USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 18
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The town of Bremen was first called New Bremen, the name being given by George Pomeroy and Joseph Guiselman, who thought the name appropriate, as it was of German origin and a large portion of the early settlers were a German-speaking people. But it was not long until the "New" was omitted, and it soon became known as "Bremen" in "German" township, which indicated the nationality of the people. The first settlement in Bremen was made about 1836, and between that date and 1848 settlement was made by several families, among whom were Hardzog, Heim, Weis, Beyler, Koontz, Yockey, Ringle, and others who pre-empted government lands in the vicinity and here in the wilderness established their home and began the rugged toil of pioneers. Other families soon came in, and it was not long until a village was formed. In 1846 a postoffice was established and named Brothersville, in honor of David Brothers, the first postmaster, and on whose premises the office was held by him two years. In 1848 George Pomeroy and John Bush bought of Mr. Brothers one acre of land. Mr. Bush took the east half and on it built a log cabin, where for two years he resided and followed the cooper's trade, and then sold his possessions to John Parker, a Quaker by faith and a shoemaker by trade, and thus it happened that Mr. Parker became the first shoemaker of the new village of Bremen. He was succeeded by Philip Kenager, who from that time until the date of his death in the nineties occupied the old log cabin and worked at his trade. George Pomeroy erected upon his half-acre a crude frame in which he kept the first store, consisting of a miscellaneous stock of notions, dry goods, groceries, etc., and here he held the postoffice, which had been changed from Brothersville to Bremen. Mr. Pomeroy was the first notary public of the town. In 1848 Joseph Geiselman purchased a lot where is now located the dry goods establishment of John R. Deitrich & Co., on which he built a log blacksmith shop, the first in Bremen, and where he followed his trade several years. In 1850 he erected the first frame building in the new town. In 1851 Gotleib Amacher built a log cabin and opened the first tailor shop. Ben Shane had built a log cabin which John Soice, coming from Stark county, Ohio, in the early fifties, purchased and converted into the first harness shop.
Bremen has an excellent fire department, which was organized Sep- tember 8, 1874, at which time there were issued bonds of $2,100 for the purpose of purchasing the necessary apparatus and the erection of suitable buildings. In the beginning there were eighty-five members of the depart-
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
ment, divided into four divisions: An engine company, a hook and ladder company, and two hose companies. Hoosier Hook and Ladder Company No. I was organized June 5, 1874, and participated in the firemen's tourna- ment at Bourbon in September, 1877, taking first prize, running 300 yards, stacking ladder and putting man over top in thirty-four and a half seconds. September 6, 1877, the engine and hose companies attended the firemen's tournament at Goshen, Indiana, where they made the best time, running 100 yards, laying fifty feet of hose, and throwing water fifty feet in thirty- four and one-fourth seconds, receiving the first prize, amounting to $80. Hose Company No. 4, in September, 1885, at a tournament at Michigan City, won first prize, receiving $100 and a water service. In August, 1887, at Plymouth, they received $50 and the championship of Indiana. Union Engine Company No. 1 in 1882 won the state championship as an engine company; and it was in 1885, at South Bend, that Ed. Hickeman and Theo. Walter, as couplers from the Bremen department, won the world's championship in that particular line of firemen's duties.
Among the most prominent citizens that resided in Bremen in the early days was Jacob Knoblock, who was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1803. He emigrated to America in 1823, settling in Ohio, and moved from there to Bremen in 1850. He was a stone and brick mason and plasterer by trade, and in 1865 built a hotel in Bremen, which he kept until his death, in 1869. He was a zealous member of the Masonic fraternity, and was a member of and the first senior deacon of Plymouth Lodge No. 149, which was organized in 1853. Many times during his life he had been known to ride horseback from his farm east of Bremen to Plymouth to attend the meetings of the lodge. Being a stone mason, he cut the headstone that marks his last resting place in the Bremen cemetery, and on it he carved the square and compasses, the emblems of the Masonic order, to which he belonged. He was a worthy and well-respected citizen; in politics a staunch democrat, and held in life several positions of honor and trust in the county.
Bremen had an excellent cornet band organized in 1861, Peter Vogli leader. It was reorganized in 1866 with Mr. Vogli still retained as leader. The members became very skillful on their instruments and the band was at one time the best in the county.
UNION TOWN-MARMONT-CULVER.
The present town of Culver has had considerable of a struggle in its original survey and in keeping the names that have been given it from time to time. Union Town was originally laid out and platted by Bayless L. Dickson, who owned a farm bordering on the lake, a part of which embraced the territory now covered by the town of Culver. This was on the 8th of June, 1844. The following is a copy of the statement made and the certificate attached to the original plat of Union Town:
Union Town is pleasantly situated in the southwest quarter of section 16, town 32, range 1 east. It is laid out in such a manner that it presents to the eye a view of Lake Maxinkuckee, and is surrounded with as good a country as can be found in northern Indiana. It has the advantage of three state and two county roads running through it. The streets are all 66 feet in width and the alleys are 161/2 feet.
BAYLESS L. DICKSON, Proprietor.
Witness: G. S. Cleaveland, John L. Westervelt.
Union Town, June 8, 1844.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
In 1857 Thomas K. Houghton became the owner of the town, and on the 9th day of June, 1857, filed the following certificate attached to what purported to be an amended plat of Union Town :
"Union Town is situated in the southeast corner of section 16, town 32, north range I east, Marshall county, Indiana. The southeast of said section is the commencing point of this town plat; the streets are all of a width, being 66 feet ; the alleys are 1612 feet; the lots are 66 feet in front and 99 feet back ; so planned by the original survey. All lines running north and south bare no degrees and ten seconds east, and those that run east and west bare south eighty-nine degrees east. The magnetic variation at this date is 5° Io' east. I, J. B. N. Klinger, Surveyor of Marshall County, certify the above to be correct."
Prior to this date, to-wit: May 6, 1857, Thomas K. Houghton appeared before M. W. Smith, a justice of the peace in Plymouth, and acknowledged that the above survey locating and laying off said town of Union Town was done by his order and direction for the purpose of locating a town by that name and as therein specified by the surveyor thereof. That said survey and plat is intended to supply the place of the old survey made by Henry B. Pershing, that being inaccurate.
On the 20th of March, 1890, the following affidavit was filed for record in the recorder's office :
"I, J. B. N. Klinger, ex-surveyor in and for Marshall county, state of Indiana, swear that, upon the request of Thomas K. Houghton, then owner and proprietor of the town of Union Town, in said county, he em- ployed me as surveyor of said county, April 24, 1851, to resurvey and plat said Union Town. In setting out the location I made a clerical error, locating it in the southeast corner of section 16, township 32, north, range I east, when it should read southwest corner of said section No. 16, township 32, north range I east, and the same was part of record, the error being over- looked, and further deponent sayeth not."
February 13, 1884, Peter Allerding filed what he called the "Vandalia Addition to said Union Town." The addition is in the west half of the south forty acres of section 16, 32, 1, except Thomas K. Houghton's cor- rected addition; also except three acres known as Bowles lot, and three acres immediately south of the same. Said addition being divided into 24 lots, and numbered from I to 24 inclusive; also 5 outlots and numbered from I to 5 inclusive. The length and breadth of said lots being indicated by figures on said plat; also the width of all the streets and alleys.
On the 5th day of August, 1886, Albert D. Toner made an addition to the Vandalia addition, said addition being laid out of lots Nos. 3, 4 and 5 of school subdivision of Section 16, 32, I, commencing at the northwest corner of said lot No. 3; said additions being divided as shown on plat in 13 lots and numbered from 1 to 13 inclusive; and also eleven outlots, numbered from I to II inclusive. The length and breadth of said lots being indicated by figures on said plat; also the width of all streets and alleys are so indicated, except from this plat outlots 2, 7, 8, 10 and II.
Marmont-The name of Union Town was changed to Marmont when a resurvey was made in 1851. Dr. G. A. Durr was a resident of Union Town at that time. He was of French descent and succeeded in having the name changed to Marmont in honor of a French general of that name.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
It was many years after the village took the name of Marmont before it was incorporated under the law as a town. The first election was held under the corporation July 5, 1894; the election board being composed of J. H. Koontz, D. G. Walter and E. M. Scates. The following was the result of the election :
Trustees : S. E. Medburn, Marcus F. Mosher and John W. Souder ; clerk, Fred L. Carl; treasurer, Henry M. Speyer; marshal, John F. Crumley. Crumley did not qualify, and the board appointed Ozias Duddle- son, who did not furnish bond. The board then appointed Nathaniel Gandy, who qualified and served. On October 4, 1895, the board of commissioners changed the name from Marmont to Culver City, on petition of O. A. Rea and ninety-nine others, being a majority of the qualified electors of said Culver City.
The first election after the name was changed to Culver City was held May 6, 1896, resulted as follows: Trustees: J. H. Castleman, E. W. Guiselman, F. B. Harris, of whom Mr. Harris was subsequently chosen president of the board; clerk, Charles Zekiel; treasurer, Henry Speyer ; marshal, Nathaniel Gandy. The proposition to change the name of Mar- mont to Culver City met with the unanimous approval of the citizens of the town; but when the matter was presented to the postoffice department at Washington it declined to change the name of the postoffice to Culver City for the reason there was already a postoffice in Indiana by the name of Culver, a village by that name in Tippecanoe county on the line of the Big Four railroad, and for the further reason the word "City" had been elimi- nated from all towns bearing that annex to the regular name. Henry H. Culver, after whom the town had been named, went to the village of Culver in Tippecanoe county and at once entered into negotiations with the authori- ties of the town of Culver to change the name so that the name of Culver in Marshall county could be recognized by the postoffice department and thus secure the naming of the postoffice, Culver, the same as the town. In the prosecution of his negotiations Mr. Culver found that the town of Culver in Tippecanoe county had been named in honor of a man by the name of Crane Culver, and the citizens were much opposed to making any change. Mr. Henry H. Culver was one of those sort of men that never gave up any laudable undertaking, and having for his motto, "Where there is a will there is a way," he concluded to use a little financial diplomacy and proposed to pay the town authorities all expenses of the change for the name of Culver, and suggested that they could honor the name of the Culver for whom the town had been named by giving it Mr. Culver's first name-"Crane." These suggestions were agreed upon and the contract fully carried out. The papers were properly made out and forwarded to the postoffice department at Washington, which recognized the name of Crane instead of Culver, and changed the name of Marmont to Culver, omitting the word "city," and so Marmont and Culver City became Culver, and will probably so remain for all time to come.
The government census of 1900 gave the population of Culver at 505. A census taken January 1, 1908, by the editor of the Culver Citizen shows the population to be at that date 661.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Culver Fire Department.
The Culver fire department was organized January 22, 1903, in accord- ance with a resolution of the town board. The charter members were: O. M. Byrd, Ed Zekiel, Charles Medburn, F. W. Cook, Al Mawhorter, Walter Byrd, Will Cook, M. H. Foss, G. W. Smith, Thomas E. Slattery, Arthur Morris, T. O. Saine and J. R. Saine.
First Officers: Chief, T. O. Saine; assistant chief, Arthur Morris; secretary, J. R. Saine ; treasurer, Thomas E. Slattery. T. O. Saine held the position of chief until he resigned August 9, 1906, when O. A. Gandy was elected to fill the vacancy, and was reelected January 10, 1907. March 16, 1905, the company purchased a building, where it has a permanent home.
At the time of its organization the company had no equipment save a few rubber buckets and three ladders purchased by the town, which were so heavy it required the combined efforts of a dozen men to erect them. With the installation of waterworks in the fall of 1907 a hose cart and hose was provided and the company had some real practice in the art of fire- fighting, developing a degree of proficiency surprising in view of their unfamiliarity with fire apparatus. In November, 1907, through the gen- erosity of Chief Fred H. Kuhn, of the Plymouth fire department, the company was presented with a hook and ladder truck, which has been thoroughly overhauled and repaired and proves to be ideal for their requirements.
Antiquarian and Historical Society.
The following notice appeared in the Marshall County Republican of February 15, 1858, and indicates that the people of that part of the county, even at that early day, were alive to the importance of preserving for future generations the early history of the county :
"Notice-Ist. That a meeting will be held at the schoolhouse in Union Town on the evening of March 4, 1858, to take into consideration the pro- priety of forming a society to be known as the 'Antiquarian and Historical Society,' for the purpose of collecting as many of the circumstances and incidents relative to the settlement of this region of country from the first settlement to the present time, that it may be read by posterity, which we believe will be of great interest.
Union Town, February 15, 1858."
Who the movers in the matter were, or whether the organization was effected, nothing can be ascertained. Bayless L. Dickson, who was the founder of Union Town, and one of the earliest settlers in that region, was probably the head of it. Isaac N. Morris, who was something of a historian and a great reader, and who lived near by, was undoubtedly one of those who were interested in preserving the history of that locality, but these early pioneers and many others who resided there then have passed away, leaving no record to perpetuate the history they helped to make.
Exchange Bank of Culver.
Mr. S. C. Shilling is the president of the bank and William Osborn cashier. When Mr. Shilling took charge of the bank in 1901 the deposits were $18,000, the loans $11,000, and the number of open accounts 100. At the present time the deposits are $50,000, the loans $40,000 and the open
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
accounts between 250 and 300. The bank recently purchased an eligible corner lot in the center of the town, on which it erected and is now settled in a permanent home amid surroundings luxurious enough to place it in the front rank with similar institutions anywhere in the northern part of the state. The building is the finest in the town of Culver, and in addition to the bank, it houses that other leading business factor, the postoffice, besides giving space to the Masonic lodge on the second floor, and also three pro- fessional men. Not only the owners of the bank are proud of the institu- tion, but the community at large are equally gratified that they have in their midst so important a factor in the building up of the business of their fast-growing town.
WALNUT.
The village of Walnut is situated in Walnut township, about four miles south of Argos on the Lake Erie & Western railroad. It was laid out and platted by Frederick Stair April 16, 1866, and contained eighty-three lots. It was named Fredericksburg, in honor of the proprietor, and that is still the legal name of the village. When the railroad was completed through that place in 1868, two years after it had been organized, the railroad changed the name of the village to Walnut, after Walnut township, and by that name it has been known ever since. In the early years of its organization it was given the nickname of "Possum Trot," because of the number of opossums that were found in that section of the county. Mr. Stair was an early settler and one of the prominent men of the county. He was a congenial gentleman, a man of more than ordinary ability, and acted well his part in whatever he had to do. He died in the nineties respected by all who knew him.
PANAMA.
This place was platted and laid out by Isaac P. Shively September 6, 1854# It is situated on the south side of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 4, town 33, range 4 east, on the Plymouth and Warsaw state road, about five miles northeast of Bourbon. It did not grow as a town as was expected, and a few years later Jacob Pritch and Adam Moneysmith purchased timber land there, erected a saw-mill in the later fifties and after the completion of the railroad through Bourbon in 1856, furnishing them an outlet for their lumber, they carried on an extensive business, and with the families connected with the mills the little village for a time had quite a boom. For some years there was quite a settlement there, and both political parties during exciting campaigns always held one or more meetings in that place during the year. But with the sawing up of the timber into lumber, the village disappeared, and now it is only the center of one of the best farming regions in the county.
LINKSVILLE.
This village is situated about five miles northeast of the county seat, in the southeastern part of North township. The proprietors were Simon Stough, M. J. Link and E. J. Mosholder. It was laid out June 9, 1866, and contains twelve lots. It is a neighborhood village, conveniently situated
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
as to the various parts of the township, and the county seat, as well as on the main road to Bremen and Lake of the Woods.
FAIRMOUNT
Was situated five miles north of Plymouth on the Michigan road. In an early day Silas Higby erected a building and opened a tavern, and called his place Fairmount. It was too close to Plymouth for a tavern to do much business, and as there was nothing there to attract people it soon disappeared and is now a thing of the past.
SLIGO.
This is the name of a place situated in West township at the outlet of Twin lakes, where was situated the first grist-mill built in the county about the time it was organized in 1836 by Timothy Barber; and also the old iron forge, a description of which will be found elsewhere in this history. It had stores and shops and other conveniences of a neighborhood village, but it did not have sufficient business attractions to make it grow to be a town of any size. It is in the center of a good community of farmers, and will always probably remain about as it is at present.
At the time of the organization of the county this place was known as "Onondaga." It had a postoffice of that name, and there was a mail route from Plymouth to that point until it was discontinued a few years later. It probably got its name from Onondaga county, New York, from which place the original proprietors came.
WOLF CREEK.
This was the name of a place on the creek of that name about five miles southwest of Plymouth. A dam was made across the creek and a water sawmill erected prior to 1840, and about that time a grist-mill was built. Clark Bliven was the original proprietor and during high water a few years later was carried over the dam and was drowned. He had named the place "Bermingham" for some reason unknown, as is shown in a petition for a road filed with the board of commissioners from Samuel D. Taber's on the Michigan road west to Bermingham across Wolf creek and then west three or four miles to Mis-sin-ne-co-quah on Yellow river, etc. Missinnecoquali was a Pottawattomie Indian chieftainess to whom in one of the treaties was assigned a section or two of land. When the whites first settled in that part of the county she was very old-well on toward one hundred years old. She went with those who were driven away in 1838 and was never heard of afterwards.
INWOOD.
This village, situated seven miles east of Plymouth on the Pennsyl- vania railroad, was, before the railroad was built, called Pearsonville in honor of Ezra G. Pearson, who platted and laid out the town December 29, 1854. Mr. Pearson had located there and built a sawmill. At that place and for miles all around it was even difficult for men used to the "thick woods" to get through it in places. When the railroad was built through that place two years later, the company, looking for a shorter name than
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
"Pearsonville," and finding themselves "in the woods," the name of Inwood easily suggested itself and from that day to this it has been called Inwood.
For many years, until the timber was mostly cut off, it was a fine lumber region, and those who purchased land for the timber alone made enough out of the timber to pay for both the timber and land and had the land left, and much of it is now among the best farming land in the county. The following additions have been made to the original plat: Pierson's first and second; A. W. Hendrick's; Croup & Core's first and second ; Frederickson's, and Lee & Dickinson's.
This village has a two-story brick schoolhouse, in which is taught a graded school. The Methodists have a church building here; there is a telegraph office, an express office, and stores and shops of various kinds where such articles as the inhabitants need can be purchased.
TYNER.
Tyner (it was originally called Tyner City), the seat of justice of Polk township, was laid off and platted June 18, 1855, by Jacob H. Miller, Maynard French and Thomas Tyner. It took its name from the last named proprietor. It is located in the west half of section 10, town 34, range I east, on the Lake Erie & Western railroad, at that time known as the Plymouth & La Porte railroad, about seven miles northwest of Plymouth. It is laid off into twelve blocks 315 feet square, including alleys, each lot containing twelve lots each 50 by 100 feet. The streets are named Race, Vine, Main, Walnut, May, Miller French, Allen and Boyce. The four first were named after streets in Cincinnati, where some of the proprietors at one time resided, and the remainder were named in honor of railroad men who were engaged in building the new railroad which was completed the following year, 1856.
Tyner was incorporated under the state laws for this purpose. A feud had sprung up between the people of the town and those who resided outside of its limits. It was carried to such an extent that no resident of the village could be elected to a township office, and as it was desirable to have a justice of the peace a resident of the town, the only way to ac- complish it was to organize under a corporation government, the law providing that where there was such a form of government one of the justices should reside within the limits of the corporation. The organization had the desired effect. A justice who resided in town was elected and in course of time the warring elements having subsided, and there being no apparent necessity for a town government, an election was called to vote upon the proposition to disband the organization.
The result of the election is embodied in the following certificate filed in the clerk's office :
I, George E. Leroy, do hereby certify that at an election held in the town of Tyner City on the 29th day of November, 1879, for the purpose of dissolving the incorporation, the whole number of votes cast were 33, and that the number of voters in the town are 47, and that there were 22 votes cast to dissolve and 11 cast to maintain the incorporation.
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