USA > Indiana > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Indiana, from 1822 to 1876 > Part 1
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HISTORY
OF
SHELBY COUNTY,
INDIANA,
FROM 1822 to 1876,
BY A
COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS,
" Wealth requires, besides the crust of bread and the roof, the freedom of the city, the freedom of the earth, traveling, machinery, the benefits of science, music, and fine arts, the best culture, and the best company." EMERSON .
SHELBYVILLE, IND .: R. SPICER, PRINTER. 1876.
YHOTBIH
President's Proclamation.
WHEREAS, A joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives was duly approved on the 13th day of March last, which resolution is as follows :
Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, that it be and is hereby recommended by the Senate and House of Representatives to the people of the several States that they assemble in their several counties, or towns, in the approaching Centennial anniversary of our National Independence, and that they cause to have delivered on such day an historical sketch of said county, or town, from its formation, and that a copy of said sketch may be filed in print or in manuscript in the Clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy in print or manuscript be filed in the office of the Librarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the first century of their existence ; and
WHEREAS, It is deemed proper that such recommendation be brought to notice and knowledge of the people of the United States, now, therefore, I, Ulyses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known the same, in the hope that the object of such resolution may meet the ap- proval of the people of the United States, and that proper steps may be taken to carry the same into effect.
Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, this 25th day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1876, and of the independence of the United States the one hundredth. By the President, U. S. GRANT.
HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
977,259
SHELBYVILLE, JULY 4th, 1876.
At a meeting of citizens, held in the City Hall of Shelby- ville, on Monday evening, June 5th, 1876, the proclamation of the President of the United States recommending the prepara- tion of the History and Statistics of the several Counties of the Union, for the Centennial Fourth, was considered.
Whereupon a committee for this purpose was appointed.
Having with much care and research brought together the facts and data bearing upon the history and description of Shelby County, Indiana, including its natural features, pro- ductions, industrial condition, and prospects,-we now respect- fully submit the following report.
GEORGE SLUTER, MILTON ROBINS, ELBRIDGE G. MAYHEW, ISAAC H. WILSON, BELLAMY S. SUTTON, GEORGE W. ISLEY, ALFRED V. ROBINS, LOUIS T. MICHENER,
Committee.
Hanover College Library
40495
CONTENTS.
To facilitate convenience of reference and for the sake of completeness, our work will be placed under the following seven paragraphs :
I. Historical, in which will be traced the original settlement and organization of the county.
II. Descriptive, in which a description will be drawn of what this county was in 1822, as compared with 1876.
III Tabular, in which tables will be found of the early settlers, of our present inhabitants who have lived here over fifty years, of the officers of the county, the Bar, the Medical profession, the Clergy and the Mayors of Shelbyville.
IV. The statistics of the population and produce.
.V. An enumeratton of Public Improvements.
VI. Our Industries.
VII. Under the designation of Benevolent, we propose a glance at our schools, churches, and other intellectual and humane institutions.
D
SHELBY COUNTY.
I.
HISTORICAL.
Upon this auspicious and glorious day of the Centennial of American Liberty it is worthy of remark, how near we came to being British subjects, even after the glorious struggle of the Revolution. When the commission met to fix the bound- ary between the thirteen independent colonies and the mother- country, in 1783, there were two propositions-one to take the Great Lakes an 1 the other the Ohio River as the line of divis- ion. To the wonderful foresight of John Adams it is due that the former proposition finally prevailed; so THAT TO-DAY WE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS AND NOT ENGLISH SUBJECTS.
The portion of territory now included within the limits of the State of Indiana was at the time of its first exploration by Europeans inhabited by the Miami Confederation of Indians. The part of the State in which our county lies was occupied by the powerful tribe of Twightwees. The State derived its name from the word Indian, the A being added to give it a feminine signification. It was first applied in 1768 to a grant of land near the Ohio, which a company of traders in that year obtained from the natives. The first white men who ever trod the soil of our commonwealth, were the French missionaries
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Claude Dablon and Claude Allouez, who, in 1670-72, more than 200 years age, passed along the west side of Lake Michigan, and entered the State somewhere North of the Kankakee River.
The first white man who ever entered the territory now oc- cupied by Shelby County, was Mr. William Conner, an Indian trader, whose business post was at the present site of Conners- ville. As early as the year 1816 he was in the habit of com- ing up the streams in small boats, in order to barter and ex- change with the Delaware Indians, who then held possession of all the lands watered by the White River and its numerous tributaries.
Our State was formally admitted into the Union, December IIth, 1816. On the 3d of October, 1818, at a treaty concluded at St. Mary's in the State of Ohio, the Indians ceded to the United States all their claims to lands lying within the bound- aries of Indiana. The commissioners who negotiated this treaty were Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke, and the privilege of remaining for a few years upon the lands thus disposed of was agreed to.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
Within one week afterwards, Mr. Jacob Whetzell, an ex- revolutionary soldier, cut a path through the woods from Brookville to the bluffs on White River, and passing through the centre of this county. In the next month, November, 1818, came Mr. JAMES WILSON, along this path to the point where it crossed the Blue River. There he determined to settle, and began at once to erect a log cabin, into which his family enter- ed in the month of January, 1819. He had previously re- sided in the neighborhood of what is now Fairfield, in Franklin County; and his son Mr. ISAAC WILSON, who has ever since been a resident here, was then a child of eleven years of age. During that winter Mr, WILSON managed by dint of hard work to clear six acres of land, and upon this he raised a crop
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of corn. To MR. JAMES WILSON THEREFORE BELONGS THE DISTINCTION OF HAVING BEEN THE FIRST SETTLER OF SHELBY COUNTY! He lived for a time in utter solitude, eastward his nearest neighbor Mr. RICHARD THORNBURRY, 18 miles distant, and westward the nearest settlement, Mr. JACOB WHETZELL'S, 30 miles off, his cabin was literally "a lodge in a vast wilder- ness." Other immigrants soon arrived, and great was the pleasure when the Government surveying party, headed by Mr. MCLAUGHLIN, took up its headquarters in their midst. Indians were numerous and generally well-disposed, and Mr. WILSON began to trade with them to such an extent that some- times as many as 100 in a day came to the post. Never will the men of that period cease to laud the pleasures of the chase. They were great hunters, and game of all kinds, including the panther, was in abundance.
In 1820 the NEW PURCHASE, as it was then called, was formally surrendered to the Government, and the lands sur- veyed thrown into the market, With all speed the settlers hastened to the Government Land Office, located at Brook- ville, to make good their claims. Mr. WILSON's farm was the southwest quarter of section 9, township 13, range 7, east.
THE FIRST TOWN.
The time had now arrived for starting a town ; and upon his return from the land sales Mr. WILSON brought with him a professional surveyør. In co-partnership with one of his neigh- bors, Mr. JOHN SLEETH, a town-site with streets, alleys and a public square was thereupon regularly laid out and platted, and in honor of the brave and intrepid Revolutionary Hero, Gen. FRANCIS MARION (1732-95), called Marion. The land sales had given a new impulse to immigration, even some- thing like the spirit of modern speculation suddenly arose, and a considerable number of lots in the embryo city were sold, in the anticipation of its becoming the capital of the future county. Marion thus has the honor of seniority among our towns.
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THE COUNTY ORGANIZED.
During the next year, 1821, while in the Old World the sun of Liberty seemed to have set in the gloom of a starless night, by the complete triumph of the Allied Powers in the death of Napoleon I, (May 5th, 1821), and while in the New World the Chief Magistrate of the United States was evolving the great Monroe doctrine, that European powers are not to acquire further territory here,-our pioneer forefathers were busily engaged in the practical pursuits of clearing farms and consulting with regard to the safety of the homes and inherit- ances they were providing. Their government up to this time had been of the most simple character. There were now small settlements in every part of the county, and they felt the necessity for more perfect protection in the administration of the civil law. They, therefore, petitioned the Legislature, in session at Corydon, then the capital of Indiana, to constitute and organize them into a county. The petition was granted by the Legislature, and approved by his Excellency, Hon. Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor of the State.
OUR NAME.
The highly interesting question of giving a name to the new county was settled by fixing upon SHELBY, in honor of Governor Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky. The reasons for this choice were numerous. A good proportion of the early set- tlers were from Kentucky, and others had fought with Gov- ernor Shelby in the Indian wars. Besides this, he was hon- ored as one of the foremost of the generals of the Revolution who had come West, and some of our first citizens were scar- beaten veterans of that most memorable triumph of Liberty.
ISAAC SHELBY was indeed a hero worthy of this honor, and no less than nine counties of the Union, in as many different States, now claim him for their godfather. He was born near
9
Hagerstown, Maryland, December 11th, 1750. When but twenty-one years of age he removed to the wilds of the West, and shortly afterwards became lieutenant of militia in an ex- pedition against the Wea Indians. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he was selected as captain of a military com- pany in Virginia, and in 1777 placed in charge of the commis- sary department for the frontier militia. In 1779 he was elect- ed to the House of Delegates, of Virginia. For his bravery at the battle of King's Mountain, October 9th, 1780, he re- ceived a vote of thanks and a sword from the Legislature of North Carolina, of which he was elected a member in 1781 and 1782. Upon the organization of the State of Kentucky in 1792, he was chosen Governor and held the office four years, and again from 1812 to 1816. In 1793, there was a con- siderable movement in the West against the possessions of the Spanish Crown upon the Mississippi. Gen. George Washing- ton, then President of the United States, ordered the Governor to check these measures, In reply he wrote a letter still pre- served, in which he utters sentiments of patriotism, justice and purity, that show him to have been a man of the highest type of character. It was in the year 1813, that he joined Gen'] Wm. Hy. Harrison at the head of 4,000 gallant Kentuckians, and rendered the brilliant service in the Battle of the Thames that brought him into intimate association with Indiana people. He died in Kentucky in July, 1826, greatly beloved and lamented. Such was the man in honor of whom our County was named.
COUNTY SEAT.
The county having been organized, the next thing to be done was the selection of the capital. On the 31st of Decem- ber, 1821, the Legislature appointed Messrs. George Bentley, Benjamin J. Blythe, Amos Boardman, *Joshua Cobb, and Ebenezer Ward, commissioners for this purpose. On the first
IO
of July, 1822, they met at the house of Mr. David Fisher, near Marion, and after being duly sworn according to law, they proceeded to examine the four sites that had been offered ; namely, I, Marion, the central geographical position of which was warmly urged ; 2. Mr. Isaac Lemaster, whose farm was the same now owned by Mr. John Shaw, four miles south-west of us on the Marietta Pike, offered forty acres. 3. The Hon. John Walker offered forty acres situated one mile north-east. 4. The fourth proposition was that of three gentlemen who agreed to donate 70 acres.
The Commissioners of the Legislature spent four days in visiting and examining these sites, and weighing the argu- ments urged in favor of each. At last they gave the award to the seventy acre offer, the site of the present city of Shelbyville.
On this National Centennial Jubilee, we would honorably record the generosity and foresight of the founders of our city. They were Major JOHN HENDRICKS, who donated 40 acres of the above 70; the Hon. JOHN WALKER, who donated 10 acres ; and Mr. JAMES DAVISON, still living a well-preserved and hale old gentleman, who donated 20 acres !
On the day upon which the Legislative Commissioners arrived at a decision-the Fourth of July, 1822 -- there was the greatest gathering that had yet been had by the early settlers, at a barbecue, immediately north-east of our present Fair Grounds. The selection of the Seat of Justice was there an- nounced and received with general applause, and the occasion was long and pleasantly remembered as important and mem- orable.
On the next day, July 5th, 1822, the County Commissioners met the Commissioners of the Legislature, at the house of Mr. David Fisher, and formally received their report fixing the site of the capital. It was understood that the proceeds of the sale of the land donated were to defray the expense of putting up a Court House. « The County Commissioners therefore ap- pointed an agent, the Hon. Abel Cole, to begin the prelimin- ary work necessary. On the 15th of August he was author-
II
ized to "proceed to survey or cause to be surveyed and laid off into streets, alleys and town-lots all the west half of the do- nation made by John Hendricks and John Walker, at and ad- joining the place established for the Seat of Justice." On the 23d of September the first disposal of lots took place; and it will illustrate the financial condition of those times to recall the terms of the sale. They were these: " ONE-TWELFTH in hand, the balance in three annual payments with interest from date of sale, if not paid at maturity." Soon after this, the Public Square was cleared of trees and improvements were begun upon several lots. A discount of eight per cent. was allowed to those paying cash in full. The lots brought from $30 to $50 each, those fronting upon the Public Square selling for $50 Messrs. Francis Walker, Henry Gatewood, and Ezra McCabe made the first opening in the town. Henry Gatewood bought the lot upon which the Jackson House stands for $50. It was thus that our now so beautiful and prosperous city began.
FIRST THINGS.
We have seen that the first settler was Mr. James Wilson and the first town laid out was Marion.
The first birth was Miss Martha Kaster the daughter of Mr. Benjamin and Mrs. Priscilla Kaster. The first death was was that of Mr. Samuel Butler, in the spring of 1821. The first marriage was that of Mr. Able Sommers to Miss Nancy Sleeth. May 16th, 1822. The ceremony was duly solemnized by the Rev. Henry Logan, the first clergyman whe appears on our Records. The first will is that of Jacob Lewis, made March the 4th, 1822.
As to Buildings, the first dwelling of any kind ever erected in our County was the log cabin home of Mr. James Wilson. The first house erected upon the site of Shelbyville was the home of Mr. Francis Walker, and it stood on the northwest corner of Washington and Tompkins Streets.
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As to Public Buildings, the first was the School House erected upon the Public Square, of the town of Marion, as early as the autumn of 1821. It was built of round logs, its dimensions were 16x18 feet, and its architecture was in every way of the most primitive character. The first teacher of this institution was Mr. Jonathan M. Wilson, who taught a three month's school at the rate of 75 cents per scholar.
Our first Court House was erected in 1825,-Messrs. Rich- ard Tynor, Joseph Dawson, and David Fisher, being Commis- sioners. It stood upon the centre of the Public Square, and was a two-story brick building, in size 50x60 feet, having one large room below and four above. Its cost was $3,300, and the builder was Mr. William Bushfield.
The first Court ever convened here was on the 10th of October, 1822. The first Judges were Messrs. John Sleeth and Wm. Goodrich. The first business transacted by them was to admit five applicants to the practice of the law as at- torneys and counsellors, "in this Court." The first Prosecut- ing Attorney was Hiram W. Curry, Esq. The first oath of allegiance was that of Mr. John N. Calvert, who on the Ist of May, 1823, declared his intention to renounce the authority of King George IV of Great Britain and Ireland and to become a true and loyal citizen of the United States.
The first document upon record in our Recorder's office is a warranty deed of David and Beniah Guard to John J. Lewis, dated June 25th, 1822, and recorded July 19th of the same year. The first election ever held took place in the forks of a tree on our Public Square, for the purpose of selecting a Major of the militia, and resulted in the choice of Major Ashbel Stone. The first flour and saw mill in the county was built by Mr. John Walker, in 1822 upon the site now occupied by the Shelby Mills. Our first Postmaster was Mr. William Lit- tle, and the rate of postage in his day was 25c per letter.
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OTHER TOWNS.
In addition to Marion and Shelbyville, TWENTY-SEVEN other towns have since sprung up, which with the date of their or- ganization and present population, will be found in chapter IV.
TOWNSHIPS.
On the 9th of April, 1822, the County was divided into four Townships. They were separated by the Congressional township lines through the County. No, 14 was called UNION Township, No. 13 MARION, No. 12 HENDRICKS, and No. 11 NOBLE.
Not until the year 1852, under the administration of Gov- ernor Joseph A. Wright, was the present township system for the common schools introduced into our commonwealth, and Shelby County was partitioned into thirteen divisions, namely : Jackson, Washington, Noble, Liberty, Addison, Hendricks, Sugar Creek, Brandywine, Marion, Union, Hanover, Van Buren, and Moral.
CHARACTER OF EARLY SETTLERS.
We have now recounted the principal incidents attending the origin and beginning of the county. Let us linger an in- stant upon the character of the men concerning whom we have spoken. While the majority of the pioneer settlers had come here to find permanent homes, and was made up of men of character, there was nevertheless a considerable minority composed of that class which is ever found skulking in the gloom of the frontier. And this will account for the large number of cases of assault and battery that figured upon our early Court Dockets. But on the other hand those days were
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remarkable for their comparative exemption from capital crimes.
Churches and schools were established immediately after the settlement began. "The pioneers," says the Hon. Bar- nabas C. Hobbs, L.L.D., a weighty authority, "were high- toned and patriotic, and had great regard for law and order. It was not safe for any man to swear profanely when in the presence of any authority that could impose a fine. Men had to obey for wrath if not for conscience. There was a strong re- pugnance to immorality generally, however much the people might have been deficient in general culture or learning. They were intensely but sincerely sectarian in their religious views." * * "It was the age of brave men, being soon after the war 1812. Though religious they were men of hon- or, and ever held themselves in readiness to vindicate their honor by hard knocks when they thought it necessary."
Little remains to be said that is purely historical. The early settlers, social and industrious but unenterprising, content with small gains, and pleasures not too dearly purchased, nor shared in with an eye to business,-were not the men to create the materials for a stirring history. But we may soothe our- selves with the Proverb, "Happy is the country whose annals are a blank."
The remainder of the history, up to the present time, will be fully shown and be best seen, in the following chap- ters of description, tables, statistics, and the enumeration of public improvements, industries and benevolent enterprises.
II.
DESCRIPTIVE.
Under this comprehensive head we shall present: I. The Topography and exact location of the County. 2. Its con- dition in 1822. 3. Its present resources and prospects. 4. Its Geology. 5. The Shelbyville of to-day.
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TOPOGRAPHY.
Shelby is one of the central counties of Indiana, and its north-west corner comes within a few miles of the State Capital. It is bounded on the North by Hancock County, on the East by Rush and Decatur, on the South by Decatur and Bartholomew, and on the West by Johnson and Marion. Its breadth is 17 miles East and West, and its length 24 miles North and South. It contains 408 square miles, or 261,120 acres of land.
WHAT THIS COUNTRY WAS IN 1822.
It is impossible to judge correctly of our present condition in soil and products, and the wonderful advance that has been made since the days of our pioneer forefathers, unless we take into consideration WHAT THIS COUNTRY WAS IN EARLY DAYS, the obstacles in the way of its settlement and the limited finan- cial and pecuniary resources of the first settlers.
It was not an inviting prairie country, like that which enchanted the early settlers of Illinois and Iowa, that our ancestors looked upon, No-it was an unbroken and almost impenetrable woodland. The people who came here, mostly from Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky, were all poor, so poor indeed that after entering their 80 acres of land, they had in many cases not one dol- lar left.
Let us hear the eloquent testimony of an eye-witness. He says: "Without money, and without the assistance which money brings, they had come here to make war upon nature in one of her most forbidding forms. Where now we may see broad fields and wide pastures of open woodland, then thickly stood the great oak, the poplar, the beech, the maple, and the ash, their limbs and branches so closely intertwining, that, when clothed in their summer vendure, a shade so deep and dark was produced as to shut out the sun from May to Octo-
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ber. From the damp earth below sprang a growth of UNDER- BRUSH so dense that it presented in many places an impene- trable barrier to the horseman, and in some instances almost inaccessible to the footman. In connection with this, let it be born in mind that the LEVEL LANDS which occupy so large a space in this County, were at that time INUNDATED MORE THAN HALF THE YEAR. The forests were checkered over with the trunks of prostrate trees-some newly fallen, some sunk half their diameter in the oozy soil, and these lying in every direc- tion closed the drains, till there was scarcely any escape for the flood save by the slow process of evaporation and percola- tion. The soil, rich as it was and is, in organic matter chemi- cally mixing with the watery element, rendered the paths and woods almost untraversable for man or beast. There were no great roads upon which to travel; there were no markets in which to buy or sell; there were no broad fields in which to raise grain for bread. Under these circumstances, unpropitious as they were, the pioneer settlers were compelled to maintain themselves and their families. We may well imagine that it was in MANY INSTANCES A VERY STRUGGLE FOR LIFE."
Such was Shelby County fifty-four years ago. It was a for- bidding and gloomy prospect one may now think. But the men who had come here went to work with a dauntless and unconquerable energy. They bore cheerfully and contentedly the toils and hardships and privations of the herculean task before them, buoyed up by the hope of leaving to their chil- dren a good inheritance.
And to-day we behold the result. They labored and we reap the fruits of their toil in the possession of one of the rich- est, most productive and best watered counties of the State.
PRESENT CONDITION.
From the picture of fifty-four years ago, let us turn to the landscape of to-day. Truly the wilderness has began to smile and blossom as the rose! Is there anywhere a fairer domain?
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