USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 40
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FIRST MARRIAGE LICENSE ISSUED IN COUNTY
Among the numerous interesting "firsts" encoun- tered in making up a history of a community none is more interesting than that having to do with the first record of marriage in the county. The first persons licensed to marry in Rush county were Aaron Osborn and Elizabeth Lee, their names constituting the initial entry in Marriage License Record 1 in the office of the clerk of court. This license was issued on May 10, 1822, a little more than a month after the formal organization of Rush county as a separate civic unit and more than a month before the location of the site of the county seat. The certificate of solemnization of the ceremony uniting this pioneer pair was filed by Elder JJohn Blades three days later, May 13. The second license issued was that in behalf of Samuel Cones and Sally Grigg, this having been issued on May 29 of the same year. The certificate of solemnization, bearing the attestation of John Lenville, justice of the peace, was not filed for record until the following August 3, but there is no explanation on the face of the record to account for this apparent delay in the consummation of the plans of the happy pair. June (the traditional month of brides) was passed without the
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granting of a single license to marry-nor is there any explanation of this melancholy fact-and it was not until July 23 that the third license was issued, this latter being in favor of Benjamin Sailors and Kervilley Evans. There was no delay in the consummation of the plans of this pair, however, for the certificate of solemnization signed by Elder John Blades bears the same date as that of issue. This wonderfully interesting little old, time- stained book, No. 1 of the long line of marriage license record books in the clerk's office, carries the record of licenses on to March 29, 1826. One of the most interest- ing features is the gradually varying style of the certifi- cates of solemnization. Beginning with the first brief attestation made by Elder Blades, told in scarce a dozen words, these certificates gradually grow in specific detail to such a point of verbosity that toward the close of the record book they are found to be filling a full page of the record, as for example on page 154 (the last entry in book No. 1) : "William Gilson to Sarah Nash: Be it remembered that on the twenty-ninth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six a license was issued by the clerk of the Rush Circuit Court authorizing any person (duly authorized) to join together in the bonds of matrimony William Gilson and Sarah Nash; and afterwards, towit, on the third day of April in the year of our Lord last afore- said Richard Blacklidge, a justice of the peace for Rush county, filed in the clerk's office aforesaid the following certificate, towit: I do hereby certify that I did join together as husband and wife William Gilson and Sarah Nash on the 30th day of March, 1826. Given under my hand and seal the 3d day of April, 1826. Richard Black- lidge, justice of the peace."
It will be interesting to know that among the "firsts" of Rush county the first road planned in the county was the road running through Richland township a mile north of the Decatur county line and crossing the loop of Clifty
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creek. It was at the first meeting of the board of county commissioners. April 1. 1822, that an order of the board was entered appointing Jesse D. Condy. JJacob Oldinger and John Cook "to review a road to commence on the cast line of Rush county at the corners of sections 21 and 28 in town 12. range 11 cast. thence on a due west line to the west boundary of said township." The next road ordered was a matter of minute in the record of the second meeting of the commissioners, May 13, 1822. this meeting having been held at the house of John Lower. it being noted in that minute that "the board appointed Benjamin Sailor. William Junkens and Worth Parker to view a road commencing where Whitsel's trace crosses the line between Fayette and Rush counties and turning thence west the nearest and best route to the dwelling house of Richard Thornberry, thence the same direction to where said trace crosses the line of the counties of Shelby and Rush. " Richard Thornberry had entered the northwest quarter of section 26 in Rushville township and the gen- eral direction of the old Whitsel trace through this county is thus definitely established across the old Thornberry ford over Flat Rock. This "trace" was the old "blazed trail" entting up through Franklin and Fayette counties through this region and thenee on west to the Wabash country. Reference is made to it in Esarey's " History of Indiana." where, in speaking of the stream of inmigra- tion that "followed Driftwood from Vallonia and Brownstown. founding the Haw Patch. Jonesville and Flat Rock settlements in Bartholomew county before 1820," it is pointed out that "the settlements were rein- forced by many pioneers who came across from the Whitewater country, following Whetzell's trace to John- son comity." The variation in the spelling-Whitsel and Whetzell-is a not uncommon characteristic of many of the old records, clerks in some instances apparently being guided more by the sound of the name than by any desire for strict orthographie accuracy.
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Among other interesting "firsts" the following copy of the first teacher's certificate ever issued to a female teacher in Rush county merits a place : "State of Indiana, Rush county. ss: We, the undersigned school teacher examiners in and for said county do hereby cer- tify that from personal knowledge and examination of Elizabeth Willhoit we find her qualified to teach the fol- lowing branches, towit: Reading, writing, arithmetic, English gramar (sic) and geography, and that she is well qualified to teach a common English school. Witness our hands this 10th day of March, 1845. Job Pugh, Finley Bigger, examiners." The teacher here referred to, Elizabeth (Willhoit) Caldwell, was the mother of Mrs. John F. Moses and Mrs. Moses treasures highly the time- stained document which attested her mother's early com- petency as a teacher. The school examiners here men- tioned were forceful figures in the county at that period. Job Pugh for years served as recorder of Rush county and in other ways rendered public service. Finley Bigger, a lawyer of wide influence, located in Rushville in 1836, coming from Ohio where his father, John Bigger, had served for years as a member of the Ohio state legislature. In 1853 Finley Bigger was appointed registrar of the United States treasury and served in that capacity until 1861.
A "first" that will be regarded as of importance to the future generations is that of the date of the arrival of the first express shipment to the city of Rushville by airplane. This was May 17, 1921, on which day R. N. Hensler, an air pilot, delivered to the drug store of Pit- man & Wilson at Rushville a package of fishing tackle from Dowagiac, Michigan, the trip having been made with but one stop, at Wabash, Indiana. This trip contrasted with the trips made into this section by the lumbering ox carts a hundred years before was regarded as a most sig- nificant commentary on the amazing progress that had been made in transportation during the century. The
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actual flying time of this trip was two hours and fifty- five minutes, the distance covered being 165 miles as the crow flies.
RUSH COUNTY'S "OUTSTANDING" FEATURE
It long has been a matter of comment on the part of visitors here that the outstanding feature of the social life of Rush county is the genial and wholesome neighborli- ness of "the folks," a happy trait that has persisted here since the beginning, the people of the county in each suc- ceeding generation continuing to remain "just folks" to all the world. This fine neighborliness of spirit formerly found expression in the annual county fair and in the annual meetings of the Old Settlers' Association. The county fair succumbed to the lessening of distances brought about by better means of transportation, the state fair now easily providing an outlet for that form of expression among the people of Rush county, while the old settlers' meetings ceased to attract apparently for the simple reason than no one could be found in the county any more who would admit that he was "old." In later years street fairs in the county seat, corn shows and the like have served to bring the home folks together on occasion, and there is now on foot a movement to have a great homecoming festival at Rushville in 1922, at which time all who have ever had a part in the life of Rushville will be invited to gather for the celebration of the centen- nial anniversary of the county. In 1916 Rush county celebrated with appropriate ceremonies at the county seat the observance of the state's centennial and that was an admirable "get-together" meeting, but perhaps the best exemplification of the neighborly spirit above referred to ever noted in the county was the remarkable series of meetings held at Rushville in 1920, the "town" entertain- ing the "country" there in the spring of the year and the country returning the compliment to the town in the fall. In the spring the Rotary Club of Rushville had issued a
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general invitation to the farmers of the county to have dinner with the merchants of the city on a day and more than 1,800 farmers and their wives had accepted the invi- tation, the occasion proving so wholly enjoyable that the farmers and their wives, on their part, decided to return the compliment in the fall. To that end plans were laid for a September dinner and on Friday, September 17. 1920, four great tents were erected in the city park, the business and professional men of the city being invited to partake there of the hospitality of the farmers and their wives. The statement that there were no fewer than 12,000 persons gathered at that dinner was declared by a contemporary print to be "too conservative" an estimate. There were no fewer than 2,500 automobiles parked about the scene of the big dinner, and it did seem that almost the whole county had turned out. In the first of the big tents erected for the occasion the women's committees of Anderson, Rushville and Noble townships entertained ; in the second, Jackson, Posey and Richland; in the third, Ripley, Walker and Center, and in the fourth, Union. Washington and Orange. No old settlers' meeting ever drew such a crowd, and the genuine neighborliness of the spirit displayed was commented on by all. As the Republican, in its report of the affair, said: "The immense throng of people was jolly and good natured. Neighbors and friends visited with each other and many who had been passing on the streets of Rushville for years without knowing one another became acquainted." Addresses appropriate to the occasion were made by local and visiting notables and a series of motion pictures of the neighborhood gathering was taken under the direc- tion of the extension department of Purdue University, these pictures later being exhibited throughout Indiana and in neighboring states as a suggestion to other counties and county seat towns to go and do likewise.
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SOME INCIDENTAL ACTIVITIES OF THE QUAKERS
In an interesting review of the history of the Car- thage Meeting of Friends prepared some time ago by Owen S. Henley to be read at a celebration meeting of the historie old Meeting. Mr. Henley pointed out some inci- dental activities on the part of certain members of the Meeting in years gone by as follows: " Dr. John M. Clark, a member, was one of the most noted doctors of an early day, was well read, could speak in a number of dialects and was also a proficient writer. At an early day Her- man Allen. a member, applied for and received what was said to be the first patent on the planing machine. The knife was run horizontally and thus eut across the grain of the wood and did not gain publie favor. In 1854 Elwood Hill and Noah Small, members of Friends' fam- ilies, conceived the idea of applying steam as the power to thresh wheat. To carry out this idea they went to Troy, New York, purchased a portable engine of six horse- power, placed it on a wagon and during the season of 1855, so far as can be ascertained, made the first use of steam in threshing wheat in the United States. About 1814, in North Carolina, JJoseph Henley purchased, with the idea of setting him free, a colored boy, Joe, the price paid being thirty-two barrels of flour. Joe was skillful in shoemak- ing for that time and soon left for Richmond, Ind., but insisted on giving his note for $50 as some little pay- ment for the flour. In 1826 Thomas Henley, son of Joseph, starting to Indiana on a prospecting tour, the father gave him the note with instructions to hunt up Joe and see how he was getting along. Joe was found in a little cabin. 12×14, south of what is now Main street, Richmond. Split puncheons led from the trail to the door ; the cabin was on posts two feet high, a pool of green dirty water was under the entire structure and several dueks were hunting tadpoles in the same. Joe suggested moving on, thinking he could do better, and offered the
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cabin for the note. The nerve of Thomas failed and he left Joe in possession. Thomas Henley then came on out to where Carthage now stands and where at that date his uncle, Robert Hill, was building a mill, and worked with mattock and wheelbarrow thirty days for $10, boarding at the palatial home of Jesse Hill-15x25 feet, dirt floor- at the rate of 121% cents per day. A copy of the 'menu' has not been preserved."
Certain individual Friends of the Carthage neighbor- hood were active agents in the operation of the "under- ground railroad" which "ran" through this county in the days when the enforcement of the fugitive slave law car- ried a severe penalty for assisting a runaway slave, and those who thus incurred the penalty of the law carried on their operations at considerable risk. In 1916 Thomas T. Newby, of Carthage, published an interesting little book of "recollections" in which he recalled the time when he first saw matches, tells of the circumstances attending the introduction of lamps into Rush county, and of the old railroad that ran from Knightstown through Carthage to Shelbyville, of which the only tangible reminder in this generation is the trace of the roadbed running south- westerly out of Carthage, and tells of the days when excursions were run on this road, when flatcars with benches on them were used for passengers and when pas- sengers had to get off to "give a lift" to the puffing little engine; but probably the most interesting recollection in this interesting little book is that in which Mr. Newby gives some reminiscences concerning the old "under- ground railroad." He says that "for a few years before the Civil war the 'underground railroad' was patronized very frequently through here by those mostly from Ken- tucky and Tennessee. There were several men in Car- thage who sympathized with the South and they were ever watching and ready to inform against any who aided a runaway slave, so that assistance given had to be man- aged with care and secrecy. There was a 'station' at
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Rushville managed by 'Agent' Burns (colored), who would bring slaves to Carthage after night and they were kept secreted until the next night when an 'agent' here, Elisha B. White or Jim Hunt (colored), would take them to another 'station,' the Jessup neighborhood, four miles north of Knightstown, where they were hidden in the daytime and at night taken to the next station north and then on to Newport (Fountain City), where the 'president' of the 'underground railroad' lived-stanch friend of the slave, Levi Coffin. From there they were 'shipped' on to Canada, some times taking several days and much risk. One Sabbath day in the summer of 1855 there were twelve runaways hidden all day in our sugar orchard, it being a dense thicket then."
Reference heretofore has been made of the organized band of horsethieves which operated throughout this sec- tion of the state back in the '50s, with headquarters in the Moscow neighborhood. Apparently it was thought by the law abiding Quakers of the Carthage neighborhood that the forces of law and order no longer were to be depended upon and they organized a band of vigilantes, which they called the Ripley Rangers, for the purpose of putting a stop to the repeated depredations of this gang. The constitution and by-laws of the Ripley Rangers, approved by the board of county commissioners on December S, 1857, point out that " Whereas, horsestealing, counterfeit- ing, burglaries and larceny have become quite common, and those who perpetrate those deeds escape from justice with impunity and infest our common county with lawless bands; therefore, to the end that justice be established and public order be maintained, the better to secure to the citizens of our country their just rights and to bring offenders to justice" the Ripley Rangers found it neces- sary to concert for action. The rangers evidently was an oath-bound organization for the by-laws provided punish- ment for such members as might reveal the secrets of the meetings of the organization. Officers of the association
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provided for under the constitution were captain, first and second lieutenants or ensigns and a secretary and treasurer. David Marshall was the president of the meet- ing at which the organization was effected and Thomas C. Hill was clerk. Other names signatory to the articles of association were Jesse Henley, Amos H. Hill, Joseph Overman, Andrew J. Morely, Elisha B. White, Asa H. Hudson, Jared P. Binford, Henry Henley, Thomas W. Henley, Jesse L. Phelps and John Reddick.
While on the subject of inventions which have been worked out by Rush county men, it is but proper to recall that Jesse Boyd many years ago perfected a double-shovel corn plow, which is believed to have been the first device of its kind ever used. He secured a patent on his device, but failed to protect one of the basic principles of the invention, the arch connecting the plows, and an enter- prising manufacturer of agricultural implements recog- nizing the weakness of the patent filed under the original patent and put out a plow which covered the valuable principle worked out by Mr. Boyd and made a fortune which otherwise might have been that of the Rush county inventor. James F. Harcourt was another inventor who worked out a good thing in a grain drill, the first device of its kind used in Rush county, and for some years manufactured drills on his place in Anderson township, not only supplying the local demand but doing quite a shipping business in the products of his factory until the competition of the big implement factories put him out of business.
THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1913
It was in the spring of 1913 that Rush county in common with many communities throughout Indiana and western Ohio was visited by the most disastrous flood that ever swept through this region. It was on Monday night, March 24, that the waters of Flatrock rose to a dangerous height and when Tuesday morning dawned the people of
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Rushville found themselves confronted with a situation unique in the annals of the town, while all up and down the valley of the river throughout this county, and par- ticularly in the vicinity of Moscow, the flood had spread until the scene presented the appearance of a great. muddy lake. Viewed from the court house tower it was seen that to the east and southwest the land was covered with water as far as could be seen. The water covered the business part of the city in Main street to the rise above Third street and thus every basement in the busi- ness section of the city was filled with water, entailing a great loss in damaged stocks of goods. The lower por- tions of the city in the Eastend were covered, nearly every house in Julian street and in Second and Third streets (east) being entered by the flood, the people in those sec- tions being driven to the second floors of their homes. This situation continued until the following Thursday by which time the waters had subsided sufficiently that stock could be taken of conditions. In the meanwhile railway and interurban traffic was suspended and save for frag- mentary and confusing messages by telegraph or tele- phone-wire service also being practically out of com- mission-the town was completely cut off from the outside world. Even after the flood in the city had sub- sided the bottom lands up and down the valley of Flatrock were flooded, the Driving Park being under water for a week. In the bottom lands immerous families were marooned in their homes for several days before assist- ance and relief could be gotten to them, owing to raging waters, and untold distress was suffered by many. In Orange township an elderly couple were thus marooned and were forced to take refuge against the rising waters in the attic of their house. Their plight was discovered and neighbors set about some measure of relief. A raft was devised and in the evening three men set out in this craft seeking a way to the engulfed house. Their raft was caught in an eddy and all three were precipitated into the
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flood. Happily they managed to support themselves by the branches of shrubbery growing nearby, but help could not be sent them in the darkness and they were kept there all night, supported by cries of cheer from the shore and by the lights that were kept burning by the anxious watchers on the bank. One of the trio stood all night in the fork of a small sapling and after the flood had sub- sided cut this sapling and had it converted into a hall tree which he prizes highly as a souvenir of his night of peril. Happily, there was but one life lost in the great flood. the victim being James Hubbard, a negro, who was drowned at the old hitchrack just south of the county jail. It was estimated that the loss in the city alone aggregated $300,000, while that throughout the rural districts affected by the flood was almost as much. The flooding of the basement of the Republican office put the presses of that paper out of commission. The Jacksonian's available supply of print paper was destroyed and during the week of flood conditions the two papers merged, being issued under the name of The Jacksonian-Republican, a bit of hyphenation that, considering the ancient political feud between the two papers, seemed almost incredible to many of the readers, but which demonstrated to all that in times of trouble personal animosities are wont to disap- pear in all relations of life. The water gauge in front of Oneal's store on South Main street, which had been main- tained there for many years, showed that the water of Flatrock reached a point twenty-five inches higher than ever before recorded, and a good deal of comfort was taken in the statement of the meteorologists who presently attempted to analyze the conditions which brought about the flood of 1913 that the excessive rainfall was caused by a combination of meteorological conditions that might not again be presented in a million years.
AN ECHO OF THE DAYS WHEN HOGS RAN LOOSE
Back in the "old days" when hogs ran loose in the streets and cattle roamed undisturbed along the high- 33
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ways the question of keeping the prideful public square in the growing city of Rushville free from this annoyance evidently was a paramount one, if judged by the number of names of the then leading citizens of the town who formally prayed the board of county commissioners to erect a fence which would be a protection against the intrusion of willful and perverse livestock. This petition, which is preserved in the public library. is dated August 29, 1838, and reads as follows: "We, the undersigned citizens of Rush county, believing that the protection of the public buildings and the convenience of the people generally as well as our standing as a county requires that there should be a good substantial plank fence put around the public square in the town of Rushville, or around as much thereof at least as to enclose the court house, the clerk's and recorder's offices, handsomely in said town ; we would therefore pray your honorable body to make an appropriation out of the moneys under your control belonging to said county to construct said fence, and we would further ask your honorable body to appoint some suitable person or persons to procure the necessary material for the construction of said fence and to have the same constructed as soon as the materials can be obtained and the work performed, upon such plans and at such dis- tances around said buildings as you shall in your wisdom direct." This petition is signed by William Cavot. Hart- ley Felty. John Behan. William Frame, James Me Pike Robert A. Matthews. JJohn Brown, Walter Brown, H. Offutt, Alonzo Brown. Ervin Fleener. James Curry. I. Hamilton, William Lowry, Harvey Seward. George Hib- ben. R. Y. McBride, Onias Jackson, Benjamin Lakin, W. H. Endicott, William Oliver, Noah Snidaker, G. W. Braun, P. A. Hackleman, Thomas Olin. Reu Pugh, James S. Arick, William H. Anderson, JJoel Wolfe. Erastus T. Bussell. William Lower, Thomas Pugh. John Dixon. G. B. Plush, A. N. Blacklidge, I. N. Pugh. Chapman Morris. John Day, John Hatfield, William R. Callahan. A. S.
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