USA > Indiana > Noble County > Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 2
USA > Indiana > LaGrange County > Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 2
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La Grange County is situated upon the great glacial drift, which covers to the depth of 100 feet or more the rocks of the Silurian period. They were formed at a very remote period in the earth's history, when the lake region was one vast inland gulf. These rocks are a kind of gray limestone, and are often more than a thousand feet in thickness. They are almost wholly composed of the remains of the lower forms of marine life, such as radiates, mollusks and articulates. But it is only in the southern counties of this region that these Silurian rocks are found at the surface. As to the cause of this overlying de- posit of sand, clay and gravel, the generally adopted theory is well stated by Mr. Christian Y. Roop, formerly of La Grange, in an essay upon La Grange County geology, as follows :
"Nearly every part of the earth's crust has been subject to frequent changes of elevation. When the Silurian rocks were being formed by the deposition of shells, a shallow inland sea covered all this region of country, and the whole of what is now North America enjoyed an almost tropical climate. But as time rolled on, the continent gradually became more and more elevated, the climate became colder and colder, the ice fields of the North
15
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
grew southward, as the Alpine glaciers flow, until at last the whole northern part of North America was covered with snow and ice, thousands of feet thick; from these vast ice fields there issued with slow motion, but almost resistless power, those enormous glaciers, or rivers of ice, in whose paths mountains were reduced to pebbles, and the hardest rocks were ground to sand. As these glaciers moved southward, the increasing heat melted and diminished them until they finally disappeared, giving rise to numerous rivers that dashed onward to the ocean. The melting of the glaciers, of course, caused the deposit of those immense masses of rocks and earth which had been transported from the far North. These deposits form what is called the great northern drift, and their southern limit in Indiana is not far from the city of Indianapolis. South of that line, we find none of those large rounded granite bowlders such as are so plenty in this county. After long ages of glacial action, the continent began to slowly subside; and, as the climate again grew warmer, the limit of the moving wall of ice was gradually pressed toward the North. Each returning summer the land was deluged with terrific floods, flowing from the melting glaciers. These annual floods served to still further grind and mix the enormous glacial deposits, until at last the wall of ice was pushed so far north that the water from the melting mass found shorter passage to the sea ; and all this region of country was left a gently rolling surface, much as we now find it."
As the ice gradually receded to the north, and the huge lakes drained away, they left a country covered, in the low places, with beds of blue clay, and large deposits of gravel and sand. Upon this a vegetation sprang up, much like that of the present. But in the forests, and over the level plains, there roamed some animals that would now seem strangely out of place in In- diana. Not only bisons and horses, and other animals familiar to us, but huge mastodons and mammoths, who browsed from the trees and watered at the lakes and the wide, sluggish rivers. Their remains have almost entirely per- ished, except in those instances where the animals were caught in the mire. A number of teeth, however, have resisted the erosion of years, and are some- times plowed up in the fields.
A few years ago, a Mr. Boyd, while ditching in Hobbs' Marsh, a few miles northwest of La Grange, discovered the well-preserved skull of a mastodon, but the other portions had disappeared. The bones were found about three feet be- neath the surface. They were washed and taken to La Grange, where they cre- ated considerable excitement. One man offered $5 for them, another offered $10, and a commercial traveler raised the amount to $75, but the owner refused to sell at any price. He exhibited them at Ligonier, La Grange, and at other places, but at last sold them for a small amount to parties at La Grange, where they are now owned. The bones are undoubtedly those of the mastodon, as the crown of the teeth have those peculiar conical projections characteristic of the animal, besides two small cavities some two inches in diameter, on the ante-
16
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
rior portion of the inferior maxillary, for the insertion, probably, of small tusks, or teeth.
Since then, the country has been in great part covered by lakes and marshes, gradually filling up with decaying vegetable matter. In some unexplained way, the prairies have been formed, with their rich, loamy soil. The oak open- ings, covering over half the county, have produced a sandy loam, while in the heavy timber, the clay predominates. This diversity in soil favors a variety in farm products. The " barrens " are well adapted to wheat; the clay lands, in addition to wheat, corn, grass and oats, and the prairies to wheat and corn. With respect to the dry lands of the different townships, Newbury, Eden, Clear- spring, Lima, Greenfield and Springfield are almost wholly prairies and oak openings ; Milford and Van Buren largely oak openings; while Bloomfield, Clay, Newbury and Johnson had much heavy timber.
In many of the marshes, large beds of marl are found. There are, of course, no stone quarries, and the only stone available as building material are the bowlders, which suffice only for foundation walls. Little clay is found in the county, and much of this is so intermixed with gravel as to be useless. A brick yard a few miles south, and one west of La Grange, have furnished most of the brick used in building in La Grange and vicinity. Of course, no ores are found in the county, of any noteworthy economic value. In several of the marshes occur considerable deposits of bog iron ore or limonite, a hydrous oxide of iron collected by decaying plants from the soil and water. Such an abundance of it was found on Buck Creek that it was smelted for some years, at the "Old Forge " in Lima Township. But this mineral is not valuable, unless as the last resort.
The resources of La Grange County, it will be seen, are exclusively in the rich soil. This, before the settler came, produced magnificent forests. The following list includes all the important trees, in the order of their abundance at present : Beech, white oak, burr oak, black oak, red oak, sugar maple, elm, poplar or tuliptree, white ash, blue ash, hard maple, pignut hickory, black ash, shellbark hickory, basswood, black walnut, cherry, sycamore, sassafras, white walnut, tamarack, cottonwood, white pine, coffee-nut, red cedar and box elder. At an earlier day, however, walnut, ash and hickory stood nearer the head of the list. Other shrubs, such as hawthorn, dogwood, iron wood, papaw, plum, hazel, crab apple, shadberry, contribute by their fruit or flowers to the beauty or interest of the forests. Huckleberries and cranberries are abundant in many places, and grapes, blackberries, gooseberries, raspberries, strawber- ries, are found everywhere. Of the smaller plants, representatives of nearly every family in American botany are found here, except the vegetation of rocks and mountains. Much valuable timber has been squandered in the county, but great destruction was inevitable in the early days, for farms had to be cleared, and there was no possible disposition of the timber except to roll it into the log heap and burn it. The forests have furnished the whole of the fuel of the
17
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
county until within a very few years, when coal is just beginning to be intro- duced.
The fauna of the county is not extensive. In the earliest settlement, deer, wolves, beavers, and an infrequent bear and wildcat, were the most important wild animals, and occasionally still a bear strays into the county and raises a commotion. Squirrels of several varieties are quite numerous in the woods, and are the principal attraction to the hunter, and the fox, polecat, ground hog, rabbit, mink, muskrat, weasel, mole, mouse and gopher are more or less abund- ant. Game birds are much less numerous than formerly, and are rapidly dis- appearing. Of these, the most common were the quail, pheasant, prairie fowl, pigeon, wild turkey, geese, ducks, cranes and snipes. Owls, hawks and more ignoble birds of prey are in the usual number, and occasionally an eagle visits the forests. Reptiles are not very plentiful, except the harmless ones, although about the marshes the less venomous species of rattlesnake, the Massasauga, is slaughtered occasionally, during hay cutting, in great numbers. These poison- ous reptiles have been very numerous in the swamps, but have been productive of extremely little mortality, if any. The most valuable insect of the early days was, of course, the "busy bee," and the red man and white man vied in pursuit of its luscious product. Honey was very abundant. There is no scarcity in any branch of insect life, except that the county is little troubled with any of the pests which destroy the crops. The potato beetle is of course excepted. This interesting tramp is universal.
The Indians found in the county by the white settlers were of the Potta- watomie tribe, an inoffensive, quiet people, like all true Indians, much addicted to the chase. Their worst crime was the consumption of the "fire-water" which the pale-face supplied to them, and their capacity in this respect was almost unbounded. They occupied the St. Joseph country and Kankakee Valley. One of their most important villages was Mongoquinong, now called Lima, and Ontario, from which trails led south to Fort Wayne, upon which was afterward built the "old Wayne road," north to the large Indian village once near the site of Mendon, Mich., westward to the St. Joseph Mission, and another to Haw Patch. Along these trails, and many others running through- out the county, there was continual travel by the nomadic red men in their hunting and trading expeditions. During the excitement of the Black Hawk war in 1832, there was some fear that the Pottawatomies would join in the scrimmage, and it was even reported at one time that at a certain phase of the moon they would make an alliance with a hostile tribe. But nothing came of it. One day during this feverish time, it was told that a practical joker among the pale-faces of Union Mills, with the help of several whites and Indians, concocted a scheme that so thoroughly frightened the neighborhood that the remembrance is yet fresh in the minds of the citizens. The details may be found in the chapter on Springfield Township. In 1839, the Indians were removed westward, finally to Kansas. Coquillard was one of the agents for
18
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
their removal. They submitted to the purchase of their homes very readily, as a tribe, but many of them were anxious to remain. They clung lovingly to their old St. Joseph country, and even after it was thought all were gone, a lone Pottawatomie would sometimes wander back to the old hunting grounds.
The curious custom of burial prevailing among the Indians would often give rise to sensations. It would not be uncommon to find the remains of their dead tied to a tree in a thicket. One day some persons uncovering a sugar trough below Van Buren, where a White Pigeon party had been making sugar, were startled to find it had become the sepulcher of a red man. The most notable chiefs before the white men came were White Pigeon, whom one of the oldest settlers, John Kromer, remembered meeting, and who is buried at a well known spot near the town which bears his name; and Shipshewana, who sleeps on the north shore of the lake which commemorates him, some say, although it is claimed by others that his grave was some distance east of the lake.
This country is, as must already have occurred to the reader, admirably adapted to agricultural pursuits. This adaption was early recognized, and a commendable disposition and effort manifested to make the best use of it. Another fact was also appreciated, and that is, that agricultural development of a community was not best promoted by every tiller of the soil's digging away, week after week, and year after year, many planting, reaping and gar- nering away, regardless of all around, or of any improvements that might be suggested by others, or with indifference to social advancement of society. The illiterate idea that not brains, but brute force only, is needed for good farming, was discarded, and an effort made to advance the true and nobler ideal; that agricultural pursuits should, of all others, be the master agencies of civilization ; that they should challenge the attention of the best and wisest ; that instead of allowing the towns and cities to attract away the aspiring youth, the farm home should have that intelligence, refinement and honor; that young men should see in it more facilities for culture and distinction, than in the bustle, turmoil and pit-falls of city life. To secure this, it was seen that farm- ers must aspire to excellence in cultivation, produce the best the soil can be compelled to bring forth, raise the best stock, have neat homes, promote social and pleasant intercourse among themselves. As the people in towns and cities co-operate in the improvements that make to the material benefit of all, so must farmers. Among the co-operate measures that have done much to honor the calling of farming, has been that of county agricultural societies, for the hold- ing of annual fairs. La Grange County was one of the earliest counties to lead off in this direction, and it is believed the most faithful and persistent in the State. No county agricultural society in the State that has so long continual existence, or held fairs without interruption so many years, can now be recalled.
The La Grange County Agricultural Society was organized October 1, 1852. The first officers were : Amos Davis, President; Andrew E. Durand, Vice President; Robert McClasky, Treasurer; C. B. Holmes, Secretary. The
LA GRANGE COUNTY COURT HOUSE
21
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
first fair was held on the 18th day of October, 1853, for the premiums of which, we find the records show $250 were appropriated. The Presidents and Secre- taries of the society since, have been: 1853-C. Corey, President; C. B. Holmes, Secretary. 1854-C. Corey, President; Mills Averill, Secretary. 1855-C. Corey, President; Mills Averill, Secretary. (The fair this year was held at Lima, but the next year was permanently located at La Grange.) 1856-57-58-Hawley Peck, President; C. B. Holmes, Secretary. 1859-H. L. Putney, President; C. B. Holmes, Secretary. 1860-61-62-No elections on record. 1863-Hawley Peck, President; J. Rice, Secretary. 1864- Jared Ford, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary. 1865-Dr. A. Lewis, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary. 1866-William Dorsey, President ; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts of the fair, $963.34. 1868-Nelson Slater, President; Dr. F. P. Griffith, Secretary; receipts, $485.42. 1869- Luke Selby, elected President; George K. Poyser, acting President; Dr. F. P. Griffith, Secretary; receipts of fair, $447.92. 1870-Elisha Talmage, President; Dr. F. P. Griffith, Secretary. 1871-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts, $883.40. 1872-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts, $1,001.50. 1873-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts, $1,370. 1874- C. B. Holmes, President; W. T. Hissong, Secretary ; receipts, $1,406.35. 1875-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary ; J. S. Drake, Treasurer; receipts, $1,292. 1876-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts, $1,142.75. 1877-C. B. Holmes, President; Thomas Van Kirk, Secretary; receipts, $1,682.25. 1878-S. K. Ruick, President; Ira Ford, Secretary; receipts, $1,234. 1879-S. K. Ruick, Pres- ident; Ira Ford, Secretary; receipts, $1,175.75. 1880-John McDonald, President; John M. Preston, Secretary; receipts, $1,621.78. 1881-John McDonald, President; J. J. Gillette, Secretary ; receipts, $1,105.66.
Spring fairs have been held in the spring of the last three years, but have not, with the exception of the first one, proved profitable to the society.
The principal productions owned and being produced in the county for the years 1880 and 1881, and other items, as gathered by the Assessors, and reported June 1, 1881, are as follows :
Acres of wheat sown in the fall of 1880
47,095
Acres of spring wheat sown in the spring of 1881
21
Acres of corn planted in 1881
24,102
Acres of oats sown in 1881. 5,889
Acres of rye sown in 1881.
64
Acres of buckwheat to be sown
165
Acres of Irish potatoes in 1881
741
Acres of timothy meadow in 1881
5,117
Acres of clover in 1881.
22,283
Acres of blue grass and other wild grass ..
9,323
Acres of plow land not cultivated in 1881.
8,516
Acres of new land brought under cultivation in 1881
1,384
22
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
Number of acres of timber land fenced or unfenced in 1881.
43,600
Number of steam threshers owned during threshing season of 1880 40
Number of horse-power threshers owned during the season of 1880.
4
Number of bushels of wheat cut and threshed in 1880.
865,418
Number of bushels of oats cut and threshed in 1880. 300
150,165
Number of bushels of rye cut and threshed in 1880.
5,673
Number of bushels of flaxseed cut and threshed in 1880
Acres of wheat harvested in 1880. 47,879
Bushels of wheat harvested in 1880.
769,224
Bushels of corn gathered in 1880.
21,878
Bushels of wheat gathered in 1880
764,019
Acres of oats harvested in 1880.
6,022
Bushels of oats harvested in 1880.
165,826
Acres of Irish potatoes planted in 1880
581
Bushels of Irish potatoes dug iu 1880.
41,778
Acres of meadow in 1880.
13,054
Tons of hay cut in 1880.
19,042
Acres of clover cut in 1880
8,523
Bushels of clover seed sown in 1880
4,678
Bushels of fall apples, 1880 ..
120,860
Bushels of winter apples, 1880
63,383
Bushels of dried apples, 1880.
1,854
Bushels of pears, 1880.
879
Bushels of peaches, 1880.
6,861
Bushels of dried peaches, 1880.
300
Pounds of grapes, 1880.
117,059
Gallons of strawberries, 1880.
4,095
Gallons of currants, gooseberries and blackberries, 1880.
5,987
Gallons of cherries, 1880.
11,683
Gallons of cider, 1880.
206,218
Gallons of vinegar, 1880.
8,045
Gallons of wine, 1880
462
Gallons of sorghum molasses, 1880.
6,063
Gallons of maple molasses, 1880.
787
Pounds of maple sugar, 1880.
4,050
Gallons of milk from the cows, 1880.
1,647,637
Pounds of butter sold and used by the producers, 1880.
475,048
Number of horses one year old and under
585
Number of horses one to two years old.
492
Number of horses two to three years old.
441
Number of horses three to four years old.
357
Number of horses four years old and over
4,469
Number of mules one year old and under.
8
Number of mules of other ages.
72
Number of cattle one year old and under.
4,038
Number of cattle one to two years old.
2,761
Number of cattle two to three years old.
1,339
Number of cattle three years old and over.
7,098
Number of fattened hogs.
16,728
Average weight of fattened hogs, pounds.
201
Number of fatted hogs which will be old and fat, 1881.
14,248
Number of grown sheep ..
33,503
Number of lambs.
10,030
Number of pounds of wool clipped in 1880.
135,356
23
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
Dozens of chickens sold and used for the last twelve months 5,727
Dozens of turkeys used and sold for the last twelve months. 321
Dozens of geese sold and used for the last twelve months.
103
Dozens of ducks sold and used for the last twelve months. 263
Dozens of eggs sold and used for the last twelve months.
174,441
Pounds of feathers picked.
706
Total number of dogs owned or kept.
1,185
Number of stands of bees.
1,612
Number of pounds of honey taken for the past twelve months.
7,173
Number of pianos.
38
Number of organs ..
342
Number of sewing machines.
1,389
From the State Statistician's Report of 1880, we glean the following items in relation to the county :
Number of church organizations. 32
Number of members-male, 722; female, 1,091 1,813
Value of church structures. $50,000
Amount of salaries paid ministers, one year. $8,094
28
Number of attorneys
13
Number of ministers
29
Number of teachers in public schools.
195
WAGES.
Rate of wages paid for the year ending June 30, 1879, monthly and weekly rates being reduced to the equivalent per day :
Bar-tenders. $ 77
Brickmakers 1 50
Blacksmiths
1 87
Brick-masons 2 08
2 00
Carpenters.
1 87
Day laborers.
1 00
Hotel clerks. 77
Coopers 1 50
75
Domestic help. 34
Engineers, stationary
1 08
Farm hands.
63
Livery-stable hands.
69
Machinists
1 00
PUBLIC WORKS.
Miles of railroad in the county
16.57
Cost of construction and equipment. $557,416
Value for taxation, 1881 $145,335
Miles of common roads. 665
Estimated cost of construction and maintenance for the last ten years $266,000
Acres of land in roadways. 2,759
Estimated value of lands in roadways. $44,144
Total estimated value invested for the use of the public, as in public buildings, schoolhouses, churches, roads, bridges, and permanent school fund $1,200,000
Number of practicing physicians.
Cabinet-makers
Dressmakers
24
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
REAL ESTATE OWNERS.
In 1875. Land, 2,525. Lots, 360 In 1879 Land, 2,760. Lots, 350
This indicates that land-owners are increasing, rather than diminishing.
THE CENSUS.
The population of the county, as reported by the census returns, has been as follows :
1840
3,661
1850
8,369
1860
11,350
1870
14,123
1880
15,639
The last census showed 8,017 males, 7,622 females. Of the males, 3,940 were of voting age, over twenty-one years.
The population of the several townships, in 1880, was :
1880
1870
Van Buren
1,374
1,347
Newbury
1,392
1,159
Eden
1,111
930
Clearspring.
1,370
1,223
Clay
1,408
1,223
Lima
1,336
1,371
Greenfield.
1,182
1,078
Bloomfield.
2,571
2,254
Johnson
1,565
1,322
Milford
1,312
1,288
Springfield
1,018
928
15,639
14,123
Of those reported in 1880, 110 had passed their seventy-fifth year. The oldest reported was eighty-nine.
Table showing the number of marriage licenses issued, the number of letters of administration or executorship taken out, and the number of divorces granted in the county, during the last eleven years :
Year.
Letters of Ad- Licenses ministration and Issued. Executorship.
Divorces.
1870.
130
23
16
1871.
95
23
13
1872
98
28
22
1873.
124
23
10
1874
132
22
18
1875.
110
25
8
1876.
I17
22
11
1877
113
29
8
1878
124
32
14
1879.
118
19
11
1880
104
...
18
Total
1,265
-
...
149
-
Marriage
25
HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY.
[The following from the pen of Mr. Edward S. Edmunds, an enthusiastic student of geology, as well as of all other branches of natural science, will be read with interest .- ED.]
Glancing backward through the cycles and epicycles of the past, the evi- dences of constant and untiring change are written as with a mystic pen upon all forms of matter. So far as the human mind can penetrate with its keen acumen, its profound reasoning and its knowledge and experience of the past, unmistakable proofs of growth and development of even our own planet are to be seen upon every hand. If we trace human history downward into pre-his- toric soil, we find it replete with evidences of the rise, decline and fall of nations. From the ashes of the old, like the ancient phoenix, the new has arisen, and pass- ing toward the zenith of its power it rushed onward to the horizon of dissolu- tion, having been borne forward by the ever-flowing current of human destiny. Thus for ages these dramas of human life have been enacted. Likewise through the geologic past, the three great kingdoms of nature have been built, torn down and rebuilt in cyclic repetition. The human mind, having emerged from the dark clouds of superstition which have hung like the pall of night over the path of progression, is asserting its just and proper right-that of reason ; hence in the seed of the present lies the golden fruit of the future. " Star-eyed sci- ence " opens wide the door of knowledge and invites the thinking and un- thoughtful to explore her hidden vaults and seize the precious treasures which have lain hidden through all the cosmical ages. The human mind, being a prod- uct of the Divine mind, seeks to know the causes of this world of complex mat- ter, recognizing that all things are governed by Law. Chief among the ques- tions now agitating the depths of the thinking mind is that of world-formation. In this connection, the two sciences, Astronomy and Geology, go hand in hand; but as the former pertains to the universe, we take the latter and will endeavor to present to the reader the revealed geology of our county. Leaving the topo- graphical portion, which has been described by Dr. Rerick, the first thing that claims our attention is the character of the soil. As many do not know how the soil has been formed, I will endeavor to explain the matter in question. Throughout the long and wonderful periods of geological history, the " forces of nature," such as heat, light, air, water, electricity, etc., have continually wrought upon the rocky portion of the earth's crust. Continents have arisen from the bosom of primitive seas, to be submerged again beneath the waters of a boiling cauldron. For we must remember that the internal fires of our planet in former times often broke through the thin film of rock, overturning the land thus far raised above the first ocean. This operation must have been repeated innumerably when, by this constant action, assisted by the destroying power of electricity and other agents, massive portions of rock were ground to powder. The different elements of nature, such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., are powerful agencies of destruction and composition, and during the time when our county was covered with ice-fields and glaciers, this disintegration was carried
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