USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
One Sunday morning he had occasion to visit some friends on the other side of Yellow river. He was the owner of a dugout canoe in which he paddled himself across to the other shore, where he tied it to the limb of a projecting tree. That evening he had an engagement to visit his girl, and having been detained longer than he expected, it was nearly dark when he started back. When he reached the river he found his canoe had been untied and was nowhere to be found. What to do he did not know. The river was pretty well up, and quite deep, and he was not sure whether he could wade across or not. He walked up and down the bank for some distance and finally found a place where the water appeared not to be so deep as at the ford where he had crossed with his boat. Here he made up his mind he would make an attempt to cross. He, therefore, removed his shoes and clothing, and, rolling them up into a convenient bundle, started in to wade across. The further he went the deeper he found the water until he was into it up to his armpits. He held his clothing above his head and felt his way carefully, the water getting deeper every step. Finally, when he was sure he had reached the deepest place, he unfortunately stum- bled against a rock and fell headlong over into the water. When he came
185
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
to the surface, his bundle of clothing was gently floating off down stream. Being a good swimmer he started after his bundle, and, overtaking it a few rods distant, with it swam to shore. When he landed on the bank he was thoroughly exhausted; his clothes were dripping wet, and what to do he didn't know. Finally he wrung the water out as well as he could, and began the task of putting them on. How he ever succeeded in this under- taking will never be known. It was an hour before the task was ended, and as he started on his way home through the woods two or three miles distant, he was the most miserable, forlorn individual it is possible to imagine. He found his way home all right, but too late to re-dress and fulfill his engagement with his best girl.
He was the owner of a fine young horse which his father had given him as a birthday present on the occasion of his becoming "his own man." He was neatly caparisoned with saddle, bridle and martingales, and the rider provided with spurs and a rawhide whip. One Sunday afternoon he dressed in his best suit of clothes, which included a pair of white linen trousers, and started on his famous charger to see his girl. It was late when he got to his destination, and he unbridled and unsaddled his horse and turned him loose in a convenient clover field. It was after midnight when he bade his girl good night and started to go home. A heavy dew had fallen, and the clover, about two feet high, was thoroughly wet, which meant ruin to his white linen pants. So he concluded to take them off and hang thein on the fence until he could go and catch his horse and saddle and bridle him ready for riding home. As he approached, the horse saw him coming. It was in the gray of the morning, and the animal took fright at the ghostly appearance of his master and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. Our hero took after him and tried to head him off. Round and round the field they went, but he couldn't overtake the thoroughly frightened horse. Daylight was now approaching, and what to do was the all important question uppermost in his mind. There seemed to be no hope of catching him, and so he concluded to let down the bars and permit the horse to escape and go home. The poor horse, worse frightened than ever, jumped over the bars and away he went, head and tail erect, as though the old scratch was after him. The bars were put up, but when our hero went to get his pants he found a calf had got hold of them and chewed them so badly, tearing them into shreds, as to completely spoil them. The horse was gone, his pants were torn to pieces and spoiled. What was to be done under the circumstances? As it was then daylight, after mature deliberation he concluded to take to the woods and await results. The horse arriving home in such a sorry plight naturally alarmed the family, and they immediately started in search of the unfortunate young man. The neighborhood was aroused and on examination of the field they found pieces of his white pants, and supposing he had been foully murdered or eaten up by some ravenous wild beast, armed parties were sent in every direction through the woods to see if any trace of him could be found. The women of the neighborhood, including his heart- broken best girl, followed at a distance and the most intense excitement prevailed. Finally the lost young man was found concealed in a brush heap awaiting the coming of night so he could reach home without exposing his nakedness.
186
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
After the courting was done, and the all important "question" had been "popped," and the party of the second part had said "yes" and vowed eternal fidelity to the party of the first part; and the old man and old woman had been consulted in regard to the all important matter, and had willingly given their consent to the union, and the day had been fixed, then arranging the details for the interesting event was begun.
The marriage was generally celebrated at the house of the bride, and she was always accorded the privilege of choosing the officiating clergyman, or préacher, as the case might be. A wedding, however, engaged the atten- tion of the whole neighborhood. It was anticipated with the liveliest interest by both old and young. Everybody, great and small, in the whole neighborhood knew all about it long before it was to come off.
In those days they didn't have any printed invitations to send around. Whenever there was to be any inviting done a small boy would be put on a bareback horse and he would ride all around the neighborhood delivering as loud as he could speak it, a message like this :
"Say, there's to be a weddin' down to the old man's next Tuesday and they want all you'uns to come !"
That was all there was to it, and then he rode off on a canter to the next house. And everybody went, too. There was no holding back for fear of not having been invited the right way.
Marrying wasn't done then as it is now. Everybody had to be married by a preacher. They were generally itinerants, or circuit riders, and they were few and far between; didn't get around sometimes oftener than once in two or three months, and so the boys and girls had to make calculations about popping the question and winding up their courting so as to be ready, as it might be a long time between chances.
On the morning of the wedding day the groom and his intimate friends assembled at the house of his parents and after due preparation departed en masse for the house of his bride. The journey was sometimes made on horseback, sometimes on foot, and sometimes in farm wagons and carts. It was always a merry journey, and to insure merriment the "little brown jug" was occasionally one of the invited guests. On reaching the house of the bride the ceremony took place. The young folks stood up and the preacher required them to join their right hands, and after making them promise to love, honor and obey each other until death parted them they were pronounced duly and truly married, and thus
Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one,
were tied up into a double-bow knot, thus to remain forever and a day. Then came the kissing of the bride by the preacher and invited guests.
The young folks didn't wear the fine clothes they do now, because there were no such fine clothes to be had. But they were as good looking and better than the average young people nowadays. Tall and straight, and healthy and happy they were, and they loved each other and no mistake.
After the ceremony was over they all sat down to dinner, as many as could find places, and the table, which was a big one, just groaned with wild turkey, and venison, and bear meat, roasted and stewed, and honey, and potatoes, and beans, and the Lord knows what all. Those that couldn't
187
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
find room at the table sat around out of doors and told jokes and nursed their appetites till the guests at the first table got through, when they had a chance to go and do likewise.
After dinner there were some presents to be given to the newly married couple. There were no stoves in the settlement then, and there was no finery to be bought, and so the people gave of just what they had, and it was generally something good to eat or useful to wear, or that would come handy when they set up housekeeping.
When dinner was over the dancing commenced. There was only one fiddle within a dozen miles, and it was there, and its owner was the biggest man in the house as soon as he began to tune up.
The figures of the dances were three and four-handed reels, "down outside and up the middle," or square sets and jigs. The commencement was always a square four, which was followed by what was called in those days "jigging ;" that is, two of the four would single out for a jig and were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accompanied with what was called "cutting out," that is, when either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation the place was supplied by someone of the company without interruption of the dance. In this way the reel was often continued until the fiddler was exhausted.
About 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening a bevy of young girls stole off the bride and put her to bed. In doing this they had to ascend a ladder from the kitchen to the upper floor, which was made of loose boards. Here, in this pioneer bridal chamber, the young, simple-hearted girl was put to bed by her enthusiastic friends. This done, a deputation of young men escorted the groom to the same apartment and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The dance still continued, and if seats were scarce, which was generally conveniently the case, every young man when not engaged in the dance was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls.
The "infair," which was held at the home of the groom's parents, took place on the following afternoon and evening, and generally the same program was substantially carried out. The young married folks soon settled down to the stern realities of life in a log cabin in the woods, provided with a few articles of home-made furniture, and many who have grown old since then look back upon those early scenes as the happiest days of their lives.
XXXVI. PIONEER MILL.
Not long ago the writer visited the site of an early saw mill which few of the residents of Marshall county at this time know anything about and fewer still ever heard of. It was what was known as the "Hupp Saw Mill" and was located on Yellow river about three or four miles southwest of Plymouth and about two miles east of the old Menominee Indian village on the north of the middle Twin lake. The mill was built by Jacob K. Hupp, about 1840, for the purpose of sawing lumber for the floors and doors of the settlers who were building log cabins in the country round about at that time. Later a corn-cracker was added and cornmeal ground out from the grists carried there on horseback. The dam across the river
188
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
is yet much of it plainly visible, about 100 feet of it on the east side of the river having been washed out, leaving a deep channel through which all the water that flows down the river easily passes. The mill race, which is probably eighty rods in length, is still there, at least the greater portion of it, much as it was when the mill was abandoned just before the beginning of the Civil war, except that the sides and bottom have grown up with vines and weeds and bushes. The mill, which was a very primitive affair, stood at the foot of the race near the river. Not a trace of it is left, the timbers having doubtless been carried away and used in building a bridge across the river not far below, which in turn has given away to a modern iron structure. Jacob K. Hupp, who settled there about the time of the organi- zation of the county and who erected the mill, was an enterprising, dashing, go-ahead man of considerable ability. In politics he was a democrat, always taking an active part in the hotly contested political campaigns that were the rule even in those early days. He was elected sheriff on the democratic ticket in August, 1846, and reëlected in 1848, serving two terms, ending in August, 1850. He died in 1856, and like the old mill, nothing remains of him or his family except old time memories.
Polke's Cemetery.
Col. William Polke was one of the most distinguished men in northern Indiana and was the first to blaze the way to civilization in this part of the state. He was one of the original proprietors of the town of Plymouth, and was appointed by the governor to take charge of the Pottawattomie Indians at Danville, Illinois, when they were removed from Twin Lakes in 1838 by Gen. John Tipton. He was buried three and one-half miles north of the south Marshall county line and one-half mile east of the Michigan road. Before he died he requested that his remains be buried at a place he designated on his farm, and his wishes were carried out by those who had the burial in charge. Other interments occasionally followed, and the place is still in use as a burial ground and is known as "Polke's Cemetery."
Plymouth was undoubtedly given its name by Col. Polke, who seems to have been the moving spirit in securing the location of the county seat. Why the town was called "Plymouth" the writer has never been able to learn.
XXXVII. EARLY AMUSEMENTS.
In the early days, before the completion of the railroads and telegraph lines, when only the primitive stagecoach attracted the attention of the people three times a week, and when merchants and business men generally had but a few hours' work to do each day, games of all kinds suited to the different turns of mind and the physical capacity of the individual were improvised, and many were the amusing scenes and incidents that occurred in all the towns and villages in the county.
When Plymouth was a village of three or four hundred inhabitants, the complicated and entertaining game of marbles was the one mostly indulged in. Ministers, lawyers and doctors, merchants and others, all had their pockets full of "white alleys," and it was not an uncommon occurrence
189
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
to see these potent, grave and reverend seniors "knuckling down" as the final performance indicated the end of the game.
The mania for playing any game of chance is generally contagious, and, if it is not too difficult to learn, it is only a question of time as to the whole population becoming infected. Enthusiasts have been known to become so much interested in the game of marbles that lamps and lanterns had to be provided for the accommodation of the players in the street as the shades of evening drew on.
"Town Ball" was also a favorite amusement for those who delighted in-violent exercise of that kind. And there were many who became exceed- ingly expert players. They could throw a ball as straight as a bullet and almost as swift, and there were others who could catch them if they were thrown in catching distance. And woe be to the runner who was found between the "by's" when one of these balls was thrown at him! If he escaped being hit the surgeon might have lost a job setting a broken limb. "Bull Pen" was another favorite game much the same as town ball. and many remember even to this day the hard knocks they received in trying to escape the tortures of that classically named enclosure.
Pitching horseshoes was also one of the favorite outdoor games, and he who could oftenest "ring the peg" was considered the champion pitchist. This was a great Sunday game, and there are some yet living who became experts by practicing on the holy Sabbath day. They have probably for- gotten it by this time and have turned their attention to higher and holier things as the day of rest weekly rolls around, and these early indiscretions shall not be laid up against them.
And there were foot races in those days and they sometimes occurred in the middle of the street, and there were occasions when great preparations were made for these feats of rapid pedestrianism. And to vary the monotony there was an occasional horse race, and when these occurred there was generally betting and drinking and an occasional knockdown to wind up with. And there were jumping matches, too. Run and jump, stand and jump, hop, step and jump, and a jump backward and forward. There were wheel- barrow races in which the contestants were blindfolded, and bag races, and every other conceivable kind of races the mind of man could think of. And there was "snipe hunting" with greenies to hold the bag; mock trials, and debating societies, and country dances, and social parties and the like, enough to make one's head swim to relate them all.
And as the years went on and society became more cultured, most of these amusements were abandoned, and then came the more refined games of checkers and backgammon, and euchre, and all sorts of games with cards, and chess, and the like; and all kinds of puzzles and problems and curious contrivances to test the ingenuity and capacity of those who delight to spend their time in working out abstruse and difficult problems.
These things take hold of the people like any other epidemic, and, having spent their fury, the patient recovers much in the same way as do people who have had the smallpox, whooping cough, measles, or any other disease that suddenly takes hold and subsides when the fever "goes down!" Among the most remarkable instances of this kind was what was known as the 13-15-14 craze. Nothing like it was ever known before and probably never will be again. It originated in Boston and within a few weeks spread
190
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
like wildfire all over the United States and probably found its way across the sea. The people of Marshall county had a very bad case of it. It was so simple and looked so easy of solution that everyone who looked at it a minute made up his mind that he could do it in a short time without much difficulty. The solution of the puzzle consisted simply in getting the 15 on the place where the 14 stood, and the 14 where the 15 stood, by moving the blocks without taking them from the board so that the numbers would all stand in regular order, the last row reading 13-14-15. The little joker was simply fifteen square blocks made to fit a box holding sixteen blocks, the last a blank, so that the blocks could be moved to suit the fancy of the mover.
. Large rewards were offered to anyone who would furnish the correct solution, and as it had the appearance of being so easy of accomplishment, almost everybody went at it-lawyers, doctors, merchants, clerks, laboring men, preachers, women and children, "old men and maidens and them that stooped for age," all joined in the general panic, and so intense became the excitement that for a week or two business was almost entirely suspended. In the course of a short time, however, it was ascertained that the thing "couldn't be did," and one by one the little boards and blocks were laid aside, and the monomaniacs, who had almost gone crazy on the subject, resumed their regular occupations, and the excitement in the community generally disappeared as rapidly as it came.
XXXVIII. RAISING TOBACCO.
In the early days of Marshall county every farmer who used tobacco, and some who did not, raised a small patch every year as regularly as they did lettuce and onions and beets and cabbage and other garden truck. At that time there was very little of what was called "boughten tobacco" to be had, and what there was, was known as "Kentucky pig-tail." It was soaked in licorice, was as black as tar, and was altogether villainous stuff. Some of the tobacco raised here then was of fairly good quality, and after having the habit of using it firmly fixed it answered the purpose, and was as good- or more properly, bad-as much of the imported stuff in use nowadays.
It was a dreadful ordeal one had to go through with to accustom himself to the use of tobacco, and it was equally as hard to rid himself of the habit after it had been acquired.
The writer remembers as vividly as if it were only yesterday his first effort at learning to chew tobacco. It was the home grown weed. Nearly every boy in those days deemed it necessary to use tobacco. The boy who couldn't chew the stuff and squirt the "ambier"-to use a word coined for the purpose-didn't amount to a -!
It was on a summer day. He was resting from the day's labor in a fence corner in the shade of a tree when the man who was with him asked him to take a chew of tobacco. He concluded that was as good a time as any to begin and bit off a large mouthful and went at it. For a time all went well, but presently a sickly feeling came over him and it was not long until he
191
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
heaved up Jonah to beat the band! Sick! Well! Don't talk! A sicker child you never saw! He parted with everything from the top of his head to the soles of his feet ! He saw all the stars in the heavens above; the aurora borealis quivering in the northern hemisphere, and felt several distinct shocks of earthquake! Finally he managed to get to the house, where his mother almost went beside herself, being sure he had the cholera! The true state of affairs was divulged, and after sassafras and sage tea had been administered and the proper antidotes applied, life began to return, and by the next morning he had fully recovered.
The reader may think that this experience ended his efforts to learn to use the filthy stuff! Not so! The neighboring boys had mastered the art and were squirting the tobacco juice with as much gusto as the biggest man in the neighborhood! So he determined to learn to chew tobacco or die in the attempt. And he did, and after a while the habit became so firmly fixed on his system that when he wanted to quit it he found it was almost impos- sible to do so. He determined, however, not to be a slave to tobacco or anything else, and long ago quit it entirely, forever and a day.
XXXIX. THE BLOOMER COSTUME.
The bloomer costume for ladies, which created much excitement throughout America during the year 1851, was just then being introduced in the then backwoods town of Plymouth. On this topic the editor of the Pilot delivered himself as follows :
"New Dress .- The bloomer costume is decidedly an improvement upon the dress of the female portion of the community. It is light, graceful and seraphic, well suited to the female figure. It will be welcomed by all the lovers of taste and refinement in the fashionable world. The orientals have long been celebrated for their beauty, polished manners and splendid attire. Our rivers will now be the 'Golden Horn'; our valleys the 'Valley of Sweet Waters,' and our seas the Bosphorus of the Turkish capitol. A voyage to Constantinople will be useless. We may now take our siesta in the gay kiosq, and glide over the moonlit waters in the light caique! Come, ladies, step forth in your gorgeous apparel, decked with rose of gold and leaves of silver, and gladden our hearts with sweet smiles !"
Evidently that was a facetious way the editor had of poking fun at the "costume" and killing it before the fad got a fair start. At any rate, that was the result of it. Only one or two Plymouth ladies had the courage to procure bloomer suits and attempt to introduce them by wearing them as they would other female apparel. When they appeared on the streets they were objects of as much curiosity as if they had been the untamed animal from Borneo. There is no easier way to kill anything the people do not take very kindly to than to make fun of it just as the editor of the Pilot did in his hifalutin' article above quoted. At least that was what happened the bloomer costume. It disappeared from the social horizon like the morning mist before the rays of the rising sun.
192
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Fourth of July Celebration.
A grand celebration of the Fourth of July was indulged in on that day, 1851, and that was probably the first public celebration that had occurred in Plymouth or in the county. Those taking part in the celebra- tion were as follows: Rev. George H. Thayer, chaplain; C. H. Reeve, orator ; Thomas Sumner, reader; J. S. Dodridge, standard bearer; Joseph McElrath, marshal; John C. How, assistant marshal.
The citizens were ordered to meet in front of the Dunham House at IO a. m. and form in the following order of procession:
I, military music; 2, standard bearer; 3, soldiers of the Revolution and last war; 4, military companies; 5, thirty-one ladies in uniform; 6, chaplain, reader and orator; 7, committee of arrangements; 8, Daughters of Temperance; 9, Odd Fellows; 10, Sons of Temperance; II, Cadets of Temperance ; 12, Sundayschools; 13, Washingtonians and citizens generally.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.