USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 13
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As has been stated elsewhere in this history, the house of Grove Pomeroy, where the election referred to in the above extract was held, was on the northwest corner of Michigan and La Porte streets, now known as the Corbin corner. Samuel D. Taber, also spoken of in the extract, resided on the east side of the Michigan road south of Plymouth about three miles. He called his place "Pash-po" for an Indian chief of that name.
For road purposes the whole of Marshall county was attached to St. Joseph county and was called Road District No. 19, and Grove Pomeroy seems to have been the supervisor. At the first meeting of the board of commissioners of Marshall county after its organization in 1836 he made a report of his doings as such supervisor, which is as follows:
"Now comes Grove Pomeroy, supervisor of the nineteenth road district for the county of St. Joseph, Plymouth township, for the year 1836, and makes return or report. Account of work done by hands liable to work on public highways in nineteenth road district in county of St. Joseph, Indiana, during year ending the first Monday in April, 1836: Lot Abrams,
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Charles Ousterhaute, John Brown, Grove O. Pomeroy and Joseph Evans each worked one day. Twenty-one others paid $1 each cash."
What disposition was made of this $21 the records do not show. At that time-April 1, 1836-Marshall county had not yet been organized, that important event in our history not occurring until July 20, 1836, nearly four months later.
A few white settlers began to locate here in 1830, and under an unor- ganized condition the inhabitants were under the protecting care of St. Joseph county, which was organized in 1830. At that time St. Joseph county was bounded on the north by Michigan territory; on the west by La Porte and the unorganized territory south of La Porte, on the south by the unor- ganized lands, and on the east by the unorganized lands and Elkhart county. Its extent was about thirty miles from north to south, and twenty-seven miles from east to west, including an area of about 740 square miles, or 473,600 acres. Its population in 1830 was 287 inhabitants; in June, 1832, it was estimated at 1,500, and so great had been the immigration it is said that in 1833 the population was estimated at two thousand.
The legal organization of Marshall county began in May, 1836, by the formation of North, Center and Green townships, as previously stated.
German township was organized May 1, 1838, from the northeast part of what was then Center, and the east part of North township. It took its name from the large number of German people who had settled in that part of the county, and naturally the township town was called Bremen.
Bourbon township was organized January 6, 1840, and was bounded as follows: Beginning in the southeast corner of the county and running to the German township line, thence west five miles, thence south to the county line, thence east to the place of beginning. This territory embraced what is now Bourbon and Tippecanoe townships. The petitioners for the organi- zation of Bourbon township were:
James O. Parks, Grayson H. Parks, John F. Parks, Edward R. Parks, Thomas H. McKey, Peter Upsell, W. H. Rockhill, Israel Beeber, Wm. Taylor, John Greer, William Elder, Jolen Henry, A. H. Buckman, Lyman Foote, Samuel Taylor, John F. Dukes, John Fuller, James Taylor, William Taylor, Jr., George Taylor and Samuel Rockhill.
This township is said to have been named after Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, from which the Parkses and many of the signers of the petition emi- grated. The town of Bourbon received its name in the same way for the same reason.
Union township was organized March 1, 1840. The petitioners were Vincent Brownlee, William Thompson, John A. Shirley, Lewis Thompson, John Dickson, William Hornaday, John M. Morris, James Houghton, Elihu Morris, D. C. Hults, Thomas McDonald, John Morris, John H. Voreis, Platt B. Dickson, Elias Dickson, John McDonald, Eleazer Thompson. The prayer of the petitioners asked that the township might be called "Union," and it was so ordered. The name was probably selected to perpetuate the name of "Union" county in southern Indiana, from which some of the resi- dents of that county came.
Tippecanoe township was organized March 9, 1842, embracing seven miles square off of the south end of Bourbon township. The petitioners for the organization of the township were A. H. Buckman, Thomas Irwin,
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
William Wagoner, Israel Baker, William Sprout, William H. Rockhill, Samnel, Joseph, William and George Taylor, Samuel Rockhill, J. H. Cleaver, T. H. McKey, James Turner, Jacob Raber, G. H. and J. O. Parks, William Elder, Robert Meleny, H. Blakely, Solomon Linn, John Greer, Moses Greer, Israel Reed and A. J. Cruzan. This township took its name from the Tippecanoe river which runs through it. .
Polk township was organized March 4, 1845. It embraced all that part of North township that lies west of sections 23 and 24 in township 35 north, range I east, the same being the western portion of North township. This township was named in honor of James K. Polk, who was on the date of its organization inaugurated President of the United States.
George M. Dallas was the Vice-President elected on the Democratic ticket with James K. Polk, and, believing it to be in accordance with the political fitness of things, the board of commissioners was petitioned to change the name of North to Dallas, and it was so done. This change occurred shortly after the organization of Polk township, but June 3, 1845, forty petitioners asked that the name be changed, and the township be known as North and it was decreed accordingly.
North township was one of the original townships. When it was first organized, it comprised, in addition to its present limits, the territory now embraced in Polk and German townships. German township was taken off May II, 1838, and Polk, March 4, 1845. When Polk was cut off from the west part of North, it was a time when political excitement was the order of the day. Polk township having been named in honor of the newly-elected President, some of the Democratic voters conceived the idea that it would be just the thing to change the name of North and call it Dallas, in honor of the Vice-President. March 1, 1845, the following petition was presented to the board of commissioners: "To the Board of Commissioners: We, the undersigned petitioners of North township, ask for the name of said township to be altered from North to Dallas. Signed, S. N. Champlin, James Palmer, Adam Snider, James Sherland, Warren Burch, John Kilgore, Charles A. Stilson, John Morris, N. Parmer, Hiram Baker, John Trowbridge, John P. Grover, John Irwin, George Nitcher, Alex M. Vinnedge, George Vinnedge, John Snider, Seymour Stilson, John S. Baker, Abraham Baker, Joseph Trowbridge, Josiah White, A. Burch, Daniel Nitcher, Orrin Palmer, John Wildey, George W. Ferguson, Calvin Burch, J. E. Emerson, W. S. Braum, P. P. Robinson, Sol. Stevens, and H. R. Pershing." The board ordered the change to be made as indi- cated in the petition.
At the June term following, the following petition was presented, by Robert Johnson on behalf of himself and others :
"We, the undersigned citizens of now Dallas township, respectfully request your honorable body to change the name of Dallas township to that of North township. Signed, Robert Schroeder, Jesse Schroeder, Robert Johnson, Sr., Seymour Stilson, G. W. Ferguson, C. A. Stilson, Warren Burch, Sol. Snyder, James Parmer, D. Cummins, George Murphy, D. Vin- nedge, M. Hard, Daniel Nitcher, James Sherland, Sol. Snyder, Wash. Morris, George Vinnedge, A. M. Vinnedge, D. Conger, John Schroeder, Simon Snyder, M. Robert, B. Gerrard, J. C. Jones, A. Snyder, D. Murphy, Sr., R. Johnson, Jr., J. Snyder, W. S. Brown, H. M. Greer, James Murphy,
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
C. Sherland, J. Johnson, Thomas Packard, J. P. Grover, G. Nitcher, J. Wilder, J. Kilgore, D. Murphy, C. Burch, J. Lampheer, Pleasant Ferguson." The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the distinguished honor accorded to the Vice-President was obliterated by one fell swoop of the magic pen of the board of commissioners.
Menominee Township .- At the March term of the board of county commissioners, 1839, being March 5, 1839, the commissioners made the following order :
"Now comes into open court Isaac How and presents a petition of divers persons praying for a new township, etc.
"Whereupon it is Ordered, That all that territory lying west of the range line dividing range 1 and 2 east of the second principal meridian and north of Yellow river, including so much of Union township as is north of Yellow river and lying in said county not extending north of Center town- ship, to be known as Menominee township.
"Ordered, That all elections be held at the house of William Masons in said township.
"Ordered by said board, That James Nash be and he is hereby appointed inspector of elections in said township (of Onondaga) until his successor is elected and qualified.
"Ordered by the board, That an election be held in said township on the first Monday in April next for the purpose of electing one justice of the peace in said township, and that the sheriff of said county give notice of the same according to law."
As appears by the record the township had first been named "Onon- daga" as appears above enclosed in parentheses, and that word in the first paragraph had been erased and the word "Menominee" written in its place. In the last paragraph of the record the clerk of the board had evi- dently forgotten to erase the name "Onondaga." (See Commissioner's Record A, page 224.)
At the May term, 1839, Record A, page 250, the following order appears :
"Ordered by the board of commissioners of Marshall county, That the township in said county formerly known as Menominee township shall be known hereafter and designated as Lake township."
The naming the new township Menominee was undoubtedly in honor of the old Indian chief Menominee, who with his band of 859 Pottawattomie Indians had been driven away only about seven months before the township was organized. Several of the settlers about the Twin lakes, who had profited by the removal of Menominee and his band of over 800 Pottawat- tomies, undoubtedly did not wish to perpetuate the name of the good old Indian chief even by attaching his name to the township which embraced much of the reservation of the land of which he was robbed, and induced the board of commissioners to change the name from "Menominee" to "Lake."
The name "Onondaga," spoken of above, was the name of what was generally known as "The Old Forge," described elsewhere, situated at the end of the lower Twin lake, now called "Sligo."
West Township was organized March 8, 1854, comprising the terri-
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
tory embraced in the above named townships and all that part of Center township lying west of the range line dividing ranges I and 2 east, to be constituted into a civil township to be known as West township, and no change has since been made.
March 9, 1853, Franklin township was organized by dividing to the south by the range line dividing ranges 3 and 4., and embracing all that part of German township lying east of said range line. January 7, 1855, the name of Franklin township was changed and it was thereafter ordered to be designated on the county records as German township.
This action was taken about the time of the inauguration of Franklin Pierce, and Franklin, the name of the township, was in honor of Franklin Pierce, the newly elected President.
In 1853 a township was organized out of the west portion of Center and given the name of Pierce, in honor of President Pierce, just then elected President, but for some cause which does not appear the order was canceled, and nothing was done to perfect the organization.
Walnut township was organized June 9, 1859, out of a portion of Tippe- canoe and Green townships. About one hundred and fifty inhabitants of the territory signed the petition asking for the organization of the town- ship. The towns of Sidney and Fremont lay very near each other, and the postoffice of these two places being named Argos, it was ordered that Sidney and Fremont be discontinued and thereafter known as Argos.
These comprise all the townships now organized, and they are classi- fied in the following order: Union, Center, Green, Tippecanoe, Bourbon, German, North, Polk, West and Walnut.
March 9, 1842, the board of commissioners ordered that all that part of Starke county lying south and east of the Kankakee river be attached as follows: All that part lying west of Union township be attached to and to constitute a part of Union township; all that part lying west of Center be attached to Center, and all that part lying west of North township be attached to North township. Previous to this the "territory of Stark" had been partially organized into townships by the commissioners of Mar- shall county. September 7, 1849, Amzi L. Wheeler, on behalf of himself and others, filed petitions for the organization of a new township in Starke county, embracing all the territory west of the Kankakee river, and to be known as Vanburen township. The prayer of the petitioners was granted. Washington and California townships were organized by the commissioners of Marshall county before the act organizing Starke county was passed by the legislature.
The foregoing comprises all the proceedings had in relation to the organization of the county, and the changes that have been made up to the present time.
Civil. Townships Boundaries.
The civil townships as now organized are bounded as follows :
Union .- West by Starke county, south by Fulton county, east by Green township, north by West township.
Center .- West by West township, south by Green township and Walnut township, east by Bourbon and German townships, north by German and North townships.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Green .- West by Union township, south by Fulton county, east by Walnut township, north by Center township.
Bourbon .- West by Center township, south by Walnut and Tippecanoe townships, east by Kosciusko county, north by German township.
Tippecanoe .- West by Walnut township, south by Fulton and Kosciusko counties, east by Kosciusko county, north by Bourbon township.
German .- West by North township, south by Center and Bourbon town- ships, east by Kosciusko and Elkhart counties, north by St. Joseph county.
North .- West by Polk township, south by West and Center townships, east by Center and German townships, north by St. Joseph county.
Polk .- West by St. Joseph and Starke counties, east by North township, north by St. Joseph county.
West .- West by Starke county, south by Union township, east by Center township, north by Polk and North townships.
Walnut .- West by Green township, south by Fulton county, east by Tippecanoe township, north by Bourbon and Center townships.
XIX. RIVERS AND LAKES-FLOWING WELLS.
Several years ago the writer obtained from an Indian, Nigo, since de- ceased, the last of his race in this part of the country then living, the names of some of the lakes and rivers as they were originally known and called by the Indians, and, although his knowledge of Indian orthography was quite limited, yet it is barely possible the reader can guess the pronunciation from the spelling.
Wolf Creek rises in Tippecanoe township, passes through a portion of Walnut and Green, and empties into Yellow river near the northeast corner of Union township. In the early times it was skirted on either side for some distance with broken lowlands, marshes, cat swamps, etc., and was a safe and sure retreat for wild animals of all kinds. Black wolves were numerous from one end of the creek to the other, and from this fact it took its name. The Indians called it Katam-wah-see-te-wah, the Indian name for black wolf. In early times Clark Bliven built a mill dam across the creek a few hundred yards above where it enters into Yellow river. A sawmill was erected there on which was sawed lumber for the second courthouse, built in 1850-I. A grist-mill was also erected there about that time and was used for milling purposes up to about 1904, when, after much "lawing" in court, the dam was ordered removed, the owner, Michael Zehner, receiving five or six thousand dollars for the damage sustained. After a year's labor the dam was removed and the big ditch that was dug along its bottom was com- pleted November 1, 1907, and the old mills and the old mill dam that stood for more than fifty years are things of the past. Mr. Bliven, about 1851, the original builder of the dam and the sawmill, in attempting to repair a break in the dam caused by high water, fell into the current and was drowned.
Yellow River was called by the Indians, Wi-thou-gan, and very appro- priately signifies "yellow water." Another Indian name for it was Wau- sau-auk-a-to-meek, probably in the Miami Indian tongue, as their language was somewhat different, or it might not have had reference to the color of
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
the water. The early settlers called it Yellow river from the peculiar chrome color of the water. It has been so known ever since, and will doubtless continue to bear that name for all time to come, although in the drainage of the swamps and marshes through which it passes the water has become almost clear and has lost its yellow color which gave it its name. Yellow river rises in the swamps and marshes of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, runs through German, Center, West and Union townships, and finally finds its way into the Kankakee river, where it is lost forever amid the rippling waters of that classic stream! The north branch of Yellow river near Bremen was called Po-co-nack, and means "beechy," from the prevalence of beech timber in that region. It is only in wet seasons that it is entitled to the name of river.
In the early period of the settlement of the county a good many people were not satisfied with the country, and moved on farther west, but after staying a few years the memory of Yellow river and the "Yellow river val- ley," determined them to return and take up their permanent abode here. This gave rise to the adage that if persons got their feet wet in Yellow river they could never stay away from it any great length of time. This inspired one of the poets of the "Yellow river valley" to put this thought into dog- gerel verse as follows :
There's a tiny little river Not so very far away; Water clear and sandy bottom, On its banks the muskrats play.
Grassy brinks with stately cat-tails, Pussy-willow, perfume blow; Now and then a bull-frog's chatter In the swimming hole below.
Just the place in sultry August, On its hanks to idly lie In the shade of spreading maple, Gaze out at the bright blue sky.
There's a curious little adage, And I know that it is true, 'Bout this tiny little river And I'll whisper it to you.
If, at any time or season, You should venture in its flow ; Even though the waters tempt you, Wade or swim or fish or row;
Should you leave this little river, Go a hundred miles away, Or a thousand, or a million, It's a cinch you'll never stay.
Platt's Run is a small stream rising in the west part of Green and the east part of Union townships. It wends its winding way through low and swampy land until it empties into Yellow river a short distance below the mouth of Wolf creek. During the rainy seasons it furnishes a sufficient supply of water to run a sawmill a portion of the time. A good many years
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
ago a dam was built across the stream and a sawmill erected on the farm then owned by Dr. Caillat. The milling business did not prove to be a paying investment and was abandoned long ago. The creek got its name from Platt B. Dickson, through whose farm it ran.
Pine Creek and Yellow Branch are both small streams of no special note, rising in Polk township and emptying into the Kankakee. Yellow Branch was known among the Indians as "Pan Yan."
Tippecanoe River rises in the northeast part of the state, runs through Kosciusko county and passes diagonally through Tippecanoe township, Marshall county, from northeast to southwest, where it enters Fulton county, and so on in the same direction until it empties into the Wabash river. It runs through a splendid section of the country and is one of the handsomest rivers of its size in the northwest. It abounds in a plentiful supply of fresh water fish of various kinds. It was called by the Indians Qui-tip-pe-ca-nuck.
Deep Creek is a small body of water running from north to south through Tippecanoe township until it finds its way into Tippecanoe river. It derives its water from the marshes and lowlands through which it passes, and is noted for getting "on a high" every time it rains, and the facility with which it washes away the small bridges over its banks.
Lakes.
Max-in-kuck-ce is the largest of nine bodies of water called lakes in Marshall county. It is in the southwest corner of the county in Union town- ship. Its dimensions are about three miles long and two and a half miles wide. The eastern banks are high and in places quite abrupt. The northern, western and southern banks gradually rise from the water's edge, and the cultivated farms, extending in places down to the water, make the scenery the finest in the western country. The lake is fed entirely by the natural rainfall and the springs which gurgle up from the bottom in every direction. Of late years it has become one of the most popular summer resorts in the northwest, a fuller description of which will be found elsewhere in this his- tory, as well as a paper on the orthography and meaning of the word Max- in-kuck-ee.
Lake of the Woods, or, as it is sometimes called, Big Lake, is in German and North townships in the northeast part of the county. Its dimensions are about two miles in length and one mile wide. It takes its name from the fact that it is completely surrounded with a thick growth of trees. It is a beautiful sheet of water, and is one of the best lakes for fish in the county, but, being a considerable distance from the main traveled road, has not yet come into public notice as a place of general resort for sportsmen outside of the immediate neighborhood. The Indian name for the Lake of the Woods was Co-pen-uck-con-bes. This was the name of a vegetable that grew spontaneously in that region in an early day. It was mostly a product of mud and water, and was found in the outlet, and in and about the shores. It was similar in appearance to the beet, and when properly prepared was very nutritious and quite palatable. The Indians cooked them by digging deep trenches in the ground, walling up the sides with small stones, leaving a small space in the middle into which they placed the co-pen-uck-con-bes, and covering them over with bituminous earth and other burning material,
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
set fire to them and allowed them to burn four days, when the cooking process was completed and they were ready to be served for food.
Pretty Lake, four miles southwest from Plymouth in West township, took its name from the fact that it is the prettiest lake of its size in all the region round about. It is three-quarters of a mile long and about half as wide. The banks are skirted with beautiful natural shrubbery and timber of larger growth. Of late years it has become a fashionable summer resort for Plymouth people and others, and about forty summer cottages have been built the past dozen years. It is surrounded with well cultivated farms, and, from the eminence on the eastern shore, Lake Como in all its glory never appeared more beautiful !
Twin Lakes are also in West township, five miles west and a little farther south than Pretty lake. These are three small lakes, each connected by a small neck of water between two hills. The largest is not to exceed three- quarters of a mile in length and a quarter to half a mile in width. An-' other is smaller and almost a perfect circle; while the third is still smaller, and is more what a "Hoosier" would call a marshy pond than a lake. Black bass, sun-fish, goggle eyes, perch and blue gills are plenty. There are still a few ducks to be found in the bayous and out of the way places during duck season, but since the white man came, they, like the Indians over on the north side of the Middle Twin lake, have had to move on and give place to "the survival of the fittest." Before the country was settled, ducks congre- gated there by the thousand, so much so that the Indians called it "Duck lake," in their language, She-ba-ta-ba-uk.
Flat Lake and Galbraith Lake are in West township. They are both quite diminutive, and are growing smaller by degrees and beautifully less as the years go by. They were in the early times a favorite asylum for ducks and wild geese, and in that region was an Indian camping ground and a runway for wild deer, turkeys and other wild fowls.
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