USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 25
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The incipient organization in Evansville was definitely put into working order in October, 1917 when the following officers were elected and served to the end of the Red Cross work: Chairman, Hon. John J. Nolan; vice-chairman, Harry Loewenthal; secretary, Mrs. E. M. Bush; treasurer, Henry Reis; assistant treasurer and business manager, Mrs. Sol Hammer. Executive committee : Mesdames E. M. Bush, George S. Clifford, Sol Hammer, M. W. Foster, M. S. Sonntag, A. S. Butterfield, Harry Loewenthal, Henry Lewis, Edwin Walker, John McCallan, Charles Cook, J. J. Chandler, J. J. Nolan, Henry B. Walker, S. L. Orr, R. K. Dunkerson and L. C. Shipherd.
The chapter was divided into departments under the following committees : surgical dressings, hospital, knitting, Marine hospital, canteen kitchen, entertainment, flowers and Christmas cards, fruits, pits and shells, publicity, personnel, hygiene and home nursing, nurs- ing survey, Christmas box, mothers' committee, gold star, service club.
The amount of work done by the Red Cross chapter at Evansville was enormous, and the following statistics, reproduced from "Sons of Men," show the accomplishments of the city in this direction :
Surgical Dressings made and shipped, totaling 304,979
Hospital Supplies and Garments made and shipped, totaling. 51,333
Housewives made and given away 7,000
Garments, Reclamation Department distributed among the
soldiers, wives, mothers and children 755
Used Clothes Drive, Garments collected and shipped
15.530
Knitting Department, Garments Knitted 15,872
Junior Red Cross Members. 13,779 1 I
Articles made
1 3,000 Scrap Books 1 1 1
Fruit Pits and Shells collected, pounds 45,000
Linen Shower for Hospitals, citizens collected and gave_
4,035
Marine Hospital, Garments given
301
Canteen Kitchen-
Men served
103,851
Gallons of coffee served 2,651
Sandwiches served
57,934
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1,050
War Loans. Under the management of chairman John J. Nolan and sales manager Henry C. Murphy, the patriotic citizens of Van-
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
derburgh county exceeded their quota in each of the four Liberty Loans and in the Victory Loan, in the last mentioned of which it led the Eight Federal Reserve Bank District in the per cent. of citizens purchasing bonds. The amount of bonds sold, together with the quota for each loan was:
First loan
Quota $1,802,860
Subscribed $2,064,400
Second loan
2,555,000
3,801,950
Third loan
2,944,800
3,792,550
Fourth loan
6,338,000
6,458,800
Fifth loan
4,612,250
4,612,250
Totals
$18,152,910 $20,729,950
Besides the money loaned in the regular war loans, $1,300,000 of War Savings Stamps, in round figures, were sold in Evansville.
PAPER BY JOHN W. FOSTER
Copy of paper furnished by Hon. John W. Foster, together with letter enclosing the same. This was furnished upon the suggestion and at the request of J. E. Iglehart, who procured Mayor Bosse to write a letter. The Mayor when requested to write the letter, smiled and said "What's the use, he won't do it." Mr. Iglehart answered him "You write the letter and leave it to me, and I'will enclose it in a letter written by me myself." Mayor Bosse was greatly pleased, as well as surprised, when by return mail, I received from Mr. Foster notifi- cation of his acceptance of the invitation, a promise, which he faith- fully kept, only a short time before he died. He was then in bad health.
1323 Eighteenth Street, Washington, D. C. April 26-17.
Dear Mr. Iglehart,
I have at last after much unexpected delay finished the promised Centennial paper, and send it herewith.
You will notice I have made no caption, as I understand it is to be a part of a book, and have to ask you to make such caption as you may think appropriate.
I also return the book which you kindly sent me.
Hoping what I have written may be in some measure what you want and meet your expectation, I am
Very truly, John W. Foster.
I have been honored by Mayor Bosse with an invitation to attend the exercises being prepared for the celebration of the Centennial of the founding of the City of Evansville, and also to contribute an article to the forthcoming book which is to be an historical review of the growth of our City, of which we are all so justly proud. I regret that theh state of my health will prevent me from being present and partici- pate in the Centennial exercises, but I cheerfully contribute a chapter
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
to the History of Evansville, which will constitute reminiscences of my old home during the "forties" and "fifties" of the last century and some references to the Civil War.
THE LEVEE AND WHARF
The first substantial evidence that the people of Evansville were cherishing an ambition to make their town a city of commercial im- portance was the construction of a levee and wharfage facilities on its frontage along the Ohio River. Doubtless the bluff banks of the River, which raised the lots in the original plot of the town above the periodic floods, which covered a large part of the adjoining country, had much influence in fixing its location, but these bluff banks also proved a serious impediment to the growth of the river commerce. It was a time of much activity in the steamboat trade when New Orleans was the great entre pot of the commerce of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Boats were navigating the Wabash and White Rivers, as well as Green, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, and bringing their pro- ducts to Evansville to be thence transhipped on the larger steamers to New Orleans, and the latter on their returned voyages unloading mer- chandise and foreign products for distribution to the vast and rich territory dependent upon Evansville along the rivers named.
This work which was accomplished in 1848 was quite an undertak- ing for so small a community. Before it was begun only two roads had been cut through the bluff banks to the river landing, one at Main Street and the other lower down. It was a source of great interest to us youngsters to see the work going on, which cut down the bluffs and made a graded levee to the waters edge covered with gravel and stone gutters. This work left the buildings then erected standing on an embankment which had to be cut down and a new story constructed under the buildings. The work proved a great benefit to the commerce, and there are old inhabitants of Evansville still living who will recall the great activity at the levee, with its entire length almost covered with the products brought out from the adjoining rivers-corn, flour and pork-and the long line of steamboats unloading and loading their cargoes.
TELEGRAPH AND RAILROADS
It was a time of great prosperity for Evansville, but a new element in commerce was gradually being created, which was destined to al- most completely destroy this flourishing trade. A year or two after the levee was constructed steps were being taken to build a railroad. But this was preceded by another important instrument of commerce, the telegraph. Under the encouragement of some local subscriptions for its support, a single wire was brought down the river valley from Louisville, and Evansville was placed in communication with the outer world by that then wonderful instrument, the telegraph. To the great envy of us boys our playmate, John Bingham, was chosen the tele- graph messenger, a high honor in our estimation.
The erection of the telegraph was followed by the initial steps towards the construction of our first railroad, known as the Evansville
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
& Crawfordsville, in 1849. At that time the only means of public travel and transportation was by the steamboats on the Ohio River and by a stage line to Vincennes, with the arrival of one coach a day. ยท Other travel had to be made by private conveyance or horseback over roads poorly made and in bad condition. The first railroad constructed in Indiana was from Madison to Indianapolis. Members of the legis- lature and others having business with Indianapolis often made the journey from Evansville up the Ohio to Madison and thence by the new railroad, rather than endure the hardships and inconveniences of the overland journey. When I first made the trip from Evansville to Bloomington to enter the Indiana University, I traveled in a one- horse buggy, with my trunk strapped on behind, and the journey re- quired four days.
The funds for beginning the construction of the Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad was raised by local subscription of stock by individuals and Vanderburgh County, and it was operated under the direction of local officials, the first president being Judge Samuel Hall of Princeton, who was soon succeeded by John Ingle, a lawyer of Evansville, under whose direction the road was carried through to Terre Haute and beyond.
When the road was constructed as far as Pigeon Creek, a distance of two miles or more, it was thought to be an achievement of sufficient importance to glorify, and a Fourth of July celebration was held on the banks of the Creek, and trains of platform cars were run from the town end of the track to carry the citizens to the celebration grounds. As an additional attraction the orator of the day chosen was Rev. Wil- liam H. McCarer, the pastor of the "Church on the Hill," now the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, who had recently arrived from the East, and for many years thereafter was a faithful clergyman of the city.
I, myself, claim a little mite of the credit for the construction of this first great enterprise of Evansville. My father secured me an ap- pointment on the staff of the first engineer of the road, Mr. Bewley, a somewhat erratic Englishman; and I traveled with him afoot through the fields and over the hills of Vanderburgh and Gibson Counties lo- cating the line, having the duty of using the chain or carrying the theodolite, until I left the service to prepare myself for admission to college.
THE SCHOOLS
At this time, (1850) the public graded school system had not been established. The old brick schoolhouse on a part of the Public Square, built by subscription of the citizens about thirty years before, was still standing but not in use. This building was erected for "father" Chute, a graduate of Dartmouth College who taught in this building for twenty years, but at that time had retired. One of the most promi- nent schools was that of Mr. J. W. Knight (who later served in the graded public schools) but he taught only the "three Rs" and a singing method of geographical study which I had already mastered. For a lit- tle while I attended the German school held in the basement of the
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
Catholic Church which so long stood on Second Street of which Father Deydier was for many years the respected and honored pastor. I re- ceived my chief inspiration for study from Prof. Myron W. Safford, of Vermont, whose wife was a sister of the U. S. Vice-President Morton, who established a private school in the building erected by the Presbyterian church "on the Hill." He encouraged my desire to go to college and prepared me for all the required studies except Greek and Latin, for which he had no classes. I studied Latin under the tutorship of a young law student just from the East, reading law in the office of Conrad Baker, then the leading lawyer of the town --- Thomas E. Garvin, who became one of our most prominent citizens and lived amongst us to a good old age. Greek I had to leave till I entered college, conditioned to bring it up during the year. At that time there was only one student in college from Evansville, and he was prepared by his mother who years before had come from New England as a teacher and married one of the leading merchants of the town. This young man, James M. Shanklin, I shall have occasion to refer to again.
The city public schools were not established until 1853, and their creation and success were due largely to Horatio Q. Wheeler, who came from Maine in "the forties," was a law partner of John Ingle, and proved one of the most useful of our citizens. It was owing greatly to his indomitable energy and careful training that the Evansville pub- lic schools became the chief pride of its people.
THE CANAL
The fever for internal improvements which prevailed throughout the West about 1825 and for some years thereafter affected Indiana very greatly. Large schemes for the construction of roads and canals were entered upon, chief among which was the Wabash & Erie canal, which was to connect the waters of the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. In 1824 Congress made a donation of public lands to the State of Indiana to aid in the project and the State emitted a large issue of State Bonds for the purpose, which in the end led to a serious injury of the financial credit of the State. Evansville was to be the southern terminus, and its citizens counted largely upon the influence of the canal in making the town a great commercial emporium. The canal was slow in its construction, the work beginning at Lake Erie and ad- vancing to the South, and did not approach Evansville till near 1850.
But its citizens were not inactive in preparing for the advent of this great work. A stock company was formed to build canal boats on a large scale. My oldest brother George prepared a large warehouse and office, to receive the immense quantity of produce anticipated from the north; Iglehart Brothers erected a large flour mill on the opposite corner of Locust Street and the canal; and other business houses were established along its banks ready for the coming trade. But the grand enterprise from which so much had been expected proved a failure. The canal had been badly constructed by the con- tractors, and it was difficult to maintain water enough for navigation.
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
Little traffic was created. I recall an excursion I made to Petersburgh on a canal boat with a political delegation to attend a congressional convention in 1854, but there was no packet trade established, and soon after that date it ceased to be used as a canal. The railroad was manifestly the coming means of travel and commerce.
THE CITY GOVERNMENT
Evansville ceased to be a town in 1847 and was organized as a city under a special charter which remained in force for many years, notwithstanding the provisions of the State Constitution of 152. The record of the city government for many years thereafter shows that it was managed by the most prominent citizens and that they were ready to serve without pay in the city council and minor offices. Among them are found the names of James G. Jones, the first mayor, and Conrad Baker, the two leading lawyers, prominent merchants, manu- facturers and capitalists, as Samuel Orr, John S. Hopkins, M. W. Foster, Willard Carpenter, (the founder of the library) John Hew- son, James F. Blythe, Philip Decker, Thomas Scantlin, John J. Chand- ler, (for many years city clerk, a man of marked ability) and many others who might be mentioned. It will be well for the future pros- perity and reputation of Evansville if its prominent and substantial citizens shall emulate the example of these worthy men and give their attention and services to the proper government of the city.
The most useful citizen which Evansville has ever produced was William Baker, a brother of Governor Conrad Baker, who was four times elected mayor and died in his work in the tenth year of his service.
CHARLES DENBY
One day in 1853 a young man landed at Evansville from an upriver steamboat, walked up the levee carrying his carpetbag, and took up his residence, a friendless stranger. He was just out of college, and be- came a law student in the office of Conrad Baker. This young man, Charles Denby, within three years had so ingratiated himself into the confidence of the people that he was sent to the legislature at Indian- apolis ; he there married an accomplished young woman, the daughter of U. S. Senator Fitch ; and returned to Evansville, where for years he was recognized as one of the leading lawyers at the bar. When the Civil War broke out, though a native of Virginia, he accepted a com- mission in the Union army and served with distinction. He was sent as diplomatic minister to China and for thirteen years remained in that important post. Afterwards he acted as one of the Phillipine Commissioners, and full of honors returned to our City to finish his labors, one of the many citizens of Evansville who have made it respected at home and abroad.
THE BOARD OF TRADE
The merchants of the early years of the city were ambitious to have its commercial facilities known and to extend the area of its trade, and for some years before the Civil War a well organized Board of Trade
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
was maintained. In 1857 my father, M. W. Foster, was its president, and at his request I undertook to compile a report, showing the char- acter and volume of its mercantile trade, its manufacturing industries and its other varied interests. Again, ten years later, in 1867, I dis- charged the same task for the Board of Trade, reviewing the effects upon its trade of the Civil War, the changes wrought by it in the busi- ness of the city, and the bright prospect which seemed to open up an era of commercial prosperity, which happily has been in large measure realized.
THE MEXICAN WAR
It remains for me to notice one other feature of Evansville life, the part borne by it in the wars in which our country has been engaged. Although it was a small town when the war with Mexico was de- clared, it promptly raised a company, which under Captain Walker marched to New Albany where Indiana's contingent was organized in- to regiments and moved to the seat of war. This company took part in the battle of Buena Vista, where its commander, Captain Walker, and a number of its men lost their lives. The most distinguished "hero" from Indiana in that war was General Joe Lane. He was a citizen of Vanderburgh County, living on a farm a few miles above Evansville in Knight Township. He had won considerable celebrity in politics, being repeatedly elected to the legislature, first in the House and afterwards in the State Senate. President Polk appointed him a brig- adier general, and in the war he conducted himself so gallantly that when he returned home from the war, his fellow citizens of Vander- burgh County gave him a reception. A platform was erected on the vacant space now known as Sunset Park, and I as a participant well remember the enthusiastic demonstration and welcome of the great crowd there assembled.
Our hero was destined to still further celebrity. President Polk as a regard for his war services, appointed him governor of the territory of Oregon, and it is cited as an evidence of the imperfect state of travel of the times that it required six and a half months for him to make the journey from Evansville to Oregon. When this territory became a State General Lane was chosen one of its Senators, in which position he served for several years. In 1860 he was nominated for Vice President with Breckenridge on the pro-slavery democratic na- tional ticket in opposition to the Douglas and Lincoln tickets. He may well be entered on the list of Evansville celebrities.
THE CIVIL WAR
When Fort Sumter was fired upon in April, 1861, the people of Evansville responded as heartily as any other portion of the North to President Lincoln's call to defend the flag and preserve the Union. In- dignation mass meetings were held and recruiting offices were opened, and from time to time regiment after regiment was rapidly organized and sent to the front. Among these largely composed of men of Vanderburgh County were the 24th Indiana infantry, commanded by Col. Hovey, the 25th commanded by Col. James C. Veatch ; the 28th
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
(or First Cavalry) Col. Conrad Baker ; and the 42nd, Col. James G. Jones, Charles Denby, Lt. Col., and James M. Shanklin, Major.
The first of these regiments to be organized, sworn in, and equipped at Evansville was the 25th Indiana, which had its encamp- ment at the Fair Grounds. As I was the Major of that regiment it may be permissible to give a brief account of its services in the early part of the War. Its departure for the field on August 22, 1861, was marked by a notable farewell ovation on the part of the citizens of Evansville. Its first four months of service were passed in Missouri, where it took part in the Fremon fruitless campaign against Price. In January, 1862, the regiment was transferred to Tennessee, and in February partici- pated in the seige and capture of Fort Donelson, being warmly en- gaged in battle on the 13th and 15th with severe loss in killed and wounded, and it was the first to enter the enemy's entrenchments. This being the first decided victory the Union army had won, it threw the North into a great state of rejoicing, and by none was it more welcomed than by the citizens of Evansville, so near the scene of the battle. At once steamers were chartered, loaded with hospital supplies and delicacies, a large delegation of volunteer surgeons, the relief committees of Evansville, the Governor of the State, Oliver P. Mor- ton, and his staff, and others, and were the first bearers of outside relief to the victorious soldiers. On their return voyage hundreds of wounded and sick soldiers were brought back on the steamers to Evansville, where they were cared for in improvised hospitals.
The regiment participated the next April in the battle of Shiloh, being in the thickest of the fight all day of that terrible Sunday and again in the next day's final victory. The regiment which left Evans- ville 1040 strong eight months before, after the battle of Shiloh had been reduced by battle and disease until it could muster for service only 387 men. The scene described above as to the part taken by Evansville after the capture of Fort Donelson, was repeated when the news reached our city of the bloody battle of Shiloh, so near and accessible by steamer, and a fleet of boats carried relief of men and supplies bountifully given by our patriotic people.
Not long after this battle, I was granted leave of absence to come to Evansville, bringing the dead body of my wife's brother, a lieutenant in the regiment. I had hardly reached home when Adam Johnson's raid on Newburg in July threw our city and all that section of the State into a fever of excitement and panic. The Governor ordered out the home guards and its commanding general established his head- quarters at Evansville. I being the only person within early reach who had any experience in warfare, Governor Morton secured by telegraph an order from General Grant detaching me from my regiment, and I was directed by the joint action of Governor Morton and General Boyle, commanding in Kentucky, to establish myself at Henderson and assume command of Western Kentucky, with the duty of driving out the guerillas which infested that region and kept the Indiana border in a state of fear. Having my post at Henderson, I was frequently called to Evansville on military duty, among which was the command of a
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY
military funeral for my former playmate, James M. Shanklin, who while Major of the 42nd Indiana was captured and taken to Libby prison. He was soon exchanged, but just after his arrival at home was stricken with a disease contracted in prison. He was a young man of marked talent and promise.
During my command in Kentucky, I was appointed Colonel of the 65th Indiana, a regiment composed largely of men from Evansville and adjoining counties, and which with the 91st, also raised in this locality, was sent to my command. In August 1863, I was ordered with my regiment to join General Burnside's expedition then being organized to relieve the Union men of East Tennessee. The 65th In- diana, having been mounted in Kentucky, to more effectively chase out the guerillas, was assigned tovalry brigade of which I was put in command. It constituted the advance of Burnside's army, and had the honor of capturing Knoxville and receiving a great ovation from its inhabitants. The remainder of the year was spent in active cam- paign in East Tennessee.
In the Spring of 1864, when Sherman was preparing for his cam- paign upon Atlanta, the President called upon the Western States for the formation of a large force of volunteers, for 100 days' service to take the place of the trained soldiers then guarding the railroads and lines of communication, and by this method to enable Sherman to greatly increase his aggressive army. Evansville very promptly formed a regiment of One Hundred Days' men, the 136th Indiana, and I was asked by the Governor to command them. This regiment represented the very best elements of our citizenship, as it was composed largely of our business men, who were not able to enlist for the long term, but could leave home for the short period, and were thus enabled to render an important service to their country. With this contingent to the war Evansville closed an honorable and generous contribution towards the preservation of the Union. The fall of Atlanta, the March to the Sea, and the Surrender at Appomattox followed each other in quick suc- cession, and our city and country entered upon a new era of prosperity and happiness.
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