USA > Indiana > Grant County > Fairmount > The making of a township, being an account of the early settlement and subsequent development of Fairmount Township, Grant County, Indiana, 1829 to 1917, based upon data secured by personal interviews, from numerous communications > Part 1
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1800
Class
F534
Book
F1752
Copyright N.ยบ.
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
THE
MAKING OF A TOWNSHIP
Being an Account of the Early Settlement and Subsequent Development of
FAIRMOUNT TOWNSHIP
GRANT COUNTY, INDIANA
1829 to 1917
Based Upon Data Secured by Personal Interviews, from Numerous Communications and Various Other Reliable Sources of Information Concerning Local History
Under the Editorial Supervision of EDGAR M. BALDWIN
FAIRMOUNT, INDIANA Edgar Baldwin Printing Company Publishers
I
Copyright 1917 by Edgar M. Baldwin
FEB -8 1918
CIA492291
EDITOR'S NOTE
It would be presumptuous upon the part of any one person to claim the authorship of this narrative. "The Making of a Township" is the joint production of many. Without the generous co-operation of friends the story would, indeed, have been lacking in essential elements of accuracy and interest. Credit will be given in the proper place for the work of each contributor.
Fairmount Township was literally hewn out of the wilderness. The forest, in its primitive purity, has given way to productive farms and splendid homes where modern conveniences abound. Measured in terms of days, months and years the record reaches back to but yester- day. Considered upon the basis of development and invention, it seems to cover centuries.
For more than thirty years the writer has thought that this account should be prepared. Ten years ago he commenced to assemble data for this purpose. Not until January 1, 1917, however, did he abandon the hope that others who had lived through the pioneer period, and were therefore better equipped by knowledge and experience to handle the subject, would take the matter up. Now that this information ap- pears in permanent form, though the task be imperfectly performed, it is the hope of the editor that the book may in some measure preserve to posterity facts which otherwise might have been lost.
E. M. B.
Fairmount, Indiana, September 26, 1917.
TO THE MEMORY OF MY NOBLE BROTHER DAN WHOSE PATIENT FRIENDSHIP AND STEADFAST LOYALTY NEVER FAILED IN THE DAYS OF MY ERRATIC YOUTH THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
McCORMICK'S TAVERN ON THE OLD STATE ROAD From a drawing by Olive Rush made after a careful study of the building and its former environments and conversations with oldest settlers of that neighborhood.
EXPLANATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
In the preparation of this narrative two methods presented themselves for consideration.
First. The many communications received and published in The Fairmount News might have been revised and edited and set out in the editor's own language. It appeared that the work thus done would very likely take on a form entirely too prosaic and assume a style obviously too tedious, thereby losing much of its refreshing candor.
Second. The plan of treatment finally adopted, which seemed more appropriate to an effort of this character, speaks for itself. The reproductions of letters in substantially the identical language used by the contributor gives to the book, we trust, a more original significance, establishing an intimate or cordial relationship, so to speak, between narrator and the reader. This method seemed to meet with the approval of competent judges and it was therefore chosen.
Thanking you for your loyal support of this project, without which the volume could not have been added to your library, I am
Yours sincerely,
EDGAR M. BALDWIN.
List of Illustrations.
Page
John Vetor
251
John B. Hollingsworth
254
Andrew Rhoads
258 267
James C. Thorn
269
Alson M. Bell
Modern Fairmount Home
W. Hort Ribble
Lieut. Col. Allen Parker 274
Joseph W. Relfe 276 277
Map of Fairmount Township
Thomas J. Lucas
278 281
Roland Smith
293
Last of Tanyard
294
The Clodfelter Power House 306 The Old Swimmin' Hole 307
Joseph W. Baldwin
308
Nathan W. Edwards
3II
Dr. Alpheus Henley
314 316
Hon. C. C. Lyons
319
Mrs. Gladys (Lyons) Knight
319
Dr. Carl D. Lucas
322
Dr. J. W. Patterson
323
Levi Scott
326
John Selby
327 328
Robert A. Morris
329
Gilbert LaRue
332
Alvin B. Scott
334
Xen H. Edwards 336
Washington Street Looking East from Main Street 337
Main Street, Looking South from Washington Street 338
Nixon Rush
340
Graduating Class of Fairmount Academy (1888) 34I
Garfield Cox 342
Joel B. Wright 344
Fairmount Academy Basketball Team (1915) 345
Fairmount High School Basketball Team (1915) 346
Ephraim Bartholomew
27I 272 273
David G. Lewis
H. W. Winslow 303
Dr. David S. Elliott
John Flanagan
List of Illustrations.
Page
Rev. W. D. Baker
347
Rev. W. J. Seekins
348
Ancil E. Ratliff 349
Alvin Seale
356
The Big Snow
358
Back Creek at Flood Tide 362
Back Creek on a Rampage 364
Hon. Edgar L. Goldthwait 382
David Jones and Family 417
In the Quaker Costumes of Their Grandmothers
435
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
McCormick's Tavern on the Old State Road
(By Olive Rush) Frontispiece
Blazing the Way (Head piece by Olive Rush) 17
Victor A. Selby 19
Charles T. Parker
22
Hon. John T. Strange
32
Me-shin-go-me-sia 35
The Fankboner Graveyard 41
Original Site of McCormick Tavern
42
Old Coleman Homestead
Gabrille Havens
Daniel Winslow, Henry Winslow and Seth Winslow
Back Creek Meeting-house
Nathan Morris
Second and Third Generations
Mark Baldwin
John T. Morris
Asa T. Baldwin
William G. Lewis
Emeline Lewis
Solomon Thomas
John Smith
Mary Ann Smith
The Postoffice at AI
William S. Elliott
Lydia Morris Arnold
Aaron Newby
Major B. V. Norton
Members of the Wilson-Hill-Bogue-Baldwin Families
100
T. B. McDonald
II3
William R. Woollen
I2I 1 26
David Stanfield
Elizabeth Stanfield
127
Site of Benbow Cabin 128
Cyrus W. Neal 129
Jonathan Baldwin I35
45 46 49 5I 53 55 56 59 6.1 67 68 69 70 70 71 79 82 94 96
List of Illustrations.
Page
Hon. James M. Hundley 136
First Frame Dwelling in Fairmount 1 37
The Old Baldwin Homestead 138
The Giant Hackberry
Mrs. Angelina (Harvey) Pearson
148
Herbert Pearson
150
The Pool of Siloam
153
Fac-simile of Scrip Issued by the Marion & Mississinewa Rail- road Company 157
Rev. Herbert S. Nickerson
160
Daisy Barr 163
The Elijah Ward Cabin 165
William Hall 166
Berean Bible Class of the Friends Sabbath School 168
Mary Ann Taylor
179
John R. Little 180
Miss Stella Buller
190
Eli J. Cox
193
The Edmund Leach Homestead
196
William J. Leach
199
Claud Leach
200
Jonathan P. Winslow
203
Jane (Henley) Winslow 203
Palmer Winslow 204
Jonathan P. Winslow Homestead 205
Nixon Winslow
206
Levi Winslow
207
The W. H. H. Reeder Homestead
227
William Henry Harrison Reeder
228
Robert B. Reeder
230
Mr. and Mrs. O. M. Bevington and Family
231
Henry Simons
232
Jesse E. Wilson
238
Aunt Mary Wilson
240
Samuel C. Wilson
241
Lindsey and Jane (Davis) Wilson
214
Mrs. Eunice ( Pierce) Wilson 245
Lin Wilson 247
Nathan D. W. Elliott 2.49
Clyde N. Wilson 250
Jesse Webster Wilson 250
THE MAKING OF A TOWNSHIP
CHAPTER I.
BLAZING THE WAY.
I
T IS NOT definitely known when the first white man set foot upon the soil of Fairmount Township.
Until about 1823, according to best available authority, Indians were the sole inhabitants of Grant County.
It may be stated, however, for the meditation of thoughtful people, and as a matter simply of speculation, that James Marquette, noted Jesuit missionary, visited the northern part of Indiana about the year 1672 ; that within the same decade Joliet, intrepid French explorer, and LaSalle, with his band of adventurous spirits, passed through the region of the Kankakee swamps.
While it may be true that detachments from various expeditions, as sometimes happened with exploring parties, forayed into this section of the State. there appears to be no recognized authority bold enough to assert, as a fact, that any of these sturdy pathfinders penetrated the unbroken forest which in the first half of the nineteenth century covered this Township.
Flushed with victory over General Harmar in October, 1790, Indians had begun to terrorize the frontier settlements in Northwest Territory. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, a native of Thurso, Caithness-shire, Scotland, educated at the University of Edinburg, distinguished him- self in the campaign which ended with the surrender of Cornwallis. General St. Clair was a delegate to the Continental Congress, serving part of the time as President of that body. He was the first Governor of the Northwest Territory.
17
18
The Making of a Township.
As Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. Army St. Clair, in 1791, headed an expedition sent against Miami Indians on the Wabash. His troops, numbering 1,800 men, met with a disastrous defeat at the hands of more than 2,000 warriors led by Little Turtle. Though exonerated by Congress, General St. Clair resigned his command.
In 1792 St. Clair was superseded by General Wayne. On account of his many daring exploits he had come to be known by the people as Mad Anthony. He was a native of Waynesborough, Pennsylvania, and had served in the War of the Revolution. His dash and audacity as a commanding officer saved General Lafayette from annihilation in 1780 while the gallant Frenchman was operating in Virginia.
Major-General Scott, with about .1,600 mounted Kentucky Volun- teers, joined the troops of General Wayne on July 26, 1794, at Ft. Defiance. Two days later the combined forces began their movement on Indian towns situated along the Maumee.
It may be remarked, in passing, that the reenforcements under Gen- eral Scott might have been the soldiers who, tradition tells us, blazed the trail afterwards known as the Ft. Wayne road, passing in a north- easterly direction beyond and east of East Branch school house, in Fair- mount Township.
This trail led across one corner of Willis McCoy's farm, passing through the southeast corner of Thomas Winslow's place, thence along the road by John H. Flanagan's land and through John Selby's tract. crossing the Mississinewa at Wilson's ford.
David Lewis, who came to this Township on November 18, 1834, always contended that General Wayne's troops left a quantity of sup- plies and equipment near this ford.
Thomas J. Parker, another early pioneer (father of Ex-County Treasurer Joseph H. Parker and Attorney Charles T. Parker), who lived at one time in the vicinity of Lake Galatia, frequently in his reminiscent moods talked to members of his family and to his neigh- bors of the accuracy of this statement with reference to what was known in the early days as "the Anthony Wayne trail."
Attorney Parker submits an interesting contribution to the litera- ture on this subject, upon which there has been a wide divergence of opinion.
"In the years 1875 and 1876," Mr. Parker's statement reads, "my father, Thomas J. Parker, lived where the north side of what would be the east extension of Eighth Street intersects with the west bank of the prairie, east of the town of Fairmount. During the winter months
19
Blasing the Way.
he conducted a boot and shoe shop, making and mending boots for the people of that vicinity.
"Of evenings during the winter the neighbors would congregate there and pass the time in relating reminiscences and legends pertaining to that particular country, and especially with reference to the prairie part of it (which at that time was undrained, and during the greater part of the year was covered with water), this running for a consider- able distance from a southwest angling on up to what is now known as Lake Galatia.
"On the brow of this prairie was a road following along the high bank, just above the prairie and meandering around with nu- merous crooks and turns, follow- ing the contours of the bank of the prairie.
"On many occasions I have heard my father and the old set- tlers along this road tell about that being the road which An- thony Wayne and his soldiers had cut out in their march from Maumee and Ft. Defiance to the relief of the settlers at the old fort, which is now the site of the city of Ft. Wayne, at that time beseiged by the Indians. This was during the months of Oc- tober and November, 1794.
"Among the old settlers living VICTOR A. SELBY along the road at that time were Who possesses an old-fashioned flint- lock gun barrel said to have been left behind by one of General Wayne's soldiers as the troops passed through Fairmount Township. Jacob McCoy, Major B. V. Nor- ton, John Selby and Milton Wins- low. This road, at that time- in 1874 and 1875-was always called the Waync, or Ft .. Wayne road. In those days it was a common thing to pick up flint arrows and other stone implements, evidently having been used by the Indians of early times ; also evidences of implements of warfare of various kinds were found. One which I had the opportunity of inspecting recently was an old flint-lock mustket barrel which had a hole blown in one side. It was found near this road, and is now in the possession of our fellow-towns-
20
The Making of a Township.
man, Victor A. Selby. The supposition is that it was one of the cast- off guns of Anthony Wayne's soldiers.
"A part of this road is still in use, following from the west bank of the Eighth Street road and angling round past the farm home of John H. Flanagan and John Selby, most of the other part of this road having been abandoned in straightening the lines along the different farms located on this thoroughfare."
"It is a reasonable conclusion," writes Dr. Alpheus Henley, "that the first settlers who came to Grant County from the South fol- lowed the road that was previously cut out, so far as it ran in the direction they wished to go.
"In talking with some of the first settlers, old Georgie Moore. Aquilla Moore's father, who settled where Abe Music lived, and Solo- mon Thomas, who settled a little farther north, I got the impression that Alexandria and Summitville were located on the old trail, and that Moore's, Thomas's and Henry Osborn's cabins were erected on the old road.
"When I first became acquainted with the Henry Osborn settlement. about seventy years ago, Henry had a field fenced in north of his cabin, along the east side of the road to his northwest corner. At that point where his north line intersected with the road, there stood a sign post, a board on it pointing to the northeast and southwest, which read :
63 MILES TO FORT WAYNE 63 MILES TO INDIANAPOLIS
"That post and sign were there some years later.
"At that time the land cast of the then traveled road, and north to where Davis now lives, was all in woods. Isaac Stanfield then lived on the Ink place and Vernon Stanfield lived where Kaufman built his big barn.
"The Wayne trail led off from the sign post in a northeast direction, striking the prairie near eighty rods east of the Ink residence. and fol- lowed the meanderings in and out of the prairie, keeping on dry ground, to the Timothy Kelley residence. Here it left the prairie and made a more direct angle to the Wilson crossing of the Mississinewa River.
"Ft. Wayne* was the place of entry of all Grant County land, con- sequently there was considerable travel over the Wayne road by land
* By an Act of Congress, approved by the President of the United States May 8, 1822, this office was established at Ft. Wayne. After the survey of the lands, President Monroe issued a proclamation for their sale, the minimum price being fixed at $1.25 per acre. The sale began on October 22, 1823.
21
Blasing the Way.
buyers until the Government land was all taken up, that being the most direct route to the Land Office.
"In October, 1861, I drove a two-horse team from the then Kauf- man place, due east through the middle of the farm, some eighty rods to the prairie, where I came on to the old trail, which I followed to the Billy Karwin place, and on by Jacob McCoy's, John Lee's, Otho Selby's and Timothy Kelley's, where the road left the prairie and ran north a little ways, then direct to the river. After crossing the river the road ran a pretty angle northeast to Warren and Huntington. After getting a little way from the river the land was quite level and covered with a dense forest. The farms were small and not always close together.
"My objective point was Huntington. My errand being accom- plished, as I now recollect, it was almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and night overtook me near Warren. I drove to my starting place that night, or rather between 2 and 3 a. m., and I came to the conclusion that was about the most dismal drive I ever made.
"The old trail had not been changed much at that date, but ran on a direct angle."
"You no doubt have heard of old Dave Conner .* who established an Indian trading post on the river, some miles northwest of the present site of Marion," continues Dr. Henley. "Some time prior to the War of 1812 Conner was doing business there. The military authority over that district enjoined Conner from selling the Indians any more ammu- nition or guns. This order so incensed the Indians that they gath- ered up in force around the block house and demanded ammunition. Upon refusal to comply with their terms they threatened to tear down the house, kill Dave and help themselves to what they wanted. Conner was true to his country, and in the face of death refused to accommo- date the Indians, who proceeded at once to carry out their threat by felling a small tree on the house that stood near the fort, up which a number of Indians climbed to the roof and commenced to make an opening in the top. When they had an opening sufficiently large to see what Conner was doing, Dave picked up a keg of powder and emptied it out on the counter, and with a piece of wood with fire on the end in one hand, told the Indians if they did not depart at once he would blow all of them beyond the happy hunting grounds. They took Dave at his word, knowing that he had always kept his word with them, and did not molest him again.
"This is undoubtedly the same man that Lieut .- Col. John B. Campbell refers to in his report on the Battle of the Mississinewa.
22
The Making of a Township.
ATTORNEY CHARLES T. PARKER
Whose important contribution to "The Making of a Township" helps to define the route of the Anthony Wayne trail.
23
Blasing the Way.
"Jep Sutton, one of Conner's clerks, was in the building with Con- ner at this particular time. He said when Dave picked up the stick with fire on it he fell down against the wall and closed his eyes, expect- ing every second to hear the crash that did not come.
"Sutton stayed with Dave until the latter died. I never saw old Dave, as he was called, but I did see Sutton, who was a rough back- woodsman, and I judge felt more at home with the Indians than with white men.
"Robert McClure and James Sweetser clerked for Conner at an early day, and learned the Indian language while selling them goods."
Advancing from Ft. Defiance, General Wayne, on August 20, gained a decisive victory over the Indians and British, losing thirty- three killed and 100 wounded. Nine hundred Americans were act- ually engaged in this battle as against an estimated superior force of 2,000 of the enemy.
September 14, 1794, General Wayne, with his troops, proceeded in the direction of deserted Miami villages at the junction of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers, reaching that point October 17th. Here the site of Ft. Wayne, named by Col. John F. Hamtramck, was selected. The fort was completed on November 22d.
General Wayne's complete pacification of the Indians was accom- plished. The Treaty of Greenville was made on August 3. 1795. The principal chiefs present when the treaty was signed were Tarhe, Buck- hongehelas, Black Hoof, Blue Jacket and Little Turtle.
General Wayne continued to serve until 1796 as United States Commissioner in the Northwest Territory. His career ended shortly after his successful campaign against the Indians. He returned to Ft. Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania, where he died. December 14, 1796.
Little Turtle was a natural leader of men. Skillful and courageous, he was a fearless and persistent enemy of frontiersmen. He won many victories over the whites. It was not until he encountered "the man who never sleeps," as he once described General Wayne in a coun- cil of war, that he met his match.
Little Turtle died at Ft. Wayne, July 14, 1812. A vast concourse of people attended his funeral. He was buried with the highest honors. The sword and medal presented to him by Gen. George Washington were placed in the coffin when his body was lowered into the grave.
CHAPTER II.
BATTLE OF THE MISSISSINEWA-BEARING UPON THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF FAIRMOUNT TOWSHIP.
TECUMSEH, a Shawnee, perhaps the foremost man of his race, had in 1812 attained to a position of undisputed leadership. As warrior, statesman and orator, he was without a rival among his peo- ple. In all the country drained by the Mississippi his influence and power none questioned. His celebrated interview with Gen. William Henry Harrison, at Vincennes, which ended abruptly, convinced Gen- eral Harrison that he had met a foe entirely worthy of his constant attention.
Tecumseh had for many years devoted his great powers of logic and persuasion to the proposition that all tribes must confederate. work together for mutual advantage and to maintain intact, at all hazards, every foot of their choice hunting grounds. His whole policy centered on this one end.
As a basic principle, Tecumseh held that the Great Spirit had given the tribes all these hunting grounds to keep in common, and that all treaties made with white men were null and void. With such diligence. resourcefulness and success did he propagate his doctrines that prac- tically all Indians yielded to his leadership and rallied enthusiastically to his support.
The War of 1812 presented the opportunity and British machina- tions supplied the pretext which Tecumseh and his warriors seized upon in their resistance to further encroachment upon their territory. The Treaty of Greenville was disregarded. Indians once more left their peaceful pursuits, gathered up their guns and tomahawks and renewed their depredations and massacres.
It was during this period that the Battle of the Mississinewa was fought in Pleasant Township, on Grant County soil. The result of this battle was of supreme importance in its bearing upon the subse- quent development of Fairmount Township.
The attention of thoughtful people is not attracted to that coun- try for permanent settlement where life is not secure or where the peaceable possession of property is not assured. Men do not need- lessly expose their own lives, much less the lives of their families, to pillage and rapine and murder.
It was not until fourteen years had elapsed after this battle had been
24
25
Battle of the Mississinerva.
fought that pioneers ceased to hesitate in forming their purpose and maturing their plans to gain homes in the new country. Gradually, satisfying themselves of ample protection in their property rights and of personal safety for themselves and their families, Fairmount Town- ship became the objective point of those hardy people from the South and from the East.
In view of these facts, and without further explanation, it is not out of place to insert here a well-written account of the epoch-making Battle of the Mississinewa, prepared by Mr. Carl D. Hunt. This description, somewhat condensed, is taken from The Indianapolis Star, dated January 24, 1909. Details given in the article have been authenticated by competent critics who are familiar with ascertained facts relative to this engagement.
"It is the dead of winter," the story runs. "In the face of a blinding snow, and suffering intensely from the bitter cold, a company of sol- diers is advancing into a wilderness broken in infrequent spots by a settler's cabin or a deserted camping ground. The men urge their stumbling horses forward, ever ready for the attack of the wary red- skins, whom they have come to subject to the white man's rule.
"Imagine such a scene in Indiana but a short ninety-seven years ago, and once you have fixed in your mind the perils and hardships of that terrible march, the stage is set for the thrilling climax-the forgotten Battle of the Mississinewa.
"The valor of Harrison's heroes at Tippecanoe in their great vic- tory over Tecumseh's hosts has been commemorated in song and story. But the heroism of the brave band of pioneer patriots who gave up their lives beside the Mississinewa that civilization might advance is an unknown story. Yet in all the annals of Indian warfare on Hoosier soil there was not a more picturesque struggle or one involving greater bravery and more privations upon the part of the soldiers than this Battle of the Mississinewa. It opened the way to Fort Wayne and Detroit on the north, and thus led to the final victory against the Indians of the Middle West.
"The battle-ground is in the corner of Grant County, not far from the Wabash County line and near the old town of Jalapa, on the Mis- sissinewa River, along the banks of which is scenery not to be sur- passed in Indiana. And it is not far, either, from the shaft which may some day remind future generations of the tragic story of Frances Slocum, the 'White Rose of the Miamis.'
"During the boyhood of men now living there were many marks
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