A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 17

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 17

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).

Such is the account given by the elder brother, Charles W., which agrees in every point with that given by Henry, who adds that at Clear lake they both went in and took a swim and felt happy and "thought of heaven." Henry never saw the Stan- ton mill again, and said he "didn't want to."

They finished Dr. Vaughn's shop, which Henry says was about the fifth frame building put up in LaPorte, and stood about where the Old Line drug store afterward stood. They boarded with Richard Harris, whose wife did all the work of the house most of the time, and also washed for some of the boarders. They had a cabin with two rooms and a big fire place to cook

by. The boarders were Dr. Ball, wife and two children, Dr. Malks, Dr. Hemonway, Dr. Vaughn, Robert and James Wickersham, William Sheridan, William Harris, wife and child, a Mr. McLain, Sylvester and Richard Harris, C. W. and Henry Cathcart ; quite a company, certainly, for the accommodations. That one woman did all the work, and gave her guests the best the country afforded.

In the same fall (1833) Mr. Cathcart went to his brother's home in New Durham township, and helped him get out the timber and erect a frame house which was the second frame build- ing put up in the township. He worked through the winter and spring making and hauling rails to fence the farm. Nathaniel Steele and family moved upon the place and James L., John P. and Henry C. Cathcart boarded with them. In the spring of 1834 Henry went back to LaPorte and helped C. W. Cathcart build a house and store room for Dr. Ball, just east of the jail. In the fall he returned to the farm.

In 1838, which, as said elsewhere, was known as the sickly season, Mr. Cathcart and wife had forty-seven relatives, who, with one exception, were all sick at the same time.

On January 4, 1844, Mr. Cathcart married Miss Nancy Brown Eaton, daughter of John and Susanna (Lindsay) Eaton, who came of sturdy and long-lived stock. They were from Ireland, and settled first in Virginia, and came to LaPorte county in 1834. They reared twelve children, nearly all of whom married and settled in the county. Mr. Eaton preceded his wife into the other world by ten years.

Of Mr. Cathcart's union with his wife, were born Leander, James, John E., Charles P., and Mrs. Susanna A. (Cathcart) Long, all of whom became identified with the county. Besides these there was Nancy Josephine, who died in 1866, aged eight years and six months.

In the spring of 1844, Mr. Cathcart cleared up fifty acres of land in the northeast corner of Clinton township. where he made his home. In 1849 his wife's health failed and they made a journey to Texas, going overland, which con- sumed about six weeks. In a year, with the wife's health restored, they returned to LaPorte county, where Mr. Cathcart cleared up new land and settled down, happy and contented with his Creator and with his Creator's works. His life

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

is especially interesting because it contains so many suggestions as to the early history of the county.

During the first week of January, 1904, the Westville Indicator contained the following: "At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, December 23, Mrs. Alicia M. Cathcart gave up her life. She has been in poor health for some time and a few weeks previous had sought rest and treatment at the above resort. Mrs. Cathcart was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Morrison, early residents of this community and was born on a farm south of here, attended school at this place and finished her education at the Valparaiso Normal. About twenty-five years ago she was united in marriage to Dr. Chas. P. Cathcart, a citizen at the time of this place. They removed to Kansas City, Kan- sas, twenty years ago, where the Doctor has an exceptionally good practice. Mrs. Cathcart was one of three daughters. About fourteen years ago her father died; one year ago Mrs. Morrison joined him on the other shore, and a few months later Mrs. Pinney, one of the three sisters, de- parted this life. Of the family well known here for many years, where they were held in high esteem, only one remains, Mrs. Carrie L. Morri- son, of Kansas City. Dr. and Mrs. Cathcart had no children, so he is left with none to console him in his bereavement. Funeral services were con- ducted by Rev. Dr. Reynolds at the Second Pres- byterian church, Kansas City, with interment in Mount Washington cemetery.

HON. CHARLES W. CATHCART. This man, so prominently and forcibly identified with the interests of LaPorte county, was born on the Island of Madeira, on July 24, 1809, and at his death lacked one day of being seventy-nine years and one month of age. His father, James L. Cathcart, was a midshipman during the Revolu- tionary war. He was captured by the Algerians and remained a prisoner ten years, suffering great cruelties. He was afterward appointed first con- sul to Tunis, Algiers, where with General Eaton and William O'Brien, he negotiated a treaty with the Barbary powers. His daughter, Mrs. Jane B. (Cathcart) Newkirk, D. A. R., has published, in two large octavo volumes, his experiences while a prisoner and his letters from Tripoli and Tunis while a consul. He held commissions as consul from Presidents Adams, Jefferson, Madison and

Monroe. He was sent to explore Louisiana sub- sequent to its purchase and was appointed to a clerkship in the treasury department by President Monroe, which office he held for many years and until his death which occurred at his home in Washington. Such was the father.

The son, Charles W., received a good edu- cation in the Catholic schools of the country where he was born, and in his early years took to the sea and became a master of the science and art of navigation. He worked as a ship carpen- ter, going once to Greenock, Scotland. Meantime . his parents had come to reside in Washington, D. C., where after various adventures on sea and . land Charles joined them, and at the request mainly of his "good old mother" went to work for the chief clerk in the general land office. That business opened his eyes to the advantages of the great west, and in 1831, he came to Indiana, reaching the state on foot. He went first to the community of Robert Dale Owen at New Har- mony, with whom he seems to have been ac- quainted. Hearing there of the beauties and at- tractions of this part of the state, he resumed his journey and reached LaPorte county. He came first to South Bend, via Terre Haute and Lafay- ette, worked for a while at Niles, then came to LaPorte county, completed the survey on the Michigan Road lands under Judge Polke, which had been undertaken by his son, Adam Polke, afterwards sheriff of LaPorte county, and when the land sale at Logansport took place he pur- chased the lands in New Durham township where ever afterward he had his home. Being a carpen- ter, he worked at that trade in and about LaPorte with his brother, as mentioned above, and had several interesting experiences during the Black Hawk war.

Charles was afterward appointed clerk in the land office at LaPorte by John M. Lemon, receiv- er, whose daughter Josephine he made his wife. After his marriage Mr. Cathcart engaged in farming, at which he was very successful, both as a tiller of the soil and as a stock-raiser. At the time of his death he was the possessor of some fifteen hundred acres of fine land. He was the father of six children, two of whom survive him-Henry, who now lives in LaPorte, and Jane B., wife of Andrew Johnson, living at Cathcarts grove, the wife's parental homestead in New Durham township. One son, James L., was

Digitized by Google

yours truly BW Cathcart

Digitized by Google

Digitized by

Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

quartermaster of the Ninety-ninth Indiana Regiment during the Civil war, and died only a few weeks before the father. Mr. Cathcart's wife passed away nine years before her husband. She was on a visit to her sister and brother-in- law, Mr. Samuel J. Gish, in Livingston county, Missouri, and was suddenly taken sick. Her husband was with her during her dying hours.

In 1835 Mr. Cathcart became a representative in the state legislature, issuing a frank statement of his position, previous to the election, which was published in the Michigan City Gazette. He ran for state senator on the Democratic ticket in 1840, but was defeated; and was defeated for represen- ative in 1843, but was chosen district elector in 8804. He served in Congress from 1845 to 1847, defeating Judge Sample, and was re-elected in 1847, defeating Senator Pratt. He was appointed United States senator in place of James Whit- comb, deceased, serving from December 6, 1852, to March 3, 1853. He was pitted against Schuyler Colfax for Congress in 1860, but was unsuccess- ful. In the following canvass he took the stump as a war Democrat in advocacy of Mr. Colfax's congressional candidacy, and his efforts were a very large factor in that gentleman's election. The stories of Mr. Cathcart's congressional can- vasses would make an interesting volume. He was a power on the stump. His plain language, honest, unpretending ways, and his excellent rec- ord rendered him very popular ; and when it was a question of personal popularity, entirely inde- pendent of party issues, it was almost impossible to defeat him. It was natural that such a man should be a patriot ; and when the war broke out he promptly took the side of his country, and his patriotism was manifest throughout the entire struggle. On the 27th of June, 1863, Mr. Cath- cart, as chairman of the committee on resolutions, at the Republican convention of that year, re- ported a vigorous platform which proved con- clusively how true his heart beat for his country. At a public meeting held at Huntsman hall to consult about the great crisis in which the coun- try was involved, he was chosen president. On taking the chair he responded to repeated calls in one of the most eloquent and patriotic speeches ever delivered in LaPorte, which was received with great demonstrations of enthusiasm. Mr. Cathcart was an excellent mathematician, having been a navigator and surveyor, and he passed

many agreeable hours in solving difficult prob- lems. He was an interesting and entertaining conversationalist, had the faculty of making and retaining friends, and was regarded on all sides as an honest man.

On Friday he was in LaPorte transacting busi- ness, and appeared strong and well. He con- versed with his friends as was his wont He was taken ill Sunday night, and remained unconscious until the night before his death. His voice failed him on Tuesday afternoon, and later he could not swallow. He passed away on Wednesday morning. His funeral was held on Friday, at 10 o'clock, a. m., August 24th, 1888, at his late resi- dence. The remains were deposited in Pine Lake cemetery. Judge William P. Andrew, Dr. Hol- loway, L. D. Webber, and Edward Molloy, of LaPorte, and Shepherd Crumpacker, of West- ville, were the pallbearers. He was a man of power, gotten up on a large scale, and has left a lasting impression on LaPorte county.

LEWIS ALDRICH WILKINSON, of Sci- pio township, was a native of Rhode Island, born in Cumberland, August 8, 1800. His father, Stephen Wilkinson, was a soldier of the Revolu- tionary war and was shot through the face in the battle of Rhode Island. The son lived in several places in New York state, with his parents, his father meantime passing away and the farm prop- erty being divided among four boys. Lewis A. built a log house on his farm and married Miss Emily M. Smith. of Williston, Vermont, whom he met in New York, where she was attending the Middlebury Academy. On this farm, situ- ated on Allen's creek flats, the couple began life together. Mr. Wilkinson cleared the land and carried on farming here for eleven years. He had become favorably inpressed with the western country and had resolved with his brother, Bar- ton, to make a tour of exploration. Accordingly in 1835, they took stage to Buffalo, then a steamer . to Detroit. From there they chartered a team to Niles, Michigan, and at the mouth of the St. Joseph river took a sloop for Chicago. From Chicago they went to Joliet, Illinois, and from that place came on foot to Door Prairie, LaPorte county. It is remarkable that so many at that early day, after traveling much farther west, should come back to this locality and pronounce it the most beautiful and promising country they

Digitized by Google

100

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

had seen. Lewis A. and Barton Wilkinson were among the number. They determined to locate here. On June 30, 1835, they stopped in LaPorte at a tavern on the site now occupied by Lay's hall. On the following morning they took the stage for Detroit and reached that place on the Fourth of July. In November, 1836, Lewis A. sold his farm in New York and went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and entered three eighties and then bought one hundred and seventy acres in Scipio township on section eighteen, and located there. He reached here with his family on Sep- tember 15, 1837, and moved into a log cabin sixteen feet square, where they lived three years, often in harvest having from twenty to thirty work hands. This was before the time of reaping machines and much farm help was necessary. How they were housed and fed is not related, but necessity makes a way. In 1839 Mr. Wilkinson began building and erected a barn and cottage. On November 23, 1840, the fifteenth anniversary of their marriage, they moved into their new cot- tage. In 1839 Mr. Wilkinson had one hundred acres of wheat which yielded on an average of forty-five bushels to the acre. He was a good farmer, often securing first premiums at the coun- ty fair. During the Civil war, as will be de- scribed later, the family were intensely loyal, ac- tive workers for the Union cause. After the war they continued to live at the old homestead, about two miles west of Door Village. Their children were seven: Frances, Francis Marion, Stephen R., Edwin R., Lewis H., Emily M., and Martha A. The life of this family is a good type of the steadily prosperous LaPorte county farmer of that period.

THE HON. GEORGE CRAWFORD, of New Durham township, was a man with an in- teresting history. He was of Scotch descent on both his father's and his mother's side. His grandfather was a native of Ayr, the home of the poet Burns, and a lineal descendant of the Earl of Crawford. George was born October 30, 1799, at Chestnut Level, Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania. His school advantages were limited to the common schools of Pennsylvania. At the age of seven years he came to Jefferson county, Ohio, where he remained until he reached his majority. In the spring of 1820 he joined a surveying party who were going to the Saginaw valley in the ter-

ritory of Michigan, under the direction of Joseph Wample, of Steubenville, Ohio. He continued in the surveying business through various parts of Michigan and northern Indiana until 1832. He was an apt student, learned rapidly, and dur- ing four years of that time was surveying on his own responsibility. In the spring of 1828 he made arrangements to begin farming and first secured land in Cass county, Michigan. In the fall of that year, he went to the mouth of Elkhart river and began farming operations where the mouth of Christiana creek flows into St. Joseph river. Here he built a grist mill. The establish- ment of the northern boundary line, as related in another chapter, left him in Indiana and he was appointed postmaster at Pulaski, as Elkhart was. then called. On the establishment of Elkhart county he was appointed county surveyor and commissioner of the three per cent. fund. In 1832 he was elected to the legislature of Indiana, in 1836 he was elected to the senate for three years, and in 1840 he was appointed a commis- sioner to hold a treaty with the united nation of Pottawottomies, Ottawas and Chippewa Indians north of the Missouri river, which duty he dis- charged at Council Bluffs. The commission con- sisted also of A. Coquellard, of South Bend, and the Rev. Isaac McCoy, of the Carey Mission. These offices reveal something of the ability and character of the man. It was through the Rev. Isaac McCoy that he learned something of the beauty and desirability of LaPorte county, and he sold out his interest in Elkhart county to Dr. Beardsley, and in 1847 moved to LaPorte county and finally settled on section thirteen in New Durham township, where he resided for many years. In 1856 he was elected to the legislature and served one term, and in January, 1862, he was elected a member of the State Board of Agri- culture and served two years. He was one of the most active, useful and influential men of the county.

LEVI RANSOM, of Kankakee township, was born in Vermilion county, Ohio, April 7, 1818. About 1840 he came to this county, stop- ping first just south of LaPorte, and then buying of Mr. Hupp a farm in Kankakee township. His first wife was Miranda, daughter of Josiah Root, an old settler of the county ; the second was Ma- hala G., daughter of Elias and Sarah Lowe, of

Digitized by Google

------

101

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Maryland. From each of these unions a family was born and reared. Mr. Ransom, wife and daughter went to California in 1869, where two months after their arrival he passed away at Woodland, forty miles north of San Francisco, and his remains were buried there. The widow returned to LaPorte and finally to the old home- stead. But what concerns this narrative more is the character of the man as one of the early settlers of the county. He was enterprising and industrious. When he came to LaPorte he had but five dollars in his pocket. He ran in debt for a span of horses and a threshing machine, one of the first in the county. When he bought his farm he ran in debt mostly for that. But by honesty, energy and perseverance he paid for everything and was clear of debt. He drew his grain to the market in Michigan City, often working long before day and far into the night. He established a reputation which made his word as good as his bond. His ill health gave him much concern and he tried by every means to restore it but in vain. He was a prominent mem- ber and officer in the Methodist Episcopal church and had the respect and affection of his brethren. After his death the widow managed her affairs with prudence and gave faithful attention to the education of her children. Of such material the personnel of LaPorte county was made.

THE CUTLER FAMILY has seen four gen- erations in LaPorte county since the organiza- tion of the county in 1832. The first of these was Leonard Cutler, who was born in Benning- ton, Vermont, in 1780. The lives of some of our early settlers date far back into the preceding century. Leonard Cutler was alive before the retirement of Lord North's ministry, before Rich- mond was burned by Arnold, before the battle of Yorktown, before General Greene's retreat, be- fore Arnold's treason and the execution of Andre, before the French revolution. He was old enough to understand and be interested in some of these great events, and yet he came to LaPorte county in 1831 or 1832 and lived here many years and his grandchildren live here now. Such con- siderations make the events of our Revolutionary times seem near. In 1811 Leonard Cutler mar- ried Mercy Cutler and emigrated to Upper Can- ada, where, the land being cheap, he determined to make his home; but as war between Great

Britain and the United States was about to break out he concluded that what fighting he did should be done on the side of his own country. Accord- ingly he left Canada, moved into the state of New York, volunteered and became a soldier in our second war with England. He belonged to an artillery company and did good serviec in that memorable conflict.

After the close of the war he moved into Jennings county, Indiana, then a vast wilderness tenanted by wild beasts and savages. Here he cleared up a timbered farm, mostly with his own hands, and remained some five or six years. About 1825 he moved to White Pigeon Prairie, Michigan, a wild Indian country where there were no white settlers except Judge Winchell, Mr. Cutler being the second. Here he planned and built his own log cabin, purchased lands, and being a man fond of civilization and society, and desiring to promote the settlement of the country, his cabin was always open to the coming settlers and land-lookers. Soon this wilderness began to blosson as the rose and cabins to dot the prairies in every direction, and being a man of uncommon energy, perseverance and economy, proverbial for his honesty, he soon rose from the condition of a poor man to that of a well-to-do farmer with all the comforts of life.

Hearing like many others ot the fertile lands of Door Prairie, he sold his farm in White Pigeon for $3,000 and in 1831 or '32 came to La- Porte county, locating first in Kankakee township as we have stated in a former chapter, which township then comprised about the east one-third of the county. He bought several sections of land in the county at government prices, and made him a new home in which he lived for many years. But the west and the new country still had charms for him ; he needed to meet and over- come obstacles worthy of his energy, and settling in a new country seemed about the only thing which presented them. He again moved, near Decorah, Iowa, where he resided until his death, respected and honored by all who knew him. He was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and he lived to the ripe old age of one hundred and two years, a remarkable case indeed.

He married for his second wife Ellen Blair, a sister of Judge Blair, of Porter county. From his second marriage there were seven children : Mary, Catharine, Ellen, James, William, David,

Digitized by Google

102

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

and Leonard. They all reached adult age, formed excellent marriage connections, entered useful oc- cupations, and some of them attained to honorable positions.

Much of Leonard Cutler's success in life was due to the assistance of his three sons by his first marriage. From this union there were seven children, only three of whom reached adult age. These were Morice D., John and Alonzo R. The two former moved away and led exceedingly successful lives. Alonzo R. is the only one who has to do intimately with LaPorte county. He is the second generation of the Cutler family whose interests have been identified with the county. He was born February 26, 1812, and early ex- hibited the military qualities of his father. At the age of eighteen he united with the old-fash- ioned militia and was elected one of the non- commissioned officers. He was the officer whose duty it was to warn out his company for general muster at White Pigeon, Michigan.

He left that place and accompanied his father when he moved to LaPorte county. After at- taining his majority, being, like his father, an ambitious and energetic pioneer desirous of mak- ing his fortune in life, he moved to Wisconsin in 1836, and settled at Prairieville, now the city of Waukesha. At that time it was a wild and un- cultivated Indian country. He built his cabin on the banks of Fox river on unsurveyed lands among the Indians, who yet had a right to the country. Here he made his settlement and after three years purchased the lands upon which the Waukesha mills now stand and where the best part of the city of Waukesha is now located.

He sold these possessions in 1839 and began speculating in lands in Wisconsin, Iowa and Min- nesota, and afterward engaged in loaning money and buying unmatured promissory notes. Though a dealer in various departments of trade, his em- ployment in early life was that of a farmer. To this occupation he returned later in life, settling down in LaPorte county in a comfortable and convenient frame house with a front yard orna- mented with a beautiful pine grove, a part of which was planted by his own hands over thirty years before. He passed away at the age of eighty-two years.

In December, 1842, he married Sarah Church, of whom there were born six children, namely, Morris C., Mary E., Austin, George W., Emma,

and Lewis. These children constitute the third generation of the family whose lives are inter- woven with this'county and their children con- stitute the fourth. Only three of the third gener- ation are now in this world-Austin, George and Lewis.

Austin was educated in part at the Michigan University in Ann Arbor. He attended lectures and graduated with honors in chemistry and pharmacy, and received a musical education at Oberlin College, Ohio, where he was also trained in the commercial branches of banking, book- keeping, steamboating, etc., receiving the usual diploma in these studies. While yet a school boy only eighteen years of age, he enlisted in the war for the Union in Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana- Volunteer Infantry, and served in the army until he was honorably dis- charged on account of the close of the war. He became a merchant at Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, where he remained for some years, but later re- turned to LaPorte county and engaged in farm- ing. He is now doing a successful business as undertaker in the city of LaPorte.

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 17

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