USA > Indiana > Brown County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 15
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 15
USA > Indiana > Morgan County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 15
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A 122
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
limited her conversation to the merest monosyllables .. Mr. Barnes was envied as the luckiest man in his domestic relations in all the surround- ing country.
In 1823, Jonathan Lyon, who had, in 1820, purchased quite a tract of land at what is now Brooklyn, came to the township, secured the old mill of Mr. Cuthbert, greatly improved it and the dam, built a saw mill on the opposite side, and soon afterward built a storehouse, in which he placed a stock of goods worth about $2,000. It is likely that the goods were not brought on until 1824. Mr. Lyon had several grown sons, who managed the mills and the store for him, while he remained the most of the time at his home in another portion of the State. In 1825, or pos- sibly 1826, Mr. Lyon erected a distillery and a tannery, and paid James S. Kelley $600 to conduct them both for a few years, at the end of which time they were to be returned to the owner, Mr. Lyon. The profits as well as the expenses of the enterprises were to be borne by the owner. Mr. Lyon also started a hattery soon afterward. The store, the distillery, the tannery, the hattery, the grist mill and the saw mill were conducted successfully by Mr. Kelley, the Lyon boys and considerable hired help until about the year 1830, when Mr. Kelly's contract with Mr. Lyon ex- pired, and the former went to Mooresville and engaged in the mercantile pursuit. The sons of Mr. Lyon continued the enterprises. Early in the thirties, in addition to the other pursuits, pork-packing was commenced, and was carried on for many years quite extensively. These industries served to make the place one of the most important industrial points in the county. Of course, no town had yet been started there. Late in the forties, the Lyons sold out their interests or abandoned them. Long before this, however, or about 1835, they had built a steam distillery, which took the place of the one first built, and had a much greater capacity. Probably as high as 100 barrels of whisky were manufactured annually, a considerable portion of which found a ready sale at home, the remainder being shipped to distant points. This distillery was destroyed by fire about the year 1843, and thereby hangs a tale which the old set- tlers may tell. Ask them.
The township had all the distilleries necessary in early years. Eli Bray owned one; also William Darman, Thomas Richardson and Ben- jamin Barnes. The latter built a small corn cracker, which was propelled by horses. It was erected for the purpose of supplying the distillery. Rye was also ground there. It is said that at some of these early dis- tilleries, pumpkins, potatoes, etc., were manufactured into whisky or brandy. All old settlers agree that the liquor of that day was far supe- rior to the poisonous stuff of these later degenerate days. They probably know what they are talking about. And then, again, people did not get drunk as often as they do now. The halcyon days have indeed gone by.
MODERN BROOKLYN.
In about 1853, Frank Landers opened a store. He began about Christmas, and the following March laid out the town, which began to grow as the railroad was being built, that is, the grading had commenced. Quite a number of families soon located in the town. Griggs, Cook & Scott opened a store about 1859. The merchants since then, in order,
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have been Dill & Griggs, Cox & Landers (near the close of the last war), Gregory & Clark, Gregory & Council, Gregory & Robbins, J. N. Gregory, P. S. McNeff & Bro. (1872), Silas Rinker, McNeff & Rinker, Gregory & Son, Ira McDaniel, P. S. McNeff, Richardson & Morgan, William McNeff. The present merchants are P. S. McNeff, Philips & Bro., Richard Lash, F. R. Miller, Daniel Thornburg.
M. O. & F. M. Pierce started a woolen factory about 1866, in a building that had been built by William Sparks. They carded and spun for about two years, and then retired from the business. The present grist mill was built in 1852 by William and John Paddock. After a few years, they were succeeded by John and William Butterfield, and a year later by Griggs & Clark. William Sparks bought it during the war. The present owner, John McDaniel, bought it late in the sixties. It has been an excellent mill. It is now being refitted, iron rolls being inserted in the place of stone buhrs. The town has had one or more saw mills since the earliest time. J. R. Hardin is the present owner. The popu- lation of the town is greater now than ever before, and is about 360.
CENTERTON.
This village was laid out in March, 1854, by Calvin Matthews, ad- ministrator of the estate of James Matthews, deceased. Hiram T. Craig was the surveyor, and is said to have named the town from its location in the county. There was a time when Centerton could have secured the prize of the county seat. This was in the fifties, just before the present court house was built, and later just before the railroad was completed. Sufficient influence was not brought to bear upon the points of success. Almost every unprejudiced person will readily say that the county seat should be located either at Centerton or on the railroad in its immediate vicinity. There can be no question of the justice and future public pol- icy of this fact. It is well known that pecuniary interests are the only considerations which keep it where it is. Might, not right, rules. Of course there are parties at Martinsville, who, wise as serpents, will not admit these statements, though the heavens fall. The citizens of the county should see that the next court house is built at Centerton.
The first store in Centerton was opened by William Spencer soon after the lots were laid out. He became the first agent of Uncle Sam. Thom- as Hardrick was the second merchant, and S. S. Cox the third. The leading merchants since then have been Silas Rinker, J. T. Piercy, Stipp & Green, Alexander Hardrick, William Gooch, D. S. Clements, Allen English, Bush Brothers, Miles Matthews and Lewis Campbell. The lat- ter and Bush Brothers are yet in business. Among the early families in Centerton were those of Calvin Matthews, William Spencer, William Cox, Thomas Hardrick, Dr. Skelton, Paul Sims, Joseph Robb, John Shields, Mr. Hunt, James Adams and John Butterfield. The present population of the village is about 200. The first blacksmith was Hiram Cox. W. J. Manker owned and conducted the first saw mill. Saw mills have since been owned and operated by Madison Matthews, Dixon & Shields, John Butterfield, Washington Patrick, Gamble Brothers. Centerton has in its vicinity the best fire brick clay in the State. The brick for the new State house are being manufactured about two miles
8
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
8 outhwest of the town. Jackson Record, an old settler of the county, who located in Washington Township in 1833, has been a resident of Clay Township since 1853. The county has had no citizen of greater prominence and worth.
TEACHERS.
The first schoolhouse built in Clay Township was erected in the But- terfield neighborhood in 1823, and during the summer of that year the first school in the township was taught therein by Hiram Collins. The house was a round-log structure, with a big fire-place, paper windows, puncheon seats and door. Butterfield, Barnes, Case, Hodge, Stotts and others helped to erect the building. Collins was a good teacher, but was affected with the phthisic, which often made him cross. That was the sig- nal for indiscriminate whipping. Hiatt Thomas taught in the same house the following winter. He was a jovial fellow, and at noon would hunt coons with his larger boys. George A. Phelps was an early teacher in this house. After several years, this house was succeeded by a better one built a short distance east. Another early teacher in the first house was a Mr. Williams. A school was taught in the neighborhood of the Matthews at Centerton very early, but the facts could not be learned. Several schools started up in the thirties, and additional ones in the for- ties. The frame schoolhouse in Brooklyn was built early in the fifties. It was destroyed by fire in 1883. The first teacher in Brooklyn is for- gotten. A new brick schoolhouse will be built there within the next year or two, at a cost of about $5,000. The first schoolhouse in Center- ton was built early in the fifties. Thomas Skelton was probably the first teacher. A man named Moore was the second. This house was used until 1883, when a fine brick structure was constructed at a cost of about $5,000. The building is 44x58 feet, is two stories high, has four rooms, two above and two below, has a wide hall and stairway on the west side, and the cost is borne by the township. The first teacher in this building was Prof. Smith. Clay has excellent schools.
PREACHERS.
It is said that the first sermon preached in the township was delivered by Rev. Proctor, an eminent minister of the Presbyterian Church, who was on his way, in 1823, from his home in Indianapolis to Bloomington, * Ind., where he had an appointment to hold religious services. He stopped at the house of John Butterfield, and entertained that family and a few of the neighbors who gathered to hear him. The Church of Christ, in the southeastern part, was organized in the thirties, and for some time meet- ings were held at the houses of Velorus Butterfield, Thomas Morgan and family, Abraham Griggs and family, James Noble, Levi Plummer. The ground for the church was furnished by Mr. Plummer, and was on Section 30, Township 13 north. Range 2 east. The log church was erected early in the forties. A number of years afterward it was burned down, and a frame church was erected in its place. The Methodists had an early organization in the Rinker neighborhood, and in the forties a log church was erected at what was called Rinker's Corner. After many years a frame house took its place. The Methodist Church in Brooklyn was erected in 1869, and dedicated in 1870. The membership is now quite
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large. The Christian Church in Brooklyn was built three or four years after the Methodist Church, and the class is in a prosperous condition. The Christian Church at Centerton was moved there about two years ago. It formerly stood in the Rinker neighborhood, in the eastern part of the township, and then was occupied by the Methodists.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
THE PIONEERS.
M ONROE TOWNSHIP is one of the oldest portions of the county, and in some respects the most interesting. It is a fine tract of rolling land, well drained, and the greater portion of the soil is a rich sandy loam, one of the best kinds for general and inexhaustible cultivation. The first tract of land entered in the township was on Section 29, in the northeastern part, by William Pounds, in 1820; but Mr. Pounds did not come to the township for several years, and was therefore not the first settler. It cannot be certainly stated who the first was, but the burden of evidences is in favor of John H. Bray, who lived to the remarkable age of ninety-four years. He located on Section 28, in the northeastern part of the township in the year 1822. He was born in North Carolina during the Revolutionary war, and lived until seven or eight years ago. He was a young man at the beginning of the present century, and was middle-aged at the time of the war of 1812-15. He was a man of stal- wart frame, and possessed an iron constitution. During his long resi- dence in the county, he was one of the most prominent and public-spirited of the citizens. Among those who came in soon after him were Jeremiah Hadley, Charles Allen, Thomas Rubottom, Zimri Allen, James Hadley, John Doan, Robert McCracken, James Demoss, Henry Brewer, Lot M. Hadley, T. E. Hadley, Philip Johnson, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Doan, Joseph Hobson, William Bray, Joshua Carter, Oliver Kimberton, David Collins, Moses Hougham, Simon B. Hadley, Jesse Overman, Enoch Hadley, Jesse Ballard, Elijah Tansey, William Tansey, Abel Thompson, John C. Burris, Hiram Tomlinson, Eneas Ward, Ephraim. Doan, William Johnson, George Crutchfield, John Hadley, George Seaton, Timothy H. Jessup, William Carter, Martin Davenport, Daniel Beals, Job and Jesse Johnson, Isaac Hougham, and a little later John P. Lamb, Isaac Hobson, David Lindley, John Bryant, Samuel Harper, Alfred Elliott, James Reynolds, Jonathan Mendenhall, Elisha Gregory, Jesse Allen, Nicholas Johnson, John S. Hubbard, Peter Coble, Aaron Lindley, George Hub- bard, Edward Lindley, James Lindley, Joshua Lindley, Owen Lindley, Aaron Shaw, Thomas Edwards, James Pruitt, Benjamin K. Williams, Woodson Lewallen, Iva Stout, Jesse Baldwin, Eli Vestal, William Wisner, James Marley, Daniel Ferree, Amos Marker, Joseph Pray, Thomas Nichols and others. A few of these never lived in the township.
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
POLL TAX PAYERS OF 1842.
Thomas Anderson, Zimri Allen, Charles Allen, Jesse Baldwin, B. Bales, Daniel Carter, William Chambers, Isaac Chew, Samuel Chew, David Doan, Joseph Doan, Jesse Doan, Robert Doan, Jonathan Doan, William Doan, James Demoss, John Edwards, Samuel Edwards, Nathan Edwards, Alfred Elliott, Abe Elliott, Peter Farmer, Jesse Faulkner, John Ferree, Daniel Ferree, David Greeson, Peter Greeson, Elias Gregory, Daniel Hornaday, T. M. Hadley, Aaron Hadley, S. B. Hadley, William Hornaday, James Hadley, Isaac Hobson, Elias Hadley, David Johnson, Nicholas Johnson, Gideon Johnson, David Lindley, Edward Lindley, Woodson Lewallen, Owen Lindley, J. T. Marlett, Robert McCracken, John Marley, James Marley, William McClellan, John McClellan, Nathan Nichols, James Pitman, George Rubottom, Aaron Shaw, Iva Stout, Alexander Shore, David Shanafelt, Jesse Tansey, Eli Townsend, Elijah Tansey, William Wisner, Benjamin Wilson and some others, whose names cannot be made out.
TOWN OF MONROVIA.
In the month of June, 1834, Gideon Johnson and George Hubbard employed a surveyor and laid out forty-five lots on Section 12, Township 13 north, Range 1 west, and named the village thus founded Monrovia- a variation of the name of the township. The first merchants were Gideon Johnson and Ira Hadley, each of whom owned a store. If one began selling before the other, such fact is not now remembered. In 1837, Mr. Johnson sold out to Thomas Edwards & Co., for $600, Lots 1, 2, 13 and 14, Block 3, together with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging. This company was composed of Thomas Edwards, I. B. Edwards and C. G. Hussey. This company owned about $2,000 worth of a general assortment of goods. About the time this sale was effected, John Carter laid out an addition of sixteen lots to the town. Mr. Hadley still continued his business, taking in a partner in 1838. Mr. Johnson must have opened another store soon after his sale, as he took out a license in 1839 to sell merchandise. Eli Vestal was an early merchant in the village. Henry and Noah York engaged in the same pursuit early in the forties. Irvin Caveness was the first tavern keeper. Samuel Wilhite and John Valentine were probably the first blacksmiths. A man named Halfhill opened a saddle and harness shop, and John Edwards The growth of the village, though not rapid, was began making wagons. steady and permanent. For several years, beginning about 1842, there
was no store in town. This is said to have been due to the hard times resulting from the crash of 1837. Owen Johnson opened a store about 1845, and soon afterward Ira Hadley resumed his business, which had been temporarily abandoned. Collins, an Irishman, opened a store about 1850. Milton Lindley was engaged in the same pursuit about the same time, or possibly before. Benjamin Young came in with goods a little later, and Porter & Breedlove still later. After them came Samuel Had- ley, Joseph Fulghman, M. B. Shaw, Butler & Mendenhall, Mendenhall & Thompson, W. B. Thompson, Philips & Johnson, R. P. Johnson & Co., and several others, whose names are forgotten. A steam grist mill was built in the town not far from the year 1837, and was the first of the
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MONROE TOWNSHIP.
kind in the central part of the State. But the machinery was too rude to compete yet with the numerous powerful water mills, and the mill proved a failure, and was soon abandoned, and the machinery was removed. George Hadley built a wool-carding establishment about 1840, the motor being cattle on an inclined plane. It passed to Silas Gregory, who con- ducted it until about 1850. No spinning or weaving was done. A man named Dunning manufactured saddles quite extensively in the forties. Halfhill followed the same occupation. Ira Fowler owned a distillery some distance south of town, where lovers of ardent spirits could secure their favorite potations. Mershon was a cabinet and coffin maker, and was probably the first undertaker in the town. Mr. Caveness kept a shoe shop in connection with his tavern. William Wisner conducted a tannery, beginning about 1836. It is said that Joseph Pray started the business, but soon sold out to Wisner. A saw mill was conducted in con- nection with the steam grist mill. Harris & Goddard built the present steam grist mill in 1856. A woolen mill was added to it. John McDaniel bought both mills about 1861, but soon sold out to Charles Smith, who made money during the war. Hadley & Taylor succeeded Smith. In about 1868, the two mills were separated, each being owned by different parties. John Stanton bought the woolen mill, and Hadley & Taylor owned the grist mill. Mr. Taylor is the present owner of the grist mill. The woolen mill was an important industry. Spinning and weaving was done. Flannels, jeans and other cloths were manufactured. Various other industries have flourished from time to time, but the above are the more important.
PRESENT BUSINESS INTERESTS.
Dry goods, Samuel Philips, Pacely Thompson ; drugs, J. C. Hiatt & Co., McCracken Brothers; groceries, Hobbs & Johnson, Wilson Brothers, Fish & Son, S. H. Henley ; hardware and agricultural implements, Hobbs & Johnson ; milliners, Johnson Sisters, Alma Jeffries, Mattie Hubbard ; barber, Henry Book ; grist mill, Albert Taylor ; harness, J. H. Hunt ; livery, Daniel Brewer; photographer, Mr. Calvert; tile factory, John M. Davis; carriages and wagons, Henry Binkley ; undertaker, Jerry Well- man.
A newspaper was started in the town about 1880, by a man named Stotzell. After a checkered career of about six months, it became de- funct. Late in the sixties, the village became the " incorporated town of Monrovia." Ordinances were adopted, streets were drained, sidewalks were built, etc., but after a few years the municipal government was abandoned.
SCHOOLS OF MONROE TOWNSHIP.
It is not positively known where the first school was taught, as several years elapsed after the first settlement before an attempt was made to es- tablish a school in the township, owing to the fact that within a mile or two in Brown Township, good schools had been started some years before, and the older children in Monroe could attend there during the winter months, and the younger ones during the summer months, which was then regarded as sufficient schooling for large and small children for the year. It is likely that terms of school were held in private residences before the
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
first established school came into existence. The first school of which any distinct remembrance is had was taught in the West Union Church east of Monrovia during the winter of 1832-33 by Joshua Lindley. He was paid by subscription, and had a full school. David Lindley taught in the church after him. At the end of about three years, the Quakers built a schoolhouse adjoining the church, and in this building Evan Had- ley was the first teacher. After that date the school was one of the best in the northern part of the county. A schoolhouse was built west of Monrovia about 1836. A school was also started up in the southeastern part and another in the northeastern part about the same time. In each of these neighborhoods, however, terms of school had been taught in private houses for several years before the public schools were firmly es- tablished. The first teacher in Monrovia was a well-educated man named Butterfield, who taught a three months' term during the winter of 1837-38, in a schoolhouse that had been erected the summer and autumn before.
Mr. Butterfield was an educator in advance of his time, and was re- garded as a "crank" on the subject of his own theories of public instruc- tion. Instead of being really " cranky," he simply earnestly favored and publicly advocated a system of education, which has since developed into the high schools of to-day. The only difference between his theory and the present system was the manner of obtaining funds for the support of the schools. It is stated that he favored public taxation for the support of the schools for the masses, but as his theory in this respect was un- popular in his day, or more specifically at Monrovia, he took the next best course he could, and urged the support of public schools by systematic rate bills and tuition. He was very energetic, and issued a printed cir- cular, advertising his school, specifying the branches taught, the tuition required and asking for pupils who were promised unusual advantages in acquiring a higher education than could be secured at the insignificant subscription schools then starting into life throughout the township. But there were three serious obstacles in the way of the success of the enter- prise of Mr. Butterfield : First-It cost considerable to attend his school. Second-There was no demand for. advanced education. Third-The theories of Mr. Butterfield were regarded as unusual, suspicious, if not un- just. The result was that the school was a failure, and Mr. Butterfield left in disgust for more promising fields. Within fifteen years after he left, the very system he had advocated became the most popular and judi- cious plan of public education ever established up to that time. The com- mon school system of to-day is the child of this advance. This school of Mr. Butterfield's was taught in a portion of the " Monrovia House," yet standing and in use.
The first schoolhouse in Monrovia was erected about 1858, the town children before that going east and west to the district schools. The house built was an ordinary frame structure, which was used until the two-storied brick building was erected about four years ago. The house is 28x64 feet, has four rooms in which four teachers are necessary to instruct the town youth, cost about $4,000, and is a credit to the town, which surpasses any other in the county, in proportion to population, in activity in the cause of education. The school is thoroughly graded, and competent in-
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structors are employed. Soon after the last war, the citizens of Monrovia and vicinity organized a Teachers' Institute, which is still in existence. The citizens subscribed liberally to support the institute, encouraged the valuable course of instruction and drill afforded the teachers, and those citizens who were competent lectured to the assembled teachers on ques- tions of education and school government. In view of the difficulty attending an organization of this character-the great expense, the small- ness of the town, and the limited number of teachers likely to attend- the enterprise has been remarkably prosperous, the influence much more widely felt than was thought possible, and the zeal of teachers and citi- zens in the cause of education places the little town head and shoulders above every other portion of the county. Not content with this excellent showing, the teachers and citizens, in March, 1882, organized the " Mon- rovia Normal and High School Association," every public-spirited citizen of the vicinity subscribing from $5 to $25 for its support. This association is yet in its infancy, yet the future will. no doubt, record its important achievements.
CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS.
It is likely that the first religious class organized in Monroe Town- ship was the one known as the West Union Meeting of Friends, which had its origin late in the twenties, from the older or parent class of Friends in Brown Township. Among the members were George Ru- bottom, William Johnson, Aaron Lindley, Jerry Hadley, William Allen, Ashley Johnson, Philip Johnson, Eli Townsend, Jesse Baldwin, Jona- than Doan, Sr., Jonathan Doan, Charles Allen, Lot Hadley, Silas Greg- ory and others. Their frame church was built in 1832. This class is yet in existence.
The Methodist class at Monrovia was organized soon after 1840, by Rev. H. S. Dane, who was the pastor for a number of years. Some of the members were Edward Lindley, Walker Caveness, Isaac Johnson, William Mull, Joel C. McClellan, C. Marvin, D. C. Doan, James R. Williams, William Best, A. M. Dilley, J. K. Best, James Hudson, L. B. Lewis and others. The pastor in 1856 was Rev. J. R. Williams. Their church was built about 1850.
The Christian Church at Monrovia was established in the sixties. Among the leading members were Jeremiah Wellman, Dr. Reagan, Jo- seph Allison and Robert McCracken.
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