USA > Indiana > Porter County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 6
USA > Indiana > Lake County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 6
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As early as 1850, there was organized the " Porter County Bible So- ciety," a corporate body, whose mission was to place in each citizen's cabin a copy of the "Book of books." In 1853, the Treasurer of the society reported the sale of $3,200 worth of Bibles. At this time D. Crawford was President, and J. C. Brown, Secretary. The society sur- vived some five or six years and then disbanded, as its mission had ended.
Alterations in the boundary of the various townships have been fre- quent, and some townships have been wholly blotted out of existence and others erected in their place. At the second session of the board, the northern boundary line of Pleasant Township was extended west to the great marsh, thence south with the center of the marsh to the Kanka- kee .* At the same time, the eastern boundary of Boone Township was fixed at a point on the west side of the marsh. In 1837, the western half of Section 29, Washington Township, was attached to Centre Township. In March, 1838, Boone Township was confined to its terri- tory south of the line dividing Townships 33 and 34, and, at the same time, all of the territory of Porter County west of the marsh dividing Horse and Morgan Prairies, and between the line dividing Townships 33 and 34, and the line dividing Townships 34 and 35, was organized as Fish Lake Township. In March, 1839, the west halves of Sections 17 and 20, Washington Township, were attached to Centre; but, in May, 1840, they, with the west half of Section 29, were re-attached to Wash- ington Township. Prior to this, in June, 1836, the citizens of Lake and Waverly Townships petitioned the Board, setting forth the inconven- ience of the boundaries of their townships, and praying that the same might be united, which was accordingly so ordered, and the new town-
*This marsh was the one dividing Horse and Morgan Prairies.
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
ship was named Westchester. In March, 1841, all of Township 37, Range 5, and fractional Township 38, Range 5, were stricken from West- chester and created into a new township to be called Berry, and an election of township officers was ordered held at the house of Orson Petty, with George W. Rice Inspector. In June, 1841, the following petition was presented to the County Commissioners :
To the Honorable Board of County Commissioners of Porter County, Ind .:
We, the undersigned petitioners and inhabitants of Westchester Township, most respectfully represent to your honorable body, that the division heretofore prayed for at your March term, 1841, to be injudicious and uncalled for, and is inconvenient for the citizens of your township generally, and that we pray your honorable body to set aside all divisions, and continue the said township of Westchester as it originally was before any alteration at your March term last, and the place of holding elections as before. And in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
ENOS THOMAS,
JOHN MILLARD,
W. P. WARD,
WILLIAM COLEMAN,
GUFFIN HULBERT,
DAVID PRICE,
WILLIAM KNAPP,
WILLIAM P. JACOBS,
BRAZILLA MILLARD,
RUFUS PIERCE,
JOSEPH CLARK,
DANIEL HULBERT,
HENRY HAGEMAN,
WILLIAM THOMAS,
JOHN THOMAS,
JAMES THOMAS,
THOMAS FRAZIER,
SAMUEL WHEELER,
EDMUND TRATEBAS,
VINCENT THOMAS.
ALLEN BLAIR,
Ordered, That the above petition be granted, and that the order for the division of West- chester Township, and for the establishment of Berry Township, made at the March term of this board, 1841, be rescinded, aud that the elections hereafter be held at the former place.
In June, 1841, Fish Lake Township became Porter Township, and at the same time the division line between Pleasant Township and Boone and Porter Townships was established to commence at the northwest cor- ner of Section 2, Township 34, Range 6, thence south to the southwest corner of Section 14, Township 33, Range 6, thence west one mile and thence south to the Kankakee River. In August, 1843, Pleasant Town- ship was divided, and Morgan Township was erected from the territory north of the line running east and west between Sections 29 and 32, Township 34, Range 5. During the year 1836, in pursuance of a peti- tion from Solon Robinson and William Clark, the boundary of Clark Township (Lake County) was changed as follows : All that part of Town- ship 35 lying south of the center of the same in Lake County, and Sec- tions 1 and 2 in Township 33, Range 9, were added to Clark Township. In February, 1847, Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, in Township 36, Range 5, all of Township 37, Range 5, and all of Township 38, Range 5, were established as a new township called Calumet. At the same time it was ordered that Township 37, Range 6, and the east half of Township 37,
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
Range 7, in such township, should constitute Westchester Township. Jackson Township was constituted as it is at present, except Sections 3 and 4, which then belonged to Calumet. In June, 1847, all that part of Westchester Township lying west of a line dividing Ranges 6 and 7, and Sections 29 and 32 in Township 37, Range 6, were attached to Por- tage. In February, 1850, Sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, Township 37, Range 6, and Sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36, Township 37, Range 7, were attached to Portage. In February, 1847, Liberty was constituted as it is at present, except Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4, now forming the south- ern part of Westchester, which then belonged to Liberty. In February, 1850, Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, and the east halves of Sections 2, 11, 14, 23, 26 and 35, Township 34, Range 5, forming a part of Mor- gan Township, were erected into a new township called Essex ; but some- time afterward (the exact date could not be found) a strip the same width as the township (one mile and a half) was severed from the east side of Morgan and attached to Essex, making the latter six miles long and three miles wide ; thus the Township remained until 1880, when, upon the petition of sixty-seven citizens of Essex and Morgan Townships, the former was merged in, or united with, the latter. In June, 1852, Westchester Township was divided by a line commencing at the south- west corner of Section 5, Township 36, Range 5, thence running north on the section line to Lake Michigan, and all the territory east of such line was constituted Pine Township, that west of the line remaining West- chester Township. Sections 2, and 11, Township 33, Range 6, were at- tached to Boone, in June, 1852. In December of the same year, Sec- tions 1, 2, 3 and 4 were severed from Liberty and made a part of West- chester. In March, 1855, Sections 14, 23, 26 and 35, Township 34, Range 6, were attached to Porter. In March, 1864, the east half of the east half of Section 30, Township 35, Range 5, was taken from Centre and attached to Washington ; but upon petition of S. A. Campbell and others, it was re-attached to Centre in December, 1868. In September, 1864, Sections 3 and 4, Township 36, Range 5, were stricken from Pine and added to Jackson. In August, 1848, an attempt was made by peti- tion to create a new township from portions of the present townships of Jackson, Liberty, Westchester and Pine; but there was too much oppo- sition to the measure, and the board refused to issue the order.
In December, 1859, a petition, or rather a series of petitions, was presented the County Commissioners, praying that a committee of three be appointed, empowered to confer with a similar committee from La Porte County, for the purpose of laying off and establishing a new county to be called Linn, from territory belonging to Porter and La Porte Coun- ties. This was an attempt made by the citizens of Michigan City, to ac-
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
complish a result for which that municipality had vainly struggled for a long series of anxious years-its transformation into a county seat. It had long before given up the oft-baffled attempt of wresting from La Porte the coveted boon, and by a dexterous, and perhaps desperate, policy, sought to effect, by new and novel methods, what it had failed to effect by re- peated and skillful attempts with the old. Upon the petitions were the names of 2,017 citizens living within the limits of the territory to be erected into the new county, and this long array of names called for sober consideration. After mature deliberation, the Commissioners refused to appoint the committee, or to give their approval to the attempt, for the following reasons :
1. The spoliation of Porter County, specified in the petitions, would reduce its territory below the Legislative limit of 400 square miles.
2. The County Commissioners have no power to create new counties, and therefore cannot delegate such power to committees.
3. The new county would not be of the form required by law.
The Commissioners of La Porte County disposed of the question in a similar summary manner, and the plan was abandoned.
Societies and Other Matters .- The following is taken from the Com- missioners' records, 1859 :
WHEREAS .- J. N. Thompson and others, citizens of Centre, Morgan and Washington Townships, in the county of Porter, have formed themselves into an association for the apprehension of horse-thieves and other felons, to be known as the Morgan Prairie Anti- Horse-Thief Society, and
WHEREAS, The Secretary of said society has notified the Board of Commissioners of the county of Porter of the existence of said society, and the names and residences of the members, and has furnished them with a copy of its constitution, by-laws, or articles of association ; it is therefore,
Ordered, That the objects for which such association is formed, and the laws gov- erning the same, be approved.
At the September term, 1861, the following appears :
In the matter of the Lake and Porter Counties Anti-Horse-Thief Society, now comes Isaac Hardesty, Secretary of said society, and shows to the board the articles of associa- tion, the by-laws, and a list of the members of said society, and on its behalf, asks that the same be approved, and after due inspection thereof, the same are in all things by the board approved.
In 1861, an attempt was made by sundry petitions to change the boundary line between the counties of Lake and Porter, but the scheme, from the outset, met with cold reception, and, after being considered by the proper authorities, was rejected.
In June, 1866, a committee consisting of R. A. Cameron, Joseph Peirce and A. Gurney, appointed by a mass meeting of the citizens of Valparaiso, petitioned the board to aid in building and establishing upon the public square suitable water works or reservoirs for the use of the
58
HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
citizens; whereupon it was ordered that, when such works were completed in a fitting manner, $1,316 should be paid the Treasurer of the city of Valparaiso. This amount was paid in March, 1867, upon the comple- tion of the works.
The articles of association of another Morgan Prairie Anti-Horse- Thief Society were approved by the Board in 1869. In June, 1880, the Board was petitioned by the citizens of Valparaiso and vicinity to take $20,000 stock in the Joliet & Valparaiso Railway Company ; but before definite action was taken, the project was abandoned or postponed.
In July, 1852, there was great excitement among the citizens of Val- paraiso, and indeed throughout the whole county, in response to the report that the " Ohio and Indiana Railroad Company " had out its sur- veyors, and the line of the projected road was sure to pass across the county. The prospect of connection by telegraph with the outer world was very encouraging, especially to the editor of the Observer, who en- deavored by notices in his paper to excite the citizens to the pitch of substantial help to the railway and telegraphic enterprise. When the projection of the road through Valparaiso became a certainty, that little town could scarcely contain itself, but indulged in bonfires, bell-ringing, drum-playing, gun-shooting, and general noisy, public rejoicing.
Soon after 1840, the citizens of the county became deeply interested in the temperance movement, which was sweeping throughout the entire country on its mission of mercy. The Observer appeared with strong editorials, declaring for total abstinence, and drawing artistic pen-pictures of the numerous sad cases of the work of alcohol, which came under its observation. In about the year 1850, the movements of temperance co- workers in Valparaiso and throughout the county began to assume for- midable proportions ; and the determined attacks upon what in former years was regarded as one of the " necessaries of life," grew bitter and protracted. But the citadel of King Alcohol was not to be taken so easily. People who had been educated to its use, and who had inherited an appetite for it, could not, or would not, forego what they regarded as the luxury of its use. The result was a protracted siege, longer than that of old Troy, and even more hopeless. In 1846, a strong temperance union league was organized at Valparaiso, with branches in some four or five other places in the county. Dealers were besought to relinquish the traffic, and consumers were urged and prayed to quit its use. The churches took up the matter, and lent their powerful aid to the move- ment.
In June, 1847, in pursuance of an act of the State Legislature passed during the session of 1846-47, it was submitted to the citizens of the several townships throughout the county, whether a license to sell spirit-
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
uous liquors should be granted, each township being called upon to settle the question within its own borders. The citizens of the townships of Centre, Liberty, Jackson, Porter, Morgan, Washington and Portage re- fused, some of the townships by substantial majorities, to grant such licenses ; while in the townships of Union, Boone, Calumet, Westchester and Pleasant, the people declared for license by small majorities. In 1851, the board established the liquor license, in those townships which had voted it, at $100. But this was found no cure for the evil, as liquor was watered and weakened in indirect ratio to the increase in the price of the license. If this did not produce satisfactory results, the price of liquor was increased, or the measure rendered smaller, in any case the loss falling on the unfortunate buyer and consumer ; or, was it his gain ? -as the poorer and weaker the infernal liquid, the less damage it did, and the sooner the money of the debaucher was gone without bringing the curse of inebriation.
On the 7th of June, 1855, the County Commissioners purchased of William C. Pennock, for $3,000, the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 26, Town 35, Range 6, and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 27, same town and range, and Mr. Pennock became, by appointment, the first Superintendent of this, the first poor farm owned by the county. Upon this farm was a respectable dwelling, which, for a short time, did duty as a home for the county poor.
Prior to this, the care of the county paupers had been intrusted to such responsible persons in the county as were willing to assume the charge, at from $1 to $2 per week, each person. There was not a township that did not have, in its time, some pauper in the care of its citizens. Physi- cians contracted to furnish all county paupers with suitable and necessary treatment, at so much by the year. At length the board felt able to furnish the poor and helpless with that home and care not obtained when parceled out among divers widely scattered individuals. Mr. Pennock rented the Poor Farm of the Board, conditioning to retain two-thirds of the productions, the county getting the remaining third, besides which he was to board the paupers at $1.50 each, per week, exclusive of the expense of sickness. The care of the poor continued in about this shape until 1855, when a contract was entered into with George C. Buel, to erect a frame poor house, 32x45 feet, for $2,482, $500 to be paid on the 1st of the January following, $1,000 on the 1st of March, 1856, and the remainder in county bonds, to be issued on the last date, payable in one year with 6 per cent interest, the house to be ready for occupancy Sep- tember 1, 1856. The building was immediately constructed, and is yet in use, though additions and improvements have been added.
In March, 1866, the board purchased for $3,200 the west half
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
of the southeast quarter of Section 26, Township 35, Range 6 west, as an addition to the poor farm. In September of this year, there were fourteen inmates. On the 16th of June, 1875, the Commissioners pur- chased of W. C. Hannah, for $1,200, all that part of the northeast quar- ter of Section 35, Township 35, Range 6, which lies north and east of Salt Creek and south of a line drawn parallel with the north line of said quarter, and distant seventy rods and thirteen feet south therefrom ; subject to this year's (1875) taxes; the same to be an addition to the poor farm. On the 9th of June, 1876, the Commissioners purchased for $1,200 the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 27, Township 35, Range 6, except ten acres off the south side, and this was also made a part of the poor farm.
On the 14th of June, 1851, a mass meeting of the citizens of Porter County assembled at the court house for the purpose of organizing an agricultural society. Aaron Lytle was made Chairman, and George W. Turner appointed Secretary, and a committee, consisting of the fol- lowing citizens, was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws : William C. Talcott, David Hughart, W. W. Jones, H. E. Woodruff and Aaron Lytle. The constitution provided that, upon the payment of $1 into the treasury by a citizen of the county, such person became a mem- ber of the Porter County Agricultural Society. In September, the following men became the first Board of Directors : W. A. Barnes, W. C. Talcott, Azariah Freeman, H. E. Woodruff, H. A. K. Paine, W. W. Jones, A. B. Price, Walker McCool and Ruel Starr. At this time, sixty-five citizens had appended their names to the constitution and paid their dollars. It was decided to hold the first fair on Wednesday, the 29th of October, 1851; to offer $80 in premiums ; and a specifica- . tion of the premiums to be paid was made out and published in the Practical Observer, a Democratic county paper edited by William C. Talcott. As, of course, the society had no ground of its own at that time, the fair was announced to be held at the court house. Premiums were offered for horses, cattle, swine, sheep, fruit and vegetables, dairy products and farming implements. The 19th was a rainy, disagreeable day; yet, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, about four hundred citizens assembled at the court house. Ruel Starr, H. S. Adams, H. G. Hollister, Isaac Miller, Samuel Burns and T. A. E. Campbell took premiums for draft and blooded horses ; T. Beach and J. J. Caswell, for cattle; Ruel Starr, for sheep ; A. B. White, for swine ; H. E. Woodruff and W. Barnard for fruit and vegetables, and T. Beach and H. E. Woodruff for dairy products. The fair, though on a small scale, was regarded as highly successful and encouraging, and accord- ingly it was decided to hold another the following year. No man
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
did more to encourage this enterprise than William C. Talcott, the editor of the Observer. Every few weeks, articles appeared in the columns of his paper, urging the citizens to become interested in an enterprise such as the county fair, that would so well repay them for the trouble. The citizens mentioned above were also active. In November, 1851, the fol- lowing certificate was presented the County Auditor by the officers of the society :
In accordance with Section 1 of an act of our Legislature, approved February 14, 1851, and entitled " An Act for the Encouragement of Agriculture," this is to certify that there has been paid into our treasury (as fees) the sum of $61, and we therefore ask for the amount in our County Treasury donated our society by said act.
WILLIAM A. BARNES, President. AZARIAH FREEMAN, Treasurer.
Section 1 of the act referred to in this certificate is as follows :
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That whenever thirty or more persons, residents of any county or district embracing two counties of this State, shall organize themselves into a society for the improvement of agriculture within said county or district, and shall have adopted a constitution and by-laws agreeably to the rules and regulations to be furnished by the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, and shall have appointed the usual and proper officers, and when said society shall have raised and paid to their Treasurer, by voluntary subscription, or by fees imposed upon its members, any sum of money not less than $50; and whenever the President of said society shall certify to the respective County Auditors the amount thus paid, attested by the oath or affirmation of the Treasurer before a Magistrate, it shall be the duty of said County Auditors embraced within the district in which society shall be organized, to draw an order on the Treasurer of his respective county in favor of the President and Treasurer of said society for whatever amount of funds there shall have been received during the previous year for all licenses issued to persons exhibiting menageries, circuses, or theat- rical performances, or other shows ; Provided, said order shall not exceed the amount raised and paid in by said society by voluntary subscriptions or fees, and it shall be the duty of the Treasurer of said county to pay the same.
Accordingly, the Auditor paid to the officers of the society $25, which had been received as stated in the section above. The fair of October 14 and 15, 1852, was even more successful than the first; $100 were paid in premiums. Charles R. Luther, of Washington Township, was paid $10 for the best managed and cultivated farm in the county ; second best, H. E. Woodruff, $5; third best, Azariah Freeman, $3. Mr. Woodruff took first premium for the best acre of wheat. H. Bates, Ruel Starr, James Dye and Isaac Miller took premiums on horses ; E. West, J. C. Paine, Lewis Connor and T. A. E. Campbell on cattle ; H. A. K. Paine, L. A. Cass and Ruel Starr, on sheep ; Nelson Malone, A. B. White and W. Bartholomew, on swine; Mrs. Phoebe Starr and Mrs. H. E. Wood- ruff, on butter ; Mrs. Isabella Farrington, on cheese ; H. E. Woodruff, Ruel Starr and G. W. Finney, on fruit; Mrs. Eliza Aicks, on bed-quilt, and Mrs. J. J. Fifield, on rag carpet. A long, excellent address was de- livered by President Barnes. The report of the general awarding com-
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY.
mittee was long and interesting. In 1853, over $300 were paid in premi- ums, and the establishment of the fair was permanent, or would have been under all ordinary circumstances. During this year, President Barnes was authorized to invest $50 belonging to the society in an agricultural library. He soon reported that he had purchased twenty-nine volumes of standard works, treating of farming, gardening, stock-rearing, domestic economy, horticulture, floriculture, etc. From this time onward until the year 1862, inclusive, the society continued to hold fairs annually, and to prosper, growing stronger in numbers and means, and offering higher, better and more numerous premiums and other inducements.
The fair was held in the court house and court yard until October, 1859, and, after that and until October, 1862, on the " old grounds" west of the present woolen factory. Upon what terms or conditions the society used the "old grounds," cannot be definitely stated. If the property was purchased, the deed was not recorded, but this is probably the fact in the case. It is probable that the society purchased the grounds, deferring payment until the future ; and, when the war came on, and after it had continued two and a half years, draining the financial resources of the county, and filling the minds of the citizens with almost everything except agricultural interests, it was found impracticable, if not impossible, to hold fairs after the autumn of 1862; and the society did not even make the attempt, but mutually resolved to wait until the dawn of peace before renewing their interest and association with the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. After the war had closed, and peace had come, there also came such a stringency of money matters, and so universal a shrinkage in values, that the fair question, which required, to be made suc- cessful, a considerable outlay of money and no little sacrifice of time and labor, was almost wholly overlooked. At last, on the 4th of October, 1871, thirty-two citizens met at the Auditor's office, and after electing A. V. Bartholomew, Chairman, and appointing Reason Bell, Secretary, resolved that there be organized the "Porter County Agricultural So- ciety." A committee, consisting of Cyrus Axe, D. F. Jones and J. C. Barnes, was appointed to solicit subscriptions for the purpose of defraying the expense of conducting a fair, which was fixed for the 19th and 20th of October, two weeks after this meeting. Milan Cornell was elected President of the society ; G. W. Bartholomew and Theodore Crum- packer, Vice Presidents ; Reason Bell, Jr., Secretary, and M. L. Mc- Clellan, Treasurer. S. S. Skinner, E. Zimmerman and C. W. Dickover were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws. Milan Cornell, A. C. Stanton, Isaac Cross, N. A. Kennedy and A. C. Coates were appointed to prepare a list of premiums. Upon this short notice, with but two weeks before them to prepare everything, the members were so
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