A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 23

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 23

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"LaPorte is one of the most beautiful cities in Indiana, situated on the Chicago and Toledo Railroad, some twelve miles from Lake Michi- gan, and ten or twelve miles from the state line between the states of Indiana and Michigan. It contains about 6000 inhabitants and the whole face of the city bears the marks of good taste and industry."

LaPorte has had her set-backs, there have been eddies and backward movements and periods of apparent stagnation. One such period ter- minated in 1863. In 1861 a new council was in- ducted into office, which wrought wonders in giving tone, position and credit to the city. From the organization of the city government in 1852 up to that time, the city had been struggling un- der loads of embarrassment. Taxes were high, and few improvements were made on the streets, cross walks, sidewalks or elsewhere. So burden- some had the taxes become, and so loosely had the city finances been managed, that many of the most wealthy and influential citizens were becom- ing seriously in favor of reverting to the town corporation. This was seriously favored by some publicly, and would have been favored by others but for the pride they possessed of refusing to go back to the condition of a countrytown. When the new council came into power in 1861, the city was in debt about $7,000, which meant much then, and city orders sold at from seventy-five to eighty cents on the dollar. But in 1863 the city was out of debt for the first time in its history, many improvements had been made, the streets had been thoroughly graded, cross walks and side-

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walks repaired, the sewers leading to the "great ditch," and the great ditch itself which ran mean- dering through the city, had all been renovated and placed in perfect order, taxes had been re- duced, and by the published report of the deputy city treasurer, Mr. Simon Wile, every cent of the $7,000 debt had been paid, all the improvements had been paid for, and there was cash in the city treasury to the amount of $3,567.77; city orders sold for cash, and all this, too, in the time of civil war, the expenses of which were heavy on the people. The personnel of the council which wrought this change was as follows : first ward, Samuel Wilmot, David Grant ; second ward, John R. Richards, George W. Mecum; third ward, A. Teegarden, V. W. Axtell; fourth ward, Simon Wile, Reuben Mundy ; fifth ward, O. Wilson, H. C. Wells. O. Wilson resigned in 1862 and Jacob Wile succeeded him, and J. R. Richards died and W. A. Place succeeded him in October, 1862. These were the men to whom is due the credit of the improvement mentioned.

Again in 1870, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad shops, which were located here, were removed to Elkhart. This was a se- vere blow. While the shops were here LaPorte was a lively place indeed, there were presenta- tions among the railroad men, social gatherings, fraternities, bands of music, buying and selling, "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." But after the car shops were re- moved the city became very quiet, it had received a blow from which it is only now fairly recover- ing. The assessor tells the writer that the popu- lation is over ten thousand, and that the city is just about getting back to where it was when the car shops were here.

LaPorte never has had a boom, but has over- come obstacles and outlived discouragements in a steady, conservative way, until now it is one of the cleanest, most beautiful of cities, being second to none of its size and class. All its streets. except in the business portion are lined with large and beautiful trees, so that it is called the Maple City. It has avenues which in their fine resi- dences and beauty compare favorably with those of any other city. LaPorte has never suffered like other cities from financial depressions, strikes and labor troubles. Even in the dullest times her factories have been in operation regularly a

part of the time, thus enabling her workmen to live. There has been less enforced idleness here than elsewhere, and as a consequence the laboring men have been generally of a better class and more permanent. A very large proportion of them own their homes and take pride in improving and beautifying them. Many of the streets of the city are curbed uniformly and paved, giving room for wide, green boulevards, on some of which are shrubs and flowers; as rapidly as possible other streets are being put in the same condition, uni- form cement sidewalks are being built on every street, and much of this work is already accom- plished ; the bona-fide population is now over ten thousand persons; and increasing, new factories are being located here; and with the large factor- ies which have been in operation for many years steadily increasing both their business and their plants; with her magnificent court-house, excel- lent city hall, and splendid school buildings ; with her water works, lighting plants, and street rail- roads, one of which is already in operation and others soon to be built ; with her fine streets, pleas- ant with summer green, birds and squirrels, or merry with winter sleigh bells; with her beautiful adjacent lakes, her fine climate, her spacious out- lying country, and her excellent railroad facilities -LaPorte is the fit capital of one of the best counties in the state, a satisfactory home for her citizens, and an inviting spot for individuals who seek homes, and for coroporations who seek an adavantageous location for their manufacturing plants.

The history of Center township is so largely that of LaPorte that we have not mentioned it separately. The township began to settle rapidly after the organization of the county. No part of the county was more attractive. The north part of it was well timbered and on the south and west were broad stretches of rich prairie land dotted with burr-oak groves. There were many sparkling lakes, the most beautiful and numerous group of which lay in the immediate vicinity of LaPorte. Outside of the city there are no villages and the township is given to agricultural pur- suits. In the immediate vicinity of the city there are many small fruit. farms and market gardens which have supplied the city, and from which much produce also has been shipped away.

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CHAPTER XIV

FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS.

"We are spirits clad in veils ; Man by man was never seen; All our deep communing fails To remove the shadowy screen.

"Heart to heart was never known; Mind with mind did never meet; We are columns left alone Of a temple once complete."

-C. P. CRANCH.

From the foregoing chapter it will be seen that the real founders of LaPorte were Walter Wil- son, Hiram Todd, John Walker, James Andrew, and A. P. Andrew, Jr. Dr. Hiram Todd, a rela- tive of John Walker, did not remain in the county ; and General Wilson remained but a short time. JOHN WALKER or Major Walker was about twenty-five years old at the time and was a man of great force of character and much shrewd business ability. He bought of the government thousands of acres of land and seemed always to know and to select the best prairie and timber land in the county. He was also interested in several saw mills, building the first one that was operated in Michigan township. In politics he was an ardent Whig. As an instance of his rug- ged character, at the first land sale in Logansport, When Henly Clyburn gave Mrs. Benedict's bid for her land, which was $1.25 per acre, some land speculator who was present bid $1.26. John Walker stepped forward and asked who it was that dared to bid against a widow and the first settler of her township, and said that if any one would point him out he would shoot him. The greedy land speculator gave it up, and Mrs. Bene- dict got her land at government price, while others had to pay in some cases $5 and $6 per acre.

Another of the early founders was CAP- TAIN A. P. ANDREW, JR. He derived his title from having been a steamboat captain on the Mississippi river. With his brother James he was engaged in mer- cantile business in Dearborn county not far from Cincinnati, but they closed out their business to engage in a contract for building the Michigan Road, and finally bought lands in La- Porte and were among those who founded the town and took a leading part in the enterprise and business of the city. They brought their families here in 1832; and ever since, they and their descendants and many of their relatives have been identified with the history of the county. A. P. Andrew was a builder of the county offices which stood in the second court-house yard ; he was editor and proprietor of the LaPorte Whig, closing out that publishing business to become cashier of the State Bank at Michigan City; he was a California gold hunter, going to that then far-off country in company with his brother, Will- iam P .; and beginning with 1869 he was a banker in LaPorte under the firm name of J. P. Andrew, Jr. and Son, a firm name which the bank still bears. In 1836 he was an elector on the Harri- son ticket, and in 1861 and afterwards he was

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a liberal contributor to the support of the families of enlisted soldiers.

JAMES L. ANDREW, the brother, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on March 31, 1799. His life touched the administration of every presi- dent of the United States up to his death except that of Washington, his existence beginning late in the presidency of John Adams. He was a small boy in school when Jefferson was president, was nearly sixteen when Jackson fought the battle of New Orleans, and through his life noted events transpired of which he was a careful observer. He helped the founders of LaPorte cut it out from St. Joseph county, and helped survey and lay out the town. He resided in LaPorte from that time until his death. He lingered longest of the original founders. When he was twenty-six years of age, previous to his coming to LaPorte, he came to Indiana and settled in Warren county, where he remained for five years. In 1824 he married Abigail Lane, sister of Elder Lane, long a well known Christian minister of this locality, and also of Mrs. Colonel Place. She passed away in 1842. They were the parents of three children ; Catharine, who married Dr. George L. Andrew ; James, who died while a child; and William L. Andrew, of LaPorte. In 1846 Mr. Andrew mar- ried Miss Sarah Ross, of Cincinnati, who passed away a few years before her husband. In politics Mr. Andrew was first a Whig and then a Re- publican. For four year previous to his death he was confined to his bed as an invalid though his mind was clear. He was quiet, unobtrusive, speaking plainly and bluntly when he spoke at all, and was thoroughly upright and honest. Re- ligiously he and his wife were members of the New Church of LaPorte. He passed away on May 20, 1895.

Another of the early citizens was RICHARD HARRIS, who came to LaPorte county with the Stanton and Fail party from Union county, Indi- ana, who located in the northeast part of what is now Center township, building their cabins within two or three miles of LaPorte. He voted at the earliest elections held in the county and was a member of the first grand jury, and in 1833 he bought of the government 160 acres of land in Kankakee township. His wife kept the first

boarding house in LaPorte. He was past middle age then and has been dead many years. WIL- SON MALONE arrived in the county some time in 1830 and also settled in Center township, but in 1833 he moved to New Durham township and in 1836 to Porter county, where he died about twenty years ago at a ripe old age. He voted at the first presidential election in the county and owned several tracts of land. GEORGE THOMAS, a man of education and clerical ability, came along the old Sac trail in season to be elected the first clerk and treasurer of the county, April 9, 1832, serving as such until in 1835. He voted at the first elections, was first postmaster of LaPorte, bought 320 acres of gov- ernment land in Springfield township in 1834, and died in office January 19, 1835.

JOHN DEVINE STEWART was born at Connellsville, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1817, and was in his eighty-fourth year when he died. His parents were John Devine and Marian Scott Stewart. The Scotts came from Delaware, while the Stewarts were natives of Maryland. The father of the deceased was an extensive raiser of fine stock, particularly horses, of which he at one time had over 200 head. An accident which hap- pened when the subject of this sketch was but five years of age-the poisoning of all his stock in one night-induced the father to come to Indi- ana and locate at Connersville, where a brother- in-law, Rev. Scott, was then living. The family consisted of nine children in addition to the pa- rents, and the trip was made on a flat-bottom boat, which they floated down the Ohio river. This was before the days of the river steamers and the journey was not only long and tedious but also dangerous, owing to the river thieves who in- fested the district and who did not hesitate to kill in order to obtain what they desired. Shortly after the safe arrival of the family at Connersville the father died and when the son became of suffi- cient age to begin life's battle alone he went to Winchester, this state, where he engaged in the mercantile business, though before that he had handled the mails between Winchester and one of the nearby towns.

While at Winchester he was united in mar- riage to Minerva Irwin, who preceded her hus- band. Mr. Stewart took up the study of law

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while engaged in the mercantile business at Win- chester, and though he was admitted to the bar of Randolph county he never practiced. He was often consulted by his friends and others on legal points, and to them he gladly gave his counsel, which in almost every instance proved to be the proper advice. He often felt in after years that the mistake of his life was made when he did not continue in the legal pathway which had so auspiciously opened before him. He served as chief enrolling clerk of the house during one term of the Indiana legislature. In 1843 his brothers, Thomas Stewart, a publisher, and James Stewart, a merchant of this city, induced him to remove to LaPorte with his family, which he did, arriving here July 14 of that year. The place was new, the outlook for a prosperous legal career was not encouraging, and so the deceased in partnership with his brother, James, started a general store and produce purchasing establishment at Byron, this county. Being on the Michigan plank road, which enabled them to haul the grain to Michi- gan City and then ship by boat, they did a thriving business for many years. Upon his return to this city John Stewart engaged more or less in politics and held good positions in several county offices, being an expert and rapid accountant. He was engaged for a time in the running of a sawmill, and then in partnership with Samuel Hoover of this city he established a machine shop where the King & Fildes woolen mills are now located, for the manufacture of the Mann reaper and mower, and portable engines, but when the Civil war broke out the shop was closed and Mr. Stewart was appointed deputy provost marshal under Colonel Shryock and served during the four years of that bloody strife. Upon his return to LaPorte he did not engage in any active business but as- sisted his son, John D. Stewart, Jr., in the hard- ware business.

The deceased was very active in the Sons of Temperance movement, being one of the organ- izers of that society and one of its best workers. He successfully fought the saloon element for years and his death removed the last one of the active participants in that movement. Politically he was an ardent Whig and when the Republican party came into existence he affiliated with that organization, being for many years one of its most prominent workers. As an organizer he

had but few equals and his services as chairman of the central committee were invaluable. Morally he was one of the most upright and conscientious men that ever lived. He had no bad habits and lived without ostentation, doing much good in many ways of which not even his friends had any conception. He had one distinction which seemed to please him greatly, and that was the fact that he assisted in the construction of the first brick building erected in Indianapolis, his uncle, James Scott, being the builder. Though an Odd Fellow at one time, he had not affiliated with that lodge for years. He was a devout Methodist and be- longed to the LaPorte church.

There were nine children in his father's family, and John Stewart was also the father of nine chil- dren. He was the last of his family and of his children but five are now living, they being Thomas Stewart, of Chicago, Garland R. Stewart, of Indianapolis, John D. Stewart, of LaPorte, Mrs. Minerva S. Wallace, of Indianapolis, and Miss Helen Stewart, of LaPorte.

He passed away on Saturday evening, Janu- ary 18, 1901, and in his demise LaPorte lost one of its earliest residents and a man who for many years was prominent in the political history of the city. For the last quarter of a century he had lived a quiet, retired life and for the past five years he had been an invalid. He gradually failed and the end came peacefully and without a struggle. The funeral was held on Monday, Jan- uary 20, at the family residence, Rev. A. H. De- Long, then pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, officiating ; and the remains were buried in Pine Lake cemetery.

DEXTER A. BUCK was born in Becket, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, September I, 1835. He was the son of Alvin and Alvira Wads- worth Buck.

The parents of Dexter A. came to LaPorte in 1838, with three children, the subject of this sketch being the youngest, and they settled two and a half miles northwest of LaPorte, where they followed farming sixteen years, and then removed to "Clay Hill," three and a half miles northwest of LaPorte, where they followed dairying for a number of years. The cheese which Mr. Buck made at this place for a long time bore the highest price in the market. In 1871 their dwelling was

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burned, with nearly all the contents. On the old foundation a new and commodious brick resi- dence now stands.

Dexter A. Buck, at the age of eighteen, taught school, starting out in life for himself, following civil engineering in Iowa until the war began, when he bought a horse and rode one hundred and fifty miles to enlist, becoming a member of Company B, First Iowa Cavalry. In the fall, at St. Louis, he was appointed commissary by Colonel Fitz Henry Warren. After the death of General Lyon, at Springfield, Missouri, the First Iowa Cavalry was placed under the command of General Fremont, with seventy-two other regi- ments, to meet the rebel General Price, said to be not more than ten miles distant; but before an opportunity was allowed for this anxiously- looked-for engagement, Fremont was removed and the First Iowa was ordered back to spend its time fighting bushwhackers in Missouri. Near Sedalia it gained a signal victory, capturing 1,300 rebels, with wagons, horses, etc. Mr. Buck was prominent in this engagement. After two years' service in the saddle, his injuries compelled him to seek retirement, and he tried reading law for a time ; but his ambition would not let him rest in this way while enemies were destroying the coun- try ; he therefore went south and was engaged in dealing out rations to the troops from his bakery at Union City, Tennessee. The whole command at that place, however, was captured by General Forrest, Mr. Buck losing everything except his life. He then walked to Columbus, Kentucky, meeting with rebels and adventurers on the way. He kept a general store awhile at Alexandria, Tennessee, where he met a southern lady whom he afterward married. His method of acquiring her acquaintance was difficult, peculiar and romantic. He subsequently sold out at Alexandria and re- moved to the old farm, which he had purchased. After remaining one year on the farm, he found such a life too dull and inactive, then selling the farm to his father, he removed to Sedalia, Miss- ouri, where he engaged in business, meeting with success, and, desiring a larger field for operations, removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and secured the control of the states of Missouri, Kansas and Texas for the sale of a noted sewing machine, which he bought and sold on his own account for a number of years, building up an immense busi- ness. By effort and judicious management he

secured a respectable fortune. He then sold out his business to the manufacturing company and became business manager for them for a number of years. At his earnest solicitation the company accepted his resignation, and he returned to his father's farm to care for his parents.

Mr. Buck was a member of Patton Post, G. A. R., and Excelsior Lodge, F. and A. M. Five children survive him, they being Mrs. W. H. Hailman, Miss Manon. Buck, Mrs. Edith Van Trease, Colonel Dexter Alvin Buck, of Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, and Cartright James Buck. James H. Buck, president of the LaPorte Savings Bank, is a brother.

Mr. Buck passed away Wednesday, June 19, 1895, and the funeral was held on Friday with honors of the Grand Army of the Republic.

OLIVER PERRY LUDLOW was born in Dearborn' county, Indiana, November 18, 1814, and was the son of Stephen and Lena Ludlow, who were natives of the eastern states. After a common school education Mr. Ludlow took up the occupation of his father, that of farming, which vocation he followed at his old home and in this county, the latter becoming his abiding place in 1840. Early in life he married Miss Elizabeth C. Walker, of Shelbyville, Indiana. She was the daughter of the late John C. Walker and the sister of B. P., W. J. and J. C. Walker, Mrs. Holcomb, Mrs. Mary J. McCoy, Mrs. Frances Cummings, Mrs. Dr. Theel and Mrs. Maria L. Rose. Mrs. Ludlow passed away thirty-three years ago. Born to this union were two daugh- ters, both deceased, and three sons, two of whom are living, J. W. Ludlow, of this city, and Oliver Porter Ludlow, of Pleasant township, both re- spected and valued members of this community. One son, Stephen Ludlow, is dead, as is also a brother of Mr. Ludlow, John Ludlow. Mr. Lud- low joined the Masonic lodge when a young man, but in late years had not affiliated with the order. In early days he was a staunch Whig, and upon the birth of the Republican party he became prominent in the councils of that party.

Once he was honored by being selected to pre- side at the Republican convention of LaPorte county, but he always refused to accept the offices that were tendered him. He never missed exer- cising his elective franchise.

He was a man of strong convictions, ever

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ready to sacrifice all that he had for the principles which he held dear. Through hard work, economy and good judgment he was successful in acquiring broad acres, a fine country home, and well filled granaries.

On November 18, 1903, he celebrated his eighty-ninth anniversary at his home just south of LaPorte, where a family dinner was given in his honor. It was the wish of those who gathered around the table that they might all be permitted to meet under like circumstances eleven years from that date and celebrate his hundredth anni- versary, but on December 9 he passed away.

JAMES M. ALLEN was identified for a half century with LaPorte county. He belonged to that class of pioneers who laid the foundation of prosperity in northern Indiana in the development of its agricultural resources. He came of the old school of Virginia farmers, who regarded indus- try as a cardinal virtue, who combined strict in- tegrity with business sagacity, and thrift with genial and charming hospitality. The Allen fam- ily settled in Virginia during the colonial period and were of English origin. They were originally Friends in their church affiliations, and Mr. Allen's father, Israel Allen, was brought up in that faith, and married Sarah Fifer, and was a prosperous farmer of the Shenandoah Valley, where James Monroe Allen was born, in 1818, and where he grew to manhood. In 1840 he left the old home- stead, fairly well equipped by education and ex- perience for a business career, and came to Indi- ana. Intending to follow the occupation in which he had been brought up, he purchased a farm in LaPorte county, near Kingsbury, and for the next three years devoted himself to its cultivation and improvement. He then abandoned farming opera- tions for a time and became a merchant in La- Porte. While there he married Miss Eliza Place, daughter of Colonel Willard A. Place. The names of the children of this union are given as follows : Willard P., Jamie, Fanny, Flora, Lizzie, Katie, and Hattie. Mr. Allen was a successful mer- chant. but by instinct and training he was a farmer and preferred the farm to the store; and hence after eight years of merchandising, having added materially to his wealth, he returned to agricul- tural pursuits. He purchased a farm a mile south of LaPorte and establised there an old fashioned homestead of kindly hospitality and pleasant asso-

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 23

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