USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 5
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"On our uplands the sugar maple, the black walnut. the blue and gray ash, the red ehm, the poplar, wild cherry and buckeye were very abundant. the white and black oaks, the pig-nut hickory, linden, coffee nut, honey locust and mulberry were also found in varying quanti- ties: in the bottom and low lands were abundance of burr- oak, butternut, white chu, sycamore. the shellbark and thick shellbark hickories, swamp ash, soft maple, hack- berry and alder.
"The wild grape was common everywhere, climbing to the top of the loftiest trees; it was in the rich bottom
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land that it grew most luxuriously and abundantly, fre- quently canopying the top of isolated trees, thus forming a natural arbor, whose umbrageous covering was imper- vious to the noonday's sun, and which stood out a beau- tiful object in the sylvan landscape.
"Rush county was particularly rich in black walnut timber, which for quality and quantity cannot be equaled by any other county in this or any other state. Perhaps it may not be generally known that Indiana wal- nut is superior to all others in beauty of color and sus- ceptibility of a fine finish, and it consequently is the most sought after and commands the highest price in the east- ern markets. Within the last few years [written in the "70's] the trade in walnut timber has attained gigantic proportions and an amount almost incalculable has been shipped and still a very large amount remains. The fin- est groves of walnut were on the east side of the county, along the waters of Ben Davis and Little Flatrock. There were also in the same parts a great deal of superior pop- lar. Commencing at my house and going westward through the lands of George Gray, the Hinchman farm, the Blacklidges, Alfred Wilson's, Doctor Helm's lands, and in fact, all the way to the valley of Flatrock, we find an abundance of the most magnificent yellow poplar. The largest and the most admirable specimen of this noble tree that I ever saw grew on the land west of me, which was entered by old Mr. Virgil, sold by him to Jacob Blacklidge, Sr., and now is owned by George Gray. It stood on high ground and though surrounded by a heavy growth of timber, towered above them all, the monarch of the forest. Its circumference, three feet from the ground, was thirty-six feet, which would give a diameter of twelve feet. Its straight trunk rose over sixty feet without a limb, when it divided into two immense symmetrical branches. It showed no sign of age or decay, but gave every evidence of vigor and luxuriant life."
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
FIRST SALE OF PUBLIC LAND
As has been previously stated. the first sale of public lands in what is now Rush county could not be made be- fore October. 1820, when the government land office at Brookville was opened, but so choice was the land that before the close of the year 168 entries were made. These varied from forty to 640 acres, but eighty or 160 acres was the usual amount entered by the pioneer. During the ensuing year 278 entries were made, and as time went on the occupation of the land went on at a faster rate. In a day when every bit of progress and success depended upon the unremitting toil of the individual, men found it advantageous to settle near each other, that they might assist and be assisted by their neighbors in many of the arduous tasks that confront settlers in a new and virgin country. Thus small settlements made their appearance at a very early date in the development of the county. The places which seemed to attract the earliest comers were what is now Noble township. Union township, Rich- land township. Ripley township and Rushville township. All these settlements were commenced in either 1820 or 1821. The first men to locate in Rushville township were Judge W. B. Laughlin. Stephen Simms, Christian Cly- mer. Houston Morris, Elijah Lewark, Wesley Moffett. George Mull, John Parson, Cuthbert Webb. Andrew Gil- son, Sanmel Jackson. John Hale. Sampson Thomas, Simeon Cassady. James McManus. Presley Moore. John Phillips. Thomas MeCarty. John Oliver and many others.
As in the case in almost all new countries, the first industries of the county were gristmills. The first of these was erected by the Hon. W. B. Laughlin in 1821. It was south of the present site of the city of Rushville. and the power was obtained from a dam across Flatrock. This mill saved the pioneers many a weary mile of diffi- (ult travel. for prior to this time the nearest mill was at Connersville, and to take the grain over the roads that
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existed at that time was an operation attended with se- vere tribulations. However, after the mill had been in use for some two years, the young town of Rushville was almost wiped out by an extraordinary epidemic of ma- larial fever which left in its wake an unusually large percentage of dead. The citizens promptly destroyed the dam, thinking thus to rid themselves of the nuisance, but little realizing that it could have but slight influence on the prevalence of the disease. Hand in hand with the gristmill came the distillery, usually the old-fashioned copper still, and as early as 1821 Jehu Perkins had erected one in addition to a horsepower mill with which the corn was ground. The first steam mill was built by William Robinson in Noble township, and at Moscow there were two distilleries and a gristmill. Every com- munity had its gristmills, distilleries, and there were also some few sawmills, although these last made their appear- ance slightly later than the first two. In fact, the entire county was well supplied within a short time with mills of all description, and the county became almost from the start self-supporting in nearly every respect.
The clearing of the land went forward steadily, but inasmuch as it was practically all hand labor, it was naturally slow. In the beginning, commodities were ex- changed by the settlers either for a certain amount of labor or for some needed article possessed by a neighbor, but as time went on and the lands became more easy to cultivate, a surplus of crops and stock was produced. and then money came into more common use as the medium of exchange. The nearest market to Rush county was Cincinnati, and it was no mean task to haul grain or drive stock through what was to all purposes a wilderness. The prevailing prices a hundred years ago were indeed small when compared to those of today, and would hardly seem to have repaid the backwoods farmer for his labor. Wheat sold for from forty to fifty cents a bushel, corn for from ten to fifteen cents. and hogs for from $1.00 to $1.50 net weight, with a good drove averaging 125 pounds.
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
SOME OF RUSH COUNTY'S ORIGINAL LANDOWNERS
The register of sales of government land in Rush county is an exceedingly interesting old book, the real roster of the "fathers" of the community. From it bave been culled the names of those whose land here was pur- chased from the land agent at the land office at Brook- ville during the years 1820 and 1821, as follows:
In the Southern Tier of Townships-John Innis. Thomas Bradley, Allison C. Lockhart. Ivory H. Legate, James Shaw, William McCarter, Charles Fuller, Henry H. Evans, David Mourning. John Wright, JJames W. Stuart. Hugh Stuart, David Overleese, Jacob Whiteman. John Trees, John Julian, John Heiser, Richard Shaw, John Ward, George Shepell, Israel Howit, Richard Hun- gerford, Matthew Allison. JJohn Wood, David Query, George Julian, Reuben Farlow. Leonard Burton, David Hill, John Shellhorn, Simon Farlow. George Foglesong. William Nelson, William Arnett, Jacob Harlan, George Searight, Andrew Searight, James Bell. John Sinnons, Nathan Wright, William Smith. Elijah Thatcher. Joseph Owen. Alexander Van Pelt, Peter Hushaw, Savil Wil- son, Nicholas Hedrick. Thomas E. Hall, JJohn Stewart, Abraham Beaver, Sammel Work. Joseph Washburn. Jane Mellwaine, James Fordice, John Haff, Lat Green, Jacob Hackleman, Paterson Heaton, Eli JJ. Elston, William Osborn, Owen Scott, Hugh Smith, Gabriel Springer, William Bell. Nathaniel MeChuire. John Miller, John, Thomas and Joseph Harvey. Matthias Beaver, Edward Louson, James Henderson, Phineas Thomas, Thomas Craig, Benjamin Young, Alexander Young. William Holeman. James Garton, Jacob Fisher, Jesse Morgan. Adam Trees, George Brown, Richard Merrill. Jr., Jacob Ryder. Benjamin J. Rieker. Ezekiel Lewis, James Jones, John Hatfield. Ephraim Boring, Joseph Miller, Moses Martin, Mark Ormacost, Jacob Stadler, Smith Stone, Benjamin Craig, John Evick, JJacob Hite, John Scott,
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HISTORY OF RUSH COUNTY
Joseph Lee, Lewis Harrison, Benjamin Goodwin, Na- thaniel Patton, Nathaniel Anderson, John Sholts, Stephen Sharp, William Phillips and John Sharp, Cyrus C. Tevis, Jesse D. Conde, John Riger, John Hatfield, Peter Miller, David Crews, Jr., George Craig, John Gwinnup, David Mount, Eliphalet Barber, Henry Misner, John Barber, John Parker, Henry Hildreth, Thompson Sim- mons, John Murnan, Daniel Wright, Jr., James Gregg, George Murnan, William Murnan, Daniel Cox, J. Lock- wood,. C. Ridpath, William I. Posey, Arnold Murray. John Cones, John Riley, James Linville, James Stephens, Jacob Olinger, Nathaniel Smith and John Curry, Field- ing Ballard and Jonathan Paul.
In the Central Tiers of Townships-David Mount, Thomas Cassady, William Morris, William B. Laughlin, John Lower, David Looney, Jr., William S. Bus- sell, Jacob Reed, Joseph Looney, Moses Bussell, Daniel Kellogg, Jacob Mull, Frederick Mull, George Mull, Sr., George Rishling, John Thornburg, Anderson Wilkinson, Thomas Stuart, Garet Darland, James Samons, Joseph Devers, Jr., Peter H. Patterson, John Leffler, Isaac Asher, John Asher, Richard Thornburg, North Parker, James Greer, George Mull, Jr., Stephen O. Brown, James Stallard, William Kitchey, George Grace, David Temple- ton, John N. Calvert, Solomon Reel, Zachariah Hodges, Reuben Vanzandt, Stephen Jessup, Hezekiah Mount, John Campbell, Israel Brown, Lewis Smith, Henry My- ers, Peter Looney, Henry Nicholas, Thomas McCarty, Nathaniel Hodges, William Junkin, James Anderson, Stephen Sims, Gamaliel Garrison, Samson Cassady, Wil- liam Cassady, Jesse Shortridge, William Currens, George Guffin, Andrew Guffin, Jesse Heizer, John Kippers, Andrew Brown, Abram Hackleman, Enoch McCarty, John P. Thompson, George Craig, John Hawkins, Tyra Gantt, John W. Morford, Thomas Salors, E. and J. Fra- zee, Nancy Driskill, Thomas F. Lewis, Jacob Goble, Brooks B. Talbott, Joshua Moore, William Low, John P.
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Minor, Frederick Miller, George Reno, Edward Stevens, Christian Climer, Huston Morris, John Stephens, Stacy Stephens, John Perkins, Jacob Salors, Amos Wright, John Holsted, David VanGilder, JJohn B. Talbott. John Gwinup. James Robinson, Henry Lyons. Jonathan Jus- tice. Isaac Williams, Stephen Maple, William Arnold, Rice Phipps. William Simmons, Joseph Marsh, Cornelius Cummings, Thomas Jones, Reuben Salors, Israel Brown. Hezekiah Salors. Artemus Moore, William P. Priest. Elias Poston, James Brown. John Harcourt, Jesse. Win- ship. William Osbourn. James Fordyce, Jr .. Robert Thompson, Jesse Robinson, James Tyler. JJohn Leforge, Jr., Robert Lyons, Gardiner Moore. Benjamin Sailors. James Logan, Edward Pattison. William Norwood, James Cooper. Robert Kelly, Lewis Sala. G. Klein, John and Reuben Wilson. John Newkirk, Daniel Hall, Peter Fear, Samuel Carr. Robert English, Samuel Downard, William Appleton. John Kiplinger, Abraham Newkirk, James McCormack. John McDaniel. Isaac Hittle. John Me Millen, Amaziah Morgan, John Cox. Jr., Samuel Gro- well. William Gilson. Wear Cassidy, William Gibson, William Moffatt. Stephen Harrell. John Nash, Moses Harrell, George Zion, Samuel Newhouse. Thomas Pun- can, Jeremiah Harrell, JJonathan Bishop, Michael Hittle, George Hittle, Christian Furry, Ransbird Green. Samuel Danner, Thomas Sargent, Richard Blacklidge, Jacob Vir- gil, John Morris, Frederick Smover, Jacob Rutherbangh. John Blacklidge. Dyer Woodworth. Renben Rowland. George Nipp, Thomas Moffatt. William Dill. Shadrach Dill, Solomon Veach, George Vaughn. Thomas Bracken. Nathaniel MeComas, John Houghton. Jeremiah Marston. Elisha Clark, Andrew Brown. William Sparks, John Tate. John Hornady. John Willdridge, Isaac Adair, Wil- liam Currins, Jesse Shortridge. Alexander Reed. Alexan- der Power. John Gregg, John Heaton. Ephraim Frazee, Robert Lockridge, George Taylor, Jonathan Morris, John Davidson, Conrad Sailor, Sammel Garrison, Jacob Starr,
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James Cooper, Sr., Abraham Switzer, David McPearson, John Lefforge, Robert Lochridge, William McNabb, Daniel Jackson, George Taylor, John McKee, Michael Beaver, Timothy Allison, James Abbott, Noah Batman, Alexander Williams, Levi Bracken, William Newell, Gideon Minor, William Swift, William Simonds, Jesse Jinks, John Smith, Robert Groves, James McClellan, John Judy, Isaac Hittle, John Clifford, John Ryburn, Hugh Reed, Hugh Morrison, Isaac Arnold, John Har- lock, John Kent, Abraham Voris, Daniel McDonald, Enoch Limpus, James Justice, Jesse Julian, Levi Shoe- make, Robert Porter and Edward Vandal.
In the Northern Tier of Townships-Benjamin Hutchins, Samuel Cary, Henry Buckman, Phineas Clawson, John Dille, Jonathan Tullis, Ezekiel Johnson, Amos Higgins, John Maxwell, Samuel Ross, Moses Clif- ford, George Hepner, Isaac Cooper, John Clarkson, Elisha Schofield, Joseph P. Plummer, David Louden- bach, Joseph Henley, Robert Hill, James Harrison, Peter Cassell, James A. Henry, John M. Huddleson, William David, William Crum, Benjamin Hutchins, Joseph Cox, Benjamin Morgan, Stephen Jones, David Blackburn, Artemus and Timothy Day, George Gates, Edward Patti- son, Philemon Plummer, Dayton Holloway, John Hill, Pierson Lacy, Jonathan Hill, Thomas Hill, Jr., Charles J. Low, Benjamin Snyder, Samuel Pearce, Thomas Sim- ons, Onide Pettyjohn, Samuel Hill and Robert Holland. While the most of these original entrants bought their land for the purpose of erecting homes and becoming resi- dents, there are, of course, in the above lists the names of some who were mere speculators and who never became residents, thus accounting for some names that will sound strange in this generation.
5
CHAPTER IV
AGRICULTURE
In all inland counties where the soil is rich, agri- culture must be the paramount interest of the people. Unless manufacturing is extensively carried on, the pro- duction of the soil is the basis upon which the prosperity of the community is built. What is drawn from the bosom of the earth is all that adds to the wealth of society. The mechanical. commercial and professional classes are all dependent upon the farmer, and while it is true that this dependence is in some degree mutual. a failure of the crops stagnates at once the business of the country. What- over, therefore, has a tendency to advance the interests of this. the most numerons class of our citizens, cannot fail to be more or less advantageous to all.
Of Rush county it would be difficult to speak in too strong terms of praise. It contains a body of land of remarkable fertility. and ahnost every acre within its boundaries is productive. The farming community is one of which much of a very favorable nature truthfully can be said. The people are, as a rule, good and careful farm- ers-industrious, thrifty, enterprising. intelligent, and, having these qualities, prosperous, of course. They are workers, readers and thinkers. A ride over the county reveals well improved and well stocked farms on every side : comfortable farm homes, many of them elegant and substantial: these. with the well filled barns, the fields of grain, the fine hogs, cattle and horses, and the thou- sand other things afford gratifying evidences of prosperity.
But this prosperity is not the result of a few years of effort. It has its source in the frontier wilderness of a century ago, and is the fruit of generations of concerted
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toil. It is a far cry from the first settler's clearing to the modern farm-from the first Rush County Agricultural Society to the present Farmers' Association, and the story of this progressive development is the indicator of the spirit which has animated successive generations of the agricultural population.
FIRST COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
The first concrete effort at organization on the part of the farmers of the county came with the first agricul- tural society, which had for its primary object the hold- ing of a county fair.
County fairs have been considered valuable agencies in promoting the prosperity of agriculture by the influ- ence they exert in bringing together a large collection of the most intelligent farmers and stock raisers of the com- munity, giving them a better opportunity to compare notes, to impart to each other whatever valuable knowl- edge or experience they may have acquired, until the joint experience of the whole becomes the individual property of each member of the society. Emulation is also a great incentive to action. When a man attends a fair and sees how far his neighbor has surpassed him in raising stock or grain, his pride becomes aroused and he at once sets to work to remedy his own deficiencies, and these efforts, though individually of little moment, when aggregated cause a vast increase in the productions of the county and, of course, in its wealth. Hence it became the interest of the whole community to support a good county fair.
Sensible to the advantages of an agricultural society, some of the more progressive among the farmers of Rush county formed an association in 1852 for the advance- ment of the interests of the rural population of the county. This first organization, however, was so imperfect in its mechanical plan, that it soon became apparent to its members that its existence could be but brief unless reor-
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ganized upon a firmer foundation. The directors, work- ing upon a plan proposed by the Rushville Republican, fostered a subscription of stock for the new society, and on May 23, 1857, these subscriptions reached a total that warranted the secretary of the original body (S. Donald- son) to call a meeting of the stockholders of the new society for the purpose of effecting the organization of a joint stock company. At this meeting the following con- stitution was adopted :
"Whereas, We, the undersigned citizens of Rush county and state of Indiana, are desirous of promoting the prosperity and encouragement of agricultural and mechanical pursuits, including the cultivation of fruits, and ornamental gardening, improvements in all branches of mechanism and arts, the improvement of the races of all useful and domestic animals, and the general advance- ment of rural and household economy, and domestic manufactures, and the dissemination of useful informa- tion upon all the above named subjects; and believing that the present agricultural society of Rush county, as at present organized, is not adequate to carry out the above objects so fully as desired, therefore,
"Be it Known, That we, whose names are hereunto subscribed, propose and agree to form a joint-stock com- pany, under the name and style of the 'Rush County Agricultural Society', the capital stock of said company not to be less than $1,200, and to be divided into shares of $10 each, and to be divided as nearly equally as practic- able among the several townships of said county, in a ratio to the population of the said several townships respectively. And said company propose to organize in all respects in strict conformity with all laws of the state of Indiana in force, for the encouragement of agriculture, and in entire subordination to all rules and regulations of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture: and that said stock shall be used by said company in aid of all purposes properly connected with the state and county agricultural
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societies, and the objects above specified. It is not intended to conflict with the present Rush County Agri- cultural Society, but to aid the same, and become insti- tuted therefor. And to attain the above named objects, we adopt the following constitution :
"Art. 1. Said company shall be governed by the same number and kind of officers as required for the Rush County Agricultural Society, and the present board of officers elected for the ensuing year, of said society, shall be and are hereby adopted as the officers of the new society for the ensuing year, provided that said officers now elected consent to serve as such, and become stock- holders of said company.
"Art. 2. Said new society agrees to take the grounds and all the appurtenances to the same belonging, now owned by the former Rush County Agricultural Society, and assume and pay all liabilities and debts of said old society of every nature. But said new society will require a good and sufficient deed for said ground when all said liabilities shall have been paid off.
"Art. 3. Said new society shall hold an annual fair upon said grounds, and offer premiums for the various products and articles exhibited for each year not less than $600 for each fair.
"Art. 4. The stockholders and their families shall enter the gates free of charge; and a stockholder's family shall consist of all who reside with him under twenty-one years of age, and all females who reside with him of any age whatever.
"Art. 5. All tolls, rents and profits that may arise from said fairs and grounds, and property owned by said company, shall be owned by and under the control of the stockholders; but they shall not divert the said grounds from the purposes above specified, except upon full pay- ment therefor to those who have contributed or may con- tribute for the payment of the purchase-money therefor.
"Art. 6. That Isaac B. Loder, Hugh B. Cowan and
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Stephen Donaldson are hereby selected as a committee to draft by-laws for the government of said society, and report the same at the next meeting of the board.
"Art. 7. The annual members shall have a right to one vote each in the election of officers. provided they become members of the society prior to said election. and one stockholder shall have ten votes.
"Art. 8. The stock of said society shall be transfer- able, but no person shall hold more than one share. except by consent of two-thirds of the board of directors."
Article 7 was subsequently changed so that the annual member had no vote, and the stockholder only one.
FAIR OF 1857 A GREAT SUCCESS
Under the new association and constitution the fair of 1857 was a great success. Much interest was mani- fested throughout the county, many entries were made. and 2,000 people thronged the grounds on opening day- a larger crowd than on any previous first day. Prizes were necessarily small, but they were distributed in such a manner as to create enthusiasm along almost every line of farming and home economics. A summary of the prize list by departments shows that awards of prizes ranging from $1 to $10 were allotted in the following departments: Agriculture, fruits, lady's fancy needle- work, domestic manufactures, flowers, designs, miscella- neons, manufactures, farming implements, saddlery, fowls, hogs, sheep, cattle, jacks, mules, geldings, mares, draft horses, all purpose horses, gaited horses, saddle horses and sweepstakes on horses. This was the year in which it is noted that "Bourbon Chief' was the largest horse in the state. Mr. Donaldson also was the owner of "Young Champion," noted as a perfect model of "Cham- pion," which took the first premium at the state fair the vear before.
During succeeding years the fair became bigger and better, the grounds were much improved, and a premium
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list was offered that "would attract attention from the world." In 1869, Archibald Kennedy, the president of the Agricultural Society, purchased conditionally from James D. Pattison ten acres of land adjoining the fair grounds on the west for the use of the society. The price paid was $250 an acre, which was paid in five years with 10 per cent. interest on deferred payments. The finances of the organization were in good condition, but there was room for improvement in the conduct of the affairs, and at the annual meeting in October, 1870, some changes in the society were made.
Under the old regime, there were twelve directors, one from each township, and this led in some instances to the selection of men who took no interest in the fair; in fact, occasionally to the choosing of one who never made his appearance, either at the fair grounds or at any of the meetings of the board. Under the new arrangement the officers were a president, vice-president, secretary, treas- urer, and seven directors, not restricted to townships but allowing the selection of the best men of the body.
STORY OF AN EQUINE PHENOMENON
Rival fairs were now starting up on all sides of the county, and it was deemed advisable to encourage horse racing and to make more liberal and judicious premiums, as well as to add a mechanical department. The result was that the fast horse became one of the principal inter- ests of almost every man in the county-and the fame of Rush county harness horses and breeders spread to the farthest corners of the land. This was in the day of that equine phenomenon, "Blue Bull," still spoken of by Hoosiers as "the fountain head of trotting and pacing speed in Indiana," and of which George W. Campbell wrote that "this wonderful horse, individually and upon his own merits, stands as the greatest representative of his species," and further that "the phenomenal success of this great light-harness family of horses ('Blue
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