History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol I, Part 1

Author: Morrow, Jackson
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Indianapolis : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 502


USA > Indiana > Howard County > History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol I > Part 1


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GEN


ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00094 6746


Gc 977.201 H83m v.1 Morrow, Jackson. History of Howard County , Indiana


CHIEF KOKOMOKO.


HISTORY


OF


HOWARD COUNTY


INDIANA


BY


JACKSON MORROW, B. A.


ILLUSTRATED


VOL. I


B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA


Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana


1408938


AUTHOR'S PREFACE


Soon after beginning the editing of the History of Howard County, at the request of B. F. Bowen & Company, two facts became very prominent. The first was that the undertaking was greater than at first appeared and the other was that there are now very, very few of the pioneers remaining to rehearse the beginnings of Howard County history. It is largely now the verifying and arranging such historical matter as has heretofore been published, supplemented by matters already known by the writer, and others, gathered from old newspapers and the few survivors of a far away time.


In preparing this work it has seemed very unfair and short sighted to assume that all this magnificent country should have re- mained idle and unused by man for thousands of years until seventy years ago, for the coming of the white man, and so I have devoted a chapter to the Mound Builders and another to their successors- the Indians. Since the coming of the white man I have tried to describe conditions as they were in the beginning and the many changes he has wrought along the various lines of life.


This work has been largely along general lines. The limits of this work have precluded the going into the purely local and individ- ual. There have been certain individual schools of more than pass- ing importance, as the Old Normal and some out township schools, of which it would have been a real pleasure to have written. Beau- tiful Crown Point Cemetery is another instance and the Old Ceme-


tery, where lie the unmarked graves of many of the early pioneers of Kokomo and vicinity whose memory should especially be cher- ished as the real founders of our goodly heritage; and too, our de- lightful City Park.


I have consulted and drawn freely from the Kingman County Atlas of 1876 and the History of Howard and Tipton County of 1883. Mr. Otis C. Pollard has rendered much valuable assistance ; the chapters prepared by him are accredited to him. Mr. Milton Garrigus has prepared a very valuable history of early financial con- ditions, a compact statement of facts difficult to find, especially interesting in our pioneer history as the Blue Dog and White Dog and the Wild Cat currencies. Posterity is under a real debt to Mr. Garrigus for this chapter.


JACKSON MORROW.


INDEX


Able Jurist 380


Armstrong-Landon Company. Stock of. 224


Automobiles 248


Abolitionists 355


Account of St. Clair's Defeat


40


Agricultural Implements


74


Apples in Kokomo, First.


324


Bank, Citizen's National


278 266


Banks


Bank of Russiaville, First National 281


Bank, First National of Kokomo. 277


Bank, Kokomo National 279


Bank, Indian Reserve 327 226


Buggies, Manufactured


Bennett, Dan


408


Brouse, Judge Henry A 397


Biddle, Judge Horace P. 377


Bell, Lewis Cass, Reminiscences 425


Blanche, Willis


16.4


Brewer, James, Assassination of


285 218


Bench and Bar


362


Bee Hive


227 206


Business House, First


Bounties


176


Bounties in 1865


178


Block & Thalman 227


Banks 276


Bit Works


2.12


Brick, Making


229


Bee Hunter


6


INDEX


Buildings, Public 11I


Calamities, Some Early 330


Commissioners, Board of. 60


Clothing 22


Convention of Delegates


262


Commercial Development


331


Combination Mill


212


Courtship


51


Contempt of Court.


372 282


Cabin Furnishings


72


Clearing the Land


73


Corn


75


Conditions, Present Day


98


Court, Probate and Common Pleas


421


Chills and Fever


84


County Boards


97


Court House and Surroundings


115


Counterfeiters, Arrest of. 333


Civil War. Close of. 183


201


Civil War, Howard in the.


130


Cooper and Robinson


106


Churches 429


City and Township Life


320


Circuit Judge, First


373


Carnegie's Gift


467


Drafts


182


Domestic Life


52


Doxey's Factory 257


Doxey Factory, Committee's Report on. 259


Davis, Judge John 399


Drains, Public 78


Debating Society, First 325


Democrat, Radical 309


Donations


152


Enlistment, Final 174


Crimes and Casualties


Conditions are Changing


7


INDEX


Extensive Improvements 14


Eighty-ninth Regiment 167


Exciting Times 346


Ervin, Judge


368


Elections, First


58


Eleventh Cavalry. Company E


170


Early Roads


80


Education


81


Fairfield Steam Flouring Mill


21I


Factories, Canning


246


Free Soil Supporters


352


Floriculture 252


Foster. David


319


First to Fall


150


Fort Sumpter, News of


147


Friday, D.


227


Farms, Development of


198


Financial History 260


Ford & Donnelly .


251


Fifty-seventh Regiment 164


Free Public School System 87


Garrigus, Milton


395


Greentown Gem


316


Glass Company, Pittsburg Plate


249


Green, Judge


423


Gazette, Kokomo


312


Garver, Judge William


424


Government Disappointed


248


Government Among the Indians


49


Gravel Roads, First IO3


Hardships and Privations


165


Hanged by a Mob 288


Hopkins, John B. 367


Hawkins, Reuben 21I


Hanged from a Bridge. 296


Hardware Business, Head of the 222


Glass Factory. Opalescent


8


INDEX


Heading and Stave Business 226


Interurban Lines 121


Independent, Kokomo


307


Institutions, Strong Financial 281


Indian Villages 426


Indiana Near Bankruptcy


273


Infirmary, County


I18


Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Company


243


Industrial History


196


Invaders


26


Indians Give Up Land


45


Indians


28


Jails


116


Jealousy Leads to Crime


292


Journal, Kokomo 309


Kern, John W.


401


Kokomo Bale Tie Company


252


Kokomo, Early Days in.


318


Kokomo Steel and Wire Works


250


Knerr Board and Paper Company


251


Kokomo Rubber Company.


244


Kokomo Wood Enameling Company


244


Kokomoko, Chief


48


Kokomo Canning Company.


216


Kokomo Library


463


Leach, J. M. & Company.


231


Lincoln to the Kentuckians


1.42


Little Turtle's Idea


27


Licensed to Teach


93


Local History


30


Log Court House


370


Long, Judge 368


Lewis, Joe 394


Linsday, Judge N. R. 324


Little Turtle 36


Lumbering


197


9


INDEX


Milroy, Judge R. H.


383


Miller, John I27


Maple Sugar Industry 220


Money Was Scarce


220


Molihan Gang


299


Malaria


321


Morgan's Raid


1.75


Memory of Soldiers Revered. 187 Modern Methods 199


Mercantile Life


202


Mound Builders


I7


Mound Remains


18


Military History, Addenda


468


Medical Society, First


360


Modes of Worship


19


Mounds, Various Kinds of


20


Miamis


34


Miamis in Howard


48


Military History


125


Militia Companies


159


Mail in Pioneer Days.


8.1


Morning Times, Kokomo. 315


National Road 269


Nation, David 396


Name Changed to Howard. 63


Ninetieth Regiment 193


Number of Men Sent from Howard in the Civil War 196


Newspapers 304


New London


335


Newman Paper Company


2.41


National Mint


263


Nursery, the First


216


News, Kokomo 317


National Bank, Howard 277


Natural Gas, Search for. 234


One House in Kokomo 57


Oil, Exploring for 329


IO


INDEX


O'Brien, Judge James 400


Overman, Judge N. R. 412


Other Banks 280


One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment IZI


One Hundred Day Men 173


One Hundred Thirty-fifth and One Hundred Thirty-Seventh Regiments 173


Organization and Early History


55


Orphans' Home I20


Oath 155


Old System 86


One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment, Company I 348


174


One Cent Reward


Pre-emption Law 68


Pioneer Life in Howard County 70


Paths of Early Days. 71


Public Road Sentiment 107


Preacher and the Corner Stone II3


President Lincoln's Message I35


Peace Party Fails


146


Public Sentiment in Howard


14I


Picture Writing


54


Pottawattomies 32


Pay of Petit Jurors. 364


Pollard. Judge Clark N 4II


Pettit. Judge John U 386


Purdum, Nelson 394


Pioneer Lawyers, Leading 370


Pumping Stations 239


Planing Mill Business 225


Paper Mills 240


Pipe Lines


237


Pottery Company, Great Western 245


Report, County Treasurer's 64


Rich, Experience of Thomas. 345


Representatives, House of. 137


II


INDEX


Richardville, Chief


55


Richardville, County of. 56


Real Estate, Boom in


235


Railroad Bonds, Trouble Over


255


Richmond, Col. N. P. 407


Richmond, Corydon, M. D.


321, 364


Robinson, James W


390


Religion


53


Railroads


416


Roller, Mills, Greentown


213


Rule or Ruin Policy


138 23


Roads in Howard County


IOI


Shiloh, Relief Sent to


166


Spanish-American War


414


St. Clair's Army


38


Stone, Judge E. S.


422


Steward, John


290


Sutton-Yager Mystery 301


Seventy-fifth Regiment 166


Specie, Great Demand for


271


Soldiers Who Died in the Service 188


85


State Road, Howard's First


102


School System, Changes in


91


Social Gatherings


322


Saw Mills Becoming Scarce


209


Star Machine Works


251


Slave-holders, Views of


145


Secession and Disunion


139


Stove Works, Globe 245


State Road, First 95


Sympathizers, Southern 132


State Supt. of Public Instruction 94


Stores, Various Kinds of 227


Surveys 66


Race, Industrious


Streets, First Macadam 230


Schools, Howard County


12


INDEX


Town, Incorporating the 326


Traveling on Horseback 8I


Trading Points 204


Thirteenth Regiment 157


Tribune, Howard


304


Thirty-fourth Regiment


160


Total Mileage 108


Treaty of Greenville.


44


Trust Company, Kokomo


280


Thirty-ninth Regiment


162


Trading Centers


342


Tanneries


215


Traveling Shoemakers


216


Trapping and Hunting


217


Tumato Growing


2.16


Traction Company


253


Turpin, William H. 313


160


Volunteers, First Call for 149


Vaile, J. Fred


40I


Vaile, Rawson


394


Volunteers, Families of the


163


Volapuck


317


Water Mill Flour Popular


213


Women Helped


77


West Middleton Steam Flouring Mill 210


Wild Game


83


War with Mexico


129


Walked in His Sleep.


378


Wouldn't Pay Office Rent


112


Want Law Repealed


III


When the Europeans Came.


24


Warriors


29


Western Indians


37


Wayne's Victory


43


Union Tigers


13


INDEX


Welcome Home


185


Water Cure Era 316


Wallace, Judge John M. 38


Wright, Judge John W.


373


Workmen, Skilled 21


Woven Wire, Making


250


Warehouse, First


208


Wickersham, Moses R.


349


THE MOUND BUILDERS.


In writing the history of Howard county we must not omit the people who dwelt in the country of which it is now a part before the coming of the Europeans.


An ancient race, entirely distinct from the Indians, inhabited all that vast, fertile valley system extending from western New York on the east to Nebraska on the west, and from the great lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south.


These people possessed a modified degree of civilization. They tilled the soil and grew corn, potatoes, tobacco and other products of this western hemisphere of that early time. They carried on commerce, both domestic and foreign, not so extensively perhaps as do the present modern inhabitants. They had made considerable progress in the arts; their pottery wares especially displayed skill and finish. Their sculptors reached a high degree of perfection. They were an industrious race. Many of their public works were massive and required the labor of many men for months or perhaps years to construct. They were evidently a people of fixed habita- tion and settled and organized government, and were given rather to the pursuits of peace than war.


Who these people were we have no means of knowing; by what name or names they were known to themselves or their con- temporaries we know not. So far as we know they left no written records. Tradition is absolutely silent concerning them. Many centuries of past time have entirely extinguished the memory of


2


18


MORROW'S HISTORY


them. They are to us a lost race. We know them as Mound Builders, but this term has no real significance. So far as we know they never built a mound. Time has been the real Mound Builder, converting the buildings and .structures of this ancient people into the various mounds as we know them today. All that we know of them is gathered from the monuments that remain of them, consisting of mounds, inclosures, implements, works of art, etc. These remains have been carefully examined, and after long and patient investigation the archaeolo- gist has arrived at certain definite conclusions, and so apparently accurate are they that we may safely say that we are well acquainted with this lost race.


MOUND REMAINS.


These remains are very numerous and widely distributed. In Ohio more than twelve hundred inclosures and ten thousand mounds have been counted. Indiana has probably as many, and the various implements that have been found are almost countless. The mound remains of Ohio have been much more thoroughly and carefully examined than those of any other state, hence they are better known and more frequent reference made to them. These works are chiefly found in the river valleys, and are only occasionally met with in the hilly or broken country, and are there small in size. They are irreg- ularly distributed, being dense in places and sparse in others, indi- cating thickly settled localities and scattered settlements. The fact that their remains are found chiefly in the river valleys and along the watercourses would suggest that they used the streams of water as their highways, transporting themselves and their commerce in canoes or rude boats, fashioned from the giant trees growing then as at the coming of the white man in the forests of these fertile valleys.


19


OF HOWARD COUNTY.


These ancient works were constructed sometimes of earth alone, at other times of earth and stone together, and were of two classes-enclosures and mounds proper. The enclosures were mas- sive walls and sometimes of great dimensions, ranging from three feet to thirty feet in height and enclosing areas of from one acre to four hundred acres in extent. Many of them evidently were con- structed for fortifications or defensive purposes and some were ad- mirably chosen as natural strongholds. Others were sacred en- closures, protecting their altars and holy places of worship from un- hallowed intrusion, and perhaps affording homes for the priesthood, for it is known that these people had their places of worship and a regular priesthood. Altars have been found within these enclosures, presenting positive evidence of sacrifice.


MODES OF WORSHIP.


In some respects the ceremonials of their worship seem to have been very like the Jewish as set out in the book of Exodus. The location of bodies of numerous mounds indicates that the Mound Builders were influenced by the same motives in selecting sites for their cities and towns which influenced their European succes- sors. Practically the same natural conditions existed when this numerous population of bygone times lived and made homes as those that fascinated the European when he came-an attractive country, broad, alluvial terraces overlooking flowing rivers and the same capabilities for development.


It has been said that nearly every town of importance in the valleys of the Ohio and Missisippi and their tributaries. is founded upon the ruins of this ancient people. The city of St. Louis was a city of mounds, and is known as the "Mound City," while on the opposite side of the river more than two hundred were counted.


20


MORROW'S HISTORY


among which was the great Cahokia, the mammoth mound of the Mississippi valley. Before the desecrating hand of the white man had despoiled this magnificent temple it rose in height ninety feet. In shape it was at the base a parallelogram, the sides at the base measuring seven hundred by five hundred feet. On the southwest there was a terrace one hundred and sixty feet by three hundred feet, the top being level and constituting a platform two hundred feet wide by four hundred feet long, upon which could congregate many thousands of people at an elevation of nearly one hundred feet above the surrounding country.


VARIOUS KINDS OF MOUNDS.


Other important mound centers now occupied by towns and cities are Grave Creek, Marietta, Miami and Vincennes. Of the one at Vincennes Professor Collett says: "Perhaps the seat of a royal priesthood, their efforts essayed to build a series of temples which constituted at once capital and 'holy city,' the Heliopolis of the West. Three sacred mounds thrown upon or against the sides of the second terrace or bluff east and southeast of Vincennes are the result and in size, symmetry and grandeur of aspect rival, if not excel any prehistoric remains in the United States."


Another class of mounds were the sepulchral mounds where they buried their illustrious dead. Skeletons have been unearthed in these mounds and with them have been found personal ornaments, such as bracelets, perforated plates of copper and beads of bone, ivory, shell or metal. Few weapons such as spear or arrow points are found. Stone implements are common. Plates of mica are fre- quently met with, and of such size as to almost completely cover the skeleton. Vases of pottery are occasionally found. These mounds are the principal depositories of ancient art. The implements and


21


OF HOWARD COUNTY.


ornaments found in these mounds are made of minerals, clay, bones, fossils and shells. The first implements used by them were made of stone. Among the Mound Builders we find many and various implements of stone, having a great variety of form and used for different purposes. Their arrow and spearheads were made of flint, ninety-five per cent. of them being made of the different varieties of chert. Many points made of obsidian have been found. Chalcedony occurs, but not in abundance. Knives and other cutting instruments made of obsidian and flint have been taken from the mounds. Axes fashioned with great skill out of rare and beau- tiful materials, mostly of the granitic series of minerals, are found in great abundance in the valleys, but rarely in the mounds, many of them with grooves for the adjustment of handles, and varying in weight from one pound to sixteen pounds. Their hatchets, de- signed for use in war as well as domestic use, weighed from one to two pounds, and had no grooves. Some had holes for the in- sertion of handles. These instruments for the most part were pol- ished. Some were ground and polished with great care. Many stone mauls and chisels have been found. Quartz pestles and mor- tars or boulders with platter-shaped depressions for grinding the grain are found in great numbers. An interesting feature of their works of art is the pottery ware, comprising kettles, water jugs, cups, vases, urns, etc. In this they attained to a considerable de- gree of perfection, exhibiting a variety of forms and elegance of finish. They made these wares of fine clay. In the finer specimens they worked the clay pure. In some of the coarser specimens they intermixed the clay with quartz, in others with salmon-colored mica in small flakes, giving it a rather brilliant appearance.


SKILLED WORKMEN.


The surface was ornamented, some with curved lines, others


22


MORROW'S HISTORY


have the images of birds, quadrupeds and the human form molded upon them. They were all moulded by hand and there is no evi- dence that they had any knowledge of the potter's wheel. None of their vessels were glazed. The stone pipes found in the mounds display the most elaborate skill.


The workmen portrayed the object sought to be represented with great faithfulness, the more elaborate ones delineating the squirrel, opossum, beaver, otter, wildcat, bear, elk, wolf, panther, grouse, duck, raven and also the human head and form. Their high- est grade of art is found in their sculptures. They accurately ex- hibited the general form and features of the object intended to be represented. In all of their work there is a remarkable avoidance of obscenity. Their largest instruments made out of quartz or chert are the spade and hoe.


The Mound Builders were acquainted with several of the metals. They had implements and ornaments of copper. Silver is found occasionally in, the form of ornaments. There is nothing to indicate that it was ever used as money. Galena is found in consid- erable quantities, but there is no trace of iron. They made knives, axes, chisels, awls, spearheads and arrowheads out of copper. These were hammered out cold for the most part, though some show evi- dence of having been molded. Hence the conclusion is warranted that the art of smelting was known to them in their later times. They made for themselves awls or needles of the bones of the deer and elk, which they used in the sewing of the hides of animals.


CLOTHING.


The Mound Builders used for clothing sometimes the skins of wild animals, but for the most part their clothing was made from a cloth regularly spun with a uniform thread and woven with warp


23


OF HOWARD COUNTY.


and woof. In making a railroad grade through a mound near Mid- dletown, Ohio, among other things found was cloth connected with tassels and ornaments. The cloth was in thick folds and very much charred. It appeared to be of some material allied to hemp, and the separation of wood and fiber was as thorough as at this day by rotting and hackeling. The thread is coarse, uniform in size and regularly spun. Their process of spinning and weaving is un- known. The fact that large numbers of copper implements and ornaments have been found in the mounds, the fact also that the Mound Builders used galena, obsidian, mica and some silver, sug- gest that they either engaged in mining or traded with people who did. Considerable quantities of galena have been found in the mounds of Ohio. It is of frequent occurrence on the sacrificial al- tars. Plumb bobs and net sinkers are found made out of this ma- terial, and yet no original deposits are known in the state of Ohio. Obsidian, a peculiar glass-like stone of volcanic origin, is obtained from some of the mounds in the form of arrowheads, spearheads and cutting instruments, yet this material is not found in its nat- ural state north of Mexico nor east of the Rocky mountains in the United States. Mica is found in large quantities in and about the mounds. It was used for mirrors, ornaments and often for the cov- ering of their dead. There were no mica mines nearer than New Hampshire or North Carolina. The mines of North Carolina give conclusive evidence of having been worked in long past times. It is a fair inference that these people of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys journeyed either as miners or traders to the mines of Caro- lina and thus obtained the mica now found. In the copper mines of the Lake Superior region excavations have been found which appear to be very ancient.


AN INDUSTROUS RACE.


In these ancient excavations numerous stone hammers are found. Here again the inference seems fair that the Mound Build-


2.4


MORROW'S HISTORY


ers of the Ohio valley journeyed to these far-away copper mines as miners, going in the springtime, taking a store of provisions with them, and returning in the autumn to their homes. The cold of the Lake Superior region was such as to forbid their growing their food there. The wide distribution of copper implements shows that an extensive business was carried on in this metal. From the valley of the Ohio it was a journey of a thousand miles. There is no evidence of settled life at that time in the copper regions. The people who did this were energetic and enterprising. The same must be said of a people who journeyed to far-away Mexico for a supply of obsidian.


It appears to be indisputable that the Mound Builders were an industrious people, well settled, extensively engaged in mining operations and various mechanical pursuits, well skilled and far from a state of barbarism. They were somewhat advanced in the arts and sciences and occupied no mean position in life. For their times and surroundings they had made great strides towards a per- manent civilization and must be ranked as one of the great people of ancient times.


Who were the Mound Builders? Where did they come from? When were they here? When did they leave here? What was the manner of their going? Who occupied this country at their going ? are questions naturally suggested.


To the first two questions we must frankly admit that we are in absolute ignorance.


WHEN THE EUROPEANS CAME.


When the Europeans first came here they found the Indians without a trace of a tradition of the people who dwelt here before them. The people themselves left no written records whose authen-


25


OF HOWARD COUNTY.


ticity may be said to be unquestioned. The darkness of the past has completely enveloped them. What we do know is that there now remain here the ruins of the works of a prehistoric people whose only history we can interpret from these ruins.


The next two questions admit of a somewhat more satisfactory reply. We know that many centuries have passed since the Mound Builders went out from their homes here. When the earliest Euro- pean explorers visited these mounds time had completed their wreck- ing. Mounds only remained of great buildings and massive walls. Forests of giant trees, centuries old, had grown upon the ruins and had fallen to decay, probably many times repeated.


The ruins of the new world may be as ancient as those of the old. May we not safely say that the Mound Builders of America were contemporaneous with the great peoples of antiquity in the old world? While the Pharaohs of Egypt were erecting their pyra- mids and building magnificent temples to their gods and were en- gaging in great national enterprises; while Abraham of Ur of the Chaldees, at the command of the living God, and imbued with the spirit of enterprise of his age, was going out to found a new home and nation of his own; while Nineveh and Babylon were growing up to be mighty cities through the enterprise of their citizens, may not this people have been engaged in the building of their temples to the Great Spirit and in the construction of other great works whose ruins yet remain ?




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