Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 4

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 4
USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 4

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In the year 1827, the Congress of the United States made a grant of lands for the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal. In 1830 and 1831, the Legislature of the State authorized the commencement of its

1212426 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

construction, and work was actually begun in 1832, on that section ly- ing between Toledo and La Fayette. That part of this thoroughfare lying between the Wabash River at Terre Haute and White River at Worthington, was known as the Cross Cut. This section crossed Clay County, intersecting Perry, Lewis and Harrison Townships. Its course through the county was from northwest to southeast, nearly twenty miles in extent. Of the several grants of land made in aid of this improve- ment, 37,171 acres lay in Clay County, of which 25,980 acres were after- ward put into market by the canal company at $2.50, 10,756 acres at $2, and 435 acres at $1.25. The construction of this canal was a part of the system of internal improvements undertaken by the State. As a summit divide between the Wabash and White River lies in this county, in part, both ends of the Cross Cut had to be fed from the waters of Eel

River and its tributaries. This necessitated the construction of the Feeder Dam and Splunge Creek Reservoir. The building of the former was commenced about 1837, and completed within two years. At the same time, the construction of the side cut for conducting the water from the dam to the main canal was in progress. As the line of this channel lay across Birch Creek, an aqueduct across the stream was built in 1838. No work was done by the State on the lower section of the Cross Cut, between the junction and White River. Owing to the de- pressing effects of the financial panic of 1837, the State was unable to meet its obligations incurred in the progress of its internal improve- ments, and work on the Wabash & Erie Canal ceased in 1839.

In 1845, the people along the line of the proposed canal began a general agitation of the necessity for its resumption and completion, and petitioned the Legislature accordingly. In answer, on the 19th day of January, 1846, an elaborate bill was passed, which was supplemented by another in January, 1847, and operations were resumed the same year. Much of the work which had been previously done by the State was going rapidly into decay. The canal was completed to Terre Haute in the fall of 1849, the first boat arriving on the 25th of October. Meanwhile, the work was progressing in Clay County on the Cross Cut, the Side Cut and the Feeders. Eel River dam, and the Birch Creek aqueduct were rebuilt. Splunge Creek reservoir was made by throwing up an embank- ment across the valley from the foot of the Old Hill two miles north to the junction of the Side Cut with the main canal. This work was com- pleted in 1849, or early in 1850, and the reservoir filled with water in the fall of the latter year. The Side Cut, leading from the dam to the reservoir, a distance of seven miles, was completed and the water let into it in the spring of 1850. On the 1st day of May, the water from Eel River first reached Terre Haute through the Cross Cut. As soon as the channel was sufficiently filled to admit of navigation, communication was established between Terre Haute and Bowling Green, as slack water on

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

Eel River extended as far up as the Thomas Ferry. The people of Clay County were very highly elated over the consummation of the work and its promises for the future, and not a few of them were ecstatic with en- thusiasm and excitement. Prominent citizens of Terre Haute and officers of the canal company were equally impulsive and jubilant, and over- anxious to open the communication and celebrate appropriately the event. So, on the 13th day of May, 1850, a party set out from Prairie City, with a small cannon aboard, bound for Bowling Green, but their launch- ing out proved premature, as their boat was grounded before going any considerable distance, and they were compelled to return and await the arrival of more water. Very soon after this, however, perhaps latter part of May or first of June, the boat Oleus made the trip, carrying aboard a number of distinguished personages, with cannon and ammunition. Men, women and children flocked from all directions to witness the event, and the Oleus and her crew were given big ovations at the Junction, the Dam, Bellaire and Bowling Green, which were reciprocated by numerous sa- lutes from the cannon. At Bowling Green, it is said, resident citizens and their visitors indulged in a drunken jollification. This was the only trip ever made to Bowling Green by a boat plying on the main canal, not owned and operated by Clay Countians. The opening of the canal stimulated business enterprise and commercial activity. At Bowling Green, the head of slack-water navigation, the firm of Fuller, Melton & Kennedy, composed of Jesse Fuller, John M. Melton and Joseph Kennedy, built a warehouse, just below the bridge, which was afterward converted into a brewery, and also built the canal boat Belle of Bowling Green, which first went out in August, 1850, in command of John W. Ecret, loaded with grain, and bound for La Fayette. From this time on the Belle continued to make regular trips to La Fayette and Toledo, taking out grain and produce, and bringing back to Bowling Green such freights as the local business demanded. After passing from the Side Cut into Eel River, boats were pulled or towed to Bowling Green. As a motive power, to facilitate this work, the firm heretofore named constructed a rude tow-boat, which bore the euphoneous name, Bull of the Woods. In 1851, a company was organized to build a small steamer to propel canal boats up from the dam, of which Oliver Cromwell, Sr., was the leading spirit, but from delay of execution the project was abandoned. Some years later, after the dissolution of the firm of Fuller, Melton & Kennedy, the Ohio, owned and operated by John W. Ecret and John M. Melton, mad e regular trips up to the spring of 1861, when it went out for the last time , taking a mixed load of produce. This was the last boat ever seen at Bowling Green. After the opening of navigation, A. H. L. Baker, who had real estate interests at the bend of the river, three miles south of Bowling Green, at the mouth of Six Mile, conceived the idea of build- ing up an important commercial center and resort at this point. Though

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

his plans were much more visionary 'than substantial, he proved his faith by his works in the building of a large warehouse, and a commodi- ous hotel, having a large number of rooms and numerous outlooks, a house of greater proportions and pretensions than any hotel building now in the county. This building, however, was never completed and used as originally designed. The town which he laid out at this point in 1852 was named Bellaire, from the circumstance that Mr. Baker had lived for a time at Bellaire, Harford County, Md. He, too, engaged in canaling, and owned and operated the boat known as the Eight O's. The Julia Dean, which was owned and run by James Mushett, did business regu- larly at Bellaire, and made occasional trips to Bowling Green. Mr. Baker was succeeded in business by Lewis Row, who bought and shipped a great deal of grain. In 1857, Nicholas Goshorn & Son located at this point, built a second warehouse, did shipping for several years, and con- tinued merchandising up to 1865. Though this town had several stores, a post office, and shops for several years, there are now no marks remain- ing on the site to indicate that it ever existed. At the dam, private in- vestment and improvement began at a much earlier date. The town of Anguilla, at first known as New Amsterdam, was laid out in 1838. As early as 1842 or 1843, the Wines Brothers, Terre Haute, built a large flouring mill and saw mill, and also engaged in general merchandising. The mill was run for several years, up to 1850 probably, when the ma- chinery was removed because of the instability of the foundation from the encroachments of the water. The frame afterward toppled over into the river and drifted away. The Wines Brothers were succeeded in the mercantile business by Thomas Harris, and W. F. T. McKee built a saw mill and a small grist mill near the site of the former ones, which he operated up to the time of the abandonment of the canal, shipping lum- ber to many distant parts of the country. There was, also, a post office at this place for a period of twelve or fifteen years, having been kept last in the building yet standing by the road side, on Jesse Allee's place, oc- cupied several years past as a stable. This town, too, has been vacated, and the passer-by does not now see that a manufacturing and business point, nor a canal feeder, ever existed there. Besides Eel River and Splunge Creek, Birch Creek was made to contribute to the water supplies of the Wabash & Erie by the construction of Birch Creek Reservoir, in the central part of the county, to which a branch or side cut was made from that connecting the river with the main canal. The levee, or em- bankment, confining this body of water, was thrown across the valley from east to west between elevated grounds on either side, and was a half mile in length. A part of Saline City, and a section of the track of the Terre Haute & South Eastern Railroad, are now on the site of this feeder. This reservoir was built as late as 1853. The total extent of water transportation in the county, including the side cuts and Eel River

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

slack water, was about forty miles. From the best information which we have been able to command, the Cross Cut was used for a period of ten years, the first boat having passed through from Terre Haute to Worthington in the spring of 1851, loaded with salt, and the last one, from Worthington to Terre Haute, in the spring of 1861, loaded with flour, belonging to Augustus Stark, and bound for La Fayette and Toledo.

The construction of Splunge Creek Reservoir was very objectionable to the people of the vicinity, because of its supposed effects detrimental to health. All the ague and fever in the neighborhood were attributed to this cause, and the construction of Eel River Feeder and Birch Creek Reservoir intensified the opposition, until the public indignation assumed so serious an outlook as to induce the canal company to lay the matter before the State Legislature, and ask security against threats and vio- lence. The people adjacent to these feeders demanded of the canal company that all the timber should be removed before inundation, and that the water should in no place be less than two feet in depth. These conditions were not conceded. On the 4th of March, 1853, the Legisla- ture enacted a law authorizing the Governor to appoint a committee of five competent physicians from different parts of the State, to visit and examine the feeders of Clay and Gibson Counties, and to report their condition and sanitary influences. This committee consisted of Joseph H. Cook, of Vermillion County; A. D. Gall, of Marion; John S. Ford, of Jackson; Samuel Grimes, of Carroll; and Matthew Smith, of Rush, who visited the feeders in the latter part of the summer of 1853, and submitted their report, which is as follows, as to Splunge Creek Reservoir:

"This body of water covers an area of about 4,000 acres, one-fourth of which is covered with timber in a state of decay.

" The grounds now covered with the waters of this reservoir were, previous to inundation, a low, wet and swampy bottom immediately ad. jacent to Eel River, which flooded it at every considerable rise. Near the center of this reservoir was a pond which covered from 1,200 to 1.500 acres, which slowly dried away during the drier months of sum- mer, and left exposed a heavy alluvial deposit, which emitted a most of- fensive smell. At such time the inhabitants were sure to become the sufferers from intermittent and remittent fevers. The higher portions of these grounds were overgrown in summer with a most luxuriant growth of grass and vegetable matter from two to six feet high. This, too, was destroyed by the overflows, and left to decay after the waters bad sub- sided. All the lower places were left full of water to slowly dry away by evaporation and percolation.

"These grounds have been covered with water about three years. The water is pure and clear, with the exception of that portion of it which surrounds the timber, which is slightly colored from vegetable extracts, which can in no wise contribute to the production of malaria. The wa-

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yours July Silas W. Coffey

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

ter, in depth, ranges from a few inches to fifteen feet, and is in an al- most constant state of agitation, which greatly favors its purification. At the north end of the embankment there is constructed a tumble, pass- ing a part of the waters of Eel River Feeder into this reservoir. About the center of the embankment is the bulkhead, passing the waters direct- ly into the canal. Although Splunge Creek does not furnish running water during the dry season, yet the reservoir is constantly in receipt of fresh supplies of water. The amount of water discharged over that re- ceived from the feeder is supposed to be about one-half inch per twenty- four hours; the water passing over the tumble and displacement both have a beneficial influence in preventing stagnation. The water seems perfectly free from all unpleasant odor, and at no point does malaria seem to be generated, except around the exposed margin, which is the portion left uncovered from the lowering of the water one-half inch per twenty-four hours. When standing to the northeast, along the prairie side, there seems to be a decided pernicious influence exerted, none of which is attributable to the standing timber, which is on the southeast border of the reservoir.

[] "Malaria, or miasmata, has at all times, and under all circumstances, eluded the finest chemical analysis, and no manipulation, however deli- cate, has ever been able to detect its presence. We see vegetable matter under the combined influence of heat and moisture, we smell an un- pleasant and offensive odor, we see, in those exposed to tliose influences, intermittent and remittent diseases; we say malaria is the remote.cause; but little more is known of it than that, in certain localities emitting offen- sive odors, certain diseases are prevalent. We call them malarious. Expe- rience proves that an excess of moisture suspends, to a great extent, the generation of this agent; and, likewise, an entire want of moisture stops the decay of vegetation. Therefore, malaria ceases to exist in those very places where a short time before the most pestilential diseases were prevailing. Timber, standing or fallen, divested of its foliage, can, in no wise, contribute to the production of this agent. The decomposition of the ligneous fiber can but restore itself into its original gases-car- bon, hydrogen and oxygen -- or into carbonic acid, hydrogen, or light carburetted hydrogen. When the cellulose connection of timber is de- stroyed, and the succulency dissipated, the dry process commences; and, though moisture may be externally applied, no malaria can be the result. If the ligneous fiber resolve itself into its original gases, and they are those mentioned, if they hold any connection whatever with miasmata, why does not chemical analysis make the same manifest? In the most marshy and pestilential portions of Italy, where no man has ever slept without an attack, no more carbonic acid exists in the atmosphere than in the most salubrious climes. If carbonic acid were generated by an excess of moisture, a great portion of it would be absorbed by the water,

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

while the light, carburetted hydrogen, generated under these circum. stances, when free, would ascend into the higher regions, where no influ- ence could be exerted upon the hygiene of the surrounding country. Carbonic acid, no doubt, may become an agent of disease when concen- trated, but not while slowly produced in the open air from the denuda- tion of ligneous fiber.

" If the timber in falling should stop at or near the surface of the water, footing would be given for the growth of moss and other aquatic plants, none of which can, while living, contribute in the least as cause of disease. They would be destroyed by the freezes of winter, and slowly decomposed during the warmer periods of that portion of the year, but little deleterious influence would be exerted.

" There seems to be no source of malaria at this reservoir, except the exposed edge from the lowering of the water, and this is but small in comparison to the previous state of those grounds.

" It is the opinion of this committee, that any body of fresh water, receiving and discharging the same amount that this reservoir does, and constantly kept in motion by the winds of that prairie country, could not alone, under the most adverse circumstances, become a source of disease. We are of the opinion, after carefully comparing and investigating the present condition of this reservoir with its previous state, that there is far less cause of disease at present than before these grounds were per- manently submerged."

This report was far from satisfactory to those whom it was intended to pacify. The committee were charged with corruption. The Eel River Propeller of September 10, 1853, published the following brief editorial comment on the report:

" We call the attention of the citizens of Clay County to the report on Splunge Creek Reservoir, in to-day's paper. Those who read it will be more than ever convinced that money is a powerful weapon with which to overcome difficulties."

The report was severely criticised through the columns of the press by citizens in different parts of the county, and the committee charged with having evaded a candid investigation of the subject.

The following is the report of the committee as to Birch Creek Reservoir:

"This feeder was constructed in 1853 at a cost of $30,000, is in the central part of the county, and covers an area of 1,000 acres. . The soil is argillaceous and but little fitted for the escape of water by percolation. The surface is flat, covered with a layer of vegetable matter in a state of decay. The surface is subject to overflow from the creek and from any considerable rain. Numerous inundations, partially filled with stagnant water, strongly impregnated with vegetable matter in a most offensive condition, are spread out all over the entire territory. The timber is

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

heavy, and composed of almost every variety of forest trees, undergrown with brush and grass, many places so thick that it is with difficulty penetrated. The heavy growth of the timber does, to a certain extent, prevent both generation and spread of malaria. The whole presents to the view a most ghastly appearance, having in its very midst the elements of disease most common to our country. Will the submerging of these grounds exert a deleterious influence upon the hygiene of the surround- ing country ? If submerged in the midsummer, when the foliage is up- on the ground, there would be exerted for a time a pernicious influence; but if submerged in the latter part of the fall or in the winter, no direct evil influence would be generated.

" What effect would follow from the complete removal of the timber ? If the timber be cut away and the direct rays of the sun let in upon its surface in its present condition, an infinitely worse state of things would follow than from the submerging of the same grounds under the most unfavorable circumstances. By this process, we expose vegetable matter, stagnated pools of water impregnated with vegetable matter and alluvial deposit, all the most favorable circumstances for the generation of mala- rious poison. Aside from that, the destruction of the timber will give free circulation to the atmosphere, and malaria, rapidly generated in this way, would spread with greater facility, and disease would be the impend- ent result. In all cases where heat and moisture are present in their proper proportions, the effect will be comparative to the relative state of decay. The more readily the substances enter decomposition, the greater will be the amount of deleterious agencies given off in a given time. Of all conditions favoring the rapid generation of a poisonous agent from decomposition, water impregnated with such vegetable products as most decompose is the most favorable for the rapid generation of miasma, especially where these pools are shallow and stagnant, and motion and air are precluded. In reference to the standing timber, it can have, in the opinion of this committee, no bad effect upon the health of the sur- rounding country.

"From inquiry, we learn that the greatest complaint against Splunge Creek Reservoir comes from regions which decidedly are and ever have been pestilential and filled with malarious diseases, at a distance of from two to five miles from the Reservoir, which has claimed to be the great source of difficulty. There is between those persons and this body of water a dense forest, which all experience proves would act as a barrier to the spread of this poison. Then some occult cause must have been the executing agent in this case and not the waters of the reservoir. . " There is no doubt that if the grounds of Birch Creek Reservoir were once cleared and then submerged, an infinitely better state of things would exist than does or can exist under any other circumstances. But if those grounds were once permanently submerged with the timber

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

standing, after a time all deleterious influences would be at an end; but while permitted to exist in its present condition, time knows no termina- tion to its pernicious influences, while heat and moisture are elements of decay. The free edges of this reservoir are also being cleared of their timber, which can have but little good effect. Permanently submerging is all these grounds want to greatly improve the health of their immedi- ate neighborhood. In reference to the feeder dam in Eel River, all the bad effects that would probably result would be from the exposure of the sand and mud bars in the bed of the river below the dam. These, no doubt, do exert an influence while undergoing the decaying process. The difference between this and ordinary dams for milling purposes is that the water in this pond remains at the same level during a regular stage of water, keeping entirely submerged its overflowed banks, while small streams are subject to constant changes, thereby exposing alternate- ly the sand and muddy banks to the direct rays of the sun."

These reports exasperated the people and further intensified the oppo- sition to the construction and maintenance of pools and feeders on Clay County soil. On the 25th of January, 1854, the following notice was published in the Clay County Advocate:

There will be a public meeting of the citizens of Clay County, without regard to party, to consult upon their interests involved in the erection and maintenance of reservoirs, dams and pools of water in our county, by the Trustees of the Wabash & Erie Canal. Said meeting to be held at the residence of George Moss, on the 22d day of February, 1854. MANY CITIZENS.

This meeting was addressed by Daniel Dunlavy, Representative in the State Legislature, and other citizens of the county. The sense of the meeting, as manifested by its proceedings, was that of hostility to any further prosecution of Birch Creek Reservoir works, unless all the timber should be removed before inundation, and the owners of the lands and timbers compensated for their property. Resolutions were adopted declaring the determination to use only legal means for the removal of the "nuisances," or the correction of the evils attending them. Previ- ous to this meeting, the opposition had appealed to the courts, and se- cured an injunction against the filling of Birch Creek Reservoir. The Trustees of the canal offered to contract the removal of the timber from the reservoir at the rate of $7 per acre, but failing to succeed on this proposition, proceeded to fill the pond. In May, 1854, the bank was slightly cut, but discovered in time to prevent any serious trouble. On the night of the 22d of June following, 100 feet of the embankment was cut and the body of the water let out. On the 19th of July, J. McLean Hanna, attorney for the State, published the following call:

" A meeting of the citizens of Clay County, and especially those in- terested in the Birch Creek Reservoir, will be held at the Feeder Dam, in said county, on Friday, the 28th of July, at 10 o'clock A. M., to con-

HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY.

sider the best means of arranging the difficulties which exist in regard to the said reservoir. Assurance has been given that two of the Trustees of the Wabash & Erie Canal will be present on the occasion."

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Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical., Part 4

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