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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02732 8191
Gc 977. 202 H2714.
HISTORY OF HASTINGS. INDIANA
HISTORY Of
HASTINGS,
INDIANA
10.5
HISTORY Of
HASTINGS,
INDIANA
GEN
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO D -: 2270 Fort V/ ~ IN 46801-2270
HISTORY of HASTINGS, INDIANA
(A History Of The Milford-Nappanee Area)
( INDEXED)
RAZING OF OLD HASTINGS LANDMARK INSPIRES SERIES OF HISTORICAL ARTICLES
First In A Series
By Kenneth Haney
(Editor's Note: The following is the first in a series of articles written by Kenneth Haney on the history of Hastings, a small community located west of Milford).
The first store was in one room of a house on the present site of the Jim Rumfelt home, and was run by grandma and grandpa Estep (all elderly folks were respected by these titles).
About 1890 a store was built by John Hoosier on the corner just north of Robert Heckamans'. Mr. Hoosier was returning home from hauling a load of wood to Milford (it is thought from Jacob Mclaughlin, attorney ) when his team ran away, throwing him under the wagon wheel and injuring his hip for life.
After a few years the store was moved near the spot where the present 50 feet by 22 feet frame structure was built by George Cummins. The lower story was used for merchandise and
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the upper story, an auditorium, was reached by wooden steps in the northeast corner from the outside.
It is a question who built the house, but Daniel and Ella Haney, the parents of Welcome and Clara (Haney) Fox lived here for a time before it was purchased by Sam Estep, as well as the Hoosier store.
The store operators besides Estep, and Cummins were Ben Stump (father of William Stump and Mrs. Stoffel DeFreese), John Brown (later moved to Constantine, Michigan), Guy Lambert, Carson Wise, Joe Bushong, Orville Silveus, John Green, Robert Rumfelt, Don Ruple, William Tusing, and John Kauffman, the last one in 1958. Mr. Tusing operated the store the longest.
First Barber
Claude Weimer was the first barber using one of the buildings and later moving to South Bend.
Another barber, for years, was Oscar (Jim) Rumfelt. He had a barber chair in his kitchen for many years. Many a young squaling child got his first hair "shingling" (hair cut) here.
In the store were kept bolts, nails and other hardware, coal oil (kerosene), tobacco, mainly chewing tobacco, cigars, and pipe tobacco.
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This was the period when each man "rolled" his own cigarettes. Some of the beginners' specimens looked like a rag but others resembled the commercial ones of today. Near the st ove was the cuspidor (spittoon) which was a must for all tobacco chewers. Many were accurate but others were like boys who tried to hit a mark with their first pea shooter. Many (for an excuse) said the habit was a good tooth preserver.
In The Store
As you came into the store you saw canned goods on the shelves. Old reliable and Lion Coffee, Lennox and Fels-Naptha soap and oodles of nature health remedies. Bulk candy such as striped stick candy, horehound, licorice and kisses were the main sellers. Other bulk products measured from the barrel were light brown, dark brown, soft white and granulated sugar, salt, and apple vinegar. Cheese was cut from a round flat roll and crackers were kept in a large glass container which would hold about a barrel. Coffee was ground on the spot by a few spins of the coffee grinder, which had two large balance wheels, or the beans were taken home and ground in a small miniature affair.
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Yard goods, thread, buttons, and lace were kept, calico was five cents a yard.
On one side was a stock of horsewhips, but many used a gad (switch) cut from a limb of a tree, as far as I know no "blacksnakes" were sold. These were sewed leather with a lash on the end which when used severely would cut an animal's hide open and were very cruel and vicious.
Before being outlawed, some one-armed bandits (slot machines) and punch boards were found in the store.
The Mail
The first mail was taken to the Hastings store when a man going to Milford brought his neighbors' mail along home with him.
The first paid mail deliverer to Hastings, back in 1890, was Madison (Matt) Biller, followed by James Biller, and ending by Noah Tusing carrying it by horseback or wagon for four or five years. He left Hastings at 1 p.m. and arrived back from Milford at 4 p.m. for the large sum of 50 cents a trip.
In 1905 R.F.D. came into being with Charles Orn being the first carrier. After a few years James Fuller became the likeable daily visitor until his retirement. He sometimes fed
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his horse on the David Dausman farm. In the winter time he sometimes changed his horse at the half way mark. For a short time the horse and wagon was replaced by a motorcycle. They traveled the main roads and many folks had to go a half to three-quarters of a mile to their mail box.
Ice
At one time there was an ice house at the back of the store. Ice cut from the Hollar pond, created by taking the clay from the hole to make brick for the Hastings school house, was stored in cakes, separated by and insulated by sawdust.
When this ran out Irvin Troup, who operated the Milford Ice Company, delivered to Hastings. His ice house was located west of the present bathing beach at Waubee Lake. With ice, the only refrigeration in those days, the ice man was an important fellow on hot summer days.
The Auditorium
The main trading night was Saturday, as well as for entertainment. Square dances were held with folks coming from outlying places.
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At other times movies were shown and many political caucuses were held in the auditorium and in the school house. Political speeches were sometimes fiery and unless the party won, so they said, the country was a goner. The islanders took and take their politics seriously. Many a weighty national issue was settled by them on the cracker barrel and wooden boxes in which everything was shipped.
THE ORIGIN OF HASTINGS; HOW IT WAS NAMED? Second in a Series By Kenneth Haney
It is not known how the name originated. It could have come from the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It certainly was a battle to subdue this wilderness.
A more likely origin would be a shortening of "hay strings."
In the early days the marsh hay was cut with a scythe and put in piles. Later, in the winter, when these marshes were frozen it was hauled in to feed.
These marshes and the higher ground were saturated with bumblebee nests. In fact the saying, "thick as bumblebees" was a common expression. One thing was sure - - they were
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excellent pollenizers and a cloverseed yield of three to five bushels per acre was not uncommon.
A bumblebee always warns you but those wasps, yellow jackets and hornets were very rude in their introduction.
Jefferson Township
Jefferson township originally had 36 sections, but due to the Mt. Tabor neighborhood difficulty in getting across the marsh to vote at Hastings it was detached and those five sections were added to Scott Township.
The boundary is a zig-zag line following the south edge of the marsh.
Between the south marsh and the north marsh lies the island or high land, which was originally covered with virgin timber of all varieties. Many of the trees measured three to five feet "across the stump" in diameter. Except what it took for building, these trees were rolled together and burned for a "clearing." Between these stumps corn was hand planted.
Later on the Omer Neff ditch was dug from road 1200N and 600W to Turkey Creek.
The Joe Armey ditch came in from the north branch of the Yellow River. The Dausman ditch starts about a mile southeast of the store and flows nearly due west into the Yellow River.
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The last one flows into the Mississippi River and the first one into the St. Lawrence River. Many farms have water flowing into both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
With the coming of smaller open ditches came the "blind" or underground drainage. The first were open ditches in which small straight poles were piled and covered over with dirt which soon filled up. Next came two by eight's nailed to form a tube with the bottom side missing, this was a great improvement. Lastly came the clay tile and with this the island or "stix" took on progress.
Three Exits
In the early days there were only three exits - - the Orn road to Milford, what is now Road 19 to Nappanee and the road to Clunette.
The parts over the bogs were corduroy or logs placed side by side crossways in the roadbed and covered with dirt. As you crossed these roadways you could see the ground and water far out moving. They were sometimes called "sink holes." After 100 years and continual filling in, Road 19 is till "sinking."
Some of the ditchers, who could bring up nearly a perfect "fall," were George Roberts, Peter Jensen, Leland Rohrer, John
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Kaiser, and Walter Kline. This hard, backbreaking work certainly separated the men from the boys.
Onions
After the lowering of the water level the ground was plowed, the tussocks carried off and sometimes the ground hand raked, then it was ready for onions - - the first major muck crop.
The onion seed was drilled in rows about 14 inches wide. They were then wheel hoed and then weeded.
Frank and Charlie Geiger, Mrs. Emma Lentz's brothers, were the giants of the local industry. They gathered all available
island kids as well as 50 to 75 from Milford. the prevailing rates were 2} cents per hour for one row, five cents for two rows, and 7 cents for three rows or 75 cents for a 10 hour day.
Whenever I think of that grinding, gritty muck on my knees they still hurt, but 25 cents would buy a pair of overalls.
With large families every penny helped to put "grub" or "vittles" (food) on the table.
I have seen many red and yellow globe onions as big as indoor balls.
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After putting in "wind rows" they were hand topped at 22 to 42 cents a bushel depending on size. Mrs. Emma Biller has topped about as many onions as anyone in the township.
Those Quion storages, some like slatted corn cribs and some double-walled for winter storage, held thousands of bushels. They were located at the corner of 1200N and 500W and have rotted away. The storage west of the Lentz Coal Company is gone and the other is now used by Spencer Chemical.
David Dausman and the Billers were other big onion raisers. Henry Stieglitz and Elmer Thwaits were some of the more recent growers.
In onion raising the stakes were high. You could make a fortune one year and lose it the next. William Wedrick and Fred Mckown bought many a carload of onions from local growers when onions were king!
"Onion" days in Nappanee were big events. Everyone had a patch and when the payroll checks were cashed by the parents for store items it was a boon to the economy. A nickle's worth of candy was "appreciated" by the kids.
A common saying was - - An apple a day keeps the doctor away and an onion a day keeps everyone away - - a known fact. See you next week.
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RECALL DIGGING OF 'NEFF DITCH' WEST OF MILFORD (Third in a series) By Kenneth Haney
In mushroom time in 1916 the island was nearly surrounded by water. It had rained off and on all day Sunday . That night there was a cloudburst and electrical display.
Thee Haab's barn burned with the loss of five valuable horses. It had been struck by lightning. The marshes were full of water from high ground to high ground, ranging in depth from one to four feet.
Digging the Neff Ditch
Enos Hollar told me the Neff ditch was dug by a "floating" dredge.
A boat was built near the bridge on road 500 or the corner of the George Losee farm. The wood-fired boiler, crane, and other equipment were then installed on the boat.
A hole was dug by the crane, the boat slid in the water and the present course was dug to Turkey Creek, near the back of Plomer Michael's farm.
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The wood was bought from farmers who wished to cut and deliver to the boat.
The men cooked and lived on an extra boat towed along. The upper 1} miles were first dug by hand.
Mr. Hollar states that many times you could skate beyond state road 19 by crawling over a few barbed wire fences.
Hemp
When onions began to fade out of the picture because of insects, lower water level, and competition, a new crop came to take its place.
Hemp - - the bark or fiber from which gunny sacks, twine, and rope are made - - was soon to take over the marsh. This tough brushlike plant had no other competitor in growing. Seed drilled in the spring grew in thickness and height practically impenetrable. After cutting by machine it was tied by hand and put in tepee like shocks.
For a few years scores of negroes from Kentucky came in and separated the fibre from the reeds (woody part) by hand. This "line" hemp was put in 500 pound bales. As you cast your eyes over the tents and shacks west of Hastings and heard the singing of the men at work you would have said you were in "Dixie," if you had seen cotton instead of hemp.
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Road 1050 was the main road to Hastings for them to get supplies. They were an agreeable people to have around. My, how we enjoyed their banjos.
In a few years a factory was built in Nappanee and much of the work was done by machinery. Many farmers spent their winters hauling hemp to Nappanee.
Locally, Ernest and Joshua Zimmerman had a factory on the back of what is now the Henry Stieglitz farm. It operated for several years on mostly local labor.
I never knew exactly what happened, some say the wrong kind of hemp, anyway "out of blue sky" the whole hemp business went "to pot" and many farmers lost their crop, labor and all. The stacks rotted or were burned.
Today we have this pesky stuff growing wild on ditch banks and fence rows under another name - - marijuana - - a narcotic. Mint
And now spearmint and peppermint, which had been grown in small patches, came into their own. As most of you are acquainted with their culture I shall be brief.
In the early 1920's high winds and a late frost wrecked the mint crop. The price of peppermint went to $28 a pound. Mason jars or jugs would hold most farmers' crop. One protected higher-ground-farmer sold 19 pounds at $25 and could
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have bought a "Tin Lizzie" (new Ford) with it. As usual some held for a higher price and still had theirs when it came down to seven or eight dollars.
Did the farmers quit? Not by a jugful ! Many a farmer gives the mint growing credit for his success. As of today it looks like its going the onion - - hemp way.
Cabbage was grown in large amounts and delivered to Libby and McNeil at Nappanee ( the sauerkraut factory) but a few years ago it moved out.
Pickles were grown on many acres, delivered to the Hastings store and hauled to Milford. The plant was located near the stockyards. I believe Ed Cain was manager.
Guy Lambert bought potatoes, carrots, and cabbage for Scott Company.
These are echoes of by-gone days. As you view this
"Garden of Eden" today - - you say - - corn, beans and on to Florida.
Grandma Rumfelt
Many of us have been fearful that much of this early history would be lost with the passing of our elders. The following is taken in part from a history of the Oster family compiled by Mrs. William (Oster) Tusing, Mrs. Daniel Oster, and
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grandma Susan (Oster) Rumfelt in 1933:
Grandma Rumfelt, with little formal education, but graduated from the school of "hard knocks", gives us a first- hand view of pioneer life. She was an inspiration in Christian living to anyone.
My father, William Oster, was born in Switzerland in 1820. My mother was born in Switzerland in 1827. In due time they came to America, met, and married in 1846 and settled in Ohio. I and my sister Elizabeth Marquart, were born here. They moved to Marshall county, Indiana, where John was born.
In 1850 they bought the 40 acres, where John Coldeberg's new house is located, from the government. It is near Hastings. They cleared the land and put up a rough unhewed log house. Later they hewed out the logs and built a better house. They were also pioneers of Island Chapel church, giving time, labor and money to build it. They were converted at a camp meeting near Bremen under Bishop Seybert. They would walk many miles to hear the Gospel preached - an example for youth today.
In this log house, Samuel, William Jr. , Emanuel, Daniel, Edward, Katie (Swartdlander) and Wesley were born. Wesley was born six months after his father died in 1870.
Two years later our house and all the contents burned.
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All of the records of births and marriages and the family Bible were destroyed in the fire. With the help of kind neighbors another house was built and these same kind friends helped furnish beds, bedding, and furniture, and the family had a home again. Mother lived in her own home until all of us were married and went to her eternal rest in 1906.
I heard my mother say she walked nine miles three days a week to learn to read in Switzerland. She also told how they stopped the boat to bury her half-brother by the big canal on the way to America. This experience of death had a deep influence on mother.
After settling on the island, I saw the deer, wolves, and fox that had runways across our farm. Sometimes a bear was seen. We had to build tight pig pens for the little pigs to keep the fox from carrying them off.
We did our farming with oxen. After a time we bought a horse. Mother would ride this horse and carry baskets of eggs and butter to Clunette to get groceries. Often we walked and carried our produce to market.
She always knit wool stockings and sacks for her family. They would take the wool to the carding mills and have it carded. Then, she and we older girls would spin it into yarn. Father was a cobbler and made our shoes. We had fun on the
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marsh ice fields vith our homemade sled.
There were no schools near enough for us older children to attend and our book learning was very limited.
Later a school house was built at Hastings where the younger ones attended.
Mrs. Rumfelt passed to her reward about 1936 in the home where I now live. She left a better world than she found.
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HISTORY OF HASTINGS LITTLE RED SCHOOL BUILT IN 1896 (Fourth in a Series) By Kenneth Haney
The present little red brick school house was built about 1896. The bricks were made of clay taken from a pit one half mile west of Hastings.
The pit was owned by James Hollar. He burned the brick in his kiln and delivered them to the site. Catfish were taken from this pit until it was filled in later years.
A storm blew down the north gable end while it was under construction.
The old frame school house, which was about half the size of the present school house, was located to the west of it. It
was moved across the road from the present one and used as a dwelling for a family who ran a blacksmith shop. Later it was torn down and some lumber used in the present house on the corner.
Old Picture
Mrs. Henry Biller has a picture of the 48 pupils of
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Hastings school, taken in 1902 when Sam Weldy was teacher. Harvey Hartsough and Tom Blough had four years each preceding this.
A partial list of those pictured are Mace Hollar, Belle (Haney ) Hollar, Henry Biller, Daisy (Tusing) Biller, William Tusing, Dora (Oster) Tusing, Walter Swartzlander, Arvilla (Jensen) Swartzlander, John, Clarence, Loren, Enos, Fremont and Irvin Hollar, Flossie (Poe) Irvine, Trella Rumfelt, Roy, Herbert and Arthur Tusing, Dora (Tusing ) Leazenby, Lloyd Haney, Jesse Biller, Bessie (Biller) Davis, Bertha (Biller) Cunningham, Otho Oster, Grace (Oster) Barnhart, Glenice (Oster) Wagner, Tom Roberts, Delia (Roberts) Beach, Pearl (Roberts) Hepler, Edgar Swartzlander, Cora (Swartzlander) Rohrer and Amanda (Jensen) Dick.
School would start about September 15 and leave out about March 15 to April 1.
The school laws of attendance were none too strict. Hookey was common, and permits to work at home for a week or two could be obtained. These conditions and others denied regular attendance and some of the over age pupils were as large as the teacher - - many their first term.
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When hiring a teacher, the trustee generally referred to the school as tough and what to expect - - maybe a "lickin." At least one pupil and teacher tangled, scattering books over the floor and knocking tops off the desk with kids scared, some "bawling," the melee finally ended in a "draw." Some of the older boys always had their strategy outlined for such an occasion!
The boys' cloakroom was entered by the right door and the girls' on the left. Several shelves were present in each for the dinner pails. Your shelf and also clothes hanger were determined by your size.
Nails soon replaced the broken coat hangers and a fallen cap was tossed in the corner.
Scaling these shelves you had a reserved seat for any program.
Between these cloak rooms was the teacher's desk. It also controlled the use of the old faithful pump and sink.
The seats faced south until some light expert said over the shoulder lighting was better and they were reversed. Teacher's desk was put on the north end as well as the black boards.
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'Recitation' Bench
I nearly forgot to say the "recitation" bench was changed also. When teacher called for a certain class, a hop or two by the quickest boys nailed down the end positions.
Going to the dictionary, writing your lesson on the blackboard, getting your pencil sharpened, or making a trip outside to get some fresh air kept your joints from getting too stiff from sitting.
When a boy was one hundred per cent sure of the answer to teacher's question, he would snap his fingers (two ways) and reach halfway to teacher to beat his classmates to the draw.
The first day of school saw Junior with a new light dinner pail, book satchel, a two inch thick tablet (rough as toilet paper), a penny pencil and a reader, start for school. He was told how long pencil and paper had to last.
A little flare up on the way home from school and the dinner pail on top of the kid's head ruined its usefulness. Then, it was a gallon Karo syrup pail which would take lots of banging and still get the lid off with a nail.
I nearly forgot to mention that expert handwriting in those copybooks as teacher pushed our hands to make an
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imitation. I never got being anywhere near perfect in writing but I soon learned to "copy" and had company.
Morning Exercises
Every day we had morning exercises. Monday was Bible verses, most of the pupils had "Jesus Wept" memorized before the term was over. Some second grader would pick out an Old Testament verse with a large number of jaw breaking names and teacher would help the little fellow thru.
We'd sing favorites on Tuesday such as "Old Black Joe," "Dixie Land," Carry me Back to Old Virginia," and maybe ending by "Tentin Tonight." And when we'd come to "Many are the Hearts that are Weary Tonight, Waiting for the War to Cease" - a lump of patriotism sorta got in your throat.
Then the stories of Jacob Swartzlander and his hair raising stories of his Civil War soldiering would appear. That long flowing white beard was the sign of travel and adventure.
Story telling, jokes and riddles took their place in exercises too.
One morning the new teacher said we'd take calistenics. That floored us! We'd always been taught to watch out for big
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words and fine print. Also, anything with a bad smell such as asafetida tied around your neck to soothe your nerves or bad tasting medicine such as quinine or castor oil would help you. She said that was physical exercise. Now most of us could chin ourselves or "skin a cat" quite a few times but that would be embarrassing for teacher to show us and besides, where was the bar? She said we had lots of muscles we'd never used.
The first bell had rung and we ran most of the one and a quarter mile to school and had just gotten our second breath. Stooping, arms up, down, 1-2-3-4, was fun but we never felt those unused muscles come into action.
In those days kids made their fun -- couldn't buy it -- no money . At recess we played dare base, blackman, tin can, zippy, shinny, duch-on-rock, Andy over, baseball and later basketball. One boy went home with a broken collar bone -- the result of whip crack.
When school left out at Thanksgiving, teacher generally had testimony meeting to find out what they were grateful for - - to tell the truth -- vacation!
One boy said, "turkey . " He had never tasted turkey in his life. Isn't that wonderful to be thankful that others can have things you can't afford?
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At Christmas a sack of "hardtack" candy was appreciated because of its lasting qualities. Teacher must have gotten a five dollar raise per month as he scattered a bag of peanuts over the room. I don't know if he was demonstrating Darwin's survival of the fittest, or showing us how the anti-poverty program was going to work.
The last day of school, maybe a program, ciphering, a ball game with kids playing dads and a big dinner -- boy wasn't it good ! That big round cake with white frosting and covered with red hots was out of this world.
A book for the head marks in spelling, maybe a few "roll of honor", a souvenir of teacher's picture and pupils' names and finally report cards and school was out.
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