USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 12
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Soils.
The soils of Marshall county have been classified into nine types, including muck and meadow. They range in texture from sand to clay loam, and thus offer opportunity for the production of a diversity of crops. The following table shows the extent of each type :
SOIL.
Acres.
Per cent.
Marshall loam.
121,216
42.7
Marshall sandy loam.
77,184
27.3
Miami sand.
27,840
9.8
Muck
24,768
8.7
Marshall sand.
20,672
7.4
Meadow
6,784
2.5
Miami clay loam.
3,392
.8
Miami black clay loam.
1,536
.5
Miami gravelly sandy loam.
1,216
.3
Total
284,608
..
The Marshall loam, to a depth of fourteen inches, consists of a brown loam containing much sand, underlain to a depth of eighteen inches by a yellowish-brown loam, which is slightly more tenacious than the surface soil. The subsoil, from eighteen inches to three feet, is a yellow sticky sandy loam, often containing some gravel.
A few bowlders, sometimes measuring three or four feet in diameter, and some smaller stones are occasionally scattered over the surface, but the greater part of these has been removed. Large piles are often seen in the fields, and they are sometimes used in constructing fences.
The soil is often heavy enough to form clods, but these are easily broken by the harrow and roller. When put in a good state of tilth the soil becomes a very mellow loam.
Climate.
The following table, taken from the records of the Weather Bureau stations at Syracuse and South Bend, shows the mean normal monthly and annual temperature and rainfall. South Bend is about twenty-four miles north and Syracuse twenty-six miles northeast of the center of the county.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Normal monthly and annual temperature and precipitation.
-SYRACUSE .-
-SOUTH BEND .-
Tempera-
MONTH.
ture. º F.
Precipi- lation. Inches.
Tempera- ture.
Precipi- tation. Inches.
January
25.2
2.47
29.2
2.99
February
24.0
2.32
22.8
2.14
March
34.2
4.00
35.6
2.99
April
50.7
1.93
50.4
1.77
May
62.6
3.77
60.8
3.09
June
69.3
3.60
70.5
2.45
July
75.4
4.71
74.1
3.57
August
72.4
3,19
72.8
3.12
September
63.8
2.76
65.7
2.90
October
54.8
3.55
54.2
2.44
November
40.2
3,74
39.7
3.12
December
27.4
3.07
27.8
3.07
Year
50.0
39.11
50.3
33.65
The figures show a fairly uniform distribution of rainfall throughout the year, with the maximum during the growing season. The temperature is characterized by sudden changes during the period from October to April, and by alternate freezes and thaws, which sometimes seriously damage crops.
The average date of the last killing frost in spring is April 20, and of the first in fall October 10, giving a growing season of approximately 172 days.
XVIII. PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
Prior to the organization of Marshall county it was a part of the North- west Territory, which was ceded by Virginia to the United States as pro- vided in the Ordinance of 1787. The government had it surveyed into con- gressional townships, six miles square, containing 640 acres. In the course of time these townships were divided by the government surveyors into sec- tions, half sections and quarter sections. The lands in northern Indiana were surveyed under the direction of Jerry Smith, sent out by the govern- ment to survey the lands yet unsurveyed, and especially the lands secured from the Indians by the various treaties. All of Marshall county was sur- veyed by him and his assistants, as well as the Kankakee reservations in La Porte, Starke, Pulaski, Porter and Lake counties.
Jerry Smith was an educated man, well read in ancient literature and the classics, and besides had a large vein of humor running through his mental organization. Those who were familiar with the Kankakee swamps in the region of the mouth of the Yellow river will appreciate the following introduction by him to the report of his survey of this part of the lands ceded to the government by the Pottawattomie Indians. He said :
"The River Styx .- That the River Styx is a fabled stream and that it never existed except in the brain of ancient poets and priests is a proposi- tion which I am now fully prepared to deny and disprove; that Charon ever existed, ever kept a boat and ferry landing; that the drear region of which
º F.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
ancient poets speak and through which the souls of the unburied wandered for 100 years before his majesty of the frail bark would give them passage, and that the Elysian fields, where the souls of the just reveled in never-end- ing scenes of pleasure and delight, are imaginary regions, are equally false.
"The Kankakee, as it slops over Indiana and eastern Illinois, is the ancient Acheron, and English lake is the Stygian pool, at the head of which, between ranges 3 and 4, still remains indisputable evidence of Charon's existence, of the identical spot where he so often landed his boat and took on board the souls of the departed, and last, but most of all, as a precious relic of antiquity which would make even an ordinary antiquarian leap with ecstasy of joy : the very paddle of the old gentleman is in existence.
"The dreary regions from the mouth of Markum's creek to the head of English lake, and particularly about the mouth of Yellow river, is where so many poor souls have wandered their 100 years; and, in fact, as the use of the magnetic needle was not then known, I am not surprised at it taking a poor man so long to get out of that place when he was once fairly sent into it without compass, chart, grog or tobacco.
"The 'Door prairie,' and the smaller ones about it, I take to be what remains of the Elysian fields! What has become of its ancient occupants and why the order of things has changed, both in the Elysian fields and the Stygian pool, neither the present natives along the Kankakee, nor the owners, preemptioners and occupants of 'Door prairie' could tell me. I leave this to be ferreted out by historical societies and future antiquarians, having myself done sufficient to render me immortal by finding the prototype of the long-lost Styx, Charon's ferry landing, etc., without telling what has become of the old gentleman !
"To have a correct idea of the township, the ancient poets should be well studied. Everything said by them respecting the nether regions and the abode of the wicked should be applied to it, and the whole will make a correct, faithful and true description thereof. The very thought of it makes my blood run cold !"
The first meeting of the board of commissioners of Marshall county, after the organization of the county, was held at the house of Grove Pome- roy, on the second day of May, 1836. Mr. Pomeroy was then a resident of Plymouth and resided in a log house situated on lot No. 42, corner La Porte and Michigan streets, the same now being occupied by the Corbin brick building. Mr. Pomeroy was a man of robust build, 5 feet 8 in height, 180 pounds weight; was a man of good business qualifications and strong in his convictions in regard to matters of public or private import, and in politics held to views in opposition to the Democrats, although he never took a very active part in local politics.
At this meeting Robert Blair, Abraham Johnson and Charles Ouster- haute were the commissioners. Mr. Ousterhaute was perhaps the best known to the people at that time of any who participated in the preliminary organization of the county. He resided on a farm on the west side of the Michigan road, about one and one-half miles south of Plymouth. He was a robust, athletic man, a Canadian by birth, and had seen a great deal of the world in his time. He spoke fluently the language of the Pottawattomie and Miami tribes of Indians, also French and German. He was engaged in the war of 1812, serving his country as a spy. He was a sort of dare-devil
1
81
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
and was never satisfied unless he was, so to speak, "at the head of the pro- cession." He figured extensively in the politics of his time, and was par- tially successful. He died early in his career in this county, of a disease known as gangrene of the foot, or "Pott's sore toe." His leg was amputated twice, but his system had become so thoroughly inoculated with the disease that he lived but a short time after the last operation.
After appointing Jeremiah Muncy clerk during the term, the board ad- journed to meet at the house of Charles Ousterhaute at I o'clock the same day. The first business transacted was :
Ordered by the board, That the seal of said commissioners shall be a wafer with a paper placed on it in the shape of a diamond, sealed with a seal in the shape of a heart.
The board then divided the county into three districts as follows :
Beginning at the northwest corner of said county, and running a due south course with the county line seven miles to the corner of sections 19 and 30, in congressional township No. 34 north; thence east with said line to the eastern boundary of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 1.
Ordered, That district No. 2 begin on the western boundary line of said county at the corner of District No. 1, and running with the said county line seven miles to the corner of sections 30 and 31 in congressional township No. 33 north; thence east on the line of said section 21 miles to the eastern boundary line of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 2.
Ordered, That District No. 3 begin at the western boundary line of said county, commencing at the south corner of District No. 2, thence south with said county line seven miles to the southern boundary line of said county, thence east with the line of said county twenty-one miles to the eastern boundary line of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 3.
It was also ordered that District No. I be known by the name of North township; District No. 2 by the name of Center township, and District No. 3 by the name of Green township.
The elections were ordered to be held as follows :
In North township at the house of Adam Vinnedge.
In Center township at the house of Charles Ousterhaute.
In Green township at the house of Sidney Williams.
It will be observed by reference to the county map that the territory embraced in North township was what is now German, North and Polk townships; Center township embraced what is now Bourbon, Center and West townships, and Green township embraced what is now Tippecanoe, Green, Walnut and Union.
The residence of Adam Vinnedge, the place designated for holding elections in North township, was on the Michigan road about six miles north of Plymouth. Mr. Vinnedge was the father of Adam Vinnedge, many years a resident of Plymouth, some time since deceased. He was a man of energy and ability, and took an active part in the preliminary organization of the county.
The residence of Charles Ousterhaut, as previously stated, was on the west side of the Michigan road about a mile and a half south of Plymouth, it being more convenient for a majority of the voters of the township as then constituted to reach that place than Plymouth, it being composed then of only about three dwelling houses.
The election in Green township was held at the residence of Sidney
82
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Williams, which was at or near where Argos now stands. Mr. Williams owned the land at that place, and laid out a village which he called Sidney, to perpetuate his own name, that being his given name. Mr. Williams sold his farm not many years afterwards and went overland to California during the gold excitement of '49 and the early '50s. Not many years later addi- tions were made to the embryo village, one of which was called Fremont, in honor of John C. Fremont, who was about that time the first Republican candidate for President. Through some political manipulation the postoffice was removed from Sidney to Fremont. Through the efforts of Congress- man Schuyler Colfax it was, however, not long afterwards removed back to Sidney, and the name of the postoffice changed from Sidney to Argos. With the defeat of Fremont for President, the town of Fremont went out of existence, and in course of time the legal name of Sidney was discontinued and that of Argos substituted. Once after he went to California Mr. Will- iams returned to Marshall county, but he had gone blind and was unable to behold the marvelous changes that had taken place during his absence of more than a third of a century. He died in Illinois several years ago.
The first election after the organization of the county was held on the first day of August, 1836, for the purpose of electing a senator, representa- tive in the state legislature, sheriff, probate judge, county commissioners, school commissioner, coroner and justices of the peace.
In North township there were thirty-seven votes cast. John Johnson, James Palmer and Adam Snyder were judges of said election, and James Jones and Abraham Johnson clerks. Thomas Packard and Robert Johnson were elected justices of the peace of North township.
In Center township there were eighty-three votes cast. Of these not one is living. Samuel D. Taber was inspector of the election, John Ray and William Bishop judges, Harrison Metcalf and John Blair clerks.
In Green township there were nineteen votes cast. Ewell Kendall was inspector, Fielding Bowles and Samuel B. Patterson judges, Jeremiah Muncy and John A. Boots clerks.
Act to Organize Marshall County.
The act passed by the legislature for the organization of Marshall county was approved February 4, 1836. By whom it was introduced, and the pre- liminaries connected with its passage, nothing is known.
At that time Marshall county was designated as "unorganized territory," and of course it had no members of the legislature to look after its interests in the general assembly. St. Joseph and La Porte counties had been organ- ized six years previously, and it is probable the members of the legislature from those counties secured the passage of the act.
The act is as follows:
An Act to Organize the County of Marshall, approved February 4, 1836: Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Indiana: That from and after the first day of April next, the county of Marshall shall enjoy all the rights and jurisdiction which belongs to separate and independent counties.
Section 2. That Hiram Wheeler and Griffin Treadway, of La Porte county, and Samuel C. Sample and Peter Johnson, of St. Joseph county, and John Rohrer, of Elkhart county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Marshall agreeable to the provisions of "An act to establish the seats of justice in new counties," approved
83
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
January 14, 1824. The commissioners above named, or a majority of them, shall convene at the house of Grove Pomeroy in said county on the second Monday of June next or as soon thereafter as a majority of them shall agree upon.
Section 3. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of St. Joseph county to notify the commissioners above named, either by person or in writing, of their appointment and place appointed for them to convene; and the board doing county business shall allow said sheriff reasonable compensation for his services out of any money in the treasury in said county of Marshall.
Section 4. Circuit and other courts of said county shall be held at the house of Grove Pomeroy, or at any other place in said county where said courts may adjourn to, until suitable accommodations can be furnished at the seat of justice thereof, after which the courts shall be holden at the county seat.
Section 5. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of said county of Marshall shall reserve 10 per cent out of all donations to said county, and shall pay the same over to such person or persons as shall be authorized to receive the same for the use of a library for said county.
Section 6. The board doing county business of said Marshall county, when elected and qualified, may hold special sessions not exceeding three days the first year after the organization of said county, and shall appoint a lister and make all other necessary appointments, and do and perform all other business which might have been necessary to be performed at any regular session, and take all necessary steps to collect the state and county revenue.
Section 7. The said county of Marshall shall be attached to the Eighth Judicial circuit of the state for judicial purposes.
Section 8. The northern boundary line of the county of Marshalll shall be extended to an east and west line running through the center of township 35 north.
County Seat Located.
On the 20th day of July, 1836, the county seat was located at Plymouth by three of the commissioners named by the legislature for that purpose. This was done at a special session of the board of county commissioners. Their report was as follows :
"July special session, 1836, of commissioners' court. Now come Peter Johnson, Griffin Treadway and Samuel C. Sample, three of the commis- sioners appointed by the act entitled 'An Act to organize the county of Mar- shall, approved the 4th of February,' and make the following report of their doings as locating commissioners of the permanent seat of justice of said county-to-wit":
"To the Honorable the Board of Commissioners of the County of Marshall: The undersigned, three of the commissioners appointed by an act of the general assembly of the state of Indiana entitled 'An act to organize the county of Marshall, approved February 4, 1836,' respectfully report to your honors that by an agreement entered into by a majority of the commissioners appointed by said act, the meeting of said commis- sioners was agreed to be held at the house of Grove Pomeroy in said county on Monday, the 18th day of July, A. D. 1836, to discharge the duties assigned to them by said act. "Whereupon the undersigned, Peter Johnson, Griffin Treadway and Samuel C. Sample, three of said commissioners (Hiram Wheeler and John Rohrer, two of the commissioners, having failed to attend), having met at the house of Grove Pomeroy on the said 18th day of July, 1836, for the purpose of permanently fixing the seat of justice for the said county of Marshall, then personally examined all the sites proposed to them in said county for said seat of justice, and received propositions for donations for the same from the different proprietors of lands naming and proposing sites, and we after such examination, and seeing and inspecting said propositions, have concluded and determined to fix, and by these presents do permanently locate, fix, and establish the seat of justice of said county of Marshall at Plymouth. The site for the public buildings for said county is designated on a plat of said town as made by James Blair, John Sering and William Polk, proprietors of said town, the names being recorded in
84
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
the county of St. Joseph, Indiana, the said site for said public buildings being by said proprietors donated among other things to said county.
"And the undersigned do further report that the said Blair, Sering and Polk, in consideration of the location of said seat of justice at the place aforesaid, have donated to said county, money and lands as follows: One thousand dollars in cash, payable as follows: $350 down in hand paid to Peter Schroeder, county agent, in our presence; $350 payable in one year from date, and $350 payable two years from date; for the payment of which the said proprietors have executed their notes bearing date herewith; and the said proprietors have also donated to said county the following lots in said town, to-wit: Lots numbered 1, 6, 10, 13, 18, 22, 28, 33, 37, 45, 48, 52, 57, 60, 63, 65, 70, 74, 78, 81, 86, 90, 93, 96, 99, 102, 105, 108, 112, 117, 119, 123, 126, 129, 132, 134, 141, 144, 147, 153, 156, and 159, being corner lots and forty-two in number; and also lots numbered 5, 14, 20, 29, 38, 50, 56, 65, 69, 73, 82, 88, 101, 110, 116, 125, 134, 140, 146, 152 and 158, being twenty-one in number and middle lots, and making in all sixty-three lots.
" And also the said proprietors have donated to said county one acre and four-fifths of an acre of land for a public burying ground, lying in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of section 13 of Michigan road lands, the same lying west and south of Plum street in said town; also two acres more or less of land for a site for a county seminary, bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Adams and Plum streets in said town; thence southwardly with Plum street 264 feet to the northwest corner of Washington and Plum streets; thence west on a line on the south with Washington street, and on a line on the north with 'Adams street, to the west line of said section thirteen (13), the said seminary lot to maintain a width of 264 feet from east to west, and for which lots said proprietors have executed their deed to the county agent of said county, and for which lands for a burial ground and seminary they have executed their deed to your honors for the uses aforesaid.
" And the said proprietors have agreed to build a temporary courthouse, not less than thirty by twenty feet, one story high, on lot No. 32 in said town; the county of Marshall to have the use of the same for the term of four years from the completion thereof, the same to be ready for the use of the county by the spring term of the circuit court of 1837; and for the completion of which house and for the use thereof as aforesaid the proprietors have executed their bonds payable to the board of commis- sioners, in the penal sum of $1,000; and the said proprietors have also agreed to defray the expenses of the location of said site, being $45, and which sum they have paid to the undersigned. All of which deeds and bonds and notes the undersigned herewith produce to your honors. All of which is respectfully submitted the 20th of July, 1836.
"SAMUEL C. SAMPLE, " PETER JOHNSON, "GRIFFIN TREADWAY, "Commissioners."
The county having been organized, the board of commissioners, con- sisting of Robert Blair, Abraham Johnson and Charles Ousterhaute, ordered the clerk of the board, Jeremiah Muncy, to file among the papers of the court the deeds for the lands donated, and have the same recorded among the deed records of the county. Prior to the organization of Marshall county the territory embraced in it was designated "unorganized territory," and St. Joseph county, having been organized in 1830, the territory of Marshall county was considered under the jurisdiction of St. Joseph county. From Judge Howard's "History of St. Joseph County" (1908, page 274) the following in regard to "Plymouth township, St. Joseph county," is taken as being of rare historical interest:
"On September 1, 1834, the board of commissioners of St. Joseph county ordered that all the territory of the county lying south of the north line of congressional township 35 north, should form a new township to be called Plymouth. The township so formed included the south parts of the present townships of Madison, Union and Liberty, and all of Lin-
85
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
coln. It also included so much of the present counties of Marshall and Starke as then formed a part of St. Joseph county.
"In the order setting off the township the board provided for an election for the choice of two justices of the peace for said township, to be held on the 27th of September, 1834. On October 13 of the same year the election so held was contested before the board, the contest sustained and a new election ordered. Both elections were held at Grove Pomeroy's, in said town of Plymouth, in St. Joseph county. Mr. Pomeroy was himself appointed inspector of election until the ensuing April election. At the May term, 1835, of the county board, Samuel D. Taber was allowed the sum of $1.50 for making a return of the election of Plymouth township.
"The town of Plymouth, now the county seat of Marshall county, was situated in and gave its name to the township of Plymouth. We have already seen that the plat of this town was filed and recorded in the office of the recorder of St. Joseph county in October, 1834. The records of the commissioners show that on December 7, 1835, there 'was reported therein the description and plat of the survey of the state road from Goshen, in Elkhart county, to Plymouth, in St. Joseph county.
"By an act of the legislature approved February 7, 1835, the north boundary of Marshall county was defined to be the north line of congres- sional township 34, leaving all of township 35 in St. Joseph county. This congressional township, as we have seen, was included in the civil township of Plymouth. The act of February 7, 1835, does not seem to have been intended to complete the organization of Marshall county, but by an act passed at the next session of the legislature, February 4, 1836, the county was finally organized and the north boundary of the county was extended to the middle line of congressional township 35, thus leaving in St. Joseph county only so much of Plymouth township as was included in the north half of congressional township 35. The consequence was that Plymouth as a township of St. Joseph county ceased to exist, the territory still remaining being attached to the adjacent townships of the county, as their boundaries were defined by successive orders of the board of county commis- sioners."
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