USA > Indiana > Boone County > Early life and times in Boone County, Indiana, giving an account of the early settlement of each locality, church histories, county and township officers from the first down to 1886 Biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and women. > Part 14
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EARLY LIFE AND TIMES IN
EARLY PHYSICIANS OF BOONE COUNTY.
BY DR. A. G. PORTER OF LEBANON.
Dr. William N. Duzan was born in the State of Tennessee, in 1809, where he read medicine, but did not practice there to any extent. He came with his father, Rev. William Duzan, to Clarkstown about the year 1836, and where his best days were spent. Shortly after his arrival he commenced practice, which steadily increased, extending through the east part of Boone and the west part of Hamilton counties, his father's farm being on the line just east of Clarkstown. Late in life he married a lady in Indianapolis, and about the year 1856, removed there, where his home has mostly been ever since, except, perhaps, a short stay in Arkansas and California. Dr. Duzan was a peculiar man-a natural doctor, if there is any such a being. His extensive practice gave him large expe- rience, which he was quick to learn. At one time no man in Boone County had a more extensive practice than Dr. Duzan. Of quick, nervous temperment, rather high strung, he loved a friend and hated an enemy as well. In person he was of medium size, auburn hair, small piercing eyes, and an unflinch- ing Democrat. He died at Indianapolis, August, 1886 ; buried at Crown Hill.
Dr. Jeremiah Larimore was born in Fayette County, Ind., about the year 1825. His father, H. G. Larimore, was also a physician, who was his tutor. In 1834 Jeremiah, then a lad of nine years, came with his father to Eagle Village, where his education was mostly acquired in the common schools of the day. At the age of twenty-one he went to Missouri, attended medical school and practiced three or four years and where he married, in 1845. Soon after he returned to his for- mer home, Eagle Village, where he at once obtained an ex- tensive practice, in fact, beyond what he could do. This con- tinued until the year 1849, when he went to California, where he remained three years. Returning to his old home he again
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regained his lost practice. When Eagle Village went down he went to Zionsville, where he practiced several years ; then to Whitestown, where he again built up a fair practice. Dr. Larimore was in many respects a splendid man and doctor. The cup finally was his ruin, however. He died in Indianap- olis in 1879 or 1880; is buried at Mount Run Cemetery. In person he was fine looking, fair complexion, auburn hair, near six feet high.
Dr. Samuel K. Hardy, one of the early doctors of North- field, was born in Virginia, married Miss Sarah Larimore, in Fayette County, Ind. He commenced the practice of medicine in Northfield, Boone County, in 1844, where he remained a number of years, and where he built up an extensive practice, subsequently removing to Zionsville where he continued in practice. He died there a few years ago. In person Dr. Hardy was tall, rawboned, of rather angular build, dark hair and complexion. He is the father of Dr. J. S. Hardy, of Whitestown, this county.
Dr. Pressly was one of the pioneer doctors of Northfield, coming away back in the thirties. I am unable to say where he was born or died.
Dr. A. J. McLeod was also an early doctor of Northfield. Am unable to say where he was born nor the time he first came to Northfield. It was prior to 1850. He was a Baptist. His whereabouts are to me unknown.
Dr. Rodman was born in Ohio about the year 1820; came to Boone County when twenty-one years of age; read medi- cine with Dr. W. N. Duzan, of Clarkstown, Ind. In the year 1845 he commenced the practice of medicine at Eagle Village, where he was married to Martha Rose in 1847. He built up, in the course of time, a fair practice in and about Eagle Vill- age, and where he remained up to 1853, when he removed to Zionsville. He practiced there ten or fifteen years, when his wife died. He again married Mrs. Beemer. He moved to Washington Territory some ten years ago and resides there now, 1887. Dr. Rodman was a noble-hearted man, full of
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human kindness first, last and all the time ; was an uncom- promising Democrat of the old Jacksonian school. He was a well-informed doctor and had fair success in his practice, which was at one time quite extensive. In person he was well made, weighing one hundred and seventy-five pounds, fair complexion, dark hair and blue eyes. At one time he was a partner of George W. Duzan, at Zionsville.
Dr. George W. Duzan, Sen., was born in Tennessee in 1812; came with the Duzan family to this county in 1834. He read medicine with his brother, W. N. Duzan, and prac- ticed with him for years in and about Clarkstown, their early home. About the year 1850 he was married to a lady near Augusta, in Marion County, and there removed and practiced for several years. Finally he went to Indianapolis, at which place he did not practice to any extent. He died near that city in May, 1886, and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. Dr. Duzan was a strong Methodist, and at one time an able preacher. In person he was rather under size in height, would weigh one hundred and sixty-five pounds, fair com- plexion and auburn hair. During his study he overtaxed his eyesight, from which he never fully recovered. He will long be remembered by many to whom he has ministered physically and spiritually. He leaves a family near the city of Indiana- polis. He is an uncle of G. N. Duzan, of Zionville. Dr. W. N. Duzan is also an uncle of G. N. Duzan, of Zionsville.
Dr. George L. Burk was born in Kentucky. His parents moved to this county in 1836 or 1837, and settled in the wild . woods in the western part of Jefferson Township. His father died soon after, leaving his mother with a large family and small means. The subject of this article, while young, went to Gosport, in this state, where he read medicine with Dr. Taylor. In the spring of 1844 he began the practice of his profession in Montgomery County, two or three miles west of Shannondale. During the holidays of that year he moved to Jamestown, in this (Boone) county, where he has resided ever since, and is to-day a living monument of what energy and
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common sense, when properly applied, can do. At James- town he went into a large and lucrative practice, and has held the same up to the present, a term of forty-three years. He is yet hale at the age of sixty-five years, is a fine specimen of physical manhood, open-hearted and generous to a fault. None were so poor as not to be able to command his services. Dr. Burk started in the world under any but flattering circum- stances, poor and comparatively uneducated ; yet by his force of character, his zeal and industry, he reached a prominent standing in the county, and rises at four o'clock, A. M., to this- day.
Dr. John J. Nesbit came to this county in 1835 or '36, and began his professional life at Thorntown. Soon, however, he moved to Lebanon, where he had a fair practice and enjoyed the undivided confidence of the people. He was remarkable for his fine appearance personally, was an excellent conversa- tionalist, happy under most all circumstances. Was elected county treasurer in 1850, after which service he went to the farm, and finally, when his health failed, he moved back to Prebble County, Ohio, his native county, where he died of consumption, in 1864, lamented by all whose pleasure it had been to make his acquaintance.
Dr. Jesse S. Reagan was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1831, is, consequently, fifty-seven years old. Came to this county in 1852, and began the practice of medicine at Reese's Mills in 1854. Is a man of strict integrity and fair ability, with great energy and industry. He has remained at the same point where he began his successful professional career to the present. He has enjoyed the fullest confidence of the people. Was elected clerk of the Circuit Court in November, 1886. Is a man of good constitution, enjoys fair health and is in affluent circumstances.
Dr. H. G. Larimore, one of the pioneer doctors of Boone County, came to Eagle Village in the year 1836, where he practiced medicine for over forty years, with fair success as an old time doctor. The doctor in his make-up had vim and fire
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about him. He was a strict Methodist and an old-time whig. He was four times married. About the year 1860 he moved to Fayette County, Indiana, and died there a few years later . in his ninety-first year. He was the father of Dr. Jeremiah Larimore, Thomas J. Larimore, Mrs. Eliza Imbler, G. W. Larimore, Mrs. Sarah Hogan, Mrs. G. A. Titus, Mrs. Mary -, formerly Miss Mary Larimore. Dr. Jerry is buried at Mounts Run Cemetery. Eliza resides one and one-half miles east of Zionsville; T. J. Larimore, deceased ; G. W., whereabouts not known ; G. A. resides in Clinton Township; Mary in Rush County, Indiana ; Sarah in Zionsville. Dr. H. G. Larimore was a strong Methodist all his life.
Dr. W. P. Davis was an Ohio man. Came to Thorntown in 1837 or '38 ; removed to Lebanon in 1840 Was a man of more than ordinary ability ; positive in his convictions, and politically was radically a Whig. Afterwards he became an intense Republican. He died in DesMoines, Iowa, in 1878.
Dr. William M. Simpkins was born in Ohio. Came to Lebanon in 1839. Was as fine a specimen of physical man- hood as any country produces, and possessed full medium ability in his profession, and was full of energy and industry, and died in 1849 at his home in this place, of consumption, the result of hard work, exposure and sleepless nights. No ' man was ever more interested in the welfare of his patients.
Dr. A. G. Porter, who wrote the above, and has done it so well, is too modest to say anything about himself, while so worthy. It is left to one to write about him who is unprepared. What he says about his fellow Drs. respecting their ability and worth might truthfully be said about him, so long and well known in Lebanon, the home of his youth, his manhood, his old days. He is honored and highly respected among all, and as a Dr. he has no superior in the county. Always ready to go to the bedside of the sick and dying, whether there was any money or not in the visit, how could he be otherwise than loved ? He has always acted in the Democratic party, and was the nominee for County Recorder in 1886, but was
AARON SMITH.
.
FRANCES SMITH.
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BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
defeated by a few votes by F. M. Moody. The Dr. has a fine practice in Lebanon, where we hope he may live long and prosper. I thank him for writing so long and well of the early Drs. of the county, only regreting so poor a tribute in return.
.
12
GEOLOGY OF BOONE COUNTY.
S. S. GORBY AND S. E. LEE.
Boone County, named in honor of the heroic pioneer of Kentucky, was organized by act of the legislature in 1829. It is situated just west of the center of the state, and is bounded on the north by Clinton County, on the east by Hamilton, on the south by Marion and Hendricks, and on the west by Mont- gomery. The county is twenty-four miles in length from east to west, and eighteen miles in width from north to south, and embraces an area of 432 square miles.
At the time of its organization Boone County was a dense wilderness, the total population being less than five hundred. The following table, taken from the United States Census Re- ports, shows the population of the county in the several de- cades since 1830 :
Population in 1830
621
1840
8,121
1850
11,631
1860
16,753
1870
22,593
1880
. 25,922
12 -
There are twelve civil townships in the county, viz : Sugar Creek, in the northwest corner of the county ; Washington and Clinton, in the northern part of the county ; Marion, in the northeast corner ; Jefferson, in the Western; Center, in the central, and Union, in the eastern part of the county ; Jackson, in the southwest; Harrison and Perry, in the south- ern, and Worth and Eagle, in the southeastern part of the county.
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Lebanon, the county seat, is in the exact geographical cen- ter of the county. The second principal meridian runs through the center of the city. The population of Lebanon in 1870 was 1,572; in 1880 it was 2,625, an encouraging increase.
Lebanon is mainly a commercial city, though manufactures receive considerable attention. Commodious and elegant churches, school buildings and other public structures attest the enterprise, taste and general prosperity of the citizens. The Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad passes through the city, running a northwest and southeast direction through the county. This road furnishes excellent facilities for traffic. The Midland Railroad, formerly known as the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad, runs nearly due west from the east line of the county until it reaches Lebanon, where it crosses the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad, and then pursues a south westerly course to the Montgomery County line. The Midland Rail- road is now in process of construction, and it is expected that it will be completed at an early day. The proposed Toledo & St. Louis Air Line Railroad runs south westerly across the northwest corner of the county, crossing the Cincinnati, In- dianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad at Thorntown. A considerable portion of this road was graded some years ago, but owing to a lack of funds to complete the road the work was temporarily abandoned. The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad crosses the southwest corner of the county.
The public roads of the county are being rapidly put into the very best condition. No county in the state is at the present time showing more enterprise in the construction of gravel roads and other public improvements than Boone. With one or two exceptions the graveled roads are all free. The very best of gravel for road building is found at conven- ient points, and the citizens are rapidly utilizing this excellent and cheap material in every part of the county.
Thorntown, situated in the northwestern corner of the
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BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
county, in Sugar Creek Township, is a pleasantly situated town of nearly 2,000 population. It is an important station upon the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad.
Zionsville, the next town in size and commercial import- ance, is situated in the southeastern corner of the county, in Eagle Township. The population of this town, in 1880, was 855. It is a station on the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad.
Jamestown, a station on the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad, is situated in the southwest corner of the county, in Jackson Township. This is a growing town, also, which had, in 1880, a population of 696.
Besides the towns above enumerated, there are the follow- ing named villages, many of which show remarkable evidences of prosperity :
Whitestown, on the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad, in Worth Township; Holmes Station, in the southeast corner of Center Township, on the same rail- road ; Eagle Village, one mile northeast of Zionsville ; North- field, in Union Township, five miles north of Zionsville ; Rosston, one mile northwest of Northfield; Royalton, five miles southwest of Zionsville; Fayette, in Perry Township, three miles west of "Royalton ; Brunswick, six miles east of Jamestown ; Millegeville, six miles south of Lebanon ; Advance, nine miles southwest of Lebanon; Dover, eight miles west of Lebanon ; Mechanicsburg, eight miles north of Lebanon; Elizaville, seven miles northeast of Lebanon ; Ratsburg, three miles east of Lebanon ; Slabtown, nine miles northeast of Lebanon, and Big Springs, three miles southeast of Slabtown.
The territory embraced in Boone County was originally the home of the Eel River tribe of the Miami Indians, from whom it was acquired by treaty and purchase in 1828. As early as 1819 the French and Indians had a trading-post at Thorntown. It is even claimed by some historians that the
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trading-post at Thorntown was established as early as the year 1715. The Indians continued to occupy the county, to some extent, until 1835.
The first permanent white settler in Boone County was Patrick H. Sullivan, who located near the site of Zionsville, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1826. Jesse Lane settled in the eastern part of the county, near Northfield, in 1826. George Dye, a noted Indian scout and enterprising pioneer, with his family, settled in the same vicinity soon after. Settlements were commenced at Thorntown and. Jamestown at about the same period.
Lebanon was located, named, surveyed and platted, and made the county seat in 1830. Mechanicsburg was surveyed and platted in 1835. The Michigan Road was located through the county in 1828.
For a number of years the growth of the county was slow, compared with many other counties in the state, but recent years have shown a marked increase in the population. The material growth of the county, in the meantime, has fully kept pace with the advance in population. The farming lands of the county are of the most productive character, and suscep- tible of the highest state of cultivation. The best improved farm machinery may readily be operated upon any of the farm lands. The intelligent manner in which the fields are being cultivated gives evidence of the fact that the benefits to be derived from superior cultivation are fully appreciated by the Boone County farmers.
The Boone County Agricultural Society holds an annual fair at Lebanon, and the displays of stock, choice cereals, fruits and vegetables exhibited there rank with those of the very best agricultural counties of the state.
TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE.
Boone County lies wholly within the drift area of Indiana, consequently the surface consists of level or gently rolling lands. he central portion of the county consists of a broad, slightly
.. ......
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BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
elevated plateau, with frequent depressed areas of considerable extent. These depressions, though now only a few feet in depth, formerly accumulated enough water and vegetable matter to form in many places swamps or bogs of considerable depth. Thorough drainage, however, has transformed these impassible swamps into fertile fields, and the numerous bogs that formerly yielded nothing but malarial poisons, now produce enormous crops of grain, grass and fruit. This plateau forms the height of land or summit between White River and the Wabash. It is really a low, broad ridge, or series of ridges, built up of the transported sand, gravel, bowlders and clays of the glacial period. The general direction of the ridge is from east to west.
The eastern part of the county, along Eagle Creek, is con- siderably rolling. Eagle Creek rises in Marion Township, in the northeast corner of the county, flows south, until it reaches the Hendricks County line, whence it pursues a southeasterly course to White River, into which it flows a few miles below Indianapolis. Several small branches enter Eagle Creek from the east and west, and the modifications of the surface produced by the erosions of these small streams tend to create a diversity of surface scenery that would otherwise have maintained a monotonous outline.
The southeastern part of the county, in the vicinity of Zionsville, and west for five or six miles, is quite rolling. Numerous small, deep valleys lie between high, prominent ridges. The general direction pursued by the small streams in this part of the county is southerly, consequently the ridges generally run north and south. ' The valleys are the result of local erosions since the deposition of the drift. The depth of the valley's varies from twenty-five to one hundred and twenty- five feet. Fishback Creek, which rises near Whitestown, flows south through this region.
The north and south forks of Eel River rise in the central part of the county and flow southwesterly to the Hendricks County line near Jamestown. The two branches unite about
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two miles northeast of Jamestown. The course of Eel River, after it leaves Boone County, is southwesterly, then southerly, until it finally unites with the west fork of White River, at Worthington, in Greene County.
The southern part of the county is generally level, or only slightly rolling, except a considerable portion along Eel River and the smaller water courses, which, owing to erosions, is more rolling and declivitous. West of Lebanon, and south and west of Dover, and also in the vicinity of Advance, the lands are just sufficiently rolling to give suitable facilities for draining the occasional swampy tracts. Raccoon Creek flows southwesterly through Jackson Township, and Walnut Creek flows westerly through the southern part of Jefferson Town- ship. Muskrat Creek flows westerly through the central part of Jefferson Township, while Wolf Creek flows northwesterly through the northern part of the same township, and empties into Sugar Creek about two miles west of Thorntown. These streams, with their smaller branches, receive the drainage from the swampy tracts through the surface ditches and under- ground tiles.
Sugar Creek rises in the eastern part of Clinton County and flows southwesterly until it crosses the Boone County line north of Lebanon. It then flows a westerly course through the northwest corner of Boone County. Crossing the Mont- gomery County line, it again pursues a southwesterly course to the Wabash River. Prairie Creek, which rises in the vicinity of Lebanon, flows northwesterly through Center, Washington and Sugar Creek townships, and empties into Sugar Creek just north of Thorntown. Mud Creek, and some other small streams, rise in the northern part of the county and flow into Sugar Creek.
The citizens of Boone County fully appreciate the benefits to be derived from a thorough system of drainage. When the swamps and bogs of the county are thoroughly drained there are no lands in the state that excel them in productiveness. The number of rods of drain tile in operation in the county in
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BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
1882, was 293,484; in 1883, 397,862; in 1884, 519,151, or 1,622 miles. During 1884 there were constructed 4,160 rods- -thirteen miles of surface ditches. In a few more years a perfect and complete system of drainage will be in operation throughout the entire county.
SOIL AND PRODUCTS.
The following is the definition of " loam ": " A soil chiefly composed of silicious sand, clay and earbonate of lime, with more or less of the oxide of iron, magnesia and various salts, and also decayed vegetable and animal matter, giving propor- tionate fertility."
The soils of Boone County consist largely of a loam com- posed of the materials enumerated above. A large portion of decomposed vegetable matter enters into the composition of the soil in all the low, swampy tracts, and the great fertility of these lands when they are thoroughly drained, is well known to every agriculturist.
Frequent patches oecur throughout the county, varying in extent from a few acres to several hundred acres, where the soil consists of light-colored or gray clay. This clay contains a large per cent. of silica, and it is probably a mass of the blue or bowlder clay exposed at the surface, and changed to a light- gray color by years of bleaching and washing. Without the liberal application of fertilizers this clay soil does not produce profitably. In some localities there is a very large proportion of sand in the soil, in others clay predominates, and in others various modifications of the two elements produce soils of great diversity. These diverse conditions of the soil enable the farmers to cultivate a greater variety of crops with success and profit. A proper knowledge of the constituent elements of the soil, and a further kuowledge of the elements required to produce a particular crop, will enable the farmer to apply economically the very elements required to make his land yield the desired crop. In a county like Boone, where there is not necessarily an acre of waste land, where the land is gen-
-
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erally level or nearly so, and where there is no waste of the fer- tile elements of the soil during the periodical rainy seasons, the thorough application of suitable fertilizers is attended with the most satisfactory results.
Nature has already accomplished much for the farmers of Boone by the deposition of suitable sub-soil and later accum- ulations containing the most productive elements. To retain the productive qualities of the most fertile lands, and bring the less productive areas up to the highest standard of excellence, and at the same time secure remunerative crops from his tilled land, is the ultimate object of every farmer in the management of his farm. To accomplish this he must have a perfect sys- tem of drainage in operation upon his farm ; he must exercise care in securing a proper rotation of erops so as not to exhaust the soil, and then, by the continued application of those fertil- izers that will restore the lost elements, and a careful cultiva- tion of the crops, he may expect the most remunerative results.
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