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 20
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FIRST AND BEST COUNTY FAIR
At various meetings held within the following four months commit- tees were appointed to prepare a premium list for the county fair to be held in the coming autumn and to procure grounds and erect the neces- sary buildings for the exhibition of live stock, products of the farm and garden and the display of domestic manufactures. In the spring of 1858 the directors received the reports of the committees, from which the cheerful prospect evolved that, after building a portion of the pens and sheds and thereby draining the treasury, it would be necessary to raise $4,000 to meet the premiums which had been offered. The strain was eased somewhat by substituting diplomas for cash premiums on many articles, the change being generally accepted with good grace, as prize ribbons could be kept for future display and glory, while money could not.
The Committee on Grounds and Buildings reported that Peter Price had generously donated a forty-acre tract of land about half a mile west
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of town on the north side of the highway, and that buildings were so far advanced that they would be ready for occupancy by the 1st of Septem- ber. The time fixed for holding the fair was the last week in that month, when it was assumed that the grains and vegetables of the county would be sufficiently matured to be placed on exhibition to the best advantage.
This first fair was a grand success, despite the fact that the country had not yet recovered from the monetary panic of 1857, for the general election was at hand and various candidates for state and county offices were in attendance. That feature of itself drew many to the fair. The exhibition was a novelty and was really creditable. Furthermore, the funds which the people brought with them purposely to spend were enhanced by generous contributions from office-seekers. No fair was therefore more of a success than the first.
One in attendance wrote of the exhibition, years afterward, in this strain : "The exhibits of grain, vegetables and farm products were ex- tensive. Wagon loads of sweet and Irish potatoes, cabbages, pumpkins, squash, corn, oats, wheat and rye were brought in by the farmers and entered for premiums. The breeders of fine stock-cattle, horses, hogs and sheep-were well represented. There were many men living in the county who had for a long time made a specialty in the breeding of the best stock obtainable, and to them we are indebted for the high repute of White County in the production of the best horses, cattle, sheep and swine of any of her sister counties in this part of the State.
"But horses, cattle, hogs and sheep were not the only stock on exhi- bition at our Fair. Chickens, turkeys, geese and Guinea fowls were also brought and entered in their classes for premiums. The woman depart- ment was not neglected either. Premiums were offered for home-made laces, embroideries, quilts, bedspreads, woolen socks and other wearing apparel; also for the best five pounds of butter, the best loaf of bread, the best cake, the best home-made cheese and many other articles involv- ing the culinary art."
The unexpected success of the County Agricultural Society in its first venture at holding a fair made the managers quite sanguine of the future, and search was immediately instituted for permanent grounds.
THE SECOND FAIR
The second fair held at the Monticello grounds in 1859 was less encouraging for several reasons. Times had become really hard; the country was flooded with worthless money; Wild-Cat banks were wind- ing up their unbusinesslike affairs everywhere, and stores and manu- factories were either failing or reefing their sails in an endeavor to weather the storm. Good money was at such a discount that the few banks which had conducted their business within reason were grimly holding on to it, although constantly beseiged by business men who were still solvent, but could hardly keep afloat without a medium of exchange of some kind.
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DIVISION OVER COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL
Then there was the prevailing agitation over the transfer of the county seat from Monticello to Reynolds, which divided the member- ship of the County Agricultural Society and threatened to disrupt it. But these differences were finally compromised, although the move- ment had its retarding effect. Neither did the second fair present a drawing card in the presence of public speakers whom the people of the county were eager to hear, as no election of importance was pending.
Despite these drawbacks the exhibits were most creditable, those in the lines of agricultural products, machinery, manufacturers and stock being superior to those of the first fair. About this time the first thresh- ing machines were appearing in the grain fields of White County farm- ers. They were operated by horses. It is hard to realize, in this con- nection, that it was twenty years after the county was organized that threshing machines commenced to be manufactured in the United States. Reverting to the county fair of 1859, the truth is that its exhibits were good, but the attendance was very poor, and the society received a blow which seemed to benumb its activities.
The prevailing sentiment of the committee on grounds and the society generally was that the site of the county fair should be near the county seat, and, as Reynolds and Monticello were still contending for that honor, the choice of grounds was greatly complicated ; in fact, a decision was never made. The citizens favoring Reynolds had offered the society forty acres of land near that place, where a fair was afterward held, and further agreed to aid in its improvement, provided the society would make it a permanent location for the county fair to be held in the future. A majority of the committee, however, was opposed to Reynolds, either as a location for the county seat or the county fair, and voted to post- pone the purchase of fair grounds until the state of the treasury should warrant.
ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL
That time never came and, although fairs were held for several years afterward, the County Agricultural Society was finally dissolved. An effort was made to revive it in 1874, at a time when the people were just recovering from the panic of 1873. Several citizens of Monticello leased a tract of land from William Rothrock, a mile south of town, prepared the grounds, advertised the enterprise extensively, offered liberal premiums to exhibitors and held the fair. Although it was a success and resulted in leaving several hundred dollars in the treasury, the farmers and stockmen of the county did not follow up the move- ment, and no attempt has since been made to hold a county agricul- tural fair. Various local fairs are held at such points as Brookston, Monon, Wolcott and Monticello, the monthly sale of horses at the county seat being perhaps the most prosperous of these enterprises. The advis- ability of again organizing a society which shall combine all these inter- ests and, in other ways, stimulate agricultural, horticultural and live Vol. J-10
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stock matters throughout the county, is periodically discussed and may result in another and a stronger County Agricultural Society.
THE OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION
The old settlers of White County have been organized since 1858, their annual meetings having always been occasions of warm sociability and great interest. Since the fall of 1911 the contributions to the his- tory of the county contained in the speeches and papers prepared by the old settlers have been preserved through the efforts of the White County Historical Society, which was organized in that year. That organization has been a credit to its name, and among its other good works is its practical support given to this history of White County.
FIRST MEETING AT JOHN BURNS' GROVE
All the accounts of the Old Settlers' Association state that its "first organized meeting" took place at the grove of George Spencer, Big Creek Township, in September, 1858, but make no mention of a gather- ing held in the previous month at the grove of John Burns, on the Grand Prairie. Mr. Burns, a genial Ohio man, then in his fiftieth year, had settled in what afterward became Big Creek Township as early as 1830. He had then barely passed his majority, although he had been married four years. Upon his 80-acre tract he erected a little log cabin, with dirt floors, but at the time of the old settlers' gathering in his grove he had a large, finely improved farm, and eventually became the most extensive land owner and live-stock breeder in Big Creek Township.
The first meeting of old settlers, whether it could be called organized or not, was held in the Burns grove about the middle of August, 1858, as stated in a communication published in the White County Jackson- ian, August 18th of that month. The account of this initial meeting is written so unaffectedly as to be refreshing, despite the formality of some of the expressions. It is therefore reproduced : "On Friday last a most agreeable entertainment came off at the grove of Mr. John Burns on the Grand Prairie. Information had spread abroad that there would be an 'old settlers' festival' at the time and place above mentioned, and early in the forenoon the settlers, old and young, came flocking in from all directions until at 10 o'clock, when the organization took place, quite a mass of citizens, male and female, had collected on the grounds.
"Judge Test was chosen President of the day, who, in a succinct. and felicitous manner, stated the object of the meeting and in turn the old settlers of White county told the tales of their early adversities, the successes that attended their perseverance and industry, their many privations and discomforts; how glad they were to see the face of a friend, or that of a stranger, if he had even come from the same State they had left; the difficulties of obtaining supplies for necessary wants, the places whence they came, etc., etc.
"I assure you, Mr. Editor, of the many entertainments in which I
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have participated I never partook of more enjoyment than upon this occasion. Each old settler, in a style of unvarnished frankness and truth, gave his experience; and to me what they said was more refresh- ing than if they had clothed their language with flowers of faultless beauty and formed their sentences with the precision of a well-arranged- garland. And it was pleasant to look upon the form, the honest brow, the well-developed man, now numbered among the patriarchs of the county and who can look back with so much enjoyment upon a life well spent in the service of his country and for his posterity. In these exer- cises the clergy also added their experience, and opened and closed the ceremonies with an invocation of all good and all peace to those present, and all mankind.
"The ladies-God bless them !- were out in large numbers, giving a zest and affording a brightness to every surrounding scene ; for without these angels of beauty what would be the life of man?
"The vocal music was good, and the ladies and gentlemen who did the singing acquitted themselves handsomely.
"The presiding officer, Judge Test, who had said so many good things, closed the proceedings before dinner with many happy remarks well adapted to the occasion, including his own backwoods experience, all of which was well received and rapturously applauded by the audience.
"In accordance with the arrangements prescribed by the committee, the company repaired to the well-arranged dinner table, one hundred yards long, covered with the substantials and luxuries of the surround- ing country, and furnished by the ladies, whose hearts always overflow with kindness and liberality, and by the bounty of the hospitable pro- prietor of the grove, Mr. Burns. The provisions were discussed with much relish, and many thanks were uttered to the old settlers for the comforts and plenty which their industry and hardships had been the means of bestowing.
"After the festivities at the table, the party returned to the stand where appropriate sentiments were given and received with much good cheer ; and when the ceremonies of the day were pronounced closed the young and gay, with light and buoyant hearts, repaired to an eligible part of the grove and 'tripped the light, fantastic toe' so merrily as to make them forget, until the sun sat in the prairies, the toils and priva- tions of their progenitors. But if these amusements of the young were lively and gay, they were perfectly innocent and harmless, with which no sensible person should find the slightest fault.
"And shall I speak of this lovely grove-this delightful spot? Here is the residence of our hospitable friend, Mr. Burns, which he sought a long while ago when there were few to dispute his wise selection of a home-and he, too, is an old settler. His farm is one of the largest and prettiest in the county, and his liberality toward the old settlers and his neighbors shows that he has a heart to enjoy it. And, indeed all around his chosen residence appear green fields, well cultivated farms, lovely groves, cattle on a thousand hills, presenting an amphitheatre
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of enchantment. Travel where you will, at this season of the year you cannot look upon a more lovely landscape.
"What is more rational, what more entertaining, what more inter- esting than similar gatherings to this, when the harvest is over and the husbandman is at his ease ?"
FIRST KNOWN OFFICERS
It may be that a regular organization of the Old Settlers' Associa- tion was effected at the meetings said to have been held at the grove of George A. Spencer, one of the first three pioneers of Big Creek Town- ship - the gatherings of September, 1858, and September, 1859. Although several hundred people are reported to have been present at the latter gathering, there is no record of its proceedings. The first officers known to have been elected were those chosen on September 8, 1860; also at Spencer's grove. At that time Mr. Spencer was himself chosen president of the association ; Thomas Spencer, John Roberts and William M. Kenton, vice presidents; Lucius Pierce, marshal; J. J. Barnes, secretary. At this meeting addresses were delivered by Charles H. Test, Alfred Reed and Rev. H. C. McBride.
PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SPENCER
George A. Spencer, whose name has already appeared so often, was for nearly forty years one of the most prominent men in the county. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but in his youth became a resident of Perry County, Ohio. There he was afterward married and served in the War of 1812. In 1829 he walked from his Ohio home to a locality about three miles west of the Tippecanoe, where he decided to settle with his family. In the following year he bought 320 acres at the land sale in Crawfordsville, bringing his family on from Ohio soon after- ward. This land he improved, increased his holdings to fully 1,000 acres, and resided on the original homestead until his death in January, 1867. As stated, the first courts of White County were held in Mr. Spencer's house, and as its first treasurer he also made his early home doubly official. Afterward he served as justice of the peace for about twenty-five years. By trade he was both a tanner and carpenter, which fact, in connection with his standing 'as a farmer and a citizen, made him one of the most useful and widely known men in White County. Mr. Spencer was too old to be a soldier in the Civil war, but several of his sons acquitted themselves well in that regard, and the Spencer family in White County has always stood for honor and stability.
FIRST WELL-ORDERED ASSOCIATION
The Old Settlers' Association, of which Mr. Spencer was perhaps the first president, virtually left no records until the early '70s, the anxie- ties, horrors and responsibilities of the Civil war overshadowing much
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of that uncertain period. But the 16th of August, 1873, was its red letter day, as the old settlers then assembled at the courthouse in Mon- ticello, elected permanent officers and arranged to keep a record of all subsequent meetings of the association. The officers thus chosen were as follows: Alfred Reed, president; Charles W. Kendall, secretary; Israel Nordyke, treasurer ; Peter Price, William Burns (son of old John Burns and the first or second child born in the county), Robert Rothrock, Solomon McCully, Noah Davis, Thomas Downey, Samuel Smelcer, Nathaniel Rogers, John Burns, Joseph McBeth, Joseph H. Thompson, William Jordan and Austin Ward, vice presidents. All persons who had resided in the county for twenty-one years were made eligible to membership and the secretary was directed to enter the names of all
PIONEER HOME
applicants, with the dates of their first residence in the county. At each annual meeting he was also to record deaths or removals from the county. Thus was the Old Settlers' Association put upon a business- like basis, which has since endured and brought so much pleasure and profit to its members. The annual meeting is fixed as the last Saturday in August. The citizens of Monticello have been especially enthusiastic and liberal in support of the entertainments, which are so thoroughly appreciated by the thousands who now throng to the gatherings of the old settlers, their relatives and friends, wherever found, but mostly col- lected from within the limits of White County.
PIONEERS OF 1829-67
As entered in the record book of the association the following are the best-known of the old settlers who have joined that organization, with the years of their coming :
1829-Joseph H. Thompson, Robert Rothrock, Mary Thompson, Calvin C. Spencer, Matilda Peirce, Eliza M. Kendall, Louisa Virden.
TYPICAL PIONEER FARM
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1830-John Herron, Jacob Buchanan, George D. Washburn.
1831-John Burns, Samuel Alkire, Catherine Bartley, John Roberts, Wm. Burns, Catherine Orr, Peter Price, George W. Spencer, Joseph Rothrock, Samuel Smelcer, Jeremiah Bisher, Robert Neal, G. W. Red- ding, Martha Roberts.
1832-John Gates, John Gray, Solomon McCully, Thos. Spencer, Margaret Renwick.
1833-John Worthington, Andrew Hanna, J. M, Smelcer, Orlando Mcconahay, Abram N. Bunnell, David McConahay, Elizabeth Sill, Miranda Reynolds, Nancy Bunnell, Samuel Virden, T. W. Berkey, Ann Smith, Lucy Jane Crose, Mary A. Kenton, Isaac Davis, Mary Davis, Susie Redding, Adam Gibson, Harriet E. Rinker, Silas M. Virden, Oliver S. Dale.
1834-Allen Barnes, John Hannah, Nathaniel White, Nathaniel Bun- nell, Stephen Bunnell, Sophia Bunnell, Elizabeth S. Cowger, Samuel Shafer, Susanna Shafer, Milton M. Sill, Elizabeth Neal, Isaac S. Vinson, Sarah Line, Peter Bishop, Sarah A. Cowger, Abraham Bunnell, Rachel Redding, George W. Redding.
1835-G. H. Gibson, Alexander Barnes, William Price, William York, John York, Matilda Dodge, William Spencer, William M. Roth, Rowland Hughes, Jane Cullen, Ellis H. Johnson, Abram Snyder, L. T. Korn, William Duncan, Rachel Cornell, Richard H. Cornell, Benjamin Greenfield, George H. Mitchell, George B. Smith.
1836-Hiram Sluyter, Zachariah Rothrock, Morgan H. Dyer, Aaron Price, Esther M. Hall, Randolph Brearley, John D. Scroggs, Davis C. Scroggs, Gideon E. Scroggs, Eliza C. Rothrock, Daniel M. Tilton, Elisha Warden, James Downey, Elizabeth Sluyter, W. H. Rinker, Henry Chamberlain, Richard Imes, Sr., Margaret Nutt, Nelson Hornbeck, Eliz- abeth Reese, Hannah C. Franklin.
1837-Jonathan Oats, Hugh Lowe, James C. Reynolds, Georgianna M. Reynolds, Mary C. Patterson, Mary J. Reynolds, George Snyder, Henry Snyder, Sarah Rothrock, Eli Cowger, Liberty M. Burns, Martha Greenfield, Walter Billingsley, Mary Simonds.
1838-Elizabeth Shriner, Mary Sill, James W. Mason, Daniel J. Tilton, Perry Spencer, Esther Rinker, George Elston, J. W. Watkins, Elmira Woltz, Samuel Heckendorn, William Kinney, Ann M. Ford, Clark S. Little, Mary Huff, Phebe Hornback, Henry T. Little.
1839-Abraham Neal, Hugh B. Logan, H. C. Neal, John C. Karr, Hannah Stout, Reuben Stout, J. W. Welch, O. C. Sleeth, John Harvey, Charles W. Kendall, Samuel E. Logan, David C. Tedford, William Dowell, J. Lytle, Maria Fraser, John D. Rinker, Louisa Lear, Mary Failing, Elizabeth Wiley, Mary E. Townsley.
1840-William D. Edson, Elisha H. Davis, Letetia Davis, J. C. Grewell, Philip Benjamin, William S. Davis, George Perrigo, Perry Gates, Susan Patton, J. E. Dunham, Sarah Mcconahay, Henry Murray, Asa Bailey, Jonas Monbeck, John Hornbeck, Mary Grace Wirt.
1841-John P. Shafer, Noah Davis, Israel Davis, Theodore J. Davis,
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Owen C. Davis, William W. Davis, Philip Benjamin, Elizabeth Sluyter, Sarah Bunnell, Thomas Rinker, William Boze, Jane M. Sleeth.
1842-Isaac Price, Bushrod W. Cain, Mary Wright, Lorin Cutler, James McKinney, Catharine Mckinney, Alexander Yount, W. W. Mc- Culloch, Rebecca Little, John Eldridge.
1843-Thomas Barnes, J. S. Spencer, Lucius Peirce, Mary A. Burns, William H. Gray, Samuel G. Neal.
1844-Theodore M. Davis, T. A. Robison, N. J. Robison, Wm. H. Brannan, Adin Nordyke, Israel Nordyke, Samuel Fleming, William Orr, John Matthews, Katherine J. Chamberlain, S. P. Cowger.
1845-Isaac B. Moore, John C. Hughes, James W. Bulger, Minerva Bulger, Simon Bailey, Louisa Bailey, E. H. Johnson, Albert Bacon, William Haas, Emily Yount, John Short, John Wright, Jane Wickham, Lucy F. Miller, W. T. Dobbins, James R. Moore, George B. Woltz.
1847-Elizabeth Hughes, Lydia Worthington, John Snyder, Nathan C. Pettit, Sarah Monbeck.
1848-John Wilburn, Catherine A. Logan, Amer S. McElhoes, Mary Mc Elhoes, Joseph L. Hall, Nancy Hall, Eliza Perrigo, Sarah Bailey, John P. Carr, Samuel Cromer, James Spencer, Emeline Hughes, John Shell, Catherine Hughes.
1849-Calvin Cooley, David Droke, David S. Droke, Edward Rey- nolds, Joseph DeLong, Joseph Paugh, Catherine DeLong, Robert Ginn, Ellen R. Ginn, A. H. Wingard, Sarah Cromer, John H. Switzer.
1850-Charles Reid, Eliza J. Wickham, Nicholas Myers, Mary Roach, Samuel Snyder, Philip M. Benjamin.
1851-Daniel Morse, Thomas E. Barnes, Jr., James M. Thornton, Lizzie Clark, Levi Mowrer, M. J. Anderson, Alexander Reed.
1852-Thomas B. Moore, W. F. Edwards, Louisa A. Moore, William B. Keefer, Matilda J. Mowrer, John W. Brown, George Cullen, Ira Keller. E. McDonald, Hamilton Templeton, Philip Wolverton, W. S. Bushnell.
1853-Elisa Dickey, S. E. Brannan, Elizabeth Hughes, Peter Carna- han, Susan Carnahan, John N. Harbert, Job J. Holmes, Frank Carna- han. Robert L. Cox.
1854-Elmira J. Thomas, Mrs. McBeth, John Horen, Ferdinand Hays. Jane Bishop, Solomon Delzell.
1855-Shelton Rutherford, Verlina Rutherford, Permelia Bacon, James Coble, Wm. H. Mckinney, Peter Loftus, Margaret Loftus, Miranda Dickey, Richard Cornell.
1856-Solomon Crose, James A. Barr, E. J. Berkey, W. J. Gridley, Samuel Townsley, Thomas Cooper, Cornelia Crouch.
1857-Robert Gregory.
1858-Amaziah Davisson, Sarah A. Davisson.
1859-George Uhl.
1860-John Moriarty, Harriet Moriarty.
1861-Nathaniel Sweet, John Morrell.
1863-Charles J. Hutton, Nancy A. Hutton, John L. Pitts.
1866-Samuel B. Wright.
1867-Andrew Goble.
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
WHITE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
At the White County Old Settlers' meeting, held at Monticello, August 26, 1911, the importance of a county historical society was presented and urged by William H. Hamelle, and accordingly a com- mittee was appointed to organize such a society for White County. The committee, consisting of J. B. VanBuskirk, William H. Hamelle, Bernard G. Smith, James P. Simons and Will S. Bushnell, met at the office of Spencer & Hamelle on the evening of September 1, 1911, and effected an organization to be known as "The White County Historical Society," with the following officers: President, William H. Hamelle; vice presi- dent, Will S. Bushnell; secretary, Jay B. VanBuskirk; treasurer, Bernard G. Smith. The president was authorized to purchase the neces- sary records and books for the society, and the meeting adjourned.
The charter members of the society are as follows:
Monticello-B. G. Smith, Will S. Bushnell, Wm. K. O'Connell, Mrs. P. V. Mikesell, R. D. Roberts, Wm. F. Bunnell, B. F. Price, Sr., George G. Breese, C. D. Meeker, J. D. Timmons, T. W. O'Connor, Miss Anna Magee, T. J. Woltz, Wm. P. Cooper, J. B. Roach, George Biederwolf, A. B. Clark, George F. Marvin, Wm. H. Hamelle, J. B. VanBuskirk, H. D. Shenk, Charles C. Spencer, Perry Spencer, John M. Turner, Sanford Johnsonbaugh, George K. Hughes, Frank R. Phillips, B. B. Baker, Wm. M. Reynolds, John McConnell, S. A. Carson, H. C. Johnson, M. T. Didlake, J. P. Simons, Felix R. Roth, Wm. Guthrie, and .J. C. Jones.
Chalmers-S. M. Burns and James Van Voorst.
Monon-John W. Brannan, Thomas S. Cowger, Eli W. Cowger and John C. Lowe.
Reynolds-C. C. Wheeler.
Brookston-Robert H. Little, John C. Vanatta, James E. Carson, Alex. L. Telfer, Guy G. Jennings, Joseph H. Kious, August S. Bordner, and A. P. Gosma.
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