A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I, Part 19

Author: McDonald, Daniel, 1833-1916
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 380


USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 19


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WASHINGTON WILSON, Clerk.


GEORGE E. LEROY, President.


The incorporation was accordingly dissolved. The people of the town were law-abiding and had very little need of a corporation government, and


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


during the thirty years that have elapsed since then they have maintained order among themselves without being required to pay the expenses of a town organization.


Thomas Tyner, the founder of Tyner City, and from whom it took its name, died in that place on the 18th of October, 1880. He was born in Kentucky in 1800. He was a worthy and highly respected citizen, and during his long life filled many important positions of trust and honor, always in a satisfactory manner to all parties concerned. In the earlier portion of his manhood he assisted in moving the archives of the state from Corydon to Indianapolis, after the capitol was established there. He was one of the old landmarks, not only in Marshall county, but of the state, and was well acquainted with many of the prominent citizens of Indiana. He was generous, kind and charitable, almost to a fault, and was honored and esteemed while living, and died sincerely regretted by all who knew him.


HUCKLEBERRY MARSH.


A good many years ago there was a huckleberry marsh two or three miles west of Tyner which attained considerable notoriety as a frontier village, with all that the name implies, during the huckleberry season. Hundreds of people from far and near located there during the time of gathering berries, giving it more the appearance of a mining camp than a temporary village for peaceful pursuits. Huckleberries were gathered there by the carload, and the products in favorable seasons were a source of considerable revenue to those who engaged in the business. Buyers were there every afternoon and evening to buy the day's pickings and the road between Tyner and the huckleberry marsh, with the wagons coming and going, had the appearance of a Fourth of July procession. The village was laid out in systematic order, and the tents and temporary shanties were built so as to leave plenty of room for streets and alleys. When the season was at its height amusements of every description and kind known to temporary places of that kind were indulged in by most of the inhabitants, and hundreds of visitors who gathered there out of curiosity, and to see what they could see. If one was thirsty and wanted a little "something for the stomach's sake," he could find it at the "Alhambra," which could be found on a convenient corner in the center of the village. If he wanted to indulge in a game of "old sledge" or the more interesting game of "poker," the appliances were at hand, and besides these there was roulette and all kinds of games of chance; and it was a rule of the inhabitants of the village who conducted that part of it, when a visitor arrived to "take him in." And there was a large dancing hall where the "Arkansaw Traveler" made music and


They danced all night till broad daylight, And went home with the girls in the morning.


A great many good citizens of the county went there and camped during the season that took no part in the frivolities there indulged in. Very little disturbance occurred there. The inhabitants agreed that all would unite in maintaining peace and good order, and having all the fun in a legitimate way they could get out of it during their short stay. The campers united in appointing watchmen who patrolled the village during the night,


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and during the years it flourished no disturbance of any serious nature ever occurred. During the past dozen years the drainage of the marshes and the fires that have swept over them have destroyed the huckleberry bushes to such an extent that there are not enough berries grown there to justify the continuance of the village.


TEEGARDEN.


The following is the description of the location of Teegarden, as filed by Eli Taylor and Calvin J. Wright, the proprietors, November 18, 1873: "Teegarden is located in the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of section 23, township 35, north of range I east, in Marshall county, Indiana. The south line of said town is the section line, and the west line is the center line of said section 23; there is fifteen feet left on the north side of the section line for half of a street; also twenty feet on the east side of the center section line for half a street, and forty feet on the south of the right of way, of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad for a street, called Wright street. The south line of Taylor street commenced on the center section line-fifty feet north of the center of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and runs east at right angles to the north and south center section line of said section 23," etc. The plat contains thirty-three lots, and they are 100 feet wide by 144 feet in length. The streets are 60, and the alleys 20 feet wide. The Baltimore & Ohio railroad runs through the southern portion of the original town. On the 20th day of June, 1874, Lewis Lemert laid out and caused to be platted and recorded an addition to Teegarden, joining the original plat on the west. The addition comprises fifteen lots of the same size as those in the original town. There are two good dry goods, grocery and notion stores, a saw-mill, a tile manufactory, coal kiln, blacksmith shop, etc. The town is surrounded by a good farming country that is being improved by drainage.


ELIZABETHTOWN.


This was a town on paper, located on the La Porte road, twelve miles from Plymouth and eighteen miles from La Porte. It was elegantly laid out in the shape of a cross. There were twelve blocks, each containing twelve lots. It was laid out May 23, 1837, by G. A. Cone. At a time it was considered to be an eligible location for the building of a town, being about half-way between Plymouth and La Porte. But some way it failed to attract any settlers within its limits, and, except the record in the recorder's office, from which the foregoing information is derived, nothing remains to mark its untimely demise.


BLISSVILLE.


Blissville was a place near the west line of the township, on the La Porte road, that attained some celebrity in the early days. It was owned and managed by Justice T. F. Stevens, an old gentleman of com- manding presence, who supplied the weary traveler that passed that way with all the necessaries, comforts and conveniences of life. Upon the com- pletion of the I., P. & C. R. R. in 1856, the current of trade centered at Tyner, and Mr. Stevens found his occupation gone. He has since died.


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


LA PAZ.


This town was located on section 5, Michigan road lands, six miles north of Plymouth, and was laid out and platted by Achilles Hunt, August 5, 1873, and contained 121 lots. Three years later Mr. Hunt was killed by the kick of a horse he had been leading to water.


September 23, 1875, Edson Spencer laid out an addition to the town called Spencer's Addition to La Paz, containing eighteen lots which are 40x120 feet. The streets are forty and the alleys fourteen feet wide.


December 27, 1881, Moses Thayer laid off an addition to La Paz con- taining thirty-five lots, besides blocks 2, 4 and 5, that were not subdivided. The streets are forty feet wide. This addition is called "Moses Thayer's addition to La Paz." On June 10, 1884, Mr. Thayer made another addition, containing eleven lots and lying west of his first addition.


April 1, 1885, Leonard Logan and Gideon Logan laid out "Logan's addition to La Paz," which contains sixty-four lots of varied length and breadth. The addition lies in the southeast part of the town.


EAST LA PAZ. .


East La Paz is about three-fourths of a mile east of the original La Paz at the junction of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and the Logans- port & Terre Haute railroad, and is described as follows by Walter Kimble, the proprietor, his plat being filed for record February 14, 1855: "East La Paz is situated in southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section twenty-eight (28), township thirty-five (35) north, range two (2) east, at the crossing of the Baltimore & Ohio & Vandalia railroad, is bounded on the east by Vandalia railroad, on the south, west and north by the boundary line of said southeast quarter of the northeast quarter."


BURR OAK.


On the 15th day of December, 1882, the following description of the situation of Burr Oak, together with the plat thereof, was filed in the office of the recorder of Marshall county :


"Burr Oak station is situated on the east line of the northwest quarter of section 4, township 32, north of range I east, commencing 1,255 feet south of the north quarter-section corner of section 4, township 32, north of range I east, the north line of the right of way of the New York, Chi- cago & St. Louis railroad; thence north with the center section line 517 feet, thence west at right angles with center section line 332 feet, thence south with the center section line 422 feet, thence east parallel with north line 302 feet, thence south 93 feet to north line of right of way of said railroad, thence southeastwardly with said line 30 feet to place of beginning. November 1, 1882. MICHAEL BURNS, Proprietor."


The above named plat contains eighteen lots, numbered from 1 to 18 consecutively. The streets are fifty feet, the alleys twelve feet wide, and the lots are forty feet wide by 120 feet in length.


On the 8th day of October, 1885, Franklin Overmyer filed the plat of Overmyer's addition to Burr Oak station, properly described and acknowl- edged. This addition lies immediately east of the original plat of Burr Oak station and contains lots from I to 8 inclusive, the lots being the


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


same size as those in the original plat. This village is nearly in the center of what is known as the "Burr Oak Flats," which is as beautiful and productive a region as can be found anywhere.


A short distance south and west of Burr Oak station were in the early days several mounds which were supposed to have been the work of the Mound Builders. Excavations were made into them at different times by different persons to see if anything could be found in them that would enable the prospectors to determine what they were built for. In one or two of them what appeared to be human bones were found, which indi- cated that they might have been used by the Indians for burial places, although this was not the usual Indian mode of burial. Those who have studied the history of the Mound Builders are inclined to the belief that these mounds were the work of these dwellers in the ground as they made their way from the frozen north to the tropical regions of the sunny south.


MAXINKUCKEE.


The village of Maxinkuckee is situated half a mile east of Maxinkuckee lake, from which it derives its name. From this village on the high bluff on which it is built is obtained the finest view of the beautiful lake anywhere around the twelve miles of its charming shore line. It has never been regularly platted and laid out as a town. It has two streets. The one that divides the place, running east and west, is called Lake street, and the one running north and south is called Washington street. On the north side of Lake street, about half-way from the village to the lake, was the wigwam of the good Indian chief Neeswaugee, about opposite the residence of Peter Spangler. The street should have been called "Nees-wau-gee avenue," to perpetuate the memory of the first owner of all the land east and north of the street. The village contains a store, blacksmith shop, a church, a lodge of Odd Fellows, and contains a population of perhaps 150. For many years, it had a postoffice, but with the coming of the rural free delivery system it was discontinued and the people now receive their mail by free delivery.


NORTH SALEM.


North Salem, according to the plat, consisted of twelve lots laid out in the year 1851 by Barrack Plummer, Basil Roberts and A. G. Pumphrey. It was situated some distance southwest of Inwood. Shortly after it was platted a very large and elegant church building for those days was built, but a few years later it caught fire and was consumed and has not since been rebuilt. There being no prospect that a town would ever be built there, the plat has been vacated.


DONELSON.


The original plat of Donelson was laid out October 25, 1871, by D. W. Taft, Cornelius Tuttle and W. J. Richardson. It is located in the corners of sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, township 34, north of range I east, on the line of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad, and is one mile east of the Starke county line. It contains twenty-two lots, their size being 66 feet wide by 132 feet in length. On the 14th day of September, 1875, D. W. Taft laid out "Taft's addition to the town of Donelson," con-


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HISTORY OF. MARSHALL COUNTY.


taining twenty-one lots of the same size as the lots in the original plat and lying north and west of the original town, and on the 14th day of Sep- tember, 1875, Cornelius Tuttle laid off "Tuttle's addition to Donelson," comprising twenty-two lots, being of the same size as the original lots. It is a quiet little village and probably will always remain so, as most of the farm products raised in its vicinity are marketed elsewhere. It has two stores, a drug store, a grain elevator, a blacksmith shop, one doctor, a good schoolhouse, church and all the conveniences and evidences of civilization common to villages of its size.


Robert J. Evans ("Jons" Evans, as he is familiarly called), who lives near Donelson, is the oldest settler in West township, having settled there in 1835, the year before the county was organized, and has lived there almost continually ever since. The Pottawattomie Indians were numerous there when he came. Of them he says: "Their relations with the settlers were of the friendliest character."


TIPPECANOE TOWN.


The original proprietors of this town were Joseph Hall, Daniel C. Martin and Joseph Serls. It was platted and surveyed December 12, 1850. It is located on the Tippecanoe river, in Tippecanoe township, in section 18, town 32, range 4 east, and contains thirty lots. For thirty years this place was the only town in Tippecanoe township and during that time it became quite a business center for that part of the country. Tippecanoe river, which meanders through this township, entering it on the eastern. boundary about the center, passing through Tippecanoe Town and veering off to the south, furnished an excellent waterpower at Tippecanoe Town for milling purposes. An excellent flouring mill was erected by N. B. and P. S. Alleman, who operated it for many years. During the war of the Rebellion they also erected a woolen factory close by the mill, which they also operated until 1878, when they sold it to J. F. Van Valkenburg, of Plymouth. On the night of October 25, 1878, the woolen mills were fired by an incendiary, and before assistance could reach them were entirely destroyed. An attempt was made to set fire to the grist mill the same night, but a watchman being in the mill, the attempt was unsuccessful. Detectives were put upon the track of the "fire fiends" and in course of time a young man in the neighborhood was arrested on suspicion of having committed the deed. He was incarcerated in the county jail and soon after gave intimation of an intention to confess his guilt and turn state's evidence against other parties who he said were implicated. Before the meeting of the grand jury, however, he succeeded in making his escape from the jail. He concealed himself for some time, but finally concluded to return and confess that he fired the property, describing minutely how the act was accomplished. He also implicated a large number of old and respectable citizens of the neighborhood as being particeps criminis in the transaction. He alleged that the object sought to be attained was the removal of the mill dam, which it was averred overflowed a large section of country, produced stagnant water, causing malaria, resulting in sickness and death. He stated that meetings of those in the neighborhood affected by the dam had been held at various times, at which the question was discussed as to the most expeditious and safest way to get rid of what


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


they termed an "intolerable nuisance." According to his statement it was finally determined that if the mills were out of the way the dam would soon follow. He was selected, he stated, to do the work, the others agreeing to save him from arrest and punishment. Several of the parties implicated were jointly indicted with him, and after many vexatious delays the cases came on for trial. As to all the parties but one a nolle-prosequi was entered, and the case went to trial as to the remaining party, mainly on the evidence of the party who had confessed that he had been guilty of the burning. The trial lasted several days, creating much excitement and ill-feeling among neighbors and parties interested, and finally resulted in the jury failing to agree. The case was then transferred to another county on a change of venue, but the party implicated left the country and has not been heard of since, and so the case never came to trial again.


Tippecanoe Town Station.


The Nickel Plate railroad having been completed through this township from east to west, a town was laid out on the line of that road about three- quarters of a mile south of Tippecanoe Town by W. W. Burkett, John Kramer, John T. Hardesty, Elizabeth Lewallen and E. J. Martindale, Feb- ruary 8, 1882. It contained sixty-two lots, and on the first of November, 1882, Kramer, Hardesty and Lewallen laid out an addition, the lots number- ing from 62 to go inclusive. The town was called "Tippecanoe Town Station." At the December term, 1886, of the board of commissioners on the petition of G. W. Roberts and others the name of Tippecanoe Town Station was changed to Ilion, by which name it was known until the summer of 1905 or 1906, when "Tippecanoe" was substituted for Ilion, and by that name it is now recognized by the railroad and also the postoffice depart- ment. The old Tippecanoe Town, with the coming of the railroad and the building up of a station there, lost all its vitality and the halo of the business glory that formerly hovered over it is a thing of the past. Sic transit gloria mundi!


XXII. PIONEER LOG CABINS.


The first real emigration to Marshall county began in the early spring of 1836. Many of those who came early, following the customs of the Indians, built temporary domiciles of poles and bark, similar to wigwams, into which they moved their household effects, and lived after a fashion, until log cabins of more pretentious designs could be erected.


In a discussion on the subject a number of years ago between two of the "oldest inhabitants," it was quite satisfactorily settled that the first log cabin built in the county was erected by Abel C. Hickman on the Michigan road, two and a half miles south of Argos. It was built of rough, unhewn logs, covered with clapboards, had an outside chimney made of sticks and "daubed" with mud.


It wasn't a very palatial residence, but it was fitted and furnished so as to keep out the wet and cold, and was considerable of an improvement over the Indian wigwams in the neighborhood.


At that time the Michigan road was not passable. The contractors had


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


only commenced opening the road and only in patches could it be traveled over, and there was little or no travel in either direction here at that time. Mr. Hickman cleared off a small patch of ground near his cabin, on which he raised vegetables in sufficient quantities to supply the wants of his little family.


There wasn't a great deal of comfort living there at that time. For weeks at a time no human being would be seen. Wild animals of almost every kind were numerous, and it was no trick at all for Mr. Hickman to take his trusty rifle down out of the pegs from over the door and kill a deer, turkey or other animal in an hour or two sufficient to supply food for days at a time.


At night, from the time the sun went down over the treetops until it came up again in the morning, the wolves made the night hideous with their barking and yelping. When morning came they secreted themselves in their dens and hiding places, and during daytime seldom was one seen. In that region and for a few miles northwest all along down Wolf creek, which took its rise not far from here in Tippecanoe township, wolves were as thick as fleas on a dog's back. It passes through a portion of Walnut and Green townships and empties into Yellow river near the northeast corner of Union township. It is skirted 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 Mack-kah-tah- mo-may, the Indian name for black wolf.


In 1835. when the lands were made subject to entry, Mr. Hickman secured a piece of land and moved off west of the road to the farm owned by Adam Bixel. Here he erected another log cabin of a more pretentious order of architecture, taking the trouble to hew the logs and otherwise adorn it in more modern style.


Here, according to the best authority, the first society for religious worship was organized by an itinerant preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church by the name of Owens. Here the society continued to meet for several years, until 1844: it is stated by the same authority, a house of wor- ship, or a "meeting house," as it was called, was built on this farm, being the first building exclusively for church purposes erected in the county.


During the year 1835-6 there was quite an addition to the population. The first thing the newcomer had to do was to select and enter a piece of land, decide on a building location, and without unnecessary delay erect a cabin in which to live. There was no lumber or brick here at that time, and the only material out of which these dwellings could be built was logs chopped from the trees. Axes, adzes, cross-cut saws, hatchets, augers and drawing knives were the implements used in their construction. In the earlier cabins such articles as nails, door hinges and ironlatches or window glass were not known. Everything was made out of wood.


He who had decided to build a cabin ground his ax, went to the woods and, having selected trees of the proper size, proceeded to chop them down. Hc measured off the length of the logs according to the size the house was to be, and cut an equal number for the sides and ends. Of course, a yoke of oxen was necessary to haul the logs in place, and men enough to assist in raising them into the building, so the neighbors were invited, and one of


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them brought along Broad and Berry, and in a few hours a cabin in the wilderness had been erected. The rafters on which the roof was to be placed were made of small poles fastened to the top logs and the gable center rafter by means of wooden pins driven into holes bored with an auger. The roof was of clapboards. These were generally "rived" out of red oak logs sawed the proper length with a cross-cut saw. A maul and wedge were used to split it into small blocks, after which a "froe" and mallet properly applied by the "horny-handed son of toil" produced a fair substitute for shingles that came into use later. These clapboards were fastened on by binding them down with heavy poles laid on them along the ends where they were joined together.


Four or five feet in length of as many logs at one end were cut out for a fireplace, which was walled up outside with niggerhead stone and plastered over with mud. The chimney built of small sticks was continued a foot or two above the top of the house. At one side a door was cut out, in the same way, and a door made out of hewn poplar timber, fastened to- gether with oak pins was hung on wooden pegs with rawhide straps. The latch was of wood which was fastened in the inside in a slot. A leather string attached to the latch on the inside hung through a hole on the outside. To unlatch the door from without all that was necessary was to pull the string, the latch would be raised out of its socket, and the door swung open. Locks had not reached this part of the country at that time. There was no need of them, anyhow. There were no housebreakers then, probably because there wasn't anything in the houses worth carrying off.


A window was cut out near the door, and, prior to the advent of glass, greased paper or white muslin served to admit all the light that was deemed necessary. The floor was made of puncheons hewn out of small poplar logs. As a general thing they were a little rough, but they served to keep the pioneer feet off of the ground. There were no brussels carpets in the mar- ket then, and so a split broom made out of a small hickory sapling and some soft soap and water vigorously applied served to keep it reasonably clean.




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