USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 15
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The remainder of the act pertains to the changing of the seat of justice of Warrick county from Darlington, where it then was.
Of Judge Henry Vanderburgh, for whom the new county was named, it has been written that he was worthy the honor conferred upon his memory, but he was in no way identified with the formation or development of the county. He had no interests in lands in this locality and no claim of a local nature upon the people here. He was born in Troy, New York in 1760, and at the early age of sixteen was appointed a lieutenant in the Fifth New York Regiment Continental troops, to rank as such from the 21st day of November, 1776. His commission was signed by John Jay, afterward chief justice of the United States, and then president of the Continental Congress, sitting at Philadelphia. He was re-appointed by John Hancock, and, subse- quently being commissioned captain in the Second regiment, served with honor to himself and credit to his country until the close of the war in 1783. The exact time of his coming to the then Northwest ter- ritory is not known, but probably it was in 1788, for in February, 1790, he was married in Vincennes to Frances Cornoyer, the daughter of Pierre Cornoyer, one of the most respected of the old inhabitants of Vincennes, where he was engaged largely in the Indian trade. In 1791 Judge Vanderburgh was appointed by Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the Northwest territory, justice of the peace and judge of probate for Knox county. The first legislature which the people of the Northwest territory had any part in electing met at Cincinnati in 1799. From the nominations made by the representatives, Judge Vanderburgh was selected by Gov. St. Clair as one of the five who constituted the legislative council, and by his colleagues in the council
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was chosen as their president. Upon the organization of Indiana ter- ritory, suitable recognition was given his ability as a lawyer in his selection as one of the territorial judges, which honorable position he filled until his death in 1812. Interested in the educational affairs of the territory, he became in 1807 a member of the first board of trus- tees of Vincennes University. As a scholar and a soldier he was eminent. He sustained the reputation of an upright and- humane judge, and his death, which occurred April 12, 1812, was generally re- gretted. He was buried with imposing Masonic honors on a farm east of Vincennes.
Judge Vanderburgh was the kinsman of Gen. John Tipton, of Har- rison county, one of the most influential men in the legislature. Tipton gained distinction in the campaigns of Gen. Harrison, and being a man of rare ability made his influence felt in the formation and naming of many of the counties in the state. He admired Judge Vanderburgh and revered his memory, and it was his influence which brought about the naming of Vanderburgh county in that gentleman's honor.
On March 9, 1818, the day fixed by the act, occurred the first meeting of the board of commissioners of Vanderburgh county, James Anthony, David Brumfield and George Sirkle attending. Each pro- duced his certificate of election to the office and then they organized for business. On the following day they divided the county into the townships and elections for justices of the peace were ordered in each township with the time and place designated. The warehouse of Hugh McGary was declared a public warehouse and inspectors were ap- pointed for it. Matthias Whetstone, Patrick Calvert and James Patton were apointed to view a proposed public highway, and overseers of the poor, superintendents of school sections and an assessor were also named. Since Arthur Harbison, John Stephens and John Allen, com- missioners appointed by the act, failed to appear, their places were filled by the appointment of Thomas E. Casselberry, Wilson Bullett and Elias Barker as commissioners. On March 11th the locating commissioners submitted their report to the board of county com- missioners, which was accepted, Evansville thereby becoming the seat of justice of Vanderburgh county. Small allowances for expense were granted the locating commissioners, totaling $60.00, and then the board adjourned until May 11, 1818, all the preliminary business having been accomplished in three days time.
In common with all the other counties of Indiana, Vanderburgh has an essentially Virginian form of government as a direct inheritance from the days when Indiana was in Illinois county, Virginia. The Vir- ginian form of government centered in state control with the county as a unit of management. The county was divided into townships to facilitate local government, and this system was particularly adapted to large, sparsely settled regions. In 1787, after Virginia had ceded her northwest territory to the government of the United States, the methods of county government were slightly modified by the Ordi- nance of 1787 in the introduction of many sane provisions adapted from the laws of other states. When Vanderburgh was organized,
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the government of it was in the hands of a board of county commis- sioners, but in 1824 the state legislature passed an act whereby a board of justices was put in control of each county in the state. By this act a justice of the peace from each township in the county was elected to the board, but this system was so far from being satisfactory that on January 19, 1831 the general assembly substituted a board of commissioners for the board of justices in each county, and made other important changes as well that have all together made the government of the county simple and practicable. In addition to the board of county commissioners there are also the usual county officials, judge of the circuit court, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, treasurer, auditor, recorder, clerk, coroner, surveyor, etc., all exercising authority in the various departments of government. From time to time slight changes have been effected, but the general outline of county government has always remained the same.
Courthouses. One of the earliest subjects for the consideration of the county commissioners was the building of a courthouse. Although in the first years of the county's existence there was but a compara- tively small amount of business done, it was nevertheless imperative that a permanent and safe abode be provided for the offices of the gov- ernment and for the preservation of important records. The first meetings of the courts were held in the home of Hugh McGary, as had been done in Warrick county prior to the formation of Vanderburgh, but in the late summer of 1818 the county agent was ordered to con- tract for materials with which to build a courthouse. Definite plans for the building were adopted on February 15, 1819, and the site chosen for it was the southeast quarter of the public square, the public square being four quarter blocks centering at Third and Main streets. The first proposal was to build the courthouse in the center of Main street, and ground was broken for such a location, but the commis- sioners saw in time how great an inconvenience that would be to the citizens of the town and decided upon the southeast quarter. It was constructed of brick manufactured in Evansville, and was a most sub- stantial building, 34x46 feet in size and two stories in height. Most of the courthouse was put up under contract by Elisha Harrison and Daniel F. Goldsmith, and it was ready for occupancy in May, 1820. Owing to the scarcity of money, payment on contracts was most difficult, and whereas the actual cost of the building would have been $5,425 had cash been available, the deferment of payments, discount losses suffered and compounded interest over a period of nearly twenty years brought the ultimate cost much higher.
In such financial straights was the county placed during the first years of its existence that public funds were not available to make much needed repairs on the courthouse from time to time, and in 1837 the vestry of St. Paul's church expended a considerable sum in repair- ing the courthouse in return for the county granting that organization the use of the building for church purposes providing that such church services would not interfere with the holding of court. The court- house was too small to accommodate the various offices of the county,
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and most of the officers had to keep their records and transact the duties of their offices at their homes or places of business. However, in 1837 a fire-proof brick building for the offices of the clerk and re- corder, 18x30 feet, was erected on the public square facing main street south of the courthouse. The cost of this structure was $818.50, and it was put up by Thomas F. Stockwell.
So great was the demand for a larger courthouse that in June, 1852 an agreement was made with James Roquet, a French architect and contractor for the building of a new courthouse, jail and jailor's residence. The northeast corner of the public square was chosen for the site, and the remaining three quarters were to be transferred to Roquet as compensation for his work. The work of construction pro- ceded very slowly, and suit on the contract was threatened. How- ever, such action was not taken, and the building was so far com- pleted by June, 1855 that the auditor, clerk and recorder moved into it. But bad luck attended the entire venture. On the day before Christ- mas, 1855, when the building was all but complete, a fire started in a lumber yard east of the courthouse, spread to the new structure and consumed it.
The commissioners accepted $150 from Mr. Roquet as payment in full for the uncompleted portion of the building, and the case then stood with him still to build the courthouse or his sureties to forfeit the bonds to the county. But the sympathy of the community was with the unfortunate architect, and at the petition of some five hundred leading citizens and taxpayers, he and his sureties were released by the commissioners.
Scattered offices were now rented for the use of county officials, the courts being held in the Crescent City hall. Plans were immedi- ately made for repairing the damage done by the fire, the fire-proof walls having been left standing, and in March, 1856, Francis D. Allen contracted with the commissioners to rebuild the courthouse and com- plete the other buildings for $14,300. It was completed in 1857, but the commissioners refused to accept it and the case was arbitrated before a committee of citizens, John S. Hopkins, Peter Sharpe, Mich- ael Muentzer, James Rogers and James Steel. This committee awarded the county over $700 for damages and the contractor $35 for extras, and a settlement was made on this basis.
This courthouse was used for about thirty years, but it became so inadequate to the needs of the county business that the present splendid edifice was put up on what was known as the Union Block, the old site of the Wabash & Erie canal basin, between Fourth and Fifth and Vine and Division streets. This site was bought in 1873 as a site for a new courthouse for about $54,000 upon the recommendation of a committee of citizens, consisting of such representative men as Judge Asa Iglehart, Gen. J. M. Shackleford, Hon. Thomas E. Garvin, Col. J. S. Buchanan and Hon. Charles Denby, a committee appointed by the Evansville bar to urge the commissioners to erect a new court- house, and in turn appointed by the commissioners to choose a site.
Plans for the building were submitted to the commissioners, and
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they, with the assistance of Maj. Joseph B. Cox, Hon. William Heil- man and Dr. John Laval, selected the plans prepared by H. Wolters of Louisville, Kentucky. The architect had fixed the limit of cost for the construction of the courthouse at $400,000, and in September, 1887 contracts were awarded Charles Pearce & Company for $379,450. Vanderburgh county boasts one of the finest courthouses in Indiana, and it is doubtful if a finer is to be found anywhere in the state.
Vanderburgh county has, in the main, been fortunate in the men it has chosen to hold its public offices. The material prosperity of its citizens is alone a sufficient evidence of a careful and salutary local government, and the names of some of those men who have filled the more important positions of public trust may be of interest in this con- nection.
Treasurers: George W. Jacobs, Alanson Warner, Alexander Johnson, Alanson Warner, John M. Lockwood, B. Royston, Robert W. Dunbar, Theodore Vennemann, Leroy Calvert, John Rheinlander, F. Lunkenheimer, William Warren, Jr., Emil Rahn, Thomas P. Brit- ton, John Y. Hayes, August Leich, James F. Saunders, Charles F. H. Laval, Philip J. Euler, John P. Walker, Otto L. Klauss, Carl Lauen- stein, Newton W. Thrall, Walter M. Smith and Chris Kratz.
Recorders : Hugh McGary, B. M. Lewis, W. T. Jones, George H. Todd, Christian Bippus, John Farrel, F. Lunkenheimer, C. Tomhemelt, S. B. Sansom, Charles T. Jenkins, Louis Sihler, Otto Durre, Paul De- Kress, E. H. Rasch, Theodore Kevekordes, Fred H. Woelker, Fred Stritter, Henry Barker.
Auditors : James McJohnson, H. C. Gwathmey, William H. Walk- er, Victor Bisch, Philip Decker, Joseph J. Reitz, William Warren, Jr., Charles F. Yeager, James D. Parvin, Louis D. Legler, Harry Stinson, Charles P. Beard, Willis M. Copeland, Samuel P. Bell.
Clerks: Hugh McGary, James W. Jones, C. D. Bourne, Robert M. Evans, Samuel T. Jenkins, Ben Stinson, Jacob Lunkenheimer, Louis Richter, Blythe Hynes, Soren Sorenson, Jesse WV. Walker, Charles F. Boepple, Charles Sihler, William E. Wilson, Frank C. Grange.
Sheriffs: John B. Stinson, Hazael Putnam, Alanson Warner, James Newman, Alanson Warner, Daniel Miller, Levi Price, Edward Hopkins, Daniel Miller, Thomas F. Stockwell, William W. Walker, John Echols, John S. Terry, John S. Gavitt, John B. Hall, John S. Gavitt, George Wolflin, Robert Early, Alex Darling, Jacob H. Miller, Adolph Pfafflin, Christ Wunderlich, J. A. Lemcke, Thomas Kerth, Charles Schaum, Frank Pritchett, Andrew Richardt, Charles G. Cov- ert, Martin Koepke, Christ W. Kratz, William E. Barnes, John J. Davis, William Habbe, Herbert Males, Fred Heuke.
Surveyors: Joseph M. McDowell, George G. Olmstead, Azariah Wittlesey, James D. Saunders, J. R. Frick, James D. Saunders, S. C. Rogers, Charles B. Bateman, August Pfafflin, James D. Saunders, Robert S. Cowan, George W. Rank, George W. Saunders, Franklin Sauers, Ira A. Fairchilds, C. C. Genung, Fred R. Puder, C. C. Gen-
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ung, Wm. E. Lemme, Jesse Bedford, Gus Pfafflin, Julius Ehlers, Louis Topf, August Pfafflin, Rudolph Meissinger.
Coroners : Lewis Tackett, Alanson Warner, Daniel Avery, Jesse C. Doom, Alanson Warner, John Shaver, David H. Stevens Seth Fairchild, Z. B. Aydelott, Adrain Young, Seth Fairchild, Lewis Howes, John Cupples, Allen C. Hallock, George A. Fairchild, John Beschman, Samuel P. Havlin, George F. Sauer, Fred Wastjer, John B. Hermeling, Dr. Elijah E. Carter, Fred Wahnsiedler, Alfred An- drews, Charles P. Beard, Charles Johann, John P. Walker, A. Matt Walling, E. J. Laval, Edward Macer, William Stemper, Neal W. Ker- ney, Charles F. Dieffendorf, William G. French.
Assessors : William Dean, Henry Haynie, William Diedrich, Henry E. Drier, Paul DeKress, John H. Hanning, Albert E. Swope.
Toumships. The division of the county into townships covered a period of over twenty-five years, for as the county was settled up it became necessary to create additional civil townships, the smaller units being more convenient for local government. Armstrong township, organized in 1818, was the first, and German, the last to be created, was organized in 1845.
Armstrong township. This township was organized on March 9, 1818, and originally took in approximately the northern half of Van- derburgh county, but has been from time to time reduced in area to its present form. It is bounded on the west and north by Posey and Gibson counties, on the east by Scott township, and on the south by German township. The first white men to settle within the confines of Armstrong township were James Martin and his sons, Carolinians. Imbued with the pioneer spirit, they made their way into what was then a wilderness, and enduring the hardships which such a life meant established their homes. From John Armstrong, Sr., another early settler, the township received its name. He was an ex-sailor, having, indeed, spent most of his life at sea, and he bore a considerable repu- tation locally as a teller of miraculous sea stories, which charmed his listeners and beguiled away many an otherwise dreary hour. He was a land owner of some prominence, having brought funds with him in order to enter land from the government. The only town of conse- quence is St. Wendell's, the seat of a Catholic school.
Pigeon township. Simultaneously with the formation of Arm- strong township came the organization of Pigeon township. Origin- ally it covered the southern half of the county, broadly speaking, but has been cut down by the formation of other townships erected out of it. It is bounded on the north by Center township, on the east by Knight, on the south by the Ohio river and that portion of Kentucky which lies north of the Ohio at this point, a small piece of land on which Dade Park is located, and on the west by Union and Perry townships. Green River Island, previously surrounded by water, has by a filling up of the river bed to the north become practically a part of the Indiana mainland, thus placing a small part of Kentucky on the Indiana side of the river. Pigeon township is named from Pigeon
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creek, which flows through it, and most of the township is occupied by the city of Evansville.
Union township. On May 10, 1819 was organized Union town- ship, which lies in the southwest corner of the county. Settlers came to this township as early as the year 1807, and of these William An- thony was the most prominent. He operated a ferry opposite Hender- son, Kentucky, then called Red Banks, and around this ferry station a small settlement was formed which went by the name of Anthony's Ferry. There was another ferry put into operation five miles lower down the river, but Anthony's was the better known of the town. Nicholas Long, George Sirkle and Jonathan Jones were among the leaders in the pioneer days in this township, and Carroll Saunders, who came a little later, quickly assumed a commanding position in that local- ity. His descendants followed in his foot steps, and the name of Saunders has always illuminated the pages of Union township history. In about 1820, a small town was laid out, which was named Unionville, but did not 'long endure. It has long been nothing but a memory. While the sandy loam soil of Union township is fertile in the extreme and is well adapted to the production of large crops, particularly of corn, one of the principal handicaps of the township has always been that it is so low that it is subject to overflows from the river. On occa- sions it has been completely inundated, as in the great flood years of 1884 and 1913.
Scott township. The territory comprised by Scott township was formerly a part of Armstrong township, but on August 13, 1821 was designated as an articulate unit. At the time of its organization it was larger than it is now, three tiers of sections on its southern border having gone into Center township when that township was set up later. Scott township is now bounded on the north by Gibson county, on the east by Warrick county, on the south by Center township, and on the west by German and Armstrong townships. It was at that house of Samuel Scott, for whom the township was named, that the locating commissioners met by order of the Indiana legislature in 1818 to select the county seat. The English settlement, one of the interest- ing phases of early Indiana history, was located largely in Scott town- ship, Scott himself being a native of England. He lived in the first house built in northern Vanderburgh county. In November, 1817, Saunders Hornbrook, Jr., sent over from England by his father, lo- cated a large tract of land, later known as Hornbrook farm, and follow- ing him came John Ingle and the Maidlows, who settled in the same neighborhood. In 1819, Saundersville was platted and the county com- missioners road record shows it was located at the junction of the state road running north and south and the Boonville and New Har- mony road running east and west.
Edward Hopkins of New York, father of John S. Hopkins of Evansville, came to Saundersville and opened a store. There were a number of stores, blacksmith shops, and log houses occupied by me- chanics and artisans, but the current of trade was to Evansville and Princeton, and Saundersville gradually died, so that in 1838 the houses
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were all vacant. At this time no one is able to locate the actual site of Saundersville, except through the commissioners' records. Samuel Mansell, a wealthy Englishman, established a horse grist mill where the farmers furnished their own power.
The English settlement, in November, 1819, is stated by an English traveler, William Vaux, to have contained 12,800 acres of land, entered, in the possession of actual settlers, fifty-three families having capital to the amount of $80,000. Most of these settlers lived and set- tled in what is now Scott township, but a few of them were scattered through Armstrong township and other adjoining territory. The set- tlement was agricultural, and many of the descendants of the original families are living there today, but the greater influence of this set- tlement was in the city of Evansville, into which many of the des- cendants of those families moved, and became a part of the founders of Evansville itself. There are two postoffices in the township. Ingle- field and Staser, and these villages supply the moderate mercantile wants of the agricultural population which surrounds them.
Knight township. Formerly a part of Pigeon township, Knight is bounded on the north by Center township and Warrick county, on the east by Warrick county, on the south by the Ohio river, and on the west by Pigeon township. Many of its early settlers were drawn from Kentucky, attracted hither by the fertile bottom lands. In 1806 Aeneas McAllister settled in Kentucky near the mouth of Green river, and soon thereafter moved over to what is now Knight township. Later came Daniel Nocle, Daniel James, Samuel Lewis, John Sprinkle, Wil- liam Briscoe, Solomon Vanada, Julius Wiggins and Joseph Lane. The last named man attained to great national fame, and held high positions of public trust during his life. He came to Knight township in 1818 with his father, and when a young man entered actively into political life. He served five terms in the state legislature and two terms as state senator. When the Mexican war broke in 1846, he resigned his political office and entered the military service of his country. His brilliant record as a soldier brought him rapid promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. After the conclusion of the war, General Lane was appointed governor of Oregon, and later, when that state had been admitted to the union, was elected United States Senator from there. Another settlement was made in Knight township in 1813 by Isaac Knight, in honor of whom the township was named, Martin Miller, Samuel Kinclock and others. One town, Smyrna, was platted, but when the canal passed out of existence, the little village also gave up the ghost. The State Insane Hospital is located in Knight town- ship, which has some of the finest agricultural land to be found in Indiana.
Perry township. This township was organized in 1840, and is bounded on the north by German township, on the east by Center and Pigeon townships, on the south by Union township, and on the west by Posey county. It derives its name from the famous Commodore Perry. The early settlers in this locality were largely from Kentucky, and in- cluded William Linxweiler, John B. Stinson and George Miller. The
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population of Perry has always been principally German, who are pri- marily farming people, there being no towns of consequence within the confines of the township.
Center township, organized September 6, 1843, is bounded on the north by Scott township, on the east by Warrick county, on the south by Knight and Pigeon towships, and on the west by Perry and Ger- man. Through this township flows the little stream called Blue Grass, and a section of the township is known as the "Blue Grass Country." The first land entry in the township was made in 1808 from the Vin- cennes land office by James Anthony. In 1814, he constructed a small mill, on the south side of Pigeon creek in Pigeon township, there hav- ing been already created a demand for one by the settlers who had come in. These early citizens of the township were, of course, farmers in the main, and among them may be mentioned John Sharer, Matthias Whetstone, George Linxweiler, Absolom Vann, Nathan Young and D. F. Goldsmith. Negley mill on Pigeon creek was for a time one of the famous mills of the county, and did a very extensive business. Me- chanicsville is the principal town in the township, and in the northern part is situated McCutchanville, a town platted in about 1845.
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