USA > Indiana > Washington County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Harrison County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Crawford County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Clark County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Scott County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Floyd County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Jennings County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Jefferson County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 12
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council of New Albany, and labored steadily in that capacity for the im- provement of the finances of the city. In 1850 he was elected to the Legis- lature from Floyd county by an un- usual majority. He served in the capacity of Representative but a single session; but it is conclusive evidence of the reputation he had al- ready acquired for talent and effi- ciency that, young as he was, and new member as he was, he was placed at the head of the Committee on Ways and Means and assigned the leadership of the Democratic party in the House. In 1852 he was nom- inated by the Democratic party of Indiana for Lieutenant-Governor, and was elected. He filled this office until 1856, when he was called by the suffrages of the people of the State, after a most desperate politi- cal contest, to the executive chair, the highest office in their gift. He was inaugurated Governor of Indiana, January 10, 1857. And here, let the reader pause a moment to observe the spectacle presented. A young man, who eleven years before had entered upon his career of life in In- diana poor and friendless, had by his own persistent efforts, without aid from accidents of fortune, risen with an unfaltering step through a gradation of honorable and responsible offices, till at the age of thirty-six he ascend- ed to the highest position in the gov- ernment of a State composed of over a million of people. But few paral- lel cases can be found.
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
In 1860 his strength failed him. He went to Minnesota in the hope of recuperating, but there in a ride from White Bear Lake to St. Paul he took a sudden cold, and on the Ith of Oc- tober of that year he expired from an attack of pneumonia. At the meridian of life, far up toward the source of the Father of Waters, whose swelling and majestic flow was no unfit emblem of the bold and overpowering stream of eloquence of the "silver-tongued orator of Indi- ana," and Willard, yielding to the only enemy he could not conquer, de- scended into the regions of the dead -but there not to dwell. Amid pub- lic evidences of a sorrowing people his remains were borne to the city of New Albany, where they rest in the midst of friends he loved so well. The most marked features .f Wil- lard's intellectual powers were intu- ition and will-the faculties of all others most sure to produce the man of action, the successful leader; an l united with these, he had a gift of eloquence which makes his name a fireside recollection in the homes of Indiana. As a speaker, he was one of the most el quent in the forum or on the stump. Possessing in an em- inent degree all the requisites of a true orator in happiest combination;
great emotion and passion, with cor- rect judgment of human nature, genius, fancy and imagination, ges- ture and attitude, intonation and countenance, his whole nature blend- ed to accomplish the mighty purposes of his heart. He saw at a glance the true relations of things, the exact bearing of current events; what was proper to be done, and how to do it; and the force, the energy of his will bore him forward in its immediate and successful execution. He had great decision of character. He never stopped to speculate or doubt; and no leader ever should while he continues the contest, for uncertainty and hesitancy palsy the arm in its attempt to execute. As a general truth, it may be asserted that none but the sincere, believing, jearnest men will efficiently or can successful- ly struggle with difficulties. It was the possession in a high degree of the qualities above mentioned that drew upon Willard, by common consent, the leadership among those with whom he might be; for the wavering and timid always follow the decided and brave. And it was those quali- ties, also, that gave him such distin- guished success as a presiding officer -- quickness of apprehension, prompt- ness and energy of action.
HARRISON COUNTY.
( BY W. HI. PERRIN, ESQ. )
H ARRISON is one of the wealthiest comties in the southern part of the State, agriculturally, and one of the most important in the common- wealth in historical interest. Within its limits occurred much that has passed into history. Within its limits also, have figured some of the ablest men the State has known, whose finger- marks are still to be seen, and whose statesmanship and wise counsels have been largely instrumental in placing her in an honorable position in the Union. For more than a decade of years from 1813 to 1825-its county seat was the capitol of the State, and the old Capital building still stands, a monument of historical interest. Here was once the home of Gen. Wil- liam Henry Harrison, the farmer. patriot and soldier, whose trumpets never sounded the notes of retreat, the hero of the famed field of Tippecanoe, the ninth President of the United States, and the grandsire of the President. Here such men as he; Gen Posey, the soldier and patriot, the companion and friend of Washington : Jennings, honest, pure, with heroic courage for the right, Harbin Moore, " a meteor of
brilliant thought and speech, and princely in courtly elegance of manners and conversation;" the Boones, un- rivaled in pioneer daring, that never quailed before their savage enemies, and in whose lexicon there was no sneh word as fail ; Spier Spencer, who laid down his life on the field of Tip- pecanoe, and other master spirits of the time, who lived out the measure of their days; and the fruit of their labors here are yet visible. Their surround- ings, however were such as we know little of now, except by tradition. Pioneer life here, if all authorities may be credited, was rough, rude, simple, sincere, honest, warm-hearted and hospitable, and many of the men of mark of that period, though brilliant, were erratic, often irreverent and dis- sipated. Their lives were fevered and delirious, and upon the rostrum or in the forum they gleamed and flashed like blazing meteors. In the metrop- olis of the territory and the young State centered the two extremes of pioneer society; the rude simplicity, and the gifted, brilliant children of erratic genius. Above the mass, such men as Harrison, Jennings, Posey,
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
Moore, etc., towered like Saul above his fellows. The leading events in the lives of these men, and so far as they are interwoven with the history of Harrison county, will be noted as this sketch progresses.
Topography .- Harrison is one of the southern tier of counties, and lies in a great are of a circle of the Ohio river, which borders it for nearly forty miles and separates it from the State of Kentucky. It is bounded on the north by Washington county; on the east by Floyd and the Ohio river ; on the south by the Ohio river; on the west by the Ohio and by Crawford county, and contains four hundred and seventy-eight square miles. By the last census it had a population of 21,- 326. In common with the entire southern part of the State, it is rather broken and hilly, but notwithstanding, has a large amount of fine farming land. The principal streams, besides the Ohio river, are Blue river, forming the general dividing line between Harrison and Crawford counties; Big Indian, Little Indian, forming a junction at the town of Corydon; Buck and Mosquito Creeks. These streams pass through narrow valleys or canon-like gorges, at a depth of three hundred to four hundred feet below the highest hill-tops, and from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet below the level of the " barrens," or valley plateaus.
Barrens .- The name " barrens," ap- plied to portions of Harrison county, is somewhat misleading to the modern
ear. The barrens were so named, be- cause when first visited by white people they were devoid of timber. The pioneers had an exaggerated idea of the amount of timber needed for dwellings and fuel, and seemed to be- lieve that soil too poor to grow timber would scarcely grow anything else, while the bare situation would expose them to the burning sun of summer and the fierce blasts of winter. These treeless regions, for years swept by autumnal fires, until they were covered with only a coat of rank weeds and prairie grass, presented, in many cases, the uniformity, without the monotony, of the western prairies. They made a beautiful picture of the splendor and bounty of untrammeled nature, and the rank grass was, in the spring and summer season, overtopped with radiant flowers, while the ground, rich and fruitful, was covered with wild strawberries. So prodigal was Nature of these unappreciated bounties that the odors were wafted on the breeze, for miles.
Vast herds of deer bounded leisurely over the quietly rolling meadows, and great flocks of wild turkeys in their panoply of glittering green and blue plumage were met in every direction, while thousands of smaller birds, such as pheasants and quails might be had for the taking. Such were the "bar- rens " which, far from being barren or sterile, were among the richest and most productive lands in the southern part of the State. But since the annual fires have been prevented by
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
settlements, and the opening of farms, these prairie-barrens are now, where not in cultivation, covered with young forest tree's from 12 to 18 inches in diameter.
Drainage .- One of the most impor- tant features of Harrison county is its subterranean drainage. No part of the world, perhaps, exhibits this fea- ture so significantly. The rocky sub- stratum of the county is, as a rule, limestone. "The surface is a porous mass of flints, ge des, siliceous fossils and fragments of quartz, the insoluble remains of this limestone dissolved and eroded by atmospheric agencies. The rainfall is absorbed by this mass, as if by a sponge, and quickly con- ducted to sink-holes and ever-enlarging crevices to underground canals or duets. The result is a subterranean system of rivers, creeks and brooks, which flow along in midnight darkness, peopled with a peculiar fauna-fishes, crawfishes, worms and beetles, in which the organs of vision, unused for gen- erations and ages, are obsolete. This peculiar system, and its depth below the surface, renders the supply of water from wells uncertain, and resi- dences, churches and school-houses are usually supplied with cisterns for securing rain water for culinary and drinking purposes. At many points, the prevailing good health may be attributed to the use of pure rain water. Another remarkable effect of this drainage is observed in many electrical phenomena, seemingly con- trary to the well-known laws of elec.
tricity. Lightning rarely or never erer strikes on the hills or table-lands, but generally, or always, in deep valleys, and often in basin-shaped sink-holes, from 200 to 400 feet below the hills immediately adjoining or contiguous. Dry, porous earth, filled with air, is a poor conductor." Such is the condition of areas, from a scientific standpoint, under-run by rivers and streams. The electricity seeks the shortest line to a good conductor by passing through the humid air to one of the underground water-courses.
Caverns .- Caves are numerous in Harrison county, some of which are remarkable in extent and beauty. Borden's Cave in the western part of the county is, comparatively, a new discovery, and possesses unrivaled beanty. It is thus described by one who explored its subterranean beauties : "The cave contains four rooms, each differing from the rest in the shape and number of its formations. The first room is about 50 feet high and contains mary stalactites, which are slender, tolerably clear, and from 2 to 5 feet long. The stalagmites are, also, numerous and beautiful: the stalactitic folds on the sides of the room depend in masses that, no doubt, weigh many tons. The most noted formations in the second story are : 1. Very white, clear stalagmites, covered with points of cala spar, that give them the appearance of being covered with frost. 2. A mass of broken stalag- mites that have fallen from the walls of the room ; this mass attracts much
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HISTORY CF HARRISON COUNTY.
attention from those who do not under- stand the process of its formation. 3. A large branching stalagmite in the left side of the room. A large pile of rocks, resembling Jug Rock in Martin county, partly separates the second and third rooms. Beyond it is a shely- ing rock, 25 feet long and 10 feet wide, that contains, probably, 5,000 stalac- tites, from an inch to two feet long, and from one-fourth of an inch to two inches thick. Some of these stalac- tites have been broken off, perhaps by an earthquake, and as they fell they lodged among others, and have been cemented to them in many dif- ferent positions. The fourth room is entered by ascending a ladder. It is smaller than the others, and the most interesting object it contains is a huge stalagmite, 8 feet high. One-half of it has been removed by a small stream of water, so the present specimen is only a part of what was formerly there.
"Mr. Borden has labored indu-tri- ously to improve the cave. He has made and put in place a ladder 54 feet long, by which the cave is entered, and also put up three smaller ones at places inside. He has graded some of the rough places, and is at present engaged in opening a narrow channel through which the e is a strong cur- rent of air. The cave is worth a vis't from all who enjoy subterranean ram- bles."
Rhodes' Cave, also in the western part of the county, has an entrance almost like a well, and is 8 by 12 feet.
A rapid descent over angular, fallen rocks, leads by a passage-way, 7 to 10 feet high to the lake, 93 feet below the surface. The lake is fed by per- manent springs, and never diminishes much, if any, in size. It is reported to have a measured depth of over 40 feet. A small spring, dripping from the limestone walls, fringes the south side with clusters and sheaves of slen- der stal:ctites, and falls int ) a basin- shaped ¿talagmite. The lake contains a great many white, blind fshes and crawfishes. Swarms of bats resort to the cave, hibernating there during the winter, hanging by the feet to the roof, in great clusters of thousands, remaining in a semi-torpid condition until the warmth of spring recalls them to active life. The cool, dry air of this cave has high antiseptie prop- erties, preserving fruit, fresh meat, etc., ia perfection.
Another interesting cave is King's, about four miles east of Corydon, near the turnpike to New Albany. "A spring or small stream of water is the key to this excavation, the chisel which tunneled and hollowed out this narrow cavern. At low water it would pass through a four inch orifice, and is constant in seasons of dronth ; after a rain a torrent pours out of the gothic doorway six by three feet. This beautiful doorway, much older than the present entrance, is inacces- sible, except by ladder; above, a dome shaped portico is well rounded to lines of beauty, The vestibule is sixty feet long, twelve feet wide, and five to ten
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
feet high, with a rippling brook at one side. Beyond, the roof becomes lower, and at places is but two and a half to three feet high. Half a mile from the entrance is a lake thirty feet long, of no great width or depth, con- taining blind fish and crustaceans. Bats, 'coons and muskrats frequent the cave for rest and hibernation. The grand hall near the lake is report- ed to be one hundred and twenty feet ong, sixteen feet wide, and eight feet high, with many beautiful stalactites. Beyond the lake the roof is so low that progress can be made in a stoop- ing posture only, or by crawling.
Yocuru's Cave, on the south side of Little Indian Creek, but a short distance north of Corydon, is full of attractions, and is a labyrinth of winding passages. It has been but partially explored, and to a distance of about half a mile.
Boone's Cave. The most impor- tant cave in Harrison county, and to which attaches much historical inter- est, is that known as Boone's Cave. It is thus described: "West and northwest of Laconia, as will be seen by the map, there are four small crecks or brooks, which, after gather- ing the surface drainage of from two to four miles, suddenly sink in the ground to the cavernous St. Louis limestone. After an underground course of less than two miles, they are collected together and burst forth from an opening in the limestone bluff of Buck Creek, in sufficient vol- ume to turn an old-fashioned over-
shot wheel and mill. This region is historie ground, on the verge of the battle-land which divided the semi- civilized Indians of the South from the savages of the North, and subject to incursions from these irreconcilable enemies. and from predatory parties from the other tribes. It was inhab- ited by wild animals-a land of game -bears, deer, turkey, et .. , were abundant. Notwithstanding the danger of the situation, this hunting- ground soon attracted the atten ion of the Boones, and others of the chiv- alrous pioneers of Kentucky. Every excursion was a scouting expedition, and every trail a "war-path." The foemen neither asked or gave mercy. On one of their hunting expeditions, Squire Boone, brother to the famous Daniel Boone, of Kentucky history, in passing along the eastern bluff of Buck Creek, noticed a small cave-like opening in the rocks, partially hid- den by bushes. It appeared to be a good hiding place for large, wild game. A few miles further on he was attacked by Indians; his only chance for life was to fly. The pur- suit was immediate and earnest, and it was evident that they would soon overtake him. He remembered the hiding place discovered a few hours before, and reached it when his pur- suers were less than a hundred yards behind him. Throwing himself into the cave, he heard the Indians pass over his head. The little cavern had saved his life. To him it was holy ground; he selected it as his final
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
resting place-a sepulcher carved out by the hand of Nature. He required that, after his death, his body should be entombed there in this cave. Going to the spot, a rough, flat stone was shown us-the door to Boone's Grave Cave. Removing the stone, a small opening is exposed in the side of the hill; a descent of about seven feet led to a room six by eight feet on the floor, and a little less than five feet high. The coffin had been broken away, and the exposed bones showed that this intrepid pioneer had been a man of stalwart frame and of great muscular power, at least six feet two inches high. The skull was gone. A decent regard for the fam- ily and memory of a man who con- tributed so much to the pioneer his- tory of the Ohio Valley, and gave names to so many counties, towns and villages in the Garden of Amer- ica, demands that a suitable memo- rial column or block of stone should be placed over this grave, not only to mark the spot, but to preserve his mortal remains from the vandal hands of relic hunters.
"Squire Boone spent his latter days in this vicinity. The great cave spring poured its torrents down the side of the hill, having a fall of 18 feet. Boone built a mill, preparing the material almost wholly with his own hands. The building was of stone. Many of the blocks were ornamented with figures and emblems, displaying some degree of artistic" skill, and all by the hand of the old
hunter. A trailing vine in full leaf and laden with fruit, was cut upon the lintels, and figures of deer, fishes, a horse, a cow, a lion, a human face, and stars, and many texts from the Bible were sketched upon the stone in differ- ent parts of the building. Over a door way was this inscription :
'The. Traveler's. Rest. Consecra'ed . By. Squire. Boone . 1809.'
Over another door is the following:
'T . Sit . And . Sing . My . Soul's . Salvation. And . Bless . The . God . Of. My . Creation.'
A broken stone says : 'My. Goode . Friend.'"
Everything pertaining to the Boones, the most famous pioneers of the Ohio valley, is of interest to the general reader, and the following is given from the Western Argus, a paper pub- lished in this county a third of a century ago, by Judge Slaughter. The Argus of June 22, 1852, says: A correspondent of the Louisville Jour- nal says that Enoch Boone, who resides in Meade county, Ky., was the first male child born in Kentucky now living. Mr. Boone is the son of Squ're Boone and nephew of Daniel Boone. Squire Boone, the father of Enoch, was buried in a cavern in this county. His coffin is placed in a vanlt cut in the solid rock, the work of his own hands. The cavern is one in which Mr. Boone had, at one time, taken refuge from the Indians. Whilst hiding himself here from his savage foes he occupied himself in carving various fantastic figures on the walls of his underground house, which are
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
plainly visible; in fact, many of the stones were quarried from the walls and placed in the foundations of a mill which is now standing near the mouth of the cave, and on which the figures of birds and fishes are yet distinct as if made but yesterday."
Dr. Potts and some friends, in 1870, determined if possible to explore the cave which gives egress to the stream that drives the Boone mill. Near the mouth of the cave, which is twenty feet wide and ten feet high, the water rushes out with a violent current, and for one hundred and fifty yards was found to be waist deep; thence for half a mile the stream was smaller a mere tunnel four and a half feet high, where they found interesting water-falls, one ten, another twelve or fourteen feet high ; passing these they entered a dry hall-way for nearly a mile, averaging twenty feet wide and sixteen feet high, the sides highly ornamented with. snow-white or translucent stalactites, and numerous stalagmites built up from the floor, which in many cases nearly approach the pendants from the roof. Sightless fishes and I ats were the only observed inhabitants."
The famous Wyandotte Cave is just over the line in Crawford county, and only about twelve or fifteen miles from Corydon, in a due westerly course. It is one of the most remark- able caves yet discovered in this country, the celebrated Mammoth Cave of Kentucky perhaps excepted, and is * Squire Boone and his eive is referred to again in this sketch.
annually visited by hundreds and hundreds of sight-seers and tourists.
Geology .- The people of southern Indiana are an agricultural people in their pursuits. Their first care is the soil and climate, and facts pertaining to these are of the first importance. The science of geology is the founda- tion upon which rests the pursuits of a people and the genius of their civili- zation. It is a maxim in geology that the soil and its underlying rocks fore- cast unerringly to the trained eye the character of the people, and quality of the civilization of those who will, in coming time, occupy a section of country. It is the science of geology that traces the history of the earth back through successive stages of development to its rudimental condi- tion, and "Recent Geology" comprises that succession of changes in its sur- face, which have occurred since the formation of the rock-beds in the bot- tom of the ocean, and their elevation above the surface of that sea. The term recent, then, is relative in its meaning. Although the term, by its phenomena, requires a very long period of time, variously estimated from thousands to millions of years, it is but a point or paragraph in the long years necessary for the prepara- tion and elevation of the underlying rocks. The local geology of Harrison connty is thus given :
"The alluvial 'bottoms' or valleys along the banks of the rivers and streams are due to causes now in action. Detritus, derived from wear and tear
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
of rocks and their disintegration by atmospheric agencies, is seized by each brooklet and rainy day wash, hurried along by brook and river, and by flood- tide deposited along or upon its banks. By a slow current, and at eddies, a close, impervious clay is deposited ; but a stronger current carries in its bosom sand and vegetable matter, which intermixed with clay forms the loamy soil characteristic of our streams, and famous for the production of fine crops of cereals, vegetables, fruits, etc. The 'bottoms' of this county are of the best, and continually enriched by the annual overflow, are, after a continuous cultivation for nearly one hundred years, without manure, well remuner- ative to the careful husbandman.
" The Lacustral epoch succeeds in age that above described. During the great ice age, the drainage of the great valley of this continent was from north to south. Northern areas were at an elevation of several hundred feet above their present level, relative to the ocean surface, and at the same time at a much greater elevation than now, above areas to the south, causing a rapid flow in that direction. At about the close of the glacial epoch, a slow oscillation of the crust of the earth occurred. The region of the great lakes, parts of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, etc., were slowly and con- tinuously depressed, at a rate so much greater than the southern parts of the country, that it worked a practical obstruction in the outlet of the water- shed. A great fresh water sea resulted,
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