USA > Indiana > Floyd County > New Albany > The advantages and surroundings of New Albany, Ind., Floyd county : manufacturing, mercantile and professional interests Public buildings and officials, schools, churches, societies, canals, rivers, railroads, etc., etc > Part 1
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Gc 977.202 N31R
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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3 1833 02138 8274 Gc 977.202 N31R ROBBINS, D. P. 1845- THE ADVANTAGES AND SURROUNDINGS OF NEW ALBANY, IND., FLOYD COUNTY
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PRICE 50 CENTS.
THE ADVANTAGES
-- AND-
SURROUNDINGS
-OF-
Bind in
NEW ALBANY, IND.
FLOYD COUNTY.
MANUFACTURING, MERCHANTILE AND PROFESSIONAL IN- TERESTS PLAINLY PORTRAYED FROM A MATTER OF FACT STANDPOINT. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND OFFICIALS, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, SO- CITIES, CANAL, RIVERS, RAIL- ROADS, ETC., ETC.
IC r q ?? 219
NEW ALBANY, IND. LEDGER COMPANY, PRINTERS, JUNE, 1892.
The Sender of this Pamphlet respectfully refers to pages 79 and
TABLE OF CONTENTS. INDIANA COLLECTION
Attorneys, etc., ... 86-8 |Lawyers, ... 86-8
Ancient Order United Workmen, .91
Masonic Lodges, 88-9
Agricultural Implements, 95
Manufacturing Industries, ... 45-62, 96-9
Banking Interests,
21-24 Merchant Tailoring,
.98-9
Mercantile Interests.
93-6
Basket Factory.
54
New Albany City,
13-16
Breweries,
61-2:
Northwest Territory,
6
Building and Loan Associations,
92-3
Odd Fellow Lodges, 89-90
Commercial Club,
92
Old Ladies Home.
21
Calcium Light Points,
96
Orphans Home,
20
Carriages, Wagons, etc.
96
Planing Mills and Lumber,
57-8
Churches, 27-34 Past History, 4
Cemeteries,
21
Postmasters,
18-19
County Government,
9-12 Public Buildings,
16-18
Cornelia Memorial Home 20
Clothing Manufacturing,
98-9.
Physicians, Dentists, etc.
82-5
Real Estate and Insurance, 73-8
Railroads,
67-73
Electric Light and Gas Companies. . 43-4
Revolutionary War,
5
River and Canal,
63-7
Early Settlement,
9
Express Companies,
39-40 Schools,
35-9
Floyd County,
8
Sewing Machines, .
96
Steamboats, Ferries, etc., 64
Social Societies, Associations, etc. .88-93
General Summary and Review.
79-81 Stone and Marble Works,
58-60
Tanneries,
60-1
Glass Works,
46-7
Telegraph and Telephones,
41
Type Writer-Bar Lock,
96
Union Veteran Legion,
91
Iron and Steel Working.
49-54| U. S. Government Officials,
18-19
Introductory,
3
United Charities Hospital, .
20
Insurance, .
73-8
Water Works,
41-3
Knights of Honor, .91
Knights of Labor,
92
Woolen and Cotton Mills,
47-9
Laundries,
62-3
-
Young Mens Christian Association, .. 34
This book has required more than four months of time by the compiler and half a million separate pieces of metal have been used for this production. If any piece has been misplaced, or was wrongfully used, it makes an error, and we ask our readers to deal gently with us if they should see a letter upside down or word wrongfully spelled. The compiler has used special care and perseverance to arrive at correct and complete facts, but in some instances proprietors have been absent or reticent or other good reasons have prevented the notes which should have appeared.
You can mail this pamphlet for 2 cents. Send it to your friends.
Printing Offices,
25-6
Colleges,
37-9
Dry Goods.
95
Early Explorations,
4
Red Men,
90
Freight Transfer,
40
Furniture' Factories,
55-6
Grocery Stores (wholesale) 94
Grand Army of the Republic,
91
Indiana Territory and State, 6-8
Wholesale Houses,
94
Building Interests,
97
NEW ALBANY, IND.
ITS
ADVANTAGES AND SURROUNDINGS.
IHISTORY OF
A PROGRESSIVE MANUFACTURING CITY,
COMPILED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
THE COMMERCIAL CLUB, BY
D. P. ROBBINS, M. D.
Author of " Southern Progress," " Health and Happiness," Etc., Etc. 1312125
NTRODUCTORY .- There are few cities in the United States more fav- orably located for manufacturing than New Albany, or that have better agricul- tural and commercial surroundings. Recognizing our natural and acquired advantages the Commercial Club has determined upon a systematic effort to condense a sketch of all our material surroundings into a convenient sized pamphlet for preservation and wide dissemination. On referring to descriptions of the princi- pal manufactories of this place, given in later pages, it will be seen that New Albany is now justly entitled to be considered a prominent manufacturing city, but there is abundance of room for many more industries, and with our superior attractions, the progress in manufacturing developments should rapidly go forward. There are but few cities of New Albany's size in the West, where municipal taxes are as low as here. We have the best of transportation facilities by rail and water; are located on the beautiful Ohio, below the Falls, just at the head of low-water navigation; with two bridges, over which are rapid transit lines, connecting with Louisville. Within forty miles the famous block coal is found, celebrated as a reducing agent in furnaces and, which for the manufacture of Bessemer steel, ranks with the best in the United States. Iron ore, equal to the best Kentucky and Tennessee, is found in this section of Indi- ana. This is a central point for walnut, oak and hickory timbers. Educational, re- ligious and social advantages are unsurpassed. We have excellent Water Works, and the best of fire protection. The development of the great Southwest within the past twenty years has been phenomenal, and New Albany is the gateway to this
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DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
flourishing empire. Now that eastern manufacturers are seeking more central and congenial locations for distributing their products over the West and South, by water and rail, why should not New Albany come boldly to the front and assert her superi- ority? She has direct connection with all the principal trunk lines of railroad and lies directly at the head of low-water navigation, from whence the largest boats may safely go to Cairo, St. Louis, New Orleans and intervening points, at all seasons of the year.
We shall not go into a lengthy preface, but in subsequent pages shall endeavor to bring forth every material feature of advantage to this place; with a view of attract- ing additional immigrants who seek for health or pleasure, as well as the talents and capital of men of enterprise, desirous of embarking in some legitimate industry. It Shall be our aim to avoid lengthy details of unimportant private enterprises or ful- some praise of individuals. The purposes of the Commercial Club and the compiler are, to present in a convenient shape for preservation, as briefly as consistent, a sketch which shall show forth to the world the undoubted superiorities of this city for man- ufacturing, and demonstrate that our progressive men are ever ready to welcome in- dustrial enterprises. This we have placed in such a form as to insure preservation, while it is inexpensive and will doubtless be mailed far and wide by the promoters of this section.
To the former historians of Indiana and Kentucky, the newspaper fraternity, offi- cials, C. W. Cottom, J. H. Stotsenburg and others of New Albany, the compiler is in- debted for many valuable facts which find place in this pamphlet.
PAST HISTORY .- For the purposes of this work we shall give but a brief mention of the remote past. The Ohio Valley is particularly full of interest to the student of American History. Long before the Indians, of whom we have record, roamed the forests of this section, and fished in its rivers and creeks, it is believed to have been inhabited by a superior people-of whom not even a tradition remains- whose only monuments are scattered earthworks, and tumuli here and there, con- taining bones from a race of giants, pottery, axes, ornaments, &c. Whether these were a distinct people from the Aboriginal Indians or not, we may never know; but it is reasonable to suppose that they were predecessors, or a division of the half-civil- ized race from whom the Mexican Aztecs descended. Mounds, relics, etc., from these "Mound Builders" were formerly abundant throughout the Ohio and Mississippi val- leys, as far north as Lake Superior, and as far east as New York State. If a separate race from the Indians, when and by what agency they were destroyed, will perhaps re- main for all time, a mystery as deep as that of the fabled lost island of "At- lantis."
EARLY EXPLORATIONS .- Robert de LaSalle, a bold French adventur- er, with his companions and guides, descended the Allegheny and the Ohio rivers in 1669. Some writers say only to the Falls, but LaSalle's own account, speaking of himself in the third person, says: "he followed it to a place where it empties after a long course, into vast marshes, at latitude 37 degrees, after having been increased by another river, very large, which comes from the North; and all these waters discharge themselves, according to all appearances, into the Gulf of Mexico." (Margry, vol. i, p. 330.) This would indicate that LaSalle had followed the Ohio to its mouth, arriv- ing there when the Mississippi was overflown, and the low lands, around Cairo, re- sembling a vast marsh. Ten years later, LaSalle and others, built a sailing craft of
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OF NEW ALBANY, IND.
sixty tons burthen, five miles above Niagara Falls, the first boat of white men to sail over the waters of Lake Erie. "The Griffin," as it was called, went as far as Green Bay, Wis., where it loaded with furs, and manned by 15 seamen started with it for the head of Lake Michigan, while LaSalle, Father Hennepin and 20 others went overland to near the site of Chicago, where they waited several weeks for the "Griffin" which was never heard from afterwards. LaSalle and his followers explored the Mississip- pi, throughout its principal length, taking all this country in the name of France and calling it Louisiana. Early in the eighteenth century, French fur trading posts were established, between Detroit and New Orleans, the route coming up the Maumee to the present site of Fort Wayne, then coming by portage road some fifteen miles to the headquarters of the Wabash; down this stream past Ft. Quiatanon (near Lafay- ette) and Ft. Vincennes, to the Ohio and Mississippi. Vincennes lays claim to the greatest antiquity in Indiana, dating back to 1702, as the start for their town; but there is no good authority upon which to predicate this belief, as it was a score of years later before Francois Morgan Vinsenne established the fur trading post of that place. A deed bearing date of 1735, signed by Vinsenne and wife, transferred the improvements to his successors, and it subsequently became a military post. The French surrendered this section to the British in 1774, and General Harmar writing from that place, three years later, says: "the town contains nearly four hundred small houses and about nine hundred population."
REVOLUTIONARY WAR .- When the struggles of the Colonies for In- dependence began, all the lands, northwest of the Ohio, were claimed by Virginia. Kentucky, then a county of Virginia, through George Rogers Clark raised a regi- ment, with which to fight the British frontier posts. In 1778 he arrived at the Falls and built a fort on Corn island for the protection of his supplies. June 24, he embarked with one hundred and fifty-three men, and by plying the oars, night and day, landed near the mouth of the Tennessee four days later, and marched across southern Illinois to Kaskaskia, where the British post was taken July 4th, and two weeks later the garrison at Vincennes surrendered to the intrepid Clark. By these daring exploits the Indians were made friends of the colonists, and the victories of the Revolution hastened. For the next decade George Rogers Clark was one of the most aggressive men for development, and the Legislature of Virginia, in 1786, in recognition of his valuable services. granted to him and his officers and soldiers 150,- 000 acres of land at the Falls, and Clarksville was platted on the Indiana side, now occupied by Howard Park, between New Albany and Jeffersonville. General Clark retired from active life in 1787, and in poverty and sickness lived at Clarksville until 1814, when he was removed to the home of his sister at Locust Grove, near Lonisville, where he died in February, 1818. The Assembly of Virginia, in October, 1778, made all northwest of the Ohio river into the county of Illinois, and Col. John Todd was appointed County Lieutenant by Governor Patrick Henry. Arriving at Kaskaskia in May, 1779, he established the first civil government of this section by an election for Judges. Those selected for the Court at Vincennes, were P. Legras, F. Bosseron, Penot, Cardinal, Tulippe, Gamelin, Edeline, Dejinest and Barron. Todd was elected to the Virginia Legislature. from Kentucky the following year, and was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782. Virginia ceded this section to the General Govern- ment in 1784.
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DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY .- The area now comprising the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin was, by an act of Congress, created the Northwest Territory in 1787, and aside from the development at Clarksville, the first real American Colony, within this boundary, was platted at Marietta, Ohio, April 7th, 1788, by General Harman, Rufus Putnam, and others. Arthur St. Clair was first Governor, continuing in office until after Ohio was cut off as a special Territory in 1800, all the balance of the area being designated as the Ter- ritory of Indiana. A treaty was made by Gov. St. Clair in 1789, with the Indians, but numerous bloody encounters were had with the savages until after Gen. Wayne's decisive victory at Maumee, in 1794. Gen. Harrison, subsequently Governor of Indi- ana, was an aid-de-camp of Gen. Wayne on that occasion.
INDIANA TERRITORY .- At the census of 1800, this Territory, compris- ing four times the present area of the State, had 5,641 inhabitants, principally group- ed on the rivers and lakes as follows: Mackinaw, 251; other fur traders, on the great lakes, 300; Green Bay, 50; Upper Mississippi, 65; Cahokia, 719; adjoining twp., 286; Kaskaskia, 467; other Illinois points, 886. In Indiana, Clark's Grant had 929; Vincennes, 714; surrounding settlement, 819, and 55 fur traders on the upper Wa- bash, making about 2,500 inhabitants in the present boundaries of this State, of which 175 were slaves, and 123 free negroes. Those who held slaves under the Virginia and French rule, were permitted to hold these persons in servitude. The question as to whether slavery should come north of the Ohio river or not was long debated, and Jonathan Jennings, was elected to Congress, in 1809, distinctly upon the position of "No Slavery in Indiana." The Third General Assembly, of Indiana, which conven- ed at Vincennes on November 10th, 1810, repealed the "'Indenture Law, of 1807," which allowed the importation of negroes, indented in other territories or states and provided for the enforcement of these foreign indentures.
Governor Harrison, through the pressure of public opinion in Indiana, approved the repeal act. So close was the sentiment pro and con, that James Beggs, who was president of the council, gave the casting vote which made the soil of Indiana free from slavery. At this date there were 237 slaves in the area of the present state proper. These continued until death or freedom in other ways, but there was no further introduction of human bondage into Indiana, and the State constitution adopted in 1816, forever precluded its extension.
The act for territorial government was passed May 7, 1800, and a session opened July 4th of that year, at Vincennes; William Henry Harrison having been appointed as Governor; John Gibson, Secretary; Wm. Clark, Henry Vanderburg and John Griffin, Judges. The district of Louisiana, comprising the territory north of latitude 33 degrees, west of the Mississippi river, contained some 10,000 scattered inhabitants at the time of its purchase from the French, in 1803, and the officers of Indiana were authorized by Congress to enaet laws for that section; but its people remonstrated, and in 1805, it was made a separate government. Michigan was eut from Indiana in 1804 and Illinois and Wisconsin were taken from it in 1809. The only purely American settlement in the present State of Indiana, at the beginning of the present century, was at Clarksville. Louisville had been established in 1780 and a new fort erected to protect the settlement from Indian forays.
The people of Kentucky petitioned for separation from Virginia in 1783, gained that. favor in 1790, and two years later the first daughter, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, was born into the Union.
7
OF NEW ALBANY, IND.
The embargo laid by Spain upon the navigation of the Mississippi, retarded devel- opments in this section, until it was raised by treaty in 1795, when the river and port at New Orleans were ceded to the United States. In 1802 the treaty was set aside by a transfer of these rights to France, and our Government the next year pur- chased all of the Louisiana claim from Napoleon, for $15,000,000. The consumma- tion of this transaction opened the Gulf trade to the Union, and the Ohio river at once became an important artery in the World's commerce.
After Indiana was made a territory, there were numerous collisions with the na- tive tribes, during which the treachery and ferocity of Indian character were fully exemplified. The war dances of the Delawares, Miamis and Pottawatomies continued until after the defeat of Tecumseh and his brother "the prophet" at Tippecanoe, on the 7th of November, 1811, when the power of these formidable tribes was effectually broken. The two territorial Governors succeeding Harrison were John Gibson and Thomas Posey, which brings our history down to 1816, at which time Indiana was admitted into the Union. By census taken in 1815 the population was 63,609. Hon. J. H. Stotsenburg owns an original copy of Indiana Territorial laws, published at Frankfort, Ky., in 1802; with revisions of the second and third sessions, printed at Vincennes in 1804. These laws were principally remodeled from the code of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, and are signed by Wm. H. Harrison, Governor; Wm. Clarke, Henry Vanderburg and John Griffin, Judges.
INDIANA A STATE .- It would doubtless be of interest to the general read - er, if we had space to enter into a more minute description of the early history of southern Indiana, but we shall have to refer the exhaustive enquirer to the published facts regarding those times, having only space in this department to give a brief con- nection of links. The area of Indiana embraces nearly 34,000 square miles, equal to 21,637,760 acres. Starting at the mouth of the Miami on the east, bounded on the west by the Wabash for 150 miles, throughout the entire length of her southern bor- der, divided from Kentucky, by the majestic Ohio river, crossed in the center by White river, in the northern part, traversed by the Wabash, the Kankakee, and the St. Joseph, with fifty miles of front on Lake Michigan, and with numerous small riv- ers and creeks in every section of the State, Indiana has an unsurpassed water sup- ply. Her growth in wealth and population, like all the states of the Northwest, has been phenomenal. She now has a population of 2,192,464, while her flourishing cities, her 9,000 miles of iron highway, and her busy manufacturing villas, are proofs of boundless wealth and inexhaustible energy. Indiana is a grand state, having a record for intellectual culture and great writers, second only to Massachusetts, and in many material respects second to none in the Union. In almost everything that goes to make up a live prosperous commonwealth, she is in the front rank. Beneath her fer- tile soil are found coal, gas, oil, cement and building stone, enough to supply the state for generations. A mild climate, bountiful harvests, and thriving manufactories should tend to make her people contented, prosperous and happy.
The first state officers were Jonathan Jennings, Governor; Robert A. New, Secre- tary: Wm. H. Lilly, Auditor; Daniel C. Lane, Treasurer; James Scott, John John- son and Jesse L. Holman, Judges; James Noble and Waller Taylor, U. S. Senators; and Wm. Hendricks, Representative. The State Government opened Nov. 7th, 1816. Upon the first of May, 1813, the Capital had been removed from Vincennes to Cory- don, and in 1815, a stone building, 40x40, was erected as a Capitol building. This
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DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
continued in use until the seat of government was moved to Indianapolis the 10th of January, 1825, since which time the Corydon building has served as a court house for Harrison county. The Capital tavern, where most of the dignitaries lodged, in the earlier history of Indiana as a state, is also of stone, a mile distant from the state house, and is now owned by Joseph J. Terstegge, a prominent citizen of New Alba- ny. In 1834, Michigan claimed that her southern boundary line, should be upon .a. parallel with the extreme southern point of Lake Michigan, thereby taking South- bend, Elkhart and Toledo in her area. Indiana and Ohio resented the usurpation and the "Toledo war" was inaugurated. Congress to appease the Wolverines, gave to them most of the upper Peninsula and thereby settled the dispute.
FLOYD COUNTY .- This County was named from Davis Floyd, an adherent and chief adviser to Aaron Burr in is notorious Ohio river expedition, later a mem- ber of the Territorial Legislature and first Circuit Judge of this section. Floyd county, excepting Ohio, is the smallest county in the State. It was cut from Clark and Harrison in 1819, and contains 92.800 acres, about 145 square miles. It presents a great diversity of flats, hills, valleys and bottom lands. A range of knobs, formerly known as the Silver Hills, crosses the county from North to South, nearly touching the river at the lower end of New Albany, and by their semi-circle to the westward largely protecting the city from storms and cyclones. The county is well watered by a dozen fair sized creeks and many smaller tributaries, which flow into the Ohio river on its southern boundary. Formerly covered with forests of oak ash, hickory and walnut it yet has small tracts of valuable timber. The bottoms are a rich alluvial soil, and raise heavy crops of corn, oats and potatoes, while the hills produce good wheat and other cereals, tobacco, etc., and the up-lands furnish fine crops of grass and hay; grapes, berries and fruits thrive well in all portions of the county, large orchards abounding n both the high and low lands. In fact it is con- ceded that a principal source of income for this section should be in fruit raising; as grapes, strawberries, apples, pears, peaches, etc., are seldom injured by frost, and grow to perfection when wisely selected and properly cared for.
With the metropolis of Louisville at our very doors a home market is always cer- tain and the excellent transportation facilities afforded by rail and water invites com- petition.
There are numerous quaries o limestone, freestone, and a superior sandstone for building and other purposes. The breeding of fine stock is now attracting general attention among the farmers, and the conditions are favorable for the production of thoroughbreds. Blue grass indigenous, pure water is abundant, the climate is mild and there is no good reason why experienced stockmen should not make a de- cided success in Floyd. Improved farms in the interior have never struck speculative prices, ranging from $20 tc 7 per acre; bottom lands $75 to $100; while tracts within five miles of New Albany command a much higher figure according to their desirability. In the immediate vicinity of this city, the rugged bluffs are being transformed by artificial labor, into beautiful and picturesque tracts, of which "Silver Hills" plat is among the most prominent and will be mentioned in detail further on. The elevation of these hills above the surrounding country gives a magnificent view, and since, by the Highland Electric Railway, they have become accessible, healthy summer homes and excursion resorts for the people of the "Falls Cities" will now be- come general.
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OF NEW ALBANY, IND.
EARLY SETTLEMENT .- The first permanent settlement in Floyd county was in Franklin twp., in 1804, by Robert LaFollette; Patrick Shields soon afterwards settled in Georgetown, and Germans in various other places. The first settlers within the present limits of New Albany were James Mitchell, the ferryman at the foot of E. 5th street about 1809, and Mr. Trueblood who erected a log grist mill on Falling Run, near the site of the depot of the L., N. A. & C. R. R. Mr. Marsh built a cabin near by, and a Mrs. Roberts kept strangers, the mail carriers from Louisville to Vincennes stopping here and bringing the local mail to the self-imposed first post- mistress in this county, before New Albany was founded. Col. John Paul, of Madison, sold fractional sections, 2 and 3, to Joel, Abner and Nathaniel Scribner, in 1812. The cutting of timber for log house development began March 2d, 1813, shortly after which a double log house was erected in this place. New Albany was platted in the fall of 1813, and some lots sold. It was incorporated 1817 by Scrib- ner Brothers, John Eastman and Charles Woodruff. Col. Paul had taken up this land in 1808, believing that it would make a valuable site from its close proximity to the Falls, and because its central plateau was entirely above high water mark, while even the lower bank is only overflown by remarkable floods. The Scribners in ad- dition to this, discovered an excellent mill site and place for a future manufacturing city, and notwithstanding that the price asked by Col. Paul was nearly $10 an acre, an excessive figure for wild lands at that date, they contracted to pay $8,000 for the tract of 826 acres.
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