A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I, Part 44

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


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


to travel to repair it, and the difficulty of finding out where the break was, made it necessary to shorten the distance between stations. The merchants and business men of Plymouth contributed to the purchase of an instru- ment, and the office was established in John Cougle's store, which stood where the postoffice is now located. An operator was sent from Chicago, who put the office in shape and taught Henry Cougle the telegraph alphabet and how to operate the machine. He was an apt pupil, and it took him but a few days to master the whole thing. In those days messages were taken and conversation carried on between operators on what was called paper instruments. These instruments were made so that strips of paper an inch in width could pass through between the cylinder and pen lever when the line was being used by any operator on the circuit and the impression made on the paper, which enabled the operator to decipher the message by dots and strokes. Mr. Cougle learned very rapidly and soon became an expert operator. He and his father had a misunderstanding and he left the office in 1853 and was stationed at Kansas City, Missouri, where he had charge of the repeating office. A year later he returned to Plymouth, was taken sick and died. After he left the office it was turned over to Daniel McDonald, who was then postmaster, who operated in connection with the postoffice immediately west of the Masonic temple until the office was closed and the line removed to the New Albany & Salem railroad about two years later.


From that time until the completion of the Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad Plymouth was without telegraphic communication. Upon the completion of that road, in 1858, the Western Union Telegraph Company built a single line along the track of the railroad, when an office was again opened in Plymouth, and the writer of this history was employed as the first operator, who continued as such until the breaking out of the war in 1861. After the beginning of the war the movement of troops from west to east commenced, and as the soldier trains were usually run through in the nighttime, operators were required to remain until relieved, which fre- quently did not happen until morning. The business of the road increased so rapidly from that time on that it became necessary to establish a night office and employ a night operator, which was done in 1862, and has been continued until the present time. The business of the telegraph increased rapidly, also, so much so that it became necessary to erect additional lines. As the business increased lines were stretched until now there is a network of lines on either side of the Pennsylvania road, numbering probably forty. Lines have been built along all the railroads in the county and offices established in all the principal towns in the county.


It would be impossible, even were it necessary, to get the facts in regard to the date of establishing offices and building the lines that have been erected since the first line was built in 1851. The whirligig of time whirls us around too rapidly to permit us to keep track of the rapidity with which these numerous public improvements grow into existence before we are aware of it.


A Totally Deaf Operator.


Totally deaf, yet able to distinguish the dots and dashes of the Morse telegraphı alphabet, William E. Elliott, of Tippecanoe, in Tippecanoe town-


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ship, Marshall county, has for twenty-six years represented the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad company, commonly known as "The Nickel Plate" road, as agent and operator. Just after the railroad was built through to Chicago in 1891, Mr. Elliott took a position as the sole repre- sentative of the company at Tippecanoe. At that time his hearing was far from being good and in time it gradually became worse, so that he was unable to detect any sound.


Some years prior to the time Mr. Elliott began to learn telegraphing, operators caught messages that were sent them by letting long strips of paper run through their machines, on which the pen lever left the indenta- tions of the letters and words so that operators could take their time and decipher the message at their leisure. But since that time paper instru- ments, as they were called, have been entirely abandoned and operators are required to read by the sound of the instrument, and, pencil in hand, have the message written out in full when the operator at the other end of the line has finished sending and closed his key. The telegraph letters are made entirely of dots and dashes properly spaced, and to an inexperienced ear when rapidly made by an operator on his instrument, convey no more meaning than the sounds produced by the falling of shot in a tin pan.


As soon as Mr. Elliott realized that there was a time not far distant when he would be totally deaf, he set about to devise some way of reading the telegraph by which he could still continue in the employ of the railroad company. Following the idea adopted by the old-time telegraph operator, he loosened the hammer on the telegraph sounder and read the dots and dashes by sight. There were times, however, when he was not watching the instruments, and on these occasions the train dispatcher frequently called and called without a response from the "TP" station. Mr. Elliott realized that some other plan was necessary, and he tried attaching a metal cord to the sounder and holding a metal plug fastened to the cord in his mouth.


This was not altogether satisfactory and he tried other things. An old horsewhip fell into his hands. He had never paid much attention to a horsewhip before, but this particular whip interested him. He cut a piece about two feet in length from the butt, and to one end he attached a metal plate. The other end was fastened to a telegraph sounder. Elliott placed his forehead to the plate and his problem was solved. For years he has received the code through his frontal bone and through a horsewhip. Mr. Elliott is fifty-five years of age, but he is still regarded as one of the most expert sending operators on the division of the road on which he works.


The writer, having during his life been a telegraph operator nine years, four of which were under the original paper ribbon system and the remain- der of the time as a "sounder," is prepared to say that the achievement of Mr. Elliott has probably never been equaled in the history of telegraphing the world over.


The Telephone.


The telephone, which came into use about the latter half of 1878, is the latest and most useful discovery in connection with electricity yet made. In its first invention it was considered only useful as a toy, but it was but a very brief and a very short space of time before it was found out that it


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was to be an invention, when permanently introduced, that could not be dispensed with.


It is an instrument attached to a telegraph or other wire, similar in appearance to a mouthpiece to a speaking tube, and is so arranged that the voice of the speaker talking at it in an andible tone is forced over the wire almost any distance, and can be distinctly heard by the listener at the other end of the wire listening through a similar tube. Telephones are very use- ful in transacting business, and in social intercourse. In fact, they have become so thoroughly interwoven into our business and social relations that they are a part of us, and we could hardly get along withont them. The Bell Telephone company was the first to start here, probably in the latter part of 1878. The price for the use of phones was, the people thought, exorbitantly high, and as they had not been educated to the necessity of their use they did not give it sufficient patronage to make it a paying invest- ment. Mr. C. A. Reeve secured their franchise to do business in Plymouth, and later, in connection with Dr. D. C. Knott, built up an excellent system, which gave general satisfaction, and by fixing the price at living rates suc- ceeded in securing nearly all the business men as patrons. He also extended his wires to all the towns of importance in the county and to many farm- houses as well. He also connected his system with the long-distance wires, giving his patrons facilities to communicate with all the large cities. He recently disposed of his plant to the Winona Telephone Co. Bremen, Bourbon, Argos and Culver each maintain a telephone exchange.


Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony.


The most marvelous discovery of the infancy of the twentieth century in which we are living is that of telegraphing and telephoning through the air without the aid of wires or any other mechanical appliances. The rapidity with which wireless telegraphy has come into general use is as marvelous almost as the discovery itself, and while the machinery and appliances by which it is operated are not as perfect as they undoubtedly soon will be, they are much more so than the Morse system of telegraphy was in the early history of that marvelous invention, less than sixty years ago. The govern- ment of the United States, after experimenting and thorough investiga- tion, has adopted it in the naval service especially, and finds that it is a per- fect success. The great fleet of United States battleships commanded by Admiral Evans, before leaving Hampton Roads in December, 1907, were furnished with wireless telegraph and telephone instruments and appliances, and as the fleet moved out into the boundless sea communications were car- ried on between the officers of the several vessels of the fleet as easily and correctly as if they were sitting together in one of the cabins of the flagship. This is the first practical application of the wireless telephone in the history of the science of navigation, and the experiments thus far have produced results that are almost incredible. For the first time the commander of a fleet can give his orders silently and secretly into a mechanical apparatus and have them communicated instantly and accurately to the subordinates for whom they are intended. This seems like a fairy story, but it is never- theless true. It seems almost beyond belief that a man can sit in the cabin of his ship and converse across the water with a man in the cabin of another ship without even a wire-without anything but atmosphere and water


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between them. But Admiral Evans reports daily to the department at Washington from across the sea that the wireless system, both as to the telegraph and telephone, is almost a perfect success. As the poet has well said-


We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time- In an age on ages telling- To be living is sublime!


LXIII. RAILROADS.


The project of connecting Plymouth and other parts of the country by means of railroad communication was not seriously contemplated by the citizens of Marshall county until the year 1853. The Cincinnati, Peru & Chicago route had been talked of prior to that time, and a company had been organized for the purpose of building it, but as to whether it would be con- structed by way of Plymouth, or on some other line which would leave it out, no one could tell. The following notice appeared in the Plymouth Banner, the only paper published in the county at that time, July 21, 1853:


"Gov. William Bebb and John B. Niles will address the citizens of Mar- shall county at the courthouse in Plymouth, on next Wednesday, the 27th inst., at 2 o'clock p. m., in relation to making Plymouth a point on the Cincinnati, Peru & Chicago railroad."


The meeting was held and a lively interest awakened, but no definite action was taken by the people at that time. In the meantime the feasibility of building a railroad from Fort Wayne to Chicago had been discussed, a company formed, and a preliminary survey made. In an editorial in the Banner of April 7, 1853, the editor said :


"On the twenty-fifth day of May, 1853, the entire line will be put under contract (the Fort Wayne & Chicago route). Engineers will be here this evening. They are locating the road this time, and will pass on westward as fast as possible. An effort is being made to employ another corps of engineers. We hear rumors almost daily that it is uncertain whether the road will be built or not. It is unnecessary to spend much time in con- tradicting the many rumors gotten up by men who do not know anything about the matter."


The line was established on the completion of the third survey, and most of the contracts let at the time advertised. The same paper, on June 16, 1853, contained the following :


"The contractors are making arrangements as fast as possible to com- mence work upon their several contracts. Already shanties are being erected in many places along the line, and we are told by one of the directors that within one month from this time there will be at least 2,000 hands at work between Fort Wayne and Chicago."


The contract for building the Cincinnati, Peru & Chicago road was let to French, Tyner & Co., who agreed to make it a first-class road in every particular, with water stations and rolling stock complete, and have it completed by September 1, 1855. They failed, however, to complete


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


their contract by the time specified. A communication to the La Porte Times June 5, 1856, stated :


"Regular trains are now running in connection with the Logansport stage. The work on this road is pushed forward with energy, and before the Fourth of July we expect to hail our neighbors of Plymouth with a steam trumpet that will startle the natives."


The Plymouth Banner of June 26, 1856, said :


"The cars of the La Porte & Plymouth railroad will make their stop- pings in a few days at the depot grounds of the Fort Wayne railroad. The track from the present landing is but a few rods west of the town seminary, and is now nearly completed."


This, however, was after the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago railroad had been completed to the turntable at the northwest part of town. The date of its completion to that point was July 18, 1856, and the event was celebrated by a free excursion from La Porte to Plymouth, and by a "grand railroad ball" at the Edwards House in the evening. The first train that came to Plymouth over that road was an excursion train, on the eighteenth of July, 1856, and consisted of two sections. Nearly all the cars were box and flat cars. There were only three or four indifferent passen- ger coaches, in which only the female portion of the excursionists were permitted to ride. David Kendall was the chief conductor. He was assisted by Welcome Rice, who afterwards and until his death a few years ago was conductor on that road. It was a free ride for the La Porte people, and a large number, including railroad laborers, shop hands, etc., embraced the opportunity to visit Plymouth for the first time. The road was completed to the water tank and turntable, which stood in an old field about seventy- five rods east of where the curve in the road now is, half a mile or so northwest of the courthouse. There was no depot there then, and the excursionists were dumped out on the ground without ceremony.


A great many Plymouth people were at the end of the track when the train came in to escort the visitors downtown. The streets were crowded with people from town and surrounding country, and amid the rejoicing and general excitement of the occasion it was not long until several quarrels and knockdowns took place, which finally resulted in a general riot. The railroad laborers and shop hands openly boasted that they had come down to clean Plymouth out, and that they could whip the whole town. A number of sawmill men from south of the river bridge came to the rescue, among whom were Ben Klinger, Wm. Guy, Henry M. Logan, High Slade, John Aldrich, and perhaps others. Stacy Burden and a number of farmers from his neighborhood joined them, and from the recruits from town the Plymouth forces outnumbered the invading army two to one. The fight now became general, and Michigan street, from La Porte to Garro street, was crowded with an infuriated mob engaged in a regular fist fight. No stones, clubs or fire arms were used, but there were probably never so many black eyes and bruised faces according to the number engaged as there were in that fracas. W. W. Hill, the Plymouth bakery man, in attempting to "stay the slaughter and stop the effusion of blood," got the worst of it, and when the late Uncle Jake Klinger lifted him out of the gutter onto the sidewalk, he was more dead than alive.


The Plymouth boys finally succeeded in driving back the rioters, and


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when the lines reached Garro street, between where the postoffice and the state bank now is, they became thoroughly demoralized, took to their heels, and ran for the railroad train as fast as their legs could carry them. The train men, fearing serious trouble might result if they remained longer, blew the engine whistle, and it was not long until the "invading army" were on their way home. Several were severely hurt, and one La Porte man so badly injured that he died not long afterwards. His comrades believed that the man who inflicted the injury was William Guy, of Ply- mouth, and they succeeded in getting him to go to La Porte, where he was supposed to have been drugged and placed on the railroad track, where he was run over by the cars and killed. This was the end of the railroad celebration of the arrival of the first train of cars into Plymouth.


The citizens of Plymouth, however, celebrated the event in the evening by giving a "grand railroad hall," at the Edwards house, then the prin- cipal hotel in the town. A copy of the printed invitation is still in pos- session of the present writer. Underneath the heading: "Grand Railroad Ball," is the picture of a passenger train of cars, apparently running at the rate of forty miles an hour, but that was rather deceptive, as the passenger trains on that road for many years did not make more than ten or fifteen miles an hour. In fact, they were so slow that they were the subject of the butt of all the practical jokers along the line of the road. Hugh Rose, whom all the older people of Plymouth knew very well, was one of the passenger conductors. It was told of him that on one of his trips from La Porte to Plymouth, when near Tyner he came across a man hobbling along with one wooden leg. Rose, in the goodness of his heart, slowed up his train and asked him if he would not get on and ride. The cripple thanked him and told him he was much obliged, but as he was in a hurry he guessed he would walk on.


No more we sing as they sang of old, To the tones of the lute and lyre, For lo, we live in an iron age- In an age of steam and fire. The world is too busy for dreaming, And has grown too wise for war, So today, for the glory of science, We sing of the railroad ear.


Then came the following invitation :


"You are respectfully invited to attend, with your lady, the ball to be given at the Edwards Hotel in Plymouth on the evening of July 18, 1856. Managers: Tom Price, G. B. Roberts, Homer Allen, Samuel Burson, Wm. H. Salisbury, La Porte; W. L. Woods, La Fayette; C. French and Lot Day, South Bend; N. H. Oglesbee, L. C. Barber, M. Pomeroy, E. S. Elliott, John Smith and David Vinnedge, Plymouth." Every one of these men is dead, as is also, Wm. C. Edwards, proprietor of the hotel. The music was furnished by Hull & Arnold's band, of Niles, Michigan, and the function was one of the most important that had occurred in Plymouth up to that time.


The track was completed from the turn table to the Fort Wayne depot, and trains stopped there about September 1, 1856. This road was not com- pleted from Plymouth to Peru until some time in 1868.


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The original survey of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago railroad, located the line through the northern part of Plymouth. It will be noticed that the residence of Mr. O. G. Soice, on the east side of North Michigan street, stands zigzag with the points of the compass. It was built by Lorenzo Matteson, a house carpenter, about 1854-55, and many imagine that locating it in this odd way was the result of a cranky notion Mr. Matteson had to be different from his neighbors. But such was not the case. The railroad line had been laid out there, and grading had been done in front of the house and across the river near the residence of Henry Humrickhouser, and so on southeast beyond where the Pennsylvania road now is located, and being morally certain that the road would be built on that line was the reason Mr. Matteson built his house to correspond with the angle of the road. This line had been surveyed before the coming of the Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. When it was found that that road was to be built, the Peru road was changed and the present line estab- lished so as to intersect the Fort Wayne road at the present crossing, where it has ever since remained; so the line surveyed through the north end of town was abandoned, the grading smoothed down, leaving the Matte- son house standing "cater-angling" with the world, in which position it has remained ever since.


The Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad.


The report of Samuel Hanna, president of the Fort Wayne road, dated December 1, 1854, stated that it was the purpose of the company at that time to direct their efforts to the early completion of the division between Fort Wayne and Plymouth, to get a temporary connection with Chicago over the I. P. & C. road, which was completed to Plymouth at that time. The road to Plymouth was completed to Plymouth early in November, and the first train over it arrived in Plymouth November 11, 1856. It was a year or more before the road was completed to Chicago.


Several residents of Plymouth were connected, in one way or another, in perfecting the organization of the company and building the road. A. L. Wheeler was a member of the first board of directors and took an active part in its management until it was completed, when he resigned.


C. H. Reeve was attorney and solicitor for the company, and proved an efficient and energetic officer in perfecting its organization and in soliciting subscriptions to its capital stock, etc. J. B. N. and J. M. Klinger, G. H. Briggs, George Edwards and A. C. Thompson were connected with the engineer corps.


Charles E. Morse was the first station agent at Plymouth, and Daniel McDonald the first telegraph operator after an office was established here.


Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.


The Baltimore & Ohio railroad was completed through Marshall county in December, 1874. So rapidly and quietly was the work done that few of the people of the county were aware that it was being built. The roadbed lies across the north part of the county, about eight miles from Plymouth. There are three stations on its line in the county-Bremen, La Paz and Teegarden.


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Plymouth, Kankakee & Pacific Railroad Company.


This company was organized in 1869 for the purpose of building a railroad from Kankakee, in Illinois, to Plymouth, Indiana. James A. McGrew, of Illinois, was chosen president; Charles H. Reeve, of Plymouth, vice-president; John C. Cushman, secretary, and J. B. N. Klinger, chief engineer, the last three all of Plymouth. Center and West townships in Marshall county voted aid to this company to the amount of about $60,000, but the company failing to come up to their part of the contract, only a portion of the amount voted was paid. The line was about all graded, several bridges built and ties purchased, when the affairs of the company became financially embarrassed and were placed in the hands of a receiver for final settlement. Work on the road was then abandoned, and upon final settlement the company, having no assets, disbanded and work per- manently ceased. A new company a few years later was organized in Illinois, which secured the right of way of this road from Kankakee to Knox, Indiana, with all the work that had been done upon it. It is called the "Three I" road, its real name being the Iowa, Illinois & Indiana railroad. In place of coming to Plymouth from Knox the company built the road from Knox by way of Walkerton to South Bend. It has been completed and in operation more than a dozen years.


The Vandalia Railroad.


The Terre Haute & Logansport branch of the Vandalia railroad from Logansport to South Bend was completed to Plymouth in June, 1884. In 1883 a subsidy tax of $30,000 was voted in Center township by a vote of 648 in favor and 447 against, being a majority of 201 in favor of the tax. The Lake View club, at Maxinkuckee lake, composed of eight residents of Plymouth, gave the company the right of way through their grounds, which was of considerable value, as an inducement to build the road to Plymouth instead of by way of Walkerton to South Bend, as was threatened. At any rate the company got the subsidy, the road was built, and it has proved to be a good investment.




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