USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, Volume I > Part 13
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* Sullivan was incorporated as a town government December S. 1853, by act of the county commissioners, who at that date were William Beard, Levi Maxwell and Jacob Hoke. The population within the corporation limits at that time were enumerated as 350, and the signers of the petition for incorporation, which was dated August 20, 1853, were the following, who may be considered in the light of charter citizens: John J. Thompson, H. S. Hanchett, Robert M. Griffith, John . Richards. James Martin, John Bridwell, William C. McBride, Elias Walls, H. S. Orr. Alfred Turner, Alex Talley, William P. Hale, James McKinley, John T. Turner, Thomas J. Carey, John T. Gunn, William E. Catlin, B. Hasselback, William Wilson, Chester O. Davis, James W. Hinkle, John Eaton, James H. Chase, Craven Reed, S. O. Reed, G. W. A. Luzader, C. W. Eaton, Squire MeDonald, John B. Hughs, M. E. Chave, James H. Reid, B. C. Sherman, Pleast. Miller, E. Bowyer, Alex. Snow, Daniel Brickey, John S. Davis, Milburn Reed, Eli Shepherd, Andrew Turner, S. Nichols, J. P. S. Reed, W. N. Humphreys, B. V. Wible, Benja- min Stice, W. B. Ogle, A. McIntosh, G. W. Hanchett, W. Griffith, Isaac Copeland. John E. Lloyd, M. Kirkham, William R. Benton, Isaac Stewart, L. H. S. Orr, James McIntosh, B. H. McGrew.
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whom business or pleasure led abroad at night, were the only illumination out of doors. The town pump in the public square and the wells and cisterns in private homes were the only sources of water supply. The slops and garbage were disposed of after the fashion of each individual home, and while each citizen had ample space about his doors it was not a matter of grave concern whether his home and premises were strictly sanitary.
But in time, as population increased and as the sense of responsibility of the individual to the community grew, all these matters began to receive attention, and it is a subject of considerable interest to trace the gradual evolution of the present municipality through the many stages of public sentiment and custom.
One of the earliest references to be found concerning the municipal condition of the town is contained in the issue of the Democrat for November 24, 1864, and pertains especially to the town burying ground (which was still in the town limits). The citizens were accused of a most lamentable deficiency in public spirit. "Our graveyard (though the public commons in which our dead are interred does not merit the name) has never been enclosed ; hogs wallow above the neglected graves; cattle roam through it and eat off what little shrubbery the hands of affection have planted there ; no care is taken to protect the stones and monuments from defacement, and the graves are huddled together without order and in utter confusion." A few citizens had made repeated efforts to convene the public and get some action on the matter, but so far without success.
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The sidewalks were also declared to be a matter of reproach to the
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town. A year or two ago, said the editor, a few temporary plank walks had been constructed on several leading thoroughfares, but they were imperfectly made at first and have now become almost worthless. The schoolhouse was called "a complete old rookery," which had never been suitably arranged and had now become almost worthless.
The next items that are found relating to the status of the town are more optimistic. A letter that was quoted under date of December, 1864, vaunted the population of Sullivan to be about 3,000, and summarized its business as comprising the well filled stores of eleven merchants, three jewelry shops, two merchant tailors, mechanics of all kinds, three hotels, one flouring mill, sawmill and woolen factory and a steam stave and heading factory. In October, 1865, the editor finds the sidewalks and streets to have been put in good order, and a new fence had been built around the court house. It is stated that the town officials have deter- mined that there shall be an equal number of schoolhouses and churches, but the saloon-keepers, not to be outdone in this regard, have called for two more saloons, so that there might be four churches, four school- houses and eight saloons.
At a meeting of the town board June 5, 1866, A. F. Estabrook was employed as town engineer to survey and fix the uniform grade of the streets. Work on the streets had hitherto been done under the direction of the supervisors, and the same amount required of each poll. Now it was proposed to put a commissioner in charge and to tax the inhabitants for street maintenance according to their property values. Evidently the year following tlie close of the war witnessed considerable improve- ment of the streets. In October, 1866, it was stated that within the pre-
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vious three months about 4,000 feet of plank walks, four feet wide and uniform in appearance and grade, had been constructed, and that on the business streets 2,500 square yards of brick pavement had been laid. A short time before the sidewalks to the railroad station had been completed.
Some new phases of the street improvement question appear to have arisen during the seventies. A paragraph in August, 1878. calls attention to the fact that a few days before some hogs had been turned into the court house yard to act as scavengers in cleaning up the large quantity of decaying rinds and remnants of melons with which the ground was littered. A few months later public sentiment seems to have been aroused against the running at large of hogs. In June, 1880, the Democrat estimates that not less than five hundred hogs were running loose in town without rings in their noses, contrary to the ordinances in such eases. A little earlier in the year a doubt had been expressed whether the town council had the power to prevent by ordinance hogs at large. Their ordinance required that hogs at large should have rings in the nose, but provided no penalty of impounding for animals without the rings. So far as regarded the littering of the court yard with melon rinds, the council imposed a fine of five dollars for eating melons in the square. which proved effectual.
Cows shared the privileges of the public streets with hogs. The ordinance prohibiting cows running at large was unpopular with many. and in March, 1882, the board was asked to repeal it. There was much discussion of this matter during the following summer, but the ordinance seems to have fallen into desuetude since during the winter months com- plaints were heard from the farmers who had made their wagons and
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sleds comfortable with linings of straw that during their absence in the stores stray cows browsed along the line of vehicles and stripped them of all their forage contents. The cows and hogs continued to have their freedom for a year or more, until in July, 1885, a stock ordinance was passed and a pound was built on the north side of the engine house, after which the subject of strays ceases to attract attention.
The first attempt to sprinkle the streets of Sullivan seems to have been made during the very dry summer of 1864. when the merchants around the square tried to use some sort of sprinkler for that purpose. though the scarcity of water rendered the effort almost futile. No evidence of street sprinkling is found until the summer of 1879, when an item states that a machine was to be started by Gilbert Bond.
One of the first subjects to demand the attention of a town community is facilities for fighting fire. Fire being the greatest destructive agency that threatens property, it is naturally the first to be guarded against. In fact, public sanitation and comfort generally receive attention only after a community has advanced far in civic importance, but a fire depart- ment of some sort is always among the first institutions. In a rural com- munity fire brings loss to but one individual, but the business interests of a town require that buildings shall be placed on adjacent lots, so that a fire at one point endangers the entire adjoining neighborhood. Thus it is to the interest of the entire town that a fire be extinguished quickly. and for that purpose organization and discipline become necessary. In the early stages of a town's growth this organization is usually voluntary, and though the spirit of willingness is seldom absent, effectiveness is sometimes sacrificed.
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Thus during the first years of Sullivan's existence, a fire brought the citizens together with buckets, which were used to carry water from the nearest well. A fire well started could seldom be quenched by such methods, and it was fortunate if the blaze could be kept from spreading.
Sullivan has a long record of destructive fires, and the organization and equipment for fire fighting have never seemed to be adequate for the occasion. No account can be given of the earlier efforts at co-operation in preventing fires, and aside from the purchase of a few ladders and other supplies of a primitive sort there was no organized system in the town until within comparatively recent years. In January, 1870, a meet- ing was held at the court house, presided over by Lafayette Stewart, for the organization of a hook and ladder company, but the movement did not succeed. A paragraph in the Democrat in 1879 says: "The damage to the Van Fossen and Hunt property, both burned recently, is enough to purchase the best hook and ladder apparatus in the state." The ladders that had formerly been purchased were lost.
In January, 1882, a petition was circulated, asking the town board to issue bonds to the amount of $7,000 for the purchase of a fire engine and other apparatus, to build cisterns, and to purchase property in which to keep the apparatus and the street tools. The purchase of some hose and a building on Main street during the following summer shows that the agitation had resulted in some good. The hand engine which was ordered, however, was refused by the town board in April, 1883, and it is probable that the town continued without apparatus for a year or two longer. In June, 1885, the board paid five hundred dollars for a lot west of the McCammon Hotel (which is still the site of the engine house). An issue
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of bonds ($6,000) had been ordered, and were sold to a Sullivan County bank at a premium after the council had provided that interest on them should be paid semi-annually. The next month, plans and specifications for the engine house and city hall, as prepared by Kent Coulson, were accepted by the council, and a contract let to Hoke & Co. for the building at $1.942. The contract for building fire cisterns was awarded to Ben Hubbard, who began digging them at the corners of the square. About the same time a hand engine arrived, and a steamer was ordered from Cincinnati ($2,650). It was guaranteed that twelve men could pull the engine without difficulty, that it could pump fourteen barrels a minute. Two hose carts and 1,200 feet of hose were also bought. On August 31st the town board selected Elliott Hamill for chief of the fire depart- ment. Ben Briggs was chosen captain of the fire company and Charles Crawley first lieutenant, while John Glass became foreman of the hook and ladder. January 12, 1886, is chronicled the arrival of the first steam fire engine in Sullivan. Ed Devol was chosen engineer.
Little improvements were made in the town fire department from this time until the building of the water works. The establishment of water works is a notable event in the history of every town. While a center of population consists of little more than a collection of individual homes and the stores, churches and schoolhouses, every detached dwelling may have its well, and the town pump affords a general supply. While people live without crowding, after the manner of a village, there is slight danger of contagious disease, and sanitation is left largely to individual care. But as population increases and concentrates, there comes the necessity to take more and more the care of these details from the individuals and
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entrust them to the collective management of the community. This is done for the better health, the greater convenience and comfort, and, in the end, the superior economy of all who live in the community.
October 29, 1895, a petition of more than a hundred Sullivan tax- payers was filed, asking for an election to take the sense of the town on the subject of increasing the municipal debt for the purpose of establish- ing water works. The following November 22d the citizens voted on this question, casting 267 votes for and 197 votes against the proposition. Early in the following year a civil engineer was employed to prepare plans, which were adopted by the council on the 18th of March. In May supple- mentary specifications were adopted for the dam across the Busseron, and on June 4th the council entered into a contract with the Howe Pump and Engine Company for the construction of the plant. The latter undertook to construct a complete system of water works according to the plans, to hold the town harmless from all damages in case of overflow, to procure the consent of the county commissioners to dam the Busseron. The contract also provided for the formation of a water company, to procure all real estate, right of way, and to purchase and pay for all material to the amount of $18,000, as specified, and to issue bonds to the amount of $18,000 on the property and franchises, and eventually all the property of the water company was to be conveyed to the town of Sullivan and also all the company's stock fully paid up. For the establishment of water works, the town board issued bonds to the amount of $22,000, with interest at five per cent payable semiannually.
Under this contract the company at once began the work of con- struction. In August, 1896, the Democrat reported the failure of the
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Howe Pump Company, through a "flattening out" of the market for municipal bonds, of which the company had a large amount on hand, and the work was suspended for some time, leaving the streets in a damaged condition. The plant was finally completed, the total cost being $41,857.61. The cost was more than the constitutional limit of municipal indebtedness allowed, and it was for the purpose of evading this limitation that a private company was organized, known as the Sullivan Water Works Company, which took title to the property and franchises and gave a mortgage on the system for $18,000.
In a few years the water works were found to be inadequate, and the supply was insufficient and of poor quality. In 1901 private capitalists offered to buy the municipal plant and assume the bonded debt, promising to furnish an ample supply of pure water. The town found that it was operating the plant at a loss of one thousand dollars yearly. Various proposals have been made within the past few years by private companies to buy the plant and supplement the supply either by wells or by bringing water from the Wabash. In the winter of 1902-03 the town sunk a well which it was estimated yielded about 350 gallons a minute, but this was insufficient. In 1905, the Commercial Club offered a solution of the problem. It organized the Sullivan Water Works Co., which was to assume the franchises, property and debts of the municipal plant, in return for which the town should retain a controlling share of the stock of the company. Much enthusiasm was aroused over this enterprise, and the Commercial Club undertook, with much energy, to carry out the details of the plan. However, the test wells at New Lebanon and else- where, which were expected to furnish the water supply, proved dis-
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appointing, and the decision of the supreme court, early in January, 1906, that the mortgage on the water plant constituted a part of the town indebt- edness, blocked the way for all the improvements planned by the town board. The available credit as a result of the decision was reduced to $12,500 instead of $25,000, upon which basis the board had proposed the improvements.
At this writing the water works problem is still before the people of Sullivan. During the drouth of 1908 only the most stringent regula- tions of the use of city water maintained a sufficient quantity of water in the standpipe to afford fire protection. This failure of the system, how- ever. cannot be charged entirely to the plant, since the severity of the season was such that few towns in the state escaped water famine.
Until about twenty years ago, the streets of Sullivan were as dark as the highways of the country. An item dated in August, 1883. records the failure of an effort to induce the business men to procure lamps to light the streets in front of their stores, but only two firms adopted the suggestion.
Early in 1888 the lighting of the streets began to receive more serious consideration. By that time electricity had become popular as a source of municipal lighting, and it is of interest that Sullivan was among the most progressive towns of the state to use this kind of lights. In April of this year a local company contracted with the town board to supply thirty lights for the streets, at $208.33 per month, and in the following July the company arranged for the construction of the power house on the west side of Court street, near the mill pond. The plant was completed, the dynamos installed, and on October 8th a public test of the lights was
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made, which took the form of a celebration, large crowds of people gathering on the streets, entertained by music from the Sullivan band, and with speeches delivered from the band stand by Judge Buff, John S. Bays, John T. Hays, and John T. Beasley. The electric light company had not carried out its contract without considerable opposition. After the contract had been made between the company and the town board, suit was commenced to enjoin the town treasurer from collecting the tax. Meantime the company had bought its plant, commenced building the engine house, putting up poles. When Crowder and McCammon forbade the company to dig holes in the pavement near the bank and hotel, the company replied by seeking an injunction to prevent these parties filling up the holes, etc.
The contract between the company and town expired at the end of 1893, and in anticipation of a renewal of the contract a new company was formed and erected a plant to supply the town with arc lights for street lighting. The new company offered thirty arc lights to the town for $50 each, which was a saving of over thirty dollars per lamp over the former price. The plant was completed and a test of the lights made in April, 1894. Two months later the new company had failed, the engine and equipment being replevined by the firms which had installed them. The town could not agree with the old company on satisfactory terms for arc lights, and in September contracted with Noah Crawford to furnish lights at $63 each, the contract to run seven years, including the remaining four years of the contract with Mr. Cluggage, of the company which had failed. In May, 1901, the Sullivan Light, Heat and Power Company purchased the Citizens Electric Light and Power Company, which was the company Vol. I-12
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owned and controlled by Mr. Crawford, the consideration being $10,000. Both companies had continued in competition until that time, but the plants were now consolidated. In April, 1907, Michael McMonan, of Sullivan, and C. R. McGaughey, of Brazil, purchased the electrict light plant, and after operating it for less than a year, on petition of William F. Poole, the plant was put into receivership in February, 1908.
Sullivan Schools.
The old county seminary was a central institution of the school sys- tem at Sullivan for many years, and the building was used for the town schools long after it was sold by the county authorities. The public funds were insufficient to support free schools more than three or four months each year, and during the remaining months of the year some teacher would usually conduct a private school. Mrs. Jane Booth was one of the teachers of the fifties and sixties who taught both public and private schools. For the fall term of public school in 1864 Mrs. Booth was chosen principal ; Miss Lizzie Moore, first assistant ; Miss Dora Brouillette, second assistant, and Miss Laura Parks, primary.
The seminary building was hardly habitable at the close of the war, and there was not enough money to pay for repairs and the maintenance of school, too. Yet the district was unable to provide better accommoda- tions for several years. The seminary building was last used during the year 1871-72, when a free school of seven months was taught, with 434 pupils enrolled, and one principal and five assistants.
In 1872 school was first taught in the new building. That year was also notable for the removal of Professor Crawford's seminary from
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Farmersburg to Sullivan. The public schools and the normal department were conducted together for several years, but this arrangement, although it brought a large number of students here from out of town, proved a burden upon the common schools, and the partnership between Ascension Seminary and the public schools was dissolved.
O. J. Craig was selected as superintendent of the schools in 1880, and for the first time in the history of the town there was promise of sufficient funds to continue the public schools for nine months. In May, 1882, the first class was graduated from the Sullivan high school, consisting of James R. Riggs, Addison E. McEneny and C. R. Hinkle.
The school accommodations became very inadequate during the decade of the nineties. In May, 1901, the citizens defeated by a vote of 327 to 297 a proposition to issue $20,000 in bonds for the building of a new schoolhouse. But in January, 1904, an overwhelming majority was given in favor of the erection of a high school building, and in the follow- ing September the cornerstone of this building was laid. Sullivan now has excellent school buildings, both ward and high school.
Sullivan Landmarks.
By the processes of time, decay and fire and ruin, our American towns_quickly cover up the past, and in Sullivan it is hardly possible to find any buildings that bear the dignified marks of old age. The court house itself is the oldest building of any note, having stood at the center of the square for more than a half century.
In December, 1878, fire destroyed the old National House, about which many of the early associations of visitors to Sullivan gathered. It
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had been in existence since shortly after the founding of the town, and had known various proprietors, Squire Van Fossen being the last.
The Hotel McCammon, which was recently burned, was of much later date than the National. It is stated that at the formal opening of this hotel, February 14, 1882, nearly all the business men and leading citizens of town were invited to a sumptuous dinner.
The two-story building on the east side of the square, with its double balconies, was built by Dr. Coffman in 1897, an old frame building being removed from the site.
The Davis House, which is the most modern hotel of the town, was built by the Davis brothers, the plans being accepted in the summer of 1897 and construction work begun shortly afterwards. Its ground dimen- sions were 90 by 35 feet, and it was designed to have 48 sleeping rooms on the second and third floors. The front is of stone and pressed brick.
The business block on the south side of the square, which was subject to the ravages of the fire of January, 1909, was built more than thirty-five years before. The laying of the foundation of this block, according to an item of September, 1873, was commemorated with a salute of thirteen guns, one for each business house in the row. The salute was in charge of Colonel McBride, chief of the local artillery corps.
To those who have been familiar with the growth of buildings about the square, the following paragraph from the Democrat of May 13, 1884, will prove of some interest: The store room now occupied by T. K. Sherman & Son was the first brick business house in Sullivan. It was built by William Wilson. It has been remodeled for its present purposes,
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large plate glass windows put in, vestibules and side lights, and handsome walnut doors.
The passing of another landmark drew forth the following comment from Mr. Briggs in the issue of June 28, 1876: The old tavern on the corner of Section and Washington streets is being torn down, the present proprietor, James B. Patten, intending to remodel the main building and to move off the attachments. At an early day this locality was a focus of business and trade. Mr. Gray had a store house on the opposite corner, and John Bridwell a store on the west side of Section street, while the Bamberger store was on the corner south. When we first knew the tavern Mr. Dufficy was proprietor, and it was then in its palmiest days. Afterwards it passed into the hands of Maguire, who opened a bar in the office, and later Squire Van Fossen conducted it semi-occasionally until within the last few years, when it failed to pay.
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