A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1, Part 38

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 38

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Sec. 10 .- THE COUNTY ASYLUMS .- The county has always maintained an asylum for its poor. At first the overseers of the poor cared for the unfortunate in temporary

was evidently not then in a condition to jus- tify the investment of so large an amount as would have been necessary for the erec- tion of buildings, and the carrying on of so great an undertaking; and in March, 1839, the enterprise was abandoned and the land reconveyed by the county.

The county board continued, as before, to support its poor in leased premises. At the December term, 1844, George W. Matthews, the elder, then superintendent of the poor house, reported the quarterly expenses in car- ing for the county charges at one hundred and forty-one dollars and ninety-one cents.

PRESENT COURT HOUSE, SOUTH BEND.

homes, or gave such other assistance as was possible in a new country. Afterwards more permanent quarters were secured. For many years a building and grounds, situated in Vail's addition to South Bend, were leased for a county poor home from John D. De- frecs, at a rental of one hundred dollars a year. As early as the year 1838 the need of a county farm became urgent ; and two hun- dred and forty acres on Portage prairie, in sections twenty, twenty-one and twenty-nine, in what is now German township, were ac- tually purchased, the agreed price being six thousand dollars. But the county treasury

The financial conditions having improved, and the need for better accommodations having greatly increased, the county board, on June 10, 1846, purchased another farm for the establishment of a permanent county asylum. This farm consisted of nearly two hundred acres, and was located on the east side of the Michigan road, five and a half miles south of the town of South Bend and one mile and a half east of the present vil- lage of Nutwood. The place had been known as White Hall, and was purchased from Matthias Stover for two thousand dollars, or about ten dollars an acre. Here the county

THE NEW YORK PUBLL ISARY Astor, Lenex and Tilden Foundations. 1909

The Old County Seminary

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

poor were cared for during nearly ten years. At its December term, 1854, the county board ordered this farm sold; and at the March term, 1855, measures were taken for the pur- chase of another farm on the north side of the St. Joseph river, on the line between Portage and Penn townships. This farm, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, was purchased through President Whitten, in court proceedings, for twenty-one hundred and thirty dollars; and suitable buildings were erected at a further cost of fourteen hundred and thirty dollars. Adjacent lands were afterwards purchased, and the county asylum seemed permanently and satisfac- torily located.

For over fifty years the county poor con- tinued to be cared for on this farm between South Bend and Mishawaka. In recent years, however, there has been a growing dissatis- faction with the accommodations provided for the inmates of the asylum and for those who had them in charge. The state board of charities had frequently criticised the build- ings as antiquated and inadequate to their purpose. Finally the board of commission- ers determined to sell the old farm, which had become valuable from its proximity to the two cities of the county, and to purchase a farm elsewhere and put up a spacious and well equipped modern asylum. The old asy- lum and grounds were disposed of for about fifty-two thousand dollars: and a farm on the south side of the river and just below the old portage was purchased for twenty. thousand dollars. On these grounds, almost in touch with the old pathway trodden by Marquette and La Salle two hundred and thirty years ago, the county commissioners have, at an expense of about one hundred and ten thousand dollars, built and equipped one of the finest county asylums in the state. The locality is not only interesting from a historical point of view, but is also one of the most beautiful and salubrious that could be selected. The new buildings were ac- cepted by the board of commissioners at their

March term, 1907; and the officers and about eighty inmates were transferred from the old to the new asylum and grounds April 4, 1907.

Sec. 11 .- THE OLD COUNTY SEMINARY,- Another county building of much historical interest must not be overlooked. Besides making provisions for district schools in each congressional township," the legislature at an early day provided for educational institu- tions of a higher grade, which were known as county seminaries. The funds for the support of such seminaries were provided for in the statutes, and were drawn from vari- ous sources, chiefly fines and penalties im- posed for violations of law. Donations were particularly provided for; and without such donations it was practically impossible to procure the necessary grounds, erect the buildings and carry on the schools.

In St. Joseph county there was a generous rivalry between the towns of Mishawaka and South Bend as to where the seminary should be located. On November 9, 1843, the county commissioners authorized George W. Mat- thews, the elder, to receive donations for the erection of the seminary at South Bend. At the March term, 1844, of the county board, Mr. Matthews made a report of subscriptions received by him; and at the same term Har- ris E. Hurlbut made a like report of sub- scriptions received by him for the erection of the seminary at Mishawaka. No steps were taken in the matter at that session.

At the December term, 1844, the county board took definite action in regard to the seminary; and entered into contract with Cassius Caldwell, A. M. La Pierre and James M. Matthews for the construction of the buildings at a cost of fiften hundred and seventy-two dollars and eighty cents. A lot belonging to the seminary fund, valued at one hundred and fifty-eight dollars, and also the sum of eight hundred and fifty-four dol- lars, donated by subscribing citizens, amount- a. R. S., 1831, pp. 463-480; R. S., 1838, pp. 509- 551; R. S., 1843, pp. 305-325.

b. R. S., 1831, pp. 489-499; R. S., 1838, pp. 558- 563; R. S., 1843, pp. 249, 250, and pp. 303-305.

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ing in all to ten hundred and twelve dollars, were turned over to the contractors as first payment. The remainder was paid by the county out of the seminary fund.

The grounds on which the seminary was erected. situated at the corner of Washing- ton and William streets, in South Bend, where the old high school building now stands, were purchased for the purpose from Alexis Coquillard, on June 9, 1841.

The St. Joseph county seminary was built during the year 1845, under the superinten- dency of Gilman Towle, one of the county commissioners. The St. Joseph Valley Reg- ister, under date of September 26, 1845, just two weeks after the establishment of that newspaper, describes the building as being situated "on the north side of Washington street, west of town": that it was of briek, two stories high, thirty feet wide by forty feet long, and to be surmounted by a cupola. The expense, it was said, was defrayed out of the seminary fund, aided by the subscrip- tions of private persons. We are further in- formed by the editor, Schuyler Colfax, that the seminary stands near the center of the acre-and-a-half lot which belongs to it, and · which is to be enclosed and improved; that there will be two rooms in the building, one below and the other above; and that the room in the second story is to be the full size of the building, undivided at present by any partition. He concludes with the remark that the two rooms will comfortably contain all the pupils of the institution for many years.

The first principal was Mr. Wheeler, a graduate of the Indiana State University. He was assisted by Miss L. C. Merritt. These were followed by Professors Wright, Coggs- well, Smith, Sperbeck, McLafferty, Miss Bar- rett, Miss Bacon and Professor Wilcox.

With the adoption of the constitution of 1851, the policy of keeping up county semi- naries was abandoned; and the grounds, buildings and other property of the semi- naries were ordered to be sold and the pro- ceeds turned over to the common school

fund.ª The people had become satisfied that it was impracticable to carry on eounty high schools, and that all the energies of the state in relation to popular education should be concentrated in the support and improvement of the common schools.

The citizens of St. Joseph county, however, particularly those at the county seat, had become ambitious to establish and maintain a school of higher grade, where the pupils who had passed through the common schools might continue their education, without being compelled to leave home to attend academies or colleges in other places. Accordingly, on July 16, 1853, the board of trustees of the town of South Bend purchased from the county auditor, Aaron B. Ellsworth, and the county treasurer, Robert B. Niear, the county seminary of St. Joseph county. The purchase was made for fifteen hundred and sixteen dollars, payable, according to the stat- ute, in ten annual installments. The pay- ments do not seem to have been completed until August 31, 1866. It was at that date that the deed of conveyance was made by Woolman J. Holloway, then county auditor, to Dwight Deming, Almond A. Bugbee and Charles A. Evans, trustees of what had then become the school eity of South Bend.

Although from the time of the purchase by the trustees of the town of South Bend, the school and grounds had ceased to be county property, yet there were pleasant and even affectionate associations connected with the old institution of learning; and it con- tinued to retain the name of the old seminary.

But the county seat finally outgrew the building which Mr. Colfax, in 1845, confi- dently predicted would "comfortably contain all the pupils of the institution for many years to come." In 1872, the school trus- tees took down the venerable structure, to make room for a more commodious high school building. On April 20th of that year, the South Bend Tribune, established only a. Constitution, 1851, Art. 8, Sec. 2; 1 R. S., 1852, pp. 437-439; 1 Gavin and Hord, pp. 565-567.

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

during the previous month, contained a feel- ing reference to the passing of the old land- mark of nearly thirty years standing. The editorial was written by Alfred B. Miller, first editor and one of the founders of the Tribune, who was himself educated in the old seminary.

onr place from its earlier years." Among the first pupils educated at the seminary, Mr. Miller mentions Alvin S. Dunbar, Daniel Witter, Mark MeClelland, D. R. Sample, and R. B. Miller. "When first built," the edi- torial continues, "the seminary was sur- mounted by a tin-domed and pillared cupola,

ALFRED B. MILLER.

"Nothing remains of the old seminary building on Washington street but a pile of debris," said Mr. Miller: "and in a few days it will have no trace left. The South Bender now absent will miss on his return the familiar structure which, homely though it was, has been identified with the history of

in which the boys used to take delight in lodging balls while playing 'anti-over,' that they might have some excuse for 'shinning up' the lightning rod and playing havoe with the nests of pigeons that made their homes there. But the lightning knocked all the beauty and utility out of the cupola one

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPHI COUNTY.

afternoon in 1847, and in course of time it was taken down entirely, and since then the structure was familiar in outline to all our citizens as it is seen in the excellent photo- graph Mr. Bonney took just previous to its destruction. Although to be replaced by one of the handsomest school buildings in this part of the state, there are many, partieu- larly absent South Benders who received their education in it, who will not hear of the destruction of that 'old seminary' with- out a pang of regret."

Sec. 12 .- THE ORPHANS' HOME .- One of the most praiseworthy institutions of St. Jo- seph county is the Orphans' Home, located at Mishawaka and conducted by the Chil- dren's Aid Society of Indiana. The insti- tution, although managed by a corporation made up of public spirited and benevolent ladies of the county, is yet quasi-public in its character, since it is recognized and regu- lated by the statutes of the state, and is in part supported by funds supplied by the county. The purpose of the institution is to nurture, train and educate destitute orphan children, and to find homes for them in good families. Through the zeal of the good women who have had charge of the home their work has prospered. Hundreds of help- less children have been placed with worthy families, where they have found father and mother, brothers and sisters in place of the natural relatives who were taken from them by death or other misfortune. These ladies have so interested the public spirited people of the county that they have after mueh toil and years of effort succeeded in securing for the Home what is indeed a most elegant and commodious building standing on a beautiful eminence overlooking the St. Joseph river. On Saturday, May 18, 1907, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the institu- tion, the society had the satisfaction of dedi- cating this fine home to its benevolent pur- pose. The followng historical items are taken from the press accounts of the dedi- cation :

"The Children's Aid Society, of Indiana, was organized by the W. C. T. U. of St. Joseph county under the name of the Or- phans' Home Association, of St. Joseph county, at a mass meeting held June 15, 1882, in the Y. M. C. A. hall, Price's theater, South Bend. The institution was located in Misha- waka and opened July 10, 1882. On. the 20th of the same month the county commis- sioners at a special meeting decided to place all dependent children of the county with the society at 25 cents per day. Forty-eight chil- dren were received the first year.

"The officers and directors for the first year were : President, Mrs. Julia E. Work; first vice president, Mrs. Z. M. Johnson, South Bend; second vice president, Mrs. W. W. Giddings, South Bend; third vice president, Mrs. J. A. VanAuken, Mishawaka; recording secretary, Mrs. William Clark, Mishawaka; corresponding secretary, Mrs. J. A. McGill, South Bend; treasurer, Mrs. S. M. Simkens, Mishawaka; directors, Mesdames E. S. Rey- nolds, J. M. Studebaker, Schuyler Colfax, L. M. Doolittle, S. P. Lantz, David Warner, W. C. Learned, F. B. Dunham, C. Foote, J. HI. Banning, of South Bend, and Mesdames Abbie Ney, Tabor Ham, Henry Milburn, P. C. Perkins, C. G. Foote, Sarah Guernsey, George Chace, Sidney Smith, Sarah Gaylor, of Mish- awaka. Mrs. Dr. Harris and Mrs. Dr. Ne- ville, of South Bend, also signed the consti- tution.

"The present officers of the Children's Aid Society of Indiana are: Mrs. J. MeM. Smith, South Bend, president; Mrs. J. W. Keller, Mishawaka, first vice-president; Mrs. W. F. Wiggins, South Bend, second vice-president ; Mrs. William Uline. Mishawaka, third vice- president; Mrs. W. E. Butterworth, Misha- waka, recording secretary; Miss Agnes Far- rand, South Bend, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Elizabeth G. Kettring. South Bend, treasurer.

"In 1884 the association was reorganized and passed out of the control of the W. C. T. U. and the name was changed to the North-

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPHI COUNTY.

ern Indiana Orphans' Home. In June, 1890, the society was again reorganized under the name of the Children's Aid Society of In- diana.

"The first school in the home opened in September, 1891. During the 25 years the or- ganization has been in existence 1,300 chil- dren have been cared for, many counties be- sides St. Joseph county sending children here to be cared for. Good homes have been found for several hundred children in the past 25 years. A careful watch is kept upon the chil- dren placed in homes, and it is very gratify- ing to the women of the Children's Aid So- ciety to know that the majority of the chil- dren placed in homes by the society have grown up and made successful men and women.

"Up to March, 1891, the society was of un- certain force, having a constant struggle to meet its financial obligations. There were large amounts owing and but little in the treasury. At that time a radical change was effected in the management, a large number of sustaining pledges were secured and under the able presidency of Mrs. J. M. Studebaker the institution was soon upon a more solid basis. The present efficient superintendent. Miss Sarah Hathaway, was appointed, and since then the society has steadily grown in usefulness and efficiency.

"About 15 years ago the home received a small endowment fund of $6,250 from the estate of Mrs. Longer, of Laporte, Ind. With the interest from this fund and the per diem allowance from the county commissioners the home has been self-maintaining for a number of years.

"In 1900 the fine property now occupied was bought for $10,000 and with the help of contributions and entertainments this has been all paid, besides $10,000 for improvements on the property. The new building now com- pleted has been erected at a cost of over $60 .- 000, including equipments. A loan of $30,- 000 has been made upon the property. but in addition to this it will be necessary to raise

about $10,000 to complete paying for the building and get only the most necessary fur- nishings. One item of large expense is for the fire escapes, which are of the most ap- proved up-to-date make, and the best laundry equipment obtainable has been installed.

"The undertaking to erect this building without any funds at hand in the beginning was a formidable task to the 18 women of the board, but they have been sustained through- out by an unfaltering trust in the generosity of the public, which is being realized. The cause represented and the fact that when the building and furnishings are paid for, the home will be as before, self-sustaining, are two appealing facts to thoughtful people.

"The following women of Mishawaka and South Bend are now serving as a board of di- rectors for the Children's Aid Society. They are all well known and have entered into the work with a determination to conduct the affairs of the home upon a sound business basis :

"Mrs. Jeannette Reynolds, South Bend, charter member ; Mrs. Abbie Ney, Mishawaka, charter member; Mrs. J. M. Studebaker, South Bend, charter member, served as presi- dent 1890-1891; Mrs. Tabor Ham. Misha- waka, charter member; Mrs. E. A. Jernegan, Mishawaka, elected June, 1884, served as president 1895-1896; Mrs. Dempster Beatty, Mishawaka, elected 1885, served as president 1891-1892, 1892-1893, 1898-1899, 1899-1900, 1900-1901; Mrs. Lafayette LeVan, South Bend, elected June, 1888, served as president 1896-1897, 1897-1898; Mrs. Luther Cass, Mishawaka, elected May, 1898; Miss C. Addie Van den Bosch, South Bend, eleeted May, 1898: Mrs. Charles Endlich, Mishawaka, elected 1902; Mrs. J. C. Neithardt, South Bend, elected 1905.

"Much credit is due the members of the building committee for their untiring efforts. The women of this committee are: Mrs. La- fayette LeVan, South Bend, chairman ; Mrs. Elizabeth G. Kettring, South Bend, secretary ; Mrs. Dempster Beatty, Mrs. J. Wallace Kel-

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

ler, Mrs. W. E. Butterworth, Mishawaka; Mrs. J. M. Studebaker, Mrs. J. MeM. Smith, Miss C. Addie Van den Bosch, South Bend. The following gentlemen also served on the committee: M. W. Mix, F. G. Eberhart, J. A. Roper, E. G. Eberhart, Mishawaka; J. M.

Studebaker, Samuel Leeper, Max Livingston, J. B. McCance, South Bend.

"The committee on furnishings for the new home is composed of the following members : Mrs. W. F. Wiggins, Mrs. J. C. Neithardt, Mrs. Charles Endlich, South Bend."

CHAPTER VII.

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.

I. OUR RIVERS.

See. 1 .- IMPROVEMENTS ON THE KANKAKEE. -Ages before the white men came to dwell in these valleys, the only means of communica- tion from north to west, from east to south, save the mysterious trails through the forest and over the prairies, was by way of the Kan- kakee and the St. Joseph.ª And long after the coming of the white man, these rivers, particularly the latter, continued to be the ways looked to for commercial intercourse with the great world outside. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the early settlers of "the St. Joseph country" looked anxiously for the improvement of the navigation of their beautiful river. They had the "Great Sauk Trail," running through the northwest corner of this county, afterwards somewhat improved and dignified with the high sound- ing title of the "Chicago Road"; and they had numerous other Indian trails and traces through the interminable woods surrounding them. But when they rested a moment from their hard daily toil and thought of the future, they could distinguish no project more feasi- ble than the improvement of the St. Joseph, giving them direct access to the commerce of the great lakes. An occasional enthusiast, in those days of canals, and before the vision of railroads came to them, spoke of digging a great canal down the Kankakee, and so reaeh- ing the Mississippi and the Gulf. But the only improvement of the Kankakee which ever materialized, was that long afterwards a. See "Routes of Travel," Chap. 2, Subd. 2.

suggested by Thomas S. Stanfield, one of the most broad minded and far-seeing of our public men. His suggestion was to construct a great double drain down the Kankakee, with a railroad on the bank between the two drains. The drains have been dug and the railroad has been built, though not just on the lines suggested by Judge Stanfield; and the Kan- kakee valley is thus put to the best possible use for which it is available.

In connection with the drainage systems of Kankakee valley, and the deepening and straightening of the river, which have taken place in recent years, making that rich valley "the garden of Chicago," as some of our sanguine citizens have styled it, we may here note that the legislature, by an aet approved March 7, 1889, passed an act for the removal of the limestone ledge across the river, at Momenee, Illinois, ten miles below the Indiana state line. Further acts to carry out the same purpose were approved March 6, 1891, and March 4, 1893.ª This natural obstruction ex- tends in a northwesterly direction over north- ern Indiana, and erosses the Kankakee near Momence, Illinois, forming a rock dam in the river at that point, abont seven and one-half feet in height.b The state appropriated, alto- gether, sixty-five thousand dollars for this in- portant improvement; which was completed, so far as the appropriation would permit, under direction of civil engineer William M. Whitten, of South Bend, Indiana. Immedi- a. Acts, 1889, p. 291; Acts, 1891, p. 198; Acts, 1893, p. 328.

b. See Chap. 1, Subd. 7.

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IIISTORY OF ST. JOSEPHI COUNTY.

ately after that work was done, and even before its completion, land owners throughout the valley began the construction of drains under the drainage laws of the state. The result is shown in vast corn fields and mead- ows, where formerly hunting and fishing clubs monopolized the country. The richest lands in Indiana are now found within this great valley.ª

Sec. 2 .- NAVIGATION OF THE ST. JOSEPH .-- But the practical minds of the early '30s were turned to the St. Joseph. In an edi- torial in our first newspaper. "The North- Western Pioneer and St. Joseph's Intelligen- cer," for Wednesday, December 21, 1831, the editor, speaking of a writer in the Crawfords- ville Record, says, "He undertakes to show the difference of the relative cost of railroads and canals, and urges our legislature to throw aside the donation of lands made by the gen- eral government to aid the state in construct- ing the Wabash and Erie canal; and instead thereof to construct a railroad from Lake Michigan to some point on the Ohio river."

The editor, John D. Defrees, then continues, "Whether it would be good policy for the state to give up the aid proffered her by the general government is not our intention to question. The late experiments made on rail- roads in Europe and America go to convince us that they are much to be preferred to canals; but if the legislature in its wisdom says that a canal is preferable, let it be so. This, however, should not prevent a railroad from the northern part of the state, through the interior, to the Ohio river. The writer above alluded to suggests that such a road ought to commence at Lake Michigan, without being aware that there is no harbor, nor can there be, within the state, on that lake. If he had been informed of this fact he would have said, commence at the nearest point on the St. Joseph river, which is navigable for steamboats, and at the mouth of which is a safe harbor for vessels. He states that the distance from the lake to the Ohio river a. See Subd. 6 of this Chapter.

is not over two hundred and fifty miles. From this point," the distance would not be in- creased, and would be over infinitely better ground for a road. He was not aware that his route would be met by an impassable bar- rier in the great Kankakee ponds or marshes, which are only equalled by the famous Dismal Swamp of Virginia.b By commencing here this would be avoided." The then recent sur- veys for the Michigan road, made in 1828 and 1829 were doubtless in the editor's mind when he made this statement as to the ad- vantage of starting from "the nearest point on the St. Joseph river," rather than directly from Lake Michigan and through the Kanka- kee marshes, in building a railroad to the Ohio.c The feasibility of navigating the St. Joseph, and the superiority of the natural harbor at its mouth, were also in his mind; although it is true that congress has since made an excellent artificial harbor at Michi- gan City.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1, Part 38

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 826

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 826