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 29
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About 1855 William Crose shot himself about a mile southwest of Idaville. It is believed he committeed suicide while in a state of religious excitement.
In 1854 Silas Tam was killed by lightning just outside of Burnetts- ville. About 1861 a conductor named Anthony had his leg terribly crushed by a freight train, in consequence of having his foot caught in a frog, and died at the house of Alexander Rodgers, Idaville. In the following year three men were severely injured by the derailing of a train east of that place, one of whom died within a day.
About the summer of 1870, Daniel Leslie was killed by lightning, which struck the postoffice. The bolt also tore the boots from the feet of James C. Hutchinson, so that he had to wear felt slippers for several weeks because of the soreness of his feet.
THE MORMON BRANCH OF 1842-45
The Mormon Society, or branch, continued to proselyte from 1842 to 1845, when its members scattered, several of them joining the migra- tion to Nauvoo, Illinois. Their bishop, Alva L. Tibbetts, organized his converts at a private house about three miles north of where Burnetts- ville is situated, and within the following three years gathered a mem- bership of sixty-five, of whom about two-thirds resided in Jackson Township. Three families whose homes were within its limits joined the migration to Nauvoo; one of them returned to the home neighbor- hood in Jackson Township, after an experience of two weeks which tended to sober, if not subdue ; another crossed the Mississippi into Iowa,
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when the Mormons were expelled from Nauvoo in 1846, and the third followed the general exodus to Salt Lake City. During the existence of the branch near Burnettsville, the Mormons established a cemetery two miles north of Idaville in which several interments were made.
FARMINGTON MALE AND FEMALE SEMINARY
In 1852, two years before Burnettsville was platted, and while the locality was known as Farmington, the famous Male and Female Semi- nary was founded by Isaac Mahurin. Aaron Hicks and William York, Joseph Thompson and Elijah Eldridge were its first trustees. The Farmington Male and Female Seminary, as it was called, became quite noted as an educational institution, as has been more fully described in the chapter devoted to such matters.
BURNETTSVILLE FOUNDED
In March, 1854, Franklin J. Herman, a settler of 1839, laid out the Town of Burnettsville on his land, in the northwest quarter of section 25. The original plat comprised thirty-eight lots, and in 1855, Prudence Dale, widow of William Dale, made the first addition to it, a tract of sixteen lots.
Mr. Herman, the founder of Burnettsville, served as justice of the peace for twenty-five years and died in 1861, one of the most respected citizens of the township. He was the father of eleven children and several of his descendants have been identified with Burnettsville and its progress. One of the sons, F. A. Herman, was its postmaster for a number of years.
SHARON AND BURNETTSVILLE CONSOLIDATED
In 1860 Thomas Wiley and James B. Eliott laid out the Town of Sharon near the northern limits of Burnettsville. As it was a station on the new railroad known as the Logansport, Peoria and Burlington (now the Panhandle of the Pennsylvania Company), the new town grew rapidly, the business interests of Burnettsville being soon transferred to it bodily. In 1864 the postoffice of Burnett's Creek was moved from Burnettsville to Sharon, and later the two villages were consolidated under the name of the old town. As stated, it is still Burnettsville town and Burnett's Creek postoffice, but Uncle Sam, through his postal department, may in time correct the incongruity.
IDAVILLE FOUNDED
In July, 1860, Andrew Hanna, John B. Townsley and John McCully, all pioneers of the township, also laid out another town on the Panhandle line three miles west of Sharon, or Burnettsville. At first it was called Hanna, but the name was soon changed to Idaville. The original plat
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was on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 28 and comprised twenty-two lots; the first additions to it were made by Mr. Townsley in 1865. Ida- ville has never been incorporated as a town. It has suffered, both by storm and fire, the conflagration of 1902 destroying the business portion of the village.
Burnettsville and Idaville are pretty towns, and, as centers of trade and banking, are supported by a prosperous country both to the north and south. Burnettsville has a slight advantage in population and business, and both are pleasant, homelike places.
DRAINAGE AND GOOD ROADS
Jackson Township is practically an agricultural section of the county, and contains about one-ninth of its entire population. Its northern sections have been artificially drained through several large systems of ditches which are carried through Liberty and Union town- ships to the Tippecanoe River; so that at least half of the township, which was originally considered waste land, has been reclaimed and brought under productive cultivation. Its only natural waterway is Burnett's Creek, which drains its central, eastern and southeastern portions into the Wabash River.
In the matter of good roads, although Jackson Township is not fore- most in the movement, much progress has been made in the construction of highways of macadam or gravel, so that few farmers are now incon- venienced when they desire to market their produce. The township is bonded for nearly $35,000 on this account, the indebtedness being apportioned as follows: Personett Road, $1,920; Brown, $4,000; Reiff, $3,800; Mertz, $4,800 ; Bryan, $11,550; Bishop, $4,140; Harvey, $4,700.
CHAPTER XVI
BIG CREEK TOWNSHIP
PHYSICAL AND AGRICULTURAL FEATURES-FIRST SETTLER, JOSEPH H. THOMPSON-GEORGE A. SPENCER AND BENJAMIN REYNOLDS-SPENCER- REYNOLDS COLONY-THE HISTORIC SPENCER HOUSE-BENJAMIN REYNOLDS' AFTER-CAREER-JOHN BURNS-MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM BURNS-LAND OWNERS AND SETTLERS OF 1830-33-CHILLS AND FEVER-FIRST TOWNSHIP OFFICERS-FIRST SCHOOL IN THE COUNTY- LAND ENTRIES IN 1835-36-ELECTION IN 1836-THE GREAT HUNT OF 1840-THOSE WHO BOUGHT LAND IN 1837-51-B. WILSON SMITH'S PICTURE OF 1846-INCREASE OF REAL SETTLERS-FIRST FRAME SCHOOL HOUSE-MUDGE'S STATION AND CHALMERS-FIRST IRON BRIDGE- SWAMP LANDS RECLAIMED-SMITHSON OR WHEELER-LEADER IN GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT.
Big Creek was one of the four original townships created by the county board of commissioners at its first meeting July 19, 1834. It was designated as Congressional Township No. 26, "with all the terri- tory attached thereto," contained ninety-seven and a half square miles, or 62,200 acres, and comprised substantially a strip of territory six sections from north to south, extending through the county north of Prairie Township. In 1845 fifty-four square miles of its original area was carved away to form West Point Township, and at still later dates both Honey Creek and Union townships abstracted enough sections from its remaining body to reduce it to thirty-two and seven-eighths square miles.
PHYSICAL AND AGRICULTURAL FEATURES
The township derives its name from the stream which rises in the southwestern part of West Point Township, about two miles from the western county line, thence flows northeasterly to a point just south of Smithson, or Wheeler, and thence, after a course due east for about a mile, turns abruptly to the south and southeast. Big Creek crosses the line into Prairie Township, cuts off the northeast corner of that town- ship and discharges into the Tippecanoe River a mile south of Oakdale Mills, in Carroll County.
The surface of the township is varied-in the northern part, broad and level stretches of prairie bordered by timber, in the western sections more generally prairie, and in the eastern portions, the heaviest wooded
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lands. The best timbered tracts are confined to Big Creek and its branches.
Although both the timber and prairie portions are somewhat broken and rolling, this natural condition has never interfered with the culti- vation of the rich, deep loamy soil which predominates throughout the township. The subsoil is chiefly sand and gravel, though clay is found in the lowlands of the northern sections. Grain, grass, vegetables and fruits flourish, especially since the swampy lands have been ditched and drained. It has always been considered one of the best live stock regions in the county, and not a few of the early settlers gave much attention to the breeding, purchase and sale of cattle, horses and hogs. Prominent among these may be mentioned George A. Spencer, Benjamin Reynolds, John Burns, Thomas Bunnell, Thomas Spencer, John Rob- erts, Jeremiah Bisher and Philip Wolverton-names that stand for much that was best in the early progress of the township.
FIRST SETTLER, JOSEPH H. THOMPSON
Big Creek Township was the first portion of the county to be perma- nently settled, and the agreement is quite general that Joseph H. Thomp- son led them all. He followed close on the heels of the Government surveyors, who had been running their section lines for several months in the northwestern part of the state. Although he came early in 1829 and brought his family with him to occupy the rough cabin he had erected in section 25, Thompson did not enter his land until Decem- ber 19th.
GEORGE A. SPENCER AND BENJAMIN REYNOLDS
In the meantime George A. Spencer and Benjamin Reynolds, two young men from Perry County, Ohio, had arrived on foot and pitched their camp, consisting of a carpet-bag and a blanket, at a spot which might now be described as the borderland between Big Creek and Union townships. The time was in the autumn of 1829. Selecting a site on a hillside in what was then section 13, Big Creek Township, they de- cided to build a round-log cabin twelve feet square, so as to secure their claim. They commenced at once to cut logs, but after a few had been laid, it was agreed that Spencer should return to Ohio for the families about to migrate west, while Reynolds was to have the cabin ready when needed. Winter was already well advanced before Spencer started for Perry County, and it was the middle of the season before he reached home.
SPENCER-REYNOLDS COLONY
On the first of the following June, George A. Spencer and James Spencer, with their families and supplies, as well as the Reynolds house- hold, were loaded into three two-horse wagons and commenced to move
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toward the farther West. After a journey of twenty days they arrived in sight of the Hoosier home, which had been prepared by Mr. Reynolds, and resided therein until late in November. By that time Mr. Reynolds had erected a cabin in section 13 and the two Spencers had completed their houses in section 12. The first shack was then discarded by the fifteen Spencer and Reynolds colonists, being easily thrown to the ground, and the three families divided into separate households.
THE HISTORIC SPENCER HOUSE
George A. Spencer's house was the first of the three to be completed. It was built of hewn logs, 16 by 20 feet in size, and in the middle '80s is thus described, with all the old-time associations clinging to it: "This house is still standing and most of the logs, though placed in position fifty-three years ago, are as sound as if it were but yesterday that they were taken from the forest. In 1831 there were two additions attached to the original building, and a few years later the same part was weather-boarded, and this is the reason, no doubt, that it is in such a good state of preservation. Mr. Spencer set out the first orchard in Big Creek township. The first lot of trees was planted in the spring of 1834, two of the trees remaining, either of which is thirty inches in diameter. A ten minutes' ride on horseback from the present residence of Calvin C. Spencer (son of George A.) will bring you to the site of the old historic Spencer house.
"This structure of the long-ago was, in early times, a welcome mansion to many a lone and weary Tippecanoe Indian, a home to all new-comers, and a place of rest and refreshment to all those of what- ever color or tongue that needed rest. Though this house was the second in the township, though it was one of freedom and much welcome to whomsoever could ask admittance to its threshold, it has a more extended history, for here it was that the first Circuit Court in White county was held. In this cabin the White Circuit Court was held for two years. The first term of court was commenced on the 13th day of October, 1834. At this bar a number of the most prominent lawyers of those times practiced, and on this bench some of the best jurists of that day sat. Among those who dealt out justice at this bar may be mentioned the names of Rufus Lockwood, John U. Pettit, Albert S. White, Samuel Huff, Ira Ingraham and James Lane. The lawyers all boarded in the cabin Court House, and Mrs. Spencer did the cooking for the 'loose-tongued' gentlemen, while Mr. S. cared for the lawyers' horses and spent the remainder of his time in keeping the 'boys' straight.
"Mr. Spencer was a strict temperance man, and always clung to the fittest of things of life; as a natural consequence, he would not allow swearing in his house. A large oak tree stood about ten rods distant from the house, and it is said that Mr. S. would not allow any swearing between that tree and the cabin. Some time elapsed before the lawyers could prevail upon Mr. Spencer to get them their kind of liquid re-
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freshments, but finally the old gentleman brought home a keg of the most approved brand of Kentucky whiskey, and that night the cabin of justice lost all its dignity. Conviviality reigned until far into the night and did not end there, as after the lawyers went to bed they indulged in hilarious pillow-fights, kicked and pulled each other around, and in various other ways spoiled their case with the sober landlord, who never again allowed them to 'whiskey-up' in his house. But Mrs. Spencer, or Aunt Sally, held them to the Spencer House, notwithstanding this check, and what time the lawyers were not engaged in the court room, or playing ball, they were bragging about Aunt Sally and her cooking."
In the general history of the county we have given the main facts of Mr. Spencer's life, including its official, agricultural and social identification with this section for nearly forty years. He was the father of eight children, several of whom, like Calvin C., were also leading citizens. A number of his sons served in the Union army.
BENJAMIN REYNOLDS' AFTER-CAREER
When Mr. Reynolds came to Big Creek Township he had suffered reverses which made him almost penniless; he was, however, pluckily "starting over again." Ile had enjoyed little education in schools, but was practical, honest and hard-working. He had operated a stage line from Vincennes to Toledo for a number of years previous to 1828, when a distemper carried away so many of his horses as to ruin him financially. Mr. Reynolds had made little headway toward recovery when he ventured beyond the Tippecanoe with his friend, George A. Spencer. His stage line had followed the valleys of the Wabash and Maumee rivers and he had become well acquainted with Northwestern Indiana before he located in Big Creek Township. Being a man of more active temperament, both of mind and body, than his good friend Spencer, he soon became the agent for various eastern parties in the loca- tion of lands on commission, which enabled him to become the owner of some 15,000 acres in Indiana and Illinois. At a later day he obtained the contract for excavating many miles of the State Ditch, portions of which he sublet. He was largely influential in building the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad, as well as the Pan Handle Line, in both of which he became a large stockholder. He was also interested in the Junction Railroad and had the misfortune, about 1855, of losing $100,000 through his investments therein. The year before, he had founded the Town of Reynolds. During the Civil war Mr. Reynolds met with his third serious financial reverse, as he was obliged to pay fully $40,000 in bail debts. But he was vigorous and elastic and had nearly recovered his former standing before his death in his home town- ship, on June 6, 1869. His son, Isaac Reynolds, born in 1831, was the first native white child of the township. Two of his sons (Levi Reynolds and a younger brother) cultivated the home farm after the father's death until the estate was sold under administrator's sale, when it was bought by the widow and divided. Levi Reynolds moved to Monticello
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in 1878, but after three years' residence there returned to the old home- stead and became quite well known in local affairs, both official and agricultural. Large tracts of land in sections 6, 7 and 13, of what is now Union Township, are still held by the Spencer family.
JOHN BURNS
On November 2, 1830, John Burns entered land in section 30, south- eastern part of the township, and in the following year settled upon his "eighty,"' with his young wife. Although then only in his twenty-third year, he had been married since 1826. The young people commenced their married life in White County in a rude log cabin with a dirt floor, but they prospered in amassing both property and a large family. Be- fore Mr. Burns' death he had become the owner of 1,200 acres of land and was probably the largest land owner in the township. He was widely known as a breeder of cattle, hogs and horses.
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM BURNS
William Burns, the eldest of the six children of John Burns, was born in Big Creek Township April 23, 1831, soon after the family came from Ohio, and is claimed to have been either the first or second white child born in the county. Until he was twenty-three years of age he was employed on his father's farm, by which time he had saved $700, with which he bought a partially improved farm of 120 acres near the family homestead. In October, 1860, he married Miss Etna McIntyre, an Ohio lady, who for ten years had been housekeeper for her twin brother on the old Burns Farm. As man and wife they lived a peaceful and useful life for more than fifty-two years, not far from where they commenced housekeeping. Like his father, William Burns became well known as a live stock farmer. His wife died March 19, 1913, and he followed her three days later. They were buried side by side in River- view Cemetery, Monticello, and left a son and a daughter-Samuel M. Burns, of Chalmers, and Mary Etta Brown, of Urbana, Ohio.
LAND OWNERS AND SETTLERS OF 1830-33
On the same day that John Burns entered his land, November 2, 1830, James Kerr bought 80 acres in section 24; John Miller, in section 19; Mahlon Frazer, in section 9; on the following day Daniel Baum entered 80 acres in section 8 and Robert Newell 80 acres in section 18; John Bostick, 80 acres in section 12, on the 12th of October, same year ; Joseph H. Graham, 80 acres in section 8, November 15, 1830; John Stockton, 80 acres in section 7, on November 20th, and Jeremiah Bisher filed his claim on December 20th, also of the year 1830.
About the time that John Burns located, in 1831, Samuel Gray and John Roberts became residents of the township, the latter having entered land late in the preceding fall. Samuel Alkire entered a tract within
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the township August 18, 1832, and the following became land owners in 1833: Stephen Bunnell, John Wesley Bunnell, Nathaniel Bunnell, Sr., and Nathaniel Bunnell, Jr., December 10th; Benjamin Reynolds, Christmas Day ; John C. Kilgore, June 4th; John Barr, Jr., June 10th ; William M. Kenton, November 26th.
The Beaży family also arrived in 1833-Isaac Beazy, wife and six children-but evidently were in no condition to invest in land. They came all the way from Perry County, Ohio, and the different members of the family rode two horses, in shifts. They were old friends of George A. Spencer, who made room for them in his own house until he and Mr. Beazy could erect a separate cabin for the newcomers. Mr. Beazy was employed by Mr. Spencer, and his family lived on the Spencer farm for a number of years.
CHILLS AND FEVER
Big Creek Township, in common with other sections of the county which had any considerable portion of lowlands, was scourged with ague, or chills and fever. The trouble would generally commence in July and continue until midwinter; and the shakes of 1833 were long remembered as the most severe and prevalent of any recorded in the history of the township. It is said that only two residents escaped their onslaught-Calvin C. Spencer and a small, tough negro boy. Although boneset and other tried remedies were freely used, chills and fever continued to grip the township for at least a decade, or until the settlers became convinced that stagnant water and their drinking supply were largely the cause of the scourge, and acted accordingly.
FIRST TOWNSHIP OFFICERS
At the first meeting of the board of county commissioners, in July, 1834, when Big Creek Township was created, the house of George A. Spencer was designated as the place for holding elections the first year, and James Kerr was appointed inspector. Benjamin N. Spencer was also named as supervisor of roads, George A. Spencer and Armstrong Buchanan, overseers of the poor, and Benjamin Reynolds and Henry Barcus, fence viewers. As the Spencer home was the headquarters of the county government for several years while the official quarters were being prepared at Monticello, Big Creek Township was, if any- thing, overburdened with circumspection; it had more government than it could well bear.
FIRST SCHOOL IN THE COUNTY
The creation of the county was the signal for the inauguration of its educational forces. In 1834 its first school was taught by Clinton Mun- son in a cabin which stood on George A. Spencer's land-a round-log affair, 12 by 15 feet ; as several log houses had been built on his land, it
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is impossible to say what one was thus honored. It is stated that the expense of its erection was borne by the resident families of George A. Spencer, Benjamin Reynolds, John Burns, Robert Newell, William M. Kenton, Zebulon Dyer, James Shafer, John Phillips and perhaps a few others. It was the first schoolhouse built within the limits of White County. A log had been omitted from the south wall to admit the light; two puncheons, fastened together with wooden pins and hung on wooden hinges, formed the door, which was securely closed with a wooden latch in a wooden catch; a string passed through the door above the latch and served to raise it from the outside on ordinary occasions-the ex- ceptions being when the bad boys arrived before the schoolmaster, when it would be drawn in, the window barricaded with benches and other- wise placed in a state to withstand a siege. The first teacher of this particular school was Matthias Davis.
LAND ENTRIES IN 1835-36
The following entered lands during 1835: Barzilla W. Bunnell, January 9th; James Barnes, December 10th; John Lewis, September 9th; Benjamin Reynolds, December 8th; John Brady, November 23d; William Cornell, October 20th ; John Beaver, December 19th ; Levi John- son, November 16th.
In 1836: Thomas Spencer, January 1st; Mahlon Fraser, May 9th ; Isaac N. Parker, January 4th ; David Fisher, May 9th ; William Warden, May 24th; Nimrod Warden, May 24th; Noah Dixon, November 28th ; James Barnes, January 21st; Joshua Rinker, January 13th; Mary Thompson, June 15th; Nathan Goff, December 13th; John Brady, same date; and Eliza N. Bunnell, February 23d.
ELECTION OF 1836
At the fall election of 1836, held at the house of George A. Spencer, on the first Monday in November, the following voted, most of the names being already familiar: Nathaniel Bunnell, Sr., Joseph H. Thompson, Thomas Donavan, John Luce, Jesse Grooms, William Carr, Benjamin Reynolds, Thomas Bunnell, James Shafer, Joseph Phillips, George A. Spencer, Isaac Davis, Ellis H. Johnson, John W. Bunnell, Daniel Lane, Nathaniel Bunnell, Jr., B. Bunnell and Armstrong Bu- chanan. Nathaniel Bunnell, Isaac Davis and John Bunnell acted as judges.
THE GREAT HUNT OF 1840
But although the township was organized and its citizens were exer- cising their full American rights, it was still a frontier country, and continued to be so considered for years. A good illustration of that fact, is the Great Hunt of 1840. The district in which the chase occurred was bounded north by Monon Creek, east by the Tippecanoe River, south by the Wabash River and west by the line between White and Benton
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counties. Men and boys were stationed along these boundaries a quarter of a mile apart, and at 8 o'clock on the morning of the "drive" com- menced to "close in" at a rate of advance which would bring them to what is now known as Reynolds' Grove at 2 o'clock P. M. In that grove three scaffolds had been erected on which the marksmen of the day were stationed. No other members of the party were allowed to carry guns. It is said that men attended this chase from a territory twenty-five miles distant, and the spoils of the chase comprised fifty deer and many more wolves. The reward of the marksmen was, as usual, a specially large portion of the whiskey and provisions which had been hauled to head- quarters for the consumption of all the participants in the hunt.
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