USA > Indiana > A history of Indiana from its exploration to 1850 > Part 20
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December 18, 1818, McCoy set off from his mission home on a tour of inspection. His journey led him across the State to Fort Wayne. In the neighborhood of the future cities of Crawfordsville and Thorntown the Indian huts were all abandoned, the Indians being gone on their hunt- ing trip. However, he found four French traders on that part of his journey. At the Delaware towns in Hamilton county he found a trader named Connor.
Bending his course to the southeast, McCoy struck the Quaker Settlements in Wayne county. On the 15th, he reached the Indian Agency at Fort Wayne, kept by John Johnson. Mr. McCoy returned through the Delaware coun- try, visiting Captain Anderson at Andersontown. The cap- tain lived in some style. He had fifteen squaws hauling wood for him. They procured the wood at a distance of half a mile, tied it with thongs in large bundles, bound it on their backs and carried it to the chief's hut. At the close of the day's work the old squaws were courteously thanked and given a good feed. Most of the Delawares at this time lived in log huts, had cleared land, and had
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
planted some fruit trees. They were making progress, but the "New Purchase" treaty had just been consummated and all were preparing to leave for the west, broken- hearted.
The prevailing tone of McCoy's picture of these sav- ages is one of unmitigated squalor and debauchery that prevailed everywhere on account of the too frequent use of liquor by the unfortunate tribesmen. On one occasion a squaw was observed in a swamp digging roots for her chil- dren's breakfast. The weather was almost freezing cold, but she stood barefoot in the mud and water half knee deep. Strapped on her back, she carried a papoose not more than a few months old. On another occasion they came upon a squaw burying her young babe. The ground was frozen and she had cut a deep notch with a hatchet in a fallen tree. In this hole she placed the babe and laid some large pieces of wood over the top to keep the wild animals away.
In 1820 the McCoys moved their mission to Fort Wayne. The goods and ten or twelve Indian children were placed in a small boat at Fort Harrison and poled up the Wabash, while the McCoys, husband, wife and their own children, together with fifteen head of cattle, forty-three hogs, two hired men and a guide, set out by a bridle path. It rained almost every day. The party slept on the bare ground, fortunate if they could find enough dry ground on which to sleep. The Indians along the route were drunk, as usual, having just returned from their winter's hunt. At the crossing of the Mississinewa the Indians were especially troublesome. One drunken wretch made an effort to mur- der McCoy. Another enjoyed himself by throwing a half rotten dog on Mrs. McCoy and the children. The trip was made, however, without mishap. A prosperous mission was built up. Later, October, 1822, the McCoys moved the mission to Niles, Michigan, and when the Indians were transported beyond the Mississippi the McCoys went along.16
16 History of the Baptist Indian Missions, Isaac McCoy, Washing-
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§ 44 THE FIRST STATE BANK AND THE OHIO FALLS CANALS
THERE was very little money, either specie or paper, in Indiana before the State was admitted into the Union in 1816. The period just preceding 1816 was the worst in our history for "wildcat" banks. The charter of the First United States Bank expired in 1811, and the Second was not chartered until 1816, and during that time the "wild- cat" banks flourished.
A "wildcat" bank was a very simple affair. In order to start a bank, the banker had only to have a supply of notes engraved and then open his bank in some convenient place. These banks, as a rule, received no deposits. They were open one day in the week or preferably two half days. The banker used every means to get his notes in cir- culation, frequently selling or loaning them at half their face value. If business prospered he would remain and redeem his notes; if not, he packed his grip with the re- maining notes and sought a more favorable field. Banks like this were established in territorial times at Brook- ville, Lexington and New Harmony.
There was a demand, however, for more substantial banks; and in answer to this the territorial legislature, sit- ting in Corydon in 1814, chartered two banks. One of them was to be located at Vincennes and the other at Madison. The officers of the land office at Vincennes were behind the former, and John Paul, founder of Madison and a hero of the George Rogers Clark campaign, was behind the latter. The charters, which were identical, were to run twenty years, and it was provided that all notes issued should be paid in hard money. The capital stock of the Madison bank was to be $750,000; that of Vincennes, at first $750,000, was later raised to $1,500,000. The Madison Bank, called the Farmers and Mechanics', was promptly organized by
ton 1840; Indiana Magazine of History, March, 1914; American State Papers, Indian Affairs, II, 277; Vincennes Sun, September 1, 1821.
The Moravian missionaries had established a station at Anderson- town on White river and were attempting to teach the arts of peaceful life to the Indians. See J. P. Dunn, in Indiana Magazine of History, IX, 73; also Dawson, Life of Harrison, II. This station lasted from 1801 to 1806.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
John Paul, John Ritchie, Christopher Harrison, Henry Ris- tine, N. Hurst and D. Blakmore. This bank proceeded to make itself useful at once by redeeming the shin-plasters issued by the local merchants. It was the custom of the merchants to keep on hand a large amount of paper money, printed by themselves, in denominations of 61/4, 121/2, 25, and 50 cents. There being no coin in circulation, the store- keepers handed this out in change. This the bank re- deemed in the currency of the Commonwealth Bank of Ken- tucky, when presented in amounts of one dollar or more.
The notes of the Madison Bank were received at the land office at Brookville in payment for land until the Second United States Bank began its war on all private banks. During this time the Madison Bank held the enviable repu- tation of having furnished land office money to the settlers in exchange for other money not receivable at the land of- fice without any cost to the settlers.
At the same time the receiver at the land office kept his money on deposit with the bank. The Madison Bank dis- charged all its obligations punctually, but when Langdon Cheeves became president of the Second United States Bank he refused to have any dealings with local banks in Tennes- see, Indiana or Illinois. A reason for this action may be that the States named had refused to allow branches of the United States Bank established in them. The order of Mr. Cheeves broke practically every bank in the States named. The Farmers and Mechanics' paid all its obligations, grad- ually retired all its currency, and was honorably closed by John Lanier and Milton Stapp.
The Vincennes Bank was not so successful. Its charter was confirmed by the State constitution and it was adopted as a State Bank with branches. The intention of the in- corporators was to acquire a complete monopoly of the banking business of the State. A glance at the location of the branches will show that the business was well planned.
The first branch was to be organized at Centerville; the second at Brookville; the third at Lawrenceburg; the fourth at Vevay; the fifth at Madison; the sixth at Jeffersonville; the seventh at Brownstown; the eighth at Paoli; the ninth
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THE GOVERNMENT AT CORYDON
at Salem; the tenth at Corydon; the eleventh at Troy; the twelfth at Darlington; the thirteenth at some point in Posey county ; the fourteenth at some point in Gibson coun- "ty, and the parent bank was to be at Vincennes.
Each branch was to serve three counties, and the stock was reserved for inhabitants of these counties except that the State reserved the right to subscribe for $375,000 worth. This was too much. There were only about 75,000 persons in the State. It would have required a subscription of about $30 per capita to organize the banks provided for by these laws. There was no money in the country and it was soon ascertained that all the branches could not be or- ganized. Three branches were finally opened-at Brook- ville, Vevay and Corydon.
These banks might have served a useful purpose, but before they got fairly on their feet they were caught in the hard times of 1818 and 1819 and ruined. The parent bank had backed a large industrial company at Vincennes. When this establishment was destroyed by fire, the bank lost $91,000. A large part of the business of the bank was to furnish money for the buyers of public lands. Under the ruling of Cheeves the bank notes were no longer receivable at the land office. The bank failed with $168,453 of United States money on deposit. This was later made good by the stockholders.
By a law the State taxes were receivable in the notes of the bank. The State had borrowed $20,000 from the bank for which the bank held State bonds. These bonds had been turned over to the United States treasury as part payment on that debt. The State treasurer, Lane, at the direction of Governor Jennings, took $20,000 of the bank's own notes and proceeded over to Vincennes to redeem the State bonds. The cashier refused to receive the notes, but did not tell Mr. Lane that the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States held the State bonds. This fact, how- ever, was soon learned, and a spirited correspondence be- tween the governor and the secretary resulted. The mat-
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
ter was amicably settled by Senator James Noble, who took the matter in charge.17
The story of the Ohio Falls Canal takes us back into the territorial days of Indiana.18 The portage at Louisville had been a bugbear to navigation since the first settlements along the upper Ohio. The greatest demand for a canal came from Cincinnati, and the legislature of Ohio manifest- ed more concern in its building than that of either Indiana or Kentucky. The earliest attempt by Indiana people was about 1805, when a company, composed largely of Clark county citizens, subscribed $120,000. Rivermen seemed willing to pay a large toll rather than unload their boats or risk running the falls.
One of the first acts signed by Jonathan Jennings, the first governor of Indiana, was an act to incorporate "The Ohio Canal Company." The incorporation name was John Bigelow & Company, capital stock 20,000 shares of $50 each, or a total of $1,000,000. Much of the capital was ex- pected from Madison and Cincinnati. The directors in- cluded some of the most prominent early settlers of Clark county. The long law of twenty-three sections shows much careful thought and argues that its framers expected soon to see the work done. The power of eminent domain was conferred, both for right of way and for building material. The company might double its capital if necessary. Its books were to be opened to the inspection of the General Assembly or of its agents. The canal was to become the property of the State in 1858. No tax was required of the corporation until its canal was complete. The canal was to be cut on the Indiana side. The act is an evidence of the aspirations of the two young Hoosier cities.
The charter of 1816, however, not being liberal enough in its provisions to suit foreigners, the money for the canal was not forthcoming. Governor Jennings, in his message December 2, 1818, recommended that something be done to
17 Logan Esarey, State Banking in Early Indiana; also Waldo Mit- chell, Growth of Indiana, 1812-1820, in Indiana Magazine of History, December, 1914.
18 History of Ohio Falls Cities. I, 53.
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secure the canal at New Albany.19 Accordingly a second company was chartered, January 18, 1818, and the old charter canceled. The main provisions of the old charter were retained.20 The directors were given power to fix the tolls without legal restraint. They were further empow- ered to receive subscriptions from any source, especially the United States government. They were given the privi- lege of raising $100,000 by lottery; one-half the amount to be invested in stock for the State, the other half in stock for the company. Work was to begin in two years, and be completed in 1824. The charter was to expire by limitation in 1899. Work began in 1819. The course, two and one- half miles long, was laid down from the ravine at the mouth of Cone creek to the eddy at the foot of the rapids. Bige- low and Beach, the local bankers, were the chief promoters. They were using Cincinnati capital. Cone creek was dammed and a new channel cut for it along the canal route. Clark county clay was found rather too stubborn and the plan failed.
In their zeal the projectors overlooked two very impor- tant considerations-neither the labor nor the capital could be had in the vicinity at the time, and the amount of com- merce was not sufficient to attract outside capital. There was a further reason. The legislature of Kentucky in 1825 chartered a company, backed by Philadelphia capital, to build a canal on the Kentucky side.21 The United States subscribed $290,200 to the enterprise. The contract called for completion October, 1827, but it was not entirely com- pleted till 1831.
§ 45 MOVING THE CAPITAL TO INDIANAPOLIS
IN the enabling act the national government gave the new State four sections of land as a site for a permanent capital. The site could not be located so long as the whole
19 House Journal, 1817, 8.
20 Laws of Indiana, 1817.
21 Western Sun, January 14, 1827. For a complete account of the canal see Logan Esarey, Internal Improvements in Early Indiana, 65 seg.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
central part of the State was claimed by Indians. A treaty was accordingly made with the Indians in 1818, by which the heart of the State was opened up for settlement.
Governor Jennings in his message of 1819, called the attention of the General Assembly to "The New Purchase," and advised that body that it was time to appoint a com- mission to select a site for a State capital. The House of Representatives at once took up the matter. By an act signed January 11, 1820, a commission of ten men was chosen.22
March 22, Governor Jennings summoned these commis- sioners to meet at the house of William Connor on the west fork of White river. The time set for the meeting was Monday, May 22. The commissioners met according to notice and spent the time till June 7 examining White river and the adjacent country. On the latter date they met at the mouth of Fall creek and decided on the location of the capital. All the members signed this petition except Wil- liam Prince.
The report was duly received by Governor Jennings, who transmitted it to the General Assembly. The legisla- ture ratified the selection, and on the same day-January 6 -appointed another commission to lay off the town. The latter commission consisted of Christopher Harrison, James Jones, and Samuel Booker. The first-named was the only active member.
Alexander Ralston and Elias Fordham did the survey- ing. The town was soon laid off with the "circle" as the center. The wide streets and radiating avenues are due to the planning of these eastern men, who had seen a plat of the national capital. Gen. John Carr was agent for the new town and conducted the first land sale, beginning Oc- tober 28, 1821, and lasting one week. About 300 lots were sold for about $35,000.
22 These men were George Hunt of Wayne county, John Connor of Fayette, Stephen Ludlow of Dearborn, John Gilliland of Switzerland, Joseph Bartholomew of Clark, John Tipton of Harrison, Jesse B. Dur- ham of Jackson, Fred Rapp of Posey, William Prince of Gibson, and Thomas Emison of Knox. Their official report is in the office of the secretary of state at Indianapolis.
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The same act that appointed the commission to lay off the town also provided a name for it. Nothing came up during that session of the General Assembly that provoked . such acrimonious debate and such merriment as naming the new capital. A strong effort was made to name the new town Tecumseh. Some of the old Indian fighters, as Marston Clark of Salem, urged that name. The name "In- dianapolis" is said to have been suggested by Jeremiah Sul- livan of Madison, and accepted as a compromise.
§ 46 SETTLEMENT OF THE NEW PURCHASE
THE period from 1816 to 1825 was one of unprecedented immigration to Indiana. The settlers crowded up the south-flowing streams beyond the center of the State. At the close of the period the number of counties had increased to fifty-two.23 Almost all the territory south of the Wa- bash had been organized and the line of settlement was well to the north of the present line of the National Road. The latter had not yet been opened and practically all the set- tlers came by way of, or across the Ohio river.
James W. Jones, Robert M. Evans, and Hugh McGary advertised a sale of lots for Evansville, June 20 and 21, 1817.24 They claimed for it the best location on the north bank of the Ohio. Good mill-sites on Pigeon creek could be had, and the surrounding country was producing heavy crops of corn, wheat, hemp, and tobacco.
A week previous, John Allen had advertised a sale of lots for Washington, the county seat of the new county of Daviess. The agent pointed out the advantage of its loca- tion at the forks of White river on the main State road from Vincennes to the Falls. It adjoined Liverpool, a vil- lage that had been settled seven years, having been used as a fort in the last war, and had 300 population. The sale of lots was to commence June 9.25
During this same time, 1817, the pioneers had pushed on up the Wabash and founded the town of Terre Haute.
23 E. V. Shockley, in Indiana Magazine of History, March, 1914.
24 Western Sun, April 19, 1817.
25 Western Sun, April 12, 1817.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
The soldiers from Fort Harrison had praised the country highly. Lots to the value of $21,000 were sold in one day.26
During the next year, 1818, Joseph Taylor, Truman Blackman, and William Harris opened up a settlement ten miles above Fort Harrison. In the fall, September 1, they advertised a sale of lots in the town of Clinton.27
It was customary for these founders of cities to offer a public square free, and they usually stated that a lot would be given free to the first physician and to each of the first three or five carpenters who would put up houses.
The proximity of the Indians now retarded the advance somewhat, but by 1824 a great many settlers had pushed beyond Clinton. On Monday, June 7, John Collett opened a sale of lots for the town of Newport, situated two miles from the Wabash and on the south side of the Little Ver- million.
During these latter years many settlers had penetrated the upland vales of what is now Parke county. Rockville was selected as the county seat of the new county of Parke, and here Thomas Smith, the county agent, opened a sale of lots June 16, 1824.28
The picturesque hills and chasms of Pine creek had for many years been a favorite haunt of the Kickapoo Indians. Traders had resided in the vicinity for an unknown period. Among the first permanent settlers who located in the neigh- borhood were Daniel Stump and George Hollingsworth, who advertised a sale of lots for the newly-laid town of Attica just across the Wabash from the mouth of Pine creek, May 30, 1825. It is significant of the newness of the settle- ments in this region that the nearest grist mill, until in 1824, was at Terre Haute.29
During the period 1816-1825 many new towns were laid out on the Ohio. These were shipping ports for the set- tlers many miles in the interior. Goods were hauled in many cases to and from Madison, New Albany, Leaven-
26 Nile's Register, April 5, 1817; Western Sun, May 9, 1818.
27 Western Sun, May 16, 1818.
28 Western Sun, May 22, 1824.
29 Richmond Ledger, April 30, 1825.
THE GOVERNMENT AT CORYDON
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242
HISTORY OF INDIANA
worth, Troy, Rockport, and Evansville, a distance of fifty miles. It is noticeable that all the young towns last-named were on deep north bends of the river. Sprinklesburg Au- gust 6, Fredonia May 30, and Rockport June 30, were laid out on the river, in 1818, while farther back in Dubois county John Niblack had laid out a county seat called Por- tersville, on Driftwood, July 20.30
Meanwhile the hillside glades and shady vales of Wash- ington, Orange, Lawrence, and Monroe counties were at- tracting an ever increasing stream of settlers from the South by way of the Falls at Louisville. The heavy oak and beech furnished ample mast to fatten thousands of swine, while cattle and even horses lived almost through the winter on the wild pea vines of the glades. Here, also, it was claimed, they were safe from the ague and malaria that infested the level lands.
As soon as the War of 1812 was over the settlers be- gan to spread from their fortified home at Vallonia. Salem was laid out by Silas Wright in the spring of 1814, Orleans in the spring of 1816, Paoli by Jonathan Lindley in 1816, Palestine, first capital of Lawrence county, by Robert M. Carlton, in 1818,31 receiving $14,165 for 157 lots, at the same time letting a contract for the building of a "superb brick court house." Benjamin Parke, the county agent, sold the first lots of Bloomington, May 5, 1818.32 He added in his advertisement that Salt creek was navigable, that the town would be the county seat of Monroe county, the seat of the State University, and most likely the capital of the State.
These pioneers from the South pushed on to White river at Spencer and Gosport the next year. By 1820 the squat- ters had reached Greencastle, and by 1824 they had pene- trated the "Big Flat Woods" as far as Crawfordsville, where General Ambrose Whitlock and Williamson Dunn
30 These are all taken from advertisements in the Western Sun. Cf. Waldo Mitchell, "Growth of Indiana, 1812-1820," in Indiana Magazine of History, December, 1914.
31 Madison Indiana Republican, October 17, 1818.
32 Western Sun, May 16, 1818.
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THE GOVERNMENT AT CORYDON
had laid off the town of Crawfordsville on the bluffs of Sugar creek.
Another branch of this stream of immigrants followed Driftwood from Vallonia and Brownstown, founding the Haw Patch, Jonesville, and Flat Rock settlements in Bar- tholomew county before 1820. Lots were sold in Columbus early in 1821.
The settlements were reinforced by many pioneers who came across from the Whitewater country, following Whetzell's Trace to Johnson county or coming from the Falls by the old Indian Trail. This latter divided at Driftwood, one route leading to the mouth of the Kentucky, the other to the Falls of the Ohio. Along these trails came Jacob Whetzell and John Vawter, the earliest settlers of Johnson county, the former from Franklin county and the latter from Madison. The pioneers of Marion, Johnson, and Bartholomew reached the Ohio river by three routes. Those from the Whitewater traded to Cincinnati, those from Jef- ferson county to Madison or New Albany, and those from the lower settlements to Maukport by way of Brownstown, Salem, and Corydon. Ox teams were in general use for these long trips.33
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