USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 50
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"In recent years the acreage has been great- ly increased. As yet the principal jobbers who buy the oil have their headquarters in Michi- gan. The exportation is done through New York and Boston, and probably now runs in excess of 125.000 pounds a year. As a rule the oil is marketed in four-pound cans.
"Peppermint oil is used for the most part as an essential oil in the manufacture of con- fections and chewing-gum, though it also is largely used as a medicine, especially in fight- ing certain contagions. Though a total pro- duction of, say, a quarter of a million pounds, does not figure into much bulk. the possibili- ties of this amount of peppermint oil are better grasped by the simple statement that one ounce of peppermint oil will flavor a barrel of sugar and a barrel of sugar will make a great deal of candy and chewing-gum filler.
"One of the greatest markets open to the growers is that of supplying the chewing-gum factories, of which there are over 6,000 listed in this country. The general impression is that a large percentage of the oil is used in setting prints in dress goods, but at least at this time other cheaper oils are used.
"The mint plant is grown from roots which are carefully carried through the winter. They are planted in rows about as far apart as corn rows and are cultivated much the
same as corn for some time. Then they throw out runners, much like the sweet potato does, and cultivation from that time on has to be by hand. Weeds grow very thick and quickly, as a rule in the loose soils used and they all have to be pulled out by nimble fingers. A stand of peppermint is good for three or four years, at the expiration of which time a short rest for the soil is followed in a year or two by replanting.
"As it grows the crop is a beautiful one and a delightful one to the sense of smell. It is, all considered, next to the sunflower crops of Clark county, probably the most interest- ing and prettiest crop grown in the state."
The soil of Penn township, except in the south part and in the lowlands, is in general a fertile sand and gravel. In places, partieu- larly in the vicinity of the river, the land- scape is most charming, resembling that of our finest prairies.
The first settlements of the township were very early. William and Timothy Moat came in 1828. Others among the first settlers of the township were William Holt, Jesse Skin- ner, Samuel L. Cottrell, Jesse Bell, Henry Iluntsinger, Jonathan Macy, Jacob, George and Edward Byrkit, James Curtis, John and William Ireland, George W. West, George Eutzler, Joseph Coe, Daniel, David, William and George Hollingshead. Daniel and Samuel Edwards, John McKnight, Braddock and Uriah Chandler, William and Menzo Webster, and Isaac Parks.
The early life of the settlers was much the same as that of those in the other townships, with the exception, perhaps, that what may be called the public life of the people was, to a great extent, concentrated in and near the town of Mishawaka, and somewhat also at Osceola. In the chapter on cities and towns will be found details of the history of these places. Schools and churches were organized here as in other townships. and here also the religious societies frequently used the school houses for churches until they were able to have both. The first church edifice was built
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in Mishawaka. The first school house was erected in 1832. On the Bango creek, near the site of the present town of Osceola, a saw mill was built in the same year. The power of the little stream has been used ever since for milling purposes, both for saw mill and grist mill. The name of Zelotes Ban- croft and that of his family is inseparably connected with the milling business at this point.
The Lake Shore railroad and the Grand Trunk both pass through Penn township; as does also the interurban line formerly known as the Indiana railway, but now as the Chi- cago, South Bend and Northern Indiana. There is also a line of railway extending from Mishawaka to Elkhart to which the name of Mr. Bucklen of Elkhart is given, but whose future seems as yet not to be fully known. The population of Penn township, outside the city of Mishawaka, as shown by the United States census for 1900, was two thousand. five hundred and fifty-seven. This inchided the town of Osceola.
Sec. 12 .- PORTAGE .- By the order of May 6, 1832, forming the three townships of Penn, Portage and Olive, Portage was made to in- elude all of range two east. This range was also fixed as the limits of the second commis- sioner's district of the county. While the three commissioners' distriets have remained unchanged, the big townships, as we have seen in the preceding pages, have been sub- divided and changed almost beyond recogni- tion.
Range two east, which at first constituted Portage township, now embraces all of the present township of German and part of Clay, Greene, Center, Liberty and Union. But the present Portage, while embracing but a frac- tion of the old township of the same name, is itself not confined to the original range and commissioner's district, but, as we have seen in considering the history of Penn township, extends over into range three east and into the first commissioner's district.
The township of Portage, as now consti-
tuted, with the exception of the part within the Kankakee valley, consists almost altogether of high and slightly rolling lands. As the his- tory of Penn township centers chiefly in that of the city of Mishawaka; so, in even a greater degree, the history of Portage town- ship centers in that of South Bend. The history of South Bend, which will be given in another chapter, will therefore substan- tially cover the history of Portage township. The earliest history of the county also, as already set out in chapter four, is in sub- stance, a history of Portage township for the time covered. The first settlers of the county were settlers of what is now Portage town- ship; Pierre Navarre, in 1820; Alexis Coquil- lard, in 1823; Col. L. M. Taylor, in 1827, and the others as mentioned in chapter fourth. The first churches and school-houses were also in what is now South Bend. The first flonring mill, in 1831, and the first tan- nery, a little later, both erected by William McCartney, were in Portage township, on Me- Cartney's creek, a little below the present limits of South Bend. That the city of South Bend has become the chief part of Portage township is still further apparent from the United States census for 1900, where the population of the township, including the city is shown to be thirty-six thousand, eight hun- dred and ninety-six; while the population of the city alone appears as thirty-five thou- sand, nine hundred and ninety-nine, leaving for the township outside the city, eight hun- dred and ninety-seven.
Sec. 13 .- OLIVE .- The third township, formed May 6, 1832, comprised all of the county west of range two east, which terri- tory also constituted the third commissioner's district. The township, as then formed, in- eluded not only the present township of Olive, but also Warren, part of Greene and Liberty and all of Lincoln; besides the parts on the west and south that were afterwards attached to Laporte, Starke and Marshall counties, by the several acts of the legislature, as detailed in chapter fifth, subdivision ninth, of this
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
history. In addition to the territory so taken from Olive township by the aets of the legis- lature, the board of county commissioners, by the several orders made in forming the town- ships of Warren, Greene, Liberty and Lincoln, took other territory from Olive, on the east and the south, as already detailed in our his- tory of those townships. With all its losses, however. Olive, in size, is still the second town- ship in the county, being exceeded in terri- tory only by Penn. By the census of 1900, Olive township, ineluding the town of New Carlisle, had a population of one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight; or fourteen hundred and ninety-one outside the town.
In another respect Olive is the first of our townships ; that is, in the beauty of her prairie scenery. We have many beautiful prairies in St. Joseph county, but the finest of them all is Terre Coupee prairie, extending in length, east and west, six or seven miles, clear across the township, and in width, north and south, four or five miles. There can be no more beautiful stretch of garden land in all the world.
The first settlements of Olive township were made in 1830. The township received its name from Olive (Stanton), wife of Charles Vail, who settled in the township in that year. Other settlers who came then or soon after were Joseph Adams, Jacob and 'Israel Rush, John, Barzilla and Gamaliel Druliner, Samuel Garwood, Jonathan Hubbard, grand- father of the Hon. Lucius Hubbard, of South Bend, Garrett and Henry Niekerson, William White, John Carskaddon, Jacob Egbert, John Egbert, George Boyd, James Garoutte, Benja- min Redding, Job Smith, Henry Ranstead and John Reynolds.
In chapter four, subdivision sixth, will be found the reminiscences of Hugh V. Compton, giving his recollection of events in the early history of Olive township. These reminis- eences give us a vivid picture of pioneer life in the township.
The following additional reminiseences have been secured through the courtesy of Mr.
Albert II. Compton, son of Hugh V. Compton.
Mr. Jesse Haines says : The Haines family came in 1830. Israel Rush was the first jus- tice of the peace. John Banker was an asso- ciate judge of the St. Joseph eireuit eourt. He lived on Terre Coupee prairie, and walked to South Bend to perform his judicial duties. The first election held in Olive township was at the home of John Druliner, in a log house. Charles Vail was inspector of that election. Being a Quaker, he would not administer an oath, but required the members of the elec- tion board to affirm.
One evening in 1831, a little before the or- ganization of the township, Judge Egbert, while taking supper with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vail, said to Mr. Vail: "This being the best and most beautiful township in St. Joseph county, it shall be named for your girl wife." Hence the name Olive township.
About 1836, Samuel Garwood sold a tract of land on the prairie to Jonathan Hubbard, who laid out and platted the town of Terre . Coupee. A man named Hamilton built a hotel at the place; and from the name of the hotel the town gradually became known as Hamilton. Mr. Haines relates that in 1832, his father, then living in what is now Hudson township, Laporte county, becoming alarmed on account of the rumors as to the Black Hawk uprising, took his wife and six children in a four-horse wagon, riding himself on horseback, while Mrs. Haines earried a flint- lock musket across her lap; and so provided they started for the Carey Mission near Niles. On reaching the home of Samuel Garwood, at Terre Coupee, or Hamilton, they found the people building a fort, and concluded to stop there. After a few days, finding that the danger was over. they returned home.
The early settlers of Olive township were principally from Warren county, Ohio. They came by way of Niles, Michigan, or by Craw- fordsville, Indiana; the land offiee being lo- cated at Crawfordsville. Those routes were taken to avoid the Kankakee and Grapevine marshes.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
The Rev. James Armstrong is said to have been the first missionary of the Methodist church in St. Joseph county. Principally through his efforts, the first Methodist society was organized at the house of Paul Egbert, near Terre Coupee, or Hamilton, in the year 1830, by the Rev. E. Felton, of the Ohio con- ferenee. The class then formed consisted of eight members, of which John Egbert was ap- pointed class-leader. The work of the church was re-organized in 1834, by Mr. Armstrong, then presiding elder, who died in the fall of that year. The church has since been regu- larly continued. The first church edifice was built at Hamilton, in 1839 and 1840. The prime movers in the ereetion of this building were Paul and John Egbert and Jonathan Hubbard. The church was the best one then north of the Wabash. Oliver Emery was the architect. The erection of this church is en- titled to more than ordinary consideration as one of the first important steps taken in the advancement of civilization in St. Joseph county.
Early in 1868, the Christian, sometimes called the Campbellite, church was organized in New Carlisle by the Rev. Ira J. Chase, then stationed at Mishawaka. Mr. Chase was assisted in his work by the Rev. W. M. Roe, of Rolling Prairie; and. on March 29, 1868, a society was organized in the chapel hall of the New Carlisle Collegiate Institute. A church building was dedicated March 13, 1870, the Rev. Mr. Chase delivering the sermon. The church has continued to pros- per. The Rev. Ira J. Chase was afterwards governor of Indiana.
The land where New Carlisle now stands was at first owned by a man named Bouris- sau, who was married to an Indian woman. On the death of Bourissau, his children sold the land to Richard Carlisle. who platted the town and gave it his own name. The hotel in New Carlisle was built in 1836 by Richard Cranmer who occupied it for a time and then sold it to Joseph Ivens. Mr. Ivens remained the proprietor for several years, and by his
genial and hospitable way of entertaining acquired for his hotel a great reputation as one of the best houses on the "stage line."
The following are some recollections of fifty years ago by the venerable Mrs. R. J. Pidge :
"Yes, it is half a century since I came to New Carlisle. I was married January 27, 1847, to Rev. A. H. Pidge, at Big Prairie Ronde, Mich., and arrived here on January 31st; and it has been my home ever since.
"Very many changes have taken place since that time. In looking over the past fifty years the scenes and events come to my mind like a panorama, which I have no words to deseribe.
"At that time Carlisle was a very small place, only a few persons who were here then are left; most of them have passed away from earth.
"There was a hotel, a dry goods store, a post office (kept in a blacksmith shop) and perhaps some other small shops. The hotel was kept by Joseph Ivens. There was no church or school house in the town then, no railroad. The only public conveyances then were the large four-horse stage-coaches which, perhaps, the present generation never saw. There were no church services held here then; but a few years before Schuyler Col- fax's mother, Mrs. Mathews, had organized a Sunday school in her own house. assisted by Mr. Mathews and her son Sehuyler. She told me she made little tea parties to raise money to buy books.
"We attended church at Hamilton, which was then the most important town of this vicinity. In a year or two Rev. Abram Salis- bury, a Methodist minister, was appointed to the circuit. He resided at Byron, between here and Laporte (our parsonage was there then). On Sunday morning he came here and preached at 9 o'clock and then went to Hamilton and preached at 11 o'clock. I for- got to say that Rev. Mr. Salisbury preached in what was then called the old Mormon
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPHI COUNTY.
Temple. It stood where Dr. Davis' residence is at present.
"In 1852 there was a school house built on the lot where Mrs. Hubbard's house now stands. which was used for church purposes and Sunday school until our present M. E. church was built, during the pastorate of John R. Eddy in 1858 and 1859. The Lord only knows the great efforts and many sacri- fices it took to build this house for Ilim, and when the day for dedication came we all re- joiced in this final event. I think it was in September, 1859, that our church was dedi- cated. Rev. J. M. Eddy of Chicago, brother of our pastor, preached the dedication ser- mon."
The following paper by Granville Wool- man was recently read at the Woman's Club Banquet, New Carlisle :
"My father came to this county in 1830 with three of his neighbors to look the coun- try over and learn whether they would like it and could better their condition. On their return my father was the only one that con- eluded to come. He made arrangements to move in 1832, but rumors of the Black Hawk war had broken out and by the time they had reached us it was to the effect that every white man, woman and child was murdered in the most cruel manner, that property was all destroyed and the Indians reigned su- preme. While that was not the case, it had the effect to stop the emigration for the time being.
"My father not being entirely satisfied came in 1833, and liked the country still better. He purchased the land where we now live, for which he paid $2.50 per acre, it being Indian land, and moved in 1834 in company with Samuel Bates, his brother-in-law. We left Ohio August 20, and arrived here Sep- tember 4th. The roads were quite bad part of the way, especially through the Black swamp and Grapevine, consequently we made slow progress compared with travel nowa- days, about 20 miles a day. My father drove three horses, one of which he rode; the leader
was driven by a single or jerk line. The roads across the marsh were very bad and continued so most of the way across the prai- rie. When we arrived at the edge of the prairie father said to mother, 'Here is Terre Coupee, if the bottom has not fallen out.' Not a very pleasing sight. I assure you. Mud was 12 to 15 inches deep with water frequent- ly standing either side of the road. We finally arrived at our 'Bunker Hill,' and a far more pleasing sight it seemed. This some- what overcame the first unfavorable impres- sion. There was but one cabin and that was located where the Christian church now stands. That and the land belonged to a family by the name of Bourissau, a half-breed Indian. We crossed to the north side of the prairie, where our land was located, and se- lected a place to build near where the build- ings now stand. The road ran about 15 rods south of the building and remained there for a number of years.
"We immediately built a shanty, intended for a stable, covered with clapboards held down by weight poles, and with a door ent in one end of the shanty. Clapboards laid crosswise extending to the opening between the logs, with bedding on, made a comfort- able lodging place. With a slab for a table and stools made out of the same material, pins driven in the logs on which to hang wearing apparel, a dirt floor and a camp fire. we were quite at home.
"My father went to the east end of the prairie and bought a quarter of beef. As we had no place to keep it, father climbed up a small tree near the shanty, to cut off a limb: and with mother's help managed to hang it up.
"But the meat served to attract the wolves, which came in large numbers, howling, snarl- ing and snapping around the shanty. The dogs we brought to devour all the wolves in the west came through the door with a rush, slipped under the bed and were very docile until the wolves left. I never could understand why they were so afraid of
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wolves when they had never been attacked by them.
"Every one who passed along the road and saw the shanty and covered wagon would stop and inquire where we were from, and if we had come to stay.
"Mrs. Abbie Druliner, who lived on the Wade-Reynolds place, eame a few days after we had located, introduced herself and in- quired where we were from ; hoped we would be satisfied, saying that they needed people to help improve the country and as we were near neighbors she hoped we would remain as such.
". . We have been here two years,' she said, 'and anything we have in the way of pro- vision that you haven't we want to divide with you. I have the material for making soap; come over and help make it and we will divide.' Whether this kind act had any- thing to do with their friendship or not, I assure you they were fast friends all their lives. They visited each other, their neigh- bors, and the sick and needy. Everyone seemed delighted to have new comers and worked for one another's interest. The In- dians were quite numerous, passing along the road in squads of two to twenty. You may imagine how a boy of ten would feel after hearing all about the depredations the Indians had committed the past two years. It so hap- pened one day in my father's absence that I went down near the road to eut some wood out of a large oak top. We had an old dog, Rover, in some respects like Mary's lamb : wherever I went he was sure to go. He was lying near where I was chopping and all at once commeneed growling, his hair standing on end. I told him to be quiet, but I knew that something was up. I commenced look- ing abont and soon discovered two big Indians coming down the road, with feathers in cap, and with tomahawks and scalping knives in their belts. With not much time to think, I bade the old dog be quiet and settled down in the top of the tree, hoping to avoid their notice until they passed. But when they got
opposite where I was one of them straightened up and pulled ont a sealping knife. I went out of that tree like a jack rabbit; out ran the old dog; and my hat and everything else landed into the shanty, half way across the room. My mother said, 'What's the matter with thee?' 'Two big Indians; I guess they have scalped me.' The Indians were quite docile, except when they had firewater; then they would pass along the road in single file no matter what their number was, whooping and yelling, with their ponies at full speed. We soon became accustomed to them and had but little fear. Many of their wigwams were very attractive, lined with furs of different kinds and fancy blankets, the squaws sitting on robes doing faney work, with papooses lashed to boards hanging to a limb or leaning against a tree, and the older children frisking about, practicing with bow and arrow, jump- ing or running raees. The surroundings seemed the height of contentment and they acted very friendly, but would never invite you inside."
The following extract is from a paper by Judge Lucius Hubbard, read by him in the publie hall at New Carlisle a few years ago: "The first record I find of white settlers in Olive township was in 1830. In that year quite a colony seems to have arrived, for I hear of Jacob and Israel Rush, John, Bar- zilla and Gamaliel Druliner, John JJacob and Paul Egbert Jacob and Joseph Adams, Sam- nel Garwood, Charles Vail, Garrett and Henry Nickerson, Wm. White and John Carskaddon.
"In the same year, 1830, an act of the leg- islature had formed St. Joseph county, and as the law then stood it was governed by a board of three justices. The board of jus- tices divided the county into four townships, Michigan, Deschemin, German and Portage. What is now Olive, was in Deschemin, taking a strip of Laporte county on the west.
"The year 1832 was an eventful one in the history of Olive township. The board of com- missioners reorganized the township and laid it out under its present name. Charles Vail
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
had married Olive Stanton and this was the first marriage among the white settlers, and to her was given the honor of fixing her name upon the new township.
"In June, 1832, the Black Hawk war broke out. We can hardly realize the fear and trouble it brought upon our old settlers. It may seem strange to us now, that less than one thousand poorly armed Sacs and Foxes in western Illinois could awaken such fears as they did in the summer of 1832.
"But this was when Fort Dearborn and half a dozen log huts were all of what is now Chicago, and when five hundred volunteers were all that could be mustered in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Black Hawk was no stranger. He had often led his tribe along the Sauk trail that is now the road through Terre Coupee on his way to Malden, Michigan, to receive the government annui- ties. Then northern Indiana was still the home of the Pottawatomies, and to the north, in Michigan, the Ottawas were still numerous and powerful. It was not then as now that the news was flashed across the continent by. telegraph, or that we could talk hundreds of miles over a wire.
"The tale of the frightened and fleeing settlers. its horrors as it sped from cabin to cabin, uncontradicted, until in the imagina- tion of the fearful, the whoop of the savage was heard borne on the night wind and the smoke of burning dwellings was seen in the west by day. This is no exaggeration. At one time the report came that the Sacs had reached Door Village, in Laporte county, and that they were burning houses and murdering settlers on their way east. Many fled to Ohio. One fugitive had stopped to pass the night at Samuel Garwood's. Some mischiev- ous or badly scared traveler spread a report that the Indians were coming. At midnight he huddled his half-dressed wife and children into his wagon and hurried on. I have spoken of this to mention the only fort or military erection of any kind ever built in
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