USA > Indiana > Centennial history and handbook of Indiana : the story of the state from its beginning to the close of the civil war, and a general survey of progress to the present time > Part 23
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Another source of help was the "State Bakery" established at Indianapolis for the purpose of supplying the camps there. In 1864 and 1865 it distributed free to soldiers' families 63,540 loaves, worth 10 cents each.
All of these aids, however, were hardly ade- quate to the increasing needs as the war dragged on, and as late as March 4, 1865, an act for the "relief of the families of soldiers, seamen and marines"* was passed by the Legislature.
This law, in brief, authorized the collection of three mills on each dollar's valuation of prop- erty and one dollar on each taxable poll, to be ap- plied as specified. The fund thus raised was ap- portioned to the various counties in sums ranging from $2,278.56 for Benton to $42,605.84 for Marion. The total number of beneficiaries (in "families" only) were 203,724. The township trustee was the disbursing officer and was em- powered to determine who came under the pro- visions of the act. The law did not operate long, as the war ended soon after its passage.
Temporary and Permanent "Homes."-The'
* This act also included relief for sick and wounded soldiers.
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
149
first thing in the way of a soldiers' "home," within the State, was one provided and equipped by the general government and the State at Indi- anapolis, in 1862. The capital was the central and chief rendezvous for the State, and of the large numbers of soldiers who came and went many, from sickness or other causes, could not be cared for at the military camps. The building, erected in a grove near White river, was fur- nished and managed by the Sanitary Commission, and it aimed to be a place where the soldiers in transit could get a taste of "home" comforts, free of cost. In 1863 a "Ladies' Home" was also estab- ished for the benefit of soldiers' wives and fami- lies who came to Indianapolis to meet and visit with them.
At the close of the war there were many men disabled beyond self-help, to whom aid was justly due, and the question arose of a permanent home for those who might take advantage of it. Again an appeal was made to the people and with the funds thus raised by voluntary subscriptions a property containing fifty-four acres at Knights- own, Henry county, was purchased. It had been a resort on account of medicinal springs there, and a large hotel building and several cottages were on the land. In the spring of 1866 these were occupied as a home for soldiers and also for soldiers' orphans. On the 4th of July, 1867, the corner-stone of a large brick building was laid under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic. Previous to that the State had adopted it as one of the public benevolent institutions. Subsequently the veterans were removed from this place and it became a home and school for the orphans of soldiers and sailors.
By an act of 1890 the United States established a branch of the National Soldiers' Home at Ma- rion, and another by the State was established hear Lafayette by a legislative act of 1895. Sev- enty-five thousand dollars were appropriated for the erection of the main buildings at the La- fayette home, and, in addition to these, various counties have put up cottages.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATTER
The "Underground Railroad."-The "Under- ground Railroad," a famous feature of the anti- slavery crusade for twenty years or more preced- ing the Civil war, was a system of transportation
routes over which fugitive slaves were secretly conveyed from the Ohio river into Canada, where they were safe from the slavery laws of the United States. These routes, as they were estab- lished in Indiana, have been traced by Mr. Lewis Falley of Lafayette, whose map is here produced. Cincinnati, Lawrenceburg, Madison, New Al- bany, Leavenworth and Evansville were the points where the fleeing slaves could cross the Ohio with some hope of finding friends, who
Flint
Port. Huron
MICHIGAN
Lansing
Battle Creek
Detroit
Kalamazoo
Jackson
Ann
Niles
L.ERIE
Plymouth
Auburn
Ft. Wayne
Rensselafer
Robins on Farm
Deicstur
Wabash
River
Lafayette
OHIO
Darlington
Farm
V.
Wijnchester
Crawfords V.
Westfield
Blooming.
Richmond
dale
Brazil B
Terre
Green sburg
Haute
Hamilton
Bloomington
L Cincinnati
(Lawrenceburg)
Vincennes
White
R.
Madison
South Nen
Alb
Jeffersonville
Leavenworth'
Louisville KENTUCKY
Evansville
Map of the "Underground Railroad" in Indiana. -By Lewis Falley, of Lafayette.
would help them northward, and these friends would convey them from one "station" to an- other, usually by night, or sometimes concealed beneath what seemed to be a wagonload of pro- duce on its way to market. The "stations" were friendly houses where the fugitives were con- cealed until they could be safely forwarded. The people most zealous in this risky humanitarian work were the Quakers, and the most famous of the various routes was the one that traversed the chief Quaker settlements in the eastern part of the State. Wayne county was the most con- spicuous anti-slavery center, and Newport, now
FRussia
Hollingsworth
Logansport
Portland
o Indianapoli's
White
Columbus
Brownstown
Salem
Arbor
South Bend
150
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
Fountain City, about nine miles north of Rich- mond, was its hub.
Levi Coffin, the most active and persistent of the crusaders against slavery, lived there. As early as 1840, Arnold Buffum, an abolitionist Friend from Massachusetts, visited Newport and started the movement for the organizing of anti- Slavery societies, and these were formed and openly attended. there being no attempt at se- crees. In the Indians Quarterly Magazine of His- tory for September, 1907. an article by Dr. O. N. Huff, on "The Unnamed Anti-Slavery Heroes of
Old Newport," revives the memory of many who courageously and actively entered the fight against slavery and who helped many a black man to liberty.
An autobiography of Levi Coffin gives much information as to the operation of the "railroad" in that part of the State, but data as to the other routes are but fragmentary .*
* As late as 1857, it is known that a man by the name of Pur- . dum, in Hamilton county, bequeathed one thousand dollars, as stated in his will, "to be used to assist fugitive slaves to freedom in the North."
View in Brown County, northeast of Nashville.
PART II
A General Survey of Indiana as Developed Since the Civil War
CHAPTER XV
CONDITIONS SINCE 1870-GENERAL SURVEY OF PERIOD
Immediate Influence of the War .- In a study of "Indianapolis and the Civil War,"* the author, Mr. John H. Holliday, speaks of the influence of the war upon the capital city. "The grim era," he says, "closed upon a new Indianapolis. The quiet town with its simple life was gone forever and in its place was the hustling city with new ideas, new aspirations, new ways. Much more than half the population were newcomers. As it had changed materially, it had changed in other respects. Its life was different. There was more luxurious living and ostentation. The inevitable demoralization of war had to be reck- oned with and both morality and religion were affected. Hundreds of young men had become addicted to intemperance and the general moral tone had been lowered. Extravagance had in- creased in many things and was driving out the former simplicity. Without the war In- dianapolis would have changed at some time, but it would have taken a generation for it instead of being hammered out in the white heat of the four years' conflict."
This, with little modification, might be applied to the State at large, and the complex results make an interesting phase of our history. On the one hand, approximately 25,000 men, the flower of the land, physically, had been lost to the State, and more than that many millions of dol- lars had been expended that, if applied to the arts of peace, would, it seems, have vastly advanced our progress ; and in addition the moral set-back, though it can not be calculated, was by no means negligible. On the other hand, the stress and excitement of those four years appears to have been a tremendous awakener-a stimulus that engendered new energy and created new condi- tions. One writer (Dunn) states that "to many men the war experience had been a liberal educa- tion. The soldiers had much to do besides fight- ing. There were roads to make, bridges to build, railroad and telegraph lines to replace during the great contest, and there were few soldiers who
* Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. iv.
did not return with increased ability to do any- thing that came to hand."* During and immedi- ately after the war period prices were high, prop- erty values rose, there was much paper currency afloat, and this begat business activity. In July of 1865, we are told, there were in Indianapolis "thirty-four wholesale houses running, with five more to open up as soon as buildings could be fin- ished." Rents rose to unheard-of figures ; "more banks and insurance companies were organized, railroads were projected, a steamboat built on the river, real estate boomed, and expansion was everywhere" (Holliday). Not only an expanded currency but an increased protective tariff en- couraged the growth and multiplication of manu- facturing industries, and this not only wrought a great change in the industrial character of the State, which had previously been largely agricul- tural, but by inducing considerable foreign immi- gration the character of the population was much modified. In 1870 the population exceeded that of 1860 by 330,209, and the next four decades added something over a million more-a growth that could hardly have been approached in that period under the old agricultural regime, since by 1860 the lands of the State were pretty well taken up.
Politics of the Period .- If Indiana's political history following the war had any bearing upon the State's real development, the fact is not very obvious and hence we give but little space to it. The aftermath of the conflict was, of course, bitterness and hate between the opposing factions that had existed here, and the State cam- paigns of 1866 and 1868 were particularly acri- monious. The Republicans remained in the sad- dle until 1873, and the Republican party in In- diana, like that party at large, was not above abusing the power and prestige it had gained by the successful prosecution of the war. The Dem- ocratic minority, being made of the same sort of stuff, the resultant "legislation" was a game of petty chicanery. For example, when the fifteenth
* History of Indianapolis.
153
LAPORTE
JOSEPH
ELKHART.
AKE
NOBLE
DEKALB
MARSHALL
STARKE,
.
WHITLE
ALLEN
JASPER
SWABASH
TINGTOT
ADAMS
NUMBER OF INHABITANTS PER SQUARE MILE
LESS THAN 2
WARREN
2 TO 6
RANDOLPH
AMI
6 TO 18
BOONE
HANCOCK HENRY
WAYHE
PARKE
45 TO 90
PARKE
MARION
PUTNAM
PUTNAM
RUSH
MORGAN
SHELBY
VIGO
LICLAY
MORGAN
VIGO
CLA
FRANKLIN
OWEN
OWEN
SULLIVAN
BROWN
SULLIVAN
OREENE
as
OREENE
JENNINGS/RIPLEY
OHIO
JACKSON
SLAND
KNOX DAVIES8
JEFFERSON
KNOX DAVIES8
ORANGE
CLARK
PIKE
DUBOIS CRAWFORD
GIBSON
PIKE DUBOIS CRAWFORD
GIBSON
OYO
EL
POSEY
SPENCER
POSEY
SPENCER
Total Population
LAPORTE
ELKHARTY
LAKE
PORTER
MARSHALL
STARKE
KOSCIUSKO TX
WHITLEY
ALLEN
KJASPERT PULASKI & FULTONX
NEWTON
WHITE
CAS8
BENTON
WEL
BENTON
MIAMI
CARROLL
TIPPECANOE
GRANT
HOWARD
BLACKA FORD
CLINTON
TIPTON
MADISON
RANDOLPH
HAMILTON
BOONE
HENDRICKS
HANCOCK
FAYETTE UNION
JOHNSON SHELBY
DECATUR
BROWN
HOLOMEW
RIPLEY
DEARBORN-
MONROE
DEARBORN
LAWRENCE
JACKSON I
JENNING
OHIO
SWITZER
MARTIN
SCOTT
MARTIN
LAWRENCE
LAND
WASHINGTON ORANGE
CLARK
==
FLOYD
VANDERE
BURG
WARRICK
HARRISON
PERRY
WARRICKY
PERRY
HARRISON
Rural Population*
Density of Population of Indiana by Counties in 1910. (These Charts from Census Report of 1910.)
* Rural population is defined as that residing outside of incorporated places having 2,500 inhabitants or more.
WABASH
UNTINGTONK
WELLS ADAMS.
FOUNTAIN "TIPPECANOE
ORAN
BLACK FORD
WARREN
ON
MADISON
DELAWARE
FOUNTAIN T.
MONTGOMERY.
HENRY
HENDRICKS MARION
RUSH
JOHNSON
FRANKLIN
DECATUR
ST UNION
90 AND OVER
ST. JOSEPH
ALAGRANGE STEUBEN
PORTER
KOSCIUSKO
NOBLE
DEKALB
PULASKI
NEWTON
WHITE
UNT
MONTGOMERY
18 TO 45
WAYNE
MONROE
THOLOMEW
SWITZER
JEFFERSON,
WASHINGTON
VANDER BURG
LAGRANGE STEUBEN
DELAWARE
ST.
LAGRANGE |STEUBEN
LAPORTE
ELKHART.
-0.9% 4 -8.2%
AKE
YOBLE
1 DEKALB
-2.6%
ST
MARSHALL! -3.8%
‹KOSCIUSKO
-4.0%
WHITLEY -2.5%
ALLEN
JASPER!
-5.1%
-3.3% €
WABASH -4.6% .
NGT
WHITE -8.0% (
CASS
.
UN
3-4.4%
DECREASE
BENTON
/CARROLL
WELLS
-3.3%
-9.9%
GRANT
BLACKA FORD L
HOWARD
-0.0%
[8.1%.
JAY
WARREN
-6.9%
-4.2%
CLINTON
TIPTON
-4.2%
CLINTON
TIPTON
-14.5%
-.
-6.4%
-8.7%
5 TO 15 PER CENT
OL
HAMILTON
15 TO 25 PER CENT
..
-12.0%
.
. HENRY
-8.3%
PARKE
MARION
-3.4%
:PUTNAMSHENDRICKB
-2.1%
RUSH -7.6%
2%
-6.1%
SHELBY
VIGO
CLAY
-10.5%
VIGO
FRANKLIN
.
-8.4%
OWEN
OWEN
-.
-7.2%
-7.2%
BROWNI -18.0%.
RTHO
[RIPLEY /
GREENE
-2.2%
GREENE
-2.2%
4
OHIO
JACKSON -8.7%
..
-7.2%
-10.6%
Aº LAND
SCO
KNOXDAVIESS.
COT
6.1 RANGET
-10.1%
CLARK -0.5%
-4.9%
PIKE
CRAWFORD
CRAWFORD
GIBSON
1-3.9%!
1-10.5%
-2.5%
-10.5%
-1.5%
iFL
WARRICK
PERRY
-1.9%
·- 3.7%
SPENCER
1 -7.7%
Total Population
LAPORTE
-1.1%
· - 10.8% ---
LAKE
NOBLE
. -5.7%
I OEKALB -7.7%
MARSHALLI
-5.2%
-6.4%
-
JASPER
PULASKI
FULTON -3.7%*
-6.3%
ALLEN -8.4%
-8.7%
1
-5.8% CA88
WHITE
-8.0%/
+7.2%L · MIAMI
.J-8. 1%
..
BENTON
CARROLL
WELLS
-3.3%
-- 3.9%
GRANT
HOWARD
-13.7%
1-15.3*
JAY
WARREN
TIPPECANOE -11.7%
-19.070-
.
DELAWARE
-4.4%
·RANDOLPH
HAMILTON
-3.1%
BOONE
-9.7%
-6.3%
HENRY
25 TO 50 PER CENT
PARKE . -3.4%
: PUTNAM HENDRICKS
MARION
-
50 PER CENT AND OVER
-4.5%
RUSH -4.0%
7.2%
-5.1% CLAY
-12.5%
FRANKLIN
DECATUR 1-7.7%
..
SULLIVAN
XIIO
-18.00₺
BARTHOLO
JENNINGS / RIPLEY
DEARBORN -2.3%
-12.7%
----- 8.4%
SWITZER
SWITZER
Mº LAND
JEFFERSON,
KNOX DAVIES8. -4.5% ? -8.9%
-7.2%
. MARTIN -12.0%
JEFFERSON
-16.3%
MARTIN -12.0%
-10.1%
CLARK
PIKE ; -3.9%
DUBOIS
DUBOIS -2.5%
FLOYD
·- 31.35
VANDER.
. WARRICK 1-7.7% -8.1%
..
[ PERRY
HARRISON -6.8%
POSEY -8.4%
BU
'SPENCER *8.8%
Rural Population*
Per Cent. of Increase or Decrease of Population of Indiana by Counties, 1900-1910.
* Rural nonulation is defined as that residing outside of incorporated places having 2.500 inhabitants or more.
ST. JOSEPH -3.8% . 0.9% ELKHART.
LAGRANGE STEUBEN
PORTERN
(KOSCIUSKO
WABASH WHITLEY
HUNTINGTON
:3.6%
ADAMS
-4.0%
L
INCREASE
LESS THAN 5 PER CENT
VERMILION FOUNTAIN
-4.7%
MADIBON -T.470 FOUNTAIN -7.3% (MONTGOMERY -12.4% BOONE -12.2% <- 11.6% .* o . WERMILION -0.8% UNION SHELB MORGANA JOHNSON . 3 DECATUR W-3.7% WABROWN-2.8% YOLOMEWI 1 SULLIVAN MONROE DEARBORN .- 3.6% -8.4% LAWRENCE JACKSON JENNINGS -7.270 -9.9* HANCOCK -0.870 AYETTEY UNION ORG -2.0% JOHNSON T HANCOCK =1 2.8% MADISON -9.0% NEWTON -6.1% -8.7% . PULASKI .. FULTON -7.0% . . ADAMS -1.8% WARS 3-2.1% -6.4% ---- 16.3% FLOYD! POSEY -- 3.0% EVANDER BURGI RC HARRISON -6.8% WASHINGTON . WASHINGTON. . PLACKI FORD T. JOSEPH PORTER 156 CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA amendment to the Federal constitution, giving the negroes the right of suffrage and overriding all State laws on this question came up for ratifi- ration the Democratic senators and representa- tives resigned in a body blocking not only this, but all other legislation. Lieutenant-Governor Baker, then acting governor in Morton's absence, took proper steps to fill the vacancies. Again the amendment came up and again the Democrats attempted to bolt but were cunningly overreached by locking the senate doors while the recalcitrant members were within, thus securing an enforced quorum for the business in hand. Tactics of pretty much the same complexion were exercised in the house, and the votes of the Republicans passed the resolution of ratification. The fol- lowing session, the Democrats being in the ma- jority, an attempt was made to rescind the reso- lution. The same irregular methods were employed, with the parties reversed, but without the same success. Meanwhile the interests of the public were a secondary consideration .* In the fall of 1872 the Democrats secured their first Governor since the election of 1856, Thomas A. Hendricks. After that the political forces were so evenly divided as to the two controlling parties that the years of their respective ascend- ency was almost alternate. This frequent shift- ing of power continues to the present, and it may be said that the uncertainty of tenure of any one party is increased in later years by the weaken- ing of the old rigid party loyalty and the growth of political independence. During this period the State has figured con- spicuously several times in national politics. In 1876 Thomas A. Hendricks was the unsuc- cessful candidate for Vice-President, running on the ticket with Samuel J. Tilden. In 1880 Will- iam 11. English, running with Winfield S. Han- . One of the most notable instances of this sort of flagrant party strife occurred in 1887. Senator Alonzo Greene Smith was president pro tem, of the upper house, Lieutenant-Governor Mahlon D. Manson having resigned. As Governor Gray was a candidate for the I'nited States Senate the question arose whether in the case of his election a pro tem. president of the Senate could legally succeed to the governorship, or whether a duly elected lieutenant governor only was eligible to the office. There was no provision for such a contingency as existed, and to avoid irregularity candidates for the office of lieutenant governor were puit on the ticket at the regular election of 1886. R. S. Robert- son, a Republican, was elected, but the Democratic Senate re- fused to recognize him. The House supported him and admin- istered the oath of office. Between the House and Senate arose a strife amounting to physical conflict. The House refused to act with the Senate, the time of the session was wasted, and the public paid for it all. cock, was the unsuccessful candidate for Vice- President. In 1884 Hendricks again ran, coupled with Grover Cleveland, and this time was elected. Benjamin Harrison was elected President of the United States in 1888, being the only Indiana citizen who has ever attained to that high office, unless his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, be considered an Indianian. In 1902 Charles W. Fairbanks, on the ticket with Theodore Roose- velt, was chosen Vice-President, and in 1912 Thomas R. Marshall succeeded to this office as running mate with Woodrow Wilson. STATISTICAL SURVEY. Increase, Distribution and Character of Pop- ulation .- As a sort of basis or starting point for a study of the State's growth during this devel- opmental period we may appropriately consider that fundamental factor, the population in its various statistical aspects. Increase by Decades and Analysis .- When Indiana became a State in 1816 the population was estimated at about 70,000, having increased to this number from 5,641 in 1800. Since that it has increased to approximately 3,000,000, the last official enumeration, that of 1910, being 2,700,876. The ratio of increase by decades can best be shown by the following table, which starts with the census of 1820: Census of Total Population Increase by Decades 1820 147,178 1820 to 1830. 95,853 1830. 343,031 1830 to 1840. 342,835 1840. 685,866 1840 to 1850. 302,550 1850 988,416 1850 to 1860. 362,012 1860 1,350,428 1860 to 1870. 330,209 1870. 1,680,637 1870 to 1880 297,664 1880 1,978,301 1880 to 1890. 214,103 1890 2,192,404 1890 to 1900. 324,058 1900. 2,516,462 1900 to 1910. 184,414 1910. 2,700,876 From the table it will be seen that the increase ran heaviest from 1830 to 1870. Various causes may be assigned as factors. Up to the latter forties new lands were being acquired from time to time from the Indians and thrown open to settlement ; hence the rapid increase of the agri- cultural population. During the thirties the in- ternal improvement movement brought in a for- eign clement, largely Irish, as laborers upon the public works. From 1850 to 1860, the decade LAPORTE JOSEPH RELKHART' LAKE NOBLE 1 DEKALB MARSHALL STARKE KOSCIUSKO WHITLEY LLEN JASPER FULTON NOTOK .. WHITE A88 UN BENTON MIAMI WELLS . .. GRANT HOWARD .. JAY 6 TO 10 PER CENT 10 TO 15 PER CENT 16 TO 26 PER CENT HAMILTON BOONE . 25 TO 36 PER CENT 35 TO 50 PER CENT 60 PER CENT AND OVER- PUTNAM . RUSH MORGAN VIGO . FRANKLINX DECATURR OWEN BROWN SULLIVAN RIPLEY OREENE ENNINGS OHIO JACKSON JE SWITZER LAND KNOX DAVIES8. ESCOTT ORANGE! CLARK PIKE DUBOIS SCRAWFORD! GIBSON OYO PERRY POSEY UR SPENCER Per Cent. of Foreign Born White in Total Population LAPORTE ELKHART !! LAKE NOBLE DEKALB MARSHALL XE. KOSCIUSKO WHITLEY ALLEN JASPERPULASKI FULTON ABASHKW INGTON WHITE 'CA88 INT BENTON MIAM WELLA CARROLL RANT HOWARD JAY WARREN, CLINTON TIPTON ELAWARE RANDOLPH BOONE . . HENRY WAYNE PARKE MARION MARION 1 NAM RUSH SHELBY 13 VIGO CLA . FRANKLIN DECATUR OWEN SULLIVAN (BROWN BARTHOL JENNINGS RIPLEY OHIO JACKSON -. SWITZER JEFFERSON, KNOX (DAVIESS, . ORANGE CLARK PIKE DUBOIS CRAWFORD GIBSON WARRICK PERRY POSEY VANDER JeURG SPENCER MONROE/ SOLOMEWI DEARBORN GREENE' LAWRENCE MARTIN . WASHINGTON FLOYDI HARRISON WARRICK HARRISON Per Cent. of Native White or Foreign or Mixed Parentage in the Population Proportion of Foreign Born White and Native White of Foreign or Mixed Parentage of Indiana by Counties, 1910. VERMILION FOUNTAIN MONTGOMERY HAMILTON HENDRICKS FAYETTE UNION SHELBY -. MORGAN JOHNSON YET PU HENDRICKS . HENRY WAYNE PARKE MADISON . RANDOLPH VERMILION FOUNTAIN CLINTON . TIPTON -. DELAWARE ) LESS THAN 5 PER CENT BLACK\ FORD WARREN TIPPECANOE" CARROLL WABASH . ADAMS ADAMS BLACKY FORD A TIPPECANOE MADISON HANCOCK JOHNSON HOLOMEW ADEARBORN LAWRENCE JEFFERSON. MARTIN. WASHINGTON VANDER RO LAGRANGE STEUBEN ST. JOSEPHY PORTER NEWTOR NEWTON .. PULASKII PORTERIN LAGRANGE STEUBEN HANCOCK UNION . LAND . MONROE 158 CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA of heaviest increase, the railroad labor, like the canal work of nearly twenty years before, doubt- less played its part. The influx of the forties, which fell below that of the preceding and the next following decades, evidently suffered some check, and this may be accounted for by the fact that during that period the State's enormous debt following the internal improvement col- lapse discouraged immigration. Growth of Urban Population .*- In 1860 only five per cent. of the total population of the State lived in cities and towns. By 1870 the percentage of urban population had doubled, and the increase continued till in 1910 it was 42.4 per cent. (U. S. Census reports). At the latter time the urban population was contained in eighty-one cities and seven incorporated towns. Indianapolis, by far the largest of these, had 233,650 inhabitants; four-Evansville, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Terre Haute-each ex- ceeded 50,000; twenty had from 10,000 to 25,000; twenty-six from 5,000 to 10,000, and thirty from 2,500 to 5,000. As a contrast to this urban growth the rural population has actually decreased. In 1900 it was 1,653,773 and in 1910 it had fallen to 1,557,041, a loss of 96,732. Population as Affected by Manufactures .- The reasons for this great change in the char- acter of the population must, of course, have been industrial; or, more specifically, an increase and multiplication of urban industries. The fig- ures show that in 1850 the total manufactured products of Indiana were valued at $18,725,000. In 1870 they had grown to $100,000,000, and in 1910 to $579,075,000, the State at the latter date ranking ninth in this respect. The manufactur- ing industries, as computed in 1910, employed 218,263 persons, and these, with their families, swelled the urban population, particularly in the larger cities, where by reason of superior trans- portation facilities and various conditions indus- tries best thrived. During the era of natural gas that resource as a cheap fuel was a great factor in swelling the population of the gas belt. Today the area of greatest density is a block of counties stretching from Marion northeast to Allen and eastward to Wayne; the northern tier of counties from Lake to Elkhart ; Vigo on the west, and Vanderburg on the Ohio river. The rank of these counties is largely due to urban growth, the only ones that have gained at all in. rural population for the last ten or fifteen years numbering less than twenty, scattered irregularly ! over the State, though mostly south of the Na- tional road. Elements of Population .- With growth by : immigration the population of the State has be -. come more diversified, though the native whites of American parentage have always been far in excess of any other element and in excess of the ratio in many other States. The negroes in 1910 were 60,320, or 2.2 per cent. of the total. Of foreign-born whites there were 159,322, and of this total more than fifty per cent. were Ger- man, the Irish coming next with 10.4 per cent. Altogether upward of a score of foreign nations have contributed to our residents, ranging in numbers from a few hundreds to as many thou- sands. This foreign element is largely segre- gated in the manufacturing centers, the ratio be- ing largest in Lake county, owing to Gary and contiguous industrial towns. 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.