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 30
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 30
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
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G. W. Kelley preached. He was succeeded by Rev. G. D. Collins ; E. E. Rogers came in 1902 ; Reverends Patterson and Ballard within the following two years; Rev. I. Bekelheimer, in 1905; Rev. A. W. Gehres, 1906-09; Rev. Isabelle Goodacre, 1910-II; Rev. E. N. Tucker, 1912-13, and Rev. Julius L. MacDonald, since 1913. The Christian Church in Brook has a present membership, resident and non-resident, of 21I.
THE WELFARE CLUB
"The Brook Welfare Club," continues Mr. Hershman, "was organized in 1912, with Mrs. John Haynes as president and Mrs.
THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY BUILDING
Lillian Foresman as secretary. ' It joined the State Federation of Clubs in 1914. The aim of the club is the mutual improvement of the individual and the community. The departments are civics, music, literature and art, and philanthropy.
"The organization did much toward creating a demand for a public library and presented the rest room of the new building with a fine leather upholstered couch. It also lighted the assembly, reci- tation rooms and corridors of the public school building with elec- tricity, assisted in developing the domestic science department in the school and presented it with a new sewing machine and kitchen cabinet. It inaugurated a sentiment against undue extravagance
2
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at commencement time by offering prizes to the graduate who should appear in the neatest and most economical dress of her own making. It has done much for the cleanliness of the town by urging the habit of 'clean-up day' and encouraging the campaign against the flies. In 1915 this club arranged an art exhibit and May Festival which was attended by a large number of people of the home and neighbor- ing towns, who pronounced both enterprises decidedly successful. It was instrumental in securing from the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad permission to convert the waste ground near the depot into a park, which was planted to shrubbery in the spring of 1916. In June of the same year the Welfare Club entertained the conven- tion of the Tenth District of the Indiana Federation of Clubs. It has arranged for a splendid lecture course for the town for the coming winter, and on the whole is a strong force for good in the community.
"Much praise is due for the accomplishments of the club, to the persistent and untiring efforts of Mrs. Luther Lyons and Mrs. J. Bennet Lowe, who have served the club as president and secretary for the past three years. They have been ably supported by the ladies in general of the club and the results of the work of this organization are greatly appreciated by the community. The club has a membership of seventy-five.
HISTORY OF BROOK MASONRY
"The history of Masonry in Brook dates back to some time in the 70's when a lodge of the order was instituted and maintained for a few years, when it surrendered its charter and became defunct. "In June of the year 1906 the following Free Masons, John B. Foresman, Benhart Leopold, Bernard B. Gragg, Theodore E. Col- lier, John H. Haynes, John G. Boyer, Charles H. Adamson and Willis A. Gridley, petitioned the Grand Lodge of Indiana for a dis- pensation to organize a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the town of Brook. After investigation by the grand master the peti- tion was granted, and on August 20th of the same year Deputy Past Master Dinwiddie of Fowler Lodge constituted a lodge under dispensation with Bernard B. Gragg, W. M .; Benhart Leopold, S. W .; Willis A. Gridley, J. W .; John B. Foresman, Treasurer ; Theodore E. Collier, Secretary.
"The charter was granted by Grand Master Lincoln V. Cravens and was presented to the lodge by the D. G. M., Edward H. Wolfe, June 16, 1908, the lodge to be known as Brook Lodge No. 670,
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F. & A. M. The masters of the lodge have been : B. B. Gragg, 1906 to 1909; B. Leopold, 1909 to 1911; H. T. Snyder, 1911 to 1913; J. D. Rich, 1913 to 1914; H. T. Snyder again from 1914 to 1916; B. Leopold now presiding as Master, 1916.
"Secretaries of the lodge: T. E. Collier, 1906 to 1907; Elias E. Vance, 1907 to 1909; J. R. Hershman, 1909 to 1913; T. L. Davis, 1913 to 1914; W. S. Cunningham, 1914 to date, 1916.
"The present membership numbers fifty-five Master Masons and four Fellow Craft members. Stated communications are held on the 2nd and 4th Friday evenings of each month in the Warner Hall, Brook. The lodge hall is neatly furnished and fairly well equipped with lodge paraphernalia. Since the organization of the lodge it has lost three members by death-the first being John H. Haynes, who died in 1911 ; Samuel Hargrove in 1914, and Elias E. Vance in 1915.
"Brook Chapter No. 372 of the Order of the Eastern Star was constituted in the year 1911 by Nettie Ransford, Grand Matron, assisted by the Morocco Chapter; Mrs. James McIntosh, W. M .; Elsie Gragg, secretary. Organized with twenty-two charter mem- bers, it has now a membership of thirty-two. The chapter has lost two members by death-Etta Gridley and E. E. Vance. Meetings are held in the Masonic Hall of Brook on the first and third Friday evenings of each month. Present W. M., Miss Etta Hess; Secretary, Mrs. Sadie Stearman.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
"Brook Lodge No. 277, Knights of Pythias, was instituted Octo- ber 3, 1890, Kentland and Goodland lodges officiating. The follow- ing names appeared as charter members : W. P. Griggs, G. A. Conn, S. C. Jones, M. M. Adair, L. H. Blankenbaker, J. H. Holder, Robert Hunter, E. D. Zook, L. E. Lyons, J. P. Hunter, G. B. Smith, J. F. Conn, W. Pruett, A. W. Cleaver, E. E. Hess, S. U. Cline, L. E. Conn, George Light, Rees Hill, F. T. Hawkins, William Ray, Bert Dickson, Amos Agate, E. E. Thompson, John Schofield, G. Barker, Thomas Lowe, and G. W. Strole. First officers elected were: W. P. Griggs, P. C .; G. A. Conn, C. C .; E. E. Hess, V. C .; L. H. Blanken- baker, Prelate; M. M. Adair, M. of E .; S. C. Jones, M. of F .; L. E. Lyons, K. of R. & S .; L. E. Conn, M. A .; Robert Hunter, I. G .; S. U. Cline, O. G.
"In 1892 the lodge organized a building association among its members and erected the hall it now occupies over the Denham &
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Cline hardware store. The lodge is out of debt and has a good surplus on hand to be used for the relief of sick members, burying the dead and aiding their widows and orphans. The lodge was instituted with twenty-eight members on the roster. It now has one hundred and fifty-nine. Thirty-six of this number have passed the chair of C. C.
"Since its organization death has claimed fourteen of its mem- bers, namely: W. Pruett, N. J. Tyler, A. M. Strole, Joe McCabe, B. W. Pumphrey, B. G. Turner, John Esson, W. H. Reed, J. F. Conn, Geo. Karr, Ed Lowe, John Ulrey, E. E. Vance and Jacob Fox.
"Its regular sessions are held in Castle Hall on Monday evenings of each week, and a cordial invitation is extended to any member of the order who may be stopping in town to attend. The lodge has a fine equipment, including a beautiful silk flag, which is always saluted by the members present before opening lodge. It also has a splendid orchestra composed of the following players and their instruments ; F. H. Longwell, the piano; G. A. Conn, Alvin Thayer, Chas. Stearman, and Wm. Shindler, violins; C. A. Wood and Arthur Weishaar, clarionets, Arthur Lyons and John Smith, cornets ; R. E. Hershman and C. A. Warr, saxophones; Walter Hess, flute, and T. E. Merideth, trap drum. The Brook K. of P. band is also com- posed entirely of the members of the lodge and consists of nine- teen pieces, with Dr. C. A. Wood as leader.
THE I. O. O. F.
"Brook Lodge No. 427 I. O. O. F. was instituted about the year 1872. The chair of N. G. of this lodge was filled in succession by John W. Deaver, Andrew Hess, Morris Lyons, John McCarty, John Hershman and David E. Lowe. Morris Lyons died in office in 1875. The membership of this lodge was small in the beginning and after losing several by death and removal it surrendered its charter in 1877. In 1895 a petition for reinstatement was filed with the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana. The grand master, after carefully considering the situation, granted a new charter September 23, 1895, giving the name and number of the lodge as Brook Lodge No. 717 I. O. O. F. The charter members were D. P. Smith, F. C. Rich, M. L. Deniston, Jerry Schofield, W. H. Roberts, Robert Wilson, Philip Stonehill, C. A. Vondersmith, Wil- liam Wilson, George M. Light, Byron C. Park, Joseph S. Taylor and David E. Lowe. The lodge now has a membership of eighty-five.
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Eight members have died since its organization. In 1905 the lodge members formed a building association and erected a very com- modious hall over the Stonehill building. It has a fine official and membership regalia and a beautiful silk flag which is always dis- played when the lodge is in session. Present N. G., Arthur May- hew; Secretary, Homer Taylor. The regular meetings are on Tues- day evenings of each week.
"The Rebekah branch of the order was organized with nine charter members October 5, 1897, under the name of Brook Rebekah Lodge No. 552; present membership, fifty-five. Meeting nights are Thursday evenings of each week in I. O. O. F. Hall ; present N. G., Mamie Lowe; secretary, Alta Light.
"The I. O. O. F. order also has an encampment, which meets in the same hall, the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month. It is called Newton Encampment No. 341.
MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA
"Modern Woodmen of America was granted charter and organ- ized June 8, 1895, with a membership of sixteen. It now has a membership of seventy-eight. Since its organization two of its number have died and their insurance policies paid in full without question. Regular meeting nights are the second and fourth Wednes- day evenings of each month in the I. O. O. F. Hall of Brook. The charter members of this camp were G. A. Conn, J. D. Rich, J. C. Franklin, Herbert Cox, A. C. Rosenberg, Nathaniel Light, R. E. Cunningham, W. S. Cunningham, William A Strole, L. A. Sunder- land, F. D. Michener, Wm. A. Evans, Sherman White, J. A. McCabe, W. D. Foresman and Edwin D. Zook. The head officials at this time are : Horace Elliott, Venerable Consul ; Wm. S. Vander Voort, Clerk.
"The Royal Neighbors, an auxiliary branch of the Woodman camp, have a membership of over forty and hold their meetings in the K. of P. Hall on the first and third Friday evenings of each month."
THE BROOK REPORTER
The Brook Reporter of Brook, Indiana, is successor to the Up- To-Date, first published on May 3, 1895. The Up-To-Date was the product of one William H. Robertson and an old Army press. It consisted of eight pages, on four of which the young editor attempted to live up to the name inscribed at the head of the front page. On the fatal 23d issue he gave up the struggle and the title of ownership to Jacob D. Rich, of Brook, who immediately changed the name to the Brook Reporter, and the old Army press,
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which printed one page at a time, to a Washington press printing four pages and issued the first number October 11, 1896.
Mr. Rich sat at the wheel and F. H. Robertson, father of the founder, acted as mechanician until March 6, 1896, when the latter leased the paper and conducted it until September 18, 1896, when Mr. Rich again assumed control, which he retained until December 4, 1896, when the entire plant was sold to O. B. Stonehill, of Brook, who conducted the paper for over sixteen years. During his man- agement a power-driven cylinder press was installed and, with new equipment and editorial skill, he placed the paper in the front rank of the papers of this section.
I11 1913 the plant was sold to Jacob D. Rich and Marcus Fores- man, who published their first issue on June 6th, with Rich & Foresman as publishers and Marcus Foresman, editor. In January, 1914, they installed the first Standard Mergenthaler linotype machine ever used in the county. New equipment has been added until it is one of the best printing offices in the county, and since the installation of the linotype it has been issued as an all-home- print.
It was first run as an independent paper in politics, then republi- can under the management of O. B. Stonehill, and is again inde- pendent under its present management.
It has always stood for the moral up-lift of the community and, under Mr. Stonehill, conducted the fight which eliminated the saloons from Brook, and this policy along moral and civic lines con- tinues under its present management.
THE BANK OF BROOK
. The Bank of Brook had its origin in the private bank established by John B. Lyons, John Esson and George Turner in October, 1892. Its presidents and cashiers have been as follows : Presidents, George Turner and John F. Lawrence; cashier, from date of organization, John B. Lyons. The Bank of Brook has resources which total more than $411,000. Its capital stock is $54,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $19,800 ; deposits, $342,600.
PIONEER TIMES IN TOWN AND TOWNSHIP
In partial fulfillment of the promise that the "first shall be last," the author has reserved a series of pioneer pictures and the delinea- tion of a number of prominent pioneers of the town and the town- ship for the conclusion of this chapter. "To close the history of Brook," says Mr. Hershman, "with its public buildings, churches, Vol. I-21
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lodges and schools, and not make some mention of the part played by the early pioneers who blazed the way that led up to this modern civilization would be an injustice and show a lack of appreciation not to be thought of.
"It would be impossible at this day to describe or even imagine all the hardships encountered by those stout-hearted early settlers. They had come from older settlements, bringing their young wives and babies into this wild and malaria-infested country to make for themselves homes.
"Many of the obstacles with which they contended have long since been conquered by the skill and energy of man. The prairies, though teeming with the native grasses in summer, was a vast and dangerous desert in winter when covered with snow. Even in summer it held its dangers. It was creeping with rattlesnakes. The grass swarmed with horseflies that made it almost impossible to drive across the country in day time. The ponds and sloughs, and there were hundreds of them, were the breeding places of the mosquito and the deadly malaria. A strip of heavy timber, half a mile to a mile in width, ran through this county from a northeasterly to a southwesterly direction. The timber was filled with vines and undergrowth so as to make it almost impenetrable before road- ways were cut. Down the middle of this strip of timber flowed the Iroquois River, unfordable except in the dry part of the season or when frozen over. Sickness naturally prevailed. The ague with its chills and fevers, flux, typhoid and winter fevers, were so prevalent that only the strongest seemed to survive.
"But these determined people did not give up, but kept on until their ideals were more than realized. They bridged the streams, made roads, drained the sloughs, at least partly and built school- houses. The wonder is now how they did so well.
EARLY MILLS AND THEIR OWNERS
"A sawmill and a grist mill were early brought into use, as they were very essential in the improvement of the country. The first sawmill was brought here by John Lyons and John Montgomery about 1845 and located on the river just north of the railroad bridge. This mill was run by waterpower, a primitive dam of logs having been constructed across the river. The old mill race is still in evidence as one of the ancient landmarks. Some years later a mill company was formed and steam power was used. This steam mill was located on the grounds now a part of Mckinley park and stood near the site of the monument. In 1860 this mill was again
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moved back to the river and was run in connection with the grist mill which had been built with a new dam, discharging the water through a flume upon a turbine water wheel which furnished the power to run the mill. A company was formed known as the Brook Mill Company.
SEVEN GOOD STRONG MEN
"The members of this firm were John Lyons, Morris Lyons, Edgar Hawkins, Andrew Hess and Samuel Benjamin. It is safe to say that these five men, to which should be added David Hess and Samuel Lyons, had more to do with the early development of this section of the county than perhaps any others of their day. They were men who were wideawake to the needs of the com- munity, and were ready to help with any enterprise which had for its purpose the making of the community better and more prosperous. They not only looked after the civil affairs of the township with judgment and economy that is amazing when their environments are considered, but the moral and religious affairs as well. They were not all members of any church, but they were men with high moral development and religious convictions and they lived up to them; in fact, they were righteous men. Their influence was such that men who grew up in this community have been heard to say that in their boyhood days an oath was seldom heard in conversa- tion, and although game was plenty and a gun was kept in almost every house, they could not remember ever hearing a gun fired on Sunday, and although it took an immense amount of wood to keep the fires going in cold weather, it had to all be provided on Saturday so there would be no chopping on Sunday.
SAMUEL H. BENJAMIN
"Especial mention should be made here of Samuel H. Benjamin. He was quite an able preacher of the Baptist faith and, although the society was never very strong in the Brook neighborhood, he was always ready to help with his talent the other religious societies, and as he lived in the community, and often there was no other resident minister, his services were in frequent demand, to marry a couple, preach a sermon or give spiritual consolation at the bedside of the dying.
MORRIS LYONS
"Perhaps no man had more to do with the civil affairs of the township than Morris Lyons. He was township trustee continuously
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about fourteen years. He was a man of good judgment and scru- pulously honest.
JOHN LYONS
"But to John Lyons is due more for the early progress in the community than to any other man. He located here in 1831 when there were but few white men here. He always kept open house and was noted for sociability and liberality. Travelers made his house a stopping place, for he never turned any one away. A story has been told of him which illustrates his character and also that of the Indian, a member of the tribe whose village was five or six miles up the river toward where Rensselaer now stands. On a very stormy evening late in the fall or the beginning of winter, it was snowing hard, and while Mr. Lyons was feeding his stock at the close of the day he saw an Indian passing with his blanket around him and his head bent to meet the storm. He hailed him, and inquired where he was going at that time of day, and in such a storm. The Indian replied that he was on his way to the trading post at Bunkum, for powder and lead, as he was entirely out. Mr. Lyons, in the kindness of his heart, could not see even an Indian so expose himself, if indeed he did not perish before he could reach his destination. So he invited him to stay all night. His invitation was accepted. It turned very cold during the night and in the morning, as Mr. Lyons had a good supply of powder and lead on hand, he divided with the Indian, who received it with a grunt of satisfaction and went back to his tribe. The next year, in the fall, Mr. Lyons had a mare and her colt stray away, and as he had brought her from Ohio the year before he suspected that she had become homesick and had started back to her old home near Chillicothe. Sometime in the afternoon he found her trail wandering eastward and followed it till near evening, but failed to overtake the runaway. But he met an Indian. Recognition was mutual, as it was the same Indian whom he had befriended the year before. He explained to him the situation, that he was afraid the mare had started back to Ohio and that he did not know what to do, as he would have to return home, his wife and children being alone. After getting a fair understanding of the situation and being shown the tracks of the mare and colt, he said to Mr. Lyons: 'You go home; me hunt em hoss.' There was nothing else to do, so Mr. Lyons returned home. In about three days after this, the Indian came up, leading the mare. He had caught up with her somewhere near the site of the present city of Logansport. Mr. Lyons was greatly pleased at the return of his mare, and offered to pay the Indian for his
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trouble, but he gave him to understand that the debt was already paid by his kindness of the year before.
"Mr. Lyons not only opened his house for public preaching but for school purposes, using one end of the double log cabin for a school room and, no doubt, paying the largest portion of the teacher's salary. After a few years of these schools in his home, he built a log schoolhouse himself and furnished it with a stove that the people might have the benefit of a public school. He took a great interest in the civil affairs of the county, serving as county com- missioner before the division of Newton and Jasper counties. He also served several years as justice of the peace in his township and was at one time candidate for the Legislature, but his party was in the minority and he was defeated at the polls by Thomas Barker, late of Newton county."
OLD-TIME HISTORY BY JOHN R. HERSHMAN AND MORRIS JONES
The Welfare Club, of Brook, arranged an historical program for one of its meetings in June, 1916. John B. Lyons, Morris Jones and John R. Hershman were to have spoken on the early history of Brook and vicinity, and George Ade, on the Indiana centennial work. A violent storm prevented the attendance of Messrs. Ade and Lyons, but Messrs. Hershman and Jones were on hand and furnished a treat to the old-timers of the town and township and their descendants.
BROOK IN 1856.
Through the eyes of Morris Jones the following picture of Brook and its neighborhood was drawn, as it would appear in the fall of 1856: "I have been asked to give you some of the early history of Brook," he said. "When I first knew it there was so little of it that it would not take long to tell it; so will include the whole of Iroquois township.
"We left Ross county, Ohio, the first day of October, 1856, and landed the 21st of that month. Pretty wild looking country. The town consisted of two blocks. On the north side of the street a small schoolhouse stood where we now have our fine library, Lot I, Block I. West on Lot 3 a Mr. Stacy had a little store. The next house west on Lot 5 was that of Dr. Moorman. Where the post- office and meat market are now a small house was occupied by John Tate. Across the street, west on Block 2, Aaron Lyons had a store, with living rooms in the back. West on Lot 3, later known as the Lilwall House, was Walter Hawkins' house. These were the only
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buildings in the town of Brook excepting the saw-mill which stood where we now have our nice McKinley Park. The saw-mill was the busiest place in town, with plenty of timber all along the river. The settlers would cut and haul in logs during the winter, generally on sleds, as we had plenty of snow those times; in fact, too much at times. I have seen the road running north, with snow over the top of the fence, so that teams would drive over it after the drift got frozen. Those logs were sawed into lumber of all kinds for the settlers to improve their farms; everything with which to build a house except the shingles, even the lath to plaster, were sawed here. A tough log was sawed half an inch thick, then hacked all over, so as to make the plaster stick. The shingles had to be split and shaved down.
"As I remember it, Aaron Lyons kept a general store. Money was not as plentiful as it is today. He would trade you goods for produce, butter and eggs. Mostly in winter, there would be some fur and game, mostly prairie chickens. These he would haul to Lafayette or Kankakee and ship to Chicago, and bring back more goods. I have sold eggs to him at three cents a dozen, and butter, at five cents a pound. Pretty cheap living then. You would have thought so if you had been here. Corn bread and sorghum molasses most every day except Sunday, when we sometimes got white bread. No fruit, except wild crab apples and wild plums. But everybody seemed happy ; all in the same class.
"West of town, where William Mayhew lives, was Samuel Ben- jamin, farmer and preacher. Where the Terra Cotta stands, was a Mr. Rofi Price. The Ed Sell place was occupied by Jarrad Yeoman. father of Sam Yeoman, whom many of you knew. South of the river, at the Griggs farm, was Samuel Bards. East at Bowers farm, was a Mr. Spitler, where at an earlier day, when Jasper county was organized, court was held. East and north was Mr. Dewees' farm, father of our townsman, Abe Dewees. East, near the cross-road, was William Niece. He and his wife both died here, and are buried on the hill at the cross-roads. North, where William Stath lives, was the Iroquois schoolhouse. On the road east and south of Paul Weishaar was Henry Marsh. Then John Treadway, and at the Riley Stair farm was a Mr. Pierce. South, at the Corbett farm, was a Mr. Smith. South and east, no other house until you came to the Creek farm just north of Goodland; no town there then. Back to the river and east, just east of the railroad, was Squire John Lyons, father of Aaron Lyons. Where Fred Hammacker lives, was Phillip Earl. Back to town, then east to where the U. B. parsonage
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