USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
McCarty, John Oliver, Sr., James Anderson, Jonathan Boyce and Jacob Minx.
UNION TOWNSHIP
In this township, in section 25, along Ben Davis creek where "Arnold's Home" later came to be estab- lished, the Indians under the leadership of old Chief Mahoning (whom the whites when they came called Ben Davis) had their village long before white settlers began to invade the rich hunting grounds of the aboriginals hereabout. Even before the treaty which caused the Indians to be moved from their lands here several white men had settled in this section. They occupied themselves hunting and trapping and were on friendly relations with the Indians. Among these was Henry Sadorus, who had a cabin where the Indian trail crossed Big Flat Rock river, the point where John Smelser erected the mill which gave the name of Smelser's Mills to the point after 1822. Samuel Gruell put up a cabin on Ben Davis creek in the vicinity of the Indian village, now "Arnold's Home," and Weir Cassady settled on what later came to be known as the Joseph Hinehman farm, and there were no doubt other trappers and hunters as well as a few "squatters" who were awaiting their opportunity to claim title when the land was thrown open to sale, so that as early as 1819 there were found quite a number of white men on the ground. When the land sale was opened there was a rush for the lands west of the older counties of Fayette and Franklin and general settlement of the town- ship was not long delayed. John Arnold, Raus Byrd Green, Thos. Sargeant and John Houghton bought land in this township on the first day of the land sale in Octo- ber, 1820, and among those who came not long afterward are mentioned John Horlock, Amaziah Morgan, George and Michael Hittle, Samuel Danner, John McMillen, Wils Buzan, Samuel Newhouse, John Nash, John and Richard Blacklidge, George Nipp, Isaac Arnold, Jacob Virgil,
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Elisha Clark and Edward Swanson (afterward the mur- derer of Elisha Clark. as set out elsewhere), Peter Shafer, George and Matthew Zion, John Clifford. Samuel Dur- bon, John Morris, Obediah Seward. Philip and Richard Richee, Isaac Sparks, David Looney, Samuel Bussell, Lawrence Aspey, Conrad Hilligoss, James and John Hinchman, John Brown, Thomas, Henry and John Logan, John Garrison, Isaac and Abraham Fleener, David Low, Hiram Kindle and Robert Groves. The first white child born in the township was Louise, daugh- ter of John Arnold, in June, 1822, and the first marriage was that of John Horlock and Mary, daughter of Isaac Arnold, in that same year. The Baptists organized a congregation as early as 1822 and erected a meeting house on Ben Davis creek. James Matthews and Clark Kitchen are mentioned as among the carly school teachers. Shafer's sawmill on Ben Davis creek was an early conven- ience to the pioneers thereabout and Smelser's gristmill already has been mentioned. John Arnold opened a store on his farm, and this place of business was long a center of the community, for years local elections and musters being held there. On this farm lived Swanson, the only man ever hanged in Rush county, who was executed for the murder of Elisha Clark.
Union township is bounded on the north by Wash- ington township and one section of Center township. east by Fayette county, south by Noble township and on the west by Rush and JJackson townships. Glenwood in the southeastern part of the township (lying in sections 28 and 33 of this township and partly in Favette county) and Mauzy or Griffin Station, are trading points on the . I. & W. railroad and Gings Station in section 11 and Falmouth in the northeast corner (part lying in Union township. part in Washington township and part in the neighboring county of Fayette) are trading points on the Pennsylvania railroad. The township is well drained, the headwaters of Little Flat Rock river and its tribu-
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
taries, Shankitank, Middle Fork, Shawnee, Plum and Turkey creeks draining the upper half and Ben Davis creek with its small tributaries draining the lower half of the township.
Glenwood-This is an incorporated village of about 300 population which, as above noted, lies partly in Rush county and partly in Fayette county. It was first known as Steele's, so called after its first postmaster, who was a pioneer tavern keeper at that point. In 1832 Dr. Jefferson Helm, Samuel Durbon and John Morris had a formal plat made of the town and gave it the name of Vienna, which some years later was changed to Glenwood and by this latter name the village since has been known. The first merchant at this point was Alfred Thompson and Henry and Thomas Thompson were the pioneer blacksmiths and wagon makers for the community which developed around the tavern and store. The first doctors were John Arnold and Jefferson Helm. Among the early business men were John Gatrell and Moses Wiley, wagon makers; Gideon Klink, saddler and harness maker ; John Jack, merchant, Samuel Boden, carpenter; John Lang- ley, who kept a store and was also a preacher, and G. Clawson, shoemaker. Among the early residents are men- tioned Thomas Smiley, Joseph Clifford, Ward Williams, Thomas Ochiltree and Henry Cline. With the coming of the railroad Glenwood became stimulated with a new commercial spirit and a grain elevator afforded a con- venient local market, while other lines of business also came in. The later arrival of the trolley line gave an additional impetus to the business life of the town. The Methodist Episcopalians and the United Presbyterians have churches at Glenwood and the Odd Fellows and Red Men have lodges.
Falmouth-This village also lies partly over the line in Fayette county and is also partly in Washington township, being in the extreme northeastern corner of Union township. It was "laid out" on the Fayette side
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
of the line in 1832 and in the fall of 1867 D. M. Shawhan laid out an addition over the line in Rush county. The village has a population of about 200 and is a good trading point on the Pennsylvania railroad. The Methodist Episcopalians have a church there. Gings is a station on the Pennsylvania in section 11. a grain elevator, a store and a blacksmith shop composing the business interests of the place.
WALKER TOWNSHIP
This is one of the smaller townships in the county, having but thirty sections in it. six east and west and five north and south. It is bounded on the north by Posey township, on the east by Rushville township, on the south by Orange township and on the west by Shelby county. Manilla, a flourishing town of about 500 population in the western part of the township, lying in sections 14 and 15. and Homer, a busy village in section 18, about the center of the township, are excellent shipping and com- mercial points on the Pennsylvania railroad. The surface of the township is generally flat, though there is some rolling land. and the natural drainage provided by the sluggish Mnd creek and its equally sluggish tributaries has been supplemented by considerable ditching which was found necessary to reclaim large sections of swamp lands which in the early days were regarded as practically valueless but which now are excellent farm lands. On account of the presence here of much swamp land and also because it was farther west than the other townships on the same tier in the county settlement of Walker township was not effected as early as in its neighboring township to the cast. very few pioneers having been found there prior to 1824. In this year a considerable "colony" of Kentnekians came up from Fleming county and estab- lished themselves in the township, their presence stin- lating further settlement until in the next two or three years pretty much all the available land had been taken up and most of it represented by established homes. In
The Manilla Bank.
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The Mil Grom Co.
FLOUR. FEED > MEAL EXCHANGE
SCENES IN MANILLA
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the list of pioneers of this township are found the names of John Goddard and his son Joseph, James Davis, Lan- don Gardner, Landy Hurst, William Burgess, Daniel Jones, Oliver Norman. Reuben Hefflin, David Peters, Fielding Hurst, Joshua Hefflin, James Rogers, Collins Hefflin, Frederick and Jacob Mull, Wright Donnelly, Isaac Baltis, Mr. Warfield, Samuel Wilson, Edward Inlow, J. Webb, William Glass, Edward Riley, Samuel Watson, Jacob Hendricks, Peter Carpenter, Dean Willis, Benjamin Plummer, Paul Folger, William Davis, Thomas and Barnard Macy, John Bramble, Reuben Conrad, Benjamin Elder, John Fouch, James and Reuben Alexander, James Goddard. John Heaton, David Peters, John English, James Fouch, Aaron Rollins, George Thomas, Isaac Hilligoss, Andrew Elder, Jacob Goddard, Eli Hill, Jonathan Murphy, Daniel Thomas, Doctor Huston, Gilbert Edwards, Coleman Rollins, William S. Hilligoss, Benjamin Plummer, Josiah and Alexander Miller, James Morrison, George and James Mahin, Emmons Hurst, James Emmons, John Alexander, Levi Hilligoss, Squire McCorkle, William Gates, Fred J. and Michael Hael, Michael Kney, Joseph Tomes, William Hodge, William Westerfield, David and John Dearinger, Fred Koontz, Casper and James Johnson, James Collins, John Webb and William Hunter.
Manilla-This is the chief town of Walker township and is situated almost on the western edge of the county. It is a good shipping point on the Pennsylvania railroad and has a bank, a grain elevator, a commissioned high school, two churches and the essential business houses and industrial establishments to carry on the business of the thriving community of which it is the center. The present (1921) pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church is the Rev. M. E. Abel and of the Christian church, Rev. J. P. Mars. Thomas K. Mull is president of the Manilla Bank and the Rush-Shelby Grain Company operates the grain elevator. The postmistress, Miss Mary M. Inlow, who
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
was commissioned on April 2, 1919. carries on a confec- tionery business in connection with the postoffice. Gen- eral stores, John Gross and M. L. Heaton : hardware. J. E. Creed and Silverthorn & Hungerford: drugs, George .J. Inlow : hotel, Mrs. A. B. Staniford; barber shops, E. H. Mahan and Oscar Passmore: garage, Frank Nichel; millinery, Blanche Fox: confectionery, Shook & Son ; blacksmith, Edward Edwards. There is one physician in the village, Dr. W. E. Barnum, and one dentist, Dr. Charles W. Zike. Among the earlier physicians in the town may be mentioned the names of John Westerfield, J. W. Houston, James W. Trees, J. J. Inlow, John H. Spurrier and Armstrong and Ramey. The town has a flourishing lodge of Freemasons and a lodge of Red Men. When natural gas was developed in Rush county Manilla secured a good supply through local wells and is still using this convenient fuel although the pressure is nothing like it was in other days. It uses the Bell and Independent telephones and secures electric current for lighting pur- poses from Rushville. It was on January 4, 1836, that the original plat of Manilla was filed for record, the town being "laid out" by Jacob Mull, Elias and Jonathan Murphy and Jonathan Edwards. At first the town was called Wilmington, but later was changed to Manilla, which name it ever since has borne, one of the two post- offices of that name in the United States. Inquiry among some of the old residents failed to reveal the source of the name. The first house in the town was a log cabin erected on the site of the present Trees homestead place. Jacob Mull was the first merchant and other early mer- chants were Woofolk and Riley & Frame. When the rail- road was being constructed through there. in 1848. a sawmill was erected to get out timber for construction work. The first train ran over the line on July 4, 1850, and thereafter the growth of the village to its present stage was substantial, the community appreciating the advantage of a rail shipping point. One of the former
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
industries of the town was a tannery which was erected in 1841 and a gristmill was erected in 1860. The Manilla Bank was organized by Thomas K. and Leonidas H. Mull in 1901 and has served as a great commercial convenience throughout that part of the county.
Homer-This is the second village in size in Walker township and is a pleasant place of about 200 souls, on the Pennsylvania railroad about the center of the township. The Arbuckle tile mill, one of the most extensive in this part of the state, is the chief industry in the place. There also is a good grain elevator and the several stores in the village supply the local wants of the community in the commercial way. The town has an excellent township school and there are two churches, the Christian and the Baptists being represented by congregations. The only lodge is that of the Odd Fellows. Homer grew up around a sawmill which was started by Nathan Murphy and Samuel Craig at that point in the late '40s to get out timber for the construction of the railroad and was at first known simply as "Slabtown," from the use of slabs from the sawmill for road repairs instead of the usual corduroy, but as the place grew this was regarded as hardly dignified enough and the classic name of Homer was given the station and the people there wouldn't trade that name for any other on the map. The town was platted in the summer of 1876. Among the early business men of the village may be mentioned J. Folger, Jesse Jarrett, James Andrews, Alexander Bridges, J. J. Emmons, William Emmons, J. T. Robertson, Uriah Thomas, Arbuckle & Son, S. C. Van Winkle and Jarrett & Innis.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
This is the northeast township of the county and is bounded on the north by Henry county, on the east by Fayette county, on the south by Union township and on the west by Center township. Raleigh, in almost the exact
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
center of the township. has been the social center of the township since it was laid out many years ago. It was given its name in honor of the capital of . orth Carolina, in deference to the wishes of a number of Carolinians who had settled in that vicinity. The village of Falmouth, which has been referred to under the caption of Union township, touches Washington township in the southeast corner of the township through which the Pennsylvania railroad runs. Washington township is drained by Flat Rock. Shankitank, Middle Fork and Shawnee creeks, all rather sluggish streams, which were not sufficient at an earlier day to drain the extensive swamp lands which kept back settlement in that part of the county until consider- ably later than other sections began to fill up, but these swamps have long since been drained by ditches supple- menting the creeks and there is now very little land in the township that is not profitably cultivated. Washington township and the town of Raleigh will ever be known as the home of the consolidated township school, such a school having been organized at Raleigh under the direc- tion of William S. Hall as early as 1876, which is said to have been the first movement of the kind in the United States. Mr. Hall, whose ardent interest in school work is referred to elsewhere in this volume, was one of the most influential of the earlier residents of Washington township, served for years as the local justice of the peace. as township trustee, during which latter term of service he performed his notable work of school develop- ment, and later represented this district in the state legis- lature. His son, the venerable Frank J. Hall. now living at Rushville, who was born in this township. was elected Hientenant governor of Indiana in 1908. it is said that the first white male child born in this township was Kin Princ and the first female Polly E. Jackson. The first marriage was that of John Martin and Prudence Cooke. The first school teacher was JJohn N. Penwell.
Included among the pioneers of Washington town-
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ship, according to the older chronicles, were John Morgan, Daniel Shawan, Matthew Prine, Richard Knotts, John Cooke, Thomas and Samuel Legg, Peter Younker, Adam and Zachariah Ammon, Marshall and Salathiel Vickery, John and George Maple, William McCann, Elam Irvin, Thomas and Joseph Hall, Joash Cook, Isaac Fry, James Prine, Benjamin, William, Joseph and Isaiah Jackson, Samuel Peake, Thomas Colbert, Jesse Scott. John H. Hood, Philip Ertel, Hiram Plummer, John Weaver, Matthew Rippe, David and Lewis L. Canaday, John M. Shawhan, Manlove, Jonathan, James I. and Franklin Caldwell, Robert Jeffries, Jacob Parrish, Benjamin Loder, John M. Penwell, Samuel Peake, Thomas Will- iams, William Beard, Sarah Irvin, Davis Rich, Richard Kolp, Jonathan and Levi Hatfield, James Low, John Reddin and Alfred C. Lightfoot.
Raleigh-It is said that the first house erected on the present site of the town of Raleigh was built by William McCann, who was one of the early settlers in that part of the county and that about 1841 Benjamin Clifford opened a store in that house. This store presently was taken over by Mr. McCann and the hamlet which grew up around the store became locally known simply as McCann's. About 1845 William Beard, whose farm covered the site sold some lots and gave the place the name of Newberne. On October 30, 1847, E. W. Shrader filed a plat of the site under the name of Raleigh and later Mr. Beard and Sarah Irvin made an addition to the original plat. The new plat gave the place the name of Raleigh in honor of the Carolinians who were settlers thereabout, as has been noted above. Raleigh found itself far off the line when the railroads began to come through this section of the state and has remained a pleasant rural hamlet, its present population being in the neighborhood of 150, but it has always maintained high standards and as a social center has ever exerted a wholesome influence throughout that entire countryside; its influence in an educational
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way particularly having been widespread, as stated above. The consolidated school building erected long ago under Mr. Hall's thoughtful direction, years ago became inadequate and was supplanted by the present fine school building, a picture of which is found elsewhere in this volume.
POPULATION STATISTICS AND SOME OTHER MATTERS
According to a preliminary announcement of popu- lation (subject to correction) issued by the Census Bureau early in 1921 giving figures of the fourteenth census (1920), the population of the several townships of Rush county is as follows: Anderson township, 1,457; Center township, 1,376: Jackson township, 582; Noble township, 945; Orange township, 1,015; Posey township, 1.299; Richland township, 695; Ripley township, includ- ing town of Carthage, 1,815; Rushville township, inchid- ing city of Rushville, 6,782: Union township, including that part of Glenwood lying in this county, 1,158; Walker township. 1,192, and Washington township, 925. Total for county, 19,241. Rushville's population is given at 5,498. as follows: First ward, 1,641 ; Second ward, 1.364; Third ward, 2,493.
The trend of population away from the farm which has been so noticeable a feature of census statistics in the middle West during the past two decades has been noticed with concern in Rush county, where, as in nearly every other section of the state, the rural communities have suffered a loss in population. Comparison of the above figures with those of the census report for twenty years ago will show a decline in population in all townships of the county save Rushville township, which is saved by the gain in the city's population, the figures for 1900 being as follows: Anderson township, 1,481; Center, 1,753: Jackson, 706: Noble, 992; Orange, 1,102; Posey, 1.495: Richland. 767: Ripley (including Carthage), 2,118: Rushville (including city of Rushville), 6,027;
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Union, 1,341 ; Walker, 1,361; Washington, 1,005. The total population of the county in 1900 was given as 20,148, as against 19,241 for 1920, and the population of the city of Rushville in 1900 was given as 4,541, as against 5,498 for 1920. The gain in the city, however, was not sufficient to offset the loss in the rural communities and Rush county is thus shown to have suffered an actual decline in popu- lation of 907.
Township Trustees-The present (1921) trustees of the several townships of Rush county are as follows: Anderson township, Frank McCorkle, of Milroy; Center, John F. Cohee, of Mays; Jackson, Alvah Newhouse, Rushville rural route; Noble, E. R. Titsworth, Glenwood; Orange, Wilbur Brown, Milroy; Posey, Thomas R. Lee, Arlington; Richland, Fred Goddard, New Salem rural route ; Ripley, Jesse Henley, Carthage; Rushville, James V. Young, Rushville; Union, John F. Mapes, Glenwood; Walker, Lew Lewis, Manilla, and Washington, Edward V. Jackson, Mays rural route.
Some "Deserted Villages"-An interesting and somewhat pathetic record of blasted hopes and fruitless ambitions is carried in the plat book at the county recorder's office, where have been filed in all the pride of budding hope plats of towns that "died a bornin' " in this county. One of the earliest of these projects that failed of fruition was that of Moses Coffin and Joseph Leonard, of this county, and two men living over the line in Shelby county who platted a "town" of forty-eight lots, half in Rush and half in Shelby, in June, 1834, and gave the name of "Savannah" to the same. Its location was one mile south of the northwest corner of Walker township. Unhappily for the promoters' dreams of a metropolis rising there, Savannah did not materialize beyond the pen and ink stage and the old plat book is the only present record of it.
In June, 1835, Reuben Johnson filed a plat of "Ash- land," set out as lying in the west half of the southwest
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quarter of section 17, township 12. range 9 east, and con- taining thirty lots just east across Big Flat Rock river from the town of Moscow. Whether the lots were sold or not, Ashland is not on the current maps of Rush county.
Mit. Etna was another paper town laid out about that time, John Scott in June, 1836, filing a plat of such town carrying sixteen lots in the cast half of the northwest quarter of section 7, township 14, range 10 east, but Mt. Etna failed to develop. This proposed town was located in JJackson township, one mile south of the north line of the township and near the center of township, east and west.
In September. 1836, Alexander B. Luce filed a plat of the town of Marcellus. also containing sixteen lots and lying in the northeast corner of the west half of the south- east quarter of section 36, township 14, range 10 east. near the town of Farmington, but search of a modern map of the county fails to reveal Marcellus.
The same is true of the town of Carmel, a plat of which was filed in April. 1837. by John W. Barber and others setting out the limits of the town in the northeast quarter of section 5. township 13, range 10 east. This was a somewhat more ambitious project than the others for the plat carried 110 lots, but of Carmel there is now no note on the county's map, although on account of the high ground the townsite occupied its projectors had hoped to make of it a rival to Rushville and the eventual metropolis of the county. The "boom" that was hoped for never came.
CHAPTER X
RUSHVILLE; THE COUNTY SEAT
Beautiful for location, situated in the midst of a region as fair and fertile as any in the Union, affording to its citizens the culture and comfort that exalt and embellish civilized life, the city of Rushville has ever been regarded as one of the particularly favored county seat towns of Indiana. Into its social, industrial and commercial life and living the most substantial elements enter and in the community thus formed there is a whole- some, friendly "neighborliness" that impresses all and offers unmistakable evidence of the sterling qualities that underlie the general social structure. ear enough to the state capital to enjoy the advantage of this proximity and yet far enough away not to suffer greatly the detraction of the larger city's "pulling power," it also enjoys the neighborhood of attractive and interesting county seat towns roundabout, New Castle, Connersville, Brookville, Greensburg, Shelbyville and Greenfield having from the days of the beginning of settlement in this section of the state been neighbors above reproach, and throughout all this region there has been from the first a sort of general community of interest that is perhaps not equalled in any similar group of cities in the country. Settled by a ster- ling type of pioneers, men of the real pioneer breed, in the days when to make a town in Indiana meant a struggle with the forest wilderness such as the present generation hardly can understand. much less appreciate, the town has had a steady and substantial growth and bids fair to continue the same wholesome progress during the genera- tions yet to come. Now entering the second century of its existence, its future is promising and it faces that future full of hope and determination.
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