USA > Indiana > Whitley County > Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 14
USA > Indiana > Noble County > Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 14
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The Ancient Order of Workmen, known as Welcome Lodge, No. 65, is located in the hall owned by the Odd Fellows. The lodge was organized May 17, 1881. Its objects are to better the condition of the laboring classes and to give dignity to labor. The following were charter members: H. Cole, G. W. Bonebrake, C. E. McCarty, J. S. Norris, A. Seymour, W. H. Foster, S. Weimer, J. Keiser, H. Shively, W. A. Rynaerson, John W. Parrish, D. S. Cullimore, E. L. Eberhard, J. N. Whittenberger, D. Doll, M. R. Clapp, G. W. Reaser, F. F. Fisher, L. Cornelius, J. Hapner, H. H. Quick, A. H. Baughman and W. W. Smith. The society at present has a membership of twenty-six. The first officers were : M. R. Clapp, Past Master Workman ; S. Weiner, Master Workman; Jeremiah Hapner, Foreman ; E. L. Eberhard, Overseer; W. W. Smith, Receiver; D. Cullimore, Secretary; J. Stiver, Fi- mancial Secretary ; John Clapp, Inside Watchman; H. H. Quick, Outside Watchman; and A. Baughman, Guide. The present officers are: Henry Shively, Past Master Workman ; M. R. Clapp, Master Workman ; S. Weimer, General Foreman ; J. Hapner, Overseer; J. N. Whittenberger, Receiver; E. L. Eber- hard, Recording Secretary; C. McCarty, Financial Secretary ; John Clapp, Outside Watchman; and John Kaser, Inside Watchman.
Numerous temperance organizations have existed at various times, but none of them have been permanent. Nevertheless, there are a number of good temperance workers in South Whitley.
This town has a bright future before it, and the historian who visits it ten years hence will write a more lengthy history of it, for it will undoubtedly extend its present limits and increase in prosperity.
Collamer (Millersburg), located near the Wabash & St. Louis Railroad, and on the south side of Eel River, contains a population of about one hundred and fifty souls. The town was surveyed by John Arnold, and the plat filed by R. Miller in the summer of 1846. It was at one time a place of considerable trade, grain, stock and lumber being exported in large quantities. It contains a good grist-mill, one saw-mill, two general stores, one drug store, one boot and shoe store, one physician, a graded school and a Christian Church. Alfred Ross is the present Postmaster.
135
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER VII. BY ELISHA L. MOLALLEN.
CONCERNING RICHLAND TOWNSHIP-ITS EARLY SETTLEMENT AND HISTORY- THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE IT THEIR ABIDING PLACE, AND THE NOTABLE EVENTS THAT HAVE MARKED THEIR FOOTSTEPS.
" Whoever thinks a perfect work to see Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be."
TI THIS memorial of Richland Township will, we trust, have some interest for citizens of the township; it is not expected that it will interest others, as- it treats solely of matters of local interest. Nothing would have induced the undersigned at this time to prepare this memorial-with his hands already full of work-but the fact that he came to Richland when a small boy, in 1845, grew with its growth, strengthened with its strength, participated in the attendant pleasures and pains of its early life, was identified with its business interests. and its social life, and he felt an interest in doing what he could to set her fairly before the world with her sister townships.
Want of time to search for the needle of truth in the haystacks of allega- tion and negation, non-existent and imperfect records, the lapse of time, the fallibility of the human memory, were some of the stumbling blocks in his way ; want of time was, however, the greatest. The theme is one that warms with its unfolding, and the temptation to enlarge must be resolutely curbed, and the bare statement of fact given where pages might have been written. The writer must condense continuously in order to remain within the field assigned by the publisher, and in this case, withal, that space has been consid- erably exceeded. Life is short and uncertain, and it is well to glean from the few survivors facts and incidents connected with the advent of the white man almost fifty years agone, into this our glorious inheritance, for ours it is now, whatever may have been the prior right of the red man. And it is in that respect, more than any other, that the writer found it out of his power to meet the demand-to visit and make note of the recollections of those first-comers, who, by reason of nature's law, must soon "go over to the majority." Un- favorable criticism he expects, and blame for omissions and noteworthy things not noted, but no one will be half as conscious as he of the imperfections of this memorial. Trusting that he has in some measure fulfilled an obligation to the home of his boyhood, the friends of his youth and manhood, and, by personal experience, knowing that " there is a great deal of human nature among man- kind," he rests his case.
It is to be borne in mind that whatever this memorial sets forth is with reference to the township as at present formed, including the portion added from Troy Township and excluding the portion set off to Cleveland Township, to which event reference will be made further on in this veritable history.
136
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
Rightly named is Richland Township. He or they who named it were evidently persons of discernment and observation. Lying midway in the west- ern tier of townships, its general surface somewhat more undulating than the prairies of Northern Indiana, yet so diversified that its landscapes are pleasing, and its surface is yearly becoming more and more enriched with spacious and well tilled farms, pleasant, tasteful and commodious homes.
Fifty years ago, probably, no white man's foot had rustled the fallen leaves that carpeted her primeval wilderness, and to-day it taxes the memory of the first comers to detail what was the stately magnificence of her forests, much more those later comers, who found her bosom dotted with growing farm- steads and the lusty struggle for the mastery over the forest well advanced toward completion.
As has been detailed in other portions of this history, Whitley County was organized in 1838, having previously had a sort of territorial connection with Huntington County. At the first Commissioners' Court held in the county, and which met at the residence of Joseph Parrett May 7, 1838, Rich- land Township was organized, and the court ordered that for road purposes it should constitute one road district. Zebulon P. Burch was appointed to be the first Supervisor, and an election was ordered to be held on the 19th of May following.
Within its limits is the thriving village of Larwill (of which more anon), lying one mile north of the center, and the seat of township government. Part of the village of Lorain is in its northeast corner. Five small lakes lie within its limits, and Spring Creek, with its two branches, on the east and Clear Creek on the west afford an outlet for superabundant waters, emptying them into Eel River, just above South Whitley, in Cleveland Township, thence, via the Wabash, the Ohio and the Mississippi, to the Mexican Gulf.
The Squawbuck trail (an Indian trail, which was doubtless the route by which the very early settlers reached the western part of the county) passed through the north part of the township. Other Indian trails there were cross- ing the township at various angles and in various directions ; but the white man, actuated by thrift and utility, has, in most instances, placed the highways on lines and at right angles, while the Indian was content to have short cuts and to follow ridges and devious ways, to avoid swamps and other disagreeable impediments. A trail was blazed through the forest from Asa Shoemaker's, in the northwest corner of Columbia Township, in a westerly direction, past where Larwill now is, and on into Kosciusko County by way of Hayden's. The first practical attempt to open communication with the outside world was the Huntington and Goshen road and the Fort Wayne and Warsaw road, inter- secting at a point one mile west of Larwill. It is to be remembered that the prairies up about Goshen and Elkhart were settled several years earlier than our county, and that was the Egypt to which our early settlers were wont to go to get grain, to have flour ground, etc., and the roads were merely blazed
137
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
through the woods, with here and there an old log cut off or a bit of under- brush cut away, and were devious and rugged to traverse.
David Hayden was the first settler in the township, although several others followed him the same season. He was the first comer, built the first cabin and long and far shall the seeker go ere he find a worthier example of the men who bore the heat and burden of the day in the first settlement of our county.
David Hayden was born June 5, 1807, in Fayette County, Penn., thence re- moved to Franklin County, Ohio, and was married to Alma Cone. He deter- mined to come West and settle in Indiana. On the 9th of March, 1836, he landed in Richland Township with wife and children, twenty-nine years of age, in the prime of young manhood, in the heart of the wilderness, miles and miles away from any other human habitation, armed with his trust in God and his ax and rifle, and endowed with those qualities of heart and head which made him in after time a successful and prosperous man, esteemed and respected by all who knew him. Of him his sons might have said
"A prompt, decisive man ; no breath Our father wasted."
From early life, a professor of religion, adhering to the Methodist Church with unswerving tenacity, there was something of the Puritan spirit in the way be held to his earlier convictions. In early life a Whig, later a Republican of the straightest sect. In all the relations of life, the same characteristics pre- dominated-laboring in season and out of season, naught but an iron constitu- tion enabled him to bear all his burdens. His native sagacity was shown in the lands he entered and the very comfortable estate he was enabled to gather about him. He died at the homestead, October 22, 1878, aged seventy-one years nine months and seventeen days. His ashes lie in the family burial-place, a short dis- tance from where he built the first cabin in Richland Township. Loved, hon- ored, revered, his aged consort survives him, born at Turin, Lewis County, N. Y., August 5, 1810. Walking steadfastly by his side through all the trials and privations of frontier life, animated with strong and high purposes for the wel- fare and prosperity of her sons and daughters, her old age soothed by the lov- ing care of her children, long may she remain among us. The first woman who dwelt within our borders, the mother of C. W. Hayden, the first man child born in the township. Of the sons and daughters of this Adam and Eve of Richland Township there survive John E., Daniel C., Charles W., David F., Alvah O. and Mary E. Hayden.
Pursuant to an order of the first Commissioners' Court held in the county, there was held, on May 19, 1838, the first election in the township; officer to be elected, Justice of the Peace. Inspectors of Election, John Jones, William Rice and Zebulon Burch. William Cordill and Edwin Cone were Clerks. The record says nothing of grand rallies and mass conventions, stump speeches or rallying the masses, it simply points its dead finger to the names of the five
138
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
voters, viz .: William Rice, Edwin Cone, Zebulon Burch, John Jones and Will- iam Cordill. The candidates were Edwin Cone, who received four votes, and William Rice, who received one vote. And, of that memorable first board of voters and election officers, William Rice alone survives to tell the tale this spring of 1882.
The second election was held at the house of Andrew Compton, August 6, 1838. Eleven voters appeared, viz .: Otto M. Webb, Zebulon Burch, Levi Curtis, Ezra Thomson, John Jones, Jackson Gunter, Abraham Cuppy, Jacob Kistler, John Thomson, David Hayden, Edwin Cone. For State Senator, W. G. Ewing received four votes, David Colerick three, Thomas Swinney one ; for Representative, J. F. Merrill received four and William Vance seven ; for Sher- iff, Richard Collins received eleven votes; for County Commissioner, Joseph Parrett received eleven votes ; for Probate Judge, Jesse Cleveland had three votes, Joseph Pierce one. These were the old Whig and Democrat days, and, as we are accustomed to say, the good old times. However, it is doubtful if Mr. Richard Collins could take the unanimous vote of Richland Township for Sheriff to-day, as he did forty-four years ago, worthy though he is. At the next election, held, as all the early elections were, at the residence of Andrew Compton, a township organization was formed. Otto M. Webb was chosen Township Trustee; Ezra Thomson, Township Treasurer; Andrew Compton, Township Clerk ; David Payne, Fence Viewer, each receiving fifteen votes. At the first election in Troy Township (after its organization on March 19, 1839), held July 4, 1839, appear the names of Jesse S. Perin, Price Goodrich, Tim- othy F. Devinny and Bela Goodrich, who were residents of what is now a part of Richland; and at that first election Price Goodrich and Jesse S. Perin were Inspectors of Election. Twelve votes were cast. Nathan Chapman was at that time elected Justice of the Peace by seven votes, Price Goodrich receiving five votes.
The first Presidential election held at Andrew Compton's house, November 2, was that of 1840-41. The Harrison campaign-the log-cabin and hard-cider campaign-now only remembered by elderly persons. The candidates were Harrison and Tyler for the Whigs, and Van Buren and Johnson for the Dem- ocrats. Twenty-five votes were cast, of which fourteen were for Harrison and eleven for Van Buren. Those twenty-five voters were Daniel Cone, John Wright, Daniel Cullomore, Andrew Compton, Edwin Cone, Joshua Helms, John Jones, William Rice, John Anderson, Elijah Scott, Zebulon Burch, David Hayden, John Thomson, Reason Hueston, Levi Curtis, Charles Ditton, Samuel L. Andrews, Anderson D. Parrett, William D. Parrett, Joab McPherson, David Payne, George Ditton, David Payne, Jr., Ezra Thomson, Jacob Kistler, Jr. Judges, W. D. Parrett, Ezra Thomson, Zebulon Burch ; Clerks, Andrew Compton, Edwin Cone.
Surviving these now are William Rice, J. R. Anderson, Elijah Scott, Levi Curtis, A. D. Parrett, David Payne, Jr .- six only. Jesse S. Perin, John
All Grunnbull TROY TP.
141
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
Buck, James Buck, William Guy, James Grant, Bela, James and Price Good- rich, of the Troy Addition to Richland, voted November 2, 1840, at the shop of Joseph Tinkham, in Troy, for the same candidates, of whom James Grant and Price Goodrich only survive.
Presidential elections in the township have resulted as follows :
YEAR.
Whig.
Republican Democrat.
Total.
1840
14
......
11
25
1844
13
......
12
25
1848
35
......
53
88
1852
40
75
115
1856
06
72
168
1860
128
116
244
1864
152
120
272
1868
185
140
325
1872
193
171
364
1876
217
240
457
1880
216
227
443
..
Township Trustees since 1865: James Cordill, qualified April 8, 1865 ; Charles G. Ferry, April 5, 1866; Albert Webster, April 3, 1867; Albert Webster, April 8, 1868; Alexander McNagny, April 10, 1869; Alexander McNagny, October 15, 1870; Thomas Stradly, October 15, 1872; Thomas Stradly, October 15, 1874; William H. Lancaster, October 16, 1876; Joseph Essig, May 18, 1878; L. B. Snyder, April 14, 1880; John Halderman, April 11, 1882.
Justices of the Peace since the organization of the township : Edwin Cone was elected June 11, 1838; Nathan Chapman, July 24, 1839: James Grant, May 7, 1841; Reason Hueston, June 23, 1841; Zebulon Burch, April 10, 1842; Edwin Cone, April 25, 1845; Thomas Cleveland, May 7, 1846; Rea- son Hueston, June 5, 1846; James Grant, February 5, 1847; Henry McLallen, Sr., April 25, 1850; Reason Hueston, June 23, 1851; James Grant, April 21, 1852; Henry McLallen, Sr., May 9, 1855; William Finley, April 22, 1856; Truman Hunt, October 21, 1857; R. W. Dodge, May 1, 1860; Luke McAl- lister, April 19, 1862; R. W. Dodge, April 15, 1864; Jackson Sadler, No- vember 1, 1864; A. H. King, April 14, 1866; Jackson Sadler, November 11, 1868; Jackson Sadler, May 27, 1873; C. L. Cone, May 27, 1877 ; Jack- son Sadler, May 27, 1877; David Bonar, April 22, 1880; John J. Alms, April 3, 1882; Warren W. Martin, April 3, 1882.
There may be seen in the County Auditor's office the first tax duplicate ; it is for the year 1838. It is of primitive character, and, as the patent nostrum venders say of man, it is "fearfully and wonderfully made," consisting, as it does, of four pages of foolscap paper, bound in the cover of Smiley's school atlas, cut down to the proper size. From this ancient document, we learn that in that year there were found within the limits of Richland the following per- sons upon whom to lay the following taxes, as by statute provided :
142
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
TOWN 31, RANGE 8.
NAMES.
Value of Tax- able Property.
County Tax.
State Tax.
Total.
Anderson, John.
$0 75
$0 50
$1 25
Burch, Zebulon
$97 00
1 72
0 65
2 37
Burns. John
0 75
0 50
1 25
Cordill, William
0 75
0 50
1 25
Cone, Edwin.
0 75
0 50
1 25
Cone, Daniel
18 00
0 18
0 023
0 204
Curtis, Levi ..
50 00
1 25
0 57֏
1 823
Compton, Andrew
75 00
1 50
0 614
2 114
Hayden, David.
88 00
1 63
63
2 263
Jones, John ..
18 00
0 93
0 523
1 452
Kistler, Jacob, Sr.
94 00
0 94
0 15
1 09
Kistler, Jacob, Jr
175 00
2 50
0 91}
3 414
Payne, David
250 00
3 25
0 873
4 123
Rice, William
0 75
0 50
1 25
Thomson, Ezra
50 00
0 50
0 073
0 573
Thomson, John.
.......
0 75
0 50
1 25
Totals
$915 00
$19 65
$8 54}
$28 194
And every one of those pioneers paid up-not one delinquent. Alas, how mankind has deteriorated since 1838.
EXHIBIT OF TAXES LEVIED IN INTERVALS OF FIVE YEARS.
YEAR.
No.of Tax- payers.
Value of Per- sonals
Assessed Value of Real Estate.
Total Value of Taxables.
Acres of Land.
Total of Taxes.
No. of Dogs.
1838.
16
$ 915
$ 915
23160
$ 28 20
..
1840 ..
150
4119
$ 61690
65809
23160
803 94
..
1850 ....
225
5766
64523
64698
23160
1250 00
.. ....
1855 ....
247
45668
74526
120130
23160
1548 21
..
1860 ...
416
46086
157905
203991
23160
2333 42
......
1865
381
87802
272125
359927
23160
14441 72
.. ..
1870
470
139136
369635
508771
23160
12905 76
186
1875
537
249045
449755
718800
23160
11519 05
154
1880.
633
271380
363455
635235
23160
8165 77
203
..
..
..
Price Goodrich was Probate Judge August, 1848, to November, 1851, and is entitled to be called Judge Goodrich. He was County Commissioner from 1856 to 1859, and was re-elected. H. McLallen, Jr., was County Treasurer, 1870 to 1872, and was re-elected 1872 to 1874. J. W. Miller was Sheriff of Whitley County during the same period. F. P. Allwein was elected Sheriff in 1880, and is renominated now for the same office. Benjamin F. Thomson has been County Commissioner the four years last past.
May 7, 1838, Ezra Thomson was the first Grand Juror from Richland ; May 7, 1838, Edwin Cone, David Hayden, John Jones, first Petit Jurors, and the Commissioners appointed Edwin Cone and Ezra Thomson Overseers of Poor for the township, and Zebulon P. Burch, Road Supervisor, with the whole township for his road district.
The first road petition after organization of county was presented May 7, 1838, and Zebulon Burch, David Payne and Stedman Chaplin were appointed Viewers. Its line was south from David Hayden's.
0 75
0 50
1 25
Perin, Jesse S
......
23160
1845.
143
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
June 25, 1838, Edwin Cone was allowed $2 by the Commissioners for making returns of the first election held in the township, and, as the writer be- lieves, the first in the county after its organization. Henry Pence, County Assessor, first assessed the township in 1838.
September Term, 1839. The Commissioners appointed Zebulon Burch Three Per Cent Road Fund Commissioner.
January Term, 1840. Allowed the same $15.15} for his services in lay- ing out Columbia City. In 1839, the Circuit Court fined Nathan Chapman 6} cents for retailing foreign merchandise without taking out a license.
January 4, 1841. "'Squire" Nathan Chapman reported the first fine col- lected, $1.50, of Henry Moon, for assaulting and battering whom the record sayeth not; but as he was the first person who was "moon-struck " in the county, 'tis a pity his name has not been handed down.
This is, no doubt the first marriage in the township, and probably in the county :
Charles Ditton and Eveline, daughter of Zebulon P. Burch, were married at Z. P. Burch's, December 15, 1836. Mr. Ditton went to Goshen for his license, and the preacher came from near Elkhart to perform the ceremony.
The records of Whitley show the following first entry in the marriage department.
STATE OF INDIANA, Whitley County.
Be it remembered that on the 1st day of September, 1838, a license was issued by the Clerk of Whitley Circuit Court, authorizing the marriage of Jacob Kistler and Sophia Payne.
And the following certificate of its solemnization :
STATE OF INDIANA,
Whitley County.
To all persons to whom these presents may come-greeting : Know ye, that on the 2d day of September, 1838, the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace in and for Whitley County, joined in the holy bonds of matrimony Jacob Kistler and Sophia Payne, both of same county.
Given under my hand this 8th day of September, 1838.
EDWIN CONE, J. P.
The above, though not the first marriage in the county nor in Richland Township, is yet the first in county or town after its organization. On Novem- ber 11, 1838, Edwin Cone married Isaac H. Collins and Nancy Cuppy. On January 17, 1838, Edwin Cone married John Thomson and Emily Perin. July 4, 1839, married William Rice and Harriet U. Jones ; February 11, 1840, Charles Ditton and Sarah A. Calhoun ; March, 1840, Levi Curtis and Eunice Andrews ; July 30, 1840, H. Swihart, Justice of the Peace, married A. D. Parrett and Susan Perkins.
In early days, to be expert with the ax, the rifle or some implement of iron carried more weight than book learning or erudition. Abraham Cuppy, William Cordill, James Perkins and Andy Compton were accounted by a well qualified jury expert with the ax, first-class choppers, and at a raising John
144
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
Jones, E. L. Scott and John R. Anderson were accounted number one corner- men. Be it remembered, that it is no child's play to take up the corner of a log building in good and workmanlike style. It is to be borne in mind that, in the early days, it was a prime necessity to have whisky at raisings, loggings and other gatherings ; at raisings it was customary to toss up a bottle to the corner- men, who were usually the most expert woodsmen and knew the flavor of the creature ; having tasted it, they tossed it down again. Black-strap was another form, and a very seductive form the critter took. Now, black-strap, be it under- stood, is composed of six parts whisky and one part New Orleans molasses ; nowadays you have it called rock and rye or some other high-fangled name.
Among riflemen many were good, but it was conceded that E. L. Scott carried the belt ; Abraham Cuppy was an artist in that line; Christian Souder was conceded to be the most expert hunter ; George Clapp, most successful wolf trapper, and E. L. Scott most successful trapper of otter. David Hayden built the first frame dwelling in the township ; it still stands a monument to his memory ; David Hayden also built the first frame barn, in 1844. The first brick house-D. Firestone's residence in Larwill. First dance in township at Otto M. Webb's, April, 1841, Grover Webb, fiddler. First log-rolling at Abra- ham Cuppy's-present, John Cuppy, Thomas Webb, E. L. Scott and others, . 1837. First shoemaker, William Cordill, 1837. First blacksmith-shop, Sam- uel Barnhouse, near Richland Center, Section 16, 1838. First lawsuit was between Andy Compton and George Clapp, about a settlement, about 1840. The first quilting frolic was at David Hayden's barn, in the spring of 1845. Andrew Compton killed the first bear in the township, in company with Zebu- lon Burch, Charles and George Ditton and John Anderson. Zebulon Burch killed two wolves, the first killed of which we have any account. E. L. Scott was returning from mill in 1839, with six miles in front and eight miles behind him to the nearest house, when five Indians suddenly appeared upon the scene ; two of them held the horses and the other three searched for fire-water. It is thought they found it, though 'Lige would never own it; he owned, however, that he was a " leetle " bit nervous. They made him haul them three miles, when they struck three other native Americans, who had a supply, and, " very much against his will, insisted on his taking a nip," in fact, several nips, and it was 2 o'clock in the morning before he could tear himself away from his new found friends.
It is not known that any murder has been done within the township. After the building of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, the bones of an unknown man were found in the woods north of Trembley's ; whether a dark crime was connected with his taking off none can tell. A lit- tle daughter of George Huston died in the spring of 1844 from the bite of a rattlesnake. John Rodebaugh shot himself, about 1852, at his store in Sum- mit-was deranged. Alexander Norris was killed by a limb of a tree falling on him when chopping in the woods, in 1860. Henry Souder was instantly
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