USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Counties of White and Pulaski, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 58
USA > Indiana > White County > Counties of White and Pulaski, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 58
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The first store building in the town was built by Moses Cherry about the year 1856, and is the building now occupied by E. W. Horner & Co., dry .goods merchants. Cherry kept the railroad office and the post office, and was the first Postmaster in the town. The second stere building was erected about the year 1859 by Enoch Brewer, and is the building now
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HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.
occupied by James A. Law & Co. as a general store. The steam grist mill in Medarysville was erected in 1876, and completed in the spring of 1877. The original cost of it could not be ascertained, but its present value is estimated at $6,000. It has two runs of buhrs, and has a capacity for grinding about ten bushels per hour. The present owners are James M. Farnsley and F. S. Slocum. The mill was built by a firm, the style of which was McQuitty & Co., and was composed of Thomas McQuitty George Zeck and John Ogle. Donations of money, materials and work had been subscribed by several residents of the town, which money was to be paid and work to be done upon certain conditions being complied with by the company. The company, after having made considerable progress with the work, claimed that they had exhausted all their means, and called upon those who had agreed to donate for their donations; but the parties claimed that the company had not fulfilled the stipulations of the contract upon their part so as to entitle the company to make the demand upon them, and refused to comply. Thomas McQuitty, who, it is said, was the only responsible member of the firm, undertook to push the work on to completion without the aid subscribed ; but before he could do so, became so involved in debt that he was compelled to permit his property to be sold at forced sale for much less than its actual value, and came near being utterly ruined financially by the venture.
The first schoolhouse in the town of Medarysville was a log house, and was built in 1853 by John Shultz. It was occupied by Moses Cherry for a time as a store room, and then by Abel Tharp and John McCay as a saloon, after which it was occupied as a schoolhouse. From a saloon to a schoolhouse ! Glorious transformation ! Surely, if inani - mate things could know and appreciate their situation, that old school- house must have felt greatly exalted. The first teacher in this house was Joseph Frederick, who taught there in the winter of 1857-58. Average attendance about fifty-five.
The present schoolhouse was built in the fall of 1877, whilst James A. Low was Trustee, at a cost of about $760. It is a one-story frame building, 24 feet wide and sixty feet long, divided into two rooms of equal size. The ceilings are thirteen feet high. The present school- house is the fourth one that has been built in the town, the first one being the log house already mentioned; the second, a one-story frame built in the summer of 1858, and the third a two-story frame built in the summer of 1871, and which was burned down in 1877.
Churches .- The Methodist Episcopal Church society, in Medarysville, was organized in 1853 by Rev. Thomas C. Workman, first pastor. Num- ber of full members, forty-three ; members and probationers, eighty-five. The first church was built about 1854, at a cost of nearly $1,000. It
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was used until 1876, when it was sold and the proceeds used to build a new one. The old church is used by E. W. Horner & Co. as a ware- room. On the 23d day of March, 1854, at an election held in Medarys- ville by the members of the M. E. Church for the purpose of electing five Trustees for the church, the following persons voted : Silas Taylor, James Mitchell, Aaron Lambert, Joseph B. Shultz, Josiah Bryant, Enoch Brewer, Alfred W. Tilton, John McDonald, Simon Bailey, Silas Phillips, John Brewer, Reason McDonald, Thomas M. I. Bell, Benjamin Stout, Naphthali Yeates, John Pike, Oliver Stanfield and Peter Shultz. Josiah Bryant received sixteen votes ; Oliver Stanfield, fourteen ; Ben- jamin Stout, twelve; John Pike, thirteen ; Leonard Petro, fifteen ; Naph- thali Yeates, fifteen ; and Aaron Lambert, twelve. The five having the highest number of votes were declared elected.
In December, 1855, Josiah Bryant, John Pike, Oliver Stanfield, Enoch S. Brewer and George Wood were the Trustees of the church, and George W. Goodwin was pastor and President of the board. The present M. E. Church was built in 1876, but was not finished inside and seated so as to be ready for occupancy until 1881. Its cost was $1,500. It was understood, and so recorded at the county seat by the Trustees, that any and all religious denominations should have the privilege of occu- pying the house for religious purposes, when it was not occupied by the Methodists. The Methodist Episcopal parsonage was built about 1864, at a cost of about $800; present membership about thirty ; the present pastor is T. R. Faulkner, who came to this place in the fall of 1882, from West Virginia. Among the early ministers who preached at this place were George Guild, Thomas C. Workman and Francis Cox.
The Christian Church society at this place was first organized about the year 1856, by Elder L. N. Shortridge. Before any society was regu- larly organized, however, meetings were held occasionally at private houses, and among the ministers who preached on those occasions were Elders Elias Johnson and R. C. Johnson. The society was permitted, through the apathy of its members, to go down. and was extinct for a few years, but was re-organized in the spring of 1866 by Elder James Lilly, and is at present in a flourishing condition, having a membership of about seventy. The present pastor is Elder William A. Hennegar. This soci- ety has no church building, but they hold their meetings in the house of the Protestant Methodist Church. The Christian Church bought a claim that was a lien upon this building, and now holds the same, and, as the Protestant Methodist organization has ceased to exist here, it is more than probable that the house will, at no distant day, become the property of the Christian Church.
The Catholic Church here was built in the fall of 1868, by John N.
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HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.
Burns, contractor, at a cost of about $600. Services are held in this church once a month by Father Schneider, of Reynolds, in White County. . At the time the church was built, Father King was the priest in charge. It was dedicated by Bishop Dwenger, of Fort Wayne.
The Evangelical German Lutheran Church society was organized in 1876, and their church was built the following year, at a cost of about $500. Membership at date of organization, eighteen ; present member- ship, about thirty-two ; present pastor, Rev. H. Judkins, of North Judson ; services every four weeks.
The facts in regard to the organization of the Protestant Methodist Church could not be ascertained. Their church was built about 1868, at a cost of about $1,400. The organization has now ceased to exist.
Newspapers .- About the 1st of May, 1874, a newspaper was started in Medarysville, the name of which was the Pulaski Guard. It was a five- column folio, neutral in politics, and was issued weekly. It was a very evanescent affair, and ceased to exist about the middle of August, 1874; causa mortis, want of vitality.
Affrays .- On the 3d day of May, 1881, a deadly encounter, which was the culmination of an old grudge, took place in the town of Medarys- ville, between David Barnhill and Daniel Swisher, resulting in the mortal wounding of the latter. There had been an ill-feeling existing between the two men for some time, which was intensified by Barnhill's circulat- ing some report derogatory to the character of Swisher's daughters, and also by an altercation between Barnhill and Swisher's boys, in which Barnhill accused the boys of trimming his (Barnhill's) horses' tails, where- upon the boys retorted with some very taunting remarks. On the 3d of May, the funeral of William H. Barkalow, Clerk of Pulaski County, took place in the town of Medarysville, and there were a great many people assembled in the town, among whom were these two men. Barnhill was sitting in front of J. A. Low's dry goods store, talking with some other men, when Swisher came along, and, upon Barnhill's looking up at him, he applied some very opprobrious epithets to him, and threatened to knock his brains out with a stone which he held in his hand. Barnhill rose up, drew out his pocket-knife, and told Swisher that if he threw the stone he had better make sure work of it, for that if he threw it and did not kill him, he, Barnhill, would cut him into pieces. Swisher threw the stone and Barnhill dodged it, whereupon Swisher ran into Low's store, and Barnhill followed him. Barnhill came up to him and gave him a slight cut in the hip, and turned to go out of the house, when Swisher struck him on the back of the head with a coal-scuttle. Barnhill then turned, and struck Swisher on the left arm near the shoulder, cutting a gash some five or six inches in length, and entirely severing the muscles
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of the arm. Swisher, who soon became very weak from the loss of blood, which was very great, was taken to the office of a physician, where his wounds were dressed, after which he was removed to his home, where he died May 6, being the third day after he received the wound. Barnhill, after a protracted trial at Winamac, was acquitted, on the ground that he had committed the deed in self-defense. It is said that the evidence was somewhat conflicting in regard to Swisher's having struck Barnhill with a coal scuttle inside the store, but the verdict of the jury clearly indicates that they must have believed that he did. Barnhill is still living in the northwest corner of White Post Township; Swisher's widow and family also reside in the same neighborhood.
On the 22d day of August, 1879, James Swisher, Jr., who was a brother to the aforementioned Daniel Swisher, got into a difficulty with a man named John Peters, in Michael Pulaski's saloon in Medarysville, and shot him in the right breast, with a navy revolver, inflicting a serious, though not fatal, wound. The ball took effect under the right nipple, and, striking a rib, glanced off, and lodged in the muscle of the right arm, whence it was extracted. Swisher, after a preliminary trial before a Justice of the Peace, was placed under bonds for his appearance in court, where he was tried by a jury, whose verdict was that he be adjudged guilty of an assault with intent to kill, and that he be confined in the State's prison for a period of two years, at hard labor. The court, however, being of the opinion that the verdict was not in accordance with the law and the evidence, set aside the verdict and reduced the penalty to a fine of $50. This unfortunate affair, which would in all probability have resulted fatally, had not the ball, by mere chance, struck a rib and glanced, resulted from the too free use of bad whisky.
One other incident occurred in this town, which affords a striking illus- tration of the evil consequences of intoxication, which may just as well be related in this connection. On the 30th day of January, 1880, a physi- cian who at that time resided here, whose name was W. S. Reynolds, got into a difficulty with a man named George Roby. Reynolds, being greatly inferior to Roby in physical strength, was pretty roughly handled ; and, after getting out of durance, he went to the office of the Justice of the Peace for the purpose of procuring a warrant for Roby's arrest. Whilst Reynolds was in the Justice's office, Roby came in and asked whether he was getting out a warrant, and Reynolds, being afraid of Roby, denied that he was. Roby called him a liar, and made a second attack upon him, using him much more roughly than he had on the first occasion. As soon as Reynolds was released, he went to the store of Joseph Frederick and purchased a revolver, and, returning to the place where Roby was, drew the revolver, and presented it at Roby; but, before he could fire it,
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HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.
Roby caught it out of his hand, and beat him so severely over the head with it that he lay for a long time in a very precarious condition. They were both under the influence of liquor, and both were said to be good men when sober.
Directory .-- The following is a complete business directory of the town of Medarysville at the present time : General stores, A. W. Will- iams & Co., E. W. Horner & Co., James A. Law & Sons, Edward E. Elston, A. Frolich and Joseph Frederick & Son; drug store, L. E. Mckenzie ; blacksmiths, John F. Shultz and N. Stoffe ; physicians, A. S. McCanless, Steven J. Brown, B. F. Jones, John W. Van De Walker and Dr. Heinretze ; saloons, Henry Lucon and William Knoll ; shoe- maker, F. Milbuar; Justices of the Peace, Moses E. Davison and L. E. Mckenzie; milliners and dress-makers, Mrs. E. T. Beard and Mrs. Calvert and Mrs. Dickey ; hotels, Evert House, by G. Evert, and Com- mercial House, by Isaac Biggs; harness shop, Tobias A. Rodgers ; flour- ing mill, Farnsley & Slocum.
Miscellaneous .- At the general election on the 7th day of November, 1882, there were 189 votes cast in the township.
The number of children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, at last enumeration, was 306; and the number between the same ages, at the same time, in the town of Medarysville, was ninety-six.
There are eight schoolhouses in the township, the cost of which, and dates when built, were as follows : District No. 1, 1877, $320; No. 2, in Medarysville, 1877, $750; No. 3, 1874, $325 (burnt down in 1882, and new one erected in same year at a cost of $610) ; No. 4, 1877, $320; No. 5, 1877, $320; No. 6, 1878, $275; No. 7,1874, $610; No. 8, 1881, $247.
It may be said of White Post Township that, whatever may be her shortcomings, she has produced the tallest specimen of the genus homo that resides within the bounds of Pulaski County. His name is Joseph Riggs, and his height is six feet and six inches ; his age is twenty-five years, and his weight 175 pounds ; he has been a pedagogue, but says he does not like the business, and will not follow it any longer ; he is a good scholar and a gentleman, and a Republican of the straightest sect.
It would seem that the town of Medarysville has been a peculiarly unfortunate place for fatal railroad accidents, no less than five persons having been killed there in such accidents. In the fall of 1855, a freight train was thrown from the track there, by reason of a switch being negli- gently left open, whereby two men were killed and two others very se- verely hurt. One of those killed was a man named Van Valkenburg, who, with another man whose name could not be ascertained, was in charge of some horses that were being shipped on the same train. The
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engineer and the man who was with Van Valkenburg in charge of the horses, were badly hurt. The name of the other man who was killed could not be ascertained. There were about twenty-five horses in a car that was thrown over on its side, and not one of those horses was killed, or even seriously hurt. The third person killed was a brakeman, who, while endeavoring to make a coupling, got his foot fastened in some way so that he could not extricate it, and was run over and terribly mangled. He lived but a short time, and died in great agony. His name could not be ascertained. The fourth was a boy about fourteen years of age, named Job Farnsley, a son of James M. Farnsley, of the firm of Farns- ley & Slocum, proprietors of the steam flouring mill. The date of this casualty was about the month of November, 1880. The boy was sitting on the end of a car, and, whilst his attention was attracted to something else, the car was struck violently by another, and he was thrown down in front of the car and run over. He lived but a short time. The fifth was Florence A. Evert, son of the proprietor of the Evert House. He was about fourteen years of age, and the accident whereby he lost his life occurred in a manner very similar to that in which young Farnsley was killed. The date was October 15, 1876. He lived but a few hours.
CHAPTER VIII.
BY WESTON A. GOODSPEED.
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP-WHO WAS THE FIRST SETTLER ?- CATA- LOGUE OF EARLY KNOWN RESIDENTS-FIRST PURCHASE OF LAND -STATISTICS OF EARLY ELECTIONS-OFFICERS - ANECDOTES OF THE CHASE-PRIVATIONS ENDURED-VILLAGES OF STAR CITY AND ROSEDALE-MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.
THAT most important item in the history of a township-the name of the first settler and the date of his location-cannot be given with absolute certainty in the case of Van Buren Township. Several of the " oldest settlers," whose memories are scarcely a whit impaired by the lapse of time, can throw no reliable light on the subject. A man, whose name is forgotten, established himself and family in the township either late in 1837 or early in 1838 ; but as he did not remain long, perhaps not more than a year or two, they who now are called the oldest settlers never saw him most likely, and possibly never heard his name. That such a man lived there for a short time is established by the evidence of early settlers in other portions of the county, who knew from observation of his having been there. Very likely the next settlers' names appear below, though the order of the settlement cannot be stated.
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HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.
Land Entries .- The following men entered land in Van Buren Town- ship during the year 1838, in the order here given, none earlier than Au- gust 20: Runion Compton, Section 2; John Fisher, Sections 3 and 7 ; Dudley Madden, Section 25; Joseph G. McNutt, Section 33; Nathaniel Benjamin, Section 34 ; John H. Thompson, Sections 34 and 35; Josiah C. White, Sections 35 and 36 ; Joseph T. Wallace, Section 32, and James Higginbotham, Sections 7 and 8. The following additional persons en- tered land in 1839, in the order given : George S. Shull, Section 6; Pe- ter Nichols, Section 6; Louisa Wood, Section 1; George Wood, Sections 8 and 9; Nathan Julian, Section 25; Samuel F. C. Fadden, Section 26 ; Thomas J. Falcom, Sections 4 and 5 : John Hollenbeck, Section 25 ; Thomas Buck, Sections 28 and 32; James Pierce, Section 32; Henry Tomlinson, Section 28 ; Jacob Nichols, Section 7, and Henry Wirley, Section 27. In 1840, the following additional persons entered land : Elijah Bolin, Section 8; Isaac Sanders, Section 6; Nathan H. Murphey, Section 2; Stephen Jones, Section 23; Joseph Oliver, Section 7, and Basil Meek, Section 23. The above were the only tracts of land entered in Van Buren Township prior to the 1st of January, 1841.
The First Election in the Township .- Van Buren Township (with Indian Creek) remained attached to Beaver Township until March, 1842, at which time the County Commissioners ordered a separate organization, and named the township thus created "Van Buren," after an ex-President of the United States. At the same time, an election was ordered held at the house of Daniel Hathaway, on the 6th of April, 1842, on which occasion the following men polled their votes : Thomas Buck, William Olin, Isaac Sanders, Stephen Jones, Charles Compton, John Buck, John W. Cooley, John Nickless, Runion Compton and Joseph T. Wallace; total, ten. This was the first election held after the creation of the township, and through some unaccountable reason, the name of the man at whose house the election was held does not appear upon the offi- cial records. Perhaps he had gone to Logansport or to mill south of Mon- ticello, forgetting or not caring about the allurements of official position. What a pity that many of our fellow-citzens to-day are not blessed with the same virtue ! A man could go to mill in those days and be gone a week, and a trip to Logansport consumed at least two days, and very often three and four. The names of the officers who were elected on this oc- casion cannot be given.
Subsequent Elections .- Notwithstanding that Van Buren was attached to Beaver, the citizens usually went to Winamac to vote prior to the organi- zation of the township. The same strictures were not required then as now, possibly because in those days there was no danger of "repeating" or " tissue ballots." There was no inclination then to violate the election
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, laws. At the August election in Winamac, 1840, the following citizens of Van Buren cast their votes : Isaac Sanders, Runion Compton, Peter Nickless, Charles Compton. Those who wished continued to vote thus until the organization of the township. In addition to those whose names appear above as voting at the April election, 1842, the following voted at the August election, 1842: Daniel G. Hathaway (at whose house the elections continued to be held for several years), William Allen and Jacob Countryman. At the October election, 1842, for Justice of the Peace, Daniel G. Hathaway received four votes, and John Nickless three ; the seven voters being Jacob Countryman, J. T. Wallace, D. G. Hathaway, John Nickless, Thomas Buck, John Buck and Stephen Jones. Wallace was Inspector ; Nickless and Countryman, Judges ; Hathaway and Jones, Clerks. In April, 1843, at D. G. Hathaway's house, Runion Compton, William Allen, Stephen Jones, Thomas Buck, John Niekless, J. T. Wallace and William Compton voted as follows: Justice of the Peace, John Nickless, seven; Constable, Runion Campton, seven ; Road Supervisor, Stephen Jones, seven; Overseers of the Poor, Runion Comp- ton, six ; Thomas Buck, six ; Fence Viewers, Charles Compton, four; John Nickless, four ; Inspector, J. T. Wallace, five. The officers of this election were, Wallace, Inspector; R. Compton and Jones, Judges ; Nickless and W. Compton, Clerks. At the gubernational election, August, 1843, in addi- tion to the above voters, were Allen Murphy and G. W. Horine. Wallace, Inspector ; Horine and R. Compton, Judges ; Jones and Nickless, Clerks. The April election, 1844, resulted as follows : Constable ; Hugh Evans, 15; Stephen Jones, 13. Overseers of the Poor, Runion Compton, 15 ; Thomas Buck, 2. Fence Viewers, Jesse Klinger, 14; William Comp- ton, 14. Road Supervisors, Richard R. Nowlan, 14; Charles Comp- ton, 14. Inspector, D. G. Hathaway, 8; Joseph T. Wallace, 8. The officers of election were : Wallace, Inspector; Horine and Nowlan, Judges ; Hathaway and D. L. Moore, Clerks. The voters were John Buek, Jesse Klinger, Hugh Evans, William Allen, D. G. Hathaway, D. L. Moore, Thomas Buck, J. T. Wallace, John Nickless, G. W. Horine, R. R. Nowlan, R. Compton, Allen Murphey, David Jones, Stephen Jones. and John W. Nowlan. At the August election, 1844, the name of Anthony Fickle appears. Only six votes were polled. At the No- vember election, 1844, the names of Henry Wildermuth, Zachariah Tracy, W. R. Brown and Jacob Stralheim, appear, a total of twenty votes being polled. The Whig electors received eleven votes, and the Demo- cratic, nine. The names of James Moore and Ephraim R. Meer appear in April, 1845. Up to this time elections had been held at the house of D. G. Hathaway, but now they were. changed to that of Richard R. Nowlan. In July, Aaron Tomlinson became Justice of the Peace. In
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HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.
August, 1845, of the twenty-eight votes polled, the following new names appear : Robert Barger, E. R. Moore, Isaac H. Washburn and George Cook. The Whig ticket received fifteen votes, and the Democratic thir- teen. The name of Benjamin Vanmeter appears in April, 1846 ; and those of George W. Hollenbeck, John Hollenbeck, Philip Klinger, Joseph Klinger and John Klinger, Sr., appear in August. Thirty votes were cast at this election, eighteen for the Whig ticket. Isaac W. Hunt, Nathaniel Routson and William Dye voted in April, 1847. Nineteen votes were polled. David Jones and Allen Murphey were elected Road Supervi- sors ; Runion Compton and Thomas Buck, Fence Viewers ; Nathaniel Routson, Constable ; Benjamin C. Skillen, Inspector ; John Nickless, Justice of the Peace. The names of John Knowles, James Ferguson, Mathias Turnpaugh and Jacob Graffis, appear in August. Twenty-four votes were polled. In April, 1848, William Dye was elected Inspector ; Nathaniel Routson and Benjamin Skillen, Road Supervisors ; David Jones and Jacob Graffis, Fence Viewers ; Andrew Wirick, Constable ; Thomas Dempsey, Andrew Wirick and John Fultz, voted. In August, John Hodges, George Cook and Andrew Wirwahut, voted. At this elec- tion, the question of having free schools or not was voted upon, twenty- one votes being cast for them, and none against. In November, thirty- eight votes were polled, the following new names appearing : James Hay- worth, Nathaniel Hayworth, Robert Barker, Levi Hartman, Wesley Jones, Edward Compton and George Hollenbeck. In April, 1849, Philip Klinger became Constable; Thomas Klinger, Inspector ; John Fultz and John Nickless, Road Supervisors ; Jacob Graffis and Richard Nowlan, Fence Viewers. At this election, the question of granting license for the sale of spirituous liquor throughout the county was submitted to the voters, and in Van Buren four votes were cast for license, and three against it, the others, to the number of fourteen, not voting on the ques- tion. Asa Stewart, David Williamson, Jacob Wirick, Thomas * Camp- bell and Richard W. Chenoworth, voted on this occasion. The following new names appear in August, 1849 : Tilman Davis, James T. Curbey and Stewart Brown, there being a total of forty-two votes cast. This question was voted upon : " Are you in favor of the Act of 1848-49 to increase and extend the benefits of common schools ?" Thirty-one voted "aye " and seven "no." It seems strange, to-day, that a single vote should have been cast against so important a measure.
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