USA > Indiana > Porter County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 15
USA > Indiana > Lake County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 15
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We next hear of Father John Force, who died here. He was a man of rare literary ability, and an able preacher, but did not live long enough to organize a congregation ; after him came Rev. A. Botti. This priest was a man of great learning, but totally unfit to be a pastor. The nat- ural consequences were troubles upon troubles. Unfortunately the records of the Porter County Circuit Court show more of the history of the church during his administration than the records of the church. Father Botti was constantly in " hot water " with his people, and at length with his bishop. We are glad to learn that in time he saw his mistakes. He
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secured the bishop's pardon, and died, we hope a peaceful death, in the Sisters' Hospital in Fort Wayne.
After Father Botti, the present pastor, Rev. M. O'Reilly, was sent here immediataly from college, after his ordination to the priesthood. For twenty years he has presided over the constantly growing congregation of Saint Paul's ; with his advent here the organized congregation of Saint Paul's properly begins. When Father O'Reilly came to Valparaiso, he found the affairs of the Catholic Church in the worst state possible- the church, poor as it was, closed under an injunction ; law suits pend- ing on every hand ; debts unlimited to be paid; a bitter division of sentiment amongst the members of the congregation ; no pastoral resi- dence ; no school for the youth. In a word, nothing that could give the least encouragement toward the important work of organizing a congre- gation.
However, in the face of all these difficulties he went to work. He walked through the deep snows of January, 1863, from house to house, and told the people as far as he could find them, that he was here to be their resident priest, and that he was determined to stay. He rented " Hughart's Hall," now the upper story of Wilson's hardware store, for $2 per Sunday. Here he celebrated mass on an extemporized altar, preached and taught the few children he could gather together. For mass on week days he went from house to house, as people who knew his wants might invite him. After a very unpleasant series of law-suits, on Easter Sunday, 1863, he first secured the use of the old church.
Before this building was ever finished, it was allowed to run into partial decay. The first step was to repair it, so that it could be used. As soon as the church was rendered habitable, the pastor at once opened a day school in it. This was the beginning of the present St. Paul's Schools, which from that time to the present were never closed one single day of the scholastic year. As soon as Father O'Reilly saw the possi- bility of establishing a congregation, he quietly purchased an acre of land in Outlot No. 20, where he determined to erect all future buildings for the use of the congregation. In due time, he erected St. Paul's School without any encouragement, as he received direct donations for that purpose only the small sum of $35. The building cost at that time about $8,000, as it was built during the time of the war of the rebellion, when gold carried its highest premium. The school was immediately opened with three teachers. During this time, Father O'Reilly lived in different rented houses, with great inconvenience, often quite far from the church and schools. He now determined to erect a pastoral residence. This was done with much labor on his part, but with far more assistance from the congregation. To continue the schools with secular teachers,
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as a larger number were required, was found to be very expensive, so he took steps to secure the services of a religious order of teachers, who could not only serve the congregation at less expense, but also teach music, drawing, painting and all styles of needlework. To this end, he secured the Sisters of Providence ; but first he was obliged to provide a dwelling house for them. This was done with very liberal assistance on the part of the congregation. The Sisters opened school on the first Monday of September, 1872. As the schools increased, further improvements were required. A music hall was soon erected. The school is now conducted in. four depart- ments and five divisions, requiring the services of six teachers. The pupils number about 250. No school in Porter County has sent out a larger number of good teachers, for its number of pupils enrolled, than St. Paul's. Besides the buildings erected, a large parish bell and a very fine pipe organ have been secured. During the time of Father O'Reilly's pastorate, he has baptized about 1,700 persons in his congregation. The total num- ber of communions administered in St. Paul's Church is about 5,500 per annum. The regular Easter communions are about 700, which indicates that the Catholic population of the congregation is about 2,100 souls.
The congregation is composed of several nationalities-Irish, Amer- icans, German, French, English and Polanders. All live in harmony, and their children are educated together in St. Paul's Schools. Steps were begun in 1880 to erect a new church. The plans already approved show that the church will be Gothic, 153 feet long, ninety-five feet tran- sept and sixty-five feet nave, with a steeple 198 feet high. The building to be of hard brick trimmed with cut stone. In a few years, this beauti- ful building will be completed, and be an ornament to Valparaiso.
St. Paul's cemetery, purchased from the city of Valparaiso in 1872, and consecrated by the present Bishop of Fort Wayne, Rt. Rev. J. Dwenger, D. D., in the same year, is the best laid out and handsomest cemetery in the county. The following places received the services of the pastors of St. Paul's, chiefly in the beginning of their organization as congregations, i. e., Plymouth, Chesterton, Hobart, Pierceton, La Crosse, Lake Station, Walkerton, Otis, Bourbon and Hebron. These places have now churches. Besides, several small stations have been at some time attended from here-such as Morgan, Cassello, Marshall Grove, Wheeler, Tollestone, Clarke Station and Horse Prairie. Regular services have been discontinued at present in these places. At present. the following places are attended from Valparaiso, i. e., Westville, Kouts' Station, Wanatah, Wellsboro, Hanna Station, Whiting, Edgmore, and such other places wherein one or more Catholic families may be found.
The organized societies of the congregation are : The Altar Ladies' Society, eighty members ; Young Ladies' Sodality, 125 members ; Young
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Men's Sodality, fifty members ; Holy Angel's Society, sixty members, and Confirmation Sodality, 160 members. The secular societies are : The Columbian Society, thirty members, and St. Paul's Cornet Band, fifteen members.
The Christian Church was permanently organized in Valparaiso in 1847, by Peter T. Russell, with about eight members, although there was preaching before by Lewis Comer and others, but no organization. Since that time, the church continued to meet on every Lord's Day, with few exceptions. The meetings, for a time, were held in private or hired rooms, sometimes in the court house, and several years in the first brick schoolhouse built in the town, purchased by one of the brethren, and used for that purpose till it became unfit. Then the church rented a house built by the Germans, and occupied it about two years, and in 1874 built the brick house which the church now occupies. The house and lot cost $3,200. The preachers have been P. T. Russell, Lewis Comer, Charles Blackman, W. W. Jones, W. Selmser, Lemuel Shortridge, R. C. Johnston, W. R. Lowe, I. H. Edwards, H. B. Davis and others. The church now numbers 120 members.
In the year 1852, the first Germans settled at Valparaiso. Their number increased rapidly to 1856, until in about 1865 there were about fifty families of Germans in and around Valparaiso, the most of whom were Lutherans. In 1862, Mr. W. Jahn came from Holstein, and was engaged by the Germans as their pastor. A division occurred in the congregation, a number going to the Reformed Church, but a respectable congregation remained Lutheran, and employed Rev. J. P. Beyer pastor to fully organize the church. Beyer came on, and after four months (dur- ing which time he preached here, and also, several times, Rev. Tramm, from La Porte)-the Lutheran congregation sent a call to Rev. C. Meyer, in Bainbridge, Mich. Having accepted the call, Rev. Meyer arrived in November, 1864. Until 1865, the services were held in a rented schoolhouse. Then a frame building was erected on the north- west corner of Pink and Academy streets, to be used for services and school also. In 1872, after Rev. Meyer had resigned, Rev. W. J. B. Lange, at that time in Defiance, Ohio, received a call, and arrived in August, 1872, and resides with the congregation up to the present time. It is customary with the Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States, to which both the before-named ministers belong, to pay special attention to parochial schools in every congregation. In conformity with this, Rev. C. Meyer started a school soon after his arrival, of which he was the teacher himself for three years. By that time, Mr. C. Peters, who had finished his studies in the Teachers' Seminary, at Addison, Ill., took charge of the school, which numbers at present 130 scholars. As the
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number of members increased every year, and the school enlarged also, the congregation found it necessary to provide themselves with more room and convenience in their church, so they intended to buy a lot and build a new church, when an offer was made to them to buy the Unitarian Church, which was to be sold on Sheriff's sale. This was done in 1880, so they have a pleasantly situated, newly refitted church for services only, while the former frame church is exclusively used for a schoolhouse. Last year the congregation also bought the dwelling house of Mrs. Ur- bahns for their minister, which is on the same lot with the church. At present the congregation numbers about eighty families which are mem- bers, and about fifty more as guests.
At the present time, there is no organization of the Protestant Epis- copal Church in the township or county, but on the 2d of June, 1861, Bishop Upfold was present at the organization of a church, services having been held every other Sabbath for some time previous. The name of the organization was the "Church of the Holy Communion." The membership was small, and during the changes caused by the war and the visitations of death, it soon became extinct. Messrs. Febles and Thompson, lawyers, with their wives, were among the members. Subse- quently, as appears from the history of the Lutheran Church, elsewhere given, an effort was made to organize a German Episcopal Church. This effort was subsequently continued as late as 1865-66, but on the occasion of a visit from Assistant Bishop Talbott, in the winter of 1866-67, for the purpose of organizing the church, he deemed it not advisable to do so.
For a short time, there was also a German Reformed Church, whose services were held in the building now owned and occupied by the Lu- therans, but they discontinued their efforts about 1871, and all the Ger- mans who attend church are now connected with the Lutheran organiza- tion, except such as are found in the German Methodists, an organization which has existed here for more than twenty years, and which has a com- modious church building and a good parsonage.
The Unitarians formed an organization in 1872, and bought the building of the Reformed Church. They have been ministered to by Revs. Powell, Carson Parker and others ; but at present are not active, and the church building is owned by the Lutherans.
There is also a Reformed Mennonite Church, which was organized in 1850. Ten years ago or more, they purchased one of the brick school- houses owned by the city and located in Powell's Addition, where services are held every other Sabbath, and the Lord's Supper is administered twice a year. Their present membership is about thirty. They have no resident pastor.
Since 1878, there has been an assembly calling themselves Believers,
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or Brethren, and commonly known as Plymouth Brethren, who hold services every Sabbath morning and evening, their meetings being held at present in a room in the third story of the store building owned by S. S. Skinner, on Main street.
It is forty-eight years since the history of the township under its white inhabitants began. Since that time there has been advance all over the Christian world. It would be impossible to note these as they have taken place, in the space allotted. The majority of the original settlers are now in their graves, and the remainder are hastening on to that end. Many that have been born here since 1835, have grown up through boy- hood and maidenhood to be the staid members of society. These joyous days of youth were passed here before the day of railroads and telephones. But they enjoyed life nevertheless. Some amusing tales are told, by those who participated in them, of merry doings that were transacted by some who are not yet too grave to enjoy a good laugh at the practical jokes then played upon them. A long time ago Valparaiso was frequent- ly visited by an apostle of phrenology, a very worthy man, and, like all phrenologists, he was of imperturbable good nature and boundless self- complacency. On one occasion he said, "Gentlemen, there have been only three great heads in America." "Whose were they ?" " One was Benjamin Franklin, and the second was Daniel Webster." " And whose was the third ?" " Gentlemen " (with a bow) "modesty forbids me to say." Once the boys arranged with him to give a lecture on phrenology in the old brick schoolhouse that stood just east of Mrs. Hamell's residence. The price of admittance was one shilling. Mexican shillings, well worn, were then in circulation. A tinner was kept busy coining shillings that afternoon. In the evening the Professor was at the door, hat in hand, to take in the money. The house would scarcely hold the audience. At length the Professor came to the desk, turned over the hat and took a look at his receipts. He picked up one shilling and looked at it and felt it, and then another and another. He surveyed the pile, and then exclaimed, " Gen- tlemen, close that door ! There's been a fraud committed here !" In a quarter of a minute the Professor was alone with his tin shillings to sigh over " man's inhumanity to man." Another time he was to lecture at Malone's Schoolhouse, and the boys were in force with a supply of cigars. He was soon almost invisible amid the cloud of smoke, and being an anti- tobacconist he broke for the door, for once almost losing his urbanity. We have among us a venerable banker and capitalist, who, by "accom- modating " his friends and building houses to rent, has made a kind of local Astor of himself. He came here thirty years ago, " from the East," you know, and the boys took especial pains to show him round. He heard them tell wonderful stories about catching snipe, and was interested. He
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wanted to catch some. They took him out about two miles to some low grounds through which ran a ditch. There were not less than a score in the crowd. As they approached the place where one of the number had seen " an acre and a half of snipe" that morning, they all provided them- selves with clubs for driving snipe. The novice was unanimously chosen to hold the bag. This he declined to do on account of his not being acquainted with the kind of snipe that grew in this country, but agreed to hold it the second time. Another was appointed in his place to first hold the bag, and he, being urged to provide himself with a club for driv- ing snipe, went into a thicket to cut one, and as soon as he was hid from view, lit out for town leaving them to finish the game. He arrived in town about an hour before the rest, and occupied a good position from which he could hear their comments on the expedition. The same banker once started an oyster saloon which was largely patronized by the "Jeunesse doree" of Valparaiso, and their patronage resulted largely to his profit. If you wish to know how, ask him, for he enjoys telling it.
CHAPTER V.
BY G. A. GARARD.
WESTCHESTER TOWNSHIP-AN INTERESTING FIRST FAMILY-THE PIONEER PIANO-FIRST PLACE OF WORSHIP-LIST OF FIRST SETTLERS-EARLY ITEMS-THE STANES MURDER-SCHOOLS-SECRET SOCIETIES-CHURCHES -JUSTICE-VILLAGES-CHESTERTON-INDUSTRIES.
W ESTCHESTER TOWNSHIP is the historic ground of Porter County. Here the first settlement was made. Here civilized and savage joined hands and trod together the paths of peace. Here white and red were blended under the azure sky that bends its dome over all races and nations.
In 1822, a solitary "pale face " was seen by Indian eyes as he wended his way through the wilderness round about Lake Michigan. He walked without fear, for the red men knew him as a friend. Safety and a warm welcome were before, while weary leagues stretched away behind him toward his white friends. In his pocket was the following :
To ALL OFFICERS ACTING UNDER THE UNITED STATES :
DETROIT, 15 March, 1814.
The bearer of this paper, Mr. Joseph Bailly (Ba-ye), a resident on the border of Lake Michigan near St. Josephe, has my permission to pass from this post to his residence aforesaid. Since Mr. Bailly has been in Detroit, his deportment has been altogether cor- rect, and such as to acquire my confidence ; all officers, civil and military, acting under the authority of the American Government will therefore respect this passport which I accord to Mr. Bailly, and permit him not only to pass undisturbed, but if necessary yield to him their protection. H. BUTLER,
Commandt. M. Territory and its Dependencies, and the Western District of U. Canada .. To all Officers of the A. Government."
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During the war of 1812, the person to whom this passport was granted was taken prisoner by both the United States and the British soldiers, but did not enlist in either army. In his wanderings, he sought safety and opportunity to trade with the Indians. As the Indians slowly retired before the "Star of Empire " rapidly rising in the East, Joseph Bailly, the French Canadian trader, followed. In 1822, he halted on the north bank of the Calumet, in what is now Porter County. On the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 27, Township 37, Range 6 west, upon a beautiful bluff he constructed of unhewn logs the first cabin that was raised in the county. The Calumet here is clear and has high banks. It is here very unlike itself throughout the greater part of its course; for little more than a mile farther down begin the marshes and morasses, through which it creeps for the remainder of its sluggish and crooked course. Here this solitary settler drew around him the natives from whom he purchased furs and other articles, for which he paid them articles of use and ornament. His business increased and his buildings multiplied until, in 1833, there were six or eight log cabins clustered about the first one that was built. The place is spoken of in "A Winter in the West," by a New Yorker, published in 1835.
Monsieur Bailly had wooed and won an Ottawa maid and brought his bride to reside at the post on the banks of the Calumet. Here they reared a family of four beautiful and accomplished daughters. Eleanor, the eldest, "took the veil" and was for a number of years Mother Supe- rior of St. Mary's in Terre Haute. The second daughter married Col. Whistler, a resident of the county ; the third married Mr. Howe, a Chi- cago banker, and now, a widow, resides with a maiden daughter upon the old homestead. Hortense, the youngest, married Joel Wicker, who was the first merchant at Deep River, Lake County. They had besides these four daughters, a son, who was born in 1817, and died in 1827. The whole family were devout Catholics and maintained their worship in the wilderness. For ten years, Joseph Bailly* and his hired Frenchmen were the only white persons in the township. The trading business was a species of barter, for the only money of the frontier was the skins of fur-bearing animals. A mink skin was usually $1, and raccoon, muskrat and other skins were some fractional part of a dollar. The values were, as they everywhere and always are, relative, and the various kinds of skins fluctuated in value as paper money does. The furs and other articles bartered from the Indians were transported to the lake and coasted to Mackinac in what were called Mackinac boats. These were row-boats, usually about thirty feet long. In " Wau-bun, or The Early Day in the Northwest," by Mrs. J. H. Kinzie, these boats are described as having
* This name is often incorrectly spelled Baille.
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in the center a framework of slight posts supporting a cover of canvas, with curtains at the side that could be raised or lowered after the fashion, perhaps, of those of a modern summer car. These small craft were run by man power and were forced to follow the sinuous shore line. A day's travel in one of them was from river mouth to river mouth, whether the distance was short or long.
As prosperity followed industry, Mr. Bailly found means to gratify to some extent the refined tastes that had so long feasted upon nature un- aided by art. In 1830, a guitar added its mellow notes to the orchestra of nature, and, in 1836, the pioneer piano found its way with much diffi- culty to this frontier home. This instrument is still in existence. Mr. Bailly bought a large amount of land and planned to found a city. In
1834, the first lots were surveyed and some of them sold ; but the death of Mr. Bailly in 1835, followed by the panic of 1837, caused the plan to be abandoned by his heirs. Bailly Town is now known only in history and tradition. The old homestead is preserved with great care by Mrs. Howe and her daughter, Miss Frances R., who live a life of refinement upon the sequestered spot, surrounded by the antique and the picturesque. Miss Frances R. Howe, and her sister Rose, who died some years since, have devoted their lives to the church, and their religious writings are quite widely read by Catholics. Here the family chapel that was built about 1826, and used for some years as a kitchen, is kept as a sanctuary and repaired to daily by mother and daughter for purposes of worship. The bell is rung as if a congregation were to convene at its call ; and here the "two or three gather together " to feel the presence of the Spirit. This chapel is of logs, and by its excellent state of preservation indicates that it is able to stand the storms of half a century yet. Here stands the old home, built in 1834 of logs, but now looking younger than it did years ago to the casual glance, because of the mask of weather- boarding that it wears, and with which the "mistress of the Manse" seeks to save it from the ravages of time. Standing near are other build- ings hoary with age, among which is a log hut in which the Indians used to store their property for safe keeping in the care of Mr. Bailly. Many heirlooms are here carefully preserved, among which are a bread pan or bowl made of the knot of a tree which has already seen its threescore and ten, and still seems "just as good as new ;" a number of carved wooden ladles showed the Indian eye to beauty as well as use ; a hexagon patchwork quilt sixty years old and bright enough to grace a " spare bed, " attested alike the industry and frivolity of our grandams. Half a mile north of the house is the family cemetery in which are interred the Catholic members of the family. Here, in 1827, Mr. Bailly buried his only son, a lad of ten years, and to his memory " he erected a huge cross
PRINTERS ERROR
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of oak timber some thirty feet high, and which towered above the sur- rounding forest, inasmuch as it was on a knoll or knob of land. Trav- elers used to see this cross in the wilderness, and often it was the first indication to them of the vicinity of civilized persons." Beside this cross, he built a small log cabin which he called " the chapel," to which he obliged all the family to repair on Sundays for prayer, for the purpose of forming in them the habit of going somewhere out of the home for worship, so that when churches came to be established they would not feel like staying away from services. The above-mentioned cross bore this inscription : "To-day, my turn ; to-morrow, yours;" and also " Jesus Christ Crucified ; have mercy upon us."
For almost ten years, Joseph Bailly was the only white settler in what is now Westchester Township. In 1833, Jesse Morgan and his family came. In 1834, came William Thomas, Sr., and family, William Gosset and family, Jacob Beck and family, John Hageman and family, John I. Foster and family, William Frame and family, Pressley Warnick and family, Elhanan Ranks, Alfred Marvin, Mr. McCoy, William Coleman, and Mr. Abbott. In 1835, a mulatto named Landy Gavin, who had paid $600 for his freedom, and who moved later to Michigan City, came and settled here. In the same year, Eli Hendricks, R. Cornell and others came. In 1833, a French fur trader located at what is now Sand Creek, or Morgan's Schoolhouse. His currency was of the liquid form known among the Indians as " fire-water." Of this, it is said that he bartered away eleven barrels in one winter ; and it is further stated that only one death resulted directly from this large quantity of liquid fire. This death was the result of an affray.
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