USA > Indiana > Wells County > Biographical memoirs of Wells County, Indiana : embracing a comprehensive compendium of local biography, memoirs of representative men and women of the county whose works of merit have made their names imperishable, and special articles by Hugh Dougherty [et al.] > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
19
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
1832, when they became panic-stricken by the rumors concerning the Black Hawk war and all fled from the county. In 1831 came the brothers Allen and Isaac Norcross, who settled near the river below Bluffton, but they also returned eastward during the Indian excitement of the following year, though the former of the two eventually came again to his pioneer farm, and he died in this county, in 1879, having been an ec- centric character. Jacob Miller settled in Rock Creek township in 1832, and soon af- terward Henry Miller located in that vicin- ity, both passing the remainder of their lives here. From this time forward the tide of immigration began to pour in, and it is gratifying to note that within the coun- ty still remain a number of those sterling pioneers who took up their abode here prior to 1840, while of those who came later there are, as a matter of course, a larger percent- age. In the biographical department of this work will be found specific mention of many of these, so that further consideration is not demanded at this juncture.
(The first merchant in the county was Bowen Hale, whose primitive little store was located on a farm near the present vil- lage of Murray, in which place, in 1837. Jesse Gerhard erected the first mill in the county. The first white child born in the county was Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Miller, the date of her nativity being 1835. while the first white child born in what is now the city of Bluffton was William Bluff- ton Miller, son of Michael Miller. this be- ing an event occurring June 4, 1839. The first mill at Bluffton was erected in the early 'forties by Robert B. Turner. Robert Simison and Rebecca Davis, in February, 1837. initiated the nuptial history of the
county, being the first couple married with- in its environs, there being at the time no one in the county authorized to perform the marriage ceremony, so that an importation of a justice of the peace became necessary for the occasion. Rev. Elijah Sutton, a Baptist clergyman of the old school, preached the first sermon in the county in 1838, and the first within the city of Bluff- ton was delivered by Rev. George W. Bow- ers, of the Methodist Episcopal church, the services being held in the open air, at the foot of Johnson street. The first school was taught in 1837, by Jessie B. McGrew, in a log cabin on the farm of Adam Miller, on the river above Bluffton. The first elec- tion occurred in. 1836, when not more than a dozen votes were polled in the county. The first circuit court convened in the log cabin of R. C. Bennett, in Bluffton, on October 19, 1837, Hon. Charles W. Ewing presid- ing. The first court house and jail were erected in 1838, and the first postoffice, a mile distant from Murray, was conducted by Bowen Hale, who has been previously mentioned.
The erection of Wells county as an or- ganic division of the new state of Indiana was effected in the year 1835, when. to- gether with Adams, it was set off from Allen county by enactment of the state leg- islature, this being in harmony with a bill introduced, during the session of that year, by Col. John Vawter, of Jennings county, who was chairman of the committee on new counties. Said bill was for an act to: "lay out all the unorganized territory to which the Indian title had been extinguished in the state into a suitable number of counties," and the approval of the measure occurred on the 7th of February, 1835. while under
20
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
its provisions thirteen counties were organ- ized, the name of Wells county being given in honor of Capt. William H. Wells, a vic- tim of the Fort Dearborn massacre, in Chi- cago, in 1812. The special act necessary to the erection of Wells county was passed and approved February 2, 1837, with a pro- vision for a formal organization of the - county on the Ist of the following May, while David Bennett was appointed sheriff and assigned the duty of notifying the elec- tors to assemble at the house of Robert C. Bennett, for the purpose of electing three commissioners and likewise appointing five non-resident commissioners to determine the location of the county seat. , As to the outcome in the matter of selecting the capi- tal of the new county, we quote from a pre- vious publication, as follows: "As these five commissioners for some cause failed to meet, a special act of the legislature was passed, and approved January 20, 1838, ap- pointing Zachariah Smith, of Adams coun- ty; Christopher Hanna, of Jay county; Champion Helvey, of Huntington county : William Kizer, of Randolph county, and John Rogers, of Grant county, commission- ers to locate the permanent seat of justice for Wells county. Having been duly noti- fed by Isaac Covert, by this time elected sheriff, of their appointment, four of them came, the absent member being Zachariah Smith. The contestants for the county seat of government were Bluffton and Murray, and at first the four commissioners were evenly divided between the two points. Their first vote was taken about dusk in the evening. Mr. Abraham Studabaker, whose. land lay at Bluffton, conferred with Daniel Miller, of Adams county, who also owned property near Bluffton, and was present at
the county seat contest. The result of the deliberation was that Miller should imme- diately post off on horse back to Adams county and fetch in Smith, the absentee, in time for the final vote in the morning. It was very cold ; ten inches of snow were on the ground ; not a single road had been cut, and there were only traces through the tim- ber. He followed the Wabash fourteen miles, to the residence of Peter Studabaker. where he obtained a fresh horse, and on he pushed, twenty miles more, to the St. Mary's river, near the state line, where he found his man at three o'clock in the morning. Returning with him they again found fresh horses at Peter Studabaker's, and reached Bluffton before the commis- sioners met in the morning, after the mes- senger had traveled nearly seventy miles, mostly during the night and through a deep. unbroken snow and severe cold. The vote thus procured cast the die in favor of Bluffton. The report of the com- missioners reads thus: 'We met at the house of Robert C. Bennett, in said county of Wells, on the first Monday of March, 1838, and have selected the west half of the northeast quarter of section 4. township 26, range 12, for the site of the seat of justice of Wells county, which land was donated by Abraham Studabaker, with a reserve of two choice lots. He also do- nated 31.90 acres off the east end of the south half of the southwest quarter of sec- tion 33, town 27, range 12 east. Robert C. Bennett donates the southeast fraction of the northeast quarter of section 4, town 26. range 12 east, with a reserve of two and one-half acres in the northeast corner. Studabaker and Bennett also donated two hundred and seventy dollars in cash.'
2I
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
"But county government did not wait for the locating commissioners to do their duty. Long before the county seat was lo- cated, the citizens, in June, 1837, proceeded to elect their county board of three com- missioners, namely : Solomon Johnson, James Scott and R. C. Bennett, Sr., for three, two and one years, in the order named. At this election six or seven non- resident landholders, living in Ohio, were permitted to vote, especially as they intend- ed soon to move into the county, among them being Dr. George T. Riddile, Adam Hatfield and John Greer. The first acts of these commissioners, as condensed from their journal, were as follows: The board met Friday, July 21, 1837, at the house of R. C. Bennett, in accordance with the above recited act, and produced the certificates of the sheriff that they had been duly elected and qualified. David Bennett produced his commission appointing him sheriff (signed by Governor Noble) until the next annual
- election. Bowen Hale also produced a similar document appointing him clerk of Wells county. Both were certified to as hav- ing taken the oath as required by law. This being done, the board was organized, with Solomon Johnson as president. The first important, acts of the board were in order- ing that W. H. Parmalee be appointed agent of the three per cent. fund donated by the state to the county for roads and bridges, acceptance following and bond be- ing given by the appointee; that Adanah Hall be appointed treasurer of the county, he also accepting, and giving bond in the sum of three thousand dollars; and that David Whitman be appointed assessor and collector of revenues for the county, his bond being fixed at eight hundred dollars.
For county purposes it was ordered that there be levied eighteen cents on each one hundred dollars valuation, and fifty cents on each poll.
"For several years taxes were often settled by promissory notes, endorsed each by two good men. For the first three years after the organization of the county it is said that the treasurer kept his office in his jacket pocket, but was never corrupted or approached with a bribe while discharging his trust. The fees of the office for a while necessarily exceeded the funds in the treas- ury, owing to the condition of things. As at that time the government lands were ex- empt from taxation five years after entry, there were but three tracts of land in the county subject to taxation. The first tax duplicate was made out on a single sheet of paper. The fifth order made by the board, the next day, was that Wells county be di- vided into two election districts, by a line commencing on the southern boundary of the county and running north between what are now Chester and Nottingham townships, and Harrison and Liberty townships ; thence east two miles between Harrison and Lan- caster townships; thence north to the county line. The territory on the east of this line was designated as Harrison town- ship, and that on the west as Rock Creek township. At the above session of the board Bowen Hale was granted a license for one year, for the sum of five dollars, to retail merchandise and foreign groceries 'not the product of the state or of the United States.' September 4, 1837, the board met and 'on motion took their seats.' Bowen Hale was allowed fifty-six dollars for books for the use of the office, and other stationery-inkstands, ink powder, etc.
22
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
"John Casebeer was appointed the first surveyor, and the first road established in the county was that part of the state road leading from Greenville, Ohio, to Marion, Indiana. The expense of location through Wells county was fifty-six dollars and sixty- two and one-half cents. The next located in the county was the Fort Recovery and Huntington road, at the November ses- sion, 1837. For the opening of this road the board appropriated one thousand dol- lars of the three per cent. fund."
While, within the necessary limitations of this brief sketch, it will not be possible to enter into the chronological details of the history of Wells county, there are so many salient points of interest apropos of this early political epoch of inchoation, that we can scarce refrain from taking another glance at the perspective of the years ere passing forward. David Whitman served as "assessor of the revenue" of the county for 1837, and John Casebeer was chosen to fulfill the duties of this office for the ensu- ing year, while at this same session of the board of commissioners the first school com- missioner of the county was appointed, in the person of Thomas T. Smith. In August, 1837, an election was held, and on this occasion Isaac Covert was chosen sheriff and James R. Greer associate judge, while in March of the following year the latter was appointed county agent, in which connection he gave bond in the sum of five thousand dollars. In May of that year the board held a session and awarded the sum of thirty-eight dollars to John Casebeer for surveying and platting the site of Bluffton, the recorded plat bearing date of March 23d of that year. In March, 1839, the board first extended a bounty on each wolf
killed, the sum of one dollar being paid for each scalp presented, while Adam Hatfield had the distinction of being the first to ap- pear and demand this tribute. We again make excerpt from another's narrative in regard to this period: "At the close of this year Adnah Hall, treasurer, made his re- port, covering the period from November 6, 1838, to November 6, 1839, which showed that there had been received into the treas- ury from all sources the sum of $1,419.40. His commission was $19.43; notes, $301. Total assets of the county, $1,701.41, prin- cipally derived from fines and sales of lots. At the November session, 1839, Bowen Hale, clerk, reported that he had procured for the county a metallic seal, and the fol- lowing description of the design was or- dered to be placed on the minutes : 'A sheaf of wheat is the main design ; a plane, a rake, a pitchfork; surrounded by the following" words, to wit: "Commissioners of Wells County."' Prior to this date a scrawl seal had been used in official business."
Concerning the public buildings of Wells county, and it must be said to the credit of the county that in expenditures in this line it has kept pace with the magnificent march of development, as is prima facia to every one who visits the beautiful little city which is its official center, we note that the first court house was situated on the west side of Main street, between Market and Wa- bash streets, in the little frontier village of Bluffton, whose streets were still "im- proved" with the stumps of the native for- est trees. This primitive hall of justice was constructed of logs hewed square and r'ose pretentiously to the height of two sto- ries, the first being utilized by the courts and for all manner of public and semi-pub-
23
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
lic assemblies, while on the upper floor were to be found the one or two offices which the county found necessary for the handling of its affairs at that time. On the 18th of June, 1838, the county commissioners, being duly assembled, entered an order that the county agent should advertise for the letting of a contract for the erection of a court house in Bluffton, on the first day of the following August, and in the connection it is but consonant that we enter the record of the specifications provided : "The house to be built of hewn logs, eighteen by twenty- four feet, two stories high, and covered with three-foot boards, nailed on; floor to be oak or ash; with six twelve-light win- dows, four below and two above, and stairs to upper room. Also one jail, of hewn·tim- ber one foot square, eighteen by twenty feet, two stories high." The contract was finally let to David Whitman, a farmer re- siding a few miles distant from Bluffton, and the jail was located about twenty rods to the south of the court house, the two be- ing, as a matter of course, very similar in appearance, though not in the uses to which they were applied. Both were eventually destroyed by fire. On the 24th of April, 1843, the board of commissioners entered into a contract with Almon Case for the erection of the second court house, which was to be in keeping with the advancement and dignity of the county, the amount to be expended being five thousand dollars. Case sold the contract to 'George W. Webster, of Marion, Indiana, and under his direction the building was completed in 1845, being formally accepted by the board on October 5th of that year. This structure was re- tained as the official headquarters of the county for many years, and for the benefit
of coming generations, it may not be in- appropriate to enter a brief description of the building which so long stood as a landmark of the county and which at the time of its erection was one of the finest of the sort in the northern part of the state. It was constructed of brick, manufactured in the vicinity of the town, fronted the east, with four large columns of the colonial type adorning this facade, giving a dignified and stately appearance, and it was two stories in height, the lower being utilized for the courts and the upper for the county offices, as had been the case with the little log struc- ture. Eventually it was found necessary to provide smaller brick buildings adjoining or upon the premises, in order to furnish proper accommodations for the business of the county, and these provisions soon proved inadequate, so that the county was brought face to face with the problem of proving its progressiveness by the erection of a new building of modern type and one which would enable it to maintain its pres- tige among its sister counties. That its peo- ple have ever shown a distinctive public spirit cannot be doubted, and in 1888 we find the project for the providing of a new building assuming definite form. At the February term of court in that year Judge Henry Y. Saylor issued an order from the bench condemning the old court house, and the commissioners were then forced to order the building of a new one. It was erected on the site of the old building, the corner stone being laid, with appropriate cere- monies, on August 29, 1889. The building was completed and was duly dedicated by the bar of the county on the 2d of March, . 1891. The original appropriation, under which the contract was assumed, was one
24
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, which did not include the furniture, various fittings and certain outside improvements, to cover which an additional expenditure of fifteen thousand dollars was made. The architects were George W. Bunting & Son, of Indianapolis, and the contractor was Christian Boseker, of Fort Wayne. The board of commissioners which awarded the contract comprised W. H. Rupright, Charles Scotten and Nathaniel McIntire, while Charles M. Miller was county auditor at the time. The same commissioners were in office when the building was completed and accepted it in behalf of the county. 'The building is eighty-seven feet in width and one hundred and thirty-five feet in length, and the material used in the construction is a fine grade of sandstone taken from the quarries on the line between Indiana and Michigan. The structure is of the Roman- esque style of architecture and is particu- larly symmetrical and effective in design, the height of the tower being one hundred and thirty feet, while the interior finishing is of quarter-sawed oak.
In 1855-6 a brick jail was built a short distance south of the second court house, and this later was occupied by some of the county offices. The present jail and sher- iff's residence was erected in 1880, at an expenditure of twenty-one thousand four hundred dollars, which indicates that it is thoroughly modern in design and equip- ment. It is forty-four by eighty feet in extreme dimensions, and its spire rises to a height of seventy-five feet above the ground level. The building is of the French renaissance style of architecture and is very attractive, being constructed of brick and stone, two stories in height with mansard
roof, covered with slate; it has a cellar throughout, and the prison wall is lined with one-fourth-inch boiler iron. It is situ- ated one square southwest of the court house, and Jonathan P. Smith, of Bluffton, was the contractor.
The county infirmary and orphans' home is located a few miles southeast of Bluffton, on the southwest quarter of sec- tion 23, Harrison township, the farm com- prising one hundred and fifty-six acres and having been purchased by the county in 1864, nearly the entire tract being now un- der cultivation. The main infirmary build- ing was erected in 1875, at a cost of about sixteen thousand dollars and is substantially constructed of brick. Various improve- mnents have been made, including the instal- lation of a steam-heating plant, baths, etc. The barn on the premises was destroyed by fire in 1900 and a new building was erected at a cost of six thousand dollars. The in- stitution has been on the whole ably con- ducted, the county showing no inclination to neglect its eleemosynary obligations, but imaking ample provision for the unfortunate wards of its charity. The value of the prop- erty is now about thirty thousand dollars and in the infirmary accommodations are afforded for about fifty inmates, the average number in the institution in the past few years having been about thirty-five. The orphans' home has a capacity for the ac- commodation of twenty persons, and the average number of inmates is twelve.
Concerning the census returns as touch- ing Wells county, we enter the following summary : In 1860 the total population was 10,844; 1870, 13,585; 1880, 18,442; 1890, 21,514; and 1900, 23,449, showing that the increments in population have
25
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
come gradually and normally. The popu- lation of the townships, according to the census of 1900, is as follows: Chester, 2,345; Harrison, 6,548; Jackson, 2,237 ; Jefferson, 2,455 ; Lancaster, 2,169; Liberty, 1,976; Nottingham, 2,654; Rock Creek, 1,560; Union, 1,505.
Since the erection of the two original townships of Harrison and Rock Creek, at the first meeting of the original board of commissioners, in July, 1837, other town- ships have been set off as follows : Jackson, September 4, 1837; Jefferson, March 3, 1840; Nottingham, January 4. 1841 ; Ches- ter and Lancaster, March I, 1841, and Union, June 7, 1847. Jackson has been designated as the "lost township," from the fact that the counties about it were so formed that it could not be attached to any one of the number without the formation of a geographical projection, and by this means Wells county assumes somewhat the form of a reversed L, as has been already noted in this context.
The title of "palladium of liberty," as applied to the newspaper press of our re- public, is no misnomer, and while no at- tempt will be made in this connection to enter into details as to the various papers which have come into the journalistic field in Wells county, many to continue in ef- fective work and others to have but ephem- eral existence, it will not be inconsistent to ' here make mention concerning the incep- tional enterprises in the "art preservative of all arts." Wells county has been favored with a local vehicle of news since the year 1847, when was established the first news- paper, the Republican Bugle, whose politics were Democratic and whose editor and publisher was Thomas Smith, who had been
a soldier in the Mexican war. Of this venture a previous historical work has spok- en as follows: "It was, of course, a small sheet ; was printed in large type, on a Ram- age (wooden) press, but being started at a premature stage of the settlement of the country, it failed to receive sufficient sup- port and was suspended after an existence of about two years. Probably every village in the great west has been the scene of such premature newspaper enterprises. Early papers, however, gave but little local news. It was not the fashion then to give appar- ently small items of matters near home. Mr. Smith died in April, 1850." (The lead- ing and official paper in the county has al- ways been the Bluffton Banner, which was established in 1850 and which has ever stood as the stanch advocate of Democratic principles, being practically the successor of the Bugle. The first editors and proprietors of the Banner were Samuel G. Upton and Lewis S. Grove, and the ownership has been many times changed, the present executive and editorial principals in this well conduct- ed enterprise being Messrs. George L. Saun -. ders, Albert Oppenheim and W. H. Eich- horn. The Banner now issues daily editions as well as a weekly. The People's Press, Re- publican in politics, was established in 1855. by John L. Wilson and Michael Karns. Within the first year of the war of the Re- bellion the name of the paper was changed to, the Wells County Union; in 1866 it be- came the Wells County Standard, and three years later the name was changed to the Wells County Chronicle, which has since been retained, though there have been sev- eral changes in ownership and one or more temporary suspensions in publication. The present publisher is D. H. Swaim. The
4562
26
WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Chronicle is a weekly publication and both this and the Banner are issued in the city of Bluffton. Mr. Swaim also publishes the News, a daily, which is independent in politics. The Wells County Times, as an ex- ponent of the principles and policies of the Greenback party, was established in 1878, by James Gerry Smith, and like the other Bluffton papers it had various changes in ownership; it is now extinct. The People's Press is a weekly paper and expounds the principles of socialism, Carl Venis being the proprietor. There are other papers in the county, and each is apparently exercis- ing its functions to the satisfaction of pa- tions, proving an excellent exponent of local interests.
Of the beautiful little city of Bluffton, the official, and practically geographicai, center of the county, we may say that the euphonious and consistent name was one suggested by the late Robert C. Bennett, Sr., by reason of the fact that the city is located on the more blufflike shore of the river. the first official mention of the name appearing on the records of 1838. In March of that year the original plat of the town was sur- veyed, under the direction of the newly ap- pointed county surveyor, John Casebeer, and the county agent, James R. Greer, one" hundred and ninety-one lots being laid out, while the plat was duly recorded on the 28th of the month mentioned. At the session of the county commissioners in the following June, they ordered the county agent to in- stitute the sale of lots on the 16th instant and to continue until all were sold, as pre- scribed-that is, each alternate lot was to be thus disposed of, while three or four were reserved for Almon Case, in compensation for his entertaining those who came hither
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.