A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 15

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana > Part 15

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

There also is the Stielow ditch, which is being constructed for the purpose of draining the Little Kankakee region. It begins at the point where the Grand Trunk Railroad crosses the stream, and extends southeast three and one half miles, to intersect with the Miller ditch about one mile north of Mud lake. It was established on petition of the land-owners, and ordered by the LaPorte circuit court. It will be about fifteen feet wide at the bottom, about thirty-three feet wide at the top, and average about five feet deep. There are other ditches which want of space forbids us to mention.

Similar work is being done in other counties. There is the big Monon ditch in Jasper and White counties, from ten to twenty feet deep, and more than a mile in length, which was cut through a layer of solid rock. There is much talk about draining the Kankakee lands in Porter and Lake counties, a work in which Nelson Morris, the ex- tensive packer of Chicago, is interested ; and when

the right plan is found and adopted he will doubt- less give it his energies and support. He is a large owner of Kankakee bottoms, and so is B. J. Gifford, of Kankakee, Illinois. There is also a project to tap the Yellow river, a feeder of the Kankakee, to divert a portion of its waters into the Tippecanoe; and there is still another scheme to cut a channel from the Kankakee itself to the Monon ditch, which empties into the Tippe- canoe eight miles north of Monticello in White county.

On March 10, 1903, an act was approved which amends the former ditching law. A general idea of that act may be gained from the following: The petitioners for a proposed ditch must file a petition con- taining the names of the land-owners af- fected, with the clerk of the circuit court. He or they shall serve proper notice thereof to the land-owners affected. If it appears to the court that proper notice has been given, said court may order the petition placed on the docket as an action pending therein. Any person named in such petition shall have ten days-not counting Sunday-after the day of docketing such action. in which to file remonstrance, etc., why the drain- age commissioners should not act. After the expiration of that time, the court shall consider such remonstrance, etc., and, if the court finds it defective, shall dismiss the same at the cost of the petitioners, unless the same be amended by the court. If there is no remonstrance, and the court deems the petition sufficient, the court may order the same referred to the drainage com- missioners, and appoint a third drainage com- missioner. The court shall fix a time when they shall meet, and a time when they shall report. They shall make personal inspection of the lands described in the petition, and if they find that the drainage proposed would not be practicable, healthful, etc., they shall so report to the court. and the petition shall be dismissed at the cost of the petitioners. But if they find otherwise, they shall proceed and definitely determine the best and cheapest route, etc., etc., and fix the same and estimate the cost. Two of the com- missioners may act without the concurrence of the third. The county surveyor shall be the en- gineer and make necessary surveys and turn over all notes, memoranda, etc., to his successor in office. And if any new land-owners are named

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

in such report, they shall have opportunity to re- monstrate as though they had been named in the original petition. It will be seen that this cuts out much of the former opportunity to remon- strate, and practically leaves the matter in the hands of the court, the drainage commissioners and the county surveyor; and if there are not very good grounds for objection, the proposed improvement is likely to proceed. Indeed, it is already history that certain objectors to a pro- posed improvement in the vicinity of Hanna employed attorneys who prepared a remonstrance under the old law, only to find afterwards that it was not worth the paper on which it was written. Legitimate improvement has now re- ceived an impetus which cannot be checked. Its utility has been proved. Ditch after ditch will be dug, and the hitherto worthless lands of the low prairies will be redeemed and made pro- ductive.

The fact is that there is a great net work of ditches and laterals which drain the Kankakee valley in LaPorte and neighboring counties, and this stupendous system of drainage is rapidly be- ing perfected. By this means the famous Kan- kakee hunting grounds are becoming a thing of

the past, and soon the mighty Nimrod will roam them no more; but hundreds of thousands of acres of low prairie along the Kankakee river, hitherto covered with tough grasses, wild rice and prolific flags, the home of the water fowl, musk rat and mink, are rapidly being brought under cultivation, and are being converted into some of the richest lands on earth. On these broad stretches the Huncheon family, among the earliest pioneers of the valley, who had acquired over seven thousand acres of the lands, herded large droves of cattle and disposed of them to the Chicago markets. A single shipment sometimes ran up into thou- sands of heads. Two of the family, a son and a daughter, still live; the old Huncheon home- stead still remains, and is their home. But their former occupation is gone, like many other things of pioneer life, which now awaken only a sad echo in the memory. The ruins of the cattle pens and sheds yet stand at the old homestead, but a new regime has come. The greatest improve- ment has been made in the twentieth century ; but we must not forget that the people who have van- ished into the mist of the past, whether they would or no have each and all contributed to it.

Digitized by Google

CHAPTER IX.

DEVELOPMENT-THE SMALLER CENTERS.

"Not chaos-like, together crushed and bruised, But as the world, harmoniously confused; Where order in variety we see, And where, though all things differ, all agree."

-POPE.

"Even cities have their graves."

-LONGFELLOW.

It was not long after the country put on an appearance of advancing civilization, that centers of manufacture, and of industrial and commercial life, began to be formed. It was natural that the store, the postoffice, the church, and the school be located near the sawmill or the grist mill to which the settlers frequently resorted. Those who were engaged in mechanical, industrial or commercial pursuits would have their houses near their place of business. There the preacher, the teacher and the doctor would reside. Others, attracted to the. spot by the advantages to be derived from society, would make their homes there if they could do so. Hence there came to be centers of civilization or hamlets and villages, some of which, according to the law of the sur- vival of the fittest, became towns and cities ; while others disappeared, leaving only a few vestiges of their former life and activity. The surround- ing country settling up so steadily reminds one of the star dust of which worlds are said to be formed, and these centers of civilization remind one of the nuclei which are said to grow into worlds and go whirling through their orbits. Or, these villages and towns are like the ganglionic centers of the nervous system. It is proposed in the present and following chapters to notice the cases which LaPorte county presents of this process of formation.

We have already mentioned some of the

early settlers of New Durham township. In 1832 the township had gained so many settlers that it attained almost to a community. In 1833 James W. Payne, John P. Noble, Eliza Cole, Henry N. Cathcart, W. F. Cattron, John Warnock and J. R. Reed arrived. In 1834 John Charlesworth, Thomas C. Reynolds, William Reed, M. S. Wright, M. W. Robertson, Ralph Loomis, C. R. Robertson, William W. and W. L. Webster and Shep Crumpacker became settlers. In 1835 J. M. and J. G. Warnock, James M. Ray and Samuel S. Davis located in the township. Some of these became distinguished names. It was not long before there were, in New Durham township, four centers of civilization.

The first was New Durham. The first house in this hamlet was a log cabin in which Leonard Woods had a store. This made the spot a place of resort, and as a natural result a hotel, a wagon factory and blacksmith shop and other branches of business located there. In 1837 it had become quite a village, and a postoffice was established there, with William Taylor as postmaster. In 1847 Joseph Davis filed a plat of the village, in the office of the county recorder. But the rail- road came to Westville and in 1854 the decline of the village was marked by the removal of the postoffice to Beaver Dam, where Sylvester Goff was appointed postmaster. Many of the build- ings of New Durham have been moved away ;

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

some to Westville, others to serve as farm houses, and there are few remaining signs of its former life. During its best days John Armstrong es- tablished a store, and Henry Herrold a black- smith shop, at the crossroads at the head of Flood's grove about half a mile distant. So great was the rivalry between these two settlements that the latter called New Durham "Pinhook," and in return was called "Squatham," names which still attach to the two localities. At New Durham there are now only a few houses, a church, a schoolhouse antl a cemetery ; and Squat- ham can hardly be distinguished from any other spot in a farming country. But though the village is gone, the rich prairies and beautiful groves remain.

The second village in New Durham township was Holmesville, which took its name from Hiram Holmes, who owned the land where it was located. Here the first nucleus of a settlement was a saw- mill, whose proprietor, Jacob Bryant, built the first dwelling house, a frame building made of lumber sawed at the mill, later occupied by John Moorman. This was in 1833. The plat of the village was filed for record October 2, 1855, but it grew little after the location of the railroad in 1852. In 1852 a postoffice was established, with one Prosser as postmaster. In an early day two suicides occurred here, several persons have been killed on the railroad, and there have been several railroad accidents near by. In the eighties Samuel S. Davis, a very enterprising man, was postmaster, and Holmesville had a combined grocery and saloon. The people of the locality are mostly Germans and Poles. The place is so small that it can hardly be called a village, but it is in the midst of a good farming community. Several of the Lake Shore Railroad employes have their homes there.

The third village to be formed in New Dur- ham township was Otis. The first name of this place was Salem Crossing, given to it by the Mich- igan Southern Railroad in 1852, which was the name recognized by the United States government when the postoffice was established there. Mat- thias Seberger was the first postmaster. When the Louisville. New Albany and Chicago-now the "Monon"-Railroad was built through the place in 1853, that corporation named it LaCroix. As it was confusing to call the place by two names, years afterward some offered as a sub-

stitute the name of Packard, after the Hon. Jasper Packard, at that time the representative to Con- gress, and for a time that name prevailed ; but the modesty of that gentleman led him to recommend another name, and accordingly, in 1872, the name was changed to Otis. But it is still LaCroix in the county recorder's office. Matthias Seberger was the first settler in Otis, arriving in 1851. In 1853 the Michigan Southern Railroad was com- pleted, and Matthias Seberger served as ticket agent for both roads. During the Civil war all who went south from northeastern Indiana were compelled to come to Otis and take the Monon line, the hotel was always full of travelers, and it was a lively place. Otis now contains a Lutheran church, a Catholic church and school, five or six general stores, a drug store, a few saloons, a hotel, a number of dwelling houses, and the shops which usually go with such a settlement. Being a rail- road junction it is the home of a number of sec- tion men. It is located among the hills, and con- tains quite a large proportion of those who have come from other countries.

The fourth and most important town in New Durham township is Westville, whose original plat was recorded May 1, 1851, by W. and J. A. Cattron. It was then a small village. Subse- quently an amended plat was filed by which seven lots were added to the original plat. This is called Cattron's addition. There have been several other additions, of which the Concannon addition is the largest, unless we reckon the two Henly Clyburn additions together. There are also Henton's, Smith's, and Ray's additions. On February 14. 1864, a meeting of the citizens was held at the new schoolhouse, to consider the ques- tion of incorporating Westville. Azariah Will- iams was chairman and W. L. Webster, secretary. On motion of W. B. Webber it was voted that steps be taken toward incorporation, and the chair accordingly appointed W. B. Webber, James Con- cannon, William C. Martin, D. C. Standiford and W. L. Webster, a committee to carry out the . purpose of the convention, and on September 9, 1864, the county commissioners incorporated the town. The first election after incorporation oc- curred on September 15th, and the first charter election on the 16th of the following November. Westville to-day has a population of about five hundred persons, a private bank, one drug store, two general stores, one hardware store, two sa-

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

loons, one restaurant, two churches representing the Methodist Episcopal and Disciple denomina- tions, two barber shops, one shoe shop, two blacksmith shops, a meat market, some good buildings, a fine brick schoolhouse where good high school work is done, a cold storage and a weekly paper called the Westville Indicator. It is pleasantly situated, at the junction of the Monon and the Wabash railroads, and has a rich surrounding country. It has always been a heavy grain market.

The township in which these four centers are situated is an exceedingly fertile one, thickly populated, and casts a large vote.

Among those who have helped to make New Durham township and its centers may be men- tioned E. Ansley, who came from Michigan and became a successful dry-goods merchant at West- ville, carrying a large stock ; Levi J. Benedict, who came with the first family, and learned to rival the Indians as a marksman with the bow and arrow, and became a successful farmer ; William H. Benedict, his son, a hardware merchant of Westville ; E. M. Bryson, the machinist, faithful soldier, mill owner and lumber dealer; Hiram Burner, the surveyor and farmer ; Dr. Charles P. Cathcart, a Westville physician ; H. M. Cathcart, son of the Hon. Charles W., who engaged in farming and furnishing wood to the Lake Shore Railroad ; James L. Cathcart, the farmer and army quartermaster ; Charles Cole, a Westville mer- chant. grain-buyer and hotel-keeper ; B. A. Daggy, the farmer ; George L. Daggy, his son, a business man of Westville; Samuel S. Davis, the farmer and leading spirit of Holmesville ; John Dille, the planing mill owner, of Westville; Benjamin Flood, the stockdealer, much respected as a pub- lic-spirited man ; James Flood, his son, the school teacher and farmer ; Dr. Brook B. Freeman, an army surgeon and Westville physician ; Jared Gardner, stock-raiser and farmer ; and Evan Hen- ton, who engaged in the butchering business in Westville.

Christopher Herrold, Jacob Herrold, Daniel . It was named after Thomas Condon, who still W. Hibbard, the "jolly old bachelor," and Hon. Jackson Hosmer all engaged in farming and stock-raising. Francis M. Howell became a farmer and blacksmith : Joseph H. Irwin, a shoe- maker in Westville, and Wesley E. Keith, a farmer. Joseph R. Kimball operated a portable sawmill in Westville. James Livingston added

bee culture to farming and stock-raising. Charles Ludwig followed stock-raising. Sloan D. Mar- tin was a miller by trade, but lost his life in the Civil war. Charles McClure became one of West- ville's most enterprising merchants, and Christo- pher McClure, his father, became an ardent pro- moter of churches, which is a very important and necessary use in settling a new country.

Others to swell the list of these workers are John W. Nelson, who served in two companies of the Civil war, and afterwards became pro- prietor of the Otis House at Otis; Algernon S. Orr, who spent a large part of his life in California, and then came to New Durham township and settled near Westville, and finally in LaPorte, though he spends his winters in the south ; Joseph Reed, who came to the county with his parents and was reared and remained a farmer ; Benjamin F. Shunk, Levi Wolfe and John Walford, who engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mr. Wolfe, when camping with his parents on their way to the county in 1833, saw the wonderful falling stars of that year, and ever afterwards de- clared that the sight made a powerful impression on his mind.

There also is E. S. Smith, one of Westville's enterprising merchants, a graduate of Oberlin College; William J. Smith, the Westville shoe- maker, furniture dealer and manufacturer of chairs ; Dr. Abram G. Standiford, a school teacher and graduate in medicine, who had a wide practice in the county; Dr. William F. Standiford, his son, who succeeded his father in practice at West- ville; Dr. C. R. Warren, physician, surgeon and druggist at Otis; Richard H. Wilkinson, a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church and afterwards a farmer; and Henry Wing, hotel- keeper and merchant at Otis. These are some, not all, of those who, by fulfilling their uses, have contributed to make New Durham township a success.

In 1894 Condonville began, in the northeast part of the township, on the Lake Shore Railroad. lives near by. He built the first store ever in the place, and a postoffice was soon established, with him as postmaster. In 1899 he sold to the Baxter brothers (Charles and Albert), one of whom has since died. They put the grocery in the rear room and the bar in front. In 1903 William Glancy bought and now conducts the place. The post-

Digitized by Google

---- --

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

office was discontinued when the rural mail route was established.

Scipio township also settled rapidly after 1832. William Brayton, William Garwood, Hon. Jacob R. Hall, and Elmore Pattee settled in Scipio in 1833 ; Alexander Crane, Henry P. Crane, Joseph Mclellan, N. W. Closser, Isaac S. Evans and Messrs. Irwin, Mason and McCray, in 1834; Ben- jamin Butterworth, Aaron Kidder, Avery Free- man, Levi Black, Alva Mason and T. B. Cole, in 1835.

The only center in the township is Door Vil- lage, which was laid out in 1836. It was once a flourishing town and contained stores, a hotel, boot and shoe shops, wagon and blacksmithing shops, tailoring establishments, a foundry and threshing machine factory, etc., etc. But in 1852 the railroad came to LaPorte and fixed the center. of traffic there, which ended the flattering pros- pects of Door Village. It is now a very quiet place, containing a church, a schoolhouse and town hall, a blacksmith and wagon repair shop and some good dwellings. It is situated in the midst of a rich and productive farming country, near to the market of LaPorte.

The history of Scipio township is largely the biography of the following persons: Robert J. Anderson, who came in 1837, a consistent member of the Society of Friends, and beloved by all who knew him. His wife still lives, at a very ad- vanced age. She is a sweet spirit, with a clear mind, and is ripe for the great change for which she waits. William A. Banks, merchant, farmer. stock-raiser, speculator in sheep, breeder of fine horses and cattle, dairyman, and now postmaster at LaPorte. Morgan L. Brink, Henry Craft, James H. Crichton, Joseph H. Donly, Isaac N. Evans. Hon. James Forrester, William B. Ham- mond, Daniel M. Henry, Robert Kerr, Daniel Kimball. Samuel S. McCormick, Andrew Mc- Lellan, Thomas Messenger, Andrew Nickell, An- drew J. Rogers, Hon. George Rogers, Zachariah Teeter and Robert White, several of whom are still living, all became farmers ; and indeed in this township, where there are no centers of trade, there are few other occupations. Frederick R. Earle taught school for many years ; Charles Gar- wood. though a farmer and stock-raiser, engaged in threshing, always using one of the Rumely ma- chines : Albert S. Hall and his brother, William A. Hall, farmers, both became connected with the

banking firm of Hall, Weaver & Company, of LaPorte. Jacob R. Hall, the father, was a re- markable character, working his way up from poverty. to affluent circumstances. He was a natural business man, of great nerve, pluck and endurance, who turned his hand to building houses and roads, especially the Michigan Road, and who endured great hardships as a pioneer. He became the possessor of the beautiful spot known as Round Grove where he erected fine buildings, an owner of bank stock, a state representative, and the friend and acquaintance of many eminent men. Ben Nordyke, a deaf mute, taught for a time in mute schools, and then became a farmer of Scipio. M. J. Ridgeway with success gave his attention to the raising of shorthorned cattle and Norman and Hambletonian horses. C. B. Simmons, after spending many years in California, and in the Union army, came back to his boyhood's home and engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was lately chairman of the LaPorte county Republi- can central committee. These are only a few of the sturdy, and in many cases remarkable, men who have made Scipio township one of the most intelligent and prosperous townships in the state ; and in this they have been faithfully aided by their families, whom it is impossible to name here.

The following is the complete list of the trustees of Scipio township, as furnished by Mr. I. N. Evans. It covers a period of over fifty years. With the exception of N. P. Huckins and B. B. Gates, all were still living when this list was given, February, 1904. All were Republi- cans excepting the present incumbent, who is a Democrat :- G. F. Brayton, N. P. Huckins, B. B. Gates, H. C. Loomis, I. N. Evans, C. B. Simmons, W. A. Banks, C. H. Loomis, Charles Peterson, A. S. Orr, Jr., George W. Rogers.

After the termination of the Black Hawk war the settlement of Kankakee township became so rapid that it was impossible for one to keep pace in his acquaintance with the new arrivals. Among the newcomers were Nathan B. Nichols, Leonard Cutler, Joseph Reynolds, Ebenezer Rus- sell, George W. Barnes, Ludlow Bell, Dr. B. C. Bowell, James Drummond, J. Austin, Benjamin DeWitt, and the Harvey, Salisbury and White- head families. Rev. Calita T. Preston and his brother, Enoch L. Preston, with their parents, and also Joseph Stauton came in 1833. J. P. Austin, Thomas D. Brown, John N. Fail, Joseph H.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Francis, Luke Francis, and Eli H. Harvey, with his parents, came in 1834, Jesse Blake and Lazarus Whitehead in 1835.

In the summer of 1835 a cabin was built by William Hunt near the eastern line of section fifteen, in Kankakee township. In the fall an- other was put up on the south side of the road. A store soon followed, which was a frame building erected by Amzi Clark, which passed through the possession of several owners and was burned in March, 1873. A postoffice was es- tablished in 1835, with S. G. Hunt as the first postmaster. There followed frame houses, shops, other stores, a schoolhouse, a church, etc.,etc., until, in 1837 the town of Byron was laid out. All through the forties we find Byron in its glory. It had its halls for public meetings, in which tem- perance and other societies held their sessions, whose doings were reported in the local papers at LaPorte and Michigan City. It had its ware- house where large quantities of grain were stored. It was a heavy wheat market, trade was large, its merchants prospered, the travel through it was great, its hotel was full of guests, sometimes so full that even the floors were covered with sleep- ing travelers, and there was great activity on its streets. It was of such importance that, on Au- gust 25, 1849, an addition was made to it by Elias Lowe. Had the railroad passed through the place Byron would have lived and prospered, but the road passed to the north of it, and from that that day Byron was doomed. Its buildings have been burned, pulled down or moved away, there is neither store, shop, tavern nor church within its limits, and only a few houses remain where once there were so much life and prosperity.

A mile and a half to the north of Byron there was a little cluster of cabins known as Nauvoo. The first was built by Ezekiel Provolt in the spring of 1831. This was followed by two others built by West and Irving. These cabins soon came into the possession of W. J. Walker, who bid in the premises, though the settlers remained in them for a time. In January, 1852, the North- ern Indiana Railroad, now the Lake Shore, passed through this settlement, and from that time Nauvoo increased and Byron decreased. A survey was made and a plat of the village re- corded on the 26th day of November, 1853. Walker gave it the name of Portland, which is still its legal name under the laws of the state,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 15

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273