A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 64

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

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In October, 1843, there was a great scare in LaPorte from the fact that the body of a male and one of a female were found boxed up in Clear lake. Such was the excitement that Dr. Meeker had to come to the rescue and say

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that they were anatomical specimens which he of the social evil as, and probably less than, himself had placed there for maceration. The LaPorte medical school was here at that time and it should be remembered that there was a dissecting room in it. Several gruesome inci- dents might be related along this line, but they would be somewhat forbidding.

Several other murders have been commit- ted in the county. There is the Drapier and Carr case of 1860, a case of manslaughter. There was the murder of Fred Miller in New Durham township, about two miles north of Westville. Miller's wife accused one John Pos- ton of the deed, but the evidence at the exami- nation was not sufficient to bind him over and he was released. The Michigan City Enterprise was fairly savage over the acquittal. There was the case of Wednesday, October 16, 1862, at the Lake Shore station. Several drafted men were waiting to take the train to go to Indianapolis, when an Irishman named Thomas Callahan who had been drafted from Pleasant. township, stabbed and killed a German named Charles Swartz, drafted. from Clinton township, for which he was sentenced for life. November 27, 1865, James Woods shot and killed John Lohn, a German residing in the west part of Clinton township. William Fulton was accessory. Woods was sentenced for life and Fulton for thirteen years. In 1867 Patrick Dunn struck Patrick Daily with a woodrack stake in New Durham township and killed him, but the plea was self- defense. and he was acquitted. The circum- stances of all these might be related and other instances might be given, ending with the mur- der of Wesley Reynolds, the young lad who was killed by burglars while so bravely defending Smith's bank at Westville a few years ago. La- Porte county has had its tragedies, but many of them are in no wise to be laid to her own citizens, and therefore do not reflect upon her morality ; and, considering her population and the long period of seventy years which is taken into view, the county has been comparatively free from such crimes. There are of course many things in her cities and towns, and even in the country, which are not as they should be. and by parting the veil of appearances a little, one can find them. But it is certainly safe to say that there is as little drunkenness, as little

exists in other counties of her class. Occa- sionally there has been an epidemic of some crime. There was one in 1848 when the citizens were compelled to form a society against horse- stealing, of which A. L. Osborn was president, T. D. Lemon secretary, who with William An- drew, John L. Frye and John M. Lemon, Jr., constituted a . general committee. And the society directed its committee to furnish all persons who might be sent after a stolen horse and the thief, with arms and ammunition suited to the emergency. At Rolling Prairie in the summer of 1861 there was an epidemic of petty thieving. On one occasion goods were found in a field by James Drummond, marked "A. N. Miller," and "D. W. Miller." The goods were evidently secreted there. Drummond and his wife watched. There came a team with two men who stopped near the goods, but seeing Drummond they went on. Drummond notified the constable who raised a posse consisting of T. D. Brown, Jesse Shellenberger, Mr. Drum- mond's hired man, and John Kierstead, who pur- sued the thieves. The younger of them shot at Kierstead. They went through Hudson toward Hamilton, and finally got away by cutting loose, mounting their horses and riding through the woods. Many stirring incidents of a somewhat similar nature might be related, which have hap- pened in different parts of the county. In 1861 there was an epidemic of burglary. Some, and occasionally a prominent citizen, have been tried for crimes which should not be mentioned. A chapter might be made of them; but the reader does not like carrion, and a brief glance in that direction is sufficient. And on the whole the standard of morality in the county has been high. There have been times, as for instance in No- vember, 1861, when for quite a period there was not a prisoner in the county jail.

Besides the regular constituted authorities there have been societies which have been guard- ians of morality. Not only in the two cities but in Rolling Prairie, Byron, Springville, and other villages there have been temperance societies which were enthusiastically sustained. The Sons of Temperance were once strong in the county. The.order used to have its picnics, attended by great numbers. Springville was a great cen-

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ter for these gatherings. The Hon. Gilbert Hathaway and others of the county's most dis- tinguished citizens were staunch supporters of the cause. There was a county temperance society. The local papers used to take up the subject and discuss it with a dignity and earn- estness and lack of fanaticism which have not appeared in these later days. There was a Young Men's Christian Association in LaPorte. There is a wealth of data upon these subjects, though here we can only make a brief reference to them.

The county has been without its race war, and without bank failures and financial un- soundness. The most serious trouble the writer has learned was that of the old Branch Bank at Michigan City, mentioned elsewhere, which was soon adjusted. Among many things the ethics of which may be questioned, is the conduct of many with reference to the land claims of the early settlers, an account of which must close this chapter :-

During the early settlement of the county, land speculators were the curse of the pioneers. The possessors of the Michigan Road lands had nothing to fear, as their dealings were with the state alone. Not so those who settled on United States government lands. If there was no one to bid against them at the land sales, the settlers had the right to purchase the land which they had entered for $1.25 per acre. At first there was no pre-emption law, and specu- lators could go to the land sales and overbid the settlers and thus despoil them of their im- provements. But in many instances the settlers were more than a match for the speculators. Many an Indian scare was gotten up to frighten the speculators away. After a time the settlers came to understand this and ceased to be alarmed at Indian scares. On one occasion when a party of speculators were riding toward a settler's claim, he jumped upon a horse and without saddle or bridle rode furiously toward them shouting "Indians, Indians, Indians! Ter- rible uprising! They'll soon be upon us! They are killing and scalping all before them." They paused, and as he sped by still yelling, they turned anud followed him. The whole neighbor- hood for miles around was alarmed. But the set- tler by round-about way rode home, collected

some money, and quietly slipped down to the land office at Crawfordsville and entered his land. In Lake county the settlers formed a squatters' union and pledged themselves to stand by each other, and the speculators dared not bid against hundreds of determined, armed men. The instance where John Walker threatened to shoot the man who dared bid against the widow Benedict, has already been related.

During the land sales in LaPorte in 1835, the settlers had a raised platform fully as con- spicuous as that of the crier of the sale. There they posted the stoutest man they had, a giant in strength, who promised to give any man a thorough thrashing who dared to bid upon the claim of an actual settler. There was present a little doctor from Philadelphia, quite a dude as · we would say now, who was foolish enough to bid upon a tract on which a poor man with a large family had settled. But before the cham- pion could get down from the stand, the crowd had pitched the little doctor into a ditch of prairie mud near by, which rendered the efforts of the giant needless and gave the victory to humanity and liberty.

Even after the pre-emption act there was a way by which speculators could dispossess set- tlers of thier claims. By treaty with the Pot- tawottomies certain lands were reserved to the Indians, which had to be located by government commissioners. These reserves or Indian claims were negotiable, and they came into the pos- session of speculators and Indian traders. Un- fortunately these reserves could be located on lands which the white settlers had claimed and improved, if those white settlers had not secured the right of pre-emption, as few had. Active business men, politicians and others who had become possessed of these Indian claims or "floats," were anxious of course that the claims should be located on the best lands, and they could afford to pay the commissioners for locat- ing them there. Here, then, was an opportunity for the commissioners to make money, and in many instances they located those claims on the best lands, even though these lands had been greatly improved by the settlers. Like many other wrongs which have been committed, it was a legalized system of robbery.

In this way many in the county were in

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danger of losing their homes, and in 1835 they applied to Charles W. Cathcart to give them counsel and help if possible. He drew up a memorial which stated the case, had a number of duplicates made, and circulated not only in this county but throughout the northern part of the state. They received many signatures. Armed with these, Mr. Cathcart went to Washington to see President Jackson about it, for the treaty gave the president summary control over the locations made by the commissoners. On the way Mr. Cathcart fell in with an old friend of the Cathcart family, an old member of Con- gress, who knew the president well and who promised to present Mr. Cathcart to him. Ar- riving in Baltimore Mr. Cathcart's hunting shirt attracted so much attention that he purchased and put on a conventional suit of clothes. At Washington his old friend presented him to the president and vouched for his honesty.

President Jackson read the memorial. heard young Cathcart's story, and then said with much feeling, "My dear sir, place this matter in a tangible form and I will settle it in thirty min- utes." During the interview the president's private secretary quietly left the room, and soon after the commissioner of Indian affairs entered. The president informed him of the occasion of Mr. Cathcart's visit, and the commissioner took charge of the memorial, saying that the case would be examined and acted upon by his bureau, and then remarked, "Mr. Cathcart, you understand that this subject comes properly be- fore my bureau for settlement." Mr. Cathcart said, "I understand." And he did. He made a request for a copy of the instructions given to the locating commissioners, and the commis- sioner of Indian affairs promised to furnish it at 2 p. m. the next day.

After leaving the president Mr. Cathcart went before a notary and made an affidavit af- firming all the leading facts in the memorial, and with it called upon the president early the next morning. The president had not yet risen, but consented to see Mr. Cathcart, saying that his time belonged to the American people. He read the affidavit, declared that it was plain enough, looked up the Indian treaty to be sure that he had authority in the matter, and then wrote on the back of the affidavit an order to

raise the floats; that is, remove the claims from all lands where improvements of any value had been made by settlers, and to offer at public sale the lands upon which those claims had been located. He ordered that duplicate instructions be made, of which Cathcrat should have one, and signed it simply, A. J., and ordered his col- ored waiter to take it to the secretary of the treasury, to which department the general land office then belonged.

Mr. Cathcart expressed his gratitude on be- half of the settlers, and bade the president fare- well; and with much feeling the old man wished Cathcart God speed. Cathcart then went to see another old friend, the chief clerk of the general land office, and told him of his success, and re- quested that the copy of instructions which the president had promised be given him as soon as possible, and in a short time the young man had in his pocket the order to the land officers at LaPorte to "raise the floats from all lands upon which improvements of any value had been made."

At 2 p. m., according to appointment .. Cath- cart called upon the commissioner of Indian af- fairs to get the promised copy of that officer's instructions to the locating commissioners. He was shown into the anteroom of the department to await the commissioner's entrance. That dig- nitary soon hurried in and exclaimed excitedly, "Why, sir, need you have troubled the old gen- tleman about your matter ? I told you it belonged to my bureau and you said you understood." Cathcart told him that he understood more than the commissioner thought he did. The officer gave the memorial back to him and refused to redeem his promise of giving him a copy of the instructions to the locating commissioners. Cathcart coolly told him it was a matter of minor importance as he already had in his pocket instructions for the relief of the settlers, and so took his leave.

He traveled night and day towards home, and arrived in LaPorte while the land sales were going on. He was back several days before he was expected. With his new clothes on, covered with dust, weary and worn by the nervous strain to which he had been subjected, and with the great excitement prevailing at the prospective loss of their homes by the settlers, Cathcart at

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first was not recognized. Unknown he stepped up to a group of people and found an old gen- tleman pleading with one of the locating com- missioners to raise the float which had been placed upon his claim, as with other improve- ments he had built a grist mill upon it. The old man even offered the commissioner a large sum of money to do so, but the commissioner mock- ingly refused, saying that nothing but a rise in Deep river could raise that float.

Cathcart coolly said, "We have fall freshets sometimes." The commissioner inquired, "It this any of your business, sir?" "Somewhat," said Cathcart, and then he stepped aside and shouted to the people. Immediately he was recognized and the cry went up, "There's Old Charley." They eagerly crowded around him to hear the news. He told them to follow him to the registrar's office. There the door was locked, but Cathcart, calling through one of the win- dows, handed in his copy of orders from the general land office, to Major Robb, the registrar, who after reading it himself gave it to the crier of the sale, David Dinwiddie, who read it aloud from a raised stand which he had used while selling the land. The locating commissioner, just referred to, stood by and looked very blank.

The sale was adjourned until the next day, but the crowd would not disperse without a speech from Mr. Cathcart. He gave them a circumstantial account of his visit to Washing- ton and of its success. The order was to raise the floats on all lands where improvements of "any value" had been made by the settlers. It was the duty of Major Robb, registrar, and of John M. Lemon, receiver, to carry out that order. But a difficulty at once arose as to what interpretation should be given to the expression

"any value." The registrar contended that it should be construed as.meaning $300. The re- ceiver on the contrary contended that it meant a mere nominal sum. There was no time to refer the matter to Washington. To do so would render useless all that had been accomplished, as meantime the land sales would be concluded. Indeed, the speculators had shrewdly gotten the locating commissioners to postpone their work of locating the claims until a very short time before the land sales, so that there would be no time for the settlers to appeal to Washington before the sales transpired. A compromise was soon effected and $75 was the sum agreed upon as the value of improvements necessary to have an Indian float removed from any settler's claim, and to bring his land into market so that the set- tler could buy it. As there were few settlers who had not improved their claims more than $75 worth, nearly all were enabled to keep their homes. Some compromising was done between the speculators and the settlers, the former buy- ing the latter off and retaining the float, but every bona fide settler either got his home or pay for his claim.

The foregoing shows that human selfishness was the same then as now; rings and combina- tions to defraud others for the benefit of a few schemers, lack of regard for the rights, feelings and sufferings of others-these things existed then as now. The only difference is that to-day such selfishness manifests itself in different ways from formerly. Advancing civilization has pro- vided new channels through which human selfish- ness as well as benevolence may accomplish its object, but at the root it is the same, and there is no difference from age to age save a gradual improvement.

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CHAPTER XXXVI

RELIGION.

"Sacred religion, mother of form and fear, How gorgeously sometimes dost thou sit deck'd ! What pompous vestures do we make thee wear! What stately piles we prodigal erect ! How sweet perfumed art thou, how shining clear! How solemnly observed, with what respect !" DANIEL'S Musophilus.

We come now to put on the capstone-re- ligion. But what is religion? It is not morali- ty, for a man may be a good, civil and moral man and not be a religious man. Nor is religion spirituality or heavenly-mindedness, for a per- son may be very religious without being heaven- ly-minded. Nor is religion theology, for a man may have much doctrine but no religion. The very etymology of the word "religion" gives us a hint as to what it is. Religion means to re- bind or to bind again. Religion is that which fixes certain bonds about us and does it again and again. Now does not one's church environ- ment do this? By attending church and partici- pating in its worship and becoming used to its forms, a habit is induced upon us, from which it is difficult to break away. This is the reason why those who have been reared in a certain church, and have become used to its forms, are not happy in any other church environment. Young people who have been brought up to at- tend public worship, and who have formed habits of church going, are quite miserable on first at- tempting to break away from them and enter lives of dissipation. Religion sustains about the same relation to the spiritual life that a bandage does to a wound. The bandage does not heal the wound but it holds the severed flesh together so that the inner life can heal it. And so re- ligion does not heal the soul but it serves to hold

man in order so that the inner spiritual life from the Lord can heal it. Religion is not Christianity. The Jews have religion but they do not claim to be Christians. So do the Mo- hammedans and the Buddhists and the Brahmins. In his "History of Northwestern Indiana" Mr. T. H. Ball mentions that love which is " the greatest thing in the world" and then says, "That the Indians who came in contact with the mis- sionaries manifested ·the possession of much of this love, is doubtful. And that no church rites will place this love within the soul, we have the opportunity of seeing" (page 27). Quite true. But church rites may take such powerful hold on the conduct as to furnish the occasion. This is why, as Mr. Ball himself acknowledges (page 25), "the French Catholics far better than the English or Americans adapted themselves to the Indian nature, had larger control over them, and seem to have tried more faithfully to do them good." In speaking of the Pottawottomies of this region he says, "The influence of the French missionaries, some of them not only zeal- ous but self-denying, noble men, still remained among them. Their burials were not conducted altogether with pagan rites, they knew the sym- bol of the cross, and they erected crosses beside some of their graves" (page 24). Now this is a step in advance. As mentioned repeatedly in other connections in these pages, the French

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TRINITY CATHEDRAL

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Catholics were first on the ground in what is now LaPorte county, the Indians came under the influence of their teachings and church forms,and there are several instances of the In- dians in the county becoming devout Catholics. One instance was Sogganee, mentioned in Chap- ter II of this work, who afterwards lived and died at Notre Dame, South Bend.

Catholic influence has never ceased in the county. Soon after its organization Catholic priests used to come to LaPorte as missionaries, and after a time St. Peter's church was formed. For many years Rev. Father Kilroy was pastor. He was a man of great influence and force of character. He was mentioned in Chapter XXVI of this work. Even after he went away from LaPorte he came back and lectured here. He became a distinguished man and drew large audiences. In 1861 Colonel Walker's Irish regi- ment had an Irish band which gave a concert at Huntsman's hall, in November, to raise funds to pay for their instruments and Father Kilroy lectured on that occasion. His subject was "The Military Genius of Ireland." At that time Rev. Father Lawler was pastor of St. Peter's; later, Rev. Father T. O. Sullivan; later still, Rev. Father Crawley, whose health failed and who went west and died. At present Rev. Father G. M. Schram is pastor. The first church building was a frame structure which gave place to the present commodious brick church. Since Father Schram's advent a new and beautiful altar has been placed in the church. This edifice is situated on Monroe, facing Walker street.

St. Joseph's church is a German congregation and was organized in 1858 by Rev. Father M. Scherrer. The substantial brick edifice which they occupy was built in 1859-60, and a school house was added soon afterwards. This school is men- tioned in Chapter XXX. In 1865 Father Scherr- er went to another field of labor and was suc- ceeded as priest of St. Joseph's by Rev. Father S. Bartoz, of Polish descent. His health failed and in 1870 he resigned and was succeeded by Rev. Father John Oechtering, an exceedingly able man who was attained to eminence since that time. Later, Father Nussbaum was the incum- bent, who passed away while pastor of St. Joseph's and whose funeral obsequies were cele-

brated by the Gregorian high mass. This was not many years ago; the church was crowded, and the bishop and many priests of the diocese were in attendance. The church with its tall spire and chime of two bells is situated at the corner of C and Second streets. The parish in- cludes more than a hundred German families, among whom are some of the most influential and useful business men of LaPorte.

St. Mary's Catholic church of Michigan City is situated on the southwest corner of Boston and Buffalo streets, on a site which was once a Catholic cemetery. In 1902 this church received new interior decoration. The entire cost of the improvements was $3,000, and all the money was contributed. This work was the crowning effort of Rev. Father John Bleckmann, who has been pastor of St. Mary's the last twenty-two years, and the esteem of the public and the peo- ple of his church made the improvements possi- ble. Father Bleckmann has been in recent years assisted by Rev. Father Jansen. The paintings on the walls and ceiling are the most attractive features of the decorations. They are the reve- lation of the Blessed Virgin through St. Dominic to preach the devotion of the rosary annuncia- tion of the Blessed Virgin; the visitation, the birth of our Lord, presentation of the Child in the temple, Child teaching in the temple, as- sumption of the Blessed Virgin to heaven, coro- nation of the Blessed Virgin in heaven. The altar pictures represent the resurrection and the ascension and the adoring angels. The side walls are decorated with a beautiful design, gold and blue figures predominating.

St. Stanislaus Polish Catholic church of Michigan City stands at the corner of Ripley and Washington streets. Rev. Father Wrobel is pastor, and Father Eugene Stachowiak is his as- sistant.

There is a Catholic church in Otis which was built in 1872 by the Polish families who settled in the neighborhood. The edifice is a neat frame building and the parish has a school. There is also a Catholic church in Wanatah, and one in Dewey township, about two miles from La Crosse, which was built in 1862. Thus there are seven Catholic churches in LaPorte county, some of them dating from a very early day, with

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 64

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