USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 16
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markets of the country, created a disturbed condition of trade, resulting in a material advance in the price of almost every commodity. This increase in the cost of practically everything that entered into the life of the people, encouraged profiteering and impositions on the part of some manufacturers and dealers. By combina- tions in trade, restrictions in production, and the hoarding of supplies, prices advanced to a point where it was diffi- cult for persons of limited income to secure the necessities of life.
To prevent impositions by unscrupulous and unpa- triotic individuals, to regulate prices better, and in order to control the distribution of fuel and food prices, legisla- tion was enacted giving the President power to take over and operate the railways of the country, and also to estab- lish the prices of coal and wheat, and, as a means of con- serving the food supplies, to restrict the sale, and limit the consumption of many articles required for export.
Wheatless and meatless days were established by order of the national food administrator prohibiting the use of those articles on certain days. The restriction thus imposed was generally observed, and with little complaint from a people who have always enjoyed unusual liberties, and who have been prone to resent interference with their personal affairs. These Goverment regulations resulted in radical changes in the customs, habits and ideas of the people. Selfishness was less apparent. patriotism was revived, the national conscience was awakened, economy was practiced, industry was stimu- lated, and the moral courage of the people thoroughly aroused.
Food Administration-The food control law, enacted by Congress on August 10, 1917, was a war measure designed to add to the security and defense of the nation by encouraging the production, conserving the supply and distribution of food stuffs. Under the authority of this law. Herbert Hoover was appointed national food
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administrator with almost unlimited power. Mr. Hoover called to his assistance food experts from different parts of the country, and through them effected an organization extending into every state and county in the Union.
The food administration was chiefly a volunteer organization, created at a time of national stress. to aid in solving one of the greatest problems confronting the Nation in this world crisis. The aim was to eliminate speculation, extortion and wasteful practices; to stabilize prices and to stimulate in every possible manner the production and saving of food. On recommendation of the County Council of Defense, M. F. Lovett, of Carthage, was appointed food administrator of Rush county on November 22, 1917. He was charged with the enforce- ment and the regulations of the national food administra- tion, within the county. Five deputy food administrators were appointed in the county. There was very general co-operation with the requirements of the food adminis- tration, many families doing much more than was asked. There was actual saving of food over prewar times in every home in Rush county, the citizens thus showing their loyalty to the country, their devotion to its institu- tions and proper regard for the observance of the law.
Fuel Administration-Was inaugurated in the winter of 1917-18, for the purpose of obviating a "buyer's market" in which buyers bid against each other to get coal from an insufficient supply. This condition resulted from the failure of consumers, who followed the recon- mendation of the national fuel administrator, to lay in supplies for the winter, during the previous summer period. On August 23, 1917, President Wilson appointed Dr. Harry A. Garfield United States fuel administra- tor. In October, Evans Woollen, of Indianapolis, was appointed administrator for Indiana, and on November 1, 1917, upon the recommendation of the County Council of Defense, Samuel L. Trabue was appointed fuel admin- istrator of Rush county.
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The problem was to deal equitably with a shortage of coal. The local conditions were met by co-operation between the fuel administrator, the dealers, and the citizens of the county. This, together with thoughtful conservation, reduced the suffering and inconvenience to the minimum. For sixty days the thermometer remained below zero most of the time, the coldest period being on January 20. 1918, when the mercury fell to 21 degrees below zero. the lowest temperature recorded in the county for thirty-four years. The snow was approximately twenty inches deep in January. and railroad traffic was seriously crippled for prolonged periods. It became necessary to confiscate coal in Rushville, to relieve suffer- ing in several hundred families who were unable to procure fuel.
Because of the serious shortage and the severe cold weather, Fuel Administrator Trabne promulgated orders limiting the hours of heating business houses and public lighting. The business men and citizens submitted to the strict orders without serions complaint. each inspired by the spirit of loyalty and patriotism which prompted them to place the good of the community and of the country above individual interests.
County Council of Defense-That the country might be thoroughly organized for defensive war purposes. a national Council of Defense was created with headquar- tors at Washington. Subsidiary to this, each state formed its own Council of Defense, and Indiana was the first to extend this organization to the counties until every county in the state had its separate council. Roland B. Hill. Elmer Hutchinson, Mrs. Cora Stewart. A. L. Gary. Bert B. Bener, Edson L. Aiken and Charles T. Davis were appointed by the judge of the circuit court to be known as the Rush County Council of Defense. The council organized by electing A. L. Gary. of Rushville. chairman, and Mis. Cora M. Stewart, secretary. The organization was completed by the appointment of committees and
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heads of departments for the local war service. Mr. Gary resigned the chairmanship in February, 1918, and Thomas M. Green, of Rushville, was elected chairman. The pur- pose of the county council was to keep the state council informed of any pro-German activities in the community, to see that the government's orders for dismantling wire- less stations were obeyed; to eliminate slackers in all industries and to assist in promoting war relief move- ments and to participate in all other activities endorsed by the state or national Council of Defense. Its further duty was to disseminate patriotic ideas and to see that the people of the county did not forget that the country was at war.
Permanent County Organization-On March 6, 1918, eleven months after the United States entered the war, a general meeting of the representative citizens of the various townships was held at the court house in Rush- ville for the purpose of effecting a permanent county organization for war activities. The plan of organization adopted, and subsequently put into operation, provided for a central executive committee of five members who had the direction of, and took the initiative in all war endeavors in the county. Each township had an executive committee of three, the chairmen of which constituted an advisory board to the central committee. The organiza- tion in each township was under the direction of its execu- tive committee which had charge of all campaigns for the raising of funds, and other phases of war work. The purpose of the county organization was to secure co-or- dination of work, to centralize control, to secure a more effective service by conserving the energies of the people and the resources of the county, to avoid duplication and to prevent the necessity of a new organization for each campaign. The organization was a most efficient agency of leadership in each war campaign.
Following are the names of the county executive committee: Thomas M. Green, chairman of the County
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Council of Defense: E. B. Thomas, chairman of the Rush county chapter of the Red Cross; M. F. Lovett, food administrator: Samuel L. Trabue, fuel administrator; and Mrs. Cora M. Stewart, head of the women's work of the Council of Defense. In addition to this central committee there was one of three members each from every township.
Liberty Bond Sales-In the financing of the war, the record of the people of Rush county in buying Liberty bonds, as well as in all other branches of war work, was enviable. What in ordinary times would have been con- sidered amounts almost impossible to raise by any means, were cheerfully subscribed and oversubscribed. The first Liberty loan allotment for the county was $337,360, and this amount was oversubscribed by $25.140, the total being $362,500. It was apportioned on a basis of 8 per cent bank resources in the county, while the second loan, called for in October, 1917, was allotted on double this basis. The amount called for was $994,000, and the amount sub- scribed was $1.000.050, or an oversubscription of $56,050. In the third Liberty loan there was an oversubscription of more than 50 per cent, the allotment being $495.000, and the amount raised, $750,000. In this loan an auxil- iary committee composed of women was added to the regular organization, and this committee sold bonds to the amount of $188,500. The quota for the county in the fourth Liberty loan was $1.100,000 and this was oversub- scribed, the total raised having been $1.184,300. The fifth or Vietory loan demanded $825,000 from the county, and the people responded by buying bonds in the amount of $854,300.
In all cases the bonds were handled through the banks of the county, but a thorough canvass of the people was made in each instance.
War Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps Campaigns -The buying of War Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps on the part of the people showed that the meaning of the
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war had been brought home to them; that they realized that without economy the best interests of the country at war would not be served, and when these stamps were placed for sale through the postoffice, they were quickly bought up. In the schools the pupils were taught the principles and meaning of thrift, and in many of the schools the children were 100 per cent buyers of stamps. The system of war stamps originated in England, and hence the value of the War Savings Stamp was practically equivalent to the English pound and that of the Thrift Stamp to the shilling. The people realized that these stamps offered the best investment in government paper, and were not slow to take them up. In Rush county the quota of stamps was $386,700, and as was the case with the Liberty bonds the quota was oversubscribed, $438,000 worth, in round figures, being bought.
CHAPTER VIII
COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT
After Indiana was admitted to the Union, in 1816, a great tide of immigration began to enter it from the south and east. The southern part of the state was rapidly settled, the newcomers pushing up the southerly flowing streams, following the lines of navigation in so far as possible. The Whitewater valley was settled quickly. and there arose a demand for a new county west of Franklin and Fayette counties. To satisfy this demand the state legislature, in 1821. passed the enabling act organizing Rush county. There were four sections to this act, as follows :
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Indiana: That from and after the first day of April, next, all that part of the county of Delaware contained within the following bounds, shall form and constitute a new county, viz: Beginning at the southwest corner of section 27, in township 12, north of range 8 east. of the second principal meridian; thence east eighteen miles to the southeast corner of section 28, in township 12, north of range 11 east; thence north to the line dividing townships 15 and 16; thence west eighteen miles to the northwest corner of section 3, in township 15, north of range 8; thence south to the place of beginning.
Section 2. The said new county shall be known and designated by the name and style of Rush.
Section 3. Robert Luce, of Franklin county, James Delaney, of Bartholomew county. Train Caldwell, of Fayette county, Samuel Jack, of Washington county, and Moses Hilecock, of Dearborn county, are hereby appointed commissioners agreeably to the act entitled, "an act for fixing of seats of justice in all new counties
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hereafter to be laid off." The said commissioners shall meet at the house of Stephen Sims in the said county of Rush, on the first Monday in June next, and shall immed- iately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. [Note. The Sims house, one of the first to be erected in this region, stood on what now long has been known as the Frazee farm, south of the present city of Rushville.]
Section 4. The circuit courts and all other courts of county of Rush, shall be held at the house of Stephen Sims aforesaid, until suitable accommodations can be had at the seat of justice for said county.
This act shall be in force from and after the first day of April, 1822.
SAMUEL MILROY, Speaker of the House of Representatives. RATLIFF BOON, President of Senate.
Approved December 31, 1821.
JONATHAN JENNINGS, Governor.
The bounds of the county, as specified by the enabling act, were surveyed and laid out by Dr. William B. Laughlin, at whose suggestion and through whose influ- ence the county was named in honor of the celebrated physician of Philadelphia, Dr. Benjamin Rush. Doctor Laughlin had been a pupil of Doctor Rush and was his devoted friend. He became a Government surveyor by choice, liking the freedom of the open spaces, and with the assistance of his sons. Cicero and Harmony, and a party of engineers "ran the lines" not only of Rush county, but of a goodly portion of the territory round about. Of Doctor Laughlin it has been said that he was a man of fine classical education, of firm religious prin- ciples and of delicate and refined moral perceptions. These qualities marked him out as a leader in all good works, and contributed largely in giving to the community he assisted in organizing a high and moral tone and
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correct ethical standards. He was devoted to the cause of education, and, in 1828, opened a classical academy for instruction in the higher branches of education. He erected at his own expense, on his own ground, a two-story frame building for this purpose. Many men who took an important part in the early development of the county were greatly benefited by Doctor Laughlin.
THE SIX ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS
In accordance with the law for the formation of the county. the commissioners met at the home of Jehu Perkins on April 1, 1822, in accordance with their legal appointment. Their first act was to divide the county into six townships, Union, Ripley, Noble, Washington, Richland. and Orange, with boundaries as follows:
I'nion-Beginning at the northeast corner of section 4, township 15. range 11; running thence west to the northwest corner of township 15, range 10; thence south to the southwest corner of township 14, range 10; thence east to the southeast corner of section 33, township 14, range 11 : thence north to the place of beginning, making this township nine miles east and west and twelve miles north and south, in the northwest corner of the county.
Ripley-Beginning at the northwest corner of Union township; running thence west to the northwest corner of section 3, township 15, range 8; thence south to the southwest corner of section 34, township 14, range 8; thence east to the southwest corner of Union township; thence north to the place of beginning, this township thus having been nine miles east and west and twelve miles north and south in the northwest corner of the county.
Noble-Beginning at the southeast corner of Union township; running thence to the northwest corner of section 3, township 13, range 10; thence south to the south- west corner of section 34, township 13, range 10; thence east to the southeast corner of section 33, township 13. range 11 : thence north to the place of beginning, making
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this township six miles east and west and six miles north and south, lying south of Union.
Washington-Beginning at the northwest corner of Noble township; running thence west to the southwest corner of Ripley township; thence south to the southwest corner of section 34, township 13, range 8; thence east to the southwest corner of Noble township; thence north to the place of beginning, making this township twelve miles east and west and six miles north and south, lying south of Ripley.
Richland-Beginning at the southeast corner of Noble township; running thence west to the northwest corner of township 12, range 10; thence south to the south- west corner of section 30, township 12, range 10; thence east to the southeast corner of section 28, township 12, range 11; thence north to the place of beginning, this township thus being nine miles east and west and five miles north and south, in the southeast corner of the county.
Orange-Beginning at the northwest corner of Rich- land township; running thence west to the northwest corner of section 3, township 12, range 8; thence south to the southwest corner of section 27, township 12, range 8; thence east to the southwest corner of Richland township; thence north to the place of beginning, making this town- ship nine miles east and west and five miles north and south, in the southwest corner of the county.
EARLY DEMAND FOR ADDITIONAL TOWNSHIPS
As the population of the county increased, and those in charge of its government became more conversant with their duties, it became apparent that for the better admin- istration of county business more townships than these original six were necessary. Seven townships, Green, Rushville, Walker, Center, Jackson, Anderson and Posey, were added from time to time until 1830, as follows:
Green-(Organized February 12, 1823)-Beginning
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at the southwest corner of section 19. range 10, township 14: thence east to the half-mile stake on the line dividing sections 22 and 27 : thence sonth to the half-mile stake on the line dividing sections 10 and 15 in range 10, township 13: thence west to the county line: thence north on the county line to the northwest corner of section 15, range 8. township 14: thence east to the southwest corner of section 7, township 14, range 10; thence sonth to the place of beginning.
Rushville-(Organized August 11, 1823)-Begin- ning at the northwest corner of section 15, township 14. range 8; thence to the half-mile stake on the line dividing sections 10 and 15. township 14, range 10: thence south to he half-mile stake on the line dividing sections 10 and 15 in township 13. range 10; thence west one-half mile; thence south to the southeast corner of section 33, town- ship 13, range 10; thence west to the southwest corner of section 31, in said town and range : thence north one mile and half: thence west to the county line, thence north to the place of beginning.
Walker-(Organized March 6, 1826)-Commencing at the northwest corner of section 15, township 13, range 8: thence south to the half mile stake on the west side of section 27 in said range and township : thence east through the center of sections to the half-mile stake on the east side of section 28, township 13, range 9; thence north to the northeast corner of section 16, township 14, range 9; thence west to the place of beginning.
Center-(Organized January 4, 1830)-Beginning at the south line of Rush county, at the northeast corner of section 4. township 15, range 10; thence south by said seetion line to the southeast corner of section 33; thence west on said township line between 14 and 15 to the south- west corner of section 34. township 15, range 9; thence north on said line to the northwest corner of section 3; thenee on said county line to the place of beginning.
Jackson-(Organized August 18, 1830)-Beginning
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at the northeast corner of section 6, township 14, range 10; thence west to the northwest corner of section 5, town- ship 14, range 9; thence south to the southwest corner of section 20, township 14, range 9; thence east to the south- east corner of section 19, township 14, range 10; thence north to the place of beginning.
Anderson-(Organized November 9, 1830)-Begin- ning at the corner of sections 27 and 28, township 12. range 9, on the line of Decatur county ; thence north to the line dividing Rushville and Orange townships; thence east to the northeast corner of section 32, township 13, range 10; thence south to the county line; thence west to the place of beginning.
Posey-Beginning at the west line of Rush county at the southwest corner of section 34, township 14, range 8; thence north along the county line to where said line inter- sects the congressional township line dividing congres- sional townships 14 and 15; thence east along said congres- sional township line to the northeast corner of section 4, township 14, range 9; thence south to the southeast corner of section 33, same township and range; thence west to where the line intersects the boundary line of said county at the place of beginning.
NEW BOUNDS FOR CIVIL TOWNSHIPS
The county retained the townships in this form until March 8, 1859, when the board of county commissioners remodeled the civil townships and prescribed their boun- daries as follows, to make twelve townships, the thir- teenth, Green, being dropped :
Rushville-Beginning on the northern line of section 27, township 14, range 10 east in the center of said section ; thence south along the half section line dividing sections 27, 34, 3 and 10 south to the south line of section 10, town- ship 13, range 10, in the center between the east and west corner of section 10; thence west to the northeast corner of section 16, township 13, range 10; thence south to the
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southeast corner of section 28, township 13, range 10; thence west on a parallel line to the southeast corner of Walker township at the southwest corner of section 27, township 13. range 9; thence north along the west line of Walker township to the northwest corner of section 3. township 13, range 9 : thence north to the northwest corner of section 27, township 14, range 9; thence due east to the beginning.
Washington-Beginning on the northerly line of the county where the section line dividing sections 3 and 4, township 15, range 11, intersects said line; thence west along said county line until it intersects with the section line dividing sections 3 and 4 in said township and range 10; thence sonth along said last named section line to the southwest corner of section 34, township 14, range 10 east ; thence east on a parallel line to the boundary line between Fayette and Rush counties: thence north along said line to the place of beginning.
Walker-Beginning at the southeast corner of sec- tion 28, township 13, range 9. at the southwest corner of Rushville township: thence north along the west line of Rushville township to where same intersects the congres- sional township line dividing townships 13 and 14; thence west along the south line of Posey township to where said line intersects the line dividing Rush and Shelby counties ; thence sonth along said line to the southwest corner of section 27. township 13, range 8: thence east along the northern line of Orange township to the place of begin- ning.
Ripley-Beginning on the northern line of the county at the northwest corner of Center township, the northeast corner of section 4, township 15, range 9; thence west along the county line of said county to where same inter- sects the line dividing Rush and Hancock counties at the northwest corner of Rush county; thence south to the township line dividing sections 14 and 15; thence east along said last named line to the southeast corner of sec-
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tion 33, township 15, range 9; thence north on the west line of Center township to the place of beginning.
Richland-Beginning on the east line of Rush county at the southeast corner of section 28, township 12, range 11; thence north on the line dividing Rush and Franklin counties to the congressional township line dividing town- ships 12 and 13; thence west on said township line to the northwest corner of section 3, township 12, range 10; thence south on a straight line to where the same inter- sects the line dividing Rush and Decatur counties at the southwest corner of section 27, township 12, range 10; thence east along the county line to the place of beginning.
Center-Beginning on the northern line of Rush county at the northeast corner of section 4, township 15, range 10; thence west with the said county line to the northwest corner of section 3, township 15, range 9; thence south to the line dividing townships 14 and 15; thence east along said congressional township line to the southeast corner of section 33, township 15, range 10 east ; thence north with the line of Washington township to the place of beginning.
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