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 8
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The most notable educational step during the territorial period was the establishment of Vin- cennes University in 1807. This was an ambitious institution founded as the incorporating law grandiloquently states, "for the instruction of youth in the Latin, Greek, French and English languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, an- cient and modern history, moral philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and the law of nature and na- tions." Its faculty was to be "a president and not exceeding four professors" qualified to teach the proposed academic branches, and the trustees were authorized to establish a "library of books and experimental apparatus," and to elect "when the progressed state of education demanded," professors of divinity, law and physics. They were further authorized to establish, when funds permitted, "an institution for the education of females," and a grammar school "to be connected with and dependent upon the said university for the purpose of teaching the rudiments of the lan- guages." Still further, the trustees were enjoined to use their utmost endeavors to induce Indians to send their children, to be maintained, clothed and educated at the expense of the institution. A rather scandalous feature of the incorporating act, from the viewpoint of to-day, was the pro- vision that, for the library and apparatus, "there
shall be raised a sum not exceeding $20,000 by a lottery," to be managed by "five discreet per- sons." This serves, perhaps, to emphasize a cer- tain departure we have made from the moral standards of those times, yet, curiously enough, in the laws of the same year, we find lotteries legislated against along with other forms of gam- bling .*
The source of maintenance for this institution was a township of land, comprising 23,040 acres, that had been donated by the general government for a seat of learning. Despite the optimism and the impressive announcement of its founders the "University" began, in 1810, as a grammar school only and continued to exist precariously. In 1823 it virtually ceased to exist, but fifteen years later was reorganized. During the terri- torial period there were neither resources nor patronage to make it succeed as an institution of higher learning.
Religious Beginnings .- The first form of the Christian religion to gain a footing in Indiana was the Catholic faith, which was introduced among the Indians very early in the French regime and perpetuated among the French inhab- itants. St. Xavier's church was planted in Vin- cennes before Clark's conquest and remains there to the present day. In the early times it was, as described by Henry Cauthorne, the historian of Vincennes, a rude structure made of timbers set on end, picket fashion, without windows and with a dirt floor.
Protestanism was introduced among the set- tlers of Clark's Grant as early as 1798 when a Baptist church was founded in the neighborhood of Charlestown. As this denomination was the very pioneer in the Protestant field, so, for some years, did it gain in strength. By 1809 it was or- ganized into two associations, covering, respect- ively, the Wabash and the Whitewater districts. Methodism appeared in 1804, also near Charles- town, according to the Rev. F. C. Holliday. with the proselyting of Peter Cartwright and Benja- min Lakin, although the Rev. George K. Hester gives 1803 as the date of the first organization. This sect spread rapidly and during the terri- torial period circuits were organized pretty well over the settled portions of the country. The Presbyterians founded the "Church of Indiana"
* Banta, "Early Schools of Indiana;" series in Ind. Quarterly Mag. Ilist., vol. ii.
* Statutes of 1807, p. 199.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIAN.
in 1806, "the service being held in the barn of Colonel Small, about two miles east of Vin- cennes."*
The Quakers, or Friends, built their first meet- ing house on the site of Richmond in 1807 (Young's Wayne County) and soon planted oth- ers throughout the upper Whitewater region. Two other sects, both peculiar in character, ap- peared in Indiana during the period we are cov- ering. These were the "Shakers" and the "Rap- pites." The first of these settled at "Shaker- town" on Busseron creek, a few miles north of
be added. however, that the degree of their growth when introduced interprets to a degree the psychology and the status of the people. This is more conspicuously true, perhaps, of Quaker- ism, Methodism and Presbyterianism. The atti- tude of the Friends, then as now. was quite dis- tinctive on certain fundamentals of life-on the simplicity of life, on the sovereignty and dignity of the individual, on justice between man and man, and on the doctrine of nonmilitancy. Meth- odism made its appeal to the emotional nature. and among those who feh rather than reasoned
Founding of Notre Dame. On November 16, 1842, at the beginning of winter, seven of the Brothers set out with their Superior (Father Sorin) for the St. Joseph. For many days they struggled on over ice and snow through the interminable forest, some on horseback and some with the ox team, which hauled their modest store of supplies at length, on November 26, they had the happiness of standing on the ice-bound shore of St. Mary's Lake and looking out upon the scene of their new labors .- Judge Timothy E. H rcard. in History of Notre Dame.
Vincennes some time prior to the Tippecanoe campaign, as John Tipton in his journal of the march mentions the place. The "Rappites," so named from their leader, George Rapp, were a German colony who held to communism and celibacy. They were the founders of the present New Harmony in Posey county, where they dwelt from 1815 to 1825.
A mere mention of these religious elements and the dates of their introduction is all that comes within the scope of this section. It may
in religious matters it swept the field like a con flagration. Presbyterianism. while it showed no lack of zeal, stood for intellectualism. It stoo ! for learning and. a little later. was the first agency to found a school ( Hanover College) which aimed to produce an educated clergy. Its expounders were among the first educators in the new territory and they, more than any other class brought private libraries into the country. The Baptist church, though at first in the lead. de clined in influence, perhaps because of schisms arising from the doctrinal differences that seem
* Edson's "Early Indiana Presbyterianism," p. 41.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
to have been particularly bitter in that church. Of the several denominations mentioned, Meth- odism, as measured by its growth, made the greatest appeal.
Cultural Beginnings; First Newspapers .- Culture seems a rather strained term for such refinements as we can trace in the territorial pe- riod. In view of the fact that many of the resi- dents of Vincennes were persons of education familiar with the culture of the larger centers whence they had emigrated, it is possible that there was an elegant side to society in the little isolated capital, and this was also probably true of Jeffersonville. Charlestown, Salem, Corydon, Madison, Brookville and other towns, though very little actual record of it is to be found. In a note by Mr. Webster (Webster's Harrison, p. 296) on "Intellectual Life at Vincennes," he points out that "a large number of able lawyers made the Vincennes bar unusually strong." He also speaks of a medical society, organized in 1807, which continued with vigor until long after Statehood; of the Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society, dating from 1808, and of the Vincennes Library, founded the same year, which contained at the start from 3,000 to 4,000 volumes. As early as 1806 a dramatic organiza- tion, "The Thespian Society," made its appear- ance and throughout the territorial years contrib- uted to the gaiety of Vincennes life.
The newspaper, even of those days, might be considered a cultural agent to a limited degree as it not only disseminated light in the form of news and of political opinion, but afforded a certain outlet for local literary aspirants besides borrow- ing more or less from the larger literary field for the education of its readers. The first apostle of ideas in this direction was Elihu Stout who, as early as 1804, brought to Vincennes from Ken- tucky a printing outfit and launched The Indiana Gasette. Not a copy of this paper is now in ex- istence so far as is known, as Stout's office was destroyed by fire, but, phenix-like it sprang into new life, this time as The Western Sun, under which name, after various changes of title, it ex- ists to the present day. Prior to and including 1816 five or six other papers are of record, these being The Western Eagle, of Madison, in 1813; The Corydon Gasette, 1814; The Plaindcaler and Gasette, Brookville, about 1815; The Republican
Banner, afterward the Indiana Republican, Mad- ison, 1815, and The Indiana Register, Vevay, 1816. Copies of any of these are very rare or entirely lost, but fortunately files of The West- ern Sun from 1807 have been preserved and are now among the prized possessions of the State Library. Touching many matters of territorial times they are the chief source of information and are valued accordingly by research students. Like all pioneer papers they are provokingly si- lent on local affairs of a social and intimate na- ture, but in a literary way we find home talent fostered, particularly in the poet's corner which is maintained under the happy title of "The Poet- ical Asylum."
Political Beginnings .- One thing that these files particularly reflect is the active interest of the people in political affairs, both local and na- tional. A sense of citizenship harking back to the spirit of '76 and the principles of the found- ers of the government seems to have permeated the rank and file as it does not to-day. Another conspicuous quality that throws light on the tem- per and status of the time, was the truculent ani- mosity between those who differed in political opinions. Fierceness, contempt and personal abuse, out of all keeping with the provocation, and served up according to the talents of the bel- ligerent, is a common exhibit in the weekly columns. The straightforward, simple honesty and common sense attributed to the pioneers must be taken with a grain of allowance, espe- cially in matters political. From the glimpses we get, log-rolling and demagogy were quite as pro- nounced, in proportion to the forces at work, as at the present day, and the successful politician was he who could truckle to the prejudices of the people. The local contests over such questions as slavery in the territory and the division of the territory, were rife with bitterness and acrimony ; the "people" and the "aristocrats," as they came to be classed, were arrayed against each other, with little regard to justice, one toward the other, and bellicose humanity was continually in evi- dence. In short, the vices of popular government, as we have them to-day, are not an aftergrowth engrafted upon the patriotic purity of earlier times, but had their birth along with popular gov- ernment.
First County Divisions and Towns .- During
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
the territorial period the one large county of Knox, originally as large as the present State, was divided and re-divided until thirteen coun- ties covered the various land purchases that the United States had secured prior to 1816. By the re-dividing process, these counties as origi- nally formed, had but little correspondence with the subsequent divisions that continued to bear the names given. The formations in chronologi- cal order were:
Clark county, detached from Knox by act of February 3, 1801.
Switzerland, out of Dearborn and Jefferson. September 7, 1814 .*
The chief towns that had sprung up and the dates of their founding were :
Vincennes, 1732 (long a disputed question, but this date now accepted) ; Jeffersonville, 1802: Lawrenceburg, 1802; Brookville, 1807 ; Corydon, 1808; Charlestown, 1808: Salisbury, 1810; Madi- son, 1812; New Albany. 1813; Vevay, 1813; Salem, 1814; Centerville, 1814; Rising Sun, 1814 ; Brownstown, 1815 ; Richmond, 1816 ( Bas- kin & Forster Atlas, 1876). Vallonia. Springville,
--
Notre Dame, Second College Building, 1844-65.
Dearborn, out of Clark, March 7, 1803.
Harrison, out of Knox and Clark, October 11, 1808.
Jefferson, out of Clark and Dearborn, Novem- ber 23, 1810.
Franklin, out of Dearborn and Clark, Novem- ber 27, 1810.
Wayne, out of Dearborn and Clark, November 27, 1810.
Warrick, out of Knox, March 9, 1813.
Gibson, out of Knox, March 9. 1813.
Washington, out of Harrison and Clark, De- cember 21, 1813.
Posey, out of Warrick, September 7. 1814.
Perry, out of Gibson and Warrick. September 7, 1814.
Clarksville and other small places, some of them long since extinct, also belong to this period.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS AND LEADERS
Of those who were prominent in territorial af- fairs, some became identified with the earlier his- tory of the State and should be noted chiefly in that connection. Others were identified solely with the questions that arose prior to statehood. particularly the acute issue of the legalizing of slavery. Of the first group may be mentioned Jonathan Jennings. William Hendricks, James Noble, Waller Taylor. Benjamin Parke, Isaac
* Ind. Ilist. Soc. Col .. v. in pp =3 4.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
Blackford and Dennis Pennington. Of the sec- ond group many more might be named. The major portion of them are unknown to the pres- ent generation, but they played their parts in the early formative period and were factors in our history.
William Henry Harrison .- By far the most conspicuous figure from 1800 to 1812 was Will- iam Henry Harrison, the first Territorial gov- ernor, and afterward President of the United States. Several duties and responsibilities that were peculiar to the first years of the future State devolved upon Harrison. During the first grade of government he shared with three judges the task of choosing and compiling a code of laws for the Territory. He was invested with auto- cratic powers that made him a target for the jeal- ous and suspicious critics ; and, though history acquits him of any unfair exercise of those pow- ers, he did not escape his harvest of enemies. One of his great services was a series of treaties, whereby he secured from the Indians land amounting to about one-third of the Territory. His knowledge of Indian character and his capa- bility as a military leader were of incalculable value during the danger period of Indian hostili- ties, and his victory over the tribes at the battle of Tippecanoe was of vast importance and estab- lished a fame that brought him into national prominence. In 1812, his official connection with Indiana ceased, he taking the field as brigadier- general in the second war with England. Harri- son county, Indiana, is named in his honor.
John Gibson .- Secretary of Indiana Terri- tory from 1800 and acting governor from Sep- tember. 1812, to May, 1813, was a soldier who (lid good service both during and before the Rev- olutionary war, on the western frontier. He was a brother-in-law of Logan, the Mingo chief, and the interpreter who received and transmitted to Lord Dunmore, in 1774, the famous speech of Logan's, which is a classic in literature Gibson's governorship fell at the most trying period-the war period of 1812, when the Indian dangers to our frontier were at their height, and his prompt and vigorous measures stamped him as a man of ability. He left the State in 1816. Gibson county is named for him.
Thomas Posey .- Governor from 1813 to 1816, had a military reputation scarcely second to that
of Harrison, being a distinguished Revolutionary soldier. President Madison appointed him gov- ernor of Indiana Territory and for three years he served in that capacity, though part of the time his health was so precarious that he was obliged to live at Jeffersonville for the sake of medical attendance, while the seat of government was at Corydon. This somewhat impeded public business and aroused some criticism, but, never- theless, at the close of his term, the Legislature highly commended his administration. "Many evils," affirmed that body, in its communication, "have been remedied, and we particularly admire the calm, dispassionate, impartial conduct which has produced the salutary effects of quieting the violence of party spirit, harmonizing the interests as well as the feelings of the different parties of the Territory. Under your auspices, we have be- come one people."
Posey went from Indiana to Illinois, where he died in 1818. Posey county bears his name.
Other individuals, whose specific services are mostly lost in oblivion, should be briefly men- tioned. Jesse B. Thomas, speaker of the first Territorial Legislature, was a Marylander, who came to Lawrenceburg in 1803 and was a lawyer there. He became a professional politician and is ranked in history as one of the kind that are not overburdened with scruples. John Rice Jones, a Welshman, member of the first Legislative Coun- cil and first attorney general, was an early citizen of Vincennes. He is credited with being a lawyer of unusual ability, a man of fine education, a brilliant speaker and a "perfect master of satire and invective," which latter talent he was not slow to exercise in the political mud-slinging of the day. Others prominent in politics were : Thomas Randolph, third attorney general, a member of the celebrated Randolph family of Virginia ; John Johnson, a Virginian, of Vin- . cennes; Samuel Gwathmey, a Virginian, who held several Territorial offices : General Wash- ington Johnston, a Virginian, and also repeatedly an officeholder ; James, John and Charles Beggs. three brothers, Virginians, and residents of Clark's Grant : Luke Decker, a Virginian, farmer and slaveholder ; and James Dill, an Irishman, and a party leader of Dearborn county. Not least in this roll would be the name of Elihu Stout, who, as owner and editor of the only
CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIAN.1
55
newspaper that flourished during most of the Territorial period, wielded a political influence that was, perhaps, second to none .*
This list, by no means, pretends to include all those who were active in public matters and who could be regarded as contributing to formative influences. A political interest that was lively to the point of activity, indeed, was characteristic of the period, though of the names that crop out in connection with public functions, the great ma- jority are unattended with any biographical data.
back was enclosed with a picket fence of locust timbers firmly planted in the ground. The square in front of the mansion, in laying out Harrison's addition, was reserved for a park. The brick used in the construction of the mansion were manu- factured by Samuel Thompson, who received for this work four hundred acres of land about three miles above the city on the Terre Haute road."
This "mansion," the famous one still standing. is said by Cauthorne to have been built in 1804. According to Hubbard Smith, another local his-
PASTORAL ELEGY
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What sorrowful sounds do I hear, Move slowly
along in the gale; How solemn they
fall on my car, As softly they pass through the vale.
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Sweet woodbines will rise round his feet, 3. O Corydon! hear the sad eries And willows their sorrowing wave ; Young hyacinths freshen and hloom, While hawthorns encircle his grave. Each morn when the sun gilds the east, (The green grass bespangled with dew, ) Ile'Il cast his bright beams of: the west, To charm the sad Caroline's view.
Of Caroline, plaintive and slow ; O spirit ! look down from the skies. And pity thy mourner below. 'Tis Caroline's voice in the grove, Which Philomei hears on the plain. Then striving the mourner to soothe. With sympathy joins in ber strain.
4. Ye shepherds so blithesome and young, 5. And when the still night has unfurl'd Retire from your sports on the green, Sinee Corydon's deaf to my song, Her rohes o'er the has.let around, Gray twilight retires from the world, And darkness ercumbers the ground. I'll leave my own gloomy abode, To Corydon's urn will I dva The wolves tear the lambs on the plain : Each swain round the forest will stray, And sorrnwing hang down his head,
His pipe then in symphony play Some dirge to sweet Corydou's shade.
There kneeling will bless the just God Who dwells in bright mansions co ligh.
6 Siree Corydon hears me no more, In gloom let the woodlands appear, Ye oceans he still of your roar, Let Autumn extend around the year ; I'll hie me through meadow and lawn, There cull the bright flow'rets of May, Then rise on the wings of the morn, And waft my young spint away.
Selection from "Missouri Harmony," from which Corydon Is Said to Have Derived Its Name.
Many of these names are mentioned in the Exec- utive Journal of Indiana Territory.t
SUPPLEMENTARY MATTER
"Grouseland."-This name was given by Har- rison to his "plantation," near Vincennes, long since within the city limits. It is thus described by Henry Cauthorne, in his history of Vin- cennes :
"The grounds around the Harrison mansion, extending to the river, were artistically laid out and filled with the choicest fruits and flowers. It remained in good preservation as late as 1855. The river front and for some distance
torian, it was contracted for in 1805 and com- pleted in 1806.
Corydon Named from Song .- "When Will- iam Henry Harrison was governor of the Terri tory, he traveled from Vincennes on horseback to and from Harrison county, where he owned large tracts of land. On these trips he often vis- ited the home of Edward Smith, who is said to have left the British army during the Revolu- tionary war and made his way to ludiana, where he married and lived with his family in a log cabin in Harrison county. On the occasion of General Harrison's visits, after the evening meal was finished. the members of the family and their guest woukl gather around the open cabi door and sing the general's favorite songs. On one of these visits, as General Hurison was
* Of Jonathan Jennings, our first State governor, there will be found a fuller sketch hereafter.
Hist. Soc. Col., vol. iii.
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Corydon's notes are all o'er,
Now lonely he sleeps in the clay,
Ifis cheeks bloom with roses no more, Since death eall'd his spirit away.
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2
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
making his departure, tradition says he remarked : 'In a few days I expect to lay out a town near here and would like to have you suggest a suita- ble name for it.' Whereupon Miss Jennie Smith asked: 'Why not name it Corydon, from the piece you like so much ?' Her suggestion pleased the governor, and thus the town is said to have derived its name. Mr. Smith's cabin stood near the present Fair Grounds Spring at Corydon."- Merica Hoagland.
Indiana Libraries and Lottery .- "From a paper prepared by Doctor Horace Ellis when president of Vincennes University, we learn something of the first circulating library organ- ized in Indiana. In historic old Vincennes, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a notable as- semblage of men gathered with purpose scarcely less exalted than that which animated the found- ers of Harvard University. The central figure of the group was General William Henry Harri- son, whose face, bronzed by his Indian cam- paigns, was now aglow with this new patriotism- of-peace plan to disseminate good literature among the dwellers in this new Indiana country. Others, notable for their participation in the making of Indiana, were present at the meeting held at William Hay's home, July 20. 1806, when a number of citizens of Vincennes and vicinity met to promote the formation of a circulating li- brary. A stock company was organized, called 'The Vincennes Library Company.' Shares of stock were issued. On August 23, 1806, at this original 'book shower,' W. Buntin presented a number of books, the first probably offered for circulating library purposes in Indiana. The first librarian was Peter Jones, who was also auditor of the territory and keeper of a tavern. The meetings of the shareholders were held at 'Jones' Inn.'
"In 1815, the Vincennes Library Company, emulating the Vincennes University, arranged a lottery, when books and clocks were offered as prizes. The progress of this affords interesting reading, as human nature is the same whether concerned with affairs in early Vincennes or
present-day Indianapolis. When Vincennes Uni- versity was incorporated on November 29, 1806, the Territorial Legislature vested authority in the trustees of the university by means of which they might raise funds not to exceed $20,000. The trustees claimed this as a vested right as late as 1883, when the United States Supreme Court rendered a decision that there could be no vested right in a lottery. Citizens of Indiana prior to this decision, bought tickets and took chances as freely as did others in the famous Louisiana lot- tery."-Merica Hoagland.
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