USA > Indiana > An illustrated history of the state of Indiana: being a full and authentic civil and political history of the state from its first exploration down to 1879 > Part 29
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Crawfordsville is the county seat, and the principal business center of the county. It is an enterprising city of over four thousand inhabitants, many of whom may be ranked among
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY - EARLY HISTORY.
the most enterprising citizens of the State. The city has three railroads, giving six different directions of railroad trans- portation. These roads have constructed a very fine Union Depot at the junction, about one mile from the city.
Crawfordsville is taking great pride in her streets, expend- ing considerable means in grading and paving them. They are very broad, and are bordered on either side with beautiful shade trees, which lend an enchanting scene to the place. Good turnpike roads lead from the city in almost every direction.
The medical, or mineral springs, just northwest of the town, promise to become no inconsiderable attraction to this city, and seem to add another assurance that the future of Crawfordsville will partake largely of a resort for summer recreation and literary pursuits. These springs are already enclosed in light and airy summer houses, and the gentlemen wlio liave control of them contemplate erecting a five story hotel just north of the springs. The waters of these springs are said to contain ingredients of great medical importance.
The material resources of Crawfordsville for manufacturing purposes are equal to those of any town in the State of its size. There is an abundance of good timber, coal, iron ore, limestone and sand, and brown stonc.
In educational and religious enterprises, Crawfordsville is not behind any other point in Indiana. She has nine churches, most of which are constructed in an attractive and substantial style. The public schools are well conducted in one of the finest school buildings in the State, having been erected at a cost of over sixty thousand dollars.
Wabash College is the pride of the city, and is one of the finest educational institutions in the West. It is located just west of the city limits, "in a campus containing thirty-three acres, shaded with beautiful native forest trees, affording to the students a healthful atmosphere, as well as abundant space for drill and field sports." There are four buildings, viz .: Central Hall, the Academy, the Dormitory, and the Polytech- nic Building, all of which are tastefully appointed and well equipped with all modern appliances.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
This college was founded in 1832-3, and in the latter year the institution was opened with only twelve students. Through a long and tedious effort, however, it has reached a firin financial footing.
CHAPTER L.
VIGO COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
T THE first settlement made in Vigo county was around Fort Harrison. The march of Harrison's army to the Upper Wabash, the battle of Tippecanoe and the establishment of Fort Harrison, seemed to impress the people of the West with the importance of this region of country, and soon after the close of the war of 1812, public attention was drawn toward it. The Indians of the Wabash, who had been mainly hostile during the war, were far from being reconciled to peace, and the sur- veys of the land in that section were not only opposed by them, but frequently interrupted; and in the spring of 1815 a company of Rangers, on Busseron creek, were defeated and dispersed by Indians, and a number of children taken prisoners, who were never recovered.
At the close of the war, in 1814, an act was passed by Con- gress granting lands to certain Canadian volunteers, who had been citizens of the United States, but who had during the war joined our forces, and whose property in Canada had been confiscated in consequence. This act permitted these lands to be located in the Land District which included Vigo county, even before the public sale. The sale was announced to take place in June, 1816, and in anticipation of this many settlers, in the carly spring of that year, had resorted hither and selected favorite spots, with the intention of purchasing at the sale, and several had erected log houses thereon; but previous to
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VIGO COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
the sale, their lands so selected, together with a large propor- tion of the most valuable of the county, were located by the claims referred to. This so disheartened and discouraged the carly settlers that many left and located on the castern border of the Great Prairie, in Illinois. This, together with the unconcilatory bearing of many of the prominent Canadian set- tlers, engendered hostile feeling, which, for years, it seemed impossible to allay, and which tended greatly to retard the settlement of the country.
In 1815, Fort Harrison * was garrisoned by a rifle regiment under the command of Major W. Morgan. In this year he rebuilt the fort. In the following year this regiment was ordered west, and the garrison succeeded by a company from Fort Knox, under command of Major John T. Chunn, who had command of the fort up to the summer of 1817, when he was ordered to Detroit and the post finally abandoned as a military fortification.
The carly settlers at the fort, in 1815, were Isaac Lambort, John Dickson, Joseph Dickson and John Ilandy. These then were the only reputed settlers north of Turman's creek, or Fort Turman, as it was then called. The Indian traders at the fort in 1815, were John A. LaFonde, John Rolland, A. Dash- ney and Pierro Laplant. Mitchell Bronillet was the Indian. agent and also the interpreter.
The carly settlers around Fort Harrison prairie, were Mr. Lanc, at Strawberry Hill; R. Blackman, Thos. Packet, and: some others, at the ravine near Hiram Smith's place; a Mr. Austin, on the hill now occupied by Joseph Gilbert; John M. Coleman, at the Early Grove; Capt. Jolin Hamilton, at the old Dawson place; Peter Allen, two miles cast of the fort; Maj. Markle, at the mill; Truman Blackman, also cast of the fort; Caleb Crawford, Robert Graham and Solomon Taver- baugh, at Otter creek; Alexander Chamberlin and Elisha U. Brown, on the bluff north of the Hovey Creek Locks; Isaac' Lambert, John Dickson, George Clem, Moses Hoggatt, Robert
*AAn account of the erection of Fort Harrison is given in the first part of this work.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Hopkins, William Walker, and others, on Hovey creek, and Ezra Jones, at the Wallace farm.
In the fall of 1816 the town of Terre Haute was laid out, and the first sale of lots took place on the thirty-first of October, of that year, and its settlement commenced immedi- ately thereafter. Dr. Charles B. Modesitt, who had lately come on from Virginia, and who then resided near the fort, was perhaps the first to settle at Terre Ilante. He built a log cabin on the alley, on lot No. 257, at the month of Ohio street. Soon thereafter followed Lewis Hodge, Robert S. McCabe, John Bailey, Adam Weaver, Nicholas Yeager, Samuel Mc- Quilkin, Henry Redford, John Harris, Malcom McFadden, Wm. Haynes, Richard Jaques, Robert Brasher, Nathan Kirk, Robert Kerr, Gideon Sleeper, Ichabod Wood, John Britton and Lucius II. Scott, and in 1818, came Dr. E. Aspinwall, Dr. Davenport, Lewis B. Lawrence, Demas Dening and Chauncy Rose, who had the year previous been at the fort. These per- sons, with but two exceptions, have finished their labors and gone to rest.
The second sale of lots took place in May, 1818. It was made by the county, of lots donated by the original proprie- tors, on account of the seat of justice being established there. The sale was, in all respects, a good success, but from this period the value of lots began to decline, and in 1821, when a final sale of the company's property took place, it had declined more than fifty per cent., and had severely affected those who had made large purchases.
In 1820, the river became remarkably low, the wells were all dried up, and general sickness prevailed, and not a family escaped. Many deaths occurred, taking off some of the most prominent citizens, including Dr. Aspinwall, Dr. Davenport, Lewis B. Lawrence, Samuel Hill, a Miss Collett, and Mrs. Hussey. This seemed to strike a fatal blow to the health of Terre Haute, which was felt for years, and from which it did not fulley recover until after the draining of Lost ereck, in 1837. This creck, previous to being drained, had washed down the prairie east and south of the city, creating an immense
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VIGO COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
morass of several hundred acres, without any outlet except by absorption and evaporation.
As already mentioned, nearly all of the first settlers of Vigo county have passed away. The first white male child born in the county was William Earl, who became a successful navi- gator in foreign seas. Ile was born in Terre Haute, September 22, 1818. The first female child born here was Mary Mel'ad- den, now Widow Markle, of Terre Haute.
Vigo county was organized in 1818, and the first county officers were: Curtis Gilbert, clerk and recorder; Truman Blackman, sheriff; Alexander Barnes, coroner; Moses Ilag- gett and James Barnes, associate judges; John Hamilton, Isaac Lambert and Ezra Jones, county commissioners.
The first session of the circuit court held in the county, was commenced April twenty-seventh, 1818, and was conducted by the associate judges, at the house of Truman Blackman. The county was then attached to the first judicial circuit. The first attorneys were George R. C. Sullivan, Samuel Whit- tlesey, Jonathan Doty, and Wm. P. Bennett. The regular term of court in 1819 was held at the house of Richard Redford, in Terre Haute, by IIon. Thomas HI. Blake, presiding judge.
The first court house was erected on the public square in Terre Haute, in 1821-2. It was built for the county by Mr. John Brocklebank. In 1868, becoming unfit for use, it was torn down. The present building occupied by the county offices, was erected in 1866. The following persons have been judges of the circuit court of Vigo county since its organiza- tion, in the order named: Thomas II. Blake, Gen. W. John- son, John R. Potter, David McDonald, John Law, Elisha HI. Huntington, Amory Kinney, Delancy R. Eckels, Wm. P. Bry- ant, James Hughes, Solomon Claypool, R. W. Thompson, and C. Y. Patterson.
The old judicial system required associate judges to set in the circuit courts, and also probate judges, without separate jurisdiction; but in 1851 the system was changed by a revis- ion of the constitution of the State into circuit courts and courts of common pleas. This system continued until 1872, when the legislature dispensed with the courts of common
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
pleas, since which time all business has been done by the circuit courts.
THE CITY OF TERRE HAUTE, one of the largest and most flourishing business centres in the State, is beautifully situ- ated, and, with the possible exception of Evansville, is the handsomest city in Indiana. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Wabash river, and is, of course, the county seat of Vigo county. It derived its name (which signifies high land), from the site on which it is located, being elevated about fifty feet above the level of the river, on a rolling table land, which extends back to the adjoining prairie. Terre Haute is admirably laid ont, and has quite a metropolitan appearance. Many of the business houses are among the largest in the State, and the principal thoroughfares will com- pare favorably with those of any city in the west.
The town of Terre Haute was laid ont in 1816, by a com- pany styled the Terre Haute Company. The company con- sisted of Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, of Louisville, Kentucky; Abraham Markle, of Fort Harrison ; Hyacinth LaSalle, of Vin- cennes; and Jonathan Lindley, of Orange county, Indiana. The articles of association of the company bear date of September nineteenth, 1816. The company held patents from the United States to lands described in their articles as "thirteen tracts of land on the river Wabash, in the vicinity of Fort Harrison." These lands were divided into twelve shares, of which Lindley had four, Markle three, LaSalle three, and the Bullitts two. They were the original proprietors, from whom the first title to lots were derived.
The original site selected for the town was a spot some three miles below the present location, but it was soon aband- oned for the more desirable situation now occupied. One of the principal objects, however, in moving was that the national road crossed the Wabash at the latter point. In 1817, this town presented a truly pioneer appearance. There were only a few log cabins, situated along the river, and these were of the rudest style of architecture. But in 1818, when the town was made the county seat, there was a new life diffused among the somewhat dull inhabitants, and the village settlement im-
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VIGO COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
proved. The company referred to, that laid out the town, deeded to the county eighty lots, besides the public square, and paid into the county treasurer four thousand dollars in cash and mortgage bonds. These liberal inducements secured the location of the county scat at Terre Haute. The spirit of liberality, as well as the location of the county seat at Terro Haute, was instrumental in creating a new feeling of enter. prisc.
The first settlers of Terre Haute were Dr. C. B. Modesitt, Lewis Hodge, Henry Reedford, Robert Carr, John Earle, Abner Scott, Ezekiel Buxton, and William Ramage. These pioneers settled in 1816, and built the first cabins in the town. The settlement grew very slow, at first, from the causes noted in the previous chapter; but, in 1823-4, it took a new start, and has prospered until the present.
Terre Haute was incorporated as a town in 1832. The town was divided into five wards, and one trustee elected from each. These trustees elected the first municipal officers of the town as follows : James B. McCall, president; James T. Moffat, clerk; Charles B. Taylor, assessor; Samuel Crawford, treas- urer; William Mars, constable and collector.
In 1838, a new charter was granted to the town by the Legislature, which provided for the election of a mayor and ten councilinen. This charter was adopted by the inhabitants in March, 1838, and, in the May following, an election was held, which resulted in the election of Elijalı Tillotson as the first mayor of the town.
In 1853, Terre Haute was incorporated as a city under the general laws of the State, and the first city election was held in May, 1853, at which William K. Edwards was chosen the first mayor.
PRESENT CONDITION .- A popular city directory, of recent date, gives the population of Terre Haute at 28,000. This is, probably, a little too high. It is about 23,500, or, perhaps, 24,000. The census of 1870 places it at a little more than 16,000 at that date. The growth since then, however, has been marvelous. No city in Indiana has made greater progress in all material interests. Only ten years ago Terre Haute was
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
but an agricultural town, " and had," says a recent writer, " reached about the height in population and business usually attained by towns whose chief dependence is on the farming interests immediately around them; but, by a system of ex- pansion through railroads, manufacturing interests, and whole- sale business, the area of its influence and resources has been greatly extended, so that now Terre Haute draws its sustenance and wealthı from a wide extent of country, and from many cities connceted with it by its numerous railroads. As the country itself is inexhaustible, and the channels of trade and communication are already fixed, like the veins and arteries which circulate the blood through the human system, we may expect no premature decay or death of a city which has become the vital center of so extensive a commercial and business system." The business interests of the city are increasing every year. Some of the largest wholesale houses are located there. The manufacturing interest of the city is represented by blast furnaces, with a capacity of fifty tons of iron daily; nail works, 3,000 kegs, weekly; water works, 3,000,000 gallons, daily ; a successful rolling mill, and other very extensive establishments. Terre Haute is fast becoming one of the leading manufacturing cities of the west.
The schools and churches of Terre Haute, and, indeed, the whole of Vigo county, are in a high and efficient condition. In the various professions are found men of superior talent and education, under whose care the schools and churches have attained the highest degree of usefulness.
The State Normal School is located there. The building is one of the finest in the United States, having a capacity of accommodating over a thousand pupils. This institution has already achieved a national good name, and is fast becoming the pride of Indiana.
Another educational institution is now being established in Terre Haute, which has already elicited the attention of the philanthropic citizens of half the world. We refer to the " Terre Haute School of Industrial Sciences," in support of which the Hon. Chauncey Rose is devoting his immense for- tunc. In short, Terre Haute lacks none of those higher phases
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KNOX COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
of material and intellectual enterprise that characterize the modern American city, while, on the other hand, it excels in many of them.
CHAPTER LI.
KNOX COUNTY -HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
TN a view of Knox county, historically, our attention must at once centre round Vincennes, one of the oldest -and possibly the oldest -settlements in the State of Indiana. This city -once a French trading post and military station-is situated on the ea'st bank of the Wabash river, about one hundred and ten miles southwest of Indianapolis, and, of course, is the county scat of Knox county. It was on this spot where a French Jesuit missionary from Canada, or New France, said mass before astonished savages in the year 1702 .* This act may be regarded as the very beginning of French civilization in Indiana, for, although missionaries had been in the habit of visiting the territory during the fifteen years pre- ceding, and notwithstanding Robert de La Salle passed through it on the old Wabash and Maumce route, erecting some tein- porary stockades in 1680, there was no permanent mission established within the limits of Indiana until 1702. This was one year after the establishment of Detroit by La Motte Ca- dillic; and the French records show that this missionary came from that post, or from some point in Michigan. Three years later, or in 1705, the date at which the French fort at the con- fluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph rivers, where the city of Fort Wayne now stands, was erected, a French trading post and stockade were established at Vincennes.+ Thus it will be
* Quebec Annals.
t Quebec Records.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
scen that Fort Wayne and Vincennes stand on an equal foot- ing in the important point of antiquity. The first fort, or more properly stockade, was established at both places in the same year, and it is said by the same man.
There was. not, however, any considerable settlement around Post Vincennes until 1745. In the latter year quite a number of traders were found there, who, under the protection of the slight garrison, conducted a profitable commerce with the Indians, -rum and tobacco being the chief articles of mer- chandise on the one side, and peltries on the other.
There is no anthentic record of the affairs at Vincennes from its first settlement down to 1749-a period of about forty years-outside of the government records at Quebec. From the latter date, however, a very complete record has been preser ved by the Catholics of the place.
While Vincennes may be regarded as one of the first settle- ments in Indiana, Knox county must be looked upon as the oldest county. As Virginia has been called the mother of States, so may Knox county be called the mother of Indiana counties. Its organization dates back to a period anterior to the territorial government, and finds a place among the earliest acts of the government formed for the territory northwest of the Ohio river. Its original boundaries extended from the Ohio river on the south to the lakes on the north, and from the Wabash river on the west eastwardly to a line bisecting the State cast and west. Its original arca embraced one-third the territory of the entire State, and from it have been carved, from time to time, thirty of the richest and most prosperous counties of the State.
The site of the present city of Vincennes was for a long time only a trading post, and improved but slowly in wealth and population, as the traders were generally transient parties, permanently investing the means elsewhere acquired at this point. The organization of the territorial government and the location of its capital at Vincennes, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, added greatly, for a time, to its prosperity, and from that time down to a period as late as IS18 it promised to become one of the great centres of trade and
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KNOX COUNTY - HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
wealth and population in the Northwest. But the removal of the territorial capital to Corydon, prematurely and unexpeet- edly, was a fatal blow, for the time, to its progress. Although it lost the stimulating impetus of political favor and the expenditure of public money -- the creative powers of trade and commerce of late years - from its own intrinsic resources it has more than met the hopes of its people, and fully demon- strated the sagacity of the early French, who years ago visited its site in the then wilderness, and with prophetic vision marked it as a future seat of empire, wealth and power.
Although the name of Vincennes is a household word throughout the State, and even the whole land, and in a his- torical sense it is an old place, yet the present city of Vin- cennes is but the child of yesterday, and is just springing into vigorous and active life. The mud-thatched hut and the two- wheeled cart of the carly settlers, both constructed without the use of any metal implement whatever, have entirely dis- appeared within a very few years before the advancing wave of civilized progress, and the material appearance of Vin- cennes to-day will compare with that of any city in the State. The old-time business houses have all given place to fine business blocks, three and four stories high, of brick and stone, and of improved architecture. And only a few old-time resi- dences remain as landmarks, as it were, to remind us of the days of yore. The private residences of the citizens are among the finest in the State. Among them we may mention the splendid and costly mansions of Dr. Robb, Captain Ross and Mr. Pollock, built of wood, in a magnificent style, and those of Messrs. Mckinney, Bayard and Wise, of brick and stone. The residence of General William II. Harrison, the first Governor of the territory, is still standing, and is one of the most substantial buildings in the State. It is built of brick, and was constructed in 1804, and its walls and inside finish are as good and perfect in all respects as when first put up.
The public buildings of Vincennes are numerous, and some of them are fine specimens of architecture. Among them may be mentioned the city hall, a substantial brick building,
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
two stories high, erected in the centre of the city square, in the heart of the business portion of the city, containing rooms for the mayor's office, city clerk, engineer, and treasurer, and a hall for the meetings of the common council. The Knox county court-house, creeted on the square owned by the county, and being the most elevated site in the city, is one of the finest buildings in the West, and, excepting the one at Indianapolis, the grandest, finest and costliest structure of the kind in the State. It was built after designs and plans furnished by Edwin May, architect, and Frank L. Farman, builder, and, unlike most other public buildings, its finished appearance surpasses the best representation that can be given of it on paper. It is built of a beautiful light-colored and durable limestone. It has a front of ninety-three feet on Seventh street, and extends back between Broadway and Busseron street one hundred and thirty-one feet. It is three stories high, and cach corner is ornamented with a tower of beautiful proportion and design, cach differing from the other. The tower on the west corner is the principal one, and is one hundred and forty-eight feet high, and has a clock with a dial fronting each point of the compass, and a large bell, of eighteen hundred pounds, of a fine and musical tone. The outside face of the walls are beautifully and elaborately carved, and ornamented with marble statues, in appropriate niches, representing the celebrated General George Rogers Clark,* the Goddess of Liberty, and a Federal soldier, and also two large monumental tablets of marble on the Seventh street front.
The building is furnished in the finest style throughont. It was commenced in the spring of 1872, and completed in the spring of 1875, and cost over $275,000.
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