USA > Indiana > Bowen's Indiana state atlas, containing a separate map of each county, showing section, township and range lines, railroad and interurban lines, churches and school houses and public highways, with a historical sketch of each county; improved roads shown in colors; also containing maps of Indiana, the United States and the world; population of counties, townships, incorporated cities and towns, with estimated population for 1920; geographical and other tables; a history of the growth of the state, and an explanation of the system of land surveys > Part 2
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All the land in the northern part of the state still held by the Indians
M:1 am1
Reservation
Ran- / dolph
1
NEW PURCHASE
1
Wayne
-
---
Vigo
Franklin
Sullivan
Monroe
Ripley
Dear- born
Daviess.
Jefferson
1
Washington
Orange
Pike
. Dubois
Gibson
Crawford
Indiana in 1818
Floyd
Harrison
Van-
Warrick
Perry
Posey der-
burgh
Spencer
By Ernest V. Shockley
Indiana in 1822
Indiana came into the Union in 1816 with fifteen counties, but so rapid was the growth of the state that by the close of the legislative session of 1821-22 no less than forty-four counties had been created. The census of 1810 showed a population of 24,520 ; the state census of 1814 disclosed 63,847 inhabitants; and the federal census of 1820 returned a population of 147,178, a growth of a little more than five hundred per cent. since 1810. The Legislature of 1821-22 created four new counties-Rush. Marion, Putnam and Henry-the acts creating them providing that they should formally establish their several eounty governments on April 1. 1810.
Between the session of 1818-19, the first one after the purchase of the central part of the state from the Indians, and the session 1821-22, at which time the state was divided into three congressional districts, sixteen counties were created by the Legislature. Owen. Floyd, Scott, Martin. Union and Greene counties were in the terri- tory secured from the Indians prior to the fall of 1818. The counties organized in whole or in part out of the New Purchase were Fayette. Bartholomew. Parke, Morgan, Decatur, Shelby. Rush. Marion, Put- nam and Henry. The legislative act of December 31, 1821. created four counties: Henry, Putnam, Rush and Marion, cach county to begin its separate existence on April 1. 1822.
The state had been allowed only one representative from the time it was admitted to the Union, but after the census of 1820 showed such an increase in population. Congress, in its decennial allotment, gave In- diana three congressmen with the act of January 3. 1822. The map defines the boundaries of these three congressional districts. It will be noticed that nearly all the territory north of the Wabash river was still held by the Indians in 1822. The capital of the state was still located at Corydon, the first legislative session at Indianapolis not opening until January, 1825.
All the northern part of the state etill owned by Indians
Miemi Reservation
Randolph
Delawa
Webash 1st.
2nd
3rd.
Henry
Wayne
Parke
Marion
Rush
ayett
Union
vago
Putnam
Franklin
Owen
Decatur
Bartholomew
Sullivan
Ripley
Greene
Jennings
Jeckson
Lawrence
Switzer- land
Daviess
Knox
Scott
Washington
Orange
Clark
Pike
Gibson
Dubois
Crawford
V
Van- Fwarrick
Perry
der-
burg
Spencer
Of January 3, 1822
By Ernest V. Shockley
Dearborn
Knox
Lawrence
Jennings
Jackson
Stritzer- I land
Clark
after the United States had purchased central Indiana from the Indians. The map also shows all Indian ces- sions made previously.
Poscy
Earrison
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS established by the act
Morgan
Johneon Shelby
Monroe
Jefferson
10
Indiana in 1830 and 1833
The population of Indiana doubled between 1820 and 1830, increas- ing from 147,178 to 343,031, an increase of 133.1 per cent. By 1832 the Indian title to all their lands in the state had been extinguished with the exception of a part of the Miami Reserve. The map of 1822 shows forty-four organized counties and by the close of the legislative session of 1832-33 twenty-two more had been added to the state, making a total of sixty-six counties. As fast as the Indian titles were extinguished the territory thus secured was either organized into new counties, added to counties already organized, or attached to existing counties which were to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction over definite portions of terri- tory. It is to be noticed that two of the present counties south of the National Road were still unorganized in 1833, namely, Brown and Ohio, the former being created in 1836 and the latter in 1844.
As has been stated before, Indiana had only one congressman from 1816 to 1822, at which time the state was allotted three congressmen. Following the census of 1830 the state was redistricted (January 8, 1833)
to provide for seven congressmen, the number allowed by Congress, and the state continued to have this number until 1842, when three additional congressmen were allotted to the state. No change was made in the number until 1872, at which time thirteen, the present number, was first established.
Between 1833 and 1840 twenty-one counties were organized, their creation being in the following order: Huntington, Miami, White, Wabash, Porter, Adams, Jay, Noble, Fulton, Marshall, Brown, Kosci- usko, Lake, Steuben, Dekalb, Wells, Jasper, Whitley, Blackford, Pulaski and Benton-an average of three each year. During the decade ending in 1840 the population of the state doubled, increasing from 343,031 to 685,866. Ohio, Tipton and Howard. counties were organized in 1844; Starke in 1850, and Newton, the ninety-second county, in 1859. No changes have been made in county boundaries since Newton was or- ganized.
[].kbart
St. Joseph
To St. Joseph
Still held by
To Cass
To
Allen
the Indians
A116n
Cass
To
Carroll
Carroll
Miami
To Delaware
Reservation
Warren
Tippe- canoe
Ladi-
Tippecanoe
son
Delaware
Fount- sin
TO
Randolph
Montgom- ery
Hendricks Hamilton ---
Henry
Fancock
Wayne
Hend- ricke
Marion
Parke
Putnam
Rush
Fay-
ion
Morgar.
Morgan
Franklin
Vigo
Clay
Clay
Franklin
Vigo
Decatur
Ower
Monroe
Bartholomew
Monroe
Sullivan
Ripley
Sullivan
Ripley
Dear- born
Greene
Jackson
nings
Jaokeph
Lawrence
Lawrence
Switzer- land
Daviess
Jeffereon.
Daviess
Knox
Washington
tin
Kashington Scott
Orange
orange.
Clark
Pike
Duboie
Dubois
Indiena in 1830,
Gibeon
Crawford
Gibson
Crawford
Har- rison
Van-
Warrick
Perry
der-
? Posey
burgh
Spencer
The territory marked "to" various counties wae attached to them for civil and crim- inal jurisdiction.
Van-
Werriok
der- burgb
Spencer
INDIANA IN 1833
By Ernest V. Shockley
By Ernest V. Shockley
To St. Joeepb
ilien
To Carroll
To Laesj
"To Grant
Cae's
To Warren
Carroll
Miami Reservation
Grant
Del&- To ware ; Randolph
Warren
Clinton
Delaware
5
Fountain
Montgomery
Boone
Hamilton
6
Henry
Wayne
Parke
Merrion
Hanoook
Putnam
Hendrioke
Fay
Rueh
ette
Union
Shelby
Johneon
4
Owed
Decatur
Bartholomew
.Dearborn
Græene
Jennings
Switzer- land
Jefferson
Soott
Knox
Mer-
Clark
Pike
Floyd
Floy
Un-
Shelby
John- son
ette
Vermillion
Madison
Randolph
gonBoedfiTE
To Elkhart
Elkhart
To Allen
Perry
Poeey
umIBR
Jen-
To
1
11
Early Transportation Facilities in Indiana-Rivers, Highways, Canals and Railroads
The rivers and streams of Indiana furnished the means by which most of the early inhabitants of the state reached it and they afforded the only means which enabled them to reach outside markets with their products. The Ohio on the south, the Mau- mee and its tributaries in the northeast, the St. Joseph on the north, the Wabash on the west and north central part, the White and its two main branches through southwestern and central part, Whitewater in the southeast, and numerous smaller rivers and streams, tributary to those mentioned, all formed a network of waterways which was directly responsible for the early growth of the state. The Legislature appropriated thousands of dollars to keep these rivers and streams free from obstructions and thereby enabled farmers to have the means of getting their pro- duce to market. Even such counties as Monroe and Brown had stream and river connection with the outside world.
While nature with a generous prodigality had thus provided a means of easy transportation, it was left to man to construct highways, canals and railroads. An examination of the commis- sioners' records of the early days discloses the fact that more than half of their deliberations were concerned with the laying out of highways, or "cartways," as they often called them. Early history makes frequent reference to "traces" and long before the National Road reached Indiana, settlers were reaching their homes by way of the Whetzel, Carolina, Ballinger or Vincennes traces. When Indiana came into the Union in 1816, Congress provided that five per cent. of the net sales from public lands should be devoted to the construction of roads. Three per cent. was granted the state, while Congress reserved the other two per cent. to use in building the National Road. The half million dollars which Indiana derived from this source enabled the state to open thousands of early roads, while the sum reserved by Con- gress was sufficient, with subsequent appropriations on its part. to construct the National Road westward as far as Vandalia, Illinois, the road being completed through Indiana in the thirties.
Another important highway, constructed in part with the aid of Congress, was the Michigan Road. When Congress pur- chased a large tract from the Pottawatomie Indians in 1826 in the north central part of the state, it ceded to the state a suffi- cient amount of land to construct a road from Lake Michigan to the Ohio river. Not to be outdone in generosity the Indians granted the state in addition one section of contiguous land for each mile of the tract ceded by them to the state. On its part, the state agreed to donate one section of unsold land for each mile south of the Wabash river. The . road, located by the Legislature in 1830, started at Michigan City, passed through the cities of South Bend, Logansport, Indianapolis and Greens- burg, and thence south to Madison on the Ohio. It was opened through its entire length by the middle of the thirties.
These two roads-the National and Michigan-are the only roads which have received a direct subsidy from Congress, although a recent act of Congress has made it possible for the state to receive government aid for road construction as soon as it is provided with a state highway commission.
While the state and national expenditure on early roads in the state reached a large sum, it is not to be compared to the lavish amount spent on canal construction. If the practicability of the railroad had been as- sured in the middle of the thirties, Indiana could have saved itself ten million dollars, but as it was, the feverish anxiety of the state to indulge in this kind of an artificial waterway, led it to embark in a system of internal improvements in 1836, which brought it to bankruptcy in less than four years. Not all of this staggering amount was spent on canals, although by far the largest portion of it was expended in this direction, railroads and highways receiving a lamentably small proportion of it.
LAKE MICHIGAN
SOUTH
BEND
MICHIGAN CM
LAGRANGE
STEVBEN
LA PORTE
ST. JOSEPH
ELKHART
PORTER
DE KALB
STARKE
KOSCIUSKO
-
NEWTON
FULTON
WHITLEY
PULASKI
ALLEN
CASS
LOGANSPORT
FERU
WELLS
WHITE
WABASH
HUNTING- -TON
ADAMS
JASPER
MIAMI
GRANT
CARROLL
JAY
LAFAYETTE
WARREN
CLINTON
MICHIGAN
CENTRA
DELAWARE
HAMILTON
RANDOLPH
BOONE
0000
MADISON
FOUNTAIN
CRAWFORDSVILLE
VERMILION
MONTGOMERY
WAYNE
MARION
HANCOCK
ROAD
CAMBRIOLE
PARKE
PUTNAM
NATIONAL
INDIANAPOLIS
CITY
VIE
L-
MORGAN
JOHNSON
TERRE HAUTE
CLAY
FRANKLI
OWEN
BARTHOLOMEW
STRA
MONROE
SULLIVAN
COBLOOMINGTON
LAWRENCE
RIPLEY
GREENE
JACKSON
JENNINGS
LAWRENCE
RBEDFORD
SWITZERLAND
DAVIESS MARTIN
JEFFERSON
MADISON
VINCOCHE
INCH
WASHINGTON SCOTT
SALEM
PAOLI
CLARK
ORANGE
P
KF
DUBOIS
CRAWFORD
FLOYD
NEW ALBANY
JEFFERSONVILLE
GIBSON
HARRISON
VANDER
POSEY
-BURC
WARRICK
E.V. SHOCKLEY
10
SPENCER
VAINSVILLE
It is not possible in this brief sketch to discuss in detail all these canals. railroads and highways, which the state built, or attempted to build, from 1830 to 1850.
The most important and the most expensive project was the Wabash and Erie canal. It was made possible by the congressional act of 1827. which offered the state 1,457,238 acres, or twice as much land as was set aside for the common schools, for the construction of the canal. Ohio built the canal from Lake Erie up the Maumee river to the state line (a distance of 84 miles). and Indiana constructed it from that point to Ft. Wayne, thence down the Wabash river to Terre Haute, thence across Vigo, Clay and Greene counties to Point Commerce (a section known as the Cross Cut canal), thence south through Daviess, Pike. Gibson, Warrick and Vanderburgh counties to Evansville (a dis- tance of 375 miles). That part of the canal from Point Commerce to Evansville was a portion of the Central canal which was planned to tra- verse the central part of the state, starting from the Wabash and Erie canal at Peru, passing through Indianapolis and thence southwest along White river to Point Commerce, where it was to connect with the Cross Cut canal from Terre Haute.
Work began on the Wabash and Eric canal in the spring of 1832 and it was completed to Lafayette by July, 1843, and to Evansville ten years later. It was scarcely completed before floods ruined it in many places and rendered through traffic impossible. The Wabash
RUSH
UNION
GREEN CASTLE
SHELBY
FAYETT
AGO
LIMIANOS 3++15
GREENSBURG
ATUR
DECAT
VINCENNES
WASHINGTON
DEARBORN
KNOX
LAFAYETTE
HENRY
HENDRICKS
INDIAN RESERVATION
TIPPE CANOE
MIAMI
CANAL
NOBLE
FORT WAYNE
INDIANA IN 1836
WE
PERRY
12
railroad paralleled the canal in the northern part of the state and, cut- ting its rates to a point where the canal could not compete with it, the canal was soon forced out of business. It passed from the control of the state in 1847 to the bondholders, and was relinquished by them February 12, 1877, for the sum of $96,260. And the state had paid out for its construction and upkeep the sum of $8,259,244.
The Central canal, which has been mentioned above, was projected to start from Peru, on the Wabash and Eric canal, follow the Mississin- ewa to a point below Marion in Grant county, thence through Grant and Madison counties to White river, thence through Indianapolis and on down White river to Point Commerce in Greene county, where it was to meet the Cross Cut canal from Terre Haute, and thence con- tinte on south to Evansville on the Ohio. The canal was surveyed and excavation commenced at several places, but the only part above Point Commerce completed fell within Marion county. The state spent $882,- 088.93 on surveys and actual excavation, and then in 1859 sold it to Shoup, Raridan and Newman for $2,435, who, in turn, disposed of it to the Indianapolis Water Company. It now furnishes all the water used by the city of Indianapolis and is in better condition than when it was completed in the forties.
The Whitewater canal was first ordered surveyed in 1833 and the following year the surveyor reported a tentative route from Cambridge City to Lawrenceburg, a distance of seventy-six miles. The question of construction lay dormant until 1836, when the internal improvement bill of the Legislature ordered it as part of the general system of canals. Work on the canal was begun in September, 1836, and three years later it was in operation from Lawrenceburg to Brookville. It was sold in 1842 to Henry S. Vattelle, of Cincinnati, and others, who com- pleted it to Connersville in 1845 and to Cambridge City the following year. Later it was constructed to Hagerstown, six miles north of Cam- bridge City. The valley of the river proved to be too narrow to main- tain the canal against the annual floods which swept down it, and as a result the canal was never a success. The floods of 1847 and 1848 prac- tically ruined it, and although it was used for some local traffic later, its usefulness as a means of communication with the Ohio was destroyed forever. It was sold to the Indianapolis & Cincinnati railroad in 1865 for the sum of $165,348.12. And the state had expended for its con- struction and upkeep a total of $1,920,175.13.
Two other proposed canals remain to be mentioned. The first was the canal projected between Lake Michigan and Ft. Wayne. The reports of a preliminary survey made in 1829 were lost, while the sec- ond survey (1835-1841) resulted in nothing more tangible than a wagon load of surveyors' field notes and the expenditure of $156,323 on the part of the state. The canal as finally determined upon started at Michigan City, passed through South Bend, thence east along the St. Joseph river to Elkhart, thence southeast along the Elkhart river to Goshen, thence eastward to Rome City, and from thence through Kendal- ville to Ft. Wayne. While there was some actual work done on the canal, the only evidence left today of the project is the artificial lake at Rome City, which was to act as a feeder for the canal, and a few miles of excavation south of that point. It is interesting to note that within the past few years there has been considerable agitation-in the northern part of the state-to build a canal over the same general route. The second proposed canal in the scheme of 1836 was one con- necting the Whitewater and Central canals, the canal to run from Hagers- town, the northern terminus of the Whitewater canal, to Muncie and
thence down White river to unite with the Central canal at the con- fluence of Pipe creek and White river. It never got beyond the sur- veyed stage.
A brief summary of the state's part in the construction of canals has been given and it now remains to notice its benevolence in regard to highways and railroads. The part played by the state and national government in the construction of the National and Michigan roads in Indiana has been related. The internal improvement bill passed by the Legislature in 1836 provided for two highways: one from New Albany to Vincennes, by way of Greenville, Fredericksburg, Paoli, Mt. Pleasant and Washington ; the other from Jeffersonville to Crawfordsville by way of New Albany, Salem, Bedford, Bloomington and Greencastle.
The New Albany-Vincennes road was surveyed 105 miles in length and it was estimated that it would cost $1,590,747 to construct it. Work began on the road in 1836 and by the time the state withdrew from it in 1839, it had expended the sum of $696,516.47 and had built it from New Albany to Paoli, a distance of forty-one miles, and graded twenty- seven miles on the other side of Paoli. The Jeffersonville-Crawfords- ville road was surveyed 158 miles in length, but the extremely broken character of the southern part of the road made it very expensive to construct. When work was suspended on the road in 1839 the state had expended $372,733 and had graded sections from Salem south and Greencastle north. The final report showed that most of this amount had gone to the surveyors.
The state's share in the construction of railroads did not prove any more successful than its part in the building of highways and canals. The Legislature agreed to build a railroad from Madison, on the Ohio river, to Indianapolis and active work on the road began in the spring of 1836. The total length of the road was 144 miles and when the state had expended $1,493,013 on it and had constructed only twenty-eight and a half miles, it decided that it had had enough of railroad building. In 1840 the Legislature leased the railroad to Bran- ham & Company for one year and three years later it passed into the hands of a private company. The state also extended assistance to the Lawrenceburg & Indianapolis railroad to the amount of $232,274, the Legislature of 1835 agreeing to take $500,000 worth of stock in the proposed road. The state's appropriation went into the hands of the railroad's rapacious promoters, no work at all having been done toward the actual construction of the road.
Thus concludes the story of the state's efforts to build highways, canals and railroads in Indiana. It was a costly experiment, but it was not all loss. All the canals have long since been abandoned, but the roads and railroads continued to be used. It is needless to attempt to follow through the wilderness of highway legislation which has been passed since the fifties. Millions of dollars have been wasted on road construction and the state is just beginning to recognize the fact. The advent of the automobile has emphasized the demand for good roads and the state for the first six months of 1916 received $731,498.96 from license fees on automobiles, all of which is to be used on road con- struction. The Bankhead act, recently passed by Congress, provided for a federal appropriation for road construction to all states having a state highway commission. Indiana is one of the five states in the Union without such a commission and is therefore not in a position yet to receive government aid. However, the 1917 Legislature will undoubtedly create some kind of a highway commission and place Indiana in line for any federal appropriations.
13
LAND SURVEYS
The present system of government land surveys was adopted by Congress on May 7, 1785, ald has been used in the description of all lands surveyed in the United States since that date. It is known as the rectangular system, that is, al distances are measured from two lines set at right angles to each other. These two lines, from which all measure-
Diagram of a section of land One mi:3 square, or 640 acres
N. E. 4
160 A.
West à 320 A.
N. & of S. E. ₺
80 A.
N. 2 of S. w. } of S. E. 4 20 A.
S. E. } of S. E. ¿ 40 A.
s. ¿ of
of
S. E. 1 20A.
ments are made, are the princi
meridian, running north and south, and the base line, running eas und west. Each principal meridian, which is established by astronom, 1 observations, has its own base line, and these two right-angled lines .m the basis for the surveys of all land within the territory which th control. Prior to the congressional act of 1785, lands were described metes and bounds, a system which is still in use in those states where, ids had been sold or granted before the present rectangular system w into operation. Surveys based on metes and bounds are not satisfa [y and have resulted in endless con- fusion and litigation as old lan irks change.
All of the land in Indiana. e, ot that included in Clark's grant on the Ohio river, the French gran bout Vincennes and a few Indian reservations scattered over the sta, was surveyed under the rectangular system. The state falls into two tions for surveying purposes. That part of the state east of the Greenle treaty line of 1795-a line whose direction is determined by the wern boundary of Dearborn county- was surveyed from the first prif u meridian (the Ohio-Indiana state line) and from a base line bek the Ohio river in Kentucky. This means that all of Dearborn and ( "counties and parts of Switzerland, Franklin, Union, Wayne, Randolp id Jay counties fall within this sur- vey, commonly known as the Ohio vey. The remainder of the state is surveyed from the second princij. meridian (located a short distance west of the middle of the state, foing, as it does, the western boun- daries of two counties, Marshall andulton) and from a base line about 24 miles north of the Ohio river, nured on the principal meridian.
When the principal meridians base lines have been established the next step in the surveying of thand is to lay off what are known as townships. These are six miles tare and are called congressional townships in contradistinction to civ wnships, which may or may not be six miles square. The surveyor quences at the principal meridian and at intervals of six miles, runs brand south lines parallel to the principal meridian throughout the terry controlled by the meridian. These north and south lines are ky) as range lines, and the six-
illed a range. The ranges are
mile strip between the range lines a: numbered from one upward to as mi fix-mile divisions as the territory controlled by the meridian covers, [numbering, always indicated in Roman notation, beginning at the pal meridian. Ranges east of the meridian are designated as Rang ast, Range II East, etc .; those on the west are designated as Rangel est, etc.
The next step in surveying is th ning of township lines. Com-
mencing on the base line, again at intervals of six miles, lines are run east and west parallel to the base line. These east and west lines are known as township lines. Like the ranges, townships are numbered from one upward, beginning at the base line, the numbering, however, being in Arabic notation : thus, Township 1 North, Township 8 South, etc.
The crossing of the north and south lines with the east and west lines form squares, and these squares-six miles square-are designated as townships, that is "congressional" and not "civil" townships. In the description of a township it is necessary to refer both to its range and township; for instance, the township in the northeast corner of the crossing of the principal meridian and the base line will be Range I North, Township 1 East.
The township is the largest subdivision of land established by the government surveyors. When the township, a six mile square tract, is laid off, the surveyors proceed to locate what are known as section lines. These are run at intervals of one mile, north and south and east and west, and divide the township into thirty-six tracts, each one mile square, the tract being called a section. Finally, the government surveyor divides the section into four equal parts, called quarter sections. All further subdivisions must be made by local authorities. A perfect township contains 23,040 acres or 36 square miles. Each section con- tains 640 acres, or one square mile, and each quarter section contains 160 acres.
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