USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > Biographical and historical record of Vermillion County, Indiana : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; a condensed history of the state of Indiana; portraits and biographies of some of the prominent men of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Vermillion county, with personal histories of many of the leading families, and a concise history of the county and its villages > Part 10
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The firm was strong and popular, and soon commanded a large and lucrative practice. Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was added to the firm.
In the autumn election of 1881 he was elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of over 3,500-the largest majority ever given a candidate for mayor-and the Democratic city ticket was successful, although the Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 majority for their State ticket. Grover Cleveland's administration as mayor fully justified the confidence reposed in him by the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the great vote he received.
The Democratic State Convention met at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi. nated Grover Cleveland for Governor on the third ballot and Cleveland was elected by 192,000 majority. In the fall of 1884 he was elected President of the United States by about 1,000 popular majority, in New York State, and he was accordingly inaugurated the 4th of March following.
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
History of Indiana.
FORMER OCCUPANTS.
PREHISTORIC RACES.
CIENTISTS have as .. cribed to the Mound Builders varied origins, and though their diver- gence of opinion may for a time seem incompati- ble with a thorough in- vestigation of the subject, and tend to a confusion of ideas, no doubt whatever can exist as to the comparative accuracy of conclusions arrived at by some of them. That this continent is co-existent with the world of the ancients cannot be ques- tioned; the results of all scien- tific investigations, down to the present time, combine to establish the fact of the co-exist- ence of the two continents. Historians and learned men differ as to the origin of the first inhabitants of the New World; the general conclusions arrived at are, that the ancients came from the east by way of Behring's Strait, subsequent to the confusion of tongues and dispersion of the inhabitants at the time of the construction of the Tower of Babel, 1757 A. M. The ancient mounds and earth- works scattered over the entire continent tend 10
to confirm the theory that the Mound Build- ers were people who had been engaged in raising elevations prior to their advent upon this continent. They possessed religious orders corresponding, in external show, at least, with the Essenes or Theraputæ of the pre-Christian and Christian epochs, and to the reformed Theraputæ, or monks, of the present.
Every memento of their coming and their stay which has descended to us is an evidence of their civilized condition.
The free copper found within the tumuli, the open veins of the Superior and Iron Mountain copper mines, with all the imple- ments of ancient mining, such as ladders, levers, chisels and hammer-heads, discovered by the explorers of the Northwest and the Mississippi, are conclusive proofs that these prehistoric people were highly civilized, and that many flourishing colonies were spread throughout the Mississippi Valley.
Within the last few years great advances have been made toward the discovery of an- tiquities, whether pertaining to remains of organic or inorganic nature. Together with many small but telling relics of the early inhabitants of the country, the fossils of pre-
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
historic animals have been unearthed from end to end of this continent, many of which are remains of enormous animals long since extinct. Many writers who have devoted their lives to the investigation of the origin of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, and from whence they came, have fixed a period of a second immigration a few centu- ries prior to the Christian era, and, unlike the first expeditions, to have traversed North- eastern Asia to its Arctic confines, then east to Behiring's Strait, thus reaching the New World by the same route as the first immi. grants, and, after many years' residence in the North, pushed southward and commingled with and soon acquired the characteristics of the descendants of the first colonists.
The Esquimaux of North America, the Samoieds of Asia and the Laplanders of Eu- rope are supposed to be of the same family; and this supposition is strengthened by the affinity which exists in their languages. The researches of Humboldt have traced the Mex- icans to the vicinity of Behring's Strait; whence it is conjectured that they, as well as the Peruvians and other tribes, came origi- nally from Asia.
Since this theory is accepted by most anti- quarians, there is every reason to believe that from the discovery of what may be termed an overland route to what was then consid- ered an eastern extension of that country, that the immigration increased annually until the new continent became densely populated. The ruins of ancient cities discovered in Mex- ico and South America prove that this conti- nent was densely populated by a civilized peo- ple prior to the Indian or the Caucasian races.
The valley of the Mississippi, and indeed the country from the trap rocks of the Great Lakes southeast to the Gulf and southwest to Mexico, abound in monumental evidences of a race of people much further advanced
in civilization than the Montezunias of the sixteenth century.
The remains of walls and fortifications found in Ohio and Indiana, the carth-works of Vincennes and throughout the valley of the Wabash, the mounds scattered over the several Southern States, also in Illinois, Min- nesota and Wisconsin, are evidences of the advancement of the people of that day toward a comparative knowledge of man and cosmol -. ogy. At the month of Fourteen-mile Creek, in Clark County, Indiana, there stands one of these old monuments, known as the "Stone Fort." It is an unmistakable heir-loom of a great and ancient people, and must have formed one of their most important posts.
In Posey County, on the Wabash, ten miles from its junction with the Ohio River, is another remarkable evidence of the great numbers once inhabiting that country. This is known as the "Bone Bank," on account of the human bones continually washed out from the river bank. This process of unearthing the ancient remains has been going on since the remembrance of the earliest white settler, and various relics of artistic wares are found in that portion of Indiana. Another great circular earth-work is found near New Wash- ington, and a stone fort near the village of Deputy.
Vigo, Jasper, Sullivan, Switzerland and Ohio counties can boast of a liberal endow- ment of works of antiquity, and the entire State of Indiana abonnds with numerous rel- ics of the handiwork of the extinct race. Many of the ancient and curionsly devised implements and wares are to be seen in the State Museum at Indianapolis.
The origin of the red men, or American Indians, is a subject which interests all read- ers. It is a favorite with the ethnologist, even as it is one of deep concern to the ordi- nary reader.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
The difference of opinion concerning our aboriginals, among authors who have made a profound study of races, is both curions and interesting.
Blumenbach treats them as a distinct vari- ety of the human family. Dr. Latham ranks them among the Mongolida. Morton, Nott and Glidden claim for the red men a distinct origin.
Dr. Robert Brown, our latest authority, gives them as of Asiatic origin, which is cer- tainly well sustained by all evidence which has thus far been discovered bearing upon the question.
Differences arising among communities produced dissensions, which tended to form factions and tribes, which culminated in wars and gradual descent from a state of civiliza- tion to that of barbarismn.
The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction. The male children, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and strength, were furnished with a bow and arrow, and taught to shoot birds and other small game.
Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each individual, notwith- standing the fiery passions that rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast in bronze. Laws governing their councils were as strictly enforced and observed as are those of similar bodies among modern civil- ized and enlightened races.
The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest and rudest character.
The dwellings of the chiefs were some- times more spacious, and constructed with greater care, but of the same materials, which were generally the barks of trees.
Thongh principally depending on hunting
for food, they also cultivated sinall patches of corn, the labor being performed by the women, their condition being little better than slaves.
EXPLORATIONS BY THE WIIITES.
The State of Indiana is bounded on the east by the meridian line which forms also the western boundary of Ohio, extending due north from the month of the Great Miami River; on the south by the Ohio River, from the mouth of the Great Miami to the month of the Wabash; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash River from its mouth to a point where a due north line from the town of Vincennes would last touch the shore of said river, and thence directly north to Lake Michigan; and on the north by said lake and an east and west line ten miles north of the extreme south end of the lake, and extending to its intersection with the aforesaid meridian, the west boundary of Ohio. These boundaries include an area of 33,809 square miles, lying between 37° 47' and 41° 50' north latitude, and between 7º 45' and 11° 1' west longitude from Wach- ington.
After the discovery of America by Colum- bus, in 1492, more than 150 years passed before any portion of the territory now com- prised within the above limits was explored by Europeans. Colonies were established by rival European powers in Florida, Virginia and Nova Scotia, but not nntil 1670-'72 did the first white travelers venture as far into the Northwest as Indiana or Lake Michigan.
These explorers were Frenchmen by the names of Claude Allonez and Claude Dablon, who probably visited that portion of the State north of the Kankakee River. In the fol- lowing year M. Joliet, an agent of the French Colonial Government, accompanied by James Marquette, a Catholic missionary, made an exploring trip as far westward as the Missis
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sippi, the banks of which they reached June 17, 1673.
In 1682 La Salle explored the West, but it is not known that he entered the region now embraced within the State of Indiana. He took formal possession of all the Missis- sippi region in the name of Louis, King of France, and called the country Louisiana, which included what is now the State of Indiana. At the same time Spain claimed all the country in the region of the Gulf of Mexico, thus the two countries became com- petitors for the extension of domain, and soon caused the several Indian tribes (who were actually in possession of the country) to take sides, and a continual state of warfare was the result. The Great Miami Confed- eracy of Indians, the Miamis proper (an- ciently the Twightwees), being the eastern and most powerful tribe, their country ex- tended from the Scioto River west to the Illinois River. These Indians were frequently visited by fur traders and missionaries from both Catholic and Protestant creeds. The Five Nations, so called, were tribes farther east, and not connected with Indiana history.
The first settlement made by the white man in the territory of the present State of Indiana was on the bank of the river then known as the Ouabache, the name given it by the French explorers, now the river Wabash. Francis Morgan de Vinsenne, who served in a military regiment (French) in Canada as early as 1720, and on the lakes in 1725, first made Ins advent at Vincennes, possibly as early as 1732. Records show him there January 5, 1735 Ile was killed in a war with the Chickasaw Indians in 1736. The town which he founded bore his name, Vinsenne, until 1749, when it was changed to Vincennes.
Post Vincennes was certainly occupied prior to the date given by Vinsenne, as a
letter from Father Marest, dated at Kas- kaskia, November 9, 1712, reads as follows: " The French have established a fort upon the river Wabash, and want a missionary, and Father Mermet has been sent to them." Mer- met was therefore the first preacher of Chris- tianity stationed in this part of the world. Vincennes has ever been a stronghold of Catholicism. Contemporaneous with the church at Vincennes was a missionary work among the Oniatenons, near the mouth of the Wea River, which was of but short duration.
NATIONAL POLICIES.
The wars in which France and England were engaged, from 1680 to 1697, retarded the growth of the colonies of those nations in North America. The English, jealous of the French, resorted to all available means to extend their domain westward, the French equally active in pressing their claims east- ward and south. Both sides succeeded in securing savage allies, and for many years the pioneer settlers were harrassed and cruelly murdered by the Indians who were serving the purposes of one or the other contending nations.
France continued her effort to connect Canada with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading-posts and colonies, which increased the jealousy of England and laid the founda- tion for the French and Indian war.
This war was terminated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi except New Orleans and the island on which it is situated.
The British policy, after getting entire control of the Indiana territory, was still unfavorable to its growth in population. In 1765 the total number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern Terri-
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tory did not exceed 600. These were in settlements about Detroit, along the river Wabash, and the neighborhood of Fort Char- tres on the Mississippi.
Of these families, eighty-five resided at Post Vincennes, fourteen at Fort Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and ten at the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers.
The colonial policy of the British Govern- ment opposed any measures which might strengthen settlements in the interior of this country, lest they become self-supporting and independent of the mother country.
Thomas Jefferson, the shrewd statesman and then Governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and Indians.
He accordingly engaged a scientific corps, and sent them to the Mississippi to ascertain the point on that river intersected by latitude 36° 30', the southern limit of the State, and to measure its distance to the Olio. He entrusted the military operations in that quarter to General Clark, with instructions to select a strong position near the point named, and erect a fort, and garrison the same, for protecting the settlers, and to extend his conquests northward to the lakes. Conform- ing to instructions, General Clark erected " Fort Jefferson," on the Mississippi, a few miles above the southern limit.
The result of these operations was the addition to Virginia of the vast Northwestern Territory. The simple fact that a chain of forts was established by the Americans in this vast region, convinced the British Com- missioners that we had entitled ourselves to the land.
During this time other minor events were transpiring outside the territory in question, which subsequently promoted the early set- tling of portions of Indiana.
On February 11, 1781, a wagoner named Irvin Hinton was sent from Louisville, Ken- tucky, to Harrodsburg for a load of provi- sions.
Two young men, Richard Rue and George Holman, aged respectively nineteen and six- teen years, accompanied Hinton as guards. When eight miles from Louisville they were surprised and captured by the renegade white man, Simon Girty, and twelve Indian war- riors. They were marched hurriedly for three days through deep snow, when they reached the Indian village of Wa-proc-ca- nat-ta. Hinton was burned at the stake. Rne and Holman were adopted in the tribe, and remained three years, when Rue made his escape, and Holman, about the same time, was ransomed by relatives in Kentucky. The two men were the first white men to settle in Wayne County, Indiana, where they lived to a good old age, and died at their homes two miles south of Richmond.
EXPEDITIONS COLONEL GEORGE ROGERS
CLARK.
In the spring of 1776 Colonel George Rogers Clark, a native of Virginia, who resided in Kentucky at the above date, con- ceived a plan of opening up and more rapidly settling the great Northwest. That portion of the West called Kentucky was occupied by Henderson & Co., who pretended to own the land, and held it at a high price. Colonel Clark wished to test the validity of their claim, and adjust the government of the country so as to encourage immigration. He accordingly called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, and consider the claims of the company, and consult with reference to the interest of the country.
The meeting was held on the day ap- pointed, and delegates elected to confer with
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
the State of Virginia as to the propriety of attaching the new country as a county to that State.
Many causes prevented a consummation of this object until 1778. Virginia was favorable to the enterprise, but would not take action as a State; bnt Governor IIenry and a few other Virginia gentlemen assisted Colonel Clark all they could. Accordingly Clark organized his expedition. IIe took in stores at Pittsburg and Wheeling, and pro- ceeded down the Ohio to the " falls," where he constructed some light fortifications.
At this time Post Vincennes comprised about 400 militia, and it was a daring under- taking for Colonel Clark, with his small force, to go up against it and Kaskaskia, as he had planned. Some of his men, becoming alarmed at the situation, deserted him.
He conducted himself so as to gain the sympathy of the French, and through them the Indians to some extent, as both these people were very bitter against the British, who had possession of the lake region.
From the nature of the situation Clark concluded to take Kaskaskia first, which he did, and succeeded by kindness in winning them to his standard. It was difficult, how- ever, for him to induce the French to accept the Continental paper in payment for provi- sions. Colonel Vigo, a Frenchman who had a trading establishment there, came to the rescue, and prevailed upon the people to ac- cept the paper. Colonel Vigo sold coffee at $1 a pound, and other necessaries of life at an equally reasonable price.
The post at Vincennes, defended by Fort Sackville, was the next and all-important position to possess. Father Gibault, of Kas- kaskia, who also had charge of the church at Vincennes, being friendly to the Amer- icans, used his influence with the people of the garrison, and won them to Clark's stand-
ard. They took the oath of allegiance to Virginia, and became citizens of the United States. Colonel Clark here concluded treaties with the several Indian tribes, and placed Captain Leonard Helm, an American, in command of Vincennes. On learning the successful termination of Clark's expedition, the General Assembly of Virginia declared all the settlers west of the Ohio organized into a county of that State, to be known as " Illinois " County; but before the provisions of the law could be made effective, Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit, collected an army of thirty regu- lars, fifty French volunteers and 400 Indians, and moved upon and took Post Vincennes in December, 1778. Captain Helm and a man named Henry were the only Americans at the fort, the only members of the garrison. Captain Helm was taken prisoner, and the French disarmed.
Colonel Clark was at Kaskaskia when he learned of the capture of Vincennes, and de- termined to retake the place. He gathered together what force he could (170 men), and on the 5th of February started from Kas- kaskia, and crossed the river of that name. The weather was wet, and the lowlands cov- ered with water. IIe had to resort to shoot- ing such game as chanced to be found to furnish provisions, and use all the ingenuity and skill le possessed to nerve his little force to press forward. He waded the water and shared all the hardships and privations with his men. They reached the Little Wabash on the 13th. The river was overflowing the lowlands from recent rains. Two days were here consumed in crossing the stream. The succeeding days they marched through water much of the time, reaching the Big Wabash on the night of the 17th. The 18th and 19th were consumed trying to cross the river. Finally canoes were constructed, and the
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HISTORY OF İNDİANA.
entire force crossed the main stream, but to find the lowlands under water and consider- able ice formed from recent cold. His men mutinied and refused to proceed. All the persuasions of Clark had no effect upon the half-starved, and half-frozen, soldiers.
In one company was a small drummer boy, and also a Sergeant who stood six feet two inches in soeks, and stout and athletic. He was devoted to Clark. The General mounted the little drummer on the shoulders of the Sergeant, and ordered him to plunge into the water, half-frozen as it was. He did so, the little boy beating the charge from his lofty position, while Clark, sword in hand, fol- lowed them, giving the command as he threw aside the floating ice, " Forward." The effect was electrical; the men hoisted their guns above their heads, and plunged into the water and followed their determined leader. On arriving within two miles of the fort, General Clark halted his little band, and sent in a letter demanding a surrender, to which he received no reply. He next ordered Lieu- tenant Bayley with fourteen men to advance and fire on the fort, while the main body moved in another direction and took posses- sion of the strongest portion of the town. Clark then demanded Hamilton's surrender immediately or he would be treated as a murderer. Hamilton made reply, indignantly refusing to surrender. After one hour more of fighting, Hamilton proposed a trnce of three days. Clark's reply was, that nothing would be accepted but an unconditional sur- render of Hamilton and the garrison. In less than an hour Clark dictated the terms of surrender, February 24, 1779.
Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, as well as of the skill and bravery of those engaged in it, a volume would not suffice for the details.
This expedition and its gigantic results
has never been surpassed, if equalled, in modern times, when we consider that by it the whole territory now included in the three great States of Indiana, Illinois and Mieliigan was added to the Union, and so admitted by the British Commissioners to the treaty of peace in 1783. But for the results of this expedition, our western bound- ary would have been the Ohio instead of the Mississippi. When we consider the vast area of territory embracing 2,000,000 people, the human mind is lost in the contemplation of its effects; and we can but wonder that a force of 170 men, the whole number of Clark's troops, should by this single action have pro- duced sneh important results.
General Clark reinstated Captain Helm in command of Vincennes, with instructions to subdue the marauding Indians, which he did, and soon comparative quiet was restored on Indiana soil.
The whole credit of this conquest belongs to General Clark and Colonel Francis Vigo. The latter was a Sardinian by birth. He served for a time in the Spanish army, but left the army and engaged in trading with the Indians, and attained to great popularity and influence among them, as well as making considerable money. IIe devoted his time, influence and means in aid of the Clark expedition and the cause of the United States.
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST.
Colonel John Todd, Lieutenant for the County of Illinois, visited Vincennes and Kaskaskia in the spring of 1779, and organ- ized temporary eivil government. He also proceeded to adjust the disputed land elaim. With this view he organized a court of civil and criminal jurisdiction at Vincennes. This court was composed of several magistrates, and presided over by Colonel J. M. P. Legras, who was then commander of the post.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
This court, from precedent, began to grant lands to the French and American inhabitants. Forty-eight thousand acres had been disposed of in this manner up to 1787, when the prac- tice was prohibited by General Harmar.
In the fall of 1780 La Balma, a French- man, made an attempt to capture the British garrison of Detroit by leading an expedition against it from Kaskaskia.
He marched with his small force to the British trading-post at the head of the Mau- inee, where Fort Wayne now stands, plun- dered the British traders and Indians, and retired. While in camp on his retreat, he was attacked by a band of Miamis; a number of his men were killed, and the expedition was ruined. In this manner war continued between the Americans and their enemies until 1783, when the treaty of Paris was concluded, resulting in the establishment of the independence of the United States.
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