USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > A history of the formation, settlement and development of Hamilton County, Indiana, from the year 1818 to the close of the Civil War > Part 2
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The settlement up to this time had not been increas- ing in number very fast. People had been waiting for the land to come upon the market. The pioneers were moving along in the old routes-some of them wearing their moccasins and some their buckskin breeches. A few of them had begun to tan cow hides and hog skins
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by the oak bark process. This was done by securing a large trough, bark was stripped from oak trees, water put into the trough, skins soaked, hair taken off, and the skins then laid in the water, with a layer of bark pounded as fine as it could be, between each piece of hice. This bark was replaced by fresh bark at intervals of about four weeks until the hides were tanned. This changing process, however, never occurred in the win- ter season. In this way the first leather ever made by actual settlers in Hamilton County was made in this first settlement.
The living of the pioneers at this time was some- what improved. They relied upon corn for bread, wild game and fish for meat and on butter, milk and vege- tables.
About this time Josiah F. Polk, a lawyer from the East, came to this settlement, or rather to the trading post, kept by William Conner. He and Mr. Conner concluded that the county seat would be located at or near the present site of the city of Noblesville. So they entered all of the land necessary for such location, in order that they would be in a condition to offer induce- ments by way of donations for public buildings and the like. Subsequent events proved the correctness of their views.
At this time the nearest cabin to the present site of Noblesville was the cabin of James Willason, situated at the mouth of Stony Creek, one mile south. During
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the latter part of this year many persons from the East came here for the purpose of examining into the condi- tion of the country, quality of the land, and future prospects, with the view of entering the land, if condi- tions were favorable.
CHAPTER II.
The Second Settlement.
William Conner. George Shirts and Charles Lacy settled in what is now Delaware Township, but they were in the settlement known as the Horseshoe prairie settlement. In 1822 Josiah Brooks, Michael Wise, Peter Wise, Silas Moffitt, William Wilkinson, John S. Heaton, Aquilla Cross, Joseph Eller and John Deer entered land below the William Conner place near the river and on both sides of it. Ben-Hur Park is situated upon the land entered by Joseph Eller. In 1823 these persons, and probably some others, formed a settle- ment on both sides of the river, extending from the Eller and Moffitt land almost to the south line of the county.
Moffitt's land was immediately opposite the Eller land, but was on the west side of the river. The river cut this settlement in halves, but the settlers overcame
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this by the use of the old-fashioned canoe. When the river was too high to ford communication was kept up by using the several canoes owned in the settlement. The men forming the settlement were all farmers, and they gave their entire attention to erecting buildings for their own protection and the protection of their stock, and in clearing and fencing their ground. Their manner of living was about the same as other pioneers who came before and after them. They depended upon the corn crib for bread and on the forest and streams for meat, their cows for milk and butter, and their gar- dens for vegetables. From this time on until 1825 the following list of names was added: Thomas Barrow, 1823; Colonel Daniel Heaton, 1824; Thomas Morris and Abraham Williams in 1825.
A notable incident in connection with this township was the business relation and its dissolution between William Conner and his Indian wife. Mr. Conner had been married to his Indian wife at the time the Govern- ment bought the lands of her tribe. It was said that she was a daughter of an Indian chief and Conner had dealt with them and made a great deal of money. When the tribe to which Conner's wife belonged removed to the West, Conner's wife went with them. It has been said that she was attired the nicest of any of the Indians and that she owned and took with her sixty ponies. It was also said that these ponies constituted a part at least of the division of the property between them, but there
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must have been other considerations. Two sons had been born to them during their married life. The plat- book of land entries for Hamilton County shows that over 600 acres of land were entered in the name of Wil- liam Conner and his heirs by an Indian wife. This would indicate a business arrangement between them at the time of their separation.
I here note that George Ketcham, an Indian chief, remained in Delaware Township. For some years after the removal of most of the other Indians a part of his tribe remained with him. Of him I will have more to say hereafter.
A Frenchman by the name of Brennett settled near what is now known as the south line of Hamilton County. Before the Indians sold their land he was an Indian trader, and made a great deal of money. He remained at the post until Ketcham and his Indians removed, but he was never considered in connection with the white people, who came for permanent occu- pancy. His purpose was to make money and to get away with it.
Other notable events happened within the period of which I have written in connection with this township, viz: The opening of the Winchester State Road from Fort Wayne to William Conner's, where it intersected a road running from William Conner's house to Indi- anapolis; the starting of a horse mill and distillery by William Conner and the killing of one of the pioneers
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of this settlement, he being thrown off his horse during a race.
No schools were taught or churches held in this township until 1829, and no mills were built within this period. These will be noticed in their order as to time.
This settlement was formed with a view to benefits. Each settlement put their forces together in the erec- tion of buildings, rolling logs, and any and all work that required more force than belonged to the pioneer own- ing the land where the work was to be done. They were also banded together as a rule for mutual protec- tion and for school and church purposes. This settle- ment, however, did not differ in these respects from other settlements in the county. Of this township and the people who settled therein I will have more to say later on.
CHAPTER III.
Clearing the Forest.
The east line of Hamilton County is crossed by White River near the town of Perkinsville, and the river runs west on the north side of Strawtown and con- tinues to flow to the west for some distance after pass- ing Strawtown, then its course is a little west of south
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to the south line of Hamilton County, passing into Marion County at the north line of what was once known as the Stipp farm.
The first settlers in this county found numerous small prairies on either side of White River. They also found a few old Indian fields not far from the river. Prior to the year 1822 these places were fenced in, im- proved and cultivated by the pioneers and others. Cabins were built near by and when the land came into the market this land was the first land entered, and if the pioneers were not in a position to enter them, others more fortunate did so.
Up to this time no organized effort had been made to attack the forest, but the time was at hand for this attack to be made. So, soon after the land came into market the pioneers who had failed to enter the lands upon which they had at first settled, and others who came in for permanent settlement, entered lands farther from the river, covered with a heavy growth of timber. A site for the cabin was selected and the cabin built. These cabins were built the same as the cabins hereto- fore described. Then the work of conquering the for- est began. This was done by selecting the portion or part of the land to be afterwards cultivated. The timber upon such portion of the land as was intended to be cleared, except so much as it was proper to reserve as rail timber or building timber, was deadened or girdled. The settlers as a rule had no money to
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spend upon improvements, so that the work in building houses and stables was done by the settler and his family. The heavy work, such as erecting buildings and rolling logs, was done by the pioneers joining forces and helping each other. It was frequently the case that the pioneers in this exchange of work would be re- quired to travel from three to four miles from home. After the timbers that had been deadened began to die and decay, the pioneer and his sons cut this timber smooth. Then fires were built upon the bodies of the fallen trees about eight feet apart. These fires were kept up until the logs were burned through, rolling lengths. Then the work of rolling the logs into heaps began. This was a heavy job. The pioneers were known to put in from ten to thirty days each in this kind of work in one season. After the logs had been rolled into heaps the business of picking the brush and trash left on the ground began. This was, as a rule, a tedious .and laborious job. Such work frequently extended until late into the night, and it was not uncommon or unusual to see the pioneers' wives assisting their hus- bands in this work. When we reflect that these pioneer cabins were built upon forty, eighty or one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land, with not a stick amiss, except what had been taken for the buildings, it would seem to be a hopeless task to convert it into farming lands. Yet by perseverance and patience in time it was done. These early settlers also had to con-
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tend with the wild animals found in the forests. Bears, wolves and panthers were pleuty and were a constant menace to the fowls and young stock, and even small children were liable to attacks from some of them. Hundreds of acts of heroism could be recorded in be- half of the pioneer men, women, boys and girls in repelling the attacks of these wild beasts, some of which will be noticed in this work as they occurred.
CHAPTER IV.
Hunting.
In the early days of which I am writing there was plenty of hard work for all to do. There was, however, but little immediate reward, and there was but little money in the country to be had. Beeswax, ginseng, deer hams, deer and coon skins being the only articles of trade. The children of the pioneers large enough to go from home were found in the woods with their "sang hoes," looking into every corner for the plant at the proper season in the year. The ginseng was car- ried home, washed clean and dried. It was then ready for market. The ginseng root was then, and is now, quite valuable, but we did not then know its full value.
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A very valuable medicine is now manufactured from it.
Bees were very plentiful in the woods in those early days. Many of them had not been disturbed in the trees where they had made their home for years, and when found they were very rich. The honey was taken in the comb. The honey was pressed out and the comb made into wax. This was quite an industry. Bees were sometimes found by means of bear scratches made by the bears in climbing the trees in search of honey. The most usual way was to put out bait, and when the bees came to the bait their course, when they left, was taken and an experienced bee hunter had but little difficulty in finding their tree.
The raccoon was taken as a rule at the proper sea- son (that is, when the fur was good) by means of a pole trap. These traps were made by securing two poles from twelve to fifteen feet long and trimmed to near the top. \ log was found leading into a pond where frogs were usually found and the poles were then laid across the top of the log, one on top of the other. Two stakes were then driven into the ground near the log and near the poles. The stakes were then tied together at the top so as to prevent the top pole from slipping from its position. AA sufficient weight was placed upon the bushy tops of the poles to keep them from turning. Then a set of triggers were prepared and a string tied to one of the stakes. The other end of the string was attached to the trigger holding up the top pole. Then
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a weight was placed on the top pole sufficient to hold a coon if one should be caught. The string attached to the trigger, when the trap was set, would cover the en- tire log. So the 'coon, when undertaking to get to the frogs in the pond by using the log, would be compelled to cross over this string, and in so doing the trap would be thrown and the 'coon would be caught between the poles and thus fall into the hands of the trapper.
The process of capturing the deer was much more laborious and difficult. In the pioneer days the woods were full of deer. They had their haunts, their feeding ground and their trails. They usually passed from point to point in large droves and when pursued ran in a circle, coming back to the same point. The hunter had more than one mode of taking or capturing the deer. One mode was by fire hunting on water at night; one method was by salt lick ; still another was by the use of trained ponies, and another by running them down with men and dogs.
My father had a pony named Dick trained to assist in taking the deer. A bell was buckled or fastened around Dick's neck before starting for the woods. The bowl of this bell was stuffed with dry grass to keep the bell from rattling until the proper time came. My father would then mount the pony, with gun, shot- pouch, powder-horn, tomahawk and hunting knife. Then they would pass into the woods and my father, knowing the haunts of the deer, would ride directly
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toward them until he would come upon them. He would then dismount, pull the grass from the bowl of the bell, and Dick, as he had been trained to do, would com- mence shaking his head and thereby ring the bell. The deer on hearing the bell would invariably stop and stare at the pony, and whilst this was going on my father was seeking a point from which he could make a sure shot. When this was found he would shoot. If his shot proved fatal the dead deer would be hung upon a limb of a sapling and the chase after the drove would be con- tinued. When the deer were overtaken or headed off the pony was there to ring the bell, and thus enable the hunter to get another shot. This process was continued during the day and it frequently happened that at the end of the day's work the hunter would have as many as five deer hanging up to be brought home the next day.
The deer lick process was as follows: The hunter deposited salt in a suitable spot where the deer would be sure to find it. The hunter continued this deposit of salt until the deer became accustomed to visiting the spot, which they usually did after night. Then the hunter would build a scaffold and platform in a tree near by, so that when he wished to "stalk" the deer, as it was called, he would build a fire so as to put the lick between the fire and the platform in the near by tree. Then the hunter would seat himself on the platform in the tree and await the coming of the deer. When the
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deer came to the lick it would be directly in line with the fire, so the hunter would be able to shoot with as much accuracy as though it had been daylight, and he usually brought down his game. Unlike the panther, the deer was not afraid of the fire, and was not dis- turbed by it.
The fire hunt was as follows: The hunter secured a large-sized canoe made from a tree, with solid front and rear. In the front a large hole was bored and a stout upright about two feet long inserted, upon which a frame or network of iron ribs was fastened and upon this frame a bright fire was kept burning during the hunt. Thus prepared, and with plenty of fuel in the canoe, a good pole and paddle, a trusty rifle and two trained dogs, the hunter was ready for a start. Usually the canoe was paddled or poled up the stream as far as the hunter wished to go, then the dogs were sent into the woods and the canoe was turned so that the light would be in advance and the canoe was then allowed to drift with the current. The business of the dogs was to scare up the deer. The deer when scared up in the night almost invariably made for the river, there to be shot down by the hunter. The hunter was very quiet after his canoe was turned, listening intently for the barking of the dogs. Finally he would hear the wel- come sound and would prepare himself for the onset. When the deer drew near enough to the river to see the light it would almost always proceed directly toward it,
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and this was the hunter's opportunity. These hunts occurred in the fall of the year. Deer were sometimes found in the river at night eating moss. As a rule this kind of hunting was a success.
The next and last usual way of hunting deer was as follows: The hunter, with one or two trained dogs, made his way into the forest in the direction of the haunts of the deer. When a deer or drove of deer was found, the first opportunity was taken to shoot. When a gun was fired the dogs, although excited and eager for the chase, remained at the heels of the hunter. If the shot was a success the deer was hung up as hereto- fore stated. If the shot was only a partial success and the deer only wounded, then the dogs were told to go, and the hunter followed the dogs. It was the business of the dogs to overtake the wounded deer and hold it at bay until the hunter could overtake them, when a second shot was fired.
In the pioneer days success in deer hunting was im- portant for many reasons. Before hog culture became a success the meat was necessary to supply the table. The hams were hung in the rude smoke-house, after being salted, and then smoked just as our hams are smoked now. Sometimes these hams were sold to tavern keepers for a good price. The skins were used and utilized in many ways. Moccasins, leather breeches, vests and hunting shirts were made from them, as well as mats of different kinds. Properly dressed and
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stretched, they were always ready sale to the traders. I have seen in early spring, on many occasions, the smoke-houses of the pioneers filled with hams. 'Coon skins, as a rule, were dressed, stretched and properly cured and then sold to the traders. Caps for men and boys were sometimes made from 'coon skins. It was said in those days that 'coon and deer skins were a legal tender for all debts. The mink and muskrat came in for their share, but the muskrat was not so valuable as the mink. Mink were taken in steel traps and what was called deadfalls. These traps were baited with some kind of fresh meat, birds being the best. 475872 The rule governing the ownership of wild hogs was this: The pioneer, fortunate enough to own hogs, marked his hogs and turned them into the woods. It was not safe for any one who purposely killed a hog that did not bear his mark without the consent of the owner. A man by the name of Smith, in this early day, claimed to be the owner of hogs running at large in the woods. \ good snow had fallen in the winter and Smith approached a man by the name of Brook, who was a good hunter, and proposed hiring him to hunt and kill his (Smith's) hogs. A price was agreed upon, but Brooks had one provision in the contract, which was that Smith was to give Brooks his mark. The pre- liminaries being arranged, these parties made their way into the timber in search of hogs. They had passed two or three droves when they came to one that Smith
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claimed was his. Brooks made an earnest effort to find Smith's mark, but failed to find it, and refused to shoot. So they passed on. They came across several droves luring the day, but as Brook could not discover the proper mark, he refused to shoot, and at about dark they ran across another drove with the same result. Smith, by this time, was thoroughly out of humor, and with an oath told Brook if he was going to be so par- ticular as all that they would get no hogs. Brook then said to Smith: "I don't believe you have any hogs in the woods, and you will pay me now for my day's work or take a thrashing." The money for the day's work was paid over and Brook refused to hunt for Smith thereafter.
As a rule the pioneers were honest. Their smoke- houses were left unlocked, and if a bee hunter found a bee tree and cut his initials on the tree it was, as a rule, safe. If a 'coon hunter treed a 'coon in the night time and would take the precaution of tying his hunting shirt, a handkerchief or any other token around it and leave his dogs at the foot of the tree, he was almost cer- tain to find the tree and 'coon undisturbed in the morn- ing. If a hunter killed a deer and hung it up in the woods he would find it there when he went after it. In a few instances, of course, these rules were violated, but if the violator were found out it was not safe for him to remain in the community. Sometimes a sound thrashing was considered the proper punishment for the offender.
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CHAPTER V.
Early Industries.
About the year 1825 Francis B. Cogswell came to Noblesville. He was a tanner by trade. He built a cabin on the corner of Sixth and Logan Streets. This cabin was on the east side of Sixth Street. On the west side of the street, opposite this cabin, the lot extended to the river bank. On this last named lot Cogswell established a tanyard. A wooden wheel was made to turn in a circle. A sweep was attached to this wheel to which a horse was hitched to turn the wheel. A floor was laid in the circle. Upon this floor tanbark well cured was laid, then the wheel was started over the bark and kept going until the bark was sufficiently pulverized to use in the vats prepared for that purpose. This wheel was used for some time, but was discontinued and a cast mill used in its stead. The process of tanning has heretofore been stated except that the vat has not been described. This vat was constructed as follows : A hole was dug in the ground about three and a half feet deep, six feet long and four feet wide, with square ends. Then a bottom was laid of two-inch oak planks, closely fit, then the vat was sided up in the same manner and with the same material. One of these vats was
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called the lime vat. In this vat the hair was loosened by the use of lime. The lime was then all worked out of the hide by scouring in clear water. Water was then placed in the vats where the hides were to be tanned. then one-half of the hide was laid in the vat and covered with the ground bark, and so on until the vat was full.
This tanyard was one of the most useful industries of the time. Here all the hides from animals that had died and had been killed were converted into leather ; here the pioneer secured the leather to make shoes for his family ; here the settler found collars for his horses, and leather out of which bridles and harness of all kinds could be made. Cogswell sold this tanyard to Pleasant Williams.
In the year of 1826 the great emigration of squirrels occurred. The squirrels passed through this county from west to east. The number could not be estimated. The time occupied in passing was about two weeks. They destroyed all the corn in the fields they passed over. They could not be turned in their course, but kept straight on in the route taken. When they came to White River they entered the water at once and swam across. Hundreds of them were shot. Others were killed with clubs and stones. It was never known from whence they came nor where they went.
About this time James Casler started a distillery two miles below Noblesville. Pure whisky was sold there at twenty cents per gallon or ten cents per quart. The
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sporting part of the community gathered at this still house on Saturday of each week. Turkeys, deer hams. deer and 'coon skins were usually brought there and sold to men who attended shooting matches. Tickets were sold at a certain price for each shot until the price of the turkey was made up, then the best shot won the turkey. The shots were at a mark usually forty yards distant. The day was usually passed in shooting, drink- ing, foot racing, wrestling and a fist fight. This distill- ery was the nearest one to Noblesville.
In the year 1829 Robert L. Hannaman taught the first school in Noblesville. This school was in a cabin located on the southwest corner of Eighth Street and Maple Avenue. The lot is now owned by Mrs. James Haverstick. This was a subscription school. The chil- drei attending this school were small, ranging from nine to twelve years. It was the fall season of the year. This teacher opened the first drug store in Noblesville. William Davis procured the first license to sell intoxi- cating liquors in Noblesville.
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