USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 32
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"Ordered by the board aforesaid, That on the fourth Saturday of Inst. the qualified electors in Portage township be authorized to elect one justice of the peace at South Bend, in said township; and that the qualified electors of Center township be authorized to elect one justice of the peace in said township on the fourth Saturday as aforesaid; and also that the qualified electors of Highland town- ship be authorized to elect one justice of the peace in said township on the fourth Satur- day, Inst.
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, That the sheriff be required to notify the qualified electors of said county to meet in the several townships as organized by this board to meet at the several places in said townships, to elect associate judges."a
It will be seen that Highland township, as laid out by the board of commissioners, in-
a. The organization of our courts will be given in another place.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
eluded one more range than did Michigan township, as laid out by the board of justices. The east line of Michigan township was "the range line dividing ranges two and three west :" while the east line of Highland town- ship was "the range line dividing ranges num- ber one and number two west." No part of either of those primitive townships was within the present limits of St. Joseph county. Highland township included the greater part of what is now La Porte county and all of Porter and Lake.
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Center township, as laid out by the board of commissioners, ineluded the west half of range one west, now in Laporte county, and likewise so much of the east half of said range as is also in said county. The rest of old Center township, being the remainder of range one west and all of range one east, -except parts on the south afterwards at- tached to Marshall and Starke counties-are still in St. Joseph county. The east line of Center township was the range line between ranges one and two east, being the line which now divides our present Warren township from German and Portage. The townships of Olive, Warren and Lincoln, as now consti- tuted, with the greater part of Greene and almost all of Liberty, were then in Center township.
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Portage township, as laid out by the board of commissioners, took in all of the county embraced in ranges two and three east. That included the present townships of German, Clay, Portage, Center and Union, with parts of Greene, Liberty, Harris, Penn and Madi- son. The west half of range four, being a strip three miles in width on the east side of the county as at present constituted, was then in Elkhart county.
IX. THE COUNTY BOUNDARIES.
St. Joseph county, as formed by the act of January 29, 1830, extended east and west across five ranges of congressional townships, and reached south from the Michigan line a distance of thirty miles. To this thirty 12
miles square was added, for jurisdictional purposes, all the territory west to the Illinois state line. Other unorganized territory was afterwards attached for like purposes on the south. This attached territory, as we have seen," was by the board of justices erected into a township of St. Joseph county, and named Michigan township. The board of commissioners added to Michigan a range of congressional townships on the east, and called the whole territory Highland town- ship.
Not counting the attached territory on the west, St. Joseph county proper then included nearly one-half of the present county of La Porte, and also nearly one-half of the present counties of Marshall and Starke. The act of February 10, 1831, defining the boundaries of all the counties of the state,' left unchanged the boundaries of St. Joseph county as fixed by the act of its organization, January 29, 1830.
The county of La Porte was formed by an act of the legislature, approved January 9, 1832. In this act the east boundary of La Porte is declared to be, "the center line of range number one west," extending south twenty-two miles from the north bonndary line of the state." Thus, not counting the attached territory west to the Illinois line, which had constituted our Michigan town- ship, and nearly all of our Highland town- ship, the legislature, in one act, took from St. Joseph county a range and a half of congres- sional townships on the west, and made them part of the new county of La Porte.
As if to make up for this loss on the west, the same legislature, a few days afterwards, by an act approved January 31, 1832,ª took three miles from Elkhart and added it to St. Joseph. The act is short, and reads as follows :
"Be it enacted by the general assembly of
a. See Subd. 4, of this chapter.
b. Revised Statutes of Indiana, 1831, pp. 110-
128.
c. Acts 1831, p. 9.
d. Acts 1831, p. 114.
7
178
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
the state of Indiana, That the boundary line between the counties of Elkhart and St. Joseph, be, and the same is hereby changed, and that the same shall be a north and south line, three miles east, and parallel with range line number three east of the second princi- pal meridian line. And all that portion of territory so stricken off of Elkhart county, be, and the same is hereby attached to, and shall constitute a part of St. Joseph county."
The net result of both those acts of the legislature of 1831 was to move St. Joseph county three miles to the east, giving us half a range on the east and taking from us a range and a half on the west, and so reducing the width of the county along the north boundary line of the state from thirty miles to twenty-four miles. This left us a half range west of the second principal meridian and three and a half ranges east of the same meridian.
The next act of the legislature that inter- fered with the boundaries of the county was that approved February 7, 1835," entitled "An act laying ont all the unorganized terri- tory to which the Indian title has been ex- tinguished in this state, into a suitable num- ber of counties. and for other purposes."
Section nine of that aet defined the north line of Marshall county as the north line of congressional township thirty-four, being the same as the south line of our present town- ship of Lincoln extended east. This bound- ary, while taking seven miles and a half off the south end of St. Joseph county, still left us the whole of congressional township thirty- five, including the sites of the present towns of Bremen, La Paz and Teegarden, besides the right of way of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad from the eastern to the western boundary of the county.
By section ten of the same act. the north line of Starke county was defined to be the north line of the same congressional township, thirty-four. This boundary left the territory .
a. Acts 1834, pp. 44-47.
of the present Lincoln township within our county, as it has remained ever since.
Although the boundaries of Marshall county were fixed by the act of February 7, 1835, yet the county was not organized until the succeeding session of the legislature. The act passed for that purpose was approved February 4. 1836.ª The eighth section of that act appears to have no proper connection with the other sections : it seems to be attached to the act rather than to be a part of it. The section. however, did seriously affect the interests of St. Joseph county. It reads as follows:
"Sec. 8. The northern boundary iine of the county of Marshall shall be extended to an east and west line running through the center of township thirty-five north."
A strip three miles in width was thus taken from St. Joseph county and added to Marshall county, leaving a part of Lincoln township in St. Joseph county projecting between Mar- shall and La Porte counties, to a distance of three . miles south of the remainder of St. Joseph county.
In an act approved February 16, 1839, en- titled "An act to define the boundaries of the counties of St. Joseph, Marshall, La Porte, Starke. Porter and Lake,"' the boundaries of St. Joseph county were left as they had re- mained after the act of February 4, 1836, de- fining the north boundary of Marshall county. This act of February 16, 1839, defined what were expected to be the fixed and permanent boundaries of the county, in these words :
"St. Joseph county shall be bounded as follows, by a line commencing on the north boundary of this state at the intersection thereon of the section line running north and south through the center of range four east : thence south to the center of township thirty- five north ; thence west to the second meridian line, being that line between ranges one east and one west: thence south to the township line between townships thirty-four and thirty-
a. Acts 1835, pp. 49, 50. b. Acts 1838, p. 70.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
five north; thence west to the section line running north and south through the center of range one west; thence north by said sec- tion line to the north boundary of this state ; thence east to the place of beginning."
St. Joseph county seemed at last to have found herself, to have reached the definite and fixed limits of her physical entity. For ten years her integrity as a county was re- speeted, and no further attempt was made to interfere with her defined boundaries. But by an act approved January 16, 1849," the legislature provided :
"That the territory which now belongs to St. Joseph county, described as follows: Be- ginning at the present county line, at the northwest corner of section twenty-two, town- ship thirty-seven north, range one west; thence with the north line of said seetion, and that of section twenty-three, to the northeast corner of said section twenty-three; thence south with the section line, until it shall strike the great Kankakee river; thence with said river to the present county line, may be at- tached to the county of La Porte, upon the conditions following."
One of the conditions upon which the trans- fer of territory should take place is set out in section four of the act, in which it was provided that, "The county commissioners of said county of St. Joseph, shall, and they are hereby authorized to, decide at their regular June term, 1849, whether said territory shall be attached as aforesaid." Should our board of commissioners agree to the change it should take place. "But," it was further provided in the same section, "in ease said board of county commissioners do not decide in favor of attaching the territory as aforesaid, to the said county of La Porte, then and in that case the said territory shall be and remain a part and parcel of said county of St. Joseph."
As might be anticipated, there was much opposition to the scheme on the part of the people of St. Joseph county ; and the board
a. Local Laws of Indiana, 1848, p. 32.
of county commissioners accordingly refused to concur in the action of the legislature. At the regular June term, 1849," of the board it was therefore formally ordered, "That said territory shall not be set off as a part of the territory of La Porte county."
The people of the disputed territory were, however, bent on having the sections trans- ferred to La Porte county. It must be ad- mitted that their reasons in favor of the project were plausible. The territory in ques- tion was situated on the west side of the Kan- kakee river; and it was then impossible to go directly across the river and marshes to the county seat of St. Joseph county. It was the old trouble, over again, of the first survey of the Michigan road from Michigan City, directly across the Kankakee swamps, to Lo- gansport. Such roads were impossible of con- struction in those days. The people to the west of the Kankakee quite naturally, there- fore, preferred to go to the county seat of La Porte county, both for their marketing and also to attend to such business as must be transacted in the court house.
The matter came again before the legis- lature at the ensuing session ; and, by an act approved January 14, 1850,' the transfer of the territory was made absolute, without any consent asked for or given by St. Joseph county. A touch of patriotic sentiment was given to the severance of the territory, by providing in the act that the sections in ques- tion should be attached to and become a part of La Porte county from and after July +, 1850.
So was St. Joseph county reduced in size from its original thirty miles square, and attached territory. to its present dimen- sions. Some slight movements were after- wards made to limit still further the size of the county. Citizens on the east side of the county at one time tried to per- snade the commissioners that they should be attached to Elkhart county; and citizens of
a. Commissioners' Record No. 3, p. 285.
b. Acts, 1849, pp. 114, 115.
180
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
the west side of the county filed like petitions, with a view to the formation of another county made up in part of St. Joseph and in part of La Porte territory, and having New Carlisle as a county seat. These petitions were before our county board for several ses- sions, each, but were all finally dismissed. Another movement developed at one time in the southwest part of the county, with a view to the formation of a county out of parts of St. Joseph, Marshall, Starke and La Porte counties, and having Walkerton as the county seat. There was more reason for this move- ment than for either of the others, the south- west part of this county not being of easy access to the county seat. But afterwards came improved gravel roads, not to speak of the Three "I" railroad; and North Liberty and Walkerton at once found themselves in easy reach of the city on the St. Joseph, and more closely knit to the county of which they form so important a part. Every inhabitant has long since become proud of his citizenship in the good old county of St. Joseph.
The county is now twenty-four miles in length, east and west, measured along the boundary between Indiana and Michigan ; and nineteen and one-half miles in width,
north and south, measured along the bound- ary between St. Joseph and Elkhart counties. To these dimensions are to be added the nine sections of Lincoln township, bounded on the east by Marshall county, on the south by Starke and on the west by La Porte. And from these dimensions must be deducted the fourteen full and five fractional sections at- tached to La Porte county by the act of January 14, 1850.
Notwithstanding the loss of territory on the west and on the south, our county is still one of the largest, as it is one of the best, in the state. The limits of the county are, on all sides, within congressional townships thirty- five, thirty-six, thirty-seven and thirty-eight, north; and within ranges one, west, and one, two, three and four, east, of the second prin- cipal meridian of Indiana. It is the central county on the north boundary of the state. The county contains within its borders the source and a large part of the valley of the Kankakee. We have no less than five prairies of various sizes, one of them, Terre Coupee, the finest in the state; while, with Elkhart county, we claim as ours the whole of the St. Joseph valley within the state of Indiana.
THE NEW YORK PUEL LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tildon Foundations, 1909
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Lathrop M. Taylor
CHAPTER VI.
COUNTY BUSINESS.
I. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS AND BOARDS.
Sec. 1 .- THIE CLERK .- Lathrop Minor Tay- lor and Alexis Coquillard continued for many years largely to divide with one another the honors and responsibilities attendant upon the development of the new county. Ín friendly rivalry they had established on "the Big St. Joseph's of the Lake" the two trad- ing posts about which gathered the early set- tlement; together they had purchased from the government the land upon which they had laid out the new town at the south bend of the river, and by their united efforts they had succeeded in causing the removal of the county seat to the town thus established. From the organization of the county "the house of Alexis Coquillard" appears in the records for several years as the place of hold- ing the sessions of the circuit court, the board of justices and the board of commissioners.
All these records, too, show the name of Lathrop M. Taylor, L. M. Taylor or Lathrop Minor Taylor, as it was written on dif- ferent occasions. ª At the first election held in the county, the first Monday in August, 1830, Mr. Taylor was elected clerk of the circuit court and also county recorder. Sec- tion ten of article eleven of the constitution of 1816 provided that the same person might hold both these offices. He was also author- ized by statute to act as clerk of the county board or as county clerk.b As such officer
a. See Deed Record B, pp. 579, 580, 581, for his different signatures.
b. See Sec. 6, act approved January 17, 1831.
he was therefore the keeper of the county records. He thus united in himself the duties of the present offices of clerk of the circuit court, county recorder and county auditor. The original records in each of those offices are in the handwriting of L. M. Taylor. Towards the end of his term appears the name of a deputy, Thomas S. Stanfield, who was afterwards to become one of the strong characters of the county and of the state. The three modest little blank books with which Mr. Taylor began the records of the county business as clerk of the court, clerk of the county board and county recorder still remain in good condition; except that the recorder's records are somewhat injured by frequent handling.
Lathrop M. Taylor's term lasted for seven years. He was succeeded, in 1837, in the office of clerk of the circuit court, by 'I'yra W. Bray, who also held for seven years. John F. Lindsay, the last clerk under the constitu- tion of 1816, was in office from 1844 to 1851. Under the constitution of 1851 the term of office was reduced to four years, and the in- cumbent rendered ineligible to more than two successive terms. Samuel M. Chord was clerk for two terms, or until 1859. He was succeeded by Elias V. Clark, who also served two terms, or until 1867. Mr. Clark was succeeded by George W. Matthews, called sometimes the younger, to distinguish him from the elder George W. Matthews, formerly county auditor.
Mr. Matthews was succeeded, in 1875, by
181
182
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
Edwin Nicar, and Mr. Nicar by Timothy E. Howard, who was himself succeeded in 1883 by George H. Alward, the elder. Mr. Alward died during his term, November 11, 1885, and the county commissioners appointed his son, also George H. Alward, to fill out his term. In 1886 William C. McMichael be- came clerk, and in 1895, George M. Fountain. In 1903, George H. Alward became clerk again, by election, and in 1907 was succeeded by the present incumbent, Frank P. Chris- toph. Thirteen different men have filled the office of clerk of the circuit court from the organization of the county.
Sec. 2 .- THE RECORDER .- On the expiration of Lathrop M. Taylor's term as county re- corder, in 1837. he was succeeded by William H. Patteson, who served for two terms, and was succeeded by Lott Day, Jr.
By an act approved February 16, 1852,ª the county recorder was required to provide an official seal for his county. Before any such seal should be used, it was provided in the act that "an accurate description of the impression thereof, attested by the proper recorder, and the impression of such seal, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court, and by said clerk recorded in the order book of said court."
On February 28, 1853, Mr. Day, then re- corder, adopted a seal for his office, and filed for record in the office of the clerk of the St. Joseph circuit court a description reading as follows: "Said seal is about one and one-half inch in diameter, with two circles on the outer edge, between which are the following words, 'Recorder of St. Joseph County, In- diana.' Inclosed in the inner circle or center of said seal is the following design: An axe- man and two trees; and in the distance a buffalo and rising sun." An impression of the seal appears on the margin of the order book.b
Mr. Day was succeeded as recorder by a. Vol. I, R. S., 1852, pp. 427, 428.
b. See Order Book St. Joseph Circuit Court, No. 7, p. 436.
Reece J. Chestnutwood, the elder, who held the office until 1867. Mr. Chestnutwood is still (1907) living in the city of South Bend, in the ninety-second year of his age.
Alexander N. Thomas became recorder in 1867 and served for eight years, being suc- ceeded, in 1875, by John Groff. Harrison G. Beemer succeeded to the office in 1879, and was himself succeeded in 1883 by Thomas M. Howard, who served for eight years. Will- iam D. Shimp became recorder in 1891, Jere- miah Hildebrand in 1895, and Josiah P. Reed in 1899. Noah Lehman, the recorder elect, will take the office January 1, 1908.
Sec. 3 .- THE AUDITOR .- By an act ap- proved February 12, 1841,ª the office of coun- ty auditor was created. The auditor was by the act made clerk of the board of county commissioners, or virtually county clerk, and was required to perform all the duties in relation to county business theretofore en- joined upon the clerk of the circuit court. After the expiration of the term of L. M. Taylor, in 1837, his successor, Tyra W. Bray, as clerk of the circuit court, continued to act as clerk of the board of commissioners until the enactment of the foregoing statute and the election, on the first Monday of August, 1841, of George W. Matthews, the elder, who was the first county auditor. Schuyler Colfax, who was a stepson of Mr. Matthews, acted as deputy auditor during his incumbeney. This was the first experience in public life of the man who was afterwards three times speaker of the national house of representatives and also vice-president of the United States. Mr. Matthews served as coun- ty auditor until his resignation August 1, 1849. The board of commissioners selected Aaron B. Ellsworth to fill the vacancy, and in 1851 Mr. Ellsworth was elected by the people, and held the office until 1859, when he was succeeded by Woolman J. Holloway. Mr. Holloway held the office until 1867, and was then succeeded by Alfred Wheeler. Mr .. Wheeler was succeeded, in 1875, by William a. Acts, 1840, pp. 10-24.
183
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
D. Smith, and Mr. Smith in 1883 by Aaron Jones. Then followed Robert Myler, George W. Loughman, John M. Brown, and John W. Ilarbou, the present ineumbent, whose second term will begin January 1, 1908.
Sec. 4 .- THE COUNTY AGENT .- The county agent was an officer having charge of the real estate and other property of the county. His duties in the beginning seem to have been confined to affairs connected with the organi- zation of new counties, and were provided for in section four of the aet to establish seats of justice in new counties, approved January 24, 1824.ª He was to be appointed by the board doing county business, and was the fiseal officer of the county.
William Brookfield was appointed by the board of justices as the first agent of St. Joseph county, at a called session of the board held for that purpose, "at the house of Alexis Coquillard in said county, on Tuesday, the 14th day of September, 1830." The order of appointment reads :
"Ordered by the board of justices of St. Joseph eounty that William Brookfield be ap- pointed agent of St. Joseph county ; and he is required to give bond and security in the penal sum of five thousand dollars. Alexis Coquillard and Lathrop M. Taylor are ae- eepted by said board as his securities."
On September 7, 1831. the board of county commissioners appointed John Egbert as the second county agent, in the following order :
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, that John Egbert be appointed county agent of said county, and he is required to give bond under the penalty of six thousand dollars. Jacob Egbert and William McCartney are approved of by the board as his securities."
At the January term, 1832, the board made the following allowanee: "Ordered by the board aforesaid, that John Egbert be allowed the sum of six dollars for his services for the past year as county agent." At the Septem- ber term, 1832, he was allowed fifteen dollars additional for his services to that date.
a. R. S., 1831, pp. 459-463; R. S., 1838, pp. 505-509.
At the September term, 1832, the following order of appointment was made:
"Ordered by the board aforesaid, that An- thony Defrees be appointed county agent in and for said county, in the room of John Egbert resigned; and said Defrees is required to give bond and security in the penalty of six thousand dollars. Peter Johnson, L. M. Taylor and Jacob Hardman are approved of by the board as his securities."
The most important duties transacted by the county agent of this eounty were the ne- gotiations for the sale of the town lots do- uated to the county, in consideration of the location of the county seat, first at Mr. Brook- field's town of St. Joseph's, and afterwards at South Bend; and also matters in relation to the erection of the county buildings. The office was abolished and its duties transferred to the county auditor, subject to the orders of the board of county commissioners, by an act approved May 13, 1852.ª
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