USA > Indiana > Clay County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 30
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There were redeeming traits often about the fighting bully in those olden times. He was the foundation upon which the present thugs may place their first start in the world, and from the good that was in him, his successors have wholly departed, until they now present an instance of perpetual degeneration and total depravity. "Club Foot" had but few redeeming qualities, and he was universally disliked by his neigh- bors, many of whom could not conceal a smile of satisfaction when the news of his demise was made known.
A couple of sons who inherited the father's bad traits, and none of his better nature, grew up to be moral ulcers on the community. One of these hopefuls shot and killed Col. Bell, a prominent citizen of Vigo County, under the following circumstances: It appears that considerable thievery had been committed in the neighborhood, from time to time, and suspicion rested upon the Johnson boys, whose proclivities in that direc- tion were well known. They became alarmed, and, fearing that Mr. Bell, who was the leading citizen of the community, might ferret the matter out, determined to place themselves upon the safe side by putting him out of the way. While riding alone in the woods one day, Mr. Bell met the two boys who were out hunting. He spoke to them and rode past a considerable distance, paying no further attention. All at once the woods resounded with the sharp crack of a rifle and Mr. Bell fell from his horse to the ground, shot in his back. The boys took to the timber, thinking of course that the shot had the desired effect, but such was not the case, as Mr. Bell lived about a week and gave information which led to the arrest of the murderer. The boy was supposed by some to be crazy, at least he manifested symptoms of insanity while in jail, and died a short time after his incarceration.
Benjamin Johnson, a brother of " Club Foot," came about the same time and settled near the northern boundary of the township. He was a bet- ter man than the former, though he could not boast the attributes of a saint by any means. No descendants of those families are living in the county at the present time. Daniel Webster became a citizen of the township about the year 1830, settling upon land which had been entered in his name four years previous. He was a Virginian by birth, and the father of a large family, several members of which are prominent citizens of the county at the present time. Lewis and Hiram Fortner settled in the southwest corner of the township in 1929, and entered
Jours Respectfuly William Huis
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land one year later. They immigrated from Kentucky, and were preachers of the Christian or New-Light Church. Alexander Cabbage came in 1830, and located where his son Arnold Cabbage lives in the southwestern part of the township. An early settler was Absalom Davenport, who came from North Carolina and made a home in Section 11, about the year 1826 ยท or 1827. Travis Davenport, brother of the preceding, came a few years later and entered the land where Joseph Webster lives, in Section 9. He was a good man and served as Justice of the Peace soon after the township organization.
In 1830, the following persons, additional to those enumerated, were living in the township: John Downing, John S. Yocum, James Smith and George Mccullough. Later came James Yocum, Jacob Yocum, Henry Hensley, Michael and Job Combs. The last two were prominent ministers of the Christian Church.
Other settlers who came in an early day and shared the hardships of frontier life, were John Ball, John Wisner, John Stewart, P. C. Ditty, George Hensley, James Brinton, G. W. Archer, J. M. Halbert, Nathan Compton, Berryman James, Jonathan Yocum, Frank B. Yocum, Daniel Dunlavy, John Scott and John Britton, all of whom became residents and land owners prior to 1837. Early entries by non-residents were made by Samuel Miller, William Nichols, Daniel Wart, Marshall Beaty, Pleasant White, Green James, J. K. James, Mary Huffman, Benjamin Hedges Samuel Campbell, Samuel Butt, Homer Johnson, Philip Hedges, Daniel Wools, Stephen Crabbe and George Myers. The population increased so rapidly after 1836, that it would be impossible to give each settler a notice. The last tract of Government land in the township was taken up in 1842.
EARLY PRODUCTIONS AND INDUSTRIES.
The majority of the early pioneers of Clay County were men of mod- erate circumstances, and came here desirous of bettering their fortunes. Like all pioneers, they were kind to a fault and ever ready to do a favor. The immigrant upon his arrival began at once preparations for a shelter. During this period the family lived in a wagon, or occupied a temporary habitation made of poles, with no floor except the earth, and no windows except the interstices between the logs forming the walls. Should the time of arrival be in the spring, this simple structure sufficed for a house until the crops were sown, when a more comfortable abode was prepared for winter. The first really profitable industry in this part of the coun- try was the gathering of wild honey. The forests were favorite places for wild bees, and therefore nearly every tree was a hive where they lived and gathered their sweet treasures from the blossoms of the woods. The honey was gathered and the wax strained, and both became the really money-producing products of the country. Honey, bees-wax, gin- seng, venison, turkeys, pelts and furs were the only things possible to
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
send to market to exchange for such articles as the people wanted. The early comers had to have powder and tobacco, and some of them found whisky to be a necessity. For everything else they could kill game. The first season, usually, they had to buy corn for bread, but the emer- gencies were frequent when this could not be got. In many families coffee was unknown. An instance is related, for the truth of which we will not vouch, of a man who was quite sick, and who imagined that a cup of coffee would bring him health. In his young days he had been used to the beverage, but after moving into the backwoods had been obliged to do without his favorite cup. A neighbor was sent to procure the coffee, but where he obtained it the story-teller did not say; at any rate it was procured. When he returned he gave it to the daugh- ters and told them to make some for their father. They took it out and examined it for some time, when they went to the old people and in- quired if they made it like other "bean soup." All families did not live in this way. There were then, as now, great differences in the forethought and thrift of the people. Many even when here before the county was organized lived in generous plenty of such as the land afforded. Meat of superior quality and in varieties that we cannot now get was within the easy reach of all, but in everything else to eat or wear they were far behind us now, and so was the whole country.
The first crops grown were usually corn and vegetables, the wet con- dition of the soil precluding the possibility of raising the smaller cereals. About the year 1830, the first crop of wheat was harvested. It made a generous yield, and from it came the seed that in after years made much of the wheat bread of our people. The first orchards were set out about the same time, with trees brought from one of the older States. Until these orchards commenced bearing, the settlers tasted no other fruit ex- cept that which grew wild in the woods. These were crab apples, plums, grapes and wild cherries, and the variety of nuts found here. There were but few early mills in the township; the settlers obtained their breadstuffs from the older settled portions of the county, where horse and hand mills were put into operation in a very early day. Some of the farmers made their own meal by crushing the corn in mortars, a descrip- tion of which will be found in another chapter. Others used the common tin grater, a useful article found in almost every household. The first lumber was manufactured with a whip saw, and was used for floors. The majority of the settlers, however, could not afford such lumber, and made floors for their cabins of puncheons, hewed smooth with a common chop- ping ax.
The first saw-mill in the township was built by a man by the name of Hallet, and stood near Lodi, on a small creek, from which it obtained its motive power. It was operated at intervals for several years, but did no extensive business, owing to the scarcity of water in the creek. A man
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by the name of York built a small mill on Otter Creek, in the northern part of the township in an early day, and operated it with moderate suc- cess for three or four years. It was built for a saw-mill, but a corn buhr was afterward attached. John Wisner constructed a small corn mill on Otter Creek, also, and supplied the northern settlement with meal for several years. The machinery was of the simplest description, consisting of two hand-made buhrs set in a gum, bound around and held together with tough hickory withes, and a small water-wheel, which made about twenty revolutions per minute. The neighbors say it was a very "fero- cious " affair, for no sooner had it crushed one grain of corn than "it bounced right upon another."
In the year 1852, Joseph Carter built a large steam saw-mill on his farm in the southern part of the township, which proved a very satisfac- tory venture. An interest was afterward purchased by John Carter, and together they operated it about one year, when the building caught fire and burned to the ground. A new mill was built on the same spot the following year, and is still in operation, doing a good business. The Nicoson Steam Saw Mill is situated in the northern part of the township, where it has been in successful operation for about four years. The pro- prietor is William Nicoson, who reports his business fair.
CHURCHES.
The religious history of the township dates back to the first settle- ment, many of the early pioneers having been active members of different churches in the States from which they emigrated.
Elder William Yocum was an early minister of the Christian Church, and held public worship at various places in the township as long ago as 1825, but no organization was effected until four years later. The Bee Ridge Christian (New Light) Church was organized in 1829, at the resi- dence of Lewis Fortner, with a good membership. Among early mem- bers were Lewis Fortner, A. F. Cabbage and F. B. Yocum.
The present house of worship was erected in the year 1870. It is a frame structure, 20x36 feet in size, and contains a commodious audience room, with a seating capacity of about 250 persons. The society has always maintained religious services, and is one of the aggressive organ- izations of the county. The present officials are F. B. Yocum, John T. Philips and John M. Acres, Elders; William F. Downing, Deacon; L. G. S. Stewart, Clerk and Treasurer; F. B. Yocum, A. D. Cabbage and Solomon Garner, Trustees. W. T. Anderson is Superintendent of the Union Sunday School, which has an average attendance of sixty scholars.
Lodi Christian Church .- This society dates its history from the year 1835, at which time an organization was effected at the Acres School- house with about thirty members. The chief movers in the organization were Elders Job and Michael Combs, both of whom preached for the
.
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
congregation for a number of years; another early preacher was Elder S. Crabbe. The society used the schoolhouse for a meeting place for a number'of years. A re-organization was effected in the year 1873, and a neat house of worship erected at a cost of about $1,300. The building is frame, 30x40 feet, and stands near Lodi, on ground donated by J. M. Halbert. Since 1840 the society has been ministered to by the follow- ing pastors, viz., Nathan Wright, Ezekiel Wright, - McCoy, - Daily, W. Black, Reuben A. Webster, Theodore Marshall, Harrison Williams and Hezekiah Williams. The pastor in charge at the present time is Elder William Nicoson. Present membership, about thirty.
Fairview Christian Church was organized at the Washington School- house in the northern part of the township in 1876. The organization was brought about by Elder Harrison Williams, and at the first meeting the names of sixty members were enrolled, the majority of them coming from neighboring congregations. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse until 1881, at which time the present neat house of worship was built. The building stands on ground donated by William Compton, is 24x36 feet in size, and represents a value of $1,100. Elder Williams was suc- ceeded in the pastorate by Elder Axline, who remained with the church only five months. The third pastor was Elder William Nicoson, who preached at intervals for two years, at the end of which time Elder Heze- kiah Williams took charge, and remained nine months. At the close of Williams' pastorate, Nicoson again took charge of the church, and is preaching for the congregation at the present time. The church is in a flourishing condition, numbering fifty members, among whom are many of the substantial citizens of the township. Elder William Nicoson and S. B. Crabbe are Elders; R. M. Compton and F. Brown, Deacons. A good Sunday school is sustained, with an average attendance of forty- five scholars. Elder Nicoson is Superintendent.
SCHOOLS.
Education was not neglected by the pioneers, and schools were estab- lished very early. The first sessions were generally taught in vacant dwellings or small log cabins erected for the purpose, and were attended by the children for many miles around. Those early school buildings were constructed upon the simplest imaginable plan, and but little money was required to furnish them with the necessary seats, desks, etc. They were built of unhewed logs, covered with clapboards, and in size were generally about 12x14 feet. The chimney was of sticks and mortar, while the fire-place was large enough to take in almost a cord of wood, and such large back logs were used as to keep fire through the long intermis- sion from dismissal in the evening to school call in the morning. Teachers were required to be at their posts of duty as soon as they could get there of mornings, and the day's work was finished only when the gathering
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darkness made studying impossible. Among the early pedagogues are remembered R. Hobbs, F. McCullough, James Davenport, Omer Hicks, John Kennedy, Parke Philips, W. Wolfe and Kate Philips.
THE I. & ST. L. RAILROAD.
The building of this road was an era in the history of this part of the State, and Dick Johnson Township came in for its share of the general prosperity which followed the completion of this great internal improve- ment. It gave the people facilities hitherto unknown to them, furnished markets, and was the direct means of developing the rich coal mines throughout the northern part of the county. The road passes through the northern part of the township. It was completed in the year 18 -.
VILLAGE OF PERTH.
This village was situated among the " loveliest of the knobs," and was surveyed November, 1870, by T. D. Johns for Michael McMillan, who laid out the town as a speculative venture. The plat occupies a part of the southwest quarter of Section 2, and originally consisted of twenty lots, sixty feet wide by 120 feet deep, two streets running north and south-i. e., Walnut and Cherry, each of which is sixty feet wide, and two streets-Poplar and Cherry-running east and west, fifty feet in width. The village is an outgrowth of the I. & St. L. Railroad, and affords a fine shipping point for coal. The population is largely com- posed of miners, who find employment in the Iron Mountain Mine near by. There is a post office, a boarding house, kept by Mrs. King, and a store of general merchandise kept by Mr. Vigo, a very energetic and suc- cessful business man.
LEWIS TOWNSHIP.
BY G. N. BERRY.
PAST AND PRESENT.
" The verdant fields are covered o'er with growing grain,
And white men till the soil where once the red men used to reign."
T is difficult to realize as we travel along the highways that traverse I this beautiful township, and note the broad acres of well-tilled soil and stately farmhouses where the happy husbandman lives in the midst of plenty and content, that less than three-quarters of a century ago, these lux- uriant farms were covered with dense forests, peopled by a few wandering bands of savages, and formed part of a vast, unbroken wild, which gave but little promise of the high state of civilization it has since attained. Instead of the primitive log cabin and board shanty, we now see dotting
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
the country in all directions comfortable and substantially formed man- sions of the latest style of architecture, graceful and convenient. We see, also, the church structures of different denominations. and well-built schoolhouses at proper intervals. Her fields are laden with the_choicest cereals, her pastures alive with numerous herds of the finest breeds of stock, and everything bespeaks the thrift and prosperity with which the farmer in this fertile region is blessed.
BOUNDARIES AND CHARACTERISTICS.
Lewis is the southern township of Clay County, and is irregular in out- line, being eight miles long from north to south, four and a half miles from east to west in the northern part, while in the southern part it extends from the eastern to the western boundaries of the county a distance of nine miles. Its principal system of drainage is Eel River, which lies partly on the eastern boundary, intersecting the territory from a point near the old mill to a point near what is known as the Woodrow place. There are four creeks in the township. Halliday Creek rises on the border of Greene County, near the village of Jasonville, with one prong or branch flowing in from a point a short distance north of the county line. It flows in a northwesterly direction and empties in Eel River near what is known as Phipps Ferry. The stream took its name from an old settler who owned the land where it crosses the old Louisville & Terre Haute. Baber Creek rises at different points, but the main stream flows an east- erly direction, and empties into Halliday Creek, about a half mile above its mouth, west of the old Wabash & Erie Canal. It took its name from the circumstance of Mr. Baber having a little mill on it in an early day. Briley Creek, named for James Briley, one of the early pioneers of the country, flows a northeasterly course, crossing the old Louisville road, at the Briley farm, and emptying into Eel River, near Woodrow's mill.
Lanning Creek has its source in Vigo County, near the town of Cen- terville, and flows in an easterly direction, emptying into Eel River, a short distance from Neal's mill. It was named for John Lanning, a man who came to the country in an early day and took an active part in its develop- ment. " Lewis," says an old settler in a sketch of the country published several years ago, "is the only township in the county in which honor has been done exclusively to the pioneers in the naming of its streams or in the christening of any other geographical features." From the location and general course of these streams, it will be seen at once that the phys- ical aspect of the country is that of an inclined plane, sloping to the east with a water-shed or dividing ridge in the western limit or margin of the township. The western and middle sections are undulating, portions be- . ing broken and hilly, while in the south and east the land is more even, consisting principally of bottoms and prairies.
Sandy Knoll, a mile above Howesville, is the most interesting and
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noted place in the township. It was evidently, in ages long past, used as a place of burial by some pre-historic race, as human skulls and other parts of the skeleton have been exhumed at different times, also well-preserved specimens of pottery and other relics. It has attracted the curious from all parts of the country, and many investigations have been made and fine specimens carried away. Other evidences of the Mound-Builders exist in various places along Eel River; but long centuries have forever closed to the vision of man their true name; their history and religion, their stay and extinction.
SETTLEMENT.
Lewis was one of the first settled parts of Clay County, the pioneers arriving as early as 1821. In September of that year, Peter Cooprider, grandfather of Elias Cooprider, of Harrison Township, moved to the country in company with William Shepherd, and settled on the west bank of Eel River, at what is known as Kossuth Bluff. They both came from Harrison County and were undoubtedly the first white men who ever made improvements within the present limits of the township.
Cooprider was born on the ocean a number of years before the dawn- ing of the present century, and passed his youthful days in the State of Maryland, where he learned the blacksmith trade. He afterward emi- grated to Pennsylvania, and later to Kentucky, from which State he came to Indiana, when the country was an almost unbroken wilderness, settling in what is now Harrison County. He moved his family to this township in a one-horse cart, and made a few improvements, but did not become the possessor of real estate during the period of his residence. He died in an early day, and his descendants, down to the fourth gener- ation, are now almost men and women grown.
Shepherd located south of Kossuth Bluff, near Sandy Knoll, where he remained but a few years, afterward emigrating West. He paid but lit- tle attention to the cultivation of the soil, spending the greater por- tion of his time in hunting, trapping and raising hogs, and was in every respect a jolly frontiersman, whose wants were few and easily sat- isfied. Jacob Cooprider, Sr., came about the same time, and John Cooprider, son of Peter, made the first entry of land in Section 4, Town 9 north, Range 7 west, in the fall of 1821. He moved his family here that year and remained upon what he supposed was his homestead, until the spring of 1825, at which time, owing to a discrepancy in the descrip- tion of his land, he moved to the present township of Harrison, where his death occurred about six years ago.
In the winter of 1821 or 1822, Noah Delay and James Gross settled on Eel River a short distance below Sanders' mill. They belonged to a class of people usually found on the frontier, and were of no especial advantage to the country. They hunted and trapped with the Indians,
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.
and were considered bad characters by the early settlers, but few of whom cared to have any dealings with them. The site of their settlement is now overgrown, and it is difficult to designate the exact spots where their little cabins stood.
John Mayfield, a character similar to the ones just named, came as early as 1822, and "squatted " on Eel River, not far from where the former resided. He possessed but few if any redeeming qualities, and rumor had it that he was a fugitive from justice, coming here to avoid arrest for murder. After remaining in the community for a few years, he left and went West, much to the relief and satisfaction of the neighborhood.
In the year 1822 or 1823 came James Briley, from Harrison County, and settled on Eel River near Sanders' Mill. Point. He made the journey to his new home under very unfavorable circumstances, his only means of conveyance being a single pony on which his wife rode and carried what few household goods they possessed, while he trudged on foot the entire distance and drove a cow, which, with the pony, constituted the greater part of his earthly possessions. He afterward became a promi- nent stock-dealer, and was for a number of years one of the leading business men of the township. His son, Dr. Absolam Briley, was born soon after the family came to the township, and is one of the oldest na- tives of Clay County living at the present time.
Robert Baber became a citizen of the township about the year 1822, and located one mile south of Sanders' Mill Point.
Peter Stark, Daniel Goble and Edward Braden came a little later, and settled on prairie land in the southern part of the township. Prominent among those who came in a very early day was Elijah Raw ley, a native of Kentucky, who settled near Old Hill, where he entered a large tract of Jand, and in after years became very wealthy. He was at one time the largest owner of real estate in the county, and was also the pioneer mill builder. He was a man of considerable ability, and served as first Clerk of the county. The following circumstance is re- lated by an old settler: " When Mr. Rawley entered the land on which he built his mill, at Old Hill, he took out his title in the name of Min- erva Rawley, his little daughter by a former wife. Thirty years later, her husband, Jordan Beauchamp, entered suit for possession of the prop- erty belonging to his wife, and the matter was hotly contested by Mr. Rawley. This continned in different courts about six years, breaking up both parties, the land afterward selling to satisfy costs, fees, etc. From the effects of this blow he never recovered, and his death occurred about the year 1868 in the Vigo County Infirmary, being at that time a com- mon pauper."
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