USA > Indiana > Whitley County > Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 6
USA > Indiana > Noble County > Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 6
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54
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
BY RICHARD COLLINS.
THE CONDITION OF THE COUNTY BEFORE ITS CREATION-SURVEY OF THE LANDS- FIRST ENTRIES MADE-ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT-EARLY COURTS-JURIES-TRIALS FOR MURDER-COUNTY BUILDINGS-NAMES OF COUNTY OFFICERS-POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS-VOTES POLLED FOR PRESI- DENTIAL CANDIDATES-THE BLACKLEGS.
HE county of Whitley was formed of territory originally occupied by the Indians, and claimed by the Miami and Pottawatomie tribes. The Miami tribe, by treaty made with the Government in 1826, and by subsequent treaties, ceded to the Government its claim to all lands north of the Wabash River. In 1828, the Pottawatomies by a like treaty did the same, for it seemed that each tribe held an undivided claim in the same land. The next thing in order after the land had become the property of the Government, was to survey it into townships and sections, after which, when the proper time had arrived, it was thrown into market and sold in size to suit purchasers. All the land in the county, sold at private sale, was at the rate of $1.25 per acre. A few tracts were settled and held under the pre-emption laws then in force giving the occupant one year to make payment at $1.25 per acre, that being the usual entry price. The lands in the county of Whitley were surveyed and offered for sale as shown in the following tabular statement :
Townships North.
Ranges East.
Parts of Congressional Townships.
When Surveyed.
By Whom Surveyed.
When Sales Commenced.
30.
8
South of Eel River.
1828
Basil Bently
1834
30.
8
North of Eel River.
1834
John Hendricks.
1834
31.
8
Whole.
1834
John Hendricks.
1835
32
8
Whole.
1834
John Hendricks
1835
30
9
Whole.
1834
Wm. Brookfield.
1836
31
9
All except Reserve.
1834
John Hendricks
1835
31
9
In Reserve.
1840
Chauncey Carter.
1848
32.
9
Whole.
1834
John Hendricks
1835
30.
10
All except Reserve ..
1828
Basil Bently.
1835
30.
10
In Reserve ..
1840
Chauncey Carte
1848
31
10
All except Reserve ....
1834
John Hendricks.
1835
31
10
In Reserve.
1840
Chauncey Carter.
1848
32
10
Whole
1829
David Hills
1833
Basil Bently and.
The Reserve of fourteen sections at Seek's village was surveyed in a whole tract in 1827, closing November 9, 1827, by Chauncey Carter, Deputy Surveyor. In January, 1840, Chauncey Carter surveyed this Reserve into sections, conforming to the general survey. The sales of the lands in that Reserve appear to have commenced in March, 1848. The lands were all sold at the land office at Fort Wayne, except a few remaining tracts at the time the
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
1
55
land office was removed to Indianapolis, the same lands being portions ceded to the State by the General Government as swamp land.
The following were the first tracts of land purchased in the county, and the only ones during the years 1833 and 1834 :
PURCHASERS' NAMES.
Section.
Township.
Range.
Acres.
Hundreds.
Description.
Date of Entry.
Jesse W. Long.
36
32
10
40
S.W ¿S. E. {
Sept. 10, 1833.
Jesse W. Long.
36
32
10
80
E. } S. E. 4
Sept. 10, 1833.
George Slagle.
36
32
10
40
S.W. ¿ S.W. }
Sept. 11, 1833.
George Slagle.
36
32
10
40
S. E. Į S. W. 4
Sept. 11, 1833.
Absalom Hire.
35
32
10
40
S.W. ¿ S. E.}
Sept. 24, 1833.
M. P. C. Wood. Samuel Smith
34
32
10
160
S. E. 4
June 10, 1834.
Aaron Bixby
35
32
10
320
N. }
June 10, 1834.
William Vanmeter
35
32
10
160
S. W. ¿
June 10, 1834.
Christian Corner
36
32
10
40
N. E. Į N. E. ¿
June 10, 1834.
Jesse W. Long
36
32
10
80
W. ¿ N. E. ...
June 10, 1834.
Samuel Nickey
35
32
10
40
.. N.W. ¿ S. E.4.
June 10, 1834.
Aaron Bixby.
26
32
10
320
S. A . June 10, 1834.
John Shade.
14
32
10
80
N. N. W. 4.
June 10, 1834.
John Shupert.
11
32
10
160
S.W. 4 June 10, 1834.
Christopher Shupert
15
32
10
80
W. ¿ N. E. A
June 16, 1834.
Jacob Sine.
11
32
10
40
N.W. ¿ S.E.
June 16, 1834.
Richard Baughan
36
32
10
80
... W. ¿ N. W. X
June 28, 1834.
Jesse W. Long
36
32
10
40
... N.W. ¿ S. E. ¿
July 4, 1834.
John H. Falkumph.
14
32
10
80
..
S. N. W. 4
July 19, 1834.
John H. Falkumph.
5
32
10
40
S. E. ¿ S. E. 4.
July 19, 1834.
John H. Falkumph.
9
32
10
80
W. ¿ N. W. 4
July 19, 1834.
John Wilcox and William Vanmeter
35
32
10
40
S. E. ¿ S. E. ¿.
Aug. 2, 1834.
William Beall.
36
32
10
40
N. W. ¿ S. W.4.
Aug. 8, 1834.
William Beall
36
32
10
40
N. E. & S. W. A.
Aug. 8, 1834.
Francis Tulley
34
32
10
40
S. E. Į N. W.A.
Aug. 28, 1834.
Francis Tulley
34
32
10
40
N. E. & S. W. +
Aug. 28, 1834.
John Strean and Luther Nott
27
32
10
80 E. & N. W.4.
Sept. 24, 1834.
John Strean.
22
32
10
80
E. ¿ N. W. 4.
Sept. 24, 1834.
John Strean and John W. Moore
22
32
10
40
.. S. E. ¿ S. W. 4.
Sept. 24, 1834.
Jacob Sine.
11
32
10
40
N. E. ¿ S. E. 4.
Sept. 30, 1834.
John W Moore.
27
32
10
80
W. ¿ N. W. 4.
..
Oct. 11, 1834.
Otho W. Gandy
23
32
10
80
S. ¿ S. E. 4
Oct. 11, 1834.
Zachariah Garrison
34
32
10
160
N. E. }
Nov. 19, 1834.
J. A. Vanhouten
22
32
10
80
W. } N. E4
Nov. 20, 1834.
Samuel Walker.
22
32
10
40
N. E. ¿ S. W. 4
Nov. 20, 1834.
William Walker.
22
32
10
160
N. W. A.
Nov. 20, 1834.
Morse P. C. Wood.
7
30
8
91
50 N. E. Fract'n1.
Dec. 6, 1834.
..
13
30
8
160
N. W. 4 March 24, 1834.
Jesse W. Long
..
...
..
Samuel Walker
22-
32
10
80
W. ¿ S. W. 4.
Oct. 11, 1834.
John W. Moore.
Making in all 240 acres entered in 1833, and 3,417.50 acres in 1834. Section 4, Township 32, Range 10, was probably the first tract of land in the county owned by white men. See Chapter II of this volume. As a continua- tion of the above facts, it may be stated that, in 1835, there were not less than 118 tracts of land entered in Cleveland Township; 63 in Richland; none in Troy ; 20 in Washington ; 26 in Columbia ; 14 in Thorn Creek ; 93 in Jeffer- son ; 11 in Union, and 52 in Smith.
1
56
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
The first settlement in Smith Township was made in the southeast corner ; in Union, in the northeast corner and southern part ; in Jefferson, in south half; in Thorn Creek, near the center ; in Columbia, northern part; in Washington, in the northern part; in Troy, near the center ; in Richland, scattering ; in Cleveland, near Eel River. Reference is here made to Congressional town- ships, and not as they are now divided into civil townships. Large numbers of settlers arrived in 1836, 1837 and 1838; and, before 1840, all the better por- tions of land in the county were purchased, except the lands in Seek's village reservation, which were not in market until 1848.
Whitley County was named in honor of Col. William Whitley, of Lincoln County, Ky., who was killed at the battle of the Thames, in Canada, in the war of 1812. The county was originally eighteen miles square, containing nine Congressional townships, each six miles square, making 324 square miles, or 207,360 acres of land (if the surveys were all full). The boundaries of the connty were fixed by the Legislature, at the session of 1833 and 1834, as fol- lows: Bounded on the east by Allen County, on the north by Noble, on the west by Kosciusko and on the south by Huntington. The boundaries of the county were changed, in June, 1859, by the addition of twelve sections of land taken from the south side of Township 33, Range 8 east, in Noble County, making an addition of 7,680 acres. Allen County, at first, embraced all the territory in Whitley County, and exercised jurisdiction over it from the organi- zation of that county, in 1824, until the year 1837, when this county was attached to the county of Huntington for civil and judicial purposes, and re- mained so until organized in 1838.
The Legislature, at their session in 1837 and 1838, declared Whitley to be an independent county from and after the 1st day of April, 1838, and Richard Baughan was appointed Sheriff, by Gov. Wallace, by commission dated March, 1838, to serve until the next annual election, in August, 1838. It being his first duty to advertise and cause an election to be held at the most convenient places in the settled portions of the county, where they would be most accessible to the electors, he fixed only four voting places, as follows: One at the house of Lewis Kinsey (now Cleveland Township); one at the house of Andrew Compton (now Richland Township); one at the house of Richard Baughan (now Thorn Creek Township) ; and one at the house of John N. Moore (now Smith Township). There then being no organized townships, for the purpose of electing a County Clerk, Recorder, two Associate Judges and three County Commissioners, after notices of the election were posted on trees at important points on the various Indian trails passing through the county and on the cabin doors of the pioneers, a meeting of the citizens was called, and fifteen or twenty assembled at the house of Calvin Alexander (near where Beech Chapel is now located), in what is now Thorn Creek Township, and organized by the appointment of a Chairman and Secretary, and proceeded to select candidates for the different offices to be filled, which resulted in the
57
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
unanimous selection of Abraham Cuppy for Clerk and Recorder, Jacob A. Vanhouten and Benjamin F. Martin for Associate Judges and Otho W. Gandy, Nathaniel Gradeless and Joseph Parrett, Jr., for County Commissioners, all of whom were elected and qualified, and all discharged the duties of their respect- ive offices. They have all gone to their final rest, some of them many years ago. Otho W. Gandy was the last, by a number of years, to pass away. He died in 1879, at the age of eighty-five. The place designated for holding courts in the county was the house of James Parret, Jr. There being no James Parret, Jr., in the county, the Board of County Commissioners met at the house of Joseph Parrett, Jr., where South Whitley is now located (that being the place intended by the Legislature for holding courts), on the 7th day of May, 1838, and, after taking the oath of office, proceeded to select Otho W. Gandy as President of the Board. Their first important act was the appointment of John Collins, Treasurer; Henry Pence, Assessor ; Benjamin H. Cleveland, Three Per Cent Fund Commissioner; and Henry Swihart, County Agent. They adopted the eagle side of a ten cent piece as the seal of the Board of Commissioners of the County, to be used until they could pro- cure a proper seal. The Board granted a license to Joseph Pierce and Robert Starkweather to vend foreign merchandise and foreign and domestic groceries for one year for $5, capital to be less than $2,000, place of business near Pierce's saw-mill, on Eel River, in Union Township, that being the first store in the county, except an Indian trading-post, kept by John B. Godfrey, on the Goshen road, north of Blue River, in Smith Township, which had been estab- lished a number of years previously, probably as early as the year 1828.
The Legislature, at their session in 1838-39, appointed Madison Switzer, William H. Coombs, Daniel R. Bears and David Bennett, Commissioners, to locate the seat of justice of the county, and directed them to meet at the house of James Parret, Jr., on the first Monday of May, 1838, for that purpose. Madison Switzer, being the only Commissioner in attendance at the supposed point at that time, adjourned to meet at the house of Joseph Parrett, Jr., on the 18th day of June, 1838, at which time Madison Switzer, William H. Coombs and David Bennett met, and proceeded to examine the different sites offered. After due deliberation, they decided to locate the county seat upon lands offered by Lott S. Bayless, on Section 19, Township 31, Range 9 (now Union Township), occupied as a farm by John Metz at the present time. As a consideration, Bayless was to pay the county $500 in money, furnish a set of record books (worth $100) for the county offices, and pay all expenses of the location. The citizens of the county generally being dissatisfied with the location, petitioned the Legislature to appoint Commissioners to relocate the seat of justice, and the Legislature, at their second term of the session of 1838-39, appointed Samuel Edsall, John Jackson, A. S. Ballard and Isaac Covert, Commissioners, for that purpose, to meet at the house of Richard Baughan (the place then designated for holding courts in the county), on the
58
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
first Monday of June, 1839. On that day, Samuel Edsall and John Jackson met at the place and time designated, and, there not being a majority of the Commissioners present, they adjourned to meet at the same place, on the 19th of October, 1839. On that day, they all met, and proceeded to discharge the duties assigned them. After carefully examining all the sites offered, and after mature deliberation, they decided to locate the county seat on fractional Sec- tion 11, in Township 31, Range 9, containing 443 acres of land, owned by Elihu Chauncey, of the city of Philadelphia, in consideration of his conveying to the county one-half of said land, and building a saw-mill on Blue River, at a site on said land, all of which he complied with on his part.
The Board of County Commissioners, the Clerk and the Sheriff, and Zebulon Burch, conducting a supply train, went into camp on the land selected as the county seat, near where Jacob Ramp's lumber office is now located, on the 25th day of November, 1839, there not being a white family living nearer than one and a half miles. The meeting was called for the purpose of making suitable arrangements for surveying a town plat, and Richard Collins was employed to survey and plat a town on said site, which he commenced at once, and completed as soon as possible, making a plat of twenty-eight blocks or squares of eight lots each, and one of four lots, including the public square, on which the court house now stands, and the town was then christened Columbia. The balance of the section was surveyed by the same person into lots and outlots of different sizes, in January, 1841, the County Commissioners and Elihu Chauncey each paying one-half the expense, by agreement. After setting apart the public square, and one outlot of four and a quarter acres of land for a public cemetery, the balance of the land was equally divided between the county and Elihu Chauncey. By order of the Board of County Commissioners, the County Agent, Richard Collins, advertised and sold at public auction, on the town plat, on the 25th of May, 1840, $800.05 worth of lots at very low figures. David E. Long had previously contracted for a lot on the corner of Main and Van Buren streets, now owned by Dr. Linvill, where the building now occupied by Ruch Brothers as a drug store stands. Mr. Long built a one-story frame house, of two rooms, on the lot, and was living in the same at the time of the sale, running it as a boarding house and hotel ; but the rooms were insufficient to comfortably accommodate his guests during the terms of court, until he enlarged his buildings some time afterward. This hotel building was, if not the first, one of the first, in Columbia City. When the county seat had been located with certainty, the young town began making rapid strides toward a populous and commercial point. One store after another appeared, and residences, some of them quite elegant, began to form themselves into streets, and ere long the place assumed the appearance of a thriving town.
The county of Whitley formed a part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the State, composed of the counties of Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Allen and Whitley. Charles W. Ewing, President Judge of the Circuit, and Thomas R.
1
WHITLEY COUNTY JAIL.
-
-
Leavd
-
-
61
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
Johnson, Prosecuting Attorney, were both residents of Fort Wayne. The place designated for holding courts in the county was the house of James Parret, Jr., the first term to be held on the fourth Thursday of September, 1838. The Judges, Clerk, Sheriff, jurors, attorneys and all parties interested, met at the house of Joseph Parrett, Jr. (there being no James Parret, Jr., in the county), at the time appointed for holding court. The Judges, finding a mistake in the name of the place for holding courts, decided if they proceeded to hold a term of court their acts would not be legal, and for that reason they did not continue the session. The following is a list of the names of the panel of grand jurors sum- moned to serve at that term : Jesse W. Long, David Wolfe, James Jones, John Collins, Daniel Miller, Samuel Dungan, William Parrett, George Pence, Benjamin Krusan, Steadman Chaplain, Jacob Hartsock, Ezra Thompson, Thomas Cleve- land, Jesse Spear, Benjamin Gardner, Samuel Smith, Benjamin H. Cleveland and Joseph Egolf. The following is a list of the names of the traverse jurors summoned to serve at that term : Thomas Geiger, Joseph Ecker, Jacob Sine, John Turner, John W. Moore, Samuel Nickey, John H. Alexander, Joseph Crow, Jacob Brumbaugh, John Egolf, Calvin Alexander, Edwin Cone, Samuel Creager, Tolcut Perry, William McDaniel, James Gordon, Charles Chapman, James Rousseau, David Haydon, John Jones, Zachariah Garrison, Henry Swihart and Zebulon Burch. The first term of the Circuit Court held in the county was at the house and saw-mill of Richard Boughan, in Thorn Creek Township, two and a half miles northeast of Columbia, on the 9th day of April, 1839. Court was composed of the following officers : Charles W. Ewing, President Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit ; Benjamin F. Martin and Jacob A. Vanhouten, Associate Judges ; Abraham Cuppy, Clerk ; and Richard Collins, Sheriff.
The Prosecuting Attorney not being present, the court appointed Reuben J. Dawson Special Prosecutor for the term. The Sheriff then brought into court the following grand jurors : David Wolfe, Seth A. Lucas, James Jones, William Vanmeter, Jesse Spear, Samuel Creager, Peter Circle, Christopher W. Long, Horace Cleveland, John S. Braddock, Adam Egolf, Levi Curtis, Will- iam Cordill and Joseph Tinkham-fourteen in all-the law then requiring eighteen grand jurors to be summoned at each term of court, any number not less than twelve forming a panel. Christopher W. Long was appointed foreman, and the grand jury were sworn, charged and sent to their quarters with their bailiff, and soon reported to the court that they had no business before them, whereupon they were discharged. There were no criminal cases on the docket at that term, and but three civil cases, viz. :
Webster et al. v8.
Webster et al. Jesse S. Perrin v3. John A. Thompson. Jesse S. Perrin US. Appeal dismissed.
In Chancery. Petition for Partition.
Case continued for publication.
Domestic Attachment.
Judgment for the Plaintiff.
On appeal from Justice of the Peace.
Asel Bennett. -
62
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
The names of the petit jurors selected and summoned to serve at that term of court were as follows : Samuel Hartsock, Stephen Martin, Aaron M. Col- lins, B. H. Cleveland, John W. Moore, Jesse Briggs, Zebulon Burch, Jacob Brumbaugh, Lewis Kinsey, J. H. Alexander, David Haydon, George C. Pence, Thomas Estlick, Jesse W. Long, James H. Russan, Daniel Hively, Benjamin Gardner, Benjamin Grable, Benjamin Krusan, James Zolman, John Collins, Philetus Wood, Francis Tulley and William Blair. There were no cases tried by jury, and the court at that term appointed John H. Alexander County Surveyor.
The October term of the Circuit Court was held at the same place by the Associate Judges (in the absence of the President Judge) ; there were no important cases tried. The court held three days, and adjourned until court in course, to meet at the house of Zebulon Burch, in Richland Township. The Circuit Court was held there until the March term, 1841, when the session met at the house of David E. Long on the 29th of March, 1841, and' forth- with adjourned to the house of Abraham Cuppy, in Columbia. The court was composed of the following officers : John W. Wright, President Judge of the Circuit ; Associate Judges, Jacob A. Vanhouten and Benjamin F. Martin ; Lucien P. Ferry, Prosecuting Attorney ; Abraham Cuppy, Clerk, and Richard Collins, Sheriff. The first important criminal case tried in this county, was the case of the State vs. Alexander Smith for forgery, in uttering and tend- ering in payment of a bill for a night's lodging for himself and comrade, John Adams, to Jacob Sine, who kept a house of private entertainment on the Goshen road, just north of Churubusco, a false, forged and counterfeit bank bill of the denomination of $5. They were both arrested and examined before John W. Moore, a Justice of the Peace of Smith Township, and Smith was adjudged guilty, and Adams acquitted. Smith not being able to give bail, was delivered to the Sheriff for safe keeping; there being no jail in the county, and the Board of Commissioners not being willing to incur the expense of send- ing him to the jail of Allen County for safe keeping, he was permitted to run at large by the Sheriff until the next term of court. He was then indicted by the Grand Jury, tried, convicted, and sentenced to State Prison for two years ; he was ably defended by Judge Charles W. Ewing, counsel assigned by the court. The jurors who tried the case were as follows: George C. Pence, John L. Hamilton, John Buck, John Thompson, Jesse Briggs, Samuel Andrews, Joel McPherson, Lewis Kinsey, Robert Gaff, James B. Simcoke, George Harter and Zebulon Burch. Upon the trial of the case, John Adams came into court, and was sworn as a witness in the case, but was ordered from the witness stand into the custody of the Sheriff until the Grand Jury could find an indict- ment against him for perjury (the Grand Jury being then in session in the room adjoining.) In less than one hour, the Grand Jury returned a bill of indictment against him, and he was immediately arraigned upon the indict- ment and pleaded not guilty, and Judge Ewing, his counsel, moved the court
63
HISTORY OF WHITLEY COUNTY.
for a change of venue upon affidavit, which was granted, and the venue changed to the county of Allen. He was tried at the next term of the Allen Circuit Court, commencing the week following, convicted, and sentenced to State Prison for two years. The house where court was held was located on the corner of Main and Jackson streets, where Henry McLallen now resides, being a one-story building divided into two rooms. The jury trying the case of Smith congregated around a large black walnut stump on the opposite corner of the street, near where the Lutheran Church now stands, to deliberate upon their verdict. The bailiff having charge of the jury had some difficulty in keeping them together, on account of the woods in their immediate vicinity.
The first murder committed in the county was by Peen-am-wah, a Potta- watomie Indian, who killed a Miami Indian named A-to-ke-suck, on the 10th day of June, 1843. Coesse, a Miami Indian (brother-in-law of A-to-ke-suck), offered a reward of $200 for the arrest of Peen-am-wah. William Thorn, of North Manchester, followed him into Northern Michigan, arrested him, brought him back, and delivered him to the authorities at Columbia. He was com- mitted to jail by the examining Justice to await the action of the Grand Jury. The next murder committed in the county was by John Turkey, a Miami Indian, who killed a squaw of the Pottawatomie tribe (name unknown), on the 1st of January, 1844. He was arrested, examined and committed to jail to await the action of the Grand Jury. Afterward, at the March term of the Circuit Court, 1844, Peen-am-wah was indicted for an assault and battery with intent to murder; and John Turkey was indicted for murder. They were arraigned upon the indictments, and pleaded not guilty, and both moved the court for a change of venue upon affidavits. The court sustained the motion in each case, and changed the venue in both to the county of Allen, and the prisoners were remanded to jail to await removal by the Sheriff to Allen County. Peen-am-wah, being a desperate Indian, was chained in his cell for better security. Before the close of the March term of court, on the Sheriff's going to the jail in the dusk of the evening with their food, accompanied by John C. Washburn, who remained in the doorway, while the Sheriff went into the jail to feed the prisoners and look after their wants, Peen-am-wah, having by some means separated a link in his chain, rushed past the Sheriff, knocked Washburn out of the door, and both prisoners made their escape, and were never arrested again ; the woods coming within a few rods of the jail, and the Indians being expert woodsmen, made good their escape. The county was thereby saved of a large expenditure in the trial and probable execution of John Turkey, and no good could have possibly resulted from it to the county, and would have only incensed the Indians.
The first murder trial of a white man in the county was the State against Samuel Pegg, for the murder of his son, on the 1st day of October, 1843. He was indicted and tried at the March term of the Circuit Court, 1845, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to State prison for the term of eight years.
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