A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 18

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

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George and Lewis also received good educa- tions and became farmers, engaging in the winter in school teaching. George is still a farmer in this county, but Lewis of late years has followed his brother in the undertakers' business and is the successful proprietor of an undertaking es- tablishment at Council Bluffs, Iowa. In its chronology, its character, its long identification with the county, and its progeny, the Cutler family is a remarkable one. The wife of Alonzo R. Cutler is even now living in a large, com- fortable and excellent home on Jefferson avenue, LaPorte, engaged in her church and other useful work, very bright and active for one of her years, keenly interested in what is going on in educa- tional and other departments of life, and occupied in doing good.

Among the noble men of LaPorte county who fulfilled their destiny and are now no more may be mentioned NICHOLAS W. CLOSSER, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1812. With his parents he moved to Warren county, Ohio, when he was about three years of age, and was subsequently taken by them to Butler county, where he lived until he was eleven years of age. From that place they moved

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to Indianapolis, Indiana, at which place they arrived January 8, 1823, and engaged in farming in the vicinity. During his minority Nicholas W. aided his father in clearing four large farms and during this time acquired a practical knowledge of agriculture. He was a pupil in the first Sun- day-school organized in Marion county, and throughout the remainder of his life identified himself with Sunday-School work. In 1828 he made a profession of the Christian re- ligion and united with the Methodist Epis- copal church near Indianapolis, but some years afterwards, as he continued to ex- amine the Scriptures, he came to the conclusion that for him the way was clear to leave this church, and he accordingly did so and united with the Baptist church -at Door Village, with which he retained his membership until his death, which occurred in LaPorte, June 22, 1891. Those were the days when sectarian lines were drawn much closer than now and when each sect urged its claims to being the correct church far more earnestly than is done to-day. On March 14, 1833, Mr. Closser was married to Miss Rebecca Parker, a daughter of William Parker, formerly a millwright in Pennsylvania and who died in

Illinois, and from their union the following chil- dren were born : Daniel P., Elizabeth H., Jerome B., Sylvanus M., Joseph A., and Emily R. On April 13, 1834, Mr. Closser came with his family to LaPorte county, and as he came with ox teams the journey from Indianapolis occupied twenty- one days. Here he engaged in farming and deal- ing in lumber and operated two sawmills, one propelled by water and the other by steam. He made the first table and bedstead in the township, and being naturally apt in the use of tools he put his hand to any useful thing that would improve his condition, and succeeded financially. In ad- dition to the enterprises just mentioned he en- gaged extensively in the purchase. of real estate, and then retired and spent his declining years in LaPorte. He was one of the first settlers, and he and his brother were the first teachers of music in this part of the country. He served in a num- ber of official capacities, was superintendent of schools for a time, trustee for Scipio township, and participated in the Black Hawk war of 1832. He always took an active interest in public affairs, and was identified first with the Whig, and then with the Republican, party.

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CHAPTER XI.

DEVELOPMENT-THE SMALLER CENTERS CONCLUDED.

"This is the place. Stand still, my steed, Let me review the scene, And summon from the shadowy past The forms that once have been."

-LONGFELLOW.

From the hills and woods of Galena we turn to the broad, level prairies of Clinton township, which has neither church nor saloon, though at a spot called Clinton there was once a church which was moved away. The people are re- ligious, but attend church elsewhere. On Janu- ary 29, 1863, the friends of Rev. J. M. Maxwell, pastor of the "Macedonian Church," gave him a donation at the residence of Mr. William Pinney in Clinton township. Here the soil is a rich, black, sandy loam, exceedingly productive.

In 1833, before Clinton was set off from New Durham township, Nathaniel Steel, R. Prather, Levi Reynolds, John Osborn, William Niles, Lemuel Maulsby, Richard Williams, Thomas Robinson, Stephen Jones, a Methodist preacher, William Snaveley, and R. R. Richardson came into the township and became residents. In 1834 came Charles G. and Samuel E. Eaton, Benjamin F. Fogle, Jacob Iseminger, John Rey- nolds, T. J. S. Hixon, Simeon Tuley, John Small, Matilda Tuley, James Haskell, Jonathan Osborn, John Warnock, Phineas Small, John and Charles Eaton, Hezekiah Robertson, Daniel Robertson,

John Small, James Reeves, Samuel Maulsby, Walter Livingston, L. Richardson, John Clark, John Lewis, Jesse Marshall, John Wilman, Orange Lemon, and Benjamin J. Bryant. In 1835 some of the arrivals are given as follows : W. C. Allen, John Iseminger, William T. Harding, Joseph Wright, Thomas Patterson, Richard Will-

iams, Horace Pinney, Abijah Bigelow, David Congdon, Benjamin Maulsby, Luke Ashley, Dr. Philander Loomis, John Bailey, Mr. Heath (a deaf mute), and Dr. Whitcomb, the first resident physician.

The centers of Clinton township are Haskell Station, Alida Station, and Bigelow's Mills. Haskell Station is the junction of the Monon and Grand Trunk railroads. A. Culver, in the year 1854, thought that this was a good point for a village, but wisely concluded not to plat it until the number of settlers should warrant it. He gave to Samuel Brush an acre of ground, on condition that he open a store, which Mr. Brush did in 1855. At this time the Grand Trunk Railroad had not been built through the place. The store passed successively through the possession of John Ferris, William D. Crothers, Mr. Sopris, and Thomas L. Hoadley, and was discontinued in 1870. At present there are only a postoffice and a grain elevator owned and operated by Daniel . L. Crumpacker. For many years it has been a grain depot.

Alida Station is the junction of the Monon William Eaton, Jacob Iseminger, William Wilson, . and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads. It has neither shop nor store.

Bigelow's Mills, located on the southwest quarter of section twenty-one, received its name from the fact that in 1835 Mr. Abijah Bigelow located there and laid out a town and had it in- corporated. the streets running at regular angles and named. A finely gotten up map of the place

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was mailed to various portions of the country as an inducement to the people to settle there and help build up a flourishing city. The grist mills and afterward a sawmill were built by Mr. Bige- low, a raceway having been made nearly a mile in length, running parallel with the creek. In 1840 the frame dwelling house in which Mr. Bigelow lived was the only one within half a mile of the mill. Several log houses were scattered in the vicinity of that frame building, one of which used to be called "The Old Castle" on account of its immense size and peculiar shape. Bigelow's Mills has an interesting history which would make a large volume if it could only be written. Per- haps some of the remaining old settlers can re- member the great "Fourth of March" demonstra- tion when "Old Tip" took the presidential chair. There were many Fourth of July celebrations when aspiring embryo statesmen and ludicrous military geniuses displayed their peculiar pro- pensities. On such occasions the scintillating Edward Bigelow, long since gone to the shades of the departed, with crutch in hand, would dazzle and charm his auditors. Seth and Darwin Patter- son would pour forth their impassioned elo- quence. "General" E. T. Harding, with sword in hand, would step forth on the stand with his best bow and command the attention of the crowd and show how to avert the great calamity of a rupture of This Union, which was, as he put it, "Divided we stand united we fall." And after the services at the stand were over the younger fry would enfilade under the command of a second Washington. Or, if there are none living who can remember these events, perhaps there are some who can remember the later and equally important Clinton Library Association meetings, which sometimes were so interesting and exciting that they were continued from "dark till dawn," because in the discussions Greek would meet Greek and then would come the tug of war.

In the autumn of 1861 Bigelow's Mills was a nice, cozy little village with many improvements. Its gain had been slow but substantial. Its grist mill was one of the best in the county. It had two dry-goods stores, a harness shop, a gunsmith's shop, and many other public buildings. There were a number of tastily arranged dwelling houses, some of them more than ordinarily fine, which assisted in making the village a place of

beauty, in which it was desirable to live. Only one log house was to be seen in the vicinity, and that was some distance away. Large and flourish- ing farms had been opened and improved where twenty years before there grew only the tall marsh grass. The immense vacant lands in the vicinity had been thoroughly subdued and were all occu- pied by thrifty and enterprising farmers. Peace, plenty and good cheer pervaded all classes of people there, and hope and joy smiled benefi- cently on all their undertakings. Even in the sixties time had rung its changes upon many of the old settlers of the thirties and forties. But if so then, what must be the case now? Honest, upright and cordial feelings still exist among the present inhabitants, but things are different from what they were in the "days of auld lang syne." The pioneers are gone, their places are occupied either by their descendants or by strangers, and even the place itself is no longer the thriving center of former years.

The place has had several stores and black- smith shops, a cabinet and jobbing shop, a harness shop, etc., etc. In the forties the postman used to call here on his route between Lafayette and LaPorte. But in 1848, on petition of the people, it legally ceased to be a village. The mill has not been running for many years, and there re- main only a schoolhouse and perhaps half a dozen dwellings.

William Bowes, a prosperous farmer, was the first German who settled in Clinton township. Benjamin T. Bryant, who married Alpha Maria Benedict, a daughter of the first family that set- tled in the county, when young attended school in a log schoolhouse with greased paper windows. A. E. Burner was a school teacher, but became a Clinton farmer. Edgar M. Hotchkiss became station agent at Alida. Russel Iseminger, Will- iam H. Livingston, Jonathan Osborn, and David Osborn all became prosperous farmers and pos- sessors of valuable estates. Alexander C. Patrick joined the ranks of Clinton farmers from the railroad shops which in the fifties were in La- Porte. Harvey W. Pinney, William Pinney, and Levi Reynolds also became prosperous farmers.

The settlers of Noble township after 1832 are given as follows: Obadiah Chambers, Thomas Layman, the McLanes. William, Samuel, Michael and Edward O'Hara, Admiral, Peter

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and Ira Burch, Wright and Silas Loving, Isaac Johnson, Warren Burch, Mr. Fowler, and Jere- miah Perkins came in 1833. Joseph Starrett, Richard Worrall, Samuel Mitchell, A. G. Webster, and A. Logan came into the township in 1834. In this year also Horace Wood and Elizabeth McLane were married; it was the first marriage in the township. In 1835 Henderson Nickell, Dr. S. A. Everts, Timothy Everts, Gus- tavus Everts, Sidney S. Sabin, Theodore H. Wells, John Barclay, Israel Underwood, John Goldsmith, Richard Goldsmith, and Benjamin Shaw became settlers.

Noble township has one of the finest bodies of land in the county ; it is composed mostly of rich and productive upland prairie. It is thickly set- tled, the railroads which cross it and form a junc- tion at Union Mills and Wellsboro, give it ex- cellent market facilities. It is well watered by Mill Creek and smaller streams, and no township in the county is more prosperous.

In 1836 a village was started called Belmont, just a mile south of where Union Mills now is. It was platted by Ward Blake and Abram Charles, and contained a store, a blacksmith shop, etc. Jacob Early had a distillery there. It was a place of importance but when Union Mills began to develop the hamlet of Belmont ceased to exist.

The only considerable villages in Noble town- ship are Union Mills and Wellsboro. The first house was built on the site of Union Mills by Joseph Wheaton in 1832. The plat of the village . was filed for record December 7, 1849, by Robert Wrenn, George Butt, Charles Fessenden, Lewis Stevenson, Allen Cummings, Roswell N. Bennett, E. W. Fessenden, Michael O'Hara, B. Elliot, Eudorus Everts, and William J. Wheaton, pro- prietors. The first building of importance, as the name would indicate, was the grist mill, finished in 1838, when there were only five log cabins in the town. In 1862 it was sold by H. P. Lans to Charles M. Teeple of Bigelow's Mills. In 1839 the place had a store, and two others in 1840; and soon there were a cooper shop, a black- smith shop, a shoemaker's shop, a wagon shop, a tailor shop, and a Presbyterian church. Other stores and shops followed, an Adventist church was built in 1858, physicians located in the place, and Union Mills became quite a town and several additions were made to it, especially one on the

east which joins it to Wellsboro and makes the two towns practically one. Union Mills is ad- vantageously situated on the Grand Trunk Rail- road, and but a short distance from Wellsboro. At present it contains about four hundred people, and has an excellent new schoolhouse, a modern Presbyterian church, an Adventist church under which is the town hall, a Methodist Episcopal church, a weekly paper, two general stores, a hardware store, two grocery stores, a boot and shoe store, a drug store, a harness shop, and other shops and businesses which usually go with such a town. The old grist mill is still in opera- tion.

Wellsboro has perhaps a hundred inhabitants, one store, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, etc. It was laid out by Charles F. and Theodore H. Wells, whence its name, and the plat was re- corded on the 8th day of April, 1875. It is situ- ated at the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio, Grand Trunk, and Pere Marquette railroads. A few years ago there was much talk of factories locating in the place, and a row of stores was built; but the factories did not come, the stores remained empty for several years, and at last were consumed by fire. On account of present labor troubles and the fear of greater ones, man- ufacturers are moving their plants from the great cities to the smaller centers; and with such ex- cellent railroad facilities and plenty of room, there is no reason why Union Mills and Wellsboro should not become large and populous towns.

Among the names of the older citizens of Noble township we find those of Joseph Bailey, a boot and shoe dealer; Roswell N. Bennett, formerly a school teacher and latterly a black- smith of Union Mills ; Enos L. Booth, a farmer ; Charles J. Brown, who for many years and until recently has led a most useful life as a school teacher ; Edward Cox, a farmer ; Henry T. Croup, a farmer and local correspondent for several newspapers; Daniel S. Crumpacker, physician, Indian fighter and traveler; Allen Cummings, who was both a carpenter and farmer; Joseph Deets, who was also a farmer; William Fred- rickson, who was a merchant at Union Mills; Allen Goff, a respected farmer ; Dr. Orlando Har- ran, physician in Rolling Prairie and druggist at Union Mills ; James Harsen, Thomas Hockney, William Hockney, his son, William Lawson and

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John A. Lloyd, all farmers; Henry L. Loomis, Coolspring township has a large population, being even more thickly settled than some parts grain buyer and farmer ; Nathan D. McCormick, hardware merchant at Union Mills and Wells- . of the prairie, as the farms are not so large. The boro and afterward sheriff of the county; and Timothy McLane, farmer, merchant and grain buyer. Monon Railroad runs through the western part north and south, the Michigan Central and the Pere Marquette both cross the northwest corner, and the Lake Erie and Western cuts just about as much off the northeast corner. The township has good markets-Otis at the southwest, La- Porte at the southeast, and Michigan City at the north. The soil is productive and excellent for fruit, and there is much good land, though some parts are sandy. thrown up from Lake Michigan. The township is well watered by many small creeks. The farmers are generally successful and prosperous.

George W. Meredith became carpenter, farm- er. school teacher, and then a physician at Union Mills with a large practice. George Mill followed the occupation of farmer. Sylvester Mill, his son, became a farmer but dealt much in machinery. James H. Miller from farming became hotel- keep at Union Mills. C. H. Nickell, Job H. North- am, Oliver A. Porter and J. T. Terry, all served the community as farmers. Nelson J. Titus, a carpenter by trade, became farmer and also hotel keeper. Orville Tryon was first a ship carpenter at Michigan City, then a sailor, and then a farmer in Noble township. Isaac Way and W. K. Well- man became farmers, and W. H. Worden served his day and generation as a blacksmith. These are only a few of the men, and only a few of the necessary uses which they performed, in the de- velopment of Noble township.

In a wooded country the early settlers do not meet and become acquainted so readily as on the prairie, and hence it is difficult to ascertain who first arrived. Each settler may claim to have preceded the others. Such is the case with Cool- spring township. Some state that Nathan John- son was the first settler, others that it was John or Isaac Luther, still others that it was Arba Heald, who first settled in Scipio. Probably all these settled not far from the same time, which was about the year 1833. Heald built a sawmill not far from Beattys Corners, in the southwest part of the township. Johnson made his improve- ments at Waterford, in the northeast corner, and Luther settled nearer the center. There were few inhabitants in Coolspring prior to 1836, but for that year the names of the following settlers are given : Maj. Eliphalet Pattee, Thomas Forrester, John Jacobus, Thomas Sharp, George Smith, George Bentley, John F. Decker, Abram Lang- don, Nathan Johnson, Arba Heald, John Van Meter. John Dysard, John Beatty, Purdy Smith, the Whittakers, Daniel Reed, John Glinn, and Ebenezer Palmer. The last named was the first justice of the peace in the township. Passing through the county to the Black Hawk war in 1832, he was led to settle here in 1833.

The centers in Coolspring township are Beat- ty's Corners and Waterford. The former was laid out as a town in 1842 by James Whittem. It had a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, and a hotel; but only one lot was ever sold in the place and finally George Selkirk bought the entire towrt and added it to his farm. The place has now only a schoolhouse and two or three resident families, with no indications of a town.

Waterford first had a sawmill, then a store, and then a distillery, which was in operation sev- eral years. A grist mill was built and run in connection with the distillery. The mill was burned in 1870, and Casper Kuhn erected another which has been running ever since. Casper Kuhn passed away in November, 1903, leaving his per- sonal and real estate property to his widow, Anna M. Kuhn, except the old mill, which he conveyed on the day the will was executed to his children by a former wife. The mill is a historic land- mark. Waterford had a postoffice in 1838, which was moved to a hotel a mile south, and in 1865 was discontinued. It has now a grist mill, a Methodist Episcopal church, a German Baptist, often called Dunkard, church, a schoolhouse, a saloon, and a few dwelling houses, which still indicate that the place was once quite a center.

Among the older citizens who have contrib- uted to the development of Coolspring township are the following: Hiram Blackman, A. L. Booth, Robert Curran, C. G. Dalgren. A. B. Hunt, Albert Mudge, Dennis Purvis, G. R. Sel- kirk, G. W. VanDusen, William Sohn and John Windland, all farmers : N. W. Blackman, farmer and cooper; Ricard Cross and Amos Thorp,

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farmers and cider makers; Reuben Chapin, fruit grower and farmer; John Dysard, Augustus C. and M. J. Hubner, William Lumbard, S. C. Perry, and John Zahrn, farmers and stock-rais- ers ; Rev. L. Fogle, Christian preacher and farm- er; Joseph Eddy, tailor and farmer ; John Ebert, mason and contractor ; F. M. Taylor, proprietor of flouring mill; James L. Monahan, farmer and dealer in fruit trees; B. N. Shreve, lumberman ; and Jacob H. White, physician and surgeon at Waterford.

Among those mostly of a later day who have helped to develop the township are the following : Jeremiah W. Bevington, a carriage and wagon maker in Waterford; Christian Bull and August Cloff, both Prussians, who located in Coolspring and engaged in agricultural pursuits ; C. Cook, a railroad man in Michigan City, until he took up farming in this township; John Cook, who worked seventeen years in the car shops at Mich- igan City, and then bought a farm in this town- ship and gradually added to his possessions ; Paul J. Corbly, an Ohioan, who taught school in the south, went to West Point, thence into the southern army for a year, then came north and enlisted in the Union army, where he had five brothers, and was sent to the frontier, whence he returned in 1865 and taught school, finally settling in Coolspring, and then in Michigan City, where he has been justice of the peace for many years ; Robert Curran, a cooper in Michigan City, who made three long trips to California, but finally settled in this township ; William Forrester, simply and purely a farmer; Asa Harper, first a ship carpenter in Michigan City and then a farmer here; D. L. Jackson, farmer, fruit raiser and cooper: Calvin G. Jenks, a blacksmith in Waterford ; George Kepper, who came from the Prussian army and located in this township as a farmer : John Kieffer, who came from Germany and became a farmer ; Gustavus F. Lell, a tanner, locomotive engineer, butcher and then a farmer ;

· Daniel Low, tanner and currier, who came to Michigan City in 1835, with a stock of general merchandise and began business, then became a successful farmer and land dealer, and a township trustee for twenty-six years; Ziba W. Pal- mer. farmer and grain dealer : Eli C. Smith, Sr., engineer at Michigan City, cooper, farmer and importer of Jersey cattle and Clyde horses; A.

B. Wolf, farmer, stockraiser, and cooper; and Louis W. Zahrn, who came from Germany, and became a Coolspring farmer. It would seem from the above that the personnel of this northern township was more rugged, varied and adventuresome than that of the prairie townships.

Hudson township joins the state of Michigan on the north and St. Joseph county on the east. In 1833 many settlers sought homes in this town- ship, and a village first known as Lakeport but afterward as Hudson, sprang up. This is situ- ated on the east shore of Hudson lake. It was once a formidable rival of LaPorte for the trade in the northeast part of the county. Its growth commenced in 1833. In that year the first school was built, other than the mission school, which was already in existence. Then came shops of various kinds, two taverns, a steam sawmill, frame buildings and a postoffice. In 1835 Hud- son was at the height of its prosperity, stages were arriving and leaving, the streets were thronged with eager, busy people come to do their trading and farmers come to dispose of their produce and buy goods, and it seemed that Hud- son was an assured success. But though the rail- road came through Hudson, it came first to New Carlisle in St. Joseph county, about three miles distant, and made its depot there. This killed Hudson. Her people built mills and shops, but no efforts could successfully resist the decline of the town. The railroads have rendered useless the stage routes ; fires, removals, and decay have done their work, until now only a few buildings mark the site of Hudson, among them a hotel for summer guests. But elements of prosperity still remain in the township, much of the soil is rich and productive, and the people are generally prosperous and intelligent.

Among those who have contributed to its development are the names of John Baker, James C. Bean, James A. Davidson and Joseph Dru- liner, all farmers; Moses Emery, wagon-maker, hotel-keeper, canal boatman, and farmer; Alex- ander Hicks, merchant and afterwards farmer ; T. M. Hicks, lumberman and then a farmer ; A. J. Holman, miller, insurance agent and farm- er ; Charles J. Miller, a farmer ; John F. Petre, canal laborer, and then a farmer till his death ; James Ray, carpenter, gunsmith and farmer ; Fleming Reynolds, a .farmer ; Colonel Edwin G.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 18

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