USA > Indiana > Newton County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 23
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 23
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
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must be a public meeting of the citizens of the community to then and there declare that, from and after a certain date, hog stealing in that community would constitute and be considered a crime.
"Strange as it may seem to us now, the jury took the same view of the case that Mr. Snyder did, and the prisoner was discharged.
"About the year 1850 there was a great rush to buy up the timber lands of this part of the state. The idea then was that as soon as immigrants commenced the settlement of the prairie, the timber lands would become valuable and a source of great profit to those owning the same. With that idea in view, a great many non-residents rushed in and bought up large tracts of timber land, thereby, to some extent, at least, establishing a hindrance to the settlement of the country. Consequently it was not long until, by a law acted upon almost universally, residents had the right to go upon what was called 'speculators' lands' and take the necessary timber to improve their farms and erect their buildings, quieting the conscience. by saying, 'Others do it, and why not I ?'
ยท "About the time the timber lands were bought up, quite a large number of Swedes settled about seven miles west of Morocco, across the state line in Illinois. I want to say they proved to be a very valuable class of citizens-honest, industrious and truthful. Although they had a hard time to make a living for the first three or four years after they settled there, it was not long until they had good farms and improvements, surrounded by many of the comforts of life, amply repaying them for the privations of the first few years. When the nation needed their help, no community, according to their num- ber, furnished more or better soldiers during the Civil War, many of them serving in Indiana regiments.
"A few years after they located and the struggle for a livelihood became easier, they concluded they needed a church building, as they were a very religious people. So one winter when there was snow on the ground and sledding was good, about twenty or more started for the woods with teams and sleds to cut logs and haul them to Morocco, where there was a saw-mill. There they could have the logs sawed up into lumber, to be used in building the church.
"That same afternoon James Archibald went out to get some timber for his own use, and on arriving at a piece of timber land owned by him, north of Beaver Creek, he found some of these same Swedes busily felling trees. On reaching the point where they were at work he asked them what they were doing. They told him they were cutting logs and hauling them to the mill, as they were getting ready to build a church.
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"He said to them: 'Do you know whose land this is that you're cutting on ?'
"They replied that they did not.
"'Well,' Archibald went on, 'this is my land and I don't want you to be cutting my timber.'
"They immediately stopped work and called to their preacher, who was assisting them in the work. When he came up, one of the men told him what Mr. Archibald had said.
"The preacher replied, 'Well, men, you must stop cutting here at once.'
"Then turning to Mr. Archibald, he said, 'We are very sorry, indeed, Mr. Archibald, to have disturbed your land, as we don't want a stick of stolen timber put in our church, but we really thought this was "speculators' land."'"
MANUAL TRAINING EXHIBIT OF TODAY
CHAPTER XVII
COUNTY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
PIONEER SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY-PROMINENT EX-PUPILS OF A DISTRICT SCHOOL-THE COUNTY EXAMINERS (1861-73)- COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS (1873-1916)-THE SYSTEM OF THE PRESENT-PLAY, AS WELL AS WORK-THE SCHOOL SAVINGS BANK-THE BOYS' COUNTY CORN CLUB.
The public school system of Newton County was organized under the provisions of the State Constitution of 1851. For several previous years the settlers had established and patronized subscrip- tion schools, but it was not until 1854 that the first schoolhouse in the county was built from the public funds. In that year a small frame building was erected for educational purposes in the only town which had been platted, Morocco. It stood about a block north of the present site of the Farmers Bank and cost $300.
PIONEER SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY
"In the early part of 1853," says John Ade, who became a resident of the county at that time, "there was not a single public school building in the district now forming the county of Newton. There were several buildings used for school and meeting-house pur- poses, but they were all built by private enterprise. Some of them were built by single individuals, and all were log buildings. There was one at Morocco; one about a mile and a half west, known as the Kessler schoolhouse; one on the river, built by the Myers and Kenoyer families; one in Jackson township, near the Jabez Wright residence. There may have been one southeast of the present town of Brook. In most of these, school was taught for a short term in each year, persons in the neighborhood uniting to employ a teacher, he boarding around among the pupils, in many cases, as part pay for the services rendered. These buildings did not have a nail or any other article of iron in their composition. The floors, benches and doors were made of puncheons; wooden hinges for the doors,
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and for a light, a log would be sawed out of the side of the build- ing, and when they did not have glass, greased paper was used in place of it. The roof was made by using clapboards, about three feet long, split out of logs and held down in place by logs called 'weight poles.' When meetings were held at night, and spelling schools, it was expected that each family would bring a candle or a saucer of grease with a rag in it to furnish light for the occasion. Rude and unsatisfactory as these conditions may seem to have been, many of our prominent men got their first elements of an education in these very schools.
"The school district immediately south of Morocco was first provided with a schoolhouse of log, puncheon floor, puncheon benches and clap-board-roof variety; but in about the year 1859 a new frame house was built in this district, with board seats, sealed inside with pine lumber and provided with a shingle roof. The first Democratic County Convention was held in this school- house in the spring of 1860. It was then located in the south- east corner of section 28, but its present location is in the northeast corner of section 33. In earlier times it was called the Whitson Schoolhouse, Elijah Whitson and his family residing very near, but later and until now it is called the Darroch Schoolhouse."
PROMINENT EX-PUPILS OF A DISTRICT SCHOOL
If proof of some of the things said by Mr. Ade is required this list of pupils is taken from the roster of this district school- house, with an intimation of their later records: Charles M. Atkin- son, police lieutenant of the City of Chicago, now acting captain, with a record of twenty years service. George W. Atkinson, mechanical and electrical engineer, and at this time and for several years in the Government service at Washington. Walter Atkinson, successful farmer and a graduate of Purdue University. James B. Chizum, proprietor of the Western Publishing Company, of Chicago. Albert E. Chizum, lawyer and prosecuting attorney of the Thirtieth Judicial Circuit of Indiana. Joe M. Chizum, successful farmer and banker. Austin M. Darroch, soldier, farmer and a member of the Indiana State Legislature. Daniel C. Darroch, soldier, successful physician, and twice elected a member of the Texas State Legisla- ture. William Darroch, lawyer, judge of the Newton Circuit Court, and twice a candidate for Congress. John M. Darroch, proprietor of an extensive sheep and cattle ranch in Montana and a member of the Montana State Senate. John Walter Shafor
DOMESTIC SCIENCE PRODUCTS
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physician and at this time one of the leading practitioners of the City of Lafayette, Indiana. Fred Shafer, civil engineer, graduate of Purdue University, at this time and for several years in the Gov- ernment service.
THE COUNTY EXAMINERS, 1861-73
For thirteen years after the organization of Newton County, the head of its school system was the county examiner ; since 1873 it has been in charge of a county superintendent. Until 1873 the exam- iners were appointed by the commissioners; since that time the county superintendents have been elected by the united board of township trustees.
The roster of county examiners is as follows: Nathaniel West, June 8, 1861, to June, 1864 ; William C. Rose, June, 1864-June, 1865; James M. Nelson, June, 1865-June, 1868; O. P. Hervey, June, 1868- December, 1870; D. M. Graves, December, 1870-June, 1871; John B. Smith, June, 1871-June, 1873.
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS, 1873-1916
The first superintendent was John H. Merchant, who served from June, 1873, until June, 1875; succeeded by Benjamin F. Neisz, June, 1875-March, 1877; D. S. Pence, March, 1877-June, 1878; Pierce Archibald, May-June, 1879; William H. Hershman, June, 1879-June, 1889; William W. Pfrimmer, June, 1889-June, 1899; William L. Killenberger, June, 1899-December, 1907; William O. Schanlaub, since the latter date.
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
What may be denominated the County Board of Education comprises the township trustees, the school boards of the incor- porated towns and the county superintendent.
Township trustees: William Martin, Jefferson Township, resi- dence, Kentland; James Bell, Grant Township, Goodland; Frank Brewer, Washington Township, Brook; John R. Hershman, Iro- quois Township, Brook; Charles W. Timmons, Beaver Township, Morocco; George A. Hopkins, Jackson Township, Mount Ayr; Ora Sellers, McClellan Township, Morocco; F. C. Tolin, Colfax Town- ship, Fair Oaks ; B. F. Davis, Lake Township, Lake Village; C. M. Rice, Lincoln Township, Roselawn.
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The presidents of the town boards are: H. L. Sammons, Kent- land; W. E. Mitten, Goodland ; L. W. LeMasters, township member ; Marcus Foreman, Brook ; L. S. Recher, Morocco.
The county health officer is Dr. R. C. McCain and the county attendance officer, Jacob A. White.
THE SYSTEM OF THE PRESENT
In 1916 there was a total enrollment of 2,616 of school population in Newton County, distributed as follows: First grade, 387; second grade, 347; third grade, 324; fourth grade, 304; fifth grade, 294; sixth grade, 224; seventh grade, 231; eighth grade, 169; High School, 336. There were 106 teachers employed in the county, who were paid over $57,000; for all other purposes the total amount expended was $61,775.22, which brought the cost of the schools (including two new brick schoolhouses) up to $118,991.94. The estimated value of all school property in the county was $176,000. As to the libraries connected with the system, those connected with the township schools embraced 10,362 volumes and those identified with the town schools, 5,480 volumes.
It was learned, in the summer of 1916, through the courtesy of Hon. Charles A. Greathouse, superintendent of public instruction, that Newton County has $48,593 in the Congressional Township fund and $35,754 in the Common School fund, while its last semi- annual apportionment of the state tuition revenue amounts to $7,087.
Under the direct superintendency of W. O. Schanlaub, the county schools are conducted according to modern and progressive methods. In the particular lining up the scholars, keeping them to their knitting, or, in other words, rounding them up and seeing that the shirkers do not evade the compulsory law without very substantial excuses, J. A. White, the county attendance officer for a number of years, is an invaluable captain under General Schanlaub. At Kentland, Brook and Goodland, as well as in several of the town- ship schools, manual training and domestic science have made notice- able advances in the past few years. The subject of playgrounds has also received general attention, and in Newton County the move- ment has spread into the country as well as the towns.
PLAY AS WELL AS WORK
As remarked by Mr. Schanlaub: "In the country, wholesome play is as necessary as it is in the towns. Too many people have
COOKING CLASS IN OPERATION
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the erroneous idea that plenty of work with a change is all that a boy or girl needs for exercise. This is all well and good, if the young person enjoys to do the work. If he does not, it is not a recreation to him."
THE SCHOOL SAVINGS BANK
In the early part of 1914-15 the Goodland School established a bank for the purpose of teaching pupils the advantages of forming habits of thrift-of saving a portion of their earnings by some systematic plan. Regular banking days were established, each depos- itor had a pass-book, investments were made in such institutions as the Building and Loan Association, and all financial transactions were conducted according to business methods. All of which was designed not only to form the habit of saving, but to practically demonstrate numerous financial and business transactions which, in the natural order of events, would prove useful information and training for the future. The school bank idea is spreading.
THE BOYS' COUNTY CORN CLUB
Since the first one was organized in the spring of 1914, the Boys' County Corn Club has caused general interest among the rising generation of farmers who are headed for careful and scientific methods of cultivation. It is peculiarly an Indiana institution. New- ton County is divided into three districts, by townships, and the prizes are given on the following points: Greatest yield per acre; best exhibit of ten ears; best written account of crop, and best showing of profit on investment. All corn must be checked at a height of three feet six inches. The winner of the first prize gets a free trip to Lafayette to attend the corn show, and a gold watch donated by George Ade.
As an illustration of the practical nature of the Corn Club eight of the rules governing the contestants are presented :
I. All contestants shall be between 10 and 18 years of age.
2. Each contestant shall agree to make a special study of scor- ing, selecting, planting, cultivating and harvesting of corn.
3. Each contestant shall grow an acre or more of corn each year.
4. Each boy shall plant, cultivate, and harvest his own corn. However, if necessary, he may have assistance in breaking and bed- ding his land, and in harvesting his crop.
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5. Each contestant shall keep a record of the details concerning his plot, work done, and the number of bushels harvested.
6. Each contestant shall write an account of not over four hun- dred words of how he made his crop.
7. Each boy shall select ten ears on his plot and exhibit them at the annual corn show of the club.
8. In estimating profits, $5.00 per acre shall be charged as rent of land. The work of each boy shall be estimated at 10 cents per hour, and the work of each horse at 5 cents per hour. Manure shall be charged at the rate of $1.00 for each one-horse wagon load of five bushels, and $2.00 for each two-horse wagon load of ten bushels.
There could not be a better illustration of the progress made in communities outside the metropolitan centers of the country than the popular system of education in vogue throughout Newton County.
CHAPTER XVIII NATURE AND HER CULTIVATION
TRANSFORMATION OF THE BEAVER LAKE REGION-NATURAL DRAIN- AGE AND TOPOGRAPHY-PREHISTORIC MOUNDS-SOIL AND PROD- UCTS-GEORGE ADE ON AGRICULTURAL CHANGES OF TWENTY YEARS-JUMP FROM $50 TO $200 PER ACRE-SCIENTIFIC FARMING, THE EXPLANATION-CHANGE IN POPULAR OPINION.
Newton County, which embraces an area of 401.2 square miles, or 256,720 acres, is a portion of the comparatively level country which lies just north of the basin of the great Wabash system of waterways and within the upper meshes of such large tributaries of the Illinois as the Kankakee and the Iroquois rivers. The ridge dividing the waters which flow into the Wabash system from the Iroquois is close to the southern boundary of the county, and an- other watershed, not so well defined, divides the Iroquois from the Kankakee. These ridges afford natural facilities for the drainage of the northern and central districts of the county. Artificial drainage, which has been progressing, with numerous drawbacks, for the past fifty years, has so strengthened the natural advantages that large areas of lowlands have been reclaimed and transformed into pro- ductive and attractive farms.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE BEAVER LAKE REGION
Beaver Lake, which at one time covered most of Mcclellan Township, and Little and Mud lakes, smaller bodies of water south and east of the former, in Colfax Township, have been virtually brought to a complete and high state of cultivation. In the early times Beaver Lake was one of the most noted resorts for hunters, trappers and fishermen, red and white, in the state, and, although efforts to drain it and convert the land into productive soil were made over sixty years ago, as late as 1885 it was one of the most popular resorts for the hunter and the sportsman to be found in Vol. I-16
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the Middle West. The fur-bearing animals had been almost eradi- cated, but the game of the feathered tribe was still abundant.
About 1853 the first effort was made to drain the lake by cutting a ditch from the northwest part of the lake to the Kankakee River. The contract for the work was taken by Austin M. Puett, grand- father of Judge William Darroch. This pioneer ditch carried off enough water to cause the shore line to recede about a hundred yards, and, as it was enlarged and tributaries opened, the old bed of standing water gradually disappeared. Beaver Lake is now a mem- ory, its waters, at one time alive with beaver, muskrats, otter, ducks, geese and every species of fish known to the interior streams of the region, have been replaced by fields of grain and vegetables, orchards and stretches of greensward, herds and droves of livestock and modern farms in all the other details. A prosperous and settled state of the Beaver Lake region was not achieved without years of litigation in the courts, as well as a long period of drainage and cul- tivation. As the entire subject has been threshed over historically and legally by Judge William Darroch, grandson of the man who commenced the actual draining of the lake district, the following material is presented as the result of his investigation concerning the physical transformation of the region growing out of the artificial drainage of the lake : "Beaver Lake survives only in the memory of the old settler ; something which is still a happy dream to the pioneer hunter and trapper, and the delightful memory of the more modern sportsman. It was located almost wholly within the limits of Mc- Clellan township, in Newton County, Indiana, being township 30 north, range 9 west of the 2d P. M.
"The Government commenced the survey of this township in the month of February, 1834, continued it during that month, recom- menced it during the month of February, 1835, and completed it in that month. It is safe to say now that those months in the year 1834 and 1835 were close winter weather, for no mention is made in the record of any of the party having been drowned while this survey was being made. The record does disclose this notation at the con- clusion of the field notes of this survey. 'This township is all a lake or deep marsh and morass, except a little in the southwest cor- ner. Marsh four or five feet deep. No outlet to lake as I can discover.'
"When this survey was made, the lake was not included in the survey. A meander line was run around the margin of the lake, and it was thrown out as water; was not then and never since has been surveyed by the government.
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"As shown by the meander line of the Government survey, and as the lake existed before being materially reduced by drainage, it was the largest body of water in the State of Indiana. Its greatest width from north to south was about four and one-half miles, and its greatest length from east to west was about seven and one-fourth miles. It covered an area of about 25 square miles, or about 16,000 acres of land.
"The banks of the lake were very low and the adjacent lands on the east, south and west were low, wet marsh lands, so that in many places it was difficult to determine where the marsh ended and the lake began ; and although the meander line of the government survey was intended to define the limit of land and the commencement of water, yet as a rule it was all water. In earlier times the water in the main body of the lake was perhaps six to ten feet deep, and abounded in fish of all varieties usually found in streams and lakes in this locality, and was especially remarkable for the number of buffalo fish that abounded in its waters. So numerous were these fish that for many years, and until the lake was practically drained, the farmers for many miles away made annual and semi-annual fish- ing trips to Beaver Lake as regularly as the seasons came and went.
"For many years, and until about the year 1885, Beaver Lake was a popular resort for the hunter and sportsman. The wild ducks, brants and geese, and swans, were found there in season and were usually so abundant as to warrant the belief by many that no other such resort for these birds could be found elsewhere in the United States.
"While perhaps it was true that there was no well-defined outlet to this lake, yet it is true that the overflow in time of high water was to the west and southwest into Beaver Creek, thence into the Iroquois river, so that Beaver Lake never was a part of the Kankakee valley, but was a part of the valley of the Iroquois.
"However, the elevation of the lake was about thirty-five feet above the Kankakee river, and its nearest point only four and one- half miles distant from the river, and under an alleged system of swamp land drainage then in vogue in this state, the State was drained of the title to its land, the treasury of the State drained of its money and the lands usually left wet and undrained.
"In about the year 1852 a ditch was cut through the dividing ridge and from the northwest margin of the lake, into the Kankakee river. Contrary to the usual experience with these swamp land ditches the water flowed down this ditch instead of up it, and it continued to drain the water from the lake, but with little apparent
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effect until the year 1869, when the heavy and incessant floods of that year washed out and enlarged the ditch, and thereafter it emptied the water from the main body of the lake so that in the year 1871, for the first time, fully three-fourths of the bed of the lake was relieved of surface water. Thereafter its drainage was carried on from year to year until now it is an accomplished fact.
"These are some of the recollections of Beaver Lake that occurred to me might be of passing interest. The geography of a locality and its historical incidents are important only as they effect the develop- ment of the place and its people. Beaver Lake is now a thing of the past. If those who hunted and fished there in days gone by should return to the scene now and start in from the locality of Goose Island, they would cross over not in a boat as they did before, but in an automobile over the meadow to Buffalo cove, and on the way would witness some of the finest agricultural land in Northwestern Indiana, standing as a monument to commemorate the energy, the trials, the perseverance and triumphs of some of the inhabitants of Beaver Lake."
DRAINAGE AND TOPOGRAPHY
As to the general physical features of the county: In the north is the broad, low valley of the Kankakee, fringed with timber and its lands now largely brought into productiveness. Then comes the old lake region, slightly more elevated and more carefully culti- vated, between Beaver Creek and the Kankakee River. The south- ern part of the county is traversed by the Iroquois Valley in a gen- erally westerly direction, and south of its belt of timber lands is the Grand Prairie of Illinois, the most fertile part of the county. Of the smaller streams, Beaver Creek runs through the western half of the center of the county and flows directly into Illinois. Curtis Creek flows in a southeasterly direction near the east-central part of the county, joining the Iroquois in Jasper County.
PREHISTORIC MOUNDS
About the only points of interest for the archaeologist are also in the Beaver Lake district. Before the lake was drained and the adjacent lands given over to cultivation there was an elevated sandy ridge east of the southern shores, along which were several clusters of prehistoric mounds. One of the groups contained seven distinct
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mounds from 2 to 12 feet in height and from 20 to 80 feet in diam- eter, in which were found bones, pottery and various implements.
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