USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 29
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II. ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
So far had the population of this region increased at the beginning of the year 1830, that the legislature, then in session, deemed it wise to provide for the organization of the two sister counties of the St. Joseph valley. This important act of legislation, which was approved by the governor and became a law January 29. 1830, reads as follows :a
"An Aet for the Formation of the Coun- ties of St. Joseph and Elkhart.
"Section 1. Be it enaeted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That from and after the first day of April next,
a. Acts 1829, pp. 28-31.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
all that tract of country, which is included within the following boundary, shall form and constitute a new county, to be known and designated by the name of the county of St. Joseph, to-wit: Beginning at [the west line of] range No. 2 west from the second principal meridian, of the state of Indiana, on the northern line of the state, thence running east, to where [the east line of] range No. 3 east, intersects the state line; thence south with the range line, thirty miles; thence west to range two west ; thence north to the place of beginning. "Sec. 2. The said new county of St. Joseph, shall. from and after the first day of April next, enjoy all the rights, priv- ileges and jurisdiction, which to separate and independent counties, do and may prop- erly belong and appertain.
"Sec. 3. That Thomas J. Evans and Gillis MeBane of Cass county, Daniel North of Randolph county, John Berry of Madison county, and John Ross of Fayette county, are hereby appointed commissioners, agreeable to the act, entitled 'an act for the fixing the seats of justice in all counties hereafter to be laid off. « The commissioners above named. shall convene at the house of Alexisb Coquillard, in the said county of St. Joseph, on the fourth Monday of May next, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of Cass county, to notify the said commissioners, either in person, or by written notification, of their appointment, on or before the first day of May next; and the said sheriff of Cass county. shall receive from the said county of St. Joseph, so much as the county board doing business for said county, shall deem just and reasonable; who are hereby author- ized to allow the same, out of any monies
a. The act referred to was approved January 14, 1824. See Ind. R. S. 1831, p. 459, and 1838, p. 505.
b. Written Alexander in the statute by mis- take.
in the county treasury, in the same manner as other monies are paid.
"Sec. 4. The circuit court of the county of St. Joseph shall be holden at the house of Alexis Coquillard, in said county of St. Joseph: Provided, however, that the cir- cuit court, shall have authority to remove the court from the house of Alexis Coquil- lard. to any other place in said county, pre- vious to the public buildings being com- pleted. should the said court deem it ex- pedient; after the completion of which, the court of the said county of St. Joseph, shall be holden at the court house at the county seat of said county of St. Joseph.
"Sec. 5. The agent who shall be ap- pointed to superintend the sales of lots, at the county seat of the county of St. Joseph, shall reserve ten per cent. out of the proceeds thereof, and pay the same over to such person or persons, as may be appointed by law to receive the same, for the use of a county library for said county of St. Joseph. which he shall pay over at such time or times, and place. as may be directed by law.
"Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the quali- fied voters of the county of St. Joseph, at the time of electing a clerk, recorder and asso- ciate judges, to elect three justices of the peace, who, when elected and qualified. shall have all the powers and perform all the duties, prescribed by law, as relates to boards of justices, in the several counties : and said board shall have power to hold special sessions and to do and perform any duties required at any previous regular session.
"Sec. 7. That all the territory lying west of said county, to the state line, be. and the same is hereby attached to the said county of St. Joseph. for civil and criminal juris- diction : and the citizens residing within the bounds so included, shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities, and be sub- ject to all the taxes. impositions and assess- ments. of the citizens of the county of St. Joseph.
159
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
"Sec. 8. That from and after the first day of April next, all that tract of country, which is included and within the following boundary, shall form and constitute a new county, to be known and designated by the name of the county of Elkhart, to-wit: Be- ginning at [the east line of] range three east [on the northern line of the state], thence running with the state line twenty- four miles east; thence south twenty miles; thence west twenty-four miles; thence north twenty-four [twenty] miles, to the place of beginning.
"Sec. 9. That the said new county of Elkhart, shall, from and after the first day of April next, enjoy all the rights, privileges and jurisdiction, which to separate and in- dependent counties, do, and may properly belong and appertain.
"Sec. 10. That William G. Ewing and Hugh Hanna of the county of Allen, Samuel Fleming and John Bishop of the county of Wayne, and Joseph Bennett of the county of Delaware, are hereby appointed commission- ers agreeable to the act, entitled 'an act for the fixing the seats of justice in all counties hereafter to be laid off.' The commissioners above named. shall convene at the house of Chester Sage, in the said county of Elkhart. on the fourth Monday in May next, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of Allen county, to notify the said commissioners, either in person, or by written notification, of their appointment, on or before the first day of May next: and the said sheriff of Allen county, shall receive from the said county of Elkhart, so much as the board doing county business shall deem just and reasonable ; who are hereby au- thorized to allow the same out of any monies in the county treasury, in the manner as other monies are paid.
. "See. 11. The circuit court of the county of Elkhart, shall be holden at the house of Chester Sage, in said county of Elkhart : Pro- vided, however, that the circuit court shall
have authority to remove the court from the house of Chester Sage, to any other place in said county, previous to the public buildings being completed, should the said court deem it expedient; after the completion of which, the court of the said county of Elkhart, shall be holden at the court house at the county seat of said county of Elkhart.
"Sec. 12. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sales of lots at the county seat of the county of Elkhart, shall reserve ten per cent. out of the proceeds thereof, and pay the same over to such person, or persons, as may be appointed by law to receive the same, for the use of a county library for said county of Elkhart; which he shall pay over at such time or times, and place, as may be directed by law.
"Sec. 13. It shall be the duty of the quali- fied voters of the county of Elkhart, at the time of electing a clerk, recorder and asso- ciate judges, to elect three justices of the peace, who, when elected and qualified, shall have all power, and perform all the duties, prescribed by law. as relates to boards of justices, in the several counties; and said board shall have power to hold special ses- sions, and to do and perform any duties re- quired at any previous regular session.
"Sec. 14. That all territory lying east of said county to the state line. be, and the same is hereby attached to the said county of Elk- hart, for civil and criminal jurisdiction : and the citizens residing within the bounds so in- cluded, shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities, and be subject to all the taxes, impositions and assessments, of the eiti- zens of the county of Elkhart.
"Sec. 15. The county of St. Joseph shall be attached to the first, and the county of Elkhart to the sixth judicial district of the state, for judicial purposes.
"This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage."
See. 1 .- ATTACHED TERRITORY .- From the foregoing aet it appears that St. Joseph and Elkhart were the only counties then organized
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
on the northern boundary of the state. All the territory to the west, including that of the present counties of La Porte, Porter and Lake, was attached to St. Joseph county ; and all to the east, including the territory of the present counties of La Grange and Steuben, was attached to Elkhart county. In addition, by section eight of an act for the formation of Grant county, approved February 10, 1831, all the unorganized territory then remaining west of the range line dividing ranges three and four east, was attached to St. Joseph county ; and that to the east of said line, to Elkhart county.ª This was done in accord- ance with the practice of the legislature to attach unorganized territory to counties al- ready organized.
The original county of the state was Knox, with its county seat at Vincennes, organized January 14, 1790. Northern Indiana re- mained within the jurisdiction of Knox county until January 10, 1818, "when this part of the state, extending to Lake Michigan, was embraced in Randolph county, of which Winchester was the county seat, up to the formation of Allen county, December 17, 1823.''b
From the formation of Allen county, in 1823, until that of St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, in 1830, all northern Indiana was attached to Allen county; even as by act of January 29, 1830, the territory now forming La Porte, Porter and Lake counties was at- tached to St. Joseph county. The territory attached in such cases was not in fact a part of the county to which it was joined; yet, for all practical purposes, it was so treated. And we shall see that St. Joseph county, both under our board of justices and under our board of commissioners, formed the attached territory west to the Illinois line into a dis- tinet township, and otherwise treated it as an integral part of the county.c
a. Special Acts 1830, pp. 16-18.
b. History of Fort Wayne, by Wallace A. Brice, p. 290. See also Indiana Legislative and State Manual, 1899, pp. 686-688.
c. See Subdivisions 4 and 5 of this chapter.
III. OUR FORM OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Sec. 1 .- THE VIRGINIA SYSTEM .- In our lo- cal government we are still Virginians. The first civilized authority exercised in this re- gion was that of France; afterwards the power of Great Britain prevailed; the do- minion of Spain flashed up for a moment and was gone. During the Revolution, chief- ly for the purpose of protecting her Kentucky frontiers, Virginia sent an expedition across the Ohio river under George Rogers Clark, and wrested the country from England. The old commonwealth then formed the territory northwest of the Ohio into one of her coun- ties, named it the county of Illinois, and, so far as suitable to the new conditions, trans- ferred her own form of local county govern- ment to this vast wilderness empire. The Virginians were the Romans of our early American history. They had a capacity for government on a large scale. The state was the center of the system, and the county was the unit of subordinate local government. The townships were merely convenient subdivi- sions created for the purpose of more easily administering the affairs of the county. Such a scheme is well adapted for the government of large territories, particularly when the same are sparsely populated. The authority passes from the state to the counties, and all the affairs of the citizen are administered through the county courts, county boards and other county officers, acting also, when con- venient to do so, through subordinate town- ship officers. That is our system of local gov- ernment. and we received it originally from the Old Dominion. After Virginia had ceded her great county of Illinois to the United States, the government established under the ordinance of 1787, was somewhat modified from the former, or Virginia. system, by a selection of many wise provisions from the laws of other states; but the prevailing char- acter of the machinery of government under the great ordinance remained Virginian.
Sec. 2 .- THE NEW ENGLAND SYSTEM .- The
161
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
New England system, as it is often called, proceeds, not from the state to the county and then to the individual, but from the in- dividual to the town, or other local communi- ty, and then to the state. In the Virginia form of local government the county is the unit, and the town, or township, is quite subordinate. In the New England system the town is the unit, and the county is but an aggregation of towns. St. Joseph county ad- joins Berrien county, Michigan, but our po- litical ancestry goes back to Virginia, while that of Berrien county goes back to New York and New England. The original set- tlers of Michigan came directly from the east and northeast; those of Indiana from the south and southeast. At our northern bound- ary the two systems meet. The authority of Berrien county is exercised through the board of supervisors of the several townships; that of St. Joseph county, through a county board elected by the people of the whole county. On the other side of the state line the town- ship is supreme, and the county is but an aggregation of townships; on this side of the line the county is supreme, and the town- ships are but its subordinate divisions. We are very close to Michigan; indeed, the north ten miles of St. Joseph county, as we have seen, was once a part of Michigan. But the forms of government are quite dissimilar. Which form is the better may admit of ques- tion. No doubt the Michigan system gives larger consideration to the individual and to the smaller local communities; it is nearer to the people. There the township is more than with us; the road district is more; the school district is more; the power of the in- dividual citizen is greater. But with us the county government is more effective. The county board, consisting of three members, selected from different sections of the county, but elected by the voters of the whole county, is much more efficient than a meeting of the board of supervisors of the several townships. We can carry on public works to much better advantage. We can build court houses, school 11
houses, roads and bridges more effectively. The work of the state, of the people at large, can be better carried on in Indiana. But it must be admitted that the rights and powers of the individual citizen seem better guarded in our sister state. Each system is good in its way; and the statesmanship that should blend the excellencies of both would merit the very highest honor.
IV. THE BOARD OF JUSTICES.
Sec. 1 .- ORGANIZATION OF CIVIL GOVERN- MENT .- In accordance with the provisions of section six of the act for the organization of the county, our first county election was held on the first Monday in August, 1830. At this election Lathrop M. Taylor was elected clerk and recorder, and Lambert McCombs, Adam Smith and Levi F. Arnold were elected jus- tices of the peace. The board of justices held its first meeting at the house of Alexis Co- quillard, on August 27, 1830. The first entry on the record of the board reads as follows:
"In pursuance of an act of the general assembly of the state of Indiana, entitled an act to provide for the carrying the laws into effect in new counties, approved January 2. 1818: and also the act, entitled an act for the formation of the counties of St. Joseph and Elkhart, passed and approved January 29, 1830, the Justices of the Peace met at the house of Alexis Coquillard, in St. Joseph county, on Friday, the 27th day of August. in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty.
"Adam Smith now comes forth and pro- duces his commission from His Excellency, James B. Ray, Governor of the State of Indi- ana, commissioning him, the said Adam Smith. Justice of the Peace in and for said county of St. Joseph for and during the term of five years from the 11th day of August, 1830; and on the back of said commission is the following endorsement, to wit:
" 'St. Joseph county. } ss. : " 'State of Indiana,
"" "Be it remembered, that on the 27th day
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
of August, A. D. 1830, personally came Adam Smith, within commissioned, before me, L. M. Taylor, Clerk of the Circuit Court, and be- ing duly sworn on his solemn oath, says that he will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Indiana, and that he will to the best of his abilities and judg- . ment discharge the duties of his office of Justice of the Peace in St. Joseph county faithfully, and that he has not sinee the first day of January, 1819, either directly or in- directly, knowingly given, accepted or carried a challenge to any person in or out of this State to fight a single combat with any deadly weapon, and that he will not knowingly ac- cept or carry a challenge to any person or persons to fight with any deadly weapon in single combat, either in or out of this state, during his continuance in office. Given un- der my hand and seal the day and date first above written.
"'L. M. TAYLOR, Clerk (Seal).'"
Like credentials were presented by Lambert MeCombs: and thereupon the Board of Jus- tices was organized by the election of Lam- bert MeCombs as president.
The first order entered was as follows: "Ordered by the Board of Justiees of St. Joseph county, that John D. Lasly be ap- pointed Treasurer of St. Joseph county for the year of our Lord 1830; and he is required to give bond and security in the penal sum of $1,000." The taxes to be collected in the year of grace 1830 were evidently very light. Mr. William C. Stover, the treasurer of St. Joseph county for this year of our Lord 1907 has been required to give a bond in the sum of $950,000.
At this first meeting of our first county board other business transaeted consisted of the appointment of James Nixon as assessor : Daniel A. Fullerton, collector of taxes, Ben- jamin Potter, Thomas Skiles and Jacob Keith, constables; Jacob Cripe and John Heag, overseers of the poor; and Daniel Eiler and Samnel Cannon, fence viewers.
Licenses were granted to the American Fur
Company ( Alexis Coquillard. agent,) and to Samuel Hanna and Co. (Lathrop M. Taylor, agent,) authorizing them, on payment of a fee of ten dollars each, "to vend foreign merchandise within the county of St. Joseph for the term of one year from the date here- of."
On Monday, September 6, 1830, the board of justices held their second meeting, also at the house of Alexis Coquillard. Grand and petit jurors for the November term of the Circuit Court were drawn, as follows :
Grand jurors. Samuel Cannon, Jacob White, John Clyburn, William E. Short, Adam Keith. John Banker, Samuel Leeper, Charles Labby, Henley Clyburn, Gamaliel Drulinger, Zachariah Grant, Jacob Cripe, Benjamin Potter, James Nixon, Thomas Cly- burn, Phillip Fail, Louis Sancomb and Joseph Adams.
Petit jurors, Paul Egbert, John Drulinger, Daniel Eiler, C. B. Overacker, John Whita- ker, Benjamin Coquillard, Israel Rush, Bar- zilla Drulinger, Jacob Harris, John Hague, Richard Harris, Nathaniel Steele, Samuel Johnston, Jacob Egbert. John Rouleau. Jacob Ritter. Jacob Rhue, Alexis Coquillard, John Wills, John Skiles, Lewis Shirley. Joseph Rohrer, Horace Markham, Samuel Garwood. It does not appear from the records that the juries so selected were ever ealled upon to serve in court.a
A third session of the board of justiees was held at the house of Alexis Coquillard, on Tuesday, September 14, 1830. At this meet- ing Thomas J. Evans, John Berry, Gillis Me- Bane and Daniel Worth, commissioners named in the aet of January 29, 1830, were allowed three dollars a day each for their services in locating the county seat. Wil- liam Brookfield was appointed county agent to superintend the sales of lots at the county seat ; giving a bond in the sum of five thou- sand dollars, with Alexis Coquillard and Lathrop M. Taylor as sureties.
The fourth and last meeting of the board a. See Chap. 6, Sub. 2.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
of justices was held at the house of Alexis Coquillard, on November 25, 1830. At this meeting certain lots donated by William Brookfield at the county seat for the use of the county, as contemplated in section five of the aet of organization, were accepted and he was directed, as county agent, to make sale of them, on terms fixed by the board.
Sec. 2 .- THE FIRST TOWNSHIPS .- The last act of this fourth session of the board of justices was the division of the county into four townships, by the following order :
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, that all the district of country lying west of the range line dividing ranges two and three west of the second principal meridian of the state of Indiana shall form and constitute a township in the aforesaid county to be known by the name of Michigan township. and the sheriff of said county is ordered to notify the citizens of the aforesaid township by written notification to meet at the house of Lewis Shirley in said township on the 18th of December next to elect one justice of the peace in and for said township.
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, that ranges one and two west of the second prin- cipal meridian of the state of Indiana shall form and constitute one township to be known by the name of Deschemin township, and the sheriff is ordered to give the citizens of the said township written notification- according to law to hold an election at the house of John Drullinger in said township to elect one justice of the peace in and for said township on the 18th day of December next.
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, that from the second principal meridian of the state until the center of range two east shall form and constitute a township in said county to be known by the name of German township, and the sheriff is hereby ordered to give pub- lic notice to the citizens of said township ac- cording to law for the qualified voters to meet at the house of David Miller in said township to elect one justice of the peace in and for
said township on the 18th day of December next.
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, That all the district of country lying and being from the center of range two east of the second principal meridian of the state and thence running east to the eastern boundary of St. Joseph county shall form and constitute one township to be known and designated by the name of Portage township."
Michigan township, strictly speaking, was not a part of St. Joseph county. As described in section seven of the aet of January 29. 1830, organizing the county, this township embraced "all the territory lying west of said county, to the state line." It was further said in the same section, that this territory was "attached to the said county of St. Joseph. for civil and criminal jurisdiction : and the citizens residing within the bounds so includ- ed, shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities, and be subject to all the taxes, impositions and assessments, of the citizens of the county of St. Joseph." The township lay almost wholly on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, from which it received its name. It included the western part of the present county of La Porte and the northern parts of the present counties of Starke. Porter and Lake.
Deschemin township consisted of territory now embraced within eastern La Porte, north- ern Starke, and western St. Joseph. The towns of new Carlisle and Walkerton, in St. Joseph county ; and Hudson, Rolling Prairie and Stillwell, in La Porte county, are within what was Deschemin township. The name of the township is evidently a corruption of the French words Du Chemin, the designation formerly given to Hudson Lake. Lae Du Che- min, now Hudson Lake, one of the most beau- tiful of the small lakes of northern Indiana, was in the heart of Deschemin township. The name, Lac Du Chemin, that is, the "Lake of the Road," had reference to the Great Sauk trail, since known as the Chicago road, which passed close to the south edge of the lake.
164
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
The Sauk trail runs west by south, through the north part of the present Warren and Olive townships. It passes through the old towns of Terre Coupee, formerly called also Prairie Coupee; Hudson, formerly called Lakeport, on Lac Du Chemin, or Hudson lake; La Porte and Door village, and thence on to Chicago.ª
German township, as laid out by the board of justices, embraced the eastern half of the present township of Olive, all of Warren, and parts of German, Portage, Greene, Liberty and Union, in St. Joseph county; besides the northwest part of Marshall county. North Liberty, in St. Joseph county; and Teegar- den, Tyner City, La Paz and Plymouth, in Marshall county, are within the limits of our old German township. The original plat of Plymouth, now the county seat of Marshall county, is on record in plat book number one of St. Joseph county, at page thirteen. It was acknowledged by the proprietors, John Sering, James Blair and William Polke, October 11, 13 and 20, respectively, A. D., 1834, before Lathrop M. Taylor, Recorder of St. Joseph county.
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