USA > Indiana > White County > A standard history of White County Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. I > Part 12
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"In conclusion, gentlemen, permit us to indulge the hope that all local dissensions will vanish amongst you, and that the citizens of White will go together as one man for the improvement of your county and county seat. We are gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedient servants,
"JOHN KILGORE, "JOHN B. KING, "JAMES H. STEWART, "Locating Commissioners.
"September 5, 1834."
The locating commissioners had first met on Monday, September 1st, and, after viewing several ambitious locations, one of which was in Big Creek Township, completed their labors on Friday, the 5th of September, the day of the report. At that time the land upon which the county seat was located had not yet been entered, or in other words was yet the prop- erty of the United States. The land was selected because it seemed the most eligible site near the center of the county, and for the further reason Vol. 1-5
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that whereas other points wishing the location were somewhat exacting regarding the donations to be made, it became clear to the locating com- missioners, from an offer they received from John Barr, Sr., Hans E. Hiorth and John Rothrock, that the new county would be far better off financially, if the county seat was fixed at Monticello; of course there was not a house then standing on the present site of the town. The offer made by Barr, Hiorth and John Rothrock to the locating commissioners was that if the latter would agree to locate the county seat at Monticello, on land which yet belonged to the Government, the former would proceed to Laporte and enter the land and donate the entire eighty acres, upon which the town was located, with reservation, to the county. This offer was ac- cepted by the commissioners. But the land instead of being entered by these three men was really entered by Robert Rothrock. The follow- ing bond explains the situation :
"Know all men by these presents, that I, Robert Rothrock, acknowl- edge myself to owe and to be indebted to John Barr, H. E. Hiorth and John Rothrock in the sum of $1,000 gold and lawful money of the United States, to the payment of which I bind myself, my heirs, administrators and executors firmly by these presents, signed and sealed this 10th day of September, A. D. 1834.
"The condition of the above obligation is such, that, the aforesaid John Barr, H. E. Hiorth and John Rothrock having placed in the hands of the said Robert Rothrock the sum of $137.771/2 for the purpose of entering at the Laporte Land Office the following fractional lots, to-wit : the south half of the northeast quarter and the north half of the south- east quarter of Section 33, Township 27 north, Range 3 west, containing in all 110 22-100 acres, which lots were purchased for the purpose of a county seat in White County. Now, if the said Robert Rothrock shall make to the said John Barr, H. E. Hiorth and John Rothrock good and sufficient title in fee simple, then the above obligation to be null and void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue; the above deeds or titles to be made as soon as the patent can be obtained from the Government. ROBERT ROTHROCK [SEAL].
"Attest:
"JOSHUA LINDSEY,
"PETER B. SMITH."
THE COUNTY SEAT TITLE
Tradition says that Robert Rothrock coveted the distinction of having entered the land where the county seat was located, and to humor this ambition the three men furnished him the money, taking his bond as above. The county seat was located, then, by the 5th of September, and on the 6th, as shown by the tract book, Robert Rothrock entered the land at Laporte; but the above bond was signed and sealed on the 10th of September, four days after the land had been entered. In other words, Robert Rothrock entered the land four days before his bond was signed,
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and was therefore entrusted with the money before he had obligated him- self to transfer the land to the proper owners, Barr, Hiorth and John Rothrock. The title actually passed from Robert Rothrock to these three men, or rather directly to the county agent, the three men quit-claiming their title.
PUBLIC SALES OF LOTS
As stated above, Monticello was laid out on the 3d of November, 1834, and on the 7th, in pursuance of an order of the county commissioner, a public sale of the lots took place, Melchi Gray officiated as auctioneer or crier and Joshua Lindsey serving as clerk of the sale. The terms were one-fourth of the purchase price in ninety days from date, the remainder in two equal annual payments, the buyer to "give good security for pay- ments deferred."
As no report of the sale of these lots is of record until March 8, 1836,. it is fair to presume that Mr. Barr received no cash at the first sale. At the date named he filed his report as follows :
Gross receipts of sales from November 7, 1834, to March 8, 1836 $1,870.371/2
Amount donated by sundry individuals. 110.00
Total receipts $1,980.371%
Paid Jonathan Harbolt on courthouse $124.683/4
Paid Oliver Hammond on courthouse. 70.00
Total expenditures 194.683/4
Balance $1,785.6834
Cash received on sales. $ 566.061/4
Paper 1,414.3114
The various fractions of cents in the foregoing report will puzzle many readers until they are reminded of the great scarcity of American currency at that time. On the other hand, Spanish silver coins of 61/4. 121/2 and 25 cents, as well as French five-francs pieces, valued at 9334 cents, were in circulation during the period of these first land sales and for several years thereafter. Hence the fractions noted in Mr. Barr's report.
THE OLD COURTHOUSE GRANT
The old courthouse grant was bounded on the north by Marion Street, east by Tippecanoe, south by Jefferson and west by Illinois. On the 6th of March, 1837, the title to the land not having yet passed from Robert Rothrock to Barr, Hiorth and John Rothrock, the former con- veyed the following tract of land to John Barr, county agent, and his successors in office : Beginning at a point where the west line of Illinois Street in the said Town of Monticello running north as the town plat of
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the said town is laid out would intersect the north line of the southwest fraction of the northeast quarter of section 33, township 27 north, range 3 west, thence east with the north line of said fraction of the Tippe- canoe River, thence with the meanderings of the said river to the south line of the northwest fraction of the southeast quarter of section 33, township 27 north, range 3 west, thence with the south line of said last mentioned fraction west to a point where the west line of said Illinois Street aforesaid extended south would intersect said last mentioned line,
VIEWS OF OLD COURTHOUSES
thence north with the west line of said Illinois Street, extended as afore- said to the place of beginning. The conveyance was made upon the ex- press condition that the county seat should forever remain located upon the land. Appended to this document was a quit claim of all the rights, titles and interests of Barr, Hiorth and John Rothrock in the land, con- ditioned that the land should forever remain the site of the county seat. In view of these conditional transfers, and the lapse of time and the growth of public institutions and interests, the difficulty of removing the county seat to some other point in White County becomes at once apparent.
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
FIRST JUDICIAL SESSION
The first session of the Circuit Court for White County was held at the house of George A. Spencer, six miles southwest of Monticello near the center of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 12, township 27 north, range 4 west. On the 17th of October, 1834, the pre- siding judge, John R. Porter, was absent; which fact threw the respon- sibility of the proceedings on the associates, James Barnes and Thomas Wilson. William Sill, father of Milton M. Sill, of Monticello, served as clerk, and John Wilson as sheriff. The grand jury consisted of Royal Hazelton (foreman), William Woods, James Johnson, Samuel Gray, Robert Barr, Aaron Hicks, Daniel Dale, Robert Hanna, John Roberts, John Ferguson, James Parker, Joseph James, Sr., Cornelius Sutton, William Kerr and Joseph Thompson.
A case of "malicious mischief" was the only matter brought to the attention of the court. It seems that Jere Bisher had tied something to the tail of one of his neighbor's fractious horses, and the court bound the offender over to the next term with security of $50 for his appear- ance. Then William P. Bryant, Andrew Ingraham, Aaron Fitch and William M. Jenners were sworn in as attorneys qualified to practice in the county, and the session was adjourned.
FIRST FULL COURT KEPT BUSY
At the second term of court, beginning April 17, 1835, also in Mr. Spencer's house, all the judges were present and a number of cases were brought before them. Mr. Spencer himself acted as bailiff, William Sill, clerk, and John Wilson, sheriff. Bisher's case of malicious mischief was at once taken up and the defendant was fined $5, and sentenced to the custody of the sheriff for the space of one minute, "the fine to go to the funds of the county seminary."
The grand jury returned the following indictments: Against Jacob Gates for retailing liquor without a license; against Joseph Gates for firing the prairie; against Royal Hazelton for marking hogs; against Jeremiah Bisher for trespass to land (Bisher instead of Gates seems to have been the real firebrand of the county) ; against William Keen for selling liquor to the Indians; against John Beaver and Luke Beaver for fighting and against William Farmer, D. Runion and S. Pharris for selling clocks without a license. The indictment against Mr. Gates was quashed ; the jury found Mr. Hazelton and the Beavers not guilty ; Mr. Bisher was fined $1.121/2 cents; and Messrs. Keen and Farmer pleaded guilty, the former being fined $5 and costs and the latter, $2 and costs.
Such court matters are adduced as much to throw rays of light upon the affairs of the young county and its people, as because they represent the legal business transacted at the first "full court" held within its borders.
The house of Mr. Spencer, where the sittings were held, was in Big Creek Township, and the Circuit Court continued its sessions there until
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the autumn of 1836, when it adjourned permanently to the county seat, a courthouse then being in process of erection at Monticello.
THE LITTLE FRAME COURTHOUSE
The steps by which the site for the county buildings was acquired have been noted, and at its May session the board of commissioners had or- dered that lot 29, original plat of Monticello on the east side of Main Street, second lot south of Harrison Street, be set apart for the erection of a frame courthouse two stories in height, 20 by 22 feet in dimensions. Two partitions above were to divide the rooms equally and one below to separate two rooms, 20 by 20 feet and 12 by 20, respectively. Robert A. Spencer, afterward a prominent physician and surgeon, Solomon Sherwood, Jonathan Harbolt and Oliver Hammond were 'employed to erect the structure, the contract price being $800. The courthouse was nearly completed, when it was leveled to the ground by a violent wind ; but it was promptly rebuilt and finally completed in the summer of 1837. This unforeseen accident somewhat interfered with the original architect's plans, and the final courthouse was not exactly as intended.
THE JAIL AND ITS FIRST PRISONER
The jail, which had been projected about the same time, was erected by William M. Kenton on the east side of Illinois Street near Marion, and was completed in the fall of 1838. Mr. Sill's description of that fear- some edifice and his account of the first desperado incarcerated therein leaves nothing to be desired for completeness and picturesqueness and are therefore reproduced : "The jail was built of hewn logs, one story in height, twenty by forty feet, divided by a partition near the center into two rooms; the front room designed for delinquent debtors, for a man could then be imprisoned for debt; and it is the opinion of many now that the act ought never to have been repealed, but instead amended so as to apply to those who could pay their honest debts and will not, and also for milder offenses against the law.
"The rear room was designated the dungeon, and was intended for the incarceration of prisoners charged with the perpetration of higher crimes. The front door was constructed of inch plank running diago- nally from one corner across to the corner on the opposite side, and four inches thick, bolted together with iron bolts passing through the planks and riveted on the opposite side. There were two doors to the dungeon, the first similar to the front door and the second of iron bars riveted together in such manner as to form an opening between of three inches square. A short chain was riveted on the side of this door about half- way up from the floor, and a staple driven in the door frame over which it passed, a common padlock passing through the staple to secure it. The wooden doors were also provided with locks of huge size made es- pecially for them, with a key for each lock half as long as a man's arm and weighty enough to worry a small boy to carry. The object in having
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
the two doors to the dungeon was, in the event of the imprisonment of a desperate criminal, to protect the jailor, who could open the first door and take a view of the inside through the grated iron door before he entered with food and water for the prisoners.
"Singular as it may appear, the first person to occupy the new jail was a school teacher, who was guilty of unduly chastising one of his pupils, Erastus Gray, for an infringement of his rules. He whipped the boy with a rawhide until the blood streamed down his body and stood in pools on the floor of the school room. Without any doubt Erastus deserved some punishment, for he was not a model of good behavior and the par- ents universally believed in the use of the rod; but the majority of them thought the boy had a little too much, and so the teacher was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to one hour imprisonment in the county jail. He was not without friends, however, who justified his action, and one of them went with him and kept him company during his incarcera- tion. His school was broken up shortly after this, and the talk of tar and feathers, and a free ride astride a rail, became a subject of every-day gossip until he finally abandoned his charge and left for parts unknown."
THE COUNTY'S UPS AND DOWNS
The old courthouse and jail were not replaced by better buildings until fourteen and seventeen years had respectively passed; and that period was one of many ups and downs for both the county and country. The first three years of the county's life fell within the prosperous era and its population probably increased from a 100 to over a 1,000. While the first settlers were men of limited means, nearly all of them brought money enough to enter tracts of land varying from forty to 160 acres, with sufficient cash retained to provide for the necessities of self or family until their crops should mature. As a rule they brought their families, which accounts for the rapid increase in population. During this period the county's financial operations were not impressive, both receipts and expenditures averaging from $200 to $300, much of its income being the result of the sale of the lands at Monticello, the proceeds of which were to be donated for public purposes.
When the hard times approached in 1837, money had become very scarce and for some time canal script was almost the sole circulating medium of exchange, with even more crude substitutes, such as furs, pelts and hides. From 1837 to 1842 the general and local distress con- tinued and emigration to White County was slow; yet, by 1840, its popu- lation had increased to 1,832, and after 1842 the increase and all-around improvement were very marked. By 1850, the population had reached 4,761.
It was during the later portion of the prosperous decade, 1840-50, that the public enterprises of the county took an upward turn, although they did not materialize into any definite improvements until a little later.
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THE CLERK'S OFFICE BUILT
The board of commissioners commenced to agitate the necessity of im- proved public buildings in the early part of 1845, but it was not until June, 1846, that any decisive step was taken. At that time the county agent was ordered to arrange for the erection of a frame building, 16 by 20 feet, on lot 29. It was also ordered that the agent collect a sufficient amount of the outstanding donation fund to cover the expenses of con- struction. Zachariah Van Buskirk was given the contract, and the struc- ture, known as the clerk's office, was completed in September, 1846, at a cost of $500.
THE BRICK COURTHOUSE
In 1848 the work of building a new and much larger courthouse was begun, George Brown, of Lafayette, taking the contract. No definite time was set for the completion of the house, as the funds of the county were very low, and the means of obtaining suitable additions to carry on the necessary expense were largely beyond the reach of the commission- ers. County orders which had been issued to the amount of several thou- sand dollars were selling at about 5 per cent discount, and new ones gave no promise of selling for a better figure-just the reverse.
Regardless of this discouraging condition of affairs the commissioners borrowed $2,000, and ordered the work to commence. But the progress of construction hung fire, and the building was not ready for occupancy until 1851. The total cost, including the furnishings, was nearly $8,000.
In September, 1850, the "Clerk's Office" was ordered sold, the pro- ceeds to be applied on the new courthouse. On the 4th of December, 1851, more than three years after the house had been commenced, the board ordered the offices of clerk, auditor, recorder and treasurer removed to the new house.
CHOLERA' INTERFERES WITH ITS COMPLETION
The old brick courthouse, with its long corridors, heavy windows and its front porch supported by two massive pillars, had a hard time being born, and this was not the fault of its father, George Brown; the chief delay was caused by a prolonged cholera scare. The contractor had worked on the courthouse only a few days when one of his children was stricken with what resembled the prevailing cholera. A few deaths had already occurred at Lafayette, which had probably hastened Mr. Brown's removal to Monticello. As soon as the child's sickness became known panic spread through the town. Those in the neighborhood of Mr. Brown's residence on South Main Street hastily loaded their household goods into wagons and fled to the country. On the morning after the little girl's death a boy coming to town on horseback with a pail of butter for a relative met the procession a mile north of town, rapidly moving from the plague-stricken place. The occupants of the front wagon stopped the boy and tried to persuade him to turn back, even offering to buy his butter
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if he would return home; but no, the butter was not for sale, he was charged with its delivery and he "would do it, cholera or no cholera."
The county records were moved to the Presbyterian Church, as far away from the infected district as possible ; merchants locked their stores and, with their families, went to the country; business was entirely suspended, and for two months Monticello was almost deserted. Work on the courthouse was suspended, the laborers fleeing to the country and positively refusing to return, in consequence of which its construction was at a virtual standstill until the following spring. Mr. Brown refused to re-employ the workmen who had deserted him the previous year, and masons and brick-layers being scarce, the work progressed but slowly up to its completion in December, 1851.
DESCRIPTION OF DEAR OLD BUILDING
The writer turns again to Sill's unpublished history for a detailed description of the old brick courthouse, which, for forty-four years, was the center of the official, judicial and legal activities of White County and the scene of many occasions connected with patriotic meetings and public celebrations. "A description from memory," says the author, "while not infallible will be better than none. Beginning at the founda- tion, a trench three feet in depth, and similar trenches made at the sides of about eighty-five feet in length, were filled with stone of the genus known as 'nigger heads,' with which the county is amply supplied. On the top of these, blocks of cut stone were placed, projecting about three feet and presenting a level surface on which to lay the brick. The build- ing was two stories in height and divided into four rooms below, provid- ing offices for the auditor, treasurer, clerk and recorder. A hall eight feet wide passed through the length of the building between the offices with doors at each end. Each of the offices was provided with a brick vault with an iron door, and supposed by some to be fire proof, for the preservation of the records. There was a recess in front, twenty-five or thirty feet north and south by ten feet in width. On the southeastern corner of the building was another room ten feet square, which was occu- pied by the sheriff and presumably intended for him. If that was the case, a good joke on that official was perpetrated, as the room was scarcely large enough for a respectable chicken-coop.
"In the recess two fluted columns were built of the Tuscan order of architecture to a height of fifty feet, on the top of which rested a wooden dome or belfry, and high above all a huge wooden arrow for nearly fifty years faithfully indicated the course of summer breeze and winter blast.
"The second story, with the exception of a small jury room in the southeastern corner, was the court room. It was furnished with wooden benches with high backs, placed in two rows across the room, with an aisle between of sufficient width for two persons to walk abreast. The judge's seat was in the west end of the room on a high wooden platform with three steps at each end to enable him to ascend to his place with due judicial dignity and decorum. There was room on the platform for ten
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or twelve persons and in time of political excitement, when a public speaker of some notoriety was announced, it was always occupied. The seats were gradually elevated from front to rear to enable those behind to see over the heads of those in the front, and about five hundred people could be comfortably seated on the benches and inside the bar, which had a wooden railing extending across the same about fifteen feet in front of the judge's seat.
"Access to the court room was gained by a broad staircase in front on the north side of the recess. The late Hon. Horace P. Biddle, of Logans- port, was the first judge to open and hold court in the new Court House at the March term, 1852. The court officers were Ransom Mcconahay, clerk, and Michael A. Berkey, sheriff. The members constituting the Board of Commissioners who made the order for the building and re- ceived it when completed, were James K. Wilson, of Monon township, Solomon McCully, of Jackson, and Samuel Smelcer, of Prairie."
George S. Kendall, now living in Irvington, Indiana, relates a peculiar circumstance which occurred when the second courthouse was being built. This story was told by his grandparents and stated that in the spring- time of a certain year a small body of Indians passing through the town stopped for a brief rest in the courthouse yard and while there a squaw gave birth to a papoose, which she carefully wrapped in a blanket, mounted her horse and pursued her journey.
COUNTY OFFICES AFFECTED BY LEGISLATION
The new state constitution of 1851 made several noteworthy changes in the tenure of several county offices. The terms of the clerk and re- corder were shortened from seven to four years, and the terms of the remaining officials, except those of the commissioners and auditor, were fixed at two years; the latter's term of four years was unchanged. As the constitution also changed the time for holding the general election from the first Monday in August to the second Monday in October, there were other complications. By this change the clerk and recorder, although elected in October, went into office on the 7th of July following, and the treasurer in September following his election.
Acts of the Legislature of subsequent date to the new state constitu- tion made frequent changes in the election days of various county and township offices, as well as created numerous new positions. One of the most important of the new offices was that of county assessor, which came into being by legislative act of March 6, 1891. The original term was four years and the first county assessor was chosen at the general election in 1892.
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