USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > A history of Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana : a complete and concise account from the earliest times to the present, embracing reminiscences of the pioneers and biographical sketches of the men who have been leaders in commercial and other enterprises > Part 10
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
99
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
sumed in the building of a wagon bed, and the blacksmith actually made his own horse-shoe nails.
Calico ran up as high as 30 cents a yard and the production of the family loom was therefore the principal article worn. A woman in those days felt as proud to be the happy possessor of a new calico dress, as she would to-day in a handsomely trimmed rich silk gown. And the typical mother of the land looked forward with high expecta- tions to the day when she could see the last weave of "lindsey woolsey" taken off the great loom, that had become an heirloom of the family. Out of this cloth the winter dresses for all the female members of the family were to be made.
The arrival of the boat with the merchants' consignment of calico concerned only the town folks, and this was about the extent of the distinction between the dresses of the town women and the country women.
PEDDLING WAGONS.
Louisville and Vincennes were great markets, furnishing supplies for this entire section, and with canal and river transportation, the farmers, as well as the town people, made regular trips to those places to get their tea, coffee, sugar, clothing, etc. In later years the farmers in this section hauled their bacon, wheat, corn, etc., to Vincennes and Louisville, where they sold them or lett them in exchange for these articles. In former years they had been compelled to pay cash for everything needed in the family, which they could not themselves produce. Out of this overland system of transportation in wagons sprang up a regular peddling business, and enterprising merchants and traders of the east started peddling wagons all through this sec- tion. These wagons contained all sorts of supplies that were sold to the farmers for cash or traded for eggs, chickens, turkeys, feathers, butter, and even bacon. In fact these peddlers would take anything that they conld dispose of in the eastern markets in exchange for their goods. The pack-peddlers also followed the country roads and were merchants in their small way. In the early history of the settlements of this section, the pack-peddlers were mostly Irishmen and Scotch- men-now they are Polish Jews, Italians and Grecians.
The tramp artisan was also a means of transportation, but he only carried small supplies, with which repairs of tinware, etc., were made. Pack-horses and donkies were not infrequently seen on the highway,
100
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
ridden or led by dirty, begrimed individuals, men who had the ap- pearance of being anything but honest men.
Evansville had its own peddlers who used to run over the country and pick up produce, chickens, butter, eggs, coon skins and hides. These peddlers had small stores or places in which to keep these arti- eles in the town, and would either sell them to merchants there, ship them down to New Orleans, or haul them overland to Vincennes, Terre Haute or Louisville-the last named place was considered the best market. Among those early peddlers were such men as the late Asa Bement, Reuben Hart, Willard Carpenter, and many others, who afterwards became distinguished citizens and prosperous mer- chants. The peddling business was in those days one of the principal industries in this seetion and a large number followed it. The idea finally dawned upon the farmers, however, that they could do away with this middle man, the peddler, and they began to take these things to the markets themselves.
THE CANAL
When, in 1824, Congress made a donation of publie lands to the state of Indiana for the purpose of building the Wabash and Erie canal from the Wabash to the Maumee, the people of this section began to see the dawn of a new era in the means and facilities of transportation.
But it seemed,'as time wore on, that their fondest hopes in this direc- tion would never be realized. Congress was soon heard from again, and as the donation was not considered sufficient, that body, on the 2d of March, 1827, made another grant, consisting of each alternate sec- tion of the public lands within five miles of the proposed line of the canal, upon condition that the work should be commenced within five and completed within twenty years. This grant was accepted by the state. The route was surveyed and the canal located. The lands granted were surveyed and claimed. The route of this canal was as follows :
It commenced on the Wabash, near Lafayette, and continued along the bank of that river np to the mouth of Little river; thence up the Little river to the month of the Abaite river ; thence across that stream and up another branch of the Little river to its source ; thence across the summit, seven miles, to the junction of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, at Fort Wayne. The water needed on the summit level was supplied by a feeder, fourteen miles long, from St. Joseph's.
101
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
From Fort Wayne the canal descended along the Maumee to the town of Manmee, at the lower end of the rapids of that river. The Miami Canal in Ohio was then continued to the Maumee to intersect the Wabash and Erie canal near Fort Defiance on the Manmee, about fifty miles above the rapids.
The expense of making that part of the canal within the limits of Indiana, including locks and feeders, was estimated by the United States engineer at $1,081,970 for 127 miles, or $9,000 per mile. This, however, proved to be a low estimate. The amount of land granted by congress for the purpose of building the canal was 355,200 acres ; of these 264,000 acres were set apart by the state, and 41,000 acres were sold for $71,000. The public lands granted to this state for that purpose was at that time valued at $756,750. The remainder of the sum needed to construct this grand medium of transportation was raised by loans secured by lands.
THE ENABLING ACT.
April 19th, 1816, congress passed what was called the "enabling act," organizing the state of Indiana out of what was known as the Indiana territory. This act provided that five per cent of the net pro- ceeds of the lands lying within said territory shall be reserved for mak- ing public roads and canals, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the said state under the direction of the legislature.
The Constitutional Convention of Indiana of 1816, accepted this condition, and preparations were made to begin the work of internal improvement, in anticipation of the receipts that would accrue to the three per cent fund; $100,000 was appropriated in 1821 by the legisla- ture, of the so-called three per cent fund for the construction of state roads named in the appropriation act; simultaneously the office of "Agent of the three per cent fund" was created, and various com- missioners appointed to supervise the books. * (See laws 1822, p-152.) An appropriation was made by the legislature out of this fund in 1824, for the improvement of the navigation of the Wabash river. (Special acts, 1824, p-82.)
The construction of the Wabash and Miami (afterward called the Wabash and Erie canal), was authorized in 1828. (See laws 1828, p -* 10). There was further enabling legislation passed in 1829 respecting the duties of the agent of the three per cent fund and state roads. (See laws 1829, p-98).
102
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
The New Albany and Vincennes turnpike road, which affords con- nection with improved facilities for wagon transportation between New Albany and Louisville and Vincennes, was incorporated in 1830. (See laws 1830, p-60), and the state treasurer was by said act author- ized to subscribe for 100 shares of stock in the name of the state of Indiana. In 1831 a board of commissioners was appointed for the construction of a portion of the Michigan road, which gave an outlet for produce, etc., to the north by way of Terre Haute. (See special acts 1836, p-119). A scheme was begun abont this time for the pur- pose of obtaining some further appropriations from the United States government by the anticipated division of the surplus revenue in the treasury. This was suggested by the public servants representing the state of Indiana in the halls of congress. The division was afterward made (1836) and various new acts were passed for the construction of canals, railroads and other public works; out of this movement grew the creation of the office of
CANAL COMMISSIONERS.
Finally in 1836 by aet 7, Jan. 27, (see law 1836, p-6), a vast and comprehensive scheme for internal improvements was formulated and the people of this section began to see the dawn of a new era in the improvement of their facilities for transportation. This last aet re- ferred to was known as the "Internal Improvement Act," and provided for the construction of the following public improvements; and author- ized an immediate survey of routes, and the furnishing by the engi- neer, of estimates, etc., viz: White Water canal and a connection with Central canal, by canal, if possible, otherwise by railroad; the construction of "Central canal;" an extension of the Wabash and Erie canal from the mouth of the Tippecanoe river to Terre Haute, and from there forming a connection with the Central canal; a railroad from Madison, by way of Indianapolis to Lafayette, (which was after- ward built); a macadamized turnpike from New Albany to Vincennes; a railroad from Jeffersonville, by way of New Albany and Salem to Crawfordsville, if considered practicable; if not, the same route to be traversed by a macadamized road. (The railroad was afterward built). The removal of obstructions to navigation in the Wabash river, be- tween its mouth and Vincennes, was also provided for in this act; also the construction of the Erie and Michigan canal or railroad.
Our publie-spirited Hoosiers were desirous of seeing these improve- ments brought to a finish, and the board was authorized to contract at
103
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
once for the construction of that part of the Wabash and Erie canal lying between the Tippecanoe river and the Ohio state line. Provision was simultaneously made for the issuing of state bonds to aid in the construction of the Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis railroad, (which was also completed).
BOARD OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.
This same act of the legislature contained a provision for the ap- pointment of six persons, who, with the three canal commissioners, previously appointed, should constitute the "Board of Internal Im- provement." This act also created "a fund for internal improve- ment," and entailed additional duties upon the canal fund commission- ers.
The board of canal commissioners was found to be too cumbersome and by an act of the legislature, passed February 9, 1837, amending the former act, the board of canal fund commissioners was reduced to one person. (See laws 1837, p. 66.)
Surveys were now ordered for the purpose of extending the "Erie and Michigan" canal and constructing the "East Fork Canal." (See laws 1837, pp. 73 and 74.)
In 1837 (see acts February 8, 1837, p. 3), a further step in the di- rection of economy and efficiency was taken, by the reduction of the "Board of Internal Improvements" to three members Disappoint- ment followed disappointment, and the system of internal improve- ments was really a sinecure for a lot of politicians. Its usefulness was . ended; and by act of January 28, 1842, (see laws 1842, p. 3, sec. 65) the "Board of Internal Improvements" and the office of "Fund Com- missioners" and "Chief Engineer" were abolished.
This repealing act, however, provided for the continuance of the construction of several of the public works already begun by private corporations, and also provided for a commissioner to take charge of the Wabash and Erie canal east of Lafayette. (Provisions had previ- ously been made for the completion of the canal west of Lafayette, and the Erie and Michigan canal.
This vast system of transportation overland, by means of macadam- ized roads, canals, railroads, and the clearing of navigable streams, threw the state heavily in debt. In order to settle with its creditors who held its bonds, issued on account of these public improvements, and to complete the Wabash and Erie canal to Evansville, the acts of
104
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
January 19, 1846 (laws 1846, p. 3,) and January 27, 1847, (laws 1847, p. 3,) were passed. The first of these acts, (known as the Butler bill, offered by Brown Butler, of Evansville) provided for the funded debt of the state and for a "board of trustees of the Wabash and Erie canal," and for its completion to Evansville.
The citizens of the little town of Evansville, as it then was, had watched with much concern the progress of the system of canals, etc., going on in the upper portion of the state, and had almost given up all hope of any connection with it, but they began at this time to have renewed courage.
The position of Charles Butler, Esq., who represented the bond- holders, will be found in the "Documentary Journal of the Indiana legislature of the 30th session (1845-6)." Upon this proposition the so-called Brown Butler bill was passed.
THE REMAINDER OF THE THREE PER CENT FUND.
Miraculous as it may appear, after all the expense and loss of money at the various stages of the foregoing public improvements, there still remained a surplus of "three per cent fund," which, by the act of May 20, 1852, (I. R. S. 1852, p-304), was turned over to the state treasurer. What remained of this fund was ordered to be distributed to the counties, by act of April 8, 1881, (law 1881, p-700).
A CANAL AT LAST.
A graveyard was removed from the tract of land where now our . magnificent new court house stands. A large basin was excavated and in this basin the work of building canal boats was begun. The canal had been surveyed and was to pass through this square. A stock company of enterprising business men of Evansville was formed for the purpose of building canal boats, and experienced workmen were brought here from the east to build the boats. The capital stock of the company was limited to $1,500, and thirty shares of stock were sold at $50 a share. The first boat built by the company, of which the author was a member, was named the "Rowley" in honor of our efficient superintendent of construction. The second boat built was called the "Evansville."
The reader can easily imagine with what anxiety and solicitude we awaited the coming down of the water that was to float these boats in
105
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
the canal. The arrival of the first water will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. All the people came rushing to the scene at the first signal, and they made it a day of great rejoicing.
As the water swelled in the channel and gradually lifted our little canal boats in the basin, the breasts of the people were filled with cmo- tion and the vast multitude gave way to their feelings by sending up cheer after cheer.
The first run of our boats was made as far as White river. The launching of the first boat and when she started with the team of mules at the end of the rope, was another incident of surpassing inter- est. The first man in the community to mount a mule and start off with a tow was Mace Newman. There was considerable contention as to who was to take the first tow out of town, and Macc Newman, al- ways on hand and well up in the front where there was any excite- ment or public demonstration, settled the question by usurping the honor. It was the proudest moment of his life and he doubtless felt himself as great an individual as President Garfield, who was then a boy, riding a mule on the towpath of the same canal in the state of Ohio, that connected with the Wabash and Erie.
Among the members of the canal boat stock company were John Hewson, who was afterward the third mayor of the city, and Nathan Rowley, Robert Barnes, Stephen Hopkins, John Mitchell, John Doug- las, A.B. Carpenter, Thomas Scantlin, John M. Lockwood, (now a bank- er in Mt. Vernon, Ind.) Marcus Sherwood and your humble servant.
The first trip up the canal was an eventful one. We took no freight of course, our whole tow consisting of our guests. It was a day of re- joicing, and was celebrated by everyone. The people took their guns ยท and fishing tackle with them and made a regular picnic excursion of the trip. It is needless to say we brought back deer, turkey and all sorts of game, as it was plentiful in this section in those days.
The story of the Wabash and Erie canal only deserves perpetuat- ing for the sake of writing history as it was made by the enterprising men of this community, and of illustrating the determination of the early settlers to improve their condition through increased and ad- vanced means of transportation. As a matter of fact, none of the men who were active in pushing this great enterprise to completion could to-day say that they were proud of their work, save in a sense of public spirit. Of course they were prond of it in the days of its con- struction and operation, but they were prouder of the day when the canal bed was filled up. 8
106
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
THE CANAL A FAILURE.
The canal did not prove a profitable investment nor a successful means of transportation. Paralleling the Wabash, and, we may say the Ohio river, in its course, as navigation on those two rivers was improved and steamboating business built up, there was no hope for the canal. And to add to this dilemma, railroad syndicates were already sending out advance corps of surveying companies that began staking off projected lines of railroads, and blazing the trees through the forests. But at that time the smartest and farthest-seeing of the early settlers little dreamed that one of these embryo railroads would at some future day occupy the very bed of their pet scheme, the Wabash and Erie canal. But it did, and that is the present Straight Line road.
The canal property, in none of its branches, ever paid the projectors a cent. In fact it proved a most disastrous enterprise to many, and became an object of speculation. Schemes sprang up everywhere and as the bonds that had been issued had a national reputation there was a constant struggle to get possession of them as well as of the canal lands themselves later along for a merely nominal price. But it was in the end a very unprofitable business for all of the landowners. Public property sharks were in those days even more numerous than they are now; and they promoted a regular "Credit Mobilier" combi- nation of schemes on a smaller scale.
These schemes were practiced in the dark and attempts in some in- stances were made clandestinely to obtain legal titles to the canal prop- erty by colluding with public, state and federal officers and advertising public sales of these properties in the eastern newspapers, and then on the day of sale buying them in. These spurious public sales gave the purchasers a color of title that threw the residents of this section on the defensive and opened legal fights along the line of the canal after it had been abandoned, covering a period of more than twenty years.
TITLE IN FEE SIMPLE.
Many of the early settlers in this section, and also here in Evans- ville itself, acquired a title to these canal lands by right of easement or, as it is called, adverse possession for a period of twenty years or longer. Suits to get possession and to quiet title followed, some of
107
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
which were remarkable legal battles and engaged the brightest legal talent in the country.
One of the first of these suits was filed by John Shanklin against the city of Evansville, in the October term of the Vanderburgh circuit court on the 7th day of November, 1871. The complaint in this suit sets forth "that on the 18th day of October, 1837, he (John Shanklin) was the owner in full of all that real estate embraced within the limits of the eastern enlargement of said city of Evansville." He gave a part of this enlargement to the use of the public as the bed of the Wabash and Erie canal and other canals connecting therewith.
The canal extended from Eighth to Second streets along what is now known as the Boulevard or Canal street. It passed down Fifth street to the basin, thence through Lamasco and finally boiled over into Pigeon creek, where an overshort wheel was built for a mill.
Water remained in the canal from 1838 till the year 1859, "when the same ceased to be used as a canal and was wholly abandoned for that purpose," the complaint of Mr. Shanklin says, "and therefore the defendant (the city of Evansville) without law, forcibly, and without right entered on said premises, (the canal bed) and caused the same to be filled up with drift and other material, in which condition it re- mains to this day. By reason of the aforesaid facts, the plaintiff says that said real estate set apart for said canal reverts to him, and asks that his title may be quieted and the defendant (the city of Evans- ville) be perpetually enjoined from setting up any claim thereto."
The city answered the complaint of Mr. Shanklin, admitting his or- iginal ownership but claiming that the city became the owner of the canal bed and filled it up at her own expense, graded and established it as a street and used it as a street, etc.
The plaintiff was represented by Judge Azro Dyer, and by his son, George Shanklin, as attorneys, and the city was represented by Judge Asa Iglehart & Son.
Judge D. L. Laird, before whom the case was tried, found the fol- lowing decree, to-wit:
First, that prior to the 16th day of October, 1837, the plaintiff was the owner of the tract of land in controversy; second, that on that day plaintiff, with Robert M. Evans and other adjoining proprietors, laid off by proper metes and bounds the eastern enlargement of the city of Evansville, which included the tract of land claimed by the plaintiff in this suit, in town lots and streets and alleys, and platted and recorded the same, etc. That since recording said plat, etc., the plaintiff has sold one-half of said lots so platted and still owns the
108
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
other half; third, that the plat of land in controversy, known as Canal street, was soon after it was platted and recorded, with the consent of the defendant used and occupied by the Wabash and Erie canal, as the sonthern terminus of said canal in Evansville. That the canal was abandoned, and about the year 1854, the defendant (the city of Ev- ansville) commenced filling up the same, and continued from year to year thereafter filling until it was completed from Second street to Eighth street, about the time or shortly before the commencement of this suit (Nov. 7, 1871), and that a number of the purchasers of said lots on said Canal street have crected buildings, including a valuable public school house fronting on said Canal street, and this said Canal street has, since the defendant commenced filling up the same, been kept open and improved by the defendant as a public street, and been nsed and treated by the public as such ; and I find as a conclusion of law upon the facts above found, that there was a dedication by the plaintiff to the public of the real estate in the plaintiff's complaint mentioned as a public street and that the defendant is entitled to the possession of the same to be kept open, improved and maintained as a public street. I find for the defendant.
The case was at once appealed to the supreme court of the state, and the decision of Judge Laird was sustained.
MORE LITIGATION.
The building of the new county court-house precipitated another suit to settle the question of title. This was the famous case of Collett vs. the board of commissioners of Vanderburgh county. It is reported in 119 Indiana supreme court reports, page 27. In rendering his de- cision in this case, Justice Mitchell says :
"This is an appeal from a judgment rendered against Josephus Col- lett, in an action of ejectment brought by him against the board of commissioners of Vanderburgh county. The real estate in controver- sy consists of four lots in the city of Evansville, upon which the board of commissioners were proceeding to erect a court-house, and comprises what was formerly the property acquired by the state, upon which to locate and construct a canal. Prior to 1847, under various acts of the legislature, the state engaged in the construction and operation to some extent of a water way, called the Wabash and Erie canal ; the design of which was to connect the waters of Lake Erie, at Toledo, Ohio, with those of the Ohio river at Evansville, Indiana. After the
109
HISTORY OF VANDERBURGH COUNTY, IND.
project had been carried to practical completion by the state, for reasons that need not be repeated here, provision was made by an act of the general assembly, approved January 19, 1846, for the organization of a corporation known as ' The Board of Trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal,' to which corporation the governor on the 31st day of July, 1847, pursuant to authority, conferred by the above mentioned act, conveyed all the right, title, and interest of the state in and to the canal and all its appurtenances."
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.