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 26

Author: Hamilton, Lewis H; Darroch, William
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 520


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 26
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 26


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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


In this connection the farewell address of Maj .- Gen. Thomas J. Wood to the regiment which he organized at Indianapolis, in November, 1861, and commanded until August, 1865, is reproduced. One of the original leaflets has been jealously preserved by John B. Lyons. It reads as follows :


"HEAD QUARTERS 3RD DIVISION, 4TH ARMY CORPS "GREEN LAKE, TEXAS, AUGUST 24TH, 1865.


"Soldiers: An order assigning me to duty in another depart- ment dissolves our official relations. It is therefore necessary that I take leave of you. Had it been consistent with the views and orders of the government I should have greatly preferred conducting you to a rendezvous near to your homes, there to have seen you mus- tered out of the service, and bidden you a final adieu. It is ordered otherwise, and, as good soldiers, we must submit cheerfully and perform with alacrity whatever duty is imposed on us.


"Your military career has been glorious. You can retrospect the history of your participation in the war for the suppression of the atrocious rebellion with the proudest satisfaction; unalloyed by any feeling of regret or sorrow, save that which you feel for the brave comrades who fell on the battle field, or who have been disabled or maimed for life. To the bereaved and afflicted I am sure you will ever extend the cordial sympathy of gallant soldiers.


"As a right fairly won you can blazen on your banner a long roll of the proudest historic names-names that symbolize some of the hardest fought fields and grandest victories of the war. Your fair fame as soldiers will be the richest legacy you can bequeath to your posterity. It will be a priceless inheritance.


"Soldiers! Remember that as you have been the preservers of our nationality in the great and terrible war, you must consider your- selves the custodians of our national honor and dignity and rights. and be ready to do battle for these great interests whenever they


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may be imperiled, whether by a domestic or foreign foe. Having asserted the principle of free government, in the suppression of the rebellion, you must maintain it against all enemies.


"It is highly probable that I may chance in the future to meet many of you in civil life, and I now request that if such should be the case none of you will hesitate to make yourselves known to, me. I make this request for the reason that the change produced in your appearance by doffing the uniform of the soldier and donning the attire of the citizen will prevent me from recognizing many of you. It will afford me pleasure to greet any soldier who has served under my command. Participation in common dangers, privations and hardships, and the sharing of common triumphs have warmly attached me to all of you and cause me to feel a deep interest in your future prosperity. I can wish you no better fortune than that in the peaceful vocations of civil life your career may be as prosperous, successful and happy as your military career has been brilliant, honorable and useful. To each one of you I bid a friendly good-by, with the assurance that from my inmost heart goes forth a sincere invocation for God's blessing on you. Soldiers, farewell !


"TH. J. WOOD, "Maj. General Vols."


In the Eighty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry : Charles E. Triplett, Sr., M. D., regimental surgeon ; Broderick, John ; Brown, George; Baker, David; Babcock, Robert; Evans, Benjamin F .; Fuller, John D .; Jones, Morris A .; Hough, William I .; and Hough, Calvin R., privates.


The Eighty-seventh Regiment participated in the battles Mission Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Resecca, Georgia, Franklin, Nashville, Atlanta campaigns, and Sherman's march to the sea.


In the Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry : Ash, Daniel, captain Company E .; Moore, Samuel, first lieutenant ; Shanner, Elias M., second lieutenant. Graves, James W .; Bebout, Abraham T., and Smith, George W., sergeants. Karnes, Stephen D .; Shidler, Carroll L .; Darroch, Austin M .; Wood, Clark A .; Pumph- rey, George O .; Barker, John, and Rinker, William, corporals. Ash, Soloman; Atkinson, James; Alexander, William H .; Anderson, Gustavus J .; Anderson, James, and Airhart, William. Bartholo- mew, George C .; Bartholomew, Charles; Bartholomew, Abner ; Board, Sylvester ; Board, Amasiah ; Brown, John ; Brown, William ; Burnes, James, and Brunton, Cyrus. Ernfield, Chris, and Ernfield,


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John. Grant, Swan, and Griffiths, James. Houscheldt, Jacob; Holliway, John; Holliway, William; Hooks, Joseph ; Hosier, Abner C .; Hornet, Jonas N., and Humphries, Evan L. Johnston, John, and Jones,' Frances, E. Kennedy, Joseph; Kelley, Hiram W., and Kramer, Henry S. Laforce, Paul; Laforce, Joseph, and Lane, David L. Martin, Benjamin ; Moore, Thomas C .; Murphy, Andrew, and Moore, John W. Patrick, William A. Reynolds, John, and Roadruck, Benjamin F. Saunderson, Andrew J .; Shidler, Elmore J .; Shriver, Solomon; Sheafer, Joseph; Skuggs, Sanford H .; Scuggs, Newton; Sarver, John C .; Starkey, John, and Starkey, Thomas (color bearer). Thornton, Thomas L .; Thomas, Morris; Thompson, Young, and Thomas, M. L. Vannatta, George O., and Vannatta, William T. Wyatt, John D .; White, Levi; Wilson, Wil- liam; Webber, Jacob; Webster, Daniel A., and Webster, Glessner. Young, Andrew S., and Yeoman, Asa.


The Ninety-ninth Regiment was active in many campaigns, par- ticipating in the siege of Vicksburg, and Atlanta campaigns, and the battles of Kenesaw Mountain, Decatur, Fort McAllister, Jackson, Mississippi, and Chattanooga, and marched with General Sherman to the sea.


In the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry : Officers Company A: Bissell, James, captain, killed ; Blessing, Joseph, second lieutenant ; Haskell, Gardner K., pro- moted second lieutenant ; Hawkins, George C., and Branson, Jere- miah, re-enlisted, sergeants. Sherwood, William; Myers, Basett A .; Scott, Anthony L. D .; Smith, Leonard W .; Lyons, Abel; Collyer, Wilson; Scott, Anderson W., and Ham, Martin L., corporals. Bishop, Daniel ; Board, William T .; Burns, William ; Boyd, George; Brooks, John W .; Bell, Jonathan; Beard, William; Brensholts, D. P .; Bridgemen, George M .; Brensholts, Orlando; Bridgman, Joseph O .; Bradfield, Theodore; Carmichael, N. W .; Crane, J. B .; Chillers, Harvey B .; Corn, John T .; Clark, Warren; Crawford, Samuel; Drake, Joseph N .; Dexter, David; Dewey, Joseph ; Frank- enberger, Charles ; Glaspy, John ; Green, Stephen ; Garrison, George ; Glaze, John; Holt, Nicklos ; Hoffman, George ; Harrington, Alonzo ; Hand, Richard; Ham, Martin ; Harrington, Daniel; Headley, Silas ; Johnson, Lemuel J .; Kessler, Ephriam J. ; Kight, John W .; Kessler, Alonzo; Lyons, Abel; Lamb, James J .; Louthain, Joe H .; Lowe, James H .; Line, Felix M .; Maxey, John W .; Murphy, James M .; Metts, Thomas; Musson, Charles; Morse, James W .; Malonay, James A .; Odle, William; Ottenwalter, Michael; Odle, John; Pat- terson, Joseph M .; Percell, C. B .; Pagett, James ; Reynolds, Jack-


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son; Smith, Joseph A .; Stroup, Lewis; Scramblin, George; Story, George R .; Smith, William T .; Sherwood, William; Scott, Ander- son ; Scott, A. L. V .; Stevens, Peabody ; Veatch, William L .; Van- fosson, James C .; Vaughn, John; Williams, Phillip; Yeoman, Ira, and Yeoman, Alva, privates.


The One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment participated in the battles of Resaca, Lost Mountain, Georgia, Jonesboro, Georgia, Kenesaw Mountain, Dallas, Georgia, Franklin, Nashville, and many others.


In the One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry : Archibald, George W .; Arnedt, Christian; Baker, George W .; Bart- man, Soloman; Crisler, Charles L .; Covert, James W .; Goodale, Joseph F .; Garrard, Henry ; Harris, Jordan; Holliday, William P .; Holliday, John C .; Harrington, John; Holliday, Charles B .; Jar- rard, H. H .; Kenoyer, Elijah; Luster, Stanton; Myers, Benjamin E .; Myers, John F .; Myers, James G .; Ransey, James A .; Runion, Freeland S .; Smith, John W .; Stanlet, Jesse, and Whaley, John F., privates.


The One Hundred and Fifty-first Regiment participated in the campaigns in Tennessee ( 1864-5) ; battles not mentioned.


Scattering names of Newton County boys in other regiments: Fifth Cavalry: Clark, G. W .; Leaming, Cyrus; Howenstein, Josiah ; Harrington, Alvin ; Kercher, Henry.


Twelfth Cavalry : Ash, Henry; Fleming, William; Graves, Daniel M., captain Company K; Graves, Albert S .; Graves, E. L .; Fell, Mahlon; Mashino, Fred; Seaton, Thomas; Strohm, John; Starndrige, Elijah; Ade, Joseph, Sixth Ohio; Hatch, Jethro A., surgeon, Thirty-sixth Illinois; Burton, Thomas W., One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Indiana; Creek, Albert, Twentieth Indiana; Creek, William, Tenth Indiana ; Creek, Calvin, Tenth Indiana ; Ross, Charles E., Eighth Illinois Cavalry ; Odel, Eliash, Nineteenth Cav- alry ; Schofield, J. S., Fifty-seventh Indiana; Pierce, Samuel, Sev- enty-sixth Illinois ; Vayett, John, Fourth Illinois Cavalry; Waling, Charles, Sixty-fourth Illinois; Evans, Jonathan, Tenth Indiana; Wilson, William, Tenth Indiana; Staton, Joseph, Seventy-sixth Illinois ; Zobroski, Joseph, Forty-eighth Indiana.


GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE


Names of Newton County boys who were killed or died of wounds or from disease, while in the service, 1861 to 1865 (regiment given in preceding pages) : Arehart, William, died; Burton, Josiah,


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died, Nashville, Tennessee; Blue, John, died, Huntsville, Alabama ; Bartholomew, A. J., died, Nashville; Barkhurst, died, Nashville; Board, William, died, Lebanon, Tennessee; Bloomer, John M., died, Cheat Mountain; Brown, William, died, Memphis, Tennessee; Bartholomew, G. C., killed, Atlanta, Georgia ; Bartholomew, Abner, died, St. Louis ; Bissell, James, captain, killed, Franklin, Tennessee ; Branson, Jeremiah, killed, Atlanta, Georgia ; Bartholomew, George, killed, Atlanta, Georgia ; Bechtel, Samuel, wounded, died, Nashville, Tennessee; Bartholomew, Addison J., died, Huttonville, Virginia ; Cashow, John, killed, Days Gap; Catt, Edmund, died, Mound City ; Clark, Thomas M., died, Readyville; Creek, Albert, killed before Richmond, Virginia ; Dawson, Smiley, wounded, died, Stone River; Dunham, David, died, Black River; Earl, William H., died, Cheat Mountain, Virginia; Evans, Thomas, died, Bowling Green, Ken- tucky ; Griffith, James, died, La Grange; Griffin, Patrick, died from wounds, Corinth and Stone River; Hershman, George W., died, Shiloh, Tennessee; Howery, Henry, died, Bardston, Kentucky, first soldier in Fifty-first; Ham Ephriam, died, Nashville, Tennessee; Haney, Levi, died, Madison; Horner, Jonas L., died, Mosco, Ten- nessee ; Holliway, William, died, Mosco, Tennessee ; Horner, James, died, Mosco, Tennessee; Hurst, Jeremiah S., killed, Columbia, Ten- nessee ; Hough, Alfred, died, Stone River ; Jackson, Eli, died, Louis- ville, Kentucky; Jangling, John, died. Stone River; Jones, Francis, died, Jeffersonville; Kearney, Thomas, killed on march; Kessler, Ephriam, died, Nashville; Karnes, John, wounded, died Nashville; Light, Albert, first lieutenant, died, Lebanon, Tennessee; Lansing, Peter, killed, Mission Ridge; Laforce, Daniel K., killed, Mission Ridge; Love, Robert, wounded, died, Stone ·River; Kelley, Hiram W., killed, Atlanta ; Laforce, Joseph, died, Camp Sherman ; Lauthain, Cyrus, wounded, Days Gap, died; Maddon, Patrick, killed, Stone River; Moore, John W., died, La Grange, Tennessee; Murphy, Andrew, died, Nashville; McIntosh, Wm. G., died, Nashville; Nothingham, James, died Nashville; Nulligan, John, killed, Bradys Gap; Reed, Aaron, died, Stone River; Redding, Thomas, killed, Shiloh; Rinker, William, died, Rome, Georgia; Sailor, Jeremiah, second lieutenant, died, Nashville, Tennessee ; Starkey, John, died, La Grange, Tennessee; Strench, Wm. M., killed, Shiloh; Smart, Adonijah, killed, Chickamauga; Scott, Madison, killed, Mission Ridge; Shaefer, Joseph, died; Smith, David G., died on march; Saunderson, Andrew, died ; Troup, Harry, killed, Nashville; Tread- way, E. S., killed, Mound City ; Tiffiny, George E., killed, Columbia, Tennessee; Thompson, Young, died, St. Louis; Thomas, William, Vol. I-18


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killed, Shiloh; Wonder, Adolphus H., captain, killed, Charleston, South Carolina, as prisoner war; Wishon, Henry, killed, Mission Ridge; White, Levi, killed, Memphis, Tennessee; Wyatt, John, killed, Memphis, Tennessee; Webber, J., died; Yeoman, Ira, killed Nashville, Tennessee.


"OUT OF REACH"


Newton County's "Roll of Honor" may be appropriately con- cluded with the following unpublished poem, ("Out of Reach") written by James Whitcomb Riley and found among his manuscripts after his recent death.


"They-'Out of Reach', our loyal dead? They have forged on, but I deny Your Out of Reach-be comforted- Nor can they be so far ahead- It is not far to die.


"Only the memory of their smiles In their last charge, each cheering each, By their last rapturous look and speech They wait for us, thousands of miles This side of 'Out of Reach.'"


CHAPTER XX


KENTLAND, THE COUNTY SEAT


THE ORIGINAL FRONTIER TOWN-STRUGGLES FOR A DISTINCTIVE NAME-IMPROVEMENTS IN 1865-70-GREAT FIRE OF DECEMBER, 1870-A SERIES OF DESTRUCTIVE FIRES-ULTIMATE RESULT, SUBSTANTIAL TOWN IMPROVEMENT-PUBLIC SCHOOL BURNED- DESTRUCTION OF MCCRAY-MORRISON ELEVATOR-WATER AND ELECTRIC LIGHT SUPPLY-PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM-THE CAR- NEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY- KENTLAND WOMAN'S CLUB-WARREN T. McCRAY-KENTLAND'S MATERIAL STANDING-DISCOUNT AND DEPOSIT STATE BANK-KENT STATE BANK-KENTLAND'S FIRST NEWSPAPERS-NEWTON COUNTY ENTERPRISE-NEWTON COUNTY DEMOCRAT-EARLY KENTLAND CHURCHES-UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST-THE M. E. CHURCH-ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH-THE PRESBYTERIAN AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES- SECRET AND BENEVOLENT BODIES.


Kentland, the judicial and political headquarters of Newton County, is a fine, well-built town of some 1,400 people, located in the rich and beautiful Grand Prairie country south of the Iroquois River. Its streets are compact, clean and broad and its transporta- tion conveniences, through the Pennsylvania and the New York Central systems, are all that could be desired, whether considered from standpoints of passenger or freight traffic.


Abundance of good water under municipal control, electric light and power readily obtained through a private corporation, up-to- date schools, a public library, two banks, two newspapers, and churches and societies to meet every intellectual, moral and spiritual requirement, make Kentland a most desirable place of residence. The homes of not a few of its citizens are elegant in their archi- tectural effects and landscape surroundings, and would be creditable to metropolitan communities much larger than Kentland.


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THE ORIGINAL FRONTIER TOWN


The founding of the county seat by Alexander J. Kent, who platted it in April, 1860, has been described. The original town comprised eighteen blocks, the northern boundary of which was marked by Dunlap Street. Proceeding south, the east-and-west streets were Graham, Seymour, Goss, Allen and Owen.


STRUGGLES FOR A DISTINCTIVE NAME


The original name of the town was Kent, but as there was another village by that name in the state considerable annoyance was experienced in receiving mail, and the name was subsequently changed to Kent Station. This did not prove satisfactory to the postoffice department and in December, 1863, the postoffice was called Adriance. For several years the postoffice and the town bore different names, which also was the cause of much confusion, and when the village was incorporated in 1868 it was proposed to christen it as Kentville. Even that name was not generally considered dis- tinctive enough and, through the local press, proposals were invited for something better. Among those who responded was Hon. Schuyler Colfax, who had represented the county in Congress and was then a candidate for the vice presidency on the republican ticket, with Grant; he proposed Kentland, and thus it has been ever since.


SLOW GROWTH AS AN INFANT


When Kentland was chosen as the county seat the railroad hands were the sole occupants of the village site. William Service and Michael Coffert erected the first shanties, and Mr. Kent and J. B. Chesebrough, his old California partner, lived near. Early in the year 1860 William Ross came and erected the first building, save the shanties alluded to; he was soon joined by John Peacock, Oscar Phelps and Isaac Beyea, who occupied Mr. Ross' store as a residence. There was no boarding house, hotel, nor even women to take charge of the culinary department, and the gentlemen maintained bachelor's hall while pioneering the way for the future city. During this spring Mr. Kent erected a store and a hotel building, in the latter of which Sylvester Root opened a much-needed boarding house and hotel. Orris King put up a building and opened a store here in the same spring. A building was erected by Joel Anderson, also for a store, but was occupied the first six months by the court officers.


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The village at this time gathered about Seymour Street, which passes through the village along the north side of the railroad, and presented the appearance of a frontier town of today. The railroad had been completed through the village the preceding December. There was no station there as yet, and not a lantern at command, and it is said that one individual who wished to board the train gath- ered a quantity of prairie grass and fired it to attract the attention of the engineer. One of the evidences of the growing importance of the town was the appointment of an agent and the regular stopping of the trains. People called to Kentland by election to county office, or by the opportunities for business, made a spirited demand for houses, and business of all sorts manifested considerable activity. In the following year, the courthouse and the United Brethren Church were added, and thenceforward to 1865 the growth was steady and of a substantial character. The number of business houses was not large, but each had a satisfactory patronage. Mr. Kent was the animating spirit of the business activity, and gradually enlarged the scope of his operations ..


IMPROVEMENTS IN 1865-70


From 1865 to 1870 the growth of the village was characterized principally by the improved character of the buildings, which in new structures began to take on the appearance of permanent, sub- stantial edifices, the display of taste bespeaking the prosperous con- dition of the builder. In 1866 Mccullough's addition to the town was made, and Kent's northern addition, which added 123 lots to the town. In 1868 the village was incorporated, with A. J. Kent, S. Root and G. W. Arnout as trustees ; J. Z. Johnston, assessor and clerk; Joseph Blessing, marshal and treasurer.


GREAT FIRE OF DECEMBER, 1870


In 1870, according to Kentland's first census, the population of the thriving village was 802, but on the 13th of December of that year it was visited with a destructive fire that blotted out most of the business buildings. The Gazette, issued on the 24th, gives this account of the calamity: "The fire originated in the upper story of Mr. Kent's building and is believed to be the work of an incendiary. Our neighbor of the Democrat thinks, and with some reason, that the criminals whom Constable Mike Coffert let run away from Jus- tice did the work. However this may be, there is much reason for


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believing that the building was purposely set on fire, as the flames were first seen as much as fifteen feet from any chimney or flue, and burned through the east side of the house before it was seen in the roof. The Masonic Lodge was in session in the same building on the same floor, and just north of where the fire originated. The lamp, which was kept burning on meeting nights half way up the stairs, was blown out by some one, the incendiary, doubtless, who entered the building up the same stairway, and did this to conceal himself from easy observation.


"The fire was discovered at half past 8 o'clock at night, and by II o'clock it had swept away more than a dozen business houses. A smart west wind aided the flames, and they leaped and hissed to the end without hindrance." The whole loss was estimated at $100,000, in individual sums of $200 to $30,000. One loss of $2,300 was by Doctor Tichenor, who had received it by express too late to place it in any safe. He had, therefore, put it in his trousers pocket, and piled wood upon them in his office to secure it against the possi- bility of a thief. In the excitement of the fire, while succeeding in saving all his office furniture, he forgot his greenbacks until they were gone beyond recovery. Most of the business men replaced their buildings at once, E. G. Smith, the druggist, putting up a new building and doing business on the old spot in thirty hours after the fire."


The fire, while causing a heavy loss of property, there being no insurance, effected an advantageous change in the character of the town. Business gradually went to Third Street, from Seymour to Dunlap, and with renewed vigor began to replace the losses occa- sioned by the fire. Two or three years after the fire, some good brick business blocks were erected, and in 1880 the town had not only recovered its loss, but had doubled the amount of business transacted.


Its population was then 982, and within the decade which had passed since the fire another addition had been made to the town, Kent's Block 22.


The rich farming country which surrounded the village had attracted buyers, and the village had grown into a valuable shipping point, which gave business to three extensive elevators. Public improvements had not been neglected; a system of good sidewalks was found reaching to every part of the village, and coal-oil street lamps on every corner served to mark the crossings on a dark night.


After the serious experience of 1870, there was considerable agitation on the subject of securing some apparatus with which to fight a widespread fire. Many of the business men procured "ex-


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tinguishers," which served a valuable purpose on several occasions, and the town finally procured a hook and ladder apparatus. There was no regularly organized company, however, and lulled into a false feeling of security, the ladders became scattered, and the wagon rotted down in its tracks or was spirited away. A hand fire engine was actually brought to the village and tested, but it did not give satisfaction, and it was returned to the owners.


A SERIES OF DESTRUCTIVE FIRES


The second large fire was that of April 5, 1883, and as more than twenty buildings were destroyed, including most of the business houses, the Grand Army of the Republic and Masonic halls, and the printing office of the Newton County News, it was a sweeping calamity to the town. The money loss was over $80,000, on which there was only partial insurance.


In December, of the following year, the east side of Third Street was again swept away by the flames, and in July, 1888, the property at and around the Pennsylvania Depot, which heretofore had escaped, was destroyed by fire. This destruction included the depot and about twenty freight cars and the Brown and Bringham elevators. The Smith and Kent Block, on the present postoffice corner, was burned in February, 1889; a year afterward a number of stores were burned and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge rooms destroyed; in August, 1890, the Farmers Alliance Elevator, south of the railroad tracks, was entirely burned, and in 1893 Williams & Company's machine shop, with minor buildings, was destroyed.


Naturally, such a fire record was rather discouraging to the terri- torial expansion of Kentland; so that for more than twenty years only one addition was platted-the Graves addition of March, 1894. In May, of that year, several business houses were destroyed by fire, including the Harnish Building, the upper floor of which was occupied by the Knights of Pythias.


Cummings' addition to the town site was platted in October, 1895.


ULTIMATE RESULT, SUBSTANTIAL TOWN IMPROVEMENT


Such fires as those mentioned seemed, at the time of their occur- rence, as events little short of calamities, but the citizens of Kent- land believed so firmly in the advantages of the town's location, in the substantial wealth of the surrounding country, and in their fine


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railroad advantages, that they rebuilt on a more substantial scale than before the fires had leveled their properties. The ultimate result was a newer, cleaner and more attractive place, and the establishment of a waterworks system, which, with subsequent im- provements and extensions, has greatly added to the town's ability to protect itself against fire.


PUBLIC SCHOOL BURNED


But even with its waterworks and improved apparatus connected with the regular fire department, neither Kentland nor any other




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