A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 9

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 9

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).

Four years passed away before there was any further change in the boundary lines of the townships, and then, remarkable to say, the coun- ty from forming the smallest township swung to the other extreme of forming the largest. This was on March 4, 1840, when Union township was formed out of Pleasant, which, as we have seen, until now comprised also all the county directly south and east of its present boundaries. Since it was formed, the western boundary of Union has been somewhat changed, making it extend into Noble and Scipio townships. It was the largest township of the county, containing over fifty sec- tions, which certainly was very different from Hudson, which contains only twelve. The usual order for an election was given to be held on the first Monday in the following April, at the house of George W. Reynolds, with Abraham Reynolds inspector of elections.

Nearly two years passed away without any further change of boundaries, and then there was a very important addition to the territory of the county. Up to that time the tract of coun-

try which now comprises Cass, Dewey, Hanna and Prairie townships, under the name of Van- Buren township, had been a part of Starke coun- ty; though it should be remembered that Starke county was not organized until 1850, being until that time temporarily attached to Marshall county for voting and legal purposes. But the inhabit- ants of Van Buren township found it very incon- venient to reach their county seat, and to remedy the difficulty an appeal was made to the state leg- islature, which passed an act approved January 29, 1842, "for the attachment of a part of Starke county to the county of LaPorte." Thus it hap- pened that for six years LaPorte county had on her southwestern corner an immense township by the name of VanBuren.

On the 12th of June, 1848, the board of county commissioners divided Van Buren township, and out of the western part of it formed the township of Cass, which then included also what is now Dewey township. This was in old Whig times, and the Whigs wanted to call the new township Harrison, but the Democrats wanted to call it Cass. It was decided to settle the matter by drawing lots, and Walter Livingston and John Wills were selected to represent the respective parties in the drawing. The Democrats won and the new township was called Cass. Alexander Campbell was appointed inspector of elections, Clark Meeker constable, and Moody Kimball and W. McLane fence viewers.

After Cass township was formed, the remain- der of the territory, or that which is now Hanna and Prairie, was still called Van Buren township. But it had so few inhabitants that it was not ad- visable to hold elections. An attempt was made in 1848 to hold an election, at which Charles G. Powell was clerk, but no one came to vote. Ac- cordingly the inhabitants applied to the board of commissioners to be attached to and made a part of Noble township, which that body ordered on the 11th day of March, 1850, as the records show. Thus did the township of Van Buren exist for over eight years as an integral part of LaPorte county, until, after being reduced in size, it was finally blotted out.

For ten years there was no further change; what is now Hanna township remained a part of Noble, and then Dewey township was formed as it now appears on the map. This was done by

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

the board of county commissioners at their ses- sion on June 8, 1860. Patrick Huncheon was ap- pointed trustee for the new township.

Why it was that this new township was called Dewey, the writer has not been able to ascertain. There was no Dewey in the early history of the county. Perhaps, and indeed probably, the name was taken from Judge Charles Dewey, who was born in Massachusetts and settled at Vincennes as a lawyer in 1815. A little later he moved to Paoli, Orange county. He represented that county in the state legislature from 1818 to 1820. He then moved to Charlestown, Clark county. In 1825 he was appointed district attorney by John Quincy Adams and served until 1829, when Samuel Judah succeeded him. He continued in practice in Charlestown until 1836, when he was appointed a judge of the supreme court to suc- ceed Judge Mckinney. He wrote the decision in the first case appealed from LaPorte county : Harrison and others against Hizon and others, concerning the steamer Post Boy (4 Blackford 226). He served until 1847, when he retired to his home in Charlestown. He was engaged in an important case in LaPorte county in 1851 with local attorneys, John B. Niles for one; that of the Michigan Central Railroad against the Northern Indiana Railroad (3 Indiana 247). He died at an advanced age and was spoken of as "one of Indiana's most brilliant and able law- yers," "among the jurists of his day," "highly respected for his abilities and virtues" and "uni- versally liked." He died not far from the time when Dewey township was organized; some of the lawyers here must have known and admired him. and there were settlers here from Clark county who must have known him personally. This may account for the name Dewey, which was given to the new township.

Meantime people had been settling in that part of Noble which formerly had been Van Buren township, and on the 11th day of March, 1861. Chandler Palmer and others petitioned the board of county commissioners to set off that region and form it into a new township called Hanna. The board after due consideration granted this petition, and so Hanna township was created. with Charles H. Rowley as trustee.

We revert now to Pleasant township, which, as we have seen, included not only Pleasant but

also, after Union was carved out of it, what is now Lincoln and Johnson townships. Until the year 1850 the eastern boundary line of the county ran straight north and south. That is to say, there was no part of the county which jutted out into St. Joseph county. But by act of the state legislature approved January 14, 1850, all that part of the county north of Mud Lake and which is east of the original county line, containing fourteen sections and parts of sections, was taken from St. Joseph county and attached to LaPorte county. At the June term of the commissioners' court in the same year, the board added a part of the newly acquired territory to Wills town- ship, as shown by the map, and the remainder to Pleasant township.

On the 12th day of March, 1861, on the petition of George Bosserman and others, the board of commissioners ordered the creation of a new township to be called Anderson township, which covered the same territory now covered by Lincoln and Johnson townships. The same peti- tion prayed for certain other changes affecting the boundaries of Union, Pleasant, Scipio and Center townships, which changes were granted by the board. These changes tended to make the townships of Union, Pleasant, Scipio and Noble square, or to make the actual townships corre- spond to the congressional townships.

But this order proved unsatisfactory to the people affected by it, and they immediately took steps to have it set aside. Much feeling was aroused on the subject, and the desire to have the order vacated was well nigh universal. Petitions began to pour in to the county board to have the order rescinded. No less than nine petitions were received. They were from the following parties : R. Shaw and others, Isaac Butterworth and others, M. Moyer and others, Joshua Layman and others, George W. Woodburn and others, Ash. Burdick and others, Isaac Livengood and others, John B. Travis and others, Joseph Ewing and others.

These petitions were so strong that at the next term of the commissioners' court the order was set aside, and Anderson township after hav- ing a brief existence was no more.

On the 13th day of March, 1866, the board passed an order creating Lincoln and Johnson townships, as they now appear on the map.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Joseph B. Lewis was appointed trustee of Lin- coln township, and Jared McDaniel trustee of Johnson township.

On the same day another order was made re- ducing Union, Pleasant, Scipio and Noble town- ships to their congressional limits, or in other words making them square; but the same opposi- tion arose that was manifested against the order creating Anderson township, and accordingly this latter order was finally repealed. But the orders creating Lincoln and Johnson townships have remained in force.

Thirty-seven years passed away without further change, and then the board of county commissioners received a petition signed by James E. Davison, W. H. Scriven and others living in the southern part of Hanna township, praying that the south part of Hanna be set off into a new township, the dividing line to be on the north of section thirty, just south of Thomas- ton Station, and to run straight east to the Kan- kakee river. The reasons set forth in this petition were that the southern part of Hanna township had been developed by the owners and citizens, making farming land out of heretofore waste land, which development was still progressing- that the northern part of Hanna township had roads, schools and public conveniences, and by reason of its population had succeeded in electing trustees favorable to the development of the northern to the neglect of the southern part of the township, leaving the latter without roads and the new settlers without school facilities-that there were some thirty or forty children in one locality alone without a school-that the town- ship trustees refused to furnish transportation for the children to attend the nearest school, though the petitioners were willing to pay their share for such privileges-and that the character of the lands and the needs of the people in the northern part of Hanna township were entirely different from those of the people in the southern part.

After due consideration the county commis- sioners granted the petition and ordered that the territory designated be set apart under the name of Prairie township. The order was passed on September 10, 1903, and James E. Davison was appointed trustee of the new township. Un- fortunately the petitioners acted not until after

the tax levy had been made, and this left the new township without funds; but the citizens signified their willingness to back up with their own contributions, whatever petitions they might find necessary to make to the court of commis- sioners for the coming year.

At their April session, 1904, the county com- missioners granted the petition of one hundred and thirty-two property owners of Union town- ship for a division of that corporation, the lower or southern half being made a separate township, and the upper or northern half being made a new township. The southern half retains the old name-Union township-while the northern half, which contains Kingsbury, is known as Wash- ington township. Dr. H. H. Long, trustee of the old Union township, was appointed trustee of Washington township, and Samuel A. Lam- bert was appointed trustee of Union township. Diverse interests, the unwieldy size of the old township, and differences of opinion concerning the construction of new school buildings and new bridges and ditches were the ground of the petition.

Accordingly to report, LaPorte county has now the largest number of townships of any county in the state-twenty-one. Allen county has twenty, Kosciusko comes next with seventeen, two counties have fifteen each, ten counties have fourteen each, twelve counties have thirteen each, eleven counties have eleven each, eleven counties have ten each, twelve counties have nine each, three counties have eight each, two counties have seven each, three counties have six each, four counties have five each, and two counties have four each.

Since writing the above a movement has been set on foot to have the townships of Cass, Dewey, Hanna, and Prairie reannexed to Starke county. The wide-spreading, sluggish Kankakee was re- sponsible for this territory being annexed to La- Porte county ; the river formed a natural barrier between these townships and Starke county, which was almost impassable during a great portion of the year, except by canoe, and so Starke county lost this territory without struggle. The census of 1900 gave Cass township a popu- lation of 1,457, Dewey township, 342, and Hanna township, 766. With these three townships added Starke county would be squared up in good shape,

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

being 24 by 18 miles in dimension. Attorney gan City. Thus there was a rivalry between the Charles C. Kelley of Starke county, it is said, has two places. been retained by an association formed in those townships to prosecute the move. There are two ways by which the change can be made. One is for each county to sanction the change by a ma- jority vote in each county and upon consent of the board of commissioners of Starke county. The other is for the legislature to grant an elec- tion to these townships and a majority vote sanc- tion the proposition. Some of the citizens of these townships complain that they do not receive just consideration from the rest of LaPorte coun- ty, that the management of affairs is left almost wholly to the Tuesberg Land Company. Those in authority in LaPorte county do not regard the movement seriously, but Starke county may hold out her hand and bid her long lost children a hearty welcome back. If so, LaPorte county will doubtless oppose the move, and there will be an interesting legal fight which will not be decided for a long time. Meantime the organization stands as given above.

Such is a brief account of the evolution of LaPorte county from an unorganized region into its present shape, and its present order and ar- rangement of townships. We may now dispense with the constant use of the map and turn our attention to other matters relating to the county in its organized form.

One very important part of the organization of the county was the locating of the county seat. The commissioners appointed by the state met in LaPorte for this purpose in October, 1832. The promoter of Michigan City wished to have the seat of justice located there, and the founders of LaPorte sought to have it located there. A. P. and James Andrew, Walter Wilson, Hiram Todd, and John Walker, who owned the land in La- Porte, offered to donate every other lot, the pro- ceeds for the sale of which would be used for the purpose of erecting the county buildings, provided the seat of justice was located in La- Porte. Major Isaac C. Elston of Crawfords- ville had purchased the land where the original town of Michigan City was built, and at this very time, October, 1832, he was busily engaged in laying out that town. He, too, offered to donate every alternate lot to the county if the commis- sioners would locate the seat of justice in Michi-

Judge William P. Andrew, who resides at 814 Tyler street, LaPorte, hale, hearty and of sound mind in his ninety-fifth year, was then on a visit to LaPorte, having come, as we have seen, with the emigrating party of James Andrew, his brother. The judge was then a young man of twenty-three years. The visit of the commis- sioners to locate the county seat occasioned a great deal of interest among the settlers, and as the commissioners rode back and forth between the two rival places to listen to the arguments of each for receiving the county seat, they were ac- companied by several interested gentlemen, and among them was young William P. Andrew, who relates some interesting incidents of his ex- perience at the time, which are corroborated by other evidence. The only building in Michigan City was a log cabin not yet completed. It was covered with lapboards which were weighted down and kept in place by the usual poles, and the door and windows were cut out ; but that was all. Young Andrew climbed to the top of Hoosier Slide, then a much higher sand hill than now, and, being a school teacher cultivating his gift for oratory, and feeling a certain inspiration born of the scene before him, he delivered an im- promptu oration to the vast solitude of land and water around him. His companions at the foot of the hill could hear no word, but they saw him · gesticulating and signified their applause; where- upon the young orator, without peroration, came down the hill with great jumps of several feet each.

In writing this history we have been given so many reminiscences which are in conflict with documentary and other evidence, that we could make no account of them; and for this reason it is a greater pleasure to record the above which are so clear, and so in harmony with other known facts.

After canvassing the matter thoroughly for several days, the commissioners finally decided upon LaPorte as the proper place for the county seat. One thing which led them to this decision was, that the gentlemen interested for LaPorte outnumbered those interested for Michigan City. They were men of strong personalities, and no doubt the commissioners felt a stronger per-

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

suasive power on behalf of LaPorte. Again, the locality of LaPorte was much more inviting than that of Michigan City. The latter place at that time was rather forbidding, being comparatively low and swampy, and mostly covered with pine trees. LaPorte, on the contrary, was a beautiful spot, possessing even at the beginning every ad- vantage for a pleasant and prosperous town. But the chief reason for locating the county seat at LaPorte was, that it was the most central place. It was very near the center of the county, as the county was then constituted. For we must re- member that all that large tract of country now comprising Cass, Dewey, Hanna and Prairie townships, was not then a part of the county, to say nothing of other additions on the eastern boundary. LaPorte was much nearer the center of the county then than now. In other words, the acquisition of the new territory moved the geographical center of the county farther south. But it was held, even with the county lines where they then were, that Michigan City was too far north of the center, and that it would be unfair to require the inhabitants of the southern part of the county to travel so far to their county seat. This was the view of the commissioners, as re- lated by a gentleman who was with them at the time. He says that the LaPorte gentlemen did not offer any greater financial inducements than Major Elston did; it was the advantage of its being a central locality that induced the five commissioners to locate the seat of justice in La Porte.

But the rivalry between the two places re- mained and repeatedly manifested itself in a strife for the possession of the county seat. Several times, especially when it has become necessary to erect new county buildings, the question of the location of the seat of justice has come to the surface and occasioned much discussion and even strife. This was the case in the forties. In 1845 the subject aroused such interest that it was de- bated pro and contra in public halls, private indi- viduals wrote articles which were published in the local papers, which articles were commented upon by the editors in the two rival towns. The con- troversy ran so high at that time that Michigan City would have borne the expense of erecting the new county buildings which were needed.

At this time even Springville, which then was a town of some importance, aspired to the posses- sion of the county seat. Door Village also as- serted her claim, and doubtless also Byron. Both of these towns were then, before the railroads came and fixed the centers elsewhere, places of comparative size and importance. But the main rivalry was betwen LaPorte and Michigan City.

Again in 1847 the question of the removal of the county seat assumed such prominence as to divert the political election from its usual party channels. The Democratic candidates to the legislature were pledged to the removal of the county seat, and in those sections of the county where the people favored removal, this was made the sole question and to a very great degree car- ried a strong influence with it, though those sec- tions hitherto had given Whig majorities. At Michigan City, where the Whigs had always given a large majority, and where the Whig ma- jority for governor in 1846 was twenty-three, the Democratic or removal candidates had a ma- jority of over one hundred and fifty votes ; while the Whig candidates received in that town, the one sixteen and the other but eight votes. This shows how strong the tide ran, and that the re- moval of the county seat was the question upon which the election of 1847 turned.

The question again came to the front in the early nineties, when the subject was being agitated of building the present court house, though it did not assume definite form but spent itself in more or less discussion. But it was sufficient to show that between the two towns, at that time cities, the same rivalry existed that manifested itself when the county was or- ganized. And in 1895 it assumed the form of a contest concerning the establishment of a superior court at Michigan City. A bill was introduced into the legislature providing for the establish- ment of a superior court to have jurisdiction over the counties of LaPorte, Porter and Lake, and holding sessions in the cities of Michigan City, Valparaiso and Hammond. The proposed court was to have concurrent jurisdiction with the cir- cuit court except in actions involving title to real estate, probate of wills, settlement of estates of deceased persons and guardianships. The bill declared an emergency and provided for the ap-

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

pointment by the governor of a judge to serve until the next regular election.

Even the knowledge that such a bill was to be introduced, created great excitement in La- Porte. On Tuesday afternoon, January 29, 1895, a non-partisan meeting was held in the rooms of the business men's club, and resolutions were passed against the bill. It was voted that copies of these resolutions be sent to the representative, to the senator, and to the joint representative. A committee of three was appointed to go to Indianapolis and fight the bill, these three to choose six others to accompany them. The com- mittee of three were Hon. E. H. Scott, William A. Banks, and Hon. John C. Richter. The six others were Mayor F. R. Carson, W. A. Martin, O. G. Fox, Amos Sarber, E. F. Michael, and John W. Ludlow. Meantime the wires were kept hot between the state capital and LaPorte.

The friends of the bill claimed that another court was necessary to take care of the cases, that it would lessen the expense and inconven- ience of bringing witnesses from Michigan City to LaPorte, etc., etc. On the other hand the enemies of the bill declared that another court was not needed as litigation was lessening rather than increasing, that it would increase rather than diminish expenses, that it would occasion con- fusion in the legal business of the county, and that its purpose was to make places for disappointed office-seekers.

The original bill was passed by the house on February 26, 1895, by a majority of twenty-nine. Fifty-eight voted for it and twenty-nine against it. The senate passed it by a majority of thirty- nine, Senator Haller being the only one who voted against it. Governor Matthews vetoed the bill. and sent it back to the house with a message saying that he regarded it as a dangerous piece of legislation, that it might mean a new court house, a new jail, etc., and that so far as incon- venience was concerned going to law involved in- convenience in any event. Nevertheless the house passed the bill over the governor's veto by a vote of 53 to 21. It was taken immediately to the senate, where it was passed by a vote of 33 to 9. Governor Matthews appointed John E. Cass of Porter county judge of the superior court, who served until 1896, when H. B. Tuthill was elected,

who succeeded himself at the election in 1900, and who, on March 26, 1904, was renominated. At a subsequent session of the legislature the above act was amended so as to give the superior court concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court in all actions. And so Michigan City as well as LaPorte has its court, which as yet is held in apartments rented for the purpose. Such in brief is the history of the rivalry between the two cities for the possession of the seat of justice.

In this connection an interesting question pre- sents itself ; though, as the writer is not a lawyer, and as he has not probed the matter to the bottom, he would present it with becoming modesty. The legislative act approved January 9, 1832, incor- porating LaPorte county, and naming the five commissioners from different counties to fix the seat of justice, specified the time when and the place where they should meet. The act says, "The commissioners aforesaid shall meet on the second Monday in May next, at the house of David Pagin, in said county of LaPorte, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties as- signed them by law." But the writer has not been able to find any evidence that they did so. There may be evidence that they did not do so. The act further says, "And it shall be the duty of the sheriff of Carroll county to notify said com- missioners, either in person or by writing, of their appointment, on or before the first day of April next. And for such services he shall receive such compensation as the board doing county business in said county of LaPorte may, when organized, deem just and reasonable, to be al- lowed and paid as other county claims." At their session in January, 1833, the county com- missioners "ordered that Nathaniel Wilson, sher- iff of Carroll county, be allowed the sum of $15 for summoning five county commissioners to lo- cate the county seat as the law directs." This does not look as though the locating commis- sioners met in May preceding, and there is other evidence in the same direction.

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 9

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