USA > Indiana > Noble County > Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 1
USA > Indiana > LaGrange County > Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 1
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GENEALOGY 977.201 L13C
M. L
REFERENCE
JEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01800 7176
GENEALOGY 977.201 L13C
COUNTIES --
OF
LA GRANGE
AND
NOBLE,
INDIANA.
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL,
ILLUSTRATED.
r 977.279 C 83
CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1882.
ulver age.moyne !!
PRINTERS 18 &120 MONROE ST C
CHICAGO
1427967
PREFACE.
T HIS volume goes forth to our patrons the result of months of arduous, unremitting and conscientious labor. None so well know as those who have been associated with us the almost insurmountable difficulties to be met with in the preparation of a work of this character. Since the inauguration of the enterprise, nearly one year ago, a large force have been employed-both local and others-in gathering material. During this time, upward of three thousand persons have been called upon in the two counties, to contribute from their recollections, carefully preserved letters, scraps of manuscript, printed fragments, memoranda, etc. Public records and semi-official documents have been searched, the newspaper files of the counties have been overhauled, and former citizens, now living out of the counties, have been corresponded with, all for the purpose of making the record as complete as could be, and for the verification of the information by a conference with many. In gathering from these numerous sources, both for the historical and biographical departments, the conflicting statements, the discrepancies and the fallible and incomplete nature of public documents were almost appalling to our historians and biog- raphers, who were expected to weave therefrom with any degree of accuracy, in panoramic review, a record of events. Members of the same families disagree as to the spelling of the family name, contradict each other's statements as to dates of births, of settlement in the county, nativity and other matters of fact. In this entangled condition, we have given preference to the preponderance of authority, and while we acknowledge the existence of errors and our inability to furnish a perfect history, we claim to have come up to the standard of our promises, and given as complete and accurate a work as the nature of the sur- roundings would permit. Whatever may be the verdict of those who do not and will not comprehend the difficulties to be met with, we feel assured that all just and thoughtful people will appreciate our efforts, and recognize the impor- tance of the undertaking and the great public benefit that has been accomplished in preserving the valuable historical matter of the county and biographies of many of its citizens, that perhaps would otherwise have passed into oblivion. To those who have given us their support and encouragement, and they are many, we acknowledge our gratitude, and can assure them that as years go by the book will grow in value as a repository not only of pleasing reading matter, but of treasured information of the past, that becomes a monument more en- during than marble.
MAY, 1882.
THE PUBLISHERS.
1
gim.
ـامــ
CONTENTS.
PART I .- HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
Agricultural Society. 20
Census Returns .. 21
Fauna .... 17
Geological Formation 14, 25
Indians, Early
17
Lakes 13
Mastodon Remains 15 28
Mound-Builders.
Physical Features. 11
Resources. 16
Rivers and Creeks
12
Statistics.
21
White Men, The First
11
CHAPTER II.
Annual Expenditures. 57 Congressional Representation 57 County Commissioners, First. 32 County Officers, The First. 55
Courts, The First ..
33
Elections, Presidential. 54 Lawyers, Early. 46 Murder Trial, The First. 36 Organization of County. 32
Physicians, Early 47
Public Buildings ...
37
Senators and Representatives
56
Valuation and Taxation 58
CHAPTER III.
Churches, Early. 66 Fourierism 68 Insurance, Home. 80
Newspaper History. 76
Post Offices. 65 Preaching, The First. 66 Wright's Corners. .161 Railroads .. 64 Regulators and Rangers. CHAPTER 1X. 87 Roads and Routes. 62 VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP. 172 Schools and Education 73 School Statistics. 74 Secret Societies 79
CHAPTER IV.
Call for Troops, First ×4 Companies and Campaigns 101 Draft, The ... 95 Roll of Honor. .103 Soldiers, Early 83,110 Soldiers of the Late War. 84
Township Histories. CHAPTER V.
TOWN OF LA GRANGE. 111
Buildings, Progress of. 113 Business Enterprises .. 115, 119
Educational .. 120
Original Grant of Site. 112
Physicians, The First ..
114
Plat of Town
111
Secret Societies.
116
CHAPTER VI. PAGE.
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP.
126
Boundaries and Features.
126
Bloomfield Village ..
133
Burlington Village
132
Civil Officers, First ..
.132
Church History
.133
Hill's Corners.
133
Industries, Early.
.131
Inhabitants, The First 129
Marriage, First.
132
School Interests
133
CHAPTER VII.
LIMA TOWNSHIP 135
Churches aud Pastors ..
.152
Hotels, Postmasters, Physicians142
Industries.
.142
Indians.
.137
La Grange Bank 145
La Grange Collegiate Institute.150
Land Entries.
139
Merchants of Lima
140
Early Settlers
155
Schools and Teachers.
167
Traders, Early ..
156
Valentine Village.
.161
Wolcottville.
162
Van Buren Village.
183
CHAPTER X.
EDEN TOWNSHIP
185
Birth, First. .191 Civil Officers .. 189 Church Organizations. .192
Haw Patch Center
.195
Presidential Election 191 Regulators, The 191
School Organizations .. 193
Sycamore Literary Society
.194
Settlers, First.
185
Trades and Industries
194
CHAPTER XI.
PAGE.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP ..
.196
Church Organizations.
208
First Settler.
.196
Gage and Langdon War.
197
Harrison Campaign ...
202
Industries, Early
.201
Mongoquinong
196,203
Organization of Township .... .. 203
Schoolhouses.
207
Springfield Village ..
204
Settlers, Early
.198
Trade, Early,
196
Union Hall.
209
CHAPTER XII.
CLEARSPRING TOWNSHIP. 210
Civil Officere.
214
Churches
219
Mills, Early
212
Organization of Township
.214
Patrons of Husbandry.
217
Removal of Indians ...
213
Ontario Village
145
Roads.
218
Schools ...
218
Settlers, Fint ..
210
CHAPTER XIII.
GREENFIELD TOWNSHIP. 220
Birth, First.
229
Churches.
231
Industries, First ..
225
Lexington Village.
.226
Origin of Name
225
Schools
229
Settlers, First ..
222
Vistula Village
.226
CHAPTER XIV.
NEWBURY TOWNSHIP.
233
Amish Settlement.
240
Civil Officers.
239
Churches
.241
Justices of the l'eace
239
Lakes and Rivers
233
Mill, The First.
.234
Organization of Township. .. 233
Pashan Post Office.
241
Schoolhonses
236
Settlers, The Early.
234
Trading.
236
CHAPTER XV.
MILFORD TOWNSHIP 242
Churches and Pastors.
254
Hunting Experiences.
246
Mills, The Early ..
.252
Mud Corners Village
252
Organization (f Township. .245
Pioneers, The.
242
Regulators, The
248
Schools.
253
South Milford Village.
252
Underground Railroad
.. 248
Pioneers.
135
Schoolhouses, etc ..
148
CHAPTER VIII.
JOHNSON TOWNSHIP.
155
Churches and Pastors 170
Addie Dwight Tragedy.
.180
Burial Grounds
177
Business of Village ..
183
Churches.
179
Early Settlers.
174
Roads.
174
Schools and Teachers .... 179
Surface Features ..
172
Physicians, Early.
191
Churches and Pastors
122
Organization of Township. .188 Physical Features. 185 Ceme eries .125
Creation of Township. 156
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVI. PAGE.
CLAY TOWNSHIP
.. 255
Greenfield Township. .. 388
Johnson Township. 326 Holsinger, John. .127
Churches.
264
Lima Township ... 310
Milford Township. 408 Kent, Orvin. 199
Newbury Township. .400 Kent, Mrs. Orvin .205
Springfield Township ... 362 Mills, Jacob. 159
Van Buren Township. 343
Portraits.
Blackmun, A ... 59
Bradford, Samuel P
29
Calahan, Ami
175
Case, Zopher
165
Cochran, Charles.
249
Crane, S. D ... 137
Dancer, Dr. John. 107
Davis, Hezekiah
233 | Jail, La Grange County .. 49
PART II .- HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
Geology
5
Indian History. 19
Indian Mounds. 11
Lakes and Ponds 9
Meteorology
10
Topography
9
CHAPTER II.
A Child's Mysterious Disappearance 38
Birth, The First
54
Churches, The Early. 54
County Buildings. 42
County Census
39
County Officer -...
44
County Organization .. 27
County Seats. 41
Judiciary, The ..
47
Land Entries, The Early 28
Marriage, The First. 54
Members of the Bar 48
Physicians, The First. 53
Poor, The County ....
43
Post Office, The First.
57
Settlement, The First. 27 High School. .150
State Canal.
32
Suffering in 1838 ... $1
Thieves and Counterfeiters 33
Valuation and Taxes
4(
CHAPTER III.
Agricultural and Historical Society 62 Early Roads and Routes. 57
Execution of McDougal. 72
Journals and Journalists. 74
Rochester Village.
163
Newspaper, The First.
74
Outlaws and Criminals 63
Saw-Mills, The First
163
Railroads.
60
Regulators, The.
69
CHAPTER IV.
Career of Regiments .. 107
Business Men, The Early 170 Death of Lincoln. 106
Draft Statistics. 99
Fall of Sumter. 89
Republican Convention of 1864 .104
Roll of Honor .110
Soldiers of Early Wars. 87
War Meetings and Speeches. 89
War Statistics 115
Township Histories. CHAPTER V.
CITY OF KENDALLVILLE .... .116
Business Development.
.120
Church Organizations. 130
PAGE.
Conflagrations.
.123
Election, The First.
122
Incorporation ...
122
Origin of Name. 120
Railroad Subscription. 124 Sermons and Churches .... 187
Schoolhouses.
129
Settlement, The First .. .119
CHAPTER VI.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
134
Birth, The First ..
139
Churches
142
Log Rolling and Whisky
139
Mills, The Early.
140
Scarcity of Cash
141
Schoolhouses.
141
197
Rome City ..
198
Water Power at Rome. 202
CHAPTER XII.
ALLEN TOWNSHIP.
208
Avilla's First House 214
Churches, The Early.
217
Deaths, The Early.
211
Election, The First.
211
Franciscan Convent. 218
Hunting Reminiscences. .. 214 Incorporation of Avilla. 216
Industries and Improvements .. 212
Marriage, The First.
211
Roll of Early Settlers. 208
Schoolhouse, The First.
268
Underground Railroad.
216
White Settler, The First. 208
CHAPTER XIII.
ELKHART TOWNSHIP ..
221
Early Settlers, List of. 223
Pittsburg Village
225
Religious Development.
228
Schools and Teachers.
227
Church Societies.
180
Settlers, the First.
.221
Early Land Entries .. 168
Incorporation 176
Plat of the Town 169
Schools 177
Secret Orders 175
Table of Fires ..
182
Town Funding Bonds. 179
CHAPTER X.
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 183
Agricultural Features .192 Banks. 123 Burial Grounds ... 193 Roll of Settlers ... 231
Death, The First.
193
Schools and Teachers. 237
Indian Mounds ..
.191
Sparta Village ..
235
PAGE.
Mills and Milling.
186
Pioneer Life 184
Population .. 191
Schools and Teachers.
187
Towoship Organization. .186
Township Pioneers .... 183
CHAPTER XI.
ORANGE TOWNSHIP
194
Brimfield Village 203
Church Organizations. 04
Island Park Assembly.
206
Land Owners, The Early 194
Mills, The Early
196
Northport Village ...
Settlers, The First 135 Judicial Execution. 34
CHAPTER VII.
TOWN OF LIGONIER ..
145
Building and Loan Association .. 148
Church Organizations. 153
Destructive Fire 148
Early Development. 146
Interesting Statistics. 157
Reviva's 156
School Buildings.
148
Sons of Temperance ..
147
Town Plat ..
145
CHAPTER VIII.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
161
Bourie's Reminiscences ... .164
First Election. 162
Roll of Settlers.
161
Schools and Churches.
.167
CHAPTER IX.
TOWN OF ALBION ...
168
PAGE.
Davis, Mrs. Hezekiah. .237
Goodsell, Mynott ...... 243
Appalling Accident
264
Birth, The First.
256
La Grange, Town of.
267
Hooley, Chris ....
215
Destructive Fire ...
.263
Early Schools.
259, 260, 265
Justices of the Peace
Mill, The First. 255
Murder
264
Schoolhouses.
265
Sickly Season.
259
Settlers, The First ..
256, 259
Trade and Industry.
.263
Biographical Sketches.
Bloomfield Township ........ ... 293 Clay Township. .......... 425
Clearspring Township ... .. 379
Peck, Burton ...
69
Rerick, Dr. J. H.
221
Shepardson, Samuel
39
Sidener, Nicholas .. 181.
Strickland, Matthew 257
Taylor, O. B ..
87
Wildman, L. L ...
97
Views.
Court House, La Grauge County .... 19
Springfield Village ..
.225
Wawaka Village ..
.226
CHAPTER XIV.
SPARTA TOWNSHIP.
231
Church Organizations. 241
Cromwell Village .. 236
Election, First.
233
Mills and Kilns 234
Pioneer Experiences. 232
Hopkins, Fleming ..
227
Niman, Dr. J. P
117
.. 266
PAGE.
Eden Township. 355
vii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV. PAGE.
NOBLE TOWNSHIP ... .242
Church Societies 253 Indians .... 245 Milling Enterprises 245
Nobleville City.
251
Roll of Pioneers ..
243
Schools and Teachers
.252
White Settler, First
242
Wolf Lake Village ..
247
CHAPTER XVI.
YORK TOWNSHIP. 254
Augusta Village 258 Catalogue of Settlers .. .255
Election, First ... .256
Lite in the Wilderness. .256
Mills, First. .. 255
Pioneers, The ... 254
Port Mitchell Village. 262 Schools and Teachers. 263
Van Buren Village.
258
CHAPTER XVII.
GREEN TOWNSHIP. .266
" Canalers," The 271 Ligonier, Town of. 332
Fatal Casualty. 271 Noble Township ... .457 Orange Township .399 Voris, W. N .. 289
Hunting Experiences.
267
Mills and Trade.
272
Religious Societies.
276
Schools and Tutors ..
.273
Settlers, First ..
266
CHAPTER XVIII.
SWAN TOWNSHIP ..
277
Early Settlement.
.277
First Election.
.281
First Preaching.
285
Hunting Exploits.
278
La Otto Village
284
PAGE.
Marriage, First .. .282
Schools and Teachers. .. 286
Swan Village 283 Fisher, Eden H. 199
Foster, Jehu .. 184
Gerber, E. B 151
Hall, William J. 321
Hall, Lucinda .. 322
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 287 Bears and Other Beasts .291 Keehn, George. 165 Birth, First. 288 Kimmell, Orlando 65 Election, First. 288 Kiser, Jacob ... 234
Fish Stories. 292 Kiser, William S 173
Marriage and Death, First. 288 Lang, Julius .... 75
Religious Societies.
294
Lash, James J.
178
Roop and Other Pioneers .. .287 Mitchell, John. 117
Schools. .. 293 Ott, Abraham 249
Biographical Sketches.
Albion, Town of 363
Allen Township .. .415
Elkhart Township. .437
Green Township ... 478
Jefferson Township. .381
Kendallville, City of. .. 297 Teal, Norman .. 125
Tousley, Hiram S. 25 Vanderford, Joel. 95 Vanderford, Mrs. Joel. 101
Perry Township .. 354
Sparta Township. .450 Walker, John 259
Swan Township
489
Weston, Thomas B
137
Washington Township. .499 Weston, Catherine 143
Wayne Towuship.
.319
Wolf, Jacob ..
159
York Township. .467
Portraits.
Alvord, Samuel. 35
Bowman, John .. 45
Bowman, Mrs. Mary 55
Infirmary, Noble County ............. 279
Jail, Noble County.
.. 209
Calbeck, Joseph 230
PAGE.
Clapp, William M 16
Earnhart, John ... 239
Trade and Traffic
282
CHAPTER XIX.
Saw-Mill, First .291
Mitchell, William 85
Ott, George.
276 Pancake, John ..
.220 Prentiss, Nelson. 8 Reed, L. N 131
Shifaly, John. 327 Singrey, John A .189 Stanley, H. C ... 269
Stewart, James C 244
Zimmerman, John. 224
Views.
Court House, Noble County ........... 4
ADDENDUM .- Mr. J. M. Weaver, father of Charles E. Weaver, Clay Township, was born in Richland Co., Ohio, in 1827. Mrs. Mary A. (Charles) Weaver was born in Mifflin, Ashland Co., Ohio, in 1831. (See page 441, Part I.)
٠٣٠٠٠
PART I.
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
BY J. H. RERICK, M. D.
PHYSICAL FEATURES-ECONOMIC QUESTIONS - GEOLOGY-AGRICULTURE-THE COUNTY LAKES-THE DRIFT DEPOSIT-BONES OF THE MASTODON-THE IN- DIANS AND THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THE COUNTY FAIR-PRINCIPAL AGRI- CULTURAL PRODUCTIONS-COUNTY CENSUS OF 1880.
T THE history of the white man in Northern Indiana opens at an Indian village at the head-waters of the Maumee River, Kekionga, now the city of Fort Wayne, about the year 1676. The Indian tradition is that one of the mission- aries from St. Joseph, on Lake Michigan, came to Kekionga about that time. The route of this Frenchman, in all probability, was up the St. Joseph River to points where are now White Pigeon, or Three Rivers, and thence across the country to Kekionga. If he took this, his most convenient route, he passed through the territory now embraced in La Grange County, and was, in all prob- ability, the first white man to tread its soil. The famous La Salle followed him about four years after going there, over the same route. This theory being true, a messenger of peace and good will was the first herald of American civilization to tread the soil of Northeastern Indiana. A good harbinger, truly, and as true in prophetic significance as good in character ! A French fort was erected at Kekionga in 1705, and the place was occupied as a military post successively by French, English and Americans until 1819, when the settlements had so in- creased and the Indians become so peaceable that the military were moved fur- ther West. It is not improbable that during this interval of over 150 years, white men, either missionary, trader or hunter, wandered through the forests of La Grange.
In the allotment of territory to the counties of the northeast, La Grange County, being on the outside, has been crowded to the Michigan line, and consequently has hardly three full tiers of Congressional Townships. The county might have been much more extensive to the north had the Indiana boundary line been so located as to include territory in the same liberal man-
A
12
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
ner in which Ohio arranged its boundaries. But this was not done, and it was a hard fight to keep what there is of La Grange County, when, in 1834, Michigan demanded a " rectification of her frontier." She asked a strip ten miles wide off of Northern Indiana, but was ultimately satisfied by the cession to her of the Northern Peninsula, the Lake Superior Region. The south- ern and middle townships have been organized and named with the boundaries as fixed by the United States survey for Congressional Townships. But the upper tier, being cut down by the State boundary line to a width of only four miles and two-thirds, has been divided into but three townships. Beginning at the northeast, these are Greenfield, Lima and Van Buren, the first and last nine miles in length, and the second, the richest in the county, but six miles in length. The middle tier of townships follow in the usual order of description from west to east, Newbury, Clay, Bloomfield, Springfield ; and the southern tier, Milford, Johnson, Clearspring, and lastly Eden.
Thus the 384 square miles of territory are divided into eleven civil town- ships. The county takes its name from the country residence of the distin- guished Frenchman so dear to Americans, La Fayette; and of the townships, three are given personal names, three borrow a geographical title, four are named appropriately, and Eden belongs to the latter class, according to the best authorities.
Let the reader suppose himself upon an elevation-which, however, is a severe task for the imagination in Northern Indiana-rather let him fancy a position in a comfortable balloon at such a height above La Grange, the center of the county, as to sweep the whole county and obtain a comprehensive view of its 256,000 "broad acres. " The surface is nearly level-for miles on the prai- ries of Lima and in Greenfield it is perfectly so. In Bloomfield, the rolling country reaches enough of an elevation at one place to receive the name of the "Knobs." In western Clay there is a beautiful mingling of lowlands and wooded hills, and away in the northwest a group of blue, white sand-ringed lakes lie among the bluffs, which sink away into the prairies of Michigan.
The prairies have an attractiveness of their own, the broken land has its variety, and altogether there is a diversity and beauty in the landscape.
The only considerable stream is Pigeon River, which flows through the county northwesterly, and receives most of the creeks which arise in its limits. The most important of these are Turkey Creek in Milford and Springfield, Fly Creek in the central part, and in the west Buck Creek and Shipshewana, all of them inconsiderable and threatening not to " flow on forever." The south and southwest are drained into the Elkhart River, the main branch of which has its head-waters in Johnson Township. The Little Elkhart rises in the marshes of the west. But all these streams are tributaries of the St. Joseph, which car- ries their waters to Lake Michigan. In each township of the north another stream, Crooked Creek, runs down into the county and back again into Michi- gan ; in Van Buren Township, forming the " Island."
13
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
From this it will be seen that the county lies wholly within the St. Lawrence basin. But a tributary of the Wabash, marking the edge of the Mississippi basin, rises within three miles of the southeast corner of the county, so that it is very near the water-shed of these two great systems. The altitude of the county is on an average over nine hundred feet above the level of the ocean, and four hundred above Lake Erie. The altitude of the Grand Rapids & Indi- ana Railway is 959 feet at Wolcottville ; at Valentine, 973; La Grange, 927 ; Lima, 897 ; State line, 889. The altitude in the southeast is a little over 1,000 feet above the sea. In the northwest, on the low lands, the altitude is 800 feet approximately. As the highest point in the State has an altitude of only 1,233 feet, it will be seen that La Grange is " near the top." There is no higher land in Northern Indiana except the " divides " of Noble and Steuben Counties, which exceed it by but a few feet.
The lakes, of which there are thirty-five, of all areas, from two or three to 500 or 600 acres, are the most attractive natural features of the county. On the prairie land of the north, there are comparatively few, but these are the finest small bodies of water in the region. We refer to Wall, Cedar, Twin and Stone Lakes, which mark the boundary lines of the three northern townships. South of these, to the west, the only lake of any importance is Shipshewana, the largest of those finding an outlet in Pigeon River. No lakes of more than forty acres lie wholly in Clay, Eden and Clearspring. Bloomfield has one grassy sheet of water, Fish Lake. Springfield has three similar bodies, and shares Grass Lake with Greenfield. A large group of lakes in Milford forms the source of Turkey Creek. A portion of Turkey Lake lies in this township, Little Turkey Lake, Pretty Lake, of some 300 acres, and Long Lake, two miles long and one-half mile broad. Lake of the Woods is the other large lake in this group. Blackmun Lake, in Milford, is the first of the large group which makes Johnson emphatically the lake township. These are, except Sloan Lake in the north, drained into the Elkhart River. Oliver Lake, with its appendages Olen Lake, is the most considerable body of water in the county, covering over six hundred acres. Adams Lake has an area of about three hundred and twenty acres. Atwood Lake covers about two hundred and fifty acres, while the long, narrow stretch of water, some three miles long, called Witmer, West- ler, Third and Dallas Lakes, occupies several hundred acres. Still another small lake, Nauvoo, lies east of Wolcottville.
All of these picturesque little lakes, if joined together, would only form & water area of about seven square miles, but scattered about as they are, with beautiful natural surroundings, and filled with fish, such as bass, pickerel, perch, sunfish, catfish, and the resort of innumerable feathered game, they are of great value, and a source of much recreation. Many of the lakes, however, are becoming depopulated of their finny habitants, and every disciple of gentle Isaac Walton should urge some measure to restore their former attractiveness in this respect. The lakes are mainly found in the higher lands and not sur-
14
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
rounded with marshy land to a great extent. But a much greater area is occu- pied with swamps and marshes. In the western townships, Van Buren, New- bury, Eden, Clay and Clearspring, are found most of the wet lands. The most extensive of these huge deposits of muck and decaying vegetable matter, are Hobbs' Marsh and Big Marsh, a chain of bogs, swamp, little lakes and rivu- lets, extending through Clay and Van Buren, and lying between the rolling country south and the level lands to the north. But the largest marshes are in south Newbury and Eden, along the branches of the Little Elkhart. One of these is drained by a large ditch some three miles in length. Scores of miles of ditches have been cut, under the State laws, during the last few years, and large tracts of land, seemingly irreclaimable, have been brought under the yoke-of oxen and the plow. Another decade will witness still greater improvements in this respeet.
A more pleasing feature of the landscape are the prairies. Of these, Greenfield rejoices in two, covering about twelve sections-English Prairie in the center, and to the north west of Lexington, Pretty Prairie. On the opposite side of Cedar Lake and its outlet, and extending to Lima, lies the beautiful Mongoquinong Prairie. The name untranslated is more romantic than the English rendering, which is said to be "Big Squaw." In the southern part of Springfield lies Brushy Prairie, embracing about three sections.
In the southwest corner of Clearspring, and the southeast of Eden, is a tract of land of some four thousand acres, known as the Haw Patch. . This, when first settled by the white man, was sparsely covered by oak, hickory and hawthorn, and presenting a most enticing prospect to the pioneer. It is still a beautiful country, and its farms have, for years, commanded the highest prices for lands at a like distance from shipping-points.
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