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

Author: Cottman, George S. (George Streiby), 1857-1941; Hyman, Max R. (Max Robinson), 1859-1927
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis : M. R. Hyman
Number of Pages: 542


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


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


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.