in  1871  and  continued  till 
1874,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Frank  Wilson,  who 
held  two  years,  and  was  followed  in  1876  by  A.  C. 


Dewey  for  a  year,  when  Albert  Travis  succeeded 
from  1877  to  1880,  and  Robert  C.  Williamson  fol- 
lowed till  1883,  when  the  Metropolitan  Police  Act 
superseded  him  and  the  whole  city  force.  The 
number  was  varied  occasionally  during  this  time,  but 
was  never  so  low  as  in  the  days  preceding  1870. 
The  present  condition  of  the  force  under  the  new 
system  will  be  found  in  the  preliminary  statement  of 
the  general  condition  of  the  city,  and  need  not  be 
repeated  here.  The  Metropolitan  force  was  created 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  winter  of  1883, 
authorizing  the  appointment  of  three  commissioners 
by  the  State  officers,  who  should  hold  office  three 
years,  one  retiring  each  year,  and  who  should  ap- 
point and  control  the  whole  police  force  of  the  city. 
They  made  Maj.  Robbins  chief,  who  retired  recently, 
and  was  succeeded  by  John  A.  Lang,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  a  captain.  Maj.  Robbins  had  given 
offense  to  many  by  regulations  in  derogation  of  the 
State  law  touching  the  conduct  of  liquor  saloons. 
In  1865,  Alexis  Coquillard  organized  a  force  of  a 
dozen  men  to  patrol  the  business  streets  and  protect 
business  property  at  the  expense  of  the  persons 
served.  The  Council  gave  them  police  powers.  A. 
D.  Rose  subsequently  commanded  it.  Capt.  Thomas 
now  commands  it,  in  a  considerably  enlarged  force 
however.  Besides  these  there  are  a  half-dozen  at 
the  Union  Depot,  appointed  and  paid  by  the  Union 
Railway  Company,  who  are  invested  with  police 
powers  by  the  Council,  and  later  by  the  Metropolitan 
authority.  In  this  account  of  the  police  force  of  the 
city  the  facts  are  derived  from  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown's 
sketch,  so  far  as  its  earlier  history  is  concerned. 

In  1826,  as  already  related,  a  fire  company  was 
organized  under  Capt.  John  Hawkins,  to  operate 
with  buckets  and  ladders.  It  maintained  its  organi- 
zation till  1835,  when  it  was  absorbed  by  the  Marion 
Engine  Company,  organized  to  operate  the  "  Marion 
Engine,"  purchased  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  State 
and  city  in  that  year.  It  was  an  "  end-brake,"  re- 
quiring about  twenty-four  men  to  work  it  fully, 
and  a  powerful  and  very  serviceable  ■'  machine"  it 
proved.  It  was  made  by  Merrick,  of  Philadelphia. 
A  two-story  frame  house  was  built  for  it  in  1837 
on  the  north  of  the  Circle,  the  City  Council  meeting 


148 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTl. 


in  the  upper  rooms.  It  was  burned  in  1851,  and 
with  it  a  large  portion  of  the  city  records.  In  1855 
a  handsome  two-story  brick  was  erected  for  it  at  the 
corner  of  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  New  York 
Street.  In  1840  a  second  engine,  and  second-band 
engine,  too,  called  the  "Good  Intent,"  was  purchased 
and  "  ran"  with  the  Marion  for  a  year ;  then  a  por- 
tion of  the  company,  under  John  H.  Wright,  took 
her  and  formed  the  "  Relief  Company"  to  work  her. 
The  members  of  both  these  companies  were  among 
the  leading  citizens.  Caleb  Scudder  was  the  first 
captain  of  the  Marion,  and  James  M.  Ray  the  first 
secretary.  Capt.  Scudder  was  succeeded  by  James 
Blake,  Dr.  John  L.  Mothershead,  and  others  of  the 
same  position.  John  H.  Wright  was  a  leading  mer- 
chant here,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  pork- 
packing  business.  The  law  at  that  time  exempted 
firemen  from  city  taxes  and  jury  duty,  and  though 
these  were  slight  considerations  to  the  first  of  our 
volunteer  firemen,  they  were  con,siderable  induce- 
ments to  their  successors,  who  were  of  the  class  that 
usually  make  up  fire  companies  in  other  cities.  Ten 
years  of  active  service  entitled  a  member  to  retire  as 
an  ''  honorary,"  with  all  his  exemptions.  This  per- 
mission was  taken  advantage  of  by  the  early  mem- 
bers as  fast  as  it  could  be  used,  and  the  consequence 
was  that  by  the  year  1850  very  few  of  them  were 
left  in  either  company  in  active  service.  The  later 
companies  never  boasted  of  the  possession  of  any  of 
the  "  pioneers." 

For  nearly  ten  years  these  two  companies  remained 
alone,  depending  on  church  and  hotel  bells  and  per- 
sonal and  general  yells  to  make  their  alarms,  and  on 
private  wells  and  the  creek  and  canal  for  their  supply 
of  water.  Private  wells  were  made  available  some- 
times by  letting  down  a  "  worm"  fence  or  tearing 
away  a  panel  of  picket  fence,  and  sometimes  by  "  lines 
of  buckets,"  that  is,  of  spectators  passing  buckets 
from  the  well  to  the  engine.  At  the  first  organization 
of  a  fire  company,  in  1826,  every  householder  was 
expected  to  give  all  the  bucket  help  he  could,  but  no 
"  fire-buckets"  for  that  especial  service  were  made  for 
some  years  after,  probably  not  till  the  Marion  Engine 
Company  was  organized.  Then  they  came,  great 
awkward  leather  affairs,  made  by  our  own  harness- 


makers  in  some  cases,  if  not  all,  and  painted  blue 
inside  by  Samuel  S.  Rooker,  the  pioneer  painter. 
They  were  about  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  a  foot  across 
the  mouth,  ten  inches  at  the  bottom,  with  a  swell  in 
the  middle  that  gave  them  the  look  of  a  small  beer 
keg,  with  a  leather-covered  rope  round  the  mouth,  and 
a  broad  leather  strap  for  a  handle,  which  made  them 
easy  to  carry  but  exceedingly  hard  to  discharge  with 
a  throw,  such  an  effort  being  likely  to  leave  half  the 
contents  scattered  over  the  person  of  the  adventurous 
thrower.  A  later  style  of  bucket,  which  was  smaller, 
conical,  with  a  considerable  spread  at  the  mouth,  suc- 
ceeded and  did  better  work. 

In  1849  the  "  Western  Liberties  Company"  was 
organized  in  the  west  of  the  city  and  took  the  old 
"  Good  Intent"  from  the  "  Relief  Company,"  when 
the  latter  got  a  "row-boat"  engine,  in  which  the  men 
were  all  seated  and  the  brakes  worked  horizontally. 
This  was  housed  in  a  two-story  brick  on  the  west 
side  of  Meridian  Street,  in  what  is  now  "  Hubbard's 
Block."  In  1858,  near  the  end  of  the  volunteer  ser- 
vice, with  the  help  of  the  Council  and  the  subscrip- 
tions of  citizens,  the  "  Relief"  purchased  a  handsome 
end-brake  engine  and  used  it  till  disbanded  in  Novem- 
ber, 1859.  The  "  row-boat"  they  broke  up  and  sold 
the  next  spring.  The  Marion  Company  exchanged 
their  well-tried  engine  for  a  fine  side-brake  in  1858, 
but  never  used  it  much,  and  it  was  sold  to  a  Peru 
company,  in  1860,  for  two  thousand  one  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars.  The  later  companies  having  short 
lives  and  little  history,  need  little  notice.  The 
"  Western  Liberties,"  formed  in  1849,  used  the 
"  Good  Intent"  in  a  house  on  the  point  between 
Washington  Street  and  the  National  road  till  1857, 
when  a  brick  building  was  erected  for  them  on 
West  Washington  Street,  where  one  of  the  steam- 
engines  is  stationed  now,  and  a  new  engine  called 
the  "  Indiana"  given  them.  Like  most  of  the  other 
companies,  they  were  disbanded  in  1859  and  their 
engine  sold.  The  "  Invincibles,"  derisively  called 
the  "  Wooden  Shoes"  by  the  older  companies,  or- 
ganized in  May,  1852,  and  got  a  little  iron-box, 
end-brake  engine  called  the  "  Victory,"  which,  light 
and  easily  handled,  and  working  well  with  a  strong 
company,  was  always  early  and  frequently  first  at  fires, 


CITY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


149 


the  great  point  of  competition  with  volunteer  com- 
panies. In  1857  they  obtained  a  fine  new  engine, 
the"  Conquerer,"  and  used  it  till  August,  1859,  when 
they  were  disbanded.  Their  house  was  a  brick  on 
the  east  side  of  New  Jersey  Street,  a  half-square  north 
of  Washington.  It  was  afterwards  a  notorious  bagnio 
during  the  war.  The  "  Invincibles"  went  into  the 
"paid"  department  in  18G0,  with  their  engine,  but 
remained  only  a  few  months,  when  they  finally  dis- 
banded and  sold  their  engine  to  Fort  Wayne.  The 
"  Union  Company"  was  organized  in  1855 ;  a  handsome 
two-story  brick  house  was  built  for  them  on  the  south 
side  of  East  South  Street,  now  occupied  by  a  steam- 
engine,  and  a  fine  large  end-brake  engine  given  them, 
which  they  called  •'  The  Spirit  of  7  and  G"  because 
they  represented  those  two  wards.  They  were  dis- 
banded in  November,  1859. 

The  "  Rovers"  organized  in  1858  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  city,  and  were  given  a  house  and 
one  of  the  old  engines.  Before  anything  more  could 
be  done  the  volunteer  system  was  so  obviously  breaking 
down  that  the  company  was  disbanded  in  June,  1859. 
The  "  Hook-and-Ladder  Company"  was  organized  in 
1843,  and  did  all  that  their  means  and  opportunities 
allowed  till  they  were  disbanded  with  the  other  com- 
panies in  1859.  Its  house  was  on  the  west  end  of 
the  East  Market  space.  Besides  these  regular  com- 
panies there  were  two  companies  of  boys  engaged  in 
the  volunteer  service  for  a  time,  the  "  0.  K.  Bucket 
Company"  and  the  "  Young  America  Hook-and- 
Ladder  Company."  The  former  was  organized  in 
1849,  used  the  old  city  buckets  for  a  time,  and  were 
then  provided  with  new  and  better  ones  and  with  a 
handsome  light  wagon  to  carry  them.  This  com- 
pany was  often  of  considerable  service  to  the  others 
by  its  ready  supply  of  buckets.  They  had  a  frame 
house  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Maryland  and  Me- 
ridian Streets.  They  were  disbanded  in  1854,  reor- 
ganized next  year,  again  disbanded  and  organized  as 
an  engine  company  with  the  little  iron-box  "  Vic- 
tory." The  "  Young  America  Company"  were  given 
their  "  hooks"  and  other  apparatus  in  1858,  but  did 
little,  and  were  disbanded  in  November,  1859. 
There  were  no  "  hose  companies"  in  the  volunteer 
service,  though   in  each  engine  company  there  came 


to  be  in  the  latter  days  a  sort  of  separate  formation 
of  "engine"  and  "hose"  men.  The  ofiicers  were  a 
captain  (who  was  also  president),  secretary,  treasurer, 
engine  directors,  hose  directors,  and  messenger,  the 
latter  being  paid  some  fifty  dollars  a  year  by  the 
Council  to  attend  to  the  apparatus  and  keep  it  in  re- 
pair. A  "suction  hose"  man  was  u.sually  appointed 
from  the  most  experienced  members,  his  duty  being 
to  couple  the  sections  of  the  "  suction"  hose  and  at- 
tach it  to  the  engine,  a  service  on  which  a  good  deal 
of  the  readiness  of  the  engine  for  action  depended. 

Until  1852-53  the  cost  of  the  volunteer  system  was 
a  trifle.  Occasional  repairs  of  hose,  rarer  repairs  of 
engines,  and  an  occasional  repainting  made  the  sum  of 
it;  but  as  the  character  of  the  service  changed  by  the 
retirement  of  the  original  members,  the  pioneers  both 
of  the  city  and  the  service,  the  expenses  increased. 
The  companies  were  less  associations  of  citizens  for 
mutual  protection  than  unpaid  employes  of  the 
public,  and  they  became  clamorous  for  larger  outlays, 
not  in  wages,  but  in  parades  and  houses  and  fine  ap- 
paratus. They  were  entirely  independent,  however, 
and  to  remedy  some  of  the  evils  of  rivalry  and  occa- 
sional contention  it  was  determined  in  1853  to  sub- 
ject them  fully  to  the  city  authority,  and  a  chief  fire 
engineer  was  appointed  with  two  assistants.  The 
first  chief  was  Joseph  Little,  the  first  assistant  B. 
R.  Sulgrove,  second,  William  King.  Obedience  was 
made  the  condition  of  aid  from  the  Council.  As  a 
protection  against  a  power  which  might  be  tyranni- 
cally used  the  firemen  determined  to  unite  on  their 
part  to  secure  co-operation  and  unity  of  purpose,  and 
they  formed  the  Fire  Association,  with  B.  R.  Sul- 
grove as  president.  It  was  composed  of  delegates 
elected  from  each  company,  and  met  monthly  in  the 
upper  room  of  the  "  Relief  Company"  on  Meridian 
Street.  It  was  recognized  by  the  Council  as  the 
representative  of  the  whole  body  of  firemen,  and  of 
course  became  at  once  a  formidable  political  power. 
By  a  sort  of  tacit  agreement  the  city  clerk  was  as- 
signed to  the  firemen.  Their  "  legislature"  assumed 
to  determine  all  fire  appropriations,  and  as  they  felt 
their  power  more  clearly  they  made  their  demands 
more  imperiously.  The  citizens  grumbled  at  the  ex- 
pense and  the  Council  at  the  usurpation  of  its  power, 


150 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


and  finally  the  association  split  into  factions,  the  pres- 
idency began  to  be  "  log-rolled"  and  intrigued  for, 
and  the  end  was  evidently  close  at  hand.  It  came 
with  the  election  of  Joseph  W.  Davis,  captain  of  the 
"  Invincibles,"  as  fire  engineer  in  1858.  He  had 
made  warm  friends  and  bitter  enemies,  and  the  ani- 
mosities went  into  the  association  when  he  went  into 
the  fire  chieftancy.  The  firemen  had  held  their 
power  by  union  against  the  hostility  of  the  citizens, 
and  now  their  union  was  broken.  In  1859  an  at- 
tempt was  made,  by  the  election  of  John  E.  Foudray 
as  chief,  to  restore  harmony  and  maintain  the  volun- 
teer system,  but  it  was  idle.  Steam  had  made  its 
Way  to  recognition  and  favor  because,  as  Miles 
Greenwood,  the  chief  of  Cincinnati,  said,  "  it  neither 
drank  whiskey  nor  threw  brickbats,"  and  steam  made 
its  way  here  in  the  fall  of  1859.  An  order  for  a  Lee 
&  Lamed  rotary  engine  was  made  then,  and  the  en- 
gine received  the  following  March.  It  was  put  in 
the  house  of  the  "  Westerns"  and  the  steam  depart- 
ment fairly  established,  though  for  some  months  two 
hand-engines  and  the  hook-and-ladder  wagon  were 
retained.  The  steam-engine  was  in  charge  of  Frank 
Glazier,  the  hand-engines  of  Charles  Richman  and 
William  Sherwood,  and  the  hook-and-ladder  of  Wil- 
liam N.  Darnell.  The  volunteer  system  died  in  No- 
vember, 1859.  Joseph  W.  Davis  was  chief  of  the 
new  paid  department,  with  a  salary  of  three  hundred 
dollars.  In  August,  1860,  a  small  "  Latta"  was 
bought  and  put  in  the  Marion  house  on  Massachu- 
Betts  Avenue.  In  October  a  Seneca  Falls  engine 
was  obtained  and  put  in  the  Union  house  on  South 
Street.  The  first  of  these  was  in  charge  of  Charles 
Curtiss,  the  second  of  Daniel  Glazier.  The  hand- 
engines  were  then  permanently  dismissed  and  the 
last  vestiges  of  the  volunteer  system  lost. 

In  1863  an  alarm-bell  was  placed  in  an  open  frame- 
work tower  in  the  rear  of  the  Glenn  Block  on  Wash- 
ington Street,  and  was  rung  by  an  apparatus  from 
the  cupola  on  the  block,  where  a  watch  was  stationed 
day  and  night.  Till  1868  this  watch  designated  the 
locality  of  a  fire  by  striking  the  number  of  the  ward  ; 
then  in  February  a  system  of  automatic  telegraph 
signals  was  introduced,  at  an  expense  of  six  thousand 
dollars,  and  has  continued  in   operation   ever  since. 


The  signals  are  made  by  a  little  motion  of  an  ap- 
paratus in  a  locked  iron  box,  which  communicates 
electrically  with  all  the  fire-bells  in  the  city,  each 
box  automatically  ringing  a  certain  number  of  strokes, 
designating  its  locality,  and  repeating  them  five  times. 
I  The  keys  of  the  boxes  are  kept  in  adjacent  houses, 
1  and  their  places  and  their  signals  published,  so  that 
at  any  alarm  anybody  may  know  almost  the  exact 
place  of  the  fire. 

The  water  supply,  as  already  stated,  was  for  a  con- 
siderable time  dependent  on  private  wells,  though  as 
early  as  1840,  or  thereabouts,  one  or  two  public  wells 
were  dug  for  the  engines.  These  were  increased 
afterwards,  but  no  cisterns  were  made  till  1852, 
when  a  cistern  tax  was  levied  and  sixteen  constructed 
'  in  difierent  parts  of  the  city.  Two  small  three  hun- 
dred-barrel cisterns  were  made  in  1850,  but  their 
inadequacy  only  proved  the  necessity  of  more. 
There  are  now  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  in  the 
city,  many  of  them  exceeding  two  thousand  barrels, 
besides  the  supply  from  the  waterworks  by  five 
hundred  and  thirty-two  hydrants.  The  present 
steam  paid  department  consists  of  seventy-six  men 
(thirteen  firemen,  six  engineers,  six  stokers,  twenty-two 
hosemen,  six  laddermen,  nineteen  drivers,  two  tele- 
graph-men, one  supply-driver,  one  watchman  at  head- 
quarters), eight  engines  (of  which  six  are  in  service, 
one  in  reserve,  one  used  for  filling  cisterns),  ten  reels 
in  service,  two  in  reserve,  one  chemical  apparatus  or 
engine,  two  hook-and-ladder  wagons,  two  supply- 
wagons,  thirty-four  horses,  three  watch-tower  men, 
fifteen  chemical  extinguishers  (hand),  twelve  horses, 
one  hundred  and  eight  fire-alarm  boxes.  The  water 
supply,  as  already  stated,  is  furnished  by  the  Holly 
system  of  "  direct  pressure,"  and  the  hose  can  be 
used  effectively  directly  from  the  hydrants. 

The  notable  fires  in  the  city  are  not  numerous,  and 
none  have  been  very  destructive.  In  1826  or  1827 
the  residence  of  Nicholas  McCarty,  on  West  Mary- 
land Street,  was  burned,  and  was  the  second  fire  in 
the  place.  That  of  Maj.  Carter's  tavern,  in  1825, 
already  related,  was  the  first.  The  next  was  the  first 
tobacco- factory  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  which  was 
burned  in  1838,  causing  an  uninsured  lo.ss  of  ten 
thousand    dollars.      On    4th    February,    1843,    the 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


151 


Washington    Hall    was    seriously    damaged    by   fire.  May   9. — Corner  Kentucky   Avenue  and   Sliarpe 

In  1852  the  row  of  two-story  frames  from  the  Capi-     Street,  Indianapolis  Stove  Company,  stove  foundry, 
tal  House,  east  to  the  alley  at  Tomlinson's  Block,  was  !  cause  unknown;  loss,  $21,938;  insurance,  $15,980. 


burned,  the  most  extensive  fire  in  area  that  had  then 
occurred  in  the  place.  In  1853  all  the  stables  and 
out-buildings  in  the  rear  of  the  "  Wright  House,"  or 
Washington  Hall,  were  burned,  making  a  very  large 
and  destructive  conflagration.  In  1852  the  Eagle 
Machine- Works  were  damaged  to  the  extent  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  next  year  by  an- 
other fire  nearly  as  serious.  In  1853  the  grist-mill 
of  Morris  Brothers,  on  the  corner  north  of  the  Eagle 
Machine- Works,  was  totally  destroyed  and  never  re- 
built. In  1856,  Carlisle's  mill,  on  the  canal  basin  at 
the  end  of  Market  Street,  was  burned.  In  1858  the 
smoke-house  of  W.  &  I.  Mansur's  pork-house  was 
burned,  causing  a  serious  loss  of  cured  meats.  In 
the  spring  of  1865  the  most  disastrous  fire  ever 
known  here  took  place  in  Kingan's  new  pork-house, 
then  but  a  single  year  in  operation.  The  loss  was 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars,  but  largely 
insured.  In  1874,  March  22d,  both  sides  of  North 
Pennsylvania  Street,  including  the  "  Exchange 
Block"  and  the  unfinished  hotel,  now  the  Denison, 
and  the  "  Martindale  Block,"  were  nearly  destroyed, 
causing  a  loss,  mostly  insured,  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  In  1876,  Tousey  &  Wiggans'  meat 
storage-house,  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street,  was 
damaged  by  fire  to  the  extent  of  ten  thousand  dollars 
or  more,  insured.  In  June,  1875,  Elevator  B  was  to- 
tally destroyed,  with  a  loss  of  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
In  1876  the  street-car  stables  were  burned.  In  the 
winter  of  1880,  Ferguson's  pork-house,  south  of  the 
Vandalia  road,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  was  en- 
tirely destroyed,  with  a  loss  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  In  the  winter  of  1878-79  the  "  Centennial 
Block,"  on  South  Meridian  Street,  was  damaged  to 
the  extent  of  thirty  thousand  dollars.  The  most 
important  fires  of  the  past  year  were  the  following : 

March  13. — Corner  Dakota  Street,  J.  Shellen- 
berger,  butter-dish  factory,  cause  unknown ;  loss, 
$10,900.50;  insurance,  $7500. 

April  20. — Pogue's  Run  and  East  Michigan  Street 


Corner  Kentucky  Avenue  and  Sharpc  Street,  Eugle 
Machine- Works,  storage-room,  communicated  ;  loss, 
$5200 ;  insurance,  $2000.  Corner  Kentucky  Ave- 
nue and  Sharpe  Street,  W.  W.  Choezum,  saloon  and 
residence,  communicated  ;  loss,  $1239 ;  insurance, 
$1000.  No.  21  Sharpe  Street,  Gus.  Wilde,  resi- 
dence, communicated ;  loss,  $650  ;  insurance,  $900. 

July  2. — 354  East  Washington  Street,  Helm  & 
Hartman,  flour-mill;  loss,  $5057.45;  insurance, 
$4100. 

Sept.  28. — Mclntire  Street  near  Canal,  T.  P. 
Haughey,  glue-factory  ;  loss,  $6047.05 ;  insurance, 
$9550. 

Oct.  31. — Second  Street  and  Canal,  J.  F.  Failey, 
wheel-works;    loss,  $6204.66  ;  insurance,  $18,000. 

Jan.  6,  1884. — Tennessee  Street,  stables  of  the 
Citizens'  Street  Railway  Company,  damaged  to  the 
amount  of  .$10,000. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CITY    OP   INDIANAPOLIS.— (C'on/nme</.) 
COMMERCIAL  AND   MERCANTILE   INTERESTS  OF  THE   CITT. 

The  early  commerce  of  Indianapolis  was  a  matter 
of  road-wagons  and  country  stores.  The  most  of 
it  was  barter  and  all  of  it  was  mixed.  Dry-goods, 
drugs  and  groceries,  cutlery,  queensware  and  leather, 
books,  tubs,  and  salt  fish  were  all  to  be  found  in  the 
same  establishment,  and  whiskey  was  universal.  A 
half-dozen  yards  of  red  flannel  swung  over  the  door 
on  two  sticks  and  hung  down  the  sides  was  an  un- 
failing sign  ;  a  name  over  the  door  was  not.  The 
trade  that  was  not  barter — and  that  was  not  much — 
was  managed  with  Spanish  silver.  The  railroads  of 
those  days  did  all  the  transportation,  but  the  rails 


were  as  often  an  obstruction  as  an  assistance,  as  already 
J.  R.  Pearson  et  al,  butter-dish  factory,  incendiary;  ;  related.     The  cars  that  ran  upon  them  and  across 


loss,  $4489.36  ;  insurance,  $6000. 


them  were  usually  drawn  by  four  horses, — rarely  less 


152 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


than  three, — and  rang  their  bells  in  a  bow  above  the 
hames  in  an  incessant  and  not  unmusical  jangle. 
The  canvas  cover  was  full  a  dozen  feet  along  the  top, 
following  the  deep  hollow  from  the  uptiit  at  each 
end,  and  six  or  seven  in  diameter.  A  good  big 
wagon  loaded  and  belled,  with  a  good  team  well 
harnes.sed,  and  a  driver  of  the  Clem  Peery  school 
mounted  in  his  "  wagon"  saddle — a  different  variety 
from  the  "  riding"  saddle,  being  made  with  black 
harness-leather  skirts  cut  square — on  the  "  near" 
wheel-horse,  and  driving  with  a  ten-feet  line  of 
inch  bridle-leather  fastened  to  the  ■'  bit"  of  the 
"  near"  leader,  his  "  blacksnake"  whip  in  hand — 
and  your  teamster  would  have  held  it  a  shame  to  u.se 
anything  else — cracking  as  merrily  as  an  Italian  cab- 
driver,  was  an  inspiriting  sight.  In  good  weather, 
along  the  old  Michigan  road,  on  the  way  to  Cincin- 
nati by  Lawrenceburg,  or  to  Madison  by  Napoleon, 
one  might  sometimes  see  a  dozen  of  these  gigantic 
white  caterpillars  following  each  other,  loaded  with 
goods  for  McCarty,  or  Wright,  or  Iledderly,  or  Ilan- 
naman,  or  Justin  Smith,  and  driven  by  Clem  Peery, 
Bill  Stuck,  his  brother  Perry,  Sam  llitchey  and  his 
brother  Arnold,  Wash  Norwood,  or  Charley  O'Neal, 
a  brother  of  the  noted  criminal  lawyer  Hugh  O'Neal, 
or  some  of  the  teaming  fraternity,  who  took  the  place 
of  the  railroads,  engines,  and  trains  of  to-day.  They 
rarely  took  anything  away,  so  the  trip  one  way  had 
to  pay  for  both.  Our  exports  usually  went  out  afoot. 
Hog  driving  was  almost  a  separate  occupation  forty 
years  ago  and  before,  and  all  the  time  till  railroads 
came.  It  was  a  slow,  cold,  wearisome  business, 
for  it  could  only  be  done  in  winter ;  was  usually 
done  to  Cincinnati;  the  roads  were  rough,  the  way 
long,  and  the  night  was  consumed  in  feeding  the 
"  grunting  herd."  Wagons  sometimes  followed  to 
take  care  of  the  lame  and  exhausted,  or  what  are 
now  called  "slow"  hogs.  The  hog  drover,  in  his 
normal  night  condition,  was  covered  with  the  slop 
of  thawing  roads,  tired,  cross,  and  hungry.  In 
this  condition  the  late  Oliver  H.  Smith  carried  to 
Cincinnati  with  his  drove  of  hogs  the  news  of  his 
own  election  to  the  United  States  Senate.  The 
elder  John  Wood  drove  horses  to  New  Orleans  in 
the  same  fashion,  but  less   unpleasantly.       He  was 


the  only  trader  in  Indianapolis  in  that  line  or  that 
direction. 

John  Wood,  who  was  of  Scotch-Iri.sh  parentage, 
was  born  July  25,  1784,  in  Orange  County,  N.  Y., 
where  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  school  or  in  various 
active  pursuits.  He  married,  in  180G,  Miss  Rachel 
Brown,  and  had  children, — Daniel  B.  and  Rachel 
(Mrs.  George  Myers),  both  of  whom  died  in  Lan- 
caster, Ohio,  in  1832,  and  one  whose  death  occurred 
in  infancy.  He  married  a  second  time,  in  1812, 
Miss  Sarah  West,  of  Brown  County,  Ohio,  to  whom 
wore    born    children,  —  Eleanor    (Mrs.    Thomas    M. 


.1(111  N     WOOD. 

Smith;,  John  M.,  Phebe  (  Mrs.  M.  A.  Daugherty), 
Mary  (Mrs.  Robert  L.  Browning),  Martha  (Mrs.  E. 
K.  Foster),  Cornelia  (Mrs.  R.  L.  Browning),  and 
William  E.  Mr.  Wood  early  became  a  dealer  in 
horses,  and  continued  this  business  first  in  New 
York  State  and  later  in  Kentucky,  to  which  State 
he  removed.  While  residing  in  Maysville,  in  the 
latter  State,  he  took  horses  in  large  numbers  to  the 
New  Orleans  market,  and  was  the  first  man  from 
Kentucky  to  engage  in  this  enterprise.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1834,  Mr.  Wood  made  Indianapolis  his  resi- 
dence, having  for  a  brief  period  resided  in  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  and  purchased  a    farm   of   four  hundred  and 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


153 


eighty  acres,  most  of  which  is  now  embraced  within 
the  city  limits.  He  continued  his  business  in  Indi- 
anapolis, and  became  a  large  shipper  of  horses  to 
other  localities.  He  also  opened  an  extensive  livery- 
and  sales  stable,  to  which  his  son  John  succeeded  in 
1840.  and  has  since  transferred  to  his  son,  Horace 
F.  Wood.  Mr.  Wood  was  in  politics  a  firm  and 
uncompromising  Whig,  but  not  an  oflBce-sceker,  his 
time  and  attention  having  been  entirely  absorbed  in  ' 
the  management  of  his  extended  private  business. 
He  was,  however,  active  in  the  political  field,  and  j 
eager  for  the  success  of  his  party.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  order  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
which  he  joined  at  an  early  day  in  Kentucky,  as 
also  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows. 
His  death  occurred  Jan.  6,  1847.  in  his  sixty-third 
year.  Two  of  his  children,  John  M.  and  William 
E.,  still  reside  in  Indianapolis. 

Among  the  merchants  of  this  primitive  period  of 
transportation  were  Lawrence  M.  Vance  and  David 
S.  Beaty  (of  the  firm  of  Vance  &  Beaty),  both 
dead  now  after  lives  of  honorable  activity,  cut  off  in 
their  prime. 

Lawrence  Martin  Vance  was  the  youngest  of 
nine  children  of  Capt.  Samuel  Colville  Vance,  who 
for  many  years  held  the  responsible  position  of  pay- 
master of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  with  head- 
quarters at  Fort  Washington,  now  Cincinnati.  He 
subsequently  removed  to  a  locality  on  the  Ohio 
River  which  he  named  Lawrenceburg,  after  his 
wife's  maiden  name.  His  wife,  Mary  Morris  Law- 
rence, mother  of  Lawrence  M.  Vance,  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair. 

L.  M.  Vance  was  born  at  Cincinnati,  July  1(5,  1816. 
His  youth  until  eighteen  years  of  age  was  spent  at 
Lawrenceburg.  He  was  a  companion  in  boyhood  ol' 
Governor  A.  G.  Porter,  who  speaks  of  him  as  a 
bright,  venturesome  lad,  with  sanguine  temperament 
and  open,  manly  nature.  Those  traits  certainly 
characterized  his  later  life.  His  opportunities  for 
early  education  were  ample,  but,  freed  from  restraint 
by  the  death  of  his  parents  in  early  childhood,  he 
followed  his  inclination  to  engage  in  active  business 
pursuits  and  never  completed  a  collegiate  course. 
He    removed    in     early    manhood     to    Indianapolis. 


There  he  engaged  in  general  merchandise  in  partner- 
ship with  the  late  Hervey  Bates,  whose  eldest  daugh- 
ter, Mary  J.  Bates,  he  married  in  1838. 

With  the  first  internal  improvements  in  Indiana 
he  became  interested  in  railroads  and  railroad  build- 
ing. He  was  an  oflBcer  of  the  first  railroad  to  enter 
Indianapolis,  and  a  large  contractor  and  builder  of 
one  of  those  subsequently  constructed.  These  en- 
terprises occupied  the  remainder  of  his  active  busi- 
ness life.  He  possessed  a  very  large  share  of 
musical  talent  and  no  little  culture,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  first  choir  in  the  city,  that  in  Mr. 
Beech er's  church. 

From  the  first  agitation  of  the  "  irrepressible  con- 
flict" he  was  an  ardent  Republican,  and  a  most  zeal- 
ous supporter  of  the  principles  subsequently  estab- 
lished by  that  party.  He  sent  three  sons  to  the  war 
in  defense  of  the  Union,  and  himself  was  active  and 
earnest  in  the  cause,  being  intrusted  with  many  im- 
portant commissions  by  the  War  Governor.  His 
death,  from  pleurisy,  occurred  in  March,  1863.  His 
name  is  perpetuated  in  one  of  the  largest  business 
blocks  in  the  city,  erected  by  Mrs.  Vance  since  his 
death. 

Mr.  Vance  possessed  a  large,  whole-souled,  emo- 
tional nature,  and  Christian  faith  and  work  was  a 
pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty  with  him.  The  charac- 
teristics of  his  nature  were  those  that  came  under 
obedience  to  the  higher  law  of  morals  with  natural 
ease  and  grace. 

Socially,  his  wit  and  humor  made  him  a  most 
agreeable  companion  ;  his  intelligence  and  good  sense 
made  him  an  instructive  one.  Warm-hearted,  kind, 
afiectionate,  a  stranger  to  malice,  he  was  the  life  of 
every  circle  in  which  he  moved.  He  was  a  true 
friend,  an  affectionate  father,  a  faithful  husband,  an 
upright  and  honest  man. 

David  Sandford  Beaty. — John  R.  Beaty,  the 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  Dec. 
8,  1782,  and  married  Elizabeth  Sandford,  born  May 
4,  1791.  The  birth  of  their  son,  David  Sandford, 
occurred  Dec.  31,  1814,  in  Brookville,  Ind., 
where  the  years  of  his  childhood  were  spent.  After 
obtaining  the  rudiments  of  an  education,  he  became 
a  pupil  at  the  State  University,  located  in  Blooming- 


154 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


ton,  Ind.  He  then  determined  upon  a  business 
career,  and  choosing  Indianapolis  as  a  promising 
field  for  professional  and  business  undertakings,  he 
became  an  employe  of  Hervey  Bates,  Esq.,  and  re- 
mained with  that  gentleman  until  his  later  con- 
nection with  L.  M.  Vance  in  the  establishment  of 
a  general  dry-goods  business.  He  was  one  of  the 
chief  promoters  of  the  scheme  for  lighting  the  city 
with  gas,  assisted  in  the  organization  of  the  gas  com- 
pany, and  was  for  many  years  its  efficient  secretary. 
Mr.  Beaty  then  established  a  general  business  agency 
for  the  collection  of  debts,  the  settlement  of  decedents' 
estates,  and  the  exercise  of  guardianship. 

These  duties  absorbed  his  time  and  attention  and 
called  him  much  into  the  Probate  Court,  in  which 
he  had  extensive  business  connections.  His  ability 
and  undoubted  integrity  soon  threw  upon  him  a 
large  responsibility,  and.  in  the  special  department 
which  he  controlled,  so  increased  his  labors  as  to 
make  serious  inroads  upon  his  health,  which  was 
at  no  time  robust.  The  trusts  confided  to  him 
were  often  of  the  most  important  and  delicate  nature, 
requiring  the  greatest  fidelity  and  keen  business  per- 
ception. The  records  of  the  county  indicate  how 
faithfully  they  were  di.scharged,  and  many  widows 
and  orphans  recall  with  gratitude  the  scrupulous 
manner  in  which  their  interests  were  guarded.  Mr. 
Beaty  also  for  a  while  engaged  in  farming  pursuits, 
but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  other  matters  of  greater 
import.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  introduce  and 
encourage  the  system  of  public  schools,  and  an  early 
member  of  the  School  Board  of  Indianapolis.  He 
was  in  politics  first  a  Whig  and  later  a  firm  adherent 
of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party.  In  poli- 
tics, as  in  other  matters,  he  was  a  man  of  profound 
convictions,  which  led  him  to  be  regarded  as  a  strong 
partisan.  He  was  in  religion  a  supporter  and  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Church.  Mr.  Beaty  was  mar- 
ried, on  the  25th  of  October,  1842,  to  Miss  Nancy 
Singleton,  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Sanders,  of  Indian- 
apolis, and  had  eight  children,  of  whom  four  survive. 
Mr.  Beaty's  death  occurred  Jan.  17,  1875,  in  his 
sixtieth  year.  He  was  regarded  as  "  an  honorable, 
upright  man,  whose  life  was  pure  and  whose  repu- 
tation was  as  bright  as  burnished  silver." 


As  before  intimated,  the  early  (Stores  of  the  city 
mixed  up  groceries  and  dry-goods  always,  and  it 
was  thirty  years  or  more  before  the  separation  was 
made  complete  and  a  customer  had  no  reason  to 
expect  to  find  salt  and  silk,  coffee  and  calico  in  the 
same  house.  When  the  separation  was  made,  and 
hardware  and  groceries  were  kept  to  themselves, 
among  the  first  In  the  enterprise  of  maintaining  an 
unmixed  grocery  stock  was  John  W.  Holland,  and  in 
the  similar  maintenance  of  hardware  was  Abram  Bird. 

John  W.  Holland  is  the  son  of  John  Holland, 
who  was  of  Southern  birth,  and  resided  successively 


in  Maryland,  Virginia,  Ohio,  and  Indiana.  Re- 
moving to  the  latter  State  in  1816,  he  settled  in 
Franklin  County,  and  engaged  in  the  trade  of  a 
grocer.  In  1825,  Johnson  County,  Ind.,  became  his 
residence,  from  whence  he  removed  to  Bartholomew 
County,  and  in  1827  he  became  a  citizen  of  Indian- 
apolis, where  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1865, 
in  his  eighty-eighth  year.  He  was  married  to  Sarah 
Crisfield,  and  had  children, — George  B.,  Nancy  H., 
John  W.,  David  S.,  Samuel  J.,  Rebecca  E.,  and  two 


D.   S.   BEATY. 


^^^^a^^     /<ilcw(^ 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


155 


who  died  in   infancy.     Jolin   W.,  their  second  sod, 
was  horn  in  Wellsburg,  Brook  Co.,  W.  Va.,  Oct.  23, 
1810,  and  early  removed  with  his  parents  to  Franklin  I 
County,  Ind.,  where,  after  receiving  a  plain  education, 
he  served  an  apprenticeship  in  the  printing  business 
with  Rev.  Augustus  D.  Jocelyn,  at  Brookville,  in  the  j 
above  county.     In  1829   he  removed  to  Lawrence-  j 
burg,  and  pursued  his  trade  until  the  following  year, 
when  Indianapolis  became  bis  home.      Here  he  en- 
gaged as  clerk  in  the  store  of  A.  W.  Russell  &  Co., 
at  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per  year  and  his 
board,  and  was  thus  employed  until  183G,  when  he  , 
became  a  partner,  and  continued   a  member  of  the  i 
firm  until  1839,  when  the  business  was  closed.     In  i 
1842  he  entered  the  establishment  of  William  Sheets  ; 
&  Co.  as  clerk,  and  in   1847  began  the  commission 
grain    business   under  the  firm-name    of  Blythe  & 
Holland.      Connected   with    it   was    the   jobbing    of 
groceries,  which  was  continued  until  1850,  when  the 
firm  removed  their  stock  to  the  corner  of  Washing- 
ton and  Pennsylvania  Streets,  and  conducted  an  ex- 
clusively grocery  jobbing  business.      This  was  con- 
ducted under  various  firm-names  until  18*77,  when 
the  disasters  of  the  panic,  together  with  enfeebled 
health,  occasioned   Mr.   Holland's   retirement.      He, 
however,  still  maintained  his  character  for  integrity 
and  honor  by  liquidating  all  his  indebtedness.      It 
was   proverbial  that  in  all  his  business   transactions 

"  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond."     Mr.  Holland  I 

.       1 
is    in    politics   a   Republican,   though    not   an   active 

worker  in  the  political  ranks.  He  is  in  his  religious 
affiliations  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  having  for  fifty-two  years  identified  his  name 
with  the  Old  Wesley  Chapel,  in  Indianapolis,  and 
continued  his  relations  with  that  church  until  his 
later  connection  with  the  Roberts  Park  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  has  at  various  times  filled  I 
the  positions  of  class-leader,  exhorter,  local  deacon, 
and  local  elder.  Mr.  Holland  was.  in  1834,  married 
to  Miss  Nancy  A.,  daughter  of  William  Farquar,  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  to  whom  were  born  seven  children, 
the  survivors  being  Charles  Edward,  Theodore  F., 
Francis  R.,  John  H.,  and  Edmonia  M.  Mrs.  Hol- 
land died  in  1848,  and  he  was  a  second  time  mar- 
ried, in   1849,   to   Eliza  J.   Beckwith,   daughter  of' 


Joseph  Roll,  of  Marion  County,  whose  children  are 
Pamelia  H.,  Benjamin  B.,  and  Willie  G. 

Abr.\m  Bird. — Henry  Bird,  the  father  of  Abram, 
was  a  native  of  Virginia.  His  wife  still  survives,  in 
the  eighty-eighth  year  of  her  age.  Their  son  Abram 
was  born  Nov.  8,  1817,  on  a  farm  near  Shelbyville, 
Ky.,  from  whence,  after  some  years  devoted  to  farm 
labor,  interspersed  with  limited  educational  advan- 
tages, he  removed  to  Indianapolis,  at  that  early 
period  but  a  small  village.  His  first  business  expe- 
rience was  as  a  clerk  in  a  hardware-store,  where  by 
industry  and  economy  he.  after  several  years  of  ser- 
vice, accumulated  sufficient  means  to  establish  himself 
in  the  same  business  near  the  northeast  corner  of 
Washington  and  Illinois  Streets.  At  this  time 
Washington  (then  called  Main)  Street  was  not 
adorned  with  shade-trees,  Mr.  Bird  having  been  the 
pioneer  in  the  planting  of  trees  in  this  locality. 
This  disinterested  act  called  forth  the  warmest  com- 
mendation from  the  editor  of  the  Sentinel,  who  pre- 
sented him,  as  a  tribute  of  regard,  a  year's  subscrip- 
tion to  the  paper.  Mr.  Bird  developed  early  in  life 
unusual  business  capacity,  which  with  assiduous  de- 
votion to  his  various  enterprises  secured  a  compe- 
tence, with  which  he  retired  about  the  beginning  of 
the  late  war.  Though  not  directly  associated  with 
any  religious  organization,  he  manifested  a  keen  in- 
terest in  church  enterprises,  and  frequently  contributed 
toward  the  erection  of  churches  and  the  furtherance 
of  religious  causes.  In  politics  he  was  an  ardent 
Whig  until  the  dissolution  of  that  party,  when  he 
espoused  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  of 
which  he  was  in  later  years  a  zealous  defender.  He 
was  in  November,  1843,  married  to  Miss  Ann  Maria, 
daughter  of  George  Norwood,  of  Indianapolis,  to 
which  union  two  children  were  born,  William  F.  and 
Georgia  (Mrs.  Goldsberry).  The  death  of  Mr.  Bird 
occurred  Oct.  20,  1881,  at  his  home  in  Indianapolis, 
at  the  age  of  sixty- four  years. 

Although  all  inward  transportation  was  so  largely 
done  by  wagons,  and  wholly  by  them  after  the  first 
decade  of  the  settlement,  a  considerable  amount  was 
done  by  keel-boats  up  to  that  time,  while  all  exporta- 
tion of  any  consequence  was  done  by  flat-boats,  as 
related  in    the   earlier   part  of  this  work.      Of  the 


156 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


extent  and  character  of  the  commerce  of  that  day 
some  notion  may  be  obtained  from  a  report  in  the 
Journal  oi  1827.  The  total  "imports"  of  the  year 
amounted  to  about  ten  thousand  dollars,  embracing 
chiefly  seventy-six  kegs  of  tobacco,  two  liundred  bar- 
rels of  flour,  one  hundred  kegs  of  powder,  four  thou- 
sand five  hundred  pounds  of  spun  yarn,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  barrels  of  whiskey,  besides  seventy- 
one  barrels  made  here.  Except  this  statement  we 
have  little  account  of  the  early  commerce  of  the  city, 
and  no  means  of  making  comparisons  or  estimating 
advances  from  one  period  to  another.  But  in  one 
of  the  earliest  copies  of  a  daily  paper  published  in 
Indianapolis,  dated  Jan.  16, 1843, — the  earliest  daily 
was  but  a  year  older, — there  is  an  interesting  indica- 
tion of  the  business  of  that  time  in  the  advertise- 
ments. Though  irrelevant  to  this  particular  topic,  it 
is  relevant  to  the  general  history  to  notice  here  the  fact 
that  legal  advertisements  were  published  in  this  paper 
for  Morgan,  Hendricks,  Boone,  and  Hancock  Counties, 
— a  fair  indication  that  forty  years  ago  neither  county 
had  a  paper  of  its  own.  The  first  business  adver- 
tisement is  that  of  our  pioneer  artist,  Jacob  Cox,  still 
easily  the  first  and  most  emment,  and  his  brother 
Charles,  that  they  are  selling  "  cooking  stoves,"  a 
comparatively  recent  innovation  then.  "  Brandreth's 
Pills"  are  advertised  largely  as  for  sale  at  the  book- 
store of  Charles  B.  Davis,  still  a  resident  here. 
Tomlinson  Brothers  advertise  "  Sand's  Remedy"  and 
"  Dr.  E.  Spohn's  Remedy  for  Sick-Headache."  One  of 
the  brothers  is  still  living  here.  Benjamin  Orr  adver- 
tises ready-made  clothing ;  he  was  the  first  to  open  a 
house  of  that  kind  here  in  1838.  E.  Hedderly,  a 
leading  grocer  then,  advertises  printing  ink.  Daniel 
Yandes,  one  of  the  leading  pioneers  in  all  enterprises, 
advertises  a  pocket-book,  with  "  ten  dollars  and  valu- 
able papers"  in  it,  lost  "  during  Mr.  Clay's  speech" 
the  preceding  October.  Judge  Blackford  advertises 
his  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court,  cheap  then,  in- 
valuable now.  John  Lister  advertises  a  new  '■  livery- 
stable  on  the  alley  north  of  the  Palmer  House" 
(Occidental).  The  late  William  W.  Weaver  adver- 
tises a  "  cabinet  wareroom."  Day,  Tyler  &  Co.  ad- 
vertise bookbinding.  Mr.  Tyler  is  now  a  farmer 
in  Perry  township.     Peck  &  Willard  (Mr.  Willard 


is  still  living)  advertise  a  stock  of  the  miscellaneous 
character  usual  at  that  period, — "  machine  cards, 
ladies'  shoes,  cambric  linen  handkerchiefs,  silk  shirts, 
ladies'  gloves,  hemp  and  manilla  cordage,  Chine  silks 
for  ladies'  dresses ;  want  two  thousand  pounds  of 
geese  feathers."  Craighead  &  Brandon,  predecessors 
of  Browning  &  Sloan,  take  a  whole  column  for  their 
patent  medicines.  E.  Hedderly  and  Justin  Smith 
take  another  column  for  their  groceries.  Mr.  Smith 
was  father-in-law  of  Mr.  John  H.  B.  Nowland,  tiie 
well-known  local  author.  Last  of  all,  E.  J.  Peck  and 
E.  Hedderly  advertise  to  farmers  that  they  have  made 
preparations  '•  to  manufacture  lard  from  oil,  and  are  i 
ready  to  receive  lard  in  large  or  small  quantities ;" 
"  mast-fed  pork  will  be  taken  at  a  small  difi'erence  in 
price."  Mr.  Peck  was  master  bricklayer  on  the  old 
State- House,  subsequently  largely  interested  in  the 
gas  company  here  and  the  Vandalia  Railroad,  of 
which  he  was  superintendent  and  president. 

Edwin  J.  Peck  was  amon^  the  foremost  citizens 
of  Indianapolis,  and  actively  identified  with  its  com- 
mercial and  religious  interests.  His  birth  occurred 
near  New  Haven.,  Conn.,  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1806,  where  his  life  prior  to  his  advent  in  Indiana 
was  spent.  He  was  on  his  arrival  in  Indianapolis 
employed  in  superintending  the  mason-work  of  the 
new  State-House  then  being  erected,  and  intended 
during  the  fall  of  1836  to  return  to  his  native  State. 
He  was,  however,  so  greatly  impressed  with  the 
enterprise,  hospitality,  and  extended  opportunities 
offered  in  the  capital  city  that  he  decided  upon 
making  it  his  permanent  residence.  Very  speedily 
engaging  in  business,  he  contracted  for  and  built 
the  Branch  Bank  buildings  at  Madison,  Terre 
Haute,  Lafayette,  and  South  Bend.  He  was  a 
director  of  the  Madison  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  in  ■ 
its  most  prosperous  days,  and  prominent  in  the  pro- 
jection of  the  Indianapolis  and  Terre  Haute  Railroad 
(now  the  Vandalia  Line),  having  given  it  his  per- 
sonal supervision  during  its  construction  as  well  as 
the  survey.  He  was  elected  its  first  treasurer,  and 
afterward  became  its  president,  and  was  for  a  period 
of  twenty  years  associated  with  its  management. 
He  was  also  president  of  the  Union  Railway  Com- 
pany.    He   was   for   several   years   president  of  the 


I 


^y^jS, 


CMctv_-ivo^ 


CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


157 


Indianapolis  Gaslight  and  Coke  Company,  and  for 
a  long  time  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Insane  Asy- 
lum. In  connection  with  other  prominent  citizens 
he  laid  out  and  beautified  the  burial-place  near  the 
city  known  as  Greenlawn  Cemetery.  Mr.  Peek  pos- 
sessed a  large-hearted  generosity,  and  manifested 
this  trait  in  many  unostentatious  deed.':  of  kindness 
during  his  lifetime.  Especially  was  this  manifested 
in  the  substantial  aid  given  to  individuals  in  business 
enterprises  and  in  encouragement  to  manufacturing 
interests.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions,  of 
steadfast  purpose  where  a  principle  was  involved, 
and  with  courage  to  defend  the  right  and  combat 
the  wrong.  He  was  cautious  in  all  business  opera- 
tions,— a  trait  which  contributed  greatly  to  his  suc- 
cessful career.  In  his  religious  convictions  he  was 
a  Presbyterian,  and  a  liberal  contributor  toward  the 
erection  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indian- 
apolis, to  which  he  made  a  munificent  bequest  on 
his  death.  Wabash  College  was  also  the  recipient 
of  a  legacy  of  very  considerable  proportions,  as  was 
the  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum.  Mr.  Peck  was  in 
1840  married  to  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Thomp- 
son, who  still  survives.  His  death  occurred  Nov.  6, 
187(),  soon  after  his  seventieth  birthday,  leaving  the 
record  of  a  virtuous  life  that  rendered  him  greatly 
beloved. 

As  related  in  a  preceding  chapter,  several  attempts 
to  establish  an  Exchange,  or  Board  of  Trade,  or  some 
similar  organization  were  made  before  any  succeeded. 
The  late  William  Y.  Wiley,  the  first  real  estate  agent 
in  the  days  when  it  meant  something,  tried  to  estab- 
lish an  Auction  and  Stock  Exchange  in  October, 
1853,  but  it  died  in  a  few  weeks,  and  repeated  attempts 
and  failures  preceded  the  present  firmly-established 
Board  of  Trade.  The  present  condition  of  the  city's 
commerce  is  presented  in  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
cars  arriving  and  leaving  here  is  about  twenty  thou- 
sand a  week,  or  one  million  a  year,  of  which  two- 
thirds  are  loaded,  or  at  least  six  hundred  thousand, 
each  carrying  an  average  of  fifteen  tons.  This  gives 
a  total  tonnage  in  the  year  of  nine  million,  equal  to 
the  freight  of  nine  thousand  ships  carrying  one  thou- 
sand tons  each,  or  about  twenty-five  every  day  of  the 
year.     Much  of  this,  of  course,  merely  passes  through 


the  city,  but  what  belongs  and  remains  here  appears 
from  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  which  says  that  the  importations  through 
the  Custom-House  for  the  year  1882 — the  last  of 
which  any  report  is  ready  at  this  time — amounted  to 
§213,119,  paying  duties  to  the  amount  of  $81,513. 
The  clearances  of  the  Clearing-House  amounted  to 
$101,577,523.  In  the  wholesale  trade  we  have  the 
following  summary : 

Dry-goods $6,000,000 

liroceries 6,300,000 

Hardware  and  iron 2,350,000 

Drugs,  paints,  oils,  etc 2,000,000 

Boots  and  shoes 1,575,000 

Queensware 700,000 

Hats  and  caps 385,000 

Toys  and  fancy  goods 525,000 

Confectionery 540,000 

Coffee  and  spices 140.000 

Clothing 420,000 

Millinery 725,000 

Saddlery  and  carriage  goods 575,000 

Leather,  findings,  and  belting 610,000 

Produce  and  commission 1,075,000 

Agricultural  machinery 1,500,000 

.$2.1.420,00(1 

This  was  an  increase  of  seventeen  per  cent,  over 
the  year  before.  Among  the  most  prominent  and 
successful  of  the  wholesale  dealers  of  the  city  may 
be  named  Mr.  C.  B.  Pattison  and  Mr.  William 
Johnson. 

Coleman  B.  Pattison. — The  Pattisons  are  of 
Irish  lineage.  Edward  Pattison,  the  grandfather  of 
Coleman  B.,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  later  re- 
moved to  Indiana.  He  married  Hester  Day  and  had 
children,  twelve  in  number,  of  whom  Isaac,  John, 
James,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Joseph  D.,  and  Nel- 
son survived.  Joseph  D.  was  born  Sept.  10,  1809, 
in  Kentucky,  and  moved  in  his  early  youth  to  Indi- 
ana, where  he  pursued  the  vocation  of  a  farmer  and 
speculator.  Indianapolis  subsequently  became  his 
residence,  from  which  he  repaired  to  Franklin  town- 
ship, his  present  home.  He  married  Miss  Lucinda 
Mawzy,  of  Bourbon  County,  Ky.,  and  had  daughters, 
Sarah  and  Elizabeth,  and  sons,  Coleman  B.  and 
Joseph.  Coleman  B.  was  born  near  Ru.?hville,  in 
Rush  County,  Ind.,  April  9,  1845,  on  the  form  of  his 
father.  In  early  life  he  was  sent  to  Farmers'  Col- 
lege, near  Cincinnati,  Ohio  (of  which  he  was  a  trus- 


158 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


tee),  where  he  graduated  in  his  seventeenth  year, 
taking  high  rank  in  his  class.  He  then  came  to  In- 
dianapolis, and  became  a  clerk  in  the  dry-goods  and 
notion  jobbing  house  of  Crossland  &  Co.,  then  doing 
business  near  Masonic  Hall.  He  remained  with  this 
house  until  18G4,  one  year,  when  it  changed  hands, 
and  the  firm  of  Webb,  Tarkington  &  Co.  came  into 
possession.  He  continued  with  the  new  firm  for  one 
year,  when  another  change  took  place,  and  he  came 
into  the  house  as  a  one-third  partner,  the  firm-name 
then  being  changed  to  Landers,  Tarkington  &  Patti- 
son.  In  1867  this  firm  was  succeeded  by  Hibben. 
Tarkington  &  Co.,  Mr.  Pattison  continuing  with  the 
house.  This  firm  was  succeeded  by  Messrs.  Hibben, 
Kennedy  &  Co.  in  1870.  In  1875  the  hou.se  again 
changed  hands,  Mr.  Pattison  taking  an  active  part- 
nership, and  the  firm-name  being  changed  to  Hibben, 
Pattison  &  Co.  He  continued  in  this  position  until 
July,  1880,  when  his  interest  was  sold  to  Mr.  J.  W. 
Murphy.  Such,  in  brief,  is  a  history  of  Mr.  Patti- 
son's  business  career. 

About  the  year  1877,  Mr.  Pattison's  health  began 
to  fail.  He  was  sensible  from  the  first  of  the  nature 
of  the  disease  that  had  marked  him  as  its  victim,  and 
hoping  for  benefit  from  change  of  climate,  in  the  fall 
of  1877  went  to  Florida,  where  he  remained  all 
winter.  He  returned  and  spent  the  summer  of  187S 
looking  after  his  business  interests,  and  the  followini: 
autumn  went  to  Europe,  remaining  there  until  the 
spring  of  1879,  when  he  again  returned.  His  foreign 
visit,  like  the  others,  had  been  of  but  little  avail,  but 
he  determined  to  exhaust  every  expedient,  and  after 
remaining  at  home  through  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  that  year,  he  departed  for  California,  and  prolonged 
his  stay  until  the  20th  of  May.  Finding  that  despiiu 
all  he  could  do  bis  health  was  fast  failing,  he  returned 
to  await  the  inevitable  result  of  his  malady.  Up  to 
the  very  hour  of  his  death  he  seemed  to  possess  all 
those  bright,  quick,  keen  qualities  that  had  been  so 
characteristic  of  him  through  his  more  active  life. 
Of  him  it  has  often  been  remarked  that  be  was  one 
of  the  best  business  men  in  Indianapolis.  He  had  a 
lar^e  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  both  in  and 
out  of  business,  and  by  his  genial  temper  and  attractive 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  formed  many  attachments. 


Mr.  Pattison  early  in  life  exhibited  quite  a  taste  for 
literary  pursuits,  and  had  he  turned  his  attention  in 
that  direction  would  undoubtedly  have  distinguished 
himself.  He  wielded  a  graceful  and  facile  pen,  and 
has  contributed  numerous  articles  to  the  local  press. 

Mr.  Pattison  was  married  on  the  6th  of  June, 
1867,  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Hamilton.  Their  children 
are  Joseph  H.,  P]mma  A.,  Samuel  L.,  Day  Coleman, 
and  George  C.  The  death  of  Coleman  B.  Pattison 
occurred  on  the  27th  day  of  September,  1880. 

William  Johnson. — Walter  Johnson,  the  grand- 
father of  William,  was  of  German  descent,  and  re- 
sided in  Sullivan  County,  East  Tenn.,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming  employments.  He  married  and  had 
children, — John  F.,  Benjamin,  James,  Robert,  Absa- 


lom, Garrett,  William,  Looney,  Polly  (Mrs.  Snod- 
grass),  and  Betsy  (Mrs.  Snodgrass).  Their  son  John 
F.  was  born  in  Sullivan  County,  Tenn.,  where  he 
continued  the  pursuits  of  his  father.  On  the  19th 
of  January,  1806,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nancy 
Curtin,  of  the  same  county,  daughter  of  John  and 
Margaret  Snodgrass  Curtin,  who  were  both  of  Irish 
extraction.     The  children  of  Mr.  and   Mrs.  Johnson 


CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


159 


were  Susannah,  born  in  1807,  who  became  Mrs. 
Moser;  Margaret,  born  in  1809,  who  was  Mrs.  Jones; 
Walter,  whose  birth  occurred  in  1810;  William; 
Eleanor  C,  born  in  1814,  who  became  Mrs.  Parr; 
Poll;  Ann,  born  in  1817,  who  was  Mrs.  Johnson; 
Robert,  whose  birth  occurred  in  1819  ;  John  C,  born 
in  1824 ;  Elizabeth  Jane,  born  in  1826,  who  was 
Mrs.  Goodrich;  and  Benjamin  F.,  born  in  1828. 
Mrs.  Johnson  died  on  the  13th  of  August,  1854,  in 
Indianapolis,  and  Mr.  Johnson  November  5th,  of  the 
same  year,  in  Benton  County,  Ind.  The  latter  on 
his  marriage  removed  to  Hawkins  County,  Tenn.,  and 
remained  twenty-six  years,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Sullivan  County,  and  in  1834  made  Boone  County, 
Ind.,  his  home,  where  he  continued  farming  employ- 
ments until  his  later  residence  in  Indianapolis.  His 
son  William,  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch, 
was  born  in  Hawkins  County,  East  Tenn.,  on  the  29th 
of  September,  1812.  He  enjoyed  but  limited  ad- 
vantages of  education,  and  early  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  farm  labor,  which  engaged  his  attention  during  the 
remainder  of  his  active  life.  He  was  on  the  28th  of 
November,  1833,  married  to  Sarah  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Lawrence  and  Mary  Snapp,  of  the  same  State, 
who  died  Aug.  6,  1882,  in  her  sixty-eighth  year. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Johnson  removed  to  Virginia, 
and  there  cultivated  a  farm.  In  1857  he  made  In- 
dianapolis his  home,  and  combined  farming  with 
general  trading.  He  is  still  the  owner  of  several 
farms  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and  also  a  large 
holder  of  real  estate  in  Indianapolis.  A  number  of 
years  ago  Mr.  Johnson  retired  from  active  business, 
though  still  maintaining  a  personal  supervision  over 
his  varied  interests.  He  is  in  politics  a  Democrat, 
and  filled  while  a  resident  of  Virginia  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace,  since  which  time  he  has  held  no 
office.  He  is  not  identified  with  any  religious  denom- 
ination, but  a  willing  contributor  to  all  worthy  causes. 

In  the  wholesale  hardware  trade,  Mr.  S.  B.  Carey 
and  the  house  with  which  he  is  connected  hold  a 
place  among  the  foremost  in  the  city. 

Simeon  B.  Carey. — John  Gary,  the  ancestor  of 
the  family  in  America,  came  from  Somersetshire, 
England,  about  the  year  1634  and  joined  the  Plym- 
outh Colony.     His  name  is  found  among  the  origi- 


nal proprietors  and  settlers  in  Duxbury  and  Bridge- 
water,  the  land  he  owned  having  been  a  part  of  the 
grant  made  by  the  Pockonocket  Indians  in  1639. 
Some  of  his  descendants  of  the  eighth  generation 
still  occupy  a  portion  of  the  original  tract.  John 
Gary  was  the  constable  of  Bridgewater  in  1650,  the 
year  of  its  incorporation,  and  also  the  first  town 
clerk.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Francis 
Godfrey,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Bridgewater,  in 
1644,  to  whom  were  born  eleven  children.  Of  tliis 
number  his  son  John,  whose  birth  occurred  in  1045, 
married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Samuel  Allen,  and  had 
eleven  children.  In  the  direct  line  of  descent  was 
born  in  1735,  in  Morris  County,  N.  J.,  Ezra  Gary, 
the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
married  Lyda  Thompson,  and  removed  to  Western 
Pennsylvania  in  1777.  Their  children  were  Phoebe, 
Rufus,  Cephas,  Ephraim,  Absalom,  Elias,  and  George. 
Cephas,  of  this  number,  was  born  in  New  Jersey  on 
Dec.  25,  1776,  and  accompanied  his  father  to  West- 
ern Pennsylvania,  and  subsequently  to  Ohio  in  1790, 
stopping  for  a  time  on  the  Ohio  near  Wheeling,  Va. 
From  thence  he  repaired  to  a  farm  in  Shelby  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  resided  until  his  removal  in  1840  to 
Sidney,  in  the  same  county.  His  death  occurred  at 
the  latter  place,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four  years.  Mr. 
Gary  was  married  first  to  Jane  Williamson,  to  whom 
were  born  eight  children,  and  second  to  Rhoda  Je- 
rard,  who  was  the  mother  of  eight  children.  His 
son  by  the  second  marriage,  Simeon  B.,  was  born 
Dec.  20,  1822,  in  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  in  a  log 
house  upon  the  farm  of  his  father,  where  he  remained 
until  eighteen  years  of  age,  this  period  being  occu- 
pied in  labor  upon  the  farm  or  in  gaining  such  ad- 
vantages of  education  as  could  be  obtained  at  the 
neighboring  log  school-house.  His  father  then  re- 
moved to  Sidney,  the  county-seat,  where  the  superior 
advantages  of  a  grammar  school  were  afforded.  He 
soon  after  entered  a  store  as  clerk  and  acted  in  that 
capacity  until  1844,  when  a  copartnership  was 
formed  with  his  brother,  under  the  firm-name  of  B. 
W.  &  S.  B.  Carey.  He  represented  the  firm  in  the 
purchase  of  goods  in  New  York,  being  the  youngest 
merchant  from  that  locality  among  the  many  buyers 
of  that  period.     As  an  illustration  of  the  difficulties 


160 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


of  travel,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  his  route  was  by 
stage  from  Sidney  to  Cincinnati,  and  by  steamer 
from  thence  to  Brownsville,  where  he  traveled  again 
by  stage  over  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  thus  by 
railroad  to  New  York.  During  the  time  of  this 
partnership  he,  with  his  brothers  Thomas  and  Jason, 
made  the  overland  journey  with  pack-mules  and 
horses  to  California,  tarrying  at  Salt  Lake  City,  and 
reaching  Sacramento  three  months  from  the  date  of 
departure.  They  soon  after  removed  to  the  moun- 
tains and  engaged  in  traffic  between  Sacramento  and 
the  mines.  In  the  spring  of  1851,  after  an  absence 
of  twelve  months,  the  illness  of  Thomas  Carey  occa- 
sioned their  somewhat  precipitate  return,  via  Isthmus 
of  Panama  and  New  Orleans.  The  death  of  his 
partner,  Benjamin  W.,  occurred  in  1851,  when  Sim- 
eon B.  closed  the  business,  and  two  years  later  re- 
moved to  New  York,  where  a  more  extended  field  was 
opened  to  him.  Mr.  Carey  first  became  a  clerk  in  the 
hardware  establishment  of  Messrs.  Cornells  &  Willis, 
36  Cortland  Street,  where,  after  an  acceptable  ser- 
vice of  two  years  in  that  capacity,  he  in  1855  was 
made  a  partner,  the  firm  becoming  Cornells,  Willis  & 
Carey.  In  1869,  owing  to  various  changes  which 
had  meanwhile  occurred  in  the  wholesale  and  jobbing 
trade,  the  firm  was  dissolved,  when  he  removed  to 
Indianapolis  and  again  embarked  in  the  wholesale 
and  jobbing  hardware  business,  under  the  firm-name 
of  Layman,  Carey  &  Co.  This  from  a  small  busi- 
ness has  become  the  most  extensive  and  leading 
wholesale  hardware  establishment  in  the  State,  occu- 
pying a  spacious  building  at  67  and  69  South  Merid- 
ian Street,  equipped  with  two  hydraulic  elevators. 
Their  trade  is  not  confined  to  the  limits  of  Indiana, 
but  extends  into  Ohio  and  Illinois. 

Mr.  Carey  is  in  politics  a  Republican,  but  not  an 
active  political  partisan.  He  is  in  religion  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indian- 
apolis. He  was  married  Nov.  2,  185-1,  to  Miss 
Lydia,  daughter  of  Eldad  and  Olive  King,  of  West- 
field,  Mass.  Their  children  are  Ida  Fannie,  born  in 
New  York,  May  3,  1857,  who  died  May  25.  1857  ; 
Nellie,  whose  birth  occurred  in  New  York,  July  14, 
1859,  and  her  death  Oct.  26,  1859;  Jennie  King, 
born  Oct.  15,  1860,  in  New  York  ;  and  Samuel  Cor- 


nell, born  in  Brooklyn,  Dec.  16,  1861,  now  associated 
with  his  father  in  business.  Jennie  King  was  mar- 
ried Oct.  26,  1881,  to  O.  S.  Brumback,  of  Toledo, 
Ohio,  who  was  born  Dec.  2,  1855,  in  Delaware 
County,  Ohio,  and  graduated  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  in 
1877,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.B.,  and  in  1880  that 
of  A.M.  from  the  same  college.  He  graduated  at 
the  Law  Department  of  Ann  Arbor  University,  Mich- 
igan, receiving  in  1879  the  degree  of  LL.B  ,  when 
he  located  in  Toledo  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

In  the  stove  and  hollow-ware  trade  the  house  of 
the  late  Robert  L.  McOuat  &  Co.  holds  a  first  rank, 
and  continues  unchanged  under  the  management  of 
his  brother. 

Robert  L.  Mc0c.\t. — The  family  of  McOuats 
are  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Thomas  McOuat,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  having  in 
1830  removed  from  Lexington,  Ky.,  to  Indianapolis, 
lie  married  Miss  Janette  Lockerbie,  who  was  born 
in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  had  children, — William, 
Thomas,  George,  Annie,  Robert  L.,  Mary,  Andrew 
W.,  Martha,  and  Jennie.  Their  son,  Robert  L., 
was  born  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  Aug.  8,  1827,  and  was 
but  three  years  of  age  when  Marion  County  became 
his  home.  He  was  educated  under  the  tutorship  of 
Thomas  Gregg,  William  Sullivan,  and  James  Kem- 
per, of  the  Marion  County  Seminary.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  abandoned  school  to  enter  an  ap- 
prenticeship at  the  tinner's  trade  with  Samuel  Wain- 
right.  Having  served  his  time  as  an  apprentice,  he 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  business  at  the  old  stand 
by  Mr.  Wainright,  who  opened  another  store.  In 
1850,  during  the  gold  excitement  in  California,  he 
with  a  friend  made  the  trip,  overland,  to  the  gold- 
mines, walking  all  the  way  from  Salt  Lake  City,  and 
carrying  his  provisions  and  baggage  on  his  back,  most 
of  the  time  camping  and  traveling.  Arriving  in  San 
Francisco,  he  immediately  secured  employment  at  his 
trade  with  one  of  the  largest  establishments,  but  find- 
ing the  climate  uncongenial  he  returned  to  Indian- 
apolis, and  opened  a  stove  and  tinware  store  with  a 
small  capital.  Soon  finding  the  room  too  small,  his 
brother  George  built  a  room  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  which  was  occupied  for  many  years  under 
the  firm-name  of  R.   L.  &  A.  W.  McOuat,  during 


-5'.^  %-4if.PaK'« 


I 


Xt.^^i'^r-^ 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


161 


which  time  he  was  successful  and  acquired  a  little 
fortune.  During  the  year  1880  he  sold  his  interest  in 
the  business  to  his  brother  and  partner,  Andrew  W. 
McOuat,  to  engage  in  the  manufiicture  of  car-wheels, 
forming  a  partnership  with  John  May,  under  the 
firm-name  of  McOuat  &  May,  and  for  a  period  of 
two  years  met  with  success.  Having  sold  large  bills 
to  a  manufacturing  company  outside  the  State  who 
were  unfortunate  in  their  business  operations,  the 
firm  was  compelled  to  suspend.  Mr.  McOuat  subse- 
quently secured  or  paid  all  claims,  and  also  protected 
parties  who  were  joint  indorsers  on  paper  with  him. 

In  1882  he  received  the  nomination  for  clerk  of 
the  court  of  Marion  County  at  the  hands  of  the 
Democratic  party,  whose  principles  he  supported,  and 
although  the  county  was  largely  Republican,  lacked 
but  a  few  votes  of  an  election. 

He  married  in  1850,  Ellen  C.  Wallace,  whose 
death  occurred  in  1863.  He  was  a  second  time 
married  on  the  1st  of  August,  1865,  to  Eugenia  F., 
daughter  of  Miles  W.  Burford,  of  Missouri.  Their 
children  are  Effie  B.,  Robert,  and  Burford.  Mr. 
McOuat  was  an  active  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd-Fellows.  In  religion  he  was  an  Epis- 
copalian, and  formerly  senior  warden  and  later  a 
vestryman  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Indianapolis,  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  originators,  having  first  sug- 
gested the  organization  and  personally  presented  the 
first  subscription-paper  to  raise  necessary  funds  for 
the  salary  of  the  rector  of  the  parish  that  afterwards 
built  the  cathedral,  in  which  he  continued  an  earnest 
worker  and  liberal  supporter.  He  was  a  man  of 
large  and  liberal  views  and  indomitable  energy,  a 
close  applicant  to  business,  but  always  taking  pleasure 
in  fishing  and  hunting,  of  which  he  was  very  fond. 
He  was  strongly  attached  to  his  family  and  home, 
where  his  evenings  were  invariably  passed.  In  all 
his  relations,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  he  was  the 
Christian  gentleman.  Mr.  McOuat's  death  occurred 
June  28,  1883,  in  his  fifty-sixth  year. 

Among  the  early  merchants  of  the  city  whose 
stocks  were  not  so  miscellaneous  as  those  of  the  dry- 
goods  or  general  merchant  were  the  dealers  in  clocks, 
watches,  and  jewelry, — a  trade  proportionally  more 
important  now  than  then, — and  among  the  earliest  of 
11 


these  was  Humphrey  Griffith,  and  the  most  extensive 
in  later  years  W.  H.  Talbott.  Both  have  been  dead 
some  years  now. 

Humphrey  Griffith. — The  parents  of  Mr. 
Griffith  were  Evan  and  Mary  Ellis  Griffith,  the 
former  having  been  a  member  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  the  latter  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Their  son  Humphrey  was  born  in 
Dolgelly,  Merionethshire,  Wales,  Dec.  23,  1791. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  eleven,  and  his  father 
when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  leaving  him  to 
carve  for  himself  by  his  own  unaided  efforts  a 
career  of  independence.  He  served  an  appren- 
ticeship of  seven  years  at  his  trade  of  watch- 
maker and  clockmaker  at  Shrewsbury,  England. 
He  then  worked  for  a  time  in  London,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1817  emigrated  to  America,  experi- 
encing some  difficulty  in  embarking,  owing  to  the 
prohibition  then  existing  against  skillful  workmen 
leaving  the  country.  Having  sailed  from  Dublin,  he 
landed  in  New  York,  and  was  employed  first  in  Hunt- 
ingdon, Pa.  In  Pittsburgh,  with  two  others,  he 
purchased  a  skiff,  with  which  he  came  down  the 
Ohio.  He  settled  in  Lebanon,  Ohio,  and  in  1821 
visited  Indianapolis,  where,  at  the  first  sale  of  town 
lots,  he  purchased  property  on  Washington  Street. 
In  1822  he  left  Lebanon  and  removed  to  Centreville, 
Ind.,  and  while  there  made  additional  purchases  of 
land  in  the  vicinity  of  Indianapolis,  to  which  place 
he  removed  in  1825,  having  ordered  a  shop  built 
and  ready  for  occupancy  on  his  arrival,  in  which  he 
established  himself  as  the  first  clock  and  watch- 
maker in  the  city.  The  clock  made  by  him  for  the 
old  State-House  fifty  years  ago  has,  it  is  said,  never 
since  run  down  or  needed  regulating.  In  the  summer 
of  1836  he  retired  from  business  with  a  competency, 
which  he  increased  by  judicious  investments.  He 
avoided  bold  speculations,  and  scrupulously  shunned 
contracting  a  debt.  He  felt  great  interest  in  the 
growth  of  the  city,  and  was  always  prominent  in 
every  scheme  of  substantial  improvement.  In  early 
days  he  was  an  active  member  of  the  Common  Council, 
and  also  served  for  a  term  or  more  as  city  treasurer. 
His  leading  characteristics  were  punctuality  in  all 
things,   great  or   little,  and    an    investigating  mind. 


162 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


He  was  a  great  reader  and  thinker,  and  developed 
more  than  ordinary  mechanical  ingenuity.  He  was 
modest  and  sensitive,  always  truthful  and  perfectly 
reliable.  He  married,  March  13,  1819,  Miss  Jane 
Stephenson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  had  nine  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  died  in  infoncy,  and  three,  John 
E.,  Josiah  R.,  and  Mary  Isabella,  in  mature  years. 
John  E.  and  Josiah  R.  each  left  families.  There 
are  twelve  grandchildren  and  six  great-grandchildren. 
The  two  surviving  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  GrifiBth 
are  Pleasant  H.  and  Mrs.  Anne  J.  Whitehead,  both 
living  in  Indianapolis.  The  eldest  son,  John  E., 
accompanied  David  Dale  Owen  in  his  geological  sur- 
veys in  Illinois,  Kentucky,  and  some  of  the  Terri- 
tories. He  and  his  brother  Josiah  were  exemplary 
citizens.  Mary  was  an  active  Christian,  and  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  in  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Third 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  she  was  a  member. 
Mr.  GrifiBth  twice  vLsitcd  the  country  of  his  nativity 
and  the  old  homestead  at  Dolgelly  in  which  his  birth 
occurred.  He  was  confirmed  in  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  his  fourteenth  year,  but  did  not  con- 
tinue his  membership,  though  always  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  all  worthy  religious  causes.  His  death 
occurred  June  2,  1870.  Mrs.  GriflBth's  childhood 
was  passed  near  the  home  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  whom 
she  distinctly  remembered,  and  of  whom  she  related 
many  interesting  reminiscences.  She  was  a  lady  of 
retiring  manners  and  disposition,  quiet  in  her  habits, 
but  firm  in  her  views  of  truth  and  duty.  An  active 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  she  was  warmly 
attached  to  its  doctrines  and  ordinances.  Her  death 
occurred  July  23,  1879,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year. 
Rev.  M.  S.  Whitehead,  son-in-law  of  Mr.  GrifiBth, 
was  born  in  1831,  and  died  in  1877.  He  was  in 
1868  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Congregational  Asso- 
ciation of  Indiana,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Mayflower  Church  of  Indianapolis,  which  pulpit  he 
filled  at  times  acceptably.  His  work  was  not  con- 
fined to  one  locality,  and  several  churches  of  dififerent 
denominations  were  established  out  of  Sunday-schools 
organized  and  fostered  by  him.  Mr.  Whitehead's 
influence  was  wide-spread,  and  the  desire  to  make 
the  ministry  the  work  of  his  life  was  completely 
realized. 


Washington  Houston  Talbott. — The  earliest 
members  of  the  Talbott  family  came  from  England 
and  settled  in  Talbot  County,  Md.  The  parents  of 
Washington  Houston  were  William  and  Mary  (Hous- 
ton) Talbott.  Their  son  was  born  in  the  State  of 
Kentucky  on  the  29th  of  March,  1817,  and  at  an 
early  age  removed  with  his  parents  to  Charlestown, 
Ind.,  where  his  father  owned  an  extensive  milling 
property.  After  enjoying  ordinary  advantages  of 
education,  he  in  1835  became  a  resident  of  Indian- 
apolis, and  established  a  jewelry  and  book  business. 
In  1848  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Coram  Tinker, 
daughter  of  Capt.  William  and  Elizabeth  Tinker,  of 
Cincinnati,  though  formerly  residents  of  Maysville, 
Ky.  Their  surviving  children  are  William  II.  and 
Mary  Cleves.  Mr.  Talbott  continued  the  bu.siness  of 
a  jeweler  for  many  years,  meanwhile  embarking  in 
other  commercial  ventures.  During  the  year  1863  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  State  Smking  Fund,  and 
subsequently  filled  the  same  oflBce  in  connection  with 
the  Indiana  and  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  He  was 
also  president  of  board  of  trustees  of  the  State  benevo- 
lent institutions.  Mr.  Talbott  was  closely  identified 
with  the  Democratic  politics  of  Indiana,  having  for 
several  years  filled  the  ofifice  of  chairman  of  the  State 
Democratic  Committee.  He  was  on  successive  occa- 
sions delegate  at  large  to  National  Conventions.  He 
was  president  of  the  Gatling  Gun  Company,  and 
while  directing  the  intere.sts  of  that  company  in 
Europe  contracted  a  severe  cold,  which  occasioned 
his  death  at  his  home  in  Indianapolis. 

The  first  extensive  drug  house  in  the  town,  and 
the  first  to  put  up  a  soda  fountain,  was  that  of  Mc- 
Dougal  &  Dunlap,  to  whom  succeeded  the  late 
William  Hannaman  and  his  partner,  Caleb  Scudder, 
the  pioneer  cabinet-maker,  in  whose  shop  the  first 
Sunday-school  was  held.  Both  were  largely  con- 
cerned in  the  establishment  of  some  of  our  early 
manufactures,  as  tobacco,  wool,  and  oil.  and  Mr. 
Hannaman  survived  to  an  advanced  age,  dying  within 
a  few  years  past. 

William  Hannaman.— The  Hannaman  family 
are  of  German  nationality,  Christopher,  the  grand- 
father of  William,  having  been  a  native  of  Piu.-sia. 
He  married  Mary  O'Neal,  whose  birthplace  was  Dub- 


^'/^^a^fi^^ 


fp-^. 


/f^^^i^Z'P'T-Z, 


^^f-^^>^v«'7-i^ — 


CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


163 


lin,  Ireland.  This  union  traDsmitted  to  their  descend- 
ants the  sturdy  qualities  of  both  the  German  and 
tlie  Irish  races.  William  Hannaman,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  and  married  Mary 
Fletcher,  of  Harrison  County,  Va.  Their  son  William 
was  boru  Aug.  10,  1806,  at  Adelphia,  Ross  Co.,  Ohio, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  removed  to  Indian- 
apolis, where,  having  previously  acquired  the  trade 
of  a  printer,  he  was  for  several  years  employed  in  the 
oflBce  of  the  Indiana  Journal.  In  1833  he  em- 
barked with  Caleb  Scudder  in  the  drug  business, 
which  was  continued  uninterruptedly  until  1863.  He 
also,  with  his  partner,  erected  a  cardingmachine  and 
oil-mill  on  the  arm  of  the  canal  at  its  junction  with 
the  White  River,  and  manufactured  the  first  flaxseed 
oil  in  the  locality.  Mr.  Hannaman  was  for  many  years 
school  commissioner,  a  director  of  the  State  Bank  of 
Indiana,  located  at  Indianapolis,  trustee  of  the  State 
University,  and  identified  with  many  benevolent  and 
charitable  enterprises.  He  was  made  president  of 
the  Indiana  Branch  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  dur- 
ing the  late  war,  and  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the 
drug  business  that  he  might  devote  his  time  and 
energies  exclusively  to  this  humane  work.  The  ad- 
mirable management  of  his  department  and  the  good 
it  accomplished  is  in  a  large  degree  due  to  the  gra- 
tuitous and  eSicient  service  of  Mr.  Hannaman,  who 
on  retiring  from  his  labors  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Morton  State  military 
agent  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  soldiers'  claims. 
In  1871  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Smith 
&  Hannaman,  brokers,  and  continued  this  business 
connection  until  his  death,  which  occurred  of  pneu- 
monia, at  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas,  on  the  6th 
of  December,  1880.  Mr.  Hannaman  was  married  on 
the  28th  of  August,  1833,  to  Rhoda  A.  Luse,  whose 
birth  occurred  Feb.  25,  1812,  and  her  death  Sep- 
tember, 1876.  In  the  summer  of  1879  he  was  again 
married  to  Mrs.  A.  P.  Berry,  who  is  still  living.  Of 
seven  children  but  two  survive  their  father,  Henry 
G.,  of  Indianapolis,  and  Mary  E.,  of  Dakota. 

Among  the  earlier  merchants  of  the  city  were  the 
late  John  F.  Ramsay,  in  furniture,  and  Jacob  S. 
Walker. 


John  F.  Ram.sat,  retired  merchant,  was  born  in 
Lebanon,  Ohio,  Dec.  2,  1805.  His  parents,  Wil- 
liam and  Martha  (Dinwiddle)  Ramsay,  were  of 
Scotch  descent,  and  born  in  Kentucky,  their  parents 
being  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  that  State.  Wil- 
liam with  his  family  came  to  Indiana  Territory  in 
1810,  landing  at  the  site  of  the  city  of  Madison, 
there  being  but  one  house  erected  at  this  early 
period,  which  was  occupied  by  the  ferryman.  They 
settled  near  the  site  of  the  village  of  Hanover,  about 
two  miles  from  the  block-house,  to  which  they 
were  compelled  to  resort  every  night  for  protection 
from  the  Indians.  In  1812,  the  latter  becoming 
very  troublesome,  John  was  sent  to  his  grandparents, 
near  Georgetown,  Ky.,  where  he  remained  a  year. 
His  boyhood  was  spent  in  helping  to  clear  the  forests 
and  in  farm  labors,  the  lad  being  subjected  to  all  the 
hardships  and  privations  of  pioneer  life.  Educational 
advantages  in  the  new  country  were  very  limited. 
He  attended  school  six  months  when  in  Kentucky 
and  a  few  terms  in  Indiana,  walking  a  distance  of 
three  miles  to  the  school-house.  At  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  and  was  appren- 
ticed to  Charles  Lehman,  at  that  time  the  leading 
furniture  manufacturer  in  the  West.  Serving  out 
his  apprenticeship,  he  worked  a  year  in  the  shop, 
after  which  he  repaired  to  Louisville,  and  from 
thence  to  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis,  pursuing  his 
vocation  for  a  time  in  each  place.  Returning  to 
Indiana,  he  carried  on  his  trade  near  Madison  and 
at  Paris,  Ind.,  and  removed  to  Indianapolis  May  15, 
1833.  Purchasing  the  property  adjoining  the 
ground  now  occupied  by  the  Occidental  Hotel 
(which  at  that  time  was  inclosed  with  a  rail  fence 
and  was  planted  with  corn),  he  erected  a  building, 
opened  a  cabinet-shop,  and  by  close  attention  to 
business  became  the  leading  furniture  dealer  in  the 
place.  W^ilh  the  advent  of  railroad  communication 
with  Cincinnati,  he  abandoned  manufacturing  and 
dealt  exclusively  in  furniture  made  at  the  latter 
place.  After  a  successful  career,  having  obtained  a 
handsome  competency,  he  retired  from  business  in 
1870.  He  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  wife, 
Elvira  (Ward)  Ramsay,  having  died  in  1846.  Five 
children  were   born   to  this  union,  all   of  whom  are 


164 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


now  deceased.  He  married  his  second  wife,  Leah 
P.  Malott,  widow  of  W.  H.  Malott,  of  Salem,  Ind., 
in  1848.  Five  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
four  of  whom  are  now  living. 

Mr.  Ramsay  was  an  ardent  Whig  during  the  ex- 
istence of  that  party.  Upon  its  dissolution  and 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  his  strong 
anti-slavery  seniiments  led  him  to  become  identified 
with  it.  He  has  never  held  any  political  office 
other  than  as  a  member  of  the  Common  Council, 
elected  by  the  Whigs.  He  has  always  taken  a  deep 
interest  in  matters  affi^cting  the  welfare  and  growth 
of  the  city,  and  in  building  and  otherwise  he 
has  done  much  toward  advancing  its  material  in- 
terests. He  has  been  a  faithful  and  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  during  his 
entire  fifty  years'  residence  in  the  city,  and,  with 
others  of  the  early  settlers,  has  aided  in  giving  an 
impulse  to  its  moral  and  religious  sentiment,  that  has 
caused  it  to  be  noted  as  "  the  City  of  Churches." 

Jacob  S.  Walker. — The  grandfather  of  Jacob 
S.  Walker  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  married  Miss  Mary  Hazelet,  and  had 
among  his  children  a  son  Thomas,  who  married  Mrs. 
Mary  Rutherford,  of  Dauphin  County,  Pa.,  and 
had  two  sons,  Jacob  S.  and  James,  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Susan  and  Eliza.  Jacob  S.  Walker  was  born 
in  January,  1814,  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  where  the 
early  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen,  after  enjoying  such  advantages  of  education 
as  the  common  schools  offered,  he  determined  to 
render  himself  independent  by  acquiring  a  trade, 
and  became  master  of  the  carpenter's  craft.  In  1835 
he  removed  to  Indianapolis  as  a  builder  and  contractor, 
and  during  a  period  of  ten  years  erected  many  impor- 
tant edifices  and  built  dwellings,  which  were,  afterward 
sold  by  him.  He  then  embarked  in  the  lumber 
business,  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  twenty 
years,  after  which  he  retired  from  active  employ- 
ments. Mr.  Walker  was  a  man  of  modest  demeanor 
and  of  humane  instincts,  who  cared  little  for  mere 
display  and  esteemed  highly  the  more  substantial 
pleasures  to  be  derived  from  books.  He  was  a  ju- 
dicious reader  of  the  best  literature,  and  possessed  a 
mind  well  informed  on  all  subjects.     He  conferred 


upon  his  children  opportunities  for  education,  and 
implanted  in  them  by  precept  and  example  the 
principles  which  guided  him  through  life.  In 
polities  he  was  a  Whig  and  later  became  an  ardent 


^^^a^e^crf^^  ^^/A&Z-A^: 


Republican,  but  never  sought  or  accepted  ofiice  at  the 
hands  of  his  party.  In  religion  he  was  a  stanch  Pres- 
byterian and  an  officer  of  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher's 
church  when  a  pastor  in  Indianapolis.  He  received 
the  contract  for  the  erection  of  this  edifice,  as  also 
for  the  First  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  city. 
He  was  at  an  early  period  a  deacon  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd- Fellows.  Mr.  Walker 
was  married  in  1837  to  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Landis,  of 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  to  whom  were  born  children, 
Thomas  R.  and  Mary  F.,  wife  of  George  Knodle,  a 
son  of  Adam  Knodle,  an  early  shoe  merchant  in  the 
city.  He  married  again  Mary  A.,  only  child  of 
Thomas  Lupton,  who  is  of  English  descent  and 
came  from  Chester  County,  Pa.,  to  Indianapolis  in 
1835.  The  children  of  this  marriage  are  Jacob  L., 
married    to    Miss    Keziah   Rutherford,    who   is   of 


.„^*ie^^*^ 


Eri^  'iyA.KFIJJ:<i"^ 


/^h-T^?^ 


^^ ^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


165 


Scotch-Irish  extraction  ;  Edwin  J. ;  Louis  A.,  who 
married  Miss  Eugenia,  daughter  of  Dr.  D'Acuel,  of 
St.  Louis;  Robert  P.,  and  Harry  L.  The  death 
of  Mr.  Walker  occurred  May  16,  1870,  in  his  fifty- 
seventh  year. 

Dealing  in  real  estate  may  be  fairly  enough  classed 
among  the  subjects  covered  by  the  title  of  commerce, 
and  in  real  estate  the  dealings  have  been  very  large. 
In  1873,  during  the  period  of  speculative  excitement, 
the  sales  amounted  to  $32,579,256.  Since  that  time 
no  record  has  been  kept  of  them  that  will  enable  a 
comparison  to  be  made.  In  a  year  or  two  later,  in  fact, 
the  reaction  came,  and  real  estate  was  hard  to  sell  and 
not  always  easy  to  give  away  if  it  had  no  special  ad- 
vantages. Of  the  amount  of  sales  in  the  past  year 
or  the  year  before  no  official  statement  is  made,  but 
the  reports  in  the  daily  papers  show  that  they  ranged 
from  five  thousand  dollars  to  thirty  thousand  dollars 
a  day,  or  an  annual  total  of  probably  five  million  dol- 
lars. Among  the  first  of  our  real  estate  dealers  was 
the  late  James  H.  McKernan. 

James  H.  McKernan  was  born  at  Wilmington, 
Del.,  in  December,  1815.  In  his  seventh  year  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  Muskingum  County,  Ohio, 
where  his  father  settled  on  a  small  farm  of  fifty 
acres,  subsequently  increased  to  seventy-five.  He 
was  able  only  to  enjoy  the  merest  rudiments  of  edu- 
cation. At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  left  by  the 
death  of  his  father  the  sole  support  of  the  family, 
with  no  means  other  than  the  farm.  But  he  was  a 
brave-hearted  boy  in  the  battle  of  life.  He  worked 
hard,  and  rented  land  to  eke  out  the  inadequate  yield 
of  his  own  land.  Among  his  neighbors  his  reputa- 
tion for  business  capacity,  promptness,  integrity,  and 
prudence  was  most  enviable.  On  attaining  his  ma- 
jority he  had  paid  all  his  father's  debts,  erected  a 
valuable  dwelling,  and  accumulated  money  in  addi- 
tion with  which  to  start  in  business.  Heroism  and 
self-dependence,  combined  with  grasp  of  mind  and 
energy,  were  inborn  elements  of  his  character.  In 
1836  he  began  trading  iu  produce,  and  in  1837  em- 
barked with  a  partner  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  La- 
fayette, Ohio.  In  1842  he  established  himself  in  the 
foundry  business  in  the  same  town,  and  in  1845 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  began  his  active 


career  with  Jesse  Jones  as  a  dealer  in  dry-goods. 
But  his  tastes  and  talents  inclined  strongly  to  inven- 
tions and  the  mechanic  arts.  Whatever  his  imme- 
diate occupation  mechanical  constructions,  improve- 
ments, and  suggestions  were  always  floating  in  his 
mind,  several  valuable  inventions  having  been  pat- 
ented. A  man  of  his  energy  quickly  sought  and 
created  the  widest  field  of  action.  He  speculated  in 
real  estate,  bought  whole  forests,  built  saw-mills  to 
cut  them,  and  erected  streets  of  cheap  but  serviceable 
houses,  extending  Indianapolis  on  the  southwest  far 
beyond  the  dreams  of  its  inhabitants.  In  the  prose- 
cution of  his  real  estate  and  other  enterprises,  how- 
ever, Mr.  McKernan  did  not  lose  sight  of  a  subject 
which  had  led  him  into  many  expensive  experiments, 
— the  reduction  of  iron  ore  by  means  of  ordinary 
Western  coal.  He  had  satisfied  himself  of  its  prac- 
ticability, and  detected  the  defects  in  the  operation 
of  those  who  had  attempted  it  and  failed.  So  certain 
was  the  result  in  his  mind  that  he  determined  to 
settle  the  question  finally  and  fully.  In  the  spring  of 
1867  he  obtained  the  abandoned  furnace  of  the  Pilot 
Knob  Company,  at  St.  Louis,  and  after  changing  its 
construction  made  experiments  which  were  completely 
successful,  first-class  iron  having  been  produced.  This 
was  a  great  success  for  Mr.  McKernan.  He  had 
fully  realized  his  hopes,  though  every  one  before  him, 
with  vastly  more  capital  and  better  opportunities,  but 
lacking  his  original  theories  and  combinations,  had 
failed.  He  had  shown  St.  Louis  a  new  source  of 
business  and  prosperity  of  immense  value.  He  found 
it  necessary,  however,  to  obtain  additional  means  or 
abandon  his  enterprise.  The  St.  Louis  Board  of 
Trade  and  several  large  capitalists  urged  him  to 
remain  and  prosecute  his  work.  Additional  means 
were  promised  him,  and  under  the  promise  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  prominent  citizens  the  work  of  the 
furnace  was  in  1867  resumed,  and  the  results,  after 
inconveniences  resulting  from  his  business  associa- 
tions, were  such  as  amazed  everybody,  and  made  iron- 
smelting  with  cheap  Western  coal  a  fixed  fact.  This 
success,  however,  did  not  in  a  pecuniary  sense  profit 
Mr.  McKernan.  He  sacrificed  all  his  prospective 
gains,  and  returned  home  no  richer  than  he  departed. 
St.  Louis  has  reaped  the  benefit  of  his  investigations, 


166 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


and  the  iron  industry  has  risen  to  be  one  of  tlie  prime 
elements  of  her  prosperity.  A  leading  journal  stated 
that,  "  in  view  of  all  the  facts,  it  becomes  St.  Louis 
to  decide  fairly  what  acknowledgment  she  owes  to 
him  who  has  achieved  the  great  result  in  making 
iron,  and  whom  she  by  failing  in  her  promise  forced 
to  sacrifice  all  his  interests  and  prospects  in  his  own 
discovery."  Mr.  McKernan  returned  to  Indianapolis, 
and  at  once  embarked  extensively  in  real  estate  oper- 
ations. While  liberal  and  indulgent  with  those  in- 
debted to  him,  he  was  particularly  prompt  in  the 
payment  of  all  demands  against  himself  His  daily 
life  was  marked  by  a  ceaseless  activity.  Bold  and 
confident  in  his  temperament,  he  inspired  others  with 
like  feelings.  The  praise  of  far-.seeing  men  of  sound 
judgment  was  ever  awarded  to  him,  and  the  success 
that  crowned  his  efforts  was  of  a  character  to  consti- 
tute a  public  as  well  as  a  personal  benefit.  In  all 
personal  relations  he  was  social,  frank,  and  courteous, 
and  at  his  home  hospitable  and  cheerful.  In  his 
religious  views  he  was  a  member  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Mr.  McKernan  was  married  to 
Miss  Susan  Hewitt,  whose  children  were  David  S., 
Lewis,  Joseph  V.,  William  E.,  and  Leo  A.  The 
death  of  James  H.  McKernan  occurred  in  January, 
1877,  at  his  home  in  Indianapolis. 

The  lumber  trade  of  Indianapolis  is  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  total,  the  retail  trade  of  1882 
amounting  to  81,500,000.  From  the  general  state- 
ment of  business  it  would  appear  that  the  total 
receipts  of  lumber  for  the  year  1882  were  124,000,- 
000  feet,  and  the  shipments  66,000,000.  Saw-mills 
cut  22,000,000  feet  of  veneer  that  year. 

A  specialty  of  the  lumber  trade  is  the  trade  in 
"  hard  wood"  lumber,  especially  black  walnut.  Until 
the  close  of  the  war  not  much  was  done  in  this  direc- 
tion, or  in  any  general  lumber  business.  For  the 
first  thirty-five  years  of  the  city's  history  pine  lum- 
ber was  little  used.  Oak  made  the  frame-work  of 
houses,  and  poplar  the  weather-boarding,  shingles, 
and  finishing.  But  slowly,  after  the  development  of 
the  railroad  system,  pine  began  to  be  used  in  the 
place  of  poplar,  and  later  in  the  place  of  oak.  Lum- 
ber-yards began  to  figure  among  the  forms  of  trade 
that  required  capital   and  made  money  for  the  city. 


By  the  close  of  the  war  the  lumber  business  had 
grown  into  first-class  importance.  There  were  a 
dozen  or  more  large  yards  in  difl'erent  parts  of  the 
city,  some  of  them  with  mills  to  cut  logs,  some  to 
cut  veneers,  and  some  with  planing-mills,  and  sash- 
and  door-factories  connected  with  them.  The  walnut 
lumber  trade  came  later.  In  early  times  the  black 
walnut  was  about  the  worst  tree  the  farmer  had  to 
deal  with.  It  was  too  brittle  for  good  lumber,  and 
too  hard  to  be  cheaply  sawed.  It  was  not  good  fuel, 
and  did  not  make  durable  rails.  In  fact  it  was  a 
nuisance.  Now  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  a 
single  walnut-tree  that  is  worth  more  money  than  the 
whole  farm  it  stands  on.  More  than  a  thousand  dol- 
lars worth  of  veneers  have  been  cut  from  a  single 
tree  and  left  a  considerable  part  of  it.  Jjven  as  late 
as  1868  there  were  hundreds  of  farmers  and  business 
men  in  Indiana  and  Indianapolis  who  were  unin- 
formed of  the  value  of  walnut  wood  and  threw  it 
away  as  refuse  or  burned  it  as  rubbish. 

A  saw-miller  in  Indianapolis  about  that  time  had 
collected  quite  a  heap  of  walnut  knots  from  the  logs 
he  had  sawed,  and  had  thrown  them  aside  to  burn  in 
his  boiler  furnace  when  he  could  get  time  to  split 
them.  An  agent  of  an  Eastern  lumber  dealer  saw 
them  and  the  ill-posted  sawyer  sold  them  for  fifty 
cents  apiece.  He  was  a  little  worried  a  day  or  two 
afterwards  when  he  learned  that  they  would  have 
been  cheap  at  ten  dollars  apiece  if  they  were  sound 
and  well  twisted  in  grain.  The  great  demand  for 
this  kind  of  lumber  for  furniture,  both  in  this  coun- 
try and  Europe,  has  thinned  it  out  very  greatly,  and 
the  trade  in  it  is  declining.  It  is  impossible  to  give 
any  idea  of  the  development  or  decline  of  the  walnut 
lumber  trade,  because  no  separate  account  or  report 
has  been  made  of  it.  In  1874  the  Board  of  Trade 
report  says  the  total  receipts  of  lumber  were  119,- 
800,000  feet,  of  which  about  60,000,000  was  walnut 
lumber.  The  indications  are  that  the  total  has  never 
been  so  large  since.  The  trade  is  still  large,  how- 
ever, and  a  large  part  of  it  is  in  logs  brought  here  to 
be  sawed  up.  There  are  ten  mills  here  sawing 
walnut  and  hard  woods,  and  eighteen  dealers  who 
handled  in  the  year  last  reported  in  full,  1882,  to 
December  31st,  38,000,000  feet.     This  shows  a  de- 


En4alyB.B.Han  8.  S<ms.  62  Khan  S'KXfiOTi  iHirto  ly  Biafy. 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


167 


cline  from  1873  of  more  than  one-third.  The  pine 
lumber  business,  however,  has  kept  on  a  steady  ad- 
vance with  other  commercial  interests,  and  occupies  a 
score  or  more  yards  large  and  small,  besides  those 
attached  to  factories  as  stores  of  material.  Oak  ap- 
pears to  hold  its  own  as  firmly  as  it  did  in  the  last 
generation.  The  demand  for  it  as  building  timber 
has  declined  greatly,  but  it  has  been  made  up  fully 
by  the  demand  for  it  to  make  cross-ties  for  railway 
tracks.  Hickory,  birch,  and  sugar  have  never  been 
accounted  or  used  as  timber,  and  elm  but  little  more. 
They  went  for  fuel  when  it  was  deemed  worth  while, 
and  now  good,  well-seasoned  wood  of  these  varieties 
is  a  valuable  product.  Coal  is  slowly  displacing 
wood,  but  has  not  done  it  yet.  The  amount  of  coal 
brought  to  the  city  appears  from  the  partial  report  of 
the  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  have  been 
about  400, OUO  tons  for  the  year  ending  Deo.  31, 
1882,  the  last  of  which  any  report  has  been  made. 

Among  the  articles  reported  for  the  last  six  months 
of  1882 — the  last  oflBcial  statement  published — are 
20,000  bales  of  cotton,  or  40,000  for  the  year ;  40 
car-loads  of  eggs,  estimating  in  the  same  way ;  800,- 
000  barrels  of  flour  ;  801  tons  of  hides — the  total 
value  of  all  hides  and  pelts  for  the  year  is  put  at 
$1,500,000;  64,000  cars  of  general  merchandise; 
46  cars  of  poultry — annual  value  of  poultry,  81,000,- 
000  ;  40,000  tons  of  ice  ;  40,000  tons  of  provisions  ; 
36,000  barrels  of  salt ;  640  cars  of  shingles  ;  50,000 
barrels  of  starch  ;  2600  cars  of  stone  ;  26,000  bar- 
rels of  tallow  ;  43,000  hogsheads  of  tobacco  ;  300,- 
000  rabbits  shipped  East  and  sold  here  in  1883  and 
winter  of  1884. 

In  grain  the  trade  has  been  steadily  growing  for  a 
number  of  years.  The  receipts  of  wheat  for  the  year 
ending  April,  1883,  were  about  8,000,000  bushels ;  of 
corn,  17,000,000,  as  appears  from  the  report  of  Secre- 
tary Blake.  In  1872  a  company  was  formed  to  build 
and  conduct  an  elevator,  and  that  year  erected  the 
first  one  west  of  the  river  on  the  St.  Louis  Railroad. 
It  has  a  capacity  of  about  350,000  bushels.  In  1874, 
Mr.  F.  Rusch,  in  association  with  two  or  three  others, 
built  Elevator  B,  the  second  one,  with  a  capacity  of 
300,000  bushels.  It  was  entirely  destroyed  by  fire 
in  June,  1875,  but  rebuilt  at  once  in  better  shape. 


and  has  been  constantly  busy  since.  Some  three 
years  ago,  about  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the 
Indianapolis,  Decatur  and  Springfield  Railroad,  a 
third  elevator  was  built  by  the  company  close  to  the 


Corner  of  Marylaud  and  Tennessee  Streets 


track,  in  the  manufacturing  suburb  of  Hanghsville, 
with  a  capacity  fully  equal  to  either  of  the  older 
ones.  Besides  these  there  are  several  smaller  in  the 
city. 

Since  1877  the  stock-yards  have  formed  a  con- 
spicuous element  of  the  city's  commerce.  They 
were  built  by  the  Belt  Road  Company  on  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  acres  of  the  old  "  Bayou,"  or  "  McCarty 
farm,"  on  the  Vincennes  Railroad,  at  the  southern 
border  of  West  Indianapolis,  about  two  miles  from 
the  Union  Depot.  In  convenience  of  arrangement, 
amplitude  of  supply,  and  completeness  of  shelter  and 
means  of  shipment,  they  are  pronounced  by  those 
familiar  with  all  the  stock-yards  of  the  country  un- 
surpassed by  any,  and  unequaled  by  any  but  one  or 
two.  On  the  northeast  corner  of  the  grounds  are  the 
engine-house  and  machine-shop,  the  blacksmith-shop, 
the  coal  platform,  and  the  pumping  engine  which 
forces  water  from  a  well  about  ninety  feet  deep  into 


168 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


two  large  elevated  tanks  or  reservoirs,  whence  it  is 
distributed  all  over  the  premises.  At  the  north  end, 
to  the  west  of  these  buildings,  is  the  residence  of  the 
superintendent ;  south  of  this,  about  four  hundred 
feet,  is  the  "  Stock-Yard  Exchange,"  a  large,  hand- 
some, three-story  brick  building,  with  a  front  of  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  a  roar  building, 
making  a  total  depth  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet.  It  is  occupied  as  a  hotel  in  the  icur  building 
and  the  upper  stories  of  the  front,  and  as  oflSce^of 
stock-dealers  on  the  ground-floor.  On  the  east  of  this 
is  a  large  storage-house  for  hay  and  corn  and  stock- 
feed  generally.  On  the  west  is  a  large  stable  for  the 
finer  grades  of  horses.  Directly  south  of  the  Ex- 
change, and  separated  mostly  by  a  broad  passage-way 
of  forty  feet  or  so,  are  the  stock  stables,  built  of  red 
cedar  posts  set  deep  in  the  ground,  and  planked  up  the 
sides  and  ends  high  enough  to  make  a  perfect  shelter 
for  the  stock.  On  the  roof  of  each  is  an  attic,  with 
lattice  sides,  the  full  length  of  the  stable.  There  are 
five  of  these,  separated  from  each  other  by  a  narrow 
passage  for  stock,  fifteen  feet  or  so  in  width.  They  are 
about  a  thousand  feet  long  by  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  wide,  with  broad  passage-ways  down  the  middle 
and  smaller  lateral  ones  between  the  divisions.  Stock 
is  received  on  the  west  side,  where  there  are  railway 
tracks  coDnecting  with  the  Belt  extending  along  the- 
entire  length  of  the  stables.  From  the  receiving 
platform,  which  is  covered  with  pens,  a  passage  leads 
to  the  scale-room,  where  the  animals  are  weighed 
and  driven  off  to  their  quarters.  The  western  stables 
are  chiefly  appropriated  to  hogs.  When  shipped 
away  the  stock  is  driven  to  the  east  side,  where  a 
platform  the  length  of  the  stables,  amply  provided 
with  shipping-pens,  enables  a  train  to  bo  loaded  in  a 
ver}'  few  minutes. 

LARGEST   RECEIPTS   IN   ONE  DAT,  1882. 

December  9 8809  (Hogs,  SS09). 

October  28 2026  ^Cattle,  238). 

October  28 4184  (Sbeep,  1534). 

May  10 316  (Horses,  26). 

LARGEST  SHIPMENTS   IN   ONE  DAT,  18S2. 

January  4 4125  (Hogs,  4115). 

October  28 1325  (Cattle,  794). 

M:iy20 4194  (Sheep,  1856). 

■I'll.v  4 281  (Horses,  149). 


Their  business  in  1882,  the  last  year  of  which 
any  statement  has  been  made,  is  summed  up  as  fol- 
lows :  Hogs,  5,319,611 ;  cattle,  6-40,363  ;  sheep,  849,- 
936  ;  horses,  50,795 ;  shipments,  hogs,  2,298,895 ; 
cattle,  535,195 ;  sheep,  780,395 ;  horses,  48,361  ; 
Indianapolis  delivery,  hogs,  3,020,913  ;  cattle,  106,- 
178  ;  sheep,  70,543  ;  horses,  2533. 

Until  the  completion  of  the  Madison  Railroad  no 
business  was  done  oflF  Washington  Street,  except  that 
a  year  or  two  a  little  family  grocery  was  kept  in  a 
one-story  brick  on  Indiana  Avenue,  at  the  corner  of 
Tennessee  Street.  In  1847,  however,  commission- 
houses  and  pork-packing  houses  began  to  be  estab- 
lished about  the  Madison  Depot.  Foundries  and 
shops  started  up  in  convenient  openings,  and  during 
the  war  groceries,  drug-stores,  hotels,  saloons,  and 
eating-houses  were  put  wherever  they  could  go. 
Thus  came  business  diverted  from  Washington 
Street.  With  this  change,  or  a  little  preceding  it, 
came  the  separation  of  different  classes  of  merchan- 
dise into  diflferent  establishments. 

Below  is  given  the  annual  live-stock  report  of  the 
Indianapolis  Stock-yards,  prepared  by  W.  P.  Ijams, 
general  .superintendent.  It  will  be  noticed  that  as 
compared  with  the  year  1882  there  was  a  handsome 
increase  in  business,  while  it  fell  short  of  the  business 
done  in  the  years  1878,  1879,  1880,  and  1881.  The 
table  given  below  is  self-explanatory  : 

RECEIPTS. 


Hogs.      Cattle.    Sheep.    Horses. 


Total  for  the  year  1883 931,121  121.448 

Total  for  the  year  1SK2 65.1,597  114,746 

Totiil  for  the  year  1881 |l.l-,i9,8H4  144,144 

Total  for  thi-  year  1880 'I,:i21,;i76  13:i,655 

Tolal  for  the  year  1879 1.12:i,4()9  125,723 

Total  for  the  year  1878 |    98(i,639  118,945 

One  month  and  20  days,  1877 104,696  4,150 


Total  Not.  12,  1877,  to  Dec.  31, 1883.  6,260,732  761,811  l,r07,696  67,545 


254,653 
288.698 
225,622 
142.7J5 
111,927 
76.107 
4,857 


18,800 
15.987 

9,288 

9,358 

6,912 

685 


SHIPMENTS. 


Hogs.  I  Cattle.  I  Sheep.  iHoises. 


Total  for  the  year  1883 

Total  for  the  year  1882 

Total  for  the  year  1881 

Total  lor  the  year  1880 

Total  for  the  year  1879 

Total  for  the  year  1878 

One  month  and  20  days,  1877.. 


699,514 

464.953 

2M,095 

8,027 


102.342 
9 1. 142 
120,611 
11CI,.559 
104,»45 
105,117 
3,021 


Total  Nov.  12,  1877,  to  Dec.  31,  1883.  2,742,7951  637,637 


237,612  17,725 

2G.S.K95  15.097 

2113,246  8.9110 

132,904  8.901 

100,879  9,031 

69,8971  6,770 

4,772  662 


1,018,005  66,086 


a..-'^0'^'>^--z^zy  i 


J^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


169 


INDIANAPOLIS  DELIVERY. 


Total  for  the  year  1883 487,221  19.106 

Total  for  the  v™r  1882 ■  329,008  24,714 

Tot.il  for  the  yeiir  1881 492,:i74  2:t,53H 

Total  for  the  year  1880 I  721,862,  22,096 

Total  for  the  year  1879 658,456  20,S78| 

Tolal  for  the  year  1878 i  722,423  14,328| 

One  month  and  20  days,  1877 96,790          629 


14,041  1,075 

21.003  966 

22,376  665 

9,821  387 

11,048  327 

6,210  165 


85 


23 


Total  Nov.  12,  1S77,  to  Dec.  31,  1S83.  3,508,134,  125,284       84,584     3,608 


LARGEST  RECEIPTS  IN  ONE  DAY,  1883. 

December  4 12,775  (Hogs,  12,775). 

February  17 1,705  (Cattle,  567). 

September  S 3,065  (Sheep,  814). 

April  29 238  (Horses,  66). 

LAHGEST  SHIPMENTS  IN  ONE  DAY,  1883. 

December  19 4,655  (Hogs,  3,352). 

August  4 1.902  (Cattle,  1,902). 

September  S 3,460  (Sheep,  2,446). 

July  1 221  (Horses,  87). 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

CITY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS.— (Coii(///Hei?.) 
THE   BENCH    AND    BAR. 

In  the  general  history  is  related  the  organization 
of  the  county  and  the  early  sessions  of  the  first  court. 
No  more  need  be  said  here  than  that  Judge  William 
W.  Wick  was  elected  the  first  judge  by  the  Legisla- 
ture at  Corydon  in  the  winter  of  1821-22,  and 
Hervey  Bates  appointed  sheriff  by  Governor  Jen- 
nings early  in  1822.  Both  were  residents  of  Con- 
nersville,  and  came  here  together  in  the  early  spring 
of  1822.  The  circuit  consisted  of  Marion  County, 
enlarged  for  judicial  purposes  by  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  territory  now  composing  Johnson,  Hamil- 
ton, Boone,  Madison,  and  Hancock  Counties,  with 
the  following  earlier-organized  counties :  Monroe, 
Morgan,  Lawrence,  Hendricks,  Green,  Owen,  Rush, 
Decatur,  Bartholomew,  Jennings,  and  Shelby.  The 
first  session  of  the  court  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Gen.  Carr,  the  State  agent,  on  Delaware  Street 
opposite  the  court-house,  Sept.  26,  1822.  Judge 
Wick  presided,  with  Eliakim  Harding  and  James 
Mcllvain  as  associates.  James  M.  Ray  was  clerk 
by  election    the   previous  April,  and    Hervey  Bates 


sheriff  by  regular  election  in  August  succeeding  his 
appointment.  Calvin  Fletcher  was  the  first  prose- 
cutor by  appointment.  Up  to  1824,  when  the 
court-house  was  so  far  completed  as  to  be  available 
for  the  sessions,  the  first  meeting  was  held  at  Carr's 
house,  as  the  law  bad  designated  that  place,  and 
then  an  adjournment  was  made  to  Crumbaugh's  on 
Washington  Street, — or  the  place  in  the  woods  where 
the  street  was  to  run, — just  west  of  the  future  line 
of  the  canal.  We  have  no  record  of  the  lawyers  in 
attendance  at  that  first  session  of  the  first  court  of 
the  county,  and  there  is  no  certainty  that  there  were 
any  belonging  to  the  town  except  Mr.  Fletcher,  the 
pro.secutor,  and  Harvey  Gregg,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Western  Censor,  the  predecessor  of  the 
Journal.  Mr.  Fletcher  long  held  a  prominent  place 
at  the  bar,  and  only  left  it  to  take  the  presidency  of 
the  Indianapolis  branch  of  the  State  Bank. 

Hon.  Calvin  Fletcher. — Robert  Fletcher,  the 
progenitor  in  America  of  the  Fletcher  family,  was 
probably  born  in  Yorkshire,  in  1592.  He  settled  at 
Concord,  Mass.,  in  1630,  with  a  family  consisting  of 
a  wife,  two  sons, — Luke  and  William, — and  one 
daughter.  In  the  direct  line  of  descent  from  this 
pioneer  was  born,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1798, 
Calvin,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  the  eleventh  in  a 
family  of  fifteen  children.  Under  the  teachings  of 
all  excellent  father  and  a  mother  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary ability  he  learned  those  habits  of  industry  and 
self-reliance  which,  coupled  with  upright  principles, 
uniformly  characterized  his  later  life.  While  per- 
forming all  the  duties  exacted  from  a  boy  upon  a 
New  England  farm,  he  very  soon  manifested  a  great 
desire  for  a  classical  education.  Depending  upon  his 
own  earnings  for  the  means  by  which  to  achieve  his 
desire,  he  set  about  the  preparation  for  college  by 
pursuing  his  studies  at  Randolph  and  Royalton 
Academies,  Vermont.  After  some  vicissitudes  he 
for  a  time  abandoned  study  and  began  labor  in  a 
brick -yard  in  Pennsylvania.  Circumstances  soon  after 
influenced  his  removal  to  Ohio,  where  he  first  taught 
school  at  Urbana,  Champaign  Co.,  and  was  sub- 
sequently private  tutor  in  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Gwin, 
whose  fine  library  afforded  him  abundant  opportunity 
for  reading.     He  finally  .studied  law  with  Hon.  James 


170 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION  COUNTY. 


Cooley,  afterwards  United  States  Chargi  d Affaires 
to  Peru.  In  1819  be  removed  to  Virginia,  and  was 
licensed  to  practice  by  tbe  Supreme  Court  of  tbat 
State,  but  bis  strong  love  of  freedom  and  tbe  rigbts 
of  man  caused  bim  to  renounce  bis  intention,  and 
returning  to  Urbana,  Ohio,  be  became  the  law-part- 
ner of  Mr.  Cooley.  In  1821,  Mr.  Fletcher  settled 
in  Indianapolis,  the  capital  of  tbe  State,  with  bis 
family,  and  was  tbe  first  lawyer  in  that  city.  His 
business  soon  became  lucrative.  He  later  became 
prosecuting  attorney,  and  associated  with  bim  as 
partners  Ovid  Butler,  Esq.,  and  Simon  Yandes,  Esq. 
On  making  tbe  capital  bis  home  Mr.  Fletcher  actively 
interested  himself  in  its  prosperity,  and  readily  won 
tbe  confidence  and  esteem  of  its  citizens.  In  1827 
he  was  elected  State  senator,  in  whieli  office  he  was 
continued  until  1832,  when  be  abandoned  politics, 
though  a  successful  career  was  open  to  bim  had  be 
chosen  to  follow  it.  He  was  in  1825  appointed 
State's  attorney  for  tbe  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  em- 
bracing from  twelve  to  fifteen  counties.  In  1834  be 
was  appointed  one  of  four  to  organize  a  State  bank, 
and  to  act  as  sinking  fund  commissioner,  which  office 
was  held  for  seven  years.  From  1843  until  1859, 
when  the  charter  expired,  be  acted  as  president  of 
tbe  Indianapolis  branch  of  the  State  Bank.  Mr. 
Fletcher  was  a  strong  man  physically,  morally,  and 
intellectually.  He  was  equal  to  the  emergency  when 
justice  to  himself  required  an  exhibition  of  strength, 
and  in  the  same  spirit  be  stood  ready  to  befriend 
those  who  might  have  been  otherwise  injured.  He 
was  a  lover  of  nature.  He  took  mnch  interest  in 
the  study  of  ornithology,  and  made  himself  familiar 
with  the  habits  of  birds,  their  instincts  and  charac- 
teristics. The  domestic  animals  found  in  bim  a  sym- 
pathizing fiiend.  He  was  kind  to  them,  and  ever 
ready  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  their  dispositions 
and  qualities,  that  be  might  turn  it  to  their  advan- 
tage. He  was  fond  of  the  science  of  astronomy, 
and,  in  fact,  of  all  studies  tbat  were  elevating  and 
ennobling.  In  bis  well-selected  library  of  general 
literature,  in  addition  to  law-books,  might  be  seen 
local  histories,  periodicals,  the  works  of  Audubon, 
school  journals,  and  miscellaneous  works.  In  one 
leading  trait  his  course  was  marked  and  earnest, — no 


poor  man  ever  applied  to  Calvin  Fletcher  in  bis  need, 
either  for  counsel  or  assistance,  and  was  sent  empty 
away.  When  tbe  friends  of  the  colored  man,  fleeing 
from  bondage,  were  few  and  unpopular,  his  sympathy 
and  helping  band  were  never  withheld.  He  was  like 
all  men  of  power  in  his  age,  exceedingly  rapid  in 
thought  and  action.  Before  others  bad  begun  the 
argument  be  bad  concluded  it.  Repose  was  not  bis 
dominant  characteristic.  But  more  to  be  admired 
than  all  these  traits  was  his  earnest,  consistent  Chris- 
tian character.  No  man  could  love  and  respect  the 
Bible  and  tbe  minister  more  than  he.  He  was  a 
constant  student  of  the  one  and  bearer  of  the  other. 
Calvin  Fletcher  was  married,  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1821,  to  Miss  Sarah  Hill,  of  Champaign  County, 
Ohio,  a  lady  of  remarkable  energy  of  character, 
combined  with  gentleness  of  disposition  and  refined 
tastes.  Her  death  occurred  in  September,  1854,  and 
he  was  again  married,  to  Mrs.  Keziah  Price  Lister. 
The  cliildreu  of  Calvin  Fletcher  are  James  Cooley, 
Elijah  Timothy,  Calvin,  Miles  Johnson,  Stougliton 
Alfonzo,  Maria  Antoinette,  Crawford,  Ingram,  Wil- 
liam Baldwin,  Stephen  Keyes,  Lucy  Keyes,  and 
Albert  Elliott.  The  death  of  Calvin  Fletcher  oc- 
curred May  26,  1866.  At  a  meeting  of  the  bankers, 
held  at  Indianapolis,  resolutions  respecting  his  death 
were  adopted,  of  which  the  following  extract  is 
appended : 

'■That  in  the  career  of  Mr.  Fletcher  are  presented  very 
striking  evidences  of  what  great  and  good  things  may  be  ac- 
complished under  our  free  institutions  by  sound  sense  and 
unfailing  energy,  no  matter  how  unpromising  the  circum- 
stances of  the  possessor  may  be  at  hi?  outset  in  life. 

"That  bis  success  in  business  is  the  history  of  a  life  of 
hopeful  labor,  pure  integrity,  genial  benevolence,  steady  ciiu- 
tion,  and  active  usefulness,  in  which  great  results  have  been 
attained,  not  by  brilliant  strokes  of  adventure  or  any  depend- 
ence upon  fortune,  but  by  those  plainer  and  less  obtrusive 
methods  which  are  within  the  reach  of  the  great  majority  of 
men,  and  affords  a  lesson  of  hope  and  warning, — hope  to  tbe 
upright,  diligent,  and  frugal,  warning  to  the  reckless  and  idle 
who  wait  upon  fortune." 

In  the  fall  of  1823,  a  little  over  a  year  after  the 
first  session  of  court,  a  lawyer  of  marked  ability  came 
from  Pennsylvania  primarily,  but  later  from  Lebanon, 
Ohio,  where  be  had  studied  law  with  the  celebrated 


CITV    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


171 


orator   and   lawyer,  Thomas   Corwin,  and   made   his 
home   here  permanently.      He  was  as  prominent   in  j 
the  profession  as  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  much  longer  in  | 
it.      That  was  Hiram  Brown. 

HiR.iM  Brown,  an  eminent  advocate  in  Indiana, 
traced  his  descent  from  a  famil}'  of  Welsh  origin, 
living  in  Southern  England,  that  accompanied  ur 
soon  followed  Lord   Baltimore's  colony  to  Marvland, 


settling  at  Welsh  Flats,  in  Pennsylvania.  The  de- 
scendants of  this  emigrant  remained  in  that  region 
and  in  Maryland  for  years,  and  one  of  them,  Wendel 
Brown,  with  his  two  sons,  prior  to  1754,  crossed  the 
mountains  and  visited  the  Monongahela  Valley, 
making  no  settlement  because  of  the  savages  ;  and 
it  was  not  till  1765  that  his  son,  or  grandson,  Thomas 
Brown,  located  at  Redstone  Old  Fort, — so  called  be- 
cause the  mound-builders  in  former  ages  had  erected 
a  large  stone  intrenchment  on  the  top  of  a  detached 
hill  at  the  mouth  of  Nemocolius  Creek,  a  locality 
widely  known  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  West. 

Col.  Michael  Cresap  (unjustly  charged  with  mur- 
der in  Logan's  celebrated  speech!  had  prior  to  1765 
located  a  "  tomahawk  right"  to  several  hundred  acres, 


including  the  Old  Fort,  and  in  1770  built  a  hewed 
log  house  on  it,  with  a  nailed  shingle  roof,  the  first 
west  of  the  mountains.  Thomas  Brown  bought 
Cresap's  house  and  claim,  and  in  1785  perfected  his 
title  by  purchase  from  the  commonwealth,  and  laid 
out  the  town  of  Brownsville.  He  died  in  1797, 
aged  fifty-nine  years,  and  was  buried  in  the  Old 
Fort,  his  tombstone  stating  that  "  he  was  the  owner 
of  this  town."  He  left  a  large  estate  and  family, 
but  their  hospitality  and  extravagance  dissipated 
their  patrimony,  and  the  members  scattered  throughout 
the  West,  leaving  few  representatives  of  the  name  or 
blood  in  their  old  home. 

One  of  the  sons,  Ignatius  Brown,  born  Dec.  1, 
1769,  at  Brownsville,  died  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  June 
:!,  183-1:.  Early  in  1791  he  married  Elizabeth 
Gregg,  a  woman  of  good  mind  and  great  force  of 
character,  and  to  them,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1792, 
was  born  their  first  child,  Hiram  Brown,  the  subject 
of  the  present  sketch.  They  afterwards  had  six  other 
children, — Milton,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  con- 
gressman from  Tennessee  ;  Ashel,  a  leading  lawyer  at 
Lebanon,  Ohio  ;  Hervey,  a  lawyer  and  member  of  the 
Legislature,  both  in  Indiana  and  Tennessee ;  and 
three  daughters, — Minerva,  Matilda,  and  Orpha, — • 
all  of  whom  married.  In  1798,  Ignatius  Brown 
removed  his  family  and  remnant  of  his  property  to 
Kentucky,  where  he  bought  several  thousand  acres 
of  land  and  resided  several  years;  but  his  title  proving 
defective  he  was  impoverished,  and  compelled  again 
to  emigrate.  He  located  a  claim  in  the  Symmes' 
Purchase,  near  Denfield,  in  Warren  Co.,  Ohio,  but 
when  returning  caught  cold,  which  produced  paraly- 
sis of  the  optic  nerves,  resulting  in  instant  and  total 
blindness ;  in  this  helpless  state  he  was  led  by 
his  comrades  through  the  wilderness  to  his  family. 
Vision  afterward  slowly  returned,  and  in  old  age  he 
could  read  without  glasses.  While  blind  he  was 
made  justice  of  the  peace,  and  subsequently  associate 
judge  of  the  County  Court,  a  position  he  held  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

The  young  wife,  brave  under  this  disaster,  moved 
her  helpless  husband  and  family  to  the  new  location, 
and  began  making  a  home  in  the  woods.  The 
burthen,  of  course,  fell  on  Hiram,  then  a  mere  boy, 


172 


HISTORY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


and  for  years  his  life  was  devoted  to  this  work,  fore- 
going an  education  that  the  rest  should  get  it,  and 
have  shelter  and  food.  •  By  studying  at  night 
he  learned  to  read  well  and  write,  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  grammar,  and  "  cyphered  as  far  as  the 
rule  of  three."  Subsequently,  by  reading  the  best 
authors,  he  gained  so  great  a  command  of  pure  Eng- 
lish that  his  forensic  efforts,  though  never  specially 
prepared,  were  admired  for  their  fluency,  finish,  and 
perfection  of  style.  After  several  years'  work  on  the 
farm  he  determined  to  become  a  merchant,  and 
entered  a  store  in  Lebanon,  but  the  change  so  in- 
jured his  health  that  he  was  thought  to  be  consump- 
tive. Returning  at  once  to  farm  work,  to  chopping 
and  milling,  he  soon  recuperated  and  became  noted 
for  activity  and  strength,  being  champion  in  all 
athletic  exercises.  It  is  said  that,  with  a  few  yards' 
run,  he  could  jump  over  the  head  of  a  man  his  equal 
in  height.  At  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  old  he 
was  in  the  prime  of  physical  strength.  He  was  five 
feet  eight  inches  high,  weighed  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  pounds;  erect,  symmetrically  formed,  with 
small  hands  and  feet.  His  head  was  large,  fea- 
tures clearly  cut,  brows  arched,  shading  large  light- 
blue  eyes ;  mouth  firm,  and  lips  thin.  His  voice 
was  musical,  high-pitched,  and  under  perfect  con- 
trol. 

His  business  being  prosperous,  he  was  married, 
May  29,  1817,  to  Miss  Judith  Smith,  a  very  beauti- 
ful and  amiable  woman,  who  survived  him  nearly 
six  years.  She  was  born  July  12,  1794,  in  Pow- 
hatan County,  Va.,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  James  Smith, 
one  of  the  earliest  Methodist  preachers.  This  union 
was  a  happy  one,  lasting  over  thirty  years.  They 
had  nine  children,  one  dying  in  infancy ;  the  rest 
survived  them. 

After  marriage  he  traveled  on  horseback  to  Wash- 
ington City  to  patent  a  boat-wheel  he  had  invented, 
but  before  doing  anything  with  it  the  panic  of  1820 
overwhelmed  him,  with  many  others,  and  he  lost  all 
his  property.  After  settling  his  affairs  he  studied 
law  with  Thomas  Corwin  for  six  months  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Corwin  wished  him  to 
remain  at  Lebanon,  but  deeming  Indianapolis  a  better 
point,  he  removed  here  with  his  familv  early  in  No- 


vember, 1823,  and  was  admitted  by  the  Supreme 
Court  in  1824. 

He  soon  acquired  a  good  practice,  ranking  highest 
as  an  advocate  in  criminal  cases.  Before  a  jury  his 
bearing  was  easy,  gestures  apt,  voice  clear  and  pene- 
trating, his  statement  of  the  evidence  fair  and  forci- 
ble. He  instantly  grasped  the  strong  points  in  his 
cases,  and  illustrated  them  in  .so  many  different  ways 
that  he  fixed  them  in  the  jurors'  minds  without 
wearying  them  by  the  repetition.  He  identified 
himself  with  the  feelings  and  interests  of  his  clients, 
and  made  their  cause  his  own.  His  native  wit  and 
keen  sense  of  humor  often  enabled  him  to  so  ridicule 
an  opponent's  case  that  it  was  laughed  out  of  court. 
He  was  sometimes,  though  not  often,  sarcastic  and  bit- 
ter in  denunciation,  but  his  nature  was  kindly  and  for- 
beai'ing.  He  was  most  formidable  in  desperate  cases, 
when  the  odds  were  heaviest  against  him.  "  Court 
week"  then  brought  the  whole  country  into  town, 
and  when  he  spoke  the  house  was  always  crowded. 
A  volume  would  be  needed  to  detail  the  incidents  in 
his  professional  career  and  give  the  anecdotes  told  of 
his  wit,  humor,  and  stinging  repartee.  Some  have 
been  published,  but  most  have  perished  with  those 
who  heard  them.  For  years  he  was  in  every  impor- 
tant case,  and  was  generally  successful.  With  the 
exception,  perhaps,  of  a  short  service  as  prosecutor,  at 
an  early  day,  he  declined  executive  or  judicial  posi- 
tion, practicing  bis  profession  from  November,  1823, 
till  June  8,  1853,  when  he  died,  the  "father  of  the 
bar."  His  early  associates  had  nearly  all  died  or  re- 
tired, and  a  new  generation  was  growing  up  whose 
ways  were  unlike  their  fathers'.  He  disliked  the 
change,  and  missed  and  mourned  his  old  opponents. 
He  often  fell  into  reveries,  his  memory  busy  with  the 
past,  his  face  changing  with  each  crowding  recollec- 
tion, his  eyes  flashing  until  he  would  break  out  with 
the  exclamation,  "  Ah,  there  were  giants  in  those 
days !" 

We  now  have  no  idea  of  the  hardships  endured  by 
the  old  bar  in  their  practice,  the  circuit  once  ex- 
tending from  Bloomington  to  Fort  Wayne,  its  whole 
extent  a  wilderness.  Traveling  it  was  a  campaign 
often  involving  weeks  of  absence  from  home,  man 
and  horse  struggling  through  endless  swamps,  swim- 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


173 


niing  swollen  rivers,  and  sleeping  in  the  woods.  It 
was  at  all  times  tedious  and  laborious,  and  in  some 
seasons  difficult  and  dangerous.  The  fees  were  far 
less  than  now,  and  often  remained  mere  promises  to 
pay.  This  at  least  was  Mr.  Brown's  experience,  for 
though  he  nominally  made  a  great  deal  of  money,  his 
indulgence  lost  him  the  greater  part  of  it.  He  gen- 
erally tore  up  the  notes  and  accounts  against  his  more 
dilatory  clients  rather  than  press  their  collection. 
With  his  wife  and  son  he  traveled  through  Iowa  in 
1848,  stopping  each  night  with  some  old  client  en- 
countered on  the  way,  and  on  his  return  said  he 
ought  to  receive  some  credit  for  the  rapid  growth  of 
that  State,  for  he  found  it  largely  peopled  by  his  run- 
away clients. 

He  had  no  love  for  or  desire  to  accumulate  money,  ; 
and  at  his  death  he  left  only  his  town  residence  and  I 
a  small  farm  south  of  the  city,  on  which  and  its 
orchard  he  had  expended  money  enough,  if  it  had 
been  invested  in  town  property,  to  have  made  him 
rich.  He  admitted  this,  but  said  he  then  would  not 
have  enjoyed  it,  maintaining  that  men  only  actually 
possess  the  money  they  spend,  and  get  no  benefit  from 
it  unless  so  used. 

Neither  a  politician  nor  a  partisan,  he  was  a  life- 
long Whig  and  admirer  of  Henry  Clay,  naming  his 
oldest  son  for  him.  He  made  Whig  speeches,  and 
during  the  Morgan  excitement  was  strongly  urged  to 
run  for  Congress  by  the  anti-Masons ;  but  though 
success  seemed  certain  he  refused,  and  never  entered 
political  life.  His  habits  and  tastes  were  strongly 
opposed  to  such  a  career.  He  disliked  the  glare  of 
public  life,  and  delighted  in  home  and  its  pleasures, 
the  society  of  children  and  old  friends.  With  them 
his  fun-loving  nature  had  free  rein,  and  wit,  humor, 
and  anecdote  were  lavished  on  all  around  him.  Those 
only  who  saw  him  under  such  circumstances  could 
properly  appreciate  the  sterling  worth  and  honesty  of 
the  man. 

He  inherited  hospitality,  and  the  latch-string  was 
always  out.  All  preachers  and  clients  were  welcome, 
and  for  years  his  house  contained  nearly  as  many 
guests  as  members  of  his  own  family  ;  and  as  they 
generally  came  on  horseback,  this  "  entertainment  for 
man  and    beast"    not   only  increased    the    labors    of 


his    hou.sehold,    but    seriously    diminished    his    re- 
sources. 

Reared  at  a  time  when. liquor  was  kept  in  every 
house  and  tendered  to  every  visitor,  it  was  only 
natural,  with  his  temperament  and  social  qualities, 
that  at  times  he  used  it  to  excess.  It  was  a  common 
vice  with  the  bar,  but  with  him  a  little  went  a  great 
way.  He  left  off  its  use  entirely  for  years  before  he 
died,  and  notwithstanding  his  opposition  to  secret 
societies — believing  them  to  be  inimical  to  republican 
institutions,  which  require  the  most  open  discussion 
and  treatment  of  all  questions — he  united  with  and 
became  a  prominent  officer  in  the  Sons  of  Temper- 
ance, and  labored  in  that  cause  till  his  death.  At 
about  the  same  time  he  joined  the  Methodist  Church, 
— in  which  his  wife  had  been  a  life-long  member, — 
and  died  in  that  faith.  He  denounced  gambling  in 
all  its  forms,  and  was  selected  by  a  public  meeting  to 
assist  in  the  prosecution  of  the  gamblers,  who  seemed 
to  have  been  given  free  rein  by  the  regular  authori- 
ties. In  endeavoring  to  do  so  he  was  hampered,  and 
the  facts  and  evidence  withheld  from  him  in  the 
clerk's  office.  Commenting  on  this  at  a  subsequent 
public  meeting,  he  said  that  whether  the  action  of 
his  friend  the  clerk  was  right  or  not,  it  had  at  least 
illustrated  the  greatest  of  the  virtues,  for  "  his  charity 
had  covered  a  multitude  of  sins." 

He  was  among  the  earliest  to  introduce  fine  fruits 
into  this  section,  and  spent  much  time,  labor,  and 
money  in  the  effort.  Though  rarely  tasting  fruit 
himself,  and  though  no  market  then  existed  for  it,  he 
planted  twenty-four  acres  in  the  choicest  varieties, 
as  he  said,  for  the  public  benefit  and  future  markets. 
His  devotion  to  it  caused  his  death,  for,  having  spent 
a  very  hot  day  in  it,  he  was  partially  sunstruck,  and 
on  returning  home  at  night  was  seized  with  conges- 
tion of  the  brain.  He  rallied  from  the  first  attack, 
and  seemed  better  for  several  days,  but  a  relapse  took 
place  on  the  night  of  the  Yth  of  June  and  he  lay 
unconscious  till  eight  o'clock  p.m.  of  the  next  day, 
when  he  died.  When  his  critical  illness  became 
known  his  old  friends  hastened  to  his  side.  Among 
them  came  Calvin  Fletcher,  his  old  opponent  at  the 
bar,  who  seemed  most  deeply  affected  at  his  loss. 

His  death  was  a  shock  to  the  community.     Full 


174 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


obituary  notices,  with  sketches  of  his  life,  appeared 
in  all  the  journals.  The  courts  adjourned ;  the  bar 
passed  resolutions,  which  were  spread  on  the  records, 
and  bench  and  bar  attended  his  funeral  in  a  body. 
The  funeral  discourse  was  pronounced  by  his  old 
friend,  Rev.  W.  H.  Goode,  at  Roberts'  Chapel,  June, 
1853,  and  his  remains  were  interred  in  Green  Lawn 
Cemetery.  They  were  subsequently  removed,  with 
those  of  his  wife  and  two  of  his  sons,  to  a  lot  at  the 
eastern  base  of  the  hill  in  Crown  Hill  Cemetery, 
where  they  rest  in  peace,  awaiting  the  resurrection. 

Mr.  Brown  had  nine  children  ;  one  died  in  infancy, 
the  rest  survived  him.  Eliza  S.,  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter, married  J.  C.  Yuhn,  a  prominent  merchant  of  the 
city  ;  they  have  four  surviving  children  and  several 
grandchildren.  Minerva  V.,  the  second  child  (now 
deceased),  married  A.  G.  Porter;  they  have  five  sur- 
viving children  and  several  grandchildren.  Angeline, 
the  third  child,  died  at  four  years  of  age.  Martlia 
S.,  the  fourth  child,  married  Samuel  Delzell,  a  prom- 
inent business  man  of  the  city ;  they  have  one  sur- 
viving child.  Clay  Brown,  the  oldest  son,  was  edu- 
cated at  the  seminary  under  Kemper,  and  at  Asbury 
University ;  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  John  Evans, 
and  graduated  at  Rush  Medical  College;  began  prac- 
tice at  Anderson,  Ind.,  but  removed  in  a  few  years  to 
this  city,  soon  taking  high  rank  in  his  profession  ;  he 
was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Eleventh  In- 
diana Volunteers,  and  was  present  at  Fort  Donelson, 
wliere  overwork  and  exposure  produced  illness,  from 
which  he  died  at  Crump's  Landing,  Tenn.,  just  before 
the  battle  at  Shiloh ;  his  body  was  brought  home  by 
Adjt.  Macauley,  and  buried  with  the  honors  of  war. 
Matilda  A.  was  married  to  Jonas  McKay,  and  is  re- 
siding at  Lebanon,  Ohio ;  she  has  two  daughters. 
Ignatius  Brown,  the  second  son,  was  educated  under 
Kemper  and  Lang  at  the  seminar}',  studied  kw  with 
his  father,  graduated  Bachelor  of  Law  at  Blooming- 
ton,  and  began  practice ;  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
M.  Marsee,  oldest  daughter  of  Rev.  J.  Marsee ;  she 
is  now  dead ;  they  have  four  children  ;  Mr.  Brown 
left  the  practice  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  is 
now  with  his  sons  in  the  abstract-of-title  line.  James 
T.  Brown,  the  third  son,  was  educated  at  the  semi- 
nary   under    Kemper    and    Lang,    became    traveling 


salesman  for  Guthrie  &  Co.,  of  Louisville,  married 
Miss  Forsythe,  and  died  (childless)  in  1861.  Mary 
E.,  the  youngest  child,  married  Barton  D.  Jones,  and 
is  now  residing  in  Washington  City ;  they  have 
three  surviving  children. 

Probably  no  man  connected  with  the  county  courts 
was  so  widely  known  and  closely  associated  with  their 
history  in  the  minds  of  all  early  residents  as  Robert 
B.  Duncan,  the  deputy  of  James  M.  Ray  for  several 
years,  and  then  for  nearly  a  score  of  years  the  clerk 
succeeding  Mr.  Ray,  on  the  latter's  acceptance  of  the 
eashiership  of  the  old  State  Bank  in  1834. 

Robert  B.  Duncan  is  of  Scotch  descent,  his 
grandfather,  Robert  Duncan,  born  in  1726,  a  native 


Scotchman,  having  emigrated  to  America  in  1754, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  his  trade,  that  of 
a  tailor.  He  married  Agnes  Singleton,  burn  in  1742, 
also  of  Scotch  parentage,  and  had  children, — Robert, 
James,  John,  and  three  daughters.  Robert  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  Sept.  28,  1772,  and  during  his  youth 
resided  in  that  State,  after  which  he  removed  to 
Western  New  York  and  engaged  in  farming  pur- 
suits.    He    married    Miss    Anna    Boyles,    and     had 


CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


175 


children, — James,  Esther,  Williaiu,  Robert  B.,  Mar- 
garet, John,  Samuel,  Jane,  and  Annie.  The  death 
of  Mrs.  Duncan  occurred  in  1822,  and  that  of  Mr. 
Duncan  Jan.  6,  1846.  Their  son  Robert  B.  was 
born  in  Ontario  County,  N.  Y.,  June  15,  1810, 
where  the  earliest  seven  years  of  his  life  were  spent. 
In  1817  he  removed  to  Ohio  and  settled  near  San- 
dusky, his  residence  until  the  spring  of  1820,  when 
the  family  emigrated  to  Conner's  Station,  in  the  pres- 
ent Hamilton  County,  Ind.,  then  an  unsurveyed 
prairie.  Various  employments  occupied  the  time 
here  until  1824,  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Pike 
township,  Marion  Co.,  and  engaged  in  the  pioneer 
labor  of  clearing  ground  and  farming.  The  year 
1827  found  him  a  resident  of  Indianapolis,  where 
he  entered  the  county  clerk's  oflSce  as  deputy,  and 
remained  thus  employed  until  March,  1834,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  county, 
and  held  the  position  for  sixteen  succes.sive  years. 
]Mr.  Duncan  had  meanwhile  engaged  in  the  study  of 
law,  and  immediately,  on  the  expiration  of  his  official 
term  in  1850,  began  his  professional  career,  confining 
himself  mainly  to  business  associated  with  the  Pro- 
bate Court.  He  still  continues  to  practice,  devoting 
himself  to  the  interests  of  the  firm  with  which  he  is 
associated  in  connection  with  the  Probate  Court  and  to 
consultation.  Mr.  Duncan  was  early  in  his  political 
career  a  Whig,  and  continued  his  relations  with  that 
party  until  his  later  indorsement  of  the  articles  of  the 
Republican  platform.  With  the  exception  of  his 
lengthy  period  of  official  life  as  county  clerk,  he  has 
never  accepted  nor  sought  office.  He  was  reared  in 
the  stanch  faith  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  still  adheres  to  that  belief.  Mr.  Duncan  was 
married  in  December,  1843,  to  Miss  Mary  E.,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  John  H.  Sanders,  of  Indianapolis,  to  whom 
were  born  children, — John  S.  (a  practicing  lawyer), 
Robert  P.  (a  manufacturer),  Anna  D.  (wife  of  Wil- 
liam T.  Barbee,  of  Lafayette,  Ind.),  and  Nellie  D. 
(wife  of  John  R.  Wilson,  of  Indianapolis).  Mr. 
Duncan  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest 
continuous  resident  of  the  county. 

Two  years  after  Mr.  Duncan  came  to  the  town  to 
take  the  deputy's  place  with  Mr.  Ray,  James  Morri- 
son  came   up   from    Charleston,  Clarke   Co.,  having 


been  elected  Secretary  of  State  to  succeed  Judge 
Wick.  He  was  born  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  in  1796, 
came  to  this  country  a  young  lad,  with  his  parents 
and  brothers  (the  late  William  H.  and  Alexander  F.), 
studied  law  with  Judge  William  B.  Rochester,  in 
Western  New  York,  and  after  his  admission  to  the 
bar  came  to  Charleston,  where  he  practiced  his  pro- 
fession with  the  late  Judge  Charles  Dewey,  of  the 
State  Supreme  Bench  from  1836  to  1847.  When 
elected  Secretary  of  State,  in  1829,  he  removed  here 
permanently  with  his  brothers,  and  succeeded  Judge 
Bethuel  Morris  as  presiding  judge  of  the  circuit. 
He  also  succeeded  Samuel  Merrill  as  president  of  the 
old  State  Bank,  on  the  accession  of  the  latter  to  the 
presidency  of  the  Madison  Railroad.  He  was  the 
first  attorney-general  of  the  State,  and  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Burns  Club,  being  a  native  of  the  same 
shire.  For  twenty-five  years  he  was  senior  warden 
of  Christ  Church,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  after  the  organization  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  held 
the  same  office  there.  He  was  one  of  the  best  men, 
intellectually  and  morally,  that  the  city  has  ever 
claimed.  He  was  an  honorable  lawyer,  and  that 
means  a  great  deal,  and  he  was  a  Christian  gentleman. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  second  decade  of  the  city's 
existence,  Mr.  Ovid  Butler  came  to  Indianapolis  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Fletcher,  which  was 
subsequently  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  Simon 
Yandes,  Esq.,  eldest  son  of  the  late  Daniel  Yandes, 
the  pioneer  mill  builder  of  the  New  Purchase.  Mr. 
Yandes  was  noted  at  the  bar  for  accuracy,  clearness, 
and  persevering  labor,  as  was  Mr.  Butler,  and  with 
Mr.  Fletcher's  experience  and  dash,  the  firm  was  one 
of  rare  strength,  as  well  known  for  its  integrity  as 
its  ability. 

Ovid  Butler  was  born  on  the  7th  of  February, 
1801,  in  Augusta,  N.  Y.,  and  died  at  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1881.  His  father,  the 
Rev.  Chauncey  Butler,  was  the  first  pastor  of  the 
Disciples'  Church  in  this  city.  He  died  in  1840. 
His  grandfather,  Capt.  Joel  Butler,  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  and  served  in  the  disastrous  Quebec 
expedition.  He  died  in  1822.  In  1817  the  family 
removed  from  the  home  in  New  York  to  Jennings 
County,   in    this    State,  where   Ovid   Butler   resided 


176 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


until  he  arrived  at  the  years  of  manhood.  Here  he 
taught  school  for  a  few  years  and  studied  law.  In 
1825  he  settled  at  Shelbyville,  where  he  practiced 
his  profession  until  1836,  when  he  removed  to  In- 
dianapolis, which  became  his  permanent  residence. 
He  continued  in  his  practice  here,  having  as  part- 
ners at  diflferent  times  Calvin  Fletcher,  Simon 
Yandes,  and  Horatio  C.  Newcomb,  among  the  ablest 
and  most  prominent  lawyers  of  the  State.  His  busi- 
ness was  extensive  and  very  lucrative,  but  owing  to 
impaired  health  he  retired  from  the  bar  in  1849. 

He  was  married  in  1827  to  Cordelia  Cole,  who 
lived  until  the  year  1838.  He  was  again  married, 
to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  A.  Elgin,  daughter  of  the  late 
Thomas  McOuat,  in  1840,  who  survived  him  one 
year.  No  man  was  more  fortunate  in  his  domestic 
relations.  As  a  lawyer  Mr.  Butler  excelled  in  the 
office.  In  the  argument  of  legal  questions  and  the 
preparation  of  pleadings  he  was  laborious  and  inde- 
fatigable. With  firmness,  perseverance,  clearness  of 
purpose,  and  tenacity  without  a  parallel  he  pushed 
his  legal  business  through  the  courts.  With  not 
many  of  the  graces  of  the  orator,  he  surpassed,  by 
dint  of  great  exertion  in  the  preparation  of  his  cases, 
those  who  relied  upon  persuasive  eloquence  or  sudden 
strategy  at  the  bar.  Plain,  quiet,  gentle,  modest,  but 
solid  and  immovable,  he  was  a  formidable  antagonist 
in  the  greatest  cases  that  were  tried  during  his  prac- 
tice. His  style  was  strong  and  sententious  ;  without 
ornament,  without  humor,  without  elegance,  but 
logical  and  convincing.  His  clients  always  got  his 
best  ability  in  the  preparation  and  trial  of  their  cases. 
His  legal  knowledge  was  general  and  comprehensive, 
his  judgment  sound,  and  his  reasoning  powers  vigor- 
ous. He  met  few  competitors  at  the  bar  combining 
80  much  industry,  strength,  perseverance,  and  cul-  I 
ture.  He  had  the  unbounded  confidence  of  the 
community  in  his  common  sense,  integrity,  and 
general  capability  in  his  profession.  j 

After  his  retirement  from  the  bar  he  devoted  his 
life  mainly  to  the  interests  of  the  Christian  Church 
and  of  the  Northwestern  Christian  University.  But 
for  a  few  years  after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war, 
while  the  questions  as  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into 
the  territories  acquired  were  being  agitated,  he  took 


an  active  part  in  politics.  In  1848  he  established  a 
newspaper  in  Indianapolis  called  The  Free  Soil  Ban- 
ner, which  took  radical  ground  against  the  extension 
of  slavery  and  against  slavery  itself.  The  motto  was 
"Free  soil,  free  States,  free  men."  He  had  been  pre- 
viously a  Democrat.  He  served  upon  the  Free  Soil 
electoral  ticket  and  upon  important  political  commit- 
tees, and  took  the  stump  in  advocacy  of  his  princi- 
ples in  the  Presidential  campaigns  of  1848  and  1852. 

In  1852  he  contributed  the  funds,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, to  establish  The  Free  Soil  Democrat,  a  newspa- 
per for  the  dissemination  of  his  cherished  views  upon 
these  questions.  This  was  finally  merged  in  The  In- 
dianapolis Journal  in  the  year  1854,  Mr.  Butler 
having  purchased  a  controlling  interest  in  that  news- 
paper. In  the  year  1854  the  Republican  party  was 
organized  out  of  the  anti-slavery  men  of  all  parties, 
and  took  bold  ground  upon  the  subject,  and  the 
Journal  became  its  organ.  The  influence  Mr.  But- 
ler exerted  upon  public  sentiment  was  great  and  be- 
neficent. He  ranged  in  the  higher  walks  of  politics, 
steadfastly  and  intelligently  advancing  the  great  ideas, 
then  unpopular,  which  have  since  become  the  univer- 
sal policy  of  the  nation.  He  lived  to  see  his  prin- 
ciples written  upon  the  banners  of  our  armies  and 
gleaming  in  the  lightning  of  a  thousand  battles,  to  see 
them  embodied  in  the  Constitution  and  hailed  with 
delight  wherever  free  government  has  an  advocate. 

Mr.  Butler  gave  further  evidence  of  devotion  to 
his  principles  by  aiding  in  the  establishment  of  a 
free-soil  paper  in  Cincinnati,  and  taking  a  wider 
range  when  Kossuth  came  preaching  the  gospel  of 
liberty  for  down-trodden  Hungary,  he  again  opened 
his  liberal  purse  for  humanity. 

But  he  sought  quiet  and  retirement.  Many  years 
ago  he  removed  his  residence  from  his  old  home  in 
town  to  his  farm  north  of  and  beyond  its  limits. 
Here,  among  and  in  the  shade  of  the  great  walnut-, 
ash-,  sugar-,  and  elm-trees,  he  built  his  house,  and 
here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  years.  Here, 
walking  or  sitting  beneath  these  grand  representa- 
tives of  the  primeval  forest,  might  be  seen  his  ven- 
erable form  fitly  protected  by  their  shadows.  Here 
he  received  his  friends  and  welcomed  them  to  his 
hospitable   board.     Here   bis   family  assembled,  his 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


177 


children  and  his  children's  children,  to  enjoy  his 
society  and  to  pay  respect  to  his  wishes. 

The  appearance  of  Mr.  Butler  was  not  strikins. 
Of  about  the  average  height,  as  he  walked  he  leaned 
forward,  as  if  in  thought.  His  eye  was  bright  and 
cheerful,  and  the  expression  of  his  countenance  was 
sedate,  indicative  of  sound  judgment,  strong  common 
sense,  an  unruffled  temper,  a  fixedness  of  purpose, 
and  kindness  of  heart.  His  voice  was  not  powerful 
or  clear,  his  delivery  was  slow  and  somewhat  hesitat- 
ing ;  but  such  was  the  matter  of  his  speech,  so  clear, 
cogent,  apt,  and  striking,  that  he  compelled  the  at^ 
tention  of  his  hearers.  The  weight  of  his  character, 
the  power  of  his  example,  the  charm  of  a  life  of  rec- 
titude and  purity  gave  a  force  to  his  words  which, 
coming  from  an  ordinary  man,  might  not  have  been 
so  carefully  heeded.  Emerson  says,  "  It  makes  a 
great  difiFerence  to  the  sentence  whether  there  be  a 
man  behind  it  or  not."  He  was  a  little  shy  and  un- 
obtrusive in  his  manners,  especially  among  strangers, 
but  to  his  old  friends  cordial,  winning,  and  confiding. 
He  avoided  controversies,  kept  quiet  when  they  were 
impending,  and  conciliated  by  his  decorous  forbear- 
ance those  who,  by  active  opposition,  would  have 
been  roused  to  hostility. 

Stronger  than  all  other  features  of  his  character 
was  his  unaffected  piety.  For  many  years  of  his 
life  he  was  an  humble  and  devoted  Christian,  illus- 
trating in  his  daily  walk  and  conversation  the  prin- 
ciples he  professed.  Devout  without  display,  zealous 
and  charitable,  he  placed  before  and  above  all  other 
personal  objects  and  considerations  his  own  spiritual 
culture  ;  looking  to  that  true  and  ultimate  refinement 
which,  begun  on  earth,  is  completed  in  heaven. 

The  great  and  memorable  work  of  Mr.  Butler  was 
connected  with  the  Northwestern  Christian  Univer- 
sity, now  called  "  Butler  University."  •  He,  with 
many  friends,  had  for  some  years  contemplated  the 
establishment  of  this  institution,  and  in  the  winter 
of  1849-50  obtained  the  passage  of  a  charter  through 
the  Legislature  of  this  State.  Mr.  Butler  drafted  it, 
and  had  the  credit  of  giving  expression  in  it  to  the 
peculiar  objects  of  the  University.  The  language  of 
the  section  defining  them  is  as  follows  :  "  An  institu- 
tion of  learning  of  the  highest  class  for  the  education 
12 


of  the  youth  of  all  parts- of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  Northwest ;  to  establish  in  said  institution 
departments  or  colleges  for  the  instruction  of  the 
students  in  every  branch  of  liberal  and  professional 
education  ;  to  educate  and  prepare  suitable  teachers 
for  the  common  schools  of  the  country  ;  to  teach  and 
inculcate  the  Christian  faith  and  Christian  morality 
as  taught  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  discarding  as  un- 
inspired and  without  authority  all  writings,  formulas, 
creeds,  and  articles  of  faith  subsequent  thereto,  and 
for  the  promotion  of  the  sciences  and  arts."  As 
to  intellectual  training,  this  calls  for  a  high  standard. 
As  to  religious  teaching,  it  is  radically  liberal. 

But  Mr.  Butler  was  not  an  aggressive  reformer. 
His  gentle  nature  had  no  taint  of  acrimony  or  intol- 
erance in  it.  While  he  entertained,  announced,  and 
adhered  to  his  own  views  with  unalterable  tenacity, 
he  exercised  toward  all  who  disagreed  with  him  an 
ample  Christian  charity.  He  was  not  a  sectarian  in 
the  narrow  and  offensive  sense.  He  was  willing  to 
wait  patiently  for  the  gradual  and  slow  changes  of 
piiblic  opinion  as  truth  was  developed. 

For  twenty  years  he  served  as  president  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  University,  and  in  1871,  at 
the  age  of  seventy,  he  retired  from  the  office,  saying 
in  his  letter  of  resignation,  "  I  have  given  to  the  in- 
stitution what  I  had  to  offer  of  care,  of  counsel,  of 
labor,  and  of  means,  for  the  purpose  of  building  up 
not  merely  a  literary  institution,  but  for  the  purpose 
of  building  up  a  collegiate  institution  of  the  highest 
class,  in  which  the  divine  character  and  the  supreme 
Lordship  of  Jesus,  the  Christ,  should  be  fully  recog- 
nized and  carefully  taught  to  all  the  students,  to- 
gether with  the  science  of  Christian  morality,  as 
taught  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  and  to  place,  such 
an  institution  in  the  front  ranks  of  human  progress 
and  Christian  civilization  as  the  advocate  and  expo- 
nent of  the  common  and  equal  rights  of  humanity, 
without  distinction  of  sex,  race,  or  color." 

He  had  fought  the  good  fight,  he  had  adhered  to 
his  ptirpose,  he  had  not  labored  in  vain.  But  for 
ten  years  more,  and  until  his  death,  he  gave  the  Uni- 
versity his  attention  and  his  best  thought.  He  had 
devoted  so  many  years  of  his  life  and  so  much  of  his 
energy  to  this  purpose  that  it  had  become  the  hfbit 


178 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUN'J'Y. 


of  his  being  to  promote  and  protect  the  interests  of 
the  University.  His  influence  and  his  spirit  are  still 
as  powerful  as  ever  there.  Absence,  silence,  and 
death  have  no  power  over  them. 

He  did  not  run  to  the  mountains,  or  the  seaside, 
or  Saratoga  for  happiness.  His  residence,  his  car- 
riage, and  his  dress  were  plain.  He  gratified  his 
taste,  but  it  was  an  exalted  one.  The  campus  of  a 
college,  his  gift  to  men,  was  to  him  a  finer  show  than 
deer-parks  or  pleasure-grounds.  The  solid  walls  of 
the  University  were  more  pleasing  than  a  palace 
carved  and  polished  and  decorated  for  his  own  com- 
fort. He  delighted  to  look  upon  well-trained  men 
and  women  rather  than  pictures  and  statuary.  He 
preferred  to  gather  the  young  and  docile  of  the  hu- 
man race,  and  put  them  on  exhibition,  rather  than 
short-horns  or  Morgan  horses,  and  yet  he  did  not 
de.<pise  or  underrate  these  other  good  things.  He 
gratified  a  refined  and  ennobled  taste  when  he  selected 
the  man  for  culture  and  not  the  animal.  But  it  was 
not  all  a  matter  of  taste ;  he  looked  much  farther 
than  that.  He  loved  cultivated  men  and  women  for 
their  uses ;  for  their  power  and  capability  to  do 
good  ;  to  teach  the  truth,  to  set  examples  ;  to  lead 
men  from  vice  and  ignorance ;  and  to  give  them 
strength  and  encouragement.  And  so  he  put  forth, 
fur  many  of  the  best  years  of  his  life,  his  constant 
exertions  to  build  up  a  great  institution  of  learning, 
ill  which  the  principles  of  human  freedom  and  of 
Christianity  should  be  taught  forever.  He  did  not 
die  without  the  sight.  He  in.=pired  many  to  unite 
with  him  in  the  work,  and  has  laid  a  foundation  in  a 
]ilace  and  in  a  way  that,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  will  be 
perpetual  for  great  good. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  the  only  one  known  here 
till  1849,  except  the  Probate  Court,  which  was  hardly 
accounted  a  court,  and  not  held  in  high  consideration, 
being  little  more  than  a  sort  of  relief  to  the  Circuit 
Court,  the  probate  business  of  which  it  assumed. 
The  judge  was  never  or  rarely  a  lawyer,  and  his  bu.si- 
ness  was  that  of  an  accountant  rather  than  a  judge. 
In  1849  the  bar  decided,  after  some  consultation,  that 
the  Circuit  Court  needed  to  be  relieved  in  a  more  ef- 
fective fashion  than  the  Probate  Court  did  it,  and  the 
late  Oliver  H.  Smith  drafted  a  bill  to  create  a  Com- 


mon Pleas  Court  for  this  county.  It  passed,  and 
Abram  A.  Hammond,  subsequently  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor and  Governor,  was  made  the  first  judge  and 
clerk,  the  bill  adding  one  duty  to  the  other  to  make 
the  fees  a  sufiicient  salary.  In  a  year  he  went  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Lander,  an  elder 
brother  of  the  late  Gen.  Fred.  Lander,  and  the 
first  chief  justice  of  Washington  Territory.  An  act 
of  the  Legislature  of  May  11,  1852,  abolished  this 
local  court  and  created  a  State  system  of  Common 
Pleas  Courts,  specially  charged  with  probate  business, 
but  given  also  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  and  ju.stices  of  the  peace  in  a  certain 
range  of  civil  and  criminal  business.  The  order  of 
judges  of  this  court  will  be  found  in  the  list  of  county 
officers.  The  district  contained  Marion,  Boone,  and 
Hendricks  Counties.  In  1873  "  all  matters  and  bus- 
iness pending  in  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas"  were 
"  transferred  to  the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  proper 
counties,"  and  the  system  of  Common  Pleas  Courts 
came  to  an  end,  after  an  existence  in  Marion  County 
of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  the  courts  of  inferior  jurisdiction  the  justices 
of  the  county  and  city  occasionally  attained  a  credit- 
able and  well-earned  distinction.  Among  these  were 
Henry  Brady,  Thomas  Morrow,  Samuel  Moore, 
Charles  Bonge,  Hiram  Bacon,  James  Johnson,  John 
C.  Hume,  and  others  in  the  county  outside  of  the 
city ;  and  in  the  city,  Obed  Foote,  Henry  Bradley, 
Caleb  Scudder,  Charles  Fisher,  and  particularly  Wil- 
liam Sullivan,  whose  long  tenure  of  the  office,  with 
the  extent  of  his  business  and  the  soundness  of  his 
judgment,  made  him  of  almost  equal  authority  with 
the  Circuit  Court.  For  many  years  he  was  almost 
the  only  justice  of  the  peace  that  the  bar  would  trust 
with  any  business. 

William  Sullivan.— The  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Sullivan  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland  and  the  adjoining  State 
of  Delaware.  His  grandfather,  Moses  Sullivan,  was 
of  Irish-English  descent,  and  his  wife,  Mary  Parker, 
of  Kent  County,  ISId.,  was  of  English  extraction. 
Their  children  were  David,  William,  and  Mary,  the 
first-named  of  whom  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.    He  married  Elizabeth  Peacock  in  1794, 


CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


179 


and  settled  in  Kent  County,  Md.  Their  children 
were  Joel,  Aaron,  Sarah,  Nathan  P.,  William,  Ellen 
C.,  and  Georsie  R.  The  survivor  of  these  children, 
William  Sullivan,  was  born  April  25,  1803.  His 
father  having  died  when  the  lad  was  in  his  fifth  year, 
he  was  placed  in  the  academy  at  Elkton,  Md.,  and 
remained  at  this  institution  until  his  seventeenth 
year.  On  the  death  of  his  mother  in  1827  he  made 
an  extended  tour  for  purposes  of  observation  and 
improvement,  and  continued  his  studies,  after  which 
he  accepted  employment  from  a  corps  of  civil  engi- 
neers as  land  surveyor  and  general  assistant,  and 
gained  much  practical  knowledge  in  this  vocation. 

He  removed  in  1833  to  Ohio,  and  for  a  term  en- 
gaged in  teaching,  subsequently  entering  Hanover 
College,  Indiana,  where  he  was  employed  both  in 
study  and  as  an  instructor.  In  1834  Indianapolis 
became  his  home,  where  he  immediately  opened  a 
private  school,  and  later  became  connected  with  the 
Marion  County  Seminary,  of  which  he  acted  as  prin- 
cipal. In  1836  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of 
civil  engineer  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  and  under 
his  direction  the  first  street  improvements  were  made. 
The  office  of  county  surveyor  of  Marion  County  was 
also  conferred  upon  him.  During  this  time  he  con- 
structed a  large  map  of  the  city  for  general  use,  and 
a  smaller  one  for  the  use  of  citizens.  Mr.  Sullivan 
took  an  active  interest  in  educational  matters,  and 
was  instrumental  in  organizing  and  building  the 
Franklin  Institute,  which  in  its  day  enjoyed  a  suc- 
cessful career.  He  on  dissolving  his  connection  with 
this  institution  accepted  the  appointment  of  United 
States  deputy  surveyor  of  public  lands,  and  imme- 
diately entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in 
Northern  Michigan  among  the  Chippewa  Indians, 
then  a  tnjublesonie  and  dangerous  tribe.  He  was, 
while  discharging  the  duties  of  this  office,  appointed 
chief  assistant  of  the  distribution  post-office,  then 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  and  held  the  position  for 
four  years,  keeping  account  of  the  business  and 
making  quarterly  and  final  settlement  of  the  office 
receipts  during  the  whole  of  that  time. 

In  the  spring  of  1641  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the 
city,  and  served  one  term.  In  the  fall  of  that  year 
he  was  chosen  justice  of  the  peace  in  and  for  Centre 


township,  Marion  Co.,  at  Indianapolis,  and  continued 
to  hold  the  office  until  1867,  a  period  of  twenty-six 
years,  frequently  discharging  the  duties  of  police 
judge  during  the  absence  of  the  mayor.  He  was 
also,  while  acting  as  justice  of  the  peace,  the  only 
United  States  commissioner  at  Indianapolis.  He  was 
later  appointed  by  the  United  States  Court  the  com- 
missioner in  bankruptcy  for  the  State  of  Indiana. 
Meanwhile  he  has  devoted  both  means  and  time  to 
public  improvements,  particularly  to  plank-,  gravel-, 
and  railroads  centring  at  Indianapolis,  serving  for 
several  years  as  a  director  of  the  Central  Railway 
from  Richmond  to  Indianapolis,  and  subsequently  as 
trustee  of  the  Peru  and  Indianapolis  Railroad.  Mr. 
Sullivan  was  a  well-read  elementary  lawyer  before 
coming  West.  On  retiring  from  active  pursuits  in 
1867  he  had  a  large  amount  of  unsettled  business, 
which  induced  him  to  be  admitted  as  a  practicing 
attorney  in  the  various  courts  of  Marion  County, 
though  he  has  during  later  years  declined  business 
for  other  parties.  In  politics  he  acted  with  the 
Democrats  until  the  passage  of  the  "  Kansas- Nebraska 
Acts,"  since  which  time  he  has  voted  with  the  Re- 
publican party.  On  the  8th  of  March,  1835,  Mr. 
Sullivan  was  married  to  Miss  Clarissa  Tomliuson, 
who  was  of  Scotch  and  English  descent,  and  resided 
in  Indianapolis.  Their  children  now  living  are  Clara 
E.  (wife  of  Col.  Richard  F.  May,  of  Helena,  Mon- 
tana), Flora  (wife  of  E.  Wulschner,  of  Indianapolis), 
and  George  II.  Sullivan,  who  married  Miss  Annie 
Russell,  of  Indianapolis,  and  has  one  son,  Russell. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sullivan,  though  advanced  in 
years,  enjoy  excellent  health  and  exceptional  mental 
vigor. 

In  1865  the  Criminal  Circuit  Court  of  Marion 
County  was  created  to  relieve  the  original  court  of  a 
class  of  business  that  consumed  a  great  deal  of  time, 
obstructed  important  interests,  and  largely  increased 
the  cost  of  maintaining  the  court  to  the  county  and 
the  costs  of  litigation  to  parties.  A  separate  court 
would  hasten  the  dispatch  of  business  of  all  kinds, 
and  be  a  money-saving  as  well  as  trouble-saving 
measure.  The  Criminal  Court,  however,  was  not 
separated  so  completely  from  the  parent  court  as  was 
that  of  the  Common  Pleas  in  1849.     It  was  separate 


180 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


ouly  in  its  duties  and  its  judges.  The  county  clerk 
had  charge  of  its  papers  and  records,  and  the  county 
sheriff  served  it  as  he  did  the  old  Circuit  Court  and 
the  Common  Pleas  Court.  These  three,  the  Circuit, 
the  Common  Pleas,  and  the  Criminal  Court,  con- 
sitituted  the  judicial  force  of  the  county  from  18G5 
to  1873,  when  the  Common  Pleas  was  reabsorbed  into 
the  Circuit  Court.  The  Criminal  Court  continues, 
with  a  little  modification  since  its  original  establish- 
ment, with  a  series  of  accomplished  and  efficient 
judges,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  list  appended  to  this 
work.  The  member  of  the  city  bar  who  is  probably 
the  best  known  as  an  advocate  in  the  Criminal  Court, 
though  his  practice  is  by  no  means  confined  to  that 
class  of  business,  is  Jonathan  W.  Gordon. 

Hon.  Jonathan  W.  Gordon  was  bom  Aug.  13, 
1820.  His  father,  William  Gordon,  was  an  Irish 
laborer,  who  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1789- 
90,  and  settled  in  Washington  County,  Pa.,  where, 
Aug.  18,  1795,  he  married  Sarah  Wallon,  a  native 
of  Greenbrier  County,  Va.,  by  whom  he  had  fourteen 
children,  of  which  the  subject  of  this  biography  is 
the  thirteenth.  The  father  removed  from  Pennsyl- 
vania to  Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1835,  and  settled 
in  Ripley  County,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
Jan.  20,  1841.  His  wife  survived  him  until  May 
29,  1857,  when  she  died  at  the  residence  of  her 
youngest  daughter,  Mrs.  Charlotte  T.  Kelley. 

In  the  mean  time  the  subject  of  this  sketch  mar- 
ried Miss  Catharine  J.  Overturf,  April  3,  1843 ; 
entered  upon  the  profession  of  the  law  Feb.  27, 
1844  ;  went  to  Mexico,  June  9,  1846,  as  a  volunteer 
in  the  Third  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers ;  lost 
his  health  in  the  service,  and  upon  his  return  aban- 
doned the  law  and  studied  medicine  on  account  of 
hemorrhage  of  the  lungs;  was  graduated  as  M.D. 
from  Asbury  University  in  1851,  and  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law  at  Indianapolis  in  1852.  He  was 
elected  prosecuting  attorney  in  1854 ;  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  General  As- 
sembly in  1856,  and  again  in  1858  ;  and  during  the 
latter  term  was  twice  chosen  Speaker. 

In  1859  he  was  nominated  by  many  members  of 
the  bar,  without  distinction  of  party,  for  the  office 
of  Common  Pleas  judge,  made  vacant  by  the  death 


of  Hon.  David  Wallace ;  but,  finding  that  some 
aspirants  for  the  position  desired  a  party  contest,  he 
declined  the  race,  holding  that  the  judicial  office 
ought  to  be  kept  clear  of  party  politics.  In  1860  he 
took  an  active  part  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  to 
whose  nomination  he  had  largely  contributed  by  de- 
feating an  instruction  of  the  Indiana  delegation  for 
Edward  Bates.  His  speech  against  Mr.  Bates  was 
published,  and  though  effective  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  delivered,  was  scarcely  less  so  to  prevent 
his  own  appointment  to  any  civil  position  under  Mr. 
Lincoln.  In  1861  he  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  but  resigned  the  position  for  a 
place  in  the  ranks  of  the  army  upon  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  He  served  during  the  three  months'  ser- 
vice in  the  Ninth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
received  from  the  President  during  the  time  the 
appointment  of  major  in  the  Eleventh  United  States 
Infantry.  He  accepted  the  position  and  served  in 
garrison  duty  until  March  4,  1864,  when  he  resigned; 
and,  returning  to  Indianapolis,  resumed  the  practice 
of  the  law.  He  united  with  those  represented  in  the 
Cleveland  Convention  of  that  year  in  the  support  of 
Gen.  Fremont,  but  when  he  ceased  to  be  a  candidate, 
supported  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  made  two  political 
speeches  during  the  contest,  taking  strong  ground 
against  public  corruption,  and  the  exercise  of  all  un- 
authorized power.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  he 
defended  those  citizens  of  the  State  who  were  ar- 
raigned and  tried  before  military  commissions,  and 
maintained  the  want  of  any  jurisdiction  on  the  part 
of  such  commissions  to  try  a  citizen  of  a  State  not 
involved  in  actual  war.  His  argument  was  printed 
and  largely  circulated  at  the  time,  and  it  is  believed 
that  little  was  added  to  it  by  any  subsequent  discus- 
sions. He  opposed  not  so  much  the  impeachment 
of  President  Johnson,  as  the  heated  and  partisan 
manner  in  which  the  Republican  party  tried  to  make 
it  effective.  This  he  opposed  with  zeal  and  enthu- 
siasm from  first  to  last,  and  when  it  failed  in  the 
vote  on  the  eleventh  article,  congratulated  the  coun- 
try on  its  failure. 

He  supported  Gen.  Grant  in  1868,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  canvass  delivered  one  of  his  ablest 
speeches    in    defense  of  the   constitutionality  of  the 


w& 


^i'C5">— S^Cc/Vt/ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


181 


measures  of  Congress  for  the  reconstruction  of  gov- 
ernments in  the  seceding  States.  In  the  spring  of 
1SG9  he  suffered  a  great  loss  in  the  burning  of  his 
house  and  the  greater  part  of  his  library.  This  loss 
he  has  never  been  able  to  repair,  and  his  preparation 
in  many  a  great  controversy  since  has  limped  be- 
cause of  it.  In  1872  he  again  supported  Grant;  was 
phiecd  at  the  head  of  his  electoral  ticket  in  the  State, 
and  being  elected  was  chosen  by  his  colleagues 
president  of  the  electoj'al  college.  In  his  speech 
upon  taking  the  chair,  he  endeavored  to  ameliorate 
the  asperity  of  party  feeling  and  spirit  by  a  generous 
tribute  to  the  great  journalist  who  had  been  sup- 
ported by  the  opponents  of  the  President.  His  party 
nominated  him  in  1876  for  the  office  of  attorney-gen- 
eral of  the  State,  but  as  the  party  was  defeated  that 
year  in  the  State,  he  went  down  with  the  rest.  In 
1868  he  ran  for  and  was  elected  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly.  His  can- 
vass was  regarded  as  indiscreet  and  audacious  by 
many  of  his  more  prudent  friends.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  its  most  prominent  leader,  the  Republican 
party  of  the  State  was  deeply  poisoned  with  the 
greenback  virus.  He  knew  this  as  well  as  others ; 
but  believing  that  it  was  altogether  more  important 
that  sound  views  on  the  subject  of  the  currency 
should  be  presented  to  the  people  than  that  he  should 
be  elected  to  the  Legislature,  he  exposed  and  ridiculed 
the  fallacies  of  the  greenbackers  without  stint  or 
mercy.  His  defeat  was  confidently  predicted  by 
many  prominent  men  of  his  own  party  ;  but  at  the 
close  of  the  election  it  was  found  that  just  views  are 
understood  and  appreciated  by  the  people,  for  he 
ran  as  well  as  his  associates  on  the  ticket.  In  the 
Legislature  he  devoted  his  labors  and  time  to  the 
amendment  of  the  criminal  law,  so  as  to  secure  con- 
viction of  the  guilty  in  many  cases  where  it  was  be- 
fore next  to  impossible.  His  labors  were  defeated 
for  want  of  time  to  carry  them  through.  He  did 
succeed,  however,  in  limiting  the  power  of  courts  to 
punish  for  contempt,  a  thing  hitherto  neglected  in 
the  State. 

Having  lost  his  first  wife,  he  married  Miss  Julia 
L.  Dumont,  March  13,  1862.  He  has  had  six  chil- 
dren, five  by  his  first,  and  one  by  his  last  wife. 


He  has  followed  his  profession  with  a  fair  degree 
of  success,  bestowing  great  labor  upon  such  new 
questions  as  have  from  time  to  time  arisen  in  the 
course  of  his  practice.  In  several  instances  he  has, 
it  is  believed,  given  a  permanent  bent  to  the  law 
as  decided  by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  State  ; 
but  has  in  others  failed  where  ho  believed,  and  still 
believes,  that  he  was  right.  In  such  cases  he  finds 
consolation  in  the  faith  that  just  principles  do  finally 
triumph,  and  that  his  defeats  are  not  final.  He  has 
not  been  satisfied  to  be  merely  a  lawyer,  but  has 
taken  a  general  view  of  literature  and  philosophy. 
Smitten  with  the  love  of  poetry,  he  has  sometimes 
mistaken  it  for  the  impulsions  of  genius,  and  essayed 
to  sing.  Some  of  his  fugitive  pieces  have  met  with 
popular  favor,  and  others  with  neglect.  In  this  way 
he  has  been  preserved  from  surrendering  himself  to 
the  muses  by  the  dead  level  of  appreciation.  He  is 
not  likely  now  to  be  spoiled  by  the  passion  for  literary 
success.  His  last  published  poem  shall  end  this 
sketch. 

THE    OPEN    GATE. 
I  stand  far  down  upon  a  shaded  slope, 
And  near  the  valley  of  a  silent  river, 
Whose  tideless  waters  darkling,  stagnant  mope, 
Through  climes  beyond  the  flight  of  earthward  hope, 
Forever  and  forever. 

No  sail  is  seen  upon  the  sullen  stream, 

No  breath  of  air  to  make  it  crisp  or  quiver. 
Nor  sun,  nor  star  to  shed  the  faintest  gleam 
To  cheer  its  gloom ;  but  as  the  Styx,  we  deem, 
It  creeps  through  might  forever. 

An  open  gate  invites  my  bleeding  feet, 

And  all  life's  forces  whisper,  "  We  are  weary  ; 
Pass  on  and  out,  thou  canst  no  more  repeat 
The  golden  dreams  of  youth  :  and  rest  is  sweet, 
And  darkness  is  not  dreary. 

"  Pass  on  and  out;  the  way  is  plain  and  straight. 

And  countless  millions  have  gone  out  before  thee; 
What  shouldst  thou  fear,  since  men  of  every  state, 
And  clime,  and  time  have  found  the  open  gate, 
The  gate  of  death  or  glory. 

"  Then  fearless  pass  down  to  the  silent  shore, 

And  look  not  back  with  aught  like  vain  regretting ; 
The  sunny  days  of  life  for  thee  are  o'er, 
And  thy  dark  eyes  shall  hail  the  light  no  more,— 
The  final  sun  is  setting." 


182 


HISTORY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


They  cease;  and  silent  through  the  gate  I  glide, 
And  down  the  shore  unto  the  dismal  river, 

That  doth  the  lands  of  Death  and  Life  divide, 

To  find,  I  trust,  upon  the  farther  side 
Life,  light,  and  love  forever. 

In  1871  the  Superior  Court  of  Marion  County 
was  created  with  three  judges,  from  the  decision  of 
any  one  of  whom  an  appeal  lay  to  all  of  them  in 
"banc."  In  1877,  March  5,  the  number  of  judges 
was  increased  to  four,  and  reduced  again  to  three  by 
the  act  of  May  31,  1879.  One  of  the  most  noted 
judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  though  not  of  the  first 
three,  was  Samuel  E.  Perkins,  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Samuel  Elliott  Perkins  was  born  in  Brattle- 
boro',  Vt.,  Dec.  6,  1811,  being  the  second  son  of 
John  Trumbull  and  Catharine  Willard  Perkins. 
His  parents  were  both  natives  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
and  were  temporarily  residing  in  Brattleboro',  where 
his  father  was  pursuing  the  study  of  law  with  Judge 
Samuel  Elliott.  Before  he  was  five  years  old  his 
father  died,  and  his  mother  removed  with  her  chil- 
dren to  Conway,  Mass.,  where  she  also  died  soon 
afterward.  Before  this,  however,  Mrs.  Perkins 
being  unable  to  support  her  family,  Elliott  was 
adopted  by  William  Baker,  a  respectable  farmer  of 
Conway,  with  whum  he  lived  and  labored  unlil  he 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  During  this  time,  by 
the  aid  of  three  months'  annual  schooling  in  the  free 
schools  in  winter,  and  by  devoting  evenings  and  rainy 
days  to  books,  he  secured  a  good  English  education, 
and  began  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek.  After 
attaining  his  majority  he  pursued  his  studies  in 
difierent  schools,  working  for  his  board  and  teaching 
in  vacation  to  provide  means  for  tuition  and  clothing. 
The  last  year  of  this  course  of  study  was  spent  at  the 
Yates  County  Academy,  N.  Y.,  then  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Seymour  B.  Gookins,  Esq.,  a  brother  of  the 
late  Judge  Gookins,  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind.  Having 
obtained  a  fair  classical  education  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law  in  Penn  Yan,  the  county-seat  of  Yates 
County,  in  the  office  of  Thomas  J.  Nevius,  Esq.,  and 
afterward  as  a  fellow-student  of  Judge  Brinkerhoff, 
late  of  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Ohio,  studying  in  the 
office  of  Henry  Welles,  Esq.,  since  one  of  the  judges 


of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York.  In  the  fall  of 
1836  he  came  alone,  on  foot,  from  Bufl'alo,  N.  Y.,  to 
Richmond,  Ind.,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  not 
being  acquainted  with  a  single  individual  in  the 
State.  His  original  intention  had  been  to  locate  in 
Indianapolis,  but  on  reaching  Richmond  he  found 
the  roads  impassable  from  recent  heavy  storms,  it 
being  necessary  to  carry  even  the  mails  on  horse- 
back. Finding  it  impossible  to  proceed  farther,  and 
desiring  to  lose  no  time  in  qualifying  himself  for 
practice,  he  inquired  for  a  lawyer's  office,  and  was 
referred  to  Judge  J.  W.  Borden,  then  a  practicing 
attorney  in  Richmond,  and  now  criminal  judge  of 
Allen  County.  He  spent  the  winter  in  his  office 
doing  office  work  for  his  board.  In  the  spring  of 
1837,  after  a  satisfactory  examination  before  Hon. 
Jehu  T.  Elliott,  Hon.  David  Kiigore,  and  Hon. 
Andrew  Kennedy,  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
court  for  that  purpose,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
at  Centreville,  Wayne  Co.,  Ind.  He  immediately 
opened  an  office  in  Richmond,  and  soon  obtained  a 
large  and  lucrative  practice.  The  Jeffersonian,  a 
weekly  paper,  had  been  established  in  1837  by  a 
Democratic  club,  with  Mr.  Perkins  as  editor.  In 
1838  the  Jeffersonian  was  sold  to  Lynde  Elliott, 
who  conducted  it  about  a  year  and  failed.  He  had 
mortgaged  the  press  to  Daniel  Reed,  of  Fort  Wayne, 
for  more  than  its  value.  Mr.  Reed  visited  Rich- 
mond, after  Elliott's  failure,  for  the  purpose  of  mov- 
ing the  press  to  Fort  Wayne.  Unwilling  that  the 
Democracy  of  the  place  should  be  without  an  organ, 
Mr.  Perkins  came  forward  and  paid  off  the  mort- 
gage, took  the  press,  recommenced  the  publication 
of  the  Jeffersonian,  and  continued  it  through  the 
campaign  of  1840.  In  1843  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Wiiitcomb  pro.?ecutiug  attorney  of  the 
Sixth  Judicial  Circuit.  In  1844  he  was  one  of  the 
electors  who  cast  the  vote  of  the  State  for  Mr.  Polk. 
In  the  winter  of  1844,  and  again  in  1845,  he  was 
nominated  by  Governor  Whitcomb,  a  cautious  man 
and  good  judge  of  character,  to  a  seat  on  the 
Supreme  Bench,  but  was  not  confirmed.  On  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  quite  unexpectedly 
to  himself,  he  received  from  the  Governor  the  ap- 
pointment for   one  year  to  the  office  for  which  he 


^^^^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


183 


had  been  nominated.  He  was  then  thirty-four  years 
of  age,  and  had  been  at  the  bar  and  a  resident  of  the 
State  but  nine  years.  With  much  reluctance  he  ac- 
cepted the  appointment,  having  to  risk  the  reelection 
of  Governor  Whitcomb  for  a  renomination  to  the 
Senate  the  following  year.  He  was,  however,  re- 
elected, and  Judge  Perkins,  having  served  on  the 
beneli  one  year,  was  renominated  and  confirmed  by 
the  Senate,  receiving  a  two-thirds  vote,  seven  Whig 
senators  voting  for  him.  In  1852,  and  again  in 
1858,  he  was  elected,  under  the  new  Constitution,  by 
the  vote  of  the  people  to  the  same  position,  and  was 
therefore  on  the  Supreme  Bench  nineteen  consecu- 
tive years.  When,  in  the  stress  of  political  disaster 
in  18G4,  he  left  that  court  he  did  not  therefore 
despair  or  retire,  but  entered  at  once  into  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  In  1857  he  accepted  the 
appointment  of  professor  of  law  in  the  Northwestern 
Christian  (now  Butler)  University,  which  position 
he  retained  several  years.  In  1870-72  he  was 
professor  of  law  at  the  Indiana  State  University,  at 
Bloomington.  He  felt  much  pride  and  gratification 
in  the  marked  success  of  so  many  of  his  students. 
In  addition  to  his  immense  labor  as  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  professor  of  law, 
he  prepared  in  1858  the  "  Indiana  Digest,"  a  book 
containing  eight  hundred  and  seventy  pages,  and 
requiring  in  its  writing,  arrangement,  and  compila- 
tion for  the  press  a  great  amount  of  labor,  involving 
the  deepest  research  into  the  statutes  of  the  State 
and  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  This  work 
has  received  the  approbation  of  the  members  of  the 
Indiana  bar  as  a  work  of  great  merit  and  utility.  In 
1859  he  also  produced  the  "Indiana  Practice,"  a 
work  requiring  an  equal  amount  of  labor.  In  1868 
he  undertook  the  editorship  of  the  Herald,  formerly 
and  since  the  Sentinel,  the  Democratic  State  organ. 
In  August,  1872,  he  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Baker,  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of 
Judge  Rand,  to  a  seat  on  the  Superior  Bench  of 
Marion  County,  a  nisi  prius  and  inferior  tribunal, 
one  of  great  labor  and  responsibility,  and  discharged 
its  duties  with  all  diligence  and  fidelity.  He  was 
subsequently  elected  to  the  same  ofiice  in  1874  with- 
out opposition.     Nor  was  there  ever  a  juster  act  of 


popular  gratitude  and  recognition  than  when  the 
people  of  the  State,  in  1876,  almost  without  action 
upon  his  part,  took  him  from  this  place  and  returned 
him  to  a  higher  station  in  the  courts  of  the  common- 
wealth which  he  had  formerly  so  long  adorned  with 
his  presence.  To  his  studious  application,  which 
supplemented  the  natural  qualities  of  his  mind,  much 
was  due  for  the  reputation  of  the  Indiana  Supreme 
Bench  in  the  days  when  it  was  honored  for  its  wis- 
dom. He  helped  to  give  it  the  name  it  had  in  the 
days  of  Blackford  and  Dewey,  his  first  associates  in 
the  court,  and  not  the  smallest  part  of  the  loss  occa- 
sioned by  his  death  is,  that  it  deprives  the  bench  of 
the  quality  it  needs  most  and  has  least.  Shortly  after 
Judge  Perkins'  appointment  to  the  Supreme  Bench 
he  became  a  resident  of  Indianapolis,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  live  until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  took 
a  lively  interest  in  the  development  of  the  material 
interests  of  his  adopted  city,  and  during  his  long 
residence  there  assisted  with  his  means  and  influence 
in  many  enterprises  looking  toward  the  prosperity  of 
Indianapolis.  As  he  was  familiar  with  adversity  in 
his  early  days,  and  often  experienced  all  that  was 
bitter  in  poverty,  his  heart  continually  prompted 
him  to  acts  of  benevolence  toward  the  unfortunate 
of  his  neighborhood.  It  was  a  mystery  to  many  how 
he  could  apply  himself  professionally  with  such  unre- 
mitting diligence,  and  at  the  same  time  take  such  a 
lively  interest  in  everything  looking  toward  the  pros- 
perity of  Indianapolis  ;  but  the  fact  is  he  knew  no 
rest;  he  was  indefatigable;  he  never  tired  when  there 
was  anything  to  be  done.  His  life  was  an  unceasing 
round  of  labors  which  he  never  neglected,  and  which 
he  pursued  with  a  devoted  industry  from  which  more 
robust  constitutions  might  have  recoiled.  On  politi- 
cal subjects  the  judge  was  a  pertinent  and  forcible 
writer,  and  when  his  pen  engaged  in  miscellany  its 
productions  possessed  a  truthful  brevity,  perspicuity, 
and  beauty  which  ranked  them  among  the  best  liter- 
ary productions  of  the  day.  His  eulogy  on  the  late 
Governor  Ashbel  P.  Willard,  delivered  in  the  Senate 
chamber  during  the  November  term  (1860)  of  the 
United  States  District  Court,  does  ample  justice  to 
the  character  and  memory  of  that  distinguished  man  ; 
and  the  sentiments  that  pervade  the  entire  address 


184 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


bear  testimony  to  the  soundness  of  the  head  and 
jjuodness  of  the  heart  from  which  they  emanated. 
The  pith  and  fibre  of  his  mental  faculties  are  not  by 
anything  better  attested  than  by  the  very  evident 
growth  and  progress  of  his  judicial  style.  His  mind 
was  of  that  finest  material  which  does  not  dull  with 
age  or  become  stale  with  usage.  He  improved 
steadily  and  constantly  to  the  very  last.  His  last 
opinions  are  his  best.  There  is  in  these  a  manifest 
terseness,  a  cautious,  careful  trimming  and  lopping  oflF 
of  all  superfluousness ;  the  core  only,  the  very  kernel 
of  the  point  to  be  decided,  is  presented.  But  for  this 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  a  Aiuit  in  his  earlier  writings 
he  is  not  to  be  upbraided,  but  commended  rather  for 
the  moral  courage  necessary  in  the  avowal  and  avoid- 
ance of  such  fault.  The  first,  and  not  the  least, 
quality  in  a  judge  is  thorough  integrity  of  purpose 
and  action.  In  this  great  qualification  he  was  fault- 
less. In  a  long  and  diversified  course  of  public  life 
no  charge  was  ever  made  against  him  of  corruption 
or  oppression,  or  even  of  discourtesy  or  unkindness. 
In  his  intercourse,  whether  with  his  colleagues  of  the 
bench  and  bar,  or  with  the  people  at  large,  no  stain 
was  ever  found  upon  the  ermine  which  he  wore. 
Too  much  praise  can  hardly  be  bestowed  upon  the 
firmness  with  which  he  maintained  his  political 
integrity.  In  early  life  an  ardent  friend  and  sup- 
porter of  the  principles  of  Jackson  and  Jefi'erson,  he 
remained  faithful  in  his  adherence  to  them  to  the 
end.  There  were  many  notable  examples  in  his  day 
of  political  apostasy ;  there  were  many  of  his  contem- 
poraries who,  yielding  to  what  was  called  the  force  of 
circumstances,  did 

"  Crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee, 
That  thrift  might  follow  fawning." 

But  he  was  not  of  the  number.  At  the  grand 
assizes  of  the  future,  posterity  will  award  to  the 
late  chief  justice  of  Indiana  the  white  glove  of 
purity,  in  token  of  a  lengthened  term  of  public  ser- 
vice in  which  justice  was  administered  without  fear, 
without  favor,  and  without  reproach.  Judge  Per- 
kins died  of  paralysis  of  the  brain,  at  his  residence 
on  West  New  York  Street,  Indianapolis,  at  mid- 
night, Dec.  17,  1879,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his 
age.     He  died  full  of  years  and  honors. 


It  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of  a  single  individual  in 
these  feverish  and  changeful  times  to  fill  a  position 
of  such  high  honor  and  trust  in  the  State  such  a 
length  of  time.  As  is  customary  on  the  death  of  a 
member  of  the  profession,  a  bar  meeting  was  called, 
and,  after  appropriate  remarks,  the  following  memo- 
rial was  reported  by  Governor  Baker,  as  chairman 
of  a  special  committee  : 

"  Again,  in  the  history  of  the  State,  death  has  entered  the 
Supreme  Court  and  made  vacant  a  seat  upon  its  bench.  The 
chief  justice  is  dead.  ^Ye  meet  to  do  suitable  honor  to  the 
name  and  memory,  and  mourn  the  death,  of  Judge  Perkins. 
Uis  eminent  success  is  an  encouragement,  bis  death  an  admo- 
nition. Endowed  with  strong  and  active  faculties,  he  pursued 
the  purposes  of  his  life  with  fortitude  and  determination,  and 
at  the  close  of  his  career  he  stood  among  the  distinguished  of  a 
profession  in  which  distinction  must  be  merited  to  be  achieved. 

"  He  was  successful  in  life,  and  attained  exalted  position  and 
enjoyed  the  admiration  and  approval  of  his  countrymen,  not 
only  because  of  his  excellent  natural  endowments,  but  also 
beeanse  his  faculties  were  cultivated  and  developed  by  diligent 
labor,  and  beautified  by  extensive  and  useful  learning,  and  also 
because  his  motives  were  pure  and  his  conduct  upright.  In 
this  we  have  a  lesson  und  an  encouragement. 

'•  The  people  gave  him  high  honor,  and  made  it  as  enduring 
as  the  laws  and  the  records  of  the  State.  His  name  is  forever 
interwoven  in  our  judicial  history.  So  long  as  society  shall 
remain  org.anized  under  the  government  of  law  will  the  student 
of  laws  consult  his  opinions  and  decisions.  Through  coming 
generations  will  his  labor  and  learning  influence  both  the  legis- 
lator and  the  judge. 

"He  was  an  able  and  faithful  judge,  and  brought  honor  on 
our  profession.     We  will  cherish  his  memory. 

"  In  his  death  we  are  admonished  that  no  earthly  distinction 
can  defeat  or  postpone  the  *  inevitable  hour.' 

'The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave.' 

"To  his  family  and  kindred  we  extend  our  sympathy." 

Judge  Perkins  was  married,  in  1838,  to  Amanda 
Juliette  Pyle,  daughter  of  Joseph  Pyle,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Richmond,  Ind.  By  this  marriage  there 
were  ten  children,  three  of  whom  lived  to  maturity. 
Mary  married  Oscar  B.  Hord,  and  died  in  187-1, 
leaving  four  sons, — Samuel  E.  P.,  Henry  E.,  Frank 
T.,  and  Ricketts  Hord.  Emma  married  H.  C.  Hol- 
brook,  and  died  without  children.  Samuel  Elliott, 
Jr.,  the  only  one  now  living,  married  Sue  E.  Hatch, 
and  has  two  little  sons, — Samuel  Elliott  and  Volney 
Hatch  Perkins. 

In  the  three  "  rooms"  or  divisions  of  the  Superior 


CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


185 


Court  is  now  transacted  mucli  the  larger  proportion 
of  all  the  civil  business  of  the  county,  except  probate 
business,  which  all  goes  to  the  Circuit  Court.  The 
sessions  run  on  almost  continuously  from  one  year's 
end  to  another.  The  succession  of  judges  will  be 
fiiund  in  the  appended  list  of  county  officers.  Among 
those  who  have  served  with  efficiency  and  high  credit 
none  have  left  the  bench  with  a  more  desirable 
record  and  reputation  than  Judge  John  A.  Holman. 

John  A.  Holman  comes  of  English  stock.  His 
■great-grandfather,  George  Holman,  was  born  in  Mary- 
land, Feb.  11,  1762.  When  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
went  with  his  uncle  to  Kentucky,  where  they  settled 
near  the  site  of  the  city  of  Louisville.  In  February, 
1781,  while  going  to  Harrodsburg,  he  with  his  com- 
panions were  captured  by  the  Indians,  carried  as  a 
prisoner  into  what  is  now  the  northern  part  of  Ohio, 
where  he  was  compelled  to  run  the  gauntlet  and 
barely  escaped  death.  Not  long  afterwards  he  was 
sentenced  by  a  council  to  be  burned  at  the  stake,  but 
was  rescued  by  a  warrior  who  adopted  him  as  a  son. 
He  was  in  captivity  three  years  and  a  half  when  the 
tribe  consented  that  he  might  return  to  Kentucky  to 
obtain  supplies  for  them,  in  company  with  some  of 
their  number.  Returning  through  the  forest  they 
struck  the  Ohio  River  a  few  miles  above  Louisville, 
and,  with  guns  and  blankets  lashed  to  their  backs, 
swam  the  river.  Young  Holman  was  at  once  ran- 
somed and  immediately  entered  the  service  of  Gen. 
George  Rogers  Clark,  and  served  under  him  in  the 
following  campaign. 

On  his  return  from  captivity  he  had  passed  down 
the  White  Water,  and  was  delighted  with  the  coun- 
try. In  180-1  he,  with  two  friends,  returned  to  the 
White  Water  country  and  selected  a  home  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river,  about  two  miles  south  of 
where  the  city  of  Richmond  now  stands,  to  which  he 
removed  his  family  in  the  following  spring.  They 
were  the  first  settlers  in  Wayne  County,  where  he 
resided  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

His  son  William  was  a  captain  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  afterwards  became  a  Methodist  preacher  on  the 
frontier,  and  was  widely  known  for  his  zealous  devo- 
tion to  the  establishment  of  the  principles  of  Meth- 
odism.    James,  another  son  of  the   old  pioneer,  was 


well  known  for  his  steady  integrity.  His  younge.st 
son  was  George  G.  Holman,  who  married  Mary,  the 
daughter  of  Governor  James  Brown  Ray.  Ho  was 
a  leading  merchant  in  Centreville  for  many  years, 
from  whence  he  removed  to  Indianapolis. 

John  A.  Holman,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the 
youngest  child  of  George  G.  and  Mary  Holman.  He 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Indianapoli.s  on  April  16, 
1849.  He  was  educated  at  the  Northwestern  Chris- 
tian University,  graduating  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
Even  before  this  he  had  determined  to  devote  his  life 
to  the  profession  of  the  law.  Immediately  after  com- 
mencement-day he  began  his  studies  under  the  in- 
struction of  those  eminent  jurists,  Samuel  E.  Perkins 
and  David  McDonald,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
ex  gratia,  upon  their  recommendation,  when  but  nine- 
teen years  of  age. 

Martin  M.  Ray,  his  kinsman,  then  practicing  at 
the  Indianapolis  bar,  was  so  well  pleased  with  the 
boy  that  he  took  him  into  his  office  at  once  as  an  as- 
sociate, with  whom  he  remained  in  active  practice 
until  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Ray,  in  August,  1872. 
Although  now  only  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  had 
already  taken  higli  rank  at  the  bar,  and  continued  to 
practice  alone  with  eminent  success  until  1876,  when, 
on  Judge  Perkins  being  again  elected  to  the  Supreme 
Bench,  young  Holman  was  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  appointed  by  Governor  Hendricks  to  the  va- 
cancy on  the  Superior  Bench  of  this  city.  His  early 
training  and  profound  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
jurisprudence  eminently  fitted  him  for  the  discharge 
of  judicial  functions.  He  knew  the  source  and  his- 
tory of  the  law.  He  was  familiar  with  the  origin 
and  development  of  the  rules  of  property  and  busi- 
ness, whether  found  in  statutes  or  recorded  only  in 
the  treatises  and  reports.  His  knowledge  was  so 
thorough  and  his  faculties  so  well  disciplined,  that 
from  the  beginning  he  presided  with  dignity  and  even 
justice.  He  remained  upon  the  bench  until  the  end 
of  the  year  1882,  when  he  again  returned  to  the  bar. 

The  bar  of  Indianapolis  has  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  steadily  recruited  from  the  local  bars  of  the 
State,  and  it  has  thus  become  possessed  of  no  incon- 
siderable share  of  their  ability  and  reputation.  It 
has   in  a  measure   swallowed   them   as   fast  as   they 


186 


HISTORY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


showed  force  enough  to  be  felt  beyond  their  local 
limits.  A  lawyer  in  a  county  town  attracts  atten- 
tion, in  time  gets  to  be  prominent  in  politics,  is 
elected  to  a  State  office,  comes  to  the  capital,  and 
stays.  Others,  for  the  advantages  offered  by  the  Su 
preme  and  Federal  Courts,  come  and  settle  here  perma 
nently.  Thus  came  here  Governor  David  Wallace 
William  J.  Brown,  Oliver  H.  Smith,  Caleb  B.  Smith 
Ovid  Butler,  Samuel  E.  Perkins,  Oliver  P.  Morton 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  Conrad  Baker,  Joseph  E 
McDonald,  John  M.  Butler,  Jonathan  W.  Gordon 
Ralph  Hill,  William  Henderson,  Oscar  B.  Hord 
Benjamin  Harrison,  and  others.  Among  members 
of  the  city  bar  of  national  reputation,  professionally 
and  politically,  are  ex-Governor  and  Senator  Oliver 
P.  Morton,  ex-Governor  and  ex-Senator  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks,  and  ex-Senator  Joseph  E.  McDon- 
ald. 

Oliver  Perry  Morton. — In  the  little  village  of 
Saulsbury,  Wayne  Co.,  Ind.,  on  the  4th  day  of 
August,  1823,  Oliver  Perry  Morton  was  born.  He 
was  of  English  descent,  his  grandfather  having  emi- 
grated from  England  about  the  beginning  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  and  settled  in  New  Jersey.  His 
mother  died  when  he  was  quite  young.  After  the 
death  of  his  mother  the  most  of  his  boyhood  days 
were  spent  with  his  grandparents  in  Ohio,  and  with 
his  widowed  aunts  in  Centreville,  Ind.  His  op- 
portunities for  education  were  rather  limited,  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  put  to  learn  the  hatter's 
trade  with  his  half-brother,  William  T.  Morton.  At 
this  occupation  he  worked  four  years,  employing  all 
his  spare  time  in  study.  Early  in  1843  he  entered 
Miami  University,  at  Oxford,  Ohio.  He  remained 
there  two  years  in  hard  study.  While  there  he  was 
counted  the  best  debater  in  the  University,  and  dis- 
played the  powers  of  presenting  an  argument  that 
afterwards  made  him  so  famous. 

On  leaving  college  he  entered  the  office  of  Hon. 
John  S.  Newman,  at  Centreville,  and  began  the  study 
of  law.  He  was  then  nearly  twenty-two  years  of 
age.  On  the  15th  of  May,  1845,  he  married  Miss 
Lucinda  M.  Burbank,  daughter  of  Isaac  Burbank,  of 
that  place.  This  marriage  proved  a  most  happy  one, 
his  chosen  companion  holding  and  exercising  over  him 


from  their  marriage  until  his  death  an  influence  that 
did  much  to  advance  his  fame. 

He  went  into  the  study  of  the  law  as  he  did  every- 
thing else— with  all  the  energy  and  industry  he  had. 
I  His  preceptor  said  of  him  that  he  was  a  most  labori- 
ous student,  occupying  all  his  time  in  mastering  the 
fundamental  principles.  He  did  nothing  half-way. 
He  centred  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  on  his  study, 
and  his  intense  application  brought  its  reward.  In 
1847  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  entered  the 
practice  of  the  law  in  Centreville.  Although  Indiana 
then  had  not  attained  to  the  powerful  position  she  has 
since  occupied,  the  bar  of  Wayne  County  was  an  ex- 
ceptionally strong  one,  and  one  that  would  have  ranked 
high  in  any  State.  It  numbered  among  its  members 
such  men  as  John  S.  Newman,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  James 
Rariden,  Samuel  W.  Parker,  Jehu  T.  Elliott,  and 
others.  It  was  among  these  men  young  Morton  ex- 
pected to  try  his  fortunes.  They  were  the  men  he 
was  to  meet  and  combat.  They  were  men  learned  in 
the  law,  men  of  high  character,  with  reputations 
already  established,  and  a  young  man  to  occupy  a 
place  among  them  had  to  be  possessed  of  more  than 
ordinary  ability.  Among  these  men  he  soon  came  to 
be  acknowledged  a  sound  lawyer,  and  they  found  that 
in  him  they  met  one  able  to  cope  with  them  before 
the  bench  or  jury.  Business  multiplied,  and  he  was 
retained  in  many  important  cases  in  all  the  neighbor- 
ing counties.  lu  1852  he  was  appointed  judge  of 
the  circuit.  He  had  only  been  practicing  five  years 
when  he  received  this  high  honor.  In  a  circuit  com- 
posed of  such  distinguished  law3'ers  as  those  men- 
tioned above,  this  appointment  at  so  early  an  age  was 
no  light  honor,  and  is  but  an  evidence  of  the  ability 
he  was  recognized  as  possessing.  He  only  remained 
on  the  bench  a  year,  when  he  relinquished  it  to  again 
enter  active  practice,  in  which  he  continued  until 
1860. 

Some  men  have  been  disposed  to  look  upon  him  as 
more  of  a  politician  than  a  lawyer,  and  to  regard  his 
legal  attainments  as  being  limited.  This  was  not  the 
judgment  of  those  who  knew  him.  In  fact,  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  natural  order  of  things  for  a  man  with 
his  analytical  mind  and  his  powers  of  application  to 
have  been  a  poor  lawyer.     The  universal  testimony 


-^T-    i.i'G.E.PeiiMSiC'^i' 


M^/^^ 


OLI\^R   P   MOHTON 

GOVERNOR  OF  INDIANA. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


187 


of  those  who  met  him  at  the  bar  is  that  he  was  a 
master.  His  o;reat  faculty  was  his  power  of  going  to 
the  very  root  of  a  thing.  He  studied  his  cases 
closely,  seized  upon  the  salient  points,  and  those  he 
presented  with  vigor  and  skill.  He  discarded  all  the 
tricks  so  often  resorted  to  by  lawyers,  and  depended 
solely  upon  the  law  and  the  facts.  When  he  was 
ready  to  go  into  the  trial  of  a  case  he  was  prepared 
at  all  points ;  there  were  no  surprises  in  store  for 
him,  but  he  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  every 
feature  of  the  case  and  the  law  bearing  upon  it.  He 
seemed  to  deal  with  the  great  principles  of  the  law, 
and  to  apply  them  to  the  case  at  bar,  disdaining  to 
seize  upon  quibbles  or  technicalities.  In  his  addresses 
to  the  court  or  jury  he  was  always  impressive,  build- 
ing his  facts  into  an  edifice,  cemented  by  the  law, 
that  was  impregnable  against  all  attacks.  One  who 
knew  him  well,  and  had  met  him  at  the  bar,  said  of 
him,  "  His  great  characteristic  was  that  he  studied 
up  his  cases,  and  he  never  came  into  court  without 
giving  evidence  of  careful  preparation.  ...  I  dis- 
tinctly remember  that  in  the  four  years  before  he 
was  called  into  the  service  of  the  State  he  literally 
annihilated  everybody  connected  with  the  bar  of 
Wayne  County,  and  walked  rough-shod  over  all 
other  lawyers  of  the  circuit.  .  .  .  There  are  prob- 
ably few  men  who  have  at  the  same  age  surpassed  him 
in  ability  and  success."  His  success  was  demonstrated 
by  the  fact  that  when  he  left  the  practice  in  1860 
he  was  the  leading  attorney  in  all  Eastern  Indiana, 
and  was  engaged  in  every  prominent  case.  After  his 
death  the  bar  of  Indianapolis  adopted  unanimously 
a  memorial,  in  which  it  was  said,  "  Having  chosen 
his  profession,  Senator  Morton's  place  in  it  by  natural 
right  was  in  the  front  rank,  and,  without  a  struggle, 
he  was  conspicuous  there  by  force  of  character,  gen- 
erous stores  of  knowledge,  and  eminent  ability.  He 
was  a  judge  remarkable  for  the  wise,  speedy,  and 
impartial  administration  of  justice  on  an  important 
circuit  at  an  age  when  most  men  are  making  their 
first  steps  in  professional  life."  The  men  who  drafted 
the  memorial  and  adopted  it  knew  whereof  they 
spoke,  for  Mr.  Morton  had  been  called  at  one  time 
to  preside  over  the  Circuit  Court  of  Indianapolis. 
Of  that  time  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  of 


Indianapolis  said,  "  I  saw  him  but  once  in  the  exor- 
cise of  the  functions  of  judge.  .  .  .  His  decision 
was  a  clear  and  forcible  enunciation  of  the  law, 
which  left  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  heard 
it  of  its  correctness."  His  great  political  rival,  Hun. 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  said  of  him  at  a  public  meet- 
ing, "  I  never  met  Governor  Morton  in  court,  and 
had  no  knowledge  of  his  habit  in  the  management 
of  cases.  I  have  heard  from  others,  however,  that 
which  convinces  me  that  he  was  very  able,  and  I 
know  he  must  have  been,  because  he  possessed  every 
qualification  for  eminence  in  our  profession."  Such 
was  the  testimony  universally  given. 

All  his  speeches  on'the  stump,  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  all  his  messages  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, show  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  law,  especially  constitutional  law.  One  re- 
markable instance  of  this  kind  he  exhibited  in  his 
speech  on  the  right  of  secession.  It  had  been 
claimed  upon  all  hands  that  there  was  no  power 
inherent  in  the  government  to  coerce  a  State.  In 
that  speech  he  took  the  ground  that  secession  was 
the  act  of  individuals  and  not  of  States,  and  ought  to 
be  so  regarded ;  that  the  individuals  could  not  shield 
themselves  behind  State  governments.  This. was  the 
key  to  the  whole  problem.  The  late  Senator  Matt 
H.  Carpenter,  who  had  been  associated  with  him  in 
the  investigation  of  the  Louisiana  case,  said,  "  No 
one  need  tell  me  that  Morton  is  not  a  great  lawyer. 
I  know  better.  I  have  seen  him  and  been  a  witness 
to  his  power  and  knowledge  of  the  law."  Senator 
Thurman,  in  one  of  the  debates,  said,  "  The  Senator 
from  Indiana  may  have  been  a  lawyer  at  one  time, 
but  has  been  too  much  engaged  in  politics,  and  has 
forgotten  the  law  on  this  subject.  He  has  not  kept 
up  his  reading."  Senator  Morton's  only  reply  was  to 
call  from  memory  for  the  reading  by  the  secretary  of 
passages  of  law  from  a  large  number  of  authorities, 
all  so  applicable  to  the  case  and  so  much  against  the 
position  taken  by  his  opponent,  that  Senator  Thur- 
man was  overwhelmed  and  signally  defeated. 

Senator  Morton  was  a  Democrat  in  politics  iu  his 
earlier  years,  and  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  polit- 
ical affairs.  In  1854,  when  the  Missouri  Compromise 
was  repealed,  Mr.  Morton  was  one  of  the  vast  army 


188 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


who  left  the  Democratic  party  and  united  to  stem  the 
tide  of  slavery  aggression,  and  he  became  the  leader 
of  the  new  party  in  his  section  of  the  State.  He 
attended  the  Pittsburgh  Convention  in  1856,  and 
actively  participated  in  its  discussions.  On  the  first 
of  May  of  that  year  the  new  party  met  at  Indianap- 
olis to  nominate  a  State  ticket.  Mr.  Morton  was 
elected  unanimously  to  head  the  ticket.  His  oppo- 
nent was  Hon.  A.  P.  Willard,  the  idol  of  his  party, 
and  who  was  regarded  as  the  ablest  sturap  speaker  in 
the  State.  A  joint  canvass  was  arranged,  nnd  the 
champion  of  the  new  party  soon  proved  himself  more 
than  a  match  for  his  opponent  in  debate.  His  strong, 
logical  arguments  utterly  drove  his  antagonist  from 
all  his  defenses.  The  election  resulted  in  favor  of 
the  Democrats,  and  Mr.  Morton  thousrht  his  polit- 
ical career  was  ended.  The  Republican  party  grew 
very  rapidly  between  185G  and  1860.  In  the  latter 
year  he  accepted  the  second  place  on  the  ticket  with 
Hon.  Henry  S.  Lane  as  its  head.  Ho  throw  himself 
heart  and  soul  into  the  canvass,  and  was  everywhere 
recognized  as  the  most  powerful  debater  in  either 
party.     This  time  his  party  was  successful. 

The  anticipated  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  Presi- 
dent had  brought  about  threats  of  secession,  and  his 
success  was  no  sooner  heralded  than  South  Carolina 
made  haste  to  take  herself,  as  she  thought,  out  of  the 
Union.  It  was  a  critical  time.  All  hearts  feared  the 
Union  was  gone.  The  prevailing  sentiment  seemed 
to  be  that  there  was  no  remedy  for  secession.  The 
Democrats  held  that  there  was  no  power  to  coerce  a 
State,  and  the  leading  Republicans  were  advocating 
that  the  "wayward  sister"  should  be  permitted  to  de- 
part in  peace.  There  were  stormy  forebodings  on  all 
sides.  The  idea  of  civil  war  was  abhorrent,  yet  the 
loyal  people  did  not  like  the  idea  of  having  the  Union 
dismembered.  In  the  midst  of  this  general  gloom 
there  came  a  lightning  flash  which  electrified  the 
North  and  startled  the  South.  On  the  22d  of  No- 
vember a  monster  meeting  was  held  in  Indianapolis  to 
ratify  the  election  of  Lincoln.  The  newly-elected 
Governor  Lane  and  others  spoke.  Their  speeches 
were  of  a  conciliatory  nature.  At  length  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Morton  arose,  and  in  his  very  first  words 
the  vast  audience  saw  that  the  man  had  come  with 


the  hour.  There  was  no  uncertainty  with  him.  He 
at  the  very  outset  announced  that  if  the  issue  was  to 
be  disunion  and  war,  he  was  for  war.  It  was  a  mo- 
mentous occasion,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  speaking 
for  the  Republican  party,  and  not  alone  for  it,  but  for 
the  whole  loyal  element  of  the  country,  and  his 
measured  words  fell  upon  the  air  like  the  notes  of  a 
bugle  calling  men  to  action.  He  discussed  the  right 
of  secession  and  the  power  to  coerce,  and  gave  to  the 
acts  of  South  Carolinians  an  interpretation  none  be- 
fore had  been  clear-sighted  enough  to  see.  On  coer- 
cion he  said, — 

"What  is  coercion  but  tlie  enforcement  of  tlie  law?  Is  any- 
thing else  intended  or  required?  Secession  or  nullification  can 
only  be  regarded  by  the  general  government  as  individual 
action  upon  individual  responsibility.  Those  concerned  in  it 
cannot  intrench  themselves  behind  the  forms  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment so  as  to  give  their  conduct  the  semblance  of  legality, 
and  thus  devolve  the  responsibility  upon  the  State  government, 
which  of  itself  is  irresponsible.  The  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States  operate  upon  individuals,  but  not  upon  St.ates, 
and  precisely  as  if  there  were  no  States.  In  this  matter  the 
President  has  no  discretion.  He  has  taken  a  solemn  oath  to 
enforce  the  laws  and  preserve  order,  and  to  this  end  he  has  been 
made  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy.  How  can 
he  be  absolved  from  responsibility  thus  devolved  upon  him  by 
the  Constitution  and  his  official  oath?" 

He  demonstrated  that  there  was  no  right  of  seces- 
sion belonging  to  the  States ;  that  they  were  parts  of 
a  whole  and  could  not  dissolve  the  connection,  and 
that  if  they  attempted  to  dissolve  the  Union  force 
must  be  employed.     He  said, — 

"The  right  of  secession  conceded,  the  nation  is  dissolved. 
Instead  of  having  a  nation,  one  mighty  people,  we  have  but  a 
collection  and  combination  of  thirty-three  independent  nnd 
petty  States,  held  together  by  a  treaty  which  has  hitherto  been 
called  a  Constitution,  of  the  infraction  of  which  each  State  is  to 
be  the  judge,  and  from  which  any  State  may  withdraw  at 
pleasure.  .  .  .  The  right  of  secession  conceded,  and  the  way  to 
do  it  having  been  shown  to  be  safe  and  easy,  the  prestige  of  the 
Republic  gone,  the  national  pride  extinguished  with  the  na- 
tional idea,  secession  would  become  the  remedy  for  every  State 
or  sectional  grievance,  real  or  imaginary.  ...  -If  South  Caro- 
lina gets  out  of  the  Union,  I  trust  it  will  be  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  after  our  best  efforts  have  failed  to  compel  her  to  sub- 
mission to  the  laws.  Better  concede  her  independence  to  force, 
to  revolution,  than  to  right  and  principle.  Such  a  concession 
cannot  be  drawn  into  precedent  and  construed  into  an  admis- 
sion that  we  are  but  a  combination  of  petty  States,  any  one  of 
which  has  a  right  to  secede  and  set  up  for  herself  whenever  it 


I 


CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


189 


suits  her  tempei-  or  views  of  peculiar  interest.  Such  a  contest, 
let  it  terminate  as  it  may,  would  be  a  declaration  to  the  other 
States  of  the  only  terms  upon  which  they  would  be  permitted  to 
withdraw  from  the  Union.  .  .  .  Shnll  we  now  surrender  the 
nation  without  a  struggle,  and  let  the  Union  go  with  merely  a 
few  hard  words  ?  If  it  was  worth  a  bloody  struggle  to  establish 
this  nation,  it  is  worth  one  to  preserve  it,  and  I  trust  that  we 
shall  not,  by  surrendering  with  indeoeut  haste,  publish  to  the 
world  that  the  inheritance  our  fathers  purchased  with  their 
blood  we  have  given  up  to  save  ours." 

In  concluding,  he  struck  the  key-note  of  the  whole 
in  declaring  and  emphasizing  that  we  are  a  nation 
and  not  a  combination  of  States.  Upon  this  point 
he  said, — 

"We  must,  then,  cling  to  the  idea  that  we  are  a  nation,  one 
and  indivisible,  and  that,  although  subdivided  by  State  lines 
for  local  and  domestic  purposes,  we  are  but  one  people,  the 
citizens  of  a  common  country,  having  like  institutions  and 
manners,  and  possessing  a  common  interest  in  that  inheritance 
of  glory  so  richly  provided  by  our  fathers.  We  must,  therefore, 
do  no  act,  we  must  tolerate  no  act,  we  must  concede  no  idea 
or  theory  that  looks  to  or  involves  the  dismemberment  of  the 
nation.  .  .  .  Seven  years  is  but  a  day  in  the  life  of  a  nation, 
and  I  woulrl  rather  come  out  of  a  struggle  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  defeated  in  arms  and  conceding  independence  to  success- 
ful revolution,  than  to  purchase  present  peace  by  the  concession 
of  .a  principle  that  must  inevitably  explode  this  nation  into 
small  and  dishonored  fragments.  .  .  .  The  whole  question  is 
summed  up  in  this  proposition  :  '  Are  we  one  nation,  one  peo- 
]>Ie,  or  thirty-three  nations,  or  thirty-three  independent  and 
petty  States  ?*  The  statement  of  the  proposition  furnishes  the 
answer.  If  we  are  one  nation,  then  no  State  has  a  right  to 
secede.  Secession  can  only  be  the  result  of  successful  revolu- 
tion. I  answer  the  question  for  you,  and  I  know  that  my 
answer  will  find  a  true  response  in  every  true  American  heart, 
that  we  are  one  people,  one  nation,  undivided  and  indivisible." 

This  was  the  first  time  that  resistance  upon  the 
part  of  the  North  had  been  advocated.  It  touched 
the  popular  chord  everywhere.  From  that  tiilie  on 
there  was  no  hesitancy  upon  the  part  of  the  loyal 
masses.  Mr.  Lincoln,  when  he  read  it,  said  that  "  it 
covers  the  whole  ground,  and  declares  the  policy  of 
the  government."  That  speech  made  Mr.  Morton  a 
leader  in  national  politics. 

On  the  14th  day  of  January,  1861,  he  took  the 
oath  of  office  as  president  of  the  Senate.  Two  days 
afterward  Governor  Lane  resigned  to  take  his  seat  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  Mr.  Morton  became 
Governor  of  the  State.  The  history  of  his  adminis- 
tration  of  the  affairs  of  the  State  for  six  years  has 


become  the  foundation-stone  of  his  fame.  He  every- 
where became  known  as  the  great  War  Governor. 
When  the  war  came  in  April,  as  he  had  been  the 
first  to  predict  that  it  would  come,  and  the  first  to 
crystallize  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  North,  so  he  was 
the  first  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  President  for 
troops.  At  his  word  Indiana  sprang  to  arms,  and 
thousands  of  her  loyal  sons  answered  the  call  of  the 
President  for  six  regiments.  Here  was  a  chance  for 
his  wonderful  executive  ability.  Indiana,  like  the 
other  Northern  States,  was  unprepared  for  war. 
She  had  but  few  men  in  her  borders  who  were 
possessed  of  any  military  training.  Volunteers  were 
plenty,  but  how  to  arm  and  equip  them  was  the 
trouble.  Governor  Morton  was  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency. He  grasped  the  situation  at  a  glance,  and 
seemed  to  be  everywhere  present,  stirring  and  ani- 
mating the  citizens,  bringing  order  out  of  chaos,  and 
reducing  all  to  a  system,  so  that  in  comparatively  few 
days  Indiana  was  a  vast  military  camp,  and  troops 
were  ready  for  the  field.  An  agent  was  sent  to  the 
leading  manufacturers  of  the  East  and  Canada  to 
purchase  arms.  He  gave  but  few  hours  to  sleep  in 
those  days,  but  wore  out  his  secretaries  in  continuous 
labors.  During  the  four  years  of  the  war  this  intense 
strain  was  continued.  A  large  number  of  the  people 
of  his  State  were  opposed  to  the  war,  and  thousands 
of  them  actively  sympathized  with  the  Rebellion. 
These  things  added  to  his  labors.  He  was  the 
youngest  of  all  the  loyal  Governors,  but  so  mani- 
fest was  his  ability,  so  lofty  his  patriotism,  so  hope- 
ful was  he  in  the  darkest  hours,  that  all  turned  to 
him  for  counsel.  President  Lincoln  and  his  great 
war  secretary  trusted  him  and  leaned  upon  him  as 
they  did  upon  no  one  else.  He  was  often  consulted 
by  the  generals  in  the  field,  especially  those  in  the 
West,  in  regard  to  the  movements  of  the  army,  and 
he  was  always  the  first  one  appealed  to  for  help  and 
reinforcements.  No  such  appeal  was  ever  made  in 
vain.  Of  the  high  opinion  entertained  of  him  and 
his  labors  by  the  members  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet, 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Hon. 
S.  P.  Chase  to  Governor  Morton  in  1865,  will  evi- 
dence. Mr.  Chase  wrote  him  a  letter  stating  that, 
1  in  a   conversation  with  Secretary  Stanton  the  night 


190 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


before,   "  we   naturally,   turning   our   minds   to  the  i 
past,  fell  to  talking  of  you.     We  agreed  that   no 
Governor  rendered  such  services,  or  displayed  such  1 
courage   or   more  ability  in  administration  ;  and  we 
agreed  that  your  recent  services  were  most  meritor-  i 
ious  of  all,  because  rendered  under  circumstances  of 
greatest  personal  risk  of  health  and  life,  and  which 
would  have  been  by  almost  any  man  regarded,  and 
by  all  accepted,  as  good  reasons  for  total  inaction. 
I    have   seldom    heard   Stanton  express  himself  so 
warmly." 

As  we  said  before,  the  war  found  the  North  unpre- 
pared. In  the  autumn  of  1861  he  found  that  the 
general  government  would  be  unable  to  supply  the 
men  with  overcoats  in  time  to  prevent  suflFering  from 
the  cold.  He  went  to  New  York  and  purchased 
twenty-nine  thousand  overcoats  for  the  use  of  the 
Indiana  troops.  The  soldiers  were  his  first  care. 
To  relieve  the  sick  and  wounded  he  organized  a  sani- 
tary commission,  which  afterwards  was  adopted  by 
the  other  States.  To  show  his  deep  interest  in  the 
soldiers,  and  the  care  he  took  of  their  interests,  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  during  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  when  the  army  hospitals  were  full  of  sick  and 
wounded,  he  applied  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  per- 
mission to  remove  the  Indiana  sick  and  wounded  to 
the  North.  The  secretary  declined  to  grant  the  per- 
mission. Governor  Morton  declared  his  intention  to 
take  the  matter  before  the  President.  He  did  so, 
and  the  result  was  a  general  order  permitting  not 
only  Indiana,  but  any  other  State  to  remove  the  sick 
and  wounded  and  care  for  them.  Under  the  system 
of  relief  inaugurated  by  him,  Indiana  collected  and 
disbursed  over  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  money 
and  supplies. 

In  this  short  sketch  we  can  do  no  more  than 
glance  at  his  work  as  Governor.  In  18t)2  the  Dem- 
ocrats elected  a  Legislature  hostile  to  the  war,  and 
efforts  were  made  to  cripple  the  Governor  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties.  They  refused  to  make  appro- 
priations to  carry  on  the  State  government  and  to 
meet  the  interest  on  the  public  debt.  Governor 
Iilorton  was  undismayed.  He  went  to  New  York, 
and  through  the  banking  firm  of  Winslow,  Lanier  & 
Co.    and  some  of  the  counties  of  the  State  and  a  few 


of  the  patriotic  citizens,  arranged  for  money  for  the 
use  of  the  State.  He  established  a  financial  bureau 
without  authority  of  law,  and  in  one  year  and  nine 
months  he  raised  and  paid  out  over  a  million  of  dol- 
lars. Every  dollar  of  this  was  paid  out  upon  his  own 
check,  and  not  a  dollar  was  lost  or  misappropriated. 

His  extraordinary  activity  was  well  demonstrated 
in  1862,  during  the  invasion  of  Kentucky  by  Gens. 
Bragg  and  Kirby  Smith.  These  two  active  rebel  gen- 
erals had  slipped  around  Gen.  Buell  and  invaded 
Kentucky,  threatening  both  Louisville  and  Cincin- 
nati. On  the  17th  of  August,  late  at  night,  he  re- 
ceived a  telegram  that  Kentucky  had  been  invaded 
at  several  points.  Before  night  of  the  18th  one 
regiment  was  mustered  in,  armed,  and  started  for  the 
scene  of  action.  During  the  night  of  the  18th  four 
more  regiments  were  forwarded.  On  the  morning  of 
the  19th  some  of  the  patriotic  banks  and  citizens 
advanced  half  a  million  dollars,  and  during  the  day 
and  night  four  more  regiments  were  paid  and  sent 
forward.  By  the  31st  of  August  more  than  thirty 
thousand  troops  had  been  armed  and  sent  to  the  relief 
of  Kentucky.  All  this  time  the  arsenal  of  the  State 
was  employed  day  and  night  in  the  manufacture  of 
ammunition,  making  three  hundred  thousand  rounds 
daily,  and  all  the  river  towns  of  the  State  were  occu- 
pied by  the  State  militia.  Ohio  as  well  as  Kentucky 
wanted  help.  Cincinnati  was  threatened.  Governor 
Morton  was  called  upon,  and  Indiana  troops  rushed 
to  the  defense  of  her  sister  State.  Ammunition  was 
wanted  for  the  heavy  guns  being  placed  in  position. 
The  mayor  of  Cincinnati  and  Committee  of  Defense 
telegraphed  to  Columbus  for  a  supply.  They  were 
instructed  to  make  out  a  requisition  in  due  form  and 
have  it  approved  by  the  commanding  oflScer,  and  for- 
ward it,  and  the  ammunition  would  be  supplied. 
They  then  applied  to  Governor  Morton.  No  requi- 
sition was  a.sked  for,  but  the  telegraph  flashed  back 
the  answer  that  in  an  hour  a  train  would  start;  and 
the  train  did  so,  bearing  about  four  thousand  rounds 
for  artillery  and  seven  hundred  and  twenty  tliou.sand 
rounds  for  small-arms.  In  eight  days  Indiana  sup- 
plied thirty-three  thousand  rounds  for  artillery  and 
three  million  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand 
for  small-arms,  the  entire  amount  having  been  made 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


191 


at  the  State  arsenal.  For  his  services  the  Cincinnati 
Common  Council  ordered  his  portrait  painted  and 
placed  in  the  City  Hall,  which  was  done  with  impos- 
ing ceremonies. 

In  1864,  in  the  midst  of  a  heated  Presidential 
canvass,  the  exposure  came  of  the  organization  known 
as  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  or  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty. This  organization  numbered  fifty  thousand 
members  in  the  State,  and  an  uprising  was  planned. 
Governor  Morton  had  possessed  himself  of  all  their 
secrets,  and  before  they  knew  that  they  were  even 
suspected  he  dealt  them  a  terrible  blow  and  crushed 
them.  He  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  prominent  leaders 
of  the  movement,  and  so  alarmed  were  the  members 
to  find  that  their  plots  were  known,  and  that  they 
were  in  the  power  of  a  man  whose  hatred  of  treason 
was  so  intense,  and  who  was  so  unrelenting  in  his 
efforts  to  crush  all  disloyalty,  that  dismay  seized 
upon  them  and  they  stood  bewildered,  not  knowing 
what  to  expect.  The  trial  and  conviction  of  the 
leaders  is  a  part  of  the  general  history  of  the  country. 

Governor  Morton  was  triumphantly  elected  to  the 
office  of  Governor  in  1864,  and  the  people  placed  a 
loyal  Legislature  to  help  him.  It  was  the  grandest 
political  triumph  ever  achieved  in  this  State.  He 
entered  upon  the  new  term  filled  with  the  same 
ardor,  the  same  resistless  energy,  the  same  tireless 
activity.  But  the  war  soon  closed.  It  brought  no 
relief  to  him  from  labor.  But  now  came  his  greatest 
trial.  His  labors  had  been  incessant  for  more  than 
four  years,  the  strain  upon  his  nervous  system  had 
been  intense,  and  he  was  now  to  pay  the  penalty. 
One  morning  in  1865  he  awoke  to  find  that  paralysis 
hail  seized  upon  his  left  leg.  This  leg  had  been 
injured  by  a  fall,  and  the  disease  struck  the  weakest 
spot.  Overwork  had  stricken  him  down  in  the  noon- 
tide of  his  power,  and  just  as  he  saw  his  fame  ripen- 
ing. He  was  advised  to  go  to  Europe  and  place  him- 
himsclf  under  medical  treatment.  He  convoked  the 
Legislature  in  extra  session.  It  assembled  on  the 
14th  of  November,  when  he  read  a  message  wliich 
surpassed  all  his  others  in  the  comprehensive  manner 
with  which  it  treated  of  State  and  national  policy. 
Ho  concluded  it  with  the  following  eloquent  tribute 
to  the  American  soldier  : 


"  The  war  has  established  upon  imperishable  foundatioDS  the 
great  fundamental  truth  of  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the 
I  nation.  We  are  many  States  but  one  people,  havinj;  one  undi- 
j  Tided  sovereignty,  one  flag,  and  one  common  destiny.  It  has 
i  also  established,  to  be  confessed  by  all  the  world,  the  exalted 
character  of  the  American  soldier,  his  matchless  valor,  his  self- 
sacrificing  patriotism,  his  capacity  to  endure  fatigues  and 
hardships,  and  his  humanity,  which,  in  the  midst  of  carnage, 
has  wreathed  his  victorious  achievements  with  a  brighter  glory. 
He  has  taught  the  world  a  lesson  before  which  it  stands  in 
amazement,  how,  when  the  storm  of  battle  had  passed,  he 
could  lay  aside  his  arms,  put  ofT  the  habiliments  of  war,  and 
return  with  cheerfulness  to  the  gentle  pursuits  of  peace,  and  show 
how  the  bravest  of  soldiers  could  become  the  best  of  citizens. 
To  the  army  and  navy,  under  the  favor  of  Providence,  we  owe 
the  preservation  of  our  country,  and  the  fact  that  we  have  to- 
day a  place,  and  the  proudest  place,  among  the  nations.  Let  it 
not  be  said  of  us,  as  it  was  said  in  olden  time,  '  that  Republics 
are  ungrateful.'  Let  us  honor  the  dead,  cherish  the  living, 
and  preserve  in  immortal  memory  the  deeds  and  virtues' of  all, 
as  an  inspiration  for  countless  generations  to  come." 

The  parting  scene  was  of  the  most  aifecting  char- 
acter. Party  lines  were  forgotten  ;  all  recognized  the 
great  services  rendered  by  the  stricken  man,  and  all 
joined  in  words  of  commendation  and  sympathy.  Pew 
States,  few  Legislatures,  if  any,  ever  witnessed  such 
a  scene.  None  who  were  present  will  ever  forget  it. 
It  was  a  sublime  as  well  as  touching  spectacle. 

Early  in  December  he  sailed  from  New  York,  and 
spent  some  time  in  France,  Italy,  and  Switzerland, 
but  received  little  or  no  benefit  from  either  travel  or 
treatment,  and  in  March,  1866,  he  returned.  He 
gave  himself  no  rest,  but  at  once  commenced  the 
preparations  for  the  political  campaign  of  that  year. 
He  opened  the  campaign  in  a  speech  at  Masonic  Hall, 
which  has  been  pronounced  the  greatest  political 
speech  ever  made  in  America.  It  seemed  as  if  he 
had  determined  to  crush  his  political  opponents  at  the 
outset  of  the  campaign  and  render  them  powerless. 
He  employed  all  of  his  wonderful  powers  of  logic  to 
arraign  his  opponents  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion 
for  what  he  considered  their  political  failures.  The 
speech  not  only  served  as  a  basis  for  the  platform  of 
his  party,  but  for  all  other  speeches  during  the  cam- 
paign. It  lashed  his  enemies  to  fury,  but  it  aroused 
his  party  to  the  very  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm. 

Oliver  P.  Morton  was  twice  elected  a  member  of 
the  United  States  Senate  by  the  Republicans,  his  first 


192 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


term  commencing  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1867, 
and  his  second  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1873.  The 
limits  of  this  sketch  forbid  anything  like  an  attempt 
at  a  history  of  his  senatorial  labors.  During  his  ten 
years  of  service  he  was  foremost  in  all  things, — in 
debates,  in  party  counsels,  in  labors.  It  is  not  in- 
vidious to  say  of  him  that  in  labors  he  was  more 
abundant  than  any  other,  notwithstanding  his  physical 
disability.  He  entered  the  Senate  at  a  stirring  time. 
The  war  was  ended,  but  the  South  was  in  a  state  of 
chaos.  What  was  to  be  done,  and  how  to  do  it,  were 
the  two  questions  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all. 
There  was  an  irreconcilable  quarrel  between  Congress 
and  the  President.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  sena- 
torial career,  although  it  was  his  first  legislative  ex- 
perience, he  was  given  three  important  places.  He 
was  made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures, 
and  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations 
and  that  of  Military  Affairs. 

The  first  great  question  in  which  he  took  part  was 
that  of  reconstruction.  He  went  into  the  Senate  with 
well-settled  views  upon  this  question.  He  had  held 
tenaciously  to  the  idea  that  this  was  a  nation,  and  he 
insisted  upon  that  on  all  occasions.  He  looked  upon 
treason  as  a  crime  deserving  of  punishment.  He 
could  not  be  led  to  believe  that  those  who  had  laid 
down  their  arms  after  a  four  years'  struggle  to  over- 
throw the  Government  could  safely  be  intrusted  with 
power  until,  at  least,  they  had  given  evidence  of 
having  renewed  their  allegiance.  He  was  inspired 
by  no  hatred  of  the  people  of  the  South  ;  it  Was  their 
treason  he  hated.  His  first  speech  on  this  question 
was  an  impromptu  reply  to  Senator  Doolittle,  of  Wis- 
consin. In  that  speech,  brief  as  it  was,  he  outlined 
his  whole  after-attitude  on  this  question.  He  said, — 
**  The  issue  here  to-day  is  the  same  which  prevails  through- 
out the  country,  which  will  be  the  issue  of  this  canvass,  and 
perhaps  for  years  to  come.  It  is  between  two  paramount  ideas, 
each  struggling  for  the  supremacy.  One  is,  that  the  war  to 
suppress  the  Rebellion  was  right  and  just  on  our  part;  that  the 
rebels  forfeited  their  civil  and  political  rights,  which  can 
only  be  restored  to  them  upon  such  conditions  as  the  nation 
may  prescribe  for  its  future  safety  and  prosperity.  The  other 
idea  is,  that  the  rebellion  was  not  sinful,  but  was  right;  that 
those  engaged  in  it  forfeited  no  rights,  civil  or  political,  and 
have  a  right  to  take  charge  of  their  State  governments,  and  be 
restored  to  their  representation  in  Congress,  just  as  if  there  were 


no  rebellion  and  nothing  bad  occurred.  The  immediate  issue 
before  the  Senate  now  is  between  the  existing  State  govern- 
ments established  under  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
the  rebel  States  and  the  plan  of  reconstruction  presented  by 
Congress." 

He  then  proceeded  to  demonstrate  that  Congress 
had  all  the  power  that  was  necessary  to  formulate  or 
dictate  to  the  States  the  kind  of  a  constitution  they 
should  adopt,  and  that  it  was  in  duty  bound  to  insure 
justice,  security,  and  equality  to  all  classes  in  the 
South,  and  said, — • 

'•  Sir,  when  Congress  entered  upon  this  work  it  had  become 
apparent  to  all  men  that  loyal  republican  State  governments, 
such  as  are  required  by  the  Constitution,  could  not  be  erected 
and  maintained  upon  the  basis  of  the  white  population.  We 
had  tried  them.  Congress  had  attempted  the  work  of  recon- 
struction through  the  fourteenth  constitutional  amendment  by 
leaving  the  suffrage  with  the  white  men,  and  by  leaving  with 
the  white  people  of  the  South  the  question  as  to  when  the  col- 
ored people  should  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage,  if  ever;  but 
when  it  was  found  that  those  white  men  were  as  rebellious  as 
ever;  when  it  was  found  that  they  persecuted  the  loyal  men, 
both  white  and  black,  in  their  midst;  when  it  was  found  that 
Northern  men  who  had  gone  down  there  were  driven  out  by 
social  tyranny,  by  a  thousand  annoyances,  by  the  insecurity  of 
life  and  property,  then  it  became  apparent  to  all  men  of  intel- 
ligence that  reconstruction  could  not  take  place  upon  the  basis 
of  the  white  population,  and  something  else  must  be  done. 
Now,  sir,  what  was  then  left  to  do  ?  Either  we  must  hold  these 
people  continually  by  military  power  or  we  must  use  such  ma- 
chinery on  such  a  new  basis  as  would  enable  loyal  republican 
governments  to  be  raised  up  :  and  in  the  last  result  I  will  say 
Congress  waited  long,  the  nation  waited  long, — experience  had 
to  come  to  the  rescue  of  reason  before  the  thing  was  done.  In 
the  last  resort,  and  as  the  last  thing  to  be  done.  Congress  deter- 
mined to  dig  through  all  the  rubbish,  dig  through  the  soil  and 
the  shifting  sands,  and  go  down  to  the  eternal  rock,  and  there, 
upon  the  basis  of  the  everlasting  principle  of  equal  and  exact 
justice  to  all  men,  we  have  planted  the  column  of  reconstruc- 
tion ;  and,  sir,  it  will  rise,  slowly  but  surely,  and  *  the  gates  of 
hell  sh:ill  not  prevail  against  it.'  " 

On  the  charge  of  inconsistency  on  the  subject  of 
negro  suffrage  he  said, — 

"Why,  sir,  let  me  frankly  say  to  my  friend  from  Wisconsin 
that  I  approached  universal  colored  suffrage  in  the  South  re- 
luctantly. Not  because  I  adhered  to  the  miserable  dogma  that 
this  was  the  white  man's  government,  hut  because  I  entertained 
fears  about  at  once  intrusting  a  large  body  of  men  just  from 
slavery — to  whom  education  had  been  denied  by  law,  to  whom 
the  marriage  relation  had  been  denied,  who  had  been  made  the 
most  abject   slaves — with   political   power.     And   the   senator 


CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


193 


has  referred  to  a  speech  which  I  made  in  Indiana  in  1865. 
Allow  me  to  show  the  principle  which  then  actuated  me,  for  in 
that  speech  I  said,  '  In  regard  to  the  question  of  admitting  the 
freeduien  of  the  Southern  States  to  vote,  while  I  admit  the 
equal  rights  of  all  men,  and  that  in  time  all  men  will  have  the 
right  to  vote,  without  distinction  of  color  or  race,  I  yet  believe 
that  in  the  case  of  four  million  slaves  just  freed  from  bondage 
there  should  be  a  period  of  probation  and  preparation  before 
they  are  brought  to  the  exercise  of  political  power.'  Such  was 
my  feeling  at  that  time,  for  it  had  not  then  been  determined  by 
the  bloody  experience  of  the  past  two  years  that  we  could  not 
reconstruct  upon  the  basis  of  the  white  population,  and  such 
was  the  opinion  of  a  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
North.  ...  I  confess  (and  I  do  it  without  shame)  that  I  have 
been  educated  by  the  great  events  of  the  war.  The  American 
people  have  been  educated  rapidly ;  and  the  man  that  says  he 
has  learned  nothing,  that  he  stands  now  where  did  six  years 
ago,  is  like  an  ancient  mile-post  by  the  side  of  a  deserted  high- 
way." 

He  concluded  as  follows  : 

"The  column  of  reconstruction  has  risen  slowly.  It  has  not 
been  hewn  from  a  single  stone.  It  is  composed  of  many  blocks, 
painfully  laid  up  and  put  together,  and  cemented  by  the  tears 
and  blood  of  the  nation.  Sir,  we  have  done  nothing  arbitrarily. 
We  have  done  nothing  for  punishment — aye,  too  little  for  pun- 
ishment. Justice  has  not  had  her  demand.  Not  a  man  has  yet 
been  executed  for  this  great  treason.  The  arch-fiend  himself  is 
now  at  liberty  upon  bail.  No  man  is  to  be  punished;  and  now 
while  punishment  has  gone  by,  as  we  all  know,  we  are  insisting 
only  upon  security  for  the  future.  We  are  simply  asking  that 
the  evil  spirits  who  brought  this  war  upon  us  shall  not  again 
come  into  power  during  this  generation,  again  to  bring  upon  us 
rebellion  and  calamity.  We  are  simply  asking  for  those  secu- 
rities that  we  deem  necessary  for  our  peace  and  the  peace  of  our 
posterity.*' 

To  Senator  Morton  more  tlian  to  any  other  man 
is  due  the  credit  of  the  adoption  of  the  fifteenth 
amendment.  He  was  bold  and  aggressive  in  his  ad- 
vocacy of  this  important  measure,  designed  as  it  was 
to  secure  to  the  colored  man  the  right  of  suffrage. 
It  was  opposed  by  Senator  Sumner  and  some  other 
Republican  members,  but  Mr.  Morton  led  in  the  de- 
bate and  carried  the  measure  triumphantly  through. 
He  met  all  arguments,  repelled  all  assaults,  held  the 
friends  of  the  amendment  together  until  the  final 
vote  was  taken.  Nor  did  his  labors  end  with  its 
adoption  by  Congress.  It  had  to  be  ratified  by  the 
States.  The  Democratic  members  of  the  Indiana 
Legislature  resigned  to  defeat  its  ratification.  Sen- 
ator Morton  reached  Indianapolis  the  morning  the 
13 


resignations  were  banded  in.  He  sent  word  to  the 
Republican  members  not  to  adjourn,  but  take  a  recess 
and  meet  him.  He  then  showed  them  the  resigna- 
tions did  not  break  a  quorum,  and  demonstrated  that 
they  had  the  power  to  ratify  the  amendment.  They 
acted  in  accordance  with  his  wishes,  and  the  work 
was  done,  to  the  amazement  of  the  Democrats.  Still 
States  were  wanted.  Senator  Morton  was  equal  to 
the  emergency.  A  bill  was  introduced  providing  for 
the  reconstruction  of  Mississippi,  Texas,  and  Vir- 
ginia. He  seized  the  opportunity  and  ofiered  an 
amendment  providing  that  before  these  States  should 
be  admitted  to  representation  in  Congress  they  should 
ratifiy  the  proposed  fifteenth  amendment.  The 
amendment  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Judi- 
ciary. An  adverse  report  was  made  by  Senator 
Trumbull,  chairman  of  the  committee.  Senator 
Morton  still  adhered  to  his  amendment,  and,  after 
a  debate  lasting  three  days,  was  successful.  This 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  debates  of  the 
Senate.  Still  another  State  was  wanted,  and  again 
Senator  Morton  led  in  the  work  of  securing  it.  He 
introduced  a  bill  authorizing  the  military  commander 
of  Georgia  to  call  the  Legislature  of  that  State  to- 
gether, including  the  colored  members  who  had  been 
expelled  the  year  before,  and  empowering  the  Legis- 
lature to  reconstruct  that  State,  by  electing  two 
United  States  senators,  after  ratifying  the  fifteenth 
amendment.  Again  the  Judiciary  Committee  an- 
tagonized him,  but  again  he  triumphed,  and  the 
fifteenth  amendment  became  a  part  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  stands  to-day  a  monument  of  his  love  of 
justice  and  his  powers  as  a  leader,  more  enduring 
than  brass  or  marble. 

Space  will  not  permit  the  dwelling  on  his  labors  in 
the  great  kuklux  debates  and  other  similar  measures, 
but  in  all  he  took  a  leading  part,  and  upon  all  he  left 
the  impress  of  his  lofty  and  unyielding  patriotism. 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elections  and 
Privileges  he  rendered  signal  service.  All  questions 
that  came  before  him  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
fairness,  and  stern  justice  ruled  in  the  decisions  of  his 
committee.  One  notable  instance  of  this-  kind  was 
his  action  in  regard  to  the  election  of  Caldwell  as 
senator  from  Kansas.    It  was  evident  that  his  election 


194 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


had  been  procured  by  corrupt  means.  Senator  Mor- 
ton held  that  he  should  be  expelled  from  the  Senate 
as  unworthy  a  seat  in  that  body.  The  friends  of 
Caldwell  plead  to  have  the  election  simply  declared 
void.  Mr.  Morton  would  not  listen.  His  sense  of 
justice  had  been  outraged  and  he  felt  that  American 
politics  needed  purifying,  and  insisted  on  expulsion, 
and  to  save  himself  from  that  the  Kansas  senator 
resigned.  With  fraud,  force,  or  corruption  he  had 
no  patience,  and  he  would  neither  listen  to  the  plead- 
ings of  friends  of  the  accused,  nor  pay  heed  to  their 
threats.  He  believed  in  the  right  and  had  the  cour- 
age to  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances  to 
maintain  his  beliefs. 

In  1873  he  delivered  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  which 
in  the  light  of  later  events  looks  almost  like  prophecy. 
The  question  under  discussion  was  a  resolution  in- 
structing the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections 
to  report  upon  the  best  and  most  practicable  mode  of 
electing  a  President  and  Vice-President,  and  provid- 
ing a  tribunal  to  adjust  and  decide  all  contested 
elections  connected  therewith.  Senator  Morton  took 
strong  grounds  in  favor  of  doing  away  with  the 
Electoral  College  and  electing  a  President  by  the 
direct  vote  of  the  people.  In  the  course  of  that 
speech,  in  regard  to  the  dangers  of  the  present 
system,  he  said, — ■ 

"  There  is  imminent  danger  of  revolution  to  the  nation  when- 
ever the  result  of  a  Presidential  election  is  to  be  determined  by 
the  vote  of  a  State  in  which  the  choice  of  electors  has  been 
irregular,  or  is  alleged  to  have  been  carried  by  fraud  or  vio- 
lence, and  where  there  is  no  method  of  having  these  questions 
examined  and  settled  in  advance;  where  the  choice  of  Presi- 
dent depends  upim  the  election  in  a  .State  which  has  been 
publicly  characterized  by  fraud  or  violence,  and  in  which  one 
party  is  alleged  to  have  triumphed  and  secured  the  certificates 
of  election  by  chicanery  or  the  fraudulent  interposition  of  courts. 
If  the  system  of  electoral  colleges  is  to  be  continued,  some 
means  should  be  devised  by  which  the  election  of  these  electors 
in  the  States  may  be  contested,  so  that  if  it  has  been  controlled 
by  fraud  or  violence,  or  if  there  be  two  sets  of  electors,  each 
claiming  the  right  to  cast  the  vote  of  a  State,  there  may  be  1 
some  machinery  or  tribunal  provided  by  which  fraudulent  re- 
turns could  be  set  aside  or  corrected,  and  the  contending  claims 
of  different  sets  of  electors  be  settled  in  advance  of  the  time 
when  the  vote  is  to  be  finally  counted,  and  by  which  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate  may  no  longer  be  left  to  exercise  the 
dangerous  powers  that  seem  to  be  placed  in  his  hands  by  the 


Constitution,  nor  the  two  houses  of  Congress  by  the  twenty- 
second  joint  rule." 

Could  he  have  been  given  the  power  to  look  into 
the  future  only  three  years  he  could  not  have  been 
able  to  better  portray  the  dangers  that  were  before  us 
as  a  nation.  This  was  one  of  his  great  powers, — to 
discern  the  .signs  of  the  times,  and  see  the  pitfalls 
and  the  rocks  that  lay  hidden  from  view.  It  was 
this  power  which  stamped  him  before  all  other  Amer- 
icans, a  wise  statesman. 

It  was  Morton  that  gave  to  us  the  civil  rights  bill, 
which  were  intended  to  make  good  the  promises  of 
the  nation  to  the  colored  men, — that  they  should 
have  equal  and  exact  justice  with  all  races.  That 
they  have  since  failed  was  no  fault  of  his. 

In  the  Senate  he  left  the  stamp  of  his  individuality 
upon  all  legislation.  He  was  the  moving  spirit,  the 
leader,  the  one  upon  whom  all  relied.  There  was  no 
question  of  public  moment  too  small  for  his  attention  ; 
but  his  mind  grasped  all,  his  wisdom  foresaw  all,  and 
as  fitr  as  pos.sible  he  attempted  to  warn  and  to  guide 
the  country  that  it  might  avoid  the  danger  he  saw 
before  it.  He  spoke  often  in  the  Senate,  but  always 
with  effect,  and  was  listened  to  with  the  utmost  at- 
tention, for  it  soon  became  recognized  that  when  he 
summed  up  the  arguments  there  was  little  or  nothing 
left  to  be  said.  When  defeated,  as  he  sometimes  was, 
he  at  once  accepted  the  situation,  but  never  despaired. 
His  fertility  of  resource  was  wonderful,  his  industry 
was  prodigious.  The  last  stroke,  which  ended  eventu- 
ally his  life,  came  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  sena- 
torial duties,  and  though  not  in  his  place  at  the  cap- 
itol,  yet,  like  John  Quincy  Adams,  he  died  in  the 
harness.  In  1877  the  Senate  ordered  an  investigation 
into  the  case  of  Senator  Grover,  of  Oregon,  who  was 
charged  with  having  secured  his  election  to  the  Senate 
through  corrupt  means.  This  duty  devolved  upon 
the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections,  of  which 
Senator  Morton  was  chairman.  It  was  neces-^ary  to 
go  across  the  continent  to  Oregon.  Senator  Morton, 
though  physically  feeble  and  worn  out  by  his  incessant 
labors,  did  not  hesitate  to  undertake  the  long  and  tire- 
some journey,  in  company  with  Senators  Saulsbury, 
of  Delaware,  and  McMillan,  of  Minnesota. 

During  the  entire  trip  to  San    Francisco  he  was 


CITY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


195 


much  prostrated,  but  the  sea-voyage  to  Portland, 
Oregon,  seemed  to  do  him  good.  The  investigation 
lasted  eighteen  days,  during  which  he  labored  inces- 
santly, and  the  sessions  of  the  committee  were  some- 
times prolonged  late  into  the  night.  This  labor  nearly 
broke  down  the  other  members  of  the  committee,  but 
it  seemed  the  iron  will  of  Senator  Morton  rose  above 
every  trial,  for,  in  addition  to  his  work  on  the  com- 
mittee, he  prepared  an  elaborate  political  speech  to  be 
used  in  the  approaching  Ohio  campaign.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  investigation  he  addres.sed  the  people 
of  Salem  in  a  speech  of  considerable  length,  which 
was  pronounced  the  ablest  speech  ever  beard  in  the 
State. 

He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  on  his  return  home 
early  in  August,  and  on  the  6th  received  his  second 
stroke  of  paralysis.  By  morning  his  entire  left  side 
was  paralyzed.  We  take  the  following  account  of 
his  journey  home  and  the  closing  scenes  from  a 
sketch  written  by  Hon.  C.  M.  Walker: 

"  NotwithstandiDg  his  alarming  condition  he  insisted  upon 
starting  liome  the  next  day,  and  accordingly  a  special  car  was 
furnished,  in  which  a  cot  was  provided  and  the  best  arrange- 
ments possible  made  for  his  comfort.  Then,  on  the  7th  of 
August,  accompanied,  as  usual,  by  his  wife  and  son,  he  started 
from  San  Francisco  for  his  Indiana  home.  During  this  long 
journey,  though  he  was  very  much  depressed  and  even  feared 
he  would  not  reach  home  to  die,  he  uttered  not  a  word  of  com- 
plaint, but  bore  his  affliction  in  heroic  silence.  At  Cheyenne, 
W.  T.,  he  was  met  by  his  brother-in-law,  Col.  W.  R.  Holloway, 
who  thenceforward  was  a  constant  attendant  at  his  bedside, 
and  at  Peoria,  111.,  Dr.  W.  C.  Thompson,  the  senator's  long- 
time physician,  joined  the  sad  party.  His  house  in  Indian- 
apolis not  being  prepared  for  his  reception,  he  was  taken  to 
Richmond,  Wayne  Co.,  and  to  the  residence  of  his  mother- 
in  law,  Mrs.  Burbank,  in  that  city.  Here  he  was  at  once  made 
as  comfortable  as  his  condition  would  permit,  and  had  every 
attention  that  medical  skill  or  loving  affection  could  devise. 
The  news  of  his  attack  had  already  spread  abroad,  and,  al- 
though as  yet  his  friends  did  not  think  it  would  prove  fatal, 
the  greatej^t  concern  was  man!  Tested  throughout  the  country. 
Letters  and  telegrams  poured  in  from  all  parts,  and  this  con- 
tinued during  his  entire  illness.  Many  distinguished  men 
visited  him,  and  a  still  larger  number  sent  messages  of  love 
and  sympathy.  On  the  1 3th  of  September  the  President  of 
the  United  States  visited  Richmond  for  the  express  purpose 
of  calling  on  the  sick  senator.  The  meeting  between  them 
was  simple  but  affecting.  The  great  war  Governor  and  dis- 
tinguished senator  lay  stretched  upon  his  bed  broken,  ema- 
ciated, and  almost  helpless.     His  once  massive  features  were 


pinched  with  pain,  and  the  eyes  that  had  flashed  fire  in  so 
many  contests  were  dimmed  by  sickness  and  by  the  medi- 
cines taken  to  alleviate  his  sufl"crings.  Approaching  the  bed, 
the  President  pressed  the  senator's  extended  hand  warmly, 
and  then,  bending  over,  kissed  him  on  the  forehead.  Tho 
interview  wns  necessarily  brief,  and  after  a  few  words  of 
earnest  sympathy  from  the  President,  In  which  ho  said  he 
spoke  for  the  country  as  well  as  for  himself,  he  retired  from 
the  room  evidently  much  afiected.  In  this  interview  Senator 
Morton  assured  the  President  that  he  would  bo  in  his  seat  in 
the  Senate  at  the  opening  of  the  regular  session  of  Congress 
in  December.  Such  was  doubtless  his  expectation  at  the 
time,  but  it  was  not  to  be  realized. 

"On  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  October  he  was  placed  in  a 
special  car  and  removed  to  his  home  in  Indianapolis.  This 
short  trip  seemed  to  do  him  some  good,  and  the  hope  of  his 
recovery,  at  least  sufficiently  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  was 
strengthened.  During  the  following  weeks  Col.  Holloway  and 
other  friends  were  unremitting  in  their  attentions,  and  nothing 
was  left  undone  either  to  prolong  his  life  or  mitigate  his  sufl'er- 
Ings.  All  this  time  he  took  a  lively  interest  in  current  afl"airs, 
and  ei'pecially  in  what  was  passing  in  the  political  world.  He 
wanted  the  papers  read  to  him  during  nearly  every  waking 
moment,  and  even  at  night,  waking  from  a  short  sleep,  his 
first  exclamation  was  '  Read.*  If  the  reader  stopped  a  moment 
to  rest  or  for  any  other  purpose,  he  would  say, '  Read  on  !  Don't 
stop  till  I  tell  you.'  So  absorbing  was  his  interest  in  public 
afl'airs,  and  his  desire  to  keep  up  with  current  events.  Mean- 
while it  had  become  apparent  that  his  vital  forces  were  giving 
way,  and  that  he  could  not  last  much  longer.  For  many  days, 
even  weeks,  he  took  no  nourishment  except  milk,  or  occa- 
sionally a  little  bL*ef-tea,  and  even  these  were  not  digested. 
The  paralysis  seemed  to  have  reached  bis  stomach,  and  all 
natural  action  was  destroyed.  Still  his  mind  continued  active 
and  clear,  and  when  friends  visited  bis  bedside  he  would  wel- 
come them  with  a  pleasant  smile  and  grasp  of  the  hand.  As 
long  as  there  was  the  slightest  ground  for  hope  those  nearest  to 
him  clung  to  the  belief  that  he  would  recover,  but  from  Tuesday, 
October  30th,  it  became  evident  to  all  that  his  case  was  hopeless. 
His  symptoms  on  that  day  were  such  as  to  make  it  plain  that 
his  end  was  drawing  near.  During  the  31st  his  death  was 
hourly  expected,  and  several  times  the  rumor  went  abroad  that 
he  was  dead.  A  great  many  telegrams  were  received  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  inquiring  if  thrse  rumors  were  true,  and 
asking  for  information  as  to  his  condition.  Thursday,  Novem- 
ber 1,  1877,  dawned  gloomily.  The  dull,  gray  light  that  first 
found  admittance  to  the  sick-room  fell  upon  a  dying  man, 
though  the  end  was  yet  some  hours  distant.  During  the  day 
he  lay  very  quietly,  only  making  known  his  wants  in  broken 
accents.  A  number  of  friends  were  in  and  out  of  the  room 
during  the  day,  and  his  wife  and  family  remained  ntar  the 
bedside.  In  the  afternoon  he  sank  rapidly.  At  4.45  o'clock 
he  had  a  paroxysm  of  pain,  and  passing  his  hand  over  his 
stomach,  said  feebly,  '  I  am  dying.'     A  little  later  his  youngest 


196 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


son,  taking  his  hand,  said,  'Father,  do  you  know  me?'  He 
nodded  an  assent,  and  gave  signs  of  satisfaction  when  his  son 
and  other  members  of  the  family  kissed  him.  A  few  minutes 
after  five  o'clock,  while  Dr.  Thompson  was  holding  his  hand,  he 
said,  '  I  am  dying ;  I  am  worn  out.'  These  were  the  last 
audible  words  he  uttered.  Then  he  ceased  to  move,  and  at 
twenty-eight  minutes  past  five  o'clock  the  vital  spark  went 
out,  and  his  great  life  was  at  an  end. 

"  The  news  of  Senator  Morton's  death  caused  a  profound 
sensation  throughout  the  country.  Although  the  event  had 
been  anticipated  for  several  days,  it  came  as  a  shock  at  last, 
and  created  a  sorrow  so  deep  and  wide-spread  that  it  could  only 
be  compared  to  that  caused  by  the  tragic  death  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Fhigs  were  displayed  at  half-mast,  and  bells  were 
tolled  throughout  the  land.  Men  gathered  on  the  street  cor- 
ners, and  discussed  the  event  as  a  national  calamity.  The 
President  of  the  United  States  issued  a  special  order  directing 
the  flags  on  all  the  public  buildings  to  be  placed  at  half-mast, 
and  the  government  departments  to  bo  closed  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral.  He  also  sent  a  telegram  to  W.  R.  Hoiloway,  expres- 
sive of  his  personal  bereavement,  and  his  sympathy  for  the 
surviving  family  of  the  departed  statesman.  The  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  sent  a  similar  dispatch.  The  cabinet 
met,  and  gave  expression  to  their  deep  sense  of  the  nation's 
loss.  The  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  each  ap- 
pointed committees  to  attend  the  funeral,  and  both  adjourned 
as  a  further  mark  of  respect  to  his  memory.  The  Governor  of 
Indiana  and  the  mayor  of  Indianapolis  issued  proclamations 
closing  public  offices,  and  calling  upon  citizens  to  suspend  busi- 
ness during  the  funeral  services.  The  bells  of  Indianapolis 
were  tolled  and  the  City  Council  met,  and,  after  passing  me- 
morial resolutions,  resolved  to  attend  the  funeral  in  a  body. 
The  City  Council  of  Cincinnati  met,  and  appointed  a  committee 
to  attend  the  funeral.  Citizens'  meetings  were  held  in  all  the 
large  towns  of  the  State,  and  appropriate  action  taken  in  regard 
to  the  sad  event.  The  State  University  and  the  public  schools 
of  Indianapolis  were  ordered  to  be  closed  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral.  The  Senate  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections, 
of  which  Senator  Morton  was  chairman,  met,  and  having  passed 
a  resolution  of  s3-mpathy  and  condolence,  adjourned  in  honor 
of  his  memory.  The  members  of  the  bar  of  Indianapolis  and 
other  cities  met  and  took  appropriate  action.  In  many  of 
the  country  towns  throughout  the  State  the  court-houses  were 
draped  in  mourning  and  business  was  suspended.  The  press 
teemed  with  elaborate  articles  upon  his  character  and  public 
services,  and  agreed  with  remarkable  unanimity  that  the  coun- 
try had  lost  one  of  its  greatest  men.  Military  companies  and 
social  organizations  of  various  kinds  met  and  determined  to 
attend  the  funeral.  Thus  in  all  directions,  and  by  every  means 
known  to  modern  society,  men  gave  expression  to  their  pro- 
found sorrow,  and  to  the  respect  and  afl"ection  which  they  bore 
for  the  deceased. 

"There  being  a  general  desire  on  the  part  of  the  public  to 
view  the  remains  of  the  departed  statesman,  they  were 


in  the  main  hall  of  the  court-house  at  Indianapolis,  where  they 
lay  in  state  during  Sunday  and  part  of  Monday.  During  this 
time  they  were  viewed  by  many  thousands  of  persons  who  came 
from  afar  and  near  to  take  a  last  look  at  one  who  had  filled  so 
large  a  place  in  the  history  of  the  country.  Special  trains 
were  run  on  several  of  the  railroads,  bringing  a  great  number 
of  persons  to  the  city,  and  the  solemn  procession  which  passed 
through  the  court-house  during  those  days  had  seemingly  no 
end. 

''The  funeral,  which  took  place  Monday,  November  5th,  was 
a  grand  and  imposing  pageant, — solemn,  impressive,  and  mem- 
orable. A  vast  concourse  of  people  was  assembled  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Every  branch  of  the  federal  government 
was  represented.  The  President,  being  unable  to  attend,  sent 
his  son  to  represent  him.  Of  the  cabinet  officers.  Secretary 
Thompson,  of  the  navy,  and  Attorney-General  Devens  were 
present.  On  the  part  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  there 
were  Senators  McDonald,  of  Indiana,  Davis,  of  Illinois,  Bay- 
ard, of  Delaware,  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  Burnside,  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  Booth,  of  California.  On  the  part  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  there  were  Representatives  Hanna 
and  Cobb,  of  Indiana,  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  Townsend,  of 
New  York,  Wilson,  of  West  Virginia,  Burchai-d,  of  Illinois,  and 
Davidson,  of  Florida.  The  judiciary  department  was  repre- 
sented by  federal  judges  from  several  neighboring  States,  and 
the  army  bj'  a  number  of  officers.  Besides  these,  there  were 
a  great  number  of  distinguished  citizens  from  all  parts  of  Indi- 
ana, Governors,  ex-Governors,  and  representative  men  from 
other  States,  numerous  military  companies  and  delegates  from 
civil  societies,  and  thousands  of  his  neighbors  who  knew  and 
loved  him." 

It  would  not  be  proper  or  just  to  close  this  short 
sketch  without  referring,  at  least  in  a  brief  way,  to 
the  political  services  of  Senator  Morton  other  than 
those  directly  connected  with  his  labors  in  the  Sen- 
ate and  as  Governor  of  Indiana,  and  to  touch  upon 
the  general  characteristics  of  the  man. 

Great  as  was  his  work  in  both  of  the  high  offices 
to  which  the  people  elevated  him,  his  labors  in  the 
general  field  of  politics  were  no  less  prodigious. 
From  1856,  when  he  first  entered  politics,  until 
death  claimed  him,  his  voice  and  pen  were  never 
idle.  In  every  political  contest  he  was  foremost  in 
the  fight,  and  the  downtrodden  and  oppressed  were 
always  his  care.  Not  only  did  he  engage  in  the  po- 
litical battles  in  his  own  State,  but  in  almost  every 
State  of  the  North  he  sent  forth  the  bugle-call  which 
rallied  the  forces  of  republicanism.  Few  men  made 
more  stump  speeches  than  he,  and  none  ever  carried 
such  weight.     In  Indiana,  during  each  campaign,  he 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


197 


spoke  incessantly,  and  he  always  knew  how  to  touch 
the  popular  chord  of  patriotism.  He  not  only  spoke, 
but  hundreds  of  editorials  from  his  pen  found  their 
way  into  the  columns  of  the  leading;  papers.  His 
political  speeches,  if  collected  and  published,  would 
make  a  political  history  of  the  country  in  its  great 
struggle  unequaled.  He  was  always  ready  to  answer 
the  calls  of  his  party.  His  devotion  to  bis  party  was 
witnessed  by  his  declining  the  English  mission. 
President  Grant  was  desirous  of  concluding  a  treaty 
with  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of  the  depredations 
of  the  rebel  cruisers,  and  urged  Senator  Morton  to 
undertake  the  mission.  He  was  inclined  to  accept  it, 
but  the  Legislature  of  Indiana  was  controlled  by  the 
Democrats,  and  he  declined.  President  Grant  wrote 
to  him  as  follows  : 

*'  ExEcoTivE  Mansion, 
"Washington,  D.  C,  October  21st. 
"  Hon.  0.  P.  Morton,  U.  S.  S. 

"  Dear  Sir,— Yoar  letter  of  the  19th  inst.,  declining  the  Eng- 
lish mission,  with  reasons  therefor,  is  received.  I  fully  concur 
with  you  in  all  the  reasons  which  you  give  for  the  course  you 
find  it  your  duty  to  pursue  in  the  matter,  but  regret  that  the 
country  is  not  to  have  your  valuable  services  at  the  English 
Court  at  this  important  juncture.  Your  course,  however,  I 
deem  wise,  and  it  will  be  highly  appreciated  by  your  constitu- 
ents in  Indiana  and  throughout  the  country. 

"  With  assurances  of  my  highest  regard,  I  remain,  very 
truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

"TJ.  S.  Grant." 

It  is  difficult  to  justly  sum  up  the  character  of  such 
a  man.  He  was  a  born  leader,  and  no  sooner  did  he 
enter  political  life  than  he  took  the  leadership  of  his 
party  and  maintained  it  until  his  death.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  will,  indomitable  energy,  and  untiring 
industry,  and  was  possessed  of  moral  and  physical 
courage  which  approached  the  sublime.  As  a  party 
leader  and  organizer  he  has  had  no  equal.  The  uni- 
versal testimony  of  those  who  were  with  him  in  the 
Senate  is  to  the  effect  that  America  has  never  pro- 
duced a  party  leader  who  could  even  lay  claim  to 
rival  him.  He  was  strong  because  he  was  always  in 
earnest ;  because  he  never  forgot  a  friend ;  because 
he  was  ever  ready  to  meet  a  foe.  He  always  mastered 
his  subject,  and  never  undertook  to  discuss  it  until  he 
had  thoroughly  studied  every  phase  of  it.  It  was 
this  that  gave  him  such  great  power  with  an  audience. 


His  mind  was  of  an  analytical  order,  and  when  he 
spoke  his  sentences  were  terse,  logical,  and  oftentimes 
eloquent.  There  was  little  or  no  fancy  about  him, 
and  he  rather  despised  those  fancy  flights  of  oratory 
by  which  some  men  endeavor  to  capture  their  audi- 
ences. He  dealt  with  facts,  and  he  dealt  with  them 
as  living  things.  While  he  was  often  severe  and  even 
terrible  in  his  denunciation  or  arraignment  of  his  op- 
ponents, he  never  was  personal,  but  always  calm,  dig- 
nified, urbane.  To  illustrate  this  we  cannot  do  better 
than  quote  a  paragraph  from  a  letter  written  by 
Senator  Jones,  of  Florida,  to  the  Morton  Monument 
Association.     He  says, — 

"  He  was  one  of  the  few  public  men  of  eminence  who  was 
strong  enough  in  all  the  resources  of  legitimate  argument  so  aa 
never  to  feel  the  necessity  or  entertain  the  inclination  of  resort- 
ing to  personal  vituperation  in  the  discussions  of  the  Senate. 
He  attacked  communities,  States,  and  parties  at  times  with 
great  vigor,  but,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Grattan,  *  ho  knew  how 
to  be  severe  without  being  unparliamentary.'  " 

His  patriotism  was  something  sublime.  He  loved 
the  country,  the  whole  country,  with  a  devotion  that 
knew  no  shrinking,  and  to  it  he  gave  heart,  soul, 
everything.  He  clung  to  the  idea  that  we  are  a 
nation  with  a  tenacity  that  forced  conviction  upon 
every  mind  he  addressed.  It  was  the  burden  of 
nearly  all  his  speeches.  He  labored  to  impress  this 
ruling  idea  upon  the  people,  for  to  him  it  was  the 
key  of  our  whole  political  system.  To  his  mind  it 
embraced  the  true  conception  of  our  government, 
and  the  only  one  upon  which  the  Union  could  safely 
rest.  To  him  the  idea  that  we  were  but  a  mere  con- 
federation of  States  was  abhorrent.  In  it  he  saw 
future  disaster  and  ruin.     In  May,  1860,  he  wrote, — 

"  It  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  the  public  mind 
that  we  are  one  people,  a  nation,  and  not  a  mere  coalition  of 
sovereign  and  independent  States." 

In  1865  he  said,— 

"The  war  has  established  upon  imperishable  foundations 
the  great  fundamental  truth  of  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of 
the  nation.  We  are  many  States,  but  one  people;  having  an 
undivided  sovereignty,  one  flag,  one  common  destiny." 

In  1871,  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  he  said, — 

"  The  idea  that  we  are  a  nation,  that  we  are  one  people, 
undivided  and  indivisible,  should  be  a  plank  in  the  platform 


198 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


of  every  party.  It  should  be  presented  on  the  banner  of  every 
party.  It  should  be  taught  in  every  school,  academy,  and 
college.  It  should  be  the  political  north  star  by  which  every 
political  manager  should  steer  his  bark.  It  should  be  the 
central  idea  of  American  politics,  and  every  child  should,  so  to 
speak,  be  vaccinated  with  the  idea  that  he  may  be  protected 
against  this  political  distemper  which  has  brought  such 
calamity  upon  our  country." 

In  Ohio,  in  1873,  he  said, — 

"  What  the  sun  is  in  the  heavens,  diffusing  light  and  life 
and  warmth,  and  by  its  subtle  influence  holding  the  planetii 
in  their  orbits,  and  preserving  the  harmony  of  the  universe, 
such  is  the  sentiment  of  nationality  in  a  people  ditfusing  life 
and  protection  in  every  direction,  holding  the  faces  of  Ameri- 
cans always  toward  their  home,  protecting  the  States  in  the 
exercise  of  their  just  powers,  and  preserving  the  harmony  of 
all.  We  must  have  a  nation.  It  is  a  necessity  of  our  political 
existence.  We  should  cherish  the  idea  that  while  the  States 
hare  their  rights,  sacred  and  inviolable,  which  we  should 
guard  with  untiring  vigilance,  never  permitting  an  encroach- 
ment upon  them,  and  remembering  that  such  encroachment 
is  as  much  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
as  to  encroach  upon  the  rights  of  the  general  government ; 
still  bearing  in  mind  that  the  States  are  but  subordinate  parts 
of  one  great  nation, — that  the  nation  is  over  all,  even  as  God 
is  over  the  universe." 

We  might  multiply  such  quotations,  for  they  crop 
out  everywhere  in  his  speeches  and  writings. 

He  hated  treason  with  all  the  power  he  had,  and 
he  would  stamp  it  out  as  a  poison  that  if  left  alone 
would  kill  the  body  and  soul  of  the  nation.  He  was 
unsparing  in  his  denunciation  of  the  foul  crime,  and 
was  often  accused  of  hating  the  South.  His  feelings 
in  this  matter  are  best  expressed  in  his  own  language. 
On  Decoration  Day,  1877,  in  the  last  speech  he  ever 
made  in  his  own  State,  he  said, — 

"  We  will  let  by-gones  be  by-gones.  We  cannot  forget  the 
past;  we  ought  not  forget  it.  God  has  planted  memory  in  our 
minds  and  we  cannot  blot  it  out.  But  while  we  cannot  forget, 
yet  we  can  forgive,  and  we  will  forgive  all  who  accept  the  great 
doctrines  of  equal  liberty  and  of  equal  rights  to  all,  and  equal 
protection  to  all,  and  will  be  reconciled  to  them.  And  while 
we  cannot  forget  the  past,  we  will  treat  them  as  if  the  past  had 
never  occurred,  and  that  is  all  that  can  be  asked ;  and  that  is 
true  reconciliation.  True  reconciliation  does  not  require  us  to 
forget  these  deadj  does  not  require  us  to  forget  the  living  sol- 
dier and  to  cease  to  do  him  justice.  We  must  remember  that 
there  is  an  eternal  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  and  that 
we  were  on  the  right  side  and  that  they  were  on  the  wrong  side; 
and  all  that  we  ask  of  them  is  that  hereafter  they  shall  be  on  the 
right  side.     We  should  forever  remember  that  we  were  in  the 


right.  We  want  to  transmit  that  as  a  sacred  inheritance  to  our 
remotest  posterity.  We  know  that  in  that  great  struggle  we 
were  in  the  right.  We  were  grandly  in  the  right  and  they 
were  terribly  in  the  wrong.  The  whole  civilized  world  has  now 
said  that  we  were  in  the  right,  and  we  know  if  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  right  and  wrong,  we  were  in  the  right  and  they  were 
in  the  wrong.  We  want  that  grand  distinction  to  pass  down 
through  all  time  ;  but  that  is  entirely  consistent  with  true  recon- 
ciliation. We  say  to  those  who  were  on  the  other  side  of  that 
great  contest  that  cost  so  dearly  in  blood  and  treasure,  that  cost 
us  so  much  suffering  and  sacrifice,  that  while  we  shall  forever 
cherish  the  lessons  that  were  taught  us  by  that  struggle,  and 
while  we  shall  forever  stand  by  the  principles  that  we  main- 
tained in  that  contest,  all  we  ask  of  them  is  that  they  shall 
hereafter  stand  upon  those  principles,  and  let  us  go  forward 
hand  in  hand  and  as  Americans  and  as  brethren  through  all  the 
future  pages  of  our  country's  history." 

He  was  possessed  of  moral  courage  that  few  public 
men  obtain  to,  and  a  physical  courage  which  almost 
amounted  to  an  insensibility  to  personal  danger.  The 
first  was  exhibited  often  by  the  stand  he  took  upon 
great  public  questions,  regardless  of  what  clamor 
there  might  be  from  political  friends  or  foes.  Mak- 
ing up  his  mind  that  a  thing  was  right,  it  mattered 
not  what  all  the  world  might  say  or  do,  he  stood 
like  a  rock.  He  was  ambitious,  and  yet  for  popu- 
larity's sake  he  would  not  desert  a  right.  One  of 
the  greatest  acts  of  his  life  was  when,  as  it  appeared 
to  his  friends,  he  closed  the  doors  against  all  hopes 
of  reaching  the  Presidency  by  the  stand  he  took  in 
favor  of  the  Chinese  immigrants.  He  was  an  open 
candidate  for  that  high  office.  To  speak  for  the 
Mongolian  was,  seemingly,  to  espouse  a  cause  so  un- 
popular as  to  be  political  death.  He  did  not  hesitate 
a  moment.  He  believed  he  was  right,  and  with  all 
his  power  he  took  up  the  cause  of  the  Chinese.  The 
fear  of  being  called  inconsistent  often  keeps  public 
men  from  changing  their  ideas  of  public  policy.  It 
was  not  so  with  Mr.  Morton.  He  had  the  courage 
of  his  convictions.  His  physical  courage  might  be 
illustrated  by  numerous  incidents,  but  one  must 
suffice,  and  we  tell  it  as  it  was  narrated  by  Governor 
Porter,  who  was  a  witness  to  it.  In  his  earlier  years 
as  an  attorney  Mr.  Morton  appeared  in  a  case  of 
some  magnitude  at  Indianapolis.  One  of  the  oppos- 
ing lawyers  was  of  the  flre-eating  kind,  and  had  a 
reputation  as  one  who  was  ready  to  use  his  revolver. 
During  the  trial   he  was   exceedingly  ugly,  and  ap- 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


191) 


peared  in  court  with  his  pistol  ostentatiously  dis- 
played, and  had  succeeded  in  cowing  the  other  attor- 
neys. Finally,  Mr.  Morton  administered  to  him  a 
scathing  rebuke.  As  he  took  his  seat  the  subject  of 
his  rebuke  arose  and  said  to  those  near  him  that  he 
intended  to  make  Morton  apologize  then  and  there. 
All  expected  a  tragedy.  Few  knew  anything  of  Mr. 
Morton.  He  went  to  where  Mr.  Morton  was  sitting 
and  said,  in  an  insulting  tone,  "  I  have  come  to 
demand  an  apology  from  you."  Quick  as  a  flash 
Mr.  Morton  turned  upon  him,  and  looking  him 
steadily  in  the  eyes,  said,  in  a  tone  sharp  and  clear, 
"  I  have  no  apology  to  make  to  you,"  and  then  de- 
liberately repeated  the  offensive  remark.  He  had 
met  a  man  that  knew  no  fear,  and  was  cowed  com- 
pletely. 

Mr.   Morton  was  simple  in  his  tastes  ;    honest  in 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.     No  taint  of  corrup- 
tion  ever  lingered  near  him.     He  loved   his  home, 
his  family,  his  friends,  and  they  clung  to  him  with  a 
devotion  equal  to  his  love.     His  nature  was  kind  and 
sympathetic.     The  cry  of  the  suffering  or  sorrowing  j 
always  found  an   echo    in   his  heart.     The  cares  of  j 
state    often  absorbed  him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  : 
forgot  himself,  his   own  physical  weakness,  his  own 
wants,  but  never  so  that  he  forgot  his  home  or  family,  i 
and  he  always  turned  to  them  for  rest.     When  in  the  i 
bosom  of  his  family  he  was  as  simple  as  a  child.  | 

His  children  were  especially  dear  to  him,  and  amid 
all  the  cares  of  state  he  thought  of  them  and  en- 
deavored to  guide  their  young  minds  into  the  paths 
of  honor.  Few  men  in  the  height  of  power  would 
write  to  their  children  so  simple,  so  loving,  and  yet  so 
grand  a  letter  as  the  following : 

*'  Washingto.v,  January  1,  1871. 
"  Mij  Dear  Ck!Uh-en,—Th\s  is  the  Brst  day  of  the  New  Year, 
and  here  it  is  briglit  and  cheerful  and  warm,  and  everybody 
seems  happy.  Tour  mother  is  as  well  as  usual,  and  sends  her 
love  to  you,  and  her  heartfelt  wishes  for  your  health  and  for 
your  future  happiness  and  success  in  life.  You  can  never  know 
the  depth  of  a  mother's  love, — how  constantly  you  are  in  her 
thoughts,  her  anxiety  about  you  from  day  to  day,  and  what 
sacrifices  she  would  make  for  you.  We  have  been  talking  about 
you,  and  wondering  what  you  are  doing,  and  hoping  you  will 
make  great  progress  in  your  studies  during  the  year  which  has 
just  come  in.  One  year  is  a  great  portion  of  one's  lifetime. 
Much  may  be  done  in  one  year  in  getting  an  education  and 


fitting  yourself  for  the  duties  of  lifo.  Lost  time  can  never  be 
recalled,  and  cannot  be  made  up.  Each  year  should  show  a 
great  deal  learned,  and  great  improvement  in  the  manners  and 
characters  of  my  dear  children. 

"My  great  anxiety  and  desire  are  about  my  little  boys.  I 
am  constantly  wondering  what  they  will  be  when  they  grow  up 
to  be  men.  Will  they  be  learned,  talented,  good,  prosperous, 
and  an  honor  to  their  parents  and  country  ?  Such  is  my  daily 
prayer.  We  hope  you  think  of  us,  and  love  us,  and  think  of 
your  dear  absent  brother,  who  is  so  far  away  on  a  lonely  island 
in  the  Northern  Sea.  You  must  constantly  remember  him  in 
your  prayers,  that  he  may  be  preserved  in  health,  and  be  pros- 
perous and  be  safely  returned  to  us  during  the  year. 

"  Your  mother  will  return  to  you  in  a  few  days,  and  in  the 
mean  time  you  must  not  neglect  your  books,  and  show  to  her 
that  you  can  be  dutiful  and  studious  in  her  absence. 

"  And  now  I  wish  you  a  happy  New  Year,  and  may  God  bless 
you  and  preserve  you,  is  the  prayer  of  your  loving  father, 

''  0.  P.  Morton." 

There  was  no  love  of  pomp  in  his  nature,  and  he 
was  always  accessible  to  the  people,  the  poor  equally 
with  the  rich.  He  gave  to  the  country  seventeen 
years  of  his  life,  and  wore  himself  out  and  died  a 
poor  man,  as  he  had  lived.  His  last  audible  words 
expressed  it  all,  "  I  am  worn  out."  Yes,  he  had  worn 
himself  out. 

The  people  of  Indiana  have  raised  in  the  Circle 
Park  of  Indianapolis  a  bronze  statue  of  the  great  war 
Governor  and  senator,  but  his  greatest  monument 
lives  in  the  pages  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  his 
country,  and  in  the  doctrines  of  patriotism  he  incul- 
cated and  enforced. 

Hon.  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  was  born  Sept.  7, 
1819,  on  a  farm  near  Zanesville,  Muskingum  Co., 
Ohio,  his  father,  John  Hendricks,  having  been  a 
native  of  Western  Pennsylvania.  The  family  was 
one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  Ligonier  Valley,  West- 
moreland Co.,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  admin- 
istration of  public  affairs,  serving  with  honor  in  the 
Legislature  and  other  places  of  trust.  The  mother, 
Jane  Thomson  Hendricks,  was  of  Scotch  descent. 
Her  grandfather,  John  Thomson,  emigrated  to  Penn- 
sylvania before  the  Revolution,  and  was  conspicuous 
among  the  pioneers  of  that  date  for  his  intelligence, 
integrity,  enterprise,  love  of  country,  and  far-reaching 
good-will  to  men.  As  soon  as  assured  of  the  wisdom 
of  emigration,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Scotch 
people  setting  forth  the  advantages  of  American  soil, 


200 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


climate,  and  institutions  so  forcibly  that  the  section 
of  the  State  where  he  lived  was  principally  settled  by 
his  countrymen.  Several  of  his  sons  were  soldiers 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  many  of  bis  descend- 
ants have  attained  distinction  in  the  different  walks 
of  life.  Beside  those  bearing  his  name,  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Agnews,  of  New  York,  the  Blacks  and 
Watsons,  of  Pittsburgh,  the  Wylies,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  the  Hendrickses,  of  Indiana.  The  wife  of  John 
Hendricks  and  her  niece  are  the  only  members  of  the 
Thomson  family  who  emigrated  West.  In  nearly 
every  branch  of  the  family  the  pioneer  Calvinistic 
faith  of  the  Thomsons  is  still  maintained.  When 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks  was  six  months  old  his  parents 
removed  from  Ohio  to  Madison,  Ind.  This  was  the 
home  of  William  Hendricks,  that  uncle  of  Thomas  A. 
who  in  indirect  line  preceded  him  in  the  enjoyment 
of  his  signal  tokens  of  public  confidence  and  respect. 
He  was  then  a  member  of  Congress,  three  years  sub- 
sequently he  was  elected  Governor,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  term  was  chosen  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
All  of  these  positions  he  filled  acceptably.  He  was 
indeed  the  first  representative  in  Congress  who 
brought  the  State  into  favorable  repute.  John,  the 
father  of  Thomas  A.,  had  some  share  of  government 
patronage.  He  held  the  appointment  of  deputy  sur- 
veyor of  public  land  under  Gen.  Jackson,  and  in  that 
capacity  became  generally  known  and  respected.  As 
early  as  1822  he  removed  with  his  family  to  the 
interior  of  the  State,  and  held  the  first  title  to  the 
fine  land  upon  a  portion  of  which  Shelbyville,  the 
county-seat  of  Shelby  County,  is  located.  In  the 
heart  of  the  dense  forest,  upon  a  gentle  eminence  i 
overlooking  the  beautiful  valley,  he  built  the  sightly  i 
and  commodious  brick  homestead  which  yet  stands  in  [ 
good  preservation  in  open  view  of  the  thriving  city  [ 
and  richly  cultivated  country  around.  It  soon  be-  i 
came  known  as  a  centre  of  learning  and  social  de- 
light, and  was  the  favorite  resort  of  men  of  distinc-  I 

1 
tion   and  worth.      It  was  in  particular  the  seat  of  i 

hospitality  to  the  orthodox  ministry,  Mr.  Hendricks 
being  the  principal  founder  and  supporter  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  community.  The  pre- 
siding genius  of  that  home  was  the  gentle  wife  and 
mother,  who  tempered  the  atmosphere  of  learning  i 


and  zeal  with  the  sweet  influences  of  charity  and 
love.  Essentially  clever  and  persistent,  she  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  rare  quality  of  patience,  which  stood  her 
in  better  stead  than  a-  turbulent,  aggressive  spirit.  A 
close  analysis  of  the  character  of  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks is  not  necessary  to  show  that  this  trait  was 
pre-eminently  his  birthright.  It  is  thus  apparent 
that  the  childhood  and  youth  of  Mr.  Hendricks  were 
passed  under  the  happiest  auspices.  Together  with 
his  brothers  and  sisters  he  attended  the  village  school 
and  derived  the  full  benefit  of  very  respectable  and 
thorough  instruction.  His  senior  brother,  Abram, 
pursued  college  studies  at  the  University  of  Ohio,  and 
at  South  Hanover,  Ind.,  and  subsequently  became 
a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  turn 
Thomas  A.  attended  college  at  South  Hanover,  and 
then  began  the  study  of  law  at  home  under  the 
advice  and  instruction  of  Judge  Major.  In  so  doing 
he  followed  the  bent  of  his  early  and  most  cherished 
inclinations.  In  boyhood  he  developed  a  fondness 
for  legal  discussions,  and  when  but  twelve  years  of 
age  attended  the  hearing  of  important  cases  in  the 
courts.  The  final  period  of  law  study  he  prosecuted 
under  the  tuition  of  his  uncle,  Judge  Thomson,  of 
Chambersburg,  Pa.,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Shelbyville.  His  success  was  not  rapid,  but  he  grew 
in  favor  by  careful  attention  to  business,  and  acquired 
a  leading  practice.  His  professional  career  has  since 
been  so  interwoven  with  official  life  that  it  is  next  to 
impossible  to  refer  to  one  without  speaking  of  the 
other.  In  1848  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature, 
and  declined  a  renomination.  In  1850  he  was  chosen 
without  opposition  senatorial  delegate  to  the  conven- 
tion empowered  to  amend  the  State  Constitution,  and 
took  an  important  part  in  the  deliberative  proceed- 
ings. In  1851  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the 
Indianapolis  district,  and  re-elected  in  1852,  but 
defeated  in  1854.  He  was  in  1855  appointed  com- 
missioner of  the  general  land  office  by  President 
Pierce.  This  mark  of  executive  favor  was  expected, 
and  the  wisdom  of  the  selection  proved  by  the  able 
and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  the  duties  were 
discharged  at  a  time  when  the  sales,  entries,  and 
grants  were  larger  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of 
the  country.     The  term  of  four  years  in  the  land  office 


y\^.  ^    AAt-w-L  o^^v-  cA-s^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


201 


was  followed  by  an  unsuccessful  race  for  Governor  in 
1860.  In  1862  he  was  chosen  United  States  senator 
by  the  unanimous  vote  of  his  party,  and  during  the 
period  of  his  term  in  the  Senate,  the  Democrats 
being  in  a  small  minority,  he  was  compelled  to  take  a 
prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  of  that  body.  He 
favored  the  earnest  prosecution  of  the  war,  and 
voted  for  supplies  to  sustain  the  army.  He  was  op- 
posed to  conscription,  and  favored  the  enlistment  of 
volunteers  and  payment  of  soldiers'  bounties.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  held  that  the  States  engaged  in 
rebellion  had  at  no  time  been  out  of  the  Union,  and 
were  therefore  entitled  to  full  representation  in  Con- 
gress. He  maintained  that  the  people  of  those  States 
should  have  entire  control  of  their  respective  State 
governments.  These  views  placed  him  in  opposition 
to  the  reconstruction  policy  which  was  adopted  by 
the  majority  in  Congress.  He  also  opposed  the  con- 
stitutional amendments  because  the  Southern  States 
were  not  represented,  and  because,  in  his  opinion, 
such  amendments  should  not  be  made  before  sectional 
passions  had  time  to  subside.  He  held  that  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution  should  be  considered  only 
when  the  public  is  in  a  cool,  deliberative  frame  of 
mind.  His  term  in  the  Senate  expired  March  4, 
1869,  when  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
profession  of  law,  having  in  1860  removed  to  Indian- 
apolis with  that  end  in  view.  In  1862  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  Oscar  B.  Hord,  which  was 
extended  in  1866  to  a  cousin.  Col.  A.  W.  Hendricks, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Hendricks,  Hord  &  Hen- 
dricks. The  business  of  the  firm  was  large,  impor- 
tant, and  lucrative.  In  1872,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks 
was  forced  to  relinquish  the  practice  of  his  profession 
by  an  election  to  the  office  of  chief  executive  of  the 
State.  He  accepted  the  nomination  against  his  earn- 
est protest,  but  made  a  vigorous  contest,  supporting 
the  Greeley  ticket.  He  was  inaugurated  Governor 
Jan.  13,  1873,  and  served  the  State  in  that  office  for 
four  years.  He  gave  his  undivided  attention  to  the 
interests  of  the  State,  his  administration  of  public 
affairs  being  above  criticism.  In  the  political  contest 
of  1876  he  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  and  carried  his  own  State  by  upward 
of  five  thousand  majority.     After  the  decision  of  the 


Electoral  Commission  Governor  Hendricks,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  made  a  brief  sojourn  in  Europe, 
spending  the  summer  in  a  tour  nf  Great  Britain, 
Germany,  and  Prance.  He  resumed  on  his  return 
the  practice  of  law  with  his  former  partners,  with 
the  addition  of  ex-Governor  Conrad  Baker,  who 
took  Governor  Hendricks'  place  in  the  firm  when 
succeeded  by  him  in  the  gubernatorial  office,  the 
firm-name  being  Baker,  Hord  &  Hendricks.  The 
personal  mention  of  Thom'as  A.  Hendricks  may  be 
given  briefly :  he  was  reared  in  the  Presbyterian 
faith,  but  has  for  some  years  been  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Cburch,  and  is  senior  warden  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  Indianapolis.  He  was  married  near  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  Sept.  25,  1845,  to  Miss  Eliza  C.  Mor- 
gan, who  is  a  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Stephen  Wood, 
a  prominent  citizen  and  early  settler  of  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio.  Governor  and  Mrs.  Hendricks  have 
had  but  one  child,  a  son  born  in  1848,  who  lived  to 
be  three  years  of  age.  The  extent  and  character  of 
Governor  Hendricks'  attainments  can  be  well  gauged 
by  his  public  and  professional  record.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  his  political  views,  although  he  has 
stronger  convictions  than  are  credited  to  him.  Under 
a  somewhat  cautious,  reserved  manner  he  conceals 
great  depth  of  sentiment  and  indomitable  fiiith  in  the 
triumph  of  right  over  wrong,  truth  over  envy,  malice, 
and  detraction.  In  social  as  in  public  relations  he  is 
steadfast  in  his  friendships  and  generous  to  his  foes. 
He  has  a  happy  equanimity  of  temper  which  recon- 
ciles him  to  the  inevitable  and  nerves  him  to  make 
the  best  of  life.  A  certain  amount  of  benignity  is 
imparted  to  his  voice,  which  in  carrying  a  point 
before  a  jury  is  almost  irresistible.  In  appearance 
Governor  Hendricks  is  distinguished,  possessing  a 
fine  figure  and  a  dignified  presence.  As  his  methods 
of  thought  and  forms  of  expression  are  peculiar  to 
himself,  so  in  the  execution  of  his  plans  he  departs 
so  much  from  the  beaten  track  that  the  end  in  view 
is  often  lost  sight  of  by  others.  It  is  none  the  less 
plain  to  him,  and  it  is  a  question  if  he  ever  sought 
an  object,  the  accomplishment  of  which  depended 
upon  his  own  exertions,  that  he  did  not  gain. 

Joseph  Ewing  McDonald  was  born  in  Butler 
County,  Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  August,  1819.       His 


202 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


father,  John  McDonald,  was  of  Scotch  extraction,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  by  occupation  a  farmer. 
He  was  a  man  of  sterling  worth,  determined  and  self- 
sacrificing.  He  died  when  Joseph  E.  was  still  in  his 
infancy,  thus  depriving  him  of  support  and  counsel, 
and  casting  upon  him  many  burdens  and  responsi- 
bilities. His  mother,  Eleanor  Piatt,  was  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  her  ancestors  being  French  Huguenots,  who 
located  first  in  New  Jersey  and  afterwards  perma- 
nently in  Ohio.  She  was  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
lect, her  standards  all  high,  her  influences  always 
elevating.  Her  highest  ambition — a  mother's — was 
to  educate  her  children  and  make  them  useful  mem- 
bers of  society.  She  and  her  husband  were  both 
earnest  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She 
later  married  John  Kerr,  of  Butler  County,  Ohio,  a 
native  of  Ireland,  and  a  frugal,  industrious  farmer. 
He  with  hi.s  family  moved  in  the  fall  of  1826  to 
Montgomery  County,  Ind.,  Joseph  E.  then  being 
seven  years  of  age.  While  still  a  mere  boy  he  de- 
termined to  make  the  profession  of  law  his  life-work. 
At  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  apprenticed  to  the 
saddler's  trade  at  Lafayette.  For  nearly  six  years  he 
served  as  an  apprentice,  being  released  from  the  last 
three  months  for  fidelity  to  the  interest  of  his  em- 
ployers. These  three  months  he  spent  in  studying. 
During  his  apprenticeship  he  had  access  to  the  library 
of  a  government  official,  and  what  leisure  he  com- 
manded was  devoted  to  the  English  branches.  He 
entered  Wabash  College,  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  in 
1838,  supporting  himself  by  plying  his  trade.  Two 
years  later  he  was  a  student  at  Asbury  University, 
Greencastle.  Mr.  McDonald  did  not  graduate.  A 
diploma  and  degree  were  given  him,  however,  while 
he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate.  His 
first  preceptor  in  law  was  Zebulun  Baird,  one  of  the 
first  lawyers  of  the  State,  and  a  resident  of  Lafayette. 
In  1853  he  was  admitted  to  practice  upon  an  exami- 
nation before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  Four 
years  later  he  began  practicing  in  Crawfordsville,  and 
in  1859  removed  to  Indianapolis.  His  first  law  part- 
ner at  Indianapolis  was  ex-judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Indiana,  Addison  L.  Roache.  His  present 
partners  are  John  M.  Butler  and  A.  L.  Mason. 
Mr.  McDonald,  with  the  late  Judge   Black,  was 


counsel  for  the  defendants  in  the  celebrated  case  of 
Bowles,  Horsey,  and  Milligan,  tried  for  treason  and 
conspiracy  by  a  military  commission  at  Indianapolis, 
and  sentenced  to  be  hung.  The  case  was  taken  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  where  a 
number  of  important  constitutional  questions  arose  as 
to  the  relations  of  the  general  government  to  the 
States,  the  war  power  of  the  government,  and  the 
rights  of  the  citizen.  The  defendants  were  released 
by  the  Supreme  Court.  In  the  case  of  Beebe  vs.  the 
State,  in  which  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the 
enactment  known  as  the  Maine  liquor  law  was  un- 
constitutional, Mr.  McDonald  was  of  the  counsel  for 
the  defendants.  He  was  also  one  of  the  attorneys 
for  the  parties  who  assailed  the  constitutionality  of 
the  Baxter  liquor  law.  He  has  taken  an  active  part 
in  many  other  important  cases  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  and  the  Federal  Court. 

The  senator  is  most  successful  in  his  pleading  be- 
fore a  jury,  and  is  a  shrewd  examiner.  He  is  not  an 
eloquent  talker,  but  has  the  ability  to  influence  those 
who  listen  to  him  by  the  fairness  of  his  arguments. 

Before  he  had  received  his  license  to  practice  law, 
Mr.  McDonald  was  nominated  for  the  ofiice  of  prose- 
cuting attorney,  and  elected  the  following  fall  over 
Robert  Jones,  Whig,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Lafayette  bar.  This  was  the  first  election  of  that 
class  of  officers  by  the  people,  they  having  been  for- 
merly chosen  by  the  Legislature.  As  prosecuting  at- 
torney he  served  four  years.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Thirty-first  Congress  from  the  district  in  which  Craw- 
fordsville was  then  situated,  having  removed  to  that 
place  during  his  official  term  as  prosecutor  at  Lafay- 
ette. 

Returning  to  the  State  after  his  congressional  term, 
he  was  elected  attorney-general  of  Indiana  five  years 
later.  He  was  the  first  choice  of  the  people  for  this 
office,  and  held  it  two  terms.  With  Oliver  P.  Mor- 
ton as  an  opponent,  he  made  the  race  for  Governor  of 
Indiana  in  186-t.  He  ran  ahead  of  his  ticket,  but 
Mr.  Morton  was  elected  by  nearly  twenty  thousand 
votes.  Eleven  years  later  Mr.  McDonald  took  his 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  as  a  successor  to 
Daniel  D.  Pratt.  He  was  chairman  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Public  Lands  and  the  second  member  of  the 


-'V=iy23SaiiA5i>'>!-''y- 


\^f^O^C^c^ 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


203 


Judiciary  Committee.  He  visited  New  Orleans  to 
investigate  the  count  of  the  vote  of  Louisiana  in  the 
contest  of  1876,  and  made  the  principal  argument 
for  the  objectors  before  the  Electoral  Commission. 
The  senator  was  also  a  member  of  the  Teller- Wallace 
committee  to  investigate  the  frauds  in  elections  in 
Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts.  At  the  expiration 
of  his  senatorial  term  he  returned  to  Indianapolis, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  active  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  He  is  and  always  has  been  a 
firm  and  consistent  Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  ian 
school,  as  personified  in  the  political  life  of  Andrew 
Jackson.  He  believes  the  true  idea  of  American 
democracy  is  to  preserve  unimpaired  all  the  rights 
reserved  to  the  States,  respectively,  and  to  the  people, 
without  infringing  upon  any  of  the  powers  delegated 
to  the  general  government  by  the  Constitution,  and 
that  constitutional  government  is  of  the  first  impor- 
tance and  a  necessity  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union.  He  believes  in  the  virtue  of  the  people, 
and  in  their  ability  and  purpose  to  maintain  their 
institutions  inviolate  against  the  assaults  of  designing 
men.  As  an  orator,  both  at  the  bar  and  on  the  hust- 
ings, Mr.  McDonald  is  cool,  logical,  and  forcible  ;  as 
a  citizen,  he  has  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  who 
know  him,  regardless  of  political  creeds.  He  is  re- 
garded by  all  parties  as  a  statesman  of  acknowledged 
merit.  His  views  are  broad  and  comprehensive  on 
all  questions  of  public  interest, — not  a  man  of  expe- 
dients, but  stating  his  views  clearly  and  boldly,  leav- 
ing the  result  to  the  candid  judgment  of  the  people. 
The  opinions  of  his  most  bitter  opponents  are  never 
treated  with  disdain.  His  steadfiistness  of  purpose, 
his  honest  desire  to  accomplish  what  was  best  for  the 
people  have  given  him  a  home  in  their  hearts  and  won 
for  him  high  honors  at  their  hands.  Their  confidence 
has  never  been  betrayed  or  sacrificed  for  personal 
aggrandizement.  Mr.  McDonald  is  in  religion  an 
attendant  and  pew- holder,  but  not  a  member,  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis.  He 
has  been  three  times  married.  On  the  25th  of  No- 
vember, 1844,  he  was  united  to  Miss  Nancy  Ruth 
Buell,  to  whom  were  born  children, — Ezekiel  M., 
Malcolm  A.,  Frank  B.,  and  Annie  M.  (Mrs.  Cald- 
well).    Mrs.  McDonald  died  Sept.  7,  1872,  and  he 


was  again  married  on  the  16th  of  September,  1874, 
to  Mrs.  Araminta  W.  Vance,  who  died  Feb.  2,  1875. 
On  the  12th  of  January,  1881,  he  was  married  to 
his  present  wife,  Mrs.  Josephine  F.  Barnard,  ni'e 
Farnsworth,  of  Indianapolis,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Farnsworth,  formerly  of  Madison,  Ind. 

Governor  David  Wallace  was  bom  in  Mifflin 
County,  Pa.,  April  24,  1799.  His  parents  removed 
to  Ohio  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  from  that  State, 
through  the  influence  of  Gen.  Harrison,  he  received 
a  cadetship  in  West  Point  Academy,  where,  after 
graduation,  he  was  for  some  time  a  tutor  in  mathe- 
matics. He  removed  to  Brookville  while  still  a 
young  man,  and  began  the  practice  of  the  law  there. 
He  represented  the  county  in  the  Legislature  some 
years,  and  in  1834  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor 
on  the  ticket  with  Governor  Noble's  re-election. 
In  1837  he  was  elected  Governor  and  removed  to 
the  capital,  which  was  thenceforward  his  home. 
He  married,  as  his  second  wife,  Zerelda,  eldest 
daughter  of  the  eminent  physician.  Dr.  Sanders,  and 
in  1839  the  Legislature  purchased  for  the  oflBcial 
residence  of  the  Executive  the  house  then  recently 
built  by  Dr.  Sanders  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Illinois  and  Market  Streets.  In  1841,  at  a  special 
election  to  meet  the  demand  of  President  Harrison 
for  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  he  was  elected  over 
Judge  Wick,  and  served  till  March  4,  1843.  In 
Congress  it  was  his  fortune  to  be  the  last  man  on  the 
roll  of  the  committee  to  which  had  been  referred  the 
petition  of  Professor  Morse  for  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars to  make  an  electric  telegraph  line  from  Washing- 
ton to  Baltimore.  The  vote  on  recommending  such 
an  appropriation  was  a  tie  till  Governor  Wallace  gave 
the  casting  vote  for  it.  He  saved  that  just  appro- 
priation, and  it  beat  him  in  his  contest  for  re-elec- 
tion. His  opponent,  the  late  William  J.  Brown, 
used  the  idleness  and  waste  of  spending  money  on 
such  schemes  with  disastrous  effect.  After  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  he  served 
a  term  as  its  judge.  He  was  also  prosecutor  in  the 
Circuit  Court  for  some  years.  Both  in  intellect  and 
personal  appearance  and  bearing  Governor  Wallace 
seemed  formed  by  nature  for  an  orator,  and  when 
deeply  moved,  as  he  was  sometimes  at  the  bar,  espe- 


204 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


cially  in  prosecuting  cruel  crimes,  he  was  the  most 
eloquent  man  ever  heard  in  Indianapolis.  His  na- 
ture was  exceedingly  social,  genial,  and  generous,  and 
he  was  a  most  delightful  companion  for  young  men, 
whose  company  he  seemed  to  prefer.  He  died  in 
September,  1859.  His  eldest  son,  William,  is  a  dis- 
tinguished member  of  the  bar,  and  even  more  distin- 
guished as  an  orator  and  leading  member  of  the  Odd- 
Fellows.  His  second,  Lewis,  is  the  well-known  nov- 
elist and  general,  now  minister  to  ConstaDtinople. 

Less  known  as  a  politician,  but  not  less  favorably 
known  professionally  than  the  distinguished  lawyers 
whose  lives  have  just  been  briefly  sketched,  is  John 
M.  Butler. 

John  Maynard  Butler. — The  parents  of  Mr. 
Butler  were  Calvin  Butler  and  Malvina  French  But- 
ler, the  latter  of  whom  was  a  direct  descendant  of 
Governor  Bradford,  of  Massachusetts,  both  natives  of 
Vermont.  The  former  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoe- 
maker, which  wa.s  followed  until  his  thirtieth  year, 
when,  having  a  desire  to  acquire  an  education,  he 
made  his  way  through  Middlebury  College,  and  subse- 
quently entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover, 
Mass.  Having  thus  gained  a  thorough  theological  as 
well  as  classical  training,  he  came  West  to  preach,  and 
settled  in  Evansville,  Ind.  Subsequently  he  removed 
to  Northern  Illinois,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1854. 
There  being  a  large  family  of  children  in  the  house- 
hold, the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  born  at 
Evansville,  Ind.,  Sept.  17,  1834,  was  compelled  to 
rely  mainly  upon  his  own  exertions,  and  consequently 
at  the  age  of  twelve  years  engaged  as  clerk  and  in 
other  employments.  Having  inherited  a  love  of  learn- 
ing and  a  determination  to  acquire  a  thorough  educa- 
tion, he  succeeded  in  entering  Wabash  College,  at 
Crawfordsville,  in  1851,  and  through  his  own  efforts, 
with  partial  help,  graduated  in  1856.  The  same  day 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  Female  Seminary  at 
Crawfordsville,  which  position  he  held  for  three  suc- 
cessive years,  after  which  he  became  principal  of  the 
High-School.  During  this  period  he  pursued  the 
study  of  the  law  with  the  intention  of  adopting  it  as 
a  profession.  In  the  fall  of  1861  he  made  an  ex- 
tended tour  through  the  Northwestern  States,  in  pur- 
suit of  a  location  for  the  practice  of  law.    Returning, 


he  settled  in  Crawfordsville  in  November,  1861 .  From 
that  day  until  the  present  he  has  been  kept  constantly 
busy,  his  first  case  being  an  important  one  that  passed 
through  the  Circuit  and  Supreme  Courts  of  Indiana, 
ending  in  the  complete  success  of  the  young  lawyer. 
This  gave  him  an  early  prestige  and  greatly  increased 
his  practice  in  the  town  and  surrounding,  counties. 
In  1871  he  came  to  Indianapolis  and  succeeded  Judge 
A.  L.  Roache  as  partner  with  Hon.  Josepli  E.  Mc- 
Donald, their  relations  being  continued  to  the  present 
time.  Mr.  George  C.  Butler  was  taken  into  the  firm 
in  1875,  and  after  his  death  Mr.  A.  L.  Ma.son,  the 
present  firm  being  McDonald,  Butler  &  Mason. 
Their  practice  has  steadily  increased,  notwithstanding 
the  protracted  absence  of  Mr.  McDonald  when  filling 
the  office  of  United  States  senator  at  Washington. 
Mr.  Butler's  thorough  mastery  of  the  intricate  prob- 
lems of  the  law,  and  ability  in  the  conduct  of  important 
cases,  have  placed  him  in  the  foremost  rank  of  suc- 
cessful lawyers  in  the  State.  Differing  from  his  dis- 
tinguished partner  politically,  he  has  always  affiliated 
ardently  with  the  Republican  cause,  and  has  taken  no 
inconsiderable  part  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  that 
party.  Aspiring  to  no  office,  and  repeatedly  declining 
nominations,  he  has  been  an  active  worker  in  political 
campaigns,  speaking  throughout  this  State  and  ex- 
tending his  labors  to  other  States.  He  is  a  popular 
political  orator,  his  speeches  having  been  extensively 
published  and  read.  Mr.  Butler  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis, 
in  which  he  is  a  ruling  elder  and  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  As  a  jurist  he  stands  in  the  first 
rank  in  a  bar  that  embraces  in  its  list  many  of  the 
ablest  lawyers  in  the  country,  the  practice  of  the 
firm  being  with  cases  of  the  weightiest  importance. 
Wisely  avoiding  the  paths  that  lead  to  military  and 
civic  distinction,  he  has  a  far  more  enviable  record 
as  a  successful  lawyer,  a  useful  and  respected  citizen, 
and  a  thorough  Christian  gentleman.  Mr.  Butler 
was  married  in  April,  1857,  to  Miss  Sue  W.  Jen- 
nison,  of  Crawfordsville,  Ind.  Their  children  are  a 
son  and  a  daughter.  George  Calvin  Butler,  a  brother 
of  Mr.  Butler,  was  born  May  3, 1851,  in  Marine,  111., 
and  graduated  at  Wabash  College  in  1872.  He 
adopted  the  law  as  a  profession,  became  a  partner  in 


jm^ 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


205 


a  film  that  was  constantly  dealing  with  difiieult  suits, 
involving  the  subtleties  of  the  law  and  vast  property 
interests.  His  talents  commanded  the  confidence  of 
his  superiors  and  placed  in  liis  charge  cases  rarely 
intrusted  to  a  young  man.  He  invariably  became 
master  of  his  cases,  and  early  won  the  high  approba- 
tion of  the  judges  of  the  highest  courts  at  which  he 
practiced.  His  brilliant  career  as  a  promising  and 
successful  lawyer  and  a  sincere  and  earnest  Christian 
was  suddenly  ended  by  death  on  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1882. 

From  its  central  situation  the  capital  has  been  the 
principal  point  of  business  for  Eastern  agencies  ever 
since  it  was  large  enough  to  have  any  business  to 
attend  to.  Claims  of  Eastern  merchants  have  been 
largely  sent  here  to  collect  in  all  parts  of  the  State, 
and  the  business,  though  involving  no  great  extent  of 
law  practice  or  erudition,  has  been  very  lucrative. 
The  firm  of  Fletcher,  Butler  &  Yandes  did  a  very 
extensive  collecting  business,  with  a  very  large  liti- 
gated business  besides ;  but  probably  the  largest  col- 
lecting business,  combined  with  ordinary  legal  busi- 
ness, ever  conducted  in  the  city  was  that  of  William 
Henderson. 

William  Henderson. — The  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Henderson  were  of  Scotch-Irish  extraction,  and 
resided  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  John  Henderson, 
his  father,  was  a  native  of  Albemarle  County,  Va., 
where  his  parents  settled  before  the  Revolution.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Nancy  Rucker  and  had  children, 
— Thomas,  Robert,  Reuben,  John,  Polly,  and  Wil- 
liam. Mr.  Henderson  on  reaching  manhood  re- 
moved to  Alabama,  and  later  to  Mooresville,  Morgan 
Co.,  where  his  death  occurred.  His  son  William 
was  born  Oct.  14,  1820,  in  Lawrence  County, 
Ala.,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Mol- 
tcm,  and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Indiana.  His  early  educational  advan- 
tages were  limited,  both  from  want  of  opportunities 
adjacent  to  his  home  and  lack  of  means  to  prosecute 
his  studies  abroad.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years 
he  engaged  in  active  labor,  and  later  acquired  the 
trade  of  a  saddler  in  Eaton,  Preble  Co.,  Ohio.  Dur- 
ing an  apprenticeship  of  four  years,  diligent  atten- 
dance upon  the  sessions  of  a  night  school  enabled 


him  to  become  proficient  in  the  various  English 
branches,  and  fitted  him  for  the  calling  of  a  teacher. 
He,  during  this  interval,  began  the  study  of  law 
with  Messrs.  J.  S.  &  A.  J.  Hawkins,  of  E|iton, 
which  was  continued  for  two  years,  when  hi  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  Indiana,  his  licen.se  having 
been  signed  by  Judges  J.  T.  Elliott  and  David  Kil- 
gore,  and  in  March,  1844,  removed  to  Newcastle, 
Henry  Co.,  Ind.,  where  an  oflBce  was  opened  in 
connection  with  the  late  Judge  Samuel  E.  Perkins, 
of  Richmond,  Ind.,  and  later  of  Indianapolis.  This 
business  connection  was  continued  until  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  latter  to  the  Supreme  Court  Bench, 
when  the  copartnership  was  dissolved.  Mr.  Hen- 
derson was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Indiana  by  examination  in  November,  1849, 
and  to  the  bar  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
in  1857.  He  continued  to  be  a  resident  of  New- 
castle until  1851,  when  he  located  in  Indianapolis. 
Here  his  abilities  soon  brought  an  extended  and 
lucrative  practice,  which  has  been  continued,  with 
the  exception  of  a  brief  interval  devoted  to  other 
pursuits,  until  the  present  time,  his  business  having 
pertained  rather  to  commercial  interests  than  to 
litigation  of  a  general  character.  He  has  been  since 
1852  attorney  for  the  Berkshire  Life  Insurance 
Company,  and  for  ten  years  their  general  financial 
agent  for  the  investment  of  the  company's  funds. 
He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  and  has  been  for 
several  years  a  director  of  the  Board  of  Water- Works 
of  the  city  of  Indianapolis. 

Mr.  Henderson  was  in  his  political  affiliations  until 
1 854  a  Whig.  A  change  of  views  at  that  time  caused 
him  to  act  with  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  has 
.since  been  one  of  the  most  active  supporters,  though 
not  a  candidate  for  preferment  at  its  hands.  Wil- 
liam Henderson  was  married  in  January,  1845,  to 
Miss  Martha  A.,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Paul,  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Decatur  County,  Ind. 
Their  two  children  are  William  R.,  a  clergyman  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  settled  at  Holden,  Mo., 
and  Sarah  (Mrs.  J.  P.  Wiggins),  of  Indianapolis. 
Mrs.  Henderson's  death  occurred  in  May,  1854,  and 
he  was  married  in  April,  1855,  to  Miss  Rachel 
McHargh,  of  Greensburg,  Ind. 


206 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Though  the  Indianapolis  bar  has  been  so  largely 
recruited  from  local  bars,  it  has  not  lacked  a  fine  sup- 
ply of  homegrown  ability  and  attainment.  Among 
those  who  have  acquired  a  good  position  and  repu- 
tation, after  studying  and  entering  the  profession 
here,  may  be  named  Governor  Albert  G.  Porter,  Gen. 
John  Coburn,  William  Wallace,  Judge  C.  C.  Hines, 
John  Caven,  the  last  better  known  as  the  mayor  and 
executive  officer  of  countless  city  duties  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  war,  and  the  efiBcient  promoter  of 
the  water  supply  and  the  Belt  road  and  stock-yard 
enterprises,  William  W.  Woollen,  John  S.  Duncan, 
Gen.  Fred.  Knefler,  Ciiarles  P.  Jacobs,  A.  S.  Wishard, 
and  others.  Governor  Porter  came  here  a  young 
man  or  well-grown  lad,  and  studied  his  profession 
with  Hiram  Brown,  his  father-in-law,  and  entered 
the  bar  here,  as  did  Mr.  Caven,  who  also  came  here  a 
young  man,  and  studied  law  with  Smith  &  Yandes. 

Hon.  Albert  G.  Porter  was  born  at  Lawrence- 
burg,  Dearborn  Co.,  Ind.,  April  20,  1824.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  the  father  became  a  volunteer  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812.  At  the  engagement  of  Mississiuewa, 
in  the  then  existing  Territory  of  Indiana,  he  re- 
ceived a  serious  wound,  which  never  left  him  free 
from  pain,  and  which  he  carried  through  life  as  an 
evidence  of  the  honorable  part  he  bore  in  that  mem- 
orable struggle.  He  was  a  man  of  courage  and 
convictions,  of  plea^•ant  anecdote  and  brimming 
liunior. 

The  mother  came  of  a  family  of  exceptional  busi- 
ness tact  and  ability,  and  was  accordiniily  a  woman 
of  extraordinary  good  sense  and  judgment.  She 
believed  in  cheerfulness,  thrift,  and  energy,  sturdy 
honesty,  and  honest  straightforwardness.  These  fell 
to  her  son  as  an  inheritance,  and  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  young  ambition,  even  in  his  youth,  the 
lines  of  his  character  were  carved  clean  and  clear. 

His  father,  at  the  end  of  the  war  of  1812,  settled 
in  Indiana,  at  Lawrenccburg.  The  family  remained 
there  until  the  death  of  the  grandfather  of  young 
Porter  on  his  mother's  side,  when  his  father  removed 
to  Kentucky,  having  purchased  the  old  homestead 
which  belonged  to  his  grandfather.  Attached  to  that 
homestead  there  was  a  ferry  across  the  Ohio  River, 


nearly  opposite  Lawrenceburg.  This  ferry  was  on 
the  regular  route  of  travel  from  Indiana  to  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  father,  who  was  then  in  moderate 
circumstances,  left  the  entire  management  of  that 
ferry,  which  consisted  both  of  a  horse-boat  and  a 
skiif,  to  his  two  sons.  The  responsibility  which  was 
thus  early  placed  upon  young  Porter,  and  the  neces- 
sity in  a  great  measure  of  earning  his  own  livelihood 
by  labor,  developed  in  him  those  traces  of  independ- 
ence of  character  for  which  he  became  noted  in  later 
life.  Many  notable  people  were  rowed  across  the 
Ohio  River  in  his  skiff  when  the  travel  was  not 
heavy  enough  for  the  horse-boat. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  had  saved  money  enough 
from  the  allowances  he  received  fur  running  the  ferry 
to  start  for  college.  At  the  earliest  opportunity  he 
left  the  skiff  and  ferry-boat  for  Hanover  College, 
Indiana,  where  he  entered  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment. There  he  remained  until  the  scanty  means 
which  he  had  saved  were  exhausted.  His  father  was 
unable  to  assist  him,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no 
recourse  fur  him  except  to  go  back  to  the  horse  ferry- 
boat and  the  skiff,  or  to  seek  some  other  means  to 
secure  the  funds  necessary  for  the  education  that  he 
was  determined  to  have.  At  this  juncture  an  uncle, 
who  was  in  good  circumstances  and  with  whom  the 
nephew  was  a  favorite,  wrote  to  him,  telling  him  that 
he  had  heard  that  his  means  were  exhausted,  that  he 
understood  that  he  was  determined  to  have  an  edu- 
cation, and  that  he,  the  uncle,  would  help  him  to  get 
it.  In  the  language  of  the  letter,  he  would  "  see 
him  through."  That  was  the  happiest  day  in  young 
Porter's  life.  He  speedily  and  gratefully  accepted 
his  uncle's  proposition,  and  from  that  time  there  were 
fewer  obstacles  in  his  youthful  career.  But  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  offer  made  necessary  a  change  of 
location.  His  uncle  was  a  Methodist,  and  he  desired 
that  his  young  ward  should  enter  upon  his  studies  at 
Asbury  University,  at  Greencastle,  Ind. 

To  this  place  Mr.  Porter  went,  and  he  remained 
there  until  he  was  graduated  in  1843. 

After  graduation  he  returned  to  Lawrenceburg 
and  studied  law  for  about  ten  months,  when  his 
health  began  to  fail.  Thinking  that  a  change  of 
occupation,  even  for  a  short  time,  would  be  beneficial, 


..-A^.  (^^-1^, 


CITY"   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


207 


he  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  ofiBce  of  the 
auditor  of  State,  Horatio  J.  Harris.  Governor 
Whitcomb,  who  was  at  that  time  without  a  private 
secretary,  noticed  the  neatness  of  the  young  cleric's 
writing  and  his  habits  of  accuracy,  and  requested  the 
auditor  to  allow  Mr.  Porter  to  act  as  his  secretary. 
The  request  was  granted. 

Governor  Whitcomb  was  a  man  of  studious  habits 
and  scholarly  attainments,  whose  association  would 
sensibly  quicken  and  influence  the  efforts  of  any 
young  man.  Mr.  Porter  remained  with  the  Gov- 
ernor for  several  montjis  and  then  turned  again  to 
the  study  of  law,  locating  permanently  at  Indianap- 
olis, where  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, in  which  he  has  long  held  a  front  rank  at  the 
Indiana  bar.  He  vpas  appointed  May  3,  1851,  as 
city  attorney  for  a  term  of  two  years,  and  subse- 
quently (May,  1857-59)  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Common  Council. 

In  1853,  Mr.  Porter,  who  was  then  a  Democrat, 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Wright  reporter  of  the 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana,  to  fill  a 
vacancy  that  had  occurred  by  the  death  of  the  former 
reporter.  By  this  time  Mr.  Porter  had  attained  a 
reputation  for  industry  and  ability,  and  he  was  unan- 
imously recommended  by  tiie  Supreme  Court  judges 
to  fill  this  vacancy.  The  following  year  he  was 
elected  to  the  same  oflBce  on  the  general  ticket  by 
fourteen  thousand  majority. 

In  1&56  he  came  into  the  newly-formed  Republi- 
can party  on  the  question  of  the  exclusion  of  slavery 
from  the  Territories,  and  in  1858,  although  not  a 
candidate  for  the  nomination,  Mr.  Porter  was  nomi- 
nated by  the  Republican  convention  at  Indianapolis 
as  a  candidate  for  Congress.  Hon.  Martin  M.  Ray 
was  his  Democratic  opponent. 

The  district  two  years  previously  had  gone 
Democratic  by  eight  hundred  majority,  yet  Mr. 
Porter  was  elected  to  Congress  by  a  miijority  of 
more  than  one  thousand,  and  two  years  afterwards, 
when  he  was  a  candidate  against  Robert  L.  Walpule, 
he  was  elected  by  an  increased  majority.  Before  the 
meeting  of  the  convention  to  nominate  a  candidate 
again,  however,  Mr.  Porter  published  a  card  declining 
further    service   in    Congress.      Gen.  Dumont,   then 


in   the  army,  was  nominated  in  his  place,  but   Mr. 
Porter  did  most  of  the  canvassing  for  him. 

While  in  Congress,  Mr.  Porter  was  a  member  of 
the  Judiciary  Committee  for  his  entire  term  of  ser- 
vice. In  this  capacity  he  developed  great  ability  as 
a  lawyer,  and  assisted  in  drawing  the  important  law 
reports  for  that  committee  during  his  term  of  service. 
He  made  a  report  on  the  liability  of  railroads 
which  had  received  land-grants  to  transport  United 
States  troops  and  war  material  free  of  charge.  Tiiis 
report  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and,  upon 
motion  of  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  was  republished  at 
the  next  session  of  Congress  as  a  very  important 
contribution  to  anti-monopoly  literature.  That  re- 
port took  the  ground  that  the  provision  in  the  land- 
grant  acts  should  be  and  ought  to  be  enforced.  Be- 
fore that  time  the  monopolies  had  been  having  their 
own  way,  having  seemed  to  control  both  Congress 
and  the  executive ;  but  after  Mr.  Porter's  report 
they  were  compelled  to  transport  troops  and  muni- 
tions of  war  free.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
revenues  of  the  government  were  largely  increased 
from  this  source.  Like  most  young  members,  he 
made  a  speech  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  the  frank- 
ing privilege.  He  was  always  on  the  side  of  the 
people.  In  the  notable  contest  relative  to  the  Isth- 
mus of  Chiriqui,  Mr.  Porter  took  sides  against  the 
scheme,  and  antagonized  Gen.  Dan  Sickles,  who  was 
one  of  its  noted  advocates.  Another  of  Mr.  Porter's 
notable  speeches  was  on  the  general  subject  of  the 
war,  and  condemning  all  compromise  schemes.  Mr. 
Porter  retired  from  congressional  life  because  he  had 
a  young  and  growing  family,  and  wisely  thought 
that  he  ought  not  to  sacrifice  his  future  in  political 
life,  but  should  return  to  the  profession  of  the  law, 
and  endeavor  to  build  up  his  fortune.  This  he  did, 
and  in  his  professional  career  he  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful. 

Mr.  Porter  was  put  in  nomination  before  the  con- 
vention of  1876  as  a  candidate  for  Governor  of  In- 
diana, but  he  caused  a  letter  to  be  read  declining  to 
allow  his  name  to  be  used.  Notwithstanding  his 
declaration,  however,  he  received  many  votes  in  the 
convention.  From  the  time  he  left  Congress  he 
devoted  himself  assiduously  to  his  profession,  although 


208 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


he  nearly  always  took  some  part  in  State  political 
campaigns.  He  continued  his  practice  until  he  was 
very  unexpectedly  invited,  in  1881,  to  accept  the 
appointment  of  First  Comptroller  of  the  United 
States  Treasury.  This  appointment  was  tendered 
him  by  Secretary  Sherman,  who  knew  his  position 
as  a  lawyer  in  Indiana,  and  who  desired  a  competent 
person  to  fill  the  place.  The  duties  of  First  Comp- 
troller of  the  Treasury  are  not  generally  understood. 
They  are  very  important,  and  are  entirely  judicial. 
It  is  the  one  office  in  the  government  from  whose 
decisions  there  is  no  appeal.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  cannot  annul  decisions  of  the  First  Comp- 
troller. The  word  of  the  First  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury  is  the  final  autliority  on  all  constructions 
of  law  and  interpretations  of  statutes  relating  to  the 
vast  disbursements  of  the  treasury.  To  this  office 
Mr.  Porter  was  summoned  without  notice  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  he  occupied  it  with 
distinguished  ability.  It  is  a  position  which  requires 
great  knowledge  of  the  law  and  unimpeached  in- 
tegrity. 

From  this  position  he  was  called  by  the  convention 
of  June  17,  1880,  to  represent  his  party  as  the 
candidate  for  Governor  of  the  State.  As  has  been 
the  case  with  every  office  which  he  has  held,  this 
honor  has  come  to  him  unsought.  The  campaign 
was  made  in  the  spirit  of  his  dispatch  of  acceptance, 
in  which  he  said, — 

"  The  contest  will  be  a  strenuous  one,  but  if  there 
is  not  one  Republican  who  feels  that  he  is  too  humble 
to  do  something  for  the  cause,  and  all  will  work 
earnestly  and  with  good  cheer,  we  shall  win  the 
field.  Let  us  have  very  many  township  and  school- 
house  meetings  and  few  great  conventions,  and  let 
every  man  feel  that  what  is  greatly  worth  having  is 
greatly  worth  working  for." 

He  was  elected  in  October,  1880,  over  Franklin 
Landers,  the  Democratic  nominee,  by  a  majority  of 
six  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-three, — about 
two  thousand  ahead  of  the  ticket. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Porter  thus  far 
has  been  one  of  the  most  faithful,  honest,  and  eco- 
nomical which  has  ever  characterized  t)he  history  of 
Indiana.     There  are  few  men  in  public  life  who  are 


purer  in  private  character.  Possessing  an  almost 
unlimited  fund  of  anecdote,  it  is  always  free  from 
indelicate  or  vulgar  utterance. 

Governor  Porter  is  by  nature  of  a  conservative 
temperament,  but  it  is  a  conservatism  that  comports 
well  with  all  his  other  characteristics,  and  has  in  it 
nothing  suggestive  of  timidity.  It  is  that  mental 
poise  which  causes  him  to  thoroughly  investigate 
all  questions  before  taking  action  upon  them. 

These  qualities  have  been  brought  with  effect  to 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  Governor,  noticeably 
in  the  veto  messages  sent  by  him  to  the  Assemblies 
of  1881  and  1883,  which,  had  not  a  veto  intercepted 
the  passage  of  bills,  would  not  only  needlessly  have 
caused  the  expenditure  of  large  amounts  of  money, 
but,  in  at  least  one  instance,  would  have  invaded  the 
constitutional  guaranty  of  personal  security.  In  no 
instance,  except  upon  purely  party  questions,  has  a 
bill  been  reconsidered  by  the  Legislature  after  his 
veto.  The  same  care  has  been  bestowed  upon  the 
consideration  of  public  accounts,  and  in  whatever 
degree  authority  to  control  public  expenditures  is 
vested  in  the  Governor  he  has  used  it,  though 
unostentatiously,  in  the  interest  of  economy. 

Those  in  whom  the  pardoning  power  has  been 
reposed  unite  in  saying  that  no  duty  which  devolves 
upon  a  Governor  brings  with  it  so  great  a  burden  of 
responsibility.  Governor  Porter  has  made  it  a  rule 
to  investigate  each  application  for  pardon  through 
independent  sources,  and  if  he  has  issued  pardons 
sparingly,  it  has  been  because  the  demands  of  justice 
outweighed  the  promptings  of  a  warm  sympathy. 
His  agreeable  manner  would  lead  one  to  think  that 
he  could  be  easily  influenced,  but,  though  slow  to 
express  an  opinion  on  a  subject  presented  for  his 
consideration,  when  once  he  makes  use  of  his  char- 
acteristic expression,  "  My  mind  is  made  up,"  his 
decision  is  irrevocable.  His  idea  of  right  and  his 
sense  of  responsibility  are  the  measure  of  his  firm- 
ness. His  habit  of  thoroughness  was  never  more 
felicitously  rewarded  than  in  the  prompt  and  happy 
manner  in  which  it  has  enabled  him  to  respond  to 
invitations  of  the  various  conventions, — agricultural, 
mechanical,  industrial,  educational,  and  religious, — 
which  have  all  learned  to  expect  a  recognition  from 


/  ^^~    -'  . 


^ 


>t2^^- 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


209 


the  head  of  the  State.  It  reflects  credit  upon  the 
choice  of  the  people  that  some  of  these  brief  addresses 
have  been  widely  copied. 

Among  literary  men  the  quality  of  equanimity  is 
frequently  attainable,  but  among  men  in  public  life  it 
is  as  rare.  It  need  not  mean,  as  it  does  in  the  minds 
of  some,  the  neutralization  of  one  salient  character- 
istic by  another,  but  rather  the  thorough  blending  of 
all  in  one  syminetrical  personality.  This  quality, 
with  an  habitual  cheerfulness,  frankness,  and  courtesy, 
is  Governor  Porter's  in  a  strong  degree. 

He  has  brought  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
Governor  a  fuller  measure  of  resources  than  even  his 
most  zealous  supporters  had  expected. 

Governor  Porter  was  married  in  1847  to  Miss  M. 
V.  Brown,  a  lady  of  rare  domestic  virtues,  a  daughter 
of  Hiram  Brown,  Eiq.,  one  of  the  early  noted  lawyers 
of  Indianapolis.  Five  of  their  children  are  living. 
She  died  in  November,  1875.  In  January,  1881, 
just  before  his  inauguration  as  Governor,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Cornelia  Stone,  of  Cuba,  New  York, 
a  lady  of  fine  education  and  attainments,  whose 
kindly  feelings  and  refinement  have  won  for  her  the 
regard  of  all  who  know  her. 

Few  men  in  public  life  are  more  happily  situated 
than  Governor  Porter.  He  has  a  sufficient  com- 
petency to  be  independent  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
politics;  he  enjoys  the  influences  of  a  beautiful  home 
lite  and  the  thorough  friendship  of  the  people. 

Hon.  John  Caven. — In  presenting  to  the  readers 
of  the  History  of  Marion  County  this  sketch  of  the 
life,  character,  and  public  acts  of  Hon.  John  Caven, 
of  Indianapolis,  we  shall  be  required  to  introduce 
incidents  connected  with  tlie  peace  and  prosperity  of 
the  capital  city  of  Indiana  of  the  highest  importance. 
Tlie  necessity  for  referring  to  such  occurrences  will  at 
once  be  conceded  when  our  readers  are  informed 
that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  held  the  important 
office  of  mayor  for  five  terms,  making  in  all  ten  years 
that  he  performed  the  duties  of  chief  magistrate  of 
the  largest  inland  city  on  the  continent.  When  a 
citizen  is  deemed  worthy  of  great  public  trusts,  and 
in  their  execution  evinces  qualities  of  bead  and  heart 
which  shed  lustre  upon  his  name  and  win  the  ap- 
proval of  the  people,  it  is  not  surprising  that  there 


is  a  popular  demand  for  full  knowledge  of  all  the 
facts  relating  to  his  career,  parentage,  birth,  early 
advantages  and  surroundings,  employments  and  ambi- 
tions. The  desire  for  such  information  is  eminently 
praiseworthy.  It  enables  society,  and  especially  the 
students  of  forces  and  factors  which  operate  in  the 
line  of  success  and  eminence,  to  arrive  at  correct 
conclusions,  and  to  establish  theories  of  life,  its  obli- 
gations and  possibilities,  of  the  highest  advantage  to 
reflecting  people.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the 
descendant  of  Scotch-Irish  and  English-Scotch  pa- 
rentage, and  was  born  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
Alleghany  County,  April  12,  1824,  and  is  therefore 
fifty-nine  years  of  age.  His  father,  William  Caven, 
was  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage,  and  his  mother,  Jane 
(Longhead)  Caven,  of  English-Scotch  descent. 
Young  Caven  did  not  inherit  wealth,  nor  any  of  the 
advantages  which  wealth  is  supposed  to  confer;  but 
he  did  inherit  what  was  far  better,  a  healthy  body 
and  a  healthy  mind.  He  inherited  a  reverence  for 
the  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true,  and  upon  that 
foundation  has  erected  a  character  symmetrical  in 
outline,  embodying  the  grandeur  of  stern  integrity, 
devotion  to  honest  conviction,  and  fidelity  to  trusts 
which  knows  no  wavering,  no  matter  what  may  be 
the  character  of  the  influences  and  obstacles  thrown 
in  his  way.  Generous  in  judgments,  cautious  in 
opinion,  indefatigable  in  purpose,  John  Caven  is 
esteemed  in  the  councils  of  good  men  a  chevalier 
sdiis  peur  et  sans  reproche.  Such  is  the  exalted 
position  Mayor  Caven  occupies  in  Indianapolis.  And 
if  we  are  asked,  What  were  his  youthful  surround- 
ings ?  the  reply  is  that  they  were  such  as  to  develop 
the  best  traits  of  his  intellectual  and  physical  organ- 
ism,— he  was  required  to  work.  His  avocations 
brought  him  in  direct  contact  with  the  hardy  chil- 
dren of  toil,  and  he  has  a  right  to  be  known  as  a 
"  self-made  man."  His  early  educational  advantages 
were  limited.  He  had  few  books,  and  only  inferior 
school-teachers,  but  what  he  learned  was  thoroughly 
learned,  and  as  his  years  increased  his  thirst  for 
knowledge  became  more  intense,  until  at  last  the 
perfection,  grace,  and  beauty  of  his  public  expres- 
sions, whether  oral  or  documentary,  naturally  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  some  renowned  university  was  his 


210 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


alma  mater,  when  in  fact  his  diplomas  tell  of  studies 
in  salt-works,  in  coal-mines,  and  at  the  oars  of  flat- 
boats. 

At  school  he  mastered  the  old  English  Reader 
and  DaboU's  Arithmetic,  and  with  such  a  foundation 
for  an  education  young  Caven  went  forth  to  master 
all  the  required  branches  of  an  English  education  to 
prepare  him  to  enter  the  legal  profession.  He  came 
to  Indianapolis  in  1845,  and  in  1847,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  entered  the  law-office  of  Smith  & 
Yandes,  where  he  mastered  the  intricacies  of  the  law, 
and  in  due  time  took  his  rightful  place  in  a  bar  dis- 
tinguished for  learning  and  ability.  Such  an  ex- 
ample of  pluck  and  perseverance,  if  properly  studied 
by  the  youth  of  Indiana,  cannot  fail  to  be  productive 
of  results  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  State.  With- 
out wealth  or  influential  friends,  with  an  education 
limited  to  the  rudiments,  we  see  a  young  man  steadily 
progressing  in  the  right  direction,  overcoming  ob- 
stacles, growinu  in  knowledge  and  the  strength  which 
knowledge  confers,  growing  in  the  esteem  and  confi- 
dence of  citizens  capable  of  appreciating  good  char- 
acter and  manly  ambition,  until  he  stands  the  recog- 
nized peer  of  the  best.  In  1863,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
nine,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  elected  mayor  of 
Indianapolis  without  opposition.  His  administration 
was  of  a  character  to  win  universal  approval,  and  in 
1865  he  was  again  elected  without  opposition.  Dur- 
ing the  period  embraced  in  these  two  terms — four 
years — Indianapolis  was  rapidly  developing  her  com- 
manding advantages  as  a  commercial  and  manufac- 
turing city,  and  Mayor  Caven  was  contributing  by 
his  ability  and  influence  to  give  impetus  to  her  prog- 
ress. In  1868  the  people  of  Indianapolis  elected  Mr. 
Caven  to  the  State  Senate  for  four  years.  In  that 
body  he  maintained  the  high  estimate  his  constitu- 
ents had  placed  upon  his  abilities,  and  his  recorded 
votes  and  speeches  attest  his  statesmanship  and 
breadth  of  views  upon  all  matters  touching  political, 
educational,  and  humanitarian  subjects.  He  voted 
for  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  and  earnestly  advo- 
cated the  establishment  of  schools  for  colored  chil- 
dren. In  1875,  Mr.  Caven  was  again  elected  mayor 
of  Indianapolis,  and  the  two  terms  following  he  suc- 
ceeded himself  in  occupying  the  office,  having  been 


re-elected  in  1877  and  1879.  Such  facts  of  history 
are  monumental.  They  bear  the  highest  testimony 
possible  to  the  ability  and  integrity  of  Mr.  Caven,  as 
also  to  the  fidelity  which  distinguished  his  public 
career.  It  is  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  varied  duties 
devolving  upon  him  as  chief  magistrate  of  Indian- 
apolis that  he  has  specially  endeared  himself  to  the 
people.  We  should  prove  entirely  unworthy  of  the 
trust  confided  to  us  if,  in  writing  a  sketch  of  the 
public  service  and  private  virtues  of  John  Caven,  we 
should  omit  to  bring  into  the  boldest  prominence  his 
ceaseless  labors,  intelligent  counsel,  unflagging  energy, 
and  prudent  zeal  in  advancing  the  growth  of  the  city 
in  population,  wealth,  and  business  enterprises.  In 
the  mere  routine  work  of  the  office  of  mayor  he  met 
every  requirement  of  a  just  and  humane  magistrate, 
and  his  efforts  to  reform  the  wayward  who  were 
brought  before  him  will  forever  remain  fadeless  cre- 
dentials of  his  faith  in  human  nature  and  moral 
suasion  ;  but  in  the  discussion  of  economic  prob- 
lems in  connection  with  the  business  expansion  of 
the  city  his  views  are  eminently  conclusive  of  his 
power  to  grasp  questions  of  the  greatest  gravity.  As 
a  business  enterprise  Indianapolis  has'  just  cause  for 
gratulation  over  the  building  of  the  Belt  Railroad 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Union  Stock- Yards, 
and  it  is  no  disparagement  of  others  to  place  the 
credit  of  originating  those  great  enterprises  where 
it  rightfully  belongs.  They  are  commemorative  of 
business  forecast,  and  will  increase  in  importance 
with  the  lapse  of  years.  This  credit  is  justly  due  to 
Hon.  John  Caven,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  An 
account  of  the  initial  steps  taken  by  Mayor  Caven  to 
inaugurate  the  Belt  Road  and  stock-yard  enterprise 
was  published  in  a  city  paper  May  18,  1881.  It  is 
historical,  and  well  deserving  a  place  in  any  sketch  of 
his  life  and  public  services,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  One  day  in  September,  1875,  I  walked  around 
the  old  abandoned  embankment  west  of  White  River, 
and  from  the  Vandalia  Road  to  the  river  I  walked 
all  the  way  through  weeds  higher  than  my  head, 
pushing  them  aside  with  my  hands.  I  took  off  my 
boots  and  waded  White  River,  not  far  from  the  pres- 
ent Belt  Road  bridge,  and,  as  the  water  was  deep,  I 
got  my  clothes  wet.     Climbing  over  to  the  partially- 


CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS, 


211 


built  abutment  on  the  east  bank  to  dry,  I  sat  there 
for  two  hours  considering  the  question  of  whether 
the  great  work  of  a  road  around  this  city  could  be 
pat  in  motion.  It  would  combine  all  the  benefits 
sought,  not  only  furnish  work  for  our  laboring  pop- 
ulation during  the  savage  year  of  1876,  or  at  furthest 
1877,  but  also  relieve  our  streets.  It  would  also 
bring  here  an  immense  cattle  business  and  lay  down 
a  great  taxable  propert}'.  As  I  looked  over  that 
almost  desert-looking  river  bottom,  the  outlook  for 
moving  in  the  matter  to  furnish  bread  to  hungry 
people  a  year  or  two  anyway  was  gloomy,  but  I  then 
and  there  determined  that  this  was  the  only  project 
that  could  accomplish  the  result,  and  resolved  to 
make  the  effort  and  see  what  will  and  a  good  purpose 
could  do.  Having  got  somewhat  tired  out,  I  put  on 
my  boots  and  started  home,  and  commenced  an  in- 
vestigation of  the  subject  of  bread-riots  and  what 
makes  cities, — what  had  made  great  cities.  I  exam- 
ined a  great  deal  of  history  on  the  subject  of  what 
had  made  other  cities, — location,  natural  advantages, 
accidents,  minerals,  manufactures,  and  what  enter- 
prise and  capital  had  done,  and  then  tried  to  apply 
these  principles  to  the  city  of  Indianapolis.  What 
were  our  natural  advantages,  and  how  might  capital 
and  enterprise  develop  them,  and  what  could  be 
done  to  make  Indianapolis  a  great  city,  and  during 
the  winter  of  1875  I  proposed  the  Belt  Road  mes- 
sage, and  read  it  in  Council  on  July  17,  1876.  It 
was  published  in  Tuesday's  morning  papers,  and  on 
Thursday  morning  I  was  holding  court  and  noticed 
two  men  sitting  back  among  the  audience  for  some 
time.  After  a  while  they  came  forward  and  asked  if 
they  could  speak  with  me  a  few  minutes.  I  sus- 
pended hearing  a  cause  to  hear  what  they  had  to  say. 
One  of  them  said  he  was  president  of  the  stock- 
yards at  Louisville,  and  had  read  the  Belt  Road  mes- 
sage and  at  once  started  for  Indianapolis,  as  he  re- 
garded it  the  best  location  for  stock-yards  in  the 
country,  and  he  wished  to  come  here  and  engage  in 
the  business.  I  told  them  we  wanted  the  enterprise 
very  much,  and  asked  them  if  they  had  the  means 
to  build,  and  they  said  they  had  not,  but  thought 
perhaps  the  city  would  aid  them.  I  told  them  the 
city  would  not  aid  in  money,  but  suggested  the  idea 


of  the  exchange  of  bonds,  the  plan  which  was 
adopted  and  carried  out.  One  of  these  men  was 
Horace  Scott  and  the  other  Mr.  Downing,  the  pres- 
ent superintendent  of  the  stock-yards.  A  company 
was  formed  and  the  necessary  steps  taken  to  carry 
out  the  enterprise,  but  met  with  great  opposition." 
Such  was  the  beginning  of  an  enterprise  which, 
while  it  is  making  its  owners  rich,  is  adding  indefi- 
nitely to  the  welfare  of  the  city. 

On  Monday,  July  17,  1876,  Mr.  Caven,  then 
mayor  of  the  city,  presented  to  the  Common  Council 
of  the  city  a  masterly  paper  relating  to  the  local  ad- 
vantages of  Indianapolis  as  a  manuliicturing  centre. 
It  is  worthy  of  being  known  as  a  "  State  Paper."'  It 
discusses  the  question  of  fuel  with  a  breadth  of 
thought,  argument,  and  illustration  worthy  of  the 
most  profound  consideration.  It  is  a  paper  entitled 
to  the  dignity  of  "standard  authority,"  and  should 
be  so  regarded  by  merchants,  manufacturers,  and 
business  men  generally.  Indeed,  we  regard  it  of  so 
much  importance,  as  illustrative  of  the  compact  reas- 
oning powers  of  its  author,  that,  if  our  space  per- 
mitted, we  should  reproduce  it  entire. 

In  what  we  have  said  Mr.  Caven  is  given  an 
advanced  position  as  a  political  economist,  as  a  stu- 
dent chiefly  of  utilitarian  enterprises.  To  this  posi- 
tion he  is  entitled  by  every  consideration  of  simple 
justice  to  his  eminent  thought  attainments.  But  the 
people  of  Indianapolis  have  found  him  to  be  remark- 
able in  other  regards  than  those  which  we  have  re- 
corded. We  refer  particularly  to  his  masterly  control 
over  men  in  times  of  public  peril.  In  the  year  1877  a 
wave  of  extreme  danger  rolled  over  the  land.  Mayor 
Caven  was  not  taken  by  surprise.  He  had  not  been 
unobservant  of  coming  events,  nor  had  he  misinter- 
preted the  dark  shadows  which  betokened  their  com- 
ing, and  his  early  and  urgent  advocacy  of  the  Belt 
Road  and  stock-yard  undertaking  was  in  part,  at  least, 
the  result  of  his  prescience,  as  the  building  of  the 
road  would  be  the  means  of  giving  idle  men  work 
when  other  means  of  employment  failed.  It  is  not 
required  to  more  than  recall  to  mind  the  labor  strike 
which  occurred  in  1877,  and  the  terrible  scenes 
enacted  in  certain  localities.  When  the  strike 
reached    Indianapolis    there  was    excitement,  alarm, 


212 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


and  danger.  Fortunately  Mayor  Caven  was  equal 
to  the  occasion.  He  was  calm,  self-possessed,  and 
vigilant.  He  understood  human  nature,  and  fortu- 
nately comprehended  the  human  nature  of  working- 
men, — he  had  been  a  workingman  himself.  He 
believed  in  suasion  rather  than  shot-guns  ;  he  did 
not  adopt  the  policy  of  intimidation  ;  he  discarded 
rash  measures.  He  made  no  compromises  with  riot- 
ers, but  with  lofty  courage  he  pointed  out  the  sad 
consequences  which  must  follow  violations  of  the  law, 
and  appealed  to  the  strikers,  as  men  and  as  citizens 
interested  in  the  order  and  peace  of  the  community, 
to  refrain  from  acts  of  rapine.  He  sought  work  for 
the  idle;  he  provided  bread  for  the  hungry.  The 
strikers  saw  in  Mayor  Caven  a  stern,  courageous 
magistrate,  devoid  of  fear,  determined  to  do  his  duty 
at  all  hazards;  but  they  also  saw  in  Mayor  Caven 
their  friend  and  a  wise  counselor.  When  he  spoke 
they  listened,  and  a  terrible  calamity  was  therefore 
averted,  and  after  a  few  days  of  excitement  and 
unrest  the  peril  vanished,  not  a  life  was  sacrificed, 
not  a  person  was  injured,  not  a  dollar's  worth  of 
property  was  destroyed,  and  the  good  name  and  fair 
fame  of  Indianapolis  was  maintained.  Nor  was  this 
all :  Indianapolis  in  June,  1877,  was  threatened  with 
a  bread-riot.  Public  meetings  were  held  and  arrange- 
ments made  for  a  street  demonstration.  The  riot 
spirit  was  abroad,  and  danger  was  imminent.  A 
vast  concourse  of  people  had  assembled  in  the  State- 
House  ground, — idle  men  and  hungry  men.  There 
was  excitement ;  passion  was  getting  the  better  of 
judgment.  Here  again  the  fact  was  demonstrated 
that  Mayor  Caven  was  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place.  His  earnest  words  stilled  the  tempest.  Men 
ready  for  acts  of  violence  gave  pledges  to  abandon 
plans  which  were  likely  to  result  in  public  calamities. 
But  Mayor  Caven  did  not  abandon  the  hungry  peo- 
ple when  they  had  determined  to  bear  their  sufferings 
like  law-abiding  citizens.  He  at  once  proceeded  to 
relieve  their  immediate  necessities.  The  circum- 
stances surrounding  that  meeting  on  the  6th  of 
June,  1877,  are  historic,  and  we  should  regard  this 
sketch  of  Mayor  Caven  imperfect  if  his  connection 
with  it  was  omitted.  There  are  circumstances  which 
bring  into  bold  relief  certain  elements  of  character  of 


the  greatest  value.  Again  we  quote  the  account  as 
published  at  the  time.  The  meeting  having  closed. 
Mayor  Caven  gave  an  account  of  further  steps  to 
restore  quiet,  as  follows : 

"  I  requested  those  who  were  willing  to  pledge 
themselves  to  preserve  the  peace  and  obey  my  orders 
in  putting  down  any  disturbances  to  hold  up  the  right 
hand,  and  every  hand  went  up.  There  were  men 
there  who,  together  with  their  families,  had  not 
tasted  food  for  two  days,  and  I  told  them  they 
should  not  go  to  bed  hungry  that  night,  and- invited 
the  crowd  to  go  with  me,  and  we  first  went  over  to 
Simpson's  bakery,  south  from  the  State-House.  He 
happened  to  have  a  large  quantity  of  bread  on  hand. 
I  commenced  handing  out  six  loaves  to  each  one  as 
the  hungry  crowd  passed  by,  and  the  supply  was  soon 
all  gone.  We  then  went  to  Taggart's,  on  South 
Meridian  Street,  but  could  not  obtain  admission, 
and  from  there  to  Bryce's  bakery,  on  South  Street, 
the  hungry  crowd  following.  Mr.  Bryce  was  in  bed, 
but  got  up  wlien  I  told  him  what  I  wanted,  and  J 
directed  the  crowd  to  pass  the  door.  Mr.  Bryce 
hauded  me  the  loaves,  and  I  handed  them  to  the 
men,  giving  six  loaves  to  each  ;  but  as  the  pile  be- 
came smaller  we  reduced  the  number  to  five,  and 
then  to  four  and  three,  and  then  to  two,  and  I  in- 
vited those  who  only  received  two  and  three  to  wait, 
and  if  we  could  give  them  more  we  would  ;  and  they 
came  again,  and  we  gave  them  all  the  bread  in  the 
bakery,  and  succeeded  in  supplying  them  all.  As 
soon  as  I  had  paid  Mr.  Bryce  his  bill  I  went  out  in 
the  street,  and  where  a  few  minutes  before  was  that 
hungry  crowd  was  as  still  as  the  grave,  not  a  human 
being  in  sight.  They  had  left  for  home  as  quickly 
as  supplied,  and  the  only  persons  were  Mr,  Dannis 
Greene  and  myself.  At  the  State-House  I  told  the 
men  to  go  to  the  Beatty  farm  in  the  morning  and 
they  would  find  work.  About  2  p.m.  next  day  I 
went  there,  and  about  three  hundred  men  were  at 
work,  many  of  them  the  hungry  men  of  the  night 
before,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Belt  Road,  for  which 
we  had  so  labored  to  furnish  work  to  the  hungry, 
had  thus  providentially  come  to  the  rescue  to  the 
very  day,  almost  to  the  very  hour,  of  our  extreme 
necessity.     A  day  later  and  doors  would  have  been 


CITY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


213 


broken  for  food.  As  I  looked  at  the  men  at  work, 
the  expression  of  despair  of  tlie  night  before  lifted 
from  their  faces,  vividly  came  to  my  memory  the 
cool  September  afternoon  twenty-one  months  before, 
when  I  sat  drying  myself  on  the  partially-built  aban- 
doned abutment  on  the  east  bank  of  White  Kiver, 
looking  over  into  the  cheerless  river  bottom,  wonder- 
ing whether  it  could  be  converted  into  a  scene  of  life 
and  activity,  and  whether  from  it  could  be  extracted 
work  and  food  for  hundreds  of  starving  laborers 
within  the  next  year  or  two,  and  almost  with  faint- 
ness  at  my  heart  looked  with  more  of  doubting  than 
hoping,  and  now  it  seemed  as  if  God  was  with  His 
poor,  and  had  not  forgotten  them." 

In  the  foregoing  we  have  traced  John  Caven  from 
his  childhood,  from  poverty  and  obscurity,  and, 
whether  toiling  in  the  salt-works,  manning  an  oar 
on  a  flat-boat,  or  delving  in  a  mine,  always  display- 
ing the  same  sturdy  zeal  to  win  his  way  to  fortune. 
We  have  observed  him  utilizing  every  advantage, 
educating  himself,  and  an  earnest,  uncompromising 
devotee  of  the  best  theories  of  life,  and  animated  by 
ambitions  which  always  lead  to  usefulness,  eminence, 
and  influence.  We  have  seen  him  steadily  advanc- 
ing in  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  men  of  wealth, 
education,  and  high  character,  and  repeatedly  chosen 
by  them  as  the  exponent  of  their  political,  business, 
and  social  theories,  and  in  every  instance  responding 
to  every  prudent  requirement, — dignifying  office  by 
making  it  subserve  every  interest  of  society,  mapping 
out  new  enterprises,  and  finding  new  pathways  to 
success.  As  a  worker,  in  the  costume  of  toil ;  as  a 
lawyer,  mastering  the  philosophy  of  jurisprudence  ; 
as  a  senator,  advocating  measures  of  far-reaching 
consequences ;  as  a  chief  magistrate  of  a  growing 
city  ;  as  a  man,  a  citizen,  combining  personal  worth 
with  official  authority,  calming  popular  unrest  and 
giving  peace  and  security  in  times  of  peril, — in  all 
of  these  varied  situations  of  life  John  Caven  has 
given  proof  of  extraordinary  intellectual  power,  and 
has  won  a  place  in  history  of  commanding  promi- 
nence. As  a  Mason,  Mr.  Caven  is  familiar  with  all 
the  mysteries  of  the  ancient  order,  from  an  entered 
apprentice  to  the  supreme  lights  that  blaze  upon  its 
highest  elevations,  and  his  oration,  delivered  on  the 


occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Masonic 
Temple  in  Indianapolis  in  1866,  demonstrates  the 
thoroughness  of  his  knowledge  of  Masonic  mysteries 
and  his  deep  devotion  to  the  principles  of  the  order. 
Mr.  Caven  glories  in  seeing  workingmen  improving 
their  condition  by  association,  by  giving  aid  to  each 
other  in  times  of  need,  and  the  Brotherhoods  of 
Locomotive  Engineers  and  Locomotive  Firemen  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  venerate  him  for  the 
sympathy  and  encouragement  he  has  given  them  on 
many  occasions. 

Such  is  a  brief  and  necessarily  imperfect  sketch 
of  the  life,  character,  and  public  acts  of  Hon.  John 
Caven,  of  Indianapolis.  Our  privileges  do  not  war- 
rant an  entrance  upon  the  domain  of  his  private 
life.  If  it  were  otherwise,  our  task  would  be  em- 
bellished by  charming  pictures  of  sympathy  for  the 
unfortunate  and  acts  of  benevolence  indicative  of  a 
nobility  of  soul  that,  after  all,  is  the  true  standard 
by  which  to  measure  men.  Physically,  Mayor  Caven 
is  a  noble  specimen  of  manhood,  standing  six  feet 
and  weighing  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds.  His 
complexion  is  florid,  eyes  blue  and  of  that  peculiar 
type  that  speaks  the  universal  language  of  sympathy, 
benevolence,  integrity,  and  moral  courage.  Mayor 
Caven  is  a  bachelor,  but  not  a  recluse  nor  a  cynic. 
He  loves  home  and  social  enjoyments ;  and,  above 
all,  he  is  a  recognized  Christian  gentleman,  and  all 
of  his  acts,  public  and  private,  bear  high  testimony 
that  he  holds  in  the  highest  veneration  all  sacred 
things.  Time  has  dealt  kindly  with  Mayor  Caven, 
and  now,  though  on  the  verge  of  threescore  years, 
he  bids  fair  for  many  years  to  come  to  be  the  centre 
of  an  extended  circle  of  appreciative  citizens,  whose 
confidence  and  esteem  is  the  crowning  glory  of  a  life 
well  spent. 

The  county  attorney,  William  Watson  Woollen,  is 
also  a  product  of  home  study,  and  his  success  is  a 
credit  alike  to  him  and  his  native  city. 

William  Watson  Woollen. — The  Woollen 
family  are  of  English  lineage.  Leonard  Woollen, 
the  grandfather  of  William  Watson,  was  born  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  but  early  removed  to 
Kentucky,  and  thence,  in  1828,  to  Indianapolis. 
The  birth  of  his  son  Milton  occurred  in  Kentucky, 


214 


HISTORY    OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


in  1806.  After  tlie  removal  to  Indiaaapolis  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  Joshua  Black,  a 
pioneer  of  1826.  By  this  marriage  there  were  a 
number  of  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  Wil- 
liam Watson,  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch, 
born  on  the  28lh  of  May,  1838,  in  Indianapolis. 
His  youth,  until  the  age  of  eighteen,  was  spent  on  a 
farm  in  Lawrence  township.  Being  the  elde.st  son. 
his  services  early  became  valuable  to  his  father,  and 
as  a  consequence  very  limited  advantages  of  educa- 
tion were  enjoyed  until  his  removal,  in  1856,  to  In- 
dianapolis, where  he  became  a  student  of  the  North- 
western Christian  University.  Having  determined 
upon  the  law  as  a  profession,  he  entered  the  law 
department  of  that  institution,  and  at  the  same  time 
studied  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Gordon  &  Connor. 
He  graduated  from  the  law  school,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  October,  1859.  The  following  winter 
was  spent  in  teaching,  and  in  April,  1860,  his  name 
was  added  to  the  roll  of  practitioners  in  the  capital 
city  of  the  State.  On  the  5th  of  February,  1863, 
Mr.  Woollen  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Evans,  of  Indi- 
anapolis. He  was  in  October,  1864,  elected  district 
attorney  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court  for  Marion, 
Hendricks,  and  Boone  Counties,  and  re-elected  in 
1866  without  opposition.  In  December,  1881,  he 
was  chosen  by  the  board  of  commissioners  of  Marion 
County  attorney  for  the  corporation,  and  reappointed 
in  1882  and  1883.  Extravagant  abuses  which  had 
crept  into  the  public  service  Mr.  Woollen  attacked 
with  courage  and  success.  He  was  one  of  the  organ- 
izers of  the  Indianapolis  Bar  Association,  which,  in 
its  library  and  other  advantages,  has  proved  an  inval- 
uable aid  to  the  attorneys  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Woollen  is  a  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party,  but  not  a  strong  political  partisan. 
He  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Indianapolis,  from  which,  with  others,  he 
withdrew  for  the  purpose  of  projecting  and  organizing 
the  North  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  is  at  present 
a  member. 

Mr.  Woollen  early  demonstrated  that  he  was  en- 
dowed with  a  capacity  and  force  well  fitted  to  his 
work.     His  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law  and  log- 


ical mind  enabled  him  speedily  to  take  his  place 
among  the  successful  lawyers  of  the  metropolis.  A 
manifest  candor  and  scrupulous  integrity  mark  all  his 
professional  relations.  He  never  encourages  useless 
litigation  nor  deceives  a  client  who  has  no  grounds 
upon  which  to  rest  his  case.  This  conscientious 
dealing  has  won  general  confidence  and  gained  for 
him  a  lucrative  practice. 

Although  there  are  three  medical  colleges  in  the 
city,  and  at  one  time  or  another  have  been  two  or 
three  that  lived  a  few  years,  there  has  never  been 
but  one  law  school  here,  and  that  seems  to  have  gone 
out  recently.  In  1857  a  law  .school  was  opened  in 
connection  with  the  Northwestern  Christian  Univer- 
sity, of  which  the  late  Judge  Perkins  was  the  chief 
teacher.  In  1870-71  a  law  department  was  formed 
in  the  same  institution,  with  Judge  Byron  K.  Elliott, 
now  of  the  Supreme  Bench,  Charles  P.  Jacobs,  and 
Judge  Charles  H.  Test  as  professors.  When  the 
university  was  removed  to  Irvington  the  law  school 
was  continued  in  the  city.  Professors  Jacobs  and 
Elliott  continuing  with  it  until  within  a  year  or  so. 

There  were  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  lawyers 
in  the  city  in  1883.  The  profession,  like  merchan- 
dising, has  separated  itself  into  classes,  not  definitely, 
but  with  a  much  less  miscellaneous  association  than 
once  prevailed.  In  a  few  years  we  shall  have  dis- 
tinctively criminal  lawyers,  and  patent  lawyers,  and 
real-estate  lawyers,  and  claims  lawyers,  as  we  now 
have  the  germs  with  a  pretty  plain  development  here 
and  there.  It  is  the  tendency  of  growth  and  im- 
provement to  limit  fields  of  labor  and  work  with 
more  elaborate  care  on  fewer  subjects,  and  the  legal 
profession  will  some  time  obey  the  irresistible  law, 
and  make  division  of  its  labor  as  laborers  do.  A 
bar  association  manual  has  existed  here  for  a  number 
of  years. 

The  members  of  both  the  bench  and  bar  of  Indian- 
apolis and  the  State  of  Indiana  have  deservedly  taken 
high  rank  in  the  legal  profession  of  not  only  this 
State  but  of  the  whole  country.  In  the  chronological 
list  of  its  members  will  be  found  men  whose  history 
is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  United  States,  and 
whose  names  will  be  handed  down  to  posterity  as 
giants  of  the  law  in  "  Ye  olden  time." 


'o-^t^^^ 


i. 


CITY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


214a 


William  Quarles  was  accounted  one  of  the  first 
criminal  lawyers  of  the  State,  and  especially  success- 
ful in  the  cross-examination  and  bewilderment  of 
adverse  witnesses.  His  death  followed  close  on  his 
exertions  in  defense  of  Merritt  Young  for  killing 
Israel  Phillips  about  1852.  Though  a  fluent  speaker, 
he  was  not  an  orator,  and  succeeded  by  dint  of  in- 
cessant use,  in  every  possible  form  and  connection,  of 
one  or  two  strong  points.  He  drove  them  into  a 
jury  by  so  much  hammering  that  no  amount  of 
refutory  logic  or  apppeal  could  displace  them.  His 
son  John,  at  one  time  one  of  the  best  debaters  of  the 
old  Union  Literary  Society,  was  the  superior  of  his 
father,  and  if  he  had  lived  would  have  stood  among 
the  foremost  lawyers  of  the  nation  unless  thwarted  by 
his  own  self-indulgence.  He  was  killed  two  or  three 
years  after  his  father's  death  by  falling  down  the 
stairway  at  College  Hall  and  striking  his  head 
against  cither  the  raised  stone  sill  of  the  stairway- 
door  or  the  stone  curb  of  the  pavement,  though 
there  were  rumors  at  the  time  of  violence  resulting 
from  a  quarrel.  Mr.  Quarles,  the  father,  was  brother- 
in-law  of  the  late  Thomas  D.  and  Robert  L.  Walpole, 
both  noted  and  successful  lawyers  both  in  civil  and 
criminal  business.  They  were  Kentuckians,  and 
sons  of  Luke  Walpole,  one  of  the  first  merchants  of 
the  city.  Thomas  was  a  prominent  politician  of  the 
Clay  school  till  1844,  when  he  went  over  to  the 
Democracy.  Robert  was  a  Demoefetic  candidate  for 
Congress  near  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war. 

Hugh  O'Neal,  who  was  both  county  prosecutor 
and  United  States  attorney,  and  one  of  the  first  and 
ablest  members  of  the  Indianapolis  bar  of  any 
period,  was  raised  in  Marion  County,  educated  at 
Bloomington  as  one  of  the  two  students  to  which  each 
county  was  entitled,  studied  law  in  this  city,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  about  1840.  He  soon  made 
himself  conspicuous  as  a  Whig  orator,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  efficient  of  the  party  champions  from  the 
campaign  of  1844  to  that  of  1852.  After  that  till 
his  death  he  concerned  himself  little  with  politics. 
He  went  to  California  soon  after  the  gold  discovery, 
and  did  well  there,  but  not  so  well  as  to  prevent  his 
return  in  a  couple  of  years  or  so.     He  resumed  the 


practice  of  the  law  here,  living  in  his  office, — he  was 
never  married, — and  died  there,  in  the  second-story 
room  next  to  Fletcher's  Bank,  during  the  war.  For 
some  years  he  and  the  late  Governor  Abram  A.  Ham- 
mond were  partners,  and  made  the  most  formidable 
firm  of  the  city  of  that  time  except  Smith  &  Yandes 
and  Barbour  &  Porter. 

LuciAN  Barbour  was  a  Connecticut  man,  born 
in  1811,  graduated  at  Amherst,  in  1837,  and  came 
West  to  Madison,  in  this  State,  where  he  studied 
law.  He  came  to  Indianapolis  about  1840,  or  a  little 
later,  and  soon  formed  a  partnership  with  the  late 
Judge  Wick,  in  connection  with  whom  he  prepared 
a  little  treatise  on  business  law  and  forms,  known  for 
years  in  the  profession  as  "  Wick  &  Barbour." 
Later  he  and  Governor  Porter  formed  a  partnership 
which  was  maintained  till  Mr.  Barbour  went  to  Con- 
gress in  1855  or  later.  In  1851  he  was  one  of  the 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  revise 
the  statutes  and  simplify  the  pleadings  and  proceed- 
ings of  court,  as  the  new  constitution  required.  The 
lawyers  used  to  call  this  the  "  Carr  code,"  from 
George  W.  Carr,  one  of  the  commissioners,  who  had 
been  president  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  a 
sensible,  good  man,  but  no  lawyer,  and  not  a  strik- 
ingly judicious  selection  for  that  service.  Mr.  Bar- 
bour, always  a  Democrat  till  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
question  came  up  to  disrupt  parties,  shifted  to  the 
anti-slavery  side  in  1854  and  was  elected  to  Congress, 
where,  after'  one  term,  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Gregg,  a  Democrat  of  Hendricks  County,  and  then 
for  two  terms  by  his  old  law-partner,  Governor  Porter. 
While  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Wick  he  married 
Mrs.  Wick's  sister,  Alice,  and  thus  became  the 
brother-in-law  of  the  late  Lazarus  B.  Wilson  as  well 
as  his  law-partner.  Mr.  Barbour  in  the  last  years  of 
his  life  had  associated  with  him  the  versatile  and 
widely-read  Charles  P.  Jacobs. 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb  is  entitled  to  all  respect 
as  one  of  the  best  lawyers,  ablest  publicists,  and 
truest  men  that  ever  honored  Indianapolis  with  a 
residence.  He  was  born  in  Tioga  County,  Pa.,  in 
1821  was  removed  by  his  parents  when  a  child  to 
Cortland  County,  N.  Y.,  and  thence  to  Jennings 
1  County,  in  this  State,  in  1836.     He  learned  the  sad- 


214b 


HISTORY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


dler's  trade  there,  as  did  Judge  Martindale  and 
Senator  McDonald  in  their  outset  of  life,  but  in  two  j 
or  three  years  ill-health  compelled  him  to  quit  it, 
and  in  1841  he  began  the  study  of  the  law  with  Mr. 
Bullock,  the  first  lawyer  in  Jennings  County.  He 
practiced  there  till  1846,  when  he  came  to  Indian- 
apolis and  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Ovid 
Butler.  The  impression  made  by  his  abilities  may 
be  judged  by  the  fact  that  in  1849  he  was  elected 
the  second  mayor  of  the  city  in  his  twenty-eighth 
year.  In  1854  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature, 
and  in  1860  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  which  he  left 
after  one  session  to  take  the  presidency  of  the  Sink- 
ing Fund  Board.  He  was  superseded  there  in  1863 
by  the  late  W.  H.  Talbott.  In  the  summer  of  1864, 
after  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Sulgrove,  he  became  po- 
litical editor  of  the  Journal,  and  so  continued  till 
1868,  serving  two  sessions  in  the  Legislature  in  that 
time.  He  went  back  to  the  law  practice  in  1869, 
and  continued  till  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  first 
three  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  in  March,  1871. 
This  term  expired  in  1874,  when  he  was  elected  to 
the  same  place  by  a  popular  and  unanimous  vote, 
being  put  on  both  party  tickets,  as  was  Judge  Per- 
kins, his  associate,  who  had  succeeded  Judge  Rand 
on  the  resignation  of  the  latter.  Soon  after  Presi- 
dent Grant  tendered  him  the  assistant  Secretaryship 
of  the  Interior,  but  he  declined  it.  In  1876  he  was 
nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  the  Supreme 
Bench,  but  beaten.  Under  the  act  authorizing  com- 
missioners of  the  Supreme  Court  to  assist  the  judges 
in  dealing  off  the  accumulations  of  the  docket,  he 
was  made  one,  and  died  while  in  that  duty.  He  was 
all  his  life  here  a  constant  and  devoted  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  one  of  the  ruling 
elders.  As  editor  of  the  Journal  he  showed  a  ver- 
satility of  power  with  which  he  had  not  been  credited, 
as  well  as  a  sagacity  and  sound  judgment  in  party 
management  that  were  badly  needed  to  supplement 
the  efforts  of  Governor  Morton.  He  died  in  May, 
1882,  at  his  residence  on  North  Tennessee  Street. 

John  H.  Bradley. — Although  chiefly  occupied 
with  his  business  as  banker  and  railroad  operator  after 
Lis  removal  to  this  city,  the  late  John  H.  Bradley 
sometimes  figured  in  the  old  court-house  with  such 


effect  of  eloquence  and  legal  erudition  as  was  rarely 
equaled  by  any  of  his  associates.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  from  Laporte  County  in  1842,  and 
formed  one  of  the  noted  quartette  of  that  year, — he 
and  Joseph  G.  Marshall,  of  the  Whigs,  Edward  A. 
Hannegan  and  Thomas  J.  Henley,  of  the  Democrats. 
Mr.  Bradley  retired  from  active  business  for  several 
years  before  his  death,  and  wrote  a  small  treatise  on 
the  evidences  and  philosophy  of  spiritualism.  Dr. 
John  M.  Kitchen  and  Morris  Defrees  are  sons-in-law 
of  Mr.  Bradley. 

William  Wallace. — Among  the  living  members 
of  the  bar  are  several  who  still  hold  foremost  places 
in  the  profession,  though  some,  as  Simon  Yandes, 
Esq.,  and  Governor  Porter,  have  retired,  and  are 
engaged  in  other  pursuits.  William  Wallace,  one 
of  those  who  have  been  longest  at  the  bar  of  the 
city  and  are  still  as  active  and  conspicuous  as  ever, 
was  born  in  Brookville,  Oct.  16,  1825.  He  came 
to  the  capital  when  his  father  had  to  take  up  his 
official  residence  here  as  Governor  in  1837,  and 
has  remained  ever  since.  He  went  to  school  here 
first  to  Mr.  (now  Gen.)  Gilman  Marston,  and  later 
to  Rev.  James  S.  Kemper,  at  the  old  seminary.  He 
oscillated  for  some  time  between  schooling  and  clerk- 
ing, finally  settling  down  to  studying  law  and  work- 
ing in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk,  then  Robert  B. 
Duncan.  When  the  latter  left  that  office  in  1850 
Mr.  Wallace  began  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  has 
continued  ever  since,  except  during  one  term  in  the 
office  of  county  clerk,  from  1861  to  1865,  beating 
Michael  Fitzgibbon.  His  business  has  been  of  a 
quiet  kind,  not  so  well  calculated  to  exhibit  the 
striking  oratorical  talent  which  put  him  at  the  head 
of  the  old  seminary  boys,  at  the  criminal  and  litigated 
civil  business  in  which  his  father  shone  so  brilliantly, 
but  it  has  made  him  one  of  the  foremost  and  most  re- 
spected of  the  lawyers  of  the  capital,  and  put  him  in 
many  positions  of  responsibility  in  private .  affairs. 
His  native  eloquence  has  not  been  allowed  to  rust  in 
probate  business,  however.  He  is  one  of  the  fore- 
most Odd-Fellows  of  the  State,  and  has  more  than 
occupation  enough  in  making  addresses  for  the  order 
on  formal  or  conspicuous  occasions.  No  man  in  the 
city  stands  higher  or  by  a  better  title  of  native  gen- 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


21-Jc 


erosity    and    manliness    and    unspotted    honor    than 
William  Wallace. 

Gen.  John  Coburn,  whose  life,  however,  presents 
a  striking  contrast  of  variety  and  incessant  activity 
to  the  unvarying  smoothness  of  the  other's,  is  an  old 
schoolmate  and  life-long  friend  of  William  Wallace. 
He  was  born  in  this  city,  Oct.  27,  1825,  very  soon 
after  the  removal  of  his  father,  the  late  Henry  P. 
Coburn,  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  1820  to 
1852,  from  Corydon  to  the  new  capital.  His 
early  education  was  chiefly  acquired  at  the  old 
seminary,  whence  he  went  to  Wabash  College  in 
1842,  graduating  in  1846.  He  served  as  deputy  to 
his  father  and  studied  law  till  1849,  when  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  practicing  for  some  years  as  the 
partner  of  Judge  N.  B.  Taylor,  and  later  of  Governor 
Wallace.  On  the  death  of  the  latter  while  occupying 
the  bench  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court,  Mr.  Coburn 
was  appointed  to  the  vacancy,  and  elected  the  year 
following.  On  the  18th  of  September  he  was  com- 
missioned colonel  of  the  Thirty-third  Regiment,  hold- 
ing the  command  steadily  till  he  was  mustered  out, 
Sept.  20,  1864.  The  next  year  he  was  brevetted 
brigadier-general.  The  first  experience  of  his  regi- 
ment was  a  rough  one.  It  left  this  city  on  the  28th 
of  September,  1861,  and  on  the  21st  of  October  was 
fighting  Gen.  Zollicoffer  at  Wild  Cat,  Ky.,  where 
that  distinguished  rebel  was  killed,  and  our  Hoosier 
colonel  exhibited  the  coolness  and  commandiDg  force 
that  were  needed  for  a  serviceable  and  honorable  mil- 
itary career.  After  this  it  was  stationed  at  Crab 
Orchard,  Ky.,  until  early  in  January,  and  full  two- 
thirds  of  the  men  were  down  with  the  measles.  After 
this  Col.  Coburn  was  in  and  about  Cumberland  Gap 
for  a  long  time,  but  early  in  1863  was  sent  to  Nash- 
ville, and  thenee  to  Franklin,  Tenn.,  where,  during 
an  engagement  into  which  he  was  forced  by  the  im- 
prudence of  a  temporary  superior,  some  four  hundred 
of  his  men  and  himself  were  taken  prisoners.  The 
men  were  paroled,  but  he  was  taken  to  Libby,  and 
was  there  at  the  time  a  Union  force  gave  the  city 
of  Richmond  a  considerable  fright.  His  life  there 
was  that  of  hundreds  of  others  with  which  the 
country  is  familiar.  In  the  Atlanta  campaign  his 
regiment  was  one  of  the  foremost,  and  he  was  the 


officer  deputed  by  the  commander  to  receive  the 
surrender  of  the  city.  In  October,  1865,  he  was 
elected  to  the  Circuit  Court  Bench,  but  resigned  to 
go  to  Congress  in  1866.  He  served  four  terms  in 
Congress  with  a  record  of  as  good  service  and  hard 
work  as  any  man  in  the  body,  and  with  as  high 
consideration  from  his  fellow-members.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  House  at  that  time,  and,  besides  the 
unknown  work  of  legislation,  illustrated  his  congres- 
sional career  by  speeches  of  unusual  force  of  style 
and  familiarity  with  his  subjects.  He  never  spoke 
for  buncombe  or  to  have  a  little  exhibit  of  his  services 
to  frank  to  his  constituents,  but  because  he  knew 
something  on  the  subject  that  needed  to  be  told  and 
a  good  many  needed  to  learn.  So  strong  an  impres- 
sion had  he  made  that  on  the  resignation  of  Secretary 
Belknap  he  was  urged  for  the  War  Department.  It 
is  a  pity  he  hadn't  got  it ;  we  have  had  no  such  man 
since.  On  the  expiration  of  his  congressional  term 
Gen.  Coburn  accepted  an  appointment  as  one  of  the 
commissioners  to  settle  the  complicated  disputes  about 
the  titles  of  land  in  Hot  Springs,  Ark.  This  work 
he  completed  but  a  year  or  two  ago.  Since  then  he 
has  been  constantly  engaged  in  his  profession. 

Napoleon  B.  Taylor  was  born  October  18, 1820, 
in  Campbell  County,  Ky.,  and  came  to  this  place  a 
child  with  his  father,  the  late  Robert  Taylor,  one  of 
the  earliest  of  our  brick-masons.  He,  like  his  old 
friends  Wallace  and  Coburn,  was  an  "  old  seminary 
boy,"  leaving  the  school  to  study  law  about  1842  or 
1843.  For  some  time  after  his  admission  to  the 
bar  he  mixed  bricklaying  with  law  to  have  some- 
thing to  do  and  make  something  to  live,  but  in  1849 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  the  late  John  L.  Ketch- 
am,  and  since  then  has  confined  himself  to  the  law. 
He  worked  his  way  up  slowly,  but  he  never  got  a 
foot  ahead  and  slipped  back  two.  What  he  made  he 
held,  and  in  a  few  years  he  came  to  be  known  over 
the  State  as  peculiarly  skillful  and  able  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  cases  for  the  Supreme  Court.  That  reputa- 
tion he  has  kept  and  increased  ever  since.  In  1853 
he  and  Gen.  Coburn  formed  a  partnership  for  about 
throe  years.  In  1872  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
his  son    Edwin    and    Judge  Rand,  one  of  the   first 


214d 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  which  was  maintained 
till  Judge  Taylor's  electiou  to  the  Superior  Bench  in 
1882.  In  18G4  he  was  nominated  for  reporter  of  the 
Supreme  Court  against  Gen.  Ben.  Harrison  and  beaten, 
and  he  was  frequently  talked  of  for  the  nomination  for 
the  Supreme  Bench.  He  stands  among  tlie  first  law- 
yers of  the  State  for  erudition  and  sound  judgment, 
and  among  the  first  citizens  of  Indianapolis  for  all 
the  qualities  of  good  citizenship. 

Btron  K.  Elliott,  judge  of  the  Supremo  Court 
■  from  the  central  district  of  the  State,  was  born  in 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  Sept.  4,  1835,  lived  in  Hamil- 
ton till  1849,  then  removed  to  Cincinnati,  and  on  the 
21st  of  December,  1850,  to  this  city.  He  studied  law 
here,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  February,  1858, 
and  in  May,  1859,  was  elected  city  attorney, — a  most 
creditable  .proof  of  ability  and  character  to  command 
such  a  place  in  the  first  year  of  professional  life, 
and  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four.  He  went  into 
the  hundred  days'  service  in  May,  1864,  in  Col. 
Vance's  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-second  Regiment, 
as  captain,  but  was  put  upon  Gen.  Milroy's  staff  in 
two  or  three  weeks  as  assistant  adjutant-general. 
On  his  return  to  the  law  he  was  elected  city  attorney 
again  in  May,  1865,  and  re-elected  in  1867  and 
1869.  His  four  terms  in  that  office  enabled  him  to 
make  it  a  position  of  importance,  worth  a  good  law- 
yer's tenure  and  attention,  and  it  had  been  a  mere 
party  makeweight  previously.  In  October,  1870, 
he  was  elected  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court,  and 
resigned   the  office  of  city  attorney.     In  November, 

1872,  he  resigned  the  judgeship  to  take  the  city 
solicitorship  unanimously  tendered  him  by  the  Coun- 
cil.    He  was    elected    city   attorney   again   in    May, 

1873,  and  in  October,  1876,  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  Superior  Court.  He  was  again  nominated  for 
the  place  by  acclamation  in  March,  1880,  but  re- 
ceiving the  Republican  nomination  for  Supreme 
judge  in  June  of  the  same  year,  he  accepted  that 
and  was  elected  in  the  following  October.  He  was 
made  chief  justice  at  the  November  term,  1881,  and 
served  through  that  term.  In  and  out  of  the  pro- 
fession he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  purest,  fairest, 
and  most  clear-sighted  judges  that  have  occupied  the 
appellate  bench  in  this  generation,  and  in  no  rulings 


is  greater  or  more  general  confidence  felt  than  in 
his. 

Fabius  M.  Finch  was  born  in  Western  New  York 
in  1811,  and  came  to  Ohio  in  1816,  with  his  father. 
Judge  John  Finch,  and  from  Ohio  came  to  this 
county  in  1819,  being  the  first  family  in  the  New 
Purchase,  except  possibly  the  Whetzels,  at  the 
Bluflfs.  The  settlement  was  made  near  Noblesville, 
which  for  some  time  was  made  a  part  of  Marion 
County.  Several  families  came  with  the  Finches. 
In  1828  the  future  judge  came  to  this  place  and 
studied  law  with  Judge  Wick,  whose  first  wife  was 
his  sister.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1831,  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  showing  unusual  maturity  of  in- 
tellect, and  settled  at  Franklin,  Johnson  Co.,  where 
he  remained  till  1865,  when  he  removed  perma- 
nently to  this  city.  He  was  elected  judge  of  the 
Fifth  Circuit  in  1842  by  the  Legislature,  and  in  1859 
was  elected  to  the  judgeship  of  this  circuit  by  the 
people,  serving  one  term.  For  some  years  he  and 
his  son,  John  A  ,  have  confined  their  business  largely 
to  insurance  cases,  and  have  made  a  very  high  repu- 
tation in  that  branch  of  the  profession.  John  A. 
was  the  State  commissioner  at  a  national  meeting  of 
insurance  men  in  New  York  some  years  ago,  and 
has  published  several  elaborate  articles  on  insurance 
organizations,  methods,  and  law,  which  have  attracted 
wide  attention  and  commendation. 

Gen.  Ben.  Harrison  was  born  in  February,  1833, 
in  Cincinnati,  where  he  received  his  early  education. 
He  graduated  at  Miami  University,  Oxford,  Ohio,  and 
studied  law  with  the  celebrated  Judge  Bellamy  Storer. 
He  came  to  Indianapolis  in  1854,  and  practiced  law  by 
himself  for  some  years.  About  1856  he  made  a  more 
conspicuous  place  for  himself  by  convicting  a  negro 
cook  at  the  Ray  House  of  poisoning  some  of  the 
boarders.  His  management  of  that  case  was  univer- 
sally commended  by  the  profession,  which  before  that 
had  been  a  little  disposed  to  regard  the  tow-headed 
youngster,  who  looked  younger  than  he  was,  as  pos- 
sessing his  best  claim  to  attention  in  the  fact  that 
he  was  the  grandson  of  his  grandfather.  He  soon 
showed,  when  the  chance  came,  that  he  could  build 
broadly  and  solidly  enough  on  his  own  ioundation, 
and  he  has  done  it  most  effectually.     His  first  public 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


214e 


position  was  that  of  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1861.  In  August,  1862,  he  accepted  the  command 
of  the  Seventieth  Regiment,  and  remained  witli  it  till 
it  was  mustered  out  at  the  close  of  the  war  in  June, 
1865.  A  sketch  of  the  history  of  that  regiment 
will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  the  City  and  County 
in  the  War.  Gen.  Harrison  was  associated  with 
Governor  Porter  and  William  P.  Fishback,  as  Por- 
ter, Harrison  &  Fishback,  for  several  years.  Mr. 
Fishback,  who  came  here  in  1856  from  Ohio  and 
soon  established  a  good  practice  and  reputation,  left 
the  firm  in  1870  to  take  control  of  the  Journal,  and 
later  of  the  St.  Louis  Democrat,  and  never  rejoined  his 
associates,  first  accepting  the  clerkship  of  the  United 
States  Court  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  then  resign- 
ing that  and  confining  his  work  to  the  mastership  in 
chancery  of  the  same  court.  The  firm  then  became 
Porter,  Harrison  &  Hines,  by  the  accession  of  Judge 
Hines,  and  remained  so  till  Mr.  Porter  retired  a  few 
years  later,  when  Mr.  Miller,  of  Toledo,  came  here  to 
take  a  place  in  the  firm  in  1874,  which  then  became 
Harrison,  Hines  &  Miller.  This  has  only  recently 
been  changed  by  the  accession  of  John  B.  Elam. 

In  1876  the  Republicans  deemed  it  best  to  re- 
move Godlove  S.  Orth,  their  nominee  for  Governor, 
and  put  Gen.  Harrison  in  his  place.  It  was  a  very 
embarrassing  situation,  but  Mr.  Harrison  made  as 
much  of  it  as  any  man  could,  and  so  fixed  his 
hold  on  the  regard  of  his  party  that  his  nomination 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  when  the  Republicans 
gained  control  of  the  Legislature  in  the  election  of 
1880,  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  There  was  no 
serious  contest  made  against  him.  Now  his  judicious 
course  in  the  Senate  has  given  him  no  inconspicuous 
chance  for  the  Presidential  nomination. 

Judge  Hines,  so  long  a  partner  of  Gen.  Harri- 
son, was  born  in  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  Dec. 
10,  1836,  whence  his  mother,  who  was  left  a  widow 
with  her  young  family ,  went  to  Lonsdale,  Conn.,  where 
Cyrus  worked  for  several  years  in  the  cotton-mills. 
Then  for  a  year  or  two  he  studied  and  taught  in  the 
Normal  Institute  at  Lancaster,  Mass.,  and  thence  he 
came  to  Indianapolis  in  1854.  He  studied  law  with  Si- 
mon Yandes,  Esq.,  and  became  a  partner  in  December, 
1855,  continuing  until  the  latter  retired  from  the  pro- 


fession in  1860.  Mr.  Hines  wont  into  the  three 
months'  service  as  sergeant  of  Company  H,  Eleventh 
Regiment,  and  when  that  was  througii  went  into  the 
three  years'service,  attaining  the  position  of  colonel  of 
the  Fifty-seventh  Regiment,  in  which  he  is  described  in 
the  adjutant-general's  official  history  of  the  regiment  as 
"  an  officer  of  great  and  acknowledged  ability,  who  had 
chiefly  formed  the  character  of  the  regiment."  He 
was  so  severely  wounded  at  Stone  River  that  he  had 
to  resign.  In  1866  he  succeeded  Judge  Coburn  in 
the  Circuit  Court,  and  held  the  place  till  1870,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Judge  Tarkiugton.  Mr.  Miller, 
who  entered  the  firm  with  Gen.  Harrison  and  Col. 
Hines  in  1874,  was  born  in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y., 
September,  1840,  studied  law  with  Chief  Justice 
Waite  in  Toledo,  then  practiced  for  eight  years  in 
Fort  Wayne,  and  came  here  in  1874.  John  B. 
Elam  served  through  the  war  as  a  private  soldier 
in  an  Ohio  regiment.  When  the  war  was  over  he 
studied  and  graduated  at  Oxford  (Ohio)  College, 
where  Governor  Morton  and  Senator  Harrison  were 
once  students,  then  studied  law  in  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  Ann  Arbor  University,  and  came  to  this 
city  in  1874.  In  1878  he  was  made  prosecuting 
attorney,  and  convicted  the  first  three  men  ever  hung 
in  Marion  County,  William  Merrick,  John  Achey, 
and  Louis  Guetig.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
foremost  of  the  younger  members  of  the  bar,  and 
as  prominent  politically  as  professionally. 

Gen.  Fred.  Knefler  has  long  held  an  honorable 
position  at  the  bar  here,  and  was  known  for  years  as 
deputy  clerk  before  he  entered  the  bar.  He  is  a 
Hungarian  by  birth,  and  when  a  mere  boy  served  in 
the  revolutionary  army  of  1848  under  Gen.  Bern, 
one  of  Kossuth's  best  leaders,  and  was  wounded. 
He  came  to  this  country  with  his  father.  Dr.  Knefler, 
in  1849,  and  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  first. 
Then  he  got  a  place  in  the  clerk's  office,  and  so 
worked  his  way  into  the  bar.  In  1861  he  served  in 
the  Eleventh  Regiment  of  three  months'  men  as 
lieutenant.  In  the  three  years'  service  he  was 
captain  of  Company  H  in  the  Eleventh,  and  in  Au- 
i/ust  1862,  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Seventy- 
ninth,  which  led  the  way  in  the  charge  at  Mission 
Ridge,  Col.  Knefler  leading  the  regiment.     He  re- 


214f 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


tired  from  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war  with 
the  brevet  of  brigadier.  He  formed  a  law-partner- 
ship with  the  late  John  Hanna,  which  was  only 
terminated  by  the  death  of  the  latter.  He  succeeded 
William  H.  H.  Terrell  as  pension  agent  here,  as 
noticed  in  the  list  of  government  oflBcers  resident 
here. 

The  partners  of  ex-Senator  and  ex-Governor 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks  have  been  among  the  fore- 
most members  of  the  bar  of  the  State  and  city  for 
many  years.  Ex-Governor  Baker  went  into  the 
firm  in  1873,  when  Mr.  Hendricks  became  Governor. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  law- 
yers of  the  State  for  years  in  Evansville  before  he 
came  to  Indianapolis  to  act  as  Governor  while  Gov- 
ernor Morton  was  in  Europe  in  1865-66.  He  re- 
mained here  thenceforward,  and  took  as  commanding 
a  place  at  the  bar  here  as  at  his  old  home.  In  1864 
he  was  provost-marshal  of  the  State  on  duty  here, 
and  arrested  a  mob  of  re-enlisted  veterans  of  the 
Nineteenth  Regiment  who  attacked  and  proposed  to 
demolish  the  Sentinel  office  for  some  allusion  in  the 
paper  that  they  disliked.  He  met  the  angry  men  on 
the  stairs,  with  their  guns  in  their  hands,  and  held 
them  back  till  he  brought  them  to  reason.  Two  of 
the  most  conspicuous  features  of  his  administration 
were  the  payment  of  the  State  debt  of  1836  and  the 
official  proclamation  of  the  stoppage  of  interest  in 
1870,  and  the  recommendation  of  asylums  for  the 
incurable  insane,  now  just  put  in  the  way  of  accom- 
plishment. 

Oscar  B.  Hord,  attorney-general  of  the  State 
from  1862  to  1864,  and  for  twenty  years  a  partner 
of  Governor  Hendricks,  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
near  Maysville,  where  he  was  brought  up.  He 
studied  law  with  his  father,  and  came  to  Greens- 
burg,  in  this  State,  in  1849.  In  1852  he  was  made 
prosecuting  attorney,  serving  two  terms.  Some  years 
later  he  and  the  late  Col.  Gavin,  his  partner,  made  a 
digest  of  the  statutes  of  the  State,  which  was  greatly 
needed,  and  gave  its  authors  a  substantial  professional 
reputation  at  once.  In  1862,  Mr.  Hord  was  elected 
attorney-general  and  removed  to  Indianapolis,  forming 
a  professional  connection  with  Mr.  Hendricks  which 
has  never  been   sundered   since,  except   during   the 


latter's  term  as  Governor  (from  1873  to  1877).  Mr. 
Hord  is  one  of  the  hard-working  men  of  the  Indian- 
apolis bar,  and  stands  second  to  none  in  the  care  he 
gives  his  cases  and  thoroughness  of  his  investigation 
of  the  law.  He  is  one  of  the  steadiest  of  friends 
and  most  genial  of  companions,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
first  lawyers  of  the  State.     He  was  born  in  1829. 

Mr.  Abram  "W.  Hendricks,  a  cousin  of  the  ex- 
Governor,  is  well  up  towards  sixty,  but  none  the  less 
a  close  student  and  indefatigable  worker.  He  is  held 
by  the  profession  to  be  one  of  the  most  thoroughly- 
read  lawyers  in  the  country,  and  was  so  well  esteemed 
twenty-six  years  ago  that  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Republican  party  for  the  Supreme  Bench.  He  was 
born  in  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.,  and  came  to 
Madison,  to  his  uncle,  in  1839.  He  studied  law 
with  Governor  William  Hendricks,  and  graduated  at 
the  Lexington  (Kentucky)  Law  School.  For  some 
years  he  was  a  partner  of  William  McKee  Dunn,  late 
judge-advocate-general.  He  came  to  Indianapolis  in 
1866,  to  join  his  cousin,  Thomas  A.,  and  Mr.  Hord, 
when  the  firm  became  Hendricks,  Hord  &  Hendricks, 
now  Baker,  Hord  &  Hendricks. 

John  C.  New,  though  he  never  figured  as  a  law- 
yer, was  for  a  good  many  years  clerk  of  the  county, 
and  as  well  known  a  figure  of  the  court  as  the  judge. 
He  was  born  in  Jennings  County,  in  1831.  His 
father,  the  late  John  B.  New,  was  a  cabinet-maker 
by  trade  and  a  Christian  preacher  by  preference, 
and  removed  to  Greensburg  when  John  was  still  a 
child.  After  a  course  of  country  town  schooling  he 
went  to  Bethany,  Va.,  where  he  took  a  four  years' 
course  under  the  late  Alexander  Campbell,  graduating 
fairly  in  1851.  His  cousin,  Jeptha  D.  New,  member 
of  Congress  two  terms  from  the  Jennings  County  Dis- 
trict, was  at  the  same  college  at  the  same  time.  Rev. 
John  B.  New  removed  to  this  city  about  the  time  his 
son  graduated,  and  here  the  latter  studied  law  with 
Governor  Wallace,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1852, 
and  having  a  good  memory,  an  aptitude  for  system, 
and  a  naturally  good  business  disposition,  with  a  neat, 
legible  cbirography.  Clerk  Stewart  made  him  deputy 
soon  afterwards ;  and  when  Stewart  died,  leaving  a 
year  of  his  term  vacant,  the  County  Board  put  the 
deputy  there,  and   at   the   next   election   the  people 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


2140 


elected  him  over  George  MeOuat  by  a  slender  ma- 
jority. Here  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune, 
and  left  the  oflSce  a  young  man,  but  already  a  rich 
one.  Governor  Morton  made  him  quartermaster  early 
in  the  war ;  then  he  served  a  term  in  the  State  Sen- 
ate; then,  in  1865,  went  as  cashier  into  the  First 
National  Bank,  and  remained  there  ten  years,  till  he 
was  made  treasurer  of  the  United  States  in  Spinner's 
place.  A  year  here  sufficed  him,  and  he  returned  to 
the  bank  as  vice-president.     A  little  later  he  bought 


out  William  H.  English,  and  became  president.  In 
1880  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  Republican  State 
Central  Committee,  and  bought  the  Journal.  He 
was  also  the  Indiana  member  of  the  National  Repub- 
lican Committee.  He  has  been  the  First  Assistant 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  for  several  years, 
which  position  he  has  recently  resigned.  Mr.  New 
has  been  twice  married, — first  to  Melissa,  daughter 
of  the  late  Joseph  Beeler,  and  next  to  Miss  McRae, 
daughter  of  a  son-in-law  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Sanders. 


William  P.  Adkinson. 
Henry  C.  Allen. 
Fremont  Alford. 
Ayres  &  Brown. 
Ayres  &  Cole. 
Bailey  &  Van  Buren. 
John  W.  Baird. 
Baker,  Hord  &  Hendricks. 
James  P.  Baker. 
Pliny  W.  Bartholomew. 
Will  F.  A.  Bernhamer. 
Isaac  L.  Bloomer. 
William  Bosson. 
John  W.  Bowlus. 
Daniel  M.  Bradbury. 
Cornelius  D.  Browder. 
Wilbur  F.  Browder. 
William  T.  Brown. 
Samuel  M.  Bruce. 
John  C.  Brush. 
James  Buchanan. 
Salmon  A.  Buell. 
H.  Burns. 
Burns  &  Denny. 
Byfiold  &  Howland. 
Bynum  &  Beck. 
Howard  Cole. 
Canary  &  Medkirk. 
Nathaniel  Carter. 
Vinson  Carter. 
Carter  &  Bin  ford. 
Charles  E.  Clark. 
Ross  Clark. 


ROLL   OF   ATTORNEYS. 

John  W.  Claypool. 
Claypool  &  Ketcham. 
Coburn  &  Irvin. 
W.  H.  Corbaley. 
Cropsey  &  Cooper. 
Vincent  G.  Clifford. 
James  B.  Curtis. 
Dailey  &  Pickerell. 
Benjamin  F.  Davis. 
Guilford  A.  Deitch. 
Austin  F.  Denny. 
Robert  Denny. 
Almon  H.  Dickey. 
Samuel  R.  Downey. 
Charles  A.  Dryer. 
Duncan, Smith  &  Duncan. 
Dye  &  Fishback. 
John  B.  Elam. 
William  F.  Elliott. 
Harmon  J.  Everett. 
Charles  W.  Fairbanks. 
Finch  &  Finch. 
Florea  &  Wishard. 
Samuel  W.  Fogger. 
James  E.  Franklin. 
George  W.  Galvin. 
Jonathan  W.  Gordon. 
John  C.  Green. 
Otto  Gresham. 
Griffiths  &  Potts. 
Orvin  S.  Hadley. 
Upton  J.  Hammond. 
Jesse  D.  Hamrick. 


Harding  &  Hovey. 
James  W.  Harper. 
Charles  0.  Harris. 
Harris  &  Calkins. 
Harrison,  Hines  &  Miller. 
Jonathan  S.  Harvey. 
Lawson  M.  Harvey. 
Charles  R.  Haseley. 
Roseoe  0.  Hawkins. 
Charles  C.  Heckman. 
James  E.  Hellei'. 
Heinrichs  &  Kessler. 
William  Henderson. 
George  G.  Hendrickson. 
John  A.  Henry. 
Maxwell  B.  Henry. 
Herod  &  Winter. 
Isaac  Herr. 
James  T.  Hill. 
Hill  &  Martz. 
John  A.  Holman. 
Louis  Howland. 
William  A.  Hughes. 
Charles  P.  Jacobs. 
Ovid  B.  Jameson. 
Lewis  Jordan. 
John  M.  Judah. 
Julian  &  Julian. 
Kealing  &  Clifford. 
Joseph  M.  Keatinge. 
Justin  A.  Kellogg. 
John  Kidd. 
Israel  Klingensmith. 


2r4H 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Knefler  &  Beiryhill. 

David  K.  Paultow. 

William  F.  Stilz. 

Orlando  Knowlton. 

William  Patterson. 

George  W.  Stubbs. 

Eugene  G.  Kreider. 

William  H.  Payne. 

Horace  G.  Study. 

Ira  M.  Kratz. 

William  A.  Peelle,  Jr. 

James  Sulgrove. 

William  C.  Lamb. 

Peelle  &  Taylor. 

William  Sullivan. 

Lamb  &  Mason. 

Samuel  E.  Perkins. 

Sullivan  &  Jones. 

John  T.  Leeklider. 

George  K.  Perrin. 

Lucius  B.  Swift. 

Frank  H.  Levering. 

Henry  D.  Pierce. 

Talbott  &  Wheeler. 

Frank  P.  Lindsay. 

George  T.  Porter. 

John  S.  Tarkinston. 

Reuben  D.  Logan. 

Wallace  W.  Pringle. 

Taylor,  Rand  &  Taylor. 

William  A.  Lowe. 

James  A.  Pritchard. 

La  Frank  R.  Teed. 

Dow  McClain. 

Rand  &  Winters. 

Harrison  T.  Tincker. 

Z.  T.  McCormack. 

William  A.  Reading. 

Tobin  &  McCray. 

McDonald  &  Butler. 

Warwick  11.  Ripley. 

John  W.  Tomlinson. 

McMaster  &  Boice. 

Ritter  &  Ritter. 

Thomas  J.  Trusler. 

Gilbert  B.  Manlove. 

Roachc  &  Lamme. 

Turpie  &  Pierce. 

E.  B.  &  Charles  Martindale. 

Charles  F.  Robbins. 

Richard  S.  Turrell. 

Francis  J.  Mattler. 

Thaddeus  S.  Rollins. 

Flavins  J.  Van  Vorhis. 

Harry  J.  Milligan. 

Rooker  &  Hatch. 

Joseph  W.  Walker. 

Jehu  Milner. 

John  N.  Scott. 

William  &  Lewis  Wallace. 

James  L.  Mitchell. 

Adolph  &  G.  Seidensticker. 

William  B.  Walls. 

John  0.  Moore. 

Silas  M.  Shepard. 

John  C.Wells. 

Merrill  Moores. 

Horace  E.  Smith. 

Williams  &  Johnson. 

John  Morgan. 

J.  Hervey  Smith. 

Harry  L.  Wilson. 

Morris  &  Newberger. 

Robert  E.  Smith. 

Oliver  M.  Wilson. 

Frank  W.  Morrison. 

Spaan  &  Heiner. 

Wilson  &  Wilson. 

Wilson  Morrow. 

George  W.  Spahr. 

George  W.  Winpenny. 

Charles  R.  Myers. 

Horace  Speed. 

Bennett  F.  Witt. 

David  A.  Myers. 

William  W.  Spencer. 

William  Watson  Woollen. 

Nicbol  &  Buskirk. 

Roger  A.  Sprague. 

Frank  M.  Wright. 

Lester  L.  Norton. 

Charles  S.  Spritz. 

George  B.  Wright. 

Orlando  B.  Orton. 

Stanton  &  Scott. 

Granville  S.  Wright. 

Eben  A.  Parker. 

Stevenson  &  Stevenson. 

Augustus  B.  Young. 

Parmlee  &  Holladay. 

George  W.  Stillwell. 

John  Young. 

ylC^  ,yaUuiy\^ 


CITY  OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


215 


CHAPTER   IX. 

CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS— (Co,i(mi,erf.) 
BANKS,  BANKERS,  AND   INSURANCE. 

For  twenty-five  years  the  old  State  Bank  and  its 
Indianapolis  branch  furnished  the  best  and  the  only 
safe  paper  currency  in  the  State.  The  hard  times  of 
1841  to  1845  were  alleviated  to  some  extent  by  the 
issue  of  "  State  scrip,"  and  until  the  Free  Banking 
Act  of  1852  the  only  home  currency  we  had  was 
made  up  of  State  paper  and  State  Bank  paper.  The 
beginning  of  this  serious  crisis  in  the  condition  of  the 
State  and  Marion  County  occurred  while  Nathan  B. 
Palmer  was  in  the  State  Treasury,  the  end  of  it 
while  Samuel  Hannah  was  there,  when  the  progress 
of  the  old  Madison  Railroad  gave  promise  of  a  new 
era. 

Hon.  Nathan  B.  Palmer  was  born  at  Stoning- 
ton,  Conn.,  Aug.  27,  1790,  and  by  the  death  of  his 
father  left  an  orphan  at  the  early  age  of  ten  years. 
Subsequent  to  this  event  his  mother  removed  to  New 
York  State,  accompanied  by  her  son.  Here  he  grew 
to  man's  estate  and  married  Miss  Chloe  Sacket,  who 
aided  not  a  little  to  her  husband's  success  in  life. 
The  newly-married  pair  removed  to  Pennsylvania  in 
1812,  in  which  State  Mr.  Palmer  was  elected  to  more 
than  one  oiEce  of  trust  and  honor  before  his  thirtieth 
year,  in  each  of  which  he  acquitted  himself  with 
credit.  More  than  two-thirds  of  a  century  ago  Mr. 
Palmer  came  down  the  Ohio  River  and  settled  in 
Jefferson  County,  Ind.,  where  he  resided  for  four- 
teen years,  and  during  this  period  was  chosen  to 
represent  his  county  in  the  State  Legislature.  In 
1833  he  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  dis- 
played marked  ability  as  an  efficient  and  just  presiding 
officer.  In  1835  he  became  a  permanent  resident  of 
Indianapolis,  having  been  chosen  to  fill  the  responsible 
office  of  State  Treasurer.  As  a  public  servant,  having 
large  and  important  trusts  in  his  hands,  his  career 
was  marked  by  the  most  scrupulous  integrity  and 
exactness.  While  in  charge  of  the  State  finances 
large  amounts  of  scrip  were  issued  and  used  as  a 
circulating  medium.  He  was  in  1841  made  ex- 
aminer of  the  State  Bank  and  its  branches,  and  in 


this  responsible  position  manifested  the  same  ability 
and  shrewdness  that  had  characterized  his  previous 
official  career.  He  was  during  his  lifetime  identified 
with  more  than  one  public  enterprise  of  moment,  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  both  local  and  State  politics. 
Having  the  sagacity  to  discern  that  railways  must 
eventually  supplant  canals,  he  was  ah  energetic 
mover  in  the  construction  of  railroads  in  various  parts 
of  the  State,  and  by  his  example  and  efforts  gave  this 
class  of  improvements  an  impetus  which  was  long 
after  felt  in  Indiana.  The  construction  of  the  old 
Madison  and  Indianapolis  Railroad,  the  first  in  the 
State,  was  in  no  small  degree  the  result  of  Mr. 
Palmer's  exertions,  and  the  company  for  a  number  of 
years  had  the  benefit  of  his  services  as  president  and 
chief  executive  officer  of  the  line.  He  was  during 
his  life  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party,  though 
his  integrity  and  ability  were  such  as  to  command 
the  political  support  of  those  not  identified  with  his 
own  party.  The  death  of  Mr.  Palmer  occurred  April 
13,  1875,  and  that  of   Mrs.  Palmer,  June  10,  1871. 

Their  children  are  Charles  C,  Aurelia  E.,  William 
S.,  Jane  C,  Jerome  W.,  Louisa  S.,  Jane  M.,  Minerva 
A.,  Trumbull  G.,  Blackford  M.,  Marshall  E.,  Edward 
L.,  Nathan  B.,  Jr.,  and  Mary  L. 

Samuel  Hannah  was  born  Dec.  1,  1789,  in  the 
State  of  Delaware.  At  six  years  of  age  he  removed 
with  his  father's  family  to  Brownsville,  Pa.,  on  the 
Monongahela  River,  thirty  miles  above  Pittsburgh. 
He  was  married  July  11,  1811,  to  Eleanor  Bishop, 
who  died  Sept.  26,  1864.  Their  family  numbered 
eleven  children,  four  daughters  and  seven  sons. 
Anna  married  Gen.  Solomon  Meredith,  Eliza  married 
Hon.  John  S.  Newman,  Sarah  married  Rev.  Dr.  F. 
C.  Holliday,  Ellen  married  Dr.  John  M.  Ross,  Alex- 
ander M.  married  Elizabeth  N.  Jackson,  Henry  R. 
married  Jerusha  Cain,  William  P.  married  Margaret 
A.  Dunham.  James,  Israel,  Thomas,  and  Septimus 
died  in  youth.  In  the  spring  of  1815,  with  his  wife 
and  two  children,  Mr.  Hannah  went  in  a  flat-boat  to 
Cincinnati,  and  thence  by  wagons  to  Warren  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  taught  school  for  two  years,  number- 
ing among  his  pupils  some  who  were  afterwards  dis- 
tinguished in  the  learned  professions  and  other  vo- 
cations. 


216 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


He  left  Ohio  in  1817,  settling  in  what  is  now 
Washington  township,  Wayne  Co.,  Ind.,  and  resided 
on  his  farm  until  December,  1823.  Having  been 
elected  sheriff  of  Wayne  County,  he  removed  to 
Centreville,  the  county-seat.  Belonging  to  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  and  conscientiously  opposed  to  the 
collection  of  fines  for  refusing  to  do  military  duty, 
he  resigned  his  office  in  the  spring  of  1825.  The 
following  August  he  was  elected  as  a  representative 
to  the  Legislature.  He  declined  a  re-election,  but 
was  in  1826  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace,  which 
office  he  held  about  four  years.  The  county  business 
being  then  done  by  the  board  of  justices,  he  was 
chosen  and  continued  president  of  the  board  until 
1829,  when  the  board  of  county  commissioners  was 
restored.  He  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Centre- 
ville under  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Ad- 
ams, and  held  the  office  until  removed  under  that  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  in  1829.  He  was  one  of  three 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to  locate 
the  Michigan  road  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  lake, 
and  to  select  the  lands  secured  to  the  State  by  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  held  on  the  Upper  Waba.sh 
in  1826.  In  1830  he  was  elected  clerk  of  Wayne 
County,  and  served  seven  years.  In  1843  he  was 
again  elected  to  the  Legislature.  In  December,  1846, 
he  was  elected  by  the  Legislature,  treasurer  of  State, 
and  served  three  years.  After  his  election  to  this 
office  he  removed  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death,  with  the  exception  of  a  residence  of 
about  two  years  at  Centreville  during  the  construction 
of  the  Indiana  Central  Railway.  In  March,  1851, 
he  was  chosen  first  president  of  the  company,  but 
resigned  in  July  following.  He  was  the  same  sum- 
mer elected  treasurer  of  the  Indianapolis  and  Belle- 
fontaine  Railroad  Company.  In  May,  1852,  he 
accepted  the  office  of  treasurer  of  the  Indiana  Cen- 
tral Railway  Company,  and  held  the  position  until 
January,  1864,  when  he  retired  from  active  life.  He 
died  Sept.  8,  1869,  aged  nearly  eighty  years. 

Contemporaneously  with  Mr.  Palmer  in  the  treas- 
ury, Morris  Morris,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  1821,  and 
one  of  the  most  esteemed  citizens  of  any  period,  held 
the  office  of  State  auditor.  During  his  administration 
pretty  much   all  of  the  State  scrip  issued  at  all  was 


put  out  and  into  the  currency  of  the  State.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  office  fifteen  years,  from  1829  to  1844. 
Morris  Morris  was  a  grandson  of  James  Morris, 
who  with  his  brothers  John  and  Morris  came  from 
Wales  and  early  settled  in  Virginia.  Morris,  the 
grandson,  was  born  in  Monongahela  County,  Va.,  in 
1780,  and  removed  in  youth  with  his  parents  to 
Fleming  County,  Ky.,  where  he  remained  until  forty 
years  of  age.  He  received  a  thorough  English  edu- 
cation, chose  the  law  as  a  profession,  and  practiced 
for  many  years.  In  1803  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Rachel  Morris,  a  descendant  of  John  Morris  above 
mentioned,  and  unwilling  to  rear  his  family  amid  the 
influences  of  slavery,  he  in  1821  removed  to  the 
free  State  of  Indiana.  Prior  to  this  change  of  resi- 
dence he  abandoned  the  practice  of  law,  giving  as  a 
reason  the  fact  that  the  pursuit  of  his  profession  in- 
terfered with  the  Christian  life  he  desired  to  lead. 
He  did  not  judge  others  by  the  same  rule,  but  be- 
lieved it  in  his  own  case  to  be  the  only  course  in 
harmony  with  his  convictions.  This  incident  might 
be  taken  as  a  key  to  his  character.  He  was  con.sci- 
entious  to  a  rare  degree,  and  could  not  be  swerved 
from  his  idea  of  right.  At  the  same  time  he  never 
arraigned  others  at  the  bar  of  his  own  judgment. 
His  standard  was  for  himself  only.  On  his  arrival 
in  Indianapolis,  which  had  just  been  fixed  upon  as 
the  capital  of  the  new  State,  he  bought  land  largely 
within  and  without  its  limits,  and  was  among  the 
most  active  in  advancing  the  growth  of  the  new  set- 
tlement. The  history  of  the  city  shows  for  the  first 
score  of  years  few  events  of  public  concern  in  which  he 
was  not  prominent.  In  1828  he  was  elected  auditor 
of  State,  and  for  sixteen  successive  years  re-elected  to 
the  same  office.  In  1832  he  was  one  of  the  three 
commissioners  who  had  in  charge  the  building  of  the 
State-House.  His  son.  Gen.  T.  A.  Morris,  laid  out 
the  grounds,  and  nearly  half  a  century  later  is  the 
commissioner  in  charge  of  the  erection  of  the  new 
State-House  on  the  same  spot  where  stood  the  old, 
and  Morris  M.  Defrees,  a  grandson  of  Morris  Morris, 
as  civil  engineer  laid  out  the  grounds.  After  his 
career  as  auditor  of  State  had  ended,  Mr.  Morris 
retired  to  private  life  and  engaged  in  no  business 
other  than  the  care  of  his  property,  which  had  in  the 


% 


CITY   OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


217 


growth  of  the  town  become  a  large  estate.  In  his 
mature  years  he  became  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  until  his  later  life  was  active 
iu  the  advancement  of  its  interests.  Mr.  Morris  died 
in  1864,  in  his  eighty-fourth  year.  The  deatli  of  his 
wife  the  previous  year,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six, 
ended  their  married  life  of  sixty  years,  eight  children 
having  been  born  to  them.  Mr.  Morris  was  a  man 
of  commanding  presence,  and  in  his  prime  exceed- 
ingly robust  and  active.  He  was  noted  for  clearness 
of  judgment  and  the  union  of  remarkable  decision  of 
character  with  rare  gentleness. 

The  State  officers  resident  in  the  capital  as  citizens 
prior  to  their  election  and  necessary  official  residence 
have  not  been  many  in  recent  years,  the  disposition 
of  parties  inclining  to  select  candidates  outside  of  the 
city  for  the  advantages  of  local  influence,  but  among 
those  nominated  from  the  city  latterly  is  Mr.  J.  J. 
Cooper,  the  present  State  treasurer,  whose  character 
and  services  can  be  appropriately  noticed,  in  this  con- 
nection, with  the  State  officers  of  the  last  generation. 

John  James  Cooper. — The  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  the  present  treasurer  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  hav- 
ing been  chosen  to  this  important  position  at  the 
November  election  of  1882  by  over  ten  thousand 
majority.  Mr.  Cooper  is  a  true  type  of  the  men 
selected  in  Indiana  by  the  Democratic  party  for  her 
standard-bearers,  a  man  from  the  people,  who  from 
personal  experience  understands  the  needs  of  the 
masses  to  whose  wants  he  has  been  called  to 
administer. 

His  life  bears  witness  to  the  simplicity  of  Ameri- 
can character  and  the  sovereignty  of  American  citi- 
zenship, having  been  in  his  youth  "  a  hewer  of  wood" 
in  every  sense  of  the  term.  He  has  always  been 
equal  to  the  emergency,  and  that  emergency  has 
never  been  sufficient  to  call  into  action  the  extrem- 
ity of  his  resources.  He  is  the  son  of  James  Cooper, 
of  old  Virginia  stock,  whose  father  was  Robert  Cun- 
ningham Cooper,  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 
His  mother's  name  was  Virginia  Du  Witt,  who,  as 
her  name  indicates,  was  of  French  origin,  her  parents 
coming  to  this  country  with  a  colony  who  accompa- 
nied Gen.  Lafayette  from  France.  James  Cooper, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  promi- 


nent and  successful  farmer  in  Ripley  Cuunty,  Iiid., 
and  reared  a  large  family  of  children,  all  the  survivors 
being  now  active  and  useful  members  of  society. 

Mr.  Cooper's  parents  moved  from  Scioto  County, 
Ohio,  to  Ripley  County,  Ind.,  in  the  year  1827,  and 
encountered  all  the  difficulties  and  privations  of  a 
pioneer  life.  Here  their  son  John  was  born  on  the 
20th  day  of  January,  1830.  Here  he  was  reared, 
and,  as  might  be  supposed,  obtained  only  the  meagre 
education  which  that  period  and  the  surrounding 
circumstances  afforded.  But  such  natures  as  his  are 
difficult  to  discourage  or  suppress.  His  quick  and 
accurate  judgment,  his  clear  mental  faculties,  and 
an  indomitable  energy  eminently  fitted  him  for  a 
successful  career.  In  the  year  1852  Mr.  Cooper 
married  Sarah  F.  Myers,  his  present  wife,  who  is 
the  daughter  of  James  Myers,  Esq.,  of  Jennings 
County,  Ind.,  who  afterwards  moved  to  Kokomo, 
Howard  Co.,  where  he  remained  for  six  years,  and  in 
1864  made  the  city  of  Indianapolis  his  home.  Mr. 
Cooper  has  three  children  living, — Charles  M.  Cooper, 
an  attorney-at-law  in  Indianapolis,  Virginia  E.,  and 
Carrie  M. 

To  be  a  successful  man  means  devotion  to  the 
work  in  hand.  This  devotion  and  untiring  energy 
has  made  Mr.  Cooper  eminently  successful  in  busi- 
ness affairs.  He  has  always  been  a  trader  and 
farmer.  After  moving  to  Indianapolis  he  became 
engaged  extensively  in  the  stock  business,  and  for 
several  years  bore  an  enviable  reputation  as  one  of 
the  best  judges  of  a  horse  in  the  State,  possessing 
the  rare  faculty  of  "  looking  a  horse  over"  in  a 
minute.  This  gift  contributed  largely  to  his  suc- 
cess in  this  business.  Much  of  his  time  is  given  to 
farming,  his  greatest  pleasure  being  derived  from 
frequent  visits  to  his  large  farm  near  the  city,  and 
the  supervision  of  his  fine  stock  thereon. 

In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and 
taken  an  active  part  in  all  the  political  campaigns 
of  his  party  since  his  youth.  In  the  contest  of  1876 
he  ran  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  .sheriff  of  Mar- 
ion County,  but  was  defeated,  as  was  the  whole 
Democratic  ticket.  In  1882  he  was  nominated  at 
the  State  Convention  for  Treasurer  of  State,  was 
elected,  and  assumed  the  office  Feb.  10,  1883.     His 


218 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


acquaintance  with  prominent  men  in  Indiana  is 
very  large,  as  also  with  the  distinguished  men  of 
his  party  over  the  whole  country.  His  frank  man- 
ner and  genial  character  have  made  him  numerous 
friends.  Coupled  with  these  characteristics  is  a  firm 
will  and  great  steadfastness  of  purpose.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  fine  physique,  standing  six  feet  two 
inches  in  height,  and  finely  proportioned,  a  splendid 
type  of  physical  manhood,  and  possessing  the  superior 
quality  of  heart  as  well.  He  also  evinces  marked 
decision  of  character,  a  quality  which,  while  it  has 
not  detracted  from  his  popularity,  has  aided  him 
greatly  during  his  active  life.  Mr.  Cooper  is  a 
supporter  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Indianapolis,  of  which  Mrs.  Cooper  is  a  member. 

A  short  time  before  the  first  issue  of  "  State 
scrip"  a  Mr.  John  Wood,  who  was  concerned  with 
Mr.  Underhill  in  establishing  an  iron  foundry  here 
in  1835,  put  out  a  considerable  amount  of  his  own 
notes  called  "  shinplasters,"  thinking  probably  that 
the  storm  in  the  East,  which  set  in  in  1837,  would 
not  be  much  of  a  shower  here.  He  went  down  in 
the  fall  of  1841,  after  being  in  operation  about  three 
years,  making  about  the  heaviest  financial  smash  that 
had  then  ever  occurred  here.  The  Free  Banking 
Act  brought  out  a  good  many  suggestions  and  pro- 
jects of  banking  enterprises,  some  of  which  solidified 
into  actual  experiments  and  issue  of  bills,  but  none 
were  very  successful. 

The  "  Bank  of  the  Capital,"  belonging  to  John 
Woolley  &  Co.,  was  organized  under  the  Free  Bank 
Act,  and  began  business  on  South  Meridian  Street, 
near  Washington,  in  1853,  with  Mr.  Woolley  as  per- 
manent cashier  and  active  business  man,  and  Winslow 
S.  Pierce  and  John  H.  Bradley  as  successive  presi- 
dents. The  nominal  capital  was  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  went  down  September  15, 
1857.  The  "Traders'  Bank,"  belonging  to  John 
Woolley  and  Andrew  Wilson,  began  business  on 
North  Illinois  Street,  near  Washington,  in  1854,  and 
suspended  in  a  few  months.  The  "  Farmers'  and 
Mechanics'  Bank"  was  started  by  Col.  Allen  May, 
then  recently  State  agent,  and  Mr.  G.  Lee,  with  the 
colonel's  nephew,  W.  Frank  May,  as  cashier,  early  in 
1854,  on  the  ground-floor  of  the  old  Masonic  Hall. 


Frank  May  embezzled  ten  thousand  dollars  and  ran 
away.  He  was  succeeded  by  0.  Williams,  but  the 
bank  never  recovered  that  lost  money  and  never  re- 
covered from  the  effect  of  it.  The  "  Central  Bank," 
owned  chiefly  by  the  late  John  D.  Defrees  and  Ozias 
Bowen,  its  successive  presidents,  began  business  with 
a  nominal  capital  of  half  a  million  dollars  in  July, 
1855,  in  a  room  at  No.  23  West  Washington  Street. 
It  wound  up  in  a  year  or  so  with  no  serious  loss.  The 
"  Metropolitan  Bank,"  started  by  Alexander  F. 
Morrison  and  some  associates,  with  John  P.  Dunn 
as  president  and  Jerry  Skeen  as  cashier,  began 
business  in  1855  in  Blake's  Block,  corner  of  Wash- 
ington Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue,  but  did  little 
business  beyond  issuing  its  notes  and  getting  them 
back. 

These  are  all  the  banks  of  issue  except  national 
banks  that  have  been  formed  in  Indianapolis,  but 
there  have  been  a  number,  some  still  existing,  that 
were  banks  of  deposit  and  loan  only.  The  first  of 
these  was  the  "  Indianapolis  Insurance  Company," 
chartered  in  1836,  with  a  nominal  capital  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  authorized  to  do  both  a  bank- 
ing and  insurance  business.  It  did  not  do  much,  and 
suspended  in  1840.  In  1853  it  was  revived  by  the 
late  J.  D.  Defrees,  Gen.  Morris,  and  others,  and  after 
six  years  of  moderate  operations  suspended  again. 
In  1865  it  was  again  revived  and  reorganized,  with  a 
nominal  capital  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  by 
a  new  company,  and  has  since  done  a  large  business 


BAXK    OF   COM.MICnCE. 

in  the  old  Branch  Bank  building,  corner  of  Virginia 
Avenue  and  Pennsylvania  Street.  Its  business  is 
exclusively  banking.  The  name  was  changed  to  the 
Bank  of  Commerce  some  five  or  six  years  ago. 


I 


^•.^^/fe^^, 


l/X_ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


219 


About  a  year  later  than  the  shinplaster  bank  of 
John  Wood  a  private  bank  was  opened  by  Edward  S. 
Alvord  &  Co.  It  continued  in  operation  for  about 
four  years,  from  1839  to  1843.  At  the  same  time, 
nearly,  the  late  Stoughton  A.  Fletcher  opened  a  bro- 
ker's oflSce  and  private  banking  bu.siness  on  the  north 
side  of  Washington  Street,  on  the  site  of  the  present 
No.  8,  subsequently  removing  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  and  in  1852  to  the  site  now  occupied  by 
the  costly  "stone  front"  of  Fletcher  &  Churchman's 
bank.  Timothy  Richardson  Fletcher  was  a  partner 
from  1839  to  1858.  On  the  1st  of  June,  1864, 
Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Jr.,  and  Francis  M.  Church- 
man, who  had  long  been  employed  in  the  bank, 
formed  a  partnership,  and  the  elder  Stoughton  retired 
till  Jan.  1,  1868,  when  he  re-entered  the  bank,  the 
younger  Stoughton,  his  nephew,  retiring.  The  heirs 
of  the  elder  Stoughton,  since  his  recent  death,  have 
taken  his  place  in  the  bank,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Churchman. 

Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Sr. — The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  born  in  Ludlow,  Vt.,  Aug.  22,  1808. 
He  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  fifteen  children. 
His  parents  were  among  the  hardy  pioneers  who 
settled  the  Black  River  Valley,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Green  Mountains,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century.  His  father,  Jesse  Fletcher,  and  his  mother, 
Lucy  Keyes,  were  natives  of  Westford,  Mass.,  and 
possessed  the  vigorous  qualities  of  mind  and  body 
and  the  sturdy  virtues  characteristic  of  the  New 
England  fathers.  The  family  trace  their  origin  in 
this  country  to  Robert  Fletcher,  who  emigrated  from 
England  and  settled  in  Concord,  Mass.,  in  1630. 

The  large  family  of  Jesse  Fletcher,  most  of  whose 
children  became  prominent  citizens  in  other  States, 
were  brought  up  in  the  rigorous  climate,  amid  the 
hardships  and  privations  of  a  farmer's  life,  in  North- 
ern New  England.  Its  cold,  hard  soil  did  not  yield  a 
subsistence  without  a  degree  of  toil  and  economy 
rarely  paralleled  in  the  experience  of  modern  pioneers 
on  the  Western  frontier. 

Stoughton,  as  well  as  his  elder  brothers,  was  trained 
in  the  industrious,  simple  habits  of  those  early  times. 
The  old  farm  bears  to  this  day  the  marks  of  his  hard 
labor  in   its  substantial  stone  walls  laid  by  his  own 


hands.  In  tiiis  school  he  acquired  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  agriculture  which  proved  to  be  of  the  high- 
est value  in  his  extensive  land  purchases  and  farming 
operations  in  subsequent  life.  His  great  delight  in 
nature  and  rural  scenery  is  largely  due,  no  doubt,  to 
the  influence  of  the  charming  landscapes  amid  which 
his  childhood  was  passed.  That  Vermont  home 
among  the  mountains  was  always  the  dearest  spot  to 
him  on  earth,  and  there,  in  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
he  spent  much  of  his  time. 

Mr.  Fletcher  came  to  Indianapolis  in  October, 
1831.  The  city  at  that  time  was  not  more  than  a 
flourishing  Western  village.  He  came  without  money, 
depending  solely  on  his  industry,  his  capacity  for 
business,  and  the  opportunity  which  the  capital  of  a 
new  State  afforded  for  advancing  his  fortunes. 

Before  entering  into  business  engagements  he  vol- 
unteered with  other  young  men  in  a  short  campaign 
against  the  Miami  Indians,  who  then  occupied  a  por- 
tion of  the  State  and  harassed  the  frontier  settlements. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  his  residence  in 
Indianapolis  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He 
began  as  an  employee  for  others,  but  soon  undertook 
business  on  his  own  account.  Although  successful 
as  a  merchant,  his  mind  turned  to  another  occupa- 
tion. Results  proved  that  he  was  not  mistaken  in 
judging  that  banking  was  his  calling.  His  experi- 
ence thus  far  was  a  good  preparation  for  the  real 
business  of  his  life.  He  had  established  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  people  among  whom  he  was  to  live  ;  they 
had  confidence  in  him ;  he  now  understood  thor- 
oughly the  principles  on  which  success  is  to  be 
achieved  in  a  new  town,  where  hundreds  were  to  be 
lured  to  ruin  by  the  temptations  of  speculation. 

Mr.  Fletcher  began  as  a  private  banker,  and  con- 
tinued as  such  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He  opened 
his  first  ofiice  in  a  .small  room  on  Washington  Street 
in  1839.  His  capital  in  the  start  was  small,  being 
his  own  earnings  in  previous  business.  The  rapid 
growth  of  the  city,  the  great  demand  for  money,  the 
prevailing  spirit  of  enterprise  opened  to  him  a  field 
for  business  in  which  the  possibilities  of  success  were 
fully  matched  by  the  dangers  of  failure.  But  this 
was  the  field  in  which  Mr.  Fletcher's  qualities  were 
destined    to    shine.      His    business    principles    wore 


220 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


clearly  defined  and  strictly  adhered  to.  He  trusted 
to  the  laws  of  legitimate  banking  for  his  success. 
Under  his  wise  management  "  Fletcher's  Bank"  soon 
gained,  and  has  ever  maintained,  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  conservative 
banking  institutions  in  the  country.  Mr.  Fletcher's 
business  was  by  no  means  limited  to  his  bank.  He 
was  one  of  the  principat  owners  of  the  Indianapolis 
Gas-Light  and  Coke  Company,  of  which  he  was  one 
of  the  founders.  He  had  also  acquired  a  large 
amount  of  real  estate,  mostly  in  and  near  the  city  of 
Indianapolis,  including  many  valuable  farms,  chiefly 
in  the  White  River  Valley,  in  Marion  County. 

A  striking  quality  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  mind  was  his 
power  to  read  character;  he  seldom  erred  in  his  judg- 
ment of  men.  He  formed  his  judgments  indepen- 
dently, and  when  he  reached  his  conclusions  he  could 
not  be  shaken  by  the  dissenting  opinion  of  those  who 
were  about  him. 

A  notable  trait  of  his  business  career  was  his 
careful  attention  to  details.  Nothing  was  small  or 
unimportant  in  his  estimation.  He  could  not  bear 
to  see  carelessness  or  unnecessary  waste  in  the  small- 
est things.  His  was  an  economy  which  despised 
nothing  that  had  value  in  it,  which  could  also  coexist 
with  generous  living  and  liberal  benefactions  to  ob- 
jects that  seemed  to  him  deserving.  He  was  known 
in  the  community  as  an  unostentatious  man,  simple 
in  all  his  habits.  He  never  sought  or  held  public 
o£Sce.  He  avoided  publicity,  especially  in  his  acts 
of  beneficence.  He  was  accustomed  to  make  others 
almoners  of  his  charities  that  he  might  not  be  known 
as  the  giver.  He  was  broad  and  catholic  in  his 
sympathies.  Churches  and  institutions  of  all  faiths 
that  he  believed  were  doing  good  were  aided  by 
him. 

Even  his  nearest  neighbors,  seeing  this  plain,  me- 
thodical man  daily  passing  from  his  house  to  his 
place  of  business,  might  easily  fail  to  understand 
him.  He  had  a  life  outside  of  his  business  to  which 
he  seemed  so  devoted.  He  was  a  great  lover  of 
nature,  and  a  close  observer  of  her  moods  and  habits. 
He  knew  the  notes  of  birds,  and  had  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  peculiarities.  He  used  to  say  the 
trees  and  rocks  around  the  old  home  of  his  youth 


knew  him  and  welcomed  his  visits.  He  read  with 
keen  appreciation  the  poets  of  nature. 

Although  he  walked  somewhat  apart  from  general 
society,  he  discovered  to  his  intimate  friends  the 
finest  social  qualities ;  with  them  he  was  hearty  and 
free  and  fascinating  in  the  sparkle  of  his  wit.  He 
had  a  pleasant  word  for  those  engaged  in  his  service, 
and  always  took  an  interest  in  improving  their  con- 
dition. 

Mr.  Fletcher  was  thrice  married,  the  first  wife 
being  Maria  Kipp,  of  Western  New  York,  by  whom 
he  had  two  daughters,  Mrs.  L.  F.  Hyde  and  Mrs. 
Maria  F.  Ritzinger.  His  second  wife  was  Miss  Julia 
Bullard,  of  Massachusetts.  Two  sons  of  the  five 
children  of  this  marriage  survive,  Stoughton  J. 
Fletcher  and  Allen  M.  Fletcher.  His  third  wife, 
Mrs.  Julia  A.  Johnson,  survives  him.  There  were 
no  children  by  this  marriage. 

He  died  March  17,  1882,  esteemed  by  all  who 
knew  him,  and  leaving  a  colossal  fortune,  which  his 
careful  business  habits  and  unswerving  integrity  had 
vouchsafed  to  him. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  1857,  two  years  before 
the  expiration  of  the  old  State  Bank  charter,  the 
president  and  cashier  of  the  Indianapolis  branch,  Mr. 
Calvin  Fletcher,  Sr., — brother  of  Stoughton  A.,  Sr., 
and  father  of  Stoughton  A.,  Jr., — and  Mr.  Thomas 
H.  Sharpe  established  a  bank  of  loan  and  deposit  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Washington  and  Pennsyl- 
vania Streets,  now  occupied  by  the  fine  four-story 
stone  front  of  the  firm  of  Fletcher  &  Sharpe,  and 
there  they  carried  on  a  very  successful  business  till 
the  death  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  in  1866,  since  which  time 
Mr.  Fletcher's  sons,  Ingram  and  Albert  E.,  in  asso- 
ciation with  Mr.  Sharpe,  have  maintained  the  bank 
in  still  more  extended  operations  with  equal  success 
and  security. 

Thomas  H.  Sharpe. — Ebenezer  Sharpe,  the 
father  of  Thomas  H.,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry, 
and  resided  in  Kentucky.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Eliza  Lake,  of  Scotch  descent,  and  a  native  of  Edin- 
burgh. Their  children  were  Alexander  W.,  Thomas 
H.,  Isabella  M.,  Robina  B.,  Eliza  R.,  Amos  H.,  James 
McC,  and  Hester  A.,  all  of  whom,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  latter,  were  born  in  Kentucky.     The  birth 


?>  --/ 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


221 


of  their  son  Thomas  H.  occurred  in  Payette  County, 
of  the  latter  State,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1808.  In 
1819  he  became  a  resident  of  Bourbon  County,  his 
early  youth  having  been  spent  in  his  native  county. 
He  was  educated  first  at  the  Transylvania  University, 
in  Lexington,  and  later  in  Paris,  Ky.,  after  which  he 
removed  with  his  parents,  in  1826,  to  Indianapolis, 
and  became  for  two  years  assistant  to  his  father,  who 
had  supervision  of  the  public  school  of  the  city. 
He  then  spent  a  year  as  deputy  clerk  in  the  office  of 
James  M.  Ray,  the  first  county  clerk,  after  which  he 
engaged  for  two  years  with  William  H.  Morrison  in 
mercantile  pursuits.  Mr.  Sharpe  then  became  iden- 
tified with  the  register's  department  of  the  land 
office,  and  remained  until  1835,  when  he  entered  the 
Indianapolis  branch  of  the  State  Bank  as  teller,  and 
filled  this  responsible  position  for  a  period  of  ten  years, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  tlie  more  important  office 
of  cashier  of  the  bank.  Here  he  remained  until  the 
expiration  of  the  charter  of  the  bank,  when,  in  con- 
junction with  Calvin  Fletcher,  Esq.,  he  established 
the  Indianapolis  Branch  Banking  Company,  which 
is  still  in  existence  under  the  style  of  Fletcher  & 
Sharpe,  with  Mr.  Sharpe,  S.  A.  Fletcher,  Jr.,  Ingram 
Fletcher,  and  Albert  E.  Fletcher  as  the  firm.  The 
State  Bank,  under  the  cashiership  of  Mr.  Sharpe, 
attained  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  and  was  largely 
profitable  to  its  stockholders,  paying  an  average  annual 
dividend  of  eleven  per  cent,  until  the  close  of  its 
career.  Mr.  Sharpe  is  at  present  part  owner  of  and 
director  in  the  Indianapolis  National  Bank.  He  has 
been  identified  with  many  important  public  enter- 
prises, having  been  for  several  years  director  and 
treasurer  of  the  Bellefontaine  Railroad,  now  known 
as  the  Bee  Line,  and  director  of  the  Cincinnati,  In- 
dianapolis, St.  Louis  and  Chicago  Railroad.  He  filled 
the  office,  in  1831-32,  of  school  commissioner  for  the 
county,  having  in  charge  the  lands  appropriated  by  the 
general  government  for  school  purposes.  Mr.  Sharpe, 
while  engaged  in  advancing  the  material  interests  of 
Indianapolis,  has  not  been  unmindful  of  the  demands 
which  the  poor  and  neglected  classes  may  with  pro- 
priety make  upon  more  fortunate  citizens.  He  has 
aided  greatly  as  president  of  the  Indianapolis  Benevo- 
lent Association,  and  as  one  of  its  finance  committee. 


in  disbursing  the  necessaries  of  life  and  promoting  in 
various  ways  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  city 
poor.  He  was  one  of  the  projectors  and  is  now  a 
director  of  the  Crown  Hill  Cemetery  As.sociation, 
whose  picturesque  and  attractive  grounds  are  in  the 
city  suburbs.  Mr.  Sharpe  was  formerly  a  stanch 
Whig  in  his  political  affiliations,  and  later  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  Republican  party,  but  is  devoid  of  am- 
bition for  official  honors.  He  was,  in  1836,  appointed 
by  the  Governor  agent  of  State  for  the  town  of  Indi- 
anapolis, having  in  charge  the  lands  donated  the  State 
by  Congress  for  a  permanent  seat  of  government. 
Upon  these  lands  the  capital  of  the  State  is  now 
located.  He  is  in  religion  a  Presbyterian,  and  an 
elder  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indian- 
apolis, as  was  also  his  father.  Mr.  Sharpe  was,  in 
1837,  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  C.  Wilson,  daughter 
of  John  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania.  They  have  had 
eleven  children,  of  whom  the  survivors  are  Ebenezer, 
Mary  (Mrs.  Joseph  A.  Moore),  Isabella  M.,  Eliza  L. 
(Mrs.  Albert  E.  Fletcher),  Anna  H.  (Mrs.  H.  H. 
Hanna),  Jessie  (Mrs.  Elbridge  Gerry),  and  Wil- 
liam E. 

In  May,  1854,  Alfred  Harrison,  a  prominent  mer- 
chant for  many  years,  in  connection  with  John  S.  C. 
Harrison,  opened  an  exchange  office  in  the  second 
story  of  the  "Johnson  Block,"  next  to  the  present 
site  of  the  bank,  and  remained  there  till  the  following 
year  in  August,  when  they  removed  to  the  present 
building,  and  have  there  conducted  a  steadily  sound 
and  profitable  private  banking  business.  Samuel  W. 
Watson  has  been  the  cashier  for  many  years.  In  the 
spring  of  1852,  John  WooUey  &  Co.  opened  a  private 
bank  on  the  east  side  of  South  Meridian  Street,  in  a 
little  frame  now  replaced  by  Blackford's  Block,  and 
did  a  good  business  apparently  till  they  joined  it  with 
the  "  free"  Bank  of  the  Capital,  when  both  went 
under  in  1857  with  eighty  thousand  dollars  of  debts 
and  fifty-six  thousand  dollars  of  nominal  assets  that 
paid  very  little.  William  Robson  and  A.  L.  Voorhee.s 
established  a  savings-bank  in  Odd-Fellows'  Hall,  and 
each  was  president,  with  Joseph  R.  Robinson  as 
cashier,  who  succeeded  to  the  ownership  in  1857,  just 
in  time  to  go  down  under  the  strain  made  by  the 
failure  of  the  Woolley  bank.     It  went  into  the  hands 


222 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


of  a  receiver  who  paid  all  its  liabilities  fully.  In  the 
fall  of  1862,  Kilby  Ferguson  opened  the  "  Merchants' 
Bank,"  at  No.  2  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  specu- 
lated in  gold,  and  fell  the  next  year  in  the  summer. 
He  absconded  for  a  while,  but  after  some  years  re- 
turned and  settled  with  his  creditors.  In  1856, 
George  S.  Hamer  opened  an  exchange  and  broker's 
office  in  the  basement  of  the  American  (now  Sherman) 
House,  put  out  a  few  "  shinplasters,"  and  found  him- 
self strongly  suspected  and  finally  arrested  for  cir- 
culating counterfeit  good  paper  as  well  as  his  own 
genuine  good-for-nothing  paper,  and  giving  bail,  dis- 
appeared finally. 

In  the  latter  part  of  18.^4  there  came  a  panic  in 
"  free"  bank  business,  and  it  disturbed  all  other  busi- 
ness seriously.  How  and  why  it  came  has  been  related 
in  the  general  history,  but  some  incidents  of  it  may 
be  noted  here  that  were  omitted  there.  On  the  7th 
of  January,  1855,  a  convention  of  bankers  met  here 
to  make  such  a  classification  of  "  free"  bank  issues, 
based  on  their  securities  deposited  with  the  State 
officers,  as  would  enable  the  public  to  receive  and  use 
them  without  apprehension,  which  was  severely 
straining  all  forms  of  trade,  and  without  any  risk  of 
loss.  As  heretofore  stated,  the  best  the  convention 
could  do  was  to  designate  several  banks  as  undoubt- 
edly safe  or  "  gilt-edged,"  but  the  more  important 
question  as  to  the  safety  of  banks  about  which  busi- 
ness men  were  uncertain,  was  left  as  unsatisfactory  as 
it  was  found.  Holders  of  "  free"  bank  bills  had  to 
estimate  them  at  the  rate  fixed  by  leading  city 
brokers,  and  every  man  with  uncertain  bills  in  his 
hands  hurried  to  spend  them  at  their  face  or  as  near 
it  as  he  could,  or  pay  his  debts  with  ihem.  Those 
were  the  days,  singular  in  all  the  annals  of  time, 
when  a  creditor  was  not  always  well  pleased  to  see  a 
debtor  produce  a  roll  of  money  to  pay  an  old  debt. 
A  legal  "  tender"  had  to  prove  the  value  of  the 
bills  tendered.  There  was  as  much  eagerness  to  get 
rid  of  the  money  of  the  period,  from  the  fall  of  1854 
till  the  summer  of  1857,  as  there  usually  is  to  get  it. 
Nobody  wanted  to  hoard  unless  it  was  gold,  and  be- 
fore the  war  gold  was  a  rare  apparition  in  the  ordi- 
nary business  of  Indianapolis. 

In  April,  1856,  a  meeting  of  the  business  men  of 


the  State  was  held  here  in  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  to  devise  measures  in  defense  of 
the  community  against  the  ungenerous,  not  to  say 
rascally,  operations  of  the  business  men  of  Cincinnati, 
who  made  it  a  point  to  run  back  here  all  the  "  free" 
bank  bills  they  could  get  hold  of  and  demand  the 
gold  for  them.  It  made  no  difference  how  sound 
the  bank  was,  its  bills  were  hurried  back  to  it  by 
these  Cincinnati  "  horse-leech"  speculators  before 
they  had  been  out  a  week.  Of  course  no  bank  could 
stand  that,  and  good  banks  began  reducing  or  wind- 
ing up  their  business.  The  trade  of  the  State  was 
doubly  embarrassed  by  the  character  of  much  of  the 
"  free"  bank  issues,  and  by  the  abuse  of  what  was 
good  by  Cincinnati  sharks.  They  used  only  their 
legal  right,  to  be  sure,  but  they  knew  it  was  damag- 
ing Indiana  business  and  prostrating  the  chance  of 
rivalry  with  their  houses  by  Indiana  houses.  That 
was  the  motive  of  it,  for  there  was  no  profit  in  run- 
ning home  good  bills  for  gold  that  was  not  worth  more 
than  a  half  per  cent,  premium.  The  expense  was 
more  than  the  gain.  Naturally  the  business  men  of 
the  city  and  State  hated  the  "  Hog  City" — a  name 
with  a  double  significance  then — as  heartily  as  any 
one  community  ever  did  hate  another  without  mak- 
ing a  feud  of  it.  The  object  of  the  convention  was 
to  change  Indianapolis  and  Indiana  trade  generally 
from  Cincinnati,  which  was  universally  stigmatized 
as  the  "  Quean  City,"  and  "  the  meanest  city  on  the 
face  of  the  earth."  David  K.  Cartter,  of  Cleveland, 
now  chief  justice  of  the  Washington  Supreme  Court, 
and  a  number  of  leading  business  men  from  Toledo, 
Louisville,  St.  Louis,  and  Chicago,  attended  to  work 
in  the  interest  of  their  respective  cities.  The  in- 
formation given  by  them  was  not  wasted.  Cincinnati 
lost  business  that  she  never  got  again,  and  never 
will. 

In  February,  1856,  a  banking-house,  under  the 
firm-name  of  Dunlevy,  Haire  &  Co.,  was  opened  in  the 
corner  room  of  Blake's  Block  for  the  especial  purpose 
of  gathering  up  "  free"  bank  bills  and  sending  them 
home  for  gold.  It  was  a  creature  of  the  Cincinnati 
"  gougers,"  and  did  them  effective  service.  It  sent 
to  Cincinnati  $2,000,000  in  the  first  three  months 
after  it  began  operations.     This  was  one  of  the  pro- 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


voking  causes  of  the  convention.  On  the  1st  of 
March,  1865,  the  "  Indiana  Banking  Company"  was 
formed  witli  seven  associates,  F.  A.  W.  Davis  as 
president,  and  William  W.  Woollen  as  cashier.  Its 
first  location  was  the  Vance  corner,  the  next  at  No. 
28  East  Washington  Street,  then  on  the  completion 
of  the  Hubbard  Block,  it  moved  there  and  died.  It 
had  become  largely  the  property  of  the  late  Wm.  H. 
Morrison  some  years  before  his  death,  and  he  had 
later  obtained  a  heavy  interest  in  the  First  National 
Bank.  After  his  death  there  seems  to  have  been 
.some  imprudent  management  in  both  the  connected 
banks,  and  rumors  of  weakness  got  abroad  on  the  9th 
of  August,  and  a  day  or  two  before,  causing  a  run  on 
the  9th,  and  the  closing  of  both  banks.  The  "  bank- 
ing company's"  affairs  were  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
receiver.  The  First  National  was  taken  hold  of  by 
some  heavy  capitalists  who  had  previously  held  slighter 
interests,  and  made  safe,  with  an  enlargement  of  its 
capital. 

J.  B.  Ritzinger  opened  a  savings-bank  on  the 
26th  of  March,  1868,  at  38  East  Washington  Street, 
with  A.  W.  Ritzinger  as  cashiei',  and  has  main- 
tained it  in  a  good  business  ever  since.  In  March, 
1870,  Woollen,  Webb  &  Co.  opened  a  bank  of  loan 
and  deposit  on  West  Washington  Street,  which 
did  well  till  the  panic  of  1873  caused  its  sus- 
pension for  some  months.  Then  it  resumed,  but  a 
couple  of  years  ago  it  became  embarrassed,  made  an 
assignment,  and  closed  finally.  Isaiah  Mansur  opened 
a  private  bank  on  East  Washington  Street,  corner 
of  Alabama,  some  fifteen  years  ago.  After  his  re- 
tirement from  the  presidency  of  the  Citizens'  Bank 
he  continued  there  in  business  till  his  death.  In 
1874  the  "Central  Bank"  was  organized  by  J.  M. 
Ridenour  and  C.  B.  Cones,  the  former  as  president, 
the  latter  as  cashier,  with  Israel  Taylor  as  assistant. 
Ill  1875,  B.  Frank  Kennedy  and  James  A.  WiWfuan 
purcha.sed  Mr.  Ridenour's  interest,  and  Mr.  Kennedy 
became  president.  The  original  capital  was  850,000, 
but  was  increased  to  $100,000  when  the  change  was 
made  in  proprietorship.  It  failed  in  1881,  and  went 
into  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  Its  affairs  are  not 
wholly  settled  yet.  In  January,  1876,  the  old  "In- 
diana Insurance  Company"  was  reorganized  by  Wil- 


liam Henderson  and  others  as  a  banking-house.  In 
February,  1878,  under  a  stress  which  caused  some 
embarrassment,  the  capital  was  reduced,  and  in  1879 
the  name  was  changed  to  the  "  Bank  of  Commerce," 
which  it  still  retains,  with  a  profitable  and  consider- 
able business.     John  W.  Ray  is  cashier. 

In  anticipation  of  the  close  of  the  old  State  Bank  a 
combination  of  capitalists  obtained  a  charter  for  a  sort 
of  successor,  called  the  "  Bank  of  the  State,"  with  sev- 
enteen branches  and  a  capital  of  one  million  eight  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  thousand  dollars.  It  began  busi- 
ness Jan.  2,  1857,  and  continued,  with  fair  .sucoe.ss,  till 
the  establishment  of  the  national  banking  .system  super- 
seded it.  In  January,  1865,  after  being  in  operation 
eight  years,  the  Legislature  authorized  it  to  redeem 
its  stock,  distribute  its  surplus  funds,  and  close  up  its 
business.  It  did  so  with  convenient  speed,  and  the 
branches  became  national  banks  in  most  cases,  if  not 
ail.  The  first  president  of  the  Bank  of  the  State 
was  Hugh  McCulIoch,  of  Fort  Wayne,  afterwards 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  His  successor  was  Gr.  W. 
Rathbone,  and  James  M.  Ray  followed  last,  after 
serving  as  cashier  from  the  organization.  Joseph  M. 
Moore  succeeded  Mr.  Ray  as  cashier.  The  branch 
in  this  city  was  organized  July  25,  1855,  with  W.  H. 
Talbott  as  president  and  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars capital  (afterwards  increased  to  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars).  It  changed  hands  in  about  two 
years,  when  George  Tousey  became  president,  and  C. 
S.  Stevenson  cashier,  who  left  the  place  to  become 
paymaster  in  the  army  in  1861,  and  was  succeeded  by 
David  E.  Snyder,  and  he  by  David  M.  Taylor  in 
1866.  Oliver  Tousey  succeeded  George  in  the  presi- 
dency in  June,  1866,  when  the  latter  became  presi- 
dent of  the  "  Indiana  National  Bank,"  in  which  the 
remains  of  the  branch  bank  were  absorbed.  It  was 
wound  up  in  1867.  The  "  Indiana  National"  suc- 
ceeded it  in  the  corner  room  of  Yohn's  Block,  north- 
east corner  of  Washington  and  Meridian  Streets. 
V.  T.  Malott  is  now  its  president. 

VoLNET  T.  Malott. — The  parents  of  Volney  T. 
Malott  were  William  H.  and  Leah  P.  (McKown) 
Malott.  The  former  was  engaged  in  farming  in  Jef- 
ferson County,  Ky.,  but  in  1841  removed  to  Salem, 
Washington  Co.,  Ind.,  where  he  embarked  with  his 


224 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


brother,  Maj.  Eli  W.  Malott,  in  mercantile  ventures. 
The  family  settled  in  Kentucky  soon  after  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  which  some  of  its  mem- 
bers participated.  The  paternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  engaged  in  the  war  of  1812  in 
Canada,  and  his  maternal  grandfather  in  the  Indian 
war  in  Indiana.  William  H.  Malott  died  Nov.  5, 
1845,  leaving  a  young  widow  with  three  small  chil- 
dren,— Volney  T.,  Mary  C,  and  Eli  W.  (an  infant, 
who  died  one  month  after  the  death  of  his  father). 
Mrs.  Malott,  in  1847,  married  John  F.  Ramsey,  and 
removed  with  her  two  young  children  to  Indianapo- 
lis. Volney  T.,  who  was  born  in  Jefferson  County, 
Ky.,  Sept.  9,  1838,  attended  first  a  school  taught  by 
John  I.  Morrison,  and  later  completed  a  common- 
school  education  here,  first  under  Rev.  William  A. 
Holliday,  and  afterwards  with  Professor  B.  F.  Lang 
and  at  the  Central  High  School.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  entered  the  banking-house  of  John  WooUey  &  Co. 
(Bank  of  the  Capital),  having  previously  been  em- 
ployed as  clerk  during  vacations  and  for  a  time  as 
messenger  in  the  Traders'  Bank.  This  early  apti- 
tude for  business  made  his  services  in  demand  and 
secured  a  desirable  position  for  the  young  man  when 
he  should  desire  to  embark  in  the  active  pursuits  of 
life.  For  a  while  he  acted  as  teller  of  the  bank  he 
first  entered,  and  in  18.57  was  chosen  teller  of  the 
Indianapolis  branch  of  the  Bank  of  the  Slate  of  In- 
diana, where  he  remained  until  August,  1862,  re- 
signing to  accept  the  position  of  secretary  and  treas- 
urur  of  the  Peru  and  Indianapolis  Railroad,  to  which 
he  had  been  elected.  He  was  appointed  State  director 
of  the  branch  bank  in  1864.  In  1865  he,  with 
others,  organized  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  of 
Indianapolis,  and  was  elected  cashier,  retaining  the 
oflBce  of  treasurer  of  the  railroad. 

In  the  spring  of  1870  he  resigned  the  office  of 
cashier  of  the  bank  to  take  charge  of  the  construction 
of  the  Michigan  City  and  Indianapolis  Railroad. 
The  road  was  completed  early  in  1871,  and,  with  the 
Chicago,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  Railroad,  passed 
under  control  of  the  Indianapolis,  Peru  and  Chicago 
Railway  Company  (formerly  Peru  and  Indianapolis 
Railroad  Company),  of  which  he  was  treasurer  and  a 
director.     In  1875  he  was  elected  general  manager  of 


the  road,  continuing  until  1879,  when  he  was  elected 
vice-president,  having  charge  of  the  road  as  acting 
president  until  1884,  when  it  was  leased  to  the  Wa- 
bash, St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  In 
October,  1878,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Mer- 
chants' National  Bank,  and  in  1882  sold  his  interest 
in  the  bank  and  resigned  the  presidency,  purchasing 
shares  in  the  Indiana  National  Bank,  which  was  the 
successor  of  the  branch  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of 
Indiana,  where  he  was  formerly  teller ;  he  was  elected 
president  of  the  bank,  which  position  he  holds  at  this 
time.  As  an  officer  of  the  Brazil  Block  Coal  Company, 
he  has  aided  in  the  extension  of  the  block  coal  trade 
to  Northern  Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Illinois.  He  has 
taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  improvement  of  Michigan 
City  harbor,  and  by  his  counsel  and  labor  has  ren- 
dered valuable  aid  to  this  important  work.  In  July, 
1883,  he  was  elected  vice-president  and  manager  of 
the  Indianapolis  Union  Railway  Company,  lessees  of 
the  Belt  Railroad.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  John  Hilt  &  Co.,  wholesale  ice  dealers  of  Laporte, 
Ind.,  the  earliest  firm  of  exclusively  wholesale  ice 
dealers  in  the  State.  Mr.  Malott,  in  1862,  married 
Miss  Caroline,  daughter  of  Hon.  David  Macy,  of 
Indianapolis.  Their  children  are  a  son  and  five 
daughters.  The  great  success  that  has  been  obtained 
by  Mr.  Malott  in  his  various  business  enterprises  is 
due  to  his  steady  persistence,  stern  integrity,  and  ex- 
cellent judgment,  qualities  that  rank  him  with  the 
leading  financiers  of  the  State.  The  subject  of  this 
biographical  sketch  is  in  his  religious  predilections  a 
Methodist  and  member  of  Meridian  Street  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  is  trustee  and  chair- 
man of  the  finance  committee. 

The  first  national  bank  organized  here  was  formed 
by  William  H.  English  and  ten  associates,  on  the 
11th  of  May.  1853,  with  a  capital  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  name  of  the 
"  First  National  Bank,"  and  located  in  Odd-Fellows' 
Hall.  Its  capital  was  increased  to  one  million  dol- 
lars in  1870,  but  reduced  to  about  half  some  years 
later  when  business  declined.  William  R.  Nof- 
singer,  treasurer  of  State  in  1855,  was  the  first 
cashier.  He  was  succeeded  by  Lewis  Jordan,  and 
he  by  John  C.   New  in   1865.     The    bank   was    re- 


/^^*^  /^^y 
^{^j\^^^^^^^ 


I 


\\^^^ ^^k^^<yL   ^^^^"^2^1^^^-^^^^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


225 


moved  the  followint;  October  to  the  Blackford  Block, 
where  it  still  is.     Mr.  New  became  president  in  1877, 
purchasing  Mr.  English's  interest,  the  latter  retiring 
until  August,  1883,  when  the  bank  became  embar- 
rassed by  its  connection  with  the  Indiana  Banking 
Company  and  other   co-operating  troubles,  and   Mr. 
English,    with    Mr.    De    Pauw   and    Mr.    Claypool, 
formed    a    combination  to    protect    it  and   take    the 
affair    in    their    own     hands.     Satisfactory    arrange- 
ments were   made  with   the  other  stockholders,  de- 
positors paid,  the  capital  enlarged,  and  the  bank  set 
firmly  on  its  feet  again,  with  Mr.  English  as  president. 
The  "  Citizens'  National  Bank"  was  the  second  of 
its  class  organized  here.     It  was  effected  Nov.  28, 
1864,  with    two    hundred    thousand  dollars    capital. 
The    prime    mover    in    its  organization  and  its  first 
president  was   Isaiah  Mansur,  with   Asa  G.   Petti-  j 
bone  as  cashier.     In  December,  1865,  it   coalesced  \ 
with    the  "  Fourth   National   Bank,"   organized   the 
previous   January    by  T.    Richardson    Fletcher,   for 
many   years   previously  a    partner  of   Stoughton  A. 
Fletcher,  Sr.,  in  the  "Fletcher  Bank,"  with  Joseph 
R.  Haugh  as  cashier,  and  doing  business  in  the  Yohn 
Block  on  North  Meridian  Street.     A  removal  of  the 
combined  banks  was  then  made  to  No.  2  East  Wash- 
ington Street,  and  a  few  years  later  to  the  four-story 
stone-front  building   erected  especially  for  it  on  the 
south  side  of  East  Washington  Street,  where  it  now 
is.     Joseph  R.  Haugh  was  made  cashier  of  the  com- 
bination,   which    retained    the    name    of   "  Citizens' 
National    Bank."     Mr.    Mansur's    health    compelled 
his  retirement  from  the  presidency  in   1868,  but  he 
subsequently  opened  a  private  bank  on  the  corner  of 
Alabama    and  Washington    Streets,   which    he  con- 
ducted till  his  death.     He  was  succeeded  by  the  late 
W.  Canada  Holmes. 

Isaiah  Mansur. — The  parents  of  Mr.  Mansur 
were  Jeremy  Mansur,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  Jane  Carr,  born  in  Virginia,  who  emigrated  to 
Indiana  in  1816,  and  settled  in  the  county  of  Wayne, 
where  their  son  Isaiah  was  born  on  the  14th  of 
April,  1824.  His  father  combined  the  occupation 
of  an  axe-maker  with  that  of  a  farmer,  in  both  of 
which  he  was  known  as  a  master  of  his  craft.  The 
family,  in  1825,  removed  from  their  first  location 
15 


to  Richmond,  Ind.,  when  Mr.  Mansur  opened  a  retail 
dry-goods  and   grocery-store,  and    by  industry  and 
attention  to  the  wants  of  his  patrons    succeeded  in 
establishing  a  lucrative  trade,  whereby  he  gained  a 
competency.     He  continued  in  business  at  Richmond 
until  1847,  and  then  removed  to  Indianapolis,  where 
he  engaged  in    pork-packing,   which,   together  with 
farming,  was  followed  until  his  death  in  1874.     It 
will  be  readily  seen  that  his  son   Isaiah,  from  early 
childhood,  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  industry  which 
left   an    impress    upon    his    character,    and    largely 
moulded  his  subsequent   career.     His    early  educa- 
tion was  obtained  at  the  public  schools  and  at  the 
Miami  University,  Oxford,  Ohio,  where  his  studies 
were  completed  in  1845.     While  at  college  he  was 
the  room-mate  of  the  late  Senator  0.  P.  Morton,  with 
whom  a  friendship  was  formed  which  lasted  during 
the    latter's    lifetime.     It  was   largely   through    his 
friend's  assistance  that  Mr.  Morton  was  enabled  to 
finish  his  course,  his  means  being  exceedingly  lim- 
ited.    After   leaving    Oxford    Mr.   Mansur  engaged 
with  his  father  in  the  pork-packing  business  for  one 
season,  working  as  a  day  laborer  for  wages ;  but  con- 
cluding to  make  the  law  his  profession,  he  entered 
the  office  of  Hon.  John  S.  Newman,  when  he  was 
again  associated  in  his  studies  with  the  future  Sena- 
tor Morton.     After  reading  law  for  eighteen  months 
his  father's  failing  health    compelled   his  return  to 
the   business,  which   had  reached  large  proportions 
and  required  his  presence.     His  entire  attention  was 
given  to  the  pork-packing  interests — then,   as  now, 
one  of   the  important  industries  of  Indianapolis — 
until  1862,  when  he  projected  and  established  the 
Citizens'  National  Bank  of  Indianapolis,  of  which  he 
became  president.     He    continued   in  that  capacity 
until    1868,    when    his   connection   with    this   bank 
ceased,  and  he  immediately  opened  a  private  bank- 
ing-house.    During  the  stirring    times    of  the   late 
war  Mr.   Mansur  was  appointed  commissary-general 
of  the  State  of  Indiana  by  Governor  Morton,  and 
'  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  cause  of  the  Union, 
i  feeding  the  soldiers  in  camp  at  Indianapolis  on  his 
own  credit  when  the    State  treasury   was   depleted. 
j  Mr.  Mansur  was  always  a  consistent  member  of  the 
J  Republican  party,  though  not  active  as  a  politician. 


226 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


He  was  never  desirous  of  official  place,  and  gave  his 
energies  entirely  to  business,  which  aside  from  his 
banking  enterprise  included  the  management  of  a 
large  amount  of  real  estate,  of  which  he  was  the 
owner.  He  was  a  man  of  strict  business  principles, 
of  persistent  energy,  and  of  untiring  application  to 
the  object  in  view.  His  industry  was  especially  one 
of  the  important  factors  in  his  success.  He  was 
widely  known  as  a  shrewd,  careful,  enterprising  man, 
whose  integrity  was  unquestioned.  These  qualities 
rendered  his  career  a  prosperous  one,  and  placed  his 
name  upon  the  roll  of  citizens  who  have  shaped  the 
business  destinies  of  the  capital  of  Indiana.  His 
death  occurred  Dec.  3,  1880.  A  widow  and  two 
children  survive  him. 

William  Canada  Holmes. — William  Holmes, 
the  father  of  William  Canada,  was  a  native  of  West- 
moreland County,  Pa.,  but  removed  at  an  early  age 
to  Ohio,  and  in  1821  settled  in  Marion  County,  Ind., 
where  he  became  an  influential  citizen  and  resided 
until  his  death  in  1858.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Lyons  and  had  twelve  children,  of  wlioin  the  third 
son,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  on  the 
homestead  May  23,  1826.  He  received  a  fair  Eng- 
lish education,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  assumed 
the  management  of  his  father's  saw-mill,  which  he 
continued  to  run  until  he  had  attained  his  twentieth 
year.  He  had,  besides  materially  assisting  his  father, 
acquired  a  small  capital,  and  finding  the  business 
profitable,  continued  it  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years. 
He  was  married,  Dec.  15,  1849,  to  Miss  Catharine, 
second  daughter  of  James  Johnson,  to  whom  were 
born  children, — Sarah  Alice  (Mrs.  George  W.  John- 
son), M.  Ellen,  Martha  Ann  (Mrs.  Frank  L.  Fergu- 
son), Johnson  Canada,  Catharine  Snively,  Rose  Han- 
nah, and  two  who  died  in  childhood.  In  1857,  Mr. 
Holmes  purchased  the  property  known  as  the  Isaac 
Pugh  farm  and  built  upon  it  an  elegant  residence, 
which  was  for  many  years  the  home  of  the  family. 
By  the  purchase  of  an  interest  in  the  Fourth 
National  Bank  of  Indianapolis,  in  1865,  Mr.  Holmes 
became  its  president.  This  bank  was  later  consoli- 
dated with  the  Citizens'  National  Bank,  of  which  he 
also  acted  as  president.  He  then  formed  a  copart- 
nership with  Messrs.  Coffin  &  Landers,  for  the  pur- 


pose of  purchasing  and  packing  pork,  under  the  firm- 
name  of  Coffin,  Holmes  &  Landers,  which  continued 
for  one  year,  after  which  he  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Holmes,  Pettit  &  Bradshaw.  This  firm 
conducted  an  extensive  business  in  pork-packing, 
the  building  and  grounds  alone  costing  over  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  1880  he  established, 
with  his  partner,  the  firm  of  Holmes  &  Claypool, 
proprietors  of  the  Indianapolis  Hominy  Mills,  having 
prior  to  that  date  been  largely  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  staves  near  Cairo,  111.  He  was  one  of  the 
promoters  of  the  Union  Railway  Transfer  and  Stock- 
Yard  Company,  of  which  he  was  a  director.  Mr. 
Holmes  evinced  much  public  spirit,  and  in  various 
ways  promoted  the  material  growth  of  Indianapolis. 
He  donated  both  land  and  large  sums  of  money  to 
aid  in  the  erection  of  manufacturing  establishments. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  executive  ability,  immense 
industry,  and  of  strict  integrity.  These  qualities  as 
a  rule  rendered  his  business  ventures  successful. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  his  political  affiliations,  but 
not  actively  interested  in  party  difierences  nor  a 
seeker  for  official  honors.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Central  Christian  Church  of  Indianapolis,  as  also  his 
wife  and  two  daughters.  The  death  of  Mr.  Holmes 
occurred  Nov.  27,  1883,  in  his  fifty-eighth  year. 

The  "  Indianapolis  National  Bank"  was  organized 
Dec.  15,  1864,  with  Theodore  P.  Haughey  as  presi- 
dent, and  Ingram  Fletcher  as  cashier.  Mr.  Fletcher 
was  succeeded  in  1866  by  Mr.  A.  F.  Williams.  The 
capital  of  the  bank  is  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
its  location  the  corner  room  of  Odd-Fellows'  Hall. 
Mr.  Haughey  is  still  president;  Henry  Latham  is 
cashier. 

Theodore  P.  Haughey. — The  birth  of  Theodore 
P.  Haughey  occurred  in  Smyrna,  Del.,  on  the  26th 
of  November,  1826.  Here  he  remained  until  early 
manhood  and  enjoyed  such  advantages  of  education 
as  the  neighboring  schools  afforded,  when  Baltimore, 
Md.,  became  his  home.  In  the  spring  of  1848, 
having  acquired  a  thorough  business  education,  he 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  where,  since  that  date,  he 
has  been  actively  engaged  in  many  of  its  most  im- 
portant interests.  He  at  first  obtained  employment 
as  an  accountant  and  book-keeper,  and  gradually  rose 


y^yTft^-T-^z^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


227 


to  more  lucrative  and  responsible  positions.  In  the 
year  1854  he  was  connected  with  Hon.  John  D.  De- 
frees  in  the  publication  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal. 
For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Haughey  was  secretary 
and  treasurer  of  one  of  the  leading  railroads  centre- 
ing in  Indianapolis.  During  the  civil  war  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Lincoln  collector  of  internal 
revenue  for  the  Indianapolis  district.  This  office, 
which  was  the  only  one  of  a  political  nature  he  was 
prevailed   upon   to   accept,  was   resigned   in  1864,  to 


represented  the  Second  Ward  in  the  City  Council 
of  Indianapolis,  and,  in  deference  to  his  ability  as  a 
financier,  was  made  chairman  of  the  finance  commit- 
tee. Just  prior  to  the  late  war  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  reporting  the  city  free  of  debt.  He  has  been  for 
thirty  years  treasurer  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd-Fellows  of  Indiana,  and 
wielded  no  little  influence  in  shaping  the  prosperous 
condition  of  its  treasury.  This  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  most  flourishing  and  wealthy  lodges  in  the  Union. 


^.  fy^-^y 


enter  upon  his  duties  as  president  of  the  Indianapolis 
National  Bank,  which  position  he  still  holds,  being 
the  oldest  national  bank  president  in  the  city.  He 
enjoys  the  reputation  of  being  a  shrewd,  careful,  and 
conscientious  financier,  living  up  to  every  obligation, 
while  free  from  the  narrow-minded  prejudices  of  the 
mere  .seeker  after  wealth.  He  has  ever  manifested  a 
deep  interest  in  the  progress  of  education,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Asbury  Uni- 
versity at  Grecncastle,  and  one  of  the  supervisory  loan 
committee  of  its  fund.     Mr.  Haughey  for   six  years 


Mr.  Haughey  is  a  liberal  supporter  of  all  worthy  en- 
terprises, and  for  years  has  been  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Meridian  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  the  city  of  his  residence.  He  represented  the 
Indiana  Conference  as  a  lay  delegate  in  the  General 
Conference  held  at  Baltimore  in  1876,  and  has  been 
otherwise  active  in  church  and  Sunday-school  work. 

Personally  Mr.  Haughey  is  a  gentleman  of  genial 
character  and  uniformly  courteous  in  his  demeanor. 
He  is  close  in  his  attention  to  business,  devoid  of 
pretence  in  his  manner,  and  considerate  of  the  opin- 


228 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


ions  of  others.  On  the  8th  of  November,  1853,  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Hannah,  daughter  of  C.  G. 
Moore,  of  Newark,  Ohio.  Their  children  are  two 
sons  and  a  daughter,  the  latter  of  whom  died  at  the 
age  of  six  years.  The  elder  son,  Louis  Chauncey,  is 
engaged  in  manufacturins:,  and  married  to  MissZelda, 
daughter  of  William  Wallace,  Esq.  The  younger 
son,  Schuyler  C,  was  named  after  Schuyler  Colfax,  a 
lifelong  friend  of  his  father. 

The  '*  Merchants'  National  Bank"  was  organized 
Jan.  17,  1865,  with  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
capital,  and  Henry  Schnull  as  president,  and  V.  T. 
Malott  as  cashier.  It  was  at  first  located  at  23  North 
Meridian  Street,  and  then  removed  to  48  East  Wash- 
ington, and  in  the  fall  of  1883  to  the  roomg  of  the 
"  Indiana  Banking  Company,"  in  Hubbard's  Block. 
In  January,  1882,  John  P.  Frenzel  was  elected  pres- 
ident, and  his  brother  Otto  cashier.  Mr.  Frenzel,  the 
president,  has  been  connected  with  the  bank  sixteen 
years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  school  board  and  one 
of  the  three  metropolitan  police  commissioners.  John 
S.  Newman  succeeded  Mr.  Schnull  in  the  presidency 
in  1866.  Dr.  Harvey  G.  Carey  was  for  some  years 
one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  ownership  and  man- 
agement of  this  bank,  but  retired  recently. 

Harvet  Gatch  CarSt,  M.D.,  an  account  of 
whose  ancestry  will  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  his 
brother,  Simeon  B.,  was  born  in  Shelby  County,  Ohio, 
on  the  18th  of  August,  1826.  He  remained  upon 
the  farm  of  his  father  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  em- 
ployed in  such  active  labor  as  is  incident  to  an  agri- 
cultural life.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  feeling  the  want 
of  better  educational  advantages  than  were  offered  by 
the  winter  terms  of  country  schools,  he  left  home  and 
entered  the  academy  of  Harrison  Maltley,  in  Sidney, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  two  years,  and  acquired  a 
fair  English  education  and  enough  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  languages  as  to  enable  him  successfully  to 
prosecute  the  study  of  the  profession  upon  which  he 
.  was  about  to  enter.  Here  also  he  formed  the  habits 
of  systematic  study  and  thought  that  moulded  and 
characterized  his  professional  life.  At  the  termina- 
tion of  his  academic  course  he  commenced  the  study 
of  medicine  with  Dr.  Henry  S.  Conklin,  an  eminent 
physician   in  that  part  of  Ohio,  where  he  remained 


for  three  years,  and  in  the  mean  while  attended  lec- 
tures in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  at  Cincinnati, 
which  embraced  in  its  faculty  some  of  the  most  distin- 
guished teachers  in  the  country.  Though  qualified  to 
pass  a  successful  examination  at  the  end  of  the  second 
course,  he  was  too  young  to  be  admitted  to  a  degree, 
and  at  the  termination  of  the  third  term  of  lectures, 
in  a  competitive  examination  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  students,  he  was  elected  physician  to  the  Com- 
mercial Hospital  of  Cincinnati,  where  he  served  the 
usual  term  of  one  year.  The  large  clinical  experi- 
ence thus  acquired  fitted  him  at  once  to  take  a  high 
rank  in  his  profession. 

In  April,  1849,  he  located  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  and 
continued  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  until  1863, 
the  date  of  his  removal  to  Indianapolis.  Epidemic 
cholera  made  its  appearance  in  Dayton  soon  after  he 
opened  his  oflBce,  and,  having  had  some  experience 
with  this  formidable  disease  in  the  hospital,  it  served 
as  a  means  of  securing  an  early  professional  recogni- 
tion and  practice,  which  came  to  him  promptly,  and 
increased  until  it  became  the  most  desirable  and 
lucrative  in  the  city.  The  doctor  found  ample  time 
during  the  early  years  of  his  professional  life  to  culti- 
vate the  literature  of  his  profession,  and  was  an  active, 
working  member  of  the  local,  State,  and  national 
medical  societies,  and  was  also  a  regular  contributor 
to  the  medical  journals  of  that  time.  Finding  his 
health  suffering,  the  doctor,  notwithstanding  his  suc- 
cess as  a  practitioner,  determined  to  divest  himself  of 
its  exactions  and  devote  himself  to  new  business  in- 
terests that  then  offered,  and  identified  himself  with 
the  management  of  the  Indiana  Central  Railroad  as 
its  superintendent.  In  1863  and  1864,  as  contractor, 
he  built  the  Richmond  and  Covington  Railroad,  which 
forms  the  present  continuous  line  from  Columbus  to 
Indianapolis.  Having  sold  his  interest  in  the  Co- 
lumbus and  Indianapolis  Railroad,  he  became  a  leading 
stockholder  in  the  Merchants'  National  Bank  of  Indi- 
anapolis, and  continued  his  relations  with  this  bank,  as 
director,  vice-president,  or  president,  until  1879,  when 
he  retired  from  active  business.  He  is  now  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Layman,  Carey  &  Co.,  where  he  has 
held  an  interest  since  his  retirement  from  the  bank. 
Dr.    Carey  was   married,   Nov.   25,    1851,   to   Mary 


AJ^  t::^..-^^  ^  ^-^/^'^^c. 


t^i^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


229 


Ellen,  daughter  of  Judge  John  S.  Newman,  of  Cen- 
treville,  Wayne  Co.,  Ind.  Their  children  are  Ger- 
trude N.,  married  to  Dr.  Henry  Jameson  ;  John  N., 
married  to  Mary  Stewart ;  Sidney  H.,  infant  (de- 
ceased) ;  and  Jacob  Lowe.  The  doctor  manifests  a 
deep  interest  in  the  public  schools  of  Indianapolis. 
Professor  A.  C.  Shortridge,  Austin  H.  Brown,  and 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  drafted  and  secured  the 
enactment  of  the  present  law  under  which  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis  are  so  successfully 
managed.  He  has  been,  with  the  exception  of  one 
term,  continuously  a  member  of  the  board  of  com- 
missioners since  the  passage  of  the  law  in  1871, 
and  most  of  this  period  its  treasurer.  By  patient 
perseverance  and  application  he  laid  the  foundation 
for  a  career  of  exceptional  success  in  his  profession, 
while  a  thorough  scholastic  training  eminently  quali- 
fied him  for  his  connection  with  the  educational 
interests  of  the  city.  The  doctor  is  in  polities  a 
Republican,  having  identified  himself  with  that  party 
on  its  formation.  He  has  been  since  his  twenty-first 
year  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  held  ofiicial  relations  with  the  Meridian  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  he  aided  in 
building,  since  his  residence  in  Indianapolis. 

David  Macy  has  been  a  prominent  man  in  several 
lines  of  enterprise  that  have  contributed  to  the  up- 
building of  Indianapolis.  He  was  one  of  the  leading 
pork-packers  before  the  war ;  was  subsequently  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  efiicient  of  our  railroad 
managers  as  president  of  the  Peru  road,  and  is 
equally  prominent  and  respected  as  a  bank  manager. 
He  is  now  president  of  the  Meridian  National  Bank, 
which  was  organized  in  1871,  with  the  late  John  H. 
Farquhar  as  president,  and  Charles  F.  Hogate  as 
cashier.  The  present  capital  is  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.     F.  P.  Woollen  is  the  cashier. 

Hon.  David  Macy. — The  Macy  family  are  of 
English  descent,  the  earliest  representative  in  America 
having  been  Thomas  Macy,  who  resided  in  the  parish 
of  Chilmark,  near  Salisbury,  in  the  county  of  Wilt- 
shire, England.  He  embarked  for  America  about  the 
year  1635,  and  settled  near  Newbury,  Mass.,  in 
the  year  1659.  Owing  to  the  persecutions  he  and 
others  suffered  from  the  Puritans,  the  island  of  Nan- 


tucket was  purchased  by  thom  from  the  Indians.  He 
with  his  family  embarked  the  same  year,  and  located 
where  the  village  of  Nantucket  now  stands.  In  the 
direct  line  of  descent  was  Joseph  Macy,  who  resided 
on  the  same  spot  until  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he 
removed  to  Guilford,  N.  C,  and  engaged  in  milling 
and  other  enterprises.  He  married  a  Miss  Mary 
Starbuck,  of  Massachusetts,  and  had  among  his  chil- 
dren Albert  Macy,  born  in  177-1,  at  Nantucket,  who, 
when  a  child,  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  North 
Carolina,  where  he  was  reared.  He  married  Nancy 
Wall,  of  Virginia,  and  had  children, — Joseph,  Eliza- 
beth, Hiram,  David,  Phoebe,  William,  Mahala,  and 
Lydia.  David,  of  this  number,  was  born  Dec.  25, 
1810.  He  removed  with  his  parents,  when  but  ten 
years  of  age,  to  Indiana,  and  settled  in  Randolph 
County,  then  very  thinly  settled.  He  labored  on  the 
farm  of  his  father  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  assist- 
ing in  clearing  the  ground,  rolling  and  burning  logs, 
making  rails,  and  doing  other  work  incident  to  the 
life  of  a  pioneer.  During  the  winter  months  a 
common-school  education  was  acquired  at  the  country 
school  of  the  neighborhood.  He  then  began  work 
with  Hiram  Macy,  his  brother,  as  a  millwright,  and 
continued  thus  employed  for  nearly  three  years.  He 
then  abandoned  his  trade  and  began  the  study  of 
law  at  Centreville,  Wayne  Co.,  in  the  same  State. 
Having  applied  himself  with  diligence  for  two  years, 
be  was  admitted  to  the  bar  March  3,  1832,  his 
license  having  been  granted  by  Hon.  Charles  H. 
Test  and  Hon.  M.  C.  Eggleston,  the  circuit  judges. 
The  same  year  he  began  practice  at  New  Castle, 
Henry  Co.,  and  in  1833  he  was  licensed  to  practice 
in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  in  1835  be- 
came a  candidate  for  representative  in  the  State  Leg- 
islature, to  which  office  he  was  elected  for  that  and 
the  two  succeeding  terms.  During  his  official  career 
he  was  one  of  the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvements,  and  supported  meas- 
ures for  the  appropriation  of  funds  to  aid  in  the 
construction  of  railroads,  canals,  turnpikes,  and  high- 
ways in  various  portions  of  the  State.  No  little 
credit  for  the  achievements  of  Indiana  in  this  matter 
is  due  to  his  energetic  and  whole-souled  advocacy. 
Mr.  Macy  was,  in   1838,  elected  by  the  Legislature 


230 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


prosecuting  attorney  for  the  Sixth  •Judicial  District  of 
the  State  for  the  term  of  two  years.  In  1840  he 
removed  to  Lawrenceburg,  Dearborn  Co.,  and  resided 
there  until  1852,  practicing  his  profession,  serving  as 
mayor  of  the  city  for  two  years,  and  representing  the 
county  in  the  State  Legislature  for  the  years  1845-46. 
In  1852  he  removed  to  Indianapolis,  his  present  place 
of  residence.  Mr.  Macy  was,  in  1855,  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  Peru  and  Indianapolis  Railroad  (I.,  P. 
and  C.  Railway  Company),  and,  with  the  exception 
of  a  short  interval,  held  its  control  and  management 
until  Jan.  1,  1880,  when  his  resignation  as  president 
of  the  company  took  effect.  In  January,  1876,  he 
was  elected  president  of  the  Meridian  National  Bank, 
of  Indianapolis,  and  continues  to  fill  the  duties  of 
that  office.  Mr.  Macy  is  a  man  of  unostentatious 
demeanor,  frank  and  candid  in  his  bearing,  with  the 
suavity  and  simplicity  of  the  old-school  gentleman. 
He  is  in  business  relations  a  man  of  untiring  energy 
and  unimpeachable  integrity,  in  the  State  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  in  the  church  an  active  and 
zealous  member,  with  liberality  towards  all  deserving 
objects.  Mr.  Macy  was  married  Jan.  17,  1837,  to 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Patterson,  of  Indianapolis.  Their 
only  daughter,  Carrie,  is  the  wife  of  V.  T.  Malott, 
general  manager  of  the  Indianapolis,  Peru  and 
Chicago  Railroad,  which,  under  Mr.  Macy's  super- 
vision, has  become  one  of  the  most  popular  roads  in 
the  State. 

In  the  fall  of  1872  two  savings-banks  were  es- 
tablished here,  the  organization  of  both  being  com- 
pleted within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other.  One  was 
the  "State  Savings-Bank,"  of  which  James  M.  Ray, 
the  veteran  banker,  was  cashier  and  manager ;  the 
other  the  "Indianapolis  Savings-Bank,"  of  which 
John  W.  Ray — no  relation  of  James  M.,  but  a  son 
of  the  eloquent  pioneer  Methodi.st  preacher,  Edwin 
Ray — was  cashier.  The  former  was  for  some  years 
conducted  in  the  room  of  the  Meridian  National  Bank, 
on  South  Meridian  Street,  in  the  "  Condit  Block," 
but  its  business  increasing,  it  required  more  room 
and  removed  to  North  Pennsylvania  Street.  There 
it  became  embarrassed  and  was  placed  in  a  receiver's 
hands  January,  1878.  The  "  Indianapolis  Savings- 
Bank,"  on  Market  Street,  became  embarrassed  about 


a  year  later,  and  was  put  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver 
in  December,  1878.  The  former  is  about  closed  out 
with  little  loss  to  any  one.  The  latter  has  paid  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  indebtedness,  but  is  not 
expected  to  pay  in  full. 

In  this  connection  may  be  properly  noticed  the 
organizations  and  agencies  for  the  conduct  of  insur- 
ance business  that  have  been  put  in  operation  here. 
The  first  of  these  as  noticed  in  the  general  history 
was  the  "  Indiana  Insurance  Company,"  formed  in 
1836  by  the  citizens  of  the  town,  with  Douglass 
Maguire  as  president,  and  Caleb  Scudder  secretary, 
a  nominal  capital  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  never  any  business  to  correspond.  After  two  or 
three  suspensions  and  revivals,  as  already  stated,  it 
was  solidly  reorganized  in  1865,  with  Wm.  Hender- 
son as  president,  and  Alex.  C.  Jameson  as  secretary, 
and  made  exclusively  a  banking  institution  in  the 
old  branch  bank  building.  The  "  Indiana  Mutual 
Insurance  Company"  was  chartered  Jan.  30,  1837, 
and  organized  in  February  following,  with  James 
Blake  as  president,  and  Charles  W.  Cady  as  secretary. 
It  did  well  for  a  few  years,  but  finally  failed  in  1853. 
The  "  Indiana  Fire  Insurance  Company"  was  formed 
in  February,  1851,  with  a  nominal  capital  of  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  did  little  and  sus- 
pended in  a  few  years.  The  "  German  Mutual  Fire 
Insurance  Company"  was  organized  in  1854,  January 
21,  and  has  continued  successfully  ever  since.  The 
presidents  have  been  Henry  Buscher,  Julius  Boet- 
ticher,  and  Adoiph  Seidensticker ;  the  secretaries, 
Adolph  Seidensticker,  Valentine  Butsch,  Charles 
Volmer,  Charles  Balke,  Adolph  Miller,  and  F. 
Ritzinger.  Mr.  Ritzinger  has  long  stood  among 
the  most  respected  of  the  business  men  and  com- 
mercial men  of  the  city. 

Frederick  Ritzinger. — Prominent  among  the 
German  citizens  who  assisted  in  transforming  Indian- 
apolis from  a  small  town  to  a  large  city  of  metropol- 
itan aspirations  was  Frederick  Ritzinger,  born  June 
8,  1819,  at  Woerrstadt,  near  Mayence,  Germany. 

His  parents  had  destined  and  educated  him  for  the 
priesthood,  but  the  spirit  of  liberalism  prevailing 
among  the  rising  generation,  and  the  conviction  that 
nature  had  intended  him  for  a  more  active  life,  caused 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


231 


him  to  change  his  vocation  over  the  protests  of  his 
parents  when  the  time  arrived. 

He  devoted  himself  during  early  manhood  to  agri- 
culture and  wine-growing.  On  the  1.5th  of  May,  1841, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Marianne  Kamp,  who  still 
survives  him.  When  the  German-Catholic  move- 
ment was  inaugurated  by  Ronge  in  18-i4  he  sup- 
ported it,  and  also  identified  himself  with  all  progres- 
sive political  aspirations.  From  1848  to  1850  he 
was  one  of  the  active  and  eflRcient  supporters  of  the 
movement  to  liberalize  the  German  Confederation, 
and  consequently  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of 
Mayence  when  the  reactionary  party  triumphed. 
After  his  liberation  he  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  and  arrived  at  Indianapolis  March  4,  1853. 

He  engaged  in  farming  in  the  suburbs  until  1859, 
when  he  moved  to  the  city  and  established  an  agency 
for  the  collection  of  claims  and  estates  in  Germany 
and  the  sale  of  foreign  exchange. 

His  obliging  disposition,  active  habits,  strong  intel- 
lect, and  wonderful  sociability  soon  caused  him  to  be 
sought  for  in  public  and  private  enterprises.  He 
interested  himself  greatly  for  the  independent  German 
and  English  school,  and  helped  to  develop  this  enter- 
prise to  a  condition  of  great  usefulness.  A  very 
large  proportion  of  the  children  of  German  citizens 
were  educated  in  this  institution.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  civil  war  he  was  prominently  engaged  in  the 
organization  of  the  Thirty-second  (German)  Indiana 
Regiment,  and  induced  Col.,  afterward  Gen.,  Willich 
to  drill  and  assume  its  command.  From  1862  to 
1873  he  acted  as  secretary  and  manager  of  the  Ger- 
man Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  Indiana, 
which  during  his  management  became  well  known 
arid  prospered  by  increase  of  business  and  resources. 

His  house  served  as  a  social  centre,  not  only  for 
the  prominent  German  citizens  of  Indianapolis,  but 
for  nearly  all  distinguished  German  visitors  of  the 
city.  His  own  social  talents,  assisted  by  those  of  his 
daughter.  Miss  Mary  Rilzinger,  made  the  hours  spent 
there  memorable  as  occasions  of  pleasure. 

His  oldest  son,  J.  B.  Ritzinger,  became  the  founder 
of  the  still  flourishing  Ritzinger's  Bank,  which  after 
his  premature  death  was  continued  by  his  two  re- 
maining sons,  F.  L.  and   A.  W.  Ritzinger.     About 


one  year  subsequent  to  the  death  of  his  son,  and 
after  a  long  and  trying  illness,  Mr.  Frederick  Ritz- 
inger died  on  the  10th  of  November,  1879,  sincerely 
mourned  by  his  family  and  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

The  "Indiana  Fire  Insurance  Company"  —  the 
second  pne  with  that  name — was  organized  May  9, 
1862,  with  Jonathan  S.  Harvey  as  president,  and  W. 
T.  Gibson  as  secretary.  It  was  located  in  Odd-Fel- 
lows' Hall.  The  "  Sinnisippi  Mutual  Insurance  Com- 
pany" was  organized  Nov.  18,  1863,  with  Elijah 
Goodwin  as  president,  and  John  R.  Barry  as  secretary. 
It  kept  in  business  till  1866,  when  it  capsized  from 
carrying  too  much  sail,  and  went  into  a  receiver's 
hands.  The  "  Equitable  Fire  Insurance  Company" 
was  formed  on  the  mutual  plan  in  September,  1863, 
by  William  A.  Peelle,  then  recently  secretary  of 
State,  as  president,  and  E.  D.  Olin  as  secretary,  with 
an  office  in  Odd-Fellows'  Hall.  It  suspended  and 
went  into  a  receiver's  hands  in  1868.  The  "  Home 
Mutual  Insurance  Company"  was  organized  April, 
1864,  with  J.  C.  GeisendorfF  as  president,  and  J.  B. 
Follett  as  secretary.  It  suspended  voluntarily  in 
June,  1868,  and  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 
The  office  was  at  64  East  Washington  Street.  The 
"Farmers'  and  Merchants'  Insurance  Company"  was 
organized  on  the  1st  of  April,  1864,  with  Dr.  Ryland 
T.  Brown  as  president,  and  A.  J.  Davis  as  secretary. 
The  office  was  in  Blackford's  Block.  It  stopped 
business  in  the  summer  of  1867,  and  closed  up  its 
accounts.  The  "  Union  Insurance  Company"  was 
organized  as  a  stock  company  in  1865,  with  a  capital 
nominally  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and 
James  M.  Ray  as  president,  and  D.  W.  Grubbs  as 
secretary.  It  was  opened  on  North  Pennsylvania 
Street,  but  removed  to  Dunlop's  building  in  1867, 
when  Elijah  B.  Martindale  became  president,  and 
George  W.  Dunn  secretary.  It  did  not  succeed,  and 
in  April,  1868,  it  voluntarily  wound  up  its  afi'airs 
and  dissolved.  The  "Home"  Company,  of  New 
York,  took  its  risks.  The  "  American  Horse  Insur- 
ance Company"  was  formed  in  August,  1865,  with 
Thomas  B.  McCarty,  then  recently  State  auditor,  as 
president,  and  J.  F.  Payne  as  secretary.  Its  object 
was  the  insurance  against  loss  from  the  death  of  val- 
uable domestic  animals.     Its  nominal  capital  was  one 


232 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


huodred  thousand  dollars.  The  "  Franklin  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company"  was  formed  in  July,  1866, 
with  James  M.  Ray  as  president,  and  D.  W.  Grubbs 
as  secretary.  The  office  was  first  opened  at  No.  19 
North  Meridian  Street,  but  in  April,  1868,  the  old 
State  Bank  building,  corner  of  Kentucky  Avenue 
and  Illinois  Street,  was  purchased,  and  business  has 
been  largely  and  successfully  carried  on  there  ever 
since. 

The  Etna  Company,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  may  be 
noticed  here  as  maintaining  the  oldest  agency  in 
the  city,  and  having  erected  here  on  North  Penn- 
sylvania Street  a  handsome  four-story  building  for  its 
own  uses  and  for  rent.  The  first  agent  here  was 
Simon  Yandes,  law  partner  of  ex-Senator  Oliver  H. 
Smith.  William  Sullivan  was  also  an  early  agent, 
but  William  Henderson  held  the  agency  longest  and 
raised  the  business  to  its  present  level,  which  Mr. 
A.  Abromet,  his  successor,  has  fully  sustained.  In 
1851  the  '•  Franklin  Fire  Insurance  Company,"  of 
Franklin,  Johnson  Co.,  was  chartered,  and  business 
carried  on  there  in  an  indiflferent  way  till  1871,  when 
the  company  was  reorganized  and  removed  to  the 
city.  In  1874  the  present  handsome  building  was 
erected  by  it  for  its  own  use  and  for  rent.  The  full- 
size  statue  of  Franklin  which  occupies  a  niche  in  the 
second  story  of  the  Circle  Street  front  was  made  by 
a  stone-cutter  of  the  city,  named  Mahoney,  whose 
artistic  talent  might  make  him  noted  in  that  direc- 
tion if  cultivated.  The  capital  of  the  "  Franklin  Fire 
Insurance  Company"  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.  J.  E.  Robertson  is  president,  William 
Wesley  Woollen,  vice-president,  and  Gabriel  Schmuck, 
secretary. 


CHAPTER    X. 

CITY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS— (Conlmiierf.) 
THE   PRESS. 

On  the  28th  of  January,  1822,  Indianapolis  saw 
her  first  newspaper.  It  was  the  most  precocious 
development  of  the  American  instinct  for  newspapers 
ever  seen  in  that  day,  and  only  paralleled  among  the 


mushroom  mining  towns  of  the  last  twenty  years. 
The  settlement  was  less  than  two  years  old.  The 
town  had  been  laid  out  but  six  months,  and  no  man 
had  owned  a  lot  longer  than  four.  It  was  not  even 
a  "  yearling"  village.  There  was  no  road  to  it,  no 
way  out  of  it,  no  business  in  it.  Everybody  had 
been  down  with  the  chills  the  summer  before.  No- 
body had  been  well  enough  to  raise  crops  of  any  kind, 
at  home  or  in  the  "  big  field."  Starvation  was  held 
oflF  only  by  supplies  brought  on  horseback  from  White 
Water  or  down  the  river  in  Indian  canoes.  There 
was  no  mail  and  no  post-office.  In  fact,  the  first 
steps  towards  the  establishment  of  a  mail  route  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  suggestion  of  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  paper.  On  the  30th  of  January,  two 
days  after  the  first  publication,  a  meeting  of  citizens 
was  held  to  provide  a  private  mail  line  to  the  parent 
settlements  in  White  Water  Valley.  The  county  had 
been  organized  but  a  month,  and  it  had  held  no  elec- 
tion and  had  no  officers.  There  were  not  more  than 
four  hundred  souls  in  the  place,  young  and  old,  and 
not  a  hundred  in  the  adjoining  portions  of  the  county. 
The  land  office  had  been  making  sales  in  the  New 
Purchase  but  a  single  year.  There  could  be  little 
advertising  patronage  and  no  local  news  where  every- 
body knew  all  about  everybody  else,  and  general  news 
could  not  be  much  better  with  no  mails.  It  was 
about  as  unpromising  a  situation  as  a  new  paper  ever 
appeared  in,  but  nevertheless  the  Indianapolis  Gazette 
appeared,  and  kept  appearing  irregularly  till  steady 
mails  and  supplies  made  it  regular,  and  it  has  ap- 
peared regularly  ever  since.  Of  its  early  history  a 
sketch  is  given  in  the  general  history  of  the  city. 
The  partners,  George  Smith  and  Nathaniel  Bolton, 
separated  in  1823,  but  reunited  in  1824,  and  contin- 
ued together  till  1829,  Mr.  Bolton  taking  the  paper 
alone  till  its  sale,  in  the  fall  of  1830,  to  the  late 
Alexander  F.  Morrison,  who  had  come  from  Charles- 
ton that  year  as  the  representative  of  Clark  County, 
and  in  the  spring,  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
Legislature,  had  remained  and  started  the  Indiana 
Democrat  here.  The  consolidated  paper  took  the 
name  of  the  latest,  the  Democrat.  It  was  owned 
successively  by  A.  F.  Morrison,  Morrison  &  Bolton, 
Bolton  &  Livingston,  and  John  Livingston. 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


233 


A  change  came  upon  it  in  1841.  Mr.  Livingston 
sold  it  to  George  A.  and  Jacob  Page  Chapman,  then 
recently  proprietors  and  editors  of  a  paper  in  Terre 
Haute,  and  they  moved  it  to  a  one-story  frame  just 
east  of  the  present  site  of  Masonic  Hall,  from  a  little 
one-story  brick  where  the  Neios  building  is  now,  in 
July,  1841,  and  changed  the  name  to  the  Indiana 
Sentinel.  During  Jlr.  Morrison's  control  of  the 
Democrat,  and  his  later  connection  with  the  Senti- 
nelm  1856,  he  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  a  writer 
of  vigorous  and  perspicuous  English,  with  a  tendency 
to  invective  and  personal  bitterness  that  made  his 
antagonists  cautious  of  dealing  roughly  with  him. 
He  was  one  of  the  four  delegates  from  this  county  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1850.  He  died  in 
1857.  The  Chapmans  changed  the  character  of  the 
paper  a  good  deal.  They  made  it  more  a  newspaper 
than  it  had  been  before,  while  they  maintained  its 
spirited  attitude  and  action  as  the  State  organ  of  its 
party.  On  Dec.  6,  1841,  when  the  Legislature  met, 
they  issued  a  daily  edition  during  the  session,  and 
kept  it  up  till  the  close  of  the  session  of  1843-44, 
carrying  a  semi-weekly  then,  as  had  been  done  by 
their  predecessors  of  the  Democrat,  till  the  perma- 
nent establishment  of  the  daily,  April  28,  1851.  In 
1846,  Mr.  John  S.  Spann  became  a  member  of  the 
firm,  and  Chapman  &  Spann  published  the  Sentinel 
till  the  last  of  May,  1850.  In  June  of  that  year  the 
late  William  J.  Brown  bought  it,  and  the  Chapmans 
retired  from  a  position  in  which  J.  Page  Chapman 
had  achieved  a  national  reputation.  The  campaign 
cry,  "  Crow,  Chapman,"  "  Tell  Chapman  to  crow,"  was 
as  frequent  in  Democratic  meetings  and  in  papers  as 
any  of  the  "  Polk  and  Clay"  period.  It  originated 
in  the  imitation  of  cock-crowing  practiced  by  a  prom- 
inent local  Democrat  of  Hancock  County  by  the  name 
of  Chapman — Joseph  probably — and  the  mistaken 
ascription  of  the  feat  to  the  editors  of  the  Sentinel. 
It  helped  the  paper  a  little  to  its  remarkable  success, 
and  was  the  suggestion  of  the  jubilant  rooster  which 
now  mounts  the  column  of  dispatches  announcing 
Democratic  victories  in  most  of  the  papers  of  that 
party  in  Indiana,  if  not  throughout  the  West.  In 
the  spring  of  1853,  J.  P.  Chapman  started  a  weekly 
paper  called  the  C/ianticlner, — the  name  derived  from 


the  same  suggestion, — with  B.  R.  Sulgrove  as  asso- 
ciate editor,  and  the  late  Gen.  George  H.  Chapman, 
son  of  Jacob  Page,  as  city  editor.  Mr.  Sulgrove  left 
it  the  following  winter  to  take  charge  of  the  Journal, 
and  it  closed  with  the  end  of  the  first  volume.  Mr. 
George  A.  Chapman  died  soon  after  the  .sale  of  the 
Sentinel,  and  J.  P.  Chapman's  mind  became  so  much 
disordered  that  he  was  sent  to  the  insane  asylum  in 
1855,  and  kept  there  several  years  till  he  died.  It 
should  be  noted  here  that  the  first  building  erected 
especially  for  a  paper  was  the  Sentinel  building  of 
1844,  on  the  east  side  of  North  Illinois  Street,  near 
the  site  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
Hall. 

With  the  retirement  of  the  Chapmans,  in  1850, 
the  Sentinel  establishment  was  divided,  Mr.  Brown 
taking  the  paper  to  a  building  on  West  Washington 
Street,  near  Meridian,  and  E.  W.  H.  Ellis,  State 
auditor,  with  Mr.  John  S.  Spann,  taking  the  job- 
oflEce,  and  going  on  with  that  business  at  the  old 
stand.  In  August,  1852,  the  paper  was  removed 
to  the  "  Tomlinson  Block,"  opposite  the  "  Wright 
House"  now  "Glenn's  Block,"  Mr.  Austin  H.  Brown 
having  become  publisher  a  short  time  before,  and  his 
father  leading  editor.  On  the  2d  of  March,  1855, 
the  late  Dr.  John  C.  Walker  and  Charles  W.  Cottom 
bought  out  Mr.  A.  H.  Brown,  and  the  editorial  control 
passed  to  Mr.  Walker  and  Mr.  Holcombe.  On  the 
4th  of  December,  1855,  Mr.  John  S.  Spann  and 
John  B.  Norman,  then  of  the  N'ew  Albany  Ledger, 
bought  the  paper,  Mr.  Norman  becoming  editor.  He 
retained  the  position  but  six  weeks,  and  returned  to 
New  Albany,  when  the  proprietorship  passed  to  the 
hands  of  Professor  William  C.  Larrabee,  then  recently 
a  member  of  the  faculty  of  Asbury  University,  and 
Charles  W.  Cottom.  Jan.  24,  1856,  Alexander  F. 
Morrison  was  associated  with  Professor  Larrabee  in 
the  conduct  of  the  paper.  Mr.  Cottom  was  city 
editor.  The  following  August,  1856,  Joseph  J. 
Bingham,  of  Lafayette,  purchased  an  interest,  and 
the  proprietorship  became  Larrabee,  Bingham  & 
Co.  till  Jan.  13,  1857,  when  John  Doughty 
joined  Mr.  Bingham,  and  Mr.  Larrabee  retired.  Be- 
tween this  change  and  the  7th  of  April  the  old 
"  Capital  House"  had  been  fitted  up  for  the  reception 


234 


HISTORY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


of  the  Sentinel  establishment,  and  made  the  largest  and 
best  newspaper  building  in  the  State.  The  cases  and 
other  furniture  were  moved  in,  and  steam  started  in 
the  press-engine  early  in  the  evening  of  that  day. 
The. boiler  was  new,  and  through  some  carelessness 
or  mistake  it  was  exploded,  tearing  the  building  into 
a  chaotic  mass  that  seemed  incapable  of  restoration. 
A  press  hand  by  the  name  of  Homan  was  killed,  and 
several  others  injured.  The  publication  of  the  paper 
was  necessarily  suspended,  but  was  resumed  on  the 
21st, — a  two  weeks'  suspension  only, — and  has  never 
made  a  break  since.  Appeals  for  help  were  made 
through  the  Journal,  and  supported  by  other  papers 
in  the  State,  and  some  substantial  assistance  was 
obtained  in  this  way ;  but  the  establishment  was 
weighted  and  embarrassed  by  the  effects  of  the 
calamity  for  a  long  time. 

A  company  called  the  "  Sentinel  Company"  took  it 
after  this  time  and  retained  it  till  1861,  when  John 
R.  Elder  and  John  Harkness,  publishers  of  the 
weekly  Locomotive,  joined  with  Mr.  Bingham  and 
bought  it,  and  removed  it  to  the  old  Locomotive  office, 
in  the  building  that  preceded  the  present  "  Hubbard 
Block."  In  1863  a  three-story  brick  building  was 
erected  for  it  on  the  east  side  of  Meridian  Street,  on 
the  corner  of  the  alley  south  of  Washington,  and  it 
remained  here  in  the  same  hands  till  1865.  Then 
Charles  W.  Hall  bought  it,  took  it  back  to  the 
Capital  House,  and  called  it  the  Herald.  Hall  & 
Hutchinson  were  owners  and  Judge  Samuel  E.  Per- 
kins, then  recently  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  was  editor. 
In  October,  1866,  it  went  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver, 
and  was  purchased  in  January,  1867,  by  Mr.  Lafe 
Develin,  of  Cambridge  City.  In  April,  1868,  he  was 
bought  out  by  Richard  J.  Briglit,  late  sergeant-at- 
arms  of  the  national  Senate,  who  changed  the  name 
back  to  the  Sentinel,  and  put  in  Mr.  Bingham  as 
chief  editor,  a  position  he  had  held  with  but  little 
interruption,  except  during  Judge  Perkins'  admin- 
istration, since  1856.  He  was  longer  the  editor 
than  any  man  who  has  ever  held  the  position,  except 
Mr.  Bolton,  and  did  more  than  any  one  before  him  to 
give  the  paper  the  character  of  enterprise  as  a  news- 
collector  and  ability  as  a  partisan  champion  and 
organ,  which  it  still  fully  maintains.     Mr.  Bright  re- 


moved the  office,  in  December,  1869,  to  the  building 
he  had  enlarged  from  Wesley  Chapel.  In  1872, 
Mr.  Bright  sold  to  John  Fishback  and  others  form- 
ing the  "  Sentinel  Company,"  and  these  in  two  or 
three  years  sold  to  a  second  company,  partly  formed 
of  the  first;  and  in  1878,  Mr.  John  C.  Shoemaker, 
State  auditor,  1871-73,  became  the  sole  owner,  and 
has  remained  so.  In  his  hands  the  Sentinel  has  flour- 
ished as  it  never  did  before.  It  is  the  leading  Demo- 
cratic paper  of  the  State  in  all  respects, — of  ability, 
enterprise,  circulation,  and  influence.  It  has  always 
been  ably  conducted,  but  never  more  so  than  in  the 
hands  of  Col.  James  B.  Maynard,  the  political  editor, 
and  Mr.  Charles  G.  Stewart,  the  managing  editor. 
The  former  has  held  his  position  some  half-dozen 
years,  and  his  vigorous  and  effective  advocacy  of  his 
party  seems  likely  to  retain  him  at  his  own  pleasure. 
Whatever  objections  the  critical  or  hypercritical  may 
make  to  his  work,  nobody  will  say  that  he  is  ever 
dull  or  commonplace.  He  writes  with  a  vigor,  earn- 
estness, and  frequent  picturesqueness  of  style  by  no 
means  common  in  the  columns  of  partisan  organs. 
Mr.  Stewart,  the  manager,  was  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  extensive  book-house  of  Bowen, 
Stewart  &  Co.,  but  for  the  past  three  years  or  more 
has  been  on  the  Sentinel,  mainly  as  manager,  but 
nevertheless  writing  a  good  deal,  with  the  advantage 
of  wide  and  careful  reading,  cultivated  literary  taste, 
and  a  clear,  easy,  and  graceful  style,  when  the  subject 
allows  it, — not  frequently  the  case,  however,  with  an 
"  editorial  paragrapher."  He  has  done  mui-h  to  place 
the  Sentinel  in  its  present  popular  and  efficient  posi- 
tion. Preceding  him  and  Col.  Maynard  were  Henry 
F.  Keenan,  Mr.  O'Connor,  and  Rev.  Robert  Mat- 
thews, under  the  proprietorship  of  the  different  com- 
panies. Early  in  the  fall  of  1883  the  establishment 
was  removed  from  the  Circle  and  Meridian  Street 
building  to  a  large  and  commodious  buildiog  on 
West  Market  specially  fitted  up  for  it,  where  it  is 
better  situated  than  ever  before.  This  removal  was 
signalized  by  the  purchase  of  a  six-cylinder  press. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1823,  a  litttle  more  than  a 
year  afler  the  first  appearance  of  the  forerunner  of 
the  Sentinel,  appeared  the  forerunner  of  the  Journal, 
the  Western  Censor  and  Emigrant's  Guide,  published 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


235 


and  edited  by  Harvey  Gregg  and  Douglass  Maguire, 
two  young  Kentucky  lawyers  of  recent  arrival.  Its 
early  history  is  related  in  the  general  history  of  the 
city.  Its  course  and  success  since  will  be  briefly 
presented  here.  Mr.  Gregg  sold  out  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1824,  and  on  the  16th  of  November  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  John  Douglass,  State  printer,  who 
had  come  up  from  Corydon  with  the  State  govern- 
ment in  State  Treasurer  Merrill's  caravan  but  a  few 
daj's  before  he  made  a  connection  which  was  to 
become  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of  the 
State  press. 

John  Douglass  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Chester 
County,   Pa.,   Nov.   12,   1*787,   and    died  in  Indian- 


apolis in  1851.  His  mother,  by  the  early  death 
of  her  husband,  was  left  in  limited  circumstances 
to  battle  alone  with  the  pioneer  life  of  a  new  and 
sparsely  settled  district.  Like  her  husband,  she  was 
of  Scotch  descent,  and  was  well  trained  in  princi- 
ples of  right  and  habits  of  industry.  In  these  prin- 
ciples and  habits  she  trained  her  son.  Her  house 
was  distant  some  four  miles  from  the  county  school, 


yet  when  the  school  was  in  session,  which  was  only  a 
part  of  the  year,  she  sent  her  boy.  He  daily  walked 
the  four  miles,  acquiring,  with  the  rudiments  of  a 
good  education,  firmness  in  purpose  and  energy  in 
action.  As  he  grew  to  manhood  his  mother,  second- 
ing his  own  desire  for  wider  knowledge  than  the  little 
irregular  school  could  afford,  advised  him  to  go  to 
Lancaster  and  learn  the  printing  busine.ss ;  he  could 
thus  educate  and  at  the  same  time  support  himself. 
He  obtained  in  Lancaster  what  he  desired,  but  after 
a  year  or  two  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  readily 
found  employment.  In  1814  he  married  Maria 
Green.  Six  years  later  he  emigrated  with  her  to 
Vevay,  Ind.,  encountering  on  the  way  such  difiBculties 
as  only  pioneers  can  describe.  But  they  were  young; 
he  was  sturdy  and  determined,  and  she  was  one  of 
the  most  active  and  light-hearted  women  that  ever 
left  a  city  to  find  a  home  in  the  backwoods. 

The  prospects  of  Vevay  were  not  at  this  time 
encouraging.  A  terrible  fever  prevailed.  Mr. 
Douglass  was  not  established  in  business  before  he 
became  a  victim  of  the  disease.  His  wife,  watching 
with  him  night  after  night  for  weeks,  could  count 
the  cabins  of  their  neighbors  on  the  hillsides  and  in 
the  valleys  by  the  lights  of  other  watchers  by  the  sick 
and  the  dead.  Nearly  every  family  in  the  place 
mourned  the  death  of  one  of  its  number. 

The  superstitious  called  the  unhappy  visitation  a 
judgment  of  the  Almighty  on  the  vain  though  impres- 
sive ceremonies  of  the  preceding  year  in  honor  of 
Commodore  Perry.  For  the  empty  cofiin  that  was 
carried  in  imposing  procession  then,  with  funeral 
dirges  and  orations,  scores  of  coflins  were  now  laid  in 
silence  in  the  graveyard. 

On  his  recovery  Mr.  Douglass  removed  to  Madi- 
son, where,  in  connection  with  Mr.  William  Carpen- 
ter, he  published  a  paper.  The  capital  of  the  State, 
however,  offered  him  greater  inducements,  and  he 
settled  in  Corydon.  He  was  elected  State  printer, 
and  with  the  change  of  the  seat  of  government  re- 
moved to  Indianapolis.  This  last  removal  was 
effected  in  the  fall  of  1824,  in  connection  with  the 
State  treasurer,  Samuel  Merrill. 

Mr.  Douglass  connected  himself  with  Douglass 
Maguire   by   buying    Mr.    Gregg's  interest  in  the 


236 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


Western  Censor  and  Emigrant's  Chtide.  The  paper 
was  shortly  after  called  The  Indiana  Journal.  Mr. 
Douglass  remained  connected  with  it  until  February, 
1843,  much  of  the  time  sole  editor  or  sole  publisher. 
Under  his  care  the  Journal  was  modest  and  pure  in 
tone,  firm  in  principle,  supporting  good  enterprises, 
and  disseminating  valuable  information.  Mr.  Doug- 
lass united  himself  with  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Henry  W. 
Beecher,  and  in  life  and  in  death  was  a  trusting 
and  earnest  believer  in  Christ. 

The  Presidential  campaign  of  1840,  through  care- 
lessness and  neglect  of  pecuniary  obligations  on  the 
part  of  its  managers  in  Indiana,  involved  Mr.  Doug- 
lass in  painful  embarrassment.  Industrious  as  he 
was,  and  upright  to  a  scrupulous  degree,  he  could 
not  tolerate  the  thought  of  an  unpaid  debt  with 
which  his  name,  though  by  no  fault  of  his  own, 
was  connected. 

The  loss  of  a  promising  son  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
and  of  a  beloved  and  beautiful  daughter  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two,  broke  irrecoverably  both  his  health  and 
his  spirits.  During  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  he 
was  the  object  of  the  deepest  and  tenderest  solicitude 
on  the  part  of  his  friends. 

Mrs.  Douglass  survived  her  husband  twenty  years, 
retaining  to  the  last  sprightliness  of  youth  joined  to 
the  calm  sedateness  of  age. 

"  The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just 
Shall  flourish  when  they  sleep  in  dust." 

The  children  that  survived  their  parents  are  Lydia 
(Mrs.  Alfred  Harrison),  Ellen  B.,  Samuel  M.  (who 
died  some  years  ago),  James  G.,  and  George  W, 
Mrs.  William  Barkley  is  a  grandchild,  the  daughter 
of  the  eldest  son,  William,  who  died  in  California. 

Closely  associated  with  Mr.  Douglass  before  his 
removal  to  Indianapolis  was  the  late  David  V.  Culley, 
who  worked  with  him  on  State  work  in  Corydon, 
subsequently  removed  to  Laurenceburg  and  pub- 
lished the  Indiana  Palladium,  and  removed  to 
Indianapolis  in  1836  permanently,  on  receiving  from 
Gen.  Jackson,  whom  he  had  always  ardently  sup- 
ported, the  oflBee  of  register  of  the  land  oflice  of  the 
Indianapolis  district.     He  lived  to  be   one   of  the 


most   honored   and  trusted   of  the   citizens   of  the 


D.  V.  CuLLEY. — Among  the  men  who  cast  their 
lot  in  Indianapolis  while  it  was  a  struggling  village 
and  faintly  foreshadowed  its  present  population  and 
commercial  importance,  the  name  of  Hon.  David  V. 
Culley  stands  preeminent  as  one  whose  work  has  done 
much  to  create  the  history  of  the  city.  He  was  a  true- 
hearted  Christian  gentleman  of  more  than  ordinary 
stability  of  character,  sound  judgment,  and  prudence, 
and  therefore  a  good  business  man,  as  was  evinced  by 
the  accumulation  of  a  good  property  from  no  begin- 
ning other  than  industry  and  economy.  His  careful 
management  of  his  own  affairs,  and  his  solid  acquaint- 
ance with  administration,  with  policy,  with  finance, 
recommended  him  to  positions  of  trust  and  confi- 
dence in  connection  with  public  matters,  and  for 
many  years  previous  to  his  last  illness,  which  was 
protracted  through  several  months,  those  duties  oc- 
cupied much  of  his  time.  In  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred on  Friday,  June  4,  1869,  Indianapolis  lost 
one  of  her  very  best  and  foremost  men,  a  man  of 
whom  it  is  easy  to  run  around  the  circle  of  his  vir- 
tues and  difiieult  to  find  a  point  where  the  line  is  not 
continuous. 

David  V.  Culley  was  born  in  Venango  County, 
Pa.,  near  the  town  of  Franklin.  His  father,  John 
Culley,  was  of  Scotch  extraction,  a  New  Yorker  by 
birth  and  a  carpenter  and  millwright  by  trade.  His 
mother,  Anne  Sleeper,  was  a  woman  of  liberal  edu- 
cation. Her  parents  were  Philadelphia  Quakers, 
and  she  held  her  birthright  in  the  church  up  to  the 
time  of  her  death.  Here  in  Venango  County  David 
V.  Culley  was  reared,  receiving  from  his  mother  the 
greater  part  of  all  his  education.  He  also  acquired 
at  least  the  rudiments  of  his  trade,  type-setting, 
while  still  a  boy  at  home.  In  the  year  1818  he 
with  an  elder  brother  came  West,  and  for  a  time 
made  a  home  with  relatives  in  Elizabethtown,  Ky., 
where  they  were  subsequently  joined  by  their  father's 
family.  While  at  this  place  D.  V.  Culley  completed 
his  trade,  and  in  1823  removed  to  Corydon,  Ind., 
where  he  was  employed  by  the  late  John  Douglass, 
Esq.,  then  State  printer,  at  Corydon,  the  capital  not 
then   having  been   removed   to  Indianapolis.     Even 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


237 


then,  at  so  early  an  age,  his  integrity  was  conspicu- 
ous. A  friend  who  knew  him  at  that  time  relates 
that  Samuel  Merrill,  then  treasurer  of  State,  being 
on  a  certain  occasion  compelled  to  leave  home  for  a 
few  days,  needed  a  guard  for  the  gold  and  silver  of 
the  commonwealth  lying  exposed  in  the  treasurer's 
private  residence.  Mr.  Culley,  though  at  the  time 
scarcely  more  than  a  boy  and  had  hardly  been  a  year 
in  the  State,  was  selected,  with  the  friend  who  nar- 
rates the  incident,  to  sleep  in  the  treasurer's  house 
and  make  the  public  money  safe.  About  1824  he 
removed  to  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  which  continued  to 
be  his  residence  for  twelve  years. 

In  the  year  1825  he  was  married,  and  the  same 
year  was  elected  to  his  first  oflBce.  His  wife,  Miss 
Mary  A.  Brown,  was  a  woman  of  rare  strength  and 
charm  of  character.  She  died,  full  of  years  and 
usefulness,  on  the  11th  day  of  October,  1863,  leav- 
ing three  children,  one  son  and  two  daughters.  His 
first  oflBce  was  that  of  State  senator,  which  he  filled 
with  such  marked  ability  and  fidelity  that  he  was 
nominated  by  his  party  in  1831  for  Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor on  the  unsuccessful  ticket  when  Governor  Noble 
was  elected.  He  continued  his  work  in  a  political 
way  on  the  Indiaiid  Pulladium,  which  he  and  the 
late  Hon.  Milton  Gregg  established.  Under  their 
management  it  was  one  of  the  most  effective  papers 
in  the  State,  Mr.  Culley  proving  himself  at  once 
a  writer  and  an  editor  of  marked  ability.  About 
the  year  1834  political  differences  finally  separated 
them,  Mr.  Culley  retaining  the  Palladium  as  a  Dem- 
ocratic advocate.  During  this  time  he  also  served 
two  or  three  sessions  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature. 

It  is  not  unworthy  of  note  in  this  connection,  as 
an  illustration  of  Sir.  Culley 's  enterprise  as  a  printer, 
tliat  in  the  year  1834  he  first  introduced  in  this  State 
the  use  of  composition  rollers  in  press-work.  A  year 
after  this,  having  a  good  offer  for  his  paper  and 
printing-oflBce,  he  disposed  of  them,  and  for  nearly  a 
year  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the  study  of  the  law, 
which  he  then  proposed  to  make  his  profession.  At 
this.period,  so  intense  was  his  application  and  industry, 
that  he  frequently  passed  the  whole  night  in  study. 

In   1836,  when    Martin    Van    Buren   was  elected 


President,  he  appointed  Mr.  Culley  register  of  the 
land  office,  and  that,  together  with  the  frequent  floods 
in  Lawrenceburg,  decided  him  to  remove  his  family 
to  Indianapolis  for  a  permanent  home.  Soon  after 
this  he  connected  him.self  with  the  then  newly  or- 
ganized Second  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he 
became  and  remained  a  most  active,  con.sistent,  and 
efficient  member  and  elder.  For  twenty  years  he  was 
clerk  of  the  church,  and  for  a  term  of  years  trustee. 

The  city  of  Indianapolis  was  incorporated  in  1838, 
and  in  1841,  upon  the  resignation  of  William  Sulli- 
van, David  V.  Culley  was  elected  president  of  the 
Council,  though  he  had  been  but  five  years  a  resi- 
dent,— ample  proof  of  the  regard  in  which  he  was 
held,  as  well  as  of  the  merit  that  could  so  speedily 
command  it.  He  was  re-elected  the  next  year,  and 
the  next,  and  was  connected  with  the  city  govern- 
ment from  that  time  until  the  increased  infirmity  of 
health  compelled  him  to  decline  further  service. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1851,  he  was  made  the 
first  president  of  the  Indianapolis  Gas  and  Coke 
Company,  and  it  may  well  be  said  that  it  was  through 
Mr.  Culley 's  untiring  energy  and  perseverance  that 
gas  was  manufactured  in  the  city  at  so  early  a  date. 
Another  example  of  his  enterprise  was  in  bringing 
stone  from  Vevay,  Ind.,  over  the  Madison  road,  then 
the  only  railroad  entering  Indianapolis,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  putting  a  stone  foundation  under  his  new 
residence,  the  first  foundation  of  that  kind  in  the 
city.  But  his  labors  were  mainly  thrown  in  the  di- 
rection not  of  his  own  so  much  as  the  public  inter- 
ests. It  was  natural  that  such  a  man  should  be  a 
patron  of  schools.  He  had  a  steady  belief  in  the 
advantages  of  an  education,  and  in  the  value  and 
importance  of  a  thorough  classical  training.  For 
many  years  he  was  connected  with  the  Indianapolis 
public  schools  as  a  trustee  and  as  managing  superin- 
tendent. His  persistent  labors  in  that  direction  will 
not  soon  be  forgotten,  now  that  the  schools  have  a 
history  and  can  look  back  to  pioneer  days. 

A  leading  paper,  referring  to  his  death,  says, 
"  His  integrity  and  sincerity  of  character,  as  well  as 
his  kindness  of  heart,  were  so  marked,  so  well  known, 
that  he  was  often  during  the  period  of  his  active 
life  selected  as  the  guardian  for  minors,  and  though 


238 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


no  duties  are  more  irksome,  more  easily  abused,  or 
more  geoerally  thankless,  he  was  never  tainted  with 
a  breath  of  suspicion,  and  never  failed  to  earn  the 
heartiest  affection  of  those  he  served." 

In  1854,  Mr.  Culley  joined  wliat  was  afterwards 
known  as  the  Republican  party.  During  the  opening 
horrors  of  the  great  civil  war  he  used  his  pen  and 
gave  freely  of  his  means  in  support  of  the  govern- 
ment. An  ardent  lover  of  his  country  and  a  true 
American,  he  watched  his  country's  progress  with  a 
warm  and  intelligent  sympathy.  One  of  the  desires  of 
his  heart  was  to  see  the  completion  of  the  first  Pacific 
Railroad,  a  work  that  seemed  fea.sible  to  him  years 
before  its  construction  was  undertaken. 

While  Mr.  Culley  seemed  habitually  logical  and 
serious,  and  had  a  dignity  of  manner  that  peculiarly 
fitted  him  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  presiding  officer, 
no  man  had  a  keener  sense  or  heartier  appreciation 
of  genuine  humor.  In  his  later  years  a  well-thumbed 
volume  of  Don  Quixote  lay  on  his  table  along  with 
a  copy  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  and  many  hours 
were  passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  its  quaint  drollery. 
His  kindly  human  sympathy  was  remarkable,  too, 
in  old  age.  He  was  often  found  on  the  ice  among 
the  young  skaters,  as  cheerful  as  any  in  the  com- 
pany, and  in  the  summer  much  time  of  recrea- 
tion was  passed  in  rowing,  in  company  with  his 
friends.  A  day's  hunting  was  often  enjoyed  ;  indeed, 
the  pioneer  force  and  energy  never  seemed  to  desert 
him.  But,  after  all,  the  strength  and  beauty  of  his 
life  was  to  be  found  in  his  obedience  to  the  Divine 
law,  in  his  just  estimate  of  his  fellow-men,  and  his 
kindly  feeling  toward  them.  From  the  distant  stand- 
point in  which  we  measure  his  character  in  its  full 
proportions,  David  V.  Culley  seems  to  have  had  that 
perfectness,  that  uprightness  of  which  the  Scriptures 
speak,  for  the  end  was  peace.  He  died  as  he  lived, 
without  fear  and  without  reproach. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1825,  the  ITes^ern  Censor 
and  Emigrant's  Guide  was  enlarged  to  a  super- 
royal  sheet,  and  the  name  changed  to  the  Indiana 
Journal,  which  it  still  retains  fur  the  weekly  edition, 
while  the  daily  is  the  Indianapolis  Journal.  Mr. 
Ma"uire  was  editor  a  year  or  so  after  the  change, 
and  was  succeeded  in  1826  by  Samuel  Merrill,  State 


treasurer,  who  kept  editorial  direction  till  1829. 
Mr.  Douglass  neither  then  or  at  any  time  meddled 
much  with  editorial  work.  He  was  the  business 
man,  and  the  backbone  of  the  paper,  and  contented 
himself  with  doing  only  what  he  knew  he  could  do 
better  than  anybody  else.  In  the  fall  of  1829,  Mr. 
Maguire  resumed  his  connection  with  the  paper,  and 
continued  as  editor  till  1835,  when  he  sold  his  in- 
terest to  the  late  S.  Vance  B.  Noel,  who  took  his 
place  as  editor.  Mr.  Noel  had  then  but  recently 
returned  from  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  had  assisted 
Thomas  Tigar  in  establishing  the  Fort  Wayne  Senti- 
nel, though  he  had  previously  worked  as  a  printer 
on  the  Journal.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that 
Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  the  real  victor  in  the  first 
West  Virginia  campaign,  served  an  apprenticeship 
at  the  case  in  the  Journal  office  with  Mr.  Douglass 
before  his  appointment  as  cadet  at  West  Point 
Academy.  Mr.  Noel  sold  out  to  Mr.  Douglass  in 
1842,  and  the  latter  took  Theodore  J.  Barnett  as 
editor,  a  man  of  unusual  ability,  and  quite  as  eflective 
a  speaker  as  he  was  a  writer.  He  figured  as  promi- 
nently on  the  stump  in  the  Presidential  contest  of 
1844  as  any  Whig  orator  in  the  State,  and  he  was 
incessantly  busy  with  his  pen  when  he  gave  his 
tongue  a  rest.  His  partisan  zeal  readily  took  an 
aspect  of  personal  enmity,  and  he  and  the  Chap- 
mans  quarreled  through  their  respective  papers  in 
a  way  that  ill  became  the  standing  of  either,  and 
once  Barnett  drew  a  pistol  on  Page  Chapmam  in  the 
post-office,  where  Bowen  &  Stuart's  bookstore  is  now. 
This  personal  malice  magnified  a  little  innocent  affiiir 
into  a  felony  by  Mr.  Barnett,  and  harassed  him 
seriously  at  times.  One  Saturday  evening  he  could 
not  find  Mr.  Noel,  and  wanted  a  pound  of  butter  to 
take  home.  He  wrote  an  order  for  it  on  the  grocer 
in  Mr.  Noel's  name,  as  he  was  authorized  to  do  in 
such  a  strait,  and  got  the  butter.  The  Sentinel 
learned  that  he  had  signed  Mr.  Noel's  name  to  the 
order  and  charged  him  with  forgery.  There  was  no 
semblance  of  forgery  or  imitation  of  handwriting  to 
create  a  deception,  but  a  mere  formal  note  or  memo- 
randum for  the  grocer  to  make  up  his  account  from, 
duly  authorized  by  Mr.  Noel.  For  two  years  that 
"  pound    of  butter"    and    "  forged    order"    made    as 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


239 


prominent  a  feature  of  local  politics  as  the  tariff  did 
of  national  politics.  There  has  been  a  decided  im- 
provement in  the  tone  of  the  city  press  since  then, 
at  least  in  iha  matter  of  personal  controversies. 

Mr.  Noel  bought  Mr.  Douglass  out  entirely  in  1843, 
still  retaining  Mr.  Barnett,  and  held  the  establishment 
till  February,  1846.  Mr.  Douglass  never  entered  into 
business  again  after  the  sale  in  1843.  Mr.  Kent  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Barnett  as  editor  under  Mr.  Noel's  owner- 
ship, but  remained  only  a  few  months,  when  the  late 
John  D.  Defrees  became  editor  in  March,  1845.  In 
February,  1846,  he  purchased  the  establishment  of 
Mr.  Noel,  and  was  the  proprietor  and  editor  till  Oct. 
20,  1854.  His  long  connection  with  the  Journal, 
extending  from  March,  1845,  to  October,  1854,  has 
identified  him  more  closely  with  it  than  with  any 
other  enterprise  in  which  he  was  concerned,  at  least 
among  the  people  of  Indianapolis. 

Hon.  John  D.  DEFaEES  was  bom  at  Sparta, 
Tenn.,  Nov.  8,  1810,  and  was  eight  years  old  when 
his  father  moved  to  Piqua,  Ohio.  In  his  fourteenth 
year  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  printer's  trade.  After 
serving  his  time  he  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Tom. 
Corwin,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  and  in  1831  removed  to 
South  Bend,  where  with  his  younger  brother  he 
began  the  publication  of  a  newspaper.  He  became 
promineot  in  politics  as  a  Whig,  and  was  several 
times  elected  to  the  Legislature.  In  1844  he  sold  his 
South  Bend  newspaper  to  Schuyler  Colfax,  whom  he 
had  given  a  start  in  life,  and  removing  to  Indian- 
apolis, the  next  year  bought  the  Indiana  State  Jour- 
nal, which  he  for  ten  years  edited.  In  1861  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Lincoln  government  printer, 
and  held  the  office  until  President  Johnson,  angered 
at  some  criticism  of  his,  removed  him.  Congress 
made  it  a  Senate  office,  and  he  was  reappointed  in 
thirty  days.  He  held  it  until  1869,  when  his  oppo- 
sition to  Gen.  Grant  and  enmity  to  the  late  Senator 
Morton  aiforded  them  an  occasion  which  they  im- 
proved by  turning  him  out.  At  the  coming  in  of 
President  EI  ayes  he  was  appointed  again  to  the  same 
place,  which  he  held  until  declining  health  compelled 
his  resignation.  This  framework  of  a  life  seems 
plain  enough,  but  as  every  one's  skeleton  is  the  same, 
the  difference  in   appearance   being   the  filling  in  of 


the  flesh,  so  in  this  life  there  was  a  side  which  to 
those  who  knew  him  best  and  saw  most  of  it  became 
an  inspiration.  He  was  a  natural  political  student 
and  had  the  gift  of  political  management,  and  the 
associates  of  his  early  days  speak  of  his  rare  sagacity 
and  his  untiring  energy.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
State  committee,  and  always  the  adviser  and  general 
conductor  of  affairs.  He  could  unite  two  or  three 
antagonisms  into  a  common  purpose,  and  when  there 
were  factional  or  personal  differences  Mr.  Defrees 
was  called  on  to  restore  good  feeling.  He  had  the 
keenest  sense  of  humor,  which  his  pluck  and  ceaseless 
activity  were  ever  ready  to  carry  into  anecdote  or 
practical  joke.  His  energy  from  his  earliest  to  his 
latest  days  was  remarkable.  His  newspaper  at  South 
Bend  was  the  first  one  in  northern  Indiana,  and  at 
every  turn  of  affairs  he  was  seeking  some  new  im- 
provement. "  Progress"  seemed  to  be  his  watchword. 
He  was  the  first  man- in  the  State  to  use  steam  to 
drive  a  printing-press,  the  first  to  use  a  caloric  engine 
for  the  same  purpose,  the  first  to  see  the  value  of  the 
Bullock  printing-press  and  encourage  the  inventor, 
the  first  to  use  the  metallic  stretching  machine  for 
binding,  and  the  first  to  use  the  Edison  electric  light, 
except  the  inventor.  At  every  step  he  looked  still 
ahead,  and  never  seemed  to  doubt  the  ability  or 
genius  of  man.  This  faith,  stronger  than  one 
meets  in  a  lifetime  almost,  and  utterly  free  from 
sordid  motives,  often  made  him  the  victim  of  design- 
ing or  deluded  men.  This  faith  in  progress  and 
faith  in  human  kind,  and  this  restless  energy  which 
halted  at  nothing,  permeated  and  colored  his  whole 
life.  It  supplied  for  himself  the  deficiencies  of  early 
systematic  training.  What  the  experience  of  the 
printer's  trade  and  the  acquisitions  of  a  young  law 
student  might  give  in  the  way  of  knowledge  were,  it 
may  be  imagined,  of  themselves  barren  enough.  But 
to  him  these  were  the  keys  with  which  he  might 
unlock  learning's  storehouse.  Books  were  his  delight. 
He  overcame  the  lack  of  a  classical  education  by  a 
thorough  study  of  translations,  and  the  lore  of  Greece 
and  Rome  were  his  familiar  acquaintance.  He  was 
especially  fond  of  history,  and  there  were  few  classical 
works  in  this  line,  ancient  or  modern,  he  did  not 
know.     He  was  a  deep  political  student,  and  particu- 


240 


HISTORY    OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


larly  knew  the  political  history  of  his  own  country 
as  few  know  it.  He  was  an  unwearied  student,  and 
thus  as  the  years  went  on  he  became  equipped  with 
all  the  mental  outfit  of  a  gentleman.  He  had  a  cor- 
rect literary  taste,  and  was  as  quick  to  discern  genius 
or  special  talent  here  as  in  other  things.  He  wrote 
with  a  perspicuity  and  with  a  terse  Saxon  force  rare 
in  these  days.  Those  who  were  near  to  him  or  came 
in  contact  with  him  in  the  direction  of  aflFairs  he 
acted  upon  with  the  characteristic  qualities  of  his 
nature.  He  left  his  impress.  He  was  an  influence, 
and  many  there  are  who  can  rise  up  and  call  him 
blessed,  in  the  memory  of  the  chaste  and  elevating 
force  that  influence  was.  He  was  a  man  of  the  rarest 
courage — a  courage  that  seemed  to  have  no  weak 
side,  mental,  moral,  or  physical.  The  farthest  pos- 
sible remove  from  a  brawler  in  his  nature,  an  ac- 
quaintance with  him  never  failed  to  make  it  plain 
that  he  would  fight  on  call.  This,  coupled  with  the 
knowledge  that  he  was  a  "  dead-shot"  with  a  rifle, 
perhaps 'conspired  to  make  a  career  among  the  tur- 
bulent scenes  of  politics  singularly  free  from  personal 
disturbances.  His  mental  courage,  his  never-failing 
faith  in  the  power  of  attainment,  have  already  been 
spoken  of.  His  moral  courage,  as  is  shown  forth  in  a 
life  free  from  dross  as  few  lives  are,  was  rare  indeed. 
He  had  the  loftiest  sense  of  honor,  and  the  hottest 
anger  and  bitterest  contempt  for  a  dishonorable,  dis- 
honest, or  mean  thing,  and  condemnation  of  such 
leaped  to  bis  lips  in  a  moment,  for  he  had  all  the 
quickness  of  the  nervous  temperament.  But  so  pa- 
tiently did  he  work  for  its  control  that  in  his  later 
life  few  knew  from  the  calm  exterior  the  rage  that 
took  hold  of  him  at  the  sight  of  a  wrong  or  meanness. 
His  integrity  was  flawless.  He  had  not  merely 
the  heart  to  mean  rightly,  but  the  head  to  do  rightly, 
and  in  his  daily  walk  and  conversation  he  was  truth 
and  honesty  incarnate.  This  is  the  testimony  of  those 
who  knew  him  as  he  lived  among  them.  All  his 
life  Mr.  Defrees  had  not  been  a  professor  of  religion, 
but  if  religion  is  a  life  he  was  one  of  its  noblest 
exemplars.  He  was  twice  married,  having  by  his 
first  wife  a  daughter,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Cyril  Oakley,  of 
New  Orleans).  His  second  wife  was  Miss  Elizabeth 
Morris,  daughter  of  Morris  Morris,  of  Indianapolis, 


to  whom  were  born  children, — Morris  M.,Lulie,  John 
D.  and  Anthony  C.,  twins,  and  Thomas  M.  The 
death  of  Mr.  Defrees  occurred  at  Berkeley  Springs, 
W.  Va.,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1882. 

Early  in  the  year  1854,  Mr.  B.  R.  Sulgrove  joined 
Mr.  Defrees  in  the  editorial  conduct  of  the  Journal, 
and  in  a  few  days  was  given  the  entire  direction, 
Mr.  Defrees  confining  his  labors  to  the  business  de- 
partment. Mr.  Sulgrove  had  been  a  contributor  to 
the  Jnurnal  frequently  during  the  preceding  three 
or  four  years,  had  written  a  series  of  sketches  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1850  for  the  Loco- 
motive under  the  name  of  "  Timothy  Tugmutton," 
had  written  the  leading  articles  for  the  Hoosier 
City,  a  little  paper  published  by  the  apprentices  in 
the  Journal  office  in  1 852,  and  had  been  a.ssociated 
with  J.  P.  Chapman  in  the  Chanticleer.  At  that 
time  no  press  dispatches  were  received  here,  the  tele- 
graph reports  being  cut  from  the  evening  papers  of 
Cincinnati  when  received  the  same  night.  No  attempt 
had  ever  been  made  to  report  the  next  morning  the 
occurrences  of  the  night  before.  When  the  Eagle 
Machine-Works  were  first  burned  in  1852,  Mr.  J.  H. 
McNeeley,  then  city  editor  of  the  Jnaruul,  while  re- 
turning home  from  the  fire,  which  was  early  one  sum- 
mer night,  stopped  at  the  office,  took  the  forms  from 
the  press,  removed  some  indifferent  paragraph  of  new.s, 
and  set  up  and  inserted  a  brief  notice  of  the  fire.  Its 
appearance  next  morning  was  a  phenomenon  in  Indian- 
apolis journalism.  This  was  reformed  under  the  new 
administration  of  the  Journal.  City  Council  proceed- 
ings were  reported  the  same  night  and  published  next 
morning.  So  were  occasional  lectures  and  other  enter- 
tainments. In  1855  the  "  Old  Settlers'  Meeting"  held 
on  the  lawn  of  Calvin  Fletcher's  residence,  on  Virginia 
Avenue,  was  reported  verbatim — the  speeches  getting 
the  due  allowance  of  "  laughter"  and  "  applau.se" — to 
the  extent  of  five  columns.  It  was  the  first  attempt 
of  the  kind,  and  the  revolution  in  the  old-fashioned 
ways  of  the  local  press  was  an  accomplished  fact. 
Thenceforward  the  morning  had  to  see  the  night's 
doings  duly  reported.  During  the  earlier  part  of  the 
Crimean  war  telegraphic  press  dispatches  were  re- 
ceived, but  in  no  such  convenient  form  or  attractive 
abundance  as  now.     John   F.   Wallick,  the   present 


'^//r>^?y-i«^<s^^-<i>ecr. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


241 


superintendent  of  the  Western  Union,  received  the 
reports  on  a  long  ribbon  of  paper  that  he  had  to  haul 
out  of  a  big  box  after  it  bad  passed  along  under  the 
Morse  marker,  and  read  to  a  copyist  from  each  of  the 
papers,  usually  Mr.  Eugene  CuUey  for  the  Sentinel, 
and  Mr.  Sulgrove  for  the  Journal.  The  latter  was 
then  alone  and  had  all  the  work  to  do,  from  writing 
leaders  to  making  up  mail  items,  book  reviews,  city 
reports,  and  copying  telegraph.  The  dispatches  were 
often  greatly  confused.  The  yacht  of  the  New  York 
Associated  Press  would  board  a  steamer  oflF  Cape  Race, 
and  receive  a  news  summary  ready  made  up  to  be 
telegraphed  by  the  land  line  to  New  York  and 
over  the  West ;  and  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  a 
home  report  to  split  a  foreign  one,  and  leave  the  frag- 
ments an  hour  apart,  with  a  tired  editor  at  midnight 
to  pick  up  the  pieces  and  patch  up  an  intelligible  dis- 
patch from  them.  It  was  not  till  about  1856  or  1857 
that  Coleman  Wilson  received  the  first  reports  by 
sound,  and  made  life  a  little  less  burdensome  to  the 
overworked  editor  by  supplying  manifold  copies.  In 
1856,  Mr.  Barton  D.  Jones  obtained  a  portion  of  the 
stock  and  became  city  editor,  a  position  he  held  with 
decided  service  to  the  paper  and  his  own  reputation 
till  he  gave  it  up  to  enter  the  army  in  1861.  Austin 
H.  Brown  was  for  a  time  city  editor  during  the  war, 
also  Daniel  L.  Paine,  now  of  the  N'eivs. 

In  October,  1854,  Mr.  Defrees  sold  the  Journal, 
both  the  paper  and  the  job-office,  to  the  "  Journal 
Company,"  consisting  of  the  late  Ovid  Butler,  Joseph 
M.  Tilford,  James  M.  Mathes,  and  Rawson  Vaile. 
Mr.  Mathes  had  been  for  some  years  publishing  a 
religious  monthly  called  the  Christian  Record  in 
Bloomington,  and  Mr.  Vaile  had  been  publishing  a 
free-soil  paper  in  Wayne  County.  Mr.  Sulgrove 
retained  the  editorial  control.  Mr.  Vaile  gave  his 
time  to  the  counting-room  chiefly.  In  1858,  Mr. 
Sulgrove  purchased  Mr.  Butler's  interest,  and  subse- 
quently a  majority  of  the  stock,  which  he  sold,  in 
anticipation  of  going  to  Europe,  in  1863.  But  he 
retained  editorial  direction  till  the  summer  of  1864, 
having  been  the  chief  editor  then  for  more  than  ten 
years.  On  his  return  from  Europe  in  1867 — he  had 
gone  there  with  Governor  Morton  in  the  fall  of  1865 
— he  again  took  charge  of  the  Journal  for  some 
16 


months,  and  on  several  subsequent  occasions,  when 
the  proprietors  were  at  a  loss  for  a  temporary  man- 
ager, he  gave  them  such  assistance  as  he  could,  and 
till  1880  was  more  or  less  constantly  connected  with 
the  paper  as  editorial  writer.  In  1858-59  the  Jour- 
nal paid  Mr.  Devens,  of  Massachusetts,  for  a  weekly 
summary  of  the  features  of  valuable  patents  and  im- 
provements of  machinery,  and  this  was,  probably,  the 
first  "  outside"  work  that  an  Indianapolis  paper  had 
ever  paid  for  at  that  time.  Contributions  and  corre- 
spondence were  gratuitous  wholly  for  many  a  year 
after  1858,  except  where  special  value  secured  a 
special  remunerative  arrangement.  Till  1860  the 
oflSce  was  on  Pennsylvania  Street,  where  the 
"  Fletcher  &  Sharpe  Block"  stands,  having  been 
removed  there  from  No.  8  West  Washington  Street, 
the  "Sanders  Block,"  in  1849  or  1850.  During  Mr. 
Noel's  time  and  a  portion  of  that  of  Mr.  Douglass  it 
was  on  the  south  side  of  Washington  Street,  where 
the  "  Iron  Block"  is,  in  a  two-story  frame.  It  was 
first  published  in  a  frame  on  the  north  side  of  Wash- 
ington, opposite  the  "  Washington  Hall."  In  1860 
the  four-story  brick  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Circle 
and  Meridian  Streets  was  built  for  it  by  the  company. 
In  digging  the  cellar  a  son  of  Mr.  William  0.  Rock-- 
wood  was  killed  by  the  accidental  caving  in  of  the 
sandy  wall.  The  house  was  occupied  directly  after 
the  Presidential  election  of  1860.  In  1864  the 
company  sold  to  William  R.  Holloway  &  Co.,  and 
Mr.  Holloway  became  editor,  with  the  late  Judge 
Horatio  C.  Newcomb  as  political  editor.  He  had 
held  the  same  position  for  some  weeks  previously 
after  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Sulgrove.  In  February, 
1865,  James  Gr.  Douglass,  a  son  of  the  old  proprietor, 
and  Alexander  H.  Conner,  associated  themselves 
with  Mr.  Holloway  under  the  name  of "  Holloway, 
Douglass  &  Co."  In  the  winter  of  1866  the  late 
Samuel  M.  Douglass  joined  his  brother  James  and 
Mr.  Conner  and  bought  out  Mr.  Holloway,  retaining 
possession,  as  "  Douglass  &  Conner,"  till  1870.  In 
1866   they   purchased   the    old   First   Presbyterian 

Church, Dr.  P.  D.  Gurley's, — northeast  corner  of 

Market  and  Circle  Streets,  and  built  the  eastern  half 
of  the  present  Journal  building, — the  western  half 
was  built  by  Col.  Ruckle  about  ten  years  later,— and 


242 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


moved  into  it  early  in  1867.  Lewis  W.  Hasselman 
and  William  P.  Fishback  bought  the  establishment, 
and  Mr.  Fishback  became  editor  in  June,  1870.  Mr. 
Holloway,  then  postmaster,  purchased  a  sixth  inter- 
est. Mr.  Hasselman  gave  his  son  Otto  a  sixth  inter- 
est, and  Mr.  Thomas  D.  Fitch  purchased  a  sixth,  and 
this  combination  held  possession  till  January,  1872, 
when  a  second  "  Journal  Company,"  consisting  chiefly 
of  Jonathan  M.  Ridenour  and  Gen.  Nathan  Kimball, 
late  Stat-e  treasurer,  bought  out  Hasselman,  Fishback 
&  Co.,  and  carried  on  the  business  for  over  two  years. 
They  procured  a  "  Bullock  Perfecting  Press,"  the 
first  ever  brought  to  the  State.  In  1874-75,  Nicho- 
las Ruckle,  recently  sherifiF  of  the  county,  obtained  a 
controlling  interest  in  the  company,  and  Mr.  Ride- 
nour left  it.  Mr.  Ruckle  retained  the  business  mau- 
agement  till  1876,  when  he  sold  the  paper — retaining 
the  job  establishment — to  E.  B.  Martindale  and 
William  R.  Holloway.  He  subsequently  sold  the 
job  department  to  Hasselman  &  Co.,  who  still  keep 
it  in  the  same  place.  Elijah  B.  Martindale  and  Mr. 
Holloway  removed  the  paper  soon  after  their  pur- 
chase to  the  corner  room  of  the  Journal  building, 
then  recently  erected,  but  afterwards  removed  it  to 
the  "  Martindale  Block,"  on  Market  Street,  where  it 
is  yet.  In  1680  it  was  purchased  by  John  C.  New, 
assistant  United  States  treasurer,  and  his  son  Harry, 
who  still  hold  it. 

The  editor  of  the  Journal  now,  and  for  the  last 
two  or  three  years,  is  Elijah  W.  Halford.  His  first 
connection  with  it  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  war, 
as  city  editor.  During  a  portion  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Con- 
ner's tenure  of  the  tripod  Mr.  Halford  was  the  work- 
ing and  thinking  man,  and  demonstrated  an  unusual 
capability  for  hard  work  and  close  attention,  with  a 
liberal  share  of  literary  ability,  and  the  instinct  for 
news  that  makes  the  editor,  who  is  as  much  "  born" 
and  as  little  "made"  as  the  poet.  When  John  Young 
Scammon  started  the  Inter- Ocean,  of  Chicago,  he 
made  Mr.  Halford  the  managing  editor,  a  position  he 
retained  in  the  midst  of  much  embarrassment  till 
after  Mr.  Ridenour  became  business  manager  of  the 
Journal;  then  he  returned  here,  and  succeeded  John 
D.  Nicholas  in  his  old  position.  After  some  years 
he  left  it,  and  took  a  position  on   the  Evening  News, 


which  he  retained  for  a  year  or  two,  and  returned  to 
the  Journal  after  its  purchase  by  Mr.  New.  For 
some  time  he  was  associated  with  James  Paxton  Luse, 
the  political  editor  or  editor-in-chief,  but  when  that 
gentleman  retired,  some  two  years  ago,  Mr.  Halford 
took  the  whole  control,  under  Mr.  New's  direction, 
and  has  the  editorial  writing  done  wherever  he  can 
get  it  done  best.  The  plan  works  well,  for  the  Jour- 
nal has  never  been  so  uniformly  well  written  as  now, 
and  never  better  supported,  better  managed,  or  better 
esteemed,  if  so  well,  in  all  its  sixty  years  of  life.  Mr. 
New,  though  not  a  professional  or  even  an  amateur 
writer,  occasionally  does  some  of  the  most  vigorous  and 
striking  editorial  writing.  Mr.  Halford  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Journal  more  or  less  for  ten  years, — 
the  longest  connection  any  one  has  had  with  it,  except 
Mr.  Maguire,  who  was  editor  or  proprietor  twelve 
years ;  Mr.  Douglass,  who  was  a  proprietor  for  about 
eighteen  years  ;  Mr.  Noel,  who  was  a  proprietor  about 
eleven  years  ;  Mr.  Sulgrove,  who,  as  editor,  proprietor, 
and  editorial  contributor,  had  a  connection  with  it  more 
or  less  constantly  from  1851  to  1880,  nearly  thirty 
years ;  and  Col.  Holloway,  whose  connection  was 
pretty  nearly  continuous  for  about  twelve  years.  Mr. 
Defrees'  connection  lasted  only  about  nine  years,  and 
that  of  Charles  M.  Walker,  as  political  editor,  about 
as  long. 

The  Sentinel  began  publishing  a  daily  on  the  6th 
of  December,  1841.  The  Journal  published  its 
first  daily  on  the  12th  of  December,  1842,  and  con- 
tinued thereafter  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legisla- 
ture till  the  meeting  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
in  1850.  Then  it  published  by  contract  daily  ver- 
batim  reports,  from  the  official  reporter,  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  convention,  and  since  then  (Oct.  7, 
1850)  it  has  been  continued  uninterruptedly  as  a 
daily.  It  was  a  folio  till  January,  1866,  when  it 
appeared  as  a  quarto,  and  has  continued  so  ever  since. 
The  Sentinel  made  the  same  change  a  little  later. 
The  first  semi-weekly  edition  of  the  Journal  was  pub- 
lished Dec.  10,  1828;  the  first  tri-weekly,  Dec.  12, 
1838.  Two  attempts  have  been  made  to  publish  an 
evening  edition, — one  by  Hasselman  &  Fishback,  with 
the  late  accomplished  journalist,  George  C.  Harding, 
as  editor,  in  1871,  and  again  by  Judge  Martindale, — 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


243 


but  neither  prospered  and  was  soon  abandoned.  The 
Sentinel  has  never  tried  that  form  of  embarrassment. 
In  1840,  Mr.  Noel  and  Mr.  Douglass,  of  the  Journal, 
published  a  campaign  paper  called  the  Spirit  of '76, 
edited  by  Joseph  51.  Moore,  a  young  Whig  of  distin- 
guished literary  ability.  In  1844  he  edited  a  second 
campaign  paper  called  the  Whig  Rifle,  named  from  a 
well-known  anecdote  of  Mr.  Clay.  In  1 854  a  third  cam- 
paign sheet  was  published  by  Mr.  Defrees,  and  mainly 
written  by  Mr.  Sulgrove,  called  We,  the  People.  In 
that  contest  was  the  germ  of  the  Kepublican  party  of 
the  State.  In  1850,  September  4th,  E.  W.  H.  Ellis, 
who,  with  Mr.  John  S.  Spann,  had  purchased  the 
Sentinel  ^o\)-o&ce,  started  the  Indiana  Statesman,  a 
weekly  of  the  best  character, — superior  to  any  weekly 
we  had  then  had, — and  maintained  it  for  two  years, 
when  they  sold  it  to  the  Sentinel. 

In  1847,  April  3d,  three  apprentices  in  t\i&. Journal 
oflfice,  then  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Defrees,  and  located 
in  the  "  Sanders  Block,"  one  of  the  first  three-story 
brick  buildings  in  the  city,  on  the  north  side  of 
Washington  Street,  a  little  west  of  Meridian,  began 
the  publication  of  a  little  weekly,  as  a  sort  of  school- 
boy diversion,  called  the  Locomotive.  They  were 
Daniel  B.  Culley,  John  H.  Ohr,  and  David  R.  Elder. 
It  died  "  in  the  fullness  of  time"  in  three  months.  It 
was  revived  the  next  January  by  Douglass  &  Elder, 
enlarged  a  little,  and  filled  chiefly  with  the  sort  of 
matter  that  goes  to  the  composition  of  the  "  society" 
column  of  the  Sunday  papers  of  to-day.  It  was  all 
local,  and  covered  so  well  a  field  completely  neglected 
by  the  grave  political  organs  that  it  soon  began 
to  pay.  It  was  the  first  paper  that  the  women  and 
girls  wanted  to  read  regularly,  and  the  paper  that 
makes  itself  a  household  favorite  is  settled  for  life,  if 
it  chooses  to  be.  In  1850,  early,  John  R.  Elder  and 
John  Harkness  bought  it,  took  it  to  their  establish- 
ment on  the  site  of  the  Hubbard  Block,  and  speedily 
ran  its  circulation  in  the  county  far  above  any  other 
paper,  and  for  several  years  it  thus  got  the  publica- 
tion of  the  "  Letter  List."  Besides  its  sketches  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention  and  its  exposure  of  the 
drunken  orgies  of  the  expiring  Legislature  of  1851, — 
the  first  description  that  had  ever  appeared  of  an 
annual   disgrace  for  a  dozen  years, — it  published  a 


great  deal  of  local  correspondence  on  social  and  city 
and  religious  affairs,  and  probably  commanded  a 
stronger  influence  in  its  range  than  any  other  paper 
in  the  city.  It  was  entirely  neutral — not  independent 
— in  politics.  In  1861  the  proprietors  bought  the 
Sentinel  and  united  the  Locomotive  with  it.  In  the 
summer  of  1845  the  Locomotive  appeared  as  a  little 
sheet  about  as  big  as  a  sheet  of  note  paper,  and  con- 
tinued three  months.  Its  appearance  in  1847,  as  above 
related,  by  the  same  'prentice  publishers,  was  a  revival 
of  the  first  one. 

In  1845  or  1846  a  Mr.  Depuy  began  the  publica- 
tion here  of  an  anti-slavery  paper  called  the  Indiana 
Freeman.  It  was  a  good  paper.  Its  editor  was  a  fine 
scholar,  a  man  of  unusual  literary  attainments,  and 
was  assisted  by  a  few  accomplished  residents  of  his 
faith,  but  in  those  days  "abolitionism"  was  but  a 
little  less  odious  or  ruinous  stigma  than  pauperism 
or  brigandism.  Mr.  Depuy's  oflice,  on  the  south 
side  of  Washington,  on  the  site  of  the  Iron  Block, 
was  occasionally  threatened  with  violence,  and  on 
several  occasions  he  and  his  friends  watched  all  night 
to  protect  it,  but  nothing  worse  was  ever  done  than 
such  puerile  pranks  as  smearing  his  office  with  tar 
and  mud  and  taking  his  sign  away  and  putting  it  on 
some  out-house.  The  publication  was  stopped  in  a 
year  or  two. 

In  September,  1848,  Julius  Boetticher  began  the 
publication  of  the  Volkshlatt,  the  first  German  paper 
in  the  city,  possibly  the  first  in  the  State,  when  the 
German  immigration  was  not  large,  and  very  few  Ger- 
mans had  done  much  t6  create  the  national  reputation 
for  industry,  integrity,  and  thrift  which  is  now  so 
well  established.  It  was  a  bold  enterprise,  not  to 
say  an  audacious  one,  and  it  barely  escaped  a  disas- 
trous failure.  Mr.  Boetticher  did  his  own  work,  with 
the  help  of  his  little  daughter  on  the  "case"  and  his 
little  son  for  miscellaneous  service ;  but  as  little  outlay 
as  he  made  his  income  was  not  equal  to  it,  and  some 
years  afterwards  he  told  the  editor  of  the  Journal 
that  he  should  have  abandoned  the  enterprise  in 
despair  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  late  Professor 
Samuel  K.  Hoshour's  class  in  German.  The  profes- 
sor desired  his  pupils  to  learn  living  and  colloquial  as 
well  as  classic  German,  and  recommended  them  to  sub- 


244 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


scribe  for  a  German  paper.  The  Volksblatt  was  in 
its  tenth  or  twelfth  week,  and  growing  more  weakly 
all  the  time.  The  class — of  some  thirty  pupils — sub- 
scribed for  three  months  at  half  a  dollar  each,  and 
this  lift  put  the  paper's  head  above  water  long  enough 
to  give  it  a  good  vitalizing  breath.  It  was  main- 
tained for  nearly  twenty  years  by  Mr.  Boetticher. 
At  his  death  it  was  taken  by  the  "  Gutenberg  Com- 
pany," who  still  hold  it. 

Besides  these  five  early  weeklies — Chanticleer,  Lo- 
comotive, Statesman,  Freeman,  and  Volksblatt — that 
have  appeared  and  disappeared  after  a  length  and 
energy  of  life  enough  to  make  some  mark  on  the 
community,  there  are  several  others  to  be  noted  in 
the  history  of  the  city  press  chiefly  for  an  evanescence 
that  has  left  hardly  a  name  that  anybody  can  recall. 
In  1848  a  weekly  called  the  Free  Soil  Banner  was 
published  by  William  Greer  and  Lew  Wallace, — the 
general, — and  another.  The  late  Ovid  Butler  probably 
furnished  the  money.  The  Family  Visitor,  a  temper- 
ance paper,  was  started  by  Rev.  B.  T.  Kavanagh  in 
185L  About  the  year  1853  it  was  changed  to  the 
Temperance  Chart,  and  conducted  by  Jonathan  W. 
Gordon,  the  eminent  advocate.  The  Hoosier  City,  a 
little  local  weekly  started  by  the  Journal  oflice  boys, 
lived  three  months.  In  1852  the  Free  Soil  Democrat, 
by  Rawson  Vaile,  merged  in  the  Journal  in  1854.  In 
1853,  September  3d,  Theodore  Hielscher  established 
the  Freie  Presse  as  a  German  supporter  of  free-soil 
principles  against  the  Volksblatt,  which  was  decidedly 
Democratic.  It  was  continued  till  after  the  outbreak 
of  the  civil  war,  but  with  less  influence  than  it  might 
have  had-  if  Mr.  Hielscher  had  pcssessed  more  practi- 
cal sense  and  le.ss  unreasoning  enthusiasm.  He  was 
a  man  of  scholarship  and  ability,  but  he  was  incapable 
of  viewing  any  political  question  practically  and 
impartially.  He  could  see  nothing  but  the  logical 
tendency  or  result  of  a  principle,  and  there  he  would 
go  if  it  went  to  the  bottomless  pit.  In  1855,  Mr. 
Charles  Hand  started  the  Railroad  City,  and  made 
a  very  effective  hit  by  a  caricature  showing  a  couple 
of  prominent  Democrats  stealing  a  view  of  the  secret 
Know-Nothing  State  Convention  in  Masonic  Hall 
from  the  top  of  the  Masonic  out-house  in  the  rear. 
It  died  in  a  few  months.     About  the  same  time  Dr. 


Jordan  and  Mr.  Manford  began  the  publication  of 
the  Western  Universalist,  the  character  of  which  is 
sufficiently  indicated  by  its  name.  It  was  maintained 
for  a  couple  of  years  or  so.  Dr.  M.  G.  Clark  about 
the  same  time  started  the  Witness,  a  Baptist  weekly, 
printed  in  the  Journal  office.  It  lived  but  two  or 
three  years.  In  January,  1857,  Andrew  and  Solo- 
mon Bidwell  began  with  a  radical  weekly,  which  they 
called  the  Western  Presage,  admirable  in  mechanical 
execution,  but  frothy  in  mental  quality,  and  ran  it 
out  in  less  than  a  year.  In  1857,  Rev.  T.  A.  Good- 
win removed  to  the  capital  the  Indiana  American, 
an  anti-slavery,  anti-liquor  weekly,  that  had  been 
established  many  years  in  Brookville,  and  ranked 
among  the  best  in  the  State.  He  kept  it  fully  up 
to  its  reputation  here,  but  in  a  few  years  sold  it  to 
Downey  &  Co.,  who  made  a  daily  evening  paper  of 
it,  and  sold  it  to  Jordan  &  Burnett,  who  called  it  the 
Evening  Gazette,  made  it  a  very  creditable  paper,  but 
could  not  make  it  profitable,  and  sold  it  in  1868  to 
Smith  &  Co.,  who  sold  it  to  Shurtleff,  Macauley  & 
Co.,  who  sold  to  Mr.  C.  P.  Wilder,  who  sold  it  to  the 
Journal,  under  the  Douglass  &  Conner  administra- 
tion, to  be  sold  and  known  no  more.  The  American 
as  a  weekly  was  resumed  in  1869  by  Mr.  Goodwin, 
but  was  suspended  in  a  few  years  finally. 

The  war  was  not  an  encouraging  time  for  newspaper 
projectors.  The  demand  for  news  was  never  half  so 
eager  or  so  profitable  to  publishers,  but  it  seemed  fully 
satisfied  with  the  enterprise  and  efforts  of  the  papers 
already  established.  Soon  after  the  first  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  when  every  loyal  soul  was  sore  with  dis- 
appointment, and  expectation  was  hungry  for  com- 
pensating good  news,  the  Journal  began  publishing 
its  telegraphic  dispatches,  reporting  battles  and  mili- 
tary movements  first  in  slips,  and  later  in  a  little 
sheet  with  other  matter  to  make  a  sort  of  little 
evening  edition,  and  sold  them  to  newsboys  who 
made  the  streets  vocal  with  yells,  "  Journal,  extra, 
'nother  battle,"  till  far  into  the  night  often,  when 
additional  news  would  warrant  a  second  or  third 
edition  of  the  telegraphic  slips.  The  invariable  cry 
was  "  'nother  battle,"  whether  there  had  been  a  fight 
or  night.  It  sold  the  slips  and  sold  them  well.  No 
man  cared  for  change  for  a  dime,  as  long  as  we  had 


CITY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


246 


any  silver  money,  for  news  of  a  successful  Union 
fight,  and  the  hoys  many  a  time  got  ten  cents  and  a 
quarter  for  what  cost  them  but  a  cent.  It  was  a 
harvest  time  for  them  and  for  the  papers  that  had 
enterprise  to  use  it  well.  But  no  paper  was  begun 
in  the  city  in  that  time. 

On  Dec.  22, 1867,  the  late  George  C.  Harding,  with 
Mr.  M.  G.  Henry,  began  the  publication  of  the 
Saturday  Evening  Mirror,  on  West  Maryland  Street, 
near  Meridian.  In  a  year  or  so  John  R.  Morton  took 
Mr.  Henry's  place  in  the  publishing  department,  and 
the  late  William  B.  Viekers,  a  grandson  of  Nathan 
B.  Palmer,  joined  Mr.  Harding  in  the  editoral  work. 
Mr.  Harding  was  already  distinguished  in  his  profes- 
sion as  a  master  of  the  paragraphic  art,  and  a  skillful 
delineator  of  character,  as  well  as  a  clear-headed  and 
solid-reasoning  debater  of  such  public  questions  as  he 
chose  to  discuss ;  while  Mr.  Viekers  was  fast  earning 
he  reputation  with  which  he  died  before  his  prime, 
of  a  graceful  fancy  and  refined  taste,  with  no  little  of 
the  pungency  in  paragraphic  work  of  his  more  noted 
associate.  In  the  winter  of  1869,  during  the  session 
of  the  Legislature,  the  Mirror  was  published  as  an 
evening  daily,  and  continued  till  it  was  bought  by  Mr. 
HoUiday,  of  the  News,  and  consolidated  with  that 
rapidly-growing  evening  paper.  The  weekly  was  not 
attempted  to  be  continued  after  the  sale  of  the  daily, 
and  Mr.  Viekers  began  a  weekly  in  its  place  called 
Toivn  Talk.  In  a  few  weeks,  however,  Mr.  Harding 
revived  the  Mirror,  made  a  second  union  with  Mr. 
Viekers,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1870,  sold  out 
to  the  latter,  who  carried  on  the  paper  with  moderate 
success  till  he  took  a  position  as  managing  editor  of 
the  Journal  about  1871,  when  he  sold  it  to  B.  0. 
MuUiken,  who  killed  it  in  a  few  weeks.  At  this  time 
Mr.  Harding  was  in  charge  of  the  first  evening  edition 
of  the  Journal,  which  his  ability  maintained  for  a 
time  against  the  better  management  of  the  News,  but 
it  "  cost  more  than  it  came  to,"  in  the  old  backwoods 
phrase,  and  was  abandoned.  Mr.  Harding  then  formed 
a  connection  with  a  Cincinnati  paper,  and  later  with  a 
Louisville  paper,  and  returned  to  Indianapolis  in  a 
year  or  two  and  began  the  publication  of  the  Saturday 
Herald  in  1873,  in  connection  with  Mr.  A.  C.  Grooms, 
for  many  years  cashier  of  the  Journal  counting-room. 


The  latter  gave  place  to  Mr.  Samuel  N.  Bannister  the 
same  year,  and  he,  with  some  money  and  a  great  deal 
of  energy,  soon  made  it  a  profitable  enterprise.  In 
1876,  Mrs.  Gertrude  Garrison  became  editorially  con- 
nected with  it  and  materially  assisted  it  by  her  ability. 
A  couple  of  years  or  so  after  her  accession  to  the 
Herald  Mr.  Harding's  difficulty  with  Mr.  Light  oc- 
curred, and  his  mental  condition  put  him  in  an  asylum 
near  Cincinnati  for  some  weeks.  After  his  trial  and 
acquittal  in  court  he  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  Herald 
to  Mr.  Bannister,  and  went  to  Iowa,  where  he  bought 
a  weekly  and  ran  it  for  the  better  part  of  a  year.  In 
the  fall  of  1880  he  returned  here,  and  in  connection 
with  Charles  Dennis,  a  versatile  and  accomplished 
writer,  aided  by  Mrs.  Garrison,  established  the  Satur- 
day Review.  An  accidental  injury  to  one  of  his  legs 
in  May,  1881,  terminated  in  a  fatal  attack  of  erysip- 
elas, and  then  Mr.  Dennis  and  A.  C.  Jameson  took 
the  Review  for  a  few  months,  when  Mr.  Jameson  gave 
way  to  Mr.  Bert.  Metoalf  In  1883,  Mr.  John  0. 
Hardesty,  a  veteran  and  well-known  editor,  bought 
the  paper  and  still  holds  it  successfully.  The  Herald 
was  kept  up  by  Mr.  Bannister  alone  for  some  months 
after  Mr.  Harding  had  retired.  Then  he  sold  an  in- 
terest to  jNIr.  A.  H.  Dooley,  formerly  of  Terre  Haute, 
who  had  successfully  established  the  Argo  in  Quiney, 
111.  It  has  been  editorially  controlled  by  Mr.  Dooley 
since  1880,  with  the  effect  of  making  it  one  of  the 
cleanest  and  best  family  papers  ever  published  in  any 
State.  Mr.  Hardesty  does  the  same  for  the  Review, 
following  the  course  of  Mr.  Dennis. 

A  few  days  after  the  suspension  of  the  Mirror  by 
Mr.  Harding,  his  partner,  John  R.  Morton,  started 
the  Journal  of  Commerce,  a  weekly  devoted  to  trade 
and  finance.  It  was  at  first  edited  by  Enos  B.  Read, 
the  founder  of  the  People,  and  then  by  Dr.  W.  S. 
Pierce,  a  distinguished  business  man  and  politician, 
and  brother-in-law  of  Governor  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks. It  was  kept  up  with  indiff'erent  success  for 
about  two  years.  Soon  after  leaving  the  Journal  of 
Commerce,  Mr.  B.  B.  Read,  in  connection  with 
Harry  Shellman  and  George  J.  Schley,  began  the 
publication  of  the  People  as  a  Sunday  paper,  with 
occasional  illustrations  and  a  special  devotion  to  local 
news  and  interests.     It  was  speedily  successful,  and 


246 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


continues  with  no  apparent  decline.  It  has  been 
pubHshed  for  some  years  in  the  old  Journal  building, 
on  the  corner  of  Circle  and  Meridian  Streets.  Mr. 
Read  has  good  assistance,  but  when  his  health  allows 
him  to  attend  to  his  own  work  he  makes  as  interesting 
and  valuable  a  weekly  as  one  could  wish  for  Sunday 
reading,  though  the  People  is  now,  And  has  been 
for  a  half-dozen  years,  published  as  a  Saturday 
paper.  Contemporaneously  with  these  weeklies  two 
children's  or  Sunday-school  papers  were  published  by 
Rev.  W.  W.  Dowling,  The  Little  Sower  and  The 
Little  Watchman,  both  dead  or  removed  now. 
During  the  financial  discussions  that  arose  in  the 
general  embarrassments  following  the  panic  of  1873, 
the  Sun  was  established,  as  the  organ  of  the  "  Green- 
back" or  "  Fiat"  party,  by  James  Buchanan,  and 
maintained  here  by  him  and  Edward  S.  Pope  and 
others  with  ability  and  influence  till  a  year  or  so  ago, 
when  it  was  removed  to  Richmond,  in  this  State. 
Very  recently  it  returned  here.  The  Globe,  an 
ephemeral  publication,  was  merged  in  the  Swi. 
The  Tribune  is  a  German  daily  of  liberal  opinions, 
edited  by  Mr.  Philip  Rappaport,  a  lawyer  and  a 
gentleman  of  fine  attainments;  office,  62  South  Dela- 
ware Street.  The  Telegraph  is  a  German  Demo- 
cratic daily  established  about  the  year  1867,  pub- 
lished by  the  ■'  Gutenberg  Company,"  at  27  South 
Delaware  Street.  The  same  company  publishes  the 
Weekly  Telegraph  and  the  Spottvogel,  or  Mocking 
Bird,  a  Sunday  paper,  and  the  Volksblatt.  The 
Telegraph  is  one  of  the  best  newspapers  in  the  city, 
and  has  a  patronage  equal  to  its  merit.  The  other 
dailies  in  full  life  are  the  ^ieios  and  Times. 

The  A^ews  was  established  by  Mr.  John  H.  HoUi- 
day,  in  December,  1869,  the  first  number  appearing 
on  the  7th  of  that  month.  Mr.  Holliday  had  the 
newspaper  experience  of  some  years  of  service  on  the 
Sentinel  and  other  city  papers  to  enable  him  to  judge 
shrewdly  of  his  means  and  opportunities,  and  he  saw 
a  good  place  to  put  a  cheap  evening  paper  with  all 
the  news  of  a  costly  morning  one,  condensed  when 
practicable,  in  full  when  desirable,  and  vary  it  with 
editorial  matter  dictated  solely  by  his  own  judgment, 
with  no  reference  to  party  interests  or  purposes.  He 
would  do  no  "  puffing,"  and  have  no  reciprocity  of 


favors  that  always  leaves  a  paper  a  large  creditor  in 
the  end.  He  really  "  filled  a  long-felt  want,"  and  the 
A^etos  was  a  definite  success  almost  from  the  start,  but 
it  had  some  serious  difliculties  to  overcome.  Patience, 
energy,  and  fair  dealing  have  worked  out  their  usual 
result,  and  the  JVews  has  the  largest  daily  circulation 
of  any  paper  in  the  State.  With  Mr.  Holliday  has 
been  associated,  almost  from  the  start,  Daniel  L. 
Paine,  a  poet  who  is  subject  to  the  unusual  failing  of 
writing  too  little,  the  author  of  several  beautiful  ope- 
rettas which  he  has  never  had  set  to  music  or  put  on 
the  stage ;  the  author  also  of  "  Elberon,"  the  best 
poem  on  the  death  of  President  Garfield  that  was 
published  in  any  newspaper  in  the  country  at  the 
time.  For  some  eight  years  or  so  Mr.  Morris  Ross 
has  done  the  editorial  writing  and  contributed  largely 
to  the  establishment  of  the  paper's  reputation  for  wide 
and  accurate  information  and  literary  ability.  Gideon 
B.  Thompson  has  been,  at  one  time  or  another,  still 
longer  connected  with  the  city  department,  and  made 
a  reputation  in  its  conduct  both  for  himself  and  the 
paper. 

The  Times  was  begun  in  July,  1881,  by  William 
R.  Holloway,  who  had  then  recently  left  the  post- 
office  after  a  twelve  years'  term.  He  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  press  from  childhood  almost.  His 
father,  at  one  time  commissioner  of  patents,  was 
for  years  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Richmond 
(Wayne  County)  Palladium,  and  while  still  in  his 
nonage  William  became  a  printer  and  compositor  on 
a  Cincinnati  paper.  He  served  Governor  Morton, 
his  brother-in-law,  as  private  secretary  till  his  pur- 
chase of  the  Journal,  in  1864,  but  thenceforward  he 
was  almost  always  connected  with  a  newspaper,  even 
when  attending  to  the  multifarious  duties  of  post- 
master of  a  large  office  like  that  of  Indianapolis.  He 
had  the  knowledge  of  the  business,  the  enterprise, 
and  energy  for  the  projector  of  a  large  morning 
daily,  and  he  used  them  with  admirable  judgment 
and  complete  success  in  establishing  the  Times. 
Charles  M.  Walker,  then  recently  editor-in-chief  of 
the  Journal,  became  editor  of  the  Times,  and  since 
his  acceptance  of  the  chief  clerkship  of  the  post- 
office  department  under  Judge  Gresham,  at  Wash- 
ington,  Mr.  Smith  has  done   the   editorial  writing 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


247 


mainly,  and  has  done  it  well,  so  that  no  change  is 
perceptible.  The  city  department  is  admirably  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Cobb. 

The  Sunday  Times,  now  usually  a  double  quarto, 
is  one  of  the  most  attractive  publications  in  the  coun- 
try. The  weekly  of  the  Times  is  the  Industrial 
Times,  and  is  made  an  entirely  non-partisan  paper. 
It  is  an  excellent  publication  for  working  men  and 
families  of  all  classes.  The  Journal,  it  may  be 
noticed  here,  publishes  a  folio  supplement  on  Satur- 
day, the  Sentinel  a  quarto  supplement  sometimes, 
sometimes  a  folio  on  Sunday.  Both  the  Sunday 
papers  are  admirable  publications,  and  have  a  very 
large  circulation.  The  News  usually  publishes  an 
eight-column  page  on  Saturday  evening,  instead  of 
the  ordinary  seven-column  page.  The  German  Spott- 
vogel  is  a  Sunday  paper.  About  the  1st  of  Novem- 
ber, 1883,  the  "  Indiana  Publishing  Company"  began 
the  publication  of  a  humorous  weekly,  with  cartoons, 
in  the  fashion  of  Punch  and  Puck  and  all  the  comic 
papers  of  the  past  and  present.  The  illustrations  as 
well  as  the  reading-matter  promise  to  make  the 
enterprise  as  successful  as  it  is  entertaining.  It  should 
be  noted  here  that  both  the  Sunday  Times  and  Sun- 
day Sentinel  have  a  department  devoted  exclusively 
to  the  interests,  social  and  political,  of  women,  called 
the  Women's  Department.  That  of  the  Sentinel  is 
edited  by  Mrs.  Florence  Atkinson,  and  that  of  the 
Tiincs  by  Mrs.  Mary  Wright  Sewall.  Both  are  well 
written  and  carefully  made  up. 

The  list  of  little  dailies  and  weeklies  and  month- 
lies that  have  come  up  and  flourished  a  few  months 
or  years  and  died,  and  left  no  sign  of  their  existence 
but  a  name  that  few  remember,  is  a  long  one,  and 
probably  impossible  to  make  complete,  but  as  nearly 
as  it  can  be  done  it  is  done  in  the  following  state- 
ment :  Of  dead  dailies  there  is,  first,  the  Dispatch, 
published  by  W.  Thompson  Hatch  about  the  year 
1850,  mainly  to  provide  a  place  for  eulogistic  notices 
of  members  of  the  Legislature.  It  died  in  a  few 
months,  and  has  been  wholly  forgotten  ever  since. 
In  1857,  Cameron  &  McNeeley  began  the  publication 
of  the  Citizen,  and  kept  it  in  pretty  brisk  existence 
for  about  two  years,  when  John  D.  Defrees  bought  it 
and  merged  it  in  his  Atlas,  which  he  started,  in  1859, 


on  South  Meridian  Street,  printing  it  with  an  Erics- 
son hot-air  engine,  the  first  one  ever  brought  here, 
and  the  only  one,  probably.  Mr.  Defrees  kept  his 
paper  going  till  after  the  election  of  1860.  Iti  1861 
he  sold  it  to  the  Journcd,  which  thus  absorbed  the 
Citizen  and  Atlas.  It  may  be  as  well  noted  here 
that  the  Journal  subsequently  bought  the  Evening 
Gazette  (about  1867),  the  Times  in  1870,  and  in 
1871  the  Evening  Commercial.  In  June,  1870,  the 
Daily  Times  was  started  by  Dynes  &  Cheney  nom- 
inally, but  really  by  James  H.  Woodard,  the  well- 
known  correspondent  "  Jayhawker."  It  died  in  a 
week,  and  was  bought  as  just  stated.  The  Evening 
Commercial  was  first  published  by  Dynes  &  Co.  in 
1867,  and  then  sold  to  M.  G.  Lee,  who  conducted  it 
till  1871,  when  it  was  sold  to  the  Journal  &Xidi  made 
the  Evening  Journal. 

The  weeklies  established  recently  and  still  living, 
besides  those  already  referred  to,  are  The  Inde- 
pendent, by  Sol.  Hathaway,  a  nou-partisan,  but  not 
"  neutral"  paper,  of  decided  opinions  and  a  large  local 
circulation,  maintained  by  Mr.  Hathaway's  well- 
known  humor  and  ability  to  treat  commonplace 
things  entertainingly ;  the  Indiana  Baptist,  pub- 
lished by  Elgin  &  Chaille ;  Indiana  Farmer,  34 
East  Market  Street ;  The  Indianapolis  Leader, 
organ  of  colored  citizens,  by  Bagby  Brothers ;  The 
Indianapolis  World,  also  an  organ  and  champion 
of  colored  rights ;  The  Educational  Weekly ;  The 
Live  Stock  Review,  476  South  Illinois  Street ;  The 
Republican,  42  North  Delaware  Street ;  The  Moni- 
tor Journal,  published  by  M.  E.  Shiel,  old  Sentinel 
building  on  Market  and  Circle  Streets;  Southside 
and  Country,  after  some  years  of  existence  and  in- 
fluence, has  been  suspended  and  succeeded  by  the  Ga- 
zette; Monroe's  Ironclad  Age  is  the  quaint  title  of 
a  "  free-thinking"  paper,  conducted  on  North  Illinois 
Street  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Monroe,  for  many  years  one  of 
the  foremost  and  best-known  writers  of  the  State, 
and  a  poet  of  great  fertility  of  fancy,  and  vigor  not 
to  say  vehemence  of  style.  His  paper  is  largely  read 
by  "sceptics,"  "evolutionists,"  and  "agnostics," 
and  commands  correspondence  from  all  parts  of  the 
country;  Western  Citizen,  started  by  Thomas  Mc- 
Sheehy  and  his  brother  five  or  six  years  ago,  was 


248 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


recently  suspended  and  succeeded  by  the  New  Record, 
as  a  sort  of  Catholic  organ ;  Western  Sportsman  and 
Live  Stock  News,  published  by  Nelson  Randall,  18J 
North  Pennsylvania  Street;  the  ZiiJcun/t,  a  German 
paper  published  by  the  Gutenberg  Company,  27 
South  Delaware  Street.  The  Grand  Army  Gruard 
was  started  in  July,  1883,  as  the  organ  of  the  great 
patriotic  body  from  which  it  takes  its  name.  It  is 
edited  by  Ben.  D.  House,  long  connected  with  the 
city,  and  known  all  over  the  State  as  one  of  its  first 
poets.  The  only  semi-weekly  is  the  Bulletin.  These, 
with  the  older  weeklies,  make  as  complete  a  list  as 
is  now  attainable.  Those  that  have  died,  besides  those 
already  named,  are  the  Organette,  published  by  Sam- 
uel LefiBngwell ;  the  Iconoclast,  of  unsavory  reputation  ; 
the  Torchlight,  of  which  little  is  known  but  the  name. 
The  living  monthlies,  including  the  semi-monthly 
Manufacturer,  published  by  Max  Hyman,  are  first 
and  foremost  the  Former.  The  Indiana  Farmer 
was  established  by  Osborn  &  Willetts  as  early  as 
18-35  or  1836,  but  ran  out  about  1840,  when  Mr. 
Noel  revived  it,  with  Henry  Ward  Beecher  as  editor. 
If  the  latter  knew  nothing  much  about  farming  he 
knew  a  great  deal,  instinctively  or  experimentally, 
about  human  nature,  and  made  his  magazine  quite 
as  valuable  and  a  good  deal  more  interesting  than  men 
would  who  were  better  farmers.  It  went  down  when 
Mr.  Beecher  left  in  1847,  but  it  has  been  revived 
and  suspended  several  times  since,  till  some  ten  or  a 
dozen  years  ago,  when  the  Northwestern  Farmer, 
started  by  T.  A.  Bland,  was  taken  in  hand  by  Mr. 
J.  G.  Kingsbury  and  Mr.  Caldwell,  and  made  one  of 
the  permanent  and  indispensable  agricultural  publica- 
tions of  the  West.  The  Drainage  and  Farm  Jour- 
nal, published  by  J.  J.  W.  Billingsley,  No.  32  Thorpe 
Block ;  Gleaner  and  Miller,  published  by  Andrews 
&  Moore — it  does  not  appear  in  the  mailing  list  of 
the  post-office ;  Indiana  Official  Railway  Guide, 
published  by  Hasselman  &  Co.,  Journal  building ; 
Crown  of  Glory,  succeeding  Happy  Pilgrim,  No.  88 
East  Georgia  Street ;  the  Indianapolis  School  Jour- 
nal, published  by  William  A.  Bell,  Journal  building; 
Industrial  Journal,  No.  70  East  Market  Street; 
Masonic  Advocate,  published  by  Martin  &  Rice,' No. 
14  Masonic  Temple ;  Millstone,  an  industrial  paper 


published  by  the  Nordyke  &  Marmon  Machine- 
Works  Company,  edited  by  David  H.  Ranck ; 
National  Lesson  Paper,  by  the  Standard  Publish- 
ing Company,  No.  35  Thorpe  Block ;  National 
Presbyterian,  published  by  the  same  company ;  Odd- 
Fellows'  Talisman  and  Literary  Journal,  published 
by  John  Reynolds,  Odd-Fellows'  Hall ;  Physio-Med- 
ical Journal,  No.  7 1  East  Ohio  Street ;  Pythian 
Journal,  No.  27  South  Meridian  Street ;  Rough  Notes, 
an  insurance  paper  published  by  Rough  Notes  Com- 
pany, Thorpe  Block  ;  Scholar's  Monthly,  by  Stand- 
ard Publishing  Company,  Thorpe  Block  ;  The  School 
Neics,  Henry  D.  Stevens  publisher,  Plymouth  Church 
building ;  The  Jersey  Bulletin,  a  record  and  publica- 
tion in  the  interest  of  breeders  and  fanciers  of  Jersey 
cattle,  published  by  F.  M.  Churchman,  one  of  the 
most  noted  breeders  of  Jersey  stock ;  the  Indiana 
Medical  Journal',  The  Pharmacist,  the  Wood- 
worker, Western  Record,  Organizer,  Fanciers'  Gor 
zette,  Indiana  Laio  Magazine,  Missionary  Tidings, 
succeeding  Woman's  Own ;  Midland  Monthly,  suc- 
ceeding the  Telephone;  Agricultural  Press,  pub- 
lished by  Cyrus  T.  Nixon. 

The  recently-started  monthlies  that  have  a  little 
more  recently  disappeared  are  Farm,  Herd,  and 
Home,  begun  some  two  or  three  years  ago  by  Austin 
H.  Brown  and  A.  Abromet,  very  recently  suspended ; 
After  Supper,  the  fanciful  title  of  a  literary  and 
family  publication  ;  the  Telephone,  a  very  promising 
literary  magazine,  suspended  within  a  year  and  re- 
placed by  the  Midland  Monthly;  Woman's  Own, 
replaced  by  Missionary  Tidings;  Trans- Continental, 
recently  suspended ;  Cock  and  Hen,  succeeded  by 
the  Fanciers'  Gazette ;  Our  Folks,  stopped  about  a 
year  ago.  The  Champion  and  Revista  are  dead 
monthlies  of  which  nothing  is  left  but  the  name. 

In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
press  justice  to  the  present  management  of  the  lead- 
ing papers  requires  a  recognition  of  the  great  im- 
provement in  them  in  two  directions,  aside  from  their 
greater  resources,  better  systems,  and  larger  enter- 
prise. Personalities  have  almost  wholly  disappeared. 
Attacks  on  private  character  are  nearly  unknown. 
Editors  don't  coddle  or  "cuss"  each  other  by  name, 
as  they  did  thirty  years   ago   or  twenty  years   ago. 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


249 


Tom  Smith,  of  the  Brvshburff  Bugle,  doesn't  ask 
Bill  Harris,  of  the  Oakridge  Owl,  to  "  drop  in  and 
take  something  the  next  time  he  is  in  the  town,"  or 
ask  him  "how  his  lame  leg  is;"  and  such  things 
were  common  in  the  country  papers  in  the  decade 
preceding  the  war,  and  not  unknown  to  city  papers. 
The  identification  of  the  editor  and  his  paper  was 
nearly  as  absolute  as  his  identification  with  his  name, 
and  even  "  metropolitan"  journals  often  spoke  of  an 
editorial  outgiving  as  something  coming  from  that 
"  fool,  Jones,"  or  the  "  shrewd  and  judicious  Brown." 
It  is  not  thirty  years  since  Greeley  told  Raymond  he 
"  lied,"  and  called  him  a  "  little  villain."  A  reform 
was  begun,  though  by  no  means  completed,  in  this 
direction  by  the  same  influences  that  reformed  the 
country-village  fashions  of  the  daily  Journal  and 
Sentinel  in  1854,  and  thenceforward.  The  practice 
of  alluding  to  the  paper  impersonally,  excluding  all 
personal  reference,  took  root  then,  and  spread  in  time 
to  the  country  papers.  Now  it  would  surprise  an  In- 
dianapolis reader  to  see  his  paper  calling  the  editor  of 
another  paper  a  "  liar"  or  mentioning  his  name  at  all 
in  connection  with  any  editorial  utterance.  The 
access  of  impersonality  has  greatly  improved  the  tone 
of  the  press  by  enhancing  its  sense  of  its  dignity. 

The  other  direction  in  which  there  has  been  a 
decided  improvement  is  the  relaxation  or  disregard 
of  party  discipline.  Party  organs  sometimes  criticise 
party  action  and  party  leaders  in  a  way  that  would 
have  made  a  leader  or  editor  of  1844  or  1852  "  stare 
and  gasp."  Not  only  so,  but  very  many  more  papers 
disclaim  all  party  allegiance,  and  hold  themselves  free 
to  act  as  they  deem  best  than  formerly.  It  was  the 
common  reproach  of  neutral  papers  thirty  years  ago 
that  they  had  not  "brains  enough  to  form  an  opinion." 
And  there  was  so  far  a  basis  for  it  that,  while  neutral 
papers  were  very  neutral  and  very  far  from  being  un- 
common, an  independent  paper  was  very  uncommon. 
Now  all  this  is  changed.  A  neutral  paper,  that  is,  a 
newspaper,  not  a  literary  or  specialty  paper,  is  a  rarity ; 
an  independent  paper  with  opinions  on  all  public  sub- 
jects and  a  ready  declaration  of  them  is  a  familiar 
exi.stence.  Thirty  years  ago  a  partisan  editor  would 
as  soon  have  repudiated  his  wife  as  any  public  declara- 
tion of  a  leader  or  any  assertion  of  a  platform 


felt  bound  to  stand  by  everything  the  party  did  or 
demanded,  to  magnify  every  good  thing  and  excuse 
or  palliate  every  bad  one.  He  "  never  scratched  a 
ticket"  or  questioned  a  nomination.  There  are  plenty 
of  these  "  thick-and-thin"  partisans  yet,  and  always 
will  be,  but  there  are  ten  who  will  not  put  on  such 
manacles  now  to  one  that  was  as  self-supporting 
thirty  or  even  twenty  years  ago.  The  party  paper  of 
the  decade  before  the  war  never  quoted  anything 
from  one  of  the  "adverse  faction"  except  to  contra- 
dict or  ridicule  it.  Now  it  is  common  for  partisan 
papers  to  copy  antagonistic  articles  and  let  an  oppo- 
nent speak  for  himself.  There  is  no  doubt  more  sor- 
didness,  more  meanness,  more  sneaking  corruption  in 
parties  nowadays  than  there  used  to  be,  but  there  is 
also  more  liberality  of  sentiment,  more  courtesy,  and 
more  general  and  accurate  information  in  party  dis- 
cussions in  the  press  than  there  ever  was  before. 


He 


CHAPTER    XI. 

CITY  OF    INDIANAPOLIS— (Co.Kinuerf.) 

Public  Buildings— Public  Halls — Theatres — Lectures — Concerts 

Musical  and  Art   Societies — Literary  and   other   Clubs — 

Hotels. 

Court-House. — The  old  court-house,  of  which  a 
complete  account  appears  in  the  general  history,  was 
found  to  be  inadequate  long  before  its  removal  and 
replacement  by  a  better  one  were  decided  upon  in 
1869-70.  But  for  the  heavy  expense  caused  by  the 
payment  of  bounties  to  volunteers  to  avert  a  conscrip- 
tion, a  new  building  would  have  been  commenced 
several  years  sooner.  The  new  court-house  fronts 
southward  towards  Washington  Street,  eighty  feet 
from  the  street  line,  with  east  and  west  entrances, 
little  inferior  to  the  main  front,  on  Alabama  and  Dela- 
ware Streets,  seventy-two  feet  from  each.  The  north 
side  is  nearly  half  the  length  of  the  square  south  of 
the  line  of  Market  Street.  This  space  is  reserved  for 
any  future  buildings  that  may  be  needed,  the  chief  of 
which  will  probably  be  a  city  prison.  The  length  of 
the  structure  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet  six 
inches  by  one  hundred  and  six  feet  five  inches,  exclu- 


250 


HISTORY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


sive  of  the  projections,  which  are  eight, — one  on  the 
centre  of  the  south  front,  seventy-four  feet  six  inches 
long  by  seventeen  deep ;  one  on  the  rear  or  north 
side,  eighty-nine  feet  four  inches  by  thirteen  feet ;  one 
twenty-four  feet  two  inches  by  six  feet  nine  inches 
on  the  centre  of  each  end  on  the  east  and  west  fronts; 
four  on  the  extremes,  two  of  which  are  twenty-six 
feet  by  three  feet  eight  inches  on  the  south  front, 
and  two  are  twenty-one  by  one  foot  three  inches  on 
the  rear.  These,  together  with  the  intermediate 
spaces,  form  the  several  bays  of  the  building,  all 
of  which  terminate  within  the  line  of  the  main 
roof,  except  tliree  projections  which  constitute  a 
part  of  the  tower  and  the  pavilions,  which  are 
raised  above  the  apex  of  the  main  roof,  the  former 
ninety-seven  and  the  latter  twenty-eight  feet.  The 
height  to  the  top  of  the  backing  above  the  main  cor- 
nice, which  has  a  common  level,  belting  both  tower 
and  pavilion,  is  sixty-two  feet  nine  inches ;  height  to 
the  top  of  the  crest  cornice,  seventy-nine  feet ;  height 
to  the  apex  of  the  main  roof,  ninety-four  feet ;  height 
to  top  of  crestings  of  pavilions,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  feet ;  height  to  top  of  tower,  one  hundred 
and  ninety-four  feet,  measuring  from  the  ground  line, 
which  is  raised  four  feet  eight  inches  above  the  street 
grade  (in  early  times  the  court-house  square  was 
lower,  so  that  water  stood  in  puddles  over  it  after  a 
rain).  The  main  edifice  consists  of  three  stories,  ex- 
cept that  portion  occupied  by  court-rooms,  which  is 
two  stories  in  height,  exclusive  of  the  basement  and 
mansards,  the  former  extending  under  and  the  latter 
over  the  entire  building.  The  basement  is  sixteen 
feet  high  ;  the  first  story,  sixteen  feet ;  second  story, 
thirteen  feet  six  inches ;  third  story,  thirteen  feet  six 
inches ;  court-room  stories,  twenty-eight  feet ;  man- 
sard, twenty-one  feet.  Some  forty  or  more  polished 
red  granite  pillars,  from  Peterhead,  Scotland,  decorate 
the  upper  projections. 

The  stairways  descend  into  the  basement  from  the 
south  and  east  and  west  fronts.  From  the  first  floor 
they  ascend  to  the  second'from  near  the  centre  of  the 
hall,  which  opens  clear  to  the  roof  and  is  lighted  by 
skylights.  A  broad  bridge  joins  the  halls  on  each  side 
of  the  balustrade  surrounding  the  open  space  over  the 
stairways.      At  each  end  a  stairway  ascends  from  the 


second  story  to  the  third,  in  a  line  with  the  lower 
stairway,  but  set  forward  some  thirty  feet  or  so.  The 
halls  are  finished  in  "  carton  pierre,"  or  paper-stone, 
and  fresco,  with  a  bewildering  profusion  of  colors  and 
figures  that  make  a  stronger  impression  of  gaudiness 
and  "gingerbread"  work  than  richness  or  elegance. 
The  court-rooms  are  of  much  the  same  character, 
with  emblematic  frescoes  on  the  ceilings  which  are 
certainly  no  marvels  of  artistic  taste  or  skill.  A  gal- 
lery entered  from  the  third  story  surrounds  three  sides 
of  each  of  the  three  Superior  Court  rooms,  the  Circuit 
Court  room,  and  the  Criminal  Court  room.  This  last, 
on  the  north  side,  is  the  largest  in  the  building,  and 
is  used  as  the  hall  of  the  House  when  the  Legislature 
is  in  session.  The  room  next  to  it  at  the  east  end, 
one  of  the  Superior  Court  rooms,  is  used  as  the  Sen- 
ate Chamber.  The  basement  is  wholly  occupied  by 
city  ofiices ;  the  first  floor  by  county  oSices  and 
the  county  library ;  the  second  by  court-rooms  and 
the  necessary  appendages,  jury-rooms  and  the  like. 
The  mansard  is  occupied  by  court-room  galleries,  by 
court-rooms  when  the  Legislature  is  in  session,  and  by 
rooms  for  old  records  and  other  uses.  In  the  tower 
is  a  good  clock  with  a  bad  face,  hard  to  see  two  squares 
away  in  the  daytime,  and  invisible  at  night  under  the 
weak  illumination  it  gets  from  inside.  The  bell  can 
be  heard  at  the  city  limits  at  night,  rarely  at  all  in  the 
daytime  anywhere  out  of  sight  of  the  clock  dial. 
The  style  of  the  building  is  the  "  Renaissance."  The 
architect  was  Mr.  Isaac  Hodgson  ;  the  stone-masons, 
Scott  &  Nicholson.  The  artistic  finishers  were  Italians 
brought  here  from  the  East  to  spoil  a  fine  work  that 
would  have  been  grand  in  its  simplicity  if  left  untor- 
tured  by  bad  taste.  The  building  was  finished  in 
July,  1876,  and  cost  one  million  four  hundred  and 
twenty-two  thousand  dollars,  nearly  twice  the  original 
estimate.  It  is  one  of  the  handsomest  public  buildings 
in  the  United  States,  and  well  built,  except  in  the  in- 
ferior character  of  its  finishing.  The  county  board 
by  which  the  work  was  mainly  done  was  composed,  at 
one  time  and  another  of  the  six  years,  of  the  late 
Aaron  McCray,  1867-73;  Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  1868- 
71 ;  John  Armstrong,  1870-73 ;  Samuel  S.  Rumford, 
1871-74  ;  Charles  A.  Howland,  1873-76  ;  Alexander 
Jameson,  1873-76 ;  Samuel  Cory,  1874-77. 


56 

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CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


251 


In  the  general  history  it  is  said  that  the  temporary 
building  erected  for  a  political  meeting-place  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  court-house  square  in  1864 
was  the  only  structure  of  that  kind  placed  on  the 
square.  There  was  one  on  the  southwest  corner  for 
a  very  short  time  in  1860,  and  another  on  the  north- 
west corner  in  1872,  where  Gen.  Butler  made  a  speech 
on  the  only  occasion  that  he  ever  visited  the  city. 
Gen.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut,  also  spoke  there  about 
the  same  time.  These  "  wigwams,"  as  they  were 
called,  were  not  allowed  to  remain  long  after  their 
special  use  was  completed,  while  that  of  1864  re- 
mained for  a  year  or  so.  In  the  campaign  of  1880 
a  "  wigwam"  was  erected  near  the  corner  of  Mary- 
land and  Mississippi  Streets,  and  is  still  standing. 


COITRT-HOUSE   BUILT   IN   1823-24;   TOKN   DOWN  1870. 

City  Buildings. — The  city  has  never  had  any 
public  buildings  but  the  two  market-houses  and  the 
station-house,  excluding  engine-houses.  Its  oflSce- 
rooms  have  been  rented  always  except  during  a  few 
years  when  the  Town  Council  meetings  were  held  in 
the  upper  room  of  the  Marion  Engine  House,  on  the 
Circle.  Within  a  year  an  ordinance  was  passed  by 
the  Council  and  Board  of  Aldermen  to  build  a  city  hall 
and  market-house  on  the  East  Market  space,  with  a 
large  bequest  made  by  the  late  Stephen  Tomlinson  for 
that  purpose  ;  but  some  doubt  as  to  the  expense  being 
brought  within  the  limits  of  the  bequest  and  of  the 
other  resources,— the  city  license  of  liquor-saloons 
especially,— with  some  informality  in  letting  the  con- 


tract, opened  the  way  for  a  legal  obstruction  of  the 
work,  and  it  was  abandoned.  Very  recently,  how- 
ever, the  market-house  project  has  been  revived,  and 
seems  in  a  fair  way  to  go  through.  The  station-house 
on  South  Alabama  Street  is  a  product  of  the  last 
decade.  In  1866  the  expense  of  boarding  city  pris- 
oners in  the  county  jail  became  so  great  that  the 
Council  determined  to  build  a  station-house.  A  lot 
was  bought  for  four  thousand  dollars,  on  Maryland 
Street  between  Meridian  and  Pennsylvania,  and  there 
the  effort  ended  for  four  or  five  years,  when  a  lot  on 
Alabama  Street,  on  the  corner  of  the  first  alley  south 
of  Washington,  was  bought,  and  a  house  of  fair  size 
and  safety  put  there.  About  the  time  of  the  pur- 
chase of  the  station-house  lot  on  Maryland  Street, 
propositions  for  the  sale  of  a  site  for  a  city  hall,  or 
for  renting  suitable  buildings,  were  made  by  different 
proprietors.  The  old  Beecher  church  property  was 
offered  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars  in  city  bonds ;  An- 
drew Wallace  offered  his  block  on  Maryland  and 
Delaware  Streets,  and  the  Journal  company  offered 
to  build  a  hall  on  the  then  vacant  west  half  of  its  lot, 
where  the  Times  office  is  now.  The  Council  rejected 
them  all,  doing  its  first  effective  work  in  that  direc- 
tion in  1883.  The  county  has  an  "  Asylum,"  once 
the  "  Poor-House,"  in  Wayne  township,  on  a  large 
farm,  with  a  building  that  cost  some  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  affords  good  and  com- 
fortable accommodations  for  more  than  a  hundred 
inmates  constantly,  but  being  some  distance  from  any 
frequented  road,— the  old  Lafayette  pike  passing  near- 
est it,— the  public  generally  know  little  of  it,  except  as 
the  papers  note  the  annual  visits  of  the  county  board 
and  the  festive  occasions  made  of  them.  The  build- 
ing is  a  large  and  handsome  one,  becoming  the  wealth 
and  standing  of  the  county,  with  an  average  of  over 
one  hundred  inmates  always. 

The  incurable  insane  of  the  county,  like  those  of 
other  counties,  have  been  kept  in  this  county  asylum 
when  necessary.  Hereafter  they  will  go  to  one  of  the 
three— not  five,  as  stated  in  the  sketch  of  the  history 
of  the  State  Insane  Asylum,  page  124— institutions 
for  the  incurable  insane  provided  by  the  act  of  the 
last  Legislature,  though  recommended  by  Governor 
Baker  as  early  as  1869.     One  of  these  is  to  be  at 


252 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Evansville,  one  at  Richmond,  and  one  at  Logans- 
port. 

State-House. — Of  the  legislation  touching  a  new 
State-House  prior  to  the  act  of  1877,  little  need  be 
said.  A  committee  was  appointed  a  dozen  years  ago 
to  consider  the  subject,  procure  plans,  and  make  a 
report  to  enlighten  the  Legislature,  but  nothing 
came  of  it  except  the  recommendation  of  a  really 
fine  plan  of  Mr.  Charles  Eppinghausen,  of  Terre 
Haute,  to  which  no  attention  was  given.  In  1877 
an  act  authorized  the  Governor  to  appoint  four  com- 
missioners, two  from  each  of  "  the  two  leading  po- 
litical parties,"  the  Governor  to  act  as  one  ex  officio 
in  addition,  to  "  organize  to  build  a  State-House," 
limiting  the  cost  to  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  levy- 
ing a  tax  of  one  cent  on  the  hundred  dollars  in  1877, 
and  two  cents  in  1878,  "  for  a  State-House  fund." 
On  the  24th  of  May,  1877,  the  Board  of  State- 
House  Commissioners  was  organized.  The  Gov- 
ernor, the  late  James  D.  Williams,  appointed  Gen. 
Thomas  A.  Morris,  of  this  city,  and  Wm.  R.  Mc- 
Keen,  of  Terre  Haute,  from  the  Republican  party, 
and  Gen.  John  Love,  of  this  city,  and  I.  D.  G. 
Nelson,  of  Fort  Wayne,  from  the  Democratic  party. 
Mr.  McKeen  resigned  in  a  few  months,  and  Prof. 
John  M.  Collett,  now  State  geologist,  was  appointed 
in  his  place.  The  board,  after  examining  the  four 
plans  specially  noticed  by  the  Legislative  committee, 
— that  of  Eppinghausen  being  preferred, — returned 
them  all  to  their  authors,  and  invited  new  plans. 
They  also  visited  the  capitals  of  Illinois,  Connecticut, 
Michigan,  and  various  public  buildings  throughout 
the  country,  gathered  information  about  material, 
had  tests  made,  and,  finally,  on  the  11th  of  December, 
1877,  had  received  twenty-four  plans.  On  the  28th 
of  August  previously  they  sold  the  old  building  to 
John  Martin  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  who 
agreed  to  remove  it  by  the  1st  of  April,  1878. 
After  a  good  deal  of  discussion  and  examination  by 
experts,  the  board  chose  the  plan  of  Edwin  May,  of 
this  city,  who  died  a  year  or  two  after  the  work 
began,  and  proceeded  to  excavate  for  the  basement 
and  to  construct  a  sewer  for  the  joint  use  of  the  State 
and  the  city,  as  has  since  been  done  with  the  State's 
"  Female  Reformatory"  and   the  city  sewer  connec- 


tion. The  city  authorities  vacated  Market  Street 
from  Tennessee  to  Mississippi,  thus  giving  the  new 
building  an  unbroken  area  of  two  squares  and  the 
intervening  street,  about  nine  acres.  Proposals  to 
build  the  whole  structure  or  portions  of  it  were 
advertised  for,  and  on  the  13th  of  August,  1878, 
thirty-one  bids  were  opened,  some  proposing  to  take 
portions,  but  ten  proposing  to  take  the  whole  work 
at  a  cost  ranging  from  $1,611,672.25,  made  by 
Kanmacher  &  Denig,  to  $2,114,714.13,  made  by  the 
"  New  England  and  Granite  Stone  Company." 
After  due  inquiry  the  contract  was  given  to  Kan- 
macher &  Denig,  with  a  reservation  of  $102,051 
for  "steam  heating,"  "encaustic  tiles,"  "marble 
mantles,"  "  wasbstands,"  "  hardware,"  and  "  vault 
doors,"  which  it  was  thought  could  be  more  favor- 
ably contracted  for  at  some  later  period.  This  left 
the  price  of  the  work,  under  the  lowest  bid,  $1,509,- 
621.25.  The  whole  estimated  cost  of  the  building, 
including  the  reserved  articles,  sewer  construction, 
glass,  and  basement  excavation,  was  $1,638,603.76. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  Sept.  28,  1880,  with  a 
poem  by  Mrs.  Bolton  and  an  address  by  ex-Gov- 
ernor Hendricks. 

The  building  is  in  length  four  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  feet  on  the  east  and  west  fronts ;  the  centre,  from 
east  to  west,  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  in  width  ;  the  north  and  south 
fronts,  each  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet ;  height 
of  dome,  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet,  diameter 
seventy-two  feet ;  height  of  east  and  west  fronts,  one 
hundred  feet ;  south  and  north  fronts,  ninety-two  feet ; 
basement  story,  twelve  feet  high  ;  first  story,  eighteen 
feet  six  inches  ;  second  story,  nineteen  feet ;  Represen- 
tatives' Hall,  forty-eight  feet ;  Senate  Chamber,  forty- 
eight  feet ;  Supreme  Court  room,  forty  feet ;  third 
story,  sixteen  feet  six  inches.  The  outer  walls  are 
faced  with  cut  stone,  backed  with  brick-work,  and 
laid  in  cement  mortar.  The  frame-work  of  the  roof 
is  of  wrought  iron.  The  exterior  covering  of  the 
roof  is  slate  and  copper.  The  Tennessee  Street,  or 
principal  front,  has  a  flight  of  stone  steps,  sixty  feet 
in  width,  leading  to  the  grand  portico  and  corridor  of 
the  first  floor.  The  pediment  of  this  portico  is  sup- 
ported by  polished  fluted  columns,  with  carved  capi- 


CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


253 


tals,  the  tympanum  richly  ornamented  with  the 
State's  coat-of-arms.  The  dome  is  the  leading  archi- 
tectural feature. 

From  the  foundation  to  the  springing  line  of  roof 
the  dome  is  constructed  of  Indiana  stone,  built  in  a 
direct  plumb  line,  "  solids  over  solids  and  voids  over 
voids,"  cut  and  dressed  to  such  exact  dimensions  that, 
with  a  small  stretch  of  the  imagination,  it  may  be 
considered  as  one  large  block  of  stone,  perforated  for 
passages  and  window  openings.  No  plastering,  stucco, 
or  iron-work  is  required  as  finish  or  ornamentation, 
outside  or  within,  as  all  decoration  is  cut  on  or  in 
the  solid  stone.  A  dome  constructed  in  this  manner 
will  serve  as  a  useful  monument  or  memorial,  as  on 
the  inside  walls,  as  well  as  the  corridor  sides,  there 
are  niches  for  statuary,  and  panels  for  inscription 
and  relief  work.  Access  to  the  lantern  and  gallery 
is  by  easy  stairways  from  the  third  floor.  A  gallery  i 
thus  constructed  in  the  interior  affords  a  sheltered 
"lookout,"  and  at  the  same  time  relieves  the  dome 
of  the  common  defect  of  insecure  and  leaky  con- 
struction. 

The  exterior  of  the  main  building  indicates  the 
locality  of  the  various  departments,  such  as  the  Hall 
of  Representatives,  Senate  Chamber,  State  Library, 
and  Supreme  Court  room.  The  steps  ascending  to 
the  first  floor,  from  each  street  on  the  four  fronts, 
constitute  an  attractive  architectural  feature,  and  for 
convenience  will  be  duly  appreciated.  The  legislative 
halls  and  principal  rooms  are  lighted  direct  from  the 
outside,  roof  and  ceiling  lights  being  carefully  avoided. 
The  ceilings  of  the  Senate  Chamber,  Hall  of  Repre- 
sentatives, State  Library,  and  Supreme  Court  room 
are  constructed  with  panel  work,  and  such  ornaments 
are  introduced  as  will  best  harmonize  with  the  decora- 
tions of  the  side  walls  and  furniture.  In  the  interior 
arrangements  the  architect  has  introduced  all  the 
modern  improvements  in  heating,  plumbing,  and 
ventilating,  elevators  for  passengers  and  fuel,  dust 
flues  from  each  department,  electric  and  telephone 
combinations,  soft  water  for  lavatories,  electric  clocks, 
and  electric  lighting  of  gas.  The  halls  are  set  at 
regular  intervals  with  polished  marble  columns  on 
granite  bases,  and  extend  the  entire  length  of  the 
building,  nearly  five  hundred  feet,  forming  the  finest 


colonnades  in  any  public  building  in  the  Union,  except 
those  of  the  national  capitol  at  Washington.  The 
niches  and  panels  of  the  dome  and  the  surrounding 
colonnade  are  intended  to  be  occupied  by  busts, 
statues,  and  other  memorials  of  the  State's  history, 
especially  of  its  participation  in  the  war  for  the  Union. 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  building  season  in  1882  the 
contractors,  Howard  &  Denig  (Mr.  Howard  succeed- 
ing Mr.  Kanmacher),  had  completed  the  work  in 
admirable  style  to  the  floor  of  the  third  story. 
Thinking  their  contract  likely  to  be  a  losing  one 
from  the  rise  in  the  price  of  material  and  labor,  they 
asked  the  Legislature  for  a  large  extra  compensation, 
failing  in  which  they  would  be  compelled  to  abandon 
the  contract.  The  Legislature  concluded  to  abide  by 
the  bargain,  and  hold  them  to  it.  Work  was  stopped 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1883,  and  then  the 
sureties  of  the  contractors  concluded  to  take  the 
building  and  complete  it  on  the  original  terms.  They 
did  a  considerable  amount  of  work  in  the  fall,  and 
the  case  looks  promising  for  as  speedy  a  completion 
as  was  originally  anticipated.  The  commissioners 
have  watched  the  progress  of  the  work  incessantly 
and  anxiously,  and  have  secured,  so  far,  as  perfect  a 
piece  of  builders'  skill  as  can  be  found  in  any  modern 
structure  in  Christendom.  On  the  resignation  of 
Professor  CoUett,  W.  B.  Seward,  of  Bloomington, 
was  appointed  in  his  place,  and  on  the  death  of 
Gen.  Love,  Mr.  Henry  Mursinna,  of  Evansville, 
filled  that  vacancy.  The  board  now  consists  of  the 
original  members  (Gen.  Morris  and  I.  D.  G.  Nelson) 
and  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Mursinna,  with  the  Gov- 
ernor ex  officio  a  member,  and  Capt.  John  M.  Go- 
down,  secretary,  succeeding  W.  C.  Tarkington,  who 
resigned  in  a  year  after  his  appointment  in  1877. 

The  State  Buildings. — These  are  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Washington  and  Tennessee  Streets, 
and  cover  the  whole  lot  belonging  to  the  State,  on 
which  the  first  treasurer's  ofiice  and  residence  were 
built.  After  this  house  was  abandoned  by  the  treas- 
urer, in  1856  or  1857,  it  was  rented  till  it  was  torn 
down,  in  1865,  and  replaced,  in  1867,  by  the  present 
buildings  for  the  State  offices,  which  were  then  scat- 
tered about,  some  in  the  "  McOuat  Block"  on  Ken- 
tucky Avenue,  some  in  the  State-House,  and  some  in 


254 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


the  Arsenal  building,  north  of  the  State-House. 
John  L.  Smithmeyer  planned  the  new  State  buildings, 
but  was  not  thought  at  the  time  to  have  made  a  par- 
ticularly good  job  of  it,  either  in  convenience,  beauty, 
or  durability.  It  accomnjodated  all  the  State  oflBces, 
including  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  "  chambers"  of 
the  judges,  except  the  State  library  and  the  Gov- 
ernor's oflBce,  which  remained  in  the  old  State-House 
till  it  was  sold  to  be  torn  down,  when  they  were 
removed,  the  one  to  the  "  Gallup"  or  "  McCray 
Block,"  where  it  is  yet,  the  other  to  one  of  the  rooms 
of  the  State  building.  The  office  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  public  instruction  was  kept  mainly  in  the 
Gallup  Block  for  a  half-dozen  terms  or  more.  Some 
half-dozen  or  more  years  ago  a  large  addition  to  the 
State  buildings  was  made  on  the  south,  for  the  State- 
House  Board,  the  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, and  some  other  public  uses.  The  State  geologist 
and  museum  are  in  the  second  story  of  the  "  Gallup 
Block,"  with  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  The 
State  Bureau  of  Statistics  is  in  the  Masonic  Temple. 
These  will  all  go  to  the  new  State-House. 

Post-OflB.ce. — The  post-office  building,  in  which  the 
Federal  courts  meet  and  all  the  national  offices  are 
kept,  is  a  large  but  not  very  impressive  looking 
stone  structure  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Market 
and  Pennsylvania  Streets.  It  was  begun  in  1857, 
on  the  site  of  the  blacksmith-shop  attached  to  the 
first  carriage-factory,  on  the  same  square.  The 
ground  was  swampy,  and  at  the  southwest  corner 
the  excavation  for  the  cellar  broke  into  a  section  of 
quicksand  and  liquid  mud,  which  had  to  be  drained 
by  a  steam-pump  and  filled  in  with  broken  stone  and 
cement  for  many  a  day  before  a  safe  foundation  was 
made  for  the  massive  structure  that  was  to  rest  upon 
it.  In  1860  it  was  completed,  at  a  cost  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  thousand  dollars.  Some  years  ago  it 
was  enlarged  by  an  addition  to  the  depth  eastward 
that  nearly  doubled  its  capacity.  An  elevator  was 
put  in  the  south  lobby.  The  post-office  was  moved 
into  it  in  1860,  after  moving  about  over  the  village, 
town,  and  city  in  a  vagabond  way  for  nearly  forty 
years.  When  Mr.  Henderson  first  took  the  office 
in  March,  1822,  it  was  kept  in  a  house  near  Mis- 
souri Street,  the  line  of  the  future  canal.     That  was 


a  convenient  point  between  the  settlement  on  the 
river  and  that  further  inland.  It  was  moved  from 
there,  in  1823  or  1824,  to  Henderson's  tavern,  where 
"  Washington  Hall"  afterwards  stood  and  where  the 
"  Glenn  Block"  now  stands.  Then,  on  the  accession 
of  Capt.  John  Cain  to  the  office,  in  February,  1831, 
he  removed  it  to  the  north  side  of  Washington 
Street,  half-way  between  Meridian  and  Illinois,  where, 
a  few  years  later, — in  1835  or  thereabouts, — was 
erected  the  "  Union  Row,"  the  first  "  block"  of  build- 
ings in  this  place.  One  of  these  Capt.  Cain  owned, 
and  in  it  he  put  the  post-office  as  soon  as  it  was 
finished.  For  some  years  before  1849  it  was  kept 
on  the  west  side  of  Meridian  Street,  in  the  building 
next  to  the  Relief  Engine  House,  now  replaced  by 
"  Hubbard's  Block."  It  was  removed  by  Col.  Rus- 
sell, or  by  Dr.  Dunlap  before  him,  to  the  west  side 
of  Pennsylvania  Street,  adjoining  the  Journal  office, 
where  a  fire  broke  out  that  damaged  both  establish- 
ments considerably,  though  not  enough  to  interfere 
with  the  course  of  business  of  either.  This  was 
near  1850.  After  the  fire  a  removal  was  made  to 
the  east  side  of  Meridian,  in  a  three-story  brick  of 
Judge  Blackford's, — used  as  a  hospital  for  Confed- 
erate prisoners  during  the  war, — now  replaced  by 
the  "  Blackford  Block."  From  that  building  it  went 
to  its  own  in  1860,  under  John  M.  Talbott.  Our 
postmasters  have  been : 

Samuel  Henderson 1822-31 

John  Cain 1831-41 

Joseph  M.  Moore 1841- 

John  Cain 1841-45 

Livingston  Dunlap 1845-49 

Ale.xander  W.  Russell 1849-51 

James  N.  Russell 1851-53 

William  W.Wick 1853-57 

John  M.  Talbott 1857-61 

Alexander  H.  Conner 1861-66 

David  G.  Rose 1866-69 

William  R.  HoUoway 1869-81 

James  A.  Wildman 1881 

Joseph  M.  Moore  was  appointed  by  President 
Harrison.  In  a  few  months  he  was  dismissed  by 
Tyler  and  Cain  reappointed.  Col.  Russell  died  in 
the  office  in  1851  or  1852,  and  his  son  James  was 
appointed  to  serve  out  the  term. 

Some  items  of  the  business  done  in  the  post-office 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


255 


in  1870  will  furnish  an  interesting  comparison  with 
the  report  of  the  year  just  closed  : 


isro. 

Sales  of  stamps  and  stamped  envelopes 

From  money-orders  and  deposits  of  postmasters  on 
money-order  account 

Registered  letters  for  distribution 

Registered  letters  for  city  delivery 

Registered  letters  for  mailing 

Letters  delivered  from  boxes  and  general  delivery.. 

Letters  advertised  and  sent  to  Dead-Letter  Office... 

Letters,  by  mail,  delivered  by  carriers 

Letters,  local,  delivered  by  carriers 

Newspapers  delivered  by  carriers 

Letters  collected  by  carriers 

Letters  received  for  distribution 

Letters  deposited  in  office  and  collected  from  street 
boxes 

Letters,  total,  sent  from  office 

Letters,  city,  sent  to  Dead-Letter  Office 

Letters,  held  for  better  direction,  sent  to  Dead- 
Letter  Office 

Letters,  addressed  in  initials  or  fictitious  names, 
sent  to  Dead-Letter  Office 

Letters  returned  from  hotels  and  sent  to  Dead- 
Letter  Office 

Letters  returned  to  writers 

Bags  of  newspapers  mailed,  received,  distributed, 
(equal  to  70,200  bushels) 

Lock-pouches  and  mail-boxes  dispatched 

Lock-pouches  and  mail-boxes  received 

1883. 

Carriers  employed 

Delivery  trips  daily 

Collection  trips  daily 

Registered  letters  delivered 

Mail  letters  delivered 

Mail  postal-cards  delivered 

Local  letters  delivered 

Local  postal-cards  delivered 

Newspapers,  etc.,  delivered 

Letters  returned  to  theoffice 

Letters  collected 

Postal-cards  collected 

Newspapers  collected 

Total  postage  on  local  matter  delivered  in  boxes, 
general  delivery,  and  carriers 

Amount  paid  carriers 

Incidental  expenses 

Number  of  letters,  postal-cards,  and  circulars  dis- 
tributed on  letter  case  during  the  year  188.3.... 
Newspapers,  periodicals,  circulars,  merchandise, 
and  transient  matter  distributed  on  paper  cases. 

Lock-pouches  dispatched 34,675 

Canvas  bags  dispatched 36,500 

Lock-pduches  received 39,055 

Canvas  bags  received 27,375 

Total    number  pouches  and  canvas  bags  received 

and  dispatched  during  the  year  1883 

Number  of  letters  mailed  without  postage....  3,580 
Number  of  packages  mailed  without  postage.  237 
Total  number  of  letters  and  packages  mailed  with- 
out postage  during  the  year  1883  


$84,188.46 

$494,386.55 

19,120 

8,376 

1,240 

306,000 

18,400 

2,276,134 

1,472,640 

376,704 

1,349,943 

9,403,200 

1,331,457 

10,734,657 

6,000 

7,200 

500 

800 
7,000 

42,570 
28,600 
28,500 


33 

1104 

1170 

48,498 

4,432,675 

983,419 

538,548 

477,564 

2,460,000 

5,135 

2,410,791 

946,268 

289,157 

$15,426.55 
.$30,729.78 
$1,553.54 

1,715,500 

934,000 


137,605 


GENERAL  BUSINESS,  JANU.\RY   l«t   TO    DECEMBER   Ist,  1883. 
Jiecdpti. 

March  31,  18S3 $51,272.98 

June  30,  1883 19,366.27 

September  30,  1883 48,546.13 

December  31,  1883 46,486.92 


Total  receipts $194,672.30 

Total  expenses 74,091.24 

Turned  over  to  treasury $120,581.06 

Exjicndilures. 

March  31,  1883 $18,342.34 

June  30,  1883 18,348.92 

September  30,  1883 18,732.89 

December  31,  1883 18,667.09 


$74,091.24 


MONET-OBDER  DEPARTMENT. 


No.  orders  paid. 


Domestic 20,199     Domestic. 

Canadian 

British 

German 

Swiss 

Italian 

French  

New  Zealand 


56  I  Canadian 

532  I  British 

583  i  German 

47    Swiss 

62  I  Italian 

14     French 

2  j  New  Zealand  

1  New  South  Wales., 

'  India 


73,468 
259 


3,817 


73,888 
Postal-notes  issued 1,960  I  Postal-notes  paid 9,663 

The  business  of  the  money-order  department  from 
January,  1883,  to  January,  1884,  will  amount  in  the 
aggregate  to  one  million  dollars. 

Public  Halls. — The  court-house  -was  the  public 
hall  of  Indianapolis  for  twenty-five  years.  As  related 
in  the  general  history,  it  was  used  as  a  church,  con- 
cert-room, lecture-hall,  show-room,  hall  for  public  meet- 
inn's  and  political  conventions,  almost  alone,  during 
that  quarter  of  a  century.  The  hall  of  the  House  of 
Kepresentatives  was  occasionally  used  for  meetings  of 
the  "raver  grade  by  permission  of  that  body  formally 
voted.  John  B.  Dillon  delivered  his  lectures  on  In- 
diana history  there  in  1844,  the  General  Conference 
of  the  Methodist  Church  was  held  there  in  the  spring 
of  1856,  and  Fanny  Lee  Townsend  lectured  on 
Women's  Rights  in  the  Senate  chamber  in  1850,  but 
the  court-house  was  the  general  dependence.  In 
1847  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Masonic  Order  of  the 
State  decided  to  build  a  large  and  handsome  edifice 
here  for  the  use  of  the  order,  and  make  one  story  of 


256 


HISTORy  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


it  a  public  hall.  In  May  they  bought  the  vacant  lot 
southeast  corner  of  Tennessee  and  Washington 
Streets,  and  formed  a  company — the  Grand  Lodge 
taking  a  large  share  of  the  stock — to  erect  the  build- 
ing. The  plan  was  proposed  by  one  of  the  first  resi- 
dent architects  here,  Mr.  J.  Willis,  and  the  late 
William  Sheets  superintended  the  work,  subsequently 
receiving  a  handsome  and  costly  silver  service  from 
the  order  for  the  gratuitous  work  he  had  done  for 
them  in  this  respect.  On  the  25th  of  October  the 
corner-stone  was  laid  with  impressive  Masonic  cere- 
monies, and  the  singing  of  a  hymn  written  for  the 
occasion  by  Mrs.  Sarah  S.  Bolton. 

The  work  hung  heavily  for  want  of  ready  means, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  spring  of  1850  that  it  was  so 
far  advanced  that  the  hall  could  be  opened.  When 
entirely  inclosed,  but  before  the  floors  were  laid,  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Becker,  while  stepping  across 
the  upper  story  on  the  joists,  fell  to  the  ground-floor 
and  was  instantly  killed  but  a  minute  or  two  before 
his  two  little  boys  passed  the  hall  on  their  way  home 
from  Sunday-school.  Their  first  look  inside  showed 
them  the  dead  body  of  their  father.  In  the  summer 
of  1850  the  hall  was  first  occupied  by  Mrs.  Lesder- 
nier  for  a  dramatic  reading.  In  the  winter  the  Con- 
Btitutional  Convention,  which  had  met  in  the  hall  of 
the  House,  was  forced  out  by  the  meeting  of  the 
Legislature  and  went  to  Masonic  Hall.  It  was  fitted 
up  with  a  platform  at  the  south  end,  and  with  rows 
of  red  settees  for  the  members.  At  night  it  was 
lighted  by  three  great,  black,  ugly  chandeliers,  with 
seven  or  eight  sprawling  branches  that  looked  like 
monstrous  spiders.  They  were  supplied  with  gas 
made  of  grease  and  refuse  in  a  little  building  in  the 
rear,  as  were  a  street-lamp  or  two  in  front.  Here  all 
public  exhibitions  and  entertainments  were  given  from 
1850  to  about  the  close  of  the  war,  when  Morrison's 
Opera-Hall,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Meridian  and 
Maryland  Streets,  then  recently  completed,  began  to 
be  used  for  such  purposes  considerably  till  it  was 
burned,  in  the  winter  of  1869.  The  fire  had  caught 
in  the  heating-furnace  and  made  dangerous  headway 
before  it  was  discovered.  An  alarm  would  have 
made  a  panic  and  catastrophe.  A  preacher  who 
made  the  discovery  gave  no  alarm,  but  went  among 


the  audience  whispering  the  news  to  them,  with 
directions  to  go  out  quietly,  and  all  got  out  safely, 
some  without  knowing  what  the  matter  was  till  they 
saw  the  flames  burst  out.  Occasional  use  was  made 
of  two  other  halls  in  that  time,  but  being  smaller  and 
less  accessible  they  were  hardly  an  exception  to  the 
universal  use  of  the  larger.  In  1875  Masonic  Hall 
was  rebuilt,  the  order  using  all  the  upper  stories  of 
the  front  building  and  making  a  separate  but  con- 
nected building  of  the  public  hall,  which  is  a  better 
one  than  the  old  one.  The  Grand  Lodge  long  since 
absorbed  all  the  stock  issued  in  1847. 

The  smaller  halls  were  "  College  Hall,"  in  the 
third  story  of  the  building  erected  by  Daniel  Yandes 
and  Thomas  H.  Sharpe  on  the  site  of  the  old  McCarty 
store,  southwest  corner  of  Washington  and  Pennsyl- 
vania Streets,  a  little  before  the  Masonic  Hall  was 
built ;  and  "  Washington  Hall,"  opposite  "  Masonic 
Hall,"  built  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  others.  A 
number  of  minor  halls  have  been  built  since,  but 
require  no  special  mention  here. 

Theatres. — -The  first  theatrical  performance  in 
Indianapolis  Mr.  Nowland  puts  in  the  winter  of  1825, 
but  Mr.  Ignatius  Brown,  citing  the  Gazette  as  au- 
thority, says  it  was  in  December,  1823.  A  reference 
is  made  to  it  in  the  general  history.  The  first  dra- 
matic performance,  with  a  stage,  scenery,  orchestra, 
a  full  cast  of  parts  and  regular  "  posters,"  occurred  in 
1838  or  1839.  It  was  not  largely  patronized,  but  its 
expense  was  small,  and  it  did  well  enough  to  come 
again  in  two  or  three  years.  The  better  class  of 
Indianapolis  society,  and  that  best  able  to  make  its 
patronage  desirable,  was  not  partial  to  the  theatre. 
The  religious  element  was  immovably  dominant  and 
by  no  means  tolerant.  It  would  go  to  a  menagerie, 
or  "  animal  show,"  as  it  was  usually  called,  but  not 
to  a  circus.  If  the  two  were  combined  the  bad  ruined 
both.  Schools  were  sometimes  given  a  holiday  to 
visit  a  menagerie,  but  scholars  who  visited  a  circus 
were  usually  rewarded  by  a  private  performance  like 
the  ring-master's  whip  and  the  clown,  dissimilar  only 
in  its  reality.  Concerts  were  tolerable  if  not  credit- 
able, but  a  theatre  was  irredeemable  depravity.  The 
feeling  has  changed  a  great  deal  in  the  last  twenty- 
five  years.     In    1858   it  forbade  the   Widows'  and 


CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


257 


Orphans'  Society  from  receiving  a  five-hundred  dollar 
benefit  at  the  Metropolitan  Theatre.  In  1868,  ten 
year."!  later,  it  moved  the  very  same  society  to  conduct 
a  series  of  dramatic  performances  in  Morrison's  Opera- 
Hall,  for  the  very  same  purpose  as  that  so  peremp- 
torily repelled  before.  The  town  had  grown  then  till 
it  was  big  enough  and  rich  enough  to  furnish  paying 
patronage  without  dependence  on  the  "  rigidly 
righteous,"  and  moral  antipathies,  finding  themselves 
powerless  to  restrain  the  theatrical  demoralization, 
abandoned  the  contest  and  grew  weak  from  disuse. 
It  is  not  certain  that  the  hostility  of  the  old  citizens 
did  not,  in  the  main,  benefit  the  reprehensible  shows 
by  the  allurement  of  doing  a  forbidden  thing.  At 
all  events,  Indianapolis  has  always  been  held  a  first- 
rate  town  by  showmen  of  all  varieties,  from  an  operatic 
star  to  a  double-headed  baby.  Negro  minstrels  and 
circuses  are  especially  popular,  or  have  been.  The 
theatre  before  the  war  was  poor  property ;  during 
the  war  it  was  a  bonanza.  Since  the  war  it  has 
fluctuated,  with  a  general  tendency  towards  improve- 
ment. 

Returning  from  this  digression  to  the  first  regular 
dramatic  season  in  the  city,  we  find  that  a  Mr.  Lind- 
say was  the  manager,  and  Mr.  OUaman's  wagon-shop, 
opposite  the  court-house,  on  Washington  Street,  the 
theatre.  A  low  stage  was  built  at  the  south  end,  on 
the  floor,  level  with  the  sidewalk,  or  lower,  while 
the  seats  were  given  a  little  elevation  as  they  ap- 
proached the  entrance.  The  orchestra  was  a  fiddle, 
a  clarionet,  and  a  brass  instrument,  the  scenery  poor 
and  primitive,  but  it  was  scenery,  and  the  perform- 
ance much  like  other  third-rate  stage  work.  The 
plays  oftenest  noticed  on  the  bulletin  board  were 
"  The  Stranger,"  "  Pizarro,"  "  Swiss  Cottage,"  "Loan 
of  a  Lover,"  and  ''  Virginius."  Comic  songs  were 
introduced  between  the  tragedy  and  the  after-piece, 
among  which  the  boys  picked  up  the  "  Tongo  Is- 
lands," with  a  lively  air  and  an  inextricable  tangle  of 
unintelligible  chorus  ;  "  Jenny,  Get  Your  Hoe-Cake 
Done,"  a  "  nigger"  song  of  the  "  Jim  Crow"  or  early 
variety ;  "  Near  Fly  Market  Lived  a  Dame,"  and 
similar  rubbish  no  worse  than  most  of  the  comic  trash 
of  the  stage  to-day,  and  less  likely  to  be  indecently 
suggestive.  It  was  silly,  but  it  was  not  nasty.  In 
17 


1840-41,  Mr.  Lindsay  came  again  and  fitted  up  in 
better  style  the  old  Indiana  Democrat  ofiSce,  on  the 
site  of  the  News  building,  and  here  he  had  two  of 
the  finest  dramatic  performers  in  the  United  States 
of  that  day,  Augustus  A.  Adams  and  Mrs.  Drake. 
A  mistimed  debauch  had  lost  the  eminent  tragedian 
a  chance  of  a  better  engagement,  and  he  came  here 
in  default  of  having  anything  else  to  do.  Mrs.  Drake 
was  possibly  in  a  similar  strait,  or  she  would  hardly 
have  come  here  to  play  in  a  little  theatre  that  could 
not  seat  more  than  two  hundred.  However,  they  did 
come,  and  Indianapolis  that  winter  had  as  fine  playing 
as  any  city  in  the  Union.  The  leading  performers 
were  in  their  prime  and  did  their  best. 

A  funny  scene  occurred  here  that  was  the  town 
talk  for  a  month.  Capt.  George  W.  Cutter,  author 
of  the  "Song  of  Steam"  and  "  E  Pluribus  Unum," 
both  of  unusual  merit, — written  several  years  after 
this  time,  however, — was  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture from  Terre  Haute,  a  pock-marked,  brilliant-eyed, 
voluble  declaimer  of  the  sun-soaring,  eagle-screaming 
order,  who  had  made  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  great 
Harrison  "  log-cabin"  campaign  the  year  before,  and 
he  boarded  at  the  "  Washington  Hall,"  where  Mrs. 
Drake  did.  She  was  old  enough  to  be  his  aunt,  if 
not  his  mother,  but  he  fell  desperately  in  love  with 
her,  and  she  apparently  with  him.  The  billing  and 
cooing  of  these  oddly-mated  turtles  was  endless  fun 
for  the  other  inmates  of  the  hotel.  He  always 
attended  her  to  the  theatre,  and  remained  at  the 
"  wings"  when  she  was  on  the  stage.  One  night 
her  part  required  a  fall,  and  her  adorer  fancying  it 
a  real  one  rushed  upon  the  stage,  to  the  utter  con- 
fusion of  the  scene  and  the  uproarious  delight  of  the 
audience,  and  tenderly  raising  her  ponderous  loveli- 
ness,— for  she  was  "  fat,  fair,  and  forty," — carried  her 
off  with  many  sweetly  murmured  condolings.  They 
were  married  soon  after  this  pathetic  incident. 
Mrs.  Drake  returned  here  and  played  with  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Harry  Chapman,  and  Mr.  Chapman, 
at  the  Metropolitan  during  the  war.  Capt.  Cutter 
served  out  his  legislative  session  and  never  returned. 

In  1843  the  "  New  York  Company  of  Comedians" 
leased  the  upper  story  of  Gaston's  carriage-factory, 
where   the   Bates   House  is   now,   fitted  it  up  as  a 


258 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


tlieatre,  and  gave  concerts  to  cover  some  evasion  of 
the  license  law,  and  followed  them  with  dramatic 
performances,  usually  farces  or  comedies.  The  com- 
pany was  said  at  the  time  to  be  an  unusually  good 
one.  One  of  the  earliest  of  the  pioneers  of  the  city, 
Mr.  R.  Corbaley,  was  killed  at  this  theatre  one  night 
by  walking  ofiF  the  platform  in  front  of  the  upper  story 
where  the  performances  were  given,  where  there  was 
no  guard-rail.  He  fell  to  the  pavement,  some  twelve 
or  fourteen  feet,  and  died  in  a  short  time. 

More  conspicuous  every  way,  both  as  a  social  and 
dramatic  event,  than  any  incident  so  far  related,  was 
the  formation  of  the  "Indianapolis  Thespian  Corps" 
in  184U.  It  is  hard  to  determine,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  whether  the  "  corps"  was  an  oflFshoot  of  the 
first  brass  band,  or  the  band  was  a  suggestion  of  the 
"  corps."  In  any  case  they  came  very  closely  to- 
gether, and  some  of  the  leading  men  in  one  were 
equally  prominent  in  the  other,  as  Edward  S.  Tyler, 
then  a  bookbinder,  now  a  farmer  in  Perry  township  ; 
James  McCready,  then  a  tailor,  afterwards  mayor, 
and  now  an  officer  of  the  Indiana  National  Bank  ; 
James  G.  Jordan,  then  a  law  student,  afterwards  city 
clerk  and  .secretary  of  the  Bellefontaine  Railroad  Com- 
pany, with  0.  H.  Smith  as  president — died  in  1850. 
Among  the  performers  were  other  young  men  of  the 
city,  unknown  now,  however,  except  as  shadowy 
memories,  save  William  Wallace.  The  theatre  was 
a  frame  building  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Market 
and  Mississippi  Streets,  which  had  been  erected  for  a 
foundry  the  summer  before  and  never  used.  There  was 
no  floor,  the  sills  were  raised  a  foot  from  the  ground  on 
blocks, — a  sort  of  special  providence  for  the  boys  who 
wanted  to  "  slip  in," — and  the  seats  were  raised  one 
above  the  other  from  the  north  end  at  the  stage  to 
the  south  end  on  Market  Street.  Dr.  Mears  had  a 
"  hay  press"  west  of  it  on  the  same  lot  to  make  baled 
hay  for  flat-boat  transportation  down  the  river.  The 
stage  was  about  fifteen  feet  wide  by  twenty  feet  long, 
and  was  provided  with  better  scenery,  by  the  gener- 
osity of  Jacob  Cox,  than  many  a  better  theatre  could 
boast.  Price  of  admission,  a  quarter,  with  frequent 
compromises  upon  merchantable  articles  of  equivalent 
or  approximate  value,  as  silk  handkerchiefs,  cheap 
breastpins,  especially  "  log-cabin"  pins  manufactured 


for  the  "  log-cabin"  Presidential  campaign,  rings,  and 
like  articles. 

The  first  performance  was  of  Robert  Dale  Owen's 
historical  drama  called  "  Pocahontas,"  accurate  his- 
torically, dreary  histrionically.  It  was  written  in  Mr. 
Owen's  youth,  and  forgotten  by  himself  and  every- 
body else  in  his  riper  years  and  wider  fame.  But 
the  novelty  of  a  play  performed  by  our  own  boys  in 
their  own  theatre,  with  their  own  scenery  and  music, 
made  it  "  keep  the  stage,"  as  the  phrase  goes,  at 
irregular  intervals  for  a  year,  sometimes  for  the 
benefit  of  charity,  sometimes  for  diversion.  Jame.s 
G.  Jordan  played  Capt.  John  Smith;  James  Mc- 
Cready, Powliattan  ;  William  Wallace,  Pocahontas  ; 
Davis  Miller,  John  T.  Morrison,  and  James  McVey 
the  minor  parts.  A  year  or  two  after  the  first 
season  of  the  •'  corps,"  Mr.  E.  S.  Tyler  became  a 
member  and  "  first  comedy  man."  Then  the  per- 
formances took  on  a  little  variety.  The  "  Golden 
Farmer"  was  produced,  with  Jordan  as  the  Farmer, 
McCready  as  Old  Mob,  and  Tyler  as  Jimmy  Twitch- 
er.  Mr.  Tyler  made  a  "  hit"  that  in  these  days 
would  have  made  his  fortune.  The  "  Brigands' ' 
was  also  produced  occasionally,  Jordan  as  Massa- 
roni,  with  the  song  of  "  Love's  Ritornella."  To- 
wards the  end  of  this  season  Mr.  Nat.  C.  Cook,  son 
of  John  Cook,  the  first  State  librarian,  who  had 
been  playing  subordinate  parts  at  "  Shire's  Garden" 
Theatre,  Cincinnati,  came  here  on  a  visit  to  his 
parents,  and,  of  course,  was  invited  to  appear  with 
the  "  corps."  The  piece  was  Home's  "  Douglas." 
He  played  Young  Nerval;  Jordan,  Glenalvon ; 
Miller,  Lady  Douglas  ;  John  Morrison,  Lord  Doug- 
las. Cook  did  fairly,  but  Jordan  was  far  better,  and 
was  a  "  born  actor,  if  there  ever  was  one."  The 
farce  of  the  "  Two  Gregories"  ended  the  perform- 
ance and  the  "  corps."  It  went  out  in  a  blaze. 
Both  of  Mr.  Cook's  younger  brothers  appeared 
in  it  a  few  times.  Aquilla,  the  elder  of  the  two, 
went  to  Cincinnati  in  1844  or  1845,  married  a 
dancer  in  "  Shire's  Garden,"  killed  the  treasurer, 
Mr.  Reeves,  on  her  complaint  that  he  had  insulted 
her,  and  was  never  heard  of  afterwards,  except  in  a 
letter  to  a  Cincinnati  paper  boasting  of  the  way  he 
fooled  the  police  and  escaped  arrest  for  his  crime. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


259 


Following  the  final  disappearance  of  the  "  Thespian 
Corps,"  about  the  year  1844,  there  is  nothing  to 
notice  in  dramatic  affairs  till  after  the  completion  of 
Masonic  Hall.  Then  an  occasional  dramatic  per- 
formance was  given  there  and  in  other  minor  halls, 
but  they  formed  no  feature  of  the  city's  life  or 
amusements.  During  the  first  State  Fair,  in  the 
fall  of  1852,  F.  W.  Robinson,  better  known  as 
"  Yankee  Robinson,"  set  up  a  theatrical  tent  on  the 
corner  where  the  "  Park"  (old  "  Metropolitan") 
Theatre  is  now,  and  did  so  well  with  a  very  fair 
traveling  company  that  he  came  back  the  next  fall 
and  opened  in  "  Washington  Hall,"  with  Henry  W. 
Waugh,  a  young  artist  of  rare  promi.se  as  well  as  a 
good  actor, — he  was  clown  in  Robinson's  circus 
as  "  Dilly  Fay,"  and,  as  a  painter,  assisted  Mr. 
Cox  with  his  "  Temperance  Panorama"  in  1855, — 
for  leading  man,  Sidney  Wilkins  and  wife  for  the 
"  heavy  business,"  and  Charles  Wilson  and  James  F. 
Lytton  for  Irish  characters  and  songs.  Mr.  Lytton 
made  very  popular  here  such  songs  as  "  Billy 
O'Rourke,"  "  Low-Backed  Car,"  "  Flaming  0'- 
Flannigans,"  "  Finnegan's  Wake,"  and  others. 
Robinson  was  followed,  in  the  spring  of  1854,  by 
Wilkins  and  H.  W.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Mehen,  who 
produced  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  the  first  time  in 
the  city.  Mr.  Calvin  Elliott,  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1854,  finished  his  building  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Maryland  and  Meridian  Streets,  and  made 
a  fine  large  room  of  the  third  story,  which  Robin- 
son fitted  up  as  a  theatre  and  called  the  "  Athe- 
naeum," where,  as  Saxe  says,  those  who  dreaded  the 
name  of  "  theatre"  but  still 

*'  Loved  play.s, 

Could  religiously  see  'em." 

The  first  season  of  the  "  Athenaeum"  was  very 
successful.  The  stock  company  was  good,  consisting 
of  R.  J.  Miller  (afterwards  known  as  "  Yankee 
Miller")  and  his  wife,  Mr.  Bierce  (known  as  "  Yan- 
kee Bierce"),  F.  A.  Tannehill,  George  McWilliams 
(Democratic  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  Covingtou 
district  in  1876,  recently  deceased),  his  sister  Mary, 
James  F.  Lytton,  and  H.  W.  Waugh.  Somewhere 
along  in  October  Miss  Susan  Denin,  a  "  star"  of  bet- 


ter ability  than  social  repute,  appeared  at  the  "  Athe- 
naeum" and  made  as  much  of  a  sensation   as  Sara 
Bernhardt  did  twenty-six  years  later.     She  played  in 
Rev.  Mr.  Milman's  "  Fazio,"  Richard  Lalor  Shiel's 
"  Evadne,".  Knowles'    "  Hunchback."    and    several 
farces.     The  following  year  she  and  her  sister  Kate 
came,  and  she  played  Romeo  to  Kate's  Juliet.     In  that 
same  fall  Maggie  Mitchell  appeared  here  first,  and  it 
was  her  second  engagement  as  a  "  star,"  or  her  agent 
said  so.     She  was  not  more   than   seventeen,  thirty 
years  ago.     Robinson's  sea.son  dosed  April  14,  1855, 
and  then  Mr.  Austin  H.  Brown  and  John  M.  Com- 
mons took  the  "  Athenaeum"  and  brought  here  Harry 
Chapman  and    Mrs.  Drake, — they  appeared  later  at 
the  "  Metropolitan," — and  in  the  very  furnace-heat  of 
July  brought  out  James  E.  Murdoch.     He  played 
the  Stranger  to  about  twenty  persons,  who  bore  the 
heat  to  see  one  of   the  first  actors  of  the  country. 
The  next  night  was  worse,  and  he  threw  up  the  en- 
gagement and  never  came  back,  except  as  a  reader 
and    elocutionary    performer   during    the   war.     Mr. 
Commons,  after  Mr.  Brown  had  retired  in  disgust, 
kept  up  the  place  from  the  middle  of  September  to 
December,  showing  here  for  the  first  time  Miss  Eliza 
Logan,  Mr.  Joseph  Proctor  and  wife,  I'eter  and  Caro- 
line Richings  (the  latter  sang  the   "  Star-Spangled 
Banner"  in  1861,  when  the  flag  was  hoisted  on  the 
State-House    by    order   of  the    Legislature),  W.  J. 
Florence  and  wife.     In   1856,  William   L.   Woods 
opened  the  place  again,  and  produced  the  celebrated 
low  comedian,  W.  Davidge ;  and  later  Mr.  Lytton,  as 
manager,  brought  out  Miss  Logan  and  Mrs.  Coleman 
Pope  (who  afterwards  made  her  home  here  and  died 
here).     During   the  winter   of  1856-57    the  same 
management  produced  John  Drew,  Charlotte  Cramp- 
ton,    Dora    Shaw,  and   others.     In  the    summer   of 
1858  a  German  company  played  at  the  "  Athenaeum," 
and   during  the  winter  the   Germans   kept  up   two 
theatres,  one  at  Washington  Hall  and  one  at  Union 
Hall.     In  April,  1858,  Kate  Denin  and  Sam  Ryan, 
her  husband,  opened  Washington  Hall,  to  no  purpose, 
and  during  the  State  Fair  Harry  Chapman  and  his 
wife  and  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Drake,  with  John  K. 
Mortimer,  opened  the  "  Athenaeum"  for  the  last  time. 
I  A  gymnastic  association,  formed  in  1854  and  exer- 


2S0 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


eised  in  "  Blake's  Block,'  was  removed  in  1859,  with 
Simon  Yandes  as  president  and  the  late  Thomas  H. 
Bowles  as  secretary,  and  the  Athenaeum  was  occupied 
by  it  for  "  calisthenic"  operations  as  long  as  it  was 
used  for  any  public  purpose.  It  was  at-  last  turned 
into  an  eating-house.  This  is  the  whole  history 
worth  noting  of  the  early  period  of  the  drama  in  the 
city  when  there  were  only  temporary  theatres,  casual 
seasons  scattered  all  about  the  year,  and  companies 
collected  by  luck,  as  often  ill  as  good.  It  may  be 
added,  to  complete  the  sketch,  that  C.  J.  Smith 
failed  in  a  week  in  the  "  Athenasum"  in  March, 
1857,  and  Maddocks  and  Wilson  did  the  same  in  the 
summer  of  1856,  but  took  longer,  and  Wilson  and 
I'ratt  and  Yankee  Bierce  followed  in  the  same  way 
in  the  fall  and  winter  of  the  same  year. 

The  theatre  was  now  to  change  its  character  from 
the  casual  resource  of  a  broken  actor  to  a  permanent 
feature  of  city  life  and  entertainment.  In  1857,  Mr. 
Valentine  Butsch,  the  owner  of  the  lot  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Washington  and  Tennessee  Streets, 
determined  to  build  a  theatre  there.  It  had  in  early 
years  been  a  frequent  location  of  circuses  and  men- 
ageries, and  was  entitled  by  its  history  to  this  selec- 
tion. In  August,  1857,  the  corner-stone  was  laid, 
and  in  the  following  year,  in  September,  the  building 
was  completed.  It  cost,  with  the  lot,  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  The  lower  story,  except  a  stairway  of 
twenty  feet  width,  is  occupied  by  business  houses. 
The  two  upper  ones — built  purposely — are  high, 
commodious,  and  well  ventilated,  and  make,  with  the 
gallery,  an  auditorium  seating  about  fifteen  hundred 
persons.  It  was  opened  under  the  management  of 
E.  T.  Sherlock,  Sept.  27,  1858,  with  "tableaux 
vivants"  by  the  "  Keller"  troop.  During  the  sea- 
son closing  the  last  of  February  there  appeared  in 
the  new  theatre,  called  the  "  Metropolitan,"  Mr. 
Hackett,  the  eminent  Shakespearian  actor  and  per- 
sonator  of  Fahtnff,  the  Florences,  J.  B.  Roberts, 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Wallack,  Mrs.  Sinclair  (the  divorced  wife 
of  Forrest, — an  indiiferent  actress),  Adah  Isaacs 
Menken,  Eliza  Logan,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waller,  Matilda 
Heron, — fresh  in  her  celebrity  as  a  "  realistic"  actress, 
— and  the  Cooper  English  Opera  Troupe,  and  other 
"  stars"  of  less    magnitude.      It  was   not  a   paying 


season,  and  to  improve  it  the  manager  proposed  to 
give  a  benefit  to  the  "  Widows'  and  Orphans' 
Society,"  as  elsewhere  related.  The  proffer  was  re- 
jected solely  on  account  of  the  immoral  character  of 
the  theatre,  which  made  it  improper  for  a  moral  asso- 
ciation to  take  its  money  even  for  righteous  uses. 
Opinion  changed  in  ten  years,  and  cordially  sustained 
the  same  society  in  giving  a  series  of  dramatic  per- 
formances in  the  occasional  theatre  of  Morrison's 
Opera  Hall.  The  performers  were  amateurs,  but 
the  performances  were  no  better  morally,  and  very 
little  worse  histrionically,  than  the  plays  usually  seen 
in  the  theatre. 

Following  Mr.  Sherlock  came  Mr.  George  Wood 
for  a  few  nights,  and  Mr.  John  A.  EUsler  for  two 
months,  reopening  in  the  fall  and  winter.  On  the 
25th  of  April,  1861,  when  volunteers  were  gathering 
here  in  thousands  for  the  war,  Mr.  Butsch  took  the 
management  himself,  with  Felix  A.  Vincent  as  stage 
manager,  and  Miss  Marion  McCarthy — who  subse- 
quently became  insane  and  died  here — as  "  leading 
lady."  Mr.  Vincent  was  succeeded  in  1863  by  Wil- 
liam H.  Riley,  who  remained  till  1867,  when  he 
went  to  New  Orleans  as  manager  of  the  "  Saint 
Charles,"  and  died  there  within  a  month  after  his 
arrival.  The  season  of  1867-68  was  managed  by 
Matt.  V.  Lingham,  and  that  of  1868  by  Charles 
R.  Pope.  Joseph  Jefferson,  John  E.  Owens,  and 
Edwin  Forrest  appeared  at  the  "  Metropolitan"  at 
one  time  or  another  in  this  long  interval,  with  nearly 
all  the  distinguished  actors  of  the  country.  On 
the  25th  of  March,  1867,  Madame  Ristori  appeared 
there  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Grau.  Mr. 
Forrest  played  Virginius,  Spartacus,  Othello  (Mr. 
Pope  as  lago),  Melamora.  Subsequently  he  played 
Lear  and  Jack  Cade  at  the  "  Academy  of  Music." 
The  "  Metropolitan"  was  a  profitable  enterprise, 
and  impelled  Mr.  Butsch,  in  1868,  to  buy  the  un- 
finished "  Miller  Block,"  southeast  corner  of  Illi- 
nois and  Ohio  Streets,  for  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
to  finish  it  as  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  thea- 
tres in  the  West.  Like  the  "  Metropolitan,"  the 
lower  story  was  occupied  by  business  houses.  The 
two  upper  stories  made  a  large  and  convenient  stage 
and  an  auditorium  for  twenty-five  hundred  spectators. 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


261 


Mr.  William  H.  Leake  was  manager.  Here  appeared 
during  this  management  Mr.  Owens,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
Mr.  Leffingwell,  Mrs.  Lander,  Mrs.  Janauscheii:,  Mr. 
Toole,  the  celebrated  English  comedian,  and  others 
less  noted.  In  the  fall  of  1870,  Mr.  Leake  was  joined 
by  Mr.  James  Dickson, — now  of  the  extensive  the- 
atrical management  combination  of  "  Brooks  &  Dick- 
son,"— and  they  leased  the  Academy  for  some  years. 

The  "  Metropolitan,"  at  this  time,  was  "  running" 
as  a  sort  of  "  variety"  theatre,  with  Mr.  Sargent,  later 
with  Fred  Thompson,  and  later  and  much  longer  with 
Simon  McCarty,  till  the  late  Mr.  Dillard  Eicketts 
bought  and  repaired  and  improved  it  a  few  years 
ago,  when  the  Dickson  Brothers  leased  it  and  hold 
it  yet  under  the  name  of  the  "  Park  Theatre."  The 
only  conspicuous  appearance  at  it  in  late  years  was 
that  of  Mrs.  Langtry's  two  nights  early  in  1883,  first 
as  Rosalind,  in  "  As  You  Like  It,"  and  as  Juliana,  in 
Tobin's  "  Honeymoon,"  with  no  considerable  success, 
though  not  worse  than  older  actresses  have  done  on 
the  same  stage.  The  "  Academy  of  Music"  changed 
hands  about  1875  or  1876,  and  Gen.  Daniel  Macauley 
became  manager.  Messrs.  Leake  and  Dickson  then 
began  building  the  present  "Grand  Opera-House." 
in  the  rear  of  the  "  Martindale  Block,"  on  the  east 
side  of  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  with  a  wide  pas- 
sage through  the  "  Block"  to  the  auditorium.  There 
are  two  galleries  here.  Shortly  after  the  opening  of 
the  "  Grand"  the  "  Academy"  was  wholly  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  when  rebuilt  was  converted  into  business 
rooms.  Along  about  this  time  there  were  several 
"  variety"  theatres  maintained  in  halls  and  beer  gar- 
dens which  do  not  need  mention  here.  The  "  Zoo" 
— contraction  of  "  Zoological" — began  as  a  sort  of 
stationary  menagerie  a  half-dozen  years  ago  with  a 
"  variety"  addition,  but  gradually  dropped  all  of  the 
"  zoological"  features  except  the  first  two  syllables  of 
the  name  combined  into  one,  and  became  a  very  fair 
show-place  of  that  kind.  Within  two  or  three  years 
it  has  been  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  both  in 
building  and  performances. 

Some  three  years  ago  William  H.  English  built 
the  "  English  Opera-House,"  in  the  rear  of  the  fine 
"  quadrant"  of  buildings  he  is  putting  up  in  uniform 
style  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  Circle  Street,  and  ■• 


has  made  it  equal  to  any  in  the  West  in  extent, 
excellence  of  accommodations,  safety  in  case  of  fire, 
and  amplitude  of  stage  room.  The  management  is  in 
the  hands  of  William  E.  English,  son  of  the  propri- 
etor. He  has  shown  a  striking  aptitude  for  the  busi- 
ness, and  has  brought  here  Sarah  Bernhardt  in  1881, 
Madame  Gerster  and  Campanini  in  1882,  Adclina 
Patti  in  1882-83,  with  most  of  the  leading  actors  of 
the  day,  female  and  male,  at  one  time  or  another.  Oscar 
Wilde  lectured  here.  The  management  has  been  very 
liberal  in  allowing  its  use  for  public  purposes.  State 
conventions  have  been  held  in  it,  the  High  School  grad- 
uating exercises  have  been  conducted  in  it,  and  the 
"  Art  Loan  Exhibition"  very  recently  was  given  the 
use  of  it. 

There  have  been  two  or  three  little  museums  here, 
one  on  east  Washington  Street  by  a  Mrs.  English,  and 
one  on  the  corner  of  Georgia  and  Illinois  Streets,  in  a 
shed.  Neither  amounted  to  anything.  Before  "  gar- 
dens" as  places  of  public  resort  had  degenerated  into 
beer-swilling  conveniences,  there  were  two  in  the  city 
that  deserve  mention  as  places  of  public  and  decent 
diversion.  John  Hodgkins  opened  the  first  in  1841, 
in  the  orchard  of  George  Smith's  (first  newspaper 
man)  place,  northeast  corner  of  Georgia  and  Tennes- 
see Streets.  He  made  arbors  under  and  around  the 
fruit-trees,  with  graveled  walks  and  fiower-beds,  and 
the  first  ice-house  ever  built  for  public  u.se  in  the 
town.  In  1856-57  the  "  Apollo  Garden"  was  opened 
on  Kentucky  Avenue,  on  the  point  now  occupied  by 
the  "  Cleaveland  Block,"  once  the  garden  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bolton's  residence.  This  soon  degenerated  into 
a  low  resort,  and  public  "gardens"  have  ever  since 
been  places  of  rather  equivocal  character  when  they 
were  not  openly  vicious. 

Lectures. — -Until  the  fall  and  winter  of  1855-56 
there  were  no  regular  courses  of  lectures  in  the  city. 
In  1846-47  the  "  Union  Literary  Society,"  as  related 
in  the  general  history,  had  a  few  lectures  delivered  in 
churches  by  Rev.  S.  T.  Gillett,  Rev.  Dr.  Johnson,  of 
Christ  Church,  Godlove  S.  Orth,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
and  one  or  two  others,  to  considerable  free  audiences, 
the  expense  being  paid  by  contributions  from  old  cit- 
izens like  Mr.  McCarty,  Mr.  Fletcher,  Mr.  Sharpe, 
Mr.    Blake,  Mr.   Ray,   Mr.   Austin   W.   Morris,   Mr. 


262 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


James  Sulgrove,  and  others;  and  in  1850-51,  during 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  they  obtained  lectures 
from  a  few  of  the  members,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  John 
B.  Niles,  of  Laporte,  Professor  Daniel  Read,  of  the 
State  University,  among  them.  The  last  effort  of  the 
old  Society  was  in  the  fall  of  1853,  when  they  obtained 
a  lecture  from  Horace  Greeley  on  "  Henry  Clay,"  in 
Masonic  Hall,  on  his  return  from  the  second  annual 
State  Fair  at  Lafayette,  where  he  had  delivered  the 
address.  In  May,  1851,  John  B.  Gough  had  been 
here  and  delivered  a  series  of  three  or  four  lectures  on 
temperance  in  Masonic  Hall.  On  the  28th  and  29th 
of  October,  1853,  the  ex-priest  Gavazzi  lectured  on 
the  "  Inquisition  and  Catholicism."  In  November 
following  Lucy  Stone  lectured  three  times  in  Masonic 
Hall  on  Women's  Rights,  the  right  of  suffrage  being 
le.<!S  prominent  in  her  consideration  than  the  right  of 
employment  and  self-support.  She  wore  the  Bloomer 
costume,  plain  and  simple  to  the  verge  of  ugliness, 
while  she  was  rather  an  attractive  looking  young  lady. 
The  audience  became  a  little  impatient  and  began 
"  stamping"  for  her  appearance  before  the  advertised 
time.  She  came  out,  looked  at  her  watch,  and  rebuked 
the  audience  for  calling  her  out  before  the  time. 
"  They  had  no  right  to  do  it,"  she  said.  Page  Chap- 
man, in  the  next  Saturday's  Chanticleer,  called  her 
an  "impertinent  minx"  for  it.  In  October  of  1855 
a  Women's  Rights  Convention  was  held  in  the  Masonic 
Hall,  and  addresses  were  made  by  Lucretia  Mott, 
Ernestine  L.  Rose,  Frances  D.  Gage,  Adaline  Swift, 
Harriet  Cutler,  and  other  distinguished  advocates  of 
women's  rights.  At  a  later  convention  of  the  same 
kind  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony  was  present.  Abby 
Kelly  and  Joseph  Barker,  of  Pittsburgh,  were  present 
at  the  first  one.  Mrs.  Livermore  has  lectured  here 
several  times,  as  has  Anna  Dickinson.  As  early  as 
any  of  these  lectures  was  one  in  Masonic  Hall  by  Mr. 
Whitney,  on  his  hobby  of  building  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  by  donations  or  sales  of  public  lands.  Though 
little  practical  good  followed  his  efi'orts  directly,  it  is 
probable  that  his  well-informed  demonstrations  con- 
tributed to  the  impulse  that  pushed  the  great  trans- 
continental enterprises  more  rapidly  than  they  would 
otherwise  have  been.  These  were  all  casual  and  scat- 
tered eiForts.     In  1855-56  there  came  in  a  system,  a 


little  weakened  in  recent  years  but  by  no  means  worn 
out. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  organized 
on  the  21st  of  March,  1854,  and  speedily  made  ar- 
rangements to  procure  lecturers  for  regular  courses 
which  they  proposed  to  maintain.  The  first  one  in 
the  winter  of  1855-56  brought  here  Park  Benjamin, 
Rev.  Mr.  Butler,  of  Wabash  College,  David  Paul 
Brown,  the  eminent  Philadelphia  lawyer,  Edwin  P. 
Whipple,  Henry  B.  Stanton,  Bishop  Simpson,  Ed- 
ward P.  Thompson,  Henry  W.  Ellsworth,  son  of  the 
old  commissioner  of  patents,  Henry  L.  Ellsworth, 
minister  to  Sweden  and  Norway  in  Polk's  term,  then 
from  1852  and  till  his  death,  or  near  it,  a  resident  of 
this  city.  The  next  year,  1856-57,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  Young  Men's  Literary 
Association  both  held  lecture-courses.  The  chief 
lecturers  were  Rev.  Theodore  Parker,  Rev.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  John  B.  Gough,  Elihu  Burritt  (the 
"Learned  Blacksmith"),  Samuel  S.  Cox,  Thornton 
A.  Mills,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  here, 
and  George  Sumner,  brother  of  Charles.  He  lec- 
tured once  in  Washington  Hall,  and  so  did  Bayard 
Taylor.  In  May,  1857,  Edward  Everett  delivered 
his  "  Mount  Vernon"  lecture  in  Masonic  Hall,  and 
the  season  following  Dudley  A.  Tyng,  Horace  Gree- 
ley, Governor  Boutwell,  Rev.  Henry  Giles  (a  cripple 
and  noted  lecturer)  lectured  in  the  regular  course. 
In  the  season  of  1858  the  chief  lecturers  were  Dr. 
J.  G.  Holland  (the  "Timothy  Titcomb"  of  the 
Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican  ;  later,  the  author  of 
"  Miss  Gilbert's  Career,"  "  Bitter  Sweet,"  and  other 
works,  and  dying  recently  as  editor  of  the  Century), 
Professor  Youmans,  Professor  Maury,  Benjamin  F. 
Taylor,  Bayard  Taylor,  Thomas  Francis  Meagher. 
On  the  ISth  of  May,  1859,  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Old  School  Presbyterians  met  in  the  Third 
Church,  Illinois  Street,  and  held  daily  sessions  till 
the  2d  of  June.  Sermons  and  addresses  were  deliv- 
ered by  several  of  the  distinguished  clergymen  pres- 
ent in  different  churches  of  the  city,  while  a  debate 
between  Dr.  McMaster,  of  New  Albany,  and  Dr.  N.  L. 
Rice  (the  antagonist  in  1845  of  the  celebrated  Alexan- 
der Campbell  in  a  debate  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  where 
Henry  Clay  was  moderator)  attracted  a  great  deal  of 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


263 


attention  among  the  citizens.  Dr.  Palmer,  of  New  Or- 
leans, Dr.  Thornwell,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  Dr.  Alex- 
ander, of  Princeton,  were  conspicuous  members,  and 
drew  large  miscellaneous  audiences  to  their  sermons. 
In  February,  1860,  Lola  Montez  lectured  in  Masonic 
Hall  two  or  three  times  to  not  very  large  or  enthu- 
siastic audiences.  Bayard  Taylor  and  Henry  J.  Ray- 
mond, of  the  New  York  Times,  and  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  (on  "  Clubs  or  Conversation")  also  lectured 
in  the  hall  the  same  winter,  and  with  them  were  Dr. 
Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  George  W.  Win- 
ship,  the  "  strong  man,"  and  some  others.  During 
the  preceding  February,  George  D.  Prentice,  of  the 
LouhviUe  Journal,  lectured  in  the  hall,  and  Henry 
S.  Foote,  ex-Governor  and  ex-United  States  Senator 
of  Mississippi,  lectured  in  the  basement  of  Roberts' 
Chapel,  but  both  spoke  on  their  own  account  and  in 
no  connection  with  a  lecture  association.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln spoke  in  Masonic  Hall  on  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1859.  Dr.  Boynton  delivered  a  series  of  lectures 
on  geology  in  December,  1859,  and  January,  1860. 
In  the  fall  of  1855  or  1856,  Professor  O.  M.  Mitchell, 
the  eminent  astronomer  of  the  Cincinnati  Observatory, 
delivered  a  series  of  ten  or  twelve  lectures  in  Masonic 
Hall  under  the  auspices  of  some  "  literary  associa- 
tion." They  were  more  closely  attended  than  any 
ever  delivered  here,  and  were  worth  more  for  in- 
struction to  those  who  heard  them.  They  were  re- 
ported pretty  fully  in  the  Journal.  This  series  is 
set  by  itself  in  the  sketch  because  it  is  quite  apart 
from  the  regular  lecture-courses.  During  the  war 
the  lecture  system  languished,  and  it  has  never  been 
revived  in  its  original  vigor,  though  a  course  which 
proved  quite  successful  was  delivered  during  the  past 
season. 

Concerts. — Except  a  rare  concert  by  the  pupils  of 
some  music  teacher,  or  a  "  nigger"  minstrel  troupe, 
the  public  patronage  and  recognition  of  music  never 
shone  conspicuously  among  the  evidences  of  culture 
in  Indianapolis  during  the  first  thirty  years  of  its 
existence.  How  far  such  patronage  as  was  extended 
to  the  art  proved  it  need  not  be  discussed  here.  We 
had  brass  bands  pretty  nearly  continuously  from  1840, 
when  the  first  one  was  formed,  till  the  establishment 
of  the  theatre  here  compelled  the  retention  of  skilled 


musicians  for  orchestral  service,  and  thus  made  handy 
material  for  bands  and  for  a  better  grade  of  musical 
instruction  than  had  been  usual,  but  there  had  been 
no  public  performance  of  the  best  music,  the  "  classic" 
order,  till  the  fall  of  1851.  Then  Madame  Anna 
Bishop  and  M.  Bochsa  gave  a  concert  in  Masonic 
Hall  that  furnished  the  curious  some  idea  of  what 
music  was  that  was  neither  hymn  nor  ballad,  jig  nor 
hornpipe.  To  some  it  was  a  revelation  of  pleasure  of 
a  higher  kind  than  had  been  customary,  to  others  it 
was  unmeaning  and  even  ludicrous.  They  saw  no 
music  in  it  because  there  was  no  "  tune"  in  it ;  they 
knew  of  no  musical  expression  of  sentiment  but  a 
"  tune,"  and  what  was  not  that  was  nothing.  The 
German  immigration  since  that  time  has  done  more 
than  any  other  agency  to  familiarize  intelligent  people 
with  better  music  than  "  Leather  Breeches"  or  "  Hell 
on  the  Wabash."  Mrs.  Bishop  gave  her  audience  a 
notion  of  what  opera  was,  and  a  good  many  had  not 
a  clearer  idea  of  it  than  they  have  of  the  cause  of  the 
recent  red  sunsets.  She  sang  the  "  Chi  me  Frena," 
from  "  Lucretia,"  in  character.  It  served  as  an 
indication  to  the  shrewd  auditor.  Some  additional 
musical  impulse  may  have  been  derived  from  a  State 
convention  of  brass  bands  held  in  the  hall,  under  the 
management  of  George  B.  Downie,  leader  of  the 
Indianapolis  Band,  when  some  thirteen  were  present 
and  competed  for  a  prize  banner  awarded  to  the  New 
Albany  Band.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  convention, 
Mr.  B.  R.  Sulgrove  declared  the  award,  and  made  an 
address  on  the  occasion.  A  second  convention  of 
nine  bands  was  held  in  the  same  place  in  November, 
1853,  under  the  management  of  Charles  W.  Cottom, 
afterwards  city  editor  of  the  Sentinel.  The  great 
musical  event  of  the  period,  however,  was  the 
appearance  in  Masonic  Hall  of  Ole  Bull,  Dec.  6, 
1853.  It  was  his  first  Western  tour,  and  put  the 
intelligent  part  of  the  town  in  a  musical  fever  that 
has  not  been  equaled  since,  even  by  the  combination 
of  Kellogg,  Gary,  and  Madame  Rosa,  or  Gerster  and 
Campanini,  or  even  by  Patti,  and  she,  then  a  little 
girl  of  ten  or  twelve  years,  was  in  the  performance 
with  her  sister,  Madame  Strakosch,  and  sang  "  Comin' 
Thro'  the  Rye"  (a  river,  not  a  grain-field).  On  the 
22d  of  January,  1856,  the  Hutchinsons  sang  here  in 


264 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


the  hall.  Ole  Bull  returned  in  February,  and  in 
November,  Strakosch,  Parodi,  Tiberini,  Morini,  and 
Paul  Julien  performed  in  the  hall.  On  the  20th  of 
the  same  month,  George  F.  Root  had  a  State  musical 
convention  assemble  here.  Music  was  getting  "  ac- 
tive," as  market  reports  say.  In  1855  the  "  Black 
Swan,"  Miss  Greenfield,  or  some  such  name,  sang  at 
the  hall.  May  2d,  and  came  here  again  in  1868. 
On  December  10th,  Parodi  and  the  pair  of  Stra- 
kosches  gave  a  concert  at  the  hall.  On  the  30th  of 
June,  1857,  Dodworth's  great  New  York  baud, 
numbering  ninety  members,  gave  an  "  open-air" 
concert  in  the  military  grounds  to  an  audience  but 
little  larger  than  the  band.  This  was  under  a  con- 
tract with  a  Cleveland  manager  named  Stone.  At 
night  they  gave  a  concert  for  their  own  benefit,  but 
with  no  better  result  than  in  the  day  performance. 
A  few  weeks  before  this  Thalberg,  Parodi,  and  Mol- 
lenhauer  gave  a  concert  at  the  hall.  Musical  culture 
was  looking  up.  June  10  to  13,  1858,  the  Ger- 
man singing  societies  of  the  State  held  a  conven- 
tion here,  finishing  with  a  procession  and  a  concert, 
both  enthusiastically  witnessed  by  a  large  attendance 
of  all  nationalities  of  citizens.  The  first  full  operatic 
performance  was  that  of  the  "  Bohemian  Girl,"  by 
the  "  Cooper  English  Opera  Troupe,"  in  the  winter 
of  1858-59,  at  the  "  Metropolitan." 

Unsical  Societies. — Before  glancing  at  the  musi- 
cal associations  and  other  indications  of  the  musical 
culture  of  the  city  now,  it  may  be  as  well  to  look  back 
a  moment  at  the  associations  which  have  been  formed 
here,  served  their  occasion,  and  passed  away.  The 
first  was  the  "  Handelian"  Society  of  1828,  which 
furnished  the  music  for  the  celebration  of  the  Fourth 
of  July  that  year.  Who  composed  it  and  what  be- 
came of  it  are  undiscoverable  facts  now.  The  next 
of  which  any  positive  evidence  exists,  except  the 
choirs  of  churches, — and  only  the  Episcopal  in  1838, 
the  Catholic  in  1841,  and  Mr.  Beecher's  about  the 
same  time,  had  choirs, — was  a  society  mainly  com- 
posed of  those  who  had  been  members  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  choir,  Mr.  A.  G.  Willard  (the  leader), 
John  L.  Ketcham,  Alex.  Davidson  (son-in-law  of 
Governor  Noble),  Mrs.  Dr.  Ackley  (daughter  of  Mr. 
Baldwin,  first  president  of  Wabash  College),  Lawrence 


M.  Vance,  and  others.  Professor  P.  R.  Pearsall  was 
the  teacher  and  instrumental  performer.  No  man  in 
the  city  did  so  much  as  he  to  develop  and  difi'use  a 
better  musical  taste  in  the  city.  He  died  a  few  years 
ago  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six,  as  active, 
cheerful,  and  social  as  most  men  of  half  his  years. 
Other  societies  came  up  and  went  down  with  no 
result  and  no  record.  In  1863  ''  The  Musicale,"  a 
society  formed  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Butterfield,  a  music  pub- 
lisher and  dealer  here,  wholly  of  skilled  musicians,  per- 
formed classic  music  only,  and  only  in  the  houses  of 
the  members,  for  a  few  years,  making  a  public 
appearance  but  once.  In  the  summer  of  18G4,  Pro- 
fessor Benjamin  Owen  formed  a  class  in  vocal  music, 
as  Professor  Sharpe  had  done  ten  years  before,  and 
gave  public  concerts  with  them.  It  broke  up  about 
1867.  In  September,  1867,  the  "  Mendelssohn 
Society"  was  formed,  with  Wm.  H.  Churchman  as 
president ;  Gen.  Daniel  Macauley,  vice-president ; 
Charles  P.  Jacobs,  secretary;  Thomas  N.  Caulfield, 
director.  When  Mr.  Caulfield  removed  in  1868, 
Professor  Carl  Bergstein  was  chosen  leader.  The 
society  is  not  now  in  existence. 

The  "  Maennerchor,"  formed  in  1854,  is  the 
oldest  and  largest  musical  association  in  the  city.  It 
is  German,  as  its  name  indicates,  but  no  good  music 
comes  amiss  to  it.  The  first  leaders  were  Mr.  Long- 
reich,  Mr.  Despa,  Mr.  Kantmau,  Professor  Weegman, 
and  Professor  Bergstein.  It  directed  the  great 
Saengerfest  here  in  1867,  and  again  in  1883.  The 
net  proceeds  of  the  festival  were  given  to  the  Grer- 
man-English  School,  the  Benevolent  Society,  and  the 
German  Benevolent  Society.  Its  hall  is  the  former 
City  Hall  on  East  Washington  Street.  Last  summer 
it  gave  a  performance  in  the  Grand  Opera-House  of 
the  opera  of  "  Stradella"  in  so  good  a  style  that  one 
unacquainted  with  the  company  would  have  con- 
cluded that  it  was  a  professional  association  of  a  very 
fair  grade.  In  1869,  in  October,  three  German 
musical  societies  were  compounded  by  the  influence 
of  Professor  Bergstein, — the  Liederkranz,  Harmonie, 
and  Frohsinn.  The  union  was  at  first  temporary  to 
celebrate  the  Humboldt  centennial.  Afterwards  it 
was  made  permanent  under  the  name  of  the  "  Har- 
monic."    Ladies  were  not  admitted  as  members.     Its 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


265 


meetings  were  held  twice  a  week  in  Marmont's 
Hall,  southwest  corner  of  Georgia  and  Illinois  Streets. 
The  "  Liederkranz"  and  the  "  Harmonie"  have 
been  reconstructed  since  the  combination,  and  are 
now  in  existence  separately.  The  "  Turn-Verein" 
has  a  musical  association  in  its  membership.  The 
"  Druid  Maennerchor"  was  formed  in  1868,  exclu- 
sively for  members  of  that  order,  with  Philip  Reich- 
wein  for  president,  and  August  Mueller,  director. 
The  "  Choral  Union"  was  formed  about  1869,  for 
the  general  purpose  of  promoting  musical  taste  and 
culture,  and  performing  occasionally  the  higher  styles 
of  musical  composition,  both  vocally  and  instru- 
mentally.  The  first  officers  were  M.  R.  Barnard, 
president;  Wm.  C.  Sinock,  secretary;  Professor  J.  S. 
Black,  director  ;  E.  C.  Mayhewand  George  B.  Loomis, 
leaders.  Nothing  has  been  heard  of  it  recently,  at 
least  since  Professor  Black  and  Mr.  Barnard  left  the 
city.  The  "  Philharmonic  Orchestra"  was  organized 
about  the  same  time  as  the  preceding,  with  Dr.  R.  A. 
Barnes  as  leader.  The  "  Lyra"  is  an  old  and  well- 
established  German  musical  society  of  large  member- 
ship and  means,  and  has  a  fine  hall  in  the  building 
which  has  replaced  the  old  "  Washington  Hall," 
opposite  Masonic  Hall.  It  is  rather  a  rival  of  the 
Maennerchor.  Benhams  Musical  Review  was  pub- 
lished here  for  some  half  dozen  years  before  1870, 
and  for  two  or  three  years  after  that.  In  1869,  Mr. 
A.  G.  Willard  beg^n  the  publication  of  the  Musical 
Visitor  here.  Both  have  long  been  suspended. 
Among  the  prominent  musicians  of  the  city,  profes- 
sional and  amateur,  have  been  Professor  Pearsall,  Mr. 
A.  G.  Willard,  Professor  Bergstein,  Professor  Lizus, 
Professor  Ernestinoff,  Professor  Baker,  Professor 
Barus,  Professor  Beissenherz,  Mr.  Mueller,  Mr.  Vogt 
(orchestra  leaders  the  last  three),  Mr.  Athlick  Smith, 
Mr.  M.  H.  Spades  and  Mrs.  Spades,  Mrs.  Leon 
Bailey,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sam.  Morrison,  Mr.  0.  W. 
Williams,  Mrs.  E.  W.  Halford,  Miss  Mackenzie,  Mrs. 
John  C.  New,  Mrs.  Lynn,  Mr.  Ora  Pearson,  and 
others  not  recalled  at  this  moment. 

The  present  management  of  the  public  musical 
associations  of  the  city  is  as  follows :  The  "  Lieder- 
kranz" meets  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  at  Union 
Hall.      W.   H.   Scherer  is   president;    Gustav   Her- 


mann, secretary ;  Frederick  Mack,  treasurer.  Ernst 
EmestinofiF,  musical  director.  The  "  Lyra"  meets 
Tuesday  and  Saturday  evenings,  at  Lyra  Hall.  Ed. 
Raschig  is  president;  F.  Mumneuhoff,  secretary; 
John  Wocher,  Jr.,  treasurer;  Reinhold  Miller,  mu- 
sical director.  The  "  Maennerchor"  meets  Wedne.sday 
and  Friday  evenings,  at  Maennerchor  Hall  (formerly 
City  Hall).  C.  E.  Emerich  is  president;  Fred.  Merz, 
secretary ;  Carl  Barus,  musical  director.  The  bands 
of  music  are  the  "  Indianapolis  City  Band,"  No.  268 
East  Washington  Street,  Reinhold  Miller,  manager, 
B.  Vogt,  conductor ;  "Union  Band,"  No.  361  East 
McCarty  Street,  Robert  Dehne,  leader ;  "  Beissen- 
herz's  Band,"  No.  400  North  New  Jersey,  H.  D. 
Beissenherz,  manager.  The  "  Eureka,"  a  colored 
musical  organization,  is  both  vocal  and  instrumental. 
Fine  Arts. — Although  the  first  State-House  had 
to  seek  an  architect  in  New  York,  the  new  one  and 
the  new  court-house  found  home  talent  and  taste  suf- 
ficient for  all  needs,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  match 
either  with  any  public  building  of  any  period  or  cost. 
There  were  good  architects  here,  however,  before 
Isaac  Hodgson  and  Edwin  May.  John  Elder  (father 
of  John  R.  Elder,  of  the  Locomotive  and  Sentinel, 
now  a  railroad  manager  in  New  Orleans)  was  one  of 
the  earliest  architects  in  the  city.  Not  much  was 
needed  of  that  order  of  skill,  as  houses  were  chiefly 
frame,  and  whatever  they  were  in  material  they  were 
sure  to  be  the  same  square,  plain  structures,  with 
no  more  conception  of  ornament  or  variety,  even  of 
paint,  than  a  saw-log.  In  nothing,  except  music,  is 
the  improvement  of  taste  more  noticeable  than  in  the 
houses  now  built  for  residence.  The  "goods-box" 
order  of  architecture  has  disappeared.  Houses  have 
fronts  varied  by  porches,  porticos,  pillars,  projections, 
painting,  ofi'sets,  bay-windows,  ornamental  wood-work, 
costing  but  very  little  more  than  the  square,  staring, 
white  family  depositories  of  the  last  generation,  but 
with  a  suggestion  of  beauty  wholly  invisible  in  the 
other.  Door-frames  are  one  color,  the  panels  another, 
windowsash  and  frames  are  varied,  the  main  tone  of 
the  house-color  is  different  from  either,  fences  and 
gates  are  tinted  diflFerently.  Color  is  used  largely  to 
produce  variety,  both  in  outside  and  inside  work. 
The  man  who  would  have  put  two  colors  in  or  on  his 


266 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


house  thirty  years  a£;o  would  have  been  unanimously 
suspected  of  meulal  aberration.  The  consequence  of 
this  taste,  or  want  of  it  (partly  the  eflFect  of  enforced 
economy,  no  doubt),  was  that  one  man  was  about  as 
competent  an  architect  as  another.  There  was  no  more 
room  for  taste  than  in  building  a  pig-pen  or  an  ash- 
hopper.  Following  Mr.  Elder  in  this  primitive  era 
was  Mr.  Colestock,  and  later  Mr.  Willis,  who  planned 
the  first  Masonic  Hall.  Then  came  Mr.  Tinsley,  who 
was  concerned  with  the  asylums  and  some  of  the  bet- 
ter business  blocks.  The  architects  now  here  can 
hold  their  own  with  any  in  the  country,  as  witness 
the  scores  of  fine  residences  in  the  North  End,  the  i 


painting,  except  that  which  devised  the  "  rosebush" 
for  Carter's  tavern  or  the  "  eagle"  for  Hawkins'.  In 
1831,  however,  a  portrait-painter  by  the  name  of  M. 
G.  Rogers  came  and  took  a  room  in  Henderson's 
tavern,  and  advertised  his  presence  and  pursuit.  He 
stayed  but  a  few  weeks,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
winter,  with  what  advantage  to  himself  or  what 
benefit  to  the  artistic  taste  of  the  community  nobody 
will  ever  know.  Very  soon  after  him,  in  1833,  Mr. 
Jacob  Cox  came  here,  with  his  brothers,  and  began 
the  tin-  and  copper-smith  business,  keeping  it  up 
manfully  for  a  score  of  years,  but  all  the  time  feeling 
an  irrepressible  longing  for  the  pursuit  of  art.     He 


SUUTU    SIDE    i.iF   WASUINGTON    BETWEEN"    rEKXSYLVANIA    AND    DELAWAIIE   bTKEETS,  Idls. 

superb  business  blocks,  the  churches,  and  city  school-  ,  manifested  it  when  a  lad  of   a  dozen  years  of  age, 
houses.     This  is  not  the   place   to  specify  them  or  \  and   it  grew  with   his  growth,  in  spite  of  prudent 


their  peculiar  merits,  and  this  reference  is  all  that  can 
be  made  without  invidious  suggestion.  The  business 
houses  of  the  times  before  the  impulse  of  improve- 
ment brought  by  the  railroads  had  changed  them 
may  be  judged  by  the  illustrations  in  this  chapter. 


parental  repression,  which  sought  a  remedy  in  a  dif- 
ferent occupation.  Excepting  in  a  casual  way,  he 
did  not  paint  much  till  the  campaign  of  1840  made 
a  large  demand  for  banners  with  appropriate  party 
symbols, — Whig  symbols  in  his  case,  "  the  same  old 


Painting  in  the  early  days  of  the  city  was  confined  |  coon"  especiallyt — and  these  he  painted  with  a  decided 
to  portraits  wholly,  at  least  so  far  as  remunerative  I  advantage  of  reputation  and  some  money,  which  led 
work  was  concerned.  If  landscape  or  "  figure"  work  j  him  to  pay  more  attention  to  his  art  and  less  to  his 
was  attempted  it  was  to  indulge  the  artist's  taste  or  I  trade.  He  painted  a  good  deal  in  the  next  two  years, 
ambition,  not  to  fill  an  order  from  an  esthetic  patron,  and  made  portraits  of  Senator  Oliver  H.  Smith,  Gov- 
For  the  first  ten  years  we  have  no  account  of  any  >  ernor  Bigger,  Governor  Wallace,  and  others,  of  such 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


267 


striking  accuracy  of  likeness  and  artistic  effect  that 
they  were  quite  the  talk  of  the  town  at  their  appear- 
ance. In  1842  lie  went  to  Cincinnati  and  opened  a 
studio  with  John  Dunn,  son  of  a  former  State  treas- 
urer of  Indiana,  and  remained  five  months,  in  that 
time  securing  the  patronage  and  high  regard  of 
Miles  Greenwood  and  other  Cincinnatians,  whose 
approval  and  patronage  were  a  good  thing  for  any- 
body to  have.  He  returned  here,  kept  his  business 
(with  occasional  intervals  of  painting)  till  about  1858, 
when  he  left  the  shop  for  the  studio  altogether. 
While    the    "  Cincinnati  Art  Union"  was  in    ex- 


man  Lieber  had  then  recently  opened  his  art  estab- 
lishment, and  contributed  largely  to  the  success  of 
the  society,  which  was  mainly  of  his  origination. 
The  pictures  sent  in  by  Mr.  Cox,  Peter  Fishe  Read, 
James  F.  Gookins,  and  others  were  exhibited  in  his 
picture-room,  and  the  association  given  quarters  there. 
A  number  of  citizens  acquired  excellent  specimens 
of  home  art  during  the  existence  of  this  society. 
Since  its  extinction  Mr.  Cox  has  painted  steadily 
and  with  great  variety  of  subjects  and  treatment, 
and  those  who  can  judge  say  with  steady  improve- 
ment, though  now  over  the  Scriptural  limit  of  three- 


SOUTH   SIDE   OF  WASHINeTON   BETWEEN   MERIDIAN  AND    PENNSYLVANIA   STREETS,  1848. 


•    r  F  I  c  :  i  i  i   i  i  B  i   I 
n    rill  III!  I   I  ri  I    'I 

i     I  I   L  I    ■  ,1  t  I    1  L  n     r  J 


i'f  !IfI- 


ill !i;  iin\i\  It/ 


jfiyifiiiiH^titiinntTfe 


HORTH   SlDIi:   Vf    \VASI11^UTU>    BI^TW*:E:s    SiEkIuIajn    aND   rENNSTcLVaNIa   oTRriETo, 


istence  Mr.  Cox  painted  one  or  two  pictures  for  each 
annual  exhibition,  and  they  were  all  bought  at  good 
prices.  The  "  Union,"  however,  was  ahead  of  the 
times,  and  went  down  afler  a  struggle  of  four  or  five 
years,  from  1848  to  1854,  or  thereabouts.  During 
this  period  he  improved  greatly  in  his  landscape 
work,  and  occasionally  attempted  "  historical"  or 
"  figure"  pieces  less  successfully.  He  has  done  far 
better  in  this  way  in  his  later  years.  In  1856  the 
"  Indianapolis  Art  Society"  was  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  encouraging  art  by  securing  the  sales  of  the 
work  of  home  artists,  and  accomplished  a  good  deal 
of  its  purpose  in  the  few  years  that  it  lived.     Her- 


score  and  ten.  He  is  the  pioneer  artist  of  Indian- 
apolis and  of  the  State,  and  easily  the  most  eminent. 
In  his  life  and  labors  the  art  history  of  Indianapolis 
is  almost  embodied.  There  was  little  outside  of  him 
for  twenty-five  years  after  1840.  There  were  other 
artists  of  talent  and  skill  and  good  repute  here  at 
times,  but  none  have  remained  long  enough  to  be 
identified  with  the  place.  Mr.  Whitridge,  Mr. 
Baton,  Mr.  Gookins,  Mr.  Read,  Mr.  Freeman,  Mr. 
Steele,  Mr.  Rowley,  Mrs.  GuflSn,  and  others  went 
away  after  a  residence  of  a  few  months  or  a  few 
years.  Mr.  Cox  has  never  changed.  Several  artists 
of  distinction  here  were  his  pupils,  particularly  Mrs. 


268 


HISTORY    OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


GuflSn,  Miss  Julia  Cox  (his  daughter,  now  Mrs. 
White),  and  Henry  W.  Waugh. 

About  the  time  Mr.  Cox  began  applying  himself 
wholly  to  his  art,  a  young  man  about  as  ill  dressed 
as  a  man  could  be  and  appear  on  the  street,  came 
here  and  lived  for  a  time  with  Dr.  Abner  Pope.  He 
painted  a  portrait  of  the  doctor  that  commanded 
general  admiration.  He  remained  painting  here  for 
a  year  or  so,  and  then  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he 
became  one  of  the  distinguished  artists  of  the  West. 
He  was  Joseph  0.  Eaton.  He  removed  to  New 
York  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  or  at  its 
close,  and  with  him  went  William  Miller,  a  little, 
gifted,  misshapen  fellow  who  painted  miniatures,  and 
for  several  years  visited  the  city  for  a  few  months, 
making  his  home  with  the  late  Dr.  Mears  and 
keeping  a  studio  in  the  "  Sanders  Block,"  West 
Washington  Street,  near  Meridian.  At  about  the 
same  time  a  portrait  painter  by  the  name  of  Brown 
had  a  studio  in  the  same  building  for  a  year  or  two. 
In  1842, — not  far  from  the  time  of  the  arrival  of 
the  other  artists, — Mr.  T.  W.  Whitridge  came  here 
and  remained  longer,  made  a  better  impression,  and 
did  more  work  than  any  artist  who  at  that  time  had 
been  here,  not  excluding  our  own  home  artists. 
He  opened  the  first  daguerrean  gallery  here  in  the 
second  story  of  the  frame  building  still  standing  on 
the  corner  of  Washington  Street  and  the  alley  on 
the  south  side  between  Meridian  and  Illinois. 
Some  of  his  paintings  are  owned  here  still,  and 
some  are  kept  by  Mr.  Beecher  in  his  Brooklyn 
house.  This  distinguished  preacher  was  a  warm 
friend  and  frequent  visitor  of  the  artist.  When  Mr. 
Whitridge  left  for  New  York,  or  possibly  before. 
Dr.  Luke  Muusell  opened  a  gallery  in  the  building 
where  the  "  Hubbard  Block"  stands.  In  1845  this 
gallery,  or  one  in  the  same  place,  was  conducted 
by  Peter  McNaught.  These  were  the  first  develop- 
ments of  an  art  which  now  produces  here  works 
with  no  superior  in  any  city  in  the  country.  For 
a  number  of  years  after  Mr.  Whitridge  left,  Mr. 
Cox  had  the  field  all  to  himself,  but  it  was  unhappily 
hardly  worth  having. 

James  B.  Dunlap,  son  of  Dr.  L.  Dunlap,  very  early 
manifested  signs  of  artistic  talent.     He  never  culti- 


vated it  systematically,  or  he  might  have  been  one  of 
the  prominent  artists  of  the  country.  He  was  in  Cali- 
fornia for  some  years,  and  there  made  a  bust  of  Capt. 
Sutter,  the  noted  Calfornia  pioneer  and  owner  of  the 
first  "gold  diggings,"  which  was  very  widely  noticed 
and  commended  as  a  fine  work  of  plastic  art.  He 
returned  to  Indianapolis  before  the  civil  war  broke 
out,  and  did  something  in  the  way  of  portrait-paint- 
ing, but  he  never  accomplished  anything  at  all  equal 
to  his  abilities. 

Of  late  years,  during  the  last  decade,  there  has 
been  a  notable  increase  of  students  of  art  and  artists 
working  their  way  into  a  reputation  and  a  comfort- 
able living.  Of  these  it  would  be  invidious  to  speak 
as  of  older  artists  or  those  who  have  gone  away.  It 
remains  to  notice  the  "  Art  Loan  pjxhibition,"  at  the 
English  Opera-House,  in  December,  1883.  This 
was  in  a  considerable  measure  the  work  of  Miss 
Ketcham,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  but  the  beginning 
of  a  long  series  of  such  exhibitions.  An  art  school 
has  recently  been  advertised  by  Mrs.  Sewall,  secre- 
tary of  the  association,  to  be  held  in  the  Old  Ply- 
mouth Church  building,  now  a  part  of  the  ''  English 
Block,"  and  taught  partly  by  Mr.  MacDonald,  of 
Chicago,  and  partly  by  Miss  Ketcham,  who,  says 
the  notice,  "  will  be  present  at  the  art  rooms,  and 
will  see  that  each  student  desiring  to  practice  during 
those  days  has  an  opportunity  to  do  so  without  in- 
terruption. During  these  days  Miss  Ketcham  is 
employed  to  give  instruction  in  china  painting  to 
special  pupils  in  that  branch.  Lessons  in  china 
painting  will  not  be  given  on  the  last  three  days  of 
each  week." 

In  the  way  of  sculpture  Indianapolis  has  done 
little  and  promises  little.  One  or  two  lady  artists 
have  done  some  good  modeling,  but  it  is  not  said 
that  they  will  prosecute  sculpture  as  a  pursuit.  The 
limestone  figures  on  the  court-house  are  mere 
"  architectural,    not    artistic,    sculptures,"    says    the 

I  architect,  and  it  is  well.  The  statue  of  Franklin 
on  the  "  Franklin  Insurance  Company's"  building 
manifests  a  good  deal  of  the  native  ability  required 
for  sculpture,  and  the  artist,  a  Mr.  Mahoney,  may 
make  a  high  reputation  if  he  tries. 

I       Clabs. — -The  literary  societies  of  the  last  genera- 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


269 


tioD,  in  which  the  members  debated  the  comparative 
merits  of  Luther  and  Columbus,  printing  and  steam, 
or  read  essays,  have  become  "  clubs"  in  these  latter 
days,  and  rate  themselves  in  a  different  order  of 
intellectual  diversion  and  development  from  their 
predecessors.  They  have  a  full  right  to.  Though 
the  debating  societies  of  the  time,  from  1835  to  1850, 
sometimes  contained  full-grown  men  and  solid  brains, 
they  were  generally  made  up  of  boys  from  fifteen  to 
twenty.  The  literary  clubs  of  to-day  contain  some 
of  the  best  thinkers  and  best-informed  men  in  the 
State,  and  they  do  not  meet  to  talk  nonsense  or  waste 
time  ;  that  is,  the  better  grade  of  clubs,  both  male 
and  female.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  many  there 
are,  or  what  they  are,  there  are  so  many  hidden  away 
in  corners  and  sections  of  the  community  concerning 
themselves  only  with  their  own  neighborhood.  The 
"  Indianapolis  Literary  Club"  of  gentlemen  is  the 
oldest,  largest,  and  ablest,  presumably,  and  the 
"  Ladies'  Literary  Club"  is  of  the  same  quality  of 
the  other  sex.  The  "  Meridian  Club"  is  of  the 
English,  or  stereotyped  class,  social,  possibly  con- 
vivial at  times,  and  concerned  more  with  the  table 
than  the  library.  The  club-house  of  the  "  Meridian" 
is  the  residence  built  by  the  late  W.  H.  Talbott,  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Meridian  and  Ohio  Streets. 
It  seems  to  be  well  sustained.  There  are,  of  course, 
several  political  clubs  in  Presidential  campaigns,  but 
they  are  temporary,  and  not  of  the  character  of  the 
clubs  referred  to  here.  The  Scotch  have  a  "  Burns" 
or  "  Caledonian  Club,"  and  a  "  Caledonian  Quoiting 
Club  ;"  there  are  several  dancing  clubs,  and  musical 
clubs,  and  charitable  clubs,  and  convivial  clubs,  and 
possibly  missionary  clubs.  The  city  bristles  with 
clubs  like  an  army  of  Fijians  or  ancient  Britons. 

Hotels. — It  is  not  certain  that  the  first  house 
built  in  Indianapolis  was  not  a  tavern.  John  Mc- 
Cormick's  house  was  a  tavern  in  1820,  and  his  has  a 
reasonable  probability  to  sustain  its  claim  of  being  the 
first  one.  It  stood  on  the  river  bank  near  the  site  of 
the  east  end  of  the  old  National  Road  bridge.  How 
long  he  kept  it  as  a  place  of  entertainment  for  "  man 
and  beast"  no  record  shows.  He  was  probably  soon 
crowded  out  by  his  later  neighbors,  Nowland,  Carter, 
and  Hawkins.     Of  these  early  hotels,  or  "  taverns," 


as  they  were  always  called,  an  account  has  been  given 
in  the  general  history,  but  a  word  may  be  added  as 
to  their  later  history.  On  the  death  of  Mr.  Nowland 
in  November,  1822,  his  widow,  for  many  years  as 
well  known  as  the  Governor  of  the  State,  took 
boarders  and  kept  a  boarding-house  till  within  a 
few  years  of  her  death,  a  period  of  full  thirty  years. 
Her  house  for  most  of  this  period  was  on  the  south 
side  of  Washington  Street,  on  the  site  of  the  great 
drug  house  of  Browning  &  Sloan,  and  here,  during 
sessions  of  the  Legislature,  the  genial  landlady,  who 
was  everybody's  friend  and  had  a  friend  in  every- 
body, was  sure  to  hold  a  large  patronage  of  members 
and  visitors.  Though  less  pretentious  than  the 
larger  hotels,  it  was  not  less  widely  or  favorably 
known.  Major  Carter's  first  tavern,  the  "  Rose- 
bush," a  two-story  frame  on  the  site  of  40  West 
Washington  Street,  was  moved  off  after  he  left  it 
in  1823,  and  finally  stopped  on  West  Street  near 
Maryland.  His  two-story  frame  opposite  the  court- 
house was  burned  during  the  first  session  of  the 
Legislature.  The  ground  soon  afterward  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  row  of  two-story  brick  buildings,  in  one 
of  which  ex-Governor  Ray  kept  a  hotel  for  some 
years  before  his  death.  The  "  Eagle  Tavern"  of 
John  Hawkins,  on  the  north  side  of  Washington 
Street,  a  half-square  east  of  Meridian,  was  a  double 
log  cabin  in  a  wood  so  dense  that  the  trees  of  which 
it  was  built  were  cut  upon  the  site  it  stood  upon, 
and  at  the  time  a  person  in  the  door  could  not  see 
another  person  on  the  other  side  of  the  street  a  half- 
block  away ;  or,  to  measure  by  existing  objects,  a 
person  in  front  of  the  "  Iron  Block"  could  not  see 
another  at  the  ea.st  end  of  Yohn's  Block.  In  1826-27 
it  was  replaced  by  a  two  story  brick,  long  known  as 
the  "Union  Hotel,"  and  long  kept  by  Basil  Brown, 
the  typical  landlord  of  the  time.  John  Hare,  and 
John  Cain,  and  Mr.  Jordan  also  kept  it.  In  1849 
it  was  replaced  by  a  four-story  brick,  opened  by 
John  Cain,  July  14,  1850,  as  the  "  Capital  House." 
He  was  succeeded  by  Lemuel  Frazier,  Daniel  D. 
Sloan,  and  others  till  the  spring  of  1857,  when  the 
Sentinel,  under  J.  J.  Bingham,  moved  its  entire  es- 
tablishment there  and  was  terribly  blown  up  the  first 
night  by  a  defective  boiler.     Thus  ends  the  history 


270 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


of  the  Hawkins  tavern  and  its  site  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

Pretty  nearly  opposite,  where  the  Glenn  Block  is 
now,  James  Blake  and  Samuel  Henderson  built  a 
two-story  frame  tavern  in  the  summer  and  fall  of 
1823,  and  opened  it  with  a  ball  Jan.  12,  1824. 
This  was  the  "  Washington  Hall,"  then  and  for 
thirty  years  the  best-known  hotel  in  Indiana.  It 
was  the  Whig  headquarters,  as  the  hotel  opposite 
■was  the  Democratic  headquarters  till  the  opening  of 
the  Palmer  House  in  1841  changed  them.  In  1836 
the  frame  was  moved  east  to  the  next  lot,  and  a 
three-story  brick  with  a  basement  and  a  recessed 
portico  with  pillars,  and  with  two  rear  two-story 
buildings  extending  to  the  alley,  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  by  the  "  Washington 
Hall  Company,"  composed  of  Messrs.  Yandes,  Blake, 
Henderson,  McCarty,  and  others.  It  was  opened  by 
Edmund  Browning,  then  recently  from  Dayton,  Ohio, 
Nov.  16,  1837,  and  kept  by  him  till  15th  of  March, 
1851.  He  was  succeeded  by  Henry  Achey,  Robert 
Browning,  Burgess  &  Townley,  Gen.  W.  J.  Elliott, 
father  of  Judge  Byron  K.  Elliott,  of  the  Supreme 
Bench,  and  he  by  Louis  Eppinger.  The  house  was 
then  bought  by  the  Glenns  and  remodeled  into  the 
present  block.  In  the  winter  of  1843  the  most  de- 
structive fire  which  had  then  ever  occurred  in  the 
town  took  place  here.  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  labor  of  extinguishing  it. 

In  1840-41,  Nathan  B.  Palmer,  then  State  Treas- 
urer, built  a  two-story  brick,  with  a  wooden  story  on 
top  of  it,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Illinois  and 
Washington  Streets,  which  was  opened  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1841  by  John  C.  Parker,  of  Charleston, 
Clarke  Co.,  Ind.,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Palmer 
House."  In  1856  the  lessee,  Dr.  Barbour,  made  a 
four-story  brick  of  it,  and  extended  it  southward  to 
the  alley.  Besides  Jlr.  Parker  and  Dr.  Barbour,  the 
Palmer  House  has  been  kept  by  J.  D.  Carmichael, 
Dennis  Tuttle,  Charles  W.  Hall,  and  B.  Mason.  Some 
years  ago  it  was  rearranged  and  improved,  and  the 
name  was  changed  to  the  "  Occidental,"  under  which 
it  has  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  houses  in  the 
city. 

In   1834,  John  Little  opened  a  two-story  frame 


tavern,  called  from  its  sign  the  "  Sun"  tavern,  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Washington  and  New  Jersey 
Streets,  commanding  a  large  patronage  of  horseback- 
travelers,  who  constituted  a  large  portion  of  all  the 
travelers  of  those  days.  A  three-story  L  was  added 
in  1847  by  his  sons,  Matthew  and  Ingraham,  and 
four  years  later  the  original  building  was  moved  over 
to  the  northeast  corner  of  Washington  and  East 
Streets,  and  was  replaced  by  a  three-story  brick. 
The  old  building  was  kept  as  a  hotel  for  some  years, 
and  then  it  and  the  grounds  were  turned  into  a  beer 
garden.  The  "  Little  House"  has  retained  its  name, 
though  like  the  others  it  has  frequently  changed 
landlords.  It  has  been  the  "  Little  House,"  or  "  Lit- 
tle's Hotel,"  for  fifty  years. 

In  anticipation  of  the  completion  of  the  Madison 
Railroad,  Robert  B.  Duncan  built  a  three-story  brick 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  South  and  Delaware 
Streets  which  was  called  the  "  Duncan  House"  at 
first,  and  did  a  fir.st-rate  hotel  business  till  the  rivalry 
of  other  roads  damaged  the  Madison,  and  then  the 
hotel  became  a  boarding-house,  as  it  is  yet.  The 
name  was  changed  to  the  "  Barker  House"  while 
T.  D.  and  D.  J.  Barker  had  it,  and  to  the  "Ray 
House"  when  Martin  M.  Ray,  brother  of  Governor 
Ray,  took  it.  Senator  Harrison  made  his  first  con- 
spicuous step  forward  in  his  profession  by  prose- 
cuting and  convicting  the  colored  cook  at  this  house 
of  poisoning  one  of  the  inmates  with  arsenic  which 
he  put  in  the  coffee  or  some  other  article  of  food. 
The  "  Carlisle  House"  was  a  large  three-story  frame, 
built  by  Daniel  Carlisle  in  1848,  on  West  Wash- 
ington Street,  south  side,  at  the  intersection  of  Cali- 
fornia. It  was  more  pretentious  than  successful, 
fell  off  to  a  second-rate  boarding-house  and  then  to 
a  saloon,  and  was  then  changed  to  a  brewery  by  J. 
P.  Meikel,  and  is  now  a  very  dilapitated  structure 
occupied  by  a  variety  of  tenants  apparently.  In 
1852-53,  while  the  building  of  the  Union  tracks 
and  depot  was  under  discussion  and  in  progress. 
Gen.  T.  A.  Morris  built  a  three-story  brick  hotel, 
subsequently  made  four  stories,  on  the  north  side  of 
Louisiana  Street,  opposite  the  Union  Depot.  It  was 
called  the  "  Morris  House."  Some  years  later  it 
was  joined  to  the  building  on  the  east  directly  and 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


271 


to  a  buildina;  west  of  the  adjoining  alley  by  arching 
over  the  alley,  and  called  the  "  American  House," 
kept  by  Gen.  Elliott.  It  was  the  "  Mason  House" 
a  while,  and  kept  by  Ben.  Mason.  When  Thomas 
B.  McCarty  bought  it  of  Gen.  Morris,  some  ten  or  a 
dozen  years  ago,  the  name  was  changed  to  the  "  Sher- 
man House,"  which  it  still  bears. 

In  1852-53,  Hervey  Bates  built  the  "  Bates 
House,"  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington 
and  Illinois  Streets.  It  was  opened  by  D.  D.  Sloan 
in  1853.  He  was  succeeded  by  Curtis  Judson,  lately 
and  for  many  years  of  the  "  Gramercy  Park 
House,"  New  York,  and  by  John  Woolley  and  his 
partner,  Mr.  Ingoldsby.  It  has  also  been  kept  by 
William  Judson,  Bradford  Miller,  and  others,  but 
always  under  the  same  name,  further  than  Mr.  Miller 
made  it  "  Hotel  Bates"  instead  of  plain  "  Bates 
House,"  a  little  bit  of  aifectation  that  did'  no  harm. 
It  has  been  enlarged  to  double  its  original  size  and 
greatly  improved  by  the  son  of  Mr.  Bates,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  property  by  inheritance  and  has  recently 
sold  it  to  Mr.  E.  F.  Claypool  for  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  In  1856-57,  Francis  Cos- 
tigan,  the  architect  of  the  post-office  and  Odd-Fel- 
lows' Hall,  built  the  "  Oriental  House,"  on  the  east 
side  of  South  Illinois  Street,  at  the  alley  south  of 
Maryland.  It  was  opened  in  June,  1857.  It  is 
now  the  south  end  of  the  Grand  Hotel.  The  Tre- 
mont  House,  now  the  Spencer,  was  built  in  1857 
at  the  corner  of  Illinois  Street  and  the  Union  tracks. 
It  is  a  four-story  brick,  and  has  been  enlarged  and 
greatly  improved  since  its  original  erection.  It  was 
opened  by  J.  W.  Canan,  and  has  been  kept  by  M. 
Harth  and  Henry  Guetig  since.  In  1856,  Henry 
Buehrig  ('' Lieber  Bruder")  built  the  Farmers', 
afterwards  the  Commercial  Hotel,  northeast  corner 
of  Illinois  and  Georgia  Streets.  Mr.  Reitz  raised  it 
from  a  three-  to  a  four-story  building  when  he 
changed  the  name.  It  is  now  a  part  of  the  Na- 
tional Surgical  Institute,  controlled  by  Dr.  H.  R. 
Allan  and  Dr.  Wm.  Johnson.  The  Macy  House, 
southeast  corner  of  Illinois  and  Market  Streets,  was 
built  by  David  Macy  in  1857.  It  was  quite  a  popu- 
lar hotel  for  a  time,  but  is  now  a  boarding-house, 
with   the   name   of   the   St.  Cloud    Hotel.     The   St. 


Charles  is  a  hotel  on  the  European  plan  on  the  west 
side  of  Illinois  Street,  next  block  north  of  the  Bates 
House.  It  was  built  by  T.  F.  Ryan  and  E.  S. 
Alvord  and  others  in  1870. 

In  or  near  the  year  1870  the  first  work  was  done  on 
the  hotel  now  called  the  "  Denison  House,"  then  a 
joint-stock  enterprise  in  which  a  number  of  leading 
citizens  were  interested.  The  work  was  not  vigorously 
pushed  and  the  property  fell  into  the  hands  of  Harry 
Sheets,  representing  the  heirs  of  the  late  William 
Sheets,  who  owned  the  larger  part  of  the  site.  When 
sold  on  foreclosure  he  bid  it  in,  an  incomplete  four- 
story  brick,  covering  the  greater  part  of  an  acre  of 
ground.  It  remained  in  this  unfinished  condition  till 
the  great  fire  of  1874  seriously  damaged  it.  A  few 
years  later  John  C.  New  and  Mr.  Denison  bought  the 
unfinished,  partially  burned  new  ruin  and  finished  it 
in  a  better  style  than  was  contemplated  by  its  pro- 
jectors, and  it  was  opened  as  the  "  New-Denison 
House,"  under  the  management  of  H.  B.  Sherman, 
in  January,  1880.  A  few  years  later  than  the  New- 
Denison  in  starting,  but  much  sooner  finished,  was  the 
"Grand  Hotel."  Mr.  Schnull  built  up  the  corner  of 
Illinois  and  Maryland  Streets,  formerly  occupied  by 
the  residence  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Stipp,  used  as  the  first 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  with  a  large  and  handsome 
five-story  hotel,  to  which  he  joined  the  "  Oriental 
House"  and  all  the  intermediate  buildings,  improving 
them  into  some  uniformity  of  style  and  convenience. 
This  was  opened  as  the  "  Grand  Hotel"  in  1876. 
The  "  Weddell  House"  occupies  the  upper  stories  of 
the  block  on  the  east  side  of  Illinois  Street  between 
Louisiana  and  Georgia.  It  has  been  opened  within 
the  last  two  or  three  years.  In  1875,  Mr.  A.  C.  Remy, 
a  member  of  the  county  board  that  finished  building 
the  new  court-house,  tore  out  the  old  Wesley  Chapel 
parsonage,  on  the  southwest  "quadrant"  of  Circle 
Street,  and  erected  one  of  the  finest  hotel  structures 
in  the  city,  though  smaller  than  several,  and  opened 
in  1876.  with  Mr.  Sapp,  now  of  the  "  New-Denison," 
as  landlord.  In  May,  1879,  Mr.  Remy  sold  the  house 
to  the  present  proprietor,  Mr.  David  Nicholson,  the 
contractor  with  his  partner,  Adam  Scott,  for  the  stone 
work  of  the  new  court-house.  He  is  still  the  owner. 
In  August,  1879,  Mrs.  Rhodius,  who  had  for  twenty 


272 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


years  kept  the  "  Circle  Restaurant,"  on  North  Meri- 
dian Street,  finished  the  "  Circle  House,"  on  Circle 
Street,  and  opened  it  as  a  first-class  hotel.  She  still 
retains  its  management.  It  is  on  the  southeast  "  quad- 
rant" of  the  "  Circle."  On  the  northwest  "  quadrant," 
inclosing  the  "  English  Opera  House,"  is  one  of  the 
finest  buildings  in  the  West,  erected  within  the  last 
five  years  by  Mr.  W.  H.  English.  It  occupies  a  little 
more  than  half  of  that  "  quadrant,"  and  will  ultimately 
cover  it  all.  It  is  to  be  opened  as  a  first-class  hotel 
in  February,  1884.  The  "  California,"  on  South  Illi- 
nois Street,  was  opened  some  ten  years  ago.  There 
are  a  number  of  other  hotels  in  the  city,  but  these 
are  the  oldest  or  largest,  and  best  known.  The  Di- 
rectory reports  forty-nine. 

Restaurants. — The  first  restaurant  of  any  con- 
siderable pretension  was  kept  by  a  half-blood  by  the 
name  of  John  Crowder,  somewhere  about  the  time 
that  the  first  theatre  made  its  appearance  in  Ollaman's 
wagon-shop,  in  1838  or  thereabouts.  It  was  at  the 
height  of  its  reputation  while  located  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  Blackford's  row  of  one-story  frames,  where 
the  present  palatial  Blackford's  Block  stands.  Here 
he  was  succeeded  in  two  or  three  years  by  John 
Hodgkins.  an  Englishman,  who  kept  a  confectionery 
establishment  with  it,  and  made  his  own  candies,  the 
first  of  that  class  of  manufactures  in  the  place.  He 
also  built,  or  dug,  the  first  ice-house  to  store  ice  for 
sale,  as  well  as  the  manufacture  of  cream.  It  was  at 
the  corner  of  the  two  alleys  where  the  rear  of  St. 
John's  Cathedral  stands,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
quarter  of  a  square,  or  one  acre,  which  had  formerly 
been  the  residence  of  George  Smith,  the  first  news- 
paper founder,  was  covered  with  an  orchard  which 
was  filled  up  with  seats  and  arbors,  and  graveled 
walks  and  flower-beds,  and  made  the  first  pleasure- 
garden  in  the  city,  as  has  been  elsewhere  related.  It 
was  not  till  the  completion  of  the  Madison  Railroad, 
however,  that  eating-houses  became  a  permanent 
feature  of  business,  and  even  then  it  required  the 
impulse  of  the  war  to  give  them  the  importance 
they  have  since  attained.  Now  there  are  over  forty, 
chiefly  located  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Union  Depot 
and  along  Illinois  Street. 

The  first  oysters  were  brought  here  by  the  late 


James  Blake,  it  is  said,  but  for  years  only  the 
"  pickled"  could  bear  transportation  even  in  winter. 
The  pioneers  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  luxury.  Its 
looks  were  against  it,  and  the  oyster  was  sneeringly 
compared  to  a  nasal  excretion.  But  settlers  from  the 
East  gradually  brought  it  into  general  favor,  and  by 
the  time  the  railroads  could  bring  it  in  good  condi- 
tion in  the  legitimate  months  (with  an  "  r"  in  the 
name)  it  was  a  general  favorite.  The  tomato,  or 
"  love-apple,"  as  it  was  called,  was  not  considered  fit 
for  anything  but  hog  feed  for  the  first  twenty  years 
or  so  of  the  settlement.  It  was  grown  as  an  orna- 
ment or  curiosity,  but  as  an  edible  was  not  ranked 
even  so  high  as  the  "  ground  cherry,"  which  was 
rather  popular  with  children,  and  not  nearly  so  high 
as  the  "  May-apple."  Celery  was  unknown  till 
oysters  had  become  an  established  addition  to  the 
primitive  bill  of  fare.  The  pheasant,  once  a  common 
game  bird  in  the  woods,  disappeared  as  the  oyster 
advanced  in  favor,  and  now  is  never  seen  near  the 
city,  and  rarely  anywhere  in  the  county.  The  quail, 
however,  has  been  preserved  in  considerable  abund- 
ance by  the  game  laws,  as  has  the  "  prairie  chicken," 
or  grouse. 

Fish,  especially  game  fish, — the  "  bass"  and  "  red- 
eye" chiefly, — were  nearly  swept  away  by  reckless 
processes,  like  seining  and  trapping,  till  a  statute 
enacted  some  fifteen  years  or  so  ago  checked  the  evil, 
and  succeeding  amendments,  coupled  with  systematic, 
though  not  yet  extensive,  efl'orts  at  replacing  them, 
have  begun  to  restore  something  of  the  former  better 
condition  of  our  streams.  Pork-houses  and  manufac- 
tories have  driven  off  the  good  fish  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  city,  and  few  are  left  but  the  scavengers  of 
the  river,  "  cats"  and  "  suckers."  A  few  miles  away, 
though,  up  or  down  the  river,  the  fishing  is  some- 
times pretty  good.  In  early  times  all  the  streams 
were  full  of  fish,  including  the  game  fish  we  now 
have,  and  the  pike,  salmon  occasionally,  and  "  buf- 
falo" frequently,  which  are  now  rarely  seen.  The 
abundance  of  game  and  fish  in  the  New  Purchase 
was  doubtless  the  reason  the  Indians  held  to  it  so 
tenaciously,  and  retained  possession  even  after  they 
had  sold  it  by  treaty.  At  this  time  the  offal  of  pork- 
houses  makes  a  profusion  of  food  for  the  poorer  vari- 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


273 


eties  of  fish,  and  in  the  season — at  almost  any  season 
when  there  is  no  ice — fishermen  crowd  the  banks  of 
the  river,  from  the  water-works  to  the  lower  Bell 
Road  bridge,  to  catch  the  "  cat"  and  "  sucker."  They 
are  coarse,  but  wholesome,  and  save  many  a  dollar  to 
the  poor,  who  have  more  time  than  money,  and  always 
appetite  enough  for  what  is  not  bad  eating  for  any- 
body. The  bulk  of  all  the  fish  food  consumed  here, 
however,  both  in  restaurants  and  families,  comes  from 
the  lakes,  with  occasional  considerable  additions  from 
the  sea-board.  Fresh  codfish  were  brought  here  on 
ice  before  the  war,  and  so  were  shell-oysters,  but  not 
in  any  considerable  quantities.  The  latter  are  now 
one  of  the  constant  imports  from  the  East,  and,  with 
lobsters  and  other  food  of  salt-water  cultivation,  form 
a  large  item  of  the  city's  business.  The  oldest  res- 
taurant in  continuous  existence  is  the  Crystal  Palace, 
established  first  about  1858  by  Edwin  Beck,  and, 
after  several  changes  since  his  death,  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  his  brother-in-law,  Ferdinand  Christman. 
The  others  are  all  of  the  post-war  period.  The 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  keeps  one  of 
the  best  dining-halls  in  the  city,  and  uses  the  profits 
for  benevolent  purposes. 

The  visits  of  Vice-President  R.  M.  Johnson,  in 
1840,  and  ex- President  Van  Buren  and  Mr.  Clay,  in 
1842,  have  been  referred  to  in  the  general  history. 
There  are  a  few  others  of  historical  interest  that  may 
be  noticed  here  as  appropriately  as  anywhere.  On 
the  28th  of  May,  1850,  while  the  Union  was  under- 
going the  periodical  process  of  being  "  saved"  by 
concessions  to  slavery,  Governor  Wright,  who  was 
an  ardent  "  Union  saver,"  invited  Governor  John  J. 
Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  to  make  an  official  visit 
here  in  the  interest  of  Union.  He  did  so,  and  was 
hospitably  received,  regaled  with  Union  speeches  and 
resolutions  in  the  State-House  yard,  and  made  a  fine 
speech  himself.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1851, 
the  Legislature  invited  the  Hungarian  patriot  and 
exile,  Kossuth,  to  visit  the  city,  and  a  public  meeting 
of  citizens  appointed  a  committee  of  fifty  to  receive 
and  take  care  of  him  and  his  rather  extensive  and 
troublesome  suite.  They  met  him  at  Cincinnati  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1852,  accompanied  him  here  by 
way  of  Madison,  arriving  about  noon  at  the  Madison 
18 


Railroad  Depot  on  South  Street  in  one  of  the  largest 
crowds  ever  seen  here.     The  boys  pressed  upon  some 
of  his  suite,  and  were  treated  with  a  harshness  that 
made  those  who  saw  it  detest  them  heartily.     A  pro- 
cession marched  to  the  State-House  yard,  where  Kos- 
suth spoke  for  more  than  an  hour,  reading  a  speech 
he  had  written  on  the  cars  as  he  came  up,  it  was  said 
at  the  time.     The  party   were    provided   for  at  the 
"  Capital  House"  at  the  State's  expense,  and  they 
made  it  pretty  expensive  by  a  liberal  use  of  wines 
and  liquors,  so  said  current  report.    At  night  a  recep- 
tion was  held  at  the  Governor's  residence,  and  a  good 
deal  of  money  given  the  exile  by  admiring  Hoosiers. 
His  "  bonds"  were  kept  as  curiosities  by  some  of  the 
donors.     The  next  day  (Saturday)  he  was  received 
by  the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature,  and  met  dele- 
gations of  sympathizers, — there  was  no  one  in  the 
State  who  was  not  a  sympathizer  with  Hungary, — and 
took  in  a  considerable  amount  of  contributions,  in  all 
about  one  thousand  dollars.     He  attended  church  at 
Roberts'  Chapel  on  Sunday  morning  and  some  of  the 
Sunday-schools  in  the  afternoon.     On  Monday  he  re- 
ceived more  delegations  and  money,  and  delivered  an 
address  in  Masonic  Hall  to  the  "  friends  of  Hungary." 
He  left  on  Tuesday,  making  one  marked  and  prominent 
change  of  fashion  here.    The  "  Kossuth"  soft  felt  hat 
became  the  general  male  wear,  instead  of  the  stiff,  ugly 
plug,  and  it  has  remained  so  ever  since. 

Two  or  three  years  later  Governor  Powell,  of 
Kentucky  paid  Governor  Wright  an  official  visit,  ac- 
companied by  some  of  the  other  State  officers,  by 
Mr.  Hodges,  editor  of  the  Whig  State  organ,  the 
Frankfort  Commonwealth,  and  by  Capt.  John  Rus- 
sell, a  brother  of  Col.  A.  W.  Russell,  and  noted  all 
over  the  West  as  the  strongest  man  of  his  day.  He 
was  said,  when  a  boy  of  twenty,  to  have  knocked 
down  Lafitte,  the  noted  pirate  of  the  Gulf,  and  to 
have  had  in  his  prime  the  strength  of  four  ordinary 
men.  He  was  the  father  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Russell,  of 
this  city.  In  1859,  on  the  5th  of  May,  Richard  Cob- 
den,  the  celebrated  English  "  anti-corn  law"  leader  and 
free-trade  statesman,  was  in  the  city  a  few  hours.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  here  twice  before  his  death.  He  spoke 
in  Masonic  Hall  on  the  19th  of  September,  1859,  and 
from  the  balcony  of  the  Bates  House  on  the  afternoon 


274 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


of  the  12th  of  February,  1861,  while  on  his  way  to 
his  inauguration.  In  this  speech  he  first  developed 
the  course  he  proposed  to  take  with  the  seceded  States. 
When  it  was  learned  that  his  body  would  be  brought 
through  the  city  on  the  way  to  Springfield,  111.,  the 
city  authorities  and  citizens  made  extensive  and  ap- 
propriate preparations  to  receive  it.  A  superb  funeral 
arch  was  erected  at  the  State-House  gate,  and  a  plat- 
form prepared  for  the  corpise  in  the  lower  hall,  in  the 
rotunda.  There  was  a  parade  of  military  and  citizens 
on  the  30th  of  April  when  the  funeral  train  arrived 
here,  but  greatly  reduced  from  what  it  would  have 
been  by  the  rainy,  dismal  weather. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CITY  OF  IXDI.AXAPOLIS— (foMfoiiierf.) 
MEDICAL  PBACTICE  AND  PKACTITIONERS. 

The  early  doctors  of  the  New  Purchase  were  all  of 
the  old  school  of  heroic  treatment.  Disease  to  them 
was  an  enemy  intrenched  in  certain  functions,  and 
had  to  be  driven  out,  and  the  more  incessant  the 
attack  and  profuse  the  ammunition  the  sooner  the 
siege  would  be  over.  They  maintained  the  system  of 
Molifere's  doctors,  "  saignare,  purgare,  et  clysterizare" 
with  little  change,  and  like  them  knew  no  resource 
when  their  first  processes  failed  but  "  re-saignare,  re- 
purgare,  et  re-cly.sterizare."  Happily,  they  had  to 
deal  with  patients  of  simple  lives  and  temperate 
habits,  with  constitutions  solidly  built  and  functions 
undisturbed  by  luxuries  and  unstrained  by  excesses, 
and  capable  of  resisting  both  the  disease  and  the 
remedy.  Calomel  and  the  lancet,  the  "  purgare" 
and  "  saignare,"  were  the  invariable  remedies  for  every 
disorder.  There  were  few  residents  in  White  River 
Valley  who  had  not  suffered  under  the  doctor's  in- 
junction, with  a  half  teaspoonful  of  calomel,  "  Now, 
you  mustn't  drink  any  cold  water  or  vinegar,  or  eat 
anything  sour ;  if  you  get  very  dry  drop  some  clean 
live  coals  in  a  tin  of  water  and  warm  it  a  little,  and 
drink  that."  There  were  plenty  of  mutilated  mouths, 
loosened  teeth,  and  shriveled  gums,  and  sometimes 
decayed   jawbones    and    ulcerated    cheeks,    to    warn 


patients  of  the  perils  of  "  salivation"  and  of  dis- 
obedience of  the  doctor's  orders.  And  there  were 
few  who  could  not  show  a  little  scar  in  the  inside  of 
the  elbow  where  a  lancet  had  cut  the  visible  vein 
there.  Quinine  for  malarial  complaints  was  unknown. 
Pelletier  discovered  it  about  the  time  that  the  Poguea 
and  McCormicks  discovered  the  site  of  Indianapolis, 
and  its  use  did  not  get  West  for  a  score  of  years  or 
near  it.  In  its  stead  the  crude  bark  was  used  with 
wine. 

All  this  is  changed  now,  and  has  long  been  changing. 
The  doctor  of  to-day,  whatever  his  school,  depends 
less  on  drugs  and  more  on  natural  agencies  that 
renovate  the  system  rather  than  resist  disorders  of 
its  parts.  He  maintains  artificial  conditions  and  uses 
artificial  remedies  as  little  as  possible.  Air,  water, 
suitable  diet,  comfortable  temperature  are  his  "  phar- 
macopoeia," with  a  good  nurse  to  administer  its  doses. 
Ice  and  pure  water  are  harmless  agencies,  but  more 
powerful  and  more  used  than  all  the  bitter  drugs  dug 
out  of  the  tropics.  So  while  increasing  wealth  and 
luxury  increase  the  complications  of  diseases,  the 
doctor  increases  the  efiSciency  of  his  remedies  by 
simplifying  them.  He  does  not  use  so  many  nor  so 
much  of  any.  He  does  not  carry  a  small  drug-store 
in  his  "  pill-bags,"  and  fill  his  own  prescriptions  now 
as  he  used  to  do.  A  little  pocket-case  not  larger 
than  a  tobacco-box  serves  to  store  all  his  artificial 
remedies  in.  In  no  other  profession  or  pursuit  is 
there  so  marked  a  contrast  between  earlier  and  later 
conditions.  The  middle-aged  man  of  to-day  can 
remember  the  doctor  and  his  "  pill-bags"  with  more 
distinctness,  probably,  than  any  other  character  of 
his  childhood.  The  disturbance  always,  the  distress 
often,  into  which  he  came,  quiet,  unrufiled,  smiling 
to  the  children,  shaking  hands  with  the  "  old  folks," 
with  his  "  pill-bags"  slung  over  his  left  arm,  made  a 
figure  set  in  a  scene  not  easily  effaced  from  the 
tenacious  memory  of  childhood.  Associations  are 
different  now.  The  ueat  buggy,  the  boy  to  wait  and 
watch  the  horse,  the  little  pocket-case  of  occasional 
medicines,  the  dry  pikes,  the  comfortable  "  lap-robe" 
of  to-day  were  undreamed  developments  of  the  pro- 
fession, as  the  old  sung  of  those  days  said,  "  when 
this  old  hat  was  new."     A  five-mile  horseback  ride 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


276 


on  a  bitter  night,  with  no  protection  but  an  overcoat 
and  a  pair  of  "  leggings,"  over  roads  roughened  with 
"  crossways"  or  frozen  into  lumps  and  ruts,  or  sloppy 
with  thawing  mud,  was  a  rather  different  experience 
from  that  which  to-day  takes  a  drive  on  a  longer 
journey  in  half  of  the  time,  with  less  of  the  exposure 
and  none  of  the  obstacles  of  the  road.  But  the 
faithful  doctor  of  to-day,  with  all  his  conveniences, 
has  a  harder  life  than  any  other  professional  or  busi- 
ness man. 

There  were  no  doctors  in  Indianapolis  in  the  first 
year  of  the  settlement  (a  misprint  on  page  29,  in  the 
list  of  early  settlers,  makes  Dr.  Coe  a  settler  in  the 
spring  of  1820  instead  of  1821),  and  there  appears 
to  have  been  no  need  of  them.  So  it  looks  like  a 
providential  arrangement  that  in  the  following  six 
months  no  less  than  five  competent  young  doctors 
should  come  to  make  their  homes  here  just  in  time 
for  the  malarial  epidemic  that  prostrated  the  entire 
settlement  in  the  summer  of  1821.  Dr.  Samuel  G. 
Mitchell  came  first,  in  April,  1821,  from  Paris,  Ky. 
He  built  a  log  house  on  the  site  of  the  present 
State  buildings,  and  soon  afterwards  built  a  frame 
house  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington  and 
Meridian  Streets,  where  Henry  Porter,  a  well-known 
early  merchant  and  son-in-law  of  the  doctor,  long 
had  his  store-room.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Samuel  Henderson,  the  first  postmaster  and  first 
president  of  the  Town  Council,  and  first  mayor.  He 
died  of  paralysis,  among  friends  in  Ohio,  in  1837. 
His  oiSce  for  some  years  was  a  little  one-story  frame 
on  the  south  side  of  Washington  Street,  where  Charles 
Mayer,  in  1840,  opened  his  grocery-  and  gingercake- 
store,  and  where  his  present  palatial  building  stands. 
Dr.  Sanders  also  occupied  it  for  a  term. 

Dr.  Isaac  Coe  came  here  first  in  May,  1821,  from 
New  Jersey,  and,  wisely  or  luckily,  came  liberally  pro- 
vided with  the  remedies  that  were  soon  to  be  specially 
needed.  Mr.  Nowland's  sketch  of  him  says  he  was 
"  provided  with  a  large  supply  of  Peruvian  bark  and 
wine,"  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  services  and 
remedies  the  mortality  of  the  epidemic  would  have 
been  worse  than  it  was.  His  prominence  in  the 
growth  of  the  city  is  referred  to  in  the  general  his- 
tory.    In  this  connection  it  may  be  noticed  that  he 


was  one  of  the  three  "  fund  commissioners" — Caleb 
B.  Smith  and  Samuel  Hanna,  of  Fort  Wayne,  and 
afterwards  Milton  Stapp,  of  Madison,  were  the  others 
— to  settle  the  State's  claims  on  her  debtors,  and 
to  dispose  of  the  assets  she  got,  as  the  "  Georgia 
Lands,"  the  "  Brooklyn  Water  Lots,"  the  "  Soap 
Factory,"  which  figured  largely  in  the  political  diatribes 
of  the  State  contest  in  1843,  and  the  legislative 
sessions  preceding.  During  this  time,  from  1837  or 
1838  to  1841  or  thereabouts,  a  radical  change  came 
upon  Dr.  Coe's  professional  convictions.  He  became 
indoctrinated  with  the  views  of  Dr.  Hahnemann, 
unknown  in  England  ten  years  before,  and  introduced 
by  Dr.  Gram  in  New  York  but  two  years  earlier. 
In  his  past  practice  he  had  been  distinguished  for 
"  heroic"  treatment.  He  gave  more  doses  and  bigger 
ones  than  anybody  else.  Mr.  Nowland  has  preserved 
a  satirical  couplet  suggested  by  this  practice  to  the 
doctor's  rival.  Dr.  Jonathan  Cool, — 

"  Oh,  Dr.  Coe,  oh,  Dr.  Coe, 
What  makes  you  dose  your  patients  so  ?" 

The  doctor  acted  on  his  convictions,  and  thus 
became  the  first  homoeopathist  in  the  city  and  the 
New  Purchase. 

Dr.  Jonathan  Cool  came  during  the  "  sickly  season" 
of  1821,  when  Dr.  Coe  was  the  only  one  left  of  four 
who  could  attend  to  patients.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Princeton,  a  New  Jersey  man,  and  a  classmate  of  the 
distinguished  jurist  and  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
Isaac  Blackford.  He  had  been  a  surgeon  in  the 
United  States  army  before  coming  to  Indianapolis, 
and  stationed  at  Newport  barracks,  Kentucky.  He 
was  too  far  gone  in  dissipation,  says  Mr.  Nowland,  to 
practice  his  profession  with  any  success  after  he  came 
here,  and  lived  with  iind  upon  his  mother  on  a  farm 
three  miles  northeast  of  the  town  ;  but  there  were 
occasional  stories  current  forty  years  ago  or  so  of  his 
sugo-esting  remedies  and  effecting  cures,  in  his  better 
condition,  that  other  doctors  had  given  up  as  hope- 
less. He  died  about  1840,  the  earliest  and  saddest 
example  in  the  city's  history  of  fine  native  abilities 
and  fine  attainments  ruined  by  liquor.  Shortly  be- 
fore Dr.  Cool  came  Dr.  Kenneth  Scudder,  who 
opened  the  first  drug-store  in  1821  (a  misprint  on 


276 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


page  29  makes  him  a  settler  in  1820,  instead  of 
1821).  So  little  is  said  of  him  or  remembered  of 
him  that  all  that  can  now  be  safely  accepted  is  that 
he  was  one  of  the  doctors  in  the  great  epidemic  of 
1821. 

Dr.  Livingston  Dunlap  came  here  from  Cherry 
Valley,  N.  Y.,  in  midsummer,  1821.  In  a  few  days 
after  his  arrival,  while  making  his  home  with  Dr. 
Mitchell,  in  the  cabin  where  the  State  buildings  are, 
he  and  Dr.  Mitchell  and  all  the  latter's  family  were 
attacked,  and  Mr.  Matthias  Nowland,  to  relieve  the 
distress,  carried  Dr.  Dunlap  home  with  him  on  his 
back.  Dr.  Dunlap  was  the  best-known  physician  of 
the  city  of  the  early  settlers.  He  was  physician  to 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  a  commissioner  of  the 
Insane  Asylum,  a  member  of  the  City  Council  for 
several  years,  and  founder  of  the  City  Hospital.  He 
died  in  1862. 

Before  Dr.  Coe  introduced  the  homoeopathic  treat- 
ment here,  Dr.  Abner  Pope  came  from  Baltimore — 
originally  from  Massachusetts — in  the  spring  of  1836, 
with  the  Thomsonian  system,  popularly  called  the 
"  steam"  system.  It  had  been  practiced  a  little  by 
vagrant  doctors,  but  Dr.  Pope  was  the  first  settled 
adherent  of  that  school.  He  continued  in  it  while 
he  continued  in  the  profession,  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
years,  and  at  the  same  time  kept  a  store  espe- 
cially provided  with  vegetable  remedies,  as  "prickly 
ash,"  "lobelia,"  "  pocoon  '  or  blood-root,  "cohosh," 
"  May-apple  root,"  and  scores  of  others,  with  such 
preparations  as  "  number  six," — liquid  flames, — ■ 
"bread  of  heaven,"  a  dark-hued  putty  as  of  hot  ashes, 
nevertheless  pleasantly  flavored,  and  similar  stimu- 
lating remedies,  in  connection  with  a  miscellaneous 
stock  of  goods  such  as  was  generally  held  by  the 
merchants  of  that  time.  He,  and  some  years  later 
Dr.  Brickett,  who  had  been  employed  in  the  Yandes 
and  Sheets  paper-mill,  were  the  best-known  prac- 
titioners of  this  school.  Contemporaneously  with 
them,  or  nearly  so,  was  Dr.  J.  F.  Merrill,  technically 
a  "  Uroscopean"  of  the  school  of  Burns'  "  Dr.  Horn- 
book ;"  also  an  "  Indian  doctor,"  as  he  described  him- 
self, decorated  with  the  nominal  profusion  of  "  Wil- 
liam Kelly  Frosvhawk  Fryer."  He  dealt  in  Indian 
baths  and  remedies,  and  sold  Indian  nostrums  that 


no  Indian  ever  heard  of  unless  the  doctor  told  him. 
These  were  the  earliest  instances  of  heterodox  prac- 
tice of  which  any  account  or  memory  is  preserved. 

In  the  spring  of  1823  the  Indiana  Central  Medical 
Society  was  formed  to  license  physicians  to  practice, 
the  law  at  that  time  requiring  such  evidences  of 
competency.  It  continued  in  existence  a  good  many 
years,  but  nobody  knows  how  long.  The  first  presi- 
dent was  Dr.  Mitchell,  and  the  first  secretary  Dr. 
Dunlap.  Since  then  there  has  been  no  considerable 
lapse  of  time  without  a  medical  association  of  some 
kind,  and  in  later  years  several.  The  "  Indianapolis 
Medical  Association,"  a  sort  of  social  and  professional 
society  or  club,  was  maintained  for  diversion  as  much 
as  instruction  for  several  years  prior  to  1863,  and 
probably  formed  the  connecting  link  between  the 
pioneer  society  of  1823  and  the  associations  of  larger 
scope  and  power  of  to-day.  In  1864  it  was  super- 
seded by,  or  combined  with,  a  more  compact  and 
efiective  body,  the  "  Marion  County  Association," 
and  the  two  were  formed  a  little  later  into  the  "  In- 
dianapolis Academy  of  Medicine,"  incorporated  in 
October,  1865.  This  body  has  proved  to  be  what 
its  predecessors  were  meant  to  be,  an  auxiliary  influ- 
ence in  promoting  the  study  of  medicine  and  its 
related  sciences,  and  in  supporting  the  character  of 
the  profession.  Weekly  meetings  are  held,  essays 
on  professional  subjects  prepared,  and  discussions  of 
points  thus  or  otherwise  suggested  carried  on,  with 
obvious  good  results  to  all  concerned.  Among  the 
immediate  successors  of  the  pioneer  doctors,  if  not  of 
them,  were  a  number  better  known  than  any  of  the 
earlier  arrivals  except  Dr.  Dunlap.  Among  these 
were  Dr.  John  E.  McClure,  Dr.  Wm.  Tichnor,  Dr. 
John  H.  Sanders,  Dr.  John  L.  Mothershead,  Dr.  G. 
W.  Mears,  Dr.  John  S.  Bobbs,  Dr.  Charles  Parry, 
all  of  whom  came  in  the  decade  between  1828  and 
1838.    ■ 

Charles  Parry,  M.D.,  was  bom  in  February, 
1814,  a  few  miles  from  Philadelphia.  His  parents 
were  Friends.  His  literary  education  was  received 
mainly  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  in  a  school  under  the 
charge  of  Samuel  Smith.  This  gentleman  was  fa- 
mous for  his  devotion  to  tobacco  and  mathematics. 
He  was  an  inveterate  and  constant  smoker,  and  one 


t^/^:  ^. 


^^^^^■7- 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


277 


of  the  most  successful  mathematical  instructors. 
The  smoking  example  was  lost  on  Charles  Parry. 
He  never  became  a  slave  to  tobacco  in  any  form ; 
but  the  mathematical  instruction  found  a  mind  that 
was  well  developed  and  strengthened  under  its  rigid 
discipline,  and  this  part  of  his  education — cultivat- 
ing his  perceptive  and  reasoning  powers,  teaching 
him  accuracy  and  clearness  of  thought — had  much 
to  do  with  making  him  in  after-years  a  clear-headed, 
sagacious  practitioner  above  the  majority  of  physi- 
cians. No  network  of  fallacies  and  sophistries  could 
entangle  him,  but  through  them  all  he  marched  de- 
liberately and  steadily  right  onward  to  rest  upon 
solid  truth  and  fixed  facts. 

His  classical  education  was  defective,  and  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Latin  he  had  none.  This  he 
greatly  regretted,  and  had  there  not  been  this  defect 
he  would  not  only  have  enjoyed  a  wider  range  of 
medical  literature  than  he  did,  but  he  himself  would 
have  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  medical  journals, 
and  the  treasures  of  his  experience,  the  fruit  of  his 
ripened  judgment  and  large  understanding,  would 
have  been  valuable  indeed.  Twice  only,  each  time 
in  Hays'  Journal,  did  he  break  his  life-long  silence 
by  speaking  to  the  profession  through  the  press ;  but 
those  two  articles, — one  an  account  of  an  operation 
on  a  limb  crooked  and  useless  from  a  badly-treated 
fracture,  the  operation  similar  to  that  performed  by 
Barton  for  anchylosed  knee,  and  the  other  on  conges- 
tive fever, — though  published  many  years  ago,  gave 
him  a  name  ever  known  by  all  intelligent  members 
of  the  profession  throughout  the  country. 

He  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Stokes, 
of  New  Jersey.  Afterward  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
entered  the  oiBce  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  K.  Mitchell,  sub- 
sequently the  eminent  professor  of  theory  and  prac- 
tice in  Jefferson  College,  and  commenced  attending 
lectures  at  the  University.  He  graduated  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia in  the  spring  of  1835,  the  subject  of  his  thesis 
being  "  Haemoptysis."  Immediately  upon  graduat- 
ing he  went  to  Camden,  N.  J.,  and  there  had  his 
first  experience  of  the  trials  of  a  young  physician. 
In  a  year  or  two  he  removed  to  the  West  by  the 
advice  of  his  uncle,  the  late  Hon.  O.  H.  Smith,  then 


a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from  Indiana, 
settling  in  Connersville.  Thence  he  removed  in  about 
two  years  to  the  capital,  and  here  he  resided  until  his 
death,  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-three  years. 

Not  at  once,  however,  did  he  meet  his  professional 
success,  not  at  once  find  a  place  in  the  golden  field 
for  his  sickle ;  other  reapers  monopolized  the  labor 
and  the  reward.  He  was  poor,  often  having  to 
borrow  money  to  pay  the  postage  on  letters  from 
his  friends  in  the  East;  but  he  patiently  waited 
until  time  and  opportunity  should  vindicate  his  right 
to  occupy  a  foremost  place  among  practitioners  of 
medicine  and  surgery.  These  came,  and  a  few  years 
found  him  doing  as  large  a  business  as  any  physician 
in  the  city,  possibly  larger.  During  some  seasons, 
when  severe  epidemics  of  malarial  fever  occurred,  it 
was  not  unusual  for  him  to  ride  sixty  or  seventy-five 
miles  a  day,  and  the  night  brought  him  no  rest. 
Sometimes  even  a  week  would  elapse  without  his 
divesting  himself  of  his  clothes,  but  he  would  sleep  in 
a  chair,  in  his  buggy,  sometimes  even  on  horseback. 
No  man,  unless  possessed  of  an  iron  constitution 
such  as  he  had,  could  endure  so  great  fatigue  and 
exposure.  Physically  he  was  a  remarkable  man. 
His  bodily  presence  was  impressive.  A  manly,  erect 
figure,  about  six  feet  in  height,  his  weight  over  two 
hundred,  he  would  have  been  taken  in  any  assembly 
!  as  a  man  of  mark. 

It  is  rare  to  find  such  a  combination  of  professional 
abilities  as  existed  in  Dr.  Parry's  case.  He  was  a 
superior  physician  and  an  excellent  surgeon  and  ob- 
stetrician. His  obstetrical  business  for  some  time 
averaged  over  eighty  cases  a  year,  and  every  year  he 
had  a  greater  or  less  number  of  capital  operations. 
As  a  surgeon  he  was  not  a  brilliant,  dashing  ope- 
rator, but  cool,  collected,  his  eye  intent  upon  his 
work,  his  hand  steady  and  firm.  He  always  knew 
where  his  knife  icas,  and  never  attempted  what  he 
could  not  readily  perform,  and  never  operated  merely 
for  the  sake  of  operating.  His  abilities  as  an  opera- 
tive surgeon  were  indeed  excellent. 

But  his  greatest  merit  was  as  a  practitioner  of 
medicine.  It  may  be  inferred  that  he  was  highly 
esteemed  in  this  regard  from  a  remark  made  by  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  and  successful  practitioners  at 


278 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


a  meeting  of  physicians  held  to  take  action  in  refer- 
ence to  his  death  :  "  Had  we  been  taken  dangerously 
sick,  and  were  we  thinking  whom  we  would  prefer  to 
attend  us,  the  great  majority  would  decide  for  Dr. 
Parry."  This  commeudatioa  was  most  worthily 
bestowed. 

Dr.  Parry  was  not  rash  in  forming  his  opinion  nor 
in  jumping  at  conclusions.  He  studied  disease  not 
so  much  in  books  as  at  the  bedside,  and  he  thoroughly 
investigated  a  case,  even  if  that  investigation  required 
an  hour  or  more.  He  was  cautious,  seeking  all  the 
light  he  could,  carefully  reasoning,  and  his  natural 
sagacity,  logical  understanding,  and  strong  practical 
sense  directed  him  almost  invariably  to  a  correct  diag- 
nosis. Seldom,  indeed,  could  a  man  be  found  making 
fewer  mistakes. 

Dr.  Parry  did  not  hesitate  to  use  freely,  in  what 
he  believed  proper  cases,  the  lancet,  mercury,  and 
blister,  and  his  patients  got  well  oftener,  sooner,  bet- 
ter than  they  would  have  done  under  the  treatment 
of  those  who  in  effect  renounce  art  and  rely  only  on 
nature. 

In  three  important  respects  Dr.  Parry's  life  must 
be  pronounced  a  decided  success.  First,  in  the  at- 
tainment of  wealth ;  second,  in  the  attainment  of 
reputation  ;  and  third  and  highest,  in  the  relief  of 
much  suffering. 

While  it  is  pleasant  to  speak  of  his  abilities  and 
the  success  which  crowned  their  exercise,  yet  the 
moral  aspects  of  his  character  must  not  be  entirely 
neglected,  and  on  those  especially  it  is  grateful  to 
dwell.  He  was  honest ;  honest  not  merely  in  busi- 
ness transactions,  but  honest  in  all  his  intercourse 
with  his  professional  brethren,  and  honest,  too,  in  the 
sick-room  and  at  the  bedside,  honest  in  matters  of 
life  and  death.  A  deceiver  in  any  respect  he  never 
could  be. 

To  his  friends  he  was  generous  and  kind-hearted. 
Many  a  young  physician  knows  that  his  start  in  pro- 
fessional life  was  in  great  measure  due  to  the  kind 
words  and  deeds  of  Dr.  Parry.  His  time  and  inval- 
uable counsel  were  ever  at  the  service  of  the  young 
practitioner  in  difficult  cases  without  hope  of  pecuni- 
ary reward.  He  kindly  concealed  errors  from  the 
erring  party,  unless  by  plain  statement  of  them  he 


could  prevent  future  mistakes.  He  was  kind  to  his 
patients  and  profoundly  sympathetic,  though  usually 
repressing  decided  manifestation,  and  yet  he  often 
wept  with  all  a  woman's  tenderness  with  the  father 
and  mother  over  their  dying  child. 

His  was  too  noble  a  spirit  to  be  consumed  by  the 
fires  of  jealousy.  If  families  left  him — a  rare  event 
in  the  case  of  any  worthy  ones ;  his  friends  adhered 
to  him  with  great  tenacity — he  cherished  no  unkind 
feeling  towards  their  new  medical  adviser,  attributed 
to  him  no  dishonesty  of  conduct,  cultivated  no  spirit 
of  retaliation,  but,  without  a  whisper  of  complaint, 
graciously  and  gracefully  yielded.  He  would  listen 
patiently  to  the  opinions  of  the  youngest  physician, 
and  if  they  could  be  well  established,  no  false  pride, 
no  prejudice  kept  him  from  at  once  abandoning  his 
own  and  accepting  them.  He  was  not  blind  either 
to  the  truth  of  the  judgments  or  to  the  abilities  of 
others.  Indeed,  he  was  one  of  the  most  catholic  of 
men. 

His  character  was  fixed,  not  fickle.  Few  men  pre- 
sented more  mably  front  or  stood  more  firmly  on  their 
feet  than  he  did.  He  changed  not  from  year  to  year. 
He  was  no  April  day,  alternate  sunshine  and  clouds, 
the  light  of  love  and  the  darkness  of  hate ;  but  his 
friendship  was  abiding,  weakened  by  no  lapse  of  time, 
varying  not  from  month  to  month  or  year  to  year,  no 
mean  jealousy  or  plotting  hate  disturbing  the  equa- 
nimity of  his  temper  or  the  kindness  of  his  conduct. 
He  was  ever  the  same  speaking  of  you  or  to  you. 
Resentful  he  might  have  been  at  times  when  greatly 
wronged,  but  it  was  rarely  manifested,  and  there 
were  wrongs  that  he  did  not  resent.  He  meekly  for- 
bore when  others  might  have  been  provoked,  lest  he 
might  say  or  do  anything  which  would  cause  unkind 
feelings  or  pain. 

Had  Dr.  Charles  Parry  enjoyed  a  more  liberal  lit- 
erary education,  had  he  been  more  ambitious  of  fame 
and  been  given  a  larger  sphere,  an  arena  suitable  for 
such  strength  and  culture,  he  might  have  placed  him- 
self among  the  foremost  men  not  only  of  the  country 
but  of  the  age.  His  death  occurred  at  his  home  in 
Indianapolis  on  the  11th  of  August,  1861. 

John  L.  Mothershead,  M.D. — Nathaniel  Moth- 
ershead,   the  father  of   the  doctor,   was  of  English 


JOHN    L.    MOTHERSHEAD. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


279 


antecedents  and  a  native  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
where  he  was  born  in  1755.  He  at  a  later  period 
removed  to  Scott  County,  Ky.,  where  his  death 
occurred  on  the  28th  of  December,  1834.  His  pur- 
suits were  those  of  a  farmer,  though  in  youth  a 
soldier  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  and  a  participant 
in  the  battles  of  Monmouth,  Brandywine,  Trenton, 
Princeton,  Stony  Point,  and  Yorktown.  John  L., 
the  youngest  of  his  sons,  was  born  Jan.  6,  1808,  in 
Scott  County,  Ky.,  where  the  years  of  his  youth 
were  passed.  He  received  a  thorough  collegiate  edu- 
cation, and  choosing  medicine  as  a  profession,  grad- 
uated from  the  medical  college  at  Louisville,  Ky. 
He  chose  Indianapolis  as  the  most  advantageous 
point  in  the  State  of  Indiana,  and  devoted  him.self 
with  zeal  and  industry  to  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. Very  soon  Dr.  Mothershead  became  distin- 
guished for  his  skill  and  thorough  medical  training, 
and  speedily  attained  the  largest  practice  in  the 
growing  city  he  had  selected  as  his  home.  In  con- 
Dection  with  his  profession  he  also  engaged  in  busi- 
ness as  a  druggist.  Aside  from  the  demands  upon 
his  skill  in  the  city,  his  presence  was  frequently 
sought  in  consultation  in  the  neighboring  cities  and 
towns.  He  married  Miss  Amanda,  daughter  of 
Morris  Morris,  of  Indianapolis,  to  whom  were  born 
children, — Alvin  M.,  Julia  (Mrs.  Burr),  and  John  L. 
He  was  married  a  second  time,  to  Mrs.  Emeline 
Grant,  and  had  one  daughter,  Irene,  who  died  in 
childhood.  Dr.  Mothershead  was  in  politics  a  Whig, 
and  although  not  an  aspirant  for  office,  filled  the 
responsible  position  of  president  of  the  Board  of 
Health.  He  was  au  active  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  He  died  Nov.  4,  1854,  in  his  forty-seventh 
year,  not  less  remembered  for  his  professional  attain- 
ments than  for  his  many  genial  traits  of  character. 
The  only  representative  of  his  family  now  in  Indian- 
apolis is  his  son,  John  L.  Mothershead,  president  of 
the  Indiana  Foundry  Company,  and  from  1881  to 
1883  county  treasurer. 

The  "  Indiana  Central  Medical  College"  was  organ- 
ized in  1848,  and  held  its  first  session  in  a  two-story 
brick  house  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Washington 
and  East  Streets.  It  formed  the  medical  department 
of    Asbury    University,    and     President,   afterwards 


Bishop,  Simpson  delivered  the  diplomas  to  the  first 
graduating  class  in  March,  1850.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  1850  to  erect  a  building  for  it  on  the  Uni- 
versity Square,  and  the  Legislature  authorized  the 
sale  of  an  acre  at  the  price  it  should  be  appraised  at, 
but  the  appraisment  was  thought  too  high  for  the 
University's  means,  and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 
The  acre  was  appraised  at  three  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-six  dollars.  The  faculty  consisted  of  Drs. 
John  S.  Bobbs,  Richard  Curran,  J.  S.  Harrison, 
George  W.  Mears,  C.  G.  Downey,  L  Dunlap,  A.  H. 
Baker,  and  David  Funkhouser.  The  last.  Dr.  Funk- 
houser,  and  his  partner  for  many  years.  Dr.  P.  H. 
Jameson,  are  the-  oldest  practitioners  in  the  city  since 
the  death  of  Dr.  Mears. 

David  Funkhouser,  M.D. — The  Funkhouser 
famify  are  of  German  extraction,  the  doctor's  great- 
grandfather having  emigrated  from  Switzerland  to 
America.  His  son  David  was  born  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  was  a  farmer.  He  married, 
and  had  children, — Samuel,  Martin,  and  Elizabeth 
(Mrs.  Miley).  The  first-named  was  born  in  Virginia, 
to  which  State  his  parents  had  removed,  and  where  he 
later  engaged  in  both  mercantile  and  farming  employ- 
ments. He  married  Elizabeth  Miley,  to  whom  was 
born  one  son,  David,  the  subject  of  this  biographical 
sketch,  on  the  31st  of  May,  1820,  in  Shenandoah 
County,  Va.  Such  advantages  as  the  school  of  the 
neighborhood  afiForded  were  enjoyed  while  at  his 
home,  after  which  two  and  a  half  years  were  spent  at 
the  Woodstock  Academy,  located  at  the  seat  of  the 
county.  He  then  became  a  student  of  Bethany  Col- 
lege, in  West  Virginia,  from  which  he  graduated  and 
received  his  degree  of  A.M.  He  began  in  1845 
the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  James  McClintock, 
of  Philadelphia,  who  offered  to  students  the  superior 
advantage  of  a  dissecting-room  and  lectures  on  an- 
atomy and  kindred  subjects.  He  also  attended  lec- 
tures at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  in  Philadel- 
phia, from  which  he  received  his  diploma  in  1847. 
The  doctor  determined  to  seek  the  West  as  offering 
a  broader  field  to  a  young  practitioner,  and  located 
soon  after  in  Indianapolis,  where  he  has  since  been 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
He  was  for  a  period  of   seventeen  years  associated 


280 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


with  Dr.  P.  H.  Jameson  in  practice,  and  for  three 
years  with  Dr.  Henry  Jameson.  Dr.  Funkhouser 
has  confined  himself  to  practice  of  a  general  char- 
acter, though  his  skill  as  a  surgeon  has  been  largely 
called  into  requisition,  much  of  the  general  surgical 
work  of  the  city  having  for  a  period  of  years  come 
under  his  supervision.  He  was  also,  during  the  late 
war,  connected  with  the  military  hospitals  located  in 
Indianapolis.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Indian- 
apolis Medical  Society,  as  also  of  the  State  Medical 
Society.  In  1849,  during  the  early  years  of  his  pro- 
fessional career,  he  was  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in 
the  Indianapolis  Medical  College.  In  politics  he  has 
always  been  a  pronounced  Democrat,  tut  not  an  active 
worker  nor  an  aspirant  for  official  position.  He  is  a 
supporter  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  the  city  of 
Indianapolis,  of  which  Mrs.  Funkhouser  is  a  member. 
Dr.  Funkhouser  was  married,  in  1865,  to  Miss 
Amanda,  daughter  of  Daniel  Lynn,  of  Dearborn 
County,  Ind.  Their  children  are  two  daughters, 
Lizzie  M.  and  Jessie  L.  J.,  both  residing  with  their 
parents. 

Dr.  Patrick  Henry  Jameson  was  born  in  Jeflfer- 
son  County  April  18,  1824,  received  a  good  English 
education  in  the  country  schools,  and  came  to  Indian- 
apolis in  the  fall  of  184-2,  where  he  taught  school  for 
a  short  time,  then  studied  medicine  with  the  late 
Dr.  John  H.  Sanders,  attended  the  Medical  College  of 
Louisville  in  1847—48,  and  subsequently  the  Jefferson 
College  of  Philadelphia.  He  graduated  in  1849, 
and  began  practice  the  same  year  in  Indianapolis. 
In  a  short  time  he  and  Dr.  Funkhouser  were  asso- 
ciated, and  remained  so  longer  than  any  other  partners 
in  a  professional  business  in  the  city.  Dr.  Jameson 
has  been  president  of  both  the  Indiana  Medical 
Society  and  the  Indianapolis  Academy  of  Medicine. 
For  about  eighteen  years  he  was  on  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  the  State  Benevolent  Institutions 
(the  asylums),  and  wrote  in  that  time  eighteen 
annual  reports  of  them  ;  also  a  report  to  the  Indiana 
Society  on  the  use  of  "  veratrum  viride"  in  typhoid 
and  puerperal  fevers,  and  an  address  on  the  "  Relation 
of  Scientific  Medicine  to  Quackery."  For  five  years 
during  and  after  the  war  he  was  the  State  surgeon  in  ] 
charge  of  State  and  national  troops  in  the  camps  and  1 


hospitals  of  the  city.  He  was  also  assistant  surgeon 
of  the  United  States  army  for  three  years,  and  for 
eight  years  physician  to  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum. 
From  1869-79  he  was  president  of  the  joint  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  the  State  Asylums,  and  for  many 
years  was  president  of  the  board  of  directors  of 
Butler  University.  The  Insane  Asylum  owes  more  to 
his  vigilance  and  sagacity  than  any  other  man  in  the 
State,  and  the  city  of  Indianapolis  is  not  less  deeply 
indebted  to  his  sound  and  honorable  financial  manage- 
ment. He  entered  the  Council  in  1863  and  remained 
until  1869,  and  all  the  time  was  intrusted  with 
the  almost  absolute  direction  of  the  city  finances. 
During  this  period  heavy  sums  had  to  be  raised  for 
bounties  for  volunteers,  and  it  required  masterly 
ability  to  keep  affairs  in  good  order  in  such  an  urgent 
and  constant  strait.  He  found  the  city  in  debt,  yet, 
in  spite  of  the  heavy  outlays,  he  left  it  with  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars'  of  current  debt  only,  and  with 
two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars  in  the  treasury 
to  pay  it.  For  the  last  ten  years  he  has  had  associated 
with  him  his  nephew.  Dr.  Henry  Jameson,  a  professor 
in  the  Medical  College  of  Indiana,  and  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  young  scientists  in  the  West. 
The  elder  doctor,  June  20,  1850,  married  Maria, 
daughter  of  the  lute  Ovid  Butler,  founder  of  Butler 
University ;  the  younger  was  married  to  Gertrude, 
daughter  of  H.  G.  Carey,  the  banker,  in  the  winter 
of  1875. 

Among  the  professors  of  the  first  medical  college,  as 
above  stated,  was  Dr.  John  S.  Bobbs,  as  well  known 
almost  as  a  skillful  and  adroit  party  manager  of  the 
Whigs  as  he  was  an  accomplished  and  thorough 
physician.  He  vras  a  forcible  writer  on  any  subject 
to  which  he  turned  his  hand,  and  he  wrote  a  great 
deal  on  professional  and  public  subjects  both  in  news- 
papers and  special  publications.  In  all  public  move- 
ments afl'ccting  the  welfare  of  the  city,  whether 
concerning  him  professionally  or  not,  he  was  always 
active  and  effective.  A  bequest  of  two  thousand 
dollars  he  made  at  his  death  is  the  foundation  of  the 
"  Bobbs'  Dispensary,"  for  the  benefit  of  the  suffering 
poor  of  Indianapolis,  managed  by  the  faculty  of  the 
"  Medical  College  of  Indiana."  The  "  Bobbs'  Library" 
is  under  the  same  direction. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


281 


John  S.  Bobbs,  M.D.,  the  subject  of  this  biog- 
raphy, was  born  at  Green  Village,  Cumberland  Co., 
Pa.,  on  the  28th  of  December,  1809.  His  boyhood 
was  .spent — his  parents  being  poor — in  the  acquisition 
of  such  knowledge  as  could  be  obtained  at  the  then 
very  common  schools  of  a  country  village.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  wended  his  way  on  foot  to  Harrisburg, 
then,  as  now,  the  seat  of  government  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  quest  of  employment.  Being  a  lad  of  much  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  he  attracted  the  attention 
of  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  then  a  practitioner  of  some 
eminence  in  that  city.  Upon  a  more  thorough  ac- 
quaintance the  doctor's  interest  increased,  and,  feeling 
that  the  delicate  and  slender  physique  of  his  young 
friend  unfitted  him  for  the  more  rugged  encounter 
with  the  world,  proposed,  upon  the  most  liberal  terms, 
his  entrance  to  his  o£Bce  as  a  student  of  medicine. 
Unhappily,  this  noble  patron  did  not  long  survive  to 
see  with  what  fidelity  to  his  own  interests  and  with 
what  devotion  to  study  his  pro/effe  had  rewarded  his 
generosity.  Such  indeed  was  the  diligence  with 
which  he  applied  himself  to  books  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  obstacles  of  a  deficient  preliminary  education, 
he  fitted  himself,  with  the  aid  of  a  single  course  of 
lectures,  for  the  successful  practice  of  his  profession 
in  less  than  three  years.  His  first  essay  in  this  direc- 
tion was  made  at  Middletown,  Pa.,  where  he  remained 
four  years.  Having  early  determined  to  make  surgery 
a  specialty,  he  found  the  locality  he  had  chosen  un- 
suited  for  the  work,  and  soon  decided  upon  selecting 
some  point  in  the  great  West  as  the  field  of  his  future 
labors. 

In  183.5  he  came  to  Indianapolis  with  the  view  of 
making  it  his  permanent  residence.  True  to  his  great 
purpose  of  securing  for  himself  distinction  in  his 
chosen  profession,  he  now  gave  himself  up  to  study, 
— severe,  unremitting  study, — both  classical  and  pro- 
fe.ssional.  Soon  sufiSciently  familiar  with  the  lan- 
guages, he  bent  his  entire  energies  to  investigations 
in  his  favorite  department.  As  a  means  of  further- 
ing the  objects  of  his  very  earnest  pursuit  after  sur- 
gical knowledge,  he  concluded  to  avail  himself  of  the 
advantages  of  a  winter's  dissections  and  clinical  obser- 
vations at  Jefferson  Medical  College,  where  the  degree 
of  doctor  of  medicine  was  conferred  upon  him.     Rap- 


idly attaining  a  reputation  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  State  which  might  satisfy  the  most 
vaulting  ambition,  he  was  tendered  by  the  trustees  of 
Asbury  University  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  "  Cen- 
tral Medical  College,"  then  about  being  established  in 
Indianapolis,  and  made  dean  of  the  faculty.  His  lec- 
tures and  operations  before  the  class  were  fully  up  to 
the  highest  standards  of  the  profession.  His  descrip- 
tions of  healthy  and  diseased  action,  and  the  changes 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  have  never  been  surpassed 
in  point  of  clearness  and  accuracy  and  graphic  force 
and  eloquence. 

"  He  always  held  his  profession  sacred,  high  above 
all  trickery  and  quackery,  and  labored  with  incessant 
diligence  to  place  it  in  public  estimation  upon  the 
same  footing  it  held  in  his  own  regard.  The  most 
earnest  and  eloquent  words  came  from  his  heart  and 
lips  when  urging  upon  the  minds  of  his  classes  the 
duty  of  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  scientific  medicine. 
In  that  duty  he  was  ever  faithful,  even  to  the  moment 
of  his  death." 

To  the  poor  and  needy  he  was  always  wisely  kind  and 
beneficent.  When  called  upon  professionally  to  attend 
the  sick  poor,  he  was  known  in  innumerable  instances 
to  furnish,  beside  gratuitous  service  and  necessary 
medicines,  the  means  of  life  during  their  illness.  The 
great  beauty  of  his  character,  in  this  respect,  was  that 
his  charities  were  always  rendered  without  display  or 
ostentation.  He  was  a  man  of  indefatigable  industry, 
and  until  his  death  a  devoted  student,  laboring  at  his 
books  as  few  men  work.  With  a  slender  constitution 
at  best,  and  a  system  worn  down  by  disease  contracted 
in  the  army,  he  labored  incessantly.  His  days  were 
"iven  to  the  duties  of  an  arduous  surgical  practice, 
and  his  nights  spent  almost  wholly  in  his  library. 

He  was  a  model  friend.  He  saw  the  real  character 
of  all  whom  he  admitted  to  his  intimacy  and  friend- 
ship ;  and  while  to  all  the  outside  world  he  faithfully 
hid  their  faults,  he  candidly  and  fully  presented  them 
to  him  whose  character  they  marred.  This  duty — 
the  highest  and  most  delicate  and  difficult  of  all  the 
'duties  of  friendship  and  of  life  owed  by  man  to  man 

he  had  the  good  sense,  discrimination,  and  tact  to 

perform  always  without  insulting  or  wounding  his 
friends.     He  was  superior  to  all  dissimulation,  and 


282 


HISTOKY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


spoke  the  trutli  with  such  frankness  and  earnestness 
that  it  was  impossible  to  take  offense  at  it.  His 
friendships  all  stood  upon  a  higher  plane  than  any 
mere  selfish  interest.  He  accepted  or  rejected  men 
as  friends  for  their  manhood  or  their  want  of  it.  The 
personal  or  social  trappings  and  circumstances  of  men 
neither  attracted  nor  repelled  him.  He  felt  and  knew 
that 

"  The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp, 
Tile  man's  tlie  gowd  for  a'  that," 

and  elected  his  friends,  not  for  the  image  and  super- 
scription which  family  or  position  had  impressed  upon 
them,  but  for  the  original  metal.  So  selected,  he 
grappled  them  with  hooks  of  steel,  and  never  gave 
them  up  until  they  had  shown  by  some  violation  of 
principle  that  they  were  unworthy  of  his  regard.  He 
discriminated  wisely  the  faults  that  proceed  from  im- 
pulse and  enthusiasm  from  those  that  grow  out  of 
calculation  and  self-interest.  To  the  former  he  was 
as  kind  and  forgiving  as  a  mother  to  the  faults  of  her 
child  ;  the  latter  he  never  forgave. 

For  a  short  time  he  engaged  in  politics, — not,  how- 
ever, as  a  matter  of  choice,  but  from  a  sense  of  duty. 
He  carried  with  him  into  the  public  arena  the  same 
thorough  and  exhaustive  preparation,  the  same  scru- 
pulous regard  for  truth  and  fair  dealing,  the  same 
severe  devotion  to  reason,  and  the  same  lofty  and 
fiery  eloquence  that  lent  such  a  charm  to  his  profes- 
sional addresses.  In  this  singular  episode  of  his  life 
he  met  the  obligations  of  his  position,  and  performed 
them  so  as  to  win  the  confidence  and  approbation  of 
his  constituents. 

Dr.  Bobbs  was  married,  in  1840,  to  Miss  Catherine 
Cameron,  the  youngest  of  eight  children,  and  the 
sister  of  Hon.  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
has  left  the  record  of  a  life  fragrant  with  kindly  deeds 
and  memorable  for  its  usefulness. 

In  May,  1869,  the  "  Indiana  Medical  College"  was 
organized  mainly  or  wholly  by  the  efibrts  of  the  In- 
dianapolis Academy.  It  was  intended  in  the  first 
scheme  of  organization  to  make  it  a  department  of  the 
State  University,  and  obtain  the  aid  of  the  State  for 
it  in  that  way,  but  a  committee  consisting  of  Dr. 
Bobbs,  Dr.  Mears,  and  Dr.  Woodburn  reported 
against  it,  and  the   academy   concurred.     A  second 


committee  of  five — Drs.  Waterman,  Harvey,  Todd, 
Gaston,  and  Kitchen — reported  in  favor  of  a  home 
medical  college,  sustained  by  its  own  brains  and 
means,  and  the  academy  concurred,  adopted  the  pro- 
posed plan,  and  selected  the  first  faculty  :  Dr.  John 
S.  Bobbs,  President,  and  Professor  of  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery  ;  George  W.  Mears,  Obstetrics ; 
Ryland  T.  Brown,  Chemistry  and  Toxicology ;  Rob- 
ert N.  Todd,  Vice-President,  Professor  of  Principles 
and  Practice  of  Medicine  ;  L.  D.  Waterman,  Descrip- 
tive and  Surgical  Anatomy  ;  T.  B.  Harvey,  Treasurer, 
Professor  of  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children ; 
William  B.  Fletcher,  Physiology ;  F.  S.  Newcomer, 
Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics ;  J.  A.  Comingor, 
Surgical  Pathology,  Orthopedic  and  Clinical  Surgery; 

C.  E.  Wright,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy.  On  May 
4th  articles  of  association  were  reported  by  Dr. 
Bobbs,  approved  and  signed  by  the  other  members  of 
the  faculty,  and  Judge  Samuel  E.  Perkins  and  John 

D.  Howland  made  trustees  with  the  faculty.  The 
academy  subscribed  freely  to  support  the  institution, 
and  it  began  its  first  session  in  October,  1869. 

Thomas  B.  Harvey,  M.D.,  who  is  descended 
from  English  stock,  is  the  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Jesse 
Harvey,  of  Harveysburg,  Warren  Co.,  Ohio,  a 
physician  of  scientific  attainments  and  eminence  in 
his  profession,  and  Elizabeth  Burgess,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Betty  Burgess,  of  Virginia.  Their  son, 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  was  born 
Nov.  29,  1827,  in  Clinton  County,  Ohio,  and  removed 
on  attaining  his  second  year  to  Harveysburg.  His 
advantages  of  education  were  derived  from  the 
Harveysburg  High  School,  an  institution  founded  by 
his  father,  with  whom,  on  completing  his  classical 
course,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  1846  and 
graduated  from  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  at  Cin- 
cinnati. His  first  field  of  labor  was  at  Plainfield, 
Ind.,  to  which  place  he  removed  in  1851,  and  con- 
tinued in  active  practice  until  1862,  when  he  was 
tendered  and  accepted  the  appointment  of  Examining 
Surgeon  for  the  Sixth  Congressional  District,  with 
headquarters  at  Indianapolis.  The  doctor  held  this 
position  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Meanwhile  asso- 
ciations both  of  a  professional  and  social  character 
had    been    formed    which    influenced    him    to   make 


^  rh  y^ay'^-'^-^^ 


'^,  j2^-^>^. 


CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


283 


Indianapolis  his  permanent  residence,  his  practice 
having  already  become  extended  and  lucrative.  Dur- 
ing the  year  1869  the  Indiana  Medical  College  was 
organized  and  Dr.  Harvey  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
professor  of  medical  and  surgical  diseases  of  women, 
which  he  still  fills.  Quick  and  clear  in  apprehension, 
concise  and  vigorous  in  language,  and  a  thorough 
master  of  the  special  branch  of  medical  science  he 
elucidates,  his  clinics  are  sought  alike  by  students 
and  active  practitioners. 

Dr.  Harvey  has  been  for  twenty  years  consulting 
physician  in  the  same  special  department  at  the  City 
Hospital,  as  also  in  St.  Vincent's  Hospital  since  its 
organization,  and  has  for  ten  years  been  consulting 
physician  to  the  City  Dispensary.  He  aided  in  the 
organization  of  the  Hendricks  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, read  the  first  paper  before  that  body,  and  was 
subsequently  its  president.  He  also  aided  materially 
in  the  organization  of  the  Indianapolis  Academy  of 
Medicine,  and  was  honored  as  the  first  member  to  fill 
the  office  of  president.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
State  Medical  Society  during  the  third  year  of  its 
existence;  was  made  its  vice-president  in  1865,  and 
its  president  in  1880.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Medical  As.sociation,  and  of  tlie  Mississippi 
Valley  Medical  Society,  before  which  bodies  he  has 
read  many  able  papers  which  showed  him  to  be  a 
faithful  observer  of  the  nature  and  forms  of  disease, 
an  original  thinker,  and  logical  in  his  reasoning.  His 
reputation  as  a  physician  has  extended  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  city  of  his  residence  and  caused  his 
services  to  be  largely  sought  in  consultation.  In  his 
political  predilections  the  doctor  may  be  spoken  of  as 
descended  from  abolitionist  stock  and  educated  in 
the  doctrines  of  that  party.  His  grandmother 
Burgess  (who  was  a  Hendricks,  of  Virginia)  accepted 
her  patrimony  in  slaves  that  she  might  bring  them 
to  Ohio  and  liberate  them.  His  ancestors  were 
Quakers  of  the  strictest  sort  both  in  their  religious 
life  and  faith. 

Dr.  Harvey  was  married  in  1853  to  Miss  Delitha, 
daughter  of  Stephen  Butler,  of  Union  County,  Ind., 
who.se  ancestors  were  of  Virginia  stock.  Their 
children  are  Emma,  deceased,  Lawson  M.,  an  attorney 
in  Indianapolis,  Frank  Hamilton,  deceased,  Jesse  B., 


and  Lizzie,  the  two  latter  being  students  at  Earlham 
College,  in  Richmond. 

Robert  N.  Todd,  M.D.—Robert  Nathaniel,  son 
of  Levi  L.  Todd,  was  born  Jan.  4,  1827,  near  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  which  place  had  been  the  home  of  his 
father's  family  for  two  generations.  His  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  Capt.  Nathaniel  Ashby,  of  Virginia, 
and  who  served  as  an  officer  of  the  line  throughout 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Robert  was  the  seventh 
born  in  a  family  of  nine  children,  two  of  whom  died 
in  infancy ;  the  remainder  having  reached  maturity, 
though  only  two  survive  him.  His  family  removed 
to  Indiana  in  183-1,  since  which  time  his  home  was 
in  Indianapolis  and  vicinity  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  13th  day  of  June, 
1883. 

His  early  advantages  were  indiff'erent.  He  re- 
ceived a  common-school  education  such  as  the 
country  at  that  day  afforded,  with  such  a  knowledge 
of  Latin  as  he  could  pick  up  (unaided  by  a  teacher) 
from  an  old  grammar  and  reader  and  a  copy  of 
"  jEsop's  Fables,"  with  the  reading  of  a  few  volumes 
of  history  and  travel. 

Physically  he  was  delicate,  and  rather  a  sickly  boy, 
being  frequently  troubled  with  sore  throat  and  gland- 
ular swellings  about  the  neck,  while  he  was  always 
dyspeptic  from  a  child.  Gaining  in  strength  and 
health,  however,  as  he  grew  older,  he  performed  a 
good  deal  of  hard  labor  upon  the  farm,  until,  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  he  began  the  study  of  law  at  South 
Bend  with  Judge  Listen,  his  brother-in-law ;  but  at 
the  expiration  of  a  year  and  a  half  returned  to  the 
farm,  where  he  remained  until,  broken  down  by  hard 
labor  and  ill  health,  he  was  compelled,  at  the  end  of 
two  years,  to  abandon  farm  work  entirely.  After 
having  remained  at  home  for  some  months  an  in- 
valid he  visited  Dr.  David  Todd,  of  Danville,  by 
whom  he  was  induced  to  commence  the  study  of 
medicine,  which  he  did  as  a  diversion  from  low 
spirits,  not  expecting  ever  to  be  well  enough  to  turn 
it  to  practical  account.  His  health,  however,  soon 
began  to  improve,  and  the  next  year  he  attended 
lectures  at  the  old  "Indiana  Central  Medical  Col- 
lege," and  the  following  year  (1851)  graduated,  and 
settled  the  succeeding  spring  at  Southport,  where  he 


284 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


remained  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  having 
in  the  spring  of  1854  been  married  to  Miss  Margaret 
White,  of  that  neighborhood. 

In  the  year  1861  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the 
Twenty-sixth  Indiana  Volunteers,  and  went  soon  after 
with  his  regiment  to  Missouri,  where  he  remained  on 
duty  in  camp  and  hospital  for  about  twenty  months. 
Having  resigned  his  position  upon  his  return  home, 
he  soon  after  removed  to  Indianapolis,  and  again 
entered  the  government  service  as  surgeon  at  Camp 
Morton,  where,  associated  with  Dr.  Kipp,  of  the 
regular  army,  and  under  the  medical  directorship  of 
Dr.  Bobbs,  he  continued  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

In  the  year  following  his  removal  to  Indianapolis 
he  was  married  the  second  time,  to  Mrs.  Martha  J. 
Edgar,  who,  with  three  children  of  his  first  and  four 
of  his  second  marriage,  still  survive  him. 

There  having  been  no  medical  college  since  the 
disbanding  of  the  old  one,  which  occurred  in  1852, 
in  the  year  1869  the  organization  of  the  Indiana 
Medical  College  was  effected,  in  which  he  was  chosen 
as  teacher  of  theory  and  practice,  and  continued 
thus  engaged  until  the  spring  of  1874.  Shortly 
after,  upon  the  organization  of  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons  (he  himself  having  been  the 
originator),  he  was  assigned  the  same  department, 
and  held  it  until  the  union  of  the  two  medical 
schools  in  1878  under  the  style  of  "  The  Medical 
College  of  Indiana."  He  was  elected  to  the  same 
chair  occupied  in  the  two  other  organizations,  viz., 
principles  and  practice  of  medicine,  which  was  filled 
until  his  death. 

He  was  the  first  representative  from  his  State  upon 
the  Judicial  Council  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, which  he  held  for  several  successive  terms, 
and  to  which  he  was  again  elected,  in  his  absence,  at 
the  last  meeting. 

Dr.  Todd  was  president  of  the  State  Society  in 
1871,  was  an  active  worker  for  seven  years  upon  the 
provisional  board,  created  by  the  Legislature,  and 
whose  work  was  the  erection  and  fitting  up  of  the 
large  building  occupied  as  the  female  department  of 
the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and  was  one  of  the  phy- 
sicians to  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  for  nearly 
eight  years.      He  served  a  single  term  in  the  Legis- 


lature as  representative  in  1856-57,  besides  which  he 
held  no  position  disconnected  with  his  profession. 

As  a  lecturer  his  manner  was  easy,  dignified,  and 
not  ungraceful  ;  his  words  were  well  chosen,  his  lan- 
guage plain  but  forcible,  sometimes  eloquent,  and 
always  commanded  the  attention  of  his  auditors. 

As  a  teacher  he  was  clear  and  explicit,  easily 
understood,  and  well  remembered ;  talked  much  of 
the  specific  nature  of  diseases  and  their  laws  of 
reproduction,  and  dwelt  largely  upon  the  general 
principles  of  pathology  and  their  application  in 
special  forms  of  diseases,  frequently  referring  to  them 
in  the  solution  of  minor  questions. 

As  a  practitioner  of  medicine  he  was  eminently 
successful.  His  notably  quick  perceptive  faculties, 
his  careful  and  systematic  methods  of  examination, 
with  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  pathology,  gen- 
eral and  special,  combined  to  make  him  skillful  in 
the  diagnosis  of  disease ;  while  his  ready  resources 
and  originality  of  thought  in  the  application  of 
means  left  him  entirely  independent  of  routine  thera- 
peutics. 

His  health  was  always  inconstant,  having  been 
subject  to  acute  attacks  throughout  his  adult  life,  and 
these  increased  upon  him  very  notably  in  force  and 
frequency  of  late  years.  His  robust  appearance  and 
vigorous  manner  and  movement  were  deceptive  as  to 
his  real  condition,  and  from  the  indisposition  that 
began  in  August,  1882,  which  was  unusually  pro- 
longed and  severe,  he  never  recovered  his  accustomed 
tone,  though  filling  most  of  his  lecture  course.  With 
the  loss  of  vital  resistance  incident  to  his  age  and 
condition,  he  sank  at  last  under  the  effects  of  a  cas- 
ualty from  which  he  could  easily  have  recovered  a 
few  years  earlier  in  life.  Not  old,  it  is  true,  in  years, 
but  relatively  as  life  is  really  to  be  reckoned  by  its 
vicissitudes  and  hardships,  he  was  much  farther 
advanced. 

John  A.  Comingor,  M.D.,  is  of  German  ex- 
traction, his  grandfather,  who  was  the  first  member 
of  the  family  to  emigrate,  having  settled  in  New 
York  State  and  later  removed  to  Kentucky.  He 
married  and  had  children, — Abram,  Henry,  David, 
Samuel,  and  four  daughters.  Samuel,  of  these  sons, 
was  born  in  1797  in  Kentucky,  and  remained  in  that 


(2>^.;)r^--^^=^^^bc^^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


285 


State  until  1826,  when  he  removed  to  Johnson 
County,  Ind.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Gibbs,  of 
Georgia,  and  had  children, — Henry,  George,  David, 
John  A.,  Cynthia,  Rachel,  Sarah,  and  Jane.  John 
A.  was  born  on  the  17th  of  March,  1828,  in  John- 
son County,  Ind.  His  youth  was  uneventful,  the 
common  school  of  the  vicinity  having  afforded  him 
early  instruction,  after  which  he  became  a  pupil  of 
the  Greenwood  Academy.  He  early  decided  upon  a 
medical  career,  and  on  completing  his  English  course 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Drs.  Noble  and 
Wishard,  of  Greenwood.  Here  he  continued  for 
three  years,  meanwhile  attending  lectures  at  the 
Central  Medical  College  of  Indianapolis  during  the 
sessions  of  1849—50,  and  graduating  from  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  University  of  New  York  in 
1860.  Dr.  Comingor  practiced  until  1861  at  Dan- 
ville, Hendricks  Co.,  when  he  was  appointed  surgeon 
of  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Infantry  and  served  until 
May,  1865,  having  participated  in  the  engagements 
at  Shiloh,  Champion  Hills,  the  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
Jackson,  Miss.,  and  others  of  minor  importance. 
During  this  period  of  activity  his  duties  were  chiefly 
in  the  field.  On  returning  from  the  service  he 
located  in  Indianapolis  and  at  once  engaged  in  gen- 
eral practice,  which  increased  as  his  ability  and  skill 
became  more  widely  known.  He  has  been  physician 
and  surgeon  to  the  City  Hospital,  to  St.  Vincent's 
Hospital,  and  to  the  City  Dispensary.  He  assisted 
in  founding  and  is  one  of  the  charter  members  of 
the  Medical  College  of  Indiana,  in  which  he  has 
filled  the  chair  of  professor  of  surgery  from  1869 
until  the  present  time.  The  doctor  is  a  member  of 
the  State  Medical  Society,  of  the  County  Medical 
Society,  of  the  National  Association,  and  National 
Surgical  Association,  and  has  at  various  times  read 
many  papers  of  interest  before  these  societies,  and 
been  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  medical  periodicals 
of  the  day.  Dr.  Comingor  was,  in  1855,  married  to 
Miss  Lucy  Williamson,  of  Greencastle,  Ind.,  and  has 
three  children,  Ada,  Harry,  and  Carrie,  all  of  whom 
reside  with  their  parents.  Dr.  Comingor  is  at 
present  a  member  of  the  staff  of  Governor  Porter, 
with  the  appointment  of  surgeon-geueral  of  the 
State. 


William  Baldwin  Fletcher,  M.D.,  was  born 
Aug.  18,  1837,  at  Indianapolis.  His  early  years 
were  spent  upon  the  farm  of  his  father  (now  the 
corner  of  South  Street  and  Virginia  Avenue),  his 
first  school  being  that  held  in  a  new  log  school-house 
which  had  been  erected  in  the  woods,  between  New 
Jersey  and  East  Streets,  on  South  Street. 

He  was  a  dreamer  in  school,  and  made  more  pro- 
gress by  observation  than  from  books.  An  intense 
love  of  nature  made  him  incline  to  solitude,  and  a 
peculiar  antagonism  to  customs  and  social  forms 
caused  him  even  in  childhood  to  be  cynical  and  bitter. 
During  1853  and  1854  he  attended  the  preparatory 
school  of  Asbury  University,  and  went  to  Lancaster, 
Mass.,  in  1855  to  prepare  for  Harvard,  but  his  in- 
tense love  of  natural  history  caused  him  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  a  regular  course,  and  under  the  lectures 
of  Louis  Agassiz,  and  directed  by  Prof  Sanborn 
Turney,  he  pursued  geology,  botany,  and  zoology, 
and  finally  medicine.  From  1856  to  1859  his 
studies  were  carried  on  in  New  York  City  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  October  of  that  year.  On  completing 
his  course  he  settled  in  Indianapolis,  and  remained 
until  the  calling  out  of  troops  for  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion. 

Dr.  Fletcher  was  the  first  surgeon  to  open  a  mili- 
tary hospital  in  what  was  known  as  Camp  Morton. 
He  went  into  the  field  with  the  Sixth  Indiana  In- 
fantry, and  was  detailed  on  Gen.  T.  A.  Morris' 
staff.  After  the  three  months'  troops  returned 
home  he  was  transferred  to  Gen.  J.  J.  Reynolds' 
staff,  where,  until  captured,  he  had  charge  of  the 
secret  service.  He  was  captured  while  on  detached 
duty  at  Big  Spring,  taken  to  Huntersville,  Poco- 
hontas  Co.,  Va.,  in  irons,  brought  before  Gen. 
Robert  E.  Lee,  and  kept  in  solitary  confinement  for 
six  weeks.  He  made  two  attempts  to  escape,  and 
in  the  last  was  wounded  and  sent  to  the  jail,  where 
he  remained  until  October,  when  he  was  tried  by 
court-martial  and  ordered  to  execution  by  Gen.  Don- 
aldson. He  was  reprieved  by  Gen.  Lee  until  further 
investigation  could  be  had,  and  sent  on  to  Richmond, 
where,  through  the  fortunate  ignorance  of  Sergt. 
(afterwards    Capt.)   Wirtz,  his  identity  was  lost    as 


1 


286 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


a  special  prisoner,  and  he  was  put  into  the  officers' 
prison,  from  which  he  was  paroled  to  take  charge 
of  the  Gangrene  Hospital  at  Rocketts,  a  suburb  of 
Richmond.  In  March,  18G2,  he  was  paroled  and 
sent  home,  when  he  again  entered  upon  the  practice 
of  his  profession,  but  during  the  whole  war  performed 
medical  and  surgical  duty  either  for  the  Christian 
Commission  or  for  the  State  and  general  government, 
visiting  Stone  River,  Perryville,  Vicksburg,  etc.,  to 
bring  home  wounded  or  promote  the  comfort  of  those 
sick  in  the  field.  He  was  one  of  the  medical  ex- 
aminers during  the  "  draft,"  and  had  charge  of  one 
section  of  the  prison  hospital  at  Camp  Morton  until 
the  war  was  ended. 

During  the  years  1866  and  1867  he  visited  Lon- 
don and  Paris,  Glasgow  and  Dublin,  to  study  in  the 
hospitals.  For  thirteen  years  he  held  the  various 
chairs  of  physiology,  materia  medica,  anatomy,  and 
theory  and  practice  of  medicine  in  the  Indiana  Medi- 
cal College.  He  was  for  five  years  superintendent  of 
the  City  Dispensary,  and  for  fifteen  years  visiting 
surgeon  or  consulting  physician  to  the  City  Hos- 
pital or  St.  Vincent's  Hospital.  He  was  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Indiana  State  Microscopical  Society. 

Dr.  Fletcher,  besides  general  contributions  to  cur- 
rent literature,  has  written  several  monographs  which 
have  been  largely  copied  in  American  and  foreign 
journals,  among  them  "  The  History  of  Asiatic 
Cholera,"  "Various  Entozoa  Found  in  Pork,"  "Five 
Cases  of  Tricbiniasis,"  "  Human  Entozoa,"  "  Organic 
Origin  of  Diamonds,"  "  Natural  History  of  Women." 
The  doctor  during  the  fall  of  1882  became  a  candi- 
date for  State  Senator  from  Marion  County  on  the 
Democratic  ticket,  and  was  elected.  He  was,  June 
7,  1883,  made  superintendent  of  the  Indiana  Hos- 
pital for  the  Insane,  in  which  capacity  he  is  now 
serving.  Dr.  Fletcher  was,  in  1862,  married  to  Miss 
Agnes  O'Brien.  Their  children  are  Agnes  W., 
Robert  O'B.,  Lucy  Hines,  Albert  Carolan,  Aileen 
and  Una  (twins),  and  William  Baldwin. 

In  1874  a  division  occurred  in  the  faculty  of  the 
"  Indiana  Medical  College,"  and  a  part  organized  the 
"  Indiana  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons''  in  the 
Talbott  Block,  northwest  corner  of  Market  and  Penn- 
sylvania Streets,  while  a  part  continued  the  old  school 


in  the  block  on  Delaware  Street  opposite  the  court- 
house. In  1878  the  two  institutions  were  brought 
together  again,  and  called  the  "  Medical  College  of 
Indiana."  It  now  has  ample  and  admirably-arranged 
rooms  in  the  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  Streets.  The  graduates 
of  the  session  of  1882-83  numbered  fifty-three. 

The  present  faculty  is  Graham  N.  Fitch,  M.D., 
Emeritus  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Surgery;  John  A.  Comingor,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the 
Bobbs  Chair  of  Surgery  and  the  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Surgery  ;  Thomas  B.  Harvey,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Surgical  and  Clinical  Diseases  of  Women  ;  Isaac 
C.  Walker,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind 
and  Nervous  System ;  Henry  Jameson,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Children  ;  John 
Chambers,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  of  Clinical  Medicine ;  C.  E. 
Wright,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics;  J.  L.  Thompson,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear ;  J.  W.  Marsee,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Mechanical  and  Clinical 
Surgery ;  Alembert  W.  Brayton,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Toxicology ;  George  L.  Curtiss,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Physiology ;  James  H.  Taylor,  M.D., 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  ;  William  F.  Hays,  M.D., 
Librarian  and  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Chemistry ; 
J.  A.  Haugh,  M.D.,  Curator  of  the  Museum ;  F.  A. 
Morrison,  M.D.,  Asssistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy 
and  Prosector;  W.  N.  Wishard,  M.D.,  Assistant  to 
the  Chair  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine ; 
L.  S.  Henthorn,  M.D.,  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Ob- 
stetrics ;  F.  M.  Wiles,  M.D.,  Assistant  to  the  Chair 
of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  ;  J.  B.  Hoover, 
M.D.,  Prosector  to  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  ;  Oliver 
Wright,  Janitor. 

The  oflBcers  of  the  college  are  John  A.  Comingor, 
Dean;  John  Chambers,  Treasurer;  Henry  Jameson, 
Secretary. 

Isaac  C.  Walker,  M.D.— The  family  of  Dr. 
Walker  are  of  English  descent,  the  earliest  repre- 
sentative in  America  having  settled  in  Virginia. 
William  Walker,  his  grandfather,  a  native  of  the 
latter  State,  resided  in  Wilmington,  Ohio,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  employments.     Among  his  chil- 


CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


287 


dren  was  Azel,  born  in  Waynesville,  Ohio,  in  1802, 
who  became  a  manufacturer  in  Wilmington,  and  later 
an  extensive  land-owner.  He  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
P.,  daughter  of  Joshua  Robinson,  of  Logan  County, 
Ohio,  and  had  children, — Edward  B.,  deceased,  a 
promising  lawyer;  Isaac  C. ;  Cyrus  M.,  a  pork  mer- 
chant in  Wilmington,  Ohio  ;  John  R.,  deceased,  a 
practicing  physician  in  Wilmington  ;  Louis  C.,  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  IndianapoHs  ; 
Calvin  B.,  deputy  commissioner  of  pensions  at  Wash- 
ington, and  author  of  a  work  on  pension  law ; 
Amos  J.,  a  wholesale  druggist  and  member  of  the 
firm  of  Walling  &  Co.,  of  Indianapolis  ;  Eliza  Ann 
and  Martha  J.,  of  Richmond,  Ind.  Mr.  Walker's 
death  occurred  in  Wilmington  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years,  and  that  of  Mrs.  Walker,  in  Richmond, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  Their  son  Isaac  C. 
was  born  July  30,  1827,  in  Wilmington,  where  his 
early  youth  was  devoted  to  study.  His  education 
having  been  completed  at  the  Wilmington  Seminary 
in  1846,  he  immediately  began  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  Amos  T.  Davis,  of  Wilmington,  with  whom 
he  continued  three  years,  after  which  he  attended  a 
course  of  lectures  at  the  old  Cleveland  Medical  Col- 
lege, and  graduated  from  the  Cincinnati  College  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery  and  the  University  of  Louis- 
ville, Ky.  After  a  brief  period  of  practice  with  his 
preceptor,  he  removed  to  Peru,  Ind.,  and  there  con- 
tinued until  his  advent  in  Indianapolis  in  1870, 
where  his  abilities  soon  gave  him  a  leading  rank  in 
the  profession,  and  brought  an  extended  and  lucra- 
tive practice.  He  is  frequently  called  in  consultation 
in  remote  parts  of  the  State  as  an  acknowledged 
authority  on  diseases  of  the  mind  and  nervous  sys- 
tem. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Indiana,  and  was  at  its 
organization  elected  to  the  chair  of  diseases  of  the 
mind  and  nervous  system.  This  college  was,  after 
an  exi.stence  of  five  years,  consolidated  with  the 
Indiana  Medical  College,  the  institution  becoming 
the  Medical  College  of  Indiana,  in  which  the  doctor 
fills  the  same  professorship. 

He  is  in  his  political  affiliations  a  Republican,  and 
was  in  1878-79  elected  to  the  City  Council,  of  which 
he  was  president  during  the  latter  year.     He  is  a 


Presbyterian  in  his  religious  associations,  and  wor- 
ships with  the  congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Indianapolis,  of  which  Mrs.  Walker  is  a 
member.  Dr.  Walker  was,  in  May,  1852,  married  to 
Miss  Margaret  A.,  daughter  of  John  Constant,  of 
Wilmington,  Ohio.  Their  children  are  two  .sons, — 
John  C,  a  practicing  physician  in  Indianapolis,  and 
Frank  B.,  who  is  engaged  in  the  commission  business. 
Dr.  Walker  is  a  member  of  the  Marion  County 
Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  president  in  1880. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  Tri-State 
Medical  Society.  He  was,  in  1882,  elected  dean  of 
tlje  faculty  of  the  Medical  College  of  Indiana.  The 
doctor  is  an  occasional  and  valued  contributor  to  the 
medical  journals  of  the  day.  His  article  on  the  sub- 
ject and  treatment  of  cerebral  hemorrhage,  inspired 
by  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  death  of  Dr. 
James  S.  Anthon,  is  regarded  as  an  important  con- 
tribution to  medical  literature,  and  pronounced  by  the 
most  eminent  authority  in  the  West  "a  philosophic 
and  most  excellently  written  paper,  and  one  of  the 
ablest  he  had  read."  Another  on  "  Leucocythasmia," 
a  condition  in  which  there  is  an  increase  of  the  white 
corpuscles,  the  result  of  which  is  a  general  enlarge- 
ment of  the  lymphatic  glands,  attracted  marked 
attention. 

Charles  E.  Wright,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  on  the  1st  of  November,  1843.  His 
collegiate  education  was  obtained  at  the  Indiana 
Asbury  University,  at  Greencastle,  in  that  State, 
after  which  he  became  a  student  of  medicine  at  the 
Medical  College  of  Ohio,  in  Cincinnati,  where  he 
graduated  in  March,  1868.  Immediately  after  he 
settled  in  his  native  city  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
profession,  making  a  specialty  of  diseases  of  the  eye, 
ear,  and  nose,  in  which  branches  he  is  universally 
rewarded  as  an  expert,  and  in  which  his  practice  has 
become  extended.  His  success  in  these  specialties  is 
exceptional  as  the  result  of  profound  knowledge  of 
the  science  of  medicine  and  marked  ability.  Dr. 
Wrio-ht  is  a  member  of  the  Indiana  Academy  of 
Sciences,  and  in  1868  was  its  secretary.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  Marion  County  Medical  Society, 
and   of   the   Indiana   State    Medical   Society.      In 


288 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


1869  he  was  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  the  In- 
diana Medical  College,  and  subsequently  professor 
of  materia  medica,  therapeutics,  and  diseases  of  the 
eye  and  ear  in  the  same  institution,  of  which  he  was 
at  various  times  both  secretary  and  president.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  staff  at  the  City  Hospital,  phy- 
sician to  St.  John's  Home  for  Invalids,  and  was  for 
four  years  physician  to  the  Blind  Asylum.  In  1875 
and  1876  he  was  president  of  the  Indianapolis  Board 
of  Health  ;  filled  the  same  office,  in  connection  with 
the  Indiana  Medico-Legal  Fraternity,  in  1877  and 
1878,  and  at  present  occupies  the  chair  of  materia 
medica  and  therapeutics  in  the  Medical  College  of  In- 
diana and  the  medical  department  of  Butler  University. 
During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  held  the  position 
of  quartermaster-sergeant  of  the  camp  of  instruction, 
and  was  later  superintendent  of  commissary  stores  at 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  chief  clerk  of  the  commissary 
of  the  subsistence  department  of  Kentucky  io  the 
Union  army.  He  was  appointed  surgeon-general  on 
the  staff  of  Governor  Williams  in  July,  1878,  with 
the  rank  of  colonel,  and  is  now  chief  of  staff  of  St. 
Vincent's  Hospital.  Dr.  Wright's  contributions  to 
the  medical  literature  of  the  day  have  been  numer- 
ous and  important,  covering  the  whole  period  of  his 
professional  life,  his  thesis  on  "  Spontaneous  Evo- 
lution" having  been  published  in  theWestern  Journal 
of  Medicine  in  March,  1868,  and  his  reports  of 
"  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear"  in  the  "  Transactions 
of  the  Indiana  State  Medical  Society"  for  1870  and 
1871.  He  was  for  some  time  editor  of  the  Indiana 
Medical  Journal,  to  which  be  contributed  many  edi- 
torials, reports  of  cases,  etc.,  that  attracted  attention. 
In  literary  circles  outside  the  profession  Dr.  Wright 
has  always  been  a  leading  spirit,  and  active  in  the 
organization  of  some  of  the  most  important  associa- 
tions in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  having  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Scottish  Rite  Dramatic  Association  since 
its  organization.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Masonic  order,  in  which  he  has  attained  the  thirty- 
third  degree,  is  a  member  of  Raper  Commandery, 
No.  1,  of  Knights  Templar  of  Indianapolis,  and  also 
medical  examiner  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  In 
politics  he  is  an  ardent  Democrat.  In  religion  he  is 
liberal  toward  all  sects  and  creeds,  and  not  sectarian 


in  his  faith.  Dr.  Wright  was  married  in  November, 
1870,  to  Miss  Anna  Haugh,  of  Indianapolis.  Their 
children  are  Charlotta  and  Charles  E.,  Jr. 

As  previously  related,  the  homoeopathic  practice 
was  introduced  here  by  Dr.  Coe  after  his  conversion, 
about  1838,  but  it  was  some  years  before  anybody  else 
came  to  give  his  system  support  and  countenance. 
The  first  was  Dr.  Van  Baren,  who  came  about  1843, 
and  established  a  fair  practice,  which  he  maintained 
till  near  1850.  In  1844  the  late  Dr.  Konradin 
Homburg  came,  and  for  a  time  practiced  homoeopa- 
thy, but  in  time  he  approached  the  regular  school 
pretty  closely,  and  practiced  chiefly  on  the  allopathic 
system,  though  to  the  last  he  is  said  to  have  had  pa- 
tients who  demanded  homceopatbic  treatment.  In 
1852,  Dr.  Wright,  of  the  Hahnemann  school,  came; 
in  1855,  Dr.  Shaw,  and  in  1856,  Dr.  Corliss,  who  re- 
mains. In  1868  a  State  organization  of  this  school  was 
made,  and  in  1873  a  county  society  was  formed,  both 
still  in  vigorous  existence.  No  school  or  college  of  this 
medical  persuasion  has  ever  been  opened  here,  but 
some  two  years  ago  a  dispensary  was  established  on 
West  Ohio  Street,  near  Meridian,  and  maintained 
for  about  a  year.  Among  the  most  prominent  and 
successful  of  this  school  is  Dr.  J.  A.  Compton,  from 
whom  the  information  in  this  brief  statement  is  ob- 
tained. 

Joshua  Augustine  Compton,  M.D. — Tradition 
relates  that  four  brothers  of  the  Compton  family 
emigrated  from  England,  two  of  whom  settled  in 
New  York,  one  in  New  Jersey,  and  one  in  Virginia. 
From  one  of  these  brothers  was  descended  Joshua 
Compton,  the  grandfather  of  Dr.  Compton,  who  was 
born  at  Liberty  Corner,  Somerset  Co.,  N.  J.,  Jan. 
15,  1779,  where  he  subsequently  became  a  farmer. 
He  married  a  Miss  Catharine  Cazad  (originally  spelled 
Casatt  or  Gazatt),  and  had  children, — Mercy,  Lydia, 
Catharine,  Mary,  Reuben,  Anthony,  Joshua,  and 
Israel.  Reuben,  of  this  number,  was  born  March  25, 
1803,  at  Liberty  Corner,  N.  J.,  and  continued  actively 
employed  as  a  farmer  until  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
when  he  removed  to  Western  New  York  and  engaged 
in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  married  Miss  Catharine 
Rhoades  and  had  children, — Mary  A.,  Joshua  Augus- 
tine,  Catharine,   Reuben,  William,   Anthony,  Sarah 


^, 


^. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


289 


Israel,  Lydia,  and  Charles.  The  death  of  Mr.  Comp- 
ton  occurred  in  Bradford,  Steuben  Co.,  N.  Y.,  July 
20,  1871.  His  wife  still  survives  and  resides  at 
Bradford. 

Jcshua  A.,  the  subject  of  this  biograpliy,  was  born 
Feb.  26,  1835,  in  Bradford,  N.  Y.  Excellent  oppor- 
tunities were  at  that  day  aiForded  at  the  Bradford 
Academy,  where  the  doctor's  earlier  studies  were 
pursued  ;  not  without  difficulty,  however,  for  he  had 
at  twelve  years  of  age  a  severe  attack  of  pneumonia 
that  left  him  with  weak  lungs,  which  the  confinement 
incident  to  close  application  greatly  aggravated,  neces- 
sitating the  frequent  postponement  of  his  studies  for 
months  at  a  time.  He  had  long  before  fixed  his  mind 
on  the  law,  and  in  1862  entered  Chancy  J.  Herring's 
office  at  Corning,  N.  Y.,  but  remained  only  a  few 
months,  the  confinement  being  irksome  to  him. 
During  the  fall  of  that  year  his  father  sent  him  to 
look  after  the  welfare  of  his  brother  William  who  had 
been  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Anlietam,  and  sent  to 
the  Fifth  and  Buttonwood  Streets  Hospital  of  Phila- 
delphia. While  there  the  doctor  had  the  range  of 
the  hospital,  and  embraced  the  opportunity  which 
offered  of  hearing  most  of  the  clinics.  He  also  had 
a  special  invitation  from  the  faculty  of  the  college  at 
Sixth  and  Willow  Streets  to  attend  many  of  their 
lectures  during  the  winter  of  1862-63,  which  he  em- 
braced. He  had  early  become  distrustful  of  the  effi- 
cacy of  old  physic  and  espoused  the  water-cure  sys- 
tem. He  took  a  water-cure  journal,  purchased  Dr. 
Trail's  "  Encyclopjedia."  studied  and  applied  it  in  his 
own  case  ;  not  having  found  the  desired  relief  under 
that  treatment,  he  was  induced  in  the  spring  of  1863 
to  try  the  homoeopathic,  which  was  speedily  followed 
by  a  permanent  cure.  The  doctor  was  so  elated  over 
the  result  that  he  immediately  adopted  the  medical 
profession  as  his  life-work,  and  began  study  about  the 
first  of  May  of  that  year  with  Dr.  G.  C.  Hibbard, 
at  Springville,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  attended  his 
first  regular  course  of  lectures  in  1864-65  at  the  New 
York  Homoeopathic  College.  Occupying  the  summer 
months  in  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  at 
White's  Corners,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  he  practiced 
through  a  severe  epidemic  of  dysentery  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  case,  he  repaired  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 


in  the  fall,  and  graduated  at  the  Western  Homoeo- 
pathic College  with  high  honors.in  the  spring  of  1866, 
having  acted  as  demonstrator  of  anatomy  for  his  ckss 
during  his  period  of  study.  The  West  then  opened 
an  inviting  field  of  labor  to  young  men  engaged  in 
professional  or  business  pursuits,  and  Dr.  Corapton 
determined  upon  Indiana  as  his  future  home.  He 
first  opened  an  office  in  Muncie,  Delaware  Co.,  May  1, 
1866,  and  remained  until  1873,  meanwhile  establish- 
ing a  reputation  for  ability  and  skill  which  won  him 
both  practice  and  profit,  embracing  among  his  patients 
many  of  the  most  wealthy  and  influential  families  of 
the  city.  Having  faith,  however,  in  his  own  capacity 
and  ambition  to  fill  a  larger  sphere  than  was  possible 
within  the  limits  of  a  country  town,  he  sought  the 
metropolis  of  the  State.  Here  his  professional  attain- 
ments gave  him  a  leading  position  and  a  lucrative  and 
extended  practice.  He  has  been  so  successful  as  sel- 
dom to  have  lost  a  case  when  given  full  control  of  it. 

Dr.  Compton  is  a  member  of  the  Erie  County  (New 
York)  Medical  Society,  a  charter  member  of  the  Indi- 
ana Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  which  he  was  instru- 
mental in  organizing,  and  of  which  he  was  elected 
vice-president,  member  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  of  the  Marion  County  Homoeopathic 
Association,  and  of  the  Hahnemannian  International 
Association  of  Homoeopathy. 

He  gives  but  little  time  to  affairs  of  a  political  char- 
acter, though  a  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Muncie 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templar.  Dr.  Compton  was 
educated  in  the  religious  creed  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church. 

In  1873-74  the  Physio-Medical  College  of  In- 
diana was  organized,  and  has  annually  issued  its 
notices  and  collected  its  pupils  since.  This  school  of 
medicine  seems  to  be  an  enlarged  and  systematized 
form  of  the  Thomsonian  practice,  which  a  recent  ad- 
dress of  one  of  the  professors.  Dr.  Davidson,  traces 
to  Dr.  Kittredge,  of  New  Hampshire,  in  1788,  and 
to  Dr.  Thomson,  of  the  same  State,  eight  years  later. 
The  following  is  the  faculty  of  the  Indiana  Physio- 
Medical  College  for  1883-84 :  George  Hasty,  M.D., 
Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine 
i  and  Clinical  Medicine  ;  E.  Anthony,  M.D.,  Professor 


290 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MAKION   COUNTY. 


of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  ;    C.  T. 
Bedford,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases 
of  Women   and   Children ;    G.   N.   Davidson,  M.D., 
Professor   of   Botany,  Materia  Medica,  and  Thera- 
peutics;  J.  M.  Thurston,. M.D.,  Professor  of  His- 
tology and  Physiology ;  William  A.  Spurgeon,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Svfrgical  Anatomy  ;  W.  W.  Logan,  M.D., 
Professor   of  General  and  Descriptive  Anatomy ;    J. 
Redding,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Jlicroscopy  and  Patho- 
logical Histology ;  J.  P.  Julian,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and   Toxicology ;    John    Young,  LL.D., 
Lecturer  on  Medical  Jurisprudence ;  A.  W.  Fisher,  i 
M.D.,  Lecturer   on   Diseases   of    the  Rectum ;    M.  i 
Veenboer,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Sanitary  Science  ;    C. 
T.  Bedford,   M.D.,  Secretary  of   the   Faculty;    E.  | 
Anthony,  M.D.,  President  of  the  Faculty.   The  college 
is  located  in  the  Wesley  Block,  on  the  southwest  \ 
side  of  Indiana  Avenue,  near  Tennessee. 

In  1879  the  Central   College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  was  organized,  and  excellent  quarters  fitted 
up  in  the  upper  stories  of  the  Ryan  Block,  north-  t 
west  corner  of  Tennessee  Street  and  Indiana  Avenue.  ' 
The  session  of  1882-83  had  forty-four   matriculates  j 
and   twenty-three    graduates.      In    this    college  two 
prizes  are  offered  annually,  one  a  gold   medal,  pre- 
sented by  the  faculty  on  commencement  day  to  the 
member  of  the  graduating  class  who  shall  have  ob- 
tained the  highest  general  average  in  all  the  depart- 
ments at  the  final  examination  ;  the  other  is  presented 
by  Dr.  John  C.  Waters,  an  Irish  physician,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and    equally  distin- 
guished in  Ireland  as  a  politician  and  patriot  and  phy- 
sician.    It  is  a  gold  medal  awarded  on  commence- 
ment day  to  the  student  in  the  graduating  class  who 
passes   the  best  competitive  examination  in  the  pa- 
thology, diagnosis,  and  treatment  of  the  diseases  of 
the  respiratory  organs. 

The  present  faculty  is:  Charles  D.  Pearson,  A.M., 
M.D.  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System  ; 
W.  S.  Haymond,  M.D.,  Dean,  Professor  of  the  Prin- 
ciples and  Practice  of  Surgery ;  John  Moffett,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Obstetrics;  R.  E.  Houghton,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Surgical  Pathology,  Operative  and 
Clinical  Surgery;  G.  C.  Smythe,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and 


Sanitary  Science;  Joseph  Eastman,  M.D.,  Secretary, 
Professor  of  Medical  and  Surgical  Diseases  of 
Women,  and  of  Clinical  Surgery ;  George  N.  Duzan, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology  and  Clinical  jMedi- 
cine;  R.  French  Stone,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Therapeutics,  and  Clinical  Medicine  ;  Ira 
A.  E.  Lyons,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye 
and  Ear ;  John  A.  Sutcliffe,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Anatomy  and  Genito-Urinary  Diseases  ;  Philip  S. 
Baker,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Toxicology ;  W.  11.  Thomas,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  and  Lecturer  on  Osteology  ;  J.  I.  Rooker, 
M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Physical  Diagnosis  ;  Hon.  John 
Coburn,  Lecturer  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  ;  J.  T. 
Barker,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Physiology;  S.  E.  Earp, 
M.S.,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry;  Canada 
Button,  M.D.,  Prosector  to  the  Chair  of  Anatomy ; 
John  B.  Long,  M.D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  and  Curator  of  the  Museum;  Thomas 
Low,  Janitor. 

Hon.  William  S.  Haymond,  M.D.— The  family 
of  Dr.  Haymond  are  of  English  descent.  His  grand- 
father was  William  Haymond,  who  was  born  in 
Frederick  County,  Md.,  and  at  an  early  day  followed 
the  profession  of  a  surveyor.  He  was  deputized  soon 
after  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  which  he  participated, 
to  make  surveys  in  behalf  of  the  State  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  before  embarking  on  this  expedition  passed 
an  examination  as  to  his  qualifications  at  William 
and  Mary  College,  Virginia.  He  was  endowed  with 
rare  mathematical  ability,  and  wrote  a  practical  and 
original  treatise  on  trigonometry  which  was  never  pub- 
lished. He  married  Cassandra  Cleland,  and  later  Mary 
Powers.  Among  his  children  was  Cyrus  Haymond, 
born  near  the  town  of  Clarksburg,  in  West  Virginia, 
who  followed  the  business  of  surveying  and  farming 
until  he  became  an  octogenarian.  Though  enjoying 
but  ordinary  advantages  of  education,  he  possessed 
great  natural  ability,  which,  combined  with  strict  in- 
tegrity, won  for  him  a  position  of  influence  in  the 
community.  He  married  Jane  Sommerville,  who  was 
born  in  Ireland,  and  came  to  America  when  but  five 
years  of  age.  Their  children  were  three  sons,— Wil- 
liam S.,  Thomas  A.,  and  Sydney,  the  eldest  of  whom, 
William  S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  on 


\ 


'^"'«^lySa„^i  &^-<""- 


TTZ'^^-t^^ 


<-l^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


291 


the  20th  of  February,  1826,  in  Harrison  County, 
near  Clarksborough,  Ind.,  where  his  early  years  were 
passed.  His  early  education  was  gained  at  a  lo" 
school-house  of  primitive  construction.  These  limited 
opportunities  stimulated  a  desire  for  further  study  and 
the  possession  of  a  greater  number  of  books  than 
were  then  at  his  command.  He  at  the  a"-e  of  eigh- 
teen engaged  in  teaching,  meanwhile  pursuing  his 
studies  and  becoming  proficient  in  the  science  of 
mathematics.  For  a  limited  period  surveying  and 
engineering  engaged  his  time  and  energies,  after 
which,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  began  the  study 
of  medicine  at  Clarksburg,  Va.,  with  Dr.  John 
Edmondson  of  that  place.  He  attended  two  courses 
of  lectures  at  the  Medical  College  of  Cincinnati,  and 
later  became  a  student  of  the  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College,  graduating  from  both  of  these  insti- 
tutions. He  chose  Monticello,  Ind.,  as  an  advan- 
tageous point  for  a  young  practitioner,  and  having 
met  with  success  in  his  practice  remained  thus  located 
until  1877.  Dr.  Haymond  rapidly  rose  in  his  pro- 
fession and  soon  took  rank  among  the  leading  phy- 
sicians of  the  county,  established  a  reputation  for 
skill  in  surgery,  to  which  branch  of  practice  he  has 
since  devoted  special  attention.  He  has  also  con- 
tributed many  able  and  valuable  papers  to  the  medi- 
cal journals  of  the  day  on  subjects  of  peculiar  interest 
to  the  profession.  His  range  of  study  has  not  been 
confined  to  the  sciences  and  mathematics,  but  in  its 
scope  has  included  the  languages,  in  several  of  which 
he  is  proficient.  He  served  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  as  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Forty-sixth  Indi- 
ana Volunteers,  and  was  for  weeks  stationed  at  Fort 
Pillow.  During  his  service  he  was  on  several  occa- 
sions detailed  for  important  duty  at  general  hospitals. 
He  was  in  1874,  as  a  Democrat,  elected  a  member  of 
the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  and  served  on  the  Com- 
mittees on  Banking  and  Currency,  bringing  much 
financial  ability  and  judgment  to  bear  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties.  He  distinguished  himself  as  a 
speaker,  his  eulogy  on  the  death  of  Speaker  Kerr 
having  been  pronounced  the  finest  literary  efibrt  of 
the  occasion.  Other  speeches,  on  the  subject  of 
finance,  internal  improvements,  etc.,  attracted  marked 
attention.      The  doctor  is  a  member  of  the  White 


County  Medical  Society,  of  the  Marion  County  Medi- 
cal Society,  of  the  Tri-State  Medical  Society,  and  of 
the  Indiana  State  Medical  Society.  He  is  professor 
of  the  principles  and  practice  of  surgery  in  the 
Central  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Indian- 
apolis, and  dean  of  the  fticulty.  He  is  also  actively 
engaged  in  practice  in  that  city.  Dr.  Haymond 
was,  in  1853,  married  to  Miss  Mary  M.,  daughter  of 
Abel  T.  Smith,  of  White  County,  Ind.  Both  the 
doctor  and  Mrs.  Haymond  are  members  of  the  Cen- 
tral Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Indian- 
apolis. 

Among  the  arrivals  of  the  last  thirty  or  thirty-five 
years  have  been  a  number  of  physicians  who  now 
hold  or  have  lately  held  the  first  places  in  public 
estimation  and  patronage.  Among  these,  and  specially 
noted  for  his  treatment  of  cancer  without  the  use  of 
the  knife,  is  Dr.  E.  Howard,  who  has  maintained  a 
cancer  hospital  on  his  system  of  treatment,  on  South 
Illinois  Street  near  Georgia,  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury or  more. 

Edward  Howard,  M.D.,  is  of  English,  Scotch, 
and  Irish  ancestry,  and  the  son  of  G-eorge  Howard, 
who  was  born  in  Germany,  and  having  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  emigrated  to  America,  settled  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  where  ho  followed  the  butcher's  craft  until  his 
later  removal  to  Warren  County,  Ohio,  where  he  cul- 
tivated a  farm  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Susan  Pierce,  and  had  children 
(nine  in  number),  as  follows :  Nancy,  George,  Mary, 
Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Edward,  Washington,  Susan,  and 
Noble  P.  Edward,  of  this  number,  was  born  in 
'Warren  County,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1815,  and  prior  to  his  fifteenth  year  resided  in  the 
county  of  his  birth.  He  was  then  apprenticed  to 
David  Taylor,  of  Middletown,  Ohio,  and  served  three 
years  at  the  trade  of  a  saddler,  after  which  he  pur- 
sued this  vocation  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  He 
became,  in  1835,  a  resident  of  Decatur  County,  Ind., 
and  general  manager  for  the  business  of  Thomas  G. 
Anderson.  The  doctor  continued  thus  employed 
until  the  fall  of  1836,  when  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Clarissa,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Lewis,  M.D.,  of  the 
same  county,  the  ceremony  having  occurred  on  the 
8th  of  September  of  that  year.     Their  children  are 


292 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


two  sons, — Lewis  N.  and  William  O.  Dr.  Howard 
soon  after  began  and  continued  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  Lewis  for  four  years,  after  which  he  engaged 
in  general  practice  in  Decatur  County,  Ind.  In  1855 
he  came  to  Indianapolis  and  opened  an  ofifice  as  a 
specialist  in  the  treatment  of  cancer  and  chronic  dis- 
eases. He  has  for  twenty'eighl  years  resided  in  the 
capital  of  the  State,  and  during  this  time  followed 
his  specialty  with  signal  success  and  performed  some 
remarkable  cures.  The  condition  of  many  of  his 
patients,  who  after  a  period  of  thirty  years  from  the 
time  of  treatment  are  enjoying  excellent  health,  is  a 
sufficient  tribute  to  his  ability  and  skill.  His  son 
Lewis  N.  is  associated  with  his  father  in  his  special 
branch  of  practice.  Dr.  Howard  is  in  his  political 
convictions  free  from  partisan  feeling,  and  chooses  for 
office  men  of  integrity  and  ability,  irrespective  of 
party  ties.  He  has  never  participated  in  the  exciting 
scenes  of  a  political  campaign,  and  does  not  aspire  to 
the  honors  of  office.  He  is  in  religion  a  supporter 
of  all  religious  denominations,  but  more  especially  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  Mrs.  Howard  is  a 
member. 

To  the  same  period  belong  Dr.  George  W.  New 
and  Dr.  Alois  D.  Gall. 

George  W.  New,  M.D. — The  grandfather  of  Dr. 
New  was  Jethro  New,  a  native  of  Kent  County, 
Del.,  who  was  born  Sept.  20,  1757.  He  served 
under  Gen.  Washington  in  the  war  of  Independence, 
and  was  one  of  the  guard  over  the  unfortunate 
Andre,  whose  execution  he  witnessed.  He  married 
Sarah  Bowman,  also  a  native  of  Kent  County,  Del., 
the  mother  of  Elder  John  Bowman  New,  who  was* 
born  in  Guilford  County,  N.  C,  on  the  7th  of  No- 
vember, 1793.  Soon  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  New  re- 
moved to  Franklin  County,  Ky.,  and  later  took  up 
land  in  Owen  County,  where  their  son  received  his 
earliest  rudimentary  instruction.  Subsequently  he 
served  in  the  war  of  1812.  The  religious  sentiment 
was  early  developed  in  him,  and  formed  the  control- 
ling element  in  his  later  career.  He  received  re- 
ligious instruction  with  great  readiness  of  mind, 
and  at  a  very  tender  age  became  a  Christian.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  conceived  the  idea  of  becoming 
a  preacher  of  the  gospel.     This  plan  was  eventually 


carried  into  execution,  and  Elder  New  became  one 
of  the  most  devout  and  earnest  of  the  pioneer 
preachers  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  His  exhortations 
were  effective,  his  style  argumentative,  his  manner 
eccentric.  His  area  of  usefulness  was  widely  ex- 
tended, while  his  bold  and  fearless  defense  of  the 
truth  gave  him  a  commanding  influence  in  various 
parts  of  the  State  where  he  was  accustomed  to  labor. 
He  married  Miss  Maria  Chalfant  on  the  19th  of 
February,  1818. 

Their  son,  George  W.  New,  was  born  in  Madison, 
Ind.,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1819,  and  early 
removed  to  Vernon,  Ind.,  where  his  youth  was 
spent.  He  received  an  academic  education,  the 
intervals  from  study  having  been  spent  in  labor  on 
the  farm  or  in  the  shop  of  a  neighboring  cabinet- 
maker. From  1836  to  1838  he  became  interested 
in  the  study  of  forestry  and  botany,  and  in  1837 
began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  W.  Clinton 
Thompson,  of  Indianapolis.  After  a  thorough  course 
he  graduated  at  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio  in  the 
spring  of  1840.  He  chose  Greensburg,  Ind.,  as  the 
field  of  his  earliest  professional  labors,  and  formed  a 
copartnership  with  Dr.  Abram  Carter,  a  student  of 
Dr.  B.  W.  Dudley,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  a  physician 
of  repute.  Dr.  New  was,  on  the  1st  of  November, 
1841,  married  to  Miss  Adelia,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Carter.  Their  children  are  Frank  R.,  born  June  14, 
1843,  and  Orlando,  whose  birth  occurred  Sept.  1, 
1845,  the  latter  of  whom  is  deceased.  The  doctor 
when  he  settled  in  Greensburg  was  the  only  graduate 
in  the  county,  and  speedily  attained  a  practice  which 
extended  to  the  adjacent  counties,  having  performed 
all  the  surgical  operations  for  a  wide  area  of  territory. 
He  removed  in  1860  to  Indianapolis,  and  in  April, 
1861,  during  the  late  war,  entered  the  army  as  sur- 
geon of  the  Seventh  Regiment  Infantry,  Indiana 
Volunteers,  receiving  the  first  commission  as  surgeon 
issued  by  Governor  Morton.  After  three  months' 
service  in  West  Virginia,  where  he  dressed  the  first 
amputated  leg  of  the  war  and  attended  the  first 
wounded  Federal  colonel,  the  regiment  was  reor- 
ganized and  the  doctor  continued  as  its  surgeon. 
He  followed  the  fortunes  of  this  regiment  until  the 
fall  of  1864,  and  no  case  of  surgery  under  his  charge 


ALOIS    D.   GALL. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


293 


proved  fatal,  though  he  had  the  supervision  of  an 
operating  table  on  the  occasion  of  every  battle. 
During  this  time  he  was  surgeon-in-chief  both  of  a 
brigade  and  of  a  corps.  In  the  fall  of  1864  he  was 
commissioned  by  Governor  Morton  Military  Agent 
of  Indiana,  and  assigned  to  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf,  with  headquarters  at  New  Orleans.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  examiner  of  drugs  for  the 
port  of  New  Orleans,  and  returned  to  Indianapolis 
in  1867,  after  an  absence  of  six  and  a  half  years, 
where  he  has  since  engaged  in  the  active  pursuit 
of  his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  and  of  the  State  Medical  So- 
ciety. He  is  also  connected  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity. The  doctor  was  formerly  a  Whig  in  his 
political  convictions,  but  may  now  be  spoken  of  as 
a  conservative  Republican,  though  with  little  taste  for 
the  active  and  exciting  scenes  of  a  political  cam- 
paign. In  religion  he  became  in  early  life  a  member 
of  the  Christian  Church. 

Alois  D.  Gall,  M.D.,  who  at  the  time  of  his 
death  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion in  the  West,  was  of  German  birth  and  parentage. 
He  was  the  son  of  Alois  D.  Gall,  who  resided  in 
Wiel-die-Stadt,  Wiirtemberg,  whose  life  was  passed 
in  mercantile  pursuits.  The  subject  of  this  brief  bio- 
graphical sketch  was  born  in  the  above-mentioned 
town  March  16,  1814,  and  there  the  early  years  of 
his  life  were  spent.  With  a  decided  bent  for  learning 
and  an  aptness  in  acquiring  knowledge,  he  went  to 
Stuttgart,  and  there  continued  his  studies.  On  com- 
pleting his  course  his  young  and  adventurous  spirit, 
which  desired  an  expansion  it  could  not  then  find  in 
his  own  country,  prompted  him  to  seek  in  the  United 
States  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  abilities.  In 
1842,  therefore,  he  came  to  this  country  and  settled 
in  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  where  he  purchased  land,  and 
where  he  remained  for  one  year,  after  which  he 
removed  to  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  studied  medicine 
with  Dr.  Gross.  Previous  to  emigrating  to  this 
country  he  had  married  in  Stuttgart,  in  1839,  Caro- 
line E.  Hock,  of  that  city,  and  with  this  willing  help- 
meet in  a  strange  laud  they  climbed  the  hill  together. 
After  his  graduation  in  medicine  his  first  medical 


service  was  at  Zellianoble,  Pa.,  whence,  after  a  year 
of  active  and  laborious  practice,  he  removed  to  Slip- 
pery Rock,  in  the  same  State,  and  subsequently  to 
Portersville,  also  in  Pennsylvania.  The  struggles  of 
the  young  physician  need  not  be  here  enumerated. 
The  early  days  of  his  practice  in  those  villages  of 
the  Keystone  State  were  a  rugged  discipline  that 
gave  him  strength  and  courage  for  other  and  larger 
fields  in  the  years  to  come,  and  enabled  him  to  bear 
greater  responsibilities.  In  1847  he  removed  to  In- 
dianapolis, where  he  at  once  established  a  successful 
practice  which  was  continued  until  1853,  when  he 
was  appointed  United  States  consul  at  Antwerp,  Bel- 
gium, which  position  he  held  through  the  adminis- 
trations of  Presidents  Pierce  and  Buchanan.  In  this 
responsible  position  he  merited  and  received  the 
hearty  approbation  of  his  government  and  of  all  her 
citizens  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  discharging 
all  the  duties  of  his  office  with  honor  to  himself  and 
credit  to  the  power  he  represented.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  this,  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  immensely 
popular  with  all  American  captains  who  put  in  at  the 
port  of  Antwerp,  and  that,  as  an  expression  of  their 
appreciation  of  his  fidelity  to  the  United  States  and 
the  interests  of  her  citizens  abroad,  they  presented 
him  a  beautiful  and  elaborately  wrought  gold-headed 
cane,  which  he  always  counted  among  the  chief  of 
his  treasures.  In  1860  he  returned  to  Indianapolis, 
to  be  met  with  the  warmest  greetings  of  old  and 
appreciative  friends,  and  resumed  his  professional 
labors.  In  1861,  feeling  the  call  of  duty,  he  entered 
the  army  as  surgeon  of  the  Thirteenth  Indiana  Regi- 
ment. Within  a  brief  period  he  was  appointed 
brigade  surgeon,  and  later,  his  ripe  experience  as  a 
physician  and  surgeon  becoming  known,  medical  di- 
rector of  Gen.  Peck's  corps.  After  three  years  of 
arduous  duty  in  the  field,  resulting  in  the  impairment 
of  his  health,  he  resigned.  Previous  to  returning 
home  the  officers  of  his  regiment,  who  well  knew  his 
army  services  and  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  in  which 
they  had  been  given,  presented  him  a  magnificent 
sword  as  a  testimonial  of  their  appreciation  and 
esteem. 

Returning  to  civil  life,  he  again  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  profession,  which  continued  to  engross 


294 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


his  time  and  talents  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
on  the  11th  of  February,  1867,  of  apoplexy,  after  a 
brief  illness.  He  was  a  member  of  Centre  Lodge, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Indianapolis,  of  the 
Chapter,  and  of  Raper  Commandery,  No.  1,  Knights 
Templar,  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  generalissimo. 
Though  always  a  stanch  Democrat  politically,  and 
much  relied  upon  in  the  counsels  of  that  party,  he 
cared  nothing  for  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  office 
for  himself,  his  inclination  and  duty  keeping  him  in 
the  path  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  Gall  was  of  a  warm  and  sanguine  temperament, 
and  genial  as  summer  to  his  friends,  whose  name  was 
legion.  To  the  younger  members  of  the  profession 
was  this  kindliness  most  freely  given,  and  his  en- 
couragement, advice,  and  assistance  many  of  the 
most  prosperous  of  the  Indianapolis  physicians  of 
to-day  now  hold  as  a  sweet  and  pleasant  recollection. 
There  are  numerous  anecdotes  of  his  medical  forti- 
tude and  heroism  current  in  the  profession  to-day, 
for  he  was  a  man  who  shirked  uo  duty  and  was 
absolutely  without  fear. 

Dr.  Alois  D.  Gall  and  his  widow,  who  survives 
him,  had  children, — Bertha  (Mrs.  Fred.  P.  Rush), 
born  in  Stuttgart,  John  Wallace  Albert,  born  in 
18-t2,  in  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  Edmund  F.,  born  in 
1846,  at  Portersville,  Pa.,  and  Louis  Washington, 
born  in  1850,  in  Indianapolis,  who  died  in  1851.  A 
niece.  Miss  Carrie  Gall,  born  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  has 
since  her  childhood  resided  in  the  family. 

In  1855,  as  noted  in  the  sketch  of  the  history  of 
the  press.  Dr.  John  C.  Walker  was  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors and  editors  of  the  Sentinel.  He  remained 
in  the  city  much  of  the  time  till  1862  or  1863,  when 
his  political  views  and  conduct  suggested  a  temporary 
residence  abroad.  He  was  elected  State  printer  in 
1859.  Returning  some  few  years  ago,  he  practiced 
his  profession  in  the  city  till  he  received  an  impor- 
tant position  in  the  Insane  Asylum,  where  he  re- 
mained till  his  death  last  year. 

Hon.  John  C.  Walker,  M.D.— The  Walkers 
were  of  Scotch-Irish  stock,  and  emigrated  to  Penn- 
sylvania early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Benjamin 
Walker,  a  veteran  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  at  the 
close  of  the  war  returned  to  his  home,  on  the  Susque- 


hanna, near  Harrisburg.  In  some  trouble  with  the 
Indians  his  father  was  captured,  murdered,  and,  it 
was  said,  burned  at  the  stake.  Peace  having  been 
restored,  a  band  of  Indians  encamped  near  the  town, 
and  one  night  two  of  them  were  overheard  by  Benja- 
min Walker  relating  the  circumstance  of  the  murder 
of  his  father.  When  the  Indians  departed  he  and 
his  brother  followed,  overtook  them,  and  after  a  des- 
perate encounter  killed  both.  The  fight  began  near 
a  high  bank  overlooking  the  river,  Benjamin  and  his 
adversary  rolling  into  the  water  below,  where  he  suc- 
ceeded in  drowning  the  latter.  This  afiair  having 
occurred  in  time  of  peace,  Benjamin  Walker  was  out- 
lawed by  proclamation  of  the  Governor,  and  with  his 
wife  (a  Miss  Crawford)  and  several  small  children 
embarked  in  canoes  on  the  Ohio  River  and  ultimately 
reached  Dearborn  County,  Ind.  He  secured  prop- 
erty, established  a  saw;  and  later  a  grist-mill.  At  his 
home,  on  Laughery  Creek,  he  was  frequently  visited 
by  Daniel  Boone,  the  celebrated  hunter.  _He  reared 
a  large  family  of  children,  among  whom  was  John  C. 
Walker,  a  prominent  citizen  and  member  of  the  State 
Senate,  who  married  Frances  Allen,  of  Virginia,  and 
resided  for  a  period  of  years  at  Shelbyville,  Ind. 
He  was  a  large  contractor  in  the  building  of  the 
Michigan  pike  road,  and  with  the  land-scrip  in  which 
the  contractors  were  paid  purchased  large  tracts  in 
La  Porte  and  adjoining  counties.  At  one  time  he 
was  said  to  be  the  largest  land-owner  in  the  State. 

He  was  an  incorporator,  with  John  Hendricks,  of 
Shelbyville,  George  H.  Dunn,  and  John  Test,  of  Law- 
renceburg,  and  others,  of  the  first  railroad  built  in 
Indiana,  the  Lawrenceburg  and  Indianapolis,  char- 
tered Feb.  2,  1832.  A  condition  of  the  charter  was 
that  the  work  should  be  under  way  within  three 
years.  The  difficulties  and  delays  incident  to  so 
great  an  enterprise  at  that  early  day  seemed  to 
threaten  a  forfeiture  of  the  charter,  to  avert  which 
John  C.  Walker  threw  up  a  grade,  laid  ties,  and  put 
down  rails  of  hewn  timber  for  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
from  Shelbyville,  and  with  a  wooden  car  drawn  by 
horses  opened  the  road  for  passenger  travel  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1834.  "Walker's  Railroad"  is  still 
remembered  by  many  old  citizens. 

He  removed  with  his  family  to  La  Porte,  Ind.,  in 


£^U^M.  ^AfuM^^^. 


I 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


295 


1836,  and  died  ten  years  later.  The  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker  were  William,  James  (de- 
ceased), and  Benjamin,  of  Chicago ;  Mrs.  McCoy,  of 
California ;  Mrs.  Cummins  and  Mrs.  Holcombe,  of 
Indianapolis ;  Mrs.  Teal  (deceased),  of  Shelbyville, 
Ind. ;  Mrs.  Ludlow  and  Mrs.  Garland  Rose  (both 
deceased),  of  La  Porte,  Ind. ;  and  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  Dr.  John  C.  Walker,  who  was  born  in 
Shelbyville,  Ind.,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1828. 
He  was  educated  by  his  brother-in-law.  Professor 
F.  P.  Cummins,  an  eminent  teacher  and  minister. 
He  possessed  a  strong  and  active  intellect,  was  a  good 
student  and  diligent  reader,  and,  though  his  regular 
studies  were  interrupted  by  an  injury  to  his  eyes,  he 
acquired  a  large  store  of  information  and  varied 
accomplishments. 

Early  in  his  career  he  purchased  the  La  Porte 
Times,  which,  as  editor  and  proprietor,  he  made  the 
most  influential  paper  in  Northern  Indiana.  It  was 
the  first  paper  in  the  State,  perhaps  in  the  country, 
to  antagonize  the  methods  and  dogmas  of  the  Know- 
Nothing  party,  then  becoming  powerful  for  evil.  Its 
editor  was  soon  recognized  as  a  man  of  mark.  He 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  1853,  and  took  a 
high  rank  in  that  body.  One  of  his  reports  was  pub- 
lished in  full  by  State  Superintendent  Larrabee  in  his 
edition  of  the  school  laws,  with  the  following  intro- 
ductory note :  "  In  order  to  explain  in  the  best  man- 
ner possible  the  act  of  March  4,  1853,  amending  the 
school  law,  I  would  call  attention  to  the  following 
clear,  concise,  and  beautiful  report  made  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  Mr.  John  C.  Walker,  of  La 
Porte,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education." 
He  was  then  twenty-three  years  of  age.  In  March, 
1855,  he  purchased,  with  Charles  Cottom,  now  of 
the  New  Albany  Ledger,  the  Indianapolis  Sentinel, 
which  he  edited  for  nearly  a  year,  making  it,  though 
at  a  heavy  loss  financially,  a  powerful  party  organ. 
In  1856  he  was  nominated  for  Lieutenant-Governor 
on  the  ticket  with  the  eloquent  Wiliard,  but  being 
under  the  constitutional  age  he  was  obliged  to  with- 
draw. A.  A.  Hammond,  who  was  substituted  in  his 
place,  became  Governor  of  Indiana  by  the  untimely 
death  of  Governor  Wiliard.  Resuming  control  of 
the  La  Porte  Times,  he  was  chosen  by  his  party,  in 


1858,  to  make  the  race  for  Congress  against  Schuyler 
Colfax,  then  editor  of  the  South  Bend  Tribune. 
This  contest  resulting  unfavorably,  he  began  prepar- 
ing for  the  notable  campaign  of  1860,  in  which  he 
played  a  distinguished  and  honorable  part,  support- 
ing with  vigor  and  success,  and  against  powerful 
opponents,  the  Douglas  wing  of  the  party. 

Col.  John  C.  Walker  was  a  War  Democrat,  and 
took  the  first  opportunity  to  enter  the  service  of  the 
Union.  He  was  elected  to  command  the  Thirty-fifth 
Indiana  Volunteers  by  the  captains  of  the  regiment 
in  the  fall  of  1861,  and  with  it  went  to  the  field 
early  in  the  winter  thereafter.  For  a  while  he  was 
stationed  near  Bardstown,  Ky.,  where  he  soon  estab- 
lished a  high  character  among  his  brother-officers  and 
the  people  of  that  town  and  neighborhood.  He  was, 
while  there,  and  as  early  as  Jan.  17,  1862,  a  member 
of  a  board  for.  the  examination  of  officers  touching 
their  qualifications  and  fitness  for  the  service,  and  in 
that  capacity  evinced  a  large  knowledge  of  tactics  and 
the  details  of  the  military  art.  He  displayed  great 
ability  as  a  drill-officer  and  disciplinarian,  and  brought 
his  regiment  rapidly  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency  in  all 
soldierly  qualities.  From  Bardstown  he  was  ordered 
farther  South,  and  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1862 
was  employed  constantly  in  active  service  in  Tennessee, 
marching  over  much  of  that  great  State.  His  last 
service  was  performed  without  orders  from  any  supe- 
rior, but  under  the  highest  instincts  and  most  chival- 
ric  sense  of  soldierly  honor,  in  marching  with  his 
regiment  forty  miles  to  Murfreesborough  when  that 
place  was  about  to  be  attacked.  For  this  gallant  act 
he  "received  the  formal  and  written  approval  of  Gen. 
Buell."  He  was  soon  after  stricken  down  with  typhoid 
fever,  and  his  health,  never  very  robust,  required 
relaxation  and  rest.  His  commanding  officer,  under 
these  circumstances,  gave  him  leave  to  return  to  In- 
diana. He  did  so,  and  while  at  his  home,  at  La  Porte, 
Governor  Morton,  without  the  slightest  intimation  of 
any  fault  in  his  career  as  an  officer  or  ofi'ense  at  his 
presence  at  home,  procured  his  dismissal  or  discharge 
from  the  army.  Not  for  disloyalty,  not  for  incompe- 
tence, not  for  cowardice  was  this  done.  He  was  the 
very  heau  ideal  of  a  soldier,  and  a  thousand  men  per- 
haps yet  live  in  Indiana  who  can  say  that  no  Bayard 


296 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


ever  rode  against  the  enemy  with  a  more  splendid 
courage.  His  discharge  bore  date  Aug.  6,  1862, 
when  he  had  been  in  service  nearly  a  year.  He  had 
established  a  high  character  for  courage  and  eflBclency 
as  an  officer,  and  without  a  stain  upon  his  record  he 
was  ruthlessly  stricken  down.  The  act  was  an  aston- 
ishment to  himself  and  his  friends;  and  when  he  had 
vainly  tried  to  procure  justice  he  accepted  the  inevita- 
ble, but  not  with  resignation. 

Being  in  New  iTork  as  agent  of  State  at  the  time 
of  the  culmination  of  his  difficulties,  he  arranged  for 
a  complete  and  honorable  settlement  of  his  accounts 
with  the  State,  and  went  to  Europe,  where  ho  re- 
mained till  1872.  In  London  he  studied  medicine  at 
King's  College,  and  married  Miss  Laura  Seymour, 
daughter  of  Harry  Marchmont  Seymour,  an  ofiBcer 
of  the  British  navy.  Their  children  are  Reginald 
John  Crawford,  Evangeline  Fanny  Hortense,  and 
Mary  Ethel  McCoy. 

After  his  return  to  this  country  he  continued  his 
studies  at  the  Indiana  Medical  College,  from  which 
he  obtained  the  doctor's  degree.  He  settled  in  Shel- 
byville,  and  there  successfully  practiced  his  profession 
till  1879,  when  he  was  appointed  assistant  physician 
in  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  In  that  institution 
he  died  on  Saturday,  April  14,  1883,  at  about  eleven 
o'clock,  of  quick  consumption,  superinduced  by  dia- 
betes, with  which  he  had  suffered  for  more  than  a  year. 

He  was  a  man  of  a  most  noble  nature,  chivalrous 
in  his  devotion  to  principle  and  friends,  fair  and  not 
implacable  to  his  enemies.  His  intellectual  ability 
was  of  a  high  order.  He  was  thoroughly  well  in- 
formed, a  pleasant  conversationalist,  a  delightful  com- 
panion, full  of  reminiscences  of  great  men  and  stir- 
ring times.  He  possessed  a  decided  literary  gift,  was 
a  facile  and  vigorous  political  writer,  and  sometimes 
practiced  his  pen  in  poetry.  A  many-sided  man, 
endowed  by  nature  with  noble  and  delightful  talents, 
he  was,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  words,  a  gallant 
gentleman.  Mrs.  Walker,  his  widow,  now  fills  the 
position  of  matron  of  the  male  department  of  the 
Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Indianapolis. 

Samuel  M.  Brown,  M.D. — The  earlier  members 
of  the  Brown  family,  who  are  of  English  descent, 
settled  in  South  Carolina.     His  father,  John  Brown, 


was  born  Feb.  14,  1791,  and  resided  in  Abbeville 
district  of  that  State,  where  he  was  an  enterprising 
farmer.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Miller,  of  the  same  district,  and  had  chil- 
dren,—  Jane,  Elizabeth,  Nancy,  Catherine,  and 
Samuel  M.  He  contracted  a  second  marriage  with 
Miss  Jane  Lyons,  and  had  one  son,  John.  The 
death  of  Mr.  Brown  occurred  March  8,  1864.  His 
son  Samuel  M.  was  born  May  27,  1823,  in  Abbeville 
district,  S.  C,  where  his  early  youth  was  spent.  At 
the  age  of  twelve  he  removed  with  his  father  to 
Clinton  County,  Ind.,  where  his  time  was  divided 
between  labor  on  the  farm  and  attendance  at  .such 
schools  as  were  accessible.  The  medical  profession 
offered  many  attractions  to  the  young  man,  and  in- 
duced him  to  become  a  student  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Martin  Gentry,  of  Clinton  County,  a  physician  of 
ability  and  experience.  During  the  winters  of  1847 
and  1848  he  attended  lectures  at  the  Medical  College 
of  Ohio,  in  Cincinnati,  and  in  the  spring  of  the 
latter  year  began  his  professional  career  at  New 
Bethel,  Marion  Co.,  where  he  has  been  since  that 
date  engaged  in  active  practice.  He  was  for  many 
years  the  only  physician  in  the  place,  and  found  an 
extended  field  of  labor  requiring  not  less  ability  than 
unceasing  toil.  He  has  been  successful  in  his  pro- 
fession as  the  result  of  industry  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  both  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine, 
while  a  broad  experience  has  ripened  his  natural 
capabilities.  He  is  a  member  of  the  State  Medical 
Society,  and  also  identified  with  the  Acton  Lodge  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  He  was  married  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1852,  to  Miss  Mahala  S.,  daughter  of 
Henry  Brady,  of  Warren  township,  Marion  Co. 
Their  children  are  Henry  J.,  Eldorus  0.,  Corydon  S., 
Arthur  V.,  and  Charles,  He  was  married  again,  Oct. 
16,  1869,  to  Miss  Matilda  McGaughey,  whose  chil- 
dren are  Harry,  Edward  A.,  Frank  T.,  and  Rachel. 
The  doctor  is  in  politics  a  Democrat,  and  manifests  a 
lively  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party.  He  was 
the  nominee  of  the  Democracy  for  the  position  of 
member  of  Assembly,  but  defeated,  as  a  result  of  the 
Republican  majority  in  the  district.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  New  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  and  Mrs.  Brown 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Acton. 


'7. 


!M^y^uc^.y^^,M^Ij^ 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


2S7 


Samuel  McGaughey,  M.D.— David  McGaughey, 
the  grandfather  of  the  doctor,  was  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent,  though  a  native  of  Scotland.  He  married  a 
Miss  Litle,  and  had  five  daughters  and  four  sons, 
among  whom  was  Robert  L.,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  biography.  He  married  Mary  Ann,  daughter 
of  Ezekiel  Clark,  to  whom  were  born  six  sons  and  sis 
daughters.  The  birth  of  Samuel,  the  third  son, 
occurred  July  22,  1828/  in  Franklin  County,  Ind., 
where  his  life  until  his  eighteenth  year  was  passed  in 
the  improvement  of  such  educational  advantages  as 
the  vicinity  afforded.  After  a  brief  period  of  teach- 
ing, finding  his  tastes  in  harmony  with  an  active  pro- 
fessional career,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  D.  S.  McGaughey,  of  Morristown,  Shelby  Co., 
lud.,  under  whose  preceptorship  he  continued  for  three 
years.  During  this  time  he  attended  three  courses 
of  lectures  at  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  Cincinnati, 
from  which  institution  he  graduated  in  1851.  His 
first  field  of  labor  was  at  Palestine,  Hancock  Co., 
Ind.,  where  he  located  the  following  year.  He  sub- 
sequently spent  two  years  in  Marietta,  Shelby  Co., 
and  in  May,  1856,  made  Acton,  Marion  Co.,  his  resi- 
dence. He  at  once  engaged  in  practice  of  a  general 
character,  which  steadily  increased  until  it  became 
extensive  and  laborious.  He  was  for  a  brief  period 
associated  with  Dr.  P.  C.  Leavitt,  a  very  successful 
practitioner,  who  served  with  credit  in  the  army,  and 
on  his  return  resumed  his  practice,  which  was  con- 
tinued until  his  death. 

Dr.  McGaughey  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  though 
neither  his  tastes  nor  the  demands  of  his  profession 


Among  the  oldest  of  living  practitioners,  equally 
respected  in  social  and  professional  life,  are  Dr.  John 
M.  Gaston,  somewhat  retired  since  an  accident  that 
crippled  him  for  life  some  years  ago,  and  cost  the 
city  some  ten  thousand  dollars'  damages ;  Dr.  Frisbie 
S.  Newcomer,  who  has  served  the  city  in  the  Council 
frequently  and  well,  and  served  also  in  the  faculty  of 
one  of  the  medical  colleges;  Dr.  James  H.  Wood- 
burn,  also  a  professor  in  one  of  the  medical  colleges, 
superintendent  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and 
an  active  and  valuable  member  of  the  City  Council ; 
Dr.  Thaddeus  M.  Stevens,  a  native  of  Indianapolis, 
nephew  of  the  celebrated  Pennsylvania  statesman, 
actively  connected  with  all  hygienic  movements  and 
boards  of  health,  and  the  author  of  more  publica- 
tions on  the  hygienic  conditions  of  the  city  than  any 
other  member  of  the  profession ;  Dr.  William  C. 
Thompson,  one  of  the  leading  moral  reformers  of 
the  State,  for  one  term  a  senator  in  the  Legislature 
from  this  county,  and  all  the  time  the  family  physi- 
cian of  Governor  Morton  and  his  attendant  in  his 
last  illness :  Dr.  John  M.  Dunlap,  son  of  the  pioneer 
Dr.  Livingston  Dunlap,  for  many  years  an  assistant 
in  the  Insane  Hospital ;  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin,  now 
a  professor  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  of  Phila- 
delphia, but  for  many  years  among  the  most  eminent 
physicians  of.  Indiana,  and  especially  distinguished  as 
a  medical  writer ;  Dr.  John  M.  Kitchen,  who  has  prob- 
ably been  longer  in  the  practice  than  any  one  now 
living  in  the  city,  but  not  so  long  a  resident  here ; 
Dr.  James  W.  Hervey,  widely  known  as  a  writer  on 
professional  and  social  questions.   Dr.  James  K.  Bige- 


lead  to  active  participation  in  the  political  events  of  '  low.  Dr.  L.  D.  Waterman,  Dr.  Charles  D.  Pearson, 
the  day.    He  is  identified  with  the  order  of  Masonry,  j  Dr.  Bryan,  Dr.  Fred  Stein,  Dr.  D.  H.  Frank,  and  Dr. 


and  a  member  of  Pleasant  Lodge,  No.  134,  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Acton.  He  is  descended 
from  Scotch  Presbyterian  stock,  and  a  member  of  the 
Acton  Presbyterian  Church,  as  also  one  of  its  trus- 
tees. Dr.  McGaughey  was  in  1852  married  to  Miss 
Ann  A.,  daughter  of  Daniel  W.  Morgan,  to  whom 
were  born  children, — Robert  and  Otto  Livingston. 
Mrs.  McGaughey  died  in  1857,  and  he  was  again 
married  in  1858  to  Miss  Mary  S.  Boal,  whose  chil- 
dren are  Rachel,  Mellie  (deceased),  Elizabeth  (de- 
ceased), Jennie,  and  Samuel. 


W.  N.  Wishard  are  of  rather  later  date,  coming  during 
or  since  the  war.  Of  very  recent  additions  to  the 
profession  here,  among  natives  of  the  city,  Dr.  Calvin- 
I.  Fletcher  may  be  named,  with  Dr.  Frank  Morrison, 
of  the  Medical  College  of  Indiana,  for  a  creditable 
position  ,in  graduating  and  efficient  prosecution  of 
their  profession  since.  The  female  physicians  of  the 
city  during  the  past  year  were  Annie  B.  Campbell, 
E.  A.  Daniels,  Ella  Deneen,  Mary  A.  Ellis,  Amanda 
M.  George,  Martha  Grimes,  Rachel  Swain,  Elizabeth 
Schmidt,  and  M.  F.  J.  Pointer. 


298 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


On  the  7th  of  September,  1870,  a  stock  company 
was  formed  with  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  capital, 
— liable  to  enlargement  at  any  time, — in  twenty-five 
dollar  shares,  to  establish  an  institution  for  the  treat- 
ment of  deformities,  deficiencies,  and  injuries  requir- 
ing surgical  skill  and  mechanical  appliances.  Drs. 
Allen  and  Johnson,  of  the  Surgical  Institute,  were  to 
be  the  surgeons.  One  share  of  twenty-five  dollars 
entitled  the  holder  to  nominate  one  patient  for  treat- 
ment ;  one  hundred  dollars  gave  the  right  to  an 
annual  nomination  of  a  patient ;  one  thousand  dollars, 
to  the  nomination  of  a  free  bed  annually  ;  and  five 
thousand  dollars,  to  a  perpetual  free  bed,  passing  to 
heirs  or  assigns.  The  intention  was  to  treat  the 
classes  of  cases  specified  as  cheaply  as  possible,  or 
free  if  possible,  and  provide  them  at  the  same  time 
comfortable  homes  as  cheaply  as  possible.  The  Sur- 
gical Institute  seems  to  have  been  adopted  as  the 
requisite  provision,  and  sixty  patients  received  in  the 
first  year,  fourteen  from  the  city,  and  the  others  from 
seventeen  other  counties  in  the  State.  The  officers 
of  the  association  were  James  M.  Ray,  President ; 
Barnabas  C.  Hobbs,  Addison  Daggy,  W.  P.  Johnson, 
A.  L.  Roache,  Vice-Presidents ;  William  H.  Turner, 
Recording  Secretary  ;  K.  H.  Boland,  Corresponding 
Secretary  ;  John  C.  New,  Treasurer. 

The  National  Surgical  Institute  was  incorporated 
on  the  24th  of  July,  1869,  under  the  control  of 
Dr.  Horace  R.  Allen  and  Dr.  AV.  P.  Johnson,  with 
a  capital  stock,  as  appears  by  a  publication  made 
authoritatively  in  1876,  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  with  the  object  of  "  treating  all  cases  of  sur- 
gery and  chronic  diseases ;  also  of  engaging  in  the 
manufacture  of  surgical  and  mechanical  appliances, 
splints,  bandages,  machinery,  and  other  articles  needed 
for  the  treatment  of  the  afflicted ;  and  also  with 
authority  to  teach  others  the  same  art."  There  are 
four  branches  of  the  Institute, — the  Central  in  In- 
dianapolis, the  Eas.tern  in  Philadelphia,  the  South- 
ern in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  the  Western  in  San  Francisco. 
The  Central,  or  Indianapolis  division  occupies  a  four- 
story  block  of  buildings,  covering,  with  the  shops 
and  subordinate  buildings,  nearly  an  acre  of  ground 
on  the  northeast  corner  of  Georgia  and  Illinois 
Streets.     There  are  sleeping-rooms  in  the  buildings 


for  three  hundred  patients.     In  the  machine-shop, 
run  by  a  forty-horse  engine,  are  all  the  machines  and 
appliances  required  to  make  the  numerous  and  varied 
forms    of   apparatus    used    in    the   Institute.     From 
twenty  to   thirty  hands  are   always   employed   here, 
and  the  expense  oF  it  is  set  at  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars  a  year.     The   patterns   of  all   the  apparatus 
used  in  the  myriad  forms  of  deficiency,  deformity,  and 
disease  treated   are  the  invention  of  Dr.  Allen,  who 
has  developed  "  Mechanical  Surgery"  to  a  degree  that 
enabled  him  when  recently  in   Europe  to  give  some 
valuable   instruction    to    the    Orthopedic    and    other 
hospitals  of  the  class  in  England  and  on  the  conti- 
nent.    No    less    than   forty   thousand   patients   have 
been  treated  in  the  Institute  in  the  fifteen  years  of 
its  existence.     There  is  an  average  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  patients  always  under  treatment  and 
living  in  the  establishment.     Previous  to  the  location 
of  the  Institute  in  Indianapolis,  it  had  been  main- 
tained by    Drs.   Allen  and   Johnson    at    Charleston, 
111.     It  is  estimated  that  it  brings  to  the  city  every 
year   ten  thousand  people  as  visitors,   who   pay   the 
railroads  one  hundred   thousand   dollars  a  year,  and 
leave  in  the  city,  for  one   expense   or   another,  fully 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars.     Although  organized 
as  a  private   enterprise,   the   Institute   is   constantly 
sought  by  surgical  cases  as  a  public  hospital,  and  there 
are  treated  the  frightful  injuries  of  railroad  accidents, 
the  stabs  and  shots  of  street  rows,  the  broken  limbs  of 
builders  falling  from  houses,  the  careles.sly  burned  by 
gas  or  explosive  lighting-oils,  and  all  the  many  varie- 
ties of  injury  that  occur  continually  in  a  large  and 
busy  city  full  of  steam  machinery  and  manufacturing 
apparatus.     If  the  patient  can  pay  he  is  expected  to 
pay.     If  he  cannot  or  will  not,  that  is  the  end  of  it. 
Hundreds  of  dollars  of  unpaid  fees  and  unexpected 
fees    are    bestowed    in    gratuitous    surgical    services 
here  every  week.     Dr.  Allen,  besides  his  professional 
inventions,  has  invented  some  valuable   agricultural 
machinery,  and  is  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  enterprise  and  business  of  the  city.     Dr. 
J.  A.  Minich  has  been  associated  with  Drs.  Allen  and 
Johnson  from  the  establishment  of  the  Institute  here, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  skillful  and  estimable  members 
of  the  profession  in  the  city. 


CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


299 


Dentists. — The  earliest  practitioner  of  dentistry 
as  a  specialty  was  Dr.  Joshua  Soule,  son  of  Bishop 
Soule,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  who  came  here  as 
early  as  1832  or  1833,  if  not  earlier.  He  was  town 
dork  in  1835  and  1836,  and  in  1837  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  for  the  Second  Ward  and  presi- 
dent that  term,  preceding  the  late  Judge  Morrison. 
The  next  year  he  was  clerk  again.  His  office  was 
oil  the  east  side  of  Illinois  Street  for  a  considerable 
time,  half-way  between  Maryland  and  the  alley  next 
the  Occidental  Hotel.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  Joseph 
Lawson,  for  thirty  years  or  more  a  sort  of  town  butt 
for  the  boys  to  have  fun  with.  The  next  dentist  of 
whom  any  distinct  memory  or  record  remains  was 
David  Hunt,  who  came  here  about  1840,  and  had 
an  office  in  the  southwest  quadrant  of  Circle  Street 
till  his  death,  about  1846  or  1847.  His  brothers, 
Andrew  and  George,  followed  in  the  same  business 
after  his  death,  and  were  the  principal  dentists  for 
several  years  before  and  after  1850.  Dr.  G.  A. 
Wells  came  then,  and  is  now  probably  the  oldest 
dentist  in  continuous  practice  in  the  city,  with  the 
exception  of  Dr.  George  Hunt.  Dr.  David  Hunt  was 
probably  the  first  man  in  the  city  to  make  false 
teeth  singly  or  in  sets  forty  years  or  more  ago. 

The  Indiana  Dental  College  was  established  in 
1879,  and  provided  suitable  quarters  in  the  upper 
stories  of  the  Etna  building,  on  North  Pennsylvania 
Sireet.  The  announcement  of  the  fifth  term  contains 
the  appended  list  of  members  of  the  faculty  :  John 
H.  Oliver,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  Junius  E. 
Cravens,  D.D.S.,  Professor  of  Operative  Dentistry; 
Edward  F.  Hodges,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Physiology; 
Milton  H.  Chappell,  D.D.S.,  Professor  of  Dental 
Pathology  and  Therapeutics;  John  N.  Hurty,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  ;  Thomas  S.  Hacker,  D.D.S., 
Professor  of  Mechanical  Dentistry ;  Clinical  Profes- 
sors, Junius  E.  Cravens,  D.D.S.,  Thomas  S.  Hacker, 
D.D.S.,  John  H.  Oliver,  M.D.,  Clinical  Lecturer  on 
Oral  Surgery  ;  W.  S.  Wilson,  D.D.S.,  of  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  Geniral  Demonstrator  of  Practice.  With  an 
ample  number  of  assistants. 

The  Board  of  Health  is  appointed  by  the  Council 
and  Board  of  Aldermen  at  the  beginning  of  every  term, 
and  charged  with  the  especial  duty  of  attending  to  the 


hygienic  condition  of  the  city.  They  see  to  the  clean- 
ing of  alleys,  the  removal  of  refuse,  the  scraping  of 
gutters,  and  whatever  they  deem  necessary  to  health 
or  protection  against  epidemics.  The  "  pest-house," 
a  small  collection  of  buildings  on  the  west  bank  of 
Fall  Creek,  above  Indiana  Avenue,  for  the  care  of 
patients  with  infectious  diseases  isolated  here,  is 
under  the  control  of  the  Health  Board.  The  or- 
ganization of  the  board  was  first  made  in  1850,  but 
for  some  years  there  was  so  much  ill-feeling  between 
the  members  that  they  did  no  good  till  1854,  when 
Dr.  Jameson  became  a  member  and  managed  to  put 
the  concern  in  working  order.  It  has  continued 
with  more  or  less  efficiency  since,  but  with  more 
power  and  more  efiFective  service  in  the  last  four  or 
five  years  than  before.  The  present  members  are 
Dr.  Elder,  president  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
Dr.  Sutcliffe,  and  Dr.  M.  T.  Runnells. 

The  City  Dispensary  was  organized  June  10,  1879, 
and  placed  first  in  the  charge  of  Dr.  William  B. 
Fletcher,  now  superintendent  of  the  Hospital  for  the 
Insane.  The  next  physician  in  charge  was  Dr.  C. 
A.  Ritter;  the  present  one  is  Dr.  J.  J.  Garver.  The 
report  for  the  past  year  is  not  yet  made  up,  but  for 
the  year  before  there  was  shown  to  have  been  3799 
patients  treated  at  the  office, — now  on  Ohio  Street 
opposite  the  City  Library, — 1221  at  their  homes, 
and  80  at  the  station-house,  a  total  of  5100.  Visits 
made,  3193;  prescriptions  furnished,  10,352.  The 
average  cost  of  each  prescriptiou  was  12}  cents.  The 
city  appropriates  annually  $1500  to  the  dispensary, 
and  the  County  Board  makes  a  like  appropriation  of 
the  same  amount.  It  is  a  separate  institution,  in 
no  way  connected  with  the  Bobbs  Dispensary,  which 
is  under  the  direction  of  the  faculty  of  the  Medical 
College. 

The  County  Infirmary,  or  County  Asylum, 
formerly  the  poor-house,  with  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  is  located  in  Wayne  township, 
about  three  miles  northwest  of  the  city.  The  groun-d 
was  purchased,  in  1832,  of  Elijah  Fox.  The  origi- 
nal "poor-house"  was  Mr.  Fox's  farm-house,  a  log 
cabin  of  two  rooms.  It  was  enlarged  occasionally  as 
required,  chiefly  by  a  large  building  in  1845.  An 
addition   for  pauper  insane  was  made  in   1858,  but 


300 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


in  1869,  the  accommodations  proving  inadequate, 
the  present  large  and  handsome  edifice  was  begun. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  July  28,  1869,  and  in 
October,  1870,  the  building  was  dedicated  with  ap- 
propriate ceremonies  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  The  front  is  two  hundred  and  four 
feet,  extreme  depth  one  hundred  and  eighty-four 
feet,  height  four  stories.  In  the  rear  is  a  smaller 
building  two  stories  high  and  twenty-eight  by 
seventy  feet.  The  first  superintendent  was  Peter 
Newland.  From  1832  to  1839  a  board  of  directors 
were  in  control,  consisting  at  one  time  or  another  of 
William  McCaw,  Gary  Smith,  James  Johnson,  Isaac 
Pugh,  Samuel  McCray,  George  Lockerbie,  Thomas 
F.  Stout.  The  superintendents  and  physicians  since 
1840,  when  the  office  was  created,  will  be  found  in 
the  list  of  county  officers  appended  to  the  history. 
The  cost  of  the  new  buildings  was  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thou.sand  dollars,  and  the  value  of  the  site 
about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars. 

There  are  the  names  of  two  hundred  and  forty-two 
physicians  in  the  City  Directory,  of  whom  nine  are 
women,  besides  a  score,  probably,  of  women  who  have 
out  signs  as  midwives.  There  are  fewer  lawyers  than 
doctors, — two  hundred  and  two  only, — and  none  of 
them  are  women. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


MIL1T.\RY    MATTERS. 


Military  Organizations  in  Indianapolis — Marion  County  in  the 
War  of  tlie  Rebellion. 

Military  Companies. — Military  show  is  as  much 
an  American  passion  as  money-making,  and  it  goes  far 
to  create  the  military  strength  sometimes  needed  for 
the  enforcement  of  civil  law,  and  often  needed  for  the 
illumination  of  civic  demonstrations  that  other  gov- 
ernments obtain  by  conscription  under  rigorous  mili- 
tary systems.  We  have  always  had  militia  systems 
in  this  country,  but  they  never  amounted  to  anything 
more  than  an  annual  holiday  in  Indiana,  and  prac- 
tically imposing  no  duty,  imparting  no  instruction. 


serving  no  end  but  the  electioneering  convenience  of 
ambitious  officers,  they  were  treated  by  the  practical 
old  pioneers  with  as  little  consideration  as  they  de- 
served. But  the  lack  of  effective  means  of  action 
could  not  suppress  the  inborn  love  of  military  show 
and  glory.  No  sooner  had  the  annual  "  musters" 
and  the  system  of  which  they  were  the  visible  sign 
disappeared,  as  described  by  es-Senator  Oliver  H. 
Smith  in  his  "  Early  Indiana  Sketches,"  and  quoted 
in  a  preceding  chapter,  than  the  organization  of  vol- 
unteer companies  began,  with  selfimposed  rules  of 
instruction  and  discipline  strict  enough  to  compel 
close  attention  and  speedy  proficiency.  These  soon 
became  an  indispensable  feature  of  all  popular  parades 
that  were  not  partisan,  and  that  necessity  reinforced 
the  native  military  spirit  in  maintaining  them.  The 
first  of  these  appeared  in  Indianapolis  about  the  time 
the  last  militia  muster  disappeared.  It  was  organ- 
ized, or  steps  taken  to  that  end,  on  the  22d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1837.  Col.  A.  W.  Russell,  of  the  "  Bloody 
Three  Hundred,"  was  elected  the  first  captain.  The 
uniform  was  of  gray  cloth  with  black-velvet  trim- 
mings, large  bell-shaped  black-leather  hats  of  the 
"grenadier"  style,  with  brass  plates  and  chains  and 
black  pompons.  It  was  a  neat  uniform,  and  not 
more  stiff  and  cumbrous  than  was  deemed  necessary 
to  military  efficiency  in  that  day,  when  the  loose 
blouse  and  light  cap  of  our  civil  war  would  have 
thrown  a  martinet  of  the  Steuben  school  into  a  fit. 

Col.  or  Capt.  Russell  had  not  the  time  to  do  much 
for  the  company,  so  the  following  year  Thomas  A. 
Morris,  then  a  West  Point  graduate  of  three  or  four 
years'  maturity,  was  made  captain,  and  he  speedily 
made  the  company.  It  rarely  turned  out  more  than 
fifty  men  for  parade  on  the  most  momentous  occasions, 
but  their  exact  step,  accurate  poise  and  handling  of 
arms,  scrupulous  cleanliness  of  dress  and  brilliance 
of  weapons,  and  their  precision  in  all  evolutions, 
made  them  a  "  show"  that  a  boy  would  play  "  hook- 
ey" to  see  when  he  would  not  even  to  go  skating  or 
haw-hunting.  The  court-house  yard  was  the  drill- 
ground  and  the  parade-ground  usually,  but  frequently 
Washington  Street  was  made  a  more  conspicuous 
show-place,  and  all  the  movements  then  known  to 
military  art  were  practiced  there.     Capt.  (now  Gen.) 


{J/,    a.  ^?7z^rr'r^ 


MILITARY    MATTERS. 


301 


Morris  possessed  the  natural  qualities  of  a  military 
commander,  developed  by  a  thorough  course  of  in- 
struction at  West  Point,  and  when  the  civil  war 
broke  out  they  made  him  of  inestimable  value  to 
Governor  Morton's  irrepressible  but  inexperienced 
energy.  He  was  the  commander  of  all  the  Indiana 
regiments  in  the  three  months'  service,  and  thus 
in  command  of  the  first  West  Virginia  campaign, 
where  all  were  sent,  which  he  planned  and  won  be- 
fore Gen.  McClellan  knew  more  of  it  than  he  could 
learn  from  the  papers.  The  latter  absorbed  the 
credit  of  it,  and  became  commander-in-chief  by 
luckily  reaching  the  field  about  a  week  before  the 
end  of  it,  and  proved  before  Richmond,  as  well  as 
Rich  Mountain,  that  his  glory  was  a  second-hand 
acquisition. 

Gen.  Thomas  Armstrong  Morris  is  the  third 
son  of  Morris  and  Rachel  Morris,  and  was  born  in 
Nicholas  County,  Ky.,  Dec.  26,  1811.  In  1821  his 
parents  removed  to  Indianapolis,  then  a  settlement  of 
a  few  families  and  designated  as  the  place  where 
the  State  capital  was  to  be.  In  1823  he  began  to 
learn  the  printer's  art,  and  found  employment  on  a 
newspaper  which  is  now  the  Indianapolis  Journal. 
The  boy  continued  at  his  trade  for  three  years,  and 
became  an  excellent  printer,  which  in  those  days  in- 
cluded the  "  theory  and  practice"  of  hand-press  work 
as  well  as  type-setting.  He  was  then  sent  to  school, 
and  at  nineteen  years  of  age  appointed  to  a  cadetship 
at  West  Point,  for  which  place  he  started  on  horse- 
back to  Cincinnati,  whence  the  route  east  was  by  way 
of  the  Ohio  River.  He  was  graduated  in  1834, 
standing  fourth  in  a  class  of  thirty-six,  and  imme- 
diately brevetted  second  lieutenant  of  the  First  Artil- 
lery, in  the  regular  army.  After  about  one  year's 
service  at  Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  and  Fort  King,  Fla., 
he  was  detailed  by  the  War  Department  to  assist 
Maj.  Ogden,  of  the  engineer  corps,  in  constructing 
the  National  road  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  had 
charge  of  the  division  between  Richmond  and  Indi- 
anapolis, Ind.  This  was  the  first  turnpike  road  in 
the  State.  After  a  year  he  resigned  from  the  United 
States  service  and  was  resident  engineer  in  the  Indi- 
ana State  service,  having  charge  of  the  construction 
of  the  Central  Canal  during  this  period.     From  1841 


to  1847  he  was  chief  engineer  of  the  Madison  and 
Indianapolis  Railroad,  and  built  it  after  its  abandon- 
ment by  the  State  at  "Vernon  from  that  point  to  Indi- 
anapolis. This  was  the  first  railroad  in  the  State. 
From  1847  to  1852  he  was  chief  engineer  of  the 
Terre  Haute  and  Richmond  Railroad,  connecting 
Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis,  and  now  part  of  the 
"  Vandalia."  During  the  same  time  he  was  chief 
engineer  of  the  Indianapolis  and  Bellefontaine  Rail- 
road, now  part  of  the  "  Bee  Line."  From  1852  to 
1854  he  was  chief  engineer  of  the  Indianapolis  and 
Cincinnati  Railroad,  and  from  1854  to  1857  its  presi- 
dent. From  1857  to  1859  he  was  president  of  the 
Indianapolis  and  Bellefontaine  Railroad,  and  from 
1859  to  1861  chief  engineer  of  the  Indianapolis  and 
Cincinnati  Railroad.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war 
he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Morton  quartermaster- 
general  of  the  State,  and  as  such  had  charge  of  the 
equipment  of  Indiana's  first  regiments,  which  were 
so  promptly  in  the  field.  As  general,  he  commanded 
the  first  brigade  of  troops  from  the  State.  He  was 
in  the  West  Virginia  campaign,  and  commanded  at 
the  battles  of  Philippi,  Laurel  Hill,  and  Carrick's 
Ford,  all  of  which  he  won.  His  first  battle,  that  of 
Philippi,  was  the  first  conflict  of  the  war  of  the  Re- 
bellion. At  the  termination  of  the  three  months' 
service  assurance  was  given  Gen.  Morris  that  he 
should  immediately  receive,  promotion  to  a  major- 
general's  command.  This  was  delayed  and  a  briga- 
dier-general's commission  offered  him,  which  he 
declined,  as  also  a  junior  major-general's  commission, 
believing  his  services  to  have  been  worthy  a  more 
speedy  recognition.  From  1862  to  1866  he  was 
chief  engineer  of  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati 
Railroad,  and  during  that  time  built  the  road  from 
Lawrenceburg  to  Cincinnati.  From  1866  to  1869 
he  was  president  and  chief  engineer  of  the  Indianap- 
olis and  St.  Louis  Railroad,  building  the  road  from 
Terre  Haute  to  Indianapolis.  From  1869  to  1872  he 
was  receiver  of  the  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and  La- 
fayette Railroad,  and  in  1 877  was  appointed  as  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  select  plans  and  superintend 
the  construction  of  the  new  State  capitol, — the  same 
position  his  father  held  nearly  half  a  century  ago 
with   reference  to  the  old  State  capitol,  which  was 


304 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


a  company  of  Zouave  Cadets  yas  formed,  and  in  Oc- 
tober the  Zouave  Guards,  Capt.  John  Fahnestock. 
The  former  continued  for  a  year  or  two,  with  Capt. 
George  H.  Marshall,  but  mostly  entered  tlie  national 
army  at  one  lime  or  another.  The  latter  went  into 
the  Eleventh  Regiment  as  Company  K.  When  the 
call  for  troops  was  made  by  Governor  Morton,  these 
four  companies — the  Guards.  Grays,  Zouaves,  and 
Zouave  Guards — filled  up  and  were  all  in  camp  by 
the  17th  of  April.  This  was  quick  work.  The 
President's  proclamation  calling  for  seventy-five  thou- 
sand men  was  issued  April  15,  1861.  Governor  Mor- 
ton's calling  for  the  State's  quota  of  six  regiments 
was  issued  next  day,  the  16th,  and  these  four  compa- 
nies filled  to  their  limit  and  went  into  camp  on  the  17tli. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  there  appeared  to  be 
little  disposition  to  play  at  soldiering.  There  had 
been  too  much  of  the  real  thing  to  make  an  imita- 
tion an  amusement.  A  battalion  of  National  Guards 
was  soon  after  organized,  however,  largely  composed 
of  veterans ;  but  in  a  couple  of  years  it  went  to 
pieces,  and  in  1870  only  one  company  was  left,  with 
an  independent  Irish  company  called  the  Emmett 
Guards.  Within  the  last  half-dozen  years  there  has 
been  a  revival  of  military  feeling,  and  several  com- 
panies have  been  organized  here.  The  exertions  of 
Adjutant  Carnahan  have  put  the  volunteer  companies 
of  the  State  in  better  condition  than  they  have  ever 
been  before;  the  encampments  and  prize-drills  held  at 
Indianapolis  annually,  inviting  a  great  many  compa- 
nies from  all  parts  of  the  State  and  from  other  States, 
contributing  effectively  to  that  end.  The  Indianapo- 
lis companies  now  are  the  following  : 

The  Indianapolis  Light  Infantry.  Captain,  James 
R.  Ross ;  First  Lieutenant,  William  McKee ;  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant,  R.  F.  Scott. 

The  Richardson  Zouaves.  Captain,  B.  F.  Rich- 
ardson ;  First  Lieutenant,  W.  J.  Kercheval ;  Second 
Lieutenant,  H.  J.  Haldrick. 

Tecumseh  Rifles.  Captain,  E.  J.  Griffith ;  First 
Lieutenant,  Frank  Richards  ;  Second  Lieutenant,  0. 
S.  Todd. 

The  Streight  Rifles.  Captain,  Lawson  Seaton ; 
First  Lieutenant,  W.  H.  Murphy  ;  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, G.  W.  Davis. 


The  Indianapolis  Light  Artillery.  Captain,  George 
W.  Johnson. 

At  the  first  grand  encampment  and  prize-drill  held 
iiore,  under  the  management  of  the  "  Raper  Com- 
mandery"  of  the  Masonic  order,  but  directed  wholly 
by  Gen.  Carnahan,  July  4,  1882  (with  some  days 
preceding),  there  were  in  attendance  from  other 
States  the  Crescent  Rifles,  of  New  Orleans  (took 
second  prize  in  the  competitive  drill)  ;  the  Louisi- 
ana Rifles,  of  the  same  city ;  the  Chickasaw  Guards, 
of  Memphis,  Tenn.  (took  the  first  prize  in  the 
competitive  drill) ;  ■  the  Porter  Rifles,  Nashville, 
Tenn.  ;  the  Quapaw  Guards,  from  Little  Rock, 
Ark. ;  Company  G  of  the  First  Missouri  Regiment ; 
two  other  Missouri  companies;  one  company  from 
Geneva,  N.  Y. ;  four  companies  from  Illinois  ;  three 
companies  from  Ohio  ;  two  companies  from  Michi- 
gan ;  two  batteries  from  New  Orleans ;  one  battery 
from  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  one  from  Louisville,  Ky. ; 
one  battery  from  Danville,  III. ;  one  battery  from 
Chicago,  111.  ;  two  batteries  from  St.  Louis,  Mo.  ; 
one  battery  from  Greencastle,  Ind.  ( Asbury  Cadets, 
took  first  prize  in  artillery  drill)  ;  the  Indianapolis 
Light  Infantry,  and  eighteen  companies  from  other 
parts  of  Indiana. 

At  the  encampment  of  Aug.  17,  1883,  most  of 
the  companies  from  other  States  were  here  that  at- 
tended the  first  one,  with  the  Light  Infantry,  from 
Paris,  III.,  the  Branch  Guards,  of  St.  Louis,  and 
one  or  two  other  St.  Louis  companies.  The  first 
prize  in  drilling  was  taken  by  the  Indianapolis  Light 
Infantry ;  the  second,  by  the  Branch  Guards,  of  St. 
Louis.  There  were  thirty-six  Indiana  companies  in 
attendance.  Besides  these  displays  of  military  spirit 
and  efficiency,  there  are  occasionally  parades  of  the 
veterans  of  the  war,  when  general  meetings  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  are  held  at  the  capital. 
The  Raper  Comniandery  of  Knights  Templar  the 
past  year  attended  the  competitive  drill  and  parade 
of  the  order  in  San  Francisco,  and  carried  oS  the 
second  prize,  a  mounted  knight  in  bronze  with  gold 
trappings  and  armor,  set  upon  a  pedestal  of  gold-bear- 
ing quartz,  and  valued  at  two  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  latest  phase  of  the  military  spirit  of 
Indianapolis  is  the   project    of   building  an   armory 


MILITARY   MATTERS. 


305 


adequate  to  the  needs  of  all  the  companies,  with  a 
vast  parade-room  and  public  hall  capable  of  seating 
seven  or  eight  thousand  people.  Up  to  the  beginning 
of  1884,  however,  it  bad  not  taken  on  the  form  of 
definite  action. 

The  Arsenal. — One  of  the  material  results  of  the 
war  afiecting  the  city  especially  was  the  establishment 
here  of  the  United  States  -Arsenal,  the  suggestion, 
doubtless,  of  that  established  -and  conducted  by  Gov- 
ernor Morton  during  the  war  to  supply  our  troops  with 
animuniliop.-  The'.central  situation  of  the  city  and 
the  conspic,uous"  services  of  Governor  Morton  readily 
developed- the  suggestion  into  action.  Authority  was 
given  by  an  act  of  Congress  of  1862,  and  a  temporary 
establishment  made  in  March,  1863,  by  the  late  Wil- 
liam Y.  Wiley,  captain  and  storekeeper,  in  a  building 
on  the  corner  of  Delaware  and  Maryland  Streets. 
He  remained  in  charge  at  this  place 'till  1870,  when 
he  resigned.  The  site  for  the  permanent  arsenal 
was  selected  by  Gen.  Buckingham,  and  work  upon 
the  buildings  commenced  in  August,  1863.  They 
were  all  completed  and  occupied  by  1867-68.  There 
are  seven  buildings,  upon  seventy-six  acres  of  ground, 
fronting  southward  on  the  eastward  extension  of 
Michigan  Street,  and  entered  directly  from  Arsenal 
Avenue,  running  nearly  a  half-mile  north  from 
Washington  Street  to  the  main  gate  of  the  grounds. 
The  distance  to  Circle  Park  is  a  mile  and  a  half 

The  main  building,  for  the  storage  of  small-arms 
(shown  in  the  cut),  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-three 
feet  long  by  sixty-three  wide,  three  stories  high,  with 
a  square  tower  in  the  centre  containing  an  excellent 
public  clock.  The  artillery  store-house  is  two  stories 
high,  and  two  hundred  and  one  feet  long  by  fifty-two 
wide.  The  office  is  forty-three  feet  long  by  twenty- 
two  wide,  and  one  story  high.  The  barracks  for 
enlisted  men  are  two  stories  high,  eleven  hundred 
and  five  feet  long  by  thirty-two  wide.  Two  sets  of 
officers'  quarters,  eighty  feet  by  forty,  two  and  a  half 
stories  high.  One  set  of  officers'  quarters,  forty- 
seven  feet  long  by  twenty-eight  wide,  one  story  and 
a  half  high.  The  magazine  is  banked  about  with 
earth,  and  covered  with  sod  and  shrubbery,  making 
the  most  striking  feature  of  the  grounds.  These 
have  been  tastefully  laid  out  with  walks  and  shrub- 
20 


bery  and  carriage  drives,  and  Pogues  Creek  helps  the 
general  effect  of  picturesqueness  by  running  for  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  acro?s  the  northwest  corner. 
Propositions  have  been  made  to  Congre.-^s  to  donate 
the  grounds  and  buildings  to  the  State  or  city  for 
educational  purposes,  in  case  it  was  determined  to 
abandon  the  arsenal  here,  for  the  maintenance  of 
which  there  appears  to  be  no  very  cogent  argument. 
The  arsenal  gun  every  morning  at  six  o'clock  and 
the  evening  gun  at  sunset  have  come  to  be  as  familiar 
sounds  in  the  city  as  the  whistle  of  locomotives. 

The  Civil  War.— From  the  secession  of  South 
Carolina  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  opinion  was 
divided  in  Indiana  on  the  measures  to  be  taken  with 
the  seceded  States.  The  more  demonstrative  and 
probably  stronger  division,  led  by  Governor  Morton, 
held  it  the  duty  of  the  government  to  reduce  the 
disobedient  States  by  force,  proceeding  by  aggressive 
warfare,  invasion,  and  destruction  of  life  and  prop- 
erty, as  in  the  case  of  any  other  public  enemy.  The 
other  division,  represented  by  John  R.  Cravens,  David 
C.  Branham,  and  the  Journal,  under  the  direction 
of  B.  R.  Sulgrove,  thought  that  an  aggressive  war 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  which  would  make 
it  strike  the  first  blow  and  shed  the  first  blood, 
while  the  South  acted  only  by  ordinances  and  reso- 
lutions, would  force  all  the  boi'der  States  into  the 
Confederacy,  repel  the  sympathy  of  Europe,  and 
probably  induce  alliances  there,  consolidate  Demo- 
cratic sympathy  in  the  North  with  secession,  and 
present  a  front  of  hostility  against  which  the  govern- 
ment might  be  broken  hopelessly.  Considering  the 
condition  of  Indiana  after  the  elections  of  1862, — and 
Indiana  was  no  worse  than  other  States, — and  the 
course  of  the  Legislature  of  1863,  and  the  active  sym- 
pathy with  the  rebellion  that  made  draft  riots  all  over 
the  country,  with  numerous  murders  of  draft  officers, 
and  considering,  further,  our  narrow  escape  from  an 
English  war  in  the  Trent  case,  it  is  now  far  from 
clear  that  the  aggressive  policy  would  have  been  wise 
or  successful.  But  all  diff'erences  were  blown  to 
pieces  by  the  first  gun  fired  ai  Maj.  Anderson's  little 
garrison.  Those  who  differed  about  aggression  could 
have  no  difference  about  resisting  aggression.  North- 
ern feeling  united   instantly  and  solidly   upon  war. 


306 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


not  only  to  preserve  the  Union,  but  to  preserve  its 
own  government  from  subversion  by  one  with  "  sla- 
very for  its  corner-stone."  A  general  outburst  of 
resentment  upon  the  announcement  of  the  attack  on 
Sumter  was  to  have  been  expected  in  view  of  the 
effect  it  would  clearly  have  in  effacing  differences  of 
Northern  opinion,  but  the  universal  roar  of  rage  and 
raising  of  armies  passed  all  anticipation.  The  State 
was  a  volcano  blazing  with  wrath  and  pouring 
streams  of  volunteers  to  the  capital.  Every  school- 
house  became  a  recruiting-station,  and  whole  com- 
panies were  formed  of  the  hands  in  a  single  manu- 
factory. The  war  feeling  was  roused  as  it  never  had 
been  before,  and  probably  never  will  be  again. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  from  the  balcony  of  the 
Bates  House  on  the  afternoon  of  the  12th  of  Feb- 
ruary, while  on  his  way  to  his  inauguration,  inti- 
mated for  the  first  time  authoritatively  that  his  policy 
with  secession  would  be  the  defensive,  to  hold  the 
government's  property  and  perform  the  government's 
duties,  so  far  as  they  were  not  interrupted,  and  leave 
violence  and  its  consequences  to  the  secessionists. 
This  brought  the  differing  opinions  in  Indiana  into  a 
direction  of  convergence  that  the  attack  on  Sumter 
completed.  There  had  not  been  time  enough  for  the 
development  of  factious  or  angry  feeling  before  the 
President  suggested  a  policy  that  tended  to  union. 
Thus  it  came  that  the  excitement  in  Indianapolis 
when  the  news  of  the  first  shot  at  Sumter  arrived 
was  fearful.  Not  violent  or  noisy,  but  intense. 
Business  was  abandoned.  The  streets  were  thronged, 
and  on  every  corner  was  a  restless,  feverish  crowd, 
never  a  moment  still  or  silent,  and  never  noisy,  dis- 
cussing the  chances  of  Maj.  Anderson's  resistance, 
and  the  course  the  President  would  take.  Party 
feeling  never  spoke.  For  once  there  were  neither 
Democrats  or  Republicans  in  any  audible  expression. 
A  vast  meeting  was  held  at  the  Metropolitan  Theatre 
at  night  to  consider  the  situation  and  wait  for  news 
from  Charleston.  Both  parties  were  equally  repre- 
sented in  officers,  committees,  and  speakers.  About 
half-past  nine  the  news  came  that  Maj.  Anderson  had 
surrendered.  '•  War  I"  was  the  response  of  every- 
body who  said  anything.  Those  who  thought  other- 
wise were  shrewd  enough  to  say  nothing.     It  would 


not  have  been  safe  then  to  talk  as  thousands, freely 
talked  two  years  later.  All  night  long  the  streets 
were  patrolled  by  eager  waiters  on  the  news,  and 
crowds  collected  about  the  newspaper  offices  or  in 
convenient  saloons,  as  if  waiting  would  bring  news 
when  the  offices  were  closed.  The  next  day  the 
military  companies  of  the  city  began  recruiting,  and 
on  Sunday  it  was  kept  up  without  interruption.  On 
Monday  morning  the  President's  proclamation  came, 
calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers,  and 
with  it  an  order  of  the  War  Office  assigning  to  In- 
diana a  quota  of  six  regiments.  The  Governor's 
proclamation  appeared  nest  day,  and  on  Wednesday 
all  the  Indianapolis  companies  were  completed  and 
in  camp. 

For  a  year  this  condition  of  loyal  feeling  continued 
throughout  Indiana  and  the  Northwest.  The  defeat 
at  Bull  Run  stimulated  instead  of  repressing  it.  The 
West  Virginia  campaign,  so  successful  and  so  largely 
the  work  of  Hoosier  soldiers  and  generalship,  encour- 
aged it.  Governor  Morton  had  more  men  than  he 
knew  what  to  do  with.  His  applications  to  the  War 
Office  for  the  reception  of  regiments  from  the  State 
were  treated  more  like  importunities  for  favors  than 
offers  of  the  lives  and  powers  of  the  best  men  in  the 
country.  The  sagacious  Cameron  was  satisfied  that 
we  needed  no  troops  but  infantry,  and  no  arms  but 
smooth-bore  muskets,  and  rejected  offers  of  cavalry 
and  artillery  enough  to  have  made  a  large  army. 
His  incompetence  would  have  ruined  a  cause  less 
completely  identified  with  the  life  and  hope  of  a  great 
nation.  Not  less  than  thirty  thousand  men  were 
tendered  by  Governor  Morton  for  the  six  thousand 
called  for  by  the  quota.  The  six  regiments  of  three 
months'  men  were  organized  in  a  week  and  camped 
at  the  old  fair  (or  military)  ground,  and  a  week 
later  they  were  visited  there  and  addressed  in  a  pa- 
triotic speech  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  last  he 
ever  made  in  Indiana.  Every  hour  of  the  day  nearly 
companies  came  up  into  the  city  from  the  Union 
Depot  seeking  a  chance  to  fight,  and  marching  to 
old  fifes  and  drums  that  had  been  lost  since  the 
militia  muster  and  the  excursion  of  the  "  Bloody 
Three  Hundred."  Crowds  of  boys  and  admiring 
country  girls  watched  the  recruiting  squads  -on  cor- 


MILITAKY   MATTERS. 


307 


ners  *or  followed  them  as  they  followed  a  circus  pa- 
rade. Recruiting  flags  were  hung  about  in  scores  of 
places  on  the  business  streets,  and  the  rattle  of  the 
drum  kept  company  with  the  minutes,  as  Webster 
might  say,  from  dawn  till  dark.  The  reaction  came 
with  the  failure  of  the  Peninsular  campaign,  and 
desertions  became  as  frequent  as  enlistments.  Then 
volunteering  lost  its  meaning,  and  became  only  a 
Way  of  evading  a  conscription  maintained  by  high 
bounties. 

The  regiments  of  this  State  were  numbered  con- 
tinuously with  the  five  that  had  been  raised  in  the 
Blexican  war.  Thus  we  had  in  the  three  months'  ser- 
vice, and  later  in  the  three  years'  service,  the  Sixth 
Regiment,  Col.  Thomas  T.  Crittenden,  of  Madison  ; 
the.Seventh,  Col.  Ebenezer  Dumont,  of  Indianapolis  ; 
the  Eighth,  Col.  William  P.  Benton,  of  Richmond  ; 
the  Ninth,  Col.  Robert  H.  Milroy,  of  Rensselaer, 
Jasper  Co. ;  the  Tenth,  Col.  Joseph  J.  Reynolds,  of 
Lafayette,  succeeded  by  Col.  Mahlon  D.  Manson,  of 
Crawfordsville ;,  the  Eleventh,  Col.  Lewis  Wallace,  of 
Crawfordsville,  formerly  of  Indianapolis.  The  Elev- 
enth contained  so  many  Indianapolis  men  that  the 
ladies  of  the  city  made  up  a  handsome  silk  flag  and 
presented  it  to  the  regiment  in  the  State-House  yard, 
on  which  occasion  the  colonel,  with  an  eye  to  dra- 
matic efi'ect,  had  the  whole  thousand  men  kneel 
and  swear  to  "  remember  Buena  Vista."  The  rele- 
vancy of  that  memory  to  the  occasion  on  which  it 
was  produced,  with  as  striking  a  coup  de  theatre  as 
"  Puff's"  unanimous  prayer  in  the  "  Critic,"  needs 
elucidation.  Jefi'.  Davis  had  reported  Indiana  troops 
as  acting  cowardly  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista, — and 
some  few  had,  especially  Lieut.-Col.  Bowles,  after- 
wards a  Son  of  Liberty  and  a  convicted  traitor, —  and 
Jefi".  Davis'  stigma  had  stuck  and  stung  for  fifteen 
years.  Davis  was  now  head  of  the  Rebellion.  Thus 
the  recall  of  the  Buena  Vista  slander  was  made,  logic- 
ally enough,  an  incentive  to  martial  ardor  in  a  war 
half  a  generation  later. 

The  whole  quota  of  the  State  served  in  West  Vir- 
ginia. The  Sixth,  under  Gen.  T.  A.  Morris,  was  at 
Philippi,  3d  of  June,  the  first  firing  and  fighting  of 
the  war ;  then  at  Laurel  Hill  and  at  Carrick's  Ford, 
near  Which  the  rebel  general  Garnett  was  killed  July 


12th.  The  Seventh  was  also  at  Philippi,  then  joined 
Gen.  Morris  and  went  to  Bealington,  whence  the  rebels 
under  Gen.  Garnett  retreated  on  the  night  of  the  11th 
of  July,  and  were  followed  by  Gen.  Morris  to  Carrick's 
Ford.  There  a  stand  was  made  and  broken  by  a 
charge  of  the  Seventh  across  the  river,  where  they  cap- 
tured the  rebel  baggage,  and,  at  the  next  ford,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  away,  they  broke  the  rebels  again  and 
killed  Gen.  Garnett,  the  first  general  oflicer  killed  in 
the  war.  The  Eighth  and  Tenth  Regiments  were  put 
in  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Rosecrans,  and  with  him  took 
part  in  the  battle  of  Rich  Mountain  on  the  morning  of 
the  11th  of  July.  The  Ninth  was  in  the  brigade  of 
Gen.  Morris,  with  the  Sixth  and  Seventh,  and  was  at 
Laurel  Hill  and  Carrick's  Ford.  The  Tenth,  as  just 
stated,  was  in  Gen.  Rosecrans'  brigade.  The  first 
Uuion  officer  seriously  wounded  in  the  war  was  Capt. 
Chris.  Miller,  of  Lafayette,  of  this  regiment.  He 
was  shot  through  the  body  from  the  shoulder  to  the 
hip,  and  was  thought  mortally  wounded.  He  recov- 
ered, however,  but  it  required  nearly  a  year  of  hos- 
pital confinement.  The  Eleventh  was  stationed  at 
Evansviile  from  the  8th  of  May  till  the  8th  of  June, 
and  was  then  sent  to  West  Virginia,  where  it  cap- 
tured Romney,  June  10th.  On  the  26th  a  squad  of 
mounted  scouts,  composed  of  thirteen  picked  men  of 
dificrent  companies,  commanded  by  Corp.  David  B. 
Hay,  while  returning  from  a  scouting  expedition 
overtook  forty-one  mounted  rebels  and  attacked  them, 
killing  eight  in  a  chase  of  two  miles  and  capturing 
seventeen  horses.  While  crossing  the  Potomac  at 
Kelly's  Island  they  were  attacked  by  seventy-five  of 
the  enemy,  fell  back  to  a  good  position  and  fought 
till  dark,  losing  J.  C.  Holleubeck,  killed — the  first 
Hoosier  killed  in  the  war, — and  David  B.  Hay  and  E. 
P.  Thomas,  wounded.  After  joining  Gen.  Patterson's 
forces  at  Bunker  Hill,  near  Winchester,  the  regiment 
went  to  Charlestown  and  thence  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  came  home  July  29th.  It  was  mustered  out 
Aug.  2,  1861. 

Col.  Ebenezer  Dumont,  of  the  Seventh  Regiment, 
afterwards  a  member  of  Congress  from  this  district 
and  a  brigadier-general,  was  the  first  teacher  in  the 
"  old  seminary,"  and  quite  as  eminent  at  the  bar  be- 
fore the  war  as  he  was  a.s  an  officer  during  the  war. 


308 


HISTORr   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Gen.    Ebenezer  Dumont  was  a  native  of  Vo-  hand.      After   submitting   to   such    a   discipline   in 

vay,    Switzerland     Co.,    Ind.,    where    he    was    born  childhood,  all   the   exactions  of  subsequent  study  or 

Nov.  23,  1814.     His  parents  were  among  the  early  business    could     scarcely     have    been    regarded    as 

settlers  of  that   place.     His  father,   John   Dumont,  onerous.     From   this   home  school   and   training   he 

one  of  the  most  conspicuous  men  in  politics  and  the  passed  to  Hanover  College,  where  he  studied  for  a 

law  of  that  early  period  of  the  history  of  the  State,  time,  but  did  not  graduate.     His  heart  was  already 

met  and  married  his  mother,  Miss  Julia  L.  Corey,  set  upon  the  law,  and  on  that  ground  he  refused  an 

at   Greenfield,  Saratoga   Co.,  N.  Y.     He   was   a  na-  appointment  as  cadet  at  West   Point  which  was  sent 

tive  of  New  Jersey,  she  of  Marietta,  Ohio.     They  to  him  while   at   Hanover.     He   read   law  with   his 

were  married   Aug.    16,   1812,  and   soon    thereafter  father,    and  before    he    was    twenty-one    years    old 
removed  to  Vevay,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  '  entered  upon   the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession, 

of  their  lives.     She  died  in  1857,  he  in  1871.     She  He  settled  at  Wilmington,  in  Dearborn  County,  and 


was  a  teacher,  poet,  and 
author,  and  in  all  these 
respects  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  persons  in 
the  State.  He  was  a  law- 
yer of  sound  learning,  an 
orator  of  great  power  and 
eloquence,  a  politician  of 
broad  views  and  upright 
character,  and  in  all  re- 
lations a  man  of  integrity 
and  public  spirit. 

The  general  received 
his  early  education  in  a 
school  taught  by  his 
mother  in  his  native  vil- 
lage. He  could  nc'..  have 
had  a  more  careful  and 
thorough  instructor.  An 
examination  of  the  work 
exacted    of    her    son    al- 


ItEN    EBJNLZtR   DIMOM 


following  the  county-seat 
thence  to  Lawrenceburg, 
remained  there  until  the 
spring  of  1853,  when  he 
removed  to  Indianapolis  to 
;\.ssume  the  duties  of  presi- 
dent of  the  State  Bank, 
t(i  which  office  he  had 
been  elected  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

He  early  established  a 
character  as  a  lawyer  and 
business  man.  He  never 
shrunk  from  any  amount 
of  labor  essential  to  a  per- 
foct  knowledge  of  the 
matter  in  hand,  either  in 
the  one  character  or  the 
other.  No  one  who 
knew  him  ever  made 
any    calculations    of  sue- 


most  makes  one's  head  ache  to  think  of  his  labors,  cess  when  opposed  to  him  on  account  of  any  remiss- 
From  the  time  he  was  ten  years  old  until  he  ness  in  the  duty  of  preparation,  for  it  was  known 
passed  from  her  instruction  to  Hanover  College  |  that  he  would  exhaust  not  merely  all  the  usual  re- 
she  exacted  written  essa3'S  at  his  hands  upon  every  ,  sources  of  the  afiair,  but  equally  all  the  unusual 
branch  of  study  in  which  he  was  engaged.  These  resources  also.  Some  of  his  greatest  triumphs  in  the 
little  essays,  in  the  cramped  and  difficult  hand  of  law  were  the  result  of  his  vigilance  in  reading 
childhood,  contain  a  child's  discussion  of  every  rule  closely  the  newspapers,  and  learning  of  the  passage 
of  grammar  from  the  first  principles  of  orthography  of  some  act  of  Congress  or  of  the  Legislature  in 
to  the  last  of  prosody ;  and  so  of  arithmetic  and  the  ,  advance  of  its  regular  publication  upon  which  a  case 
other  branches  of  knowledge  taught  in  a  common  j  might  turn.  An  instance  of  this  kind  is  remembered 
school  of  a  very  high  grade.  All  these  show  the  |  to  have  occurred  in  the  District  Court  of  the  United 
corrections  of  the  faithful  mother  in  her  own   clear  !  States    in    1858.     Two    brothers  were    indicted    for 


MILITARY    MATTERS. 


309 


passing  counterfeit  Spanish  silver  coin.  Tlie  law  as 
published  in  the  statute-book  was  plain,  and  under 
it  they  were  clearly  guilty.  He  produced  an  act  of 
Congress,  passed  only  a  few  days  before  the  alleged 
crime,  demonetizing  such  coin,  and  the  prosecution 
was  at  an  end.  His  law-book  for  the  purpcse  was  a 
clipping  from  a  newspaper.  It  is  believed  that  he 
never  lost  an  advantage  that  any  amount  of  vigilance 
or  labor  could  have  gained;  and  it  is  certain  that 
this  is  as  true  in  regard  to  his  watchfulness  of  the 
slips  and  omissions  of  his  adversary  as  of  his  own 
preparation  and  use  thereof  in  the  management  of 
his  affairs  in  court  or  ordinary  business.    (3f)£Jl-(l/ 

Gen.  Dumont  married  Miss  Mary  A.  -Chukj^ 
April  18,  1839.  She  was  the  only  daughter  of 
William  V.  Chuk,  Esq.,  at  the  time  and  for  many 
years  afterwards  the  clerk  of  the  Dearborn  Circuit 
Court.  They  lived  together  until  his  death,  and 
had  born  to  them  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom, 
one  son  and  seven  daughters,  still  live  to  comfort 
Mrs.  Dumont,  their  mother,  in  her  declining  years. 

The  people  of  Dearborn  County  frequently  in- 
trusted him  with  the  management  of  their  affairs, 
and  twice  at  least  made  him  their  representative  in 
the  General  Assembly.  He  held  the  office  of  county 
treasurer  several  years  between  1840  and  1845,  and 
represented  the  county  in  the  Legislature  in  1838 
and  1853.  In  the  last  term  of  his  service  he  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  position  with  impartiality  and  ability. 
It  was  a  time  of  high  political  excitement,  and  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  debates  of  the  House. 
Many  of  his  speeches  were  printed  at  the  time,  and 
made  a  wide  and  favorable  impression  of  his  ability 
and  character  throughout  the  State.  A  quaint  and 
queer  humor  runs  through  them  all,  that  would 
enable  one  who  knew  him  well  to  say  they  were  his 
even  if  published  without  a  name.  They  are  all 
marked  by  strong  practical  sense,  and  generally  filled 
with  public  spirit.  It  was  in  the  course  of  this 
session  that  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  State 
Bank.  The  choice  resulted  from  a  truce  between 
his  friends  and  those  of  the  then  Lieutenant-Governor, 
James  H.  Lane.  Before  that  they  had  been  openly 
at  war.     As   a  result  of  the   compromise.  Lane  was 


freed  from  the  local  opposition  of  Dumont,  and  was 
elected  to  Congress.  At  the  close  of  his  terra  in 
Congress,  Lane  removed  to  Kansas,  where,  after  a 
stormy  career,  his  life  ended  in  a  sad  tragedy,  and, 
as  already  said,  Dumont  settled  in  Indianapolis,  in 
the  quiet  but  responsible  position  of  president  of  the 
State  Bank  and  ex,  officio  president  of  the  Board  of 
Sinking  Fund  Commissioners.  The.se  oifices  he  filled 
until  the  expiration  of  the  bank's  charter,  and  closed 
its  operations.  It  was  necessary  thereafter  to  con- 
tinue the  Board  of  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  as 
an  independent  organization,  and  the  Legislature  ac- 
cordingly reorganized  it,  and  provided  for  a  presi- 
dent thereof,  to  be  elected,  like  the  members,  by  the 
General  Assembly.  At  the  regular  session  of  that 
body  in  1859  he  was  elected  president,  and  held  the 
position  until  he  resigned  to  take  the  command  of 
the  Seventh  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  1861. 

He  had  already  devoted  a  year  to  the  military 
service  of  the  United  States  in  the  war  with  Mexico, 
as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  In- 
diana Volunteers,  and  had  won  distinction  both  for 
courage  and  capacity  in  that  service.  His  gallantry 
was  conspicuous  in  the  capture  of  Huamantla ;  and 
Gen.  Lane  employed  his  learning  and  talents  to  aid 
him  in  the  government  of  Orizaba  after  its  capture. 
He  had  been  consistently  a  Democrat  from  1840  till 
the  as.sault  upon  Fort  Sumter ;  but  in  the  strife  be- 
tween Mr.  Douglas  and  the  administration  he  had 
adhered  to  the  former.  His  place  upon  the  fall  of 
Sumter  was  at  once  chosen  with  friends  of  the  Union 
and  the  foes  of  secession  ;  and  never  did  any  man 
give  heart  and  soul  more  entirely  to  any  cause  than 
he  gave  himself  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Union 
and  its  authority.  He  presided  over  the  first  grand 
rally  of  the  people  of  Indianapolis  on  the  night  of 
the  bombardment  of  Sumter,  and  by  his  bold  and 
patriotic  speech  gave  solidarity  and  energy  to  the 
purposes  of  the  people.  He  was  dispatched  to  Wash- 
ington by  the  Governor  to  learn  something  of  the 
purposes  and  plans  of  the  administration,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, to  ascertain  how  the  power  of  the  State  might 
be  best  brought  to  the  aid  of  the  government  in 
suppressing  the  rebellion.     "  Upon  his  return  home 


310 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Seventh  Regiment  of 
Indiana  Volunteers.  At  the  head  of  this  regiment  he 
served  with  distinction  during  the  three  months'  cam- 
paign of  1861  in  West  Virginia,  being  prominently 
engaged  in  the  surprise  of  Philippi,  the  skirmishes 
at  Laurel  Hill,  and  the  battle  of  Carrick's  Ford,"  his 
regiment,  led  by  himself,  closing  that  affair  by  the 
capture  of  one  gun,  forty-one  wagons  of  the  enemy's 
train,  and  the  death  of  Gen.  Robert  S.  Garnett. 
'•  At  the  close  of  the  campaign,"  returning  home,  he 
"  reorganized  his  regiment  for  three  years,  and  at  its 
head  returned  again  to  West  Virginia,  and  while 
there  participated  in  the  battle  of  Greenbrier  under 
Gen.  Joseph  J.  Reynolds.  Soon  after  this  engage- 
ment he  was  appointed  a  brigadier-general  of  volun- 
teers by  the  President,  and  ordered  to  Louisville,  Ky. 
He  passed  the  winter  of  1861  and  1862  at  Bards- 
town,  Bacon  Creek,  and  other  points  between  Louis- 
ville and  Nashville.  Although  his  health  was  ex- 
tremely poor,  yet  he  clung  to  his  command,  and  per- 
formed his  duties  for  months  when  he  should  have 
been  at  home  under  treatment.  He  was  subsequently 
placed  in  command  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  where  his 
spirit,  vigilance,  and  energy  secured  the  flag  more 
respectful  treatment  from  its  foes  than  could  other- 
wise have  been  looked  for  at  their  hands.  It  was 
while  there  that  he  organized  and  led  his  celebrated 
pursuit  of  Gen.  John  Morgan,  whom  he  well-nigh 
captured  at  Lebanon,  Tenn.,  and  whose  fine  mare, 
'  Black  Bess,'  he  did  capture,  together  with  many 
prisoners.  It  was  in  this  pursuit  that  he  perpetrated 
one  of  his  drollest  pieces  of  humor  at  the  expense  of 
a  Kentucky  colonel  of  cavalry.  That  oflBcer,  finding 
his  men  worn  out  by  the  fatigues  of  the  march,  sent 
his  adjutant  forward  to  inform  the  general  that  '  the 
pursuit  must  stop,  for  his  men  were  asleep  in  the 
saddle.'  The  adjutant  accordingly  rode  forward  and 
reported  to  the  general  as  directed  by  his  colonel. 
The  general  inquired  very  seriously,  '  Is  it  true  that 
your  colonel's  men  are  asleep  in  their  saddles  ?' 
'  Yes,  general,'  answered  the  adjutant,  '  it  is.' 
'  Well,  then,'  said  the  general,  '  you  ride  back  to 
your  colonel,  and  tell  him  for  God  Almighty's  sake 
not  to  wake  them  up.'  And  so  the  conference  ended, 
the  pursuit  being  continued  without  a  moment's  pause. 


"  His  health,  however,  finally  disqualifying  him  for 
service  in  the  field,  he  accepted  the  nomination  of 
the  Republican  party  of  his  district  for  Congress  in 
1862,  and  was  duly  elected  at  the  October  election  of 
that  year.  In  1864  he  was  re-elected,  and  thus 
served  his  country  faithfully  according  to  his  convic- 
tions of  duty  during  four  years.  His  feeble  health 
impaired  his  ability  to  labor,  and  so  rendered  his 
congressional  career  less  conspicuous  than  it  other- 
wise manifestly  would  have  been.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  by  no  means  without  distinction  for  patriotism 
and  ability.  Some  of  his  speeches  display  great 
research  and  power,  and  they  are  nearly  all  pervaded 
with  the  quaint,  pungent  humor  which  he  displayed 
in  earlier  life.  For  instance,  he  opened  his  speech 
upon  the  Supreme  Court's  decision  in  the  Garland 
case,  involving  the  validity  of  the  '  iron-clad  oath,' 
as  it  was  called,  by  sending  to  the  clerk's  desk  and 
asking  to  have  read  the  following  paragraph  : 

" '  A  hotel-keeper  in  Washington  posted  on  his 
dining-room  door  the  following  notice  :  "  Members  of 
Congress  will  go  to  the  table  first,  and  then  the  gen- 
tlemen. Rowdies  and  blackguards  must  not  mix 
with  the  Congressmen,  as  it  is  hard  to  tell  one  from 
the  other."  '  Laughter  followed,  and  upon  its  subsi- 
dence Mr.  Dumont  said,  '  I  do  not  think  the  para- 
graph just  read  has  much  application  to  the  remarks 
I  shall  beg  leave  to  submit;  but,  seeing  that  some  of 
the  members  are  a  little  drowsy,  and  fearing  that  no 
remarks  of  mine  would  disturb  their  slumbers,  I 
thought  I  might  perhaps  accomplish  the  object  by 
bringing  to  their  attention  this  brutal  assault  on  their 
own  reputation.  I  do  not  wish  to  move  in  the  matter 
myself,  being  young  and  inexperienced,  but  would 
suggest  the  raising  of  a  committee  to  find  out  the 
name  of  the  assassin,  and  have  him  dealt  with  for 
his  impertinence  and  vulgarity.'  The  speech  that 
followed  this  beginning  is  an  able  one,  and  abounds 
with  many  home  hits  at  the  assumption  of  ofiScial, 
and  especially  judicial,  infallibility  for  men  whose 
opinions  before  their  election  or  appointment  were 
regarded  as  of  little  or  no  value.  This  is  illustrated 
by  anecdotes  from  home  life ;  and  then  the  score  is 
made  even  by  a  story  of  a  justice  of  peace  elect 
coming  to  the  clerk  of  Dearborn   County,  and  asking 


MILITARY   MATTERS. 


311 


that  officer  to  qualify  him.  '  Hold  up  your  hand,' 
said  the  clerk ;  '  I'll  swear  you  in,  but  all  hell  can't 
qualify  you.'  His  speech  on  the  pay  of  the  army 
was  regarded  at  the  time  as  a  very  able,  satisfactory, 
and  complete  discussion  of  the  subject." 

At  the  close  of  his  congressional  career,  March  4, 
1867,  he  retired  to  his  farm,  and  for  a  while  did  not 
seek  any  official  position.  He  nevertheless  kept  up 
an  active  participation  in  politics,  acting  earnestly 
with  the  Republican  party.  He  was  always  a  foe  to 
flattery,  and  hated  even  the  ordinary  civilities  ten- 
dered to  men  of  his  position  and  rank  at  public 
meetings.  It  was  such  feelings  that  led  him  on  one 
occasion,  when  introduced  to  a  large  political  meeting 
in  what  he  regarded  as  too  flattering  terms,  to  say 
when  he  came  forward,  "  I  was  just  thinking,  when 
my  friend,  the  president  of  the  meeting,  was  speaking 
in  such  glowing  and  extravagant  terms  of  the  great 
and  glorious  Gen.  Dumont,  who  was  about  to  address 
you,  that  when  I  should  come  forward  some  man  of 
sense,  and  with  a  keen  relish  for  the  ludicrous,  too, 
might  be  standing  in  the  outskirts  of  this  vast  crowd, 
who  would  exclaim  to  those  about  him,  '  Great  God  ! 
is  that  little  pinnikin  the  great  Gen.  Dumont,  about 
whom  all  this  fuss  is  made?  Pshaw!  he's  nothing.' 
And  he  would  not  be  very  far  wrong,  either."  Such 
a  beginning  of  course  at  once  relieved  him  of  all 
embarrassment,  by  establishing  the  best  relations 
between  himself  and  the  audience,  and  by  teaching 
them  not  to  expect  too  much  at  his  hands,  enabled 
him  to  more  than  meet  their  expectations,  and  so 
secured  him  an  attentive  and  kindly  hearing  through- 
out. 

In  the  winter  of  1870  and  1871,  having  formed 
the  design  to  emigrate  to  the  West,  he  sought  and 
received  the  appointment  of  Governor  of  Idaho. 
While  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  the  position  he 
was  taken  severely  sick  at  Washington.  From 
this  attack  he  never  fully  recovered  ;  but  upon  re- 
turning home  set  actively  to  work  in  making  prepa- 
rations for  his  removal  to  the  seat  of  his  new  position 
and  duties.  Under  this  labor  his  health  broke  com- 
pletely down,  and  after  lingering  in  great  weakness 
and  sufl'ering  for  a  few  days,  during  all  of  which  he 
maintained  his  intellectual  faculties  in  full  and  per- 


fect clearness  and  vigor,  he  died  at  his  residence, 
south  of  the  city,  at  four  o'clock  and  sixteen  minutes 
in  the  morning  of  April  16,  1871.  As  an  evidence 
of  his  mental  clearness,  it  may  be  stated  that  a  very 
short  time  before  his  death  he  directed  a  friend  to 
write  his  will.  Dictating  to  him  the  terms  thereof, 
he  began, "  I,  Ebenezer  Dumont,  being  weak  in  body, 
but  of  sound  mind,  do  make  this  my  last  will  and 
testament,"  etc.  The  will  was  written,  but  in  the 
hurry  and  excitement  of  the  amanuensis,  the  words 
"but  of  sound  mind"  were  omitted;  and  when  in 
reading  it  over  he  came  to  the  omission,  he  stopped 
the  reading  and  insisted  upon  the  insertion  of  the 
omitted  clause.  A  legal  friend  who  was  present 
told  him  not  to  mind  it,  as  the  validity  of  the  will 
would  depend  upon  the  witnesses.  He  replied,  "  I 
know  that  as  well  as  you ;  but  I  want  to  be  one  of  the 
witnesses,  for  I  think  I  know  my  mental  condition  as 
well  and  even  better  than  any  of  you."  The  clause 
had  to  be  inserted  as  his  testimony. 

His  remains  were  attended  from  his  home  to  the 
city  by  a  large  body  of  his  friends  and  neighbors, 
who  were  met  at  the  city  limits  by  a  military  escort 
composed  of  his  old  comrades  in  arms  with  a  band 
of  music,  and  conducted  thence  to  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  where  appropriate  funeral  services 
were  held,  conducted  by  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Edson, 
D.D.  The  brief  discourse  which  he  delivered  on 
the  occasion  so  fittingly  and  truly  characterized  the 
man  in  the  higher  aspects  of  his  nature  and  life,  that 
his  words  shall  close  this  very  inadequate  sketch : 

"  All  who  knew  him  were  certainly  impreaseil  with  the  un- 
common firmness  and  bravery  of  his  will.  For  years  he  carried 
a  burden  of  ill-health  which  would  have  laid  most  men  entirely 
aside  from  active  employment.  Yet  he  carried  it  unflinchingly. 
He  seemed  sometimes  to  conquer  the  physical  suffering  and 
exhaustion  by  the  mere  force  of  his  mind.  It  is  touchingly 
told  U3  that  once  during  the  West  Virginia  campaign,  when 
overtaken  by  violent  illness,  and  entreated  to  go  back  to  Graf- 
ton, where  he  might  have  some  necessary  comforts,  he  stoutly 
refused,  saying  that  if  his  brave  men  could  lie  on  the  ground 
and  take  the  rough  fare,  he  could  do  it  too,  and  would.  The 
tenacity  of  his  purpose  was  conspicuous  everywhere.  AVhen 
he  took  hold  his  grip  was  like  a  vise. 

"  His  integrity  in  all  the  relations  of  commercial  and  politi- 
cal life  his  friends  speak  of  with  admiration.  In  his  connec- 
tion with  the  early  legislation  of  the  State,  as  president  of  the 


312 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


State  Bank,  during  the  commotion  of  civil  war^  in  Con- 
gress, and  in  private  business  affairs,  lie  evinced  a  haughty 
oontempt  of  peculation  and  dishonesty,  and  discharged  his 
public  trusts  without  a  stain  upon  his  integrity.  At  a  period 
when  many  snatched  eagerly  at  opportunities  for  questionable 
gain,  he  did  his  duty  and  kept  his  hands  clean.  Everything 
like  deception  and  falsehood  he  despised.  He  was  inclined  to 
take  the  direct  line  to  any  object  he  sought,  and  was  little 
disposed  to  use  diplomacy.  He  spoke  out  plainly  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  truth.  At  times  he  would  attack  a  sup- 
posed iniquity  with  something  like  ferocity.  It  is  said  that 
his  father  often  showed  the  same  characteristic,  during  a 
session  of  the  Legislature  in  early  times  securing  a  life-long 
friend  by  the  courage  with  which,  on  a  mere  suspicion  of 
wrong,  he  took  up  the  cause  of  certain  minors  whom  a  shrewdly 
devised  bill  was  to  defraud  of  their  estate.  The  son  would 
have  been  capable  of  the  same  service,  and  under  the  like  cir- 
cumstances would  have  been  sure  to  undertake  it  without  fear. 
He  was  a  man  who  cared  more  to  be  true  to  his  convictions 
than  to  count  the  favor  of  any  one.  And  this  example  of  stern 
integrity  is  one  which  we  may  well  cherish  in  these  days  of 
commercial  dishonesty  and  political  intrigue. 

'*It  is  as  a  patriot  and  soldier,  however,  that  he  made  him- 
self most  noticeable,  and  rendered  the  highest  service.  There 
is  no  possibility  of  putting  into  words  the  intensity  of  his 
hatred  of  treason  in  those  days  when  all  the  people  here  were 
united  in  the  defense  of  the  flag  that  on  Sumter's  walls  had 
been  defiled.  His  whole  soul  blazed  against  the  crime  that 
would  strike  at  our  liberties.  Some  of  you  well  remember  him 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  how,  at  the  first  recruiting  meet- 
ing, he  offered  to  the  government  a  horse  with  a  man  on  il ; 
and  many  of  you,  his  comrades,  will  not  forget  how  gallantly 
he  rode  that  horse  to  battle.  He  never  lost  the  heat  of  his 
patriotic  devotion.  If  he  could  speak  to-day  he  would  tell  us 
what  a  joy  it  is  to  be  wrapped  in  the  old  flag  for  which  he 
fought.  The  value  of  our  free  institutions,  the  happy  condi- 
tion of  our  people,  and  the  wickedness  of  any  attempt  to  over- 
turn the  government  he  felt  with  all  the  intensity  of  his  soul. 
Whatever  looked  to  him  like  treason  against  his  country  he 
was  eager  to  resist  and  strike  at  with  all  bis  strength.  This 
patriotism,  that  was  with  him  a  passion,  deserved  and  gained 
the  respect  of  men  who  opposed  him.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
many  of  you  who  differed  most  widely  from  him  in  sentiment 
were  compelled  to  admire  the  zeal  and  courage  with  which  he 
discharged  what  he  deemed  his  duty  to  the  land  he  loved. 
Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  this  strong  nature,  this  stern 
soldier  had  depths  of  tenderness,  not  indeed  for  every  eye,  but 
quick  upon  occasion  to  carry  to  the  unfortunate  relief  and 
sympathy. 

"Words,  however,  cannot  describe  the  man.  You  kne«- 
him.  Let  your  memory  paint  and  keep  the  picture.  He  had 
qualities  we  ought  to  emulate.  He  did  not  live  in  vain,  for 
though  his  sword  will  not  flash  again  in  battle,  though  he 
sleeps  his  last  sleep,  careless  of  the  earth's  commotion,  it  will 


not  be  forgotten  how  dearly  he  loved  the  starry  banner,  nor 
how  sternly  he  hated  all  its  foes.  May  God  keep  the  memory 
of  such  patriots  green." 

The  volunteers  beyond  the  number  required  for 
the  State's  quota  were  formed  into  .six  regiments  of 
one  year  State  troops,  under  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, then  sitting  in  extra  session  on  the  Governor's 
call.  All  but  one  subsequently  enlisted  for  three 
years  in  the  service  of  the  national  government. 
They  were  reviewed  on  the  24th  of  May  by  Gen. 
McClellan,  on  the  open  ground  north  of  the  fair  or 
military  ground,  extending  to  Indiana  Avenue  on 
the  north  and  to  the  Fall  Creek  race  on  the  west. 
The  first  camp  in  the  city  was  that  on  the  fair  ground, 
and  was  called  Camp  Sullivan,  from  Col.  Jerry  Sulli- 
van, of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment,  who  commanded 
,  it.  The  next  was  formed  in  the  new  fair  ground, 
— now  the  Exposition  or  fair  ground, — and  called 
Camp  Morton.  The  men  here  made  serious  com- 
plaints of  their  provisions,  and  the  Legislature,  with 
an  eye  to  votes  at  home  more  than  justice  away  from 
home,  censured  the  commissary — the  late  Isaiah 
Mansur — severely,  though  he  served  without  pay, 
furnished  meat  from  his  own  packing-hou.se,  advanced 
bis  own  money  for  fresh  bread,  sugar,  and  butter,  and 
took  the  chance  of  reimbursement  from  the  Legisla- 
I  ture.  Subsequently  this  censure  was  revoked  and 
]  Mr.  Mansur  complimented  for  his  efficiency  and  dis- 
interestedness. He  was  a  room-mate  of  Governor 
Morton's  at  Oxford  (Ohio)  College,  and  helped  the 
latter  with  money  iu  his  college  course.  The  truth 
was  that  the  men  were  mostly  well-to-do  farmers  or 
sons  of  farmers  or  mechanics  in  good  circumstances, 
and  were  used  to  living  in  better  style  than  any  one 
familiar  with  a  soldier's  life  could  hope  for.  They 
knew  nothing  of  camps  or  military  service,  and  of 
course  felt  abused  when  they  found  their  patriotic 
devotion  fed  less  appetizingly  than  by  their  every-day 
food  at  home.  Once  they  mutinied  against  the  sutler 
and  tore  his  stalls  to  pieces.  But  these  freaks  of  in- 
experience never  outlasted  the  first  few  weeks  of 
camp  duty.  The  men  readily  adapted  themselves  to 
military  discipline  from  the  freedom  of  home.  Camp 
Morton  became  one  of  the  great  prison  camps  after 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Donelson  in  February,  1862. 


MILITARY   MATTERS. 


313 


Camp  Burnside  was  formed  on  Tinker  Street 
(now  Seventh),  just  south  of  Camp  Morton,  and  was 
made  a  neat  and  well-ordered  little  military  town  by 
the  Seventy-first  Regiment,  under  Col.  James  Biddle, 
and  later  by  theVeteran  Reserve  Corps.  It  was 
here,  during  the  tenancy  of  the  Seventy-first,  in  the 
summer  of  1862,  that  the  first  military  execution  of 
the  war  took  place.  The  offender  was  Robert  Gay, 
charged  with  being  a  spy  and  deserter,  and  convicted 
by  court-martial.  He  wa.s  shot  in  the  old  Hender- 
son orchard,  between  the  fair  ground  and  Camp 
Burn.side,  near  the  present  line  of  Delaware  Street, 
a  block  north  of  Seventh.  The  regiment  and  spec- 
tators formed  three  sides  of  a  square,  open  on  the 
east  side.  Into  this  space  Gay  was  brought  by  the 
guard,  and  stationed  in  front  of  his  coffin,  which  was 
lying  on  the  ground.  He  made  a  brief  speech, 
denying  all  guilty  purpose,  and  told  the  firing  party, 
standing  about  ten  steps  in  front  of  him,  to  "  hold 
here,"  laying  his  right  hand  on  his  heart.  He  then 
sat  down  on  his  coffin,  and  was  blindfolded,  and  the 
signal  to  fire  was  given  by  dropping  a  handkerchief. 
Every  ball  but  one  of  the  nine  fired  struck  his  heart, 
and  would  have  killed  him  instantly  if  there  had  been 
no  other.  One  struck  him  in  the  neck,  and  would 
have  made  a  mortal  wound.  One  gun  was  left 
blank,  and  all  were  taken  by  chance,  so  that  no  man 
knew  whether  his  gun  helped  in  the  execution  or  not. 
Gay  sat  upright  for' a  second  after  ihe  firing,  and  fell 
back  dead  in  a  great  pool  of  blood,  of  which  not  a 
drop  showed  in  front.  In  1864  three  "  bounty 
jumpers"  were  shot  on  the  same  ground,  near  the 
south  bank  of  the  State  ditch,  under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Alvin  P.  Hovey.  Those  were  all  the  military 
executions  in  or  about  the  city,  though  preparations 
were  made  by  Gen.  Hovey  for  hanging  Bowles,  Mil- 
ligan,  and  Horsey,  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  convicted 
by  court-martial  in  1864  of  conspiring  with  the 
rebels  to  overthrow  the  State  government,  and  release 
the  rebel  prisoners  in  Camp  Morton.  Their  death 
sentence,  however,  was  commuted  by  President  John- 
son to  imprisoumeDt  for  life  in  the  Ohio  penitentiary, 
whence  they  were  released  by  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shortly  after. 
Mr.  Milligau  was  recently  allied  with  the  Republicans 


of  Huntington  County  against  the  regular  Demo- 
cratic ticket,  showing  rather  ludicrously  one  of  the 
"  revenges"  brought  round  by  the  "  whirligig  of 
time."  Another  convicted  Son  of  Liberty,  H.  H. 
Dodd,  made  his  escape  from  the  United  States  build- 
ing where  he  was  confined,  and  went  to  Canada.  He 
is  now  said  to  be  the  editor  of  a  Republican  paper 
in  Wisconsin. 

From  the  22d  of  February,  1862,  to  about  the 
1st  of  September  of  the  same  year.  Camp  Morton, 
as  before  stated,  was  made  a  prison  camp  in  charge 
of  the  State,  and  here  were  confined  the  prisoners 
surrendered  at  Fort  Donelson  till  an  exchange  was 
made  in  August  following.  There  were  three  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  here  at  first,  but  in  a  few  weeks 
about  fifteen  hundred  more  came  from  Terre  Haute 
and  Lafayette,  and  were  accommodated  with  precisely 
the  same  quarters,  furniture,  and  food  as  our  own 
men  who  were  encamped  there.  After  the  exchange 
of  prisoners  the  camp  was  unoccupied  till  another 
large  arrival  from  Vicksburg  in  the  summer  of  1863. 
The  camp  was  refitted,  commodious  hospitals  and 
other  buildings  erected,  and  the  Fifth  Regiment  of 
the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  under  Col.  A.  A.  Stevens, 
put  in  charge.  This  was  all  done  by  the  national 
government,  the  State  having  no  concern  with  the 
prison  after  the  exchange  in  1862.  From  three 
thousand  to  six  thousand  prisoners  were  kept  here 
during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  Col.  Richard 
Owen,  and  the  Sixtieth  and  Fifty-third  Regiments 
and  Kidd's  Battery,  and  Col.  D.  Garland  Rose  and 
the  Fifty-fourth  Regiment,  had  charge  of  the  camp 
while  in  the  hands  of  the  State. 

When  the  first  division  of  prisoners  arrived  here 
from  Fort  Donelson  they  were  fearfully  afflicted  with 
pneumonia  and  camp  diarrhoea.  The  First,  Fourth, 
and  Twenty-sixth  Mississippi  Regiments  sufiered 
worst,  though  a  number  of  Tennesseans  and  Ken- 
tuckians  were  severely  afflicted,  all  alike  from  ex- 
posure in  the  ditches  and  rifle-pits  of  Fort  Donelson, 
with  inadequate  food  and  clothing.  The  first  night 
they  slept  on  the  floor  of  the  Union  Depot,  and  all 
night  long  there  was  an  incessant  storm  of  coughing, 
groaning,  and  imploratious  for  help.  The  next  day 
the  physicians  of  the  city  prescribed  for  more  than 


314 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


five  hundred  out  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred,  ; 
or  one  in  every  seven  was  helplessly  sick.  A  hospital 
was  made  first  of  the  old  Athenaeum  Theatre,  in  the 
third  story  of  the  northwest  corner  of  Maryland  and 
Meridian  Streets.  Then  Blackford's  four-story  build- 
ing, on  the  east  side  of  Meridian  near  Washington, 
was  taken  entirely  for  hospital  use,  under  charge  of 
the  late  Dr.  Talbott  Bullard,  brcther-in-law  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  The  people  of  the  city,  men  and 
women,  served  as  nurses  without  charge,  and  with 
many  valuable  additions  to  hospital  fare  from  their 
own  home  supplies.  But,  in  spite  of  all  care  and 
eflFort,  hardly  an  hour  passed  for  the  first  five  days 
that  a  death  did  not  occur,  and  the  mortality  con- 
tinued for  a  montli  or  more  till  the  weatlier  moder- 
ated. Then  both  sickness  and  mortality  almost  dis- 
appeared. The  dead  were  buried,  in  plain  wooden 
coflBns,  in  a  lot  on  the  northern  limit  of  Greenlawn 
Cemetery,  near  the  Vandalia  Railroad,  wiience  they 
were  removed,  some  to  their  homes  by  relatives  or 
friends,  many  to  Crown  Hill,  in  a  few  years.  All 
the  graves  were  marked.  Tiie  other  prison  camps, 
Dennison  at  Columbus,  and  Douglas  at  Chicago,  were 
conducted  like  that  at  Camp  Morton,  and  the  con- 
trast between  them  and  Andersonville  and  Salisbury 
and  Libby  is  striking.  Visitors  from  Kentucky  to 
sons  and  relatives  in  the  camp,  after  the  surrender 
of  Fort  Donelson,  were  so  frequent  as  to  make  a 
serious  annoyance  at  the  Governor's  oflBce  with 
requests  for  admission. 

The  prison  experience  of  our  Indiana  soldiers  in 
the  South  was  not  quite  so  pleasant  as  that  of  South- 
ern men  here.  Gen.  Coburn,  of  the  Thirty-third 
Regiment,  was  the  first  to  come  home  from  Libby 
and  enlighten  Indianians  on  the  treatment  of  prison- 
ers there.  The  romantic  escape  of  Col.  A.  D. 
Streight,  of  the  Fifty-first  Regiment,  from  Libby 
was  known  all  over  the  country  at  the  time,  and  is 
not  forgotten  yet. 

Gen.  Abel  D.  Streight.— The  family  of  Gen. 
Streight  are  of  English  extraction,  though  his  father, 
Asa,  was  a  native  of  Vermont.  He  was  at  the 
age  of  five  left  fatherless,  and  bound  out  to  a  family 
residing  near  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  until 
his  majority  was  attained,  when  Spencer,  Tioga  Co., 


N.  Y.,  became  his  home.  Here  he  married  Lydia, 
daughter  of  Phineas  Spaulding,  and  had  children, — 
Maria  (Mrs.  Clark  Townsend),  Francis  (deceased), 
Abel  D.,  Susan  H.  (Mrs.  Cornelius  Ives),  James  P., 
Benjamin  F.,  Sylvester  W.,  Charles  F.,  and  Jane. 
Mr.  Streight  after  his  marriage  settled  in  Wheeler, 
Steuben  Co.,  and  engaged  in  farming  pursuits  until 
seventy  years  of  age,  when  he  abandoned  active  labor. 
His  death  occurred  in  June,  1883,  in  his  eighty-fourth 
year.  His  son,  Abel  D.,  was  born  June  17,  1828, 
at  Wheeler,  Steuben  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  passed  his 
boyhood  years  upon  a  farm.  He  was  afforded  the 
ordinary  advantages  of  a  common  school,  and  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  purchased  from  his  father  his  time 
until  twenty-one,  paying  him  sixty  dollars  per  year 
for  the  same.  Having  a  taste  for  mechanics  he 
readily  acquired  the  carpenters'  craft  without  in- 
struction, and  before  attaining  his  nineteenth  year 
had  taken  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  large 
mill,  which  he  successfully  completed.  At  this  early 
period  he  also  owned  a  saw-mill  acquired  by  the  pro- 
ceeds of  his  own  labor.  Gen.  Streight  then  engaged 
in  the  lumber  business  at  Wheeler,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
remained  until  his  removal  to  Cincinnati  in  1858. 
The  following  year  found  him  a  resident  of  Indianap- 
olis, where  he  embarked  in  publishing,  and  continued 
thus  employed  until  the  beginning  of  the  late  civil 
war.  It  was  at  this  crisis  that  the  patriotism,  earnest- 
ness, and  indomitable  purpose  of  Gen.  Streight  were 
brought  into  prominent  notice,  and  marked  him  as  a 
man  of  foresight  and  possessing  all  the  qualities  of  a 
successful  leader.  Realizing  the  importance  of  prompt 
and  energetic  measures  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  he  published  an  exhaustive  pamphlet,  in  which 
he  clearly  embodied  the  cause  of  the  nation's  calamity, 
and  indicated  the  measures  necessary  to  insure  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws,  the  integrity  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  He  be- 
lieved compromise  with  the  enemies  of  the  govern- 
ment to  be  a  mistake,  and  advocated  forcible  means, 
if  necessary,  to  compel  obedience  to  the  laws.  He 
proved  conclusively  the  fallacy  of  a  temporary  pacifi- 
cation policy,  and  by  voluminous  quotations  from 
letters  written  by  the  founders  of  the  government 
demonstrated   it   to   be  a  government  of   the   people 


^^^.^^^ 


MILITARY   MATTEllS. 


315 


collectively,  and  not  of  the  States.  In  defense  of 
the  Union,  whose  integrity  he  so  earnestly  defended 
with  his  pen,  he  entered  the  army  on  the  4th  of 
September,  1861,  as  colonel  of  the  Fifty-first  Indiana 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  did  effective  service  until 
March  13,  1865,  when  he  retired  with  the  brevet 
rank  of  brigadier-general,  having  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Shiloh,  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Day's  Gap, 
Crooked  Creek,  Blunt's  Farm,  engagements  with 
Wheeler's  Cavalry  at  Dalton  and  Shoal  Creek,  near 
Florence,  Ala.  (in  which  he  commanded  five  bri- 
gades), Columbia,  Tenn.,  Franklin,  Tenn.,  Nashville, 
and  again  at  Columbia,  in  which  he  forced  the  pas- 
sage of  Duck  River.  He  was  on  the  3d  of  May, 
1863,  taken  prisoner  and  confined  in  Libby  prison, 
Richmond,  Va.,  until  Feb.  9,  1864,  when,  with  one 
hundred  and  eight  of  his  fellow-prisoners,  he  escaped 
by  a  tunnel  dug  from  the  prison-walls  to  the  street, 
and  after  an  interval  of  rest  re-entered  the  service. 
In  prison  he  was  like  the  shadow  of  some  great  rock 
in  the  desert.  Men  instinctively  gathered  round  him. 
He  was  their  coun.selor,  friend,  and  champion.  In 
him  they  reposed  all  confidence,  intrusting  to  him 
their  money  and  laying  before  him  their  grievances, 
and  sharing  with  him  their  every  thought.  It  was 
Gen.  Streight  who  defiantly  wrote  the  rebel  Secretary 
of  War,  compelling  an  increase  of  rations  and  more 
humane  treatment.  The  enemy  feared  him  while 
they  hated  him,  and  if  recaptured  his  life  would 
have  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  daring  and  patriotism. 
On  returning  again  to  civil  life  he  resumed  the 
business  of  a  publisher,  in  connection  with  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  farm  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city.  In 
1865  he  embarked  in  the  lumber  business,  making 
a  speciality  of  walnut  and  hard-wood  lumber,  to 
which  was  subsequently  added  chair-manufacturing 
on  an  extensive  scale. 

Gen.  Streight,  when  a  resident  of  New  York  State, 
manifested  a  keen  interest  in  politics,  and  frequently 
as  a  Republican  participated  in  the  various  local  cam- 
paigns. In  1876  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate 
here,  running  one  thousand  ahead  of  his  ticket. 
Here  he  was  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  leaders  of 
tlie  party.  Among  other  measures  supported  by 
him  was  the  introduction  of  a  bill  providing  for  the 


erection  of  a  new  State-Hou.se  building,  the  principal 
provisions  of  which  were  adopted.  In  1880  he  was 
one  of  the  Republican  candidates  for  the  nomination 
for  Governor.  Though  not  the  successful  aspirant 
for  gubernatorial  honors,  the  press  was  unanimous  in 
its  endorsement  of  his  irreproachable  honesty,  iron 
will,  uncommon  intelligence,  and  thorough  patriot- 
ism. Gen.  Streight  was  married  Jan.  14,  1849,  to 
Miss  Lavina  McCarty,  of  Bath  township,  Steuben 
Co.,  N.  Y.  They  have  one  son,  John,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  lumber  business  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Eleventh  Regiment,  while  reorganizing  for 
the  three  years'  service,  was  encamped  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  near  Cold  Spring.  Camp  Car- 
rington,  near  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  the 
city,  on  the  high  ground  between  the  canal  and  Fall 
Creek,  was  the  largest  and  best  arranged  camp  in  the 
State.  Camp  Noble  was  the  artillery  camp,  on 
the  northern  limit  of  the  city,  west  of  Camp  Burn- 
side.  It  was  arranged  by  Col.  Frybarger,  and  oc- 
cupied by  ihe  Twenty-third  Battery,  Capt.  J.  F. 
Myers.  The  artillery  practice-ground  was  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  Paddock,  between  the  Bluff  road  and 
the  bluff  of  the  river  bottom.  The  Second  Cavalry, 
Col.  John  A.  Bridgland,  was  encamped  four  miles 
north,  near  Fall  Creek.  The  colored  regiment.  Col. 
Charles  Russell,  was  in  Camp  Fremont,  east  of  the 
lower  end  of  Virginia  Avenue.  The  Nineteenth 
Regulars,  Lieut.-Col.  King,  was  stationed  in  Indian- 
apolis for  some  months  in  1861. 

The  Soldiers'  Home  and  the  State  Arsenal  remain 
to  be  noticed  among  the  more  durable  preparations 
for  the  emergencies  of  the  war.  The  arsenal  was 
the  growth  of  Governor  Morton's  determination  that 
the  Indiana  troops  should  go  to  the  field  fully  pre- 
pared for  any  service,  and  as  the  national  arsenals 
could  not  supply  sufficient  good  ammunition,  he  es- 
tablished the  State  Arsenal  to  help.  It  did  that,  and 
often  helped  the  general  government,  too.  The 
quartermaster  supplied  the  material,  and  the  Eleventh 
Regiment  furnished  the  workmen,  and  on  the  27th 
of  April  the  arsenal  was  put  in  operation  by  moulding 
large  quantities  of  bullets  in  hand-moulds  with  a 
blacksmith's  furnace,  and  packing  the  cartridges  in 
the   next  room.     It  was  superintended  by   Herman 


316 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Sturm,  and  at  first  was  carried  on  in  Ott's  cabinet- 
factory,  opposite  the  State-House.  Then  it  was  re- 
moved to  the  temporary  buildings  north  of  the  State- 
House,  and  finally  to  vacant  ground  east  of  the  city, 
on  the  old  Noble  farm.  In  the  fall  of  1861,  Secre- 
tary Cameron,  with  Adjutant-General  Thomas  and 
Senator  Chandler,  of  Michigan,  came  to  the  city 
from  Louisville  (where  they  had  seen  General  Sher- 
man and  decided  that  he  was  "  crazy,"  because  he 
wanted  two  hundred  thousand  men  to  take  and  hold 
the  East  Mississippi  Valley,  from  the  Ohio  to  the 
Gulf),  and  after  examining  the  State  Arsenal,  ap- 
proved it  highly.  It  was  discontinued  on  the  18th 
of  April,  1864,  after  three  years  of  service,  in  which 
it  had  turned  out  §788,838.45  worth  of  work,  and 
had  made  for  the  State  a  profit  of  nearly  ten  per 
cent,,  or  $77,457.32. 

The  Soldiers'  Home,  like  the  arsenal,  was  the 
suggestion  of  Governor  Morton's  restless  solicitude 
for  the  welfare  of  the  State's  troops.  This  city  was 
the  main  depot,  recruiting  station,  drill-camp,  and 
preparatory  school  of  the  whole  State,  and  it  was  the 
chief  resting-place  of  other  troops  passing  east  or 
west  to  the  front.  Of  course,  they  always  landed 
here  hungry,  dusty,  and  tired,  and  a  sound  sleep  or  a 
bath  and  a  good  meal  were  sometimes  worth  a  man's 
life.  The  Soldiers'  Home  was  a  sort  of  military 
hotel  in  which  all  the  accommodations  were  free. 
During  the  first  months  of  the  war  the  State  Sanitary 
Commission  had  agents  at  the  Union  Depot  to  supply 
passing  troops  and  take  care  of  the  sick  at  hotels ; 
but  this  was  expensive  and  inconvenient,  and  a  camp 
was  established  on  the  vacant  ground  south  of  the 
depot,  with  ho.spital  tents  and  other  conveniences, 
and  maintained  until  1862,  when  the  Governor  re- 
solved to  establish  a  permanent  home.  Quartermas- 
ter Asahel  Stone  selected  the  grove  on  the  west  side 
of  West  Street,  just  north  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad, 
and  here  temporary,  but  adequate  and  comfortable 
frame  buildings  were  erected,  enlarged,  and  added  to 
till  they  could  accommodate  1800  with  beds  and 
8000  with  meals  every  day.  From  August,  1862,  to 
June,  1865,  the  Home  furnished  3,777,791  meals, 
and  during  the  year  1864  furnished  an  average  of 
4498   meals  a  day.     The   bread  was  supplied  by   a 


bakery  maintained  by  the  quartermaster  with  such 
strict  economy  and  wise  forecast  that  the  rations  of 
flour,  to  which  the  men  served  in  the  Home  were  en- 
titled, sufficed  for  all  they  needed,  and  for  thousands 
of  loaves  distributed  among  the  poor  besides.  The 
saving  in  the  rations  of  other  articles  amounted  to 
$71,130.24.  The  saving  of  flour,  after  all  bread 
supplies  were  completed,  the  sale  of  offal,  and  a  sut- 
ler's tax  paid  $19,642.19.  Thus  the  Home  was  sus- 
tained in  all  its  expenses  almost  wholly  by  the  rations 
of  the  men  provided  for  in  it.  On  holidays  the 
ladies  of  the  city  furnished  festival  dinners  of  their 
own  preparation,  waited  at  the  table,  and  did  all  the 
service.  A  Ladies'  Home,  for  the  care  of  soldiers' 
wives  and  children,  was  opened  in  a  building  near  the 
Union  Depot,  in  December,  1863,  taking  care  of  an 
average  of  one  hundred  a  day  during  the  remainder 
of  the  war. 

The  State  Sanitary  Commission  was  first  sug- 
gested by  the  necessities  of  the  State  troops  in  West 
Virginia  among  the  mountains  in  the  early  fall  or 
latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1861.  Governor  Morton's 
endless  difficulties  in  getting  winter  clothing  and 
supplies  through  the  elaborate  entanglement  of  gov- 
ernment "  red  tape"  put  his  mind  upon  doing  the 
necessary  service  in  a  better  way,  and  thus  came  the 
Sanitary  Commission  of  Indiana.  The  late  Rob- 
ert Dale  Owen,  the  State's  military  agent  in  New 
York,  made  the  fii'st  step  in  the  scheme  by  purchas- 
ing, under  the  Governor's  direction,  twenty-nine 
thousand  overcoats,  some  at  seven  dollars  and  seventy- 
five  cents  each,  some  at  nine  dollars  and  twenty-five 
cents.  The  United  States  Quartermaster,  Meigs,  re- 
fused to  pay  more  than  the  regulation  price  for  the 
latter,  and  the  State  assumed  the  extra  one  dollar 
and  a  half.  Morton  said,  "  If  the  general  government 
will  not  pay  at  the  current  rates,  Indiana  will,  for 
she  will  not  allow  her  troops  to  suffer."  Socks,  shoes, 
and  caps  were  lacking,  blankets  were  defective  and 
insufficient  in  quantity.  To  supply  these  deficiencies 
the  Governor,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1861,  issued  his 
first  appeal  to  the  "  women  of  Indiana."  The  re- 
sponse came  in  blankets,  shirts,  drawers,  socks,  and 
mittens,  sheets,  pillows,  pads,  bandages,  lint,  and 
dressing-gowns   for    hospital  use,  to  the    amount    of 


MILITAKY   MATTERS. 


317 


many  thousands  of  dollars.  This  was  the  first  sani- 
tary work  of  the  war  done  anywhere  by  State  or 
nation.  Competent  agents  were  appointed  and  sent 
to  the  best  points  to  carry  on  this  work,  which  was 
to  "  render  all  possible  relief  to  our  soldiers,  espe- 
cially to  those  who  were  sick  or  wounded,  whether  in 
transit,  in  hospitals,  or  on  the  battle-field."  Sanitary 
stores  were  sent  to  them  for  distribution.  Besides 
these  agents  there  were  special  agents,  surgeons,  and 
nurses, — many  of  the  latter  among  ladies  of  high 
social  position.  From  this  city  Mrs.  Coburn,  wife  of 
Gen.  Coburn,  and  Miss  E.  H.  Bates,  daughter  of  the 
first  sheriff,  were  largely  engaged  in  hospital  service. 
Combined  with  the  sanitary  service  there  were  agents 
to  take  care  of  the  men's  pay  and  bring  it  home  free 
of  cost  to  their  families,  to  write  letters  for  them,  to 
see  to  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the  preservation  of 
relics,  and  keep  registers  of  all  the  men  in  hospitals, 
with  date,  disease,  wound,  and  date  and  cause  of 
death,  if  death  ensued,  for  the  information  of  rela- 
tives and  friends,  to  assist  returning  soldiers  in  get- 
ting transportation,  to  look  after  returning  prisoners, 
and  in  every  way  to  be  careful  and  affectionate 
guardians.  Dr.  Bullard,  Dr.  Parvin,  and  Rev.  T.  A. 
Goodwin  were  efi'ectively  engaged  in  these  duties  at 
one  time  or  another,  while  Dr.  William  Hannaman 
was  chief  sanitary  agent  all  the  time,  a.ssisted  by 
Alfred  Harrison.  The  Commission  during  the  time 
of  its  existence,  from  February,  1862,  to  the  close  of 
the  war,  collected  in  cash  8247,570.75  and  in  goods 
$359,000,  making  a  total  of  sanitary  contributions 
made  in  the  State  in  about  three  years  of  $606,570.75. 
An  additional  .sum  of  $4,566,898  was  contributed  by 
counties,  townships,  and  towns  to  the  relief  of  sol- 
diers' families  and  soldiers  disabled  by  disease  or 
wounds,  making  a  total  voluntary  outlay  in  Indiana 
of  over  five  millions  of  dollars,  besides  thousands  of 
which  no  account  was  ever  made. 

Some  of  the  political  incidents  of  the  war  are  worth 
noting  as  an  indication  of  the  feeling  of  the  people. 
At  the  outset  there  was  never  a  word  of  sympathy 
with  the  rebellion  heard.  The  feeling  was  all  loyal 
or  silent.  One  of  the  city  papers  neglected  to  hoist 
the  national  flag  on  its  building,  and  the  proprietor 
came  near  being  mobbed  by  the  intolerant  patriots. 


He  and  others  suspected  of  Southern  sympathies 
were  made  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  As  the 
war  grew  to  be  a  familiar  idea,  and  its  conduct  showed 
bad  feeling  and  incompetent  management,  popular 
sentiment  changed.  Opposition  began  to  speak  more 
plainly  and  to  take  on  a  party  aspect.  That  doubly 
embittered  old  differences.  The  loyal  men  talked  of 
the  others  as  traitors,  and  treated  them  as  unfit  for 
respectable  society  ;  the  latter  retorted  by  censures 
of  the  tyranny  of  the  government  and  the  inefficiency 
of  its  conduct.  At  a  county  convention  in  the  court- 
house square  on  the  2d  of  September,  1862,  some 
of  the  Democratic  speakers,  especially  the  late  Robert 
L.  Walpole,  bitterly  denounced  the  war,  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  soldiers.  There  were  many  of  these 
in  the  crowd,  and  they  were  irritated.  A  riot  fol- 
lowed, and  some  of  the  rebel  sympathizers  barely  es- 
caped with  their  lives  ;  if  they  had  been  caught  they 
would  have  been  killed.  At  the  October  election 
the  opponents  of  the  war  were  excluded  from  the 
polls  by  threats  of  violence.  In  1864,  while  the 
Nineteenth  Veteran  Regiment  was  here  on  a  fur- 
lough allowed  to  re-enlisted  veterans,  the  Sentinel 
made  some  allusion  to  the  appearance  of  the  men  in 
a  party  procession  the  day  before,  and  an  angry  crowd 
assailed  the  oflice  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  "  clean- 
ing it  out,"  but  were  defeated  by  the  re.solute  obstruc- 
tion of  Provost- Marshal  (afterwards  Governor)  Baker. 
It  was  then  in  all  Gen.  Butler's  operations  south  of 
Richmond  and  was  conspicuous  at  Wathal  Junction. 
The  Democratic  State  Convention  in  1864  came 
here  armed,  and  kept  up  a  considerable  fusilade  as 
it  went  away  in  the  evening.  The  Eastern  trains 
were  stopped  and  the  jubilant  shooters  compelled  to 
give  up  their  weapons  to  the  number  of  several 
hundred. 

The  Legislature  of  1863  was  adverse  to  the  war 
and  the  party  sustaining  the  war.  It  refused  to  re- 
ceive Governor  Morton's  message.  It  tried  to  de- 
prive him  of  the  constitutional  command  of  the  State 
militia.  It  proposed  no  less  than  thirty  measures  of 
truce  or  peace  with  the  Confederate  States.  It  failed 
to  make  any  appropriations  to  carry  on  the  State  civil 
government  or  the  military  contributions  to  the  gen- 
eral government.     This  forced  Governor  Morton  to 


318 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


raise  money  by  loans  and  popular  contributions  both 
for  these  purposes  and  for  the  payment  of  interest  on 
the  State  debt  to  avoid  the  ruinous  imputation  of 
repudiation,  which  was  so  disastrous  from  1841  to 
1846.  He  constituted  a  "  financial  bureau"  to  meet 
the  emergency,  and  for.  two  years  governed  without 
any  connection  with  the  other  State  offices,  which 
were  in  the  hands  of  political  antagonists  and  friends 
of  the  Confederacy.  The  Legislature  of  1865,  how- 
ever, was  of  a  different  complexion,  and  legalized  all 
the  Governor's  acts,  paid  liis  debts,  and  reimbursed 
his  loans  and  contributions. 

The  most  conspicuous  feature  of  the  political  an- 
tagonism to  the  war  were  the  "  Treason  Trials"  of 
1864.  H.  H.  Dodd  was  first  arrested  on  informa- 
tion, anonymously  conveyed  to  the  Governor  by  a 
lady  in  New  York,  that  boxes  of  revolvers  and  am- 
munition had  been  sent  to  Dodd,  marked  "  Sunday- 
school  books,"  which  were  concealed  or  stored  in  the 
Sentinel  building.  This  was  the  story  at  the  time. 
Governor  Morton,  however,  said  that  while  the  in- 
formation came  to  him  anonymously  from  a  lady 
whom  he  never  discovered,  the  boxes,  when  discov- 
ered, were  merely  marked  "  books"  and  "  stationery." 
The  "  Sunday-school"  was  a  humorous  addition. 
Dodd  was  tried  by  court-martial,  convicted,  sentenced 
to  death,  and  escaped  as  already  related.  At  the 
same  time  William  A.  Bowles,  the  reversed  hero  of 
Buena  Vista  and  head  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in 
this  State,  with  Lamdin  P.  Milligan,  Stephen  Hor- 
sey, Andrew  Humphreys,  and  the  late  Horace  Heff- 
ren,  were  arrested.  Later  the  first  three  were  tried 
and  convicted  by  court-martial,  as  above  related. 
Humphreys  was  convicted,  but  sentenced  to  a  re- 
straint within  limits  at  home,  and  later  was  par- 
doned ;  the  late  Dr.  John  C.  "Walker,  colonel  of  the 
Irish  regiment,  a  leader  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  went 
to  England  and  was  never  disturbed ;  Heffren  turned 
State's  evidence  and  convicted  his  associates. 

Several  rebel  raids  were  made  or  attempted  into  In- 
diana under  the  encouragement  of  the  sympathizing 
associations  to  which  these  men  and  many  thousands 
of  others  belonged.  The  first  was  led  by  Adam  R. 
Johnson  on  Newburg,  Warrick  Co.,  July  18,  1863. 
The   next  was  led  by   Capt.   Thomas   H.   Hines,  of 


Morgan's  division,  June  17,  1863,  entering  this 
State  eighteen  miles  above  Cannelton,  with  sixty-two 
men.  All  but  a  dozen  of  them  were  captured  in 
two  days  in  Crawford  County,  after  stealing  a  con- 
siderable number  of  good  horses.  The  great  raid, 
however,  was  that  of  Gen.  John  H.  Morgan,  with  a 
brigade  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  men 
and  four  guns.  They  crossed  the  Ohio  at  Branden- 
burg, Ky.,  and  passed  into  the  interior  of  the  State 
as  far  as  Vernon.  The  home  troops  of  the  "  Legion" 
and  temporary  volunteers  met  in  University  Square 
here,  and  drilled  two  or  three  times,  the  banks  sent 
away  their  specie,  and  railroad  travel  .southward  was 
interrupted  a  little,  but  that  was  the  worst  effect  in 
the  city  of  the  great  Morgan  raid.  How  it  turned  to 
a  retreat  in  one  day,  and  a  flight  the  next  day,  and  a 
surrender  of  most  of  the  command  in  Ohio  in  a  day 
or  two  more,  everybody  knows.  A  horrible  catas- 
trophe marked  the  first  movement  of  troops  here  to 
meet  the  raid.  A  Michigan  battery  which  had  been 
stationed  here  for  some  time  was  hurrying  from  the 
artillery  camp  down  Tennessee  Street  to  Indiana 
Avenue,  on  its  way  to  the  depot,  when  the  jolting  of 
one  of  the  caissons  exploded  a  percussion  shell  and 
all  the  contents  of  the  caisson  with  it,  blowing  two 
of  the  men  over  the  tops  of  the  shade-trees  along  the 
sidewalk,  tearing  them  into  fearful  fragments,  and 
killing  them  instantly,  and  mortally  wounding  a  man 
and  boy  of  the  city  who  happened  to  be  passing.  It 
was  about  sundown  of  the  Oth  of  July. 

The  worst  effect  of  the  political  hostility  to  the 
war  was  not  the  conspiracies  of  secret  orders  of  rebel 
sympathizers,  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  and 
Sons  of  Liberty,  nor  the  open  legislative  action  in 
embarrassment  of  the  efforts  of  the  State  and  nation 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  but  in  the  encour- 
agement to  desertion,  the  organized  protection  of 
deserters,  and  the  cool,  calculating  murder  of  draft- 
officers  in  three  or  four  counties,  and  draft-mobs  in  a 
dozen.  The  soldiers  at  first  did  not  properly  under- 
stand their  relation  to  the  government.  They  thought 
that  an  enlistment  was  like  any  other  engagement  for 
service,  terminable  at  any  moment  by  giving  up  all 
claim  to  wages  for  the  abandoned  time.  When  the 
service  became  hard   and    the  discipline   unsparing, 


MILITAEY   MATTERS. 


319 


they  got  leave  of  absence  to  go  home  and  stayed  at 
home,  protected  by  their  friends  of  the  anti-war 
party.  Others  deserted  outright  without  any  pre- 
tense of  furlough.  Organizations  were  made  to  pro- 
tect them  from  arrest,  and  parties  searching  for  them 
were  fired  upon  repeatedly.  Letters  were  written 
from  home  urging  desertion,  and  these  were  some- 
times published  by  the  faithful  recipients  to  expose 
the  machinations  of  disloyal  men.  The  efiect  of  the 
combined  adverse  influences  was  that  two  thousand 
three  hundred  deserters  came  home  from  Indiana 
regiments  alone  in  December,  1862-63.  The  dis- 
couragement of  enlistments  was  a  logical  and  inev- 
itable part  of  the  same  impulse  and  movement.  Nat- 
ural conditions  favored  it.  Wages  rose  rapidly  with 
the  vast  reduction  of  the  working  force  of  the  State, 
and  with  the  depreciation  of  currency  the  prices  of 
everything  else  rose.  The  volunteer  of  1861  went  out 
when  the  government's  pay  was  about  as  good  as  any 
other  employer's,  and  the  service  was  not  thought 
harder.  It  was  a  sort  of  national  picnic  with  some 
chances  of  danger  and  hard  usage.  The  paymaster 
would  leave  enough  at  hjs  visits  to  make  a  comfort- 
able support  for  the  family  at  home.  In  less  than 
two  years  a  great  change  had  come.  Wages  were 
high,  living  costly,  the  soldier's  pay,  though  increased, 
was  relatively  less.  The  family  would  be  left  with 
inadequate  support,  or  trusted  to  the  chance  assist- 
ance of  neighbors.  The  co-operation  of  these  nat- 
ural conditions  with  political  antagonism  forced 
upon  all  governments,  national  and  local,  the  payment 
of  large  bounties  to  secure  volunteers,  under  the 
President's  calls,  who  should  enable  the  community  to 
avoid  a  draft.  As  the  war  went  on  and  more  men 
went  to  the  field,  and  currency  sank  lower  and  prices 
rose  higher,  bounties  mounted  too ;  and  under  the 
last  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  men,  Dec.  24, 
1864,  the  national,  county,  and  city  bounties  to  vol- 
unteers in  Indianapolis,  with  the  advance  pay,  gave 
every  man  nearly  one  thousand  dollars  before  he  went 
into  camp. 

The  city  made  an  appropriation  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  on  the  20th  of  April,  1861,  for  the  support  of 
the  three  months'  men.  Other  smaller  sums  were 
frequently  given  to  supply  fuel,  provisions,  clothing, 


and  other  necessaries  to  destitute  families.  In  Au- 
gust, 1864,  a  purchase  of  two  hundred  cords  of  wood 
was  made,  and  the  following  winter  three  thousand 
two  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated  to  similar  service. 
Here  and  all  over  the  State  contributions  of  fuel  and 
food  were  made  by  farmers  who  turned  the  occasion 
into  a  sort  of  holiday,  and  paraded  the  streets  in  long 
processions  of  loaded  wagons  to  the  music  of  a  band 
or  a  drum  and  fife.  Occasionally  emulation  would 
bring  into  a  town  huge  wagons,  each  loaded  with  a 
whole  winter's  supply  of  wood  for  a  single  family. 
Some  would  have  five  cords,  some  seven,  some  more 
than  that,  and  one  bold  donor  from  Perry  township 
brought  into  Indianapolis  once  ten  cords,  and  a  lib- 
eral supply  of  flour,  meat,  and  potatoes.  Local  fairs 
and  private  contributions  raised  large  sums  for  sani- 
tary purposes  as  well  as  for  soldiers'  families.  A 
fair  held  on  the  fair  ground,  in  connection  with  the 
regular  State  agricultural  fair  in  1864,  raised  forty 
thousand  dollars.  But  the  support  of  soldiers'  fam- 
ilies formed  only  a  small  part  of  the  account  of  cities 
and  counties  in  dealing  with  our  volunteers.  Boun- 
ties were  the  main  source  of  expense. 

Going  into  the  army  had  come  to  be  viewed  in  a 
business  aspect,  mainly  or  wholly.  The  volunteers 
"  meant  business"  and  meant  very  little  sentiment. 
So  bounties  were  made  to  fit  the  emergency,  like  any 
other  inducement  to  labor  when  hands  are  scarce. 
In  the  fall  of  1862  the  city  appropriated  five  thou- 
sand dollars  for  bounties,  which  served  for  five  or  six 
months.  On  the  14th  of  December,  1863,  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  to  bounties, 
and  ward  committees  raised  considerable  sums  in  ad- 
dition by  contribution.  This  enabled  the  city  to 
avert  the  draft.  The  next  summer,  which  completed 
the  three  years  of  many  of  the  early  regiments,  saw 
a  constant  succession  of  veterans  coming  home  on  the 
long  furlough  allowed  by  the  government  to  those 
that  re-enlisted.  These  were  uniformly  met  and 
welcomed,  and  paraded,  and  feasted  by  Governor 
Morton,  Mayor  Caven,  and  the  citizens;  and  occa- 
sionally some  of  the  veterans  would  take  the  city's 
bounty  and  credit  themselves  here,  counting  thus 
against  a  future  draft.  The  Seventeenth  Regiment, 
one   of   the    re-enlisted   veteran    regiments,    had    its 


320 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


whole  force  credited  to  Indianapolis,  asking  no  bounty. 
Subsequently,  however,  some  of  the  men  hinted  that 
it  was  hardly  fair  to  pay  raw  recruits  a  thousand  dol- 
lars and  veterans  of  three  years'  service  nothing,  and 
the  city  thought  so,  too,  and  gave  them  five  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-five  dollars,  which  was  all 
they  asked. 

On  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Morton,  the  Gov- 
ernors of  Ohio,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  met 
here  April  24,  1864,  and  recommended  to  the  Presi- 
dent to  accept  a  force  of  eighty-five  thousand  men  for 
one  hundred  days  from  these  States,  to  guard  Gen. 
Sherman's  communications  while  he  was  marching  to 
the  sea.  The  President  consented.  Indiana  was  as- 
signed seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifteen  men, 
and  the  city's  quota  was  raised  at  once.  The  home  regi- 
ment, the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-second,  under 
Col.  Samuel  C.  Vance,  Lieut.-Col.  Samuel  A.  Cra- 
mer, and  Maj.  Hervoy  Bates,  took  away  a  larger 
number  of  well-known  citizens  than  any  during  the 
whole  war.  and  they  did  good  service,  too.  Under  the 
call  for  three  hundred  thousand  men,  Oct.  17,  1863, 
increased  Feb.  1,  1864,  to  five  hundred  thousand, 
and  on  March  14th  to  seven  hundred  thousand,  no 
draft  was  made.  The  State  had  filled  her  whole 
quota  of  the  three  calls,  with  two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety-three  men  to  spare  on  the  next  one. 
On  the  18th  of  July  a  call  was  made  for  five  hun- 
dred thousand  more,  and  the  city's  quota  was  fixed 
at  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight.  For 
once  the  citizens  had  to  move  promptly  and  vigor- 
ously to  escape  a  draft.  Meetings  to  raise  the  requi- 
site bounties  to  allure  volunteers  were  held  through 
the  summer,  and  forty  thousand  dollars  subscribed 
and  eight  hundred  men  enlisted.  But  we  were  still 
four  hundred  and  fifty  men  short.  The  "  enrolled 
men  "  on  the  conscription  record  raised  a  considerable 
sum  to  secure  substitutes,  but  still  the  deficit  was  not 
made  up.  Then  the  Council  made  on  the  28th  of 
September  an  appropriation  of  ninety-two  thousand 
dollars,  and  on  October  3d  another  of  forty  thousand 
dollars,  to  help  in  the  strait;  and  during  October 
and  November  the  quota  was  filled  without  a  draft  at 
a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars. 
On  Dec.  24,  1864,  the  last  call  for  troops  was  made. 


The  State's  quota  of  the  three  hundred  thousand  was 
twenty-two  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-two,  of 
which  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-three 
had  been  paid  by  over-enlistment  on  previous  calls. 
The  Council  appropriated  the  unexpended  remainder 
of  the  previous  appropriation, — twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  and  later  twenty  thousand  dollars.  This  was 
insufficient,  and  in  January,  1865,  the  mayor  recom- 
mended further  appropriations  and  drafting  by  wards. 
The  Council  fixed  upon  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  in  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollar  bounties,  with  ten  dollars  premium  for  each  re- 
cruit ;  and  three  days  later  made  the  bounty  two  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  obtained  an  order  from  Washington 
for  a  draft  by  wards.  In  February  the  Council  gave 
four  hundred  dollars  to  every  man  who  should  be 
drafted  if  he  had  purchased  a  fifty-dollar  city  order. 
On  the  22d  of  February  the  citizens,  to  the  number 
of  four  thousand  four  hundred,  petitioned  the  Coun- 
cil to  raise  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  (ity 
bonds  to  pay  adequate  bounties  and  fill  the  city's 
quota.  The  order  was  made  and  the  bonds  prepared 
and  sent  to  New  York,  but  none  were  sold.  On  the 
6th  of  March  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  bor- 
rowed of  five  banks — twenty  thousand  dollars  of  each 
— at  twelve  per  cent.,  and  this  was  appropriated  in 
four  hundred  dollar  bounties.  When  the  quota  was 
nearly  full  it  was  found  that  some  idiot  in  the  War 
Office  had  made  a  blunder  in  fixing  the  city's  credits 
for  volunteers,  and  that  the  quota  was  filled  with 
hundreds  to  spare.  A  fourth  of  the  loan  was  saved. 
The  war  expense  from  May,  1864,  to  May,  1865, 
which  included  the  great  bulk  of  the  outlay  for  boun- 
ties, was  seven  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  one 
hundred  and  .seventy-nine  dollars.  The  whole  war- 
expense  of  the  city  was  about  one  million  dollars. 

These  largo  appropriations  made  high  taxes  and 
finally  considerable  debts.  But  the  city  was  grow- 
ing rapidly,  business  of  all  kinds  was  flourishing,  and 
high  taxes  were  easily  borne  comparatively.  The 
rate  ran  from  SI. 50  to  $1.75,  exclusive  of  State  and 
county  taxes,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  war  and 
the  year  following.  Then  came  a  clamor  against 
such  onerous  rates,  and  a  reduction  was  made  till  1875, 
when  the  tax  was  made  $1.50  again.     Then  it  was 


MILITAKY   MATTERS. 


321 


reduced  a  little,  and  the  next  year  a  provision  of  the 
charter  limited  the  total,  including  school  and  library 
tax,  to  $1.12.  It  is  now  at  the  limit.  By  the  same 
provision  the  city  debt  was  limited  to  two  per  cent, 
of  the  tax  duplicate.  That  is  also  at  the  limit.  The 
history  of  the  city's  debts  is  very  short.  In  1849  the 
amount  was  $6000  ;  it  was  mostly  paid  by  a  special 
tax  in  1850.  In  1851  it  was  $5400,  paid  in  1854, 
except  $557.  In  1855  it  was  $10,000,  and  in  1856 
$15,300.  Jerry  Skeen  was  appointed  a  special  agent 
to  negotiate  $30,000  of  city  bonds  in  1856  to  pay 
the  debt  and  put  a  little  by  for  an  emergency,  and 
pledged  the  whole  of  them  for  $5000  to  bet  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  that  year.  The  city  lost  enough 
by  these  operations  to  make  the  debt  in  1857  $23,740. 
In  1859  it  was  reduced  to  $9300,  raised  to  $11,500 
in  1860,  and  to  $46,000  in  1861.  In  1862  it  was 
reduced  to  $16,500,  in  1863  to  $11,250,  and  later 
paid  off.  The  war  and  big  bounties  and  high  prices 
left  a  debt  of  $368,000  in  1868,  which  was  reduced 
to  $100,000  in  1869,  with  $260,000  in  cash  in  the 
treasury  to  pay  it,  as  related  in  the  services  of  Dr. 
Jameson  as  financial  manager  of  the  Council  from 
1863  to  1869. 

In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  city 
and  county  during  the  war,  it  may  not  be  irrelevant 
to  note  that  a  distinctively  German  regiment  (the 
Thirty-second),  Col.  August  Willich,  and  a  distinct- 
ively Irish  regiment  (the  Thirty-fifth),  Col.  John  C. 
Walker,  of  Sons  of  Liberty  fame,  first,  and  then 
Col.  Bernard  F.  Mullen,  were  organized  and  drilled 
and  prepared  for  the  field  in  the  city  camps.  How 
many  men  enlisted  in  them  from  the  city  or  county 
does  not  appear  in  the  adjutant-general's  report,  as 
the  residences  are  not  given  in  the  cases  of  several 
companies  of  both.  The  colonels  (Willich,  Von 
Trebra,  and  Erdelmeyer,  of  the  Thirty-second)  were 
all  of  this  city,  as  well  as  Lieut.- Col.  Hans  Blume 
and  Maj.  Peter  Cappell,  but  very  few  others  were, 
and  the  residences  of  none  of  the  enlisted  are  noted. 
Of  the  Thirty-fifth  (Irish)  Regiment  a  roster  of  the 
Marion  County  men  is  appended,  with  those  of  the 
other  regiments  which  contained  companies  largely 
recruited  in  this  city. 

The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  a  better  memo- 


rial organization  than  the  Cincinnati  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  is  largely  represented  among  the  veterans 
of  the  civil  war,  and  in  the  city  are  the  General 
Thomas  Post,  and  the  George  H.  Chapman  Post, 
named  from  the  late  Gen.  Chapman,  of  the  city.  The 
order  in  the  State  is  represented  by  a  weekly  news- 
paper called  the  Grand  Army  Guard. 

The  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  city  was  instant 
and  obvious,  and  increased  continually.  Previously 
the  commercial  business  had  been  almost  wholly 
retail,  and  conducted  almost  wholly  on  Washington 
Street.  There  were  family  groceries  and  bakeries 
and  an  occasional  drug-store  dropped  about  on  con- 
venient corners  in  more  remote  sections,  but  they 
formed  no  considerable  part  of  the  total.  With  the 
impulse  derived  from  the  large  accumulations  of 
temporary  population  and  the  trades  that  thrive  by 
them  came  a  permanent  growth  of  improvements. 
A  considerable  portion  of  Illinois  and  Meridian 
Streets,  between  Washington  and  the  depot,  had  been 
open  ground,  built  up  in  spots  with  cheap  frames  on 
Illinois  and  large  residences  on  Meridian.  These 
vacancies  were  mainly  filled  and  the  little  houses  put 
aside  for  bigger  ones,  and  both  streets  made  almost 
solid  masses  of  building.  On  Meridian  Street  they 
soon  came  to  be  used  for  wholesale  trade  chiefly,  and 
then  the  commerce  of  the  city  may  be  said  to  have 
first  put  on  an  aspect  of  wholesale  trade.  There  had 
been  wholesale  houses,  off  and  on,  since  1857,  but 
the  business  did  not  amount  to  enough  to  make  it  a 
distinctive  feature  of  the  general  city  trade.  On 
Illinois  Street  retail  shops,  saloons,  and  restaurants 
took  the  space,  and  they,  with  the  hotels,  still  domi- 
nate that  now  most  crowded  and  busy  street  of  the 
city,  except  Washington.  From  these,  in  a  year  or 
two,  the  improving  impulse  spread  north  of  Wash- 
ington and  along  the  avenues,  and  began  to  efface 
completely  the  country-town  aspect  which  the  city 
had  worn  in  some  measure  since  its  foundation,  in 
spite  of  the  growth  imparted  by  railroads  and  en- 
larged business.  With  a  population  of  eighteen 
thousand  six  hundred  in  1860,  and  with  large  manu- 
factories scattered  about  in  the  creek  valley,  Indian- 
apolis was  still  only  a  country  town  in  appearance, 
with  all  its  business  on   one  street,  and  its  gas  and 


322 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


paving  and  draining  barely  begun.  The  magnitude 
of  the  change  may  be  judged  from  a  few  facts.  In  : 
1865,  the  first  year  of  which  a  full  report  was  made, 
"  permits"  were  issued  for  sixteen  hundred  and 
twenty-one  buildings,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  two  { 
million  dollars ;  nine  miles  of  streets  and  eighteen  i 
miles  of  sidewalk  were  graded  and  graveled,  and  j 
one  mile  of  streets  bouldered,  four  miles  of  sidewalk  \ 
paved,  and  three  miles  lighted  with  gas.  In  1866 
the  building  permits  were  eleven  hundred  and  twelve, 
with  an  estimated  cost  of  one  million  and  sixty-five 
thousand  dollars,  eight  and  a  half  miles  of  streets 
and  sixteen  miles  of  sidewalks  were  graded  and 
graveled,  a  third  of  a  mile  bouldered,  two  miles  of 
sidewalks  paved,  and  three  miles  lighted.  In  1867 
the  buildings  were  seven  hundred  and  forty-seven,  at 
a  cost  of  over  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  four 
and  a  half  miles  of  .streets  and  nine  miles  of  side- 
walks were  graded  and  graveled,  a  half  mile  of 
streets  was  bouldered,  two  and  a  quarter  miles  of 
sidewalk  paved,  and  four  and  a  half  miles  lighted. 
This  impulse  of  improvement  continued,  as  heretofore 
related,  till  the  panic  of  1873  began  to  be  operative 
here,  about  1874-75,  and  by  that  time  the  population 
had  swelled  to  threefold  its  former  mass.  It  was 
eighteen  thousand  six  hundred  in  1860,  and  forty- 
eight  thousand  two  hundred  in  1870,  increased  by  a 
corrected  return  made  a  few  months  later  to  fifty-two 
thousand,  or  nearly  three  times  the  population  of  the 
previous  census. 

The  final  development  of  the  city  as  a  centre  of 
commerce  and  manufactures  would  doubtless  have 
come  in  time  from  its  natural  advantages,  if  there 
had  been  no  war  and  no  artificial  advantages  to 
hasten  it,  but  1 865  found  a  breadth  and  permanence 
of  growth  that  would  not  have  been  found  in  1870  if 
there  had  been  no  war.  A  consciousness  of  strength 
was  universal,  and  in  the  year  the  war  closed,  high 
as  taxes  were,  the  citizens  petitioned  the  Council  to 
give  subsidies  to  four  railroad  enterprises, — the  Vin- 
cennes,  sixty  thousand  dollars ;  the  Indiana  and  Illi- 
nois Central  (now  Indianapolis,  Decatur  and  Spring- 
field), forty-five  thousand  dollars ;  the  Indianapolis, 
Bloomington  and  Western,  forty-five  thousand  dollars ; 
and  the  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  Junction,  forty- 


five  thousand  dollars.  The  last  took  its  subsidy  upon 
the  express  condition  of  locating  its  machine-shops 
hero,  and  didn't  do  it.  The  Indiana  and  Illinois 
Central  subsidy  was  never  drawn  from  the  treasury, 
although  many  supposed  it  was.  The  reorganized 
company,  the  Indianapolis,  Decatur  and  Spring- 
field, finished  the  line  to  the  city  very  recently,  but 
never  claimed  the  money.  That  road  is  now  perma- 
nently leased  to  or  consolidated  with  the  Indianapo- 
lis, Bloomington  and  Western,  and  the  forty-five 
thousand  dollars  is  a  subject  of  litigation  between  the 
trustee  of  Centre  township  and  the  County  Board. 
The  trustee  wants  the  township's  portion  of  the  sub- 
sidy for  public  purposes,  and  the  question  is  iu  court. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

MARION  COUNTY  IN  TUE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

Sketches  of  the  .Services  of  Regiments — Rosters  of  Ofificers  and 
Enlisted  Men  from  Marion  County  Serving  in  the  Several 
Regiments. 

In  the  following  pages  arc  collected  the  names  of 
all  the  men  who  entered  the  service  of  the  United 
States  for  three  years  from  Marion  County,  where 
they  formed  the  whole  or  greater  part  of  the  com- 
pany. Names  of  residents  scattered  about  in  com- 
panies raised  elsewhere  are  omitted,  the  inteution 
being  to  preserve  the  record  of  Marion  County  and 
Indianapolis  companies  only.  Preceding  each  is  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  history,  condensed  from  Adjt.- 
Gen.  Terrell's  official  report.  The  names  of  all  offi- 
cers, company  or  field,  appointed  from  the  county  or 
city  to  any  State  regiment  are  given  up  to  the 
Seventy-ninth.  After  that  there  are  no  appoint- 
ments from  this  county  but  of  old  officers  assigned  to 
new  regiments,  except  in  a  few  cases. 

Seventh  Regiment. — Colonel,  Ebenezer  Dumont, 
com.  Sept.  13,  18lJl  ;  pro.  brig.-gen.  U.S.  Vols., 
Sept.  3,  1861. 

Chaplains,  James  Kiger,  com.  Sept.  13,  1861  ; 
res.  March  13,  1863  ;  William  R.  Jewell,  com.  Aug. 
21,  1863 ;  must,  out  Sept.  20,  1864,  time  expired. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


323 


Surgeon,  George  W.  New,  com.  Sept.  4,  1861  ; 
dis.,  recom.,  and  must,  out  Sept.  20, 1864. 

Eighth  Regiment. — Adjutant,  Charles  0.  How- 
ard, com.  Sept.  2,  1861  ;  pro.  capt.  18th  U.  S.  In- 
fantry. 

Ninth  Regiment. — Quartermaster,  James  J. 
Drum,  com.  Aug.  28,  1861  ;  died  at  Indianapolis  May 
31,  1863. 

Assistant  Surgeon,  William  B.  Fletcher,  com. 
March  20,  1862;  declined. 

Tenth  Regiment. — First  lieutenant  Co.  F,  Sam- 
uel C.  Vance,  com.  May  20,  1862  ;  dismissed  April 
27,  1863. 

Eleventh  Regiment. — The  Eleventh  Regiment 
was  reorganized  and  mustered  in  for  the  three  years' 
service  on  the  31st  of  August,  1861,  with  Lewis 
Wallace  as  colonel,  and  left  Indianapolis  for  St. 
Louis  on  the  6th  of  September,  arriving  there  on  the 
8th,  and  leaving  the  day  following  for  Paducah, 
Ky.  Here  Lieut.-Col.  George  F.  McGinnis  was 
promoted  colonel  in  place  of  Lewis  Wallace,  ap- 
pointed brigadier-general.  The  regiment  remained 
at  this  post  till  Feb.  5,  1862,  when  it  was  sent  up 
the  Tennessee  River  to  within  six  miles  of  Fort 
Henry,  thence  to  Fort  Heiman,  and  on  the  15th  to 
Fort  Donelson,  where  it  was  put  in  Col.  Smith's 
brigade  of  Wallace's  division  ;  engaged  in  the  battle 
there,  and  lost  four  killed  and  twenty-nine  wounded. 
It  returned  on  the  17th  to  Fort  Heiman,  and  on  the 
6th  of  March  took  steamer  to  Crump's  Landing,  a 
little  below  Shiluh  battle-field.  It  took  part  in  the 
second  day's  battle,  fighting  from  half-past  five  in  the 
morning  to  halfpast  four  in  the  evening,  losing 
eleven  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded.  On  the  13th 
of  April  it  moved  toward  Corinth,  and  during  the 
last  of  that  month  made  two  marches  to  Purdy  and 
back.  Corinth  being  evacuated  on  the  30th  of  May, 
Wallace's  division  was  ordered  to  Memphis.  In  July 
it  was  sent  by  steamer  to  Helena,  Ark.,  from  which 
place,  on  the  4th  of  August,  it  marched  to  Clarendon, 
returning  on  the  19th,  after  a  march  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  and  the  loss  by  guerillas  of  one 
killed  and  two  wounded.  During  the  fall  and  winter 
the  regiment  engaged  in  expeditions  from  Helena  to 
White    River,    to    Tallahatchie    River,    to    Duvall's 


Bluff,  and  to  Yazoo  Pass.     Col.  McGinnis  being  ap- 
pointed  brigadier-general   in    March,    1863,  Lieut.- 
Col.    Dan    Macauley   was    promoted    colonel.     The 
Eleventh    embarked    from    Helena    on   the    11th   of 
April    and    reached    Milliken's    Bend   on   the   14th, 
where   it  joined  Grant's  army,  being  in  McGinnis' 
brigade  of  Hovey's  division  of  McClernand's  corps 
(the  Thirteenth).     Upon  its  arrival   the  corps  pro- 
ceeded to  Carthage,  and  thence  to  Perkins'  Planta- 
tion, near  Grand  Gulf.     Here  the  army  awaited,  on 
transports,  the  result  of  the  attempt  of  the  gunboats 
to   silence    the    rebel    batteries.     The    bombardment 
proving  unsuccessful,  the  troops  were   disembarked 
and  marched  around  to  a  point  opposite  Bruinsburg, 
and   on  the  30th    of  April  were  crossed  over  the 
river  and  marched  to  Port  Gibson,  where,  on  the  1st 
of   May,  an    engagement  was    fought,  the    regiment 
capturing  a  battery  and  having   a  loss  of  one  man 
killed  and  twenty-four  wounded.     The  next  day  the 
town  was  entered,  and  on  the  3d  of  May  the  march 
was  resumed.     On  the   16th  the  Eleventh  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  losing  one  hundred 
and   sixty-seven    in    killed,  wounded,    and    missing. 
On  the   19th  it   moved   to   Black  River,  and  on  the 
21st  marched  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  where  it 
remained  until  the  4th  of  July,  when  the  surrender 
took  place.     The  casualties  to  the  regiment  during 
the  siege  were  three  killed  and  ten  wounded.     On 
the  5th  of  July  it  marched  with  an  expedition  to 
Jackson,   Miss.,   with   constant    skirmishing    on    the 
way,  there  being  nine  men  wounded.     Returning  to 
Vicksburg,  it  remained  in  camp  until  August,  when 
it  was  transported  to  New  Orleans,  and   on  the  13th 
of  August,  1862,  was  sent   to    Brashear  City  and 
through  the  Teche  Country  to  Opelousas,  near  which 
place,  on  the  21st  of  October,   there  was  a  heavy 
skirmish.     Returning  from  this  expedition,  the  regi- 
ment, on  the    20th   of     November,   marched   with 
Cameron's  brigade  to  the  bunks  of  Lake  Tasse,  where 
a  camp  was  captured.     On  the  22d  of  December  it 
arrived  at  Algiers,  and  on  the  19th  of  January,  1864, 
marched  to  Madisonville,  where,  on  the  1st  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans.     Going 
to  New  Orleans',  it  embarked  on  the  4th  of  March 
for  New  York  City,  from  whence  it  came  to  Indian- 


324 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


apolis,  reaching  there  on  the  21st,  where  it  was  pub- 
licly received  by  tlie  citizens  and  addressed  by  Governor 
Morton.  Upon  the  expiration  of  its  veteran  fur- 
lough the  regiment  departed  for  New  Orleans,  reach- 
ing there  on  the  8th  of  May,  where  it  remained  until 
July.  On  the  11th  of  July  it  was  assigned  to  the 
Second  Brigade,  Second  Division  of  the  Nineteenth 
Army  Corps,  and  on  the  19th  embarked  under 
sealed  orders.  Reaching  Fortress  Monroe  on  the 
28th,  it  proceeded  to  Washington  and  then  to  Har- 
per's Ferry.  Moving  to  Cedar  Creek,  it  skirmished 
all  day  of  the  13th  of  August,  and  on  the  15th 
reached  Winchester,  from  which  place  it  made  sun- 
dry marches,  and  on  the  22d  had  a  skirmish  near 
Halltowii.  On  the  24th  in  a  reconnoissance  it  lost 
two  men  killed  and  eight  wounded,  and  on  the  6th 
of  September  it  had  a  skirmish  at  Berryville.  On 
the  19th  it  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Opequan,  losing 
eighty-one  in  killed  and  wounded.  On  the  26th  it 
pursued  the  enemy  to  Fisher's  Hill,  and  on  the  22d 
was  engaged  in  the  battle  at  that  place,  skirmishing 
all  night  and  following  the  enemy  to  Woodstock, 
losing  two  men  killed  and  four  wounded.  On  the 
25th  it  pursued  the  rebels  to  New  Market,  where 
they  made  a  stand,  but  being  flanked  were  forced  to 
retreat  to  Harrisonburg,  which  place  was  reached  by 
the  regiment  on  the  26th,  skirmishing  all  the  way. 
Leaving  this  place  on  the  6th  of  October,  the  regi- 
ment returned  to  Cedar  Creek  on  the  10th,  and  on 
the  19th  was  engaged  in  the  battle  at  that  place, 
having  fifty-two  killed,  wounded,  or  missing.  Upon 
the  conclusion  of  Sheridan's  campaign  in  the  Shen- 
andoah Valley  the  troops  went  to  Baltimore,  arriving 
there  on  the  7th  of  January,  1865,  where  it  remained 
on  duty  till  its  muster-out  on  the  26th  of  July,  1865. 
On  the  3d  of  August  it  returned  to  Indianapolis, 
where  it  was  publicly  received  by  the  Governor  on 
behalf  of  the  people  of  the  State  on  the  4th,  and  in 
a  few  days  afterwards  was  finally  discharged  from  ser- 
vice. During  its  three  years'  service  the  regiment 
marched  nine  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
miles. 


Lewis  Wallace,  com.  Aug.  .31,  1S61 ;  pro.  brig.-gen.  U.S.V.  Sept. 
8,  1S61;  later  maj. -gen. 


George  F.  McGinnis,  com.  Sept.  3, 1S61 ;  pro.  brig.-gen.  U.S.V. 

Nov.  29,  1862. 
Daniel  Macauley,  com.  March  10,   1863:  must,  out  July  26, 

1865,  as  brev.  brig.-gen.,  term  expired,*  re-entered  service 

as  col.  9th  Regt.  Hancock's  corps. 

Lfeutetiant-Colonels. 
George  F.  McGinnis,  com.  Aug.  7,  1861;  pro.  col. 
i  William  J.  H.  Robinson,  com.  Sept.  3,  1861 ;  res.  Sept.  3,  1S62. 
Daniel  Macauley,  com.  Sept.  4,  1862;  pro.  col. 
William  W.  Darnell,  com.  March  10,  1863;  must,  out  July  26, 
1865,  term  expired. 

Majors. 
William  J.  H.  Robinson,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  lieut.-col, 
Daniel  Macauley,  com.  April  21,  1862;  pro.  lieut.-col. 
William  W.  Darnell,  com.  Sept.  4,  1862;  pro.  lieut.-col. 
George  Rutler,  com.  March  10,  1863;  must,  out  July  26,  1865, 
term  expired. 

Adjutauls. 
Daniel  Macauley,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861;  pro.  maj. 
John  P.  Megrew,  com.  April  30,  1802;  pro.  capt.  Co.  D. 
John  T.  Macauley,  com.  May,  1864;  pro.  capt.  Co.  E. 

QtlartermaBtcra. 
Joseph  P.  Pope,  com.  Aug.  13,  1S61;  must,  out  June  24,  1863, 

for  prom,  to  capt.  and  A.C.S. 
John  W.  Coons,  com.  June  14,  1863;  must,  out  Deo.  11,  1864, 

term  expired, 
diaries  N.  Lee,  com.  April  30,  1865;  must,  out  July  26,  1865, 
term  expired. 

C/iajjlahi. 
Henry  B.  Hibben,  com.  August,  1861 ;  res.  May  12,  1864. 

t^itrf/eon. 
John  A.  Comingore,  com.  Dec.  26,  1862;  res.  Sept.  13,  1864. 

Aaahlant  Siiir/eoiis. 
Henry  Clay  Brown,  com.  Oct.  7,  1S61;  died  of  disease,  March, 

1862. 
John  A.  Comingore,  com.  April  9,  1862;  pro.  surg. 
James  I.  Rooker, com.  April  23, 1862  ;  add.  asst.  surg.  pro  tern.; 

recom.  asst.  surg. 
H.  F.  Barnes,  com.  April  23,  1862 ;  add.  asst.  surg.  pro  tem. 
William  Rockwell,  com.  March  20,  1863;  res.  June  27,  1863. 
James  Wilson,  com.  Aug.  15,  1863  ;  res.  Feb.  27,  1865. 
William  A.  Todd,  com.  April  19,  1 865  ;  must,  out  July  26,  1865, 

term  expired. 
John  P.  Avery,  com.  April  20,  1865  ;  must,  out  July  26,  1865, 

term  expired. 

Company  A. 
Captains. 
George  Butler,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  maj. 
Henry  Kemper,  com.  March  10,  1863;  must,  out  July  26,  1865, 

term  expired. 


MAKION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


325 


First  Lieutenanta. 
Joseph  H.  Livsey,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861;  pro.  oapt.  Co.  H. 
David  B.  Hay,  com.  April  1,  1862;  res.  Oct.  29,  1862. 
Henry  Kemper,  com.  Oct.  30,  1862  ;  pro.  capt. 
Benjamin  F.  Copeland,  com.  Maroli  10,  1863;  must,  out  Dec. 

12,  1864,  term  expired. 
Edmund  P.  Tliayer,  com.  Dec.  13,  1864;  pro.  capt.  Co.  B. 
William  A.  Talbott,  com.  Dec.  14,  1864;  hon.  disch.  May  30, 

1865. 

Serrtnd  Lieutenants. 

David  B.  Hay,  com.  April  24,  1861 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Henry  Kemper,  com.  April  1,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Benjamin  F.  Copeland,  com.  Oct.  30,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
George  Simmons,  com.  April  10,  1863;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Edmund  P.  Tliayer,  com.  May  1,  1864;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Charles  G.   Loucks,  com.   Dec.   13,  1864;  must,   out  June  26, 

1865,  term  expired. 

CoMPAsr  B. 

Captains. 

Charles  W.  Lyman,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  capt.  and  asst. 

qm.  U.S.V.  Sept.  28,  1861. 
Daniel  B.  Culley,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 
Edmund  P.  Thayer,  com.   Deo.  14,  1864;  must,  out  July  26, 

1865,  term  expired. 

Fii-st  Lieutenants. 
Daniel  B.  Culley,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 
John  P.  Megrew,  com.  Dec.  6,  1861 ;  pro.  adjt. 
Charles  N.  Lee,  com.  Jan.  12,  1865;  pro.  q.m. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
James  F.  Troth,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861;  res.  Sept.  1,  1863. 
Charles  N.  Lee,  com.  May  1,  1864;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  C. 
First  Lieutenants, 
Jacob  D.  Leighty,  com.  Nov.  13,  1862;  res.  Jan.  19,  1864. 
George  Simmons,  com.  May  1, 1864;  must.  Dec.  18,  1864,  term 
expired. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Henry  McMullen,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Stoughton  A.  Boatright,  com.  Dec.  19,  1864;  must,  out  July 
26,  1865,  term  expired. 

COMPANV   D. 
Captain, 
John  P.  Megrew,  com.  Nov.  13,  1862;  must,  out  July  26, 1865, 
term  expired. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Lycurgus  L.  Allison,  com.  Jan.  1,  1862;  res.  April  22,  1862, 

CoMPANr  E. 
Caf.iains. 
Dewitt  C.  Rugg,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  maj.  48th  Regt.  Ind. 
Vols.  Nov.  24,  1861. 


Nicholas  R.  Ruckle,  com.  Deo.  4,  1861;  res.  Feb.  24, 1865;  pro. 
col.  148th  Ind.  Regt. 

John  T.  Macauley,  com.  Feb.  26,  1865  ;  must,  out  July  26, 1865  ; 
term  expired. 

First  Lieutenants, 

Henry  Tindall,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861;  res.  Dec.  15,  1861;  re- 
entered oapt.  63d  Regt. 

Henry  Wentz,  com.  Feb.  24,   1863;  must,   out  Deo.   9,   1864, 
terra  expired. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Nicholas  R.  Ruckle,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 

Jacob  D.  Leighty,  com.  Jan.  13,  1862  ;  pro.  1st  lieut.  Co.  C. 

Henry  Wentz,  com.  Nov.  13,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

George  McDougal,  com.  April  24, 1863 ;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 

Company  F. 
First  Lieutenant, 
John  L.  Hanna,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861;  res.  October,  1862;  re- 
entered as  capt.  79th  Regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
William  C.  Baker,  com.  Jan.  13,  1862 ;  res.  Oct.  2,  1862. 
John  T.  Macauley,  com.  May  14,  1864;  pro.  adjt. 

Company  G. 
First  Lieutenant. 
David  Wilson,  com.  Sept.  9,  1863;  trans,  to  Co.  H. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
John  W.  Coons,  com.  Oct.  19,  1862;  pro.  q.m. 

Company  H. 

Captains. 

Frederick    Kneffler,    com.  Aug.    24,    1861 ;     app.    capt.   and 

A.A.G.  Sept.  8,  1861;  col.  of  79th  Ind.  Regt.  .and  brev. 

brig.-gen. 
Joseph  H.  Livsey,  com.  Jan.  1,  1862;  must,  out  Jan.  1,  1862; 

recom.  ca]it.  March  22, 1863 ;  app.  capt.  and  A.A.G.  May  5, 

1863. 
David  Wilson,  com.  May  8,  1865  ;  must,  out  as  1st  lieut.  July 

26,  1865,  term  expired. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Louis  Pause,  com.  Nov.  12,  1863;  trans,  to  Co.  F. 
David  Wilson,  com.  Sept.  9,  1863;  pro.  capt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Samuel  J.  Wilson,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861;  res.  Aug.  1,  1862;  re- 
entered as  capt.  54th  Ind.  Regt. 
David  Wilson,  com.  Aug.  1,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut.  Co.  G. 

Company  K. 
Captain. 
William  W.  Darnel,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  maj. 


326 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


First  Lieuleiiaiila. 

Samuel  A.  Cramer,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861;  res.  May  26,  1862;  re- 
entered as  1st  lieut.  63d  Ind.  Regt. 

Charles  MoGinley,  com.  Sept.  4,  1862;  res.  Nov.  IS,  1864. 

William  M.  Apple,  com.  Nov.  19,  1864;  hon.  diseh.  June  24, 
1865. 

Second  Lieutenants, 

Theodore  B.  Wightman,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861 ;  res.  March  26, 
1862;  re-entered  as  1st  lieut.  63d  Ind.  Regt. 

Charles  MoGinley,  com.  May  30,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Sergeant-Major . 
Fishback,  Owen  F.,  .Jr.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Jan.  17, 
1862. 

Quartermaster-Sergeant, 
Greenfield,  Daniel    C,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861;    disch.  Jan.  17, 
1862. 

Commissary-Sergeant. 
Test,  Miles  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  at  Memphis,  Tenn., 
July  15,  1862. 

Hospital  Steward. 
Rockwell,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  asst.  surg. 

Principal  Mcsici.iss. 
Biedmaster,  Charles  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug. 

14,  1862. 
Macauley,  John    T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  18G1 ;    app.   sergt.-maj.; 

pro.  2d  lieut. 

Band. 
Armstrong,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 :  must,  out  Aug.  14, 

1862. 
Bieber,  Lonis,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14,  1862. 
Goldsberry,  Samuel  S.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   must,  out  Aug. 

14,  1862. 
Goldsberry,  William,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  disch.  Jan.  27, 1862, 

not  a  musician. 
Henninger,  Theodore,   must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;    must,  out  Aug. 

14,  1862. 
Henninger,  Edward,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 

1862. 
Hunt,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14,  1862. 
Jose,  Albert,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  14,  1862. 
Jameson,  Alexander  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Dec.  24, 

1861,  disability. 
Kiefer,  Charles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 1862. 
Kauffeld,  Frederick,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 

1862. 
Landauer,  Frederick,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 

1862. 
Maxen,  John  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  April  8,  1862, 

not  a  musician. 
Mayhew,  James  N.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 

1862. 
Perkins,  Jewett,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14, 1862. 


Pyle,  John  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  for  disability. 

Ruth,  Louis,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  14,  1862. 

Peck,  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  app.  qm.-sergt. 

Schellsmidt,  Ferdinand,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  April  3, 
1862,  disability. 

Webb,  Ira  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Jan.  1,  1862,  not  a 
musician. 

Wolfram,  Christian,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61 ;  disch.  May  15, 1862, 
disability. 

Wagner,  Anton,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  April  8,  1862,  not 
a  musician. 

Craven,  Aries,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Dec.  3,  1861,  disa- 
bility. 

Thyser,  Oscar,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  14,  1862. 

Enlisted  Men,  Co.  A. 

First  Sergeant. 

Allison,  Lycurgus  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut.  Co.  D. 

Sergeantfi. 
Kempor,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Copeland,  Benjamin  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Simmons,  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro,  2d  lieut. 
Thayer,  Edmund  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   veteran;  pro.  2cl 

lieut. 

Corporals. 
Talbott,  Abner  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;   disch.  Aug.  19,  1863, 

by  order  of  War  Dept. 
Bradshaw,  Oliver  L.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  diseh.  Aug.  16,  1863, 

accidental  wounds. 
Sirronia,  Leo  D.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    disch.  October,  1863, 

disability. 
Carpenter,  Charles  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  veteran;  must,  out 

July  26,  1865. 
Greenleaf,  Clement  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  April 

26,  1865. 
Lawhcad,  Frank,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  must,  out  April  26, 1865. 
Hall,  Charles  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Fox,  George  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  diseh.  Nov.  16,  1861. 

Musicians. 
Thayer,  Levi  C,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  disch.  May  2,  1S62,  dis- 
ability. • 
Stout,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 


agone 


Pottage,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 
.July  26,  1865. 

Priiatea. 
Alexander,  Joseph  N.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  diseh.  Nov.  26, 1862, 

disability. 
Arnett,  Josiah,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  app.  corp. ;  must,  out  Aug. 

30,  1864. 
Avard,  Jerome,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


MARION   COUNTY    IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


327 


Barry,  Michael,  must.  Aug.  31, 1S61  j  veteran  ;  app.  corp ;  must. 

out  July  26,  1865. 
Barreman,  Alexander  S.,  must.  Aug.  .31,  1361 ;  veteran. 
Boyce,  William  G.,  must.  Aug.  SI,  1861  ;  died  Sept.  26,  1864,  of 

wounds  at  Winchester. 
Brooks,  Samuel  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61. 

Brown,  Jonathan,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 1864. 
Brown,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Burris,  Harrison,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Bullock,  Ezekiel,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Butterfield,  John  S.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Burt,  Joseph  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Burnian,  Cornelius,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Helena  Sept. 

7,  1862. 
Carr,  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Carleton,  William,  must.   Aug.  31,    1861;  veteran:    killed   at 

Cedar  Creek  Oct.  19,  1864. 
Clark,  Charles  T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Corwin,  Oscar  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Copeland,  James  T.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  disch.  Aug.  18, 1862, 

disability. 
Cummer,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61;  died  at  Paducah  Dec. 

10,  1861. 
Davis,  Ebenezer,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  disch.  May  8, 

1864,  for  prom,  in  U.  S.  colored  troops. 

Day,  Joseph  B.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  died  at  Cairo,  111.,  Oct.  9, 

1862. 
Dedart,  Charles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  disch.  May  26, 

1865,  disability. 

Duchine,  Alexander,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Duley,  Henry  C,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 1864. 

Ellis,  John  S.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  died  June  1, 1863,  of  wounds 

at  Champion  Hills. 
Fenton,  John,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  July  26, 

1865. 
Griswold,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Sept.  17,  1862, 

disability. 
Greenleaf,  William  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   disch.  June  10, 

1862,  disability. 

Hankinson,  Joseph  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61 ;  must,  out  Sept. 

26,  1865. 
Hickey,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,1861;  veteran;  app.  sergt.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865;  one  of  Dr.  Kane's  men. 
Homburg,  William  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  18, 

1863,  wounds  at  Shiloh. 

Huddleston,  James  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  July  26, 

1865. 
Ingersoll,  Charles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    must,  out  July  26, 

1865. 
Jackson,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Kenroy,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    veteran;  app.    sergt.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Key,  Nathan,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


Knight,  William  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Lendormi,  Paulin,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;    veteran;  app.  sergt.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1S65. 
Loucks,  Charles  O.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Martin,  Frank  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  April  26, 

1865. 
McNair,  Peter,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  at  Paducah  Nov.  17, 

1861. 
McGuey,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  killed  at  Champion  Hills 

May  16,  1863. 
McClain,  Josiah  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  died  at  Indianapolia 

April  28,  1862,  of  wounds  at  Fort  Donelson. 
Mount,  William  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Nones,  William  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Jan.  16,  1863, 

for  wounds. 
Norton,  Michael  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

July  26,  1865. 
Nye,  Edwin,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Phipps,  William  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  app.  Corp.;  must,  out 

Aug.  30,  1864. 
Reynolds,  George  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Redfield,  Alexander,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  1,  1861, 

disability. 
Eeeder,  Joseph  11.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Roberts,  Benjamin  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  at  Keokuk, 

Iowa,  Oct.  5,  1862. 
Service,  Charles  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Shaw,  Daniel  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Smith,  Milton  D,,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 :  died  May  18,  1863,  of 

wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
Talbot,  William  A.,   must.  Aug.  31,    1861;  veteran;  pro.  1st 

lieut. 
Thompson,  W.  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  June  16,  1863, 

.disability. 
Williams,  Albert  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Williams,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Wills,  William  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 1864. 
Wilson,  William  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Winnings,  Archibald,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Young,  Isaac,  must.  Aug.  31, 1361;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  B. 
First  Sergeant. 
Winchel,  John  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;   killed  at  Clarendon, 
Ark.,  Aug.  13,  1863. 

Sergeants, 
Henry,  Royal  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Foster,  Edwin   R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  pro.  1st  lieut.  U.  S. 

colored  troops. 
Calloway,  John  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Simpson,  William  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


328 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


Corporah, 
Torrence,  Bavis,  must.  Aug.  31, 1S6I ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 1864. 
Kepler,  Andrew  J.,  must.  Aug.  3],  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Thompson,  David  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Endaly,  Elisha,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Johnstone,  James  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran. 
Beymer,  John  G.,  must.  Aug.  3],  1861 ;  veteran. 
Goodwin,  James,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran ;  app.  sergt.-maj. ; 

pro.  1st  lieut. 
Mcllvain,  Moses  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Mnsicianii. 
Shawver,  Amos,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Ptivaten. 
Epler,  Jacob,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran:  disch.   May  15, 

1865,  for  blindness. 
Fellinger,  John  N.,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out 

July  26,  1865. 
Fitzgerald,  Isaac,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   disch.  for  wounds  .it 

Champion  Hills. 
Faucet,   James,  must.  Aug.  31,    1861;    veteran;    app.    Corp.; 

must,  out  July  26,' 1865. 
Fergason,  Samuel  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Gogen,  Richard,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  trans,  to  Co.  A. 
Gardner,  Hiram,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hinsley,  Benjamin,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hidey,  Archibald  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Hunter,  Washington,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Howard,  John  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  died  at  New  Orleans, 

Oct.  10,  1863. 
Irick,  Adam  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  app.  Istsergt.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Ingling,  Apollo,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861;    veteran;    app.  Corp.; 

sergt. ;  must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Kempton,  Almon  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61;  must,  out  Aug,  30, 

1864. 
Kranse,  Albert,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Larimer,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  app.  Corp.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Loy,  Tobias,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Lowlyes,  Hiram   T.  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug. 

30,  1864. 
Moran,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Maugley,  Joseph  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
McKnight,  Thomas  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug. 

30,  1864. 
McKinney,  Solomon  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  May  31, 

1863,  for  wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
McLean,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
McNuleff,  Daniel,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Helena,  Ark., 

Nov.  27,  1862. 


Overman,  Joseph  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Owen,  Elijah  G.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  killed  at  Shiloh  April 

7,  1862. 
Petty,  James  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Pratt,  Moses,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  June 

24,  1865. 
Pile,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Purdy,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Perrin,  Pulaski,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Patrick,  Rogers,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Deo.  22,  1861, 

disability. 
Rosemier,  Andrew,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Rhoades,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Richardson,  David   R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  disch.  Dec.  22, 

1861,  disability. 

Reaves,  King  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Shipley,  Delancy  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  October,  1862, 

disability. 
Shafer,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran  ;  app.  corp. ;  sergt.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Sanders,  Jacob,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  July 

26,  1865. 
Smith,  Henry  C,  must.  Aug.   31,    1S61 ;    must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Simpson,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Shuster,  Theodore,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

April  26,  1865. 
Snapp,  Anamus,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  disch.  Aug.  22,  1862, 

disability. 
Springer,   Ira  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Stockwell,  Alfred,  must.   Aug.  31,  1861;    must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Spotswood,  Richard  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Smith,  J.  Mortimer,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Thorp,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;    app.   Corp.; 

sergt. ;  must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Tarrance,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Tarrance,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Thornbrough,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    disch.  May   9, 

1863,  for  wounds  at  Port  Gibson. 
Viets,  Jesse  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Williams,  Albert,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    must,  out   Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Weaver,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  E. 

Firat  Serfjpant. 

Rupley,   Michael   H.,  must.  Aug.   31,   1861;    disch.  June  28, 

1862,  disability. 

Sergeants. 
Leighty,  Jacob  D.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Carnes,  John  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Nov.  28,   1861, 
for  accidental  wounds. 


MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


329 


Vanblaricune,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Dec.  13,  1861, 

disability. 
Carter,  \yilliam  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Corporals. 
Smith,  William  H.  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Cosper,  James  S.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  killed  at  Champion  Hills 

May  16,  1863. 
Wentz,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Wallace,  William  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hollopeter,  Abel  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1S64. 
Bodey,  Martin  F.,  must.  Aug.   31,  1861;  disch.  Feb.  5,   1863, 

disability. 
Strong,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61 ;  veteran  ;  app.  sergt.;  pro. 

2d  lieut. 
Yeadley,  Andrew  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Sept.  5,  1862. 

Musician,. 
Stout,  David  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1 S61 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 
Watson,  Elmer,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  May  1,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 

Wa,joner. 
Robinson,  Matthew  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disoh.  June  6, 

1862,  disability. 

Privates. 

Ball,  Harrison,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  April  11, 1864,  dis- 
ability. 

Barney,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 

Barr,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  May  4,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 

Bartlett,  Peter  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  March  20, 1863, 
disability. 

Bauseman,  Amos,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 
1864. 

Beam,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 

Boots,  James  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  March  12,  1863, 
disability. 

Bralten,  Jesse  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  April  16,  1862, 
disability. 

Brown,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  at  Memphis  July  2, 

1863,  of  wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 

Brown,  Charles  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  sentenced  by  G.C.M. 

to  serve  one  year  over  term. 
Camp,  Joseph  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  died  Oct.  20, 

1864,  of  wounds,  Winchester. 

Campbell,  Charles  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;    must,  out  Aug. 

31,  1864. 
Cloud,  Anthony  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Coppock,  Jehu  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
De  Long,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61 ;  died  at  New  Albany,  Ind., 

April  1,  1862. 


Depew,  James  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  died  at  Helena,  Ark., 

Sept.  20,  1862. 
Depew,  Elijah  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Paducah,  Ky., 

May  6,  1862. 
Doherty,  Oliver  S  ,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Eller,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Emery,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,1861;  died  June  10,   1863,  of 

wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
Eyestone,  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Furnish,  John  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disoh.  Feb.  24,  1862, 

disability. 
Hall,  William  H.  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,1861;  died  at  Helena,  Ark., 

Nov.  6,  1862. 
Haynes,  Seymore  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  St.  Louis 

June  22,  1863. 
Headley,  Cornelius,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  May  10,  1862, 

of  wounds  at  Shiloh. 
Hill,  Lewis  G.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Memphis  July  3, 

186.3,  of  wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
Horn,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Jackson,   Edwin  C,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861;  disch.  April    30, 

1862. 
Litzell,  Peter,  must.  Aug.  31,  1801. 
Long,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Maurde,  Lewis  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Matthews,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861;  app.  Corp.;  killed 

at  Champion  Hills. 
Maxwell,  Hugh,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Meitz,  August,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 
Merryman,  George  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disoh.  July  11, 

1862,  disability. 
Morris,  Garland  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Myers,  Jerome,  must.  Aug.  31,  1801 ;  died  at  Paducah  April  16, 

1862,  of  wounds  at  Shiloh. 
McDougall,  George  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug. 

31,  1864. 
MoNabb,  John  0.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  June  28,  1862, 

disability. 
McNabb,  William  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    disch.  Sept.  10, 

1862,  disability. 
Rinhart,  John  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  St.  Louis  July 

2,  1863,  of  wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
Rockwell,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Shafer,   William,   must.  Aug.  31,    1861;    must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Shull,  Freeman  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Paducah,  Ky., 

Nov.  16,  1861. 
Shell,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,1861;  app.  corp. ;  killed  at  Cham- 
pion Hills  May  16,  1863. 
Smith,  Samuel,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  May  16,  1862. 
Smith,  Philander,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  June  30,  1862. 
Spetler,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Stewart,  Jacob,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


330 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


Steward,  David  ^V.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Turner,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Paducah,  Ky., 

Oct.  7,  1861. 
Vance,  Van  Buren,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  July  8,  1862, 

disability. 
Whitcomb,  William  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Woodcox,  Nelson  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  discb.  Dec.  13,  1861, 

disability. 

Es'i.isTKD  Men,  Company  H. 
First  Sergeant. 
Hacker,  James  V.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

S.riienut». 
Boatright,  S.  A.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  Co.  C; 

pro.  2d  lieut. 
Griffin,  Frank   F.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  died  at  Paducah,  Ky., 

Oct.  24,  1861. 
Rhoads,  William  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1361;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Bingham,  William   B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861:  disch.  June  18, 

1863,  for  pro.  in  V.  S.  colored  troops. 

forporah. 
Carrell,  William  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Skinner,  William  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  killed  at  Champion 

Hills  May  16,  1863. 
Bodkin,  Henry  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Wilson,  David,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  2a  lieut. 
Welsh,  Michael,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  lost  in  disaster 

of  steamer  "Sultana"  April  27,  1865. 

Mii9rciait8. 
Ewing,  William  B.,  must.  Aug.  31,  186]  ;  died  .it  Helena,  Ark., 

Sept.  29,  1862. 
Robinson,  John  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  July,  1862. 

Wayoiter. 
Hoskins,   Robert,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;    must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 

Pr!vute«. 

Attland,  Hiram,  must.   Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  July  14,1862, 

disability. 
Bard,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Bentley,  Edwin  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1862. 
Branam,  Landus,    must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;    must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1862. 
Brooks,  Charles  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 :  died  at  Indianapolis 

Aug.  31,  1862. 
Coats,  Joseph  G.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Coleman,  Henry  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61. 
Crawford,  John  T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Devan,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


France,  Cyrus  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Friend,  Peter,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Jackson,  Miss., 

July  17,  1863. 
Glidewell,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,   1S61 :   killed  at  Champion 

Hills  May  16,  1S63. 
Goddard,  Samuel,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Graver,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  died  at  St.  Louis  July  19, 

1863,  of  wounds  at  Champion  Hills. 
Hadden,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864, 
Heath,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hill,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Huddleson,  Irvin,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Jenkins,  Andrew  T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Jerls,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Johnson,  Barclay  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
King,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Larimore,  Washington  M.,  must.  .'iug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug. 

30,  1864. 
Maher,  Patrick,   must.   Aug.   31,   1861;  disch.  April    9,   1863, 

disability. 
Mathena,  Thomas  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Meltzer,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 1864. 
Miller,  Edward,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Mills,  Edwin  H.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861  ;  killed  at  Shiloh  April  7, 

1862. 
Moore,  William  R.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861.     ■ 
Moore,  Thomas  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Morris,  William  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
McAlistor,  John  A.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  June  10,1864, 

disability. 
Mcintosh,  William  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug. 

30,  1864. 
Negley,  David  D.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  4,  1864, 

for  pro.  to  124th  Regt. 
Neiman,  Jacob  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  app.  corp. ; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Newberry,  Jefferson,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Norton,  Charles,   must.  Aug.  31,   1861;  veteran;  app.   corp. ; 

must,  out  .July  26,  1865. 
Odell,  Sanford  T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Osborn,  .John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  Memphis  July  20, 

1862. 
Parks,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  killed  at  Fort  Donelson 

Feb.  15,  1862. 
Parr,  William  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861;  must,   out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Pollam,  Martin  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30, 

1864. 
Pollam,  Samuel,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Robinson,  John  R  ,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran;  app.  sergt.  ; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Rhom,  George  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


331 


Ruckle,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  killed  at  Shiloh   April  7, 

1862. 
Shultz,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Stapp,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,   1861;  veteran;  app.   sergt. ; 

must,  oat  July  26,  1865. 
Stephenson,  William  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Tifiy,  Isaac,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Wells,  James   D.,  must.  Aug.   31,    1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.   30, 

1864. 
West,  Andrew  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  died  at  Warrenton, 

Miss.,  June  28,  1863. 
Williams,  Henry  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  K. 
First  Sergeant. 
Franklin,  Charles  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Sergeants. 
Friok,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
McGinley,  Charles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Bemer,  Oscar  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Frank,  Frederick,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Corporals. 
Dixon,  Wiley   H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;    must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Seifritz,  Thomas,  must.   Aug.   31,    1861;    must,  out  Feb.  21, 

1865. 
Childs,  George  D.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Sept.  17,  1862, 

disability. 
Dodd,  William  H.  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  killed  at  Shiloh 

April  7,  1862. 
Vandegrift,  Millard,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 

Muslrinns. 
Darnall,  Lewis  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  6,  1862, 

disability. 
Lendormi,  Ernest,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61;   must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 

Wagoner. 
Green,  James,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 

Privates. 
Ackerman,  Sebastian,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Apple,  Andrew  J.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out 

July  26,  1865. 
Apple,  Henry  F.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Apple,  John  V.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   killed  at   Grand   Gulf 

May  19,  1863. 
Apple.  William   M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;    veteran;    pro.  1st 

lieut. 
Bastian,  Charles,  must.   Aug.  31,  1861;    veteran;    must,  out 

July  26,  1865. 


Barrenfinger,  Christian,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Feb. 

12,  1865. 
Brown,  Charles  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  killed  at  Chami)ion 

Hills  May  16,  1863. 
Brown,  Cyrus  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran. 
Belser,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Bierbower,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  app.  q.m.- 

sergt. ;  must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Brackel,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran ;  must,  out  July 

26, 1865. 
Blake,    John    C,    must.    Aug.  31,   1S61 ;   trans,  to    Vet.   Res, 

Corps. 
Burris,  Miles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  died  at  New  Orleans  June 

20,  1864. 
Buesing,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;   died  Oct.  8, 

1864,  of  wounds  at  Winchester. 
Brown,  William  T.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Cooke,  James  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;   must,  out   Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Corrigan,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran;  app.  corp. ; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Crutchfield,  James  N.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Crosley,  Joseph  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  died  at  New 

Orleans  May  16,  1864,  of  accidental  wounds. 
Deitz,  Anton,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Ege,  William  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  April  17,  1863, 

disability. 
Elbrict,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Feb.  21,  1865. 
Ernst,  Lewis,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Feb.  21,  1865. 
Faas,  Christian,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  trans,  to  Co.  A  ;  must. 

out  Aug.  30,  1864. 
Fleming,  George  W.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran  j  app.  sergt, ; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Gassey,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Giles,  George  W.,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861. 
Griffin,  John  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hale,  Andrew  M.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Hinds,  James  H.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  veteran;  app.  corp.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Haffy,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861. 

Huber,  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 
Jenkins,  John  C,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;    must,  out 

June  24,  1865. 
Jourigan,  Eli,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  veteran;  app.  corp. ;  must. 

out  July  26,  1865. 
Junker,  Herm.an,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Kesler,  William,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  disch.  Sept.  13,  1862, 

disability. 
Knodel,  Ernst,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 1864. 
Kraipke,  Charles,  must.  Aug.  31,  1801;  veteran;  app.  sergt. 

disch.  April  12,  1864,  for  wounds. 
Law,  Warner,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Linderman,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 


332 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


McCue,  John,  must.  Aug.  ,31,  1S61 ;  disch.  Dee.  24,  1861,  disa- 
bility. 
Miller,   Julius,    must.    Aug.    31,  1861;    veteran;    app.   corp.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Miller,  Lewis,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  July  26, 

1865. 
Moran,  John,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps. 
Newman.  George,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Pickel,   Daniel,  must.   Aug.  31,  1861;    veteran;    app.   sergt.j 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Perry,  James  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  veteran;  app.  Corp.; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Perry,  Lyourgus,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  died  at  Fred- 
erick Sept.  13,  1864,  of  wounds  received  at  Halltown. 
Rufert,  Herman,  must.  Aug.  31, 1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 
Koarerty,  Joseph,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Shultz,  Frederick,  must.  Aug.  31,  1S61;    must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Sykes,  George  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;    must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Strauser,  Herman,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Thurber,  Edward  E.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Tedrow,  Goorge  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861. 
Townsend,  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Whaley,   Elias,  must.   Aug.   31,   1861;    veteran;    app.  sergt. ; 

must,  out  July  26,  1865. 
Walker,  George  G.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Wilson,  James  P.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  disch.  Sept.  17,  1862, 

disability. 
Wite,  John  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  disch.  May  24, 

1865,  for  wounds. 
White,  John  S.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  31,  1864. 
Warfield,  William  W.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861;  killed  at  Shiloh 

April  7,  1862. 
Weigart,  William  L.,  must.  Aug.  31,  1861  ;  must,  out  Aug.  31, 

1864. 
Young,  John   B.,   must.   Aug.   31,  1861;  must,  out   Aug.  31, 

1S64. 

Thirteenth  Regiment. — This  regiment  first  en- 
listed iu  the  State  service  for  a  year,  but  was  changed 
to  a  three  years'  national  regiment  in  camp  in  this 
city.  It  left  here  July  4,  1861,  and  joined  Gen. 
McClellan's  forces  at  Rich  Mountain  on  the  10th; 
fought  next  day,  losing  eight  killed  and  nine  wounded. 
After  this  for  several  months  it  was  engaged  on  the 
Cheat  River  Mountains  in  all  kinds  of  service,  help- 
ing to  defeat  Gen.  Lee  at  Cheat  Mountain,  12th  and 
13th   of  September.     It  was  then  scouting  through 


the  Kanawha  and  Holly  River  region,  went  to  Bev- 
erly, Va.,  and  thence  went  to  join  Gen.  Lander.  In 
March,  1862,  it  was  put  in  Gen.  Shields'  division, 
went  to  Winchester,  and  after  a  short  excursion  to 
Strasburg  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Winchester, 
lo.sing  six  killed  and  thirty-three  wounded.  It 
thence  joined  the  pursuit  of  Stonewall  Jackson  as 
far  as  Columbia  Bridge.  In  a  reconnoissance  at 
Summerville  it  lost  four  wounded  and  twenty-four 
prisoners.  It  then  went  to  Harrison's  Landing,  on 
James  River,  and  remained  till  the  evacuation  on 
15th  of  August,  and  went  to  Fortress  Monroe.  For 
nine  months  it  was  on  the  Nansemond  River ;  en- 
gaged in  the  battle  of  Deserted  Farm,  Jan.  30,  1863, 
the  defeat  of  Gen.  Longstreet,  April  10th  to  May  3d, 
and  tore  up  forty  miles  of  railway  track  from  two 
railroads  in  six  days  in  May.  In  these  operations  it 
marched  four  hundred  miles,  lost  two  killed,  nine- 
teen wounded,  and  seven  prisoners.  On  August  3d 
it  reached  Charleston  Harbor,  and  remained  till  Feb- 
ruary 23d,  engaging  in  all  the  fighting  on  Morris 
Island  and  at  Forts  Wagner  and  Gregg.  From  Feb. 
23  to  April  17,  1864,  it  was  at  Jacksonville,  Fla. 
It  was  then  in  all  Gen.  Butler's  operations  south  of 
Richmond  and  was  conspicuous  at  Wathal  Junction, 
losing  in  all  its  engagements  two  hundred  men.  On 
June  1st  it  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  was 
engaged  at  Cold  Harbor  and  about  there  till  the  1 2th 
of  June.  On  the  15th  it  joined  the  assault  on  the 
rebel  works  at  Petersburg.  The  non-veterans  left  on 
the  19th  and  came  to  this  city,  where  they  were  mus- 
tered out  June  24th.  The  others  were  engaged  at 
Petersburg,  and  after  the  explosion  remained  in  the 
trenches  till  September.  It  was  in  the  battle  of 
Strawberry  Plains  on  the  15th  of  September,  and  in 
the  operations  against  Richmond  on  the  north  side 
of  the  James  River,  at  Chapin's  Bluff  and  Fort  Gil- 
more,  and  the  attack  on  the  rebel  works  in  front  of 
Richmond,  Oct.  10, 1864.  In  November  it  was  sent 
I  to  New  York  to  keep  the  peace  at  the  election  ;  then 
joined  the  expedition  to  Fort  Fisher,  and  returned  to 
Chapin's  Bluff  on  the  31st  of  December.  When  the 
non-veterans  left  Gen.  Butler  consolidated  the  vet- 
erans and  recruits  and  made  five  companies,  in- 
creased   to    a    full    regiment    by    five    companies    of 


MARION    COUNTY   IN    THE    WAR    OP   THE   REBELLION. 


333 


drafted  men.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1865,  it 
sailed  for  Fort  Fisher,  joined  in  the  attack  on 
the  15th,  in  the  capture  of  Fort  Anderson  on  the 
19th,  and  the  occupation  of  Wilmington,  N.  C,  on 
the  22d.  After  some  weeks  it  went  to  Raleigh, 
thence  to  Goldsborough.  On  the  5th  of  September 
it  was  mustered  out,  and  reached  Indianapolis  on  the 
15th,  with  twenty-nine  officers  and  five  hundred  and 
fifty  enlisted  men. 

Coloneh. 
Robert  S.  Foster,'  com.  April  30,  1S62  ;  pro.  brig.-gen.  June  12, 

1S63. 
Cyrus  J.  Dobbs,!  com.  June  13,  1S63;  must,  out  Aug.  5,  1864; 
re-entered  as  lieut.-col.  in  Hancock's  corps. 
Surgeon. 
Alois  D.  GaXl,  com.  Jan.  25,  1862;  res.  July  15,  1863 ;  was  asst. 
surgeon  June  19,  1861. 

Company  A. 
Captains. 
Cyrus  J.  Dobbs,  com.  April  23,  1861 ;  pro.  major. 
Abner  L.  Newland,  com.  Dec.  7,  1861 ;  res.  July  7,  1863. 
Lewis  H.  Daniels,  com.  July  8,  1S63;  must,  out  July  1,  1864, 
time  out. 

First  Lieutenants. 
George  E.  Wallace,  com.  April  2.3,  1861;  res.  Dec.  9,  1S61. 
Frank  Ingersoll,  com.  April  20,  1862;  res.  June  24,  1862. 
Martin  Hall,  com.  June  25,  1862  ;  resigned. 

Secimd  Licutriiants. 
George  H.  Rapp,  com.  April  23,  1801;  res.  Oct.  15,  1861. 
Frank  Ingersoll,  com.  April  ],  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Lewis  H.  Daniels,  com.  Oct.  17,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
George  M.  Bishop,  com.  April  1, 1864 ;  must,  out  as  sergt.,  time 
out. 

COJIPANT  H. 

Captains, 

Wharton  R.  Clinton,  com.  April  23,  1861 ;  res.  March  6,  1863. 

Wallace  S.  Foster,  com.  April  1,  1S63  ;  res.  July  29,  1863. 

William  S.  O'Neal,  com.  July  30,  1863 ;  mu.st.  out  July  8,  1864, 

time  expired. 

First  Lieutenants. 
D.  P.  Price,  com.  April  23,  1861;  res.  Deo.  24,  1861. 
Wallace  S.  Foster,  com.  Jan.  15,  1862;  pro.  oapt. 
William  S.  O'Neal,  com.  April  1,  1863;  pro.  oapt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
George  Seese,  com.  April  23,  1861  ;  died  August,  1861. 
William  S.  O'Neal,  com.  Dec.  7,  1861 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

^  Both  were  lieutenant-colonels  and  majors,  and  Dobbs  was 
captain  of  Co.  A. 


E.VLISTED  Me.v,  CosrPANT  A. 
First  Sergeant. 
Ingersoll,  Frank,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Sergeants. 

Sneeman,  Edward,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  16,  1862, 

for  wounds. 
Bishop,  George  M.,  must.  June  19, 1861;  app.  1st  sergt;  must. 

out  July  1, 1864. 
Owings,  Nathaniel  J.,  must.  June  19,  1861;   pro.  capt.  d7th 

Regt. 
Walters,  James  C,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Sept.  18,  1862, 

disability. 

Corporals. 
Bankhart,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Claridge,  Daniel,  must.  June    19,  1861;    reduced;    must,   out 

July  1,  1864. 
Newhall,  Charles  E.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  reduced;  must,  out 

July  1,  1864. 
Renno,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861. 
Snyder,  Charles,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Sept.  18,1862, 

disability. 
Ackerly,  George  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Hastier,  Frank,  must.  June  19,  1861;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Engeln,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Musicians. 
Watson,  Morris,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Oct.  16,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Newland,  Harrod,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Wagoner. 
Hall,  Martin,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Prirates. 

Anderson,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  wagoner;  must, 
out  July  1,  1864. 

Bachman,  Benjamin,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  corp. ;  must, 
out  July  1,  1864. 

Bailey,  Alpheus,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  sergt.;  veteran; 
trans,  to  13th  Regt. 

Barrett,  Green,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 
Regt.,  reorganized. 

Benkley,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Blesser,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861  :  killed  at  Rich  Mountain. 

Boots,  George,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Brice,  James  G.,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  app.  sergt.;  must,  out 
July  1,  1864. 

Brown,  William  D.,  must.  June  19,  1S61;  veteran;  trans,  to 
13th  Regt. 

Clark,  Enos,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Sept.  7,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 

Clark,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  7,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 

Clarkson,  Josiah,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864, 


334 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Clifton,  Benjamin,  must.  June   19,  1S61;   veteran;    trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Crumbo,  Charles,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  disch.  Nov.  23,  1861, 

for  wounds. 
Cullen,  Garrett,  must.  June  19,  ISOl:  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Curl,  Matthew,  must.  June  19,  1S61;  killed  at  Foster's  Farm 

May  20,  1S64. 
Daniels,  Lewis  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Diekett,  John  G.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  3,  1861, 

disability, 
Dillon,  Alexander,  must.  June  19,  1861. 
Donivan,  Timothy,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  from  sunstroke 

July  7,  1861. 
Duncan,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Aug.  3,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Eiver,  Gottlieb,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Ettinger,  Gustavus,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Jan.  16,  1S62, 

for  wounds  received. 
Foreaere,  Virgil,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Jan.  28,  1862, 

disability. 
Forney,  Adam,  must.  Juno  19,  1861;  trans,  to  oth  U.  .S.  Cav. 
Forrest,  James  A.  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Free,  George,  must.  June  19,  ISGl ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Pullman,  Christian,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  16,  1862, 

disability. 
Fullghern,  Charles,  must.  Juno  19,  1861. 
Gappan,  Samuel,  must.  June  19,  1861. 
Gillmore,  William  S.,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  captured  May  10, 

1864,  at  Chester  station. 
Gillmore,  Henry  S.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  captured ;  disch.  May 

24,  1862. 
Graham,  George,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  must,  out  July  1, 1864. 
Grave,  Clark,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  disch.  Oct.  16,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Ha"-erty,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Hammond,  Rezin,  must.  June  19,  1S61. 
Hesse,  George   H.,   must.  June   19,  1861;    must,  out  July  1, 

1864. 
Hilton,  Andrew,  must.  June  19,  1861;  captured;  disch.  May 

24,  1864. 
Irick,  Samuel,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  11,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Irick,  George  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Kief,  David  L.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Kimball,  George  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1, 

1864. 
Landskron,  Robert,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;   disch.  Sept.  7,  1861, 

disability. 
Larkin,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 
Regt. 


Latterman,  Adam,  must.  .Tune  19, 1861 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Langsdorff,  Theodore,  must.  June  19,  1861;    sergt. ;  veteran; 

trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Lower,  .Solomtin,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Ludgate,  Edwin,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  Deo.  23, 1861,  from 

railroad  accident. 
Lynch,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Oct.  29,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Madden,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
M.adden,  John  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;    .app.  sergt. ;  must. 

out  July  I,  1864. 
Mackey,  Robert,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  I,  1864. 
Malone,  David  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861;    veteran;    trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Martin,  John  R.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  died  of  wounds  at  Ber- 
muda Hundred  May  21,  1864. 
Meyer,  Henry,  must.  June  19,  1861;  captured;  disch.  May  24, 

1862. 
Michael,  Philip,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  Corp.;  must,  out 

July  1,  1864. 
Miller,  James  K.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Mitchell,  Charles,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Mitchell,  Origen,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Morgan,  Daniel  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteriin ;  trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Morris,  Henry,  must.  June  19,  1861;  died  Sept.  24,  1861. 
Murphy,  Jonathan,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  Aug.  7,  1861. 
McKinley,  Alexander,  must.  June  19,  1861;    disch.    Dec.  26, 

1862,  disability. 
Perkins,  Benjamin,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  3,  1861, 

disability. 
Quillard,  Victor  D.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  app.  sergt. ;  killed  at 

Cold  Harbor. 
Quigley,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  captured;  disch.  May 

24,  1862. 
Quigley,  Matthew,  must.  June  19,  1861;  captured;  disch.  May 

24,  1862. 
Raimer,  William  G.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Reynolds,  William  II.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Rogers,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861. 
Savage,  William  E.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  Corp.;  must. 

out  July  1,  1864. 
Sloan,  John  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861 :  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Smith,  Nelson  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  killed  at  Winchester 

March  23,  1862. 
Smith,  Thomas,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Sohn,  Charles,  must.  June  19,  1861;  discharged. 
Stodard,  Frank,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 


MARION    COUNTY    IN   THE  WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


335 


Thomburg,  John,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  must,  out  July  1,  18C4. 
Vogan,  John,  must.  June  19,  1S61  ;  lulled  .at  Foster's  Farm 

May  19,  18114. 
Wallace,  Jeremiah,  must.  June  19,   1S61  ;   must,    out  July   1, 

18G4. 
Weaver,  George,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  Sept.  22,  1861. 
Worrall,  James  R.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Zimmerman,  Gottlieb,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 

Rerruili. 

Cook,  James,  must.  June  19,  ISGl ;  captured  at   Cold  Harbor 

June  1,  1S64. 
Conway,  Martin,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Doherty,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;   trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Ketchum,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861 :  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Lander,  Edward,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Moriarty,  Patrick,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 

Enlisted  Men,  Compasv  H. 

First  Sergeant. 

Clinton,  John  R.,   must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Sept.  9,  1861, 

disability. 

SergeautB, 
Clark,  Augustus  M.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
O'Neal,  William  S.,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Fox,  Joseph  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Hymer,  Stewart  B.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1, 

1864. 

Corj)orah. 
Durst.  William  A.,  must.  June  19,  1861:  reduced;   must,  out 

July  1,  1S64. 
Woods,  John   W.,   must.  June   19,  1861  ;  disch.  Aug.  3,  1861, 

for  wounds  at  Rich  Mountain. 
Cary,  Carr,  must.  June  19,  1861;  app.  sergt.;  trans,  to   13th 

Regt. 
Yewell,   Solomon,   must.  June  19,  1861  ;  disch.  July  11,  1862, 

dis.ability. 
Noakes,  David,  must.  June  19,  ISCl ;    died  June  4,  1S64,  of 

wounds  at  Chester  Station. 
Trautvelt,   Richard,  must.  June   19,  1861;  veteran:    trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
McConnell,  Martin  V.,  must.  June  19,  1861  :  app.  sergt. ;  must. 

out  July  1,  1864. 
Morrison,  Samuel,  must.  June  19,  1S61  ;  app.  sergt.;  veteran; 

trans,  to  13th  Regt. 

Vaudy,  W.ilter,  must.  June  19,1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Jones,  Richard,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;   trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 

Wagoner. 
Mitchell,  Robert  S.,  must.  June  19,1861;  must,  out  July!,  1864. 

PrirntcK. 

Barriklaw,  Perry,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  app.  Corp.;  must,  out 
July  I,  1864. 


Bear,  Peter  A.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Berth,  William  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Bell,  Benjamin,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Deo.  17,  1861,  dis- 
ability. 

Blatter,  Frank,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Brannon,  Scranton,  must.  June  19,  1861;  trans,  to  U.  S.  Cav. 

Brown,  Jackson,  must.  Juno  19,  1861 ;  died  at  Beaufort,  S.  C, 
Oct.  23,  1862. 

Burrows,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  diseh.  Oct.  15,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 

Burnett,  George  T.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  app.  corp. ;  veteran; 
trans,  to  13th  Regt. 

Carr,  Henry,  must.  June  19, 1 861 ;  disch.  Oct.  9,  1S61,  disability. 

Carroll,  Charles,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Carnagua,  James  W.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  September, 
1861,  for  wounds  at  Rich  Mountain. 

Chesel,  Frank,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Cook,  Norval  L.,  must.  June  19,1861;  disch.  Nov.  20,  1S62, 
disability. 

Custer,  Thomas,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  13th 
Regt. 

Culbertson,  Hugh,  must.  June  19,  1861;  diseh.  Oct.  9,  1861, 
disability. 

Depuy,  Franklin,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Donovan,  Obadiah,  must.  June  19,  IbUi ;  disch.  Oct.  15.  1863 
disability. 

Drum,  James  A.,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  veter.an ;  trans,  to  13th 
Regt. 

Ellison,  James  R.,  must.  June  19, 1861 ;  must,  out  July  1, 1864. 

Erwin,  Robert,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Fletcher,  Samuel,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  must,  out  July  1, 1864. 

GalLagher,  Oscar,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Gardner,  Samuel,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Nov.  15,  1862, 
disability. 

Gass,  Lewis,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Greenwood,  Thomas  J.,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Heath,  George  H.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Feb.  15,  1863, 
disability. 

Hemphill,  Thomas  J.,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Haines,  William,  must.  June  19.  1861;  disch.  Deo.  17,  1861, 
disability. 

Hoffman,  Hiram  F.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  August,  1863, 
disability. 

Jennings,  Clark,  must.  June  19,  1861;  wounded  at  Deserted 
House;  app.  corp.;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 

Johnston,  Thomas,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1, 
1864. 

Judd,  Phineas,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Kelley,  John,  must.  June  19, 1861 ;  disch.  June  30,  1862,  disa- 
bility. 

Kirk,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  September,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 

Koehler,  Christian,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Nov.  15,  1862, 
disability. 


336 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Lewis,  William,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;    app.  Corp.;    veteran; 

trans,  to  l.Sth  Regt. 
Love,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  at  Folly  Island,  S.  C, 

Deo.  10,  1863. 
Lucas,  David,  must.  June   19,  1861;  veteran;   trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Lynch,  Edward,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;    killed  near 

Petersburg  September,  1864. 
Lynch,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861. 

Lyons,  Martin,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must  out  July  1,  1864. 
Maloney,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  app.  Corp.;  trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Mullen,  Harrison,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Mullen,  Lemuel,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Mulcahey,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Mnrrell,  Henry,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Morris,  Morton,  must.  Juno  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Oct.  9, 1861,  disa- 
bility. 
Moore„  Thomas  U.,   must.  June   19,  1861;   dishon.  disch.  by 

G.C.M.  Dec.  14,  1861. 
Morrison,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res.  Corps 

Aug.  15,  1863. 
Morrison,  Squicr,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  June  17,  1862, 

disability. 
McFarren,  George,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  at  Hilton  Head 

Jan.  2,  1864. 
McNelius,  James,  must.  June  19,  1S61 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Niegle,  Karl,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Pemberton,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Reese,  Norman,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Oct.  9,  1861,  dis- 
ability. 
Redmond,  John  F.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  app.  corp. ,  veteran  ; 

trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Ritter,  Henry,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  June  17,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Robinson,  Di.xon,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Sanders,  Addison,  must.  June  19,  1S61. 
Seely,  Hiram,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;    trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Seely,  Charles,   must.   June  19,  1861;    disch.   May  25,  1863, 

for  wounds  at  Winchester. 
Sievers,  Fritz  H.  L.,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Nov.  26,  1863, 

disability. 
Shaw,  Thomas,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  died  Dec.  10,  1863. 
Smith,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  veteran;  trans,  to  13th 

Regt. 
Smith,  Benjamin,  must.  June  19,  1861;  died  April  29,  1862. 
Smith,  Oliver,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Nov.  15,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Sorge,  John  S.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  March  14,  1863, 
disability. 


Sorter,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Jan.  1,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 
Steiger,  Henry,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  9,  1S61,  disa- 
bility. 
Stepp,  William  T.,  must.  June  19,  1861;   app.  sergt. ;  veteran; 

trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Stoots,  Joseph,  must.  June  19,  1861. 
Sullivan,  Timothy  B.,  must.  June  19,  1861;  disch.  Nov.  15, 

1862,  disability. 
Tawney.  Lewis,  must.  June  19,  1861  ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Thompson,   Allen  T.,  must.    June    19,  1861  ;    killed    at   Rich 

Mountain  July  11,  1861. 
Thornburgh,  Isaac,  must.  June  19,  1861;  veteran;   trans,  to 

13th  Regt. 
Thornburgh,  Oeorge,  must.  June  19,  1801;  must,  out  July  1, 

1864. 
Violory,  Peter,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Wilson,  John,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  disch.  Nov.  20,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 
Wilson,  George,  must.  June  19,  1861;  must,  out  July  1,  1864. 
Williams,  Lazarus,  must.  June  19,  1861;  scout;  captured  and 

never  heard  from. 
Winters,  William,    must.    June   19,   1861;  veteran;    trans,  to 
13th  Regt. 

Becruiln. 
Brown,  James,  must.  June  19,  1861;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Bossce,  Clemens,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Finke,  William,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Gibbon,  Conrad,  must.  June  19, 1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Huber,  Jacob,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Hamler,  August,  must.  June  19,  1861 ;  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Lowery,  George  E.,  must.  June  19,  1861 :  trans,  to  13th  Regt. 
Sabatcke,  William,  must.   June  19,  1861 ;    killed    at    Chester 
Station  May  10,  1864. 
Note. — The  "transfer  to  the  Thirteenth  Regiment,"  which 
occurs  so  often,  means  to  the  regiment  after  its  reorganization. 

Eighteenth  Regiment. 

Lieutenant- Colonel. 
James   B.  Black,  com.  Jan.  1,  1865;    was  maj.,  and  pro.  1st 
lieut.  and  capt.  Co.  H;  must.  out. 

Adjutant. 
George  S.  Marshall,  com.  Aug.  13,  1861 ;  pro.  capt.  and  A. A. 6. 

S.  Clay  Brown,  com.  June  7,  1864;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Nineteenth  Regiment.  —  Organized  July  29, 
1861.  at  Indianapolis,  with  Solomon  Meredith  as 
colonel,  it  went  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  August 
9th,  and  lost  three  killed  and  wounded  and  three 
prisoners  at  Lewinsville  September  11th.  It  had 
not  much  to  do  then  till  the  night  of  Aug.  28,  1862, 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


337 


when  a  severe  engagement  with  Ewell's  command 
lost  it  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  killed  and 
wounded  and  thirty-three  prisoners.  At  the  battle 
of  South  Mountain,  September  14th,  it  lost  forty 
killed  and  wounded  and  seven  missing.  At  Antie- 
tam  it  went  into  the  battle  with  two  hundred  officers 
and  men,  and  came  out  with  thirty  of  both.  It  was 
next  engaged  in  Burnside's  attack  on  the  works  in 
the  rear  of  Fredericksburg.  At  Fitzhugh's  Cross- 
ing, April  28,  1863,  it  lost  four  killed  and  wounded. 
It  reached  Gettysburg  just  as  the  battle  opened  on 
the  1st  of  July.  It  was  tBe  first  infantry  force  to 
engage,  and  assisted  in  capturing  Archer's  rebel 
brigade.  In  the  afternoon  it  resisted  the  charge 
made  on  the  First  and  Eleventh  Corps,  losing  in 
killed  and  wounded  two  hundred  and  ten  men  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  that  went  into  the 
fight.  It  was  not  much  engaged  after  this  until  it 
joined  Grant's  movement  on  Richmond.  It  was  in 
the  battles  of  tlie  Wilderness,  North  Anna,  Laurel 
Hill,  and  Cold  Harbor.  It  was  also  engaged  in  the 
siege  of  Petersburg.  It  lost  after  crossing  the 
Rapidan  with  Grant, — May  4th  to  July  30th, — 
killed,  thirty-six ;  severely  wounded,  ninety-four ; 
slightly  wounded,  seventy-four ;  missing,  sixteen  ; 
in  all,  two  hundred  and  twenty.  The  non-veterans 
left  in  August,  and  were  mustered  out  here.  The 
remainder  of  the  regiment,  with  the  recruits,  went 
South  with  the  Iron  Brigade,  to  cut  the  Weldon 
Railroad,  in  August.  In  September  the  remainder 
of  the  Seventh  Regiment  was  consolidated  with  the 
Nineteenth,  taking  its  name.  It  remained  in  the 
intrenchments  at  Petersburg  till  Oct. '  18,  1864, 
when  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Twentieth  Regi- 
ment. All  served  together  till  the  muster-out  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  July  12,  1865. 

Colouel. 
John  M.  Lindley,  com.  May  13,  ISG-t;  must,  out  as  lieut.-col. 
Oct.  24,  1864,  on  consolidation  with  20th  Regt. :  had  been 
lieut.-col.  and  maj.,  and  capt.  Co.  F. 

Adjutant. 
John  P.  Wood,  com.  July  29,  1861 ;  res.  May  'iO,  1862. 


James  S.  Drum,  com.  July'29,  1861;  res.  July  31,  1862;  pro. 
A.C.S. 
22 


John  A.  Cottman,  com.  Oct.  1,  1862;  hon.  disch.  May  2,  1864; 
pro.  A.C.S. 

AsHistant  Surgeons. 
William  H.  Kendrick,  com.  July  29,  1861;  resigned. 
J.  N.  Green,  com.  Sept.  14,  1861;  res.  Dec.  28,  1862. 

Company  D. 
First  Lieutenants. 
Henry  Vandegrift,  com.  July  29,  1861 ;  resigned. 
Lewis  M.  Yeatman,  com.  Feb.  12,  1863  ;  must,  out,  time  ex- 
pired. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Fredericlt  R.  Hale,  com.  July  29,  1861 ;  res.  Nov.  28,  1861. 
Lewis  M.  Teatman,  com.  Oct.  14,  1862 ;  pro.  Ist  lieut. 
George   W.    Huntsman,    com.    Feb.    12,   1863 ;    dismissed   by 
G.C.M.  Dec.  5, 1863. 

Company  F. 
Captains. 
John  M.  Lindley,  com.  July  29,  1861;  promoted. 
James  R.  Nash,  com.  April  1,  1S64;  must,  out  Oct.  22,  1864, 
time  expired. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Benjamin  F.  Reed,  com.  July  29,  1861;  res.  Sept.  21,  1861. 
John  A.  Cottman, 1  com.  Oct.  15,  1861;  assigned  to  q.m. 
James  R.  Nash,^  com.  May  21,  1863  ;  pro.  capt. 

Company  H. 
First  Lieutenant. 
Theodore  Hudnot,  com.  July  29, 1861 ;  resigned. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  D. 
First  Seryennt. 
Tousey,  Omer,  must.  July  29,  1861;  discharged. 

Seri/eants. 
Huntsman,  George  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded. 
Craft,  Richard  P.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded. 
Lawrence,  Thomas  R.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Kanselmeir,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  died  July  19,  1862. 

Corporals. 

Shipley,  James  A.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  died  at  Washington 
Sept.  8,  1861. 

Whitney,  Edward  B.,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  app.  sergt. ; 
wounded. 

Bare,  James  0.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  killed  in  the 
Wilderness  May  5,  1864. 

Johnson,  Hutchinson,  must.  July  29,  1861;  killed  at  Gaines- 
ville Aug.  28,  1862. 

McRoberts,  Charles  L.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  28, 
1864. 

Bare,  DeWitt,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 

Phelps,  Henry,  must.  July  29,  1861;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 

^  Last  two  also  second  lieutenants. 


338 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Jack,  Walter  P.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th 
Regt. 


Rice,  George,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Davis,  James  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  disch.  Deo.  2,  1861. 


Wayouer. 
McCoy,  Benjamin  F.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 


Aiken,  Daniel,  must.  July  29.  1861 ;   veteran;  wounded;  trans. 

to  20th  Regt. 
Alley,  Oliver,  must.  July  29,  1S61. 

Amick,  Washington,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;   killed  at  Gaines- 
ville Aug.  28,  1862. 
Andrick,  Jacob,  must.  .July  29,  1861. 
Arnold,   William,   must.  July  29,   1861;    veteran;    wounded; 

trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Baker,  James,  must,  .tuly  29,  1861. 
Baker,  Isaac,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Ball,  Ahab  K.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Bachus,  Matthias,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Bell,  Henry,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Blair,  Milton,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  wounded  at  Pe- 
tersburg ;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Boyd,  John  T.,  must.  July  29,  18C1 ;  died  Sept.  23,  1801,  at 

Washington. 
Burroughs,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Cooper,  James  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  died  Dec.  17,  1862. 
Curson,  Edward,  must.  July  29,  1861;    wounded;    must,  out 

July  28,  1864,  as  sergt. 
Corragan,  James,  must.  July  29,  ISGl. 
Cowgill,  Isaac,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Cutshaw,  Harvey  N.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Colloway,  Thomas,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Darragh,  Gillett,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;   veteran ;   captured  at 

Cold  Harbor ;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Dimmick,  William  H.,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  must,  out  July  28, 

1864. 
Dolph,  Joseph,  must.  July  29,  1861;  died  July  7,  1862. 
Dornaw,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861;  killed  at  Gainesville 

Aug.  28,  1862. 
Drysdale,  Henry  F.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Dunn,  John  C,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Eddy,  John,  must.  July  29,  ISBl;  killed  at  Gainesville  Aug. 

28,  1862. 
Everts,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861;    wounded;    must,  out 

July  28,  1864. 
Fidler,  Nelson,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
Flagg,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  wounded. 
Fletcher,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  app.  corp. ; 

wounded ;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 


Fletcher,  John  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded  at  Wilder- 
ness. 
Gattenby,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861  :  veteran;  wounded;  trans. 

to  20th  Regt. 
Galloway,  Harvey,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Green,  William  H.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;   trans,  to 

20th  Regt. 
Hamilton,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
Henderson,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Henderson,  Richard  T.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans. 

to  20th  Regt. 
Henby,  Williiim  B.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  must,  out  July  28, 

1864. 
Horney,  William  A.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  died  at  Washington 

March  31,  1862. 
Holloway,  David  S.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Homiday,  Clark,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  died  July  24,  1863. 
Hobbs,  Harvey,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Hughes,  James  L.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gainesville 

Aug.  28,  1862. 
Haut,  William  H.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Inlow,  Asbury,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Jacobs,  Milton,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded  at  Antietam. 
Jacks,  John  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Jones,  Henry,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  killed  at  Gainesville  Aug. 

28,  1862. 
Kiser,  Henry,  must.  July  29,  1862  ;  veteran  ;  app.  scrgt. ;  killed 

in  the  Wilderness  May  8,  1864. 
Lacey,  Louis,  must.  July  29,  1862;    died   Sept.  14,  1862,  of 

wounds  received  at  South  Mountain. 
May,  Richard,  must.  July  29,  1861;    died  Nov.  22,  1862,  of 

wounds  received  at  Gainesville. 
Mann,  Thomas,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Mendenhall,  Benjamin,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
McDaniel,  Reason,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;    veteran ;    trans,  to 

20th  Regt. 
McDonald,  Daniel  B.,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  wounded. 
McDonald,  William  C,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gaines- 
ville Aug.  28,  1862. 
Moore,  John  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Munroe,  Herman,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Ninabee,  Herman,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Oliver,  Abram  J.,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  captured  at  Gettysburg; 

died  at  Andersonville  Sept.  5,  1864. 
Padgett,  Richard,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded. 
PearsoU,  Samuel,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  captured  at  Cold  Harbor. 
Phelps,  Henry,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Redout,  Isaac,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Rice,  Oliv.er,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Sargent,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Sargent,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861;  died  at  Washington  Nov. 

22,  1861. 
Sherrod,  Samuel  S.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 


MARION    COUNTY    IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


339 


Shipley,  Talbert  B.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  wounded  in 

the  Wilderness ;  trans,  to  29th  Regt. 
Small,  William  P.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  wounded  at 

North  Anna;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Smith,  Joseph  D.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Stedman,  Arthur,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Stewart,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
.'^ulgrove,  Eli,  must.  July  29,  1861;    veteran;   trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Shaw,  Augustus  D.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Tevis,  Lloyd,  must.  July  29,  1S6I. 

Tullis,  Henry  B.,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  must,  out  July  28, 1864. 
Vanbooth,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  app.  sergt. ; 

killed  at  Cold  Harbor  June  1,  1864. 
Williams,  Stephen,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Wood,  William  H.  H.,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  killed  at  Lewins- 

ville  Sept.  11,  1861. 
Woods,  Squire,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  wounded;  cap- 
tured in  the  Wilderness ;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Yeatman,  Lewis  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded;  pro.  2d 

lieut. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  F. 
First  Senjeant. 
Wheat,  Benjamin  D.,  must.  July  29,  1S61. 

Seirjeanta. 

Forbes,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Harden,  John  C,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Richardson,  Harland,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  captured  at  Get- 
tysburg; pro.  2d  lieut. 

Dever,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861;  captured  at  Gettysburg; 
died  at  Andersonville  Sejit.  19,  1864. 

Corporals. 
Russell,  Samuel  N.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Nash,  James  R.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Foulk,  Austin  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  reduced;  captured  at 

Gettysburg;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
Hartley,  Joseph  L.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Wilson,  William  P.,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  disch.  on  account  of 

wounds  received  at  Gettysburg. 
Agan,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gainesville  Aug. 

28,  1862. 
Echenbreicher,    Christian,    must.    July    29,    1861;     reduced; 

wounded. 
Collins,  Cornelius,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Musicians. 
Stuart,  Andrew  T.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Martindale,  Henry  S.,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  died  Sept.  28,  1861. 

Wagoner. 
Foley,  Daniel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 


Bolton,  Robert,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Brennan,  Thomas,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded  at  Gainesville  j 

disch. ;  re-enl.  in  Hancock's  corps. 
Bryan,  James  H.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Bannan,  Michael,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded. 
CafFrey,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  2S,  1864. 
Campbell,  Michael,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gainesville 

Aug.  28,  1862. 
Cassiday,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded. 
Clifford,  Burr  N.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Cly,  Abram  N.,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Cly,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  died  Dee.  9,  1862,  of  wounds 

at  Manassas. 
Canine,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded. 
Collins,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
CofBn,  Zachariah,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  wounded  at  Cold  Har- 
bor; must,  out  as  sergt.  July  28,  1864. 
Collins,  Nathaniel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Coyle,  Patrick,  must.  July  29, 1861 ;  killed  at  Gainesville  Aug. 

28,  1862. 
Debay,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
Davenport,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. 
Dever,  Patrick,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  2Uth 

Regt. 
Doud,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Dnnlap,  David  B.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  died  Sept.  26,  1862, 

of  wounds  at  Antietam. 
Duley,  George  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
■Ellison,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Evans,  Asbury  C,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Fisher,  David  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded;  must,  out 

July  28,  1864,  as  sergt. 
Ford,  Francis   M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded;  captured; 

must,  out  July  28, 1864,  as  sergt. 
Goggin,  John,  must.  July  29,  1861;  killed  at  Gainesville  Aug. 

28,  1862. 
Griffin,  Nathaniel  G.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded  at  South 

Mountain. 
Hall,  Henry  C,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Hanna,  Josephus,   must.  July  29,   1861;    disch.  June,  1862, 

disability. 
Hamilton,  Archibald  E.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July 

28,  1864. 
Hand,  Levi  S.,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  mustered  out  July  28, 

1864. 
Harman,  Daniel,  must.  July   29,   1861;  killed  at  Gainesville 

Aug.  28,  1862. 
Hardy,  Dennis,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded. 
Harting,  Michael,  must.  July  29,  1861 


340 


HISTOKY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Hartley,  Josiah  F.,  must.  July  29,  1S61 ;  died  Oct.  22,  1862, 

of  wounds  at  Gainesville. 
Hartman,  William,  must.  July  29,  1S61. 
Harris,  Thomas,  must.  July  29,  1S61;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th 

Kegt. 
Hauk,  Joseph,  must.  July  29,  :S61. 
Hearst,    Christian,  must.    July    29,    1861;  veteran;  trans,    to 

20th  Regt. 
Holden,  John,  must.  July  29,   1861;   veteran;  trans,  to  20th 

Regt. ;  captured  at  Wilderness. 
Huff,  August,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Jenkins,  Charles  T.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Lamb,   John    A.,   must.   July    29,    1861;  veteran;  wounded; 

trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Lamb,  Isaac,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded. 
Lovette,  Gilbert  M.,  must.  July  29,  1861;   must,  out  July  28, 

1864. 
Long,  Nelson,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Maguire,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Manning,  John,  must.  July  29,  1S61. 
Mankin,  Andrew  J.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  wounded  ; 

trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Marsh,  Christopher   C,    must.   July    29,    1861;  veteriin ;  cap- 
tured at  Wilderness;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Miller,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Miller,  Fred.,  must.  July  29,  1S61. 
Moriarty,    Matthew,    must.    July    29,    1861 ;  killed   at   South 

Mountain  Sept.  14, 1862. 
McCarthy,    John,    must.   July    29,    1861 ;  wounded   at  South 

Mountain  and  Petersburg  ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
McCrehan,  Daniel,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  captured  at  Gettys- 
burg;  must,  out  March  24,  1864. 
Nash,  Richard,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 
Newbill,  John  S.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
O'Connor,  John,  must.  July  29,   1861;    captured;  must,    out 

M.arch,  1865. 
Quinlan,  Daniel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Roberts,  Leander,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Roetter,  August,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Roney,  Patrick,  must.  July   29,   1861 ;  killed   at   Gainesville 

Aug.  28,  1862. 
Rourk,  Maurice,  must.  July  29,   1861;  veteran;  wounded  at 

Petersburg;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Russell,  Edward  J.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded. 
Schmcder,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to 

20th  Regt. 
Sharp,  Thomas  J.,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  discharged. 
Smith,  Flemming,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Smock,  Harvey,  must.  July  29,  1861. 
Smock,  Charles  B.,  must.  July  29, 1861. 
Smock,  John  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  wounded  at 

Petersburg ;  trans,  to  20th  Regt. 
Sulgrove,  Elkanah,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gettysburg 
July  1,  1863. 


Tharp,  William,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded. 

Timmans,  Patrick,  must.  July  29,  1861 ;  wounded  at  Wilder- 
ness ;  must,  out  July  28,  1864. 

Waidley,  Jesse  H.,  must.  July  29,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to 
20th  Regt. 

Waller,  John  S.,  must.  July  29,  1861  ;  killed  at  Fitzhugh's 
Crossing  April  29,  1863. 

Weidman,  George  P.,  must.  July  29, 1861  ;  died  July  24, 1862. 

White,  James,  must.  July  29,  1861;  wounded  at  Gettysburg; 
must,  out  July  28,  1864. 

Wood,  Samuel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Wood,  George  W.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Wood,  John  P.,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

AVyman,  Samuel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Young,  Israel,  must.  July  29,  1861. 

Twentieth  Regiment. — Organized  at  Lafayette, 
in  July,  1 8G 1 ,  camo  to  Indianapolis,  where  it  was  mus- 
tered in.  It  was  first  set  to  guarding  a  Pennsylvania 
railroad  near  Baltimore.  It  went  to  Hatteras  Sep- 
tember 27th,  and  was  sent  to  Hatteras  Bank,  forty 
miles  up,  where  a  rebel  fleet  of  gunboats  and  trans- 
ports, with  infantry,  attacked  it  and  drove  it  to  the 
light-house  twenty-eight  miles  away.  Its  next  active 
service  was  at  Newport  News,  when  the  rebel  ram 
"  Merrimac"  sunk  the  national  vessels  and  fought  the 
first  "  Monitor."  It  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
on  the  Peninsula.  On  the  25th  of  June  it  lost  in 
the  battle  of  the  Orchards  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  men  and  officers,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
It  covered  the  national  retreat  and  was  in  all  the  fights 
of  the  noted  seven  days.  It  was  in  the  Second 
Bull  Run  battle,  where  its  colonel.  Brown,  was  killed. 
On  the  1st  of  September  it  was  in  the  battle  of 
Chantilly.  Its  great  losses  required  a  rest,  and  it  was 
not  actively  engaged,  except  in  marches,  till  December 
11th,  when  it  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg with  Franklin's  corps.  It  aided  in  saving  three 
Union  batteries.  It  was  in  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  captured  for  a  time  the  whole  Twenty-third 
Georgia  regiment,  larger  than  itself  It  reached 
Gettysburg  in  time  for  the  battle.  Here  its  colonel, 
Wheeler,  was  killed,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
men  and  officers  killed  and  wounded.  It  was  sent  to 
New  York  in  the  election  of  1864  to  keep  order,  and 
rejoined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  was  in  the  en- 
gagements at  Locust  Grove  and  Mine  Run,  in  Novem- 
ber.     In  May,   1864,  it  crossed  the  Rapidan  with 


MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


341 


Grant,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness, 
Todd's  Tavern,  and  Hatcher's  Run,  and  on  the  left 
was  in  all  the  fighting  from  Hatcher's  Run  to  the  fall 
of  Richmond.  Its  last  fight  was  at  Clover  Hill,  April 
9,  1865.  It  then  went  to  Washington,  and  then  to 
Louisville,  Ky.,  on  June  21st.  On  the  12th  of  July 
it  was  mustered  out  there  with  three  hundred  and 
ninety  men  and  twenty-three  officers. 

Lieutenant- Colonel. 
George  W.  Meikel,  com.  July  3,  1863 ;   killed  at  Petersburg, 
Va.,  Sept.  16,  1S64. 

Adjutant. 
John  E.  Luther,  com.  May  27,  1863;  must,  out  Oct.  13,  1864; 
term  expirCLl. 

Assistant  Surgeon. 
Daniel  H.  Prunk,  com.  .June  28,  1862;  dismissed,  to  date  Nov, 
15,  1862. 

COSIPANY    D. 

Captain. 
William  D.  Vatchett,  com.  Oct.  23,  1863;  must  out  Oct.  6,  1864; 
time  out;  had  been  1st  and  2d  lieut. 

CoMPAsy  H. 
Captains, 
George  W.  Geisendorff,  com.  July  22,  1861 ;  resigned. 
George  W.  Mickel,  o»m.  Dec.  4,  1861 ;  pro.  lieut. -col. 
Charles    Liner,  com.  June  6,  1863;    must,  out    Oct.  10,  1864, 

term  expired. 

First  Lieutenants. 
George  W.  Miekcl,  com.  July  22,  1861;  pro.  capt. 
William  0.  Sherwood,  com.   Dec.  4,  1861 ;    resigned  April  3, 

1863. 
Charles  Liner,  com.  April  4,  1863;  pro.  capt. 
Harry  Geisendorff,  com.  June  6,  1863;  must,  out  Oct.  10,  1864, 

term  expired. 

Second  Lieutenants, 
William  0.  Sherwood,  com.  July  22,  1861;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Fred.  W.  Geisendorff,  com.  Dec.  4,  1861  ;  resigned  July  29,  1862. 
Charles  Liner,  com.  July  30,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Harry  Geisendorff,  com.  April  4,  1863;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
William    Dickason,  com.  Aug.  1,   1864;    must,    out  as  supply 

sergt.,  Oct.  29,  1864. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  H. 
First  Sei-0eant. 
Geisendorff,  Fred.  W.,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Sergeants. 
Kemper,  John  W.,  must.  July  22,  1801;  app.  1st  sergt. ;  disch, 

December,  1862,  disability. 
Davis,  Moses,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  August,  1862, 


Liner,  Charles,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Geisendorff,  Harry,  must.  July  22,  1861 :  pro.  2d  liout. 

Corporals. 
Crunkleton,  Joseph,  must.   July  22,  1861 ;    disch.    December, 

1861,  disability. 
Meek,  James  C,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;    captured  on  gunboat 

"Fanny;"  disch.  May  22, 1862. 
Dickenson,  William,  must.   July  22,  1861;    veteran;  pro.    2d 

lieut.;  died  in  prison  at  Wilmington,  N.  C,  July,  1864. 
Ellsworth,  Andrew,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disob.  for  wounds  at 

Orchards. 
Springer,  David,  must.  July  22,  1861;  trans,  to  Invalid  Corps, 

1862;  disch.  July  22,  1864. 
Archer,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  killed  at  Spottsylvania. 
Hiner,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  wounded  at  Mine  Run. 
Kelley,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861;  must,  out  July,  1865. 

Musicians. 

Sackett,  Frederick  P.,  must.  July  22,  1861;  captured  on  gun- 
boat "Fanny;"  disch.  May  22,  1862. 

Andrews,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861;  captured  on  gunboat 
"Fanny;"  disch.  M.ay  22,  1862. 

Wagoner. 
Tull,  Newton,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  died  at  Alexandria,  Va., 
August,  1862. 

Privates. 

Allen,  Henry  C,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  disch.  for  disability. 

Allen,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  December,  1861,  dis- 
ability. 

Allen,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  disch.  August,  1862,  dis- 
ability. 

Anderson,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  29,  1864. 

Bassett,  Harvey,  must.  July  22,  1S61 ;  wounded  at  Chicka- 
hominy  June  25,  1862;  died  in  a  Richmond  prison  July 
30,  1862. 

Baylor,  James,  must.  July  22,  1861. 

Beaver,  Isaac,  must.  July  22,  1861;  captured  at  Mine  Run; 
must,  out  Feb.  9,  1865, 

Bennett,  Lucius  L.,  must.  July  22,  1S61;  captured  October, 
1861. 

Black,  Edward  A.,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gettysburg 
July  4,  1863. 

Briner,  Daniel  L.,  must.  July  22,  1861;  killed  at  Spottsylva- 
nia, Va. 

Bushnell,  Franklin,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  for  wounds, 

Cassell,  George  W.,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  disch.  December,  1861, 
for  disability. 

Cay  wood,  Samuel,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  trans,  to  Invalid  Corps, 

Chriswell,  Thomas,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  killed  at  Gettysburg. 

Clayton,  James,  must.  July  22,  1861;  captured  at  Chicomico- 
mico;  disch.  May  22,  1862. 

Clow,  David,  must.  July  22,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  July, 
1865. 


342 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Cooper,  Ephraim,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  in  1862. 
Cottrell,  D,avid,  must.  July  22,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Craner,    EH,    must.  July  22,  1861;    veteran;    trans,  to   20th, 

reorganized. 
Custer,  James,  must.  July   22,  1S61  ;  died  at  Newport   News 

April,  1862. 
Dennis,  Irvin,  must.  July  22,  1S61 ;  wounded  Sept.  10,  1861 ; 

trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 
Dickey,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20tb, 

reorganized. 
Fagen,  Lambert,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  killed  at  Orchards  June 

25,1862. 
Finley,  James,  must.  July  22,  1861;  veteran;  trans,  to  20tb, 

reorganized. 
Ford,  James  A.,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  veteran ;  must,  out  July, 

1865. 
Frizell,  Allen,  must.  July  22,  1861:  app.  drum-major ;  must. 

out  October,  1864. 
Gamble,  Henry,  must.  July    22,  1861;  died    at    Cockeysville, 

Md.,  August,  1S61. 
Gardner,  James,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  must,  out  July  22,  1864. 
Geek,  Michael,  must.  July  22,  1861;  must,  out  July  29,  1864. 
Hagan,  Samuel,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  killed  at  Gettysburg  July 

2,  186.3. 
Harris,    Charles,    must.  July   22,  1861;   discb.  on    account  of 

wounds  received  at  Gettysburg. 
Hays,  Abram,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  disch.  December,  1861. 
Hill,  Samuel,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  29,  1864. 
Hurlburt,  George,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Hufman,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861;  killed  at  Orchards  June 

25,  1862. 
Irick,  Daniel,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  December,  1861,  for 

disability. 
Irick,  Morris,  must.  July  22,  1S61 :  disch.  on  account  of  wounds 

received  at  Fredericksburg. 
Iholtz,  Christopher,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  29, 

1864. 
James,  Jacob,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  veteran;  died  at  Peters- 
burg. 
Jenkins,  William,  must.  July  22,   1861;    veteran;    trans,  to 

20tb,  reorganized. 
King,  James,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Kurtz,  Frederick,  mustered  July  22,  1861;  must,  out  July  29, 

1864. 
Lang,  Frederick,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  September,  1862, 

for  disability. 
Lawrence,  Frank,  must.  July  22,  1861;  killed  in  the  Wilder- 
ness. 
Leffel,  George,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  disch.  for  wounds. 
Lewis,  Joshua,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  August,  1862,  for 

disability. 
Long,  Noah,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  discharged. 


Miller,  Nelson,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Mourer,  Michael,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Monter,  Lewis,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  wounded  Oct.  29,  1863; 

must,  out  July  29, 1864. 
O'Haver,  Warren,  must.  July  22,  1861;  disch.  December,  1861, 

for  disability. 
Oxford,    Elias,    must.   July    22,    1861 ;    captured    on    gunboat 

"Fanny;"  died  at  Washington  May  19,  1862. 
Piersons,  Frank  B.,  must.  July  22,  1861;  captured  on  gunboat 

"Fanny;"  disch.  May  22,  1862. 
Powers,  Michael,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  must,  out  July  29, 1864. 
Ranee,  Albert,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  wounded  at  Spottsylvania. 
Robinson,  Solomon  B.,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Rub,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  disch.  for  disability. 
Rule,  James  M.,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Russell,  William  P.,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  killed  at  Richmond 

June  29,  1862. 
Serach,  Christian,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  captured  at  Chicomico- 

mico;  disch.  May  22,  1862. 
Shallenbarger,  Benton,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  discb.  on  account 

of  wounds  received  at  Orchards. 
Sharp,  Colonel  P.,  must.  July  22, 1861 ;  veteran ;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized. 
Shoof,  Jacob,  must.  July  22,  1861  ;  captured  at  Chicomicomico; 

disch.  May  22,  1862. 
Shur,  Christian,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  29,  1864. 
Simpson,  Richard,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Simpson,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Smith,  Samuel  S.,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Smith,  Edward  C,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  died  .at   Alexandria, 

Va.,  in  186.3. 
Stevens,  David,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  captured  at  Fredericks- 
burg :  never  heard  from  since. 
Stockwell,  Robert,   must.  July   22,  1861;    died  at  Harrison's 

Landing  Aug.  9,  1862. 
Sweet,  Nelson,  must.  July  22,  1861;  killed  at  Orchards  June 

25,  1862. 
Talbertt,  Overton,  must.  July  22,  1861;  diseh.  December,  1861, 

for  disability. 
Templin,  George  W.,  must.  July  22,  1861;  wounded  at  Green- 
dale,  Va. 
Ten  Eyck,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  must,  out  July  29, 1864. 
Thompson,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;    diseh.  in  1862  for 

disability. 
Tilbason,  John,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  died  of  wounds  June  25, 

1862. 
Tristy,  Miles,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;  captured  at  Gettysburg. 
Van  Horn,  Abram,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
Whealan,  Timothy,  must.  July  22,  1861. 
White,   Charles    H.,  must.  July  22,  1861;    drowned    October, 

1861,  trying  to  escape  from  Hatteras  Island. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


343 


Wilson,  Robert,  must.  July  22,  1861;  trans,  to  Co.  A. 
Windle,  William,  must.  July  22,  1861 ;    captured  on  gunboat 
"  Fanny;"  disch.  May  22,  1S62. 

lierrnHs. 

Angevine,  Edward  G.,  must.  Sept.  26,  1861. 

Atkins,  William  A.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862:  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Broderick,  John,  must.  April  1,  1S64;  trans,  to  20th,  reorgan- 
ized. 

Barbour,  Calrin  S.,  must.  Oct.  22,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Brewer,  John,  must. ;  disch.  for  disability. 

Beach,  Henry,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Breneshaltz,  Sylvester,  must.  Oct.  27,  1862. 

Clouse,  Joseph  H.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Cloidt,  Joseph,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  wounded  in  the  Wilder- 
ness; trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Cain,  Hyatt,  must.  April  12,  1864;  trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Eaton,  John  N.,  must.  April  12,  1864;  trans,  to  20th,  reorgan- 
ized. 

Fuller,  Morris,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Furgison,  John,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reorgan- 
ized. 

Gardonier,  Edwin  T.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Gardner,  Matthew,  must.  March  12,  1864;  wounded  at  Or- 
chards ;  disch.  for  disability. 

Gardner,  Jerome,  must.  Oct.  21,  1S62. 

Hurlburt,  George  W.,  veteran. 

Hutchens,  Thomas  E.,  must.  Oct.  28,  1862 ;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Hooker,  E.  M.  B.,  must.  Sept.  26,  1861 ;  app.  sergt.-major. 

Homer,  Bazil,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

King,  William  A.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862. 

Karad,  Joseph,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862. 

Lee,  John  C,  must.  Oct.  17,  1863;  died  at  Richmond,  Va. 

Lang,  Fritz,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Lacox,  William,  must.  Oct.  16,  1862;  wounded  Oct.  1,  1864; 
trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Meeks,  Irvin  D.,  must.  April  12,  1864;  disch.  June  13,  1865, 
for  disability. 

Miller,  Jacob  S.,  must.  Feb.  24,  1862;  wounded  at  Petersburg; 
trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Moore,  Harrison,  must.  Nov.  5,  1862. 

Noland,  James  H.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Ollinger,  Henry  E.,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Piper,  Levi,  must.  March  12,  1862. 

Potts,  Peter  H.,  must.  Dee.  23,  1862;  wounded  at  Spottsylva- 
nia,  Va. ;  trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Piper,  Lewis,  must.  March  12, 1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Rantz,  Robert,  veteran  ;  wounded  in  the  Wilderness;  trans,  to 
20th,  reorganized. 


Rantz,  Calvin  S.,  must.  April  12,  1864 ;  trjins.  to  20th,  reorgan- 
ized. 

Rantz,  Charles  E.,  must.  April  12,  1864;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 
ganized. 

Richmond,  Robert  T.,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Sparks,  John,  must.  Aug.  26,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Sparks,  Lyman  E.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  wounded  in  the  Wil- 
derness; trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Sharpe,  Henry,  must.  Feb.  12,  1862;  disch.  for  disability. 

Sharpe,  William,  must.  Feb.  28,  1862  ;  disch.  for  disability. 

Sharpe,  George,  must^-Feb.  28,  1862. 

Strode,  George  W.,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862. 

Shelton,  Jonathan,  must.  Nov.  5,  1862. 

Winch,  Frederick,  must.  July  22,  1861;  trans,  to  Co.  F. 

Walters,  Solomon,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Wilson,  Moses,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Wilkey,  Benjamin  F.,  must,  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Weiper,  Richard  T.,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862. 

Walters,  Levi,  must.  Oct.  4,  1861;  veteran;  killed  in  the  Wil- 
derness May  5,  1864. 

Walters,  John,  must.  Oct.  4,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  July, 
1865. 

Wilmot,  Horace,  must.  Feb.  18,  1863  ;  trans,  to  20th,  reorgan- 
ized. 

White,  William  H.,  must.  Oct.  2,  1802;  wounded  Nov.  2,  1863; 
trans,  to  20th,  reorganized. 

Wyatt,  William  E.,  must.  Oct.  13,  1862;  trans,  to  20th,  reor- 


Wooley,  Charles,  must.  Oct.  21,  1862;  veteran;  trans,  to  20th, 

reorganized, 
Tounkin,  Michael. 
Younkin,  Christopher. 

Twenty-first  Regiment, First  Heavy  Artillery, 

Jfajor. 
Isaac  C.  Hendricks,  com.  Feb,  3,  1865. 

Adjutant. 
Henry  F.  McMillan,  com.  Aug.  5,  1862;  hon.  disch.  April  21, 
1865. 

Chaplain. 
Nelson  L.  Brakeman,  com.  July  23,  1861 ;  app.  hospital  chap- 
lain U.S.A. 

Company  B. 

First  Lieutenants. 
William  M.  Conner,  com.  Jan.  6,  1864;  hon.  disch.  Oct.  31, 

1864. 
Thomas  J,  Raper,  com.  Oct.  1,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Thomas  J.  Raper,  com.  Jan.  6,  1864;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  C. 
First  Lieutenants. 
Omer  Tousey,  com.  June  18,  1864;  disch.  Feb.  7,  1865. 
Oliver  H.  P.  Ewing,  com.  Aug.  12,  1864;  res.  Nov.  17,  1864. 


344 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Company  F. 

Company  D. 

Firel  Lieutenant. 

Captains. 

0.  H.  P.  Ewing,  com.  March  30,  1864;  trans,  to  Co.  C. 

Aug.  D.  Rose,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861 ;  pro.  major. 

William  T.  Wallace,  com.  July  1,  1862 ;  res.  Sept.  3,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenant, 

George  C.  Harding,  com.  July  1,  1S62;  res.  Dec.  30,  1863. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Aaron  L.  Hunt,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861 ;  res.  June  19,  1862. 

Company  L. 

William  T.  Wallace,  com.  June  20,  1862;  pro.  capt. 

Captain. 

Elisha  T.  Collins,  com.  Dec.  6,  1864. 

Isaac  C.  Hendricks,  com.  July  15,  1863  ;  pro.  major. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

First  Lieutenants. 

William  T.  Wallace,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

George  H.  Black,  com.  June  30,  1863;  res.  Dec.  22,  1863. 

Elisha  T.  Collins,  com.  July  1,  1862;  pro.;  disch.;  reinstated 

Levi  G.  Benson,  com.  March  1,  1865. 

by  War  Department. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Company  E. 

Levi  G.  Benson,  com.  Sept.  9,  186-t;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Captains. 

Mark  Joseph,  com.  March  1,  1865. 

Lewis  Manker,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861 ;  res.  June  30,  1862;  capt.  in 

79th  Regt. 

Company  M. 

John  W.  Green,  com.  March  19,  1864. 

Captain. 

James  Hughes,  com.  July  13,  1S65. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Joseph  J.  Dain,  com.  July  1,  1862;    died    Nov.  13,  1863,  at 

First  Lieutenants. 

Indianapolis,  of  wounds  in  battle. 

James  Hughes,  com.  Oct.  12,  1863;  pro.  capt. 

John  W.  Green,  com.  Nov.  14,  1863;  pro.  capt. 

George  Jaycox,  com.  Jan.  21,  1864;  canceled. 

Thomas  F.  Bilby,  com.  July  3,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Joseph  J.  Dain,  com.  Feb.  5,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

John  W.  Green,  com.  July  1,  1862 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

George  Jaycox,  com.  Oct.  7,  1863  ;  resigned. 

Thomas  F.  Bi^lby,  com.  March  1,  1865;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  I. 

Edward  M.  Pinney,  com.  March  2,  1865. 

Captains. 

James  A.  Walker,  com.  July  13,  1865. 

Courtland  E.  Whitsit,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861 ;  res.  Feb.  2,  1864, 

Henry  H.  Wheatley,  com.  Feb.  2,  1864. 

Twenty-second  Regiment. 

Major. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Gordon  T.anner,  com.  Aug.  2,  1861;    died  of  wounds  Oct.  2, 

Henry  H.  Wheatley,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861;  pro.  capt. 

1861. 

John  A.  Whitsit,  com.  Feb.  2,  1864. 

Twenty-fourth  Regiment. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Major. 

John  A.  Whitsit,  com.  Aug.  9,  1861;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Cyrus  C.  Hines,  com.  Aug.  13,  1861 ;  pro.  col.  57th  Regt. 

Henry  C.  Adams,  com.  Jan.  9,  1865. 

Twenty-sixth  Regiment. 

Twenty-seventh  Regiment. 

Lieutenant-  Colon  el. 

Colonel. 

Archibald  I.  Harrison,  com.  Aug.  30,  1861;  res.  1861. 

William  M.  Wheatley,  com.  Aug.  30,  1861;  res.  Sept.  27, 1862. 

Major. 

Lieutenant-Colonels. 

William  S.  Johnson,  com.  March  15,  1862;  res.  July  10,  1862. 

Richard  O'Neal,  com.  Aug.  30,  1861 ;  res.  June  30,  1862. 

Augustine  D.  Rose,  com.  July  1,  1862;  hon.  disch.  Dec.  29, 

Adjutant. 

1864. 

William- W.  Dougherty,  com.  Jan.  1,  1861 ;  must,  out  Nov.  4, 

Major. 

1864,  as  capt.  147th  Regt. 

Augustine  D.  Rose,  com.  July  1,  1862;  pro.  lieut.-col. 

Quartermaster. 

Adjutant. 

James  M.  Jameson,  com.  Aug.  26,  1861 ;  must,  out  Sept.  16, 

Henry  Schraeder,  com.  Aug.  31,  1861 ;  res.  June  30,  1862. 

1864,  time  exoired. 

MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


345 


Company  C. 
Cajitain. 
William  S.  Johnson,  com.  Aug.  30,  1861;  pro.  major. 

Company  H. 

First  Lieutenants. 

William  W.  Dougherty,  com.  Jan.  1,  1863;  pro.  adjt.;  2d  lieut. 

Stephen  D.  Lyon,  com.  Feb.  28, 1863 ;  hon.  disch.  Oct.  20, 1863. 

Thirty-second  Regiment  (German). 

Colonels. 
August  Willich,  com.  Aug.  24,  1861;    pro.  brig. -gen.  U.S.V. 

July  17,  1862. 
Henry  Von  Treba,  com.  July  18,  1862 ;  died  at  Areola,  111.,  Aug. 

7,  1863. 
Francis  Erdelmeyer,  com.  Aug.  S,  1863  ;  must,  out  as  lieut. -col. 

Sept.  7,  1864,  term  expired. 

Lieutenant-Colonels. 
Henry  Von  Trebra,  com.  Sept.  28,  1861 ;  pro.  col. 
Francis  Erdelmeyer,  com.  Oct.  20,  1862;  pro.  col. 
Hans  Blume,  com.  Nov.  26,  1864;  residuary  battalion. 

JlJajors. 
Peter  Cappell,  com.  Nov.  26,  1863;  must,  out  as  capt.  Sept.  7, 

1864,  term  expired. 
Hans  Blume,  com.  Nov.  25,  1864;  pro.  lieut. -col. 

Adjutant. 
Christian  Stawitz,  com.    March    28,  1863;    must,  out  Sept.  7, 
1S64,  term  expired. 

Quartermasters. 
Edward  Mueller,  com.  Aug.  28,  1861;  pro.  capt.,  A.Q.M. 
Frederick  Ludwig,  com.  March  30,   1863  ;  must,  out  Sept.  7, 
1864. 

Surjeon. 
Ferdinand  Krauth,  com.  Sept.  4,  1S61 ;  res.  March  31,  1862. 

COSIPANY    A. 

Captains. 
F.  Erdelmeyer,  com.  Sept.  19,  1861;  pro.  lieut.-col. 
Hans  Blume,  com.  Aug.  18,  1864;  pro.  maj.  and  lieut.-col. 
Louis  Heder,  com.  May  11,  1865;  res.  batt. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Adolph  Metzner,  com.  May  19,  1862;  trans,  to  Co.  K. 
Hans  Blume,  com.  Sept.  21,  1803;  pro.  capt.,  maj.,  and  lieut.- 
col. 
Louis  Heder,  com.  March  1,  1865;  res.  batt.;  pro.  capt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Adolph  Metzner,  com.  Sept.  19,  1861  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
John  Hengstler,  com.  June  1,  1865  ;  res.  batt. 


Company  B. 

First  Lieutenants, 
Louis  Ansbittel,  com.  May  14,  1863;  must,  out  Sept.  4,  1864, 

term  expired. 
Louis  Ruth,  com.  Aug.  16, 1864;  res.  batt.;  res.  March  12, 1865. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Frederick  Ludwig,  com.  Nov.  4,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Frank  Weber,  com.  March  20,  1863 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  C. 
First  Lieutenants. 
Chris.  Stawitz,  com.  Feb.  14.  1863;  pro.  adjt. 
Frederick  Ludwig,  com.  March  30,  1863;  pro.  qm. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Hans  Blume,  com.  March  30,  1863 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Edward  Schott,  com.  June  1,  1865;  res.  batt. 

Company  D. 
First  Lieutenant. 
Frank  Weber,  com.  Sept.  8, 1863  ;  must,  out  Sept.  7,  1864,  term 
expired. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Robert  A.  Wolff,  com.  April  10,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  F. 

Captains. 

Frederick  Augustus    Mueller,  com.  Sept.  19,  1861 ;    killed  at 

Shiloh. 
Peter  Cappell,  com.  April  10,  1862;  pro.  maj. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Peter  Cappell,  com.  Sept.  19,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 
John  E.  Brodhagen,  com.  April  10,  1862;  res.  Aug.  15,  1862. 
Robert  A.  Wolff,  com.  Aug.  15,  1862;  res.  April  17,  1863. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
William  Borck,  com.  Sept.  19,  1861 ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
John  E.  Brodhagen,  com.  Jan.  10,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Louis  Ansbittel,  com.  Oct.  20, 1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  H. 
Second  Lieutenant. 
Louis  Ruth,  com.  March  1,  1864;  pro.  1st  lieut.,  res.  batt. 

Company  K. 
Captain. 
Adolph  Metzner,  com.  Feb.  4,  1863;  must,  out  Sept.  7,  1864, 
term  expired. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Christian  Stawitz,  com.  Aug.  19, 1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 


346 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Thirty-third  Regiment. 

C.lrjuel. 
John  Coburn,  com.  Sept.  18,  1861  ;  must,  out  Sept.  20,  1864, 
term  expired;  brev.  brig.-gen.  March  13, 1865. 

A,lj„innts. 
Charles  H.  Pickering,  com.  Oct.  18,  1862;  pro.  lieut.-col.  col'd. 

regt. 
Estea  Wallingford,  com.  Nov.  14,  1863  ;  died  of  smallpox  April 
27,  1864. 

Qttartermasler. 
John  A.  Willjins,  com.  Nov.  23,  1853;  res.  Oct.  4,  1864. 

.S'liryeoii. 
Robert  F.  Benoe,  com.  Aug.  24,  1864 ;  must,  out  July  21, 1805, 
term  expired. 

Agelslatit  Siirgeoug. 
Robert  F.  Bence,  com.  Sept.  27,  1861 ;  pro.  surgeon. 
Andrew  M.  Hunt,  com.  Sept.  27,  1.S62;  res.  for  good  of  service 

June  18,  IS 03. 
John  Moffit,  com.  May  4,  1S65;  must,  out  July  21,  1865,  term 

expired. 

COMPANV  E. 
Caplain. 
Isaac  C.  Hendricks,  com.  Sept.  6,  1861 ;  dismissed  Dec.  26,  1862, 
then  captain  of  1st  Heavy  Artillery. 

I'iial  Lieuleiiauls. 
Estes  Wallingford,  com.  Sept.  8,  1S63;  pro.  adjt. 
John  A.  Wilkins,  com.  Nov.  14,  1863;  pro.  q.m. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Estes  Wallingford,  com.  Dec.  4,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Loyd  T.  Duncan,  com.  Feb.  1,  1864;  hon.  disch.  Dec.  17,  1864, 
on  account  of  wounds. 

Thirty-fifth  (Irish)  Regiment.— The  Thirty- 
fifth  Regiment  was  mustered  in  Dec.  11,  1861,  with 
John  C.  Walker  as  colonel.  It  went  to  Kentucky 
on  the  13th,  and  remained  at  Bardstown  six  weeks, 
and  thence  went  to  Nashville,  where  on  the  22d  of 
May  there  was  consolidated  with  it  the  organized 
companies  and  unassigned  recruits  of  the  Sixty-first 
(second  Irish)  Regiment.  Col.  Mullen  of  the  latter 
became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  whole,  and  later 
colonel  on  the  dismissal  of  Col.  Walker  for  con- 
tumacy. It  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Perryville, 
Oct.  8,  1862.  It  remained  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  till 
Dec.  9,  1862,  when  it  had  a  severe  skirmish  at  Dob- 
bins' Ford,  near  Lavergne,  losing  five  killed  and  thirty- 
five  wounded.     It  also  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Stone 


River  under  Rosecrans.  It  lost  altogether  here 
twenty-nine  killed,  seventy-two  wounded,  and  thirty- 
three  missing, — a  total  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four.  It  was  also  severely  handled  in  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga.  On  the  16th  of  December,  1863,  it 
re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  organization,  and  returned  to 
Indianapolis  on  furlough  Jan.  2,  1864.  On  the  3d 
of  5Iay,  as  part  of  Second  Brigade  of  First  Division 
of  Fourth  Corps,  it  moved  from  camp  and  took  part 
in  all  the  operations  of  that  memorable  campaign. 
At  Kenesaw  Mountain  it  lost  eleven  killed,  including 
Major  DufiBcey,  the  commanding  officer,  fifty-four 
wounded,  including  Capt.  Chris.  H.  O'Brien,  tobacco- 
dealer  of  this  city  now.  It  entered  Atlanta  on  the 
9th  of  September  and  remained  till  the  rebel  retreat 
began,  when  it  marched  with  the  Fourth  Corps  in 
pursuit.  At  Franklin,  Tenn.,  having  received  four 
hundred  recruits,  it  was  set  in  the  front  line  and  re- 
pulsed completely  a  desperate  charge  on  our  works. 
It  acted  conspicuously  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  but 
with  slight  loss.  In  June,  1865,  it  was  sent  with 
the  Fourth  Corps  to  Texas,  where  it  remained  with 
Sheridan's  army  till  September,  when  it  was  mus- 
tered out  and  came  home.  It  had  a  public  reception 
on  October  21st  in  the  State-House  grounds. 

Lieuteiianl-Culunel. 
Richard  J.  Ryan,  com.  Aug.  28,  1861 ;  disch.  Feb.  16,  1862. 

Majur. 
Henry  N.  Conklin,  com.  May  22,  1862;  res.  Feb.  9,  1863. 

Adjutants. 
Frank  Cunningham,  com.  Sept.  2,  1861 ;  res.  Oct.  25,  1862. 
William  C.  Moriarty,  com.  Aug.  5,  1864;  res.  Jan.  29,  1865. 

Quartermaster. 
Martin  Igoe,  com.  Aug.  28,  1861  ;  must.  out. 

Company  A. 

Captains. 

Henry   N.   Conklin,   com.  Aug.  30,1861;  dismissed;  re-com. 

March  18,  1862;  pro.  maj. 

William  W.  Wigmore  ;  com.   May  22,  1862;  dismissed  March 

20,  1863,  by  6.C.M. 

John  E.  Dillon,  com.  March  21,  1863;  dismissed. 

John  Maloney,  com.  March  14,  1864;  res.  June  15,  1865. 

James  McHugh,  com.  June  16,  1865;  must,  out  as  1st  lieut. 

with  regt. 

First  lieutenants. 

John  E.  Dillon,  com.  Sept.  4,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 

John  Maloney,  com.  March  21,  1863;  pro.  capt. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE    WAE   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


347 


James  McHugh,  com.  March  14,  1864;  pro.  eapt. 

James  Winkle,  com.  June  16,  1S65;  must,  out  with  regt.  as  2d 

lieut. 

Second  Litutcnanta. 

John   Maloney,  com.  Sept.  4,  1861;  dismissed  Feb.    15,  1862, 

and  recom.  1st  lieut. 
James    McHugh,    com.   March    21,1863;  dismissed:  restored 

July  21,  1864;  pro.  Ist  lieut. 
James  Winkle,  com.  May  1,  1863  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

CosrpANT  B. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Robert  E.  Stockdale,'  com.  May  1,  1S62;  dismissed  by  special 

order,  1S64. 
John  Hanlon,'  com.  June  11,  1865;  must  out  with  regt. 

Company  C. 
Captain, 

John  Scully,  com.  May  22,  1862  ;  res.  as  1st  lieut.  Co.  I. 

First  Lieiifeiianls. 
Alexander  J.  Orr,  com.  May  1,  1863;  dismissed  March,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Robert  E.  Scully,  com.  July  29,  1862;  res.  April  29,  1863. 
Andrew  Buyer,  com.  May  1,  1863;  pro.  1st  lieut.  Co.  D,  then 
must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  E. 
Captains. 
Edward  G.  Breene,  com.  March,  1862;  declined. 
Henry  Prosser,  com.  May  22,  1862  ;  killed  at  Stone  River  Jan. 
2,  1863. 

Company  F. 

Captains, 

Patrick  W.  Kennedy,-  com.  March  10,  1865  ;  hon.  disch.  July 

8,  1865. 
Bernard  McCabe,^  com.  Aug.  I,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt.  as 

1st  lieut. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Charles  Bullock,  com.  Aug.  1,  1865;  must,  out  as  sergt.  with 

regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Thomas  Mannix,  com.  May  1,  1863;  res.  Aug.  11,  1S64. 

Timothy  Somers,  com.  May  1,  1863;  must,  out  as  sergt.  with 

regt. 

Company  H. 

Captains. 

John  Crowe,  com.  Sept.  23,  1861;  hon.  disch.  Feb.  27,  1864. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Edward  G.  Breene,  com.  Oct.  1,  1861;  pro.  capt.  Co.  E. 


'  Both  these  entered  as  second  lieutenants. 
2  Both  entered  as  first  lieutenants. 


Levi  Waltz,  com.  Nov.  25,  1862;   res.  June  9,  1863;  entered 

as  2d  lieut. 
John  Cahill,  com.  Aug.  10,  1S64;  pro.  capt. 
Josiah  Crooks,  com.  May  1,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  I. 

Captain, 

Thomas  Pryce,  com.  Nov.  13,  1861;  dismissed  JIarch  18,  1863. 

Second  Lieutenant, 
Andrew  J.  Scully,  com.  May  21,  1863  ;  res.  Aug.  2,  1863. 

Company  K. 
Captain, 
Edward   G.    Breene,    com.   Nov.    25,    1862;  dishon.  dismissed 
June  29,  1864. 

First  Lieutenant. 
John  Dugan,  com.  Feb.  17,  1863;  hon.  disch.  May  11,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenants, 
William  H.  O'Connell,  com.  Dec.  9,  1861 ;  res.  Dec.  30,  1861. 
Thomas  Cahill,  com.  May  22,  1862;  res.  Feb.  16,  1863. 
Michael  Hickey,  com.  Feb.  17,  1863;    res.  for  incompetency 

March  28,  1864. 
Daniel  McGovern,  com.  March  1,  1S65  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Enlisted  Men,  Co.  A. 

Serueants. 
Halvey,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  must,  out  Oct.  7,  1864. 
Kirland,  George  A.,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
Cahill,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut.  Co.  H. 

Corjmrala. 
Carroll,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
McHugh,  James,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Corbett,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,   1861 ;    trans,  to   Art.   No- 
vember, 1862. 

Musician. 

Dean,  William,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  veteran. 

Privates. 
Barnett,  John,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861 ;  veteran;  deserted  Feb.  19, 

1864. 
Brady,  William,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  trans,  to  Vet. 

Res.  Corps. 
Baguly,  Daniel,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
Boucher,  Henry,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 

Backus,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  must,  out  Oct.  17, 1864. 
Carey,  Edward,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865. 
Coughlin,  Martin,   must.  Nov.   24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

Sept.  30,  1865. 
Clifford,    Michael,    must.  Nov.  24,   1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

Sept.  30,  1865. 
Carey,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865. 


348 


HISTOKY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Costello,  John,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861  ;  disch.  March  29,  1865,  for 

wounds. 
Crarey,  Denuis,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
Connor,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865. 
Connors,   Michael,   must.   Nov.  24,   1S61;  must,  out  Oct.   17, 

1864. 
Cajlor,  Jacob,  must.   Nov.  24,  1861  ;  disch.  Sept.  18,  1862,  for 

disability. 
Discan,  Martin,  must.  Nov.  24,1861;  veteran;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865. 
Foley,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865,  as  sergt. 
Fo.\,  Thomas,  must.  Nov    24,  1861;  disch.  Oct.  IG,  1862,  for 

disability. 
Fox,  Patrick,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  must,  out  Oct.  17,  1864. 
Gay,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  killed  at  Stone  River  Jan.  2, 

1863. 
Gillin,  John  C,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
Kelly,  Michael,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  trans,  to  Art.  November, 

1862. 
Kearns,  James,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  died  at  Nashville  Deo. 

16,  1863,  of  wounds  at  Lookout  Mountain. 
Keating,  Thomas,  must,  Nov.  24,   1861  ;  trans,  to   Vet.   Res. 

Corps. 
Kelleher,  Michael,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

Sept.  20,  1865,  as  corp. 
Kane,  Michael,  must.  Nov.    24,    18C1;  must,    out    March   28, 

1865. 
Lyons,  William,  must.  Nov.  24,   1861;  died  in   Andersonville 

prison  Aug.  2,  1864. 
Murray,  Charles,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  disch.  Jan.  2,  1863,  for 

wounds  at  Stone  River. 
McCrossan,  Samuel,  must.    Nov.    24,    1861 ;  trans,   to  Signal 

Corps  March  28,  1863. 
Murphy,  Michael,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861 ;  disch.  March  26,  1863, 

for  wounds  at  Stone  River. 
Mclvane,  Charles,  must.   Nov.   24,   1861;  veteran;  must,   out 

Sept.  30,  1865,  as  corp. 
McEvoy,  Arthur,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  disch.  April  10,  1862, 

disability. 
Morrissey,  Patrick,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  May,  1864. 
Mulcahee,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,   1861 ;  died  in   Anderson- 
ville prison  July  24,  1864. 
Murphy,  Timothy,  must.   Nov.    24,    1861;  died   at   Nashville 

Oct.  1,  1S62. 
Moriarty,  Michael,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out 

April  28,  1865. 
Matthews,  James,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861. 
Mannix,  Thomas,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  Ist  lieut. 
Milompy,   James,  must.   Nov.   24,1861;  veteran;    must,  out 

Sept.  20,  1865. 
Moran,  Crohan,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  killed  at  Chickamauga 

Sept.  19,  1863. 


McCouliffe,  Timothy,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  veteran;  must,  out 

Sept.  30,  1865. 
Megin,  John,  must.    Nov.    24,    1861  ;  died    in    Andersonville 

prison. 
McMabon,  Edmund,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861 ;  disch.  May  28, 1862. 
Ryan,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  died  at  Nashville  Deo.  26, 

1862. 
Raftery,  Patrick,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  disch.  Dec.  27,  1864, 

disability. 
Shaler,  Joseph,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861  ;  veteran  ;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865,  as  1st  sergt. 
Stockdale,  Robert,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  1st  lieut.  Co.  B. 
Secrist,  John,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;  must,  out  Sept. 

30,  1865. 
Shearer,  Jacob,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861;  veteran;   died  at  Cleve- 
land, Tenn.,  March  24,  1864. 
Springsteen,  Abram,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  disch.  as  minor. 
Van  Sickle,  Williiim,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  died  at  Nashville 

February,  1862. 
Winkle,  James,  must.  Nov.  24, 1861 ;  veteran  ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
White,  Patrick,  must.  Nov.  24,  1861  ;  veteran;  died   July  12, 

1864,  of  wounds  at  Kenesaw. 

Thirty-sixth  Regiment. 

Aesistanl  Surfjeon. 
Charles  H.  Abbott,  com.  May  18,  1863;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  E. 
First  Lieutenant. 
James  E.  Baker,  com.  Sept.  14,  1861 ;  res.  May  1,  1862. 

Thirty-seventh  Regiment. 

Colonel. 
George  W.  Hazard,  com.  Sept.  12,  1861;  returned  to  regular 
army  March  5,  1862. 

Adjutant. 
Livingston  Howland,  com.  Oct.  2,  1861;  disch.  Aug.  1,  1864, 
for  pro.  to  capt.  and  A. A, 6. 

Clia2:,lain. 
John  Hogarth  Lozier,  com.  Oct.  1,  1861;  must  out  with  regt. 

Thirty-ninth  Regiment. 

Snrgeon. 
Luther  D.  Waterman,  com,  Sept.  2,  1861  ;  must,  out  Oct.  11, 
1864,  time  expired. 

Company  G. 

First  Lieutenant. 

Samuel  A.  Howard,  com.  March  1,  1865 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenants, 
Lawson  H.  Albert,  com.  April  30, 1862 ;  dismissed  Jan.  22, 1863. 
Samuel  A.  Howard,  com.  May  1,  1864  j  pro.  1st  lieut. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


349 


Fortieth  Regiment. 

Zieutenant-  Colonel, 
Elias  Neff,  com.  June  9, 1862;  res.  for  promotion  April  25, 1864. 

Major. 
Elias  Neff,  com.  May  19,  1862;  pro.  lieut.-col. 

Asaistaut  Surrjeon, 
Orrin  Aborn,  com.  Oct.  11,  1861 ;  res.  Feb.  14,  1862. 

Company  F. 
Captain. 
Elias  Neff,  com.  Nov.  18.  1861;  pro.  major. 

Forty-first  Regiment  (Second  Cavalry). 

Colond. 
Edward  McCook,  com.  April  30,  1862;  pro.  brig.-gen.  U.S.V. 

Lieutenant- Colonel. 
Charles  E.  Norris,  com.  Oct.  29,  1861,  2d  Cay.  U.S.A.;    res. 

Feb.  11,  1862. 
Edward  McCook,  com.  Feb.  11,  1862;  pro.  col. 

Major. 
Edward  McCook,  com.  Sept.  29,  1861;  trans,  from  U.S.A. 

Adjutant. 
John  WooUey,  com.  Oct.  3,  1861;  must,  out  June  1,  1862;  re- 
oom.  June  11,  1862;  pro.  maj.  5th  Cav.  March  23,  1863. 

Company  D. 
First  Lieutenant. 
G,  W.  Lafayette  Johnson,  com.  Oct.  5,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 

Forty-fifth  Regiment  (Third  Cavalry). 

Colonel. 
George  H.  Chapman,    com.  March    12,  1863;    pro.  brig.-gen. 
July  21,  1864;  brevet  maj. -gen. 

Lieutenant-Colonel. 
George  H.  Chapman,  com.  Oct.  25,  1862;  pro.  col. 

Major. 
George  H.  Chapman,  com.  Oct.  21,  1861;  pro.  lieut.-col. 

Company  G. 
Captain. 

Felix  W.  Graham,  com.  Oct.  1,  1861;   res.  April  9,  1862. 

Company  L. 
Flrtt  Lieutenant. 
George  J.  Langsdale,  com.  Sept.  29,  1862;  res.  Aug.  1,  1864. 

Company  M. 

Captain. 
Charles  U.  Patton,  com.  Nov.  4, 1861 ;  must,  out  April  15,  1865. 


Second  Lieutenants. 
Thomas  G.  Shaeffer,  com.  Feb.  16,  18f.3 ;  died  Aug.  25,  1864, 

at  Resaca,  Ga. 
Samuel  Borton,  com.  Sept.  4,  1864;  must,  out  April  15,  1865. 

Forty-sixth  Regiment, 

Company  F. 

Captains. 
Samuel  Osbourne,  com.  Feb.  6,  1862;  res.  May  26,  1862, 
Joseph  C.  Plumb,  com.  July  27,  1863;  res.  March  2,  1864. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Joseph  C.  Plumb,  com.  May  20,  1SC3;   pro.  capt.;    2d  lieut. 
March  1,  1863. 

Forty-seventh  Regiment. 

Colonel. 
John  A.  McLaughlin,  com.  March  1,  1865 ;  must,  out  as  lieut.- 
col.  with  regt. 

Lieutenant- Colonel. 
John  A.  McLaughlin,  com.  Oct.  22,  1862;  pro.  col. 

Assistant  Surgeon. 
David  A.  Fitzgerald,  com.  Jan.  27, 1865 ;  died  as  hosp.  stew.  Jan. 
1,  1865. 

Company  A. 

Captains. 
John  A.  McLaughlin,  com.  Oct.  10,  1861  ;  pro.  maj. 
Albert  Moorhous,  com.  April  22,  1862;  res.  October,  1862;  re- 
entered as  capt.  9th  Cav. 
Thomas  Hough,  com.  March  1,  1865  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Albert  Moorhous,  com.  Oct.  20,  1861 ;  pro.  capt. 
Thomas  Hough,  com.  Jan.  1,  1865;  pro.  capt. 

Second   Lieutenants. 
Hiram  Moorhous,  com.  April  22,  1S62;  res.  Oct.  30,  1862. 
Thomas  Hough,  com.  Oct.  19,  1862  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  C. 
Second  Lieutenant. 
Robert  N.  Harding,  com.  Feb.  3,  1S63;  pro.  capt.  Co.  K. 

Forty-eighth  Regiment. 

Lieiitennnt-Colonel. 
De  Witt  C.  Rugg,  com.  June  17,  1862  ;  res.  April  24,  1863. 

Major. 
D.  C.  Rugg,  com.  Nov.  24,  1861 ;  pro.  lieut.-col. 

Forty-ninth  Regiment. 

Charles  D.  Pearson,  com.  Nov.   19,  1861;  res.  Feb.  7,;  1862; 
then  surg.  S2d  Regt. 


350 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Emanuel  R.  Hawn,   com.  Feb.  20,  1S64;  mast,  out  Nov.  29, 

Quartermaster. 

1864,  time  expired;  tlicn  surg.  144th  Regt. 

Thomas  F.  Purnell,  com.  Oct.  30,  1862;  pro.  capt.  and  A.Q.M. 

Fiftieth  Regiment. 

May  28,  1863. 

Company  B. 

AsslfUint  Siiryeon. 
James  W.  Hervey,  com.  Jan.  27,  1S62  ;  res.  Feb.  4,  1863. 

Captain. 
Oliver  M.  Wilson,  com.  Oct.  16,  1862  ;  pro.  major. 

Fifty-first  Regiment. 

First  Lieutenant. 

A,lj„t'n,t. 

William  M.  Conner,  com.  Oct.  16,  1862;  must,  out  with  regt.; 

Williams.  Marshall,  com.   Nov.  29,  1862;  hon.  disch.  March 

then  1st  lieut.  of  heavy  artillery. 

22,  1865. 

Qiiarlermaater. 
John  G.  Doughty,  com.  Sept.  27,  1861;    hon.  disch.  Sept.  30, 

Fifty-seventh  Regiment. 

Captains. 
J.  W.  T.  McMullen,  com.  Nov.  9,  1861;  res.  March  6,  1862. 
Cyrus  C.  Hines,  com.  March  6,  1862;  res.  July  27,  1863,  for 
wounds  at  Stone  River. 

1864. 

COMPASV  A. 

Second  Lieulenaut. 

William  H.  Harvey,  com.  Sept.  1,  1862;  must,  out,  term  ex- 
pired. 

CoMPASV  D. 

CoHPAur  A. 
First  Lieutenant. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Albert  G.  Harding,  com.  July  13,  1864;  declined. 

Wilber  F.  Williams,  com.  Oct.  11,  1861;  res.  April  15,  1862. 
Alva  C.  Roach,  com.  May  1,  1S65  ;  res.  June  14,  1865. 

Company  I. 
Captain. 

Fifty-second  Regiment. 

Colonel. 

Nathaniel  J.  Owens,  com.  Dec.  26,  1861;  res.  March  29,  1862; 
capt.  of  9th  Cav. 

James  M.  Smith,  com.  Oct.  21,  1S61  ;  res.  June  4, 1S62,  disa- 
bility. 

Fifty-eighth  Regiment. 

Adjutants. 

Quorlermaster. 

Samuel  W.  Elliott,  com.  Oct.  24,  1861;  res.  Nov.  17, 1862. 

William  Ryan,  com.  Feb.  1,  1805;  must,  out  with  regt. 

James  H.  Wright,  com.  Nov.  18,  18G2  ;   pro.  capt.  and  A.D.C. 
Sept.  4,  1864. 

Company  D. 

Captain. 

Fifty-third  Regiment. 

Bryan  C.  Walpole,  com.  Jan.  29,  1863;  res.  March  10,  1863; 

Colonel. 

2d  lieut.  June  13,  1862. 

Walter   Q.  Gresham,  com.    March    10,   1S62;    pro.   brig. -gen. 
Aug.  11,  1863. 

Company  A. 

Company  6. 
First  Lieutenant. 

Captain. 

Richard  P.  Craft,  com.  Jan.  29,  1863;  res.  April  18,  1863. 

Hezekiah  B.  Wakefield,  com.  Sept.  19,  1863;  hon.  disch.  May 

Company  K. 

15,  1865;  2d  lieut.  September,  1S62. 

Captain. 

Fifty-fourth  (one  year)  Regiment. 

Colonel. 

Woodford  Tousey,  com.  Sept.  21,  1863;  res.  March  25,  1S05; 
1st  lieut.  March  30,  1863  ;  2d  lieut.  Jan.  29,  1863. 

Fielding  Mansfield,  must,  out  with  regt. 
Lie  ntena7it- Colonel. 

Fifty-ninth  Regiment. 

Herman  Sturm,  com.  Nov.  17,  1862;  res.  Dec.  28,  1S62. 

Je«.  K.  Scott,  com.  Aug.  13,  1864;  must,  out  April  9,  1865, 

Major. 

term  expired  ;  lieut.-col.  Nov.  19,  1861. 

Oliver  M.  Wilson,  com.  Jan.  1,  1863;  must,  out  as  capt.  with 

regt. 

Adjutant. 

Sixtieth  Regiment. 

Marshall  P.  Hayden,  com.  Oct.  29,  1862 ;  died  in  rebel  prison 

Quai'termaster. 

at  Vicksburg  Jan.  30,  1863,  of  wounds  at  Chickasaw  Bayou. 

John  J.  Palmer,  com.  Nov.  8,  1861  j  app.  Q.M.,  U.S.A. 

MARION    COUNTY    IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


351 


Company  D. 
Captaiu. 
John  Burns,  com.  Jan.  7,  1S62;  res.  Nov.  30,  1862. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Elijah  W.  McVey,  com.  Feb.  10,  1863  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Sixty-third  Regiment. — Four  companies  raised  at 
CovingtoQ  were  sent  to  Lafayette  to  guard  prisoners ; 
thence  to  this  city  to  guard  Camp  Morton ;  thence 
East  in  May,  1862,  where  they  were  in  the  Second 
Bull  Run  battle.  They  returned  in  October,  and  the 
regiment  completed  with  six  additional  companies. 
It  remained  in  Indianapolis,  but  four  companies  were 
detached  for  provost  guard  duty.  On  Christmas, 
1863,  the  other  six  companies  went  to  Kentucky,  to 
guard  railroads,  till  January,  1864,  having  frequent 
skirmishes  and  long  marches  in  that  time.  April  28th 
they  started  to  join  Sherman  in  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
On  May  Oth  and  10th  they  lost  two  killed  and  four 
wounded  at  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  and  at  Resaca  lost, 
in  a  desperate  charge  over  open  ground,  eighteen 
killed  and  ninety-four  wounded.  They  had  sixteen 
wounded  in  intrenchments  near  June  1st  on  the 
Dallas  line,  and  were  put  in  front  at  Lost  Mountain, 
where  six  were  killed  and  eight  wounded.  In  the 
flank  movement  at  Kenesaw  two  were  killed  and  one 
captured.  After  the  capture  of  Atlanta  the  Sixty- 
third  was  moved  about  a  good  deal,  engaged  in  de- 
stroying railroads  and  doing  guard  duty.  It  joined 
the  movement  against  Hood,  lost  three  killed  and 
three  wounded  at  Columbia,  and  in  the  great  battle 
of  Franklin  lost  one  killed  and  one  wounded.  On  the 
16th  of  January,  1805,  it  went  to  Alexandria,  Va., 
and  thence  to  Fort  Fisher.  It  engaged  in  the  move- 
ments against  Hoke,  and  entered  Wilmington,  N.  C, 
February  23d,  and  remained  till  March  6th.  At 
Greensborough  six  companies  were  mustered  out 
June  21,  1865.  The  other  four  were  mustered  out 
here  May  20,  1865. 

Lientcnunt-Colonel. 
Henry  Tindall,  com.  Jan.  22,  1864;   hon.  disch.  May  19,  1864, 
disability;  had  been  maj.  and  capt.  Co.  I. 

COMPA.VY  A. 

Firat  Lieutenant. 
Joseph  M.  Blytlie,  com.  May  21,  1804;  pro.  capt.  Co.  F;  had 
been  2d  lieut. 


Company  B. 
First  Lieutenant. 
Thomas  McConnell,  com.  Feb.  21,  1862;   res.  June  11,  18G2. 

Company  F. 

Captains. 

(Justavus  F.  E.  Raschig,  com.  Aug.  19,  1862 ;  res.  June  9, 1864, 

disability. 
Joseph  M.  BIythe,  com.  July  20,  1864;  must,  out  with  regt. 
June  21,  1865. 

First  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  R.  Haugh,  com.  Aug.  19,  1862;  pro.  adjt.  5th  Cav. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Henry  Plaswick,  com.  Sept.  3,  1862;  res.  July  19,  1864. 

Company  I. 

Captains. 

Henry  Tindall,  com.  Aug.  9,  1862;  pro.  maj. 

TheodoreB.Wightman,  com.  Aug.  14,  1863;  res.  Nov.  18,  1863, 

disability. 

Andrew  T.  Jenkins,  com.  Jan.  12,  1864;  hon.  disch.  Aug.  13, 

1864. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Theodore  B.  Wightman,  com.  Aug.  9,  1862 ;  pro.  capt. 

Jesse  C.  Hunt,  com.  Aug.  14,  1863  ;  hon.  disch.  July  19,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Jesse  C.  Hunt,  com.  Aug.  9,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Andrew  T.  Jenkins,  com.  Aug.  14,  1863;  pro.  capt. 

Company  K. 
Captains. 
Norman  Tindall,  com.  Aug.  30,  1862;  res.  June  13,  1863. 
William  Bolen,  com.  July  1,  1863;  disch,  Sept.  6,  1864,  disa- 
bility. 

First  Lieutenant. 
William  Bolen,  com.  Aug.  30,  1862;  pro.  capt. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Frank  G.  Marcina,  com.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  res.  Oct.  1,  1862. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  F. 
First  Sergeant. 
Henry  Plasnick,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Laird  Harrison,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  disch.  Oct.  12,  1864,  dis- 
ability. 
William  R.  Conroe,  must.  .\ug.  30,  1862;  disch.  Aug.  7,  1864, 

disability. 

Corporals. 

Isaiah  Lindsay,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca  May 

14,  1864. 
Charles  H.  Roberts,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 


352 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Isaac  S.  Cox,  must.  Aug.  .30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
Henry  Fisher,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  disch.  Feb.  12,  1864,  disa- 
bility. 
John  Ehmen,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21, 1865. 
Daniel  O'Connel,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  21, 1865. 

Musician. 
Alexander  Haugh,  must.   Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 

Privates. 
George  Barker,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  Juno  21,  1S65. 
Paul  P.  Blank,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
William  H.  Bird,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;    must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
Elihu  H.  Embree,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  16, 

1865. 
William  H.  Hornaday,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June 

21,  1865. 
Thomas  M.  Hume,  must.   Aug.  30,   1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
John  K.  Long,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
Edward  Louney,  must.  Aug.  30, 1862  ;  must,  out  June  21,  1865, 
John  McKeand,  must.  Aug.  30, 1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
James  S.  Miller,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
John  E.  Moore,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  must,  out  July  21,  1865. 
William  McCaw,  must.  Aug.  30, 1862;  must,  out  May  11, 1865. 
Asbury  May,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
William  J.  Markland,  must.  Aug.  30, 1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
Thomas  Mathers,   must.   Aug.  30,  1862;    must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
Thomas  Myers,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21,  1865. 
Christian  Myers,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  July  6,  1865, 
Willis  G.  Pierson,  must.  Aug.  30, 1862;  must,  out  June  2, 1865. 
Walter  B.  Price,  mast.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  2,  1865. 
Ezekiel  Ross,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  2,  1865. 
William  H.  Ralston,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;  mast,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
Frederick  Stilz,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  21,1 865. 
William  H.  Vorhees,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862:  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
Robert  R.  Walker,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
James  A.  Winnings,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  21, 

1865. 
William  H.  Corbaley,  must.  Aug.  30,   1862 :  trans,  to  V.R.C. 

Jan.  1,  1864. 
David  L.  Boots,   must.   Aug.   30,   1862  ;  died  at  Indianaiiolis 

Jan.  27,  1864. 
William  Boulds,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  killed  at  Burnt  Hickory 

June  16,  1864. 
John  W.  Carrell,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;    died  at  Indianapolis 

Dec.  8,  1863. 
Alexander  Connaday,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  died  at  Cleveland, 

Tenn.,  May  20,  1864. 


John  P.  Jack,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;    killed  .at  Burnt  Hickory 

June  16,  1864. 
James  M.  Jack,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  diseh.  Feb.  10,  1863,  by 

civil  authority. 
James  Jennings,  must.  Aug  30,   1862;  disch.  Aug.  24,  1863, 

disability. 
Alexander  Kinsley,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;    died  at  Indianapolis 

Nov.  24, 1863. 
John  G.  Kolf,  must.  Aug.  30,  1802;  trans,  to  18th  U.  S.  Inf. 

Feb.  5,  1863. 
David  L.  McClellan,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;   died  at  Indianapolis 

Sept.  24,  1864. 
Melvin  McCaw,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C. ;  must. 

out  July  20,  1865. 
John  A.  MuUin,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca  May 

14,  1864. 
Samuel  Murrell,   must.  Aug.  30,  1862  ;    killed  at  Town  Creek 

Feb.  20,  1865. 
Isaac  C.  Myers,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862 ;  died  at  Cleveland,  Tenn., 

May  10,  1864. 
John  Railsback,  must.   Aug.  30,  1862;  disch.  Aug.  26,1863, 

disability'. 
Enoch  Railsback,  must.  Aug.  30,  1 863 ;  died  at  Alexandria,  Ya.., 

Feb.  14,  1865. 
Gresham  L.  Rude,  must.    Aug.    30,    1862;    killed  at   Resaca 

May  14,  1864. 
George  L.  Sinks,  must.  Aug.  30,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Aug. 

16,  1864;  must,  out  May  10,  1865. 
James  Williams,  must.  Aug.  30,   1862;  died   at  Indianapolis 

March  4,  1863. 

Seventieth  Regiment. — The  Seventieth  Regi- 
ment rendezvoused  at  Indianapolis  and  was  fully  or- 
ganized between  the  14th  of  July  and  the  12th  of 
August,  1862,  in  less  than  one  month,  when  it  was 
mustered  in  with  Benjamin  Harrison  as  colonel.  It 
left  Indianapolis  on  the  13th,  reaching  Louisville 
same  day,  and  on  the  following  night  left  for  Bowl- 
ing Green,  reporting  for  duty  on  the  15th,  thus  be- 
ing the  first  regiment  in  the  field  under  the  call  of 
July,  1862.  From  Bowling  Green  there  were  made 
several  small  expeditions  to  Franklin,  Morgantown, 
Munfordville,  and  Russellville,  at  which  place,  on 
the  30th  of  July,  it  encountered  several  hundred 
cavalry,  killing  and  wounding  many,  and  capturing 
forty  horses  and  a  large  lot  of  small-arms,  saddles, 
and  other  property. 

On  the  10th  of  November  the  regiment  moved 
with  Ward's  brigade,  Dumont's  division.  Fourteenth 
Army  Corps,  to  Scottsville,  Ky.,  and  on  the  24th  to 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


353 


Gallatin,  Tenn.  On  the  10th  of  December,  as  part 
of  the  Eighth  Brigade,  Eighth  Division,  Fourteenth 
Army  Corps,  it  was  posted  along  the  Louisville  and 
Nashville  Railroad,  from  Gallatin  to  Nashville,  to  de- 
fend the  road  and  bridges,  on  which  duty  it  was  en- 
gaged until  the  9th  of  February,  1863.  It  then 
went  into  camp  at  Gallatin,  doing  provost  and  picket 
duty  until  June  1st,  when  it  was  removed  to  La- 
vergne,  Tenn.  Remaining  here  until  the  30th  of 
June,  it  then  marched  to  Murfreesborough,  camping 
at  Fort  Rosecrans,  when  it  was  assigned  to  the  Sec- 
ond Brigade,  Third  Division,  of  Gen.  Granger's  re- 
serve corps.  On  the  19th  of  August  it  moved  with 
its  brigade  to  Nashville,  and  while  there  it  was  en- 
gaged iu  guarding  trains  to  Stevenson,  Chattanooga, 
and  other  points,  and  picket  and  fatigue  duty  within 
the  city.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment 
was  transferred  to  the  First  Brigade,  First  Division, 
Eleventh  Army  Corps,  and  Col.  Harrison  assigned 
to  the  brigade.  On  the  24th  of  February  the  Sev- 
entieth left  Nashville  and  marched  with  its  division 
to  Wauhatchie,  Tenn.,  in  Lookout  Valley. 

From  Wauhatchie  it  marched  on  the  2d  of  May, 
having  previously  been  transferred  to  the  First  Bri- 
gade, Tiiird  Division,  Twentieth  Army  Corps,  and 
entered  on  the  Atlanta  campaign,  during  which  it 
was  engaged  in  the  following  battles  :  Resaca,  Cass- 
ville,  New  Hope  Church,  Lost  Mountain,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Marietta,  Peach-Tree  Creek,  and  the  siege 
of  Atlanta. 

At  Resaca  it  led  the  attack  on  the  left  and  cap- 
tured a  fort  and  four  Napoleon  guns,  the  only  ones 
captured  between  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  and  had 
forty-one  killed,  forty-three  died  of  wounds,  and  one 
hundred  and  ninety-one  wounded. 

On  the  5th  of  November,  1864,  the  veterans  and 
remaining  recruits  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Indiana 
were  consolidated  with  the  Seventieth  by  special 
order.  The  regiment  participated  in  Sherman's 
march  through  Georgia,  and  on  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber it  crossed  the  Savannah  River  with  the  first  bri- 
gade of  Western  troops  that  entered  South  Carolina. 
Marching  through  the  Carolinas  it  rested  at  Raleigh, 
N.  C,  where  it  was  on  the  announcement  of  Lee's 
surrender.  From  here  it  went  to  Richmond  and 
23 


then  to  Washington  City,  where  it  was  mustered  out 
June  8,  1865.  Those  whose  terms  had  not  expired 
were  transferred  to  the  Thirty-third,  and  then  mus- 
tered out  at  Louisville  on  the  21st  of  July,  1865. 
The  regiment  was  publicly  welcomed  on  its  return 
home,  on  the  16th  of  June.  The  casualties  of  the 
regiment  were  forty-three  killed,  same  number  died 
of  wounds,  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  wounded, 
five  accidentally  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  two 
I  died  of  sickness ;  total,  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven. 

Original  enlistments  for  three  years  from  Marion 
County : 

Colonel. 
Beujamin  Harrison,  com.  Aug.  7, 1S62;  brev.  brig.-gen. ;  must, 
out  with  regt. 

Lieutenant-Colonel. 
Samuel  Merrill,  com.  March  1,  1S62  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Majors. 
Samuel  C.  Vance,  com.  Aug.  9,  1869  ;  res.  April  10,  1863 ;  app. 

col.  132d  Regt. 
Samuel  Merrill,  com.  April  II,  1863;  pro.  lieut.-col. 

Adjutant. 
James  L.  Mitchell,  com.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Quartermaster . 
John  L.  Ketcbam,  Jr.,  com.  Feb.  14, 1865  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 


Archibald  C.  Allen,  con 


Claplaln. 
.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  i 


ith  regt. 


Assistant  Surgeons. 
William  R.  Smith,  com.  Aug.  12,  1862;  res.  Not.  S,  1862. 
Jenkins  A.  Fitzgerald,  com.  Oct.  17,  1S63;  must,  out  with  regt. 
Herman  J.  Watjen,  com.  Jan.  1,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt.  as 
hospital  steward. 

CoMPAur  A. 
Captains. 
Benjamin  Harrison,  com.  July  22,  1862 ;  pro.  col. 
Henry  M.  Scott,  com.  Aug.  9, 1862 ;  brev.  maj.  March  31,  1865  ; 

must,  out  with  regt. 
Henry  M.  Scott,  com.  July  22,  1862;  pro.  capt. 
Martin  L.  Ohr,  com.  Aug.  9,  1862;  must,  out  Nov.  4,  1864. 

Seeond  Lieutenants. 
James  A.  Wallace,  com.  July  22,  1862;    must,  out  Not.  22, 

1864;  pro.  q.m.  10th  Cav. 
John  W.  Kilgour,  com.  Jan.  17,  1865 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  E, 

Captains, 

William  M.  Meredith,  com.  Aug.  6,  1S62  ;  res.  Aug.  12,  1864. 


354 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Peter  Fesler,  com.  Feb.  13,  1864,  from  27th  Regt. ;  must,  out 

with  regt. 
Charles  H.  Co.\,  com.  Aug.  13,  1864;  not  mustered. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Hiram  II.  Hand,  com.  Aug.  6,  1S62;  res.  Nov.  9,  1862. 
Columbus  V.  Gray,  com.  Nov.  10,  1862  ;  res.  June  16,  1863. 
Edward  B.  Colestock,  com.  Jan.  17,  1863;  died  May  30,  1864, 

of  wounds  received  at  Resaca. 
Charles  H.  Cox,  com.  July  1,  1SG4;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Columbus  V.  Gray,  com.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Edward  B.  Colestock,  com.  Nov.  10,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Charles  II.  Cox,  com.  Jan.  17,  1863;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Allan  F.  Schley,  com.  Aug.  13,  1864  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

CuMPAsr  F. 
Second  Lieutenant. 
John  S.  Parker,  com.  Feb.  11,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  G. 
Captain. 
Parker  S.  Carson,  com.  .\ug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Summerfield  Thomas,  com.  Jan.  24,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Summerfield  Thomas,  com.  Nov.  14,  1864;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  H. 

First  Lieutenant. 
William  Hardenbrook,  com.  Aug.  12, 1862  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  K. 
Captains. 
Samuel  Merrill,  com.  Aug.  1,  1862  ;  pro.  maj. 
Thomas  S.  Campbell,  com.  Nov.  14,  1864;  declined  and  com- 
mission returned. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Thomas  S.  Campbell,  com.  Sept.  19,  1864:  must,  out  with  regt. 
"William  H.  Kemper,  com.  Jan.  24,  1865;  declined  and  com- 
mission returned. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Thomas  S.  Campbell,  com.  April  11,  1S63;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
William  H.  Kemper,  com.  Nov.  14,  1864  ;  must,  out  with  regt, 

NON-COMMISSIONED   StAFF. 

Sergeant-Mojor. 
Musgrave,  Phillip   D.,  must.  Aug.  12,1862;   trans,  to  Co.  A 
Aug.  20,  1862. 

Quartermaster-Sergeant. 
Marrs,  William  A.,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862 ;    must,  out  June  8, 
1865. 


Commissary -Sergeant. 
Isaacs,  Reuben  D.,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  15,  1863, 
for  disability. 

Hospital  Steward. 

Watson,  Herman  J.,  must.  Aug.  12,1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 

Enlistkd  Men,  Company  A.i 
First  Sergeant. 
I  John  W.  Kilgore,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Serjeants. 
John  Judge,  must.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1864,  as 

1st  sergt. 
George  W.  MoKnight,  must.  July  17,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  6,  1864, 

for  disability. 
Andrew  A.  Buchanan,  must.  July  19,  1S62;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Alonzo  P.  Babbitt,  must.  July  22,  1862;  mu,st.  out  July  S,  1S65. 

Corporals. 
Wm.  R.  Smith,  Cumberland,  must.  July  14, 1862 ;  pro.  asst.  surg. 
Robert  A.  Taylor,  must.  July  18,  1862;  disch.  May  20,  1863, 

for  disability. 
George  W.  Lackey,  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  Nov.  9,  1862, 

for  disability. 
Herman  F.  Ropkey,  Cumberland,  must.  July  19,  l.'<62;  must. 

out  June  8,  1865,  as  sergt. 
Henry  Wesling,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  sergt. 
George  W.  Cook,    Cumberl.and,    must.    July  19,  1862;    disch. 

April  10,  1865,  fur  wounds. 

Musicians. 
Samuel  H.  Lauback,  must.  June  16,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca, 

Ga.,  May  14,  1864. 
Herman  J.Watson,  must,  Aug.  6,  1802;    must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  hosp.  steward. 

Wagoner. 
Jackson  Summer,  Bridgeport,  must,  Aug.  5,  1862  ;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 

Prirates. 

Isa.ic  Baker,  must,  July  17,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Henry  Baker,  must.  July  17,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Anton  Banka,  Cumberland,  must.  July  21,   1862;    must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
George  W.  Burris,  must.  July  19,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  6,  1864,  for 

wounds. 
John  L.  Brown,  Clermont,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  March 

3,  1865,  for  wounds. 
Jerome   A.  Babbitt,  must.  July  23,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Henry  Cruse,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

•  In  the  roll  of  enlisted  men,  all  those  not  residents  of  In- 
dianapolis are  so  stated. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


355 


Francis   Cecil,  Cumberland,   mu?t.   July   21,1862;    must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
Clark  Converse,  must.  July  14,  lSr,2;  died  Aug,  18,  1864,  of 

wounds. 
Lemuel  L.  Carter,  must.  July  15,  1SC2:  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  Corp. 
John  Custer,  must.  July  18,  1862:  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Alfred  Chandler,  must.  July  21,  1862 ;  trans,  to  Engineer  Corps 

July  31,  1864. 
Josiah  S.  Clark,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  June  30,  1863,  for 

disability. 
Edward  Cox,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Allen  Caylor,  must.  Aug.  11,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  27,  1863,  for 

disability. 
Andrew  Dunway,  must.  July  17,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca,  Ga., 

May  14,  1864. 
Perry  A.  Demanget,  must.  July  19,  1862  ;  killed  at  Resaca,  Ga., 

May  14,  1864. 
William  Douglass,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  S,  1865. 
John  England,  Cumberland,  must.  July  19,  1862:  disch.  Jan. 

20,  1863,  for  disability. 
Edmond  P.  Ervin,  must.  July  19, 1862;  must,  out  May  10, 1865. 
Wilkinson  Farley,  must.  July  25,1862;  disch.  Dec.  18,  1862,  for 

disability. 
James  Fergus,  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  20,  1865,  for 

wounds. 
Nathaniel  Follett,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
Rodney  B.  Gibbons,  must.  Aug.  11,  1862;  disch.  Deo.  6,  1864, 

for  wounds. 
Samuel  B.  Gardner,  must.  July  19,1862;  must,  out  Juno  8, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Frank  Hall,  must.  Aug.  4,  1802;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Joseph  F.  Harbart,  must.  July   17,  1862;    died  at  Nashville 

May  17,  1864. 
John  W.  Hackleman,  must.  July  19,  1862;  trans,  to  Engineer 

Corps  July  31,  1S64. 
Noble  Huntington,  Cumberland,  must.  July  19, 1862  ;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865,  as  sergt. 
John  Harrison,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
William  Hobbs,  Cumberland,  must.  July  19,1862;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
Howard   Hudnut,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;    killed  at  Russellville, 

Ky.,  Sept.  30, 1862. 
John  R.  Jenkins,  must.  July  15, 1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
John  Law,  must.  July  17, 1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Alexander  Moore,  must.  July  22,  1862 ;  died  at  Resaca,  Ga., 

June  5,  1864,  of  wounds. 
Moses   Musgrave,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  April   23,  1863, 

for  disability. 
Philip  D.  Musgrave,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  surg.  U.  S.  col- 
ored troops. 
Henry  May,  must.  July  19.  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Oliver  Marshall,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  disch.  April  7,  1863,  for 

disability. 


William  Muston,  Bridgeport,  must.  Aug.  5,  1S62;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
William  MoElroy,  must.  July  21,  1862 ;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Jan. 

10,  1865. 
Joseph  F.  MeFailing,  must.  July  25,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Samuel  L.  Null,  must.  July  IS,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Lebbens  T.  Nassaman,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
George  R.  Orr,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  lieut.  U.  S.  colored 

troops. 
Andrew  A.  Peck,  must.  July  15,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Francis  Pursell,  must.  July  21, 1862;  died  at  Chattanooga  June 

25,  1864,  of  wounds. 

Charles  Pursell,  must.  July  19,  1862;  died  at  Louisville  June 

30,  1864. 
William  Purcell,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  Nov.  8,  1862,  for 

disability. 
Robert  H.  Patterson,  must.   Aug.  5,1862;    disch.  March  13, 

186.3,  for  disability. 
Frederick  Rodeback,  Cumberland,  must.  July  19,  1862  ;  must. 

out  June  8,  1865. 
Dudley  Roberts,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  May  29,  1863,  for 

disability. 
William  H.  Smith,  must.  July  21,  1S62;  died  at  Gallatin  Deo. 

26,  1862. 

James  Shank,  must.  Aug.  6, 1862 ;  died  at  Bowling  Green  Sept. 

4,  1862. 
William  H.  H.  Shank,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862:  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Jonathan  P.  Sunderland,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Daniel  Spiegel,  Bridgeport,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
David  P.  Thomas,  must.  July  19,  1862  ;  died  at  Gallatin  April 

23,  1863. 
Gardner  P.  Thornton,  must.  July  21,  1862;    pro.  lieut.  U.  S. 

colored  troops. 
Alexander  Thiir,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  June  22,  1864. 
George  W.  Wells,  must.  July  15, 1862;  died  at  Gallatin  March 

2,  1863. 
John  Williams,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Henry  Wiese,   Cumberland,   must.  July  19,  1862;    must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
James  N.  Wilson,  must.  July  19,  1862;  killed  at  Kesaca,  Ga., 

May  14,  1864. 
George  C.Wallace,  must.  July  21, 1862;  disch.  March  26,  1864, 

by  order  War  Department. 
William  J.  Wheatley,  must.  Aug.  6, 1862 ;  disch.  Dec.  30,  1862, 

for  disability. 
SimeonT.  Yancey,  must.  July  22,1802;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
Company  E. 
First  Serijeant, 
Edward  B.  Colestock,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 


356 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Samuel  Lang,  must.  July  16,  1862  ;  must,  out  .Tune  8,  1865,  as 

private. 
William  Bodenhammer,  must.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
William  H.    Griggs,  must.  July   21,  1862;  died    at    Edgefield 

Junction,  Tenn.,  Deo.  21,  1862. 
Daniel  J.  Miller,  must.  July  17,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

Curporah, 
William   11.  Cooper,  must.  July  22,   1862;  must,  out  June   8, 

1865. 
Frank    A.  Majers,  must.  July    19,   1862;  must,   out   June   8, 

1865,  as  private. 
Allen  F.Schley,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Jonathan  Gray,  must.  July  15,  1862;  discharged. 
Frederick  J.  Meickel,  must.  July  18,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  S, 

1865,  as  private. 
Robert  F.  Davis,  must.  July  21,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 

Cyrus  0.  Sackett,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862:  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  principal  musician. 
Thomas    D.  Smith,  must.  July    19,  1862;  must,  out    June   8, 

1865. 

Wagoner. 
Thomas  Fitzgerald,  must.  July   26,  1862;  trans,  to  Engineer 

Corps  Aug.  10,  1864. 

Priiales. 
George  K.  Albro,  mu?t.  July  29,  18G2;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Melville  C.  Alexander,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Isaac  Amos,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865,  as 

Corp. 
Jerry  Barkef,  must.  July  31,  1862  ;  disch.  March  26,  1861. 
Charles   Berg,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  died    June    30,    1864,    of 

wounds. 
Thomas  Beale,  must.  July  15,  1862;  died  at  Chattanooga  July 

5,  1864. 
John  F.  Burns,  must.  July  18,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Charles   C.  Butler,  must.  July    19,  1862;  must,  out   June    8, 

1865. 
Jasper  N.  Butterfield,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Anthony  Bredemeyer,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Chris.  C.  Bredemeyer,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862:  must,  out  .Tune  8, 

1865. 
Henry  W.  Bruscher,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862 ;  discharged. 
William  D.  C.  Brickett,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  killed  at  Resaca 

May  14,  1S64. 
Winfield  Scott  Baker,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Henry  Caylor,  must.  July  17,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 


Charles  L.  Carter,  must,  Aug.  5,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
John  D.  Charles,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Charles  F.  W.  Cook,  must.  July  18,  1862:  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
George  C.  Campbell,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Joel  Converse,  must.  July  25,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Joseph  Clinton,  must.  July  25,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  sergt. 
George  H.  Craig,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  Corp. 
j   Charles  H.  Co.^,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862  ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Thomas   R.   Davies,  must.   Aug.   5,  1862;  must,  out  June   8, 

1865. 
Williaui  H.  Dcmmy,  must.  July  23,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
John  M.  Da^hiel,  must.  July  22,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Jenkins  A.  Fitzgerald,  must.  July  21,  1862;  pro.  asst.  surg. 
William  Forsha,  must.  Aug.  1,  1862;  discharged. 
David  B.  Forsha,  must.  July  28,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
Albert  L.  Ferguson,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
George  W.  Gettier,  must.  July   18,   1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
.Tames   S.Hardin,  must.  July    21,   1862;  must,   out   June   8, 

1865. 
Henry  Heitkam,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Edward  Higdon,  must.  July  25,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
William  R.  Hushaw,  must.  Aug.  1,  1862;  died  at  Lookout  Val- 
ley, Tenn.,  March  31,  1864. 
Thomas  B.  Hornaday,  must.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

•     1865. 
Charles  W.  Jenkins,  must.  Aug.  6,    1862;  must,   out  June   8, 

1865. 
Augustus  J.  Einnan,  must.  July  18,  1862;  discharged. 
Charles  W.  Knight,  must.  Aug.  5,   1862;  must,   out  June   8, 

1865. 
William  W.  Lang,  must.   .Tuly   24,    1862  ;  must,  out  June   8, 

1865. 
John  IL  Law,  must.  July  30,  1862  ;  inust.  out  June  8,  1865. 
Joseph  Landers,  must.  July  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
George  W.  Loucks,  must.  July  18,   1 862 ;  must,  out  June   8, 

1865. 
John  D.  Lowe,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  disch.  March  19,  1863. 
William    McCubbin,    must.  July  27,  1862;  died   at    Bowling 

Green,  Ky.,  Nov.  3,  1862. 
Harvey  X.  McGuire,  must.  July  19,  1852;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Samuel    E.  Mette,   must.  July  25,    1862  ;  must,   out  .Tune  8, 

1865. 
Alva  C.  May,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865,  as 

Corp. 
Theophilus  McClure,  must.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1S65. 


MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


357 


William  Miller,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  discharged. 

John  W.  MoConnell,  must.  Aug.   7,  1862;  must,   out  June  8, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
John  L.  McConnell,  must.  Aug.   7,   1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Remus  Oakej,  must.  Aug.  1,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Edward  Oakey,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  Jane  S,  1865. 
John  W.  Perkins,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
Peter  Quackenbush,  must.  July  28,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Hiram   R.  Rhoads,  must.  July  28,    1862  ;  must,   out  June  8, 

1865. 
James   M.  Rhoads,  must.   July  2S,    1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Ezra  Ross,  must.  July  2S,  1862;   killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain 

June  16,  1864. 
William  H.  Robinson,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Samuel   H.  Stevens,  must.  July   19,1862;  must,  out   June  8, 

1865. 
John  F.  Shoemaker,  must.  Aug.   5,  1862;  trans,  to   Engineer 

Corps  July  18,  1864. 
George  Shoemaker,  must.   Aug.    5,   1862;  must,    out  June  8, 

1865. 
Charles  Shott,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
David  Smith,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Joseph  B.  Sulgrove,  must.  Aug.   6,   1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Joseph  H.  Vandeman,  must.  July  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Frank  W.  Wells,  must.  July  15,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
George  N.  Wells,  must.  July  2.%  1862  ;  discharged. 
Samuel  Whiteridge,  must.  July   19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
John  Wilson,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  G. 

Fh-Ht  Senjcant. 

Edward  S.  Smock,  Acton,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Serr/eant8. 
Josiah  Lawes,  Acton,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
John  S.  Morris,  Acton,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Thomas  Summerfield,  Acton,  mu.^t.  July  14,  1862 ;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Edward  Kenzel,  Southport,  must.  July  21,  1862;  killed  near 
Big  Shanty,  Ga.,  June  15,  1864. 

Corporals. 

John  C.Thomas,  must.  July  23,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca  May 
14,  1S6J. 

Richard  C.  Ferree,  Southport,  must.  July  19,  1862;  killed  at 
Resaca  May  14,  1864. 

Daniel  W.  Levette,  Acton,  must.  July  19,  1862;  died  at  Chat- 
tanooga Oct.  11,  1864. 


William   McLaughlin,  Southport,  must.  July   19,  1862;  must. 

out  June  8,  1865,  as  sergt. 
Cary  A.  MoFarland,  must.  July   19,  1862;  must,  out  Juno  8, 

1865. 
David  Brewer,  Southport,  must.  July  19, 1862;  must,  out  June 

9,  1865,  as  sergt. 
Dan.  M.  Ransdell,  must.  Aug.  28,  1862;  diseh.  March  1,  1865, 

arm  amputated. 
Robert  M.  Willis,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  disch.  Aug.  6,  1864. 

Muaiciaii. 
Wharton  Ransdell,  must.  Aug.  6, 1862;  must,  out  June  S,  1865. 

Prirates. 
Joseph  J.  Alexander,  must.  July  31,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Robert  Butcher,  Acton,  must.  July  22,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
John  W.  Barnett,  must.  July  20,  1S62  ;  must,  out  Juno  8,  1865. 
Howard  W.  Brumley,  must.  July  28,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Andrew  Carson,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  7,  1S62;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Absalom  Cruse,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Samuel  S.  Colly,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
John  R.  Copeland,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
George  Crpsson,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862. 
George  W.  Caldwell,  Acton,  must.  July  15,  1862;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865,  as  sergt. 
James  G.  Clark,  Acton,  must.  July  16.  1862:  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  corp. 
Thomas  D.  Campbell,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862:  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
William  Dunlap,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Richard  Dobson,  must.  July  19,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Thomas  W.  Duell,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
Joseph  H.  Edwards,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Isaac  N.  Fred,  must.  July  28,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Elijah  R.  Fisher,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862:  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  Corp. 
David  Grube,  must.  July  19,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Alexander  Gordon,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 1865. 
William  Guirmup,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
James  H.  Gibson,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
James  0.  Harris,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
George  W.  Harlin,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Thomas  D.  Hartman,  Southport,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
William  A.  Kuser,  Southport,  must.  July  19,  1862;   must,  out 

Junes,  1865. 
Valentine  Leeper,  Acton,  must.  July  16,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 


358 


HISTORY  OF  IJfDIANAPOLTS  AND  MARION   COUMTY. 


William  R.  Lowes,  Aclon,  must.  July  27,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Valentine  S.  MoMulIon,  must.  July  21,  18fi2;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Robert  S.  Moore,  must.  July  22,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
George  W.  McMillen,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;  must,  out 

Juno  S,  1865. 
William  A.  Marrs,  Southport,  must.  July  22,  1862;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865,  as  q.m.-sergt. 
Enoch  R.  Nelson,  Acton,  must.  July  22,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Darid  W.  Pierson,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
John  H.  Peggs,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  must,  out  Juno  8, 

1865. 
Charles  W.  Rawlings,  Southport,  must.  July  19,   1S62;  must. 

out  June  8,  1865. 
Benjamin  Ransdell,  Southport,  must.  July  21,  1802;  must,  out 

June  8,  1865. 
Theodore  Rayborn,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Richard  Scanlon,  must.  Aug.  16,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Richard  M.  Smock,  must.  July  19,  1862;    must,  cut  June  8, 

1865. 
George  C.  Thompson,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Shelton  Thompson,  must.  July  21,  1862;    must,  out   June  8, 

1865. 
James  J.  Toon,  must.  July  19,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Joseph  A.  Whcatley,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862:  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
William    L.  Wentz,  must.  July  23,  1862;    must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 
Nelson  Yoke,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

BecrulK. 
George  W.  Lewis,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
William  D.  Brenton,    Acton,  must.    July  19,  1862;    killed  at 

Resaca  May  14,  1S64. 
William  T.  Clark,  Acton,  must.  July  16,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca 

May  14,  1864. 
Chanoey  Lewitt,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca 

'     May  14,  1864. 
Hiram  Adair,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  died  at  N.ashville  July  20, 

1864,  of  wounds  at  Big  Shai^t}'. 
James  B.  Adair,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862:  died  at  Chattanooga  of 

wounds. 
Henry  H.  Clary,  must.  Aug.  S,  1862;  died  at  Chattanooga  June 

20,  1864,  of  wounds. 
Charles  N.  Fitzgerald,  Acton,  must.  July  14,  1862  ;   died  June 

16,  1863. 
Silas  S.  Harris,  must.  July  28,  1862;   died  at  Bridgeport,  Ala., 

Aug.  14,  1864. 


Martin  M.  Harlin,  must.  Aug.  7,1862;  died  at  Chattanooga 
July  8,  1864,  of  wounds. 

George  M.  Jones,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  died  at  Bowling  Green, 
Ky.,  Nov.  8,  1862. 

Lyman  L.  Martin,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862  ;  died  at  Murfreesborough 
Nov.  10,  1863. 

Benjamin  Thomas,  must.  Dec.  14.  186.1 ;  died  June  21,  1864. 

John  W.  Foulk,  must.  July  21,  1862;  killed  near  Dallas,  Ga., 
May  25,  1864. 

William  Wells,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  G,  1862;  killed  near  Atlanta, 
Ga. 

Ellison  Carr,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  diseb.  Aug.  12,  1864,  dis- 
ability. 

David  M.  Edwards,  Acton,  must.  Aug.  11,  1862;  disch.  June 
12,  1863,  disability. 

Jeremiah  N.  Feathcrston,  must.  July  IS,  1862;  disch.  March 
6,  1865,  disability. 

Thomas  B.  Fowler,  must.  July  25,1862;  disch.  Dec.  6,1864, 
disability. 

Albert  Helms,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  17,  1865,  dis- 
ability. 

James  H.  McLaughlin,  Southport,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disch. 
July  19,  1863,  disability. 

Daniel  H.  Merryman,  must.  Aug.  7,  1802  ;  disch.  Nov.  30,  1863, 
disability. 

Moses  D.  McClain,  must.  July  28,  1862;  disch.  Aug.  18,  1864, 
for  wounds. 

William  Rawlings,  Southport,  must.  July  19,  1802;  disch.  Feb. 
18,  1863,  disability. 

James  W.  Russell,  Southport,  must.  Aug.  10,  1802;  disch.  Deo. 
6,  1862,  disability. 

Luther  .Sylvey,  must.  Aug.  2,  1862;  disch.  March  11,  1864, 
disability.    . 

John  T.  Seeley,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  disch.  Nov.  2.3,  1864,  dis- 
ability. 

David  H.  Stoops,  Southport,  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  7, 
1864,  for  wounds. 

Samuel  J.  Smock,  must.  Aug.  10,  1862;  disch.  Sept.  1,  1864, 
for  wounds. 

John  Thomas,  must.  July  18,  1862;  disch.  May  4,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 

Adoljiha  Toon,  must.  July  21,  1862;  disch.  March  19,  1863, 
disability. 

Howard  Todd,  must.  Aug.  11,  1802;  disch.  Feb.  9,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 

William  H.  Freel,  must.  Nov.  7,  1803  ;  disch.  March  IS,  1865. 

Samuel  H.  Moore,  must,  Nov.  6,  1863  ;  disch.  for  promotion 
March  29,  1864. 

Samuel  Barrow,  Acton,  must.  Dee.  5,  1863;  trans,  to  33d  Regt. 
June  8,  1865. 

William  E.  Gordon,  Acton,  must.  Oct.  27,  1803;  trans,  to  33d 
Regt.  June  8,  1865. 

Francis  M.  Hartman,  Southport,  must.  July  31,  1864;  trans,  to 
33d  Regt.  June  8,  1865. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


359 


Robert  A.  Moore,  must.  Sept.  S,  1S63;    trans,   to    33d    Regt. 

June  8,  1865. 
John  J.  Turner,  must.  Dec.  14,  1863  ;  trans,  to  33d  Regt.  June 

8,  1865. 

EXLISTED   Mks,    CoMPAXr   K. 
first  Serfjeant. 
Thomas  S.  Campbell,  must.  July  25,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Sergeants. 
Nathan  A.  Secrest,  must.  July  1-1,  1S62;    pro.  capt.  of  2Sth 

U.  S.  Colored  Inf. 
William  H.  Kemper,  must.  July  19,  1862:  pro.  2d  lieut. 
George  P.  Vnncc,  must.  July  30,  1862  ;  disch.  Aug.  26,  1863. 

Corporals. 
Cas.  T.  Curtis,  must.  July  22,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 

as  1st  sergt. 
Andrew  Graydon,  must.  July  U,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 1865, 

•IS  sergt. 
Parish  L.  Mayhew,  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  21,  1863. 
Frank  Gillett.  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  for  promotion  U.  S. 

Colored  Inf. 
Robert  W.  Caihcart,  must.  July  15,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865,  as  sergt. 

Musicians. 
Thomas  Angle,  must.  July  24,  1862  ;  disch.  Dec.   17,  1864,  for 

wounds. 
Nathauiel  E.  Eudaly,  must.  July  24,  1862;  must,  out  June  8, 

1865. 

Watfoner. 

George  W.  Koontz,  must.  July  15,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  13,  1864, 

for  wounds. 

Priiales. 
Perry  E.  Abell,  Castleton,  must.  July  26,  1862;  must,  out  June 

8,  1865. 
Benjamin  F.  Askren,   Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;    disch. 

Dec.  7,  1864. 
James  W.  Blue,  must.  July    25,  1862  ;    died   at   Chattanooga 

March  8,  1864. 
George  W.  Carter,  must.  July  21,  1862;  died  at  Indianajiolis 

June  16,  1864. 
James  H.  Clark,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  killed  at  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain June  22,  1864;  sergt. 
Richard  Graves,  must.  July  15,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1S65. 
Martin  V.  Griffith,  Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862;  died  May 

24,  1864,  of  wounds. 
James  Graves,  Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  S, 

1865. 
William  C.  Hind,  Cumberland,  must.  July  26,  1862;  disch.  Jan. 

22,  1863. 
John  L.  Ketcham,  must.  July  15,  1862;  pro.  q.m. 
John  Kirkland,  Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  died  at  Sanders 

ville,  Tenn.,  Feb.  20,  1863. 
George  Kooker,  must.  July  30,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 
Robert  Langsdale,  must.  July  24,  1862;  disch.  March  4,  1863. 


Thomas  Miller,  Clermont,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June 
8,  1865,  as  corp. 

Charles  Potts,  must.  July  25,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

Alfred  E.  Purcell,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  killed  at  Resaca  May 
14,  1864. 

George  Redmond,  must.  July  30,  1862;  must,  out  Juno  8,  1865. 

Harvey  B.  Rodgers,  must.  July  30,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8, 
1865,  as  Corp. 

Abraham  Seay,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

John  Seay,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

John  Seekamp,  must.  July  30,  1862;   must,  out  June  8,  1865. 

Marion  Springer,  Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862;  died  at  Gal- 
latin, Tenn.,  Dec.  3,  1862. 

John  Stoofe,  Lawrence,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  uiust.  out  June  8, 
1865. 

James  Vansickle,  Lawrence,  must.  July  ]  9,  1862  ;  died  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn  ,  Nor.  13,  1863. 

David  Watson,  must.  July  30,1862;  died  M.ay  17,  1864,  of 
wounds. 

Jasper  Watson,  must.  July  31,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  8.  1865. 

Martin  Watson,  must.  July  26,  1862;  must,  out  June  8,  1865, 
as  corp. 

Fourth  Cavalry  (Seventy-seventh)  Regiment. 
— The  Fourth  Cavalry  Reginieut  was  organized  at 
Indianapolis  on  the  22d  of  August,  1862,  with  Isaac 
P.  Gray  as  colonel.  On  the  completion  of  its  organi- 
zation the  aspect  of  afikirs  in  Kentucky  was  so  threat- 
ening that  four  companies,  the  regiment  havini;  been 
divided,  were  sent,  under  the  command  of  Maj.  John 
A.  Platter,  to  Henderson,  Ky.,  and  the  remaining 
companies  to  Louisville,  from  whence  they  were  or- 
dered into  the  interior,  where  they  were  joined  by 
Col.  Gray. 

The  battalion  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Platter 
had  a  skirmish  at  Madisonvilie,  Ky.,  on  the  26th  of 
August,  and  again  at  Mount  Washington  on  the  1st 
of  October,  in  which  a  number  were  killed  and 
wounded.  On  the  5th  it  was  engaged  again  at  Mad- 
isonvilie, with  a  slight  loss.  In  the  spring  of  1863 
this  battalion  joined  the  other  companies. 

During  the  invasion  of  Bragg,  a  part  of  the  regi- 
ment, under  Col.  Gray,  was  camped  at  Madison, 
moving  from  there  to  Vevay,  then  across  the  river  to 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  remaining  here  until  about  the  1st 
of  December,  when  they  started  in  the  pursuit  of 
Morgan,  defeating  him,  on  Christmas,  at  Mumfords- 
ville,  with  a  .slight  loss.  From  here,  in  January, 
1863,  a  movement  was  made  into  East  Tennessee, 


360 


HISTORY   OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


where  the  regiment  was  united  and  assigned  to  the 
army  of  Roseerans,  and  on  the  19th  and  20th  of 
September  participated  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
and  a  small  engagement  on  the  23d,  and  also  on  the 
1st  of  November  at  Fayetteville.  During  the  winter 
of  1863-64  the  regiment  was  in  East  Tennessee, 
having  engagements  at  Mossy  Creek,  Talbot's,  and 
Dundridge,  and  on  the  27th  of  January,  1864,  a 
severe  fight  at  Fair  Garden.  Capt.  Rosecranz,  of 
Company  F,  with  Second  Battalion  of  the  Fourth 
Cavalry,  dismounted,  made  a  charge,  with  the  Second 
Indiana  and  First  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  also  dis- 
mounted. Maj.  Purdy,  with  the  First  Battalion, 
supported  by  Lilly's  Eighteenth  Indiana  Battery, 
made  a  sabre  charge  on  a  rebel  battery,  being  led 
by  Lieut.-Col.  Leslie,  who  was  killed  in  the  charge, 
and  captured  the  battery  and  more  prisoners  than 
they  had  men,  and  sufiFered  but  little  loss. 

The  regiment  in  March  moved  to  Cleveland,  Tenn., 
then  to  Atlanta  in  May,  having  skirmishes  at  Var- 
nell's  Station  on  the  9th,  at  Burnt  Church  on  the  2d 
of  June,  and  at  Newnan  on  the  31st  of  July.  Com- 
ing back  into  Tennessee,  it  had  engagements  at  Co- 
lumbia ;  went  from  here  to  Louisville,  then  to  Nash- 
ville, and  in  February,  1865,  to  Waterloo,  Ala.,  and 
was  afterwards  in  the  battles  of  Plantersville  and 
Selma.  Coming  back  to  Nashville  in  May,  it  was 
mustered  out  and  discharged  June  29,  1865,  not 
returning  home  in  a  body. 

Company  C  served  as  escort  to  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith 
91  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  the  Red  River  expedi- 
tion, but  joined  the  regiment  in  1864  and  served 
with  it  until  discharged. 

M,,jor. 
Albert  J.  Morley,  com.  June  24,  1864  j  must,  out  with  regt. 

Adjutants. 
William  G.  Anderson,  com.  July  31,  1863  ;  dismissed  Aug.  8, 

1864. 
Homer  C.  Carpenter,  com.  Aug.  4,  1864  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Quartennaater. 
George  W.French,  com.  Aug.  1,  1863;  disch.  March  18,  1865. 

Assistant  Stwf/eou. 
Jonathan  J.  Barrett,  com.  Sept.  3,  1863  j  not  must. 


Albert  J.  Morley, 


Company  A. 
Captain. 
.  Jan.  10,  1863  ;  pro.  maj. 


First  Lieutenant. 
Albert  J.  Morley,  com.  Oct.  16,  1862;  pro.  capt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Upton  J.  Hammond,  com.  Aug.  1,  1862;  res.  Feb.  26,  1863. 
Albert  J.  Morley,  com.  Aug.  1,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 

Company  E. 
First  Lieutenant. 
Daniel  S.  Moulton,  com.  April  30,  1863;  2d  lieut.  Sept.  4,1862; 
must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  G. 

Henry  M.  Billingsley,  com.  May   16,  1865  ;  must,  out  with 
regt. ;  bad  been  1st  and  2d  lieut. 

Enlisted  Men,  Company  A. 
Qua  rtermaster-Serrjea  nt. 
Charles  J.  Ford,  must.  July  28,  1862  ;  disch.  Jan.  29,  1864,  as 
private. 

Commissary  Seryeant. 
Conwell  P.  Meek,  must.  Aug.  3,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29, 1865. 

Serrjeants. 
William  H.  Eagle,  must.  .\ug.  3,1862;  must,  out  June  29,1865, 

OS  private. 
John  W.  Smith,  must.  July  24,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Robert  J.  Killan,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  29, 1865, 
as  private. 

Corporals. 

Joseph  M.  Douglass,  must.  Aug.  3, 1862  ;  disch.  Nov.  1, 1862. 

James  A.  Rowans,  must.  Aug.  3, 1862 ;  must,  out  June  29, 1865. 

Marion  Kelly,  must.  July  30, 1862 ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865,  as 

serg. 

Farrier  and  Blacksmith. 
Edward  Wilson,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  disch.  Oct.  21,  1862. 

Privates. 
Jefiferson  Bailey,  must.  July  29,  1862  ;  disch.  May,  1863. 
Abijah  Bales,  must.  July  30,  1862;  disch.  Nov.  1,1864,  leg  am- 
putated. 
Oscar  M.  Barnett,  must.  Aug.  4, 1862;  died  at  Cartersville,  Ga., 

Sept.  2,  1864. 
James  T.  Boswell,  must.   Aug.  8,  1862  ;  died  at   Murfreesbor- 

ough  April  23,  1863. 
Joseph  E.  Boswell,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865,  as  1st  sergt. 
John  Barnes,  must.  Aug.  14,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  S, 

1864. 
James  Bennett,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865, 

as  Corp. 
Seward  Cramer,  must.  July  29,  1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Homer  C.  Carpenter,  must.  July  29,  1862;  pro.  adjt. 
Charles  Carter,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  died  at  Murfreesborough 

Aug.  2,  1863. 


MARION   COUNTif   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


361 


Jacob  H.  Durst,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862  ;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  8, 

1864. 
Jesse  J.  Downard,   must.  July  28,   1S62;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Henry  Ellis,  must.  Aug.  14,  1862:  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
John  Fox,  must.  .Tuly  29,  1862  :  disch.  Oct.  8,  1862. 
John  H.  Ferguson,  must.  July  29,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Alexander  C.  Ferguson,   must.  Aug.  8,   1862;  must,  out  Juno 

29,  1865. 
Francis  M.   Fiscus,    must.   Aug.  9,  1862;  must,   out  June  29, 

1865. 
James  M.  Ferguson,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  :  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
William  J.  Gray,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  diseh. 
Archimides  Gilson,  must.  Aug,  7,    1862;  must,   out  June  29, 

1865. 
James  Grant,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862:  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
William  A.  Hall,  must.  July  29, 1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Richard  D.  Herald,   must.  July  29,   1862;    died   at   Bowling 

Green  Dec.  6,  1862. 
Samuel  Hawkins,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862:  died  at  home  Jan.  14, 

1864. 
Edward  Johnson,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  :  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  8, 

1S64. 
William  H.   Judkins,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  died  at  Nashville 

Oct.  14,  1864. 
Andrew  J.  Long,  must.  July  29,  1862  ;  disch.  March  6,  186.3. 
Samuel  N.  List,  must.  July  29,  1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Martin  T.  Lang,  must.  Aug.  14, 1882  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
George  H.  Lehman,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
John  S.  Moore,  mu.st.  July  29,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865, 

as  regt.  com.-sergt. 
Noah  N.  Meek,  must.  Aug.  .3,  18B2;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Lot  W.  Martin,  must.  Aug.  3,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Oliver  P.  Martin,  must.  Aug.  3, 1SG2;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  8, 

1864. 
Samuel  B.  McDaniel,  must.  July  29,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Henry   McDaniel,  must.  July   29,   1862  ;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
James  W.  McMaham,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
Samuel  R.  Perkins,   must.  July  29,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865,  as  regt.  q.m. -sergt. 
Charles  Purcell,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  disch.  March  18,  1863. 
Martin  E.  Pierson,  must.  Aug.  6,  1S(!2;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Lewis  S.   Pierson,  must.  Aug.   6,  1862;    must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Conrad  Ra.ab,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862  ;  must,   out   June  29, 1865. 
Lewis  A.  Reinhart,  must.  July  29,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
24 


Edwin  Simpson,  must.  July   29,   1862;    must,   out  June  29, 

1865. 
Nicholas  Shumer,   must.  July   29,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
Joseph  T.  Short,  must.  Aug.  4,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
George  W.  Scott,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Isaiah  M.  Staley,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862 ;  died  at  New  Market, 

Tenn.,  Deo.  26,  1863. 
Thomas  W.  Staley,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Richard  B.  Sears,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;    must,    out  June  29, 

1865. 
Augustus  Servore,  must.  Aug.  14, 1862  ;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May 

8,  1864. 
Emanuel  Tague,  must.  Aug.  11,  1862  ;  disch.  March  S,  1863. 
Charles  Van  Sickle,  must.  Aug.  8,  1862;    died  at    Louisville 

Oct.  5,  1862. 
George  Warner,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862  ;  disch.  Dec.  8,  1862. 
George  W.  White,  must.  July  24,  1862;  disch.  April  1,  1863. 
William  Yount,  must.  July  24,  1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865, 

as  Corp. 

Recruits. 
Ai  Beard,  must.  Nov.  5,  1862;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Henry  C.  Ferguson,  must.  Jan.  5,  1863  ;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
George  W.  Haynes,  must.  Feb.  5,  1864;  must,  out  June  29, 

1865. 
William  Warrell,  must.  Jan.  3, 1863  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
John  Winsell,  must.  Jan.  24, 1864  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
Joseph   D.  McGuffin,  must.  Ang.  13,  1863;  must,  out  June  29, 

1S65. 
Jnmes  Atherton,  must.  Feb.  13, 1864  :  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 
George  Birner,  must.  Jan.  5,  1865  ;  must,  out  June  29,  1865. 

Seventy-ninth  Regiment.  —  Tlie  Seventy-ninth 
Regiment  was  organized  at  Indianapolis  during  Au- 
gust, 1862  ;  was  mustered  in  for  three  years  Septem- 
ber 2d,  with  Frederick  Knefler  as  colonel,  and  imme- 
diately ordered  to  Louisville,  to  help  protect  that  city 
against  Bragg,  and  was  there  assigned  to  Buell's 
army,  being  in  the  First  Brigade,  Third  Division, 
Twenty-first  Army  Corps.  Leaving  Louisville  Octo- 
ber 1st,  to  join  in  pursuit,  it  was  present  in  reserve 
at  the  battle  of  Perryville,  and  at  Crab  Orchard, 
where  one  was  killed  and  two  wounded.  Then  to 
Losan's  Cro.ss-Roads,  Gallatin,  Tenn.,  and  across  the 
Cumberland  River  into  camp  at  Nashville.  It  par- 
ticipated in  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  being  changed 
on  the  2d  of  January,  1863,  during  the  battle,  from 
the  right  to  the  left  wing.  Afterwards  it  marched 
to  Murfreesborough,  here  going  into  camp  and  remain- 


362 


HISTORY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


ing  until  June  24lh,  when  it  left  and  went  to  Tulla- 
homa  ;  then  to  Manchester,  McMinnville,  and  Pike- 
ville.  On  the  1st  of  September  it  moved  toward 
Chattanooga,  crossing  the  Tennessee  River  at  Bridge- 
port on  the  6th,  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  9th,  going 
through  Rossville  and  Ringgold  to  Lee  and  Gordon's 
Mills.  On  the  13th  was  a  heavy  skirmish,  and  on 
the  19th  and  20th  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  where 
one  was  killed,  forty  wounded,  and  thirteen  missing, 
and  where  the  First  Virginia  Battery  of  Longstreet's 
corps  was  captured.  It  then  fell  back  with  the  army 
to  Chattanooga. 

Upon  reorganization  the  Seventy-ninth  was  as- 
signed to  the  Third  Brigade,  Third  Division,  Fourth 
Army  Corps.  On  the  23d  of  November  the  regi- 
ment was  iti  the  movement  against  Bragg,  when  the 
celebrated  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission 
Ridge  occurred.  During  this  time  the  Eighty-sixth 
Indiana  Regiment  was  attached  to  the  Seventy-ninth, 
under  Col.  Knefler,  and  this  consolidated  force  led 
the  column  which  stormed  and  captured  Mission 
Ridge,  being  the  tirst  to  plant  the  colors  on  the 
enemy's  works,  and  captured  eleven  pieces  of  artillery 
and  several  hundred  prisoners,  its  loss  being  small. 
It  took  part  in  the  movement  which  began  on  the 
27th  towards  Knoxville,  to  relieve  Gen.  Burnside, 
arriving  there  on  the  Gtb  of  December. 

During  the  following  four  months  they  remained 
in  East  Tennessee,  suffering  much  from  exposure  and 
want  of  supplies,  and  participating  in  many  minor 
expeditious,  those  at  Strawberry  Plains,  New  Market, 
Mossy  Creek,  Clinch  Valley,  a  cavalry  expedition  to 
Thornhill,  and  others.  In  April,  1864,  they  had  ten 
days'  rest  at  Chattanooga,  the  first  in  ten  months. 

On  the  3d  of  May  the  regiment  marched  to  Ca- 
toosa Springs,  Ga.,  thence  to  Tunnel  Hill  and  Rocky- 
face  Ridge,  Dalton  and  Resaca,  where  it  was  present 
in  the  reserve.  It  then  proceeded,  with  continual 
skirmishing,  to  Calhoun,  Adairsville,  Kingston,  and 
Cassville,  crossing  the  Etowah  River  on  the  23d. 
There  then  came  the  battles  of  New  Hope  Church, 
Pickett's  Mills,  Pine-Top  Mountain,  Lost  Mountain, 
and  Kenesaw  Mountain,  where  it  took  part  in  the 
heavy  skirmishing  before  the  evacuation.  It  then 
marched  to  Marietta  and  the  Chattahoochie  River, 


crossing  on  the  14th  of  July.  This  regiment  was 
the  first  to  cross  Peach-Tree  Creek,  capturing  the 
works  and  many  prisoners.  It  was  present  and  on 
active  duty  at  the  siege  of  Atlanta,  from  July  22d  to 
August  24th,  when  it  moved  to  the  south  and  en- 
gaged in  the  actions  at  Jonesborougli  and  Lovejoy's 
Station,  September  1st  and  2d.  The  regiment  then 
marched  toward  Atlanta,  reaching  there  on  the  7th, 
and  remained  until  October  3d,  when  it  went  in  pur- 
suit of  Gen.  Hood,  and  continued  until  it  reached 
Gaylesville,  Ala.,  and  the  lines  of  the  Coosa  River, 
when  the  Fourth  Corps  was  sent  to  Nashville,  going 
through  Chattanooga,  Athens,  Ala.,  Pulaski,  Tenn., 
where  it  arrived  November  1st,  and  then  fell  back  to 
Columbia,  Springfield,  and  Franklin,  at  which  battle 
it  was  in  the  reserve.  The  regiment  arrived  at  Nash- 
ville December  1st,  and  during  the  battle  captured 
nine  guns  and  assisted  the  storming  of  Overton 
Hill,  afterwards  pursuing  through  Brentwood,  Frank- 
lin, Spring  Hill,  Columbia,  Pulaski,  to  Huntsville, 
Ala.,  arriving  Jan.  6,  1865,  and  remaining  until 
March  17th,  when  it  went  by  rail  to  East  Tennessee, 
to  help  in  the  advance  on  Richmond  ;  arrived  at  Mor- 
ristown,  marched  through  Bull's  Gap  and  Greenville  to 
Jonesborough,  when  further  movements  were  arrested 
by  the  surrender  of  Richmond.  It  then  returned  to 
Nashville,  arriving  April  26tli,  remained  till  June 
5th,  and  then  started  home,  reaching  Indianapolis 
June  7th,  and  was  discharged  on  the  11th.  This 
regiment  during  its  term  of  service  was  constantly 
in  the  field,  never  having  performed  garrison  duty, 
and  is  credited  with  the  capture  of  eighteen  guns 
and  over  one  thousand  prisoners. 

Original  enlistments  for  three  years  from  Marion 
County  : 

Colonel. 
Frederick  Knefler,  com.  Aug.  27,  1862;  brev.  brig.-gen. ;  must, 
out  with  regt. 

LlentenaM-Colouel. 
George  W.  Parker,  com.  Aug.  25,  186-t;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Majors. 
Elliott  George  Wallace,  com.  Jan.  26,  1863;  dismissed  as  capt. 

by  court-martial  May  13,  1863. 
George  W.  Parker,  com.  Oct.  14,  1S63;  pro.  lieut.-col. 


MARION   COUNTY   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE    REBELLION. 


363 


Adjittaiits. 
Thompson  Dunn,  com.  May  9,  1S64  ;  killed  in  battle  at  Love- 

jov's  Station  Sept.  2,  1864. 
Leander  W.  Munhall,  com.  Sept.  .3,  1S64;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Quartermaeter. 
Jacob  H.  Colclazier,  com.  April  24,  1S63;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Chaplain. 
Love  H.  Jameson,  com.  Dec.  6,  1862;  res.  April  30,  1864. 

Anst'stant  Surf/eon, 
John  H.  Tilford,  com.  Aug.  27,  1862;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  A. 
Captains. 
Elliott  a.  Wallace,  com.  July  30,  1862;  pro.  maj. 
William  A.  Abbott,  com.  Aug.  2,  1863;    must,  out  and  hou. 
disch.  June  7,  1SB5. 

Firet  Lieutenants. 
John  R.  Colton,  com.  July  30,  1862;  res.  Jan.  30,  1863. 
William  X.  Abbott,  com.  Jan.  31,  1863;  pro.  capt. 
Frank  H.  Butterfield,  com.  Aug.  2,  1863;  declined. 
William  H.  Hagerhorst,  com.  March  1, 1865 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
George  G.  Earl,  com.  Jan.  31,  1863;  pro.  capt.  Co.  G. 

Company  B. 
Captain. 
William  V.  Burns,  com.  Aug.  26,  1864;  must,  out  and  hon. 
disch.  May  15,  1865;    cause,  service  no  longer  required 
and  disability. 

First  lieutenants. 
William  V.  Burns,  com.  Jan.  20,  1863;   revoked;   recom.  1st 

lieut,  June  21,  1863;  pro.  capt. 
Arthur  St.  Clair  Vance,  com.  Jan.  29,  1863;  res.  June  20, 1863. 
Henry  .Magsam,  com.  March  1,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Arthur  St.  C,  Vance,  com.  Aug.  9,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
William  V.  Burns,  com.  Jan.  29,  1863;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Simeon  J.  Thompson,  com.  June  21,  1863;  disch.  before  must. 

Company  C. 
Captains. 
John  G.  Waters,  com.  Aug.  19,  1862;  res.  Feb.  1,  1863. 
Benjamin  Valliquctte,  com.  Fob.  2,  1863;  hon.  disch.  Nov.  18, 
1863. 

First  Lieutenants, 
Benjamin  Valliquette,  com.  Aug.  19,  1862;  pro.  capt. 
William  S.  Cardell,  com.  Feb.  2,  1863  ;  pro.  capt.  Co.  H. 
Charles  T.  Many,  com.  March  1,  1S65;  must,  out  with  rogt. 


Second  Lieutenants. 
William  S.  Cardell,  com.  Aug.  19,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Edwin  M.  Byrkit,  com.  Feb.  2,  1863;  pro.  capt.  Co.  I. 

Company  D. 

Captains. 

James  M.  Buchanan,  com.  Aug.  20,  1862;  hon.  disch.  Feb.  5, 

1864. 
John  T.  \ewland,  com.  Feb.  6,  1864:  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  Lieutenants. 
John  T.  Newland,  com.  Aug.  20,  1862 ;  pro.  capt. 
Ezra  Buchanan,  com.  March  1,  1865  ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
John  S.   McDaniel,  com.  Aug.  20,  1862;    died  at  Nashville, 

Tenn.,  Dec.  26,  1862. 
George  Harris,  com.  Feb.  22,  1863 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  E. 
First  lieutenant. 
John  W.  Gosney,  com.  July  1,  1864;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  F. 
Captains. 
Andrew  W.  Faqua,  com.  Aug.  2.3,  1862 ;  res.  Dec.  20,  1862. 
James  P.  Catterson,  com.  Dec.  21,  1862;  res.  March  22,  1864. 
Isaac  W.  Stubbs,  com.  March  23,  1864;  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  Lieutenants. 
John  B.  Johnson,  com.  Aug.  23,  1862;  res.  Nov.  16,  1862. 
James  P.  Catterson,  com.  Nov.  17,  1862;  pro.  capt, 
Isaac  W.  Stubbs,  com.  Dec.  21,  1S62;  pro.  capt. 
William  J.  Carter,  com.  March  23,  1S62;  hon.  disch.  Oct.  14, 

1864. 
John  B.  W.  P.xrker,  com.  March  1,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
James  P.  Catterson,  com.  Aug.  2.3,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Richard  E.  Perrott,  com.  Jan.  5,  1863;  res.  Sept.  2,  1863. 

CosrPANY  G. 
Captains. 
George  W.  Parker,  com.  Aug.  23,  1862;  pro.  maj. 
William  H.  H.  Sheets,  com.  Oct.  14,  1863 ;  declined. 
George  6.  Earl,  com.  March  1,  1865 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  Lieutenants. 
William  H.  H.  Sheets,  com.  Aug.  21,  1862;  pro.  capt. ;  must. 

out  with  regt. 
George  W.  Clark,  com.  Oct.  14,  1863 ;  wounded  and  died  as  2d 

lieut.  Sept.  29,  1863. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
James  Comstock,  com.  Aug.  23,  1862;  res.  Sept.  24,  1862. 
George  W.  Clark,  com.  Nov.  25,  18C2;  pro.  1st  lieut. 


364 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Company  H. 
Captains. 
John  L.  Hanna,  com.  March  22,  1863 ;  res.  Nov.  17,  186i. 
William  S.  Cardel],  com.  March  1,  1865 ;  must,  out  with  regt. 

First  LieKtcnant. 
William  P.  Mounts,  com.  Nov.  2."!,  1862:  dishon.  dismissed  Deo. 
15,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenant. 

Thompson  Dunn,  com.  June  24,  1864;  pro.  adjt. 

Company  I. 
Captain. 
Edwin  M.  Bj-rkit,  com.  March  1,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Company  K. 
First  Lieutenant. 
Edgar  J.  Foster,  com.  Nov.  13,  1862;  res.  Feb.  22, 1864. 
Henry  J.  Brattain,  com.  March  13,  1865;  must,  out  with  regt. 

Enlisted  Mkn,  Company  A. 
First  Sergeant. 
Francis  M.  Severance,  must.  July  IS,  1SG2;  must,  out  June  7, 
1865,  as  private. 

Sergeants. 

Edgar  J.  Foster,  must.  July  28,  1862;  pro.  1st  licut.  Co.  K. 

William  A.  Abbott,  must.  July  18,  1862;  pro.  Ist  lieut. 

Francis  H.  Butterfield,  must.  July  23,  1862;    pro.  lieut.  5th 

V.  S.  Colored  Troops. 

Henry  C.  Earnest,  must.  .Tuly  20,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1SG6, 

as  private. 

Corporais. 

Arthur  Rhouette,  must.  July  2.3,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  27,  1863. 
Adam  Hereth,  must.  July  18,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
William  B.  Lewis,  must.  July  23,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  sergt. 
Julius  Young,  must.  July  IS,  1S62  ;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Herman  Franer,  piust.  July  18.  1SG2:  disch.  Feb.  2,  1865,  for 

wounds. 
Adolph  J.  Many,  must.  July  18,  1S62;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  sergt.  i 

William  J.  Brattain,  must.  July  18,  1862;  trans,  to  Engineer  | 

Corps  July  20,  1864. 

Wagoner. 
Morris  Sullivan,  must.  July  20,  1862;  disch.  March  11,  1863. 

Privates.  ! 

Thomas  Arnold,  must.  Aug,  5,  1SC2;    died    Jan.  7,   1863,   of 

wounds. 
Frederick  Barton,  Cumberland,  must.  Aug.  16, 1S62;  disch.  May 

21,  1S65,  for  wounds. 
Philip  Boebm,  must.  Aug.  10,  1862;    died    iu   Andersonville 

prison  Aug.  14,  1864. 
Henry  Bredemeyer,  must.  Aug.  16,  1862 ;  died  at  Georgetown, 

Tenn.,  Dee.  30,  1S63. 


Daniel  Brenran,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862 ;  must,  out  May  13, 1865. 
Patrick  Brennan,  must.  July  20,  1862;  must,  out  Oct.  13,  1865. 
William  Bailey,  must.  July  26,  1S62;    died  Oct.  20,  1862,  of 

wounds. 
William  Cerr,  must.  July  24,  1862;  disch.  March  26,  1S63,  for 

wounds. 
Francis  M.  Christian,  must.  July  24,  1862;  disch.  Dec,  1862. 
Benjamin  Criglor,  must.  July  26,  1862;  killed  at  Stone  River 

Jan.  2,  1863. 
Samuel  Dalzcll,  must.  July  26,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
John  Devine,  must.  July  24,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1SG5. 
John  B.  Ducker,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  died  at  Nashville  Sept. 

30,  1863. 
George  G.  Earl,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 
Samuel  B.  Gaylord,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862;  died  Jan.  7,  1863,  of 

wounds. 
Henry  Grabhorn,  must.  July  30,  1862;  disch.  March  17,  1863. 
August  Grcgoric,  must.  .\ug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  Corp. 
Timothy  Haley,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  died  at  Murfreesborough 

Aug.  20,  1863. 
Rufus  Harper,  must.  July  26,  1862;  missing  at  Chiokamauga 

Sept.  19,  1863. 
John  Uause,  must.  July  29,  1862;  disch.  June  23,  1863. 
James   F.  Hawthorn,    must.  July  18,  1862;    must,  out  June 

7,  1865. 

Robert   C.  Heitzer,  must.  .Tuly  26,  1862;    must,  out  June   7, 

1SG5,  as  Corp. 
William  Ilincslcy,  must.  July  21,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1S05. 
Benjamin  Jameson,  must.  Aug.  16,  1862;    trans,  to  V.  R.  C. 

Nov.  1,  1S63. 
Charles  D.  Joslin,  must.  July  IS,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  corp. 
Sebastian  Knodle,  must.  July  23,  1862;  died  at  Nashville  Deo. 

21,  1S62. 
Philip  Kuhn,  must.  Aug.  9,  1882;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Aaron  Lawson,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
James  F.  Lawson,  must.  Aug.  26,  1862;  killed  at  Dallas,  Ga., 

May  27,  1864. 
Thomas  S.  Lawson,  must.  July  22,  1862;    trans,  to  V.  R.  C. 

July  15,  1863,  on  account  of  wounds. 
John  S.  Lawson,  must.  Aug.  26,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  15,  1S63. 
Elijah  Long,  must.  July  28,  1862;  disch.  April  7,  1863. 
Daniel  Mann,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Jacob  Medeker,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
William  P.  Moore,  must.  Aug.  1,  1862;  disch.  April  9,  1863, 

for  wounds. 
Alonzo  McNeal,  must.  July  20,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
John  H.  Nelson,  must.  July  22,  1862;  died  June  3,  1863,  of 

wounds. 
Patrick  O'Connell,  must.  July  20,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Michael  O'Connell,  must.  Aug.  12, 1862;  must,  out  June  7, 1865. 
David  Pearson,  must.  July  26,  1862;  died  at  New  Albany  May 

8,  1863. 


MARION    COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 


365 


Jonas  0.  Pearson,  must.  Aug.  5,  1862 ;  disch.  Nov.  8,  1862. 
John  M.  Pettitt,  must.  July  30,  1862;  died  June  20,  1863,  of 

wounds. 
Jesse  S.  Pointer,  must.  .\ug.  5,  1862;  disch.  March  J,  1865,  for 

wounds. 
James  A.  Pressley,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;    must,  out  June   7, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
Frederick  Ratfert,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  Dec.  1,  1862. 
John  Reister,  must.  July  20,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Emil  Renard,  must.  July  22,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Robert  Ross,  must.  July  18,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  3,  1863. 
Philip  Seyford,  must.  July  24,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
George  Slimmaon,  must.  July  18,  1862;  discb.  Dec.  3,  1863, 

for  wounds. 
Wellington  Watts,  must.  July  21,  1862;    trans,  to    Engineer 

Corps  July  20,  1864. 
William  Werzner,  must.  July  26, 1862 ;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Charles  Wortman,  must.  Aug.  6,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
George  Williams,    must.    Aug.    11,  1862;    died   at    Louisville 

April,  1864. 

EsLisTED  Mew,  Cosiimxv  C. 
First  Sergeant. 
Edwin  M,  Byrkit,  must.  Aug.  15, 1862;  pro.  2d  lieut. 

Ser.jrantH. 
Charles  J.  Many,  must.  Aug.  19,  1862  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Charles   Anderson,  must.  Aug.  12,   1862  ;  must,    out   June  7, 

1865,  as  private. 
Joseph  Kline,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862  ;  must,  out  June   7,   1865, 

as  sergt.-maj. 

John  W.  Warner,  must.  Aug,  15,  1862;  killed  at  Atlanta  July 

21,  1864. 

Corporah. 

John    L.   Monroe,  must.  Aug.   25,    1862;  must,    out    June    7, 

1865. 
Lcander  W.  Munhall,  must.  Aug.  15,  1S62;  pro.  adjt. 
William  R.  Sullivan,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  Sept.  1,  1863. 
Theodore  R.  Bryant,  must.  Aug.  9.  1862;  must,  out  July   7, 

1865. 
Henry  Anderson,  must.  Aug.  10,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  21,  1863. 

Mmiciam. 
George  Frankenstein,   must.   .^ug.  21,  1862;   disch.   Dec.  15, 

1862. 
John   W.   llartpence,   must.   Aug.    13,   1862;  disch.  July   26, 

1864. 


Wi 


Oliver  F.  Long,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  q,m.-sergt. 

Primteii. 

John  Anderson,  must.  Aug,  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
William  Amos,  must.  Aug.  13,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Edmond  C.  Boaz,  must.  Aug.  11,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 
as  1st  scrgt. 


Seth  W.  Bardwell,   must.   Aug.  15,   1862;  must,   out  June   7, 

1865. 
Candy  Burns,  must.  Aug.  22,  1862;  disch.  March  26,  1863. 
Albert  A.  Chester,  must.  Aug.   12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
David  W.  Davis,  must.  Aug.  13,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 1865. 
Henry   Eaton,  must.  Aug.  13,  1862;  trans,  to  18th   U.  S.  Inf. 

Dec.  22,  1862. 
James  E.  Foudr.ay,  must.  Aug.   15,    1862;  must,  out  June   7, 

1865. 
Thomas  Green,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862;  disch.  April  21,  1863. 
William  M.  Hall,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  March  2,  1863, 

as  1st  sergt. 
Andrew  Hoover,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  April  18,  1863. 
William   Haggart,  must.  Aug.  15,   1862;  must,   out   June   7, 

1865,  as  Corp. 
William   Jacobs,    must.  Aug.   22,  1862 ;  accidentally   shot   at 

Murfreesborough  June  13,  1 863. 
Benjamin    Lester,  must.  Aug.   14,  1862 ;  must,    out   June    7, 

1865. 
Newton  Munsell,  must.  Aug.  20,  1862  ;  disch.  April  9,  1863. 
Henry  A.  Mittay,  must.  Aug.   12,   1862;  must,   out   June    7, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
Horace  Marple,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  7,  1863. 
Fleming  B.  Martin,  must,  Aug.  19,  1862;  must,   out  June  7, 

1865. 
James  Montgomery,  must.  Aug.  20,  1862  ;  died  at  Louisville 

Deo.  20,  1862. 
Williamson  B.  Martin,  must.  Aug.  22,  1862  ;  must,   out  June 

7,  1865. 
Edward  F.  Merryman,  must.  Aug.  25,  1862;  must,  out  June 

7,  1865. 
Johnson  S.  Poppline,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862  ;  trans,  to  Vet.  Res. 

Corps  June  27,  1865. 
Robert  Rochester,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862;  disch.  April  20,  1863. 
John  Ryan,  must.  Aug.  14,  1862 ;  killed  at  Kenesaw  June  8, 

1864. 
Henry  Stumpf,  must.  Aug.  15,  1862:  died  at  Murfreesborough 

March  5,  1864. 
James  Welsh,  must.  Aug.  9,  1862  ;  disch.  Jan.  26,  1863. 

E.\LiSTED  Men,  Comp.inv  F. 

First  Serrjennt. 

Benjamin  F.  Riley,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  disch.  Oct.  18,  1862. 

Sergeant. 
Edward   P.  Thoma.s,   must.  Aug.  7,  1862;    died  at  Nashville 
Dec.  18,  1862. 

Cori,f,raU. 
John  J.  Murdock,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  :  must,  out  June  7,  1865, 

as  private, 
Samuel  Redman,  must.  Aug.  7, 1862;  disch.  Jan.  19,  1863. 
Charles  Hayes,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  6,  1863. 
John  E.  Ale.tander,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disch.  Jan.  30,  1863. 


366 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


William  S.  Robinson,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862:  disoh.  Feb.  10, 1863. 

Caleb  Thomas,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 

Pr:v((les. 
Taylor  Arnold,  must.  Aug.  12,  1S62;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Nathan  Brooks,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Aug.  1, 

ise.s. 

Jeremiiih   M.   Buckley,  must.   Aug.  12,1862;  disch.  May  1.3, 

1863. 
John  Bloomfelter,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
James  Bailey,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  I860,  as 

1st  sergt. 
Thomas  Bairnworth,  must.  Aug.  12, 1862;  disch.  Jan.  29, 1863. 
William  J.  Carter,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
William  S.  Chanplain,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  died  at  Louisville, 

Ky.,  Sept.  28, 1862. 
James  A.  Clements,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 

1865. 
John  Decker,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862:  must,  out  June  7,  1865,  as 

Corp. 
Lafayette  Doughty,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disch.  Sept.  14,  1863. 
Severe  Doughty,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  11,  1863. 
Teterick  Eck,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
John  F.  Edgington,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  Feb.  28,1863. 
James  Fort,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862 ;  killed  at  Kenesaw,  Ga  ,  June 

18,  1864. 
William  H.  Francis,  Bridgeport,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must. 

out  June  7,  1865. 
Daniel  Fink,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  28, 

1864. 
Edward  Gordon,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Thomas  Garvey,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Joseph  Holderman,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 1865. 
Uriah  M.  Holmes,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  March  8,  1863. 
Adam  Hiss,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865,  as 

Corp. 
Henry  James,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  died  at  Xashville  Dec.  26, 

1862. 
John  W.  James,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1S65, 

as  Corp. 
Joseph  Ketrow,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
George  W.  Ketrow,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 

1865. 
Edward  Kocker,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  April  12,  1863. 
Robert  Lynn,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  7, 1865. 
John  Lynn,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Samuel  Long,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  trans,  to  1st  TJ.  S.  Engi- 
neers Aug.  15,  1864. 
Joshua  M.  W.  Langsdale,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862  ;  must,  out  June 

7,  1865,  as  sergt. 
John  Middough,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  died  at  Seottsville,  Ky., 

Nov.  16,  1S62. 


Tobias  Maddox,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862 ;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Robert  Potter,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  killed  at  Stone  River  Jan, 

2,  1863. 
Jeremiah  Probus,  must.  Aug,  12,  1862;  died  at  Knoxville  Jan. 

16,  1864. 
Reuben   Randolph,   must.   Aug.  12,  1862;    must,  out  June  7, 

1865. 
David  A.  Randolph,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  died  Aug.  4,  1864, 

of  wounds  received  at  Marietta. 
Harmon  Stout,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  disoh.  Aug.  31,  1863. 
Joseph  B.  Stewart,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  trans,  to  Co.  C. 
Isaac  AV.  Stubbs,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862  ;  pro.  1st  lieut. 
Samuel  T.  Scott,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  disch.  March  1,  1863. 
Christopher  Southern,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7, 

1865. 
John  Shafer,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865,  as 

com. -sergt. 
John  J.  Stormer,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862:  must,  out  June  7,  1R65, 

as  Corp. 
Benjamin  Vanblaricum,   must.  Aug.  12,  1862  ;  disch.  May  5, 

1863. 
Frank  Walz,  must.   Aug.  12,  1862;  trans,  to  V.  R.  C. :   must. 

out  June  7,  1865. 
Stephen  Ward,  must.  Aug.  12,  1862;  must,  out  June  7,  1865. 
Joseph  Ward,  must.  Aug.  7,  1862;  died  at  Chattanooga  Sept. 

19,  1862. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ORDERS,   SOCIETIES,    AND    CHARITABLE    INSTITU- 
TIONS  OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 

The  Masons. — When  the  middle-aged  men  of  this 
generation  were  little  boys  the  brightest  days  of  the 
year  were  the  Fourth  of  July,  when  the  Sunday- 
schools  paraded,  and  a  day  in  May — no  fixed  day 
probably — when  the  Freemasons  a.ssembled  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  made  a  public 
demonstration,  of  which  a  street  procession  was  the 
chief  feature.  The  Masons — always  given  their  full 
name,  "  Freemasons,"  and  only  abbreviated  in  the 
more  practical  days  of  the  railroad  era — made  a  pecu- 
liarly attractive  show.  There  was  a  delightful  mys- 
tery through  the  whole  line,  from  the  men  with  white 
aprons  who  held  black  sticks  crossed  at  the  top,  to 
the  chaplain  with  an  open  Bible  before  him,  on  to  the 
gorgeously  gilt  aprons  and  scarfs  of  the  Royal  Arch 
and  higher  degrees.  The  squares  and  compasses  on 
the  aprons  of  .some,  the  columns  on  those  of  others, 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND    CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


367 


the  mysterious  open  eye  on  others,  were  strange  enough 
to  interest  intelligent  boys,  and  they  followed  the 
ranks  from  Hubbard's  Block  or  Norwood's  Block  (Clay- 
pool's  now),  in  all  their  stately  marches,  with  a  stronger 
interest  than  they  did  the  cage-carriages  of  a  menage- 
rie or  the  spangled  riders  of  a  circus.  These  displays 
began  here  probably  when  it  was  decided  to  hold  the 
annual  communications  permanently  here,  in  1833  or 
within  two  or  three  years  later.  Previously  these 
annual  meetings  had  been  held  in  various  towns  as 
the  Grand  Lodge  pleased,  sometimes  here,  and  some- 
times in  Corydon,  Madison,  Jeffersonville,  Salem, 
Vincennes,  or  New  Albany.  These  parades  were 
made  there,  and  maintained  here  till  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Grand  Masonic  Hall  in  1850.  But 
like  the  Sunday-school  processions  and  other  displays 
for  mere  show  with  no  practical  aim,  they  fell  into 
disuse  and  disappeared  as  the  steam  clouds  of  railroad 
engines  thickened,  and  the  roar  of  factories  and  traffic 
drowned  the  music  of  their  bands.  They  are  seen 
now  only  in  the  fraternal  duty  they  discharge  at  the 
funerals  of  brethren,  or  some  rare  civic  demonstration. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Indiana  was  formed  at 
Madison  on  the  12th  of  January,  1818.  Alexander 
A.  Meek,  the  oldest  Past  Master  present,  presided. 
On  the  following  day  an  election  of  officers  was  held 
and  the  first  Grand  Master  of  Indiana  was  elected, 
Alexander  Buckner.  The  following  is  the  official 
list  of  officers  for  the  portion  of  the  year  remaining 
till  the  regular  election  in  September,  furnished  for 
this  work  by  the  kindness  of  the  Grand  Secretary, 
with  the  list  of  those  selected  for  the  first  full  term: 

January,  1818  :  M.  W.  Alexander  Buckner,  G.  M. ; 
R.  W.  Alexander  A.  Meek,  Dep.  G.  M. ;  R.  W. 
John  Tipton,  Sen.  G.  W. ;  R.  W.  Benjamin  V. 
Becker,  J.  G.  W. ;  R.  W.  Samuel  C.  Tate,  G.  Treas. ; 
R.  W.  Henry  P.  Thornton,  G.  Sec. ;  W.  Jeremiah 
Sullivan,  G.  0. ;  W.  Isaac  Howk,  Sen.  G.  D. ;  W. 
Jonathan  'Woodbury,  J.  G.  D. ;  W.  Nicholas  D. 
Grover,  G.  P. ;  Brother  Alexander  MeCrosky,  G.  S. 
and  Tyler. 

September,  1818 :  M.  W.  Alexander  A.  Meek, 
G.  M. ;  R.  W.  Davis  Floyd,  Dep.  G.  M. ;  R.  W.  John 
Tipton,  Sen.  G.  W. ;  R.  W.  Thomas  Douglas,  J.  G. 
W. ;  R.  W.  Henry  L.  Miner,  G.  Treas. ;  R.  W.  Isaac 


Howk,  G.  Sec. ;  "W.  "William  Stephens,  G.  Chapl. ; 
W.  Jeremiah  Sullivan,  G.  O. ;  W.  Richard  C.  Tal- 
bott,  G.  M. ;  W.  Nicholas  D.  Grover,  Sen.  G.  D. ; 
W.  John  Weathers,  J.  G.  D. ;  "W.  Abel  C.  Pepper, 
G.  S.  B. ;  W.  Alexander  MeCrosky,  G.  P. ;  Brother 
George  Leas,  G.  S.  and  Tyler. 

The  following  complete  roll  of  the  Grand  Masters 
of  the  order  since  the  first  organization  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  will  be  of  interest  to  very  many  more  than  the 
members : 

GRAND   MASTERS.l 

»Alexander  Buoknev,  .Tanuary 1818 

"■'Alexander  A.  Meek,  .September lSlS-19 

«-John  Tipton 1820 

*John  Sheets 1821-22 

■•'■Jonathan  Jennings 1823-24 

■»Marston  G.  Clark 1825 

»Isaac  Howk 1826 

*Elihu  Stout 1827 

•^•John  Tipton,  Logansport.' 1828 

■SAbel  C.  Pepper,  Rising  Sun 1829 

-sphillip  Mason,  Connersville 1830 

"■■William  Sheets,  Madison 1831 

■5'Woodbridge  Parker,  Salem 1832 

sPhillip  Mason,  Connersville 1833 

^Daniel  Kelso,  York 1834 

■»John  B.  Martin,  Vincennes 1835 

■■■■James  L.  Hogin,  Indianapolis 1836 

»CaIeb  B.  Smith,  Connersville 1837 

•sPhillip  Mason,  Connersville 1838-44 

■"^■Isaac  Bartlett,  Logansport 1845 

«Johnson  Watts,  Dearborn  County 1846 

■SElizur  Deming,  Lafayette 1847-50 

Alexander  C.  Doivney,  Rising  Sun 1851-52 

■■:-'IIenry  C.  Lawrence,  Lafayette 1853-54 

Alexander  C.  Downey,  Rising  Sun 1855-56 

"'Solomon  D.  Bayliss,  Fort  Wayne 1857-58 

Alexander  C.  Downey,  Rising  Sun 1859-60 

Thomas  R.  Austin,  New  Albany 1861 

■»John  B.  Fravel,  Laporte 1S62 

William  Hacker,  Shelbyville 186.3-64 

■•■■Harvey  G.  Hazelrigg,  Lebanon 1865-67 

Martin  H.  Rice,  Plymouth :  1868-71 

Christian  Fetta,  Richmond 1872-73 

Lucian  A.  Foote,  Crawfordsville 1874 

Daniel  McDonald,  Plymouth 1875 

Frank  S.  Devol,  New  Albany 1S76 

Andrew  J.  Hay,  Charlestown 1877 

Robert  Van  V.alzah,  Terre  Haute 1878 

Bellamy  S.  Sutton,  Shelbyville 1S79 

Calvin  W.  Prather,  Jeffersonville 1880-81 

Bruce  Carr,  Bedford 1882 

GRAND  SECRETARIES  OF  THE   GRAND   LODGE   OF  INDIANA. 
•SR.  ^Y.  Davis   Floyd,    Secretary   of  the 

Convention 1S17 

■»R.  W.  Henry  P.  Thornton,  January  to 

September 1818 

1  Those  marked  with  a  ■-  are  dead. 

2  Previously  the  residence  is  not  given. 


368 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


*R.  W.  Isaac  Howk 1818-19 

*R.  W.  William  C.  Keene 1819-26 

»R.  W.  James  F.  D.  Lanier 1826-30 

«R.  W.  Austin  W.  Morris 1830-35,  1839-52 

«R.  W.Daniel  Kelso 1835-36 

«R.  W.  A.  W.  Harrison 1836-38 

»R.  W.  Charles  Fisher 1838-39 

»R.  W.  William  H.Martin 1841-42 

«R.  W.  Francis  King 1852-65 

R.W.William  Hacker 1865-68 

R.  W.  John  M.  Bramwell 1868-78 

R.  W.  William  H.  Smjthe 1878- 

An  account  of  the  Grand  Lodge  Hall  and  its  re- 
construction will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  "  Public 
Buildings,  Halls,"  etc. 

The  first  subordinate  lod-^e  organized  in  Indian- 
apolis was  "  Centre."  A  dispensation  for  this  body 
was  issued  March  27,  1822,  to  Harvey  Gregg,  the 
first  Master,  Milo  R.  Davis,  the  first  Senior  Warden, 
and  John  T.  Osborn,  the  first  Junior  Warden.  A 
charter  followed,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1822,  with 
Harvey  Gregg  as  first  Master,  Hervey  Bates  as  first 
Senior  Warden,  and  John  T.  0.sborD  as  first  Junior 
Warden.  In  1834  this  charter  was  surrendered  and 
a  new  one  granted  Dec.  17,  1835.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  Affiliated  Master  Masons  in  the  city  is  about 
eleven  hundred,  according  to  the  statement  of  Grand 
Secretary  Smythe. 

Centre  Lodge,  No.  23,  chartered  finally  Dec. 
17,  1835:  James  L.  Hogin,  W.  M.;  John  Foster, 
S.  W. ;  John  Williams,  J.  W.  Present  officers: 
John  J.  Huffer,  W.  M. ;  John  Schley,  S.  W. ;  E. 
D.  Marshall,  J.  W. 

Marion    Lodge,   No.  35,   chartered    May   28, 
1847.     First  officers:  John   Evans,  W.  M. ;  John 
Greer,  S.  W. ;  T.  Bradley,  J.  W.     Present  officers :  ! 
William   H.  Shirt,  W.  M.;  George  H.  Emery,  S. 
W. ;  Charles  H.  Abbett,  J.  W. 

Capital  City  Lodge,  No.  312,  chartered  May 
24,  1865.  First  officers:  Aaron  D.  Orr,  W.  M. ; 
Joseph  F.  Trowbridge,  S.  W. ;  Jacob  King,  J.  W. 
Present  officers:  Howard  Hcaren,  M.  W. ;  Thomas 
G.  SpaflFord,  S.  W. ;  John  A.  Buchanan,  J.  W.  j 

Ancient  Landmarks  Lodge,  No.  319,  chartered  , 
May  24,  1865.     First  officers :  John  Love,  W.  M. ;  \ 
James   W.    Hess,    S.   W. ;  Edmund    Clark,  J.   W. 
Present  officers:  William  S.   Rich,  W.   M. ;  Hugh 
O.  McVey,  S.  W. ;  William  H.  Meier,  J.  W.  \ 


Mystic  Tie  Lodge,  No.  398,  chartered  May  25, 
1869.  First  officers:  John  Caven,  W.  M. ;  George 
B.  Engle,  S.  W'. ;  Joseph  W.  Smith,  J.  W.  Pres- 
ent officers :  Charles  B.  Wanamaker,  W.  M. ;  Prank 
H.  Carter,  S.  W. ;  Chester  Bradford,  J.  W. 

Oriental  Lodge,  No.  500,  chartered  May  25, 
1875.  Charles  P.  Jacobs,  W.  M. ;  Daniel  W. 
Howe,  S.  W. ;  Joseph  A.  Humphreys,  J.  W.  Pres- 
ent officers:  Thomas  L.  Sullivan,  W.  M. ;  Rice  T. 
Bates,  S.  W.  ;  and  Charles  H.  Arndt,  J.  W. 

Pbntalpha  Lodge,  No.  564,  chartered  May  24, 

1882.  First  officers:  Martin  H.  Rice,  W.  M. ;  Ed- 
ward H.  Wolfe,  S.  W. ;  Adolph  Seidensticker,  J.  W. 
Present  officers :  Martin  H.  Rice,  W.  M. ;  Jacob 
M.  Bruner,  S.  W. ;  Samuel  A.  Johnson,  J.  W. 
The  symbol  of  the  "  Pentalpha"  is  the  five-pointed 
star,  composed  of  three  triangles,  the  significance  of 
which  is  thus  explained  by  the  official  publication  : 

"  Pentalpha,  the  name  of  this  lodge,  is  the  triple 
triangle,  or  the  pentalpha  of  Pythagoras,  and  is  so 
called  from  jjcyt/e,  five,  and  (iIjjIki,  the  letter  A,  be- 
cause in  its  configuration  it  presents  the  form  of  that 
letter  in  five  different  positions.  The  mediseval 
Masons  considered  it  a  symbol  of  deep  wisdom,  and 
it  is  found  among  the  architectural  ornaments  of 
most  of  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
As  a  Masonic  symbol  it  peculiarly  claims  attention 
from  the  fact  that  it  forms  the  outlines  of  the  five- 
pointed  star,  which  is  typical  of  the  bond  of  brotherly 
love  that  unites  the  whole  fraternity.  It  is  in  this 
view  that  the  pentalpha,  or  triple  triangle,  is  referred 
to  in  Masonic  symbolism  as  representing  the  intimate 
union  which  existed  between  our  three  ancient 
Grand  Masters,  and  which  is  commemorated  by  the 
living  pentalpha  at  the  closing  of  every  Royal  Arch 
Chapter." 

Qoeen  Esther  Chapter,  No.  3,  Order  of 
Eastern  Star.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Ten  Eyck,  W.  M.  ; 
Miss  Mary  E.  Engle,  Secretary. 

Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  Indiana  was 
organized  in  1845,  and  held  its  thirty-eighth  annual 
convocation  in  the  Grand  Masonic  Temple,  Oct.  17, 

1883,  A.I.  2413.  The  present  grand  officers  are: 
M.  E.  Robert  Van  Valzah,  of  Terrc  Haute,  G.  H. 
P. ;  R.  E.   Benjamin   F.    Dawson,  of  Angola,   Dep. 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


3H9 


G.  H.  P. ;  R  E.  Mortimer  Nye,  of  La  Porte,  G.  K. ; 
R.  E.  Christian  Fetta,  of  Richmond,  G.  S. ;  R.  E. 
Charles   Fisher,  of   Indianapolis,   G.  Treas.  ;  R.  E. 
John  M.  Bramwell,  of  Indianapolis,  G.  Sec. ;  E.  Ed- 
ward P.  Whallon,  of  Vincennes,  G.  Chapl.  ;  E.  Cal- 
vin W.  Prather,  of  Jeffersonville,  G.  C.  of  H. ;  E. 
William   M.    Blakey,   of   Evansville,  G.  R.  A.  C. 
Comp.   William   M.   Blac-k,  of  Indianapolis,   G.   G. 
M.  E.  William    Hacker,  of  Shelbyville,    C.   of  W. 
M.  E.  Thomas  B.  Long,  of  Terre  Haute,  Chairman 
Committee  on  Correspondence. 

Grand  Council  of  Roy.vl  and  Select  Ma- 
sons of  Indiana  was  organized  in  1855,  and  held 
its  twenty-eighth  annual  convocation  in  the  Masonic 
Temple,  Oct.  16,  1883,  A.D.  2883.  The  present 
grand  officers  are  Comp.  LaGrauge  Severance, of  Hunt- 
ington, I.  G.  M. ;  Comp.  Thomas  R.  Austin,  of  Vin- 
cennes, Dep.  I.  6.  M. ;  Comp.  Hezokiah  R.  Marlatt, 
of  Winchester,  G.  I.  M. ;  Comp.  Augustus  M.  Sinks, 
of  Connorsville,  G.  P.  C.  of  W. ;  Comp.  Charles 
Fisher,  of  Indianapolis,  G.  Treas. ;  Comp.  John  M. 
Bramwell,  of  Indianapolis,  G.  R. ;  Comp.  Edward  P. 
Whallon,  of  Vincennes,  G.  Chapl. ;  Comp.  Henry 
W.  Mordhurst,  of  Fort  Wayne,  G.  C.  of  G. ;  Comp. 
William  M.  Black,  of  Indianapolis,  G.  S.  and  S. ; 
Comp.  William  Hacker,  of  Shelhyville,  C.  of  W. ; 
Comp.  William  W.  Austin,  of  Richmond,  Chairman 
of  Committee  on  Correspondence. 

Grand  Commandery  of  Indiana  was  organized 
in  1854,  and  held  its  twenty-ninth  annual  conclave 
in  the  Asylum  of  Raper  Commandery,  No.  1, 
Knights  Templar,  in  Masonic  Temple,  April  24, 
1883,  A.O.  765.  Sir  Richard  L.  Woolsey,  of  Jef- 
fersonville, R.  E.  G.  C.  ;  Sir  Walter  Vail,  of  Mich- 
igan City,  V.  B.  Dep.  G.  C. ;  Sir  Henry  C.  Adams, 
of  Indianapolis,  E.  G.  G.  ;  Sir  Ephraim  W.  Patrick, 
of  Evansville,  E.  G.  C.  G. ;  Sir  James  H.  Ford,  of 
Logansport,  E.  G.  P. ;  Sir  George  W.  P.  Kirk,  of 
Shelbyville,  E.  G.  S.  W. ;  Sir  Reuben  Peden,  of 
Knightstown,  E.  G.  J.  W. ;  Sir  Charles  Fisher,  of 
Indianapolis,  E.  G.  T.  ;  Sir  John  M.  Bramwell,  of 
Indianapolis,  E.  G.  R. ;  Sir  William  A.  Foote,  of 
South  Bend,  E.  G.  S.  B. ;  Sir  Edgar  H.  Andress,  of 
Laftiyette,  E.  G.  S.  B. ;  Sir  Madison  M.  Hurley,  of 
New  Albany,  E.  G.  W. ;  Sir  William  M.  Black,  of 


Indianapolis,  G.  C.  of  G. ;  Sir  William  Hacker,  of 
Shelbyville,  C.  of  W. ;  Sir  Nicholas  R.  Ruckle,  of 
Indianapolis,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Correspon- 
dence. 

Indianapolis  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons, 
No.  5,  was  chartered  May  25,  1846.  The  present 
officers  are  Herman  Weinberger,  H.  P.  ;  William 
Wiegel,  K. ;  Charles  A.  Morse,  S.  Membership,  one 
hundred  and  thirty. 

Keystone  Chapter,  No.  6,  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons, was  organized  under  a  dispensation  Sept.  30, 
1870,  and  chartered  October  20th  following.  Present 
officers  :  Jacob  W.  Smith,  H.  P. ;  Christian  Brink, 
K.  ;  Ferdinand  Christman,  S.  Membership,  one 
hundred  and  five. 

Indianapolis  Council,  No.  2,  of  Royal  and  Se- 
lect Masons,  was  organized  under  charter  of  Oct.  18, 
1855.  Present  officers :  Herman  Weinberger,  I.  M. ; 
Roger  Parry,  Dep.  I.  M.  ;  William  Wiegel,  P.  C.  of 
W.     Membership,  one  hundred  and  forty. 

Raper  Commandery,  No.  1,  op  Knights  Tem- 
plar.— A  sketch  of  the  history  of  this  notable  body 
by  Grand  Secretary  Smythe  appears  in  the  Masonic 
Advocate  of  last  December,  from  which  it  appears 
that  the  organization  was  made  on  the  17tli  of  May, 
1848,  at  the  residence  of  Governor  Whitcomb  (the 
executive  mansion,  northwest  corner  of  Illinois  and 
Market  Streets),  and  took  its  name  from  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Raper,  an  eminent  Methodist  clergyman  and 
chief  of  the  Reed  Commandery,  No.  6,  of  Dayton, 
Ohio.  He  was  for  many  years  known  in  the  West 
as  a  lecturer  on  Masonry.  Mr.  Smythe  adds:  "He 
was  present  at  the  organization  of  this,  the  first  com- 
mandery in  Indiana,  and  assisted  very  materially  in 
laying  the  foundation  '  deep,  broad,  and  strong'  upon 
which  the  superstructure  of  Raper  Commandery  has 
so  firmly  rested.  A  period  of  thirty-five  years  has 
elapsed  since  that  little  band  of  Sir  Knights,  consist- 
ing of  Abel  C.  Pepper,  James  H.  Pepper,  James  Stir- 
rat,  Caleb  Schmidlap,  Isaac  Bartlett,  Francis  King, 
B.  T.  Kavanaugh,  Henry  C.  Laurence,  Seth  Beers, 
William  Hacker,  William  H.  Raper,  and  Samuel 
Reed  (the  latter  two  named  being  from  Ohio),  met 
at  the  residence  of  Governor  Whitcomb,  where  Raper 
Commandery  was  organized  under  many  difficulties." 


370 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION  COUNTY. 


Since  its  organization  four  hundred  and  forty-five 
Knights  have  held  membership  in  this  body,  and  the 
present  number  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-six.  The 
drill  of  this  comniandery,  which  has  won  it  a  national 
distinction,  was  mainly  the  work  of  Col.  N.  R.  Ruckle, 
of  the  Indiana  Eleventh  Regiment,  now  P.  G.  C.  of 
the  commandery.  In  the  competitive  drill  at  Cleve- 
land in  1877  it  took  the  second  prize,  a  silver  libation 
set.  At  Chicago,  in  1880,  it  took  the  first  prize,  a 
fine  sword  set  with  diamonds.  At  San  Francisco, 
last  year,  it  took  the  second  prize,  a  mounted  Knight 
Templar  in  bronze,  with  gold  armor  and  trappings  set 
on  a  column  of  gold-bearing  quartz  finely  polished 
and  ornamented  with  emblematical  figures  and  gems, 
and  wreathed  with  a  vine  of  enameled  work,  the 
whole  costing  over  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  Scottish  Rite  A.  and  A.  Masons  receive 
none  but  those  who  have  attained  the  Master's  degree 
in  the  York  Rite.  The  highest  degree  is  the 
thirty-third.  The  order  is  divided  into  four  bodies, — 
"  Lodges  of  Perfection,"  "  Councils  of  Princes  of  Je- 
rusalem," '■  Chapters  of  Rose  Croix, '  and  •'  Consisto- 
ries of  Princes  of  the  Royal  Secret."  In  February, 
1864,  the  Supreme  Council  granted  to  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  ex-Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  his  associ- 
ates, a  dispensation  to  institute  the  first  lodge  of  the 
Scottish  Rite  A.  and  A.  Masonry,  and  the  Adon- 
iram  Grand  Lodge  of  Perfection  was  thus  organized. 
The  present  members  are  Nicholas  Ruckle,  33°,  T.-. 
P.-.G.-.M.;  Jos.  W.  Smith,  33°,  H.-.D.-.T.-.G.-.M.; 
John  T.  Brush,  V.-.S.-.G.-.W. ;  Samuel  A.  Johnston, 
Ven.-.J.-.G.-.W. ;  John  A.  Holman,  G.-.Orator; 
Joseph  Staub,  G.-.Treas. ;  Cortes  F.  Holliday,  33°, 
G.-.Sec.-.K.'.of  S. ;  Jacob  W.  Smith,  33°,  G.-.Mas.-.of 
Ceremonies;  J.  Giles  Smith,  G.'.Capt.-.of  the  G. ; 
Charles  H.  Reynolds,  G. •.Hospitaller;  Henry  H. 
McGaffey.  G.'.Tiler.  Trustees:  Nicholas  Ruckle, 
33°,  Piiineas  G.  C.  Hunt,  33°,  Austin  H.  Brown,  33°. 

The  Seraiah  Council  of  Princes  of  Jerusa- 
lem was  instituted  simultaneously  with  Adoniram 
Lodge,  and  by  the  same  men  and  the  same  authority. 
The  present  oflBcers  are  Chas.  E.  Wright,  33°,  M.-.E.-. 
Sov.-.P.-.G.-.M. ;  A.  H.  Brown,  G.-.H.-.P.-.D.-.G.-.M  ; 
Geo.  F.  Branham,  M.-.E.-.Sen.-.G.-.W. ;  C.  C.  Adams, 
M.-.E.-.Jun.-.G.-.W. ;  Jos.  Staub.  Val  -.G.-.Treas. ;  Cor- 


tes F.  Holliday,  33°,  Val.-.G.-.Sec.-.K.-.ofS.-.and  A.; 
Henry  H.  BIcGaffey,  Val.-  G.-.M.-.of  C. ;  C.  F.  Weyer, 
Val. -.G.-. Almoner  ;  Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  Val.. G.". 
M.-.of  E. ;  Gilbert  W.  Davis,  33°,  G.-.Tiler. 

Indianapolis  Chapter  of  the  Rose  Croix 
was  opened,  under  a  dispensation  granted  to  Theodore 
P.  Haughey  and  others,  Nov.  2,  1864.  The  Indi- 
ana Consistory  was  given  a  dispensation,  through 
Edwin  A.  Davis  and  others,  Nov.  2,  1864.  The 
present  ofiiccrs  of  both  the  Chapter  and  Consistory 
are  Byron  K.  Elliott,  M.-.W.-.and  P.-.M. ;  Roscoe  O. 
Hawkins,  M.-.E.-.and  P.-.K.-.S.-.\V. ;  Jno.  A.  Holman, 
M.-.E.-.and  P.-.K.-.J.-.W. ;  Frisby  S.  Newcomer, 
M.-.E.-.and  P.-.K.-.G.-.O.  ;  Joseph  Staub,  R.-.and 
P.-.K.-.Treas.  ;  Cortes  F.  Holliday,  33°,  R.-.and 
P.-.K.-.Sec. ;  John  B.  Nickum,  R.-.and  P.-.K.-.H. ; 
John  A.  Henry,  R.-.and  P.-.K.-.M.-.of  C. ;  J.  Giles 
Smith,  R.-.and  P.-.K.-.C.-.of  G. 

Indiana  Sovereign  Consistory,  S.-.P.-.R.-.S.-., 
32°.— Nicholas  R.  Ruckle,  33°,  L-.C.-.in  C. ;  Cyrus 
J.  Dobbs,  I. -.First  Lieut. -.Com. ;  Pluiieas  G.  C. 
Hunt,  33°,  I.-. Second  Lieut.-. Com. ;  Samuel  A.  John- 
ston, I.-.G.-.C;  Cortes  F.  Holliday,  33°,  I.-.G.-.Sec.-. 
and  K.-.of  S. ;  Joseph  Staub,  I.-. G.-.Treas.  :  Roscoe 
0.  Hawkins,  I.-.G.-.E.-.and  A.;  Frederick  Baggs, 
L-.G.-.H.;  Joseph  W.  Smith,  33°,  L-.G.-.M.-.of  C. ; 
John  T.  Pressley,  I.-.G.-.S.-.B. ;  Charles  L.  Hutchin- 
son, I.-.G.-.C.-.of  G. ;  George  W.  Ayers,  I.-.G.-.S. 

Acting  members  of  the  Supreme  Council :  Elbridge 
G.  Hamilton,  33°,  John  Caven,  33°,  Thomas  R. 
Austin,  33°  ;  deputy  for  the  district  of  Indiana,  El- 
bridge G.  Hamilton.  The  roster  of  members  con- 
tains about  six  hundred  names. 

The  building  recently  erected  by  the  A.  and  A.  Ma- 
sons of  the  city  is  claimed  by  tiiem  and  generally  con- 
ceded by  others  to  be  the  most  complete  Scottish  Rite 
temple  in  the  United  States  or  the  world.  The  east 
and  south  walls  are  one  hundred  and  six  feet  high, 
and  command  the  best  view  of  the  city  attainable 
anywhere  within  its  limits.  The  cost  of  fitting  it  up 
was  about  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  ground-floor 
is  rented  for  business  houses,  and  the  whole  of  the 
upper  space  is  used  by  the  order.  A  recent  descrip- 
tion .says  that  on  the  west  side  are  the  secretary's 
room,  two  parlors,  and  the  library-room.     These  four 


OKDERS,  SOCTETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


371 


rooms  are  each  twenty-five  feet  square  and  en  suite. 
Of  tlie  library,  donated  by  Mr.  William  Hacker,  it 
may  be  said  that  in  intrinsic  value  as  a  Masonic 
library  it  stands  only  second  in  the  United  States. 
These  rooms  are  all  carpeted  with  velvet.  The  furni- 
ture of  the  secretary's  room  and  the  library  is  walnut 
and  leather,  and  of  the  two  parlors  walnut  and  plush. 
On  the  east  side  is  the  banquet-room,  thirty-five  by 
fifty-nine  feet,  which  by  means  of  folding  doors  can  be 
thrown  open,  and  with  the  other  rooms  on  the  floor 
accommodate  a  great  throng  of  people.  Communi- 
cating with  the  banquet-room  is  a  large  and  admira- 
bly-arranged kitchen  and  pantry. 

On  the  third  floor,  which  will  be  devoted  to  work 
in  the  degrees  leading  to  and  including  the  fourteenth, 
or  Perfection  degree,  are  the  candidates'  room  and  the 
Perfection  room.  The  first  is  nineteen  by  forty  feet, 
the  furniture  being  walnut  and  plush  ;  the  other  is 
twenty-five  by  thirty-eight  feet  in  its  auditorium, 
with  a  stage  twenty  feet  deep.  Adjoining  this  are 
scene-rooms,  etc.  On  this  floor,  as  on  the  others, 
there  are  all  conveniences,  including  numerous  and 
easy  exits  to  the  floor  below. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  stories,  in  wliieh  will  be  con- 
ducted the  work  of  conferring  the  higher  degrees, 
roust  be  considered  as  forming  one  story.  On  the 
west  side  is  the  grand  auditorium-room  forty  by 
eighty  feet,  including  a  stage  thirty  feet  high.  The 
scene-room  and  amphitheatre  on  this  floor  is  twenty- 
two  by  fifty  feet  and  twenty-seven  feet  high,  and  the 
candidates'  room  is  nineteen  by  forty  feet.  Around 
three  sides  of  the  theatre  ( for  so  it  must  be  called)  are 
broad  and  capacious  galleries  that  will  seat  over  four 
hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and  the  sunlight  that  de- 
pends from  the  centre  of  the  ceiling  diffuses  a  beauti- 
ful and  brilliant  light  over  the  audience-room.  This 
room  and  the  ceiling  and  galleries  have  been  exquis- 
itely frescoed. 


that  as  it  may,  the  Central  and  another  were  con- 
solidated in  1872,  and  the  former  stands  as  the  oldest 
lodge  of  colored  Masons  in  the  city. 

Central  Lodge,  No.  1. — Present  officers:  Joseph 
Lewis,  M. ;  Albert  G-.  Farley,  See. 

Trinity  Lodge,  No.  18.— Present  ofiioers :  William 
Harvey,  M. ;  William  De  Horney,  Sec. 

Waterford  Lodge,  No.  13. — Present  officers: 
Henry  S.  Seaton,  M. ;  William  Lockett,  Sec. 
Membership  of  all  the  lodges,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five. 

Leah,  Eastern  Star  Order. — Present  officers : 
Jessie  Herron,  Prest. ;  Alice  Green,  Sec.  Member- 
ship, seventy-five. 

Alplia  Chapiter,  No.  13. — Auder.son  Lewis,  H.  P. ; 
Charles  W.  Lewis,  Rec.     Membership,  thirty-two. 

Gefhsemane  Commanderi/,  No.  9. — John  W. 
Stewart,  E.  C. ;  Henry  Moore,  Rec.  Membership, 
thirty. 

The  colored  lodges  all  meet  at  11. 5 J  East  Wash- 
ington Street. 

Masonic  Mutual  Benefit  Society. — The  ob- 
ject of  this  association  is  to  give  assistance  to  the 
families  or  dependents  of  deceased  members.  None 
are  admitted  but  Master  Masons  of  this  State  in 
good  standing  and  good  health  at  the  time.  There 
are  four  classes  and  two  divisions.  Art.  VI.  of  the 
constitution  thus  defines  the  classes :  first,  from 
twenty-one  to  thirty  years  of  age ;  second,  from 
thirty-one  to  forty  ;  third,  from  forty-one  to  forty- 
seven  ;  fourth,  from  forty-eight  to  fifty-five.  The 
assessments  are  made  on  the  deaths  of  members  as 
follows :  first  class  pays  one  dollar  ;  second,  one  dol- 
lar and  ten  cents  ;  third,  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents ;  fourth,  one  dollar  and  eighty  cents. 

The  benefits  are  thus  defined  in  the  constitution  : 
"  Upon  the  death  of  a  member  the  directors  shall  pay 
to  the  beneficiary  of  the  deceased  member  a  sum  equal 


Colored  Masons.— The  Grand  Lodge  of  colored  i  to  seventy  cents  for  every  member  of  the  society  of  the 


Masons  of  Indiana  was  chartered  by  the  National 
Grand  Lodge  assembled  at  Cincinnati  July  30, 1859. 
The  first  Grand  Master  was  John  G.  Britton.  The 
present  is  Charles  Lancier.  Of  the  present  subordi- 
nate lodges  it  is  said  that  Central,  No.  1,  was  at 
first  the  Union,  No.  1,  organized  in   1846;  but    be 


first  class  at  the  time  of  his  death  ;  seventy-five  cents 
for  every  member  of  the  second  class ;  ninety-five 
cents  for  every  member  of  the  third  class ;  and  one 
dollar  and  sixty  cents  for  every  member  of  the  fourth 
class.  The  payments  are  only  for  the  divisions 
of  the  society  of  which  the  deceased  was  a  member; 


372 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


but  not  more  than  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  shall 
be  paid  to  beneficiaries  of  the  first  division,  an'l  not 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  dollars  to  those  of  the  sec- 
ond division."  Out  of  the  assessments  not  required 
to  pay  benefits  and  out  of  the  admission  fees  of  mem- 
bers is  made  a  permanent  fund  to  make  payments  to 
heirs  before  assessments  are  paid,  to  make  up  de- 
ficiencies, and  to  pay  expenses  of  management.  The 
number  of  members  in  the  two  divisions  in  1883 
was  9013,  or  in  the  first  4932,  in  the  second  4081. 
Deaths  in  the  first,  55 ;  in  the  second,  23  ;  a  total 
of  78.  Average  percentage  of  deaths  in  thirteen 
years,  10.92  ;  percentage  to  one  thousand  members, 
8  65.  Increase  of  membership  in  the  year  ending 
July  31,  1883,  4833,  or  115  per  cent.  Amount  of 
benefits  paid  to  1st  of  January,  1884,  «2,452,337.96. 
The  Odd-Fellows.  Grand  Lodge. — Though  the 
origin  of  tiie  ."^lasouic  order  is  mythical,  and  not  made 
clearer  or  more  authentic  by  its  authoritative  expo- 
sitions, that  of  Odd-Fellowship  is  as  well  ascertained 
as  the  origin  of  the  Temperance  Union  or  the  United 
States  government.  From  chance  meetings  of  "  good 
fellows,"  who  fancied  the  name  "  Odd-Fellows,"  at 
taverns  for  convivial  purposes  in  London,  it  advanced 
first  to  permanent  organization,  and  then  to  a  moral 
and  benevolent  association  which  stands  fairly  among 
the  most  potent  agencies  for  good  in  this  world,  at 
least  of  those  of  human  device.  It  was  introduced 
in  this  country  by  Thomas  Wildey  in  1819,  who, 
with  four  others,  that  year  formed  the  Washing- 
ton Lodge,  No.  1,  in  Baltimore,  and  soon  afterwards 
obtained  a  charter  from  the  Manchester  Unity,  the 
central  organization  of  England,  for  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Maryland  and  the  United  States.  The  first  lodge 
in  Indiana  was  organized  in  New  Albany  in  October, 
1835,  the  next  in  Madison  in  1836.  These  two  ob- 
tained from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States 
authority  for  a  Grand  Lodge  of  Indiana,  Aug.  14, 
1837,  instituted  by  the  Deputy  Grand  Commander 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Kentucky,  Henry  Wolford. 
It  was  located  at  New  Albany  until  1841,  when  it 
was  removed  to  Madison.  In  September,  1845,  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States  authorized  a  vote 
of  the  subordinate  lodges  of  the  States  to  decide 
whether  another  removal  should  not  be  made  to  In- 


dianapolis. The  decision  was  aflfirmative,  and  the 
first  session  of  the  Grand  Lodge  was  held  here  on  the 
19th  of  January,  1846,  and  represented  twenty-seven 
subordinate  lodges  and  a  total  membership  of  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-eight.  The  first  grand  officers 
in  1837  were  Joseph  D.  Barkley,  Grand  Master; 
Richard  D.  Evans,  Dep.  G.  M. ;  Jared  C.  Jocelyn, 
G.  Sec. ;  Henry  H.  West,  G.  W. ;  John  Evans,  G. 
Treas.  The  Grand  Masters  holding  for  one  year  have 
been :' 

Joseph  D.  Barkley 1837 

SRichard  D.  Evans 1838 

s  AVilliam  Ford 1 8.39 

Christian  Buehcr 1840 

John  Noal 1841 

James  W.  Hinds 1S42 

Noah  H.  Cobb 1843 

William  Cross 1844 

»John  H.  Taylor 1845 

*  Joel  B.  McFarland 1846 

John  Green 1847 

Phihmder  B.  Brown 1848 

JobB.EldriJge 1849 

Milton  llerndon 1850 

Oliver  Dufour 1851 

«■  Joseph  L.  Silcox 1852 

»William  K.  Edwards 1853 

«01iver  P.  Morton 1854 

J.  B.  Anderson 1855 

James  H.  Stewart 1856 

•Pleasant  A.  Hackleman 1857 

»  A.  H.  Matthews 1858 

Thomas  Underwood 1859 

3  Solomon  Meredith 1860 

William  H.  Di-wn 1861 

Jonathan  S.  Harvey 1862 

»  Dennis  Gregg 1863 

Harvey  D.  Soott 1864 

»Thomas  B.  MeCarty 1865 

Joseph  A.  Funk 1866 

John  Sanders 1867 

*DanieI  L.  Adams 1868 

James  A.  Wildman 1869 

Wm.  H.  DeWolf,  Vincennes 1870 

J.  W.  McQuiddy,  New  Albany 1871 

Piatt  J.  Wise,  Fort  Wayne 1872 

Richard  Owen,  New  Harmony 1873 

D.  B.  Shideler,  Jonesborough 1874 

J.  B.  Kimball,  Kendallville 1875 

Leonidas  Sexton,  Rushville 1876 

Wm.  R.  Myers,  Anderson 1877 

Enoch  Cox,  Delphi 1878 

D.  W.  La  Follette,  New  Albany 1879 

Will  Camback,  Greensburg  1880 

N.  P.  Richmond,  Kokomo 1881 

S.  P.  Oyler,  Franklin 1882 

H.  McCoy,  Indianapolis 1883 

The  present  Grand  Lodge  officers  are  H.  McCoy, 


'  Those  marked  thus  *  are  deceased. 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


373 


G.  M.,  Indianapolis ;  John  F.  Wildman,  D.  G.  M., 
Muncie ;  J.  B.  Kenner,  G.  W.,  Huntington  ;  B.  F. 
Foster,  G.  S.,  Indianapolis ;  Theo.  P.  Haughey,  G. 
Treas.,  Indianapolis  ;  N.  P.  Richmond,  G.  Rep.  Sov. 
G.  Lodge,  L  0.  O.  F.,  Kokomo ;  S.  P.  Oyler,  G. 
Rep.  S.  G.  Lodge,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  Franklin ;  R.  F. 
Brewington,  G.  Chap.,  Knightstown  ;  A.  C.  Daily, 
G.  Marshal,  Lebanon  ;  P.  M.  Martin,  G.  C,  Gosport; 
C.  H.  Haufler,  G.  G.,  Knightstown  ;  F.  J.  Clark,  G. 
H.,  Jonesborough. 

The  report  of  Grand  Secretary  Foster  shows  that 
there  are  now  six  hundred  and  four  lodges  in  the  State, 
with  an  aggregate  contributing  membership  of  twenty- 
six  thousand  and  seventeen.  In  the  year  ending  last 
November  (1883)  the  number  of  brothers  relieved 
was  seventeen  hundred  and  eighteen  ;  of  families,  one 
hundred  and  seventy ;  amount  paid  for  relief  of 
brothers,  831,052.95;  for  relief  of  widowed  fam- 
ilies, $3334.58 ;  for  educating  orphans,  $625.50  ; 
for  burying  the  dead,  $8173.32;  other  charitable 
purposes,  $4084.51  ;  total  for  charity  and  relief,  $47,- 
270.56. 

In  the  year  1853  the  Odd-Fellows  began  the  work 
of  providing  themselves  with  a  suitable  building  for 
Grand  Lodge  meetings  and  the  use  of  subordinate 
lodges  and  encampments.  Subscriptions  by  lodges 
and  individuals  to  the  amount  of  forty-five  thousand 
dollars  were  procured,  and  the  northeast  corner  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Washington  Streets  bought.  On 
this  lot  had  stood  the  first  carriage  factory  in  the  city, 
and  later  the  dry-goods  store  of  Col.  Russell  and 
William  Conner  (the  Indian  agent  and  guide),  fol- 
lowed by  that  of  Smith  &  Hanna ;  while  along  its 
eastern  line  was  the  lot  on  which  Luke  Walpole  had 
one  of  the  first  stores  in  the  place.  The  building 
was  planned  by  the  late  Francis  Costigau,  who  built 
the  post-office  and  the  Oriental  House  (now  part  of 
the  Grand  HoteO,  but  finished  by  D.  A.  Bohlen,  who 
mounted  an  elongated  and  very  pretty  dome  upon  it. 
The  style  of  the  structure  was  fanciful,  but  attractive, 
and  it  is  still  counted  one  of  the  prettiest  buildings 
in  the  city.  Some  years  ago  it  was  reconstructed 
and  the  dome  taken  ofi",  but  not  otherwise  greatly 
changed.  The  entire  cost  of  building  and  site  was 
sixty-two  thousand  dollars. 


The  Grand  Encampment  of  Indiana  was  in- 
stituted Jan.  10,  1847,  by  the  late  Jacob  P.  Chap- 
man, by  warrant  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United 
States.  The  following  is  the  roll  of  the  Past  Grand 
Patriarchs  : 


Christian  Buohor 1S47 

Thomas  S.  Wriglit 1848 

Isaac  Taylor 1849 

Job  Eldridge 1850 

Jacob  P.  Chapman 1851 

Daniel  Moss 1852 

Edward  H.  Barry 1853 

Marshall  Se.xton 1854 

Lewis  Humphreys 1855 

J.  S.  Harvey 1856 

Chris.  Miller 1857 

J.  H.  Stailey 1858 

T.  B.  McCarty 1859 

N.  P.  Howard 1860 

L.M.Campbell 1861 

David  Ferguson 1862 

Lconidas  Sexton 1863 

James  Burgess 1864 

F.  J.  Blair 1865 


C.  P.  Tuley 1866 

W.  M.  French 1867 

W.  C.  Lupton 1868 

James  Pierce 1869 

Thomas  G.  Beharrell 1870 

W.  Y.  Monroe 1871 

N.  P.  Richmond 1872 

J.  E.  Barrett 1873 

Reuben  Robertson 1874 

J.  W.  Smith 1875 

John  Morgan 1876 

W.K.Edwards 1877 

J.  F.  Wallick 1878 

S.  B.  Halley 1879 

R.  Berger 1880 

H.  0.  Heichert 1881 

W.H.Jacks 1882 

Richard  Berger 1883 


The  Grand  Encampment  now  represents  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  subordinate  encampments,  with 
five  thousand  five  hundred  and  seven  contributing 
members  ;  paid  for  relief  of  patriarchs,  widowed  fam- 
ilies, burying  the  dead,  and  other  charitable  purposes, 
five  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixtj'-six  dollars  and 
twent3'-two  cents. 

Subordinate  Lodges  of  Indianapolis. — 
Centre,  No.  18,  was  instituted  on  the  24th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1844,  with  the  following  members  :  William  Sul- 
livan, Edgar  B.  Hoyt,  Jacob  P.  Chapman,  William 
A.  Day,  Enoch  Pile,  Jacob  B.  McChesney,  and  John 
Kelly.  William  Sullivan  was  the  first  Noble  Grand, 
and  the  first  representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge.  The 
present  officers  are  Frank  Matlock,  N.  G. ;  W.  W. 
Knight,  Sec.  Contributing  members,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five. 

Philoxenian  Lodge  (^Strangers'  Friend),  A'o.  44, 
was  instituted  July  8,  1847,  with  the  following  mem- 
bers: Harvey  Brown,  D.  P.  Hunt,  Willis  W.  Wright, 
John  J.  Owsley,  William  Robson,  George  D.  Staats, 
D.  T.  Powers,  Lafayette  Yandes,  William  Mansur. 
The  first  officers  were  Harvey  Brown,  N.  G. ;  David 
P.  Hunt,  V.  G. ;  Willis  W.  Wright,  Sec. ;  John  J. 
Owsley,  Treas.     The  present  officers  are  John  Gustin, 


374 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


N.  G. ;  Joseph  S.  Watson,  Sec.     Contributing  mem- 
bers, two  hundred  and  eleven. 

Capital  LoJge,  Xo.  124,  was  instituted  Jan.  20 
1853,  with  the  following  first  officers :  John  Dunn 
N.  G. ;  John  Cottman,  V.  G. ;  William  Wallace,  Rec, 
Sec. ;  George  F.  McGinnis,  Treas.  The  present  offi 
cers  are  M.  J.  Laporte,  N.  G. ;  W.  A.  McAdams 
Sec.  Contributing  members,  one  hundred  and  sev 
entj-nine. 

Germaiiia  Lodge,  Ao.  129,  was  established  Feb. 
24,  1853,  with  ten  members  and  the  following  first 
officers  :  Charles  Conlon,  N.  G. ;  Alexander  Metzger, 
V.  G. ;  Julius  Boettiker,  Sec. ;  Henry  Schmidt, 
Treas.  Present  officers  are  H.  Ranje,  N.  G. ;  and  H. 
E.  Thomas,  Sec. 

Indianiipo/is  Lodge.  Xo.  465.  Present  officers : 
W.  H.  Orpwood,  N.  G. ;  Louis  Smith,  Sec.  Contrib- 
uting members,  seventy-seven. 

Corinthian  Lodge,  Xo.  474.  Present  officers ;  J. 
T.  Williams,  N.  G. ;  L.  W.  McDaniels,  Sec.  Con- 
tributing members,  seventy-three. 

Meridian  Lodge,  Xo.  480.  Present  officers : 
Thomas  A.  Black,  N.  G. ;  J.  T.  Armstead,  Sec. 
Contributing  members,  one  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

Centennial  Lodge,  Xo.  520.  Present  officers: 
Thomas  Rodebaugh,  N.  G. ;  J.  A.  Pritohard,  Sec. 
Contributing  members,  seventy-four. 

Mozart  Lodge,  Xo.  531.  Present  officers;  M. 
Kleebauer,  N.  G. ;  F.  Boettiker,  Sec.  Contributiug 
members,  ninety-seven. 

Subordinate  Encampments. — The  Metrojioli- 
tan,  Xo.  5,  was  instituted  July  20,  1846,  with  the 
following  past  officers:  Jacob  P.  Chapman,  C.  P.; 
Edwin  Hedderly,  H.  P. ;  George  B.  Warren,  S.  W. ; 
W.  B.  Preston,  J.  W. ;  Benjamin  B.  Taylor,  S. ;  A. 
C.  Christfield,  Treas. ;  John  H.  Taylor,  Sent.  Pres- 
ent officers :  S.  W.  Wales,  C.  P. ;  Charles  B.  Foster, 
S.  Contributing  members,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two. 

Marion,  Xo.  35,  was  instituted  March  24,  1853, 
with  the  following  past  officers :  Obed  Foote,  C.  P. ; 
Joseph  K.  English,  H.  P. ;  Anthony  Defrees,  S. ; 
Daniel  Yandes,  Jr.,  S.  W. ;  William  C.  Lupton, 
J.  W. ;  George  G.  Holman,  Treas.  ;  John  M.  Kemper, 
Sent.     It  had  ninety  members  in  1870.     Since  that 


it  has  been  in  some  way  eliminated,  as  it  no  longer 
appears  in  the  official  list  of  encampments  and  there 
is  a  gap  between  Nos.  34  and  36. 

Teutouia,  Xo.  57  (German),  was  established  Aug. 
1,  1858,  with  thirty-two  members  and  the  following 
officers :  George  F.  Meyer,  C.  P. ;  Charles  Conlon, 
H.  P. ;  John  P.  Stumph.  S.  W. ;  Charles  Bals,  J.  W. ; 
F.  Tapking,  S.  ;  Alexander  Metzger,  Treas.  Pres- 
ent officers:  W.  A.  Schoppe,  C.  P.;  Henry  Kuerst, 
S.     Contributiug  members,  one  hundred  and  twelve. 

Ariel,  Xo.  144,  Chief  Patriarch  not  designated ; 
Omer  Rodibaugh,  S. ;  contributing  member.s,  nine- 
teen. 

Indianapolis  Degree  Camp,  Xo.  1,  H.  McCoy, 
Com. ;  C.  D.  Hoyle,  O.  of  the  G.;  Frank  McQuiddy, 
Sec. ;  Theodore  P.  Haughey,  Treas. 

Harmouia  and  Olive  Branch  Rebekah  Degree 
Lodges  meet,  the  first  on  the  second  Thursday,  the 
other  on  the  second  Saturday  in  each  month. 

Colored  Odd-Fellows  have  a  Grand  Lodge 
(Mr.  Paran,  G.  M.)  and  three  subordinate  lodges  in 
the  city,  with  one  female  affiliated  society  called 
Household  of  Ruth,  Lodge  34,  and  a  P.  G.  M. 
Council.  They  all  meet  in  No.  82i  East  Washing- 
ton Street. 

Lincoln  Union  Lodge,  Xo.  148G,  Edward  Proctor, 
Sec. 

Gerritt  Smith  Lodge,  Xo.  1707,  Samuel  Ilcrron, 
Sec. 

0.  P.  Morton  Lodge,  Xo.  1987,  William  Christie, 
Sec. 

Odd-Fellows'  Mutual  Aid  Association. — 
This  society  was  organized  Nov.  21,  1872,  with  a 
board  of  twelve  directors,  of  which  William  Wallace 
was  president ;  Leonidas  Sexton,  vice-president ;  J. 
W.  McQuiddy,  secretary  ;  and  Theodore  P.  Haughey, 
treasurer.  The  following  is  the  present  board  of 
directors  and  officers :  William  Wallace,  president ; 
Thomas  Underwood,  vice-president ;  John  W.  Mc- 
Quiddy, secretary  ;  Theodore  P.  Haughey,  treasurer ; 
W.  E.  Jeffries,  medical  examiner.  Directors  :  Wil- 
liam Wallace,  P.  G. ;  Thomas  Underwood,  P.  G.  M. ; 
John  W.  McQuiddy,  P.  G.  M. ;  Theodore  P. 
Haughey,  G.  Treas.;  Piatt  J.  Wise,  P.  G.  M. ; 
William  H.  DeWolf,  P.  G.  M.;  James  B.  Kimball, 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


375 


P.  G.  M. ;  John  F.  Wildman,  D.  G.  M. ;  Nathaniel 
P.  Richmond,  P.  G.  M. ;  Samuel  B.  Halley,  P.  G.  F. ; 
Edward  S.  Porter,  G.  H.  P.;  John  F.  Wallick, 
P.  G.  P.  This  association,  like  that  of  the  Masons, 
divides  the  members  into  four  classes,  those  from 
twenty-one  to  thirty  years  of  age  constituting  the 
first  class ;  from  thirty-one  to  forty,  the  second  class ; 


at  once,  and  in  less  than  a  month  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  was  organized.  This 
was  rapid  growth,  but  the  decay  was  equally  rapid. 
In  about  two  years  all  the  lodges  were  dead  but  the 
second  one  formed  in  Washington.  It  became  the 
nucleus  of  future  accretions,  and  in  another  year  the 
order  began  its  second  growth.     A  lodge  was  estab- 


from  forty-one  to  fifty,  the  third  class ;  from  fifty-one  j  lished  in    Philadelphia,   and   was   followed   in   other 

quarters,  till  on  the  11th  of  August,  1868,  the  re- 
juvenated order  felt  able  to  organize  a  Supreme 
Lodge  of  the  World  at  Washington.  In  the  session 
of  1869,  at  Richmond,  Va.,  seven  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia  were  represented;  in  1870  in 
New  York,  seven  more  States,  including  Indiana, 
were  represented;  at  the  third  session,  in  Philadel- 
phia, twenty-two  States  in  all  were  represented.  It 
has  overspread  to  Europe  and  South  America  and 
all  round  the  world. 

The  order  was  brought  to  Indiana  by  Charles  P. 
Carty,  who  organized  the  first  lodge  in  Itidianapolis 
—Marion  Lodge,  No.  1— on  July  12,  1869.  In 
three  months  there  were  three  lodges  here  and 
three  in  Fort  Wayne,  and  the.se  organized  the  Grand 
Lodge  on  the  20th  of  October.  1869.  The  first 
Grand  Lodge  officers  were  Charles  P.  Carty,  V.  G. 
P.,  Indianapolis;  John  Caven,  G.  C,  Indianapolis; 
John  L.  Brown,  V.  G.  C,  Fort  Wayne;  George  H. 
Swain,  G.  R.  and  C.  S.,  Indianapolis ;  George  P. 
Meyer,  G.  B.,  Indianapolis ;  John  B.  Ryan,  G.  G., 
Indianapolis;  William  A.  Root,  G.  I.  S.,  Indianapolis; 
Charles  Johns,  G.  0.  S.,  Indianapolis.  On  the  1st 
of  May,  1871,  there  were  nine  lodges  in  good  work- 
ing order,  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  seven 
hundred  in  the  State.  In  this  city  there  are  eight 
lodges,  all  meeting  at  the  hall  northwest  corner  of 
Market  and  Pennsylvania  Streets.  The  general 
relief  committee  meets  there  the  first  Saturday  of 
every  month.  The  annual  eonvocations  meet  the 
fourth  Tuesday  in  January.  The  present  grand 
officers  are  James  T.  Darnell,  P.  G.  C.  ;  E.  G. 
Herr,  G.  C.  ;  R.  A.  Carran,  G.  P.  ;  W.  L.  Duulap, 
G.  M.  of  E. ;  D.  B.  Shideler,  G.  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Marion  Lodge,  No.  1. — Officers:  W.  T.  Sam- 
ple, C.  C.  i  Theodore  Buchter,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Olive  Branch  Lodge,  No.  2. — Officers :  Wil- 


to  fifty-five,  the  fourth  class.  On  the  death  of  a  mem- 
ber each  of  the  other  members,  within  fifteen  days, 
pays  to  the  secretary  or  his  duly  authorized  agent 
assessments,  as  follows :  Members  of  the  first  class, 
one  dollar ;  of  the  second  class,  one  dollar  and  five 
cents  ;  of  the  third  class,  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents;  of  the  fourth  class,  one  dollar  and  eighty 
cents.  The  report  for  the  year  ending  Nov.  1,  1883, 
shows  that  2625  certificates  are  "  in  force,"  of  which 
390  are  in  the  first  class,  1015  in  the  second  class, 
859  in  the  third  class,  and  394  in  the  fourth  class. 
The  total  amount  of  benefits  paid  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  association  is  $776,071.82.  Whole 
number  of  deaths  in  the  two  divisions  since  organiza- 
tion is  379.  The  following  summary  shows  the 
operation  of  the  aid  system  as  clearly  as  anything 
that  can  be  put  in  equal  space.  The  cost  to  each 
member  in  the  first  division  for  the  year  for  $2500 
has  been  as  follows:  First  class,  831,  or  $12.40  per 
flOOO;  second  class,  $32.55,  or  $13.02  per  $1000; 
third  class,  $38.75,  or  $15.50  per  $1000;  fourth 
class,  $55.80,  or  $22.32  per  $1000. 

The  cost  for  eleven  years  for  a  member  who  has 
paid  every  assessment  for  an  average  benefit  of  $2386 
has  been, — 

Whole  Cost.  Per  Tear.  PerSlOOO 

per  Year. 

First  class .§256.70 S23.33 S9.74 

Second  class 270.45 24.59 10.30 

Third  class 325.45 29.57 12.3S 

Fourth  class 495.20 45.01 1S.86 

Receipts,  both  divisions,  $115,679.79;  expendi- 
tures other  than  death  losses,  $11,464.33. 

Knights  of  Pythias. — The  most  numerous  and 
respectable  secret  order,  after  the  Masons  and  Odd- 
Fellows,  is  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  an  outgrowth 
of  the  period  since  the  war.  The  first  lodge  was 
organized  in  Washington  City  in  February,  1864, 
by  J.  H.  Rathbone.     A  few   other  lodges  followed 


376 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Ham  H.  Orpwood,  C.  C. ;  John  T.  Francis,  K.  of  R. 
and  S. 

KoERNER  LoPGE,  No.  6. — OfiBcers :  Philip 
GrafiFe,  C.  C.  ;   Charles  Dahlman,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Stab  Lodge,  No.  7. — OfiBcers:  H.  C.  Newcomb, 
Jr.,  C.  C. ;  Frank  Blanchard,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Excelsior  Lodge,  No.  25. — OfiScers :  Lewis 
Feller,  C.  C. ;  Henry  B.  Stottc,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Indianapolis  Lodge,  No.  5(j. — Officers:  J.  M. 
Ryder,  C.  C.  ;  J.  A.  Preston,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Schiller  Lodge,  No.  61. — Officers:  William  J. 
Rosebrock,  C.  C. ;  John  Ploeger,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Capital  City  Lodge,  No.  97. — Officers:  Dr. 
Earp,  C.  C. ;  John  J.  Langdon,  K.  of  R.  and  S. 

Knights  of  Honor. — The  Grand  Lodge  meets 
annually  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  February,  hall 
northwest  corner  of  Market  and  Pennsylvania 
Streets.  William  D.  Bynum,  G.  D. ;  James  W. 
Jacob,  G.  R. 

Wheatley  Lodge,  No.  S. — Officers:  George 
Brunick,  D. ;  Charles  Kerner,  R. 

Indi.\napolis  Lodge,  No.  9. — Officers :  Titus 
Atland,  D. ;  Thomas  H.  Clapp,  R. 

Victoria  Lodge,  No.  22. — Officers:  G.  M. 
Alexander,  D. ;  J.  W.  Hosman,  R. 

Eureka  Lodge,  No.  24. — Officers:  J.  K.  Rob- 
son,  D. ;  J.  B.  Nickerson,  R. 

Schiller  Lodge,  No.  40. — Officers :  Theodore 
Wagner,  D. ;  Fred.  Weiffenpach,  R. 

Washington  Lodge,  No.  114. — Officers :  Claude 
M.  Ryan,  D. :  Joseph  Dovy,  R. 

Marion  Lodge,  No.  601. 

Garfield  Lodge,  No.  2583.— Officers :  C.  T. 
Stone,  D. ;  William  H.  Fulton,  R. 

Germania  Lodge,  No.  2634. — Officers :  Wil- 
liam John,  D. ;  Albert  J.  Groenwaldt,  R. 

Women  are  members  and  officers  of  one  of  the 
divisions  called  the  Degree  of  Perfection,  of  which 
there  arc  two  lodges,  Hope,  No.  6,  and  Martha 
Lodge.  Of  the  latter  Elizabeth  Hert  is  P.,  and 
Peter  Lehr,  R. 

Druids. —  The  Grand  Grove  of  Indiana  was 
established  in  Indianapolis  in  1860,  and  the  order 
has  three  groves  here,  Chapter,  No.  3,  and  Ger- 
mania   Circle,    No.    2.      The    groves  are  Octavian, 


No.  3,  Humboldt,  No.  8,  Mozart,  No.  13,  and 
Washington  Supreme  Arch  Chapter,  No.  3. 

Red  Men. — The  first  of  the  tribes  of  this  order 
organized  here  was  the  Pocahontas,  Oct.  3,  1869, 
with  forty-eight  members.  This  division  of  the 
Red  Men  to  which  it  belongs  is  called  the  "  Inde- 
pendent Order,"  or  "  United  Order."  The  other  is 
called  the  "  Improved  Order,"  and  has  three  tribes 
here  which  have  a  hall  in  the  Griffith  Block,  No. 
36*  West  Washington  Street. 

The  Palmetto  Tribe.  No.  17. — Adam  Kalb,  S. ; 
Ferdinand  Rouser,  C.  of  R.  Instituted  May  2, 1870. 
Works  in  German. 

The  Red  Clodd  Tribe,  No.  18. — J.  S.  CoiFman, 
S. ;  Henry  Albertsmeyer,  C.  of  R.  Instituted  Aug. 
10,  1870.     Works  in  English. 

The  Minnewa  Tribe,  No.  38. — Robert  Smith, 
S. ;  George  F.  David,  C.  of  R. 

Royal  Arcanum. — The  Grand  Council  meets  an- 
nually on  the  first  Wednesday  in  March  in  the  hall. 
Bates'  Block,  North  Pennsylvania  Street;  C.  B.  Mil- 
ler, G.  R.  ;  Frank  W.  Olin,  G.  Sec.  The  subordi- 
nate councils  are 

Indiana  Council,  No.  128. — Hall,  corner  of 
Fort  Wayne  Avenue  and  St.  Mary  Street ;  Thomas 
H.  Clapp,  R. ;  C.  W.  Overman,  Sec. 

Indianapolis  Council,  No.  328. — Hall  in  Bates' 
Block  ;   W.  H.  Hobbs,  R. ;   Charles  M.  Coats,  Sec. 

Hoosier  Council,  No.  394. — Hall,  corner  of 
Illinois  and  Seventh  Street;  A.  A.  Heifer,  R. ;  A. 
J.  Van  Deinse,  Sec. 

Marion  Council,  No.  399.— Hall,  Bates'  Block ; 
W.  R.  Miller,  R. ;   Charles  G.   Irwin,  Sec. 

0.  of  C.  F.  (Chosen  Friends). — The  Supreme 
Council  meets  first  Tuesday  in  September ;  A.  Alcon, 
S.  C. ;  T.  B.  Linn,  S.  R.  Hall,  172i  East  Wash- 
ington Street.  The  Grand  Council  meets  the 
third  Tuesday  in  February,  Nos.  16  and  18  Hub- 
bard's Block  ;  Dr.  C.  S.  Pixley,  G.  C. ;  C.  Bradford, 
G.  R. 

Alpha  Council,  No-  1. — Hall  of  Chosen  Friends, 
Bates'  Block  ;  A.  Rosengarten,  C.  C. ;  Mrs.  H.  C. 
Page,  Sec. 

Delta  Council,  No.  2. — Hall,  Bates'  Block  ; 
Levi  Roberts,  C.  C. ;  John  McElwee,  Sec. 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND    CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


377 


Venus  Council,  No.  7. — Hall,  13i  East  Wash- 
ington Street;  M.  H.  Daniels,  C.  C. ;  Barry  Self, 
Sec. 

Crescent  Council,  No.  8. — Hall,  corner  of  Ver- 
mont and  Mississippi  Streets  ;  Frank  B.  Taylor,  C.  .C. ; 
G.  E.  Tiffany,  Sec. 

Marion  Council,  No.  16. — Hall  of  Red  Men, 
36 J  West  Washington  Street;  George  F.  David,  C. 
C. ;  Ernest  B.  Cole,  Sec. 

True  Friend  Council,  No.  23. — Hall,  Bates' 
Block  ;  G.  B.  Manlove,  C.  C. ;  C.  L.  Hinton,  Sec. 

Eureka  Council,  No.  25. — Hall,  Bates'  Block  ; 
George  Lutz,  C.  C. ;  J.  S.  Roberts,  Sec. 

TJ.  0.  H. — Supreme  Lodge  meets  first  Wednes- 
day in  October ;  George  W.  Powell,  Sup.  Prest. ; 
Ernest  Duden,  Sup.  Sec. ;  A.  L.  Blue,  Sup.  Treas. 
Grand  Lodge  meets  third  Tuesday  in  May ;  Thomas 
E.  Boyd,  G.  Prest. ;  Ernest  Duden,  G.  Sec. ;  Samuel 
B.  Corbaley,  G.  Treas. ;  Mrs.  Althousc,  G.  Chapl. 
The  subordinate  lodges  are : 

Enterprise  Lodge,  No.  1. — Hall,  Griffith's 
Block ;  John  W.  Howe,  Prest. ;  J.  F.  Feshler,  Rec. 
Sec. 

Capital  City  Lodge,  No.  2.— Hall,  ]Mankedick's, 
end  of  Virginia  Avenue  ;  James  D.  Caylor,  Prest.  ; 
Eliza  Champe,  Rec.  Sec. 

Washington  Lodge,  No.  13. — Hall,  Vermont 
and  Mississippi  Streets;  R.  A.  Pearce,  Prest.;  W. 
A.  Braekin,  Rec.  Sec. 

Hope  Lodge,  No.  14. — Hall,  corner  of  Fort 
Wayne  Avenue  and  St.  Mary  Street ;  Peter  P. 
Hercth,  Prest. ;  James  S.  Smith,  Rec.  Sec. 

Indianapolis  Lodge,  No.  15. — Hall,  Boston 
Block  ;  Charles  0.  Harris,  Prest. ;  George  F.  Ridge, 
Rec.  Sec. 

Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians. — Officers  of  the 
county,  James  H.  Deery,  C.  D. ;  William  Broderick, 
Jr.,  C.  S. ;  John  H.  Meany,  C.  T. 

Division  No.  1.— Hall,  Parnell  Hall,  McCarty 
and  Maple  Streets;  William  Broderick,  Jr.,  Prest. 

Division  No.  2. — Peter  Carson,  Prest. ;  John  H. 
Meany,  F.  S. ;  E.  F.  Hart,  R.  S. 

Division  No.  3. — Andrew  Lee,  Prest. ;  William 
Brennan,  F.  S.  ;  Dennis  Sullivan,  Treas. 

American  Order  United  Workingmen. — Hall, 
25 


Griffith's  Block.  Grand  Lodge  meets  biennially  on 
the  third  Thursday  in  February.  There  are  five  sub- 
ordinate lodges  here  : 

Union  Lodge,  No.  6.— John  T.  Francis,  Fin. 

Eagle  Lodge,  No.  10.— John  M.  Bohmie,  M.  W. ; 
G.  W.  Hill,  Fin. 

Capital  Lodge,  No.  19.— C.  H.  Miller,  Rec. ; 
John  Bessel,  Fin. 

Pro.spect  Lodge,  No.  45. — Joseph  Dynes,  M.  W. ; 
J.  R.  Childers,  Fin. ;  F.  G.  Brown,  Rec. 

Crescent  Lodge,  No.  72. — C.  F.  Miller,  Fin. 

A.  R.  A.  German  Lodge,  No.  3. — John  Ben- 
ninger,  W.  M. ;  Henry  Riechmeyer,  Sec. 

R.  P.  0.  E.  Indianapolis  Lodge,  No.  13. — 
John  H.  Martin,  E.  R. ;  S.  C.  Henton,  Sec. ;  James 
V.  Cook,  Treas. 

D.  0.  H.  Freta  Lodge,  No.  63.— George  Hol- 
ler, 0.  B. ;  August  Emerich,  Sec. 

Schiller  Lodge,  No.  381. — Frank  Noellc,  0.  B. ; 
Silas  Thompson,  Cor.  Sec. 

D.  R.  K, — St.  Bonifacius'  Support  Union  and 
St.  Joseph's  Support  Union  are  both  purely  German 
and  Catholic  charitable  associations,  holding  their 
meetings  at  St.  Mary's  School. 

G.  A.  R.  (  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic). — South- 
east corner  of  Tennessee  and  Market  Streets.  Com- 
mander, James  R.  Carnahan,  Adjt.-6en.  of  Indiana; 
Ben.  D.  House,  A.  A.  G. ;  G.  H.  Shover,  A.  Q.  M.  G. 
There  are  two  posts  here,  George  H.  Thomas  and 
George  H.  Chapman.  The  colored  members  have  a 
post  partially  organized. 

Good  Templars. — Hall,  southeast  corner  of  Me- 
ridian and  Washington  Streets.  Grand  Lodge.  An- 
nual meeting  third  Tuesday  in  October.  Eli  Miller, 
G.  W.  C.  T. ;  Rev.  W.  W.  Snyder,  G.  W.  C. ;  Mrs. 
S.  C.  Jackson,  G.  W.  V.  T. ;  M.  E.  Shiel,  G.  W.  S. ; 
Isaac  Underwood,  G.  W.  T. 

Monitor  Lodge,  No.  1,  meets  3Ionday  evening. 

North  Star,  No.  4,  meets  Saturday  evening. 

General  Temperance  Ribbon  Association. — 
John  W.  Copner,  Prest. ;  D.  B.  Ross,  Sec. 

Hebrew  Societies. — (I.  0.  B.  B.)  Abraham 
Lodge,  No.  58.  Hall,  27i  South  Delaware  Street. — 
Solomon  Mossier,  Prest.  ;  J.  M.  King,  Sec. 

Esther  Lodge,  No.  323,  same  hall. — D.  S.  Ben- 


378 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


son,  Prest. ;  Benjamin  Frey,  Sec.  0.  R.  S.  B.,  same 
hall.  Indianapolis  Lodge,  No.  149. — M.  Emden, 
Prest. ;  Ed.  Ducas,  Sec. 

Tree  of  Life  Mutual  Benefit  Society. — 
Isador  Deitch,  Prest. ;  M.  Solomon,  Sec. 

0.  I.  H.  Supreme  Sitting.  Biennial  meeting 
fourth  Tuesday  in  March. — Emi  Kennedy,  S.  J. ;  C. 
H.  Horton,  S.  A. ;  M.  C.  Davis,  S.  C. 

Local  Branch,  No.  1.— F.  H.  Pillet,  C.  J. ;  J. 
GafiFga,  Accountant. 

Local  Branch,  No.  117.— D.  W.  Cosier,  C.  J.: 
C.  L.  Hinton,  Accountant. 

Knights  of  Labor. — This  is  the  most  recent  and 
one  of  the  most  extensive  orders  in  the  city.  Its 
name  indicates  its  character  as  a  sort  of  working- 
men's  order,  irrespective  of  differences  of  trades  and 
occupations.  The  minor  or  local  bodies  are  called 
"  Assemblies,"  and  in  some  women  are  admitted  to 
membership,  with  a  probability  of  the  formation  of 
"  Assemblies"  wholly  of  women.  Female  Knights 
of  Labor  will  be  a  rather  incongruous  name,  but  not 
more  so  than  Knights  of  Temperance  or  knights 
of  some  other  cause  as  ill  fitted  with  such  designa- 
tions. The  fancy  for  mediaeval  names  and  distinctions 
could  be  changed  with  an  improvement  of  taste  to 
others  of  a  later  date  and  more  apt  significance.  A 
knight  and  a  workingman  are  as  nearly  antipodal 
as  any  two  conditions  of  mortal  life  can  be,  or  could 
when  there  were  such  existences. 

The  Elks. — This  is  a  recent  organization  and  rather 
a  restricted,  not  to  say  select,  one  in  Indianapolis, 
seemingly  composed  of  artistic  or  aesthetic  elements 
derived  from  the  stage  and  the  fine  arts.  The  benev- 
olent characteristic  no  doubt  is  a-sserted  in  its  organi- 
zation, but  its  primary  purpose  seems  to  be  convivial 
and  entitle  itself  to  the  name  of  good  fellows.  The 
significance  of  the  name  they  have  adopted  is  prob- 
ably the  secret  of  the  order. 

Among  these  minor  orders  there  are  of  course  not 
a  few  lodges  and  organizations  that  amount  to  little 
more  than  a  name.  Besides  these  there  are  some  that 
have  come  and  gone,  or  at  least  make  no  demonstra- 
tion of  existence,  which  were  once  active  societies. 
Among  these  are  the  Heptasophs,  or  Seven  Wise 
Men,  who  had  two  ludires  or  conclaves   here  ten  or 


twelve  years  ago.  The  Sons  of  Herman  is  another 
that  was  in  prosperous  condition  a  dozen  years  ago, 
and  is  now  dead  or  idle.  An  unusually  large  propor- 
tion of  these  minor  secret  orders  are  of  German  origin 
and  membership.  The  meeting-place  of  all  the  State 
organizations  and  larger  combinations  of  all  of  them 
is  Indianapolis. 

It  may  be  worth  noting  in  this  connection  that  the 
central  location  of  this  city,  and  its  ready  accessibility 
by  rail,  have  for  thirty  years  made  it  a  frequent 
meeting-place  of  national  assemblages  as  well  as  those 
State  and  local  gatherings  which  naturally  gravitate 
to  the  State  capital.  The  fir.st  of  these  probably 
was  the  national  Woman's  Rights  meeting,  held 
in  Masonic  Hall  in  1855,  referred  to  in  the  general 
history.  Tiie  first  of  full  national,  or  even  wider,  in- 
terest was  the  Methodist  General  Conference  which 
met  here  May  1, 1856,  in  the  hall  of  the  House  in  the 
old  State-House.  May  18,  1859,  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  Church  of 
the  United  States  met  here  in  the  Tiiird  Church 
building,  corner  of  Illinois  and  Ohio  Streets.  Among 
the  distinguished  clergymen  in  attendance  were  Dr. 
Alexander,  of  Princeton  ;  Dr.  McMaster,  of  New 
Albany,  Ind. ;  Dr.  Thornwell,  of  South  Carolina ; 
Dr.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans  ;  Dr.  N.  L.  Rice,  of 
Lexington,  Ky.  ;  Dr.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky. 
The  National  Christian  Missionary  Society  has  been 
here.  The  National  Scientific  Association  met  here 
one  year  in  the  old  State- House,  when  the  celebrated 
botanist,  Asa  Gray,  was  here,  and  Dr.  T.  Sterry 
Hunt.  Besides  these,  the  National  Pharmaceutical 
Association  has  met  here,  the  National  Bee-Keepers' 
Association,  the  National  Poultry  Breeders'  Associ- 
ation, the  National  Wool-Growers'  Association,  the 
National  Short-Horn  Association,  the  National 
Swine  Breeders'  Association,  railroad  associations, 
and  conventions  innumerable  ;  political  conventions 
of  all  degrees  except  a  national  nominating  conven- 
tion ;  temperance  and  reform  conventions,  business 
conventions,  all  kinds  of  public  assemblages,  repre- 
senting all  interests,  from  setting  telegraph-poles  to 
saving  souls.  No  city  in  the  Union  is  more  familiar 
with  the  annoyance  or  satisfaction,  as  it  happens,  of 
crowds  of  strangers  on  some  special  engagement  of 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND    CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


379 


interest  or  duty.  This  pre-eminence  is  likely  to  grow 
instead  of  decline  as  the  city's  traveling  facilities  in- 
crease, and  with  them  increa.se  the  means  of  comfort- 
able accommodation  of  visitors. 

Charitable  Associations. — While  secret  or  spe- 
cial organizations  give  due  attention  to  the  needs  of 
their  own  adherents,  and  occasionally  to  those  who 
have  no  such  claim  upon  them,  there  is  still  a  large 
balance  of  want  and  suffering  in  a  city  so  largely 
filled  with  temporary  residents  and  professional  beg- 
gars as  the  centre  of  our  railroad  system  must  be, 
and  these  must  be  cared  for  by  the  benevolent  associa- 
tions which  are  rarely  lacking  in  any  town  of  the 
West,  either  as  unsectarian  combinations  of  all  classes 
of  citizens  or  as  appendages  of  churches.  The  town- 
ship trustee  does  a  great  deal  of  charitable  service,  as 
the  legal  agent  of  the  community,  with  the  revenues 
placed  by  law  in  his  hands  for  that  purpose.  But  legal 
assistance  has  to  be  supplemented  by  the  aid  of  associ- 
ations, and  in  not  a  few  cases  some  of  the  most  deserv- 
ing of  the  necessitous  will  not  apply  to  the  trustee. 
The  following  report  of  the  township's  charitable 
work  during  the  first  month  of  the  year  1884  will 
give  .some  idea  of  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
claims  on  the  charity-fund  provided  by  taxation  : 

Number  of  applications 853 

Number  of  applicants  aided 71-3 

Number  of  applicants  refused  aid 140 

Total 853 


EXPENDITURES. 

386  grocery  orders,  at  $2 

8-t  half-cords  wood,  average  ?2.25.. 

282  loads  of  coal,  at  $2.iO 

Transportation 

Burial  costs 


Total . 


8772.00 

i.sg.on 

676.80 
79.45 
80.50 

SI  797.75 


Tlie  oldest,  most  conspicuous,  and  most  effective 
benevolent  association  in  the  history  of  the  city, 
until  within  the  last  few  years,  was  the  Indianap- 
olis Benevolent  Society.  It  is  traditionally  claimed 
to  have  been  organized  on  Thanksgiving  evening, 
1835 ;  but  this  is  a  suggestion  starting  in  the  fact 
that  the  annual  meetings  were  held  on  the  evenings 
of  Thanksgiving  days,  or  the  following  Sundays. 
The  first  Thanksgiving  day  observed  by  public  order 
^r  request   was  the  28th   of  November,  1839,  on  a 


proclamation  of  Governor  Wallace.  The  Benevolent 
Society  was  organized  four  years  before.  Its  work 
was  done  by  visitors,  who  were  appointed — a  man 
and  a  woman  together — to  small,  well-defined  dis- 
tricts, to  visit  every  resident  and  procure  contribu- 
tions of  everything  that  could  be  made  serviceable  to 
the  needy.  These  collections  were  kept  in  a  depos- 
itory by  some  well-known  citizen,'  and  given  out  on 
direct  application,  or  on  the  order  of  some  member 
of  the  society.  It  did  a  great  deal  of  good  work, 
but  could  not  do  close  work,  and,  like  its  coadjutor 
association  ten  years  ago,  the  Ladies'  Relief  Society, 
it  was  often  imposed  upon. 

The  money  collected,  usually  in  conisiderable 
amounts,  was  used  to  pay  the  bills  of  grocers  on 
whom  orders  were  given  for  family  supplies  to  the 
amount  of  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  week,  ex- 
cept in  cases  of  sickness  or  special  urgency.  Tran- 
sient sufferers  were  relieved  by  a  special  committee 
when  their  cases  were  discovered  in  time.  James 
Blake  was  president  of  this  old  charity  from  its  or- 
ganization till  his  death,  Nov.  26,  1870 ;  Calvin 
Fletcher,  Sr.,  was  the  secretary  from  the  first  till  his 
death,  May  26,  1866  ;  James  M.  Ray  was  treasurer 
from  the  first  till  Mr.  Blake's  death,  when  he  became 
president.  Occasional  organizations  of  the  same 
character  were  formed  and  maintained  with  this  re- 
liable charity,  but  none  continued  long  or  did  much. 
The  Ladies'  Relief,  just  referred  to,  was  the  most 
efiicient  of  these  for  several  years,  but  went  out  some 
four  or  five  years  ago. 

The  Charity  Organization. — All  the  charita- 
ble associations  in  the  city  disconnected  with  the 
secret  orders  have  within  the  last  few  years  been 
combined  into  a  perfectly  methodized  system,  each 
with  its  special  province,  and  the  work  so  well  ar- 
ranged and  so  intelligently  prosecuted  that  it  is  no 
idle  boast  to  say  that  Indianapolis  has  as  comprehen- 
sive and  complete  a  system  of  private  charities  as  any 
city  in  the  United  States ;  the  old  Benevolent  Society 
is  part  of  it.  The  Charity  Organization,  as  the 
combination  is  called,  has  a  special  duty  separate 
from  the  societies  that  compose  it.  An  authoritative 
publication  thus  defines  generally  the  purpose  of 
each: 


380 


HISTORY   OF  INDIAiSTAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


"  The  special  work  of  each  society  is  this :  The 
Charity  Organization  Society  looks  up  each  case  of 
reported  need,  brings  together  a  nnmber  of  men  and 
women  to  decide  how  it  should  be  helped.  The  Be- 
nevolent Society  gives  the  special  relief  decided  upon, 
— rent,  food,  fuel,  loans,  work,  sends  transients  to 
the  Friendly  luu,  and  gives  boys  work.  During 
the  late  cold  days  about  fifty  each  night  were  lodged. 
The  Flower  Mission  takes  care  of  the  sick  poor,  sends 
nurses,  and  provides  suitable  food.  The  Training- 
School  educates  nurses  and  sends  them  into  private 
families  and  among  the  sick  poor.  Tiirough  the 
city  dispensary,  the  orphan  asylum,  and  the  hospitals 
we  can  take  care  of  all  cases  of  need  quickly  and  ad- 
equately. We  think  that  no  one  need  be  in  want  or 
suffering  a  day  who  will  let  it  be  known  to  these 
societies.  By  this  means,  also,  the  great  waste  of 
charity,  when  given  to  the  unworthy,  is  stopped." 

Charity  Orgatdzalion  Society. — Central  Council : 
S.  T.  Bowen,  W.  E.  Krag,  George  W.  Sloan,  H. 
Bamberger,  J.  H.  Holliday,  E.  B.  Martindale,  A.  L. 
Wright,  C.  C.  Foster,  M.  W.  Reed,  George  B.  Wright, 
Aug.  Bessonies,  T.  P.  Haughey,  V.  K.  Hendricks, 
T.  A.  Hendricks,  Peter  Lieber,  J.  ^\ .  Murphy,  E. 
C.  Atkins,  N.  Morris,  C.  M.  Martindale,  0.  C.  Mc- 
Culloch. 

Indianapolis  Benevolent  Society. — President,  Oscar 

C.  McCulIoch  ;  Vice-Presidents,  Myron  W.  Reed, 
Chapin  C.  Foster,  Mrs.  L.  W.  Moses,  Mrs.  Paulina 
Merritt ;  Treasurer,  Ingram  Fletcher ;  Secretary, 
Henry  D.  Stevens ;  Executive  Committee,  George 
Merritt,  Franklin  Taylor,  Mrs.  Julia  H.  Goodhart, 
Mrs.  Emma  L.  Elam  ;  Finance  Committee,  Cyrus  C. 
Hines,  Thomas  H.  Sharpe. 

Flower  Mission. — President,  Jlrs.  Hannah  G. 
Chapman  ;  Vice-Presidents,  Mrs.  G.  T.  Evans,  Mrs. 
H.  McCoy ;  Secretaries,  Mrs.  V.  K.  Hendricks,  Mrs. 
Helen  B.  McKinney  ;  Treasurers,  Mrs.  Helen 
Wright,  Mrs.  \\.  J.  McKee. 

Flower  Mission  Training- School. — Committee  on 
Organization,  Mrs.  Hannah  G.  Chapman,  chairman  ; 
Mrs.  John  M.  Judah,  Mrs.  John  A.  Holman,  Mrs. 
Julia  H.  Goodhart,  Mrs.  George  T.  Evans,  Mrs.  A. 

D.  Lynch,  Mrs.  R.  R.  Parker,  Mrs.  Theodore  P. 
Haughey,    Mrs.   John    H.    Stewart,    Miss    Mary   C. 


Rariden,  Mrs.  B.  D.  Walcott,  and  Miss  Sue  Martin- 
dale. 

The  Organization  in  its  last  publication  makes  a 
more  specific  statement  of  duties  and  labors  in  the 
following  summary : 

Indianapolis  Benevolent  Society. — Founded 
1876.  Gives  relief;  operates  the  Friendly  Inn,  for 
transients  ;  the  Friendly  Inn  Wood-Yard,  for  giving 
work  to  all  out  of  work  ;  the  Employment  Agency, 
for  finding  work  for  women  and  girls ;  the  Industrial 
Committee,  for  giving  work  in  sewing  to  women  ;  the 
Friendly  Visitors,  for  bringing  the  poor  under  the 
personal  care  of  some  friend.  Tiie  society  expects 
also  to  open  a  school  for  teaching  girls  that  which 
they  shall  practice  when  they  become  women, — 
sewing,  housekeeping,  cooking,  etc. 

Charity  Organization  Society. — Organized 
December,  1879.  This  society  does  not  give  relief. 
It  is,  as  its  name  signifies,  a  society  for  organizing 
charity.  It  proposes  to  meet  a  scientific  pauperism 
with  a  scientific  charity.  It  co-ordinates  the  charitable 
forces.  It  brings  all  interested  in  the  work  of  help- 
ing the  poor  together.  It  exchanges  information. 
It  registers  all  information  concerning  dependent  and 
neglected  classes.  It  investigates  all  cases  applying 
for  aid.  It  publishes  the  best  methods  of  caring  for 
the  needy.  It  covers  the  field  with  watchful  visitors, 
who  see  that  no  suffering  is  unrelieved.  It  distributes 
among  societies  ready  to  help,  those  who  are  needy 
and  worthy.  It  watches  the  administration  of  public 
funds  as  regards  the  poor  and  criminal.  It  wants  to 
know  the  reason  why  certain  abuses  and  wrongs  exist, 
which  may  be  remedied.  It  organizes  the  charitable 
and  moral  forces  of  the  community,  in  order  to 
counteract  the  evils  incident  to  city  life.  It  is  a 
bureau  of  information,  a  clearing-house  of  charities,  a 
commercial  agency  of  records  of  the  poor. 

The  Flower  Mission. — Founded  in  1876.  The 
work  of  this  society  lies  among  the  sick.  It  dis- 
tributes flowers  in  the  hospital ;  looks  after  the  sick 
poor,  seeing  that  they  have  proper  food ;  provides 
nurses,  bedding  ;  provides  original  appliances  for  crip- 
pled children.  It  is  woman  caring  for  women  and 
children,  nourishing  and  visiting. 

The  Training-School  for  Nurses. — This  cr- 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE    INSTITUTIONS. 


381 


outgrowth  of  the  Flower  Mission  work,  was  begun 
in  September,  1883.  Its  design  is  to  train  a  body  of 
skilled  nurses  to  nurse  among  the  sick  poor  and  in 
the  homes  of  the  city.  The  school  is  now  in  opera- 
tion at  the  City  Hospital ;  has  a  superintendent  and 
two  trained  nurses  from  Bellevue  Hospital,  and  six 
pupil  nurses.  It  gives  a  two  years'  course  of  instruc- 
tion to  women,  thus  opening  up  a  new  profession  and 
aiding  the  physician  by  an  intelligent  helper. 

In  the  construction  of  this  admirable  organization, 
as  well  as  in  the  prosecution  of  its  multifarious  labors, 
Rev.  Oscar  C.  McCulloch,  of  Plymouth  Church,  has 
borne  his  share  and  rather  more,  and  very  fairly 
stands  at  the  head  of  it.  Whether  without  him 
would  any  part  of  it  have  been  made  that  is  made,  is 
a  question.  What  these  affiliated  bodies  have  done, 
each  in  its  own  province,  is  stated  in  the  following 
summary  : 

Number  of  applications  for  aid,  1391  ;  number  of 
persons  in  these  families,  4752. 

Class  I. — Cases  worthy  of  relief:  Orphans,  9  ;  aged, 
69 ;  incurable,  13 ;  temporary  illness  or  accident, 
534  ;  total,  625. 

Class  II. — Cases  needing  work  rather  than  relief, 
but  relieved  :  Out  of  work,  able  and  willing,  85  ;  in- 
sufficient work,  able  and  willing  to  do  more,  170  ; 
unfitted  by  infirmity  or  family  cares  for  all  but  special 
kinds,  56;  shiftless,  imprudence  or  intemperance, 
76  ;  others,  30  ;  total,  387. 

Class  III. — Case§  not  requiring,  unworthy,  or  not 
entitled  to  relief,  relief  denied  :  Not  requiring,  79  ; 
owning  property,  having  relatives  able  to  support, 
hopelessly  shiftless  or  improvident,  149  ;  preferring 
to  live  on  alms,  111  ;  others,  40  ;  total,  379. 

Aided  from  the  various  societies,  1012. 

Refused,  370. 

Indianapolis  Benevolent  Society. — Amount 
expended  in  direct  relief,  $2286.24.  Friendly  Inn — 
Lodgings  furnished,  4188;  meals  furnished,  8203; 
strangers  cared  for,  382  ;  number  employed  in  yard, 
2725.  Employment  Agency — Employers'  applica- 
tions, 305 ;  employes'  applications,  267  ;  number  of 
girls  registered,  2136.  Industrial  Committee — 
Women  given  work,  20.  Friendly  Visitors — No  ac- 
count is  kept  of  visits. 


Flower  Mission. — During  the  year  the  Flower 
Mission  has  cared  for  two  hundred  and  one  different 
cases.     The  number  under  care  each  month  is  as  fol- 


1S82.  November 62 

December 81 

18S.3.  January 79 

February 72 

March  71 

April 58 


188?,.  May.. 
.June, 


(!1 


•luly 44 

August 40 

September 40 

October .30 

690 


In  addition,  the  Flower  Mission  united  with  the 
ladies  of  the  Benevolent  Society,  Children's  Aid, 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  interested 
individuals  in  giving  a  picnic  to  the  poor  children  of 
the  city.  About  eight  hundred  went  to  Salem.  The 
success  of  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  remark  of  a 
boy  that  "  The  grub  is  better  even  than  a  fellow  gets 
in  jail." 

The  following  list  embraces  every  charitable  organ- 
ization and  agency  in  the  city,  with  its  location  and 
time  of  meeting,  where  meeting  is  necessary  to  action. 
Of  most  of  these  no  further  account  is  necessary 
than  is  furnished  by  its  name  and  object.  Of  a  few, 
however,  the  history  extends  over  a  considerable 
period,  and  requires  a  more  extended  notice,  which 
will  follow  this : 

Charity  Organization  Society. — Central  office, 
Plymouth  Building;  District  office,  Nos.  1  and  2 
Plymouth  Building.  Committee  meets  on  Tuesdays 
at  3.30  P.M. 

Indianapolis  Benevolent  Society,  —  Plymouth 
Building,  south  parlor. 

Employment  Agency. — For  girls  and  women,  at 
same  place ;  for  men  and  boys,  at  Friendly  Inn. 

Friendly  Inn  and  Wood-Yard.— ^o.  290  West 
Market  Street. 

Industrial  Committee. — Meets  during  the  winter 
on  Wednesdays,  at  Benevolent  Society  room,  at  two 
o'clock. 

Friendly  Visitors. — Meet  on  Wednesdays,  at  half- 
past  three  o'clock,  at  the  Central  office. 

Flower  Mission. — -Mrs.  Hannah  L.  Chapman, 
president,  No.  617  North  Meridian  Street.  Weekly 
meetings  on  Thursdays,  at  Plymouth  Building. 

Flower  Mission    Training- School  for   Nurses. — 


382 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


At  the  City  Hospital ;  Home,  No.  274  West  Vermont 
Street. 

Indianapolis  Orphan  Asylum. — -Corner  of  College 
and  Home  Avenues,  Mrs.  Hannah  Hadley,  president. 

Home  for  Friendless  Women. — Corner  Eighth 
and  Tennessee  Streets,  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Bullitt,  matron. 

Colored  Orphan  Asylum. — Corner  Twelfth  and 
Mississippi  Streets. 

German  Orphan  Asylum. — West  side  of  Reed 
Street,  north  of  Cyprus. 

St.  Vincent's  Hospital. — Vermont  Street,  corner 
of  Liberty. 

Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor. — Vermont  Street,  corner 
of  Liberty. 

Toionship  Trustee. — Ernest  Kitz,  ofiSce  No.  lOJ 
East  Washington  Street. 

City  Dispensary. — No.  34  East  Ohio  Street. 

City  Hospital.  —  Corner  Locke  and  Margaret 
Streets. 

Children's  Aid  Society. — Having  care  of  neglected 
and  dependent  children. 

Charily  Kindergartens. — Corner  West  and  Mc- 
Carty  Streets ;  No.  280  West  Market  Street. 

Maternity  Society. — Plymouth  Buildiljg. 

The  Orphans'  Home. — This,  the  oldest  of  the 
local  asylums  of  the  city,  was  projected  by  the  old 
Benevolent  Society  in  1849,  and  an  organization 
formed  in  November  of  that  year.  lu  January, 
1850,  it  was  chartered  by  the  Legislature,  and  the 
first  officers  were  Mrs.  A.  W.  Morris,  president ; 
Mrs.  Alfred  Harrison,  Mrs.  William  Sheets,  Mrs. 
Judge  Morrison,  vice-presidents;  Mrs.  Isaac  Phipps, 
treasurer ;  Mrs.  Hollingshead,  secretary ;  Mrs.  Wil- 
kins,  depository ;  Mrs.  Calvin  Fletcher,  Mrs.  Gray- 
don,  Mrs.  Maguire,  Mrs.  I.  P.  Williams,  Mrs.  Cressy, 
Mrs.  Williams,  Mrs.  Willard,  Mrs.  Underbill,  Mrs. 
Irviu,  Mrs.  Dr.  Dunlap,  Mrs.  I.  Hall,  Mrs.  Bradley, 
managers;  Mrs.  Duncan,  Mrs.  Ferry,  Mrs.  Paxton, 
Mrs.  Dunn,  Mrs.  Campbell,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Morrison, 
Mrs.  McCarty,  Mrs.  Myers,  Mrs.  Brouse,  Mrs.  Wise- 
man, visiting  committee ;  Messrs.  N.  McCarty,  Alfred 
Harrison,  Judge  Morrison,  William  Sheets,  Judson 
R.  Osgood,  Ovid  Butler,  A.  G.  Willard,  Henry  Ohr, 
John  Wilkins,  advisory  committee.  The  Home  has 
been   uniformly  well  managed.     Though  largely  de- 


pendent on  the  contributions  of  the  charitable,  the 
indefatigable  zeal  of  its  managers  has  succeeded  in 
j  keeping  it  always  in  effective  condition.     The  County 
I  Board  pays  twenty-five  cents  a  day  for  the  board  of 
1  each  inmate,  but  that  is  all  the  public  support  it  gets. 
The    city   government   gives    nothing.     During    the 
year  ending  May,  1883,  two  hundred  and  fifty- two 
children  were   taken  care   of  at   the    Home,  thirty- 
three  placed  in  permanent  situations,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  three  returned  to  their  relatives  or  friends. 
Since  last   May   the  demand   upon   the    asylum  has 
I  been  larger  than   ever,  and  in  January,  1884,  there 
j  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  children  in  it  at 
one  time,  and  but  three  of  these  over  twelve  years 
old. 

The  average  number  of  the  family  was  one  hun- 
1  dred ;  sixty  were  attending  the  public  school  in  the 
building,  under  charge  of  a  competent  teacher  fur- 
nished by  the  school  board  ;  forty  under  six  years  of 
age  have  been  taught  by  the  kindergarten  system, 
also  conducted  in  the  building.  There  is  a  good 
Sunday-school  also  maintained  in  the  institution. 
Of  the  property  of  the  institution,  the  president, 
Mrs.  Hadley,  says, — 

"In  1854  two  city  lots  were  purchased  for  the 
location  of  the  asylum,  and  a  third  one  donated  by 
James  P.  Drake.  In  1855  the  first  building  was 
erected,  costing  twelve  hundred  dollars.  In  1869 
the  building  was  enlarged  at  a  cost  of  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  at  that  time  could  accommodate 
thirty-five  children.  The  increasing  demand  for 
charity  towards  this  class  in  the  growth  of  our  city 
has  been  such  that  the  managers  have  had  to  secure 
a  larger  building  to  supply  better  accommodations, 
and  have  leased  the  Christian  College  building,  on 
College  Avenue,  for  a  time,  which  lease  has  nearly 
expired.  The  managers  hope  to  be  able  to  raise  a 
sufficient  sum  to  build  a  good  substantial  house  on 
the  old  ground  belonging  to  them  on  North  Tennessee 
Street,  one  which  will  answer  the  future  demand  for 
many  years  to  come." 

The  German  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum  was 
organized  on  the  11th  of  August,  1867,  with  Mr. 
Frederick  Thorns  as  president.  In  1869-70  a  lot 
of  six  and  three-quarter  acres  was  purchased  on  the 


ORDERS,  SOCIETIES,  AND   CHARITABLE   INSTITUTIONS. 


383 


south  bank  of  Pleasant  Run,  on  Pleasant  Avenue, 
and  a  handsome  building  erected,  which  constitutes 
the  chief  ornament  of  that  recent  suburb  of  the  city. 
The  grounds  around  it  are  well  laid  out  and  finely 
improved  with  trees  and  shrubbery  and  flowers. 
The  following  extract  from  the  report  of  President 
Russe  shows  the  condition  of  the  institution  : 

In  1S83  the  number  of  inmates  was  twenty-eight 
boys  and  twenty-six  girls.  The  expense  per  head 
per  year  is  eighty-nine  dollars,  besides  donations. 
After  a  child  is  fourteen  years  of  age  we  bind  it  out 
to  a  responsible  party  to  learn  a  trade  or  business. 

Receipts  for  1SS3. 

Dues  from  members $r)56.00 

From  e.'ccursions  and  festivals 1U91.00 

From  the  county 4.i3:i.(in 

$7200.00 

EXPE.VSES   FOR    1S83. 

Sal.aries 

To    matron,   hired    man,  five  hired 

girls,  and  one  servant S1000.18 

For  household  expenses 1962.00 

Forfurniture,  wagon,  feed,  boolis,  etc.  750.00 

For  repairs,  etc 500  00 

S3702.18 

Value  of  property,  forty-one  thousand  dollars ; 
money  on  interest,  twenty-six  hundred  dollars; 
money  on  hand,  two  thousand  dollars.  Directors, 
A.  Henry  Russe,  president ;  Chris.  Oif,  vice-presi- 
dent ;  Henry  Rosebrock,  recording  secretary  ;  H.  W. 
Hartman,  financial  secretary  ;  Henry  Rosener,  treas- 
urer. Trustees,  C.  Russe,  Fred.  Thorns,  H.  H.  Koch, 
Henry  Mankedick,  H.  Hartman,  William  Tecken- 
brock,  William  Wieland,  Ewald  Over,  Harvey  Pauli, 
Gus.  Somnier,  Cliris.  Wiese.  Matron,  Libby  Weis- 
gerber. 

Colored  Orphan  Asylum. — On  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  Twelfth  and  Mississippi  Streets.  The  associa- 
tion that  founded  this  beneficent  charity  was  com- 
pleted on  the  26th  of  February,  1870.  The  building 
was  erected  and  occupied  in  1871.  It  is  a  large,  sub- 
stantial brick,  with  ample  grounds  about  it,  and  under 
good  direction.  A  well-ventilated  nursery  and  dormi- 
tory have  been  added  to  the  original  building,  and 
Mrs.  Trueblood,  president,  says  that  a  con.siderable 
enlargement  will  be  made  this  (1884)  spring,  the 
means  having  been  provided  by  contributions  of  gen- 


erous friends  of  the  orphans.  It  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  pupils  in  June,  1871.  There  are  sixty- 
two  children  in  it  at  present,  and  between  sis  and 
seven  hundred  have  found  a  home  there  since  it  was 
opened.  The  county  board  pays  twentyfive  cents  a 
day  for  the  board  of  each  child,  "  which  provides  for 
the  wants  of  the  family,  including  the  matron," 
Mrs.  Anna  E.  Stratton,  nurse,  seamstress,  cook,  and 
laundry  help.  There  has  always  been  a  school  and  a 
teacher  in  the  institution,  where  the  children  who  are 
old  enough  are  given  a  fair  education.  Mrs.  True- 
blood  says,  "  Many  are  quick  to  learn,  and  they  are 
also  taught,  out  of  school  hours,  to  assist  in  any  work 
that  they  are  able  to  do.  They  are  also  taught  in 
Sunday-school,  in  which  their  singing  and  memorizing 
of  texts  are  very  interesting." 

Home  for  Friendless  Women. — This  institution 
is  an  outgrowth  of  the  war.  The  soldiers,  and  float- 
ing population  living  by  plunder  and  chance  upon 
the  soldiers,  brought  a  plague  of  harlots  here,  and  in 
May,  1862,  Mayor  Caven  called  the  attention  of  the 
Council  to  the  evil,  and  its  eflfeet  in  filling  the  jail 
with  such  inmates.  He  recommended  the  erection 
of  a  house  of  refuge  for  them,  but  nothing  was  done. 
In  July  of  the  year  following  the  late  Stoughton  A. 
Fletcher  made  a  proposition  to  the  Council  to  give 
seven  acres  of  ground  just  south  of  the  city,  be- 
tween the  Bluff  and  Three  Notch  roads,  for  a  Re- 
formatory, if  the  city  would  put  a  suitable  house  upon 
it.  The  donation  was  accepted,  and  five  thousand 
dollars  appropriated  to  the  house.  Plans  were 
adopted,  a  board  of  trustees  created,  and  contracts 
let.  Then  prices  advanced  so  greatly  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  war  that  the  work  was  stopped  in 
1864,  after  eight  thousand  dollars  had  been  expended 
and  a  fine  stone  basement  built,  and  never  resumed 
till  recently,  when  it  was  taken  in  hand  by  one  of  the 
Catholic  Sisterhoods,  as  related  in  the  account  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  its  charities  here.  Meanwhile, 
in  1866,  a  society  for  the  aid  and  improvement  of 
abandoned  women  was  formed,  with  boards  of  trus- 
tees and  directors,  and  with  the  aid  liberally  extended, 
and  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  a  house  of  nine  rooms  was  obtained 
on  North  Pennsylvania  Street,  for  the  service  mainly 


384 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS    AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


of  female  prisoners  in  the  jail.  Obvious  good  was 
the  result,  but  the  location  was  too  public,  and  steps 
were  taken  to  obtain  a  better  situation.  For  this 
purpose  the  city  and  county  each  gave  seven  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars.  A  site  on  North  Tennes- 
see Street  was  found,  and  with  the  public  appropria- 
tions and  donations  of  city  lots  by  James  M.  Ray, 
Wm.  S.  Hubbard,  and  Calvin  Fletcher,  and  Stillman 
Witt,  of  Cleveland,  a  suitable  building  was  erected  by 
May,  187Q.  It  was  dedicated  May  21st,  the  services 
being  conducted  by  Rev.  Drs.  Scott,  Holliday,  and 
Day.  It  was  fifty-seven  by  seventy-five  feet,  three 
stories,  with  forty-nine  comfortable  rooms,  and  capable 
of  housing  healthfully  one  hundred  inmates.  On  the 
23d  of  September,  four  months  after  its  dedication,  it 
was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire,  the  loss  exceeding  the 
amount  of  insurance  by  several  thousand  dollars. 
The  Home  was  temporarily  removed  to  476  North 
Illinois  Street,  and  the  burned  building  reconstructed 
in  the  same  style  and  as  substantially  as  before.  The 
following  statement  has  been  kindly  furnished  for  this 
work  by  Mrs.  Todd,  the  treasurer: 

The  Indianapolis  Home  for  Friendless  Women  was 
incorporated  March  11,  1867.  Inmates  (adults  and 
children)  have  averaged  from  five  hundred  to  six 
hundred  annually.  Yearly  expenditures  from  two 
thousand  five  hundred  to  three  thousand  dollars. 
Has  received  no  funds  from  the  city  for  several  years. 
Mr.  E.  J.  Peck  left  to  it  five  thousand  dollars.  The 
income  from  this  is  its  only  permanent  source  of  sup- 
port. The  county  commissioners  gave  last  year 
(1883)  three  hundred  dollars.  Its  work-fund  and 
the  voluntary  gifts  of  its  friends  supply  the  remainder. 
The  trustees  and  managers  are  members  of  the  various 
Protestant  churches  in  the  city.  It  is  not  controlled 
by  any  denomination. 

Its  board  of  managers  are  the  following  ladies : 
Mrs.  Judge  Newman,  president ;  Mrs.  J.  L.  Ketcham, 
vice-president ;  Mrs.  N.  A.  Hyde,  secretary  ;  Mrs.  C. 
N.  Todd,  treasurer;  Mrs.  J.  M.  Ray,  Mrs.  T.  H. 
Sharpe,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Vajen,  Mrs.  Conrad  Baker,  Mrs. 
A.  L.  Rouche,  Mrs.  E.  Eekert,  Mrs.  M.  Byrkit,  Mrs. 
Dr,  Newcomer,  Mrs.  H.  Adams,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Ohr,  Mrs. 
Jane  Trueblood,  Mrs.  H.  Hadley,  Mrs.  C.  W.  Moores, 
Mrs.  T.   P.   Haughey,  Mrs.  Dr.  Carey,  Mrs.  G.  D. 


Emery,  Mrs.  Judge  Gresham,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Atkins,  Mrs. 
Dr.  Burgess,  Mrs.  Abram  W.  Hendricks,  Mrs.  H.  B. 
Sherman,  Mrs.  Gen.  Coburn,  Mrs.  M.  W.  Burford, 
Mrs.  Franklin  Landers,  Mrs.  John  T.  Morrison. 

Y.  M.  C.  A. — The  associations  of  a  religious  char- 
acter which  apply  themselves  to  charitable  purposes 
as  a  part  of  their  scheme  of  duty,  are  afiiliatcd  with 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  of  the  origin 
and  early  history  of  which  a  brief  sketch  is  given  in 
the  general  history,  and  in  the  reference  to  the  courses 
of  lectures  maintained  in  the  city.  In  the  other 
aspect  of  its  services  it  deserves  mention  here,  for  its 
charitable  ministrations  have  been  unintermitting  and 
invaluable.  It  has  given  much  time  and  work  to  the 
establishment  of  mission  Sunday-schools,  and  to  the 
maintenance  of  religious  services  in  waste  places  of 
the  city  where  such  a  visitation  was  very  improbable 
without  such  an  agency.  In  1871  it  purchased  the 
Exchange  Block,  on  the  east  side  of  North  Illinois 
Street,  about  half-way  to  Market  from  Washington, 
where  had  for  several  years  been  maintained  the 
most  fashionable  saloon  and  gambling  hell  of  the  city. 
It  had  also  been  used  as  a  variety  theatre.  The 
price  was  twenty-four  thousand  dollars.  It  was  mostly 
paid  or  secured,  the  building  reconstructed,  reading- 
rooms  and  comfortable  meetings  provided,  and  later 
bath-rooms  and  gymnastic  apparatus  were  added,  and 
have  made  it  as  favorite  a  resort  for  healthful  and 
moral  purposes  now  as  it  used  to  be  for  purposes  less 
commendable.  Its  resources  are  voluntary  contribu- 
tions wholly. 

The  Women's  Christian  Association  is  an  auxil- 
iary of  this  society,  and  a  German  branch  co-operates 
with  it,  or  used  to.  Prayer-meetings  are  held  every 
day  at  8  a.m.,  and  the  reading-rooms  are  open  free 
every  day  from  8  a.m.  to  10  P.M.  A  fee  of  six 
dollars  obtains  the  use  of  all  the  bathing  conve- 
niences and  others  of  the  gymnasium  for  a  year.  The 
officers  of  the  association  are  Samuel  Merrill,  presi- 
dent ;  Thomas  C.  Day,  vice-president ;  T.  H.  K. 
Enos,  treasurer ;  John  Kidd,  recording  secretary ; 
Rev.  John  B.  Brandt,  general  secretary.  Blr.  Brandt, 
however,  resigned  in  1884. 

Besides  the  distinctively  charitable  associations, 
secret  and  public,  thus  far  noticed,  and  the  religious 


ORDERS,  SOCIETI^:S,  AND   CHARITABLE    INSTITUTIONS. 


385 


associations  that  use  their  means  and  opportunities  for 
benevolent  work  without  organizing  primarily  for  that 
purpose,  there  are  a  great  many  societies  of  workmen 
and  persons  connected  by  interests  of  one  kind  or 
another,  like  "  trades  unions,"  which  give  help  to  the 
needy  of  their  members,  but  these  are  t6o  numerous 
and,  in  the  main,  too  evanescent  to  require  notice  here  ; 
little  more  could  be  said  of  them  than  the  mention  of 
their  names  and  locations,  and  that  is  the  work  of  a 
directory  rather  than  a  history. 

Cemeteries. — The  City  CeiMetery.  In  the 
general  history  is  given  an  account,  upon  the  author- 
ity of  Mr.  Nowland's  memoirs,  of  the  selection  of  the 
first  cemetery  in  Indianapolis,  called  the  "  old  grave- 
yard" for  one  generation  or  more.  It  consisted  of 
four  acres  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  directly  east 
of  Governor's  Island.  The  whole  of  the  latter  and 
a  good  deal  of  the  other  have  been  washed  away. 
In  1834  the  "  new  graveyard,"  as  it  was  universally 
called, — it  being  a  sort  of  fashion  of  those  primitive 
times  not  to  call  things  by  their  right  names,  thus 
making  "  Main"  Street  of  Washington,  "  diagonal"  of 
avenue,  "  new  graveyard"  of  Union  Cemetery, — was 
laid  out  east  of  the  old  one  selected  in  1821,  extend- 
ing from  the  border  of  that  to  Kentucky  Avenue. 
The  old  one  in  time  was  taken  altogether  by  the 
colored  residents.  The  new  one  was  very  carefully 
platted  and  amply  provided  with  carriage-ways  to 
every  little  square.  About  1850,  William  Quarles 
built  a  private  vault  there,  near  the  Kentucky 
Avenue  side,  and  was  laid  there  two  years  later. 
Evergreens  were  profusely  planted  by  lot-owners,  and 
a  number  of  the  original  forest-trees  retained,  so  that 
in  a  few  years  the  cemetery  was  made  a  very  attractive 
spot,  and  the  only  place  approaching  a  park  about  the 
town  The  owners  of  the  tract — Mr.  McCarty,  Dr. 
Coe,  Mr.  Blake,  Mr.  Ray,  and  John  G.  Brown — made 
an  agreement  that  all  lots  remaining  unsold  after  fifty 
years,  and  all  to  which  no  heirs  or  assigns  of  the  original 
purchasers  appeared,  should  become  the  property  of 
the  survivor,  who  proved  to  be  James  M.  Ray,  who 
assigned  his  rights  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  new  or  Union  Cemetery  contained  five  acres. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Edwin  J.  Peck,  president  of  the  Van- 
dalia  Railroad,  laid  ofi'  seven  and  a  half  acres  north 


of  both  the  old  cemeteries  into  an  addition.  Messrs. 
Blake  and_  Ray  were  associated  in  this  cemetery  too. 
It  extended  to  the  Vandalia  tracks  on  the  north  and 
to  West  Street  on  the  east,  leaving  an  open  tract  of 
forest,  beautifully  undulating,  between  it  and  the 
river.  This  then  belonged  to  a  Philadelphia  mer- 
chant firm,  Siter,  Price  &  Co.,  and  was  laid  ofi"  in 
1860  into  a  cemetery  called  Greenlawn,  better 
planned  and  more  expensively  improved  in  graveled 
walks  and  sightly  plats  than  either  of  its  predecessors. 
It  was  never  used.  The  southern  portion,  adjoining 
the  old  cemeteries,  however,  was  largely  used,  or  at 
least  that  part  of  it  north  of  the  "  new  graveyard." 
In  1862  the  national  government  bought  a  narrow 
tract  along  the  Vandalia  railway  for  a  graveyard  for 
rebel  prisoners  who  died  here.  Two  or  three  hundred 
were  buried  here,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Crown 
Hill,  and  the  site  is  now  used  by  the  railroad  com- 
pany for  its  round-house,  wood-house,  water-tanks, 
and  blacksmith-shops.  These  were  begun  in  1870. 
There  has  been  much  discussion  of  projects  for  pro- 
curing a  cemetery  site  out  of  the  city  instead  of 
these  combined  old  cemeteries  now  called  the  City 
Cemetery,  but  nothing  has  come  of  it  yet. 

The  Hebrew  Cemetery  was  established  in  1856 
on  three  acres  of  ground  directly  souch  of  the  Catho- 
lic Female  Reformatory,  between  the  Blufi"  and 
Three  Notch  roads.  The  larger  part  of  the  space  is 
still  unfilled,  the  Jews  being  rather  a  healthy  people 
for  cemetery  service. 

The  Lutheran  Cemetery  consists  of  ten  acres 
pure-based  by  the  trustees  of  St.  Paul's  German 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  a  little  south  of  Pleas- 
ant Run,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Three  Notch  road. 
Its  plats  are  large,  its  driveways  well  graveled  and 
graded,  and  it  contains  some  handsome  monu- 
ments. 

The  Catholic  Cemetery  contains  eighteen 
acres,  on  the  plateau  of  the  north  blufi"  of  Pleasant 
Run.  It  has  been  very  handsomely  but  not  uni- 
formly improved.  The  north  half  is  used  mainly  by 
the  Irish,  the  south  by  the  German  Catholics.  The 
most  striking  monument  in  it,  or,  indeed,  in  any 
cemetery  about  the  city,  is  the  little  chapel  erected  to 
the  memory  of  the  old  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  (German) 


386 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


Church,  Father  Segrist,  but  there   are  several  very 
pretty  memorials  of  the  dead  in  this  little  ijecropolis. 

Crown  Hill  Cemetery. — This  is  the  chief  | 
cemetery  of  Indianapolis,  and  grows  constantly  more 
conspicuous  and  more  closely  associated  with  the 
memories  and  interests  of  the  city.  Happily  it  is  in 
the  hands  of  a  superintendent  able  to  do  full  justice 
to  the  opportunities  the  situation  gives  him,  by  apply- 
ing sound  judgment  and  cultivated  taste  to  its  improve- 
ment. The  history  of  Crown  Hill  and  its  conversion 
to  its  present  uses  is  a  very  short  one.  It  was  a  farm, 
partly  used  as  a  nursery  by  Martin  Williams,  about 
three  miles  northwest  of  the  Circle,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Michigan  road.  On  it,  and  forming  its  north- 
western extremity,  is  the  only  earthly  projection  near 
the  city  that  can  be  called  a  hill.  It  is  nearly  two 
hundred  feet  higher  than  the  level  of  the  river.  On 
the  25th  of  September,  1863,  an  association  was 
formed,  with  James  M.  Ray  as  president,  Theodore 
P.  Haughey  as  secretary,  and  Stoughton  A.  Fletcher, 
Jr.,  as  treasurer,  with  seven  directors,  to  provide  a 
cemetery  to  take  the  place  (when  required)  of  the 
old  City  Cemetery.  S.  A.  Fletcher,  Sr.,  proposed  to 
advance  the  money  to  purchase  a  site,  without  inter- 
est, and  a  committee  selected  Crown  Hill.  The 
farm,  with  the  hill  and  some  adjacent  tracts  needed 
to  square  the  whole  plat,  contained  two  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  and  cost  fifty-one  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  Frederick  W.  Chislett,  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Cemetery,  was  chosen  superintendent,  and  remains 
so,  and  is  likely  to  till  he  dies.  The  dedication  was 
made  the  following  year,  with  a  speech  from  ex- 
United  States  Senator  Albert  S.  White,  of  Lafayette. 
Lots  were  rapidly  bought  and  improvement  systemat- 
ically begun.  Nothing  was  done  at  hap-hazard,  but  all, 
however  scattered,  as  parts  of  a  well-defined  plan.  It 
is  now  as  beautiful  a  cemetery  as  there  is  in  the  world, 
excepting  none  of  the  celebrated  mortuary  achieve- 
ments of  the  East, — Mount  Auburn,  Laurel  Hill,  or 
Greenwood.  This,  of  course,  is  mainly  due  to  the 
superintendent,  who  determined  at  the  outset  to  have 
none  of  the  rectangular  lots  and  railings  that  so  dis- 
figure some  otherwise  beautiful  cemeteries.  There  are 
no  fences  nor  railings,  no  formal  squares,  but  winding 
drives  and  foot-walks  mark  the  boundaries  of  burial- 


plats,  and  roads  follow  the  natural  undulations  of  the 
surface.  The  forest-trees  are  left  in  their  native 
beauty  or  trimmed  only  where  disfigured,  and  in 
places  where  the  farm  was  cleared  for  cultivation 
flowering  trees  and  evergreens  and  flower-beds  and 
borders  are  set,  making  by  far  the  most  attractive  and 
tasteful  resort  about  the  city,  and  a  resort  that  no 
impudence  or  vicious  temerity  can  abuse,  for  the 
superintendent  and  his  men  live  on  the  ground  and 
keep  watch  upon  it  day  and  night. 

In  the  first  four  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
Cemetery  Association  was  completed  and  the  sale 
of  lots  commenced,  the  total  amount  of  sales  was 
§172,060.70.  In  the  past  five  years  only  $54,298.17 
of  lots  wore  sold  in  Greenwood,  and  in  the  first  twelve 
years  only  $128,892.49  in  Spring  Grove.  The  pro- 
ceeds of  lot-sales  are  to  be  applied  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  grounds.  No  profits  are  made  and  no 
dividends  declared,  nor  can  there  ever  be.  Every 
purchaser  of  a  lot  is  a  stockholder  as  fully  as  every 
other  one,  and  he  has  his  right  to  a  voice  in  what  is 
done,  but  his  benefits,  outside  of  his  burial  rights,  end 
there.     The  second  article  of  incorporation  says, — 

"  The  distinct  and  irrevocable  principle  on  which 
this  association  is  founded  and  to  remain  forever  (ex- 
cept as  hereinafter  allowed)  is  that  the  entire  fund 
arising  from  the  sale  of  burial-lots  and  the  proceeds 
of  any  investment  of  said  funds  shall  be  and  they  are 
specifically  dedicated  to  the  purchase  and  improve- 
ment of  the  grounds  for  the  cemetery,  and  keeping 
them  durably  and  permanently  inclosed  and  in  per- 
petual repair  through  all  future  time,  including  all 
incidental  expenses  for  approach  to  the  cemetery  and 
the  proper  management  of  the  same,  and  that  no  part 
of  such  funds  shall,  as  dividends,  profits,  or  in  any 
manner  whatever,  inure  to  the  corporators."  The 
exception  to  the  permanence  of  this  provision  is  thus 
defined  in  the  thirteenth  article :  that  "  after  twenty- 
five  years  shall  have  expired  from  the  organization  of 
this  corporation,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  of  the  cor- 
porators living  in  the  county  of  Marion,  Ind.,  and 
after  a  fund  has  accumulated  which  will  amply  and 
permanently  provide  for  the  preservation,  sustaining, 
and  ornamenting  the  cemetery,  such  alteration  may 
be  made  at  any  annual  meeting  in  the  principles  and 


CHURCHES    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


387 


limitations  of  these  articles  as  that  out  of  the  surplus 
funds  of  this  cemetery  or  association  contributions 
and  appropriations  may  be  made  by  the  managers  in 
aid  of  the  poor  of  Indianapolis." 

A  burial-vault  was  early  erected  on  one  of  the 
main  lines  of  road,  and  near  it  on  the  south  and  east 
is  the  National  Cemetery,  where  the  dead  of  the 
Union  army  who  died  here,  or  whose  bodies  have 
been  brought  here,  are  buried.  Here  lies  the  body 
of  Governor  Morton  among  the  men  in  whose  service 
he  sacrificed  his  health  and  strength,  as  they  sacri- 
ficed their  own  in  the  service  of  the  country.  On 
the  east  of  this  section  a  chapel  of  Gothic  architec- 
ture, striking  and  handsome,  with  burial-vaults  at- 
tached, was  built  a  few  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  Illinois  Street,  running  out  into 
the  Westfield  pike,  passes  the  eastern  side  of  the 
cemetery,  where  a  gate  opens  into  a  long  and,  in 
summer,  delightfully  shady  drive  over  to  the  im- 
proved portion  of  the  grounds  on  the  west.  A  road 
opened  within  a  year  or  two  extends  Tennessee  Street 
to  the  south  side  of  the  cemetery.  The  last  is  now 
chiefly  used. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

CHURCHES    OF    IXDI.\XAPOLIS. 

The  primitive  churches  of  the  city  and  of  the 
entire  West,  where  there  were  no  rituals  or  authori- 
tative forms,  differed  little  from  each  other  in  public 
observances  or  the  rites  of  worship,  and  a  stranger 
might  easily  mistake  one  for  the  other,  as  preachers 
are  said  to  have  done  sometimes,  till  the  sermon  came 
to  enlighten  him.  It  was  a  rare  sermon  that  did  not 
betray  the  sectarian  cast  of  the  congregation.  Now 
the  points  of  identity  or  similarity  have  made  a  com- 
plete revolution.  The  differences  are  more  dis- 
cernible in  forms  and  methods  than  sermons.  It  is 
a  rare  sermon  now  that  indicates  the  sectarian 
attitude  or  tendency  of  the  church.  Forty  and  fifty 
years  ago   it  was  a   rare   one   that   did   not.     There 


might  be  nothing  precedent  in  the  seating  of  the 
congregation,  in  the  hymns  or  prayers  or  attitudes, 
to  distinguish  a  Methodist  from  a  Baptist  meeting, 
but  the  sermon  would  do  it.  The  tendency  of  the 
religious  feeling  of  those  days  was  to  sects  and  sepa- 
rations. It  magnified  differences.  It  hunted  more 
diligently  than  intelligently  for  Scriptural  excuses  for 
division.  It  perverted  texts  to  support  creeds  and 
uncharitable  criticisms  of  varying  creeds.  The  best 
sermon  was  that  which  made  the  best  array  of 
plausibilities  for  sectarian  separation.  The  truest 
preacher  was  he  who  could  make  most  nearly  in- 
contestable the  saving  eflficacy  of  what  Baptist  A. 
believed  and  the  futility  of  what  Methodist  B.  be- 
lieved. Thus,  as  related  in  the  general  history, 
came  frequent  collisions  and  public  debates  and 
acrimonious  feelings.  The  condition  of  society  out 
of  which  they  grew  is  hardly  conceivable  to  a  com- 
munity that  hears  Rev.  Myron  Reed,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  speak  with  fraternal  warmth  of  the 
pious  zeal  of  the  Catholic  Father  Bessonies.  It  was 
little  less  than  sinful  in  early  days  to  commend  any- 
thing that  another  church  or  preacher  did.  The 
rigidly  righteous  took  it  for  a  sinful  compliance, 
a  giving  way  to  the  worldly  spirit,  a  warning  of 
evil,  if  not  worse.  The  iron  fixedness  of  faith  of  the 
Puritans  was  the  dominant  characteristic  of  the  re- 
ligious element  of  the  community.  It  had  its  ad- 
mirable qualities  for  the  generation  in  which  it  was 
active,  but  it  passed  away  with  other  conditions  of 
the  times,  and  allowed  the  approach  of  the  change 
in  which  to-day  we  rarely  hear  sectarian  differences 
alluded  to  in  the  pulpit.  The  sermon  in  a  Meth- 
odist Church  might  be  acceptably  preached  in  any 
other  of  the  four  score  of  churches  of  different 
creeds,  and  pulpits  are  exchanged  with  no  disturb- 
ance of  religious  complacency.  The  changes  of 
material  condition  are  hardly  more  striking  than  the 
changes  of  moral  condition.  The  log  house,  little 
handsomer  or  handier  than  the  barn  in  the  next 
field,  has  given  place  to  stone  and  brick  edifices  that 
are  as  sightly  as  costly,  the  benches  or  split-bottomed 
chairs  to  carved  and  cushioned  pews,  the  hearty  but 
dissonant  singing  to  the  trim  accuracy  of  a  paid  choir 
and  a  professional  organist,  the  cheap  exhorter  and 


388 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


extempore   outgiving   to  the  high-paid   pastor  and  \ 
written  sermon  ;  but  no  one  of  these  nor  all  together 
are  more  impressive  to  the  thoughtful  mind  than  the  ; 
change  which  has  so  nearly  obliterated  the  sectarian 
differences  so  obtrusive  a  generation  ago.     Church 
members   may    have    grown    more   worldly-minded, 
more  luxurious,  more  of  the  Gallio  type,  but  they  ; 
have  certainly  grown   more  charitable,  not  so  much  j 
in  the  ready  bestowal  of  money  as  the  willing  ex- 
ercise of  generous  opinion  and  appreciation, — a  far 
more  commendable  trait  and  harder  to  come  by.  I 

In  the  general  history  is  given  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  origin  of  each  of  the  early  churches,  their  loca-  I 
tion,  and  the  character  of  their  buildings.     It  will  be  1 
unnecessary  to  repeat  these  points  here,  but  it  may 
be  well  to  note  that  but  a  single  church  established 
in  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  city's  history  remains  ; 
in   its  original    situation.     Rev.   Mr.  Hyde,  in   his  ' 
address  at  the  opening  of  the  new  Plymouth  Church, 
said  the  congregation  first  worshiped  in  the  Senate 
chamber  of  the  State-House,  then  in  a  hall  on  South 
Illinois  Street,  then  in  the  State-House  again,  then 
in  the  front  hall  of  the  first  Plymouth  Church,  now 
a  part  of  the  English  "Quadrant,"  and  added,  "I 
believe  this  has  been   the  history  of  all   the   larger 
congregations   in    the   city.      Of  the   churches   that 
were  here  when  I  came  that  then  thought  they  were 
occupying  permanent  homes,  nearly  all  have  moved 
and  enlarged." 

It  is  true  that  the  first  congregations  of  the  larger 
denominations  have  moved  once,  at  least,  and  some 
oftener.  The  Baptists,  who  had  the  first  local 
habitation  here  in  1823,  in  a  school-house  on  the 
north  side  of  Maryland  Street,  between  Tennessee  and 
Mississippi,  nearly  opposite  the  residence  of  Henry 
Bradley,  one  of  the  leading  members,  first  organized 
in  the  school-house  on  the  point  of  Kentucky  Ave- 
nue and  Illinois  Street  in  1822.  They  moved  to  the 
southwest  corner  of  Maryland  and  Meridian  Streets 
in  1829,  but  not  till  they  had  petitioned  the  Legis- 
lature for  the  donation  of  a  lot  for  a  building  site, 
and  failed.  The  house  here  was  a  broad,  squatty 
one-story  brick,  with  a  wooden  bell-tower  against  a 
little  frame  school-house  a  hundred  feet  west.  This 
was  replaced  a  dozen  years  later  by  a  finer  structure 


on  the  same  site,  and  it  burned  one  Sunday  morning 
early  in  January,  1861,  and  then  the  church  moved 
to  its  present  site.  This  made  the  second  removal 
for  the  Baptists.  The  Presbyterians  built  first,  in 
1824,  on  the  site  of  the  Exchange  Block;  moved  to 
the  Times  oflBce  site  in  1842,  and  to  its  present  place 
in  1866, — two  removals  for  them.  The  Methodists 
first  had  a  log  house,  in  1825,  on  Maryland  Street,  a 
little  west  of  Meridian,  on  the  south  side,  and  kept 
it  till  1829.  Then  they  built  their  first  regular 
church  edifice,  and  used  it  till  1846.  Then  they 
tore  that  down  and  built  Wesley  Chapel.  They 
sold  that  in  1869  and  built  Meridian  Church, 
making  the  fourth  house  and  second  removal.  The 
Christians  built  their  first  church  in  18155-36,  on 
Kentucky  Avenue.  They  moved  to  the  present  site 
of  Central  Chapel  in  1852,  one  removal  for  them. 
The  Catholics  first  built  in  a  hackberry-grove  on  the 
military  ground,  near  the  corner  of  West  and  Wash- 
ington Streets,  in  1840.  In  1850  St.  John's  Church 
was  built,  on  Georgia  Street,  and  in  1867  the  Cathe- 
dral replaced  it,  making  two  removals  for  them. 
The  Episcopalians  alone  of  all  the  leading  denomina- 
tions have  never  changed.  Their  first  church  was 
on  the  spot  where  the  present  Christ  Church  stands. 
Few  remains  of  any  of  the  old  churches  are  visible 
now.  The  first  Episcopal  Church  was  moved  to 
Georgia  Street  near  the  canal,  for  a  colored  church, 
and  burned  the  second  or  third  year.  The  first 
Baptist  Church  on  the  old  site,  corner  of  Maryland 
and  Meridian  Streets,  was  torn  down  and  the  second 
burned  down.  The  first  Presbyterian  Church — the 
old  frame — was  torn  down,  and  so  was  the  brick 
where  the  Journal  building  is.  The  first  Christian 
Church,  a  frame,  was  preserved  and  is  now  a 
tenement-house.  The  first  Methodist  (log)  Church 
was  torn  down.  So  was  the  first  brick,  but  Wesley 
Chapel  was  changed  to  the  late  Sentinel  building. 
Roberts'  Chapel  was  incorporated  in  one  of  Martin- 
dale's  blocks.  The  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  was 
put  into  Baldwin's  Block,  and  Beecher's  church  is 
the  body  of  Circle  Hall.  St.  John's  Catholic  Church 
was  torn  away  entirely  when  the  Cathedral  was  built. 
The  first  Lutheran  Church,  1838,  near  the  southeast 
corner  of  Meridian  and  Ohio  Streets,  was  torn  away 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


entirely.  It  removed  to  the  southwest  corner  of 
Alabama  and  New  York  Streets,  where  it  remained 
for  many  years,  and  then  moved  uptown  to  the  cor- 
ner of  Pennsylvania  and  Walnut  Streets. 

There  are  now  eighty-eight  churches  in  the  city, 
each,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  with  a  building  of 
its  own  and  erected  for  it.  Of  these  the  Methodists, 
including  the  German  and  Colored  Conferences,  and 
the  Methodist  Protestant,  have  twenty-four ;  the 
Presbyterians  have  fourteen  ;  the  Baptist,  thirteen  ; 
the  Catholics,  seven  ;  the  Christians  (^formerly  better 
known  as  "  Disciples,"  or  "  Campbellites"),  six  ;  the 
Episcopalians,  with  the  Episcopal  Reformed,  six ; 
the  Lutherans,  six  ;  the  Congregationalists,  two  ;  the 
Hebrews,  two;  the  German  Reformed,  three;  the 
Evangelical  Association,  one ;  the  Friends,  one ; 
United  Presbyterian,  one;  United  Brethren,  one; 
Swedenborgian,  one.  In  18G8,  and  for  some  time 
following,  the  Unitarians  formed  an  organization  here 
with  the  Rev.  Henry  Bianchard  as  pastor,  and  used 
the  Academy  of  Music  as  a  place  of  worship.  But  it 
has  been  dissolved  for  ten  or  twelve  years.  The  Uni- 
versalists  had  two  churches  here  for  a  number  of 
years,  but  now  have  none.  The  first  was  organized 
about  forty  years  ago,  but  soon  failed,  and  was  re- 
organized in  1853,  or  replaced  by  an  organization  of 
the  same  views,  of  which  Rev.  B.  F.  Foster,  Grand 
Secretary  of  the  Odd-Fellows,  and  still  the  most  emi- 
nent clergyman  of  that  faith  in  the  State,  was  the 
first  pastor.  In  1860  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  W. 
C.  Brooks  for  a  year ;  resumed  his  pastorate  for  five 
years  more,  and  was  again  succeeded,  in  1866,  by  Rev. 
J.  M.  Austin,  of  New  York.  He  resigned  in  about 
sis  months,  and  Mr.  Foster,  then  State  Librarian,  re- 
sumed his  pastoral  charge  and  kept  it  till  his  civil 
office  expired  in  1869.  Since  then  the  church  has 
had  no  pastor,  no  settled  worship,  and  never  had  a 
building  of  its  own.  It  used  at  one  time  or  another 
the  old  court-house,  the  old  seminary  lecture-room 
(Mr.  Beecher's  first  church).  College  Hall,  Temper- 
ance Hall  (where  the  News  Block  is).  Masonic  Hall, 
and  the  hall  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Delaware  and 
Maryland  Streets.  In  1860  a  personal  difference  in 
the  original  Universalist  Church  caused  a  secession 
under  the   lead  of  the   eminent  manufacturer,   Mr. 


John  Thomas,  and  the  colony  bought  a  lot  and  built 
a  house  on  Michigan  Street  near  Tennessee.  Of  this 
Mr.  Thomas  became  the  sole  owner,  and  when  the 
church  ceased  to  use  it,  as  it  did  after  the  first  year, 
while  Rev.  C.  E.  Woodbury  and  Rev.  W.  W.  Curry 
(afterwards  Secretary  of  State)  were  pastors,  it  was 
occupied  by  the  Wesley  Chapel  (Methodist)  Church 
during  the  time  their  own  Meridian  Church  was 
in  progress,  and  later  by  a  division  of  Strange  Chapel 
(Methodist),  under  the  noted  and  eloquent  J.  W.  T. 
McMuUen,  first  colonel  of  tlie  Fifty-first  Indiana 
Volunteers.  It  is  now  occupied  by  the  North  Presby- 
terian (colored)  Church.  There  are  ten  colored 
churches  in  the  city, — four  Methodist,  four  Baptist, 
one  Presbyterian,  and  one  Christian. 

WHITE  BAPTIST.S. 

First  Baptist  Church. — Although  religious  ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  new  settlement  as  early  as  the 
spring  of  1821,  and  continued  occasionally,  some- 
times in  the  woods  and  sometimes  in  private  houses, 
no  church  organization  was  made  till  the  10th  of 
October,  1822.  Then  the  First  Baptist  Church  was 
formed.  The  history  of  this  earliest  of  Indianapolis 
churches  is  told  briefly  in  the  old  records  which  may 
be  introduced  here  as  of  more  interest  than  any  second- 
hand account  could  be.  The  first  entry  says,  "  The 
Baptists  at  and  near  Indianapolis,  having  removed 
from  various  parts  of  the  world,  met  at  the  school-house 
in  Indianapolis  (this  was  the  first  schoolhonse  near 
the  point  of  junction  of  Illinois  Street  and  Kentucky 
Avenue  in  August,  1822),  and  after  some  consultation, 
adopted  the  following  resolution  :  Resolved,  That  we 
send  for  help,  and  meet  at  Indianapolis  on  the  20th 
day  of  September  next  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
a  regular  Baptist  Church  at  said  place.  That  John 
W.  Reding  write  letters  to  Little  Flat  Rock  and  Little 
Cedar  Grove  Churches  for  help.  That  Samuel 
Mcormack  (McCormick)  write  letters  to  Lick  Creek 
and  Franklin  Churches  for  helps.     Then  adjourned." 

The  next  entry  reads  thus:  "  Met  according  to  ad- 
journment ;  Elder  Tyner,  from  Little  Cedar  Grove, 
attended  as  a  help  from  that  cliuieh,  and  after  divine 
service  went  into  business.  Letters  were  received 
and  read  from  Brothers  Benjamin  Barns,  Jeremiah 
Johnson,   Thomas    Carter   (the  tavern-keeper),  Otis 


390 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Hobart,  John  Hobart,  Theodore  V.  Denny,  John 
Mcormac'.r  ( McCoimick),  Samuel  Mcormack,  John 
Thompson,  and  William  Dodd.  and  sisters  Jane 
Johnson,  Nancy  Carter,  Nancy  Thompson,  Elizabeth 
Mcormack,  and  Polly  Carter.  Then  adjourned  until 
Saturday  morning,  10th  October."  That  day  the 
organization  was  completed,  and  the  old  record  tells 
the  event  thus  :  "  Met  according  to  adjournment,  and 
after  divine  .service  letters  were  read  from  John  W. 
Reding  and  Hannah  Skinner.  Brother  B.  Barns 
was  appointed  to  speak,  and  answer  for  the  members  ; 
and  Brother  Tyner  went  into  an  examination,  and 
finding  the  members  sound  in  the  faith,  pronounced 
them  a  regular  Baptist  Church,  and  directed  them  to 
go  into  business.  Brother  Tyner  was  then  chosen 
moderator,  and  John  W.  Reding,  clerk.  Agreed  to 
be  Called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  at  Indianapolis.  Then  adjourned  till  the 
third  Saturday  in  October,  182;i.  J.  W.  Reding, 
clerk."  There  was  not  much  form  or  ceremony  ob- 
served in  constituting  this  old  church,  and  a  later 
meeting,  in  which  financial  matters  were  the  main 
subject  of  consideration,  shows  that  there  was  as  little 
pretension  to  worldly  wealth  among  the  members. 
'  "  At  a  church  meeting  held  at  Indianapolis  on  the 
third  Saturday  of  January,  1823,  after  divine  ser- 
vice, Brother  B.  Barns,  moderator,  on  motion,  Brother 
J.  Thompson  was  unanimously  called  to  serve  this 
church  as  a  deacon,  having  previously  been  ordained. 
The  reference  taken  up  respecting  a  church  fund,  the 
brethren  whose  names  here  follows  paid  Brother  J. 
Thompson  twenty-five  cents  each  :  H.  Bradley,  J.  W. 
Reding,  S.  Mcormack,  T.  V.  Denny,  T.  Carter,  J. 
Hobart,  D.  Wood,  J.  Thompson.  On  motion,  agreed 
that  Brother  B.  Barns  be  sent  as  a  help  to  constitute 
a  church  at  White  Lick,  near  the  Blufis  of  White 
River,  when  called  on  by  the  brethren  at  that  place. 
Ordered,  that  Brothers  T.  Carter,  H.  Bradley,  and 
D.  Wood  be  a  committee  to  make  arrangements  for  a 
place  of  worship  and  report  to  the  next  meeting.  J. 
W.  Reding,  clerk."  The  next  entry  says,  "  The  com- 
mittee chosen  for  the  purpose  of  making  arrange- 
ments for  a  place  of  worship,  reported  that  the  school- 
house  may  be  had  without  interruption."  Whether 
this  school-house  was  the  first  one  built  in  the  town, 


as  above  noted,  or  another  on  Maryland  Street,  north 
side,  west  of  Tennessee  Street,  does  not  appear  from 
the  record,  but  it  was  probably  the  latter,  and  must 
have  stood  on  or  very  near  the  site  of  Alexander 
Ralston 's  residence.  A  little  single-room  hewed  log 
house  did  stand  near  that  rather  pretentious  structure 
for  several  years  after  his  death.  On  the  third  Satur- 
day of  June,  1823,  a  meeting  was  held  at  which  Mr. 
Barnes,  who  had  been  the  leading  member  of  the 
organization  from  the  start,  "  requested  and  was 
granted  a  letter  of  dismission."  Following  this  is 
the  statement,  "  Agreed,  that  Brother  B.  Barns  be 
called  to  preach  to  this  church  once  a  month  until 
the  end  of  this  year,  to  which  Brother  Barns  agreed." 
Thus  the  First  Baptist  Church  had  a  complete  or- 
ganization, a  place  of  worship,  and  a  regular,  though 
not  frequent  preacher  in  two  years  after  the  town 
was  laid  out. 

As  noted  above,  the  church  petitioned  the  Legisla- 
ture in  November,  1824,  for  a  lot  to  build  a  house  of 
worship  upon,  but  failed.  The  order  says,  "  On 
motion,  agreed  that  the  church  petition  the  present 
General  Assembly  for  a  site  to  build  a  meeting-house 
upon,  and  that  the  southeast  half  of  the  shaded  block 
90  be  selected,  and  that  Brothers  J.  Hobart,  H. 
Bradley,  and  the  clerk  be  appointed  a  committee  to 
bear  the  petition  Saturday  in  February."  What  is 
meant  by  a  "shaded  block"  can  only  be  conjectured, 
but  it  probably  referred  to  a  grove  that  made  a  pleas- 
ant shelter.  In  the  spring  of  1825,  Major  Thomas 
Chinn,  who  lived  on  the  north  side  of  Maryland 
Street,  pretty  nearly  opposite  the  site  of  the  east  end 
of  tlie  Grand  Hotel,  invited  the  church  to  meet  at 
his  residence  during  the  summer,  and  they  did.  In 
June,  1825,  a  lot  was  purchased  for  a  church  build- 
ing, and  measures  taken  to  finish  a  small  frame  house 
upon  it  for  that  use,  but  the  matter  was  put  off  after 
an  assessment  was  made  on  the  fifteen  adult  males  of 
the  congregation  of  forty-eight  dollars  to  pay  for  the 
lot,  a  little  over  three  dollars  each.  In  1826,  Rev. 
Cornelius  Duvall,  of  Kentucky,  was  called  to  the 
charge  of  the  church,  but  he  never  accepted  or  never 
acted,  and  in  December,  1826,  Rev.  Abraham  Smock 
was  called  for  one  year,  accepted  and  set  to  work. 
During  his  pastorate  the  lot  on  the  southwest  corner 


CHURCHES    OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


391 


of  Meridian  and  Maryland  Streets  was  purchased, 
and  in  1829  the  first  Baptist  Church  building 
erected,  as  above  related.  This  was  removed  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  afterwards  and  a  handsome  church 
with  a  fine  spire  erected,  which  was  burned  the  first 
Sunday  in  1861,  when  the  present  site,  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  Streets, 
was  obtained  and  built  upon.  . 

Rev.  Abraham  Smock  remained  pastor  till  1830, 
when  he  resigned  and  left  the  church  without  a  pas- 
tor for  some  years,  though  several  ministers  preached 
statedly,  and  one.  Rev.  Byron  Lawrence,  in  1832  was 
requested  to  "  preach  as  frequently  as  he  can  on 
Lord's  day  for  six  months."  Under  the  stated  ar- 
rangement Revs.  Jamison  Hawkins  (grandfather  of 
Nicholas  McCarty),  Byron  Lawrence,  and  Ezra  Fisher 
preached  till  February,  1834,  when  Mr.  Fisher  was 
called  to  be  the  stated  preacher  of  the  church.  He 
retired  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1834,  and  Rev.  T.  C. 
Townsend  was  requested  to  preach  till  a  regular  pas- 
tor was  obtained.  Then  in  July,  1835,  came  Rev. 
and  Dr.  John  L.  Richmond,  who  served  for  six  or 
eight  years,  and  was  one  of  the  best  known  and 
esteemed  clergymen  and  physicians  in  the  town.  He 
was  a  good  deal  of  a  humorist  and  one  of  the  most 
eccentric  men  both  in  appearance  and  conduct  who 
ever  lived  here,  but  withal  a  genuine  Christian  and  a 
noble  man.  It  was  told  of  him  that  he  once  silenced 
a  braggart  who  was  boasting  of  the  fertility  of  his 
farm,  particularly  in  pumpkins,  by  telling  him  that 
"  his  farm  was  nothing  to  one  he  (the  doctor)  had 
seen  recently."  "  Why,  what  could  that  farm  do  ?" 
"  The  pumpkins  grew  so  thick  all  over  one  of  the 
fields  that  if  a  man  would  kick  one  on  one  side  of 
the  field  it  would  shake  those  against  the  fence  on 
the  other  side."  The  laugh  of  the  company  at  this 
sally  stopped  the  boaster  from  repeating  his  folly. 
In  1843,  Rev.  George  C.  Chandler  succeeded  Dr. 
Richmond,  who  was  himself  succeeded  by  Rev.  T.  R. 
Cressy  in  1847,  and  he  in  1852  by  Rev.  Sydney 
Dyer,  who  attained  considerable  distinction  as  a  poet, 
and  published  a  volume  of  poems  about  1856.  Rev. 
J.  B.  Simmons  followed,  and  remained  till  1861. 
After  the  burning  of  the  church  in  that  year  the 
congregation  worshiped  in  Masonic  Hall  till  the  new 


edifice  was  completed.  It  was  begun  in  1862.  Rev. 
Henry  Day  succeeded  Mr.  Simmons  in  1861,  and  re- 
mained till  a  few  years  ago.  The  present  pastor  is 
Rev.  Henry  C.  Mabie.  The  number  of  members  is 
five  hundred  and  sixty-nine  ;  Sunday-school  pupils, 
about  five  hundred  ;  value  of  property,  about  sixty- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

South  Street  Baptist  Church.— This  was  at  first 
a  mission  church,  established  by  the  old  First  or 
Home  Church,  which  purchased  the  lot  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Noble  and  South  Streets  about  1867, 
and  built  a  small  but  pretty  chapel  there.  In  1869 
a  number  of  the  members  of  the  parent  church, 
whose  places  of  residence  made  a  church  more  conve- 
nient there  than  away  ofi'  at  University  Square, 
formed  an  organization,  and  with  a  membership  of 
seventy-six  took  the  mission  building  as  a  gift  from 
the  old  congregation  and  at  once  established  a  flour- 
ishing church  there.  A  handsome  new  building  re- 
placed the  mission  house  a  few  years  ago.  Pastor, 
Rev.  I.  N.  Clark.  Membership,  two  hundred  and 
ninety-five;  Sunday-school  pupils,  three  hundred  and 
fifty ;  value  of  property,  about  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Garden  Baptist  Church. — This  also  was  a  mission 
established  in  1866  on  Tennessee  Street,  and  then 
removed  to  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Missouri 
Streets.  It  finally  built  its  own  house  on  Bright 
Street.  Pastor,  Rev.  B.  F.  Patt.  Membership,  one 
hundred ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and 
fifty ;  value  of  property,  six  thousand  dollar.*. 

North  Baptist  Church. — This,  like  the  other 
two.  was  a  mission  branch  of  the  old  First  Church, 
established  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Cherry 
Streets,  where  it  still  is.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev. 
Daniel  D.  Read.  Membership,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and 
fifty;  value  of  property,  about  eight  thousand  dollars. 

Third  Baptist  Tabernacle,  though  named  in  the 
city  directory  with  a  pastor,  Rev.  Christopher  Wil- 
son, and  located  on  Rhode  Island  Street,  does  not 
appear  in  the  ofiioial  list  of  the  Association. 

German  Baptist  Church. — Pastor,  Rev.  August 
Boelter,  corner  of  Davidson  and  North  Streets. 

Mount  Zion  Baptist  Church,  Second  and  La- 
fayette Streets.     Pastor,  Rev.  William  Singleton. 


392 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


New  Bethel  Baptist  Churcli,  Beeler  Street.  Rev. 
Jacob  R.  Eayuor,  pastor. 

Judson  Baptist  Church,  Fletcher  Avenue,  re- 
ported disorganized.  These  last  four  churches,  like 
the  Tabernacle,  do  not  appear  in  the  authoritative 
lists  of  the  Association,  but  do  in  the  directory. 

COLORED   BAPTISTS. 

Second  Baptist  Church,  north  side  of  Michigan, 
east  of  West.     Pastor,  Rev.  James  M.  Harris. 

Corinthian  Baptist  Church,  corner  of  North  and 
Railroad  Streets.     Pastor,  Rev.  R.  Bassett. 

OUve  Baptist  Church,  Hosbrook,  between  Grove 
and  Pine  Streets.     Pastor,  Rev.  Anderson  Simmons. 

South  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  comer  of  Maple 
and  Morris  Streets.     Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  pastor. 

PUESnYTKI!I.\XS. 

First  Presbyterian  Church. — The  sectarian  dif- 
ferences which  became  so  strongly  marked  in  the  dif- 
ferent denominations  of  Indianapolis,  after  separate 
organizations  had  been  made  and  separate  places  of 
worship  established,  were  measurably  suppressed  in 
the  first  years  of  the  settlement,  and  union  meetings 
were  frequent  in  which  all  denominations  joined. 
Nevertheless  each  had  occasionally  worship  and  ser- 
mons of  its  own.  In  August,  1822,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  Baptists  took  the  first  steps  to  form  a  distinct 
denominational  organization.  The  Presbyterians  fol- 
lowed on  the  23d  of  February,  1823.  Previously 
they  had  been  preached  to  by  Rev.  Ludlow  G.  Gaines, 
— the  same  as  the  "  Ludwell  Gains"  and  "  Ludwell 
G.  Gains"  who  entered  several  tracts  of  land  in  De- 
catur township  in  1821, — and  during  the  year  1822 
Rev.  David  C  Proctor  was  engaged  as  a  missionary. 
The  old  school-house  was  the  cradle  of  this  church,  as 
well  as  the  First  Baptist.  The  organization  was  made 
here  on  the  6th  of  Mareh,  1823,  after  one  or  two  pre- 
vious meetings,  and  on  the  22d  of  March  trustees 
were  appointed.  The  formal  constitution  of  the  church 
was  completed  with  fifteen  members  July  5,  1823. 
Subscriptions  were  at  once  obtained,  and  a  lot  pur- 
chased on  the  northwest  corner  of  Market  and  Penn- 
sylvania Streets,  where  a  frame  building,  the  first 
church  edifice  in  the  place,  was  partially  built  the 
same  year  and  finished  the  following  summer,  1824, 


at  a  cost  for  site  and  house  of  twelve  hundred  dollars. 
Mr.  Gaines  and  Mr.  Proctor  both  appear  to  have 
served  as  "stated  supply"  in  the  first  days  of  the 
church's  existence,  and  Mr.  Proctor  was  pastor  for  a 
short  time  till  the  accession  of  Rev.  George  Bush  in 
September,  1824,  who  continued  till  June,  1828,  and 
remained  in  the  town  till  JIarch,  1829.  Mr.  Bush, 
as  elsewhere  noticed,  became  subsequently,  on  remov- 
ing to  the  East,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  here.siarchs 
in  this  country.  His  theological  vagaries  were  equaled 
by  his  learning,  however,  and  he  always  commanded 
attention  and  respect.  It  was  thought  by  the  com- 
munity that  his  eccentricities  of  faith  had  something 
to  do  with  the  severance  of  his  pastoral  relation  to 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  here.  Succeeding  him 
came  Rev.  John  R.  Moreland,  from  1829  to  1832. 
Rev.  William  A.  Holliday  succeeded  him  in  1832, 
continuing  till  1835.  A  couple  of  years  later  he  took 
charge  of  the  old  seminary,  and  figured  promi- 
nently as  one  of  the  early  educators  of  the  city,  as 
well  as  one  of  its  most  honored  moral  guides  and 
instructors. 

Rev.  William  Adair  Hollidav. — The  parents 
of  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  were  Sam- 
uel Holliday  and  Elizabeth  Martin,  both  of  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestry.  The  former  was  associate  judge  of 
the  Marion  County  Circuit  Court,  and  ofiiciated  at 
the  trial  of  Hudson,  Sawyer,  and  the  Bridges,  in 
1824,  for  murdering  Indians.  They  are  said  to  have 
been  the  only  white  men  executed  for  this  crime. 
It  was  said  by  Oliver  H.  Smith,  in  his  "  Early  In- 
dian Trials,"  "  Judge  Holliday  was  one  of  the  best 
and  most  conscientious  men  I  ever  knew."  Eliza- 
beth Martin  Holliday  was  the  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Catherine  Martin,  and  the  sister  of  Rev.  William 
Martin,  a  prominent  pioneer  preacher  of  Indiana, 
familiarly  known  as  Father  Martin.  William  Adair 
Holliday,  born  July  16,  1803,  in  Harrison  County, 
Ky.,  at  the  age  of  three  years  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Preble  County,  Ohio,  and  from  thence 
in  1815  to  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  after  which  Marion 
County,  as  then  constituted,  became  the  permanent 
residence  of  the  family.  The  early  years  of  Mr. 
Holliday  were  fraught  with  many  of  the  depriva- 
tions incident  to   the   life  of  the  early  settler.     Few 


s? 


'^tJl.^J  ^^t^:^-^. 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


393 


opportunities  for  education  were  afforded,  and  the 
means  for  obtaining  those  advantages  so  limited  as 
to  make  a  thorough  scholastic  training  a  work  re- 
quiring not  only  perseverance  but  often  great  sacri- 
fice. William  A.  Holliday,  being  ambitious  for  in- 
struction superior  to  that  offered  at  home,  walked 
from  his  father's  farm  to  Hamilton,  Ohio,  and  there 
attended  school.  Subsequently  he  went  to  Blooming- 
ton,  and  from  thence  to  the  Miami  University,  at 
Oxford,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  1829.  Having 
chosen  the  ministry  as  his  life-work,  he  traveled  on 
horseback  to  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  there  pursued  a 
theological  course,  after  which  he  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  At 
the  close  of  his  studies  he  preached  with  great  ac- 
ceptability at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  to  the  congregation  of 
which  Dr.  Fisk  had  been  pastor,  and  would  have 
been  called  to  that  important  pastoral  charge  had  he 
not  discouraged  the  movement  under  a  conviction 
that  he  ought  to  labor  in  the  West.  In  1832  he 
accepted  an  invitation  to  supply  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Indianapolis,  over  which  charge  he 
ministered  two  years.  Subsequently  he  devoted  him- 
self to  missionary  labor  among  feeble  churches  in 
Indiana  and  Kentucky,  combining  the  work  of 
preaching  with  that  of  a  teacher.  From  1841  until 
his  death  Indianapolis  was  his  home.  He  was  in 
1864  elected  professor  of  Latin  and  modern  languages 
in  Hanover  College,  of  which  he  had  long  been  a 
trustee,  and  for  two  years  rendered  gratuitous  service 
in  that  capacity,  resigning  in  June,  1866.  His  own 
early  struggles  for  a  thorough  education  gave  him  a 
deep  sympathy  with  young  men  similarly  situated, 
and  inspired  him  with  a  deep  interest  in  their  efforts 
to  secure  opportunities  for  thorough  education.  A 
desire  to  promote  this  prompted  him  to  give  while  yet 
living,  out  of  a  moderate  estate,  property  which  sold 
for  twelve  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose  of  endow- 
ing a  professorship  of  mental  philosophy  and  logic  in 
Hanover  College.  The  following  tribute  is  paid  by 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Nixon,  a  former  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  his  scholastic  attainments 
and  piety  :  "  His  prayers  and  counsels  and  influence 
were  always  heartily  given  to  every  good  work. 
He  was  a  man  of  deep  piety,  of  much  learning,  and 
26 


of  most  excellent  spirit.  His  habits  of  study  were 
continued  to  the  clo.se  of  his  life.  He  read  daily  the 
Scriptures  in  the  original.  He  kept  well  abreast  of 
the  religious  literature  of  the  day,  and  yet  was  a 
careful  and  thoughtful  student  of  pa.ssing  events. 
So  modest  was  he  that  few  except  his  intimate 
friends  knew  the  treasures  of  learning  he  had 
gathered.'  He  had  been  for  several  years  stated 
clerk  of  Muncie  Presbytery,  and  was  a  regular  and 
valued  member  of  the  church  courts.  For  many 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  congregation  of  the 
First  Church  of  Indianapolis,  of  which  he  had  for- 
merly acted  as  pastor,  and  was  a  most  punctual  and 
earnest  attendant  upon  the  ministry  of  the  Word  and 
the  prayer-meetings,  and  ever  ready  to  afford  his 
pastor  the  benefit  of  his  counsels,  sympathies,  and 
prayers."  Mr.  Holliday  was  married  to  Miss  Lucia 
Shaw  Cruft,  to  whom  were  born  seven  children. 
Two  of  these  died  in  infancy,  and  a  third  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  years.  The  four  survivors  are  Rev. 
Wm.  A.  Holliday,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Belvidere,  N.  J.,  Margaret  G.  Holliday, 
a  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  board  at  Tabriz, 
Persia,  John  H.  Holliday,  founder  and  editor  of 
The  Indianapolis  News,  and  Francis  T.  Holliday,  its 
publisher.  The  death  of  Rev.  William  A.  Holliday 
occurred  Deo.  16,  1866,  in  his  sixty-fourth  year, 
and  that  of  Mrs.  Holliday  Jan.  17,  1881,  in  her 
seventy-sixth  year.  She  was  a  native  of  Boston, 
coming  from  Puritan  stock  numbering  in  its  branches 
many  eminent  and  worthy  people  of  New  England. 
Her  grandfather,  with  whom  she  lived  for  some 
years  during  childhood,  was  the  Rev.  William  Shaw, 
for  more  than  fifty  years  a  pastor  at  Marshfield, 
Mass.,  and  she  was  trained  in  all  the  rugged  New 
Eno-land  virtues.  Two  of  her  brothers  settling  on 
the  Wabash  at  an  early  day,  she  removed  to  Indiana 
in  1826,  making  her  home  at  Terre  Haute  and  Car- 
lisle until  married. 

Mrs.  Holliday  was  a  woman  of  rare  strength  and 
charm  of  character.  Prominent  and  devoted  in  her 
relio-ious  life,  among  the  foremost  in  the  benevolent 
and  missionary  work  which  falls  peculiarly  to  the 
hand  of  woman,  she  yet  illustrated  the  words  of  Lord 
Lyttleton,  that  "  a  woman's  noblest  station  is  retreat," 


394 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


and  reserved  for  the  sanctity  of  home  and  the  nar- 
rower circle  of  intimate  and  loving  friends  that 
fuller  exhibition  of  a  thoroughly  developed  and 
symmetrical  life,  which  will  cause  her  memory  to 
be  cherished  as  a  precious  incense.  In  her  girlhood 
she  enjoyed  only  the  ordinary  common-school  edu- 
cation incident  to  that  period  in  the  State  of  her 
birth  ;  but  she  was  all  her  life  an  omnivorous  reader, 
was  endowed  with  unusual  perception,  and  was 
withal  a  deep  and  logical  thinker.  With  these 
faculties  she  became  a  woman  of  great  and  varied 
information,  of  clear  and  strong  judgment,  and  a 
ready  and  capable  conversationalist  and  reasoner. 

Cheerfulness  and  sympathy  were  prominent  traits 
of  her  character,  and  these  probably  were  the  ex- 
planation of  the  strong  hold  she  secured  and  retained 
upon  her  friends.  Throughout  her  long  life,  check- 
ered with  hardships  inseparable  from  the  lines  in 
which  it  was  cast,  she  ever  had  a  smiling  face,  a 
warm  hand,  a  sympathetic  heart  for  everybody.  In 
her  Christian  affection  she  was  no  "  respecter  of 
persons,"  and  from  every  walk  and  station  of  life 
there  came  at  her  death  the  sincerest  grief,  because 
"  a  friend  has  fallen."  One  of  the  most  unselfish 
of  women,  forgetting  herself  entirely  to  serve  others, 
she  received  the  reward  of  a  devotion  from  her 
family,  and  of  sincere  affection  from  those  who  lived 
within  the  influence  of  her  deeds,  which  was  con- 
spicuous because  of  its  rarity. 

Rev.  James  W.  McKennan  succeeded  Mr.  Holliday 
in  February,  1835,  and  remained  till  1840,  when 
Rev.  Phineas  D.  Gurley  followed  and  remained  till 
1849.  Mr.  Gurley  was  the  cotemporary  and  friend 
of  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  pastor  of  the  other 
Presbyterian  Church, — separated  and  by  no  means 
generally  friendly  in  those  days  like  other  sects, — and 
in  after-years,  as  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  Washington 
City,  attained  a  national  reputation.  For  about  two 
years  the  church  remained  without  a  pastor,  and  then 
Rev.  John  A.  McClung,  of  Kentucky,  was  called. 
He  was  a  brother  of  the  distinguished  lawyer,  politi- 
cian, and  duelist  of  Mississippi,  Col.  Alexander  Mc- 
Clung, and  for  many  years  had  himself  been  one  of 
the  leading  lawyers  of  his  State.  At  that  time  he  was 
sceptical,  and  is  said  by  his  friends  to  have  converted 


himself  by  a  close  study  of  the  prophecies.  Whether 
this  was  true  or  not,  he  was  more  profoundly  versed 
in  the  prophecies,  and  treated  them  more  frequently 
and  fully  in  his  sermons,  than  any  man  that  ever  filled 
a  pulpit  in  Indianapolis,  or  probably  any  other  city. 
In  his  younger  days  he  compiled  a  volume  of  stories 
of  the  adventures  of  the  pioneers  of  Kentucky  called 
"  Western  Adventures,"  which  was  a  very  popular 
and  widely-read  book,  though  now  out  of  print.  Mr. 
McClung  remained  here  till  1855.  Some  years  after- 
wards, probably  during  the  war,  he  was  drowned  in 
the  Niagara  River, — some  thought  by  suicide, — a  few 
miles  below  Buffalo.  His  daughter  was  married  to  a 
son  of  P]dmund  Browning,  of  the  old  Washington 
Hall  Hotel.  Rev.  T.  L.  Cunningham  followed  Mr. 
McClung  in  October,  1855.  and  remained  till  1858, 
marrying  here  the  daughter  of  Governor  John  Brough, 
of  Ohio,  previously  for  many  years  president  of  the 
Madison  Railroad  here.  For  two  years  the  church 
remained  without  a  pastor,  when  Rev.  John  Howard 
Nixon  came  in  1860  and  remained  till  1869.  Rev. 
R.  D.  Harper  succeeded  him,  and  resigned  in  1876 
to  take  charge  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia.  The 
present  pastor.  Rev.  Myron  W.  Reed,  took  charge  of 
the  church  in  1876. 

In  the  old  frame  church  on  Pennsylvania  Street 
was  conducted  during  most  of  its  existence  the 
"  Union  Sunday-school,"  which  formed  so  conspicu- 
ous a  part  of  the  moral  agencies  of  the  early  settle- 
ment, and  a  still  more  conspicuous  part  cf  the 
celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July.  The  first  meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  6th  of  April,  1823,  in  Caleb 
Scudder's  cabinet-shop,  on  the  south  tide  of  the 
State- House  Square.  It  continued  through  the  sum- 
mer, till  cold  weather  began  to  come  in  the  fall,  with 
about  seventy  pupils, — a  very  creditable  number 
for  a  little  village  in  the  woods  of  not  more  than  five 
hundred  souls  all  told.  In  1824  it  was  revived,  and 
thenceforward  carried  on  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
constantly  increasing  in  average  attendance,  and  not 
suspended  on  account  of  the  weather.  The  average 
ran  up  from  forty  the  first  year  to  fifty  the  next,  sev- 
enty-five the  third,  one  hundred  and  six  the  fourth, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  the  fifth,  by  which  time  a 
library  of  one  hundred   and  fifty  volumes  had  been 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


396 


accumulated  of  the  little  marble-paper  backed  Sun- 
day-school   literature    of    the    "  Shepherd    of   Salis- 
bury Plain''  school.     On  April  24,  1S29,  the  Meth- 
odists, having  completed  their  first  church,  and  the 
first  brick  church  in   the   town,  drew   ofi'  to  them-  \ 
selves.     The  Baptists  colonized  their  school  in  1832,  | 
leaving  the  Presbyterians  alone.     In  1829  the  Sun-  1 
day-schools  formed  a  prominent  feature  of  the  cele-  i 
bration  of  the  Fourth  of  July  for  the  first  time,  and  ! 
for  thirty  years  following  were  either  the  chief  or  sole 
feature  of  that  national  ceremony. 

The  old  church  was  abandoned  in  1842,  when 
a  new  brick  was  built  on  the  corner  of  Circle 
Street  and  Market,  the  site  of  the  present  Juitrnal  j 
building,  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley. 
After  this  the  old  house  came  to  base  uses.  It  was  a  1 
carpenter-  or  carriage-shop  for  a  little  while,  and  an  j 
occasional  assembly-hall  for  chance  gatherings  that 
could  not  go  anywhere  else.  It  was  torn  down  or 
moved  away  in  1845  or  1846.  The  new  church  was 
dedicated  May  6,  1843,  and  cost  about  eight  thou- 
sand three  hundred  dollars.  The  present  structure 
was  begun  in  1864.  The  west  end,  or  chapel,  con- 
taining Sunday-school  rooms,  lecture-room,  social- 
room,  and  pastor's  study,  was  completed  and  occupied 
in  1866.  The  main  building  and  audience-hall  were 
finished  and  opened  for  service  Dec.  29,  1870.  The 
present  membership  of  the  First  Church  is  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  three 
hundred  and  eighty-one  ;  estimated  value  of  property, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Second  Presbyterian  Church. — This  was  better 
known,  even  in  Indianapolis,  for  a  good  many  years 
as  "  Beecher's  Church."  It  was  organized  with  fif- 
teen members  Nov.  19,  1838,  in  the  "lecture-room," 
or  main  upper  room,  of  the  old  seminary.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  came  as  its  first  pastor  July  31, 1839. 
The  old  seminary  room  continued  to  be  the  place  of 
worship  for  over  a  year.  On  the  4th  of  October, 
1840,  the  frame  building  erected  for  it  on  the  corner 
of  Circle  and  Market  Streets,  directly  opposite  to  that 
occupied  a  year  or  two  later  by  the  new  First  Church, 
was  completed  and  dedicated,  though  the  basement- 
room  was  occupied  previously.  Thus  the  Second 
Church  was   fully  launched  on  what  has  proved  to 


be  a  prosperous  and  beneficent  career.  The  division 
was  not  the  eflfect  of  any  local  or  personal  dissension, 
but  grew  out  of  the  same  influences  that  produced 
the  separation  into  the  "  Old"  and  "  New"  School 
Churches.  Mr.  Beecher  made  this  church,  during 
seven  years  of  its  life  and  his,  the  most  conspicuous 
in  the  State.  In  1843  or  thereabouts  he  delivered 
in  this  church  on  Sunday  nights  the  "  Lectures  to 
Young  Men,"  which  gave  him  his  first  reputation 
abroad,  and  which  were  soon  after  republished  by  an 
Eastern  house.  About  the  same  time  ho  conducted 
a  revival,  in  which  he  secured  the  conversion  of  some 
of  the  "  fast"  young  men  about  town.  A  year  or 
two  later  he  spoke  out  on  the  slavery  issue  with  so 
unequivocal  an  utterance  that  .some  of  his  parishion- 
ers of  an  adverse  political  inclination  got  up  and 
walked  out  of  the  house.  A  few  left  the  church 
altogether.  At  the  same  time,  and,  in  fact,  all  the 
time,  he  waged  relentless  war  on  liquor  drinking  and 
selling,  following  up  the  reform  movement  begun  here 
by  the  "  Washingtonians"  under  Mr.  Matthews.  In 
the  course  of  this  discussion  he  was  brought  into  col- 
lision with  a  Mr.  Comegys,  of  Lawrenceburg,  then 
an  extensive  distiller,  but  previously  a  clerk  of  the 
eminent  merchant,  Nicholas  McCarty,  and  a  well- 
known  citizen  here.  The  debate  grew  so  acrimonious 
that  the  distiller  hinted  at  a  personal  interview  and  a 
physical  discussion,  to  which  Mr.  Beecher  replied 
(the  correspondence  appeared  in  the  Journal)  that 
if  his  antagonist  wanted  to  fight,  he  (Beecher) 
"  would  take  a  woman  and  a  Quaker  for  his 
seconds."  Mr.  Beecher  left  the  church  early  in  the 
fall  of  1847,  closing  his  pastorate  on  the  19th  of 
September. 

Rev.  Clement  E.  Babb  succeeded  Mr.  Beecher  in 
the  Second  Church  May  7,  1848,  and  remained  till 
the  1st  of  January,  1853.  Mr.  Babb  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Thornton  A.  Mills,  after  an  interval  of  a  year, 
Jan.  1,  1854,  remaining  till  Feb.  9,  1857.  He  was 
chosen  .secretary  of  the  committee  on  education  of 
the  General  Assembly,  the  duties  of  which  required 
his  residence  in  New  York.  He  died  there  suddenly 
June  19,  1867.  Rev.  George  P.  Tindall  succeeded, 
Aug.  6,  1857,  and  remained  till  Sept.  27,  1863. 
Rev.    Hanford    A.    Edson,    now   of    the   Memorial 


396 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Church,  followed  Mr.  Tindall,  Jan.  17,  1864.  Rev. 
William  A.  Bartlett  served  the  church  for  several 
years  in  the  interval  since  Mr.  Edson  left  it  for  his 
later  charf;;e,  and  Rev.  Arthur  D.  Pearson  succeeded 
him  for  a  short  time.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev. 
James  McLeod.  The  old  edifice,  on  Circle  and  Mar- 
ket Streets,  was  abandoned  in  December,  1867,  when 
the  chapel  of  the  new  one,  northwest  corner  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Vermont  Streets,  was  ready  for  occu- 
pancy. This  building,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  city 
or  the  State,  was  begun  in  1864,  the  corner-stone 
laid  May  14,  1866,  the  chapel  occupied  Dec.  22, 
1867,  and  the  completed  edifice  dedicated  Jan.  9, 
1870.  The  value  of  the  property  is  now  probably 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The 
membership  is  eight  hundred  and  four ;  Sunday- 
school  pupils,  six  hundred  and  thirty-nine. 

Third  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Muncie,  at  the  residence  of  Caleb 
Scudder,  Sept.  23,  1851,  twenty-one  members  of  the 
old  First  Church  getting  letters  of  dismission  for  that 
purpose.  The  leading  men  were  James  Blake,  Caleb 
Scudder,  John  W.  Hamilton,  Horatio  C.  Newcomb, 
Nathaniel  Bolton,  Dr.  William  Clinton  Thompson, 
and  Charles  B.  Davis.  They  first  met  for  worship 
in  Temperance  Hall, — now  the  A'ews  building, — and 
erected  the  present  church,  northeast  corner  of  Illinois 
and  Ohio  Streets,  in  1859.  Rev.  David  Stevenson 
was  the  first  pastor.  He  has  been  succeeded  by  Rev. 
George  Heckman,  Rev.  Robert  Slo.ss,  and  Rev.  H. 
M.  Morey.  Just  at  this  time  the  church,  now  known 
as  the  "  Tabernacle,'"  has  no  pastor.  The  membership 
is  three  hundred  and  thirty-five.  The  Sunday-school, 
organized  Oct.  26,  1851,  has  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  pupils ;  the  value  of  the  property,  about  sixty 
thousand  dollars. 

Fourth  Presbyterian  Church. — This  is  a  colony 
of  the  Second  Church  as  the  Third  is  of  the  First 
Church,  and  was  formed  almost  at  the  same  time. 
The  Fourth  was  organized  on  the  30th  of  November, 
1851,  by  twenty-four  members  of  the  Second  Church, 
who  were  given  letters  of  dismission.  Samuel  Mer- 
rill, Lawrence  M.  Vance,  John  L.  Ketcham,  Alex- 
ander H.  Davidson,  Alexander  Graydon,  Horace 
Bassett,  Joseph  K.  Sharpe,  Henry  S.  Kellogg  were 


among  the  prominent  members  in  this  organization. 
The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  George  M.  Maxwell,  of 
Blarietta,  Ohio.  In  1857,  September  13th,  a  fine 
church  edifice  was  completed  and  dedicated  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Delaware  and  Market  Streets, 
now  forming  part  of  the  Baldwin  Block,  the  congre- 
gation selling  it  a  dozen  years  ago  and  moving  up 
town  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Pratt  and  Pennsyl- 
vania Streets.  Mr.  Maxwell  retired  from  ill-health 
in  November,  1868,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  A. 
L.  Brooks  in  October,  1859.  He  remained  till  1862, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Charles  H.  Marshall.  The 
present  pastor  is  Rev.  A.  H.  Carrier.  Membership, 
two  hundred  and  twenty ;  Sunday-school  scholars, 
two  hundred  and  ninety  ;  value  of  property,  probably 
sixty  thousand  dollars. 

Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  is  a  colony  of  the 
Third,  which  purchased  a  frame  mission  Sunday- 
school  house  on  Blackford  Street,  between  Vermont 
and  Michigan,  in  the  fall  of  1866,  and  in  October  the 
Indianapolis  Presbytery  authorized  the  organization 
of  the  Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  here,  with  eighteen 
members, — twelve  from  the  Third,  one  from  the  First, 
and  five  from  churches  out  of  the  city.  The  present 
house,  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Michigan  and  Black- 
ford Streets,  was  erected  in  1873.  The  first  pastor 
was  the  Rev.  William  B.  Chamberlin.  Present  pas- 
tor, Rev.  Joshua  R.  Mitchell.  Membership,  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-four;  Sunday-school  pupils,  three 
hundred  and  eighty ;  value  of  property,  probably 
fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

Sixth  Presbyterian  Church. — This  church  was 
organized  Nov.  20,  1867,  with  twenty-one  members, 
and  a  handsome  brick  house  built  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Union  and  McCarty  Streets  in  a  few  years 
after.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  J.  B.  Brandt,  so  long 
secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
He  had  two  or  three  successors,  but  the  pastorate  is 
now  vacant.  The  membership  is  seventy-five ;  the 
Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and  sixty-two ; 
value  of  property,  probably  ten  thousand  dollars. 

Seventh  Presbyterian  Church. — This  was  origi- 
nally a  mission  branch  of  the  First  Church  on  Elm 
Street  near  Cedar.  It  was  the  suggestion  of  an  old 
member  of  that  body,  William  R.  Craig,  who   hoped 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


397 


to  reduce  to  better  order  a  troublesome  juvenile  pop- 
ulation of  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  city  by  the 
influence  of  a  Sunday-school.  The  scheme  worked 
well,  and  the  mis.sion  Sunday-school,  established  in 
an  old  earpeuter-shop  in  1865,  grew  into  a  mission 
church  and  a  new  frame  building,  on  a  lot  donated  by 
the  late  Calvin  Fletcher  and  his  partners  in  a  tract  of 
city  property,  in  December  of  that  year.  The  parent 
church  gave  Rev.  W.  W.  Sickles  as  stated  supply  at 
the  outset,  but  in  1867,  November  27,  a  church  was 
organized  with  twenty-three  members.  Rev.  C.  M. 
Howard  was  the  first  pastor,  who  resigned  in  1869, 
and  was  succeeded  for  a  time  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Brandt, 
but  finally  in  1870  by  Rev.  Charles  H.  Raymond. 
Rev.  L.  G.  Hay  preceded  him  for  a  few  months. 
Pastorate  vacant.  Membership,  two  hundred  and 
fifty-six  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  three  hundred  ;  value 
of  property,  about  three  thousand  dollars. 

Eighth  Presbyterian  Church  ( Indianola). — Or- 
ganized Oct.  1,  1871,  with  seven  members.  The  first 
pastor  was  Rev.  J.  R.  Sutherland.  Rev.  T.  C.  Hor- 
ton,  stated  supply.  Location,  northeast  corner  of 
Market  and  Drake  Streets.  Membership,  sixty  ;  Sun- 
day-school pupils,  one  hundred  and  sixty-six ;  value 
of  property,  probably  three  thousand  dollars. 

North  Presbyterian  Church  (Colored). — Organ- 
ized Feb.  18,  1872,  with  fourteen  members.  The 
first  pastor  was  Rev.  L.  Faye  Walker.  Church  dis- 
solved in  1880,  and  reorganized  as  a  colored  Presby- 
terian Church.  The  building  is  that  on  Michigan 
Street  near  Tennessee,  originally  erected  by  one  of 
the  extinct  Universalist  congregations.  The  pastor 
is  Rev.  William  A.  Alexander ;  membership,  thirty  ; 
Sunday-school  pupils,  forty-five  ;  value  of  property, 
probably  oiuht  thousand  dollars. 

Tenth  Presbyterian,  or  Memorial  Church. — 
The  origin  of  the  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church  is 
to  be  traced  to  the  action  of  the  session  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  winter  of  1869- 
70,  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Edson. 
It  was  the  desire  to  signalize  the  memorial  year  of 
Presbyterian  reunion  by  the  establishment  of  another 
mission.  At  a  meeting  of  the  session,  March  17, 
1870,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  secure  ground 
for  that  purpose  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  city. 


Lots  were  accordingly  purchased  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Christian  Avenue  and  Bellefontaine  Street, 
and  a  temporary  building  was  erected.  On  the  8th 
of  May,  at  four  o'clock  p.m.,  the  house  was  dedicated, 
a  Sabbath-school  having  been  held  there  for  the  first 
time  at  8.30  A.M.  of  the  same  day.  At  first  the 
enterprise  gave  small  promise  of  success.  The  Sun- 
day-school had  a  vacation,  and  an  offer  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  property  was  favorably  considered. 
Better  counsel,  however,  prevailed,  and  at  a  meeting 
of  the  session,  Oct.  13,  1870,  the  whole  work  was 
committed  to  the  Young  Men's  Association  of  the 
Second  Church.  It  was  prosecuted  with  energy,  and 
in  February,  1873,  forty  persons  reported  themselves 
desirous  of  entering  a  formal  church  organization. 
At  a  special  meeting  of  Indianapolis  Presbytery, 
March  3,  1873,  the  project  was  fully  considered,  and 
the  church  was  constituted  March  1 2th.  Immediately 
upon  his  release  from  his  former  field,  Mr.  Edson 
began  work  on  the  new  ground,  holding  the  first 
service  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  April.  The  present 
site,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Christian  Avenue 
and  Ash  Street,  was  at  once  purchased  for  a  perma- 
nent edifice.  On  the  7th  of  April,  1874,  the  corner- 
stone was  laid,  and  worship  was  conducted  for  the 
first  time  in  the  chapel,  March  7,  1875. 

A  printed  report  of  the  board  of  trustees,  January, 
1884,  shows  a  property  valued  at  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  with  considerable  resources  in  real  estate,  and 
subscriptions  for  the  continuance  and  completion  of 
the  enterprise.  The  officers  of  the  society  are  at 
present  as  follows :  Pastor,  Hanford  A.  Edson ; 
Ruling  Elders,  Benjamin  A.  Richardson,  George  W. 
Stubbs,  Joseph  G.  McDowell,  James  H.  Lowes, 
William  P.  Ballard,  Frank  F.  McCrea ;  Deacons, 
E.  A.  Burkert,  W.  J.  Roach,  Charles  H.  Libean,  C. 
W.  Overman,  P.  M.  Parsell,  Joseph  E.  Cobb,  H.  H. 
Linville,  I.  H.  Herrington,  A.  J.  Diddle;  Trustees, 
George  W.  Stubbs,  A.  G.  Fosdyke,  J.  H.  Lowes,  J. 
W.  Elder,  C.  C.  Pierce.  Membership,  three  hundred 
and  sixteen ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  four  hundred  and 
fifty. 

Rev.  Hanford  A.  Edson,  D.D. — The  Edson 
family  are  of  English  nationality,  and  trace  their 
lineage  from  Deacon  Samuel  Edson,  of  Bridgewater, 


398 


HISTORY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Mass.,  and  his  wife  Susanna,  the  former  of  whom 
died  July  9,  1692,  and  his  wife  February  20,  1699. 
In  the  direct  line  of  descent  was  Jonah,  born  July 
10,  1751,  who  died  July  21,  1831.  To  his  wife 
Betsey  were  born  fourteen  children,  of  whom  Free- 
man is  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  biographical 
sketch.  His  birth  occurred  Sept.  24, 1791,  in  West- 
moreland, N.  H.,  and  his  death  June  24,  1883,  in 
his  ninety-second  year.  He  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Twitchell,  of  Keene,  and  also  at  Yale  College,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain, 
in  1814,  settled  at  Scottsville,  N.  Y.,  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  Hanford  A.,  his  son,  born 
in  Scottsville,  Monroe  Co.,  N.  Y.,  March  14,  1837, 
was  named  for  his  maternal  grandfather,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Western  New  York.  He  enjoyed 
early  advantages  of  tuition  at  home  and  at  the  neigh- 
boring district  school,  and  entering  the  sophomore 
class  of  Williams  College,  Massachusetts,  graduated 
from  that  institution  in  1855.  For  a  large  part  of 
the  three  following  years  he  was  instructor  in  Greek 
and  mathematics  in  Geneseo  Academy,  New  York. 
In  September,  1858,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York  City,  and  for  two 
years  prosecuted  the  study  of  divinity.  In  May, 
1860,  he  repaired  to  Europe  and  was  matriculated 
in  the  University  of  Halle,  where  especial  attention 
was  given  to  theology  and  philosophy  under  the  in- 
struction of  Tholock,  Julius  Miiller,  and  Erdman. 
After  extended  tours  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
France,  and  England,  hastened  by  the  war,  he  re- 
turned home.  Being  licensed  to  preach  by  Niagara 
Presbytery  at  Lyndonville,  Oct.  29, 1861,  be  assumed 
charge  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Niagara  Falls, 
and  remained  until  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis,  where  his 
labors  began  Jan.  17,  1864.  He  discontinued  his 
relations  with  this  parish,  and  became  the  pastor  of 
the  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis, 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1873. 

Dr.  Edson  has  been  the  recipient  of  many  ecclesi- 
astical honors.  In  1873  he  represented  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  National 
Congregational  Council  in  New  Haven,  Conn. ;  and, 
in    1878,    he    was    commissioned  to  the  same  duty 


before  the  General  Council  of  the  Reformed  Epis- 
copal Church  in  Newark,  N.  J.  He  has  written 
largely  for  the  press,  and  is  the  author  of  various 
magazine  articles  and  published  sermons  and  ad- 
dresses. Among  the  latter  may  be  mentioned  com- 
mencement address  at  McLean  Institute,  1864  ;  com- 
mencement address  before  the  theological  societies  of 
Marietta  College,  1867  ;  address  at  the  dedication  of 
the  library  and  chapel  of  Wabash  College,  1872 ; 
commencement  address  before  the  theological  socie- 
ties of  Hanover  College,  1873  ;  semi-centennial  ad- 
dress before  the  synods  of  Indiana,  1876.  His 
thanksgiving  sermon,  Nov.  26,  1868,  is  said  to  have 
given  special  impulse  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Indianapolis  Public  Library. 

Dr.  Edson  was  married,  July  16,  1867,  to  Helen 
M.,  daughter  of  William  0.  Rockwood,  Esq.,  of 
Indianapolis,  and  has  had  the  following  children  : 
William  Freeman,  Mary,  Hanford  Wisner,  Elmer 
Rockwood,  Helen  Mar,  and  Caroline  Moore.  Of 
these  the  four  last  named  are  living. 

Eleventh  Presbyterian  Church,  east  side  of 
Olive,  north  of  Willow  Street.  Organized  April  18, 
1875,  with  thirty-seven  members.  Rev.  William  B. 
Chamberlin  was  the  first  pastor.  Present  supply, 
Rev.  C.  H.  Raymond.  Membership,  eighty-eight  ; 
Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and  fifty  ;  value 
of  property,  probably  four  thousand  dollars. 

Twelfth  Presbyterian  Church,  south  side  of 
Maryland  Street,  west  of  West  Street.  Organized 
June  14,  1876,  with  fourteen  members.  First  pastor, 
Rev.  E.  L.  Williams.  Rev.  C.  C.  Herriott  until  very 
recently  was  pastor.  Membership,  one  hundred  and 
six ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and  fifty-one ; 
value  of  property,  probably  three  thousand  dollars. 

Thirteenth  Presbyterian  Church. — This  is  a 
mission  of  the  Second  Church  recently  organized  on 
Alabama  Street,  near  the  Exposition  building  and 
fair  ground. 

METHODISTS. 

Wesley  Chapel. — The  Methodists  of  the  first  set- 
tlement of  Indianapolis  do  not  seem  to  have  made  a 
church  organization  till  after  the  Indianapolis  Circuit 
had  been  constituted  by  Rev.  William  Cravens,  of  the 
Missouri  Conference,  in   1822.     How  long  after,  or 


■f-^ 


^-^^r^^ 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


399 


just  when,  there  is  no  record  to  show.  As  early  as 
1821,  Rev.  Jame.s  Scott  came  here  from  the  St.  Louis 
Conference  and  held  services  at  private  houses,  and 
on  the  12th  of  September,  1822,  a  camp-meeting  was 
held  on  the  farm  of  James  Givan,  on  what  is  now 
East  Washington  Street,  near  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Asylum.  It  was  probably  at  this  time  that  the 
Indianapolis  Circuit,  in  connection  with  the  Missouri 
Conference,  was  constituted.  In  1825  there  was  a 
division  of  the  Conference,  and  this  circuit  was 
attached  to  the  Illinois  Conference.  At  this  time  the 
Blethodists  of  the  town  had  an  organization,  and 
probably  had  had  for  a  couple  of  years.  In  that  year 
they  rented  a  hewed  log  house  on  the  south  side  of 
Maryland  Street,  on  the  corner  of  the  alley  east  of  the 
east  end  of  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  worshiped  there  till 
they  removed  to  the  first  old  brick  church  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Circle  and  Meridian  Streets  in 
1829.  This  first  building  cost  them  three  thousand 
dollars,  and  remained  till  the  walls  cracked  in  18-16, 
when  it  was  replaced  by  Wesley  Chapel  at  a  cost  of 
ten  thousand  dollars. 

From  the  first  visit  of  a  Methodist  preacher  here 
in  1821,  till  the  division  of  the  church  in  1842-43, 
was  a  period  of  twenty  years  of  primitive  Methodism, 
— extempore  sermons,  "lined  out"  hymns,  congrega- 
tional singing,  separation  of  the  sexes  in  church,  and 
a  sort  of  clerical  uniform  for  the  preachers  resem- 
bling a  little  the  Quaker  fashion.  During  this  now 
historical  period  the  appointments  to  this  circuit  will 
be  interesting : 

Preacher.  Presidhiy  iHder. 

1821. ..Rev.  Win.  Cravens  (circuit).     None. 
1822-23. ..Rev.  Jas.  Scott  (circuit).     Rev.  Samuel  Hamilton. 
1823-24...Rev.  Jesse  Hale  and  Rev.        "    William  Beaucbamp. 

George  Horn  (circuit). 
1825  ..Rev.  John  Miller  (circuit).  "    John  Strange. 

1825-26. ..Rev.   Thomas    Hewston        "        " 

(circuit). 
1826-27. ..Rev.    Edwin    Ray    (cir-        "        "  " 

cuit). 
1827-28...Rev. N.Griffith  (circuit).        "        "  " 

1828-29. ..Rev.   James  Armstrong        "        "  " 

(stationed). 
1829-32. ..Rev.  Thomas  Hitt  (sta-        "     Allen  AViley. 

tioned). 
1832-33. ..Rev.  Benjamin    0.  Ste-        "    John  Strange. 

venson  (stationed). 
1833...Rev.C.W.Kuter(stationed).       "    Allen  Wiley. 
]S:!3-3J...Rev.  C.  W.  Ruter  (sta-        "    James  Havens. 

tioned). 


Preacher.  Pretulimj  Elder. 

1834-35. ..Rev.  Edward   R.    Ames      Rev.  James  Havens. 

(stationed). 
1835-36. ..Rev.  J.  C.  Smith   (sta- < 

tioned). 
1836-37,..Rev.  A.  Eddy  (stationed).       •'         "  " 

1837-38. ..Rev.  J.  C.  Smith  (sta-        "     A.Eddy. 

tioned). 
1838-39...Rev.  A.  Wiley  (stationed).      "     "       " 
1839-40...    "  "  ■'  "      "       .< 

lS40-41...Kev.  W.  H.  Goode  (sta-        '■    James  Havens. 

tioned). 
1841-42.. .Rev.  W.  H.  Goode  (sta-        '•         "  " 

tioned). 


There  are  but  few  survivors  of  this  early  period 
of  the  Methodist  Church  here.  Rev.  John  C.  Smith 
is  still  living  in  the  city,  and  a  few  years  ago  pub- 
lished an  interesting  book  of  reminiscences  of  the 
prominent  preachers  and  the  religious  condition  of 
the  country  at  that  time.  Rev.  Greenly  H. 
McLaughlin,  though  too  young  to  be  in  the  min- 
istry then,  was  a  member  of  the  church  and  well 
remembers  the  early  incidents  of  its  history. 

Rev.  Greenly  H.  McLaughlin. — The  great- 
grandfather of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  James, 
a  native  of  Scotland,  who  married  Nancy  Franklin, 
and  emigrating  to  America  settled  near  Richmond, 
Va.  Among  their  children  was  John,  who  was  born 
in  Virginia,  and  married  Miss  Herod,  a  native  of 
Virginia.  Their  children  were  James,  Francis,  John, 
William,  Nancy,  and  Mary.  John,  with  his  family, 
removed  from  Virginia  to  Pittman's  Station,  Ky.,  in 
1781.  His  son  William,  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  was  born  in  Virginia  Dec.  19,  1779, 
and  died  March  26,  1836.  He  was  reared  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  later  in  life  removed  to  Ohio.  He  mar- 
ried, Dec.  31, 1812,  Miss  Elizabeth  Hannaman.  Her 
grandfather  was  Christopher  Hahnemann,  born  in 
Germany,  who  had  seven  children,  among  whom  was 
John,  born  in  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  15,  1769, 
and  died  Nov.  15,  1832.  He  married  Susannah 
Beebe,  born  June  11,  1771,  who  died  April  2,  1842. 
Their  children  were  thirteen  in  number,  of  whom 
Judge  Robert  L.,  of  Knoxville,  111.,  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor and  now  in  his  eightieth  year.  Elizabeth,  their 
eleventh  child,  was  born  in  Scioto  County,  Ohio, 
Nov.  4,  1795,  and  died  Feb.  3,  1880.  She  married, 
as  above,  William  McLaughlin,  and  had   children,— 


400 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Susannah,  Euphemia  W.,  Greenly  H.,  Nancy  R., 
William  H.,  Elizabeth  J.,  and  Maria  G. 

William  McLaughlin,  who  was  a  soldier  of  the 
war  of  1812,  bought  the  quarter-section  two  miles 
southeast  of  the  court-house,  on  which  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  now  resides,  at  the  land-sales  at  Brook- 
ville,  in  July,  1821,  before  the  lands  of  the  "  New 
Purchase"  were  subject  to  entry.  There  was  then 
no  road  or  "  trace"  through  it,  and  it  was  regarded  as 
not  first  choice ;  hence  he  was  permitted  to  bid  it  oflf 
at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre.  This, 
however,  nearly  absorbed  his  entire  capital,  leaving 
only  a  few  dollars  for  the  expenses  incident  to  mov- 
ing and  fixing  up.  In  September  of  that  year  he 
moved  upon  this  purchase  and  took  up  his  abode  in  a 
temporary  camp.  This  soon  gave  way,  however,  to  a 
first-class  cabin  of  rouud  logs,  eighteen  by  twenty 
feet,  which  for  several  years  did  the  compound  duty 
of  kitchen,  parlor,  and  bedroom,  to  which  was  often 
added  the  further  service  of  tavern  and  meeting- 
house. 

Greenly  was  at  this  time  four  years  old,  having 
been  born  in  Fayette  County,  Ohio,  Dec.  24,  1817, 
His  great-grandfather  being  a  Scotch  Catholic  and 
his  great-grandmother  a  Scotch  Presbyterian,  to  set- 
tle all  probable  discords  on  account  of  differences  on 
religion,  it  was  agreed  in  advance  that  the  boys  who 
should  be  born  of  the*  marriage  should  be  educated 
in  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  girls  in  the  faith  of 
their  mother.  But  the  pair  moved  to  America  and 
settled  near  Richmond,  Va.,  before  there  was  much 
occasion  to  carry  out  this  agreement,  and  all  in  the 
third  generation  became  Protestants  through  maternal 
influence. 

Mr.  McLaughlin,  though  only  four  years  old  when 
his  father  moved  from  their  temporary  sojourn  (from 
1819  to  1821)  in  Rush  County  to  a  more  permanent 
home  in  Marion,  remembers  the  peculiar  trials  and 
pleasures  incident  to  what  pioneer  life  then  was  in 
the  midst  of  a  dense  forest.  He  recalls  the  abun- 
dance of  game  and  of  snakes,  and  to  have  seen  In- 
dians as  they  passed  to  and  fro  through  the  country. 
He  remembers  that  his  father  once  shot  a  deer  stand- 
ing in  his  own  door-yard,  and  such  was  the  abundance 
of  squirrels  that  the  killing  of  them  partook  more  of 


drudgery  than  of  sport,  for  if  left  unmolested  they 
would  entirely  destroy  the  small  patches  of  corn 
that  grew  in  the  midst  of  the  heavy  timber  every- 
where abounding.  To  aid  in  protecting  the  crop 
the  children  who  were  too  young  to  handle  guns 
were  armed  with  immense  rattles,  called  horse- 
fiddles,  and  sent  frequently  through  the  field  to 
drive  the  thievish  "  varmints"  away.  He  recalls 
the  primitive  schools  and  the  primitive  school-houses 
with  the  primitive  teacher  and  his  primitive  rod 
and  ferule.  The  structures  were  made  of  round 
logs,  with  doors  of  clapboards  hung  on  wooden 
hinges,  and  with  no  light  except  that  which  strug- 
gled through  greased  paper  in  the  absence  of  glass. 
Nearly  one  entire  end  was  devoted  to  the  fireplace. 
Such  at  least  was  the  one  which  stood  on  the  iden- 
tical spot  now  occupied  by  Mr.  McLaughlin's  ele- 
gant residence,  and  in  which  he'obtained  the  knowl- 
edge of  a,  b,  c,  and  other  intricacies  of  the  spelling- 
book.  To  the  ordinary  appointments  of  such  houses, 
the  dimensions  being  eighteen  by  twenty  feet,  was 
added  a  pulpit  in  the  end  opposite  to  the  fireplace,  in 
which  the  early  Methodist,  Baptist,  and  other  preach- 
ers very  frequently  expounded  the  Word  to  the  sturdy 
yeomanry  of  the  country,  and  this  school-house  be- 
came so  much  of  a  religious  centre  that  it  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  neat  hewed-log  and  then  a  frame  church 
on  the  same  farm,  and  the  first  camp-meeting  ever 
held  in  Marion  County  was  held  here  in  1826,  under 
the  management  of  Rev.  John  Strange. 

The  elder  McLaughlin  and  his  wife  brought  with 
them  their  membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  soon  after  their  arrival  the  first  class  of 
that  church  was  formed  in  Indianapolis,  of  which 
they  became  members.  His  piety  and  talents  were 
such  that  he  became  a  leader  and  exhorter  in  the 
church,  and  was  extensively  useful  as  such  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  which  ended  in  1836.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  wondered  that  under  these  circumstances, 
with  such  a  home,  a  frequent-lodging  place  for  the 
itinerants  of  those  days,  Greenly  grew  up  a  Meth- 
odist of  a  most  pronounced  type,  nor  surprising  that 
four  out  of  five  of  his  sisters  became  wives  of  Meth- 
odist preachers. 

As  Greenly  advanced  in  years  the  educational  advan- 


^^4,.^t-^L^ 


CHURCHES   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


401 


tages  of  the  home  log  school-house  were  supplemented 
by  occasional  attendance  at  some  of  the  better  schools 
in  the  town.  He  finally  became  a  pupil  at  the  "  Old 
Seminary,"  adding  frequent  turns  at  teaching  in  the 
neighboring  districts  both  as  a  means  of  turning  an 
honest  penny  and  as  further  developing  his  own  mind. 
In  the  summer  of  1840,  Mr.  McLaughlin  entered 
Indiana  Asbury  University  with  the  intention  of  srad- 
uating  at  that  young  institution.  He  was  then  nearly 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  with  a  religious  character 
well  established,  and  a  fund  of  theological  knowledge 
much  above  the  average  of  men  of  his  age  just  from 
the  plow ;  hence,  when  the  next  year  he  was  licensed 
to  preach  the  gospel,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  at  once 
took  a  high  rank  among  the  student  preachers  of  that 
institution.  Such  was  the  demand  for  his  gratuitous 
pulpit  labors,  even  at  that  age,  that  his  studies  were 
seriously  interfered  with  though  he  held  a  respectable 
standing  in  his  class,  and  at  the  expiration  of  two 
years  he  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  friends  and 
gave  up  his  college  life  altogether  to  enter  upon  the 
pastoral  work  in  the  Indiana  Conference.  His  stand- 
ing as  a  preacher  may  be  readily  inferred  from  the 
class  of  appointments  received.  He  was  welcomed  at 
such  places  as  Knightstown,  Shelbyville,  Brookville, 
Rushville,  and  Vincennes.  While  at  Vincennes  in 
1847  he  was  tendered  the  important  work  of  chaplain 
to  the  port  of  Canton,  China,  under  the  auspices  of 
The  American  Seamen's  Friend  Society,  but  his  health 
not  being  sufficiently  robust  to  justify  such  a  mission, 
he  declined.  In  1849  he  was  solicited  by  Bishop 
Janes  to  take  a  part  in  the  interest  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  but  this  he  also 
declined  for  the  same  reason. 

After  seven  years  of  successful  labor  in  the  pastoral 
work,  including  one  year  as  agent  for  Asbury  Univer- 
sity, he  sought  rest  and  recuperation  by  returning  to 
country  life  on  the  old  farm  where  he  now  lives.  He 
immediately  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  a  local 
preacher  while  engaged  in  the  work  of  farming,  and 
has  been  extensively  useful  and  acceptable  in  this  field. 
Meanwhile  his  health  improved,  but  again  relapsed,  so 
that  he  never  felt  sufficiently  strong  to  assume  the 
work  of  a  pastor. 

Mr.  McLausrhlin  is  an  industrious  and  successful 


farmer,  as  he  was,  while  so  engaged,  a  successful  and 
industrious  pastor.  In  the.se  years  of  comparative 
retirement  he  has  kept  well  read  in  the  theology  and 
literature  of  his  church,  after  contributing  to  the  col- 
umns of  the  church  periodicals  valuable  papers  on 
theological  and  ecclesiastical  subjects.  He  lives  still 
on  the  farm  purchased  by  his  father  more  than  sixty 
years  ago,  and  to  which  he  came  when  a  boy  of  only 
four  years.  He  is  among  the  few  who  have  witnessed 
the  growth  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis  from  the  be- 
ginning. 

He  was  married,  June  1, 1854,  to  Mary  M.  Ball,  of 
Eu,sh  County,  taking  one  of  the  three  daughters 
of  the  family,  all  of  whom  became  wives  of  Meth- 
odist preachers.  The  children  of  this  marriage  have 
been  four  in  number.  Zopher  Ball,  the  great-grand- 
father of  Mrs.  McLaughlin,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Rev- 
olution and  resided  in  Washington  County,  Pa.  He 
had  five  sons, — Henry,  Caleb,  Dennis,  Abel,  and 
Isaiah,  all  of  whom  were  patriots.  Caleb,  who  served  in 
the  war  of  1812,  married  Phoebe  Walton,  of  Mercer 
County,  Pa.,  where  he  settled  early  in  the  present 
century.  His  children  were  Amos,  Jonathan,  Caleb, 
Henry,  William,  Sarah,  Mercy,  and  Aseneth.  Jona- 
than Ball,  of  this  number,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Pa.,  Jan.  2,  1797,  and  removed  to  Rush 
County,  Ind.,  in  1835.  He  later  became  a  resident 
of  Henry  County,  and  died  May  13,  18B7,  in  his 
seventy-first  year.  He  married  Aseneth  Moore,  and 
had  children, — Samuel.  Henry,  Demas,  William,  Mary 
M.,  Phoebe,  Cyrus,  Caleb,  and  Emily,  of  whom  Mary 
M.,  born  May  8,  1830,  is  married,  as  above  stated,  to 
Mr.  McLaughlin.  Their  children  arc  Olin  S.,  a  suc- 
cessful hardware  merchant  at  Knightstown,  Ind.,  and 
Wilbur  W.,  yet  a  minor  attending  Butler  University, 
and  at  intervals  assisting  on  the  farm,  and  two  who 
died  in  infancy. 

In  1842-43  the  station  here  was  divided,  and 
a  new  church  called  Roberts'  Chapel  was  formed. 
In  1846,  as  above  noted,  Wesley  Chapel  replaced  the 
old  church,  and  was  itself  sold  in  1809  and  converted 
into  the  Sentinel  building,  now  changed  to  a  block  of 
business  houses. 

Meridian  Methodist  Church.— After  the  sale  of 
Wesley  Chapel  in  1869  the  congregation  worshiped 


402 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


in  the  Michigan  Street  Church,  built  by  the  Univer- 
salits,  and  now  a  colored  Presbyterian  Church.  It 
stands  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Meridian  and 
New  York  Streets.  It  is  of  stone,  costing  about  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  finished  in  1870.  A 
brick  parsonage  is  connected  with  it,  which  cost  about 
eight  thousand  dollars.  The  full  membership  num- 
bers five  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  with  ten  on  pro- 
bation ;  Sunday-school  attendance,  about  four  hun- 
dred. The  school  has  no  circulating  library,  but  pro- 
vides all  necessary  books  and  charts  for  all  the  pupils. 
The  annual  contributions  for  benevolent  purposes, 
exclusive  of  five  thousand  dollars  annual  expenses,  is 
over  one  thousand  dollars.  Rev.  John  Alabaster, 
D.D.,  is  pastor.  His  residence  is  No.  25  West  New 
York  Street ;  presiding  elder,  Rev.  John  K.  Pye. 

Roberts'  Chapel. — Indianapolis  station  having 
been  divided  in  lS-12  into  western  and  eastern 
charges,  the  latter  went  out  from  the  old  hive,  and 
formed  an  organization,  calling  itself  Roberts'  Chapel 
congregation.  In  1S43-44  a  church  building  was 
erected  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Market  and  Penn- 
sylvania Streets,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  dollars, 
which  was  at  that  time  the  most  imposing  church 
edifice  in  the  city,  except  possibly  the  second  build- 
ing of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  built  very 
nearly  at  the  same  time.  In  the  square  base  of  the 
spire  was  set  the  first  town  clock  in  the  city,  made 
by  John  Mofiitt,  and  paid  for  by  a  special  tax.  The 
Rev.  John  S.  Bayliss  was  the  first  pastor.  In  the 
basement  of  this  church  the  first  course  of  lectures 
ever  delivered  in  the  city  was  given.  Here  Governor 
Henry  S.  Foote,  of  Mississippi,  lectured  a  .short  time 
before  the  war.  Here  Jonathan  Green,  the  "  re- 
formed gambler,"  lectured  on  his  first  visit.  In 
1868  the  old  church,  then  just  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury old,  was  sold,  and  incorporated  in  one  of  the 
Martindale  blocks,  now  occupied  by  the  counting- 
room  of  the  Journal  newspaper. 

Roberts'  Park  Church. — During  the  time  after 
the  sale  of  the  old  chapel  till  the  occupancy  of  the 
new  church  the  congregation  held  services  in  a  frame 
building  near  the  site  of  the  new  one.  The  latter  was 
completed  fiir  enough  for  use  in  1870.  It  is  of 
dressed  limestone,  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 


sand dollars,  including  the  lot,  and  is  said  to  be  "  the 
finest  free-seat  church  in  the  United  States."  The 
present  pastor  is  Rev.  Ross  C.  Houghton,  D.D.  The 
number  of  members,  eight  hundred  and  ninety-one ; 
Sunday-school  pupils,  six  hundred  and  three  ;  super- 
intendent, H.  C.  Newcomb ;  presiding  elder.  Rev. 
John  Poucher. 

California  Street  Church. — This  congregation 
was  originally  formed  in  1845,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
region  west  of  the  canal,  and  called  the  "  western 
charge."  The  first  preacher  was  Rev.  Wesley  Dor- 
sey.  A  frame  building  on  Michigan  Street,  west  of 
the  canal,  was  built,  and  called  "Strange  Chapel," 
after  John  Strange,  the  third  presiding  elder  in  this 
circuit,  in  1825.  Soon  after  the  building  was  re- 
moved to  Tennessee  Street,  near  Vermont.  In  1869 
a  difiBculty  occurred  in  the  church  in  consequence  of 
the  desire  of  some  of  the  prominent  members,  who 
had  contributed  largely  to  the  purchase  of  the  lot 
and  building,  to  reintroduce  the  old  fashion  of  the 
church, — separation  of  the  sexes  and  congregational 
singing.  A  resolution  to  this  effect  was  adopted,  and 
about  half  of  the  congregation  withdrew.  In  the 
same  year  the  lot  on  West  Michigan  Street  was  sold, 
and  a  new  brick  church  built  at  a  cost  of  thirteen 
thousand  dollars,  dedicated  Jan.  9,  1870.  The 
"  Primitive  Methodists"  bought  the  lot,  or  donated 
it  to  the  ciiurch,  and  made  it  a  condition  of  the  deed 
that  the  old  ways  should  be  adhered  to.  On  Sunday, 
the  8th  of  January,  1871,  however,  the  church  took 
fire,  and  was  burned  to  the  bare  walls,  and  sold.  The 
congregation  had  divided  before  the  catastrophe  on 
the  question  of  receiving  the  pastor  assigned  by  the 
Conference,  Rev.  Luther  M.  Walters,  the  dissenting 
portion  occupying  the  abandoned  Universalist  Church, 
previously  used  by  Meridian  Church  congregation. 
After  the  fire  the  part  of  the  congregation  still 
adhering  together  occupied  Kuhn's  Hall,  with  Mr. 
Walters  as  pastor.  The  completion  of  arrangements 
for  a  new  church  suggested  a  change  of  name  from 
that  which  distinguished  so  inauspicious  a  career  as 
that  of  Strange  Chapel,  and  St.  John's  Church  was 
adopted.  A  lot  was  purchased  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  California  and  North  Streets  for  fourteen 
hundred  dollars,  and  a  buildinii  erected  to  cost  about 


CHURCHES   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


403 


twenty  thousand  dollars,  now  estimated,  including 
the  lot,  at  only  ten  thousand  dollars.  There  are  two 
hundred  full  members  and  ten  on  probation.  The 
Sunday-school  has  about  two  hundred  pupils,  with 
a  similar  provision  of  books  to  that  of  Meridian 
Street.  Annual  expenses,  about  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  ;  benevolent  contributions,  about  one  hundred 
dollars.  Present  pastor.  Rev.  W.  B.  Collins,  297 
North  California  Street. 

Fletcher  Place  (formerly  Asbury)  Churcli  was 
first  organized,  in  a  school-house  on  South  Street 
near  South  New  Jersey,  by  Rev.  S.  T.  Cooper,  in 
1849,  and  John  Dickinson,  William  L.  Wingate, 
Samuel  M.  Sibert,  Samuel  P.  Daniels,  and  John 
Day  were  the  first  board  of  trustees.  Of  the  origi- 
nal members  there  remains  six, — John  Dickinson 
and  wife,  Mrs.  Nancy  Ford,  Mrs.  Ellen  Smith,  Mrs. 
Montieth,  Mrs.  Tabitha  Plank.  It  was  first  organ- 
ized under  the  name  of  Depot  and  East  Indianapolis 
Mission.  In  1850  it  was  called  Depot  Charge.  In 
1852  it  was  called  Asbury  Chapel,  and  in  1856  Asbury 
Church.  In  1874  its  name  was  changed  to  Fletcher 
Place  Methodist  Church.  The  first  church  building 
was  located  on  South  New  Jersey  Street,  near  South 
Street.  It  was  begun  in  1850  and  completed  in 
1852.  The  present  church,  a  fine  brick  structure,  is 
located  on  the  corner  of  South  and  East  Street.  It 
was  built  about  ten  years  ago,  but  not  fully  com- 
pleted till  later.  It  is  valued  at  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars.  The  membership,  which  at  first  was  less  than 
sixty,  is  now  over  five  hundred.  The  present  pastor 
is  Rev.  J.  H.  Doddridge,  B.D.  The  Sabbath-school 
has  at  present  on  the  roll  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  members.  The  officers  are  A.  C.  May,  superin- 
tendent;  Mrs.  H.  Furgeson,  assistant;  Miss  Mollie 
Roberts,  treasurer;  Miss  Mary  Brown,  secretary; 
P.  M.  Gallihue,  chorister;  W.  T.  Ellis,  Jr.,  libra- 
rian. 

Ames  Methodist  Church,  formerly  South  City 
Mission,  is  located  at  the  head  of  Union  Street,  at 
the  intersection  of  Merrill  Street  and  Madison  Ave- 
nue. It  was  organized  by  twelve  members  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1867,  a  mission  having  been  maintained 
since  July  of  the  year  before  by  Rev.  Joseph  Tar- 
kington,   in    an   unfinished  frame   on   Norwood   and 


South  Illinois  Streets,  till  cold  weather,  and  then  in 
an  unoccupied  grocery-room  on  MadLson  Avenue. 
About  the  time  the  church  was  organized,  a  Sunday- 
school  was  formed.  Though  flourishing  well  in  a 
moral  aspect,  the  young  church  was  financially  strait- 
ened, and  the  trouble  continued  till  the  pastor.  Rev. 
Mr.  Walters,  made  a  resolute  push  out  of  it,  and 
bought  the  present  site  and  building  of  the  Itidianap- 
olois  mission  Sunday-school  for  five  thousand  dollars. 
Repairs  were  made  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  and  a  good  sale  of  a  lot  owned  by  the  church 
on  South  Illinois  Street  enabled  it  to  pay  olT  most  of 
the  whole  expense.  It  has  now  two  hundred  and  five 
full  members,  seven  on  probation,  and  about  two  hun- 
dred pupils  in  the  Sunday-school.  Annual  expense, 
about  twelve  hundred  dollars  ;  benevolent  contribu- 
tions, one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars ;  present 
pastor,  Rev.  C.  E.  Asbury  ;  value  of  property,  about 
five  thousand  dollars. 

Blackford  Street  Church,  located  on  the  south- 
east corner  of  Blackford  and  Market  Streets,  built  in 
1873-74;  property  valued  at  four  thousand  dollars; 
membership,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five;  proba- 
tioners, forty-three  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hun- 
dred ;  annual  expenses,  seven  hundred  dollars,  and 
aided  by  Meridian  Church;  Rev.  T.  H.  Lynch,  pastor. 
The  presiding  elder.  Rev.  Dr.  Poucher,  says,  "  These 
churches  are  all  out  of  debt,  and  have  all  improved 
largely  in  the  last  three  months." 

Grace  Church,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Market 
and  East  Streets,  was  organized  in  September,  1868,  on 
therequestof  a  number  of  Methodists  "residing  in  and 
near  Indianapolis,"  as  their  memorial  to  the  Confer- 
ence stated.  They  believed  five  thousand  dollars 
could  be  raised  for  a  suitable  church  building,  and 
promised  to  "  go  forward  at  once  in  the  enterprise  of 
building  a  church  for  the  use  of  such  congregation." 
Rev.  W.  H.  Mendenhall  was  appointed  to  the  charge, 
held  the  first  quarterly  meeting  19th  and  20th  of 
September,  1868,  and  at  the  close,  one  hundred 
members  of  Roberts'  Chapel  united  with  the  mission. 
The  first  quarterly  Conference  was  organized  Sept. 
22,  1868.  A  site  for  a  church  was  obtained  at  once, 
a  house  erected,  and  on  the  21st  of  February,  1869, 
was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Clark.      Present   pastor, 


404 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Rev.  S.  G.  Bright ;  membership,  three  hundred  and 
thirteen ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and 
fifty ;  teachers,  sixteen  ;  probable  value  of  property, 
eighteen  thousand  dollars. 

Third  Street  Church,  on  the  north  side  of  Third 
Street  between  Illinois  and  Tennessee,  was  organized 
from  a  class  of  thirty-six,  led  by  Jesse  Jones,  in 
1864.  A  site  was  purchased  in  1866,  and  a  building 
commenced  for  a  mission  church,  under  the  direction 
of  Ames  Institute.  Finding  themselves  unable  to 
finish  it,  the  young  men  of  the  institute  gave  it  up 
to  Mr.  Jones,  who  completed  it  at  his  own  expense. 
It  was  dedicated  Sept.  8,  1867,  by  Rev.  (now  bishop) 
Thomas  Bowman.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  E.  B. 
Rawls ;  membership,  one  hundred  and  fifty-four ; 
Sunday-school  pupils,  two  hundred  and  twenty, 
under  Superintendent  Wollever. 

East  Seventh  Street  Church,  organized  in  1874 ; 
church  building  is  a  frame  ;  membership,  two  hundred 
and  fifty-six  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  two  hundred  and 
twelve ;  pastor,  M.  L.  Wells ;  school  superintendent, 
H.  C.  Durbin  ;  value  of  property,  nine  thousand 
dollars. 

Central  Avenue  Church  was  organized  in  June, 
1877.  It  was  formed  by  the  consolidation  of 
Trinity  and  Massachusetts  Avenue  Churches,  both 
of  which  were  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
the  city.  The  consolidated  organization  leased  an 
eligible  lot  situate  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Cen- 
tral Avenue  and  Butler  Street,  and  removed  to  it  the 
building  formerly  occupied  by  the  Massachusetts 
Avenue  Society.  This  building  was  enlarged  so  as 
to  comfortably  accommodate  the  membership  of  the 
church.  The  lot  has  since  been  purchased,  and  is 
now  owned  by  the  church.  It  is  the  present  plan  of 
the  society  to  erect  at  an  early  date  a  plain  and  sub- 
stantial church  edifice.  The  location  of  the  church 
is  an  excellent  one,  and  by  careful  and  prudent  man- 
agement Central  Avenue  Church  will,  without  doubt, 
be  one  of  the  largest  and  most  effective  organizations 
of  the  denomination  in  this  city.  Number  of  mem- 
bers, three  hundred  and  seventy  ;  value  of  church 
property,  ten  thousand  dollars ;  names  of  former 
pastors.  Rev.  B.  F.  Morgan,  Rev.  Reuben  Andrus, 
D.D.,  Rev.  J.  N.  Beard  ;  present  pastor,  Rev.  Abijah 


Marine,  D.D. ;  total  number  of  officers  and  teachers 
in  the  Sunday-school,  thirty-six  ;  scholars,  three 
hundred  and  fifty ;  Sunday-school  officers,  superin- 
tendent, W.  D.  Cooper ;  assistant  superintendents, 
W.  B.  Barry,  Mrs.  C.  T.  Nixon ;  secretary,  H.  Gr. 
Harmaman ;  treasurer,  Miss  Sallie  Pye ;  librarian, 
Jefferson  Cuylor. 

Edwin  Ray  Church,  southwest  corner  of  Wood- 
lawn  Avenue  and  Linden  Street;  organized  in  1874; 
frame  building  ;  membership,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and  fifty  ; 
John  Jones,  school  superintendent ;  pastor.  Rev. 
William  B.  Clancy. 

Coburn  Street  Church,  on  northwest  corner  of 
Coburn  and  McKernan  Streets. 

Simpson  Chapel,  corner  of  Howard  and  Second 
Streets ;  pastor.  Rev.  Charles  Jones. 

First  German  Church,  southwest  comer  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey  Streets;  pastor.  Rev.  Otto 
Wilke  ;  organized  in  1849,  with  fifteen  members.  The 
first  church  building  was  erected  in  1850  on  Ohio 
Street,  between  New  Jersey  and  East.  The  first  trus- 
tees were  William  Hannaman,  Henry  Tutewiler,  John 
Keeper,  Frederick  Truxess,  and  John  B.  Stumph. 
A  more  commodious  building  was  needed,  and  in 
1869  was  erected  on  the  present  site,  which  was  pur- 
chased in  December,  1868.  The  dedication  took 
place  on  the  17th  of  April,  1871,  the  ceremonies 
being  conducted  by  Professor  Loebenstein  (of  Berea 
College,  Ohio),  Dr.  William  Nast,  and  Rev.  H.  Lie- 
bert.  The  membership  is  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  and  the  Sunday-school  has  over  two  hundred 
pupils.  The  value  of  the  church  property  is  about 
thirty  thousand  dollars. 

Second  German  Church,  northeast  comer  of 
Prospect  and  Spruce  Streets ;  pastor.  Rev.  John 
Bear. 

North  Indianapolis  Church. — No  pastor  and  no 
report  of  Sunday-school  attendance.  Brightioood 
Church,  not  included  in  the  statements  of  either  of 
the  Conferences  which  divide  Indianapolis  and  Centre 
township. 

COLORED   METHODISTS. 

Forty-eight  years  ago,  among  the  earliest  churches 
i  of  the  city   following  the  pioneer  bodies,  a  colored 


CHURCHES   OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 


405 


Methodist  Church  was  organized  here,  called  Bethel 
Chapel  now.  It  stood  on  Georgia  Street,  fronting 
the  open  ground  to  the  south,  which  then  extended 
with  hardly  a  hreak  by  house  or  fence  to  the  river. 
The  house  was  a  cheap  little  frame,  erected  about  the 
year  1840-41,  and  the  leading  man  was  the  late 
Augustus  Turner.  Rev.  W.  R.  Revels,  brother  of 
the  United  States  senator  from  Mississippi,  was 
pastor  for  four  years,  from  18G1  to  1865.  For  a 
number  of  years  after  the  completion  of  the  first 
little  church  Rev.  Paul  Quinn,  of  Baltimore  (^later  a 
bishop  of  the  Colored  Methodist  Church,  and  a  man 
of  marked  ability,  and  as  highly  esteemed  even  in 
those  days  as  any  of  his  white  coadjutors),  visited  the 
city  and  preached  there.  His  arrival  was  the  signal 
for  a  revival,  and  many  a  peculiarly  enthusiastic  time 
have  the  brethren  had  on  the  floor  while  the  sedate 
old  bishop  stood  in  the  pulpit  and  looked  compla- 
cently on,  but  never  giving  any  encouragement  to  the 
boisterous  glory  of  the  especially  ecstatic  members. 
In  1857,  when  the  first  Episcopal  Church  was  re- 
moved to  make  way  for  the  present  edifice,  it  was 
bought  by  the  Bethel  Church  and  moved  to  Georgia 
Street,  where  it  was  burned  in  two  or  three  years. 
The  congregation  now  has  a  fine  brick  edifice  on  Ver- 
mont Street,  northeast  corner  of  Columbia ;  pastor, 
Rev.  Morris  Lewis  :  membership,  about  six  hundred, 
Sunday-school  pupils,  about  three  hundred. 

Allen  Church,  east  side  of  Broadway,  north  of 
Cherry.  West  Mission,  west  side  of  Blackford 
Street,  near  North. 

Zion  Church,  ou  the  northeast  corner  of  Black- 
ford and  North  Streets,  Rev.  Thomas  Manson  pastor. 
The  colored  churches  belong  to  the  Lexington  Con- 
ference. 

METHODIST   PEOTESTANT  CHURCH, 

on  the  southeast  corner  of  Dillon  Street  and  Hoyt 
Avenue,  Rev.  Seymore  S.  Stanton  pastor. 

CHRISTIANS. 

Central  Chapel. — This  is  the  oldest  religious  or- 
ganization in  the  city  after  the  three  pioneer  churches 
of  the  three  leading  denominations  at  that  time.  It 
was  made  on  the  12th  of  June,  1833.  Rev.  John 
O'Kane,  who  died  but  two  or  three  years  ago  in  Mis- 
souri, visited  the  city  in  the  fall  of  1832,  and  gave 


the  first  impulse  to  the  organization.  Of  the  original 
twenty  members  there  are  none  living  now  but  Mrs. 
Zerelda  Wallace,  widow  of  Governor  Wallace.  Mr. 
O'Kane  and  Rev.  Love  H.  Jameson  visited  the  infant 
church  occasionally,  as  they  had  an  opportunity,  and 
in  1834  or  1835  Rev.  James  McVey  came  and  held 
a  protracted  meeting  in  the  lower  room  of  the  old 
seminary,  then  recently  completed;  and  won  quite  an 
addition  of  converts.  The  leading  members  in  the 
early  days  of  the  organization  were  Robert  A.  Tay- 
lor (father  of  Judge  Taylor,  of  the  Superior  Court), 
Dr.  John  H.  Sanders  (father  of  Mrs.  Governor  Wal- 
lace, Mrs.  R.  B.  Duncan,  Mrs.  D.  S.  Beaty,  and  Mrs. 
Dr.  Gatling,  of  gun  fame),  Ovid  Butler,  James  Sul- 
grove,  Leonard  Woollen,  Cyrus  T.  Boaz,  John  Wool- 
len, Charles  Secrist.  The  preachers  who  visited  the 
church  most  frequently  were,  as  already  noted.  Rev. 
Johu  O'Kane,  subsequently  noted  as  a  debater  in  the- 
ological duels  with  logical  arms.  Rev.  Love  H.  Jame- 
son, Rev.  John  L.  Jones,  very  recently  deceased  after 
long  years  of  partial  or  total  blindness.  Rev.  Michael 
Combs,  Rev.  Andrew  Prather,  Rev.  Thomas  Lock- 
hart,  and  Rev.  T.  J.  Matlock.  On  the  18th  of 
March,  1839,  Rev.  Chauncey  Butler,  father  of  the 
late  Ovid  Butler,  founder  of  Butler  University,  served 
as  pastor  for  about  a  year,  and  Butler  K.  Smith,  a 
blacksmith  on  Delaware  Street,  whose  residence  stood 
where  the  present  Central  Chapel  stands,  occasionally 
preached.  He  subsequently  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  the  ministry,  and  made  a  very  able  and  efiSoient 
preacher.  The  first  regular  pastor  was  Rev.  Love  H. 
Jameson,  who  took  charge  Oct.  1, 1842,  and  remained 
till  1853. 

Love  H.  Jameson  was  born  in  Jefferson  County, 
May  17,  1811,  of  Virginia  parents,  who  came  to 
Kentucky,  the  ftither  in  1795,  the  mother  in  1803. 
In  1810  they  settled  on  Indian  Kentucky  Creek, 
in  Jefferson  County.  He  was  educated  at  a  country 
school  in  winter,  and  helped  his  father  on  the  farm 
in  summer  from  1818  to  1828.  He  began  preaching 
on  Christmas  eve,  1829.  He  taught  himself  the 
classic  languages  to  such  a  degree  of  proficiency  as  to 
entitle  himself  to  the  degree  of  A.M.  from  Butler 
University,  and  also  made  himself  equally  familiar 
with  music,  which  he  occasionally  taught  in  the  city 


406 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


after  he  became  pastor  of  the  church  here.  He  was 
married  first  in  1837  to  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Clark, 
who  dropped  dead  in  the  garden  when  seemingly  in 
perfect  health,  on  18th  June,  1841.  In  the  summer 
of  1842  he  married  his  present  wife,  Miss  Elizabeth 
K.  Robinson,  and  brought  her  with  him  to  Indian- 
apolis when  he  first  came  to  assume  his  pastorate. 
He  has  one  son  still  living  by  his  first  wife,  and  seven 
children  by  his  second,  of  whom  two  sons  are  dead. 
Mr.  Jameson  served  for  many  years  as  trustee  of  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  and  was  one  of  the  fore- 
most of  those  engaged  with  Mr.  Butler  in  founding 
the  Nonliwcstern  Christian  (now  Butler)  University. 
During  the  war  he  was  chaplain  of  the  Seventy-ninth 
Regiment,  Col.  Fred.  Knefler,  and  after  nearly  two 
years  of  service  resigned  from  ill  health  and  general 
disability,  for  which  he  is  now  in  receipt  of  a  moder- 
ate pension.  Since  his  retirement  from  the  pastorate 
of  the  First  Christian  Church,  in  1853,  he  has  been 
chiefly  engaged  in  serving  congregations  throughout 
the  county,  and  occasionally  in  remote  localities.  Last 
fall  he  went  to  Europe,  at  the  invitation  of  a  Mr. 
Coop,  a  member  of  the  church,  a  wealthy  English- 
man living  at  Southport.  He  will  make  a  tour  of 
Europe  and  the  Holy  Land  before  he  returns. 

In  the  summer  of  1836  the  church  built  its  first 
house  of  worship  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  about  half- 
way between  Maryland  and  Georgia  Streets,  on  the 
southeast  side.  Here  the  church  remained  till  1852, 
when  the  present  Central  Chapel,  southwest  corner  of 
Delaware  and  Ohio  Streets,  was  completed.  In  that 
year,  or  the  year  before.  Rev.  Alexander  Campbell 
visited  the  city  and  preached  in  Masonic  Hall,  the 
only  visit  he  ever  made  here.  The  present  pastor  of 
Central  Chapel  is  Rev.  David  Walk.  The  number  of 
members  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty-two ;  of  Sunday- 
school  pupils,  about  four  hundred  ;  value  of  property, 
probably  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Second  Church.  (Colored),  corner  Fifth  and  Illi- 
nois Street;  organized  in  1868.  Present  pastor, 
LeRoy  Redd ;  present  membership,  seventy-five ; 
Sunday-school  pupils,  one  hundred  and  twenty ; 
value  of  property,  probably  three  thousand  dollars. 

Third  Church,  corner  Ash  Street  and  Home 
Avenue;    organized    Jan.    1,    1869.      First    pastor. 


Elijah  Goodwin.  Charter  members,  seventy  ;  pres- 
ent pastor,  S.  B.  Moore ;  present  membership,  two 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  ;  Sunday-school,  about  two 
hundred  pupils ;  value  of  property,  about  ten  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Fourth  Church,  corner  Pratt  and  West  Streets, 
organized  in  1867.  First  pastor,  John  B.  New. 
The  present  pastor  is  E.  P.  Wise;  present  mem- 
bership, one  hundred  ;  Sunday-school,  one  hundred 
and  fifty ;  value  of  property,  about  five  thousand 
dollars. 

The  Fifth  Church,  Olive  Branch,  was  organized 
in  1868,  but  lost  its  meeting-house  in  the  fall  of 
1880,  and  the  members  were  scattered  to  the  other 
churches,  principally  to  the  First  and  Sixth. 

Sixth  Church,  corner  Elm  and  Pine  Streets, 
organized  Feb.  14,  1875.  Pastor,  no  regular. 
Present  pastor,  J.  W.  Conner ;  present  membership, 
two  hundred  and  twelve.  • 

CATHOLICS. 

The  following  account  of  the  Catholic  Churches 
and  Institutions  of  Indianapolis  is  furnished  for 
this  work  by  the  kindness  of  Rev.  Dennis  O'Don- 
oughue,  chancellor  of  the  diocese. 

The  first  Catholic  Church  in  Indianapolis  was 
built  in  1840  by  the  Rev.  Vincent  Bacquelin,  then 
residing  in  Shelbyville,  in  this  State.  It  was  called 
Holy  Cross  Church,  and  was  situated  near  West 
between  Washington  and  Market  Streets.  Father 
Bacquelin  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  Sept. 
2,  1846,  in  a  wood  near  Shelbyville.  His  successor 
was  the  Rev.  John  McDermott,  who  had  charge  of 
Holy  Cross  Church  for  .several  years.  The  next 
clergyman  in  charge  was  the  Rev.  Patrick  J.  R. 
Murphy,  who  was  transferred  to  another  congrega- 
tion in  1848.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John 
Gueguen,  who  commenced  the  erection  of  the  old 
St.  John's  Church  in  1850.  This  edifice  fronted  on 
Georgia  Street,  and  was  located  on  the  spot  where 
the  bishop's  residence  now  stands.  Father  Gueguen 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Moloney,  who,  in 
1857,  built  an  addition  to  the  church.  This  same 
year  the  Rev.  A.  Bessonies  took  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation, a  position  which  he  still  retains. 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


407 


The  Sisters  of  Providence  built  a  youDg  ladies' 
academy  on  the  corner  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee 
Streets,  in  1858,  which  they  occupied  until  their 
present  academy  was  built  in  1873.  The  school 
building  for  boys  was  commenced  in  1865,  and  was 
completed  the  following  year,  when  the  Brothers  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  took  charge  of  the  school.  The 
pastoral  residence  was  built  in  1863,  and  was  enlarged 
by  Bishop  Chatard,  when  he  took  up  bis  residence 
here  in  1878. 

The  present  St.  John's  Church,  fronting  on  Ten- 
nessee Street,  was  commenced  in  1867.  It  is  the 
largest  church  edifice  in  the  city,  measuring  two  hun- 
dred and  two  feet  in  length  and  having  a  seating 
capacity  of  one  thousand  six  hundred.  St.  John's 
congregation  numbers  at  present  four  thousand  souls. 
The  parish  schools  are  attended  by  five  hundred  chil- 
dren. There  are  several  religious  and  benevolent 
societies  attached  to  the  congregation,  of  which  the 
following  are  the  principal :  The  Sodality  for  men, 
established  in  1860,  with  a  membership  of  one  hun- 
dred ;  the  Living  Rosaiy  Society  for  women,  having 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  members ;  the  Young 
Ladies'  Sodality,  organized  in  1877,  with  eighty-five 
members  ;  the  Cathedral  Altar  Society,  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  members;  Boys'  Sodality,  seventy 
members ;  Sodality  of  the  Children  of  Mary,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  members  ;  Total  Abstinence  Society, 
eighty  members  ;  Kuights  of  Father  Mathew,  seventy 
members  ;  Catholic  Knights  of  America,  one  hundred 
members ;  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor,  composed  of  men  and  women, 
seventy-five  members. 

St.  Mary's  German  Catholic  Church,  situate 
near  the  corner  of  Maryland  and  Delaware  Streets, 
was  commenced  in  1857,  and  was  opened  for  service 
the  following  year  by  the  Rev.  L.  Brandt,  its  first 
pastor.  The  next  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Simon  Siegrist, 
who  had  charge  of  the  congregation  until  his  death,  in 
1879.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  A.  Scheideler, 
the  present  pastor.  The  congregation  has  large  school 
buildings  for  boys  and  girls.  St.  Mary's  Academy 
was  built  in  1876  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Francis  from 
Oldonburgh,  in  this  State,  at  a  cost  of  forty  thousand 
dollars.    The  pastoral  residence  attached  to  the  church 


was  built  in  1871,  at  a  cost  of  eight  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars. 

St.  Mary's  congregation  numbers  one  thousand  five 
hundred  souls.  There  are  three  hundred  and  ten 
children  attending  the  parish  .schools.  The  following 
religious  and  benevolent  societies  are  attached  to  the 
congregation  :  St.  Mary's  Altar  Society,  two  hundred 
members ;  St.  Joseph's  Aid  Society,  one  hundred  and 
forty  members;  St.  Boniface  Aid  Society, one  hundred 
and  ten  members  ;  St.  Rose's  Young  Ladies'  Sodality, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  members  ;  St.  Anthony's  Church 
and  School  Society,  seventy-five  members. 

St.  Patrick's  congregation  was  formed  in  1865. 
That  year  the  congregation  built  a  church  at  the  ter- 
minus of  Virginia  Avenue,  of  which  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Petit  was  the  first  pastor.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  P.  R.  Fitzpatrick  in  1869,  who  commenced  the 
erection  of  a  new  church  the  following  year.  St. 
Patrick's  Church  is  built  of  brick,  and  is  in  the  form 
of  a  cross,  Gothic  style,  with  a  spire  of  neat  design 
over  the  intersection  of  the  transept.  It  is  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  feet  in  length  and  has  a  seating  capacity 
of  six  hundred  -and  fifty.  The  present  pastor  is  the 
Rev.  H.  O'Neill,  who  succeeded  the  late  Father  Mc- 
Dermott  in  1882.  The  congregation  numbers  one 
thousand  four  hundred  souls.  There  are  two  parish 
schools,  attended  by  two  hundred  children.  The  boys' 
school  is  under  the  management  of  the  Brothers  of 
the  Sacred  Heart ;  the  girls'  school  is  taught  by  the 
Sisters  of  Providence  in  the  building  formerly  used 
as  a  church.  The  following  are  the  societies  attached 
to  the  church  :  St.  Patrick's  Altar  Society,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  members ;  Young  Ladies'  Sodality, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  members  ;  Men's  Sodality,  one 
hundred  and  thirty  members ;  Children  of  Mary  So- 
ciety, sixty  members  ;  St.  Patrick's  Benevolent  Society, 
forty  members. 

St.  Joseph's  congregation  was  organized  in  1873 
by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Petit.  He  erected  a  two-story 
building  on  East  Vermont  Street,  which  was  to  serve 
as  church,  school,  and  pastoral  residence.  He  re- 
signed in  1874,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  F.  M. 
Mousset,  and  later  by  Rev.  E.  J.  Spelman.  This 
building  was  afterwards  remodeled  by  Bishop  de  St. 
Palais  and  converted  into  a  diocesan  seminary.     St. 


408 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Joseph's  congregation,  in  1880,  purchased  ground  on 
the  corner  of  North  and  Noble  Streets,  and  built  the 
new  church  in  which  they  now  worship.  This  church 
is  of  Gothic  style,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in 
length,  and  cost  seventeen  hundred  dollars.  A  pas- 
toral residence  was  built  in  1881  costing  two  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.  A  large  school  building  has 
just  been  erected  by  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  which 
is  to  serve  as  a  parish  school  for  boys  and  girls  of  this 
congregation.  The  number  of  children  in  attendance 
is  about  two  hundred.  The  congregation  numbers 
twelve  hundred  souls.  The  Rev.  H.  Alerding  is  the 
pastor.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  congregation  since 
1874.  The  following  societies  are  attached  to  the 
congregation :  St.  Aloysius  Society  for  Boys,  thirty 
members ;  Children  of  Mary,  forty  members ;  St. 
Joseph's  Confraternity  for  Young  Men,  fifty  mem- 
bers ;  Society  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  one 
hundred  and  six  members  ;  St.  Michael's  Confrater- 
nity for  Men,  forty-five  members ;  St.  Ann's  Confra- 
ternity for  Married  Women,  eighty-five  members ; 
St.  Joseph's  Association,  four  hundred  members. 

The  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  for  the  German 
Catholics  living  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  was 
built  in  1875,  and  is  situate  on  the  corner  of  Union 
and  Palmer  Streets.  The  building  first  erected,  and 
which  served  as  a  church,  school,  and  monastery,  be- 
came insufficient,  and  a  new  church  was  commenced 
in  the  summer  of  the  present  year.  It  is  not  yet 
completed,  but  will  be  soon  opened  for  service.  The 
clergymen  attending  this  church  are  priests  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Francis,  known  as  Franciscans.  The 
present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Ferdinand  Bergmeyer,  who 
is  superintending  the  erection  of  the  new  church. 
There  are  parish  schools  for  boys  and  girls.  The 
latter  is  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph, 
who  erected  a  school  building  and  residence  in  1875. 
About  two  hundred  children  attend  these  schools. 
The  congregation  numbers  eleven  hundred  souls. 
The  following  societies  are  attached  to  the  church  : 
St.  Bonaventure's  Society,  one  hundred  and  forty 
members ;  St.  Mary's  Altar  Society,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  members ;  St.  Cecilia's  Singing  Society,  sixty 
members ;  Young  Ladies'  Sodality,  seventy  members ; 
Emerald  Beneficial  Association,  thirty-five  members ; 


Catholic  Knights  of  America,  thirty-five  mem- 
bers. 

St.  Bridget's  Church,  on  the  corner  of  West  and 
St.  Clair  Streets,  was  opened  for  service  on  the  1st 
day  of  January,  1880.  It  was  built  under  the  su- 
pervision of  Rev.  D.  Curran,  the  present  pastor,  and 
has  a  seating  capacity  of  five  hundred.  The  congre- 
gation is  now  large  enough  to  fill  it  twice  on  Sunday, 
the  number  of  souls  being  over  one  thousand.  The 
church  measures  one  hundred  and  six  feet  by  forty- 
four,  and  co.st  eleven  thousand  dollars.  A  pastoral 
residence  adjoining  the  church  was  erected  in  1882, 
costing  twelve  hundred  dollars.  A  large  school 
building  was  erected  in  1881  near  the  church  by  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Francis,  from  Oldenburgh,  at  a  cost  of 
eleven  thousand  dollars.  There  are  one  hundred 
and  fifty  children  in  attendance.  The  societies  at- 
tached to  the  church  are:  The  Sodality  for  Men, 
sixty  members ;  Young  Ladies'  Sodality,  seventy 
members ;  Altar  Society,  seventy  members ;  First 
Communion  Society,  fifty  members. 

The  Home  for  the  Aged  Poor,  conducted  by 
the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  was  founded  in 
1873,  and  is  situate  on  Vermont  Street,  between 
East  and  Liberty.  These  sisters  take  charge  of  the 
aged  and  destitute,  and  support  them  by  soliciting 
alms  from"  the  public  who  are  charitably  disposed. 
They  rely  entirely  on  the  means  obtained  in  this  way. 
They  receive  no  one  into  their  house  except  such  as 
are  old  and  destitute.  This  community  was  founded 
in  France  in  1840,  and  it  has  now  in  charge  two 
hundred  and  twenty-three  houses  in  different  parts 
of  Europe  and  America. 

The  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  situate  south 
of  the  city  on  the  Bluff  road,  was  founded  in  1873. 
The  city  authorities  donated  a  building  partly  finished, 
and  which  was  intended  for  a  female  reformatory. 
The  object  of  this  institution  is  to  afibrd  an  asylum 
to  females  who.se  virtue  is  exposed  to  danger,  or  to 
reclaim  such  as  have  fallen  and  desire  to  amend  their 
lives  The  rules  are  founded  on  the  strictest  princi- 
ples of  Christian  charity,  and  no  one  is  received  ex- 
cept she  is  willing  to  enter ;  hence  the  asylum  is  in 
no  sense  a  compulsory  prison.  The  inmates  are  di- 
vided into  two  classes, — the  penitents,  or  those  who 


CHURCHES    OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


409 


have  fallen  from  virtue,  and  in  whose  case,  as  a  sani- 
tary precaution,  certain  conditions  are  required ;  and 
the  class  of  perseverance,  or  those  who  segk  refuge 
from  danger  to  which  they  are  exposed.  These  two 
classes  are  enlirely  separated  from  each  other,  and  are 
under  the  care  of  different  members  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  period  for  which  persons  are  usually 
received  is  two  years,  after  which  they  are  either 
returned  to  their  friends  or  the  sisters  try  to  find 
situations  for  them.  This  community  does  its  work 
in  silence,  away  from  the  noise  of  the  world,  and  but 
few  are  aware  of  the  good  that  it  accomplishes. 

St.  Vincent's  Infirmary,  situate  on  Vermont 
Street  near  Liberty,  was  established  by  Bishop  Chat- 
ard  in  1881.  It  is  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
from  Baltimore.  The  building  used  is  the  Old  St. 
Joseph's  Church  and  Seminary.  The  sisters  intend 
to  locate  the  infirmary  in  another  part  of  the  city 
soon,  when  they  will  erect  a  new  and  suitable  build- 
ing. The  Sisters  of  Charity  are  a  religious  commu- 
nity founded  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in  1633.  Its 
object  is  the  care  of  the  poor,  especially  the  sick,  and 
its  members  are  everywhere  the  servants  of  the  poor 
and  afflicted.  The  destitute  who  enter  the  infirmary 
are  supported  by  the  alms  which  the  sisters  solicit. 
Contributions  are  received  from  those  who  may  be 
able  to  pay  for  the  service  rendered  them,  and  the 
means  obtained  in  this  way  go  to  the  support  of  the 
institution.  There  is  no  religious  distinction  made 
in  regard  to  those  received  into  this  infirmary. 

Rev.  John  Francis  August  Bessonies. — The 
grandfather  of  Father  Bessonies  was  Dubousquet  de 
Bessonies,  who  during  the  horrors  of  the  French 
revolution  of  1793  thought  prudent  to  drop  the  "de," 
a  title  of  nobility,  which  was,  however,  again  assumed 
by  the  family  in  1845,  but  never  by  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  His  great-uncle,  a  Catholic  priest,  was 
arrested  as  such,  and  about  to  be  transported  or 
drowned  when  happily  released  by  the  death  of 
Robe.spierre.  The  parents  of  Fatjier  Bessonies  were 
John  Baptist  Bessonies  and  Henrietta  Moisinac. 
Their  son  was  born  at  the  village  of  Alzac,  parish  of 
Sousceyrac,  department  du  Lot,  diocese  of  Cahors,  on 
the  17th  of  June,  1815,  and  is  one  of  four  surviving 
children.  •  A  sister  died  an  Ursuline  nun  after  twenty- 


five   years   of   religious    life.      August   (as   Father 
Bessonies  now  writes   his    name)  was  placed  under 
the  instruction  of  a  priest  of  a  neighboring  parish, 
but  made  little  improvement.     On  attaining  his  tenth 
year  he  was  placed  with  the  Picpucians,  and  spent  a 
year  in  preparation  for  a  collegiate  course.     Here  he 
made  his   first  communion,  and   was   confirmed  by 
Monseigneur  Guilaume  Baltazar  de  Grandville,  said 
to  be  closely  allied  to  Napoleon  First.     After  two 
years  at  the  latter  school  he  repaired  to  the  Petit 
Seminaire  of  Montfaucon,  and  spent  seven  years  in 
pursuing   the   classics    and   rhetoric.     In    1834   he 
entered  the  famous  seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  in  Paris, 
and  spent  two  years  at  Issy  in  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics, philosophy,  and  natural  philosophy.     In  1836 
he  entered  the  great  seminary  as  a  divinity  student, 
and  at  the  expiration  of  the  first  year  received  the 
sacred  order  of  subdeaconship  and  the  second  year 
that  of  deaconship.     In  1836  he  offered  his  services 
to  Right  Rev.  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  Bishop  of  Vin- 
cennes,  in  Indiana.     After  completing  his  studies  the 
young  man    left    for   America    and    arrived,  after  a 
tedious   journey,  in   1839.     Having  been   ordained 
priest   in    1840,  his   earliest   mission   was  in   Perry 
County,  where   thirteen  years  were  spent.     During 
this  period  he  founded  the   town  of  Leopold   and 
erected  two  stone  and  three  wooden  churches.     Sever- 
ino-  his  very  happy   relations   with   the  parishes  of 
Perry  County,  he  removed  to  Fort  Wayne  in  1853, 
and  remained  one  year,  meanwhile  erecting  a  church 
and  parsonage.     His  next  mission  was  Jeftersonville 
and  the  Knobs,  where  during  a  period  of  four  years 
he  held  service  regularly,  never  missing  an  appoint- 
ment.    He  completed  the  church  at  the  Knobs,  built 
a  parsonage  and  enlarged  the  church  at  Jeffersonville, 
and  secured  a  fine  lot  for  the  present  church.     In 
1857  he  became  pastor  of  St.  John's  Church,  Indi- 
anapolis.    He  raised  the  first  cross  in  the  city  on  the 
old  St.  John's  Church,  which  is  still  in  use  on  the 
vault  of  St.  John's  Cemetery.     He  the   following 
spring  erected  the  St.  John's  Academy,  where  a  school 
was  opened  by  the  Sisters  of  Providence  in  1859, 
and  soon  after  built  a  parsonage.     The  Catholic  cem- 
etery  now   in   use  was  purchased   with   his   private 
means.     Soon  after  a  school  building  for  boys  was 


410 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION   COUNTY. 


_^        "fiiJJmAJJ  Y^, 


erected,  and  at  the  same  time  the  St.  Peter's  Church 
edifice,  now  used  as  a  school  building.  In  1867  was 
begun  the  present  St.  John's  Cathedral,  which  was 
opened  for  worship  in  1877,  and  cost  about  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  He  was  also  instrumental  in 
obtaining  from  the  city,  ground  for  the  buildings 
occupied  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  and 
the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor.  Father  Bessonies 
was  appointed  vicar-general  by  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese,  and  j^ter  administrator  of  the  Diocese  of 
Vincennes  by  the  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati.  His 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  temperance  has  won  for  him  the 
affectionate  regard  of  citizens  irrespective  of  creed, 
and  prompted,  on  the  occasion  of  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  pastorate  and  his  departure  for 
Europe,  the  presentation  of  a  purse  of  four  hundred 
dollars,  with  a  graceful  address  by  the  mayor  of  the 
city.  Father  Bessonies  continues  to  fill  the  offices  of 
rector  of  the  cathedral,  vicar-general  of  the  diocese, 
and   agent  for  the  orphans'   asylum.     He  manifests 


the  same  earnest  spirit  in  his  life-work  and  enjoys  as 
ever  the  esteem  and  love  of  his  parishioners. 

EPISCOPALIANS. 

Christ  Church  was  organized  in  1837.  There 
had  been  an  occasional  clergyman  in  the  settlement, 
and  he  had  held  occasional  services  at  private  houses, 
through  a  period  reaching  nearly  as  far  back  towards 
the  first  settlement  as  the  early  services  of  any  denom- 
ination, but  the  Episcopal  was  the  weakest  numer- 
ically of  all  the  leading  sects,  and  took  longer  to  grow 
up  to  organizing  and  building  strength.  Among  the 
clergymen  who  were  here  temporarily  were,  first, 
Rev.  Melanchthon  Hoyt,  then  Rev.  J.  C.  Clay  (after- 
wards Dr.  Clay,  of  Philadelphia),  Rev.  Mr.  Pfeiffer, 
and  Rev.  Henry  Shaw.  The  end  of  the  transition 
period  came  with  Rev.  James  B.  Britton,  in  1837  ;  as 
a  missionary  he  held  regular  services  in  July  of  that 
year.  Three  months  before  a  movement  towards 
organization  had  been  made,  and  with  the  arrival  of 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


Mr.  Britton  it  was  advanced  a  step  and  completed. 
On  the  13th  of  July,  less  than  a  week  after  Mr.  Brit- 
ton's  first  ministration,  a  meeting  was  held  and  the 
following  agreement  made : 

"  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  affixed,  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  wishing  to  promote 
its  holy  influence  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  ourselves,  our  fam- 
ilies, and  our  neighbors,  do  hereby  associate  ourselves  together 
as  the  parish  of  Christ  Church,  in  the  town  of  Indianapolis, 
township  of  Centre,  county  of  Marion,  State  of  Indiana,  and 
by  so  doing  do  recognize  the  jurisdiction  of  the  missionary 
bishop  of  Indiana,  and  do  adopt  the  constitution  and  canons 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America. 


411 


*  Joseph  M.  Moore. 

D.  D.  Moore. 

Charles  W.  Cady. 

T.  B.  Johnson. 

George  W.  Mears. 

Thomas  McOuat. 

Janet  McOuat. 

William  Hannaman. 

A.  St.  Clair. 

Mrs.  Browning. 

Miss  Howell. 

Miss  Gordon. 

Mrs.  Riley. 

Miss  Drake. 

Mrs.  Julia  A.  McKenny. 
'  IsDiAXAPOLis,  July  13,  1837.' 


G.  W.  Starr. 
Mrs.  6.  W.  Starr. 
James  Morrison. 
A.  G.  Willard. 
M.  D.  Willard. 
James  Dawson,  Jr. 
Edward  J.  Dawson. 
Joseph  Farbos. 
Nancy  Farbos. 
Joseph  Xorman. 
Joanna  Norman. 
Stewart  Crawford. 
John  W.  Jones. 
Edward  Boyd. 
Mrs.  .Stevens. 


Under  this  organization  an  election  for  vestrymen, 
on  the  21st  of  August,  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  senior  warden,  Thomas  McOuat, 
junior  warden,  James  Morrison,  Joseph  M.  Moore, 
and  William  Hannaman.  On  the  7th  of  May, 
1838,  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  church  was  laid 
with  suitable  ceremonies,  and  that  was  the  first  corner- 
stone laid  in  Indianapolis.  One  of  the  members 
made  a  deposit  in  it  of.  the  first  silver  coins  of  the 
dime  and  half-dime  class  ever  brought  to  the  town. 
On  the  18th  of  November  following  the  edifice  was 
opened  for  worship,  and  consecrated  on  the  16th  day 
of  December  by  Bishop  Kemper.  In  1857  it  was 
removed  to  Georgia  Street  for  the  colored  (Bethel) 
church,  and  burned  soon  after.  The  present  thor- 
oughly ecclesia-stical  edifice,  orthodoxically  covered 
with  ivy,  was  finished  in  1860,  the  chime  of  bells, 
the  only  oue  in  the  city,  put  up  in  the  spring  of  1861, 


and  the  spire  completed  in  1869.  The  membership 
is  three  hundred  and  fifty;  Sunday  school  pupils,  two 
hundred.  Value  of  the  property,  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars.     Rector,  Rev.  E.  A.  Bradley. 

St.  George's  Chapel,  a  little  stone  mission  church 
on  the  corner  of  Morris  and  Church  Streets,  was 
built  some  half-dozen  years  ago  by  the  Christ  Church 
congregation.  It  is  served  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bradley,  has 
about  two  hundred  children  attending  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  the  value  of  the  property  is  about  two 
thousand  dollars. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the  largest  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  city,  is  situate  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  Illinois  and  New  York  Streets.  The  parish 
was  organized,  in  1866,  by  the  Rev.  Horace  Stringfel- 
low.  The  first  services  were  held  in  Military  Hall, 
which  was  in  the  building  located  on  East  Washing- 
ton Street,  over  Craft  &  Co.'s,  and  Cathcart,  Clel- 
land  &  Co.'s  stores.  The  present  edifice  has  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  ten  hundred  and  fifty,  besides  th( 
chapel,  which  will  seat  about  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  present  edifice  was  erected  in  1869,  at  a  cost  of 
about  ninety  thousand  dollars.  The  number  of  com- 
municants, three  hundred  and  twenty-one.  Bishop, 
Right  Rev.  D.  B.  Knickerbacker,  D.D. ;  dean  and 
rector,  Rev.  Joseph  S.  Jenckes.  Sunday-school,  one 
hundred. 

St.  James'  Mission,  located  on  West  Street  above 
Walnut,  is  also  under  control  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
and  possesses  a  neat  little  edifice,  erected  in  1875  at  a 
cost  of  seven  thousand  dollars;  has  a  flourishing  Sun- 
day-school of  one  hundred  scholars.  Full  service  is 
held  every  Sunday  evening  by  Rev.  Mr.  Jenckes. 
Will  seat  about  two  hundred. 

Grace  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Pennsylvania  and 
St.  Joseph  Streets,  has  a  good  building  with  seating 
capacity  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty,  with  large 
school-room.  Is  at  present  closed  as  a  church,  but 
Bishop  Knickerbacker  will  have  it  reopened  as  soon  as 
possession  can  be  obtained,  as  it  has  been  rented  for 
school  purposes. 

Holy  Innocents,  on  Fletcher  Avenue,  has  a  neat 
frame  building ;  seating  capacity  about  two  hundred. 
Has  seventy-three  communicants.  Until  recently 
under  charge  of  Rev.  Willis  D.  Engle. 


412 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


REFORMED  EPISCOPAL. 

Trinity,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Alabama  and 
North  Streets. 

LUTHERANS. 

First  English  Lutheran  Church,  organized  Jan. 
22,  1837.  P.  W.  Seibert,  one  of  the  early  hardware 
merchants  of  the  city,  was  president,  and  Filijah 
Martin,  secretary.  The  first  elders  were  Adam 
Haugh  and  Henry  Ohr,  who,  like  Rev.  Abraham 
Reck,  the  first  pastor,  were  Maryland  men.  The  first 
deacons  were  King  English  (father  of  Joseph  K.,  for- 
merly county  commissioner)  and  Philip  W.  Seibert. 
The  first  house  was  a  brick  of  one  story  on  the  south 
side  of  Ohio  Street,  near  Meridian,  but  not  on  the 
corner.  It  was  built  in  1838.  Mr.  Reck  resigned 
the  pastorate  in  1840,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  A. 
A.  Timper.  Mr.  Reck  died  iu  Lancaster,  O.,  in 
1869.  His  son,  Luther,  entered  the  Indianapolis 
company  of  the  First  Indiana  Regiment  in  the  Mexi- 
can war,  and  was  drowned  while  swimming  in  the 
Rio  Grande,  at  Matamoras,  where  the  regiment  was 
stationed.  During  the  pastorate  term  of  Rev.  J.  A. 
Kunkleman,  about  1860,  the  church  was  torn  down 
and  another  built  on  the  southwest  corner  of  New 
York  and  Alabama  Streets,  which  was  dedicated  in 
18G1.  A  few  years  ago  this  church  was  sold  and  a 
third  built  on  the  corner  of  Pennsylvania  and  Walnut 
Streets.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  John  Baltzley. 
The  membership  is  one  hundred  and  two ;  Sunday- 
school  pupils,  seventy-five ;  value  of  property  about 
eighteen  thousand  dollars. 

St.  Paul's  (German),  on  the  corner  of  East  and 
Georgia  Streets,  was  organized  June  5,  1844.  The 
first  church  was  built  on  Alabama  Street  below  Wash- 
ington, and  dedicated  May  11,  1845  ;  first  pastor.  Rev. 
Theodore  J.  G.  Kuntz.  In  1860,  another  church 
was  built  on  the  corner  of  East  and  Georgia  Streets, 
and  dedicated  Nov.  3,  1860,  by  Rev.. Dr.  Wynckan, 
president  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod.  In 
the  rear  of  the  church  two  school-houses  have  been 
built,  where  a  parochial  school  has  been  maintained 
for  twenty  years.  A  parsonage  on  East  and  Ohio 
Streets  was  built  in  1869,  and  in  1870  the  cemetery 
south  of  Pleasant  Run,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Three- 
Notch  road,  already  referred  to,  was  purchased  and 


laid  out.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Charles  C. 
Schmidt.  The  membership  is  over  two  hundred, 
and  the  Sunday-school  attendance  is  about  four  hun- 
dred. The  value  of  the  church  property  is  about 
sixty  thousand  dollars. 

Second  Lutheran  Church  (German),  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  East  and  Ohio  Streets.  The 
pastor  is  Rev.  Peter  Seuel ;  membership,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen ;  Sunday-school  pupils,  two  hun- 
dred; value  of  property,  probably  twenty  thousand 
dollars. 

Zion's  Church  (German)  was  organized  in  1840 
by  the  German  members  of  the  First  English  Lu- 
theran Church.  They  wanted  services  in  their  own 
language,  and  formed  the  new  organization  for  that 
purpose.  The  first  pastor  was  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Kuntz, 
who  was  later  the  fir.st  pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Lutheran 
Church,  who  served  until  1842.  The  congregation 
was  then  without  a  pastor  till  1844,  when  Rev.  J.  F. 
Isensee  was  called.  The  first  church  building  was 
erected  where  the  present  one  is  in  1844,  and  was 
dedicated  in  1845,  May  18th.  In  1866  the  present 
house  was  begun,  the  corner-stone  laid  July  1,  1866, 
and  the  dedication  celebrated  Feb.  5,  1867.  The 
church  has  about  two  hundred  members,  and  the 
Sunday-school  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  The 
value  of  the  church  property  is  over  thirty  thousand 
dollars. 

First  Danish  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church, 
southeast  corner  of  MeCarty  and  Beaty  Streets. 

Second  Danish  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church, 
east  side  of  New  Jersey  Street,  south  of  Merrill. 

During  about  a  year,  in  1882-83,  a  small  Danish 
mission  church  was  maintained  in  a  neat  little  frame 
building  on  South  Missouri  Street,  below  Merrill. 
The  "  wash"  of  the  west  bank  of  Pogue's  Creek  at 
that  point  cut  away  the  ground  between  the  church 
and  the  creek,  and  finally  cut  under  the  house,  and 
the  congregation  moved.  The  building  was  turned 
into  a  little  grocery-store. 

GERMAN    REFORMED. 

Emanuel  Church,  on  the  northwest  comer  of 
Coburn  and  New  Jersey  Streets  ;  Rev.  H.  Helming, 
pastor. 


CHURCHES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


413 


First  Church,  east  side  of  Alabama,  south  of 
Market  Street ;  pastor,  Rev.  John  Rettig.  The  first 
steps  in  the  organization  of  this  church  were  taken 
by  Rev.  George  Long,  who  came  here  as  a  missionary 
of  the  German  Reformed  denomination — chiefly  fol- 
lowers of  Zwingle  and  Calvin — in  1851,  and  preached 
till  the  following  spring,  1852,  when  he  organized 
the  First  Church,  and  they  began  the  erection  of  the 
church,  which  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  Octo- 
ber, 1852.  In  1856,  Mr.  Long  resigned,  and  Rev. 
M.  G.  I.  Stern  succeeded.  The  membership  is  over 
two  hundred,  and  the  Sunday-school  attendance  about 
as  large.  The  value  of  the  property  is  about  fifteen 
thousand  dollars. 

Second  Church,  west  side  of  East  Street,  opposite 
Stevens  Street.  Organization  was  made  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1867  by  some  members  of  a  former  church 
who  lived  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  city.  Rev. 
Mr.  Steinbach,  who  had  served  here  as  a  Lutheran 
minister,  took  the  church  first,  resigning  at  the  end 
of  the  year  1867.  Rev.  M.  G.  I.  Stern  was  selected 
in  place  of  Mr.  Steinbach,  and  under  him  the  mission 
was  changed  to  the  "  Second  German  Reformed 
Church."  Mr.  Stern  is  still  the  pastor.  A  German- 
English  parochial  school  of  one  hundred  pupils  is 
coDDected  with  the  church,  under  two  teachers. 
Membership,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty-six ;  the 
attendance  at  Sunday-school,  nearly  double  that ; 
value  of  property,  about  twelve  thousand  dollars. 

GERMAN   EVANGELICAL   ASSOCIATION. 

First  Church,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  New 
Jersey  and  Wabash  Streets;  organized  June  19, 
1855,  with  twenty-one  members,  as  the  Immanuel 
Church  of  the  Evangelical  Association  of  Indianap- 
olis. Rev.  Joseph  Fisher  is  the  pastor.  The  mem- 
bership is  about  two  hundred ;  the  Sunday-school 
attendance,  about  two  hundred  ;  value  of  property, 
probably  twelve  thousand  dollars. 

FRIENDS. 

Their  meeting-house  is  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Delaware  and  St.  Clair  Streets.  The  ministers  are  Jo- 
seph J.  Mills,  Anna  Mills,  Calvin  W.  Pritchard,  Jane 
Trueblood,  and  Sarah  Smith.     The  organization  was 


made  in  1854,  and  the  first  minister  Mrs.  Hannah 
Pierson.  Membership,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty ; 
value  of  property,  twelve  thou.sand  dollars. 

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Plymouth  Church,  organized  Aug.  9,  1857,  by 
thirty-one  members,  who  for  some  months  previously 
had  maintained  religious  services  and  a  Sunday- 
school  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  old  State- 
House.  The  chamber  was  used  most  of  the  time, 
till  the  congregation  removed  to  their  first  church 
on  Meridian  Street,  opposite  Christ  Church  (Epis- 
copal). This  edifice  was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1858, 
and  the  front  part,  containing  the  lecture-room, 
study,  and  social  rooms,  was  completed  and  occupied 
in  September,  1859.  The  remainder  was  finished 
and  dedicated,  after  much  improving,  on  the  30th 
of  April,  1871,  when  the  Rev.  Joseph  L.  Burnett 
was  made  pastor.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  N.  A. 
Hyde,  now  of  the  Mayflower  Church.  He  began  in 
the  fall  of  18G6,  and  resigned  the  pastorate  in 
August,  1867,  to  assume  the  duties  of  superin- 
tendent of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
for  this  State.  Within  the  present  year  (1884)  this 
church  has  completed  and  occupied  a  new  and  very 
fine  church  edifice  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Merid- 
ian and  New  York  Streets.  The  value  of  it  is  esti- 
mated at  forty  thousand  dollars.  The  membership 
is  not  counted  by  the  number  of  communicants  but 
by  the  number  attending  the  church  services,  aver- 
aging about  six  hundred  in  the  morning  and  seven 
to  eight  hundred  young  people  in  the  evening. 

Mayflower  Church,  St.  Clair  and  East  Streetsi 
was  organized  from  a  Sunday-school  formed  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  at  a  private 
house  on  the  corner  of  Jackson  and  Cherry  Streets, 
May  23,  1869.    There  were  thirteen  original  members, 

five  from  Plymouth  Church,  two  from  the  Third 

Street  Methodist  Church,  one  from  Roberts  Park 
Church,  and  three  from  the  Fourth  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  church  edifice  was  completed  and 
dedicated  in  January,  1870.  It  is  a  frame  building, 
worth  now  with  the  lot  probably  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  membership  is  one  hundred  and  fifty; 
Sunday-school  attendance,  one  hundred  and  eighty. 


414 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Rev.  Nathaniel  A.  Hyde,  first  pastor  of  Plymouth 
Church,  is  the  present  pastor  of  Mayflower  Church. 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Alden  Hyde,  D.D.,  pastor  of 
the  Mayflower  Congregational  Church  of  Indianap- 
olis, has  been  actively  identified  with  the  general,  as 
well  as  the  religious,  interests  of  the  city  and  State 
for  upwards  of  twenty  years.  Like  many  other  prom- 
inent and  useful  men  of  the  West,  he  in  of  New 
England  origin,  and  of  genuine  Pilgrim  stock.  He 
was  born  May  10,  1827,  in  Stafi"ord,  Conn.  His 
father,  Nathaniel  Hyde,  was  a  thrifty  and  successful 


till  she  was  removed  by  death  in  his  ripe  and  suc- 
cessful manhood.  This  devoted  mother  was  very 
desirous  that  her  son  should  enter  the  gospel  min- 
istry, ;uid,  very  early  in  his  life,  laid  her  plans  for 
him  accordingly.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
entered  Monson  Academy,  then  a  very  popular  and 
flourishing  school  in  the  town  of  Monson,  which  was 
just  across  the  line  from  his  native  town,  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts.  Here  he  pursued  his  preparatory 
studies  for  four  years,  entering  Yale  College  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  and  graduating  from  that  institution 


^//^    /?       J^^ 


iron-founder.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Caroline  Converse,  was  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Al- 
den, one  of  the  Pilgrims  coming  in  the  "  Mayflower" 
and  landing  on  Plymouth  Rock.  This  honorable 
ancestry  was  recognized  by  his  parents,  doubtless 
with  commendable  pride,  in  the  name  which  they 
gave  to  their  son,— Nathaniel  for  the  father,  and 
Alden  for  the  Pilgrim  father.  The  death  of  the 
father  early  left  the  son  to  the  entire  care  and  train- 
ing of  the  mother,  between  whom  and  himself 'there 
ever  existed  a  peculiarly  tender  and  intimate  relation 


at  twenty  years  of  age  in  the  class  of  1847.  His 
professional  studies  were  pursued  at  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  from  which  he  graduated  in  the 
class  of  1851.  After  graduation,  and  before  begin- 
ning his  long  and  useful  work  in  Indianapolis,  he 
spent  seven  years  in  somewhat  desultory  work  in 
his  profession.  During  a  portion  of  1851-52  he 
preached  in  Central  Village,  Conn.,  and  in  1852-53 
in  Rockville,  Conn.  He  then  became  assistant  secre- 
tary of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  in  New  York 
City,  a  position  which  he  held  from  1854  to  1856. 


CHURCHES   OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


415 


After  preaching  for  a  short  time  in  Deep  River, 
Conn.,  in  1857  he  turned  his  face  and  steps  west- 
ward. On  the  23d  day  of  December  in  this  latter 
year  he  was  ordained  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  remaining 
there  till  the  next  year,  when  he  went  for  a  very 
brief  period  to  fill  a  temporary  engagement  at  Cin-  '■ 
cinnati.  The  Plymouth  Church  in  Indianapolis  had 
just  been  organized,  and  in  1858  it  extended  to  Dr. 
Hyde  a  call  to  become  its  pastor.  He  accepted  the 
call,  and  here  entered,  with  this  young  church,  upon 
his  real  life-work.  The  first  services  which  he  con- 
ducted here  were  held  in  the  Senate  chamber  of  the 
old  State-House.  But  it  was  not  long  before  the 
enthusiasm  and  earnestness  of  the  young  pastor,  with 
the  pressing  need  of  a  church  home,  resulted  in  the 
erection  of  the  house  of  worship  which  has  been 
occupied  till  recently  by  that  church.  For  nearly 
ten  years  he  held  this  pastorate  to  the  entire  satis- 
faction and  great  profit  of  the  church.  In  the 
year  1867  the  State  Association  of  Congregational 
Churches  and  ministers  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  general  interests  of  the  cause  of  religion, 
and  the  interests  and  usefulness  of  the  demomination, 
demanded  the  appointment  of  a  superintendent  of 
missions  for  the  State.  When  application  was  made 
to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  for  such 
an  appointment,  and  the  oflBcers  of  the  society  replied 
that  they  would  comply  with  the  request  if  the  breth- 
ren in  Indiana  would  name  the  right  man  for  the 
place,  the  thoughts  of  all  turned  directly  to  Dr. 
Hyde.  His  long  residence  in  the  State,  and  conse- 
quent familiarity  with  its  peculiarities  and  needs, 
coupled  with  his  earnest  Christian  spirit  and  sound 
judgment,  caused  his  brethren  unanimously  to  feel 
that  of  all  others  he  was  the  man  for  the  place,  a 
decision  which  subsequent  results  fully  justified. 
Accordingly,  although  it  was  contrary  to  his  own 
desires,  and  contrary  to  the  desires  of  his  church, 
which  was  very  strongly  attached  to  him,  he  was 
appointed  to  this  important  position,  and,  in  obe- 
dience to  a  sense  of  duty,  accepted  it,  and  discharged 
its  duties  with  rare  fidelity,  success,  and  acceptabil- 
ity for  six  years.  The  assertion  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned by  those  knowing  the  facts  in  the  case  that 
no  other  man  in  the  State  has  done  so  much  for 


the  interests  of  the  denomination  of  which  he  is  a 
member  as  has  Dr.  Hyde.  At  the  same  time  he  is 
as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  think  from  being  a  sectarian 
in  his  feelings  or  work.  He  is  broad  and  catholic 
in  his  spirit,  and  has  the  profoundest  respect  of  all 
denominations  of  Christians  in  the  city  and  the 
State  with  whom  the  duties  of  his  various  positions 
have  brought  him  in  contact.  Directly  after  resign- 
ing his  position  as  superintendent  of  missions  for 
domestic  reasons,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Mayflower 
Church  in  1873,  which  position  he  still  holds.  His 
pastorate  has  been  a  very  successful  one.  In  addition  to 
his  professional  labors.  Dr.  Hyde  has  been  associated 
with  various  other  interests  of  city  and  State.  He 
was  for  several  years  a  prominent  and  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board,  held  the  position  of  president 
of  the  State  Social  Science  Association  for  several 
terms,  contributing  some  very  valuable  papers  to  its 
meetings,  and  is  a  member  of  the  boards  of  trustees 
of  several  educational  institutions.  As  a  friend  of 
every  good  cause,  and  of  all  persons  needing  and 
deserving  aid,  he  is  widely  and  most  favorably  known 
throughout  the  city  and  State.  He  is  ever  counted 
upon  as  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand,  and  those  who 
look  to  him  are  never  disappointed,  for,  while  he  is 
quiet  and  unostentatious  in  manner,  he  is  earnest 
and  efficient  in  labor,  of  an  excellent  judgment,  and 
has  a  very  warm  heart.  Of  all  the  worthy  members 
of  his  profession  in  the  city,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  none 
are  more  generally  or  favorably  known  than  is  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  sketch.  Dr.  Hyde  was 
married  on  the  28th  of  August,  1866,  to  Laura  K., 
daughter  of  the  late  Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Sr.,  of 
Indianapolis. 

UNIVBRSALISTS. 

As  related  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  the 
Universalists  have  no  distinct  organization,  though 
for  many  years  they  had  a  strong  one,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  had  two.  They  claim  that  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  orthodox  churches  has  discarded  the 
notion  of  a  material  hell  and  an  eternity  in  it  that 
their  sectarian  identity  is  effaced.  Everybody  is 
Universalist  now,  except  a  few  immovable  lumps  of 
prejudice.  At  all  events,  there  is  no  longer  a  Uni- 
versalist Church  in  Indianapolis. 


416 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


UNITED   BRETHREN. 

The  only  church  of  this  denomination  is  on  the 
east  side  of  Oak  between  Vine  and  Cherry  ;  pastor, 
Rev.  Augustus  C.  Willmore.  The  first  church  of 
United  Brethren  was  organized  in  1850,  and  the 
congregation  in  1851  built  the  brick  house  occupied 
for  many  years,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  New 
Jersey  and  Ohio  Streets.  In  the  fall  of  1869  a 
dissension  broke  out  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Liberal  United  Brethren,  containing  a  majority 
of  the  membership.  They  refused  to  allow  the 
other  division  the  use  of  the  house,  which  led  to  a 
law-suit  and  the  recovery  of  possession  by  the  old 
society,  Aug.  31,  1870.  Then  the  Liberals  dis- 
banded and  distributed  themselves  about  among  the 
Methodist  Churches.  The  property  is  worth  about 
seven  thousand  dollars.  The  membership  now  is 
about  one  hundred ;  the  Sunday-school  attendance 
rather  larger. 

UNIT.^BIAN. 

A  brief  account  of  this  denomination  and  its  dis- 
appearance about  1872  has  been  given.  It  never 
owned  anything,  so  it  has  nothing  to  be  noted  after 
its  own  dissolution. 

SWEDENBORGIAN. 

There  is  but  one  congregation  of  this  denomina- 
tion in  the  city,  and  it  occupies  New  Church  Chapel, 
No.  333  North  Alabama  Street. 

UNITED   PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  only  church  is  on  the  northeast  corner  of  East 
Street  and  Massachusetts  Avenue.  The  pastor  is 
Rev.  James  P.  Cowan. 

HEBREWS. 

The  first  Hebrew  congregation  in  this  city  was 
organized  in  the  winter  of  1855.  Before  1853  there 
were  no  Hebrew  residents  here  but  Alexander  Franco 
and  Moses  Woolf.  The  growth  of  this  class  of 
population  increased  so  considerably  in  the  next  two 
years,  however,  that  a  church  organization  was  a 
natural  suggestion,  and  it  was  made.  In  the  fall  of 
1856  a  room  in  Blake's  Commercial  Row,  on  Wash- 
ington Street  west  of  Kentucky  Avenue,  was  en- 
gaged for  a  church,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Berman  became 
the  pastor.     In  1858  a  change  was  made  to  a  larger 


hall  in  Judah's  Block,  which  was  dedicated  by  Rabbi 
Wise,  of  Cincinnati,  distinguished  for  his  learning. 
Rev.  J.  Wechsler  was  engaged  as  pastor,  and  served 
till  1861.  During  that  year  the  congregation  had 
no  pastor  and  became  greatly  reduced,  but  in  1862 
obtained  Rev.  M.  Moses  as  pastor,  and  made  some 
changes  from  the  old  style  of  ceremony  which  re- 
stored its  strength,  and  it  began  to  debate  the  pro- 
priety of  having  a  house  of  its  own.  In  1864 
subscriptions  were  started,  and  on  the  7th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1865,  the  corner  stone  of  the  temple  on  Market 
Street  east  of  New  Jersey  was  laid  with  an  address 
from  Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal,  of  Cincinnati.  After  some 
serious  embarrassments  the  temple  was  completed 
and  dedicated  Oct.  30,  1868.  The  pews  in  this 
church  are  not  rented  from  year  to  year,  as  in 
Gentile  churches,  but  are  sold  outright  as  so  much 
real  estate,  for  which  a  regular  conveyance  is  exe- 
cuted. Only  adult  males  are  counted  as  members 
in  making  up  the  strength  of  the  congregation. 
The  membership  of  Indianapolis  Hebrew  Society  is 
eighty  adult  males.  A  regular  school  is  kept 
through  the  week  in  the  temple,  and  on  the  Sabbath 
a  special  school  is  held  free  for  those  who  wish  to 
pursue  the  study  of  Hebrew  or  biblical  history. 
The  value  of  the  property  is  about  thirty  thousand 
dollars. 

A  smaller  congregation  was  formed  a  few  years 
ago,  which  holds  its  meetings  in  Root's  Block,  corner 
of  Pennsylvania  and  South  Streets.  Its  membership 
is  about  forty,  and  has  no  school  attachment. 

In  the  appended  summary,  exhibiting  the  present 
condition  of  the  churches  of  Indianapolis,  no  more 
than  an  approximation  is  possible  in  some  cases.  In 
most,  however,  the  church  authorities  have  furnished 
as  accurate  statements  as  they  could  arrive  at.  The 
general  result  is  very  close  to  the  truth.  It  must  be 
noted,  as  before  suggested,  that  the  Catholic  authori- 
ties number  the  members  of  their  church  as  "  souls," 
counting  all  of  whatever  age  born  into  the  church, 
as  well  as  all  attaching  themselves  to  it,  as  professors 
of  Protestant  creeds  do.  This  makes  their  numbers 
look  disproportionately  large.  But  count  the  Pres- 
byterians or  Methodists  in  the  same  way  and  they 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


will  show  larger  congregations.     The  Plymouth  Con- 
gregational pastor  counts  attendants  on  his  services. 


417 


Churche 


Member- 
ship. 

Baptist 1,100 

Presbyterian 2,950 

Methodist 4,700 


Christi.in 

Catholic 

Episcopal 

Lutheran 

German  Reformed 

German  Evang'l  Ass'n. 

Friends 

Congregationalist 

United  Brethren 

Hebrew 


l,tno 

10,200 
1,000 
600 
.330 
200 
250 
SOO 


Sunda.v-Scbo 
Puiiils. 
1,150 
3,400 
4,000 
1,000 


60(1 
S50 
450 


Totals 


Value  of 

Property. 

$100,000 

425,000 

420,000 

75,000 

500,000 

200,000 

125,000 

30,000 

12,000 

12,000 

50,000 

7,000 

.33,000 

$1,991,000 
or  $2,000,000 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

SCHOOLS    AND    LIBRARIES   OF    INDIANAPOLIS. 

Early  Schools. — The  history  of  the  early  schools 
of  Indianapolis  is  very  meagre,  but  happily  not  con- 
fused or  uncertain.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
the  first  school-house  was  a  log  cabin  on  the  point  of 
junction  of  Kentucky  Avenue  and  Illinois  Street, 
adjacent  to  a  large  pond  or  mud-hole,  and  built  dur- 
ing the  pestilent  summer  of  1821.  The  first  teacher 
was  Joseph  C.  Reed,  who  was  the  first  recorder  of 
the  county.  He  taught  but  a  few  weeks,  a  single 
quarter,  probably,  and  was  followed  by  one  or  two 
others,  possibly,  though  there  is  no  record  or  safe 
memory  to  assure  us  of  it ;  but  the  first  year  of  the 
settlement  appears  to  have  been  one  of  no  consider- 
able solicitude  about  education.  There  was  enough 
to  do  to  get  something  to  eat  and  keep  a  stomach 
healthy  enough  to  hold  it.  By  the  summer  of  1822, 
however,  affairs  were  getting  in  better  shape,  and  with 
the  irrepressible  instinct  of  Americans  for  education, 
measures  were  taken  to  secure  adequate  tuition  for 
the  children  of  the  yearling  city  capital.  A  meeting 
was  held  at  the  school-house  on  the  20th  of  June, 
1822,  to  arrange  for  a  permanent  school.  Trustees 
were  appointed,  says  the  sketch  of  1850,  but  the 
names  are  not  given.     James  M.  Ray,  or  James  Blake, 


or  Calvin  Fletcher,  one  or  the   other,  or  all,  most 
likely,  made  the  first  educational  board  of  the  city.    A 
I  Mr.  Lawrence  and  his  wife  were  engaged  as  teachers, 
I  and  continued  in  the  first  school  house  till  the  com- 
I  pletion  of  the   First  Presbyterian   Church  in  1824, 
when  they  removed  to  that  more  eligible  locality  and 
building,  and  the  first  school-house  disappears  from 
^  history  as  it  probably  did  from  nature  thenceforward. 
I  Whether  it  was  torn   down  or  turned  into  the  lo" 
pottery-shop  that  preceded  the  old  State  Bank,  there 
is  no  certain  indication  to  suggest.     Nor  is  there  any- 
I  thing    to  enlighten  antiquarian   curiosity  as   to  the 
,  origin  or  fate  of  that  other  log  school-iiouse  on  Mary- 
land Street  and  partly  in  it,  west  of  Tennessee,  which 
the  Baptists  used  for  a  time  as  their  place  of  wor.ship. 
In  1825,  after  the  arrival  of  the  capital  and  its  ac- 
companiments, Mr.   Merrill,  the  treasurer,  who  was 
probably  the  best  educated  man  in  the  place,  at  the 
solicitation   of  the   citizens,  undertook  to  relieve  the 
educational  stress  of  the  time,  caused  by  a  large  influx 
of  population  with  the  capital  and  the  Legislature, 
and  taught  a  school  for  a  time  in  the  log  house  on 
the  south  side  of  Maryland,  west  of  Meridian,  which 
the  Methodists  used  for  a  church  about  that  time.     A 
Mr.  Tufts    taught   there  too,  and  one  or  two  others 
later. 

It  is  not  likely  that  there  were  more  than  this  and 
the  original  school-house  till  the  completion  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  Lawrence  and  his  wife, 
it  is  supposed,  continued  in  the  church  till  near  the 
time  that  Ebenezer  Sharpe  came  here  from  Paris, 
Bourbon  Co.,  Ky.,  in  1826.  For  three  years  before 
this  the  Union  Sunday-school  had  been  in  operation 
in  Caleb  Scudder's  cabinet-shop,  and  later  in  the 
church,  and  here  Mr.  Blake  and  his  coadjators  had 
taught  the  alphabet  and  spelling,  as  in  any  primary 
school,  to  some  of  their  young  pupils.  It  was  more 
like  a  school,  and  less  like  a  sort  of  semi-theological 
recreation,  than  the  modern  Sunday-school.  Mr. 
Nowland  says  he  learned  his  A,  B,  C's  of  Mr.  Blake 
at  the  Union,  and  he  was  not  alone  by  any  means. 
Mr.  Sharpe  succeeded  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  in  the 
school  of  the  old  church  which  was  kept  in  the  back 
part,  on  the  alley  that  runs  northward  from  Market 
Street  past  the  Journal  building.      Some  years  later, 


418 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


about  1830,  he  took  his  school  to  a  frame  house  on 
the  site  of  the  Club  House,  corner  of  Meridian  and 
Ohio,  where  he  continued  till  near  his  death  in  1835. 
He  was  assisted  a  part  of  the  time  by  his  son,  Thomas 
H.  Sharpe,  one  of  the  best  known  and  esteemed  of 
the  relics  of  the  early  days  of  the  city.  About  the 
time  that  Mr.  Sharpe  took  his  school  to  the  house  on 
Meridian  Street,  Mr.  Thomas  D.  Gregg  opened  a 
school  in  an  old  carpenter-shop  on  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Delaware  and  Market  Streets,  where  ho  was 
succeeded  till  about  1840,  or  a  little  later,  by  William 
J.  Hill  and  others,  and  lastly  by  Josephus  Cicero 
Worrall. 

Contemporaneously  with  these,  about  1832,  Miss 
Clara  Ellick  opened  a  school  in  the  old  Baptist 
Church,  corner  of  Meridian  and  Maryland  Streets. 
She  taught  here  a  couple  of  years,  probably,  and  then, 
in  1834,  a  little  frame  house  was  built  purposely  for 
a  school-house  near  the  west  end  of  the  lot,  abutting 
on  the  alley  east  of  the  Grand  Hotel.  About  1835, 
Miss  Ellick  was  married  to  a  Methodist  preacher  by 
the  name  of  Smith,  and  give  up  the  school  to  Miss 
Laura  Kise.  During  her  tenancy  of  the  little  frame 
school-house  the  Baptists  built  a  bell-tower  of  open 
frame-work  for  their  church  against  the  east  end  of 
the  school-house,  a  hundred  feet  from  the  church. 
It  stood  there  as  long  as  the  old  church  remained, 
and  was  sometimes  made  the  occasion  of  a  general 
uproar  by  frolicsome  boys,  who  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  climb  up  the  frame  and  jerk  the  bell- 
clapper  about  like  a  fire  alarm.  One  night  two  boys, 
one  of  whom  is  now  the  distinguished  author  and 
general.  Lew  Wallace,  climbed  up  to  the  bell  and 
fastened  a  cord  to  the  clapper,  which  they  led  across 
the  street  and  the  intervening  lots  to  the  bedroom 
of  one  of  them  over  a  store  on  Washington  Street, 
and  here  they  kept  a  lively  alarm  going  as  long  as 
they  liked,  to  the  infinite  disturbance  and  mystery  of 
the  neighbors,  who  could  not  discover  what  made  the 
bell  ring. 

As  related  in  the  general  history,  the  Legisla- 
ture, on  the  26th  of  January,  1832,  authorized  the 
town  agent  to  lease  University  Square,  No.  25, 
to  the  trustees  of  Marion  County  Seminary  for  thirty 
years,  with  permission  to  them  to  build  on  the  south 


or  southwest  corner,  the  other  corners  were  then  "out 
of  town ;"  and,  if  the  square  should  be  needed  for  a 
university  before  the  termination  of  the  lease,  a  half- 
acre,  where  the  seminary  stood,  was  to  be  sold  to  the 
trustees.  Under  this  arrangement  the  old  county 
seminary  was  built,  in  1833-34,  on  the  southwest 
corner,  where  a  tablet,  set  in  the  ground  by  Ignatius 
Brown  and  some  others  of  the  "  old  seminary  boys," 
marks  the  centre  of  the  site.  It  was  two  stories 
high,  about  one  hundred  feet  long  from  east  to  west 
from  one  lobby-wall  to  the  other,  with  five  windows 
in  each  story  on  a  side,  and  about  forty  feet  wide  in 
the  main  body,  while  the  lobbies  at  the  ends  were 
about  fifteen  feet  square.  A  stairway  ascended  from 
each  lobby  to  the  second  story.  That  at  the  east 
end  entered  the  lecture-room,  or  exhibition-room, 
where  more  than  one  church  made  its  place  of  wor- 
ship before  it  was  able  to  build  a  house.  The  stair- 
way in  the  west  lobby  ascended  to  a  room  about 
twenty  feet  square,  where  was  kept  the  philosophical 
apparatus  of  the  institution.  The  chief  of  these  were 
an  air-pump  and  an  electrical  machine.  South  of 
this  room  was  another  smaller,  for  the  teacher's 
private  room.  A  door  led  from  the  apparatus-room 
to  the  platform  of  the  exhibition-  or  lecture-room. 
After  the  free-school  system  was  put  in  operation,  in 
1853  till  1859,  the  old  seminary  was  occupied  as 
the  high  school  of  the  system.  It  was  torn  down  in 
September,  1860.  The  only  surviving  trustee  is 
Simon  Yandes,  Esq.,  and  the  last  who  died  was 
James  Sulgrove,  in  the  fall  of  1875.  In  the  summer 
of  1860,  before  the  old  house  was  torn  down,  the 
whole  square  was  inclosed  with  a  high  fence,  and 
covered  with  an  immense  show-house  or  shed  by  a 
Mr.  Ferine,  who  called  it  the  "  Coliseum,"  and  pro- 
posed to  make  it  a  meeting-place  for  large  assemblies, 
political  or  otherwise,  and  for  big  shows.  It  was 
opened  on  the  4th  of  July  with  a  military  parade,  an 
instrumental  concert,  a  balloon  ascension  by  Mr.  J. 
C.  Bellman,  and  a  display  of  Diehl's  fire-works  at 
night.  The  enterprise  was  too  big  for  the  place. 
The  seats  would  hold  twenty  thousand  spectators. 
In  a  few  weeks  the  work  was  all  torn  away,  and  the 
old  house  too,  and  the  square  was  left  vacant  all 
through  the  war.     In  1865-66  the  city  got  posses- 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


419 


sion  of  it,  fenced  it,  laid  it  out  in  walks,  set  trees  in 
it,  and  made  it  a  very  pretty  park,  which  it  will 
remain. 

The  seminary  was  opened  by  the  late  Gen.  Dumont, 
Sept.  1,  1834.  He  left  after  a  single  quarter's  expe- 
rience, and  William  J.  Hill  succeeded  in  January, 
1835.  Three  or  four  months  satisfied  him,  and 
Thomas  D.  Gregg  came  in  May,  1836.  William 
Sullivan  followed  in  December,  1836,  and  Rev.  Wil- 
liam A.  Holliday  in  August,  1837.  James  S.  Kem- 
per took  the  school  in  the  summer  of  1838,  and  re- 
tained it  till  the  spring  of  1845.  Of  the  effect  of 
his  administration  on  the  reputation  of  the  seminary, 
and  the  character  of  the  pupils  he  taught  there,  the 
general  history  has  treated  as  fully  as  it  properly 
may.  In  1845,  J.  P.  Safford  succeeded  Mr.  Kem- 
per, and  gave  way  to  Benjamin  L.  Lang  in  1847  or 
1848,  who  continued  till  1853,  when  the  free-school 
system  absorbed  the  seminary.  Of  these  noted  teach- 
ers, Mr.  Holliday,  Gen.  Dumont,  Mr.  Gregg,  Mr. 
Hill,  and  Mr.  Safford  are  dead,  the  last  only  two 
years  ago  in  Zanesville,  Ohio.  Mr.  Gregg  made  a 
valuable  bequest  to  the  city  at  his  death.  Of  the 
schools  contemporaneous  with  the  old  seminary,  the 
Franklin  Institute,  the  Worrall  School,  the  Axtell 
Female  Seminary,  the  general  history  has  given  an 
account,  as  well  as  of  the  later  ones,  the  Indiana 
Female  College  and  the  McLean  Female  Insti- 
tute. The  Baptist  Young  Ladies'  Institute,  occu- 
pied now  as  the  high  school  of  the  city  school  sys- 
tem, was  founded  in  1858  by  the  Baptists  of  the 
city,  who  formed  a  stock  company  for  the  purpose, 
the  paper  of  which  was  indorsed  by  the  individual 
credit,  to  the  amount  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  of 
Rev.  J.  B.  Simmons,  pastor  of  the  church  ;  Rev.  M. 
G.  Clark,  editor  of  The  Witness,  the  denominational 
paper  ;  Mr.  Judson  R.  Osgood,  of  the  Sarven  Wheel- 
Works  ;  and  Mr.  James  Turner.  Thus  the  company 
was  enabled  to  buy  the  acre  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  intersection  of  Pennsylvania  and  Michigan 
Streets.  The  first  superintendent  was  Rev.  Gibbon 
Williams,  and  his  daughter  was  the  principal.  In 
1862,  Rev.  C.  W.  Hewes  succeeded,  and  became 
substantially  the  proprietor  of  the  institution.  Up 
to    1866   the  site,  building,  and   improvements  had 


cost  fifty-three  thousand  dollars.  The  site  was  for 
many  years  the  residence  of  Robert  Underbill,  one 
of  the  earliest  iron  manufacturers  and  millers  of  the 
city.  In  1871  the  school  board  bought  the  site 
and  buildings,  and  removed  the  high  school  there 
from  Circle  Hall  (or  the  old  Beecher  church). 

The  McLean  Female  Institute  filled  so  conspicuous 
a  place  in  the  educational  advantages  of  the  city  and 
was  so  wholly  the  work  of  its  founder,  the  Rev.  C. 
G.  McLean,  that  a  short  sketch  of  his  life  will  be  of 
interest  to  many  who  knew  him  without  knowing 
anything  of  his  past  life.  He  was  born  in  Ireland 
in  1787.  His  father.  Dr.  John  McLean,  a  surgeon 
in  the  British  navy,  died  in  early  manhood  on  the 
coast  of  Africa.  His  mother,  who  was  also  a  Mc- 
Clain,  was  left  a  widow  before  she  was  twenty-ode. 
She  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  James  Gray,  D.D.,  and 
soon  after,  with  her  husband,  came  to  this  country. 
For  many  years  Dr.  Gray  was  the  honored  pastor  of 
Spruce  Street  Church,  Philadelphia.  Under  him  Dr. 
McLean  prepared  for  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
of  which  he  was  a  graduate.  His  theological  studies 
he  pursued  under  the  celebrated  Dr.  John  M.  Mason. 
In  1815  he  married  Helen  Miller,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  died  in  182li,  leaving  two  daughters.  In  1844 
he  married  Mary  Yates,  daughter  of  Henry  Yates, 
of  Albany.  His  first  charge  was  in  Gettysburg,  Pa., 
where  he  was  pastor  for  twenty- seven  years  in  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church.  He  was  afterwards 
pastor  for  eight  years  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
Fort  Plain,  N.  Y.  Being  unable  from  ill  health  to 
perform  pastoral  duty,  he  came  in  1852  to  this  city 
and  opened  a  female  seminary  known  as  McLean 
Female  Institute,  in  which  he  was  aided  by  his  son- 
in-law,  C.  N.  Todd,  by  whom  it  was  continued  after 
his  death  in  1860.  For  some  time  previous  he  had 
been  unfitted  for  his  duties  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis. 
The  institution  received  a  good  share  of  the  best  pat- 
ronage of  the  city  and  State,  and  was  regarded  as 
permanently  established  at  the  time  of  its  transfer  to 
other  hands  on  account  of  the  health  of  the  family. 
After  a  life  of  about  fifteen  years,  it  was  suffered  to 
go  out  of  existence,  but  its  elevating  influence  has 
not  been  lost.  Dr.  McLean  was  best  known  as  a 
minister.     He  had  rare  pulpit  gifts.     By  his  famous 


420 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


teacher  he  was  trained  to  independent  thinking  and 
thorough  investigation  of  subjects.  Having  no  pet 
theories,  he  sought  every  field  of  inquiry.  Hence  his 
discourses,  rich  in  thought,  had  variety,  freshness, 
and  originality.  He  never  read  his  sermons.  His 
choice  language  and  attractive  elocution  secured  and 
held  his  hearers.  The  young  were  drawn  to  him. 
A  winning  playfulness  led  them  to  seek  his  presence, 
and  even  in  his  later  years  he  would  sport  as  a  com- 
panion with  them.  In  prayer  he  was  gifted,  and  he 
scarcely  placed  a  limit  to  its  power.  His  strong  faith 
kept  him  bright  and  hopeful  in  the  darkest  hours. 

The  Northwestern  Christian  (now  Butler)  Uni- 
versity was  the  suggestion  of  the  late  Ovid  Butler. 
He  drafted  the  charter  for  it,  and  planned  the  outline 
of  the  system  upon  which  it  has  been  conducted,  do- 
nated the  ground  for  its  first  site,  endowed  one  of  its 
chairs  permanently,  provided  a  large  portion  of  its 
general  endowment  fund,  and  so  identified  himself 
with  its  history,  progress,  and  interests  that  the 
change  of  its  name  from  the  cumbrous  and  unmean- 
ing combination  that  loaded  its  first  feeble  existence 
to  the  deserved  and  descriptive  name  it  now  bears 
was  an  act  of  equal  justice  and  good  taste.  The 
charter  for  it  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  1850, 
and  authorized  a  stock  company  with  a  capital  of  one 
hundred  dollar  shares,  the  total  to  range  from  ninety- 
five  thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  One- 
third  might  be  expended  in  a  site  and  building,  but 
two-thirds  at  least  must  be  an  endowment  fund. 
Rev.  John  O'Kane  was  appointed  by  the  friends  of 
the  enterprise  in  Indianapolis  soliciting  agent.  He 
visited  all  parts  of  the  State  in  pursuing  his  work, 
and  in  two  years  had  succeeded  so  far  that  in  July, 
1852,  the  company  organized  and  elected  the  first 
board  of  directors.  Mr.  Butler  donated  the  ground, 
twenty-five  acres  of  a  beautiful  natural  grove  of 
sugars,  beeches,  and  walnuts,  on  the  northeastern 
border  of  the  city  at  that  time,  and  part  of  the  farm 
which  was  Mr.  Butler's  residence,  called  Forest 
Home,  and  here  the  college  building  was  begun 
and  never  completed.  The  style  was  Gothic, — hand- 
some, striking,  and  convenient, — and  the  plan  so  con- 
trived that  it  could  be  built  in  divisions,  which,  when 
all  were  completed,  would  present  a  harmonious  and 


effective  mass.  The  first  section,  which  would  have 
been  about  a  third  of  the  completed  edifice,  was  fin- 
ished and  opened  for  collegiate  purposes  on  the  1st 
of  November,  1855,  the  first  and  only  college  or  in- 
stitution for  the  more  advanced  degrees  of  education 
ever  known  in  the  capital,  except  the  seminary  in 
Mr.  Kemper's  time,  and  some  of  the  high  school 
classes. 

The  leading  feature  of  the  Butler  system,  as  distin-- 
guished  from  that  of  all  the  institutions  of  learning 
in  this  country  at  that  time,  was  the  admission  of 
female  pupils  upon  the  same  conditions  in  the  same 
classes,  with  the  same  course  and  graduation,  as  male 
students.  No  distinction  was  made,  and  no  other 
school  twenty  years  ago  followed  the  example.  Some 
years  later  another  innovation  was  made  on  the  old 
system  of  sexual  separation  even  more  startling  than 
this.  On  the  death  of  a  young  daughter,  Mr.  Butler 
determined  to  erect  a  memorial  "  more  enduring  than 
brass,"  and  endowed  a  chair  of  English  History  and 
Literature  called  the  Demia  Butler  chair,  and  pro- 
vided that  the  professor  should  be  Miss  Kate  Merrill, 
daughter  of  the  State  treasurer  who  brought  up  the 
capital  from  Corydon,  and  the  best  known  of  the  native 
teachers  of  the  city.  Another  feature  of  a  liberaliz- 
ing tendency  (in  which,  however,  it  was  preceded 
partially  by  Alexander  Campbell's  college  at  Bethany, 
W.  Va.,  and  by  Brown  University  of  Rhode  Island) 
was  the  permission  to  a  student  to  take  any  part  of 
the  full  course  he  pleased,  and  graduate  with  the  ap- 
propriate title  in  the  division  pursued.  Thus,  some 
took  the  full  course,  with  the  degree  of  A.B. ;  others 
took  only  the  scientific  division,  and  graduated  as  Bach- 
elors of  Science ;  and  a  third  class,  following  what  is 
called  the  philosophical  course,  graduated  as  Bach- 
elors of  Philosophy.  Just  how  these  masculine  titles 
have  been  softened  into  fitness  for  female  proficiency 
and  educational  honors  we  are  not  informed.  About 
half  of  the  students  take  one  or  the  other  of  the 
partial  courses,  scientific  or  philosophical,  and  about 
a  third  of  the  higher  grades  of  students  are  females. 
In  the  academic  or  preparatory  courses  the  propor- 
tion of  girls  is  larger.  Of  the  four  literary  societies, 
two,  the  Athenian  and  Demia  Butler,  are  composed 
of  female  students. 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


421 


A  law  department  was  opened  in  connection  with 
the  university  in  1871,  the  first  term  beginning  Jan- 
uary 16th,  composed  of  three  chairs  or  classes,  taught 
by  Judge  Byron  K.  Elliott,  Judge  Charles  H.  Test, 
and  Charles  P.  Jacobs.  This  was  maintained  for 
some  years,  but  was  recently  discontinued  and  dis- 
solved. A  commercial  department,  to  assist  students 
who  desire  to  qualify  themselves  for  business,  was 
formed  and  carried  on  for  a  time,  but  appears  to  have 
been  discontinued  in  the  last  few  years.  Musical  in- 
struction is  made  a  specialty  also,  and  is  still  a  part  of 
the  university  system,  though  not  of  the  regular 
course.  The  most  important  division  of  the  univer- 
sity is  the  medical  department.  The  Medical  College 
of  Indiana,  referred  to  particularly  in  the  chapter  on 
the  medical  profession,  forms  this  department.  The 
last  catalogue  shows  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
students  in  the  literary  department  of  the  university, 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  in  the  medical  de 
partment.  Practically  the  two  are  little  concerned 
with  each  other,  one  being  in  the  city  and  the  other 
five  miles  away.  In  the  literary  department  is  what 
is  called  a  post-graduate  course,  of  which  the  author- 
ities say  that  it,  "with  the  Bible-classes  of  the  fresh- 
man, sophomore,  and  senior  years,  presents  a  com- 
plete course  of  Bible  study."  This  course  is  free. 
Of  the  different  degrees  conferred  by  the  institution 
the  following  official  statement  is  made : 

"  I.  The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  is  conferred 
on  students  who  complete  the  studies  in  the  course 
of  arts  and  pass  the  examinations  in  the  same. 

"II.  The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  is  conferred 
on  students  who  complete  the  studies  in  the  course  of 
science  and  pa.ss  the  examinations  in  the  same.  This 
degree  may  be  conferred  also  on  students  in  special 
studies  whenever  the  special  work  done  shall  be 
deemed  by  the  faculty  a  full  equivalent  for  the  part 
of  the  scientific  course  which  may  have  been  omitted. 

"III.  The   degree   of  Bachelor   of  Philosophy   is 
conferred  on  students   who  complete   the  studies  in  i 
the  course  of  philosophy  and  pass  the  examinations 
in  the  same. 

"  No  Bachelor's  degree  will  bo  conferred  on  any 
person  who  may  not  have  studied  at  least  one  year 
in  this  university. 


"  IV.  (1)  The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  Master 
of  Science,  or  Master  of  Philosophy  will  be  con- 
ferred on  any  student  who  shall  have  taken  the  cor- 
responding Bachelor's  degree  at  this  university,  on 
the  following  conditions :  (a)  When  such  student 
shall  have  pursued  a  post-graduate  course  of  study 
for  one  year  under  the  direction  of  the  faculty,  have 
passed  a  satisfactory  examination,  and  have  presented 
an  approved  thesis  on  some  one  of  the  subjects  chosen 
for  examination  ;  or  (6)  When,  after  not  less  than 
three  years  from  the  time  of  receiving  the  Bachelor's 
degree,  such  student  shall  have  given  satisfactory 
evidence  of  having  been  engaged  in  some  literary  or 
professional  pursuit,  and  shall  present  to  the  faculty 
an  approved  thesis  on  some  subject  of  research. 
(2)  Any  of  the  above-named  Blaster's  degrees  may 
be  conferred  on  any  person  who  may  have  taken  the 
corresponding  Bachelor's  degree  at  any  other  institu- 
tion authorized  by  law  to  confer  such  degree,  when 
he  shall  have  given  to  the  faculty  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  scholarship,  have  pursued  a  post-graduate 
course  of  study  under  the  direction  of  the  faculty, 
and  have  presented  an  approved  thesis  on  some  one 
of  the  subjects  chosen  for  examination. 

"  V.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  will  be 
conferred  on  graduates  of  this  university  or  of  any 
other  institution  authorized  to  confer  Bachelor's  de- 
grees, who,  by  special  study  in  some  department  of 
science,  literature,  or  philosophy,  may  have  obtained 
eminence  as  original  investigators,  and  shall  present 
to  the  faculty  a  meritorious  thesis  based  on  such 
investigations. 

"  VI.  The  honorary  degree  of  A.M.  or  LL.D.  will 
be  conferred  occasionally  on  persons  who,  in  addition 
to  possessing  fair  scholarship,  may  have  obtained 
eminence  in  some  pursuit  or  profession." 

In  1876  the  university  authorities  determined  to 
remove  to  the  present  location,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
handsome  suburban  town  of  Irvington,  where  strong 
inducements  were  ofiered  by  the  citizens,  and  the  sale 
of  the  old  site,  then  entirely  surrounded  by  the  busi- 
ness and  residences  of  the  city,  and  largely  enhanced 
in  money  value,  would  help  to  place  the  institution 
firmly  on  its  feet.  New  buildings  were  erected,  a 
fine  "  Campus"  laid  out,  and  the  work  kept  moving 


422 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


on  steadily  and  successfully  in  spite  of  the  change. 
Soon  after  the  removal  some  of  the  trustees  sought 
to  change  the  school  into  a  more  rigidly  sectarian 
exclusiveness,  and  confine  the  tuition  wholly  to  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church,  the  denomination  which 
had  originated  and  supported  it,  and  which  had  re- 
garded it  as  a  denominational  school.  This  so  far 
succeeded  as  to  force  out  two  or  three  of  the  best- 
known  professors,  and  would  probably  have  made  the 
institution  wholly  sectarian  but  for  the  interference 
of  Mr.  Butler,  who  saw,  if  its  injudicious  friends 
could  not,  that  this  was  not  the  day,  nor  this  the 
community,  to  turn  back  a  liberal  revolution  to  old- 
time  bigotry  and  exclusiveness,  and  the  mischievous 
action  was  reversed.  But  not  without  some  ill  effect 
lingering,  and  possibly  not  wholly  lost  yet.  The  old 
site,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Butler,  has  been  partially  sold 
out  in  city  lots ;  but  part  has  been  retained,  and,  with 
the  building,  is  now  occupied  by  the  City  Orphan 
Asylum.     The  following  is  the  faculty  : 

Harvey  W.  Everest,  LL.D.,  president ;  Allen  R. 
Benton,  LL.D.,  William  M.  Thrasher,  A.M.,  Cath- 
arine Merrill,  A.M.,  Scott  Butler,  A.M.,  Oliver  P. 
Hay,  A.M.,  Hugh  C.  Garvin,  A.M.,  Demarchus  C. 
Brown,  A.M.,  Virginia  K.  Allan,  Letitia  Laughlin, 
librarian. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  larger  institution 
a  German-English  school  was  maintained  for  a 
number  of  years  on  East  Maryland  Street,  east  of 
Virginia  Avenue,  and  several  smaller  schools  of  the 
same  kind  have  been  carried  on  in  difiFerent  parts  of 
the  city,  and  are  still.  Though  German  is  now  taught 
in  the  city  schools,  it  does  not  serve  the  purpose  of 
German  children  who  have  to  be  taught  in  the  German 
language  the  use  of  English. 

There  are  five  Kindergartens  in  the  city,  all  of 
the  last  three  years.  One  is  in  the  Riverside 
Chapel,  corner  of  McCarty  and  Chadwick  Streets ; 
one  is  at  No.  134  West  Ohio  Street,  under  Miss 
Steiger ;  another  is  at  No.  443  North  Meridian, 
under  Miss  Jane  M.  Moore-,  the  fourth  is  at  No. 
224  Broadway,  under  Miss  Ella  D.  Oakes ;  the  fifth 
at  No.  456  North  Meridian,  Miss  Alice  Chapin, 
principal.  There  are  two  schools  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  one  for  girls   and   one   for   boys,  connected 


with  the  Franciscan  Convent,  on  Palmer  Street,  and 
besides  these  there  are  some  ten  other  Catholic  schools, 
of  which  an  account  is  given  by  Rev.  Father  O'Don- 
noghue,  in  his  statement  of  the  Catholic  institutions 
of  the  city.  Schools,  as  intimated  in  the  chapter  on 
churches,  are  maintained  in  connection  with  the 
German  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  on  New  Jer- 
sey Street,  south  of  Merrill,  and  by  one  or  two  other 
German  Lutheran  Churches.  The  Indianapolis 
Classical  School  for  Boys  is  carried  on  by  Mr.  T. 
L.  Sewell  on  the  northwest  corner  of  North  and 
Alabama  Streets,  and  a  similar  school  for  girls  is 
maintained  by  the  same  man  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  St.  Joseph  and  Pennsylvania  Streets.  A  female 
seminary  of  high  character,  conducted  by  John  H. 
Kappes  and  wife,  on  North  Pennsylvania"  Street,  till 
last  summer,  was  given  up  by  them  to  go  to  some 
remote  Western  region.  Mr.  Hadley,  and  Mr.  Rob- 
erts at  one  time  principal  of  the  high  school,  have 
for  some  years  maintained  an  academy  of  excellent 
repute,  which  seems  to  fill  much  the  same  place  and 
need  that  the  old  seminary  did.  Colored  schools  are 
now  mainly  or  wholly  carried  on  in  connection  with 
the  city  school  system. 

The  first  Commercial  School  was  opened  here  by 
Mr.  William  McK.  Scott,  who  maintained  it  with 
moderate  success  for  some  years,  and  during  about  a 
year,  in  1851,  as  noted  in  the  general  history,  kept 
up  a  reading-room  in  connection  with  it,  intending  to 
make  a  library  a  part  of  the  plan ;  but  the  public 
would  not  sustain  it.  Since  then  there  have  been 
but  few  and  brief  intervals  without  a  commercial 
college.  Sometimes  there  have  been  two  or  three 
together.  The  oldest  and  best  known  was  Bryant  & 
Stratton's,  which  Mr.  Bryant  has  recently  revived 
after  an  absence  from  the  city  of  several  years.  Mr. 
W.  W.  Granger  also  has  a  commercial  school  in  effi- 
cient condition  in  the  upper  story  of  the  Vance 
Block.  Of  law  and  medical  schools  an  account  is 
given  in  the  chapters  touchmg  those  topics.  The 
only  theological  school  is  that,  if  it  can  be  called  so, 
offered  by  the  post-graduate  course  of  Butler  Univer- 
sity. A  serious  if  not  strenuous  effort  was  made  to 
induce  the  Legislature  to  locate  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege here.     The  location  was  practically  put  up  at 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


423 


auction,  to  raise  means  enough  to  create  a  competent 
endowment  with  the  avails  of  the  land-grant  made 
by  Congress,  and  Indianapolis  bid  high.  The  late 
James  Johnson  made  a  munificent  offer  of  land  west 
of  the  city,  but  within  the  township,  and  other  offers 
were  made  with  the  obvious  svjperiority  of  a  central 
situation  here ;  but  Mr.  Purdue  offered  a  fine  site 
and  a  liberal  cash  endowment,  which  were  just  what 
the  college  needed,  for  the  honor  of  putting  his  name 
to  it,  and  thus  Indianapolis  lost  it.  Attempts  have 
been  made,  or  rather  discussed,  to  remove  the  State 
University  here  from  Bloomington  and  to  remove 
Asbury  University  here  from  Greencastle,  but  noth- 
ing more  than  talk  ever  came  of  either  suggestion, 
or  ever  will,  now  that  a  disastrous  fire  in  the  State 
institution  has  failed  to  stir  it,  in  spite  of  strong  sug- 
gestions in  the  papers  up  about  the  capital ;  and 
Asbury  has  been  permanently  and  munificently  en- 
dowed by  Mr.  De  Pauw,  the  citizens  of  Greencastle, 
and  the  Methodists  of  Indiana,  and  has  changed  its 
name  to  that  of  its  benefactor. 

The  City  Schools. — The  education  of  the  city  is 
so  nearly  absorbed  by  the  free-school  system  that  no 
apology  need  be  made  for  tracing  here  the  history  of 
it  fully  and  authentically  in  the  oflBcial  reports  of  the 
managers  in  1866  : 

"  During  the  Legislative  session  of  1846-47,  the 
first  city  charter,  prepared  by  the  late  Hon.  Oliver 
H.  Smith,  for  the  town  of  Indianapolis  was  intro- 
duced into  the  General  Assembly.  It  would  have 
passed  without  opposition  as  a  matter  of  course  and 
courtesy,  had  not  a  well-known  member  from  this 
town,  Mr.  S.  V.  B.  Noel,  presented  as  an  amendment 
Section  29,  which  provided  that  the  City  Council 
should  be  instructed  to  lay  off  the  city  into  suitable 
school  districts,  to  provide  by  ordinance  for  school 
buildings,  and  the  appointment  of  teachers  and  su- 
perintendents ;  and,  further,  that  the  Council  should 
be  authorized  to  levy  a  tax  for  school  purposes,  of 
not  exceeding  one-eighth  of  one  per  centum  of  the 
assessment.  The  amendment  met  with  a  vigorous 
and  determined  opposition  from  several  influential 
members,  whose  arguments  carried  weight ;  and  the 
amendment  was  in  peril,  when  a  prudent  and  useful 
member,  who  advocated  all  sides  on  vexed  questions. 


moved  to  still  further  amend  by  providing  that  no 
tax  should  be  levied  unless  so  ordered  by  a  vote  of 
a  majority  of  the  town  at  the  ensuing  April  election, 
when  the  ballots  should  be  marked  'Free  Schools' 
and  '  No  Free  Schools.'  The  charter,  thus  amended, 
became  a  law. 

"  An  animated  contest  ensued  in  the  town,  and  at 
the  first  charter  election  the  school  question  became 
the  overshadowing  issue.  The  opposition  was  thin 
and  noisy.  The  friends  of  free  schools  were  quiet, 
but  resolute,  and  on  the  day  of  election  were  by  no 
means  sanguine  of  the  result.  A  citizen,  who  was  to 
a  considerable  degree  a  representative  of  the  learning, 
jurisprudence,  and  capital  of  the  town,  the  late  vener- 
able and  eminent  Judge  Blackford,  was  earnestly 
cheered  as  he  openly  voted  a  ballot  indorsed  '  Free 
Schools.'  The  cause  of  impartial  education  triumphed 
by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

"  The  population  of  Indianapolis  was  then  about 
six  thousand.  City  lots  and  building  material  were 
cheap  and  abundant ;  but  the  valuation  of  property 
(for  taxation)  was  low,  and  twelve  and  a  half  cents  on 
a  hundred  dollars  produced  but  a  slender  revenue. 
The  proceeds  of  the  tax  were  carefully  husbanded, 
and  economically  invested,  from  time  to  time,  in  school 
lots  and  buildings.  Lots  were  purchased  and  houses 
built  in  seven  wards  of  the  city,  and  teachers  ap- 
pointed, who  received  their  limited  compensation  from 
the  patrons  of  the  schools. 

"  For  a  period  of  six  years  the  records  show  pay- 
ments made  by  the  city  treasurer  for  lots  and  buildings, 
but  none  for  teachers'  salaries.  Previous  to  1853 
the  schools  were  managed  by  trustees  in  each  of  the 
school  districts  into  which  the  city  was  divided.  The 
schools  had  no  central  head,  and  no  organization  out- 
side of  the  several  districts.  In  January,  1853,  the 
Council  appointed  Messrs.  H.  P.  Coburn,  Calvin 
Fletcher,  and  H.  F.  West  the  first  board  of  trustees 
for  the  city  schools.  At  their  first  meeting,  March 
18,  1853,  they  elected  ten  teachers  for  the  city  schools, 
and  ordered  that  they  receive  two  dollars  and  twenty- 
five  cents  a  scholar  for  the  term,  to  be  paid  by  the 
parent  or  guardian.  April  8,  1853,  it  was  ordered 
that  the  Sixth  Ward  lot  be  graded.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  thirteen  years  elapsed  before  the  grade 


424 


HISTOKY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


was  made.  April  25, 1853,  the  first  free  schools  were 
opened  for  a  session  of  two  months.  On  this  date  a 
eode  of  rules  and  regulations,  prepared  and  reported 
by  Calvin  Fletcher,  was  adopted.  These  rules  were 
comprehensive  and  well  matured,  and  constitute  the 
basis  of  the  code  now  in  force  in  the  schools.  May 
14,  1853,  occurs  the  first  record  of  the  payment  of 
salaries  to  teachers. 

"  From  this  time  forward  the  receipts  from  city 
taxation  and  the  State  school  fund  by  slow  degrees 
increased,  and  the  schools  flourished  and  grew  in  favor 
with  all  good  citizens.  Early  in  1855,  Mr.  Silas  T. 
Bowen  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the  schools, 
with  instructions  to  visit  and  spend  a  day  in  each 
school  every  month,  and  to  meet  the  teachers  every 
Saturday  for  review  of  the  work  done,  instruction  in 
teaching,  and  classification.  His  contract  with  the 
board  called  for  about  one-third  of  his  time  in  the 
discharge  of  these  and  other  duties.  It  is  clear,  from 
the  arduous  labor  performed,  that  the  schools  got  the 
best  of  this  bargain. 

"March  2,  1856,  Mr.  George  B.  Stone  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent.  All  his  time  was  given  to 
the  schools,  and  they  were  conducted  with  vigor  and 
success.  The  schools  were  fully  and  generously  sus- 
tained by  the  public.  The  revenue,  in  great  part  de- 
rived from  local  taxation,  was  sufficient  to  sustain 
them  prosperously  during  the  full  school  year.  But 
this  period  was  of  short  duration.  Early  in  1858, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  decided  that  it  was 
unconstitutional  for  cities  and  towns  to  levy  and  collect 
taxes  for  the  payment  of  tuition.  The  effect  was 
most  disastrous.  It  deprived  the  city  schools  of  the 
principal  part  of  their  revenue,  and  in  spite  of  gen- 
erous efforts  on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  public 
the  free-school  graded  system,  which  had  taken  ten 
years  to  build  up,  was  destroyed  at  a  blow.  The  su- 
perintendent and  many  of  the  teachers  emigrated  to 
regions  where  schools  were,  like  light  and  air,  com- 
mon and  free  to  all,  with  no  constitutional  restrictions 
or  judicial  decisions  warring  against  the  best  interests 
of  the  people. 

"  Then  commenced  the  dark  age  of  the  public 
schools.  The  school-houses  were  rented  to  such 
teachers  as  were  willing,  or  able  from  scant  patronage, 


to  pay  a  small  pittance  for  their  use.  The  State  fund 
was  only  sufficient  to  keep  the  schools  open  one  feeble 
free  quarter  each  year ;  and,  in  1859,  even  this  was 
omitted  for  want  of  money.  (The  schools  remained 
in  this  crippled  condition,  improving  hardly  at  all,  till 
after  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  Then  a  new  set  of 
Supreme  Court  judges  succeeded  to  that  bench,  and 
virtually  reviewed  and  reversed  the  disastrous  deci- 
sion.) The  Legislature  then  made  provision  for  more 
efficient  and  prosperous  schools,  and  fuller  taxation 
for  their  support. 

"  During  the  last  five  years  (from  1861  to  1866) 
the  schools  have  been  rapidly  gaining  in  length  of 
term,  and  in  general  prosperity  and  usefulness.  We 
cannot  here  give  even  a  condensed  statement  of  the 
successive  steps  by  which  this  improvement  has  been 
accomplished.  The  schools  during  the  last  two  years 
have  been  in  session  the  usual  school  year  of  thirty- 
nine  weeks.  Considering  the  ten  years  required  to 
develop  an  efficient  system  of  schools,  previous  to  the 
judicial  blotting-out,  and  the  slow  growth  of  the  nine 
subsequent  years,  it  is  hoped  that  no  further  disaster 
will  occur  to  set  them  back  another  decade,  but  that 
they  may  go  on  increasing  in  strength  and  vigor,  and 
each  succeeding  year  be  stronger  and  better  than  the 
last." 

In  April,  1854,  an  enumeration  of  the  school  pop- 
ulation was  taken  by  order  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
The  number  of  persons  in  the  city  between  the  ages 
of  five  and  twenty-one  was  found  to  be  three  thousand 
and  fifty-three.  The  number  enrolled  in  the  schools 
was  eleven  hundred  and  sixty,  with  a  daily  average  of 
eight'  hundred  and  one,  all  about  evenly  distributed 
among  the  seven  wards  into  which  the  city  was  then 
divided.  At  the  high  school,  conducted  upon  a  rather 
1  ow  grade  for  lack  of  proficient  pupils  to  go  higher, 
were  one  hundred  and  fifteen  children,  in  the  old 
seminary,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  E.  P.  Cole,  who 
served  at  one  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

The  school  fund  fell  off  in  June,  1858,  after  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  till  the  balance  in  the 
city  treasury  belonging  to  the  schools  was  only  twenty- 
eight  dollars  and  ninety-eight  cents.  At  that  time 
Mr.  Thomas  J.  Vater  was  employed  to  take  care  of 
the  school  property,  a  good  deal  of  which  was,  or  soon 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


425 


became,  vacant  from  the  paralysis  of  the  system,  and 
was  often  abused  by  the  riotous  occupancy  of  tramps, 
thieves,  and  strumpets.  Mr.  James  Green  was  ap- 
pointed school  director  in  September,  1858,  at  a  salary 
of  five  hundred  dollars  a  year  when  employed,  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  vacation.  In  term 
time  he  was  to  give  half  of  his  time  to  his  school 
duties.  In  April,  1859,  the  school  fund  had  accu- 
mulated to  three  thousand  five  Imndrcd  and  forty- 
seven  dollars  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  schools, 
and  in  June  the  amount  belonging  to  the  tuition  fund 
was  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
dollars.  In  order  that  the  accumulation  of  means, 
in  the  crippled  condition  of  resources  made  by  the 
court,  might  be  suflBcient  to  maintain  the  schools  ef- 
fectively when  they  were  opened,  the  opening  was 
put  ofi'  till  February,  1860,  just  two  years  after  the 
calamity  that  had  overtaken  them.  Teachers  to  the 
number  of  twenty  nine  were  appointed,  at  salaries 
from  one  hundred  dollars  down  to  fifty  dollars  a 
quarter.  The  high  school,  killed  in  1858,  was  not 
resurrected  till  August  18,  1864. 

In  June,  1861,  the  first  board  of  trustees,  com- 
posed of  a  representative  of  each  ward  elected  by  the 
voters  of  the  ward,  was  organized.  Previously  three 
trustees  had  been  elected  by  the  Council.  In  1865 
the  law  was  again  changed  and  the  trustees  elected 
by  the  council  till  1871,  when  a  board  of  school  com- 
missioners was  created,  each  commissioner  to  repre- 
sent a  school  district.  The  first  districts  were  the 
nine  city  wards,  each  ward  making  one  ;  but  the 
commissioners,  being  authorized  to  change  the  districts 
when  they  deem  it  necessary,  have  made  eleven.  The 
commissioners  hold  ofiice  three  years,  and  have  com- 
plete control  of  all  taxes,  revenues,  outlays,  buildings, 
teachers,  libraries,  apparatus,  grounds,  everything 
appertaining  to  the  school  system,  but  they  must  ac- 
count every  year  to  the  county  board  for  their  receipts 
and  expenses. 

At  the  close  of  the  winter  term,  1861,  the  schools 
remained  closed  till  February,  1862,  continuing  in 
session  then  for  twenty-two  weeks.  Professor  George 
W.  Hoss  was  appointed  school  director,  to  serve  dur- 
ing the  school  term,  giving  one-half  his  time  to  the 
schools,  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 
28 


Twenty-nine  teachers  were  appointed  at  the  following 
rates  of  pay,  being  an  increase  on  the  previous  sala- 
ries :  Principals  of  grammar  schools,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  a  term  of  eleven  weeks  ;  assistants 
of  same,  seventy-five  dollars.  Principals  of  interme- 
diate departments,  seventy-five  to  eighty-five  dollars 
a  term  ;  and  teachers  in  the  primary  schools,  fifty  to 
sixty-eight  dollars.  The  aggregate  compensation  of 
teachers  for  the  two  terms  was  four  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight  dollars.  Miss  Nebraska  Cropsey, 
the  present  and  for  a  number  of  years  past  superinten- 
dent of  the  primary  department,  first  appears  among 
the  teachers  in  1862.  She  has  been  in  the  schools 
twenty-two  years  continuously,  and  always  most  cflB- 
ciently. 

Owing  to  the  pressure  of  taxation,  by  reason  of  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion,  the  annual  levy  made  in 
March,  1862,  was  reduced  to  three  cents  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars  valuation,  and  thirty  cents  on 
each  poll.  The  same  spring,  by  order  of  the  trustees, 
shade-trees  were  planted  on  all  the  school  property. 
In  October  of  this  year  Professor  Hoss  was  appointed 
superintendent.  He  was  required  to  give  one-fourth 
of  his  time  to  the  schools  for  the  quarterly  pay  of 
sixty-two  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  The  next  term  of  the 
schools  opened  in- November,  1862,  with  twenty-eight 
teachers.  The  salaries  were  fixed  at  the  following 
!  prices  for  each  day's  services  actually  rendered : 
Principals  of  the  grammar  schools,  two  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  per  day  ;  assistants,  one  dollar  ;  principals 
of  the  First,  Third,  Fourth,  Sixth,  and  Seventh 
Wards  (one-story  buildings),  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  per  day  ;  principals  of  the  First,  Second, 
Fifth,  and  Eighth  Wards  (two-story  buildings),  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day  ;  primary  and  secondary 
principals,  one  dollar  and  ten  cents  ;  and  all  assistants, 
eighty-five  cents  a  day.  A  few  months  later  an  in- 
crease of  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  above  salaries  was 
voted. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  the  trustees  levied  a  tax  of 
fifteen  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  The  pay- 
roll of  twenty-nine  teachers  for  the  quarter  ending 
May  2,  1863,  amounted  to  two  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  dollars.  On  the  29th  of  Au- 
gust,  1864,  the  trustees,   by  resolution,   defined  at 


426 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


lena;th  the  duties  of  superintendent,  fixed  the  salary 
at  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  elected  to  the 
position  Professor  A.  C.  Shortridge.  The  income 
arising  from  special  taxation  and  the  apportionment 
from  the  State  tuition  fund  now  rapidly  increased, 
so  that  the  schools,  in  spite  of  the  rapid  increase  of 
the  number  of  pupils,  were  kept  open  during  the 
usual  school  year  of  thirty-nine  weeks.  In  August, 
1864,  the  high  school,  which  went  down  in  the 
crash  of  1858,  was  again  organized  in  the  school- 
house  on  the  corner  of  Vermont  and  New  Jersey 
Streets,    and     placed     in 

charge  of  W.  A.  Bell,  at  ^-~s~^-~^~."^  ~  ~^--  *^e--  '>~-"*: 
a  salary  of  nine  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  Mr.  Bell 
was  for  some  years  presi- 
dent of  the  school  board. 
William  Allen  Bell 
was  born  near  Jefferson, 
Clinton  Co.,  Ind.,  Jan. 
30,  1833.  His  father, 
Nathaniel  Bell,  settled  in 
Michigantown,  in  the 
same  county,  when  young 
Bell  was  only  six  years 
of  age,  and  the  village 
and  vicinity  continued  to 
be  his  home  until  he  was 
twenty  years  old.  His 
early  education  was  ob- 
tained in  the  common 
school,  and  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  taught  his  first 
school  of  sixty-five  days 
for  one  dollar  per  day  and  board  himself, 
to  recall  the  inaugural  address  of  Horace  Mann  upon 
the  opening  of  Antioch  College  at  Yellow  Springs, 
111.,  in  1853,  at  which  time  he  entered  the  prepara- 
tory department  of  that  institution,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1860  with  a  standing  above  the 
average  of  his  class.  Dependent  entirely  upon  his 
own  resources  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  college 
course,  he  met  this  necessary  obstacle  with  a  will  to 
succeed  by  engaging  in  outside  work  and  teaching 
during    his    vacations    and    in    connection    with    his 


He  likes 


studies.  Upon  leaving  college  he  went  to  Missis- 
sippi as  a  teacher,  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
caused  his  return  the  same  year.  In  1861  and  1862 
he  had  charge  of  the  schools  at  Williamsburg,  Ind., 
and  in  the  summer  of  1863  he  was  chosen  principal 
of  the  Second  Ward  school  at  Indianapolis.  Upon 
the  organization  of  the  present  city  high  school,  in 
1864,  Mr.  Bell  was  made  its  principal.  In  1865  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  schools  of  Richmond,  Ind., 
and  the  following  year  resumed  the  principalship  of 
the  Indianapolis  high  school  at  an  increased  salary, 
which  position  he  filled 
creditably  until  the  close 
of  the  school-year  1871. 
During  the  last  four  years 
of  this  time  he  served  as 
school  examiner  for  Mar- 
ion County,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1870  visited 
Europe.  On  July  20, 
1871,  Mr.  Bell  married 
Miss  Eliza  C.  Cannell,  a 
woman  of  high  literary 
attainments,  a  native  of 
Waterford,  N.  Y.,  who 
had  efficiently  served  as 
first  assistant  teacher  in 
the  city  high  school  for 
five  years  prior  to  her 
marriage. 

In  August,  1871,  he 
became  sole  proprietor  and 
editor  of  the  Indiana 
School  Journal,  and  has 
devoted  his  time  and  energies  largely  to  its  interests 
since,  thereby  increasing  its  size,  improving  its  char- 
acter, and  more  than  quadrupling  its  circulation.  In 
his  hands  the  Journal  has  been  a  power  for  good,  and 
Indiana  teachers  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  it.  In 
1873,  Mr.  Bell  was  president  of  the  Indiana  State 
Teachers'  Association,  and  since  1873,  over  ten  years, 
he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Indianapolis  School 
Board,  of  which  time  he  has  served  seven  consecu- 
tive years  as  its  presiding  officer.  His  practical 
knowledge  of  school  work  has  made  him  a  most  val- 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


427 


uable  member  of  the  board,  and  his  long  gratuitous 
service  cannot  easily  be  repaid. 

Since  his  connection  with  the  Journal  Mr.  Bell 
has  spent  much  time  in  traveling  over  the  State 
doing  school  work,  and  his  efficient  school  labors  in 
teachers'  institutes  and  lecturing  tours  have  reached 
eighty-nine  out  of  ninety-two  counties  in  the  State. 
His  editorial  writings  are  perspicuous,  and  have  a 
remarkable  adaptedness  to  his  purpose  and  his  read- 
ers, and  have  exerted  a  pronounced  influence  upon 
school  legislation  and  methods.  Whether  in  the 
school,  the  church,  or  in  any  other  field  of  labor, 
Mr.  Bell  is  known  as  a  faithful  and  conscientious 
man,  and  his  candor,  earnestness,  sociability,  and 
high  moral  and  Christian  worth  have  won  for  him  a 
large  circle  of  friends. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  the  income  from  the  special 
fund  was  fifteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  dollars,  and  from  the  tuition  fund  fourteen 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-nine  dollars.  In 
April  of  that  year,  under  the  new  common-school 
law  of  the  State,  a  board  of  three  trustees  was  elected 
b}'  the  Common  Council,  and  in  the  summer  they 
ordered  the  erection  of  the  first  really  adequate  and 
creditable  school  buildings  of  the  city.  One  was  on 
the  corner  of  Blackford  and  Michigan  Streets,  the 
other  on  the  corner  of  Vermont  and  Davidson  Streets. 
The  two,  with  the  fences  and  out-buildings,  cost 
seventy-one  thousand  dollars.  Thenceforward  the 
managers  built  only  large,  durable,  and  valuable 
houses.  It  is  not  necessary  to  notice  the  addition 
of  these  to  the  school  system  in  detail.  In  1866 
was  issued  a  full  report  of  the  condition  and  prog- 
ress of  the  schools,  from  which  this  sketch  of  their 
history  has  been  condensed.  During  the  school 
year,  1869-70,  schools  for  colored  pupils  were 
opened  in  the  old  houses  of  the  Fourth  and  Sixth 
Wards.  A  second  story  was  added  to  the  Fourth 
Ward  house  in  1870,  and  an  evening  school  for 
colored  pupils  opened  in  the  winter  of  1871. 

Evening  Schools  were  reported  in  1871  to  have 
had  the  preceding  winter  three  hundred  and  seven- 
teen pupils  enrolled,  the  average  attendance  being 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one.  The  total  cost  was  but 
five   hundred   and  seven  dollars,  or  one  dollar  and 


fifty-nine  cents  per  enrolled  pupil  and  three  dollars 
and  fifteen  cents  per  pupil  actually  attending.  The 
first  report  says, — 

"  Their  instructions  have  been  eminently  useful  to 
a  class  of  persons  who  have  no  other  opportunities 
for  obtaining  useful  learning,  but  their  numbers 
should  be  largely  increased  from  that  class  of  un- 
taught boys  and  girls  who,  as  at  present  situated, 
are  subjected  to  the  worst  influences  during  the  long 
nights  of  winter.  The  evening  schools  have  been 
even  too  respectable,  containing  few  youth  who  are 
not  of  confirmed  steady  and  industrious  habits.  We 
earnestly  commend  these  schools  to  all  good  citizens 
as  worthy  of  their  best  endeavors  to  increase  the  in- 
terest in  them  by  frequent  visitations,  and  to  add  to 
their  numbers  by  solicitations,  watchfulness,  and 
missionary  effort  among  those  young  persons  who 
can  hardly  escape  becoming  bad  citizens  unless  res- 
cued by  the  influences  thrown  around  them  in  these 
schools  by  exciting  a  thirst  for  knowledge  which  shall 
overcome  the  fascinations  of  idleness  and  vice." 

In  1866  the  lowest  school  age,  which  had  previ- 
ously been  five  years,  was  increased  to  six,  reducing 
the  total  of  enrollment  for  that  year  from  twelve 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  in  1865  to  nine 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven.  Part  of 
the  difference  is  ascribed  to  incomplete  returns. 
Since  1870  all  children,  colored  and  white  alike,  are 
counted  in  the  school  enumeration.  On  the  basis  of 
this  the  Slate's  fund,  derived  from  the  State  school  tax 
and  the  income  of  the  congressional  township  fund 
and  the  sinking  fund,  is  apportioned  to  the  counties 
and  cities  and  school  districts.  The  city  school 
tax  constitutes  a  large  and  indispensable  part  of  the 
school  revenue.  This  is  now  assessed  by  the  school 
board,  but  until  within  a  few  years  past  was  fixed  by 
the  City  Council  with  other  city  taxes.  The  rate  of 
school  tax  is  limited  to  twenty  cents  on  one  hundred 
dollars. 

A  recent  report  of  the  school  board  presents  some 
interesting  facts  in  regard  to  the  grounds  and  houses, 
modes  of  lighting,  warming,  and  ventilating,  that  are 
important  in  giving  the  reader  a  clear  idea  of  the 
free-school  system  of  Indianapolis  in  its  entirety. 
Where  so  many  thousands  of  those  whose  habits  are 


428 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


unformed,  physical  systems  immature,  and  modes  of 
life  unsettled  have  to  pass  so  large  a  portion  of  every 
working-day,  the  conditions  touching  health  are  of 
the  highest  importance.  President  Bell  says  of  the 
school  grounds,  "  It  has  been  the  policy  of  tlie 
board  to  purchase  large  lots  upon  which  to  erect 
school-houses ;  the  lots  will  average  for  twelve-room 
buildings  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  two  hundred 
feet ;  and  for  smaller  buildings  the  lots  average  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  by  two  hundred  feet.  In 
most  instances  these  lots  are  bounded  on  three  sides 
by  streets  and  alleys.  Sixteen  of  them  are  corner  lots. 
Schools  Nos.  3,  4,  and  9  have  less  than  the  desired 
amount  of  space,  but  in  no  instance  does  the  school 
building  cover  one-third  the  lot  upon  which  it  stands. 
Id  no  instance  does  a  neighboring  building  stand 
within  the  distance  of  its  own  height  from  the  school 
building.  In  other  words,  no  building  stands  so  near 
a  school-house  as  in  any  perceptible  degree  to  cut  off 
its  light  or  air.  Thus  the  size  and  location  of  the 
school  lots  secure  sufficient  playground,  and  ample 
light  and  air." 

In  regard  to  the  construction  and  character  of  the 
school  buildings  he  says,  "  Out  of  our  twenty-six 
school  buildings  but  three  are  more  than  two  stories 
high,  and  one  of  these  three  will  be  abandoned  soon. 
This  arrangement  saves  the  climbing  of  stairs  by 
both  teachers  and  pupils,  and  greatly  lessens  danger 
in  case  of  fire.  The  halls  and  stairways  are  uni- 
formly wide,  and  all  outside  doors  and  all  doors  that 
open  from  the  school-rooms  into  halls  swing  outward 
on  their  hinges  to  prevent  danger  in  case  of  a  panic. 
The  school-rooms  are,  with  few  exceptions,  twenty- 
seven  by  thirty  feet  in  size,  and  most  of  them  four- 
teen feet  in  height  of  ceiling.  This  gives  fifty  pupils, 
which  is  more  than  the  average  number  in  a  room, 
each  seventeen  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  cubic  feet  of  air  space.  All 
school-rooms  are  furnished  with  comfortable  desks ; 
twelve  rooms  with  double  desks,  two  hundred  and 
six  with  single  desks.'' 

Of  heating  and  ventilation  he  says,  "  The  simple 
matter  of  heating  a  school-room  is  comparatively  an 
easy  task,  but  to  heat  it  and  at  the  same  time  ven- 
tilate it  so  that  the  air  can  be  kept  pure  in  it  when 


it  is  occupied  by  fifty  pupils,  is  a  problem  most  diffi- 
cult to  solve.  The  solution  the  board  has  arrived  at 
is  to  make  a  separate  ventilating  shaft  for  each 
room,  and  they  have  done  this  in  all  the  buildings 
erected  for  several  years  past.  The  foul-air  registers 
have  twice  the  capacity  of  the  heat  registers.  The 
stoves  used  for  heating  warm  the  cold  air  before  it 
gets  to  the  pupil.  This  system  is  applied  to  about 
one  hundred  school-rooms,  and  gives  the  best  satis- 
faction. The  average  of  children  to  a  room  in  the 
primary  department  is  about  fifty,  and  it  ought  not 
to  be  more  than  forty.  That  of  other  departments 
is  thirty-eight." 

Of  the  lighting  of  the  school-rooms  the  report 
says,  '■  Next  in  importance  to  pure  air  in  a  school- 
room is  good  light.  Too  much  care  cannot  be  taken 
of  the  children's  eyesight.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  is  not  a  hadly-lighted  school-room  in  the  city. 
Out  of  the  two  hundred  and  ten  rooms  in  use,  in 
not  one  of  them  do  the  children  sit  facing  the  light, 
and  in  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  of  them  the  light 
is  admitted  from  the  left  hand  and  from  the  back, 
and  in  fifteen  rooms  from  the  left  hand  only,  and  in 
the  remaining  thirty-one  the  light  comes  from  the 
right  hand  and  the  back.  In  our  later  buildings  all 
the  rooms  are  so  arranged  as  to  admit  the  light  from 
the  back  and  the  left  only,  and  this  is  the  best  possi- 
ble arrangement,  according  to  the  weight  of  authority 
and  our  experience. 

"  There  are  in  these  buildings  four  windows  in 
each  room, — two  in  the  rear  and  two  at  the  side, — 
each  window  nine  feet  six  inches  by  three  feet  ten 
inches  in  size." 

CoTTRSE  OP  Instruction. — In  the  first  applica- 
tion of  the  system  of  grades  to  the  city  schools  there 
were  four  divisions,  the  primary,  the  intermediate, 
the  grammar,  and  the  high  school.  Some  years  later, 
about  the  close  of  the  war  or  soon  after,  these  were 
reduced  to  three  grades,  the  primary,  the  intermedi- 
ate, and  the  high  school.  Still  later  the  intermediate 
was  changed  to  a  grammar  department,  as  appears  in 
the  "Manual  of  1881,"  and  four  years  were  assigned 
to  each,  making  a  full  course  of  the  free  schools  cover 
twelve  years.  Since  1881  the  grammar  department 
has  been  eliminated  and  the  course  below  the  high 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBKARIE8   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


429 


school  runs  on  continuously  from  the  first  year  to  the 
eighth.  In  each  year  there  are  two  grades,  the  lower, 
B,  advancing  quarterly  into  the  next,  or  A  grade. 
The  first  year  has  Grade  1  B  and  Grade  1  A ;  the 
second  year,  Grade  2  B  and  Grade  2  A  ;  the  third 
year,  Grade  3  B  and  Grade  3  A ;  the  fourth  year. 
Grade  4  B  and  Grade  4  A,  and  so  on  through  the 
fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  years,  each  year 
marking  the  numbers  of  the  grades  in  it.  There  are 
two  quarters  to  each  year,  and  the  school  year  consists 
of  thirty-nine  weeks. 

First  Year,  or  Grade  1  B. — Reading  Monroe's 
"  Chart  Primer,"  spelling  by  sound  words  of  reading, 
general  lessons,  inventions,  and  oral  lessons  on  pictures 
and  plants,  music,  writing.  These  for  the  first  quar- 
ter. Second  quarter  the  same,  with  addition  of  arith- 
metic, counting  with  and  without  objects,  and  finding 
a  given  number  of  objects.  The  general  lessons  on 
color  and  animals.     1  A,  reading,  spelling,  arithmetic; 


color),  writing,  drawing,  music,  continued  through 
both  quarters.  2  A,  reading,  spelling,  arithmetic, 
language,  writing,  drawing,  music,  through  both 
quarters. 

Third  Year,  3  B. — The  course  in  both  quarters 
consists  of  the  same  studies  substantially  as  in  Grade 
2  A,  with  slight  variations  that  are  of  no  conse- 
quence to  such  a  summary  as  this.  3  A,  the  same 
as  2  A,  advancing  in  the  text-books,  and  in  the 
second  quarter  introducing  geography. 

Fourth  Year,  4  A— The  same  as  in  3  A,  last  quar- 
ter, with  some  changes  of  textbooks  and  methods, 
continuing  through  both  quarters.  4  A  still  contin- 
ues reading,  spelling,  arithmetic,  language,  geography, 
writing,  drawing,  and  music  through  both  quarters. 
Both  B  and  A  are  going  the  same  road,  with  one  a 
little  ahead  of  the  other. 

The  other  four  years  of  the  course  preceding  the 
high  school  continue  the  same  studies,  only  advancing 


general  lessons  (the  human  body  and  drawing,  first  from  quarter  to  quarter  till  the  seventh  year  of  A, 
quarter ;  oral  compositions  on  pictures  and  lessons  on  ]  when  history  is  introduced  and  kept  up  through  the 
plants,  second  quarter),  music,  writing.  year,  and  introduced  in  the  eighth  year  of  B.     In 


Second  Year,  2  B. — Reading,  spelling,  arithmetic, 
language  (how  to  talk,  oral  compositions,  lessons  on 


eighth  year  of  A  physiology  is  introduced,  and  con- 
tinued through  the  year  in  the  place  of  history. 


HIGH  SCHOOLS. 


Matheuatics. 

Weeks. 

Science. 
(September  Classes.) 

Weeks. 

Science. 
(January  Classes.) 

Weeks. 

Ss 

20     . 
20 

20 
10 
10 

2.  Physical  Geography 

,      J  1.  Physical  Geography... 
1           (2.  Physics 

20 
10 
10 

„      f  1.  Physical  Geography... 
12.  Physios 

. 

-»i 

20 
20 

20 
20 

20 
10 
10 

2.  Arithmetic 

2.  Botany 

^     1   1.  Solid  Oeometry 

20 

20 

,        I  1.  Botany 

10 
10 
20 

20 
20 

^2 
1- 

2.   Trigonometrtf   and 

1.  Chemistry 

It 

i-1 

20 
20 

20 
20 

2.  Laboratory 

1.  Astronomy 

2.  Zoology 

1.  Geology 

20 
20 

20 
20 

430 


HISTORF  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


HIQH  SCHOOLS— CimA'ntKd. 


Enoush. 

WeelsB. 

Commercial  and 
History. 

Weeks. 

Language. 

Weeks. 

4 

1    Grammar 

20 
20 

2.  Rhetoric,   Literature,    Read- 

20 
20 

1.   Commercial   Course 

20 
20 

40 

4 
H 

20 
20 

,        f  1.   Orecian   HiHortj 

(  2.  Roman  History 

„       h.  Mediaval  HiHury... 
'■■     \  2.  iiodern  History 

20 
20 

1 
Oerinan,  Latin,  Oreek, 

40 

4 

I.   Civil  Government,    United 

20 
20 

20 

German,  Latin,    Greek, 
or  French 

40 

Themes 20 

2.   Engiish  Literature  and 

The  required  branches  are  in  Roman  letters  and  the  elective  branches  in  italic.  Drawing  and  music  are  also  elective  in  the 
first  year.  The  Commercial  Course  Includes  book-keeping,  commercial  law,  and  a  review  of  arithmetic,  and  is  designed  especially 
for  pupils  who  intend  business  pursuits.     Three  recitations  daily  are  required  to  complete  the  high  school  course  in  four  years. 


STATISTICS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  FOR  THIRTY  TEARS,  1853  TO  1883. 


No.  of 

No. 
Teach- 

No.  of 

Average 

Average 

+t  Salary 

Salary 

Salary  of 
Principals  of 
District  Schools. 

Date. 

•School 
Census. 

Weeks 
of 

J  Salaries  Paid 
to  TeachetB. 

Different 
Pupils 

Whole 
Number 

Daily 
Atten- 

Per Cent,  of 
Attendance. 

Superin- 

Principal 
of  High 
School. 

School. 

Enrolled. 

Belonging. 

dance. 

tendent. 

10 

t876 

t   76 

400 

3,053 
3,901 

$250 
300 

1,160 

$500 

1855 

22 

20 

1000 

500 

4,5(14 
4,338 
4,739 
4,934 
6,178 
4,803 
4,965 

500 

\ 

500 

1 

1859 

'406 

400 

1862 

22 

29 

200  to  340 

500 

400  to  600 

6,863 
11,907 

2,040 
2,374 

300  to  600 

1864 

36 

30 

240  to  260 

1,260 

1096 

64.86 

1200 

900 

300  to  700 

1865 

12,455 

38 

28 

360  to  376 

2,.'>33 

1,428 

1305 

92. 

1500 

1000 

600  to  620 

1866 

tt  9,177 

39 

34 

400 

3,242 

1,753 

1000 

91.2 

2000 

1000 

500  to  620 

1867 

8,964 

40 

44 

400 

4,149 

2.502 

2361 

94.2 

2000 

a250 

600  to  620 

1868 

9,.507 

40 

62 

40O  to600 

4,949 

3,250 

3099 

95. 

2000 

1500 

600  to  700 

1869 

11.028 

40 

78 

400  to  600 

5,160 

3,649 

3375 

94.9 

2000 

1600 

»    1200 

1870 

01  13,082 

40 

92 

400  to  600 

5,795 

3,967 

3769 

94.7 

2400 

1700 

\\    1300 

1871 

141617 

40 

103 

40U  to  600 

6,660 

4,468 

4205 

94.4 

2400 

1600 

U    1300 

1872 

15,718 

40 

112 

400  to  600 

6,896 

4,676 

4379 

93.6 

2400 

2300 

600  to  800 

1873 

16,a27 

40 

128 

450  to  6.50 

8,178 

5,728 

5306 

92.6 

300O 

2400 

700  to  1100 

1874 

19.125 

40 

161 

450  to  650 

9,351 

6,756 

0283 

94. 

3000 

2400 

700  to  1100 

1875 

20,723 

40 

176 

450  to  650 

11,013 

7,457 

7210 

95.3 

2800 

2400 

700  to  1100 

1876 

21,2M 

40 

189 

450  to  650 

12,315 

7,686 

7686 

92. 

2500 

2400 

700  to  1100 

1877 

22,806 

40 

203 

450  to  650 

13,679 

.  8,605 

7920 

92. 

250O 

2000 

700  to  1100 

1878 

25,012 

40 

208 

450  to  600 

13,178 

9,264 

8665 

93.5 

2500 

1800 

700  to  1000 

1879 

26,039 

40 

213 

420  to  670 

13,336 

9,543 

8912 

93.3 

2500 

1750 

700  to  1000 

1880 

26,789 

40 

219 

400  to  600 

13,960 

9,645 

8925 

92.6 

2500 

1750. 

700  to  1000 

1881 

28,959 

39 

2.33 

400  to  600 

12,833 

9,750 

9065 

92.8 

3000 

1800 

800  to  1100 

1882 

30,888 

39 

235 

300  to  600 

13,277 

10,198 

9495 

93.2 

3000 

1800 

800  to  1100 

1883 

32,079 

39 

259 

300  to  600 

13,685 

10,753 

9938 

92.4 

3000 

1800 

800  to  1100 

*  The  census  from  1S54  to  1865  included  all  white  persons  between  five  and  twenty-one  years ;  from  1866  to  1871,  all  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  twenty-one  ;  and  since  1870,  all  white  aud  colored  persons  between  the  last -mentioned  ages, 
t  City  Clerk,  acting  school  director. 

i  Salaries  are  ba^ed  on  the  rale  per  annum  for  a  full  school  year  of  forty  weeks. 
^Superintendent  was  also  principal  of  the  high  school. 

I  High  Bch"ol  suspended  until  lSt>4. 
**  No  free  schools — school-houses  rented, 
ft  From  1858  to  1863  the  executive  officer  of  the  board 

time. 

It  This  fatting  off  in  the  census  is  ascribed  to  the  minimu 
incomplete  returns. 

g§  Two  principals  only  appointed ;  one  for  the  districts  north  and  < 

II  Includes  the  first  enumeration  of  colored  persons  of  school  age 


called  the  "  Director."    His  pay  was  $2f 
.m  age  being  increased  by  one  year  (si 


I  during  vacation  and  $500  during  term 
:  and  twenty-one  years)  and  in  part  to 


J  for  the  districts  south  of  Washington  Street. 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


431 


Present  Condition.— In  the  following  tables, 
taken  from  the  last  reports  of  the  board  of  commis- 
sioners and  the  school  officers,  is  presented  as  full 
and  accurate  a  view  of  the  present  condition  of  the 
public  schools  as  can  be  obtained.     No  additions  have  ' 


been  made  to  the  houses  or  lots  of  this  or  other  prop- 
erty of  the  schools  since  the  compilation  of  the  fol- 
lowing statistical  table,  which  is  for  the  year  1881, 
so  that  it  is  as  complete  as  if  made  for  the  past  year 

(1883)  : 


TABLE  SHOWING   SCHOOL   PROPERTY,  SIZE, 

LOCATION,  COST  OF  GROUNDS,  BUILDINGS.  FURNITURH 

,  ETC.,  JULY  1,  1881. 

School 
Buildings. 

Location  and  Size  of  Lots. 

1    Date  of 
Erection. 

Cost  or 

Estimated 

Value  of 

Sites. 

Cost  of 
Buildings 

and 
Improve- 
ments. 

a 
1 

No.  of 
Seats. 

How 
Seated. 

How 
Heated. 

Value  of 

Furni- 
ture and 
School 
Appa- 
ratus. 

Total 
Value  of 
Property. 

No.    1 

Corner    Vermont   and    New    Jersey 

Streets.     Lot  90  bv  195. 
Corner  Delaware  and  Walnut  Streets 

Lot  187)..;  by  95. 
Meridian  Street,  between  Ohio  and 

New  York.     Lot  136  l.y  196. 
Corner   Blackford  and  Michigan  Sis. 

Lot  167 1..  by  210. 
Maryland  Street,  between  Mississippi 

and  Missouri.     Lot  m]4  by  196. 
Corner  Union  and  Pbipps  Streets.    Lot 

266  by  139. 
Corner  Bates  and  Benton  Streets.    Lot 

180  by  100. 
Virginia  Avenue,  near  Huron  Street. 

Lot  240  by  125. 
Corner  Vennon  t  and  Davidsun  Streets 

Lot  150  by  100. 
Corner  Ash  Street  and  Home  Avenue. 

Lot  136  by  264. 
Corner  Fourth  and  Tenne-^see  Streets 

Lot  122  by  208. 
Corner  West  and  McCarty  Streets.  Lot 

164  by  188. 
Corner  Buchanan  and  Beatv  Streets. 

Lot  164  by  231. 
OhioStreet.east  of  Highland  Avenue. 

Lotl.S5ii  by  219. 
Market  Street,  between  West  and  Cal- 
ifornia.    Lot  67  by  2(]4. 
Indianola,    corner    Rav    and    Plum 

Streets.     Lot  173  by  181. 
Corner    Michigan    and    Huntington 

Streets.    Lot . 

Tandes  Street,  between  Home  Avenue 
and  Lincoln  Street.    Lot  120  bv  168. 
Shelby  Street,  south  of  Virginia  Ave- 
nue.    Lot  61  by  160. 
Spruce  Street,  south  of  Prospect.    Lot 

198  by  181. 
New  York  Street,  between  Illinois  and 

Tennessee.     Lot  82 V,  by  125. 
Corner  Chestnut  and  Hrll  Streets.  Lot 

118  by  223. 
Corner  Fourth  and  Howard  Streets. 

Lot  183  by  201. 
Corner  North  and   Minerva  Streets. 

Lot  136ft  by  20S^„. 
Corner  New  Jersey  and  Merrill  Streets. 

Lot . 

Beeler  Street,  between  Lincoln  Ave- 

nueand7thSt.    Lot  165.6  by  174.4. 
Corner  Pennsylvania  and  Michigan 

Streets.     Lot  2b2}4  by  196. 
East  Street,  north  of~  Louisiana.     Lot 

90  by  200. 
East  Washington  Street,  near  Deaf  and 

Dumb  Asylum .     Lot  65  by  193. 
Pennsylvania  Street,  south  of  Sooth. 

Lot  59>!;  by  160. 
Comer  Pennsvlvn  nia  and  Ohio  Streets. 
Lot  120  by  "120. 

Add  the  books  and  furniture  of  c 

1881 

1871 

1875 

1867 

Recon- 

s'ted  1869 

1868 

1872 

1867 

1867 

1872 

1872 

1874 

1873 

1878 

Recun- 

s'tedl870 

1873 

1873 

1876 

1878 

1876 

Recon- 

s'ted  1862 

1876 

1830 

18S0 

1881 

1881 

1872 
Not  in  nee 
Not  in  use 
Not  in  use 

1880 

ty  library 

811.500.00 
32,660.00 
40,597.50 
10,000.00 
7,000.011 
16,000.00 

n,6no.o( 

16.000.no 
13,000.00 
15,250.00 
12,200.00 
7,000.00 
6,500.00 
4,900.00 
4,500.00 
3,000.00 
4,000  00 
3,600.00 
2,800.00 
6,000.00 
12,000.00 
6,000.00 
2,600.00 
2,600.00 
8,500.00 
2,000.00 
60,000.00 
7,000.00 
6,600.00 
6,000.00 

Sll,446.35 
42,431.76 
51,131  45 
45,046.00 

2,000.00 
40,600.00 
28,061.00 

5,106.02 
46,600.00 
32,043.00 
25,291.65 
22,000.00 
32,078.41 
10,241.32 

3,300.00 

3,500.00 
23,401.35 

.5,342  00 

6,032.00 
26,706.00 

2,000.00 
16,518.28 

6,483.36 
10,871.03 
10,134.19 
11,890.46 
50,000.00 

8 

14 
13 
12 
4 
12 
12 
6 
12 
14 
12 
8 
12 
8 
4 
3 
8 
4 
4 
8 
4 
8 

: 

8 
8 
7 

448 
777 
720 
700 
210 
683 
644 
284 
693 
777 
603 
382 
628 
483 
144 
168 
336 
205 
161 
423 
454 
381 
209 
362 
504 
434 
643 

Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
S'gle  & 
double 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

S'gle  & 
double 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Double 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

Si'agle 
seats 

Single 
seats 

Single 

Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 
Single 

seats 

Grossius 
beaters 
Steam 

Steam 

Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

beaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

beaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Grossius 

beaters 
Grossius 

heaters 

beaters 
Grossius 

heaters 
Heaters  & 

furnace 

82,095.20 
6,709.88 
3,265.66 
4,614.72 
1,081.64 
4,330.64 
3,475.26 

962.40 
6,174.90 
3,744.60 
2,097.56 
2,059.10 
3,118.90 
1,962.82 

831.60 

829.81 
2,055.61 

766.00 

506.66 
2,856.65 

200.00 
1,858.66 

783.66 
1,660.47 
1,641.32 

396.63 
9,019.76 

$26,040.56 
81,791.63 
94,984.60 
69,660.72 
10.081.64 
69,830.64 
42,536.26 
21,059.02 
63,674.90 
51,037.60 
39,689.20 
31,069.10 
41,697.31 
17,094.14 
8,631.50 
7,329.81 
29,466.96 
9,608.00 
8,638.65 
34,662.85 
14,200.00 
23,376.93 
10,067.02 
15,031.50 
20.175.61 
14,287.09 
119,019.76 
7,000.00 
8,000.00 
6,000.00 
2,989.11 

No.   2 

No.    4 

No.   5 

No.    6 

No.    7 

No.    8 

No.    9 

No.  10 

No.  11 

No.  12 

No.  13 

No.  14 

No.  15 

No.  16 

No.  18 

No.  19 

No.  21 

No.  22 

No  23 

No.  24 

No.  25 

High  School. 
Old  No.    7.... 

Old  No.  14.... 

Old  No.    6.... 

1.4G6..5lj   ... 

Lib.  B'lding.. 

... 

Grossius 
heaters 

1,622.60 

$334,997.50 
nd  oflBce  fu 

5572,021.73  225 

11,946 

869,392.67 

$976,411.90 
36,000.00 

$1,011,411.90 

432 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


25,257 

7,822 


SUMMARY   OF  STATISTICS. 

1.  Legal  school  age,  six  to  twenty  years  inclusive. 

2.  Number  of  population  according  to  the  census  :  1882. 

Under  six 

Between  six  and  sixteen 23,990 

Over  sixteen 6,89S 

3.  Whole  number  of  different  pupils  enrolled  : 

Under  six 

Between  six  and  sixteen 12,916 

Over  sixteen 361 

4.  Number  in  schools  other  than  public,  as  reported  by  census  enumerator 1,053 

5.  Number  of  school  days  in  the  year 190 

6.  Number  of  days  taught 185 

7.  Estimiited  real  value  of  property  used  for  school  purposes,  grounds,  or  sites $334,907,50 

8.  Buildings 572,021.73 

Furniture 69,392.67 

Total 976,321.90 

9.  Total  taxable  property  of  city,  assessed  value.... 52,633,500.00 

Tax  for  school  purposes,  mills  per  dollar,  assessed  value .02 


13,378 

307 

.  2,833 

190 

186 

$346,347.50 

602,1171.73 

72,682.67 

1,021,101.90 

53,081,400.00 

.02 


10.  Number  of  rooms  in  which  pupils  are  seated  for  study  and  recita- 

tion under  (me  teacher 

11.  Number  of  rooms  in  charge  of  two  or  more  teachers 

12.  Number  of  rooms  used  for  recitation  only 

13.  Number  of  school  buildings 

14.  Number  of  sittings  for  study 

15.  Number  of  teachers,  January,  including  principals: 

Males 

Females 

16.  Average  number  of  teachers 

17.  Number  of  pupils  enrolled 

18.  Average  daily  attendance 

19.  Average  daily  attendance  per  teacher 


!,678     599 
1,772  ■  444 


28 
12,279 

11 

233 

244 

13,151 

9,938 

40.7 


224 
7 

12 

29 

12,822 

18 

241 

259 

13,709 

10,442 


ANNUAL   SALARIES. 

1882. 

Of  superintendent S3000 

Of  assistant  superintendent 2000 

Of  superintendent  of  primary  instruction...  1400 

Of  special  teacher  of  music 1295 

Of  special  teacher  of  drawing 1450 

Of  principal  of  normal  school 1650 

Of  principal  of  high  school 1800 

Of  assistants 950 

Of  principals  of  ward  schools $800  to  1100 

Of  assistants  in  ward  schools 300  to    600 

Expense  of  instruction  per  capita  based  on   av 
attendance : 

Tuition S14.57 

Incidentals 4.27 

Total $18.84 


$19.12 


NUMBER    OP   SCHOOL    CHILDREN    BY    COMMISSIONERS'    DIS- 
TRICTS, 1883 

No.    1 1,685 

No.    2 1,764 

No.    3 1,596 

No.    4 3,857 


No.    5 3,868 

No.    6 3,484 

No.    7 2,413 

No.    8 5,118 

No.    9 2,477 

No.  10 4,193 

No.  11 2,624 

Total 33,078 

Transfers 91 

Total 33,170 


STATEMENT   OF   ATTENDANCE,   ETC. 

1882.  1883. 

Enrollment 13,277  1.3,685 

Average  number  belonging 10,198  10,753 

Average  attendance 9,495  9,938 

Per  cent,  of  attendance 93.2  92.4 

Cases  of  tardiness 8,244  6,054 

Number  of  tardy  pupils 3,571  3,539 

Number  of  pupils  neither  absent 

nor  tardy 1,777  3,659 

Number  of  truancies 553  555 

Number  of  truant  pupils 352  422 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


433 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  RELATION  BETWEEN  SCHOOL  CENSUS 
AND  SCHOOL  ENROLLMENT. 


Total. 

Enroll- 
ment. 

Tate  Schools. 

White. 

Colored. 

Work. 

1869... 

10,407 

621 

11,028 

5,160 

Not  given. 

•Not  given. 

1870... 

12,274 

808 

13,082 

5,795 

** 

« 

1871... 

13,714 

903 

14,617 

6,560 

" 

" 

1872... 

14,708 

1010 

15,718 

6,895 

« 

" 

187.'i... 

16,035 

894 

16,927 

8,178 

" 

" 

1874... 

18,074 

1051 

19,125 

9,351 

" 

•  1 

18-3... 

19,734 

989 

20,723 

10,013 

" 

« 

1876... 

19,925 

1330 

21,255 

:2,3!5 

2100 

4739 

1877... 

21,095 

1711 

22,806 

13,679 

1340 

3931 

1878... 

23,956 

2056 

25,012 

13,178 

1156 

3265 

1879... 

23,738 

2301 

26,039 

13,336 

1597 

4680 

1880... 

22,253 

2776 

26,029 

■13,936 

1116 

.■i652 

1881... 

25,961 

2998 

28,959 

13,964 

1334 

3643 

1882... 

27,372 

3516 

30,888 

13,277 

1053 

3636 

1883... 

29,363 

3716 

33,079 

13,685 

2833 

7731 

In  Private  Schools. — In  Indianapolis  the  number 
enrolled  in  all  schools  other  than  public  is  thirteen 
and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  public  school  enroll- 
ment. 

Per 
Cent. 

In  Fort  Wayne,  Ind S3 

In  Logansport,  Ind 45 

In  Terre  Haute,  Ind 17 

In  Viocennes,  Ind 51 

In  Madison,  Ind 57 

In  Detroit,  Mich 47 

In  Chicago,  III 39 

In  St.  Louis,  Mo 34 

In  Buffalo,  N.  T 40 

In  Cincinnati,  Ohio 51 

In  Cleveland,  Ohio 46 

EXPENDITURES. 


Expended 
1881-82. 

Expended 
1882-83. 

Eatimatea 
1883-84. 

Tuition 

$148,648.17 

$159,876.00 
9,192.00 
3,053.60 
6,561.10 
91.60 
256.00 
4,969.94 
5,916.08 
1,092.33 
2.003.31 

$160  000.00 

Janitors 

8,938.60 
2,841.77 
6,351.68 
100.60 
256.00 
1,478.12 
6,7.36.81 
1,538.72 
1,992.66 

9,500.00 
3,100.00 
6  500  00 

Fuel 

(Ins 

100  00 

Water 

Furniture 

300.00 
1,500.00 

Repairs  and  expenses- 

6,000.00 
1,500.00 

1,900.00 

3,879.14  '         4-040-52 

4,000.00 
500.00 

671.18 

530.17 

648.26 

23,580.09 

154.35 

1,116.17 

679.63 

22.20 

10,784.41 

4,097.88 

588.88 

9,342.14 

990.80 
20,442.11 

1,000.00 

400.00 

805.75 

814.04 

82.20 

8,881.33 

3,952.87 

621.10 

11,305.32 

1,000.00 
1,000.00 

100.00 

Interest 

9,000.00 
4,500.00 

600.00 

12,500.00 

$231,328.97 

$248,596.66 

$225,000.00 

The  Gregg  Fund.— This  is  the  bequest  of  Thomas 
D.  Gregg,  one  of  the  early  teachers  of  the  city,  who 
died  in  Virginia  some  years  ago.  The  condition  of 
the  gift  was  that  the  value  of  the  lands  of  which  it 
consisted  should  be  safely  invested  and  the  income 
applied  to  the  city  schools.  The  last  report  of  the 
trustee  of  the  fund,  Mr.  Merritt,  shows  that  the 
amount  of  it  is  ten  thousand  two  hundred  and  one 
dollars  and  eleven  cents,  and  the  income  fund  is  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-three  dollars  and 
thirty-three  cents. 

Normal  School. — In  1867  a  normal  school  depart- 
ment was  formed,  and  placed  in  charge  of  Miss  Fu- 
nelle,  in  which  the  chief  purpose  was  the  education 
and  training  of  the  pupils  of  our  own  schools  for 
teachers  in  them.  The  present  superintendent  of  this 
department,  Mr.  Lewis  H.  Jones,  says  that  fifty-seven 
per  cent,  of  the  teachers  now  in  the  city  schools  have 
graduated  from  it  since  1867.  He  says  that  according 
to  present  regulations  applicants  must  be  at  least 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  of  good  moral  character 
and  good  health,  with  an  education  equivalent  to  that 
given  by  the  high  school,  but  that  graduates  of  that 
school  may  be  subjected  to  competitive  examination 
by  the  principal  of  the  normal  school.  There  are  now 
two  departments  in  it, — a  theory  department,  in 
which  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching  and  in 
school  management  is  given  ;  and  a  practice  depart- 
ment, in  which  the  pupil-teachers,  under  the  care  of 
a  competent  critic,  put  into  practice  the  theories  of 
school  work  learned  in  the  other.  Each  pupil-teacher 
is  required  to  remain  in  each  department  twenty 
weeks,  filling  the  place  of  a  regular  teacher  during 
her  stay  in  the  practice-school,  without  pay,  her  in- 
struction paying  for  her  services.  The  following  is 
an  outline  of  the  course  of  study : 

Psychology,  one  recitation  per  day  for 20  weeks. 

Arithmetic  and  methods  in  primary  number,  10  weeks 

each 20  weeks. 

Rhetoric,  practical  composition,  and  language 20  weeks. 

Botany  (elementary),  8;  school  economy,  12 20  weeks. 

Geography,  12;  lessons  on  place.  4;  object  lessons,  4.. 20  weeks. 
Methods  in  primary  reading  and  spelling,  10;  form, 

6;  moral  instruction,  4 20  weeks. 

Music,  drawing,  and  penmanship,  one  lesson  per  week. 

Within  the  three  years  sixty-four  persons  have 
received  its  diploma. 


434 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


PRESENT  COMMISSIONERS. 
Dist.  lena  expires. 

I.,  J.  P.  Frenzel,  Merchants'  National  Bank 1885 

II.,  Charles  W.  Smith,  "6  East  Washington  Street 1885 

III.,  H.  G.  Carey,  corner  North  and  Illinois  Streets 1SS6 

IV.,  George  Merritt,  411  West  Washington  Street 1886 

v.,  J.  J.  Bingham,  148  West  Maryland  Street 1884 

VI.,  Austin  H.  Brown,  290  South  Meridian  Street 1884 

VII.,  E.  P.  Thompson,  Post-Office 1886 

VIII.,  I.  W.  Stratford,  1S7  Buchanan  Street 1886 

IX.,  Clemens  Vonnegut,  184  E.ast  Washington  Street...  1884 

X.,  William  A.  Bell,  No.  12  Journal  Building 1885 

XL,  Robert  Browning,  7  and  9  E.  Washington  Street...  1885 

Officers  of  the  Board. — President,  Austin  H. 
Brown ;  Secretary,  Charles  W.  Smith ;  Treasurer, 
H.  Gr.  Carey  ;  Superintendent  of  Schools,  H.  S.  Tar- 
bell;  Assistant  Superintendent,  J.  J.  Mills;  Superin- 
tendent of  Primary  Institution,  Nebraska  Cropsey. 
Special  Teachers :  Jesse  H.  Brown,  drawing ;  Charles 
E.  Emmerich,  German.  Librarian,  William  DeM. 
Hooper ;  Assistant  Secretary,  Emma  B.  Ridenour ; 
Building  and  Supply  Agent,  H.  C.  Hendrickson ; 
Clerk,  Therese  E.  Jones. 

Trustees. — From  1853  to  1861,  as  before  stated, 
the  board  of  trustees  was  elected  by  the  Common 
Council.  From  1861  to  1864  the  board  was  elected 
by  the  people,  one  from  each  ward ;  and  from  1865 
to  1871  the  trustees  were  again  appointed  by  the 
Council.  Ill  June,  1871,  a  board  of  school  commis- 
sioners, one  from  each  school  district,  was  elected  by 
the  people. 

1853.-j-Henry  P.  Coburn,  Calvin  Fletcher,  H.  F.  West.  School 
Director,  the  city  clerk. 

1854.— H.  P.  Coburn,  Calvin  Fletcher,  John  B.  Dillon,  William 
Sheets.     Director,  the  city  clerk. 

1855. — Calvin  Fletcher,  David  Beaty,  James  M.  Ray.  School 
Superintendent,  Silas  T.  Bowen. 

1856.— Calvin  Fletcher,  David  Beaty,  D.  V.  Culley.  Superin- 
tendent, George  B.  Stone. 

1857.— D.  V.  Culley,  N.  B.  Taylor,  John  Love.  Superintendent, 
George  B.  Stone. 

1858-59.— D.  V.  Culley,  John  Love,  David  Beaty.  Director, 
James  Greene. 

1860, — Caleb  B.  Smith,  Lawrence  M.  Vance,  Cyrus  C.  Hines. 
Director,  James  Greene. 

1861-62. — Oscar  Kendrick,  D.  V.  Culley,  James  Greene,  Thomas 
B.  Elliott,  James  Sulgrove,  Lewis  W.  Hasselman,  Richard 
O'Neal.     Director,  George  W.  Hoss. 

1863-64.— James  H.  Beall,  D.  V.  Culley,  I.  H.  Roll,  Thomas  B. 
Elliott,  Lucien  Barbour,  James  Sulgrove,  Alexander  Metz- 
ger,  Charles  Coulon,  Andrew  May,  Herman  Lieber.  Super- 
intendent, A.  C.  Shortridge. 


1865-68.— Thomas  B.  Elliott,  William  H.  L.  Noble,  Clemens 
Vonnegut.     Superintendent,  A.  C.  Shortridge. 

1869-70.— William  H.  L.  Noble,  James  C.  Yohn,  John  R.  Elder. 
Superintendent,  A.  C.  Shortridge. 

Commissioners. — The  board  of  school  commis- 
sioners of  this  city  was  organized  in  July,  1871,  and 
since  then  the  following  gentlemen  have  served  on 
the  board:  John  R.  Elder,  James  C.  Yohn,  H.  6. 
Carey,  Thomas  B.  Elliott,  J.  J.  Bingham,  Austin  H. 
Brown,  William  F.  Reasner,  Peter  Routier,  Clemens 
Vonnegut,  Thomas  R.  Norris,  A.  L.  Roache,  Moses 
R.  Barnard,  John  M.  Youart,  C.  C.  Hines,  E.  R. 
Moody,  George  Merritt,  Charles  W.  Smith,  John 
Coburn,  Robert  Browning,  I.  W.  Stratford,  Edward 
P.  Tiiompson,  and  John  P.  Frenzel. 

City  Library. — This  is  by  far  the  largest,  most 
complete,  and  best-managed  library  in  the  State.  It 
is  a  part  of  the  city  school  system,  under  the  direction 
of  the  board  of  school  commissioners,  and  supported 
by  a  tax  levied  with  the  city  school  tax.  The  his- 
tory of  this  institution  deserves  more  than  a  cursory 
notice.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1872,  a  committee  on 
the  Public  Library  was  appointed,  in  connection  with 
the  high  school  and  night  schools,  consisting  of  Dr. 
Harvey  G.  Carey,  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Elliott,  Austin  H. 
Brown,  and  Judge  Addison  L.  Roache,  and  the  same 
members  were  continued  for  the  following  year.  On 
the  5th  of  July,  1872,  the  committee  employed  W. 
F.  Poole,  of  the  Cincinnati  Public  Library,  to  prepare 
a  catalogue  of  at  least  eight  thousand  volumes.  On 
the  6th  of  September  the  school  board  appointed  an 
advisory  committee  of  citizens  on  the  library,  con- 
sisting of  Mr.  John  D.  Rowland,  Rev.  Hanford  A. 
Edson,  and  Judge  Elijah  B.  Martindale,  whose  duty 
was  to  "  attend  the  stated  meetings  of  the  committee 
for  consultation  in  regard  to  all  matters  affecting  the 
interests  of  the  library." 

On  the  20th  of  September,  1872,  the  selection 
having  been  made  by  W.  F.  Poole,  E.sq.,  who  was 
then  librarian  of  the  Cincinnati  Public  Library,  the 
contract  for  supplying  the  books,  bids  having  been 
invited  for  that  purpose,  was  let  to  Messrs.  Merrill  & 
Field,  of  this  city.  On  Nov.  15,  1872,  Charles 
Evans,  Esq.,  who  had  been  thoroughly  trained  for  its 
duties,  was  appointed  librarian,  at  a  salary  of  twelve 


SCHOOLS   AND    LIBRARIES   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


435 


hundred  dollars  per  annum.  To  his  many  admirable 
qualifications  for  the  position,  his  zeal  in  the  work, 
and  his  indefatigable  labors  while  librarian,  is  the 
success  of  the  library  in  a  large  measure  due. 

At  this  time  there  was  in  existence  the  Indianapo- 
lis Library  Association,  a  stock  company,  having  a 
catalogue  of  near  four  thousand  well-selected  books. 
With  great  liberality  this  association,  on  Dec.  20, 
1872,  ofi"ered  to  transfer  its  library  to  the  board  upon 
the  condition  that  the  Indianapolis  Public  Library 
should  ever  be  free  to  the  citizens  of  the  city.  This 
generous  gift  was  the  corner-stone  of  our  free  Public 
Library. 

On  March  21,  1873,  rules  for  the  government  of 
the  Public  Library  were  adopted  by  the  board.  On 
the  4th  of  April,  1873,  the  terms  of  transfer  of  the 
Indianapolis  Library  Association  to  the  city  were  ac- 
cepted by  the  board,  and  at  the  same  time  it  made 
the  following  acknowledgment  of  the  donation :  "  The 
board,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Indianapolis,  desires 
to  return  its  thanks  for  this  timely  and  munificent 
benefaction.  Without  it  the  free  library  could  not 
have  been  opened  at  this  time,  nor  would  it  at  an  early 
day  have  adequately  supplied  the  immediate  wants  of 
the  people." 

The  first  catalogue  of  the  library  was  ordered  to 
be  published  July  5,  1873.  On  July  18,  1873,  the 
board  added  to  its  standing  committees  one  on  Pub- 
lic Library,  and  the  following  members  were  ap- 
pointed : 

H.  G.  Carey,  A.  H.  Brown,  W.  A.  Bell,  and  J.  M. 
Ridenour.  Advisory  Committee,  J.  D.  Howland,  H. 
A.  Edson,  Simon  Yandes,  and  C.  C.  Hines. 

The  following  persons  have  composed  that  commit- 
tee since  that  time:  1874-75,  A.  H.  Brown,  W.  A. 
Bell,  J.  J.  Bingham,  J.  M.  Youart.  Advisory  Com- 
mittee, H.  G.  Carey,  J.  D.  Howland,  H.  A.  Edson, 
Simon  Yandes,  and  C.  C.  Hines. 

1875-76,  same  as  last  year,  with  the  exception  of 
Simon  Yandes,  on  the  Advisory  Committee,  who  re- 
signed. 

1876-77,  C.  C.  Hines,  J.  J.  Bingham,  A.  P.  Stan- 
ton, and  Clemens  Vonnegut.  Advisory  Committee, 
J.  D.  Howland,  H.  A.  Edson,  H.  G.  Carey,  W.  P. 
Fishback.     Mr.  Stanton  resigned  on  September  15th, 


and  Robert  Browning,  Esq.,  was  appointed  in  his 
place. 

1877-78,  C.  C.  Hines,  J.  J.  Bingham,  H.  G. 
Carey,  and  Robert  Browning.  Advisory  Committee, 
J.  D.  Howland,  H.  A.  Edson,  W.  P.  Fishback,  and 
A.  C.  Harris. 

1878-79,  C.  C.  Hines,  J.  J.  Bingham,  Robert 
Browning,  and  H.  G.  Carey.  Advisory  Committee, 
Rev.  0.  C.  McCulloch,  Rev.  Myron  W.  Reed,  0.  B. 
Hord,  and  Rev.  C.  H.  Raymond. 

1879-80,  N.  A.  Hyde,  J.  J.  Bingham,  Robert 
Browning,  and  H.  G.  Carey.  Advisory  Committee, 
Rev.  0.  C.  McCulloch,  C.  C.  Hines,  Mrs.  Martha  N. 
McKay,  and  Mrs.  India  Harris. 

1880-81,  same  as  last  year.     1881-83,  same. 

The  Public  Library  and  Reading-Room  were  opened 
in  the  high  school  building,  where  they  remained 
until  January,  1875,  when  they  were  removed,  with 
the  offices  of  the  board,  to  the  Sentinel  building, 
corner  Meridian  and  Circle  Streets,  a  more  central 
location  and  additional  room.  The  rapid  growth  of 
the  library  at  the  end  of  the  five  years'  lease  required 
more  commodious  quarters,  with  diminished  fire  risks. 
The  board  not  having  the  means  to  erect  a  building 
for  the  purpose,  conditionally  purchased  from  E.  S. 
Alvord,  Esq.,  the  property  on  the  corner  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio  Streets,  very  near  if  not  quite  the 
centre  of  the  population  of  the  city,  paying  annually 
five  per  cent,  interest  on  ten-year  bonds  for  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  dated  Jan.  1,  1881,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  reconveying  the  property  at  the  end  of  that 
time.  By  agreement,  the  improvements  and  additions 
to  the  property  having  been  completed,  the  library, 
reading,  and  reference  rooms,  and  the  offices  of  the 
board,  were  removed  to  their  present  home  in  Sep- 
tember, 1880. 

Mr.  Charles  Evans  continued  librarian  until  July, 
1878,  when  Mr.  Albert  B.  Yohn  succeeded  him,  but 
on  account  of  ill  health  he  resigned  at  the  end  of  the 
school  year.  During  his  brief  term  Mr.  Yohn  did 
much  to  popularize  the  library,  especially  by  increas- 
ing the  usefulness  of  the  reference  department.  In 
August,  1879,  Mr.  Arthur  W.  Tyler,  who  had  been 
connected  with  the  Astor  Library,  New  York  City, 
and  the  Johns  Hopkins  Library  of  Baltimore,  was 


436 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


elected  librarian.  He  resigned  on  the  30th  of  June, 
1883,  and  Mr.  W.  DeM.  Hooper  was  elected.  He 
has  proved  very  eflBcient  and  popular. 

The  Indianapolis  Public  Library  was  opened  to  the 
public  April  8,  1873,  with  appropriate  ceremonies. 
At  a  meeting  of  citizens,  held  in  the  high  school 
hall  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  addresses  were  made 
by  the  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  Rev.  H.  A.  Edson, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Kumler,  who  forcibly  and  eloquently 
presented  the  advantages  of  a  public  library  as  an 
educational  institution,  and,  being  free  to  every  citizen, 
making  it  a  library  for  all  who  availed  themselves  of 
its  privileges  as  a  means  of  intellectual  culture  or  en- 
joyment. The  following  historical  sketch  of  the  library 
was  given  by  Judge  Roache  at  the  opening : 

"  The  public  library  is  a  part  of  the  common  school 
system  of  Indianapolis.  After  a  trial  of  the  general 
common  school  system  in  force  in  the  State,  it  becomes 
evident  that,  while  admirable  in  the  main,  it  did  not 
fully  suit  the  wants  of  the  larger  class.  A  number 
of  our  citizens  who  felt  an  interest  in  the  subject, 
held  several  meetings  with  the  view  of  considering 
whether  some  plan  could  not  be  suggested  which, 
while  constituting  a  part  of  the  general  system,  should 
be  flexible  enough  to  be  adapted  to  the  various  needs 
and  capacities  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  State.  One 
of  the  defects  of  the  general  law,  when  it  came  to  be 
applied  to  cities,  was  the  absence  of  any  sufficient 
authority  for  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  such  a 
library  as  it  was  felt  we  ought  to  have.  No  system 
of  education  can  be  complete  without  such  a  collection 
of  books  as  is  beyond  the  ability  of  private  individ- 
uals. Other  cities  are  rapidly  providing  their  people 
with  such  institutions,  and  regard  them  not  only  a 
most  beneficial  and  material  part  of  the  system,  but 
as  the  crown  of  the  whole.  The  problem  was  to 
supply  this  defect. 

"  The  idea  was  suggested  of  embodying  in  the  statute 
then  being  prepared  for  organizing  the  city  schools  a 
provision  authorizing  the  board  of  school  commis- 
sioners to  levy  an  annual  tax,  so  small  that  no  one 
would  feel  it,  the  proceeds  of  which  should  be  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  providing  and  maintaining  of  a 
public  library,  free  forever  to  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the    city.       The    law  under  which  our  present  city 


schools  are  organized  was  accordingly  drafted,  and  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1871,  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
one  of  its  sections  authorizing  the  board  to  levy  a 
tax,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  library,  of  one-fifth 
of  one  mill,  equal  to  two  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars 
of  as.sessed  valuation.  This  section  was  the  origin  of 
the  Indianapolis  Public  Library. 

"  The  board  levied  the  tax  and  immediately  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  the  task  of  selecting  the  books 
and  perfecting  a  proper  system  of  management,  and 
they  soon  found  they  had  more  of  a  task  on  their 
hands  than  any  of  them  had  expected.  Sensible  of 
the  importance  of  starting  out  on  correct  principles, 
and  of  their  own  want  of  the  technical  knowledge  and 
experience  in  management  necessary  to  its  successful 
working,  they  sought  to  avail  themselves  of  the  ex- 
perience of  men  who  were  already  familiar  with  the 
organization  and  working  of  such  institutions  in  other 
cities.  A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed  by 
the  board,  consisting  of  Dr.  H.  G.  Carey,  Dr.  T.  B. 
Elliott,  and  Austin  H.  Brown,  Esq.,  who  visited  the 
cities  of  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  which  had  in 
operation  most  successful  free  public  libraries,  the 
former  of  thirty  thousand  and  the  latter  of  forty 
thousand  volumes. 

"  These  gentlemen  spent  considerable  time  in  study- 
ing the  systems  of  those  libraries,  and  were  afforded 
every  facility  for  so  doing  by  all  the  officers,  who 
cheerfully  imparted  to  them  the  fullest  information  as 
to  the  plans  and  details  of  management.  Mr.  Wil- 
liam F.  Poole,  the  efficient  and  accomplished  manager 
of  the  free  library  of  Cincinnati,  took  a  very  deep  in- 
terest in  the  enterprise,  and  rendered  most  valuable 
assistance,  visiting  this  city  on  several  occasions  for 
the  purpose  of  advising  and  consulting  as  to  the 
selection  of  books  and  the  organization  of  the 
library. 

"  Upon  the  report  of  the  committee  a  plan  suggested 
by  them  was  adopted,  and  the  work  of  selecting  and 
purchasing  books  was  proceeded  with  as  rapidly  as 
was  consistent  with  a  due  regard  to  economy  and  to 
the  propei;  care  and  discrimination  in  making  the 
selections.  It  was  found  that  certain  classes  of  books 
could  be  purchased  much  cheaper  in  Europe  than  at 
home,  and    whenever   that   was   the  case   they  were 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


437 


bought  abroad.     It  occasioned  some  delay,  but  that  j  Alabama  Street;  Miss  Emily  8.  Bingham,  148  West 


was  amply  compensated  by  the  saving  of  our  very 
limited  means. 

"  Some  years  since  a  number  of  our  public-spirited 
citizens,  impressed  vrith  the  great  need  that  existed 
in  so  rapidly  a  growing  city  for  a  public  library,  or- 
ganized a  society  for  the  purpose  of  providing  one  by 
public  donations,  and  with  a  design  of  making  it  free 
to  the  public  on  such  moderate  terms  as  would  barely 
provide  for  its  maintenance.  At  a  very  considerable 
cost  to  themselves,  a  collection  of  near  four  thousand 
volumes  of  admirably  selected  books  was  made,  and 
was  rapidly  becoming  efficient  and  useful.  When  the 
Public  Library  of  Indianapolis  was  organized,  these 
gentlemen,  perceiving  that  it  would,  if  properly  sus- 
tained by  the  people,  accomplish  the  purpose  they 
had  mainly  in  view,  and  with  much  ampler  means 
than  they  could  command,  conceived  the  generous 
idea  of  abandoning  their  organization  and  donating 
their  handsome  collection  to  the  public  library.  The 
generous  purpose  was  as  generously  carried  out,  and 
the  entire  body  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Indianap- 
olis Library  Association  have  united  in  transferring 
their  admirable  collection  of  books  to  the  public. 

"  On  the  completion  of  the  donation,  the  committee 
was  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  A.  L.  Roache,  from 
the  school  board,  and  the  appointment  of  Hon.  John 
D.  Rowland,  Rev.  H.  A.  Edson,  and  Hon.  E.  B. 
Martindale,  the  last  three  as  advisory  members,  se- 
lected because   of  their  former  connection  with   the 


Maryland  Street;  Miss  Lyde  G.  Browning,  300 
South  Meridian  Street;  Mrs.  E.  L:  S.  Harrison,  191 
Christian  Avenue ;  Miss  I.  C.  Schonacker,  220  North 
New  Jersey  Street.  Night  Attendants,  Miles  Clif- 
ford, 384  North  West  Street;  Lindsay  M.  Brown,  4 
Mayhew.  Block  ;  Paul  B.  Hay,  14  Talbott  Block  ; 
Charles  W.  Moores,  232  North  Alabama  Street. 

•  Accession  catalogue,  June  30,  1881,  35,198  vol- 
umes, 3252  pamphlets;  June  30,  1883,  38,689 
volumes,  3417  pamphlets.  Gain  from  June  30, 
1881,  to  June  30,  1883,  3491  volumes,  165  pam- 
phlets. 

Of  these,  2902  volumes  have  been  acquired  by 
purchase,  and  589  volumes  and  165  pamphlets  by 
gift.  This  does  not  represent,  however,  the  number 
of  volumes  actually  upon  the  shelves,  many  of  the 
Tauchnitz  edition  of  the  English  authors  beino' 
bound  two  volumes  in  one  ;  many  volumes  having 
been  worn  out  and  condemned  or  lost,  which  have 
not  been  replaced.  By  actual  count,  the  volumes 
upon  the  shelves  amount  to  35,025.  The  losses 
through  failure  to  get  the  books  back  from  bor- 
rowers, or  to  collect  the  cost  of  them,  have  been  very 
small,  amounting  during  the  past  two  years  to  only 

five.  Many  books  reported  lost  or  missing  will 
undoubtedly  come  to  light  when  an  examination  of 
the  shelves  is  made. 

The  registration  of  borrowers  continues  in  about 
the  same  ratio,  22,815  cards  having  been  issued  to 


Indianapolis  Library  Association,  and  because  of  their  i  date, — 1268  and  1211  having  been  issued  during  the 


great  interest  in  the  subject.  The  books  embraced 
in  this  donation  number  three  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  forty  volumes,  the  number  purchased  by  the 
board  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty,  making 
in  all  ten  thousand  and  twenty  volumes  now  on  our 
shelves,  and  there  are  still  outstanding  orders  for  two 
thousand  five  hundred  more,  making  a  total  of  twelve 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty  volumes." 

Officers  of  Librart/. — Librarian,  William  DeM. 
Hooper,  258  North  Delaware  Street.  Assistant  Li- 
brarians, Mrs.  I.  McElhennen,  32  Winslow  Block  ; 
Miss  Alice  B.  Wick,  264  North  Tennessee  Street ; 
Miss  Mary  E.  Lloyd,  corner  New  Jersey  and  Sev- 
enth Streets ;   Miss  Mary  E.  Keatinge,  331  North 


years  ending  June  30,  1882,  and  June  30,  1883,  re- 
spectively. It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  means 
cannot  be  devised  to  prevent  the  frequent  forgeries 
and  frauds  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  filling  of 
certificates  of  guarantee.  Exercise  what  diligence 
we  may,  such  cases  will  still  occur,  and  occasionally 
it  is  necessary  to  call  in  a  card  for  investigation  upon 
the  certificate  on  which  it  was  issued.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  state  how  many  of  these  cards  are  in  actual 
use  at  present,  since  it  is  very  seldom  that  a  person 
leaving  the  city,  or  discontinuing  the  use  of  a  card, 
will  take  the  trouble  to  surrender  it. 

The  experience  of  this  library  has  been  similar  to 
that    of    almost    every    other    free    library   in    the 


438 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION    COUNTY. 


country,  in  a  decrease  of  circulation  during  the  busy 
and  prosperous  times  of  the  past  two  or  three  years. 
Our  circulation  steadily  decreased  until  it  fell  to  188,- 
239  during  the  year  1881-82.  '  The  year  1882-83 
just  closed,  however,  shows  a  gain  of  7138,  having 
reached  by  June  30th,  195,377.     From  present  indi- 
cations the  current  year  will  show  a  larger  increase 
in  circulation.     The  following  shows  the  circulation 
for  1881-82  and  1882-83: 

Home  Use.           Hall  Use.               Scbools.                  Total. 

1881-82 120.840               47,800               19,599               188,289 

1882-83 125,375               4G,607               23,395               195,377 

as  evidence  of  the  growing  popularity  and  usefu 

of  the  library. 

It  will  be  seen  by  adding  the  circulation  of  b 

reading-room,  and  schools   that  the  total  numb 

pieces  handled  amounts  to  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 

lion  yearly : 

1881-82,  number  of  pieces  read 245,42 

1882-83         "         "             "         248,83 

Iness 

ooks, 
er  of 
mil- 

8 
8 

cula- 
asses 

The  following  exhibit,  made  up  from  the  cii 
tion  for  home  use,  shows  the  percentage  of  the  c 
of  reading  for  the  two  years : 

Gain,    4,535     Loss,    1,193     Gain,  3,342      Gain,    7,138 

Considering  the  population  of  the  city,  the  age  of 
the  library,  and  its  size,  this  is  a  very  flattering  ex- 
hibit. 

While  the  circulation  for  home   reading  shows  a 

1.. 

2.. 
3.. 
4.. 
,■).. 
6.. 

7.. 

8.. 

Clabbifioation. 

1881-82. 

Volumes 
Used. 

1 

1882-83. 

Volumes 

Used. 

s. 

71,482 
20,060 
4,850 
9,620 
2,428 

3,148 

6,544 
2,718 

69.4 
16.6 
4.0 
7.9 
2.0 

2.6 

6.4 
2.2 

Juveuile  literature 

19,100    1     16.1 

considerable  increase,  and  the  number  of  visitors  to 

History,  biography,  and  travel. 

12,356 
2,366 

2,921 

4,279 
2,714 

10.4 

the  reading-room  increased  seven  thousand  eight  hun- 

Theology, social  science,  phil- 

2.5 

dred  and  fifty-three,  the  number  of  pieces  used  has 

Miscellaueous   (literature,  es- 

3.6 

decreased  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty-one 

2.3 

during  the  past  year.     It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
there  has  been  comparatively  no  idleness  in  the  com- 
munity ;  and  this,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  cir- 
culation otherwise  increased  largely,  may  be  accepted 

120,840 

100.0 

118,673 

loao 

The  following  exhibit  shows  statistics  of  reading- 
room  and  school  reference  libraries  : 

Month. 

1881—1882.' 

1882—1883. 

1 

1 

u 

Books  Used. 

• 

1 

1- 
1 

1 

P 

1 
1 

s, 

J 
1 

i 

.2 

1 

.5 
1 

July 

1,952 
2,891 
3,387 
3,927 
3,996 
4,429 
4,691 
4,273 
4,189 
3,727 
3,758 
3,228 

2,931 
3,635 
4,501 
5,316 
4,862 
4,907 
5,709 
4,994 
5,171 
5,268 
5,388 
4,5.07 

1.615 
2,518 
2,594 
4,399 
4,732 
5,327 
4,632 
5,493 
5,261 
4,489 
4,290 
2,450 

4,546 
6,153 
7,095 
9,715 
9,594 
10,234 
10,341 
10,497 
10,432 
9,757 
9,678 
6,957 

3,226 
3,130 
3,192 
4,212 
4,211 
5,331 
5,231 
5,297 
5,836 
4,506 
4,349 
3,601 

4,223 
4,293 
4,556 
4,866 
5,442 
5,387 
6,521 
5,812 
6,671 
5,392 
4,870 
4,906 

2,217 
2,243 
2,617 
3,843 
4,167 
4,760 
4,323 
5,831 
5,798 
4,531 
3,392 
2,785 

6,440 
6,536 
7,173 
8,709 
9,609 
10,147 
10,844 
11,643 
12,469 
9,923 
8,042 
7,691 

1,134 
2,529 
2,076 
2,573 
1,413 
2,625 
2,549 
2.363 
1,782 
555 

893 
2,466 
1,729 
2,864 
2,378 
2,974 
2,957. 
2,924 
3,172 

519 

October 

May 

June 

Total 

44,358 

57,189 

47,800 

104,989 

19,599 

52,211 

53,461 

46,607 

100,068 

23,395 

Tear. 

No.  Volumes 
Bound  at 
Library. 

No.  of  Volumes  Repaired. 

No.  Vols.  CoT- 

At  Bindery. 

At  Library.  1      «' I-'^rary. 

1 

1881-82... 
1882-83... 

788 
832 

403 
394 

2578                  5580 
3749                  2304 

The  Indianapolis  Library,  to  which  reference  is 
made  by  Judge  Roaehe  in  the  historical  sketch  of 
the  City  Library,  was  formed  in  March,  1869,  by 
one  hundred  citizens,  each  of  whom  was  to  contribute 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  to  be  paid  in  annual  in- 
stallments of  twenty-five  dollars,  the  annual  amount 


SCHOOLS   AND   LIBRARIES   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


439 


to  go  to  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  a  public 
library  for  five  years  to  begin  with.  The  officers 
were  John  D.  Howland,  president;  William  P.  Fish- 
back,  vice-president ;  D.  W.  Grubbs,  secretary ; 
William  S.  Hubbard,  treasurer.  A  sketch  of  the 
City  Library  has  related  that  the  books  of  this  associa- 
tion were  given  to  the  city  institution  and  the  organiza- 
tion dissolved. 

The  County  Library. — -This  library  was  founded 
in  1844  on  a  public  fund,  of  which  a  share  was  given 
to  each  county  for  library  purposes.  The  first  trus- 
tees were  Demas  L.  McFarland,  George  Bruce,  Henry 
P.  Coburn,  John  Wilkins,  James  Sulgrove,  and  Liv- 
ingston Dunlap.  The  first  librarian  was  Augustus 
Cobuni,  older  brother  of  Gen.  John,  who  removed  to 
Ontanagon  in  184G,  and  was  drowned  in  a  wreck  on 
Lake  Superior  while  returning  from  a  visit  here  in 
186'i.  The  next  were  B.  R.  Sulgrove,  Gen.  Coburn, 
and  later  Charles  Dennis,  recently  of  the  Review. 
The  number  of  volumes  is  about  four  thousand  ;  it 
was  about  two  thousand  when  started.  The  first  loca- 
tion was  a  little  room  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
old  court-house.  It  now  has  ample  and  superb  ac- 
commodations on  the  first  floor  of  the  new  court- 
house. The  income  of  a  fund  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars is  spent  in  the  addition  of  new  books  and  repairs 
of  old  ones.  Any  citizen  of  the  county  can  take  out 
two  volumes  for  a  week  for  about  a  dollar  a  year,  or 
one  a  week  for  half  of  it.  Henry  P.  Coburn  selected 
the  first  books,  and  it  was  as  admirable  a  selection  as 
was  ever  made  for  a  small  library.  It  never  had 
more  than  seventy  to  one  hundred  subscribers  at  once, 
and  these  were  chiefly  in  the  country. 

The  Township  Library  contains  one  thousand  or 
twelve  hundred  volumes,  under  charge  of  the  town- 
.ship  trustee.  It  is  founded  on  the  township's  share  of 
money  due  to  the  State  from  the  general  government 
in  some  of  the  early  business  affairs  of  the  two. 

The  Catholic  Workingmen's  Library  is  kept  in 
the  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Georgia  and 
Tennessee  Streets,  where  the  Sisters  of  Providence 
School  was  first  established,  and  is  open  every  night 
from  six  to  ten  o'clock.  It  contains  some  five  hun- 
dred volumes,  and  is  the  property  of  one  of  the  Cath- 
olic Sodalities  of  the  parish.     The  Sisters  of  Provi- 


dence have  a  library  of  about  one  thousand  volumes 
connected  with  their  school. 

The  State  Library  contains  about  seventeen  thou- 
sand volumes.  It  was  formed  in  1825,  and  kept  by 
the  Secretary  of  State  till  1841,  when  enough  vol- 
umes, including  public  documents  and  legislative 
journals,  had  been  got  together  to  make  a  decent  show, 
and  it  was  thought  becoming  to  constitute  the  library 
a  positive  and  visible  existence.  This  was  done  in 
that  year  by  appropriating  to  it  two  rooms  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  first  floor  of  the  State-house, 
and  electing  John  Cook  librarian.  His  successors  in 
office  will  be  found  in  the  list  of  State  officers.  Before 
the  old  State-house  was  torn  down  the  State  Library 
had  become  a  sort  of  museum  of  historical  relics,  and 
contained  daguerreotypes  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1850,  memorials  of  the 
Mexican  war,  flags  of  Indiana  regiments  in  the  civil 
war,  Indian  weapons  and  utensils  of  pre-historic  times, 
and  other  things  of  like  interest,  and  filled  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  west  side  of  the  lower  floor  of  the  build- 
ing. When  the  old  house  was  about  to  come  down, 
quarters  were  found  for  the  library  in  the  Gallup  or 
McCray  Block,  on  Market  and  Tennessee  Streets, 
where  it  is  likely  to  remain  till  it  goes  into  the  new 
\  State-house.  The  law  library  of  the  Supreme  Court 
is  kept  in  the  State  buildings,  but  it  is  not  a  public 
library,  though  open  to  the  profession. 

The  State  Geological  Museum  is  in  the  rooms  of 
the  building  over  the  State  Library.  It  contains  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  specimens  of  fossils,  many 
of  them  the  finest  ever  discovered.  Dr.  Cox,  while 
State  geologist,  made  considerable  progress  in  the 
accumulation  of  this  museum  ;  but  it  was  left  to  the 
professional  enthusiasm,  personal  liberality,  and  scien- 
tific sagacity  of  Professor  Collett,  present  State  geolo- 
gist, to  make  it  the  rare  and  wonderful  collection  and 
the  admirably  systematized  work  it  is. 

The  State  System. — All  the  school  revenues  de- 
rived either  from  permanent  funds  or  taxation  go  into 
a  common  fund  which  is  apportioned  to  the  counties 
according  to  their  population  of  school  age.  This 
arrangement  is  cumbered  by  the  very  serious  defect  of 
forcing  honest  counties,  which  take  fair  enumerations 
and  pay  their  taxes  fairly,  to  pay  a  large  share  of  the 


440 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


school  expenses  of  rascally  or  slothful  counties. 
Marion  pays  into  the  State  treasury  in  her  school  tax 
one-third  more  than  she  gets  back.  The  difference 
goes  to  counties  that  will  not  help  themselves,  or 
make  exaggerated  enumerations,  as  some  were  alleged 
to  have  done  a  few  years  ago,  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting an  undue  allowance  of  State  money.  There  is 
no  remedy  visible,  however,  and  the  better  counties 
have  to  grin  and  bear  it.  Indianapolis  and  the 
county  have  not  had  much  to  do  with  the  State  system, 
except  feed  it.  The  only  superintendent  born  and 
bred  here  was  Professor  Miles  J.  Fletcher. 

Hon.  Miles  J.  Fletcher. ^ — The  subject  of  this 
biographical  sketch,  who  was  the  son  of  Calvin 
Fletcher,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Indianapolis,  a 
sketch  of  whose  life  is  elsewhere  found  in  this  vol- 
ume, was  born  June  15,  1828,  in  Indianapolis.  He 
was  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  eight  adult  sons,  who 
in  the  various  walks  of  life  have  made  themselves 
honorable  places.  He  received  the  rudiments  of  edu- 
cation at  the  old  seminary  of  the  city  of  his  birth, 
under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  James  S.  Kemper,  and 
subsequently  entered  Brown  University,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1852.  Almost  immediately  on  his 
graduation  he  was  elected  professor  of  English  litera- 
ture in  Asbury  Univei-sity,  Indiana.  This  position, 
which  he  held  but  a  few  months,  was  resigned  to  at- 
tend the  law  school  at  Harvard  University.  Gradu- 
ating at  the  law  school,  he  returned  to  the  professor- 
ship at  Asbury,  discharging  its  duties  with  great  suc- 
cess until  he  received  the  nomination  for  superinten- 
dent of  public  instruction  in  1860,  to  which  oflSce  he 
was  elected  in  October  of  the  same  year.  He  was  at 
the  time  of  his  death  filling  its  onerous  and  respon- 
sible requirements.  It  was  an  oflBce  which  suited  his 
tastes  and  satisfied  his  ambition,  his  labor  being  a 
"  labor  of  love."  Though  frequently  interrupted  by 
circumstances  incident  to  the  war,  and  absent  for 
weeks  in  efforts  to  learn  the  fate  of  and  rescue  his 
brother.  Dr.  Wm.  B.  Fletcher,  then  a  prisoner,  he  yet 
worked  so  energetically  as  to  fulfill  every  requirement 
of  the  law  and  to  visit  the  schools  extensively,  giving 
a  decided  impetus  to  the  cause  of  education.  He 
possessed  the  untiring  energy  peculiar  to  his  family, 
with  a  full  share  of  enterprise,  qualities  which,  com- 


bined with  an  intellect  of  more  than  usual  vigor, 
indicated  great  promise  and  usefulness.  Professor 
Fletcher  was,  in  1852,  married  to  Miss  Jane  M. 
Hoar,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  to  whom  were  born  two 
children,  William  T.  and  Mary  B.  The  incident  of 
Professor  Fletcher's  death  was  peculiarly  sad.  He 
was  requested  on  the  night  of  the  10th  of  May, 
1862,  to  join  Governor  Morton  and  a  small  party  of 
gentlemen  en  route  by  special  train  for  Pittsburgh 
Landing,  their  mission  being  provision  for  the  im- 
mediate transportation  of  such  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  from  Indiana  as  could  be  safely  brought  to 
their  homes,  and  the  completion  of  suitable  hospital 
arrangements  for  those  whose  condition  would  not 
admit  of  removal.  The  train  had  made  but  little 
progress  when  a  detention  occurred  which  alarmed 
Professor  Fletcher,  who  on  investigating  its  cause 
was  instantly  killed.  This  sad  termination  of  a  noble 
Christian  career  lost  to  the  soldier  an  inestimable 
friend  while  fulfilling  a  mission  of  mercy  and  love, 
to  the  State  a  model  officer  of  irreproachable  char- 
acter, and  to  the  people  an  example  of  integrity  and 
uprightness  worthy  of  lasting  remembrance.  The 
expressions  of  .sorrow  over  the  death  of  Professor 
Fletcher  were  not  confined  to  his  home  but  extended 
over  the  entire  State,  and  were  no  less  a  tribute  to 
the  exemplary  citizen  than  to  the  efficient  public 
officer. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

MANDFACTURING     INTERESTS     OF     THE    CITY    OF 
INDIANAPOLIS. 

Origin  and  Early  History. — For  the  purpose  of 
tracing  succinctly  and  clearly  the  origin  and  growth 
of  the  manufactures  of  the  city,  they  may  be  divided 
into  three  leading  classes,  with  several  minor  ones 
too  slightly  connected  with  others  to  be  accurately 
classified.  1st.  Food  products,  meat,  meal,  flour, 
and  minor  products  of  grain,  including  starch,  beer, 
and  whiskey.  2d.  Wood  products,  lumber,  hard  and 
soft,  house  finishings,  furniture,  staves,  wooden 
ware,    boxes,    picture-frames,    wagons,     agricultural 


M.   J.   FLETCHER. 


ya^(/a7t^CZi^i^-yo 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS.  441 


implements,  and  freight  cars.  3d.  Iron  products, 
rails,  machinery,  stoves  and  hollow-ware,  saws,  files, 
railing  and  building  work,  and  railroad  repair-work. 
Agricultural  implements  belong  about  equally  to 
wood  and  iron  manufactures,  but  the  bulkier  por- 
tions being  wood  they  are  put  in  that  class.  Of 
minor  industries,  there  are  oils  and  varnish ;  fertil- 
izers, an  offshoot  and  adjunct  of  meat  products ; 
printing,  paper,  and  paper  products  ;  textile  fabrics 
of  cotton  and  wool ;  tobacco  in  different  forms ; 
clothing;  marble  and  stone  work;  saddles  and 
harness ;  tin,  copper,  and  galvanized  iron.  There 
are  many  of  less  extent  and  importance  than  these, 
but  a  reference  to  them  is  not  necessary  to  exhibit 
the  early  condition  and  progress  of  the  productive 
industries. 

The  germs  of  most  of  the  manufactures  that  con- 
stitute the  permanent  prosperity  and  means  of  de- 
velopment of  the  city  can  be  found  in  little  mills 
and  shops  almost  coeval  with  its  first  settlement. 
Not  a  little  coarse  meal  was  grated  for  a  long  time 
from  half-hardened  ears  of  corn  for  "mush"  and 
"  Johnny-cake,"  but  there  was  a  grist-mill  in  opera- 
tion in  the  fall  of  1821  on  Fall  Creek  race,  after- 
wards known  as  "  Patterson's  mill,"  but  its  flour  had 
to  be  sifted,  as  bolting  cloths  were  unknown  for 
ten  years  more. 

Samuel  J.  Patterson. — The  Patterson  family 
are  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage.  Robert,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  a  native  of 
Maryland,  early  removed  to  Kentucky,  from  whence, 
in  the  fall  of  1821,  he  came  to  Indianapolis.  He 
was  well"  versed  in  the  law,  and  for  many  years  judge 
of  the  Probate  Court  of  the  county.  He  also  for  a 
period  engaged  in  contracting.  He  married  Miss 
Annie  Elliott,  of  Virginia,  and  had  children, — Sam- 
uel J.,  Elliott  M.,  Robert  M.,  Mary  Ann  (Mrs. 
David  Macy),  Eliza  J.  (Mrs.  I.  Drake),  Margaret 
M.  (Mrs.  James  Hill),  Annie  (Mrs.  James  South- 
ard), James  M.,  Almira  C,  Marion  M.,  William  J. 
D.,  and  Henry  C.  Their  son  Samuel  J.  was  born 
Oct.  18,  1804,  in  Cynthiana,  Ky.,  and  accompanied 
his  parents  in  1821  to  Indianapolis.  His  early  ad- 
vantages of  education  were  limited,  though  superior 
opportunities  were  offered  at  a  later  day  under  the 
29 


instruction  of  Ebenezer  Sharpe.  He  early  embarked 
with  his  father  in  the  manufacture  of  bricks,  and  for 
several  years  conducted  the  business  successfully. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Patterson  engaged  in  the 
milling  business  on  the  farm  which  is  the  present 
home  of  his  widow,  and  continued  it  until  1840, 
when  the  site  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  Wash- 
ington and  Blake  Streets,  where  a  spacious  mill  was 
erected,  suitable  to  the  wants  of  the  increasing  trade. 
Meanwhile  he  embarked  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and 
after  an  interval  of  some  years  again  resumed  milling 
and  farming.  He  felt  a  deep  interest  in  all  schemes 
for  the  benefit  of  Indianapolis,  and  was  at  various 
times  awarded  contracts  for  the  improvement  of  the 
city. 

In  his  political  sympathies  he  was  an  ardent  Whig, 
and  found  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  on 
its  organization  in  harmony  with  his  convictions. 
His  energies  being  devoted  wholly  to  business,  left 
little  time  for  participation  in  the  political  measures 
of  the  day.  He  was,  though  not  a  member  of  any 
church,  a  supporter  of  the  Meridian  Street  Meth- 
odist Church,  with  which  Mrs.  Patterson  was  con- 
nected, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  a  devout  Chris- 
tian. 

Mr.  Patterson  was  on  the  17th  of  March,  1831, 
married  to  Miss  Patsy,  daughter  of  Isaac  Wilson, 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  who  came  to  Indianapolis 
in  1821,  when  it  contained  but  two  houses.  The 
dwelling  in  which  they  were  married  fifty-three  years 
ago  is  still  occupied  by  Mrs.  Patterson.  Here  their 
golden  wedding  was  celebrated  in  1881.  They  have 
children, — Samuel  W.  (a  contractor),  Elizabeth  J. 
(Mrs.  B.  F.  Riley),  Robert  H.,  Charies  W.  (a  con- 
tractor), and  Fannie  A.  (Mrs.  Cortland  Van  Camp). 
The  grandchildren  are  Harriet  G.,  Walter  G.,  and 
Bessie  G.,  children  of  Samuel  W.  and  Agnes  Green- 
field Patterson  ;  Elizabeth  J.,  Charles  A.,  Robert  M., 
and  Sadie  S.,  children  of  B.  F.  and  Elizabeth  J. 
Riley  ;  and  Raymond  P.,  Ella  P.,  Samuel  G.,  Fanny 
May,  and  Cortland  M.,  children  of  Cortland  and 
Fannie  A.  Van  Camp.  Mr.  Patterson's  death  oc- 
curred May  25,  1883,  in  the  house  he  had  occupied 
for  more  than  half  a  century. 

A  saw-mill  wjs   erected  about  the  same  time  as 


442 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Patterson's  grist-mill  on  Fall  Creek  a  little  north  of  the 
line  of  Indiana  Avenue.  Within  a  year  Caleb  Scudder 
made  cabinet  work,  and  in  two  years  the  late  George 
Norwood  made  wagons.  John  B.  Hall,  the  first  car- 
penter;  Matthias  Nowland,  the  first  bricklayer; 
Andrew  Byrne,  the  first  tailor;  Amos  Hanway,  the 
first  cooper  ;  Daniel  Yandes,  the  first  tanner ;  George 
Smith,  the  first  bookbinder ;  Nathaniel  Bolton,  the 
first  printer,  were  all  here  in  or  before  1821,  and  at 
work  at  their  trades  then  or  within  a  year  or  two ; 
and  Samuel  S.  Rooker,  the  first  house  and  sign 
painter ;  William  Holmes,  first  turner  ;  Conrad  Brus- 
sel,  first  baker,  came  close  along  with  these. 

George  Norwood,  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of 
Indianapolis,  was  born  Jan.  21,  1789,  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  and  in  1793  removed  to  Washington 
County,  East  Tenn.  In  1819  he  became  a  resident 
of  Wayne  County,  lud.,  and  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1822,  Indianapolis,  which  at  that  early  day  embraced 
but  a  few  straggling  cabins,  became  his  home.  Mr. 
Norwood  was  by  trade  a  wagon-maker,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  conducted  his  business  on  the  pres- 
ent site  of  the  ofiice  occupied  by  his  grandson,  Frank 
Bird.  Ho  some  years  previous  to  his  death  divided 
a  considerable  estate  between  his  children,  retaining 
for  himself  only  a  house  and  lot  on  Illinois  Street. 
He  was  married  in  1812  to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Rooker, 
who  died  Feb.  28,  1877,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year, 
having  enjoyed  sixty-five  years  of  married  life. 
Their  surviving  children  are  Washington  Norwood, 
Ann  Maria  (Mrs.  Abram  Bird),  and  E.  F.  Norwood. 
Mr.  Norwood  was  in  his  religious  predilections  a 
Methodist,  and  the  first  trustee  of  the  first  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Indianapolis.  He  on  successive 
occasions  filled  the  office  of  Councilman,  and  in  1846 
was  elected  city  trea-surer.  He  enjoyed  a  reputation 
for  strict  integrity  and  scrupulous  honesty,  and  was 
firm  in  his  convictions,  especially  in  discussions  in- 
volving a  question  of  right  and  wrong.  Having 
acquired  a  competency,  Mr.  Norwood  retired  from 
business  in  1850,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life  enjoyed  excellent  health  until  a  short  period 
before  his  death,  which  occurred  March  8,  1880,  in 
his  ninety-second  year. 

The  women  did  most  of  the  wejving  and  sewing. 


but  machines  for  carding  wool  (or  making  "  rolls') 
were  among  the  earliest  attempts  at  substituting  ma- 
chinery for  hand  labor.  A  carding-machine  was 
attached  in  1823  by  William  Townsend  and  Earl 
Pierce  to  one  of  the  first  mills,  probably  the  grist- 
mill of  the  late  Andrew  Wilson  and  Daniel  Yandes, 
on  the  "bayou,"  a  little  west  of  the  present  location 
of  the  Nordyke  &  Marmon  Machine- Works.  Not 
far  from  the  same  site,  and  about  the  same  time,  a 
distillery  was  at  work  making  a  liquor  popularly 
known  as  "  Bayou  Blue."  Co-operating  with  the 
carding  machinery  moved  by  water  were  several 
smaller,  and  a  little  later,  establishments  worked  by 
horse-power,  applied  on  a  large  inclined  wheel,  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  on  the  lower  section  of 
which  a  horse  was  kept  in  motion,  as  in  other  tread- 
mills. One  of  these,  as  late  as  1833  or  1834,  stood  on 
the  northwest  corner  of  Illinois  and  Maryland  Streets, 
and  another  on  Kentucky  Avenue  a  little  below 
Maryland,  and  was  converted  into  the  first  tobacco 
factory.  Here  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  town's 
existence — for  it  was  laid  out  in  1821,  and  previous 
to  that  was  a  mere  settlement — were  the  beginnings 
of  the  flour  and  lumber  trade,  the  woolen-mills  and 
whiskey  business,  the  latter  never  considerable  and 
very  intermittent  even  in  the  matter  of  existence, 
often  dying  out  altogether.  The  products  were  wholly 
for  home  consumption,  and  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
manufactures  had  no  fair  claim  to  be  of  the  class. 

The  first  manufacture  proper,  the  first  product  of 
skill  and  labor  intended  for  sale  and  not  for  consump- 
tion at  home,  was  that  of  ginseng,  started  by  the  late 
James  Blake,  in  1826,  or  thereabouts,  on  what  was 
then  the  blufi"  of  Pogue's  Creek,  half-way  between 
South  Street  and  the  creek,  between  Delaware  and 
Alabama  Streets.  It  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  for 
the  Chinese  market.  Ginseng  was  then  a  common 
growth  of  the  dense  woods  about  the  village.  It  is 
all  gone  now,  and  has  been  for  a  generation.  About 
the  same  time  that  the  "Sang  Factory,"  as  it  was 
generally  called,  began  its  work,  the  first  great 
enterprise  of  skill  and  capital  was  put  in  operation. 
It  was  the  mother  of  Indianapolis  industries,  though 
it  died  long  before  its  family  was  big  enough  to  be 
worth   counting.       That   was    the    old    "  Steam-Mill 


'"^rrryTAnrv^ 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS    OF   THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS.  443 


Company,"  composed  chiefly,  and  managed  wholly,  by 
the  late  James  M.  Hay,  DaDiel  Yandes,  Governor 
Noble,  James  Blake,  and  Nicholas  McCarty.  A  full 
account  of  it  will  be  found  in  the  general  history. 
It  was  incorporated  .Jan.  28,  1828,  bought  at  a  nom- 
inal price,  by  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  seven 
acres  of  public  land  on  the  river  along  the  line  of 
Blake  Street  back  to  Fall  Creek,  starting  at  the  head 
of  the  old  bridge,  and  by  December,  1831,  had  a 
large  four-story  frame  building  with  an  attic  fin- 
ished, and  early  the  succeeding  year  had  machinery 
for  a  grist-mill,  with  bolting  apparatus — the  first  of 
the  kind  here — in  operation,  with  a  saw-mill  that 
was  kept  quite  busy  usually,  and  a  carding-machine 
that  worked  fitfully.  The  entire  machinery,  from 
boilers  to  bolting-cloths,  was  hauled  here  on  wagons 
from  Cincinnati,  it  is  said,  but  it  is  probable  that  a 
part  of  it  came  on  the  first  and  only  steamer  that 
ever  reached  Indianapolis.  In  a  year  or  two  the 
failure  of  the  disproportionate  enterprise  was  assured. 
It  was  too  big  for  the  place  and  the  times.  The  ma- 
chinery was  sold  for  old  iron,  and  the  building  made 
a  haunt  for  idle  boys,  till  the  Messrs.  Geisendorfi' 
attempted  to  revive  the  woolen  manufacture  there  in 
1847,  with  little  success.  They  left  it  in  1852,  and 
on  the  r>ightof  the  IGth  of  November,  1853,  it  was 
burned  down.  The  fate  of  the  first  Indianapolis 
manufacturing  establishment  could  hardly  be  consid- 
ered auspicious. 

Contemporaneously,  or  nearly,  with  the  ginseng 
factory  and  the  old  steam-mill,  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Bagwell  made  cigars  in  a  shanty  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Maryland  and  Illinois  Streets,  just  south  of 
one  of  the  horsepower  carding-machines  of  that  day. 
His  operations  were  too  slight  to  be  worth  attention 
except  as  the  first  appearance  of  an  industry  of  very 
considerable  importance  now,  and  forty-five  years 
ago  of  a  good  deal  more  proportionately  than  now. 
About  the  time  he  disappeared,  which  was  about  the 
time  the  steam-mill  gave  up  finally,  the  manufacture 
of  tobacco  was  begun  on  a  scale  of  production  and 
general  distribution  that  made  it  of  State  value  and 
interest.  This  was  in  1835,  by  the  late  William 
Hunnaman  and  Caleb  Scudder  (the  pioneer  cabinet- 
maker of  the  city  J,  at  that  time  partners  in  the  drug 


business.  Their  factory  was  on  the  west  side  of 
Kentucky  Avenue,  on  the  site  of,  and  occupying  as 
one  of  its  buildings,  the  old  horse-power  carding- 
machine  house  of  hewed  logs.  Here  they  made 
both  plug  and  "  fine-cut" — but  little  of  the  latter — 
and  cigars.  A  fire  destroyed  the  whole  establish- 
ment in  1838,  causing  an  uninsured  loss — nobody 
insured  in  those  days— of  ten  thousand  dollars. 
John  Cain,  a  long  time  postmaster,  afterwards,  and 
later  Robert  L.  Walpole,  owned  the  establishment, 
with  Charles  Cooper  as  manager.  About  a  year 
before  the  establishment  of  the  first  tobacco-factory, 
in  1834,  a  Mr.  John  S.  Barnes  and  Williamson 
Maxwell  began  making  linseed  oil  in  an  old  frame 
stable  on  the  alley  south  of  Maryland  Street,  within 
a  half-square  of  the  line  of  the  canal  which  was  dug 
some  four  years  later.  Scudder  and  Hannaman 
bought  them  out  in  1835,  and  in  1839  moved  the 
mill  into  their  new  woolen-mill  building,  near  where 
the  water-works  building  is  now.  Their  machinery 
could  not  compete  with  Cincinnati  hydraulic  presses, 
and  they  quit.  About  1842,  Edwin  Hedderly  and 
the  late  Edwin  J.  Peck  manufactured  lavd-oil  here 
quite  extensively,  but  it  was  a  mushroom  growth 
and  never  amounted  to  much.  This  is  all  there  is 
of  the  early  manufacture  of  oils  and  tobacco  here. 
Daniel  Yandes,  with  John  Wilkins,  had  a  tannery 
on  South  Alabama  Street  as  early  as  1823.  About 
the  year  1833  they  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
William  M.  Black,  now  of  this  city,  to  carry  on  the 
tanning  business  in  Mooresville,  iu  this  State. 

Up  to  1835  we  have  the  seed  planted  and  more  or 
less  production,  in  a  small  way,  of  grist-  and  lumber- 
mills,  woolen-mills,  distilleries,  tanneries,  oil-  and  to- 
bacco-factories. Ginseng  was.an  accident.  The  first 
attempt  at  iron  manufacture  was  made  in  1832,  con- 
temporaneously with  the  active  existence  of  the  old 
steam-mill,  by  R.  A.  McPherson  &  Co.,  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  near  the  end  of  the  National  road 
bridge,  which  was  completed  the  year  following.  It 
was  a  losing  affair,  working  for  local  service,  and 
continued  but  a  few  years.    About  1835  it  went  out. 

The  year  1835  marks  a  sort  of  era  in  the  history 
of  Indianapolis  industries.  Then,  or  but  a  few  months 
earlier,  started  the  pioneer  factories  and  mills  which 


444 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


have  continued  by  active  succession  till  now.  Then 
was  established  the  first  tobacco-factory ;  the  first 
linseed-oil  factory  a  little  earlier ;  the  first  stone-yard 
and  stone-cutting  machinery,  by  William  Spears,  west 
corner  of  Washington  Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue  ; 
the  first  brewery,  by  John  L.  Young,  on  the  south 
side  of  Maryland  Street,  half-way  between  the  canal 
(1838  or  1839)  and  West  Street ;  the  first  mattress- 
factory,  by  Frank  Devinney,  near  the  canal  crossing 
of  Maryland  Street ;  the  first  plane-factory,  by  Young 
&  Pottage,  site  of  Hubbard's  Block  ;  the  first  perma- 
nent and  profitable  iron-foundry,  maintained  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  by  Robert  Underbill,  for  a  time  joined 
by  John  Wood,  the  first  private  banker  here ;  and 
last,  but  greatest  in  results,  the  first  pork-packing  was 
done,  in  1835. 

1st.  Food  Products. — Pork  Packing.  In  this 
year  James  Bradley,  now  of  Johnson  County,  asso- 
ciated with  one  or  two  partners,  bought  hogs  ready 
killed  and  cleaned  of  farmers,  cut  and  cured  them  in 
a  log  house  on  the  site  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
(first  used  as  a  pottery  by  a  man  named  Myers),  and 
lo.st  money  at  it.  The  ill  result  of  the  speculation 
checked  the  embryotic  industry  for  several  years,  but 
in  1840,  John  H.  Wright,  son-in-law  of  the  late 
Jeremiah  Mansur,  father  of  Frank  and  Dr.  Mansur 
Wright,  came  here  from  Richmond,  and  in  1841 
began,  in  connection  with  his  father-in-law  and  his 
brother-in-law,  William  Mansur,  to  buy  slaughtered 
hogs  of  farmers  for  goods  from  his  store,  and  packed 
them  in  an  old  frame  building,  once  a  blacksmith- 
shop,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Maryland  and  Me- 
ridian Streets.  They  also  bought  and  packed  a  large 
amount  of  pork  at  Broad  Ripple,  and  both  from  that 
point  and  this,  shipped  their  produce  south  during 
the  winter  and  spring  freshets  in  the  river.  This 
mode  of  operation  they  kept  up  till  the  completion 
of  the  Madison  Railroad,  in  September,  1847,  gave 
them  a  speedier  and  handier  mode  of  reaching  a 
market,  and  from  that  time  the  flat-boat  has  been  as 
wholly  unknown  here  as  the  trireme  of  the  old  Ro- 
mans. The  late  Isaiah  Mansur  joined  his  brother, 
and  the  Mansurs  and  Mr.  Wright  killed  their  hogs 
in  a  building  on  the  river-bank,  at  the  west  end  of 
the  old  bridge,  and  cut  and  packed  them  in  a  building 


on  the  west  side  of  what  is  now  the  depot  of  the 
JeflFersonville  Railroad. 

About  that  time  Benjamin  I.  Blythe  and  Edwin 
Hedderly  began  packing  in  a  house  where  Frank 
Landers'  establishment  is  now.  The  Mansurs  got 
this  in  1854.  In  1852-53,  Macy  &  McTaggart 
began  killing  and  packing  in  a  house  near  the  east 
end  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad  bridge.  In  1855,  Col. 
Allen  May  killed  and  packed  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  near  the  Crawfordsville  road  bridge.  He  failed 
in  two  years,  and  his  house  burned  down  the  third 
year,  1858.  In  1863-64  the  Kingans  built  their 
house,  which  was  almost  totally  destroyed  by  fire  in 
the  spring  of  1805.  They  rebuilt  at  once,  and  have 
since  enlarged  their  establishment  to  treble  its  origi- 
nal capacity,  and  include  extensions  of  the  business 
never  contemplated  at  the  outset. 

This  gigantic  establishment  is  second  to  none  in 
the  world,  except  one  in  Chicago,  in  extent,  and  to 
none  in  completeness  of  arrangement  and  amplitude 
of  accommodations  and  facilities  for  every  process  of 
the  business.  It  is  the  matured  product  of  twenty 
years  of  improvement,  directed  by  experience  and 
enterprise,  employing  ample  means.  The  various 
buildings  cover  ten  acres  of  the  thirteen  constituting 
the  entire  site  of  the  establishment.  Some  years 
ago,  finding  their  space  inadequate,  the  company  pur- 
chased the  Ferguson  Pork- House,  directly  south,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  tracks  used  by  the  St.  Louis, 
the  Bloomington  and  Western,  and  Decatur  and 
Springfield  Railroads,  and  connected  the  two  by  tun- 
nels under  the  tracks,  making  the  cellars  one  vast  ex- 
cavation, packed  with  meat  and  lighted  with  gas  and 
electricity.  In  a  large  part  of  the  old  establishment 
there  are  two  stories  of  cellars.  In  all  these,  where 
meat  is  stored  preparatory  to  shipment,  a  steady  tem- 
perature is  maintained  by  artificial  processes,  so  that 
the  soundness  of  the  product  is  assured.  But  to 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  every  ham,  and  shoulder, 
and  piece  of  side-meat  is  probed  through,  and  its  con- 
dition perfectly  ascertained  before  it  is  shipped. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  say  here  that  the  Kingan 
house  kills  and  packs  for  the  English  market,  and 
was  the  first  house  in  the  United  States  to  prepare 
hog-meat  in  the  style  demanded  by  English  consum- 


M.inis  Street  Bridge.  Union  stock  Yard. 

luJiauapolisandVinceunes  B.  K.  Bridge. 
Yandalia  B.  E.  Bridge.  Hog  Pens. 

Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  R.  R.  Bridge. 


K  ]  ir^j  @  la  ira 

P©IKBi  Pj- 
0  !M  ID  0  a  M  a  f*  I?, 

Pining  Room.  t 


©.     (IL'©)  RL-rrigeruting  W.jiks.  Laid  House. 

.©tm.  '  Office.  KiuganHonse.  Boiler  Ho,,.-. 

Wholesale  House.  Sniuke  Hon 

I'Si,    OIK)©.  East  warehouse. 

■^Jige  Department. 


Meat  Market. 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


445 


ers.  The  details  of  the  process  would  require  too 
much  time  to  describe  here,  and  would  be  irrelevant 
to  the  purpose  of  this  sketch.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  the  meat,  chiefly  hams,  is  trimmed,  salted, 
and  laid  away  in  perfect  order  in  the  huge  dry  cellars, 
and  left  lying  a  certain  number  of  days,  during  which 
so  much  curing  is  done  as  is  required  for  the  special 
demand  to  be  supplied.  The  product  of  each  day's 
killing  and  packing  is  put  by  itself,  with  slats,  and 
signs  set  through  it  marked  with  the  date  of  the 
deposit.  When  the  time  comes  this  pile  of  hams  of 
3000  to  5000  hogs  is  put  on  the  cars,  and  sent  across 
the  Atlantic,  without  waiting  orders  or  dependent  on 
market  quotations.  The  business  goes  right  on  like 
the  sale  of  goods  between  a  factory  and  its  ware- 
house. Of  course,  a  large  business  is  done  in  the 
home  market,  with  transient  customers  and  orders, 
as  they  come,  but  the  dependence  of  the  house  is  its 
English  business.  The  factory  is  in  Indianapolis ; 
the  warehouse  and  salesroom  in  Liverpool. 

The  extent  of  the  business  may  be  judged  from  a 
few  facts.  The  number  of  hogs  killed  is  about 
500,000  a  year,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  5000  a  day 
in  winter  and  2500  a  day  in  summer.  The  estab- 
lishment has  the  capacity  to  do  more  than  this  if 
pushed,  but  so  much  it  can  do  regularly  and  certainly. 
It  employs  600  hands  in  summer,  and  1250  in  winter. 
It  may  be  noted  here  that  Kingan's  was  the  first 
house  in  the  country — certainly  the  first  in  Indiana 
— to  kill  in  the  summer,  and  cool  the  hogs  by  ice  and 
an  artificial  process.  In  this  it  did  the  best  thing 
that  any  manufacturer  ever  did  for  the  agricultural 
interest  of  Indiana.  It  enabled  a  farmer  to  sell  his 
hogs  as  well  and  readily  in  July  as  in  January.  He  was 
not  compelled  to  keep  them  on  stock  feed  for  six  or 
eight  months  before  he  could  begin  fattening  for  the 
market,  at  a  dead  lo.9s  of  every  bushel  of  corn  they 
ate  and  all  the  time  consumed.  The  money  invested 
was  no  longer  compelled  to  lie  idle  while  the  hogs 
were  worrying  through  hot  weather  to  the  following 
season.  The  farmer  could  begin  feeding  for  the 
packer  the  day  he  bought  his  stock,  and  the  sooner  he 
got  it  up  to  the  market  standard  the  sooner  he  made 
his  profit  and  the  larger  it  was.  It  also  employed 
600  or  700  men  who  would  otherwise  have  been  idle. 


In  cooling  hogs,  to  get  rid  of  the  animal  heat,  an 
apparatus  and  process  invented  by  George  Stockman 
of  this  city  are  used  with  entire  success  and  greater 
cheapness  than  any  hitherto  devised.  The  occasional 
variableness  of  winter  weather  is  equalized  by  the  same 
means,  so  that  the  house  is  not  forced  to  suspend 
work,  as  all  pork-houses  used  to  do,  when  a  warm 
day  comes. 

The  average  weight  of  the  hogs  killed  at  Kingan's 
is  about  220  pounds,  showing  a  net  result  of  about 
175  of  meat.  The  annual  value  is  about  $7,000,000. 
The  shipments  amount  to  4000  cars  a  year,  while 
there  is  sold  at  home,  for  shipment  and  in  the 
market-rooms  belonging  to  the  establishment,  about 
$45,000  worth  of  meat,  fresh  and  cured,  per  week,  or 
$2,300,000  a  year.  It  takes  13,000,000  pounds  of 
salt  a  year  to  cure  the  meat,  500,000  pounds  of  salt- 
petre, 1,000,000  pounds  of  sugar,  and  20,000  tons  of 
ice.  To  ship  it  requires  150,000  boxes  and  crates, 
and  75,000  tierces  for  lard  and  hams.  For  sale  and 
immediate  consumption  there  are  made  6000  pounds 
of  sausage  daily.  The  hogs,  when  killed  and  scalded, 
are  scraped  by  machinery  invented  in  the  house  by 
some  of  the  men  engaged  there.  An  unbroken 
stream  of  dead  hogs,  alive  and  squealing  ten  seconds 
before,  pours  along  the  tables  from  the  sticking-pens 
to  the  scalding-troughs  and  scraping-machines  inces- 
santly from  daylight  to  dark,  and  often  longer,  and 
as  rapidly  they  are  hurried  in  to  the  "  gutter,"  the 
original  "  Col.  Gutrippah,"  who  can  dispose  of  half 
a  dozen  a  minute,  and  from  him  are  sent  flying  down 
a  little  elevated  railroad  track,  from  which  they  are 
suspended  to  the  huge  low  room,  where  they  hang  by 
thousands  literally,  to  cool  ofi'  suflSciently  for  the  cut- 
ters and  salters.  Following  up  the  carcass  of  any 
particular  hog,  we  find  it  taken  from  the  cooling- 
room,  after  the  animal  heat  has  been  all  removed,  to 
a  group  of  big  blocks,  set  in  a  square  form  around, 
and  in  which  a  crowd  of  men  swing  up  and  down 
incessantly  flashing  cleavers,  in  a  wild,  stormy  fashion, 
with  no  measure  or  rest,  reminding  one  of  the  fierce, 
irregular  motions  of  the  claymores  rising  and  falling 
in  the  fight  of  the  clans  at  the  "  North  Inch."  Here 
the  hog  is  divided,  the  pieces  trimmed,  and  the  fin- 
ished product  dropped  through  a  slide  into  the  room 


4^6 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


below,  where  the  salters  take  it,  and  when  they  are 
through,  send  it  down  to  the  packers,  who  lay  it  away, 
marked  and  dated,  till  the  shipping  time  comes.  It 
is  the  full  occupation  of  a  busy  day  to  go  through 
this  huge  establishment,  and  merely  note  the  processes 
and  the  crowds  of  busy  men  who  carry  them  on. 

Electric  lights  are  used  all  through  the  diflFerent 
departments,  the  machinery  being  worked  by  a  su- 
perb Corliss  engine,  made  at  the  Atlas  Works  here. 
Besides  these,  no  less  than  $6500  worth  of  gas  and 
candles  is  used  for  lighting.  It  takes  750  cars  of 
coal  a  year — 14  tons  to  a  car — to  supply  the  heat 
required,  and  20  carpenters  and  2  blacksmiths  are  con- 
stantly employed,  consuming  50  car-loads  of  lumber 
in  repairs  of  one  kind  or  another,  exclusive  of  the 
men  employed  in  the  coopering-  and  box-shops. 
The  stables  attached  to  the  establishment  contain  25 
horses,  employed  in  market-wagons  and  otherwise. 
A  large  market-room  for  the  supply  of  daily  custom- 
ers in  the  city  has  been  added  within  the  last  six  or 
eight  years,  and  here  all  the  fresh  meat  is  kept  cold 
by  artificial  cold  currents  of  air ;  and  neat,  active 
young  clerks  in  the  traditional  white  aprons  cut  up 
the  steaks  and  hams  and  roasts  on  marble  counters, 
and  conduct  all  the  details  of  an  ordinary  meat-shop, 
as  if  it  were  not  a  mere  attachment  or  little  excres- 
cence of  the  huge  slaughter-  and  packing-house  back 
of  it  upon  the  rear.  This  establishment  has  a  rail- 
road of  its  own  turning  out  of  the  yard  at  a  track  at 
Missouri  Street,  and  fills  pretty  much  all  of  the  space 
between  Helen  Street  and  the  river,  and  Maryland 
Street  and  the  Vandalia  Railroad  and  freight-yard. 
The  taxes  are  about  $10,000  a  year.  Within  the 
past  four  years  Mr.  Thomas  Kingan,  the  original 
manager  of  the  business,  has  retired  permanently! 
and  has  been  succeeded  by  Mr.  Samuel  Sinclair,  by 
whom  many  extensive  and  valuable  improvements 
have  been  made. 

The  Landers  establishment  occupies  the  buildings, 
though  with  much  improvement  and  a  great  exten- 
sion of  business,  of  the  Blythe  &  Hedderly  and  W. 
&  I.  Mansur  house,  the  oldest  now  standing  in  the 
city.  The  amount  of  packing  done  by  Mr.  Landers 
in  the  last  report  was  about  $1,000,000  a  year.  A 
railroad-track  from  the  Lafayette,  or  Cincinnati,  In- 


dianapolis, St.  Louis  and  Chicago,  road  passes  along 
the  mill-race  from  the  canal,  and  over  the  low  ground 
northwest  to  Blake  Street,  and  there  enters  the  pack- 
ing-house, about  a  square  north  of  the  National  road 
and  the  old  bridge.  Directly  south  of  Kingan's  are 
the  ruins  of  the  second  Ferguson  pork-house,  which 
was  built  south  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad  and  round- 
house, at  the  west  end  of  Greenlawn  Cemetery,  soon 
after  the  first  house,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Vandalia 
and  just  south  of  the  St.  Louis  road,  was  sold  to 
Kingan.  It  did  a  large  business  both  in  summer  and 
winter  killing,  but  was  entirely  burned  in  February, 
1881,  and  was  never  rebuilt,  the  proprietors  removing 
to  Chicago.  At  the  south  end  of  the  old  cemetery, 
opposite  the  foot  of  Merrill  Street,  is  the  pork-house 
of  McMurtry  &  Co.,  built  some  ten  or  twelve  years 
ago  by  Holmes,  Pettit  &  Bradshaw.  These  latter 
gave  it  up  about  three  years  ago  to  the  present  pro- 
prietors, who  have  been  doing  a  large  and  safe  busi- 
ness. CofiSn,  Greenstreet  &  Fletcher  built  their 
present  house  in  1873,  on  the  east  bluflf  of  White 
River  bottom,  at  the  foot  of  Ray  Street.  Their  busi- 
ness, by  the  last  statement,  was  about  like  that  of  the 
other  houses,  except  Kingan's, — a  million  a  year.  A 
railroad-track  connects  this  house  with  the  Vincennes 
road,  along  the  river-bank,  on  what,  in  early  times, 
were  the  "  High  Banks."  A  very  short  side-track 
from  the  same  road  connects  with  the  McMurtry 
house. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  something  about 
the  extent  of  the  pork  business  in  early  times,  but 
no  record  has  been  made,  and  nothing  can  be  learned 
but  from  the  memories  of  the  few  connected  with  it 
who  remain.  It  is  probable  that  the  total  number  of 
hogs  killed  during  the  season  by  the  two  houses  of 
the  Mansurs  and  Blythe  &  Hedderly  did  not  exceed 
20,000.  In  1873  the  whole  number  of  hogs  killed 
and  packed  here  was  295,766,  value  of  $7,614,000. 
In  1878  the  number  was  776,000 ;  in  1879,  667,- 
000;  in  1880,  746,000  ;  in  1881,  472,494;  in  1882, 
306,000.  In  1878  and  in  1880  Indianapolis  was 
the  third  pork-packing  point  in  the  world,  being  ex- 
ceeded only  by  Chicago  and  Cincinnati.  The  falling 
off  since  1880  has  been  the  effect  of  short  crops  and 
tight  business.     The  value  of  the  hog  product  of  the 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


447 


city  in  1880  was  $10,516,000.  the  largest  in  any  one 
year. 

General  Butchering.— The  earliest  butcher  of 
Indianapolis  was  Wilkes  Reagau,  who  sold  his  meat 
in  the  grove  in  the  Circle.  There  was  not  much  for 
a  butcher  to  do  in  those  days,  for  the  pioneer  could 
get  his  meat  for  the  powder  and  lead  that  would 
kill  it  by  walking  about  through  the  woods  that  the 
town  was  lost  in  !  Butchers  came  though,  as  usual, 
with  the  growth  of  the  town,  and  killed  in  little 
houses  located  on  the  outskirts,  and  sold  in  the  East 
Market,  which  was  all  there  was.  But  even  then  no 
inconsiderable  part  of  a  family's  meat- food  was  bought 
of  farmers  or  raised  and  killed  at  home,  poultry  par- 
ticularly being  almost  always  a  home  growth.  Win- 
ter supplies  were  commonly  a  family  job  in  the  prep- 
aration, the  whole  hogs  or  quarters  of  beef  being 
bought  of  farmers  and  cut  up  and  cured  by  the  united 
labor  of  everybody  about  the  house  that  was  big 
enough  to  lift  a  ham  or  hand  salt.  The  smoking 
was  done  in  the  family  smoke-house,  and  to  this  day 
the  out-house  in  which  are  stored  the  family  provis- 
ions is  called  a  smoke-house  by  old  residents  and 
their  children,  though  never  a  pound  of  meat  was 
smoked  within  a  mile  of  it.  Not  unfrequently  the 
town  householder  raised  his  own  pigs,  as  well  as 
chickens,  killed  them  a  little  before  Christmas  time, 
and  provided  his  own  winter  meat  throughout,  as 
well  as  a  good  part  of  his  summer  supply.  Thus  the 
butcher  did  not  figure  largely  in  the  economy  of  In- 
dianapolis till  after  the  growth  impelled  by  the 
advance  of  the  railroad  system  made  country  supplies 
inadequate  and  forced  a  greater  dependence  on  the 
butcher.  He  was  then,  as  now,  usually  a  German. 
Gradually,  with  the  increase  of  butchering,  came  a 
resort  to  private  meat-markets  in  localities  that  were 
handier  to  consumers  than  the  public  market.  One 
of  the  earliest  and  largest  of  these  was  that  of  Tweed 
&  Gulick,  the  latter  of  whom  was  candidate  for  sher- 
ifl'  in  1858,  but  beaten  by  William  J.  Wallace,  whom 
the  Supreme  Court  ruled  out  because  he  was  holding 
the  oflSce  of  mayor  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion as  sheriflF.  There  were  a  dozen  others  at  that 
time.  Now  there  are  113  meat-shops,  exclusive  of 
Kingan's,  which  does  as  much  business  as  the  greater 


part   of   all   the   others   together.      The   aggregate 
amount  of  the  business  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

Until  within  the  period  since  the  war  the  butchers 
of  the  city  usually  did  their  killing  each  for  himself, 
and  there  were  slaughter-houses  scattered  all  about  in 
the  suburbs  and  sometimes  in  the  more  den.sely  set- 
tled parts.  The  lower  portion  of  the  canal,  below 
the  present  line  of  the  street,  was  a  favorite  locality 
for  them,  and  the  block  facing  the  swamp  or  glade  in 
the  east  bottom  of  the  river,  along  what  is  now  South 
Meridian  Street.  In  later  years  the  tendency  has 
been  towards  the  Paris  abattoir  system  of  having 
all  the  slaughtering  done  in  a  few  places  or  one. 
Within  a  year  the  Abattoir  Company  has  given  a 
strong  impulse  to  this  wholesome  change  by  buying 
and  greatly  enlarging  the  beef  slaughter-house  at 
the  west  end  of  the  Morris  Street  bridge,  and  mak- 
ing ample  provision  there  for  all  the  slaughtering 
required.  There  was  some  talk  of  the  Stock- Yard 
Company  establishing  an  abattoir,  but  nothing  came 
of  it.  The  Exchange  Stock- Yard,  at  the  south  end 
of  the  Vincennes  Railroad  bridge,  had  such  a 
slaughter-house  connected  with  it,  but  the  yard  went 
out  of  business  when  the  larger  yard  farther  south 
was  completed  ;  and  the  slaughter-house  has  declined 
or  gone  out  of  business,  too. 

Hides  and  Tanning. — There  are  several  estab- 
lishments in  the  city  that  deal  in  the  hides  and  pelts 
produced  at  the  slaughter-houses, — the  Abattoir 
Company,  for  one ;  Messrs.  Rauh,  on  the  Belt  road 
and  South  Pennsylvania  Street;  Allerdice,  south- 
west corner  of  South  and  Meridian  Streets ;  Hide 
Leather  Company,  South  Meridian ;  Lewitt  &  Co., 
West  Indianapolis,  on  Vincennes  Railroad ;  Mooney 
&  Sons,  South  Street ;  Lewark,  West  Pearl ;  Stevens, 
South  Meridian  ;  and  Gallaway,  South  Meridian. 

The  first  tannery  in  the  town  was  that  of  Daniel 
Y^indes  and  John  Wilkins,  which  occupied  nearly 
all  of  the  ground  south  of  Washington  Street,  on 
the  east  side  of  Alabama  to  the  creek.  It  was 
established  about  sixty  years  ago.  Mr.  William  M. 
Black,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  order  in 
this  city,  learned  the  trade  with  this  firm,  and  in 
1833  formed  a  partnership  with  them  for  four  years 
in  a  tannery  at  Mooresville,  Morgan   Co.     The  con- 


448 


HISTORY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


nection  continued  till  1858.  About  1840  a  second 
tannery  was  begun  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street, 
west  side,  just  below  Maryland.  This  filled  the 
swampy  street — Pennsylvania  Street  and  all  the  re- 
gion of  the  creek-bottom  east  of  Meridian  to  Ala- 
bama Street  was  either  swamp  or  wet  bottom — with 
great  piles  of  tan-bark,  on  which  it  was  the  delight 
of  school  boys  to  repeat  the  jumps  and  tumbles  of 
the  last  circus  performers.  As  noted  elsewhere  in 
this  chapter,  this  tannery  gave  way  to  a  stage  repair- 
shop  in  five  or  six  years.  These  were  the  only  tan- 
neries ever  established  in  the  city  limits.  Some  years 
later,  after  the  decadence  of  the  West  mills  at  Cot- 
tontown,  a  large  and  flourishing  tannery  was  estab- 
lished there  by  Mr.  John  Fishback,  but  that  has 
disappeared.  There  are  three  tanning  establish- 
ments now  in  the  city,  Borst  &  Co.,  J.  K.  Sliarpe, 
Jr.,  and  Robert  Schmidt.  .  There  are  no  statistics  to 
show  the  amount  of  the  leather  trade  now,  but  of 
hides,  pelts,  and  tallow  the  total  was  over  $1,500,000 
last  year. 

Fertilizers  are  a  direct  result  of  the  manufacture 
of  animal  food,  and  the  establi.shments  devoted  to 
their  manufacture  may  be  briefly  noticed  here. 
They  are  a  growth  of  the  last  decade,  mainly,  and 
are  all  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The  first  was 
started  by  Mr.  Lannay,  at  the  foot  of  West  Street, 
during  the  war,  but  was  abandoned  in  three  or  four 
years,  and  changed  to  a  soap-factory.  The  most  ex- 
tensive fertilizer  factory  about  the  city,  a  "  blood 
drying"  house,  built  by  Crocker  &  Becker  some  four 
years  ago,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Belt  and  Vandalia 
and  St.  Louis  roads,  has  been  abandoned.  Another 
extensive  one  is  carried  on  upon  the  Sellers  farm, 
three  miles  southwest,  a  site  bought  by  the  city  pur- 
posely for  important  but  unfragrant  industries.  A 
related  business  is  "  renderins;;,"  or  tallow-making, 
carried  on  here  chiefly  by  the  Abattoir  Company  and 
Lewitt  &  Co..  both  in  West  Indianapolis. 

Mince-Meat. — The  Adams  Packing  Company  on 
South  Alabama  Street  do  a  large  business  in  the 
preparation  and  packing  of  mince-meat,  which  they 
ship  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  annual  amount 
of  this  and  the  packing  associated  with  it  is  about 
$150,000  a  year. 


Grain-Grinding. — The  early  grist-mills  alluded  to 
above  worked  only  for  home  consumption,  on  grain 
brought  by  farmers  in  wagons,  or  by  farmers'  boys 
on  horseback.  Usually  the  bag  was  unloaded  di- 
rectly into  the  hopper,  and  the  farmer  or  his  boy 
waited  about,  fishing  around  the  dam,  or  shopping  in 
the  town,  till  the  grist  was  ground,  and  the  meal — -it 
was  oftener  meal  than  flour — went  back  in  the  same 
bag,  and  on  the  same  day  it  came.  There  was  no 
bolting  apparatus  in  any  mill  of  that  time  in  the 
New  Purchase  till  the  steam-mill  of  1832  put  one  in 
its  machinery,  and  all  grain  went  back  home  in  the 
bran,  for  the  housewife  to  sift  out  as  well  as  she 
could,  as  related  in  the  general  history.  The  first  mill 
of  a  more  pretentious  character  was  built  in  1840,  by 
John  Carlisle,  at  the  south  end  of  the  basin  into  which 
ran  the  race  from  the  canal  at  Market  Street.  It  was 
the  first  merchant  mill  in  the  town,  but  its  flour,  like 
the  pork  of  early  packing,  was  harder  to  get  to  market 
than  to  make.  It  was  wholly  burned  down  in  1856, 
but  immediately  rebuilt  and  maintained  till  the  still 
larger  mills  in  the  same  vicinity  succeeded  it.  Con- 
temporaneously with  the  Carlisle  mill,  or  a  year  or 
two  earlier,  there  was  a  mill  at  the  crossing  of  the 
canal  by  the  Michigan  road,  afterwards  called 
"  Cottontown,"  from  a  cotton-mill  erected  there  a 
little  later  than  the  grist-mill.  Both  were  built  by 
Nathaniel  West,  who  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  on 
Fall  Creek  at  that  point,  which  now  constitutes  a  large 
part  of  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  city.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  the  Geisendorff  brothers  rebuilt 
or  replaced  the  grist-mill  and  made  it  a  much  larger 
establishment  than  before,  and  a  few  years  later  built 
one  of  the  finest  mills  in  the  State  on  the  site  of  the 
old  steam-mill  destroyed  about  twenty  years  before. 
Robert  R.  Underbill  built  a  large  four-story  frame 
mill, — all  mills  were  frame  in  those  days, — a  few 
years  after  the  opening  of  the  canal,  on  the  blufi' 
bank  of  the  swamp  just  east  of  which  the  Bluff' 
road,  now  South  Meridian  Street,  ran.  The  bluff' 
gave  him  a  good  head  for  his  power,  and  the  canal 
gave  him  water  through  a  race  starting  from  the  east 
side  at  the  head  of  the  upper  wooden  lock.  Some- 
times struggling,  sometimes  prosperous,  this  mill  was 
run  for  thirty   years,  not  unfref|uently  stopping  alto- 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OP  THE  CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


449 


gether  and  becoming  a  haunt  for  tramps.  But  some 
six  or  eight  years  ago  it  was  turned  into  a  mattress- 
factory,  and  was  in  a  fairly  prosperous  condition,  when 
it  took  fire  one  morning  the  past  winter  and  was 
utterly  destroyed. 

In  1848,  Gen.  T.  A.  Morris  built  a  flouring-mill 
on  the  northeast  corner  of  Meridian  Street  and  the 
Union  tracks,  at  the  east  end  of  the  Union  Depot 
site,  and  carried  on  merchant  milling  there  success- 
fully, but  the  mill  burned  in  1853.  It  was  never  re- 
built or  replaced  by  another  at  another  point.  In  this 
establishment  was  first  used  the  automatic  or  machine- 
packing  apparatus,  which  steadily  and  regularly  kept 
the  flour,  as  it  entered  the  barrels  from  the  bolting- 
cloths,  pressed  smoothly  down.  Some  years  after  the 
destruction  of  this  mill  the  changes  began  on  the 
canal  basin  that  have  covered  all  the  available  ground 
there  with  flouring-mills,  and  recently  with  apparatus 
of  the  new  kind,  which  substituted  chilled  iron 
rollers  for  stones,  and  saves  all  the  flour  that  used  to 
stick  to  the  bran.  The  Gibson  mills  at  least  have 
made  this  substitution.  The  Skiller  mill  has  been  idle 
for  several  years.  Some  embarrassment  in  the  afi'airs 
of  the  Gibson  mills  caused  their  sale  last  summer,  but 
not  their  suspension.  There  are  now  nine  flouring- 
mills  in  the  city  and  near  it.  The  Arcade  on  West 
Maryland  Street,  at  the  crossing  of  Missouri,  belong- 
ing to  Blanton,  Watson  &  Co.  (steam),  originally 
built  by  Mr.  Carlisle  and  his  son  Harry  D.  in  1868 
as  the  Home  Mill,  and  conducted  by  them  till  1874; 
since  1879  the  present  proprietors  have  had  it.  The 
capacity  is  about  200  barrels  a  day.  The  rollers  are 
used  here.  It  was  burned  in  May,  1881,  but  rebuilt 
and  reopened  in  December.  The  Hoosier  State  Mills, 
owned  by  Richardson  &  Evans,  on  the  site  of  the  old 
steam-mill,  contains  30  sets  of  rolls,  with  a  capacity 
of  350  barrels  a  day;  were  burned  in  1880,  but  got 
in  running  order  in  August.  Jacob  Ehrerman,  on 
Clifford  Avenue  and  Archer  Street ;  Monroe  &  Len- 
non,  Shelby  Street;  Schofield,  on  Fall  Creek;  Har- 
vest Mill,  on  Eagle  Creek  near  the  Vandalia  road ; 
Union  Star  Mill,  formerly  Buscher's  brewery,  changed 
to  a  mill  in  1870,  owned  by  Frederick  Prange  since 
1880,  capacity  50  barrels  a  day  ;  City  Mills,  Holmes  & 
Hartman,  East  Washington  Street,  No.  354  (rollers 


and  stones),  capacity  about  50  barrels  in  24  hours. 
The  capacity  of  all  the  flouring-mills  is  stated  by  Mr. 
Blake,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  at  500,000 
barrels  a  year. 

Hominy. — Flour  is  not  the  only  product  of  grain- 
grinding,  though  the  largest.  The  Indianapolis 
Hominy-Mill  uses  about  2000  bushels  of  corn  a  day 
in  making  hominy,  grits,  and  corn-flour.  It  was 
burned  twice  within  a  year,  in  June  and  October, 
1881,  but  has  been  rebuilt  in  better  condition  and 
larger  than  ever.  It  is  situated  at  the  crossing  of 
Palmer  Street  and  the  Jeffersonville  Railroad,  and  is 
now  owned  by  M.  A.  Downing  and  E.  F.  Claypool, 
late  of  the  Belt  road  management.  Hall's  Western 
Hominy-Mill,  at  the  crossing  of  Kentucky  Avenue 
and  the  Belt  road,  west  side,  uses  about  1000  bushels 
of  corn  a  day,  and  turns  out  about  8150,000  worth  of 
hominy,  corn-flour,  and  feed  a  year.  It  began  opera- 
tions in  August,  1882,  with  a  capital  of  $25,000. 
James  Kelly's  mill,  430  North  Alabama  Street,  is  a 
smaller  establishment.  The  annual .  product  of  all 
is  about  S500,000. 

Brewing. — Without  entering  into  the  controversy 
concerning  the  nutritive  character  of  malt  liquors, 
the  manufacture  may  be  briefly  treated  in  this  con- 
nection as  closely  related  to  the  topic  of  grain 
products.  The  first  brewery  was  put  in  opera- 
tion here  in  1834  or  1835,  by  John  L.  Youug  and 
William  Wernweg,  contractor  for  the  National  road 
bridges.  It  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Maryland 
Street,  half-way  between  the  line  of  the  future  Canal 
and  West  Street.  It  was  not  a  very  extensive  or 
profitable  establishment,  and  appears  to  have  sunk 
almost  entirely  out  of  view  as  a  source  of  business  by 
1840.  It  was  next  known  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Faux,  about  1841  or  1842.  He  was  a  French- 
man, who  bought  frog-legs  of  the  boys  for  beer,  and 
made  a  good  deal  of  his  profit  by  selling  yeast  to  the 
housewives  of  the  town  to  make  light  or  raised  bis- 
cuit at  a  time  when  baker's  bread  was  not  held  in 
high  esteem,  and  every  respectable  household  ex- 
pected its  bread  hot  at  every  meal.  Not  long  after, 
Mr.  Faux  moved  to  Noble  and  Washington  Streets 
and  opened  a  brewery  there,  and  some  one  else,  Mr. 
John  Philip  Meikel  probably,  continued  that  at  the 


450 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


old  stand.  He  removed  it  in  a  few  years  to  the  old 
Carlisle  House,  a  three-story  frame  palace,  built  west 
of  West  Street  in  1848  for  a  fashionable  hotel,  but 
would  not  pass  for  it,  and  there  it  collapsed  a  few 
years  ago.  About  the  time  the  war  broke  out  Frank 
Wright  established  an  ale-brewery  on  Blake  Street,  a 
little  north  of  the  Landers  pork-house,  which  con- 
tinued in  successful  operation  about  twelve  years,  but 
finally  succumbed  to  the  superior  attractiveness  of 
lager  and  suspended.  The  early  breweries  made 
nothing  but  what  was  called  strong  beer.  It  was 
neither  ale  nor  lager,  and  none  of  it  is  made  now,  so 
that  it  is  hard  to  describe  it  to  one  who  knows  nothing 
of  it  experimentally.  Mr.  Wright's  brewery  was  the 
first  to  make  ale,  and  Mr.  C.  F.  Schmidt's,  since  be- 
come famous  under  the  management  of  his  widow 
and  sons  as  Schmidt's  brewery,  was  the  first  to  make 
lager,  at  least  in  any  merchantable  quantity  or  con- 
dition. 

Mr.  Schmidt  began  brewing  lager  in  1858-59,  on 
the  site  where  the  present  huge  establishment  stands, 
filling  a  whole  block  south  of  McCarty  to  Wyoming, 
at  the  head  of  Alabama  Street.  A  recent  statement 
says  the  original  brewery  building  remains,  two 
stories  high,  93  by  40  feet,  with  a  two-and-a-half 
story  brick  ice-house  60  by  80  feet,  with  cellars  94 
by  85  feet,  and  a  new  brick  ice-house,  directly  on 
McCarty  Street,  able  to  hold  1800  tons  of  ice  on  the 
second  story,  with  cellars  two  stories  in  depth,  con- 
structed with  stone  and  iron  ;  a  stable  one  and  a  half 
stories  in  height  and  50  by  120  feet  in  dimensions; 
a  two-story  bottling-house  60  by  130  feet  in  dimen- 
sions. An  additional  building  40  by  115  feet  in  size, 
is  occupied  as  a  malt-house ;  and  in  the  various  depart- 
ments a  force  of  70  hands  is  employed  and  50  horses 
with  30  wagons  are  required  to  deliver  the  beer  to 
city  customers.  The  bottling  department  was  started 
as  recently  as  1881,  yet  about  thirty  barrels  are  bottled 
daily.  The  house  owns  extensive  ice-ponds  north- 
west of  the  city  and  large  ice-houses  erected  there, 
not  less  than  10,000  tons  of  ice  being  annually  re- 
quired in  the  business.  The  sales  for  the  year  1882 
reached  nearly  60,000  barrels.  The  cellars  and 
vaults  are  among  the  finest  in  the  West,  and  have  an 
aggregate  storage  capacity  for  25,000  barrels. 


Lieber's  brewery,  on  Madison  Avenue  below  Mor- 
ris Street,  backing  upon  the  JefFersonville  Railroad, 
is  a  considerably  younger  establishment  than  the  pre- 
ceding, but  is  little  inferior  in  the  extent  of  its  busi- 
ness, and  notably  in  the  character  of  its  product. 
The  present  proprietor,  Peter  Lieber,  is  the  founder  of 
the  business,  and  its  success  is  the  result  of  his  energy, 
enterprise,  and  honorable  dealing.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  Maus'  brewery,  on  the  Fall  Creek  race,  near 
the  intersection  of  New  York  and  Agnes  Streets. 
It  was  established  by  Mr.  Caspar  Maus,  father  of  the 
present  managers,  and  by  him  pushed  to  a  point  of 
marked  success,  when  he  died,  leaving  his  sons  to 
carry  on  the  enterprise  with  the  same  energy  and 
prudence  that  established  it,  and  is  now  constantly 
enlarging  it.  The  annual  product  is  about  $200,000. 
The  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  says-  of  the 
brewing  interest  of  the  city,  "  that  our  breweries" — 
there  are  but  three  that  amount  to  anything  now — 
"  buy  enough  malt,  hops,  barley,  ice,  and  other  arti- 
cles to  form  a  good  market."  And  adds,  "  However, 
two  of  them  are  substituting  '  cold-air  machines'  in- 
stead of  ice  for  cooling  purposes,  which  is  said  to 
produce  much  better  results  in  every  way.  In  short, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  breweries  of  Indianapolis 
have  no  superiors  in  the  completeness  of  their  ap- 
pointments and  the  quality  of  their  products ;  and  it 
is  well  known  that  they  '  hold  their  own'  in  competi- 
tion with  other  cities." 

Total  capital  of  breweries  for  18S2 ?713,000 

Value  of  raw  material  used  in  1S82 469,500 

Wages  paid  during  1S82 103,100 

Total  value  of  manufactured  product 733,000 

Several  breweries  in  other  cities  have  agencies 
here,  and  distribute  their  beer  as  the  Indianapolis 
breweries  do. 

Distilling. — Liquor-making,  in  spite  of  the  abun- 
dance of  corn,  has  never  been  an  important  or  even 
considerable  business  in  Indianapolis,  and  during  a 
large  part  of  the  city's  existence  there  has  been  no 
distillery  at  all  in  or  near  it.  The  reason  of  so  ex- 
ceptional a  lack  of  enterprise  in  a  direction  so  likely 
to  be  profitable  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  com- 
pletion of  establishments  with  the  great  advantages 
of  water  transportation  in   their  favor.     There  was  a 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OF  THE   CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


451 


distillery  on  or  near  the  Bajou  nearly  as  early  as  the 
Yandes  mill,  and  its  product  was  as  famous  in  the 
neighborhood  as  any  present  brand  of  stranclino- 
liquor  from  "  Jersey  Lightning"  to  "  Robinson 
County."  It  seems  to  have  disappeared,  though,  by 
the  time  the  town  organization  was  first  formed. 
Somewhere  about  the  time  of  the  completion  of 
the  Madison  Railroad  Capt.  Cain  established  a  dis- 
tillery on  the  northeast  border  of  the  town,  outside 
the  "  donation,"  and  kept  it  in  operation  a  few  years, 
apparently  with  little  advantage.  About  the  same 
time,  or  rather  earlier,  the  late  Jacob  Landis  built  a 
small  distillery  on  Pleasant  Run,  in  connection  with 
a  mill  run  by  water  from  the  creek,  brought  by  a  race 
along  the  south  face  of  the  bluff  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  Catholic  cemetery.  Some  few  years  later  the  still- 
house  passed  to  the  hands  of  some  of  the  farmers 
along  Pleasant  Run,  Mr.  DeMotte  or  Mr.  Hoefgen, 
but  it  went  to  decay  some  years  ago,  and  there  is  no 
trace  of  it  or  the  mill-race  discernible  now.  A  few 
years  after  the  close  of  the  war  the  Mount  Jackson 
distillery  was  built,  close  to  Little  Eagle  Creek,  and 
has  been  run  fitfully,  with  long  intervals  of  suspen- 
sion, ever  since.  It  has  been  in  court  sometimes,  too, 
and  recently  was  sold  on  some  judicial  order.  It  is 
the  only  distillery  about  the  city,  or  that  has  been  for 
twenty-five  years  or  more.  It  is  a  business  that  does 
not  enter  into  any  report  or  estimate  of  the  city's 
condition  or  trade. 

Baking. — One  of  the  settlers  of  1820  was  Conrad 
Broussell  or  Brussell,  a  baker,  who,  from  Mr.  Now- 
land's  account,  began  his  professional  work  very  soon 
after  his  arrival.  But  it  was  a  whole  generation 
after  the  settlement  before  the  people  became  so  far 
alienated  from  old  home  fashions  as  to  substitute  the 
baker's  loaf  for  the  home-made  biscuit  and  "  salt- 
rising"'  bread.  Of  course  there  were  some  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  "bought  bread,"  and  on  these 


farmers,  who  wanted  to  live  awhile  in  town,  or  rela- 
tives of  the  family  who  were  willing  to  help  with  the 
house-work  for  their  board,  gave  place  to  foreigners, 
who,  as  capable  and  careful  as  they  might  be,  could 
not  replace  the  home-trained  girl  of  the  farm.  The 
latter  had  been  brought  up  to  do  the  family  cooking 
with  her  mother  since  she  could  handle  a  knife  or  a 
rolling-pin,  and  she  could  do  homo-baking  as  well  as 
the  mistress.  The  foreign  substitute  could  not.  Thus 
it  came  that  the  housewife  had  to  go  back  to  her 
"  dough-board"  and  "  tray,"  or  buy  her  bread  ready 
made.  This  was  one  contributing  influence.  An- 
other and  more  powerful,  no  doubt,  was  the  tendency 
of  all  communities  to  substitute  paid  for  personal  labor 
as  they  grow  older  and  richer.  At  all  events,  the 
first  generation  of  Indianapolitans  ate  bread  made  at 
home,  as  a  good  many  do  yet,  and  it  is  mainly  since 
the  war  that  bakers'  wagons  and  daily  visits  have 
become  as  much  a  part  of  the  average  household  life 
as  the  morning  wash  or  the  evening  meal. 

The  chief  product  of  the  baker's  art  in  old  times 
was  the  "  hoosier  bait,"  as  related  in  the  general  his- 
tory ;  and  "  baker  Brown,"  who  kept  a  place  on  Fort 
Wayne  Avenue,  or  near  by,  and  sold  gingerbread  in 
"  fip"  squares,  with  spruce  beer, — a  sort  of  exagger- 
ated pop,  very  like  "  ginger  ale," — made  a  little 
money  and  a  good  deal  of  business  reputation  that 
would  have  been  a  fortune  to  him  now.  In  later 
days,  when  the  professional  bread-maker  came  more 
largely  into  the  daily  supply  of  the  town's  necessities, 
the  business  fell  into  the  hands  of  Germans  chiefly, 
as  it  is  now  and  has  been  all  the  time.  Most  of  them 
work  for  daily  customers  and  household  service,  but 
a  few  do  a  larger  business,  and  supply  markets  all 
through  the  West.  The  oldest  of  these  is  the  present 
Taggart  establishment,  which  was  begun  soon  after 
the  completion  of  the  Madison  Railroad,  by  Hugh 
Thompson,  a  Scotchman,  whose   first  establishment 


the  early  baker  or  two  of  the  town  depended  for  a  |  was  on  the  corner  of  Delaware  and  South  Streets,  but 

subsequently  removed  to  East  Street,  when  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Taggart  Brothers.  Recently 
one  of  them  bought  the  old  and  extensive  South-Side 
bakery  of  Anthony  Ball,  on  Illinois  Street  below  the 
Union  depot.  The  brothers,  singly  or  together,  do  a 
great  deal  of  cracker-baking.     The  next  oldest  large 


living.  Others  learned  the  fashion  later,  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  baker  would  ever  have  banished  home- 
made bread  as  far  as  he  has  if  he  had  not  been  aided 
by  other  agencies.  As  the  town  grew  and  immigra- 
tion increased,  the  domestics,  who  had  been  in  the 
past,  girls  from  the  country,  daughters  of  well-to-do 


452 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


establishment  is  that  of  Parrott  &  Nickum,  190 
and  192  East  Washington  Street.  They  succeeded 
Alexander  Metzgar  in  1862,  and  now  occupy  three 
floors,  each  40  by  195  feet,  using  100  barrels  of  the 
best  flour  daily.  Their  business  amounts  to  $150,000 
a  year,  and  extends  throughout  all  the  adjacent 
States.  Bryce's  steam  bakery,  14  and  16  East 
South  Street,  was  established  in  1870  by  Peter  F. 
Bryce.  a  level-headed,  enterprising,  big-hearted  Scotch- 
man. He  uses  7  wagons  and  25  employes  in  bis 
house,  and  supplies  over  300  customers  daily,  besides 
selling  a  good  deal  at  wholesale  for  shipment  abroad. 
His  consumption  of  flour  is  about  two  hundred  bar- 
rels a  week.  Mr.  Bryce  represented  his  ward  in  the 
Council  one  term,  and  made  a  very  eflBcient  and  pop- 
ular councilman.  There  arc  altogether  some  51 
bakeries  in  the  city,  but  these  are  the  chief  estab- 
lishments in  the  wholesale  trade.  The  Indianapolis 
Cracker  Company  may  be  noted  as  one  of  the  leading 
city  industries  of  this  class. 

Starch-Making. — W.  F.  Piel  &  Co.'s  starch-fac- 
tory is  located  in  the  southwest  part  of  Indianapolis, 
on  grounds  bounded  east  and  north  by  Dakota  and 
Morris  Streets,  and  bordering  White  River  on  the 
west,  and  is  the  only  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the 
city. 

The  business  was  established  in  the  spring  of  1867 
by  W.  F.  Piel,  Edward  Mueller,  Charles  Wischmier, 
and  Henry  Burke,  who  formed  a  partnership  for  the 
purpose,  and  built  the  Union  Starch-Factory,  on  East 
New  York  Street,  just  outside  the  corporation  limits. 
It  was  a  brick  building  one  hundred  feet  square,  in 
which  were  included  the  entire  works,  all  under  one 
roof.  Their  capacity  was  about  two  hundred  bushels 
of  corn  per  day,  and  they  employed  from  thirty  to 
thirty-five  men. 

On  the  night  of  Oct.  8,  1868,  the  factory  was 
totally  destroyed  by  fire,  supposed  to  have  been  the 
work  of  an  incendiary.  New  buildings  of  about  the 
same  capacity  were  erected  on  the  same  site  immedi- 
ately afterward,  and  the  business  was  continued  by 
the  firm  until  October,  1872,  when  Messrs.  Mueller, 
Wischmier,  and  Burke  sold  their  interests  to  E. 
Birchard,  who  then  became  associated  with  Mr.  Piel 
in  the  business,  and  it  was  carried  on   by  them  until 


April,  1873,  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved,  and 
the  Union  Starch-Factory  ceased  operations. 

In  March,  1873,  Mr.  Piel  formed  a  partnership 
with  Mr.  Andrew  Erekenbrecker,  of  Cincinnati,  under 
the  firm-name  of  W.  F.  Piel  &  Co.,  which  has  since 
remained  unchanged.  The  object  of  the  partnership 
was  to  erect  and  operate  extensive  starch-works  in 
Indianapolis,  on  a  more  eligible  site  than  that  of  the 
old  factory  on  New  York  Street.  For  this  purpose 
they  purchased  about  fifteen  acres  of  land  (a  part  of 
the  property  on  which  the  works  now  stand),  and  in 
June  of  the  same  year  commenced  the  erection  of  two 
brick  buildings,  each  one  hundred  and  thirty  by  one 
hundred  feet  in  size  and  three  stories  high.  Tracks 
were  laid  connecting  the^manufactory  with  the  main 
line  of  the  Vandalia  Railroad,  the  grading  being  done 
at  the  expense  of  Piel  &  Co.  The  works  were  com- 
pleted and  put  in  operation  in  March,  1874,  employ- 
ing eighty  hands,  and  using  five  hundred  bushels  of 
corn  per  day  in  the  manufacture  of  starch. 

Since  that  time  numerous  additions  have  been 
made,  and  the  business  has  been  largely  extended. 
The  factory  grounds — originally  about  fifteen  acres — 
have  been  increased  to  about  thirty-one  acres  by  sub- 
sequent purchases  of  adjoining  lands, — viz.,  ten  acres 
purchased  in  the  fall  of  1878,  and  a  lot  of  about  six 
acres  in  1882.  A  brick  building  one  hundred  by 
twenty-eight  feet  and  twenty-five  feet  high  was 
erected  in  1875  for  storage  of  corn.  On  the  ten- 
acre  tract  purchased  in  1878  the  firm  erected,  in  the 
following  spring,  a  brick  building  one  hundred  by 
one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  and  two  stories  high, 
to  be  used  for  packing  and  storage  purposes.  Sub- 
sequently (1882)  this  building  was  raised  to  three 
stories  in  height,  and  in  the  same  year  a  brick  "  run- 
house"  was  built,  eighty  by  two  hundred  feet  in 
size. 

Originally  the  motive-power  of  the  factory  was 
furnished  by  a  one  hundred  horse  steam-engine. 
Two  smaller  engines  (of  twenty  and  twenty-five 
horse-power  respectively)  have  since  been  added, 
and  now  (November,  1883)  the  firm  has  in  process 
of  construction  by  a  noted  builder  of  Milwaukee  a 
"  Corliss"  engine  of  three  hundred  horse-power  to 
replace  the  first  one.      When    the   factory  is  put  in 


^ 


^^6:..  (2/  (Z& 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


453 


operation  (about  Jan.  1,  1884)  with  the  new  engine 
and  some  other  contemplated  improvements,  its 
capacity  will  be  two  thousand  five  hundred  bushels 
of  corn  per  day,  employing  from  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  men. 

William  F.  Piel  is  of  Prussian  ancestry,  and  the 
son  of  Cort  Henry  Piel,  who  was  born  and  lived  in 
Dankarsen,  near  Minden,  in  Prussia,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming  employments.  He  married  Katarina 
Poppe,  of  Larbeck,in  the  same  judicial  district,  and 
had  children, — Mary,  Henry,  Frederick,  Katarina, 
Charles,  Christian,  William  F.,  and  Ernst,  of  whom 
five  are  living.  William  F.,  who  is  the  subject  of 
this  biographical  sketch,  was  born  at  the  home  in 
Dankarsen,  Prussia,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1823,  and 
there  remained  during  his  early  youth  under  the  care 
of  his  brother  Henry,  who  became  owner  of  the  prop- 
erty on  the  death  of  the  mother.  At  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen he  chose  the  trade  of  a  cooper,  and  followed  it 
for  seven  years  at  the  nominal  sum  of  twenty-five  dol- 
lars per  year.  On  attaining  his  twenty-fourth  year 
he  decided  to  emigrate  to  America,  and  landing  in 
Baltimore  on  the  8th  of  August,  1846,  he  came 
direct  to  Indianapolis.  Here,  from  the  time  of  his 
arrival  until  1858,  he  followed  his  trade.  Circum- 
stances influenced  him  at  this  juncture  to  change  his 
business  and  embark  in  mercantile  ventures.  After 
keeping  for  some  years  a  country  store,  with  a  stock 
adapted  to  general  trade,  he  in  1867  sold  out,  and  the 
same  year  began  the  erection  of  a  starch-factory  in 
the  suburbs  of  the  city,  the  firm  by  which  the  busi- 
ness was  established  embracing  four  partners.  This 
was  continued  until  1872,  when  Mr.  Piel  purchased 
the  entire  interest  and  secured  another  partner,  who 
continued  for  a  brief  period.  In  1873  he  formed  a 
business  connection  with  Andrew  Erkenbrecher,  of 
Cincinnati.  Under  this  partnership  the  capacity  of 
the  factory  has  been  greatly  increased,  two  thousand 
bushels  of  corn  being  utilized  in  a  single  day.  A 
large  demand  has  been  created  for  its  products,  one- 
third  of  the  entire  quantity  produced  being  exported. 
Mr.  Piel,  by  his  energy,  his  indomitable  persever- 
ance, and  his  business  capacity,  has  placed  himself 
in  the  foremost  rank  of  manufacturers  of  the  city  of 
Indianapolis.     In  the  midst  of  many  discouragements, 


and  with  but  few  aids  to  success,  he  has  brought  the 
business  of  starch-manufacturing  to  a  high  degree  of 
proficiency,  and  made  it  one  of  the  most  profitable 
industries  of  the  West.  Mr.  Piel  has  been  to  some 
extent  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  city,  and 
was,  as  a  Democrat,  in  1879-80  elected  one  of 
its  aldermen,  the  nomination  for  a  second  term  hav- 
ing been  declined  by  him.  In  his  religious  prefer- 
ences he  is  a  member  of  Trinity  German  Lutheran 
Church  of  Indianapolis,  of  which  he  is  also  a  trustee. 
His  wife  and  children  are  members  of  the  same 
church.  Mr.  Piel  was  on  the  29th  of  January, 
1849,  married  to  Elonore  Wishmeyr,  of  Frille,  near 
Minden,  Prussia.  Their  children  are  William  F. 
(married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Meyer),  Henry  C.  F.  (mar- 
ried to  Mary  Ostermeyer),  Charles  F.  W.  (married 
to  Lena  Stroup),  Amelia  M.  H.  (who  is  Mrs.  Henry 
Melcher,  of  Cleveland),  Lena  M.  M.,  George  H.  W. 
(deceased),  and  Mary  L.  E. 

2d.  Wood  Products. — The  next  most  important 
industry  in  the  amount  of  annual  product,  the  capital 
invested,  and  the  population  supported,  is  of  lumber 
and  wood  in  various  forms.  It  would  be  impossible, 
even  if  it  would  be  of  interest,  to  indicate  the  origin 
and  growth  of  each  separate  class  of  manufactures  of 
wood,  and  a  summary  of  leading  points  must  serve. 
Lumber-yards,  and  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  products,  are  of  comparatively  recent  date. 
Pine  lumber  was  but  little  used  for  fifteen  years  after 
the  completion  of  the  first  railroad,  and  was  not  really 
in  general  use  until  the  close  of  the  civil  war.  Before 
that  poplar  was  the  wood  for  house-work,  for  doors, 
windows,  weather-boarding,  and  shingles,  and  ash  for 
floors.  Both  are  still  used,  poplar  chiefly  for  the 
best  weather-boarding  and  house-finishing,  and  ash 
for  finishing  and  flooring,  but  not  so  extensively. 
Within  about  twenty  years  the  use  of  pine  has  become 
almost  universal  for  frame-work. 

Saw-mills  are  frequent  enough  for  a  Michigan 
pinery,  and  have  been  gathering  in  and  about  the 
city  since  the  completion  of  the  first  railroad,  or  near 
it,  but  their  work  is  mainly  on  the  hard  wood  of  the 
forests,  which  are  so  rapidly  and  mischievously  dis- 
appearing. Besides  the  first  saw-mill  on  Fall  Creek, 
above  Indiana  Avenue,  and  the  saw-mill  attachment 


454 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


to  the  old  steam-mill,  there  was  no  sawing  done  in 
the  town  or  its  close  vicinity  till  the  Eaglesfield  Mill 
was  built,  soon  after  the  completion  of  the  canal  and 
the  collection  of  an  abundant  water-power  in  the 
basin  of  one  of  the  old  ravines,  where  the  water- 
works building  is  now.  This  mill  continued  in 
operation,  more  or  less  steadily,  for  ten  or  twelve 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  an  oil-mill.  In  18(51 
its  place  was  taken  by  the  paper-mill  now  belonging 
to  Salisbury  &  Vinton.  In  1849,  Mr.  Kortepeter 
started  a  saw-mill  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street.  In 
1857,  Fletcher  &  Wells  had  one  on  Massachusetts 
Avenue.  Gay  &  Stevens  had  another  near  the  Madi- 
son Railroad  depot  the  same  year.  John  F.  Hill  built 
one  on  East  Street  in  1858,  which  was  burned  the 
next  year  and  rebuilt.  In  connection  with  this  mill, 
for  a  time,  was  operated  the  first  shingle-machine  in 
the  city.  In  1858,  Messrs.  Off  &  Wishmeier  ran  a 
saw-mill  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  city,  on  Rail- 
road Street,  and  Helwig  &  Blake  had  one  on  the 
canal  the  same  year.  JIarsey  built  one  on  New 
Jer.sey  Street  in  1859,  and  the  late  James  H.  Me- 
Keruan  ran  one  a  few  years  on  Kentucky  Avenue, 
mainly  to  cut  up  the  sycamore  growth  of  the  Mc- 
Carty  farm,  for  which  he  had  contracted,  and  the 
lumber  of  which  he  used  in  building  a  large  number 
of  cheap  residences  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
city,  between  the  creek  and  the  river,  for  workmen, 
who  were  allowed  to  count  their  rent  as  purchase- 
money,  if  they  chose,  and  in  a  short  time  become 
owners,  instead  of  tenants.  There  are  now  42  lum- 
ber-yards and  dealers  in  the  city,  some  with  mills  for 
sawing,  some  for  sash,  door,  and  blind  work,  some 
for  hard  wood,  and  some  for  all  kinds.  Besides 
these,  certain  cla.sses  of  wood  manufacturers  keep 
large  lumber-yards  for  their  own  use.  Fourteen 
lumber-yards  are  reported  by  the  secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  as  doing  a  retail  business  to  the 
amount  of  $1,500,000  of  lumber,  shingles,  and  laths 
the  past  year,  while  the  whole  lumber  trade  is  esti- 
mated at  §3,000,000. 

The  trade  in  black  walnut  is  kept  up,  but  not  so 
extensively  as  formerly.  The  walnut  woods  of  In- 
diana are  practically  exhausted.  Their  lumber  was 
the  best  in  the  market.     Indiana  walnut  commands 


the  best  price  and  the  greatest  sale  in  Europe,  as 
well  as  at  home.  And  the  demand  for  it,  when  it 
had  been  held  of  little  value  for  a  lifetime,  cleared 
it  off  with  a  rapidity  that  would  have  delighted  the 
pioneer,  who  looked  upon  it  as  a  sort  of  natural 
enemy  of  the  farmer  and  the  corn  crop.  Its  place  is 
supplied  now  by  the  walnut  picked  up  by  agents  in 
all  parts  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Col.  A.  D. 
Streight,  the  largest  dealer  in  the  country,  whose 
business  has  averaged  $500,000  a  year  for  fifteen 
years,  gets  his  walnut  from  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  West  Virginia, 
but  ships  much  of  it  East  directly  without  bringing 
it  to  his  yards  and  mills  in  the  city.  Still,  there  are 
a  dozen  or  so  other  dealers  that  do  a  considerable 
business  in  this  and  other  hard  lumber.  It  is 
worth  noting  in  this  connection  that  wild-cherry 
lumber  is  coming  into  demand  again.  For  many 
years  after  the  first  settlement  of  the  city  cherry 
was  the  exclusive  lumber  of  cabinet-work  and  orna- 
mental work  generally,  if  any  of  that  era  can  be 
called  ornamental.  Bureaus,  bedsteads,  tables,  wash- 
stands,  and  all  sorts  of  furniture  were  made  of 
cherry.  And  it  was  especially  the  wood  of  coffins 
till  the  costly  burial-cases  of  later  days  superseded  it. 
Of  course  the  wealthier  people  used  mahogany, 
sometimes  ro.sewood,  or  other  tropical  growths,  but 
cherry  was  the  lumber  of  the  American  average  citi- 
zen, and  the  farmer.  For  a  generation,  however, 
cherry  has  beeu  put  aside,  till  a  recent  freak  of 
fashion  has  reached  it.  Now  it  is  used  largely  for 
car-finishing,  and  is  especially  in  demand  for  ebon- 
izing  purposes,  as  the  wood  makes  very  fine  imitation 
ebony. 

For  ordinary  domestic  use  pine  is  the  lumber  of 
this  region,  as  of  the  whole  country.  Even  houses 
that  are  weather-boarded  with  poplar  are  framed  of 
pine  and  shingled  with  pine,  and  the  trade  in  it  has 
grown  to  be  one  of  the  leading  items  of  the  commerce 
of  the  capital.  The  earliest,  or  among  the  earliest 
dealers  in  lumber,  exclusively,  in  the  city  is  the  firm 
of  Coburn  &  Jones.  It  was  at  first  Coburn  &  Lingen- 
felter,  and  had  the  yard  on  the  corner  of  New  York 
and  Delaware  Streets  in  1860.  In  1862,  William  H. 
Jones,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  city,  and  for 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF  THE   CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


455 


some  years  proprietor  of  a  blaokt^mith-bhop  on  the 
corner  of  Tennessee  Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue, 
north  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  boug;ht  Linden- 
feller's  interest,  and  the  firm  has  been  Coburn  & 
Jones  now  about  twenty-two  years.  In  1865  the 
yard  was  removed  to  the  present  location  on  the 
block  once  known  as  "  Sheets'  pasture,"  between 
Georgia  Street  and  the  Union  tracks,  and  between 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi  Streets,  occupying  the  major 
part  of  the  four  acres,  while  on  the  north  side  of  Georgia 
Street,  occupying  over  100  feet  on  that  street  and  as 
much  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  they  carry  on  a  planing- 
milj,  and  make  doors,  sa.sh,  and  all  other  work  usually 
turned  out  by  sash-factories.  They  employ  40  to  45 
hands,  about  equally  divided  between  the  lumber- 
yard and  the  mill,  and  sell  now  about  $150,000  of 
lumber,  lath,  and  shingles  annually,  but  in  good 
seasons  increase  this  amount  by  8100,000. 

The  yard  and  mill  of  the  Dickson  Brothers,  at  the 
crossing  of  Market  Street  and  Pogue's  Creek,  is 
nearly  as  old  as  the  preceding  establishment,  having 
been  opened  by  the  father  of  the  brothers  in  1865. 
It  covers  a  whole  square,  employs  some  30  hands, 
and  ships  about  4,000,000  feet  of  hard-wood  lumber 
a  year.  The  floods  in  the  creek  have  caused  the  pro- 
prietors a  great  deal  of  loss  and  trouble,  and  the  city 
stands  in  a  good  position  to  reimburse  them,  or  to  be 
compelled  to  protect  them.  Wright  &  Hopkins,  in 
South  Alabama  Street,  established  here  a  branch  of 
the  large  Buffalo  house  of  Scatchard  &  Son,  in  1860, 
dealing  chiefly  in  hard-wood  lumber.  The  Cutler  & 
Savidge  Company  established  a  branch  of  their  Mich- 
igan house  here  in  1876,  and  removed  to  their  present 
site,  151  to  161  South  East  Street,  in  1882.  The  yard 
covers  an  area  of  nearly  8  acres,  and  the  business 
amounts  to  10,000,000  feet  a  year.  R.  B.  Emerson 
&  Son,  West  Market  Street,  began  as  Emerson,  Beam 
&  Thompson  in  1864.  Mr.  Thompson  withdrew  in 
1807,  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Emerson  came  in,  and  after  Mr. 
Beam  withdrew,  in  1874,  the  firm  became  Emerson 
&  Son.  A  planing-mill  is  connected  with  the  yard. 
Murry  &  Co.,  Russell  &  Co.,  Rapert,  Foster  &  Co., 
Paul,  Eldridge  &  Co.,  Gladden,  Cope  &  Hunt,  Carter 
&  Lee  (Indianola),  Lyons,  Huey  &  Son,  King,  Long, 
Carmichael  &  Bingham,  are  also  largely  engaged  in 


lumber,  besides  several  establishments  of  later  date  or 
lighter  business. 

Furniture — The  first  cabinet-maker  of  tjift^ret- 
tlement  was  Caleb  Scudder,  a  pioneer  of  18^1.  But 
very  close  after  him,  not  later  than  1823,  came  Sam- 
uel Duke,  with  whom  James  Grier,  still  living,  learned 
his  trade.  Among  those  who  followed  were  Fleming 
T.  Luse,  who  in  1835  had  a  shop  on  Pennsylvania 
Street,  about  where  the  Bank  of  Commerce  now  is. 
Later  Mr.  Donnelan  worked  there,  or  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. The  late  John  F.  Ramsey  and  James 
Grier,  about  1845,  carried  on  the  same  business,  but 
mixed  up  with  their  own  work  an  extensive  trade  in 
articles  bought  of  wholesale  manufacturers,  in  a  large 
house  on  South  Illinois  Street,  about  half-way  between 
Washington  and  Maryland.  Mordecai  Cropper  made 
furniture  a  little  earlier  than  Mr.  Ramsey's  arrival, 
leaving  here  for  the  far  West  in  1838,  and,  returning 
two  or  three  years  ago,  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
forty  years,  finding  a  city  of  90,000  people  where  he 
left  a  village  of  3000.  Joseph  I.  Stretcher,  about 
the  time  Mr.  Cropper  left,  established  the  largest 
cabinet  manufactory  of  the  time  on  West  Washing- 
ton Street,  about  where  the  Iron  Block  stands.  A 
fire  came  near  destroying  the  whole  establishment 
here  about  the  time  of  the  Polk-  and  Clay  campaign. 
Contemporary  with  Mr.  Stretcher,  and  working  upon 
a  scale  of  equal  magnitude  and  enterprise,  was  the 
establishment  of  Espy  &  Sloan,  on  West  Washington 
Street,  and  later  Sloan  &  Ingersoll. 

About  the  time  that  old-fashioned  cabinet-work  and 
cabinet-makers,  with  their  old-fashioned  cherry  lum- 
ber for  everything  that  was  needed  in  household  fur- 
niture, from  a  cradle  to  a  sideboard,  were  passing 
away,  and  new  fashions  of  more  variety,  beauty,  and 
expense  were  coming  in,  about  the  year  1855,  Messrs. 
Spiegel  &  Thorns  began  the  first  manufacture  of  fur- 
niture on  a  difierent  line,  and  with  a  closer  regard  to 
the  improved  taste  of  the  time.  Their  beginning 
was  humble  enough,  in  a  little  shop  on  East  Wash- 
ington Street,  but  by  1863  they  were  doing  so  well 
that  they  had  to  seek  better  accommodations,  and 
moved  to  East  Street,  near  the  creek,  and  in  three 
years  built  there  the  first  five-story  house  in  the  town 
to   make   room  for  their  work  and  workmen.     Ten 


456 


HISTORY    OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


years  or  so  ago  they  again  doubled  their  capacity  by 
erecting  a  fiue  five-story  block  on  West  Washington 
Street,  a  little  east  of  Masonic  Hall,  with  an  equal 
front  on  Kentucky  Avenue.  This  is  the  oldest  ex- 
tensive furniture-factory  in  the  city,  and  if  not  the 
largest,  is  certainly  unsurpassed  by  any. 

Augustus  Spiegel. — Mr.  Spiegel,  who  is  of 
German  ancestry,  is  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth 
Brown  Spiegel,  who  resided  in  the  town  of  Michel- 
stadt,  in  Hesse-Darmstadt.  They  had  among  their 
children  Augustus,  the  subject  of  this  biographical 
sketbh,  whose  birth  occurred  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1825,  in  the  above  town.  Here  his  childhood  was 
passed  until  seven  years  of  age,  when  his  parents, 
with  their  children,  in  1832  emigrated  to  America 
and  settled  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  the  father  died 
three  years  after.  The  family,  two  years  later,  re- 
moved to  Cincinnati,  where  Augustus  became  a  pupil 
at  a  German  and  English  school,  and  there  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  an  education.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen he  entered  the  office  of  the  Christian  Advocate, 
published  in  Cincinnati,  as  press-boy,  and  acted  in 
that  capacity  for  two  years.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  decided  upon  the  trade  of  cabinet-maker  as 
that  most  fitted  to  his  peculiar  abilities,  and  served 
an  apprenticeship  of  four  years,  after  which  his  crafl 
was  followed  for  the  same  length  of  time  in  Cincin- 
nati. He  was  in  1848  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Anne  Eliza,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Hester  Lackey, 
of  Philadelphia.  Their  children  are  Louisa  (married 
to  William  C.  Nichols),  William  C,  Henry  L.,  Mollie 
M.  (married  to  Edward  Noland),  and  two  who  are 
deceased.  The  sons  are  associated  with  their  father 
in  the  business  of  furniture  manufacturing.  Mr. 
Spiegel,  after  liis  marriage,  removed  to  Lawrence- 
burg,  Ind.,  and  continued  his  trade.  In  1858  he 
repaired  to  Indianapolis,  then  a  rapidly-growing  city, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Spiegel,  Thorns 
&  Co.,  manufacturers  of  furniture.  He  has  since 
that  time  continued  his  connection  with  the  busi- 
ness, which  has  greatly  increased  in  proportions, 
and  now  ranks  among  the  leading  industries  of  the 
city.  Mr.  Spiegel  devotes  his  attention  exclusively 
to  the  business  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  has 
little  leisure  for  matters  of  a  public  character.      He 


participates  but  rarely  in  the  excitement  of  political 
life,  and  casts  his  vote  for  the  most  deserving  candi- 
date irrespective  of  party  ties.  He  is  a  member  of 
Centre  Lodge  of  Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellowa 
of  Indianapolis. 

Two  years  later  than  Spiegel  &  Thorns,  Mr.  John 
Vetter  began  an  extensive  furniture  business  at  the 
Madison  depot,  and  conducted  it  successfully  for 
eight  or  nine  years,  when  the  establishment  was 
burned,  in  1866.  Helwig  &  Roberts  began  the  same 
year  with  Mr.  Vetter  (1857)  on  the  canal,  in  a  factory 
that  was  burned  and  rebuilt  in  1860.  M.  S.  Huey, 
on  West  Washington  Street,  with  a  large  workshop 
on  the  alley  south,  between  Mississippi  Street  and 
the  canal,  began  about  the  time  that  Spiegel  &  Thorns 
did.  John  Ott,  who  excelled  in  carved  work,  was 
contemporary  with  both  the  last-named  houses,  and 
built  an  extensive  shop  on  West  Washington  Street, 
a  little  east  of  Mississippi,  which  was  taken  for  the 
State  arsenal  when  Governor  Morton  concluded  to 
make  the  ammunition  for  the  war  instead  of  waiting 
for  the  inferior  stuff  of  the  government.  Field  & 
Day  did  cabinet-work  on  Vermont  Street  contempo- 
raneously with  Espy  &  Sloan  ;  Wilkins  &  Hall  worked 
on  West  Washington  Street  in  1864;  Philip  Dolin, 
on  South  Meridian  Street,  in  1865  ;  burned  and  re- 
commenced in  1867  ;  C.  J.  Myer,  on  East  Washing- 
ton Street,  about  the  outbreak  of  the  war ;  the  Cabi- 
net-Makers' Union,  East  Market  Street,  at  the  creek, 
in  1859.  This  last  is  one  of  the  largest  establish- 
ments in  the  city,  as  also  one  of  the  oldest.  Its 
buildings  and  yards  cover  the  larger  part  of  a  block 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  creek.  The  Indianapolis 
Cabinet  Company  and  the  Indianapolis  Veneer  Com- 
pany occupy  the  extensive  series  of  buildings  at  the 
extremity  of  Massachusetts  Avenue,  on  Malott  Ave- 
nue, where  the  Wheeler  &  Wilson  Sewing-Machine 
Company  established  a  cabinet-making  branch  as 
early  as  1862.  The  works  employ  altogether  about 
300  hands.  The  president  of  the  company  was  Mr. 
Helwig's  partner  in  the  furniture-factory  just  referred 
to.  The  annual  business  is  an  excess  of  $300,000. 
The  Wooten  Desk  Company,  who  make  a  specialty  of 
fine  writing  and  business  desks,  formerly  had  a  factory 
on  the  Bee  Line  road,  near  the  city.     Emerich,  Pau- 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OP  THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


lini  &  Co.,  on  Morris  Street,  east  of  the  creek,  began 
work  in  1881,  making  a  specialty  of  tables,  but  are 
now  extending  their  business  and  greatly  enlarging 
their  capacity.  On  South  Tennessee  Street  Henry 
Hermann  has  a  very  extensive  furniture-factory  and 
lumber-yard  on  the  site  of  the  old  Greenleaf  Machine- 
Works,  and  with  it  has  another  on  South  Pennsyl- 
vania Street  just  below  South  Street. 

A.  D.  Streight  &  Co.  began  business  with  a  lum- 
ber-yard, in  1865,  on  the  ground  south  of  the  Van- 
dalia  depot,  mostly  occupied  at  that  time  by  the 
Indianapolis  Wagon-Works,  since  removed  to  North 
Indianapolis  and  out  of  existence.  In  1866  they 
removed  to  a  site  south  of  the  Vandalia  road  on 
West  Street,  and  then  moved  north  and  to  their 
present  site.  They  dealt  in  pine  somewhat  at  first, 
but  soon  passed  entirely  into  the  walnut  and  hard- 
wood trade.  Some  three  years  ago  they  added  a 
chair-factory  to  their  mills,  and  now  turn  out  about 
$50,000  worth  of  that  class  of  work  a  year.  The 
Indianapolis  Chair  Manufacturing  Company  on  West 
New  York  Street,  at  the  canal,  do  an  extensive 
busine.ss  in  the  same  way,  the  largest,  probably,  of 
the  kind  in  the  city.  The  Western  Furniture  Com- 
pany have  a  large  establishment  on  Madison  Avenue 
north  of  Morris  Street.  King  &  Elder,  South 
Meridian  Street ;  Lauter  &  Frese,  Massachusetts 
Avenue ;  Ralston  &  Co.,  East  Washington  Street ; 
Sander  &  Recker,  East  Washington  ;  Miller,  Indiana 
Avenue;  Morton,  West  Washington;  Smith,  West 
Washington;  H.  Frank  &  Co.,  East  Washington; 
Born  &  Co.,  and  Benson,  East  Washington,  are  all 
engaged  in  general  furniture-making. 

Lounges  are  a  specialty  largely  manufactured  by 
several  houses  here,  and  sold  wholesale  to  the  large 
dealers  in  the  cities  around  us, — St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
Louisville,  and  others.  Michael  Clurie  was  engaged 
in  this  work  and  mattress-making  in  the  old  Under- 
bill mill  when  that  relic  of  old  times  was  recently 
destroyed  by  fire.  Ott  &  Madden  carried  on  a  very 
large  business,  amounting  to  $150,000  a  year,  when 
their  establishment  on  Morris  Street  was  nearly  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  December,  1883.  Since  then  the 
firm  has  dissolved,  Mr.  Ott  continuing  at  the  old  place 
and  Capt.  Madden  opening  soon  in  a  large  establish- 
30 


457 


ment  on  Merrill  Street.  Otto  Stecban  also  does  an 
extensive  business  in  lounges  on  Fort  Wayne  Ave- 
nue. He  began  in  1875,  employs  now  sixty  work- 
men, and  does  a  business  of  about  $150,000  a  year. 
Vance  &  Zehringer,  on  Massachusetts  Avenue,  Hoff- 
man, on  North  East  Street,  Ferriter,  on  East  South, 
and  Krause,  on  East  Washington,  are  engaged  in 
the  same  specialty. 

Aqricultueal  Implements Although  largely 

sold  here  by  the  agents  of  manufacturers  at  other  points 
in  the  State  and  in  other  States,  there  is  very  little 
manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  in  Indianapo- 
lis. Agricultural  machinery  is  made  here  by  several 
houses,  and  has  been  for  thirty  years  and  more. 
The  Eagle  Machine- Works  made  threshers  or  sepa- 
rators as  early  as  1851,  and  competed  with  the  older 
houses  of  Richmond  and  the  White  Water  Valley  at 
the  first  State  Fair,  in  1852,  and  portable  engines 
and  other  machinery  for  farm-work  are  made  here  as 
largely  as  any  class  of  machinery,  but  agricultural 
implements,  plows,  axes,  spades,  and  the  like  are  un- 
known to  the  manufacturing  skill  and  enterprise  of 
this  city.  Eight  or  ten  years  ago,  or  about  the  time 
the  panic  of  1873  fairly  closed  in  on  business  here, 
a  large  establishment  was  planned  and  partly  built,  a 
few  miles  up  Fall  Creek,  for  the  manufacture  on  a 
large  scale  of  the  Simmons  axe,  but  the  hard  times 
killed  the  project,  and  the  succeeding  better  times 
have  not  revived  it.  Two  years  ago  the  secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  Mr.  H.  C.  Wilson,  noticing  the 
deficiency  of  the  city's  enterprise  in  this  direction, 
said  that  the  agricultural  area  of  the  State,  exclu- 
sive of  surfaces  covered  by  water,  was  21,637,760 
acres,  of  which  90  per  cent,  is  capable  of  cultivation 
with  the  plow,  and  yet  nearly  one-half  is  untilled. 
The  sales  of  agricultural  machinery  and  implements, 
he  says,  in  Indianapolis,  in  1881,  "amounted  to 
$1  250,000,  a  very  small  per  cent,  of  which,  except 
engines  and  threshers,  was  made  here,  or  within  sixty 
miles  of  the  city,  while  some  of  the  standard  articles 
of  lar^e  sale  were  manufactured  a  thousand  miles 
away.     This  should  not  be." 

The  very  best  and  most  suitable  timber  is  abundant 
here  and  the  coal-fields  embrace  an  area  of  6500 
square    miles,   offering   seven   workable  seams,  at  a 


458 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


depth  ranging  from  50  to  220  feet,  and  averaging 
four  and  a  half  feet  in  thickness.  There  are  prob- 
ably 175,000  farms  in  the  State  of  Indiana,  more 
than  2400  miles  of  gravel  and  turnpike  road,  and 
54,000  miles  of  common  road.  There  are  5000 
miles  of  railroad,  traversing  every  part  of  the  State, 
bringing  it  into  close  communication  with  this  city, 
through  the  medium  of  twelve  railroads,  radiating 
from  here  in  every  direction,  to  which  two  new  roads 
will  be  added  within  a  few  months,  and  a  third  prob- 
ably before  the  close  of  the  year.  Upon  these  roads 
citizens  of  eighty-two  counties  out  of  the  ninety-two 
that  compose  the  State  can  come  to  Indianapolis  and 
return  the  same  day. 

Yet  there  is  manufactured  in  Indianapolis  but  an 
insignificant  per  cent,  of  the  machinery  and  imple- 
ments used  upon  the  roadways  or  farms  of  Indiana. 
There  are  more  plows  used  on  farms  abutting  this 
city  than  are  made  in  the  entire  county,  yet 'the 
timber  is  near  and  abundant.  From  the  tower  of  the 
court-house  one  may  see  the  forest  where  men  are 
now  cutting  timber,  which  is  sent  away  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  to  be  made  into  plow-frames,  and  the 
plows  brought  here  and  sold  by  thousands,  and  u.sed 
in  fields  no  farther  away  than  the  woods  where  the 
timber  grew.  Every  year  there  are  about  2500  two- 
horse  sulky-plows  sent  here  and  sold,  also  25,000 
breaking-plows,  2500  one-horse  steel-tooth  hay-rakes, 
10,000  cultivators,  2000  two-horse  wheat-drills,  and 
car-loads  of  one-horse  wood-rakes,  corn-shellers,  and 
cutting-boxes,  and  many  other  farm  implements 
which  are  not  made  here  to  any  appreciable  extent. 
Mowers  and  reapers  are  also  brought  here  and  sold 
to  the  number  of  1000  annually,  and  to  the  amount 
of  $1,500,000  in  the  State  every  year,  and  there  are 
none  made  in  Indiana.  If  these  facts  do  not  demon- 
strate that  here  is  an  unoccupied  field  for  profitable 
industries,  then  is  this  statement  shorn  of  a  degree 
of  humiliation  which  seems  to  attach  to  it. 

The  deficiency  thus  deplored  is  in  a  fair  way  to  be 
filled.  The  city  papers  announced  very  recently  that 
an  establishment  for  the  manufacture  of  one  class  of 
agricultural  implements  was  projected  by  men  amply 
able  to  accomplish  it.  The  statement  is  that  a 
partnership  has  been  formed  for  building  a  manufac- 


tory in  this  city  which  will  employ  several  hundred 
men.  The  establishment  will  probably  be  located  on 
the  site  of  the  old  rolliug-mill,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  city,  and  the  construction  of  the  buildings, 
it  is  said,  will  begin  early  in  the  spring  of  1884. 
The  company  will  manufacture  an  improved  grain- 
reaper  which  was  recently  patented  by  Dr.  Allen,  and 
in  the  operation  of  the  business  a  very  large  number 
of  men  will  be  employed. 

Carriages  and  Wagons. — Wagons  for  road  and 
farm  use  were  made  here  as  in  all  frontier  towns, 
among  the  earliest  products  of  mechanical  skill,  for 
they  were  among  the  earliest  necessities  of  pioneer 
life.  George  Norwood,  as  before  noted,  was  the  first 
wagon-maker.  His  shop  was  on  the  east  side  of 
Illinois  Street,  about  where  the  building  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  stands,  and  here  it  re- 
mained till  about  1845,  though  Mr.  Norwood  gave 
up  the  business  before  that,  and  occupied  himself 
with  his  buildings  and  property  on  Illinois  and  Wash- 
ington Streets.  Thomas  Anderson  also  was  a  wagon- 
maker  on  East  Washington  Street,  and  Richard 
Anderson  (no  relation)  was  a  wagon-maker  by  trade, 
but  had  no  shop  of  his  own  for  any  considerable 
time. 

About  the  year  1832  a  Mr.  Johnson,  who  had  a 
contract  for  carrying  the  mail  by  stage  on  some  of  the 
routes  into  the  town,  established  a  carriage-factory  on 
the  present  site  of  the  post-office,  or  a  little  south  of 
it,  but  his  main  object  was  the  making  and  repairing 
of  his  own  coaches.  His  successor,  Lashley,  com- 
mitted here  the  second  murder  in  the  history  of  the 
place,  in  1836.  About  the  year  1840,  Hiram  and 
his  surviving  brother,  Edward, — the  latter  had  worked 
for  Johnson  in  the  Pennsylvania  Street  shop, — began 
carriage-work  on  an  alley  south  of  Maryland  Street, 
at  the  Illinois  Street  corner.  A  little  later,  about 
1842,  they  built  a  large  establishment  where  the 
Bates  House  stands,  and  carried  on  an  extensive 
business  there  till  1850,  or  near  that  time.  Then 
Edward  opened  a  shop  on  Kentucky  Avenue, — pos- 
sibly he  did  so  before  the  time  suggested, — and  not 
long  afterwards  Hiram  died.  This  was  the  earliest 
large  carriage-factory  in  the  city.  It  has  been  suc- 
ceeded at  one  time  or  another  since  by  Drew,  George 


MANUFACTUKING  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


459 


Lowe,  Heifer  &  Co.,  the  IndiaDapolis  Wagon-Works, 
before  alluded  to,  Shaw  &  Lippincott,  Helfrich,  Hart- 
man,  GuedelhoefiFer,  Bernd  Brothers,  on  Morris 
Street,  Robbins  &  Garrad,  O'Brien  &  Lewis,  Miller 
&  Co.,  Furst  &  Bradley  Manufacturing  Company, 
Burnworth  &  Kohnle,  Kramer,  La  Rue  &  Hill, 
Kayser,  Schweikel  &  Prange,  James  Nunn  Kierolf, 
Job  Alzire,  V.  M.  Backus,  Circle  Street,  G.  H. 
Shover,  C.  R.  Albright,  Indiana  Avenue.  The  Shaw  & 
Lippincott  firm  was  changed  to  a  company,  and  built 
a  very  large  and  admirably-arranged  factory  on  the 
east  bank  of  Pleasant  Run,  where  the  Belt  road  sub- 
sequently crossed  it,  and  did  some  work  there,  but 
the  times  would  not  .support  so  extensive  an  enter- 
prise, and  there  has  been  little  done  there,  or  by  that 
company  anywhere,  since  1876  or  '77.  A  few  months 
ago  Mr.  Lowe  sold  his  establishment  on  West  Market 
Street,  and  it  has  been  converted  into  the  Sentinel 
office. 

For  a  period  of  eight  or  ten  years  prior  to  the  general 
use  of  railroads  by  passengers  and  mails,  the  Vorhees 
Stage  Company,  or  firm,  had  a  large  repairing  estab- 
lishment and  stables  for  their  own  business  exclusively 
on  the  quarter  of  a  square  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  Streets.  Somewhere 
about  1855  or  '56,  the  stage  lines  having  been  discon- 
tinued, these  shops  were  abandoned,  and  replaced  by 
Alvord's  block  of  tenement-houses.  This  corner  has 
had  a  strange  experience.  It  was  a  swamp  at  first. 
Then  the  second  tan-yard  of  the  town  was  put  there. 
The  stage  repair-shops  displaced  that,  and  a  row  of 
tenement-houses  removed  the  shops,  and  a  business 
block  displaced  the  tenement-houses  a  dozen  years 
ago. 

Musical  Instruments. — Though  not  relevant 
to  the  subject  of  carriage-making,  it  is  proper  to 
note  here  that  Edward  Gaston,  since  his  retirement 
from  the  active  pursuit  of  his  trade  of  carriage- 
maker,  has  given  much  of  his  time  to  making  musical 
instruments,  especially  violins,  and  has  made  some 
thirty  or  more,  all  of  a  superior  tone,  and  readily 
salable,  when  he  chooses  to  sell  them,  at  good  prices. 
His  latest  efibrt  was  a  bass  viol  of  remarkably  fine 
quality.  Piano-makers  we  had  here  as  early  as  1843, 
when   Mr.  Robert   Parmlee  worked  on  West  Wash- 


ington Street,  about  where  the  Hubbard  block  stands, 
but  did  not  hold  out  long.  Twenty  years  ago  Mr. 
Trayser  made  pianos  opposite  the  court-house,  and 
J.  H.  Kappes  &  Co.  and  Messrs.  Garred  &  Co.  tried  it, 
but  with  no  success ;  and  last  the  Indianapolis  Piano 
Manufacturing  Company  tried  it  on  a  very  large  scale, 
with  an  extensive  building  on  Merrill  Street,  but  that 
failed  too.  So  the  only  successful  manufacture  of 
musical  instruments  we  have  ever  had  here  is  the 
modest  little  business  of  Mr.  Gaston's. 

The  Woodburn  Sakven  Wheel  Manupao- 
TORT.— This  is  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind 
in  the  United  States  or  the  world,  probably.  Its 
buildings  and  lumber-sheds,  dry-houses  and  storage- 
rooms,  cover  seven  acres  on  both  sides  of  Illinois 
Street,  between  South  and  the  creek,  extending  back 
to  Tennessee  Street  on  the  west,  and  eastward  to  the 
creek  north  of  the  "  elbow."  It  employs  some  500 
workmen,  pays  out  over  $200,000  a  year  in  wages, 
and  turns  out  for  sale  in  all  parts  of  the  world  wheels 
of  all  kinds  to  the  amount  of  $700,000  a  year  or 
more.  It  was  started  in  1847  by  C.  H.  Crawford 
and  J.  R.  Osgood  for  making  lasts  and  other  shoe- 
makers' implements,  and  was  then  located  near  the 
site  of  the  Union  depot.  Six  years  later  Mr.  Craw- 
ford retired  from  the  establishment,  leaving  Mr.  Os- 
good as  the  only  proprietor.  The  latter  shortly 
afterwards  added  the  manufacture  of  staves  and  flour- 
barrels  to  his  other  business.  Finding  his  building 
too  small,  he  erected  on  the  present  site  of  his  estab- 
lishment a  three-story  brick  building,  twenty-five  by 
one  hundred  feet.  This  location,  now  in  the  heart  of 
the  city,  was  then  in  the  open  country,  and  it  was 
deemed  a  hazardous  investment  in  that  day  to  locate 
so  considerable  an  establishment  so  far  from  the  busi- 
ness portion  of  the  city.  The  manufacture  of  wooden 
hubs  was  added  in  1866,  when  Mr.  L.  M.  Bugby 
was  admitted  into  the  firm.  Mr.  S.  H.  Smith  was 
admitted  as  an  equal  partner  in  1866,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  wagon  and  carriage  materials  was  added. 
Thus  began  what  has  grown  to  be  a  very  extensive 
business,  not  only  in  this  city  but  in  the  State  at 
lar^e,  employing  more  than  $1,000,000  capital.  In 
February,  1864,  their  establishment  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  involving  a  loss  of  $20,000.    Within  ninety  days 


460 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


the  manufactory  had  been  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale 
than  before.  In  the  year  1865,  Messrs.  Woodburn 
&  Scott,  of  St.  Louis,  who  had  been  doing  a  large 
business  in  the  manufacture  of  wheels  of  various 
kinds,  and  who,  in  connection  with  a  New  Haven 
firm,  had  the  exclusive  right  to  manufacture  the  cele- 
brated "  Sarven  patent  wheel."  and  had  expended 
large  sums  in  its  introduction,  disposed  of  all  their 
patents  and  business  to  Messrs.  Osgood  &  Smith. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  requisite  capital  to  conduct 
this  extension  of  their  business  Messrs.  Osgood  & 
Smith  disposed  of  a  one-third  interest  to  Messrs. 
Nelson  &  Haynes,  a  wealthy  house  in  Alton,  111., 
who  opened  an  establishment  in  St.  Louis  for  the 
manufacture  of  wagon  materials.  The  St.  Louis 
house  was  known  as  Haynes,  Smith  &  Co.,  the  In- 
dianapolis firm  as  Osgood,  Smith  &  Co.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Woodburn  purchased  the  interest  of 
Messrs.  Nelson  &  Haynes,  and  the  St.  Louis  house 
then  took  the  firm-name  of  Woodburn,  Smith  &  Co. 
In  1869  the  establishment  obtained  a  controlling  in- 
terest in  the  manufactory  at  Massac,  111.,  for  making 
carriage  materials,  a  step  that  was  taken  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supplying  the  St.  Louis  house  with  materials. 
In  the  same  year  they  bought  a  large  tract  of  timbered 
land  in  Orange  County,  Ind.,  and  erected  a  saw-mill 
there  to  supply  the  Indianapolis  manufactory  with 
lumber.  In  1870  the  concern  was  changed  into  a 
joint-stock  company,  under  the  name  of  the  Woodburn 
Sarven  Wheel  Company,  with  a  capital  of  8250,000, 
making  no  change  in  the  proprietorship  except  as 
before  stated.  Mr.  Osgood  died  in  June,  1871.  A 
few  years  later  Mr.  Smith  died,  shortly  after  return- 
ing from  a  European  tour.  A  very  destructive 
fire  occurred  in  the  works  in  June,  1873,  in  which 
the  chief  fire  engineer  of  the  city  was  killed  by  the 
falling  of  a  wall.  In  a  few  months  the  damage  was 
repaired,  though  the  amount  of  it  was  said  at  the 
time  to  be  nearly  §100,000. 

Boxes. — The  manufacture  of  boxes  on  a  large 
scale  was  partly,  if  not  mainly,  the  effect  of  the  Eu- 
ropean pork  trade  of  Kingan  &  Co.,  which  was 
largely  carried  on  in  boxes  instead  of  barrels,  and 
required  the  active  work  of  a  considerable  establish- 
ment, both  in  men   and  machinery,  to  keep  it  sup- 


plied. This  house,  however,  does  a  good  deal  of  its 
own  box-making  and  cooperage  now.  Mr.  Frederick 
Balweg  was  the  first  manufacturer  of  boxes  exclu- 
sively in  a  factory  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
block  of  Coburn  &  Jones'  lumber-yard.  He  subse- 
quently removed  to  a  much  larger  house  on  Madison 
Avenue,  a  little  north  of  Morris  Street,  which  has 
since  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Frederick  Dietz. 
Mr.  Jason  S.  Carey  also  makes  boxes  in  connection 
with  his  extensive  stave-factory  on  West  Street. 
Brunson  &  McKee  on  the  canal  and  St.  Clair  Street, 
and  Murray  &  Co.  on  Alvord  Street,  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  city,  are  engaged  more  or  less  in  the 
same  work. 

BoTTER-DiSHES,  made  of  thin  slices  of  poplar, 
sweet  gum,  or  linuwood,  cut  out  by  machinery  and 
lopped  and  fissured  at  the  ends  by  a  machine,  have 
become  the  favorite  deposit  of  the  family  purchase  of 
butter  at  the  grocery  or  creamery,  and  the  demand 
for  them  has  started  three  establishments  in  and  near 
the  city,  two  of  which,  in  the  city,  were  burned 
within  a  year,  and  have  not  been  replaced.  The 
other,  at  North  Indianapolis,  is  still  in  operation. 

Stave-Making. — This  has  become  a  very  impor- 
tant industry  of  the  city,  and  is  one  of  the  earliest  of 
the  second  stage  of  industrial  growth.  The  first 
machinery  for  making  and  dressing  staves  and  barrel- 
heads was  brought  here  and  put  in  a  shed  structure 
near  the  river,  south  of  Maryland  Street  and  west  of 
West  Street,  by  the  late  John  D.  Defrees  and  his 
brother  Anthony,  in  1856  or  '57.  The  enterprise 
was  premature,  however,  and  failed.  Some  years 
afterward  it  was  resumed  and  pushed  more  success- 
fully, and  one  or  two  other  establishments  began  the 
manufacture  of  staves  and  barrel-heads  by  machinery 
in  other  parts  of  the  city.  Mr.  Jason  S.  Carey  suc- 
ceeded the  Defrees'  management  in  the  original  estab- 
lishment, and  has  made  a  very  large  and  lucrative 
business  there,  covering  nearly  all  the  space  north  of 
the  St.  Louis  Railway,  along  Georgia  Street  north  to 
the  alley  and  back  to  California  Street.  A  neighbor 
to  him  is  Mr.  Minter,  at  the  foot  of  California  Street, 
in  the  same  business,  while  Mr.  Coleman  makes  barrel- 
heads extensively  on  the  Belt  road  east  of  the  Jeffer- 
sonville  crossing  ;  George  W.  Hill  is  at  the  corner  of 


i^^-u^ 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


461 


East  and  Georgia;  Mr.  May  on  East  Street  south, 
and  Mr.  Walter  &  Son  on  the  canal  at  Pratt 
Street. 

Jason  S.  Caret  is  of  English  extraction,  and  the 
son  of  Cephas  Carey  and  his  wife,  Rhoda  Jerard,  who 
resided  in  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  where  their  son,  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  was  born  Nov.  28, 
1828.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  removed  with 
his  parents  to  Sidney,  the  county-seat,  where  modest 
advantages  of  education  were  attainable.  Previous  to 
that  time  the  log  school-house  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
former  home  had  enabled  him  to  obtain  the  rudi- 
ments of  learning.  He  was  early  apprenticed  to 
the  saddler's  trade,  and  at  the  expiration  of  a  service 
of  two  years  accompanied  his  brothers,  Simeon  B. 
and  Thomas,  on  a  journey  across  the  plains  with 
mules  and  horses  to  California  in  pursuit  of  gold. 
The  ill  health  of  one  of  the  number  influenced  their 
return  before  any  practical  results  followed  their 
labor,  when  Jason  S.  engaged  with  hia  brother 
Jeremiah  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business  at  Sidney, 
Ohio,  and  remained  thus  occupied  until  1861,  when 
he  embarked  in  the  produce  business.  Mr.  Carey 
removed  the  same  year  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  super- 
intended the  construction  of  the  Richmond  and  Cov- 
ington Railroad,  and  continued  thus  engaged  until 
February,  1863,  when  Indianapolis  became  his  place 
of  residence.  Here  he  embarked  in  the  pioneer 
enterprise  of  stave  manufacturing,  and  was  the  first 
manufacturer  who  introduced  machinery  for  the 
dressing  of  staves.  He  still  conducts  his  business, 
which  has  assumed  large  proportions,  and  has  also 
engaged  in  farming  pursuits,  though  not  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  more  important  business  interests.  Mr. 
Carey  was  formerly  a  Whig  in  his  political  asso- 
ciations, and  later  became  a  Republican,  but  has 
not  been  during  his  active  career  diverted  from  the 
bu.sy  arena  of  commercial  life  to  the  more  exciting, 
but  less  profitable,  field  of  politics.  He  is  actively 
engaged  in  religious  work,  and  a  member  of  the 
Meridian  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
which  he  is  a  steward.  Mr.  Carey  was  married  in 
18.55  to  Miss  Ada  M.,  daughter  of  Rev.  James 
Smith,  of  Sidney,  Ohio,  one  of  the  pioneer  Meth- 
odi.st  preachers  of  Ohio.     Two  children  were  born  to 


this 


marriage,  a  son,  Harvey,  deceased,  and  a  daughter, 
t. 


The  latest  and  largest  addition  to  the  stave-manu- 
factories is  that  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company's  factory 
in  1879  in  West  Indianapolis,  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Belt  road  and  Morris  Street.  It  occupies  a  dozen 
acres  with  its  yard  and  machine-shops  and  drying- 
houses.  No  returns  are  made  of  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness done  by  any  of  these  factories  in  late  years, 
but  the  total  was  nearly  81,200,000  in  the  census 
report,  and  the  new  factory  has  added  probably  a  half- 
million  to  that,  which,  with  the  increase  of  the  other 
establishments,  would  make  the  aggregate  of  stave- 
dressing  and  cooperage  here  not  much  less  than 
S2,000,000  a  year.  The  stave-dressing  establish- 
ments have  created  a  considerable  trade  and  a  very 
great  convenience  to  householders  in  the  shavings 
they  make,  which  are  the  best  sort  of  material  for 
kindling  fires,  and  can  be  bought  by  the  wagon-load 
as  cheap  as  common  fuel. 

Cooperage. — There  are  eight  coopering  establish- 
ments in  the  city  besides  those  maintained  in  connec- 
tion with  Kingan's  and  other  establishments  for 
special  manufactures.  William  Baird,  on  Blackford 
and  Pearl  Streets ;  Daniel  Burton,  near  Maus' 
brewery,  on  New  York  Street ;  Sanuel  B.  Gardner, 
Bright  Street;  John  W.  Humphrey,  Indiana  Ave- 
nue; R.  Seiter,  East  McCarty  Street;  Cornelius 
Funkhouser,  Smith  Street ;  George  H.  Burton,  North 
Mississippi. 

Picture-Frames. — One  of  the  minor  manufac- 
tures of  wood,  but  by  no  means  a  trifling  one,  is  that 
of  picture-frames,  which  has  been  carried  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  for  a  dozen  years  or  more,  chiefly  by 
Hermann  Lieber,  of  the  Art  Emporium,  on  East 
Washington  Street ;  Ralston  &  Co.,  East  Washing- 
ton Street;  Scheiriok,  on  Massachusetts  Avenue; 
John  Keen,  on  South  Illinois;  James  Hoffman, 
Virginia  Avenue ;  Hudson,  Massachusetts  Avenue  ; 
Hubbell,  North  Illinois  Street.  The  Indianapolis 
Picture-Frame  and  Moulding  Company  have  a  large 
manufactory  on  Madison  Avenue,  and  Wenzel  Kautsky 
has  another  on  the  same  street,  where  the  material 
for  frames  is  dressed  and  finished  for  the  frame- 
makers,  who  fit  it  to  such  sizes  and  combinations  as 


462 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


they  wish.  The  aggregate  of  the  product's  of  this 
class  per  year  is  probably  in  excess  of  $100,000, 
as  it  was  nearly  that  amount  three  years  ago.  There 
are  no  late  reports  from  which  to  learn  the  present 
condition  of  business. 

Car- Works. — This  is  the  latest  development  of 
wood  manufacture  in  or  near  the  city,  and  by  far  the 
largest  and  most  important.  The  company  is  com- 
posed mainly  of  a  few  large  railroad  capitalists  and 
managers,  and  aim  to  embody  in  the  establishment 
here  all  the  improvements  that  have  been  devised  in 
the  business  in  any  part  of  the  country.  There  are 
five  large  iron-roofed  and  weather-boarded  shops  side 
by  side,  one  hundred  and  twenty  by  fifty  feet,  fronting 
north,  in  which  the  car-wheels  are  east  and  cooled, 
and  all  the  castings  are  made  required  in  the  works. 
Next  to  this  is  the  machine-shop  and  blacksmith-shop. 
The  wood-work  in  its  various  stages  is  done  in  the 
other  shops.  Through  each  a  railway  runs  its  full 
length,  on  which  the  material  completed  in  separate 
parts  is  carried  to  two  large  shops,  where  they  are  put 
together,  one  over  five  hundred  feet  long  by  about 
sixty  wide,  the  other  over  four  hundred  long,  and  of 
the  same  width  as  the  first.  A  very  wide  railway 
track,  ten  or  fifteen  feet  wide,  extends  between  these 
finishing-shops,  and  a  side-track  of  the  Belt  road  at 
the  east  side  of  the  car-works,  and  on  this  the 
finished  cars  are  mounted  and  run  out  sideways  to 
the  track  where  they  belong,  landing  them  lengthwise 
with  the  track,  which  saves  the  trouble  of  turning 
them  round.  On  the  east  of  these  large  shops,  which 
stand  east  and  west,  at  right  angles  to  the  direction 
of  the  other  shops,  is  a  long,  narrow  building,  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  long,  for  housing  and  painting 
the  cars.  There  is  also  a  boiler-  and  engine-house, 
and  two  or  three  minor  buildings  south  of  the  main 
line  of  workshops,  and  south  of  these  still  is  the 
lumber-yard,  through  which  runs  a  track  from  one 
of  the  West  stock-yard  tracks.  The  whole  estab- 
lishment covers  about  a  dozen  acres  of  ground.  The 
shops  are  strongly  framed,  and,  as  already  suggested, 
are  covered  with  sheet-iron.  They  employ  now 
about  560  hands,  and  turn  out  about  $2,500,000 
worth  of  cars  a  year.  They  do  not  make  any  but 
freight-cars.     The   shops  were  begun    upon    the  re- 


mains of  a  last  year's  corn  crop,  and  in  two  months 
were  ready  for  occupancy.  The  contractors  were 
Shover  &  Christian,  the  builders  of  the  huge  stables 
and  stock-sheds  of  the  stock-yard. 

Coffin- Works. — A  company  for  the  manufacture 
of  coffins  and  burial-cases  carried  on  a  considerable 
business  for  some  years  at  the  old  Cottontown  site, 
near  the  crossing  of  the  canal  and  the  Michigan 
road.  Its  location  is  now  on  North  Illinois  Street. 
Two  years  ago,  in  the  spring  of  1882,  the  platform 
along  the  coffin  warehouse,  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
creek,  a  little  east  of  the  Union  Depot,  was  the 
gathering-place  of  hundreds  of  spectators  of  an  un- 
usual flood  in  the  creek,  when  it  gave  way  and 
dropped  them  into  the  furious,  turbulent  current, 
and  seven  were  drowned,  some  of  whose  bodies  were 
not  recovered  for  a  week  afterwards. 

This  establishment  might  be  quoted  in  corrob- 
oration of  the  old  adage,  "  the  third  time  is  the 
charm."  This  is  the  third  attempt  at  car-making 
here,  and  the  first  that  has  succeeded.  In  1852  or 
1853  the  Bellefontaine  Railroad  built  a  freight  depot 
in  what  was  then  the  far  northeastern  corner  of  the 
town,  now  densely  built  up,  and  covering  the  area 
west  of  Massachusetts  Avenue  to  Fort  Wayne 
Avenue,  north  of  North  or  St.  Clair  Street,  and 
finding  it  a  poor  investment,  the  company  leased  it 
for  a  car-manufactory  to  Mr.  Farnsworth,  of  Mad- 
ison, and  his  son-in-law,  Jehiel  Bernard,  late  secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Trade.  They  made  no  profit  of 
it,  and  soon  gave  it  up.  Some  time  after  the  war, 
Mr.  Frederick  Ruschaupt  and  some  associates  formed 
a  company  to  make  cars,  in  the  present  far  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  city,  east  of  the  Peru  Railroad, 
and  north  of  Seventh  Street,  nearly  east  of  the  Ex- 
position building.  This  enterprise  failed  too,  and 
the  very  extensive  buildings  are  now  occupied  by  the 
very  successful  and  extensive  Atlas  Machine- Works. 

Step- Ladders  and  wooden-ware  have  been  made  a 
specialty  by  the  Jflfdell  Company,  of  North  Indian- 
apolis, and  a  very  large  business  is  done  in  these 
articles.  The  manufactory  was  established  in  North 
Indianapolis  about  the  time  the  wagon-works  on 
South  Tennessee  Street  were  removed  to  that  suburb. 
Wooden  butter-dishes  are  also  made  there. 


IJJxi^uQ^ 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OF  THE  CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


463 


Carpenters  and  Builders. — There  are  over 
100  carpenters  and  builders  in  the  city,  who  may  be 
classed  among  manufacturers  as  the  makers  of  houses. 
Among  those  longest  and  best  known  for  energy  and 
enterprise  are  Shover  &  Christian,  Peter  Routier, 
John  A.  Buchanan,  William  Saltmarsh,  Daniel 
Berghmer,  John  Hyland,  0.  B.  Gilkey,  John  Mar- 
tin, C.  F.  Rafert,  Thomas  J.  Hart.  It  is  worth 
noting  in  this  connection  that  a  great  and  grateful 
change  has  come  upon  the  character  of  the  houses, 
the  residences  especially,  since  the  close  of  the  war. 
There  were  earlier  signs  of  it,  but  its  presence  has 
not  been  fully  recognized  till  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  and  mainly  within  the  last  ten.  That  is  the 
breaking  up  of  the  old  rectangular  plans  into  some 
variety  of  outline,  with  occasional  curves  and  pleasing 
projections  and  recesses.  A  generation  ago  a  resi- 
dence was  built  upon  a  plan  as  invariable,  except  in 
dimensions,  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
It  might  be  set  with  the  gable  to  the  street,  but  it 
savored  of  heresy,  and  had  better  not.  It  must  be 
right-angled  at  every  corner,  with  no  change  of  the 
plain  square  front  but  a  portico  just  as  plain  and 
square,  all  painted  a  glaring  white,  from  the  fence 
pickets  to  the  cornice  ;  the  window-blinds  green  ;  the 
bricks  below  the  line  of  the  door-sills  red,  unless  the 
house  were  brick,  and  then  it  was  painted  white  from 
chimney-top  to  cellar-window.  An  "  L"  was  permis- 
sible, and  a  recess  turned  into  a  porch  was  not  for- 
bidden ;  but  no  other  liberties  with  the  orthodox  rec- 
tangle and  barn  plan  were  tolerated.  Now  we  have 
the  fence  of  one  color,  the  weather-boarding  of  an- 
other, the  window-frame  of  a  third,  the  sash  diflfer- 
ent  from  all.  Little  porticoes  in  corners,  broad,  project- 
ing eaves,  with  brackets,  quaintly-moulded  porch-posts, 
ornamented  cornices,  mouldings,  and  door-frames, 
have  come  to  please  the  eye  and  lighten  the  sombre- 
ness  of  life,  no  more  costly  than  the  old-time  ugliness 


facture  of  iron  here  was  made  about  three  years  earlier 
than  the  first  attempt  at  pork-packing.  It  resulted 
in  much  the  same  way.  R.  A.  McPherson  &  Co. 
put  up  a  building  at  the  west  end  of  the  National 
road  bridge  for  an  iron  foundry  iu  1832,  and  kept 
up  a  spasmodic  business  until  1835  and  quit.  In 
that  year  Robert  Underbill  established  a  foundry  on 
North  Pennsylvania  Street,  east  side,  just  above  Ver- 
mont, where  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  now 
stands,  and  here  for  twenty  years  he  maintained  the 
first  "  paying"  iron  manufacture  of  the  city.  It  was 
a  small  business,  and  did  only  such  casting  aa  was  re- 
quired by  country  customers,  millers,  and  farmers. 
The  amount  of  it,  of  course,  is  purely  conjectural, 
but  no  reasonable  conjecture  can  make  it  more  than  a 
few  thousands  of  dollars  a  year. 

The  "  boom"  in  this,  as  in  several  other  industries, 
as  already  noticed,  came  with  the  completion  of  the 
first  railway,  in  1847.  At  that  time  Watson  &  Voor- 
hees  established  the  Eagle  Machine- Works,  in  which 
they  were  succeeded,  in  1850,  by  Hasselman  &  Vin- 
ton. Two  destructive  fires  in  close  succession  in 
1852-53  obstructed  their  progress,  but  in  spite  of 
their  losses  they  added  the  manufacture  of  threshing- 
machines  and  agricultural  implements  to  their  busi- 
iness  in  time  to  make  a  most  creditable  exhibition  in 
1853  at  the  first  State  Fair.  In  May,  1851,  the 
manufacturing  enterprise  of  the  awakened  town  was 
developing  some  very  encouraging  results.  The  pa- 
pers of  May  of  that  year  say  that  there  were  then 
two  foundries  in  operation  here,  three  machine-shops, 
and  a  boiler-factory;  fifty  steam-engines  had  been 
built,  and,  as  just  stated,  the  manufacture  of  thresh- 
ers commenced  at  the  Washington  Foundry,  as  it  was 
then  called. 

Not  long  after  this  Mr.  Underbill  abandoned  his 
Pennsylvania  Street  foundry  and  established  a  ma- 
chine-shop on  the  north  bank  of  the  creek,  at  the 


d  uniformity,  and  for  more  conducive  to  a  Christian  \  crossing  of  the  same  street,  where  he  remained  a  few 

years,  till  the  hard  times  following  the  Free  Bank 
panic  of  1855  caused  his  failure  and  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  house  to  other  uses,  mainly  hominy- 
grinding.  It  was  burned  in  1858.  In  March,  1854, 
Wright,  Barnes  &  Co.  began  the  machine  business 
at    the    crossing    of     Pogue's    Creek"    and     Dela- 


spirit  of  cheerfulness  and  kindliness.  One  can  hardly 
conceive  it  possible  that  the  dwellers  in  the  dreary 
old  houses  could  have  been  adequately  generous  to 
the  .sufferers  by  the  great  Ohio  floods  of  1883  and 
1884. 

Iron  Products. — The  first  attempt  at  the  manu- 


464 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


ware  Street,  which  was  burned  and  abandoned 
in  1857.  About  the  time  Underbill  began  his 
foundry  and  machine-shop  on  South  Pennsylvania 
Street,  Carter  &  Dumont  began  boiler-making  just 
north,  and  Kelshaw  &  Sinker  just  south,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  creek.  The  latter  were  burnt  out  in 
1853,  but  rebuilt  in  1854,  and  then  Dumont  & 
Sinker  joined  business,  adding  foundry-work  to 
boiler-making.  Here  Dr.  R.  J.  Gatling  planned  and 
made  the  first  gun  of  the  kind  that  bears  his  name 
and  has  now  become  famous  all  over  the  world.  The 
first  public  trial  of  it  was  on  the  river-bank  at  the 
old  "  Grave-yard  Pond,"  now  a  little  east  of  the 
pile-work  of  the  Vincennes  Railroad,  at  the  foot  of 
Kentucky  Avenue.  In  1863,  Mr.  Dumont  left  the 
business,  and  Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Yandes  entered  it, 
greatly  enlarging  it,  and  occupying  with  it  the  old 
site  of  the  Underbill  shops.  Litter  the  firm  became 
Sinker,  Davis  &  Co.,  and  thus  it  remains  a  company 
instead  of  a  firm. 

Edward  T.  Sinker  was  born  at  Ranavon,  Wales, 
on  the  22d  of  December,  1820.  He  was  the  only 
son,  and  on  embarking  for  America  left  his  aged 
parents  and  seven  sisters  in  his  native  land.  When 
a  boy  but  eleven  years  of  age  he  entered  a  large  shop 
at  Hawarden-on-the-Dee,  Wales,  and  there  learned 
the  trade  of  a  machinist.  He  continued  thus  em- 
ployed for  several  years,  acquiring  the  skill  and 
practical  knowledge  that  prepared  him  for  the  large 
operations  which  he  conducted  in  this  country.  Mr. 
Sinker  on  learning  his  trade  labored  at  different 
points  in  Wales  and  England,  always  holding  posi- 
tions of  trust.  At  Liverpool  he  superintended  the 
iron  work  in  the  construction  of  steamers.  His  skill 
and  integrity  were  such  that  the  government  desired 
him  to  go  to  Portugal  and  take  charge  of  the  repairs 
of  government  vessels  in  the  ports  of  that  country. 
He  labored  two  years  on  that  wonder  of  engineering 
skill  and  mechanics,  the  tubular  iron  bridge  over  the 
Straits  of  Menai,  and  while  on  this  work,  finding  the 
necessity  for  a  reduction  in  the  force  of  laborers,  with 
characteristic  generosity  left  his  place  for  those  who 
had  greater  needs  than  himself.  In  1849,  with  his 
young  wife  and  one  child,  he  landed  as  a  stranger  in 
New  Orleans,  and  thence  journeyed  to  Madison,  Ind. 


They  reached  Indianapolis  in  November  of  the  same 
year,  the  scene  of  his  future  labors,  where  from  small 
beginnings  he  rose  to  become  at  last  the  chief  of  one 
of  the  largest  manufacturing  establishments  in  the 
West.  His  history  is  a  noble  example  of  what 
industry  and  integrity  will  acccomplish.  Mr.  Sinker 
also  filled  a  large  place  in  all  the  public  enterprises, 
benevolent  and  religious  institutions  of  the  city  of 
his  residence.  Every  movement  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  the  reformation  of  the  vicious,  the  edu- 
cation of  the  young,  or  the  salvation  of  his_  fellow- 
men  found  him  a  warm  sympathizer  and  helper. 
He  was  a  marked  example  of  industry,  and  a  man 
who  loved  to  work.  "  Not  slothful  in  business, 
fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,"  was  one  of  his 
favorite  maxims.  He  was  a  man  whose  earnest  pur- 
pose pushed  him  on  and  through  his  work  despite 
all  obstacles.  He  possessed  a  resolution  and  courage 
that  led  him  to  take  hold  of  the  heaviest  end  in  a  lift 
and  strike  at  the  hardest  part  of  the  task.  This 
made  him  a  leader  among  workingmen,  and  his 
contagious  spirit  inspired  others  to  follow  after  him. 
Mr.  Sinker  was  a  generous  man, — generous  to  a 
fault.  His  generosity  was  only  limited  by  his  abil- 
ity to  give.  It  was  more  than  meat  and  drink  to 
him  to  bestow  blessings  on  the  needy.  No  cause  of 
benevolence  appealed  to  him  in  vain  while  he  had  the 
means  to  help.  He  was  a  man  of  the  purest  integ- 
rity, and  no  chance  of  gain  could  tempt  him  to  dis- 
honesty. As  a  business  man  he  meant  to  do  right, 
and  believed  his  religion  should  be  carried  into  daily 
life.  Mr.  Sinker  was  in  his  religious  belief  a  devout 
and  sincere  Presbyterian.  For  some  years  after  his 
arrival  in  Indianapolis  he  was  connected  with  the 
Fourth  Presbyterian  Church.  In  1857  he  united 
with  others  in  forming  the  Plymouth  Congregational 
Church,  and  remained  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred April  5,  1871,  one  of  its  honored  and  useful 
members,  where  he  held  the  responsible  oiEces  of 
trustee,  deacon,  and  much  of  the  time  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sunday-school.  Mr.  Sinker  was  married, 
June  22,  1844,  to  Miss  Sarah  Jones,  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Sarah  Jones,  of  Hawarden,  Flintshire, 
North  Wales.  Their  children  are  Edwin,  Alfred 
T  ,  who  was  married  Sept.  2,  1807,  to  Miss  Rebecca 


EoT.  S  Q  M  O^E  !R].: 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


465 


Coates,  of  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  has  three  children  ; 
Sarah  J.,  Frederick,  Walter,  Frederick  (2d),  and 
Clara  Belle.  Of  this  number  Clara  Belle  (Mrs. 
Rudolph  Rossum,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.),  and  Alfred 
T.,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  are  the  only  survivors.  The 
widow  of  Mr.  Sinker  still  occupies  the  homestead, 
and  sacredly  cherishes  the  name  of  him  who  was  a 
faithful  and  devoted  husband  and  father. 

In  1851,  Delos  Root  &  Co.  established  the  first 
stove-foundry  in  the  city  in  a  small  frame  building 
near  the  corner  of  South  and  Pennsylvania  Streets. 
Business  improved  here,  so  that  when  the  frame 
house  was  burned  in  1860  the  firm  rebuilt  more 
extensively  and  with  brick,  enlarged  their  business, 
and  added  heavy  castings  of  all  kinds  and  boiler- 
work.  Some  six  or  eight  years  ago  they  moved  to 
the  buildings  left  by  the  dissolved  Glass- Works  Com- 
pany between  Sharpe  and  Merrill  Streets,  on  Ken- 
tucky Avenue,  and  here  they  continued  as  energetic- 
ally as  ever  till  the  spring  of  1883,  when  a  destructive 
fire  swept  over  a  considerable  section  of  that  part  of 
the  city,  and  destroyed  all  the  buildings  and  a  good 
deal  of  the  work  of  the  company.  The  loss  was  about 
820,000.  The  rubbish  was  cleared  away  at  once, 
however,  and  work  begun  on  the  restoration  of  the 
establishment,  which  was  soon  as  busily  employed  as 
ever.  The  concern  is  now  the  Indianapolis  Stove 
Company,  and  Mr.  Root  is  president. 

Dkloss  Root. — The  name  of  Root  was  originally 
spelled  Rutetee,  and  first  known  in  England  in  the 
eleventh  century.  Two  brothers  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica at  an  early  day  and  settled  at  or  near  Stock- 
bridge,  Ma.ss.  From  one  of  these  brothers  was  de- 
scended Moses  Root,  who  resided  in  Stockbridge  and 
was  married  to  a  Miss  Taller.  Their  children  were 
Daniel  (a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812,  who  was  taken 
prisoner  with  Gen.  Scott,  and  led  the  command 
which  proved  fatal  to  Gen.  Brock),  Silas,  Elias, 
Aaron,  James,  Aseneth,  and  Sally. 

Aaron,  the  father  of  Deloss,  was  born  in  1781,  at 
Stockbridge,  Mass.,  and  removed  with  his  family  to 
the  West  in  1837,  locating  at  Hartford,  Trumbull 
Co.,  Ohio,  from  whence  he,  in  1852,  came  to  Indian- 
apolis and  resided  until  his  death,  Aug.  30,  1854. 
Mr.  Root   followed   farming  occupations   during  his 


lifetime.  He  married  Miss  Harriet  Kingman,  who 
was  born  in  the  village  of  Vergennes,  Vt.,  in  1794. 
The  birth  of  their  son  Deloss  occurred  on  the  3d  of 
February,  1819,  in  the  town  of  Cincinnatus,  Cortland 
Co.,  N.  Y.  He  was  educated  at  the  town  of  Linck- 
laen,  Chenango  Co.,  N.  Y.,  after  which  his  early  life 
was  spent  upon  the  farm.  In  1844  he  was  in  the 
iron  trade  at  New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  and  in  1850  became 
a  resident  of  Indianapolis.  Hero  he  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  stoves,  being  the  first  man  in  the 
State  to  embark  in  that  industry,  in  which  his  busi- 
ness grew  to  large  proportions.  He  was  connected 
with  the  first  rolling-mill  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis, 
and  also  a  large  stockholder  in  the  first  mill  for  the 
manufacture  of  merchant  iron,  which  he  assisted  in 
organizing.  He  was  also  interested  in  the  "  Archi- 
tectural Works."  In  1867  he  was  one  of  the  mov- 
ing spirits  in  the  erection  of  a  blast-furnace  in  Brazil 
City,  Clay  Co.,  Ind.,  the  first  in  the  State,  and  the 
largest  in  the  West,  and  in  1870,  assisted  by  one 
other  gentleman,  he  built  a  similar  furnace  in  Hardin 
County,  111.  In  1854  he  was  appointed  by  the  State 
a  director  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  and 
continued  as  such  until  it  became  a  national  bank, 
after  which  he  assisted  in  organizing  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  the  city,  in  which  he  was  a  large 
stockholder  and  a  director  for  ten  years.  He  was 
also  for  years  largely  interested  in  the  street  railways 
of  the  city.  The  enterprise,  however,  in  which  Mr. 
Root  especially  advanced  the  interests  of  Indianapolis 
was  that  of  the  establishment  of  the  present  system 
of  water-works.  All  previous  efforts  in  that  direc- 
tion having  failed,  a  gentleman  largely  interested  in 
the  matter  conferred  with  him,  and  with  his  aid  and 
that  of  other  influential  citizens  carried  the  enterprise 
to  a  successful  completion.  Three  thousand  tons  of 
pipe  were  purchased  and  the  bonds  of  the  company 
given  at  par  in  payment.  This  sale  of  bonds  gave 
the  movement  an  impetus  and  secured  to  Indianapolis 
the  best  system  of  water-works  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Root  himself  laid  eighteen  miles  of  the  pipe, 
and  did  much  by  his  energy  and  business  tact  to  fur- 
ther the  work.  He  was  a  director  in  the  old  Indian- 
apolis Insurance  Company  (now  the  Franklin  Fire 
Insurance  Company),  assisted  in  organizing  and  was 


466 


HISTOEY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


a  director  in  a  bridge-building  company,  and  one  of 
the  first  stockholders  in  the  Cincinnati  Railroad. 
He  was  also  connected  with  the  Evansville  and  Indi- 
ana Railroad,  which  was  never  completed,  and  inter- 
ested in  the  North  and  South  Railroad,  in  the  In- 
dianapolis, Delphi  and  Chicago  Railroad,  and  in  the 
Hamilton  and  Dayton  Railroad.  He  was  also  an 
extensive  dealer  in  real  estate,  laying  out  Allen  & 
Root's  Addition,  and  Allen,  Root  &  English's  Wood- 
lawn  Addition,  together  with  several  smaller  ones. 
He  also  found  time  to  engage  in  building,  and  has 
erected  no  less  than  one  hundred  buildings  within 
the  city  limits.  Mr.  Root  is  at  present  connected, 
as  president,  with  the  Indianapolis  Stove  Company, 
which  was  organized  in  1850  and  incorporated  in 
1857.  This  foundry  is  one  of  the  most  complete  in 
the  West.  It  has  two  moulding-rooms,  and  is  sup- 
plied with  all  the  latest  improved  machinery  and 
other  appliances  to  facilitate  the  business  and  econo- 
mize labor.  The  great  amount  of  work  done  and  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  business  give  evidence  of 
the  solidity,  tact,  and  indomitable  energy  which 
characterize  its  management.  Mr.  Root  is  a  member 
of  St.  Paul's  Protestant  Episcopal  Cathedral,  of 
which  he  has  for  many  years  been  a  vestryman. 
He  was  married,  Aug.  15,  1861,  to  Miss  Kate  H. 
Howard,  daughter  of  the  late  Maj.  Robert  Howard, 
of  the  British  army,  whose  military  career  was  an 
eventful  and  honorable  one.  Their  children  are 
Robert  Howard,  born  Sept.  12,  1862  ;  Edward 
Deloss,  whose  birth  occurred  Jan.  7,  1866 ;  Devol- 
son,  born  Aug.  5,  1867 ;  Allen,  born  Aug.  15,  1871 ; 
and  Harry  B.,  born  March  31,  1873.  The  last 
named  is  the  only  survivor  of  this  number. 

In  1858  the  Redstone  Brothers  began  the  foundry 
and  machine  business  on  Delaware  Street,  between 
Louisiana  and  South,  and  soon  after  Spotts  &  Thomp- 
son began  a  foundry  beside  them,  but  both  were 
burned  in  1860  and  abandoned.  Cox,  Lord  &  Peck 
established  a  stove-foundry  at  the  crossing  of  Dela- 
ware Street  and  the  creek  in  1861,  and  kept  it  in 
operation  for  a  few  years,  when  they  gave  it  up,  and 
soon  afterwards  A.  D.  Wood  &  Co.  took  it  and 
carried  it  on  a  few  years.  The  Indiana  Foundry 
Company  at  Brightwood,  organized  about  three  years 


ago,  also  makes  stoves.  The  Cash  Stove  Company, 
of  South  Pennsylvania  Street,  are  the  only  other 
stove  manufacturers  in  the  city.  The  Ruschaupt 
foundry  and  machine-shop,  on  South  Meridian  Street, 
was  absorbed  into  the  Eagle  Machine- Works. 

In  1859,  Chandler  &  Wiggins  established  the 
Phcenix  Foundry  and  Machine-shop  in  a  small  way,  at 
the  crossing  of  Washington  Street  and  the  mill-race, 
on  the  east  side.  It  was  burned  in  a  few  years,  and 
rebuilt  and  enlarged  by  Chandler  &  Taylor,  who  have 
since  gone  on  with  a  steadily  increasing  business,  and 
now  have  one  of  the  most  extensive  establishments 
in  the  city.  The  Novelty  Works  were  begun  in 
1862  by  Friuk  &  Moore,  and  changed  to  the  Novelty 
Works  Company  in  1868,  with  Dr.  Prink  as  presi- 
dent, and  H.  A.  Moore,  superintendent,  and  manu- 
factured a  number  of  small  articles,  as  hinges,  latches, 
gas-  and  water-boxes,  bed-irons,  and  the  like.  Some 
years  ago  the  company  built  a  large  shop  at  Haughs- 
ville,  but  never  did  much  there,  and  never  recovered 
from  the  change. 

In  1866,  Mr.  B.  F.  Hetherington  began  foundry- 
and  machine-work  in  a  modest  way  on  South  Dela- 
ware Street,  and  continued  there  till  eight  or  ten 
years  ago.  Then  he  and  Mr.  Berner  moved  to  a 
frame  shop  on  the  south  side  of  South  Street,  at  the 
alley  along  the  east  bank  of  Pogue's  Creek.  Hard 
and  honest  work  gradually  enlarged  the  business, 
and  additions  were  made  down  the  creek  at  the  end 
of  the  old  shop  and  westward  into  the  creek.  A 
serious  loss  by  fire  occurred  shortly  after  this  exten- 
sion, but  was  at  once  repaired,  and  work  went  on  more 
energetically  than  ever.  Again  came  a  destructive 
fire,  but  the  damage  was  immediately  repaired.  Then 
an  extension  was  made  clear  across  the  creek  about 
two  years  ago,  and  a  large  brick  addition  made  on  the 
west  bank,  so  that  now  this  really  large  establish- 
ment covers  the  whole  width  of  the  creek  to  the 
alleys  on  each  side,  and  extends  almost  200  feet 
down. 

Benjamin  Hetherington. — John  Hethering- 
ton was  the  son  of  a  member  of  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, and  resided  in  Carlisle,  Cumberland  Co.,  Eng- 
land, where  he  was  engaged  as  a  warper  in  a  cotton- 
factory.     He  married,  in  Carlisle,  Miss  Ann  Wilson, 


y 


1   S3 
3  5 


S5  a 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


467 


born  in  London,  and  had  twelve  children,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  Benjamin  F.,  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  whose  birth  occurred  Oct.  30,  1828, 
in  Carlisle.  •  His  early  boyhood  was  spent  at  school. 
At  the  age  of  twelve  his  father  died,  and  a  year  later 
the  mother,  with  her  family,  emigrated  to  America, 
his  brother  Christopher  having  already  preceded 
them  to  the  United  States.  Soon  after  their  arrival 
they  proceeded  to  Webster,  Mass.,  where  Benjamin 
obtained  employment  in  a  cotton-foctory,  but  pre- 
ferring to  encourage  his  mechanical  genius,  he  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  became  apprentice  to  the  trade  of  a 
machinist,  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  two  years. 
He  then  became  a  resident  of  Cincinnati,  and  an 
employe  of  the  firm  of  Reynolds,  Kite  &  Tatum. 

At  the  expiration  of  two  years — a  strike  having 
occurred  in  which  he  did  not  wish  to  participate — 
he  removed  (in  1852)  to  Indianapolis.  Here  he  was 
first  employed  in  the  foundry  of  R.  R.  Underbill, 
and  later  became  foreman  in  the  shop  of  A.  Gr.  Searl, 
with  whom  he  afterwards  formed  a  copartnership. 
The  panic  of  1857  having  caused  a  general  stag- 
nation of  business,  aff'ected  values,  and  reduced  the 
wages  for  skilled  labor,  Mr.  Hetherington  engaged  for 
one  year  in  the  foundry  of  Mr.  Delos  Root  at  a 
nominal  sum,  and  was  later  employed  by  the  Wash- 
ington foundry,  owned  by  Hassellman  &  Vinton. 
The  ten  consecutive  years  following  were  spent  in 
the  employ  of  the  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and  Louis- 
ville Railroad,  after  which  he  erected  a  small  machine- 
shop  and  began  a  career  of  independence.  His  ven- 
ture was  successful ;  business  increased  and  encouraged 
him  to  purchase  a  lot  and  erect  a  foundry  in  com- 
pany with  Frederick  Berner  and  Joseph  Kindel. 
This  business  association  was  continued  for  six  years, 
when  he  disposed  of  his  interest,  and  entering  the 
firm  of  Sinker,  Davis  &  Co.,  remained  in  this  con- 
nection for  three  years.  He  then,  with  his  former 
partner,  Mr.  Berner,  built  another  foundry,  and  still 
continues  his  business  interest  with  him.  The  de- 
mand for  the  work  from  their  shops  has  greatly 
increased  and  rendered  an  increase  in  the  dimensions 
and  capacity  of  the  foundry  necessary.  The  princi- 
pals in  the  business  have  also  associated  with  them 
their  sons  in  special    departments    of  the   business. 


Mr.  Hetherington,  in  view  of  his  success,  may  refer 
with  pardonable  pride  to  his  industry,  ambition,  and 
integrity  as  the  powerful  levers  that  have  brought 
him  to  a  position  of  independence.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican  and  actively  interested  in  the  politics 
of  the  ward  in  which  he  resides.  He  has  been  for 
years  inspector  of  election  for  this  ward.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Indianapolis  Board  of  Trade  and  of 
Marion  Lodge,  No.  601,  Knights  of  Honor.  He 
was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  still  inclines  to  that  belief. 

Mr.  Hetherington  was  married  in  Webster,  Mass., 
on  the  21st  of  April,  1821,  to  Miss  Jane  Stephen, 
daughter  of  William  Stephen,  a  printer,  of  Penrith, 
England,  and  his  wife  Diana.  Their  children  were 
William,  Frank,  Mary  W.,  Charles  A.,  Benjamin, 
and  Frederick  A.,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception 
of  Frederick  A.,  are  deceased. 

Mothershead  &  Co.,  in  1864,  established  a  hollow- 
ware  and  stove-foundry,  and  after  conducting  it  some 
years  with  fair  success,  changed  it  to  the  Indianapolis 
Foundry  Company,  and  now  do  a  very  large  business 
in  light  malleable  castings,  making  most  of  those  for 
the  great  Beatty  organ-factory,  as  well  as  for  several 
other  special  demands.  The  Greenleaf  foundry  was 
begun  in  1865,  on  South  Tennessee  Street,  near  the 
rolling-mill,  increased  largely,  and  in  1870  became 
the  Greenleaf  Machine- Works,  making  engines, 
shafting,  railroad  turn-tables,  and  other  heavy  work. 
Some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  it  suspended,  and  the 
building,  after  a  short  occupancy  by  another  machine- 
factory,  passed  into  the  hands  of  Henry  Hermann,  of 
New  York,  who  now  carries  on  a  large  furniture-fac- 
tory there.  The  Dean  Brothers  built  their  first  house 
on  Madison  Avenue,  at  the  crossing  of  Bay  Street,  in 
1870,  and  began  business  the  first  of  the  year  1871, 
doing  a  sort  of  general  foundry  and  machine  work, 
but  within  the  last  half-dozen  years  they  have  made 
a  specialty  of  pumps,  and  particularly  of  one  of  their 
own  invention.  Two  or  three  years  ago  the  estab- 
lishment was  enlarged  by  a  handsome  building  on  the 
avenue.  The  Victor  Machine-Works  have  been  es- 
tablished within  the  last  four  or  five  years  by  Ewald 
Over. 

The  Atlas  Works.— This  is  the  largest  estab- 


468 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


lishment  of  the  kind  in  the  city  or  the  State.  The 
buildings  it  occupies  in  the  extreme  northeast  corner 
of  the  city  were  originally  intended  for  the  manu- 
facture of  cars,  and  were  for  a  time  used  for  that 
purpose,  but  proving  unremunerative,  the  business 
was  abandoned  and  the  buildings  left  unoccupied  till 
the  organization  of  the  Atlas  Machine  Company,  the 
president  and  chief  stockholder  of  which  is  Stoughton 
A.  Fletcher,  nephew  and  long  associated  in  the  bank 
with  the  late  Stoughton  A.  Fletcher.  It  has  been  in 
operation  about  ten  years,  for  a  time  having  an  office 
and  wareroom  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street,  oppo- 
site the  gas-works,  but  for  the  last  five  or  six  years 
keeping  all  its  business  at  the  main  establishment. 
The  Corliss  engine  is  a  specialty  of  this  company, 
though  it  makes  anything  in  its  line,  and  the  excel- 
lence of  the  work  and  the  thorough  satisfaction  it 
gives  have  created  a  demand  for  it  all  over  the  West, 
and  also  in  foreign  countries.  It  is  the  most  complete 
"  express  and  admirable"  piece  of  machinery  that  is 
now  made  of  iron,  and  the  Atlas  gets  little  time  to 
make  anything  else.  The  company  employs  about 
500  hands,  and  turns  out  about  §1,000,000  of  work 
annually.     The  works  have  a  railway  connection. 

Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Jr.,  the  fifth  son  of 
the  late  Calvin  Fletcher,  was  born  on  the  25th  day  of 
October,  1831.  His  father  was  well  known  as  an 
early  pioneer  in  Indianapolis  ;  as  the  first  lawyer  who 
came  to  this  city ;  as  a  man  who  took  a  deep  interest 
in  the  material,  intellectual,  and  moral  Welfare  of 
society  in  Central  Indiana,  and,  for  that  matter,  in 
the  whole  State.  He  believed  in  land,  believed  in 
labor,  believed  in  schools,  and  believed  that  industry, 
guided  by  true  Christian  principles,  made  the  noblest 
community  on  earth.  Calvin  Fletcher  had  eleven 
children,  nine  of  them  boys,  and  all  of  whom  lived 
to  adult  years.  Every  child  learned  something  useful, 
and  learned  to  depend  upon  himself  or  herself  One 
son  he  placed  with  a  carpenter ;  another  with  a  mer- 
chant ;  a  third  drove  a  team  for  an  English  company 
over  the  plains  into  Mexico,  and  rose  to  be  secretary 
of  the  company ;  six  were  early  put  upon  farms  and 
learned  to  plow  and  do  all  other  kinds  of  husbandry ; 
and  one  in  his  teens  was  at  the  head  of  his  father's 
farm.     All  of  them  had  the  best  education  the  schools 


of  Indiana  ofi'ered,  while  six  of  them  either  had  a 
complete  or  partial  collegiate  education  at  the  East. 
Thus,  while  the  sons  of  Calvin  Fletcher  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  intellectual  training,  they  had  the  higher 
advantage  of  having  learned  from  their  father  the 
dignity  of  labor  and  the  nobility  of  a  Christian  life. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  went  through  the  same 
ordeal  with  his  brothers,  but  united  perhaps  more 
than  any  other  the  qualities  of  his  father  and  mother. 
He  was  early  trained  on  the  farm,  and  showed  great 
aptitude  in  whatever  pertained  to  agriculture  or  agri- 
cultural machinery.  In  1850  he  learned  practical 
telegraphy,  and  many  a  message  was  sent  by  him  that 
year  in  the  old  office  on  Washington  Street.  On 
attaining  his  majority  he  passed  some  time  in  a  par- 
tial course  at  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 
In  1853  he  became  conductor  on  the  Bellefontaine 
Railroad.  In  June,  1853,  he  ran  the  first  train  that 
started  out  of  the  Union  Depot,  and  after  two  years 
as  conductor  he  rose  to  be  superintendent  of  the  same 
road.  He  not  only  understood  cars,  but  locomotives 
and  railroad  machinery.  He  could  drive  a  locomo- 
tive like  an  old  hand,  and  on  the  occasion  that  his 
brothers  and  sisters  met  (the  first  and  only  time 
together  in  Indianapolis),  ran  the  engine  out  of  the 
Union  Depot  with  all  the  family  on  the  tender,  and 
carried  them  to  his  father's  farm. 

After  some  years  in  railroad  enterprises  he  became, 
in  1858,  the  clerk  and  teller  in  S.  A.  Fletcher's  bank, 
and  applied  the  same  practical  energy  to  this  as  to 
the  farm  and  railroad.  He  afterwards  became  partner 
in  the  same  bank  with  F.  M.  Churchman.  Here  he 
remained  until  1868,  when  his  business  duties  led 
him  into  the  gas  company,  of  which  he  was  president 
for  more  than  ten  years.  As  he  studied  farming, 
railroading,  and  banking,  so  he  studied  gas-making. 
In  1878  he,  through  various  circumstances,  became 
the  head  of  the  Atlas  Engine-Works,  where  portable 
and  Atlas- Corliss  engines  are  turned  out  by  nearly 
six  hundred  hands.  As  in  other  pursuits,  "  the  eye 
of  the  master"  is  perceptible  here,  and  a  new  energy 
was  infused  into  the  whole  establishment  when  Stough- 
ton A.  Fletcher,  Jr.,  took  hold  of  the  Atlas  Engine- 
Works.  Its  business  extends  over  the  whole  Union 
and  to  distant  foreign  lands,  and  it  is  said  to  be  the 


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MANUFACTUEING  INTERESTS  OP  THE  CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


469 


larfrest  and  best  equipped  concern  of  its  kind  west  of 
the  Alleghanies.  He  has  his  father's  practical  ideas 
with  regard  to  the  education  of  his  sons.  His  eldest 
son,  Charles,  after  studying  at  the  East,  took  a  regu- 
lar course  in  the  Atlas  Engine- Works,  beginning  at 
the  lowest  point  and  "  graduating  with  honors."  He 
is  now  secretary  of  the  company,  and  traveling  in 
South  America  in  its  interest.  His  second  son  is  at 
Harvard  University.  He  has  also  other  business 
relations, — as  partner  in  the  large  banking-house  of 
Fletcher  &  Sharpe,  and  as  director  in  the  Indianapolis 
National  Bank. 

He  is  a  quiet  man,  and  not  a  speech-maker;  but 
no  man  more  steadily  attends  to  business  or  cares 
more  for  his  fellow-man  than  he.  He  is  public- 
spirited.  He,  with  James  M.  Ray,  Calvin  Fletcher, 
James  Blake,  and  others,  was  among  the  first  who 
initiated  the  idea  of  a  new  cemetery,  which  resulted 
in  Crown  Hill,  and  was  made  president  of  the 
Crown  Hill  Cemetery  Association  in  1874,  which 
office  he  still  holds. 

Mr.  Fletcher  has  traveled  much  in  our  own  country 
— north,  south,  east,  and  west, — from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf.  In  1874-75 
he  made  the  tour  of  Europe,  Egypt,  and  the  Holy 
Land.  In  1856  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Barrows, 
of  Augusta,  Me.  The  children  of  this  marriage  are 
two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  Nordtke  and  Marmon  Works. — These 
were  originally  the  Quaker  City  Machine- Works,  es- 
tablished here  in  1873  by  A.  N.  Hadley  &  Co.,  of 
Richmond  (the  Quaker  oity),  from  which  they  took 
their  name.  They  have  a  frontage  to  the  west  along 
the  east  side  of  the  Vinoennes  Railway  of  about  600 
feet,  mostly  one  story  in  height,  abundantly  lighted 
from  both  sides  and-  roofed  witl)  slate,  with  an  L  ex- 
tending eastward  to  Kentucky  Avenue,  and  with  a 
whole  settlement  of  shops  in  the  rear  along  the  avenue 
extending  from  near  Morris  Street  to  the  lumber-yard 
along  the  Belt  road,  with  which,  as  well  as  with  the 
Vinoennes  road,  the  works  have  a  connection  by  side 
tracks.  The  Belt  road  was  not  built  when  the  works 
were,  as  they  were  occupied  in  1873-74,  and  given 
up  by  Mr.  Hadley  in  1876,  the  year  before  the  com- 
pletion  of   the    Belt.     The    Nordyke    and    Marmon 


Company  took  it  then,  and  have  since  created  a  very 
extensive  business,  making  a  specialty  of  grist-mill 
machinery  and  stones.  A  large  portion  of  the  rear 
buildings  are  occupied  by  the  millstone-works,  and 
a  monthly  publication  called  the  Millstone  is  pub- 
lished here,  the  work  being  done  in  the  building. 
The  company  employs  about  300  hands  now,  and 
turns  about  from  $600,000  to  8700,000  worth  of 
work  annually. 

Atkins'  Saw-Works.— Mr.  Atkins  began  his 
business  single-handed  in  the  old  Hill  Planing-Mill 
on  East  Street  in  1856.  In  a  year  or  so  he  removed 
to  Pennsylvania  Street,  in  the  old  City  Foundry, 
where  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  burned  out  once  or 
twice.  He  removed  to  his  present  location  on  South 
Illinois  Street,  next  to  the  Woodburn  Sarven  Wheel- 
Works,  in  1860-61,  and  has  gradually  enlarged  his 
business  and  premises  till  he  now  employs  about  140 
hands,  with  a  pay-roll  of  $75,000  a  year,  and  pro- 
duces an  annual  value  of  work  of  about  $300,000. 

Elias  C.  Atkins. — The  earliest  representative 
of  the  Atkins  family  in  America  emigrated  from 
England  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  settled  in 
New  England.  From  his  son  Benoni  was  de- 
scended RoUin  Atkins,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
biographical  sketch,  whose  birth  occurred  in  Bristol, 
Conn.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Harriet 
Bishop,  of  the  same  city,  and  had  children, — George 
R.,  Ellen  (Mrs.  Volney  Barber),  Harriet  (Mrs. 
Lyman  Smith),  Mary  Ann  (deceased),  Marietta  (Mrs. 
Henry  Stevens),  and  Elias  C.  The  last  named,  the 
youngest  of  the  number,  was  born  June  28,  1833, 
in  Bristol,  Conn.  His  early  education  was  confined 
to  a  period  of  three  years  at  the  grammar-school, 
after  which,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  apprenticed 
to  the  trade  of  saw  manufacturing,  and  continued 
thus  employed  until  his  seventeenth  year.  His 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  business  and  mechanical 
genius  immediately  caused  his  promotion  to  the  po- 
sition of  superintendent  of  the  establishment.  His 
evenings  were  devoted  to  study  and  reading,  the  lack 
of  earlier  opportunities  having  inspired  a  desire  to 
improve  such  advantages  as  later  and  more  favorable 
circumstances  ofiered.  He  was,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two,    married    to    Miss   Sarah    J.    Wells,   of 


470 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Newington,  Coon.,  whose  family  were  of  English 
extraction.  One  daughter,  Hattie  J.,  was  born  to 
this  marriage.  Mrs.  Atkins'  death  occurred  April 
11,  1863,  and  Mr.  Atkins  was  a  second  time  mar- 
ried, to  Miss  Mary  Dolbeare,  of  Colchester,  Conn., 
who  died  March  11,  18G5.  Their  only  child  was 
Willie  D.,  whose  death  occurred  Aug.  30,  1865. 

Mr.  Atkins,  desiring  a  wider  field  of  usefulness 
than  was  opened  in  New  England,  removed  in  1855 
to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  established  the  first  saw- 
manufactory  in  that  city.  One  year's  experience 
convinced  him  that  the  saw  industry  could  be  de- 
veloped under  more  favorable  conditions  in  Indian- 
apolis, and,  disposing  of  his  interest,  he  removed  to 
the  latter  city  in  1856,  and  developed  the  first  and 
largest  manufactory  of  saws  in  the  State.  Beginning 
with  limited  capital  and  the  employment  of  but  a 
single  hand,  the  enterprise  has  increased  to  such 
proportions  as  to  utilize  the  labor  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  men  and  furnish  its  products  to  a  large 
area  of  territory  in  the  Northwest  and  other  points. 
Much  of  the  machinery  used  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  mill  is  the  invention  of  Mr.  Atkins, 
and  protected  by  patents.  He  has  also  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  mining  operations,  having  organized  the 
Hecla  Consolidated  Mining  Company  of  Indianapolis, 
with  mines  siluated  in  Montana,  of  which  he  was  for 
seven  years  general  agent  and  for  two  years  superin- 
tendent, with  his  residence  at  the  mines.  During 
this  time  all  purchases  and  sales  of  products  was 
made  by  him,  and  the  profitable  development  of  the 
property  the  result  of  his  personal  attention  and 
financial  ability.  He  also  purchased  seven  addi- 
tional mines,  which  are  at  present  the  most  produc- 
tive interests  of  the  company.  Other  mining  enter- 
prises in  which  he  is  interested  have  proved  equally 
successful. 

Mr.  Atkins  is  in  politics  a  Republican,  but  without 
ambition  for  ofiice,  his  time  being  exclusively  devoted 
to  his  various  business  pursuits.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of 
Indianapolis.  Mr.  Atkins  was  a  third  time  married, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Frances  Parker,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Addison  Parker,  of  Newton  Centre,  Mass.  The 
children  born   to   this   marriage   are   Mary  Dolbeare, 


Henry  Cornelius,  Sarah  Frances,  Emma  Louisa, 
and  Carra  Isabel.  These  children,  with  Miss  Hattie 
J.,  constitute  the  present  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Atkins. 

In  1867,  Farley  &  Sinker,  son  of  E.  T.  Sinker, 
began  making  saws  on  the  corner  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Georgia  Streets,  and  carried  it  on  successfully 
till  Mr.  Sinker  went  back  to  the  machine-works  on 
the  death  of  his  father.  Mr.  Parley  then,  or  soon 
after,  opened  up  the  same  business  on  the  east  side 
of  South  Meridian  Street,  just  below  the  Eagle 
Machine- Works.  Henry  Westphal  &  Co.  are  in  the 
same  business  on  the  same  street,  farther  south,  and 
Barry  &  Co.  occupy  the  old  establishment  on  Penn- 
sylvania and  Georgia  Streets. 

Files  were  made  for  a  number  of  years  by  Stein - 
bauer  &  Drotz  on  Pennsylvania  Street,  near  the 
Union  Railway  tracks,  but  recently  the  proprietors 
seem  to  have  gone  into  the  coal  business  and  aban- 
doned file-making. 

The  Malleable  Iron- Works  at  Haughsville  oc- 
cupies the  building  originally  erected  by  the  Novelty 
Company,  and  has  added  to  it  till  the  capacity  has 
been  enlarged  tenfold,  and  one  of  the  most  extensive 
establishments  of  the  kind  in  the  country  has  been 
completed.  The  death  of  the  manager  in  the  summer 
of  1882,  while  the  buildings  were  in  progress,  caused 
a  good  deal  of  delay,  but  seems  to  have  proved  a  less 
serious  obstruction  than  was  feared.  No  report  of 
the  amount  or  condition  of  business,  however,  has 
appeared,  and  nothing  can  be  said  definitely  about 
an  establishment  which  promised  at  one  time  to  be 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  industries  of  the 
city  and  the  State. 

Architectural  Iron-Works. — This  establish- 
ment is  well  known  all  over  the  country  for  its 
superior  iron  house-work,  especially  for  large  and 
costly  public  buildings.  It  began  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  iron  railings  by  Williamson  &  Haugh  on  Dela- 
ware Street,  opposite  the  old  court-house,  in  1856. 
Some  years  later,  Mr.  Haugh's  brother,  Benjamin 
F.,  took  the  business  and  removed  to  South  Pennsyl- 
vania Street,  where  his  rails  and  iron  columns, 
and  other  house-work,  very  greatly  enlarged  his 
business,  and    finding    his   quarters  inadequate    and 


^^i/. 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


471 


not  oversaf'e,  the  establishment  was  removed  to  the 
high  level  plateau  west  of  the  river  and  north  of  the 
National  road,  a  half-mile  east  of  the  Insane  Asylum. 
Here  a  series  of  large  connected  buildings,  with  a 
railway  track  into  the  main  line  of  the  Indianapolis, 
Bloomington  and  Western  road  was  erected,  and  the 
company  has  gone  on  in  a  larger  business  than  ever. 
Some  three  years  ago  Mr.  John  L.  Ketcham  entered 
the  concern,  and  the  name  is  now  Haugh,  Ketcham 
&  Co.  The  establishment  has  done  work  for  public 
buildings,  State  and  national,  court-houses  and  custom- 
houses, from  Boston  to  Iowa  City,  and  to  States 
farther  west.  It  employs  over  100  hands  all  the 
time,  and  turns  out  about  $200,000  of  vpork  a  year. 

Hadley,  Wright  &  Co.  —  After  leaving  the 
Quaker  City  Machine- Works  in  1876,  Mr.  Hadley, 
the  founder,  opened  a  machine  repair-shop  in  the  old 
Byrkit  Planing-mill,  on  the  northwest  eorner  of 
Georgia  and  Tennessee  Streets,  in  1878.  His  busi- 
ness increased  here  to  such  an  extent  that,  in  1881, 
he  had  to  find  new  quarters,  and  he  bought  the  whole 
of  the  quarter  of  a  square  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Georgia  and  Tennessee  Streets,  except  the  resi- 
dence on  the  corner  and  some  feet  fronting  Georgia 
Street.  Here  he  erected  an  unusually  solid  three- 
story  brick  building,  102  feet  on  Tennessee  Street, 
with  a  depth  of  170  feet,  and  a  front  on  Georgia 
Street  which  gives  a  length  in  that  direction  of  200. 
Besides,  all  the  open  ground  in  the  rear  of  the  build- 
ings is  full  of  machinery,  boilers,  and  other  apparatus, 
while  the  north  end  of  the  opposite  square  is  also 
filled  with  boilers.  The  business  of  the  firm  is  to 
purchase  second-hand  engines  and  boilers,  and  put 
them  in  good  condition,  and  sell  or  trade  them  to  any 
who  want  that  sort  of  work.  They  employ  thirty 
hands,  and  do  a  business  of  $150,000  a  year. 

The  Rolling-Mill  was  an  enterprise  like  the  old 
steam-mill,  a  little  too  early  for  the  time  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  city,  but  it  grew  to  fit  its  situation 
finally,  and  has  become  the  leading  metallic  industry 
of  the  State.  The  projector  was  Mr.  R.  A.  Douglass, 
who,  with  a  Mr.  Schofield,  came  here  in  1857,  and 
formed  a  company  to  carry  on  the  enterprise.  A 
railway  track  was  made  down  Tenne.ssee  Street  that 
same  summer,  and  work  begun  on  the  building  on  the 


29th  of  October.  Two  old  citizens  went  into  the 
scheme  heartily,  and  sunk  the  gains  of  their  lives 
largely  in  it,— James  Blake  and  James  Van  Blaricum. 
The  latter  owned  the  ground, — then  Van  Blaricum's 
pasture,— one  of  the  original  outlets  of  the  donation 
on  which  the  establishment  was  to  be  located.  Mr. 
Douglass  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  very  prudent 
manager,  and  by  the  following  spring,  before  the  mill 
was  ready  for  work,  the  embarrassments  he  had  in- 
curred checked  the  enterprise,  and  he  abandoned  it. 
A  new  company,  or  the  old  one  reorganized,  bought 
the  unfinished  afi"air,  and  put  it  in  working  order,  and 
soon  made  it  pay,  under  the  skillful  management  of 
Mr.  John  Thomas,  the  superintendent,  whose  inven- 
tion of  the  "  pile,"  or  bundle  of  old  rails  cut  up,  to 
be  re-rolled  and  ingeniously  compacted  and  held 
together,  was  one  of  the  sources  of  the  company's 
success.  War  times  made  prosperity  for  this  busi- 
ness, as  it  did  for  all  railroad  work,  and  the  company's 
stock  was  soon  above  par.  Success  led  Mr.  John  M. 
Lord,  the  president,  to  make  some  hazardous  experi- 
ments, especially  with  the  Dank  puddling  apparatus, 
and  the  final  result  was  some  trouble  and  embarrass- 
ments, and  Mr.  Lord  went  out,  and  Mr.  Aquilla 
Jones,  State  treasurer  in  1857-59,  came  in.  The 
mill  has  since  done  well  all  the  time,  rarely  having  to 
suspend  for  more  than  a  few  days  for  repairs,  or 
sometimes  on  account  of  delayed  material. 

John  Thomas. — -Thomas  Thomas,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch,  married 
Keturah  Hughes,  both  natives  of  Pembrokeshire, 
South  Wales.  Their  children  were  William,  Eliza- 
beth (Mrs.  Tenbrook),  Ellen  (Mrs.  Cotrell),  Richard, 
Thomas  H,  Hannah,  Nancy  (Mrs.  Chase),  and 
John,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  the  latter, 
are  deceased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  emigrated  to 
America  during  the  present  century  and  settled  in 
Bound  Brook,  N.  J.,  where  the  former  engaged  in 
building.  Later  he  removed  to  Utica,  where  he  was 
an  early  settler,  and  continued  actively  employed 
until  a  few  years  before  his  death.  He  served  in 
the  war  of  1812,  and,  while  acting  as  lieutenant  of 
his  company,  was  severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Sacket's  Harbor.  His  son  John  was  born  July  5, 
1816,  in   Utica,   N.  Y.,  and    at   an    early    age    left 


472 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


fatherless.  In  his  eighth  year  he  became  a  member 
of  the  family  of  a  farmer  in  Trenton,  Oneida  Co., 
N.  Y.,  and  later  found  a  home  in  Herkimer  County. 
From  thence  he  removed  for  one  year  to  Johnstown, 
N.  Y.,  after  which  seven  years  were  spent  with  a 
brother-in-law  in  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.  He  then 
determined  upon  acquiring  an  independent  trade, 
and,  having  entered  a  machine-shop  in  New  York 
City,  served  an  apprenticeship  as  a  general  machinist. 
During  his  residence  of  twelve  years  in  New  York 
and  the  immediate  vicinity,  a  portion  of  the  time  was 
spent  in  the  pursuit  of  his  trade  and  the  remainder 
in  active  business  as  a  dealer  in  produce.  His  vo- 
cation of  machinist,  however,  having  proved  more 
attractive  and  profitable,  he  became  an  employ^  of 
Peter  Cooper's  rolling-mills  in  New  York  and  Tren- 
ton, N.  J.  Mr.  Thomas,  on  leaving  the  latter  place, 
purchased  a  farm  in  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  upon 
which  his  family  were  placed,  and  engaged  for  other 
parties  in  the  construction  and  management  of  mills 
in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  Wyandotte,  Mich.  He  was 
induced  in  July,  1857,  to  remove  to  Indianapolis 
with  a  view  to  erecting  and  operating  the  property 
of  the  Indianapolis  RoUing-Mill  Company.  His  con- 
nection with  this  mill  has  ^een  continued,  first  as  a 
salaried  oflBcer,  later  as  a  stockholder  and  director, 
and  as  the  present  treasurer  and  largest  shareholder. 
After  a  brief  connection  with  the  manufacturing  in- 
terests of  the  city,  Mr.  Thomas  realized  the  impor- 
tance of  a  cheaper  and  better  quality  of  coal  than 
was  in  general  use,  and  securing  the  services  of  Dr. 
Brown,  the  State  geologist,  made  a  prospecting  tour 
through  the  coal-fields  of  the  State.  In  Brazil,  Clay 
County,  a  shaft  had  been  sunk  and  a  small  quantity 
of  the  now  popular  block-coal  was  being  mined. 
This  Mr.  Thomas  converted  to  practical  use  in  his 
mill,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  its  general 
use  for  manufacturing  purposes.  It  is  now  in  great 
demand  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  has  been  since  largely  identified  with 
the  business  interests  of  the  city.  He  has  aided  in 
the  establishment  of  three  machine-shops  and  foun- 
dries, is  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Indianapolis 
Cotton  Manufacturing  Company,  president  of  the 
Hecla   Consolidated   Gold   and   Silver  Mining  Com- 


pany of  Montana,  which  has  proved  a  profitable  en- 
terprise, and  interested,  as  projector  or  otherwise,  in 
various  minor  business  schemes.  He  is  also  a  di- 
rector of  the  Citizens'  National  Bank  of  Indianapolis. 
In  his  political  associations  he  is  a  prominent  Re- 
publican, and,  although  not  ambitious  for  office,  has 
served  two  years  in  the  City  Council.  Mr.  Thomas 
was  in  1840  married  to  Miss  Ann  Barber,  a  native 
of  Manchester,  England,  who,  having  lost  both 
parents,  came  to  America  with  a  relative  when 
eight  years  of  age.  Their  children  are  Richard  Z. 
(of  Montana),  William  H.  (of  Indianapolis),  Learned 
J.  (deceased),  Martha  A.  (deceased),  Charles  J.  (de- 
ceased), Edward  L.  (of  Arkansas),  and  Julia  A. 
The  death  of  Mrs.  Thomas  occurred  March  5,  1879. 
One  of  the  stockholders  of  the  second  company, 
who  was  always  active  and  interested  in  its  work,  and 
who  contributed  largely  to  its  success  in  obtaining  its 
own  coal  mines,  was  William  0.  Rockwood,  one  of 
the  leading  citizens  and  among  those  most  respected. 
William  O.  Rockwood. — The  ancestry  of  Mr. 
Rockwood  in  both  lines  of  descent  was  English. 
'  His  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elisha  Rockwood,  a  grad- 
uate of  Dartmouth  College  in  1802,  was  for  twenty- 
i  seven  years  minister  of  the  Westboro'  parish.  His 
j  mother,  Susannah  Brigham  Parkman,  was  the  daugh- 
'<  ter  of  Breck  Parkman,  Esq.,  and  granddaughter  of 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Parkman,  the  first  minister  of  West- 
boro', and  a  clergyman  of  wide  influence.  The  child- 
hood of  Mr.  Rockwood  was  passed  in  his  native 
town.  He  later  studied  at  Leicester  and  Amherst 
Academies,  and  finally  entered  Yale  College  to  com- 
plete a  classical  course.  Having  a  passion  for  the 
sea,  after  two  years  at  Yale  an  opportunity  was  ob- 
tained for  him  as  a  common  sailor  on  a  cotton  vessel 
bound  for  Savannah,  and  from  thence  to  Liverpool. 
This  voyage  satisfied  him,  and  returning  home  he 
engaged  in  teaching.  In  August  following  the  death 
of  his  mother,  which  occurred  June  4,  1836,  he 
1  came  to  Warsaw,  111.,  and  later  resided  at  Quincy 
and  St.  Louis.  In  the  latter  city  he  was  largely 
I  engaged  in  the  business  of  wholesale  groceries,  with 
a  partner  who  desired  to  enlarge  their  mercantile 
ventures  by  embarking  in  the  liquor  traffic  and  slave 
trade.     This  being  repugnant  to  Mr.  Lockwood,  the 


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MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE   CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS. 


473 


partnership  was  dissolved,  aad  Madison,  Ind.,  became 
his  home,  where  he  was  for  seven  years  connected 
with  the  firm  of  Polleys  &  Butler,  after  which  he 
removed  to  Shelbjville. 

There  he  engaged  in  milling  enterprises  and  as  1 
superintendent  of  the  new  Shelbyville  Lateral  Branch 
Railroad.  Ultimately  came  to  Indianapolis,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death  on  the  13th  of 
November,  1879.  The  enterprise  in  which  he  was 
first  engaged  at  Indianapolis,  the  manufacture  of 
railroad  cars,  was  too  extensive  for  the  place  and 
time,  and  met  with  but  partial  success.  Soon,  how- 
ever, he  received  the  appointment  of  treasurer  of  the 
Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  Railroad,  and  found  at  last 
a  pursuit  congenial  to  his  talents  and  tastes.  For 
seven  years  he  discharged  the  onerous  and  diflicult 
duties  of  the  railway  treasurership,  resigning  the 
place  in  1868  that  he  might  bestow  needed  attention 
upon  his  own  accumulated  affairs.  He  was  promi- 
nent in  the  inception  of  various  iron  industries,  par- 
ticularly the  Indianapolis  Rolling-Mill  and  the  Roane 
Iron  Company  at  Rockwood  and  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Of  the  former  he  became  treasurer  in  1872,  having 
previously  been  an  influential  director.  The  growth 
of  the  latter  organization,  originating  largely  in  his 
sagacity  and  perseverance,  was  to  the  last  a  source  of 
pleasure  and  an  occasion  of  reasonable  pride.  Mr. 
Rockwood  possessed  unusual  capacity  for  the  dispatch 
of  business.  Beside  his  duties  at  the  rolling-mill,  quite 
sufiBcient  to  occupy  the  attention  of  one  man,  he  was 
a  director  of  the  Roane  Iron  Company,  Tennessee, 
of  the  First  National  Bank  and  Bank  of  Commerce, 
of  ludianapolis,  of  the  Franklin  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  the  Bedford  Railroad  Company,  president 
of  the  Industrial  Life  Association,  and  treasurer  of 
the  Indianapolis  Telephone  Company  and  the  Hecla 
Miuing  Company.  He  was  also  associated  with 
several  other  complicated  business  concerns  in  differ- 
ent States,  each  of  which  required  a  considerable 
correspondence.  In  the  direction  of  his  latest  and 
largest  employments  his  facility  was  greatly  enhanced 
by  his  mechanical  insight.  Few  men  without  formal 
training  in  such  matters  looked  farther  or  more 
quickly  than  he  into  cranks  and  wheels.  He  also 
had  a  useful  faculty  of  resting.  This  came  partly 
31 


from  the  composure  of  his  nerves,  and  partly  from 
his  enjoyment  of  humor.  He  rarely  failed  to  be 
diverted  by  a  gleam  of  wit, — a  backgammon-board 
untangled  thought.  He  enjoyed  good  talkers,  and 
his  frequent  journeys  were  occasions  of  amusement 
and  rest. 

Doubtless  the  quality  and  quantity  of  his  work 
was  affected  by  a  certain  calmness  of  judgment,  a 
judicial  temper  of  mind.  He  was  not  easily  jostled 
by  excitements  around  him.  While  feeling  the  deep- 
est interest  in  questions  of  public  policy,  he  evinced 
both  calmness  and  judgment  in  the  regular  exercise 
of  his  franchise.  More  important  is  it,  however, 
to  observe  Mr.  Rockwood's  moral  traits.  He  was 
marked  by  a  conspicuous  integrity.  Nothing  was  so 
sure  to  stir  the  last  drop  of  blood  in  him  as  the 
raising  of  a  question  regarding  his  probity.  His 
capacity  for  friendship  was  also  remarkable.  In  the 
midst  of  the  most  urgent  engagements  he  was  capable 
of  writing  every  day  to  a  man  he  loved,  and  for 
months  and  years  each  day  looking  for  the  reply. 
For  humanity  in  general  he  had  a  kindly  side,  trust- 
ing men  too  readily  for  safety  out  of  mere  good 
nature  or  genuine  pity.  It  was  seldom  that  in  ordi- 
nary conversation  he  could  be  betrayed  into  saying  a 
word  in  disparagement  of  any  one.  Mr.  Rockwood 
was  republican  in  the  simplicity  of  all  his  tastes ;  and 
class  distinctions  be  thoroughly  disliked.  An  intelli- 
gent and  firm  believer  in  Christianity,  he  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death  a  member  of  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Indianapolis.  Beside  his  widow,  who  was 
Miss  Helen  Mar  Moore,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  three 
children  survive  him, — Helen  Mar  (wife  of  Rev. 
Hanford  A.  Edson,  D.D.),  William  E.,  and  Charles  B. 
In  1881  the  Rolling-Mill  Company  concluded  that 
a  steel-rail  mill  here  could  be  made  to  pay,  and  they 
erected  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  mills  in  the 
United  States  for  that  work.  It  has  a  front  to  the 
south  of  over  200  feet,  and  over  300  to  the  west, 
with  an  arrangement  to  extend  it  200  feet  more 
to  the  east  if  necessary.  The  main  divisions  are 
120  feet  wide,  and  each  over  200  long.  All  the 
apparatus  for  heating,  rolling,  sawing,  cooling,  and 
straightening  is  of  the  latest  improved  style,  and  a 
larfe  part  of  it  is  the  invention  of  Mr.  Lentz,  the 


474 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


superintendent  of  machinery.  The  roll  trams  are 
"three  high,"  the  "hookers  and  catchers"  are  re- 
placed by  adjustable  tables  moved  by  a  lever  in  one 
man's  hands ;  the  off-bearing  to  the  saws  and  the 
action  of  the  saws  is  automatic  nearly,  only  requiring 
one  hand  at  the  lever,  and  the  moving  off  on  the 
"  hot  bed"  is  automatic.  Machinery  is  made  to  do 
the  work  of  40  or  50  men.  Machinery  also  hauls 
the  blooms  from  the  furnace  when  ready  for  the  rolls. 
The  boilers  and  furnaces  are  so  constructed  as  to  save 
30  per  cent,  of  the  fuel  required  by  ordinary  furnaces. 
The  whole  establishment  is  complete,  and  has  been 
pronounced  by  experienced  mill  men  who  have  ex- 
amined it  unequaled  anywhere.  North  of  it  are  the 
machine-shops  and  foundry  connected  with  it.  The 
capacity  of  the  mill  when  running  full-handed,  with 
about  350  hands,  is  said  to  be  equal  to  the  production 
of  S3,000,000  worth  of  rails  a  year  or  more.  The 
machinery,  boilers,  and  furnaces  have  all  been  thor- 
oughly tested  by  the  actual  performance  of  all  the 
work  required  of  them,  and  found  to  operate  more 
smoothly  and  readily  than  was  expected.  The  two 
mills  stand  within  about  two  hundred  feet  of  each 
other  in  the  13  acres  of  ground  south  of  Pogue's 
Creek  and  west  of  Tenne.ssee,  which  the  company 
has  long  owned. 

Hon.  Aquilla  Jones,  the  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Mary  Jones,  jvho  were  of  Welsh  extraction,  was  born 
in  Stokes  (now  Forsyth)  County,  N.  C,  on  the  8th 
of  July,  1811.  His  father,  being  a  farmer  in  limited 
circumstances,  could  afford  his  son  but  few  advantages 
of  education,  and  early  required  his  assistance  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  farm.  In  1831  the  family  emi- 
grated to  Columbus,  Bartholomew  Co.,  Ind.,  to  which 
point  Elisha  P.  Jones,  brother  of  the  subject  of  this 
biographical  sketch,  had  preceded  them  and  engaged 
in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  also  held  the  commission 
of  postmaster  of  the  place.  Aquilla  entered  the  store 
as  clerk,  and  remained  until  August,  1836,  when  he 
removed  to  Missouri.  The  following  year  found  him 
again  a  resident  of  Columbus,  and  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness of  hotel-keeping.  This  venture  was,  however, 
of  short  duration,  and  his  brother,  Elisha  P.,  having 
died,  he  succeeded  him  by  purchase  of  the  stock,  and 
was  by  common  consent  made  postmaster  of  the  village. 


He  continued  the  business  of  a  country  merchant  until 
1856,  first  with  his  brother,  Charles  Jones,  and  later 
with  B.  F.  Jones,  another  brother,  and  during  much 
of  this  period  held  the  office  of  postmaster.  He  was, 
in  1849,  made  president  of  the  Columbus  Bridge 
Company,  which  erected  a  bridge  across  the  east 
branch  of  the  White  River  at  Columbus,  and  super- 
intended its  construction.  He  owned  a  controlling 
interest  in  the  stock,  which  was  later  sold  (jn  his 
removal  to  Indianapolis.  He  was  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent Martin  Van  Buren  to  take  the  census,  and  again 
to  the  same  office  by  President  Millard  Fillmore  in 
1850;  was  tendered  the  position  of  clerk  of  the  court 
of  Bartholomew  County,  and  elected  to  the  State 
Legislature  for  the  sessions  of  1842-43.  Mr.  Jones 
was  honored  with  the  appointment  of  Indian  agent 
for  Washington  Territory  by  President  Franklin 
Pierce,  but  declined,  after  which  he  was  offered  the 
same  position  in  connection  with  New  Mexico,  and 
was  constrained  to  decline  this  also.  He  received  in 
1856  the  Democratic  nomination  for  State  treasurer, 
was  elected,  and  renominated  in  1858,  which  honor 
he  declined.  Having  removed  to  Indianapolis,  he 
was,  in  1S61,  made  treasurer  of  the  Indianapolis 
Rolling-Mill,  and  continued  thus  officially  connected 
with  the  enterprise  until  1873,  when  he  was  made  its 
president.  He  was  also  chosen  president  of  the  water- 
works in  1873,  but  was  influenced  by  circumstances 
to  resign  at  the  expiration  of  four  months,  his  numer- 
ous business  connections  requiring  all  his  time  and 
attention.  Mr.  Jones  for  a  period  of  half  a  century 
has  been  engaged  in  the  active  duties  of  life,  and  in 
his  various  enterprises  has  invariably  been  successful. 
This  is  largely  due  to  his  indefatigable  industry,  his 
keen  intuitions,  and  his  enterprise.  He  has  ever 
manifested  public  spirit  and  a  lively  interest  in  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  State,  county,  and  city  of  his 
residence.  Mr.  Jones  has  been  twice  married, — in 
1836  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Evan  Arnold, 
who  died  soon  after;  he  was  again  married,  in  1840, 
to  Miss  Harriet,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  W.  and 
Nancy  Cox,  of  Morgan  County,  Ind.  To  this  mar- 
riage were  born  children — Elisha  P.,  John  W.,  Emma 
(Mrs.  Harry  C.  Holloway),  Benjamin  F.,  Charles, 
Aquilla  Q.,  Edwin  S.,  William   M.,  Frederick,  Har- 


Cj^^Li^^l  //^^;u^ 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS  OF  THE   CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


475 


riet  (deceased),  and  Mary  (also  deceased).  Mr.  aad 
Mrs.  Jones  are  members  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
Indianapolis,  in  which  the  former  is  a  vestryman. 

In  1867  a  rolling-mill  company  was  formed  by 
Valentine  Butsch,  James  Dickson,  Fred.  P.  Rusch, 
J.  C.  Brinkmener,  and  William  Sims,  to  roll  bar  and 
rod  and  other  ordinary  merchantable  iron,  and  in  1868 
the  building,  with  twelve  puddling  and  two  smelting 
furnaces,  was  erected  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river, 


forty-eight  in  the  city,  though  they  make  no"  such 
impressive  show  of  importance  as  an  old  village 
blacksmith,  whose  shop  was  a  sort  of  gossip  resort, 
as  the  saloon  is  now,  though  hardly  so  innocently. 
Too  much  of  the  old-time  blacksmith's  work  has  been 
drawn  by  specialties  and  by  machinery  to  leave  a  very 
impressive  or  important  remainder. 

No  complete  statistics  of  this  important  industry, 
prior    to    1873,   are    attainable,    but   for    that   year 


at  the  end  of  the  Vincennes  Railroad  bridge.     Here  !  the    secretary  of  the    Board  of  Trade  makes  a  full 


it  worked  75  to  100  hands  and  produced  about  20 
tons  of  iron  a  day.  The  capital  was  about  $150,000, 
and  the  product  8300,000  to  $400,000.  After  the 
panic  of  1873,  when  times  began  to  grow  hard,  the 
mill,  called  the  "  Capital  City  Iron-Works,"  began  to 
grow  heavy  on  its  owner's  hands,  and  was  finally 
abandoned  six  or  eight  years  ago  and  has  fallen  to 
pieces ;  the  walls  have  been  blown  down,  the  roof 
tumbled  in,  the  smoke-stacks  broken  down,  and  the 
furnaces  wrecked.  This  is  said  to  be  the  probable 
location  of  the  new  agricultural  machine-works. 
Connected  with  this  mill  was  a  nut  and  bolt  factory 
that  did  a  good  business,  and  there  is  now  one  in  the 
city  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street  that  seems  to  be 
well  situated. 

Brass-Foundries. — The  first  brass-foundry  in 
the  city  was  established  by  Joseph  W.  Davis,  in 
1855,  on  South  Delaware  Street.  Garrett  &  Com- 
pany began  the  same  business  with  a  bell-foundry 
attachment,  in  1858,  on  the  Union  tracks,  between 
Meridian  and  Pennsylvania  Streets,  but  in  a  couple 
of  years  or  less  it  collapsed.  The  brass-foundries 
now  in  the  city  are  those  of  William  Langenskamp, 
South  Delaware ;  Louis  Neubacher,  Georgia  Street ; 
the  Pioneer  Brass- Works,  South  Pennsylvania  Street, 
and  Russell  &  Son,  Biddle  Street. 

Tin-ware  is  made  by  some  fourteen  manufacturers 
in  the  city,  and  copper-ware  by  two  or  three.  Yost 
&  Koyter  on  East  Washington  Street  are  the  only 
manufacturers  of  cutlery.  Cunningham  Brothers  on 
South  Meridian  Street,  and  HoUeubeck  &  Miller  on 
South  Illinois,  manufacture  wire  .screens,  signs,  and 
other  articles  of  that  material.  Galvanized  iron  is 
manufactured  into  cornices  and  other  building-work 
by  four  establishments.     Of   blacksmiths   there  are 


and  accurate  report,  which  shows  that  the  foundries 
and  machine-shops  turned  out  for  1872  $1,375,000 
of  work,  and  for  1873  $1,421,000  worth,  used  $878,- 
000  of  capital,  and  employed  633  hands.  The  roll- 
ing-mill   turned    out   $1,400,000    worth  of  rails    in 

1872,  and  $1,580,000  in  1873,  employed  $900,000 
capital  and  475  hands.  Malleable  iron-works  turned 
out  $175,000  of  work  in  1873,  with  a  capital  of 
$115,000,  and  the  employment  of  70  hands.  File- 
factory  turned  out  $47,000  of  product,  with  $21,000 
of  capital  and  46  hands.  Edge-tools,  $15,000  of 
product,  $5000  capital,  9  hands.  The  aggregate  of 
all  forms  of  industry  dealing  with  iron  or  steel,  ex- 
cept agricultural  implements,  was,  in  1873,  in  prod- 
uct, $3,238,000  ;  capital,  $1,919,000;  hands,  1233. 
In  1880  the  aggregate  product  of  foundries,  ma- 
chine-shops, rolling-mills,  and  saw-works  was,  by  the 
census,  $3,869,000,  and  the  number  of  hands  em- 
ployed, 2241,  an  increase  of  20  per  cent,  in  product, 
and  nearly  100  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  hands 
employed.  These  returns  are  but  vague  indications. 
They  do  not  present  the  same  class  of  details  with 
the  same  particularity,  and  consequently  do  not  allow 
comparisons  except  at  one  or  two  points.  The  prod- 
uct of  the  rolling-mill,  for  instance,  was  larger, 
according  to  the  estimate  of  the  secretary,  in  1880 
and  1881 — 24,000  tons — than  in  any  years  previ- 
ously, but  the  value  of  the  product  has  declined  since 

1873,  and  the  total  value  returned  in  1881  is  less 
than  in  1873.  No  return  later  than  the  census  that 
is  complete  enough  to  permit  a  comparison  to  be 
made,  but  an  increase  to  over  $4,000,000  of  aggre- 
gate iron  products  is  the  usual  estimate. 

Miscellaneous. — There   are    more   manufactures 
lying  outside  of  the  three  general  divisions  than  in 


476 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


any  one  of  them,  and  some  are  hardly  inferior  in  ex- 
tent and  importance  to  any,  either  iron,  wood,  or  food. 
A  glass-factory  was  started  here  in  February,  1870, 
by  Messrs.  Bulsitz,  Dickson,  Pitzinger,  Brinkman, 
and  Deschler,  and  two  large  furnace-houses,  with  the 
necessary  adjuncts,  were  built.  For  a  year  or  two  some 
profitable  work  was  done,  about  80  hands  employed, 
and  about  $135,000  of  work  turned  out,  chiefly 
fruit-jars  and  bottles,  but  there  was  not  business 
enough  to  keep  it  employed,  and  it  was  gradually 
reduced  in  operation  till  it  was  abandoned,  about 
1873,  and  turned  into  a  fertilizer-factory.  Then,  as 
already  mentioned,  the  Root  Stove  Foundry  took  it. 

Encaustic  Tiles. — The  United  States  Encaustic 
Tile- Works,  on  Seventh  Street,  are  said  to  be  the 
largest  in  the  world,  yet  they  were  begun  in  1877, — 
a  striking  proof  of  enterprise  and  business  sagacity  is 
the  magnificent  success  they  have  achieved  so  soon. 
A  recent  account  in  the  News  of  the  city  gives  a 
very  clear  idea  of  the  extent  and  character  of  the 
work  :  "  Its  goods  are  sought  for  in  all  quarters.  Only 
the  other  day  a  large  order  came  from  South  Africa. 
Starting  with  the  idea  that  tile  could  be  made  profit- 
ably in  this  country,  and  being  here  within  easy 
access  of  fine  clays  adapted  to  the  purpose,  the  com- 
pany erected  substantial  buildings  with  the  proper 
machinery,  and  procured  a  number  of  skilled  work- 
men from  England.  The  first  eighteen  months  were 
devoted  chiefly  to  experiments.  It  is  ea.sy  to  start  a 
manufactory  of  any  kind,  but  it  requires  time  to 
produce  the  right  article  and  obtain  a  market  for  it. 
The  company  was  just  beginning  to  emerge  from  the 
difficulties  incident  to  a  new  enterprise  when  fire 
swept  the  factory  away,  involving  great  loss.  But 
American  pluck  was  behind  the  enterprise,  and  the 
buildings  rose  again  and  work  was  resumed.  Success 
was  attained,  for  the  best  work  was  done,  and  the 
demand  for  the  article  grew  so  that  great  enlarge- 
ments were  necessary.  Recently,  improvements  to 
the  value  of  §50,000  have  been  made,  including 
four  new  kilns,  of  greatly  increased  capacity,  and 
eight  muflle-kilns,  two  more  than  any  factory  in 
England,  not  excepting  Minton's,  has. 

"  The  works  now  have  a  capacity  of  2,000,000 
square  feet  a  year,  and   employ  300  persons,  about 


100  of  whom  are  women.  Among  these  are  a  num- 
ber of  English  operatives ;  nearly  all  those  who  came 
originally,  remain,  and  Superintendent  Harrison  in 
his  recent  visit  to  England  engaged  and  brought  over 
a  number  of  additional  families.  The  product  of  the 
factory  is  found  in  every  State  and  in  hundreds  of 
public  buildings.  Special  orders  are  constantly  exe- 
cuted for  palatial  dwellings  in  the  great  cities,  and 
there  is  an  increasing  demand  from  churches,  hotels, 
depots,  stores,  and  banks.  Among  other  large  con- 
tracts are  the  great  Produce  Exchange  of  New  York, 
the  Custom  House  and  the  Post-Office  at  St.  Louis, 
and  the  Iowa  State- House  at  Des  Moines. 

"  An  encaustic  tile,  properly  speaking,  is  one  that 
is  made  of  two  kinds  of  clay, — a  red  base,  with  a 
face  of  finer  clay,  which  bears  the  ornamental  pattern, 
and  strengthened  at  the  base  with  a  thin  layer  of 
difierent  clay  to  prevent  warping.  It  is  made  both 
by  the  dry  and  plastic  processes.  In  the  latter 
the  clay  is  damp.  The  workman,  taking  what  he' 
needs,  cuts  off  a  square  slab,  upon  which  the  facing 
of  finer  clay  is  slapped  down  ;  a  backing  is  put  on 
the  other  side  to  make  the  requisite  thickness.  It  is 
then  put  in  a  press,  and  the  pattern  in  relief,  usually 
made  of  plaster  of  Paris,  is  brought  down  upon  the 
face  of  the  tile,  and  the  design  is  impressed  into  the 
soft-tinted  clay.  The  hollows  thus  formed  are  filled 
with  a  semifluid  clay  of  a  rich  or  deep  color,  poured 
into  them  and  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  tile.  In 
twenty-four  hours  this  has  become  sufficiently  hard 
to  admit  of  the  surplus  clay  being  removed,  which  is 
skillfully  done  by  the  operator,  and  the  whole  pattern 
and  ground  are  exposed.  The  surface  is  perfectly 
smooth,  but  the  baking  brings  out  the  indentations  or 
ridges  of  the  patterns. 

"  The  artistic  perfection  reached  in  this  work  is  re- 
markable. All  colors  and  tints  are  produced  at  will ; 
forms  of  beauty  of  all  shapes, — fruits,  vines,  flowers, 
birds,  insects,  portraits,  lettering  in  any  style  of  text. 
In  short,  there  is  no  shape  or  likeness  that  cannot  be 
reproduced  with  the  exactness  of  engraving,  though, 
of  course,  not  in  such  delicate  lines.  The  demand 
for  variety  necessitates  the  use  of  many  designs,  the 
production  of  which  is  a  field  of  itself.  Then,  when 
the  tile  is  finished  for  use,  several  designers  are  kept 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OP  THE   CITY  OP   INDIANAPOLIS. 


477 


busy  in  arranging  the  forms  and  combinations  for 
mosaic  floors,  vestibules,  chimney-pieces,  walls,  and 
other  uses,  and  drawing  working  plans  for  the 
layers." 

Leather  Products. — Mention  has  already  been 
made  of  the  tanneries  of  the  city,  early  and  late,  but 
the  products  of  leather  in  their  diflFerent  forms  re- 
main to  be  noticed  briefly.  First  of  these  is  boot- 
and  shoe-making. 

Boots  and  Suoes. — The  first  shoemaker  in  In- 
dianapolis was  Isaac  Lynch,  who  came  in  the  fall  of 
1821.  He  was  soon  followed  by  others,  but  their 
work  was  all  for  customers  and  immediate  use.  None 
was  made  for  stock  or  general  sale.  There  has  never 
been  any  extetisive  manufacture  of  foot-gear  in  the 
city  that  continued  long.  About  ten  years  ago  a 
company  built  a  large  three-story  brick  on  Brookside 
Avenue,  near  its  crossing  of  Pogue's  Creek,  northeast 
of  the  city,  and  shoes  and  boots  were  made  there  by 
machinery  for  a  short  time,  but  the  enterprise  was 
not  profitable  and  was  soon  abandoned.  Then  John 
Fishback  made  it  a  tannery.  There  are  three  manufac- 
turers of  boot  and  shoe  "  uppers"  in  the  city,  Thomas 
D.  Chautter,  corner  of  Meridian  and  Washington 
Streets ;  Jacob  Fox,  West  Maryland ;  Vincent 
Straub,  South  Illinois.  There  are  170  boot-  and 
shoe-makers  and  dealers  in  the  city,  but  the  makers 
all  work  for  customers  directly.  Besides  these  are 
9  wholeseale  dealers.  There  is  no  practicable  way  of 
arriving  at  the  aggregate  value  of  all  the  work  and 
sales  of  these  182  establishments,  but  it  runs  well  up 
in  the  millions,  no  doubt. 

Harness  and  Saddles. — The  first  saddler  in 
the  city,  so  far  as  any  mention  or  memory  can  de- 
termine, was  Christopher  Kellum,  who  came  in 
1822  or  1823.  The  late  James  Sulgrove  .learned 
the  trade  with  him,  and  when  Mr.  Kellum  left  the 
town,  Mr.  Sulgrove,  then  just  out  of  his  time,  in 
1826  took  the  business  and  carried  it  on,  first 
with  his  brother  and  later  with  William  S.  Witbank, 
and  in  the  days  since  the  advent  of  railroads  with 
Silas  Shoemaker  and  Augustus  Smith,  and  finally 
with  some  of  his  sons,  till  his  death  in  November, 
1875.  At  that  time  and  for  several  years  before 
hi.s  was  the  oldest   business  house   in    Indianapolis. 


He  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  and 
came  here  with  his  father  in  1823.  He  had  never 
any  regular  schooling  but  for  a  few  months,  and 
taught  himself  about  all  he  ever  learned.  He 
married  in  1826  and  raised  a  family  of  ten  children, 
all  of  whom  survived  him,  and  but  one  has  died  since. 
His  wife  died  in  1865,  more  than  ten  years  before 
him.  He  afterwards  married  a  Mrs.  Johnson,  and 
for  a  few  years  left  the  city  and  lived  on  a  farm  on 
the  Bluff  road  about  a  mile  below  the  farm  of  his 
younger  brother,  Joseph,  his  former  business  partner, 
who  died  the  year  before  him.  He  returned  to  the 
city  a  few  years  before  his  death,  but  never  discon- 
tinued his  attention  to  his  business  till  forced  to  do 
so  by  ill  health.  He  had  been  continuously  in  the 
saddle  and  harness  business  there  forty-nine  years, 
and  was  a  few  days  over  seventy  at  his  death.  He  at- 
tached himself  to  the  Christian  Church  in  1836,  the 
year  after  its  organization,  and  remained  a  member  and 
an  officer  all  his  life.  He  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  directors  of  the  branch  here  of  the  old  State  Bank, 
with  the  late  Calvin  Fletcher,  with  whom  he  was 
always  on  terms  of  warm  friendship,  and  with  Mr. 
Thomas  H.  Sharpe  and  others.  He  served  one  term 
in  the  city  council,  and  was  also  the  last  trustee  of  the 
old  County  Seminary  except  Mr.  Simon  Yandes,  and 
was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  city  schools.  He  was 
a  prominent  Republican  and  a  member  of  the  county 
and  State  central  committees,  but  was  never  a  poli- 
tician, and  never  held  or  sought  any  oflice  of  emolu- 
ment. He  was  noted  among  his  business  associates 
for  his  integrity  and  faithful  adhesion  to  every 
promise,  and  his  punctual  fulfillment  of  all  engage- 
ments. He  was  buried  at  Crown  Hill  by  the 
Masons,  of  whom  he  was  a  member  for  thirty  years. 
The  harness  house  of  the  Sulgrove  Brothers,  on 
West  Washington  Street,  was  the  first  in  the  city  to 
manufacture  harness  for  general  sale  and  for  whole 
sale.  This  business  they  have  maintained  now  nearly 
ten  years.  Besides  this  house  there  is  that  of  Ad. 
Hereth,  on  Court  Street  (one  of  the  oldest  of  the 
later  establishments);  F.  M.  Bottler,  North  Dela- 
ware ;  Paul  Sherman,  South  Delaware ;  C.  J.  Shan- 
ver,  Indiana  Avenue ;  Fechentin  &  Co.,  South  Me- 
ridian ;    R    P.  Thiecke,  East  Washington;  William 


478 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


S.  Marsh,  Fort  Wayne  Avenue ;  John  Foltz,  West 
Washington  ;  I.  H.  Herrington,  North  Delaware ;  J. 
M.  Buffer,  West  Washington ;  M.  E.  King  &  Co., 
Massachusetts  Avenue.  These  generally  make  both 
saddles  and  harness. 

Belting  is  manufactured  by  the  Hide,  Leather  and 
Belting  Company,  South  Meridian  Street. 

Textile  Products. — Wool.  The  earliest  mill  for 
the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  was  that  of  Na- 
thaniel West,  on  the  canal  at  the  Michigan  road 
crossing,  or  Cottontown,  but  nearly  contemporane- 
ously with  him  Souder  &  Hannaman  made  woolen 
cloth  and  fulled  it  on  the  site  of  the  water-works. 
This  establishment  came  to  the  hands  of  Merritt  & 
Coughlin  in  1849,  or  thereabouts,  and  it  was  burned 
the  following  year,  or  about  1851.  They  rebuilt  at 
once,  and  have  continued  the  business  ever  since. 
In  1856  they  built  their  present  extensive  woolen- 
mill  on  West  Washington  Street  (a  little  off  the  site 
of  the  old  building),  and  within  two  or  three  years 
have  built  a  large  addition  on  the  east,  next  to  the 
mill-race. 

George  Merritt. — The  Merritt  family  came  to 
America  about  two  hundred  years  ago,  landing  at 
Quebec.  One  of  its  earliest  members  settled  at  the 
head  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  had  among  his  chil- 
dren Nehemiah,  whose  relationship  to  the  subject  of 
this  biographical  sketch  was  that  of  great-great- 
grandfather. His  son  Ichabod  married  Sarah  Wing 
and  had  children,  among  whom  was  Joseph  Merritt, 
born  in  1776,  and  married  to  Cynthia  Howland.  The 
children  of  this  marriage  are  Austis,  Abraham,  Jo- 
seph, Richard,  Sarah,  Isaac,  Cynthia,  Mary  L.,  and 
Mahala.  Joseph,  of  this  number,  was  born  June  19, 
1792,  in  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.,  and  married  Phebe 
Hart,  to  whom  were  born  children, — Jane,  William, 
Jonathan,  Daniel,  Charles,  Richard,  George,  Phebe, 
and  Joseph.  The  birth  of  their  son  George  oc- 
curred Nov.  22,  1824,  in  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y., 
where  his  youth  until  his  twelfth  year  was  passed. 
The  family  then  emigrated  to  Michigan,  and  his 
growing  years  were  spent  in  the  general  labor  inci 
dent  to  clearing  and  cultivating  a  farm.  On  attain- 
ing the  age  of  twenty-one  he  removed  to  Ohio,  and 
under  the  direction  of  an  uncle   learned  the  trade  of 


woolen  manufacturing.  On  becoming  proficient  in 
this  branch  of  industry,  he,  with  his  brother  Charles, 
in  1850,  leased  a  mill  at  Beaver  Creek,  Ohio,  and 
began  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods,  which  was 
continued  for  six  years.  Mr.  Merritt,  in  1856,  re- 
moved to  Indianapolis  and  formed  a  copartnership 
with  William  Coughlen,  for  the  purpose  of  woolen 
manufacturing,  which  was  continued  uninterruptedly 
for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  when  the  latter  re- 
tired from  business,  and  a  son,  Worth  Merritt,  be- 
came interested,  under  the  firm-name  of  George  Mer- 
ritt &  Co. 

Mr.  Merritt  has  been  actively  identified  with  other 
enterprises  in  the  city  of  his  residence.  He  is  a  di- 
rector of  the  Indiana  National  Bank  and  one  of  its 
incorporators.  He  was  elected  to  the  board  of  school 
commissioners  of  Indianapolis  in  1874  and  is  still  a 
member,  during  all  of  which  time  he  has  been  chair- 
man of  the  finance  committee.  All  measures  for  the 
conduct  of  the  late  war  received  his  earnest  support, 
especially  those  having  in  view  the  labors  of  the  San- 
itary Commission.  During  this  period  he  was  one 
of  the  trusted  advisers  of  Governor  Morton,  and  fre- 
quently consulted  with  reference  to  the  many  ques- 
tions arising  during  that  critical  period.  Mr.  Mer- 
ritt's  sympathies  having  been  enlisted  in  behalf  of 
the  orphans  of  soldiers,  he,  in  connection  with  Miss 
Susan  Fussell,  established  a  home  for  a  limited  num- 
ber of  these  children  at  Knightstown,  where  liberal 
provision  was  made  for  their  training  and  comfort 
until  able  to  help  themselves,  Mr.  Merritt  bearing  the 
necessary  expense  involved.  Through  his  exertions 
a  bill  passed  the  Legislature,  by  which  orphan  chil- 
dren in  poor-houses  were  established  in  families 
under  the  supervision  and  care  of  matrons.  He  was 
reared  iij  the  Quaker  faith,  but  is  a  supporter  and 
one  of  the  congregation  of  Plymouth  Church  of 
this  city. 

Mr.  Merritt  was  married  on  the  30th  of  March, 
1852,  to  Miss  Paulina  T.  McClung,  whose  birth  oc- 
curred in  Rockbridge  County,  Va.  She  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  S.  McClung  and  Hannah  Eliza  Kinear, 
of  Xenia,  Ohio,  and  granddaughter  of  Joseph  and 
Elizabeth  Wilson  JMcClung.  The  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Merritt  are  Jeannette  G.,  Worth  J.,  who  is 


'^^f?',  cyi/^^y2yiS^ 


MANUFACTUKING  INTEKESTS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS. 


479 


associated  with  his  father  in  business,  and  Ernest  G., 
now  in  college. 

In  1847,  C.  E.  and  G.  W.  Geisendorff  began  the 
manufacture  of  woolen  goods  in  the  old  steam-mill, 
but  not  very  successfully,  and  they  left  it  in  1852 
and  built  a  frame  mill,  still  standing  and  in  use,  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  mill-race,  on  the  National  road 
a  little  west  of  the  point  where  that  road  separates 
from  Washington  Street.  Here  they  have  carried  on 
a  large  and  successful  business,  which  has  compelled 
them  to  more  than  double  their  original  capacity  by 
the  addition  of  a  large  brick  mill  in  the  rear  of  the  old 
one.  Mr.  Yount  succeeded  Mr.  West  on  the  canal 
in  1849,  but  did  not  continue  long. 

Cotton. — He,  or  Mr.  West  before  him,  attempted 
the  cotton  manufacture  for  a  short  time,  but  aban- 
doned it  as  not  worth  the  trouble.  The  only  cotton- 
uiill  that  has  approached  a  successful  business  here  is 
that  of  the  Indianapolis  Cotton  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, which  was  built  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  just 
west  of  Fall  Creek  race,  and  three  or  four  hundred 
feet  north  of  the  river-bank.  This  has  been  kept  in 
pretty  fair  operation  since  then,  but  recently  it  has 
been  proposed  to  abandon  it. 

Hemp. — The  only  hemp  manufacture  of  any  con- 
sequence, and  that  of  very  little,  was  rope-making. 
There  have  been  several  "  rope-walks"  here  at  one 
time  or  another.  That  which  continued  longest  was 
on  the  lane  which  now  forms  South  West  Street,  a 
little  below  the  other  lane  which  is  now  South  Street. 
About  1840,  as  related  in  the  general  history,  Mr. 
McCarty  began  the  manufacture  of  hemp,  not  of 
hemp  products,  on  the  east  bank  of  Pogue's  Run 
Bottom,  near  the  present  line  of  Ray  Street,  taking 
the  water  to  rot  the  hemp  and  run  his  brakes  and 
other  apparatus  from  the  canal.  He  raised  the  hemp 
himself,  or  most  of  it,  on  his  "  Bayou  Farm,"  now 
the  site  of  so  many  and  so  large  industrial  establish- 
ments in  West  Indianapolis.  The  times  were  hard 
though,  and  all  the  circumstances  unpropitious,  and 
even  his  iron  energy  and  resolution  could  not  endure 
carrying  an  extensive  factory  and  a  large  farm  at  a 
dead  loss.     The  business  was  abandoned  about  1843. 

Dressmaking  belongs  to  this  division  of  manu- 
factures, and  as  there  are  91  dressmaking  establish- 


ments in  the  city,  it  may  be  supposed  to  be  a  pretty 
large  division.  The  census  of  1880  reports  31  milli- 
nery and  dressmaking  establishments  here,  with  306 
hands  and  an  annual  product  of  8324,000.  As  the 
directory  shows  91  dressmaking  establishments  and 
35  milllinery  establishments,  or  a  total  of  126,  four 
times  as  many  as  the  census  found,  either  the  census 
was  incorrect, — a  not  very  improbable  suggestion, — or 
this  class  of  manufactures  has  increased  enormously 
in  four  years.  What  the  real  value  of  products  or 
force  of  hands  employed  may  be  it  is  impossible  to 
conjecture  with  any  reasonable  measure  of  accuracy. 
The  census  statement  might  fairly  be  doubled,  how- 
ever. 

Tailokinq. — Tailoring,  like  shoe-making,  was  an 
affair  of  direct  work,  on  orders,  for  customers  in  all 
the  first  thirty  years  of  the  city's  existence,  and  most 
of  it  both  in  town  and  country  was  done  at  home. 
Working-clothes,  "  every-day"  clothes,  as  they  were 
called,  were  oftener  than  not  the  product  of  the 
mother's  scissors  and  needle,  cut  by  patterns,  and 
made  up  in  the  intervals  of  cooking,  washing,  and 
house-cleaning.  If  the  fits  were  not  close  or  neat, 
the  wear  was  unequaled  in  these  degenerate  days  of 
"  slop-shop"  work  and  sewing-machine  evasions.  The 
first  man  to  sell  ready-made  clothes  was  Benjamin 
Orr,  in  1838,  but  tailors  had  grown  plenty  and  quite 
busy  by  that  time.  The  first  was  Andrew  Byrne, 
uncle  of  Mr.  Nowland,  who  came  here  in  1820,  and 
presumably  plied  his  trade  then  and  always  after- 
wards when  he  had  anything  to  do.  Among  the 
late  arrivals  of  tailors  were  Capt.  Alexander  Wiley, 
James  Smith,  Samuel  P.  Daniels,  afterwards  State 
Librarian,  John  Montgomery,  D.  B.  Ward,  who  be- 
long to  the  first  two  decades. 

Merchant  Tailoring  came  after  the  opening 
of  our  railroad  system,  though  no  doubt  some  little 
was  done  before.  Mr.  Ward  was  probably  among  the 
earliest  merchant  tailors.  There  are  now  23  mer- 
chant tailors  in  the  city,  and  34  tailors  of  ordinary 
custom-work.  The  census  reports  28  merchant  tai- 
lors four  years  ago,  employing  453  hands,  and  pro- 
ducing annually  8777,960  worth  of  clothing.  Not- 
withstanding the  reduction  of  5  establishments,  the 
probability  is  that  more  work  is  done  now  thau  then, 


480 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


and  the  value  of  the  work  done  by  other  tailors  is 
probably  enough  to  make  the  aggregate  of  both 
$1,000,000. 

Printing^,  aside  from  newspapers,  employs  26  estab- 
lishments in  the  city,  and  5  publishing-houses.  In 
1880  the  aggregate  of  both  was  25,  with  707  hands, 
and  an  annual  product  of  S726,857.  It  is  probably 
twice  that  now,  though  the  force  of  hands  may  not 
be  doubled.  The  census  returns  are  of  little  value 
four  years  away,  and  they  are  not  strikingly  accurate 
indications  of  the  condition  of  industries  even  when 
nearer  to  the  time  they  are  supposed  to  belong  to. 

Chemicals. — The  manufactures  of  this  class  have 
until  within  the  last  decade  been  carried  on  by  drug- 
houses,  when  anything  of  that  kind  was  attempted  at 
all.  In  this  class  the  oldest  in  the  city,  and  probably 
in  the  State,  is  that  of  Browning  &  Sloan,  East 
Washington  Street,  near  Meridian.  It  was  estab- 
lished by  Dr.  John  L.  Mothershead  about  the  year 
1840,  on  the  north  side  of  Washington  Street,  mid- 
way between  Meridian  and  the  alley.  Some  years 
later  David  Craighead,  who,  with  Mr.  Brandon, 
carried  a  like  establishment  nearly  opposite,  went 
into  this,  and  Mr.  Browning,  now  senior  proprietor, 
was  for  a  number  of  years  a  clerk  in  it.  He  ac- 
quired so  thorough  a  knowledge  of  the  business  and 
such  skill  in  all  its  processes  that  he  became  indis- 
pensable, and  was  made  a  partner  in  1850,  when  only 
twenty-three  years  old.  Mr.  Sloan,  who  was  a  clerk 
with  Craighead  &  Browning,  became  a  partner  in 
1862.  During  all  the  time  after  Mr.  Craighead's 
death,  Mr.  Browning  conducted  the  business  alone 
from  1854  to  1862,  the  estate  still  retaining  its  in- 
terest. It  is  the  best-known  and  most  extensive 
house  of  its  class  in  the  State.  It  manufactures  its 
fluid  extracts  and  pharmaceutical  preparations  gen- 
erally, and  all  the  latest  remedies. 

A  large  factory  on  McCarty  Street,  between  Dela- 
ware and  Alabama,  is  used  wholly  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  chemicals  and  pharmaceutical  preparations. 
It  was  established  by  Eli  Lilly  &  Co.  some  ten 
years  ago  on  Maryland  Street,  and  was  then  removed 
to  South  Meridian,  and  thence  to  its  present  location. 
For  a  time  Dr.  John  F.  Johnston  was  associated  with 
Mr.  Lilly,  but  for  a  few   years   past  they  have  been 


separated,  and  Dr.  Johnston  has  an  establishment  on 
South  Pennsylvania  Street. 

Varnish  is  a  manufacture  belonging  to  this  class, 
and  there  is  one  long-established  and  extensive  factory 
of  that  kind  here.  It  was  begun  by  Henry  B. 
Mears  eighteen  years  ago,  on  the  point  between 
Kentucky  Avenue  and  Mississippi  Street.  Here  in 
a  very  short  time  J.  0.  D.  Lilly  entered  the  estab- 
lishment, and  in  a  few  years  bought  out  Mr.  Mears, 
and  associated  his  sons  in  the  business.  About  ten 
years  ago  he  built  a  much  larger  house,  and  espe- 
cially arranged  for  his  work,  on  the  river-bank  at  the 
foot  of  Rose  and  Grant  Streets,  a  block  west  of  West 
Street,  and  here  he  produces  an  article  that  com- 
mands a  sale  all  over  the  United  States,  even  in  cities 
that  have  varnish-factories  of  their  own.  In  1871, 
Messrs.  Ebner,  Kramer  &  Aldag  established  a  varnish- 
factory  on  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Ohio  Streets.  No 
report  appears  of  the  amount  of  business  done  by 
either,  but  Mr.  Lilly  probably  produces  near  $100,000 
a  year. 

John  0.  D.  Lilly  is  of  English  parentage,  his 
grandfather  William  Lilly,  an  Episcopal  clergyman, 
having  come  to  America  about  the  year  1794  and 
settled  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  from  whence  he  removed  to 
Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  and,  in  connection  with  his  sacred 
calling,  taught  a  female  seminary.  His  children  were 
Catherine  (Mrs.  Francis  Lathrop),  John,  a  physician 
who  resided  for  half  a  century  in  Lambertville,  N. 
J.,  and  William,  who  was  born  about  the  year  1789 
in  England,  and  came  when  a  lad  of  six  years  to 
America  with  his  father.  The  latter  served  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Platts- 
burg.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Catherine 
Day,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  and  had  children  fourteen  in 
number,  of  whom  Samuel,  Benjamin,  Phcebe  Ann, 
Jane,  Charlotte,  William,  John  0.  D.,  and  James 
reached  mature  years.  Four  of  this  number  are  still 
living.  John  O.  D.  was  born  Sept.  17,  1822,  in 
Penn  Yann,  Yates  Co.,  N.  Y.,  which  place  fie  left 
with  his  parents  for  New  York  City  when  six  years 
of  age.  After  a  brief  residence  in  the  metropolis, 
the  family  removed  to  Steuben  County,  in  the  same 
State,  where  he  remained  seven  years.  The  common 
school,  and  later  the  academy  of  the  town   in  which 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE    CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS.  481 


his  parents  resided,  afforded  advantages  of  education, 
after  which  he  removed  to  Carbon  County,  Pa.,  and 
acquiring  the  business  of  a  machinist,  before  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  became  foreman  of  a  machine- 
shop.  At  twenty-two  he  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
and  from  that  city  to  Reading,  where  his  mechanical 
insight  and  thorough  knowledge  of  machinery  made 
him  invaluable  as  foreman  of  the  shops  of  the  Read- 
ing Railroad.  Mr.  Lilly  was  in  1848  married  to 
Miss  Catherine,  daughter  of  Col.  John  Miller,  a 
prominent  citizen  and  legislator  of  Berks  County, 
Pa.  Their  children  are  Emma,  Ida,  Charles,  and 
John  M.  Charles,  of  this  number,  is  married  to  Miss 
Jessie  Hall,  of  Indianapolis.  Mr.  Lilly  determined 
in  1849  to  seek  the  West  as  a  more  promising  field 
for  the  artisan,  and  located  in  Madison,  Ind., 
where  he  became  master  machinist  of  the  Madison 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad,  and  ultimately  superin- 
tendent of  the  same  road.  He  afterward  was  offered 
and  accepted  the  superintendency  of  the  Lafayette 
and  Indianapolis  Railroad.  In  1862  he  became  an 
employe  of  the  government  as  master  machinist  of 
United  States  Military  Railroads,  with  the  rank  of 
colonel,  and  Washington  as  headquarters.  Mr.  Lilly 
in  his  various  railroad  schemes  brought  to  bear  not 
only  superior  knowledge,  but  his  accustomed  energy 
and  judgment,  which  placed  the  seal  of  success  on 
all  his  efforts,  and  rendered  his  services  alike  valu- 
able to  the  government  or  private  corporations.  Hav- 
ing previous  to  the  war  resided  in  Indianapolis,  he 
made  that  city  again  his  home  on  retiring  from  the 
service,  and  began  the  manufacture  of  varnish  with 
Henry  B.  Mears,  whose  interest  he  subsequently 
purchased  and  made  his  sons  partners  in  the  estab- 
lishment. Their  products  are  of  superior  quality 
and  find  a  ready  market.  Mr.  Lilly  was  president  of 
the  Brown  Rotary  Shuttle  Sewing-Machine  Com- 
pany, located  in  Indianapolis,  which  succumbed  to 
the  financial  disasters  of  1873.  He  is  also  engaged 
in  other  active  enterprises.  He  has  been  identified 
in  various  ways  with  the  city  and  its  improvements, 
and  is  especially  interested  in  its  school  system.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Republican,  though  not  a  participant 
in  the  active  work  of  the  party. 

Tobacco. — Leaf.     There  are  three  dealers  in  leaf- 


tobacco  who  do  some  littlemanufacturing,  but  there  is 
little  done  now  compared  to  what  there  was  up  to  1878. 
At  that  time,  or  shortly  before,  Mr.  Ferdinand  Christ- 
man  manufactured  "  fine-cut"  very  largely,  and  sold 
it  all  over  the  West.  The  business  has  declined  since, 
till  it  is  prosecuted  only  in  a  small  way,  except  in  the 
manufacture  of  cigars.  This  branclj  of  the  business 
is  still  carried  on  as  extensively  as  ever.  The  census 
reported  but  42  manufacturers  of  cigars  and  tobacco 
of  all  kinds,  with  192  hands,  and  a  yearly  product  of 
$287,900.  There  are  now  87  cigar-making  houses 
in  the  city,  double  the  number  four  years  ago,  and 
they  have  probably  doubled  the  product,  though  there 
are  no  authoritative  statements  to  prove  it.  Among 
the  largest  of  the  present  establishments  is  that  of 
C.  H.  O'Brien,  corner  of  Maryland  and  South  Illi- 
nois Streets  ;  John  A.  McGaw,  North  Illinois  Street; 
John  Rauch,  West  Washington  Street. 

Confectionery. — The  oldest  confectionery  house 
in  the  city  is  that  of  Daggett  &  Co.,  northwest  corner 
of  Meridian  and  Georgia  Streets.  It  carries  on  the 
manufacture  in  all  three  of  the  upper  stories,  and 
does  a  larger  business  probably  than  similar  factories. 
Becker,  on  West  Washington  Street,  also  does  a  large 
business ;  also  Angelo  Rosasco,  on  South  Illinois 
Street;  Irmer  &  Moench,  North  Pennsylvania  Street; 
John  Dixon,  Massachusetts  Avenue ;  Harriet  E. 
Hall,  East  Washington  Street.  There  are  of  manu- 
facturers and  dealers  together  34  in  the  city,  5  being 
women :  Mary  Watson,  West  Washington  Street ; 
Caroline  B.  Martin,  Indiana  Avenue ;  Harriet  Love- 
joy,  East  Washington  Street;  Lola  Harris,  Virginia 
Avenue.  There  were  9  in  1880,  producing  8260,000 
worth  of  goods. 

Stone-Cutting. — The  first  stone-cutter  who  had  a 
yard  here  and  sawed  stone  was  Mr.  Spears,  on  the 
corner  of  Washington  Street  and  Kentucky  Avenue, 
in  1833  or  1834.  He  was  followed  a  few  years  later 
by  Peter  Francis,  who  had  his  place  on  the  corner  of 
Kentucky  Avenue  and  Maryland  Street.  These  were 
the  pioneers.  Scott  &  Nicholson,  who  had  the  con- 
tract for  the  stone-work  of  the  court-house,  began 
business  here  in  1854,  and  soon  established  the  most 
extensive  yard  in  the  city  on  Kentucky  Avenue,  at 
a  point  just  below  the  Vandalia  Railroad.     After  com- 


482 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


pleting  the  court-house  they  retired  from  business, 
and  their  yard  is  partly  occupied  by  Mr.  Greenrod. 
Mr.  Goddard  also  has  a  yard  on  the  same  avenue  a 
square  farther  north,  and  G.  Ittenbach  &  Co.  have 
one  on  Harrison  Street. 

Marble-Work. — This  is  a  comparatively  recent 
industry  here,  and  is  largely  confined  to  memorial 
work  of  one  kind  or  another.  The  houses  are 
only  seven  :  T.  J.  Clark  &  Co.,  West  Washington  ; 
J.  R.  Cowie,  North  Delaware  ;  August  Diener,  East 
Washington  ;  J.  P.  LePage,  opposite  west  entrance 
of  Crown  Hill;  A.  A.  McKain,  East  Market;  J.  M. 
Sullivan,  West  Ohio  ;  W.  C.  Whitehead,  Massachu- 
setts Avenue.  The  value  of  the  marble-  and  stone- 
cutting  of  1880, — no  report  is  later  except  those  that 
are  partial  or  defective, — with  11  establishments  and 
114  hands,  was  $237,000. 

Brick. — Yards  for  making  and  burning  brick  in 
the  last  generation  gathered  along  Virginia  Avenue, 
outside  of  the  town  proper,  though  an  occasional  one 
was  maintained  nearer  the  centre  of  settlement.  Now 
they  are  all  clear  out  of  the  city,  or  only  in  the  re- 
motest outskirts,  though  they  have  offices  in  the 
usual  business-places.  There  are  13  of  them  now. 
There  were  7  in  1880,  producing  $53,000  of  brick. 
The  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  reports  them 
thus  for  1882  (the  report  for  1883  not  being  yet 
completed),  showing  a  loss  of  3  yards  in  the  year,  but 
a  large  gain  otherwise : 

Number  of  yards  in  city  and  vicinity 18 

Capital  invested $130,000 

Numberof  men  employed 280 

Number  of  brick  manufactured  during  year 20,000,000 

Total  value  of  brick  made S16o,000 

Oil. — The  early  manufacture  of  linseed  oil  has 
been  described  in  the  general  history.  There  is  little 
to  add  now,  except  that  after  the  business  had  disap- 
peared or  diminished  greatly  for  a  score  of  years,  it 
was  revived  in  1864  by  I.  P.  Evans  &  Co.,  who  also 
established  a  large  manufactory  on  South  Delaware 
Street,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Union  Railway  tracks. 
Here  the  business  increased  to  such  an  extent  that 
about  three  years  ago  it  was  deemed  necessary  or 
advisable  to  establish  a  second  manufactory,  on  a  still 
larger  scale,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  near  the 


Michigan  Street  bridge,  on  the  Belt  Railroad.     The 
product  of  oil  annually  is  about  8200,000. 

Ice. — Ice  was  packed  for  domestic  use  and  confec- 
tionery manufacture  as  early  as  1840,  by  John  Hodg- 
kins,  on  the  sites  of  the  present  Catholic  school,  St. 
John's  Cathedral,  and  the  bishop's  residence.  It 
was  not  for  several  years,  however,  that  it  was 
packed  in  quantities  to  supply  a  general  demand. 
About  the  year  1847,  Mr.  George  Pitts  began  this 
business,  and  it  has  extended  till  now  several  large 
dealers  maintain  ice-ponds  ou  the  low  ground  between 
the  canal  and  Fall  Creek,  while  others  cut  from  the 
canal  and  Fall  Creek,  and  occasionally  from  the 
river.  There  are  some  half-dozen  packers  and  dealers 
in  the  city  now,  who  supply  customers  every  day  by 
wagons,  as  bakers  and  butchers  do.  They  employ 
about  200  hands  altogether  in  the  packing  season, 
which  is  very  variable  in  this  climate,  and  in  1880 
sold  a  total  value  of  $67,000  of  ice.  The  business 
now  is  much  larger,  and  there  are  some  dealers  who 
supply  only  ice  cut  on  the  lakes  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  State,  cutting  none  here. 

Photography. — The  first  of  the  business  of  sun- 
painting  was  done  here  in  1842  by  T.  W.  Whitridge, 
as  related  in  another  chapter.  Improvement  was 
slow,  but  in  the  last  ten  years  photography  has  made 
as  striking  advances  as  any  industry  in  the  city. 
There  were  20  establishments  here  in  1880,  pro- 
ducing about  $.'.0,000  worth  of  work.  There  are  23 
here  now,  doing  probably  double  that  amount  of 
work. 

Electric  Lights. — The  Brush  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany was  organized  here  June  17,  1881,  with  John 
Caven,  so  long  mayor  of  the  city,  as  president.  The 
capital  is  $150,000.  A  large  establishment  was  built 
by  them  on  South  Pennsylvania  Street,  below  Geor- 
gia, and  powerful  machinery  put  in,  and  operations 
begun  within  a  year  after  the  organization.  About 
120  lights,  each  of  2000  candle-power,  are  main- 
tained, but  for  private  use.  The  city  has  not  yet 
seen  fit  to  use  the  light,  though  advantageous  offers 
have  been  made  it  by  the  company. 

The  Telephone, — -Two  telephone  companies  were 
organized  here  in  1878, — one  under  the  control  of 
the   Western   Union  Telegraph   Company,  using  the 


MANUFACTURING   INTERESTS   OF   THE    CITY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS.  483 


Edison  invention,  and  one  managed  by  Mr.  E.  T. 
Gilliland,  of  the  Electrical  Manufactory,  who  used 
the  Bell  invention.  The  former  had  the  exchange  in 
the  Western  Union  telegraph-oflBce,  the  other  was  lo- 
cated in  the  Vance  Block.  The  two  were  consoli- 
dated into  the  Western  Telephone  Company  in  1879, 
and  the  consolidated  exchange  kept  in  the  Western 
Union  location.  In  1882  the  Central  Uoioh  Com- 
pany was  formed,  absorbing  the  others.  Very  re- 
cently the  exchange  was  removed  to  the  building  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Illinois  and  Ohio  Streets, 
the  removal  causing  a  good  deal  of  embarrassment  to 
the  citizens  as  well  as  the  company.  There  are  now 
about  1000  "  renters,"  as  they  are  called,  requiring 
the  services  of  about  50  persons,  though  100  were 
needed  during  the  removal. 

Sewing-Machines. — ^In  1870  the  Wheeler  & 
Wilson  Sewing-Machine  Company  established  a  fac- 
tory at  the  upper  end  of  Massachusetts  Avenue,  to 
make  the  cabinet-work  of  their  machines,  and  it  was 
carried  on  extensively  for  several  years.  But  for 
some  half-dozen  years  past  it  seems  to  have  declined, 
and  suspend  finally,  as  no  return  is  made  of  any  of 
that  class  of  work.  Agencies  for  the  sale  of  machines 
are  numerous. 

Indianapolis  as  a  Manufacturing  Centre. — The 
variety,  extent,  and  value  of  the  manufactures,  of 
which  the  foregoing  summary  may  give  the  reader 
an  idea,  are  an  assurance  that  the  position  as  a  manu- 
facturing centre  which  the  city  has  attained  is  very 
unlikely  to  be  lost  or  seriously  weakened.  The  influ- 
ences that  combined  to  create  this  impulse  continue 
in  their  original  force,  or  rather,  are  stronger  than 
ever.  The  central  position  of  the  city,  its  central 
position  in  the  State,  or  rather  in  the  Northwest,  has 
brought  to  it  from  all  directions  the  new  lines  of  com- 
munication opened  by  the  locomotive,  and  in  these  it 
has  found  the  advantages  by  the  energetic  and  saga- 
cious improvement  of  which  it  has  attained  its  posi- 
tion. These  are  the  work  of  man's  intelligence  and 
energy,  and  are,  therefore,  in  no  way  dependent  on 
the  accidents  or  changes  of  nature.  They  are  as 
'lasily  kept  as  got,  and  more,  for  as  population  attracts 
population  and  business  attracts  business,  the  concen- 
tration of  railways  attracts  or  compels  the  addition  of 


railways,  when  new  outlets  to  markets  are  needed. 
The  city  will  therefore,  in  all  probability,  continue  to 
grow  from  the  roots  already  sent  out,  as  it  has  grown 
in  sending  them  out.  But  to  this  probability  must 
be  added  others  of  even  greater  promise.  No  city  in 
the  West,  or  even  in  the  world,  ofi'ers  such  opportu- 
nities for  illimitable  and  easy  expansion.  There  is  not 
a  foot  of  ground  within  ten  miles  in  any  direction 
that  cannot  easily  be  built  upon  and  added  to  her 
area.  Cheap  lots  are  therefore  possible  for  more  years 
and  growth  than  would  suflBce  to  make  it  as  large  as 
London.  There  is  no  cramping  of  hills,  or  streams, 
or  unhealthy  localities,  to  huddle  up  settlements  in 
any  quarter  and  raise  real  estate  to  figures  inaccessi- 
ble to  poor  men.  The  health  is  not  surpassed  by  that 
of  any  city  in  the  country  or  any  country.  There  is 
nothing  in  that  direction  to  oifset  the  advantages 
ofiFered  by  a  flourishing  town,  with  an  inexhaustible 
area  of  cheap  building-lots.  The  schools  are  equal  to 
any  in  the  country.  East  or  West,  and  have  been  sup- 
ported with  unfailing  liberality  and  unanimity.  The 
public  improvements  are  in  good  part  completed,  or 
advancing  to  completion,  so  that  the  heaviest  expenses 
of  preparing  for  comfortable  and  profitable  residence 
have  been  incurred,  and  will  not  need  to  be  renewed. 
Thus  it  offers  the  four  best  inducements  to  the  emi- 
grant,— cheap  residence,  ample  means  of  education, 
light  taxes,  and  assured  health.  Without  these  the 
unequaled  railroad  advantages  might  have  left,  and 
might  still  leave,  it  merely  a  flourishing  town,  but  not 
a  large  commercial  and  manufacturing  centre. 

But  to  all  the  advantages  enumerated  there  must 
be  added  another  equal  to  either,  if  not  to  all  to- 
gether. This  is  the  city's  vicinity  to  the  best  coal- 
field in  the  world  for  all  classes  of  manufactures. 
Fuel  is  the  prime  necessity  of  manufacturing  in  these 
days,  and  is  likely  to  remain  so  until  electricity  or 
Ericsson's  concentrated  sunlight  replaces  it.  Raw 
material  goes  to  power  to  be  worked  up.  The  phi- 
losophy of  this  movement  need  not  be  considered 
here.  It  is  enough,  in  this  connection,  to  state  the 
fact.  Power  exists  here  in  such  abundance  as  all  the 
developments  of  England  cannot  equal.  Within  two 
or  three  hours'  run  of  us  lies  a  coal-field  of  nearly 
eight  thousand   square  miles.     We  enter  it  by  five. 


484 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


and  soon  may  by  six,  different  lines  of  railway, 
making  a  monopoly,  and  consequently  a  heavy  cost  of 
transportation,  impossible.  The  dip  of  the  strata  is 
to  the  west,  thus  turning  up  the  outcrop  in  the 
direction  nearest  to  us,  and  making  that  part  which 
is  most  easily  mined  also  the  most  easily  reached. 
The  seams,  in  many  cases,  are  mined  by  drifting  in 
from  hill-sides,  sometimes  by  shallow  shafts,  some- 
times by  merely  stripping  off  a  few  feet  of  the  sur- 
face soil.  The  ground  above  is  all  capable  of  culti- 
vation and  can  support  all  the  men,  and  more, 
necessary  to  work  them.  Mining,  therefore,  can  be 
carried  on  at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  But  more 
than  this,  the  character  of  the  coal  itself  increases 
the  facility  and  consequent  cheapness  of  mining.  It 
is  soft  and  easily  broken  ;  its  laminations  are  easily 
separated  ;  it  breaks  easily  across  the  line  of  stratifi- 
cation ;  in  fact,  is  seamed  with  lines  of  breakage 
crossing  those  of  cleavage.  It  can  be  thus  knocked 
out  of  the  seam  in  large,  square  masses,  or  chunks, 
as  one  might  knock  bricks  out  of  a  dry-piled  wall. 
This,  again,  assures  easy  mining.  It  is  almost  en- 
tirely free  from  the  dangerous  gases  that  produce 
such  fearful  calamities  in  deeper  mines  of  different 
coal.  It  is  not  saying  too  much  to  say  that  no  coal 
has  yet  been  found  anywhere  in  the  world  so  easily 
accessible,  so  cheaply  mined,  or  so  free  from  danger 
to  the  miner.  These  facts  alone  are  enough  to  assure 
to  the  city  all  the  advantages  that  belong  to  the  pos- 
session of  inexhaustible  fuel  and  illimitable  mechanical 
power. 

But  there  are  other  facts  besides  these  that  "  make 
assurance  double  sure."  This  coal,  called  block  coal, 
— from  the  peculiarity  above  alluded  to  of  breaking 
into  blocks, — is  really  a  sort  of  mineral  charcoal. 
It  contains  no  sulphur,  or  so  little  that  no  analysis 
has  been  able  to  detect  more  than  a  trace  of  it.  It 
contains  enough  naphtha  to  kindle  almost  instantane- 
ously, and  it  burns  without  caking,  or  melting  and 
running  together,  as  most  bituminous  coals  do. 
These  two  qualities — freedom  from  sulphur  and 
burning  without  caking — -every  man  accustomed  to 
using  coal  for  steam,  or  for  smelting  or  working  iron, 
will  understand  at  once  to  make  the  Indiana  block 
coal  unequaled  for  all  manufacturing  purposes.     For 


iron  it  is  unapproachable,  being  but  little  different 
from  charcoal.  In  fact,  much  of  it  is  charcoal,  as 
any  one  can  see  by  breaking  a  lump.  The  whole 
surface  will  be  found  mottled  by  alternate  lines  of 
bright  and  dull  black,  and  the  latter  are  laminations 
of  mere  mineral  charcoal.  It  will  rub  off  on  the 
fingers  or  clothes  like  charcoal,  and  it  can  be  scraped 
up  in  fittle  heaps  of  charcoal-dust.  The  brighter 
laminations  are  a  sort  of  cannel  coal.  The  whole 
mass,  instead  of  the  glossy,  polished  look  of  Pitts- 
burgh coal,  is  dull  and  dark,  rather  than  black,  with 
frequent  splotches  of  grayish  hue,  like  an  under- 
ground rust,  upon  it.  It  is,  in  all  respects,  different 
from  the  ordinary  bituminous  coal,  which  has  to  be 
coked  before  it  can  be  used  to  smelt  or  work  iron. 
To  its  singular  adaptation  to  iron  manufacture  is  due 
the  enormous  development  of  that  interest  in  the 
city  within  the  past  ten  years. 

The  field  is  calculated,  from  the  facts  so  far  ascer- 
tained, to  contain  over  twenty  thousand  millions  of 
tons  of  this  block  coal.  This  is  more  than  will  be 
worked  up  by  all  the  population  that  can  be  collected 
on  the  vast  plain  about  Indianapolis  in  five  hundred 
years. 

Besides  the  block,  the  field  contains  many  seams 
of  the  ordinary  coal,  though  varying  less  from  the 
other  than  does  the  Eastern  kind.  There  is  every 
variety  for  all  kinds  of  work,  and  all  can  be  obtained 
with  equal  ease  and  cheapness.  The  whole  field  is 
calculated  to  contain  sixty-five  thousand  millions  of 
tons,  much  of  it  close  to  the  surface,  none  of  it  so 
deep  as  to  need  the  costly  shafting  and  machinery  of 
the  English  or  Eastern  mines. 

In  the  possession  of  this  amount  of  fuel,  Indian- 
apolis offers  to  the  manufacturer,  and  especially  to  the 
iron  manufacturer,  these  advantages  : 

1st.  The  best  coal  that  has  yet  been  found  in  the 
world  to  make  or  work  iron,  and  as  good  as  any — 
better  than  most — for  making  steam. 

2d.  Cheap  coal,  made  cheap  by  ease  of  mining, 
freedom  from  danger,  facilities  for  approach  in  mining, 
and  by  the  capability  of  the  covering  country  to  sup- 
port the  miners. 

3d.  Cheap  transportation  of  coal  from  the  mines  to 
the  city,  assured  by  the  actual  operation  of  four  lines 


MANUFACTURING  INTERESTS   OF  THE   CITY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS. 


485 


of  railway  penetrating  the  field  in  four  directions, 
with  the  certain  addition  of  a  fifth,  already  on  the 
way  to  completion.  Added  to  these  is  the  probability 
of  a  cheap  narrow-gauge  line,  which  the  recent  de- 
velopments as  to  the  value  of  that  mode  of  transpor- 
tation have  suggested  to  men  not  likely  to  abandon  it. 
The  competition  of  these  lines  makes  high  prices 
impossible. 

4th.  Choice  of  coal.  Standing  at  the  junction  of 
five  or  six  lines  of  coal  transportation,  each  brirtging 
a  difi'erent  variety  or  different  grade,  the  manufacturer 
at  Indianapolis  can  choose  that  which  suits  him  best, 
at  a  price  regulated  by  strong  and  steady  competition. 
Right  in  the  coal-field,  he  would  have  to  take  what 
was  near  him,  or  obtain  better  at  a  cost  that  would 
make  profit  impossible.  Iron  men  know  well  the 
nece.ssity  of  adapting  coal  to  ore,  and  the  uncertainty 
there  is  of  finding  one  kind  yielding  an  equal  product 
with  another.  The  city  is,  therefore,  a  better  point 
for  smelting,  as  well  as  puddling,  rolling,  casting,  or 
any  other  process  of  iron  manufacture,  than  any  other 
point  in  the  State. 

5th.  The  numerous  railway  lines  centring  here 
aiford  all  po.ssible  facilities  for  obtaining  necessary 
raw  material  or  shipping  completed  products.  We 
have  thirteen  lines  entering  the  city,  and,  counting 
the  old  Madison  road,  fourteen.  There  are  only 
three  counties  in  the  State  that  are  not  in  direct  rail- 
way connection  with  us,  that  is,  that  cannot  send 
a  passenger  from  there  here  all  the  way  by  rail. 
This  can  hardly  be  said  of  auotlier  State  in  the 
Union,  except  some  of  the  New  England  States. 
There  are  only  these  three  or  four  from  which  a  mer- 
chant may  not  come  here,  do  business,  and  return  in 
the  same  day,  with  suitable  arrangement  of  connec- 
tions and  trains.  This  places  every  dealer  in  the 
State  at  the  doors  of  our  manufacturers  virtually. 

6th.  Besides  these  advantages,  oflFered  to  the  iron 
manufacturer  especially,  the  advantages  of  cheap  fuel 
and  unequaled  transportation  are  offered  to  every 
class  of  manufacture.  To  wood-workers  we  can 
show  hardly  less  capabilities  of  profitable  labor  than 
to  iron  men. 

7th.  We  offer  plenty  and  cheap  building  stone, 
brick,  and  other  building  materials. 


The  Coal  Trade. — The  completion  of  the  Van- 
dalia  (then  Terre  Haute  and  Indianapolis)  Railroad 
in  1852  was  the  signal  for  active  operations  in  the 
Indiana  coal-field,  which  was  cut  across  the  middle  by 
the  new  line,  and  opened  up  to  the  readiest  possible 
means  of  transportation.  But  enterprise  proceeded 
rather  slowly  at  the  outset.  The  value  of  the  new 
fuel,  for  new  it  was  to  most  of  the  settlers  of  White 
River  Valley,  was  not  appreciated.  It  was  not  better 
than  wood,  it  was  a  great  deal  dirtier,  and  it  did  not 
then  appear  likely  to  be  cheaper.  So  the  country 
viewed  the  opening  of  its  new  and  great  resource  with 
a  very  indifferent  eye.  The  late  generous  and  philan- 
thropic Chauucey  Rose,  president  of  the  railroad, 
fumed  and  swore  because  some  of  his  old  ties  and 
spikes  had  been  used  by  a  firm  from  this  city  in  lay- 
ing a  little  side  track  to  connect  their  mine  with  his 
line  and  make  business  for  him.  He  did  not  want 
that  sort  of  business.  The  first  mining  attempted  by 
any  one  in  Indianapolis  was  by  John  Caven,  mayor 
during  the  war,  and  now  president  of  the  Brush 
Electric  Light  Company,  and  a  partner  by  the  name 
of  Robert  Griffith.  They  opened  a  surface  mine, 
merely  skinning  off  a  few  feet  of  alluvial  soil,  near 
the  little  town  of  Brazil  in  the  fall  of  1852,  and 
prosecuted  the  enterprise  under  very  great  disadvan- 
tages all  that  winter.  Then  the  trouble  and  expense 
became  too  weighty,  and  they  quit  and  sold  out. 
Some  little  of  this  coal  was  burned  in  the  city,  but 
not  much,  and  what  was  used  was  not  greatly  liked. 
Gradually,  however,  as  forests  were  swept  away  and 
cultivation  extended,  wood  became  dear,  and  the  war- 
times and  prices  made  it  dearer,  and  then  coal  began 
to  find  a  readier  sale.  For  twenty  years  the  business 
has  steadily  increased  by  the  increasing  consumption 
for  domestic  purposes,  and  by  the  increasing  number 
and  use  of  locomotives  and  stationary  engines.  In 
1880  the  consumption  of  all  kinds  of  coal  here  was 
252,357  tons,  of  which  25,000  was  Pittsburgh  coal. 
In  1882  it  was  about  350,000  tons.  For  the  past 
year  no  returns  have  been  completed,  but  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  increase  has  been  about  ten  per  cent., 
which  would  raise  the  total  well  up  towards  400,000 
tons.  There  are  31  coal  and  coke  dealers  in  the 
city. 


4»6 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CIVIL  LIST  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 

Following  is  a  complete  list  of  the  town  and  city 
officers  of  Indianapolis  from  1832  to  the  present 
time,  kindly  furnished  for  this  work  by  Mr.  George 
H.  Fleming,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Council  to 
revise  the  city  ordinances,  viz. : 

PRESIDENTS    OF    BOARDS   OF   TRUSTEES. 

Samuel  Henderson Oct.  12,  1832,  to  Sept.  30,  1833 

James  Edgar  (resifined  as  trustee) Sept.  30  to  Dec.  9,  1833 

Benjamin  I.  Bljthe March  7,  1834,  to  Feb.  14,  1835 

Alexander  F.  Morrison Feb.  14  to  Oct.  2,  1835 

Nathan  B.  Palmer Oct.  2,  1835,  to  April  13,  1836 

George  Lockerbie April  13,  1836,  to  April  4,  1837 

Joshua  Soule,  Jr April  4,  1837,  to  April  2,  1838 

PRESIDENTS  OF   COMMON   COUNCIL. 

James  Morrison 1838-39 

Nathan  B.  Palmer 1839-40 

Henry  P.  Coburn 1840-41 

William  Sullivan  (resigned  Nov.  12,  1841) 1841 

David  V.Culley 1841-44,  1850-53 

Lazarus  B.Wilson 1844-45 

Joseph  A.  Levy 1845-47 

Samuel  S.  Rookcr  (resigned  Nov.  1,  1847) 1847 

Charles  W.  Cady 1847-48 

George  A.  Chapman 1848-49 

William  Eckert 1849-50 

Andrevj  A.  Louden  (resigned  June  3,  1850) 1850 

MAYORS. 

Samuel  Henderson 1847-49 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb  (resigned  Nov.  7,  1S61) 1849-51 

Caleb  Scudder 1851-54 

James  McCready 1854-56 

Henry  F.  West  (died  Nov.  8,  1856) 1856 

Charles  Coulon  (to  fill  vacancy  until  Nov.  22,  1856) 1856 

William  John  AVallace  (resigned  May  3,  1858) 1856-58 

Samuel  D.  Maxwell 1858-63 

John  Caven  1863-67,  1875-81 

Daniel  Macauley 1867-73 

James  L.Mitchell 1873-75 

Daniel  W.  Grubbs 1881-84 

John  L.  McMaster 1884-86 

PRESIDENTS    OF    BOARD    OF    ALDERMEN. 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb 1877-78 

William  D.  Wiles 1878-79 

Jonathan  M.  Ridenour ISYg-SO 

Henry  Coburn 1880-81 

James  T.  Layman 1881-84 

TOWN    CLERKS. 

Samuel  Merrill  (trustee) Oct.  12  to  Nov.  27,  1832 

Isaac  N.  Heylin  (resigned  March  22, 1833) 1832-33 

Israel  P.  Griffith  (resigned  Deo.  6,  1833) 1833 

Hugh  O'Neal 1833-34,  1836-38 

James  Morrison  (resigned  Oct.  2,  1835) 1834-35 

Joshua  Soule,  Jr Oct.  17,  1835,  to  April  4,  1836 


SECRETARIES   OF   COMMON   COUNCIL. 

Joshua  Soule,  Jr 1838-39 

Hervey  Brown 1839-43 

William  L.  Wingate .T. 184.3-45 

James  G.  Jordan  (resigned  Deo.  10, 1849) 1845-49 

Joseph  T.  Roberts 1849-51 

Daniel  B.  Cullcy 1851-53 

CITY    CLERKS. 

Daniel  B.  Culley 1853-54 

James  N.  Swectsor 1854-55 

Alfred  Stephens  (died  Oct.  14,  1856) IS55-56 

Frederick  Stein  (to  fill  vacancy) 1856-57 

George  H.  West 1857-58 

John  G.  Waters 1858-63 

Cyrus  S.  Butterfield 1863-67 

Daniel  M.  Ransdell 1867-71 

John  R.  Clinton 1871-75 

Benjamin  C.Wright 1875-79 

Joseph  T.  Mngner 1879-84 

George  T.  Breunig 1884-86 

CLERK   OF   BOARD   OF   ALDERMEN. 

George  T.  Breunig 1877-84 

CITY   AUDITOR. 

John  G.  Waters 1866-67 

TOWN   TREASURERS. 

John  Wilkens  (trustee) Oct.  12  to  Nov.  27,  1832 

Obed  Footc  (died) 1832 

Hervey  Bates 183.3-35 

Thomas  H.  Sharjie 1835-39 

Charles  B.  Davis 1839-40,  1841-44 

Humphrey  Griffith 1840-41 

John  L.  Welshans 1844-46 

George  Norwood 1846-47 

CITY   TREASURERS. 

Nathan  Lister  (resigned  April  22,  1848) 1847-48 

Henry  Ohr  (to  fill  vacancy) 1848 

James  Greer  (resigned  Aug.  9,  1848) 1848 

James  H.  Kennedy 1848-50,  1851 

John  S.  Spann  (resigned  Jan.  6, 1851) 1850-51 

Ambrose  F.  Shortridge 1851-55 

Harry  Vandegrift 1855-56 

Francis  King 1856-58 

James  M.  Jameson 1858-61 

Joseph  K.  English 1861-65 

William  H.  Craft 1865-67 

Roberts.  Foster 1867-71 

John  W.  Coons 1871-73 

Henry  W.  Tutewiler 1873-77 

William  M.  Wiles 1877-79 

William  G.  Wasson 1879-81 

Isaac  Newton  Pattison « 1881-86 

TOWN   ASSESSORS. 

Josiah  W.  Davis  (resigned) Nov.  27,  1832- 

Butler  K.  Smith 1833-34 

George  Lockerbie 1834-36 

John  Elder 1836-37 

Thomas  McOuat 1837-38 

Albert  G.  Willard 1838-40 

Henry  Bradley 1840-41 

Thomas  Donnellan 1841-42,  1843-46 

James  H.  Kennedy 1842-43 

John  Coen 1846-47 


CIVIL   LIST   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MAKION   COUNTY. 


487 


CITY    ASSESSORS. 

Joshua  Black 1847-48 

Charles  I.  Hand 1848-49 

Henry  Ohr 1849-50 

Samuel  P.  Daniels 1850-51 

Lemuel  Vanlandingham 1851-52 

John  S.  Allen 1852-53 

Matthew  Little 1853-54 

John  G.  Waters 1854-55 

James  H.  Kennedy 1855-56 

John  B.  Stumph 1856-58  (resigned  July  6,  1864),  1S60-64 

David  L.  Merryman 1858-59 

Robert  W.  Robinson 1859-60 

William  Hadley 1864-79 

Milton  F.  Connett 1379-84 

Eugene  Saulcy 1884-86 

TOWN    ATTORNEYS. 

James  Morrison 1837-38 

Hugh  O'Neal 1838-40 

Hiram  and  Hervey  Brown 1840-46 

Alanson  J.  Stevens  and  John  L.  Ketcham 1846-47 


CITY  ATTORNEYS. 

Andrew  M.  Carnahan  (resigned  April  3,  1848) 

Napoleon  B.  Taylor 1848, 

William  B.  Greer 

Edwin  Coburn 

William  Wallace  (resigned  Oct.  28,  1850) 

Abram  A.  Hammond 

Albert  G.  Porter 

John  T.  Morrison 

Benjamin  Harrison 

Samuel  V.  Morris 

Byron  K.  Elliott 1859-61  (resigned  Oct.  31,  1870), 


James  N.  Sweetser 

Richard  J.  Ryan 

Jonathan  S.  Harvey 

Casablanca  Byfield  (deposed  May  8,  1876). 

Roscoe  0.  Hawkins 

John  A.  Henry 

Caleb  S.  Denny 


1847-48 

,  1853-56 

1848-49 

1849-50 

1850 

1850-51 
1851-53 
1856-57 
1857-58 
1858-59 
1865-70, 
[1873-75 
1861-63 
186.3-65 
1870-73 
1875-76 
1876-79 
1879-82 
1882- 


CITY   SOLICITOR. 
Byron  K.  Elliott Nov.  11,  1872,  to  May  12,  1873 

TOWN    MARSHALS. 

Glidden  True Nov.  27,  1832,  to  Feb.  8,  1833 

Edward  McGuire  (resigned  May  10,  1833) 1833 

Samuel  Jenison  (resigned  1834) 1833-34 

Dennis  I.  White 1834-35 

John  C.  Busio  (resigned  Oct.  7,  1835) 1835 

John  A.  Boyer  (resigned  Dec.  19,  1835) 1835 

Richard  D.  Mattingly 1835-36 

William  Campbell 18.36-39 

James  Vanblaricum 1839-42,  1844-43 

Robert  C.  Allison 1842-45 

Benjamin  Ream 1843-44 

Newton  N.  Norwood 1845-46 

Jacob  B.  Fitler 1846-47 

CITY   MARSHALS. 

William  Campbell 1847-48 

John  L.  Bishop 1848-49 

Sims  A.  Collcy 1849-50,  1851-62 

Benjamin  Pilbean 1850-51,  1853-55 


Elisha  McNeely 1852-53 

George  W.  Pitts 1855-56 

Jefferson  Springsteen 1856-58,  1859-61 

Augustine  D.  Rose 1858-59 

David  W.  Loucks  (died  April  24,  1862) 1861-62 

John  Unversaw 1862-69 

George  Taffe 1869-71 

Thomas  D.  Amos 1871-73 

W.  Clinton  West 1873-75 

Eli  Thompson 1875-77 

Alonzo  D.  Harvey 1877-79 

Richard  S.  Colter  (legislated  out  of  office)....1879  to  Apr.  16,  '83 

CAPTAINS   OF   THE   WATCH. 

Jefferson  Springsteen 1854-55 

Jesse  M.  Vanblaricum 1855-56,  1862 

Charles  G.Warner 1856-57 

Augustine  D.  Rose  (resigned  Sept.  14, 186I)...1857-58,  1859-61 

Samuel  Lefever 1858-59 

Thomas  A.  Ramsey 1861-62 

John  R.  Cotton 1S62 

CHIEFS  OP    POLICE. 

David  Powell 1864-65 

Samuel  A.  Cramer 1865 

Jesse  M.  Vanblaricum 1865-66 

Thomas  S.  Wilson 1866-69 

Henry  Paul 1870-71 

Eli  Thompson 1871-74 

Frank  Wilson 1874-76 

Austin  C.  Dewey 1876-77 

Albert  Travis 1877-80 

Robt.  C.  Williamson  (legislated  out  of  office)...1880  to  April  16, 

[1883 
TOWN   SURVEYORS. 

William  Sullivan Sept.  27,  1832,  to  June  18,  1838 

Luke  Munsell 1838-39,  1839-41,  1843-44 

Robert  B.  Hanna  (resigned  Aug.  17, 1839) 1839 

James  Wood,  Sr 1841-43,  1844-47 

CITY   CIVIL   ENGINEERS. 

J.ames  Wood,  Sr.  (died  Nov.  15,  1862) 1847-55,  1858-62 

Amzi  B.  Condit 1855-56 

Daniel  B.  Hosbrook 1856-58 

James  Wood,  Jr.  (died  July,  1866). 1862-66 

Joshua  Staples,  Jr 1866-67 

R.  M.  Patterson 1867-73,  1878-79  (resigned  June  1,  1881), 

[1879-81 

James  W.  Brown , 1873-75 

Bernhard  H.  Deitz  (resigned  June  10,  1878) 1875-78 

Thaddeus  Reed  (removed  July  14,  1879) 1879 

Samuel  H.  Shearer 1881- 

CITY   GAS   INSPECTORS. 
George  H.  Fleming  Oeft  city  in  March,  1871)  Feb.  17,  1868-71 

William  S.  Cone  (resigned  Nov.  6,  1871) 1871 

E.  T.  Cox 1871-73 

RylandT.  Brown 1873-74 

Alexander  Robertson  (defaulted ;  office  abolished) 1874-75 

TOWN   SUPERVISORS    OF   STREETS. 

Thomas  Lupton 1838-39 

James  V'"anblaricum 1839-42 

Robert  C.  Allison 1842-43 

Thomas  M.  AVeaver 1843-44 

William  Wilkinson 1845-46 

Jacob  B.  Fitler 1846-47 


488 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


CITY    STREET   COMMISSIONERS. 

Jacob  B.  Filler 1847-48,  1855-57 

John  Bishop 1848-49 

George  W.  Pitts 1849-50 

George  Youngerman 1850-51 

Joseph  Butsch 1851-52 

Hugh  Slaven 1852-53 

William  Hughcy 1S53-55 

Henry  Colestoek 1857-61 

John  A.  Colestoek 1861-63 

John  M.  Kemper 1863-65 

August   Riehter 1865-69 

Augustus  Bruoer 1869-73 

Thomas  Wiles 1873-75 

Stephen  Mattler  (deposed  May  8,1876) 1875-76 

Leander  A.  Fulmer 1876- 

CLERKS   OF   MARKETS. 

Thomas  Chinn  (resigned) Nov.  27,  1832,  to  Feb.  21,  1835 

Fleming  T.  Luse  (resigned  July  29,  1835) 1835 

Andrew  Smith 1835-36 

Jacob  Roop  (died ,1837) 1836-.37 

James  Gore  (resigned  Feb.  6,  1837) 1837 

Jeremiah  Worniegen  (died ,  1846) 1837-46 

James  Vanblaricum 1839-41 

Jacob  Miller 1845-47 

Jacobs.  Fitler 1846-47 

CITY   MARKET-MASTERS. 

Jacob  Miller  (resigned  Aug.  2,  1852) 1847-52,  1854-55 

Sampson  Barbee,  Sr.  (resigned  March  20,  1848) 1847-48 

Henry  Ohr 185.3-54 

Richard  Weeks 1855-56,  1857-58 

George  W.  Harlan 1852-53,  1856-57 

Charles  John 1858-61,  1862-63,  1864-67 

Thomas  J.  Foos 1861-62 

John  J.  Wenner 1863-64 

Sampson  Barbee,  Jr 1867-68 

Gideon  B.  Thompsou 1S68-69 

Theodore  W.  Pease 1869-70 

James  Y.  Mardiok 1870-71 

John  Unversaw 1871-74 

John  F.  Gulick 1874-76 

William  Shaw 1876-77 

Jehiel  B.  Hampton 1877-78 

Roger  R.Shiel 1877-78 

Joseph  M.  Sutton 1878-79 

Charles  X.  Lee  (resigned  Feb.  15,  1879) 1878-79 

Levi  H.  Rowell  (to  fill  vacancy) 1879 

Albert  Izor 1879-80 

Leroy  C.  Morris 1879-80 

James  A.  Gregg 1880-82 

Edward  A.  Guthrie  (resigned  Oct.  4,  1880) 1880 

Abraham  L.  Stoner  (resigned  May  14,  1883) 1880-83 

Orville  B.  Rankin 1882- 

Joseph  R.  Shelton 1883- 

TOWN    WEIGH-MASTERS. 

Jacob  J.  Wiseman  (resigned) Oct.  27  to  Dec.  12,  1835 

Edward  Davis 1835-36 

John  F.  Ramsey Jan.  30  to  April  18,  1836 

James  Edgar 1836 

James  Gore Jan.  19  to  Feb.  6,  1837 


Jeremiah  Wormegen Feb.  6  to  May  17,  1837 

Isaac  Harris 1837-38 

Adam  Haugh 1838-39,  1840-47 

Charles  Williams 1839-40 

CITY    WEIGH-MASTERS. 

John  Fatten 1847-48 

Adam  Haugh 1848-56 

Willard  Nichols 1876-78 

John  W.  Smither 1878-79 

William  P.  Ballard 1879-80 

Jesse  DeHaven 1880- 

SEALERS    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES. 

Joseph  W.  Davis 1853-54 

Jacob  T.  Williams 1854-56 

Hugh  J.Kelly 1856-57 

James  M.  Jameson 1857-58 

John  G.  Banning 1858-59 

Cyrus  S.  Buttcrtield 1859-61 

James  Loucks 1861-66 

Joseph  L.  Bishop 1860-67 

Augustus  Bruner 1867-68 

Samuel  B.  Morris 1868-71,  1873-74 

William  n.  Phillips 1871-73 

Ignatz  Cook  (office  abolished) 1874-75 

FIRE    DEPARTMENT    MESSENGERS. 

James  Vanblaricum  (removed  Deo.  23,  1842) 1840-42 

David  Cox 1842-43 

Jacob  B.  Fitler  (resigned  Aug.  23,  1848) 1845-48 

James  H.  Kennedy 1847-48 

Hiram  Siebert 1849- 

Andrew  Heiner 1851— 

CHIEF   FIRE    ENGINEERS. 

Thomas  M.  Smith 1843-47 

Joseph  Little 1853-54 

Jacob  B.  Fitler 1854-55 

Charles  W.  Purcell aS55-56 

Andrew  Wallace 1856-58 

Joseph  W.  Davis 1858-63 

John  E.  Foudray  (resigned  Nov.  —,1859) 1859 

Charles  Riehmann 1863-67,  1868-70,  1872-74 

George  W.  Buchanan 1867-68 

Daniel  Glazier  (died  in  fall  of  1872) 1870-72 

Michael  G.  Fitchey 1S74-76 

W.O.Sherwood 1876-78 

John  6.  Pendergast 1878-82 

Joseph  H.  Webster 1882- 

TOWN  SEXTONS. 

James  Cox 1842-43 

John  Musgrove 1843-44,  1845-47 

John  O'Connor 1844-45 

CITY    SEXTONS. 

Benjamin  Lobaugh 1847-48 

Joseph  I.  Stretcher 1848-49 

Philip  Sachs 1849-54 

George  Bisbing  (resigned  July  31,  1854) 1854 

Hemy  Stumph  (to  fill  vacancy) 1854-55 

John  Moffit,  Sr 1855-56,  1857-59 

Archibald  Lingenfelter 1856-57 

Garrison  W.  Allred  (died  Jan.  — ,  1876) 1859-69,  1875-76 

James  H.  Hedges 1869-72 


CIVIL   LIST   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


489 


John  Ross  (impeached  Aug.  11,  1873) 1872-73 

Thomas  Spaulding  (to  fill  vacancy) 1873-74 

James  O'Connell  (resigned  Aug.  12,  1875) 1874-75 

Valentine  Reinhart  (to  fill  vacancy) 1375 

Mrs.  Fannia  Allred  (to  fill  her  dead  husband's  place) 1876 

Robert  Turner 1876-78,  1880-81  (to  fill  vacancy)  1883- 

Jacob  Ross  (died  Jan.  — ,  1879) 1878-79 

James  R.  Locklear  (to  fill  temporary  vacancy) 1879 

Mrs.  Sarah  Ann  Ross  (to  fill  her  dead  husband's  place)...  1 879-80 
Fielding  Houston  (resigned  May  14,  1883) 1881-83 

CITY    JANITORS. 

William  Regenour 1871-79 

Joseph  Raible 1879- 

MEMBERS   OF   BOARD    OF    HEALTH. 

W.Clinton  Thompson 1849-50,  1869-70 

James  S.  Harrison 1849-50 

David  Funkhouser  (resigned  March  4,  1850) 1849-50,  1857 

George  W.  Mears... 1850-53,  1854-55  (resigned  Sept.  14,  1861), 

[1861,  1863-69 

Livingston  Dunlap 1850-53 

John  L.  Mothershead 1850-55 

Patrick  H.Jameson 1853-54,  1855-57 

Charles  Parry 1853-54,  1857-59 

John  S.  Bobbs 1854-57 

TalbutBullard 1855-57 

James  H.  Woodburn 1857-61 

John  M.  Kitchen 1858-61 

Clay  Brown 1861-62 

Mansur  H.  Wright 1861-65 

John  M.Gaston 1862-64,  1871-72 

Will.  R.  Bullard 1864-66 

Emil  Kline 1865-66 

Thomas  B.  Harvey 1866-67,  1869-71 

Robert  N.  Tod.l 1866-69 

John  P.  Avery 1867-68 

John  A.  Comingor 1869-73 

Guido  Bell 1870-74 

William  Wands 1872-74,  1877-80 

Samuel  A.  Elbert 1873-74,  1876-77 

James  S.  Athon 1874-76 

A.  Stratford 1874-76 

Charles  E.  Wright 1874-76 

Francis  M.  Hook 1876-77 

Joseph  W.  Marsee 1876-77 

Thomas  N.  Bryan 1877-78 

Henry  Jameson 1877-80 

William  E.  Jeffries 1879-81 

Elijah  S.  Elder 1880- 

William  J.  Elstun 1880-81 

Moses  T.  Runnels 1881- 

John  A.  Sutcliffe 1881- 

DIRECTORS   OF    CITY    HOSPITAL. 

William  Braden 1866-70 

George  W.  Buchanan  (elected  chief  fire  engineer) 1866-67 

J.  C.  Geisendorfi' 1866-68 

Alexander  Graydou,  Sr.  (resigned)  1866-67 

John  M.  Kitchen  (resigned  June  30,  1870) 1866-70 

George  Merritt 1866-69 

Frisby  S.  Newcomer 1866-71 

Samuel  V.B.Noel 1866-67 

Lazarus  B.  Wilson  (resigned)....' 1866-67 

William  W.Smith 1867-69 

Charles  Glazier 1867-71 

32 


E.  J.  Holliday  1867-69 

John  M.  Phipps 1867-68 

Dandridge  H.  Oliver 1868-69 

Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Jr 1869-70 

John  M.  Gaston 1869-71 

Love  H.  Jameson 1859-71 

Samuel  E.  Perkins 1869-61 

J.  F.Johnston 1860-71 

William  Kown 1870-71 

H.  C.  Nowoomb 1870-71 

William  H.  Snider 1870-71 

TRUSTEES    OF   CITY    HOSPITAL. 

Patrick  H.  Jameson 1871-73 

Theophilus  Parvin 1871-73 

Robert  N.  Todd 1871-76 

Thomas  Cottrell 1875-76 

SUPERINTENDENTS   OF   CITY    HOSPITAL. 

Greenly  V.  Woollen 1866-70 

Evan  Hadley 1870-71 

Joseph  W.  Marsee 1871-73 

A.  W.  Davis 1873-74 

W.  B.  McDonald 1874-76 

Flavins  J.  Van  Vorhis 1876-77 

William  H.  Davis 1877-79 

William  N.  Wishard 1879- 

SUPERINTENDENTS    OF  CITY   DISPENSARY. 

William  B.  Fletcher 1875-79 

Caleb  A.  Ritter 1879-82 

John  J.  Garver 1882- 

CITY    COMMISSIONERS. 

Edmund  Browning 1855-61 

Nathan  B.  Palmer 1855-58 

J.  M.  Talbott 1855-58 

W.  Clinton  Thompson 1855-61 

G.  E.  West 1865-58 

David  S.  Beaty 1858-61,  1863-66 

Adam  Gold 1858-61 

Adam  Knodle  1858-61 

James  Blake 1861-64 

William  Boaz 1861-64 

Andrew  Brouse 1861-64 

James  Sulgrove 1861-66 

Lemuel  Vanlaningham  (resigned  Nov.  27,  1865) 1861-65 

^gidius  Naltner 1863-66 

David  V.  Culley  (resigned  Nov.  27,  1865) 1863-65 

William  Coughlen 1866-67 

J.  W.  Davis 1865-66 

T.  L.  Roberts 1865-66 

William  Braden  (resigned  May  21,  1870) 1866-70 

James  N.  Russell  (died  November,  1869) 1866-69 

Thomas  Schooley 1866-69 

Samuel  M.  Seibert 1866-73 

James  C.  Yohn 1866-69,  1879- 

John  F.  Ramsey 1869-73 

Joseph  M.  Sutton  (resigned  June  27,  1873) 1869-73 

Ignatius  Brown  (to  fill  Russell  vacancy) 1869-73 

William  S.Hubbard 1871-75 

George  W.  Alexander. 1873-75 

William  J.  Elliot 1873-75 

J.  George  Stilz 1873-75 

Peter  Weis 1873-75 

John  L.  Avery 1875-79 


490 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


J.  S.  Hildobrand 1875-79 

George  W.Hill 1875- 

William  Mansur , 1875-79 

Robert  H.  Patterson 1875-79 

William  Hadley 1879- 

Newton  Kellogg 1879- 

Michael  Steinhauer 1879- 

CITY    DIRECTORS    OF    BELT    RAILROAD. 

John  M.  Kitchen 1S77- 

Benjamin  C.  Shaw 1877-79 

Napoleon  B.  Taylor 1879-80 

Edwin  H.  Lamme 18S0-S2 

Arthur  L.Wright 1882- 

TOWN    TRUSTEES. 

John  G.  Brown 1832-33 

Henry  P.  Coburn 1832-33 

Samuel  Henderson 1832-33 

Samuel   Merrill 1832-33,  1836-37 

John  Wilkins 1832-33 

Benjamin  I.  Blythe 1833-35 

Nathaniel  Cox 1833-35 

James  Edgar  (resigned  Dec.  9,  1833) 1833 

Samuel  Goldsbcrry 1833-35 

James  Vanblaricum 1833-35 

Joseph  Lefavour 1834-36 

Charles  C.  Campbell 1835-36 

Livingston  Dunlap 1835 

Humphrey  Griffith 1835-37 

Alexander  F.  Morrison 1835 

Nathan  B.  Palmer 1835-36 

L  M.Smith 1835-36 

John  Foster 1836-38 

George  Lockerbie 1836-38 

John  L.  Young  (resigned  Deo.  22,  ]S36) 1836 

Henry  Porter 1837-38 

Joshua  Soule,  Jr 1837-38 

George  W.  Stipp 1837-38 

TOWN    COMMON    COUNCIL. 

William  J.  Brown  (resigned  Dec.  2,  1838) 1838 

John  Elder 1S3S-.39 

John  W.  Foudray 1838-39 

George  Lockerbie 1838-10 

John  F.  Ramsey 1838-39 

Samuel  S.  Rooker 1838-40,  1842-45 

George  W.  Stipp 1838-39 

John  E.  McClure 1839-40 

George  Norwood 1839-42 

Philip  W.  Seybert 1839-41 

William  Sullivan 1839-40 

Jacob  Cox 1840-42 

Samuel  Goldsberry  (died  Jan.  16,  1847) 1840-47 

John  Wilkins  (to  fill  Goldsberry  vacancy) 1847 

Matthew  Little 1840-42 

Andrew  A.  Louden 1840-47 

Carey  H.  Boatright  (resigned  Nov.  5,  1S42) 1841-42 

Joshua  Black 1842-44 

James  R.  Nowland 1842-46 

Thomas  Rickards 1842-44 

Humphrey  Griffith 1844-46 

William  Montague 1844-47 

William  C.  Vanblaricum 1845-47 


Charles  W.  Cady 1846-47 

Abram  W.  Harrison 1846-47 


1847-48 
1847-48 
...  1847 
1847-48 
1849-50 
1856-57 
1847-49 
1847-48 
1848-49 
1848-49 
1848-49 
1848-49 
1848-49 
1854-55 
1849-50 
1849-51 
...  1849 
1849-53 
1849-50 
1S55-56 
1850-51 
1850-51 
1850-53 
1850-51 
1851-53 
1856-59 
1851-54 
1851-56 
1851-52 
1855-57 
1852-53 
1852-53 
1853-54 
1853-54 
1853-59 
1853-55 
1S5.3-54 
1853-56 
1853-55 
1853-54 
1853-54 
1853-54 
1854-55 
1863-66 
1862-69 
1854-55 
1854-56 
1854-56 
1854-56 
1854-55 
1855-56 
1855-56 
1855-56 
1855-56 
1855-56 
1855-57 
1855-56 
1856-57 
1856-57 
1856-57 
1856-57 


CITY    COMMON    COUNCIL. 

Charles  W.  Cady 

Uriah  Gates 

Abram  W.  Harrison  (resigned  June  7,  1847) 

Morris  Morris  (to  fill  Harrison  vacancy) 

Cornelius  King 1847-48, 

Samuel  S.  Rooker 1847-18,  1849-51, 

Henry  Tutewiler 

William  L.  Wingate 

Matthew  Alford  (resigned  March  12,  1849) 

Frederick  H.  Brandt 

George  A.  Chapman 

Thomas  Eaglesfield 

Royal  May  how 

Hiram  Seibert 1848-49, 

Hervey  Botes 

William  Eckert 

James  Gillespie  (died  Nov.  2,  1849) 

David  V.  Culley  (to  fill  Gillespie  vacancy) 

William  Montague 

James  Sulgrovo 1849-50, 

Samuel  Hetzelgcsser 

Joseph  M.  Landis 

Andrew  A.  Louden 

George  McOuat 

Thomas  Buchanan 

George  Durham 1 851-54, 

Nathan  Edwards 

George  W.  Pitts 

Charles  Woodward 

Samuel  Dclzcll 1852-54, 

Jacob  B.  Filler 

John  Greer 

William  A.  Bradshaw 

Daniel  Carlisle 

Livingston  Dunlap..  

William  H.  Karns 

Nicholas  McCarty 

Douglass  Maguire 

Henry  H.  Nelson 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb 

David  Strickland 

Edwin  H.  Wingate 

John  L.  Avery 

William  Boaz 1854-56  (resigned  May  31, 1866), 

Sims  A.  Colley 1854-55, 

Canada  Gowan 

Alexander  Gray  don,  Jr 

William  H.  Jones 

Daniel  Keeley 

John  Trucksess 

Samuel  Beck 

Samuel  M.  Douglass 

Andrew  W.  Fuqua 

Berl  S.  Goode 

Henry  J.  Horn 

William  Mansur 

J.  B.  E.  Reed 

Henry  Buscher 

Adam  Gold : 

Nixon  Hughes 

William  McKee 


CIVIL   LIST   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


491 


Frisby  S.  Newcomer 1S56-57 

Niithan  B.  Palmer 1856-57 

Robert  M.  Patterson 1856-57 

Thomas  Cottrell 1857-60,  1867-73 

Joseph  K.  English  (resigned  Nov.  12,  1S59) 1857-59 

Stoughton  A.  Fletcher,  Jr 1857-59,  1862-65 

George  W.  Geisendorff  (resigned  Feb.  2,  1862) 1857-62 

Robert  Greenfield 1857-59 

William  Hadley 1857-59 

Jonathan  S.  Harvey 1857-58 

Erie  Locke 1857-61,  1869-72 

Stephen  MoNabb 1867-65,  1866-67 

Myron  North 1857-59 

Albert  G.  Porter  (resigned  April  .30,  1859) 1857-59 

Jacob  Vandegrift  (resigned  Oct.  12,  1861) 1857-61 

Jacob  S.  Pratt  (resigned  March  24, 1860) 1858-60 

Theodore  P.  Haughey 1859-65 

Ernest  H.  L.  Kuhlman 1859-63 

Alexander  Metzger 1859-63 

Charles  Richmann 1859-63 

Saraual  M.  Scibert 1859-63 

Herman  Tilly 1859-61 

Andrew  Wallace 1859-63 

John  Blake  (resigned  April  4,  1864) 1861-64 

James  G.  Douglass  (to  fill  Blake  vacancy) 1864 

Austin  11.  Brown 1861-75 

W.  Clinton  Thompson  (resigned  May  1,  1867) 1861-67 

William  Allen 1863-66 

Henry  Coburn 1863-69 

William  Cook 1863-65 

Roswell  B.  Emerson 1862-67 

Horace  A.  Fletcher 1862-67 

Charles  Glazier 1863-69 

Patrick  H.  Jameson 1863-69 

Samuel  Lefever  (resigned  March  12,  1866) 1863-66 

Joseph  Staub 1863-67 

William  John  Wallace  (resigned  Feb.  15,  1864) 1863-64 

Adolph  Seidensticker  (to  fill  Wallace  vacancy)....'. 1864-69 

Julius  A,  Grosvenor  (left  city  ;  seat  declared  vacant)...  1865-67 

G.  A.  Foster  (to  fill  Grosvenor  vacancy) 1867-69 

J.  Henry  Kappes 1865-69 

William  II.  Loomis 1865-69 

John  B.  McArthur 1865-69 

Christian  F.Schmidt 1865-69 

Charles  Kempker  (to  fill  Boaz  vacancy) 1866-67 

James  Burgess 1867-69 

Joseph  W.  Davis 1867-69 

Henry  Geisel 1867-69 

Samuel  Goddard 1867-69 

William  H.  Henschen 1867-69 

Ambrose  P.  Stauton 1867-69 

James  H.  Woodburn 1867-75 

Henry  Gimber 1869-70,  1871-76 

Temple  C.  Harrison 1869-71 

Christopher  lleckman 1869-72 

Leon  Kahn 1869-71, 1872-76,  1879-81 

Robert  Kenningtoii 1869-75 

John   L.  Marseo 1869-72,  1877-79 

John  S.  Newman 1869-72 

John  I'yle 1869-71 

James  McB.  Shepherd 1869-71,  1873-75 

Isaac  Thalmun 1869-77,  1880-84 

Frederick  Thom.s 1869-72 

William  W.  Weaver 1869-72 

C.  E.  Whitsit 1869-73 

William   D.  Wiles 1869-73 


Edward  Reagan 1870-74 

John  H.  Batty 1871-74 

William  H.  Craft 1871-77 

Heydon  S.  Bigham 1871-75 

Frederick  C.  Bollman 1872-76 

David  Gibson 1872-74 

E.  J.  Hardesty 1872-74 

John  T.  Pressley 1872-74 

Frederick  P.  Rush 1872-74 

Lyman  Q.Sherwood 1872-74 

Justus  C.  Adams 1873-77 

M.  C.  Anderson 1873-75 

Calvin  F.  Darnell 1873-77 

William  McLaughlin 1S73-75 

Thomas  H.  S.  Peck  1873-74 

Ralph  C.  J.  Pendleton 1873-74 

Isaac  W.  Stratford 1873-77 

James  E.  Twiname 1873-75 

Boswell  Ward 1873-76,  18S1-84 

Henry  F.  Albershardt 1874-76 

Patrick  H.  Curran 1874-76 

George  W.  Geiger 1874-76 

Marshall  E.  Hall 1874-76 

Francis  M.  Hook 1874-76 

Thomas  Madden 1874-76 

Robert  C.  Magill  (elected  to  Board  of  Aldermen) 1874-77 

Em)s  B.  Reed 1874-78 

John  Stuckmeyer 1874-76 

William  Buehrig 1875-77 

John  J.  Diflley 1875-77 

George  Kenzel 1875-77 

James  C.  Laughlin 1875-77 

Daniel  M.  Ransdell 1875-77 

William  F.  Reasner 1875-77,  1878-79 

Frederick  Schmidt 1875-77 

George  C.Webster 1875-77 

Joseph  W.  Bugbee  (expelled  April  15,  1878) 1876-78 

Norman  S.  Byram 1876-78 

John  L.  Case 1876-78 

Albert  Izor 1876-78 

Martin  McGinty 1876-80 

Thomas  J.  Morse 1876-79 

Milton  Pouder 1876-78 

Michael  Steinhauer 1876-78 

John  Thomas 1876-78 

Arthur  L.  Wright 1876-79 

William  G.  Wright 1876-78 

Robert  B.  Bagby 1877-79 

Marcus  L.  Browo 1877-80 

William  M.  Cochriin 1877-78 

Josiah  B.  Dill 1877-79 

James  T.  Layman 1877-79 

Thomas  C.  Reading 1877-79 

Abraham  L.  Stoner 1877-78 

William  H.Tucker 1877-80 

Isaac  C.  Walker 1877-79 

James  E.  Watts 1877-78 

George  P.  Wood 1877-80 

George  Anderson 1878-79 

Henry  Bermann 1878-80 

Jacob  M.  Bruner 1878-79 

Matthew  M.  Cummings 1878-79 

M.  Horace  McKay 1878-81 

Frank  A.  Maus 1878-79 

Sheldon  Morris 1878-79 

Chris.  H.  O'Brien 1878-79 


492 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Christian  Off. 1878-79 

Omer  Kodibaugh 1878-79 

Samuel  Showalter 1878-79 

Gottlieb  Sindlinger 1878-79 

John  L.  F.Steeg 1878-79 

Christian  F.  Wiese 1878-80 

Jacob  Bieler T879-80 

Peter  P.  Bryce 1879-80 

Harvey  S.Carey 1879-80 

James  T.  Dowling 1879-84 

John  T.  Downey 1879-81 

Francis  W.  Hamilton 1879-80 

Chris.  H.  Harmoning 1879-80 

George  King 1879-80 

William  C.  Lamb 1879-81 

William  H.  Morrison 1879-84 

John  O'Connor 1879-81 

John  K.  Pearson 1879-84 

Henry  J.  Prier 1879-81 

Cah'in  F.  Rooker 1879-80 

Joseph  H.  Sheppard 1879-80 

William  E.  Shilling 1879-81 

Flavins  J.  VanVorhis 1879-81 

Collins  T.  Bedford 1880-84 

William  F.  A.  Bernhamer 1880-81 

Allen  Caylor 1880-84 

Edward  H.  Dean 1880-84 

John  W.  Fiiltz 1880-84 

Patrick  Harrold 1880-84 

Ernest  H.  Roller ]8.'!0-84 

John  A.  Lang 1880-81 

Henry  J.  Mauer 1880-84 

James  A.  Pritchard 1880-84 

William  G.  White 1880-81 

Nelson  Yoke 1880-84 

Edgar  Brundage 1881-84 

Barton  W.  Cole 1881-84 

John  R.  Cowie 1881-84 

Simeon  Coy 1881-84 

John  Egger 1881-84 

Frederick  Hartman 1881-84 

Ernst  F.  Knodel 1881-84 

Philip  Reichwein  1881-84 

Hervey  B.  Stout 1881-84 

George  Weaver 1881-84 

Frank  Benjamin,  17th  Ward 1884-8fi 

John  R.  Cowie,  13th  Ward 1884-86 

Simeon  Coy,  18th  Ward 1884-86 

William  Curry,  2Dth  Ward 1884-86 

James  T.  Dowling,  16th  Ward 1884-86 

J.  T.  Downey,  9th  Ward 1884-86 

Philip  J.  Doyle,  15th  Ward 1884-86 

6.  F.  Edenharter,  8th  Ward 1884-86 

P.  M.  Gallahue,  20th  Ward 1884-86 

Charles  E.  Haugh,  10th  Ward 1884-86 

Fred  Mack,  24th  Ward 1884-86 

John  Moran,  19th  Ward '. 1884-86 

Robert  C.  McClelland,  7th  Ward 1884-86 

W.  C.  Newcomb,  6th  Ward 1884-86 

John  R.  Pearson,  oth  Ward 1884-86 

J.  F.  Reincke,  22d  Ward 1884-86 

R.  H.  Rees,  12th  Ward 1884-86 

M.  M.Reynolds,  1st  Ward 1884-86 

J.  L.  Sheppard,  14th  Ward 1884-86 

Theodore  F.  Smither,  4th  Ward 1884-86 

George  W.  Spahr,  2d  Ward 1884-86 


Isaac  Thalman,  llth  Ward 1884-86 

P.  C.  Trussler,  21st  Ward 1884-86 

J.  W.  Wharton,  30th  Ward 1884-86 

P.  H.  Wolf,  23d  Ward 1884-86 

BOARD    OF    ALDERMEN. 

Thomas  E.  Chandler 1877-80 

Henry  Coburn 1877-81 

Robert  S.  Foster 1877-79 

Gottlob  C.  Krug 1877-78 

Robert  C.  McGill 7877-78 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb 1877-78 

William  H.  Snider 1877-79 

Isaac  W.  Stratford 1877-79 

William  Wallace 1877-78 

William  D.  Wiles 1877-79 

Daniel  W.  Grubbs  (resigned  May  1,  1881) 1878-81 

Diedrich  Mussman 1878-84 

William  F.  Piel 1878-80 

Jonathan  M.  Ridenour 1878-80 

Harry  E.  Drew 1879-84 

James  T.  Layman 1879-84 

John  Newman 1879-84 

Hiram  Seibert 1878-84 

Francis  W.  Hamilton 1880-84 

William  H.  Tucker 1880-84 

George  P.  Wood 1880-84 

Derk  DeRuiter 1881-84 

Brainard  Rorison 1881-84 

W.  F.  A.  Bernhamer,  5th  District 1884-86 

S.  H.  Cobb,  3d  District 1884-86 

W.  A.  Cox,  2d  District 1884-86 

Thomas  J.  Endly,  1st  District 1884-86 

Isaac  King,  4th  District 1884^86 

James  McHugh,  oth  District 1884-86 

H.  J.  Prier,  1st  District 1884-86 

James  A.  Pritchard,  2d  District 1884-86 

Brainard  Rorison,  3d  District 1884-86 

Thomas  Talentire,  4th  District 1880-86 

CITY   JUDGE. 
John  N.  Scott 1867-68 

METROPOLITAN    POLICE. 

John  W.  Murphy,  commissioner 1883-84 

John  P.  Frenzel,  "  1883-85 

Volney  T.  Malott,  "  1883-86 

Sidney  M.  Dyer,  secretary 1883- 

Irvin  Robbins,  superintendent  (resigned  November,  1883).  1883 
John  A.  Lang 1883- 

In  the  following  list  the  names  are  given  of  all  per- 
sons who  have  held  county  ofiSces,  and  also  of  those 
resident  in  Marion  County  who  have  held  important 
offices  in  or  under  the  State  or  national  government, 
except  those  of  official  residence  only.' 


1  Quite  a  number  of  persons  who  have  attained  more  or  less 
distinction  in  politics,  war,  letters,  or  art  have,  at  one  time  or 
another,  been  residents  of  Indianapolis.     Among  them  are 


CIVIL  LIST  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MAKION   COUNTY. 


493 


SECRETARY   OF   THE    INTERIOR. 
Caleb  B.  Smith 1861-62 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
Walter  Q.  Gresham 18S3 

MINISTER    TO    TURKEY. 
Lewis  Wallace 1881  to  present. 

CHARGE    D'AFFAIRES   TO    SWEDEN. 
Henry  W.  Ellsworth 1845-50 

UNITED    STATES    CONSUL   AT   GENEVA. 
Nathaniel  Bolton 1855-57 

UNITED  STATES   DISTRICT   JUDGES    FOR  INDIANA. 

Caleb  B.  Smith 1862-64 

David  McDonald 1864-69 

Walter  Q.  Gresham 1869-83 

UNITED  STATES  ATTORNEYS. 

Lucien  Barbour 1848-50 

Hugh  O'Neal 1860-53 

CLERKS  OF  UNITED  STATES  COURTS.i 

Horace  Bassett 1835-60 

John  H.  Rea 1853-65 

Walt.  J.  Smith  (died  Decembers) 1863-65 

John  D.  Howland 1865-77 

William  P.  Fishback 1877-79 

Noble  Butler 1879- 

Professor  George  Bush,  Oriental  scholar  and  religious 
speculator. 

Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Rev.  Phinens  D.  Gurley. 

John  B.  Dillon,  historian  of  Indiana. 

Rev.  Sydney  Dyer,  poet. 

T.  W.  Whitridge,  noted  artist. 

Joseph  0.  Eaton,  a  well-known  Western  artist. 

William  Miller,  a  distinguished  miniature  painter. 

Dr.  Schliemann,  celebrated  Troas  explorer  and  vindicator 
of  the  "  Iliad." 

Mrs.  McFarland,  author  and  lecturer. 

Mrs.  Seguin-Wallace,  vocalist. 

Mrs.  Snrah  T.  Bolton,  earliest  of  Indiana  poets. 

Edward  R.  Ames,  a  distinguished  Methodist  bishop. 

Thomas  Edison,  the  inventor  and  electrician. 

Miss  Julia  (Dudu)  Fletcher,  author  of  "  Kismet,"  when  a 
child. 

Charles  Nordhoff,  city  editor  of  the  Sentinel  in  1855. 

Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  author  of  the  "  Fair  God"  and  "  Ben 
Hur." 

James  W.  Riley,  author  of  "  Ben  Johnson's  Poems." 

'  There  are  two  Federal  Courts.  Mr.  Bassett  was  clerk 
of  both  till  1853,  when  Mr.  Rea  was  made  clerk  of  one,  Mr. 
Bassett  continuing  in  the  other.  In  1860,  Mr.  Rea  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  other  place,  and  held  both  till  1863,  when  Walt. 
J.  Smith,  son  of  Judge  Caleb  B.  Smith,  was  given  one  of  the 
clerkships,  and  he  and  Mr.  Rea  held  till  1865,  when  the  late 
John  D.  Howland  succeeded  to  both  places,  and  they  have  not 
since  been  separated. 


UNITED  STATES  MARSHALS. 

Robert  Hanna 1841-45 

David  G.  Rose 1861-85 

R.  S.  Foster I88I- 

POSTMASTERS  (See  Post-Ofpii-e). 

PENSION  AGENTS.2 

Alexander  F.  Morrison  (died  1857) 1857 

William  Henderson 1857-61 

William  P.  Fishback 1861-64 

John  W.  Ray 1864-66 

Joseph  P.  Wiggins 1866-69 

Charles  W.  Brouse 1869-73 

William  H.  H.  Terrell 1873-77 

Fred.  Knefler 1877- 

COLLECTORS  OF  REVENUE. 

Theodore  P.  H.iughey 1862-63 

Dr.  J.  J.  Wright 1863-66 

Austin  H.Brown 1866-69 

Charles  F.  Hogate  (died) 1869-74 

Frederick  Baggs^ 1874-83 

Horace  McKay 1883- 

ASSESSORS  OF  REVENUE. 

William  A.  Bradshaw 1862-66 

Martin  Igoe 1866-67 

David  Braden 1867-69 

William  M.  Wiles  (died) 1869-73 

COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS. 
John  R.  Leonard 1882 

UNITED   STATES   SENATORS. 

Robert  Hanna  (by  appointment) 1831 

Oliver  H.  Smith 1837-43 

James  Whitcomb 1849-52 

Joseph  A.  Wright  (by  appointment) 1861-63 

David  Turpie(by  appointment) 1863 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks 1863-69 

Oliver  P.  Morton  (died  in  office) 1867-77 

Joseph  E.  McDonald 1875-81 

Benjamin  Harrison 1881 

REPRESENTATIVES    IN    CONGRESS. 

Oliver  H.  Smith  (then  in  Connersville) 1827-29 

George   L.  Kinnard  (blown    up   in   a   steamer j    two 

terms) 1833-37 

William  W.  Wick 1839-41 

David  Wallace 1841-43 

Caleb  B.  Smith  (then  of  Connersville;  three  terms)...  1843-49 

William  J.  Brown 1843-45 

Joseph  A.  Wright 1843-45 

2  The  pension  agency  was  at  Madison  till  1857,  when  it  was 
removed  to  Indianapolis.  In  1861  there  were  about  300 
pensioners  on  the  rolls,  requiring  an  annual  aggregate  pay- 
ment of  about  $10,000.  In  1877,  when  Gen.  Knefler,  the 
present  agent,  took  the  office,  there  were  between  13,000  and 
14,000  pensioners  on  the  rolls  here,  with  an  annual  aggregate 
payment  of  $1,400,000.  In  1883  there  were  over  22,000  on  the 
rolls,  with  an  annual  total  of  pensions  of  $6,800,000. 

'  On  the  death  of  Mr.  Hogate  the  offices  of  collector  and 
assessor  were  combined,  and  Mr.  Baggs  held  both,  as  Mr. 
McKay  does. 


494 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


William  W.  Wick  (two  terms) 1845-49 

George  W.  Julian  (then  of  Centreville) 1849-51 

William  J.Brown 1849-51 

Joseph  E.  McDonald  (then  of  Crawfordsville) 1849-51 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks 1853-55 

William    H.  English  (then    of  Scott    County  ;    three 

terms) 1855-61 

Lucien  Barbour 1855-57 

Albert  G.  Porter  (two  terms) 1859-63 

Ebenezer  Dumont  (two  terms) 1863-67 

John  Coburn  (four  terms) 1867-75 

Franklin  Landers 1875-77 

Gilbert  De  La  Matyr 1879-Sl 

Stanton  J.  Peele  (two  terms) 1881-83 

GOVERNORS    OF    INDIANA. 

James  Brown  Ray  (acting) February,  1825,  to  De- 

[cember, 

James  Brown  Ray  (first  term) 

James  Brown  Ray  (second  terra) 

Noah  Noble  (first  term) 

Noah  Noble  (second  term) 

David  Wallace 

James  Whitcomb  (first  term) 

James  Wbitcombi  [second  term) 

Joseph  A.  Wright  (first  term) 

Joseph  A.  Wright  (second  term) 

Abram    A.    Ilammond  (acting)    November,  I860,    to 
[January, 

Oliver  P.  Morton  (acting) January, 

Oliver  P.  Morton  > 

Conrad  Baker  (acting) January, 

Conrad  Baker 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks 

Alberto.  Porter 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. 

John  H.  Thompson 

David  Wallace 

Abram  A.  Hammond 

Conrad  Baker 


1852 

1 825-28 

1828-31 

1831-34 

1834-37 

1837-40 

1843-46 

1846-48 

1849-53 

1S53-57 

1861 

1861-65 

1865-67 


1873- 
1881- 


SECRETARIES   OF   STATE. 

William  W.  Wick 

James  Morrison 

William  Sheets 

William  J.  Brown 

William  Sheets « 

John  H.  Thompson 

Charles  H.Test 

James  S.  Athon 

Nelson  Trusler 

John  H.  Farquhar 

William  W.  Curry 


AUDITORS    OF   STATE. 

Morris  Morris 

Douglass  Slaguire 

Erastus  W.  H.  Ellis 

John  P.  Dunn 

John  W.  Dodd 

Thomas  B.McCarty 

John  D.  Evans 

John  C.  Shoemaker 

James  A.  Wildman 


1825-28 
1834-37 
1857-60 
1865-67 

1825-29 
1829-33 
183.3-37 
1837-41 
1841-45 
1845-49 
1849-53 
1863-65 
1865-69 
1872-73 
1873-75 

1829^14 
1847-50 
1850-53 
1853-55 
1857-fil 
1865-69 
1869-71 
1871-73 
1873-75 


^  Resigned  for  United  States  Senate. 


TREASURERS   OF    STATE. 

Samuel  Merrill 1823-34 

Nathan  B.  Palmer 1834-41 

Royal  Mayhew 1844-47 

Samuel  Hanna 1847-50 

James  P.  Drake 1850-53 

William  R.  NolTsinger 1855-57 

Aquilla  Jones 1857-59 

Jonathan  S.  Harvey 1S61-63 

James  B.  Ryan 1871-73 

John  J.  Cooper 1883- 

ATTORNEYS-GENERj\.L. 

James  Morrison from  March  5,  1855 

Joseph  E.  McDonald from  Dec.  17,  1857 

Oscar  B.  Hord from  Nov.  3,  1862 

James  C.  Denny from  Nov.  6,  1872 

ADJUTANT-GENERALS.2 

Samuel  Beck 

David  Reynolds 1846- 

William  A.  Morrison 1853- 

Lewis  Wallace 1861- 

Lazarus  Noble 1861-65 

William  H.  H.  Terrell 1865-70 

J.  G.  Greenawalt 1870-73 

William  W.  Conner 1873-77 

George  W.  Russ 1877-81 

James  R.  Carnahan 1881- 

SUPERINTENDBNTS   OF    PUBLIC    INSTRUCTION. 

William  C.  Larrabee 1852-55 

William  C.  Larrabee 1857-59 

Samuel  L.  Rugg 1859-61 

Miles  J.  Fletcher  (killed  on  cars) 1861-62 

Samuel  K.  Hoshour  (by  appointment) 1862-63 

Samuel  L.  Rugg '. 1863-65 

George  AV.  Hoss 1863-65 

George  W.  Hoss 1865-67 

STATE    LIBRARIANS. 

John  Cook 1841-43 

Samuel  P.  Daniels 1843-45 

John  B.Dillon 1845-51 

Nathaniel  Bolton 1851-55 

M.  G.  C.  W.  Tanner 1855-57 

S.  D.  Lyons 1857-59 

David  .Stephenson 1863-65 

B.  F.Foster 1865-69 

Moses  G.McClain 18G9-71 

Sarah  A.  Oren 1873-75 

JUDGES  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

Isaac  Blackford 1817-53 

Samuel  E.  Perkins 1846-65 

Addison  L.  Roache 1853-65 

Samuel  B.  Gookins 1854-57 

2  Until  the  occurrence  of  the  Mexican  war  the  office  of  adju- 
tant-general was  merely  nominal,  and  the  records  show  nothing 
of  the  occupants  or  terms.  From  the  closing  up  of  the  business 
made  by  the  Mexican  war,  during  which  Mr.  Reynolds  held  the 
office,  till  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  it  lapsed  into  its  former 
animportance.  Since  the  civil  war  it  has  been  a  place  of  much 
'  business  and  responsibility. 


CIVIL  LIST  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


495 


Charles  A.  Ray  (son  of  James  M.  Ray  1 1865-71 

Samuel  E.  Perkins  (died) 1877-79 

Byron  K.  Elliott 1881- 

CLERKS  OF  SUPREME  COURT. 

Henry  P.  Coburn 1820-52 

William  B.  Beach 1852-60 

Lazarus  Noble 1864-68 

Gabriel  Schmuck 1876-80 

Jonathan  W.  Gordon  (by  appointment) 18S2-83 

REPORTERS  OF  SUPREME  COURT. 

Isaac  Blackford  (by  his  own  appointment) 1817-50 

Albert  G.  Porter  (by  law) 185.V57 

M.  Gordon  C.  W.  Tanner 1857-61 

Benjamin  Harrison 1864-69 

James  B.  Black 1869-77 

STATE  SENATORS. 
James  Gregory,  session  of  1825-26. 
Calvin  Fletcher,  session  of  1826-27,  1827-28,  1828-29,  1829- 

30,  18.S0-31,  1831-32,  1832-33. 
Alexander  F.  Morrison,  session  of  1833-34. 
Henry  Brady,  session  of  1834-35,  1835-36,  1836-37,  1837-38, 

1838-39,  1839-40. 
Robert  Hanna,  session  of  1840-41. 
Nathaniel  West,  session  of  1841-42,  1842-43. 
Thomas  J.  Todd,  session  of  1843-44,  1844-45,  1845-46. 
William  Stewart,  session  of  1846-47,  1847-48,  1848-49. 
Nicholas  McCarty,  session  of  1849-50,  1850-51,  1851-52. 
Percy  Hosbrook,  session  of  1853,  1855. 
John  S.  Bobb.<=,  session  of  1857,  1859,  special  of  1858. 
Horatio  C.  Newcomb,  session  of  1861. 
John  C.  New,  session  of  1863. 

William  C.  Thompson,  session  of  1865,  1867,  special  of  1865. 
John  Cavcn,  session  of  1869,  1871. 
Sims  A.  Colley,  session  of  1869. 
Elijah  B.  Martindale,  session  of  1871. 

William  C.  Thompson,  session  of  1873,  1875,  special  of  1872. 
Dandridge  H.  Oliver,  session  of  1873,  1875,  special  of  1872. 
J.  J.  Maxwell,  session  of  1875. 
Addison  C.  Harris,  session  of  1877,  1879. 
Abel  D.  Streight,  session  of  1877,  1879. 
George  W.  Grubbs,  session  of  1879. 
Flavius  J.  Van  Verbis,  session  of  1881,  1883. 
George  H.  Chapman,  session  of  1881. 
Simon  P.  Yancey,  session  of  1881,  1883. 
William  B.  Fletcher,  session  of  1883. 

STATE  REPRESENTATIVES. 
James  Paxton.  session  of  1823-24. 
John  Conner,  session  of  1824-25. 
James  Paxton,  session  of  1825-26. 
Morris  Morris,  session  of  1826-27. 

George  L.  Kinnard,  session  of  1827-28,  1828-29,  1829-30. 
Ale.\ander  W.  Russell,  session  of  1830-31. 
Henry  Brady,  session  of  1831-32. 
Robert  Hanna,  session  of  1832-33. 
Henry  Brady,  session  of  1833-34. 
Jeremiah  Johnson,  session  of  1834—35. 
Austin  W.  Morris,  session  of  1835-36,  1836-37. 
Bt>hcrt  Hanna,  session  of  1836-37,  1837-38,  1838-39. 
Alexander  F.  Morrison,  session  of  1837-38. 
James  Johnson,  session  of  1838-39,  1839-40. 
Philip  Swectser,  session  of  1839-40,  1840-41. 
Israel  Harding,  session  of  1840-41,  1841-42. 
Williairi  J.  Brown,  session  of  1841-12,  1842-43. 


Thomas  Johnson,  session  of  1842-43. 

John  Sutherland,  session  of  1843-44. 

Obadiah  Harris,  session  of  184.3-44. 

John  L.  Bruce,  session  of  1844-45. 

John  M.  Jamison,  session  of  1344-45. 

Nathaniel  B.  Webber,  session  of  1845-46. 

Young  E.  R.  M'ilson,  session  of  1845-46. 

S.  V.  B.  Noel,  session  of  1846-47. 

W.  M.  Moore,  session  of  1846-47. 

Samuel  Harding,  session  of  1846-47,  1847-48. 

Hervey  Brown,  session  of  1847-48. 

Henry  Brady,  session  of  1848-49. 

Arthur  St.  Clair  Vance,  session  of  1848-49. 

James  P.  Drake,  session  of  1848-49. 

Isaac  W.  Hunter,  session  of  1849-50. 

William  Robson,  session  of  1849-50. 

John  Coburn,  session  of  1850-51. 

Benjamin  Morgan,  session  of  1850-51, 

Percy  Hosbrook,  session  of  1850-51. 

Henry  Brady,  session  of  1851-52. 

Isaac  Smith,  session  of  1851-52. 

Jesse  Price,  session  of  1853. 

George  P.  Buell,  session  of  1853. 

Robert  N.  Todd,  session  of  1857. 

Jonathan  AY.  Gordon,  session  of  1857,  1859,  special  of  1858, 

Isaac  N.  Cotton,  session  of  1859,  special  of  1858. 

James  H.  Turner,  session  of  1861. 

William  H.  Kendrick,  session  of  ,1861,  1863. 

John  C.  Tarkington,  session  of  1863. 

Horatio  C.  Newcomb,  session  of  1865, 1867,  special  of  1865. 

James  M.  McVey,  session  of  1865,  special  of  1865. 

Emsley  Hamilton,  session  of  1867. 

Fielding  Beeler,  session  of  1869,  1871. 

Ambrose  P.  Stanton,  session  of  1869, 

James  M.  Ruddle,  session  of  1869,  1871. 

T.  J.  Vater,  session  of  1869. 

Oliver  M.  Wilson,  session  of  1871. 

Edward  King,  session  of  1871,  1873,  special  of  1872. 

Nathan  Kimball,  session  of  1873,  special  of  1872. 

John  J.  W.  Billingsley,  session  of  187.3,  special  of  1872. 

Edward  T.  Johnson,  session  of  1873,  special  of  1872. 

E.  C.  Kennedy,  session  of  1875. 

James  Hopkins,  session  of  1875. 

James  L.  Thompson,  session  of  1875. 

David  Turpie,  session  of  1875. 

John  E.  McGaughey,  session  of  1877. 

William  H.  Craft,  session  of  1877. 

Stanton  J.  Peele,  session  of  1877. 

Justus  C.  Adams,  session  of  1877. 

J.  B.  Connor,  session  of  1879. 

Jonathan  W.  Gordon,  session  of  1879. 

William  W.  Herod,  session  of  1879. 

C.  B.  Robinson,  session  of  1879. 

William  E.  English,  session  of  1879. 

Nelson  B.  Berryman,  session  of  1881. 

Vinson  Carter,  session  of  1881. 

Isaac  N.  Cotton,  session  of  1881. 

John  W.  Furnas,  session  of  1881. 

James  S.  Hinton  (colored),  session  of  1881. 

Thomas  MeShcehy,  session  of  1881. 

William  D.  Bynuto,  session  of  1883. 

John  C.  Fcrriter,  session  of  1883. 

Elisha  J.  Howland,  session  of  1883. 

Bellamy  S.  Sutton,  session  of  1883. 

Jesse  Whitsit,  session  of  1883. 

John  R.  Wilson,  session  of  1883. 


496 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


SHERIFFS   OF  MARION    COUNTY. 
Hervey  Bates,  Jan.  1,  1822,  to  Aug.  26,  1824. 
Alexander  W.  Russell,  Aug.  26,  1824,  to  Aug.  28,  1828. 
Jacob  Landis,  Aug.  28,  1828,  to  Aug.  21,  18.32. 
Israel  Philips,  Aug.  21,  1832,  to  Aug.  9,  1836. 
Corson  Vickers,  Aug.  9,  1836,  to  Aug.  1,  1840.     Resigned. 
John  B.  Ferguson,  Aug.  8,  1840,  to  Aug.  1,  1842. 
Banner  Lawhead,  Aug.  1,  1842,  to  Aug.  19,  1844. 
Alexander  W.  Russell,  Aug.  19,  1844,  to  Aug.  19,  1848. 
Charles  C.  Campbell,  Aug.  19,  1848,  to  Got.  12,  1852. 
Isaac  W.  Hunter,  Oct.  23,  1852,  to  Oct.  24^  1854. 
John  E.  Foudray,  Oct.  24,  1854,  to  Nov.  12,  1858.     Resigned. 
William  J.  Wallace,  Nor.  12,  1858,  to  June  27,  1859. 
John  F.  Gulick,  June  27,  1859,  to  June  6,  1860.     Resigned. 
William  J.  AVallace,  June  6,  1860,  to  Dec.  9,  1862.     Resigned. 
William  J.  H.  Robinson,  Dec.  9,  1862,  to  Dec.  9,  1866. 
George  W.  Parker,  Deo.  9,  1866,  to  Deo.  9,  1870. 
Nicholas  R.  Ruckle,  Dec.  9,  1870,  to  Dec.  9,  1874. 
Albert  Reisner,  Dec.  9,  1874,  to  Dec.  9,  1876. 
John  T.  Pressley,  Deo.  9,  1876,  to  Dec.  9,  1880. 
Henry  C.  Adams,  Dec.  9,  1880,  to  Dec.  9,  1882. 
James  W.  Hess,  Dec.  9,  1882,  for  two  years. 

CORONERS. 
George  Smith,  Sept.  28,  1822,  to  Aug.  8,  1825.     Resigned. 
Harris  Tyner,  June  24,  1826,  to  Oct.  12,  1829. 
Fleming  T.  Luse,  Oct.  12,  1829,  to  Sept.  8,  1831. 
Joel  Blackledge,  Sept.  8,  1831,  to  Aug.  31,  1833. 
Ahira  Wells,  Aug.  31,  1833,  to' Sept.  I,  1837. 
Joel  Blackledge,  Sept.  1,  1837,  to  Nov.  14,  1837.     Resigned. 
Harris  Tyner,  Nov.  28,  1837,  to  Sept.  1,  1838. 
Thomas  N.  Thomas,  Sept.  1,  1838,  to  Sept.  1,  1842. 
Jacob  Smock,  Sept.  I,  1842,  to  Sept.  4,  1844. 
Andrew  Smith,  Sept.  4,  1844,  to  Oct.  17,  1848. 
Peter  F.  Newland,  Oct.  17,  1848,  to  Sept.  24,  1850. 
William  W.  Weaver,  Sept.  24, 1850,  to  Aug.  15, 1831.     Resigned. 
Andrew  Smith,  Aug.  16,  1851,  to  Aug.  13,  1853. 
George  Newland,  Aug.  15,  1853,  to  .\ug.  15,  1855. 
Thomas  N.  Thomas,  Aug.  15,  1855,  to  Aug.  15,  1857. 
John  Moffitt,  Aug.  15,  1857,  to  Aug.  13,  1861. 
Garrison  W.  Albred,  Aug.  13,  1861,  to  Oct.  24,  1870. 
James  H.  Hedges,  Oct.  24,  1870,  to  Oct.  24,  1872. 
Samuel  C.  Tomlinson,  Oct.  24,  1872,  to  Oct.  24,  1874. 
James  H.  Fuller,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  Oct.  24,  1876. 
William  H.  Wishard,  Oct.  24,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Allison  Maxwell,  Oct.  23,  1880,  to  Nov..l0,  1884. 

COONTY   COMMISSIONERS. 
Jesse  Wright,  Aug.  1,  1S3I,  to  Aug.  4,  1834. 
Harris  Tyner,  Aug.  1,  1831,  to  March,  1S.'!3. 
Thomas  O'Neal,  Aug.  1,  1831,  to  March,  1833. 
Andrew  Hoover,  Aug.  4,  1834,  to  March,  1833. 
Jesse  Wright,  Aug.  7,  1837,  to  Aug.  .3,  1840. 
John  Williams,  Aug.  7,  1837,  to  Aug.  5,  1839. 
James  Turner,  Aug.  7,  1837,  to  Aug.  5,  1839. 
Thomas  Johnson,  Aug.  5,  1839,  to  Aug.  2,  1841. 
Asa  B.  Strong,  Aug.  5,  1839,  to  Aug.  3,  1840. 
Isaac  Pugh,  .■Vug.  3,  1840,  to  Aug.  7,  1843. 
Harris  Tyner,  Aug.  2,  1841,  to  Aug.  5,  1844. 
James  Mcllvain,  Aug.  2,  1841,  to  Aug.  1,  1842. 
John  McFall,  Aug.  1,  1842,  to  Aug.  4,  1845. 
Isaac  Pugh,  Aug.  7,  1843,  to  Aug.  3,  1846. 
Harris  Tyner,  Aug.  5,  1844,  to  Aug.  2,  1847. 
John  McFall,  Aug.  4,  1845,  to  Aug.  7,  1848. 
David  Marrs,  Aug.  3,  1846,  to  Aug.  6,  1849. 
Harris  Tyner,  Aug.  2,  1847,  to  Aug.  5,  1850. 


Aaron  Aldrige,  Aug.  7,  1848,  to  Aug.  4,  1851. 

Thomas  F.  Stout,  Aug.  6,  1849,  to  Aug.  2,  1852. 

Matthew  R.  Hunter,  Aug.  5,  1850,  to  Aug.  1,  1833. 

Powell  Howland,  Aug.  4,  1851,  to  Aug.  7,  1854. 

Henry  P.  Todd,  Aug.  2,  1852,  to  Nov.  1,  1853. 

Matthew  R.  Hunter,  Aug.  1,  1853,  to  Nov.  1,  1836. 

Powell  Howland,  Aug.  7,  1854,  to  Nov.  1,  1856. 

James  Blake,  Oct.  13,  1833,  to  Nov.  1,  1858. 

Abraham  C.  Logan,  Nov.  1,  1855,  to  Oct.  9,  1856.     Died. 

Henry  P.  Todil,  Oct.  9,  1856,  to  Nov.  1,  1856. 

Thomas  W.  Council,  Nov.  1,  1836,  to  Nov.  1,  1858. 

Levi  A.  Hardesty,  Nov.  1,  1836,  to  Nov.  1,  1839. 

Thomas  Johnson,  Nov.  1,  1857,  to  October,  1860. 

Samuel  Moore,  Nov.  1,  1858,  to  October,  1861. 

Levi  A.  Hardesty,  Nov.  1,  1859,  to  October,  1862. 

George  Bruce,  October,  I860,  to  October,  1863. 

Samuel  Moore,  October,  1861,  to  October,  1864. 

Levi  A.  Hardesty,  October,  1862,  to  Dec.  31,  1863.     Resigned. 

George  Bruce,  October,  1663,  to  October,  1866. 

Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  Deo.  31,  1863,  to  October,  1863. 

Samuel  Moore,  October,  1864,  to  November,  1867. 

Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  October,  1863,  to  November,  1868. 

Joseph  K.  English,  October,  1866,  to  November,  1869. 

Aaron  McCray,  November,  1867,  to  Oct.  25,  1873. 

Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  November,  1868,  to  Oct.  27,  1871. 

John  Armstrong,  Oct.  24,  1870,  to  Oct.  25,  1873. 

Samuel  .S.  Rumford,  Oct.  27,  1871,  to  Oct.  24,  1874. 

Charles  A.  Howland,  Oct.  25,  1873,  to  Oct.  25,  187B. 

Alexander  Jameson,  Oct.  23,  1873,  to  Oct.  23,  1876. 

Samuel  Cory,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  Oct.  24,  1877. 

Allison  C.  Romy,  Oct.  25,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1879. 

William  Worman,  Oct.  25,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1879. 

Jacob  Rubush,  Oct.  27,  1877,  to  Oct.  24,  1880. 

George  F.  McGinnis,  Oct.  25, 1879,  to  July  13,  1881.     Resigned. 

Moses  Allen,  Oct.  25,  1879,  to  Nov.  20,  1882. 

John  H.  Smith,  Oct.  24,  1880,  to  Nov.  5,  1883. 

Jonathan  M.  Ridenour,  Aug.  1,  1881,  to  Nov.  20,  1882. 

Frederick  Ostermeyer,  Nov.  20,  1882,  to  Nov.  20,  1885. 

Joseph  Loftin.  Nov.  20,  1882,  to  Nov.  20,  1885. 

Wharton  R.  Clinton,  Nov.  3,  1883,  to  Nov.  5,  1886. 

RECORDERS. 
Joseph  C.  Reed,  April  8,  1822,  to  April  8,  1829. 
James  M.  Ray,  April  8,  1829,  to  Feb.  13,  1834.     Resigned. 
Livingston  Dunlap,  Feb.  13,  1834,  to  Aug.  14,  1834. 
Lewis  C.  Lewis,  Aug.  14,  1834,  to  Aug.  12,  1848. 
Charles  Stephens,  Aug.  12,  1848,  to  Aug.  19,  1833. 
Alex.nnder  G.  Wallace,  Aug.  19,  1855,  to  Aug.  19,  1863. 
William  J.  Elliott,  Aug.  19,  1863,  to  Aug.  19,  1871. 
Benjamin  F.  Johnson,  Aug.  19,  1871,  to  March  5,  1872.     Died. 
Daniel  C.  Greenfield,  March  5,  1872,  to  March  27,  1875.    Died. 
Edward  M.  Wilmington,  March  27,  1875,  to  Oct.  23,  1876. 
Calvin  F.  Darnell,  Oct.  23,  1876,  to  Oct.  23,  1880. 
Jacob  L.  Bieler,  Oct.  25,  1880,  to  Oct.  24,  1884. 
William  F.  Keay,  Oct.  24,  1884,  for  four  years. 

COUNTY  CLERKS. 
James  M.  Ray,  April  1,  1822,  to  Feb.  13,  1834.     Resigned. 
Joseph  M.  Moore,  Feb.  13,  1834,  to  March  2.5,  1834. 
Robert  B.  Duncan,  March  25,  1834,  to  March  8,  1850. 
William  Stewart,  March  8,  1830,  to  Nov.  20,  1856.     Died. 
John  C.  New,  Nov.  22,  1856,  to  Nov.  2,  1861. 
William  Wallace,  Nov.  2,  1861,  to  Nov.  2,  1865. 
William  C.  Smock,  Nov.  2,  1865,  to  Oct.  24,  1870. 
William  J.  Wallace,  Oct.  24,  1870,  to  Oct.  24,  1874. 
Austin  H.  Brown,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  Oct.  24,  1878. 


CIVIL  LIST  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


49T 


Daniel  M.  Ransdell,  Oct.  24,  1878,  to  Nov.  10,  1882. 
Moses  G.  McCIain,  Not.  10,  1882,  for  four  years. 

COUNTY  TREASURERS. 
Daniel  Yandes,  April  16,  1822,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
John  Johnson,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Nov.  7,  1832.    Resigned. 
Thomas  B.  Johnson,  Nov.  7,  1832,  to  March  5,  1838. 
John  B.  E.  Reed,  March  5,  1838,  to  Sept.  3,  1838. 
Charles  Stephens,  Sept.  4,  1838,  to  Aug.  9,  1841. 
Jacob  Landis,  Aug.  9,  1841,  to  Aug.  10,  1847. 
John  M.  Talbot,  Aug.  10,  1847,  to  Sept.  3, 1850. 
Willis  W.  Wright,  Sept.  3,  1850,  to  Sept.  3,  1855. 
Jesse  Jones,  Sept.  3,  1855,  to  Sept.  3,  1859. 
Thomas  D.  Barker,  Sept.  3,  1859,  to  Sept.  3,  1861. 
John  L.  Brown,  Sept.  3,  1861,  to  Sept.  3,  1863. 
George  F.  Meyer,  Sept.  3,  1863,  to  Sept.  3,  1867. 
Arthur  L.  Wright,  Sept.  3,  1867,  to  Sept.  3,  1869. 
Frank  Erdelmeyer,  Sept.  3,  1869,  to  Sept.  3,  1871. 
Benjamin  F.  Riley,  Sept.  3,  1871,  to  Sept.  3,  1875. 
Jackson  Landers,  Sept.  3,  1875,  to  Sept.  3,  1877. 
Samuel  Hanway,  Sept.  3,  1877,  to  Sept.  3,  1879. 
Sample  Loftin,  Sept.  3,  1S79,  to  Sept.  3,  1881. 
John  L.  Mothershead,  Sept.  3,  1881,  to  Sept.  3,  1883. 
William  G.  Wasson,  Sept.  3,  1883,  for  two  years. 

COUNTY  AUDITORS. 
John  W.  Hamilton,  Aug.  9,  1841,  to  Nov.  1,  1855. 
Austin  H.  Brown,  Nov.  1,  1855,  to  Nov.  1,  1859. 
Jacob  T.  Wright,  Nov.  1,  1859,  to  Nov.  2,  1867. 
George  F.  McGinnis,  Nov.  2,  1867,  to  Nov.  2,  1871. 
Francis  W.  Hamilton,  Nov.  2,  1871,  to  Nov.  2,  1875. 
William  R.  Sproule,  Nov.  2,  1875,  to  Nov.  2,  1879. 
William  A.  Pfaff,  Nov.  2,  1879,  to  Nov.  2,  1883. 
Justus  C.  Adams,  Nov.  2,  1883,  for  four  years. 

COUNTY  ASSESSORS. 
James  Paxton  (appointed),  April  17,  1822,  to  Feb.  11,  1823. 
Aaron  Lambeth  (appointed),  Feb.  11,  1823,  to  Feb.  11,  1824. 
Jacob  Landis  (appointed),  Feb.  11,  1824,  to  Jan.  2,  1826. 
George  L.  Kinnard  (iippointed),  Jan.  2,  1826,  to  Jan.  1,  1827. 
John  McColIum  (elected),  Dec.  6,  1841,  to  Dec.  1,  1845. 
Ahira  Wells  (elected),  Dec.  1,  1845,  to  Deo.  6,  1847. 
Thomas  McFarland  (elected),  Dec.  6,  1847,  to  Dec.  6,  1849. 
Samuel  Vanlaningham  (elected),  Dec.  6,  1849,  to  October,  1852. 
Anthony  Wiese  (elected),  Aug.  1,  1873,  to  Nov.  1,  1874. 
Andrew  J.  Vansickle  (elected),  Nov.  1,  1874,  to  March,  1875. 

COUNTY  COLLECTORS  OF  REVENUE. 
Harris  Tyner,  May  15,  1822,  to  1823. 
Hcrvey  Bates,  1823,  to  Feb.  U,  1824. 
Jeremiah  Johnson,  Feb.  11,  1824,  to  Jan.  .3,  1825. 
Alexander  W.  Russell,  Jan.  3,  1825,  to  May  6,  1828. 
Jacob  Landis,  May  6,  1828,  to  May  2,  1831. 
Andrew  Wilson,  May  2,  1831,  to  May  7,  1832. 
George  TafTe,  May  7,  1832,  to  May  6,  1833. 
Asa  B.  Strong,  May  6,  1833,  to  May  5,  1835. 
Corson  Vickers,  .May  5,  1835,  to  April  18,  1836. 
Israel  Phillips,  April  18,  1836,  to  May  1,  1837. 
Corson  Vickers,  May  1,  1837,  till  the  office  was  abolished  in 
1841. 

COUNTY   SURVEYORS. 
Isaac  Kinder,  Feb.  19,  1827,  to  Nov.  7,  1831. 
George  L.  Kinnard,  Dec.  12,  1831,  to  March  25,  1835. 
Isaac  Kinder,  April  6,  1835,  to  Oct.  2,  1835.     Resigned. 
Robert  B.  Hanna,  Oct.  .3,  1835,  to  Nov.  7,  1836.     Resigned. 


William  Sullivan,  Nov.  11,  1836,  to  Nov.  11,  1839. 
Robert  B.  Hanna,  March  19,  1840,  to  March  25,  1843.   Resigned. 
Isaac  Kinder,  Nov.  24,  1843,  to  June  8,  1847.     Resigned. 
Lazarus  B.  Wilson,  Sept.  1,  1847,  to  March  9,  1848.    Resigned. 
Percy  Hosbrook,  March  10,  1848,  to  Sept.  4,  1850. 
Daniel  B.  Hosbrook,  Sept.  4,  1850,  to  Nov.  6,  1854. 
William  A.  Curran,  Nov.  6,  1854,  to  Nov.  12,  1856. 
William  P.  Case,  Nov.  12,  1856,  to  June  9,  1858.     Resigned. 
Royal  Mayhew,  June  9,  1858,  to  Oct.  27,  1860. 
Oliver  W.  Voorhis,  Oct.  27,  1860,  to  Nov.  12,  1874. 
William  H.  Morrison,  Nov.  12,  1874,  to  Jan.  18,  1875.     Died. 
Hervey  B.  Fatout,  Feb.  5,  1876,  to  Nov.  10,  1884. 

SCHOOL    LAND    COMMISSIONERS. 
John  M.  Frazee,  November,  1829,  to  Jan.  8,  1833. 
Abram  W.  Harrison,  Jan.  8,  1833,  to  Nov.  4,  1833. 
Thomas  H.  Sharpe,  Nov.  4,  1833,  to  Sept.  6,  1834. 
AVilliam  Hannaman,  Sept.  6,  1834,  to  March  11,  1842. 
John  L.  Mothershe.ad,  March  17,  1842,  to  Sept.  7,  1842. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Sept.  7,  1842,  to  March  7,  1844. 
Moore  Galway,  March  8,  1844,  to  Sept.  6,  1844. 
Aquilla  Parker,  Sept.  6,  1844. 

SCHOOL  EXAMINERS. 
George  M.  Darrock,  Dec.  5,  1854,  to  July  11,  1860. 
Lawrence  Waldo,  March  6,  1856,  to  March  1,  1857. 
Silas  T.  Bowen,  March  1,  1857,  to  March  1,  1860. 
George  W.  Hoss,  July  11,  1860,  to  March  1,  1861. 
Cyrus  Smith,  March  1,  1861,  to  Sept.  5,  1865. 
Pleasant  Bond,  Sept.  5,  1865,  to  Sept.  4,  1867. 
William  A.  Bell,  Sept.  4,  1867,  to  June  4,  1873. 

COUNTY   SCHOOL   SUPERINTENDENTS. 
Walter  S.  Smith,  June  4,  1873,  to  June  9,  1875. 
Lea  P.  Harlan,  June  9,  1875,  to  June  11,  1885. 

DIRECTORS    COUNTY  ASYLUM. 
Abraham  Coble,  May  8,  1832,  to  — . 
William  McCaw,  May  8,  1832,  to—. 
Carey  Smith,  to  May  7,  1833.     Resigned. 
Samuel  McCormick,  May  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  7,  1834. 
Isaac  Pugh,  Jan.  7,  1834,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
James  Johnson,  Jan.  7,  1834,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
William  Logan,  Jan.  7,  1834,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
Isaac  Pugh,  Jan.  4,  1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
James  Johnson,  Jan.  4, 1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
James  Johnson,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  2,  1838. 
Samuel  McCray,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  2,  1838. 
Abraham  Coble,  Jan.  2,  1838,  to  Nov.  6,  1839. 
William  MoCaw,  Jan.  2,  1838,  to  Nov.  6,  1839. 
George  Lockerbie,  Nov.  6,  1839,  to  March  1,  1841. 
Thomas  F.  Stout,  Nov.  6,  1839,  to  March  1,  1841. 

SUPERINTENDENTS   COUNTY    ASYLUM. 
James  H.  Higgenbotham,  March  1,  1841,  to  March  1,  1847. 
Ruth  Higgenbotham,  March  1, 1847,  to  March  1,  1850. 
Henry  Fisher,  March  1,  1850,  to  March  1,  1851. 
Firmin  Stout,  March  1,  1851,  to  March  1,  1852. 
Henry  Fisher,  March  1,  1852,  to  March  1,  1854. 
Titus  Baker,  March  1,  1854,  to  March  1,  1857. 
John  Felly,  March  1,  1857,  to  March  1,  1858. 
William  H.  Watts,  March  1,  1858,  to  March  1,  1860. 
John  Adams,  March  1,  1860,  to  March  1,  1863. 
William  H.  Watts,  March  1,  1S63,  to  March  1,  1864. 
Levi  A.  Hardesty,  March  1,  1864,  to  March  1,  1867. 
Parker  S.  Carson,  March  1,  1867,  to  March  1,  1868. 
Joseph  L.  Fisher,  March  1,  1868,  to  March  1,  1872. 


498 


HISTORY  OP   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Samuel  Royster,  March  1,  1872,  to  March  1,  1878. 
Lawrence  Logsdon,  March  1,  1S78,  to  March  1,  1879. 
Peter  M.  Wright,  March  1,  1879,  to  March  1,  1885. 

COUNTY    PHYSICIANS. 
Charles  Parry,  Sept.  9,  1840,  to  Sept.  7,  1841. 
David  Yeakle,  Sept.  7,  1841,  to  March  10,  1842. 
Livingston  Dunlap,  March  10,  1842,  to  March  8,  1843. 
John  S.  Bobbs,  March  8,  1843,  to  March  1,  1844. 
Livingston  Dunlap,  March  8,  1843,  to  March  1,  1844. 
John  H.  Parry,-March  I,  1844,  to  March  1,  1847. 
Charles  Saunders,  March  1,  1844,  to  March  1,  1847. 
John  H.  Parry,  March  1,  1847,  to  March  1,  1850. 
John  M.  Gaston,  March  1,  1847,  to  March  1,  1850. 
Livingston  Dunlap,  March  1,  1850,  to  March  8,  1851. 
Alois  D.  Gall,  March  1, 1850,  to  March  8,  1851. 
John  F.  Merrill,  March  8, 1851,  to  March  8,  1852. 
Fitch  C.  Fisher,  March  S,  1851,  to  March  8,  1852. 
David  Funkhouser,  March  8,  1852,  to  June  8,  1853. 
George  W.  Mears,  March  8,  1852,  to  June  8,  1853. 
Livingston  Dunlap,  June  8,  1853,  to  June  8,  1854. 
Nicholas  J.  Dorsey,  June  8,  1853,  to  June  8,  1855. 
David  Funkhouser,  June  8,  1855,  to  June  1,  1857. 
Thomas  B.  Elliott,  June  1,  1857,  to  June  15,  1859. 
Michael  J.  Lynch,  June  15,  1859,  to  Dec.  6,  1860. 
Clay  Brown,  Dec.  6,  1860,  to  Dec.  6,  1861. 
Mansur  H.  Wright,  Dec.  6,  1861,  to  Dec.  6,  1863. 
Robert  N.  Todd,  Dec.  6,  1863,  to  Dec.  6,  1865. 
John  M.  Phipps,  Dec.  6,  1865,  to  Dec.  6,  1866. 
James  W.  Bigelow,  Dec.  6,  1866,  to  Dec.  6,  1867. 
William  Wands,  Deo.  6,  1867,  to  Dec.  7,  1870. 

PHYSICIANS    AT    COUNTY   ASYLUM. 
H.  H.  Moore,  Dec.  7,  1870,  to  March  1,  1873. 
P.  Henry  Jameson,  March  1,  1873,  to  Feb.  1,  1877. 
Samuel  M.  Davis,  Feb.  1,  1877,  to  Feb.  23,  1879. 
Harry  Peachee,  Fob.  23,  1879,  to  Feb.  23,  1881. 
W.  D.  Culbertson,  Feb.  23,  1881,  to  Feb.  23,  1882. 
C.  A.  Ritter,  Feb.  23,  1882,  to  March  1,  1883. 
Theodore  A.  Wagner,  March  1,  1883,  to  March  1,  1885. 

RESIDENT    PHYSICIAN   OF   THE   COUNTY   ASYLUM. 
Orange  G.  Pfaff.  March  1,  1883,  to  March  1,  1885.. 

JUDGES -OF  THE  PROBATE  COURT. 
John  C.  Hume.  Aug.  15,  1829,  to  Aug.  17,  1836. 
Robert  Patterson,  Aug.  17,  1836,  to  Sept.  23,  1850. 
Adam  Wright,  Sept.  23,  1850,  to  Oct.  13,  1851.     Died. 
Samuel  Cory,  Oct.  14, 1851,  till  the  court  was  abolished  in  1852. 

PRESIDENT  JUDGES  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 
William  W.  Wick,  Feb.  7,  1822,  to  Jan.  20,  1825.     Resigned. 
Bethuel  F.  Morris,  Jan.  20, 1825,  to  Nov.  13,  1834.     Resigned. 
William  W.  Wick,  Dec.  4,  1834,  to  Aug.  2,  1838.     Resigned. 
James  Morrison,  Aug.  2,  1838,  to  Aug.  10,  1842.     Resigned. 
William  Quarles,  commissioned  Aug.  15,  1842.     Not  accepted. 
Stephen  Major,  commissioned  Sept.  28,  1842.     Not  accepted. 
William  J.  Peaslee,  Dec.  16,  1842,  to  Sept.  17, 1849.  Resigned. 
William  W.  Wick,  Sept.  17,  1849,  to  Oct.  23,  1852. 

JUDGES  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 
AVilliam  W.  Wick,  Oct.  23,  1852,  to  May  1,  1853.     Resigned. 
Stephen  Major,  May  1,  1853,  to  Sept.  5,  1859.     Resigned. 
William  W.  Wick,  Sept.  5,  1859,  to  Oct.  24,  1859.     Resigned. 
Fabius  M.  Finch,  Oct.  24,  1859,  to  Oct.  27,  1865. 
John  Coburn,  Oct.  27,  1865,  to  Sept.  24,  1866.     Resigned. 


John  T.  Dye,  Sept.  24,  1866,  to  Nov.  3,  1866. 

Cyrus  C.  Hynes,  Nov.  3,  1866,  to  Nov.  5,  1870. 

John  S.  Tarkington,  Nov.  5,  1870,  to  Oct.  26,  1872.  Resigned. 

Livingston  Howland,  Oct.  26,  1872,  to  Dec.  28,  1876.  Resigned. 

Jacob  B.Julian,  Dec.  28,  1876,  to  Oct.  14,  1878. 

Joshua  G.  Adams,  Oct.  14,  1878,  to  Oct.  14,  1884. 

Alexander  C.  Ayres,  Oct.  14,  1884,  for  six  years. 

ASSOCIATE  JUDGES  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 
James  Mollvain,  April  8,  1822,  to  April  25,  1825.     Resigned. 
Eliakin  Harding,  April  8,  1822,  to  Dec.  15,  1826.     Resigned. 
George  Smith,  Aug.  8,  1825,  to  April  8,  1836. 
James  Mcllvain,  Fob.  12,  1827,  to  April  8,  1829. 
Joshua  Stevens,  April  8,  1829,  to  April  8,  1836. 
Adam  Wright,  April  8,  1836,  to  April  8,  1850. 
Thomas  O'Neal,  April  8,  1836,  to  April  8,  1843. 
Daniel  R.  Smith,  April  8,  1843,  till  the  office  was  abolished  in 

1851. 
Samuel  Cory,  April  8, 1843,  till  the  office  was  abolished  in  1851. 

JUDGES  OF  THE  COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS. 
Abram  A.  Hammond,  Jan.  12,  1849,  to  March  20,  1850. 
Edward  Lander,  March  26,  1850,  to  Oct.  26,  1852. 
Levi  L.  Todd,  Oct.  26,  1852,  to  Oct.  29,  1856. 
David  Wallace,  Oct.  29, 1856,  to  Sept.  4,  1859.     Died. 
John  Coburn,  Oct.  24,  1859,  to  Sept.  30,  1860.     Resigned. 
Charles  A.  Ray,  Sept.  30,  1860,  to  Dec.  7,  1864.     Resigned. 
Solomon  Blair,  Dec.  13,  1864,  to  March  3,  1871.     Resigned. 
Livingston  Howland,  March  3,  1871,  to  Oct.  24,  1872. 
William  Irwin,  Oct.  24,  1872,  till  the  court  was  abolished  in 

May,  1873. 

JUDGES  OF  THE  CRIMINAL  COURT. 
George  H.  Chapman,  Deo.  27,  1865,  to  Oct.  24,  1870. 
Byron  K.  Elliott,  Oct.  24,  1870,  to  Nov.  16,  1872. 
Charles  H.  Test,  Nov.  16,  1872,  to  Oct.  22,  1874. 
Edward  C.  Buskirk,  Oct.  22,  1874,  to  Oct.  23,  1878. 
James  E.  Heller,  Oct.  23,  1878,  to  Oct.  24,  1882. 
Pierce  Norton,  Oct.  24,  1882,  for  four  years. 

JUDGES  OF  THE  SUPERIOR  COURT. 
Room  1. 
Frederick  Rand,  Feb.  25,  1871,  to  Aug.  24,  1872.     Resigned. 
Samuel  E.  Perkins,  Aug.  24,  1872,  to  Jan.  1, 1877.     Resigned. 
John  A.  Holman,  Jan.  1,  1877,  to  Nov.  20,  1882. 
Napoleon  B.  Taylor,  Nov.  20,  1882,  to  Nov.  20,  1886. 

Room  2. 
Solomon  Blair,  March  3,  1871,  to  Nov.  3,  1876. 
Daniel  W.  Howe,  Nov.  3,  1876,  to  Nov.  18,  1886. 

Room  3. 
Horatio  C.  Newcomb,  Feb.  25,  1871,  to  Sept.  18,  1876. 
Harry  M.  Burns,  Sept.  19,  1876,  to  Oct.  24,  1876. 
Byron  K.  Elliott,  Oct.  24,  1876,  to  Oct.  27,  1880. 
Lewis  C.  Walker,  Oct.  27,  1880,  to  Oct.  27,  1888. 


Ko 


i. 


Myron  B.  Williams,  March  10,  1877,  to  Oct.  28,  1878. 
David  V.  Burns,  Oct.  28,  1878,  till  the  court  was  abolished  in 
May,  1879. 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEYS  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 
Calvin  Fletcher,  Sept.  26,  1822,  to  Nov.  8,  1823. 
Hervey  Gregg,  Nov.  8,  1823,  to  Aug.  9,  1825. 
Calvin  Fletcher,  Aug.  9,  1825,  to  Aug.  28,  1826. 
James  Whitcomb,  Aug.  28,  1826,  to  Jan.  14,  1829. 


CIVIL  LIST  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


49!) 


William  W.  Wick,  Jan.  14,  1829,  to  Jan.  14,  1831. 

William  Brown,  Jan.  14,  1831,  to  Jan.  14,  1833. 

William  Herod,  Jan.  14,  1833,  to  Deo.  11,  18.^8. 

William  Quarles,  Dec.  11,  1838,  to  April  13,  1839. 

William  J.  Peaslce,  April  13,  IS.iy,  to  J.in.  25,  1841. 

Hugh  O'Neal,  Jan.  29, 1841,  to  Jan.  29,  1843. 

Abram  A.  Hammond,  Jan.  29,  1843,  to  Jan.  29,  1847. 

Edward  Lander,  Jan.  29,  1S47,  to  Aug.  27,  1851. 

David  S.  Gooding,  Aug.  27,  1851,  to  Oct.  23,  1852. 

Reuben  A.  Riley,  Oct.  23,  1852,  to  Oct.  27,  1854. 

De  Witt  C.  Chipman,  Oct.  27,  1854,  to  Nov.  2,  1856. 

Peter  S.  Kennedy,  Nov.  2,  1856,  to  Nov.  2,  1858. 

William  P.  Fishback,  Nov.  2,  1858,  to  Oct.  4,  1862.     Resigned. 

William  W.  Leathers,  Oct.  4,  1862,  to  Dec.  27,  1865. 

PROSECUTING      AtTORNEYS     OF      THE      CRIMINAL 

COURT. 
William  W.  Leathers,  Dec.  27,  1865,  to  Nov.  25,  1867. 
John  S.  Duncan,  Nov.  25,  1867,  to  Nov.  3,  1870. 
Henry  C.  Giiffin,  Nov.  3,  1870,  to  Nov.  3,  1872. 
Robert  P.  Parker,  Nov.  3,  1872,  to  Nov.  3,  1874. 
James  M.  Cropsey,  Nov.  3,  1874,  to  Nov.  3,  1876. 
James  E.  Heller,  Nov.  3,  1876,  to  Oct.  22,  1878. 
John  B.  Elam,  Oct.  22,  1878,  to  Nov.  17,  1882.     . 

PROSECUTING  ATTORNEYS  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 
John  Denton,  Oct.  26,  1874,  to  Oct.  26,  1876. 
Joshua  G.  Adams,  Oct.  26,  1876,  to  Oct.  26,  1878. 
Richard  B.  Blake,  Oct.  26,  1878,  to  Oct.  26,  1880. 
Newton  M.  Taylor,  Oct.  26,  1880,  to  Nov.  17,  1832. 

PROSECUTING    ATTORNEY    OF    THE    CIRCUIT     AND 

CRIMINAL    COURTS. 
William  T.  Brown,  Nov.  17,  1882,  to  Nov.  17,  1884.' 

PROSECUTING     ATTORNEYS     OF    THE      COURT     OF 

COMMON    PLEAS. 
John  T.  Morrison,  Oct.  25,  1852,  to  Oct.  24,  1854. 
Jonathan  W.  Gordon,  Oct.  24, 1854,  to  Jan.  30,  1856.  Resigned. 
Richard  J.  Ryan,  Jan.  20,  1856,  to  Oct.  28,  1856. 
John  S.  Tarkington,  Oct.  28,  1856,  to  Oct.  28,  1S58. 
James  N.  Swectser,  Oct.  28,  1858,  to  Oct.  26,  1860. 
John  C.  Buffkin,  Oct.  26,  1860,  to  Nov.  1,  1864. 
William  W.  Woolen,  Nov.  1,  1864,  to  Nov.  2,  1868. 
William  Irvin,  Nov.  2,  1868,  to  Nov.  2,  1870. 
David  V.  Burns,  Nov.  2,  1870,  to  Nov.  2,  1872. 
Robert  E.  Smith,  Nov.  2,  1872,  till  the   court  was  abolished 
in  May,  1873. 

COUNTY  BOARD  OF  JUSTICES.'' 

1824-25. 

Prest.,  Joel  Wright,  May  11,  1822,  Washington  and  Lawrence 

townships. 
William  D.  Rooker,  May  11,  1822,  Washington  and  Lawrence 

townships. 
John  C.  Hume,  June  19,  1824,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  February,  1824,  Wayne  township. 

'  The  prosecuting  attorneys  of  the  Circuit  Court  were  re- 
placed by  those  of  the  Criminal  Court  from  1865  to  1874. 
Then  there  was  a  prosecutor  for  each  until  1882,  when  the 
offices  were  combined. 

'  The  date  in  county  boards  of  justices  is  the  date  of  election 
always. 


Abraham  Hendricks,  May  11, 1822,  Wayne  township.  Removed 
from  township. 

William  Logan,  Jan.  29,  1825,  W.ayne  township. 

.Toseph  Beeler,  Aug.  30,  1823.  Decatur  township. 

Peter  Harmonson,  May  11,  1822,  Perry  .and  Franklin  town- 
ships. 

Henry  D.  Bell,  Feb.  22,  1823,  Perry  and  Franklin  townships. 

Wilks  Reagin,  May  25,  1822,  Centre  and  Warren  townships. 

Obed  Foote,  May  25,  1822,  Centre  and  Warren  townships. 

Lismnnd  Basye,  May  25,  1822,  Centre  and  Warren  townships. 

1825-26. 

Prest.,  Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 

Joel  Wright,  Washington  and  Lawrence  townships.  Resigned 
Sept.  5,  1825. 

William  D.  Rooker,  Washington  and  Lawrence  townships. 

Hiram  Bacon,  Oct.  1,  1825,  Washington  and  Lawrence  town- 
ships. 

John  C.  Hume,  Pike  township. 

Jacob  Sheets,  July  30,  1825,  Pike  township. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 

William  Logan,  Wayne  township. 

Peter  Harmonson,  Perry  and  Franklin  townships. 

Henry  D.  Bell,  Perry  and  Franklin  townships. 

Obed  Foote,  Centre  township. 

Wilks  Reagin,  Centre  township.     Resigned  April  15,  1826. 

Lismund  Basye,  Centre  township. 

Caleb  Scudder,  June  3.  1826,  Centre  township. 

Rufus  Jenison,  June  3,  1826,  Warren  township. 


1826-27. 
Prest.,  Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 
Joel  Wright,  July  2,  1827,  Washington  township. 
William  D.  Rooker,  Washington  township.     Term  expired. 
Hiram  Bacon,  Washington  township. 
John  C.  Hume,  Pike  township.     Resigned  May  16,  1827. 
Jacob  Sheets,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 
William  Logan,  Wayne  township. 
Peter  Harmonson,  Perry  and  Franklin  townships. 
Henry  D.  Bell,  Perry  and  Franklin  townships. 
Obed  Foote,  June  2,  1827,  Centre  township.     Re-elected. 
Lismund  Basye,  Centre  township.     Term  expired. 
Henry  Bradley,  June  2,  1827,  Centre  township. 
Caleb  Soudder,  Centre  township. 
Rufus  Jenison,  Warren  township. 

Thomas  North,  Oct.  6,  1826,  Lawrence  township.     Invalid. 
Peter  Castetter,  Dec.  2,  1S26,  Lawrence  township. 

1827-23. 
Prest.,  Joel  Wright,  Washington  township.     Died. 
Hiram  B.icon,  AVashington  township. 
Edward  Roberts,  April  5,  1828,  Washington  township. 
Jacob  Sheets,  Pike  township. 
Austin  Davenport,  July  28,  1827,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 
William  Logan,  Wayne  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 
Henry  D.  Bell,  Perry  township. 
Peter  Harmonson,  Perry  township. 
Thomas  Carle,  April  5,  1828,  Perry  township. 
James  Greer,  Oct.  6,  1827,  Franklin  town&hip. 
Rufus  Jenison,  Warren  township. 
Peter  Castetter,  Lawrence  township. 
Obed  Foote,  Centre  township. 
Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township. 
Caleb  Scudder,  Centre  township. 


500 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


1828-29. 
Prest.,  Caleb  Scudder,  Centre  township. 
Obed  Foote,  Centre  township, 
Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township, 

Hiram  Bacon,  Washington  township.    Resigned  Jan.  4,  1830. 
Edward  Roberts,  Washington  township. 
Jacob  Sheets,  Pike  township. 
Austin  Davenport,  Pike  township. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  March  28,  1829,  Wayne  township.    Re- 
elected. 
William  Logan,  Wayne  township.     Resigned  Nov.  4,  1828. 
James  Johnson,  Dec,  6,  1828,  Wayne  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Dec,  30,  1828,  Decatur  township.     Re-elected. 
Thomas  Carle,  Perry  township. 
Henry  D.  Bell,  Perry  township. 
James  Greer,  Franklin  township. 

Rufus  Jenison,  Warren  township.     Resigned  Nov.  3,  1828. 
Henry  Brady,  Aug.  4,  1828,  Warren  township. 
Solomon  Wells,  Feb.  7,  1329,  Warren  township. 
Peter  Castetter,  Lawrence  township. 

1829-30. 
Prest.,  Caleb  Scudder,  Centre  township. 
Obed  Foote,  Centre  township. 
Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township. 
Edward  Roberts,  Washington  township. 
Abraham  Bowen,  Jan.  30,  1830,  Washington  township. 
Jacob  Sheets,  Pike  township.     Resigned. 
Austin  Davenport,  Pike  township.     Resigned  March  1,  1830. 
Zeph.  Hollingsworth,  Jan.  30,  1830,  Pike  township. 
William  C.  Robinson,  Jan.  30,  1830,  Pike  township, 
Jesse  Lane,  March  20,  1830,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 
James  Johnson,  Wayne  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 
Thomas  Carle,  Perry  township. 
Peyton  Bristow,  Oct.  1,  1829,  Perry  township. 
.  James  Greer,  Franklin  township. 
Marine  D.  West,  July  25,  1829,  Franklin  township. 
Henry  Brady,  Warren  township. 
Solomon  Wells,  Warren  township. 
Peter  Castetter,  Lawrence  township. 

1830-31. 
Prest.,  Caleb  Scudder,  Centre  township. 
Obed  Foote,  Centre  township. 
Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township. 
Edward  Roberts,  Washington  township. 
Abraham  Bowen,  Washington  township. 
William  C.  Robinson,  Pike  township. 

Zeph.  Hollingsworth,  Pike  township.     Resigned  May  2,  1831. 
Jesse  Lane,  Pike  township. 
Adam  Wright,  June  4,  1831,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 
James  Johnson,  Wayne  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 
Thomas  Carle,  Perry  township.     Died  May,  1831. 
Peyton  Bristow,  Perry  township. 
Thomas  McFarland,  May  28,  1831,  Perry  township. 
James  Greer,  Franklin  township. 

Marine  D.  West,  Franklin  township.     Removed  May,  1831. 
Isaac  Baylor,  June  11,  1S3I,  Franklin  township. 
Henry  Brady,  Warren  township. 

Solomon  Wells,  Warren  township.     Resigned  Sept.  3,  1832. 
Peter  Castetter,  Lawrence  township. 
John  Bolander,  Feb.  5,  1831,  Lawrence  township. 


1831-32. 
Prest.,  Caleb  Scudder,  Centre  township. 
Obed  Foote,  Centre  township. 
Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township. 
Edward  Roberts.  Washington  township. 
Abraham  Bowen,  Washington  township. 
William  C.  Robinson,  Pike  township. 
Jesse  Lane,  Pike  township. 
Adam  Wright,  Pike  township. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  Wayne  township. 
James  Johnson,  Wayne  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Decatur  township. 
James  Epperson,  April  2,  1832,  Decatur  township. 
Peyton  Bristow,  Perry  township. 
Thomas  McFarland,  Perry  township. 
James  Greer,  Franklin  township, 
Isaac  Baylor,  Franklin  township. 
Henry  Brady,  Warren  township. 
Joshua  Black,  Aug.  13,  1831,  Warren  township. 
Peter  Castetter,  Lawrence  township.       Term    expired  in  De 

cember,  1831. 
John  Bolander,  Lawrence  township. 
William  G.  Mcintosh,  April  2,  1832,  Lawrence  township. 

1835-36. 
Prest.,  Caleb  Scudder,   Centre  township. 
Henry  Bradley,  Feb.  2,  1833,  Centre  township. 
Wilks  Reagin,  Dec.  7,  1833,  Centre  township. 
Samuel  Jenison,  March  8,  1834,  Centre  township. 
James  Epperson,  Decatur  township. 
Zimri  Brown,  Feb.  12,  1834,  Decatur  township. 
Joseph  Beeler,  Aug.  29,  1835,  Decatur  township. 
James  Greer,  Nov.  20,  1832,  Franklin  township. 
Isaac  Baylor,  Franklin  township. 
Joseph  Johnston,  Dec.  1,  1832,  Lawrence  township. 
Daniel  Shartz,  April  1,  1835,  Lawrence  township. 
Jacob  Smock,  Feb,  1,  1S34,  Perry  township. 
George  Tomlinson,  Oct.  4,  1834,  Perry  township. 
Smith  Isaac,  Oct.  4,  1834,  Pike  township. 
Nathaniel  Bell,  April  6,  1835,  Pike  township. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Oct.  13,  1832,  Warren  township. 
Joseph  S.  Mix,  Oct.  4,  1834,  Warren  township. 
Daniel  R.  Smith,  Oct.  12,  1S33,  Washington  township. 
Abraham  Bowen,  April  1,  1835,  Washington  township. 
James  Johnson,  Feb.  5, 1834,  Wayne  township. 
James  W,  Johnston,  May  6,  1834,  Wayne  township. 
Allen  Jennings,  May  6,  1834,  Wayne  township. 


Prest.,  Henry  Bradley,  Centre  township. 

Caleb  Scudder,  Aug.  27,  1836,  Centre  township, 

Wilks  Reagin,  Centre  township. 

Samuel  Jenison,  Centre  township. 

Thomas  M.  Weaver,  Oct.  2,  1836,  Centre  township. 

Joshua  Stevens,  April  3,  1837,  Centre  township. 

Joseph  Beeler.  Decatur  township. 

Zimri  Brown,  Decatnr  township. 

Noah  Reagan,  Oct.  1,  1836,  Decatur  township. 

Jesse  Grace,  Dec,  24,  1836,  Decatur  township. 

James  Greer,  Franklin  township. 

Isaac  Baylor,  .Tune  25,  1836,  Franklin  township. 

Benjamin  Morgan,  April  4,  1836,  Franklin  township. 

Joseph  Johnston,  Lawrence  township. 

Daniel  Shartz,  Lawrence  township. 

Jacob  Smock,  Perry  township. 

George  Tomlinson,  Perry  township. 


CENTKE   TOWNSHIP. 


501 


Smith  Isaac,  Pike  township. 

Nathaniel  Bell,  Pike  township. 

Elias  N.  Shimer,  Warren  township. 

Joseph  S.  Mix,  Warren  township. 

James  P.  H.inna,  May  2S,  1836,  Warren  township. 

Lyman  Carpenter,  Oct.  4,  1836,  Warren  township. 

Daniel  R.  Smith,  Washington  township. 

Abraham  Bowen,  Washington  township. 

John  R.  Anderson,  Nov.  20,  1836,  Washington  township. 

James  Johnson,  Wayne  township. 

James  W.  Johnston,  Wayne  township. 

Allen  Jennings,  Wayne  township. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

CENTRE    TOWNSHIP. 

Although  the  city  of  Indianapolis  covers  but 
about  twelve  of  the  forty-two  sections  in  Centre 
township,  the  history  of  the  city  is  so  largely  that  of 
the  township  that  there  is  little  to  say  of  the  latter 
that  will  not  be  a  repetition.  The  settlements  which 
have  become  little  towns  are  merely  the  natural  ac- 
cretions of  residence  about  a  factory  or  mill,  or  an  in- 
dustry of  some  kind  that  belongs  to  the  city,  and 
they  are  really  as  much  a  part  of  it  as  the  squares 
cornering  on  the  Circle.  What  history  and  business 
they  have  independently  can  be  soon  told.  The 
township  was  associated  with  Warren  from  its  first 
organization,  in  the  spring  of  1822,  to  the  1st  of 
May,  1826,  and  the  records  called  the  combination 
Centre-Warren  township.  After  this  separation  the 
township  and  the  town  were  one  till  the  independent 
organization  of  the  latter,  Sept.  3,  1832.  Then  the 
outside  area  began  to  have  a  little  consciousness  of  a 
legal  existence.  It  has  never  had  much  more.  The 
population  in  1880  was  five  thousand  five  hundred 
and  ninety-two,  and  is  probably  seven  thousand  now. 
Of  this  number,  Brightwood  contains  six  hundred 
and  seventy-nine,  part  of  Irvington  eighty-nine,  and 
WoodruflF  Place  twenty.  The  population  of  West 
Indianapolis,  formerly  Belmont,  is  not  stated,  as  the 
town  was  not  organized  when  the  census  was  taken. 
Haughsville  is  in  Wayne  township,  and  Brookside 
and  Indianola  belong  to  the  city,  and  North  Indian- 
apolis is  not  organized.  So  there  is  no  way  to  learn 
accurately  the  distribution  of  this  outside  population. 


There  are  four  divisions  of  the  surrounding  area. 
Washington  and  Meridian  Streets  are  the  dividing 
lines,  and  all  inside  of  the  city  limits  is  taken  off, 
leaving  a  rim  of  territory  round  each  quarter  of  the 
city  in  the  corners.  Each  of  these  sections  is  di- 
vided into  two  precincts  for  voting  purposes.  Each 
is  a  road  district,  and  has  its  own  supervisor,  under 
the  general  supervision  of  the  township  trustee. 
There  are  thirteen  schools  in  these  four  sections, 
with  about  thirty  teachers.  Two  of  these  are  colored 
schools, — No.  11,  in  the  northeast,  and  No.  5,  in  the 
southeast.  A  colored  class  is  taught  in  No.  10, 
North  Indianapolis.  In  Nos.  7  and  4  a  German 
school  is  maintained  in  connection  with  the  regular 
schools ;  that  is,  such  portions  of  each  school  as 
wish  to  study  German,  or  to  pursue  their  general 
studies  in  that  language,  are  given  the  services  of  a 
teacher,  who  separates  them  temporarily  from  the 
others  and  gives  them  instruction  as  he  would  do  if 
they  had  a  school  wholly  to  themselves.  The  German 
language  is  studied  by  a  number  of  the  colored  pupils 
at  No.  10  and  other  schools.  Teachers'  institutes  are 
held  monthly  to  assist  the  teachers  by  discussions  of 
subjects  connected  with  their  occupation. 

The  churches  are  not  numerous  in  these  outlying 
sections.  The  city  is  so  convenient  and  so  much 
more  likely,  as  a  rule,  to  have  a  more  interesting 
class  of  services,  that  the  church  attendance  of  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  township  is  taken  to  the 
city,  to  the  damage  of  the  home  influence  and  the 
depreciation  of  church  property.  There  are  two 
churches  at  Brightwood,  one  Catholic  and  one  Meth- 
odist ;  one  in  Belmont,  or  used  to  be ;  and  one  that 
may  be  still  kept  up  on  the  Shelbyville  road,  near  the 
McLaughlin  place,  the  religious  training-school  of 
Rev.  Greenly  H.  McLaughlin,  one  of  the  few  now 
living  who  can  remember  Indianapolis  from  the  year 
it  was  laid  out  until  to-day. 

In  the  chapter  on  "  Charities"  is  a  statement  by 
the  township  trustee  of  the  pauper  account  during 
the  first  month  of  this  year.  The  total  payments  on 
this  account  are  nearly  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  or 
at  the  rate  of  over  twenty-one  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
This,  the  trustee  says,  is  an  unfair  indication.  The 
pauper  expense  of  January  was  double  that  of  the 


502 


HISTORY   OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


average  monthly  outlay.  The  year's  total  will 
not  reach  ten  thousand  dollars.  During  the  winter 
of  1874-75  there  were  eighteen  hundred  persons, 
many  with  families,  supported  by  the  township, 
and  the  annual  outlay  was  four  times  what  it  is 
now.  But  that  was  the  worst  season  for  the  extent 
of  pauperism  ever  known  in  this  country.  The  town- 
ship trustee  takes  care  of  several  abandoned  or 
abused  children  in  the  course  of  the  year  at  the 
different  asylums. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  officers  of  Centre  township 
from  its  formation  in  1822  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES  or  THE  PEACE. 
Wilks  Reagin,  June  14,  1822,  to  April  15,  1S26;  resigned. 
Lismund  Basyo,  June  14, 1822,  to  June  7,  1827. 
Obed  Foote,  June  14,  1822,  to  June  7,  1827. 
Caleb  Scudder,  June  14,  1826,  to  June  14,  1831. 
Obed  Foote,  June  13,  1827,  to  June  12,  1832. 
Henry  Bradley,  June  13,  1827,  to  June  12,  1832. 
Caleb  Scudder,  June  27,  1S31,  to  June  IS,  1836. 
Henry  Bradley,  Feb.  13,  1S33,  to  Feb.  13,  1838. 
Obed  Foote,  Feb.  13,  1833,  to  November,  1833  ;  died. 
James  Wingatc,  Feb.  13,  1833,  to  January,  1834;  died. 
Wilks  Reagin,  Dec.  17,  1833,  to  August,  1836;  removed. 
Samuel  Jenison,  March  11,  1834,  to  March  25,  1837;  resigned. 
Caleb  Scudder,  Sept.  19,  1836,  to  Sept.  19,  1841. 
Thomas  M.  Weaver,  Nov.  1,  1836,  to  July  12, 1841 ;  resigned. 
Joshua  Stevens,  April  6,  1837,  to  April  6,  1842. 
John  L.  Keteham,  April  11,  1838,  to  June  2,  1842;  resigned. 
Joseph  A.  Levy,  Aug.  13,  1841,  to  Aug.  13,  1846. 
William  Sullivan,  Oct.  6,  1841,  to  Nov.  1,  1867. 
Joshua  Stevens,  April  8,  1842,  to  April  8,  1852. 
William  Campbell,  Aug.  10,  1842,  to  Dec.  9,  1845;  resigned. 
James  G.  Jordan,  Jan.  27,  1846,  to  Sept.  28,  1848;  resigned. 
Caleb  Scudder,  Aug.  14, 1846,  to  Aug.  14, 1851. 
James  McCready,  April  11,  1850,  to  May  6,  1854:  resigned. 
Charles  Fisher,  Aug.  18,  1851,  to  Nov.  1,  1875. 
Christopher  G.  Werbe,  April  20,  1852,  to  April  20, 1856. 
John  Saltmarsh,  May  5,  1855,  to  May  3,  1859. 
Charles  Coulon,  April  21,  1856,  to  April  20,  1860. 
Andrew  Curtis,  May  3,  1859,  to  May  3,  1863. 
Frederic  Siein,  April  20,  1860,  to  April  20,  1864. 
Oscar  H.  Kendrick,  May  3,  1863,  to  Dec.  1,  1864:  resigned. 
Charles  Coulon,  April  20,  1864,  to  April  20,  1868. 
Alexander  G.  Wallace,  April  18,  1865,  to  April  17,  1869. 
Andrew  Curtis,  April  13,  1867,  to  April  13,  1871. 
Charles  Secrest,  Nov.  1, 1867,  to  Nov.  1,  1871. 
Charles  Fred.  Doepfner,  April  20,  1S6S,  to    Dec.  30,  1870:  re- 
signed. 
Henry  II.  Bogges,  Nov.  9, 1869,  to  Oct.  19,  1872  ;  resigned. 
William  Dietrichs,  Feb.  22,  1871,  to  April  18,  1876. 


Peter  Smock,  April  13,  1871,  to  April  13,  1875. 
John  6.  Smith,  Nov.  1,  1871,  to  April  9,  1875;  resigned. 
William  H.  Schmitts,  Oct.  21,  1872,  to  Oct.  21,  1876. 
Christopher  C.  Glass,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  Oct.  24,  1878. 
Abel  Catterson,  April  9,  1875,  to  June  20,  1878;  resigned. 
Thomas  P.  Miller,  April  13,  1875,  to  April  13,  1879. 
Luke  Walpole,  Nov.  1, 1875,  to  Nov.  1,  1879. 
William  C.  Newcomb,  Oct.  23,  1876,  to  Oct.  23,  1880. 
David  K.  Miner,  Oct.  25,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Willis  W.  Wright,  Jan.  13,  1877,  to  April  9,  1878. 
William  Whitney,  April  9,  1878,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Willis  W.  Wright,  June  20,  1878,  to  Nov.  1,  1879. 
Theodore  W.  Pease,  Oct.  24,  1878,  to  Oct.  24,  1882. 
Marquis  L.  Johnson,  April   13,  1879,  to  April  13,  1882;  re- 
signed. 
George  M.  Seibert,  Nov.  1,  1879,  to  Nov.  1,  1883. 
John  W.  Thompson,  Nov.  1,  1879,  to  Nov.  1,  1883. 
William  H.  Schmitts,  Nov.  12,  1880,  to  April  13,  1882. 
John  C.  Woodard,  Oct.  23,  1880,  to  Oct.  23,  1884. 
John  M.  Johnston,  April  13,  1882,  to  April  13,  1886. 
Patrick  Bennett,  July  8,  1882,  to  Oct.  11,  1882;  resigned. 
David  K.  Miner,  July  10,  1882,  to  June  20,  1883;  resigned. 
Charles  B.  Feibleman,  July  10,  1882,  to  April  17,  1884. 
Theodore  W.  Pease,  Sept.  20,  1882,  to  April  17,  1884. 
Christopher  C.  Glass,  Oct.  11,  1882,  to  April  17,  1884. 
Luke  Walpole,  Oct.  24,  1882,  to  Oct.  24,  1886. 
John  C.  Hoss,  June  21,  1883,  to  April  15,  1886. 

TEUSTEES. 
Jacob  Newman,  April  14,  1859,  to  April  13,  1861. 
James  Turner,  April  13,  1861,  to  June  13,  1864. 
James  W.  Brown,  June  13,  1864,  to  June  29,  1864. 

Joshua  M.  W.  Langsdale,  June  29,  1864,  to 1867. 

Cyrus  C.  Heizer, 1867,  to  Oct.  18,  1872. 

Charles  John,  Oct.  18,  1872,  to  Oct.  22,  1874. 
Michael  Doherty,  Oct.  22,  1874,  to  Oct.  20,  1876. 
W.  Smith  King,  Oct.  20,  1876,  to  April  14,  1880. 
Alonzo  B.  Harvey,  April  14,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
Ernest  Kitz,  April  14,  1882,  for  two  years. 

ASSESSORS. 
Henry  Bradley,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
James  F.  N.  Bradley,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  3, 1831. 
Daniel  R.  Smith,  Jan.  3,  1831,  to  .Tan.  2,  1832. 
Butler  K.  Smith,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
John  W.  Reding,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  5,  1835. 
Klias  N.  Shimer,  Jan.  5,  1835,  to  May  5,  1835. 
Morris  Bennett,  May  5,  1835,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
Charles  J.  Hand,  Jan.  4,  1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
Morris  Bennett,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  1,  1838. 
Peter  Winchell,  Jan.  1,  1838,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
John  M.  Wilson,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
Robert  Hanna,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Benjamin  G.  Yates,  Jan.  4,  1841,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
John  Taffe,  Dec.  21,  1852,  to  Feb.  6,  1S54. 


*^yTy?^    c/ZL^f-Cr-Trty 


CENTRE  TOWNSHIP. 


503 


John  D.  Thorpe,  Feb.  6, 1854,  to  April  7,  1855. 
John  B.  Stumph,  April  7,  1855,  to  Dec.  U,  1S55. 
John  C.  Baker,  Dec.  13,  1855,  to  Nov.  29,  1856. 
Andrew  Curtis,  Nov.  29,  1856,  to  Oct.  25,  1858. 
Oscar  H.  Kendrick,  Oct.  25,  1858,  to  Nov.  22,  1860. 
Leonidas  M.  Phipps,  Nov.  22,  1860,  to  Nov.  1,  1866. 
William  C.  Phipps,  Oct.  24,  1864,  to  April  3,  186S. 
John  Reynolds,  April  3,  1868,  to  Oct.  26,  1870. 
David  W.  Brouse,  Oct.  26,  1870,  (o  Aug.  1,  1873. 
David  W.  Brouse,  March  17,  1875,  to  April  12,  1880. 
Bernard  Raw,  April  12,  1880,  to  April  10,  1882. 
Thomas  B.  Messiek,  April  10,  1882,  to  April  10,  1884. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


SAMUEL  CANBY. 
Samuel  Canby,  whose  ancestors  were  of  English 
extraction,  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Benjamin  H.  Canby 
and  his  wife,  Sarah  Taylor,  of  Virginia.  He  was 
born  in  Leesburg,  Loudoun  Co.,  Va.,  on  the  12th  of 
April,  1800.  Here  his  early  years  were  spent  in  the 
pursuit  of  such  educational  advantages  as  the  schools 
of  the  neighborhood  afforded.  On  attaining  the 
years  of  manhood  he  removed  with  the  family  to 
Boone  County,  Ky.,  where  his  father  purchased  a 
farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River,  at  East  Bend, 
Bacon  Co.,  and  was  assisted  in  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  the  land  by  his  son.  Samuel  Canby 
was  married,  in  April,  1827,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
De  Pew,  of  Boone  County,  Ky.,  granddaughter  of 
John  De  Pew,  who  emigrated  from  England  and 
settled  in  Virginia.  The  latter  had  eight  children, 
of  whom  Abram,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Canby,  married 
Mildred  Sebree,  whose  parents  were  John  and  Mil- 
dred Johnson  Sebree.  The  former  was  a  Revolution- 
ary soldier,  and  died  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown.  He 
was  the  companion  of  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark  in  his 
expedition  against  the  Briti.sh  posts  in  the  West.  In 
1837,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Canby  removed  to  Marion 
County,  lud.,  in  company  with  an  uncle,  John  H. 
Canby,  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  who  possessed 
ample  means,  and  had  many  years  before  retired 
from  business.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  much  esteemed  for  his  many 
Christian  virtues.     His  death  occurred  Feb.  8,  1844, 


at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Canby  located  upon  a  farm  in  Centre  township,  two 
miles  from  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  where  they  con- 
tinued the  congenial  pursuits  of  the  agriculturist 
during  the  former's  lifetime.  Mr.  Canby  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  being  a  model  farmer,  and  one  of 
the  most  successful  in  the  county.  The  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Canby  was  the  seat  of  a  generous  hos- 
pitality, and  proverbial  for  the  welcome  and  good 
cheer  afforded  alike  to  guest  or  traveler.  In  politics 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  Democrat,  though 
his  innate  modesty  and  the  demands  of  his  private 
business  alike  prevented  active  participation  in  the 
political  events  of  the  day.  He  was  reared  in  the 
Quaker  faith,  and  with  his  wife  became  a  member  of 
the  Roberts  Park  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
Indianapolis.  Mr.  Canby,  in  1874,  erected  a  spa- 
cious dwelling  in  the  latter  city,  to  which  he  removed 
on  its  completion.  He  survived  this  change  of  resi- 
dence but  two  weeks,  and  died  on  the  16th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1874.  His  remains  are  interred  in  the  beau- 
tiful Crown  Hill  Cemetery.  His  widow,  with  her 
sister.  Miss  De  Pew,  now  occupies  the  city  home. 
Mrs.  Mildred  De  Pew,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Canby, 
died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter  at  the  advanced  age 
of  eighty-eight  years,  and  is  buried  in  Crown  Hill 
Cemetery.  She  was  a  lady  of  genial  nature,  great 
force  of  character,  and  remarkable  Christian  faith. 


JOHN  MOORE. 
Tile  paternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Moore  emigrated 
when  a  young  man  from  Scotland  to  Ireland,  where 
he  married  a  Miss  Reid  and  had  children, — John, 
William,  Thomas,  Christopher,  James,  Catherine 
(Mrs.  William  Humphrey),  Eleanor  (Mrs.  Robert 
Roe),  Peggy  (Mrs.  Jesse  Roe),  and  Elizabeth 
(Mrs.  Keyes).  Mr.  Moore  resided  in  County 
Donegal,  Ireland,  where  he  was  employed  in  the 
cultivation  and  improvement  of  a  farm.  His  son 
Thomas  was  born  in  County  Donegal,  and  mar- 
ried Miss  Catherine  Gutherie,  daughter  of  John 
Gutherie,  of  County  Fermanagh,  Ireland,  who  was 
also  of  Irish  descent.  The  children  of  Thomas  and 
Catherine   Moore   are   John,   Thomas,  Mary  (Mrs. 


504 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Henry  Bowser),  Margaret  (Mrs.  Charles  Clenden- 
ning},  Isabel  J.  (Mrs.  R.  A.  Yoke),  Elizabeth  (Mrs. 
Robert  Roe),  Catherine  (Mrs.  Edward  Thomas),  and 
Eleanor  (Mrs.  Hampton  Kelly).  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Moore  were  attracted  by  the  superior  advantages 
America  offered  the  working  classes,  and  left  their 
native  land  in  1824  for  its  hospitable  shores.  Mrs. 
Moore's  death  occurred  in  Pennsylvania,  en  route  for 
Ohio,  where  the  family  soon  after  settled.  In  1831 
Mr.  Moore  removed  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  where 
his  death  occurred  Jan.  8,  1838.  John  Moore,  his 
son,  was  born  Nov.  8,  1806,  in  County  Farmanagh, 
Ireland,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  emigrated  with 
his  parents  to  America.  His  educational  oppor- 
tunities were  limited,  his  early  years  having  been 
devoted  chiefly  to  labor.  He  engaged  in  Ohio  with 
his  father  in  clearing  land  and  farming,  and  on 
becoming  a  resident  of  Marion  County,  in  1831, 
sought  work  upon  the  public  improvements,  and  also 
busied  himself  at  farming.  He  was,  on  the  19th  of 
September,  1833,  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Bowser, 
daughter  of  Henry  Bowser,  of  Marion  County. 
Their  children  are  Thomas  H.,  William,  Hannah, 
Ritchison,  Isabel  (Mrs.  J.  W.  Yoke),  John  0., 
Catherine,  Mary  E.  H.,  Joseph  A.,  and  three  who 
are  deceased.  Mr.  Moore,  in  1839,  removed  to  his 
present  home,  and  has  there  continued  farming  until 
the  present  time.  He  has  devoted  his  energies 
entirely  to  the  improvement  of  his  land,  and  given 
little  attention  to  the  affairs  of  more  general  interest. 
He  was  formerly  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  subsequently 
gave  his  vote  to  the  Republican  party,  though  he  has 
never  accepted  or  desired  office.  He  is  in  religion  a 
Methodist,  and  member  of  the  Fletcher  Place  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  of  Indianapolis.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Moore  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  on  the 
19th  of  September,  1883,  on  which  interesting  occa- 
sion there  were  present  nine  children  and  eleven 
grandchildren,  who  offered  their  affectionate  con- 
gratulations to  this  venerable  couple. 


THOMAS    MOORE. 
Thomas  Moore  is  a  native  of  County  Fermanagh, 
Ireland,  where  his  birth  occurred  on  the  Cth  of  Au- 


gust, 1808.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  his  parents 
determined  to  emigrate  to  America,  there  being  at 
that  time  few  avenues  to  advancement  or  independ- 
ence open  to  the  poorer  classes  in  Ireland,  while  the 
New  World  offered  unlimited  possibilities  to  the  in- 
dustrious and  ambitious  foreigner.  After  a  brief  so- 
journ in  Washington,  Pa.,  Mr.  Moore  and  his  family 
removed  to  the  vicinity  of  Zanesville,  Ohio,  and  in 
1831  made  Thomas  Moore's  present  farm,  in  Marion 
County,  Ind.,  their  permanent  abode,  where  the 
father  died  on  the  8th  of  January,  1838.  The 
education  Thomas  received  in  his  youth  was  neces- 
sarily limited,  but  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  rudi- 
ments was  obtained  to  be  of  service  in  his  subsequent 
career.  His  first  employment  in  Indiana  was  in  con- 
nection with  public  improvements  and  the  construc- 
tion of  roads.  This  was  continued  for  a  period,  when 
Mr.  Moore  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  goods 
from  Cincinnati  for  the  merchants  of  Indianapolis, 
and  also  became  a  successful  farmer,  making  tjhis  the 
business  of  his  life.  His  industry,  application  to  the 
work  in  hand,  and  discretion  in  the  management  of 
his  varied  interests  have  received  their  reward  in  a 
competency  which  is  now  enjoyed  in  his  declining 
years.  Mr.  Moore  was  married,  in  January,  1832,  to 
Miss  Catherine,  daughter  of  William  Moore,  who 
resided  near  Zanesville,  Ohio.  Her  death  occurred 
June  29,  1867.  Their  children  are  three  daughters, 
— Jane  (deceased),  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  George  Langs- 
dale,  who  died  in  Texas  in  April,  1880),  and  Margaret 
J.  (Mrs.  Wilnier  Christian,  of  Indianapolis).  Mr. 
Moore  has  always  been  in  his  political  predilections  a 
consistent  Democrat,  though  not  active  as  a  politician 
and  without  ambition  for  the  honors  of  office.  The 
Moore  family  are  of  Scotch-Irish  lineage,  the  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  hav- 
ing married  a  Miss  Reid,  to  whom  were  born  nine 
children.  Their  son  Thomas,  a  native  of  County 
Donegal,  Ireland,  married  Miss  Catherine  Gutherie, 
of  County  Fermanagh,  Ireland,  and  had  two  sons 
and  six  daughters.  The  sons,  John  and  Thomas,  are 
represented  by  portraits  in  this  work. 


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CENTRE   TOWNSHIP. 


505 


ELISHA  J.  HOWLAND. 
Mr.  Howland  is  of  English  extraction,  and  the 
grandson  of  Elisha  Howland,  who  was  a  native  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  when  seventeen  years  of  age  emi- 
grated to  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y.  He  married  a 
Miss  Powell  and  had  six  children,  all  of  whom  sur- 
vive, with  the  exception  of  Powell,  who  was  born 
Oct.  16,  1799,  in  Saratoga  County,  and  removed 
to  Indiana  in  1839.  He  married,  in  1818,  Miss 
Tamma  Morris,  of  Saratoga  County,  and  in  1823, 
Miss  Mahala  Thurber.  To  the  first  marriage  were 
born  two  children,  and  to  the  second  five,  among 
whom  was  Elisha  J.,  whose  birth  occurred  in  Saratoga 
County,  Nov.  30,  1826,  where  he  remained  until 
thirteen  years  of  age.  He  then  with  his  father  re- 
moved to  Indiana,  and  was  until  eighteen  years  of 
age  a  pupil  of  the  public  school,  after  which  for  two 
years  he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  Marion 
County  Seminary,  in  Indianapolis.  His  attention 
was  then  turned  to  the  cultivation  of  the  homestead 
farm,  a  part  of  which  became  his  by  division  on 
attaining  his  majority.  He  has  since  that  time  con- 
tinued farming  of  a  general  character,  combined  with 
stock-raising,  and  has  met  with  success  in  his  voca- 
tion. He  shares  his  father's  love  of  horticultural 
pursuits,  and  has  devoted  much  tiine  and  attention 
to  the  subject.  He  is  a  member  of  both  the  State 
and  County  Horticultural  Societies.  In  politics  Mr. 
Howland  is  an  ardent  Democrat,  and  was  in  1882 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  where  he  served  on 
the  committees  on  Reformatory  Institutions  and  Fees 
and  Salaries,  and  was  chairman  of  the  former.  He 
has  ever  manifested  much  public  spirit,  been  active 
in  the  furtherance  of  all  public  improvements,  and 
the  promoter  of  various  schemes  for  the  welfare  of 
the  county  of  his  residence  and  the  good  of  the  pub- 
lic. Mr.  Howland  was  married,  in  1851,  to  Miss 
Margaret  E.,  daughter  of  Nineveh  Berry,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  the  State,  who  was  born  in  Clark 
County,  and  removed  to  Anderson,  Madison  Co., 
before  the  government  survey  was  made.  He  held 
many  prominent  ofiices,  and  was  one  of  the  original 
surveyors  who  laid  out  the  lands  of  the  State  in  be- 
half of  the  government.  His  death  occurred  Aug.  17, 
1883,  in  his  eightieth  year.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howland 


have  children,— Charles  B.,  Elizabeth  M.,  James  E., 
Margaret  M.,  Julia  H.,  and  one  who  died  in  child- 
hood. He  was  a  member  of  the  Ebenezer  English 
Lutheran  Church,  in  which  he  has  been  both  an  elder 
and  a  deacon.  Mrs.  Howland  is  also  a  member  of 
the  same  church. 


JOHN   G.    BROWN. 

John  G.  Brown,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent, 
was  born  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  June  23,  1785.  He 
received  in  youth  a  fair  English  education,  and  in 
early  manhood  emigrated  to  Kentucky.  He  was,  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1810,  married  to  Eliza  M.  Bar- 
nett,  to  whom  were  born  four  children, — Juliet  D., 
Eliza  Jane  (Mrs.  L.  W.  Monson),  Emeline  A.  (Mrs. 
J.  L.  Mothershead),  and  Alexander  M.  Mrs.  Brown 
died  in  September,  1820,  and  he  was  again  married 
in  October,  1821,  to  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Todd,  nee  Win- 
ston, who  was  of  English  lineage  and  the  daughter  of 
James  Winston,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  his 
wife,  Sarah.  Mrs.  Brown  was  born  in  Louisa  County, 
Va.,  in  1791,  and  was  a  lady  of  much  refinement  and 
culture.  On  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Brown  she  was  the 
widow  of  Dr.  Henry  Todd,  of  Bourbon  County,  Ky. 
Her  death  occurred  in  May,  1859.  The  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  are  Mary  T.  (Mrs.  Stephen  D. 
Tomlinson),  James  Winston,  Margaret  M.  (Mrs.  W. 
T.  Sprole),  and  Caroline  S.  James  W.  and  Marga- 
ret M.  are  the  only  survivors  of  all  Mr.  Brown's 
children,  the  former  having  come,  when  but  eighteen 
months  old,  with  his  father  to  Indianapolis.  He  is 
consequently  among  its  earliest  settlers. 

Mr.  Brown,  while  a  resident  of  Kentucky,  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods,  which  business 
was  continued  until  his  removal  to  Indiana  in  the 
fall  of  1825.  His  strong  convictions  on  the  slavery 
question  induced  his  removal  from  Kentucky.  Be- 
lieving that  all  men  were  created  free  and  equal  and 
entitled  to  the  blessings  that  freedom  confers,  both 
he  and  Mrs.  Brown  liberated  their  slaves  and  re- 
moved to  a  free  State.  About  the  year  1830  he 
formed  a  copartnership  with  W.  H.  Morrison  for  the 
purpose  of  conducting  a  general  mercantile  business, 
which  was  continued  until  his  death,  with  the  addi- 


506 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


tional  interest  involved  in  the  cultivation  of  a  farm 
in  the  suburbs.  In  politics  he  was  a  Henry  Clay 
Whig,  though  content  to  let  others  share  the  labors 
and  honors  of  office.  He  was  a  zealous  member  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis,  in 
which  he  was  an  elder  and  one  of  its  most  active 
workers.  All  measures  for  the  advancement  of  mo- 
rality and  the  furtherance  of  the  best  interests  of 
society  found  in  Mr.  Brown  a  warm  supporter  and 
friend,  though  feeble  health  prevented  active  partici- 
pation in  works  of  philanthropy.  His  death  occurred 
in  May,  1838,  in  his  fifty-third  year. 


LEVI    AYRES. 


The  Ayres  fsimily  are  of  Welsh  extraction,  the 
grandfather  of  Levi  Ayres  having  been  John  Ayres, 
a  Revolutionary  patriot,  who  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  enemy  and  confined  in  the  noted  prison- 
ship  lying  in  New  York  harbor,  where  he  remained 
until  released  by  the  suspension  of  hostilities.  He 
was  a  blacksmith,  and  in  that  capacity  proved  invalu- 
able to  the  enemy,  who  refused  to  exchange  him. 
He  married  Miss  Susanna  Jarman,  and  had  children, 
among  whom  was  John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  biographical  sketch,  born  in  1777,  in  Cumber- 
land County,  N.  J.,  the  residence  of  his  father,  where 
he  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  He  married  Miss 
Margaret  Pawner,  the  daughter  of  Asher  Pawner, 
who  was  reared  in  the  Quaker  faith.  The  children 
of  John  and  Margaret  Ayres  are  Levi,  Reuben, 
George,  Charles,  Richard,  John,  and  Mary  Jane 
(Mrs.  Ebenezer  Woodrufi").  The  death  of  Mr. 
Ayres  occurred  in  1847,  and  that  of  his  wife  the 
same  year.  Their  son  Levi  was  born  on  the  3d  of 
September,  1808,  in  Cumberland  County,  N.  J. 
His  early  life  was  spent  upon  the  farm,  and  such 
education  obtained  as  was  possible  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  after  which,  for  two 
successive  winters,  he  engaged  in  teaching,  mean- 
while during  the  remainder  of  the  year  aiding  in  the 
labor  of  the  farm.  In  1832  he  removed  to  Indiana, 
and  settled  for  one  year  in  Franklin  County,  after 
which  he  resided  in  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  and  for  three 


years  pursued  the  trade  of  a  painter.  In  1836  he 
returned  to  Franklin  County  and  became  owner 
of  a  farm.  He  was,  in  1840,  married  to  Jane  C, 
daughter  of  Alexander  and  Rachel  Cregmile,  of 
Franklin  County,  Ind.  Their  children  are  John  T., 
deceased  ;  R.  Jennie,  deceased;  Alexander  C.,  a  prac- 
ticing lawyer  in  Indianapolis  ;  Franklin,  a  farmer ; 
Levi  P.,  a  farmer,  and  two  who  died  in  infancy. 
Alexander  C.  and  Levi  P.  are  graduates  of  Butler 
University.  Mr.  Ayres  during  the  two  successive 
winters  following  his  advent  in  Indiana  engaged  in 
teaching,  the  remainder  of  his  life  having  been 
devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  his  lands.  In  1858 
he  removed  to  Centre  township,  Marion  Co.,  his 
present  residence. 

He  has  been,  as  a  Democrat,  actively  identified 
with  politics,  and  in  Franklin  County  served  as 
inspector  of  elections,  justice  of  the  peace,  county 
commissioner  for  two  terms,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature  in  1853.  He  is  a  charter  member 
of  Mount  Carmel  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
and  also  member  of  the  Brookville  Chapter.  Mr.s. 
Ayres  and  her  family  were  reared  in  the  faith  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  Mr.  Ayres  is  a 
supporter. 


CHAPTER    XXL 


BECATUR  TOWNSHIP.' 


This  township,  named  in  honor  of  Commodore 
Stephen  Decatur,  is  the  extreme  southwestern  town- 
ship of  Marion  County.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Wayne  and,  for  a  very  short  distance,  by  Centre 
township ;  on  the  east  by  White  River,  which  marks 
the  boundary  against  Perry  township  ;  on  the  south 
by  Morgan  County  ;  and  on  the  west  by  Hendricks 
County.  The  population  of  Decatur,  as  shown  by 
the  returns  of  the  United  States  census  of  1880,  was 
then  sixteen  hundred  and  forty-seven. 

Originally  the  territory  of  the  township  was  very 
heavily  timbered  with  black  walnut,  poplar,  the  dif- 
ferent varieties   of  oak,   blue   and   gray   ash,  beech. 


Fielding  Beeler,  Esq. 


^S^4/^  ^^^yu^ 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


507 


sugar-tree,  red  and  white  elm,  and  hackberry,  and 
on  the  bottom-lands  sycamore,  buttonwood  soft 
maple,  buckeye,  paw-paw,  and  in  early  times  spice- 
wood  and  prickly  ash.  The  heavy  timber  was  a 
great  drawback  in  the  early  settlement,  requiring  a 
great  amount  of  very  hard  labor  to  clear  the  land 
sufficiently  to  furnish  the  settlers  with  bread  and 
feed  for  their  stock,  though  the  stock  usually  re- 
quired (or  at  least  received)  but  little  feed,  subsist- 
ing largely  on  the  "  range,"  while  hogs  lived  and  were 
fattened  on  the  mast, — acorns,  beechnuts,  hickory- 
nuts,  etc.  The  land  was  at  first  cleared  of  the 
grubs,  logs,  and  smaller  trees,  and  the  large  ones 
"  deadened,"  as  it  was  termed,  by  girdling,  and  thus 
the  clearing  was  sometimes  many  years  in  being 
completed.  As  years  passed  on  and  the  clearings 
extended,  the  custom  of  deadening  all  timber,  where 
the  land  was  intended  to  be  cleared,  was  introduced. 

The  streams  of  the  township  are  the  White  River, 
which  forms  its  entire  eastern  boundary;  Eagle 
Creek,  a  tributary  which  enters  the  river  at  the  ex- 
treme northeast  corner  of  the  township  ;  and  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  and  unimportant  creeks  and  runs, 
which  flow  through  Decatur  southeastwardly  to  their 
junction  with  the  White  River.  The  surface  of  the 
township  is  sufficiently  rolling  to  admit  of  good  and 
easy  drainage  of  the  lands.  There  are  in  the  town- 
ship two  considerable  elevations  of  ground,  one  known 
as  Marr's  Hill,  near  the  residence  of  Patrick  Harnian, 
the  other  as  Spring  Valley  Hill,  owned  jointly  by  Mr. 
Elijaii  Wilson  and  Isaac  B.  Dewees,  Esq.  It  is  an 
isolated  point  or  knob,  rising  one  hundred  and  forty 
feet  or  more  above  the  general  level  of  the  surround- 
ing country,  and  two  hundred  feet  or  more  above  the 
level  of  the  river,  which  is  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
east.  From  this  point,  when  the  air  is  clear,  an  ex- 
tended view  may  be  had  of  the  surrounding  country, 
including  the  buildings  of  the  insane  asylum,  the 
spires  and  many  of  the  highest  buildings  in  the  city 
of  Indianapolis,  and  even  Crown  Hill,  north  of  the 
city,  and  fully  twelve  miles  from  the  point  of  ob- 
servation. 

The  lands  of  the  township  consist  of  a  variety  of 
soils;  alluvial  or  bottom,  along  the  valley  of  White 
River;    second   bottom    underlaid  with   gravel;    and 


upland,  of  which  the  soil  is  underlaid  with  clay.  All 
the  soil  of  the  township,  with  proper  cultivation, 
produces  largely  of  cereals,  vegetables,  clover,  timo- 
thy, and  blue  grass,  for  all  of  which  crops  it  equals 
the  best  in  the  county  or  State. 

In  the  first  settlement  of  the  township  the  large 
yellow  and  spotted  rattlesnakes  were  numerous,  and 
the  cause  of  much  terror  among  the  settlers.  Cattle 
and  other  animals  were  frequently  bitten,  and  died 
from  the  eflFects  of  the  poison,  though  there  is  no 
account  of  any  person  having  died  from  that  cause. 
During  the  fall  of  1824  some  of  the  settlers  became 
convinced  that  the  reptiles  had  a  den  in  the  vicinity 
of  what  is  now  the  village  of  Valley  Mills,  and  in 
the  following  spring  a  close  watch  was  kept  for  their 
appearance  in  that  locality.  On  one  of  the  earliest 
of  the  warm  days  their  den  was  discovered  by  John 
Kenworthy,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring 
settlements  were  notified  of  the  fact.  The  able-bodied 
men  of  the  region  for  several  miles  around  gathered 
at  the  place,  and  with  mattocks,  shovels,  spades,  and 
hoes  proceeded  to  dislodge  and  slay  the  serpents. 
Their  den  was  in  the  side  of  a  ravine  on  the  land  of 
Isaac  Hawkins,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  William 
Sanders,  about  a  half-mile  east  of  Valley  Mills  Sta- 
tion of  the  Indianapolis  and  Vincennes  Railway.  One 
hundred  and  seven  rattlesnakes  were  killed  (most  of 
them  of  large  size),  besides  a  number  of  other  and 
less  venomous  snakes.  This  general  slaughter  of  the 
reptiles  seemed  to  almost  entirely  rid  the  township  of 
them,  as  but  few  were  seen  afterwards,  most  of  them, 
however,  in  the  vicinity  of  Valley  Mills  and  near  the 
high  bluifs  along  White  River.  A  few  of  the  black 
variety,  known  as  the  prairie  rattlesnake,  were  found 
around  the  bog  prairie,  situated  partly  in  Decatur  and 
partly  in  Wayne  townships,  until  quite  recently,  but 
now  they  appear  to  have  beep  exterminated.  Many 
years  ago  Ira  Plummer  was  bitten  (while  gathering 
hazel-nuts)  by  a  snake  of  this  kind,  but  survived  and 
recovered  wholly  through  the  efficacy  (as  was  said) 
of  whiskey  and  a  tea  made  of  blue-ash  bark. 

Decatur,  like  the  other  townships  of  the  county, 
was  set  off  and  erected  into  a  separate  township  by 
the  board  of  county  commissioners,  April  16,  1822, 
and  on  the  same  date  it  was,  by  the  same  authority. 


508 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


joined  with  Perry  and  Franklin  townships  for  organ- 
ization and  the  election  of  justices  of  the  peace,  for 
the  reason  that  none  of  the  three  contained  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  inhabitants  for  such  organization. 
This  arrangement  continued  until  Aug.  12,  1823, 
when  the  commissioners  ordered  "  that  Decatur  town- 
ship be  stricken  ofiF  from  Perry  and  Franklin  town- 
ships, and  form  from  this  date  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent township  of  this  county,  in  every  respect  as 
if  it  had  never  been  attached  to  the  said  townships 
of  Perry  and  Franklin  ;"  and  the  board  assigned  one 
justice  of  the  peace  to  be  elected  for  the  township 
of  Decatur,  at  an  election  ordered  to  be  held  at  the 
house  of  John  Thompson,  on  Saturday,  Aug.  30, 
1823,  John  Thompson  to  be  inspector  of  the  said 
election. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  justices  and  township 
officers  of  Decatur  from  its  erection  to  the  present 
time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE. 

Peter  Hiirmonson,  .Tune  28,  1822,  to  Aug.  30.  1823  (for  town- 
ships of  Decatur,  Perry,  and  Franklin,  unlil  their  separa- 
tion). 

Joseph  Beeler,  Nov.  3,  1823,  to  Oct.  8,  182S. 

Joseph  Beeler,  Jan.  5,  1829,  to  Jan.  5,  1S34. 

James  Epperson,  May  7,  1832,  to  Aug.  1,  1835:  died. 

Zimri  Brown,  Feb.  25,  1834,  to  Sept.  1,  1836;  resigned. 

Joseph  Beeler,  Sept.  21,  1835,  to  Sept.  21,  1840. 

Noah  Reagan,  Nov.  1,  1836,  to  Nov.  23,  1836;  resigned. 

Jesse  Grace,  Jan.  14,  1837,  to  Jan.  14,  1842. 

Young  Em.  R.  Wilson,  Feb.  23,  1839,  to  Feb.  23,  1844. 

Zadock  Jackson,  Deo.  25,  1840,  to  Dec.  22,  1845. 

John  S.  Hall,  Feb.  19,  1842,  to  Feb.  19,  1847. 

Young  Em.  R.  Wilson,  May  11, 1844,  to  July,  S,  1845  ;  resigned. 

Noah  McCreery,  Aug.  27,  1845,  to  Aug.  27,  1850. 

W^illiam  Mendenhall,  Dec.  22,  1845,  to  Dec.  22,  1850. 

Joseph  Beeler,  Feb.  19,  1847,  to  Feb.  19,  1852. 

John  Burris,  Dec.  26,  1850,  to  May  3,  1859. 

Jesse  Price,  Nov.  8,  1851,  to  Oct.  9,  1852;  resigned. 

Lewis  George,  April  24, 1858,  to  May  24,  1859;  resigned. 

Gurdon  C.  Johnson,  July  19,  1859,  to  July  19,  1867. 

Thomas  Mendenhall,  April  19, 1864,  to  April  13, 1 866 ;  resigned. 

John  S.Walker,  April  17,  1866,  to  Sept.  12,  1866;  resigned. 

Thomas  R.  Cook,  Nov.  9,  1866,  to  Nov.  9,  1870. 

John  M.  Ritter,  April  26, 1869,  to  April  16,  1873. 

David  W.  Compton,  Nov.  9,  1870,  to  Oct.  18,  1872;  resigned. 

James  S.  Wall,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  April  17,  1882;  removed. 

Isaac  B.  Dewees,  Oct.  24,  1878,  to  Oct.  24,  1882. 

John  D.  Haworth,  June  12,  1880,  to  April  15,  1886. 

Charles  F.  Allen,  April  17,  1882,  to  Oct.  24,  1886. 


TRUSTEES. 
Martin  Searly,  April  9,  1859,  to  April  9,  1860. 
Josiah  Russell,  April  9,  1860,  to  April  19,  1862. 
Jackson  L.  Jessup,  April  19,  1862,  to  Oct.  10,  1867. 
John  W.  Billingsley,  Oct.  10,  1867,  to  Oct.  23,  1872. 
Jacob  Horner,  Oct.  23,  1872,  to  Oct.  26,  1874. 
Noah  McCreery,  Oct.  26,  1874,  to  April  14,  1882. 
Thomas  N.  Janeway,  April  14,  1882,  for  two  years. 

ASSESSORS. 
Demas  L.  McKarland,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
Cader  Carter,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  4,  1830. 
Jesse  Wright,  Jan.  4,  1830,  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
John  P.  Clark,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  1,  1833. 
Adam  Wright,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  6,  18.34. 
Aaron  Wright,  Jan.  6,  1834,  to  May  5,  1835. 
James  M.  Bailey,  May  5,  1834,  to  May  5,  1835. 
Zimri  Brown,  May  5,  1835,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
Dotnas  L.  MoFarland,  Jan.  4,  1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
Abram  H.  Dawson,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  1,  1838. 
Jesse  Grace,  Jan.  1,  1838,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Grimes  Dryden,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Aaron  Wright,  Jan.  4,  1841,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
Joseph  Cook,  Dec.  21,  1852,  to  Dee.  8,  1854. 
Isaac  Hawkins,  Dec.  8,  1854,  to  Feb.  5,  1855. 
Eli  Sanders,  Feb.  9,  1855,  to  Dec.  13,  1856. 
John  S.  Rabb,  Dec.  13,  1856,  to  March  12,  1857. 
Jesse  Price,  March  12,  1857,  to  Dee.  12,  1858. 
Abner  Mills,  Dec.  12,  1858,  to  Nov.  22,  1872. 
John  Ellis,  Nov.  22,  1872,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Jesse  W.  Reagan,  March  22,  1875,  to  Dec.  26,  1876. 
John  W.  Ellis,  Dec.  26,  1876,  to  April  13,  1880. 
Edward  C.  Forest,  April  13,  1880,  to  April  13,  1884. 

This  township,  as  originally  set  off  and  erected  by 
the  commissioners  in  1822,  contained  forty-two  sec- 
tions of  land,  being  in  size  six  miles  from  north  to 
south,  and  seven  miles  east  and  west,  its  eastern  line 
being  a  continuation  of  the  line  between  the  town- 
ships of  Centre  and  Wayne,  thus  bringing  info  De- 
catur a  strip  of  land  lying  east  of  the  White  River, 
and  between  that  stream  and  the  township  of  Perry, 
the  strip  having  an  average  width  of  about  two  miles, 
and  embracing  about  twelve  sections  of  land.  This 
continued  to  be  included  in  Decatur  township  until 
the  7th  of  January,  1833,  when,  upon  petition  by 
citizens  of  Decatur  township,  it  was  ordered  by  the 
board  of  justices  "  that  all  the  part  of  Decatur  town- 
ship lying  on  the  east  side  of  White  River  be  attached 
to  and  hereafter  form  a  part  of  Perry  township."  By 
this  action  the  White  River  was  established  as  the 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


509 


line  between  Decatur  and  Perry,  and  has  remained  as 
such  to  the  present  time. 

The  earliest  settlements  in  Decatur  were  generally 
made  in  the  vicinity  of  the  White  River,  and  near 
springs,  with  which  the  township  abounds,  especially 
along  the  higher  lands  near  the  river.  In  the  gov- 
ernment sales  of  lands  this  consideration  had  much 
to  do  in  deciding  the  location  and  purchase  of  differ- 
ent tracts.  The  first  settlements  were  made  in  1821, 
— possibly  two  or  three  came  as  early  as  the  fall  of 
1820, — but  who  was  the  first  settler  who  came  to 


stopped  at  a  place  on  the  lower  river  (the  locality  of 
which  is  not  now  known),  from  which,  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year,  he,  with  his  two  brothers  and  two 
acquaintances,  made  an  exploring  trip  to  the  then 
wilderness  region  which  is  now  Marion  County. 
Striking  the  White  River  at  the  place  where  the 
village  of  Waverly  now  is,  they  traveled  thence 
northward  and  halted  at  a  camp  which  they  made 
on  the  river  bank  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  present 
water-works  of  Indianapolis.  There  was  not  at  that 
time  a  white  man's  cabin  or  habitation  of  any  kind 
in  the  vicinity.  He  made  a  thorough  examination 
make  his  permanent  home  within  the  territory  that     of  this  region,  and  being  pleased  with  it,  he  returned 


soon  afterwards  became  Decatur  township  cannot 
now  be  satisfactorily  ascertained.  Among  the  first, 
however,  were  the  Dollarhides,  David  Kime,  Charles 
and  Joseph  Beeler,  Demas  L.  McFarland,  John 
Thompson,  Jesse  Wright,  and  John,  James,  Edward, 
Eli,  and  Jacob  Sulgrove  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  and  Martin  D.  Bush,  Emanuel  Glimpse,  and 
the  Myers  and  Monday  families  on  the  east  side  of 
the  stream,  in  that  part  of  the  township  which  was 
transferred  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Perry  in  1833,  as 
before  mentioned. 

Joseph  Beeler  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Decatur,  as  he  was  also  for  a  period  of  almost  thirty 
years  (from  his  settlement  here  to  his  death)  one  of 
the  most  prominent  and  respected  men  of  the  town- 
ship. He  was  born  in  April,  1797,  in  a  block-house 
which  was  built  for  defense  against  Indians  in  what 
is  now  Ohio  County,  W.  Va.  The  block-house  was 
surrounded  by  a  stockade  work  which  was  called 
"  Beeler's  Fort,"  or  '■  Beeler's  Station,"  his  father 
being  in  command  of  the  defense,  and  also  of  a  com- 
pany of  frontiersmen  called  "  rangers,"  whose  head- 
quarters were  at  the  stockade.  The  name  Beeler's 
Station  is  retained  to  the  present  day  in  the  post- 
ofiice  at  that  place. 

His  father  dying  when  he  was  but  six  weeks  old, 
he  was  left  with  but  the  care  and  protection  of  his 
mother,  and  he  grew  to  years  of  manhood,  living  part 
of  the  time  in  Virginia  and  part  in  Washington 
County,  Pa.  In  the  summer  of  1819  he,  with  his 
mother  and  brother  George,  descended  the  Ohio 
River  in  a  pirogue  (a  very  large  dugout  canoe),  and 


in  the  spring  of  1820  with  his  mother,  his  brother, 
G.  H.  Beeler  (afterwards  the  first  clerk  of  Morgan 
County),  and  several  others  for  permanent  .settle- 
ment, and  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  near 
the  blufis.  At  the  land  sales  they  bought  the  tract 
on  which  they  had  settled,  but  afterwards  sold  it  to 
James  Burns  at  an  advance  of  one  hundred  dollars, 
which  would  pay  for  an  additional  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  some  new  location.  Burns,  the  purchaser, 
afterwards  built  upon  the  tract  a  small  frame  house 
(the  first  of  the  kind  in  that  part  of  the  country) 
and  painted  it  red.  The  house  is  still  standing,  and 
the  place  has  been  and  is  at  this  day  known  as  the 
"  Red  House." 

Soon  after  his  sale  to  Burns,  Joseph  Beeler  bought 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  6,  township  14,  range 
3,  and  commenced  a  clearing.  In  May,  1822,  he 
was  married  to  Hannah  Matthews,  and  late  in  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  they  removed  to  their  new 
home  on  his  land  in  Decatur  township. 

Mr.  Beeler  was  a  fine  specimen  of  pioneer  man- 
hood, being  six  feet  in  height  and  finely  proportioned. 
He  was  ever  a  leader  in  matters  of  public  enterprise, 
and  untiring  in  perseverance  and  industry.  He 
reii-arded  his  vocation  of  farmer  as  one  of  the  highest 
respectability,  and  he  had  great  ambition  to  excel  in 
his  calling.  He  was  one  of  the  first  farmers  of  the 
county  to  import  improved  breeds  of  stock,  which 
gained  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  in  the  county, 

as  the  records  of  the  agricultural  societies  show, — 

from  the  number  of  premiums  awarded  him  in  the 
difi"erent  classes.     He   also   took   a  deep  interest   in 


510 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


horticulture,  and  his  orchards  were  noted  for  their 
production  of  the  best  quality  of  fruit. 

He  was  for  many  years  a  justice  of  the  peace.  In 
those  times  there  was  much  more  litigation  in  the 
county  than  now,  and  though  in  his  office  he  might 
have  profited  by  it  pecuniarily,  he  always  used  his 
influence  to  prevent  instead  of  promoting  law-suits. 
In  Mr.  Nowland's  "  Sketches  of  Prominent  Citi- 
zens," he  says,  "  Were  I  writing  for  the  eye  only  of 
those  who  knew  Mr.  Beeler,  it  would  be  unnecessary 
to  say  that  he  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity, 
whose  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  was  never 
questioned."  At  the  time  of  his  death,  and  for 
many  previous  years,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  He  died  July  12,  1851,  in  the  full 
strength  and  vigor  of  manhood.  He  had  endured 
years  of  toil  and  privation,  but  lived  to  see  the  forest 
give  place  to  cultivated  fields  and  fruitful  orchards, 
the  small  clearing  extended  to  a  large  and  valuable 
farm,  and  the  log  cabin  to  the  comfortable  mansion  ; 
but  though  he  had  much  to  live  for,  he  entered  the 
dark  valley  with  the  resignation  and  faith  of  the  Chris- 
tian who  feels  that  his  work  has  been  well  done,  and 
that  there  is  peace  and  happiness  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river.  He  left  surviving  him  his  wife  and 
five  children.  His  oldest  son.  Fielding  Beeler  (born 
March  30,  1823),  is  now  a  resident  of  Wayne  town- 
ship, and  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  successful 
farmers  of  Marion  County.  George  M.,  then  but  a 
small  boy  (and  who  died  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
four  years),  inherited  his  father's  taste  for  horticul- 
ture, and  was  particularly  distinguished  in  that  pro- 
fession for  one  of  his  years.  Emily,  the  oldest 
daughter,  married  Calvin  Fletcher,  of  the  well-known 
Fletcher  family  of  Indianapolis,  and  now  resides  with 
her  husband  at  Spencer,  Ind.  Melissa,  the  second 
daughter,  married  the  Hon.  John  C.  New,  of  Indian- 
apolis. She  died,  leaving  an  only  son,  Harry  S. 
New,  who  is  one  of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the 
Indianapolis  Journal.  The  third  daughter,  Hattie, 
married  T.  W.  Hall,  who  died  several  years  ago,  and 
she  now  lives  with  her  three  children  in  Indianapolis. 
The  widow  of  Joseph  Beeler  survived  him  thirty 
years,  and  died  in  Indianapolis  in  1881,  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  her  age.     She  was   remarkable  for 


the  activity  of  her  mind,  on  which  account,  and  be- 
cause of  her  excellent  memory  of  the  incidents  of 
early  times,  she  was  often  appealed  to  as  authority 
concerning  occurrences  with  which  she  had  been  ac- 
quainted in  her  youth.  The  miuister  who  officiated 
at  her  funeral  spoke  of  her  life  and  experience  as  a 
forcible  illustration  of  the  progress  of  the  country ; 
mentioning  the  fact  that  when  a  young  lady  of  twenty 
years  she  passed  over  the  ground  (then  dotted  by 
only  a  few  log  cabins)  that  became  the  site  of  the 
city  in  which  she  died,  containing  at  the  time  of  her 
death  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 

Martin  D.  Bush  came  from  the  State  of  New  York 

in  1821,  and  settled  on  the  east  side  of  White  River, 

on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  8,  township  15, 

range  3,   now  in    Perry  township.       His    land   was 

all  river  bottom  and  so  much  subject  to  overflow  that 

he  became  discouraged,  and  in    1845  or  1846  sold 

;  out  and  removed  to  Atchison  County,  Mo.,  where  he 

I  died.      During  the   years   of  his   residence   in    the 

White  River  Valley  Mr.  Bush  was  ever  known  as  an 

■  honorable,  upright,  and    public-spirited   man.       His 

house  was  the  headquarters  of  traveling  ministers  of 

the  several   denominations   when   they  came   to   the 

new  country,  and  preaching  was  frequently  held  there. 

!  His  wife  was  noted  for  her  benevolence,  and  kindness 

'  to  the  sick  and  afflicted  among  the   early  pioneers. 

They  were  both   original    members  of  the  Liberty 

Church.     They  had  three  children,  a  son   and  two 

daughters.     The  oldest  daughter,  Anna,  was  married 

to  Mr.   Merrill,  brother  of  the  late  Samuel  Merrill. 

The    other    daughter,   Mary,   married   Amos  Sharp, 

;  brother  of  the  well-known  banker  of  Indianapolis. 

The  son,  Henry  Bush,  married  Susan,  daughter  of 

Grimes   Dryden.     All   of  them    with    their  families 

removed  to  JMissouri  with  their  parents. 

Charles  Beeler,  born  in  Ohio  County,  Va.  (now 
West  Virginia),  came  to  Morgan  County,  Ind.,  in 
1820,  and  to  Decatur  township  in  1822,  and  settled 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  7,  township  14, 
range  2,  it  being  land  which  he  bought  at  the 
government  land  sales  at  Brookville,  and  which 
is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  ex-County  Commis- 
sioner A.  C.  Remy.  He  sold  his  property  in  Decatur 
and  removed  in  1831  to  Shelby  County,  111.     After- 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


511 


wards  he  moved  to  the  State  of  Missouri,  thence  to 
California,  and  from  there  back  to  Missouri,  and  died 
near  St.  Joseph,  in  that  State,  about  the  year  1867, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 

Samuel  K.  Barlow,  an  early  settler  in  the  township, 
and  who  laid  out  the  original  town  plat  of  Bridgeport 
on  land  of  John  Furnas,  located  a  shert  distance 
south  of  that  village,  in  the  northwest  part  of  Decatur. 
He  was  always  regarded  as  well  behaved  and  peace- 
able, yet  he  had  the  misfortune  to  become  the  slayer 
of  a  man  named  Matlack,  who  was  his  brother-in-law. 
It  appears  that  upon  the  fatal  occasion  he  visited 
Matlack's  house  (in  Hendricks  County),  and  upon 
seeing  Matlack  attempt  to  whip  his  wife  with  a  cow- 
hide. Barlow  interfered  for  the  protection  of  the 
woman,  and  in  the  fight  which  ensued  Matlack  was 
killed.  For  the  homicide  Barlow  was  confined  along 
time  in  the  Hendricks  County  jail,  and  finally  brought 
to  trial,  which  resulted  in  his  acquittal,  but  the  cost 
of  his  defense  was  so  heavy  that  he  was  compelled  to 
sell  his  property  to  pay  it.  He  then  removed  from 
Decatur  to  Iowa,  and  afterwards  to  Oregon,  where  he 
died  about  1878,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 

Jesse  Wright,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  came  to 
Decatur  from  the  Whitewater  country,  and  settled  on 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  29,  township  15, 
range  3,  the  same  property  now  owned  by  the  family 
of  the  late  Jacob  Hanch.  He  was  a  positive  and  an 
energetic  man,  but  a  very  contentious  one,  and  this 
latter  characteristic  made  him  an  Ishmael  among  the 
people  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  as  was 
shown  by  the  course  he  took  at  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  (he  was  twice  married),  who  was  a  most  estima- 
ble woman.  Although  there  was  a  public  burial- 
ground  within  half  a  mile  of  his  home,  he  buried 
her  in  the  woods  on  the  bluff  overlooking  the  swampy 
lands  southwest  of  his  residence.  He  was  a  man  in 
good  circumstances,  yet  after  selling  his  farm  to 
Jacob  Hanch,  about  the  year  1838,  he  left  the  coun- 
try and  removed  to  Iowa  without  erecting  even  the 
rudest  or  simplest  stone  to  mark  her  resting-place; 
and  there  are  few,  if  any,  now  living  who  can  identify 
the  spot  where  he  made  her  lonely  grave. 

Aaron  Wright,  brother  of  Jesse,  was  also  a  North 
Carolinian  by  birth.     He  came  from  Union  County 


to  Decatur  township,  and  settled  on  the  lands  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  John  Hurd.  He  was  an 
honest,  upright  man,  who  attended  strictly  to  his  own 
business,  and  never  engaged  in  controversy  or  conten- 
tion with  his  neighbors.  He  died  in  1877,  upwards 
of  seventy  years  of  age,  leaving  a  son,  Jesse  Wright, 
who  has  been  for  two  terms  trustee  of  Wayne  town- 
ship, and  is  one  of  its  most  prominent  farmers ;  also  a 
daughter,  who  is  Mrs.  John  Doty,  and  another  living 
near  Council  BluflFs,  Iowa. 

Cader  Carter  came  from  Ohio  in  the  early  days  of 
the  settlement  and  bought  an  eighty-acre  tract  in 
Decatur  township,  the  same  now  owned  by  John 
Chamberlain.  Carter  was  a  single  man,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  made  his  home  with  Jesse  Wright,  with 
whom  he  had  a  disagreement  which  grew  into  a  law- 
suit, which  resulted  adversely  to  Carter  and  compelled 
him  to  sell  his  land  to  pay  the  expenses  of  litigation. 
He  always  complained  bitterly  of  the  wrong  which 
had  been  done  him  by  Wright  and  by  the  decision 
in  the  letter's  favor.  After  the  loss  of  his  property 
he  lost  his  energy,  and  never  made  another  purchase 
of  land  in  the  township.  He  served  as  constable  for 
several  years,  and  for  about  five  years  drove  a  stage 
between  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati.  He  was  an 
active  and  earnest  politician  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  it  was  alleged  that  he  was  of  one-eighth  negro 
blood.  In  consequence  of  his  active  partisanship  at 
the  State  election  of  1836,  his  vote  was  challenged 
and  refused.  He  sued  for  damages,  but,  unfortu- 
nately for  him,  it  was  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  jury  trying  the  case  that  the  allegation  was 
true,  and  he  was  never  again  allowed  to  vote.  All 
who  knew  him  gave  him  the  character  of  a  strictly 
honest  and  upright  man,  and  one  of  very  fair  intelli- 
gence and  general  information.     He  died  in  1851. 

John  Thompson,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  settlers 
in  this  township,  located  upon  (and  afterwards  bought) 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  township  15, 
range  3,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Patrick  Har- 
mon. He  was  also  the  owner  of  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  29,  in  the  same  town- 
ship, which  latter  tract  alone  was  assessed  to  him  in 
1829.  John  Thompson  was  esteemed  by  all  who 
knew  him  as  an  honorable,  upright  man,  who  in  h 


512 


HISTORY   OP  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


daily  walk  and  in  all  his  dealings  was  entitled  to  the 
appellation  of  Christian.  His  cabin  was  the  place  of 
the  earliest  gatherings  for  religious  worship  in  the 
township,  and  the  place  where  Liberty  Church  was 
organized  and  its  meetings  held  until  the  erection  of 
the  meeting-house.  In  the  absence  of  regular  minis- 
ters, Mr.  Thompson  often  preached  himself  at  his 
dwelling.  In  1837  he  sold  his  land  to  John  Marrs 
and  removed  to  Iowa.  His  first  wife  died  about 
1832,  and  lie  afterwards  married  Mrs.  Matlack, 
widow  of  the  Matlack  who  was  killed  by  S.  K. 
Barlow,  as  noticed  in  the  sketch  of  the  latter.  Mr. 
Thompson  raised  a  large  family  of  children,  all  of 
whom  moved  West  with  him,  except  Naomah  (wife 
of  Eli  Sulgrove)  and  Sarah  (wife  of  Calvin  Mat- 
thews). 

Demas  L.  McFarland  came  from  Washington 
County,  Pa.,  to  Marion  County  in  February,  1822, 
and  located  in  Decatur  township.  In  1829  he  was 
assessed  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  30, 
township  15,  range  3,  but  afterwards  was  the  owner 
of  other  lands.  He  was  an  earnest,  energetic,  and 
public-spirited  man  ;  always  "  kept  up  his  end  of  the 
handspike"  at  the  neighborhood  log-rollings  and  house- 
raisings,  and  did  his  full  share  in  contributing  to  all 
enterprises  for  the  public  good.  He  was  a  colonel  in 
the  militia  as  long  as  that  system  and  organization 
was  kept  up.  He  died  in  1869,  in  the  seventy-ninth 
year  of  his  age,  leaving  one  son,  Abel,  who  has  been 
fur  many  years  a  resident  of  California,  and  three 
daughters, — Charlotte  and  Laura,  of  Indianapolis, 
and  Anne,  who  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Duzon,  and  who 
with  her  husband  and  family  occupied  the  old  home- 
stead of  her  father  in  Decatur.  Near  the  dwelling  is  a 
noted  and  excellent  spring,  which  doubtless  influenced 
Mr.  McFarland  in  the  location  of  his  home. 

Rea.son  Reagan,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
in  Decatur,  located  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 9,  township  15,  range  2,  where  he  cleared  up  a 
good  farm,  but  sold  it  many  years  ago,  and  spent  the 
later  years  of  his  life  in  Mooresville,  Morgan  Co. 
He  was  the  father  of  Dr.  Amos  Reagan,  of  Moores- 
ville, Dr.  Lott  Reagan  (deceased),  of  Bridgeport,  and 
Noah  Reagan,  a  well-known  stock-raiser  and  auction- 
eer, now  dead. 


Joseph  Mendenhall,  a  native  of  North  Carolina, 
came  from  Ohio  to  Decatur  in  1822,  and  settled  near 
where  West  Newton  now  is.  In  1829  he  was  as- 
sessed on  lands,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  23, 
town.ship  14,  range  2.  He  died  in  1868,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two  years.  Two  of  his  sons  (Eli  and  Atha) 
and  four  daughters  live  in  the  township,  also  one 
daughter  in  Kansas. 

Richard  Mendenhall,  brother  of  Joseph,  came  to 
Decatur  in  1823.  His  lands  are  described  in  the  as- 
sessment-roll of  1829  as  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  22,  township  14,  range  2.  He  moved  in 
about  1852  to  Icrwa,  where  he  died  in  1868,  in  his 
eighty-fourth  year.  His  widow  is  (or  was  very  re- 
cently) living  at  near  one  hundred  years  of  age.  One 
son,  William,  lives  near  West  Newton  village;  the 
rest  of  the  family  made  their  homes  in  Iowa. 

John  MoCreery  came  to  this  township  from  Ohio 
in  1826  or  1827,  and  located  on  the  west  half  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  26,  township  15,  range 
2,  as  shown  by  the  township  assessment-roll  of 
1829. 

He  was  a  pioneer  member  of  the  Bethel  Methodist 
Church  (better  known  as  the  McCreery  Church),  and 
an  earnest,  upright.  Christian  man.  His  house  was 
the  usual  headquarters  for  preachers  and  strangers 
visiting  or  exploring  this  regiori,  and  all  were  hospit- 
ably entertained.  He  died  in  1879,  in  his  eighty- 
seventh  year,  leaving  a  son,  Noah,  who  has  been  sev- 
eral times  elected  township  trustee,  though  diflfering 
in  politics  from  a  majority  of  the  electors,  a  fact 
which  plainly  shows  the  confidence  which  his  fellow- 
townsmen  repose  in  his  integrity,  judgment,  and  im- 
partiality. A  daughter  (Amanda)  of  John  McCreery 
is  the  wife  of  John  Hoffman,  and  lives  at  the  old 
homestead. 

Daniel  McCreery  came  to  this  township  at  the  same 
time  with  his  brothfcr  John.  He  also  was  a  pioneer 
member  of  the  Bethel  Methodist  Church.  He  was 
killed  by  his  horse  running  away  with  him  in  a  spring 
wagon  July  4,  1863.  He  was  about  seventy-five 
years  of  age  at  his  death. 

Asahel  DoUarhide  came  from  North  Carolina  to 
Marion  County,  Ind.,  and  settled  in  Decatur  town- 
ship in  1821  or  1822.     He  was  an  upright,  honest 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


513 


man,  and  an  early  member  of  Liberty  Church.  He 
died  about  1840,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years. 

Edmund  Dollarhide  was  the  youngest  son  of  Asahel 
Dollarhide,  and  lived  with  his  father,  near  where  the 
Spring  Valley  gravel  road  crosses  Dollarhide  Creek, 
the  homestead  now  occupied  by  his  granddaughter 
Mrs.  Dewees.  Edmund  Dollarhide  was  rather  a  pe- 
culiar character,  a  little  too  fond  of  whiskey  to  pass 
for  a  strict  temperance  man.  For  a  long  time  his 
business  was  that  of  a  teamster,  hauling  produce  to 
and  goods  from  the  principal  points  on  the  Ohio  River 
for  Indianapolis  merchants.  He  usually  drove  six 
horses  attached  to  an  old-fashioned  Conestoga  wagon ; 
almost  always  returning  home  from  Indianapolis  late 
in  the  evening  with  his  horses  in  a  fast  trot  (some- 
times on  the  gallop),  he  sitting  in  his  saddle  on  the 
nigh  wheel-horse,  and  clinging  with  one  hand  to 
his  mane,  the  chains  of  the  wagon  making  a  clatter 
that  could  be  heard  for  miles  in  the  stillness  of  the 
night.  He  seemed  at  such  times  to  entirely  abandon 
all  attempt  to  guide  his  team  by  the  lines,  and  to  sur- 
render all  responsibility  to  the  lead-horse,  which  he 
named  "  Farmer,"  a  noble  chestnut  sorrel,  who  seemed 
endowed  with  something  higher  than  mere  brute  in- 
stinct, and  always  brought  team,  wagon,  and  man 
home  in  safety.  Edmund  Dollarhide  died  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1862.  He  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom  died 
several  years  before  his  father ;  the  other  migrated 
West.  His  only  daughter  married  Ira  N.  Holmes, 
and  now  lives  with  her  husband  at  Winfield,  Kansas. 

David  Kime,  one  of  the  very  early  settlers  in 
Decatur,  located  on  the  east  half  of  section  24,  town- 
ship 14,  range  2.  He  was  a  quiet  and  unobtrusive, 
but  honest  and  honorable  man,  one  of  the  original 
members  of  Liberty  Church.  He  died  in  1873, 
nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  He  had  two  sons, 
Michael  and  Alfred,  who  removed  to  the  Platte  Pur- 
chase about  1840.  His  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Isaac 
B.  Dewees,  Esq. 

The  following-named  persons,  early  settlers  in 
Decatur,  were  resident  tax-payers  in  the  township  in 
1829.  The  description  of  their  lands,  given  after 
the  name  of  each,  respectively,  is  taken  from  the 
township  assessment-roll  of  that  year,  viz. : 

Joseph  Allen,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quar- 


ter of  section  9,  township  14,  range  2.  Mr.  Allen 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  came  to  this 
county  in  1826.  He  was  the  father  of  ex  County 
Commissioner  Moses  Allen,  a  prominent  farmer  and 
stock-raiser  ;  of  Dr.  W.  Allen,  the  well-known  and 
popular  phy,sician  of  West  Newton ;  of  Preston 
Allen,  deceased  ;  and  of  Joseph  Allen,  a  leading 
farmer  and  dealer  in  stock,  who  owns  and  occupies 
the  homestead  farm  of  his  father  in  Decatur. 

Christopher  Ault  and  Henry  Ault,  no  real  estate 
assessment  in  1829.  They  came  from  Ohio.  Henry 
(son  of  Christopher)  removed  to  Hancock  County, 
and  was  killed  on  a  railway  track  in  the  winter  of 
1880. 

William  Boles,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  25,  township  15,  range  2.  He 
came  from  Ohio  to  Decatur,  and  removed  thence  to 
Huntingdon  County  about  1835. 

Thomas  Barnet,  no  real  estate  assessment  in  1829. 
He  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina ;  came  to  Decatur 
in  1827,  and  died  in  1839.  He  was  the  father  of 
Jesse,  William,  and  James  Barnet.  All  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Jesse  is  now  living 
in  Iowa.  Thomas  also  emigrated  to  Iowa.  James 
died  in  1868.     Athanasius  Barnet  died  in  Iowa. 

William  Bierman,  no  real  estate  assessment  in 
1829.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  John  Thompson. 
He  had  much  sickness  in  his  family,  and  did  not 
remain  long  in  Decatur. 

Benjamin  Cuddington,  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  29,  township  15,  range  3.  He  came  from 
New  York  State  in  1824,  and  died  in  1830.  Most 
of  his  family  left  the  county  soon  afterwards,  and 
all  are  now  dead. 

John  Cook,  no  assessment  on  lands  in  1829.  He 
was  from  North  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  emigrated  to  Iowa  about  1842. 

Seth  Curtis,  tract  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres 
on  section  18,  township  14,  range  3.  He  came 
from  Kentucky,  and  moved  from  Decatur  to  Boone 
County. 

Aaron  Coppock,  no  real  estate  assessment  in  1829. 
He  died  in  1840. 

James  Curtis,  tract  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
acres  on  section  18,  township  14,  range  3.     He  was 


514 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


a  Kentuckian.  Moved  from  Decatur  in  1845  to 
Holt  County,  Mo.  Died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years. 

Uriah  Carson,  no  real  estate  assessed  to  him  in 
1829.  He  was  a  Quaker  from  North  Carolina. 
Died  in  1860. 

Dennis  Cox,  assessed  on  no  property  in  1829, 
except  one  horse  and  a  silver  watch.  He  was  from 
North  Carolina,  and  married  the  youngest  daughter 
of  Asahel  DoUarhide.  He  is  now  living  near 
Augusta. 

Joshua  Compton,  assessed  in  1829  on  one  horse, 
two  oxen,  and  one  silver  watch.  He  was  a  Quaker 
from  Ohio.     Died  in  1841. 

John  Cowgill,  part  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  23,  township  14,  range  2.  He  was  a  tanner, 
and  had  a  tan-yard  on  his  farm. 

Grimes  Dryden,  part  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  18,  township  14,  range  3.  He  came  from 
Kentucky,  and  moved  from  Decatur  to  Atchison,  Mo., 
about  1843. 

James  Dryden,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  14,  range  3.  He 
came  from  Kentucky,  and  afterwards  returned  to  that 
State. 

James  Epperson,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
33,  township  15,  range  2.  He  was  a  justice  of  the 
peace.     Died  in  1833. 

Abel  Gibson,  no  real  estate  assessment  in  1829. 
He  was  a  blacksmith  and  axe-maker.  He  removed 
to  Hamilton  County,  and  died  in  1880,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  While  in  Decatur  he  was  in- 
terested in  a  wagon-shop  with  Abidan  Bailey,  who 
was  a  wagon-maker  by  trade.  Joseph  Gibson  was  a 
son  of  Abel. 

Emanuel  Glimpse,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  33,  township  15,  range  3.  Lands 
located  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  Perry  township. 

Andrew  Hoover,  Jr.,  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  9,  township  14,  range  3.  Lands  east  of 
White  River,  now  Perry  township. 

David  Hinkston,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
36,  township  15,  range  2.  East  of  river  in  what  is 
now  Perry  township. 

Isaac  Hawkins,  the  southwest  quarter   of  section 


36,  township  15,  range  2.  He  was  from  North 
Carolina,  and  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
He  left  the  township  about  1833. 

George  Hayworth,  no  real  estate  in  1829.  He 
was  a  Quaker  from  North  Carolina.  Came  to  the 
township  in  1825.     Died  about  1875. 

James  Horton,  no  real  estate  in  1829.  He  came 
to  the  township  in  1824.  Died  about  1850.  His 
son  James  removed  recently  to  Arkansas. 

Henry  Hobbs,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  23,  township  14,  range  2.  He 
removed  to  Tipton  County. 

Frederick  Hartzell,  no  lands  in  1829.  He  came 
from  Ohio.  Removed  from  Decatur  to  Iowa.  Died 
about  1850. 

Peter  Hoffman,  no  lands  in  1829.  He  came  from 
Ohio,  and  settled  in  the  Bethel  neighborhood  in  1826. 
Died  in  1840,  at  ninety  years  of  age. 

Jesse  Hawkins,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  28,  township  15,  range  2.  He 
came  from  Carolina  in  1825  or  1826.  Died  about 
1858. 

Mark  Harris  (colored),  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  21,  township  14,  range  3. 

Parker  Keeler,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  36,  township  15,  range  2.  He  was  a 
Virginian  by  birth,  moved  thence  to  Ohio,  thence  to 
Decatur  township.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  mem- 
bers of  the  Bethel  Methodist  Church. 

Noah  Kellum,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  33,  township  15,  range  2.  He 
was  a  Quaker  from  North  Carolina,  came  to  Decatur 
in  1824,  but  was  only  a  temporary  resident. 

John  Kenworthy,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  36,  township  15,  range  2.  He 
was  from  North  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  father  of  William  and  John,  Jr. 
The  latter  moved  to  Iowa  and  thence  to  Texas. 

John,  Henry,  and  Larkin  Munday,  John  and 
Henry  Myers,  and  James  Martin  were  emigrants 
from  Kentucky,  who  came  here  before  1829  and 
settled  east  of  White  River  in  that  part  of  Decatur 
which  was  afterwards  joined  to  Perry  township. 

Alexander  Mendenhall,  no  lands  in  1829.  He  re- 
moved to  Hamilton  County,  where  he  died  in  1882. 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


515 


Charles  Merritt,  no  real  estate  in  1829.  He  re- 
moved to  Iowa  many  years  ago. 

Joseph  Nunn,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  33, 
township  15,  range  3.  He  left  tlie  township  and 
moved  West, 

Frederick  Price,  no  real  estate  in  1829.  He  came 
from  Butler  County,  Ohio,  and  removed  from  Deca- 
tur to  Arkansas. 

John  Rozier,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  29,  township  15,  range  2;  land  now  owned 
by  Martin  Seerly.  Rozier  came  from  Ohio  to  Deca- 
tur in  1826.  George  Rozier,  son  of  Adam  Rozier,  is 
now  living  in  Morgan  County. 

John  Sulgrove,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
28,  township  15,  range  3.  His  brother  James  had 
the  south  part  of  the  southwest  quarter  and  their 
brother  Edward  the  remainder  of  the  section,  two 
hundred  and  twenty-three  acres.  Eli  Sulgrove,  an- 
other brother,  had  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  32  of  the  same  township.  The 
family  came  from  Ohio.  Edward,  the  eldest,  never 
married.  Eli  moved  to  Iowa  about  1856.  Jacob 
Sulgrove,  son  of  James,  is  named  in  the  assessment 
of  1829,  but  paid  a  poll-tax  only. 

Jacob  Sutherland,  part  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  33,  township  15,  range  3.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  Sulgroves. 

Anthony  Sells,  no  real  estate  in  1829,  but  after- 
wards owned  lands  now  embraced  in  the  farm  of  A. 
C.  Remy.  Sells  was  unmarried,  and  removed  West 
about  183G. 

James  Thompson,  son  of  John  Thompson,  had  no 
land  in  1829.     He  moved  from  Decatur  to  the  West. 

James  Vorice  (Voorhes?)  owned  no  land,  but  lived 
in  a  cabin  on  the  farm  of  Jesse  Wright. 

John  Wilson,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22, 
township  14,  range  2.  He  was  afterwards  the  owner 
of  part  of  .section  23.  His  lands  south  of  the  village 
of  West  Newton  are  now  owned  by  J.  R.  George. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  re- 
moved to  Iowa  about  1846.  He  died  about  1879  at 
a  very  advanced  age. 

Edward  Wright,  no  lands  in  1829.  He  came 
from  Ohio  to  Decatur,  and  moved  thence  to  Missouri 
about  1835.     He  was  the  father  of  Henry  Wright 


and  of  Peter  N.  Wright,  who  has  been  for  several 
years  superintendent  of  the  Marion  County  poor 
farm. 

John  DoUarhide,  the  south  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  24,  township  14,  range  2.  He 
also  owned  part  or  all  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  19,  township  14,  range  3.  His  homestead 
is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Sawyer,  and  her  husband.  John  DoUarhide  died  in 
the  winter  of  1832. 

Absalom  DoUarhide,  a  tract  of  eighty  acres  not 
clearly  described  in  assessment-roll  of  1829.  The 
land  on  which  he  settled  is  now  owned  by  William 
Boatright.  Mr.  DoUarhide  moved  to  Illinois  about 
1834. 

Zimri  Brown,  no  real  estate  assessed  to  him  in 
1829.  He  came  from  North  Carolina,  and  married 
a  daughter  of  Asahel  DoUarhide.  He  removed  from 
Decatur  township  to  Hamilton  County. 

Villages. — The  most  important  village  in  the 
township  is  -that  of  West  Newton,  which  was  laid 
out  by  Christopher  Furnas  in  April,  1851.  Its  loca- 
tion is  in  the  south  part  of  the  township  and  south 
of  the  Vincennes  Railroad.  It  has  two  churches 
(Friends  and  Methodist),  a  fine  two-story  school- 
house,  a  graded  school,  two  physicians,  a  post-office, 
two  general  stores,  two  blacksmith-  and  one  wagon- 
maker's  shop,  one  undertaker's  shop,  one  saw-mill, 
and  the  railway  station  of  the  Vincennes  line. 

West  Newton  Lodge,  No.  452,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was 
chartered  May  27,  1873.  Philip  McNabb,  W.  M. ; 
Jeremiah  R.  George,  S.  W. ;  Jesse  A.  Reynolds,  J. 
W.  The  names  of  the  present  officers  have  not  been 
obtained,  though  asked  for.  The  lodge  is  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition. 

Valley  Mills  village,  previously  called  Fremont, 
and  also  Northport,  was  laid  out  as  Fremont  by  Joe 
Sanders  in  1856,  and  laid  out  and  platted  under  the 
name  of  Northport,  March  21,  1839  ;  is  located  a 
little  north  of  the  centre  of  the  township,  on  the 
Vincennes  Railroad.  It  has  a  Friends'  meeting- 
house, and  another  of  the  Hicksite  branch  of  the 
same  society,  one  commodious  school-house  of  four 
rooms,  a  graded  school,  post-office,  one  physician, 
one    general    store,  one  grocery,  a   blacksmith-    and 


516 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


wagon-maker's  shop,  a  saw-mill,  and  railroad  station. 
On  the  northeast,  adjoining  the  village,  is  the  fine 
nursery  and  fruit  farm  of  the  Hon.  John  Furnas. 

The  village  or  town  of  Spring  Valley  was  laid  out 
on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  10,  township  15, 
range  3,  by  Stephen  Ward,  in  1848  (plat  recorded 
January  4th  of  that  year).  Quite  an  extensive  store 
was  opened,  with  a  full  stock  of  goods,  a  building 
was  erected  for  a  hotel,  a  blacksmith-shop  and  a 
wagon-shop  were  started,  and  several  dwellings  were 
built  and  occupied  by  families,  a  physician  located 
there,  and  a  post-ofl5ce  was  established.  The  town 
flourished  well  for  a  time,  but  the  rivalry  of  Fremont 
and  West  Newton  caused  it  to  decline.  The  original 
projector  sold  out  his  landed  interest,  and  the  mer- 
chant became  discouraged  and  left  the  place,  as  did 
also  the  physician,  when  it  became  apparent  that  the 
village  and  vicinity  could  not  support  him.  Finally 
the  place  was  abandoned  by  all  who  felt  any  interest 
in  its  prosperity  or  existence.  The  buildings  were 
dismantled,  and  the  material  removed  to  other  places, 
and  Spring  Valley  was  left  with  its  name,  but  with 
not  enough  of  the  marks  of  a  town  to  lead  a  stranger 
to  suspect  that  one  had  ever  existed  there.  A  public 
school-house  is  still  there,  but-there  has  been  no  post- 
office  or  postmaster  for  Spring  Valley  for  several 
years. 

Mills  and  Distilleries. — The  first  and  only  grist- 
mill in  Decatur  was  built  by  James  A.  Marrs  and 
Ira  N.  Holmes  in  1854,  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  36,  township  15, 
range  2.  It  was  a  steam  mill,  with  two  boilers,  two 
engines,  and  three  run  of  burrs, — two  for  wheat  and 
one  for  corn,  with  a  capacity  for  making  one  hun- 
dred barrels  of  flour  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  did 
both  custom  and  merchant  work.  Holmes  sold  out 
his  interest  to  Marrs  before  the  mill  was  finished. 
Marrs  completed  it,  and  ran  it  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  October,  1857.  His  adminis- 
trator kept  it  in  operation  for  some  years  afterwards, 
but  it  was  found  unprofitable,  because  the  distance 
from  market  or  a  shipping-place  rendered  the  ex- 
pense of  hauling  too  great.  The  mill  was  then  sold 
to  Fielding  Beeler  and  Calvin  Fletcher,  and  removed 
by  them  to  what  is  now  Maywood.     There  it  was  re- 


built, a  saw-mill  and  new  machinery  added,  and  all 
was  operated  vigorously  till  the  spring  of  1873  (Mr. 
Beeler  being  the  superintending  partner),  when  it 
was  sold  to  other  parties,  but  was  not  successfully 
conducted,  and  finally  the  business  was  abandoned. 
The  machinery  has  since  been  sold  and  the  building 
dismantled. 

The  first  saw-mill  in  Decatur  was  built  about  1834 
by  Reuben  Jessup,  on  Dollarhide  Creek,  on  land  now 
owned  by  Isaiah  George.  The  creek  afi'orded  water 
enough  to  run  the  mill  only  during  the  wet  season  of 
the  year,  but  by  gathering  a  head  of  water  in  the 
pond  it  was  able  to  do  the  necessary  sawing  of 
lumber  for  the  neighborhood.  The  mill  was  sold  by 
Jessup  to  Joseph  Beeler,  who  ran  it  some  three 
years,  then  sold  the  machinery  to  Noah  Sinks,  who 
erected  a  dam,  race,  and  building  lower  down  the 
creek  (near  where  it  enters  White  River),  on  land 
now  owned  by  ex-County  Commissioner  A.  C.  Remy, 
and  moved  the  machinery  of  the  mill  to  the  new 
site.  Mr.  Sinks  was  a  good  millwright,  and  his  new 
mill  was  well  constructed  and  put  in  excellent  order, 
but  in  consequence  of  the  leakage  of  an  aqueduct, 
which  was  necessary  to  carry  the  water  at  some 
height  over  the  bed  of  the  creek,  the  mill  was  unable 
to  run  with  even  as  much  success  as  it  did  on  the  old 
site. 

The  only  distillery  in  the  township  of  which  any 
information  has  been  gained  was  started  by  Stephen 
Ward  in  1857,  on  the  old  Eli  Sulgrove  farm,  now 
owned  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Jeremiah  Mansur.  Its 
capacity  was  about  twenty  barrels  of  whiskey  per  day, 
but  it  was  not  successful,  and  was  soon  abandoned. 

Schools. — The  first  school  in  Decatur  township 
was  taught  in  the  winter  of  1824-25,  by  Samuel 
Wick,  brother  of  Judge  W.  W.  Wick,  in  one  of  the 
cabins  of  Col.  D.  L.  McFarland.  In  the  fall  of  1825 
a  cabin  was  built  for  school  purposes  on  the  land  of 
Jesse  Wright,  near  its  north  line,  and  near  the  present 
crossing  of  the  Martin  Seerly  gravel  road  and  the 
Vincennes  Railroad.  In  that  cabin  a  school  was 
taught  by  Joseph  Fassett,  the  earliest  Baptist  min- 
ister of  this  section  of  country.  It  has  not  been 
ascertained  that  any  other  person  than  he  ever  taught 
in  the  cabin  referred  to. 


DECATUR  TOWNSHIP. 


517 


In  1826  or  1827  a  house  was  built  on  the  land  of 
John  Thompson  for  school  and  church  purposes,  and 
was  called  Liberty  school-house  and  Liberty  Church. 
It  was  quite  a  pretentious  structure  for  those  days, 
being  of  hewed  logs  with  a  loft  of  clapboards.  The 
west  end  was  furnished  with  logs,  hewed  flat  on  the 
upper  side,  and  extending  across  the  building,  in- 
tended for  seating  the  men  at  meeting.  When  school 
was  taught  in  the  room  these  same  logs  furnished 
seats  for  the  children,  the  feet  of  the  smaller  ones 
hanging  several  inches  above  the  floor.  The  east  end 
of  the  building  had  a  fireplace,  with  jambs  built  up 
of  clay,  which  after  two  or  three  years  gave  place  to 
brick.  The  fireplace  communicated  with  a  "  stick" 
chimney  on  the  outside  of  the  building.  The  seats 
in  the  east  end  were  benches  made  of  puncheons, 
with  legs  fastened  in  auger-holes  on  the  under  side. 
It  was  soon  found  that  the  fireplace  was  insufficient 
to  keep  the  room  warm  enough  for  even  tolerable 
comfort,  and  an  old-fashioned  box,  or  "  six-plate"  stove 
was  put  in,  it  being  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  seen  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  It  was  hauled  from  Cin- 
cinnati by  Daniel  Closser,  one  of  the  Vanderbilts  of 
those  times,  whose  transportation  line  ran  over  a  road 
of  mud  and  corduroy,  and  whose  car  was  a  wagon, 
having  a  bed  crooked  up  at  each  end  like  sled-run- 
ners, boxes  in  the  sides,  feed-box  at  the  back  end,  all 
heavily  ironed  from  end  to  end,  with  two  heavy  lock- 
chains,  one  on  each  side,  rattling  in  concert  with  the 
bells  on  the  harness  of  the  four  or  six  horses  which 
furnished  the  motive  power. 

A  house  for  school  purposes  was  built  on  land  of 
Absalom  Dollarhide,  occupying  almost  the  exact  spot 
on  which  now  stands  the  residence  of  William  Boat- 
right.  This  house  was  of  round  logs,  two  of  which 
were  halved  out  at  the  sides  and  one  end  for  win- 
dows. In  these  openings  split  pieces  of  wood  were 
placed  perpendicularly  at  the  proper  distances  for 
sashes,  and  greased  paper  stretched  over  them  instead 
of  glass.  The  floor  and  seats  were  made  of  puncheons 
(split  logs),  with  the  roughest  splinters  dressed  ofi' 
with  an  axe.  It  had  no  chimney  but  a  hole  left  at 
the  comb  of  the  roof  for  the  smoke  to  pass  out. 
There  was  no  fireplace  but  a  few  stones  built  against 
the  logs  and  plastered  with  clay,  and  no  hearth  but 


the  bare  ground.  A  stick  of  wood  nearly  as  long  as 
the  width  of  the  house  was  laid  on  the  fire,  and  when 
it  burned  in  two  the  ends  were  chunked  together 
again.  Another  house,  of  the  same  description  as 
this,  was  built  south  of  the  present  village  of  West 
Newton,  and  near  the  south  line  of  the  township. 
The  first  teacher  in  this  was  Benjamin  Pucket.  An- 
other house  was  built  a  year  or  two  later  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  Parker  Keeler's  land,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  west  of  the  first  site  of  Bethel  meeting- 
house (where  the  cemetery  is  located).  Another 
school-house  was  built  and  maintained  for  many  years 
by  citizens  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  near  the  site  of 
their  Beech  Grove  meeting-house.  This  was  inde- 
pendent of  the  public  school  organization  or  school 
funds,  and  was  for  many  years  a  very  prosperous 
school,  attended  by  several  pupils  who  have  since 
attained  prominence  in  the  educational  institutions  of 
the  county.  Among  these  was  Mr.  Mills,  who  was 
for  many  years  assistant  superintendent  of  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis.  A  fine  and  com- 
modious school-house  is  now  located  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  east  of  the  site  of  this  old  house,  and  in  it 
a  very  well  conducted  and  successful  graded  school  is 
maintained  under  the  general  school  system,  the  old 
organization  having  been  abandoned.  The  house 
stands  in  a  pretty  grove,  a  few  rods  southeast  of  Val- 
ley Mills  railroad  station.  There  was  also  a  school- 
house  built,  and  a  school  maintained,  by  the  Friends 
near  the  Beech  Grove  meeting-house.  This  has  given 
place  to  a  spacious  two-story  frame  school-house,  in 
which  a  prosperous  school  is  maintained  under  the 
present  public  school  system. 

Decatur  township  has  now  six  school  districts,  and 
the  same  number  of  school-houses  (four  frame,  and 
two  of  brick).  Schools  are  taught  in  all  the  houses, 
and  there  are  graded  schools  in  two  of  the  districts. 
In  1883,  ten  teachers  were  employed  (three  male  and 
seven  female).  Six  teachers'  institutes  were  held  in 
the  township  during  the  year.  The  average  total  daily 
attendance  was  244  ;  whole  number  of  children  ad- 
mitted to  the  schools,  400  ;  average  length  of  school 
terms  in  the  township  in  1883,  160  days  ;  valuation 
of  school-houses  and  grounds,  $16,000. 

Chnrches. — The   earliest  church   organization   in 


518 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Decatur  township  was  that  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion, called  Liberty  Church,  which  was  organized  at 
a  meeting  convened  for  that  purpose  at  the  house  of 
John  Thompson,  on  the  8th  of  July,  1826,  Joseph 
Fassett,  moderator,  and  Samuel  McCormick,  clerk  of 
the  meeting.  The  members  of  this  first  organization 
were  John  Thompson  and  Nancy  his  wife,  John  Dol- 
larhide,  Elisha  Smith,  George  Stevens,  Jane  Beeler 
(grandmother  of  Fielding  Beeler,  Esq.,  now  of  Wayne 
township),  Nancy  McFarland  (wife  of  Col.  Demas 
L.  McFarland),  Martha  Sutherland,  Mary  Spickel- 
moir,  Rachel  DoUarhide,  Phebe  Spickelmoir,  Rebecca 
Smith,  and  Rosanna  Shoemaker.  Meetings  for  relig- 
ious worship  had  previously  been  held  by  these  people 
at  the  house  of  John  Thompson ;  and  after  the  or- 
ganization they  were  held  at  the  same  place  regularly 
every  month,  the  preachers  being  Joseph  Fassett, 
William  Irwin,  and  John  Butterfield.  On  the  second 
Saturday  in  October,  1827,  a  meeting  was  held  for 
the  first  time  in  the  house  which  had  been  erected 
for  both  church  and  school  purposes  (as  has  been 
mentioned  in  the  account  of  the  schools  of  the  town- 
ship). The  record  mentions  the  presence  on  this 
occasion  of  ministers  Irwin,  Fassett,  Butterfield,  and 
Cotton  ;  also,  that  a  sister  from  Massachusetts  (name 
not  given)  preached  to  the  congregation  present. 
When  no  regular  minister  was  present  the  services 
were  often  conducted  by  John  Thompson  as  long  as 
he  remained  a  resident  of  the  neighborhood,  up  to 
about  1837.  When  the  split  in  the  Baptist  Church 
occurred,  as  caused  by  the  teachings  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  Liberty  Church  enrolled  itself  under  his 
leadership.  John  Thompson  and  other  leading  mem- 
bers having  removed  from  the  county  (and  from 
other  causes).  Liberty  Church  ceased  to  exist  as  an 
organization  ;  no  regular  services  were  held  after  the 
year  1841,  and  the  church  building  was  allowed  to 
fall  into  disuse  and  decay. 

The  next  religious  organization  after  Liberty 
Church  was  that  of  the  Friends  worshiping  at  the 
Easton  meeting-house  at  West  Newton.  It  dates 
from  the  year  1827,  and  was  from  the  start,  and  still 
is,  a  well-maintained  religious  organization.  The  first 
minister  or  preacher  was  Benjamin  Pucket,  who  died 
in  1829  or  1830,  and  was  the  second  person  interred 


in  the  burial-ground  connected  with  the  meeting- 
house. 

The  third  church  of  the  township  was  Bethel 
(Methodist  Episcopal),  known  to  the  worldly-minded 
of  those  early  days  as  "  Brimstone  Church,"  from  the 
preaching  of  one  of  its  early  ministers  named  Beck, 
whose  principal  theme  was  "  fire  and  brimstone."  The 
Rev.  James  Havens,  noted  in  the  early  annals  of 
Methodism  in  this  State,  was  also  one  of  the  earliest 
preachers  at  Bethel.  This  organization  is  still  in 
active  and  prosperous  life.  Its  old  log  church  has 
given  place  to  a  neat  frame  building,  and  though  the 
McCreerys  and  others  of  its  original  pillars  have 
passed  away,  their  descendants  and  the  new-comers 
have  taken  up  and  continued  its  work. 

Lick  Branch  Meeting  of  the  Friends  was  organized 
and  a  log  meeting-house  erected  about  1830.  The 
old  log  structure  was  superseded  by  a  frame  house 
which  is  still  standing,  but  the  organization  ceased  to 
exist  many  years  ago. 

Beech  Grove  (Friends)  Church  was  also  organized 
and  a  meeting-house  erected  about  1830.  The  or- 
ganization still  exists  and  is  prosperous.  A  new 
building  has  been  erected  near  the  site  of  the  old  one, 
which  is  a  few  rods  west  of  Valley  Mills  Station  of 
the  Indianapolis  and  Vincennes  Railroad. 

The  Centre,  or  "  Starbuck"  Church  of  the  Friends 
was  organized  about  the  year  1850.  Its  location  is 
on  the  west  line  of  Decatur,  against  Hendricks 
County,  where  many  of  its  principal  members  reside. 

The  Mount  Pleasant  Baptist  Church  building — a 
frame  structure,  erected  about  1860 — is  located  a  short 
distance  west  of  the  residence  of  ex-County  Com- 
missioner A.  C.  Remy.  Before  the  building  of  the 
church,  services  were  held  in  the  vicinity,  the  first 
minister  who  served  the  small  congregation  being  the 
Rev.  Mr.  McCray.  From  the  erection  of  the  church 
to  the  present  time,  preaching  has  been  held  (gen- 
erally monthly)  with  considerable  regularity,  though 
there  is  now  no  church  organization,  and  the  people 
who  gather  for  worship  at  Mount  Pleasant,  having 
no  regular  pastor,  depend  on  services  by  ministers 
from  other  places,  among  the  principal  of  whom  is 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Maybee,  of  Indianapolis. 

Bnrial-Grovmds. — Near    Liberty  Church,   at  the 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP. 


519 


northeast  corner  of  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  29,  township  15,  range  3,  is  a  free 
public  burial-place,  the  land  for  which  was  donated 
by  John  Thompson.  The  first  person  buried  in  it 
was  Elizabeth  Thompson,  in  1828  or  1829. 

The  Bethel  graveyard  is  adjoining  the  first  site 
of  Bethel  Church,  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
west  half  of  section  26,  range  2. 

Adjoining  the  site  of  the  old  Easton  Friends' 
meeting-house  at  West  Newton  is  a  free  burial- 
ground,  in  which  the  first  interment  was  that  of  a 
child  of  Thomas  Barnet,  in  1828.  The  second  burial 
in  it  was  that  of  Benjamin  Pucket,  who  died  in  182* 
or  1830.  He  was  the  first  school-teacher  and  first 
preacher  at  the  Easton  Friends'  meeting. 

On  the  river  bluff,  on  land  of  Elijah  Wilson,  near 
the  east  end  of  the  south  half  of  section  18,  township 
15,  range  3,  is  an  old  burial-ground  in  which  lie  the 
remains  of  several  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  neighbor- 
hood and  some  of  later  date,  with  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  children.  Burials  have  been  free,  but  the 
ground  has  never  been  deeded  or  formally  dedicated 
to  its  sacred  use,  and  it  is  now  nearly  abandoned  as  a 
place  of  interment. 

There  is  a  small  burial-ground  on  the  land  formerly 
owned  by  Joseph  Beeler,  on  the  Spring  Valley 
gravel  road.  The  first  burial  in  it  was  that  of  a 
child  of  Joseph  Beeler,  in  October,  1826.  It  also 
contains  the  graves  of  Mr.  Beeler,  his  mother,  his 
brother  Thomas,  and  several  other  members  of  his 
family,  and  those  of  several  of  his  neighbors  and 
friends.  Burials  have  always  been  free  in  this 
ground,  though  it  was  never  formally  consecrated. 

There  is  a  graveyard  attached  to  the  Centre,  or 
"  Starbuck''  Friends'  meeting-house  grounds,  on  the 
west  line  of  the  township ;  another  at  Lick  Branch 
(Friends_)  Church,  and  another  at  the  Mount  Pleasant 
Baptist  Church.  There  are  also  several  places  in 
the  township  where  from  one  to  four  or  five  graves 
have  been  made  together  on  private  lands,  but  which 
are  not  regarded  as  public  burial-grounds,  and  in 
some  cases  all  traces  of  the  graves  are  obliterated. 


CHAPTER    XXIL 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP.i 

The  township  of  Franklin  lies  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  Marion  County,  being  bounded  on  the 
north  and  west  respectively  by  the  townships  of 
Warren  and  Perry,  on  the  south  by  Johnson 
County,  and  on  the  east  by  the  counties  of  Shelby 
and  Hancock.  The  township  is  traversed  diagonally 
from  southeast  to  northwest  by  the  line  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Indianapolis,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago  Rail- 
way. The  principal  stream  is  Buck  Creek,  which 
enters  the  township  across  its  north  line  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  its  northeastern  corner,  flows  through 
the  eastern  part  of  Franklin  in  a  general  southward 
direction,  nearly  parallel  with  the  eastern  line,  and 
leaves  the  township  at  a  point  near  its  southeastern 
corner,  joining  its  waters  with  those  of  Big  Su^ar 
Creek  in  Shelby  County.  Wild  Cat  and  Indian 
Creeks,  Big  Run',  and  several  smaller  streams  are 
tributaries  of  Buck  Creek  which  flow  in  a  south- 
eastwardly  direction  through  Franklin  township  to 
their  junctions  with  the  main  stream.  Another 
stream,  which  also  bears  the  name  of  Buck  Creek 
(sometimes  called  Little  Buck  Creek),  and  is  a 
tributary  to  White  River,  flows  from  its  sources  in 
Franklin  southwestwardly  into  Perry  township. 
The  surface  of  Franklin  township  is,  like  that  of 
other  parts  of  the  county,  nearly  level  in  some  parts, 
in  others  rolling,  and  in  some  parts  hilly.  The  soil 
is,  in  general,  excellent,  well  adapted  to  most  of  the 
purposes  of  agriculture,  and  the  farmers  working  it 
are  well  rewarded  for  the  labor  they  bestow  upon 
it.  The  total  population  of  the  township  in  1880 
was  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  nine,  as  shown 
by  the  returns  of  the  United  States  census  of  that 
year. 

Franklin  was  laid  oS  and  erected  a  town.ship  of 
Marion  County  by  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
on  the  16th  of  April,  1822,  and  on  the  same  day, 
and  by  the  same  authority,  Decatur,  Perry,  and 
Franklin  were  (because  none  of  the  three  were  then 
sufficiently  populated  for  separate  organization)  joined 
together  as  one  township.     This  union  of  the  three 


1  By  T.  J.  McCollum,  Esq. 


520 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


townships  continued  until  the  12th  of  August,  1823, 
when  Decatur  was  made  separate  and  independent 
by  order  of  the  commissioners.  Then  Perry  and 
Franklin  remained  joined  together  as  one  until  May 
12,  1824,  when,  upon  petition,  and  it  being  made  to 
appear  to  the  commissioners  that  Perry  and  Franklin 
had  each  a  suflBcient  number  of  inhabitants  for 
separate  organization,  the  board  ordered  that  Frank- 
lin be  taken  from  Perry,  and  that  an  election  be  held 
on  the  19th  of  June  following,  at  the  house  of 
William  Rector,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  John  Ferguson  to  be  inspector  of  the 
said  election. 

Following  is  a  list  of  township  officers  of  Franklin 
from  its  erection  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE. 
Peter  Ilarmonson,  June  28,  1822,  to  June  6,  1827  (for  Perry, 

Decatur,  and  Franklin,  until  their  separation). 
Henry  D.  Bell,  Jan.  3,  1824,  (o  Oct.  6,  1827. 
James  Greer,  Oct.  27,  1823,  to  Oct.  22,  1832. 
Marine  D.  West,  Aug.  24,  1829,  to  May,  1831 ;  removed. 
Isaac  Baylor,  Aug.  10,  1831,  to  June  24,  1836. 
James  Greer,  Dec.  24,  1832,  to  Dec.  24,  1837. 
Benjamin  Morgan,  April  18,  1836,  to  April  15,  1846. 
Isaac  Baylor,  Aug.  1,  1836,  to  Aug.  1,  1841. 
James  Clark,  Feb.  5,  1838,  to  Feb.  2,  1843. 
Patrick  Catterson,  Sept.  20,  1841,  to  Sept.  20,  1846. 
Ale.tander  Carson,  March  9,  1843,  to  March  9,  1848. 
Benjamin  Morgan,  April  25,  1846,  to  Aug.  3, 1830 ;  resigned. 
Daniel  McMullen,  Nov.  7,  1846,  to  Nov.  7,  1851. 
William  M.  Smith,  April  19,  1848,  to  April  19, 1853. 
William  Power,  Nov.  23,  1850,  to  Nov.  23,  1855. 
Daniel  McMullen,  Nov.  17,  1851,  to  May  28,  1858;  resigned. 
James  A.  Hodges,  April  19,  1853,  to  April  5,  1856;  resigned. 
William  Power,  May  5,  1856,  to  April  19,  1860. 
Thomas  J.  McCollum,  July  16,  1858,  to  July  16,  1862. 
Lewis  B.  Willsey,  April  19,  1860,  to  April  17,  1864. 
James  Morgan,  April  IS,  1860,  to  April  16,  1864. 
George  W.  Morgan,  July  16,  1862,  to  Jan.  29,  1864;  resigned. 
Richard  L.  Upton,  April  IB,  1S64,  to  Aug.  27,  1864;   resigned. 
Jefferson  Russell,  April  15,  1864,  to  April  15,  1868. 
John  T.  Rynearson,  April  17,  1864,  to  April  17,  1868. 
James  Hickman,  Aug.  24,  1866,  to  Aug.  24,  1870. 
Lewis  B.  Willsey,  April  17,  1868,  to  April  17,  1872. 
John  T.  Phemister,  Oct.  25,  1870,  to  November,  1875 ;  died. 
George  W.  Morgan,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  November,  1875 ;  died. 
John  Wilson,  Nov.  22,  1875,  to  Oct.  25,  18S0. 
John  Porter,  Dec.  30,  1875,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Lewis  B.  Willsey,  Oct.  25,  1880,  to  Oct.  25,  1884. 
John  H.  Peggs,  Oct.  25,  1880,  to  Oct.  25,  1884. 


TKUSTEBS. 
John  H.  Ranilsdell,  April  7,  1859,  to  April  16,  1863. 
James  A.  Ferguson,  April  16,  1863,  to  April  14,  1865. 
Waller  M.  Benson,  April  14,  1865,  to  April  20,  1868. 
James  L.  Thompson,  April  20,  1868,  to  Oct.  26,  1874. 
Hiram  H.  Hall,  Oct.  26,  1874,  to  April  8,  1878. 
James  L.  Thompson,  April  8,  1878,  to  April  19,  1880. 
R.  C.  M.  Smith,  April  19,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
John  Wilson,  April  14,  1882,  for  two  years. 

ASSESSORS. 
George  L.  Kinnard,  Jan.  1, 1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
William  Rector,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  5, 1829. 
John  Bellis,  Jan.  5,  1829,  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
Ahira  Wells,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
■^ohn  Bellis,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  May  5, 1835. 
John  H.  Messinger,  May  5, 1835,  to  Jan.  4, 1836. 
Benjamin  Morgan,  Jan.  4,  1S36,  to  March  7, 1836. 
William  Townsenil,  March  7,  1836,  to  Jan.  2, 1837. 
Benjamin  Morgan,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
Bernard  Leachman,  Dec.  16,  1852,  to  Nov.  13,  1858. 
James  Morgan,  Nov.  13,  1858,  to  Oct.  18,  1860. 
Joseph  S.  Carson,  Oct.  18,  1860,  to  Oct.  30, 1862. 
Hiram  H.  Hall,  Oct.  30,  1862,  to  Oct.  21, 1872. 
Richard  C.  M.  Smith,  Oct.  21, 1872,  to  Aug.  1, 1873. 
Richard  C.  M.  Smith,  March  18, 1875,  to  April  14, 1880. 
James  H.  Gibson,  April  14,  1880,  to  April  14, 1882. 
Joseph  N.  Cunningham,  April  14,  1882,  to  April  14, 1884. 

The  old  Michigan  road,  traversing  the  territory 
of  Franklin  township  diagonally  in  a  northwesterly 
direction,  had  been  cut  out  and  underbrushed 
(but  not  graded  or  grubbed)  through  a  great  part  of 
this  region  as  early  as  1820,  and  it  was  over  the  route 
of  that  road  that  many  of  the  pioneers  came  to  Marion 
County.  The  first  settlements  within  what  is  now 
Franklin  township  were  made  by  people  who  came 
over  this  old  thoroughfare  and  located  not  far  from 
its  line,  in  the  east  and  southeast  parts  of  the  present 
township,  along  the  valley  of  Buck  Creek. 

It  is  believed  (though  the  fact  cannot  now  be 
established  by  absolute  proof)  that  the  first  white 
settler  within  the  present  boundaries  of  Franklin 
township  was  William  Rector,  who  came  here  from 
Ohio  in  the  year  1820,  and  built  his  cabin  on  lands 
bordering  Buck  Creek.  It  was  at  his  house  that  the 
first  election  of  the  township  was  held  (as  before 
mentioned)  on  the  19th  of  June,  1824.  On  the 
earliest  assessment-roll  of  the  township  which  can 
now  be  found  (that  of  the  year  1829)  the  name  of 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


521 


William  Rector  appears  assessed  on  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
10,  township  14,  range  5;  also  on  two  oxen  and 
three  horses.  He  was  an  extensive  dealer  (for  those 
times)  in  hogs,  of  which  he  drove  large  numbers  to 
Lawrenceburg  and  Cincinnati.  Mr.  Rector  was  a 
prominent  man  in  the  Methodist  Church,  and  was  a 
member  and  leader  of  the  first  class  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  the  township,  which  was  organized  at  his  house 
in  1827.  He  had  three  sons  and  several  daughters. 
Having  remained  an  inhabitant  of  Franklin  township 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he,  about  1848, 
sold  out  his  possessions  here  and  removed  with  his 
family  to  Iowa.  One  of  his  sons  afterwards  returned 
to  Franklin  township  and  married  a  daughter  of  Isaac 
Baylor,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  region. 

Maj.  John  Belles  (who  received  his  title  from  ser- 
vice in  that  grade  in  the  war  of  1812)  came  from 
Scott  County,  Ky.,  in  1820,  and  first  stopped  on  the 
Bradley  farm,  just  south  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  during  which  time  his 
wife  died,  leaving  him  with  a  family  of  five  sons  and 
tliree  daughters.  In  1822  he  moved  into  Franklin 
township,  and  settled  on  the  line  of  the  old  Michigan 
road,  near  where  it  crosses  the  line  dividing  the  town- 
ships of  Franklin  and  Warren.  The  land  on  which 
he  located  was  still  owned  by  the  government,  and  he 
did  not  become  a  purchaser  until  a  number  of  years 
later.  At  this  place  he  erected  his  first  dwelling, 
which  was  constructed  of  rails,  with  a  wagon  cover 
hung  up  in  front  for  a  door.  His  third  son,  Caleb, 
was  at  this  time  twelve  years  old,  and  the  cooking  and 
household  duties  fell  on  him  for  a  few  years,  until  his 
father  married  a  widow  by  the  name  of  Snell,  who 
was  a  sister  of  Dr.  John  Sanders  and  William  Sanders, 
of  Indianapolis.  He  erected  a  more  comfortable  house 
in  which  to  live  after  his  marriage,  and  commenced 
keeping  a  tavern. 

When  Maj.  Belles  settled  in  Franklin  township 
his  nearest  neighbor  was  a  man  named  Doyle,  who 
lived  midway  between  Indianapolis  and  the  Belles 
tavern  stand,  which  was  six  miles  southeast  from  the 
town.  This  tavern  was  a  very  popular  one  with  the 
traveling  public,  and  there  was  always  an  extra  effort 
made  by  travelers  to  reach   it  for  lodging  at  night. 


After  the  capital  of  the  State  was  moved  to  Indian- 
apolis the  representatives  and  senators  from  the 
southeast  part  of  the  State  made  it  a  point  to  stop 
with  the  major  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  General 
Assembly.  Maj.  Belles  continued  to  keep  this  tavern 
until  his  death  in  1838.  His  son  Caleb  settled  on 
the  school  section  in  1838.  His  wife  was  Lewis 
0  Neal's  daughter  Mary,  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
1836.  The  farm  of  Maj.  John  Belles  was  bought 
by  William  Morrison,  after  which  it  passed  through 
other  hands,  and  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
William  Sloan. 

Although  the  first  settlements  in  Franklin  were 
among  the  very  earliest  made  in  Marion  County,  and 
although  within  four  years  from  the  time  when  the 
pioneer,  William  Rector,  built  his  lonely  cabin  in  the 
solitude  of  the  Buck  Creek  Valley  the  township  had 
become  sufficiently  populous  to  entitle  it  to  a  separate 
and  independent  organization,  it  appears  certain  that 
the  greater  part  of  the  people  living  here  at  that  time 
were  but  squatters  rather  than  permanent  settlers ; 
for,  even  as  late  as  nine  years  after  the  first  settle- 
ment, it  is  shown  (by  the  assessment-roll  of  1829) 
that  only  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  and  one- 
half  acres  of  land  was  assessed  to  resident  owners  or 
holders,  and  only  eight  hundred  acres  to  non-resident 
owners,  leaving  more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  area  of 
the  township  still  in  possession  of  the  government. 
The  roll  referred  to  shows  that  in  the  year  1829 
only  nine  persons,  residents  in  Franklin  township, 
were  assessed  on  lands,  while  those  who  paid  the  poll 
tax,  but  were  assessed  on  no  real  estate,  were  thirty- 
nine  in  number,  named  as  follows,  viz. : 


Simeon  Adams. 
William  Adams. 
William  Adair. 
Moses  Barker. 
John  Belles. 
Robert  Brown. 
Benson  Cornelius. 
Robert  Carthen. 
James  Greer. 
William  Griffith. 
William  Hines. 
Israel  Jennings. 


Joshua  Jackson.  . 
Elijah  Jackson. 
John  Miller. 
George  Montgomery. 
George  R.  McLaughlin. 
James  McLain. 
James  B.  McLain. 
John  Messinger. 
Henry  Martin. 
Aquilla  W.  Noe. 
Lewis  O'Neal. 
John  Perkins. 


522 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


James  Pool.  William  P.  Smith. 

Thomas  Rowes.  James  Turner. 

John  Smither.  Josiah  B.  Toon. 

John  Smither,  Jr.  John  Walden. 

Lewis  Smither.  Marine  D.  West. 

James  Smither.  William  West. 

Willis  Smither.  Stephen  Yager. 

James  Skelly. 

Following  are  given  the  names  of  the  resident 
landholders  of  Franklin  township  in  1829  (excepting 
William  Rector,  who  has  already  been  mentioned), 
together  with  a  description  of  the  lands  on  which 
each  was  assessed,  as  shown  by  the  assessment-roll, 
viz. : 

John  Ferguson,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  28,  township  15,  range  5,  and  the 
west  half  of  section  27  in  the  same  township.  Mr. 
Ferguson  was  appointed  by  the  county  commission- 
ers inspector  of  the  election  held  at  the  house  of 
William  Rector  in  June,  1824,  which  was  the  first 
election  held  in  Franklin  after  it  became  a  separate 
and  independent  township. 

Jeremiah  Burnet,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  14,  range  5.  Also 
one  horse,  two  oxen,  and  a  silver  watch. 

Thomas  Berry,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  14,  range  5. 

Peter  Carberry,  fifty  acres  in  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  15,  township  14,  range 
5.  Carberry  came  to  this  township  in  1826,  and 
settled  where  the  village  of  Acton  now  is. 

Jacob  Rorick,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  14,  range  5. 

Daniel  Smith,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  10, 
township  14,  range  5. 

George  Tibbitts,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  14,  range  5.  Mr. 
Tibbitts  came  here  from  the  south  part  of  the  State 
in  1824.  He  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  built  a 
tannery  on  his  lands  in  1828.  In  1845  he  sold  out 
his  property  in  Franklin  township  to  Samuel  Parsley 
and  moved  to  Iowa. 

Daniel  Skelly,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  14,  range  5. 

Reuben    Adams    came    to   Franklin    township    in 


1825,  cleared  a  piece  of  land,  and  put  in  a  crop.  In 
1826  he  brought  his  family  here,  and  died  in  the 
same  year.  He  had  nine  sons  and  two  daughters. 
His  daughter  Lorinda  married  James  Skelly  about 
1830.  His  son,  William  Adams,  settled  on  a  farm 
which  he  afterwards  sold  to  John  Smither,  who  sold 
to  Samuel  McGaughey.  It  is  now  occupied  by  John 
E.  McGaughey. 

Lewis  O'Neal  emigrated  from  Kentucky  in  1825, 
and  settled  in  Franklin  township,  near  New  Bethel, 
on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  which  he 
purchased  from  the  government  about  four  years  later, 
and  which  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  George 
Adams  and  Isaac  Shimer.  O'Neal's  daughter  Mary 
married  Caleb  Belles  Nov.  10,  1836.  Richard,  son 
of  Lewis  O'Neal,  married  Charlotte  Vickers.  He 
died  in  Indianapolis.  Susan  O'Neal  married  Harvey 
Sebern  in  1839.  Kitty,  another  daughter  of  Lewis 
O'Neal,  married  Eli  Maston  and  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky. 

James  Pool  emigrated  from  Ohio  to  Marion 
County,  Ind.,  in  1828,  and  settled  on  forty  acres  of 
land  which  he  afterwards  sold  to  William  Faulkner, 
and  he  to  David  Brumley. 

Benson  Cornelius  came  to  this  township  in  1827. 
He  was  assessed  on  no  land  in  1829,  but  he  settled 
on  an  eighty-acre  tract,  which  he  sold  to  Henry 
Childers  about  184(1.  Childers  sold  to Haven- 
ridge,  and  he  to  John  Hill,  who  is  the  present  owner. 

Israel  Jennings  made  his  settlement  in  this  town- 
ship in  1827.  He  was  not  assessed  on  any  lands  in 
1829,  but  he  became  the  owner  of  the  eighty-acre 
tract  on  which  he  settled.  About  1840  he  sold  it  to 
Isaac  Collins,  the  present  owner. 

John  Messinger  came  from  Decatur  County,  Ind., 
to  Franklin  township  about  1824.  He  was  not  a 
land-owner  in  1829,  but  became  such  immediately 
afterwards,  and  built  on  his  land  the  mill  known  as 
the  Messinger  mill.  In  1840  he  sold  his  property 
in  this  township  and  removed  to  Iowa. 

John   Miller    came   to    Franklin    township   about 

1826,  and  located  on  lands  which  he  purchased  three 
or  four  years  later.  In  1853  he  sold  out  to  William 
Miller,  who  afterwards  sold  the  land  to  Thomas 
Porteus. 


FRANKLIN  TOWNSHIP. 


523 


Josiah  B.  Toon  settled  in  this  township  in  1828. 
His  name  appears  on  the  assessment-roll  of  1829,  but 
he  was  not  at  that  time  assessed  on  any  real  estate. 
M.  S.  Toon  came  to  the  township  in  1830,  and  his 
father,  John  Toon,  in  1831.  The  first  wife  of  M.  S. 
Toon  was  a  daughter  of  James  Davis,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Warren  township. 

Willis  Smither  (who  also  married  a  daughter  of 
James  Davis,  of  Warren  township)  came  to  Franklin 
township  in  1827.  The  assessment-roll  of  1829 
does  not  show  that  he  was  then  a  land-holder,  but 
when  he  came  to  the  township  he  took  up  and  settled 
on  the  land  on  which  he  now  lives.  His  brothers 
John  and  Lewis  had  come  to  this  township  some  time 
before  him,  but  neither  of  their  names  appear  as 
land-holders  in  1829.  John  Smither  bought  the 
farm  of  William  Adams  (son  of  Reuben  Adams), 
and  afterwards  sold  it  to  Samuel  McGaughey. 

William  P.  Smith  settled  in  this  township,  near 
New  Bethel,  in  1826.  In  1829  he  paid  no  tax  on 
real  estate,  but  was  assessed  only  on  one  horse  and 
one  silver  watch.  Only  four  other  persons  in  the 
township  were  the  owners  of  silver  watches  at  the 
time,  viz.,  Jeremiah  Burnet,  Maj.  John  Belles, 
George  R.  McLaughlin,  and  James  B.  McLain.  Mr. 
Smith  was  one  of  the  first  school-teachers  in  the 
township.  He  afterwards  became  the  owner  of  lands 
which  he  sold  to  David  Marrs.  Marrs  sold  the  farm 
to  Knowles  Shaw,  whose  widow  still  owns  and 
occupies  it. 

John  Leeper  came  from  Dearborn  County,  Ind., 
about  1832,  and  settled  in  this  township  at  the 
"  Pigeon  Roost,"  on  land  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  Isaac  Golden.  Joseph  Leeper,  son  of  John,  set- 
tled on  land  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Oliver 
Holmes. 

Stephen  Glasco  migrated  from  Rush  County,  Ind., 
to  this  township  about  1837,  and  settled  on  lands,  a 
part  of  which  are  now  owned  by  Jonas  Hamlyn.  A 
part  of  the  Glasco  tract  passed  to  the  ownership  of 
John  Maze. 

Richard  Hamlyn  came  from  England  to  America 
with  his  wife  and  children  in  1849  ;  located  in  Hamil- 
ton County,  Ohio,  remained  there  several  years,  and 
in  1857  came  to  Franklin  township,  where  he  bought 


the  farm  owned  by  George  Dillender.  He  died  about 
186.5.  His  son  Jonas  came  to  this  township  from 
Franklin  County,  Ind.,  in  1860,  and  bought  from 
William  Leeper  a  tract  of  land  which  had  been  first 
located  and  settled  on  by  Stephen  Glasco.  John 
Hamlyn,  son  of  Richard  and  brother  of  Jonas,  mar- 
ried Amanda  Clark  (half-sister  of  James  Clark)  in 
1859,  and  settled  on  the  farm  which  his  father  had 
owned,  and  on  which  he  (John)  still  lives.  Elizabeth, 
sister  of  Jonas  and  John  Hamlyn,  is  the  wife  of  Isaac 
Golden,  who  owns  and  lives  on  the  farm  on  which 
John  Leeper  settled  at  the  "  Pigeon  Roost." 

Joseph  Wheatley  came  to  this  township  about 
1830,  and  located  on  a  farm  which  had  been  entered 
by  Marine  D.  West.  The  farm  is  still  owned  by  the 
Wheatley  family. 

George  Eudaly,  a  native  of  Virginia,  came  from 
Kentucky  to  this  township  in  1830,  and  afterwards 
settled  on  what  was  known  as  the  Nosseman  farm, 
the  land  of  which  had  been  entered  by  a  Mr.  Chown- 
ing,  and  sold  to  John  Nosseman,  who  came  here  from 
Virginia.  Neither  Chowning,  Nosseman,  or  Eudaly 
appear  on  the  assessment-roll  of  1829.  The  land 
which  they  owned  in  succession  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  Henry  Laws. 

William  Beckley  came  to  this  township  from  Ken- 
tucky in  1832,  and  lived  for  about  one  year  on  the 
David  Morris  farm  ;  then  bought  from  James  Grif- 
fith the  farm  he  now  lives  on. 

Joseph  Perkins  came  here  in  an  early  day,  and  set- 
tled on  and  owned  the  farm  where  Joseph  Clark  now 
lives.  Alexander  Perkins,  son  of  Joseph,  married  a 
daughter  of  William  Griffy. 

George  Hickman  was  a  settler  who  came  from 
Ohio  in  1836,  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  extending 
from  the  eastern  border  of  Franklin  township  across 
the  eastern  line  into  Hancock  County.  It  was  in 
that  county,  on  the  eastern  part  of  his  land,  that  he 
first  built  his  cabin,  but  he  soon  afterwards  made  his 
residence  on  the  west  part  of  his  tract  in  this  town- 
ship, where  he  is  now  living  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years. 

Jacob  Springer,  a  carpenter  by  trade,  came  from 
Ohio  in  1833,  and  settled  on  the  old  Michigan  road 
near  New  Bethel.     His  two  sons,  John  J.  and  David, 


524 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


are  now  living  in  the  township.  John  J.  Springer 
owns  and  occupies  the  land  which  Ephraim  Fray  re- 
ceived as  his  portion  of  the  estate  of  his  father,  who 
settled  on  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  on 
Buck  Creek  in  1828.  The  farm  of  the  elder  Fray 
was  divided  between  his  son  Ephraim  and  his  daugh- 
ter, Susan  Fray. 

James  Clark  came  here  from  Jennings  County, 
Ind.,  in  February,  1835,  and  settled  on  the  same 
farm  that  he  now  occupies.  The  land  had  been 
entered  in  1832  or  1833  by  John  Van  Cleve. 

James  Turner  came  from  Kentucky  in  1828,  and 
settled  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  Little 
Buck  Creek,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Morgan  trace, 
now  the  Indianapolis  and  Shelbyville  road. 

Nehemiah  Smith  came  from  Kentucky  in  1830, 
and  settled  a  halfsection  of  land  on  Little  Buck 
Creek.     He  died  about  184U. 

Abraham  Hendricks  was  married  in  Kentucky  in 
1825  to  a  daughter  of  Nehemiah  Smith.  He  moved 
to  this  township  in  1830,  and  settled  eighty  acres  of 
land  on  Little  Buck  Creek,  and  now  owns  and  lives 
on  the  same,  being  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his 
age. 

Ninirod  Kemper  came  from  Kentucky  in  1832, 
and  settled  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  on 
the  line  of  the  Morgan  trace.  He  died  about  18t)7. 
Nimrod  Par  and  Nimrod  Kemper,  his  grandchildren, 
now  live  on  his  old  homestead  farm. 

Stephen  K.  Tucker  came  from  Kentucky  in  1834, 
and  bought  out  Hampton  Bryan,  who  then  returned 
to  Kentucky.  Mr.  Tucker  still  lives  on  the  land 
which  he  bought  of  Bryan. 

W.  W.  White  came  from  Kentucky  in  1824,  with 
his  mother  and  her  family,  and  settled  on  Lick  Creek, 
in  Perry  township,  where  he  remained  until  1833, 
when  he  married  and  moved  to  this  township,  and 
settled  on  the  eighty  acres  of  land  which  he  still 
owns  and  occupies. 

James  McLain  came  from  Kentucky  in  1 828,  and 
settled  on  Little  Buck  Creek,  on  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  which  he  purchased  a  year  or  two 
after  his  settlement.  He  erected  a  horse-mill,  which 
cracked  corn  for  the  neighboring  farmers  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.     After  his  death   his  sons  James   B. 


and  John  came  in  possession  of  his  lands,  John  hav- 
ing the  north  half,  and  James  B.  the  south.  The 
latter  removed  West  and  sold  his  farm  here,  which  is 
now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Wolcott.  John  McLain  died 
in  1872.  His  son  John  now  lives  on  the  farm. 
Another  son,  Moses  G.,  served  in  the  Seventieth  In- 
diana Volunteer  Regiment  in  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, losing  a  hand  in  the  service.  He  is  now  clerk 
of  Marion  County. 

George  B.  Richardson  emigrated  from  Kentucky 
in  1831,  and  settled  eighty  acres  of  laud,  and  re- 
mained on  it  until  1834,  when  he  moved  to  New 
Bethel,  Franklin  township,  where  he  went  to  work 
at  his  trade  of  blacksmith.  He  remained  there  until 
1837,  when  he  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  of  Patrick 
Catterson,  and  remained  on  it  several  years,  after 
which  he  sold  to  Brown,  and  he  to  Thomas  Schooly, 
who  resides  there  at  the  present  time.  G.  B.  Rich- 
ardson moved  back  to  the  land  on  which  he  first 
settled,  and  is  still  living  there. 

Samuel  Smith  came  from  Kentucky  to  Fayette 
County  in  1820  with  his  father.  He  moved  into 
Ru.sh  County  in  1821,  and  remained  there  until 
1834,  when  he  married,  and  moved  to  this  town- 
ship, and  settled  on  the  fractional  quarter-section  of 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  where  he  now  reside.'. 

William  Powers  came  from  Kentucky  to  Rush 
County  in,  1821,  and  remained  there  until  1834, 
when  he  came  to  this  township  and  settled  eighty 
acres  of  land,  and  lived  on  it  until  his  death,  about 
1870.     Samuel  Smith  now  owns  the  land. 

Jacob  Mathews  came  from  Ohio  in  1833,  and  set- 
tled on  eighty  acres,  where  he  lived  until  his  death, 
about  1872.  He  was  the  father  of  Harvey  R. 
Mathews,  of  this  township. 

James  Tolen  came  from  Ohio  in  1833,  and  settled 
on  eighty  acres  of  land,  where  he  lived  until  his 
death,  about  1873.  It  is  now  owned  by  Andrew 
Collins.  James  Tolen,  son  of  Jacob,  settled  eighty 
acres  adjoining  his  father's  farm,  and  now  lives  on 
the  same. 

Nathaniel  Smith  emigrated  from  Kentucky  to 
Rush  County  in  1821,  and  came  to  this  township 
in  1834.  He  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Patrick 
Catterson,  and  settled  on  Little  Buck  Creek,  where 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


525 


he  commenced  a  tannery,  and  carried  it  on  until 
about  1854,  when  he  closed  out  and  removed  to 
Brazil,  Ind. 

John  Graham  came  from  Pennsylvania  in  1821, 
and  settled  on  Lick  Creek,  in  Perry  township,  where 
he  died  in  an  early  day,  leavinc;  a  wife,  two  daugh- 
ters, and  four  sons,  of  whom  William  M.  Graham 
was  the  oldest.  He  was  born  in  December,  1824; 
was  married  to  Emily  Kelley,  of  Perry  township,  in 
1848,  and  moved  into  Franklin  town.ship  in  1850, 
and  settled  on  eighty  acres  of  land  entered  by  Patrick 
Catterson  in  1833,  and  sold  by  him  to  Charles  B. 
Watt  in  1834.  Graham  is  now  living  on  the  same 
land. 

Ethelbert  Bryan  settled  in  1836  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Shepler  Fry,  who  came  here  in  1854,  and 
purchased  from  Bryan.  Mr.  Fry's  farm  is  the  most 
thoroughly  underdrained  and  the  best  cultivated  of 
any  in  the  township. 

William  Morris  came  in  1834,  and  settled  on  the 
farm  since  well  known  as  the  David  Morris  farm. 

Thomas  E.  Moore  came  from  Kentucky  in  1834, 
and  settled  on  the  farm  where  his  son  Daniel  now 
lives. 

William  C.  Adair  came  to  Franklin  township  in 
1836,  and  settled  on  land  now  owned  by  John 
Fike. 

Morgan  Bryant,  a  comparatively  early  settler  in 
thi.s  township,  located  on  the  land  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  William  McGregor. 

Thomas  Craft  made  his  first  settlement  in  this 
township  on  land  which  had  been  previously  entered 
by  James  Fisk.  John  Craft,  son  of  Thomas,  now 
owns  a  part  of  the  tract. 

Jacob  Smock  came  to  Marion  County  from  JefiFer- 
8on  County,  Ind.,  Jan.  1,  1837.  He  at  first  located 
in  Perry  township,  where  he  remained  two  years, 
and  in  1838  came  to  Franklin  township,  and  entered 
tlie  land  on  which  he  now  lives,  and  which  was  the 
last  tract  entered  in  Marion  County. 

New  Bethel,  a  village  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
inhabitants,  situated  in  the  northern  central  part  of 
the  township,  was  laid  out  by  J.  11.  Messinger  for 
Mary    Adams    in    the    year    1834,    the    town    plat 


being  recorded  on  the  24th  of  March  in  that 
year. 

The  first  store  in  the  village  was  opened  by 
Davis  &  McFarland,  who  were  followed  in  the  busi- 
ness successively  by  Greer  &  Toon,  Patrick  Catter- 
son, Samson  Barbee,  Lewis  B.  Wilsey,  the  last 
named  commencing  in  1850.  Another  store  was 
opened  by  Richard  O'Neal  and  W.  G.  Toon,  who 
sold  out  to  Wilson,  who  was  succeeded  by  Harlan  & 
McMullen,  and  Harlan  &  Silvers,  who  continued  till 
1863.  J.  C.  Van  Sickel  commenced  merchandising 
about  1865,  and  continued  till  1869,  when  he  sold 
to  L.  B.  Wilsey  and  John  Wilson.  In  1872  Wilsey 
sold  his  interest  to  Wilson,  who  in  1875  sold  to 
David  Brumley,  who  in  1876  sold  a  half  interest  to 
Henry  Brown.  In  1877  Brumley  sold  his  remain- 
ing interest  to  A.  Helms,  and  he  in  1879  sold  to 
Henry  Brown,  who  is  still  in  trade.  The  other  store 
of  the  village  at  the  present  time  is  carried  on  by 
John  Wilson  and  Henry  Bond. 

The  pottery  business  was  established  by  Patrick 
Catterson  at  the  commencement  of  the  village  in  1834. 
Mrs.  James  Pool  now  has  a  jar  made  by  Catterson  in 
1836.  The  first  blacksmith  of  the  village  was  George 
B.  Richardson.  The  first  wagon-maker  was  Jacob 
Springer.  A  saw-mill  was  built  at  this  place  in 
1835  by  John  Smither,  Lewis  O'Neal,  and  Jacob 
Springer. 

The  first  physician  of  the  village  was  Dr.  Lawrence. 
Then  came  Drs.  Hoyt,  Orsemus  Richmond,  and  Wil- 
liam Presley.  The  last  named  practiced  in  New 
Bethel  and  vicinity  from  1845  to  1847,  after  which 
he  moved  to  Indianapolis.  During  the  last  year  of 
his  practice  in  New  Bethel  he  was  associated  in 
partnership  with  Dr.  S.  M.  Brown,  who  has  from 
that  time  to  the  present  remained  in  practice  as  the 
physician  of  the  village  and  surrounding  country. 
In  1852,  Dr.  Brown  was  married  to  Mahala  Brady, 
who  died  in  1867.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Brady,  Esq.,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Warren  township. 

Poplar  Grove  is  a  cluster  of  five  or  six  houses 
located  on  the  railroad  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  township.  There  was  once  a  post-ofiBce  there, 
but  it  was  discontinued,  and  now  the  place  has  no 
pretensions  to  the  name  of  a  village. 


526 


HTSTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Gallaudet  is  not  a  village,  but  merely  a  post-ofiBce 
and  station  on  the  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis 
and  Chicago  Railway. 

The  village  of  Acton  is  situated  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  Franklin  township,  on  the  line  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Indianapolis,  St.  Louis  and  Chicago  Railway. 
The  land  which  forms  the  site  of  the  village  is  a  part 
of  the  tract  originally  owned  by  the  pioneer  settler, 
Peter  Carbery,  but  which  in  1852  was  owned  by 
Thomas  Wallace.  The  village  was  laid  out  in  that 
year  by  John  E.  Stretcher,  surveyor,  for  Thomas 
Wallace  and  Thomas  Ferguson,  the  town  plat  being 
recorded  October  22d  in  the  year  named.  There 
would  probably  never  have  been  any  village  at  that 
point  but  for  the  building  of  the  railroad,  which  was 
at  that  time  approaching  completion,  and  which  was 
opened  for  travel  in  September  of  the  following  year. 
The  original  name  of  the  town  was  Farmersville, 
which  was  afterwards  changed  to  Acton,  to  avoid 
confusion  in  the  mail  service,  as  there  was  already  a 
post-office  named  Farmersville  in  the  State. 

Upon  the  establishment  of  the  post-office  at  Acton, 
John  Daily  was  appointed  postmaster ;  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  the  office  have  been  (in  the  order  named) 
Joseph  Pierson,  Samuel  Rosengarten,  Reuben  Con- 
way, Joseph  Brenton,  George  W.  Morgan,  N.  T. 
Parker,  George  W.  Vaughn,  D.  W.  Pierson,  John 
Foley,  and  (again)  D.  W.  Pierson,  who  is  the  present 
incumbent. 

The  first  merchants  of  the  village  were  John  Al- 
bright and  William  Duval,  who  opened  their  store  in 
a  log  building  in  1852.  The  next  was  John  Daily, 
who  opened  in  1853,  and  continued  until  1855,  when 
he  sold  to  Joseph  Pierson  and  William  Leeper.  The 
latter  sold  his  interest  in  the  store  to  Pierson,  who 
carried  on  the  business  until  1858,  when  he  sold  out 
at  auction  and  removed  to  Iowa. 

Salathiel  T.  Pierson  commenced  merchandising  at 
Acton  in  1853,  and  continued  till  his  death  in  Sep- 
tember, 1855.      Dugald    McDousall   commenced  in 


about  1858  and  continued  till  1864.  Rev.  Thomas 
Ray  was  a  merchant  in  Acton  from  1858  to  1860, 
and  Warren  Stacy  from  1860  to  1866.  The  three 
general  stores  of  the  village  at  the  present  time 
(January,  1884)  are  carried  on  respectively  by  D. 
W.  Pierson,  George  W.  Swails,  and  James  W.  Swails. 
The  first  physician  of  Acton  was  Dr.  William  Scott, 
who  came  in  1855,  and  remained  but  a  short  time. 

Dr. Johnson  located  in  the  village  in  the  fall  of 

1855,  and  remained  about  one  year.  Dr.  Samuel  Mc- 
Gaughey,  who  was  reared  and  educated  in  Franklin 
County,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Madison  Morgan, 
of  Shelby  County,  Ind.,  located  in  Acton  in  1856, 
and  has  remained  in  practice  in  the  village  and  vicinity 
until  the  present  time.  Dr.  T.  N.  Bryant  came  about 
1857.  He  was  in  partnership  with  Dr.  McGaughey 
for  about  a  year,  after  which  he  removed  to  Illinois, 
but  returned  to  Marion  County  and  located  in  Indian- 
apolis. Dr.  Philander  C.  Leavitt,  who  resided  at 
Pleasant  View,  Shelby  Co.,  at  the  opening  of  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion,  entered  the  service  of  the  United 
States  as  a  private  soldier,  was  promoted  to  surgeon, 
and  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  located  in  Acton, 
where  he  remained  in  practice  till  his  death  in  1882. 
Dr.  J.  W.  Spicer,  who  is  now  in  practice  in  Acton, 
located  in  the  village  about  1879. 

Acton  is  now  a  village  of  about  three  hundred  and 
fifteen  inhabitants,  and  has  four  churches  (three  Prot- 
estant and  one  Catholic),  one  school-house  (built  in 
1876,  at  a  cost  of  six  thousand  dollars),  one  graded 
school,  three  physicians,  three  general  stores,  one  boot- 
and  shoe-store  (by  Henry  Baas),  one  drug-store  (by 
John  Curry),  two  wagon-shops  (by  Daniel  Gillespie 
and  Hamilton  Brothers),  two  blacksmith-shops,  a 
steam  saw-mill  (built  in  1853  by  John  McCollum  & 
Sons,  and  now  operated  by  A.  H.  Plymate),  a  steam 
flouring-mill  (built  about  1860  by  Jacob  Rubush, 
John  Ferrin,  and  Solomon  Hahn,  and  now  operated 
by  Mr.  Hahn),  a  Masonic  lodge,  and  a  lodge  of  the 
order  of  Odd-Fellows. 

Pleasant  Lodge,  No.  13-t,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was 
1854,  and  continued  about  one  year.  James  Morgan  !  organized  at  Pleasant  View,  Shelby  Co.,  in  May, 
and  Peter  Swigart  commenced  at  about  the  same  time.  '  1852,  with  eight  members.  About  four  years  after 
John  Threlkill  commenced  in  1855,  and  continued  in  I  the  organization  it  was  removed  to  Acton,  where  a 
trade  about  three  years.     N.  J.  Parker  commenced     frame  building,  twenty-five  by  fifty  feet  in  size,  was 


FEANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


527 


erected,  and  the  upper  story  fitted  and  furnished  as 
a  lodge-room,  while  the  lower  story  was  rented  for 
store  purposes.  In  1873  the  building  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  with  a  total  loss  of  the  furniture  and  records 
of  the  lodge.  In  1875  a  brick  building,  twenty-four 
by  sixty  feet  in  size,  was  erected  on  the  same  site,  at 
a  cost  of  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars. 
The  lower  story  is  occupied  as  a  store  by  D.  W. 
Pierson,  and  above  it  is  the  Masonic  Hall.  The 
lodge  has  now  a  membership  of  fifty.  The  present 
officers  are  William  Cooper,  W.  M.  ;  William  T. 
Cummins,  S.  W. ;  John  Hanahan,  J.  W.  ;  Austin 
Daugherty,  Sec. ;  Solomon  Hahn,  Treas. ;  George 
Clover,  S.  D. ;  Dr.  J.  W.  Spicer,  J.  D. ;  John  Means, 
Tiler. 

Acton  Lodge,  No.  279,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was  instituted 
June  20,  1867,  with  the  following-named  members: 
J.  C.  P.  Stage,  E.  T.  Wells,  Joseph  Fittsgeval,  C.  C. 
Weaver,  Charles  J.  Phemister,  J.  G.  Clark,  Allen 
Drake,  S.  Rosengarten,  John  A.  Johnson,  William 
C.  Nicholas,  John  Porter,  James  H.  Clark,  Joseph 
R.  Johnson. 

The  lodge  now  has  fifteen  past  grand  officers, 
sixteen  active  members,  and  property  valued  at  about 
one  thousand  dollars.  The  hall  is  in  the  second 
story  of  the  building,  over  the  store  of  George  W. 
Swails.  The  present  officers  of  the  lodge  are  :  John 
Craft,  N.  G.  ;  James  Matthews,  V.  G. ;  J.  Swails, 
Sec.  ;  G.  W.  Swails,  Treas. ;  Charles  C.  Weaver, 
Per.  Sec. 

The  grounds  of  the  Acton  Camp-Meeting  Associa- 
tion, adjoining  the  village  of  Acton  on  the  northwest, 
being  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  16,  township  14,  north  of  range  5  east, 
were  purchased  of  the  Rev.  John  V.  R.  Miller 
for  about  one  thousand  dollars,  and  laid  out  and 
buildings  erected  for  camp-meeting  purposes  about 
1859.  The  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire  about 
1863 ;  were  rebuilt,  and  again  burned  about  three 
years  later,  when  the  present  buildings  were  erected. 
The  camp-meetings  held  yearly  on  this  ground  are 
very  largely  attended,  as  many  as  forty  thousand 
people  having  sometimes  been  present  in  a  single 
day. 

The  Union  Aiiricultural  Fair  Association  of  Frank- 


lin township  was  first  organized  as  a  grange  associa- 
tion, and  its  name  afterwards  changed  to  the  present 
one.  Hitherto  the  fairs  of  the  association  have  been 
held  on  grounds  (about  twelve  acres)  rented  for  the 
purpose  on  the  farm  of  John  P.  Overhiser,  about 
three  miles  west  of  Acton  ;  but  this  arrangement  was 
not  intended  to  be  a  permanent  one,  and  the  fairs 
will  be  held  in  future  on  grounds  adjoining  the 
village. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Acton  was 
first  organized  at  the  house  of  William  Rector,  on 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  10,  township  14, 
range  5  east,  about  the  year  1827.  It  was  formed 
by  the  following-named  members  :  William  Rector 
and  wife,  George  Tibbitts  and  wife,  John  Walden  and 
wife,  Jeremiah  Burnett  and  wife,  with  William  Rector 
and  George  Tibbitts  as  leaders.  About  1830  they 
built  a  house  of  worship  on  the  land  of  William  Rec- 
tor, which  was  twenty-eight  by  thirty-six  feet,  and 
constructed  of  hewn  logs,  as  was  the  custom  in  that 
day.  The  church  was  served  by  the  following-named 
preachers  or  pastors  (in  what  order  cannot  be  given) 
Revs.  James  Havens,  Francis  McLaughlin,  Elijah 
Whitten,  David  Burt,  Jacob  Miller,  John  V.  R. 
Miller,  Landy  Havens,  George  Havens,  David  Hav- 
ens, James  Corwin,  Baherrell,  and   Greenly 

McLaughlin,  with  William  Rector  as  exhorter  or 
local  preacher. 

About  1846,  William  Rector  moved  to  Iowa,  and 
the  class  began  to  decline  and  became  quite  weak. 
In  1852  they  organized  a  class  at  the  school-house, 
one  and  one-half  miles  southwest,  where  the  village 
of  Acton  was  laid  out  in  the  same  year.  They  con- 
tinued to  hold  their  meetings  in  the  sehool-house 
until  the  fall  of  1855,  at  which  time  they  had  a 
church  edifice  sufficiently  near  completion  to  hold 
their  services  in,  but  it  was  not  dedicated  until  June, 
1856.  In  the  fall  of  1853  they  held  the  quarterly 
meeting  in  the  warehouse  of  John  Daily,  in  Acton. 
After  the  class  was  moved  from  Rector's  chapel  to 
Acton,  John  Daily,  William  Crosson,  Henry  Mc- 
Roberts,  David  Rayburn,  Joseph  Brenton,  and  C.  C. 
Butler  were  class-leaders  up  to  1860. 

They  had  for  pastors  or  preachers  the  Rev.  George 


528 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


Havens  for  1853,  Rev.  Thouias  Ray  for  1854-55, 
Rev.  John  V.  R.  Miller  for  1856,  Rev.  John  Brouce 

for  1857,  Rev.  Chivington  for  1858,  Rev. 

Patrick  Carlin  for  1859,  Rev.  Elijah  Whitten  for 
1860,  Rev.  F.  S.  Potts  for  1861,  Rev.  R.  Roberts 
for  1862-63,  Rev.  M.  Mitchell  for  1864,  Rev.  A. 
Lotten  for  1865-66,  Rev.  J.  H.  Tomlinson  for  1867 
-68,  Rev.  Henry  Wright  for  1869,  Rev.  B.  F.  Mor- 
gan for  1870,  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Jones  for  1871-72 
(number  of  members  at  this  time,  sixty-five),  Rev.  P. 
S.  Turk  for  1873-74  (number  of  members  at  this 
time,  eighty).  Rev.  E.  S.  Spencer  for  1875-76  (num- 
ber of  members  at  this  time,  one  hundred  and  twelve). 
Rev.  P.  S.  Cook  for  1877-78,  Rev.  William  Nich- 
ols for  1879-80,  Rev.  R.  L.  Kinnear  tor  1881,  Rev. 
Albert  Cain  for  1882-83.  Present  number  of  mem- 
bers, one  hundred  and  thirteen.  The  church  building 
was  burned  Dec.  24,  1879,  the  fire  being  caused  by 
a  defective  flue.  They  commeDced  to  rebuild  is 
May,  1881,  and  completed  the  building  so  that  it 
was  dedicated  on  the  31st  of  July  of  the  same  year. 
The  building  is  a  brick  structure,  thirty-four  by  forty- 
eight  feet,  and  cost  three  thousand  dollars. 

The  officers  of  the  church  at  this  time  are :  Trus- 
tees, Jonas  Hamlyn,  David  Rayburn,  Frederick  Doke, 
and  Jacob  Tolen ;  Secretary,  Austin  Daugherty.  Jonas 
Hamlyn  was  class-leader  from  1875  to  1881.  David 
Rayburn  is  the  class-leader  at  the  present  time.  The 
present  stewards  are  James  Copeland,  Herbert  E. 
Hamlyn,  Charles  Doke,  W.  S.  Clover.  Connected 
with  the  church  is  a  Sunday-school  having  an  aver- 
age attendance  of  seventy.  Jonas  Hamlyn  has  been 
for  five  or  six  years  and  is  at  present  the  superin- 
tendent. 

The  New  Bethel  Baptist  Church  was  organized 
on  the  7th  of  April,  1827,  with  eight  members,  as 
follows :  James  Greer,  Lewis  O'Neal,  David  Woods, 
James  Davis,  Elizabeth  Greer,  Achsah  Woods, 
Catharine  O'Neal,  and  Elizabeth  Davis.  The  Rev. 
Abraham  Smock  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church,  and  served  until  December,  1832,  during 
which  time  there  was  a  number  added  to  the  church. 

In  the  year  of  the  organization  (1827)  they  built 
a  hewn-log  house,  twenty-four  by  twenty-eight  feet, 
with  a  large  fireplace  and  split  slabs   for  seats.     In 


this  they  felt  they  had  a  comfortable  place  to  worship 
God. 

In  January,  1833,  the  Rev.  John  Richmond  was 
chosen  pastor  for  one  year.  In  February,  1834,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Townsend  became  pastor  for  one  year. 
In  June,  1835,  a  council  met  with  the  church  and 
ordained  Ebenezer  Smith  to  the  ministry.  From 
1835  to  1838  they  were  without  a  pastor.  Town- 
send  and  Smith  (being  members  of  the  church) 
supplied  them  alternately.  In  1838  they  called 
Townsend  and  Smith  to  supply  the  pulpit  on  al- 
ternate Sabbaths,  and  they  served  until  1848. 

In  1842  the  church  by  a  council  ordained  John 
Ransdell  to  the  gospel  ministry.  In  1843  the 
church  built  a  frame  building,  thirty-six  by  forty- 
eight  feet,  at  a  cost  of  one  thousand  dollars.  In 
1848  the  Rev.  Madison  Hume  was  called  to  the, 
pastoral  care  of  the  church,  and  continued  until 
1852,  when  the  Rev.  Michael  White  was  called  to 
the  pastorate.  In  May,  1853,  Rev.  James  S.  Gil- 
lespie was  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  he  continued 
his  services  until  1859,  when  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Razor 
was  called  to  the  care  of  the  church.     In  1860,  Rev. 

Stewart  became  their  pastor.     In  1863,  Rev.  J. 

H.  Razor  was  again  called  to  the  care  of  the  church. 

In  1866  the  Revs.  James  M.  Smith  and  A.  J. 
Essex  hold  a  meeting  of  two  weeks,  at  which  meet- 
ing ninety-three  were  added  to  the  church,  seventy- 
eight  of  them  by  baptism.  At  the  same  time  the 
Rev.  James  M.  Smith  was  called  to  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  church.  While  he  was  pastor  they 
erected  a  new  church  building  of  brick,  thirty-six  by 
fifty  feet,  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand  dollars. 

In  1869  the  Rev.  F.  M.  Buchanan  was  called  to 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  church,  and  served  them 
until  1880.  The  Rev.  N.  Harper  was  pastor  in 
1881  and  1882.  In  1883  the  Rev.  T.  J.  Conner 
was  called  to  the  pastorate.  The  membership  at  this 
time  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-three.  The  Sun- 
day-school has  an  average  attendance  of  seventy-five, 
with  John  Grames  as  superintendent. 

The  Baptist  Church  at  the  Forks  of  Little 
Buck  Creek  was  organized  on  the  8th  of  June, 
1833,  at  the  house  of  Nehemiah  Smith,  by  a  council 
from    the    followinsr-named    churches :     Lick     Creek 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


529 


Church,  Abraham  Sraock,  Thomas  Townsend,  Thomas 
Bryan,  Jacob  Smock,  and  Luke  Bryan  ;  Bethel 
Church,  Joel  Kemper,  Lewis  Smither,  and  John  J. 
Belles ;  Pleasant  Run  Church,  John  Perry  and  Wil- 
liam Herring.  The  council  was  organized  by  electing 
Abraham  Smock  moderator  and  Thomas  Townsend 
clerk,  after  which  they  adopted  articles  of  faith, 
which  were  signed  by  the  following-named  constitu- 
ent members :  Elijah  Vise.  Susan  Vise,  Nehemiah 
Smith,  Sarah  Smith,  William  Forsythe,  Sarah  For- 
sythe,  Edmond  Lovitt,  Mary  Lovitt,  Abraham  Hen- 
dricks, Susan  Hendricks,  Frank  Smith,  Rebecca 
Perkins,  Elizabeth  Vise,  Susan  Vise,  Francis  Vise, 
Nathaniel  Vise,  Polly  Vise,  Benson  Cornelius,  Debo- 
rah Cornelius,  Thomas  McFarland,  Betsy  McFar- 
land,  and  Sarah  Wikoff. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  church  was  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Townsend,  who  served  them  for  two  years ; 
then  Rev.  Abraham  Smock  served  them  for  two 
years  ;  then  Ebenezer  Smith.  (Here  the  records  are 
missing.)  Since  1868  the  followiug-named  ministers 
have  served  the  church  as  pastors,  viz. :  Peterson  K. 
Par,  Daniel  Caudle,  and  Robert  Thompson.  P.  K. 
Par  and  Robert  Thompson  are  now  serving  the 
church  alternately  as  pastors.  Services  are  held 
once  a  month.  The  church  has  now  thirty-six  mem- 
bers.    Nimrod  Par  is  church  clerk. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  at  Acton  was  first 
organized  iu  Perry  township.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  1833,  a  few  Presbyterians  met  at  the  house 
of  Mrs.  Mary  Sebern,  one  and  one-half  miles  north 
of  where  Southport  now  stands,  and,  after  a  sermon 
preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Woods,  from  Proverbs 
xxviii.  4,  the  New  Providence  (now  Acton)  Presby- 
terian Church  was  organized.  John  S.  Sebern  and 
Otis  Sprague  were  the  first  elders,  and  Samuel 
Brewer  the  first  deacon.  They  were  all  ordained 
and  installed  on  the  31st  of  March,  1833,  having 
been  elected  on  the  preceding  day. 

The  church  at  its  organization  consisted  of  twenty- 
four  members,  .set  apart  by  the  Indianapolis  Presby- 
tery from  the  Greenfield  (now  Greenwood)  Church, 
and  one  by  letter  from  the  only  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Indianapolis  at  that  time.  The  following  are  the 
names   of  those   forming   the   organization  :    Samuel 


Brewer,  Eleanor  Brewer,  Thomas  C.  Smock,  Rachel 
Smock,  Ann  Smock,  Abraham  V.  Smock,  Simon 
French,  Mary  French,  Eliza  McFarland,  Benjamin 
McFarland,  Mary  McFarland,  John  A.  Brewer, 
Lemma  Brewer,  Phannel  Graham,  Paulina  White, 
Jane  E.  McCollum,  Mary  Sebern,  Phebe  Sebern, 
Samuel  Sebern,  John  Sebern,  Deborah  W.  Sebern, 
Andrew  C.  Mann,  Sally  Mann,  and  Otis  Sprague. 
Of  this  number  the  following  now  survive :  Samuel 
Brewer  and  Eliza  McFarland  (now  Thomas). 

In  1838  a  division  took  place  in  the  church,  and 
twenty  members,  including  one  elder,  went  with  this 
branch,  and  seventeen,  including  two  elders,  went 
with  the  New  School  branch.  There  was  no  hostile 
feeling  manifested  by  either. 

From  1838  to  1844  the  church  had  been  irregu- 
larly supplied  with  preaching,  having  had  only  one 
regular  supply  (Rev.  Sayers  Gaglay)  for  about  two 
years.  In  1845  the  church  (then  numbering  forty- 
five  members)  elected  and  called  their  first  pastor 
after  the  division.  He  was  the  Rev.  B.  F.  Wood, 
who  continued  to  sei've  them  one-half  the  time  until 
1850. 

In  1845  and  1846  they  built  a  house  of  worship 
on  the  farm  of  Joseph  Wallace,  one  and  one  half 
miles  east  of  Southport.  The  house  was  twenty- 
eight  by  thirty-six  feet,  a  wooden  structure,  and  cost 
about  five  hundred  dollars.  In  1851,  Rev.  Henry 
Coe  served  as  pastor  one-half  his  time.  In  1852 
there  were  but  thirty-nine  members,  and  in  this  same  . 
year  there  was  a  division  of  the  church  for  the  sake 
of  convenience,  one  portion  going  west  to  the  Bluff 
road,  in  Perry  township,  and  forming  the  Union 
Church,  and  the  other  portion  (seventeen  members) 
going  east  to  Acton,  in  Franklin  township,  and 
forming  what  is  known  as  the  Acton  Presbyterian 
Church. 

The  first  pastor  at  Acton  was  Rev.  William  A. 
Holliday,  who  gave  one-half  his  time.  In  1856  the 
church  building  was  moved  from  the  Wallace  farm 
to  Acton.  It  was  refitted,  and  in  it  they  held  their 
church  services  until  1870,  when  they  built  a  brick 
church  building,  thirty  by  forty  feet,  at  a  cost  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

In  1856,  Rev.  P.  R.  Vanetta  served  them  as  pas- 


S30 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


tor,  and  the  membership  was  eighteen.  The  Rev. 
John  Gilchrist  served  the  church  from  1857  to  the 
close  of  1859  as  pastor  (membership  increased  to 
thirty-nine)  ;  Rev.  A.  C.  Allen  served  as  pastor  till 
the  close  of  1861,  at  which  time  he  enlisted  in  the 
United  States  volunteer  service  (membership,  forty- 
two).  In  1863  the  Rev.  James  Gilchrist  supplied 
the  pulpit.  In  1864,  L.  G.  Hay  served  the  church 
one-half  the  time.  In  1865,  James  Gilchrist  again 
became  pastor  of  the  church  one-half  of  his  time, 
and  served  until  the  close  of  the  year  1867.  The 
Rev.  L.  G.  Hay  became  pastor  in  1868,  and  con- 
tinued to  the  close  of  1870.  The  Rev.  James  Wil- 
liamson was  pastor  of  the  church  from  1871  until 
1882.  Rev.  L.  B.  Schryock  was  called  and  accepted 
the  pastorate  for  1884.  The  membership  at  this 
time  is  ninety-six. 

In  1873  the  membership  had  increased  to  seventy. 
A  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  1857,  with  Jacob 
Smock  as  superintendent.  Jacob  Rubush  has  been 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  time  from  1870  to  1884.  The  average 
attendance  is  eighty. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  oflScers  of  the 
church  from  its  organization :  Elders,  John  S.  Seb- 
ero,  Otis  Sprague,  Simon  Smock,  Samuel  Brewer, 
Peter  Smock,  James  Clark,  William  H.  Boyd,  Syl- 
vester Ellis,  Samuel  S.  Sebern,  Jacob  Smock,  Thomas 
L.  Clark,  Samuel  Potter,  Jacob  Rubush,  A.  H.  Ply- 
mate,  and  William  Cooper;  Deacons,  Samuel  Brewer, 
Andrew  C.  Mann,  Samuel  Moore,  Jacob  Smock,  Wil- 
liam J.  CoUey,  Henry  Baas,  Malcomb  A.  Lowes, 
William  Hutchinson,  William  R.  Lowes,  John  N. 
Clark,  John  M.  Clark,  and  William  P.  James; 
Trustees,  John  V.  Sebern,  Andrew  C.  Mann, 
Thomas  C.  Smock,  Samuel  Moore,  Jacob  Smock, 
William  J.  Colley,  Thomas  Wallace,  Samuel  Mc- 
Gaughey,  Jacob  Rubush,  Jehu,  John,  and  William 
H.  Smock. 

The  present  officers  are :  Elders,  James  Clark, 
Jacob  Smock,  Jacob  Rubush,  A.  H.  Plymate,  Wil- 
liam Cooper,  and  Thomas  L.  Clark ;  Deacons,  John 
N.  Clark,  William  R.  Lowes,  and  John  M.  Clark  ; 
Trustees,  Jacob  Rubush,  Samuel  MeGaughey,  and 
William  H.  Smock. 


The  Big  Run  (Anti  -  Missionary  Baptist) 
Churcll  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Knowles 
Shaw,  one-half  mile  east  of  the  village  of  New 
Bethel,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1848,  with  ten 
members,  viz.  :  Willis  Smither,  Hester  Smither, 
Lewis  Smither,  Obadiah  Davis,  Mary  Davis,  Caleb 
Belles,  Mary  Belles,  Albert  Hickman,  Amanda  Hick- 
man, and  James  Tolen.  They  called  the  Rev.  Em- 
mons Hurst  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  and  he 
was  the  only  regular  pastor  until  1853,  at  which  time 
the  Rev.  Erasmus  D.  Thomas  became  pastor,  and  has 
continued  in  that  capacity  to  the  present  time  with- 
out any  interruption.  They  have  regular  services 
once  a  month. 

This  church  used  school-house  No.  5  (known  as 
the  township  house)  as  a  meeting-place  until  the  fall 
of  1849,  when  they  had  a  house  of  worship  erected. 
It  was  a  frame  structure  twenty  by  thirty  feet,  and 
cost  one  thousand  dollars.  As  time  passed  this  build- 
ing became  too  small  for  the  increasing  congregation, 
and  in  1871  they  built  a  more  commodious  house  of 
worship.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  thirty-six  by  fifty- 
four  feet,  and  cost  four  thousand  three  hundred  dol- 
lars.    The  membership  at  this  time  is  ninety-two. 

The  Buck  Creek  Christian  Church  was  organ- 
ized on  the  21st  of  August,  1860,  at  Murphy's 
school-house  (No.  7),  with  the  following-named  mem- 
bers, viz. :  James  Eaton,  Sarah  Eaton,  Alexander 
Helm,  Elizabeth  Helm,  George  B.  Richardson,  Sarah 
Richardson,  Ashley  Sutherland,  Elizabeth  Suther- 
land, King  Parrish,  Maria  Parrish,  Zerviah  B.  An- 
derson, William  H.  Richardson,  Catharine  Helm, 
Isabelle  Hall,  Sarah  Hittle,  Nancy  Mathews,  and 
Nancy  J.  Baker.  Their  pastors  have  been  John 
Brown  (one  yearj,  Butler  K.  Smith  (one  year),  J.  H. 
McCullough  (two  years),  Amzi  Atwater,  Charles 
Shoat  (one  year),  J.  L.  Parson  (one  year),  W.  H.  H. 
Blark  (one  year),  Elijah  Goodwin  (two  years),  M.  T. 
Hough  and  H.  T.  Buff  (alternately,  one  year),  W.  R. 
Lowe  (one  year),  M.  T.  Hough  (two  years),  H.  T. 
Mason  (one  year),  A.  H.  Carter  (one  year),  John  A. 
Mavity  (one  year),  W.  R.  Couch  (two  years),  W.  H. 
Boles  (one  year),  J.  M.  Camfield  (three  years),  and 
C.  W.  Martz,  the  present  pastor,  who  is  now  on  his 
second  year  of  service. 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


531 


Their  first  place  of  worship  was  the  school-house 
where  they  first  organized.  Id  1861  they  built  a 
house  of  worship  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  east 
half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  28,  township 
15  north,  range  5  east, — a  frame  structure,  thirty-two 
by  forty-four  feet,  which  cost  one  thousand  dollars. 
In  1880  they  built  their  second  house  of  worship  on 
the  same  grounds.  It  is  a  brick  building  thirty-two 
by  forty-two  feet,  and  cost  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars. 

The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four.  Meetings  are  held  once  a 
month  They  have  a  good  Sunday-school,  with 
seventy-five  scholars  in  attendance,  and  sessions  are 
held  every  Sunday  the  year  round.  The  superin- 
tendent is  John  M.  Toon.  The  present  oflBcers  of 
the  church  are :  Trustees,  Henry  J.  Toon,  Joseph 
Harris ;  Elders,  Henry  J.  Toon,  Joseph  Harris,  and 
James  E.  Greer ;  Deacons,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Obadiah 
Eaton,  and  John  M.  Toon. 

The  Acton  Baptist  Church  was  organized  at 
Acton  on  the  13th  day  of  January,  1866,  with 
twenty-five  members,  viz. :  John  N.  Eades,  Elisha 
Bally,  Mary  Baily,  William  Everett,  William  Mor- 
gan, Nancy  Morgan,  Sarah  Morgan,  Mrs.  Everett, 
Mahala  Everett,  Susan  Morgan,  Nancy  Phemister, 
John  Morgan,  John  T.  Phemister,  Sr.,  James  M. 
Smith,  Elizabeth  J.  Smith,  Joseph  C.  Smith,  George 
W.  Crossen,  Mary  Crossen,  Thomas  Foster,  Permelia 
Foster,  Martha  Baas,  Delila  Jenkins,  Jane  Keeler, 
Cumi  Keeler,  Nancy  Leavitt.  At  the  same  time  the 
Revs.  James  M.  Smith  and  A.  J.  Essex  held  a  meet- 
ing of  some  two  weeks'  duration,  and  added  thirty- 
four  to  the  church,  the  Presbyterians  giving  them 
the  use  of  their  house  of  worship  for  the  meeting. 
At  the  close  of  this  protracted  effort  the  church 
called  Rev.  James  M.  Smith  as  their  pastor,  who 
continued  to  serve  the  church  half  his  time  until 
June,  1869,  when  Rev.  F.  M.  Buchanan  was  called 
to  the  pastorate,  and  continued  half  his  time  until 
January,  1873. 

The  Rev.  H.  C.  McCaleb  was  pastor  half  his  time 
for  the  years  1873  and  1874  Rev.  T.  J.  Murphy 
was  pastor  for  the  year  1875,  and  the  Rev.  D.  D. 
Swindall  in  the  same  way  for  1876.     In  the  year 


1877  the  church  had  no  pastor.  The  Rev.  C.  King 
was  pastor  in  1878  and  1879.  The  church  was 
without  a  pastor  in  1880.  The  Rev.  James  M. 
Smith  was  again  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  served 
one-fourth  of  his  time  for  the  years  1881  and  1882. 
The  Rev.  F.  M.  Buchanan  was  again  called  to  the 
pastorate,  and  is  now  acting  as  such  one-fourth  of 
the  time.  The  present  membership  is  ninety-nine. 
Sabbath  school  sessions  are  held  every  Sabbath.     The 

j  number  of  scholars  in  attendance  is  fifty-two.     T.  J. 

I  McCollum  is  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school, 
and  has  been  since  1868  except  one  year  (1875). 
The  trustees  of  the  church  are  William  McGregor, 
L.  P.  Montague,  and  Henry  T.  Craig ;  Deacons,  T. 
J.  McCollum  and  J.  F.  McCollum;  Clerk,  L.  P. 
Montague. 

The  Mount  Zion  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
was  organized  as  a  class  in  the  year  1832,  at  the 
house  of  James  McLain,  with  about  fifteen  members, 
principally  of  the  families  of  McLain  and  Perkins. 
In  1836  they  built  a  log  meeting-house  on  James 
McLain's  land,  and  this  was  used  as  a  house  of  worship 
till  about  1853,  when  they  erected  a  frame  building, 
in  which  they  continued  to  hold  their  services  for 
about  twenty  years,  wh^n  the  church  organization 
ceased  to  exist.  The  location  of  this  church  is  near 
the  west  line  of  the  township,  and  near  its  centre 
from  north  to  south. 

The  Methodist  Chapel,  so  called,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  is  located  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  Franklin  township.  The  first  class  at  this  place 
was  organized  about  1838,  at  the  house  of  Nathaniel 
Owens,  its  members  being  principally  of  the  fami- 
lies of  Owens,  Reyburn,  McLaughlin,  Stoops,  and 
Arnold.  Soon  after  the  organization,  they  built  a 
log  church  on  land  then  owned  by  Simon  Peters  (now 

by Cottman).     About  1860  this  old  building 

gave  place  to  a  frame  church,  which  was  erected  on 
the  same  site.  In  this  they  worshiped  about  ten 
years,  after  which  the  organization  went  down,  and 
services  were  discontinued.  The  church  building  is 
still  standing,  and  although  no  preaching  is  held 
there,  it  is  used  as  the  meeting-place  of  a  flourishing 
Sabbath-school  of  about  fifty  scholars,  not  under 
charo-e  of  the    Methodist  denomination,   but   under 


532 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


the  patronage  and  superintendency  of  a  daughter  of 
F.  M.  Churchman,  Esq. 

The  Church  of  the  United  Brethren,  which  wor- 
shiped in  a  church  building  located  near  the  centre 
of  the  township,  was  organized  about  1855,  at  the 
house  of  Isaac  Collins.  The  greater  part  of  its 
members  were  of  the  Collins  family.  Their  first 
meetings  were  held  at  Collins',  and  in  the  school- 
house  for  a  year  or  two,  when  they  erected  a  frame 
church  building  which  is  yet  standing,  though  the 
church  organization  became  dismembered  and  ceased 
to  exist  several  years  ago. 

The  oldest  burial-ground  in  Franklin  township 
was  opened  on  land  of  William  Rector,  at  the  place 
where  the  Rector  Chapel  was  built.  It  is  not  now 
known  who  was  the  first  person  interred  in  this 
ground.  It  is  not  used  now,  no  burials  having 
been  made  in  it  for  several  years. 

In  the  graveyard  at  New  Bethel  the  first  inter- 
ment was  that  of  Reuben  Adams,  on  whose  land  the 
burial-place  was  laid  out.  It  was  at  first  a  plat  of 
about  one  acre,  which  has  since  been  increased  to 
about  two  acres.  The  ground  is  now  nearly  filled 
with  graves,  and  contains  some  handsome  monu- 
ments. 

At  the  Methodist  Chapel  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  township  is  a  burial-ground  of  about  one 
acre,  which  is  well  filled  with  graves  though  not 
crowded.  One  of  the  first  interments  in  it  was  that 
of  the  wife  of  Simon  Peters. 

The  graveyard  at  Mount  Zion  Church,  near  the 
west  line  of  the  township,  contains  about  one  acre, 
and  is  only  partially  filled.  The  first  interments  here 
were  made  about  1835. 

At  the  Little  Buck  Creek  Church  is  a  burial- 
ground  still  in  use,  which  was  laid  out  on  land 
entered  by  Nehemiah  Adams.  The  first  burials  in 
this  ground  were  made  about  1833. 

A  burial-ground  was  opened  on  the  David  Morris 
farm  in  1835,  and  is  still  in  use.  It  is  not  in  con- 
nection with  any  church,  and  there  is  no  house  of 
worship  near  it. 

The  cemetery  at  Acton  is  a  ground  of  about  two 
acres,  a  part  of  the  old  Leeper  farm,  purchased  from 


William  Leeper,  and  laid  out  as  a  cemetery  in  lB6fi. 
The  lots  in  this  cemetery  are  all  sold,  and  many  fine 
monuments  have  been  erected  in  it.  Improvements 
are  constantly  being  made  in  the  ground,  though  it  is 
yet  far  from  being  completed  in  accordance  with  the 
design,  which  is  based  on  the  modern  idea  of  cemetery  ' 
embellishment. 

Schools. — -Very  soon  after  the  pioneer  settlers  had 
established  themselves  and  their  families  in  their  rude 
log  cabins,  and  cleared  a  suflBcient  space  of  ground  to 
raise  crops  enough  to  insure  them  a  subsistence,  they 
took  measures  (inefficient  though  they  were)  to  pro- 
vide for  their  children  the  means  of  acquiring  some 
of  the  rudiments  of  education  by  opening  primitive 
schools,  which  were  usually  taught  by  persons  who 
were  employed  at  farm  labor  during  the  summer, 
and  who  during  the  winter  taught  school  for  a  term 
of  six  weeks  to  two  months,  receiving  a  mere  pittance 
for  their  services.  The  first  schools  were  taught  in 
the  east  part  of  the  township  in  the  Buck  Creek 
settlements,  but  others  were  opened  very  soon  after- 
wards in  other  parts,  as  soon  as  enough  settlers  had 
come  in  to  form  a  neighborhood  school.  Thomas 
Townsend  and  William  P.  Smith  were  the  first  two 
persons  who  taught  school  in  Franklin  township,  but 
it  is  not  certainly  known  which  of  these  was  the 
pioneer.  Peter  Townsend,  Abraham  Smock,  and 
Price  N.  Batts  (son-in-law  of  Reuben  Adams)  were 
among  the  other  early  teachers  of  the  township.  The 
first  schools  were  usually  taught  in  deserted  cabins 
which  had  been  built  by  "  squatters"  who,  after  a 
temporary  occupation,  had  deserted  them  and  moved 
away.  Where  log  buildings  had  been  built  as  places 
of  worship,  they  were  also  invariably  used  for  schools. 
And  as  the  township  became  a  little  more  thickly 
settled,  each  neighborhood  of  two  or  three  miles' 
radius  had  its  school-house.  They  wore  all  nearly 
the  same, — a  low  log  building  of  about  eighteen  by 
twenty-two  or  twenty-four  feet  in  size,  with  a  log  cut 
out  on  two  sides,  leaving  openings  which,  when 
covered  with  greased  paper  in  place  of  glass,  formed 
the  windows  of  the  house.  In  one  end  of  the  school- 
room was  a  fireplace  plastered  with  clay  or  mud, 
sometimes  communicating  with  a  "  stick  chimney" 
on  the  outside,  and  sometimes  having  no  chimney  at 


'^2.'rfi4Af^_^e-'i'L.£/-€rze^ 


FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


533 


all,  except  a  hole  in  the  roof.  The  floor  was  of 
puncheons,  the  seats  and  benches  of  split  logs, 
with  the  split  sides  dressed  to  comparative  smooth- 
ness. A  high,  rude,  and  uncomfortable  writing  desk 
(or  more  properly  shelf)  was  formed  in  a  similar 
way.  None  of  the  requisites  or  equipments  of  the 
modern  school-room  were  found  in  these  houses. 
Everything  was  rough,  uncomfortable,  and  discourag- 
ing to  both  pupil  and  teacher,  yet  the  schools  taught 
amid  such  surroundings  were  the  best  that  could  be 
had  in  those  days,  and  in  them  many  a  child  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  education,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  an  honorable  career. 

About  1836,  under  the  Congressional  townsnip 
school  system,  rather  better  school-houses  were  built 
on  about  each  four  square  miles  of  territory  through 
the  township.  These  houses  were  built  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  neighborhood,  while  the  fund  derived  from 
the  sale  of  the  school  lands  aided  in  maintaining  in- 
diflFerent  schools  in  them  for  short  terms.  Upon  the 
establishment  of  the  present  system,  Franklin  took  a 
place  abreast  of  the  other  townships  of  the  county  in 
the  improvement  of  its  schools. 

Franklin  township  has  now  eleven  school  districts, 
and  the  same  number  of  school-houses  (seven  frame, 
and  four  brick).  Schools  are  taught  in  all  the 
houses,  and  two  of  them  are  graded  schools.  There 
are  also  four  private  schools  taught,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  forty-four.  In  1883,  fourteen  teachers 
(nine  male  and  five  female)  were  employed  in  the 
public  schools.  Six  teachers'  institutes  were  held  in 
the  township  during  the  year.  The  average  total 
daily  attendance  of  scholars  was  371  ;  whole  number 
of  scholars  admitted  to  the  schools,  625  ;  average 
length  of  school  terms  in  the  township  in  1883,  114 
days;  valuation  of  school-houses  and  grounds, $14,500. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

THOMAS  SCHOOLEY. 

John  Schooley,  the  grandfather  of  Thomas,  was  of 

English  extraction  and  a  resident  of  Massachusetts. 

His  children  were  James,  William,  Sewell,  and  David. 

James,  the   first  named,  was   born  during  the  year 


1792,  in  Massachusetts,  and  early  removed  to  Dela- 
ware, where  he  married  Ruth  Hobson,  a  native  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  To  this  marriage  were  born  chil- 
dren,— John,  James,  Thomas,  Daniel,  and  Andrew. 
Mr.  Schooley  removed  later  to  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, where  he  became  a  successful  merchant.  His 
son  Thomas  was  born  Feb.  22, 1830,  in  Cecil  County, 
Md.,  and  in  early  youth  removed  to  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
and  in  1840  to  Indianapolis,  where  his  father  died 
soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  family.  Thomas  re- 
mained until  fifteen  with  his  mother,  and  then 
sought  employment  as  assistant  to  various  farmers 
of  Marion  County,  being  meanwhile,  for  a  brief  time, 
a  pupil  of  the  Indianapolis  Seminary.  In  1851  he 
married  Miss  Rachel  Blue,  of  the  same  county, 
whose  only  son,  Frank,  died  July  15,  1869,  at  the 
age  of  fifteen.  In  1852,  Mr.  Schooley  having  left 
his  wife  at  the  home  of  her  father,  crossed  the  plains 
en  route  to  California  (where  he  remained  three  years), 
in  Placer  County,  engaged  in  mining  and  the  profita- 
ble business  of  hotel-keeping.  Returning  in  1855, 
he  purchased  a  farm  north  of  Indianapolis,  and  his 
wife  having  meanwhile  died,  he,  in  June,  1855, 
married  Miss  Esther,  daughter  of  Madison  Hume, 
one  of  the  earliest  Baptist  clergymen  in  the  county. 
Their  children  are  Flora  (Mrs.  H.  J.  Brown)  and 
Minnie.  Mr.  Schooley,  in  1862,  sold  his  farm  and 
removed  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  engaged  in  com- 
mercial pursuits.  Having  determined  to  return  again 
to  country  life,  he,  in  1869,  purchased  his  present 
home  in  Franklin  township,  and  has  since  engaged 
in  general  farming  and  speculating.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Republican,  but  not  an  active  worker  in  the  political 
field.  The  cause  of  education  has  ever  found  in 
him  an  earnest  advocate  and  friend,  and  all  measures 
for  the  promotion  of  education  receive  his  cordial  en- 
couragement. He  is  in  religion  a  supporter  of  both 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Baptist  Churches, 
Mrs.  Schooley  being  a  member  of  the  latter  church. 


MARTIN   S.   TOON. 
Henry  Toon,  the  grandfather  of  Martin  S.,  and  a 
German  by  birth,  resided  in  Kentucky.    He  was  united 
in  marriage  to  a  Miss  Bryant,  and  had  children,  among 


534 


HISTORY   OF    INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


whom  was  John,  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  a 
native  of  Delaware,  who  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Kentucky  when  a  youth,  and  during  his  lifetime  en- 
gaged in  the  labor  incident  to  a  farmer's  life.  He 
married  Malinda  Stafford,  of  Kentucky,  and  had  chil- 
dren, eleven  in  number,  as  follows:  Letitia,  Martin  S., 
Drusilla,  Henry,  William  G.,  Charity,  Wesley,  Lewis, 
Josiah,  Elizabeth,  and  Dorcas,  the  latter  of  whom 
died  in  childhood  ;  seven  of  this  number  are  still  liv- 
ing. Martin  S.  was  born  on  the  12th  of  June,  1815, 
in  Owen  County,  Ky.  His  youth  was,  like  that  of 
most  farmers'  sons,  passed  in  labor,  with  such  opportu- 
nities of  education  as  were  afforded  by  the  subscription 
schools  of  the  period.  Mr.  Toon  married  Miss  Mary 
Jane,  daughter  of  James  Davis,  to  whom  were  born 
two  sons, — William  H.,  who  died  while  a  soldier  in 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  John  J.,  who  served  with 
credit  during  the  whole  conflict.  He  was  again  mar- 
ried in  November,  18-12,  to  Miss  Mary  Jane,  daughter 
of  John  Ross,  of  Marion  County,  and  has  children, — 
Lewis  C,  Martin,  Dorcas,  Mary  Anice,  Melinda  Alice, 
George  G.,  Charles  W.,  Richard  0.,  William  S.,  and 
Lydia  Jane.  Mr.  Toon  during  a  short  period  resided 
in  Indianapolis,  and  assisted  in  drawing  the  brick  for 
the  State-House,  and  at  twenty-seven  he  rented  a  farm 
in  Franklin  township  which  for  ten  years  he  continued 
to  cultivate.  He  then  purchased  his  present  home, 
embracing  eighty  acres,  which  has  since  been  increased 
to  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  which  his  son 
George  G.  assists  in  cultivating.  He  has,  aside  from 
his  labors  as  a  farmer,  engaged  in  threshing  wheat  by 
machine,  his  own  thresher  having  been  the  first  in 
the  township.  Mr.  Toon  is  in  politics  a  Republican, 
but  not  active  in  the  political  field,  preferring  his 
daily  routine  of  labor  to  the  excitements  of  a  public 
career.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Toon  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  is  a  deacon. 


CHAPTER    XXII L 

LAWRENCE    TOWNSHTP. 

This  township  is  situated  in  the  extreme  north- 
eastern portion  of  the  county,  and  is  seven  miles 
square,  containing  forty-nine  square  miles,  or  thirty 


thousand  eight  hundred  and  nineteen  acres  of  land. 
It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Hamilton  County,  on 
the  east  by  Hancock  County,  on  the  south  by  Warren 
township,  and  on  the  west  by  Washington  township. 
The  surface  of  the  country  is  generally  level,  except 
along  the  streams,  where  it  is  somewhat  broken,  and 
in  some  localities  hilly.  The  soil  is  well  adapted 
to  the  culture  of  wheat,  corn,  rye,  barley,  and  most 
vegetables,  but  the  culture  of  fruit  has  proved  to  be 
unprofitable  during  the  past  few  years,  though  in  a 
few  localities  this  branch  of  agriculture  has  yielded  a 
good  revenue.  About  thirty-five  years  ago  immense 
crops  of  peaches  were  raised,  but  the  peach  crop  has 
been  almost  an  entire  failure  during  the  last  twenty 
years.  The  soil  is  principally  clay,  but  consists  of 
four  grades,  viz.  :  white  clay,  or  beech  flats ;  black 
loam  of  the  flats  ;  limestone  or  clay  hills ;  and  bottom- 
land, or  dark  chocolate  loam  intermixed  with  sand. 
Originally  the  township  was  covered  with  a  heavy 
growth  of  timber,  consisting  principally  of  walnut, 
sugar,  poplar,  ash,  beech,  hickory,  sycamore,  lime, 
buckeye,  oak,  and  hackberry.  In  the  lowlands,  the 
primitive  forest  abounded  with  grape-vines,  frequently 
growing  to  an  enormous  height.  Beneath  the  forest 
and  the  net-work  of  vines  grew  pawpaws,  leather- 
wood,  prickly-ash,  black  haw,  and  other  underbrush. 
At  the  Lawrence  district  fair,  September,  1883,  John 
Johnson  exhibited  fifty-four  natural  varieties  of  tim- 
ber of  the  township.  Nearly  all  the  valuable  timber 
was  recklessly  destroyed  in  the  clearing  of  the  land, 
or  has  since  been  sold  in  the  market.  In  an  early 
day  the  level  lands  were  covered  with  immense  sheets 
of  water,  quagmires,  and  ponds. 

From  its  first  settlement  the  township  has  con- 
stantly increased  in  wealth,  as  the  wilderness  disap- 
peared before  the  march  of  civilization.  The  taxable 
wealth  of  the  township  in  1883  was  as  follows: 

Farming  and  wild  lands $1,041,196 

Improvements 83,075 

Lots 13,858 

Improvements 20,885 

Personal  property 544,995 

Total  valuation $1,704,009 

In  1883  there  were  in  the  township  two  hundred 


^^.y/f  |^On^-Cu^^>^    ^^^  oA^^-^i'"*-^ 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


535 


and  twelve  miles  of  draina>;e  (mostly  tile),  and  the 
value  of  its  manufactured  goods  in  the  year  1882  was 
twenty  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  dol- 
lars. In  the  year  1883  there  were  cultivated  five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  in  wheat 
five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-seven  acres  in 
corn,  and  one  thousand  and  sixty-eight  acres  in  other 
staple  grains  and  in  vegetables.  There  were  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  acres  in 
timothy  meadow,  and  two  thou.sand  and  eleven  acres 
in  clover. 

The  following  is  the  number  of  head  of  live-stock 
in  the  township  in  the  year  1883: 

Horses 934 

Milch-cows 723 

Other  cattle 879 

Mules 49 

Sheep , 2184 

Hogs  (fatted  in  1882) 3340 

The  lands  bordering  on  the  creeks  and  rivulets  are 
well  supplied  with  springs,  which  afford  a  plentiful 
supply  of  water  for  stock,  and  the  lands  produce  a 
luxuriant  growth  of  blue-grass,  and  thus  the  town- 
ship contains  quite  a  number  of  valuable  stock  farms, 
not  excelled  elsewhere  in  the  county. 

In  many  portions  of  the  township  is  found  lime- 
stone, and  in  the  peat  swamps  stratified  rocks  are 
found.  Deposits  of  gravel  and  sand  are  found  along 
the  bluifs  of  Fall  Creek,  and  in  numerous  mounds 
scattered  promiscuously  throughout  the  township. 
Probably  the  most  peculiar  rock  in  the  township  is 
upon  the  farm  of  Mr.  Jonah  F.  Lemon.  It  is  about 
four  feet  in  length  by  two  feet  each  in  width  and 
height.  The  rock  is  composed  entirely  of  very  small 
stones,  of  almost  every  imaginable  shape  and  color, 
and  of  adamantine  hardness.  Mr.  Lemon  prizes  it 
very  highly,  and  has  refused  an  ofi'er  of  one  hundred 
dollars  for  it.  A  most  peculiar  limestone  rock  is 
found  in  the  edge  of  a  peat  swamp  on  the  farm  of 
Mr.  Robert  Johnson.  The  stone  rises  above  the 
ground  to  the  height  of  ten  feet,  and  in  length  ex- 
tends thirty  feet;  the  width  is  unknown,  as  the  rock 
extends  back  into  a  hill  fifty  feet  in  perpendicular 
height.     The  stone  contains  many  curious  holes  or 


crevices,  no  two  of  the  same  size  or  shape,  while  out 
of  many  water  oozes  continually. 

Fall  Creek,  Mud  Creek,  Indian  Creek,  and  the 
tributary  brooks  afi'ord  thorough  drainage  for  the 
lands  embraced  in  the  township.  Fall  Creek  is  so 
named  from  the  falls  at  Pendleton.  Mud  Creek  was 
so  named  by  Elisha  Reddick,  from  the  fact  that  in 
the  first  settlement  of  the  country  the  water  at  its 
mouth  was  always  muddy.  Subsequently  the  name 
was  changed,  and  it  was  called  Walnut  Creek,  and 
was  so  recorded,  but  it  is  called  by  the  original  name. 
Indian  Creek  at  first  was  called  Indian  Branch  by 
Elisha  Reddick,  because  Indians  were  found  en- 
camped at  various  points  along  the  stream.  After- 
wards it  gained  the  name  of  Indian  Creek,  and  was 
so  recorded.  Fall  Creek,  the  principal  stream,  enters 
the  township  one  half-mile  west  of  the  northeast  cor- 
ner, flows  about  a  mile  in  a  semicircle,  and  leaves  the 
township.  It  re-enters  about  one  and  three-fourths 
miles  west  of  the  northeast  corner,  and  flows  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  through  the  township,  and 
leaving  it  at  a  point  one  and  three-fourths  miles  north 
of  the  southwest  corner.  Mud  Creek  flows  into  the 
township  at  a  point  three  and  one-half  miles  west  of 
the  northeast  corner,  and  flows  in  a  direction  bearing 
west  of  south,  and  empties  into  Fall  Creek  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  west  of  the  centre  of  the  town- 
ship. The  source  of  Indian  Creek  is  in  the  swamps 
in  Hancock  County,  and  it  enters  the  township  one 
mile  north  of  the  southeast  corner,  and  flows  in  a  ser- 
pentine course,  with  a  general  direction  towards  the 
northwest  for  a  distance  of  several  miles,  and  empties 
into  Fall  Creek  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  north- 
northeast  of  the  centre  of  the  township.  Three  fine 
covered  wooden  bridges,  costing  eight  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ten  dollars  each,  span  Fall  Creek  at 
convenient  points;  and  Mud  Creek  is  supplied  with 
one  covered  wooden  and  one  iron  bridge,  all  built  by 
the  county.  Since  the  country  has  become  mostly 
cleared  and  drained  these  streams  have  become  sub- 
ject to  frequent  damaging  freshets,  causing  great  de- 
struction to  crops  and  property  in  the  valleys  almost 
annually.  The  freshets  of  June  and  August,  1875, 
were  the  most  damaging  in  the  history  of  the  town- 
ship, although  the  one  of  January,  1847,  was  much 


536 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


the  highest.     The  freshet  of  November,  1883,  did  a 
great  amouDt  of  damage. 

Lawrence  township  was  erected  April  16, 1822,  by 
order  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  and  on 
the  same  day  and  by  the  same  authority  it  was  joined 
to  Washington  for  purposes  of  township  organization 
(neither  township  being  sufficiently  populous  to  be 
organized  separately).  This  union  of  the  two  town- 
ships as  one  continued  until  Sept.  4, 1826,  when  the 
board  of  justices  ordered  that  Lawrence  be  taken 
from  Washington  and  separately  organized,  and  that 
an  election  be  held  on  the  first  Saturday  in  the  fol- 
lowing October  at  the  house  of  John  Johnson  for 
choice  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  Lawrence,  Alex- 
ander Wilson  to  be  inspector  of  said  election.  The 
election  was  held  as  ordered,  and  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  Peter  Casteller  as  justice  of  the  peace.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  officers  of  the  township  from  its 
erection  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES   OF  THE   PEACE. 
William  D.  Rooker,  June  22,  1822,  to  Deo.  2,  1826. 
Joel  Wright,  June  22,  1822,  to  Sept.  o,  1S25;  resigned. 
Hiram  Bacon,  Oct.  15,  1825,  to  Dec.  2,  1826. 
(The  three  preceding  served  for  Washington  and  Lawrence 
while  they  were  joined  as  one  township.) 
-Peter  Castctter,  Dec.  15,  1826,  to  Dec.  15,  1831. 
John  Bolander,  Feb.  19,  18.31,  to  October.  1832;  resigned. 
William  J.  Mcintosh,  April  17,  1832,  to  January,  1835;    re- 


Joseph  Johnston,  Dec.  13,  1832,  to  Dec.  13,  1837. 

Daniel  Sharts,  April  18,  1835,  to  April  18,  1840. 

Joseph  Johnston,  Jan.  3,  1838,  to  Aug.  4, 1838;  resigned. 

Madison  Webb,  April  20,  1840,  to  April  20,  1845. 

John  Emery,  Feb.  1,  1843,  to  Feb.  1,  1848. 

Madison  Webb,  April  26,  1845,  to  April  26,  1850. 

Travis  Silvey,  July  14,  1848,  to  July  11,  1863. 

James  W.  Perry,  April  26,  1850,  to  March  9,  1852;  resigned. 

Milford  H.  Vert,  April  19,  1852,  to  April  19,  1856. 

Levi  A.  Hardesty,  April  20,  1852,  to  April  20,  1856. 

Charles  Faussett,  July  16,  1853,  to  Nov.  24,  1854;  resigned. 

Cornelius  B.  Wadsworth,  April  23,  1856,  to  April  18,  1860. 

Moses  Craig,  May  1,  1856,  to  April  18,  1860. 

John  Thomas,  May  5,  1856,  to  April  18,  1860. 

John  W.  Combs,  April  18,  1860,  to  April  18,  1868. 

John  6.  Downing,  April  IS,  1860,  to  April  18,  1868. 

John  Thomas,  April  20,  1860,  to  April  18,  1864. 

John  Thomas,  May  21,  1864,  to  March  8,  1867;  resigned. 

Oiro  Bates,  April  22,  1865,  to  April  17,  1869. 

Thomas  M.  Elliott,  April  20,  1867,  to  April  13,  1875. . 


John  W.  Combs,  April  21,  1868,  to  Sept.  7,  1875;  resigned. 
Cornelius  B.  Wadsworth,  April  17,  1869,  to  April  16,  1873. 
Charles  Faussett,  Sept.  15,  1875,  to  April  21,  1876. 
Robert  Johnson,  Oct.  2,  1875,  to  Oct.  2, 1879. 
John  A.  Chapman,  Oct.  30,  1876,  to  Oct.  26,  1880. 
Cornelius  B.  Wadsworth,  Oct.  25,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
William  Roberts,  Nov.  19,  1880,  to  Oct.  30,  1884. 
Moses  C.  Hamilton,  April  15,  1882,  to  April  15,  1886. 

TRUSTEES. 
William  F.  Combs,  April  9,  1859,  to  April  14,  1860. 
Samuel  Cory,  April  14,  1860,  to  Oct.  24,  1874. 
George  W.  Stanley,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  April  14,  1880. 
William  B.  Flick,  April  14,  1880,  to  April  15,  1884. 

ASSESSORS. 
William  Mellvain,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
Peter  Castctter,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  4,  1830. 
Daniel  R.  Smith,  Jan.  4,  1830,  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
Peter  Castctter,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
Jacob  Schenkle,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Robert  Wells,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
Jacob  Sehenkle,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
James  Hinds,  Jr.,  Dec.  17,  1852,  to  June  5,  1864. 
Jacob  McCord,  June  5,  1854,  to  Nov.  29,  1856. 
Joseph  Badgley,  Nov.  29,  1856,  to  Nov.  24,  1860. 
George  W.  Teal,  Nov.  24,  1860,  to  Nov.  28,  1862. 
Moses  Craig,  Nov.  28,  1862,  to  Nov.  21,  1866. 
Cicero  Vanlaningham,  Nov.  21,  1866,  to  Oct.  29,  1868. 
Abel  M.  Wheeler,  Oct.  29,  1868,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Abel  M.  Wheeler,  March  27,  1875,  to  April  11,  1878. 
John  W.  Combs,  April  11,  1878,  to  April  14,  1880. 
George  W.  Church,  April  14,  1880,  to  April  10,  1882. 
George  N.  Kesselring,  April  10,  1882,  to  April  10,  1884. 

When  the  fisrt  settlers  came  into  the  township 
large  numbers  of  Indians  were  encamped  here,  prin- 
cipally on  Indian  Creek.  They  were  of  the  Delaware 
and  Miami  tribes,  with  a  few  Pottawatomies,  and 
were  in  charge  of  three  chiefs  named  Big  Otter 
Skin  and  Old  Buckwheat  and  a  nearly  deaf  Indian 
(name  unknown)  aged  about  one  hundred  years. 
The  Indians  were  very  friendly  to  the  new  settlers, 
and  made  frequent  visits  to  their  cabins.  There 
were  three  Indians  living  near  the  cabin  of  Elisha 
Eeddick,  and  they  always  expressed  the  warmest 
friendship  for  him,  visiting  him  often,  and  in  divers 
ways  showing  great  attachment  towards  him.  About 
the  time  Hudson,  Sawyer,  and  Bridges  were  hung  at 
Pendleton  for  the  murder  of  Indians  the  redskins  in 
this  township  became  furiously  enraged  at  the  whites, 
and  the  latter  became  much  alarmed.     However,  soon 


LAWRENCE  TOWNSHIP. 


537 


afterwards  (about  the  year  1826)  the  Indians  departed 
from  their  hunting-grounds  here  never  to  return. 
Many  Indian  relics  have  been  found  in  the  township, 
principally  upon  the  lands  adjacent  to  the  streams. 
These  curious  and  interesting  stones  consist  of  darts, 
axes,  hoes,  pestles,  etc. 

Many  of  the  early  settlers  in  this  township  came 
from  Brown  and  Clermont  Counties,  Ohio.  The 
families  of  Plummer,  Hoss,  Chapman,  Johnson,  and 
John  Bolander  came  from  Brown  County ;  those  of 
Cory,  Apple,  Peter  Bolander,  Emry,  Perkins,  Helt- 
man.  Smith,  Lewis,  Bragdon,  Marshall,  McCord, 
Wilmington,  White,  Reddick,  Collous,  Fred,  and 
Brown  (James  P.  and  William),  from  Clermont. 
Other  settlers  emigrated  from  various  localities,  as 
hereafter  mentioned. 

Following  is  a  list  of  resident  tax-payers  in  Law- 
rence in  1829,  as  shown  by  the  assessment-roll  of 
that  year,  viz. : 


Alexander  Smith. 
Daniel  ShjBrts. 
John  Setter. 
Christopher  Sellers. 


John  A.  Tuttle. 
Jeremiah  Vanlaningham. 
Robert  Warren. 


Christopher  Beaver. 
William  Beaver. 
James  Ballenger. 
Isaac  Ballenger. 
Peter  Castetter. 
John  Clark. 
Samuel  Con. 
Andrew  Clark. 
Leonard  Eller. 
David  Eller. 
Adam  Eller. 
Andrew  Eller. 
Nathan  Essary. 
Robert  Ellis. 
John  Flannigan. 
James  Flannigan. 
James  Giles. 
William  Graves. 
Robert  Hewstin. 
Samuel  Harrison. 
James  Hines. 
Henry  Hardin. 
John  Johnson. 
Fountain  Kimberlin. 


George  Long. 
Robert  Large. 
Samuel  Morrow. 
John  McConnel. 
Alexander  MeClaren. 
William  MeClaren. 
Ephraim  Morrison. 
John  Negley. 
Samuel  North. 
William  North. 
Joseph  North. 
John   North. 
Heirs  of  Thomas  North. 
James  North. 
Jeremiah  Plummer. 
William  Reddick. 
Joshua  Reddick. 
Alexis  Riley. 
Conrad  Ringer. 
David  Ringer. 
Abraham  Sellers. 
Jacob  Shinkle. 
Daniel  Speece. 
John  Shinkle. 


Elisha  Reddick  was  the  first  settler  in  the  town- 
ship. He  is  a  son  of  William  and  Margaret  Reddick, 
and  was  born  Jan.  9,  1797,  in  Pennsylvania.  At  an 
early  age  he  went  with  his  parents  to  Kentucky,  and 
remained  there  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
went  to  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  where  he  married 
Elizabeth  Johnson,  daughter  of  John  Johnson,  in 
the  year  1821.  He  came  from  there  to  this  town- 
ship with  his  wife  and  son,  James  Milton,  and  settled 
near  the  "  correction  line,"  one-half  mile  east  of  Fall 
Creek,  on  the  18th  day  of  October,  1823.  He 
entered  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  acres  of  land  and 
subsequently  purchased  one  hundred  and  eighty 
acres  more.  He  lived  on  that  farm  fifty-one  years, 
and  has  been  absent  from  the  township  (in  Boone 
County,  Ind.)  only  three  years  from  1873  since 
1823.  Mr.  Reddick  came  here  in  an  old  Pennsyl- 
vania wagon,  the  bed  of  which  would  hold  seventy- 
five  bushels  of  corn.  He  brought  with  him  two 
yoke  of  oxen,  two  horses,  twenty-five  hogs,  two 
milch-cows,  and  twelve  sheep.  The  wagon  was 
loaded  with  provisions  and  household  goods.  The 
last  four  miles  of  his  journey  was  accomplished  with 
great  difficulty,  as  he  was  compelled  to  cut  his  way 
through  the  timber  and  thick  underbrush.  For 
several  months  after  his  arrival  at  his  new  home  Mr. 
Reddick  did  little  but  protect  his  stock  from  the 
wolves,  wildcats,  and  other  wild  animals.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  at  his  new  home  he  had  a  desperate 
encounter  with  a  large  catamount  weighing  not  far 
from  one  hundred  pounds.  The  reception  was  not  a 
pleasant  one,  but  after  a  fierce  struggle  he  succeeded 
in  dispatching  it  with  his  axe,  but  not  until  it  had 
nearly  killed  his  two  dogs  and  severely  injured  him- 
self. Mr.  Reddick  states  that  it  was  the  most 
dangerous  encounter  he  ever  experienced.  He  killed 
no  less  than  fifty  wildcats  on  his  farm  in  the  early 
years  of  his  settlement,  and  with  the  assistance  of  his 
brother  Joshua  succeeded  in  killing  three  black  bears. 
He  says  that  when  he  first  came  to  his  new  home  the 


538 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


bottom-lands  were  exceedingly  wet,  and  abounded  in 
bayous  and  swamps  and  dense  thickets,  into  which  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  penetrate.  Mr.  Reddick 
was  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  the  Indians  ; 
he  received  them  as  visitors  at  his  cabin,  went  hunt- 
ing, ran  races  and  shot  at  marks  with  them,  and  in 
perfect  contentment  lived  in  their  midst  for  three 
years, — until  their  departure. 

The  first  cabin  raised  in  the  township  was  that  of 
Elisha  Reddick,  on  the  tract  of  land  entered  by  him. 
He  raised  it  in  November,  1823.  After  he  had  his 
logs  prepared  he  called  upon  the  Indians  in  camp 
on  Indian  Creek  to  assist  him.  Their  chief,  "  Big 
Otter  Skin,"  promised  the  required  help,  and  many 
of  the  Indians  were  ready  to  oifer  their  assistance 
and  help  Mr.  Reddick  raise  his  wigwam,  as  they 
called  it.  Not  an  Indian  came  at  the  appointed  time  ; 
however,  but  they  seut  three  squaws,  who  came  riding 
up  to  the  selected  site  for  the  cabin  at  the  time  fixed 
for  the  raising.  Mr.  Reddick  told  them  to  remain  and 
help  his  squaw  get  dinner.  They  did  so,  and  remained 
until  evening.  Mr.  Reddick  then,  with  the  assistance 
of  Alexander  Smith,  John  McConnel,  and  John  John- 
son, who  were  in  the  township  prospecting  for  a 
location,  and  Charles  Johnson,  a  boy  seventeen  years 
of  age  who  had  helped  him  move  to  the  township, 
raised  the  cabin  in  two  days'  time. 

As  an  incident  of  pioneer  life  we  will  relate  that 
Mr.  Reddick  once  upon  a  time  carried  on  horseback 
a  grist  of  two  and  one-half  bushels  of  corn  sixty 
miles  before  he  could  get  it  ground.  He  first  went 
to  William  Conners',  near  Noblesville,  and  got  the 
corn.  He  took  it  to  the  falls  of  Fall  Creek,  and, 
being  unable  to  get  it  ground  there,  he  took  it  to 
Linton's  Mill,  on  White  River,  near  Indianapolis, 
then  operated  by  Seth  Bacon.  He  left  it  there  and 
returned  for  it  in  one  week.  In  time  of  high  waters 
the  early  settlers  used  the  "  hominy-block"  to  make 
their  meal.  They  would  cook  the  coarsest  of  the 
meal  for  the  grown  folks  and  the  finest  for  the 
children.  Mr.  Reddick  states  that  for  some  time 
after  he  came  into  the  township  he  was  compelled  to 
work  all  day  and  hunt  raccoons  nearly  every  night ; 
would  frequently  have  three  or  four  skins  stretched 
before  breakfast.       They  brought    twenty-five  cents 


each,  and  were  considered  a  cash  article,  while  corn, 
wheat,  pork,  chickens,  etc.,  were  exchangeable  for 
dry-goods  and  groceries  only. 

Mr.  Reddick  endured  all  the  hardships  and  trials 
of  a  pioneer  life,  and  witnessed  the  new  country  in 
which  he  so  many  years  ago  cast  his  fortune  emerge 
from  a  wilderness  to  its  present  state  of  civilization. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church  at  Oak- 
land, and  has  been  for  twenty-five  years.  In  his 
early  settlement  the  latch-string  was  always  hung 
out  at  his  door,  and  the  weary  pilgrim  cordially  wel- 
comed within.  He  never  refused  the  hungry  food, 
the  weary  shelter,  or  the  oppressed  assistance.  He 
has  always  been  ready  to  nurse  the  sick,  comfort  the 
dying,  and  help  bury  the  dead.  His  memory  is 
good,  his  health  fair,  though  his  age  is  nearly  eighty- 
seven  years.  He  is  a  ready  thinker,  and  delights  to 
relate  the  incidents  of  his  early  pioneer  life.  He 
has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  cleared  a  large 
farm.  His  wife  was  also  a  member  of  the  Univer- 
salist Church,  and  died  in  that  faith  a  few  years  ago. 
Since  her  death  Mr.  Roddick  has  been  living  with 
his  children.  In  all  he  had  fourteen  children,  six  of 
whom  died  in  their  infancy. 

James  Milton,  his  eldest  son,  was  born  in  Ohio, 
and  came  into  Lawrence  township  with  his  parents. 
He  served  in  the  Fiftieth  Indiana  Regiment,  and 
died  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1862,  of  typhoid  fever. 

William  Perry  and  John  Newton  (twins),  the  next 
eldest,  were  the  first  white  children  born  in  the  town- 
ship. The  former  served  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Indiana 
Regiment,  and  was  killed  in  1862  at  the  battle  of 
Prairie  Grove,  Ark.  The  latter  is  a  farmer,  and 
lives  on  his  farm  one  mile  northeast  of  Lawrence. 

Margaret  Ellen  lives  in  Augusta,  Ind.,  is  the 
widow  of  Michael  Day,  and  has  two  children. 

Charles  was  born  in  1831,  left  the  township  in 
1872,  and  has  since  lived  near  Sheridan,  Ind. 

Lueinda  died  of  spotted  fever  in  this  township  in 
1862.  Her  husband,  Jesse  Herrin,  and  two  sons, 
Aldus  and  Fernando,  both  of  age,  all  live  in  this 
township. 

Augustus  Harrison  served  nearly  four  years  in  the 
Union  army  (in  1861  to  1865)  ;  was  severely  wounded 
at  Munfordsville,  Ky.     He  is  a  resident  of  this  town- 


LA  WHENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


539 


ship,  and  has  lived  here  since  his  birth,  except  one 
year  in  Missouri  and  three  years  in  Boone  County, 
Ind. 

Elisha  Taylor,  the  youngest  son  of  Elisha  Reddick, 
has  been  a  resident  of  this  county  all  his  life  except 
two  years.     He  now  lives  in  Indianapolis. 

William  Reddick  was  born  in  Ireland  about  1762, 
came  to  America  with  his  parents  when  eleven  years 
of  age.  While  in  Ireland  he  was  bound  to  an  older 
brother  to  work  at  the  weaver's  trade,  and  when  they 
arrived  in  America  he  was  rebound  to  a  weaver  in 
Pennsylvania.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  ran 
away  and  enlisted  in  Wayne's  division,  and  served  in 
the  Revolutionary  war  six  years  and  seven  months. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  near  Lebanon, 
Pa.,  where  he  married  Margaret  Trump.  He  lived 
in  Pennsylvania  nineteen  years  after  his  marriage, 
and  then  went  to  what  was  called  the  "  backwoods" 
in  Virginia.  In  one  year  he  returned  to  Pennsylva- 
nia. In  1805  he  went  to  Bracken  County,  Ky., 
where  he  lived  ten  years.  He  then  went  to  Ohio, 
and  lived  there  until  the  latter  part  of  November, 
1823.  During  the  war  of  1812  he  kept  ferry  at  the 
mouth  of  Bull  Skin,  forty  miles  above  Cincinnati,  in 
Clermont  County.  He  came  to  this  township  in  the 
fall  of  1824.  He  entered  for  his  son  Joshua  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  just  northwest  of  the 
mouth  of  Mud  Creek.  He  lived  on  that  farm  until 
his  death,  in  October,  1831,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine 
years.  He  laid  out  and  set  apart  the  first  graveyard 
in  the  township.  He  was  a  Methodist  nearly  all  his 
life,  and  was  a  moral  and  strictly  honest  man.  Circuit 
preaching  was  held  at  his  house  for  years,  and  minis- 
ters were  always  welcome  at  his  abode ;  in  fact,  no 
person  ever  failed  to  receive  hospitable  treatment  at 
his  hands.  He  was  a  class-leader  in  the  church  and 
a  true  Christian.  The  first  sermon  ever  delivered  in 
the  township  was  at  his  cabin.  His  wife  lived  nearly 
forty  years  after  his  death,  and  died  in  Clinton 
County,  111.,  of  milk  sickness,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
three  years.  She  also  was  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  from  childhood. 

The  number  of  their  children  was  ten,  two  of 
whom  never  came  into  this  county,  and  but  three 
are  now  living.     Margaret  lived  here  twenty  years, 


married,  went  to  Missouri,  and  died,  aged  eighty-two. 
Polly  married  James  Giles.  Died  about  1831. 
Katie  lived  in  this  county  forty  years;  married 
James  Gittleman.  Died  in  Kansas  in  May,  1883, 
of  apoplexy,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine.  Elisha  (first 
settler  in  Lawrence  as  before  mentioned).  Joshua 
(noticed  elsewhere).  Helen  married  Alexander 
McClaren.  Died  two  years  ago  in  Illinois,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two.  Lived  in  this  county  thirty  years, 
and  was  thirty-five  when  she  left.  Lucinda  lives 
at  Lathrop,  Mo.  She  lived  in  this  county  forty 
years.  Rachel  married  Moses  McClaren,  and  lives 
in  this  county,  one  mile  west  of  Castleton.  She  was 
fourteen  years  old  when  her  parents  came  to  this 
county,  and  has  lived  here  ever  since.  Aged  seventy- 
three. 

Joshua  Reddick,  son  of  William  and  Margaret 
Reddick,  was  born  in  Washington  County,  Pa., 
May  20,  1804.  He  went  with  his  father  on  his 
various  journeys  till  the  last  of  November,  1823, 
when  he  came  to  this  township.  He  raised  a  small 
crop  in  1824,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  he  went  to 
Ohio  and  brought  his  parents  and  sisters  to  this  new 
country.  He  settled  on  the  farm  now  known  as  the 
Elijah  Fletcher  farm,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  which  was  entered  for  him  by  his  father  in 
1825.  Mr.  Reddick  lived  there  about  twenty-three 
years.  He  sold  the  farm  in  1848  and  went  to  Clin- 
ton County,  111.,  where  he  resided  until  October, 
1859,  when  he  died  of  milk  sickness.  Mr.  Reddick 
and  three  of  his  grown  children  died  within  two 
weeks'  time.  His  wife  died  of  the  same  disease  in 
the  following  April.  Mr.  Reddick  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Adam  Eller.  Mr.  Reddick  was  a  farmer, 
and  in  religious  belief  a  Universalist.  He  took  a 
great  interest  in  all  public  improvements,  and  gave 
all  his  children  a  good  education.  He  had  eight 
children, — seven  were  born  in  this  township  and 
one  in  Illinois.  Six  of  the  children  went  to  Clin- 
ton County,  111.,  with  their  parents.  Catharine,  the 
youngest,  married  George  Church,  and  lived  here 
until  her  death  in  1878.  Three  of  the  other 
children  are  dead. 

Samuel  Morrow  was  born  in  Westmoreland 
County,  Pa.,  about  1789,  of  Irish  descent.     Married 


540 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Agnes  Anderson.  In  1821  or  1822  himself,  wife, 
two  sons,  Adam  Kerr,  and  his  son,  Samuel  Kerr, 
took  passage  on  a  flat-boat,  and  landed  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  with  a  span  of  horses  and  two  "  tester"  bed- 
steads. They  went  from  there  to  near  Brookville, 
Ind.,  and  remained  till  the  fall  of  1824.  Through 
the  solicitation  of  John  Johnson,  his  cousin,  he  oame 
to  this  township  in  November,  1824.  He  entered 
eighty  acres  of  land  Aug.  25,  1824.  It  is  known  as 
a  part  of  the  Webb  farm,  and  joined  John  Johnson 
on  the  west.  Immediately  after  his  arrival  he  cleared 
a  spot  of  ground  for  his  cabin,  and  erected  it  on  the 
north  side  of  Fall  Creek.  He  brought  into  the  town- 
ship with  him  two  horses,  one  yoke  of  oxen,  and  two 
milch-cows.  Thirteen  persons  landed  in  the  township 
with  Mr.  Morrow,  and  remained  with  him  in  his 
cabin  during  the  following  winter.  Tlie  cabin  erected 
was  eighteen  feet  by  twenty  feet,  without  floor.  The 
roof  was  made  of  clapboards,  and  having  no  nails  to 
nail  the  boards  on,  they  were  weighted  down  with 
poles,  and  thus  kept  in  place.  The  room  was  divided 
in  sleeping  apartments  by  hanging  quilts  for  partitions. 
As  soon  as  Mr.  Morrow  had  his  cabin  completed  he 
began  clearing  his  land.  The  Indians  called  fre- 
quently at  his  cabin,  and  camped  quite  a  while  on 
his  farm.  A  great  deal  of  sickness  prevailed  at  the 
cabin  of  this  new  settler.  His  son,  Jacob  A.,  and 
his  two  daughters,  Elizabeth  and  Thersa,  as  well  as 
Jacob  Anderson,  who  was  there  on  a  visit,  and  Adam 
Kerr,  all  died  there  about  the  same  time,  and  were 
buried  in  the  Joshua  Roddick  graveyard.  His  phy- 
sicians were  Dr.  Isaac  Coe  and  Dr.  Mears,  of  Indian- 
apolis, the  nearest  doctors.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his  family  used  to  ride 
horseback  to  Indianapolis,  and  attend  church  at  the 
Presbyterian  meeting-house  on  Pennsylvania  Street, 
north  of  Market.  He  was  a  moral,  upright  man, 
sociable,  neighborly,  and  exceedingly  popular.  He 
was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  did  an  immense  amount 
of  hard  work.  He  experienced  all  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  pioneer  life,  and  stood  up  bravely 
against  them  all.  He  was  a  voter  at  the  first  election 
in  the  township,  and  was  elected  supervisor.  When 
he  first  came  to  the  township  he  had  to  go  to  Con- 
ner's, near  Noblesville,  and  get  corn,  and  then  take  it 


to  a  mill  on  Fall  Creek,  near  where  the  Crawfords- 
ville  road  crosses  the  stream,  to  get  it  ground.  It 
took  two  days  to  make  the  round  trip  horseback  with 
a  two -bushel  grist — distance  ten  miles — from  his 
cabin.  That  was  the  nearest  mill  at  that  time,  and 
the  nearest  school-house  was  six  miles.  He  lived  in 
the  township  until  about  1831,  when  he  went  to 
Washington  township,  this  county,  and  thence  to 
Morgan  County,  Ind.  He  lost  an  arm  while  there, 
and  then  went  to  near  Colfax,  Jasper  Co.,  Iowa, 
where  he  bought  a  pre-emption  right,  and  subse- 
quently entered  the  tract,  on  which  he  died  in  the 
year  1850.  His  son  John  died  in  Iowa.  Two 
daughters,  Martha  Plummer  and  Margaret  Griggs, 
are  living,  the  former  in  Iowa. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  thirteen  who 
came  from  Brookville,  Ind.,  to  this  township  to- 
gether : 

Samuel  Morrow. 

Agnes  Morrow,  his  wife. 

John  Morrow,  his  son. 

Jacob  A.  Morrow,  his  son. 

Robert  Ellis. 

Martha  Ellis,  his  wife. 

Elizabeth  Ellis,  his  daughter. 

John  Ellis,  his  son. 

Samuel  Stewart  Ellis,  his  son. 

Samuel  Johnson  Black. 

William  M.  Black. 

Adam  Kerr. 

Samuel  Kerr,  his  son. 

Of  the  thirteen  but  three  are  living,  namely : 
Samuel  S.  Ellis,  at  Leavenworth,  Kan. ;  Elizabeth 
Moore,  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  William  M.  Black,  at 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Robert  Ellis  was  born  in  New  York  State.  He 
came  on  flat-boat  from  Westmoreland  County,  Pa., 
to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  going  thence  to  Brookville, 
Ind.,  in  May,  1824.  He  brought  with  him  his  wife 
(formerly  Martha  Morrow)  and  his  daughter  Eliza- 
beth, and  two  sons,  John  and  Samuel  Stewart,  and 
also  Samuel  Johnson  Black,  who  was  living  with  him. 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  party  came  to  this 
township  with  Samuel  Morrow,  and  lived  with  him 
in    his  cabin   for   six    months.     He   then  settled  on 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


541 


Congress  land ;  farm  now  owned  by  Robert  Johnson. 
He  raised  a  cabin,  and  lived  there  till  about  1830, 
and  then  went  to  Hamilton  County,  Ohio.  In  1832 
he  went  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  to  visit  a  sister,  took  the 
cholera,  and  died.  The  heirs  failed  to  pay  for  the 
land  he  had  bought  in  Hamilton  County,  and  lost  it. 
His  wife  was  a  Presbyterian,  and,  after  her  husband's 
death,  moved  to  various  places,  finally  to  Iowa,  and 
died  there  at  the  house  of  her  daughter,  Elizabeth 
Moore,  in  Des  Moines.  Of  the  three  children  who 
came  into  this  township  with  their  parents  two  are 
living.  Elizabeth  married  S.  P.  Moore,  and  lives  in 
Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  Samuel  Stewart  lives  in  Leaven- 
worth, Kan. ;  John  went  to  Illinois  years  ago,  and 
died  there.  There  were  four  other  children  born 
after  Mr.  Ellis  and  family  came  here,  viz. :  James, 
who  died  in  the  army ;  Margaret,  who  lived  in  Iowa 
at  last  accounts;  Mary  J.,  who  lives  in  Chicago  with 
her  daughter ;  William  B.,  who  lives  in  Franklin,  Ind. 

Samuel  Johnson  Black  came  to  the  township  at 
I  the  age  of  twelve  years,  and  lived  with  Robert  Ellis 
about  five  years.  He  then  began  learning  the  tan- 
ner's trade  with  Abraham  Sellers,  in  this  township, 
worked  three  years,  and  then  went  to  Indianapolis 
with  Blythe  and  Noble.  He  died  in  Newton,  Jasper 
Co.,  Iowa,  about  1853.  He  was  one  of  the  party  of 
thirteen  who  came  here  together  iu  the  fall  of  1824. 

Adam  Kerr  came  to  the  township  with  Samuel 
Morrow,  his  brother-in-law,  from  Pennsylvania,  at  an 
advanced  age,  and  lived  here  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  Aug.  27,  1828.  He  was  buried  in  the 
Reddick  graveyard. 

Samuel  Kerr  came  to  this  township  with  his 
father,  Adam,  and  Samuel  Morrow.  He  was  a  boy 
thirteen  years  of  age  in  the  year  1824.  After  his 
father's  death  he  continued  living  with  Samuel  Mor- 
row and  with  Hiram  Bacon  until  a  young  man; 
learned  the  blacksmith  trade  with  Tiiomas  Long, 
worked  at  journey-work  awhile,  and  then  began  busi- 
ness for  himself  near  where  Millersville  now  stands. 
He  married  Caroline  Ringer,  and  after  her  death  he 
married  Catherine  Easterday.  He  carried  on  his 
trade  for  several  years,  where  Glen  Ethel  now  is, 
and  died  there  in  1861.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  a  moral,  industrious  citizen,  firm 


in  his  convictions,  and  his  word  was  as  good  as  his 
bond.  He  experienced  all  the  trials  incident  to 
pioneer  life. 

William  M.  Black,  son  of  Thomas  R.  and  Sarah 
Black,  was  born  in  Erie  County,  Pa.,  on  the  waters  of 
French  Creek,  Jan.  1,  1811.  He  was  taken  by  his 
uncle,  Samuel  Morrow,  on  horseback  when  quite  a 
small  boy  to  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.  He  came 
from  there  with  Robert  Ellis  and  family  to  near 
Brookville,  Ind.,  in  May,  1824,  and  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  came  to  this  township,  being  one  of  the 
party  of  thirteen.  He  lived  with  Samuel  Morrow 
till  Jan.  18,  1827,  and  helped  him  clear  land.  Mr. 
Morrow  gave  him  the  privilege  of  remaining  with 
him  till  of  age  and  receiving  an  eighty-acre  tract  of 
land  or  learning  a  trade.  He  chose  to  learn  the  tan- 
ner's trade.  He  learned  it  with  Yandes  &  Wilkins 
in  Indianapolis.  He  lived  with  John  Wilkins  in  a 
house  that  stood  where  the  station-house  now  stands. 
Apprenticed  five  years,  after  which  he  worked  at 
journey-work  till  March,  1833.  He  then  entered 
into  a  partnership  with  Yandes  &  Wilkins,  himself 
owning  a  half  interest,  and  bought  a  tan-yard  of  John 
G.  Kline  at  Mooresville,  Ind.  In  1839,  Mr.  Black 
sold  his  interest  and  moved  to  Indianapolis,  and  has 
lived  there  ever  since,  following  various  occupations. 
On  July  4,  1833,  he  married  Frances  Hardwick, 
daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Hardwick.  They  have 
had  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are  living, — Sarah  and 
John  H.  live  in  Indianapolis,  Martha  J.  lives  at  home 
with  her  parents,  Nancy  L.  lives  in  Morgan  County, 
Thomas  S.  is  in  Virginia,  and  Elizabeth  lives  in 
Washington  Territory.  Mr.  Black  is  an  ardent  Free- 
mason, and  is  tiler  of  every  lodge,  chapter,  council, 
and  commandery,  both  subordinate  and  grand,  that 
meets  in  the  Masonic  Temple.  He  has  been  tiler  of 
Marion  Lodge  since  1867,  and  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
since  1869.  When  the  old  Masonic  building  was 
torn  down  in  1874  his  name  was  found  recorded  on 
papers  found  in  the  corner-stone,  showing  that  he  was 
a  member  when  that  building  was  erected.  His  name 
is  also  deposited  in  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  build- 
ing. He  was  raised  a  Presbyterian,  but  is  now  a 
Methodist.  He  saw  the  first  engine  and  first  steam- 
boat, "  General  Hanna,"  come  to  Indianapolis. 


542 


HISTOKY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Robert  Warren  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1797,  on 
Clinch  Mountain,  at  the  head  of  Big  Sandy,  and  with 
his  wife  and  two  children,  William  and  Matilda,  came 
to  this  county  in  1821,  and  lived  near  where  Millers- 
ville  now  is  till  the  year  1824,  then  came  to  this 
township,  and  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  just  north 
of  and  adjoining  the  land  known  as  the  Elisha  Reddick 
land.  He  lived  there  seven  years  and  then  went  to 
Crawfordsville,  where  he  lived  five  years,  and  moved  to 
Michigan,  and  subsequently  to  Iowa,  where  he  was 
living  at  last  accounts.  He  was  a  great  hunter  and  a 
crack  shot.  He  killed  a  large  number  of  deer ;  his 
gun  furnished  most  of  the  meat  for  the  table.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  when  he 
lived  in  this  county ;  he  afterwards  became  a  Univer- 
salist.  Mr.  Warren  was  a  kind  and  good  neighbor, 
and  a  skillful  nurse  of  the  sick.  He  was  very  healthy 
and  robust.  When  he  left  this  county  six  children 
and  his  wife  left  with  him.  Nothing  further  is  known 
of  their  history. 

John  Sellers  was  born  in  Kentucky,  on  Clinch 
Mountain,  at  the  head  of  Big  Sandy,  about  the  year 
1797.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1821  and  settled 
near  (east  of)  where  Millersville  now  is.  Lived  there 
three  years,  and  then  entered  eighty  acres  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Ringer  Settlement  in  this  township. 
He  cleared  a  portion  of  the  tract,  and  about  1840  he 
sold  out  and  went  to  Illinois,  where  he  died  about 
1871. 

Christopher  Sellers  was  born  about  1804,  on  Clinch 
Mountain,  in  Kentucky.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Nathan  Essary  about  1827.  He  came  to  this  county 
in  1822,  and  into  this  township  about  1825.  He 
went  to  Hamilton  County,  Ind.,  about  1829,  and  died 
there  about  1880. 

Daniel  Sharts  came  to  this  county  with  a  colony  of 
Lutherans  in  the  year  1824,  and  with  his  wife  and 
four  children  settled  on  a  farm  now  owned  by  Anna 
C.  Pressly,  two  miles  south  of  Millersville.  He 
entered  a  tract  of  land  there  and  lived  upon  it  until 
he  died,  about  ten  or  twelve  years  ago.  He  was  a 
Lutheran  all  his  life,  and  took  an  active  part  in  all 
church  affairs.  He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  some 
years,  and  was  a  good  citizen.  Of  the  children  that 
came  with  him,  Hanson  was  raised  in  this  township, 


and  is  now  living  in  the  county.  Joseph  died  in 
California  about  1850.  He  was  drowned  in  the 
American  River.  Rebecca  went  to  Illinois  about 
1855,  and  lives  there  now.  William  died  in  Hamilton 
County,  Ind.,  three  years  ago. 

Fountain  Kimberlain  was  born  in  Kentucky.  He 
came  to  this  county  in  1820,  and  first  settled  about 
half  a  mile  north  of  where  AUisonville  now  is.  He 
lived  there  seven  years.  In  1827  he  came  to  this  town- 
ship, and  entered  the  eighty-acre  tract  of  land  now 
owned  by  his  heirs.  On  that  land  he  lived  until  his 
death,  in  1864.  He  followed  farming  all  his  life.  He 
built  a  saw-mill  on  Fall  Creek  about  1835,  but 
tore  it  down  in  about  five  years.  The  election  was 
held  at  his  house  for  several  years  from  about 
18.37.  In  1827  he  married  Elizabeth  Shenkle.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
nearly  all  his  life, — a  conscientious,  upright,  moral 
man.  There  were  born  unto  himself  and  wife  ten 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  namely  :  Marion 
and  John  Wesley,  farmers,  and  residents  of  this  town- 
ship ;  and  Julia  Ann,  wife  of  John  Thorp,  a  resident 
of  this  township. 

Christopher  Beaver  was  born  in  North  Carolina, 
and  emigrated  to  this  township  about  1824,  and 
settled  near  where  the  Salem  Lutheran  Cliurch  now 
stands.  He  came  to  this  country  with  two  six-horse 
teams,  following  an  Indian  trail  for  more  than  twenty 
miles.  His  wife  died  in  Butler  County,  Ohio  ;  and 
six  children  came  from  there  to  his  new  home  here 
with  him.  He  died  here  after  a  continuous  residence 
of  thirty-one  years.  He  was  a  farmer  all  his  life. 
He  spent  all  his  spare  time  hunting  deer  for  years 
after  his  arrival  here,  and  he  was  a  dead  shot.  He 
never  swore,  drank,  or  gambled.  He  was  a  strict 
Lutheran  for  several  years  prior  to  his  death.  Polly, 
the  oldest  daughter,  came  to  the  township  in  1824 
with  her  husband,  Samuel  Harrison,  and  three  chil- 
dren. She  died  here  about  twenty  years  ago.  Wil- 
liam, born  in  North  Carolina,  came  to  this  township 
with  his  father,  and  died  here  about  1859.  Sarah, 
born  in  North  Carolina,  came  to  this  township  with 
her  father,  and  died  in  Oakland,  Marion  Co.,  about 
1873.  Mary,  born  in  North  Carolina,  came  to  this 
township   with   her   father,    and    died    in    Hamilton 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


543 


County,  Ind.,  fourteen  years  ago.  Henry,  Moses,  Ann, 
and  Elizabeth  were  born  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  this 
township  with  their  father.  They  all  lived  here  until 
their  deaths.  Henry  died  eight  years  ago ;  Moses 
died  forty  years  ago ;  Ann  died  fifteen  years  ago,  at 
the  age  of  thirty  years ;  Elizabeth  married  James  N. 
McCoy,  and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years  only  a 
few  years  ago. 

Samuel  Harrison  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and 
with  his  wife  and  three  children  came  from  Butler 
County,  Ohio,  to  this  township  in  1824  with  his 
father-in-law,  Christopher  Beaver,  and  lived  on  his 
farm  eight  years.  He  then  went  to  Hamilton  County, 
Ind.,  and  died  there  about  twenty  years  ago.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade.  He  took  a  lease  and 
cleared  a  large  tract  of  land  in  this  township.  He 
followed  farming  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He 
was  a  moral  man, — a  member  of  the  Campbellite 
Church. 

Samuel  North  was  born  near  Stillwater,  Ohio,  and 
from  there  came  to  Lawrence  township  in  1825  with 
his  wife,  formerly  Mahala  Brooks,  and  one  daughter. 
He  entered  the  eighty -acre  tract  of  land  now  owned 
by  V.  T.  Malott,  one  mile  west  of  Lawrence.  He 
lived  there  two  years,  and  moved  into  Washington 
township,  this  county,  and  died  near  AUisonville 
many  years  ago.     He  was  a  farmer. 

William  North  was  born  near  Stillwater,  Ohio. 
He  came  here  in  1825  with  his  wife  and  one  child. 
He  lived  here  four  years,  then  sold  out,  and  returned 
to  Ohio.     He  subsequently  went  to  Missouri. 

Joseph  North  came  here  from  Little  Troy,  Ohio,  at 
an  early  date,  and  owned  forty  acres  where  John 
Newhouse  now  lives.  In  or  about  1850,  he  returned 
to  Ohio. 

John  North  was  born  in  North  Carolina.  He  was 
a  Tory  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  From  North 
Carolina  he  went  to  Ohio,  and  in  the  spring  of  1827 
he  came  here.  There  were  high  waters  nearly  the 
whole  of  that  year,  and  he  had  a  terrible  time  getting 
to  his  destination.  He  entered  the  eighty  acres  of 
land  now  owned  by  James  McHaifey.  Mr.  North 
was  a  farmer,  and  both  himself  and  wife  lived  to 
be  about  ninety  years  of  age.  They  both  died  on 
the  old  homestead  many  years  ago. 


James  North  was  born  in  North  Carolina.  He 
emigrated  to  Stillwater,  Ohio,  and  thence  here  in  the 
year  1821.  After  his  arrival  he  married  Mary  Flan- 
nigan,  and  three  sons  and  one  daughter  were  the 
number  of  their  children.  He  lived  here  about 
thirty-five  years,  until  his  death,  in  1860.  He  never 
owned  any  land,  though  he  was  a  farmer. 

Thomas  North  came  to  this  township  from  Still- 
water, Ohio,  in  the  year  1824.  He  entered  eighty 
acres  of  land,  now  owned  by  Samuel  Cory  ;  he  was  a 
farmer,  and  died  in  1826.  His  daughter,  Matilda, 
married  Richard  North,  and  went  to  Missouri  about 
1838.  His  son,  Alexander,  returned  to  Stillwater, 
Ohio,  about  1838. 

David  Ringer  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1790. 
Himself  and  family,  consisting  of  wife  (Susan  Darr) 
and  two  children,  came  with  the  Lutheran  colony  to 
this  county  in  1824.  He  located  at  once  on  the 
land  now  owned  by  James  Pressly,  and  lived  there 
the  remainder  of  his  life, — about  forty-one  years.  He 
died  June  25,  1865.  He  was  one  of  the  prominent 
members  of  the  colony,  and  identified  with  the  Lu- 
theran Church  nearly  all  his  life.  He  was  a  farmer 
and  a  good  citizen.  He  was  married  three  times ;  his 
last  wife  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine  years.  His 
son  Peter  died  at  New  Britain,  Ind.,  in  1859 ;  lived 
in  this  township  twenty-seven  years.  His  daughter 
Delana  is  the  wife  of  Leander  Harper,  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Lawrence  township. 

Conrad  Ringer  was  born  in  Washington,  Md.,  in 
1792.  Himself  and  family,  consisting  of  wife  (Mary 
D.  Bower)  and  four  children,  came  from  Maryland  to 
this  State  with  the  colony  of  Lutherans,  and  located  in 
this  township  in  1824,  about  one  mile  southeast  of 
where  Millersville  now  is.  He  entered  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  and  lived  upon  the  land  until  his 
death,  in  1851.  The  land  is  now  owned  by  six  dif- 
ferent persons.  He  followed  farming  all  his  life.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  long  before 
he  came  to  this  county,  and  was  a  leading  member  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  an  earnest  encourager 
of  all  laudable  enterprises,  a  good  citizen  and  a  Chris- 
tian. The  names  of  the  children  who  came  with  him 
to  this  county  are  Caroline,  Joseph,  Jacob  J.,  and 
Emma  E.     The  first  named  married   Samuel  Kerr, 


544 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


and  died  December,  1844.  Joseph  was  a  farmer  and 
blacksmith ;  died  about  1857 ;  lived  in  township 
twenty-eight  years.  Jacob  J.  lived  in  this  county 
about  twenty-nine  years ;  now  lives  in  Cass  County, 
Ind.  Emma  E.  married  John  C.  Hoss,  and  has  lived 
in  this  county  since  1824.  Mr.  Ringer  had  five  chil- 
dren born  in  this  county, — three  boys  and  two  girls. 
Two  are  living,  Harrison  and  Ann,  both  in  this  town- 
ship. 

Jeremiah  Vanlaningham  was  born  in  Fleming 
County,  Ky.,  in  May,  1801.  He  assisted  his  father 
in  clearing  a  farm  in  Bath  County,  Ky.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  went  to  New  Orleans  as  a  hand  on  a 
flat-boat,  returning  home  on  foot.  He  drove  hogs  to 
Washington  City  in  1821,  and  returned  to  Kentucky 
on  foot.  In  1822  drove  hogs  to  South  Carolina,  and 
returned  on  foot.  In  1823  drove  hogs  to  North 
Carolina,  and  returned  home  on  foot.  In  1824  drove 
hogs  to  Petersburg,  Va.,  and  returned  home  on  foot. 
In  fall  of  1824  he  came  to  Indiana  and  selected  land 
in  this  township,  upon  which  he  moved  with  his  wife 
and  two  children  in  the  fall  of  1828.  The  farm  is 
situated  on  Indian  Creek,  one  mile  southwest  of  Oak- 
land. He  settled  in  the  woods  and  cleared  a  farm, 
and  resides  upon  it  now.  His  wife  (Nancy  Denton), 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  1822,  died  about  seven 
years  ago.  Mr.  Vanlaningham  is  a  highly  respected 
and  prominent  citizen  of  the  township.  He  has 
endured  many  privations  and  trials,  but  has  triumphed 
over  them  all.  Of  the  two  children  who  came  to  the 
township  with,  him  but  one  (Woodford)  is  now  alive. 
He  has  lived  in  the  township  fifty-five  years.  The 
other  child  (Jane)  lived  in  the  township  seventeen 
years ;  married  James  McClain,  and  is  now  dead.  Mr. 
Vanlaningham  had  eight  children  born  here ;  six  are 
living.  Ellen  lives  in  Hancock  County,  Ind.,  and  John 
lives  in  Texas ;  the  remainder  live  in  this  township. 

Alexander  Smith  came  into  this  township  in  1825 
and  entered  forty  acres  on  Indian  Creek,  near  its 
mouth.  In  1827  he  married  Betsy  MeConnell.  He 
was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  but  followed  farming  also 
for  a  livelihood.  He  lived  on  that  forty  acres  about 
twelve  years,  and  then  moved  to  the  Indian  reserve 
in  this  State,  where  he  lived  about  twelve  years  until 
his  death. 


John  Shenkles  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1803 ;  was 
married  to  Isabel  MeConnell  in  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
in  1822.  In  1824  they  came  to  this  township  and 
settled  on  Indian  Creek,  two  and  a  half  miles  south 
of  where  Oakland  now  is.  He  remained  there  about 
twenty-two  years,  and  emigrated  with  his  family  to 
Illinois,  and  subsequently  to  Iowa,  where  he  died 
about  1877.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  thirty  years 
previous  to  his  death.  His  wife  also  belonged  to 
the  same  church. 

John  Mock  was  born  June  1,  1820,  in  Butler 
County,  Ohio.  At  the  age  of  three  years  he  went 
with  his  father  to  Ripley  County,  Ind. ;  lived  there 
three  years,  and  returned  to  Ohio ;  remained  there 
till  1831,  in  which  year  he  came  to  this  township 
with  his  father.  He  has  resided  here  since  1831. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  seventeen  months 
old.  Mr.  Mock  has  Jived  on  his  farm  adjoining  Oak- 
land during  the  past  thirty-two  years,  and  in  the 
township  fifty-two  years.  He  laid  oflf  an  addition  to 
the  town  of  Oakland  several  years  ago.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  about 
twenty-five  years.  He  has  been  married  twice.  His 
first  wife's  maiden  name  was  Leah  Klepfer,  and  that 
of  his  second  wife  was  Mary  Ann  Lingle.  Mr.  Mock 
is  a  Freemason,  a  Democrat,  and  a  good  citizen. 

Alexis  Riley  was  born  in  Maryland  about  1802. 
At  the  age  of  eleven  years  he  went  to  Clermont 
County,  Ohio,  and  in  the  year  1824  he  came  to  this 
county.  He  worked  two  years  for  Peter  Negley, 
near  Millersville,  this  county,  and  in  1826  bought 
forty  acres  of  government  land  about  two  miles  south- 
west of  where  Oakland  now  is.  He  came  into  the 
township  with  his  family,  consisting  of  wife  (Nancy 
Moore)  and  four  children.  He  was  a  farmer  and  great 
stock-raiser.  He  was  raised  a  Catholic,  but  never  pro- 
fessed any  religion.  He  was  a  great  promoter  of  the 
public  schools  and  the  cause  of  education.  At  one 
time  he  operated  a  little  mill  on  Indian  Creek  for 
about  ten  years.  In  all  he  had  ten  children, — two  by 
his  second  wife  (Jane  Davis).  Of  the  four  children 
who  came  into  the  township  with  him,  two,  John 
and  Oliver,  are  dead,  and  Elias  L.  wont  to  Illinois 
about  1856,  and  lives  there  now.     Ellen   has  never 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


545 


left  the  township,  and  is  now  the  wife  of  Joseph  N. 
Day.  Of  the  children  born  here,  Charles  J.  and 
George  N.  are  dead ;  Stephen  P.,  Wesley,  Lavinia, 
and  William  have  lived  here  since  their  birth. 

Stephen  P.  Riley  is  a  son  of  Alexis  and  Nancy 
Riley,  and  was  born  in  this  township  in  1832,  and 
lived  in  it  ever  since.  He  lives  half  a  mile  west  of 
Oakland  on  a  farm.  He  married  Lizzie  Bolander, 
and  has  four  children, — one  son  and  three  daughters. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd-Fellows,  and  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons.  He  is  one  of  the  most  influeatial 
citizens  in  the  township.  He  takes  a  great  interest 
in  politics,  and  always  votes  the  Republican  ticket. 
He  takes  great  delight  in  encouraging  every  worthy 
public  enterprise. 

William  Lakin  came  here  from  Clermont  County, 
Ohio,  about  1833,  and  took  a  lease.  Afterwards  he 
traded  the  lease  for  forty  acres  where  Daniel  Jordan 
now  lives.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  building 
of  the  first  church  in  this  township,  and  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  was  a  class- 
leader  and  an  exhorter,  and  took  a  great  interest  in 
church  affairs.  He  moved  to  Jennings  County,  Ind., 
about  1847,  and  died  two  years  ago.  His  widow 
lives  in  Indianapolis.  One  of  his  children  lives  in 
Ripley  County,  Ind.  One  of  his  daughters  married, 
;md  lives  in  Grant  County,  Ind.  Another  lives  in 
this  township,  and  is  Anderson  Hamilton's  widow. 

Ale.\ander  Mock  was  born  in  Butler  County,  Ohio, 
in  1815.  He  came  to  this  township  in  1831,  and  is 
one  of  its  prominent  and  successful  farmers. 

James  Hines,  Sr.,  came  from  Lawrenceburg, 
Ind.,  to  this  town.ship  in  1826  with  a  wife,  two 
sons,  and  one  daughter.  He  herded  fifty  head  of 
cattle  for  Gen.  Hanna  for  some  time,  and  the 
general  gave  Mr.  Hines  a  forty-acre  tract  of  land, 
entered  by  him,  situated  one-half  mile  southwest  of 
where  Oakland  now  is.  He  was  a  farmer  and  a  great 
hog-trader.  His  three  children  are  all  dead.  James 
waa  killed  accidentally  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  building  in  Oakland ;  Lovey  married  John 
Hoss,  and  died  the  mother  of  six  children  ;  Clark  died 
in   Hancock  County,  Ind.,  about  1881.     He  lived 


here  about  forty  years.  James  Hines,  Sr.,  died 
about  1850.  His  wife  is  also  dead.  Thus  not  one 
of  the  family  of  five  that  came  here  together  is  living 
to-day. 

Andrew  McDonald  was  born  in  North  Carolina. 
He  came  from  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  with  a  wife 
and  several  children  to  this  township  in  1826,  and 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  1827. 
Mr.  G.  McLain  is  the  present  owner  of  the  tract. 
Mr.  McDonald  was  a  farmer ;  remained  here  only  a 
short  time. 

William  Gallon  was  born  in  Kentucky  May  16, 
1799.  He  went  to  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  with  his 
parents  at  the  age  of  four  years.  There  he  married 
Ruth  Wells,  and  in  the  year  1828  he  emigrated  with 
his  family — wife  and  two  children — to  this  township. 
He  entered  sixty-three  acres  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
north  of  where  Lawrence  now  is  ;  was  a  farmer,  and 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
forty  years.  He  died  Jan.  7,  1867.  His  wife 
died  June  6,  1880.  William  and  Leonidas  were  the 
children  that  came  here  with  the  father  and  mother. 
William  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  ;  Leonidas 
went  to  Iowa  in  1868,  and  now  lives  there.  There 
were  eight  other  children,  all  born  in  this  township. 

James  Giles  and  family  came  from  Bracken  County, 
Ky.,  in  1824,  and  entered  eighty  acres  where 
Joseph  N.  Day  now  resides, — near  the  mouth  of 
Indian  Creek.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Reddick,  whom  he  married  in  1818.  He  lived  here 
until  1835,  and  then  went  to  Tipton  County,  and  died 
in  May,  1875.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  fine  man. 
He  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  William,  the 
oldest  son,  died  while  working  on  the  Wabash  and 
Erie  Canal,  in  Hamilton  County,  Ind. ;  James  and 
Sallie  live  in  Tipton  County ;  Lettie  in  Missouri ; 
Marie  lives  near  Perkinsville,  Ind.,  and  Catharine  is 
dead. 

Robert  Huston  came  from  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
to  this  township  about  1827,  and  worked  on  the  farm 
of  Elisha  Reddick  one  year,  raising  five  acres  of 
corn.  The  next  spring  he  went  to  Rush  County, 
Ind.,  where  he  had  left  his  family,  and  brought  them 
here.  He  resided  for  several  years  on  the  farm  east  of 
the  Mcllvain  farm  and  north  of  Fall  Creek,  and  then 


546 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


moved  to  what  is  known  as  the  McCormick  farm. 
Here  he  lived  until  about  1848,  when  he  died  at  the 
age  of  fifty-eight  years.  He  married  Barbara 
Shengles.  She  has  been  dead  thirty  years.  Mr. 
Huston  was  a  Methodist  seven  years ;  was  constable 
for  ten  years,  and  was  serving  as  such  when  he  died. 
He  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters, — William, 
Jacob,  Joshua,  George,  Fountain,  Betsy,  and  Polly. 
Fountain  and  William  live  in  Bracken  County,  Ky. ; 
Jacob  and  George  are  dead, — the  former  died  here 
at  the  age  of  thirty,  and  the  latter  died  about  1873, 
and  his  family  lives  in  Washington  Territory ;  Joshua 
lives  in  Boone  County,  Ind. ;  Betsy  and  Polly  both 
died  unmarried  before  1861  in  Warren  township, 
this  county. 

Henry  Hardin  came  from  Lawrenoeburg,  Ind.,  to 
Lawrence  township  in  the  fall  of  1825,  and  settled  in 
the  woods  on  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  that 
he  had  entered  from  the  government.  He  raised  a  cabin 
upon  his  land,  on  a  spot  near  where  Jonah  F.  Lemon 
now  resides.  He  cleared  about  forty  acres  of  the 
fractional  quarter-section.  His  wife's  maiden  name 
was  Ludwick.  He  was  converted  at  a  prayer-meeting 
at  the  house  of  William  Reddick  about  1828,  and 
shortly  afterwards  began  preaching.  He  lived  in 
this  township  twenty  years,  and  then  moved  to  Iowa. 
He  was  a  moral,  upright,  conscientious  man,  and  a 
kind,  generous  neighbor. 

Ephriam  Morrison  came  to  this  township  in  the 
year  1825  from  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  bought  the  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-two  acres  owned  by  William 
McClaren,  and  settled  upon  it.  At  that  time  fifteen 
acres  was  cleared.  The  farm  is  now  owned  by  H.  M. 
and  J.  E.  Hunter.  In  1845  he  went  to  Iowa,  and  died 
there  after  a  residence  of  five  years.  His  sons,  Wil- 
liam and  Perry,  went  to  California  after  their  father's 
death,  but  subsequently  returned,  and  took  their 
mother  (who  was  a  sister  to  Henry  Hardin)  and  the 
rest  of  the  family  to  California. 

William  McClaren  was  born  in  Manchester,  Ohio, 
in  1797.  He  emigrated  in  1824  with  his  wife  and 
two  children  to  this  township,  and  entered  the 
fractional  quarter-section  subsequently  owned  by 
Ephraim  Morrison,  but  now  owned  by  H.  M.  and  J.  E. 
Hunter.     He  lived  there  only  one  year,  sold  to  Mor- 


rison, and  purchased  the  ninety-one-acre  tract  now 
owned  by  D.  Leatherman.  He  lived  there  about  ten 
years,  and  went  to  Bloomington,  Iowa,  where  he  died. 
His  family  are  all  dead  except  his  son  Andrew.  Mr. 
McClaren  had  four  children  when  he  left  this  county. 
He  was  a  great  trader,  and  made  his  living  mostly  in 
that  way.  He  was  an  intelligent  man,  and  one  of  the 
shrewdest  in  this  township  in  those  days.  He  was  a 
good  pettifogger,  and  practiced  considerably  before  the 
justices  of  the  peace. 

Robert  Wells  was  born  in  Mason  County,  Ky.,  in 
1804.  Emigrated  with  wife  and  son  Aaron  to  this 
township  about  1827,  and  bought  the  fractional  quar- 
ter-section now  owned  by  John  Newton  Reddick, 
where  he  lived  for  twenty  or  twenty-five  years.  He 
then  sold  the  farm  to  Robert  Walpole  and  went  to 
Stringtown,  Ind.,  where  he  lived  two  years,  thence 
moved  to  the  Twelve-mile  Prairie,  thence  to  Ander- 
son, and  since  the  war  of  1861-65  went  to 
Illinois,  where  he  died  about  1875.  His  wife  died 
when  he  lived  on  the  Twelve-mile  Prairie.  He  was  a 
farmer  while  he  lived  here,  but  subsequently  became 
a  shoemaker  and  a  dealer  in  harness  and  saddlery. 
He  and  his  wife  were  both  members  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  and  they  died  in  that  faith.  For 
four  or  five  years  that  denomination  held  preaching 
at  his  house.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  improving 
the  public  highways,  in  advancing  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, and,  in  fact,  in  all  laudable  public  enterprises. 
He  was  regarded  by  all  who  knew  him  as  a  model 
gentleman,  and  by  his  emigration  the  township  lost 
one  of  its  best  citizens.  He  had  six  children  when 
he  left  here.     His  son  Aaron  lives  in  Illinois. 

John  Johnson  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  but  was 
raised  in  Kentucky.  He  went  from  there  to  Ohio. 
From  there  he  came  to  this  township,  arriving  on 
New- Year's  day,  1824.  He  entered  in  all  seven 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of 
where  the  correction  line  crosses  Fall  Creek.  He 
erected  his  cabin  about  half  a  mile  southeast  of  the 
hill  known  as  the  Johnson  Hill.  There  he  lived 
until  his  death  in  1849,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  His 
wife's  maiden  name  was  Jane  McConnel.  She  died 
four  years  before  him,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years. 
He  was   an   elder   in   the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 


LAWRENCE  TOWNSHIP. 


547 


took  great  interest  in  church  affairs.  His  wife  and 
the  most  of  his  children  died  in  that  faith.  He 
built  a  mill  on  Fall  Creek  in  1825,  and  operated  it 
for  years.  The  first  election  ever  held  in  the  town- 
ship was  at  his  cabin,  and  he  was  one  of  the  thirteen 
electors.  He  was  instrumental  in  bringing  quite  a 
number  of  new  settlers  into  the  township  shortly  after 
his  arrival.  He  was  a  farmer  and  miller, — industri- 
ous, persevering,  and  moral.  He  had  two  sons  and 
five  daughters.  Charles,  the  oldest  son,  came  to  the 
township  with  Elisha  Reddick  in  October,  1823. 
When  twenty-one  years  of  age  his  father  gave  him 
eighty  acres  of  land.  Charles  grubbed  three  acres. 
He  went  in  swimming  the  day  after  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  old,  took  the  fever,  and  died  four  days 
thereafter.  John  Calvin  died  two  years  after  his 
father's  death.  Elizabeth  married  Elisba  Reddick 
in  Ohio  in  1822,  and  died  in  this  township  March 
II,  1872,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Isabel, 
Mary,  and  Jennie  are  also  dead.  Nellie  married 
John  Newkirk,  moved  to  Carlisle,  111.,  about  1850, 
where  she  now  resides. 

Robert  Large  came  into  the  township  about  1825. 
He  owned  no  land,  but  lived  on  the  farm  now  owned 
by  Philip  Miller ;  lived  there  eight  years  and  went  to 
Washington  township,  this  county,  and  subsequently 
died  there.  His  vocation  was  fishing,  and  he  did 
little  else. 

James  Ballenger  came  to  this  township  about  1825. 
He  lived  on  Daniel  Ballenger's  land,  half  a  mile  east 
of  where  Millersville  now  is,  about  eight  years,  then 
went  to  Washington  township,  this  county,  and  died 
there. 

George  Long  was  a  native  of  England.  He  came 
to  this  township  with  his  family  about  1827,  and 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  now  owned  by 
Dr.  Jonathan  Conkle.  He  lived  there  ten  or  twelve 
years  and  went  to  Missouri,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  is  a  tailor  by  trade,  but  was  a  farmer  when 
here,  and  cleared  a  large  farm.  Two  of  his  daugh- 
ters live  here.  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Swarm, 
lives  in  Centre  township;  and  Ellen,  the  widow  of 
Simeon  Mock,  lives  near  Germantown. 

Alexander  McClaren  was  born  near  Portsmouth, 
Ohio,  in  1804.     He  went  to  Kentucky  when  a  mere 


boy,  and  from  there  came  to  this  township  in  1824. 
He  was  married  here  to  Helen  Reddick.  daughter  of 
William  Reddick.  He  bought  eighty  acres,  the  farm 
now  owned  by  John  Sargent,  in  1828.  He  was  a 
shoemaker,  and  worked  at  his  trade  evenings.  He 
was  a  very  industrious  man,  and  prospered.  lie  and 
his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  he  improved  every  opportunity  to  ad- 
vance the  interest  of  that  denomination.  He  was  a 
leader  in  the  building  of  the  Hopewell  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  He  sold  his  land  here  about 
1850  and  went  to  Clinton  County,  111.  He  died 
about  1859.  He  had  six  sons  and  four  daughters. 
His  wife  died  in  1881.  Five  of  the  sons  lived  in 
Clinton  County,  111.  Andrew  died  more  than  twenty 
years  ago. 

Moses  McClaren  was  born  in  Adams  County,  Ohio, 
Nov.  15,  1810,  and  went  to  Kentucky  with  his  parents 
about  1820.  Prom  there  he  came  to  Marion  County 
in  the  fall  of  1823,  and  in  1832  settled  in  this  town- 
ship, half  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  Mud  Creek. 
That  year  he  married  Rachel,  daughter  of  William 
Reddick.  He  lived  in  this  township  twelve  years, 
following  farming.  He  and  his  wife  now  live  half  a 
mile  east  of  Allisonville,  this  county,  where  they  have 
lived  during  the  last  fifty-one  years.  He  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Allisonville  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  since  1849.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 
His  residence  of  sixty-three  years  in  the  county  has 
given  him  an  opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  first  citizens.  He  is  now  in  the  "sear  and  yellow 
leaf"  of  life,  and  is  honored  and  respected  by  all 
who  know  him.  His  children,  nine  in  number,  are 
all  dead. 

John  Gillam  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  1828,  the  same  now  owned  by  John  F.  Sterrett. 
He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  hard-working  man.  He 
raised  quite  a  family  of  children,  and  taught  them 
all  to  believe  in  witches  and  witchcraft.  He  sold  his 
land  here,  and  went  to  Illinois  with  his  family  in 
1840. 

John  Collins  came  to  this  county  from  Mason 
County,  Ky.,  in  1820.  He  was  in  Washington 
township  a  few  years,  and  in  1824  or  1825  he  came 
into  this  township,  where  he  lived  about  twenty  years. 


548 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


He  followed  hunting  for  a  living,  was  in  the  woods 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  strolled  from  place  to  place. 
No  person  knows  whither  he  went  from  this  town- 
ship. 

Adam  EUer  came  from  Stillwater,  Ohio,  with 
family  (wife  and  six  children)  in  a  very  early  day. 
He  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  a  part  of 
which  is  now  owned  by  Philip  Miller.  Mr.  Eller 
was  a  farmer,  and  died  there  forty  years  ago.  His 
wife  also  died  several  years  ago.  His  daughters  were 
Elizabeth,  Lucinda,  and  Nancy,  and  they  all  moved 
to  Illinois  years  ago.  His  sons  were  David,  Andrew, 
and  Leonard. 

David  Eller  came  from  Stillwater,  Ohio,  with  his 
father,  Adam.  He  entered  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Ettie  Newhouse,  and  married  Lucinda  Reddick.  He 
was  a  farmer  and  also  a  carpenter.  He  was  a  great 
and  noted  hunter.  About  1854  he  went  to  Kirks- 
ville,  Mo.,  and  died  there  in  1875.  He  was  in  Cali- 
fornia during  the  gold  fever  about  1849. 

Leonard  Eller  came  from  Ohio  with  his  father, 
Adam.     He  went  West  at  the  age  of  twenty  years. 

Andrew  Eller,  son  of  Adam,  came  here  with  his 
father  at  a  very  early  date.  His  first  wife  was 
'  Martha,  daughter  of  John  McConnell.  Mr.  Eller 
entered  eighty  acres,  now  owned  by  Josiah  Day.  He 
moved  upon  it  in  1835,  and  in  1840  he  moved  on 
the  farm  now  owned  by  Christopher  McConnell.  In 
about  1853  he  moved  on  the  John  Johi'son  place. 
His  second  wife's  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Flanin- 
gan.  She  only  lived  three  years,  and  he  then  mar- 
ried the  widow  of  John  Calvin  Johnson.  In  1859 
he  went  to  Missouri,  but  returned  to  this  county 
during  the  Rebellion  on  account  of  the  troubles  in 
Missouri.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to 
Missouri.  In  the  early  settlement  of  the  country 
he  was  a  great  deer-hunter.  He  was  a  good  citizen 
and  a  kind  neighbor  when  in  this  county. 

Edmund  Newhouse  was  born  near  Charlestown, 
Va.,  about  1796,  and  came  here  in  1832.  He 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  west  of  where  Lawrence  now  is. 
He  followed  farming  for  a  livelihood  until  a  few 
years  ago.  He  is  now  eighty-seven  years  old,  and 
lives  on  the  old  homestead  with  his  children.     He 


has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  about  fifty  years,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Lawrence  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  about  the  year  1838.  He  and  his  children 
and  grandchildren  are  among  the  best  and  most 
highly  respected  of  Lawrence  township's  citizens. 

Jacob  Shenkle  came  here  from  Brown  County, 
Ohio,  with  his  wife,  two  sons,  and  a  daughter.  He 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  on 
Indian  Creek,^ — -now  owned  by  Lewis  Hossenfans, — 
and  was  assessor  of  the  township  by  appointment 
many  years.  He  sold  his  farm  in  1841  and  left  the 
county.  His  son  John  went  to  Illinois,  and  Benja- 
min moved  West.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  married 
Fountain  Kimberlain  in  1827. 

William  Dickerson  came  from  Kentucky  to  this 
county  in  1825  with  his  wife,  three  sons,  and  five 
daughters.  He  lived  three  miles  east  of  Indian- 
apolis for  five  years,  and  then  came  to  this  township 
and  entered  eighty  acres,  being  the  east  eighty- 
acre  tract  now  owned  by  John  D.  Louden.  He  was 
a  farmer,  and  died  on  the  above  eighty-acre  tract 
in  the  year  1851.  Merritt,  his  second  son,  was 
killed  by  a  railway  train,  in  1850,  at  the  crossing  of 
Indian  Creek.  The  other  two  sons  are  dead.  The 
five  daughters  went  to  Pana,  111. 

Abel  Swords  came  from  Ohio  about  the  year 
1827,  and  entered  the  west  eighty -acre  tract  now 
owned  by  John  D.  Louden.  His  wife,  four  sons, 
and  two  daughters  came  here  with  him.  He  died 
in  Washington  township,  this  county,  about  1861. 
His  wife  died  on  the  old  homestead.  His  sons, 
William  and  Robert,  live  in  this  township. 

Daniel  Speece  was  born  Jan.  10,  1802,  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky.  From  there  he  came  to  this 
township  in  January,  1828.  He  was  married, 
March  9,  1825,  to  Elizabeth  Fidaman.  They  emi- 
grated here  with  two  children,  Franklin  and  Fred- 
erick M.  Mr.  Speece  was  a  farmer.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  since 
the  oldest  member  of  the  family  can  remember,  and 
he  died  in  that  faith  at  an  advanced  age.  His 
widow  is  still  living,  although  very  feeble.  Mr. 
Speece,  if  not  the  fir.st,  was  one  of  the  first  teachers 
in  the  first  log  school-house  built  in   this  township. 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


549 


Their  son  Franklin  died  in  1852,  and  Fredericic  M. 
emigrated  to  Kansas.  Thirteen  other  children  were 
born  to  these  old  pioneers,  eight  of  whom  are  dead. 
William  H.  lives  at  home  with  his  mother  ;  George 
lives  at  Glenn's  Valley,  this  county ;  Thomas  B.  J. 
lives  in  this  township  ;  Joseph  is  in  Missouri ;  and 
Martha  Ann  in  Kansas. 

John  Thomas  was  born  June  20,  1805,  near  Red 
Stone  Old  Fort,  Fa.  He  lived  in  Hamilton  County, 
Ohio,  from  June,  1806,  till  1815,  when  he  went  to 
Clermont  County,  Ohio.  His  mother  died  in  the 
year  1810.  Mr.  Thomas  was  married  to  Harriet 
Bradbury  on  the  9th  of  March,  1828.  On  Sept. 
16,  1832,  he  came  here  and  settled  in  the  woods 
near  and  east  of  Minnewan  Springs.  He  made 
shelter  for  his  family  out  of  brush  until  he  could 
raise  a  log  cabin.  After  his  cabin  was  in  order,  he 
and  his  wife  began  clearing  the  eighty-acre  tract 
upon  which  he  now  resides  and  which  they  had 
previously  entered.  Two  children,  Elizabeth  and 
Benjamin,  emigrated  to  the  township  with  their 
parents.  These  old  pioneers  had  seven  children 
after  they  arrived  here.  They  raised  all  these  chil- 
dren to  be  full-grown  men  and  women.  Six  of  them 
are  dead  and  three  are  living.  His  wife,  Harriet, 
died  in  March,  1863.  The  following  children  are 
living :  the  two  who  emigrated  to  this  township  with 
their  father,  and  John  M.,  the  next  to  youngest 
son. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  a  school-teacher  for  several  years 
during  the  first  settlement  of  the  township.  He 
cleared  and  improved  the  farm  upon  which  he  now 
resides.  He  was  elected  captain  of  the  Indiana 
militia  in  Lawrence  township,  March  23,  1833,  and 
held  that  commission  for  five  years  and  then  re- 
signed. He  was  elected  justice' of  the  peace  in  1856, 
and  re-elected  twice  in  succession,  but  resigned  after 
eleven  j'cars'  service.  He  has  served  as  supervisor 
and  as  school  trustee  several  terms.  He  served  one 
term  as  clerk  of  the  board  of  township  trustees.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church  con- 
tinuously since  1840.  He  has  led  an  active  and 
industrious  life,  and  takes  rank  as  one  of  the  best 
citizens  of  the  township.  He  has  always  encouraged 
every  commendable  public  enterprise.     He    is   now 


seventy-eight   years   of  age,  and   is   living  with  his 
second  wife,  whom  he  married  April  9,  1876. 

Abraham  Sellers  was  born  Jan.  25,  1805,  in  North 
Carolina.  He  served  three  years  as  an  apprentice, 
and  learned  the  tanner's  trade  in  Clermont  County, 
Ohio.  In  the  year  1827  he  came  to  this  township. 
In  order  to  reach  his  destination  he  was  compelled  to 
cut  his  way  through  the  brush  and  timber  during 
the  last  four  miles  of  his  journey.  He  entered  eighty 
acres,  now  owned  by  his  heirs,  and  he  subsequently 
purchased  an  additional  eighty  acres.  He  married 
Lydia  Rumple  when  in  Ohio,  and  he,  his  wife,  and 
two  children  (Susan  and  Elizabeth)  came  to  this 
county  in  a  wagon.  He  cleared  a  large  farm  in 
this  township,  and  followed  farming  for  a  living. 
He  had  a  tan-yard  on  his  farm  for  many  years,  and 
occasionally  worked  at  his  trade.  He  was  a  moral 
man,  and  used  his  influence  for  the  good  of  society. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  ser- 
vices were  held  at  his  house  for  years  before  any 
church  was  built  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  he 
lived.  He  built  a  saw-mill  on  Fall  Creek  about  the 
year  1853,  and  sold  it  after  operating  it  two  years. 
Mr.  Sellers  died  March  10,  1875.  His  first  wife, 
Lydia,  died  in  1850.  The  two  eldest  children  are 
also  dead.  Seven  children  were  born  unto  Mr.  Sel- 
lers after  he  came  to  the  township,  two  of  whom  are 
dead. 

Amos  Hanway  came  to  this  county  from  Vin- 
cennes,  Ind.,  in  the  year  1821.  He  came  into  this 
township  in  1824,  and  lived  till  his  death  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  his  son  Samuel.  Mr.  Hanway 
came  to  this  county  on  a  flat-boat  up  White  River. 
He  brought  his  wife  and  three  children, — Mary, 
Amos,  and  Ann  E.  The  last-named  married  James 
Crigler,  April  24,  1836.  Mr.  Crigler  was  a  member 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  He  is  now  dead.  His 
widow  is  living,  aged  sixty-five  years.  Mary  Han- 
way married  Isaac  Doty,  and  died  one  year  there- 
after. Amos  Hanway,  Jr.,  is  still  living,  and  is  a 
leading  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Francis  Flannigan  was  born  in  Maryland.  He 
moved  to  North  Carolina,  and  married  there  Mary 
Eller.  He  moved  to  Miami  County,  Ohio,  and 
ihence  to  this  township  in  October,  1824.     He  en- 


550 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


tered  eighty  acres  about  one  and  a  quarter  miles 
southeast  of  where  Millersville  now  is.  His  children 
were :  James,  located  east  of  where  Millersville  now 
is ;  John,  located  near  where  No.  4  school-house  now 
is ;  Elizabeth,  located  north  of  where  John  located ; 
Sarah,  located  near  same  place ;  Peter,  married  in 
Lawrence  township  to  Nancy  Mock,  located  north 
of  the  Marion  County  line,  in  Hamilton  County ; 
Leonard,  married  in  Lawrence  township  to  Amelia 
Mitchell,  located  in  Hamilton  County,  afterwards 
moved  back  to  Marion  County,  and  located  on  Mud 
Creek ;  Francis  F.,  lived  one  year  and  three  months 
in  Marion  County,  then  died,  age  not  known.  Mr. 
Flannigan's  widow  married  James  North,  and  died 
in  1863,  aged  eighty-one  years.  The  first  school  at- 
tended by  the  children  was  in  an  old  log  house  on 
the  Smay  farm,  one  mile  south  of  where  Millersville 
now  is.     It  was  taught  by  Samuel  Burns. 

John  Flannigan,  the  second  eldest  child  of  Francis 
Flannigan,  came  to  the  township  in  October,  1824, 
and  located  on  eighty  acres  now  owned  by  John 
Johnson.  He  afterwards  married  Elizabeth  North, 
farmed  four  years,  and  worked  in  the  saw-mills  at 
Millersville,  Germantown,  Cicero,  and  other  places. 
He  died  at  Jesse  Klepfer's,  in  this  township,  about 
1860,  aged  fifty-seven  years.  He  was  buried  at 
Hopewell.  He  had  eight  children, — four  sons  and 
four  daughters.  Three  of  the  former  and  one  of 
the  latter  are  living. 

James  Flannigan  (born  May,  1804),  eldest  child 
of  Francis  Flannigan,  came  to  this  township  in  1824, 
with  his  wife,  Susannah  Bracken,  daughter  of  John 
Bracken,  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Flannigan  first  located 
east  of  where  Millersville  now  is,  and  subsequently 
just  north  of  where  his  brother  John  located,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  in  1876.  His 
aged  wife  also  died  the  same  year.  Mr.  Flannigan 
was  a  farmer,  and  cleared  a  large  farm,  and  raised  a 
large  family  of  children,  five  of  whom  are  now  living. 
He  endured  all  the  trials  incident  to  a  pioneer  life, 
and  died  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Peter  Bolander  was  born  in  Pennsylvania.  He 
emigrated  to  this  township  in  1833,  and  entered  the 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  upon  which  the  village 
of  Oakland  is  situated      He  was  a  farmer.     He  died 


several  years  ago,  and  his  wife  died  three  years  after- 
wards. They  had  five  children,  one  of  whom,  An- 
drew, is  still  living  in  the  township,  aged  sixty-four 
years. 

John  J.  Mollenkopf,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Germany, 
Sept.  24,  1794;  came  to  America  in  1821;  located 
in  Baltimore  County,  Md. ;  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  paper;  moved  to  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  in 
1836,  and  to  this  township  in  1839;  married  Juli- 
anna  Painter  in  1825  in  Maryland.  There  were  born 
unto  them  nine  children  ;  eight  are  living.  Mr.  Mol- 
lenkopf died  aged  seventy-nine  years.  Mrs.  Mollen- 
kopf died  aged  sixty-four  years.  He  engaged  in 
farming  after  coming  to  Indiana. 

John  Negley,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  township, 
was  born  in  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  Dec.  20,  1804. 
He  was  raised  there,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years 
came  with  his  parents  to  this  county.  In  the  year 
1825  he  married  Isabella,  a  daughter  of  John  John- 
son, and  had  born  to  him  seven  children,  three  of 
whom  are  living.  He  worked  with  his  father-in-law 
one  year  after  his  marriage,  and  then  located  on  what 
is  now  known  as  the  McCormick  farm.  His  wife 
died  in  1842.  He  was  married  in  September,  1844, 
to  Mary  Ann  Sheets,  and  by  her  had  eleven  children, 
five  of  whom  are  living.  In  1845  he  removed  to 
Warren  County,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  six  years.  He 
then  returned  to  this  county,  and  located  adjoining 
Millersville,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  which 
took  place  Aug.  30,  1878,  aged  seventy-three  years, 
eight  months,  and  ten  days.  He  was  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  From  the  spring 
of  1823  till  his  death  he  was  absent  from  the  county 
only  six  years.  He  endured  all  the  trials  and  hard- 
ships of  a  pioneer  life  ;  was  an  industrious  and  influ- 
ential citizen.  He  was  a  voter  at  the  first  election 
ever  held  in  the  township,  and  was  an  encourager  of 
all  worthy  public  enterprises.  For  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  prior  to  his  death  he  was  a  Master  Mason 
in  good  standing,  and  no  craftsman  ever  labored  more 
zealously  in  the  cause  of  Masonry  than  he.  His  loss 
to  the  fraternity  was  most  keenly  felt.  In  the  im- 
provement of  the  public  highways  and  the  promotion 
of  the  cause  of  education,  and  in  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  religion,   no  person  evinced  greater  in- 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


551 


terest.  He  lived  respected,  and  his  loss  to  society 
was  regretted  by  all  who  knew  him. 

William  Orpurd,  an  old  pioneer  of  Lawrence  town- 
ship, was  bora  in  Frederick  County,  Md.,  Nov.  9, 
1793.  He  served  in  the  war  of  1812  from  com- 
mencement to  close,  and  after  discharge  from  the 
army  he  emigrated  to  Indiana.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1821,  and  located  on  what  is  known  as  the 
Metzger  farm,  on  White  River.  In  the  year  1830 
he  entered  eighty  acres  about  one  mile  southwest  of 
where  Castleton  now  is,  and  resided  upon  it  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  Aug.  5,  1871.  On  Aug.  18, 
1824,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Nancy  Allison, 
who  came  to  this  county  with  her  parents  in  1819, 
and  who  walked  every  rod  of  the  way  from  Ken- 
tucky to  where  AUisonville  now  is.  Mr.  Orpurd  was 
a  farmer.  During  his  early  residence  here  his  living 
was  made  by  clearing  land  and  hunting  deer.  Dur- 
ing the  last  twenty-five  years  of  his  life  he  was  a 
pious  man,  and  believed  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  was  strictly  moral 
and  temperate  in  all  his  habits.  The  first  school 
attended  by  his  children  was  in  a  log  cabin,  just 
south  of  AUisonville.  His  wife  survives  him,  living 
on  the  old  homestead  of  eighty  acres,  and  holds  the 
old  patent  for  the  property,  signed  by  Andrew  Jack- 
son. She  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
when  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  although  nearly 
eighty-seven  now,  she  has  not  let  her  faith  be  shaken. 
During  the  past  four  years  she  has  been  afflicted 
with  almost  total  blindness.  The  number  of  children 
born  unto  these  pious  people  was  six,  three  of  whom 
are  now  living,  viz.  :  Lavica,  Calvin,  and  Marion. 
Lavica,  now  in  her  fifty-seventh  year,  was  never  mar- 
ried, and  lives  with  her  mother.  Marion  is  a  widow, 
in  her  forty-eighth  year,  and  resides  with  her  mother. 
Calvin  went  to  Missouri  fourteen  years  ago,  and  in 
1883  moved  to  Kansas. 

John  Newhouse  was  born  in  Kanawha  County,  W. 
Va.,  Dee.  21,  1804.  When  thirty  years  of  age  he 
and  his  wife  came  to  this  township,  on  horseback, 
with  nothing  but  a  very  limited  supply  of  clothing. 
He  located  and  bought  the  land  on  which  he  now 
resides.  He  has  cleared  a  large  tract  of  land,  and 
by  his  industry  and  good  management  succeeded  in 


accumulating  a  large  amount  of  property.  He  mar- 
ried Catharine  Squires,  May  22,  1834.  They  have 
four  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  living.  Their 
oldest  son  lives  in  Virginia.  Two  daughters  live 
near  Lebanon,  Ind.  Three  sons  and  one  daughter 
reside  in  this  county. 

Robert  White  was  born  in  Clermont  County,  Ohio, 
in  April,  1802.  He  came  to  this  township  in  Sep- 
tember, 1833,  and  located  in  the  woods  on  the  eighty 
acres  now  owned  by  him.  He  cleared  the  land,  and  has 
always  followed  farming.  Four  children  came  to  the 
township  with  Mr.  White  and  his  wife,  viz. :  Mary 
Jane,  John,  Joseph,  and  Elizabeth.  Joseph  is  dead, 
the  other  three  are  living.  Mr.  White  is  now  living 
with  his  second  wife. 

Daniel  Smay  was  born  in  Maryland.  He  came 
here  with  the  Lutheran  colony  in  1824,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four  years,  and  located  in  the  southwest  part  of 
the  township,  and  finally  bought  the  farm  entered  in 
1827  by  John  North,  where  he  lived  until  his  death, 
in  1854.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  inember  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  for  forty  or  fifty  years.  He  was 
one  of  the  leading  members  in  the  Ebenezer  Luth- 
eran Church  for  thirty  years,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  all  church  affairs.  He  was  a  pious,  moral,  honor- 
able man,  and  a  good  citizen.  Four  children  emi- 
grated here  with  Mr.  Smay  and  his  wife,  viz. :  Joseph, 
who  lived  here  forty  years,  went  to  Iowa  and  died. 
Polly,  who  married  David  Ringer,  and  died  in  the 
township.  Absalom,  who  went  to  Story  County,  Iowa, 
twenty-eight  years  ago.  David,  who  went  to  Story 
County,  Iowa,  in  1862. 

David  Hoss  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  1790. 
He  married  Nellie  Trout,  and  moved  to  Brown 
County,  Ohio.  While  there  his  wife  died,  leaving  him 
nine  children.  He  was  married,  in  Ohio,  to  Martha 
Plummer,  and  by  her  had  two  children.  Mr.  Hoss 
came  to  this  township  in  September,  1829,  and 
entered  land  about  one  mile  southwest  of  where 
Oakland  now  is.  He  lived  there  till  his  death,  in 
July,  1882.  He  built  a  saw-mill  on  Indian  Creek, 
on  his  land,  in  the  year  1836,  and  operated  it  about 
fifteen  years.  Farming  was  his  chief  occupation, 
and  he  cleared  a  large  tract  of  land.  The  first 
school  to  which  he  had  the  privilege  of  sending  his 


552 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


children  was  in  an  old  log  cabin  once  used  as  a  dwell- 
ing-house. Jeremiah  Wells  was  the  first  teacher.  Mr. 
Hoss'  second  wife,  Martha,  is  deceased.  Of  the 
nine  children  who  came  here  with  him,  five  are  dead. 
William  lives  in  Perry  township,  this  county.  Chris- 
tian lives  in  Pike  County,  111.  Sarah  is  the  wife  of 
Henry  Apple,  and  lives  one  mile  south  of  Oakland. 
Eliza  J.  married  Nelson  Hoss,  and  lives  in  Perry 
township,  this  county.  One  of  his  children  by  the 
second  wife  is  dead,  and  Benjamin  is  an  inmate  of 
the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Indianapolis. 

Isaac  Hartsock  was  born  in  Maryland,  and  emi- 
grated thence  to  Kentucky.  In  November,  1834, 
he  came  to  this  township  with  his  wife  and  four 
children.  He  located  on  an  eighty-acre  tract  entered 
by  William  McKinster.  The  first  school  to  which 
he  sent  his  children  was  on  the  Smay  land.  John 
Hutcheson  was  the  teacher.  Mr.  Hartsock  followed 
farming  all  his  life.  Peter,  the  oldest  son,  is  a  farmer, 
and  resides  in  this  township.  Eliza  married  Isaac 
Hensley,  and  died,  aged  thirty-five  years.  Wilson 
C.  died  in  1874.  Emily  married  William  P. 
Hensley. 

William  S.  Thomas  was  born  in  Nicholas  County, 
Ky.,  Oct.  25, 1805.  He  emigrated  to  Rush  County, 
Ind.,  in  November,  1828,  and  lived  there  four  years. 
In  1831  he  was  married  to  Polly  Hensley.  In  1833 
they  removed  to  this  township  with  one  child,  named 
Elizabeth,  who  died  in  July,  1862.  Mr.  Thomas  is 
an  honest,  upright  citizen.  One  of  his  sons  was 
killed  in  the  army  during  the  late  Rebellion,  and  two 
died  of  disease  contracted  while  in  the  army.  In  all 
he  has  had  nine  children,  only  two  of  whom  are 
living. 

Robert  Johnson  was  born  in  Scotland ;  time  of 
birth  not  known.  He  emigrated  to  Ireland  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  years  ;  learned  the  weaver's  trade  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one ;  was  drafted  as  a  soldier  to 
serve  the  British  government  for  four  years.  He 
found  a  favorable  opportunity  and  came  to  America, 
leaving  behind  his  British  uniform,  and  became  a 
citizen  of  Pennsylvania.  He  set  up  a  loom  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  engaged  in  weaving  for  .some  time.  He 
then  married  Sarah  Guthry,  and  shortly  moved  to 
Morgan  County,  Ohio,  locating  there  on  eighty  acres 


of  land.  He  remained  until  November,  1836,  when 
he  sold  and  removed  to  Lawrence  township,  Marion 
Co.,  Ind.,  taking  with  him  his  family  and  six  chil- 
dren His  children,  all  born  in  Ohio,  were  James, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty  years ;  Margaret, 
married  Thomas  P.  Silvey ;  John,  born  Aug.  21, 
1828 ;  married  Nancy  Thomas.  He  has  raised  a 
large  family,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  his  township,  county,  and  country  generally. 
Robert,  born  Aug.  31,  1831  ;  married  Mary  H., 
daughter  of  George  W.  Deford.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  takes  rank  as  one  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  the  township.  Richard,  born  Jan.  17, 1834; 
has  lived  a  bachelor;  George  G.,  born  Aug.  18, 
1836;  married  Nancy  Day. 

Mr.  Johnson  being  a  man  of  firmness  and  steady 
aim,  as  well  as  a  foreigner  by  birth,  was  not  greatly 
admired  by  his  pioneer  neighbors,  who  spent  their 
Sundays  hunting,  and  seemingly  no  moral  influence 
existed.  He  did  not  rebuke  them,  but  engaged  the 
services  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  his  choice  to 
preach  at  his  house.  For  some  ten  or  twelve  years 
preaching  was  held  there,  until  a  church  edifice  was- 
erected.  Mr.  Johnson  lived  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  ever  since  any  of  his  children 
can  remember.  In  his  last  days  he  told  his  pastor 
that  he  felt  that  his  time  spent  in  his  religious  de- 
votion was  not  in  vain.  He  felt  that  he  was  like  a 
sheaf  of  corn  fully  ripe,  ready  for  his  Master's  garner. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

John  Herron,  his  wife,  and  two  children  emigrated 
from  near  Crab  Orchard,  in  Kentucky,  to  this  town- 
ship in  1828.  He  entered  eighty  acres,  now  owned 
by  Robert  Johnson,  and  died  of  typhoid  fever  about 
1853.  He  was  a  farmer.  His  wife  and  daughter, 
Polly,  are  dead.  Jane  married  William  Sigmund, 
and  lives  in  this  township. 

Peter  Castater  came  from  Ohio  to  this  township 
about  1824  with  wife  and  four  children.  He  entered 
eighty  acres,  known  as  the  Stoops  farm,  and  improved 
it.  He  was  a  voter  at  the  first  election  ever  held  in 
the  township;  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  in 
1825,  and  served  as  such  for  several  years.  About 
1837  he  moved  to  Hamilton  County,  Ind. 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


553 


Samuel  Conn  and  family  came  here  from  Ohio 
about  1827  or  1828,  and  lived  here  about  one  year, 
and  then  moved  to  Pike  township,  where  he  died. 

Lewis  Hossenfaus  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1834,  and 
came  to  this  county  with  parents  in  1846.  He  lives 
one  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Oakland.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  married  Catharine  Baker.  He  has 
two  children  living  and  two  dead.  Mr.  Hossenfaus 
is  an  industrious  and  enterprising  citizen. 

Edward  P.  Day  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  Aug. 
6,  1788.  He  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  thence,  in  the 
fall  of  1830,  to  this  township.  He  located  in  the 
woods,  on  the  land  where  "  Male"  Emery  now  lives, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  was  a  farmer. 
His  wife  (formerly  Elizabeth  Williamson)  and  six  of 
the  eight  children  came  here  with  him.  Joseph  N., 
Josiah  W.,  and  Evaline  live  here  now;  Nathaniel  W. 
is  dead  ;  Jonathan  W.  went  to  Kansas  several  years 
ago,  and  John  E.  lives  in  Illinois. 

William  Mcintosh  came  here  about  1828,  a  single 
man.  He  married  Sallie,  daughter  of  Peter  Negley, 
about  1830.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
called  himself  a  Dunkard  Baptist.  By  trade  he  was 
a  stone-mason.  He  moved  to  Illinois,  west  of  Vin- 
cennes,  Ind. 

Moore  Mcintosh,  with  his  wife  and  family,  came 
here  about  1830,  and  lived  in  the  Highland  neigh- 
borhood. He  was  justice  of  the  peace  for  four 
years. 

John  Cory  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  May  9,  1792. 
He  emigrated  to  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  and  thence 
to  this  township,  arriving  here  Sept.  10,  1834,  with 
his  wife,  Mary,  and  six  children.  He  located  on 
eighty  acres  near  Indian  Creek,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
northwest  of  where  Oakland  now  is.  He  lived  there 
until  his  death,  June  26,  1872.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  built  and  ran  a  saw-mill  on  Indian  Creek  for  sev- 
eral years.  His  wife  died  two  months  subsequent  to 
his  death.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Uuiversalist 
Church  for  thirty-four  years  preceding  his  death.  He 
belonged  to  the  first  society  of  Universalists  organ- 
ized in  the  township,  which  was  about  the  year  1838. 
He  was  constable  of  the  township  two  terms.  But 
two  of  his  children  are  living,  viz.,  Samuel  and  An- 
drew F.,  both  prominent  citizens  of  the  township. 
36 


Samuel  Cory  was  born  in  what  is  now  Hancock 
County  (then  Brooke  County),  W.  Va.,  Jan.  4,  1818. 
At  the  age  of  three  years  he  went  to  Highland 
County,  Ohio,  lived  there  eight  years,  and  moved  to 
Clermont  County,  Ohio.  From  there  he  emigrated 
with  his  parents  to  this  township  in  September,  1834. 
He  taught  the  first  public  school  ever  taught  in  the 
Oakland  district,  commencing  October,  1837,  and  con- 
tinuing six  months.  He  taught  school  during  each 
subsequent  winter  till  the  winter  of  1849.  He  worked 
on  the  farm  and  at  his  fathers's  saw-mill  when  not 
teaching.  He  served  as  school  oflBcer  for  nine  years, 
and  in  1849  was  elected  one  of  the  associate  judges 
of  Marion  County,  serving  in  that  capacity  from 
April,  1850,  to  November,  1851.  The  ofiice  was  then 
abolished  by  the  new  State  constitution.  He  was 
then  appointed  by  Governor  Wright  probate  judge 
of  Marion  County,  and  filled  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Adam  Wright.  He  served  as  such 
until  the  oflBce  was  abolished  by  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, which  act  transferred  the  business  of  that 
court  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  April, 
1853,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  township  trustees 
for  Lawrence  township  under  the  new  school  law ; 
was  re-elected  from  time  to  time,  and  served  till 
1874  (except  for  the  year  1859).  In  October,  1874, 
he  was  elected  county  commissioner  for  Marion 
County,  and  served  as  such  for  three  years,  during 
which  time  the  new  court-house  was  completed.  He 
has  settled  a  large  number  of  estates  of  deceased 
persons  and  acted  as  guardian  for  a  number  of 
orphan  children.  In  the  mean  time  he  has  lived  on 
the  farm  and  labored  there,  and  raised  a  family  of 
three  sons  and  six  daughters.  He  served  for  thirteen 
and  a  half  years  as  Worshipful  Master  and  eight 
years  as  secretary  of  Millersville  Lodge,  No.  126,  F. 
and  A.  M.  He  has  been  a  member  of  that  lodge 
since  May,  1853.  He  belongs  to  no  church,  but  in 
sentiment  is  a  Uuiversalist.  In  politics  he  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, and  looked  upon  as  a  leader  of  that  party  in 
Lawrence  township.  He  is  a  moral,  honest,  consci- 
entious citizen,  positive  in  his  views,  and  temperate 
in  his  habits.  A  better  or  more  honorable  citizen 
never  lived  in  the  township. 

Andrew  F.  Cory  was  born  in  Highland  County, 


554 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Ohio,  April  21,  1821.  He  emigrated  to  this  county 
and  township  with  his  parents  in  1834.  He  lived 
with  his  father  on  the  farm  until  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  then  learned  the  carpenter  trade.  He  worked 
at  that  trade  three  years  and  then  studied  medicine. 
In  the  year  1844  attended  lectures  at  the  Eclectic 
College  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He  received  the  degree 
of  M.D.  in  1846,  and  has  practiced  medicine  ever 
since.  He  has  a  good  farm  near  Oakland.  He  was 
treasurer  of  the  township  for  several  years, — as  long 
as  it  had  three  trustees.  He  served  over  seven 
years  as  Worshipful  Master  of  Oakland  Lodge,  No. 
140,  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  three  years  as  secretary  of 
that  lodge.  He  is  a  prominent  Democrat  and  an  in- 
fluential citizen.  He  has  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. 

Jeremiali  Plummer  was  born  in  Kentucky  about 
1776,  and  emigrated  from  Brown  County,  Ohio,  to 
this  township  in  1826  with  wife  and  seven  children, 
and  entered  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  on  Indian 
Creek,  now  owned  by  John  Smith  and  Chris.  McCon- 
nell.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Monica  Chapman. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodi.st  Episcopal  Church, 
and  took  a  great  interest  in  all  affairs  of  the  church. 
About  the  year  1835  a  class  was  organized  at  his 
house,  and  preaching  held  there  regularly  every  four 
weeks  for  two  or  three  years.  He  was  the  leading 
spirit  in  the  formation  of  Wesley  Chapel,  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  in  the  building  of  the  first 
church  in  the  township,  long  known  as  the  "  Plum- 
mer Church."  He  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
The  two  daughters  are  dead,  also  two  sons.  Mr. 
Plummer  died  about  1853.      His  wife  is  also  dead. 

John  McCounell  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  When 
he  first  came  to  this  country  he  settled  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  subsequently  moved  to  Brown  County, 
Ohio.  While  there  he  enlisted  and  served  eighteen 
months  in  the  army  during  the  war  of  1812,  at  the 
close  of  which  he  was  discharged,  and  he  returned 
to  Ohio.  Betsy  Brown  was  his  wife's  maiden  name. 
He,  together  with  his  family  (wife  and  nine  children), 
emigrated  to  this  township  Nov.  17, 1824,  and  entered 
eighty  acres  about  three  miles  southwest  of  where 
Oakland  now  is.  The  land  is  now  owned  by  Chris. 
McConnell.    He  continued  to  reside  there  until  1837, 


when  he  died.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  but  his  princi- 
pal occupation  was  that  of  a  farmer.  While  in  the 
township  oil  a  prospecting  tour  in  the  fall  of  1823  he 
assisted  at  the  raising  of  the  first  cabin  ever  raised  by 
a  white  man  in  the  township.  The  first  barrel  of  salt 
bought  by  him  cost  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents, 
and  two  and  one-half  bushels  of  wheat  furnished  all 
the  flour  his  large  family  ate  during  the  first  year  of 
his  residence  here.  The  first  school  privilege  was  a 
subscription  school,  taught  for  eighteen  days  only,  in 
the  kitchen  of  Peter  Negley, — distance  six  miles. 
His  family  had  to  go  seven  miles  to  church  in  the 
early  days  of  their  residence  here.  Mr.  McConnell 
was  an  honorable,  conscientious  citizen,  and  being 
one  of  the  very  first  settlers  of  the  township,  was  com- 
pelled to  endure  many  privations  and  hardships.  His 
,  companion  has  long  since  passed  from  this  earth,  and 
of  their  nine  children  only  two  remain.  Four  of 
the  children  died  in  1855  at  about  the  same  time. 
Isabel  lived  here  about  twenty  years ;  married  John 
Shenkle,  and  died  in  Iowa  in  1880.  Betsy  married 
Alexander  Smith  ;  lived  here  till  1837,  when  she  died. 
Martha  married  Andrew  Eller ;  located  on  Indian 
Creek,  and  lived  there  till  her  death,  in  1850.  John 
L.  died  about  1855 ;  lived  here  thirty-one  years. 
Thomas  died  about  1855;  lived  here  twenty-nine 
years.  William  diud  about  1855  ;  lived  here  twenty- 
six  years.  Hiram  died  about  1855;  lived  here 
twenty-four  years.  Washington  lived  here  twenty- 
two  years,  and  went  to  Missouri  thirteen  years  ago. 

Charles  McConnell,  the  third  child  of  John  and 
Betsy  McConnell,  was  born  in  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
in  1808,  and  came  to  this  township  with  his  parents 
Nov.  17,  1824,  and  remained  with  them  until  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  He  assisted  in  grubbing  and  grad- 
ing the  National  road  for  several  miles  east  of  Cum- 
berland, this  county,  at  thirteen  dollars  per  month, 
and  thereby  saved  enough  money  to  buy  the  eighty- 
acre  tract  of  land  upon  which  he  now  lives  with  his 
son-in-law,  Mr.  Barr.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  married  Barbara  Hoss,  with  whom  he  lived  forty- 
one  years,  until  her  death.  By  this  marriage  there 
were  born  unto  them  nine  children,  eight  of  whom 
are  living,  and  seven  of  whom  live  in  this  township. 
He  has  been   a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


555 


for  thirty  years,  and  has  been  a  believer  in  that  faith 
all  his  life.  He  has  always  been  liberal  in  his  dona- 
tions towards  all  churches  and  for  all  purposes.  The 
public  highways  and  schools  always  received  great 
encouragement  from  him.  By  his  perseverance,  in- 
dustry, and  economy  he  has  accumulated  quite  a  for- 
tune. He  is  now  seventy-five  years  of  age,  and  is 
one  of  Lawrence  township's  best  citizens.  He  fol- 
lowed farming  most  of  his  life,  but  has  now  retired. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

John  Bolander  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  Jan.  11, 
1791.  He  emigrated  to  Brown  County,  Ohio,  and 
thence  to  this  township,  arriving  here  in  October, 
1828,  with  his  family,  consisting  of  a  wife  and  eight 
children.  He  located  on  Indian  Creek,  two  miles 
southwest  of  where  Oakland  now  is.  He  entered 
there  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  and  lived 
upon  it  until  his  death,  June  16,  1865.  He  farmed 
all  his  life,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Universalist 
Church  many  years.  His  children  were  Samuel, 
died  November,  1875,  never  left  county  to  live  ;  Levi, 
lives  in  township  ;  Irena,  died  June,  1881,  never  left 
county  to  live  ;  Elizabeth,  died  May,  1880,  never  left 
county  to  live;  Joseph,  died  May,  1878,  never  left 
county  to  live  ;  Solomon,  lives  in  county,  has  lived 
in  Iowa  and  Illinois;  Noah,  died  in  1848,  never  left 
county  to  live;  Polly,  died  about  twenty-two  years 
ago,  in  township.  Three  children  were  born  after 
their  parents  came  to  this  county,  viz.  :  Christina, 
died  about  1858,  aged  twenty-three;  Catherine,  mar- 
ried Joseph  Apple,  lives  in  township ;  Rebecca,  lived 
here  until  she  moved  to  Hancock  County,  Ind.,  four 
years  ago. 

Levi  Bolander  was  born  in  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
October,  1815,  and  came  to  this  township  with  his 
parents  in  October,  1828.  He  has  lived  here  ever 
since,  and  now  owns  seven  hundred  and  twenty-three 
acres  of  as  fertile  land  as  there  is  in  the  township. 
He  resides  two  miles  northeast  of  Lawrence.  He 
has  been  a  great  encourager  of  the  public  schools, 
and  has  freely  given  his  money  and  time  towards  the 
improvement  of  the  public  highways.  He  is  treas- 
urer of  the  Lawrence  District  Fair  Association,  an 
Odd-Fellow,  a  granger,  and  a  member  of  the  Law- 
rence Township  Horse  Company.     He  has  fourteen 


children  living,  all  of  whom  reside  in  this  county  ex- 
cept two.  He  has  been  married  three  times,  and  is 
now  living  with  his  third  wife  (Mary  J.  Badgley), 
whom  he  married  twenty-three  years  ago.  He  is 
known  throughout  the  county  as  one  of  Lawrence 
township's  most  substantial,  influential,  and  valuable 
citizens.     He  votes  the  Democratic  ticket. 

George  H.  Negley,  son  of  Peter  and  Elizabeth 
Negley,  and  a  native  of  Hamilton  County,  Ohio, 
came  to  this  county  with  his  parents  in  the  year 
1823.  He  located  in  this  township  about  1830. 
He  was  a  Methodist  preacher  for  years,  a  firmer,  and 
a  true  Christian, — moral,  temperate,  and  industrious. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  owned  four  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  this  township.  At  an  early  age  he 
married  Elizabeth  Ludwic,  who  survived  him  thirty- 
three  years,  and  who  raised  a  large  family  of  children 
by  her  own  industry,  economy,  and  good  management. 
Rev.  Negley  died  April  23,  1848,  aged  thirty-seven 
years  and  two  months.  They  had  twelve  children, — 
two  died  in  infancy  and  ten  are  now  living.  Three 
sons  and  three  daughters  reside  in  this  county.  One 
son  lives  in  Frankfort  County,  Ind.,  one  daughter  in 
Kansas,  one  in  Ohio,  and  the  youngest  daughter  in 
Sheridan,  Ind. 

William  McCoy,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  emi- 
grated to  this  county  Dec.  21,  1826,  with  his  wife 
and  ten  children,  and  located  half  a  mile  west  of 
Malott  Park.  He  moved  to  this  township  about 
1830,  and  bought  the  farm  now  owned  by  the  Bash 
heirs.  He  followed  farming.  He  and  his  wife  both 
died  in  this  township.  The  following  are  the  names 
of  their  children  that  came  to  this  township  :  Rebecca, 
married  John  Collins,  died  after  a  residence  of  six- 
teen years ;  Elizabeth,  married,  went  to  Illinois  and 
died  there ;  John,  lived  in  township  twenty  years, 
died  in  Illinois  ;  William,  lived  in  township  thirty 
years,  died  here  about  1870  ;  Ciarrisa,  lived  in  town- 
ship thirty-five  years,  been  dead  eight  years  ;  Hannah, 
been  dead  twenty-two  years,  died  here ;  James  N. 
has  lived  in  county  fifty-seven  years;  Murdock,  went 
to  Wabash  County,  Ind.,  forty  years  ago;  Morris, 
died  four  years  ago,  lived  in  county  fifty-three  years  ; 
Nancy,  married  James  Ballenger,  lives  in  Grant 
County,   Ind.,  been   there  twenty-five  years;    Louis 


556 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


and  Polly  were  born  in  this  county,  and  are  both 
dead.  Four  children  died  before  Mr.  McCoy  came 
here. 

James  N.  McCoy,  son  of  William  McCoy,  was 
born  in  1816.  The  first  school  attended  by  him  in 
this  county  was  half  a  mile  west  of  Malott  Park,  and 
was  taught  by  James  Blackaby.  The  first  church 
attended  by  him  was  at  his  father's  house,  early  in 
the  year  1827.  He  suffered  all  the  trials  and  hard- 
ships of  a  pioneer  life,  and  has  been  a  very  hard- 
working, industrious  man.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  fifty  years ; 
has  held  numerous  positions  of  trust  and  honor  in  the 
church  at  difierent  times.  In  early  times  he  was 
compelled  to  go  horseback  to  Pendleton  to  get  corn 
ground  into  meal,  and  during  the  time  of  high  waters 
resorted  to  the  use  of  the  '•  hominy-block."  His  first 
wife  was  named  Elizabeth  Beaver,  daughter  of  Chris- 
topher Beaver. 

Hilary  Silvey  was  born  in  Prince  William  County, 
Va.,  July  27,  1798.  He  emigrated  with  his  parents 
to  the  Twelve-Mile  Purchase  near  Brookville,  lud., 
in  the  year  1812.  He  married  Patience  Williams  in 
Franklin  County,  Ind.,  and  in  1832  moved  with  his 
wife  and  five  children  to  this  township.  He  entered 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  near  the  centre  of  the 
township,  land  now  owned  by  William  K.  Sproul.  He 
lived  there  five  years,  and  then  moved  into  Washing- 
ton township,  this  county,  and  bought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  Francis  Holland,  upon  which  he 
has  since  lived.  He  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life, 
and  has  done  an  immense  amount  of  labor.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
for  fifty-nine  years.  During  his  residence  in  this 
county  circuit  preaching  was  regularly  held  at  his 
cabin.  During  the  past  few  years  he  has  been  totally 
blind,  and  his  usefulness  is  thus  somewhat  impaired. 
His  wife  is  still  living,  and  on  the  27th  day  of  No- 
vember, 1883,  they  had  been  married  sixty  years. 
In  all  there  were  born  unto  them  thirteen  children. 
The  five  who  came  here  with  them  were  Thomas  P., 
lived  in  Lawrence  township  till  his  death,  two  years 
ago;  Martha,  died  in  Indianapolis  in  1872;  Sarah, 
married  Joshua  Houston  and  lives  in  Zionsville, 
Ind. ;  William  A.  is  a  farmer  in  Washington  town- 


ship, this  county ;  Jt)hn  Wesley  was  drowned  in  a 
spring  when  a  baby.  Several  of  the  other  children 
live  in  this  county. 

Travis  Silvey  was  born  in  Prince  William  County, 
Va.,  in  1796.  He  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  the 
Twelve-Mile  Purchase,  near  Brookville,  Ind.,  in  1812. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Powers,  and  in  1834  moved, 
with  wife  and  three  children,  to  this  township,  and 
entered  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  now  owned  by  his 
heirs.  He  lived  there  until  his  death,  in  April,  1878. 
He  followed  farming  all  his  life,  and  was  a  useful 
member  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
forty-five  years ;  was  an  exhorter,  and  took  a  great 
interest  in  all  matters  of  religion.  His  wife  survives 
him.  The  three  children  who  came  here  with  him 
were  Mary  Jane,  married  Jordan  Hendricks,  went  on 
the  Wabash,  and  died  there ;  William,  lives  in  Mis- 
souri, went  there  five  years  ago ;  Martha,  went  to 
California  four  years  ago  ;  is  a  widow. 

Henry  Bell,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  came  to  this 
township  when  sixteen  years  of  age  (in  1835),  and 
located  where  he  now  resides,  two  and  one-half  miles 
south  of  east  of  Lawrence.  He  worked  in  Indian- 
apolis nine  years.  He  has  followed  farming  nearly 
all  his  life.  During  the  past  thirty  years  he  has  fol- 
lowed auctioneering.  He  was  married  in  1843  to 
Elizabeth  Brown.  They  have  had  seven  children,  of 
whom  two  sons  and  two  daughters  are  living.  He 
has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  evinces  a  great  interest  in 
its  prosperity.  He  has  been  a  good  farmer  and  a  suc- 
cessful man. 

Jacob  Fred  was  born  in  Virginia  Sept.  29,  1794. 
He  emigrated  to  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  with  his 
parents  at  the  age  of  five  years.  He  and  his  family 
moved  to  this  township  in  1833,  and  settled  in  the 
woods  one  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  where 
Lawrence  now  is.  He  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  upon  which  No.  11  school-house  now 
stands,  and  lived  there  until  his  death,  in  January, 
1863.  His  wife  died  in  1866.  He  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  but  followed  farming  after  he  came  here. 
During  his  lifetime  he  cleared  seventy  acres  of  heavy 
timbered  land.     Of  the  eight  children  who  came  lo 


LAWREXCE  TOWNSHIP. 


557 


the  township  with  him  but  four  are  living,  as  follows : 
James  B.,  lives  on  a  part  of  the  old  homestead  ;  Israel, 
lives  in  McCordsville,  Ind.,  left  here  about  1843; 
William  W.,  lives  on  the  west  ninety  acres  of  the  old 
homestead ;  Hulda,  married  Samuel  Groves,  and  went 
to  Illinois  in  1866.    She  lived  here  thirty-three  years. 

John  W.  Combs  was  born  Jan.  25,  1825,  in  Dear- 
born County,  Ind.  He  came  to  this  county  with  his 
parents  in  1828,  located  on  Pennsylvania  Street,  in 
Indianapolis,  his  father  building  a  residence  on  a  lot 
known  as  Switcher  property,  opposite  where  the  new 
Denison  Hotel  now  is.  In  1837  he  moved  five  miles 
west  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  National  road,  where  his 
father,  Jesse  Combs,  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres. 
John  W.  left  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  and 
engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business  with  his  brother, 
William  F.  Combs,  at  Strawtown,  Ind.  He  was  there 
two  years.  In  1847  he  was  married,  in  Hamilton 
County,  Ind.,  to  Emma,  daughter  of  Allen  Cole. 
These  two  brothers  then  moved  to  this  county,  and 
engaged  in  the  dry -goods  business  at  Germantown  till 
1852.  They  built  the  first  store-house  in  Oakland, 
and  moved  there  in  1852,  and  continued  the  business 
five  years.  John  W.  was  agent  of  the  "  Bee  Line" 
at  Oakland  for  fourteen  years.  He  served  as  justice 
of  the  peace  in  this  township  for  sixteen  years;  has 
been  as.sessor  of  the  township,  and  held  many  places 
of  trust  and  honor.  After  retiring  from  the  dry- 
goods  business  he  purchased  a  farm  near  Oakland, 
and  is  now  a  farmer.  He  has  three  children, — two 
sons  and  one  daughter.  He  has  been  a  Master  iVIason 
since  1852,  and  served  as  Worshipful  Master  of  Oak- 
land Lodge,  No.  140,  two  years,  and  as  secretary  eleven 
years,  and  held  many  other  places  of  honor  and  trust 
in  that  fraternity.  He  has  been  identified  with  the 
interests  of  Lawrence  township  for  years,  and  is  one 
of  its  most  prominent  citizens.  He  is  a  prominent 
local  politician,  identified  with  the  interests  of  the 
Democratic  party.     He  is  a  notary  public. 

John  Perry  was  born  in  Maryland  about  1780. 
He  married  Druzilla  Newhall  when  twenty-four  years 
of  age.  He  moved  to  this  township  in  1832  and 
entered  the  land  on  which  John  L.  Brown  now  re- 
sides, one-half  mile  south  of  Lawrence.  Mr.  Perry 
lived  there  until   1862,  and  died.     His  wife  died  in 


1864.  He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church  for  more  than  fifty  years.  Mr.  Perry 
owned  a  store  in  Lawrence  for  several  years,  his  son, 
Aquilla  D.,  attending  to  the  business  for  him.  Mr. 
Perry  was  a  useful  member  of  society,  moral,  tem- 
perate, and  upright.  He  brought  seven  children  to 
the  township  with  hira,  and  another  followed  him 
soon  afterwards,  viz.,  Thomas,  died  in  township 
twelve  years  ago.  Ann  died  in  Colorado  in  1881  ; 
lived  here  until  1858,  married  Moses  Winters ;  Wil- 
liam was  born  in  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  Feb.  1, 
1810.  He  emigrated  to  this  township  with  his  par- 
ents in  1832.  At  end  of  one  year  returned  to  Ohio, 
remaining  there  five  years,  and  then  returned  to  this 
county  and  bought  the  farm  on  which  he  has  since  re- 
sided. He  was  married  Jan.  20,  1839,  to  Catharine 
Newhouse.  He  has  been  an  industrious  farmer  all 
his  life.  John  died  in  Iowa,  lived  here  twenty  years ; 
Eezen  only  lived  here  four  jyears,  lives  in  Pana,  111.  ; 
Samuel  lived  in  township  about  twenty-nine  years, 
died  in  1863 ;  James,  never  absent  from  township 
since  1832  but  three  years.  He  died  in  Marshall 
County ;  Aquilla  D.  lived  here  four  years,  died  in 
Pana,  111.,  in  1873. 

Thomas  P.  Silvey  was  born  in  Fayette  County, 
Ind.,  Nov.  6,  1825,  and  moved  with  his  father's 
family  to  this  township  in  1832,  where  he  lived  till 
his  death,  Nov.  13,  1881.  He  married  Margaret  J., 
daughter  of  Robert  Johnson,  Sr.,  in  October,  1846. 
She  died  Sept.  13,  1867.  He  had  by  this  wife  nine 
children,  seven  of  whom,  three  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters, survive  him.  Two  died  in  infancy.  In  June, 
1868,  he  married  Lauvina  Johnson,  daughter  of 
James  Johnson,  who  died  in  March,  1869.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1870,  he  married  Elizabeth  E.,  daughter  of 
John  Calvin  Johnson,  who  lived  till  June,  1875. 
By  her  he  had  three  children,  all  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  He  again  married  in  March,  1876,  to 
Sally  Ann  Irwin,  who  survives,  and  by  whom  he  had 
one  child.  When  he  was  first  married  he  lived  on  a 
rented  farm  near  Millersville,  this  county,  where  he 
lived  till  1852,  when  he  bought  a  farm  of  eighty 
acres  near  the  same  village.  On  this  farm  he  lived 
one  year,  when  he  sold  it  and  bought  what  is  known 
as    the   old   Joshua  Reddick  farm,  on  Mud   Creek. 


558 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Subsequently  he  purchased  the  Sheets  farm,  the  Abe 
Anderson  farm,  and  a  part  of  the  JoTin  Calvin  John- 
son farm.  He  sold  all  of  this  to  Elijah  Fletcher  in 
1872,  and  in  the  spring  of  1873  bought  and  moved 
to  the  Ozro  Bates  farm,  one-quarter  of  a  mile  east  of 
Castleton.  In  1874  he  bought  of  David  Macy  the 
Gentry  farm  and  Brown  farm,  in  all  about  three  hun- 
dred acres.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  lived  a  consistent  member 
thereof.  He  was  an  industrious  farmer  and  a  useful 
member  of  society.  By  his  death  the  church  lost 
one  of  its  most  prominent  and  valuable  members. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  order  of  Odd-Fellows. 

William  McClaren,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Ireland  about 
1760.  In  the  year  1831  he  came  from  Kentucky  to 
this  township  with  his  wife,  five  sons,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, and  entered  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  where  the  Mcllvains  and  George  G.  Johnson 
now  live.  He  lived  there  till  his  death,  about  the 
year  1850.  He  was  a  Universalist  in  sentiment,  and 
a  farmer  by  occupation.  His  wife,  two  girls,  and  son, 
John,  are  dead. 

William  Hubbard  was  born  in  Morgan  County, 
Ind.,  Jan.  25,  1839,  raised  upon  a  farm,  and  served 
in  Company  H,  Eleventh  Indiana  Volunteers,  till  May 
23,  1863,  when  he  was  discharged  to  receive  promo- 
tion as  captain  of  Company  B,  Fifty-third  United 
States  Colored  Infantry,  he  remaining  in  the  service 
(participating  in  many  engagements  in  and  around 
Vicksburg,  Miss.)  until  August,  1865,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged.  He  returned  to  his  old  home, 
and  engaged  in  the  drug  business.  He  came  to 
Marion  County  in  1872,  and  at  present  is  engaged 
in  the  drug  business  in  Lawrence.  In  politics  he  is 
a  National, — a  leader  in  this  township. 

Jesse  Herrin  was  born  in  Pulaski  County,  Ky., 
March  10,  1801.  He  left  home  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
years,  and  from  that  time  has  made  his  own  living 
in  the  world.  He  emigrated  to  Shelby  County,  Ind., 
with  second  wife  and  three  children,  about  the  year 
1831,  and  thence  to  this  township  in  1835.  He 
moved  on  the  McDonald  land,  now  owned  by  Mr. 
McLain,  and  took  a  lease  there,  and  cleared  about 
thirty  acres.  He  then  entered  eighty  acres  about 
one  mile  southeast  of  where  Castleton  now  is,  and 


built  upon  it,  cleared  it,  and  improved  it.  He  has 
been  a  farmer  through  life.  He  has  raised  eight 
sons  and  two  daughters  to  be  men  and  women.  Mr. 
Herrin  still  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 

Cornelius  Wadsworth  was  born  in  Harrison 
County,  West  Va.,  July  5,  1800.  He  lived  on  the 
farm  with  his  father  until  near  the  close  of  the  war 
of  1812,  when  he  enlisted,  served  sixty  days,  until 
its  close.  He  left  his  parental  roof  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  to  seek  a  home  in  the  far  West.  He 
went  to  Ohio,  thence  to  Illinois,  and  thence  to  Mis- 
souri, but  soon  came  to  Indiana,  stopping  in  Indian- 
apolis, and  before  there  was  a  brick  laid  or  a  house 
of  any  importance  on  the  streets  of  Indianapolis,  he 
cut  cord-wood  and  helped  to  clear  away  the  brush 
and  trees  ofiT  the  ground  where  the  prominent  streets 
and  business-houses  now  are.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
three  he  married  Cassandra  Legg.  He  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  this  township,  upon 
which  he  lived  until  his  death,  Aug.  19, 1882.  There 
were  born  unto  him  five  children,  two  of  whom,  to- 
gether with  their  mother,  survive  him. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  was  a  man  of  good  moral  charac- 
ter, true  to  his  convictions,  and  respected  and  liked 
by  his  acquaintances.  He  followed  farming  all  his 
life,  cleared  a  large  tract  of  land,  and,  besides*being  a 
man  of  industry  and  energy,  was  a  truly  good  neigh- 
bor and  friend  and  citizen.  In  politics  he  was  a 
Democrat  of  the  Jeifersonian  faith.  He  was  elected 
and  served  three  terms  as  justice  of  the  peace  of 
Lawrence  township. 

Christopher  Apple  was  born  in  Clermont  County, 
Ohio,  April  28,  1807.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years  he  married  Catharine  Crumbaugh.  Their 
parents  were  of  German  descent.  He  emigrated 
from  Ohio  to  this  township  in  1837,  and  entered 
eighty  acres,  the  farm  now  owned  by  his  son,  John 
W.,  near  Oakland.  He  cleared  and  improved  the 
eighty  acres,  and  lived  upon  it  until  his  death,  Jan. 
24,  1871.  He  was  an  honest,  industrious  citizen, 
and  his  good  wife  shared  with  him  in  all  the  trials 
and  hardships  incident  to  pioneer  life.  For  a  number 
of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  1866  he  changed  his  relation  to  the 
Christian   Church,   and  aided  largely  in   building  a 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


559 


house  of  worship  in  Oakland,  Ind.,  for  that  denomi- 
nation. He  lived  a  consistent  and  faithful  Christian 
until  his  death.  In  politics  he  was  a  firm  Democrat. 
His  wife  survived  him  five  years,  dying  in  January, 
1876.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Apple  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  the  youngest  dying  in  infancy.  The 
following  are  living  in  Marion  County,  except  Mahlon, 
who  lives  in  Hancock  County,  Ind.,  viz. :  Eliza  J., 
Mary,  Peter,  Phebe,  John  W.,  Mahlon,  and  William 
M.  John  W.  lives  upon  the  old  homestead;  has 
been  a  successful  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of 
Marion  County  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  farm- 
ing (which  occupation  he  follows)  has  been  very 
successful.  He  is  elder,  trustee,  and  clerk  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  occasionally  preaches  very  acceptably. 
He  was  born  on  the  farm  which  he  now  owns  Sept. 
7,  1841. 

John  L.  Brown,  born  in  Brown  County,  Ohio, 
April  20,  1816,  is  the  son  of  George  Brown  and 
Mary,  his  wife,  both  old  Virginians.  They  had 
eight  children,  the  oldest  a  daughter,  who  was  the 
wife  of  James  H.  Wallace.  Mr.  Wallace  was  one  of 
the  leading  men  of  Jefferson  County,  Ind.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Indiana  Legislature  for  several  terms, 
commencing  about  the  year  1830  ;  was  regarded  as 
the  father  of  the  "  Internal  Improvement  System"  of 
this  State.  Their  seven  boys  in  succession  grew  to 
be  men;  their  names  were  as  follows:  Thomas  B., 
Lewis  L.,  James  W.,  George,  Richard  H.,  John  L., 
and  Daniel  R.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  first- 
class  farmer,  having  two  good  farms,  which  he  works 
to  good  advantage  financially.  He  was  county  treas- 
urer of  this  county,  and  the  county  lost  not  a  cent 
under  his  faithful  administration.  His  brother, 
Daniel  R.,  the  youngest  of  the  family  (a  resident  of 
Indianapolis),  by  his  energy  and  industry,  has  accu- 
mulated quite  a  fortune.  He  is  a  physician  by  pro- 
fession, but  has  long  since  given  up  the  practice.  He 
has  served  as  clerk  of  the  court  of  Hamilton  County, 
also  senator  for  the  counties  of  Hamilton  and  Tipton 
in  the  Legislature  of  this  State.  Richard  H.  was  a 
hotel-keeper  in  the  cities  of  Madison,  Ind.,  and  Cov- 
ington, Ky.  George  was  a  merchant;  was  a  very 
ardent    Odd-Fellow.     George    Brown    Encampment, 


No.  44,  I.  0.  0.  ¥.,  at  Noblesville,  Ind.,  was  named 
after  him.  James  W.,  Lewis  L.,  and  Thomas  B. 
were  farmers,  having  cleared  the  forest  and  made 
their  farms  in  this  county. 

This  was  a  very  remarkable  family,  all  large, 
healthy  men,  with  about  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds  average  weight,  and  what  is  yet  more  re- 
markable, no  death  occurred  in  the  family  under 
forty-seven  years.  The  father,  George  Brown,  was 
almost  pure  English.  His  father,  Thomas  Reeth 
Brown,  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  England,  and 
came  to  Virginia  about  the  year  1774.  When  the 
Revolutionary  war  broke  out  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier 
of  his  adopted  country.  He  married  Margaret 
Tacket,  whose  mother  was  a  French  lady  and  her 
father  an  Englishman.  She  was  born  and  raised 
near  Old  Point  Comfort,  Va.  All  of  their  children 
were  born  and  raised  in  Loudoun  and  Fauquier  Coun- 
ties, Va.  About  the  year  1800  they  emigrated  to 
Mason  County,  Ky.,  bringing  with  them  their  chil- 
dren. After  a  short  residence  in  Kentucky  they 
moved  across  the  Ohio  River  and  settled  in  Brown 
County,  Ohio,  immediately  opposite  to  Mason  County, 
where  they  remained  the  balance  of  their  days.  The 
father  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and  the 
mother  survived  him,  and  lived  to  the  great  age 
of  one  hundred  and  four  years.  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Thomas,  daughter  of  these  old  people,  died  only  a 
few  years  since,  at  the  extreme  age  of  one  hundred 
and  eight  years.  Mary  (Lee)  Brown,  mother  of 
John  L.  and  the  others  of  this  family,  was  a  de- 
scendant of  the  celebrated  Lee  family,  of  Virginia, 
being  a  relative  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  the  Con- 
federate army.  Her  father  was  Lewis  Lee,  a  brother 
of  Gen.  Harry  Lee  and  Peter  Lee.  Her  father,  with 
his  brothers,  settled  in  Mason  County,  Ky.,  and  for 
some  time  lived  in  a  block-house,  which  was  then 
called  Lee's  Station.  They  took  up  large  tracts  of 
land,  which  were  called  surveys.  Some  of  those  old 
titles  are  yet  in  the  hands  of  the  Lee  family.  The 
father  and  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  were 
married  in  the  year  1802,  in  Washington,  Ky..  and 
lived  together  for  twenty-eight  years,  when  the  mother 
died  in  Maysville,  Ky.  In  1832  the  father  sold  his 
farm  in  Ohio  and  emigrated  to  this  county.      The 


560 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


four  unmarried  sons,  Thomas,  Richard,  John,  and 
Daniel,  came  with  the  father,  and  settled  in  the 
woods,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  where  Law- 
rence now  stands,  paying  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  acre  for  his  land.  The  next  fall  James 
came  and  settled  near  by.  Lewis  had  preceded  the 
family  six  years,  and  also  owned  land  adjoining. 
This  family  furnished  seventeen  good  soldiers  (their 
own  sons)  for  the  Union  army  during  the  late  Rebel- 
lion. Two  of  those  lost  their  lives  in  battle.  The 
father  died  in  the  spring  of  1847.  At  that  time  all 
of  his  children  were  living,  but  now  all  but  three  are 
dead,  leaving  Lewis  L.,  John  L.,  and  Daniel  R.  living 
at  this  date  (Nov.  11,  1883).  The  wife  of  John  L. 
was  born  in  Brawn  County,  Ohio.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Caroline  D.  Mason,  daughter  of  John  Mason  and 
Mary,  his  wife.  The  mother  is  still  living  at  the  home 
of  her  daughter,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  her  age. 
Mary  Mason  was  a  daughter  of  Charles  O'Connor, 
an  Irishman  by  birth,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century.  He  was  educated 
for  a  Catholic  priest,  but  never  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  priesthood.  John  Mason  was  born  in  Adams 
County,  Ohio  ;  was  of  English  descent.  His  father 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war  under  Gen. 
Francis  Marion.  John  L.  Brown  and  Caroline  D. 
Mason  were  married  in  1851,  and  are  still  living  on 
one  of  the  farms  in  Lawrence  township.  They  have 
five  children, — Mrs.  C.  Martin,  who  is  now  living  with 
her  husband,  Reuben  Martin,  on  their  farm  in  Brown 
County,  Ohio,  the  same  farm  where  John  L.  and 
Daniel  R.  were  born.  Mrs.  L.  HufiF,  the  wife  of  A.  M. 
Huff,  living  on  their  farm  in  Lawrence  township. 
The  other  three — -Clara,  William,  and  Daniel — are 
living  at  home  with  their  parents.  John  L.  and 
Caroline  Brown  have  also  raised  six  orphan  children. 
In  politics  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  Republican, 
as  is  also  the  whole  family  of  Browns  of  this  large  re- 
lationship, most  of  them  have  been  active  and  very 
decided  in  their  political  views.  Mr.  Brown  says  his 
experience  in  clearing  up  this  country  was  a  very 
laborious  undertaking,  but  he  has  no  regrets  now.  It 
is  true,  he  says,  they  had  many  privations,  but  al- 
ways had  plenty  to  eat,  sometimes  plenty  of  game, 
such  as  deer,  turkeys,  squirrel,  and  pheasant,  and  al- 


ways certain  of  plenty  of  pork,  with  turnips  and  cab- 
bage, and,  if  the  season  was  favorable,  potatoes.  In 
the  summer  wild  plums,  roasting  ears,  and  pumpkins 
generally  in  abundance,  especially  after  the  first  year. 
Corn-bread  always  on  the  table,  for  the  best  reason  in 
world, — they  had  no  wheat  to  make  flour,  and  if  he 
had  there  was  no  mill  to  grind  and  bolt  it,  only  on  the 
regular  corn-stone,  and  had  (o  bolt  by  hand,  that 
made  the  flour  dark  and  clammy ;  but  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  hardships  and  privations,  if  he  knew  of  a 
county  as  good  as  this,  he  would  be  willing  to  try  the 
same  over  again. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  early  settlers,  not  previ- 
ously noticed,  who  came  to  Lawrence  township  about 
the  year  set  opposite  their  names,  viz. : 

Oliver  Vanlaningham 1825 

Joseph  Justice 1825 

Angel 1828 

Lamb 1828 

James  Sigmund 1830 

Solomon  Bowers 1833 

Richard  Marshall 1833 

Benjamin  Newhouse 1828 

Madison  Webb 1834 

William  McKenzie 1834 

Adam  Miller 1834 

Lewis  Tilyer 1832 

Benjamin  Chapman 1835 

Pauiser  Sowers 1865 

Nathaniel  Webber 1836 

Reuben  Hunter 1836 

George  J.  Baker 1836 

James  White 1836 

Joseph  Heltman 1837 

Isaac  Murphy 1827 

James  H.  Murphy 1837 

Jonah  F.  Lemon 1838 

James  Hunter 1838 

Henry  Klepfer 1838 

Zachariah  White 1838 

Mark  Day. Date  unknown. 

William  McKinster "  " 

Adam  Clark "  " 

Frederick  Sheets "  " 

Conrad  Fertig "  " 

William  Sigmund "  " 

James  T.  Wright  came  to  the  township  with  a  large 
family  at  a  comparatively  late  period,  but  it  can  be 
truly  said  of  him  that  he  accomplished  as  much  for  the 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


51 


morals  of  the  people  of  the  township  as  any  other  man 
that  ever  resided  within  it.  He  was  a  minister  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  for  many  years 
labored  zealously  for  the  cause  of  Christianity  and 
the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was  beloved  by 
all  who  knew  him,  and  the  moral,  temperate.  Chris- 
tian influences  by  him  spread  among  the  people  were 
lasting.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Castleton  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  for  many  years  preached 
"  without  money  and  without  price"  to  the  people  at 
various  points  in  the  townships  of  Washington  and 
Lawrence. 

The  first  two  white  children  born  within  the  limits 
of  the  township  of  Lawrence  were  William  Perry 
Reddick  and  John  Newton  Reddick,  twin  sons  of 
Elisha  and  Margaret  Reddick. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  township  was  that  of 
David  Cothran  to  Lucinda  Reddick.  They  were 
married  in  May,  1825,  by  William  Rooker,  in  the 
log  house  of  William  Reddick. 

The  first  white  person  known  to  have  died  in  the 
township  was  the  wife  of  a  man  named  Canada,  who 
had  squatted  on  public  land.  She  died  and  was 
buried  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Hettie  M.  and 
John  E.  Hunter.  She  was  buried  by  James  Ellis, 
Robert  Warren,  and  John  Sellers  in  a  piece  of  an 
old  canoe  on  the  top  of  the  high  hill  just  west  of 
the  residence  now  upon  the  farm.  This  occurred  in 
the  fall  of  1823,  and  so  frightened  Mr.  Canada  that 
he  took  his  departure  for  Kentucky  the  day  after 
his  wife's  burial. 

Silas  Ashley  was  the  first  white  man  and  the  sec- 
ond white  person  buried  in  the  township.  His  grave 
was  dug  within  ten  feet  of  the  corner-stone  now 
standing  on  the  township  line  just  west  of  the  Mil- 
lersville  Flouring-Mill. 

The  first  funeral  sermon  preached  in  the  township 
was  by  a  Presbyterian  minister  named  Mooreland  at 
the  burial  of  Charles  Johnson,  in  the  Joshua  Reddick 
graveyard,  in  1827. 

The  first  burial-ground  in  the  township  was  upon 
the  farm  known  as  the  Joshua  Reddick  farm,  and 
the  ground  was  set  apart  as  a  burial-ground  by 
William    Reddick.      The   place   is   still    used   as   a 


burial-place,  and  is  better  known  as  the  Tom  Silvey 
graveyard. 

The  first  physician  who  practiced  in  the  township 
was  Dr.  Isaac  Coe.  His  route  was  up  and  down 
Pall  Creek.  In  the  early  settlement  of  the  town- 
ship chills  and  fever  were  prevalent,  and  the  doctor 
used  to  make  the  statement  that  frequently  in  mak- 
ing his  trips  he  would  find  whole  families  down  at 
one  time  with  the  then  dreaded  disease.  The  next 
doctors  who  came  into  the  township  were  Drs.  Jones 
and  Dr.  Stipp,  who  were  successful  practitioners. 

The  early  roads  of  the  township  were  almost  im- 
passable, and  during  the  spring  of  the  year  many  of 
the  present  ones  are  nearly  so.  The  first  road  laid 
out  in  the  township  was  what  is  now  known  as  the 
old  Pendleton  State  road,  and  which  was  at  one  time 
a  noted  Indian  trail.  This  route  was  used  before  the 
settlement  of  the  township  by  people  traveling  be- 
tween Indianapolis  and  Anderson.  It  was  "  cut  out" 
by  the  voters  of  the  township  during  the  winter  of 
1825-26.  Before  that  time  it  was  simply  a  track 
that  wound  around  between  the  trees  and  brush. 
Samuel  Morrow  was  the  supervisor.  Beginning  at  a 
point  where  the  toll-gate  stands  northeast  of  Millers- 
ville,  they  worked  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  and 
meet  a  gang  of  men  engaged  in  a  similar  work,  from 
Pendleton,  at  a  point  on  the  county  line  west  of 
where  Germantown  now  is.  Several  years  ago  the 
township  received  from  the  government  what  was 
termed  the  three  per  cent,  fund,  and  with  it  cross- 
laid  the  highways  wherever  needed. 

The  public  highways  of  Lawrence  have  never  been 
in  good  condition,  though  they  have  received  great 
attention,  and  a  very  large  annual  outlay  of  money 
and  labor  has  been  made  to  maintain  them  in  even 
a  passable  condition.  There  are  one  hundred  and 
eleven  miles  of  public  highway  in  the  township,  nine- 
teen miles  of  which  is  turnpiked,  and  eight  miles  of 
that  is  free.  The  levy  for  road  purposes  for  the  year 
1883  is  fifteen  cents  on  one  hundred  dollars. 

The  water-power  of  the  township  is,  and  has 
always  been,  chiefly  derived  from  Pall  Creek,  though 
many  years  ago  three  mills  were  erected  and  operated 
for  some  time  on  Indian  Creek  ;  but  as  the  country 


562 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


became  cleared  the  water-power  diminished  until 
they  could  be  operated  only  a  short  time  during  each 
year,  hence  the  business  proved  an  unprofitable  one, 
and  the  mills  were  abandoned. 

John  Cory  built  a  saw-mill  on  Indian  Creek  in  the 
year  1836,  just  west  of  where  Oakland  now  is.  It 
was  operated  until  about  1850,  and  then  allowed  to 
go  down.  David  Hoss  built  a  frame  saw-mill  on 
Indian  Creek,  two  miles  southwest  of  where  Oakland 
now  is,  about  the  year  1836.  It  was  operated  about 
fifteen  years,  and  then  abandoned.  About  the  year 
1833,  Samuel  Williams  built  a  log  grist-mill  on 
Indian  Creek,  upon  the  laud  now  owned  by  Ben- 
jamin Smith.  It  had  one  run  of  stone,  upon  which 
both  wheat  and  corn  were  ground.  Its  capacity  was 
two  bushels  per  hour.  The  flour  was  bolted  by  hand, 
and  the  bolt  consisted  of  two  boxes  so  adjusted  that 
one  would  slide  upon  the  other.  Every  man  had  to 
bolt  his  own  grist,  and  it  required  two  hours'  work 
to  bolt  the  flour  made  from  one  bushel  of  wheat. 
Mr.  Williams  built  the  mill  and  dressed  the  stone 
out  of  granite  rock,  performing  all  the  labor  himself 
For  some  time  after  the  completion  of  the  mill 
nothing  but  corn  was  ground.  About  the  year  1837, 
Mr.  Williams  sold  the  mill  to  Alexis  Riley,  who 
operated  it  about  ten  years,  and  then  abandoned  it 
because  of  the  lack  of  water  in  the  creek  in  the  dry 
season  of  the  year. 

A  grist-mill  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1825  on  the 
east  bank  of  Pall  Creek,  just  north  of  what  is 
known  as  the  "  correction  line,"  and  owned  and 
operated  it  about  two  years.  It  proved  to  be  worth- 
less, and  he  let  it  go  down.  He  then  hired 
Messrs.  Cooney  and  Van  Pelt,  two  millwrights  of 
Pendleton,  to  build  another  mill  (grist-mill  and  saw- 
mill combined).  It  was  erected  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  creek  from  the  first  one,  and  a  dam  seven  feet 
in  height  with  force-head  was  built.  The  mill  was 
operated  by  various  parties  for  twenty-four  years,  and 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1851,  and  never  rebuilt. 
The  capacity  of  the  mill  was  eight  bushels  of  corn 
and  one  thousand  feet  of  lumber  per  day. 

Fountain  Kimberlain  built  a  saw-mill,  about  1835, 
on  Fall  Creek,  upon  the  land  now  owned  by  his  heirs. 
It  was  torn  down  prior  to  1840. 


Samuels  &  Son  built  a  saw-mill,  about  1837,  on 
Fall  Creek,  at  a  point  known  as  the  Emery  Ford. 
The  fall  being  iusufiicient  and  the  mill  of  not  much 
account,  it  was  torn  down  about  the  year  1842. 

Abraham  Sellers  built  a  saw-mill  on  Fall  Creek 
about  1853.  He  ran  it  two  years,  and  sold  out  to 
James  Hines.  In  1855  or  1856,  Mr.  Hines  built  a 
grist-mill  on  the  west  side  of  Fall  Creek,  opposite  the 
saw-mill.  About  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the 
grist-mill  building  Mr.  Hines  died.  The  property 
was  then  sold  to  Benjamin  Chroninger,  who  in  turn 
sold  it  to  Leonard  &  Francis  Chroninger.  James 
Floor  then  bought  the  property,  and  completed  the 
mill  and  put  in  the  machinery.  He  failed  to  pay  for 
it,  and  the  ownership  reverted  to  Leonard  &  Francis 
Chroninger.  They  owned  and  operated  it  till  1864, 
and  then  sold  it  to  William  Roberts,  who  has  owned 
and  operated  it  ever  since.  The  mill  is  a  good  one, 
and  is  supplied  with  improved  machinery. 

John  Beaver,  an  old  pioneer,  erected  a  grist-mill 
in  about  the  year  1832  on  Fall  Creek,  about  one-half 
mile  below  where  the  creek  first  enters  the  township. 
He  owned  it  until  his  death,  and  his  heirs  sold  it  to 
William  Bills  about  the  year  1844.     He  sold  it  to 

Philip  Dresher  and Baughman  about  the  year 

1862.  Baughman  lost  his  life  by  an  accident  re- 
ceived at  the  mill.  In  the  year  1873  the  ownership 
became  vested  in  Enoch  Hanna,  the  present  proprie- 
tor. It  is  known  as  the  Germantown  Mill,  and  did 
a  good  business  prior  to  1873 ;  at  present  the  ex- 
penses of  operating  it  exceed  the  income. 

The  mill  built  by  Seth  Bacon  and  Peter  Negley  in 
1824  on  Fall  Creek,  near  Millersville,  also  the  mills 
on  the  same  «tream  and  near  the  same  place  owned 
by  Daniel  Ballenger,  Noah  Leverton,  Jacob  Spahr, 
William  Winpenny,  Tobias  Messersmith,  and  others, 
are  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Washington  township. 

Elections. — The  Democratic  party  has  ever  held 
the  ascendency  in  the  township,  and  at  present  its 
majority  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  eighty.  On  the 
first  Saturday  in  October,  1826,  the  first  election 
was  held  in  the  township.  A  justice  of  the  peace 
and  a  supervisor  were  elected.  The  polls  were  opened 
at  the  cabin  of  John  Johnson,  on  Fall  Creek,  a  short 
distance  southeast  of  where    the    "  correction  line' 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


563 


crosses  the  creek.  Thirteen  votes  were  cast,  and 
Peter  Castater  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
Samuel  Morrow  was  elected  supervisor.  The  fol- 
lowing persons  voted,  viz. : 

Elisha  Reddick.  Peter  Castater. 

Joshua  Reddick.  Samuel  Morrow. 

William  Reddick.  Robert  Warren. 

Thomas  North.  John  Johnson. 

Samuel  North.  John  Negley. 

Daniel  Ballenger.  John  McConnel. 

James  Ballenger. 

At  the  second  election,  which  was  held  at  the  same 
place  in  1S2G,  there  were  present  nearly  forty  voters 
Subsequently  elections  were  held  at  Joseph  John- 
son's blacksmith-shop,  near  where  No.  5  school- 
house  now  stands  ;  at  Fount  Kimberlain's  residence 
for  several  years  (it  was  held  there  in  1840)  ;  at 
Baker's  school-house  for  several  years  (it  was  held 
there  in  18-42  and  1843);  at  Andrew  Bolander's 
blacksmith-shop  and  at  his  residence,  situate  on  the 
east  forty-acre  tract  of  land  now  owned  by  William 
K.  Sproul  (the  election  was  there  in  1849) ;  and  at 
Spring  Valley  school-house  No.  8,  and  was  held 
there  until  three  voting  precincts  were  established. 
The  election  was  then  held  at  the  residence  of  Henry 
Cronk,  one  mile  east  of  Castleton,  at  Spring  Valley 
school-house  No.  8,  and  at  William  Hoss'  residence, 
at  the  cross  roads  near  the  David  Hoss  farm,  south- 
west of  Oakland,  until  the  township  was  divided 
into  three  precincts  for  election  purposes  and  polls 
established  at  school-houses  Nos.  3,  6,  and  9,  which 
are  the  present  voting  places,  as  follows :  Precinct 
No.  1,  at  Oakland;  Precinct  No.  2,  at  Vertland ; 
Precinct  No.  3,  at  Lawrence. 

Hailroads. — Two  railway  lines  pass  through  the 
township.  The  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific 
Railroad  enters  it,  from  the  southwest,  at  a  point 
about  three  miles  south  of  the  northwest  corner, 
passing  through  the  township  in  a  northeasterly 
direction  a  distance  of  three  and  one-half  miles,  and 
leavmg  it  at  a  point  one  and  three-quarter  miles  east 
of  the  northwest  corner.  The  road  was  completed 
through  the  township  in  the  winter  of  1851. 
Castleton  is  the  only  station  on  the  road  in  the 
township. 


The  railway  now  known  as  the  Bee  Line  was 
completed  through  the  township  in  the  winter  of 
1850.  It  enters  the  township  two  miles  east  of  the 
southwest  corner,  and  passes  across  the  southeast 
corner,  a  distance  of  eight  and  one-half  miles,  and 
leaves  it  at  a  point  four  and  one-quarter  miles  north 
of  the  southeast  corner.  The  towns  of  Lawrence 
and  Oakland  enjoy  the  facilities  oifered  by  this 
railroad. 

Minnewan  Springs. — -These  springs,  situate 
upon  the  farm  of  Hezekiah  Smart,  one  and  one- 
half  miles  northeast  of  the  town  of  Lawrence,  are 
worthy  of  notice.  These  springs  are  situated  in 
the  midst  of  a  grove.  They  came  into  public  notice 
about  the  year  1860,  and  were  supposed  to  contain 
valuable  mineral  'properties.  Great  excitement  pre- 
vailed and  much  comment  was  indulged  in  upon  the 
first  announcement  of  the  wonderful  curative  power 
of  these  springs,  but  they  have  long  since  passed 
from  public  notice.  These  springs,  three  in  number, 
"  rise  perpendicular  through  blue  clay  to  the  surface, 
one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  above  the  water,  in 
White  River,  at  Indianapolis."  Abraham  Vines,  the 
owner  of  the  premises  at  the  time  of  the  discovery, 
sold  them,  on  Aug.  27,  1863,  to  the  Minnewan 
Springs  Company,  composed  of  speculators  in  Indian- 
apolis. The  company  erected  a  bath-house,  fitted  up 
the  springs,  and  otherwise  improved  the  property  so 
as  to  fully  test  the  efficacy  of  the  waters.  Thomas 
D.  Worrall  was  the  manager.  For  several  years 
thereafter  the  place  became  a  favorite  resort  for 
people  from  the  city.  The  investment  proved  an 
unprofitable  one,  as  the  springs,  by  careful  chemical 
analy.sis,  were  found  to  contain  but  little  if  any 
medicinal  virtues;  hence,  on  the  22d  day  of  April, 
1871,  the  company— J.  L.  Hunt,  James  Maulsley, 
and  Ruth  Maulsley — sold  the  premises  to  Hezekiah 
Smart,  the  present  owner. 

Post-Offices  and  Villages. — The  following-named 
post-offices  are  located  in  Lawrence  township,  viz.  : 
Castleton,  Lawrence,  and  Oaklandon.  At  and  from 
each  of  these  offices  the  mail  arrives  and  departs 
twice  daily.  Mail  matter  intended  for  Germantown 
is  sent  to  Oaklandon,  and  that  bound  for  Vertland 
goes  to  Castleton. 


564 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


I 


The  township  has  five  villages,  viz. :  Germantown, 
Lawrence,  Oakland,  Vertland,  and  Castleton. 

Germantown,  situated  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
the  township,  on  Fall  Creek,  is  the  oldest,  and  was 
laid  out  by  John  Beaver,  Solomon  Beaver,  and  George 
Beaver,  on  March  1,  1834.  A  part  of  the  town  was 
in  Hamilton  County  and  a  part  in  Marion  County. 
It  contains  a  saw-  and  grist-mill  combined,  and  one 
country  dry-goods  store.  Anthony  Snyder  is  the 
merchant,  William  Sala  is  the  miller,  and  Harvey 
Smith  the  physician.    The  population  is  about  thirty. 

Lawrence  was  laid  out  Feb.  27,  1849,  by  James 
White,  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  13,  township  16  north,  range 
4  east,  being  south  of  the  Pendleton  road.  Mr. 
White  platted  the  town  as  Lanesville,  and  it  was 
sometimes  called  Jamestown,  after  Mr.  White. 
North  Lanesville  was  laid  out  by  James  White, 
Dec.  27,  1850.  Reuben  Hunter  laid  out  an  addi- 
tion June  14,  1852,  and  on  Nov.  5,  1856,  Samuel 
Records  made  an  addition  and  subsequently  four 
more  additions.  William  M.  Voorhes  laid  out  an  ad- 
dition north  of  the  railroad,  and  Robinson  &  Co. 
laid  out  an  addition,  just  west  of  North  Lanesville, 
containing  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  lots  and 
four  blocks.  The  latter  addition  was  made  during 
the  great  real  estate  boom,  and  never  benefited  the 
town.  A  post-office  was  established  at  the  cross- 
roads south  of  the  present  town  in  1847  or  1848,  and 
James  R.  Beard  was  the  first  postmaster.  The  name 
of  the  office  was  Lawrence.  Upon  petition,  the 
county  commissioners  about  the  year  1866  changed 
the  name  of  the  village  from  Lanesville  to  Lawrence, 
so  as  to  correspond  with  the  name  of  the  post-office. 
This  action  was  taken  to  obviate  the  difficulties  con- 
tinually experienced  in  mail  matters.  Mail  intended 
for  Lawrence  would  be  taken  to  Lanesville,  in  Har- 
rison County,  and  the  Lanesville  mail  would  con- 
stantly be  sent  to  Lawrence,  thus  continually  creatine 
a  source  of  annoyance  and  confusion.  The  first  mer- 
chant in  old  Lanesville  was  Elijah  Knight. 

The  town  of  Lawrence  is  situated  nine  miles  from 
Indianapolis,  in  a  direction  north  of  east,  on  the 
Bee-Line  Railroad.  The  streets  are  well  graded 
and  graveled  ;  the  buildings  are   in  good  condition. 


and  the  village  is  a  lively  little  place,  and  the  prettiest 
in  the  township.  No  village  of  the  size  in  Marion 
County  outranks  it  in  enterprising  business  men. 
The  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  have  an 
office  there,  and  it  has  telephonic  connection  with  all 
important  towns  in  Indiana.  It  has  a  graded  school, 
a  Methodist  and  Baptist  Church,  an  Odd-Fellows' 
lodge,  and  a  lodge  of  Knights  of  Honor;  two  physi- 
cians (Dr.  Samuel  Records  and  Smith  H.  Mapes, 
M.D.)  ;  two  general  dry-goods  stores,  conducted  by 
M.  E.  Freeman  and  H.  M.  Newhouse  &  Co.,  both 
doing  a  thriving  business.  William  Hubbard  has  the 
oldest  drug-store,  is  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity, 
and  has  an  extensive  trade.  Mapes  &  White  carry  a 
large  stock  of  goods,  and  although  the  firm  is  new,  it 
is  an  enterprising  one.  Peters  Brothers  have  a  knife- 
manufactory.  M.  C.  Dawson  manufactures  drain-tile, 
and  does  a  business  not  surpas.sed  by  any  firm  in  that 
line  in  the  county.  The  population  of  the  village  is 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  M.  E.  Freeman  is  the 
postmaster. 

The  village  of  Oakland  is  situated  thirteen  miles 
from  Indianapolis,  on  the  Bee-Line  Railroad.  It 
was  laid  out  June  18,  1849,  by  John  Emery.  The 
name  Oakland  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Moore.  The 
streets  have  never  been  improved  and  many  of  the 
houses  are  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  and  the  village 
presents  the  appearance  of  age  and  decay.  Subse- 
quent to  1849  John  Mock,  Andrew  F.  Cory,  John 
W.  Combs,  and  Enoch  Hanna  laid  out  additions. 
The  first  merchants  were  the  firm  of  John  W.  & 
William  Combs ;  the  first  practicing  physician  was 
James  W.  Hervey.  The  town  has  a  population  of 
about  two  hundred,  and  has  a  telephonic  connection 
and  a  Western  Union  Telegraph  office.  The  railroad 
company  recently  completed  a  commodious  depot, 
which  adds  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  traveling 
public.  The  present  merchants  are  David  G.  Hanna 
and  Naaman  C.  Plummer,  both  of  whom  are  dealers 
in  general  merchandise.  Andrew  F.  Cory  and  Jeff. 
K.  Heltman  are  the  physicians,  and  Naaman  C. 
Plummer  is  the  postmaster.  The  name  of  the  post- 
office  is  Oaklandon.  The  town  has  three  churches, 
— a  Methodist,  a  Christian,  and  a  Universalist.  The 
last  two  named  have  a  large  membership  and  are  well 


LAWRENCE    TOWNSHIP. 


565 


attended.  The  first  named,  however,  is  in  a  precari- 
ous condition.  The  village  contains  a  graded  school, 
and  the  Masons,  Odd-Fellows,  and  Grangers  have 
lodges  located  there. 

Vertland  is  situated  eleven  and  a  half  miles  north- 
northeast  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis 
and  Pacific  Railroad.  It  was  laid  out  by  Milford  H. 
Vert,  March  14,  1851,  and  given  the  name  of  Belle- 
fontaine.  It  was  so  called  until  June  13,  1853, 
when,  upon  petition  of  Milford  H.  Vert  and  seven 
uther  citizens  of  Bellefontaine,  all  voters  of  said  town, 
tlie  Board  of  County  Commissioners  ordered  "  that 
the  name  of  said  town  be,  and  it  is  hereby  changed 
to,  Vertland  ;  which  name  it  shall  hereafter  bear." 
Originally  the  town  contained  thirty-three  lots,  but 
many  of  them  have  been  thrown  back  into  farming- 
land,  and  no  business  of  any  kind  has  been  carried 
on  there  for  many  years.  The  first  merchants  of  the 
town  were  Hilary  and  Eaton  Thomas.  The  Castle- 
ton  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  parsonage 
of  the  Castleton  Circuit  are  located  there.  No.  3 
school-house  is  also  located  there  and  a  graded  school 
taught.  James  I.  Rooker  is  the  only  physician  in 
the  place.  The  population  of  the  town  is  about  twenty- 
five. 

Eleven  miles  from  Indianapolis,  on  the  Wabash, 
St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad,  is  situated  the  lively 
little  town  known  as  Castleton.  It  was  laid  out  Feb. 
25,  1852,  by  Thomas  P.  Gentry,  aud  contained  nine 
lots.  On  April  29,  1875,  David  Macy  laid  out  an 
addition  east  of  the  railroad,  containing  sixteen  lots. 
Lewis  Drounbergcr  was  the  first  merchant.  The 
present  merchants  are  Peter  L.  Negley,  Solomon 
Kleffer,  and  Wadsworth  &  Son,  all  of  whom  deal  ex- 
tensively in  general  merchandise.  Peter  L.  Negley 
is  the  postmaster,  and  A.  W.  T.  Lyle  and  Hilary  Sil- 
vey  are  the  physicians.  The  town  has  telephonic 
connection.  The  present  population  is  about  fifty, 
having  improved  con.siderabiy  during  the  past  eight 
years,  prior  to  which  time  no  ground  could  be  ob- 
tained upon  which  buildings  could  be  erected  and  the 
village  enlarged.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  fine 
farming  region. 


Societies  and  Assoeiations, — There  are  five 
active  secret  and  benevolent  societies  in  the  town- 
ship ;  one  dormant  and  one  defunct  grange  P.  of  H. ; 
one  fair  association  ;  and  a  horse  company,  as  fol- 
lows: 

Oakland  Lodge,  No.  140,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  in- 
stituted under  a  dispensation  dated  Dec.  8,  1852,  in 
Oakland,  Ind.  The  following  were  the  charter 
members :  B.  G.  Jay,  W.  M. ;  John  W.  Combs, 
S.  W. ;  Nelson  Bradley,  J.  W. ;  James  A.  Harrison, 
Treas. ;  James  Hinds,  Sec. ;  Elias  V.  Kelly,  S.  D. ; 
Elias  H.  McCord,  J.  D. ;  Enoch  D.  Hanna,  Tiler ; 
James  W.  Hervey,  Jacob  Beatty,  Clark  Wait,  and 
Nehemiah  Brooks. 

The  lodge  was  chartered  by  the  M.  W.  Grand 
Lodge  May  25,  1853.  The  following  officers  were 
elected  under  charter :  Barzilled  G.  Jay,  W.  M. ; 
John  W.  Combs,  S.  W. ;  Nelson  Bradley,  J.  W. 

The  following  persons  have  served  as  Worshipful 
Masters  of  the  lodge  the  number  of  years  noted,  viz. : 
B.  G.  Jay,  1 1  years ;  Nelson  Bradley,  1  year ;  John 
W.  Combs,  2  years;  James  W.  Hervey,  2  years; 
Thomas  P.  Hervey, 3  years;  Harvey  Colwell,  4  years; 
Joseph  L.  Harley,  1  year;  Andrew  F.  Cory,  7} 
years ;  Naaman  C.  Plummer,  1  year ;  Charles  J. 
Negley,  2  years ;  George  W.  Bolander,  1  year ; 
George  W.  Stanley,  5  years. 

The  following  named  have  served  as  secretary  the 
number  of  years  noted,  viz. :  James  Hinds,  2  years ; 
B.  G.  Jay,  1  year ;  I.  N.  Craig,  3  years ;  Jacob 
McCord,  5  years ;  A.  F.  Cory,  3  years ;  Martin  V. 
McConnaha,  2  years;  John  W.  Combs,  11  years; 
Jonathan  Conkle,  1  year ;  George  W.  Stanley,  2 
years. 

The  lodge  held  its  meetings  in  the  attic  under  the 
roof  of  Enoch  D.  Hanna's  store  building  until  1857. 
About  that  time  the  trustees  of  the  lodge  and  the 
township  trustee  jointly  erected  the  building  now 
used  as  a  lodge  hall,  and  occupied  by  the  primary 
department  of  district  school  No.  6.  The  lodge  has 
fifty  members  in  good  standing,  and  meets  on  the 
Wednesday  evening  of  or  preceding  the  full  moon  of 
each  month. 

Oakland  Lodge,  No.  534,  I.  0.  O.  F.,  was  insti- 
tuted  by  John   W.    McQuiddy,  special   deputy,  ou 


566 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


June  1,  1876,  with  six  charter  and  six  initiatory 
members.  The  following  were  the  first  officers : 
F.  Fellows,  N.  G. ;  G.  W.  Bolander,  V.  G. ;  George 
W.  Karer,  Rec.  Sec. ;  G.  W.  Teal,  Treas. 

The  society  meets  every  Thursday  evening,  and 
has  about  thirty-six  members.  The  following  officers 
were  elected  in  June,  1883:  Thomas  Shafer,  N.  G. ; 
Noel  Bolander,  V.  G. ;  William  F.  Combs,  Sec; 
Stephen  P.  Riley,  Treas. 

Castleton  Lodge,  No.  518,  I.  O.  0.  F.,  was  insti- 
tuted by  dispensation  at  Castleton,  Dec.  21,  1875, 
by  J.  W.  McQuiddy,  P.  G.  Rep.,  special  deputy. 
In  the  summer  of  1881  it  was  consolidated  with 
Broad  Ripple  Lodge,  No.  548.  The  event  was  cele- 
brated on  Saturday,  June  11,  1881,  by  a  picnic  in 
the  beautiful  grove  adjoining  Broad  Ripple. 

Lawrence  Lodge,  No.  375,  I.  0.  0.  F.  On  the 
28th  day  of  June,  1871,  W.  H.  De  Wolf,  Grand 
Master  of  the  R.  W.  Grand  Lodge  of  the  I.  0.  0.  F., 
granted  a  dispensation  for  a  lodge  at  Lawrence,  Ind., 
to  be  known  as  Lawrence  Lodge,  No.  375, 1.  0.  0.  F., 
on  the  petition  of  the  following-named  persons,  who 
became  charter  members:  W.  M.  Babcock,  John 
Bills,  William  Morrison,  Isaac  Bills,  and  Sylvester 
Gaskius,  formerly  of  McCordsville  Lodge,  No.  338. 

The  lodge  was  instituted  by  Grand  Secretary  E. 
H.  Barry,  as  special  deputy,  on  July  15,  1871. 
After  the  lodge  was  duly  instituted  the  following 
persons  were  initiated :  John  McCormick,  Thomas 
Spong,  John  Newhouse,  Richard  Johnson,  Henry 
Bell,  John  Dclzell,  Smith  H.  Mapes,  George  Springer, 
Henry  C.  Allen,  John  Shafer,  and  0.  N.  Wilming- 
ton. No  other  signer  of  the  petition  for  the  lodge 
was  present,  except  George  W.  Hunter,  E.  T.  Wells, 
and  Abel  Wheeler,  and  they  could  not  be  admitted 
on  card,  not  having  complied  with  the  law.  The 
first  officers  elected  were  William  M.  Babcock,  N.  G. ; 
S.  H.  Mapes,  V.  G. ;  O.  N.  Wilmington,  Sec. ;  Henry 
Bell,  Treas. 

The  lodge  has  a  membership  of  forty-three,  and 
meets  in  Voorhis'  Hall,  in  Lawrence,  every  Saturday 
evening.  The  following  officers  were  elected  in  June, 
1883  :  M.  C.  Dawson,  N.  G. ;  W.  F.  Landis,  V.  G. ; 
W.  H.  Cruchfield,  Sec. ;  Ezra  Hamilton,  Treas. 

Lawrence  Lodge,  No.  358,  Knights  of  Honor,  was 


instituted  in  Newhouse's  Hall  on  Sept.  30,  1876,  by 
George    Hardin,  of  New    Augusta,   Deputy  Grand 
Dictator,  with   the   following   charter  members,  viz.  : 
John  Meldrum,  Joseph  W.  Church,  Joseph  Meldrum, 
William  S.  Newhouse,  William  H.  Wheeler,  Thomas 
B.   Speece,  Millard   F.   Church,   George  Newhouse, 
Christian  Lout,  James  W.  Jenkins,  and  A.  J.  New- 
house.     There  were  other  petitioners,  but  they  did 
not  become  members.      The  first  trustees  were    A 
J.    Newhouse,    George    Newhouse,    and    Christ.    F. 
Lout.     The  first  officers  were  Christ.  F.  Lout,  D. 
Millard  F.   Church7v.  D. ;  John  Meldrum,  A.  D. 
George  Newhouse,  Treas. ;  Thomas  B.  Speece,  Rep. 
J.   W.  Church,   Fin.   Rep. ;  Joseph   Meldrum,   G. 
James  W.  Jenkins,  Guard. ;    William  S.  Newhouse, 
Sent. 

The  lodge  meets  every  Wednesday  evening,  in 
Voorhis'  Hall,  in  Lawrence,  and  has  thirty-five  con- 
tributing members.  Thomas  M.  Elliott,  M.  Black, 
and  Paul  Klepler  are  the  trustees,  and  the  following 
o£Bcers  were  elected  at  the  last  election,  to  serve  one 
year,  viz. :  J.  J.  Marshall,  D. ;  John  Tharp,  V.  D. ; 
H.  B.  Fisher,  A.  D. ;  William  White,  Treas.  ;  Thomas 
M.  Elliott,  Rep. ;  M.  F.  Church,  Fin.  Rep. ;  John 
Meldrum,  G. ;  James  W.  Jenkins,  Guard.;  B.  F. 
Marshall,  Sent. 

Indian  Creek  Grange,  No.  828,  P.  of  H.,  was 
chartered  Dec.  27,  1873,  and  instituted  the  same 
day,  by  Abner  J.  Pope,  with  the  following  charter 
members,  viz. :  Charles  J.  Negley,  M. ;  Lewis  Hossan 
Jans,  0. ;  Stephen  P.  Riley,  L. ;  Andrew  M.  Hufi", 
S. ;  John  J.  Snyder,  A.  S. ;  Pressly  Silvey,  Chap. ; 
Joseph  N.  Day,  Treas. ;  Solomon  Klepfer,  Sec. ;  A. 
J.  Springer,  G.  K. ;  Caroline  Negley,  C.  ;  Nancy 
Smith,  P. ;  Lizzie  Riley,  F. ;  Margaret  Snyder,  A. 
S.  Also  Taylor  Corey,  John  J.  Sharp,  John  W. 
Kimberlain,  and  George  W.  Applegate. 

The  grange  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  at  one 
time,  with  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four.  The  number  of  contributing  members  June, 
1883,  was  about  thirty. 

Lawrence  Grange  was  organized  in  No.  7  school- 
house,  Germantown  Grange  was  instituted  at  Ger- 
mantown,  and  Castleton  Grange  was  instituted  at 
Castleton,    during    the    great    grange    movement    of 


LAWKENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


567 


1874.  These  granges  all  flourished  for  a  while,  but 
in  a  short  time  they  ceased  to  exist.  Germantown 
Grange  and  Lawrence  Grange  were  consolidated  with 
Indian  Creek  Grange,  No.  828.  Castleton  Grange 
became  defunct  after  a  short  life.  The  present  offi- 
cers of  Indian  Creek  Grange  are  Stephen  P.  Riley, 
M. ;  Simon  Klepfer,  Treas. :  Charles  J.  Negley,  Sec. 
The  grange  meets  in  the  hall  of  the  grange  building 
in  Oakland,  on  the  first  and  third  Saturday  evenings 
of  each  month. 

Highland  Grange,  No.  1182,  P.  of  H.,  was  organ- 
ized Dec.  7,  1883,  by  J.  J.  W.  Billingley,  deputy. 
There  were  thirty  petitioners  and  charter  members, 
and  the  grange  began  its  existence  with  seventy 
members.  The  first  officers  were  Samuel  Cory, 
M.  ;  Israel  Pressly,  0. ;  L.  Y.  Newhouse,  L. ;  Joseph 
E.  Boswell,  S. ;  Henry  A.  Newhouse,  A.  S. ;  John 
Mowry,  Chapl. ;  Benjamin  Tyner,  Treas. ;  William 
B.  Flick,  Sec;  Robert  W.  Cory,  G.  K. ;  Hanna 
Pr&ssly,  C. ;  E.  J.  Newhouse,  P. ;  Nancy  Miller,  F. ; 
Laura  Cory,  A.  S.  Samuel  Cory  served  as  Master 
until  the  grange  became  dormant.  The  grange 
ceased  to  work  in  the  year  188] ,  because  of  the  non- 
attendance  of  the  members,  numbering  at  the  time 
only  twenty-one.  The  grange  can  resume  the  work 
at  any  time,  and  probably  will  be  resuscitated  some 
time  in  the  future. 

The  Lawrence  Guards,  of  Indiana  Legion,  were 
enrolled  and  mustered  during  the  late  Rebellion,  and 
held  in  readiness  for  several  years  for  active  service 
in  the  event  they  should  be  needed.  At  one  time 
there  were  one  hundred  and  six  members  of  the  com- 
pany. They  were  fully  equipped,  and  provided  with 
Austrian  rifles.  The  company  drilled  every  Satur- 
day, and  often  engaged  in  battalion  drill.  The  com- 
pany was  in  camp  three  days  at  Acton,  this  county. 
O.  W.  Voorhis  was  the  captain,  James  H.  Thomas 
first  lieutenant,  and  Robert  Johnson  second  lieu- 
tenant. 

The  Lawrence  Township  Horse  Company  was  first 
organized  in  the  fall  of  1845,  in  the  Third  Baptist 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  Fall  Creek.  The  object 
of  the  organization  was  "  the  detection  and  appre- 
hension of  horse-thieves  and  other  felons."  The 
following  persons  became  members  at  the  organiza- 


tion, viz. :  Smith  Bates,  Madison  Webb,  Elisha 
Reddick,  Joshua  Reddick,  and  Moses  McClaren. 
The  first  officers  were  elected  at  a  subsequent  meet- 
ing, when  Madison  Webb  was  made  president  and 
Allen  Vanlaningham  was  selected  as  captain.  After 
the  adoption  of  the  new  State  Constitution,  in  1852, 
the  company  was  reorganized  in  conformity  to  the  new 
State  laws  enacted.  The  second  charter  expired  in 
the  year  1862,  and  on  the  26th  day  of  July  of  that 
year  the  company  was  reorganized.  The  fourth 
charter  was  obtained  upon  the  expiration  of  the 
third,  but  for  some  reason  the  articles  of  incorporation 
were  not  properly  filed  and  recorded,  hence,  as  soon 
as  the  error  was  discovered,  the  companj'  again  reor- 
ganized. On  the  last  Saturday  in  February,  in  the 
year  1879,  the  company  was  last  chartered  for  a  term 
of  ten  years  under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Indiana,  approved  Dec.  21,  1865,  and 
the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  at  their  Febru- 
ary term,  1879,  granted  thirty-two  members  of  said 
company  "  all  the  power  of  constables."  The  follow- 
ing officers  were  elected  for  one  year  on  Oct.  27, 
1883,  viz. :  Hezekiah  Smart,  president ;  Oliver  W. 
Voorhis,  secretary ;  Jonah  F.  Lemon,  treasurer ; 
William  Apple,  captain  ;  Solomon  Klepfer,  Ist  lieu- 
tenant;  George  F.  Merryman,  2d  lieutenant;  George 
W.  Bolander,  3d  lieutenant ;  J.  H.  Herrin,  door- 
keeper. 

The  company  is  in  a  flourishing  condition,  with  a 
membership  of  seventy-seven.  A  large  surplus  re- 
mains in  the  treasury,  and  no  property  has  been 
stolen  from  its  members  for  some  time,  and  every 
horse  stolen  since  its  organization,  in  1845,  has  been 
recovered.  The  organization  has  been  instrumental 
in  sending  a  number  of  thieves  to  the  State's  prison, 
and  it  has  recovered  a  large  amount  of  stolen  prop- 
erty. Its  regular  meetings  arc  held  on  the  last 
Saturday  in  the  months  of  January,  April,  July,  and 
October  of  each  year,  at  school-house  No.  8,  known 
as  Spring  Valley. 

The  Lawrence  District  Fair  Association  originated 
in  Highland  Grange,  No.  1182,  Samuel  Cory,  Worthy 
Master;  W.  B.  Flick,  secretary.  After  discussing 
the  matter,  arrangements  were  made,  and  the  first 
exhibition,  small,  but  interesting  and  successful,  was 


568 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


held  at  Highland  school-house  Oct.  1,  1877.  There 
were  about  three  hundred  entries,  horses,  cattle,  farm 
products,  women's  work,  etc.  No  cash  premiums 
were  given,  but  certificates  of  excellence  only.  Mr. 
Kingsbury,  of  the  Indiana  farmers,  delivered  an  ad- 
dress, "  Beautify  the  Home,"  and  about  two  hundred 
persons  were  in  attendance. 

In  the  fall  of  1878  a  corn  show  was  held,  and 
proved  to  be  a  good  exhibition,  but  not  very  well 
attended.  In  1880  a  joint-stock  company,  named 
the  Lawrence  Township  Agricultural  Association, 
was  formed,  with  0.  W.  Voorhis  as  president,  and 
W.  B.  Flick,  secretary.  The  fir.st  exhibition  was 
held  at  Minnewan  Springs,  the  beautiful  grounds  of 
Hezekiah  Smart.  No  premiums  were  paid,  and  no 
admission  fee  charged.  The  show  was  good,  and  the 
attendance  large.  The  whole  exhibition  was  a  sub- 
stantial success.  Dr.  R.  T.  Brown  made  a  good  practi- 
cal address.  The  encouragement  received  now  deter- 
mined the  association  to  procure  grounds  of  their  own, 
improve  them,  and  arrange  for  annual  exhibitions  to 
which  people  might  come  for  pleasant  reunion,  to  com- 
pare products  and  ideas,  criticise,  and  profit  by  the  re- 
sult. The  use  of  a  beautiful  grove  and  lands  adjoining 
Lawrence  was  generously  donated  by  President  Voor- 
his, which  was  tastefully  improved  at  an  expenditure 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  by  the  association.  Owing 
to  the  sickness  of  the  superintendent,  work  was  not 
begun  in  time,  but  by  working  hands  night  and  day, 
and  a  cheerful  energy  upon  the  part  of  all  concerned, 
the  work  took  shape  for  the  fair  held  Sept.  22,  23, 
and  24,  1881.  The  entries  numbered  eight  hundred, 
and  the  attendance  about  twenty-five  hundred.  Re- 
ceipts did  not  equal  expenditures,  but  the  association, 
with  commendable  honor,  resolved  to  pay  all  premi- 
ums in  full. 

The  second  exhibition,  held  Sept.  12,  13,  14,  15, 
and  16,  1882,  proved  to  be  a  grand  success,  better 
than  any  one  expected.  The  attendance  on  Thurs- 
day was  over  four  thousand,  the  number  of  entries 
exceeded  eighteen  hundred,  and  in  quality,  beauty, 
and  excellence  the  exhibition  is  seldom  excelled.  In 
vegetable  and  farm  crops  the  display  was  immense 
and  excellent.  The  show  of  stock,  though  not  so 
large,  was  as  good  as  the  best.     Again  the  premiums 


were  paid  in  full.  The  association  resolved  to  carry 
a  debt  rather  than  discount  the  premiums.  The  im- 
provements made  this  year  were  good  ones,  and  cost 
nearly  eighteen  hundred  dollars.  It  having  been 
ascertained  that  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
would  not  recognize  the  association  under  the  pre- 
vious name,  this  was  changed  to  the  Lawrence  Dis- 
trict Fair  Association. 

The  third  exhibition  was  held  Sept.  11  to  15, 
1883,  inclusive,  and  was  the  most  successful  one 
ever  held,  the  entries  being  one-third  more  than 
at  any  previous  one,  and  the  attendance  one-third 
greater  than  upon  any  former  occasion  in  the  history 
of  the  association.  The  as.sociation  paid  nine  hun- 
dred dollars  in  premiums,  and  expended  thirteen 
hundred  and  forty-one  dollars  in  improvements, 
such  as  enlarging  Agricultural  Hall,  straightening, 
widening,  and  otherwise  improving  the  track,  erect- 
ing additional  stalls,  pens,  etc.  The  receipts  from 
all  sources  amounted  to  about  twelve  hundred  dollars. 
Again  the  receipts  fell  short  of  the  expenditures,  but 
the  premiums  were  paid  in  full. 

Aims  of  the  association  :  1st.  To  hold  an  annual 
fair  at  the  cheapest  possible  rate,  so  the  masses  may 
receive  the  benefits ;  2d.  To  make  this  annual  gath- 
ering second  to  none  in  the  State. 

To  accomplish  this  they  propose  to  spend  every 
dollar  they  receive  over  and  above  expenses  in  beau- 
tifying the  grounds,  in  comfortable  improvements  for 
man  and  beast,  and  paying  premiums.  In  another 
year  the  association  will  probably  have  forty  acres  of 
their  own,  which  will  give  more  room  for  improve- 
ments. 

This,  briefly,  is  a  history  of  its  rise  and  progress. 
President  Voorhis  has  been  prompt  in  helping  the 
objects  of  the  association,  while  Secretary  Flick  has 
been  not  only  tireless  in  his  efibrts,  but  has  shown 
rare  and  excellent  judgment  in  the  discharge  of  his 
difiScult  and  sometimes  thankless  duties. 

The  following  are  the  officers  of  the  association  for 
1883:  0.  W.  Voorhis,  president,  Lawrence,  lud. ; 
John  W.  Apple,  vice-president,  Oaklandon,  Ind. ; 
Levi  Bolander,  treasurer,  Oaklandon,  Ind. ;  James 
H.  Thomas,  general  superintendent,  Lawrence,  lud. ; 
William  B.  Flick,  secretai'y,  Lawrence,  Ind. 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


569 


Schools.— Lawrence  township  has  turned  out  many 
excellent  school-teachers ;  it  has  the  best  public-school 
buildings,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  enterprisiug  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  schools,  of  all  the   town- 
ships in  the  county.     The  first  school  in   the  town- 
ship was   taught  by  a  man   named  Edmison,  from 
Chillicothe,  Ohio,  in  Elisha  Reddick's  cabin  in  the 
year  1828.    The  teacher  took  the  measles  and  spread 
consternation  among  the  few  scholars,  and  thus  the 
school  was   brought  to  a  sudden    termination.     The 
first  school   building   erected  was  in  the  year  1830, 
upon  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Eddie  Newhouse 
land,  now  owned  by  James  W.  Jenkins.     The  first 
school   taught  there  was  a  subscription  school,  and 
was  taught  by  an  old  man  named  Lamb.     The  boys 
barred  him  out  on   Christmas  day  and  asked  for  a 
treat.     The  demand  was  acceded  to  and  a  gallon  of 
whiskey  purchased.     The  boys  drank  of  it  quite  freely, 
and  many  of  them  became  intoxicated.     The  patrons 
held  a  meeting  and  discharged  Mr.  Lamb.      Subse- 
quently log   school-houses  were   erected   at   various 
points,  notably  on  the  east  side  of  the  land  now  owned 
by  William  B.  Flick ;  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
farm    known   as   the  Smay  land ;    on    the  northeast 
corner  of  Robert  White's  farm,  and  it  was  afterwards 
moved  on  to  the  southwest  corner  of  the  eighty-acre 
tract  of  land  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Negley ; 
on   Cornelius   Wadsworth's    land ;    on    the    Bragdon 
farm,   east   of    where  Lawrence    now  is ;    one    near 
where  each  of  Nos.  4,  5,  and  8  school-houses  now 
stand.     School  was  taught  at  intervals  for  four  years 
in  a  vacant  house  upon  the  farm  now  owned  by  John 
Johnson,  south    of  Castleton.      In   the   year    1834 
William  Hendrick  taught  school  in  a  small  round- 
log  cabin   on    Indian    Creek,    near   Williams'    mill. 
Spelling-school  was  held  there  quite  often,  and  the 
boys  had  to  carry  brush   to  throw  upon   the   fire  in 
the    fireplace   in   order  to   light    the   house.      John 
Thomas  taught  the  first  school   in   the  house  on  the 
Bragdon  land  in  the  year  1831.     He   taught  three 
terms.     Cyrus  Smith   taught  the  first  school  held  in 
the  house  on   Robert   White's   land.      In   the  year 
1835,  Travis  Silvey  taught  the  first  school   held  in 
the  log  hou.se  near  where  No.  8  school-house  now 
stands.     For  many  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
37 


township  the  schools  were  few  and  the  terms  of 
short  duration,  while  a  majority  of  the  teachers 
were  of  an  illiterate  class.  Many  of  the  scholars 
were  obliged  to  travel  long  distances  through  the 
brush  and  over  swamps,  often  being  obliged  to  "  coon" 
logs  for  great  distances. 

The  first  public  school-house  was  built  of  hewed 
logs,  on  the  land  then  owned  by  John  Bolander,  and 
stood  very  near  the  spot  upon  which  the  new  brick 
(No.  7)  school-house  now  stands.  Daniel  Speece,  if 
not  the  first,  was  one  of  the  first  persons  who  taught 
there.  After  the  organization  of  the  Congressional 
township  system  the  schools  were  placed  upon  a 
solid  and  permanent  basis,  and  their  good  efiects 
began  to  be  realized.  The  township  system  was 
adopted  in  1853,  and  immediately  thereafter  the 
township  was  supplied  with  ten  schools,  and  about 
three  years  thereafter  with  ten  frame  public  school 
buildings,  and  the  township  ever  since  has  had  an 
excellent  corps  of  teachers.  The  first  teachers  after 
the  adoption  of  the  township  system  were :  School 
No.  1,  Aquilla  McCord ;  No.  2,  Henry  Cronk;  No. 
3,  Nelson  Hoss ;  No.  4,  John  Cory ;  No.  5,  George 
Speece ;  No.  6,  Cyrus  Smith ;  No.  7,  James  Mc- 
Kean  ;  No.  8,  Gilbert  Ross  ;  No.  9,  William  Young ; 
No.  10,  Nelson  Hoss. 

The  term  lasted  sixty-five  days,  and  they  were 
paid  as  wages  seventy-five  dollars  each.  Cyrus  Smith 
taught  No.  6  in  the  Universalist  Church  at  Oakland, 
and  the  trustees  of  the  church  were  allowed  nine 
dollars  for  the  use  of  the  building. 

On  April  29,  1853,  the  township  trustees  called 
"  a  special  meeting  of  the  voters  of  the  township  at 
usual  places  of  holding  elections  on  Saturday,  the 
28th  day  of  May  next,  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining whether  they  will  submit  to  a  tax  for  build- 
ing, removing,  furnishing,  and  purchasing  sites  for 
school-houses  of  said  township."  The  result  of  the 
election  was :  For  tax,  seventy-three ;  no  tax,  forty- 
four.  The  trustees  then  levied  fifty  cents  on  each 
poll,  and  thirty  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of 
taxable  property,  and  built  a  new  frame  school-house 
that  year,  and  afterwards  about  four  houses  per  year 
until  the  township  was  fully  supplied  with  new 
houses.     The  estimated  cost  of  eight  school-houses 


570 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


was  thirty-two  hundred  dollars,  and  it  was  ordered 
by  the  trustees  that  sixteen  hundred  dollars  be 
raised  in  the  year  1853  and  sixteen  hundred  dollars 
in  the  year  1854.  On  June  21,  1853,  the  township 
trustees,  Abraham  Sellers,  Samuel  Cory,  and  Moses 
Craig,  "  Ordered,  that  the  school  districts  now  ex- 
pending the  school  funds  which  was  in  their  hands 
unexpended  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  1853,  be 
permitted  to  expend  the  same  for  tuition." 

There  are  now  twelve  school  districts  in  the  town- 
ship, distributed  at  convenient  points.  Districts  Nos. 
1,  2,  4,  7,  8,  and  10  are  supplied  with  commodious 
brick  buildings,  each  containing  thirty-eight  thousand 
brick.  District  No.  3  has  a  two-story  brick  edifice, 
finished  in  modern  style,  and  district  school-house 
No.  9  is  a  beautiful  two-story  frame  structure.  Dis- 
trict No.  6  has  two  frame  houses,  and  the  school  is  a 
graded  one.  The  remaining  districts  have  substan- 
tial frame  buildings.  The  following  is  from  the 
teachers'  reports  to  the  trustee  for  the  term  of  1882 
and  1883,  viz.:  Whole  number  enrolled,  626  ;  males, 
341;  females,  285;  average  daily  attendance,  413 
number  studying  orthography,  578  ;  reading,  625 
writing,  605 ;  arithmetic,  570 ;  geography,  339 
grammar,  367;  history,  75;  physiology,  125. 

The  trustee  made  the  following  school  levy  for 
1883 :  Tuition  school,  seven  cents  on  the  one  hun- 
dred dollars;  special  school,  three  cents  on  the  one 
hundred  dollars. 

The  school  term  now  lasts  six  months,  and  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  teachers  for  the  winter  of  1883  and 
1884,  viz.:  No.  1,  Samuel  Beaver;  No.  2,  A.  E. 
Bragdon ;  No.  3,  Principal,  Marion  Bell ;  No.  3, 
Primary,  Annie  Herrin  ;  No.  4,  0.  H.  Tibbott ;  No. 
5,  James  Watson ;  No.  6,  Principal,  William  F.  Lan- 
dis;  No.  6,  Primary,  Lou  Abbott;  No.  7,  A.  A. 
Johnson;  No.  8,  F.  A.  Whitesides;  No.  9,  Prin- 
cipal, Samuel  Bolander ;  No.  9,  Primary,  Jennie  O. 
Hensley;  No.  10,  Edward  White;  No.  11,  Charles 
Bolander;  No.  12,  Belle  Conkle.  They  are  paid 
from  $2.25  to  S2.50  per  day. 

The  township  library  contains  about  eight  hun- 
dred volumes,  some  of  them  valuable  works.  They 
are  about   equally  distributed  at  the  following  con- 


venient points,  are  in  first-class  condition,  and  in 
charge  of  the  persons  named:  Castleton,  Mrs.  An- 
derson ;  Lawrence,  Grace  Mapes  ;  Oakland,  Dr.  A. 
F.  Cory. 

Churches. — The  first  preaching  held  in  the  town- 
ship after  its  settlement  was  in  the  year  1825,  on  the 
farm  entered  by  William  Reddick  for  his  son  Joshua, 
and  in  his  cabin,  situated  northwest  of  the  mouth  of 
Mud  Creek.  Preaching  was  held  there  nearly  seven 
years.  The  first  sermon  was  delivered  by  a  young 
man  named  Miller. 

There  are  now  ten  church  buildings  in  the  town- 
ship, under  control  of  five  diflFerent  denominations,  as 
follows,  viz. :  Five  Methodist  Episcopal,  two  Evangel- 
ical Lutheran,  one  Christian  Church,  one  Baptist 
Church,  and  one  Universalist  Church. 

Oakland  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organ- 
ized in  1852,  with  a  membership  of  twenty-four. 
The  meetings  were  held  two  years  in  an  old  log 
cabin,  one  half-mile  east  of  Oakland,  on  the  Combs 
farm.  Rev.  Manwell  and  Rev.  Gillum  were  the  first 
preachers.  The  present  church  building  was  erected 
in  the  summer  of  1854.  James  Hines,  Jr.,  was 
accidentally  killed  in  May  of  that  year,  while  en- 
gaged in  adjusting  one  of  the  timbers  of  the  cupola. 
The  church  was  dedicated  in  1855.  Rev.  M.  Gillum 
was  the  first  circuit  preacher  in  the  new  building, 
and  James  W.  Hervey,  Henry  Whittiker,  and  Foun- 
tain Kimberlain  were  the  first  trustees.  The  present 
trustees  are  John  Mock  and  Ephraim  Thomas.  J. 
S.  Ruggles  is  the  circuit  preacher.  The  church  is 
on  the  Castleton  Circuit.  Paul  Klepfer  is  the  stew- 
ard and  class-leader.  This  society  was  at  one  time  in 
a  flourishing  condition,  but  not  so  now.  Present 
membership,  twenty-five. 

Lawrence  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  Trusler,  from  Virginia,  at  the  residence  J 

J  '  o         '  j 

of   Benjamin    Newhou.se,  one  and    one-fourth   miles  j 

west  of  where  the  town  of  Lawrence  now  is,  about 
the  year  1838,  with  the  following  members,  viz. : 
Benjamin  Newhouse  and  Mahala,  his  wife,  Henry 
Newhouse  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  and  Edmund  New- 
house  and  Sallie,  his  wife. 


lawrencp:  township. 


571 


Preaching  was  held  at  BeDJamio  Newhouse's  sev- 
eral years,  and  afterwards  at  Henry  Newhouse's  resi- 
dence. About  the  year  1848  the  class  built  a  hewed 
log  house  on  the  farm  of  Henry  Newhouse,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  west  of  Lawrence,  Mr.  Newhouse 
donating  land  for  the  site.  This  church  was  called 
Concord,  and  was  used  and  occupied  by  the  class  as  a 
place  of  worship  for  twelve  years.  Concord  was  then 
abandoned  as  a  preaching-point,  and  the  ground  con- 
veyed back  to  Henry  Newhouse.  The  society  then 
went  to  the  present  frame  church  in  the  town  of  Law- 
rence, which  was  erected  in  the  year  1860,  the  ground 
for  the  site  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in^oney 
being  donated  to  the  society  by  Henry  Newhouse. 
The  frame  church  was  dedicated  in  1860.  Frank 
Hardin  delivered  the  dedicatory  sermon.  The  first 
trustees  of  the  new  church  property  were  Amos 
Anderson,  James  Beard,  and  James  Wheeler.  The 
trustees  of  the  property  at  the  present  time  are 
Matthew  C.  Dawson,  John  Smith,  and  Franklin 
Joseph  Johnson.  The  stewards  are  John  Smith 
and  Matthew  C.  Dawson.  The  present  membership 
is  seventy-five.  The  following  ministers  preached 
regularly  at  Concord,  viz.  :  Frank  Hardin,  Bernhart, 
Johnson,  Martin,  Manwell,  Greenmund,  and  Burt. 
The  church  is  now  on  the  Castleton  Circuit,  and 
Rev.  J.  S.  Ruggles  is  the  minister.  The  society  is  a 
strong  one  and  in  a  good  condition  financially. 

Spring  Valley  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  or- 
ganized as  a  cla.ss  in  Hilary  Silvey's  cabin,  near  the 
centre  of  the  township,  in  the  year  1832,  with  about 
eighteen  members.  The  first  regular  preacher  was 
Rev.  Ellsberry,  the  second  Rev.  Igoe,  and  the  third 
Rev.  Sullivan.  Services  were  held  there  for  five 
years,  and  then  from  house  to  house  until  a  preach- 
ing point  was  established  at  Spring  Valley.  A  Sab- 
bath-school was  organized  in  district  (log)  school- 
house  by  Abraham  Vines,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  spring  of  1852, 
and  carried  on  successfully  for  two  years.  In  about 
1854  a  preaching-point  was  established  there,  and 
the  place  called  Vines'  School- House.  Preaching 
and  Sabbath-school  were  held  there  until  the  com- 
pletion  of   the    present    frame   building.     In    1859, 


Abraham  Vines,  John  Stires,  and  other  moral  men 
concluded  to  erect  a  frame  building,  thirty  by  forty 
feet,  and  soon  succeeded  in  raising  enough  money  to 
do  so.  The  building  was  built  in  the  years  1860 
and  1861,  near  No.  8  school-house.  J.  H.  Thomas 
did  the  carpenter-work,  John  C.  Thomas  was  the 
plasterer,  and  Isaac  N.  Thomas  the  painter.  The 
buillding  was  dedicated  in  1865,  the  Rev.  John  V. 
R.  Miller,  the  then  presiding  elder,  delivering  the 
dedicatory  sermon.  At  that  time  Rev.  J.  C.  White 
was  the  circuit  preacher.  The  first  trustees  were 
Joshua  Huston,  Thomas  P.  Silvey,  and  J.  H.  Thomas. 
In  1837  the  church  had  thirty-two  members.  The 
following  pastors  followed  Rev.  J.  C.  White,  who 
was  on  the  circuit  two  years,  viz. :  Michael  Black,  1 
year  ;  William  Nichols,  2  years  ;  Samuel  Pinkerton, 
2  years  ;  Richard  Osburn,  1  year ;  W.  S.  Falken- 
berg,  1  year ;  L.  Havens,  1  year ;  Alexander  Jami- 
son, 2  years.  The  present  minister  is  J.  S.  Ruggles. 
The  church  is  attached  to  the  Castleton  Circuit. 
The  present  trustees  are  Hezekiah  Smart,  Pressly 
Silvey,  George  G.  Johnson,  John  W.  Russell,  and 
William  T.  Johnson.  Martha  Speece  is  the  only 
person  remaining  with  the  class  who  became  a  mem- 
ber in  1832. 

Hopewell  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  edifice  is 
situated  on  the  west  bank  of  Mud  Creek,  about  one 
and  one-half  miles  south  of  the  Hamilton  County 
line.  It  was  built  about  1850,  by  J.  N.  McCoy, 
Jacob  Hoss,  John  Tate,  Hiram  Simons,  Alexander 
McClaren,  and  others,  who  banded  together  for  the 
purpose.  John  Burt  was  the  first  preacher,  and 
Richard  Hairgrave  the  first  presiding  elder.  The 
church  began  with  a  membership  of  fourteen.  The 
ground  for  the  church  site  was  donated  by  Jacob 
Hoss,  and  a  cemetery  surrounds  the  building.  The 
church  was  abandoned  as  a  preaching-point  in  1878, 
but  is  kept  in  moderate  repair  and  used  upon  occa- 
sions such  as  funerals  or  special  preaching.  The  first 
trustees  were  Jacob  Hoss,  James  N.  McCoy,  and 
David  Fee.  The  present  trustees  are  Henry  Cronk, 
James  N.  McCoy,  and  C.  B.  Wadsworth.  The 
church  belongs  to  the  Castleton  Circuit.  Alexander 
Jamison  was  the  last  pastor. 


X 


572 


HISTOKY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Castleton  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organ- 
ized with  fifteen  members  about  1843,  by  James  T. 
Wright.  Its  meetings  were  held  at  the  residences  of 
James  T.  Wright,  William  Orpurd,  Milford  H.  Vert, 
and  others  ;  also,  in  an  old  log  school-house  in  the 
north  part  of  Vertland,  just  west  of  the  railroad,  and 
in  Milford  H.  Vert's  warehouse,  for  twenty  years. 
After  which  their  meetings  were  held  for  twelve  years 
in  the  new  frame  school-house.  The  present  brick 
edifice  was  built  through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev. 
James  H.  Stallard.  It  was  completed  in  the  year 
1874,  but  was  not  occupied  as  a  place  of  worship 
until  the  year  1876.  The  trustees  of  the  church  in 
their  report  to  tlie  Quarterly  Conference,  Aug.  IG, 
1882,  represented  the  title  as  being  good,  and  placed 
the  value  of  the  property  at  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  James  T.  Wright,  the  founder  of  the 
church,  was  its  first  minister  and  for  several  years 
its  sole  pastor.  Thomas  Jones  was  the  first  preacher 
in  the  new  brick.  The  church  was  dedicated  in  the 
summer  of  1880,  during  the  pastorate  of  Harvey 
Harris.  The  dedicatory  sermon  was  delivered  by  J. 
K.  Pye,  the  presiding  elder.  The  present  minister 
is  J.  S.  Ruggles.  The  present  membership  is  about 
sixty.  The  stewards  are  John  J.  Johnson,  Henry 
Cronk,  and  C.  B.  Wadsworth.  The  trustees  are  as 
follows,  viz. :  Wilson  Whitesell,  John  J.  Johnson, 
Samuel  T.  Hague,  Robert  Johnson,  John  E.  Myles, 
Robert  E.  Smith,  James  I.  Rooker,  William  F.  Wads- 
worth,  and  Andrew  Smith.  Prior  to  the  building  of 
the  new  church  building  the  following  circuit  preach- 
ers were  the  most  prominent :  George  Havens  (3 
years),  John  Burt  (3  years).  Wade  Posey  (2  years), 
R.  D.  Spellman,  J.  C.  White,  D.  C.  Benjamin,  Sam- 
uel Longdon,  and  James  H.  Stallard. 

The  following  have  been  the  pastors  of  this  church 
since  the  completion  of  the  new  building,  viz. :  Revs. 
Thomas  Jones,  Thornton,  Alexander  Jami- 
son, Austin  Reek,  Harvey  Harris,  and  William  M. 
Grubbs. 

Camp-meeting  was  held  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Alexander  Jamison  in  the  vicinity  of  Castleton, 
in  July,  1878,  and  again  in  1879  and  1880,  lasting 
each  year  for  several  days.  The  church  is  in  a  pros- 
perous   condition,   having    passed   safely    through   a 


great  financial  strain,  and  its  future  prospects  for 
accomplishing  much  good  are  very  flattering. 

The  parsonage  of  the  Castleton  Circuit  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  located  at  Vertland, 
and  adjoins  tlie  Castleton  Church  building.  The 
parsonage  is  under  the  control  of  the  following  trus- 
tees appointed  by  the  Quarterly  Conference:  Wilson 
Whitesell,  John  J.  Johnson,  Andrew  Smith,  and 
Henry  Cronk. 

Wesley  Chapel  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
organized  as  a  class  at  the  residence  of  Jeremiah 
Plummer,  on  Indian  Creek,  about  the  year  1835,  and 
a  circuit-rider  preached  there  regularly  every  four 
weeks  for  two  or  three  years.  The  hewed-log  school- 
house  on  John  Bolander's  land  was  then  used  for  five 
or  six  years.  About  the  year  1842  a  hewed-log 
church  was  built  by  the  moral  men  of  the  neighbor- 
hood on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  eighty-acre  tract 
of  land  now  owned  by  Jolin  Smith.  John  Shenkle 
donated  an  acre  of  land  for  the  site  of  the  church. 
The  first  trustees  of  the  property  were  George  Plum- 
mer, William  Lakin,  and  John  Obrian.  It  was  the 
first  church  building  erected  in  the  township,  and 
was  commonly  called  the  Plummer  Church.  The  so- 
ciety numbered  about  fifty  at  the  time  the  church 
was  built.  William  Lakin,  James  H.  Murphy,  Ben- 
jamin Chapman,  Juhn  Obrian,  Ephraim  Thomas, 
George  N.  Plummer,  Jeremiah  Plummer,  and  John 
Shenkle  were  the  prominent  members,  and  took  an 
active  interest  in  the  building  of  the  church.  John 
B.  Burt,  Charles  Morrow,  et  al.,  were  the  ministers  of 
the  church  prior  to  the  erection  of  the  church  build- 
ing. George  W.  Bowers  was  the  first  preacher  in 
the  log  church.  Following  him,  the  most  prominent 
were  Allen  Beasley,  L.  M.  Hancock,  William  C. 
Smith, Crouch,  and  Eli  Rummel.  The  mem- 
bership dwindled  down  to  a  few,  the  building  became 
unfit  for  occupancy,  and  the  class  was  unable  to  build 
a  new  one;  consequently  about  1857  meetings  ceased 
to  be  held  there,  and  the  class  disbanded.  The  build- 
ing was  left  standing  until  the  year  1867,  when  the 
crumbling  structure  was  torn  down  and  removed  from 
the  premises.  The  old  site  has  long  been  used  as  a 
cemetery,  and  is  known  as  the  "  Plummer  grave- 
yard." 


LAWRENCE   TOWNSHIP. 


573 


The  Pleasant  View  United  Brethren  Church  was 
organized  many  years  ago,  and  held  its  meetings  at 
the  cabin  of  William  Hendricks,  on  Fall  Creek,  for 
several  years.  A  hewed-log  church  was  raised  about 
the  year  1845  on  the  east  bank  of  Fall  Creek,  on  a 
high  hill  called  Mount  Holy,  near  the  Emery  Ford, 
and  used  as  a  meeting-house  nearly  thirty  years.  The 
class  disbanded  years  ago.  The  first  preacher  in  the 
church  was  the  Rev.  Richardson.  Amos  Hanway 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  ministers  of  the 
church.  William  Hendricks  and  Charles  Emery 
were  two  of  the  first  trustees.  The  house  was  built 
upon  the  farm  of  William  Hendricks,  now  owned  by 
Richard  Johnson.  The  house  has  decayed  so  that  it 
is  in  a  condition  to  fall  at  any  time. 

The  Salem  Lutheran  Church  was  organized  at  the 
residence  of  Abraham  Sellers  several  years  prior  to 
1848.  During  that  year  a  hewed-log  church  was 
built  upon  an  acre  of  ground  donated  as  a  site  for  the 
church  by  Joseph  Swarm.  It  was  built  by  donations 
from  men  of  moral  influence,  and  is  situated  on  the 
Fall  Creek  and  Mud  Creek  gravel  road,  about  one- 
half  mile  south  of  school-house  No.  2.  The  church 
was  dedicated  one  year  after  its  completion,  John  A. 
Myers  delivering  the  dedicatory  sermon.  Hugh 
Wells  was  the  minister  in  charge  at  the  time  of  the 
dedication.  The  present  minister  is  Obadiah  Brown. 
The  first  trustees  were  Joseph  Swarm,  Abraham 
Sellers,  and  Arthur  Clawson. 

The  Upper  Ebenezer  Lutheran  Church  originated 
in  1824,  in  the  old  Ebenezer  Lutheran  Church  of 
Washington  township,  which  will  be  found  fully 
mentioned  in  the  history  of  that  township.  An  ac- 
count is  there  given  of  the  division  of  that  church 
and  the  sale  of  the  church  building  in  February, 
1868.  In  consequence  of  the  sale  of  the  church 
building,  about  sixty  persons  were  left  without  a 
house  in  which  to  worship.  They  resolved  to  build 
a  new  frame  church  after  the  modern  style,  and  ap- 
pointed John  Mowry,  J.  G.  Marshal,  and  John  C. 
Hoss  as  a  building  committee,  and  selected  John 
Negley  as  a  suitable  person  to  raise  the  funds.  In 
due  time  the  necessary  money  was  secured,  and  the 
building  erected  in  the  year  1868  upon  seventy-two 
square  rods  of  ground  donated  to  the  church  society 


by  Hezekiah  Ringer  out  of  the  southwest  corner  of 
his  farm  in  Lawrence  township.  The  church  build- 
ing was  dedicated  in  1868  immediately  upon  its  com- 
pletion. The  dedicatory  sermon  was  delivered  by 
Rev.  Samuel  Sprecher,  D.D.,  of  Springfield,  Ohio, 
the  then  president  of  Wittenburg  College.  The  Rev. 
Jacob  Keller,  the  pastor  at  the  time  of  the  separation 
of  the  church,  went  with  the  upper  settlement  and 
continued  their  pastor  two  years,  until  1870.  The 
old  book  of  the  original  organization  was  kept  by  the 
congregation  of  the  upper  settlement.  The  congre- 
gation at  present  numbers  forty-one  active  members. 
The  pastors  since  1868  have  been  as  follows:  Jacob 
Keller,  2  years ;  E.  Fair,  1  year  ;  J.  Boone,  2  years ; 
Wm.  H.  Keller,  5  years ;  and  Obadiah  Brown,  1  year. 
The  last  named  is  the  present  minister.  Harrison 
Ringer  and  George  Mowry  are  the  elders,  and  Elijah 
Mowry  and  George  W.  Pressly  are  the  deacons. 
There  was  no  reorganization  of  this  body  after  the 
division  in  the  church  ;  it  was  by  the  terms  stipu- 
lated in  the  articles  of  agreement  a  continuation  of 
the  original  body. 

The  Oakland  Christian  Church  was  organized  May 
1,  1866,  with  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight,  and  occupied  the  Universalist  Church 
building  one  year  thereafter.  In  1868  the  class 
erected  the  present  frame  building,  and  dedicated  it 
the  same  year.  Rev.  David  Franklin,  of  Madison 
County,  Ind.,  delivered  the  dedicatory  sermon. 
Christopher  Apple  took  the  most  active  part  in  the 
-  biiilding  of  the  church.  He  contributed  all  the 
material  that  went  into  the  building  and  three  hun- 
dred dollars  in  money.  The  first  preacher  was  W. 
V.  Trowbridge,  and  the  first  trustees  were  Chris- 
topher Apple,  Sylvester  Vanlaninghani,  and  Daniel 
Jordan.  Newton  Wilson,  of  Irvington,  is  the  min- 
ister at  present,  and  John  W.  Apple  and  Henry 
Apple  are  the  trustees.  The  church  has  fifty-eight 
active  members.  Sabbath-school  has  been  held  every 
Sunday  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  a  most  remark- 
able incident  for  a  country  church. 

The  Lawrence  Baptist  Church.  The  Baptists  in 
the  southwestern  portion  of  the  township  held  their 
meetings  for  a  few  years  at  the  residences  of  various 
per.sons  of  that  religious   faith,   notably  at   Milton 


574 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Woolen's  cabin,  Parsley's  cabin,  and  George  G.  F. 
Boswell's  cabin.  It  was  at  the  cabin  of  George 
G.  F.  Boswell,  on  the  third  Friday  in  May,  1848, 
that  these  people  formed  an  organization  and  consti- 
tuted themselves  the  Lawrence  Township  Baptist 
Church.  About  that  time  the  congregation  built  a 
frame  meeting-house  on  the  farm  of  Milton  Woolen, 
one  and  one-half  miles  due  west  of  the  town  of  Law- 
rence. Milton  Woolen,  the  founder  of  the  church, 
donated  the  ground  for  the  site  and  obtained  the 
pastors.  The  following  persons  were  very  enthusi- 
astic in  the  building  of  the  church  :  Milton  Woolen, 
George  G.  F.  Boswell,  Wilson  Hartsock,  Moses 
Winters,  and  Moses  Dunn.  The  following  were  the 
ministers  in  the  frame  church,  viz. :  John  S.  Gilles- 
pie, Michael  White,  Madison  Hume, Stewart, 

and  Josiah  H.  Razor.  About  the  year  1860  the 
congregation  abandoned  the  church  on  the  Woolen 
land  and  went  to  the  town  of  Lawrence,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  thereafter  held  their  meetings  in  the  school- 
house.  A  portion  of  the  time  they  were  without  a 
meeting-place  and  without  a  pastor.  In  the  year 
1872  the  present  brick  edifice  was  erected  in  Robin- 
son &  Co.'s  addition  to  Lawrence,  and  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  Pendleton  road  from  old  Lanesville. 
When  the  congregation  occupied  the  new  brick  it 
had  but  five  members  that  belonged  to  the  church 
when  its  meetings  were  held  in  the  old  frame  on  the 
Woolen  farm.  The  new  brick  was  dedicated  in  the 
year  1875,  the  Rev.  John  S.  Gillespie  preaching 
the  dedicatory  sermon.  The  Rev.  R.  N.  Harvey  has 
been  the  pastor  for  eight  years,  and  is  in  charge  at 
the  present  time. 

The  Third  Regular  Baptist  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  on  Fall  Creek,  was  organized  on  Saturday, 
July  28,  1838,  when  the  following  delegates  from  the 
churches  named  met  in  council  at  the  residence  of 
Madison  Webb,  on  the  "correction  line,"  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  west  of  Fall  Creek,  and  constituted  them- 
selves a  regular  Baptist  Church,  viz. :  T.  Woolen, 
from  Indianapolis ;  Elder  Madison  Hume,  Thomas 
Oliphant,  and  David  Stoops,  from  Crooked  Creek ; 
Harris  Tyner,  John  Griffis,  and  John  Perry,  from 
Pleasant  Run,  and  adopted  articles  of  faith  and  a 
constitution,  and  the  following  persons  declared  mem- 


bers of  a  legally  constituted  regular  Baptist  Church, 
viz. :  John  Gillman  and  Mary,  his  wife,  Madison 
Webb,  Elijah  Webb,  Nancy  Morrison,  and  Elizabeth 
Hardin.  Madison  Hume  was  chosen  moderator  at 
the  organization,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for 
eight  years  and  six  months,  and  Madison  Webb  was 
selected  at  the  same  time  as  clerk,  and  served  for 
seventeen  years,  until  his  death.  John  Gillman  was 
the  first  deacon.  The  church  held  regular  services 
once  per  month,  as  follows:  from  July,  1838,  to 
August,  1842,  and  from  September,  1843,  to  April, 
1857,  on  the  third  Saturday  in  each  month ;  from 
August,  1842,  to  September,  1843,  on  the  fourth 
Saturday  in  each  month  ;  and  from  April,  1857,  to 
the  disorganization,  on  the  first  Saturday  in  each 
month. 

The  church  held  its  meetings  at  the  residences  of 
many  of  its  members,  but  principally  at  Madison 
Webb's,  until  1844,  when  the  congregation  built  a 
hewedlog  house,  costing  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
dollars  and  seventy-three  cents.  It  was  erected  on 
top  of  the  Johnson  Hill,  on  the  land  now  owned  by 
John  E.  Myles,  and  the  members  of  the  church  wor- 
shiped there  until  the  dissolution  of  the  church  in 
1859.  Madison  Webb  and  Jesse  Herrin  contributed 
sixty-seven  dollars  and  twenty-four  dollars  respectively ; 
said  sums  being  more  than  one-half  of  the  building 
funds.  Madison  Webb,  Jesse  Herrin,  and  Robert 
Stoops  were  the  first  trustees.  The  membership  of 
the  church  increased  rapidly  from  the  first  organiza- 
tion. At  one  time  there  were  ninety  names  on  the 
roll. 

In  July,  1842,  the  church  connected  themselves 
with  the  Indianapolis  General  Association.  From 
June,  1851,  till  May,  1853,  the  church  was  without  a 
pastor.  However,  W.  M.  Davis,  of  Bloomington, 
and  John  Jones,  of  Stilesville,  preached  twice  each. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  pastors  of  the  church 
from  date  of  organization,  with  time  of  service :  Mad- 
ison Hume,  8i  years;  E.  B.  Smith,  2  years;  Michael 
White,  2  years;  J.  S.  Gillespie,  2  years;  H.  Keeler, 
1  year;  D.  S.  Cothren,  1  year;  E.  B.  Tomlinson,  1 
year ;  and  R.  Vickers,  1  year. 

On  the  first  Saturday  in  October,  1859,  the  church 
was  dissolved  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  members. 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


575 


giving  as  their  reason  that  the  church  was  scattered 
and  discouraged,  and  unable  "  to  have  preaching  and 
keep  up  necessary  expenses."  Letters  of  dismissal 
were  granted  to  those  who  wished  them,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  when  the  house  ceased  to  be  used  for  a 
good  purpose  that  it,  together  with  the  furniture,  be 
sold,  and  the  proceeds  divided  equally  between  those 
accepting  letters  of  dismissal.  On  Saturday,  March 
30,  1861,  the  meeting  house  and  contents  was  sold  by 
the  trustees.  Afterwards  the  house  was  rented  and 
occupied  as  a  dwelling-house,  and  finally  became  a 
rendezvous  for  disreputable  characters  of  both  sexes. 
They  were  notified  by  a  gathering  of  more  than  one 
hundred  persons  to  vacate  the  premises,  and  refusing 
to  do  so,  the  citizens  met  at  night,  stoned  the  building, 
smashed  in  the  windows,  and  battered  down  the  door. 
They  still  refused  to  leave,  so  one  dark  night  about 
1861  some  unknown  person  set  fire  to  the  building, 
and  it  was  totally  destroyed. 

The  Oakland  Universalist  Church  was  organized 
in  1850,  with  twenty-five  members.  A  frame 
church  was  built  the  same  year,  and  during  the 
summer  of  1875  the  present  brick  structure  was 
erected.  The  present  membership  is  about  one  hun- 
dred.    The  following  have  been  regular  pastors  since 

the  organization  : Longley,  1  year ; Oyler, 

1   year;  W.  W.  Curry,  2   years;  Babcock,   1 

year ;  Mitchell,  8  or  9  years ;    B.  F.  Foster,  1 

year;  Adams,  1  year;    William   Chaplain,  1 

year ;  Cronley,  1  year ;  Adams,  1  year. 

The  following  itinerant  preachers  have  preached  at 
the  church  at  divers  times,  viz.,  Revs.  Kidwell  and 
J.  D.  Williamson.  The  church  is  without  a  regu- 
lar pastor  much  of  the  time.     The  first  trustees  were 

Charles  McConnell,  J.  N.  Reddick,  and  Mc- 

Cord. 

This  denomination  has  the  finest  and  best  church 
building,  the  largest  membership,  and  is  in  the  most 
flourishing  condition  in  every  particular  of  any  in 
the  township. 

The  first  Universalist  society  was  formed  in  the 
township  about  the  year  18IJ8. 

Aged  People  of  the  Township. — In  the  year 
1883  the  following  persons  over  seventy  years  of  age 
resided  in   the  township,  viz. :  William  Horton,  of 


Oakland,  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  is  the 
oldest,  being  102;  Lewis  Griffith,  87;  Edmund 
Newhouse,  85 ;  Solomon  Bowers,  86  ;  David  Clare, 
83  ;  Jacob  Kesselring,  85  ;  Benjamin  Newhouse,  86  ; 
Jeremiah  Vanlaningham,  85 ;  Robert  White,  82 ; 
Jesse  Herrin,  83;  Elisha  Reddick,  86;  John  Tate, 
80 ;  S.  W.  Crutchfield,  73  ;  Daniel  Fox,  70  ;  Charles 
Faucett,  74 ;  John  Hughes  (colored),  73 ;  George 
Klepfer,  77 ;  Jonah  F.  Lemon,  72 ;  Simeon  Mock, 
70  ;  Granville  Morgan,  77 ;  John  Newhouse,  76 ; 
William  Perry,  72 ;  John  Plummer,  73 ;  Samuel 
Plummer,  78  ;  John  Smith,  73 ;  Andrew  Smith,  78  ; 
William  S.  Thomas,  77;  John  T.  Thomas,  78; 
Clark  Wait,  70. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

PERRY    TOWNSHIP.i 

The  township  of  Perry  (so  named  in  honor  of 
Commodore  Oliver  Hazard  Perry)  is  the  central  one 
of  the  southern  tier  of  townships  of  Marion  County, 
being  bounded  on  the  west  by  Decatur  township,  on 
the  north  by  Centre,  on  the  east  by  Franklin  town- 
ship, and  on  the  south  by  Johnson  County.  The 
principal  stream  (and  the  only  one  of  any  importance) 
in  the  township  is  White  River,  which  flows  in  a 
general  south-southwesterly  direction,  and  forms  the 
entire  western  boundary  of  this  township  against 
that  of  Decatur.  Several  inconsiderable  tributaries  of 
White  River  flow  in  westerly  and  southwesterly  courses 
through  Perry,  among  them  being  Buck  and  Lick 
Creeks,  which  have  become  a  little  more  noted  than 
other  unimportant  streams  of  this  region  from  the 
fact  that  early  churches  were  built  near  them  and 
received  their  names.  The  lands  of  this  township 
are  bottom,  second  bottom,  and  uplands,  the  latter 
in  many  places  rising  into  undulations.  In  nearly 
all  parts  of  the  township  the  soil  is  excellent,  well 
adapted  for  purposes  of  agriculture,  and  yields  an 
abundant  return  to  the  farmer  for  labor  bestowed 
upon  it.  The  population  of  Perry  township  in  1880 
was  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-eight,  as 

1  By  Dr.  William  H.  Wishard. 


576 


HISTORY      OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


shown  by  the  returns  of  the  United  States  census 
taken  in  that  year. 

Perry  township  was  laid  off  and  erected  by  order 
of  the  cwnty  commissioners  of  Marion  County  on 
the  16th  of  April,  1822,  and  on  the  same  day  and 
by  order  of  the  same  board  it  was  joined  with  Deca- 
tur and  Franklin,  the  three  to  be  regarded  tempora- 
rily as  one  township,  for  the  reason  that  none  of  the 
three  were  then  suflSciently  populous  for  separate  or- 
ganization. This  union  continued  till  Aug.  12, 1823, 
when  the  commissioners  ordered  Perry  to  be  stricken 
off  and  separately  organized.  Then  Perry  and  Frank- 
lin continued  united  until  May  12,  1824,  when  the 
same  action  was  taken  with  regard  to  Franklin,  thus 
leaving  Perry  a  separate  and  independent  township. 

When  Perry  township  was  laid  out  by  the  com- 
missioners in  1822  its  west  line  was  a  prolongation 
of  the  present  line  between  Centre  and  Wayne,  thus 
giving  to  Decatur  township  a  large  triangular  strip 
of  land  lying  east  of  White  River,  and  now  included 
in  Perry.  This  original  west  line  remained  undis- 
turbed until  Jan.  7,  1833,  when,  upon  petition  of 
certain  citizens  of  Decatur  township  living  east  of 
the  river,  the  commissioners  ordered  "  that  all  the 
part  of  Decatur  township  lying  on  the  east  side  of 
White  River  shall  be  attached  to  and  hereafter  form 
a  part  of  Perry  township,"  thus  permanently  estab- 
lishing the  river  boundary. 

Following  is  a  list  of  township  officers  of  Perry 
township  from  its  formation  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE. 
Peter  Harmonson,  June  28,  1822,  to  June  6,  1827. 
Henry  D.  Bell,  Jan.  3,  1824,  to  April  18,  1828. 
Thomas  Carle,  April  30,  1828,  to  May,  1831;  died. 
Peyton  Bristow,  Nov.  3,  ^829,  to  July  4,  1834;  resigned. 
Thomas  McFarland,  June  18,  1831,  to  Jan.  6,  1834;  resigned. 
Jacob  Smock,  Feb.  21,  1834,  to  Feb.  21,  18.39. 
George  Tomlinson,  Oct.  18,  1834,  to  Oct.  18,  1839. 
John  Myers,  April  6,  1839,  to  April  6,  1844. 
George  Tomlinson,  Deo.  7,  1839,  to  Deo.  7,  1844. 
John  Myers,  May  25,  1844,  to  May  25,  1849. 
George  Tomlinson,  Jan.  15,  1845,  to  Jan.  15,  1850. 
John  Smith,  May  25,  1849,  to  May  25,  1858. 
Thomas  C.  Smock,  Jan.  15,  1850,  to  ,Tan.  15,  1855. 
Thomas  J.  Todd,  June  2,  1854,  to  June  2,  1862. 
William  H.  Boyd,  Jan.  15,  1S55,  to  Feb.  26,  1857;  resigned. 
Garret  List,  April  28,  1857,  to  April  18,  1861. 


Thomas  N.  Thomas,  May  26,  1858,  to  1864. 
John  W.  Riley,  June  4,  1861,  to  March  18,  1864;  resigned. 
James  Gentle,  June  2,  1862,  to  April  1,  1863;  resigned. 
Thomas  C.  Smock,  April  22,  1863,  to  April  22,  1871. 
John  Myers,  Nov.  14,  1864,  to  July  20,  1882;  died. 
John  W.  Thompson,  Nov,  15,  1864;  removed. 
William  T.  Curd.  April  13,  1867,  to  April  13,  1871. 
Samuel  Royster,  April  13,  1871,  to  Feb.  27,  1872;  resigned. 
Joseph  Henricks,  June  14,  1871,  to  March  16, 1872;  resigned. 
William  T.  Curd,  Oct.  21,  1872,  to  Feb.  4,  1875;  died. 
George  Isaac  Tomlinson,  March  25,  1875,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Isaac  N.  Stackhouse,  July  6,  1877,  to  April  9,  1878. 
Samuel  C.  Ferguson,  April  9,  1878,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Levi  A.  Hardesty,  Oct.  15,  1879,  to    Oct.  30,  1884. 

TRUSTEES. 
John  McCollum,  April  9,  1859,  to  April  18,  1863. 
Robert  M.  Stewart,  April  18,  1863,  to  Sept.  8,  1865. 
James  Gentle,  Sept.  16,  1865,  to  April  18,  1868. 
John  E.  Griffith.  April  18,  1868,  to  June  3,  1871. 
James  Gentle,  Juno  3,  1871,  to  Oct.  8,  1872. 
Elbert  F.  Norwood,  Oct.  8,  1872,  to  Oct.  26,  1874. 
Charles  Larsh,  Oct.  26,  1874,  to  Oct.  20,  1876. 
William  R.  Wycoff,  Oct.  20,  1876,  to  April  10,  1880. 
John  S.  Morford,  April  10,  1880,  to  April  14,  1884. 

ASSESSORS. 
George  L.  Kinnard,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
David  Marrs,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  4,  1830. 
Thomas  McFarland,  Jan.  4,  1830.  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
William  H.  Bristow,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
Samuel  Alexander,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  6,  1834. 
William  H.  Bristow,  Jan.  6,  1834,  to  May  5,  1835. 
George  Tomlinson,  May  5,  1835,  to  March  7,  1836. 
Jonathan  Barrett,  March  7,  1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
George  Tomlinson,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  1,  1838. 
Thomas  N.  Thomas,  Jan.  1,  1838,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Jonathan  Barrett,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
Samuel  Alexander,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Thomas  N.  Thomas,  Jan.  4, 1841,  to  Dec.  6, 1841. 
John  P.  Fisher,  Deo.  8, 1852,  to  Nov.  21, 1854. 
Isaac  M.  Todd,  Nov.  21,  1854,  to  Dec.  9,  1856. 
James  Tharp,  Dec.  9, 1856,  to  Oct.  13,  1860. 
Archibald  Glenn,  Oct.  13,  1860,  to  Nov.  4, 1862. 
John  P.  Fisher,  Nov.  4, 1862,  to  Nov.  19,  1870. 
Marion  Kelly,  Nov.  19, 1870,  to  Nov.  20,  1872. 
David  M.  Fisher,  Nov.  20, 1872,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Samuel  C.  Ferguson,  March  27, 1875,  to  Dec.  2,  1876. 
John  S.  Morford,  Dec.  2,  1876,  to  April  10, 1880. 
Wooster  D.  Cleaver,  April  10,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
George  C.  Thompson,  April  14,  1882,  to  April  14, 1884. 

In  the  west  part  of  Perry  township  the  first  set- 
tlers were  Henry  Riddle,  his  brother-in-law,  William 
Kinnick,  Peter    Harmonson,  and    his    brother,  who 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


577 


came  in  November  or  December,  1821.  They  did 
not  enter  land,  being  merely  squatters.  Riddle  built 
his  cabin  on  the  Vincennes  trace,  which  led  from 
Indianapolis  to  the  BlufiFs  of  White  River.  His 
location  was  on  the  south  side  of  Buck  Creek,  and 
east  of  the  present  Bluff  road.  The  Harmonsons 
located  on  the  west  side  of  the  trace,  and  on  the 
north  side  of  Buck  Creek.  Their  cabins  were  the 
only  dwellings  that  there  were  at  that  time  between 
Indianopolis  and  the  Bluffs  of  the  White  River, 
where  Waverly  now  stands. 

There  were  a  number  of  other  settlements  made 
during  the  year  1822.  The  first  of  these  other  set- 
tlements was  made  on  Pleasant  Run,  directly  south 
of  Glenn's  Valley,  the  settlers  being  Archibald 
Glenn,  John  Murphy,  and  John  Smart.  The  first 
two  located  precisely  on  the  line  between  Marion  and 
Johnson  County,  and  Smart  on  the  Marion  side  of 
the  line,  the  land  belonging  to  Hezakiah  Smart,  his 
brother  (who  had  entered  the  land  some  time  before), 
and  adjoining  the  land  of  Glenn  and  Murphy.  This 
settlement  was  made  in  October,  1822,  and  at  about 
the  .same  time,  or  a  little  later,  there  came  a  colored 
family-  and  located  on  land  which  now  belongs  to 
Archibald  Glenn,  it  being  at  the  crossing  of  Pleasant 
Run  and  the  Bluff  road,  south  of  the  run  and  west 
of  the  road.  They  were  Mark  Harris,  a  bachelor 
and  the  owner  of  the  land  f  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres),  and  his  brother  Daniel  and  family,  a  wife  and 
five  children.  They  came  from  Ohio,  and  were  the 
first  colored  family  in  the  township,  and  perhaps  in 
the  county. 

John  Smart  was  a  cripple,  his  left  arm  being 
lame,  but  he  cleared  between  four  and  five  acres  of 
ground  the  first  winter,  leaving  the  logs  on  the 
ground,  merely  trimming  off  the  brush,  which  he 
burnt,  and  having  no  horse  of  his  own,  he  hired 
Mark  Harris  to  lay  off  the  ground,  which  Harris  did 
with  a  shovel-plow,  marking  it  (not  plowing  at  all) 
off  in  furrows  about  four  feet  wide,  jumping  the  logs. 
The  corn  was  cultivated  with  nothing  but  a  hoe,  and 
the  sacks  in  which  it  was  carried  to  mill  and  the 
clothing  which  they  had  were  made  from  nettles 
gathered  and  prepared  by  Mrs.  Smart.  Crippled  as 
he  was.  Smart  in  a  few  years  became  the  possessor  of 


eighty  acres  of  land,  part  of  which  is  in  the  present 
village  of  Glenn's  Valley,  and  now  occupied  by  his 
son,  Hezekiah  Smart. 

About  a  mile  north  of  this  settlement,  on  the  six- 
teenth or  school  section,  there  settled  a  colony,  com- 
ing from  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  consisting  of  three 
or  four  families, — James  Martin  and  family,  his 
brother-in-law,  Samuel  Smith,  and  family,  Smith's 
son-in-law,  William  Stallcop,  and  Stallcop's  brother. 
Martin  did  not  settle  permanently  on  tihis  section, 
but  soon  after  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  half  a 
mile  north  of  his  temporary  location. 

At  about  the  same  time  that  the  above  settlers 
came  in  John  Myers  located  on  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  9,  which  he  and  his 
brother  Henry,  mentioned  below,  had  entered,  it 
being  the  section  just  north  of  the  school  section, 
and  Peyton  Bristow,  who  had  been  here  in  the  sum- 
mer and  put  up  a  cabin,  now  returned  (it  being  in 
the  first  part  of  December),  and  settled  permanently 
on  what  was  called  Bristow's  Hill,  six  miles  south 
of  the  city,  on  the  east  of  the  Bluff  road,  which  had 
then  just  been  laid  out.  John  and  Israel  Watts, 
with  Benson  Miner,  from  Whitewater,  settled  east  of 
Myers,  in  the  same  section,  David  Fisher  being  the 
present  owner  of  one  of  the  farms,  and  Isaac  Sutton 
of  the  other.  This  last-named  settlement  was  made 
most  probably  in  the  spring  of  1823,  as  were  also  a 
number  of  others,  all  so  near  the  same  time  that  it  is 
difficult  to  tell  their  order.  Among  these  settlers 
was  Zachariah  Lem.xster,  who  settled  on  the  hill, 
known  among  the  pioneers  as  Lemaster's  Hill,  on 
the  north  side  of  Lick  Creek,  and  east  of  the  Bluff 
road,  his  cabin  making  the  fourth  between  the  city 
and  Johnson  County  line,  on  this  road,  the  first 
cabin  built  being  Henry  Riddle's,  the  second,  Har- 
monson's,  then  Bristow's  and  Lemaster's,  this  being 
also  the  order  in  which  they  would  be  passed  coming 
towards  the  city  of  Indianapolis. 

Another  settler  was  Martin  Bush,  who  located  on 
the  south  side  of  Buck  Creek,  near  its  mouth,  he 
being  the  first  settler  on  White  River  in  this  town- 
ship. Joseph  and  Benjamin  Snow  located  respec- 
tively on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  34  and  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section    27,    in   township  15, 


578 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


range  3.  Larkin.  John,  and  Henry  Mundy,  and 
their  father,  with  their  brother-in-law,  Henry  Myers, 
and  Emanuel  Glimpse,  and  others, — among  whom 
were  the  Stevens  family, — located  north  of  the 
school  section,  between  the  Bluff  road  and  the  river, 
Watts  and  Glimpse  being  in  the  second  bottom- 
land, and  the  others  were  in  the  first.  From  the 
north  side  of  section  9  to  Lake  Creek  was  a  section 
which  was  afterwards  known  as  Waterloo,  and  had 
an  unenviable  reputation,  a  number  of  the.se  settlers 
being  squatters  on  government  lands. 

Thomas  Wilson  was  the  next  to  settle  on  the  Bluff 
road,  his  cabin  being  first  on  the  east  side,  and  after- 
wards on  the  west,  the  road  having  been  so  changed 
as  to  accomplish  this,  his  being  the  next  cabin  built 
between  Harmonson's  and  Bristow's. 

Going  back  to  the  year  1822,  when  a  settlement 
was  made  on  the  north  side  of  the  township,  on  the 
line  of  the  present  Three-Notch  road,  gives  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  Rev.  Henry  Brenton,  with  his 
ward,  George  Tomlinson,  his  brother,  Robert  Brenton, 
and  Adam  Pense,  who,  though  he  did  not  come  with 
the  Brentons,  settled  there  at  about  the  same  time. 
Robert  Brenton  settled  in  Centre  township,  on  land 
immediately  south  of  Pleasant  Run,  and  extending 
from  the  Three-Notch  line  to  the  Bluff  road.  Henry 
Brenton  first  settled  on  land  a  half-mile  south  of  the 
township  line  and  on  the  east  side  of  the  Three-Notch 
line,  but  about  two  years  afterwards  he  moved  south 
to  land  on  the  south  side  of  Lick  Creek  and  same 
side  of  the  road.  Pense  settled  on  the  ijorth  side  of 
the  creek,  just  across  from  where  Henry  Brenton 
afterwards  located;  and  just  across  the  road  from 
Pense.  late  in  the  fall  or  in  the  next  spring  (that  of 
1823),  Samuel  True  settled  with  his  son  Isaac. 
\  About  1825  or  1826  he  put  up  a  frame  house,  the 

first  in  the  township,  and  which  is  yet  standing. 

One  half-mile  south  of  Lick  Creek,  and  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Three-Notch  line,  as  it  was  called 

then,  was   the  place  of   location  of  Bowser ; 

and  on  the  same  road,  on  the  south  side  of  Buck 
Creek,  was  the  land  of  David  Marrs,  whose  cabin, 
however,  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  road. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  give  an  explanation  of 
how  this  road  came  to  be  so  named.     In  laying  out 


the  road  there  were  three  notches  cut  in  the  trees 
which  marked  the  line  of  the  survey,  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  Bluff  road,  on  the  west,  and  the  Madison 
road,  on  the  east ;  and  it  was  also  on  the  section  line, 
hence  the  name  Three-Notch  line. 

Going  south  on  this  road  and  coming  down  a  little 
later  in  time,  there  was  the  settlement  of  the  Dab- 
neys,  Samuel,  James,  and  John,  with  their  brother- 
in-law,  John  Smith,  on  the  west  side  of  the  road, 
and  the  land  commencing  a  half-mile  south  of  the 
road  running  from  Southport  to  White  River.  Just 
south  of  this  road  and  on  the  east  side  of  the  Three- 
Notch  line  were  the  cabins  of  Samuel  True,  Jr., 
and  Glidden  True,  who  were  just  married,  and  had 
come  out  with  their  father,  Samuel  True. 

We  have  now  to  go  back  to  the  spring  of  the  year 
1821,  when  some  squatter,  name  unknown,  located 
on  land  on  the  north  side  of  Lick  Creek,  and  through 
which  the  Shelbyville  road  now  runs,  being  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  township.  This  person  had 
succeeded  in  clearing  a  small  space  and  raising  a  small 
crop  of  corn  by  September,  at  which  time  the  land 
and  crop  were  purchased  by  John  Graham.  This 
place  and  that  of  Henry  Riddle  were  the  two  first 
improvements  in  the  township.  Just  across  the  creek 
on  the  south  side  was  the  place  of  the  Widow  White, 
who,  with  her  two  sons,  Milton  and  Woodford,  set- 
tled there  the  following  year  (1822).  On  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  Shelbyville  road  from  the  Whites 
was  the  farm  of  Jacob  Coughman,  who  arrived  the 
following  fall  or  the  next  spring,  and  just  west  of 
them  was  David  Small,  who  came  thi.s  year  or  the  fall 
of  1822,  and  southwest  of  him  was  Henry  D.  Bell, 
who  had  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  143,  and 
who  came  about  the  same  time.  There  was  a  tran- 
sient squatter  or  two  between  Bell's  and  Abraham  ^ 
Lemaster's,  who  settled  about  the  same  time,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  south  of  the  present  town  of  South- 
port.  Jacob  Smock  was  next  to  settle,  occupying  the 
farm  immediately  north  of  Southport  and  east  of  the 
railroad,  he  and  Lemaster  coming  probably  in  the 
spring  of  1823.  This  same  year  Peter  Canine 
located  on  the  line  of  the  present  railroad  and  north 
of  Lick  Creek,  on  the  Bluff.  Henry  Alcorn  settled 
on  the  farm  where  Henry  Riddle  had  squatted,  and 


PERRY    TOWNSHIP. 


579 


had  entered  the  place  in  1821.  These  settlements 
are  all  that  can  be  positively  located,  both  as  to  time 
and  place,  who  came  before  the  year  1824.  During 
this  year  and  the  following  there  was  a  very  consider- 
able immigration,  and  the  following  settlements  were 
made:  Samuel  Brewer,  on  the  hill,  west  side  of  Madi- 
son road,  north  of  Buck  Creek,  who  came  in  1825  ; 
Noah  Wright,  on  the  east  side  of  Madison  road  and 
south  of  Lick  Creek ;  Simon  Smock,  east  side  of  Madi- 
son road,  just  over  the  line  from  Centre,  his  brother-in- 
law,  Lawrence  De  Mott,  just  east  of  him,  the  farms 
adjoining.  Immediately  west  of  Smock,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Three-Notch  line,  were  John  McFall  and 
sons, — John,  Benjamin,  and  David, — and  just  across 
the  road  from  him  was  George  Marquis.  About  a 
mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  Southport  was  a  small 
colony,  Isaac  Coonfield,  with  his  sons,  John  and  James, 
his  son-in-law,  Archibald  Clark,  with  his  brother, 
Obadiah  Clark,  and  northeast  of  these,  on  the  present 
Churchman  pike,  were  John  Thompson  and  William 
Huey.  These  are  about  all  the  permanent  settlers 
who  came  this  year,  1824,  but  there  were  others 
whose  names  are  not  known  who  stayed  but  a  year  or 
so.  This  same  thing  happened  every  year,  as  there 
was  an  almost  constant  moving  around.  This  being 
caused  by  the  way  the  land  was  farmed.  A  man 
entering  land  and  then  sending  some  one  here  to  put 
up  a  cabin,  or  leasing  it  to  some  one,  who  put  up  a 
cabin  and  stayed  a  short  time,  selling  the  lease  to  some 
one  else,  and  thus  a  large  part  of  the  settlers  were 
only  transient.  The  permanent  settlers  of  the  years 
1825  and  1826  are  given  as  near  in  the  order  of  their 
arrival  as  is  known,  and  are  as  follows:  David  Fisher 
(at  whose  house  the  Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church  was 
organized),  on  the  north  side  of  the  Churchman  pike, 
east  side  of  the  township ;  James  Turner,  and  his 
brother  Jacob,  west  of  James,  on  the  Shelbyville  pike, 
northeast  of  Southport;  Thomas  Bryant,  just  west 
of  Jacob  Turner,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Shelby- 
ville pike,  directly  north  of  Southport ;  John  Brewer, 
with  his  family,  about  half  a  mile  east  of  Southport ; 
Andrew  Mann,  on  Buck  Creek,  south  side,  next  to 
Franklin  township  ;  Stephen  Hankins,  with  his  family, 
half  a  mile  east  of  the  Madison  road,  north  side  of 
Lick  Creek  ;  Bphraim  Arnold,  near  tne  Lick  Creek 


Church  ;  Archibald  Bruce,  immediately  east  of  Henry 
Alcorn ;  Charles  and  Elijah  McBride,  with  their 
father,  on  the  Bluff  road,  west  side,  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  north  of  Glenn's  Valley  :  Samuel  Brewer,  west 
side  Madison  road,  north  side  of  Buck  Creek  ;  Purnell 
Coverdill,  two  or  two  and  a  half  miles  northeast  of 
Southport ;  Jeremiah  Featherston  and  family,  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  southeast  of  Southport ;  Benjamin 
McFarland,  the  first  man  who  practiced  medicine 
that  settled  in  the  township,  and  his  two  sons,  Samuel 
and  William,  and  soon  after  him  his  son-in-law, 
John  McCollum,  near  Lick  Creek,  east  side  of  the 
township ;  Jloses  Orme,  on  the  Three-Notch  line, 
next  to  Johnson  County  ;  Lambert  Saulter,  with  his 
two  sons.  Garret  and  Elijah,  and  Page  Rawlings, 
about  one  mile  and  a  half  southeast  of  Southport ; 
Samuel  Woodfield,  five  miles  south  of  town,  on  the 
east  of  the  Bluff  road ;  Charles  Neighbors  and  Scipio 
Sedgwick,  on  adjoining  land  to  Woodfield,  Neighbors 
being  just  west  of  him,  and  Sedgwick  south  of  Neigh- 
bors ;  Thomas  Richardson,  one-half  mile  north  of 
Southport,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Madison  road ; 
Rev.  John  Ritchie,  east  side  of  the  Bluff  road,  ad- 
joining the  Centre  township  line,  just  west  of  George 
Marquis ;  Noah  Wright,  on  the  east  side  of  Madison 
road,  south  bank  of  Lick  Creek  ;  William  Evans,  on 
the  south  side  of  Lick  Creek,  about  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  east  of  where  the  Madison  road  crosses  ;  James 
Hoagland,  with  his  sons,  Richard,  John,  and  Wil- 
liam, one  and  a  half  miles  southeast  of  Southport. 

About  this  time  William  Tracy,  his  son-in-law, 
Peggs,  and  his  brother,  John  Tracy,  settled  one  mile 
west  of  Southport,  south  side  of  the  present  gravel 
road.  Jacob  Peggs  is  still  living  at  Franklin,  Ind., 
about  ninety  years  old.  He  served  as  recorder  of 
Johnson  County  two  terms,  and  as  justice  of  the 
peace  in  the  same  county  several  terms,  and  was  the 
first  miller  at  Smock's  mill,  spoken  of  elsewhere.  On 
the  west  side  of  the  township  was  Silas  Rhoads,  who 
settled  just  across  the  road  from  Henry  Alcorn,  but 
he  remained  only  a  year  or  so,  leaving  in  1827,  and 
moving  to  the  Wabash ;  and  the  same  year  Alex- 
ander Clark,  after  whom  Clark  township,  Johnson 
County,  is  named,  moved  in,  and  after  remaining 
about  two  years'  moved  to  the  northeast  corner  of 


580 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MAEION    COUNTY. 


Johnson  County.  This  completes  the  list  of  what 
might  be  called  old  settlers,  those  at  least  who  were 
of  any  prominence,  there  being  others  whose  names 
are  not  known  and  who  remained,  as  a  rule,  but  a  year 
or  so,  and  did  not  generally  own  the  land. 

About  1827,  Isaac  Kelly  settled  one  half-mile 
north  of  Lick  Creek,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Three- 
Notch  line ;  William  McClain  on  the  north  side  of 
the  gravel  road,  one  mile  east  of  Southport ;  Jesse 
Dunn  on  the  north  side  of  Buck  Creek,  one  half- 
mile  west  of  where  the  Three-Notch  line  crosses  it; 
Benjamin  Harris  (a  tenant  only),  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  northwest  of  Southport;  William  Jones,  who 
came  in  1828,  and  was  the  first  Welshman,  two  miles 
west  of  Southport,  on  the  south  side  of  the  gravel 
road. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  those  who  were  settlers, 
and  who  either  remained  but  a  short  time  or  whose 
place  of  settlement  is  not  known :  Jesse  Admire, 
Henry  Brewer,  near  Southport ;  William  Brenton, 
east  of  Southport ;  Lewis  J.  Brown,  William  H.  P. 
and  James,  sons  of  Peyton  Bristow,  Isaac  and 
Edward  Brazelton,  near  the  centre  of  the  township  ; 
Allen  Bost,  Joel  Boling,  Richard  Berry,  Thomas 
Carle,  northeast  of  Southport  about  two  miles ; 
Nicholas  Cline,  James  Carson,  Henry  Coughman, 
Benjamin  Crothers,  Frederick  Disinger  (who  was 
very  probably  the  first  German  to  settle  in  the  town- 
ship), Abram  and  Peter  Ellis,  David  Fulson,  Moses 
Frazee,  Richard  Good  (the  first  Irishman  who  settled 
in  the  township),  William  Hall,  Jacob  Hill,  John 
Heist,  John  W.  Johnston,  John  M.  Johnson,  Wil- 
liam and  James  Johnson  (William  living  in  Water- 
loo), John  Jackson,  Thomas  Lewis  (one  mile  and  a 
half  southwest  of  Southport,  on  the  county  road  run- 
ning east  and  west,  the  farm  now  owned  by  the  widow 
of  Ezra  Smith),  Jacob  and  Ezariah  Mosely,  George 
McClain,  two  miles  west  of  Southport  on  the  county 
road ;  William  Mentieth,  William  and  James  Mc- 
Laughlin, in  the  northeast  side  of  the  township ; 
Smith  McFall,  Charles  Orme  (who  was  a  transient 
settler  only),  John  Parker,  a  United  Brethren  minis- 
ter, John  Reding,  Sr.,  Henry  Rammel,  John  Russell 
(one  half-mile  west  of  Southport,  north  side  of  Buck 
Creek),  Joseph  Rosenbarg,  Ephraim  Robinson  (who 


stayed  about  a  year),  William  Rice,  Thomas  Richard- 
son, a  half-mile  north  of  Southport,  east  side  of  the 
Madison  road ;  John  Seiburn  (at  whose  mother's 
house  the  first  Sunday-school  in  the  township  was 
organized,  one  mile  and  a  half  north  of  Southport, 
half-mile  east  of  the  Madison  road),  Thomas  Shelton, 
northwest  of  Southport,  on  the  north  bank  of  Buck 
Creek  ;  Frederic  Shultz,  Isaac  Senoney,  Daniel  Stack, 
James  Spillman,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town- 
ship ;  Francis  Sanders  (who  lived  to  be  over  ninety 
years  of  age),  one  mile  and  a  half  east  of  Glenn's 
Valley ;  Robert  Tomlinson,  southwest  of  Southport, 
north  side  of  the  road  ;  Thomas  Lewis,  Jacob  Tumes, 
John  Thompson,  Richard  Thomas,  George  Wright, 
one  half-mile  east  of  the  present  site  of  Centre 
Church  ;  Primrose  Yarbrough  (northeast  side  of 
township),  who  married  the  widow  of  James  Spill- 
man. 

Rev.  Henry  Brenton  came  from  Trimble  County, 
Ky.,  in  the  early  part  of  1822.  He  was  a  local 
Methodist  preacher  on  Sundays  and  a  farmer  during 
the  week  ;  there  being  constant  need  of  his  services, 
as  there  was  a  meeting  held  either  in  the  woods  or  in 
the  cabin  of  some  pioneer  nearly  every  Sunday.  He 
accomplished  much  in  the  field  he  had  adopted,  and 
was  a  pioneer  of  the  church,  as,  on  account  of  his 
solemn  and  earnest  presence,  he  was  called  upon  by 
the  settlers  of  Johnson  and  Morgan  Counties,  some- 
times riding  twenty  miles  to  perform  the  marriage 
ceremony  or  to  conduct  religious  services,  and  few 
that  saw  him  but  were  impressed  by  his  brevity  and 
earnestness.  He  had  his  own  peculiarities,  one  of 
which  was  that  he  always  prayed  with  his  eyes  open, 
and  when  remonstrated  with,  replied,  "We  are  com- 
manded to  watch  as  well  as  pray."  He  probably 
preached  at  more  funerals  and  solemnized  more  mar- 
riages than  any  other  pioneer  minister  in  the  county, 
for  which  latter  service  two  dollars  was  almost  invari- 
ably his  largest  fee.  He  died  at  his  home  on  the 
Three-Notch  line,  in  June,  1847,  nearly  seventy 
years  of  age,  and  was  buried  in  his  brother  Robert's 
family  cemetery,  on  the  Bluff  road  where  it  crosses 
Pleasant  Run. 

After  his  death  his  wife,  known  as  Aunt  Esther, 
and  family  moVed  to  Iowa.     Most  of  them  are  now 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


581 


dead,  his  wife  living  to  a  great  age  and  dying  but  a 
few  years  ago,  after  having  been  blind  some  ten  years. 
He  had  five  children, — James,  now  living  in  Iowa, 
Martha,  another  daughter,  Mary,  and  Thomas. 

Rev.  Greenup  Kelly  was  born  in  Estelle  County, 
Ky.,  and  licensed  and  ordained  as  a  Methodist  min- 
ister by  the  Kentucky  Conference.  A  young  man  of 
fine  promise  and  great  zeal  in  his  work,  but  his  health 
failing  him,  he  came  out  to  his  father,  Isaac  Kelly 
(who  had  settled  here  in  1827),  and  after  suffering  a 
couple  of  years,  died  of  consumption,  and  was  buried 
on  a  Sunday  in  December,  1830,  in  what  is  now 
known  as  Round  Hill  Cemetery,  then  known  as  the 
Camp  Ground  Graveyard,  it  being  the  place  of  the 
first  camp-meeting  in  the  county. 

The  Rev.  John  Belzer  was  the  only  New  Light 
minister  who  ever  settled  in  the  township.  His  father, 
and  brother  Phoenix,  settled  with  him  on  the  school 
section,  having  purchased  the  lease  of  the  Stallcops 
in  the  fall  of  1824,  having  a  blacksmith-shop  on  his 
farm.  He  organized  a  church  of  his  persuasion,  but 
it  was  a  rather  weak  one.  He  was  a  superior  man 
and  was  able  beyond  his  opportunities,  having  had 
but  little  education.  He  was,  in  fact,  an  excellent 
man.  In  the  fall  of  1828  he  removed  with  all  his 
family  to  Southern  Indiana. 

Rev.  John  Ritchie,  a  local  Methodist  minister, 
was  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  but  came  from  Ripley 
County,  this  State,  in  the  fall  of  1826.  He  was 
generally  known  as  "  Judge"  Ritchie,  having  been 
an  associate  judge.  He  was  a  large  man,  of  fine 
presence,  and  had  a  magnificently  formed  head,  was 
very  gifted,  and  though  hindered  by  lack  of  educa- 
tion, was  extraordinarily  eloquent,  and  most  forcible 
in  logic,  which  made  him  remarkable  and  honored, 
both  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  stump,  he  taking  part  in 
the  campaign  of  1840.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  most 
remarkable,  his  appearance  belying  his  abilities,  and 
when  he  entered  the  pulpit,  always  being  dressed  in 
home-made  jeans,  gave  rise  to  a  feeling  of  disappoint- 
ment, until  he  spoke,  when  the  audience  became 
spell-bound,  fascinated,  by  his  eloquence  and  earnest- 
ness, and  remained  so  until  the  last  word  was  ut- 
tered. He  died  Aug.  24,  1841,  and  was  buried  in 
what  '?  called  the  Lemaster's  family  burying-ground. 


His  children  were  Sally,  Drusilla,  Ann,  Jane,  James, 
Samuel,  Arnold,  Mary,  Eunice,  Adaline,  Lucinda, 
and  Lavina. 

Rev.  Abram  Smock,  a  Baptist  minister,  came  from 
Kentucky  in  the  fall  of  1825,  his  brother  John  having 
preceded  him  some  four  years,  returning  to  Kentucky 
for  him.  He  organized  the  first  Baptist  Church  in 
the  township,  at  the  house  of  David  Fisher,  in  the 
spring  of  1826.  He  was  pastor  of  this  church  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  also  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Indianapolis  from  December,  1826,  to  July,  1830, 
organizing  more  Baptist  churches  than  any  other  man 
in  the  county,  and  was  a  leading  minister  for  many 
years.  He  was  both  eloquent  and  impressive,  and 
in  his  work  zealous  and  fervent,  but  retired  from  the 
ministry  long  before  his  day  of  work  should  have 
ceased. 

The  Rev.  Jeremiah  Featherston,  a  pioneer  Baptist 
minister,  came  from  Kentucky.  He  was  a  mission- 
ary most  of  his  time,  never  having  a  church  of  his 
own.  He  was  a  zealous  and  upright  man.  He  died 
in  1865. 

Rev.  Monroe  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 

and  came  from  Pendleton  County,  Ky.,  in  1830, 
with  his  son  William,  who  settled  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  from  Southport  about  one  and  a  half  miles. 
He  lived  part  of  the  time  with  his  son  and  part  with 
his  son-in-law,  Joseph  Wallace.  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  Nov.  20,  1842,  he  was  eighty-seven  years  old, 
and  had  been  in  the  ministry  for  more  than  fifty 
years,  the  greater  portion  having  been  spent  in  Ken- 
tucky.    He  was  buried  in  the  Southport  Cemetery. 

Henry  Riddle  came  from  Roane  County,  N.  C., 
and  lived  in  the  township  but  a  little  while,  when  he 
removed  to  St.  Joseph  County,  Ind.,  where  he  died 
some  twenty  years  ago.  He  was  a  true  pioneer, 
never  allowing  civilization  to  but  just  reach  him, 
when  he  retreated  before  it.  He  had  but  a  small 
family.  He  was  very  popular,  and  universally  liked, 
so  much  so  that  if  there  happened  to  be  a  dispute  in 
his  neighborhood,  he  was  always  able  to  act  as  peace- 
maker. The  Harmonsons  were  old  neighbors  of  Rid- 
dle's, and  came  from  North  Carolina  very  probably 
with  him.  They  stayed  but  a  few  years,  and  then 
went  to  the  southern  part  of  this  State. 


582 


HISTOKY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Hezekiah  Smart  was  born  in  Nicholas  County, 
Ky.,  where  his  brother  John  was  also  born.  He 
was  married  in  1824  to  Margaret  Hinkston,  of  Har- 
rison County,  Ky.  John  was  married  in  1815  to 
Sally  Earls.  Hezekiah  came  to  the  township  in 
1823,  to  his  brother,  but  went  back  to  get  married, 
after  which  he  returned,  and  lived  here  until  Dec. 
25,  1867.  He  had  four  sons  and  five  daughters, 
who  all  lived  to  maturity, — Humphrey,  William, 
Martha,  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  Comfort  ,  Heze- 
kiah, and  Caroline.  His  wife  died  in  March,  1879. 
John  had  four  sons, — Hezekiah,  Samuel,  John,  and 
Joseph,  and  four  daughters, — -Susan,  Mary,  Eliza- 
beth, and  Sally.  He  died  in  1833.  His  wife  died 
in  1875.  Margaret,  Hezekiah's  wife,  was  a  leading 
member  and  worker  in  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
was  very  prominent  in  meetings  for  the  part  she  took 
in  prayer,  an  unusual  thing  for  women  of  that  day. 

Thomas  Carle  came  from  Kentucky  in  1825  or 
1826,  and  settled  in  the  angle  of  the  road,  two  miles 
north  of  Southport,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Shelby- 
villa  road,  a  half-mile  south  of  Lick  Creek.  He 
established  a  tan-yard  (the  second  in  the  township) 
the  year  he  came.  He  was  one  of  the  first  justices 
of  the  peace,  having  been  elected  in  1828,  and  died 
in  office,  in  March,  1831.  He  was  buried  on  his 
farm.  His  son,  Holman  Carle,  still  owns  the  old 
place,  but  lives  in  the  city. 

James  Martin,  an  early  settler,  died  in  1843, 
leaving  one  son  and  one  daughter. 

Samuel  Smith  lived  near  Glenn's  Valley  till  1839, 
when  he  moved  to  Johnson  County,  near  Greenwood, 
and  died  there  in  1834. 

John  Myers  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  moved 
to  Brown  County,  Ohio,  then  to  Whitewater  Valley, 
near  Brookville ;  remained  there  but  a  short  time, 
and  then  came  here  in  the  spring  of  1822  with  An- 
drew Wilson  (who  lived  in  Wayne  township)  and 
his  brother  Henry,  with  one  horse  for  all,  on  a  visit 
to  the  site  of  Indianapolis,  before  he  moved  out. 
Soon  after  he  married.  He  removed  with  his  wife 
and  a  few  household  goods,  and  when  his  goods  had 
been  unloaded  from  the  wagon  of  the  teamster  who 
had  hauled  them  out,  they  were  left  alone  in  a  dark 
forest,  with  his  nearest  neighbors,  Henry  Riddle  and 


the  Harmonsons,  a  mile  and  a  half  away.  It  was  a 
heavy,  unbroken  forest,  full  of  wild  beasts,  and  their 
first  night's  rest  was  much  disturbed  by  the  howling 
of  wolves  and  hooting  of  owls.  His  first  wife  died  in 
1850,  and  in  1852  he  married  the  widow  Comfort 
Hinkston,  who  is  still  living.  He  died  July  20, 
1882,  eighty-four  years  old.  He  served  as  justice  of 
the  peace  longer  than  any  man  in  the  county.  He 
was  a  successful  farmer,  and,  though  starting  with 
but  forty  acres,  left  an  estate  valued  at  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars.  He  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters. 
James  Madison,  his  eldest  son,  born  in  December, 
1822,  is  now  living,  the  oldest  resident  of  the  town- 
ship. His  son,  Vincent  Myers,  and  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Ed.  Thomas,  are  also  living. 

Martin  D.  Bush  came  here  from  Dearborn  County, 
Ind.,  in  the  fall  of  1822.  He  had  three  children- 
Ann,  Mary,  and  Henry — when  he  came.  His  wife 
was  a  sister  of  Col.  Eggleston.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  noted  for  their  hospitality  and  their  kind- 
ness to  the  sick  and  needy.  Their  daughter  Ann 
married  Frank  Merrill,  a  brother  of  Samuel  Merrill ; 
Mary  married  Amos  Sharpe,  brother  of  Thomas 
Sharpe  ;  and  Henry  married  a  Miss  Dryden.  Mary 
died  a  short  time  before  they  left,  and  the  remaining 
members  of  the  family  moved  in  the  spring  of  1853 
to  Northwestern  Missouri.  He  and  his  wife  died 
some  years  since  at  an  advanced  age.  Henry  and 
Ann  are  still  living. 

Henry  Alcorn  came  from  the  north  of  Ireland 
when  quite  a  young  man,  and  settled  in  Lexington, 
Ky.  He  moved  to  Ohio,  then  came  to  Indiana,  by 
Muncie  and  Strawtown,  to  Indianapolis,  prospecting 
in  1821,  and  then  entered  the  land  on  which  Henry 
Riddle  and  Peter  Harmonson  had  squatted.  He 
moved  to  Perry  in  1823.  His' wife  died  in  the 
winter  of  1829-30.  He  had  two  sons  and  three 
daughters, — Henry,  Melinda,  Joseph,  Elizabeth,  and 
Mary  Ellen.  He  married  again  in  1836,  to  Sally 
McClintock,  wlio  had  come  on  a  visit  to  her  brother 
Thomas.  Henry  Alcorn,  Jr.,  died  soon  after  his 
mother,  who  died  in  September,  1847,  in  Kentucky, 
having  returned  there  on  a  visit.  He  married  again 
in  1850,  and  his  third  wife  died  in  1863.  He  diad 
in  1875,  at  the  home  of  his  son-in-law,  Geon'e  List, 


PEKRY    TOWNSHIP. 


583 


who  married  his  daughter  Mary  Ellen.  His  oldest 
daughter  married  Garret  List.  He  was  eccentric  and 
stern,  and  a  prodigy  in  arithmetic  and  mathematics, 
having  had  a  very  liberal  education,  and  having  a 
remarkable  memory.  He  was  also  regarded  as  au- 
thority in  questions  of  history. 

Zaehariah  Lemaster  came  in  the  fall  of  1822  or 
1823  from  Kentucky.  He  married  a  Miss  Wright, 
and  died  about  1840,  and  left  a  widow  and  five  chil- 
dren,— two  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  youngest 
daughter  now  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 

Henry  Myers,  brother  of  John  Myers,  married  a 
Miss  Mundy,  and  came  here  in  1823.  About  1846 
-47  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  near  Peru,  Ind.  He 
was  an  earnest  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  a  man  of  unblemished  character.  He 
had  a  large  family. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Custard  came  to  this  township  in 
the  fall  of  1828  with  her  son-in-law,  David  Hinks- 
ton,  who  had  married  her  daughter  Comfort.  Her 
daughters, — -Eliza,  married  soon  after  Elijah  Mc- 
Bride ;  Margaret,  married  Larkin  Myers,  a  son  of 
Henry  Myers ;  Mary,  married  James  Tracy,  son  of 
John  Tracy  ;  and  Amanda,  married  Saulsbury  Jones, 
son  of  the  Welshman,  William  Jones.  They  came 
from  Harrison  County,  Ky,  and  purchased  land  on  the 
sixteenth  section  from  John  Belger.  Mrs.  Custard  is 
still  living  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Comfort  Myers, 
the  widow  of  the  late  John  Myers,  and  she  is  now 
the  oldest  person  in  the  county  who  was  a  pioneer, 
being  nearly  one  hundred  years  old. 

Peyton  Bristow  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  in 
Loudoun  County  the  29th  of  August,  1778,  his 
parents  being  natives  of  Wales.  His  father  died 
when  he  was  but  a  boy,  and  soon  after  his  mother 
started  with  the  family,  consisting  of  herself  and  ten 
children,  for  Kentucky.  Though  he  was  fourth  in 
the  family^  he  was  the  practical  head,  the  older  ones 
having  left  to  work  for  themselves.  In  the  wild 
forests  of  Kentucky  he  had  but  little  or  no  chance 
for  educatina;  himself,  and  very  little  education  did 
he  have.  He  was  married  on  the  16th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1802,  to  Miss  Mary  Price.  After  his  marriage 
he  settlcMl  on  a  "claim"  in  Greene  County,  Ky.,  after- 
wards Adair  County,  and  remained  until  the  fall  of 


1809,  when  he  sold  out  and  went  to  Preble  County, 
Ohio.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812,  though 
he  was  not  engaged  in  any  battles.  In  the  fall  of 
1821  he  sold  out,  and,  coming  to  this  township,  en- 
tered three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land.  He 
returned  to  Ohio  to  get  the  two  oldest  boys,  who 
were  to  help  him  build  the  cabin,  which  they  nearly 
completed,  wheq  the  father  and  the  younger  son 
again  returned  for  the  family,  leaving  the  elder  son 
to  finish  it ;  but  when  they  returned  they  found  that 
he  had  been  seriously  injured  by  a  falling  tree  a  day 
or  two  after  they  had  left,  and  the  cabin  was  no 
nearer  done  than  they  had  left  it.  This  was  about 
the  1st  of  February,  1822.  Soon  after  this  was  the 
first  township  election,  at  which  there  were  himself 
and  four  others, — Henry  Riddle,  Peter  Harmonson, 
William  Stallcop,  and  Elias  Stallcop.  He  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  from  Nov.  3,  1829,  to  July  4, 
1834,  from  which  he  acquired  the  title  of  "Squire." 
He  lived  a  hou.seholder  for  over  sixty-six  years,  and 
died  Feb.  10,  1869.  He  was  sternly  and  strictly 
honest,  and  liberal  in  his  views.  He  was  politically  a 
Democrat  and  religiously  a  Universalist.  His  own 
death  was  the  first  under  his  roof  His  wife  survived 
him  some  eighteen  months,  and  died  in  1870.  He 
had  thirteen  children, — William,  James,  Lucy,  Mar- 
garet, Sally,  Evans,  Cornelius,  Eliza,  Mary,  Martha, 
Powell,  Henry,  and  Alfred,  of  whom  four  or  five  are 
dead. 

Thomas  Bryan  came  in  1825  from  Kentucky,  and 
was  married  to  Miss  Saunders,  sister  of  Dr.  Saun- 
ders, formerly  of  Indianapolis.  He  helped  to  organize 
the  Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church.  He  had  two  sons, 
John  and  Samuel,  and  three  daughters.  John  died 
in  1840;  Samuel  is  still  living  in  Missouri;  Mrs. 
Samuel  Siebern  living  in  the  city;  Mrs.  Samuel  Mc- 
Farland  living  near  the  old  homestead ;  and  Mrs. 
James  McClelland  living  at  Franklin,  Ind.  Mrs. 
Bryan  died  in  1853;  Mr.  Bryan  in  1857.  Both  are 
buried  at  Southport.  The  children  of  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  Bryan  were  Samuel,  Julia,  Merlila,  John, 
and  Isabella. 

Luke  Bryan  was  born  in  Pendleton  County,  Ky., 
and  came  to  the  neighborhood  of  Southport  in  the 
fall  of  1828,  bringing  with  him  his  father  and  mother, 


584 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


of  whom  it  is  necessary  here  to  speak.  Samuel  and 
Mary  Bryan  were  the  companions  and  relatives  of 
Daniel  Boone,  the  famous  Kentucky  pioneer,  Samuel's 
mother  being  Daniel  Boone's  sister.  When  the  pio- 
neer started  from  North  Carolina,  in  1779,  for  the 
far-off  land  of  Kentucky,  Samuel  and  Mary  Bryan 
accompanied  him  and  his  wife  in  the  colony  which 
went  with  him.  Samuel  had  served  in  the  Conti- 
nental army,  and  was  married  just  before  starting. 
They  traveled  on  horseback  and  with  pack-horses. 
When  they  came  to  the  Cumberland  River  their  goods 
were  transported  on  a  raft,  and  Mrs.  Bryan,  being  in 
advance  of  the  other  women,  was  the  first  white  woman 
who  set  foot  north  of  the  Cumberland  River  in  Ken- 
tucky. This  colony  built  on  the  Elkhorn  what  was 
called  Bryant's  Station,  a  place  of  historic  note. 
There  or  in  the  vicinity  Thomas  and  Luke  Bryan, 
sons  of  Samuel,  were  born.  Luke,  after  he  came  to 
this  county,  married  a  Miss  Saunders,  another  sister 
of  Dr.  Saunders.  Samuel  Bryan  died  in  1837,  in 
the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age,  and  his  wife  died  in 
1840.  They  were  buried  on  the  farm  of  their  son 
Luke,  but  afterwards  taken  to  the  Southport  Ceme- 
tery, where  rest  two  of  those  pioneers  who  passed 
through  scenes  and  adventures  which  have  become 
historical ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  persons  more  noted  in 
pioneer  history  lie  buried  in  the  county. 

Luke  Bryan  lived  three-quarters  of  a  mile  north- 
east of  Southport,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Capt. 
Carson.  He  died  March  5,  1857,  and  his  remains 
lie  in  the  Southport  Cemetery.  The  children  of  Luke 
and  Mary  Bryan  were  Alphonso  H.,  Sarah,  Ethel- 
bert  W.,  Mary,  Dorcas  A.,  John  S.,  Joseph  M., 
James  W.,  and  Dr.  Thomas  N.  Bryan,  now  of  In- 
dianapolis. Only  one  other  of  the  sons  is  now 
living.  Their  mother  died  in  June,  1862,  in  Clay 
County,  111.,  whither  the  family  removed  after  Luke 
Bryan's  death. 

Thomas  C.  Smock  was  born  Dec.  31, 1808,  in  Mer- 
cer County,  Ky.,  and  removed  to  Indiana  in  1825,  in 
the  seventeenth  year  of  his  age,  making  his  home 
with  his  brother,  John  B.  Smock,  on  the  Madison 
road,  two  miles  south  of  Southport.  After  his 
twenty-first  year  (1829)  he  made  his  home  with  his 
mother,  Mrs.  Ann  Smock,  two  miles  north  of  South- 


port,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Madison  road.  In 
September,  1831,  he  married  Rachel  Brewer,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Brewer,  who  resided  one  mile  east  of 
Southport.  She  died  Sept.  21,  1838.  On  the  22d 
of  December,  1839,  he  married  Sarah,  youngest 
daughter  of  John  Smock,  who  settled  in  1821  on 
the  Madison  road,  on  the  south  bank  of  Pleasant 
Run,  one  mile  south  of  Indianapolis. 

From  his  first  marriage  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
June  25,  1877,  he  resided  on  the  same  farm,  one 
and  one-half  miles  north  of  Southport,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  gravel  road.  As  a  citizen  he  was  honored, 
having  served  several  terms  as  justice  of  the  peace 
for  Perry  township ;  as  a  husband  and  father  he 
was  a  pattern,  an  example  worthy  of  imitation ;  as 
a  neighbor,  and  in  all  the  qualities  that  make  a  good 
neighbor,  he  was  unexcelled,  as  all  will  bear  testi- 
mony, both  rich  and  poor.  Forty-six  years  of  his 
life  he  was  a  church  member,  earnest  and  faithful. 
For  more  than  thirty  years  he  was  a  Sabbath-school 
superintendent.  At  his  death  he  had  eight  children 
that  survived  him, — four  sons  and  four  daughters. 
His  second  wife  died  in  January,  1872.  He  left  to 
bis  family  a  noble  legacy, — a  character  without  spot 
or  blemish.  The  writer  of  this  knew  him  well  for 
fifty-two  years,  and  knows  whereof  he  has  written. 
His  remains  were  deposited  in  the  Southport  Ceme- 
tery.    Peace  to  his  memory  ! 

Simon  Smock  was  born  Oct.  8,  1792,  in  Mercer 
County,  Ky.  He  was  married  in  Kentucky,  and 
moved  to  Perry  township  in  1824.  He  settled  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Madison  road,  adjoining  the  north  line 
of  the  township,  on  the  road  from  Indianapolis  to 
Greenwood.  Of  the  early  pioneers  there  were  nine 
Smocks  and  three  Brewers  on  or  adjoining  the  road, 
and  it  was  a  common  saying,  "  If  you  meet  a  man  call 
him  Smock ;  if  he  fails  to  answer  call  him  Brewer, 
and  he  will  be  sure  to  answer."  There  was  a  colony 
of  Smocks  and  Brewers  moved  from  Kentucky,  set- 
tling on  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Madison  road, 
from  within  one  mile  of  Indianapolis  south  to  the 
south  line  of  the  county,  and  extending  into  Johnson 
County  two  miles.  As  early  settlers  the  Smocks 
and  Brewers  were  men  of  a  higher  order  for  enter- 
prise and  morality  than  the  average  emigrants  to  a 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


585 


new  country,  and  they  contributed  much  to  elevate 
the  tone  of  society  in  the  middle  and  eastern  part  of 
Perry  township.  Simon  Smock,  being  one  of  the 
eldest,  a  man  of  convictions,  and  not  afraid  to  stand 
by  his  convictions,  played  well  his  part  in  church 
and  society.  He  had  a  large  family,  but  was  cut 
down  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  manhood,  an  irreparable 
loss  to  his  church  and  his  family.  He  died  in  1854. 
Samuel  Brewer  was  born  in  Kentucky  ;  married 
to  p]llen  Smock,  also  a  native  of  Kentucky.  Soon 
after  his  marriage  he  emigrated  to  Indiana  and 
settled  in  Perry  township,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Madi.son  road,  on  the  north  bank  of  Buck  Creek. 
In  the  fall  of  1825  he  built  a  cabin,  commenced 
opening  a  farm,  and  started  a  blacksmith-shop.  Be- 
tween farming  and  blacksmithing  he  made  a  com- 
fortable living.  He  had  ten  children, — two  sons  and 
eight  daughters.  His  eldest  son.  Dr.  Abram  Brewer, 
entered  the  profession  of  medicine  and  made  an  able 
and  successful  physician.  His  health  failed  him  and 
he  retired  from  practice,  and  died  at  his  father's 
house  in  the  fall  of  1869.  The  youngest  son  died 
in  1851,  in  childhood.  Two  single  daughters  died 
in  early  life,  and  afterwards  two  others  (Mrs.  Jane 
Todd  and  Mrs.  Fanny  McCalpin).  Four  daughters 
are  still  living.  In  September,  1876,  his  wife  died, 
and  two  years  after  he  married  Mrs.  Grube,  a  widow 
lady  of  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Brewer  raised  a 
very  moral  and  upright  family.  He  has  some  pecu- 
liarities that  make  him  a  marked  man  in  his  neigh- 
borhood. He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  temperance  and 
anti-slavery  causes.  He  is  positive  in  his  character. 
When  he  takes  a  position  he  adheres  to  it  against  all 
opposition.  No  one  who  ever  knew  him  doubted  his 
fidelity  to  his  church  and  himself  These  are  the 
great  ruling  traits  in  his  character. 

The  Dabney  family  was  quite  numerous  in  Perry 
township.  They  emigrated  to  the  neighborhood 
from  Shelby  County,  Ky.,  in  1823  or  1824,  having 
formerly  come  from  the  State  of  Virginia  to  Ken- 
tucky. The  Dabney  family  was  and  is  to  this  day  a 
noted-  family  in  the  Old  Dominion.  These  were  a 
branch  of  the  same  family.  Samuel  Dabney  and 
wife,  with  three  sons  and  three  single  daughters  and 
his  son-in-law,  John  Smith,  all  settling  on  the  Three- 


Notch  line,  seven  or  eight  miles  south  of  Indianapolis. 
The  father  died  soon  afterwards.  John  Smith,  the 
soD-in-law,  was  in  after-years  elected  a  justice  of  the 
peace  for  Perry  township.  He  was  a  shrewd  and 
thrifty  farmer,  and  died  at  Greenwood  in  1861. 

The  sons  of  the  elder  Dabney  (Samuel,  James, 
and  John)  were  as  unlike  as  any  three  brothers 
could  be.  Samuel  lived  and  died  a  bachelor.  He 
was  a  great  wit,  full  of  anecdotes,  and  the  centre  of 
all  the  sport  at  the  neighborhood  gatherings.  James, 
or  Jimmy,  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  was  the  prin- 
cipal class-leader  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  all  the  country,  and  in  that  special  department  he 
was  successful.  For  fifteen  years  he  carried  the  ban- 
ner, caring  nothing  about  the  things  of  this  life, 
leaving  them  all  to  take  care  of  themselves  if  his 
brother  Samuel  would  not  look  after  them.  John, 
or  Jack,  as  the  family  called  him,  was  a  Nimrod,  and 
more  than  that  name  would  imply.  In  hunting  and 
fishing  he  was  unexcelled,  and  he  furnished  all  the 
venison,  fish,  and  honey  for  the  family.  It  was  said 
he  knew  every  bee-tree  for  miles  around.  He  moved 
to  Miami  County  in  1838,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
family  followed  soon  after.  The  female  portion  of 
the  Dabney  family  were  noted  for  their  hospitality 
and  kindness  in  sickness.  They  have  now  all  gone 
to  that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveler  returns. 

Archibald  Clark,  with  his  father-in-law,  Isaac 
Coonfield,  Sr.,  his  brothers-in-law,  John  and  James 
Coonfield,  and  his  brother,  Obadiah  Clark,  came  from 
Kentucky,  and  were  among  the  early  settlers  east 
and  northeast  of  Southport.  They  were  of  that  class 
of  people  who  preferred  the  frontier ;  not  that  they 
had  any  vice,  but  seemed  to  prefer  the  rude  freedom 
of  a  frontier  life.  They  remained  in  the  neighbor- 
hood some  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  when  the  Coon- 
fields  moved  to  Brown  County  and  Clark  to  Madison 
County.  Some  years  after  Archibald  Clark  returned 
and  spent  a  few  years  on  the  Bluff  road,  near  Glenn's 
Valley,  running  a  blacksmith-shop.  About  1853  he 
moved  to  Jasper  County,  111.,  and  died  some  ten 
years  later.  It  was  truthfully  said  of  Archibald 
Clark  that  if  he  had  but  one  meal  in  his  house  for 
his  family  he  would  divide  that  meal  with  friend  or 
foe.     Some  of  his  family,  after  their  removal  to  lUi- 


586 


HISTORY  OP  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


nois,  developed  considerable  ability,  and  one  of  his 
sons  represented  Jasper  County  in  the  Legislature, 
and  others  of  the  family  accumulated  a  considerable 
amount  of  property.  They  all  inherited  their  father's 
marked  trait,  open-handed  hospitality. 

Isaac  Kelly  came  from  Lincoln  County,  Ky., 
bought  land  on  the  Three-Notch  line,  and  re- 
moved to  it  in  the  fall  of  1827.  He  settled  on  the 
east  side  of  the  road,  his  farm  including  the  ground 
now  known  as  the  Round  Hill  Camp-Ground  Ceme- 
tery. His  son,  the  Bev.  Greenup  Kelly,  was  the 
first  person  interred  in  that  cemetery,  in  December, 
1830.  On  that  hill  was  the  first  camp-meeting  ever 
held  in  this  county,  in  1831.  There  were  no  tents, 
all  cabins  of  round  logs,  with  clapboard  roofs.  People 
came  for  many  miles  around,  with  horses  and  ox- 
teams.  It  was  then  a  dense  forest  with  thick  under- 
brush. The  campers  on  the  ground  fed  all  visitors 
with  corn  bread,  bacon,  beef,  and  potatoes.  No 
police  were  required  to  keep  order.  The  early 
settlers  were  noted  for  their  good  behavior  at  church, 
both  saints  and  sinners.  They  had  no  idle  or  bum- 
mer element  in  society.  Methodism  had  a  strong 
hold  in  this  neighborhood.  Such  men  as  David 
Marrs,  Father  Kelly,  Father  Norwood,  Eperson,  and 
many  other  old-fashioned  Methodists  of  sterling 
worth  were  the  men  that  laid  the  foundation  of 
society.     All  honor  to  their  memory  ! 

Alexander  Clark  was  an  early  settler  in  what  was 
known  as  the  Clark  settlement.  Clark  township,  in 
Johnson  County,  took  its  name  from  Alexander 
Clark,  Sr.  The  Clarks  were  a  most  respectable 
family  and  worthy  citizens.  "Aunt  Sally,"  as  she 
was  familiarly  known,  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  was 
blind  many  years  before  her  death.  She  was  a  re- 
markable woman  for  her  sound  good  sense,  patience, 
and  piety.  Alexander  Clark,  Sr.,  and  all  his  sons 
and  daughters  have  passed  away  except  one,  Sarah 
Kinnick,  the  wife  of  William  Kinnick,  an  early 
settler  of  Perry  township.  Moses  G.  McLain,  the 
present  county  clerk,  is  a  grandson  of  Alexander 
Clark,  Sr. 

William  Evans  was  born  in  Indiana  County,  Pa., 
in  1798.  He  married  Margaret  Elliott  in  Butler 
County,  Ohio,  in   1820,  and  they  moved  from  Ohio 


in  August,  1823,  and  settled  on  the  farm  of  John 
Smock,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Madison  road,  south 
of  Pleasant  Run.  Being  a  brick-moulder  and  layer, 
he  took  the  job  of  building  a  brick  house  for  John 
Smock,  the  first  brick  house  ever  built  on  the  Madi- 
son road  south  of  the  city.  It  was  finished  in  1824. 
In  the  same  year  he  bought  land  on  the  south  side 
of  Lick  Creek,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  where  the 
Shelby  pike  crossed  the  creek.  He  remained  there 
fifteen  years,  then  moved  to  Sugar  Creek,  in  Shelby 
County,  adjoining  Johnson  County.  After  living 
on  his  farm  for  many  years  he  moved  to  Indianapolis, 
where  he  died,  Dec.  15,  1872.  His  wife  survived 
him  eleven  years,  and  died  in  the  city,  Dec.  5,  1883. 
When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans  came  to  the  county,  in 
1823,  they  had  two  children.  They  afterwards  had 
born  to  them  ten  children,  five  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  seven  lived  to  maturity, — Sarah,  Andrew 
E.,  Thomas,  Mary,  Eliza,  Rhoda,  and  Ann.  The 
first-named  two  died  after  marriage  ;  five  are  now 
living.  Thomas,  who  was  the  first  born  after  they 
came  to  this  county,  is  now  living  in  the  city,  one  of 
the  most  popular  and  able  ministers  in  the  United 
Brethren  Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans  joined  the 
Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church  at  its  organization,  in 
1826,  at  the  house  of  David  Fisher.  They  were  a 
very  exemplary  couple,  lived  a  blameless  and  upright 
life.  Their  family  followed  in  their  footsteps.  At 
Mrs.  Evans'  death,  Dec.  5,  1883,  she  had  been  a 
faithful  and  true  follower  of  the  Lord  over  sixty  years. 
John  Wade  Thompson  came  to  this  county  with 
his  father,  who  settled  on  the  east  side  of  Perry 
township  in  1824.  The-  family  came  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  John  returned  there  for  a  short  time, 
but  soon  after  came  back  and  settled  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Lick  Creek  Church.  He  married  a  IMiss 
Denny.  He  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 
for  Perry  township  until  1867,  when  he  moved  to 
the  city,  where  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  justice 
of  the  peace.  It  was  said  of  him  that  he  broke  up 
the  Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church,  and  the  inquiry  was 
made  why  he  should  do  such  a  wicked  thing.  The 
answer  was,  "  He  moved  away,  and  when  he  left  the 
main  pillar  of  the  church  was  gone  and  it  fell  to 
pieces.''     John  Wade,  as  he  is  familiarly  called,  is  a 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


587 


positive  man,  fearlessly  follows  his  convictions,  and  is 
always  found  on  the  right  side  of  every  moral  ques- 
tion. He  is  an  upright  and  worthy  citizen,  and  he 
has  a  family  worthy  of  their  parentage. 

The  McBride  family  came  to  Perry  township  from 
Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  in  the  winter  of  1825-26, 
settling  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bluff  River,  one 
mile  north  of  Glenn's  Valley.  They  had  five  sons 
and  three  daughters.  Elijah,  the  eldest,  married 
Eliza  Miller,  and  they  had  a  large  family.  The 
mother  and  six  children  have  passed  away.  The 
father  and  four  children  are  living.  Charles,  the 
second  son,  married  Julia  Eddy,  in  the  fall  of  1828, 
and  died  some  years  after,  leaving  his  wife  and  three 
children.  The  widow  and  one  child  are  living.  The 
third  son,  Nimrod,  in  early  life  moved  to  Illinois. 
Of  the  two  younger  sons,  John  is  living;  William 
died  many  years  ago.  Of  the  three  daughters,  Mrs. 
Nancy  Hull  died  in  June,  1840.  Her  youngest 
sister,  Henrietta,  died  a  few  years  after.  Mrs.  Cath- 
erine Christian  is  the  only  daughter  now  living.  The 
father  died  in  1833,  the  mother  two  years  later.  Of 
all  the  early  settlers  in  the  neighborhood  no  family 
was  attended  by  such  fatality  as  the  McBride  family. 

John  Graham  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pa. 
He  married  Phannel  MeClain  in  182D,  and  soon 
after  his  marriage  started  for  the  great  Northwest, 
embarking  on  a  keel-boat  at  Pittsburgh  with  his  young 
wife  to  seek  a  home  in  the  wilds  of  Indiana.  He 
landed  at  Madison  early  in  the  spring  of  1821, 
and  leaving  his  wife  there,  he  came  to  Indian- 
apolis, the  then  new  seat  of  government.  Mak- 
ing some  purchases,  after  spending  the  spring  and 
part  of  the  summer  in  Indianapolis,  he  returned  to 
Madison  for  his  wife  some  time  in  the  month  of 
August,  and  in  September,  1821,  he  settled  on  what 
was  known  as  the  Madison  or  Morgan  trace,  on  the 
north  bank  of  Lick  Creek,  and  on  what  is  now  the 
Shelby  gravel  road,  the  farm  now  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  his  son,  Robert  D.  Graham.  Some  one  had 
squatted  on  the  land,  put  up  a  cabin,  and. made  some 
little  improvement.  This  was  the  first  improvement 
in  the  northeast  part  of  Perry  township.  There  were 
born  to  this  pioneer  couple  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, as  follows :  Sarah,  Mary,  William   M.,  Robert 


D.,  John  J.,  and  Thomas  W.,  all  of  whom  are  now 
living  but  Sarah  and  Thomas  W.  They  struggled 
along  for  eight  years,  and  made  progress  in  opening 
a  farm  until  October,  1829,  when  Mr.  Graham  died 
of  bilious  fever,  leaving  his  widow  with  six  small 
children. 

John  Graham  was  an  earnest  Christian  man.  He 
opend  his  house  to  the  Christian  ministers  and  made 
it  a  preaching-place.  He  died  in  the  faith,  leaving 
his  family  in  the  hands  of  a  covenant-keeping  God. 
They  were  not  forsaken,  his  seed  had  never  to  beg 
bread.  She  who  was  the  companion  of  his  youth 
proved  equal  to  her  task.  She  reared  a  respectable 
family  and  died  in  February,  1880,  having  lived  a 
widow  over  fifty  years,  respected  and  honored  by  all 
who  knew  her. 

John  McCollum  was  born  in  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky March  9,  1796 ;  his  wife,  Jane  McFarland, 
was  born  Jan.  5,  1801,  in  the  same  State.  They 
were  married  Nov.  6,  1823,  moved  to  Ohio,  and 
thence,  in  1827,  to  Perry  township,  and  located  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Mrs.  McCoUum's  fiither,  Benja- 
min McFarland.  They  had  five  children, — Thomas 
J.,  Benjamin  C,  John  M.,  Martha  G.,  and  Sarah  E., 
all  now  living  but  Benjamin  C.,  who  died  May  6, 
1864.  John  McCollum  was  a  carpenter  by  occupa- 
tion, and  was  the  owner  of  a  farm.  When  he  was 
in  the  prime  of  his  manhood  he  met  with  an  accident 
that  made  him  a  cripple  for  life ;  but  he  succeeded  in 
making  a  competency  for  himself  and  family.  He 
served  his  township  as  trustee  with  great  fidelity  for 
many  years.  As  age  advanced  he  retired  from  active 
life,  and  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  July  14,  1870, 
he  sold  his  homestead,  divided  his  worldly  effects,  and 
made  his  home  with  his  children.  He  spent  the  most 
of  his  time  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Martha  J.  Fisher, 
at  whose  house  he  died  March  11,  1882,  eighty-five 
years  and  two  days  old.  Few  who  trust  to  their  chil- 
dren to  care  for  them  in  old  age  receive  such  unre- 
mitting care  as  he  received  at  the  hands  of  his  chil- 
dren. He  sleeps  in  the  Southport  Cemetery,  by  the 
side  of  her  who  was  his  companion  through  a  long 
life  of  toil. 

Dr.  Benjamin  McFarland  and  family  moved  from 
Campbell  County,  Ky.,  in  1826,  and  settled  on  Lick 


588 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Creek,  half  a  mile  east  of  the  Shelby  pike.  He  was 
the  first  settler  in  the  township  who  practiced  the 
healing  art.  He  made  himself  very  useful  to  the 
early  settlers  as  a  physician.  He  built  the  first  saw- 
mill on  Lick  Creek,  and  soon  after  added  a  grist- 
mill, so  as  to  furnish  his  neighbors  both  bread  and 
lumber.  He  had  two  sons,  Samuel  and  William,  both 
living  in  the  neighborhood,  enterprising  and  respect- 
able citizens.  He  had  two  daughters, — Jane  E.  (who 
married  John  McCollum)  and  Eliza  (who  married 
Thomas  N.  Thomasj.  Benjamin  McFarland  died  at 
the  house  of  his  son,  Samuel  McFarland,  in  the  year 
1860,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  his  wife  having 
died  some  years  previous.  The  McFarland  family 
has  a  marked  individuality.  They  have  always  been 
in  the  advance  from  a  moral  and  educational  stand- 
point. 

David  Fisher  came  to  Perry  in  1825,  and  settled 
on  the  east  side  of  the  township.  He  was  married 
to  Elizabeth  M.  Hodges  in  the  State  of  Kentucky, 
moved  to  Shelby  County,  Ind.,  and  thence  to  Marion. 
He  started  the  first  tan-yard  in  Perry  township.  It 
was  at  his  house  that  the  Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church 
was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1826.  He  was  an 
enterprising  pioneer,  and  did  his  part  to  advance  the 
moral  and  material  interests  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
always  took  a  strong  stand  on  the  side  of  law,  good 
order,  and  religion.  He  had  a  large  family,  consist- 
ing of  four  sons  and  five  daughters,  in  the  following 
order:  John  P.,  James  W.,  Cynthia,  Mary  J.,  Ben- 
jamin L.,  Elizabeth  R.,  Matilda,  Joseph  L.,  and  Sarah 
E.  Fisher.  They  all  lived  to  maturity,  except  one 
daughter.  They  are  now  scattered  from  Indiana  to 
Western  Kansas,  only  two  living  in  this  county,— 
one  daughter  and  Joseph  L.  Fisher,  of  Indianapolis. 
David  Fisher  died  in  1836.  His  wife  survived  him 
four  years. 

Jacob  Smock  was  born  in  Mercer  County,  Ky., 
March  8,  1797.  Emigrating  thence  to  Indiana  in 
the  fall  of  1823,  he  settled  in  Perry  township  on  a 
farm  north  of  Southport.  A  part  of  the  town  plat 
is  on  the  original  quarter-section  that  he  settled  on, 
which  was  then  an  unbroken  forest.  It  was  in  his 
cabin  that  the  first  Presbyterian  preacher,  Rev.  John 
M.  Dickey,  first  preached  in  the  township.     His  wife 


was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was 
not  then  a  member  of  any  church,  but  in  after-years 
he  joined  the  Baptist  Church,  and  during  his  resi- 
dence in  the  neighborhood  he  was  one  of  its  leading 
members.  He  was  the  first  captain  of  militia  iu  the 
township,  and  also  served  as  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
At  an  early  day  he  built  a  grist-mill  on  his  farm  on 
Buck  Creek.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest  mills  of  the 
township  for  grinding  corn.  Jacob  Smock's  family 
consisted  of  five  sons — John,  Henry,  Simon,  Daniel, 
and  Thomas — and  four  daughters.  He  moved  to 
Benton  County,  Iowa,  in  September,  1859,  and  died 
a  few  years  after  with  cancer  of  the  stomach.  His 
wife  survived  him  but  a  few  years.  He  was  an 
enterprising  citizen  and  an  upright  man. 

Henry  Brewer  was  an  early  settler,  coming  to 
this  township  from  Mercer  County,  Ky.,  in  1825  or 
1826.  He  married  and  settled  on  a  farm  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Madison  State  road,  adjoining  the 
Johnson  County  line.  He  remained  there  some 
twenty  years,  then  sold  out  and  moved  to  Jasper 
County,  111.  His  wife  died  soon  afterwards.  He 
raised  a  large  family.  His  patriotism  was  such  that 
in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  joined  the  Union 
army  when  he  was  over  fifty-five  years  of  age,  but 
his  health  failed  him  from  the  exposure  of  a  soldier's 
life,  and  he  lived  but  a  few  years  after  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  died  in  Jasper  County,  111.,  respected 
by  all,  and  without  a  personal  enemy. 

Archibald  Bruce  came  to  this  township  from  Dear- 
born County  in  1826,  and  settled  on  a  quarter-section 
adjoining  Henry  Alcorn  on  Buck  Creek,  quarter  of 
a  mile  east  of  the  Bins'  road.  He  had  a  wife,  two 
daughters,  and  two  sons,  Robert  and  William.  They 
soon  returned  to  Lawrenceburg,  their  business  being 
running  the  river  to  New  Orleans.  They  both  died 
in  a  few  years.  Mr.  Bruce  and  his  wife  died  some 
thirty-five  years  ago,  leaving  two  daughters,  Sydna 
and  Eliza.  The  younger  (Eliza)  died  a  few  years 
after  her  parents ;  the  other  daughter  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor, and  is  now  living  in  Indianola,  west  of  the 
city,  in  her  eightieth  year. 

Alexander  Clark,  Sr.,  was  married  to  Sarah  Glenn 
in  Nicholas  County,  Ky.,  and  soon  after  marriage 
moved  to  Muhlenberg   County,  in   what  was    then 


PEKRY   TOWNSHIP. 


589 


known  as  the  Green  River  country.  In  the  fall  of 
1827  he  migrated  to  Perry  township  with  his  family, 
consisting  of  three  sons, — Archibald  G.,  Alexander, 
and  Moses, — and  four  daughters,  Sarah,  Nancy, 
Susan,  and  Polly.  He  settled  on  the  west  side  of 
the  BluflF  road,  on  the  south  bank  of  Buck  Creek 
(the  farm  now  owned  by  Charles  Orme),  and  re- 
mained there  two  years,  when  the  family  all  moved 
to  the  northeast  corner  of  Johnson  County. 

Moses  Orme  settled  on  the  Notch  line,  east 
side,  adjoining  the  Johnson  County  line,  in  1827. 
He  was  married  to  a  Miss  Elson,  and  they  came 
from  Lewis  County,  Ky.  He  lived  there  ten  years, 
and  then  sold  his  farm  to  John  H.  Oliver,  of  Henry 
County,  Ky.  He  bought  an  unimproved  tract  of 
land  two  miles  north,  on  the  same  road,  and  opened 
a  second  farm.  Moses  Orme  did  as  much  hard  work 
in  clearing  up  land  as  any  of  the  early  settlers.  He 
was  a  quiet,  kind-hearted  man,  and  his  wife  was  of 
the  same  type  of  character.  They  had  five  sons, — 
Charles,  Henson,  Richard,  Eli,  and  George, — and 
three  daughters,  Ruth,  Elizabeth,  and  Nancy,  all 
now  living  but  Henson  and  Richard.  The  Ormes 
were  all  well-to-do  farmers.  Mrs.  Orme  died  in 
1860,  Mr.  Orme  in  1862,  leaving  to  his  children  a 
good  estate  and  a  worthy  example  of  honesty  and 
industry. 

Samuel  Woodfill  came  from  Jefferson  County, 
Ind.,  and  settled  on  the  BluflF  road,  east  side,  five 
miles  south  of  Indianapolis,  in  the  spring  of  182G. 
He  was  a  pattern  farmer,  and  raised  a  large  family. 
His  wife  died,  and  he  then  sold  his  farm  and  lived 
with  his  children.  He  died  in  the  city  some  years 
since,  and  was  buried  with  his  wife  in  the  Southport 
cemetery.  He  was  an  upright  citizen,  a  kind  neigh- 
bor, always  ready  to  do  a  favor  to  those  who  asked  or 
needed  it,  even  at  inconvenience  to  himself 

The  first  mill  in  the  township  was  built  about 
1827,  by  William  Arnold,  on  Lick  Creek,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  west  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
township.  It  was  used  a  few  years,  and  then  aban- 
doned because  the  water  supply  failed.  A  grist-mill 
was  attempted  on  the  McGinnis  farm  by  John  Mc- 
Cormick,   who  dressed  two  "  nigger-head"  bowlders 


for  the  millstones,  but  it  was  found  that  the  water 
supply  was  insufiicient  to  make  the  mill  successful, 
and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned.  The  stones  were 
afterwards  sold  to  James  McLain,  who  added  a  grist- 
mill to  his  saw-mill  on  Buck  Creek,  about  one  hun- 
dred yards  east  of  the  Perry  township  line  in  Frank- 
lin township.  This  enterprise  also  failed  for  lack  of 
water,  and  he  sold  the  stones  to  Benjamin  McFarland, 
who  already  had  a  saw-mill  (built  in  1827)  on  Lick 
Creek,  about  a  half-mile  east  of  where  the  Shelby- 
ville  road  crosses.  He  added  the  grist-mill  in  1829 
or  1830,  and  it  was  for  a  time  successful,  but  some 
years  later  both  the  grist-mill  and  the  saw-mill  were 
abandoned  for  the  usual  cause, — lack  of  water  to  run 
them  a  sufficient  length  of  time  in  the  year  to  make 
them  profitable. 

Jacob  Smock  built  a  grist-mill  about  1828,  on  the 
present  site  of  the  village  of  Southport,  on  Buck 
Creek.  It  was  kept  in  operation  till  about  18-10,  and 
then  abandoned  because  of  the  failure  of  water  sup- 
ply. About  one  mile  below  Southport,  on  Buck 
Creek,  a  saw-mill  was  started  about  1836,  and  was 
run  a  number  of  years  by  Nathaniel  Beasley.  The 
water  supply  diminished,  and  in  1866  a  steam-engine 
was  added  as  an  auxiliary,  but  this  proved  a  failure, 
and  the  mill  was  abandoned  in  1870.  A  mill  was 
built  in  1846,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  South- 
port,  by Bonty,  and  was  run  by  Bonty  &  Cot- 
peter  for  about  six  years  in  sawing  timber  for  the 
railroad.     It  was  afterwards  abandoned. 

There  was  also  a  saw-mill  in  existence  and  in 
operation  from  1839  to  1855  on  Pleasant  Run,  just 
below  Glenn's  Valley,  on  the  farm  of  Archibald 
Glenn. 

A  steam  grist-mill  was  erected  and  put  in  operation 
at  Southport  by  Richard  Smock  about  1855.  A 
few  years  afterwards  he  sold  it  to  John  S.  Webb,  who 
rebuilt  and  still  owns  it.  There  is  also  a  saw-mill  at 
Southport,  built  about  ten  years  ago,  and  now  owned 
by  Isaac  Grube. 

There  are  within  the  township  of  Perry  two  small 
villages,  the  larger  being  Southport  and  the  other 
Glenn's  Valley,  which  is  on  the  Bluflf  road,  in  the 
southwest   part  of  the   township,  three-fourths  of  a 


590 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


mile  north  of  the  Johnson  County  line,  and  on  the 
north  side  of  Pleasant  Run.  Tlie  village  was  laid 
out  partly  on  land  of  John  Smart  and  partly  on  land 
of  Robert  Burns.  The  first  house  on  the  village  site 
was  built  by  Mr.  Burns  in  the  winter  of  1830-31. 
The  village  was  named  for  Archibald  Glenn,  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  in  the  township.  A  post-oflBce 
was  established  here  in  1838.  After  a  few  years  it 
was  discontinued,  but  was  re-established  in  1856. 
The  village  has  now  a  post-oflSce,  two  general  stores, 
one  drug-store,  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  wagon-shop,  a 
steam  grist-mill,  a  Masonic  lodge,  an  excellent  school- 
house  and  graded  school,  one  church  (Methodist 
Episcopal),  and  about  one  hundred  inhabitants. 

The  first  settler  at  what  is  now  the  village  of 
Southport  was  Jacob  Smock,  who  came  from  Mercer 
County,  Ky.,  in  1823,  and  bought  land  immediately 
north  of  the  present  town.  In  the  same  year,  Sam- 
uel Brewer  came,  and  bought  eighty  acres  of  his 
present  farm,  then  returned  to  Kentucky,  married, 
and  came  back  to  Perry  in  1824.  The  first  building 
erected  within  the  limits  of  the  present  village  was 
the  old  water-mill,  which  stood  just  back  of  Mr. 
Howard's  present  residence.  The  old  race-way  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  the  woods  east  of  the  railroad. 
The  oldest  house  now  standing  is  the  one  where  Mr. 
Christian  lives.  It  was  built  by  Jacob  Smock,  on 
his  farm,  and  when  it  became  probable  that  the  rail- 
road then  in  progress  of  construction  would  have  a 
station  at  Southport,  the  house  was  moved  across  the 
creek  to  its  present  location.  Until  the  coming  of 
the  railroad,  however,  there  was  no  village,  nor  any 
prospect  of  one,  where  Southport  now  stands.  The 
first  town-lots  on  the  west  side  of  the  railroad  were 
laid  out  by  William  Hooker,  and  on  the  east  side  by 
Dr.  Merritt.  The  town  plat  was  surveyed  in  1852, 
and  recorded  April  5th  in  that  year.  In  1880 
Southport  had  a  population  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty-eight,  as  shown  by  the  returns  of  the  United 
States  census  of  that  year. 

The  Southport  Baptist  Church  was  organized  as 
the  Buck  Creek  Baptist  Church,  in  or  about  the  year 
1838,  at  the  Mud  School-house,  by  persons  previ- 
ously members  of  the  Lick  Creek  Church.  About 
two  years  after  the  organization  a  meeting-house  was 


erected,  on  land  donated  for  the  purpose  by  Jacob 
Smock.  In  the  spring  of  1838  a  great  protracted 
meeting  was  held  at  Lick  Creek,  and  immediately 
afterwards  at  Buck  Creek,  under  the  leadership  of 

the  Rev.  Haine,  a  missionary,  -resulting  in  a 

revival,  which  added  a  large  number  of  members  to 
both  churches.  One  of  the  earliest  ministers  to  this 
church  was  the  Rev.  Henry  Hunter,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Revs.  Thomas  Townsend,  Madison 
Hume,  I.  N.  Clark,  A.  J.  Riley,  and  others.  The 
congregation  grew  until  the  old  meeting-house  be- 
came too  small,  when  a  new  and  much  larger  church 
building  was  erected  on  land  purchased  from  J.  H. 
Combs,  adjoining  the  Smock  donation  on  the  east. 
The  old  meeting-house  was  then  removed.  Soon 
after  the  village  of  Southport  was  laid  out  the  name 
of  the  Buck  Creek  Church  was  changed  to  South- 
port.  It  has  always  been  a  flourishing  organization, 
and  still  has  quite  a  large  membership,  being  the 
only  Baptist  Church  in  the  township.  In  con- 
nection with  the  old  (first)  meeting-house  of  this 
congregation  a  space  was  set  apart  for  burial  pur- 
poses, on  the  land  donated  by  Jacob  Smock.  In 
this  ground  the  first  interment  was  that  of  John  B. 
Smock,  eldest  .son  of  Jacob,  Aug.  10,  1842.  The 
ground  (about  one  and  a  half  acres  in  extent)  is 
now  nearly  full  of  graves,  and  arrangements  are 
being  made  to  obtain  land  for  a  new  cemetery  in  a 
better  location. 

The  Southport  Presbyterian  Church  was  organ- 
ized in  1833.  In  January  of  that  year  the  Presby- 
tery of  Indianapolis,  in  session  at  Greensburg,  gave 
its  consent  to  the  formation  of  a  Presbyterian  Church 
in  this  community,  and,  on  the  30th  of  March  fol- 
lowing, the  Rev.  W.  W.  Woods,  then  pastor  of  the 
Greenfield  (now  Greenwood)  Church,  eiFected  the 
organization  in  the  Mud  School-house.  It  was  first 
called  the  Providence  Presbyterian  Church,  in  honor 
of  the  older  church  at  Providence,  Ky.,  from  which 
some  of  the  members  had  come.  The  organization 
included  twenty-four  members,  viz. :  Samuel  Brewer, 
Eleanor  Brewer,  Thomas  C,  Rachel,  Ann  and  Abram 
V.  Smock,  Simon  and  Mary  French,  Benjamin,  Mary, 
and  Eliza  McFarland,  John  A.  and  Lemma  Brewer, 
Phannel  Graham,  Paulina  White,  Jane  E.  McCollum, 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


591 


Mary,  Phebe,  Samuel  S.,  and  John  S.  Siebern,  Deb- 
orah W.  Siebern,  Andrew  E.  and  Sarah  Mann,  and 
Otis  Sprague.  All  were  from  Greenwood  Church 
except  the  last  named,  who  was  from  the  only  Pres- 
byterian Church  then  in  Indianapolis.  Otis  Sprague 
and  John  S.  Siebern  were  chosen  ruling  elders,  and 
Samuel  Brewer  deacon. 

A  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  selected  a 
site  for  a  house  of  worship  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  Jacob  Smock's  land,  but  some  disagreement  arose, 
which  resulted  (though  no  reason  can  be  given  for 
the  change)  in  the  building  of  the  meeting-house  on 
the  land  of  Samuel  Brewer,  opposite  the  site  of  the 
present  school-house.  In  18.38,  when  the  great  divi- 
sion occurred  in  the  Presbyterian  Churches,  although 
that  at  Greenwood  remained  united,  this  one  was 
seriously  affected.  Of  the  thirty-eight  members  who 
composed  it  at  that  time,  seventeen  became  adherents 
of  the  New  School.  Both  congregations  worshiped 
in  the  old  Mud  School-house  for  about  four  years,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  the  majority  composing  the 
old  branch  built  a  frame  church  building,  one  and  a 
half  miles  east,  in  which  they  worshiped  until  1858, 
when  the  church  was  removed  to  Acton.  In  1842 
the  New  School  branch  built  a  church  building  at 
what  is  now  Southport,  and  have  worshiped  there  to 
the  present  time.  Their  first  church  at  this  place 
was  a  frame  building  about  twenty  by  thirty-four  feet 
in  size.  It  was  used  for  some  time  before  being  en- 
tirely finished,  and,  after  about  seventeen  years'  ser- 
vice as  their  house  of  worship,  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  Nov.  18,  1859.  In  1860  they  erected  the  present 
church  building,  which  is  of  brick,  about  thirty-two 
by  forty-four  feet  in  size,  and  cost  originally  about 
two  thousand  one  hundred  dollars.  In  the  destruc- 
tive tornado  of  July  12, 1883,  the  roof  of  this  church 
was  badly  damaged,  but  the  other  parts  of  the  build- 
ing remained  comparatively  uninjured.  In  1868  a 
parsonage  was  built  at  a  cost  of  about  one  thousand 
dollars.  At  the  present  time  (September,  1883)  the 
church  has  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  members. 

The  ministers  serving  this  church  from  its  begin- 
ning have  been  the  following  named,  viz. :  Revs. 
Hilary  Patrick,  John  Todd,  Eliphalet  Kent,  William 
M.  Campbell,  James  Brownlee,  Benjamin  M.  Nyce, 


Philip  S.  Cleland,  and  Horace  Bushnell,  Jr.  Mr. 
Cleland  served  the  church  for  a  period  of  twenty-one 
years. 

The  officers  of  the  church  since  its  organization 
have  been :  Ruling  Elders,  Otis  Sprague  (ordained 
and  installed  March  30,  1833 ;  dismissed  Nov.  16, 
1833),  John  S.  Siebern  (ordained  and  installed  at 
same  time  as  Mr.  Sprague ;  ceased  to  act  in  1838), 
Simon  Smock  (ordained  and  installed  June  28, 1834 ; 
died  April  14,  1855),  Samuel  Brewer  (Sept.  25, 
1834),  Robert  N.  Todd  (Jan.  12,  1851),  Thomas  J. 
Todd  (Dec.  12,  1852 ;  died  Sept.  28,  1864),  John 
Calvin  Woods  (March  4,  1855  ;  died  Aug.  27, 1865), 
Isaac  J.  Canine  (March  4,  1855 ;  moved  away  in 
1879),  William  H.  Wishard  (Nov.  11,  1865  ;  moved 
to  Indianapolis  in  1876),  Samuel  Moore  (Nov.  11, 
1865),  David  Smock,  R.  G.  Graydon,  and  Henry 
Alexander  McCalpin.  Deacons,  Samuel  Brewer 
(March  30,  1833;  ceased  to  act  Sept.  25,  1834), 
Andrew  C.  Mann  (June  28,  1834;  died  Dec.  26, 
1862),  Thomas  C.  Smock  (Aug.  8,  1841),  David  R. 
Smock,  Richard  M.  Smock  (Nov.  11,  1865;  dis- 
missed April  2,  1867),  William  B.  Miles  (Aug.  10, 
1867). 

The  Union  Presbyterian  Church,  which  is  still 
standing  on  the  Bluff  road,  was  built  in  1854,  an 
organization  having  been  formed  in  the  previous  year 
by  Dr.  Scott,  Henry  Alcorn,  Garret  List,  William 
Boyd,  and  others.  Services  were  held  for  many 
years  with  more  or  less  regularity,  but  the  number  of 
members  having  become  greatly  reduced  by  deaths 
and  removals,  they  disbanded  in  1880. 

The  Southport  (Methodist  Episcopal)  Circuit  was 
originally  a  part  of  the  Greenfield  Circuit,  Indiana 
Conference.  In  1848-49  it  was  known  as  the  South 
Indianapolis  Circuit,  consisting  of  the  following- 
named  appointments,  viz.  :  Hopewell  Methodist 
Chapel  (Johnson  County),  Bowser's,  Smock's,  Fish- 
er's, Tucker's,  Brenton's,  Greenwood,  Marrs',  and 
Asbury.  At  the  annual  Conference  of  1849  the 
name  was  changed  to  Southport  Circuit,  E.  R.  Ames 
presiding  elder,  and  H.  M.  Shafer,  preacher  iu  charge. 
The  pastorate  of  the  circuit  has  been  supplied  in  the 
following  order  until  the  present  time,  viz. :  E.  D. 
Long,  George  Havens,  J.  W.  T.  McMullen,  W.  B. 


592 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


Taylor,  Jesse  Brockway,  Thomas  Ray,  P.  Q.  Rose- 
crans,  J.  V.  R.  Miller,  Jesse  Chevington,  C.  G.  Heath, 
J.  A.  Brouse,  W.  Gr.  Ransdell,  P.  Garland,  and  (again) 
W.  G.  Ransdell.  At  the  Conference  of  1860  the  cir- 
cuit vms  reduced  to  the  present  dimensions  by  con- 
stituting the  east  half  of  it  a  new  circuit,  called  Acton. 
Only  four  societies  are  now  embraced  in  the  South- 
port  Circuit,  viz.  :  Southport,  Madison  Avenue, 
Centre,  and  Fairview  (Johnson  County). 

Southport  Church  was  organized  in  1845  by  the 
Rev.  H.  M.  Shafer,  with  Richard  Smock  and  wife 
and  five  others  as  members.  Their  first  house  of 
wor.ship  was  built  in  1849,  and  dedicated  by  E.  R. 
Ames.  It  is  a  frame  building,  still  standing  and 
used  as  a  carpenter-shop.  This  old  building  was 
used  by  the  society  as  a  house  of  worship  until  1868, 
when  they  built  a  large  brick  church,  which  was  used 
about  fifteen  years,  and  was  totally  destroyed  on  the 
12th  of  July,  1883,  by  a  tornado  which  swept  over 
the  southern  portion  of  the  county.  A  new  brick 
church  was  then  erected  on  the  same  site,  and  dedi- 
cated on  the  18th  of  November  following.  It  is 
the  largest  and  in  all  respects  the  best  church  edi- 
fice in  the  town.  The  present  number  of  mem- 
bers and  probationers  in  the  Southport  Church  is 
sixty. 

The  Methodists  held  meetings  for  religious  wor- 
ship in  this  township  as  early  as  any  other  denomi- 
nation. The  first  preaching  in  Perry  township  was 
by  Henry  Brenton,  who  was  a  local  preacher.  The 
first  circuit  preacher  was  James  Armstrong,  who  first 
came  to  preach  in  the  fall  of  1826 ;  about  the  same 
time,  or  perhaps  a  little  later,  came  John  Belzer,  a 
'•  New  Light"  preacher,  who  had  a  few  followers  and 
a  temporary  organization.  He  lived  on  the  school 
section  for  a  time,  and  moved  away  in  1828. 

The  first  Methodist  Church  edifice  in  Perry  was 
Asbury  Chapel,  a  meeting-house  of  hewed  logs,  about 
twenty-four  by  thirty-six  feet  in  dimensions,  which 
was  erected  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  eighty-acre 
tract  now  owned  by  the  Talbot  heirs,  on  the  Three- 
Notch  line.  The  land  on  which  this  building 
was  erected  (in  1829  or  '30)  was  donated  by  Henry 
Brenton.  The  first  church  organization  at  this  place 
was  composed  of  Henry  Brenton  and  family,  Robert 


Brenton  and  family,  Isaac  Kelly  and  family,  David 
Marrs  and  family,  Zachariah  Lemaster's  family,  and 
several  members  of  the  Bouser  family.  The  pioneer 
ministers  of  this  church  were  Henry  Brenton  (local). 
Revs.  Allan  Wiley,  Edmund  Ray,  James  Hargrave, 
Thomas  Hill,  and  James  Havens,  circuit  preachers. 
Rev.  Allan  Wiley  was  the  presiding  elder.  Meetings 
were  held  in  the  hewed-log  meeting-house  for  ten  or 
twelve  years,  and  then  the  place  of  worship  was  re- 
moved to  the  Marrs  school-house  on  Three-Notch 
road.  The  old  meeting-house  being  abandoned  as  a 
preaching-place,  was  .some  years  later  removed  to  the 
brick-yard  south  of  Indianapolis,  where  it  is  still 
standing.  After  worshiping  a  number  of  years  at 
Maris  school-house,  the  organization  was  joined  with 
that  of  New  Bethel,  and  formed  the  present  Centre 
Church,  which  was  organized  with  forty  members. 
Their  church  edifice,  built  in  1848,  was  dedicated  by 
E.  R.  Ames.  The  church  has  now  seventy-four 
members. 

The  New  Bethel  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
organized  as  a  class  about  1828,  with  Andrew 
Hoover  and  wife,  John  Myers  and  wife,  Henry 
Myers  and  family,  several  persons  of  the  Mundy 
family,  Mrs.  Comfort  Hinkston,  Elizabeth  Custard, 
David  FLsher  and  family,  and  some  others  as  mem- 
bers.    Among  the  early  preachers  were  Revs. 

Long,  George  Havens,  John  W.  T.  JIcMuUen,  and 
Orlando  Havens.  The  meeting-house  was  erected  in 
1831,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Andrew  Hoover 
farm,  near  the  present  residence  of  George  Harnese. 
It  was  the  first  frame  church  built  by  the  Methodists 
in  this  township.  It  was  never  plastered  or  other- 
wise finished  on  the  inside,  but  was  kept  as  a  preach- 
ing-place for  many  years.  The  land  on  which  it  was 
built,  although  donated  by  Hoover,  was  never  deeded 
by  him,  but  was  afterwards  deeded  by  Thomas  H. 
Sharpe.  After  some  years  the  organization,  with 
that  which  worshiped  at  the  Marrs  school-house,  was 
merged  into  the  organization  of  the  Centre  Church, 
for  which  a  house  of  worship  was  erected  in  1848. 
Among  the  ministers  who  preached  to  this  congrega- 
tion were Long,  John  W.  T.  McMullen,  George 

Havens,  and  Orlando  Havens.  The  old  building  is 
still  standing  on  the  lot  surrounded  by  lands  of  Eli 


PERRY   TOWNSHIP. 


593 


F.  Ormes,  on  the  BIuiF  road,  about  five  and  a  half 
miles  south  of  Indianapolis,  and  about  one  and  a 
quarter  miles  south  of  Lick  Creek,  on  the  east  side. 

The  Mount  Carmel  Church  was  organized  and  a 
church  building  erected  in  the  fall  of  1839,  on  the 
north  line  of  Robert  Burns'  land,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Bluff  road.  The  members  of  this  church 
were  William  Hall  and  family,  James  Orr  and  family, 
Nicholas  Elson  and  family,  the  family  of  Robert 
Burns,  Hezekiah  Smart,  Sr.,  and  wife,  and  a  few 
others.  Their  ministers  were  John  V.  R.  Miller 
and  William  C.  Smith.  The  old  church  building 
was  destroyed  by  fire  about  the  1st  of  April,  1842, 
which  accident  had  the  effect  to  break  up  the  or- 
ganization, and  the  members  scattered  to  the  Marrs 
school-house,  the  New  Bethel,  and  some  to  Pleasant 
Hill  Church,  in  Johnson  County. 

The  Madison  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  the  outgrowth  of  a  mission  founded  and  organized 
by  Hiram  Wright,  a  local  preacher.  Their  first 
preaching  was  held  in  the  school-house  of  the  neigh- 
borhood until  they  were  able  to  build  a  house  of 
worship.  The  church  is  now  embraced  in  the  South- 
port  Circuit.  The  meeting-house  is  on  land  of  B. 
Wright,  three  miles  south  of  Indianapolis,  on  the 
Southport  gravel  road. 

The  Methodist  Church  at  Glenn's  Valley  was  or- 
ganized some  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago.  Their 
preaching  was  held  in  the  school-house  and  in  the 
Masonic  Hall  until  they  purchased  the  old  brick 
school-house  and  converted  it  into  a  church  edifice. 

The  Lick  Creek  Baptist  Church  (the  first  church 
in  the  township)  was  organized  at  the  house  of  David 
Fisher  (now  the  Ritzinger  farm),  in  the  spring  of 
1826,  by  Abram  Smock.  Among  its  original  mem- 
bers were  David  Fisher  and  wife,  John  Chinn  and 
wife,  William  Gott  and  wife,  Thomas  Bryant  and 
wife,  James  Turner  and  wife,  and  James  R.  Mc- 
Laughlin and  wife.  A  church  edifice  was  built 
within  one  year  after  the  organization,  and  also  estab- 
lished a  burial-ground  in  connection  with  the  church. 
The  first  person  interred  in  this  ground  was  David 
Judd,  Oct.  17,  1827.  The  second  interment  was 
that  of  Richard  Ferree,  a  lad  s'lout  ten  or  twelve 
years  old,  who  was  killed  by  the  overturning  of  a 


cart,  the  first  death  by  accident  or  violence  in  Perry 
township. 

The  first  minister  of  the  Lick  Creek  Church  was 
Abram  Smock,  who  served  the  congregation  for 
many  years.  About  1832  a  large  number  left  the 
church  to  organize  the  Buck  Creek  Baptist  Church, 
which  afterwards  became  the  Southport  Baptist 
Church.  By  reason  of  deaths  and  removals  of 
members,  the  Lick  Creek  Church  was  disbanded  in 
1866,  its  building  torn  down,  and  the  material  re- 
moved to  Indianapolis  (in  1867  or  1868),  and  there 
rebuilt  for  the  use  of  a  colored  Baptist  Church. 

A  Christian  Church  was  organized  in  Perry  town- 
ship in  1845  or  1846,  George  Shortridge  and  fivmily, 

and  Robinson  and    family  being   the   original 

members,  to  whom  were  soon  afterwards  added  Peter 
Smock  and  wife,  John  Monroe,  George  Oldacre,  John 
Shortridge  and  wife,  and  others.  The  organization 
continued  till  about  1863,  when,  having  become 
greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  it  was  disbanded,  and 
most  of  the  members  having  removed  to  the  vicinity 
of  Greenwood,  went  into  the  church  organization  at 
that  place. 

Schools. — One  of  the  earliest  school-houses  (and 
probably  the  first)  in  Perry  township  was  built  in 
1823,  on  what  is  now  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
land  of  Joseph  Alcorn,  a  half-mile  west  of  the  Union 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  that  old  log  school-house 
the  first  teacher  was  Emanuel  Glimpse,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  in  that  region.  A  log  school-house 
was  built  in  1826,  on  land  of  Archibald  Glenn,  and 
in  it  Michael  Groves  taught  school  for  two  winters. 
After  him  came  as  teachers,  Samuel  Hare  and  Elihu 
Hardin,  the  last  named  teaching  there  about  1830. 
About  1831  a  small  log  building  was  erected  for  a 
school-house  at  David  Marrs'  farm,  and  another  of 
the  same  kind  near  the  site  of  Lick  Creek  Church. 
In  this  last  mentioned  a  man  named  Thaler  was  one 
of  the  first  teachers.  In  the  vicinity  of  Southport 
the  first  school-house  (a  log  building,  of  course)  was 
erected  on  Jacob  Smock's  farm,  its  location  being  on 
the  bluff  north  of  Buck  Creek.  The  second  in  that 
neighborhood  was  located  where  the  residence  of  Mr. 
J.  E.  Phillips  now  stands,  and  was  known  as  the 
Mud   School-house,    from   the   material    which    was 


594 


HISTOKY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


largely  used  in  its  construction.  This,  as  also  the 
bouse  at  Mairs',  was  used  not  only  for  school  pur- 
poses, but  as  a  preaching-place  for  many  years.  A 
frame  school-house  which  was  afterwards  built  on  the 
same  site  has  long  since  disappeared. 

All  the  pioneer  school-houses  of  Perry,  as  of  the 
other  townships  of  this  and  adjoining  counties,  were 
of  one  and  the  same  character, — small  and  low  struc- 
tures of  logs,  with  puncheon  floors,  seats,  and  writing- 
benches  ;  with  a  large  fireplace  of  stones  and  mud, 
and  with  a  log  cut  out  from  two  sides  for  windows, 
the  openings  being  covered  with  greased  paper  in  place 
of  glass.  All  the  appliances  of  the  modern  school- 
house  were  lacking.  The  teachers  were  men  who  la- 
bored on  the  farm  in  spring,  summer,  and  autumn,  and 
in  winter  taught  school  for  terms  of  six  weeks'  to  three 
months'  duration.  They  wore  required  to  be  able 
to  teach  (more  or  less  thoroughly)  reading,  spelling, 
writing,  and  ciphering  as  far  as  the  single  rule  of 
three,  and  for  their  services  received  a  remuneration 
which  the  lowest  class  of  laborers  would  now  regard 
as  trifling.  After  many  years  frame  school-houses 
took  the  places  of  the  old  log  buildings,  the  school 
terms  were  lengthened,  and  teachers  of  a  somewhat 
higher  grade  of  acquirements  were  employed.  Fi- 
nally came  the  formation  of  the  present  public  school 
system,  and  its  adoption  by  Perry  as  by  the  other 
townships  of  the  county. 

Perry  township  has  now  14  school  districts,  and 
the  same  number  of  school-houses  (2  frame  and  12 
brick),  in  all  of  which  schools  are  taught,  one  being 
a  graded  school.  There  is  also  a  colored  school  in  the 
township.  The  number  of  teachers  employed  in  1883 
was  18  (6  male  and  12  female).  The  average  daily 
attendance  was  446.  The  whole  number  admitted  to 
the  schools  was  662,  including  colored  children.  Five 
teachers'  institutes  were  held  in  the  township  during 
the  year.  The  valuation  of  school  apparatus  is 
$600 ;  valuation  of  school-houses  and  grounds, 
$12,000.  There  is  one  private  school  taught  in  the 
township,  with  an  average  attendance  of  84  during 
the  year  1883. 

Secret  Societies. — Southport  Lodge,  No.  270, 
F.  and  A.  M.,  was  chartered  May  28,  1861,  Wil- 
liam   G.   Lockwood,  W.    M. ;    Hezekiah    Hinkston, 


S.  W. ;  James  Gentle,  J.  W.  The  officers  for  1884 
are  George  L.  Thompson,  W.  M. ;  Joseph  P.  Bailey, 
S.  W. ;  James  A.  Norwood,  J.  W. ;  William  Wor- 
man,  Treas. ;  Spofibrd  E.  Tyler,  Sec.  The  present 
membership  of  the  lodge  is  thirty-five. 

Southport  Lodge,  No.  394,  I.  0.  O.  F.,  was  insti- 
tuted with  the  following-named  original  members : 
J.  M.  McLain,  Isaac  Grube,  S.  Graves,  W.  L.  Ber- 
ryman,  Alfred  Brewer,  S.  D.  Moody,  Aaron  Grube, 
J.  L.  Fisher,  E.  S.  Riley,  W.  P.  Trout,  R.  R. 
Graham,  Jackson  Snyder.  The  lodge  has  now  forty- 
five  active  members  and  the  following-named  officers, 
viz. :  E.  Kelley,  N.  G. ;  John  S.  Rene,  V.  G. ;  Chris. 
Grube,  Sec. ;  Isaac  Grube,  Treas.  ;  Charles  Grube, 
Per.  See.     The  lodge  has  twenty-three  Past  Grands. 

Glenn's  Valley  Lodge,  No.  514,  F.  and  A.  M., 
was  chartered  May  25,  1875,  Hezekiah  Hinkston, 
W.  M. ;  Alexander  C.  Sedam,  S.  W.  ;  Franklin  L. 
Barger,  J.  W. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


WILLIAM  H.  WISHARD,  M.D. 

William  H.  Wishard,  M.D.,  was  the  eldest  son  of 
John  and  Agnes  H.  Wishard,  born  in  Nicholas 
County,  Ky.,  Jan.  17,  1816.  The  family  was  Scotch- 
Irish  in  their  nationality.  His  father  emigrated  to 
Indiana,  and  settled  on  the  BluflF  road,  nine  and  one- 
half  miles  south  of  Indianapolis,  where  they  pitched 
their  camp  on  the  evening  of  Oct.  26,  1825.  His 
father  had  purchased  the  land  in  1824,  came  out  in 
the  following  spring,  cleared  some  land,  and  put  in  a 
crop  of  corn,  potatoes,  and  turnips.  The  first  night  after 
their  arrival  the  wolves  were  heard  howling  near  their 
camp,  which,  however,  was  no  unusual  thing  for  years 
after  that  time. 

William  H.  Wishard  was  then  in  his  tenth  year, 
and  being  the  eldest,  had  to  hunt  the  cows  in  the 
woods,  do  the  errands,  and  go  to  mill,  and  many  were 
the  exciting  scenes  he  passed  through.  On  one  occa- 
sion, in  the  fail  of  1826,  when  returning  from  mill 
late  at  night,  alone  in  the  darkness  of  a  dense  forest. 


[j/jfUxAjio    rnytAjb^ 


PERKY   TOWNSHIP. 


595 


and  one  and  a  quarter  miles  from  any  settler's  cabin, 
he  suddenly  came  upon  a  pack  of  wolves  snarling 
over  a  wounded  deer  that  they  had  just  caught.  It 
was  an  unpleasant  situation  for  a  boy  of  twelve  years 
to  find  his  only  pathway  blocked  by  fifteen  or  twenty 
hungry  wolves ;  but  he  kept  his  presence  of  mind, 
and,  passing  around  through  the  brushwood  on  one 
side  as  rapidly  and  silently  as  possible,  escaped  from 
the  beasts,  and  reached  his  father's  house  in  safety. 
Many  a  night  in  his  boyhood  he  spent  at  the  old 
Bayou,  and  Patterson's,  and  Bacon's  mills,  waiting  for 
his  grist  to  be  ground.  His  educational  advantages 
were  very  limited,  attending  only  the  winter  schools 
of  the  pioneer  days,  taught  by  teachers  of  very  meagre 
capacity  and  attainments.  The  spring  and  summer 
seasons  were  spent  in  attending  to  the  crops  and  help- 
ing to  clear  land. 

Having  passed  the  early  years  of  his  life  in  this 
manner,  he,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Benjamin  S. 
Noble,  of  Greenwood,  Johnson  Co.,  and  entered  into 
partnership  with  him  in  the  spring  of  1840,  which 
partnership  continued  for  ten  years.  He  was  married 
to  Harriet  N.  Moreland,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  R. 
Moreland,  the  second  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Indianapolis.  They  had  nine  children 
born  to  them, — four  sons  and  five  daughters.  The 
first  four,  one  son  and  three  daughters,  died  in  in- 
fancy and  childhood.  The  others  are  living,  viz. :  Dr. 
William  N.,  of  the  City  Hospital  of  Indianapolis; 
Albert  W.,  an  attorney  of  the  city ;  Dr.  George  W., 
of  Indianapolis ;  Harriet  J. ;  and  Elizabeth. 

During  the  war  of  1861-65,  Dr.  Wishard  served 
two  years  as  a  volunteer  surgeon,  after  which  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine  in  the  neighborhood 
where  his  early  years  were  passed,  and  where  from 
the  first  he  had  a  large  practice.  In  October, 
1876,  he  was  elected  coroner  of  the  county  and 
removed  from  Southport  to  Indianapolis,  where  he 
has  remained  ever  since.  After  serving  four  yeafs 
as  coroner  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  medicine, 
which,  however,  he  had  not  entirely  relinquished. 
He  is  now  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  and  in 
full  vigor  for  one  of  his  years.  He  has  practiced 
medicine  in  Morgan,  Johnson,  and  Marion  Counties  i 


longer  than  any  man  now  living  in  the  county,  and 
still  holds  a  large  practice,  after  forty-four  years  of 
service  as  a  physician. 


MORRIS  HOWLAND. 
Mr.  Howland,  who  is  the  grandson  of  Elisha  How- 
land,  and  the  son  of  Powell  Howland,  was  born  on  the 
30th  of  January,  1823,  in  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  resided  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  re- 
ceived such  advantages  of  education  as  the  neighboring 
schools  afforded.  His  father  having  determined  to 
leave  the  Empire  State  for  the  unsettled  West,  his 
son  Morris  started  on  the  25th  of  September,  1839, 
with  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  wagon  for  Indianapolis, 
reaching  his  destination  after  a  journey  of  forty- 
two  days.  The  family  on  their  arrival  located  in 
Centre  township,  where  Morris  remained  four  years, 
after  which  he  engaged  in  flat-boating  at  points  be- 
tween Cincinnati  and  New  Orleans.  In  1844  he 
embarked  in  business  near  Evansville,  Ind.,  and  on 
abandoning  this  enterprise  made  an  extensive  tour  by 
steamboat  and  on  horseback  through  many  of  the 
States  of  the  Union,  with  a  view  to  pleasure  and  an 
intelligent  comprehension  of  the  extent  and  resources 
of  the  country.  On  returning  in  1845,  he,  on  the 
22d  of  January  of  that  year,  married  Miss  Susan 
Marquis,  of  Perry  township,  Marion  Co.,  and  settled 
in  the  last-named  township,  where  he  became  a 
farmer.  The  children  of  this  marriage  are  Sarah 
(Mrs.  F.  S.  Turk)  and  Mary  (Mrs.  John  Epler). 
Mrs.  Howland  died  in  August,  1852,  and  he  was 
again  married  on  the  22d  of  February,  1854,  to  Miss 
Jane  Gentle,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and  a  resi- 
dent of  the  same  township.  Their  children  are 
Powell,  Lida,  and  Minnie.  Mr.  Howland  has  princi- 
pally engaged  in  farming  and  stock  dealing,  in  which 
he  has  been  signally  successful.  He  has  been  actively 
interested  in  developing  the  resources  of  his  county 
and  township,  and  constructed  the  first  gravel  road 
in  the  county,  of  which  he  is  still  president.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Wool-Growers'  Association,  and  of  the 
Short-Horn  Breeders'  Association,  and  actively  in- 
terested in  the  subject  of  horticulture.     He  was  in 


596 


HISTORY  OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


politics  a  Democrat  until  the  introduction  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  in  1854,  when  a  disapproval  of 
the  measures  adopted  by  the  party  induced  him  to 
cast  his  vote  with  the  llepublicans.  He  has  been 
actively  interested  in  the  success  of  his  party,  and 
participated  in  various  local  campaigns,  though  not 
an  aspirant  for  the  honors  which  it  confers.  Though 
repeatedly  declining  ofiScial  positions  of  importance, 
he  has  held  various  offices  in  the  township,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  that  of  justice  of  the  peace. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  con- 
nected with  Southport  Lodge,  No.  270,  of  that  order. 
Mr.  Howland  is  an  active  member  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Southport  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  he  has  been  successively  steward, 
class-leader,  and  trustee.  His  influence  and  active 
labor  in  the  cause  of  temperance  have  accomplished 
a  salutary  work  in  Perry  town.ship,  and  given  it  a 
decided  moral  strength  in  the  county. 


GEORGE    TOMLINSOX. 

John  Tomlinson,  the  great-grandfiither  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  biographical  sketch,  was  a  native  of 
Yorkshire,  England,  and  having  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  settled  in 
Maryland.  His  son,  Joseph  Tomlinson,  the  grand- 
father of  George,  was  the  first  settler  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  Va.,  having  laid  out  the  town  and  named  it  in 
honor  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Tomlinson.  George 
Tomlinson  was  the  son  of  Isaac  and  Anna  Tomlinson 
(whose  maiden  name  was  De  Mint).  In  childhood 
he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Bourbon  County,  Ky., 
from  which  point,  after  a  residence  of  a  few  years,  he 
repaired  with  the  family  to  Trimble  County,  in  the 
same  State,  and  a  few  miles  above  Madison,  Ind., 
where  his  father  died  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war 
of  1812.  In  1821  he  became  an  inmate  of  the 
house  of  his  guardian.  Rev.  Henry  Brenton,  in 
Trimble  County,  Ky.,  and  in  1823  accompanied  him 
to  Indiana,  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Perry 
township,  Marion  Co.  He  was  married  on  the  2d  of 
August,  1827,  to  Miss  Lucy  E.  Dawson,  and  about 
October  of  the  same  year  removed  to  the  homestead 


on  the  Madison  road,  four  miles  south  of  the  city, 
where  he  resided  until  hi.s  death.  Mrs.  Tomlinson 
was  born  April  20,  1811,  in  Oldham  County,  Ky., 
and  was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Keziah  Dawson, 
and  granddaughter  of  Josiah  Tanner,  a  captain  in  the 
American  army  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Her 
parents  both  died  during  her  childhood,  when  a  homo 
was  found  with  her  grandmother,  Martha  Tanner, 
until  her  marriage.  The  married  life  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tomlinson  continued  over  a  period  of  fifty- 
three  years,  their  golden  wedding  having  been  cele- 
brated on  the  2d  of  August,  1877.  Their  children 
are  three  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom  sur- 
vive them.  Mr.  Tomlinson  did  not  enjoy  superior 
advantages  of  education,  but  was  a  student  all  his 
life,  and  devoted  much  of  his  leisure  time  to  reading. 
He  was  in  politics  a  Whig,  a  Republican  at  the  or- 
ganization of  that  party,  and  pronounced  in  his  anti- 
slavery  sentiments.  He  was  strong  in  his  political 
convictions,  an  ardent  supporter  of  measures  for  the 
conduct  of  the  late  war,  and  willingly  promised  to 
protect  from  want  the  families  of  soldiers  who  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  the  Union.  He  was  in  1832  elected 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  held  the  office  for  twenty 
consecutive  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Tippe- 
canoe Club  of  Marion  County,  and  voted  for  Gen. 
Harrison  in  1836  and  1840.  About  1847,  Mr. 
Tomlinson  began  a  general  merchandising  business  at 
Southport,  Ind.,  and  continued  it  for  twenty  years, 
after  which  he  retired  from  commercial  pursuits  and 
devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  farming.  His 
death  occurred  May  11,  1881,  and  that  of  his  wife 
in  the  same  year. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


PIKE    TOWNSHIP. 


,PlKE  TOWNSHIP  lies  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
Marion  County,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Hamilton  and  Boone  Counties,  on  the  east  by  Wash- 
ington township,  on  the  south  by  Wayne  township, 
and  on  the  west  by  Hendricks  County.  The  town- 
ship   contains    forty-four    sections,    or    twenty-eight 


^  <^C>i^ta^t^Ot^ 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


597 


thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land.  Its  [ 
surface  is  in  some  parts  rolling,  in  others  nearly  level,  i 
and  in  some  parts  rather  .swampy.  The  buttonwood 
ponds  were  formerly  numerous  in  some  localities,  but 
these  are  unknown  to-day,  for  the  industrious  farmers 
have  cleared  up  these  places  and  tile-drained  them,  so 
that  excellent  crops  are  raised  on  these  lands.  The 
soil  of  the  township  is  generally  of  a  good  quality, 
and  well  adapted  to  farming  and  stock-raising.  It  is 
watered  by  Eagle  Creek,  which  enters  the  township 
on  the  north  line,  about  two  and  one-half  miles  east 
of  the  northwest  corner,  and  runs  in  a  southwesterly 
course  until  it  reaches  the  Wayne  township  line, 
about  one  and  one-quarter  miles  east  of  the  west  line 
of  the  township.  Fishback  Creek  enters  the  town- 
ship near  the  northwest  corner,  and  empties  into 
Eagle  Creek  one-half  mile  below  Trader's  Point. 
The  country  along  this  stream  is  the  most  broken 
part  of  the  town.ship,  and  is  called  the  hilly  country 
of  Fishback.  The  creek  derived  its  name  from  Free- 
man Fishback,  who  was  an  early  settler  on  the  farm 
now  owned  by  P.  Beck.  Some  of  the  finest  springs 
of  the  county  are  along  this  stream.  Bush's  Run, 
a  small  stream,  heads  near  the  north  centre  of  the 
township,  and  empties  into  Eagle  Creek  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  below  Trader's  Point.  Little  Eagle  Creek, 
which  is  somewhat  of  a  noted  stream,  has  its  source 
near  the  south  line  of  Boone  County,  and  it  enters 
this  township  about  one  mile  east  of  the  centre  of  the 
north  line.  It  runs  just  east  of  New  Augusta,  and 
empties  into  Big  Eagle  near  Mount  Jackson,  in 
Wayne  township.  This  stream  is  the  second  in  size 
in  Pike.  Crooked  Creek  enters  the  township  near 
the  northeast  corner,  and  takes  a  southwesterly  direc- 
tion until  just  north  of  Old  Augusta,  where  it  bears 
to  the  southeast,  and  leaves  the  township  about  one- 
third  of  a  mile  southeast  of  Old  Augusta.  Staton's 
Creek  heads  a  little  south  of  Old  Augusta,  runs  in  a 
southwesterly  course,  and  empties  into  Little  Eagle 
on  or  near  W.  H.  Guion's  farm.  It  derived  its 
name  from  Joseph  Staton,  who  was  the  first  settler  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  township. 

Pike,  like  the  other  townships  of  Marion  County, 
was  laid  out  and  erected  a  separate  township  by  order 
of  the  county  commissioners  on  the  16th  of  April, 


1822,  and  on  the  same  date  and  by  the  same  au- 
thority it  was  joined  to  Wayne  for  township  pur- 
poses (there  being  but  few  inhabitants  in  either), 
and  the  two  together  were  deemed  a  single  township, 
called  the  township  of  Pike  and  Wayne.  This 
continued  until  May  10,  1824,'  when  the  commis- 
sioners of  Pike  separated  from  Wayne  (the  inhab- 
itants being  suflBciently  numerous),  and  an  election 
was  ordered  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Alexis  Jack- 
son for  the  choice  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  on  the 
19th  of  June  following,  David  McCurdy  to  be  in- 
spector of  election.  At  this  election  there  were  but 
seventeen  votes  cast,  and  John  C.  Hume  was  elected 
the  first  justice  of  the  peace  by  a  majority  of  three 
votes,  Mr.  Thomas  Burns  being  his  opponent  for  the 
judicial  honors  of  the  township.  J.  C.  Hume  at 
that  time  lived  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township, 
in  the  Harman  neighborhood,  on  the  south  part  of 
the  farm  now  owned  by  Samuel  Hornaday,  and 
Thomas  Burns  lived  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
township,  on  the  east  side  of  Eagle  Creek,  on  the 
farms  now  owned  and  occupied  by  his  grandsons, 
Thomas  and  Oliver  Reveal. 

Following  is  a  list  of  township  officers  of  Pike  from 
its  formation  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES   or  THE   PEACE. 

Abraham  Hendricks,  June  15,  1822,  to  June  19,  1824. 
Isaac  Stephens,  June  22,  1822,  to  February,  1824;  removed. 
Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  May  10,  1824,  to  June  19,  1824. 
(The  three  preceding  served  for  Pike  and  Wayne  while  those 
two  townships  were  joined  as  one.) 
John  C.  Hume,  Aug.  19,  1824,  to  May  16,  1827;  resigned. 
Jacob  Sheets,  Aug.  27,  1825,  to  December,  1829;  resigned. 
Austin  Davenport,  Aug.  9,  1827,  to  March  1,  1830;  resigned. 
Zephaniah  Hollingsworth,  Feb.  19,  1830,  to  May  2,  1831;  re- 
signed. 
William  C.  Robinson,  Feb.  20,  1830,  to  Feb.  12,  1835. 
Jesse  Lane,  April  9,  1830,  to  April  9,  1835. 
Adam  Wright,  July  4,  1831,  to  July  4,  1834;  resigned. 


1  From  that  time  until  1834  small  parts  of  the  counties  of 
Hamilton,  Boone,  and  Hendricks  were  included  in  this  town- 
ship, but  in  the  year  last  named  the  matter  was  brought  before 
the  Legislature  by  the  Hon.  R,  B,  Duncan,  and  the  northern 
and  western  lines  established  as  they  are  now.  Another 
change  was  made  by  which  three  sections  of  land  originally 
belonging  to  Pike  were  thrown  into  Washington  township, 
thus  establishing  the  township  lines  as  they  are  at  present. 


598 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY, 


Smith  Isaac,  Oct.  17,  1S34,  to  Oct.  17,  1839. 
Nathaniel  Bell,  April  IS,  1835,  to  April  15,  1845. 
Riley  B.  Hogshire,  June  9,  1838,  to  June  9,  1843. 
Daniel  Cooper,  Dec.  14,  1839,  to  Dec.  7,  1844. 
Daniel  Cooper,  Feb.  8,  1845,  to  Feb.  8,  1850. 
Benjamin  Powell,  May  6,  1845,  to  May  6,  1850. 
Nathaniel  Bell,  May  10,  1845,  to  July,  1846;  removed. 
James  Haines,  Dec.  18,  1846,  to  Deo.  15,  1851. 
John  C.  Hume,  April  12, 1850,  to  April  12,  1855. 
Riley  B.  Hogshire,  May  8,  1850,  to  March  15,  1851  ;  resigned. 
James  Haine.s  Dec.  22,  1851,  to  Dec.  15,  1856. 
Fletcher  Patterson,  April  19,  1853,  to  April  19,  1857. 
John  C.  Hume,  May  8, 1855,  to  May  3, 1859. 
Perry  W.  Cotton,  Nov.  3,  1855,  to  Nov.  1,  1859. 
James  Haines,  April  20,  1857,  to  November,  1800  ;  died. 
Abner  A.  Wakeland,  May  7,  1859,  to  April  22, 1861 ;  resigned. 
Perry  W.  Cotton,  Nov.  7,  1859,  to  Nov.  1,  1863. 
Joseph  Patton,  Dec.  fi,  1860,  to  Sept.  22,  1863;  resigned. 
John  M.  Voorhis,  April  21,  1863,  to  Dec.  26,  1865;  resigned. 
William  R.  McCune,  Nov.  5,  1863,  to  Nov.  1, 1867. 
Abraham  Artman,  April  20,  1865,  to  May  24,  1867;  resigned. 
Joseph  F.  Trowbridge,  April  13, 1867,  to  Oct.  13, 1 879 ;  resigned. 
William  R.  McCune,  Nov.  9,  1867,  to  Nov.  1,  1871. 
Mahlon  B.  Pentecost,  April  25, 1868,  to  Nov.  16,  1868 ;  resigned. 
Salathicl  F.  Pentecost,  April  28,  1869,  to  Jan.  31,  1871;   re- 
signed. 
Francis  M.  Hollingsworth,  Oct.  28,  1872,  to  Oct.  28,  1876. 
John  C.  Reed,  April  9,  1878,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Francis  M.  Hollingsworth,  July  9,  1878,  to  April  14,  1880. 
Tiry  N.  Hardin,  Oct.  13,  1879,  to  June  27,  1882;  removed. 
James  M.  Smith,  May  11, 1882,  to  May  11,  1886. 
Robert  Dunn,  June  27,  1882,  to  April  14,  1884. 

TRDSTEES. 
John  H.  Wiley,  April  11,  1859,  to  April  11,  1860. 
Elihu  Culver,  April  11,  1860,  to  Jan.  13,  1861. 
William  P.  Long,  Jan.  13,  1861,  to  April  13, 1861. 
James  M.  Draper,  April  13,  1861,  to  April  17,  1863. 
John  H.  Wiley,  April  17,  1863,  to  April  13,  1867. 
James  H.  Kennedy,  April  13,  1867,  to  Oct.  29,  1870. 
Jeremiah  Coble,  Oct.  29,  1870,  to  April  1(4,  1880. 
Jasper  N.  Guion,  April  10,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
Jesse  A.  Avery,  April  14,  1882,  for  two  years. 

ASSESSORS. 
.John  B.  Harmon,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  5,  1829. 
Jesse  Davenport,  Jan.  5,  1829,  to  Jan.  3,  1831. 
Joseph  Staton,  Jan.  3,  1831,  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
William  W.  Harmon,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  May  5,  1835. 
Alexander  Felton,  May  5,  1835,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
Smith  Isaac,  Jan.  4,  1836,  to  March  7,  1836. 
Alexander  Felton,  March  7,  1836,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
William  W.  Harmon,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  1,  1838. 
Smith  Isaac,  Jan.  1,  1838,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Alexander  Felton,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 


Smith  Isaac,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Alexander  Felton,  Jan.  4,  1841,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
Thomas  W.  Council,  Dec.  10,  1852,  to  Nov.  20,  1854. 
John  Bowers,  Nov.  20,  1854,  to  April  7,  1855. 
Abraham  Logan,  April  7,  1855,  to  Dec.  4,  1856. 
James  M.  Draper,  Dec.  4,  1856,  to  Nov.  20,  1858. 
Allen  P.  Wiley,  Nov.  20,  1858,  to  Nov.  6,  1860. 
John  M.  Voorhis,  Nov.  6,  1860,  to  Nov.  16,  1862. 
John  Souerwine,  Nov.  16,  1862,  to  Nov.  26,  1864. 
Jacob  R.  Wilson,  Nov.  26,  1864,  to  Oct.  27,  1866. 
Joseph  Loftin,  Oct.  27,  1866,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Samuel  H.  Schenck,  March  23,  1875,  to  Oct.  23,  1876. 
Joseph  Loftin,  Oct.  23,  1876,  to  April  10,  1880. 
Jacob  Souerwine,  April  10,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
Jacob  H.  Heisay,  April  14,  1882,  to  April  14,  1884. 

From  the  best  information  now  to  be  obtained  the 
first  white  man  who  settled  in  this  township  was 
James  Harman,  who  was  a  native  of  Pulaski  County, 
Ky.,  and  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  came  to 
Indiana  and  first  located  in  Rush  County,  and  in 
1820  came  to  Marion  County  and  settled  in  the  north 
part  of  Pike  township,  on  the  east  side  of  Eagle 
Creek,  where  he  lived  until  the  20th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1832,  when  he  sold  out  to  Wesley  Marklin, 
and  moved  to  the  farm  where  Richard  Carter  now 
lives.  He  lived  there  for  a  few  years,  and  then 
moved  to  Boone  County,  Ind.,  near  Zionsville,  where 
he  died.  Mr.  Harman  raised  twelve  children,  sotfie 
of  whom  still  live  in  the  neighborhood  where  they 
passed  the  years  of  their  youth. 

The  next  settler  in  the  township  is  supposed  to 
have  been  David  McCurdy,  Sr.  He  was  born  in 
Ireland  in  the  year  1777,  and  at  the  age  of  two 
years  he  with  his  mother  (then  a  widow)  came  to 
New  York,  where  he  lived  until  1818.  He  then 
came  to  Indiana  and  settled  near  Noblesville,  on 
White  River,  in  Hamilton  County,  and  lived  there 
until  1820  or  1821,  when  he  came  to  Marion  County 
and  settled  in  Pike  township,  west  of  Eagle  Creek, 
on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  James 
White.  Mr.  McCurdy  owned  at  one  time  two 
thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land 
along  Eagle  Creek  in  this  township.  In  a  few  years 
he  moved  to  the  southwest  part  of  the  township,  ou 
the  farm  which  he  made  his  home  until  his  death. 
He  built  the  first  grist-mill  in  the  township,  on 
Eagle   Creek,  at  what  is   known    as   the   McCurdy 


PIKE    TOWNSHIP. 


599 


Ford,  where  the  citizens  got  their  corn  and  wheat 
ground  for  a  number  of  years,  the  flour  being  bolted 
by  hand.  He  also  owned  and  ran  a  small  distillery  / 
just  south  of  the  residence  of  his  son  Samuel.  Mr.  j 
McCurdy  was  married  twice.  He  had  ten  children 
by  his  first  wife  and  ten  by  the  second,  equally 
divided  between  the  sexes.  All  lived  to  maturity, 
and  settled  in  this  section  and  shared  in  their 
father's  large  estate.  Mr.  McCurdy  was  honest  in 
all  his  dealings,  kind  and  liberal  to  the  poor,  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at 
Jones'  Chapel,  and  very  liberal  in  its  support.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  and  was  buried 
at  Jones'  Chapel  Cemetery,  where  a  fine  monument 
marks  his  grave. 

Samuel  McCurdy,  a  son  of  David  McCurdy,  Sr., 
was  born  in  Pike  township,  Jan.  11,  1840,  and  lives 
on  the  old  farm  and  homestead,  where  his  father 
died.  His  residence  (built  by  his  father)  is  the  first 
brick  house  built  in  the  township.  Samuel  McCurdy 
is  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  Pike  township ;  is 
extensively  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising. 
He  owns  six  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  excellent 
land,  and  has  built  two  miles  of  gravel  road  at  his 
own  expense.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

John  B.  Harman,  born  in  Virginia,  emigrated 
thence  to  Kentucky,  thence  to  Bartholomew  County, 
Ind.,  and  in  1821  came  with  a  wife  and  two  children 
to  Pike  township,  and  settled  in  the  north  part  of  the 
township,  west  of  Eagle  Creek,  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Samuel  Hornaday.  In  1829  he  was 
assessed  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  15, 
township  17,  range  2.  In  1837  he  sold  out,  and 
removed  to  Boone  County.  His  wife  was  Mary 
Findley,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1817,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  six  sons  and  two  daughters. 
After  his  arrival  here  he  traded  with  the  Indians, 
and  was  on  friendly  terms  with  them  while  they  re- 
mained in  this  region,  but  afterwards  he  saw  some- 
thing, of  their  hostility.  He  had  served  in  the  war 
of  1812,  and  volunteered  for  service  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war  of  1832,  in  which  he  became  a  captain. 
At  one  time,  at  the  close  of  a  very  fatiguing  march, 
he,  with  about  thirty-five  men  who  were  with  him, 


was  attacked  by  the  savages,  and  all  were  killed  ex- 
cept himself  and  one  other  man,  who  escaped  by 
leaving  their  horses  and  swimming  a  swollen  stream. 
Capt.  Harman  died  in  Boone  County  in  June,  1860. 

James  Delong  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Pike.  He  came  here  in  1822,  first  settling  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township,  and  in  1823  he 
bought  out  Elijah  Standridge,  on  the  east  side  of 
Eagle  Creek,  two  miles  south  of  Trader's  Point. 
The  farm  (two  hundred  and  fourteen  acres  of  excel- 
lent land)  is  now  owned  by  Jacob  Delong,  his  second 
son,  who  was  born  on  the  farm,  and  has  lived  on  it 
sixty  years,  this  being  the  longest  continuous  residence 
of  any  man  in  the  township. 

Chesley  Ray,  Sr.,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  came 
to  Pike  township  in  the  winter  of  1822-23,  and  set- 
tled with  his  family  (wife  and  two  children)  on  land 
now  owned  by  Amos  Smith,  east  of  Eagle  Creek. 
Soihe  years  afterwards  he  bought  an  eighty-acre 
tract,  now  land  of  William  Jennings.  He  was 
also  owner  of  several  other  farms  at  diiferent  times. 
He  moved  to  Illinois,  and  died  there  in  1869,  in  his 
seventy-first  year.  He  had  five  children, — three 
sons  and  two  daughters.  His  first  wife  was  the 
second  adult  person  who  died  in  this  township,  in 
May,  1826. 

Joseph  Staton  was  a  Virginian  by  birth  (born  in 
1796),  was  married  in  1818  to  Cidna  Tarns,  and  in 
1823  came  with  his  family  (wife  and  three  children) 
to  settle  in  Pike,  on  Staton's  Creek, — their  nearest 
neighbor  then  being  three  miles  distant.  Mr.  Staton 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  two  months,  and 
fifteen  days.  He  raised  four  sons  and  four  daughters. 
His  eldest  two  sons,  Reuben  and  Washington  Staton, 
own  the  lands  on  which  their  father  and  mother  settled 
sixty  years  ago. 

George  Haines,  Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
moved  in  his  youth  to  Kentucky,  and  came  to  Pike 
township  in  October,  1824,  settling  on  the  farm  after- 
wards owned  by  Ira  Hollingsworth.  After  a  few 
years  he  moved  to  Missouri.  He  had  seven  sons  and 
four  daughters,  and  raised  them  all.  His  son  George 
was  famed  as  the  largest  man  in  this  township,  being 
six  feet  seven  inches  high.  Another  son,  Absalom, 
now  approaching  his  threescore  and  ten  years,  has 


600 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


lived  in  Marion  County  almost  continuously  for  nearly 
sixty  years. 

Abraham  McCorkle  was  a  native  of  Fleming 
County,  Ky.  He  came  to  this  township  in  1824, 
and  entered  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  on 
the  west  side  of  Eagle  Creek,  in  the  western  part  of 
the  township.  On  this  tract  he  built  a  cabin,  and  in 
1825  (October  26th),  with  his  wife  and  child,  com- 
menced housekeeping  in  the  woods  of  this  part  of 
the  township.  He  was  one  of  the  original  members 
of  Jones'  Chapel  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church),  and 
donated  the  ground  for  the  meeting-house  and  ceme- 
tery. 

Hon.  Robert  B.  Duncan  came  to  this  township  in 
1824  (when  but  a  lad),  and  lived  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  William  C.  Robinson,  and  also  with  his  uncle, 
John  Duncan.  In  1827  he  left,  and  went  to  the  then 
village  of  Indianapolis  to  educate  himself  He  lived 
with  James  M.  Ray,  and  worked  for  his  board  while 
at  school.  His  subsequent  career  is  too  well  known 
to  the  people  of  the  county  to  need  extended  mention 
here. 

David  Wilson,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1801.  In  1825  he  came  to  Indiana  and  settled  in 
this  township,  on  the  west  side  of  Eagle  Creek,  on 
the  land  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Thomas  Parker. 
He  owned  several  other  tracts  of  land  in  the  town- 
ship. His  wife  was  Annie  Railsback,  and  they 
raised  thirteen  children,  eight  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters. David  Wilson  at  one  time  owned  a  saw-mill 
and  grist-mill,  and  carried  on  the  milling  busi- 
ness quite  extensively  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
died  Nov.  30,  1853,  and  was  buried  on  his  farm. 
His  widow  is  still  living,  and  is  eighty  years  old. 
She  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  Ebenezer 
Christian  Church,  and  is  now  a  faithful  Christian, 
holding  her  membership  in  one  of  the  Christian 
Churches  at  Indianapolis,  where  she  lives  with  her 
children.  Her  house  was  the  preachers'  home  while 
she  lived  in  Pike  township. 

John  C.  Hume  was  born  in  1790  in  Harrisburg, 
Pa.,  whence  he  removed  with  his  father  to  the  State 
of  New  York  in  1804.  After  a  time  he  engaged  in 
the  occupation  of  civil  engineer,  and  as  such  laid  out 
the  plat  of  the  city  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.     He  was 


married  in  1813  to  Martha  Rodman,  in  New  York, 
and  in  1815  he  removed  to  Washington  County,  Ind., 
where  he  resided  until  1821  or  1822,  when  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  Marion  County.  He  located 
where  the  city  of  Indianapolis  now  stands,  which 
place  at  that  time  contained  but  a  half-dozen  log 
cabins.  He  was  among  the  first  settlers  of  the 
county.  He  served  fourteen  years  as  Justice  of  the 
peace,  seven  years  as  probate  judge  of  Marion  County, 
and  four  years  as  circuit  judge  of  McLean  County, 
111.,  to  which  State  he  removed  in  1837.  After  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  in  Illinois  he  returned 
to  this  township,  where  he  lived  uninterruptedly  until 
his  death. 

Stephen  Gullefer,  a  Virginian  by  birth,  came  to 
Pike  township  in  1827.  In  1829  he  was  assessed 
on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  7,  township  16, 
range  3.  His  son,  Aaron  Gullefer,  was  born  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  Va.,  in  1796 ;  emigrated  with 
his  father  to  Ohio  ;  thence  to  Wayne  County,  Ind., 
in  1821 ;  thence  moved  to  Pike  township  in  1827. 
He  owned  lauds  on  Little  Eagle  Creek,  near  Bethel 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  elsewhere  in  the 
township.  The  farm  he  lived  on  is  now  owned  by 
Henry  Gullefer  and  Jacob  Heine.  Aaron  Gullefer 
was  married  in  1821  to  Lydia  Hollingsworth.  They 
had  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  Mr.  Gullefer 
died  in  1852. 

Joseph  Loftin,  Sr.,  was  a  North  Carolinian  by 
birth.  He  emigrated  thence  to  Wayne  township, 
Marion  Co.,  about  1826.  In  1830  he  moved  from 
Wayne  to  the  northeast  part  of  Pike  township,  and 
settled  on  lands  which  are  now  owned  by  the  Loftin 
family,  and  the  homestead  farm  occupied  by  Joseph 
Loftin's  youngest  son.  He  had  ten  children,  five 
sons  and  five  daughters.  Three  of  the  sons  became 
physicians.  The  eldest,  Hon.  Sample  Loftin,  has 
been  treasurer  of  Marion  County.  Joseph  Loftin, 
Jr.,  a  native  of  Wayne  township,  and  now  fifty-six 
years  of  age,  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of* 
Pike  township.  He  was  township  assessor  for  about 
fourteen  years,  trustee  for  two  years,  and  in  1882 
was  elected  county  commissioner.  He  was  engaged 
in  school -teaching  for  a  number  of  years,  and  taught 
the  first  school  at  the  school-house  called  Poplar  Cot- 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


601 


tage,  a  aame  given  to  it  by  him  because  it  was  a 
very  low  building  of  poplar  logs.  Mr.  Loftin  is 
active  in  politics,  and  bears  the  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  best-informed  men  in  the  county  on 
political  matters. 

Nicholas  Hightshue  was  born  in  Germany  in 
179-1,  and  settled  in  Maryland  in  1805.  From  there 
he  moved  to  Perry  County,  Ohio,  and  in  1829,  with 
his  wife  and  five  children,  settled  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Pike  township.  They  raised  seven  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  are 
still  living.  Nicholas  Hightshue  served  through 
the  war  of  1812.  He  was  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  Ebenezer  Christian  Church,  and  served  as  an 
elder  for  many  years.  He  died  in  1858,  and  his 
wife  in  1859. 

The  Hollingsworth  and  Klingensmith  families  were 
the  most  numerous  of  any  in  Pike  township.  There 
were  twenty-four  HoUingsworths  and  twenty-two 
Klingensmiths,  voters,  on  the  registry  roll  at  one  time 
in  1865-66.  The  HoUingsworths  were  Republicans 
and  the  Klingensmiths  Democrats.  The  HoUings- 
worths were  members  of  the  Christian  and  Meth- 
odist Churches,  while  the  Klingensmiths  were  mostly 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 

Zephaniah  Hollingsworth  was  born  in  South  Caro- 
lina, near  Cliarleston,  on  the  6th  of  September,  1787, 
and  was  married  to  Polly  Bayley  on  the  12th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1806.  In  May,  1807,  he,  with  his  wife  and 
son,  George  D.  (who  was  then  only  six  weeks  oldj, 
emigrated  to  Montgomery  County,  Ohio.  Polly  rode 
a  pack-horse,  carrying  her  babe,  and  their  bedding 
and  wearing  apparel,  the  distance  being  nearly  six 
hundred  miles.  They  remained  in  Ohio  until  May, 
1828.  They  settled  in  this  township,  on  Little 
Eagle  Creek,  near  Bethel  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  on  the  land  now  owned  by  W.  H.  Broug- 
hard.  They  reared  five  children, — three  sons  and 
two  daughters, — who  all  lived  to  maturity.  Only 
two  are  now  alive, — the  oldest  son,  George  D.  Hol- 
lingsworth, and  the  daughter  Jane. 

George  Hollingsworth,  b9rn  near  Charleston,  S.  C, 
in  1801,  emigrated  at  the  age  of  six  years,  with  his 
father  to  Ohio,  and  in  1819  moved  thence  to  Ran- 
dolph  County,   Ind.,  from  which  place  he  came  to 


Pike  township.  His  name  appears,  with  that  of 
Zephaniah  Hollingsworth,  on  the  assessment-roll  of 
the  township  for  1829,  but  neither  of  them  were 
then  assessed  on  any  real  estate.  Both  paid  poll- 
taxes  in  the  township  in  that  year,  and  Zephaniah 
Hollingsworth  was  assessed  on  two  horses.  The 
lands  on  which  George  Hollingsworth  settled  were 
located  on  Little  Eagle  Creek,  and  he  built  a  saw- 
mill on  that  stream,  which  was  one  of  the  early  mills 
of  the  township.  He  died  in  1860,  having  reared  a 
family  of  ten  children,  of  which  the  youngest  is  Syl- 
vanus  Hollingsworth,  who  was  born  in  this  township, 
and  now  lives  on  the  farm  on  which  he  was  raised. 
He  is  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising,  and  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  of  the 
township. 

Joseph  Klingensmith,  Samuel  Rodebaugh,  and 
Peter  Anthony  came  to  Pike  township  with  their 
families  (each  having  a  wife  and  four  children)  in 
1829.  They  were  from  Western  Pennsylvania,  and 
passed  down  the  Ohio  River  with  their  families  and 
household  goods  on  a  flat-boat  to  Cincinnati,  where 
they  disembarked,  sold  their  boat,  and  finished  their 
journey  to  this  township  by  wagons,  arriving  in  the 
early  part  of  August  in  the  year  named.  Joseph 
Klingensmith  settled  near  where  New  Augusta 
Station  now  is,  on  the  land  now  owned  by  Simon 
Klingensmith,  his  second  sou.  Samuel  Rodebaugh 
settled  east  and  south  of  the  centre  of  the  township, 
on  the  land  now  owned  by  Joseph  Rodebaugh. 
Peter  Anthony  settled  near  the  centre  of  the  town- 
ship, on  the  farm  known  as  the  Daniel  Meyers  farm. 
Of  this  party  of  early  settlers,  but  two  who  were 
then  adults  are  now  living, — Esther  Klingensmith, 
who  is  eighty  years  old,  and  lives  on  the  old  farm, 
with  her  son  Simon  ;  Sally,  wife  of  Samuel  Rode- 
baugh, is  also  one  of  the  survivors,  is  eighty-one 
years  old,  and  lives  on  the  old  farm  with  her  young- 
est son,  Joseph  Rodebaugh. 

Simon  Rodebaugh,  son  of  Samuel  and  Sally  Rode- 
baugh, was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  nine  years 
old  when  his  parents  came  to  this  country.  He  lives 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  on  some  of  the 
laud  his  father  entered.  He  owns  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  acres  of  good  land,  is  a  good  farmer,  and 


602 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


is  somewhat  extensively  engaged  in  the  business  of 
stock-raising. 

Joseph  Klingensmith,  Jr.,  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania. He  came  to  this  township  in  1835,  and 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  township,  and  just  south  of  the 
centre  east  and  west.  His  oldest  son,  Oliver,  now  owns 
and  occupies  the  land.  He  is  a  good  farmer,  and  is 
extensively  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  drain-tile. 
He  ran  the  first  tile-mill  in  the  township  ;  is  treas- 
urer of  the  Marion  County  tile-maker  organization. 
He  has  also  been  engaged  quite  extensively  in  the 
saw-mill  business. 

Emanuel  Meichal  came  to  Marion  County  in  1828, 
and  first  located  in  Wayne  township.  In  1833  he 
came  to  Pike,  and  settled  between  one  and  two  miles 
northeast  of  Old  Augusta,  on  the  Michigan  road. 
He  is  a  North  Carolinan  by  birth,  is  now  seventy-four 
years  old,  and  has  lived  in  this  township  for  half  a 
century,  except  about  two  years  when  he  resided  in 
Hamilton  County. 

Wesley  Marklin  came  to  this  county  from  North 
Carolina  in  November,  1832,  and  settled  on  the  north 
line  of  Pike  township,  east  of  Eagle  Creek.  His  wife 
was  Margaret  Green,  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
1832.  They  have  raised  one  son  and  three  daughters, 
and  have  lived  together  as  man  and  wife,  more  than 
fifty-one  years.  He  is  now  seventy-four,  and  his  wife 
sixty-seven  years  old.  He  has  been  a  great  hunter, 
and  some  have  called  him  the  Daniel  Boone  of  Pike 
township. 

Thomas  Burns  was  an  early  settler  in  Pike.  He 
owned  a  large  farm  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
township,  and  in  connection  with  Jedediah  Read,  one 
of  his  neighbors,  carried  on  the  first  tan-yard  in  this 
township.  He  was  an  enterprising  man  and  a  good 
farmer.  The  farm  on  which  he  lived  is  now  owned  j 
and  occupied  by  his  grandsons,  Thomas  and  Oliver 
Reveal.  They  are  energetic  and  enterprising  citizens, 
and  are  extensively  engaged  in  farming. 

A.  B.  Smock  was  a  son  of  Peter  Smock,  who  came 
to  this  township  in  1826,  and  bought  eighty  acres  of 
land  near  the  centre  of  the  township,  on  what  is  now 
the  Zionsville  and  Pike  township  gravel  road.  The 
land  is  now  owned  by  Newton  Pollard.    A.  B.  Smock 


served  during  the  Mexican  war  in  the  Fourth  Indiana 
Regiment.  He  also  volunteered  in  the  late  war  of 
the  Rebellion  in  Capt.  Black's  company.  Sixty-third 
Regiment  Indiana  Volunteers.  He  has  at  different 
times  been  extensively  engaged  in  the  saw-mill  busi- 
ness, is  now  a  retired  farmer,  is  sixty-three  years  old, 
and  the  only  Mexican  soldier  living  in  the  township. 
Thomas  B.  Jones  came  from  Franklin  County, 
Ind.,  to  Marion  County  in  1824.  He  was  married 
to  Jane  Speer,  daughter  of  Robert  Speer,  Sr.,  Jan. 
18,  1826,  by  Jeremiah  Corbaley,  Esq.,  of  Wayne 
township,  where  they  then  resided.  In  the  spring 
of  1826  they  moved  to  this  township  and  built  a 
cabin  on  the  west  side  of  Eagle  Creek,  one-quarter 
of  a  mile  southwest  of  where  Jones  Chapel  (Meth- 
odist JCpiscopal  Church)  now  stands.  They  raised 
eight  children  (six  daughters  and  two  sons),  of  which 
four  daughters  and  the  two  sons  are  still  living. 
Aunt  Jane  Jones,  as  she  is  called,  is  still  living,  and 
makes  her  home  with  her  son,  J.  T.  Jones,  west  of 
Clermont.  She  is  in  her  seventy-ninth  year,  is  a 
regular  attendant  at  church,  and  has  been  for  sixty- 
five  years.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 

Craig  Jones  was  a  native  of  Kentucky.  He  came 
to  Marion  County  in  1821  and  lived  with  his  brother, 
John  B.  Jones,  in  Wayne  township,  near  old  Union 
Christian  Church.  He  was  married  to  Sally  Speer 
Sept.  30,  1830,  and  in  October  following  they  settled 
in  Pike  township,  on  the  east  side  of  Eagle  Creek,  on 
the  farm  now  owned  by  the  Davenport  heirs.  They 
lived  there  thirty-two  years;  then  went  to  Iowa,  lived 
there  seven  years,  came  back  to  Indiana,  and  settled 
in  Hendricks  County.  Mr.  Jones  died  July  7,  1880. 
They  had  no  children  of  their  own,  but  raised  several 
orphans.  Aunt  Sally,  as  she  is  called,  is  now  living 
in  Clermont,  Wayne  township.  She  is  now  in  her 
seventy  second  year,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church  for  fifty-six  years. 

Jonathan  Ingo  came  to  this  township  in  1829  with 
George  Coble,  and  settled  near  the  site  of  Old  Au- 
gusta. The  farm  was  afterwards  owned  by  David 
Boardman  and  Thomas  Council,  and  is  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Collins. 

Seth  Rodebaugh,  son  of  Christopher  Rodebaugh, 


yj^j^'<^^7^^to 


'cn-K^ 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


603 


was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1796,  and  was  raised  by 
his  uncle,  Adam  Rodebaugh,  who  came  to  Ohio  in 
an  early  day.  He  was  married  to  Mary  Hollings- 
worth  July  9,  1817,  and  in  March,  1818,  moved  to 
Randolph  County,  Ind.  In  1825  he,  with  his  wife 
and  four  children,  came  to  Marion  County,  and  settled 
in  Pike  township,  on  Little  Eagle  Creek,  on  the  farm 
now  owned  and  occupied  by  Jacob  Meyers.  Rode- 
baugh sold  to  Meyers  in  1844  or  1845,  and  went 
West.  He  died  during  the  "  Border  RuflBan  War" 
in  Kansas.  His  wife  and  children  remained  in  this 
township,  Mrs.  Rodebaugh  living  with  her  children, 
of  whom  she  had  eight,  six  daughters  and  two  sons. 
She  is  now  living  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Laycock. 
She  is  eighty-five  years  of  age,  the  oldest  person  in 
the  township. 

Daniel  Cooper  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1793,  and 
moved  to  Ohio  with  his  father  in  1809.  He  served 
in  the  war  of  1812,  and  in  1830  came  to  Indiana  and 
settled  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Pike  township,  on 
Fishback  Creek.  He  served  as  justice  of  the  peace 
for  several  years,  and  was  a  school  teacher  of  some 
prominence  in  the  early  day  of  the  township.  The 
farm  of  Daniel  Cooper  is  now  owned  by  Elijah  Cooper. 

Samuel  Cooper,  of  Perry  County,  Ohio,  a  carpenter 
by  trade,  came  to  this  township  in  1830,  and  entered 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
township  on  the  Lafayette  road.  Fishback  Creek 
runs  through  the  land  he  entered.  In  1831  he,  with 
his  wife  (Elizabeth  Moore,  to  whom  he  was  married 
in  December,  1827)  and  two  children,  moved  to  his 
land,  where  a  cabin  was  soon  erected,  and  they  were 
at  home  in  the  woods.  They  raised  eleven  children 
who  lived  to  maturity,  seven  sons  and  four  daughters. 
Aunt  Betsey,  as  she  is  called,  still  lives,  at  seventy- 
five  years  of  age,  on  the  farm  they  entered.  Mr. 
Cooper  died  April  1,  1864. 

John  Moore,  a  son  of  John  Moore,  Sr.,  was  born 
in  Perry  County,  Ohio,  June  9,  1816,  and  came  to 
Indiana  in  1832.  He  settled  in  Pike  township,  on 
the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Pluman  Reck. 
Mr.  Moore  now  resides  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  township,  on  the  west  side  of  Eagle  Creek.  He 
owns  a  farm  of  over  three  hundred  acres,  which  he 
has  acquired  by  his  own  industry  and  economy.     He 


is  extensively  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising. 
He  has  served  as  inspector  of  elections  for  thirty-five 
or  forty  years,  and  is  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Clermont. 

Enoch  Reade  was  born  in  Jackson  County,  Ohio, 
in  1814,  and  in  1828,  with  his  father's  family,  came 
to  Hendricks  County,  near  Plainfield,  where  he  lived 
until  1831.  In  August  of  that  year  they  came  to 
Marion  County,  and  settled  in  Pike  township,  where 
Marion  Wiley  now  lives.  He  was  married  to  Ruth 
Hume,  daughter  of  J.  C.  Hume,  Oct.  16,  1834,  and 
in  1837  moved  to  Illinois  with  a  number  of  other 
early  settlers  of  this  township.  He  remained  in 
Illinois  five  years,  then  returned  to  this  township, 
and  settled  on  the  farm  where  A.  P.  Wiley  now  re- 
sides. He  raised  five  children,  who  are  still  living. 
Mr.  Reade  is  now  and  has  been  for  a  number  of 
years  living  on  the  Lafayette  road. 

Alexander  Felton  came  to  Pike  township  Sept.  2, 
1832,  and  settled  on  the  fiirm  now  owned  by  Leander 
Felton.  He  taught  school  the  following  winter  in  a 
house  owned  by  Zephaniah  Hollingsworth,  in  his  own 
yard,  used  for  loom-house,  etc.  For  many  years 
afterwards,  during  the  winter,  he  taught  in  difi"erent 
places,  working  on  the  farm  in  summer.  He  was  an 
advocate  of  temperance  and  freedom  for  all  races  and 
color,  standing  up  for  the  anti-slavery  cause  when 
it  cost  something  to  do  so.  He  did  not,  however, 
live  to  see  the  liberation  of  the  slaves.  He  died 
Sept.  2,  1854.  His  widow  died  Feb.  17,  1883,  at 
eighty  years  of  age,  having  lived  fifty-one  years  on 
the  old  homestead. 

John  Bowers  was  a  son  of  David  Bowers,  Sr., 
born  in  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  Aug.  28,  1818. 
He  came  to  this  township  in  1833,  and  settled  on 
land,  now  the  G.  W.  Aston  farm,  on  the  Michigan 
road.  John  Bowers  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Gullefer 
Oct.  27,  1844.  They  had  five  children, — three  sons 
and  two  daughters, — who  are  all  living  in  this  vicin- 
ity on  good  farms,  to  which  they  were  assisted  by 
the  liberality  of  their  parents. 

Mr.  Bowers  was  one  of  the  early  school-teachers 
of  this  township  when  the  qualifications  required  of 
a  teacher  were  a  knowledge  of  spelling,  reading, 
writing,  and  ciphering   to  the  single  rule  of  three, 


604 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


but  his  qualifications  exceeded  those  of  the  ordinary 
teacher,  for  he  was  master  of  the  arithmetic  that  was 
then  used  in  the  schools.  Mr.  Bowers  owns  and  oc- 
cupies the  land  entered  by  Allen  Harbert  and  Wil- 
liam Groves  in  the  southeast  centre  of  the  town- 
ship,— one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  good  land. 
He  is  a  model  farmer  and  stock-raiser ;  is  an  exem- 
plary member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  which  he 
has  held  several  positions,  having  acted  as  class- 
leader  the  most  of  the  time  for  the  last  forty  years. 

John  Miller,  son  of  William  Miller,  a  Revolution- 
ary soldier,  was  born  in  Fleming  County,  Ky.,  in 
1801,  and  was  married  to  Cynthia  Wilson,  Feb.  23, 
1828.  He  came  to  Indiana  in  September,  1833,  and 
settled  in  this  township,  half  a  mile  northwest  of 
where  the  village  of  Trader's  Point  now  stands.  He 
is  the  only  man  in  this  township  living  on  the  land 
which  he  entered  from  government.  He  and  his 
wife  have  lived  together  fifty-five  years  and  raised 
six  children.  Mr.  Miller  is  eighty-three  years  of 
age,  and  the  oldest  man  in  the  township.  His  wife 
is  seventy-two  years  old.  Mr.  Miller  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church  nearly  sixty-eight 
years,  and  his  wife  fifty-eight  years  in  the  same 
church  with  her  husband. 

Isaac  N.  Cotton  (a  son  of  John  Cotton,  who  came 
to  this  township  in  May,  1838)  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  Ind.,  in  1830.  He  now  owns  and  lives  on 
the  farm  of  his  father.  He  is  an  excellent  farmer, 
raises  fine- wool  sheep,  is  quite  extensively  engaged  in 
raising  bees,  and  is  the  president  of  the  Indiana  State 
Bee-Keepers'  Association.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Swine-Breeders'  and  Wool-Growers'  Association 
of  the  State  of  Indiana.  He  attended  the  Marion 
County  Seminary  from  1849  to  1851,  crossed  the 
plains  with  an  ox-team  in  1852,  and  remained  in 
California  two  years.  After  his  return  to  this  county 
he  engaged  in  school-teaching  in  the  winter  season 
and  farming  in  the  summer.  He  was  at  one  time 
township  clerk  ;  was  revenue  assessor  for  the  three 
north  townships  of  Marion  County ;  represented  the 
county  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1859,  and  was 
elected  again  in  1880. 

William  P.  Long  was  a  native  of  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  whence  he  came  with  his  father,  Daniel 


Long,  to  Indiana  in  February,  1832,  and  settled  in 
Rush  County.  In  February,  1848,  he  was  married 
to  Sarah  D.  Rees,  and  on  April  1,  in  the  same  year, 
came  to  Pike,  and  settled  in  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  township,  on  the  farm  entered  by  James  San- 
dusky. He  is  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Christian 
Church  at  Clermont,  is  a  good  farmer  and  citizen, 
and  takes  a  great  interest  in  the  educational  interests 
of  the  township.  He  has  been  inspector  of  elections 
at  different  times,  and  was  captain  of  a  company  of 
the  Indiana  Legion  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. 
John  W.  Riley  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1830, 
and  in  1835  came  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  with  his 
father,  Samuel  J.  Riley,  and  settled  on  Fall  Creek. 
From  there  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Perry 
township  in  1836,  and  settled  in  the  western  part  of 
the  township,  on  the  east  side  of  White  River. 
In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  he  served  two  years  as 
first  lieutenant  in  the  Ninth  Indiana  Cavalry,  and  in 
the  battle  of  Sulphur  Trestle,  Ala.,  he  (with  a 
detachment  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  men)  was 
taken  prisoner.  He  was  commissioned  captain  by 
Governor  Morton  in  the  Indiana  Legion.  After  the 
war  Captain  Riley  returned  to  his  farm  in  Perry 
township  and  remained  there  until  1869,  when  he 
moved  to  Pike  township  and  bought  a  farm  on  the 
Michigan  road,  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Old 
Augusta.  He  now  owns  over  four  hundred  acres  of 
good  land,  is  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  somewhat  en- 
gaged in  raising  graded  short-horn  cattle.  He  was  a 
charter  member  of  Hosbrook  Lodge,  F.  and  A.  M., 
and  served  as  Worshipful  Master  eight  years. 

The  first  road  that  was  surveyed  and  cut  out 
through  this  township  was  the  Lafayette  road.  It 
was  surveyed  and  cut  out  in  1831  and  1832  from 
Indianapolis  to  Lafayette.  The  next  was  the  Michi- 
gan road  from  Indianapolis  to  Michigan  City  ;  this 
was  surveyed  by  George  L.  Conard  in  1832.  Some 
of  the  citizens  are  still  living  who  helped  cut  out 
these  roads.  The  Lafayette  road  runs  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  through  the  township,  and  in  some 
places  passed  through  the  swampiest  land  in  the 
township.  In  such  places  it  was  "  corduroyed,"  and 
in  open,  wet  winters  or  in  the  spring  this  road  was 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


605 


impassable  for  teams  and  wagons,  and  in  those  days 
it  was  a  great  undertaking  to  go  to  Indianapolis, 
a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and  often  re- 
quired two  days  to  make  the  round  trip  to  mill  or 
market  with  a  small  load.  In  1859  to  1862  the 
Lafayette  road  was  graded  and  graveled  by  Aaron 
McCray,  Isaac  Meyers,  John  Bowers,  and  Manning 
Voorhes,  at  a  cost  of  twelve  hundred  dollars  per  mile  ; 
in  these  four  years  twelve  miles  of  this  road  was 
graveled,  and  it  was  made  one  of  the  best  thorough- 
fares of  the  county.  Since  that  time  the  Michigan 
road,  the  Zionsville,  and  other  roads  in  this  township 
have  been  graveled,  and  there  are  now  about  thirty- 
five  miles  of  gravel  roads  in  the  township,  fully  half 
of  which  are  free  roads.  Quite  an  improvement  has 
been  made  in  the  other  roads  of  the  township,  all  the 
wet  and  low  places  being  graded  and  graveled.  In 
the  summer  of  1877  the  first  iron  bridge  was  built 
in  this  township  across  Big  Eagle  Creek,  on  the 
Lafayette  road  at  Trader's  Point,  at  a  cost  of  twelve 
thousand  dollars. 

The  first  grist-mill  of  the  township  was  built  by 
David  McCurdy  on  Big  Eagle  Creek,  at  the  McCurdy 
ford.  The  next  mill  of  the  kind  in  Pike  township 
was  built  by  John  Trester  on  Crooked  Creek,  nearly 
one-half  mile  southeast  of  Old  Augusta,  on  the  farm 
now  owned  by  Byron  K.  Elliott.  Lewis  Mitchell 
built  the  third  grist-mill  in  1832,  about  one  mile  south 
of  the  site  of  the  village  of  Trader's  Point.  The  first 
saw-mill  was  built  by  Henry  Groves  on  Little  Eagle 
Creek,  on  the  farm  known  as  the  Cropper  farm. 

Harrison  Button  built  the  next  saw-mill  on  Fish- 
back  Creek,  on  the  farm  he  now  owns  and  occupies. 
Other  saw-mills  were  built  in  this  township  by  Stephen 
Gullefer,  George  Hollingsworth.  James  McCurdy,  and 
others.  These  were  all  propelled  by  water-power. 
The  first  steam  saw-mill  was  built  by  Marchant  Kode- 
baugh  on  the  Zionsville  road,  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  farm  now  owned  by  Ezra  Meyers.  Rodebaugh 
sold  out  to  Jacob  Souerwine.  The  first  distillery  in 
the  township  was  built  by  David  McCurdy,  Sr.,  just 
south  of  the  house  that  Samuel  McCurdy  now  lives 
in.  This  was  built  about  1827.  The  second  distillery 
was  built  by  Joseph  Klingensmilh,  near  the  house  now 


owned  and  occupied  by  Simon  Klingensmith.  The 
third  distillery  in  the  township  was  built  by  Richard 

Miller    and   Gay,    and    was    sometimes    called 

"  Sodom."  This  was  on  the  bank  of  Eagle  Creek, 
just  below  the  McCurdy  ford.  All  of  these  mills  and 
distilleries  are  matters  of  the  past  in  the  history  of 
Pike  township. 

The  first  post-office  in  this  township  was  named 
Piketon,  and  located  at  Adam  Wright's  house,  on  the 
farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Zachariah  Bush,  on 
the  Lafayette  road.  The  mail  was  carried  on  horse- 
back from  Indianapolis  to  Lafayette.  The  mail  con- 
tractor was  a  man  named  Bentley,  and  his  son  Joseph 
carried  the  mail  for  a  number  of  years  on  this  route. 
The  second  postmaster  in  this  part  of  the  township 
was  Christopher  Hines,  under  whom  the  office  was 
removed  to  the  farm  now  occupied  by  F.  M.  Hollings- 
worth. Piketon  post-office  was  continued  and  kept 
at  Mr.  Hines'  until  1853,  when  an  office  was  estab- 
lished on  the  Indianapolis  and  Lafayette  Railroad  at 
Augusta  Station  (now  New  Augusta),  and  the  Pike- 
ton office  and  also  the  office  at  Old  Augusta  were  dis- 
continued. Mr.  Rudicil  was  the  first  postmaster  at 
Augusta  Station.  The  present  postmaster  there  is 
Dr.  E.  Purdy. 

Villages. — The  oldest  village  in  Pike  township  is 
Old  Augusta,  situated  in  the  eastern  part,  near  the 
Washington  township  line.  The  first  settlements  in 
its  vicinity  were  made  by  George  Coble,  Sr.,  and 
Jonathan  Ingo.  George  Coble  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  who  came  to  this  township  in  1829.  He 
entered  and  settled  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  one-quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  where  New 
Augusta  now  is,  and  lived  there  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  a  few  years  ago.  He  was  a  zealous 
member  of  the  Lutheran  Church  for  many  years, 
and  was  respected  by  all  his  neighbors.  He  raised  a 
family  of  five  children,  of  whom  Jeremiah  Coble,  the 
youngest,  was  born  in  this  township,  and  now  owns 
the  farm  on  which  his  father  settled.  He  has  served 
eight  years  and  six  months  as  trustee  of  the  town- 
ship, and  in  that  position  gave  satisfaction  not  only 
to  his  own  party,  but  to  his  political  opponents.  He 
was  a  charter  member  of  Hosbrook  Lodge,  F.  and 


606 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


A.  M. ;  has  served  as  its  secretary  for  ten  years,  and 
was  re-elected  at  its  last  stated  communication.  He 
also  holds  the  same  position  in  the  Knights  of  Honor 
at  New  Augusta.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church. 

Old  Augusta  was  laid  out  in  1832  by  David  G. 
Boardman  and  James  Fee ;  and  Riley  B.  Hogshire 
built  and  owned  the  first  dry-goods  and  grocery-store 
that  was  opened  in  the  place  after  the  town  was  sur- 
veyed. The  store  was  on  Washington  and  Walnut  \ 
Streets,  and  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  John  | 
Darling  as  a  residence.  The  next  who  engaged  in  I 
the  merchandising  business  in  the  place  was  a  Mr. 
McCalley,  who,  in  connection  with  his  store,  was 
licensed  to  sell  whiskey,  this  being  the  first  licensed  '■ 
place  in  the  town.  It  was  on  the  west  side  of  the 
street,  where  Joseph  Martin's  blacksmith-shop  now  i 
stands.  The  next  store  was  opened  by  James  Evans, 
one  square  south  of  whei'e  Joseph  Johnson's  store 
now  stands.  Mr.  Evans  continued  in  the  business 
for  a  number  of  years,  then  went  to  Noblesville,  and 
was  engaged  in  merchandising  there  until  a  few  years 
ago,  when  he  was  elected  to  Congress.  Riley  Hog- 
shire, Sr.,  again  purchased  a  large  stock  of  goods, 
and  carried  on  the  business  very  successfully  for  a 
number  of  years,  then  sold  out  to  his  son,  Samuel 
H.  Hogshire,  who  was  also  successful  in  business. 
There  have  been  quite  a  number  since  that  time 
engaged  in  selling  goods  at  Old  Augusta.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  four  stores  in  the  place,  the 
proprietors  being  Joseph  Johnson,  Arthur  Wakelin, 
Leander  Cox,  and  B.  F.  Berry. 

The  first  black.smith-sbop  in  Old  Augusta  was 
opened  by  Elias  Fee,  on  the  east  side  of  the  street, 
near  the  centre  of  the  village.  He  sold  out  to 
Thomas  Council,  who  carried  on  the  business,  in  con- 
nection with  that  of  wagon-making,  for  a  number  of 
years. 

The  first  physician  in  the  village  was  Dr.  James  M. 
Blades;  the  next.  Dr.  Woodyard.  Sample  Loftin 
(ex-county  treasurer)  practiced  medicine  here  for 
sixteen  or  seventeen  years.  George  Dusan  Was  a 
resident  physician  here  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
lived  where  Mr.  Stucker  now  resides.  Dr.  Almond 
Loftin  practiced  medicine  here  for  ten  or  fifteen  years. 


Dr.  E.  Purdy  was  located  here  in  practice  at  one 
time,  and  is  now  at  New  Augusta.  The  last  physi- 
cian of  this  village  was  Dr.  Sanford  Hornaday,  who 
was  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons at  Indianapolis.  Dr.  Hornaday  moved  West 
in  the  early  part  of  1883,  and  settled  in   Winfield, 


The  first  church  built  here  was  by  the  Methodists. 
The  second  was  built  in  1845  or  1846  by  the  Chris- 
tian congregation.  The  first  school  here  was  taught 
in  1832  by  a  Kentuckian  named  Lynch,  in  a  cabin 
just  north  of  the  town,  on  the  north  side  of  Crooked 
Creek,  owned  by  a  man  named  Lakin.  The  next 
school  taught  in  this  vicinity  was  by  David  G.  Board- 
man,  in  a  cabin  on  the  land  belonging  to  Elias  Fee. 

At  that  time  the  cabin  stood  about  one-quarter  of  a 
mile  southwest  of  the  village,  where  the  orchard  is 
on  the  Adam  Rodebaugh  farm.  Old  Augusta  is  now 
a  place  of  little  importance,  having  been  eclipsed  by 
the  newer  town  of  Hosbrook,  which  enjoys  the 
advantage  of  railway  communication. 

The  village  of  Hosbrook  (otherwise  known  as  New 
Augusta)  is  on  the  old  Lafayette  and  Indianapolis 
Railroad,  ten  miles  northwest  of  Indianapolis.  It  was 
laid  out  in  1852  by  William  Hornaday,  who  was 
administrator  of  the  estate  of  Christopher  Hornaday, 
deceased,  on  which  estate  the  town  was  laid  out. 
The  railway-station  and  post-oflBce  established  at 
that  place  bore  the  name  of  Augusta  Station.  The 
first  postmaster  was  Ephraim  Rudacil,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Joseph  Klingensmith.  The  oflfice  re- 
mained in  the  Klingensmith  family  the  most  of  the 
time  until  1882,  when  Dr.  Ephraim  Purdy  was 
appointed  and  is  still  the  postmaster.  The  name  of 
the  office  was  changed  in  1878  to  New  Augusta. 
The  first  store  at  this  place  was  owned  by  Thomas 
Council  &  Son.  Soon  after  Council's  store  was 
opened,  Ephraim  Rudacil  and  Jacob  and  Simon 
Klingensmith  built  a  large  store  and  warehouse,  and 
did  a  large  business  in  selling  goods  and  buying  and 
shipping  grain.  Rudacil  sold  out  to  Joseph  Kling- 
ensmith, Sr.,  after  which  the  firm  continued  in  the 
grain  and  merchandising  business  for  a  number  of 
years   and  then  sold   out.     The  business  afterwards 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


607 


passed  into  the  hands  of  Reuben  Klingensmith,  who 
dropped  the  grain  business  but  continued  the  store 
trade  until  1879,  when  he  closed  out  his  stock  of 
goods  at  private  sale  and  retired  to  his  farm.  The 
two  stores  of  the  village  are  now  carried  on  by  George 
Avery,  Robert  Avery,  and  Marshall  HoUingsworth. 
There  is  also  a  drug-store,  owned  by  Nelson  Kling- 
ensmith. 

Dr.  Ephraim  Purdy  was  the  first  resident  phy- 
sician and  surgeon  of  the  town,  and  he  is  still  here 
in  practice.  Dr.  W.  B.  McDonald,  who  is  also  in 
practice  here,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Indiana  Medical 
College.  He  served  three  and  a  half  years  at  the 
City  Hospital  in  Indianapolis,  the  last  two  years  as 
superintendent.  He  located  at  New  Augusta  in 
1877.  Dr.  George  Coble,  who  graduated  at  the 
Indiana  Medical  College  in  1882,  is  located  at  New 
Augusta  and  associated  with  Dr.  McDonald. 

In  1872,  Henry  and  William  Pollard  built  a  large 
flou ring-mill  at  this  place,  and  afterwards  added  a 
saw-mill  to  the  establishment.  The  flour-mill  and 
two  saw-mills  are  now  owned  by  William  H.  Neid- 
linger.  Besides  what  has  already  been  mentioned, 
the  village  contains  three  churches  (Methodist 
Episcopal,  Evangelical  Lutheran,  and  Christian), 
several  mechanic  shops  and  trades,  three  lodges  of 
secret  benevolent  societies,  and  about  two  hundred 
inhabitants. 

Ho.^brook  Lodge,  No.  473,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was 
organized  June  7,  1873,  with  the  following-named 
officers :  John  W.  Riley,  W.  M. ;  Joseph  F.  Trow- 
bridge, S.  W. ;  F.  M.  HoUingsworth,  J.  W. ;  Ste- 
phen Gullefer,  Treas. ;  Jeremiah  Coble,  Sec. ;  Jesse 
Dun,  S.  D. ;  Joseph  Loftin,  J.  D. ;  John  S.  McClain, 
Tiler.  The  lodge  owns  property  valued  at  one 
thousand  dollars. 

Augusta  Lodge,  No.  511,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  at  New  Au- 
gusta, was  organized  Nov.  18, 1875,  by  Grand  Sec.  B. 
F.  Foster,  with  T.  J.  Dawson,  D.  R.  Walker,  Henry 
M.  Hessong,  G.  W.  Bass,  Peter  Smith,  W.  H. 
Neidlinger,  Jasper  N.  Guion,  Allen  Avery,  Jonathan 
A.  Guion,  Henry  Lowman,  R.  S.  HoUingsworth, 
Perry  Hanes,  and  C.  H.  Felton  as  charter  members. 
The  first  oiEcers  were  T.  J.  Dawson,  N.  G.  ;  William 
H.  Neidlinger,  V.  G. ;  D.  R.  Walker,  Per.  Sec. ;  J. 


A.  Guion,  Rec.  Sec;  G.  W.  Bass,  Treas.  The 
present  officers  are  Wyatt  Farrington,  N.  G. ;  A. 
V.  Lewis,  V.  G. ;  G.  N.  Gullefer,  Rec.  Sec. ;  W.  H. 
Neidlinger,  Per.  Sec.  ;  Perry  Haines,  Treas. 

Knights  of  Honor  Lodge,  No.  176,  at  New  Au- 
gusta, was  chartered  Oct.  20,  1875,  with  Ephraim 
Miller,  Jacob  Miller,  William  Meyers,  I.  S.  McClain, 

B.  F.  Abrams,  John  Coble,  Volney  Kenney,  Samuel 
Coble,  J.  M.  Neidlinger,  D.  C.  Kindrey,  W.  H. 
Neidlinger,  and  J.  N.  Harden  as  charter  members. 
Its  first  officers  were  J.  N.  Harden,  D. ;  William 
Meyers,  V.  D. ;  J.  McClain,  P.  D. ;  B.  F.  Abrams, 
A.  D. ;  W.  H.  Neidlinger,  R. ;  E.  Miller,  F.  R. ; 
John  Coble,  Treas. ;  Volney  Kenney,  G. ;  D.  C. 
Kendrey,  G. ;  Samuel  Coble,  Chap.  Its  present 
officers  are  Jeremiah  Coble,  D. ;  S.  Klingensmith, 
V.  D.  ;  B.  F.  Abrams,  A.  D. ;  W.  D.  McDonald, 
R. ;  W.  H.  Neidlinger,  F.  R. ;  Henry  Dobson,  Treas. ; 
F.  M.  Mathes,  P.  D. ;  James  Nelson,  I.  G. ;  Samuel 
Coble,  0.  G.  ;  John  Hessong,  Chap.  The  present 
total  membership  is  twenty-six.  The  lodge  owns 
property  worth  six  hundred  dollars. 

The  village  of  Trader's  Point  was  laid  out  by 
John  Jennings  and  Josiah  Coughran  in  1864.  They 
erected  a  flour-mill,  with  four  run  of  burrs,— three 
for  wheat  and  one  for  corn.  It  was  at  first  a  water- 
mill,  with  a  raceway  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
long,  and  cost,  with  water  privilege,  machinery,  and 
construction,  about  thirty  thousand  dollars.  The 
mill  was  run  to  its  full  capacity  for  several  years  as 
a  grist-  and  merchant-mill.  In  1868  or  1869,  Mr. 
Jennings  sold  out  his  interest  to  his  partner,  Mr. 
Coughran,  who  continued  to  run  the  mill  until  the 
panic  of  1873,  when  Mr.  John  Irick  bought  the  mill 
at  assignees'  sale,  and  afterwards  sold  it  to  James 
Skillen,  of  Indianapolis,  who  ran  the  mill  for  a  few 
years,  after  which  it  fell  back  to  the  Irick  estate,  and 
in  1881  John  Jennings  again  became  the  owner. 
He  remodeled  it,  put  it  in  good  repair,  and  sold  it 
to  Mr.  Coffin,  of  Indianapolis,  who  sold  it  in  the  fall 
of  1883  to  a  Mr.  Jennings,  of  Kokomo,  who  is  pre- 
paring to  put  it  again  operation. 

The  first  store  in  Trader's  Point  was  opened  by 
Clark  Jennings,  who  did  a  good  business.     He  was 


608 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


followed  by  John  Ray,  who  sold  out  to  Lewis 
Wiley,  Wiley  to  Harry  Morris,  he  to  James  Kirlin 
(one  of  the  oldest  merchants  in  this  county),  and 
Kirlin  to  J.  B.  Gossett,  who  did  a  good  business  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  finally  sold  out  and  went  to 
Kansas. 

The  second  store  building  was  erected  by  John 
Jennings,  Chesley  Ray,  and  the  Rural  Lodge,  I.  O. 
0.  F.,  in  1873.  This  store  did  a  prosperous  busi- 
ness, and  in  1874,  Ray  bought  Jennings'  interest  in 
the  store,  and  now  carries  on  the  business.  He  is 
also  the  postmaster  of  Trader's  Point. 

The  first  blacksmith  at  Trader's  Point  was  Presley 
Jennings.  Lewis  Gass  is  now  running  the  shop 
started  by  Jennings.  Another  shop  is  carried  on  by 
James  Wells.  A  cooper-shop  was  started  here  by 
Alfred  Parker,  who  followed  the  business  for  a 
number  of  years. 

The  first  physician  to  locate  here  was  a  young  man 
from  Ohio  named  Howard.  The  present  physician  is 
Dr.  Lewis  0.  Carson,  who  came  in  May,  1877.  He 
is  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons of  Indianapolis,  is  also  a  graduate  of  the  Medi- 
cal College  of  Indiana,  and  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Butler  University.  He  has  a  lucrative 
practice,  and  is  a  successful  physician  and  surgeon. 

Rural  Lodge,  No.  416,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  of  Trader's 
Point,  was  instituted  on  the  22d  of  May,  1873,  with 
Christian  Lang,  James  Troutman,  W.  R.  Clinton, 
Nelson  Starkey,  A.  B.  Smock,  A.  D.  Huls,  John  R. 
Wilson,  Lewis  Parker,  John  Caldwell,  Enoch  Reade, 
John  H.  Reade,  James  A.  Davenport,  G.  W.  Howard, 
J.  F.  Hickey,  Isaiah  Voris,  and  A.  B.  Conarroe  as 
charter  members.  The  first  regular  meeting  was  held 
at  their  hall  on  the  10th  of  June,  1873,  at  which 
time  ofiBcers  were  installed  as  follows :  Christopher 
Long,  N.  G. ;  W.  R.  Clinton,  V.  G. ;  J.  F.  Hickey, 
Sec. ;  G.  W.  Howard,  Per.  Sec. ;  A.  B.  Conarroe, 
Treas.  The  hall  is  twenty-one  by  fifty  feet  in  size, 
valued  at  one  thousand  dollars.  The  lodge  has  now 
eleven  members  and  the  following-named  officers : 
John  Caldwell,  N.  G. ;  A.  S.  Huls,  V.  G. ;  A.  D. 
Huls,  Sec. ;  Harrison  Hollingsworth,  Treas. 

Pleasant  Hill  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — 
The  first  meetings  of  the  citizens  in  the  northwestern 


part  of  the  township  for  worship  were  at  the  residences 
of  J.  C.  Hume  and  Orlos  Babcock.  Mr.  Hume  then 
lived  on  the  south  end  of  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Samuel  Hornaday.  The  meetings  were  conducted 
generally  by  a  Rev.  Bramble,  who  was  a  local  Methodist 
preacher.  In  1828,  Abraham  Busenbarick  donated 
one  acre  of  land  at  the  southeast  corner  of  his  farm 
(opposite  the  residence  of  David  Delong)  on  which 
to  build  a  school-  and  meeting-house.  It  was  built 
and  named  Pleasant  Hill,  and  the  charge  was  then 
added  to  the  Danville  Circuit,  and  Joseph  Tarkington 
was  the  first  circuit  preacher  who  preached  in  this 
township.  The  original  members  of  this  pioneer 
church  were  John  C.  Hume,  Patty  Hume,  Mrs. 
Rodman  (mother  of  Judge  Rodman),  John  and 
Mary  Rodman,  James  Brazilton  and  wife,  Orlos  Bab- 
cock, and  Jemima  Babcock.  The  Rev.  Bramble  con- 
tinued to  preach  for  this  church  for  some  years,  in 
connection  with  the  preachers  of  the  circuit.  Joseph 
Tarkington  remained  with  the  church  for  two  years, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  E.  Farmer,  who  re- 
mained for  the  years  1830-31.  The  Rev.  Charles 
Bonner  was  on  this  circuit  for  the  year  1832,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Bonner  for  1833. 
The  Rev.  Asa  Beck  was  assigned  to  this  circuit  for 
the  years  1834—35.  He  was  succeeded  by  Isaac 
Welsh  and  John  Edwards  for  the  year  1836.  Heze- 
kiah  Smith  was  assigned  to  this  circuit  in  1837,  and 
remained  in  1838.  He  was  followed  by  Enoch 
Wood  and  Wesley  Dorsey,  1839-40  ;  Miles  Hufacre 
and  James  L.  Belot,  1841-42  ;  Daniel  F.  Straight 
and  Jacob  Meyers,  1843-44  ;  Robert  Calvert,  1845- 
46.  This  is  as  far  as  the  names  of  the  preachers 
have  been  ascertained. 

The  congregation  continued  to  meet  at  the  old 
building  until  1853,  when  they  built  a  new  meeting- 
house on  the  farm  of  Silas  White,  Sr.,  just  south  of 
his  residence,  on  the  west  bank  of  Eagle  Creek,  and 
called  it  Pleasant  Hill  Church.  The  first  Sunday- 
school  was  held  in  this  part  of  the  township  in  1830, 
at  the  residence  of  James  Duncan,  on  the  Lafayette 
road  (where  Nelson  McCurdy  now  lives),  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  north  of  Trader's  Point.  The  school  was  con- 
ducted by  James  M.  Ray,  of  Indianapolis.  The  first 
Sunday-school  was  organized  in  the  old  Pleasant  Hill 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


609 


school-  and  meeting-house,  and  John  Alford,  Sr.,  was 
superintendent  for  a  number  of  years. 

The  Pleasant  Hill  Church  is  still  an  organization, 
but  meets  at  Brooks'  Methodist  Episcopal  Chapel  at 
Trader's  Point,  the  old  Pleasant  Hill  Church  having 
been  replaced  by  a  new  church  at  the  Point,  built  in 
1873,  for  the  better  accommodation  of  its  members. 
The  history  of  this  church  was  given  by  Silas  White, 
Sr.,  who  came  to  this  township  in  1828,  on  the  26th 
of  November.  He  is  now  seventy-nine  years  of  age, 
and  has  been  a  regular  attendant  at  church  for  fifty- 
two  years. 

Jones  Chapel,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  — 
The  first  meeting  of  this  organization  was  held  at 
Thomas  B.  Jones'  house  in  1828,  and  conducted  by 
Joseph  Tarkington,  who  was  then  on  this  circuit. 
The  names  of  the  members  in  the  first  organization 
were  Thomas  B.  Jones,  Jane  Jones,  Polly  Jones, 
John  Jones,  Mary  Jones,  James  M.  Jones,  Jemima 
Jones,  Sarah  Jones,  A.  B.  McCorkle,  Nancy  Mc- 
Corkle,  David  McCurdy,  Mary  A.  McCurdy,  Stacy 
Starkey,  Margaret  Starkey,  Margaret  Wilson,  Susan 
Plummer,  William  Davis,  Jane  Davis,  Richard  Douty, 
Alexis  Jackson,  Mary  Jackson,  Benjamin  Morning, 
Margaret  Morning,  Charles  Tomlinson,  Edna  Tom- 
linson,  Mary  Tomlinson,  Nancy  Davis,  Sarah  Parish, 
Margaret  McCall,  Elizabeth  Coughran. 

The  preachers  to  the  JoneS  Chapel  congregation 
were  tho.se  of  the  circuit  and  some  local  preachers, 
and  are  named,  as  nearly  as  they  can  be  ascertained, 
in  the  history  of  the  Pleasant  Hill  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  to  which  reference  may  be  had.  The 
church  was  built  on  a  tract  of  two  acres,  donated  by 
Abraham  McCorkle  for  that  purpose  and  for  a  burial- 
ground.  The  first  person  interred  in  that  ground  was 
Jemima  Jones. 

Bethel  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  first 
organized  by  holding  meetings  at  Robert  Ramsey's 
(where  James  C.  Meyers  now  lives),  and  at  Abram 
Wells'  residence  (where  Leander  Felton  now  lives). 
The  original  members  were  Robert  Ramsey,  Jane 
Ramsey,  Abram  Wells,  Nancy  Wells,  Samuel  Ewing, 
Sarah  Ewing,  Fanny  Felton,  Nancy  Felton,  Stephen 
Gullcfer,  and  Betsey  GuUefer.  The  first  preacher  who 
preached  for  this  class  was  the  Rev.  Bramble.     All 


the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  of  this  township 
were  in  the  Danville  Circuit,  and  all  had  the  same 
circuit  riders.  The  list  of  preachers  is  given  in  the 
history  of  Pleasant  Hill  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

In  1832,  Aaron  GuUefer  donated  land  for  a  meet- 
ing-house, and  Zephaniah  HoUingsworth  gave  land 
for  cemetery  purposes.  Matilda  Starkey  was  the  first 
person  buried  in  this  ground,  in  June,  1832.  Stephen 
GuUefer,  Sr.,  was  the  second  person  buried  here,  in 
July,  1832.  The  first  sermon  preached  in  the  meet- 
ing-house was  at  the  funeral  of  Stephen  GuUefer,  Sr., 
by  the  Rev.  John  Klinger.  Soon  after  the  comple- 
tion of  the  church  a  Sunday-school  was  organized, 
and  is  still  one  of  the  best  organizations  in  the  town- 
ship. Stephen  GuUefer  is  the  present  superintendent. 
In  1832  the  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society  was 
organized  here,  with  Samuel  Frazier,  Leonard  West, 
Samuel  Ewing,  and  others  as  leaders  of  the  organi- 
zation. 

This  organization  was  maintained  for  several  years, 
when  the  Sons  of  Temperance  was  organized,  with 
Samuel  Frazier  as  leader  of  this  organization,  which 
was  kept  up  for  several  years. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Old  Au- 
gusta was  organized  in  1833  by  Rev.  Thomas  Brown, 
who  was  on  the  circuit  at  that  time,  but  meetings 
had  been  held  prior  to  that  in  the  cabins  of  James 
Fee,  Ellas  Fee,  and  Michael  Mitchell.  The  first 
preachers  who  met  with  the  early  settlers  here  were 
Bramble  and  White.  When  the  meeting- house  was 
built  the  Rev.  Thomas  Brown  preached  the  dedi- 
catory sermon.  The  first  members  in  the  church 
were  James  Fee,  Nellie  Fee,  Elias  Fee,  Mary  Fee, 
Samuel  Fee,  Simon  Boardman,  Margaret  Boardman, 
Thomas  Bonner  and  wife,  Esther  Bowers,  James 
Hubbard  (who  is  still  living  in  Washington  township 
at  the  age  of  ninety-nine  years),  Nancy  Hubbard. 
A.  G.  Boardman  and  John  Bowers  became  members 
soon  after  the  church  was  organized.  The  same 
preachers  were  employed  here  that  preached  at  Pleas- 
ant Hill  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  There  was  a 
Sunday-school  soon  afterwards  organized,  with  Samuel 
Fee  as  superintendent,  and  an  attendance  of  twenty 
scholars.  Mr.  Fee  was  succeeded  as  superintendent 
by  A.  G.  Boardman  in  1837.     He  continued  in  that 


610 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


capacity  while  the  church  and  school  remained  at  Old 
Augusta,  which  was  till  about  1871,  when,  for  the 
better  convenience  of  members,  a  new  house  was  built 
at  New  Augusta,  and  the  organization  was  transferred 
to  that  place. 

North  liberty  Christian  Church  was  organized 
in  May,  1841,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lockhart,  who  is 
now  in  his  eighty-ninth  year  and  is  still  preaching. 
The  officers  of  the  church  were  Samuel  Frazier 
and  Leonard  West,  elders,  and  James  Haines  and 
Isom  Lawrence,  deacons.  The  original  members  of 
the  church  were  Asa  HoUingsworth,  Susannah  Hol- 
lingsworth,  Ira  HoUingsworth,  Deborah  HoUings- 
worth, Jonathan  HoUingsworth,  Kuhn  HoUingsworth, 
Daniel  HoUingsworth,  Emily  HoUingsworth,  Samuel 
Frazier,  Martha  Frazier,  James  Haines,  Mary  Haines, 
Allison  Pollard,  Mary  Pollard,  Thomas  Turley,  Mary 
A.  Turley,  John  Fox  and  wife,  William  Draper  and 
wife,  Mary  Draper,  Mrs.  Avery,  wife  of  Andrew 
Avery,  Constantine  Evans  and  wife,  Leonard  West, 
Anna  West,  Harrison  Denny,  George  L.  Sanders  and 
wife,  Martha  Finney,  Amanda  Jones,  William 
Starkey,  Nancy  Starkey,  Rebecca  Kemple,  Elizabeth 
Hawkins.  These  are  the  names  as  far  as  can  be  had 
from  memory  of  the  first  organization.  Daniel  Hol- 
lingsworth  and  wife,  Thomas  Turley  and  wife,  Samuel 
Frazier,  Rebecca  Cropper,  and  Deborah  HoUings- 
worth, who  were  original  members  of  this  church,  are 
still  living. 

The  formation  of  this  church  (which  was  one  of 
the  strongest  Christian  Churches  in  Central  Indiana) 
was  the  result  of  a  protracted  meeting  which  was  held 
in  May,  1841,  at  Bell's  school-house  at  night,  and  in 
the  woods  by  day  for  eighteen  days.  The  meeting 
was  held  by  Thomas  Lockhart,  assisted  by  Jefferson 
Matlock,  both  of  Hendricks  County.  Lockhart  con- 
tinued to  preach  for  this  church  for  thirty  or  thirty- 
five  years.  Other  preachers  were  L.  H.  Jamison,  B. 
K.  Smith,  Asa  HoUingswortii,  Samuel  Frazier,  Elijah 
Goodwin,  George  Snoddy,  John  0.  Kane,  James  M. 
Mathis,  the  Rev.  Chalen,  W.  B.  Hopkins,  Thomas 
Conley,  Joseph  Sadler,  John  Brown,  Matthew  Coun- 
cil, John  Hadley,  W.  R.  Jewell,  J.  B.  New,  Nathan 
Hornaday,  George  Smith,  Robert  Edmanson,  W.  R. 
Couch,  Irwin  Brewer,  Rev.  Becknal,  S.  K.  Houshour, 


John  BarnhUl,  Aaron  Walker,  and  others  whose 
names  do  not  appear  on  the  church  record. 

For  a  number  of  years  a  good  Sunday-school  was 
taught  at  this  place,  with  Leonard  West  as  superin- 
tendent ;  but  many  of  the  members  of  the  church 
have  died,  others  have  moved  away,  and  there  has 
been  no  church  organization  here  for  seven  years. 
The  house  has  been  abandoned  except  for  funeral 
occasions.  Leonard  West  donated  one  acre  of  land  for 
church  purposes,  and  James  Haines  donated  an  acre 
for  a  burial-ground. 

Ebenezer  Christian  Church  (so  named  by  the 
Rev.  Alexander  Miller)  was  organized  in  1834  by 
the  Rev.  Jesse  Frazier,  with  Sally  Jones,  Annie 
Wilson,  Daniel  Barnhill,  Elizabeth  Barnhill,  Lewis 
Mitchell,  Chesloy  Ray,  Jane  Ray,  Nicholas  Hight- 
shue,  Alexander  Miller,  and  Mary  Miller  as  original 
members.  Its  first  elders  were  Alexander  Miller 
and  Chesley  Ray.  The  Rev.  Jesse  Frazier  con- 
tinued to  preach  to  this  church  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  first  meeting?  were  held  alternately  at 
the  residences  of  Lewis  Mitchell  and  Alexander  Mil- 
ler, and  in  the  spring  of  1834  they  built  the  first 
Christian  Church  of  this  township,  Annie  Wilson 
donating  the  ground.  Her  husband  furnished  ihe 
lumber  and  helped  to  build  the  church.  It  is  stUl 
an  organization,  with  a  membership  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  same  preachers  who  preached  in 
North  Liberty  Christian  Church  preached  also  for  the 
Ebenezer  Church  except  "  blind  Billy  Wilson,"  who 
preached  for  this  church  many  years  ago.  The  pres- 
ent officers  of  the  church  are  Thomas  T.  Glidenell 
and  James  G.  Dickerson,  elders ;  James  A.  Snyder 
and  John  Black,  deacons ;  F.  M.  HoUingsworth, 
clerk ;  and  James  A.  Snyder,  treasurer.  A  Sunday- 
school  was  organized  many  years  ago  in  connection 
with  this  church,  with  John  Miller  as  its  first  super- 
intendent. Its  last  superintendent  was  Marshall  S. 
Glidenell,  who  held  the  office  at  the  suspension  of 
the  school  about  three  years  ago. 

Old  Angtista  Christian  Church  was  organized  in 
1846,  with  Joseph  Loftin,  Sr.,  Mary  Loftin,  T.  W. 
Council,  Hester  J.  Council,  B.  P.  Berry  and  wife, 
Simeon  Head,  Malinda  Head,  John  Sheets,  Mary 
Sheets,  John  Moss,  Peter  Daubeuspeck,  Alexander 


PIKE   TOWNSHIP. 


611 


West,  Temperance  West,  Thomas  Reveal  and  wife 
as  members.  Council,  Moss,  and  Reveal  v?ere  chosen 
elders.  This  church  was  prosperous  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  was  ministered  to  by  most  of  the  same 
preachers  who  served  North  Liberty  and  Ebenezer 
Churches.  By  reason  of  the  emigration  of  some  of 
the  leading  members  of  this  church  and  the  death  of 
others,  it  ceased  to  be  an  organization  for  a  num- 
ber of  years ;  but  in  the  last  few  years,  through  the 
earnest  efforts  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Stucker  and 
some  others,  it  has  been  revived,  with  Mr.  Stucker 
as  elder,  and  it  now  has  regular  service  every  Sunday 
and  also  a  good  Sunday-school. 

The  Cliristian  Chapel  at  New  Augusta  was 
built  in  1872  by  subscription  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  church  was  organized  by 
the  Rev.  W.  R.  Jewell,  with  William  Pollard  and 
Henry  Dobson  as  elders,  Hardress  Avery  and  B.  F. 
Abrams  as  deacons,  and  Milo  Johnson  clerk.  The 
members  were  Allison  Pollard,  Mary  Pollard,  Eliza 
Gutherie,  Alice  Souerwine,  Henry  Pollard,  Ann  Pol- 
lard, Henry  Dobson,  Sarah  Dobson,  Rachel  Pollard, 
Hardress  Avery,  Nancy  Avery,  B.  F.  Abrams,  Caro- 
line Abrams,  Allen  Avery,  E.  A.  Avery,  Henry  Pol- 
lard, Candace  Pollard,  Mary  A.  Broughard,  Sarah  A. 
Pollard,  James  Holley,  Harriet  Holley,  Rachel  Crop- 
per, Sarah  Cropper,  and  Anna  CruU.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Jewell  continued  to  preach  for  the  church  for  one  year, 
and  was  followed  by  J.  M.  Canfield,  who  preached  one 
year,  Robert  Edmonson  one  year,  then  Jewell  one  year 
again,  L.  H.  Jamison  one  year,  R.  T.  Brown  one  year, 
W.  R.  Couch  one  year,  H.  R.  Pritchard  one  year, 
Walter  S.  Tingley  one  year,  then  a  vacancy  for  two 
or  three  years.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Gilchrist  is  now 
preaching  for  the  congregation.  The  church  num- 
bers about  one  huudred.  It  has  had  a  good  Sunday- 
school  since  the  organization  of  the  church,  with 
some  one  of  its  most  prominent  members  as  superin- 
tendent. The  present  superintendent  is  William 
Pollard. 

Prospect  Presbyterian    Church  was   organized  j 
about  1835,  at  Burns'  school-house,  by  the  families  of 
Thomas  Burns,  Thomas    McMannis,  James  Moore, 
James  Duncan,  John    Duncan,  Joseph  Patten,  and 
some  others.     In  a  few  years  after  the  organization 


they  built  a  house  for  worship  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  James  Duncan's  land  (where  the  Rural  Academy 
now  stands),  and  the  first  preacher  who  occupied  the 
pulpit  there  was  the  Rev.  Stewart,  who  continued  to 
preach  for  this  church  for  a  number  of  years.  After 
him  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  (the  noted  Brook- 
lyn divine)  preached  here,  and  he  was  followed  by  the 
Rev.  Reed,  who  preached  for  the  church  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  the  Rev.  Long,  who  was  the  last  minister 
of  this  church.  As  some  of  its  leading  members  had 
moved  to  the  West,  and  others  had  died,  the  house 
was  sold  for  a  school-house,  and  is  now  known  as  Rural 
Academy. 

Hopewell  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  was 
organized  at  the  residence  of  John  Klingensmith,  in 
1836,  by  the  Rev.  Abraham  Reck.  The  members  of 
the  organization  were  John  Klingensmith,  Susan 
Klingensmith,  Peter  Anthony,  Hannah  Anthony, 
George  Coble,  Sarah  Coble,  Jacob  Klingensmith, 
Joseph  Klingensmith,  Esther  Klingensmith,  George 
Klingensmith,  Cecilia  Klingensmith,  Michael  Kep- 
ple,  Polly  Kepple,  Jacob  Souerwine,  Elizabeth  Souer- 
wine, Isaac  Meyers,  and  Catharine  Meyers.  They 
continued  to  meet  at  Klingensmith's  residence  until 
1840,  when  a  house  of  worship  was  built  on  Klingen- 
smith's land,  of  which  he  donated  one  acre  for  that 
and  cemetery  purposes.  This  house  was  never  en- 
tirely finished,  but  was  used  to  hold  meetings  in  until 
1855,  when  the  old  house  was  sold  and  the  congre- 
gation then  met  at  centre  school-house  (where  Newton 
Pollard's  residence  now  stands).  They  met  here  until 
1859,  when  a  new  house  of  worship  was  built  at 
Augusta  Station,  Joseph  Klingensmith  donating  the 
land  for  church  purposes.  This  house  was  used  until 
the  congregation  was  too  large  for  it,  and  a  new  brick 
meeting-house  was  built  at  a  cost  of  five  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  church  edifices  in  the 
county  outside  the  city  of  Indianapolis.  In  the  spring 
of  1880  the  new  house  was  opened  for  worship,  and  the 
Rev.  A.  V.  Hurse,  of  Rochester,  Ind.,  preached  the 
dedicatory  sermon.  This  church  has  always  been 
prosperous,  and  now  has  a  membership  of  about  one 
hundred  communicants.  It  has  had  preaching  reg- 
ularly since  its  organization.  Its  first  preacher  was 
Abraham  Reck,  who  was  followed  by  Ephraim  Rudacil, 


612 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Samuel  Good,  John  LiviDgood,  Eusatius  Hinkle, 
Philo  Ground,  Ephraim  Wisner,  M.  J.  Sterewalt, 
Jacob  Wisner,  W.  C.  L.  Lower,  John  Hursh,  and  J. 
C.  Barb ;  these  preachers  preached  from  two  to  six 
years  each.  Since  the  organization  of  this  church  it 
has  manintained  a  good  Sunday-school,  for  a  number 
of  years  some  one  of  its  leading  members  acting  as 
superintendent.  Its  present  superintendent  is  Elias 
Klingensmith. 

Schools. — The  first  schools  of  this  township  were 
taught  in  the  cabins  of  the  early  settlers,  and  some 
of  the  scholars  had  to  walk  several  miles  to  attend 
school.  The  first  school  of  the  township  was  taught 
by  George  L.  Conard,  in  a  cabin  on  David  McCurdy's 
land,  on  the  west  bank  of  Eagle  Greek,  near  where 
James  McCurdy's  saw-mill  was  built,  on  the  farm 
now  owned  by  James  White.  The  second  school 
was  taught  in  a  cabin  on  the  land  of  Capt.  John  B. 
Harman.  The  next  school  in  this  part  of  the  town- 
ship was  in  Pleasant  Hill  school  and  meeting-house, 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Busenbarick  land. 
The  next  school  was  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
township,  in  the  Staton  neighborhood,  in  a  cabin  on 
the  land  now  owned  by  Thomas  Ramsey,  where 
James  C.  Meyers  lives,  on  the  Lafayette  road.  This 
school  was  taught  by  Hugh  Wells.  The  next  school 
was  taught  by  Oliver  Shirtliff,  in  a  cabin  where 
Jones  Chapel  now  stands,  on  the  land  then  owned  by 
Abraham  McCorkle.  Then  the  Burns  school-house 
was  built,  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  in  1830  or 
1831. 

When  the  township  was  sufficiently  settled  several 
school-houses  were  built,  with  better  accommodations 
for  the  scholars  than  the  cabins  had  afforded.  They 
were  about  sixteen  by  twenty  feet  in  size,  and  high 
enough  for  the  large  scholars  to  stand  upright.  The 
doors  were  hung  outside ;  holes  were  cut  in  the  walls 
and  greased  paper  pasted  over  them,  and  they  were 
called  windows.  The  furniture  consisted  of  split 
poles  with  legs  in  them  for  the  scholars  to  occupy, 
and  they  were  called  seats.  The  requirements  of  a 
Hoosier  schoolmaster  was  to  be  able  to  teach  spell- 
ing, reading,  writing,  and  ciphering  to  the  single 
rule  of  three.  They  were  paid  very  small  wages 
for  their  work,  usually  receiving  six  to  ten  dollars  per 


month  and  board  themselves,  but  the  teacher  was 
always  a  welcome  visitor  at  the  homes  of  the  patrons 
of  the  schools,  and  generally  boarded  among  the 
scholars. 

The  teachers  in  the  days  of  the  log  school-houses 
were  George  L.  Conard,  Oliver  Shirtlifi',  Claiborne 
Lewis,  Daniel  Cooper,  William  Martin,  Hugh  Wells, 
William  Harbert,  Alexander  Felton,  Richard  Miller, 
David  Boardman,  James  T.  Morgan,  David  Moss 
(now  Gen.  Moss,  of  Noblesville),  Daniel  Griffin,  and 
others  whose  names  are  yet  familiar  to  some  of  the 
older  inhabitants  of  this  township.  In  1843  a  new 
set  of  teachers,  with  new  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
government  of  schools,  came  upon  the  stage  of  ac- 
tion. Among  these  reformed  and  more  humane  teach- 
ers were  Nancy  Felton  (who  was  the  first  female 
teacher  of  the  township),  William  Paten,  John  Bowers, 
Alfred  Hawkins,  Harriet  Huffman,  Oliver  Felton, 
Joseph  Loftin,  John  Laycock,  Mary  A.  Hightshue, 
Samuel  Martin,  Patsey  Bell,  James  Dobson,  and 
others. 

In  1853-54  the  township  was  divided  into  twelve 
school  districts,  frame  houses  were  built,  and  the 
teachers  required  to  furnish  a  certificate  of  compe- 
tency from  the  county  board  of  education  to  teach 
all  the  common  school  branches,  and  maintain  a 
good  moral  character.  This  was  the  inauguration  of 
the  free-school  system.  The  teachers  were  paid  by 
the  month  out  of  the  township  school  fund,  and  cor- 
poral punishment  was  almost  entirely  abandoned. 

The  township  now  has  twelve  school-houses,  as 
good  as  any  township  in  the  county.  The  value  of 
the  school  property  in  1883  was  ten  thousand  dollars. 
The  school  enumeration  for  1883,  between  six  and 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  was :  males,  four  hundred 
and  eighteen  ;  females,  four  hundred  and  two  ;  total, 
eight  hundred  and  twenty.  There  are  fifteen  teach- 
ers employed  at  the  twelve  school-houses,  at  an  aver- 
age of  forty-six  dollars  per  month,  and  the  school 
terms  are  six  or  seven  months.     The  teachers  are 

Jesse   C.   Smith,  Whitaker,   M.  S.  Glidenell, 

Ella  Jennings,  Henry  Green,  John  Vantine,  M.  J. 
Wagle,  John  McKinsey,  F.  M.  Klingensmith,  Ed- 
ward Hungate,  Jesse  Dunn,  Plackard,  John 

Barnhill,  and  Kate  Davidson. 


WARREN   TOWNSHIP. 


613 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

WARREN    TOWNSHIP.i 

The  township  of  Warren  is  the  central  one  of 
the  eastern  range  of  townships  of  Marion  County, 
Lawrence  township  joining  it  on  the  north,  and 
Franklin  on  the  south.  It  is  bounded  on  the  west 
by  Centre  township,  and  on  the  east  by  Hancock 
County.  The  population  of  Warren  township,  by 
the  United  States  census  of  1880,  was  three  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  seven. 

In  the  western,  southwestern,  and  northwestern 
parts  of  the  township  the  surface  is  but  slightly  un- 
dulatini;.  The  east  part  is  more  broken  and  rolling. 
The  soil  is  either  a  black  loam  or  clayey.  ThLs 
township  is  not  excelled  by  any  in  the  county  for  the 
production  of  grass,  and  the  soil  is  also  well  adapted 
to  the  production  of  corn  and  wheat. 

Originally,  Warren  township  was  thickly  covered 
with  timber,  and  had  many  low  marshes  and  swamps. 
The  kinds  of  timber  were  principally  beech,  maple, 
white-,  red-,  and  burr-oak,  hickory,  poplar,  elm,  ash, 
sycamore,  walnut,  buckeye,  bass,  mulberry,  and  iron- 
wood.  The  timber  was  of  large  growth,  witii  very 
thick  underbrush. 

Warren  township  is  afforded  good  drainage  by 
Buck  Creek  on  the  east.  Lick  Creek  through  the 
centre  and  south,  and  Pleasant  Run  in  the  northwest. 
The  marshes  have  all  disappeared,  and  now  but  little 
waste  land  is  to  be  found  in  the  township. 

At  an  early  date  the  principal  road  through  the 
township  was  the  Centreville  road,  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  south  of  where  the  National  gravel  road  is 
now.  After  the  location  of  the  National  road  the 
Centreville  road  was  vacated.  Now  the  principal 
roads  are  the  National,  Brookville,  and  German 
pikes.      But  few  dirt  roads  are  left  in  the  township. 

Warren  township  was  laid  off  and  erected  by  the 
county  commissioners  on  the  Ifith  of  April,  1822, 
but,  being  then  not  sufficiently  populous  for  separate 
organization,  it  was  at  the  same  time  joined  to  Centre 
township,  the  two  to  be  regarded  as  one  township, 
under    the    name    of   Centre- Warren.      This    union 

•  By  Wharton  R.  Clinton,  Esq. 


continued  until  May  1,  1826,  when,  by  order  of  the 
county  board  of  justices,  Warren  was  taken  from 
Centre,  to  be  separately  organized  as  a  township, 
and  an  election  of  justice  of  the  peace  was  ordered 
to  be  held,  on  the  3d  of  June  following,  at  the  house 
of  Rufus  Jennison,  Harris  Tyner  to  be  judge  of  the 
election.  At  this  election  Rufus  Jennison  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace.  Following  is  a  list  of  township 
officers  of  Warren,  from  its  erection  as  a  township 
to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES   OF   THE   PEACE. 

Wilks  Reag.an,  June  14,  1822,  to  April  15,  1826;  resigned. 
Sismund  Basye,  June  14,  1822,  to  June  3,  182t). 
Obed  Foote,  June  14,  1822,  to  June  3, 1826. 

(The  three  preceding  served  as  justices  for  Centre  and  War- 
ren townships  while  they  were  united  as  one.) 
Rufus  Jennison,  Aug.  7, 1826,  to  Not.  3,  1828 ;  resigned. 
Henry  Brady,  Aug.  25,  1828,  to  Aug.  14,  1833. 
Solomon  Wells,  March  17,  1829,  to  Sept.  3,  1832 ;  resigned. 
Joshua  Black,  Aug.  27, 1831,  to  Aug.  27,  1836. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Oct.  27,  1832,  to  Oct.  27,  1837. 
Joseph  S.  Mix,  Oct.  15,  1834,  to  April  18,  1836:  resigned. 
James  P.  Hanna,  June  8,  1836,  to  June  8,  1841. 
Lyman  Carpenter,  Nov.  30, 1836,  to  July  4,  1S38 ;  resigned. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Deo.  5,  1837,  to  Dec.  5,  1842. 
Ambrose  Shirley,  July  31,  1838,  to  Aug.  23,  1840;  resigned. 
Edward  Heizer,  Dec.  14,  1839,  to  Dec.  7,  1844. 
John  A.  Buell,  Sept.  29,  1840,  to  December,  1844;  resigned. 
Joseph  Clinton,  Oct.  7,  1842,  to  Oct.  7,  1852. 
Joseph  W.  Buchanan,  Jan.  18,  1845,  to  July  14,  1849  ;  resigned. 
John  Pleasants,  Aug.  30,  1849,  to  April,  1852;  resigned. 
Stephen  Tyner,  Jan.  15,  1850,  to  March  16,  1850;  resigned. 
Joseph  McConnell,  April  26,  1851,  to  Aug.  21,  1865;  resigned. 
Charles  Bonge,  June  9,  1852,  to  Nov.  12,  1857;  resigned. 
Jesse  D.  Tomlinson,  Oct.  8,  1852,  to  March  7,  1853;  resigned. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  April  23,  1853,  to  April  19,  1857. 
Aquilla  Parker,  April  21,  1857,  to  April  19,  1861. 
Peleg  Hathaway,  April  20,  1858,  to  April  19,  1862. 
Austin  B.  Harlan,  April  20, 1861,  to  April  16,  1881. 
George  Newland,  April  26,  1862,  to  April  19, 1866. 
William  T.  Whitesides,  April  21,  1866,  to  April  13,  1870. 
Aquilla  Parker,  April  13,  1867,  to  May  29,  1871;  resigned. 
Alexander  D.  Reading,  Oct.  23,  1872,  to  Oct.  22,  1876. 
William  T.  Whitesides,  Oct.  31,  1872,  to  Oct.  30,  1876. 
Lewis  S.  Wiley,  June  22,  1875,  to  March  18,  1876;  resigned. 
Daniel  Foley,  Oct.  30,  1876,  to  April  5,  1877;  resigned. 
Levi  White,  Nov.  18,  1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Sampson  M.  Houston,  Jan.  15,  1877,  to  April  15,  1878. 
John  S.  McConnell,  May  18,  1877,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Samuel  A.  Vandeman,  April  24,  1878,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Cyrus  Laughlin,  Feb.  15,  1881,  to  April  13,  1882. 


614 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Austin  B.  Harlan,  April  15,  1882,  to  April  15,  1886. 
John  D.  Godfrey,  July  24,  1882,  to  April  14,  1884. 
Levi  White,  Sept.  21,  1883,  to  April  14,  1884. 

TBUSTEES. 
William  Hunter,  April  7,  1859,  to  Oct.  24,  1874. 
George  M.  Smith,  Oct.  24,  1874,  to  Oct.  21,  1876. 
■William  Hunter,  Oct.  21,  1876,  to  April  15,  1880. 
Robert  Carr,  April  15,  1880,  to  April  14,  1884. 

ASSESSOKS. 
Samuel  Jennison,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  7,  1828. 
Edward  Heizer,  Jan.  7,  1828,  to  Jan.  4,  1830. 
Eufus  Jennison,  Jan.  4,  1830,  to  Jan.  3,  1831. 
Edward  Heizer,  Jan.  3,  1831,  to  Jan.  2,  1832. 
Abira  Wells,  Jan.  2,  1832,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
Joel  Blacklcdge,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  6,  1834. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Jan.  6,  1834,  to  Jan.  5,  1835. 
Ahira  Wells,  Jan.  5,  1835,  to  Jan.  2,  1837. 
Benedict  Higdon,  .Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Harris  Tyner,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
Elias  N.  Shimer,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
John  Allen,  Jan.  24,  1853,  to  Dec.  9,  1854. 
Obadiah  Davis,  Dec.  9,  1854,  to  Oct.  19,  1858. 
Alfred  B.  Shaw,  Oct.  19,  1858,  to  Nov.  26,  1860. 
Andrew  J.  Vansickle,  Nov.  26,  1860,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Elijah  N.  McVey,  March  22,  1875,  to  Deo.  14, 1876. 
Andrew  J.  Vansickle,  Deo.  14,  1876,  to  April  6,  1878. 
Robert  Davis,  April  6,  1878,  to  April  14,  1884. 

Early  Settlements  and  Settlers. — Among  the 
earliest  settlers  in  Warren  tnwiLship  was  Henry 
Brady,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  Sept.  16, 
1794.  He  had  a  great  desire  to  gain  an  education, 
and  with  that  intention  he  went  to  Athens,  Ohio, 
where  he  lor  some  time  attended  school,  working 
mornings  and  evenings  for  his  board,  and  his  lessons 
were  chiefly  learned  while  on  his  way  to  and  from 
school.  He  was,  however,  compelled  to  abandon 
his  idea  of  completing  the  course. 

His  first  residence  in  Indiana  was  in  Jackson 
County;  from  there  he  moved  in  1824  to  Marion 
County  and  settled  in  Warren  township,  on  land 
about  six  miles  east  of  Indianapolis,  vphere  he  has 
lived  ever  since,  and  is  yet  quite  hale  and  hearty, 
though  in  his  ninetieth  year.  His  name  is  a  fa- 
miliar one  to  all  the  older  inhabitants  of  Marion 
County.  He  has  served  his  township  in  various 
ways,  as  surveyor,  teacher,  and  magistrate.  Al- 
though a  stanch  Democrat,  he  has  represented 
Marion  County  at   diiferent   times  in  both  branches 


of  the  Legislature.  He  has  now  quite  a  large  farm, 
and  it  is  also  one  of  the  finest  and  best  improved  in 
the  township.  Mr.  Brady  was  always  popular  wher- 
ever known,  and  now  in  his  old  age  he  is  happy  in 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  many  friends. 

Harris  Tyner  was  born  in  South  Carolina.  He 
emigrated  to  Kentucky,  and  from  there  to  Indiana 
in  1805,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Franklin  County. 
In  February,  1821,  he  moved  to  Marion  County 
and  settled  in  the  northern  part  of  Warren  township, 
where  he  resided  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1881. 
Harris  Tyner  served  as  county  commissioner  for 
twelve  years.  He  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  also  in 
the  Black  Hawk  war. 

The  earliest  assessment-roll  of  Warren  township 
that  can  now  be  found  is  that  of  the  year  1829, 
which,  being  complete,  shows,  of  course,  very  nearly 
who  were  the  male  adult  inhabitants  of  the  township 
at  that  time.  The  following  names  taken  from  it 
are  those  of  men  then  resident  in  the  township  who 
were  assessed  on  no  real  estate,  viz. : 


Thomas  Askren. 
Stephen  Brown.' 
Christopher  Black. 
Henry  Boling. 
Joshua  Black. 
Augustus  E.  Black. 
James  Black. 
William  Birdwhistell. 
David  Bump. 
Isaac  Bates. 
John  Clow. 
Caleb  Clark. 
Joseph  Clark. 
Daniel  Cool. 
William  Callan. 
Daniel  Devorse. 
Benjamin  Fowler. 
James  Ferguson. 
William  Ferguson. 
Samuel  FuUen. 
David  Groves. 


Thomas  Hudson. 
Billips  Harper. 
Henry  Harper. 
Jacob  D.  Hudson. 
Reason  Hawkins. 
Parks  Hannah. 
John  Hamilton. 
Robert  Hamilton. 
Rufus  Jennison. 
Rufus  Jennison,  Jr. 
John  Jones. 
Mark  Jones. 
Daniel  Julick. 
Francis  Kitley. 
Jeremiah  Kinman. 
John  Kitley. 
John  Latham. 
Jacob  Louks. 
John  Lamb. 
John  Mann. 
John  S.  Moulton. 


'  The  only  person  in  the  township  then  assessed  on  a  carriage, 
presumably  a  pleasure-carriage. 


WARREN   TOWNSHIP. 


615 


Aaron  Montfort. 
John  Marigore. 
Joel  Roberts. 
George  Sharrar. 
Joseph  Shields. 
Philemon  Shirley. 
Andrew  Sharrar. 
Jacob  Sharrar. 
Peter  Voris. 
John  Vandaman. 
Andrew  Van  Sickcl. 
Richard  Vanlandingham. 


George  Vanlandingham. 
Aaron  Wells. 
Reason  Wells. 
Solomon  Wells. 
Royal  Wells. 
Eli  Wells. 
Ahira  Wells. 
Nathan  Wells. 
Nelson  Wells. 
David  Wallace. 
John  Wallace. 


The  same  assessment-roll  gives  the  following  names 
of  persons  resident  in  Warren  township  in  1829,  and 
who  were  the  owners  and  holders  of  the  lands  re- 
spectively described,  viz. : 

Willis  G.  Atherton,  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  10,  township  15,  range  4. 

Samuel  Beeler,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  15,  range  5. 

Henry  Brady,  Esq.,  the  east  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  13,  township  15,  range  4. 

Joel  Blackledge,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  14,  township  15,  range  4. 

Harvey  Blackledge,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  15,  range  4. 

John  P.  Chinn  (?),  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  15,  range  4. 

Elizabeth  Cox,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  16,  range  4. 

Jane  Dalzell,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  12,  township  15,  range  4. 

James  Davis,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  21, 
township  15,  range  5. 

Jacob  Duringer,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
22,  township  15,  range  4. 

James  Doyle,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  15, 
township  15,  range  4,  and  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
east ((uarter  of  the  same  section. 

Elisha  Greer,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  15,  township  15,  range  4. 

Edward  Heizer,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  15,  range  4. 


John  S.  Hall,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  11,  township  15,  range  4. 

Nathan  Harlan,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  15,  range  5. 

William  Hamilton,  one  hundred  acres  in  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  12,  township  15,  range  4. 

Samuel  Jennison,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  1,  township  15,  range  4. 

Andrew  Morehouse,  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 11,  township  15,  range  4,  and  the  west  half  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  14,  in  the  same 
survey  township. 

John  AV.  Reding,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  15,  township  15,  range  4. 

David  Shields,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
27,  township  16,  range  4. 

Harris  Tyner,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  16,  range  4. 

John  Wilson,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  15,  range  4. 

Daniel  Woods,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  21,  township  15,  range  5. 

Willis  Wright,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  3,  township  15,  range  4. 

Edward  White,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  15,  range  4. 

Thomas  Askren  settled  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  township  in  1828,  and  a  year  or  two  later  bought 
the  land  on  which  he  lived  till  his  death,  in  1868. 
He  accumulated  a  large  amount  of  property,  and 
was,  moreover,  a  man  highly  respected  and  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  him. 

Nathan  Harlan  moved  to  Marion  County  in 
1823.  He  first  settled  in  Franklin  township,  but  in 
1827  moved  from  there  to  the  southeastern  part  of 
Warren,  and  lived  there  until  his  death,  in  1846. 
In  1828  he  took  the  contract  for  cutting  the  timber 
from  off  the  line  of  the  Brookville  road.  He  kept 
tavern  from  1833  to  1844. 

James  Davis  settled  in  Warren  township  in  1827. 
The  lands  he  entered  were  on  Buck  Creek,  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  township.  He  lived  here 
until  1864,  when  he  moved  to  Fremont  County, 
Iowa,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  in  1872. 

Andrew  Morehouse  was  born  in  Schuyler  County, 


616. 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


N.  Y.,  Nov.  8,  1796.  His  father  was  an  old  Revo- 
lutionary soldier,  and  was  at  the  capture  of  Bur- 
goyne  when  only  sixteen  years  old.  Not  long  before 
his  father's  and  mother's  deaths  they  lost  their  farm 
through  a  defective  title.  Eight  children  were  left 
to  shift  for  themselves,  the  youngest  being  but  two 
years  old.  Andrew  determined  to  go  West,  and 
walked  to  Glean,  on  the  Alleghany  River,  and  get- 
ting employment  on  a  lumber-raft,  floated  down  the 
river  to  Cincinnati.  Liking  the  country,  he  deter- 
mined to  go  back  to  New  York  and  make  prepara- 
tions for  emigrating  West.  He  had  to  walk  the 
most  of  the  way  home,  and  in  the  spring  he  again 
floated  down  to  Cincinnati.  There  he  bought  a  part 
interest  in  a  flat-boat,  floated  down  to  New  Orleans, 
and  sold  his  boatload  of  produce.  Not  liking  the 
institution  of  slavery,  he  determined  to  go  back  to 
Cincinnati.  He  worked  his  way  back  on  a  keel- 
boat,  it  taking  sixty  days  to  make  the  trip.  This 
trip  disgusted  him  with  river-life,  and  having  saved 
some  money,  he,  in  March,  1823,  walked  to  Indian- 
apolis, where  he  stopped  with  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Benjamin  Atherton.  Mr.  Morehouse  entered  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  uf  land  on  Lick  Creek, 
'about  five  miles  east  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  Brook- 
ville  road.  Having  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  one 
hundred  dollars  while  looking  for  land,  and  wanting 
eighty  acres  of  land  adjoining  his,  he  built  a  cabin  of 
round  logs,  split  puncheon  floor,  clapboard  door 
hung  up  with  wooden  hinges,  cut  down  four  acres  of 
heavy  timber,  piled  the  brush,  and  then  left  for  Ham- 
ilton County,  Ohio,  where  he  worked  through  the 
summer  of  1824.  Making  his  one  hundred  dollars, 
he  came  back  to  his  farm  and  bought  the  eighty 
acres.  March  3,  1825,  he  married  Theresa  W^hite, 
who  was  born  in  Kentucky,  Oct.  4,  1796. 

Then  commenced  in  earnest  the  work  of  clearing. 
Their  honeymoon  was  spent  in  burning  brush  and 
logs,  with  every  day,  three  times,  corn  bread  and  meat 
as  the  bill  of  fare.  By  April  they  had  succeeded  in 
clearing  about  three  acres,  one  corner  of  which  was 
sown  in  flax  for  clothing,  and  the  rest  planted  with 
corn,  while  the  places  between  logs  were  dug  up  for 
potatoes  and  pumpkins.  From  early  morn  until 
evening   Mr.  Morehouse  kept   the  axe  going,  felling 


the  heavy  timber,  and  on  moonlight  nights  he  would 
work  until  late  in  the  night.  In  the  fall,  the  fight 
commenced  with  squirrels,  deer,  and  raccoons  for  pos- 
session of  the  corn  ;  fires  were  built  around  the  field 
to  keep  them  away,  and  as  soon  as  the  corn  was  dry 
enough  it  was  stored  away  in  the  cabin  loft.  The 
pumpkins  were  peeled,  cut  in  thin  rings,  and  hung 
overhead  on  poles.  In  the  fall  of  1825,  Mr.  More- 
house took  his  yoke  of  oxen  and  an  old  cart,  also  an 
axe  to  cut  the  saplings  out  of  his  road,  and  set  out 
for  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  to  get  apple-trees.  He 
brought  back  fifty  apple-  and  some  cherry-trees,  and 
planted  the  first  orchard  in  Warren  township ;  he  also 
brought  a  quart  of  apple-seed,  which  he  planted.  One 
of  the  seedling  trees  and  a  sprout  from  one  of  the 
fifty  trees  are  still  living,  and  both  bore  apples  in  the 
past  season. 

The  first  year  of  his  new  life  was  a  success,  and 
the  promise  it  gave  for  the  future  was  fully  realized. 
Mr.  Morehouse  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  in 
1832.  In  1835,  while  digging  a  well,  a  tub  fell 
on  him,  crushing  his  skull.  The  skull  was  never 
lifted,  and  he  suffered  from  the  effects  until  his 
death,  Feb.  3,  1864.  Mrs.  Morehouse  is  still  living, 
and  although  in  her  eighty-eighth  year,  is  as  ambi- 
tious to  be  useful  as  when  she  first  came  to  the  wil- 
derness of  Marion  County  with  her  willing  hands  to 
help  her  husband  clear  the  land  for  their  home.  Her 
mind  is  as  bright  as  ever,  and  to  see  her  sitting  in 
her  own  particular  corner,  knitting  and  chatting,  it  is 
hard  to  realize  that  one  little  woman  could  ever  have 
done  so  much. 

Robert  Brown,  another  of  the  early  settlers  in 
Warren  township,  was  born  at  Staunton,  Augusta 
Co.,  Va.,  Feb.  5,  1787.  His  father,  who  came  to 
America  from  Ireland,  was  the  most  prominent 
physician  of  Staunton.  The  early  education  of  Rob- 
ert Brown  was  sadly  neglected.  When  a  mere  boy 
he  took  to  hunting,  and  many  a  deer  and  bear  fell  at 
the  crack  of  his  rifle.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  left 
home  to  make  a  living  for  himself.  His  first  work 
was  at  the  saltpetre-works  in  Virginia,  where  he 
worked,  off  and  on,  for  three  or  four  years.  He  then 
went  to  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  where,  in 
1807,  he  married  Elizabeth   Messinger,  who  was  of 


WARREN   TOWNSHIP. 


617 


German  parentage,  and  was  born  near  the  Mononga- 
hela  River,  in  Pennsylvania,  Dec.  10,  1786.  After 
staying  a  year  in  Pennsylvania,  they  emigrated  to 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  within  a  few  miles  of  Hamil- 
ton, where  he  followed  farming,  and  in  the  winter 
months  worked  at  coopering.  In  the  summer  of 
1812  he  volunteered,  and  served  in  the  war.  His 
company  went  out  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer, 
and,  after  a  few  months  of  active  service,  returned 
home  in  September,  and  remained  long  enough  to 
put  in  their  wheat.  They  returned  to  headquarters 
in  October,  where  Mr.  Brown  served  till  the  close  of 
the  war.  His  children  still  have  the  sword  which  he 
carried.  In  the  fall  of  1822  he  and  his  family,  in 
company  with  two  of  his  brothers  and  a  brother-in- 
law,  moved  to  Indianapolis,  then  but  a  small  settle- 
ment of  a  few  log  huts.  The  evening  before  he 
reached  Indianapolis  be  camped  with  a  party  of  In- 
dians on  Lick  Creek,  just  south  of  Irvington,  the 
place  where  he  lived  so  many  years.  Mr.  Brown  re- 
turned the  next  fall  to  Hamilton,  Ohio,  to  enter  his 
farm,  south  of  Irvington,  and  on  returning,  in  com- 
pany with  others,  they  were  obliged  to  swim  Blue 
River,  which  was  very  high  at  the  time  and  the 
weather  very  cold.  There  were  Indians  camped 
near  the  river,  and  they  wrung  the  water  from  their 
clothes  and  dried  them  by  the  Indian  camp-fire.  The 
only  man  they  met  between  Blue  River  and  Indian- 
apolis was  Henry  Brady,  who  was  hewing  the  logs 
for  his  cabin. 

Mr.  Brown  lived  for  eight  years  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Blind  Asylum,  and  he  tended  his  corn 
several  years  on  the  square  on  which  the  present 
court-house  stands.  He  would  kill  game  enough  to 
feed  his  family  two  or  three  weeks  and  then  go  out 
and  work  on  his  farm,  clearing  off  the  land  and  build- 
ing his  house,  which  he  finished  in  the  fall  of  1824. 
The  same  house  is  now  standing  and  occupied. 
When  he  was  building  it,  the  deer  would  come  two 
and  three  at  a  time  and  lie  down  within  fifty  steps  of 
the  house  in  the  daytime.  Wild  turkeys  were  also 
very  plenty.  He  moved  to  Warren  township  in  the 
fall  of  1830.  He  served  as  school  trustee  three  or 
four  terms,  before  the  free  school  system  was  estab- 
lished. The  school-houses  of  that  day  were  few  and 
40 


wide  apart.  He  helped  to  survey  all  of  Warren  and 
the  greater  part  of  Centre  township,  and  in  later 
years  if  there  was  a  dispute  about  any  corner-stone 
in  his  vicinity,  he  was  called  on  to  settle  the  matter 
and  locate  the  corner. 

Mr.  Brown  followed  farming  and  hunting.  Bread- 
stuff was  an  item  at  that  time,  and  they  had  to  go  to 
a  horse-mill  in  Shelby  County,  a  distance  of  some 
twenty  or  thirty  miles,  the  trip  generally  occupying 
three  days.  For  meat  they  relied  exclusively  on 
deer  and  other  game,  which  was  in  abundance. 

The  day  was  never  too  cold  or  too  hot,  rain  or 
sun.shine,  for  him  to  go  out  hunting.  He  was 
acknowledged  the  best  shot  in  the  country.  He 
would  never  hunt  with  a  hound,  or  go  out  with  a 
party  if  they  took  a  hound.  His  favorite  way  was  a 
still  hunt,  and  it  appeared  that  he  knew  just  where  to 
look  for  deer,  and  when  he  shot  he  was  sure  to  bring 
down  his  game.  He  was  present  at  all  shooting- 
matches  for  miles  around,  and  if  he  was  not  ruled  out 
(which  was  often  done  to  give  others  a  chance),  he 
always  won  the  first  choice,  which  was  the  hide  and 
tallow. 

Mr.  Brown  was  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
His  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  few  indeed 
were  the  promises  that  he  "broke.  His  wife  died 
April  20,  1867,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years, 
four  months,  and  six  days.  She  had  been  married 
for  sixty  years.  Mr.  Brown  survived  her  nine  years, 
and  died  Oct.  20,  1876,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine 
years,  eight  months,  and  fifteen  days.  Only  four 
children  survived  him,  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 
He  left  several  great-grandchildren,  and  one  great- 
great-grandchild. 

"  Fate  seemed  to  wind  him  up  for  fourscore  years, 
Yet  ran  he  freshly  on  ten  winters  more, 
Until,  like  a  clock,  worn  out  by  eating  time, 
The  wheels  of  weary  life  at  last  stood  still." 

Reason  Hawkins  came  from  Hamilton  County, 
Ohio,  about  1826,  and  located  on  Pleasant  Run, 
northeast  of  the  present  town  of  Irvington.  In  1829 
he  was  not  assessed  on  any  lands  in  the  township. 
He  sold  out  his  first  location  and  afterwards  bought 
land  of   Calvin    Fletcher,  situated  a   little   west   of 


618 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


Cumberland.  This  was  his  homestead  farm.  He 
built  a  saw-mill,  propelled  by  the  water-power  of 
Buck  Creek,  and  known  as  the  Hawkins  mill. 

Joseph  S.  Mix  and  wife  came  from  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio,  in  the  year  1833,  and  settled  in  the 
east  part  of  Warren  township,  in  a  perfect  wilder- 
ness, where  the  only  clearing  was  where  the  logs 
were  cut  for  erecting  his  cabin,  which  was  (as  was 
usual  in  those  days)  of  only  one  room,  with  puncheon 
floor,  and  quilts  or  blankets  hung  up  at  the  door  and 
windows.  For  three  years  he  kept  a  store  in  Cum- 
berland for  Nicholas  McCarty,  and  when  he  closed  at 
niaht  would  take  the  money  in  a  basket  on  his  arm 
and  go  to  his  home,  a  mile  distant  through  the  woods. 
There  he  hung  his  basket  (with  the  money  in  it)  on 
a  peg  for  the  night,  without  the  least  doubt  that  it 
was  perfectly  safe,  as  it  was.  He  was  afterwards  in 
the  hemp  business  with  Mr.  McCarty.  The  farm  on 
which  he  settled  in  1833,  and  where  he  still  lives,  is 
Bituated  one  mile  southeast  of  the  village  of  Cum- 
berland. 

Henry  Bowser  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  March, 
1810.  When  five  years  old  he  went  with  his  parents 
to  Ohio,  and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  mi- 
grated to  Indiana,  and  settled  in  the  southwest  corner 
of  Warren  township,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death,  Oct.  18,  1883.  He  married.  May  6,  1833, 
Mary  Moore,  who  still  survives  him. 

James  C.  Ferguson  was  born  March  4,  1808. 
His  father  and  mother  were  natives  of  Virginia,  but 
when  quite  young  moved  with  their  parents  to  Ken- 
tucky. About  four  years  after  his  father's  marriage 
he  volunteered  to  go  into  the  Maumee  country,  under 
Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  to  fight  Indians,  and  re- 
mained out  until  peace  was  made.  In  a  few  years 
thereafter  he  moved  to  Butler  County,  Ohio,  where 
James  C.  Ferguson  was  born.  Six  years  after  his 
birth  his  father  died  with  a  contagious  fever,  called 
the  cold  plague.  In  1820  the  family  moved  to  In- 
diana. In  1825,  James  C.  Ferguson  settled  where 
he  now  resides,  in  Warren  township,  on  the  National 
road,  six  miles  east  of  Indianapolis.  In  1829  he 
married  Nancy  Goble,  who  lived  in  Henry  County, 
Ind.  Her  native  State  was  Ohio,  Mr.  Ferguson 
says,  "  I  frequently  fed  the  Indians,  chased  bear,  and 


killed  a  great  many  deer.  I  had  a  horse  with  a  long 
tail  that  I  rode  when  hunting.  If  I  succeeded  in 
killing  a  deer  I  would  tie  the  horse's  tail  to  its  jaw, 
and  in  that  way  drag  the  deer  home.  Turkey  and 
wolves  were  plenty,  but  the  wolves  soon  disappeared. 
My  first  cabin  was  built  in  1825.  The  floor  was  of 
split  puncheons,  and  the  door  of  clapboards.  My 
table  was  also  made  of  split  puncheons." 

Elias  H.  and  Mahala  Shimer,  pioneers  of  Warren 
township,  arrived  here  from  Zanesville,  Ohio,  Nov.  1, 
1829,  and  settled  on  the  farm  on  which  Mr.  Shimer 
died  July  29,  1864,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age, 
and  on  which  his  widow  still  lives.  She  is  now  in 
her  eighty-second  year,  a  woman  of  remarkable  health 
and  unimpaired  mind.  Mr.  Shimer  was  not  a  stout 
man,  and  being  sufficiently  qualified  to  teach,  he 
taught  school  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1858  he 
was  awarded  the  first  premium  for  the  finest  farm  in 
Marion  County. 

In  1834,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shimer  joined  the  Old-School 
Baptist  Church,  of  which  they  remained  consistent 
members  till  the  breaking  up  of  the  church,  about 
1856.  It  can  be  truthfully  said  that  their  house  was 
the  home  of  the  homeless ;  scarcely  a  time  can  be 
mentioned  when  his  house  was  not  the  abode  of  one 
or  more  orphans.  At  one  time  five  homeless  ones, 
all  of  difiierent  tiimilies,  were  taken  into  his  house  to 
share  whatever  blessings  the  Great  Master  had  given 
them. 

Joseph  Clinton,  with  his  family,  emigrated  from 
Kentucky  to  Indiana  in  1830,  and  entered  the  east 
half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  13,  and 
bought  of  Benjamin  Atherton  the  west  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  same  section  in  township  15, 
range  4.  When  Mr.  Clinton  arrived  there  was  no 
house  on  the  land,  but  as  material  was  plenty  it 
was  but  a  few  days  until  he  had  erected  a  rude 
cabin  of  one  room,  with  split  puncheon  floor,  clap- 
board door,  and  a  greased-paper  window.  The  cabin 
was  heated  by  a  large  fireplace,  which  also  served  for 
cooking  purposes.  The  chimney  to  the  house  was  of 
mud  and  sticks,  and  built  at  first  about  four  feet 
high,  but  it  was  afterwards  made  higher.  It  was  late 
in  the  fall,  and  as  it  had  taken  about  everything  that 
Mr.  Clinton  possessed  to  buy  his  farm  and  move,  the 


WARREN    TOWNSHIP. 


619 


family  had  to  practice  the  most  rigid  economy- 
Land  on  which  to  plant  the  next  year's  crop  had  to 
be  cleared  before  spring ;  so,  working  from  early  in 
the  morning  till  late  at  night,  and  in  all  kinds  of 
weather,  he  succeeded  in  partially  clearing  enough 
ground  to  raise  the  next  winter's  food  and  clothes. 
At  night,  when  any  other  light  than  that  from  the 
fireplace  was  needed,  an  iron  vessel,  with  a  handle 
for  sticking  in  the  cracks  of  the  logs,  was  filled  with 
lard,  and  a  wick  of  twisted  cotton  rags  put  in  for 
burning.  The  first  improvement  in  lights  was  a 
candle  made  by  dipping  a  rag  up  and  down  in  melted 
tallow  until  enough  tallow  adhered  to  the  rag  to 
form  the  candle.  All  clothing  was  home-made,  either 
made  from  flax  or  wool.  The  principal  article  of  food 
was  corn.  Corn  bread  in  all  its  various  forms  was 
eaten  through  the  week,  and  on  Sunday  a  great  treat 
was  had  in  the  form  of  wheat  bread. 

Joseph  Clinton  was  for  several  years  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  of  the  many  ridiculous  incidents  that 
came  under  his  notice  he  often  related  the  following : 
One  day  while  working  in  the  corn-field  a  German 
and  his  wife  came  running  excitedly  towards  him, 
and  as  soon  as  the  man  was  within  hearing  he  called 
out,  "Here,  Meester  Squire,  here  is  your  thaler; 
take  him,  take  him."  "Why?"  said  Mr.  Clinton, 
"  I  don't  want  your  dollar."  "  Oh,  yes,  Meester 
Squire,  take  him  ;  me  hit  Ostermeyer  on  der  kopf, 
and  he  fall  down  dead.  Take  him,  Meester  Squire." 
The  man  seemed  in  such  evident  earnest  that  Mr. 
Clinton  stopped  his  work  and  went  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.  He  found  that  the  two  men  had  quar- 
reled ;  one  had  hit  the  other  on  the  head,  the  .blow 
having  stunned  but  not  killed  Ostermeyer.  The  Ger- 
man had  been  in  this  country  but  a  short  time,  and 
knowing  that  the  fine  for  a  fight  was  one  dollar,  he 
thought  that  one  dollar  would  settle  the  matter,  even 
if  lie  had  killed  the  man. 

Joseph  Clinton  lived  upon  the  farm  where  he  first 
settled  until  his  death,  in  December,  1874.  He  was 
always  a  man  of  remarkably  even  temper,  honored 
and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  All  little  chil- 
dren .seemed  to  recognize  in  him  a  true  friend,  and 
he  was  most  happy  when  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of 
little  ones,  telling  them  stories  and  soothing  them  in 


their  childish  griefs.     In  spite  of  his  white  hair,  he 
seemed  to  have  become  as  one  of  them. 

Mills,  Taverns,  and  Distilleries. — In  1832  there 
was  a  saw-mill  built  about  half  a  mile  south  of 
Cumberland,  run  by  water-power.  In  1834  a  saw- 
mill (water-power)  was  built  on  Buck  Creek,  about 
three  miles  south  of  Cumberland.  It  was  known  as 
Baker's  saw-mill.  About  1835  a  saw-mill  (water- 
power),  known  as  Davis'  mill,  was  built  one  and  a 
half  miles  south  of  Brookville  road. 

The  first  steam-mill  was  built  on  the  National 
road,  about  two  miles  west  of  Cumberland.  The 
exact  date  of  the  building  of  this  mill  is  not  known, 
but  it  sawed  the  lumber  for  planking  the  Cumberland 
plank  road,  now  the  National  gravel  road.  At 
present  there  are  three  steam  saw- mills  in  the  town- 
[  ship  and  one  steam  grist-mill.  There  are  no  water- 
power  mills. 

An  early  tavern  was  kept  by  Samuel  Fullen,  on 
I  the  Centreville  road.     When  that  road  was  vacated 
I  he  moved  to   Cumberland,  and  kept  the  first  tavern 
I  there.     Henry  Brady  kept  tavern  six  miles  east  of 
Indianapolis  as  early  as  1824.     John  Wilson  kept 
I  on  the  Centreville  road,  near  the  present  site  of  Butler 
I  University,  three  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Indianapolis. 
When  the  National  road  was  located  he  moved  to  it 
and  kept  tavern  there.     Rufus  Jennison  kept  tavern 
five  and  a  half  miles  east   of  Indianapolis,  on   the 
National  road.     James  Ferguson  kept  six  miles  east 
of  Indianapolis,  on  the   National   road.     He   kept 
tavern   as  early  as  1825.     David  Woods  kept  ten 
miles  east  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  Brookville  road,  at  a 
very  early  date.     Nathan   Harlan  kept  ou  Brookville 
road  from  1833  to  1844,  for  accommodation  of  stage 
travelers.     This  was  about  nine  miles  east  of  Indian- 
apolis.    At  present  there  is   but  one  hotel   in   the 
township,  kept  by  Ingram  Little  at  Cumberland. 

A  small  distillery  was  built  as  early  as  1830  by  a 
man  named  Richardson,  on  Buck  Creek,  near  the  east 
end  of  Cumberland.  It  was  principally  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  peach  brandy,  and  was  run  but  a 
short  time.     There  is  no  distillery  in  the  township. 

Villages. — There  are  three  villages  within  the 
territory  of  the  townsliip  of  Warren,  viz.:  Irvington 
(the  largest  but  youngest  of  the  three),  lying  on  the 


620 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


west  line  of  the  township,  adjoining  Centre,  and  about 
four  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis ;  Julietta, 
in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  township ;  and  Cum- 
berland, near  the  east  line  of  Warren,  and  occupying 
a  central  position  on  that  line,  between  the  north- 
eastern and  southeastern  corners  of  the  township, 
eleven  miles  east  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  old  National 
or  Cumberland  road. 

The  village  of  Cumberland  was  laid  out  in  1831 
(plat  recorded  July  7th  in  that  year)  on  land  owned 
by  Samuel  FuUen  ;  the  survey  being  made  by  Henry 
Brady,  who  received  one  or  two  town  lots  in  payment. 
Originally  there  were  but  six  streets  in  the  town,  viz. : 
North,  South,  East,  West,  Main,  and  the  Cumberland 
road,  which  latter  passes  through  it  from  west  to  east, 
ninety  feet  wide,  with  sidewalks  nine  and  a  half  feet 
wide.  Main  Street  was  laid  out  forty-nine  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  and  each  of  the  other  four  streets  thirty-three 
feet  wide.  Ground  for  a  public  cemetery  was  donated 
by  the  owner  of  the  plat. 

The  first  tavern  in  the  village  was  opened  by  Samuel 
Fullen,  who  moved  there  from  the  Centreville  road, 
where  he  had  previously  kept  a  public-house.  His 
wife  was  Ann  Pogue,  daughter  of  George  Pogue,  the 
pioneer  settler  at  Indianapolis.  He  afterwards  sold 
out  in  Cumberland  to  David  Richardson,  who  came 
from  Miamitown,  Ohio.     Other  early  tavern-keepers 

at  Cumberland  were  James  Parker, Donahue, 

and  Dr.  William  Moore,  whose  house  was  the  stop- 
ping-place for  the  stages '  on  the  Cumberland  road. 
The  hotel  of  the  place  is  now  kept  by  Ingram  Little. 

The  first  stock  of  goods  was  brought  to  Cumber- 
land by  John  Stephens,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who 
came  to  this  place  from  Indianapolis,  where  he  owned 
the  Bayou  farm.  He  was  an  honest  and  respected 
man,  but  became  poor,  and  it  is  said  he  died  in  Han- 
cock County  poor-house.  Other  early  and  later  mer- 
chants of  Cumberland  were  Joseph  Mix,  Brown  & 
Buell,  John  Hawkins,  Jacob  Loueks,  Hugh  Wooster, 
Jeremiah  and  Joseph  Oakes.  James  Woods,  and 
Charles  Bouge.  The  present  stores  of  the  village  are 
kept  by  Jesse  Ebrough,  Charles  Hendricks,  Joseph 
McConnell,  and  Edward  Bouge, — the  last  named  also 
having  the  post-ofiBce. 

Among  the  early  settlers  in   Cumberland,  besides 


those  named,  were  Dr.  Lyman  Carpenter,  Daniel 
Knight  (wheelwright),  George  Patterson  (married  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  Fullen),  Noble  Perrin  (black- 
smith),   Travis,  and  his  sons  James  and  Joseph, 

Dr.  William  Moore  (elected  and  served  as  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature),  James  Parker  (the  tavern- 
keeper  already  mentioned)  and  his  son  Squire,  now 
living  in  Shelby  County,  Dr.  John  Pleasants,  Robert 
Wooster  (son  of  Hugh,  the  storekeeper), Emer- 
son, Joseph  Church,  Ambrose  Shirley,  John  Dorsey 
(wagon-maker),  Nicholas  Stuttsman,  George  Plum- 
mer,  Aaron  Nixon,  and  James  Ingersoll  (black- 
smiths), Mr.  Panzy,  George  McVeigh,  and  Daniel 
Reagan,  who  made  the  first  bricks,  which  were  used 
for  building  two  brick  houses, — one  for  Mrs.  Smith 
and  the  other  for  Samuel  Fullen. 

Cumberland  has  now  about  four  hundred  inhab- 
itants, three  physicians,  four  stores,  a  post-office,  a 
railway  station,  one  hotel,  two  blacksmith-shops,  one 
grist-mill,  two  saw-mills,  a  school-house,  and  one 
church  (Baptist).  There  were  at  one  time  two  other 
church  organizations  in  the  place,  viz.,  Methodists 
and  Universalists,  and  all  worshiped  in  harmony. 

Julietta  village,  in  the  southeast  part  of  Warren 
township,  was  laid  out  in  1868  (plat  recorded  Feb. 
5,  1870).  It  contains  at  present  two  stores,  one 
blacksmith-shop,  a  post-office,  one  physician,  and 
about  fifty  inhabitants. 

The  suburban  town  of  Irvington  (so  called  in 
honor  of  Washington  Irving)  is  situated  on  an  ele- 
vated piece  of  ground,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
feet  higher  than  the  ground  on  which  the  Union 
depot  in  Indianapolis  is  built,  and  is  four  miles  east 
of  Indianapolis,  on  the  National  road.  The  original 
town  was  laid  out  into  one  hundred  and  eight  lots  by 
Jacob  B.  Julian  and  Sylvester  Johnson,  on  the  7th 
day  of  November,  1870,  and  embraces  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  5,  range  4  east,  lying 
north  of  the  Junction  Railroad,  except  the  school- 
house  lot  in  the  northeast  corner,  the  entire  area 
covered  being  304.47  acres.  Irving  Circle  was  dedi- 
cated to  use  and  purposes  of  a  public  park,  on  which, 
at  no  distant  day,  it  was  designed  to  erect  the  statue 


WARREN   TOWNSHIP. 


621 


of  Washington  Irving.  College  Circle  was  designed 
for  the  use  of  a  female  college.  The  object  was  to 
make  it  a  suburban  residence  town  for  the  profes- 
sional and  business  men  of  Indianapolis.  Additions 
have  from  time  to  time  been  made,  the  most  notable 
of  which  are  the  following :  Woodland  Park  addition 
to  Irvington,  laid  out  Jan.  4,  1872,  by  James  E. 
Downey  and  Nicholas  Ohmer ;  and  Ritter's  addition, 
laid  out  Sept.  6, 1871.  Every  purchaser  of  a  lot  was 
obliged  to  accede  to  the  following  requirements,  em- 
bodied in  the  deeds  of  conveyance  : 

"  The  grantee  accepts  this  deed  from  the  grantor 
with  the  express  agreement  that  he,  his  heirs,  and 
assigns  will  not  erect  or  maintain,  or  suffer  to  be 
erected  or  maintained,  on  the  real  estate  herein 
conveyed  any  distillery,  brewery,  soap-factory,  pork- 
or  slaughter-house,  or  any  other  establishment  offen- 
sive to  the  people,  and  that  he  will  not  erect  or 
maintain,  or  suffer  to  be  erected  or  maintained,  on 
said  premises  any  stable,  hogpen,  privy,  or  other 
offensive  building,  stall,  or  shed  within  fifty  feet  of 
any  avenue  in  said  town,  and  that  he  will  not  sell  or 
suffer  to  be  sold  on  said  premises  any  intoxicating 
liquors  except  for  medicinal,  sacramental,  or  me- 
chanical purposes  strictly,  and  he  accepts  this  deed 
on  the  further  agreement  that  the  right  to  enforce 
and  compel  a  compliance  of  the  above  conditions 
rests  not  only  in  the  grantor,  his  heirs,  and  assigns, 
but  in  all  the  property-holders  and  inhabitants  of 
said  town." 

The  land  on  which  the  town  was  built  was  owned 
by  Jacob  Sanduska  and  Isaac  Sanduska  prior  to  the 
time  it  was  purchased  by  Messrs.  Julian  and  others. 
The  town  now  embraces  four  hundred  and  fifty 
acres.  There  was  an  agreement  entered  into  by  the 
gentlemen  who  were  the  leading  spirits  in  the  under- 
taking to  build  in  the  town  and  reside  there,  accord- 
ingly Jacob  B.  Julian,  Sylvester  Johnson,  and  Levi 
Ritter  each  built  a  fine  residence  and  moved  into  it, 
where  they  have  since  resided.  The  next  house 
was  built  by  Charles  Brouse,  and  then  the  following 
persons  built  fine  houses  in  the  order  named,  viz., 
Nicholas  Ohmer,  Dr.  John  H.  Tilford,  Oliver  M. 
Wilson,  James  M.  Crawford. 

On   petition  of  Jacob   B.  Julian   and  eighty-two 


other  citizens  and  tax-payers,  the  town  was  incor- 
porated June  2,  1873. 

In  the  year  1874  the  trustees  of  the  Northwestern 
Christian  University  (now  Butler  University)  de- 
cided to  locate  said  college  at  this  place,  and  in  1875 
those  persons  who  had  been  so  persevering  in  their 
efforts  to  secure  the  prize  had  the  satisfaction  of  see- 
ing their  anticipation  realized,  and  the  college  moved 
to  and  located  within  the  town.  A  more  extended 
account  of  this  institution  is  given  in  the  history  of 
the  city  of  Indianapolis. 

The  first  merchant  in  Irvington  was  William 
Furrey.  After  him  were  the  following  :  William  H. 
H.  Shank,  William  W.  Wilson,  Cones  &  Huston, 
and  Omer  Burger,  the  present  merchant  of  the 
village.  Jacob  A.  Krumrine,  the  proprietor  of  the 
first  drug  store,  is  still  conducting  the  business. 

Dr.    Cotton    was   the    first    physician    who 

located  in  the  place  for  the  practice  of  medicine. 
The  next  was  Dr.  Jacob  A.  Krunjrine,  who  at 
present  is  retired.  Dr.  J.  A.  Tilford  was  the  next. 
Dr.  Robert  W.  Long  and  John  Daugherty  are  the 
present  physicians.  Edgar  Williams  was  the  first 
postmaster,  and  George  Russell  is  the  present  one. 

The  Robinson  Methodist  Episcopal  Chapel  was 
built  for  Sabbath-school  purposes  in  the  year  1880, 
and  will  seat  three  hundred  persons.  It  was  named 
after  its  founder,  Mrs.  L.  0.  Robinson.  In  the  year 
1881  this  lady  minister  held  a  protracted  meeting  in 
the  house  and  organized  a  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  class  of  about  eighty  persons,  and  she  served 
them  as  minister  for  a  period  of  eighteen  months. 
The  next  minister  was  the  Rev.  John  W.  Turner, 
who  has  been  for  two  years  and  is  still  in  pastoral 
charge.  The  number  of  members  is  now  about 
eighty.  Sabbath-school  is  held  every  Sabbath  in 
the  year,  with  an  average  attendance  of  about  one 
hundred.     James  E.  Downey  is  the  superintendent. 

The  Christian  Church  has  an  organization  in  the 
town,  and  its  members  hold  their  services  in  the  col- 
lege chapel.  The  church  was  organized  at  the  time 
Butler  University  was  opened  for  the  reception  of 
students.  President  Everets  and  Allen  R.  Benton 
hold  services  alternately.  The  present  membership 
is  nearly  one  hundred.     Sabbath-school  is  also  held 


622 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


in  the  college  chapel  every  Sabbath.  Average  at- 
tendance is  about  one  hundred  and  ten.  Professor 
Scott  Butler  is  the  superintendent. 

The  average  daily  attendance  of  all  children  in  the 
public  school  in  1883  was  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five,  and  the  school  was  taught  one  hundred  and  sixty 
days  during  the  year. 

Irvington  contains,  besides  the  University,  a  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  building,  a  handsome  depot 
built  by  the  Panhandle  Railroad  in  1872,  and  front- 
ing on  Washington  Irving  Circle  stands  a  magnificent 
three-story  brick  public  school  building,  which  was 
erected  in  1874,  and  is  valued  at  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  The  town  has  a  telegraph-office  (Western 
Union),  and  a  telephone-station  connecting  it  with  all 
parts  of  the  State.  The  street  cars  pass  to  and  fro 
between  the  place  and  Indianapolis  every  hour,  and 
arrangements  have  been  perfected  whereby  special 
passenger  trains  will  be  run  by  the  Panhandle  Rail- 
road line  between  the  points  named.  The  town  has 
a  post-office,  an  Odd-Fellows'  lodge,  one  general  dry- 
goods  store,  one  drug-store,  a  wagon-shop,  a  meat- 
store,  and  a  blacksmith-shop,  and  six  hundred  and 
fifty-two  inhabitants  by  the  United  States  census  of 
1880. 

Irvington  Lodge,  No.  508,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was  insti- 
tuted Sept.  10,  1875,  with  the  following-named  mem- 
bers :  J.  H.  Tilford,  John  B.  W.  Parker,  L.  C.  Kuhn, 

B.  F.  Askren,  John  B.  Wilson,  C.  C.  Heizer,  E.  T. 
Wells. 

The  present  active  membership  is  twenty,  with  the 
following  officers :  Jonathan  B.  Roll,  N.  G. ;    Devit 

C.  Devall,  V.  G. ;  Thomas  W.  Wunnell,  Sec. ;  J.  A. 
Krumrine,  Treas. ;  Thomas  W.  Wunnell,  Per.  Sec. 
The  number  of  Past  Grands  is  sixteen. 

Churches. — The  Cumberland  Baptist  Church  dates 
back  to  the  fall  of  1832,  though  it.s  organization  was 
not  fully  effijcted  until  the  following  year.  On  the 
20th  of  October,  in  the  year  first  named,  James 
Parker,  John  Kitley,  Lyman  Carpenter,  Dosha  Car- 
penter, and  Sarah  Pogue  met  at  Cumberland,  "  in 
order  to  converse  upon  the  propriety  of  becoming  a 
constituted  church,  and  it  was  agreed  to  be  consti- 
tuted on  the  faith  of  the  Apostles,"  after  which  the 
meeting  adjourned  to  meet  on  the  second  Saturday 


in  November  following,  when  they  took  steps  pre- 
liminary to  formal  organization,  which  was  efiected 
on  the  fourth  Saturday  in  July,  1833.  at  which  time 
there  were  present  at  the  meeting  in  Cumberland 
Ezra  Fisher  and  Samuel  McCormick  from  the  Indian- 
apolis Baptist  Church,  Joseph  Clark  and  Joel  Black- 
ledge  from  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church.  Ezra  Fisher 
was  chosen  moderator,  and  Joseph  Clark  clerk,  and 
by  the  usual  proceedings  the  Cumberland  Baptist 
Church  was  fully  organized  with  the  following-named 
members :  John  Kitley,  Lyman  Carpenter,  Ambrose 
Shirley,  Anna  Kitley,  Elizabeth  Shirley,  Hannah 
Hathway,  and  Sarah  Pogue. 

The  first  pastors  were  Thomas  Townsend,  Ebenezer 
Smith,  and  Madison  Hume.  Thomas  Houston  was 
pastor  for  twenty  years  previous  to  the  last  year.  A 
new  church  building  is  now  being  erected,  though 
the  membership  is  but  small. 

Pleasant  Run  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in 
1832,  with  the  following  members  :  John  Pogue  and 
wife,  Caleb  Clark  and  wife,  William  Herrin  and  wife, 
Joseph  Clark  and  wife,  James  Ferguson  and  wife, 
Jennison  Hawkins,  moderator.  This  church  dis- 
banded in  1856. 

Mount  Pleasant  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
organized  in  1830.  It  is  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  township,  and  is  in  a  very  weak  condition  at 
present. 

Old  Bethel  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  or- 
ganized about  1840.  It  was  disbanded  for  several 
years,  but  was  reorganized  about  1878,  and  a  new 
church  house  built  in  1882.  This  church  is  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township. 

Robinson  Chapel  Mission,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  located  in  Irvington,  just  north  of  National 
road,  in  1877.  The  first  pastor  was  Mrs.  L.  0. 
Robinson,  the  present  pastor  Rev.  J.  W.  Turner. 
The  church  has  been  in  a  flourishing  condition  from 
the  beginning. 

The  Christian  Church  in  Irvington  was  organized 
in  1874.  Meetings  are  held  in  Butler  University 
chapel. 

The  German  Lutheran  Church  was  built  in  1874, 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  township,  on  the 
Michigan  road. 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


623 


The  German  Presbyterian  Church  edifice,  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  township,  was  built  about 
1877. 

Schools. — The  first  school-house  in  the  township 
was  on  the  farm  owned  by  Andrew  Morehouse.  It 
was  built  by  a  man  who  'had  taken  a  lease  of  the 
farm  and  then  left  it.  It  was  of  round  logs,  about 
twenty  feet  square,  with  a  fireplace  in  one  end  eight 
feet  wide.  The  outside  was  a  bank  of  dirt,  sur- 
rounded by  lojis.  On  an  appointed  day  the  neighbors 
all  assembled  to  transform  it  into  a  school-house. 
One  log  was  cut  out  of  the  side  for  light,  little  sticks 
were  fastened  across  at  intervals,  and  then  greased 
paper  fastened  on  instead  of  glass.  A  door  was  cut 
in  one  end,  then  the  splinters  were  shaved  from  a 
puncheon,  large  wooden  pins  fastened  in  the  wall,  and 
the  puncheon  laid  on  them  and  fastened  down  for  a 
writing-desk.  The  seats  were  made  of  saplings 
about  eight  inches  in  diameter,  split,  and  wooden  legs 
fastened  in.  This  completed  the  model  school-house 
of  that  period.  On  the  morning  that  school  opened 
the  parents  came  with  their  children  from  all  direc- 
tions, cutting  paths  and  blazing  trees  as  guides  for 
the  children,  some  of  them  having  as  high  as  three 
miles  to  come  to  school.  At  Christmas  it  was  de- 
cided to  turn  the  "  master"  out,  and  not  let  him  in 
until  he  promised  to  "  treat."  This  was  done,  and 
the  required  promise  made.  Then  came  the  ques- 
tion of  what  to  treat  with.  There  were  no  apples, 
and  no  money  to  buy  with  if  there  had  been.  One 
of  the  patrons  generously  proffered  a  bucket  of 
whiskey  (they  had  no  jugs),  and  another,  home-made 
sugar  to  sweeten  it.  On  the  day  of  the  treat  the 
children  turned  out  in  full  force.  The  "  master" 
mixed  his  toddy,  seated  the  children  in  rows,  and 
then  with  his  bucket  and  tin  cup  passed  up  and  down 
the  rows,  giving  each  one  as  much  as  he  thought 
they  could  stand.  Then  the  children  were  permitted 
to  go  out  to  play,  and  in  a  short  time  they  were  again 
called  in,  and  they  did  not  tarry  on  the  grounds. 
The  same  process  was  repeated  until  all  the  toddy 
was  used.  This  was  the  first  "  treat"  of  school- 
children in  Warren  township,  and  patrons,  "  master," 
and  children  were  all  delighted  with  it. 

In  1827  a  school-house  was  built  on  land  of  James 


C.  Ferguson,  and  school  was  first  taught  in  it  by 
James  O'Brien.  In  the  east  part  of  the  township 
a  school-house  was  built  in  1831  on  land  owned  by 
David  Woods.  In  this  house  the  first  teacher  was 
Elias  H.  Shimer.  These  and  most  of  the  other 
early  school-houses  of  the  township  were  of  about 
the  same  kind  as  the  one  first  described,  but  it  is  not 
to  be  understood  that  the  custom  of  treating  the 
scholars  to  whiskey  at  Christmas  was  generally 
observed,  as  in  the  case  before  mentioned. 

Warren  township  has  now  eleven  school-houses,  as 
follows  :  No.  1  (brick),  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
township  ;  No.  2  (frame),  in  the  north  part ;  No.  3 
(frame),  in  the  northwest  part ;  No.  4  (frame),  just 
north  of  Irvington  ;  No.  5  (two-story  frame),  in  centre 
of  township  ;  No.  6  (frame),  two  miles  west  of  Cum- 
berland ;  No.  7  (frame),  in  southejist  part  of  town- 
ship; No.  8  (frame),  south  side  of  township;  No.  9 
(frame),  southwest  part;  No.  10  (two-story  frame), 
at  Cumberland ;  No.  1 1  (frame),  north  side  of  town- 
ship. At  Irvington  there  is  one  public-school  build- 
ing, a  large  two-story  brick,  and  three  teachers  are 
employed. 

The  number  of  schools  taught  in  the  township  in 
1883  was  twelve  (one  graded).  The  average  daily 
attendance  was  277.  Total  number  of  children 
admitted  to  the  schools,  436  ;  number  of  teachers 
employed,  12  (seven  male  and  five  female).  Average 
number  of  days  taught  in  the  year,  158.  Number 
of  teachers'  institutes  held  in  the  township  during 
the  year,  8.  Valuation  of  school-houses  and  sites, 
$20,000. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP.' 

The  township  of  Washington  is  the  central  one  in 
the  northern  tier  of  townships  of  Marion  County, 
being  bounded  on  the  west  by  Pike,  on  the  south  by 
Centre,  on  the  east  by  Lawrence  townships,  and  on 
the    north    by    Hamilton    County.      The   principal 

1  By  George  W.  Lancaster,  Esq. 


624 


HISTOKY   OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


streams  (and  the  only  ones  of  any  importance)  are 
White  River  and  Fall  Creek.  The  former  enters  the 
township  near  its  northeast  corner,  and  flows  thence 
diagonally  across  the  township  in  a  very  meandering, 
but  generally  southwest,  course  to  a  point  a  little  east 
of  the  southwestern  corner,  where  it  passes  into  Cen- 
tre township.  Fall  Creek,  coming  in  from  Lawrence, 
flows  southwestwardly  across  the  southeast  part  of 
Washington  township  into  Centre.  Several  incon- 
siderable streams,  tributaries  of  White  River,  enter 
it  within  the  territory  of  Washington,  chiefly  from 
the  west.  The  surface  of  this  township  is  much 
like  that  of  the  others  of  the  county,  ranging  from 
flat  bottom-lands  to  undulating  uplands,  which,  in 
some  parts,  may  be  termed  hilly.  The  soil  is,  in 
general,  good,  and  in  some  parts  exceedingly  fertile, 
yielding  abundant  returns  to  the  farmer  for  the  labor 
expended  on  it.  The  population  of  the  township  in 
1880  was  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine,  as  shown  by  the  returns  of  the  United  States 
census  of  that  year. 

Washington  township  was  laid  ofi"  and  erected  by 
order  of  the  county  commissioners,  April  16,  1822, 
with  boundaries  as  described  in  the  general  history 
of  the  county.  In  November,  1826,  the  western 
boundary  was  changed  by  order  of  the  county  board, 
by  including  in  Washington  three  sections  of  land 
taken  from  Pike,  in  survey  township  16  north,  of 
range  3  east,  leaving  that  boundary  line  as  it  is  at  the 
present  time. 

When  Washington  township  was  erected,  in  April, 
1822,  the  commissioilers  ordered  that  it  be  joined 
with  Lawrence  as  one  township,  neither  being  then 
sufiSciently  populous  for  separate  organization.  This 
union  continued  until  Sept.  4,  1826,  when  the  county 
board  of  justices  ordered  Lawrence  to  be  taken  from 
Washington,  leaving  the  latter  as  a  separate  and 
independent  township.  Following  is  a  list  of  ofiScers 
of  Washington  township  during  the  sixty-two  years 
of  its  existence,  viz. : 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE. 
Joel  Wright,  June  15,  1822,  to  Sept.  5,  1825;  resigned. 
William  D.  Rooker,  June  22,  1822,  to  June  6,  1827. 
Hiram  Bacon,  Oct.  15,  1825,  to  Jan.  4,  1830  j  resigned. 

(The  three  above  named  served  as  justices  for  Washington 
and  Lawrence  while  they  were  united  as  one  township.) 


Joel  Wright,  July  22,  1827,  to  April,  1828;  died. 

Edward  Koberts,  June  28,  1828,  to  June  20,  1833. 

Abraham  Bowen,  Feb.  20,  1830,  to  Feb.  12,  1835. 

Daniel  R.  Smith,  Oct.  30,  1833,  to  Oct.  23,  1838. 

Abraham  Bowen,  April  18,  1835,  to  April  6,  1840. 

John  R.  Anderson,  Not.  30,  1836,  to  Sept.  23,  1837;  resigned. 

William  R.  Deford,  Oct.  17,  183C,  to  March  1,  1841;  resigned. 

Lorenzo  Vanscyoo,  June  20,  1838,  to  June  2,  1843. 

Daniel  R.  Smith,  Dec.  3,  1838,  to  July  25,  1842;  resigned. 

Walter  A.  Bridgford,  Deo.  12,  1839,  to  Dec.  7,  1844. 

Charles  Hallam,  April  20,  1840,  to  April  15,  1845. 

Henry  B.  Evans,  April  fi,  1841,  to  Oct.  2,  1841 ;  resigned. 

Daniel  R.  Brown,  Nov.  24,  1841,  to  Jan.  13,  1846;  resigned. 

Anthony  Williams,  Sept.  20,  1842,  to  April  18,  1846;  resigned. 

Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  July  22,  1843,  to  July  3,  1848. 

Eli  Heaton,  April  29,  1845,  to  Aug.  29,  1853  ;  resigned. 

John  Essary,  Feb.  27,  1846,  to  Feb.  27,  1851. 

Cary  H.  Boatright,  June  9,  1846,  to  March  1,  1847;  resigned. 

James  S.  Hensley,  April  22,  1847,  to  Feb.  28,  1851 ;  resigned. 

William  B.  Bridgford,  July  6,  1848,  to  July  4,  1852. 

David  Huff,  April  21,  1851,  to  April  21,  1856. 

William  Stipp,  April  29,  1854,  to  April  29,  1858. 
James  G.  Featherston,  Nov.  1,  1855,  to  Nov.  1,  1859. 

John  Essary,  April  19,  1858,  to  Deo.  1,  1864;  resigned. 

William  Stipp,  May  24,  1858,  to  April  19,  1862. 

Emsley  Wright,  Nov.  1,  1859,  to  April  9,  1863;  resigned. 

Benjamin  Tyner,  April  19,  1862,  to  April  19,  1866. 

James  W.  Schooley,  Nov.  4,  1863,  to  Dec.  10,  1864;  resigned. 

George  W.  Deford,  April  21,  1865,  to  April  21,  1869. 

Benjamin  Tyner,  April  21,  1866,  to  Jan.  2,  1869;  resigned. 

Calvin  Fortner,  April  25, 1866,  to  April  12,  1870. 

George  W.  Deford,  April  24,  1869,  to  April  24,  1873. 

John  W.  Vanscyoc,  May  1,  1869,  to  April  16,  1873. 

James  Logan  Groves,  Nov.  25,  1870,  to  Oct.  25, 1874. 

John  W.  Vanscyoo,  April  24,  1873,  to  present  time. 

John  P.  Moore,  Oct.  30,  1874,  to  Aug.  15,  1875  ;  died. 

John  Stipp,  Oct.  25,  1870,  to  May  15,  1880;  died. 

Alexander  Culbertson,  April  21,  1877,  to  April  21,  1881. 

Gilbert  Justice,  May  15,  1880,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 

Henry  C.  Green,  Deo.  16,  1881,  to  April  15,  1882. 

Daniel  W.  Heaton,  April  15,  1882,  to  Aug.  13,  1883 ;  resigned. 

Alexander  Culbertson,  Sept.  4,  1883,  to  April  15,  1886. 


David  Huff,  April  11,  1859,  to  April  19,  1860. 
Jacob  C.  Coil,  April  19,  1860,  to  April  13,  1861. 
Lorenzo  Vanscyoc,  April  13,  1861,  to  April  22,  1862. 
William  Vance,  April  22,  1862,  to  April  12,  1865. 
Hiram  A.  Haverstick,  April  12,  1865,  to  Oct.  19,  1872. 
John  H.  Smith,  Oct.  19,  1872,  to  Oct.  23,  1874. 
William  H.  Sharpe,  Oct.  23,  1874,  to  May  11,  1876. 
Hiram  A.  Haverstick,  May  11,  1876,  to  April  14,  1880. 
James  Mustard,  April  14,  1880,  to  April  14.  1S82. 
George  W.  Lancaster,  April  14,  1SS2,  for  two  years. 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


625 


ASSESSOBS. 
Joel  Wright,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  5,  1829. 
Daniel  R.  Smith,  Jan.  5,  1829,  to  March  7,  1836. 
David  Bowen,  March  7,  1836. 
Young  Em.  R.  Wilson,  Jan.  2,  1837. 
Carlton  R.  Smith,  Jan.  2,  1837,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Daniel  R.  Brown,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
Jacob  Roberta,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Dee.  6,  1841. 
Jacob  Roberts,  Dec.  6,  1852,  to  Nov.  18,  1854. 
Ira  Keeler,  Nov.  IS,  1854,  to  Jan.  6,  1857. 
William  Shartz,  Jan.  6,  1857,  to  Deo.  13,  1858. 
Jacob  Roberts,  Dec.  13,  1858,  to  Dec.  10,  1864. 
John  Essary,  Dec.  10,  1866,  to  Aug.  I,  1873. 
Benjamin  Tyner,  March  27,  1875,  to  Nov.  6,  1876. 
Daniel  W.  Beaton,  Nov.  6,  1876,  to  April  15,  1S80. 
Samuel  Sheets,  April  15,  1880,  to  April  14,  1882. 
William  H.  Wheeler,  April  14,  1882,  to  April  14,  1884. 

One  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  very  first,  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  who  came  to  make  their  homes  within 
the  territory  now  embraced  in  the  township  of  Wash- 
ington was  John  Allison.  He  was  born  in  Virginia 
about  1759,  and  went  from  there  to  Lexington,  Ky., 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  with  his  parents.  Sub- 
sequently he  moved  to  Nicholas  County,  Ky.,  and 
from  tliere  came  to  this  township  in  October,  1819. 
He  came  through  with  his  family,  consisting  of  wife 
(formerly  Anna  Gray)  and  eight  children,  via  Brook- 
ville,  Iiid.,  in  wagons,  cutting  his  road  for  quite  a  dis- 
tance between  here  and  Brookville.  He  left  two 
married  daughters  in  Kentucky,  who  subsequently 
came  here.  He  entered  eighty  acres  near  where 
Alli.sonville  now  stands  (at  present  owned  by  the 
Widow  Devanberger),  upon  which  he  resided  till  his 
death,  September,  1837.  He  was  a  hard-working, 
industrious  citizen,  and  followed  farming  all  his  life. 
He  at  one  time  owned  two  hundred  and  seventy 
acres  in  one  body,  two  hundred  acres  of  which  he 
cleared.  His  wife  died  Jan.  2,  1838.  When  Mr. 
Allison  settled  here  in  the  woods,  his  nearest  neigh- 
bors were  William  Coats  and  Joseph  Coats,  who  lived 
two  miles  distant  in  a  northwest  direction.  He  lived 
there  about  nine  years  before  his  family  enjoyed  tbe 
privileges  of  even  a  subscription  school.  The  Indians 
were  in  the  neighborhood  for  three  years  after  he  sel> 
tied.  Mr.  Allison  laid  out  the  town  of  AUisonville. 
He  was  a  Freemason  for  years  before  he  came  to  this 
State,   and    was    regarded    as    a    moral,   industrious, 


sociable  citizen.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
schools,  and  everything  tending  to  the  advancement 
of  civilization.  The  following  were  the  names  of  his 
children  :  Mary,  Martha,  Jane,  Malinda,  Julia  Ann, 
Nancy,  John,  David,  Charles,  and  William.  Only 
two,  Nancy  and  William,  are  now  living.  The  former 
is  the  widow  of  William  Orpurd.  Both  live  in  this 
county,  and  are  the  oldest  residents  now  living  in  this 
part  of  the  county.  Few,  if  any,  persons  now  living 
in  this  county  have  resided  here  for  so  long  a  time  as 
they. 

Charles  Allison  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  came 
from  that  State  to  this  township  with  his  parents  in 
October,  1819,  and  settled  near  where  the  town  of 
AUisonville  now  is,  and  where  he  remained  with  his 
parents  until  thirty-five  years  of  age.  He  owned 
eighty  acres  east  of  AUisonville,  now  owned  by  the 
Widow  Sterrett.  He  removed  to  Howard  County, 
Ind.,  and  established  a  trading-post  eight  miles  east 
of  Kokomo,  on  Wild  Cat,  where  he  traded  with  the 
Indians  for  some  time.  He  followed  farming  and 
teaming  while  he  lived  here,  and  was  a  merchant 
while  in  Howard  County.  He  kept  the  first  store 
ever  kept  in  Kokomo.  He  died  about  1864,  and  his 
widow  and  one  child  are  now  living  in  Kokomo. 

David  Allison  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  came 
from-  that  State  to  this  township  with  his  ftither, 
John  Allison,  in  the  year  1819.  He  resided  with 
his  parents  until  about  1840,  when  he  married  Ma- 
tilda Ellery  and  went  to  West  Liberty,  Hamilton 
Co.,  this  State,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death,  in  1878.  He  belonged  to  the  Methodist 
Church  twenty  years  prior  to  his  death.  His  widow 
and  one  child  are  now  living  near  West  Liberty. 

Hiram  Bacon,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  on  March  14,  1801.  He  was  of  English 
descent.  He  came  to  Indiana  about  1819,  and  for 
about  one  year  was  a  member  of  a  government  survey- 
ing party  that  surveyed  land  in  this  part  of  the  State. 
He  then  returned  to  his  home  and  married  Mary  A. 
Blair,  and  on  the  day  of  his  marriage  emigrated  to 
Indiana  with  his  wife,  and  settled  in  this  township 
in  1821.  He  purchased  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 
from  William  Bacon,  who  had  entered  it  from  the 
government.     A  portion  of  Malott  Park  is  upon  the 


626 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


farm.  Subsequently  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  acres  from  Arthur  Williams.  He  built  his 
first  cabin  in  the  dense  woods,  and  made  the  sash  for 
its  window  with  his  pocket-knife.  That  was  the  first 
glass  window  in  that  part  of  the  county.  An  Indian 
brush-fence  surrounded  his  cabin,  and  within  the 
inclosure  was  an  Indian  well.  He  operated  not  only 
the  first,  but  the  most  extensive  cheese  dairy  ever  in 
Marion  County.  Beginning  the  business  on  his  farm 
in  1830,  he  continued  it  for  twenty  years.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  ever 
built  in  Indianapolis,  and  he  hauled  with  his  oxen 
the  logs  used  in  its  construction.  He  joined  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  early  life,  and  was  a  con- 
sistent member  of  that  denomination  until  his  death. 
He  took  great  interest  in  all  church  matters,  and 
held  various  official  positions  in  it.  His  vocation 
was  that  of  a  farmer.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace 
in  this  township  for  a  period  of  twelve  years.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Whig,  and  then  a  Republican.  He 
was  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  township,  and 
was  noted  for  his  strict  integrity.  His  first  wife 
died  in  November,  1863;  he  remarried,  and  in 
August,  1882,  he  died.  Seven  children  survive 
him,  viz. :  Electa  (widow  of  William  P.  Thornton), 
Helen  (wife  of  Charles  A.  Howland),  George,  Hiram, 
Mary  A.  (wife  of  B.  F.  Tuttle),  William,  and  Caro- 
line (wife  of  George  W.  Sloan). 

William  Bacon  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Mass., 
about  1798.  He  came  to  Indiana  a  single  man  soon 
after  his  brother  Hiram,  and  settled  on  land  about 
one  mile  north  of  where  Malott  Park  now  is.  There 
he  lived  till  his  death,  in  about  1863.  He  married 
Deborah,  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Smith,  Sr.,  soon  after 
his  arrival  here.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity.  In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. He  lived  a  proper  life  for  years,  and  left  behind 
him  a  large  and  valuable  estate. 

Hezekiah  Smith,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Delaware,  April 
18,  1763.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the 
Revolutionary  army,  and  was  in  nine  battles.  His 
eldest  brother,  Daniel,  was  killed  in  the  Revolutionary 
war.  His  brother  Simeon  was  also  in  the  same  war, 
and  also  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  lived  to  enjoy  the 
blessings  for  which  he  fought.     The  subject  of  this 


sketch  married  Mary  Ann  Rector,  who  was  born  in 
Virginia,  Feb.  12,  1776.  Her  mother  died  when  she 
was  an  infant,  and  she  was  raised  by  her  uncle,  Pres- 
ley Neville,  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  The  Rector  family 
was  large,  and  many  of  them  emigrated  to  Ohio,  where  | 
a  number  of  their  descendants  now  reside  on  Mad  ' 
River,  in  Champaign  and  Clark  Counties.  Hezekiah 
Smith  was  a  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  ;  by  trade  he  was  a  wagon-maker,  and 
worked  at  that  business  in  the  Bluelicks,  Nicholas 
County,  Ky. ;  but  subsequently  he  bought  a  farm  on 
Indian  Creek,  and  partially  quitting  his  trade,  followed 
farming.  The  following  are  the  names  of  his  chil- 
dren, viz.:  Betty,  Susan,  Deborah,  Daniel  R.,  Peter, 
Hezekiah,  Nancy,  Simeon,  Miles  C  ,  Carlton  R.,  and 
Marcus  L.  The  seven  sons  all  reached  manhood  and 
became  sober,  industrious,  and  useful  citizens.  But 
two  of  the  children  are  living,  viz.,  Susan  Chinn,  in 
Colorado,  and  Marcus  L.  Smith,  in  Argos,  Ind.  In 
1820,  Mr.  Smith  sold  his  farm  in  Kentucky  and  moved 
his  family  to  this  township,  and  settled  in  the  woods 
Oct.  27,  1820,  about  one  half-mile  east  of  where 
Broad  Ripple  now  is,  and  on  the  west  half  of  north- 
east quarter  of  section  6,  township  16,  range  4  east. 
At  that  time  there  were  but  two  or  three  cabins  be- 
tween where  he  settled  and  the  donation,  as  Indian- 
apolis was  then  called.  Mr.  Smith  and  his  son  Peter 
had  came  out  to  where  the  family  settled  and  made 
an  improvement,  and  raised  a  crop  of  corn  the  spring 
before.  The  family  lived  in  camp  for  six  weeks  after 
arrival  here,  when  a  cabin  was  built,  into  which  they 
moved  before  winter. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  memory, 
of  strong  and  vigorous  mind,  and  a  great  reader. 
After  an  illness  of  four  weeks  he  died,  on  the  26th 
day  of  August,  1824,  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his 
age,  and  his  remains  were  buried  in  the  burial- 
ground  on  the  Hiram  Bacon  land.  He  was  the  first 
person  buried  in  that  graveyard.  His  widow  re- 
mained on  the  old  homestead,  and  kept  the  family 
together  until  her  death,  Oct.  3,  1837. 

Daniel  R.  Smith,  son  of  Hezekiah  Smith,  Sr.,  and 
Mary  Ann,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Mason  County, 
Ky.,  near  May's  Lick,  in  a  log  cabin,  on  the  4th  of 
October,  1801.     He  emigrated  to  this  township  with 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


627 


his  parents  Oct.  27,  1820.  He  remained  with  the 
family  until  shortly  after  his  marriage  to  Margaret 
N.,  eldest  daughter  of  John  Nesbit,  on  Nov.  11, 
1834.  He  then  began  life  for  himself  and  wife,  set- 
tling on  the  farm  now  owned  by  his  son,  John  H. 
There  he  lived  the  remainder  of  his  life.  When 
comparatively  a  young  man  he  was  elected  justice  of 
the  peace,  in  which  capacity  he  served  five  years,  and 
was  re-elected  to  the  same  ofiBce,  and  commissioned 
for  five  years  on,  the  3d  day  of  December,  1838. 
He  served  a  part  of  the  term,  but  resigned  to  accept 
the  office  of  associate  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  to 
which  he  was  elected  in  August,  1842,  and  served 
for  a  period  of  seven  years  from  the  8th  of  April, 
1843.  In  1849  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office 
for  seven  years  from  April  8,  1850,  and  served  in 
that  capacity  until  the  office  was  abolished.  On 
Sept.  20,  1851,  he  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  and 
counselor-atlaw,  with  authority  to  practice  in  the 
circuit  and  inferior  courts  of  Indiana,  and  he  fol- 
lowed that  profession  the  rest  of  his  life.  Soon 
after  the  establishment  of  the  new  Constitution  he 
was  elected  one  of  the  township  trustees,  and  served 
as  such  for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  as- 
sisted in  the  organization  of  the  public-school  system 
in  the  township.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and 
for  ten  years  prior  to  that  time.  He  always  took  an 
active  part  in  promoting  the  cause  of  religion.  He 
wa.s  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  township ;  of 
steady  habits,  moral,  industrious,  and  sociable.  He 
was  a  good  and  kind  neighbor,  and  was  a  great  en- 
courager  of  every  laudable  public  enterprise.  His 
wife  died  Aug.  11,  1854,  and  he  died  April  4,  1875. 
He  left  two  children,  John  H.  and  Mary  Ann.  The 
son  is  now  living  on  the  old  homestead  where  he  was 
born,  near  Malott  Park,  and  is  by  occupation  a 
farmer.  The  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Greenly  B. 
Woollen,  and  resides  in  Indianapolis. 

Peter  Smith,  the  second  son  of  Hezekiah  Smith, 
Sr.,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  Sept.  27,  1803.  He 
emigrated  to  this  township  with  his  father's  family 
in  1820,  and  remained  with  his  parents  till  after  his 
father's  death.  He  learned  the  gunsmith  trade,  and 
afterwards  became  a  physician  and  practiced  medicine 


a  few  years  in  the  neighborhood  of  Millersville.  He 
married  in  1825,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  went  to 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  thence  to  New  Orleans,  where  he 
took  the  gold  fever  about  1849  and  went  to  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  where  he  established  a  hospital.  He 
was  in  South  America  a  while,  but  returned  and 
went  to  Europe,  settling  in  England,  where  he  died 
Oct.  9,  1866.  He  was  a  very  successful  practitioner 
of  medicine,  and  for  many  years  a  consistent  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Hezekiah  Smith,  Jr.,  was  born  Nov.  29,  1805,  in 
Kentucky,  and  in  1820  emigrated  to  this  township 
with  his  parents,  with  whom  he  lived  till  after  his 
father's  death.  He  married  in  June,  1829,  and 
lived  for  several  years  about  half  a  mile  southeast  of 
Millersville,  on  the  east  part  of  the  farm  now  owned 
by  William  A.  Schofield.  He  joined  the  Methodist 
Church  at  an  early  date,  and  was  ordained  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  and  preached  with  good  effect  for  many 
years.     He  died  in  Indianapolis  Dec.  4,  1879. 

James  Ellis  was  born  in  Tennessee  about  1798. 
He  came  to  the  township  a  single  man  in  March, 
1820,  and  settled  one  half-mile  southwest  of  where 
Millersville  now  is.  He  lived  for  a  while  on  the  farm 
now  owned  by  David  Huffs  heirs.  He  was  an  in- 
dustrious, moral  citizen.  He  married  Leah  Cruise, 
who  is  now  living  on  the  old  homestead.  She  has 
in  her  possession  a  large  dish  which  her  husband 
bought  of  Mrs.  Garner  sixty-five  years  ago.  Mr. 
Ellis  died  in  1845.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  raised  four 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living.  Alfred  lives  on 
the  old  homestead.  Henry  is  in  Colorado,  and  Palina, 
the  wife  of  William  J.  Millard,  Jr.,  lives  in  Iowa. 
When  Mr.  Ellis  came  into  this  township  there  were 
no  schools,  no  preaching,  nothing  but  woods,  wild 
animals,  and  Indians.  He  assisted  in  the  burial  of 
the  first  white  person  that  ever  died  in  Lawrence 
township,  this  county. 

Martin  McCoy,  wife,  and  children  came  from  Ken- 
tucky to  this  township  with  Henry  Cruise  in  1820. 
His  wife  died  in  1821.  He  was  a  great  hunter  and 
trapper.  He  was  with  the  Indians  most  of  the  time ; 
was  missing,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  Indians 
killed  him. 

Henry  Cruise  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1760. 


628 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


He  came  to  Daviess  County,  Ind.,  from  Ohio  in  Oc- 
tober, 1816,  and  thence  to  this  township  in  June, 
1820.  He  came  up  White  River  in  a  boat  with  his 
family,  and  Martin  McCoy  and  family  to  within  eight 
miles  of  Indianapolis,  and  the  rest  of  the  way  in 
wagons.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Susannah 
Cress.  He  settled  in  the  woods  on  Fall  Creek,  near 
where  the  Wabash  Railroad  crosses.  In  1824  he 
went  to  Illinois,  and  died  there.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  aud  by  occupation  a 
farmer.  He  was  the  father  of  ten  children,  six  of 
whom  are  now  living. 

William  Hardin  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1780. 
He  came  from  Lawreuceburg  to  this  township  in 
1820,  and  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  now 
owned  by  Joseph  Schofield.  He  lived  there  eighteen 
years,  then  went  to  Iowa,  where  he  died  about  1858. 
He  was  of  Baptist  belief,  but  not  a  member  of  the 
church.  He  was  a  very  industrious,  moral  citizen, 
and  by  occupation  a  farmer. 

Joel  Wright,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Washing- 
ton township,  was  born  in  Stokes  County,  N.  C.,  on 
the  5th  of  February,  1793,  and  was  married  to 
Sarah  Byerby  on  the  10th  of  September,  1812,  in 
North  Carolina.  They  moved  from  there  to  Indiana 
in  May  12,  1813,  settling  temporarily  in  what  is  now 
Wayne  County,  on  the  west  fork  of  White  Water. 
From  there  they  moved  to  Washington  township, 
Marion  Co.,  on  the  22d  day  of  December,  1821. 

Joel  Wright  was  appointed  one  of  the  first  justices 
of  the  peace  for  Washington  township.  When  his 
term  expired  he  was  run  again,  and  received  the 
largest  vote,  being  elected  over  Hiram  Bacon,  Esq.,  in 
1826. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1828,  Mr.  Wright  cut  the 
artery  in  his  left  leg  below  the  knee.  On  the  6th, 
Drs.  Dunlap  and  Kitchen  amputated  the  limb  about 
four  inches  above  the  knee,  and  three  days  afterwards 
Mr.  Wright  died,  leaving  Sarah  Wright,  his  wife, 
with  seven  children, — Alfred,  Mary,  Jincy,  Emsley, 
Phebe,  Elizabeth,  and  Lucinda.  On  the  25th  of 
August,  1828,  another  child,  Joel  Wright,  was  born. 
Mrs.  Wright  lived  a  widow  all  the  rest  of  her  life, 
and  raised  the  eight  children.  She  died  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six  years. 


Conrad  Colip  was  born  in  Pendleton  County,  Va., 
about  1795.  In  1821  he  came  to  this  township  with 
his  family  and  settled  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
now  owned  by  James  Bridges.  He  followed  farming 
all  his  life,  and  was  a  moral  man  and  a  good  citizen. 
He  left  the  township  about  1852  and  went  to  St. 
Joseph  County,  Ind.,  where  he  died  several  years 
ago. 

Jacob  Hushaw,  who  was  of  German  descent,  was 
born  in  Virginia.  He  came  to  this  township  from 
Ohio  in  1821,  and  settled  near  where  Broad  Ripple 
now  is.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  a  good 
mechanic.  He  died  on  his  old  homestead  about 
1843. 

Zachariah  Collins,  with  his  wife  and  family,  came 
from  Mason  County,  Ky.,  to  this  township  about 
1821,  and  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  now  owned  by  David  Allen.  He  was  a  farmer, 
industrious,  and  a  good  neighbor.  He  lived  there 
till  about  1840,  then  sold  to  Mr.  Allen,  and  went  to 
near  Bloomingtou,  Iowa,  where  he  bought  a  farm, 
and  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  township. 

The  earliest  assessment-roll  of  Washington  town- 
ship that  can  now  be  found  is  that  of  the  year  1829, 
which,  being  complete,  shows,  of  course,  very  nearly 
who  were  the  male  adult  inhabitants  of  the  township 
at  that  time.  The  following  names,  taken  from  it, 
are  those  of  men  then  resident  in  the  township  who 
were  assessed  on  no  real  estate,  viz. : 
Alexander  Ayers.  Ellis  Bunnell. 

Chaijes  Allison.  Robert  Barnhill. 

Willis  Atkins.  Robert  Brown. 

David  Allison.  Daniel  Bowes. 

Jacob  Applegate.  James  Cook. 

Thomas  Blaekerby.  Daniel  Clark. 

John  Burrough.  James  Cochran. 

Robert  Branson.  George  Clark. 

William  Brunson.  Richard  Clark. 

Jonathan  Brunson.  Absalom  Cruise. 

Thomas  Brunson.  William  Deford. 

Evan  Ballenger.  Squire  Dawson. 

John  Burns.  James  Ellis. 

John  Brady.  Ephraim  Elkins. 

John  Brady,  Jr.  Charles  Ecret. 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


629 


Ralph  Fults. 
Jacob  Hush  aw. 
William  Hart. 
Caleb  Harrison. 
John  Harrison. 
Benjamin  Inman. 
Thomas  Jackson. 
John  Jackson. 
Noah  Jackson. 
Nathan  Johnson. 
Milton  Johnson. 
James  Kimberlain. 
Jacob  L.  Kimberlain. 
Jefferson  Keeler. 
John  Kimberlan. 
Samuel  Leeper. 
Robert  Leeper. 
Samuel  Lakin. 
Andrew  Leeper. 
John  Mansfield. 
Zebedee  Miller. 
John  Miller. 
Michael  Miller. 
Alexander  Mills. 
John  McCoy,  Jr. 
William  Mansfield. 
John   Medsker. 
John  G.  Mcllvain. 
William  McCoy. 

The  same  assessment-roll  gives  the  following  names- 
of  persons  resident  in  Washington  township  in  1829, 
and  who  were  owners  or  holders  of  the  lands  respec- 
tively described,  viz. : 

John  Allison,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  21,  township  17,  range  4,  and  the  east  half 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  29  in  the  same 
townshi[i. 

William  Appleton,  the  north  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  14,  township  16,  range  3. 

Abraham  Bowen,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  24,  township  17,  range  3.  Mr. 
Bowen  lived  in  the  north  part  of  the  township,  and 
died  only  a  very  few  years  ago.  Several  of  his  family 
are  now  living  in  the  township. 

James    Brown,    the   east   half  of   the   southwest 


William  Mcllvain. 
William  McClung. 
Daniel  Miller. 
Edmund  Newby. 
William  Orpurd. 
Barrett  Parrish. 
Adam  Pense. 
Nicholas  Porter. 
James  Porter. 
Jonathan  Ray. 
John  Ray. 
John  Smith. 
Isaac  Stephens. 
Isaac  Simpkins. 
David  Sharp. 
John  Shields. 
Hezekiah  Smith. 
Samuel  P.  Sellers. 
Harvey  Steers. 
Thomas  Todd. 
Jacob  Triggs. 
Richard  Vanlandingham. 
William  Viney. 
Joseph  Watts. 
Edward  Watts. 
Richard  Watts. 
Edward  Wells. 
Robert  Williamson. 


quarter  of  section  30,  township  17,  range  4.  Mr. 
Brown  came  to  this  township  from  Kentucky  in 
1824. 

Hiram  Bacon,  Esq.,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  5  ;  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  6,  and  the  east  half  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  7,  all  in  township  16,  range  4. 
William  Bacon,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
31,  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  32,  in  town- 
ship 17,  range  4. 

James  Bonnell,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  35  ;  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 25  ;  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 26,  and  the  north  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  35,  all  in  township  17,  range  3. 

Jesse  Ballinger,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  9,  township  16,  range  4. 

Zachariah  Collins,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
18,  township  16,  range  4. 

Joseph  Coats,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  21,  township  17,  range  4,  and  the 
north  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  same  section. 

Conrad  Colip,  the  north  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range  3;  the 
south  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  1,  same 
township,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  the 
northeast  and  southeast  quarters  of  section  19,  town- 
ship 17,  range  4. 

Jacob  Coil,  the  south  half  of  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  36,  township  17,  range  3;  eighty-eight 
acres  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  same  section ;  the 
south  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  12, 
township  16,  range  3  ;  and  the  north  half  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  l,same  township. 

William  Crist,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  5,  township  16,  range  4. 

Isaac  Coppuck,  fifty  acres  in  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  17  and  northeast  quarter  of  section  20, 
township  17,  range  4. 

William  Coats,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  29,  township  17,  range  4. 

Solomon  Cruise,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  31,  township  17,  range  4. 

Fielding  Clark,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  32,  township  71,  range  4. 


630 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION  COUNTY. 


Robert  Dickerson's  heirs,  the  west  half  of  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  6,  township  16,  range  4. 

William  Duffield,  all  the  land  east  of  the  river  in 
section  2,  township  16,  range  3,  and  the  east  half  of 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  11,  township  16, 
range  3. 

Elijah  Dawson,  the  southwest  quarter  and  the  east 
half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  6,  and  the 
west  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  5,  all 
in  township  16,  range  4;  also  the  west  half  of  the 
northeast  quarter  and  the  east  half  of  the  same  sec- 
tion, in  township  17,  range  4 ;  forty  acres  in  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range 
3  ;  and  the  north  half  of  section  36,  township  17, 
range  3. 

John  Fox,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  3,  township  16,  range  3,  and  the  east  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  9,  same  township. 

Noah  Flood,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  24,  township  16,  range  4. 

John  Gwin,  the  north  half  of  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  14,  township  16,  range  3. 

Garret  Garrison,  the  south  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  16,  range  3. 

Jonas  Hoover,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  14,  township  16,  range  3. 

William  Hobson,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  and  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  24,  township  17,  range  3. 

Lewis  Hoffman,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  18,  township  17,  range  4. 

Philip  Hardin,  forty  acres  in  the  east  half  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  12,  township  16, 
range  3. 

Jonas  Hoffman,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
6,  township  16,  range  4,  and  the  part  east  of  the 
river  (sixty  acres)  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
36,  township  17,  range  3 ;  five  acres  east  of  river  in 
the  southwest  quarter  of  the  same  section,  and  forty 
acres  west  of  the  river  in  the  southwest  and  southeast 
sections,  same  township. 

William  Hardin,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
18,  township  16,  range  4,  and  forty  acres  in  the  east 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  12,  township 
16,  range  3. 


Henry  Hardin,  Sr.,  the  north  half  of  the  east  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  7,  township  16, 
range  4. 

John  Johnson,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  18,  township  16,  range  4. 

Thomas  Keeler,  fifty  acres  in  the  south  half  of 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  35,  township  17, 
range  3. 

Elias  Leming,  ninety-eight  acres  in  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  2,  township  16,  range  3. 

Noah  Leverton,  the  south  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  14,  township  16,  range  3. 

Thomas  A.  Long,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  5,  township  16,  range  4. 

Samuel  MoCormick,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  15,  township  16,  range  3. 

James  McCoy,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter and  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  5,  township  16,  range  4. 

John  McCoy,  the  south  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  and  forty  acres  in  the  west  half  of  the  same 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range  3. 

George  Medsker,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
17,  township  17,  range  4  ;  also  the  west  half  of  north- 
east quarter,  and  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  the  same  section. 

James  Mcllvain,  Sr.,  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range  3. 

Nathan  McMillen,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range  3. 

Daniel  McDonald,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
13,  township  16,  range  3. 

Lyle  McClung,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  8, 
township  16,  range  4. 

Peter  Negley,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  4, 
township  16,  range  4. 

Edward  Roberts,  Esq.,  forty  acres  in  the  west  half 
of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  10,  township  16, 
range  3,  and  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  the  same  section. 

Jacob  Roberts,  the  north  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  34,  township  17,  range  3. 

Sargent  Ransom,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  10,  township  16,  range  3. 

John    Richardson,  one   hundred   and   three   acres 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


631 


west  of  river  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17, 
and  northeast  quarter  of  section  20,  township  17, 
range  4. 

William  Ramsey,  the  south  half  of  the  northeast  j 
quarter  of  section  21,  township  17,  range  4. 

David  Ray,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  18, 
township  17,  range  4. 

William  D.  Rooker,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  17,  township  16,  range  4. 

John  Reagan,  Jr.,  the  whole  of  section  20,  town- 
ship 17,  range  4. 

Samuel  Ray,  the  south  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  section  28,  township  17,  range  3. 

Isaac  Stipp,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  13,  township  16,  range  3. 

Peter  Smith,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  in  the 

northwest  quarter  of  section  6,  township  16,  range  4. 

Mary  Ann   Smith,  sixty-eight   acres   in   the  west 

half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  6,  township 

16,  range  4. 

John  St.  Clair,  the  north  end  (forty  acres)  of  the 
east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  7,  town- 
ship 16,  range  4,  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 8  in  same  township. 

Daniel  R.  Smith,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  4,  township  16,  range  4. 

Cornelius  Van  Scyock,  the  south  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  34,  township  17,  range  3. 

John  Van  Blaricum,  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  15,  township  16,  range  3. 

William  Vincent,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  13,  township  17,  range  3. 

Isaac  Whitinger.  twenty-seven  acres  in  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  20,  township  17,  range  4,  and 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  acres  in  the  northeast 
and  southeast  quarters  of  section  19,  same  township. 
Henry  Whitinger,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  24,  township  17,  range  3,  and 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  19,  township  17, 
range  4. 

John  West,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  28,  township  17,  range  4. 

Abraham  Whitinger,  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
acres  in  the  northwest  and  northeast  quarters  of  sec- 
tion 30,  township  17,  range  3,  and  eighty-one  acres 


west  of    river,  in   the   west   half  of  the   northeast 
quarter  of  section  25,  same  township. 

Francis  Whitinger,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
acres  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  15,  township 
16,  range  4. 

Polly  Wright,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  12,  township  16,  range  3. 

Jacob  Whitinger,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
19,  township  17,  range  4;  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  24,  township  17,  range  3 ;  the 
west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  23, 
same  township,  and  sixty-seven  acres  in  the  west 
half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  15,  township 
16,  range  3. 

Francis  Williamson,  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  2,  township  16,  range  3. 

James  Mcllvain,  Sr.,  was  born  in  1767  in  Virginia, 
and  moved  from  there  to  Kentucky,  thence  to  Ohio, 
settling  in  each  of  those  States.  In  the  spring  of 
1821  he  emigrated  to  Marion  County,  with  his  wife 
and  several  children,  settling  at  Indianapolis,  where 
he  remained  a  short  time,  then  moved  into  this  town- 
ship, settling  on  the  land  now  owned  by  his  son,  S.  H. 
Mcllvain,  and  the  heirs  of  Uriah  Hildebrand.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  was  the  first  asso- 
ciate judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  the  county.  For 
years  prior  to  his  death  he  was  a  Christian,  and  was 
one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  township.  His  death 
occurred  Aug.  13,  1833. 

James  Mcllvain,  Jr.,  was  born  near  Lexington, 
Ky.,  in  the  year  1798,  and  from  there  went  to  Ohio, 
and  thence  to  this  county  with  his  parents,  and  set- 
tled where  the  city  of  Indianapolis  now  is  in  the 
spring  of  1821.  Subsequently  he  settled  where 
North  Indianapolis  now  is,  and  lived  there  till  his 
death,  April  5,  1848.  By  occupation  he  was  a 
farmer,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  extensive  stock 
traders  ever  in  this  county.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
intelligence,  shrewd  and  energetic.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  Church  for  twenty-five  years 
before  his  death.  He  was  county  commissioner 
many  years  ago,  serving  as  such  two  terms.  S.  H. 
Mcllvain  is  his  only  child  now  living. 

Henry  Kimberlain  was  born  in  Hagerstown,  Md., 
in  1766,  and,  on  reaching  manhood,  went  to  Ken- 


632 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


tucky,  where  he  was  married  to  Olivira  Patterson. 
Subsequently  he  came  to  Harrison  County,  Ind., 
where  he  resided  a  few  years,  and  in  1821  came  with 
his  wife  and  ten  children  to  this  township,  and  en- 
tered land  now  owned  by  William  Whitesell's  heirs, 
half  a  mile  north  of  where  AUisonville  now  is.  He 
lived  there  until  1826,  when  he  died.  He  was  a 
farmer  all  his  life,  and  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  for  many  years  prior  to  his  death. 
He  was  a  good,  industrious  citizen.  Of  the  ten  chil- 
dren, but  one  is  living,  Sarah  Ann,  who  lives  in 
Hamilton  County,  this  State.  The  first  preacher 
who  preached  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Kimber- 
lain's  was  Joel  Cravens,  about  1824,  when  the  circuit 
extended  from  Pendleton  to  Morgan  County. 

John  C.  Kimberlain,  a  son  of  Henry  Kimberlain, 
was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1797,  and  came  to  this 
township  with  his  parents  in  the  year  1821.  He 
never  married,  and  was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  from 
boyhood.     He  died  about  1844. 

Jacob  L.  Kimberlain,  son  of  Henry  Kimberlain, 
was  born  in  Kentucky  about  1803.  He  came  here 
with  his  parents  in  1821  and  located  with  them,  where 
he  lived  till  he  was  married  to  Nancy  Butler.  He 
lived  in  this  county  several  years,  then  moved  to 
Hamilton  County,  Ind.,  where  he  lived  twelve  years, 
and  thence  went  in  1861  to  Iowa,  where  he  died  in 
1864.  His  wife  died  the  same  year.  He  was  a  min- 
ister of  the  Methodist  Church  for  many  years. 

John  Kimberlain  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  March, 
1800.  He  came  to  this  township  in  1821,  and  entered 
eighty  acres  one  half-mile  northeast  of  where  AUison- 
ville now  is.  He  owned  it  but  a  short  time, — worked 
on  the  Wabash  Canal,  and  was  a  contractor  in  the 
work.  He  lived  in  this  county  seven  years,  and  died 
at  Anderson,  Ind.,  in  1840. 

Fielding  Clark  came  to  this  township  a  single  man 
from  Bracken  County,  Ky.,  about  1822,  and  settled 
on  eighty  acres  now  owned  by  Joshua  Spahr,  which 
he  paid  for  by  clearing  land.  About  1830  he  sold 
the  eighty  acres  to  John  Nesbit,  and  entered  two 
hundred  acres  just  north  of  the  old  home  place.  He 
lived  there  sixteen  years  and  went  to  Missouri,  where 
he  died  about  1879.     He  was  a  farmer. 


Thomas  Brunson  was  born  July  8,  1760,  in  Penn- 
sylvania. He  came  to  this  township  in  1826  from 
Kentucky,  and  entered  eighty  acres,  now  owned  by 
Rev.  R.  D.  Robinson.  He  followed  farming  all  his 
life,  and  lived  there  till  his  death,  in  1839.  He  was 
the  father  of  William,  Robert,  and  Jonathan  Brunson, 
and  of  four  other  children. 

William  Brunson  was  born  April  8,  1795.  He 
married  Martha  Allison,  and  with  her  and  four  chil- 
dren— Madison,  Hulda,  Jane,  and  Jefierson — came 
to  this  township  in  the  year  1825,  and  entered  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  now  owned  by  Erastus 
Brunson  and  John  Bear.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  twenty  years  prior 
to  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1876.  In 
all  he  had  eight  children,  five  of  whom  grew  up  to 
manhood  and  womanhood,  and  three  of  whom  are 
DOW  living,  namely,  Madison,  Erastus,  and  Armelda. 
They  all  have  families  and  live  in  this  township. 

Robert  Brunson  was  born  Feb.  22,  1797,  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  came  to  this  township  in  the  year  1825. 
He  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  now  owned 
by  his  son  Leonidas.  He  married  Jennie  Allison, 
whom,  together  with  their  daughter,  Malinda,  he 
brought  with  him.  Mr.  Brunson  was  the  father  of 
five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  viz.,  Ma- 
linda, who  married  Anthony  Williams,  from  Ken- 
tucky. She  is  now  a  widow,  and  and  lives  in  Cicero. 
Leonidas  and  Caroline  live  on  the  old  place.  Mr. 
Bronson  was  a  farmer ;  a  moral  and  industrious  man. 

Jonathan  Brunson,  son  of  Thomas  Brunson,  was 
born  in  Harrison  County,  Ky.,  April  8,  1801.  He 
was  married  there  to  Mary  Ann  Henry,  and  in  Octo- 
ber, 1826,  came  from  that  State  to  this  township  with 
his  wife  and  son,  Asher.  He  entered  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  now  owned  by  that  son.  He  lived 
there  until  1849,  then  went  to  AUisonville,  where  he 
lived  until  his  death,  Sept.  12,  1859.  He  followed 
farming  all  his  life,  and  was  industrious,  moral,  and 
frugal.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church 
for  twenty-five  years  prior  to  his  death.  He  was  the 
father  of  eight  children.  His  widow,  now  seventy- 
seven  years  of  age,  is  still  living  in  the  township  on 
the  old  homestead  with  her  son  Asher. 

Jacob  Ringer,  Sr.,  was  born   in   the   year  1757. 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


633 


He  came  from  Maryland,  bringing  his  wife  and  one 
child  with  him  to  this  township,  in  1824,  with  a  Lu- 
theran colony,  and  settled  on  land  now  owned  by 
Perry  Rhodes.  His  wife  died  there  in  1842,  and 
Mr.  Ringer  then  lived  with  his  children  till  his  death. 
He  was  a  Lutheran  for  many  years.  The  daughter 
who  came  here  with  him  was  named  Lydia.  She 
subsequently  married  Hezekiah  Smith,  Jr.,  and  lived 
in  the  township  many  years.  She  died  at  Cicero,  Ind. 
Peter  Negley  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  the 
year  1777.  He  moved  to  Hamilton  County,  Ohio, 
and  thence,  in  March,  1823,  emigrated  to  this  town- 
ship, and  settled  on  Fall  Creek,  where  Millersville 
now  is.  He  brought  from  Ohio  with  him  his  wife 
and  nine  children, — four  sons  and  five  daughters, — as 
follows:  John,  George  H.,  David,  Jacob,  Elizabeth, 
Katie,  Eva,  Sarah,  and  Margaret.  Of  these  children 
all  are  dead  except  Sarah  (now  Mrs.  Mcintosh),  who 
lives  in  Greene  County,  Ind.  He  purchased  four 
eighty-acre  tracts  of  land,  and,  in  partnership  with 
Seth  Bacon,  built  the  first  mill  at  Millersville.  He 
also  founded  the  village  of  Millersville.  He  followed 
milling  a  short  time,  and  then  farming  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  Universalist  in  belief,  and  a 
moral,  industrious,  and  respected  citizen.  He  died 
at  Millersville,  Aug.  Q,  1847.  His  wife  survived 
him  four  years. 

Elijah  Dawson  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1781. 
His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Mary  Ann  Hardin. 
He  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  lived  there  two  years, 
and  went  to  Dearborn  County,  Ind.,  from  whence  he 
came  to  this  township  in  1823,  and  settled  on  the 
land  now  owned  by  his  son  Ambrose,  and  where  he 
resided  till  his  death,  in  1858.  He  was  of  Baptist 
persuasion,  but  not  a  member  of  the  church.  He 
was  strictly  moral  and  temperate  in  all  his  habits ; 
was  an  industrious  and  valuable  citizen,  and  good 
neighbor,  and  he  was  never  at  law.  He  raised  seven 
sons  to  be  sober,  mural,  good  citizens.  In  all  there 
were  ten  children,  named  Squire,  Matthias,  Uriah, 
Isabel,  Ambrose,  Mary  Ann,  Charles,  Amanda,  An- 
drew, and  Jackson.  The  first  three  named  and  Mary 
Ann  are  dead  ;  Amanda  lives  in  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Schofield  ;  Andrew  lives  in  Cowles 
Co.,  Kansas.    The  remainder  are  highly-respected  citi- 


zens of  this  township.  There  are  several  families  of 
Dawsons,  all  descendants  of  this  one  family,  now 
living  in  the  township. 

Squire  Dawson,  the  eldest  son  of  Elijah  and  Mary 
Ann  Dawson,  was  born  in  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  in 
1807.  He  came  to  this  township  with  his  parents  in 
1823.  He  was  an  exhorter  and  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  He  raised  a  large  family  of  children, 
of  whom  two  are  now  living.     He  died  in  1871. 

Jacob    Coil,  Sr.,  was  born   in   Hamilton   County, 
Va.,  about  1790.     He  was  of  German  descent.     He 
I  emigrated  to  Fayette  County,  Ohio,  where  he  lived 
1  several  years,  and  from  there  came  to  this  township 
with  his  family,  consisting  of  wife  and  several  chil- 
dren, in  the  year  1823,  and  settled  on  eighty  acres 
j  now  owned  by  James  Bridges.     In  1835  he  moved 
to  near  Broad  Ripple,  and  died   there   in  the  fall  of 
^  1837.     By   occupation   he   was   a  farmer.     He  was 
moral  and  industrious,  and  in  business  a  persevering 
man.      He  took  an  active  interest  in  all  matters  per- 
1  taining  to  the  public  good.     He  followed  the  burning 
1  of  lime  for  several  years  during  his  residence  in  this 
township,  obtaining  the  rock  for  the  purpose  out  of 
the  bed  of  White  River.     He  burned  many  thousands 
of  bushels  of  lime   every  year.     Most  of  the  lime 
used    in    the    building    of  the  old    State-house  was 
burned    by  him.      He   married    Barbara  Colip,  and 
was  the  father  of  eight  children,  four  of  whom  he 
raised  to  maturity.     Two  are  living,  viz.,  Casandra, 
the  wife   of  Swartz    Mustard,  who    lives   in    Broad 
Ripple,  and  Sabina,  the  wife  of  Lewis  H.  Rickard, 
who  resides  in  Norton  County,  Kansas. 

William  Crist  came  to  the  township  from  White- 
water in  1824,  and  settled  on  land  now  owned  by 
William  Schofield,  just  north  of  Malott  Park.  He 
served  through  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  service.  He  with  his  family  went  to 
Iowa  about  1842. 

Jonas  Huffman  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  from 
there  went  to  Kentucky,  where  he  settled  for  some 
time.  He  then  went  to  Ohio,  and  from  there  emi- 
grated to  this  township  with  his  family  about  1824, 
and  entered  one  hundred  acres  on  White  River.  The 
land  is  now  owned  by  James  Huffman,  his  son.  He 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  followed  farming  for  a 


634 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


livelihood.  He  was  a  moral,  upright  citizen,  and 
took  especial  interest  in  all  laudable  public  enter- 
prises. He  lived  on  the  old  homestead  till  hi.s  death, 
in  1861.  His  wife  died  in  1856.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  seven  of  whom, — four  sons 
and  three  daughters, — became  men  and  women. 

Thomas  A.  Long  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Nicholas 
Co.,  Ky.;  about  1796.  He  emigrated  to  this  town- 
ship about  1824  with  his  wife  (formerly  Peggy 
McClanahan)  and  two  children,  and  entered  eighty 
acres,  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woollen.  He  is 
a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  is  now  living  in  Howard 
County,  Ind.,  where  he  went  about  1844.  For  sixty 
years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  was  one  of  the  first  and  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  old  Washington  Presbyterian  Church. 
In  Howard  County  he  served  as  associate  judge  of 
the  Circuit  Court,  and  afterwards  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace  for  many  years.  He  is  an  influential  business 
man ;  raised  a  large  family,  and  they  are  all  good 
citizens  and  wealthy. 

John  Johnson  was  born  and  raised  in  Kentucky, 
and  emigrated  to  Indiana,  and  first  settled  on  White- 
water, near  Brookville,  where  he  remained  till  1824, 
when  he  came  to  this  township  with  his  wife  (Louisa 
Dawson)  and  two  children  (Louisa  and  Oliver),  and 
settled  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  laud  now 
known  as  the  G.  H.  Voss  farm,  where  he  continued 
to  reside  till  his  death.  He  followed  farming  all  his 
life,  and  was  a  moral,  upright  man,  and  a  valuable 
citizen.  He  was  always  kind  to  the  poor,  and  helped 
those  around  him  as  much  as  his  circumstances  would 
allow.  He  died  about  1858,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six 
years. 

Joseph  Culbertson  was  born  in  Franklin  County, 
Pa.,  in  1766,  and  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  where  he 
lived  till  1829,  when  he  came  to  this  township  with 
wife  and  family,  and  settled  on  land  now  owned  by 
William  Culbertson,  his  son,  where  he  died  in  1850. 
He  was  a  member  and  the  founder  of  the  Washing- 
ton Presbyterian  Church,  which  was  built  on  his 
farm.  He  was  an  elder  in  that  church.  He  took 
special  interest  in  the  schools  and  the  public  high- 
ways, and  was  a  promoter  of  all  worthy  enterprises. 
In   all  he   had   eleven   children,   two   of    whom   are 


living,  William   Culbertson  and  Esther  Jane  Hahn, 
the  latter  of  whom  resides  in  Maryland. 

John  Nesbit  was  born  in  Bourbon  County,  Ky., 
in  1782,  and  with  wife  and  eight  children  emigrated 
to  this  township  in  1829.  He  bought  eighty  acres 
of  land  (now  owned  by  Joshua  Spahr),  and  entered 
eighty  acres  adjoining.  He  was  a  farmer,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  Church  about  thirty  years, 
and  an  elder  and  trustee  of  the  Washington  Presby- 
terian Church.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Mary 
McClure.  She  died  in  October,  1835.  Mr.  Ne-sbit 
died  in  August  of  the  same  year.  There  were  three 
sons  and  five  daughters.  Joanna  and  William  A. 
died  single,  Nancy  T.  is  the  widow  of  A.  G.  Ruddle, 
M.D.,  M.  J.  is  the  widow  of  Henry  B.  Evans, 
Margaret  married  Daniel  R.  Smith,  and  Eliz.  B. 
married  John  P.  Moore. 

Joseph  A.  Nesbit,  son  of  John  and  Mary  Nesbit, 
was  born  in  1821  in  Kentucky.  He  emigrated  to 
this  township  with  his  parents,  with  whom  he  lived 
until  their  death,  in  1835.  He  then  went  to  Ken- 
tucky and  remained  one  year,  when  he  returned  to 
AUisonville,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm  until  1841. 
He  then  attended  school  at  Centreville,  Ind.,  for 
two  years,  after  which  he  taught  school  during  the 
winter  months  and  farmed  during  the  summer  till 
the  winter  of  1846.  He  then  began  the  study  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  Charles  Ray,  and  during  the 
winter  of  1848-49  he  attended  Jefferson  Medical 
College  at  Philadelphia.  He  located  at  AUisonville, 
and  practiced  medicine  till  1856,  when  he  took  the 
second  course  of  lectures  in  the  above-named  college, 
and  in  March,  1857,  graduated.  Since  that  time  he 
has  been  a  prominent  and  successful  practitioner  of 
medicine  at  AUisonville.  On  the  22d  of  July,  1858, 
he  married  Margaret  Sterrett.  Dr.  Nesbit  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
nine  years,  and  he  is  a  member  of  Keystone  Lodge, 
No.  251,  of  F.  and  A.  M.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re 
publican. 

Thomas  McClintock,  who  was  an  early  settler  in 
Marion  County,  and  lived  for  several  years  nearly  on 
the  line  of  Washington  and  Centre  townships,  was  a 
son  of  Joseph  McClintock,  who  emigrated  from  Mary- 
land to  Kentucky,  and  settled  at  Hinkston  Station, 


WASHINGTON  TOWNSHIP. 


635 


in  a  block-house  built  for  defense  against  Indians. 
In  that  house  Thomas  was  born  in  1788.  The  fam- 
ily afterwards  moved  to  Harrison  County,  Ky.,  near 
Cynthiana,  whence,  in  November,  1829,  he  emigrated 
to  Indianapolis,  coming  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Rev. 
William  R.  Morehead,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who 
had  previously  come  to  Indianapolis  from  Kentucky. 
Thomas  McClintock  lived  in  the  town  during  the 
winter  following  his  arrival,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1830  moved  out  about  one  mile  to  the  Johnson 
farm,  where  he  remained  one  year,  and  then  removed 
to  lands  which  he  had  purchased  at  Sugar  Flat, 
where  he  died  in  September,  1837. 

Thomas  McClintock  was  a  life-long  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  had  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Of  the  latter,  Rebecca  died  about  1853, 
and  Martha  is  now  living  in  Greensburg,  Decatur 
Co.,  Ind.  The  mother  died  at  her  daughter  Martha's 
house  about  1873.  Of  the  sons,  Joseph  is  living  in 
California,  Tiiomas  J.  died  about  1853,  in  Marion 
County.  The  other  son,  William  H.  McClintock, 
was  born  in  the  old  block-house  at  Hinkston  Station, 
Ky.,  March  13,  1813,  and  moved^with  his  father's 
family  to  Harrison  County,  Ky.,  and  thence  to  In- 
dianapolis. He  lived  with  the  family  till  his  father's 
death,  and  after  that  event  owned  eighty  of  the  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  his  father's  farm  at  Sugar 
Flat.  In  1873  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  Indian- 
apolis, where  he  remained  eight  years.  In  1881  he 
bought  a  house  and  land  at  Mapleton  (about  a  half- 
mile  from  his  father's  homestead),  and  is  now  living 
there.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  joined  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Stonermouth  meetiDg-hou.se, 
Bourbon  County,  Ky.  In  January,  1843,  he  married 
Sarah  Ann  Mattox,  near  Booneville,  Union  Co..  Ind. 
His  wife  being  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  induced  him  to  leave  the  Presbyterians  and 
join  the  Methodists,  and  he  is  now  one  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  church  of  that  denomina- 
tion at  Mapleton.  He  reared  three  sons,  viz. :  Thomas 
A.  (now  a  cla.ss-leader  in  the  Mapleton  Church), 
Edmund  A.,  also  a  member  of  the  same  church,  and 
living  at  San  Jos6,  Cal.,  and  William  D.,  who  joined 
his  mother's  church  at  the  age  of  nine  years,  after- 
wards studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Harvey,  of  Indian- 


apolis, and  located  in  practice  in  Kansas,  where  he 
died  in  December,  1880. 

An  examination  of  the  list  of  tax-payers  of  1829 
shows  that  of  the  Allison  family,  for  whom  AUison- 
ville  is  named,  there  only  remains  in  this  town- 
ship William,  son  of  John  Allison.  There  remain 
in  this  township  of  the  children  of  Abraham  Bowen, 
Peter,  James,  and  Abraham,  Jr.,  all  honorable  citi- 
zens and  farmers.  James  is,  in  addition  to  farming, 
engaged  in  merchandising  at  the  town  of  Nora.  Of 
the  Brunson  families  there  remain  Erastus  and 
Madison,  sons  of  William,  and  Asher  and  Noble,  the 
sons  of  Jonathan  Brunson.  Leonidas,  the  son  of 
Robert  Brunson,  is  yet  living  in  this  township.  Of 
Hiram  Bacon's  family  there  are  still  living  here  Mrs.  C. 
A.  Rowland  and  William  Bacon.  George  and  Hiram, 
Jr.,  live  in  Shelby  County,  Ind.  Mrs.  B.  F.  Tuttle, 
daughter  of  Hiram  Bacon,  lives  in  Indianapolis.  Of 
William  Bacon's  family  there  remains  a  grandson 
(John  Strangej,  a  very  prosperous  and  wealthy 
young  farmer.  Of  James  Bunnell's  family,  Reuben 
is  still  living  here,  a  prosperous  and  honored  citizen, 
having  served  several  terms  as  township  trustee. 
Robert  Barnhill  is  still  living.  D.  Bowers  has  two 
daughters  and  one  son  living  in  this  township.  Of 
Jacob  Coil's  family  there  are  still  living  in  this  town- 
ship two  daughters,  Mrs.  Volney  Dawson  and  Mrs. 
Hamilton  Thompson.  William  Crist,  so  often  elected 
constable  in  the  early  history  of  this  township,  has  no 
descendants  left;.  He,  in  addition  to  serving  as  con- 
stable, was  or  had  been  quite  an  Indian-fighter.  It 
is  said  by  his  niece,  Mrs.  Gerard  Blue,  who  is  still 
living  here,  that  Mr.  Crist,  in  the  early  settling  of 
this  county,  went  with  two  of  his  neighbors  to  the 
mills  on  White  Water,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State,  and  on  their  way  back  they  were  attacked  by 
the  Indians  in  ambush.  The  two  neighbors  were  both 
killed  and  Crist  severely  wounded,  but  holding  on  to 
his  horse  he  was  enabled  to  make  his  escape.  He 
had  during  his  life  on  the  frontier  received  eighteen 
bullet-wounds  from  Indian  guns. 

Of  the  De  Ford  family  there  remains  only  George 
W.,  son  of  William  De  Ford.  He  is  an  honorable 
farmer  and  good  citizen.  Of  Elijah  Dawson's  family, 
Ambrose,  Charles  Jackson,  and   Mrs.  Isabella  Cul- 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


bertson,  the  mother  of  Alexander  Culbertson,  or,  as 
he  is  familiarly  called,  Squire  Culbertson.  Ambrose 
Dawson  is  one  of  this  township's  best  and  most  hon- 
ored citizens,  and  has  been  a  very  successful  farmer. 
A  few  years  since  he  divided  his  property  to  his  chil- 
dren, giving  all  of  them  a  good  farm,  and  in  his  old 
age  and  declining  years  has  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his 
children  all  well  started  in  life.  Charles  Dawson  is, 
in  addition  to  being  the  wealthiest  citizen  of  this 
township,  an  honorable  gentleman.  He  has  a  large 
family  of  children,  all  of  whom  are  at  home  except 
the  eldest  daughter,  who  is  married  to  Dr.  Collins. 
Matthias  Dawson,  one  of  Elijah's  sons,  has  been  dead 
about  six  years.  His  son,  W.  M.,  is  now  living  in 
this  township,  and  also  two  yoting  sons  by  a  second 
wife.  Jackson  Dawson,  son  of  Elijah,  is  still  living 
in  this  township,  and  is  one  of  its  best  citizens,  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  and  honorable  citizen. 

Of  the  heirs  of  James  Ellis  there  remains  in  this 
township  Alfred  Ellis.  Of  Jolin  Fox  there  remains 
his  Sun,  Raney  Fox,  a  wealthy  farmer.  Of  the  Noah 
Flood  family  there  remains  here  Mrs.  Gerard  Blue, 
with  a  family  of  four  children, — one  son,  William  J. 
Blue,  and  three  daughters.  The  oldest  daughter  was 
the  wife  of  G.  W.  Lancaster.  She  died  in  1875, 
leaving  one  son,  Edwin  G.,  and  one  daughter,  Dovie. 
The  second  daughter  is  the  wife  of  L.  G.  Akin  ;  the 
third  daughter  is  the  wife  of  C.  G.  King.  Of  the 
heirs  of  John  Johnson  there  remain  Luther,  Oliver, 
and  John  V.  Johnson,  all  very  successful  farmers, 
honorable  citizens,  and  intelligent  men.  Luther  has 
a  family  of  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  at  home 
except  the  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Amos  Butterfield. 
Oliver  Johnson  has  three  sons — James,  Silas  H.,  and 
Frank  P. — and  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe,  wife 
of  W.  A.  Lowe,  an  attorney-at-law.  Silas  H.  and 
Frank  P.  are  living  in  this  township,  and  are  intelli-  I 
gent,  honest  young  farmers.  John  V.  Johnson  is 
a  bachelor,  a  very  successful  farmer,  and  good  citizen. 
Mrs.  Ambrose  Dawson  (deceased),  Mrs.  Jackson 
Dawson,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Dawson,  and  Mrs.  Hiram 
Haverstick  are  daughters  of  John  Johnson. 

Of  James  McCoy's  heirs  there  remains  Mrs.  Rich- 
ard  Hope.     Of  James  Mcllvain's  family  only  S.  H.  ! 
Mcllvain,   a    successful    farmer,    remains.      Of   Ed- 


mond  Newby's  family  there  remains  Mrs.  George 
Stipp.  Of  Jacob  Roberts'  heirs  there  remains  only 
Mrs.  William  Scott.  Of  the  heirs  of  David  Ray 
there  are  in  this  township  Mrs.  Jacob  Whitesel,  Mrs. 
Jane  McCoy,  and  another  married  daughter.  Of  the 
heirs  of  David  Sharpe  there  remains  William  H. 
Sharpe,  a  wealthy  farmer  and  successful  business 
man.  Of  the  heirs  of  John  Shields  there  are  John 
Shields,  Jr.,  a  succassful  farmer  and  thorough  busi- 
ness man,  and  Mrs.  Jane  Dodd,  wife  of  Peter  Dodd. 
Of  the  heirs  of  Daniel  R.  Smith,  generally  known  as 
Judge  Smith,  there  remains  John  H.  Smith,  an  in- 
telligent farmer  and  one  of  our  honored  citizens, 
having  served  two  terms  as  township  trustee  and  one 
term  as  county  commissioner,  which  term  expired 
Nov.  1,  1883.  He  is  known  as  a  careful,  pains- 
taking man  in  all  of  his  business  transactions,  both 
public  and  private.  To  him  the  writer  of  this  brief 
history  of  Washington  township  feels  under  lasting 
obligations  for  counsel  and  assistance  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  a  public  office.  Mrs.  Dr.  Woollen  and 
Mrs.  W.  W.  Woollen  are  both  daughters  of  Daniel 
R.  Smith.  Of  the  heirs  of  Cornelius  Van  Scyoc 
there  only  remains  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  James 
Mustard,  and  daughter  of  Lorenzo  Van  Scyoc,  who 
was  a  son  of  Cornelius.  Isaac  Whitinger's  widow  is 
still  living  in  this  township,  being  now  the  Widow 
Kinsley.  Henry  Whitinger,  son,  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Newby,  daughter,  of  Isiiac  Whitinger,  are  living  in 
this  township.  Of  Joel  Wriijht's  family  there  re- 
mains his  son,  Emsley,  an  attorney-at-law  and  ex- 
tensive farmer,  and  the  oldest  settler  in  the  township 
now  living.  Mrs.  Jincy  Osborn  is  also  a  daughter  of 
Joel  Wright.  James  T.  Wright,  an  old  citizen  of  this 
township,  is  a  grandchild,  as  are  also  Mrs.  Mary  John- 
son and  John  Wright. 

Of  other  old  settlers  who  have  come  to  this  town- 
ship since  1829  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  J.  A.  Nesbit, 
who  lives  at  Allisonville,  a  successful  practicing  phy- 
sician, and  also  a  large  farmer.  Jacob  S.  and  James 
Mustard,  who  are  among  the  old  settlers,  are  both 
honored  and  intelligent  citizens.  James,  the  younger 
of  the  two  brothers,  has  a  national  reputation  as  a 
breeder  of  the  best  strains  of  Poland  China  swine, 
has  also  served  as  township  trustee,  and  is  in  every 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


637 


particular  an  excellent  citizen.  R.  R.  and  Thomas  C. 
Hammond  are  also  among  the  esteemed  citizens  and 
wealthy  farmers  of  the  township.  Benjandin  Tyner 
is  another  intelligent,  successful  old  settler.  James 
Parsley  is  an  old  settler  here,  a  successful  business 
man,  and  a  good  citizen. 

Among  the  oldest  and  best  citizens  of  the  township 
are  the  Hessong  family, — John  J.,  M.  L.,  H.  M., 
George,  and  Charles.  Thomas  and  Jacob  Sutton 
are  old  settlers  here.  Jacob  Whitesel  came  to  this 
township  in  1835,  and  is  one  of  its  best  citizens.  He 
has  a  largo  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  most  of  them 
yet  at  home. 

The  Blue  family  is  among  the  oldest  of  the  town- 
•ship.  There  are  now  in  this  township  Uriah  and 
George,  sons  of  the  late  Benjamin  Blue,  both  intelli- 
gent, upright  farmers;  Mrs.  S.  H.  Mcllvain  is  also 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Blue.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  F., 
widow  of  Peter  Blue,  has  a  large  family  of  sons  and 
daughters,  most  of  whom  are  at  home.  C.  A.  How- 
land,  a  wealthy  and  honored  citizen,  who  has  repre- 
sented this  county  in  the  Legislature,  served  as  county 
commissioner,  and  filled  numerous  places  of  trust  in 
this  township  and  county,  is  living  here.  Isaac 
Bomgardner  is  among  the  prosperous  and  thorough- 
going citizens.  William  Bradley  is  another  of  the 
substantial  citizens. 

The  SODS  of  Daniel  Pursel  are  among  the  best  citi- 
zens. Samuel,  0.  J.,  and  J.  0.  are  all  living  here, 
prosperous  and  thorough  farmers.  James  Hubbard, 
aged  ninety-nine  years,  who  is  probably  the  oldest 
person  living  in  Marion  County,  lives  here.  He  is 
hale  and  healthy,  works  regularly,  and  converses 
with  intelligence  on  any  subject  with  which  he  has 
ever  been  familiar. 

There  are  no  manufactories  in  Washington  town- 
ship, nor  any  very  important  towns  or  villages. 
Broad  Ripple  and  Wellington  villages,  on  White 
River,  in  the  central  part  of  the  township,  are  the 
most  important.  Malott  Park,  Millersville,  and  Al- 
lisonville  are  villages  in  the  eastern  and  southeastern 
part  of  the  township.  Mapleton  is  on  the  south  line, 
adjoining  Centre  township,  part  of  the  village  being 
in  Centre. 


Nora  is  a  village  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, having  a  railroad  station  on  the  Chicago  Air- 
Line,  a  post-office,  two  general  country  stores,  two 
blacksmith-shops,  and  a  population  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty. 

Sutton's  Corners,  also  located  in  the  north  part  of 
the  township,  has  a  school-house  (No.  11),  one  gen- 
eral store,  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  drain-tile  factory,  and 
a  sub-post-office,  which  receives  and  distributes  mail- 
matter  for  and  from  Nora. 

Broad  Ripple  village  is  situated  seven  miles  north 
of  Indianapolis,  on  White  River,  and  the  Chicago 
and  Indianapolis  Air-Line  Railroad.  It  was  laid 
out  into  forty-eight  lots  by  Jacob  Coil,  on  April 
20,  1837.  It  was  so  called  from  the  fact  that  the 
ripple  in  the  river  at  that  point  was  the  largest  and 
widest  in  the  country,  and  the  place  was  known  by 
that  name  from  the  lime  of  the  first  settlement. 
The  town  is  just  south  of  the  feeder-dam  of  the  old 
Wabash  and  Erie  Canal,  which  was  begun  in  1837, 
and  finished  in  1839,  by  John  Burke,  contractor. 
About  two-thirds  of  the  original  town,  as  laid  out, 
has  been  thrown  back  into  farming  land.  At  present 
the  town  contains  only  one  water-mill,  one  railroad 
depot,  and  a  few  dwelling-houses,  with  a  population 
of  thirty-five. 

The  first  merchant  of  the  village  was  Robert  Earl ; 
the  second  was  Zachariah  Collins ;  the  third  was 
William  Earl ;  and  the'  last  one  was  Joseph  Ray, 
who  left  the  bu.siness  in  1860. 

Dr.  Harvey  Kerr,  the  first  physician,  was  there 
from  1851  to  1880.  The  present  physician  is  Dr. 
R.  C.  Light.  The  first  postmaster  was  William 
Earl,  who  took  charge  of  it  about  1850  for  a  time, 
and  it  went  to  Wellington,  and  afterwards  returned 
to  Broad  Ripple,  when  William  Earl  again  kept  it 
for  a  short  time.  The  office  is  now  called  Broad 
Ripple,  but  is  kept  in  Wellington. 

About  1843,  John  Burk  built  a  saw-mill  on  White 
River,  just  below  the  feeder-dam,  and  operated  it 
till  1845,  when  Peter  W.  Koontz  became  a  partner, 
and  together  they  operated  it  till  1851,  when  it  was 
abandoned  and  torn  down.  In  1845,  near  the  same 
place,  John  Burk  and  Peter  W.  Koontz  built  a  grist- 
mill, and  operated  it  till   1847,  when  the  former  sold 


638 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


to  the  latter,  and  Abraham  Koontz  became  a  partner. 
About  1851,  Peter  W.  Koontz  died.  The  mill  then 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Abraham  H.  Turner, 
who  operated  it  until  about  1853.  Mr.  Fairbanks 
then  rented  it,  and  operated  it  one  year.  In  the  fall 
of  1855  the  ownership  again  became  vested  in  Abra- 
ham Koontz.  He  ran  it  a  while,  and  Samuel  W. 
Hetsellgesser  became  partner,  and  together  they 
operated  it  till  the  spring  of  1862.  William  Craig 
and  George  A.  Kirkpatrick  then  bought  it,  and  oper- 
ated it  three  or  four  years,  when  the  former  retired, 
and  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  operated  it  till  it  was  washed 
away  by  the  great  freshet  in  1875.  Shortly  after- 
wards Mr.  Kirkpatrick  built  a  new  mill  where  it 
now  stands  (being  several  rods  down  the  river  from 
the  place  where  the  old  mill  stood),  and  operated  it 
until  1880,  when  Harrison  Sharp  and  Samuel  Sheets 
became  the  owners  by  purchase  at  sheriff's  sale,  and 
they  still  own  it.  The  water  supply  is  furnished  by 
the  feeder-dam,  as  it  has  been  from  the  beginning. 

Wellington  village  is  situated  on  White  River, 
seven  miles  north  of  Indianapolis,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  old  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal  from  Broad 
Ripple.  It  was  laid  out  into  thirty  two  lots  by  James 
A.  Nelson  and  Adam  R.  Nelson  on  May  17,  1837, 
and  so  named  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  Wellino-ton. 
A  part  of  the  original  town  has  gone  back  into  farm- 
ing lands,  yet  it  is  something  of  a  village.  It  con- 
tains one  store,  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  post-oflSce,  called 
Broad  Ripple,  an  Odd-Fellows'  lodge,  and  a  Union 
Church;  also  the  township  graded  school.  The 
present  population  is  one  hundred  and  eight. 

The  first  merchant  was  William  Switzer,  and  after 
him  came  the  following  in  the  order  named,  viz. : 
Reed  Hardin,  Gurdon  C.  Johnson'  Swartz  Mustard, 
Jackson  Dawson,  Oliver  P.  Johnson,  Samuel  Sheets 
(who  kept  there  longer  than  all  the  rest,  from  1866 
tilll  1882),  and  Reuben  and  Hillary  Morris.  The 
last  two  named  are  in  partnership,  and  are  the 
present  merchants. 

The  first  physician  was  Dr.  Atler,  and  the  follow- 
ing named  came  after  him  in  the  order  named,  viz. : 
Horatio  Johnson,  Edward  Collins,  W.  B.  Culbertson, 
and  Joseph  B.  Bates.  The  last  named  is  the  present 
physician.     The  present  postmaster  is  Hillary  Morris. 


Broad  Ripple  Lodge,  No.  548,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was 
instituted  June  2,  1877,  the  following  named  being 
the  original  members,  viz. :  Austin  Bradley,  George 
Parsley,  James  Garrity,  Piatt  Whitehead,  John  Mo- 
Cormick,  James  Mustard,  John  W.  Stipp,  N.  M. 
Hessong,  Frank  McCorniick,  Levi  Johnson.  In 
June,  1881,  the  Castleton  Lodge  was  consolidated 
with  this.  The  Broad  Ripple  Lodge  is  the  most 
prosperous  one  of  the  order  in  Marion  County  out- 
side of  Indianapolis.  It  has  a  good  two-story  build- 
ing for  lodge  purposes,  built  in  the  village  of  Wel- 
lington, at  a  cost  of  about  one  thousand  dollars.  Its 
membership  now  numbers  eighty-three.  The  present 
ofiScers  of  the  lodge  are  Piatt  Whitehead,  N.  G.  ; 
Isaac  N.  Jackson,  V.  G. ;  Henry  Whittinger,  Treas. ; 
Lewis  Aiken,  Sec. ;  Trustees,  Hillary  Morris,  James 
McCoy,  Daniel  Stanley. 

This  lodge  meets  every  Saturday  evening  in  their 
hall  at  Wellington. 

The  village  of  Millersville,  si'tuated  north  and  west 
of  Fall  Creek,  seven  miles  north-northeast  of  Indian- 
apolis, was  never  formally  laid  out.  The  ground  was 
never  platted,  but  was  sold  in  lots  of  from  about  one- 
fourth  of  an  acre  to  one  acre.  The  ground  upon 
which  the  town  is  located  was  owned  as  follows  :  That 
portion  north  of  the  road  running  east  and  west,  by 
Peter  Negley  ;  that  portion  situated  east  of  the  old 
Pendleton  State  road  and  south  of  Cross-roads,  by 
G.  G.  F.  Boswell  ;  and  that  portion  embraced  in  the 
triangle,  by  Brubaker  and  Speaker.  The  existence 
of  the  town  dates  back  to  the  year  1838.  There  are 
eighteen  lots  of  land  embraced  in  the  town,  and  the 
present  population  is  eighty-six. 

The  first  merchant  was  Ira  Thayer,  who  owned  the 
merchandise,  and  James  K.  Knight  kept  the  store  for 
him.  The  following  merchants  came  after  him,  viz.: 
James  G.  Featherston,  William  Sheets,  George  Webb, 
Ad.  Ehrisman,  George  Ewbanks,  and  Lewis  Kern. 
The  last  named  is  the  present  merchant. 

William  J.  Millard,  Sr.,  was  the  first  postmaster. 
appointed  about  forty  years  ago.  During  the  last 
twenty  years  there  has  been  a  po.st-office  there  only 
one  year,  and  then  (about  four  years  ago)  it  was  kept 
by  Lewis  Kern.  James  G.  Featherston  had  the  office 
for  several  years  prior  to  1859.     Mrs.  Mary  F.  Ringer 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


639 


had  it  for  a  short  time  about  1864.  The  first  physi- 
cian was  Dr.  Ducat,  who  remained  only  one  year. 
G.  M.  Shaw,  John  W.  Bolus,  and  others  have  located 
there  since.     John  V.  Bower  is  the  present  physician. 

A  great  deal  of  business  was  transacted  in  the 
place  prior  to  1860,  but  since  that  time  the  trade  has 
decreased,  and  the  village  has  retrograded  contin- 
ually. The  village  now  contains  fourteen  dwelling- 
houses,  one  blacksmith-shop,  a  Masonic  Hall  building, 
two  business  houses,  and  one  (water)  flouring-  and 
grist-mill.  The  post-ofl5ce,  when  kept  in  the  village, 
was  called  Millersville,  but  when  kept  by  Elijah 
Jame.s,  two  miles  west,  was  called  Hammond's,  and 
afterwards  James'  Switch.  The  residents  of  the  vil- 
lage receive  their  mail  at  present  from  the  Malott 
Park  post-office.  The  place  where  the  village  of  Mil- 
lersville now  is  was  called  Brubaker's  Mill  before  it 
gained  its  present  name,  which  was  nearly  a  half- 
century  ago. 

In  the  year  1824,  Seth  Bacon  and  Peter  Negley 
formed  a  partnership  for  the  purpose  of  building 
and  operating  a  saw-mill  on  Fall  Creek,  near  where 
Millersville  now  is.  The  mill  was  built,  and  the 
dam  they  erected  was  nearly  one-fourth  of  a  mile 
east  of  the  present  mill  building,  and  it  backed  the 
water  up  against  Daniel  Ballenger's  mill,  which  stood 
just  below  where  the  present  mill-dam  stands.  Bal- 
lenger's mill  was  a  frame  structure,  but  so  badly 
erected  that  it  was  insecure.  In  consequence  of  the 
injuries  sustained  because  of  the  back  water,  Ballen- 
ger  sued  Bacon  &  Negley  for  damages.  Bacon  was 
worth  nothing,  and  Negley  compromised  the  case  at 
a  sacrifice  of  two  eighty-acre  tracts  of  land  and  his 
mill,  which  stood  upon  one  of  the  eighty  acres,  two 
horses,  and  a  wagon.  John  Essary  was  Ballenger's 
lawyer  and  ran  the  mill  from  1826  for  six  years, 
when  Noah  Leverton  bought  Ballenger  out  and 
erected  a  grist-mill  where  the  present  one  stands, 
which  is  a  few  rods  west  of  where  the  old  saw-mill 
stood.  Leverton  cut  the  present  race  and  built  a  dam 
a  few  feet  below  the  present  one.  The  charter  for 
the  present  dam  was  granted  in  the  year  1836  by  the 
Circuit  Court,  William  W.  Wick  presiding,  the  dam 
to  be  not  more  than  four  and  a  half  feet  above  low- 
water  inark  in  the  place  where  it  then  stood,  desig- 


nated by  certain  marks  named.  A  jury  was  empan- 
eled and  damages  assessed  for  injury  to  the  property. 
Ballenger,  after  selling  out,  went  with  his  family  to 
the  Wabash  and  Phie  Canal,  and  subsequently  to 
Stillwell,  Ohio,  his  place  of  birth.  Mr.  Leverton 
operated  the  mill  about  three  years,  and  sold  to 
Chauncey  True  and  Samuel  True.  These  men  put 
two  run  of  burrs  in  the  mill  and  did  a  good  business. 
The  Trues  owned  the  mill  until  Sept.  23,  1839,  and 
sold  to  Jacob  Brubaker,  and  went  to  Michigan  and 
engaged  in  farming.  Brubaker  built  a  still-house 
adjoining  the  mill,  and  owned  the  property  three 
years.  On  Aug.  8,  1842,  he  deeded  the  property  to 
Christ.  Haushey  and  went  to  parts  unknown. 

Mr.  Haushey  was  a  resident  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
never  lived  here.  He  owned  the  property  one  year 
and  then  died.  After  his  death,  Jacob  Spahr  bought 
the  mill  and  operated  it  until  1848.  About  that 
time  William  Winpenny  and  Jacob  Spahr  formed  a 
partnership,  rebuilt  the  mill  and  distillery,  and  op- 
erated them  until  May  10,  1855.  The  partnership 
was  then  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Winpenny  continued  the 
business  until  his  death,  in  1861.  He  did  a  large 
custom  business,  operating  two  wheat-burrs  and  two 
coru-burrs,  one  of  which  was  used  to  grind  the  corn 
for  mash  to  be  used  in  the  distillery.  At  no  time 
during  its  history  was  it  more  successfully  managed 
than  when  owned  by  Mr.  Winpenny.  After  his 
death  it  was  owned  by  his  heirs  and  operated  by 
various  parties  until  Oct.  21,  1872,  when  it  was  sold 
to  Tobias  Messersmith,  since  which  time  Jacob  J. 
Ringer,  William  Sala,  and  John  Carlisle  have  in  turn 
purchased  it,  but  each  time  the  ownership  reverted 
to  Tobias  Messersmith.  In  April,  1883,  it  was  sold 
at  sheriflF's  sale,  and  purchased  by  N.  S.  Russell, 
of  Massillon,  Ohio,  and  is  now  being  operated  by 
William  H.  Spahr.  The  mill  has  been  destroyed  by 
fire  three  times,  the  first  time  when  owned  by  Bru- 
baker;  again  about  the  year  1848,  when  owned  by 
Jacob  Spahr  ;  aud  again  iu  August,  1878,  when 
owned  by  John  Carlisle.  The  mUl  was  rebuilt  at 
once  by  Mr.  Carlisle,  supplied  with  all  the  latest  im- 
proved machinery,  and  contains  the  only  genuine 
buckwheat-bolt  in  the  county.  The  mill-seat  com- 
prises seventy-one  acres.     The  building  is  a  substan- 


640 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


tial  structure,  and  the  water-power  ample  for  four 
run  of  burrs  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  prop- 
erty has  been  a  source  of  annoyance  and  a  continual 
expense  to  every  person  that  has  had  anything  to 
do  with  it.  A  still-house,  with  a  capacity  of  eight 
barrels  per  day,  was  built  adjoining  the  grist-mill  on 
the  south  by  Messrs.  Spahr  &  Winpenny,  about  the 
year  1849,  and  the  business  carried  on  four  or  five 
years,  when  it  was  suspended,  and  the  still  removed 
by  Mr.  Winpenny. 

Millersville  Lodge,  No.  126,  F.  and  A.  M.  This 
lodge  was  instituted  at  Millersville  by  dispensation 
granted  by  A.  C.  Downey,  Grand  Master,  on  March 
3,  1852.  The  first  meeting  of  the  lodge  was  held, 
March  6,  1852,  at  the  residence  of  William  J.  Mil- 
lard, Jr.  The  charter  was  granted  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  May  25,  1852,  the  following  named  being  the 
charter  members:  William  J.  Millard,  Jr.,  Jonah  F. 
Lemon,  Jacob  Spahr,  William  J.  Millard,  Sr.,  Hiram 
Haverstick,  William  Bacon,  Joseph  A.  Nesbit,  John 
R.  Anderson.  The  first  meeting  under  the  charter 
was  held  May  29,  1852. 

The  lodge  held  its  meetings  for  some  time  in  the 
upper  story  of  the  grist-mill,  in  a  room  fitted  up  for 
it.  Subsequently  they  moved  to  the  new  hall,  which 
was  dedicated  Oct.  26,  1853,  by  A.  M.  Hunt, 
proxy  of  the  M.  W.  Grand  Master.  The  oration 
was  by  Thomas  H.  Lynch.  The  following  persons 
have  served  as  Worshipful  Master  the  number  of 
years  noted,  viz. :  William  J.  Millard,  Jr.,  9  years ; 
Samuel  Cory,  13 J  years;  W.  H.  Hornaday,  1  year; 
Robert  Johnson,  4  years ;  W.  W.  Henderson,  2 
years;  John  W.  Negley,  1  year;  B.  W.  Millard,  1 
year. 

The  following  have  served  as  secretary  the  number 
of  years  noted,  viz.:  William  Winpenny,  1  year; 
Samuel  Cory,  8  years ;  William  J.  Millard,  Jr.,  2 
years ;  James  G.  Featherston,  2  years ;  Lewis  Y. 
Newhouse,  62  years;  Peter  L.  Negley,  1  year;  W. 
W.  Henderson,  6  years ;  Joseph  E.  Boswell,  1  year ; 
W.  H.  Hornaday,  2  years ;   A.  Culbertson,  2  years. 

The  following  is  an  exhibit  of  the  lodge  since  its 
organization  :  number  deceased,  11 ;  number  expelled, 
2;  number  suspended,  7;  number  demitted,  61; 
number  of  present  members,  32.     Robert  Johnson 


is  the  present  Worshipful  Master,  and  W.  W.  Hen- 
derson is  the  secretary.  Four  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers are  now  living,  namely,  William  J.  Millard,  Jr., 
Jonah  F.  Lemon,  Hiram  Haverstick,  and  Joseph  A. 
Nesbit.  This  lodge  meets  in  its  hall  in  Millersville 
on  the  Saturday  evening  of  or  before  the  full  moon 
in  each  month. 

Valentine  Lodge,  No.  1390,  Knights  of  Honor, 
was  instituted  at  Millersville  by  dispensation  on  Feb. 
18,  1879,  by  David  M.  Osborn,  Deputy  Grand  Dic- 
tator. The  following  were  the  charter  members,  viz. : 
William  H.  Wheeler,  William  W.  Foster,  William 
H.  Hornaday,  William  H.  Spahr,  Frederick  Karer, 
Henry  G.  Ger.stley,  John  P.  Goode,  George  W. 
While,  Frederick  Steinmier,  Henry  C.  Greene,  John 
H.  Wineow,  Thomas  Doyle,  William  H.  Negley,  A. 
A.  Vangeson,  George  W.  Winpenny,  and  Jacob  Vol- 
mer.  The  lodge  was  duly  chartered  by  the  Grand 
Lodge  Oct.  9,  1879.  The  following  have  served  as 
Dictators  of  the  lodge  :  W.  W.  Foster,  John  P.  Goode, 
William  H.  Spahr,  William  H.  Wheeler,  William  H. 
Heath,  John  V.  Bower,  Thomas  T.  Lankford. 

The  following  named  are  the  officers  for  the  year 
1884:  John  W.  House,  Dictator;  William  H. 
Wheeler,  Treasurer ;  Silas  Tyner,  Reporter.  John 
V.  Bower  is  the  representative  to  the  Grand  Lodge. 
William  A.  Schofield,  John  V.  Bower,  and  Jacob 
Stiltz  are  the  present  trustees.  The  number  of  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  at  present  is  twenty-five.  The 
lodge  meets  every  two  weeks  on  Saturday  evenings 
in  the  Winpenny  Hall  in  Millersville. 

The  Millersville  Free  Library  was  made  up  by  sub- 
scription, and  was  opened  to  the  public  June  1,  1882. 
It  contains  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  volumes  of  the 
most  judiciously  selected  books.  Many  of  the  most 
popular  magazines  and  valuable  papers  are  regularly 
received.  In  July,  1883,  a  library  association  was 
formed,  with  Hiram  B.  Howland  as  president,  W. 
W.  Henderson  secretary,  and  Alfred  Ellis  treasurer. 
Dr.  J.  V.  Bower  is  librarian.  The  following  are  the 
trustees  :  Albert  E.  Fletcher,  Benjamin  Tyner,  Wil- 
liam H.  Wheeler,  Mrs.  Hettie  M.  Hunter,  and  Miss 
Lou  HufiF. 

Free  lectures  are  regularly  held  under  the  auspices 
of  the   above   society,  and   prove   to   be  a  source  of 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


611 


both  pleasure  and  knowledge.  Additional  volumes 
will  be  added  to  the  library  from  time  to  time.  The 
liberal  patronage  given  the  library  by  the  citizens  in 
the  vicinity  is  assurance  that  its  advantages  are  duly 
appreciated. 

Allisonville  is  situated  ten  miles  from  Indianapolis, 
on  the  Noblesville  State  road,  about  three  miles  east 
of  north  from  Indianapolis.  It  was  laid  out  into  forty 
lots  by  John  Allison  on  the  8th  day  of  February, 
1833,  and  the  town  was  named  after  Mr.  Allison. 
The  population  at  present  is  about  fifty.  The  first 
merchants  were  Leven  T  McCay  and  George  Bruce, 
in  partnership.  They  kept  for  three  years.  A.  G. 
Ruddle  was  the  first  physician,  and  he  practiced 
medicine  there  for  forty  years.  At  one  time,  some 
forty  years  ago,  there  were  two  hotels  there,  and  they 
did  a  good  business.  Richard  Brown  was  the  first 
hotel-keeper,  and  followed  the  business  seven  years. 
There  is  no  post-office  there,  and  has  not  been  for  a 
great  many  years.  Mail-matter  intended  for  the  peo- 
ple of  the  village  is  sent  to  Castleton.  Lewis  Droan- 
berger  was  the  merchant  in  Allisonville  many  years 
from  about  1850.  The  present  merchant  is  John  D. 
Gerstley,  who  has  been  in  the  business  there  about 
thirteen  years.  The  present  physicians  are  Joseph 
A.  Nesbit  and  Isaac  N.  Craig.  James  Armentrout 
carried  on  a  tan  yard  just  south  of  the  village  fur  six 
years,  about  1832. 

Keystone  Lodge,  No.  251,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  in- 
stituted at  Allisonville  by  dispensation  Oct.  22,  1858, 
and  the  following  officers  elected:  I.  N.  Craig,  W.  M. ; 
P.  A.  Leaver,  S.  W. ;  Jacob  W.  Ray,  J.  W.  The 
following  were  the  petitioners,  all  of  whom  became 
charter  members,  viz  :  I.  N.  Craig,  Sidney  Cropper, 
A.  S.  Ellis,  Samuel  Farley,  Philip  A.  Leaver,  Joseph 
A.  Nesbit,  William  White.sell,  John  R.  Anderson,  E. 
S.  Cropper,  J.  S.  McCarty,  John  Tate,  Samuel  C. 
Vauce,  James  Farley,  Samuel  B.  Beals,  John  Har- 
vey, Stephen  Harvey,  Isaac  Michener,  F.  Farley,  T. 
P.  Farley,  Milon  Harris,  J.  W.  Ray,  Jacob  White- 
sell,  George  Metsker,  Hiram  A.  Haverstick,  Daniel  St. 
John,  Lewis  Farley,  Jacob  Eller,  P.  M.  Beck,  Isaiah 
Williams,  Charles  Whitesell,  B.  Todd,  and  John  Bruce. 
The  charter  was  granted  by  the  Grand  Lodge  May 
26,   1859.     The  following  were   elected  under  the 


charter :  Isaac  N.  Craig,  W.  M. ;  Philip  A.  Leaver, 
S.  W. ;  Jacob  W.  Ray,  J.  W. 

For  about  seventeen  years  the  lodge  held  its  meet- 
ings in  a  small,  inconvenient  room  in  Allisonville. 
In  the  spring  of  1875  the  lodge  built  a  new  hall  in 
'■  that  village,  at  a  cost  of  fifteen  hundred  and  seventy- 
!  five  dollars.  The  first  meeting  held  in  the  new  hall 
was  July  24,  1875.  The  building  committee  were 
Joseph  A.  Nesbit,  Samuel  Farley,  Reuben  Bunnel, 
I  John  H.  Smith,  and  John  Johnson.  The  first  trus- 
tees were  Joseph  A.  Nesbit,  John  H.  Smith,  and 
Isaac  N.  Craig. 

The  present  membership  is  forty-three.  The  fol- 
lowing persons  have  served  as  Worshipful  Masters 
the  number  of  years  noted,  viz. :  Isaac  N.  Craig,  8 
years ;  Samuel  Farley,  1  year  ;  Thomas  N.  Williams, 
3  years;  John  H.  Smith,  6  years;  David  D.  Negley, 
1  year;  John  Johnson,  2  years;  Hillary  Silvey,  3 
years.  Hillary  Silvey  is  the  present  Worshipful 
Master,  and  George  W.  Kesselring  is  secretary. 
This  lodge  meets  in  its  hall  in  Allisonville  on  the 
Saturday  evening  of  or  after  the  full  moon  in  each 
month. 

The  village  of  Mapleton  is  on  the  line  of  Washing- 
ton and  Centre  townships,  the  main  street  being  on 
the  township  line,  and  the  village  being  on  both  sides 
of  it.  It  was  laid  out  in  1871  (town  plat  recorded 
September  18th  in  that  year).  That  part  of  the  site 
which  is  on  the  Washington  township  side  was 
owned  by  John  Messersmith,  who  purchased  from 
Thomas  Ruark. 

The  first  and  present  merchant  of  the  place  is 
Theodore  F.  Harrison.  The  village  now  contains  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  edifice  and  parsonage,  a 
brick  school-house,  in  which  is  a  graded  school,  one 
store,  a  post-office  (Theodore  F.  Harrison,  post- 
master), a  blacksmith-shop,  and  about  three  hundred 
inhabitants. 

Malott  Park,  located  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
township,  was  laid  out  in  1872  (plat  recorded  May  4th 
in  that  year)  by  Daniel  and  John  H.  Stewart.  The 
first  merchant  was  George  Byers,  who  is  also  the 
present  merchant  of  the  town.  The  first  postmaster 
of  Malott  Park  was  Warren  W.  Bowles  ;  the  second 
was   Barbara  Spahr,  who  was  succeeded  by  George 


642 


HISTORY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION  COUNTY. 


Bjers,  who  is  the  present  postmaster.  The  town  has 
now  one  store,  a  post-office,  a  blaeksmith-shop,  the 
Malott  Park  station  of  the  Wabash  and  Pacific  Rail- 
way, one  church  (Methodist  Episcopal),  and  about 
fifty  inhabitants. 

Churches  of  the  Township.— The  Washington 
Presbyterian  Church  edifice  was  built  about  the  year 
1838  by  subscription,  on  the  farm  of  Joseph  Culbert- 
son,  now  the  land  of  William  Culbertson.  It  was  a 
small  frame  building,  and  was  used  as  a  church  about 
ten  or  twelve  years.  The  building  soon  afterwards 
became  dilapidated  and  was  torn  down.  It  stood 
about  one  half-mile  north  of  where  Malott  Park 
now  is. 

The  number  of  members  at  organization  was  about 
twenty-five,  among  whom  were  the  following  :  Hiram 
Bacon,  Mary  Alice  Bacon,  Joseph  Culbertson,  John 
Nesbit,  Elizabeth  Culbertson,  Mary  Nesbit,  Paulina 
McClung,  old  Mrs.  McClung,  John  Johnson,  Cynthia 
McClung,  Samuel  McClung,  Nancy  Nesbit,  Margaret 
Nesbit,  James  Brown  and  wife,  James  Gray,  and  Sallie  i 
Gray.  John  Nesbit,  Joseph  Culbertson,  and  Hiram  ; 
Bacon  were  the  first  trustees.  i 

The  first  preacher  was  John   Moreland,   who  re- 
mained with  them  four  years.     The  next  was  William 
Sickles ;  he  remained  with  them  four  or  five  years. 
After  which   there   was    no   regular  preaching,  and 
when  services  were    held  there  it  was  by  transient  I 
ministers.     After  the  place  was  abandoned  the  class  , 
wont  to  Broad   Ripple  and   united  with   the   Union  i 
Church. 

The  Ebenezer  Lutheran  Church.  In  the  year 
1823  a  small  number  of  persons  residing  in  Maryland 
conceived  the  idea  of  forming  a  colony  and  taking 
their  departure  for  Indiana,  hoping  thereby  to  better 
their  condition.  They  were  all  Lutherans,  and  all 
related,  and  Abraham  Reck  was  their  pastor.  They 
organized  a  colony  composed  of  the  following  persons 
and  their  families :  Conrad  Ringer,  David  Ringer, 
Jacob  Ringer,  Daniel  Smay,  Daniel  Sharts,  John 
Brown,  Peter  Brown,  Solomon  Easterday,  Daniel 
Bower,  and  Jacob  Ringer,  Sr. 

Their  pastor  then  said  to  them,  "  You  are  like  lambs 
going  among  wolves  ;  I  will  go  with  and  take  care 
of  you."     The    colonists,  determined    to   brave  the 


dangers  and  undergo  the  hardships  incident  to  a  new 
country,  started  in  the  year  1823  for  their  destina- 
tion. They  came  in  wagons  as  far  as  the  Ohio  River, 
where  they  built  a  flat-boat,  and  on  it  came  to  New 
Harmony,  Ind.,  where  they  resided  one  year,  and 
then  came  to  this  county  and  settled  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  most  of  them  in  Washington,  and  the 
remainder  in  Lawrence  township.  For  several  years 
after  their  arrival  here  they  held  religious  services 
at  "  old  man"  Reek's  barn,  and  afterwards  at  the  resi- 
dences of  the  new  colonists, — Rev.  A.  Reck  officiating. 

On  Aug.  6,  1836,  a  church  organization  was  formed 
under  the  leadership  of  Abraham  Reck,  with  the  fol- 
lowing members :  George  P.  Brown,  Jacob  Ringer, 
Sr.,  Daniel  S.  May,  Sr.,  Folsom  Swarm,  Jacob  Ringer, 
Jr.,  Conrad  Ringer,  Daniel  Sharts,  Peter  Brown, 
David  Ringer,  Daniel  Bower,  King  English,  John 
Brown,  George  Brown,  Aaron  Sour,  Palser  Sour, 
William  Clow,  and  Solomon  Easterday. 

The  first  account  we  have  of  the  election  of  officers 
is  that  it  was  held  on  May  20,  1839,  when  David  S. 
May,  Sr.,  was  elected  elder,  and  Peter  Brown,  Jr., 
deacon,  of  the  church. 

The  congregation  built  a  hewed-log  church  near 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  present  cemetery  grounds, 
situate  about  one  half-mile  east  of  where  the  Wabash, 
St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railroad  crosses  Fall  Creek,  in 
Washington  township.  The  congregation  held  ser- 
vices in  the  log  church  until  1853,  when  they  built 
a  frame  church  on  the  site  of  the  old  log  house,  and 
soon  afterwards  dedicated  it.  The  dedicatory  sermon 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  D.  Altman,  and  a  debt  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  was  removed.  From 
the  organization,  in  1836,  until  1868  the  following 
were  the  pastors  for  the  number  of  years  noted, 
viz. :  A.  Reck,  4  years  ;  A.  A.  Trimper,  3  years : 
Jacob  Shearer,  2  years ;  Abraham  H.  Myers,  5 
years ;  A.  F.  Hill,  1  year ;  George  A.  Exline,  5  J 
years ;  A.  J.  Cramer,  5  years ;  Jacob  Keller,  5 
years. 

The  church  was  without  a  pastor  in  1852.  During 
Rev.  Cramer's  charge  sixty  names  were  added  to  the 
church-roll.  Under  the  charge  of  Rev.  George  A. 
Exline  the  church  experienced  four  revivals  and 
began  an  era  of  great  prosperity. 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


643 


In  the  year  1868,  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
Jacob  Keller,  a  disagreement  or  difficulty  arose  among 
the  members,  which  finally  resulted  in  a  separation 
and  the  formation  of  two  distinct  churches.  With 
some  difficulty  a  committee  of  two  from  each  faction 
was  appointed  to  fix  upon  terms  of  settlement.  The 
following  were  appointed,  viz.  :  John  Jlowry  and 
John  Negley,  in  behalf  of  the  upper,  and  Samuel 
Harper  and  David  W.  Brown  in  behalf  of  the  lower, 
settlement.  On  the  26th  day  of  February,  1868, 
the  committee  met  and  agreed  upon  the  following 
terms  of  settlement  :  The  party  represented  by 
Messrs.  Harper  and  Brown  to  retain  the  Ebenezer 
Church  building,  and  pay  the  party  represented  by 
Messrs.  Mowry  and  Negley  the  sum  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  in  two  equal  installments,  the  first 
due  in  two  months,  and  the  second  due  on  Dec.  25, 
1868.  Messrs.  Harper  and  Brown  were  to  give  their 
notes  for  said  amounts.  The  article  of  agreement 
signed  and  sealed  by  all  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  26th  of  February,  1868,  and  attested  by 
John  C.  Hoss,  their  secretary,  concludes  as  follows : 

"  And  the  party  represented  by  Samuel  Harper 
and  David  W.  Brown  do  hereby  surrender  to  the 
party  represented  by  John  Mowry  and  John  Negley 
all  their  interest  in  the  privilege  of  Ebenezer  Church. 
The  committee  also  agree  that  the  ground  on  which 
the  church  now  stands  and  adjoining  graveyard  shall 
be  held  and  controlled  jointly  by  the  two  parties." 

This  action  of  the  committee  was  duly  ratified  by 
the  members  of  the  congregation,  and  a  separation 
ensued.  Those  that  remained  and  worshiped  in  the 
old  church  were  ofi'ered  letters,  but  a  slight  misunder- 
standing occurred  and  they  refused  the  proffer. 

The  Lower  Ebenezer  Lutheran  Church  was  organ- 
ized with  sixty  members  in  1868,  after  the  division 
in  the  Ebenezer  Church.  The  congregation  con- 
tinued to  worship  in  the  old  frame  building  until 
1872,  when  the  present  two-story  brick  edifice  was 
completed,  when  they  occupied  it  and  sold  the  old 
building  to  George  W.  House,  who  subsequently 
sold  it  to  the  Northwood  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  Ebenezer  Church  recently  acquired  it  again  and 
made  it  a  parsonage.  It  stands  about  forty  rods  west 
of  the  church  building. 


The  following  pastors  have  been  with  the  congre- 
gation since  1868,  the  number  of  years  noted,  viz.: 
Obadiah  Brown,  7  years  ;  David  Hamma,  Ij  years; 
Henry  Keller,  4  years.  The  last  named  is  the  present 
pastor.     The  present  membership  is  seventy-five. 

The  new  brick  church  was  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  God  during  the  pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  Obadiah 
Brown  ;  the  Rev.  Richards  preached  the  dedicatory 
sermon. 

The  first  elders  after  the  separation  were  Samuel 
Harper  and  John  A.  Sargent ;  and  the  first  deacons 
were  Luther  Johnson  and  Robert  C.  Heizer.  The 
present  elders  are  Luther  Johnson  and  Luther 
Easterday,  and  the  present  deacons  are  Samuel 
Harper,  Silas  Johnson,  and  Franklin  Bower.  Sab- 
bath-school is  held  in  the  church  every  Sunday  in 
the  year.  The  present  superintendent  is  John  P. 
Goode.  The  average  attendance  the  year  round  is 
about  fifty-five. 

This  church  is  situated  in  a  wealthy  neighborhood. 
Its  members  are  zealous  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
consequently  take  an  interest  in  all  church  matters, 
hence  the  church  organization  is  exceedingly  pros- 
perous. 

The  Pleasant  View  Lutheran  Church  was  organ- 
ized on  the  26th  of  February,  1844,  with  seven 
members,  viz.:  Jacob  Schearer  (pastor),  Peter  Hes- 
song,  George  Bomgardner,  David  Hessong,  Barbara 
Bomgardner,  Catharine  Hessong,  and  Rebecca  Hes- 
song. Their  meetings  for  worship  were  held  at  the 
house  of  Peter  Hessong.  In  1854  a  meeting-house 
was  erected  at  Old  Augusta,  which  was  removed  to 
Pleasant  View  and  there  rebuilt  in  1863. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  church  was  Jacob  Schearer, 
who  was  succeeded  (in  the  order  named)  by  A.  H. 
Myers,  J.  Giger,  George  A.  Exline,  A.  J.  Cramer,  W. 
G.  Trester,  Jacob  Keller,  John  Boon,  William  H. 
Keeler,  and  the  Rev.  0.  Brown,  who  is  the  present 
pastor.  The  church  has  now  forty  members,  and  a 
Sabbath-school  attended  by  fifty  scholars,  under  the 
superintendence  of  J.  J.  Hessong. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Allisonville 
dates  back  to  about  the  year  1827,  when  services 
were  held  by  a  preacher  named  Ray  at  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Kimberlin,  where  and  at  other  dwellings  in  the 


644 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


vicinity  preaching  continued  to  be  held  occasionally 
until  the  building  of  a  school-house  (in  1836),  which 
then  became  the  preaching-place.  After  Mr.  Ray 
preaching  was  held  by  a  Mr.  Miller,  during  whose  time 
a  small  class  was  organized.  After  Miller  came  the 
preachers  Berry  and  Smith,  and  after  them  a  local 
preacher  from  North  Carolina,  named  James  T. 
Wright,  who  was  somewhat  instrumental  in  causing 
their  first  church  building  to  be  erected.  He  cut  the 
logs  for  the  building,  and  hauled  them  himself  to  a 
spot  about  half  a  mile  east  of  AUisonville,  where  he 
proposed  to  have  the  church  built,  but  the  people  of 
AUisonville,  unknown  to  him,  hauled  them  to  the 
village  and  raised  the  house  on  the  ground  where  the 
present  church  stands.  At  about  the  time  the  church 
was   built   they   had   a  preacher   named   Donaldson. 

Afterwards    came  Burt,  and    after  him   

Posey,  who  was  the  preacher  in  1850,  when  the  log 
church  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  present  frame 
church  was  erected  in  its  place.  Among  the  preach- 
ers who  followed  Posey  were  Harden,  Barnhart, 
Grenman,  Carter,  Harden,  McCarty,  Speelman,  Ha- 
vens, White,  Langdon,  Jones,  Thornton,  Stalard, 
Jameson,  Harris,  Grubbs,  and  Ruggles. 

The  Millersville  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
For  twelve  years  prior  to  the  year  1846  religious 
services  were  held  by  the  Methodists  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Millersville,  at  the  residences  of  Robert 
Johnson,  Sr.,  George  H.  Negley,  David  Hufi',  Hillary 
Silvey,  Gideon  True,  Samuel  True,  and  in  Peter  Neg- 
ley's  barn  and  cooper-shop,  and  other  places.  The 
class  held  services  in  an  old  log  school-house  that 
stood  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Daniel  R.  Smith's 
land,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  Millersville, 
for  two  years  (about  the  years  1846  to  1 848).  In  the 
year  1848  the  class  fitted  up  an  old  log  cabin,  situate 
a  few  rods  north  of  the  cross-roads  in  Millersville, 
where  they  continued  to  worship  for  four  years,  hav- 
ing regular  preaching  every  four  weeks.  It  was  there 
that  a  church  organization  was  formed.  The  number 
of  members  at  organization  was  about  thirty-three. 
The  following  were  among  the  number,  viz. :  David 
Huff. and  wife,  Elizabeth  Huff,  William  J.  Millard, 
Sr.,  and  wife,  Mary  Hunter,  Richard  Shelly,  Debba 
Shelly,  Annual  Sweeny  and  wife,  Hillary  Silvey  and 


wife,  Robert  Johnson,  Sr.,  and  wife,  George  H.  Neg- 
ley and  wife,  Mrs.  C.  G.  Wadsworth,  Mary  Meldrum, 
George  Day  and  wife,  Isaac  Record,  Hannah  Record, 
Andrew  McDaniel  and  father,  John  Essary  and  wife, 
Mrs.  House,  Debba  Bacon,  and  Anna  James.  In 
1853  the  congregation  bought  the  lower  story  of  the 
Masonic  lodge  building,  and  occupied  it  from  that 
time  until  1877. 

By  order  of  the  Quarterly  Conference  the  church 
property  was  sold  in  1877,  and  was  purchased  by  the 
Masonic  lodge,  and  the  church  class  was  consolidated 
with  Malott  Park  Church.  This  caused  much  dis- 
satisfaction, and  many  of  the  forty  members  belong- 
ing at  the  time  refused  to  take  their  membership  to 
Malott  Park.  Some  of  them  went  to  Castleton,  a 
few  to  AUisonville,  and  others  to  Broad  Ripple,  while 
many  have  not  held  membership  in  any  organized 
class  since.  The  following  are  the  most  prominent 
ministers  that  preached  at  the  private  houses  prior  to 
the  purchase  of  the  church,  viz. :  John  V.  R.  Miller, 
Meliades  Miller,  George   Havens,  Henry  A.  Cotting- 

ham,  and  McCarty.     The  following  ministers 

preached  in  the  old  log  cabin,  viz.,  James  Scott  and 
Frank  Hardin.  The  latter  was  the  first  regular  min- 
ister who  preached  in  the  new  church,  and  it  was 
during  his  pastoral  charge  that  the  house  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  God.  The  dedicatory  sermon 
was  delivered  by  Thomas  H.  Lyuch,  on  Oct.  26, 1853. 

The  first  trustees  of  the  church  property  were 
Hillary  L.  Silvey,  David  Hufi',  and  Richard  Shelly. 
The  last  trustees  were  Alexander  Culbertson,  Robert 
Roe,  and  William  H.  Hornaday.  There  has  been  no 
church  organization  at  Millersville  since  1877  ;  how- 
ever, through  the  kindness  of  the  Masonic  lodge, 
the  building  formerly  used  as  the  church  is  at  the 
disposal  of  the  citizens  to  be  used  for  Sabbath-school 
and  any  kind  of  religious  meetings  free  of  charge. 
A  union  Sabbath  school  is  carried  on  during  the 
summer  months  only.  The  attendance  during  the 
past  summer  averaged  about  sixty,  and  John  Roberts 
was  the  superintendent.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cobb,  an 
Episcopalian  missionary,  preaches  every  Sabbath 
evening. 

The  Mapleton  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  dates 
back  to  the  year  1843,  at  which  time  a  class  was 


WASHINGTON   TOWNSHIP. 


645 


organized  at  the  house  of  Delanson  Slawson,  who  had 
come  here  from  Switzerland  County.  The  class  then 
organized  consisted  of  six  or  seven  members,  all  fe- 
males, among  whom  were  Sarah  A.  McClintock,  Delia 
Hildebrand,  Hannah  Blue,  Mrs.  Kachel  Ruark,  and 
some  of  the  Slawson  family.  Their  first  meetings 
were  held  at  Slawson's,  subsequently  at  the  residences 
of  other  members,  and  in  the  old  log  school-house 
of  the  neighborhood.  Their  first  preachers  were 
John  L.  Smith  and  Lucien  Berry,  after  whom  were 
Frank  Hardin  and  H.  J.  Meek, — then  a  local,  but 
afterwards  a  regular  preacher  on  the  circuit. 

In  the  summer  of  1855,  Rev.  H.  J.  Meek,  assisted 
by  George  Havens,  a  local  preacher,  held  a  protracted 
meeting  in  the  woods  at  Sugar  Grove,  which  resulted 
in  the  formation  of  the  Sugar  Grove  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Meek  ;  the  following 
being  the  original  members,  viz. :  James  and  Mary 
Ruark,  William  H.  and  Sarah  A.  McClintock,  Pame- 
lia  Johnson,  Hannah  Blue,  Martha  F.  Hammond, 
Joseph  Ruark,  Thomas  Ruark,  Rachel  Ruark,  Peter 
Ruark,  Winnie  Ruark,  Henry  and  Rachel  Wright, 
John  A.  and  Rebecca  Smay,  Eiias  Blue,  Joshua  and 
Sarah  Huston,  L.  D.  Beeler,  B.  F.  Slate,  Pamelia  A. 
Slate,  Isaac  and  Susan  Wheatley,  Mary  Willis,  Mary 
Ann  JlcWhorter,  Deliah  Hildebrand,  David  Howver, 
Wilhelmina  Beeler,  Lavina  Walters,  Margaret  Armen- 
trout,  Thomas  Wright,  and  Susan  Wright. 

On  the  2.3d  of  August  in  the  same  year  the  society 
met,  and  elected  John  Armstrong,  Thomas  H.  Johns, 
James  M.  Ruark,  John  F.  Hill,  and  S.  M.  Brister, 
trustees;  and  Thomas  Ruark,  Gerard  Blue,  Henry 
Wright,  William  McClintock,  and  William  Roe  were 
appointed  a  building  committee  to  supervise  the  erec- 
tion of  a  church  edifice.  Thomas  Ruark  donated 
half  an  acre  of  ground  in  Sugar  Grove  on  which  to 
build  the  church,  and  one  acre  was  also  given  by  Noah 
Wright  for  church  purposes.  The  present  parsonage 
stands  on  it.  A  frame  building  was  immediately 
erected,  at  a  cost  of  about  eight  hundred  dollars,  and 
is  still  standing  and  in  use,  having  been  repaired  and 
refitted  during  the  past  year,  at  a  cost  of  about  eight 
hundred  dollars. 

The  Rev.  H.  J.  Meek  continued  to  minister  to  the 
church  for  about  three  years  after  the  organization, 


after  which  they  were  served  by  the  preachers  of  the 
circuit.  The  present  minister  is  the  Rev.  S.  F.  Tin- 
cher.  The  name  of  the  church  has  been  changed 
from  Sugar  Grove  to  Mapleton  Church,  which  has  at 
the  present  time  about  fifty  members. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Malott  Park 
was  organized  in  1876,  with  sixteen  members,  viz. : 

David  HuflF,  Hannah  Huff, Huff,  E.  Bowles, 

Albert  Cuibertson,  Margaret  J.  Culbertson,  Charles 
A.  Culbertson,  W.  H.  Hornaday,  Kate  Hornaday, 
Thomas  J.  Wright,  Susan  Wright,  Clara  Wright,  W. 
D.  C.  Wright,  Robert  Roe,  E.  Roe,  and  Martha  E. 
Roe.  Their  church  building  was  erected  in  1875, 
and  is  the  same  that  is  now  in  use  by  the  congrega- 
tion. 

The  preachers  who  have  served  this  church  are, 
and  have  been,  Amos  Hanway,  Thomas  Wyell,  J.  D. 

Widman,  Early,  B.  F.  Morgan,  J.  S.  Alley, 

and  S.  F.  Tincher,  the  present  minister  in  charge. 
The  church  has  now  about  thirty  members,  and  con- 
nected with  it  is  a  Sabbath-school  (not  taught  in 
winter),  with  about  seventy  scholars.  The  superin- 
tendents have  been  A.  Culbertson,  W.  D.  C.  Wright, 
and  J.  W.  Negley. 

The  Broad  Ripple  Union  Church  is  located  in 
Wellington,  and  was  erected  in  1851  by  subscription. 
John  Burk  was  the  principal  leader  in  the  building 
of  the  church.  It  is  a  frame  structure,  built  by 
Wilson  Whitesell  and  Richard  Miller,  carpenters. 
Jacob  C.  Coil  donated  the  land  upon  which  the 
church  stands.  The  building  is  in  good  repair,  and 
is  kept  up  by  the  Methodists. 

The  first  preacher  was  Henry  Coe,  a  Presbyterian. 
The  Washington  Presbyterian  class  worshiped  in  the 
house  a  while,  and  afterwards  a  Baptist  class  was  or- 
ganized, and  Madi.son  Hume  preached  for  them.  The 
present  Methodist  class  was  organized  in  1852,  by 
the  Rev.  Frank  Hardin,  who  for  some  time  was  their 
minister.  The  following  are  the  ministers  who  have 
preached  in  the  house  regularly  for  the  Methodists 
since  the  Rev.  Hardin,  viz. :  Henry  A.  Cottingham, 

■ Barnhart, Burch,  John  C.  McCarty, 

Blake, White, Spellman,  George  Havens, 

Stallard,  Longdon,  Jones,   

Thornton,  Jamison,  Harvey,  C.  Harris, 


646 


HISTORY   OF  INDIANAPOLIS  AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Grubbs,  and  the  present  minister,  the  Rev.  S. 

F.  Tincher,  of  Mapleton.  The  present  membership 
is  thirty. 

The  first  trustees  were  Jacob  C.  Coil  and  John 
Burk.  The  present  trustees  are  Jacob  C.  Wright, 
Wm.  M.  Dawson,  Hamilton  Thompson,  Swartz  Mus- 
tard, and  Isaac  Morris.  A  Sabbath-school  is  held 
during  the  summer  months  only,  with  an  average  at- 
tendance of  fifty.  Wm.  M.  Dawson  is  superinten- 
dent. 

The  Crooked  Creek  Baptist  Church  was  organized 
in  1837,  with  fourteen  original  members,  viz. : 
Madison  Hume,  Joseph  Watts.  Patrick  Hume,  Jane 
Hume,  Esther  Hume,  David  and  Eliza  Stoops,  John 
Kinsley,  Achsah  Kinsley,  John  and  Rachel  Dunn, 
Samuel  Hutchinson,  Martha  Hutchinson,  and  Morley 
Stewart.  Their  first  meetings  were  held  in  the  old 
log  school-bouse  near  the  location  of  the  present 
church.  Their  first  church  edifice  was  built  in  1842, 
which,  having  become  insufficient  for  the  use  of  the 
congregation,  was  replaced  by  the  present  church 
building,  which  was  erected  on  the  same  site  in  1856. 

The  first  pastor  of  this  cburch  was  the  Rev.  Madi- 
son  Hume,  whose  successors  have  been  Revs.  

Poin,   A.  Hume,  Stewart, Craig,   A.  J. 

Martin,  A.  J.  Riley,  R.  N.  Harvey,  T.  J.  Conner, 
and  Lewis.  The  present  membership  is  ninety-eight. 
Connected  with  the  church  is  a  Sunday-school,  with 
an  attendance  of  sixty-three  pupils,  under  the  super- 
intendency  of  T.  F.  Wakeland. 

The  Union  Church  at  Nora  was  built  in  1864.  A 
church  organization  had  been  previously  formed  (in 
1861),  with  the  following-named  members,  viz. : 
Isaiah  Applegate,  James  Gray,  Margarette  Gray, 
Theodosia  Gray,  Elizabeth  Gray,  James  McShane 
and  wife,  Franklin  Hall  and  wife,  Samuel  Tooley 
and  wife,  Allan  Stewart  and  wife,  Henry  Whitinger, 
Susan  Whitinger,  Abraham  Bowen,  Ruth  Bowen, 
Peter  Lawson,  Catharine  Lawson,  Sarah  Somers, 
Nancy  Ray,  William  McCoy,  Jane  McCoy,  Louisa 
Dawson,  Samuel  Whitinger,  Ann  Whitinger,  Rachel 
Smith,  Mary  J.  Dodd,  Sally  Whitesell,  William 
Shields,  Charles  HuiFman,  and  Susan  Wright.  Meet- 
ings for  worship  were  held  in  the  school-house  until 
the  erection  of  the  church  edifice,  three  years  after 


the  organization.  The  first  minister  to  this  congre- 
gation was  John  McCarty,  who  was  followed  by 
Isaac  Hardin,  Henry  Cottingham,  and  a  number  of 
other  preachers.  At  present  there  is  no  church  or- 
ganization, but  a  flourishing  Sunday-school  is  kept 
up,  with  an  attendance  of  fifty-five  scholars,  under 
the  superintendence  of  Mary  Barr. 

Schools. — There  are  fifteen  public  schools  in  this 
township,  including  the  graded  and  high  school  at 
Broad  Ripple.  The  scbbol-houses  are  all  common 
frame,  except  the  school-house  at  Millersville,  No.  2, 
and  No.  12,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  township, 
which  is  a  new  brick  house,  built  in  1881 ;  also  the 
new  graded  school-house  at  Broad  Ripple  is  a  sub- 
stantial brick,  with  rubble  limestone  foundation,  four 
rooms  finished  in  modern  style,  and  is  the  best  pub- 
lic-school building  in  Marion  County  outside  the  city 
of  Indianapolis.  Tbe  cost  of  the  building,  including 
out-building,  furniture,  etc.,  was  about  seven  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars.  This  graded,  or  high 
school,  as  it  is  commonly  termed,  was  built  to  accom- 
modate the  advance  pupils  for  the  entire  township, 
and  is,  therefore,  a  township  graded  school.  It  is 
located  at  Broad  Ripple,  the  geographical  centre  of 
the  township,  and  was  built  in  1883.  The  schools 
of  Washington  township  are  taught  seven  months  in 
the  year,  a  term  which  should  be  increased  to  nine 
months. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


OLIVER  JOHNSON. 
The  lineage  of  the  Johnson  family  is  distinctively 
Irish.  Jeremiah  Johnson,  Sr.,  the  grandfather  of 
Oli'^er,  early  resided  in  Virginia,  and  subsequently 
removed  to  Kentucky,  the  Territory  of  Indiana  ulti- 
mately becoming  his  home.  His  children  were  Sam- 
uel, Jeremiah,  Thomas,  John,  Milton,  Nancy,  Jane, 
Mary,  and  Sarah.  Of  these  sons,  John  was  born  Jan. 
1,  1798,  in  Kentucky,  and  removed  to  Franklin 
County,  Ind.  In  1821,  Marion  County  became  his 
home.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  Pursel,  daughter  of 
Peter  Pursel,  Esq.,  formerly  of  New  Jersey,  and  one 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


647 


of  the  early  residents  of  Franklin  County,  Ind.  Their 
twelve  children  were  Oliver,  Luther,  Volney,  Newton, 
John  v.,  Charles  P.,  Louisa,  Elizabeth.  Mary  Ann, 
Nancy  Jane,  Lucinda,  and  Sarah.  Oliver  was  born 
Nov.  22,  1821,  in  Franklin  County,  Ind.,  and  brought 
with  his  parents  while  an  infant  to  Marion  County. 
His  youth  was  passed  at  the  home  of  his  father  in 
the  various  employments  of  the  farm,  interspersed 
with  periods  at  the  neighboring  school.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-two  he  was  married  to  Miss  Pamelia  How- 
land,  daughter  of  Powell  Rowland,  Esq.,  of  Marion 
County.  Their  children  are  Mary  E.  (Mrs.  Wm.  A. 
Lowe),  of  Terre  Haute;  James  P.,  of  Terre  Haute, 
who  married  Miss  Rebecca  Shoemaker,  of  the  same 
place;  Silas  H.,  of  Washington  township,  married  to 
Miss  Laura  Wright,  of  the  same  township  ;  and  Frank- 
lin P.,  also  of  Washington  township,  married  to  Miss 
Georgie  Ann  Pursel,  of  Tuscola,  111.  Mr.  Johnson  for 
several  years  after  his  marriage  rented  a  farm,  but  de- 
siring to  be  independent  of  landlords,  purchased  a 
tract  of  land  in  Washington  township,  which  was  soon 
after  sold  and  his  present  home  secured.  He  has 
during  his  active  career  been  engaged  in  farming  of  a 
general  character,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
practical  and  successful  farmers  of  the  county.  He 
has  in  politics  been  a  lifetime  Democrat,  but  not  a 
working  partisan.  He  is  in  religion  a  supporter  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  of  which  his  wife  is  a  member. 


CHAPTER    XXVIIL 

WAYNE    TOWNvSHIP. 

The  township  of  Wayne  is  the  central  one  in  the 
western  range  of  townships  of  Marion  County.  On 
the  north  it  is  bounded  by  the  township  of  Pike  ;  on 
the  east  by  Centre ;  on  the  south  by  Decatur  town- 
ship, and  on  the  west  by  Hendricks  County. 

The  only  streams  of  any  importance  in  the  town- 
ship are  White  River,  and  Eagle  and  Little  Eagle 
Creeks.  The  former  barely  touches  the  township  on 
its  eastern  border,  where,  in  its  meanderings,  it  enters 
from  Centre,  and  immediately  afterwards  returns  to 
the  same  township.     Eagle  Creek,  flowing  in  a  south- 


erly direction  from  Pike  township,  enters  Wayne  in 
the  northwest,  traverses  the  township  diagonally  in  a 
very  meandering  course  to  the  southeast  corner, 
touching  the  southwest  corner  of  Centre  and  then 
entering  the  northeast  point  of  Decatur  township, 
where  it  joins  its  waters  with  those  of  the  White 
River.  Little  Eagle  Creek,  coming  from  the  north, 
crosses  the  boundary  between  Pike  and  Wayne,  and 
flows  southwardly  across  the  eastern  part  of  the  latter 
township,  to  a  point  near  its  southeastern  corner, 
where  the  stream  enters  Eagle  Creek. 

Several  of  the  railway  lines  diverging  from  Indian- 
apolis cross  the  territory  of  Wayne.  The  Indian- 
apolis and  Vincennes  road  is  the  most  southern  of 
these,  traversing  the  township  only  a  short  distance 
across  its  southeastern  corner.  Next,  north,  is  the 
Vandalia  line,  which  crosses  the  southern  half  of  the 
township  in  a  northeasterly  and  southwesterly  direc- 
tion. The  Indianapolis  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  crosses 
Wayne  in  nearly  an  east  and  west  direction,  near  the 
centre  of  the  township.  The  Indiana,  Bloomington 
and  Western  Railway  runs  across  the  north  part  of 
the  township  to  a  point  near  its  northwest  corner, 
where  it  passes  into  Hendricks  County. 

Three  small  towns  or  villages  lie  within  the  terri- 
tory of  Wayne  township.  Of  these,  Bridgeport  is 
located  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  township,  on  the 
old  National  road,  and  also  on  the  line  of  the  Van- 
dalia Railroad.  The  village  of  Clermont  is  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  township,  on  the  line  of  the 
Indiana,  Bloomington  and  Western  Railway ;  and 
on  the  south  line  of  the  township,  near  its  southeast 
corner,  is  the  village  of  Maywood,  located  on  the 
line  of  the  Vincennes  Railroad.  The  population  of 
the  township  by  the  United  States  census  of  1880 
was  four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-two. 

Wayne,  with  the  other  townships  of  Marion 
County,  was  set  off',  and  its  boundaries  defined,  by 
order  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  on  the 
16th  of  April,  1822,  and  on  the  same  date  the  board 
ordered  that  Wayne  and  Pike  be  temporarily  joined 
together  in  one  township  organization,  and  for  judi- 
cial purposes,  the  union  to  continue  until  each  town- 
ship should  become  sufficiently  populous  for  a  sepa- 
rate   organization.      They    remained   joined    in    this 


648 


UrSTOKY    OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


manner  for  more  than  two  years,  and  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1824,  the  commissioners  ordered  Pike  to  be 
separated  from  Wayne  and  independently  organized, 
"  the  inhabitants  being  sufficiently  numerous"  in  the 
former  township ;  the  inference,  therefore,  being  that 
they  were  still  more  numerous  in  Wayne  than  in 
Pike. 

Following  is  a  list  of  persons  appointed  or  elected 
to  the  principal  offices  of  Wayne  township  from  its 
erection  to  the  present  time,  viz. : 

JUSTICES   OF   THE   PEACE. 

Abraham  Hendriclis,  June  15,  1822,  to  December,  1825;  re- 
moved. 

Isaac  Stephens,  June  22,  1822,-  to  February,  182-1;  removed. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  May  10,  1824,  to  March  29,  1829. 

William  Logan,  Feb.  S,  1825,  to  Nov.  4,  1828;  resigned. 

James  Johnson,  Jan.  3,  1829,  to  Jan  3,  1834. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  May  4,  1829,  to  April  6,  1834. 

James  Johnson,  Feb.  24,  1834,  to  Aug.  4,  1838;  resigned. 

James  W.  Johnson,  June  7,  1834,  to  June  7,  1839. 

Allen  Jennings,  June  IS,  1834,  to  Juno  18,  1839. 

Martin  Martindale,  Sept.  8,  1838,  to  Oct.  12,  1843 ;  died. 

James  W.  Johnston,  Oct.  8,  1839,  to  Oct.  8,  1844. 

John  W.  Mattern,  March  19,  1840,  to  March  19, 1845. 

William  Taylor,  Dec.  1,  1843,  to  March  29,  1844 ;  resigned. 

Thomas  Morrow,  May  11,  1844,  to  May  11,  1854. 

George  Hoover,  Nov.  19,  1844,  to  Nov.  19,  1849. 

Robert  Taylor,  March  10,  1846,  to  April  30,  1846;  resigned. 

Jesse  Pugh,  Nov.  20,  1849,  to  March  5,  1851 :  resigned. 

Oliver  P.  Meeker,  April  15,  1850,  to  Oct.  12,  1850  ;  resigned. 

Alexander  Jameson,  April  19,  1851,  to  April  18,  1855. 

Daniel  Catterson,  April  19,  1851,  to  Nov.  8,  1851;  died. 

Patriolc  Catterson,  Feb.  11,  1853,  to  Sept.  18,  1855;  resigned. 

John  P.  Martindale,  May  11,  1854,  to  Feb.  23,  1857;  resigned. 

Alexander  Jameson,  Nov.  8,  1856,  to  Nov.  7,  1859. 

Ransom  Wooten,  April  2.S,  1856,  to  Feb.  26,  1857;  resigned. 

Isaiah  Hornaday,  April  17,  1857,  to  March  1,  1860;  resigned. 

Henley  H.  Mercer,  April  18,  1857,  to  April  17,  1861. 

Sylvester  T.  Zimmerman,  Nov.  6,  1858,  to  May  24,  1859;  re- 
signed. 

Alfred  Clark,  July  23,  1859,  to  March  8,  1860;  resigned. 

Hiram  Rhoads,  Nov.  7,  1859,  to  Nov.  7,  1867. 

John  B.  Johnson,  April  17,  1860,  to  March  6,  1862;  resigned. 

George  McCray,  April  21,  1860,  to  March  27,  1862;  resigned. 

Richard  W.  Thompson,  June  19, 1 862,  to  Nov.  8, 1869 ;  resigned. 

Robert  McFarland,  April  2."!,  1863,  to  Dec.  30,  1864;  resigned. 

John  P.  Martindale,  April  14,  1866,  to  April  14,  1870. 

William  W.  Webb,  April  18,  1868,  to  April  18,  1872. 

John  T.  Turpin,  Oct.  25,  1870,  to  March  6,  1877;  died. 

Gazaway  Sullivan,  Oct.  25,  1872,  to  Oct.  25,  1876. 

Leonard  Avery,  Oct.  28,  1872,  to  Oct.  21,  1876. 


Apollo  S.  Ingling,  Oct.  25, 1876,  to  Oct.  25,  1880. 
Leon  S.  Avery,  Feb.  24,  1877,  to  June  7,  1880;  resigned. 
William  A.  Davidson,  March  26, 1877,  to  April  9,  1878. 
James  T.  Morgan,  April  9,  1878,  to  April  9,  1882. 
Jacob  A.  Emerich,  June  7,  1880,  to  Oct.  26,  1884. 
William  A.  Davidson,  April  25,  1882,  to  April  25,  1886. 
Ezra  G.  Martin,  June  23,  1883,  to  April  14,  1884. 

TRUSTEES. 
Joseph  Ballard,  April  11,  1859,  to  April  21,  I860. 
William  N.  Gladden,  April  21,  1860,  to  April  16,  1861. 
John  U.  Harris,  April  16,  1861,  to  April  18,  1S63. 
Edward  Dunn,  April  IS,  1S63,  to  April  16,  1864. 
Alex.Tnder  Jameson,  April  16,  1864,  to  Oct.  21,  1872. 
Lazarus  R.  Harding,  Oct.  21,  1872,  to  March  1.3,  1876. 
Jesse  Wright,  March  13,  1876,  to  April  16,  1880. 
Hiram  W.  Miller,  April  16,  1880,  to  April  19,  1882. 
William  H.  Speer,  April  19,  1882,  for  2  years. 

ASSESSORS. 
James  Johnson,  Jan.  1,  1827,  to  Jan.  5,  1829. 
William  Logan,  Jan.  5,  1829,  to  Jan.  3,  1831. 
Asa  B.  Strong,  Jan.  3,  1831,  to  Jan.  7,  1833. 
William  Logan,  Jan.  7,  1833,  to  Jan.  6,  1834. 
Abraham  H.  Dawson,  Jan.  6,  1834,  to  Jan.  4,  1836. 
Alexander  Felton,  Jan.  4,  1836,  to  March  7,  1836. 
Abraham  H.  Dawson,  March  7,  1836,  to  Jan.  1,  1838. 
Aquilla  Hilton,  Jan.  1,  1838,  to  Jan.  7,  1839. 
Asa  B.  Strong,  Jan.  7,  1839,  to  Jan.  6,  1840. 
W.  Miller,  Jan.  6,  1840,  to  Jan.  4,  1841. 
Abraham  H.  Dawson,  Jan.  4,  1841,  to  Dec.  6,  1841. 
Hiram  Wright,  Nov.  20,  1852,  to  Dec.  17, 1853. 
John  Vansickle,  Deo.  17,  1853,  to  Nov.  25,  1854. 
William  N.  Gladden,  Nov.  25,.1854,  to  Jan.  1,  1867. 
John  W.  Larimore,  Jan.  1,  1857,  to  Oct.  27,  1S58. 
John  B.  Corbaley,  Oct.  27,  1858,  to  Oct.  29,  1860. 
Martin  B.  Warfel,  Oct.  29,  1860,  to  Dec.  24,  1864. 
Abraham  H.  Dawson,  Deo.  24,  1864,  to  Oct.  29,  1870. 
Conrad  Brian,  Oct.  29,  1870,  to  Aug.  1,  1873. 
Ezekiel  M.  Thompson,  March  25,  1875,  to  Oct.  18,  1876. 
Conrad  Brian,  Oct.  18,  1876,  to  April  14,  1884. 

The  first  settlements  within  the  territory  of  Wayne 
township  were  made  in  1821,  from  which  time  they 
increased  slowly,  though  steadily,  and  with  more 
rapidity  than  those  in  the  eastern  townships  of  the 
county.  Among  the  earliest  of  the  settlers  upon 
lands  in  Wayne  township  were  the  Corbaley  and 
Barnhill  families,  who  came  from  Ohio  to  this  county 
in  1820,  first  making  a  temporary  settlement  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  city  of  Indianapolis,  where 
they  spent  the   sickly  summers  of  1820   and  1821, 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


649 


then  removed  westward  to  Wayne  township,  where 
they  became  permanent  settlers. 

Jeremiah  J.  Corbaley,  one  of  the  most  widely 
known  and  respected  inhabitants  of  Wayne  township  I 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  was  a  native  of  the 
State  of  Delaware,  but  grew  to  manhood  in  Cecil 
County,  Md.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  (in  the 
year  1816)  he  went  West,  as  far  as  Hamilton,  Ohio, 
having  with  him  his  portion  of  his  father's  estate, 
about  six  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  which  he  deposited 
with  a  merchant  of  Hamilton,  who  failed  soon  after- 
wards, thus  leaving  him  almost  entirely  without 
means.  He  was  not,  however,  discouraged  by  his 
I0.SS,  but  went  resolutely  to  work  to  earn  a  livelihood. 
In  1819  he  married  Jane,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Robert  Barnhill,  who  then  resided  near  Hamilton, 
and  in  March,  1820,  the  families  of  Barnhill  and 
Corbaley  migrated  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  where 
they  settled  just  outside  the  donation,  near  the  site 
of  the  City  Hospital  of  Indianapolis,  on  land  after- 
wards owned  by  the  late  Samuel  J.  Patterson.  There, 
in  a  log  house,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1820,  was 
born  Richard,  the  first  child  of  Jeremiah  and  Jane 
Corbaley,  and  who  is  said  to  have  been  also  the  first 
white  child  born  in  Marion  County. 

On  account  of  the  prevailing  sickness  which 
afilicted  nearly  all  the  settlers  at  that  time,  and  also 
by  rea.son  of  the  death  of  Robert  Barnhill  in  1821,' 
Mr.  Corbaley,  with  his  wife  and  young  son,  and  the 
widow  and  family  (who  were  numerous,  and  nearly 
all  adults)  of  Mr.  Barnhill,  removed  from  the  vicinity 
of  Indianapolis  to  lands  which  they  had  purchased 
on  Eagle  Creek  in  Wayne  township,  where  Mr.  Cor- 
baley settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  28, 
township  16,  range  2,  and  became,  at  once,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  citizens  of  Wayne.  He  was  a  mag- 
istrate for  many  years,  and  in  that  capacity  and  posi- 
tion caused  the  amicable  settlement  of  many  disputes 
among  the  people  of  the  township,  and  was  in  general 
the  adviser  and  business  man  of  his  neighbors  through 
all  his  life.  One  of  the  official  positions  which  he 
held  was  that  of  commissioner  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  to  locate  the  seats  of  justice  of  Clinton 


^  Robert  Barnbiirs  estate  was  the  first  entered  for  probate  in 
Marion  County. 
42 


and  Fulton  Counties.  During  the  time  (nearly 
twenty-three  years)  of  his  residence  in  Wayne  town- 
.ship  he  cleared  about  eighty  acres  of  his  lands  there, 
and  purchased  about  four  hundred  acres  in  Marshall 
County,  of  this  State.     He  died  Jan.  11,  1844. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corbaley  reared  ten  children,  viz. : 
Richard,  Sarah,  Emily,  John  B.,  Mary  C,  James  J., 
Samuel  B.,  Eliza  J.,  Robert  C,  and  William  H.  Cor- 
baley, all  of  whom  had  reached  maturity  and  were 
married  before  the  death  of  their  mother,  April  7, 
1870.  Three  of  them  have  since  died.  One  of  the 
sons,  Samuel  B.  Corbaley,  born  at  the  homestead  in 
Wayne  township,  Feb.  17,  1834,  is  a  prominent  citi- 
zen of  Indianapolis,  in  which  city  he  has  resided  for 
more  than  twenty  years. 

The  family  of  Robert  Barnhill  and  his  wife  con- 
sisted of  twelve  children,  viz. :  Samuel,  John,  Wil- 
liam, Daniel,  Robert,  James,  Hugh,  Jane,  Katie, 
Sally,  Nancy,  and  Mary, — who  became  Mrs.  Speer, 
and  mother  of  William  H.  Speer,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  the  township.  The  widow  of 
Robert  Barnhill  moved  with  her  family  (as  before 
stated)  to  Wayne  township  soon  after  the  death  of 
her  husband,  and  in  1829  she  was  assessed  on  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  the  township,  described  as  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  22,  township  16,  range  2. 
She  married  a  second  husband,  Jacob  Whitinger. 
Her  sons,  Robert  and  Hugh  Barnhill,  are  now  living 
near  the  north  line  of  the  county. 

John  Barnhill,  born  in  1796,  came  to  Marion 
County  about  1823,  and  located  on  land  in  Wayne 
township.  In  1829  he  was  assessed  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  27,  township  16,  range  2.  He  had 
several  daughters,  of  whom  Sarah,  Beulah,  and  Ann 
are  now  living.  His  son,  J.  C.  Barnhill,  lives  in 
Wayne  township,  and  is  one  of  its  well-known 
citizens. 

The  Harding  family,  from  Washington  County, 
Ky.,were  also  among  the  earliest  emigrants  to  Marion 
County,  Ind.  Robert  and  Martha  Harding,  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  emigrants  to  Kentucky, 
were  married  about  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  became  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  viz. : 
John,  Eliakim,  Bde,  Robert,  Samuel,  Israel,  Laban, 
Ruth,  Avis,   Sarah,  Martha,  and  Jemima.     In  the 


C50 


HISTOKY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


spring  of  1820,  Mrs.  Harding,  then  a  widow,  came  to 
Marion  County  with  her  children,  excepting  two  of 
her  sons  who  had  preceded  her,  and  two  who  came 
afterwards.  The  family  settled  first  on  the  "  dona- 
tion" tract,  just  outside  the  town  of  Indianapolis,  and 
built  the  first  dwelling  (a  log  cabin)  erected  on  the 
banks  of  White  River,  in  Marion  County.  The  log 
house  of  Robert  Harding  (who  was  a  married  man, 
and  lived  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  family)  was 
located  on  the  blufi'  bank,  just  north  of  the  east  end 
of  the  National  road  bridge,  as  described  by  Mr. 
Nowland,'  who  also  says  that  Robert  Harding's 
second  son,  Mordecai,  was  the  first  white  child  born 
on  the  donation. 

Mrs.  Martha  Harding,  widow  of  Robert  Harding, 
Sr.,  and  mother  of  the  large  family  referred  to,  died 
in  1841.  She  owned  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Wayne  township,  near  Eagle  Creek, 
and  three  of  her  sons — Ede,  Samuel,  and  Israel 
Harding — were  resident  tax-payers  in  Wayne  in  1829, 
as  shown  by  the  assessment-roll  of  the  township  for 
that  year.  Samuel  Harding's  land  is  described  on 
that  list  as  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  C,  in  sur- 
vey-township 15,  range  3;  that  of  Ede  Harding,  as 
the  northwest  quarter  of  the  same  section,  being 
directly  west  of  the  farm  of  his  brother  Samuel ; 
and  Israel  Harding's  land  as  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  5,  in  the  same  survey-township. 

Ede  Harding  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Ky.,  March  16,  1792,  and  in  his  youth  (1805) 
removed  with  the  family  to  Butler  County,  Ohio, 
where  he  attended  a  backwoods  school  for  a  short 
time  during  each  of  several  successive  winters,  hav- 
ing had  no  educational  advantages  whatever  in  his 
native  State.  In  1816  he  married  Mary  Robinson, 
and  removed  to  Fayette  County,  Ind.,  where  he  pur- 
chased and  cleared  a  small  tract  of  land.  This  he 
afterwards  traded  for  land  in  Wayne  township, 
Marion  Co.,  and  came  to  his  new  purchase  in  1821, 
though  he  did  not  bring  his  family  until  February  of 
the  following  year.  After  a  long,  useful,  and  honor- 
able life,  he  died,  in  January,  1876.  Mrs.  Harding 
died  in  1857.     One  of  their  sons,  Oliver  Harding,  is 

1  Sketches  of  Prominent  Citizens,  etc.,  by  John  H.  B.  Now- 
land. 


living  at  Danville,  111.  Another  son  (John)  and  two 
of  their  daughters  (Lavinia  and  Sarah)  reside  in 
Hendricks  County,  Ind.  Laban  Harding,  the  eldest 
son  of  Ede  and  Mary  Harding,  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Oct.  17,  1817,  and  came  in  childhood  with 
his  parents  to  Wayne  township,  where  he  is  now 
owner  of  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres,  located  on  sections  20  and  21,  of  survey -town- 
ship 16,  range  3,  about  six  miles  from  Indianapolis. 
He  was  married  in  December,  1837,  to  Jemima 
McCray,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  eleven 
children,  of  whom  seven  are  now  living. 

Samuel  Harding,  son  of  Robert  and  brother  of 
Ede  Harding,  was  born  in  Washington  County,  Ky., 
in  1795.  He  removed  with  other  members  of  the 
family  to  Butler  County,  Ohio.  Some  years  after- 
wards he  went  with  his  brother  Ede  to  Fayette  County, 
Ind.,  and  emigrated  theuce,  in  February,  1820,  to 
Marion  County,  where  the  family  located,  first  on  the 
banks  of  the  White  River  as  before  mentioned.  Thence 
he  removed  to  his  lands  in  Wayne  township,  a  mile  west 
of  where  the  Insane  Asylum  now  is.  In  1824  he 
was  married  to  Jeremiah  Johnson's  daughter  Jane, 
with  whom  he  lived  for  forty  years.  She  died  in 
1864.  They  had  ten  children,  of  whom  four  are 
now  living.  Samuel  Harding  was  prominent  in  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  a  member  of  the  Indiana  Legis- 
lature in  1846-47.     He  died  in  1874. 

Israel  Harding,  brother  of  Ede  and  Samuel  Hard- 
ing, was  also  a  native  of  Washington  County,  Ky., 
born  in  1798.  His  farm  in  Wayne  township  was 
that  where  William  H.  Speer  (his  son-in-law)  now 
lives.  He  was  married  about  1825  to  Nancy  John- 
son, daughter  of  Jeremiah  Johnson,  and  sister  of  his 
brother  Samuel's  wife.  Israel  Harding  was,  like  his 
brother  Samuel,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  Indiana 
Legislature  in  1841,  and  was  a  candidate  for  re- 
election, but  died  in  July,  1842.  His  widow  sur- 
vived him  nearly  thirty-nine  years,  and  died  in  June, 
1881. 

Obadiah  Harris,  who  was  a  well-known  citizen  of 
Wayne  township  for  more  than  half  a  century,  was 
born  in  Guilford  County,  N.  C,  Feb.  5,  1789.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen   he  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  less 


WAYNE  TOWNSHIP. 


651 


than  a  year  afterwards  (in  the  fall  of  1807)  pushed 
on  to  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  nearly 
fifteen  years,  and  in  1822  removed  to  Wayne  town- 
ship, Marion  County,  where  he  settled  on  a  farm  lo- 
cated on  the  National  road,  near  the  site  of  the  Insane 
Asylum,  described  as  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  and  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  9,  survey-township  15,  range  3,  on  which 
he  reared  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  apple-orchards 
in  the  county,  and  on  which  he  lived  till  his  death, 
April  2,  1875.  He  was  famed  as  a  skillful  hunter, 
was  a  widely-known  and  highly-respected  man,  and 
was  once  elected  to  the  Indiana  Legislature,  in  which 
body  he  served  creditably. 

Mr.  Harris  was  married,  in  December,  1811,  in 
Wayne  County,  Ind.,  to  Sarah  Lewis,  of  the  same 
county.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
viz.:  Hannah,  born  in  November,  1812;  Avis, 
March,  1815;  Betsey,  January,  1817;  Lewis,  Feb- 
ruary, 1819;  Benjamin,  September,  1822;  John 
Harvey,  January,  1824 ;  Nancy,  January,  1827 ; 
and  Naomi,  born  May  19,  1832.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  in  November,  1842.  In  184G, 
Mr.  Harris  married  Ruth  Huff,  who  is  still  living. 
One  of  Mr.  Harris'  daughters  (Mrs.  Carpenter)  is 
still  living  on  the  homestead.  Another  (Mrs.  An- 
drew Wilson)  lives  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town- 
ship. His  son,  John  Harvey,  died  recently  in 
Kansas. 

Asa  B.  Strong,  who  was  a  highly-respected  citizen 
and  often  filled  responsible  public  oSices  during  the 
period  of  more  than  fifty  years  that  he  lived  after 
becoming  a  settler  in  Wayne  township,  was  born  in 
Addison  County,  Vt.,  Sept.  28,  1799.  In  1821  he, 
with  an  older  brother,  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  thence, 
in  the  fall  of  1822,  he  moved  with  his  family  in  an 
ox-wagon  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  arriving  at  Indian- 
apolis on  the  14th  of  November.  The  land  on 
which  he  settled  in  Wayne  township  is  described  in 
the  assessment-roll  of  1829  as  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  27,  township  16,  range  2.  He  was  four 
times  married  :  first,  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  in  April,  1822, 
to  Frances  ShurtlefF,  who  died  Sept.  19,  1836;  sec- 
ond, in  April,  1837,  to  Sarah  Ballard,  who  died  in 
1845;  third,  in  January,  1849,  to  Margaret  Ballard, 


who  died  in  March,  1852;  and  fourth,  in  January, 
1856,  to  Emily  Sanders,  who  died  in  November, 
1867.  Mr.  Strong  had  eight  children  by  the  first 
marriage,  four  by  the  second,  and  one  by  the  third, 
his  last  marriage  being  childless.  He  died  Feb.  14, 
1873.  His  sons,  Samuel  P.,  John  T.,  and  Asa  M., 
are  still  living ;  also  several  of  his  daughters,  among 
the  latter  being  Mrs.  Charles  Murray,  of  Indianapolis. 
Robert,  Richard,  and  Jacob  Helvey  were  among 
the  earliest  of  those  who  came  to  Wayne  township, 
though  it  does  not  appear  that  they  were  among  the 
original  land-owners,  as  in  the  assessment-roll  of 
1829  they  were  not  so  classed,  and  they  then  paid 
only  a  poll-tax  except  Jacob,  who  was  assessed  on 
two  horses  and  two  oxen.  Robert  Harding  was 
known  through  all  the  region  near  and  far  as  a 
great  fiddler.  Mr.  Nowland'  mentions  him  as  "  Old 
Helvey,"  and  says  he  "  lived  on  the  school  section 
(No.  16)  west  of  Eagle  Creek,  and  near  what  was 
called  the  'big  raspberry  patch.'  His  house 
was  the  headquarters  for  dances  and  sprees  of  all 
kinds.  He  made  it  a  point  to  invite  all  the  new- 
comers on  first  sight  to  visit  him."  It  appears  that 
Helvey  had  several  fine,  robust  daughters,  whose 
presence  was  not  among  the  least  of  the  attractions 
which  brought  visitors  to  their  father's  house.  Con- 
cerning these  and  "  Old  Helvey 's"  estimate  of  them, 
Mr.  Nowland  makes  the  father  say,  "  Thar's  no  such 
gals  in  the  settlement  as  old  Helvey's  !  Thar's  Bash 
(Bathsheba),  and  Vine,  and  Tantrabogus,  and  the 
like  o'  that.  I'll  tell  ye,  stranger,  that  Bash  is  a 
boss.  I  would  like  you  to  come  over  and  take  a 
rassle  with  her.  She  throwed  old  'Liakim  Harding 
best  two  in  three ;  'tother  was  a  dog-fall,  but  Bash 
soon  turned  him  and  got  on  top  on  him.  .  .  .  I'll 
tell  ye,  stranger,  that  gal  Bash  killed  the  biggest 
buck  that's  been  killed  in  the  New  Purchase.  She 
shot  off-hand  seventy-five  yards.  He  was  a  real 
three-spikcr,  no  mistake."  With  regard  to  the  pe- 
culiarities of  "  Old  Helvey,"  Mr.  Nowland  says, 
"  He  distinguished  himself  in  many  hotly-contested 
battles  at  Jerry  Collins'  grocery,  and  never  failed  to 
vanquish  his  adversary,  and  fairly  won  the  trophies 

•  Sketches  of  Prominent  Citizens,  1876. 


652 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS    AND    MARION    COUNTY. 


of  war,  which  were  generally  an  eye,  a  piece  of  an 

ear,  a  part  of  a  finger,  or  a  slice  of  flesh  from  some 

exposed   part  of  his   antagonist's   person.     In    Mr. 

Helvey's  house   could  be  found   a   great  variety  of 

munitions  of  war,  such  as  rifles,  shot-guns,  muskets, 
'  .  7  . 

tomahawks,  scalping-  and   butcher-knives.      In    his 

yard  were  all  kinds  of  dogs,  from  the  surly  bull-dog 

to   the  half-wolf,  or   '  Injun  dog.'     In  his  pound,  or 

stable,  was  a  variety  of  Indian    ponies.   .  .  .   After 

the  treaty  with   the   Miamis  of  the  Wabash,  at  the 

mouth  of  Little  River,  in  the  year  1832,  Mr.  Helvey 

moved  to  the  treaty-ground,  and  there  died." 

James  M.  McClelland  came  with  his  father's  family 
to  settle  within  the  boundaries  of  Wayne  before  it 
had  been  set  off'  as  a  separate  township.  He  was 
born  in  Dickson  County,  Tenn.,  in  December,  1807, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1814  emigrated  with  the  family  to 
Union  County,  Ind.,  whence,  in  February,  1822,  they 
moved  to  Marion  County.  In  April,  1833,  James 
M.  McClelland  was  married  to  Anna,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Jesse  Johnson.  Their  children  were 
two  who  died  in  infancy,  and  seven  others,  viz. : 
Mary  J.,  Samuel  J.,  Tilghman  H.,  George  M.,  Mar- 
garet H.,  Francis  M.,  and  John  W.,  the  last-named 
four  being  still  living.  Their  mother  died  Aug.  4, 
1882.     Mr.  McClelland  now  resides  in  Indianapolis. 

Andrew  Hoover,  who  came  to  Marion  County  in 
1822,  was  a  native  of  Randolph  County,  N.  C.,  born 
March  12,  1788.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
went  with  the  family  to  Montgoncry  County,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  married  (in  1808)  to  Sarah  Sinks,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  In  1821  he 
attended  the  government  land  sale  at  Brookville,  and 
purchased  a  quarter-section  of  land  in  that  part  of 
Marion  County  which  afterwards  became  Perry  town- 
ship, and  removed  to  it  November,  1822,  but  after  a 
short  stay  in  Perry  removed  to  Wayne.  The  lands 
on  which  he  was  assessed  in  Wayne  in  1829  were 
described  as  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  20,  and 
the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  17, 
in  survey-township  15,  range  3.  The  location  of 
Mr.  Hoover's  farm  was  not  far  from  the  village  of  ! 
Maywood.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  character 
and  standing  among  the  people  of  the  township,  and 
held  several  responsible  public  offices.     He  died  on  i 


the  25th  of  November,  1863.  He  was  the  father  of 
ten  children,  viz. :  Abijah  (dead),  George  (dead), 
Daniel  D.  (dead),  Hannah,  Mary  Ann,  Jacob  E. 
(dead),  Alexander  W.,  Sarah  J.,  Cary  S.,  and  Perry 
C,  the  last  two  being  twins. 

John  Cossell  was  an  early  settler,  and  a  resident  in 
Wayne  township  for' more  than  thirty  years.  Born 
in  Maryland  in  1770,  he  emigrated,  after  the  Revo- 
lution, to  Kentucky,  and  thence  to  Ohio,  where  he 
was  married,  in  1807,  to  Mary  Holme.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  thirteen  children.  Mr.  Cossell 
came  to  Wayne  township  in  1823,  and  died  May  10, 
1854. 

William  Cossell,  son  of  John,  was  born  in  Butler 
County,  Ohio,  in  1811,  and  came  to  this  county  with 
his  father  in  1823.  In  October,  1835,  he  married 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Andrew  Hoover.  The  land  of 
the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives  was  purchased  by 
him  with  money  earned  in  the  building  of  the  old 
National  road  bridge  across  White  River. 

Nicholas  Robinson,  a  native  of  Washington  County, 
Tenn.,  came  to  Marion  County  in  1832.  On  -his 
arrival  he  was  employed  at  work  for  Nicholas  Mc- 
Carty.  He  was  married  in  1842,  and  in  1847  moved 
to  Wayne  township,  where  he  is  still  living.  His  first 
wife  dying,  he  was  again  married  in  1853.  By  the 
first  marriage  he  had  four  children  (all  dead),  and  by 
the  second  marriage  six  children. 

William  Gladden,  who  is  still  living,  and  almost  a 
nonogenarian,'  has  been  a  resident  of  Marion  County 
and  Wayne  township  for  sixty  years  ;  always  a  highly- 
respected  citizen,  and  for  many  years  a  prominent 
man  in  public  afiFairs.  He  was  born  in  York  County, 
Pa.,  and  moved  with  his  father's  family  to  Maryland 
when  six  years  of  age,  and  afterwards  emigrated  to 
Ohio,  where  he  was  married  in  August,  1823,  and 
came  in  the  same  year  to  Wayne  township,  Marion 
Co.,  Ind.  In  1829  he  was  assessed  on  two  hundred 
and  forty-seven  acres  of  land,  described  as  the  north- 
east quarter,  and   the    east   half   of    the    northwest 

'  When  this  was  written  (December,  1883)  Mr.  Gladden  and 
his  aged  wife  were  living  and  in  good  health.  He  died  Jan. 
29,  1884,  and  she  died  on  the  day  following.  After  a  married 
life  of  more  than  si.xty  years,  they  rest  together  in  Crown  Hill 
Cemetery. 


WAYNE  TOWNSHIP. 


653 


quarter  of  section  4,  survey-township  15,  range  2. 
Afterwards  he  added  largely  to  his  lands  by  purchase, 
and  in  1835  was  the  owner  of  about  five  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  The  children  of  William  and  Eva  Glad- 
den were  nine  in  number,  viz.,  William,  John,  Wash- 
ington, Alfred,  George,  David,  Elizabeth,  Hannah, 
and  Mary.  Five  of  them  are  now  living,  viz.  :  Alfred, 
in  Indianapolis ;  George,  John,  and  David,  in  the 
country  ;  and  William,  in  California. 

Martin  Martindale  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in 
1788,  and  when  a  youth  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  at 
the  age  of  nineteen  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Pearson, 
who  also  was  born  in  South  Carolina  about  the  year 
1799.  They  settled  on  the  Little  Miami  and  re- 
mained there  a  few  years,  then  moved  to  Indiana 
and  settled  on  White  Water,  near  New  Castle,  on  a 
small  stream  called  Martindale's  Creek.  There  he 
remained,  working  at  the  wheelright  trade  making 
flax-  and  wool-wheels,  which  were  in  demand  at  that 
period,  until  the  year  1823,  when  he  came  to  Marion 
County  and  settled  in  Wayne  township,  five  miles 
northwest  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  in  an  unbroken 
forest,  having  entered  a  half-section  of  land  that 
winter  before  coming.  There  were  six  children  in 
the  family  at  that  period,  viz. :  Charlotte,  Miles, 
David,  Hannah,  Rebecca,  and  John  P.  There  were 
also  born  in  Marion  County,  Lucinda,  Priscilla, 
Elizabeth,  and  Joseph,  all  of  whom,  except  Priscilla, 
are  deceased ;  also  Charlotte,  Miles,  and  Rebecca, 
leaving  David,  Priscilla,  Hannah  (Mrs.  McCaslin), 
and  John  P.  the  only  children  of  Martin  Martin- 
dale  now  living,  the  last  two  named  living  in  Wayne 
township.  David  lives  in  Cedar  County,  Mo. ;  Pris- 
cilla (Mrs.  Benedict),  lives  in  Ellsworth  County, 
Kansas.  Martin  Martindale  held  no  office  in  the  county 
except  justice  of  the  peace  two  terms.  He  was  a 
member  of  and  elder  in  the  Christian  Church  at 
Old  Union  for  many  years.     He  died  Oct.  12,  1843. 

Miles  Martindale,  Martin's  brother,  was  born  in 
South  Carolina  about  the  year  1790.  He  married 
Nancy  Hill  and  came  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  about 
the  same  time  that  Martin  did,  and  settled  on  adjoin- 
ing lands.  They  had  seven  children, — Elmina,  Wil- 
liam, Martin,  Elizabeth,  James,  David,  and  Elijah, 
the  last  two    named  being  born   in    Marion   County. 


All  of  these  are  dead  except  Elmina,  Elizabeth,  and 
David.  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Holliday)  now  lives  in 
Wayne  township,  and  the  other  two  in  the  West. 
Miles  Martindale  died  about  the  year  1830. 

David  Martindale  came  from  South  Carolina,  where 
he  was  born,  to  Indiana,  and  married  Priscilla  Lewis 
in  Wayne  County ;  then  moved  to  Marion  County ; 
located  on  lands  adjoining  Martin  and  Miles,  his  wife 
dying  soon  after,  leaving  one  child,  whose  name  was 
Allan.  He  married  a  second  wife,  whose  name  was 
Rachel  Houston,  and  who  had  two  children,  Eliz- 
abeth and  William.  Allan  and  William  are  now 
dead,  and  Elizabeth  is  living  at  Newcastle,  Ind. 
David  died  about  the  year  1830.  Neither  he  nor 
Miles  ever  held  oflBce  or  were  members  of  any 
church. 

Jesse  Prazier  was  born  in  Chatham  County,  N.  C, 
April  7,  1790.  He  came  to  Marion  County  in  1827 
or  1828 ;  was  a  preacher  in  the  "  New  Light"  faith 
for  some  time ;  then  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation,  and  died  -an  acceptable  evangelist  in  the 
Christian  Church,  Dec.  30,  1839. 

Jeremiah  Johnson  came  to  Marion  County  with 
his  family  in  1821,  and  settled  first  on  lands  located 
north  of  Indianapolis,  near  the  site  of  the  present  fair, 
grounds.  He  was  the  first  jail-keeper  of  Marion 
County,  and  later  he  kept  a  public-house  in  Indian- 
apolis. In  or  about  1832  he  moved  to  Wayne  town- 
ship, and  erected  a  steam-mill  at  Bridgeport,  one  of 
the  earliest  of  that  kind  in  the  county.  Afterwards 
he  lived  for  some  years  on  his  farm,  three  miles  east 
of  Bridgeport.  He  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years. 

Samson  Houghman  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1795, 
and  moved  thence  to  Butler  County,  Ohio,  where  he 
passed  the  years  of  his  youth.  He  was  married  very 
early  in  life,  and  became  the  father  of  five  daughters 
and  one  son,  Peter  N.  Houghman,  born  in  1820. 
Mr.  Houghman  came  to  Marion  County  in  1829, 
and  settled  first  in  Decatur  township,  but  about  1844 
moved  to  Bridgeport,  where  for  a  short  time  he 
carried  on  merchandising  with  his  son.  Afterwards 
he  moved  to  the  farm  now  occupied  by  his  son,  Peter 
N.  Houghman,  on  the  National  road,  about  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  east  of  Bridgeport.     He  died  in  1852. 


654 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


The  following-named  persons,  early  settlers  in 
Wayne,  were  resident  tax-payers  in  the  township  in 
1829.  The  names  are  given,  with  a  description  of 
the  lands  on  which  each  was  assessed,  according  to 
the  assessment-roll  of  that  year,  viz. : 

James  Anderson,  part  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  33,  survey-township  16,  range  3,  ninety-seven 
acres. 

George  Avery,  east  half  of  northeast  quarter  of 
section  25,  township  16,  range  2. 

Matthew  Brown,  east  half  of  northeast  quarter 
of  section  32,  township  16,  range  3. 

Henry  W.  Barbour,  part  of  southeast  quarter  of 
section  11,  township  15,  range  2. 

George  Cossell,  Sr.,  west  half  of  southeast  quarter, 
and  east  half  of  southwest  quarter  of  section  6,  town- 
ship 15,  range  3. 

Daniel  Closser,  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres ; 
the  southeast  quarter  and  the  east  half  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  19,  township  15,  range  3,  and 
the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21, 
in  the  same  township. 

Martin  Davenport,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  19,  township  15,  range  3,  eighty 
acres. 

John  Evans,  east  half  of  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 7,  township  15,  range  3. 

John  Fox,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  20. 
township  10,  range  3. 

Elijah  Fox,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  29, 
township  16,  range  3,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

David  Fox,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  29,  township  16,  range  3,  eighty 
acres. 

Joseph  Hanna,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
32,  township  16,  range  3,  and  the  west  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  33,  in  same  township, 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres. 

Jonas  Hoover,  the  west  half  of  southwest  quarter 
of  section  29,  township  16,  range  3,  eighty  acres. 

George  R.  Hanna,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  5,  township  15,  range  3,  eighty  acres. 

Ephraim  Howard,  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  6,  township  15,  range  3,  and 
the  west   half  of  section   5,  in  same  township.     Mr. 


Howard  was  a  brother  of  Samuel  Howard  and 
Reason  Howard.  The  last  named  was  known  as  a 
great  hunter  and  fishermen. 

John  Hanna,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28, 
township  16,  range  3,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

John  Hawkins,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  24,  township  16,  range  2,  eighty 
acres. 

Samuel  Howard,  forty  acres  in  the  east  half  of  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  11,  township  15,  range  2. 

John  Johnson,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  section  36,  township  16,  range  2. 

James  W.  Johnston,  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 17,  and  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18,  in 
township  15,  range  3. 

William  Johnson,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  36,  township  16,  range  2,  eighty 
acres. 

Isaac  Kelly,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  20,  and  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  21,  in  township  16,  range  3,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

James  Logan,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  25,  township  16,  range  2. 

William  Logan,  the  north  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  31,  and  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  32,  and  a  part  of  the  south- 
west quarter  of  the  same  section,  all  in  township  16, 
range  3  ;  total,  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres. 

James  Leonard,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  5,  township  15,  range  8. 

James  Miller,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  26, 
in  township  16,  range  2,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres. 

„  Francis  McClelland,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  34,  and  the  south  half  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  33,  in  township  16,  range  2. 

Thomas  Martin,  the  north  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  33,  township  16,  range  2. 

William  Morris,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  19,  township  15,  range  3. 

Enoch  McCarty,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
32,  in  township  16,  range  3. 

Benjamin  S.  McCarty,  the  south  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  31,  township  16,  range  3. 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


655 


Israel  Phillips,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  33, 
in  township  16,  range  2. 

Benjamin  Patterson,  part  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  18,  township  16,  range  2,  fifty  acres. 

Minor  Koberts,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  28,  township  16,  range  2. 

Jesse  Roberts,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  16,  range  2. 

James  Rains,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  17,  township  15,  range  3. 

James  Rhodes,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  24,  township  15,  range  2. 

Hiram  and  Joseph  R.  Rhodes,  the  east  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  24,  township  15,  range 
2.  Hiram  Rhodes  was  born  in  Gloucester  County, 
N.  J.,  in  1805  ;  arrived  in  Marion  County,  Ind.,  in 
February,  1824. 

Caleb  Railsback,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  23,  township  16,  range  2. 

Joseph  J.  Reed,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  22,  township  16,  range  2. 

Andrew  W.  Roberts,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  28,  township  16,  range  2. 

Thomas  Stoops,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  32,  township  16,  range  3. 

William  Speer,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  9,  township  15,  range  2. 

Oliver  Shurtliff,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  28,  township  16,  range  2. 

Abraham  Sadousky,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  1,  and  the  east  half  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  2,  in  township  15,  range  2. 

Luke  Strong,  the  northeast  and  southeast  quarters 
of  section  21,  in  township  16,  range  2. 

David  Stoops,  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  32,  township  16,  range  3. 

Thomas  Triggs,  Jr.,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  25,  township  16,  range  2. 

David  Varner,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  26, 
in  township  16,  range  2. 

John  Van  Blaricum  and  David  S.  Van  Blaricum, 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  33,  township  16, 
range  3. 

Noah  Wright,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  21, 
in  township  15,  range  3. 


Levi  Wright,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  20, 
township  15,  range  3. 

Michael  Woods,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 

24,  township  15,  range  2,  and  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  19,  township  15,  range  3. 

Sarah  Whitinger,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
22,  in  township  16,  range  2. 

Jordan  Wright,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
22,  township  16,  range  2. 

John  Wolf,  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  33,  township  16,  range  3. 

James  Johnson,  Esq.,  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  31,  township  16,  range  3.  A  biographical 
sketch  of  Mr.  Johnson  is  given  on  another  page  of 
this  work. 

William  Speer,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  section  9,  township  15,  range  2.  Mr.  Speer  was 
born  in  1802,  and  came  to  Marion  County  in  1824. 

Adam  Thompson,  assessed  on  no  property,  except 
one  horse  and  two  oxen.  He  was  well  known  as  the 
keeper  of  a  tavern  on  the  National  road,  near 
Bridgeport. 

Wolfgang  Coifman  lived  near  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  township,  but  was  not  assessed  on  any  real  estate. 
He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  armies  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  and  was  fond  of  relating  incidents  of  the 
conqueror's  campaigns  and  of  the  disastrous  retreat 
from  Moscow  in  1812. 

William  McCaw,  the  southwest  quarter  and  the 
west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  21 , 
township  16,  range  3.  Lands  located  near  Eagle 
Creek,  northwest  of  Mount  Jackson.  He  was  a 
native  of  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.,  born  in  1787, 
and  came  to  Marion  County  in  April,  1822. 

Isaac  Pugh,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  26 
and  the  west  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 

25,  township  16,  range  2.  Mr.  Pugh  was  born  in 
Chatham,  N.  C,  in  1794;  came  to  Marion  County 
in  July,  1822,  and  became  one  of  the  wealthiest 
farmers  and  most  prominent  men  in  Wayne  town- 
ship, being  frequently  elected  to  responsible  offices. 
His  farm  was  near  where  the  Indiana,  Bloomington 
and  Western  Railway  crosses  Eagle  Creek. 

Jacob  Pugh's  heirs,  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 26,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  27,  and  the 


656 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


northeast  quarter  of  section  35,  in  township  16,  range 
2.  Jacob  Pugh  was  a  North  Carolinian,  who  emi- 
grated to  Marion  County  in  the  summer  of  1822, 
and  died  before  1829.  He  was  the  father  of  Isaac 
Pugh  before  mentioned. 

Joseph  Pense,  not  assessed  on  anj'  real  estate,  but 
afterwards  owned  a  farm  located  on  the  Rockville 
road,  near  Eagle  Creek.  Enoch  Pense  was  his  son. 
^  Jesse  Johnson,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  35,  township  16,  range  2.  Mr. 
Johnson  was  a  native  of  Grayson  County,  Va. ;  born 
in  1787 ;  arrived  as  a  settler  in  Marion  County, 
Nov.  16,  1826;  died  July  9,  1879. 

Isaac  Harding,  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  4,  township  15,  range  2,  eighty- 
three  acres.  Mr.  Harding  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  Ind.,  in  1804,  and  came  to  Marion  County 
in  November,  1826. 

George  L.  Kinnard,  assessed  on  no  property  in 
Wayne  township  in  1829,  except  one  horse  and  a 
silver  watch.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  (if  not  the 
first)  of  the  school-teachers  of  the  township.  Col. 
Kinnard  had  charge  of  the  surveying  and  laying  out 
of  the  Lafayette  State  road.  In  1833  he  was  elected 
to  Congress  against  William  W.  Wick  as  opposing 
candidate.  His  death  was  caused  by  an  accident  on 
a  steamboat. 

William  Holmes,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
8,  in  township  15,  range  3  ;  the  west  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  same  section  ;  and  the  west 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  9,  same 
township  and  range.  Mr.  Holmes  was  born  in 
Westmoreland  County,  Pa.,  in  1792,  emigrated  with 
his  father's  family  to  Ohio  in  1800,  and  in  1820  re- 
moved to  Wayne  County,  Ind.  In  1821  he  married 
Elizabeth  Lyons,  and  settled  on  his  lands  in  W<iyne 
township,  Marion  Co.,  where  he  made  his  home 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  built  the 
Billy  Holmes  saw-mill  on  Eagle  Creek,  just  below 
the  National  road  bridge.  In  1832  he  was  one  of 
those  who  volunteered  for  service  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war.  He  was  the  father  of  William  Canada  Holmes, 
one  of  the  best-known  citizens  of  Marion  County, 
and  also  of  eleven  other  children,  viz. :  John  B., 
Jonathan  L.,  Ira  N.,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Uriah,  Noah 


P.,  Marcia  Ann,  Martha  Ann,  Elizabeth,  and  Sarah. 
He  died  in  1858.  His  younger  brother,  John,  came 
to  this  county  with  him,  and  settled  in  Wayne,  on 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  8,  township  15, 
range  3.  He,  with  his  brother  William,  took  the 
contract  for  the  brick-work  of  the  old  (first)  court- 
house of  Marion  County.  John  also  built  the 
Kunkle  mill,  in  Wayne  township.  He  died  a  few 
years  after  he  made  his  settlement  here. 

Abraham  Coble,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
29,  township  16,  range  3.  He  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  thence,  in  1821,  to 
Wayne  township,  Marion  Co.,  where  he  settled  on 
the  lands  described.  He  built  one  of  the  first  saw- 
mills of  Marion  County,  located  on  Crooked  Creek, 
near  his  homestead.  With  lumber  sawed  at  this 
mill  he  loaded  a  flat-boat  and  sent  it  down  White 
River,  it  being  the  first  lumber-freighted  boat  that 
ever  descended  that  stream.  He  died  in  May,  1842. 
His  son,  George  Coble,  is  now  living  in  Indianap- 
olis. 

Joshua  Glover,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
18,  township  15,  range  3.  A  daughter  of  Mr. 
Glover  married  James  W.  Johnson,  of  this  town- 
ship.    Joshua  Glover  died  in  1836. 

David  Faussett,  the  south  part  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  9,  township  15,  range  2,  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  acres.  He  was  born  in  Warren 
County,  Ohio,  in  1802,  and  arrived  in  Marion 
County  as  a  settler  March  4,  1824. 

Lewis  Clark  (colored),  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  8,  township  15,  range  3. 
Clark  was  a  fugitive  slave,  and  it  is  s^id  of  him  that 
he  was  the  first  colored  man  who  paid  taxes  on  real 
estate  in  Marion  County.  In  1836,  at  the  "raising" 
of  Clark's  frame  hou.se,  an  accident  occurred,  by 
which  William  Cool  lost  his  life.  Cool  was  a  settler 
in  Wayne  township  before  1829,  and  reared  one  of 
the  first  orchards  in  the  township.  His  daughter, 
the  widow  of  Theodore  Johnson,  is  still  living  in  the 
I  township. 

'  Cyrus  Cotton,  the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quar- 
,  ter  of  section  8,  township  15,  range  3.  His  lands 
I  were  located  west  of  Eagle  Creek,  on  the  present 
1  line   of   the   Vandalia    Railroad.     On    his    farm    he 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


657 


erected  a  two-story  stone  dwelling-house,  one  of  the 
first  of  that  kind  built  in  Marion  County. 

John  P.  Cook,  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  21,  township  15,  range  3.  Mr. 
Cook's  two-story  brick  house  was  the  first  built  in 
the  township,  and  one  of  the  earliest  in  the  county, 
of  that  material. 

Luke  Bryant,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  21,  township  15,  range  3.  These  lands 
joined  the  farm  of  John  P.  Cook  on  the  east.  Mr. 
Bryant  came  to  Marion  County  from  the  vicinity  of 
Urbana,  Ohio,  bringing  a  considerable  amount  (for 
those  times)  of  money,  which  he  placed  out  at  inter- 
est. He  was  an  eccentric  man,  and  (as  it  was  .said 
by  some)  inclined  to  skepticism  in  religious  belief 
He  sold  his  farm  on  section  21,  but  continued  to 
reside  in  the  township  until  his  death. 

Joel  Conarroe,  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  28,  township  16,  range  2.  Mr.  Conarroe 
was  a  native  of  Burlington  County,  N.  J.,  born  in 
the  year  1800,  and  came  to  Marion  County,  Ind.,  in 
December,  1821. 

John  Furnas,  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quar- 
ter and  the  east  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 21,  township  15,  range  2.  "John  Furnas, 
agent,"  was  assessed  on  the  west  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter,  Isaac  Furnas  on  the  southeast  quarter, 
and  Joseph  Furnas  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the 
same  section ;  so  that  the  Furnases,  who  were  all 
Quakers,  held  the  entire  section,  except  eighty  acres, 
the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter.  The  farm  of 
John  Furnas  embraced  the  ground  which  became  the 
site  of  Bridgeport.  On  his  farm,  below  the  village 
site,  he  had  a  mill,  which  was  driven  by  the  water- 
power  of  the  creek.  This  mill,  which  he  built  and 
put  in  operation  before  the  beginning  of  the  village 
.settlement,  he  afterwards  sold  to  John  Zimmerman. 

The  village  or  "  town"  of  Bridgeport  is  situated  in 
the  southwest  corner  of  Wayne  township,  on  a  fork 
of  White  Lick  Creek,  and  also  on  the  lines  of  the 
Vandalia  Kailroad  and  the  old  National  or  Cumber- 
land road.  The  village  was  laid  out  by  Samuel  K. 
Barlow  (on  land  of  John  Furnas,  as  before  men- 
tioned) in  1830,  the  town  plat  being  recorded  May 


17,  1831.  The  original  plat  comprehended  forty- 
three  lots,  lying  on  six  streets,  viz. :  the  main  street 
(the  old  Cumberland  road,  running  through  the  cen- 
tre), seventy-five  feet  wide ;  Ballard  Street  and  Por- 
ter Street,  each  seventy  feet  wide ;  and  the  narrower 
streets  named  North,  East,  and  South,  bounding  the 
village  on  the  sides  indicated  by  their  names.  Bar- 
low afterwards  laid  out  two  small  additions,  embracing 
between  thirty  and  forty  lots  on  two  new  streets 
crossing  the  Cumberland  road. 

The  first  dwelling-house  in  the  village  was  that  of 
Aaron  Homan,  located  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Ballard  Street  and  the  Cumberland  road.  It  was  a 
building  of  hewed  logs,  about  eighteen  by  twenty  feet 
in  size,  and  besides  serving  as  Homan's  dwelling,  it 
was  also  the  place  where  the  first  meetings  were  held 
in  the  village.  Homan  (who  was  a  cabinet-maker) 
may  thus  be  mentioned  as  the  first  settler  in  Bridge- 
port, though  several  others  settled  there  at  about  the 
same  time,  among  them  being  Robert  Speer,  Allen 
Jennings,  and  John  Johnson,  all  of  whom  built  small 
houses  of  hewed  logs.  Robert  Speer  was  a  brewer, 
and  located  on  the  second  lot  east  of  the  site  of  the 
present  Methodist  Church.  Allen  Jennings  lived 
on  the  corner  of  Ballard  Street  and  the  Cumberland 
road.  John  Johnson  was  the  first  merchant  of  the 
place,  and  his  store,  located  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  Ballard  Street  and  the  Cumberland  road,  was  the 
first  frame  building  erected  (1832)  in  Bridgeport. 
He  occupied  it  for  merchandising  about  six  years, 
then  sold  out.  It  was  afterwards  owned  and  carried 
on  for  a  short  time  by  William  and  John  Givens. 

John  Zimmerman  was  a  wagon-maker  and  a  prom- 
inent man  of  the  village  of  Bridgeport.  He  has 
already  been  mentioned  as  the  purchaser  of  John 
Furnas's  old  water-mill  on  the  stream  below  the 
town. 

The  first  public-house  in  Bridgeport  was  opened 
by  John  Ballard,  between  1839  and  1840.  David 
Hartsock  was  the  first  tavern-keeper  in  the  village, 
his  first  license  being  dated  March  7,  1839,  and  he 
continued  in  the  business  there  till  about  18-1:5. 

Samuel  Lockyer  was  a  shoemaker  and  kept  the 
first  shop  of  that  trade  in  Bridgeport,  having  a  small 
shoe-store  in  connection.     He  commenced  business 


658 


HISTORY    OP   INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


there  in  1838,  and  had  Ranston  Wooten  with  him 
for  some  time.  About  1845,  Wooten  started  another 
shoe-store,  in  which  he  carried  on  a  business  of  con- 
siderable magnitude  for  several  years. 

The  first  physician  was  Dr.  Lot  Reagan,  but 
neither  the  exact  date  of  his  coming  nor  the  length 
of  time  that  he  practiced  in  Bridgeport  has  been 
ascertained. 

John  Mattern  was  one  of  the  early  and  prominent 
men  of  Bridgeport.  He  was  born  in  1801  in  Hunt- 
ingdon County,  Pa.,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of 
potter.  In  1831  he  came  to  Indianapolis,  where  he 
had  a  store,  and  was  the  first  one  who  sold  ready- 
made  clothing  in  the  city.  In  1833  he  married 
Mary  Scott,  a  widow,  and  daughter  of  John  Johnson. 
In  1834  he  moved  to  Bridgeport  and  went  into  mer- 
chandising with  his  father-in-law,  but  after  about  two 

years  the  store  was  sold  out  to Williams,  and 

Mattern  went  into  the  pottery  business,  which  he 
followed  in  Bridgeport  for  about  seventeen  years, 
after  which  he  kept  a  public-house  for  four  years. 
In  the  mean  time  he  held  a  number  of  public  offices. 
He  was  appointed  postmaster'  at  Bridgeport,  and  in 
1840  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace.  In  1846  he 
was  elected  township  trustee,  and  held  the  office  sev- 
eral terms  by  re-election.  Having  sold  out  his  tavern 
business,  he  moved  from  Bridgeport  to  a  farm  about 
two  miles  west  of  the  village  on  the  National  road. 
Now  in  his  old  age  he  is  living  about  four  miles 
southwest,  with  his  son  John.  His  other  surviving 
sons  are  George  and  Jacob,  the  last  named  being  the 
son  of  his  first  wife,  who  died  in  1841.  His  second 
wife,  by  whom  he  had  four  children,  was  Hannah  M. 
Woodrow. 

Before  the  financial  panic  of  1837  the  village 
of  Bridgeport  had  attained  a  very  considerable  growth, 
and  was  a  place  of  much  more  comparative  impor- 
tance than  it  is  to-day.  A  little  prior  to  that  time  a 
steam  flouring-mill  and  saw-mill  wa.s  built  and  put  in 
operation  by  Jeremiah  Johnson,  who  had  previously 
been  the  (first)  keeper  of  the  Marion  County  jail,  and 


1  The  post-office  at  Bridgeport  was  established  in  1 832.  The 
first  postmaster  was  Eli  Murdock.who  served  but  a  short  time, 
then  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Aaron  Homan,  who  was 
in  turn  succeeded  by  John  Mattern,  as  stated  above. 


an  innkeeper  in  Indianapolis.  He  also  opened  quite 
an  extensive  store  in  a  large  frame  building  erected 
for  the  purpose  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
from  John  Johnson's.  This  store  passed  from  Jere- 
miah Johnson  into  the  hands  of  Washington  McKay, 
who  kept  it  for  some  years,  and  was  succeeded   by 

Baker,    who,   during   his    term    of    business, 

built  the  building  now  occupied  by  John  Rhodes. 
Baker  sold  out  to  James  S.  Newman,  and  he  to 
Samson  Houghman  and  his  son,  P.  N.  Houghman, 
in  1844.  They  kept  it  about  two  years,  and  sold  to 
John  Hoffman  and  Samuel  Schenck,  who  were  the  last 
proprietors  of  the  establishment.  Another  early  store 
was  located  on  the  Cumberland  road,  west  of  Ballard 
Street,  near  Allen  Jennings,  and  was  carried  on  by 
William  Stout,  who  purchased  from  a  previous  pro- 
prietor. 

A  grocery  and  liquor-store  was  started  about  1836 
by  Eli  McCaslan  and  Charles  Merrick.  It  afterwards 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Aaron  McCaslin.  There 
were  a  number  of  liquor-shops  and  tippling-houses 
in  Bridgeport  during  its  early  days,  but  they  passed 
out  of  existence  many  years  ago,  the  last  one  being 
blown  up  with  gunpowder  about  the  year  1850. 

A  store  was  started  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 

town  about  1842,  by  Samuel  Spray  and  Mc- 

Knight,  who  kept  it  until  the  death  of  Spray,  when 
McKnight  sold  out  to  Thomas  Mills.  It  afterwards 
passed  to  Nathaniel  Mills  and  Calvin  Ballard,  and 
some  other  proprietors,  and  was  finally  discontinued. 
In  1840,  and  for  some  years  thereafter,  Bridgeport 
contained  four  general  stores  besides  a  grocery,  but 
after  the  opening  of  the  railroad  the  number  de- 
creased, and  the  business  was  revolutionized.  The 
village  has  now  two  general  stores,  both  on  the  Na- 
tional road, — one  kept  by  John  H.  Ingling  and  the 
other  by  Thomas  Ingling;  a  post-office,  John  H. 
Ingling,   postmaster;   two   churches   (the   Methodist, 

with  Rev. Switzer  as  pastor,  and  the  Friends, 

with  Wilson  Spray  as  principal  minister)  ;  two  brick 
school-houses  ;  a  steam  mill  (not  in  operation),  owned 
by  H.  Swindler,  and  a  population  of  about  three  hun- 
dred inhabitants. 

Bridgeport  Lodge,  No.  162,  F.  and  A.  M.,  was 
chartered  May  24,  1854,  Joseph  H.  Ballard,  W.  M.; 


WAYNE  TOWNSHIP. 


659 


Noah  Reagan,  S.  W. ;  Samuel  G.  Owen,  J.  W.  The 
present  officers  of  the  lodge  are  Humphrey  Forsha, 
W.  M. ;  Peter  P.  Blank,  S.  W. ;  Woodford  Thomp- 
son, J.  W. ;  Daniel  Broadway,  Treas. ;  R.  W.  Thomp- 
son, Sec.     The  lodge  has  now  thirty-five  members. 


(no  graded  school),  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
(Rev.  Mr.  Payne,  pastor),  and  nearly  one  hundred 
inhabitants. 


The  village  of  Maywood  is  situated  on  the  south 
line  of  the  township  near  its  southeastern  corner,  and  ' 
on  the  line  of  the  Indianapolis  and  Vincennes  Rail- 
rcjad.     On   a  part  of  the   site   now  occupied  by  the 
village   a  two-story  brick  house  was   built   in   1822 
(some  accounts  say  1821),  by  John    P.    Cook,  who 
■was  the  first  resident  in  that  locality.     There  was  no 
village  at  the  place,  nor  was  it  in  any  way  diflFerent 
from  other   farming    neighborhoods   for   forty   years 
after  Cook's  settlement  there.     In   1854,  James  A. 
Marrs  and  Ira  N.  Holmes  built  a  steam  grist-mill  in 
Decatur  township,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
36,  township  15,  range  2.     Holmes  sold  out  to  Marrs, 
who  ran  it  until  his  death,  in  October,  1857,  and  it 
was  afterwards  run  by  his   administrator   till   1863, 
when  it  ceased  operation,  and  was  sold   to   Fielding 
Beeler  and  Calvin  Fletcher,  who  moved  the  machinery 
to  a  new  mill   building  which  they  erected  on  land 
owned  by  Fletcher  at  what  is  now  Maywood.     They 
added  a  saw-mill  and  some  new  machinery,  and  ran 
it  until  the  spring  of  1873,  when  it  was  sold  to  other 
parties ;  but  it  was  not  a  financial  success,  and  was 
finally  abandoned,  the  machinery  sold,  and  the  build- 
ing dismantled. 

At  the  building  of  the  mill  at  Maywood  and  during 
the  occupancy  of  Messrs.  Beeler  and  Fletcher  they 
erected  nine  dwelling-houses  for  their  workmen,  of 
whom  they  employed  about  twenty.  There  was  no 
store  there,  but  a  cooper-shop  and  a  blacksmith-shop 
were  opened  at  the  place,  which  was  called  Beeler's 
Station,  on  the  Vincennes  Railroad.  The  mill  enter- 
prise, and  what  grew  out  of  it,  created  the  village, 
which  was  laid  out  as  Maywood,  June  4,  1873.  It 
is  yet  a  very  small  village,  containing  about  twenty 
dwellings,  one  general  store  (by  Charles  Litter),  one 
o-rocery,  at  the  depot,  a  post-office  (Charles  Litter, 
postmaster),  one  blacksmith-shop  (by  George  Crowe), 
one  wagon-shop  (John  Russell's),  one  physician  (Dr. 
Harrison  Peachee),  one  shoemaker,  one  school-house  1 


Fielding  Beeler,  one  of  the  earliest  born  and  best 
known  of  the  native  citizens  of  Marion  County,  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  Beeler,  and  born  in  Decatur  township, 
March  30,  1823.     He  remembers  seeing  at  least  one 
party  of  the  Indians  of  the  country  before  their  final 
departure  from  it ;  has  heard  the  wild  wolves  howl 
around  his  father's   cabin  at  night,  and  remembers 
when  what  few  sheep  were  in  his  neighborhood  were 
regularly  penned  at  night  near  the  owner's  dwelling, 
to  keep  them  from  being  devoured  by  these  voracious 
prowlers.     Most  of  his  education  was  obtained  in  the 
primitive  log  school-house,  and  under  the  tuition  of 
the    primitive    teachers   of  these    early  times.     His 
school-books   were    Webster's  "Spelling-Book"   (old 
edition),  in  which  he  became  very  proficient,  "  The 
American    Preceptor,"   "  English    Reader,"    Weems' 
"  Lives   of    Marion   and   Washington,"   and    Pike's 
"Arithmetic."     These   schools  were   taught  in  the 
winter,  and  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  miles  from 
his  home,  and  most  of  the  way  through  the  woods ; 
but    the  trips  were   almost  invariably  enlivened  by 
the  sight  of  deer,  sometimes  a  dozen  of  them  in  a 
herd,  and  flocks  of  wild  turkeys.      He  says  it  seems 
to  him  now  that  there  were  sometimes  hundreds  of 
them  in  sight  at  once. 

During  these  school-terms  he  generally  did  the 
going  to  mill  for  the  family,  part  of  the  time  to  the 
old  Bayou  Mill,  which  stood  a  little  north  of  the 
present  site  of  the  Nordyke  Machine- Works,  and  at 
other  times  to  the  Ede  Harding  Mill,  un  Eagle  Creek. 
The  man  was  to  take  a  sack  on  a  horse,  and  he  ride 
on  the  sack.  As  the  grinding  was  done  by  turns, 
and  it  usually  required  from  one  to  three  weeks  for 
the  turn  to  be  reached,  it  was  of  importance  to  com- 
mence in  time.  After  beginning  his  Saturday  trips, 
usually  in  a  couple  of  weeks  he  could  begin  taking  a 
grist  home,  and  thus  during  the  course  of  the  winter 
enough  was  accumulated  to  last  well  into  the  summer. 
One  of  the  important  occurrences  of  his  boyhood 
years  was  a  trip  to  the  then  important  town  or  city  of 
Madison  with  a  two-horse  wagon  loaded  with  wheat ; 


660 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND  MARION   COUNTY. 


as  he  remembers,  about  twenty-five  or  twenty-six 
bushels  constituted  the  load,  and  was  sold  on  arrival 
at  sixty-two  and  a  half  cents  per  bushel,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds invested  in  a  sack  of  coiFee,  with  perhaps  some 
additional  funds  in  salt  at  seventy-five  cents  per 
bushel,  which  constituted  the  return  load.  The  trip 
was  made  in  company  with  a  neighbor.  Feed  for  the 
trip  for  team  and  boy  was  hauled  in  the  wagon,  out- 
doors used  for  dining-room,  and  wagon-bed  or  the 
ground  under  it  for  sleeping-room.  It  was  to  him, 
however,  an  important  journey  as  he  passed  down 
and  up  the  Madison  hill,  saw  the  to  him  great  Ohio 
River  and  several  steamboats,  and  also  what  seemed 
to  his  boyish  imagination  a  great  town. 

Afterwards  Mr.  Beeler  had  the  advantage  of  two 
winter  terms  in  the  old  Marion  County  Seminary, 
under  that  paragon  of  teachers,  James  S.  Kemper. 
Shortly  after  reaching  his  majority  he  was  married  to 
Eliza  A.  Marrs,  and  the  next  spring  (1845)  settled 
in  Wayne  township,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 21,  township  15,  range  3,  where  he  still  resides. 

Mr.  Beeler  has  been  actively  identified  with  the 
advancement  of  the  agricultural  and  industrial  indus- 
tries of  the  county  and  State.  He  has  done  much 
in  the  improvement  of  the  cattle,  hogs,  and  sheep  of 
the  county  by  the  purchase  and  dissemination  of  im- 
proved breeds,  and  by  his  earnest  advocacy  of  the 
great  advantage  of  the  same  to  farmers.  He  has 
been  an  officer  in  all  the  county  agricultural  societies 
which  have  existed  since  his  majority  ;  was  secretary 
of  the  Indiana  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  1869, 
the  State  fair  of  that  year  being  the  most  successful 
one  held  to  that  time,  and  he  has  been  for  four  years 
past  the  general  superintendent  of  the  same,  and  has 
been  highly  complimented  for  his  efficient  and  suc- 
cessful management. 

Mr.  Beeler  has  always  given  his  special  attention 
to  his  farm,  but  was  from  1863  to  1873  engaged  in 
the  milling  business,  in  connection  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Calvin  Fletcher.  They  owned  and  operated  a 
steam  grist-  and  saw-mill  near  Mr.  Beeler's  residence, 
at  what  is  now  Maywood,  doing  a  large  business  in 
flour  and  lumber,  their  flour  being  well  known,  and 
holding  a  high  reputation  in  home  and  eastern  mar- 
kets, but  in  consequence  of  the  distance  from  the  city 


and  consequent  expense  of  hauling,  and  the  great 
improvements  made  in  grist-mill  machinery,  it  was 
found  to  be  unprofitable  and  the  business  abandoned 
in  1873. 

Mr.  Beeler,  though  having  decided  views  on  the 
political  questions  which  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  country  since  he  has  been  old  enough  to  take 
an  interest  in  the  subject,  cannot  properly  be  con- 
sidered as  a  politician,  as  is  usually  understood  by 
that  term,  at  least  in  later  years. 

In  1850  he  was  nominated  by  the  Whig  County 
Convention  of  that  year  as  one  of  its  candidates  for 
the  Legislature,  but  was  defeated,  though  receiving 
the  full  vote  of  his  party.  He  was  one  of  the  nomi- 
nees of  the  Republican  party  for  the  same  position  in 
1868,  and  elected  and  served  through  the  regular 
and  special  sessions  of  that  somewhat  exciting  period  ; 
was  chairman  of  the  Committe  on  Agriculture,  be- 
sides being  on  a  number  of  other  committees,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  all  questions  relating  to  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  State,  as  well  as  to  the 
particular  interests  of  his  constituents.  He  intro- 
duced a  bill  for  the  appointment  of  a  State  geologist 
and  geological  survey  of  the  State,  which  became  a 
law  and  which  has  had  a  very  marked  influence  on 
the  development  of  the  coal-mining  and  quarrying 
interests  of  the  State.  He  was  again  nominated  in 
1870  and  elected,  and  served  through  the  session  of 
1871,  being  again  a  member  of  the  committee  on 
agriculture,  and  taking  an  active  part  in  its  delibera- 
tions, as  well  as  in  general  legislation.  During  each 
of  his  terms  in  the  Legislature,  he  introduced  and 
advocated  bills  for  a  homestead  law,  exempting  the 
same  from  sale  for  debt,  etc. ;  advocated  and  voted 
for  bills  increasing  allotment  to  widows  and  exemption 
to  debtors. 

Mr.  Beeler  has  always  given  much  attention  to  the 
raising  of  stock.  Some  fifteen  years  ago  he  had  a 
herd  of  thirty  to  forty  head  of  short-horn  cattle,  but 
on  going  more  extensively  into  dairying,  gradually 
gave  up  that  specialty.  He  keeps  about  one  hun- 
dred fine  Berkshire  swine,  and  a  flock  of  about  ninety 
Cotswold  sheep.  He  is  now,  and  has  been  for  four 
years,  president  of  the  Indiana  Wool-Growers'  Asso- 
ciation.     He   is   an   excellent   farmer,    and  has   the 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


661 


reputation  of  keeping  more  stock  in  proportion  to  the 
acreage  of  his  farm  than  any  other  man  in  the 
county. 

During  the  time  when  Mr.  Beeler  was  operating 
the  mill  at  Maywood  he  had,  on  one  occasion,  a  very 
exciting  and  unpleasant  experience,  in  being  the  vic- 
tim of  a  daring  highway  robbery.  At  twilight,  on 
an  evening  of  November,  1867,  as  he  was  returning 
home  from  Indianapolis  in  a  buggy,  with  his  little 
daughter,  nine  years  of  age,  after  having  crossed 
Eagle  Creek,  and  being  in  sight  of  his  house,  he  was 
suddenly  confronted  by  three  masked  men,  one  of 
whom  seized  the  horse  by  the  bridle,  while  the 
others  quickly  advanced,  one  on  each  side,  and  with 
cocked  revolvers  pointed  at  his  breast,  commanded 
him  to  deliver  up  his  money  and  valuables,  and  to  do 
it  quickly.  After  a  little  hesitation,  seeing  that  re- 
sistance was  hopeless,  he  handed  them  his  pocket- 
book  (containing  about  one  hundred  dollars)  and  a 
valuable  watch.  The  robbers,  having  satisfied  them- 
selves that  they  had  secured  all  of  value  that  he  had 
about  him,  allowed  him  to  pass  on,  the  ruflBan  at  the 
horse's  head  quitting  his  hold  of  the  bridle,  and  with 
a  theatrical  wave  of  the  hand  bidding  him  to  "  move 
up  lively." 

It  is  said  by  some  who  know  Mr.  Beeler  that, 
though  naturally  rather  slow  to  act,  he  is  fully  in 
earnest  when  aroused,  and  that  opinion  was  fully 
verified  in  this  case,  for  he  acted  with  such  prompt- 
ness and  energy  that  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours, 
he,  with  the  assistance  of  the  city  police,  had  secured 
the  arrest  of  two  of  the  robbers,  while  the  other  (a 
property-owner  in  Indianapolis)  had  fled  from  the 
county.  In  less  than  a  week  the  robber  who  had 
held  the  horse's  head  had  been  tried  and  sentenced 
to  eight  years  in  the  penitentiary.  A  friend  and 
accomplice  (though  not  one  of  the  three  who  robbed 
Mr.  Beeler)  had  falsely  sworn  an  alihi  for  the  one 
convicted,  and  in  less  than  another  week  he  was 
himself  on  the  way  to  the  penitentiary  under  an 
eight-years'  sentence  for  perjury.  The  other  arrested 
robber  had  a  father  who  was  possessed  of  considera- 
ble property,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  criminal 
fraternity  also  contributed  largely  towards  his  de- 
fense.    When    his    trial    came    on    (the  prosecuting 


attorney  who  conducted  the  proceedings  against  the 
other  robber  having  resigned  his  ofiBce)  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  case  devolved  on  a  young  lawyer  of  good 
talents,  but  little  experience,  and  thereupon  Mr. 
Beeler,  being  determined  that  the  villain  should  not 
escape  from  justice,  employed  at  his  own  expense  an 
eminent  and  experienced  lawyer  to  assist  the  prosecu- 
tion. After  a  protracted  trial,  in  which  there  was  a 
great  amount  of  false  swearing,  and  money  freely 
used  to  save  the  prisoner,  he  was  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced to  the  penitentiary  for  three  years  (the  verdict 
being  a  compromise  one,  some  of  the  jury  holding  out 
for  eight  years  and  others  being  for  acquittal).  This 
ruffian,  after  serving  out  his  term,  returned  to  Indian- 
apolis, and  a  short  time  afterwards  was  engaged  in 
the  attempted  robbery  of  a  farm-house,  in  which  he 
received  several  severe  wounds,  was  captured,  tried, 
and  sentenced  to  the  southern  prison  for  eight  years. 
Shortly  after  his  incarceration  there  he  became  the 
leader  in  an  attempt  by  a  number  of  convicts  to 
escape,  in  which  attempt  he  killed  one  of  the  guards, 
for  which  he  received  sentence  of  death,  but  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  new  trial,  which  resulted  in  a 
sentence  of  imprisonment  for  life  in  the  penitentiary. 
The  village  of  Mount  Jackson,  situated  on  the  east 
line  of  the  township,  had  its  origin  in  a  public-house 
built  by  W.  C.  Holmes  and  others,  about  1837,  on 
the  National  road,  at  that  point.  Adjoining  the 
place  were  the  lands  of  Obadiah  Harris  and  Nathaniel 
Bolton.  The  village  was  laid  out  by  Harris  and  Muir 
in  1838,  and  the  plat  recorded  October  27th  of  that 
year.  A  store  was  opened  by  Daniel  Hoover,  and 
another  by  Moore  &  Kempton.  The  buildings  of  the 
Asylum  for  the  Insane,  which  have  been  erected  just 
north  of  the  hamlet  of  Mount  Jackson,  are  more  fully 
mentioned  in  the  history  of  Indianapolis,  though  not 
within  the  city  limits. 

Clermont  village  is  situated  in  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Wayne  township,  on  both  sides  of  the  old 
Crawfordsville  road,  and  on  the  line  of  the  Indiana, 
Bloomington  and  Western  Railway,  which  runs 
along  the  south  side  of  the  town.  The  west  line 
of  the  county  is  the  western  boundary  of  the  village. 

The   town  plat — recorded  April  6,  1849 — shows 


662 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


that  it  was  laid  out,  as  "  Mechanicsburg,"  by  Percy 
Hosbrook,  on  land  owned  by  William  Speer.  The 
plat  embraced  about  seven  acres,  divided  into  nine- 
teen lots,  njost  of  them  being  sixty-four  by  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  feet  in  size,  fronting  on  the  one 
street  of  the  village, — the  Crawfordsville  road.  The 
name  of  the  town  was  soon  afterwards  changed  from 
Mechanicsburg  to  the  preseht  one  of  Clermont,  and 
two  additions  to  it  were  laid  out,  one  by  Mr.  Mar- 
tindale  (recorded  April  2,  1855)  and  one  by 
Ezekiel  Dill  (recorded  June  30,  in  the  same  year). 

There  was  a  little  settlement  at  this  place  before 
the  laying  out  of  the  village  of  Mechanicsburg,  and 
that  name  was  given  to  the  new  town  because  several 
of  those  who  first  located  there  were  engaged  in 
mechanical  vocations.  The  first  building  erected  on 
the  site  was  built  for  a  cooper-shop  by  Charles  W. 
Murray.  John  Larimore,  a  wagon-maker,  was  also 
located  there,  and  there  was  a  blacksmith-shop, 
owned  by  Ezekiel  Dill  and  John  W.  Smith.  The 
earliest  dwelling-houses  in  the  place  were  those  of 
Larimore,  Ezekiel  Dill,  John  W.  Smith,  Squire 
Smith,  William  R.  Smith,  George  Ballard,  James 
D.  Thompson,  G.  G.  Minnefee,  John  Ross,  James  P. 
Graham,  and  Charles  W.  Murray, — before  mentioned 
as  the  first  cooper.  He  was  the  owner  of  the  shop 
and  business  at  the  time  of  his  death,  though  in  the 
mean  time  it  had  passed  through  several  other  hands. 
It  now  belongs  to  Alfred  Parker.  The  Dill  black- 
smith-shop is  now  owned  by  John  Goldsborough, 
and  the  business  carried  on  by  Robert  H.  Miller. 
Another  (started  by  John  M.  Foreman  about  1870) 
is  now  owned  by  J.  N.  Johnson  and  carried  on  by 
Mr.  Erhart. 

The  first  stores  in  the  village  were  those  of  John 
Larimore  (where  the  post-oflBce  was  kept)  and  Sam- 
son Barbe,  whose  partner  in  the  business  was  James 

C.  Ross.      The  next   was    opened    by   Yohn, 

whose  partner  was  Robert  Taylor.  Yohn  sold  out 
his  interest  to  Taylor,  with  whom  Frank  Kennell 
became  partner  and  afterwards  sole  owner.  Another 
store  was  opened  by  John  T.  Turpin  and  Isaac  S. 
Long  about  1852.  This  went  through  several 
changes  of  proprietorship,  but  was  owned  by  Tur- 
pin at  the  time  of  his  death.     A  grocery  is  now  ■ 


kept    in    the    Turpin     store-house    by    William     L. 
McCray. 

A  saw-mill  was  put  in  operation  in  Clermont  in 
1860  by  James  P.  Graham,  who  removed  the  ma- 
chinery not  long  afterwards,  but  brought  it  back  to 
the  village.  It  was  never  very  successful,  however, 
and  was  again  and  finally  removed  in  or  about  1875. 
Another  saw-mill,  started  and  owned  by  Henry  Cal- 
vin, is  still  in  successful  operation. 

At  present  Clermont  is  a  village  of  two  hundred 
and  thirty  inhabitants,  containing  two  school-houses, 
one  graded  school,  three  churches,  viz.  :  the  Chris- 
tian (L.  H.  Jameson,  pastor),  Presbyterian  (Joseph 
Patton,  pastor),  and  the  Methodist  (G.  H.  Vought, 
pastor),  a  post-office  (J.  N.  Johnson,  postmaster), 
an  Odd-Fellows'  lodge,  three  general  stores  (dry- 
goods  and  groceries  combined),  kept,  respectively, 
by  J.  N.  Johnson  &  Bro.,  E.  V.  Johnson,  and  W.  T. 
McCray,  one  drug-store,  by  Dr.  W.  M.  Brown,  one 
saw-mill,  by  Henry  Calvin  (before  mentioned),  and 
several  mechanic  shops.  It  has  no  liquor-saloon  or 
drinking-place  of  any  kind.  A  dram-shop  was 
opened  in  the  place  some  twenty  years  ago,  but 
the  citizens  suppressed  the  traffic  and  forced  its 
abandonment.  Clermont  is,  and  has  ever  been, 
noted  for  the  orderly  conduct  and  sobriety  of  its 
people. 

Foster  Lodge,  No.  372,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was  insti- 
tuted June  22,  1871.  It  is  located  at  Clermont, 
where  a  hall  has  been  erected  for  its  use,  valued 
at  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  The  lodge  has  twelve 
Past  Grands,  and  an  active  membership  of  eighteen, 
with  the  following  officers:  John  B.  Miller,  N.  G. ; 
M.  V.  Norris,  V.  G. ;  R.  H.  Miller,  Sec. ;  David 
Wall,  Treas. ;  A.  F.  Smith,  Per.  Sec. 

Churches. — A  church  building  was  erected  by  the 
people  of  Clermont  and  vicinity  at  an  early  day  for 
the  free  occupancy  of  any  and  all  denominations  for 
religious  worship,  and  it  was  so  used  for  a  number  of 
years.  A  cemetery  was  laid  out  about  1850  on  land 
of  Isaac  S.  Long,  donated  to  the  public  use.  It  is  on 
the  north  side  of  the  town,  and  includes  about  one 
acre. 

The  first  church  organized  at  "  Old  Union"  was 
what  was  then  called  "  New   Lights,   or    Christian 


WAYNE   TOWNSHIP. 


663 


Body,"  about  the  year  1826,  under  the  labor  of 
Jesse  Frazier  and  Henry  Logan.  The  organiza- 
tion took  place  before  there  was  any  house  of  wor- 
ship erected.  Meetings  were  held  from  house  to 
house  until  for  want  of  room  they  erected  a  large 
shelter  covered  with  boards  put  on  cabin-fashion, 
with  knees  and  weight-poles,  so  that  the  boards 
might  be  used  in  covering  the  house  when  it  could 
be  built.  In  the  course  of  a  year  a  hewed-log  house 
was  erected,  about  thirty  feet  square,  with  a  gallery 
above. 

About  this  time  the  question  of  the  Reformation 
was  agitated,  and  most  of  the  members  fell  in  with 
the  new  idea  without  schism  or  division.  Hence  the 
Christian  Church  was  established,  with  the  following 
members :  Martin  and  Elizabeth  Martindale,  Jordan 
and  Barbara  Wright,  David  and  Jemima  Varner, 
John  and  Maria  Bamhill,  William  and  Nancy  Dodd, 
Joel  and  Catharine  Conarroe,  Sarah  Barnhill,  George 
Cossell,  Jes.se  and  Margaret  Frazier,  Caleb  and  Nancy 
Railsback,  Matthew  and  Sarah  Railsback,  Jesse  and 
Jane  Johnson,  Dorcas  Pugh,  and  Sarah  Jones. 

Klder  Jesse  Frazier  was  the  preacher  in  charge, 
with  other  preachers  from  time  to  time,  viz. :  Henry 
Logan,  James  McVey,  Andrew  Prater,  T.  Lockhart, 
J.  Matlock,  and  George  W.  Snoddy,  under  who.se 
labors  the  church  lived  together  in  harmony,  many 
being  added  thereto  from  time  to  time. 

About  the  year  1850  or  1851  a  new  frame  house, 
thirty  by  forty  feet,  was  built  on  the  same  ground 
occupied  by  the  former  log  structure,  in  which  the 
church  prospered  under  the  labors  of  Thomas  Lock- 
hart,  L.  H.  Jameson,  J.  L.  Rude,  and  others,  until 
the  division  took  place  on  account  of  the  agitation  of 
the  soul-sleeping  doctrine  introduced  by  J.  W.  By- 
waters,  J.  C.  Stephenson,  Nathan  Horniday,  and 
other  of  its  adherents,  they  remaining  in  the  house, 
while  those  opposed  to  that  doctrine  moved  their 
membership  to  Clermont,  and  were  instrumental  in 
building  a  free  church-house  in  which  all  denomina- 
tions might  worship,  and  in  which  the  Christian 
Church  was  again  organized,  Aug.  1,  1853,  having 
been  dedicated  by  Oliver  P.  Badger. 

The  church  was  organized  by  the  members  sub- 
scribing to  the  following :    "  We,  whose  names  are 


hereunto  subscribed,  in  order  to  form  a  congregation 
for  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  and  for  our  mutual 
edification  in  the  Christian  religion,  do  agree  to  unite 
together  in  church-fellowship,  taking  the  Bible  and 
the  Bible  alone  for  our  rule  of  faith  and  practice." 

J.  P.  Martindale  and  William  P.  Long  were  ap- 
pointed to  take  the  oversight  of  the  following  charter 
members :  Joel  and  Catharine  Conarroe,  Mary  J. 
Martindale,  Squire  and  Sarah  Smith,  Arnold  and 
Nancy  Call,  V.  J.  and  Susan  Brown,  Isaac  S.  and 
Sarah  V.  Long,  Mercy  Murry,  Sarah  D.  Long,  Re- 
becca David,  Gaten  and  Zerelda  Menifee,  Rodney 
and  Sarah  Gibbons,  Isaac  and  Eliza  Wiler,  John  and 
Maria  Barnhill. 

In  the  years  1865  and  1866  there  was  erected  a 
new  house  of  worship  by  the  Christian  Church,  a 
substantial  brick,  thirty-six  by  fifty-six  by  sixteen 
feet  story,  well  finished,  and  costing  about  three 
thousand  dollars.  The  church  was  dedicated  Aug. 
20,  1866,  by  Love  H.  Jameson,  who  has  done  more 
preaching  at  Clermont  than  any  other  man.  He  had 
been  preaching  for  the  church  the  past  year,  up  to 
the  time  of  his  leaving  on  his  Eastern  voyage,  as  he 
had  been  more  or  less  ever  since  the  first  organization 
at  Clermont,  though  there  have  been  many  others 
that  have  preached  for  the  church,  among  whom  we 
might  mention  the  names  of  0.  A.  Burgess,  Prof. 
S.  K.  Hoshour,  W.  R.  Jewell,  J.  C.  Canfield,  James 
Conner,  and  many  others. 

The  first  Sunday-school  in  Clermont  was  superin- 
tended by  Joseph  Patton,  a  Presbyterian,  and  was 
conducted  as  a  union  school,  in  which  all  denomina- 
tions took  part.  After  the  erection  of  the  free 
church  in  Clermont  the  Christian  Church  organized 
a  Sunday-school  in  the  year  1852,  and  ever  since 
that  time  there  has  been  a  school  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Christian  Church. 

At  present  the  school  numbers  about  seventy-five 
pupils,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  There  are 
other  schools  in  the  village,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  Churches. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Clermont  was 
organized  about  1849,  with  eight  or  ten  members, 
among  whom  were  J.  W.  Larimore,  William  K. 
Johnson,  James  D.  Johnson,  John  Ross,  William  R. 


664 


HISTORY  OF  INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION   COUNTY. 


Smith,  Jonathan  Bratton, Owens,  and  William 

Speer.  The  first  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Dr.  John  Ross.  Subsequent  meetings  were  held  at 
private  dwellings  until  the  erection  of  the  church 
(frame)   building    about    1850.     The    first  preacher 

was  the  Rev.   Heath,  among  whose  successors 

were  the  Revs.  McDonald,  Davy,  Mashaun,  Baker, 
Webster,  Lewis,  Ricker,  Demott,  McMannie,  Mahan, 
Hazelton,  and  G.  J.  Vought,  the  present  minister. 
The  church  has  now  a  membership  of  between  forty 
and  fifty,  and  there  is  connected  with  it  a  Sabbath- 
school,  which  was  started  by  Mr.  McDaniel,  at  about 
the  time  when  the  church  building  was  erected. 
The  present  superintendent  is  J.  T.  Jones,  and  the 
school  is  attended  by  nearly  one  hundred  pupils. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  at  Clermont  was  organ- 
ized under  charge  of  the  Rev.  George  Long,  and 
among  the  small  band  of  original  members  were 
John  Moore,  Martin  Warfel,  William  B.  McClelland, 
and  Joseph  Patton.  The  church  edifice  (a  frame 
building)  erected  about  1858  is  the  present  house  of 
worship  of  the  congregation.  The  church  has  now 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty  members,  under  pas- 
toral charge  of  Mr.  Patton. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Bridgeport 
was  organized  as  a  class  about  the  year  1832.  The 
first  meetings  were  held  at  the  houses  of  Aaron 
Homan,  Robert  Speer,  and  other  members,  and  after- 
wards in  the  school-house,  until  the  erection  (about 
1850)  of  their  meeting-house,  which  was  a  frame 
structure,  about  thirty  by  forty  feet  in  size.  One  of 
the  earliest  preachers  to  this  church  was  the  Rev. 
Asa  Beck,  who  was  exceedingly  earnest  and  enthu- 
siastic (and,  as  some  said,  violent)  in  his  preaching. 
After  him  came  the  circuit  preachers  Dorsey  and 
Smith.  The  present  pastor  of  the  church  is  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Switzer.  About  1844  a  burial-ground  was 
laid  out  in  connection  with  this  church,  but  after  a 
very  few  interments  had  been  made  the  ground  was 
abandoned  for  that  use. 

The  Maywood  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  dates 
its  class  organization  back  about  fifty  years,  at  which 
time  their  place  of  meeting  was  in  a  log  church 
building,  which  was  erected  on  land  of  Samuel  Dar- 
nell, one   of  the   most    prominent  of   the   members. 


After  a  time  this  old  building  was  given  up,  and  a 
new  frame  church  was  built,  about  three  hundred 
yards  north  of  the  old  site,  on  the  Darnell  land 
(which  had  in  the  mean  time  passed  to  the  owner- 
ship of  Charles  Robinson).  This  frame  church,  which 
was  sometimes  called  the  Robinson  Church,  was  lo- 
cated "about  two  miles  north  of  Maywood,  at  the 
crossing  of  Morris  Street  and  the  Maywood  road,  on 
the  southwest  corner.  This  church  building  was 
destroyed  by  fire  some  fifteen  years  ago,  and  about 
the  year  1875  the  present  church  at  Maywood  was 
erected  for  the  use  of  the  congregation.  The  re- 
moval to  Maywood,  and  the  erection  of  the  new 
church  building  there,  was  largely  due  to  the  enthu- 
siastic energy  and  perseverance  of  a  young  circuit 
preacher,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kelsey.  The  church  now 
numbers  about  fifty  members,  among  whom  are 
Charles  Robinson,  James  H.  Porter,  C.  S.  Hoover, 
Henry  Johnson,  David  Robinson,  Jesse  Wright,  and 
others  of  prominence. 

An  old  Baptist  Church  building,  erected  more  than 
half  a  century  ago  (one  of  the  first  frame  churches 
in  Marion  County),  is  still  standing  near  Mount  Jack- 
son, a  little  west  of  the  Insane  Asylum.  The  first 
church  organization  that  worshiped  here  included 
among  its  prominent  members  Israel,  Samuel,  and 
Ede  Harding,  with  others  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
that  vicinity.  The  organization  ceased  to  exist  many 
years  ago,  and  the  church  building  was  abandoned  as 
a  house  of  worship. 

The  Friends'  meeting-house  of  Bridgeport  is  a 
good  brick  building,  standing  about  a  half-mile  out 
from  the  village.  John  Furnas,  the  original  owner 
of  the  land  which  forms  the  town  site,  was  a  Quaker, 
and  most  of  the  first  inhabitants  of  Bridgeport  and 
its  vicinity  were  members  of  the  same  sect.  Samuel 
Spray,  James  Mills,  John  Johnson,  John  Owens, 
David  Mills,  Samuel  Starbuck,  Joseph,  Isaac,  and 
Robert  Furnas,  and  Asa,  Joel,  John,  and  David  Bal- 
lard were  all  prominent  men  in  the  Friends'  Meeting. 
The  first  meeting-house  of  the  society  at  this  place 
was  a  frame  building,  which,  after  some  years'  use, 
gave  place  to  the  present  brick  house.  A  burial- 
ground,  in  connection  with  the  church,  embraces 
about  a  half-acre,  donated  to  the  society  for  that  pur- 


Iilll!illlllil1llll|lii|itlllllllllllll!lllltlllllilllllllll 

JAMES    JOHNSON. 


WAYNE  TOWNSHIP. 


665 


pose  by  Samuel  Spray  at  about  the  time  of  the  erec- 
tion of  the  old  meeting-house.  The  principal  min- 
ister of  the  Friends  at  this  place  at  the  present  time 
is  Wilson  Spray. 

Scliools. — One  of  the  earliest  (and  said  to  be  the 
first)  of  the  school-houses  in  Wayne  township  was 
on  the  Daniel  Barnhill  farm,  near  the  farm  of  Asa 
B.  Strong.  Another  was  on  the  farm  of  William 
Gladden.  Both  these,  as  also  all  the  others  of  the 
earliest  school-houses,  were  merely  log  cabins,  built 
by  the  people  of  their  respective  neighborhoods, 
without  the  aid  of  any  public  funds  either  in  build- 
ing the  houses  or  supporting  the  schools.  The  Barn- 
hill  school-house,  above  mentioned,  was  built  in  the 
fall  of  1823,  and  in  it  the  first  teacher  was  George  L. 
Kinnard  (afterwards  a  member  of  Congress),  who 
taught  two  terms.  Following  him  were  several 
teachers,  among  whom  were  Hugh  Wells  and  John 
Tomlinson.  This  old  school-house  went  to  decay 
many  years  ago. 

There  is  an  old  log  building  still  standing  east  of 
Eagle  Creek  and  about  a  half-mile  north  of  the 
Crawfordsville  road,  which  was  erected  for  a  school- 
house  in  1824  by  Isaac  Pugh  and  others,  and  which 
was  the  only  place  of  education  in  that  part  of  the 
township.  One  of  the  earliest  teachers  in  it  (and 
believed  to  be  the  first)  was  a  man  named  Barker. 
A  few  years  later  a  school  was  taught  there  by 
George  Sanders.  The  old  building  was  used  as  a 
school-house  until  about  1847,  and  then  abandoned 
for  that  use. 

Another  log  school-house,  built  by  the  people  of 
the  neighborhood  in  the  same  manner  and  at  about 
the  same  time  as  that  above  mentioned,  was  located 
on  the  John  T.  Presley  farm.  Like  the  other  early 
school-houses,  it  had  logs  cut  out  for  window-spaces 
and  these  covered  with  greased  paper.  The  floor, 
seats,  and  writing-bench  for  pupils  were  made  of 
puncheons, — that  is,  split  logs  hewed  tolerably  smooth 
on  the  split  side.  Mr.  Barker  also  taught  in  this 
house,  and  Kobert  G.  Hanna  was  a  teacher  there 
about  1826-27.  It  was  used  as  a  school-house  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  was  abandoned 
about  1847. 

A  school-house,  built  about  1834,  was  situated  on 
43 


the  turnpike  near  the  Crawfordsville  road.  It  was 
a  log  building,  of  the  same  style  outside  and  inside 
as  the  others  mentioned.  The  first  teacher  in  this 
building  was  Freeborn  Garretson,  who  was  followed 
by  Joseph  Darby,  who  taught  from  about  1838  till 

1841,  when  the  building  was  abandoned  and  demol- 
ished. 

In  Bridgeport  a  school-house  was  built  at  about 
the  time  of  the  laying  out  of  the  town  by  S.  K. 
Barlow.     This  was  used  for   school  purposes  until 

1842,  when  a  brick  house  was  built  by  subscription, 
and  schools  were  maintained  in  it  also  by  subscrip- 
tion until  the  inauguration  of  the  county  system  of 
schools. 

Wayne  township  has  now  eighteen  school  districts 
and  the  same  number  of  school-houses,  ten  frame  and 
eight  brick.  The  schools  taught  in  these  include 
four  graded  and  two  colored  schools.  The  number 
of  teachers  employed  in  1883  was  twenty-two  white 
(thirteen  male  and  nine  female)  and  two  colored 
teachers.  The  average  length  of  school  terms  was 
one  hundred  and  forty  days.  Total  average  attend- 
ance, five  hundred.  Six  teachers'  institutes  were 
held  in  the  township  during  the  year.  Value  of 
school-houses  and  sites  in  the  township,  twenty-two 
thousand  dollars ;  value  of  school  apparatus,  three 
hundred  dollars ;  number  of  children  admitted  to 
schools  in  Wayne  in  1883:  white  male,  four  hundred 
and  twenty-three ;  white  females,  three  hundred  and 
forty-one  ;  colored  males,  thirty-one ;  colored  females, 
forty-two ;  total,  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


JAMES  JOHNSON. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  a  native  of  Grayson  County, 
Va.,  from  whence  he  early  removed  to  Butler 
County,  Ohio,  and  to  Indianapolis  on  the  11th  of 
March,  1823,  his  first  home  being  a  hewed  log 
house  on  the  present  Market  Street.  Mr.  Johnson's 
own  account  of  his  experience  as  a  pioneer  conveys  a 
graphic  idea  of  the  privations  and  hardships  of  the 
early  settler : 

"  I  then  made  another  wheelbarrow  trip  to  an  old 


666 


HISTORY   OF   INDIANAPOLIS   AND   MARION    COUNTY. 


frame  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  New  Jersey 
Streets.  In  this  old  shell  I  wintered  and  served  a 
regular  apprenticeship  to  the  chills  and  fever,  shaking 
sometimes  three  times  a  day,  and  sometimes  only  once 
in  three  days.  I  moved  to  a  cabin  I  built  on  the 
farm  [which  was  his  home  during  his  life,  five  miles 
from  the  city  on  the  Crawfordsville  road]  on  the  15th 
of  March,  1824,  without  its  being  chinked  or  daubed, 
or  loft  or  floor  being  in  it,  having  only  a  door,  but  no 
shutter,  and  fireplace  cut  out  and  built  up  of  wood  as 
high  as  the  mantel  log.  In  this  situation  I  com- 
menced trying  to  make  a  farm,  ague  still  visiting  me 
now  and  then.  I  was  there  in  the  woods,  and  not 
very  well  situated,  without  a  horse  or  anything  of 
consequence,  except  a  very  good  cow  with  horns, 
and  a  dog  which  had  a  disease  called  the  sloes.  But 
I  succeeded  that  spring  in  clearing  out  about  three 
acres  of  ground  and  fencing  it,  cutting  and  splitting 
the  rails  and  carrying  them  on  my  shoulder  to  make 
my  fence.  I  got  my  corn  planted  on  the  15th  of 
June,  1824.  I  succeeded,  with  the  help  of  a  neigh- 
bor and  his  horse  to  do  the  plowing,  in  raising  a  crop 
of  fodder  and  some  sound  corn,  of  which  I  used  a 
part  for  bread.  In  the  mean  time  I  had  to  carry  my 
meal  from  Indianapolis  on  my  shoulder,  having  made 
a  small  crop  of  corn  the  year  before  on  the  donation 
land,  and  what  is  now  known  as  Blackwood's  addi- 
tion to  Indianapolis.  Whenever  we  wanted  a  gri.st 
of  meal  I  would  go  over  to  town,  shell  the  corn,  and 
take  it  to  old  Mr.  Isaac  Wilson's  mill  on  Fall  Creek, 
get  it  ground,  shoulder  it  up  and  start  for  home, 
wade  White  River,  and  make  the  trip  with  about  one 
bushel  of  meal,  which  would  generally  last  us  about 
four  weeks." 

And  he  adds:  "  In  the  fall  of  the  year  1824  my 
father  died,  and  at  the  sale  of  his  personal  property 
I  bought  an  old  horse  and  his  blacksmith  tools. 
Being  rather  handy  with  tools,  I  soon  learned  the 
blacksmithing  business,  so  as  to  do  the  work  of  some 
of  my  neighbors.  In  fact,  I  was  not  very  particular 
whether  it  was  iron-  or  wood-work  they  wanted,  I 
could  turn  my  hand  to  anything.     I  did  dress  out  the 


guns,  mend  the  locks,  shoe  the  horses,  sharpen  tlie 
plows,  repair  the  old  wagons,  and  make  and  mend 
shoes  for  the  neighbors,  and  so  in  this  way  I  have 
been  able  to  get  along  a  part  of  my  time,  always 
ready  to  take  hold  of  any  work  that  was  proper  to  be 
done,  and  if  I  could  not  get  the  largest  price  for  my 
work  I  would  take  what  I  could  get." 

Mr.  Johnson  for  fifty  years  was  identified  with  the 
advancement  and  prosperity  of  Indianapolis  and  the' 
county  adjacent.  He  began  life  without  the  usual: 
aids  to  success,  but  developed  in  his  business  career 
those  qualities  which  made  prosperity  almost  a  cer- 
tainty, and  enabled  him  to  acquire  a  competence, 
He  possessed  untiring  energy,  and  believed  that  ond 
of  the  aids  not  only  to  afiluence  but  to  happiness 
was  constant  employment.  He  was,  therefore,  never 
idle,  and  always  profitably  employed.  He  was  in  hiB 
political  faith  a  Democrat,  and  during  his  life  identi- 
fied with  that  party,  always  manifesting  great  intel- 
ligence and  decided  convictions  on  questions  of  public 
policy.  He  was  a  man  of  strict  probity  in  all  business 
and  social  relations,  and  faithful  to  every  trust  con- 
fided in  him.  He  was  honored  with  many  ofiicial  posi- 
tions during  his  lifetime,  being  for  eleven  ye^rs 
justice  of  the  peace  for  Wayne  township,  one  of  the 
superintendents  appointed  by  the  government  for  the 
construction  of  the  National  pike,  sheriff  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  deputy  marshal  under  Hon.  Jesse 
D.  Bright,  member  of  the  State  Legislature  for  the 
years  1838  and  1839,  and  Presidential  elector.  His 
home  relations  were  always  foremost  in  his  thoughts. 
Whether  as  son,  husband,  or  father,  he  was  equally 
tender  and  affectionate.  Mr.  Johnson  was  married 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  to  Miss  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Catherine  Snively.  Their  children  are 
Catherine  (Mrs.  W.  C.  Holmes),  Mary  E.  (Mrs. 
W.  R.  Hogshire),  John,  James,  Jesse,  and  Isaac, 
now  living,  and  Samuel,  Sarah,  and  Heni'y,  de- 
ceased. He  was  a  second  time  married,  to  Annie 
Heath  Branham,  of  Madison,  Ind.  The  death  of 
Mr.  Johnson  occurred  on  the  16th  of  May,  1832,  in 
his  eighty-first  year. 


11