Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 20

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982

USA > Indiana > Clay County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 20

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

adapted for general farming. Agriculture has been the chief resource of the people until within the past few years, the principal productions being wheat, corn, rye, oats and the other cereals and fruits indigenous to this part of the State. The township was originally covered with a dense forest growth, the leading varieties of timber being walnut, maple, pop- lar, several species of oak, beech, hickory, ash and elm, the greater part of which has long since disappeared before the settler's ax. Much val- uable timber was ruthlessly destroyed in clearing up the land, and saw- mills were among the earliest industries.

MINING INTERESTS.

This division of the county is very rich in mineral wealth, especially coal, of which large deposits are found at different places throughout the township. Mining is rapidly becoming the leading industry, and some of the most extensive and best worked mines in the State are found here.

The first mine in the township was opened in the year 1851, on the farm of Nathan Williams, in Section 10. This mine was developed un- der the supervision of the Indianapolis Coal Company, of which Mr. Williams was a prominent stockholder. The first car load of coal ever shipped from this county was taken from this mine, and it was in suc- cessful operation until the year 1860. In 1851, the Highland Coal Com- pany was organized and commenced prospecting in Section 16, where a shaft was sunk. A switch was laid to the mine from the T. H. & I., by means of which vast quantities of coal were shipped.

The Ehrlich mines, known as the Eureka and Newburg shafts, near the village of Newburg, were opened about eleven years ago, at which time they were known as the Reffert banks. They were purchased by Peter Ehrlich & Co., some time later, under whose management they have become among the most extensive mines in the county. The num- per of men employed at the present time is 150, and the yearly produc- tion of coal is estimated at 85,000 tons. The coal produced by the Eu- reka mine is block coal; that taken from the Newburg mine is known as coking coal. In the latter mine are about six miles of track, and eighty acres have been dug out. .

A large mine operated by Wheeler, of Brazil, is situated near New- burg, and a number of smaller mines have been developed in different parts of the township.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The lands of this township were surveyed and opened for settlement as early as the year 1816, and the first entry made three years later by one Donald McDonald, who selected the southwest quarter of Section 5 and the northwest quarter of the same section, though it does not appear that he ever improved his land or was identified with the county as a citizen; no facts concerning such an individual being remembered at the

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present time. The earliest known attempts at white settlements within the present limits of Posey were made about the year 1823, but the de- tails of these events are very ineager and somewhat enveloped in specu- lation. The site of these pioneer settlements was in the northern part of the township, near the villages of Cloverland and Williamstown, on the old National road There appear to have been several families at these two places, the majority of whom were merely claim seekers, who remained but a comparatively short time, when they disposed of their improvements and moved further west. Among these is remembered Thomas Moore, who squatted on Section 20 in the fall of the year men- tioned, and constructed a rude pole cabin, about 14x16 feet, in which his family passed the following winter. Like the majority of early pio neers, Moore was a skillful hunter and spent the greater part of his time in quest of game, doing but little toward improving his claim, which he could not enter on account of his inability to pay the Government price for the land. He afterward sold his improvements to Artemas Gilbert and secured a small amount of land within the present limits of Jackson Township, where he resided for a number of years. About the time that Moore made his first improvements, certain claims (number unknown) were established in the central and southern portions of the township, none of which appear to have been permanent. The construction of the National road through the county served as an inducement to immigra- tion, and in the year 1828 there was quite a settlement at Cloverland, consisting principally of workmen on that highway, whose residences were only temporary. Permanent settlers, however, began to arrive, and a few months after work on the road began, there was living near the site of Cloverland a man by name of Huffman, who made an entry of land some time in the year 1828. He was a native of North Carolina, and came to the wilderness of Indiana for the purpose of securing homes for himself and children, of which he was the fortunate possessor of a goodly number. Like most early settlers, he came to the new country with a very meager outfit of this world's goods, but being a man of con- siderable energy, and knowing no such word as fail, he at once went to work and soon had a good farm cleared and under successful cultivation. He made entries in the names of the different members of his family, and in time became possessor of large tracts of real estate, much of which is in possession of his descendants at the present time. Another early settler, whose arrival dates from 1828, was Peter Tonguit, a native of Ohio, who squatted near Cloverland, on land which had been previously entered by Dr. Modesitt, of Terre Haute. Tonguit could not be termed a model farmer by any means, the extent of his plantation be- ing a few rods of ground cleared around his mansion, an imposing struct- ure containing a single apartment, with dirt floor, stick chimney and no windows. Neither was he noted for his industry, although he could

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

claim the honor of being the first " skilled " artisan in the township, having been a veritable knight of the last and wax ends-a cobbler- and as such managed to eke out a scanty subsistence for himself and family by making and keeping in repair the delicate cowhide brogans worn by the early pioneers. He afterward found employment on the National road, and finally drifted out of the settlement and out of the minds of the settlers, and nothing has been heard of him for many years. Prominent among the pioneers of the township was William Yocum, who came here from Kentucky in the year 1827, and entered a tract of land in Section 4 a few years later. In company with him came his sons, Levi, John, Isam, Jesse and Frank, all of whom became lead- ing citizens of the county and were prominently identified with its growth and development. Mr. Yocum was a man of much more than ordinary intelligence and business tact. He took an active part in the political questions of the day, and was several times elected to represent the county in the Lower House of the State Legislature. He was a resident of Posey until the time of his death in 1840. Of his sons who came with him, but one (Frank) is living at the present time, of whom a more extended notice will be found in the biographical chapter of Dick John- son Township. Jacob Goodrich, a son-in-law of Huffman, came in an early day and made the second entry of land on the 23d of April, 1828. He was a single man when he first arrived, and as poor as the proverbial church mouse, but by selecting eligible claims and selling them to home seekers, he soon found himself in possession of sufficient wealth to secure a home of his own. He entered the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 4, and at once began improving his place by erecting thereon a small cabin, into which he introduced a " helpmeet " soon afterward. His marriage to Miss Huffman was the first event of the kind solemnized within the present limits of the township. During the years 1829 and 1830, many claim-seekers appeared, though but few actual settlers. In the latter year, James Townsend, Daniel Wools, John R. Smith, Joseph Ringo, Jacob Moore, William McBride and Artemas Gilbert arrived, all of whom became permanent residents. The first named located near Will- iamstown, where he entered land and remained eight years, at the end of which time he sold out and went back to his native State of Ken- tucky. Wools settled in the northeastern part of the township, but took claims in several sections. Unlike most early settlers in a new country, he was a man of considerable means, which he invested in lands, and in time became one of the largest owners of real estate in the township. He was an active politician, and at one time served the people as Probate Judge, besides filling positions of minor importance in the township. One son, Amos, is living in Posey at the present time. Smith was a native of Canada. He settled a short distance north of Cloverland, on land which is in possession of his children. Ringo came from Ken-

Respectfully

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tucky in an early day, and for a number of years was one of the leading citizens of the county. Moore squatted about two miles south of Staun- ton Village, and later entered land in the southern part of the town- ship, where he died a number of years ago at the advanced age of one hundred and five years, the oldest man that ever lived in the county. McBride selected his home north of Cloverland. At the first election held in the township, he was chosen Justice of the Peace, receiving five votes out of eight cast. Gilbert came from Ohio and purchased a claim in Section 20, on which Thomas Moore had previously settled. He made a good farm, which he afterward sold to Lovell Corbin, and moved to one of the Western States. He was a man of intelligence and culture, and taught the first school in the township early in the year 1830.

In the year 1831, Joseph Hoskins came to the township, and settled in the northern part on the National road, where he opened a tavern for travelers on that highway, and such other guests as saw fit to accept his hospitalities. His house was part log and part frame, and for a number of years was a favorite stopping place, having been well known for many miles along the road, and the genial landlord was never in want of pay- ing guests. Be it said in praise to his memory that his wayside inn was conducted upon strict temperance principles, a thing unusual in those days when " fire-water" was the common beverage of old and young. Hoskins is remembered as a very strict and conscientious church member, whose life was a practical demonstration of the pure doctrine he professed, and his word was revered as law in the community where he resided. In the spring of 1832, N. H. Modesitt located in the township, and was joined the following autumn by his brother, James W., who is still living. The former moved his family to the new country by water, landing at Terre Haute after a long voyage from his native State, Vir- ginia. From Terre Haute, then but a mere outpost, our pioneer came to the little settlement at Cloverland, and purchased a claim upon which a few temporary improvements had been made a few years previous, by a squatter by the name of Swall. James W. was induced to immigrate to the new country on account of the flattering descriptions his uncle and brother gave of the land, and made his first trip on horseback for the pur- pose of selecting and preparing a home for the reception of his family; he entered eighty acres of land immediately after his arrival, and lived with his brother until he had erected a cabin and fitted a few acres of ground for cultivation, when he returned home after an absence of fifteen months, walking as far as Louisville in order to take a boat. He returned with his family the following year, and commenced life in the wilderness, af- ter the true backwoods style, doing all his farming with a single horse, and supplying his table from the bountiful store of game which at that time afforded the early settlers their chief means of subsistence. Mr. Modesitt has lived to see the wilderness in which he located fifty years

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

ago transformed into a rich agricultural region, and from his own humble beginning in the backwoods has been developed one of the largest and best improved farms in the county. Other settlers came in from time to time, among whom can be named Martin Bowles, a native of Virginia, who entered land in Section 18, in the fall of 1832; Major Ringo, who settled near Cloverland; Alfred West, who made a farm in Section 17; Jacob Eppert, a native of Ohio, who settled in the same locality; Jon- athan Yocum, a relative of William Yocum; Nathan Williams, a man prominently identified with the early coal interest of the township, and Henry Rule, who located in Section 31. The last named was one of nature's true noblemen; his veracity was never called in question, and the saying, " as honest as Uncle Henry," became proverbial throughout the community.

Among those who secured land in the township by entry, prior to 1836, were Micajah Philips, Achor Boor, Samuel Havens, A. M. Rector, John Short, Washington West, Jacob Girton, D. T. Hedges, Elijah Wools, M. Brackney, Levi Brackney, Edmund Wools, Amos Wools, Samuel Reffert, Harrison Reffert, Thomas Conacher, David Williams, Hiram Fortner, James Thomas, John Scott, John Britton, David McBride, Noah Layton, Peter Eppert, Philip Hedges, James Campbell, C. B. Modesitt, J. H. Els- worth, O. H. Smith, Solomon Myers, James R. Ross, Stephen Crabbe, John Crabbe, John Frump, W. McFarland, Christy, Zachariah McClure, Homer Johnson, John Milroy, and a number of others whose names were not learned.

PIONEER LIFE.

The early settlers of Posey found no royal pathway to affluence, and for many years hard work and manifold privations were the common lot of all who sought homes in the wilderness. There is, of course, a great similiarity in all the pioneer history of the West during the same period; there were the same log-rollings, house-raisings and amusements that pre- vailed in the other new settlements, all of which were diversified occa- sionally with indulgence in distilled spirits and personal rencontres re- sulting in disfigured features, though the citizens of Posey bore a repu-

tation for peacefulness even in those days. No such encountres with Indians, bears and wolves, as one reads of in the lives of Boone and Crockett, took place here, though the old hunters of that day could enter- tain you by the hour with their tales of the pursuit of the deer. The barking of the wolves was a familiar sound, but carried with it no alarm save for the safety of the pigs and calves, which had to be penned in tight inclosures at night in order to protect them from the fangs of the hungry scourges. The wolves were generally very cowardly, and would flee upon the approach of man; but when emboldened by hunger, they have been known to try to get into houses at night, causing no little alarm to the inmates. Mr. Modesitt relates that upon one occasion while he was ab-

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sent from home, wolves surrounded his cabin in great numbers and tried to get inside through the chimney, which had been built but few feet above the fire-place. Their howlings were terrific, and of course Mrs. Modesitt and the children became very much alarmed. The ferocious beasts would run and jump against the chimney in order to reach the top, and came very nearly succeeding, when they were frightened away by Mrs. Modesitt, who climbed to the top of the building with several fire- brands which she hurled into their midst. They returned to the charge several times, and the heroic woman was kept busy hurling the fiery mis- siles, which in time had the effect of driving them away entirely, much to the relief of the little family, none of whom slept any more that night. Corn was the principal crop raised for a number of years, and afforded food for both man and beast. Potatoes were raised in an early day also. But no attempts were made to raise wheat until about the year 1836, owing to the wet condition of the soil. A failure in the corn crop was sure to entail great suffering upon the settlements. Such a failure occurred in the year 1830, at which time the price went up as high as $2 and $3 per bushel. Mr. Bowles relates that in that year there was but little money in the country, and the settlers were compelled to subsist almost wholly on game, which was very plentiful and easily procured. One day, while hunting, his dogs killed an otter. Mr. Bowles took the skin to Terre Haute and sold it for $2.50; then went to Mr. Baldwin in Parke County and spent the money for a bushel of corn, which he took to the Kilgore Mill on Raccoon Creek, where he waited three days to have it ground into meal. He returned home with a little surplus, and felt quite rich from the proceeds of the otter skin. The first wheat raised in the township yielded about seven bushels per acre. It was cut with the old- fashioned reap-hook, threshed with a flail and marketed at Terre Haute for the enormous price of 45 cents per bushel. For a number of years, Terre Haute was the nearest market place, where the settlers disposed of venison hams, deer skins, coon skins, wild honey and ginseng, the only articles of commercial importance the country afforded at that time. Some of the early farmers raised a great many hogs, to fatten which re- quired no outlay of money and but little trouble, the woods during the fall of the year affording vast quantities of " mast " upon which the ani- mals fed.

Pork found a ready market at Terre Haute and brought from $2 to $3 per hundred in Illinois money, worth about 50 cents on the dollar.

MILLS, ETC.

The first saw mill in the township was erected by John Huffinan shortly after his arrival, and stood near the northern boundary. It was a water mill and did a very good business, furnishing much of the lumber used in the construction of the early houses at Cloverland and Will- iamstown.

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Flour and meal were first obtained at Terre Haute, and later at a little mill on Otter Creek, in Vigo County, which was kept running night and day in winter time, owing to the low water during the other seasons of the year. Other sources of supplies were Rawley's mill on Eel River, in the present township of Lewis, and Kilgore's Mill on Big Rac- coon in Parke County, both of which were kept running until they out- lived their usefulness. The first grist mill in Posey was constructed by Thomas Vest, in Section 24, and was operated by horse-power. The buhrs were manufactured out of native rock, and constituted the entire machinery. The building was a mere shed resting upon four forks driven into the ground, and was made large enough to shelter several teams. Each person bringing a grist was obliged to furnish his own team to do his grinding, and many were the hurryings to get to the mill first, as it required several hours to convert a single bushel of corn into meal.

People from a distance brought provisions enough with them to last several days, and the scene around the mill sometimes presented the ap- pearance of an emigrant encampment, there being frequently eight or ten persons waiting their respective turns. Vest operated the mill a short time, when he disposed of it to other parties, who moved it to the north- east corner of the township, on land belonging to Nathan Williams. It was in operation five or six years, at the end of which time it was allowed to fall into disuse.

In the year 1850, Thomas Moore erected a saw mill in the western part of the township, which supplied a long-felt want in that community. So eager were the neighbors to have the mill built, that they turned out en masse, made the frame-work themselves, and raised the building gratuitously. Moore supplied the boiler and machinery, and for a num- ber of years did a flourishing business, hauling lumber to Terre Haute, and shipping it down the Wabash. Moore operated it until his death in 1863, at which time it passed into the hands of his sons. They re- modeled the machinery, and have continued to run it until the present time.

The Cloverland steam flouring mill was erected in the year 1856, by Messrs. Echelmeyer & Carpenter, who operated it as partners until 1861, when the former sold his interest to a man by the name of Falls. It passed through several hands, and was completely destroyed by fire in the year 1881. The building was a good frame structure, two and a half stories high, and contained three run of buhrs, with a grinding capacity of fifty barrels of flour per day. A few years prior to the erection of the above, a steam mill was commenced at Staunton Village, and com- pleted about 1854. It was first run as a saw mill, by the Carter Brothers, who afterward added an extra story and supplied a corn buhr. Messrs. Doyle & Co. became the owners a few years later. They remodeled the machinery, built an addition to the original building, and supplied two

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wheat bubrs. They operated it as a combination mill until 1861, at which time the entire structure was destroyed by a storm. It was after- ward rebuilt by a man by the name of Graham, and by him sold to the Carter Brothers, who built a large addition, and refitted the mill until they made it capable of producing from 150 to 200 barrels of flour per day. It passed through several hands, and was last owned by Miller & Carpenter, who did an extensive business in grinding and shipping grain. The mill was in successful operation until the year 1881, at which time, the building was completely destroyed by fire. An early saw mill stood in the northwest corner of the township on McBride's Creek, from which it received its motive power. It was constructed by William McBride, and did a fair business for about fifteen years, at the end of which time it was allowed to fall into disuse, on account of the creek dam washing out.

An early industry at Williamstown was the tannery, operated by a man by the name of Cook, some time prior to the year 1840. It was kept running several years, and the proprietor realized some wealth from it during the time it was in operation. In the year 1864, a small distillery was started near Staunton by one Robert Rosebro, who worked it a couple of years, when finding himself unable to pay the revenue demanded by Uncle Sam, the enterprise was abandoned.

The present mill at Staunton was erected in the year 1881 by Mr. Gilbert. It is operated by steam, has three run of buhrs, manufactures the patent process flour, and has a grinding capacity of thirty barrels of flour per day. It is operated at the present time by G. W. Gilbert, who bas a fine local trade, and who reports his business good.

SCHOOLS.

But limited satisfaction was derived in tracing the early school his- tory of Posey, many interesting facts and incidents relating thereto hav- ing been lost through the lapse of time. Long before the law authoriz- ing a system of public schools was in force, the pioneers of this part of the county took steps toward the education of their children in the pri- mary branches of learning. Comparatively few of the early settlers were men of letters, most of them having been children when the matter of education in the States where they were brought up was yet considered of minor importance. And yet these people seemed to fully realize the losses they had sustained in the neglect of their own schooling, and were therefore anxious to do the next best thing, by making amends in the case of their children.

The first school in the township was taught by Artemas Gilbert, near the village of Cloverland, as early as the year 1834. A small cabin that had been occupied by a squatter was used for the purpose, and the" term lasted two months. The teacher was paid by subscription, the tuition

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

per scholar being $1.25, which multiplied by twelve, the number of pupils, gave our pedagogue a compensation of $7.50 per month. Gil- bert taught several terms in the township during the early days of its history, and did more perhaps toward arousing a feeling for education than any other man in the community at that time. An early teacher was C. B. Cole, who taught a term in the southern part of the township about the year 1836, using for the purpose a vacant cabin, which the neighbors fitted up with a few temporary benches and rough puncheon desks.

The first house erected especially for school purposes stood in the western part of the township, on the farm of Brooks Modesitt. It was an insignificant cabin, constructed on the usual pioneer plan, with punch- eon floor, stick chimney, large fire-place, and with but few conveniences for the comfort of the luckless urchins who were compelled to spend the long, dreary day within its walls. Gilbert taught several terms in this house. The first public money for school purposes was drawn by the township in the year 1839, and devoted to the construction of a school- house in the southern part of the township, in what was known as the Hurricane District, at that time District No. 3. The history of this building is a very interesting one, and from the old township records we copy the following:

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Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 20

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co. Number of Pages: 982

Author: Blanchard, Charles, 1830-1903, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : F.A. Battey & Co.
Number of Pages: 982