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 39
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
أعداد ٣
275
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
commissioners met in June, 1839, and decided upon a consolidation, selecting the present site of Rensselaer for the county seat, which was called Newton in accordance with the act, and the orig- inal plat of the newly chosen county seat was filed June 12, 1839. The early history of the county can never be satisfactorily recorded owing to two destructive fires, one which occurred in 1843 and the second in 1864, which practically destroyed all of the records at those periods.
Population of Jasper county in 1890 was 11,185; in 1900 was 14,292, and according to United States Census of 1910 was 13,044, of which 843 were of white foreign birth. There were 2,951 families in the county and 2,915 dwell- ings.
Townships, Cities and Towns .- There are thirteen townships in Jasper county : Barkley, Carpenter, Gillam, Hanging Grove, Jordan, Kan- kakee, Keener, Marion, Milroy, Newton, Union, Walker and Wheatfield. The incorporated cities and towns are Rensselaer, Remington and Wheat- field. Rensselaer is the county seat.
Taxable Property and Polls .- According to the annual report of the Auditor of State from the abstract of the tax duplicate for 1913, the total value of lands and lots in Jasper county was $7,303,610 ; value of improvements was $1,589,- 395 ; and the total net value of taxables was $12,- 743,181. There were 2,384 polls in the county.
Improved Roads .- There were 209 miles of improved roads in Jasper county built and under
jurisdiction of the county commissioners January 1, 1915. Amount of gravel road bonds outstand- ing, $248,410.
Railroads-Steam and Electric .- There are 94.30 miles of steam railroad operated in Jasper county by the LaCrosse branch of the C. & E. I. ; Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville; Kankakee division of the Chicago, Indiana & Southern ; Chicago & Wabash Valley, and the Effner branch of the P., C., C. & St. L. railroads.
Educational .- According to the report of Ernest Lamson, county superintendent of Jasper county, there were eighty-nine schoolhouses, in- cluding four high schools, in Jasper county in 1914, employing 133 teachers. The average daily attendance by pupils was 2.548. The aggregate amount paid in salaries to superintendents, su- pervisors, principals and teachers was $63,958.43. The estimated value of school property in the county was $195,100, and the total amount of in- debtedness, including bonds, was $34,877.48.
Agriculture .- There were in Jasper county in 1910 over 1,700 farms embraced in 307,000 acres. Average acres per farm, 179.1 acres. The value of all farm property was over $22,000,000, showing 76.6 per cent. increase over 1900. The average value of land per acre was $57.04. The total value of domestic animals was over $1,900,- 000: Number of cattle 21.000, valued at $650,- 000 ; horses 9,100, valued at $960,000 ; hogs 18,- 000, valued at $184,000; sheep 7.000, valued at $35,000. The total value of poultry was $86,000.
Kankakee Swamps and the Home of a Big Family of Muskrats.
276
LEN DENNMAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
JAY COUNTY
PORTLAND, SEAT OF JUSTICE
J AY COUNTY is located in the eastern part of the State and borders on the State of Ohio. It is bounded on the north by Wells and Adams, on the south by Randolph and on the west by
1
-
Jay County Court-House, Portland.
Delaware and Blackford counties. It contains about 378 square miles. It is purely an agricul- tural county, having a large percentage of black loam soil which was formerly thickly overgrown with oak, hickory and other species of hardwood.
Organization .- Jay county was formally or- ganized March 1, 1836. It was named in honor of the celebrated patriot and statesman, John Jay. The locating commissioners met on the first Mon- day in June, 1836, and decided upon the site at Portland and at a special meeting of the county board on December 5, 1835, gave the new county seat the name of Portland, where it has remained ever since.
Population of Jay county in 1890 was 23,478; in 1900 was 26,818, and according to United States Census of 1910 was 24,961, of which 406 were of white foreign birth. There were 6,359 families in the county and 6,224 dwellings.
Townships, Cities and Towns .- There are twelve townships in Jay county: Bear Creek, Green, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Madison, Noble, Penn, Pike, Richland, Wabash and Wayne. The incorporated cities and towns are Dunkirk, Port- land, Bryan, Pennville, Red Key and Salamonia. Portland is the county seat.
Taxable Property and Polls .- According to the annual report of the Auditor of State from the abstract of the tax duplicate for 1913, the to-
tal value of lands and lots in Jay county was $8,342,700 ; value of improvements was $3,073,- 385, and the total net value of taxables was $17,- 109,425. There were 3,663 polls in the county.
Improved Roads .- There were 451 miles of improved roads in Jay county built and under jurisdiction of the county commissioners January 1, 1915. Amount of gravel road bonds outstand- ing, $359,033.94.
Railroads-Steam and Electric .- There are 67.50 miles of steam railroad operated in Jay county by the Cincinnati, Bluffton & Chicago; Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne; Grand Rapids & Indiana; Lake Erie & Western, and the Logansport division of the P., C., C. & St. L. railroads. The Muncie & Portland Traction Com- pany operates 15.82 miles of electric line in the county.
Educational .- According to the report of William R. Armstrong, county superintendent of Jay county, there were ninety-eight schoolhouses, including six high schools, in Jay county in 1914, employing 183 teachers. The average daily at- tendance by pupils was 4,484. The aggregate amount paid in salaries to superintendents, super-
Public Library, Portland.
visors, principals and teachers was $98,037.98. The estimated value of school property in the county was $487,754, and the total amount of in- debtedness, including bonds, was $101,250.
Agriculture .- There were in Jay county in 1910 over 2,800 farms embraced in 235,000 acres. Average acres per farm, 82.9 acres. The value of
277
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
all farm property was over $23,000,000, showing 115.5 per cent. increase over 1900. The average value of land per acre, $69.08. The total value of domestic animals was over $2,300,000: Num- ber of cattle 15,000, valued at $470,000; horses 11,000, valued at $1,300,000 ; hogs 56,000, valued at $360,000; sheep 26,000, valued at $130,000. The total value of poultry was $121,000.
Industrial .- According to the report of the State Bureau of Inspection for 1912 there were twenty industrial establishments, employing about 450 persons. Among its unique establishments is one for the production of baseball bats and its largest establishment is devoted to the manufac- ture of automobile wheels, etc. Drain tile is manu- factured extensively.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
MADISON, SEAT OF JUSTICE
J EFFERSON COUNTY, the second one from the eastern line of the State in the tier border- ing on the Ohio river, is bounded by Switzerland, Ripley, Jennings, Scott and Clark counties and the Ohio river. The county contains 370 square miles. Its bluffs, many of them 400 feet high, are intersected by frequent deep ravines, adding slopes to its cultivable area, raising it to the con- stitutional 400 square miles per territory. A no- table feature of the county is its varied topogra- phy. In the western part, the ground is rolling, in the center, a level plateau, and the eastern sec- tion, which is traversed by "Indian-Kentuck" creek and its tributaries, is an uninterrupted series of hills and vales.
The character of the soil varies from the black alluvial deposits of the river bottom to the clay and loam on the level lands. Tile clay abounds in the central part of the county. Wheat and corn are staple products, yet all grains are successfully grown in this county and fruits are grown in abundance. Forty years ago the experiment of raising tobacco was tried and proved successful and it is now grown extensively.
The county is rich in building stone of excel- lent quality and has many quarries, the largest one being at Deputy, on the B. & O. railroad. A beautiful species of marble is found in the south- ern part of the county.
There are numerous water courses in the county, many with cataracts quite as picturesque as Minnehaha, comparing favorably with it in height and volume. The geological formation fol- lowing the line of the north bend of the river bounding Jefferson county forms a watershed
about two and one-half or three miles west and north of Madison, which divides the flow of the streams between the Ohio and the Wabash by way of the White and Muscatatuck rivers. Ken- tucky creek rises in Ripley county, flows through the eastern part of Jefferson county into the Ohio. Big creek flows through the northwestern corner of the county into the Muscatatuck and the Mid- dlefork. Harbert's, Bear's, Lewis, Marble and Camp creeks are all tributaries of Big creek. Crooked creek parallels the Ohio river for some seven miles, beginning far up the Canaan valley, running through the full length of Madison and falling into the river beyond the western corpora- tion line of the city.
Jefferson county is noted for its wealth of ro- mantic spots. Just across the river on the Ken- tucky hill is a prehistoric Indian fort, near which in ante-bellum days stood the cabin of Delia Web- ster, a station of the "underground railroad" operated through Madison. Three miles east of Madison on the Indiana side, is Cedar cliff, a sheer precipice one and one-half miles long, and hundreds of feet high. Little Cedar, nearer town, has quite as fine an outlook. Three and a half miles northwest of Madison are Clifty Falls and glen. The series of falls is 200 feet in height, one pitch being over a jutting ledge of rock eighty feet above the receiving basin into which plunges an immense volume of foaming, spraying water. A shelving rock canopies the North Madison pike for a stretch of 100 feet, veiling it with mist or ice, according to the temperature. Chain Mill falls, near North Madison, guards the mouth of an unfinished railroad tunnel, making a unique
278
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
combination. Crowe's. Chain Mill, Hart's, Dead- man's and Butler's falls cluster around Hanover most invitingly.
Organization .- The act of the Legislature creating Jefferson county was approved Novem- ber 23, 1810, and went into effect February 1, 1811. It was named for President Jefferson, probably because of the personal interest he had taken in the campaign of George Rogers Clark, for ox soldiers of Clark's command formed the nucleus of the pioneers of Jefferson county, one of whom, John Paul, suggested the name, having, as original proprietor of Madison, which was made the seat of justice, named the city for the President in office when it was founded.
Historical .- The keynote of State expansion was sounded in Jefferson county. Independently of this, an honorable position among the coun- ties of the State is due it, by reason of the names and events associated with its past. The original proprietors of Madison and their families were educated people from Philadelphia and Bal- timore. Colonel John Paul-a soldier of the Revolution and the War of 1812, founder of the cities of Xenia, Ohio, and Madison-purchased
the site and came to Madison in 1809. In 1810, associated with Lewis Davis and Jonathan Lyons, he enlarged his original plans, and founded a city which grew to be the metropolis of the State. This it was until it was superseded by the present capital. The name of Indianapolis was coined by Judge Jeremiah Sullivan, a member of the Jef- ferson county bar. Jacob Burnett and Lewis Whiteman bought the share of Lewis Davis in 1813 and in 1817 and became later joint-proprie- tors of the town.
Very many of the 140,000 pioneers from cul- tured centers, who poured into Indiana between 1810 and 1819, came through Madison's portals and here many builders of the commonwealth re- mained. The Rev. Thomas C. Searles was promi- nent in all early educational movements, as were General Milton Stapp, Dr. William Goode, Beau- mont Park and Charles Barnes.
Early resident lawyers were Hon. Alexander A. Meek, Judge Miles, Cary Eggleston, Governor William Hendricks and his kinsman, William Hendricks, Jr .; Judges Jeremiah Sullivan, Wil- liamson Dunn, Stephen C. Stevens, and Charles Test. also Joseph Glass Marshall, Milton Stapp
View of Canaan Road, Jefferson County.
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
279
and Nathaniel Hunt. Jesse L. Holman, Elijah Sparks, Jesse Olds, Isaac Blackford and John Lawrence were present at nearly every term of court. Hugh McCulloch and J. F. D. Lanier, financiers ; Edward and George Cary Eggleston and David Graham Phillips were all Madisonians of national reputation. Harvey W. Wiley, John Merle Coulter and Stanley Coulter are scientists of note from this county. Dr. Fisk was the first physician. Dr. Hicks, Dr. Robert Cravens, Dr. Samuel Mackarnes Goode, the two Drs. Howes, Dr. Howard Watts, Dr. Norwood, Dr. Hodges, Dr. J. H. D. Rogers and Drs. McClure, Lewis and Alexander Mullen followed in the early decades. Dr. Israel T. Canby, father of General R. Canby, came to Madison in 1816 and was a large owner of real estate.
The intellectual die of Hanover may have been cast when Christopher Harrison, a graduate of St. John's College, Maryland, the rejected lover of "Glorious Betsy" Patterson, sought the far- away West, and found a lone spot where he might bury his sorrow, in the point west of Hanover college point. Between the year of his coming to Hanover, 1808, and 1803, he is
supposed to have been an inmate or a fre- quent guest of the island home of the Blan- nerhassets, which he left to escape the toils of Aaron Burr. His cabin on the Hanover bluff is said to have reflected the art and culture of Blannerhasset Island, its walls being cov- ered with rare paintings by the masters, and some of his own execution. One of his own, "The Tryst," was kept veiled, and when at last revealed, showed a maid of wondrous beauty ; beside her a knight, who is carving their blended initials on a majestic beech tree. Upon a noble beech which had sheltered his cabin door, felled a few years ago by a storm, was found cut deep into the bark a century before, "Christopher Harrison, July 8, 1808," and in "The Tryst" a romantic dream is read. The maid becomes Eliz- abeth Patterson, the lover Christopher Harrison.
Jefferson county has later artists, but the ro- mance is not paralleled. William McKendree Snyder immortalizes the beech groves of the county, and contributes other memorials of its picturesque beauties to Indiana art. As a sculp- tor, George Grey Barnard is in the first rank of those who have won fame. His frequent visits
Hanging Rock, Madison, Jefferson County.
200
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
to the hotfre of his parents in Madison establish : claim to citizenship.
The first newspaper established in the county, the second in the State, was the Western Eagle, owned by Colonel John Paul, edited by his son- in law. William Hendricks, afterward first mem- ber of Congress from Indiana, United States Senator, and second Governor of Indiana. With hum was associated William Cameron. The first issue was on May 26, 1813. Editors of papers following were John Lodge. Colonel C. P. J. Arion, Judge Courtland Cushing, D. D. Jones, 1. W. Crail, John R. Cravens, W. W. Woolen, Milton Stapp, Rolla Doolittle. S. F. Covington and Colonel M. C. Garber were editors of the Madison Courier, established in 1837, and the leading paper in the county ever since. It is now under the management of Michael Christian Gar- ber and Michael Eggleston Garber.
Hanover College grew out of Hanover Acad- emy, which was established in the village of Han- over near Madison, January 1, 1827, by the Rev. John Finley Crowe, D. D. The institution was adopted by the Presbyterian church in 1829, and college work begun the same year. The first class was graduated in 1834. During the early years a theological department and a law school were maintained in addition to the liberal arts and pre- paratory departments. The theological depart- ment was subsequently moved to Chicago, where it became McCormick Seminary. The law school was abandoned. The total number of matricu- lants to the present time is something under 5.000. Of this number 1,104 have been granted the baccalaureate degree and sixty-five the mas- ter's degree. Many of the history makers of In- diana are Hanover men. Prominent among them are Thomas A. Hendricks, William H. English, Mbert G. Porter, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, John H. Holliday, Walter L. Fisher, Robert J. Tracewell and R. J. L. Matthews. The college is thoroughly equipped and throughout its history has stood for the highest educational standards. The doors were opened to women in 1880. The president is William Alfred Millis, LL. D. Among its latest buildings, Science Hall and the Hendricks Me- morial Library are especially worthy of men- tion. The latter, a memorial of Vice-President Thomas A. Hendricks, erected by his widow.
The co education of white and colored stu-
dents was tried but once in this county. A col- lege, called Eleutherian College, was founded in 1850 by Elder Thomas Craven and his son, John G. Craven, at Lancaster. A church, in which the college was housed, and boarding houses were built, was burned by the neighbors to whom the ideas were obnoxious, and rebuilt many times. Stone buildings were at last erected and stood, but the project was abandoned in the early six- ties. From 1857 to 1860 it was in its prime, hav- ing from seventy-five to eighty students, equally divided as to color.
The Southeastern Hospital for the Insane, "Cragmont."-The crowded condition of the Central Hospital for the Insane led the General Assembly of 1905 to set aside fifteen of the thirty-eight counties constituting the central dis- trict as the southeastern district and to establish therein an additional hospital. On September 4, 1905, the commission created by the act selected a site containing 363.79 acres near the city of Madison overlooking the valley of the Ohio river.
Industries .- The industries of the county center in Madison, which from a commercial city has changed to a manufacturing one. Milling was the earliest and has been perhaps the most important industry. The first flour mill in this part of the State was built and operated by Colonel John Paul on Crooked creek, north of John Paul park. It was running in 1814. Madi- son now builds steamboats and vehicles, manu- factures furniture, saddle trees, cotton and woolen goods, pearl buttons, engines and boilers, nails, tacks, hubs and spokes, glue, fertilizer, chewing gum, ice, candy and ice cream on a large scale for shipping. It has also several flour mills and bakeries, a cracker factory, a brewery and a packing house which stores and ships exten- sively.
Madison is one of the largest markets for bur- ley tobacco in the country and here is located the largest business establishment in the United States for handling roots and herbs for medical purposes. These are shipped to all parts of the world.
Taxable Property and Polls .- According to the annual report of the Auditor of State from the abstract of the tax duplicate for 1913, the total value of lands and lots in Jefferson county $3.401.815; value of improvements was was
T.M-
282
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
$2,445.470, and the total net value of taxables Was $9,415,815. There were 3,148 polls in the county.
Population of Jefferson county in 1890 was 24,507; in 1900 was 22,913, and according to United States Census of 1910 was 20,483, of which 471 were of white foreign birth. There were 5,254 families in the county and 5,096 dwellings.
Townships, Cities and Towns .- There are ten townships in Jefferson county: Graham, Hanover, Lancaster, Madison, Milton, Monroe, Republican, Saluda, Shelby and Smyrna. The in- corporated cities and towns are Madison, Brooks- burg and Hanover. Madison is the county seat.
Improved Roads .- There were 190 miles of improved roads in Jefferson county built and un- der jurisdiction of the county commissioners January 1, 1915. AAmount of gravel road bonds outstanding. $197.443.30.
Railroads-Steam and Electric .- There are 21.56 miles of steam railroad operated in Jeffer- son county by the Louisville division of the B. & O. Southwestern : Big Four, and the Madison branch of the P., C., C. & St. L. railroads. The Madison Light & Railway Company operates
three miles of electric line in the county. The branch of the Pennsylvania railroad which con- nects Indianapolis with the Ohio river traffic, en- ters Jefferson county a few miles northwest of Dupont, and has its terminus at Madison. This was originally the Madison & Indianapolis rail- road; later, the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indi- anapolis, "The J. M. & I.," as familiarly known. This was the first railroad west of the Alleghany mountains, the first to be completed of the six lines chartered by the Legislature of 1831, hav- ing been begun September 16, 1836; completed to Vernon by 1839; to Griffith's Station, twenty- eight miles from Madison, in 1841 ; and to Indi- anapolis, October, 1847. The descent of 473 feet from North Madison to Madison is by an in- clined plane one and one-half miles in length, which in two places cuts 100 feet deep through spurs of the hill formed of solid rock. The dis- tance through the south cut is 800 feet ; through. the north, or Big cut, 1,100 feet, and both pass through solid rock walls, rising perpendicularly on each side of the track to the height of 100 feet. This grade was the steepest known to rail- road engineering until the construction of the Mount Cenis road over the Alps, which has a
3
2
HANOVER COLLEGE
5
Hanover College, Hanover, Jefferson County. 1. Observatory. 2. President's Residence. 3. Science Hall. 4. Hendricks Library. 5. Classic Hall.
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
283
grade slightly exceeding this. The plane was fin- ished in 1841 and sixteen horses hauled the train up it to meet the engine at the top of the incline, until 1848.
Educational .- According to the report of Joseph H. Hanna, county superintendent of Jef- ferson county, there were ninety schoolhouses, including seven high schools, in the county in 1914, employing 150 teachers. The average daily attendance by pupils was 3,222. The aggregate amount paid in salaries to superintendents, su- pervisors, principals and teachers was $69,285.34. Estimated value of school property in the county
was $156,400 and the total amount of indebted- ness, including bonds, was $56,300.
Agriculture .- There were in Jefferson county in 1910 over 2,500 farms embraced in 219,000 acres. Average acres per farm, 85.6 acres. The value of all farm property was over $8,800,000, showing 64.8 per cent. increase over 1900. The average value of land per acre was $24.40. The total value of domestic animals was over $1,100,- 000: Number of cattle 11,000, valued at $260,- 000 ; horses 6,800, valued at $620,000 ; hogs 10,- 000, valued at $82,000; sheep 8,400, valued at $35,000. The total value of poultry was $70,000.
JENNINGS COUNTY
VERNON, SEAT OF JUSTICE
J ENNINGS COUNTY is located in the southern part of the State and is bounded on the north by Bartholomew and Decatur, on the east by Ripley, on the south by Jefferson and Scott and on the west by Bartholomew and Jack- son counties. It contains 375 square miles and
the principal occupations of the people are farm- ing and stock raising. A fine quality of limestone underlies the county, and much fine building stone has been taken out.
Organization .- The organization of Jennings county was made effective February 1, 1817, and
-
Muscatatuck, North Vernon, Jennings County.
VENTEAMAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
the county sont was established at Vernon. There have been several attempts made to move the county seat to North Vernon and the Legislature on March 5. 1913, passed an act which provided for an election to determine whether the county seat should be moved from Vernon to North Vernon. The election was held September 22. 1913, and Vernon retained the county seat by the slender majority of sixteen. Jennings county was named in honor of Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor of the State.
Population of Jennings county in 1890 was 14,008: in 1900 was 15,757, and according to United States Census of 1910 was 14,203, of which 358 were of white foreign birth. There were 3.457 families in the county and 3,417 dwellings.
Townships, Cities and Towns .- There are eleven townships in Jennings county : Bigger, Campbell, Center, Columbia, Geneva, Lovett, Marion, Montgomery, Sand Creek, Spencer and Vernon. The incorporated cities and towns are North Vernon and Vernon. Vernon is the county sent.
Taxable Property and Polls .- According to the annual report of the Auditor of State from the abstract of the tax duplicate for 1913, the total value of lands and lots in Jennings county was $2,651,970; value of improvements was $1,316,305, and the total net value of taxables was $6,447,905. There were 1,992 polls in the county.
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.