Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical, Part 20

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed. cn
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, F. A. Battey & co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Indiana > Brown County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Morgan County > Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 20

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

This extract is quoted from Mr. Craig's writings to illustrate the com- mon experience of the early settlers in coming to the new country, and in going from place to place after they had become established in their new homes. After Mr. Craig had been out a short time, Mr. Ladd, of Port Royal, was charged with the murder of a stranger whose corpse was found half eaten by wolves and buzzards on White River near the bluffs. The prosecution was favored by Mr. Stotts, Mr. Craig and several others who were prosecuting witnesses ; but Mr. Ladd was acquitted, and so slight was the evidence and so bitter had been the prosecution that Mr. Ladd commenced action, either for libel or false imprisonment, and seemed so likely to succeed that Mr. Craig returned hurriedly to Kentucky, his former home, and Mr. Stotts and others effected a compromise with the injured man, and thus the matter was forever dropped. The stranger had no doubt been killed by an Indian.

CONTINUED SETTLEMENT.

Immediately after this first settlement on Stotts Creek, others began to appear and locate in the neighborhood and farther up on the same stream and its branches. Early settlers in those times always sought the streams, which were the great commercial highways as well as the sources of water, water-power and fresh springs. Among the earliest settlers were James Stotts, Robert Stotts, Andrew Stotts, H. T. Craig, William Offield, two or three families of Laughlins, Zachariah Davee, James Ennis (who had several large sons), Thomas Stockton, Samuel Speaks and his sons Thomas and James, William Perry, Andrew Stevens, John Pierce (the cooper), John Pierce (the blacksmith), Elisha Hamden, Thomas Irons, Jonathan Williams, James Shields, Abe Hammons, Jacob Hammons, Jacob Case, John Dyer, John Marker, Edward Jones, Peter King, Aaron Holdman, and a little latter H. W. Brazeale, Henry Harper, Benjamin Bryan, Washington Duke, James and Bartholomew Carroll, Daniel Drake, Erastus Robinson, H. M. Collins, J. B. Maxwell, H. W. Williams, J. S. Wilson, William Lane, Nathan Laughlin, Philip Collins, B. Rob- bins, James Williams, Gideon C. Drake, J. M. Frazer, Mahlon Snyder, Joseph Sanders, Jacob L. Bromwell, H. B. Greenwood, William Duke, John and Anthony Brunnemer, Jacob Grosclose and many others.

THE POLL TAX PAYERS OF 1842.

The following is the list in full : Benjamin Bryant, Anthony Brunne- mer, Tilford Bailey, Amos Bailey, Allison Bailey, Joseph Bailey, Hiram - Brock, S. W. Bream, Richard Bream, B. F. Badgley, Clark Badgley, Francis Badgley, Nehemiah Bailey, William Cumpton, John Clary, Philip Collins, John Caldwell, William Carroll, W. H. Carroll, Ishmael Carroll, Isaac Caldwell, John Choat, William Cain, W. Creed, Caleb Cobb, Samuel Carroll, G. W. Cain, H. M. Collins, H. B. Childs, J. D.

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

Davis, Caleb Day, George Douglass, George Davis, William Day, Wash- ington Duke, William Duke, George Drake, Daniel Drake, James Egbert, Josiah Eaton, Archibald Ennis, T. Ennis, Michael Ennis, Joseph Elkins, Richard Elkins, Walker Ennis, David Elkins, James Ferren, Bart Ferren, Adam Flake, William Franklin, Jack Galloway, J. A. Grear, James Grear, David Gregory, Daniel Gardner, Abraham Huff, Levi Hall, William Harper, William Hughes, Eb Henderson, Jess Hen- derson, Henry Harper, Bolin Harper, Joseph Johnson, Peter Kemper, Isaac Knox, William King, Rev. Peter Klinger, Ransom King, Elijah Koons, William Lewis, J. T. Laughlin, Thomas Laughlin, J. O. Laugh- lin, Samuel Musser, W H. Mallow, Edward Moon, B. C. Moon, Abra- ham McGrew, Thomas Miles, B. Mulligan, Eli Musgrove, Elisha and John McGrew, John Moffett, J. M. Oliver, Obediah Perry, William Perry, Leonard and N. B. Palmer, John and Nathan Perry, John and Henry Price, James Prather, Artemas Pringle, Charles Robinson, Erastus Robinson, William and James Robe, George Rule, Charles Richards, Anderson and R. H. Scroggins, John and J. E. Skaggs, Thomas Shields, Josiah Stewart, Samuel Scott, James Speaks, James Tracy, James Thomp- son, James and Jackson Trent, Scipio Sedgwick, Simon Taylor, James, Lewis, William, Pleasant and John Williams, Isaac Welch, John Watts, W. L. Warman, Arnold Westfall and Jacob Yount.

MILLING INTERESTS.

Zachariah Davee owned a small grist mill during the twenties. It was located on Stotts Creek, contained a small set of nigger-head buhrs, and was propelled by water from a small log dam. In about 1830, the mill passed to James Ennis, who conducted it for a few years. This was probably the first mill in the township. The Hammons owned a saw mill for a short time in early years. The old Hawkins Mill was built thirty- five or forty years ago by an enterprising German, who soon afterward sold it to Mr. Hawkins. It did good work in its day. After 1838, much of the flour was obtained at Free's mammoth grist mill at Waverly. Salt was obtained at Jackson's Salt Works in Monroe County, or at Martins- ville, Waverly, or at other towns, at $2 per bushel. The corn and pork were sold to buyers on the river, who shipped them down to Southern mar- kets. People dressed in buckskin, or linsey-woolsey or tow. Clothing, shoes, hats, etc., were manufactured at home by the good old mothers. They knew how to make the spinning-wheels hum.

The township was quite well settled by 1840. Almost every section of land had its log cabin and its small clearing, where wheat, corn and vegetables could be seen growing.

HUNTING EXPLOITS.

Eight or ten bears were killed in the township in early years. Zach- ariah Davee was a successful bear hunter. He killed twelve or fifteen, but not all in Green Township. He owned a large, savage dog that was thoroughly trained to the uses of its master, and was an ally upon whom the hunter could depend in an emergency. The dog had been pretty well used up in encounters with bears, while it was yet young and unsophis- ticated, in the embraces of those animals or in the sweeping blows from

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GREEN TOWNSHIP.

their paws, and had resorted to canine sagacity to serve its master in sub- sequent encounters. On a hunt it would chase a bear to some rough tree selected by the latter animal as one easy to climb, and when the bear had gone up about four feet, the dog would sieze it behind, and by tugging and bracing itselfagainst the tree would dislodge bruin, and both would come tumbling to the ground together. The dog would leap up and scamper off. closely pursued by bruin for a few rods, when the latter would return and. again commence to ascend the tree only to be again pulled down by the dog. Sometimes this procedure was repeated several times, or until the hunter came up and shot the bear. On one occasion, when Mr. Davee was out hunting, he came suddenly upon a bear, but owing to the thick- ness of the brush, succeeded only in giving it a bad wound as it shambled off. The dog followed the wounded animal a long distance, keeping up a barking that guided the hunter in the pursuit, but keeping beyond the reach of the bleeding Ursus Americanus. At last the bear became so weak from loss of blood that it stopped to rest, but could get none owing to the persistent and courageous attacks of the dog. Mr. Davee came up and ended the fight by a ball through the bear's head. On still another occasion, as Mr. Davee was walking through the woods with his gun on his shoulder, he came suddenly within four feet of a large bear that was lying behind a log. The animal instantly reared up with an angry growl, displaying two rows of gleaming teeth, and reaching out with its powerful arms to clasp the startled settler in its embrace, but the latter leaped back, cocked his rifle, and ere the bear could touch him, sent a ball through its throat. In a few minutes the animal was dead. Had the rifle missed fire, it would have fared hard with the hunter. On still another occasion, Mr. Davee shot and instantly killed a bear which was passing near his cabin. The flesh was divided out among the neighbors. William Hughes was tardy in his demands and was forced to content him- self with a pair of the legs. Bear meat is much like pork. It is said that Tilford Bailey killed a bear in early years. He saw it in the woods, and though much scared and nervous, fired and killed it. Joseph Doty also killed one under about the same circumstances. Several others killed bears in the township.

THE WOUNDED DEER.

Mr. Davee had his dog so trained that the dumb brute seemed almost capable of reason. One day the hunter shot and wounded a deer, which ran off through the woods at full speed. Away went the dog in pursuit, followed as fast as possible by its master. Drops of blood could be seen upon the leaves, showing that the deer had been badly hurt. After some time the dog returned, skulking along to its master, which act was so unusual that Mr. Davis took his ramrod and gave the animal a sound thrashing, and again ordered it on in pursuit of the deer. Away it went again, fiercer than ever, as if to make good the loss of its master's confi- dence. The hunter, thinking that the dog would not have come back unless the deer was so strong as to have gotten entirely away, concluded to give up the chase and return to his cabin, which he accordingly did. Hours elapsed and the dog did not return. At last the hunter took his gun, resumed the trail, and after several hours of rapid walking came

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

upon a sight that made him sick. The tall weeds, grass and bushes over a quarter of an acre were torn to pieces and beaten flat, and near the center lay the wounded deer, dead, and terribly torn, and near it was the old dog, covered with blood and bruised, and torn almost in pieces by the sharp hoofs and antlers of the desperate deer. The noble animal could scarcely move, yet it wagged its tail at the sound of its master's voice, and looked up for praise over the successful issue of the terrible struggle. The faithful creature was taken home where its wounds were carefully dressed, but the best care could not restore the mutilated limbs and broken bones. The dog lived a year or more, but scarcely ever left the yard.

THE DELAWARES.

Mr. Davee had an extended experience of the Indian character. He was not afraid of them and liked to be with them for the sport they afforded him. He could beat any of them shooting at a mark, and won much of their property in that manner. The Indians, except a few small roving bands, had been removed a short time before he came to the town- ship. One day five or six of them, including two or three squaws, camped on the creek near his cabin, whereupon he went over to make their acquaintance. They seemed glad to see him, and, after a short time, all shot at a mark, and of course the white man beat them. The Indians then proposed to jump, and one of them suggested that they should see which could jump farthest over a large log-heap fire that was burning near. One or two including Mr. Davee made the jump success- fully, and finally a very boastful young fellow with many a flourish started to perform the same feat. He made a short dash, but just as he was rising on the jump Mr. Davee tripped him, and the half-naked fellow pitched heels over head into the log-heap fire. He howled dreadfully, and made the fire and ashes fly. and no wonder. He was out in a flash, badly burned, exclaiming ! " Heap bad shimokaman ; heap bad !" The reader will probably agree with him, but Mr. Davee and the other Indi- ans laughed heartily at his expense.

A MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

A few years ago, John Radcliff went out to his barn-yard one morning with his little girl to do the milking. The last the girl saw of her father he was standing with his back against the barn. At noon, Mrs. Radcliff made inquiries for him, and sent a child out to find him at the barn, but his whereabouts were not discovered. In the evening he was found near the barn, dead, and very much mangled by the hogs. The discovery created great excitement in the neighborhood, and led to the arrest of a young man who was soon acquitted. On the day of the death, two gen- tlemen passing by the house saw Mr. Radcliff talking with a stranger at the barn. Who this man was could not be ascertained. Whether Mr. Radcliff was murdered or whether he had a fit will probably remain a mystery to the end of time.

EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS.

The first school in the township was taught on Stotts Creek in 1820, by the old settler, Hiram T. Craig. The second and third were taught

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GREEN TOWNSHIP.

in the same neighborhood, all being very rude, and being taught in pri- vate cabins. Reading was done mostly out of the Testament; writing was done with a goose quill sharpened or " mended " by the teacher, and a little "ciphering " was done on a rude blackboard. Mr. Collins suc- ceeded Mr. Craig. Late in the twenties, other schools were started far- ther up the creek. The first schoolhouse was built in the Stotts settle- ment in about 1827, and was a rough log structure built in one day by a few men who were anxious to have their few children educated. In 1830, if reports are reliable, there were only three log schoolhouses in the town- ship, and one of those was a deserted dwelling. In 1840, there were five or six, but the standard of education was yet at a very low ebb. The teachers were paid by subscription, which was usually $1.50 for each scholar for the term of three months. The teacher would have from eight to fifteen scholars, so it is easy to figure what the "master's " compensa- tion would be. Whoever saw a wealthy school teacher ? Such a creature is an invisible quantity even to this day. Take, then, the pedagogue of ye olden time, who was forced by the fiat of events to " board around " at the log cabins, where fat bacon and corn bread were considered delicacies fit for the gods, and who can imagine a more desolate prospect ? This was repeated scores of times in Green Township. In 1852, the common school law came into existence, and the progress of education since then has been remarkable. Neat frame houses were erected soon after the pas- sage of the law, and a permanent fund for the payment of the teacher and the support of the school changed the intellectual bill of fare into all the higher branches. Now there are ten fine country schoolhouses where many of the teachers employed are qualified to instruct in analysis of the English sentence, natural philosophy, physical geography, botany, elocu- tion, rhetoric, ornamental penmanship, etc., etc. Green Township has good schools.

RELIGIOUS INTERESTS.

Late in the thirties, a small class of the Church of Christ was organ- ized on Section 15, the leading members being Adam Flake, Benjamin Bryan, Peter Comper, Eli Musgrove and their families and others. Adam Flake agreed to donate one acre of ground for a church and cemetery. Whether a building was erected cannot be learned. The class lived many years, and numbered as high as forty or fifty members. In about 1840, the Methodists, near the residence of Levi Rinker, organized a class, among the members being the families of Robert C. Stotts, Levi Rinker, Simeon Ely, F. A. Harryman, William Stewart, Daniel Demott, George Rinker, John Holsapple, William Cain, James Epperson and James Laughlin. The pastor in 1844 was Daniel Demott, and in 1846 Henry S. Dane. The class belonged to the Mooresville Circuit. Several early classes were organized in schoolhouses. Now there are four churches in the township- Mount Olive, Methodist, in the northwestern part ; Union Chapel, Meth- odist, two miles east of Cope; Bethel, Methodist, in the eastern part, and Centennial Union Church, a mile northeast of Cope. The township has excellent opportunity for Christian worship, and the citizens are sober, moral and industrious.

CLEVELAND.

In the month of April, 1838, Ezekiel St. John employed a surveyor

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

and laid out a village of thirty-four lots and eight large outlots on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 8, Township 12 north, Range 2 east, the same being on the bank of Stotts Creek, and within about half a mile of its mouth. A few houses were built, and some little improvement was made, but the village soon died, without hope of resurrection.

VILLAGE OF COPE.

This was started up on Section 28 many years ago. James Crocker and Henson Martin opened the first store there in a log cabin. They were succeeded by Wesley Knight. Isaac B. Wilson was next, and Lem- uel Guthridge next. A post office has been established there in later years. Few villages can cope with Cope in limitation and negation.

BAKER TOWNSHIP.

THE EVILSIZER FAMILY.

THE earliest settlement of Baker Township is enshrouded in mystery. It is certain that white families lived therein as early as 1820, and possibly in 1819. A family named Evilsizer was living there on the old Thomas Hodges farm when the first permanent residents arrived, but how long they had been there cannot be learned, even if it be known by any one now living in the township or county. It is believed by some that this family lived there before the cession treaty of 1818, but this must be regarded with some grains of doubt. The family consisted of the father, mother, two or three sons and a daughter or two. They were professional pioneers, and preferred to live in the woods remote from the settlements. The father and the boys were skillful hunters and trappers, and several times a year visited the older settlements in the southern part of the State to sell their furs or exchange them for ammunition, traps, weapons, tobacco, or some article of clothing for the women. The men dressed almost wholly in deer or raccoon skins, and spent their time in hunting and trapping, in which they were very expert. As a matter of fact, much that is said of them rests largely on tradition, as they left for remote localities about the time the permanent settlers began to arrive. They had a garden, consisting of about half or three-quarters of an acre, which was cultivated by the women, as the men were above that sort of degradation. Accounts vary as to the intelligence of the family. It is quite certain, however, that their intellectual attainments were not of the highest order. They were guilty of sufficient acuteness to be able to hunt and cook, but they would not have cut a remarkably high figure, either socially or mentally, in the settled communities of that day. Ac- cording to tradition, the men on one occasion had considerable difficulty with a band of four or five Indians that stopped at their cabin. The trouble arose over a trade of furs on the part of the Indians for ammu- nition and trinkets on the part of the whites. Arms were drawn, wounds were given, but the difficulty was adjusted before anything serious result-

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ed. It is said that this family killed many bears in various portions of Morgan County. Within two or three years they left the township, go- ing, no one knows whither, but certainly out into the wilderness.

PERMANENT SETTLERS.

The first tract of land was purchased on Section 28, on the 8th of November, 1820, by Thomas Hodges, who did not reside in the township until years afterward. William Burton bought land on Section 32 in 1823. The Burtons afterward became prominent citizens. George W. Baker came in late in the twenties, with a retinue of relatives, that was afterward considerably enlarged. Perhaps himself and relatives did more for Baker Township than any other family. The township took its name from this family. They were among its most prominent and respected citizens.

The Lafavers came in soon after 1830, and soon exerted a wide influ- ence in township affairs. The family of John Hodges was also very prominent.

The township was mainly settled in the thirties, although a few fami- lies were residents before. Among those who entered land were James Kerley, William Teag, George W. Baker, John Buckner, Jonathan Man- ley, Frederick Buckhart, W. T. Clark, Page Henslow, John Manley, Richard Long, Jackson Long, Elisha Long, Elijah D. Long, John Hodges, Jr., Thomas Hodges, Thomas Mitchell, James R. Elston, John Burton, Isaac Lafaver, Josiah Goodwin, Robert Finchum, Ivison Ellis, David Low, Josiah Vandeventer, John Muncey, Stephen Collier, William Burton, Jacob Evans, Presley Johnson, P. Smith, Chris Shultz, J. B. Gibson, William Goodwin, Hiram Mckinney, John Burnett and others.

THE POLL TAX PAYERS OF 1842.

Barnard Arnold, Winard Buskirk, Jesse Belzer, Daniel Beals, Felix Belzer, John W. Burton, Benjamin Campbell, Joseph Childers, John Campbell, Caleb Collier, Jacob Evans, Robert Finiham, William Gregs- ton, James Goodwin, James Gregston, Thomas L. Hicks, Thompson Harden, John Hodges, Zachariah Haller, Samuel Harryman, Joseph Kenley, Jonathan Kegley, Daniel Lafaver, Jacob Lafaver, Isaac Lafaver, Andrew H. Low, John McCollister, John E. Myers, Jacob Meyers. James Martin, John G. Manley, John Martin, Joshua Muncey, David T. Neal, Dempsey Neal, L. M. R. Pumphrey, William W. Paul, Abraham Stutesman, Phlegman Smith, Daniel Weathers, Amos H. Vande- venter.

The old Pumphrey Grist Mill on White River was an important feature in early times. The store which was started there about 1839 was continued several years.

EDUCATION.

Schools were not started in this township until comparatively late. The settlement was slow, and the families had something else to think about than education. Too many parents in those days thought as the Spanish proverb directs :

" Follow your father, my son,

And do as your father has done."

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

They reasoned that their children ought to do as well in life as they had done, which was to pass from the cradle to the grave with only "edi- cation " enough to read a little, write a little and cipher a little. A man who had " larnin'" enough to attack and attempt to analyze an English sentence was regarded a prodigy.

" And still the wonder grew That one small head should carry all he knew."

The first school in the township, so far as can be learned, was taught in about the year 1838, on Section 28. The schoolhouse was of round logs, a wide fire-place filled the dark room with a ruddy glow, and in one end was a rude table, a sacred piece of furniture, belong- ing exclusively to the teacher, from which oracles as wise, no doubt, as those of Solomon were revealed to the wondering children. The second school was started about the same time on Section 31 or 32. These were the only established schools for several years, but along in the forties, when the good effects of the school law of 1843 began to be felt, other terms were taught in the northeast corner and in the southeast corner. The township in 1850 had three established schools, and a neighborhood or two where terms were taught semi-occasionally in buildings that had been built for dwellings and which were fitted up specially for the pur- pose. The school system of Baker Township, and the excellence of the instruction furnished, are not excelled by any other country township in the county.

FACILITIES FOR WORSHIP.

Baker Township has been well supplied since the earliest settlement with abundant opportunity for Christian worship. The Mount Zion Methodist Church, on the line between Sections 31 and 32, was organized about 1840 at the residence of Jacob Lafaver. The first class did not exceed ten members. Among the earliest families belonging were those of Jacob Lafaver, Isaac Lafaver, William D. Payne, Joshua Jones, Alfred Abel, John Myers, Isom Guy, Andrew Smith and others. Wesley Dorsey organized the class and was the first preacher in charge. Henry S. Dane succeeded him. The church was built in the fifties. This class is yet in existence. The two other churches-a Methodist and a Baptist- were organized later, and are in flourishing condition for country churches. The citizens of the township generally are moral and industrious. The township is next to the smallest in the county. During the early stages of the last war, it furnished more men in proportion to population than any other township in the county.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP AND MARTINSVILLE.

GEORGE A. ADAMS, attorney and Representative, is a native of Morgan County, Ind., and was born June 4, 1849. The county which gave him birth has made him a home. In his youth, after attending the common schools of the county, he went to the State University at Bloom- ington, Ind., for two years, and from which he graduated in the profes- sion of law in 1872. He was Principal of the High Schools of Morgan- town one year, after which, in April, 1873, he engaged in the practice of his profession, and has continued the same since that time. December 28, 1876, he married, at Brazil, Clay County, Miss Mattie Bennett, which union has given birth to two children-an infant and Roy B. (de- ceased). Mr. Adams is a Republican, and was sent to the Legislature, as a Representative of Morgan County in November, 1882. He is a mem- ber of the venerable Masonic fraternity, and also of the Beta Theta Pi -a college organization-and of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Adams is the possessor of a fine property in Martinsville, and is a much esteemed citizen.

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Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana. Historical and biographical, Part 20

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed. cn Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, F. A. Battey & co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed. cn
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, F. A. Battey & co.
Number of Pages: 814