USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Biographical memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography embellished with portraits of many well known residents of Blackford County, Indiana > Part 27
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Mr. Morton was elected judge on the Democratic ticket, in 1852, but on the passage of the " Kansas-Nebraska Bill" he severed his connection with that party, and soon became a prominent leader of the Re- publicans. He was elected governor of In- diana in 1861, and as war governor became well known throughout the country. He received a paralytic stroke in 1865, which partially deprived him of the use of his limbs. He was chosen to the United States senate from Indiana, in 1867, and wielded great influence in that body until the time of his death, November 1, 1877.
JOHN B. GORDON, a brilliant Confeder- ate officer and noted senator of the United States, was born in Upson county, Georgia, February 6, 1832. He graduated from the State University, studied law, and took up the practice of his profession. At the be- ginning of the war he entered the Confederate service as captain of infantry, and rapidly
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rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, commanding one wing of the Confederate army at the close of the war. In 1868 he was Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, and it is said was elected by a large majority, but his opponent was given the office. He was a delegate to the national Democratic conventions in 1868 and 1872, . and a presidential elector both years. In 1873 he was elected to the United States senate. In 1886 he was elected governor ' of Georgia, and re-elected in 1888. He was again elected to the United States senate in 1890, serving until 1897, when he was succeeded by A. S. Clay. He was regarded as a leader of the southern Democ- racy, and noted for his fiery eloquence.
TEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD, an illus- S trious associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, was born at Haddam, Connecticut, November 4, 1816, being one of the noted sons of Rev. D. D. Field. He graduated from Williams College in 1837, took up the study of law with his brother, David Dudley Field, be- coming his partner upon admission to the bar. He went to California in 1849, and at once began to take an active interest in the political affairs of that state. He was elected alcalde of Marysville, in 1850, and in the autumn of the same year was elected to the state legislature. In 1857 he was elected judge of the supreme court of the state, and two years afterwards became its chief justice. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln as associate justice of the supreme court of the United States. During his incumbency, in 1873, he was appointed by the governor of California one of a com- mission to examine the codes of the state and for the preparation of amendments to the same for submission to the legislature.
In 1877 he was one of the famous electoral commission of fifteen members, and voted as one of the seven favoring the election of Tilden to the presidency. In 1880 a large portion of the Democratic party favored his nomination as candidate for the presidency. He retired in the fall of 1897, having served a greater number of years on the supreme bench than any of his associates or predecessors, Chief Justice Marshall coming next in length of service.
JOHN T. MORGAN, whose services in the United States senate brought him into national prominence, was born in Athens, Tennessee, June 20, 1824. At the age of nine years he emigrated to Alabama, where he made his permanent home, and where he received an academic education. He then took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He took a leading part in local politics, was a presi- dential elector in 1860, casting his ballot for Breckenridge and Lane, and in 1861 was a delegate to the state convention which passed the ordinance of secession. In May, of the same year, he joined the Confederate army as a private in Company I, Cahawba Rifles, and was soon after made major and then lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Regiment. In 1862 he was commissioned colonel, and soon after made brigadier-general and as- 'signed to the command of a brigade in Vir- ginia. He resigned to join his old regiment whose colonel had been killed. He was soon afterward again made brigadier-gen- eral and given command of the brigade that included his regiment.
After the war he returned to the prac- tice of law, and continued it up to the time of his election to the United States senate, in 1877. He was a presidential elector in 1876, and cast his vote for Tilden and Hendricks.
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. He was re-elected to the senate in 1883, and again in 1889, and 1895. His speeches and the measures he introduced, marked as they were by an intense Americanism, brought him into national prominence.
W ILLIAM MCKINLEY, the twenty-fifth president of the United States, was born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, Jan- uary 29, 1844. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and received his early education in a 'Methodist academy in the small village of Poland, Ohio. At the outbreak of the war Mr. Mckinley was teaching schon1 earning twenty-five dollars per monti .. A's soon as Fort Sumter was fired upon he en- listed in a company that was formed in Poland, which was inspected and mustered in by General John C. Fremont, who at first objected to Mr. McKinley, as being too young, but upon examination he was finally accepted. Mr. Mckinley was seventeen when the war broke out but did not look his age. He served in the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry throughout the war, was promoted from sergeant 'to captain, for good conduct on the field, and at the close of the war, for meritorious services, he was brevetted major. After leaving the army Major Mc- Kinley took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar, and in 1869 he took his initiation into politics, being elected pros- ecuting attorney of his county as a Republi- can, although the district was usually Demo- cratic. In 1876 he was elected to congress, and in a call upon the President-elect, Mr. Hayes, to whom he went for advice upon the way he should shape his career, he was told that to achieve fame and success he must take one special line and stick to it. Mr. Mckinley chose tariff legislation and he became an authority in regard to import duties. He was a member of congress for
many years, became chairman of the ways and means committee, and later he advo- cated the famous tariff bill that bore his name, which was passed in 1890. In the next election the Republican party was overwhelmingly defeated through the coun- try, and the Democrats secured more than a two thirds majority in the lower house, and also had control of the senate, Mr. Mckinley being defeated in his own district by a small majority. He was elected gov- ernor of Ohio in 1891 by a plurality of twenty-one thousand, five hundred and eleven, and two years later he was re-elected by the still greater plurality of eighty thou- sand, nine hundred and ninety-five. He was a delegate-at-large to the Minneapolis Re- publican convention in 1892, and was in- structed to support the nomination of Mr. Harrison. He was chairman of the con- vention, and was the only man from Ohio to vote for Mr. Harrison upon the roll call. In November, 1892, a number of prominent politicians gathered in New York to discuss the political situation, and decided that the result of the election had put an end to Mc- Kinley and Mckinleyism. But in less than four years from that date Mr. Mckinley was nominated for the presidency against the combined opposition of half a dozen rival candidates. Much of the credit for his suc- cess was due to Mark A. Hanna, of Cleve- land, afterward chairman of the Republican national committee. At the election which occurred in November, 1896, Mr. Mckinley was elected president of the United States by an enormous majority, on a gold stand- ard and protective tariff platform. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1897, and called a special session of congress, to which was submitted a bill for tariff reform, which was passed in the latter part of July of that year.
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C INCINNATUS HEINE MILLER, known in the literary world as Joaquin Miller, "the poet of the Sierras," was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1841. When only about thirteen years of age he ran away from home and went to the mining regions in California and along the Pacific coast. Some time afterward he was taken prisoner by the Modoc Indians and lived with them for five years. He learned their language and gained great influence with them, fight- ing in their wars, and in all modes of living became as one of them. In 1858 he left the Indians and went to San Francisco, where he studied law, and in 1860 was ad- mitted to the bar in Oregon. In 1866 he was elected a county judge in Oregon and served four years. Early in the seventies he began devoting a good deal of time to literary pursuits, and about 1874 he settled in Washington, D. C. He wrote many poems and dramas that attracted consider- able attention and won him an extended reputation. Among his productions may be mentioned " Pacific Poems," " Songs of the Sierras," "Songs of the Sun Lands," " Ships in the Desert," " Adrianne, a Dream of Italy," "Danites," "Unwritten History," "First Families of the Sierras " (a novel), " One Fair Woman " (a novel), "Songs of Italy," "Shadows of Shasta," "The Gold- Seekers of the Sierras," and a number of others.
G EORGE FREDERICK ROOT, a noted music publisher and composer, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1820. While working on his father's farm he found time to learn, unaided, several musical instru- ments, and in his eighteenth year he went to Boston, where he soon found employ- ment as a teacher of music. From 1839
until 1844 he gave instructions in music in the public schools of that city, and was also director of music in two churches. Mr. Root then went to New York and taught music in the various educational institutions of the city. He went to Paris in 1850 and spent one year there in study, and on his re- turn he published his first song, "Hazel Dell." .It appeared as the work of " Wur- zel," which was the German equivalent of his name. He was the originator of the normal musical institutions, and when the first one was started in New York he was one of the faculty. He removed to Chicago, Illinois, in 1860, and established the firm of Root & Cady, and engaged in the publication of music. He received, in 1872, the degree of " Doctor of Music" from the University of Chicago. After the war the firm became George F. Root & Co., of Cincinnati and Chicago. Mr. Root did much to elevate the standard of music in this country by his compositions and work as a teacher. Besides his numerous songs he wrote a great deal of sacred music and pub- lished many collections of vocal and instru- mental music .. For many years he was the most popular song writer in America, and was one of the greatest song writers of the war. He is also well-known as an author, and his work in that line comprises: " Meth- ods for the Piano and Organ," " Hand- book on Harmony Teaching," and innumer- able articles for the musical press. Among his many and most popular songs of the war time are: " Rosalie, the Prairie-flower," " Battle Cry of Freedom," "Just Before the Battle," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching," "The Old Folks are Gone," "A Hundred Years Ago," "Old Potomac Shore, " and " There's Music in the Air." Mr. Root's cantatas include " The Flower Queen" and "The Haymakers." He died in 1896.
PART II.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF
BLACKFORD COUNTY,
INDIANA.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF
BLACKFORD COUNTY, INDIANA.
Blackford is one of the smallest of the ninety-two counties in the state of Indiana, only two, Ohio and Floyd, being smaller, while Union and Blackford are about equal in size.
The territory of Blackford county is composed of congressional townships 23 and 24 north, in range 10 east, and townships 23 and 24 north, in range II east, sections I to 6 in township 22 of range 10, sections I to 6 in township 22 of range II, section 5 in township 22 of range 12, sections 5, 8, 17, 20, 29 and 32 in township 23 (which is a fractional township) of range 12, sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30 and 31 in township 24 of range .12, making the county thirteen miles square and its area one hundred and sixty- nine square miles. Its location as to latitude and longitude is about midway between the fortieth and forty-first parallels of north latitude, and in the eastern half of the terri- tory lying between the eighty-fifth and eighty-sixth meridians of longitude west from Greenwich, and eight and nine west from Washington. The eastern line of the county is twenty-one miles west of the Ohio state line, and the north line is eighty-two miles south of the Michigan state line.
Its surface presents the appearance of
an almost entirely level plain. In some parts it is sufficiently broken and undulating to furnish good natural drainage, but in the greater portion of it artificial drainage has been indispensable to successful and profit- able cultivation. The elevation at the Lake Erie & Western depot in Hartford City is eight hundred and ninety-five feet above the level of the ocean, and at the depot at Mont- pelier eight hundred and sixty-seven feet. The largest stream of water in the county is the Salamonie river, which rises in the south- eastern corner of Jay county and, running northwestwardly, enters Blackford county about three and one-half miles south of the northeast corner and flows out of the county about four and one half miles west of the same corner. It drains nearly the entire northern half of the county. The next largest stream in Lick creek, whose larger branch has its source in Jay county, near its western line and a short distance nort !! of Dunkirk, and flowing in a general wester - ly direction through the south part of Jack- son township curves to the northwest to receive Little Lick Creek near Hartford City, and running southwest leaves the county at the southwest corner, and running thence about a half mile into Delaware county flows
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
into the Mississinnewa river. Prairie Creek, a tributary of the Salamonie, drains the southwestern corner of Harrison township and the northern half and southeastern quar- ter of Washington township. Walnut creek drains the southwest quarter of Washington township, and running nearly west into Grant county enters the Mississinnewa river near the place where it is crossed by the P. C. C. & St. L. Railroad.
There was originally some wet prairie land in this county. The largest tract was probably Bullskin prairie in the southern part of Harrison township. There were also Polk's prairie, extending from the cen ter to near the western part of Wash- ington township, Petit prairie, in Harri- son, and the cranberry marsh, in the northern part of Jackson township. The remainder of the county was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber ; many trees of the black walnut, white, red and burr oak, white elm, sycamore and shell- bark hickory varieties attaining to grand and majestic proportions. The principal va- rieties of the original large timber products were the following: White oak, red oak, burr oak, black oak, sweet or pigeon oak and pin oak, also called jack oak, the latter variety growing on the wet ground, gray, blue and black ash, shellbark hickory, black hickory, white hickory, white elm, red elm, .black walnut, soft maple, hard maple or sugar tree, red and white beech, poplar, lin or bass-wood, sycamore, wild cherry, cottonwood, hackberry, water locust and honey locust.
Of small timber, shrubs, etc., were iron- wood, dogwood, water beech, quaking as- pen, some kinds of willow, sassafras, wahoo, prickly ash, red bud, coffee nut, swamp alder and spice brush. Of fruit and nut bearing
small trees and shrubs were a few white walnut or butternut, hazel, wild cherry, wild plum, crab apple, thorn apple, red or sugar haw, black haw, pawpaw, mulberry, serviss- berry, elderberry and wild grape.
Until railroads were built into the county there was no market for timber and it had no value except for domestic uses. One ex- ception might be named. A few varieties of the undergrowth, principally hickory, was cut and hauled away to markets at some distance to be manufactured into hoops. In those early days in the neighboring and older counties the reputation of Blackford was about the same as Riley's "little town 'o Tailholt," and it was a current remark that coon skins and hoop poles constituted the currency of this county. Bimetallism was not discussed, in fact, metallism of any kind was very scarce, but the double standard was easily maintained.
A vast majority of the population were dependent on agriculture for a livelihood and the heavy- forests had to be cleared away." Immense quantities of timber were cut down, rolled into heaps and burned, which, if on the farms to-day, would be of more value to the owners than are now the farms themselves. The finest quality of white oak timber was cut and manufactured by hand into shingles and clapboards, while choice black walnut, gray and blue ash were · made into fence rails. At the present time it seems as if this wholesale destruction of resources was reckless waste and prodigality, but under the conditions then existing it was unavoidable. There was nothing to do but to get it out of the way. It required soldierly qualities to attempt and successfully execute the task of carving farms out of nature's wooded wilds, but with hearts of oak and muscles of hickory our fathers and mothers
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BLACKFORD COUNTY, INDIANA.
"came and saw and conquered." Let abun- dant praise be awarded to money and the aggregations of capital which have given us our railroads and factories and telegraph and telephone facilities and the great variety. of conveniences and comforts that character- ize this progressive and aggressive age, but let it not be forgotten that the primary and indispensable work of subduing the wilder- ness and causing cultivated farms and pros- perous homes to take the place of solitary forests and miasmatic swamps was accom- plished chiefly by labor alone, by the strong arm and dauntless courage of the heroic men and women whose lives were devoted to incessant toil and hardship in preparing this country for its present highly favored condition.
With few exceptions the hardy pioneers who opened up the scope of country em- bracing Blackford and the surrounding counties and caused the domain of civiliza- tion to expand over it were men of limited means, unable to provide themselves with homes in the older and improved sections ; and in order to enjoy the security and inde- pendence guaranteed alone by the owner- ship of the premises upon which their labor must be bestowed, they braved the hardships and privations known only by them and came here where farms were not to be pur- chased, but where they might be made.
Blackford county is unsurpassed as an agricultural district. The soil and climate are adapted to a great variety of productions. As the leading products we note wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, Indian corn, flax seed, bram corn, sorghum sugar cane, Irish and swe · potatoes, turnips, cabbage, beans, pumpkins, squashes, melons, onions, beets and, in short, all vegetable garden products of the north temperate zone, timothy, clover, 1
blue grass, millet and Hungarian grass. The principal cultivated fruits are apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots, Siberian and trans- cendant crabs, cherries of several varieties, grapes, blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, strawberries, gooseberries and currants. In the way of mineral products the extensive limestone quarries on the Salamonie river near Montpelier are noted far and near. No better quality of foundation building stone is to be found anywhere, and vast quantities of lime have been manufactured and sold here. In the northern part of the county petroleum oil is found in paying quantities and its production has become one of the leading and most profitable enter- prises of that locality and the adjacent sec- tions of Jay, Wells and Grant counties. At this time (1900) that part of the country is dotted over with derricks and oil tanks, and as a necessary adjunct to the business there is extended over the country a network of pipe lines, through which, by means of pumping stations, the precious and odor- iferous fluid is conveyed to market. It was once said in this country that cotton was king, but for some years past it has been strongly suspected that coal oil is the reign- ing dynasty, and its rank perfume has disturbed state legislatures and has oc- casionally been detected even in the halls of congress.
Natural gas, as fuel and light for do- mestic and manufacturing purposes, is now and for the past decade has been in general use all over Blackford county. This un- paralled luxury of modern times was first developed in this county early in the year 1887. The pioneer well, now abandoned, was located a few yards southeast of the Lake Erie & Western depot at Hartford City. There are scores of wells in the county
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF
from which the mysterious fluid is being drawn, or permitted to flow rather, for it seems to be constantly spoiling for a chance to go and no opportunity for a forward movement is ever allowed to pass by unim- proved. The people, with that lack of pru- dence and wise forethought for which the human race has in all ages been celebrated. have leased thousands of acres of their land and allowed immense quantities of this wealth producing element to be piped away and consumed at a distance of forty and fifty miles from its native depository. The natural gas region of Indiana is recognized
as the paradise of manufactories, especially of iron and glass works.
Oil and gas are found at an average depth of one thousand feet, in round numbers, ·some one hundred feet below sea level. The formations passed through are generally the following: Drift, from forty to two hun- dred and fifty feet ; Niagara limestone, from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred and sixty feet; Hudson river, from three hundred and seventy-five to five hundred feet : Utica shale, two hundred to three hun- dred feet ; Trenton rock, where the oil and gas are found, twenty-five to thirty feet.
BOARDS OF COMMISSIONERS.
We pass now to a brief consideration of , the civil and political history of the county. It was created into a separate jurisdiction by an act of the legislature in 1837. All the · territory for the new county was taken from Jay county except the southern tier of sec- tions, twelve in number, taken from Dela- ware county. The name Blackford was given in honor of Hon. Isaac Blackford, one of the first and most eminent judges of the supreme court of the state of Indiana. For some reason the county organization was not effected till in the month of May, 1839. Nicholas Friend was appointed the first sheriff by Governor David Wallace, and Eli Rigdon, Jacob Shroyer and Josephus Streeter constituted the first board of com- missioners, and Jacob Brugh filled the office of auditor, clerk and recorder. The com- missioners began their first session on Mon- day, May 20, 1839, at the log cabin resi-
dence. of Andrew Boggs, which stood not far from the site of J. A. Newbauer's ice pond, west of Walnut street and a few rods north of Little Lick creek, near the southern border of Hartford City. This was the capi- tal of the county for some three months. It is evident that the first page or two of the record of this session is lost. The first rec- ord we find is of the action taken on a peti- tion for the location of a highway com- mencing at George Atkinson's, late John Lewis', mill and running directly up the creek to the first section line above said mill, thence east on the section line till it inter- sects the county road running north and south past Jacob Slater's. Petition approved and Nathan Jones, Elijah Sims and John Stewart appointed to view the same and re- port their proceedings to the next term of this board in course, etc.
Franklin G. Baklwin was allowed thirty-
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BLACKFORD COUNTY, INDIANA.
two dollars for assessing the county for the year 1839. (By way of comparison we note that the expenses of assessing the county in 1900, consisting of the amounts paid the township assessors and their deputies, the county assessor and the board of review. was twelve hundred and seventy-six dol- lars. )
Jose K. Hobson was licensed to vend merchandise in Blackford county for one year from date. Nicholas Friend was ap- pointed county agent for Blackford county for one year.
On May 21st an order was made dividing Licking township into four road districts, the two southern districts being three miles square and the two northern districts being each three miles by four. Township 24. range 10, was divided in two districts, two miles off the west side constituting the first district, for which Henry Balsley was made supervisor; the remainder of the township was made the second district, for which Frederick Seelig was made supervisor. John Ervin was appointed county treasurer for one year. It was ordered that the county be laid off into three districts, the first being five miles in width off the entire west side, the second four miles in width through the center north and south, the third four miles off the east side. The record does not state for what purpose these districts were made, but it is safe to assume that they were com- missioners' districts. By this arrangement Rigdon was in the first, Shroyer in the sec- ond and Streeter in the third. Grand and traverse juries were selected for the fall term of the circuit court. Isaac Spaulding was appointed agent for the three per cent. fund for one year. An election was ordered to be held in Licking township for two justices of the peace. Harrison township was di-
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