USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Early reminiscences of Indianapolis, with short biographical sketches of its early citizens, and a few of the prominent business men of the present day > Part 5
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He is a man of very general information, warm and devoted in his friendship, has represented his county in the lower branch of the legislature, was a good and efficient member, was an old line whig, and most sincerely devoted to the party and its measures, and, with the most of his associates in pol- ities, when that party was disbanded, went into the Republican ranks, and during the rebellion was a strong Union man, and advocated the prosecution of the war with great warmth and zeal. The only one of his household capable of bearing arms was his son-in-law, the husband of his only daughter, Wm. N. Mckenzie, who volunteered the first year, and served three years; was taken prisoner, and a portion of the time served in Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia. There is no man more respected among his numerous friends and acquain- tances than Cyrus Whetzel. He is well known in this city, which has been his principal trading-place since the first log cabin trading-house was established here, in the winter of 1821. He is a man of great firmness and determination, and
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Early Reminiscences.
no person can mistake the ground he occupies on any subject, after conversing with him five minutes. He advocates his opinions with great earnestness and fervor, and is never at a loss for language to make himself distinctly understood.
His hospitality is as generally and favorably known as that of any man in the State; his house has been the stopping- place for public men and politicians of all parties, in their electioneering tours, for near fifty years, all of whom have received kind and courteous treatment at his hands, and from his estimable lady, now deceased. From his door no weary traveler was ever turned away hungry, no beggar empty- handed, no friend without an invitation to "call again."
As he is one of the links that connect the past with the present generation, so is he of many pleasing reminiscences connecting the past with the present. And when he shall be taken from among the living the country will have lost one of its best men, this city one of its most liberal patrons, his children a kind and indulgent father, and the writer, if liv- ing, a warm personal friend.
JAMES BLAKE.
When I come to write of this venerable and good man, I am carried back near half a century to my childhood's tender years, when he, as my Sabbath-school teacher, first taught me to lisp the A, B, C, at the school first organized and kept in Caleb Scudder's cabinet-shop, on the south side of the State House Square, in the year 1823. Mr. B. came to this place on the 25th day of July, 1821. A single man, but rather on the bachelor order, he soon became a great gallant of, and a favorite with, the young ladies and belles of the day. The late Calvin Fletcher told many anecdotes of his early gallantry.
He was an inmate of my father's family soon after his arri- val here. The first year of his residence nearly every person
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James Blake.
was down with fever and ague. Indeed, in many families there was hardly one able to hand another a drink of water. It was a time just such a man as Mr. B. was useful, although shaking nearly every other day with ague himself. He would employ the well days in gathering the new corn and grating it on a horse-radish grater into meal to make mush for the convalescent. Indeed, our family, as well as others, would have suffered for food had it not been for his kind offices in this way, not only because the mush made from the new corn was more palatable, but the old could not be got, as there were no mills nearer than Good Landers, on the Whitewater River.
Mr. Blake has ever been hand in hand with Mr. James M. Ray, Dr. Isaac Cox, and others, in all the benevolent and charitable associations of the day, as well as such public en- terprises as would be beneficial and calculated to add to the prosperity of the place. He was never ostentatious in his acts of charity, many of which were unknown to all save himself and the recipient.
I have known him to provide for the wife and family of an intemperate man (who had deserted them) for some time, un- til they were able to take care of and provide for themselves. This circumstance had slipped my memory entirely until re- minded of it a few days since by the man himself.
During the time there was so much sickness in the sum- mer of 1821, my father was suffering for water, and no one able to draw a bucket. He crept to the door of the cabin and saw a man passing. He beckoned to him and requested him to draw a bucket of water. "Where is your friend Blake," the man inquired. "He, too, was taken sick this morning," was the answer. "What on earth are the people to do now?" said the man. "God had spared him to take care of the people; they would now suffer as they never had before."
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Early Reminiscences.
Ile acted upon the precepts of the Bible, and did good and dispensed his blessings as he went along. The first house of worship I ever attended in this place he was there, a young man in the pride and strength of manhood, and in the last (at this writing), where the Rev. Mr. Hammond was officiating, I saw him with his religious zeal unabated, al- though the frosts of forty-eight additional winters have fallen heavily upon and whitened his head. It was a silent but impressive rebuke to the writer of this humble tribute to his many virtues. It will require no flowers strewn upon his grave to make his memory fresh in the minds of his many friends, who will rather bedew it with their tears.
The late Calvin Fletcher told an anecdote of him. Mr. B. had employed a young lady, of the upper ten of that day, to make him a pair of pantaloons. They were finished and sent home. On examination they were found all right, ex- cept that the waistband buttons were sewed on the wrong side. He showed them to Mr. Fletcher, who told him the young lady intended he should wear them as "Paddy from Cork " did his coat, i. e., buttoned up behind.
Mr. Blake was one of the company that built the first steam mill in this place. He brought the first piano and the first pleasure carriage. It was a two-horse barouche, with leather springs hung over steel, which he drove through from Baltimore with his bride the same year. He was the Presi- dent of the first State Board of Agriculture, organized in 1835. Was a partner with. Samuel Henderson in Wash- ington Hall. He afterwards founded Blakesburg, in Putnam County. He established a factory for clarifying genseng, buying the article in different parts of the State, and ship- ping it cast in large quantities. He was one of the fore- most in establishing the present rolling-mill. He was the first to propose the celebration of the Fourth of July by the different Sunday schools, and was the marshal of the
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James Blake.
different processions as long as the custom was kept up- thirty years. Indeed, there are but few enterprises, either public or private, that he is not identified with.
Although he has had a goodly share of earthly prosperity he has never been avaricious, but used the means God placed in his hands to accomplish good, thereby laying up treasure where thieves could not reach it, nor moth nor rust destroy.
"Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, And c'en his failings leaned to virtue's side ; But in his duty, prompt at every call, He watched, and wept, and prayed for all."
Mr. Blake's personal appearance would attract attention quickly in any crowd. He is of a large, well-turned frame, showing that in his younger days he possessed great physical strength ; very straight and erect in his carriage, with a step as elastic as most men of thirty years of age, and, although now in his eightieth year, is a man that would not be taken for over sixty.
Mr. Blake is a man of great courage and resolution, and does what he considers his duty without regard to conse- quences to himself.
"Virtue is bold and goodness never fearful."
Such is James Blake, one of the first settlers of Indian- apolis.
MAJOR THOMAS CARTER.
The reader will readily perceive that the first and "old settlers " of Indianapolis were generally men of distinction, if we should judge by the handle or title prefixed to their names, especially in the military line. There were none of the lower grades-but few less than a major ; colonels and generals we had without number, although military honors were not so cheap as at the present day.
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Early Reminisccenes.
Major Carter was a major in every sense of the word. He was what John Givens calls a forty-gallon Baptist. He was more conscientious about every other vice than that of drink- ing, yet he did not indulge in the use of the ardent to excess himself. He thought it much more excusable in a person to take a "wee drap of the critter" now and then than it would be to dance, sing wordly songs, or play the fiddle. Hc had a perfect horror of fiddles, and thought the devil incar- nate lay in the bowels of one. Under no circumstances would he allow one about his house.
Major Carter was about the first to start a tavern in Indi- anapolis. He built a double cabin on Berry's Trace early in 1821, and called it a tavern. This cabin lay between Wash- ington and Market streets, just east of Illinois. Subse- quently he built the "Rosebush," just in front of the log house on Washington street. The "Rosebush " was a one and a half story frame building, and, at that day, made a very imposing appearance. While at the " Rosebush " my father and mother took tea with the worthy Major and his lady. The old lady always had an apology ready for any deficiency of variety on the table. On this occasion she "was out of all kind of gardin sass except ham and eggs," and the only fruit she could get "was dried pumpkins."
Mr. Carter did not remain long at the "Rosebush," but built a third tavern on Washington street, opposite the Court House. Here he was very unfortunate. About two weeks after the Legislature convened, in January, 1825, this house burned. It took fire from a keg of ashes, about nine o'clock at night, and was burned entirely to the ground.
In the spring he purchased a two-story frame house of Jacob R. Crumbangh, that stood on Washington street, west of the canal. This house he moved along Washington street to the site of the burnt building. The removal of this build- ing occupied several weeks, and caused more stumps and logs
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Major Thomas Carter.
to be burned and removed from the street than any thing that had yet happened. In this last house the Major continued some time, and seemed to prosper. This house in after years was, perhaps, the scene of more ludicrous incidents than any other house in town. After Carter left it, it was kept by per- sons of both high and low degree, among whom were John Hays, Jordan Vigus, Peter Newland, Pruett, and General Rob- ert Hanna. It was at this house in which was held the first mechanics' ball in Indianapolis, and which created so much dissatisfaction at that time. There were no police officers then to keep down the uproarious, and on this occasion the dissatisfied parties behaved in a manner very detrimental to the furniture of the dining-room and glassware of the bar.
At this house, when kept by Carter, the first theatrical per- formance took place in this city, an account of which I wrote some years since, and which was published in several papers in the State. In order to show Mr. Carter's aversion to fiddles I will copy it at the close of this chapter. While Governor Ray kept this house he had painted on one side of the sign "Travelers' Ray House, Cheap." On the reverse was "Traveler's Ray House, Cash." It was while keeping this house the Governor made the prediction that there were then persons living who would see the State checkered with railroads in all directions. It was in this house he proposed a plan for building a railroad from Charleston, South Caro- lina, to the Northern lakes. It was from this house eman- ated many projects of State policy that were ridiculed at the time, but which were afterwards adopted and successfully carried out. It was then thought they were the production of a disorganized and demented brain. Although not more than thirty-five years have elapsed since these predictions were made, our State is truly checkered over with railroads, with eleven centering into this city, and dircet railroad com- munication from Charleston, South Carolina, with the Northern
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Early Reminiscences.
lakes, although the Governor's plan was not carried out in the construction of the roads. One of his plans was to cut the tops of the trees off in the valleys to bring them on a level with the hills, and run the track over them to save grading and excavation.
While Mr. Carter kept this house, and " during the session of the Legislature, in the winter of 1825 to 1826, a strolling player by the name of Crampton visited this place for the purpose of giving the denizens of the Hoosier metropolis the benefit of his entertainments of legerdemain, hocus pocus, etc. " As there was no public hall or room (as now) suitable for such an entertainment, he applied to the proprietor of the largest tavern in the place for the use of his dining-room.
"Mr. Carter had no kind of objection to his having his dining-room for the purpose. But the shows that usually came into the 'settlements' always had music on the fiddle, and he could not think of suffering the fiddle to be played in his house.
"Mr. Crampton assured him that he (Crampton) was as much opposed to the fiddle as Carter could possibly be, and that the only music he required or ever tolerated was the violin, and under no circumstance should a fiddle be intro- duced at the performance. With this understanding Carter consented to let him have the room.
"Accordingly due notice was given that upon a certain evening Monsieur Crampton, just from Paris, would give a series of entertainments in the dining-room of Carter's Hotel.
" Nothing more was wanting to congregate the entire pop- ulation of Indianapolis within the walls of that room, about twenty by thirty feet in size.
" All things being ready the doors were opened, whereupon a well-known character named ' Bill Bagwell' struck up the tune of 'Leather Breeches,' upon the fiddle.
" But suddenly the entertainment, that but a few moments
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Major Thomas Carter.
before bid so fair to go off without molestation, was brought to a dead halt. Mr. Carter appeared, cane in hand, and de- manded that the music should be stopped; that it was the understanding between him and Monsieur Crampton that there should be no music except on the violin.
"Monsieur Crampton assured Mr. Carter that he was mis- taken, as this was a violin he had brought with him from Paris.
"'No,' says Carter, 'I can't be mistaken, for Bill Bagwell can't play on anything else than a fiddle.'
"Bill, speaking, says, 'Major, just bring in a bottle of Bayou Blue and see how I'll play on it. You are mistaken, Major ; this is nothing but a violin.'
"Major Carter for a while seemed inexorable, but finally consented that, inasmuch as the congregation had assembled, he would permit the performance to go on with the fiddle if they would play nothing but Psalm tunes. 'But,' says Car- ter, 'Bill Bagwell can't play Psalm tunes; he never heard one, much less played one.'
" Here he was again at fault, for Bill assured him he was raised at the 'Great Crossing,' in Kentucky, and that he then and there was a member in good standing in the Baptist Church, and learned many Psalm tunes, and as an evidence of the truth of his assertions struck up the tune of 'Jesus my all to Heaven is gone.'
"This, to Carter, was a clincher, and made all right. So the performance went on, and was closed with 'Yankee Doodle' from the orchestra, by request. All seemed well pleased with the entertainment, and none more so than Mr. Carter himself, especially with that part of it under the im- mediate charge of Professor Bagwell.
"Major Carter has long since been gathered to his fathers, and died in full hope of blessed reunion with his friends hereafter.
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Eurly Reminiscences.
" The last the writer remembers to have seen of Bill Bag- well was on a coal boat at the Louisville wharf, playing the violin."
CALEB REYNOLDS.
There was none that knew from whenee he came, or whither he went ; but he did go, and all were glad. What manner of man he was it was hard to tell; had not his size precluded the possibility, he might have been taken for a cross between a baboon and a skunk.
Ile had a cabin in Washington street, in front of Masonic Hall; he was a bricklayer by trade, but for three reasons did not follow the business. The first reason was, there was no brick to lay; second, if there had been he was too lazy to lay them; the third was, no person would employ him. His bu- siness was conceded to be foraging upon the neighboring smoke-houses, corn-cribs, and hen-roosts at night, and im- posing upon the credulity of those that did not know him, in day time.
In his composition the animal rather predominated, as will be demonstrated by the following incident: Mr. Landis had received a barrel of fresh apple butter; Reynolds wished to make a bargain for what he could eat; Mr. Landis, knowing his customer, had none to sell him in that way; but a person present bet him the price of a gallon that he could not eat it at one sitting. Cale readily accepted the bet, and won it, costing the gentleman-about two dollars, and, very nearly, the county the price of a coffin. Suffice it to say, for a while the smoke-houses could be left unlocked, the corn-eribs were unmolested, and the chickens roosted without interruption.
Cale wore a coat made from a saddle blanket, which he had colored with walnut hulls, giving it the color of a buf- falo, this gave him the sobriquet of " Buffalo Cale," as there were two persons by the name of Caleb.
Caleb Reynolds.
A man called "Big Bije Smith," compelled him to get down on "all fours," he then fastened a bridle to his head, and put a saddle on his back, mounting it as he would a horse, and in this manner forced Reynolds to carry him into the grocery. Smith then addressed Mr. Landis in this style : "Landlord, take this brute animal of mine, put him in some deseparate apartment, give him some junutrals suitable for his frail body, and I will absurd you in the morning." Smith then took Cale by the back of the neck and seat of his pan- taloons and threw him out of a window into the back yard. Cale used to say it did not require any of the letters of the alphabet to spell his name; he spelled it in this way :
" A frog ran down the hill with his tail up, Spelled Caleb ; Two whiskey jugs and funnels, Spelled Reynolds."
Shortly after this rough treatment of Smith's he was caught in a steel trap that was placed in the inside of a corn-crib, near where he was in the habit of thrusting his hand for the corn. The trap was chained inside to a log, and he was com- pelled to stand there with his hand in the trap until released by the owner of the corn, who found him about daylight standing by the crib. "Good morning Mr. Reynolds," said he, "wont you walk in?" "My dear friend," said Cale, "do let me go, and for the sake of my family say nothing about it." This led him to believe that the best thing he could do for Indianapolis and himself would be to emigrate, which he did without calling to bid his friends good bye. It is said that history repeats itself; if so, that portion of the history of Indianapolis, in which "Buffalo Cale" figured, I hope will be deferred until after my day.
This Abijah Smith was a very large, fleshy man, and very dissipated; always ready to attend log-rollings and house- raisings for the sake of the whisky. In the spring of 1829
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Early Reminiscences.
he was at a log-rolling at old Mr. Kyle's, near Broad Ripple. After the day's work was over, he lay down by one of the burning piles of logs, and was found next morning, com- pletely roasted. He was yet alive though insensible, and suffered a few days, when he died a most horrible death. This was the second man that had been burned to death while in a state of intoxication.
Two boys, sons of Lismund Basey and Samuel S. Rooker, had been burned to death, by their clothes taking fire, while playing around burning log piles.
BILLY TOWNSEND.
Or, Uncle Billy Townsend, as called by both young and old, was from Guilford County, North Carolina. How near he lived to Beard's hatter-shop, I am unable to tell, although I know that shop was in Guilford County. Uncle Billy arrived in Wayne County in the fall of 1820, left his family there, came out to this place and built a cabin preparatory to mov- ing out in the spring. It was in this cabin we lived the first few days of our residence in this place.
Mr. Townsend was a short, thick, rotund man, pretty near as round as a pumpkin; he was a quaker, dressing in their style, and used their dialect. He was a very clever man, and an obliging neighbor, but sometimes very irritable, and could be as contrary as any person if he wished to, and often let his passion get the advantage of the mildness of the Quaker.
As has been said in another chapter, Uncle Billy's cabin happened to be where Kentucky avenue was afterward laid out, and the Agent of State, General John Carr, intimated to Mr. Townsend that he would have to remove the house; for the necessity of this Mr. T. could see no immediate cause, as it was all in the woods, and could not be used. This irri- tated the old man, and he got very angry with the agent while talking the matter over; he jerked off his coat and
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Billy Townsend.
violently threw it to the ground, saying, " Lay there Quaker, until I administer to the 'gineral' a gentle chastisement." This the general politely declined to receive at his hands, and the matter was finally compromised. While living in this cabin one of Mr. Townsend's children died, and was buried close to the house; but after the graveyard was located, it was taken up and reburied there. This was the first white person that died in this place (not Mrs. Maxwell, as stated in Logan's history). This child died in May, 1821, from the effects of a burn she received while living in Wayne County.
Mr. Townsend then bought land on Lick Creek, four miles south of town, improved a farm, and built a mill; but subse- quently, say about 1825, sold out and went to White Lick, In Hendricks County, where he also built a mill, and for many years furnished a good portion of the flour that was consumed in this place.
He afterward represented Hendricks County in the Legis- lature, and was the author and projector of the celebrated financial measure, known as "Billy Townsend's Bank Bill." This bill provided that the State Treasurer should find out the exact indebtedness of every adult citizen of the State, and cause a corresponding amount of bank paper to be issued and pay over to each individual an amount equivalent to his liabilities. Unfortunately for the success of the scheme, there was no means provided by this bill for the ultimate redemption of the paper. The discussion of the merits and demerits of this bill occupied several nights, toward the close of the session, when the members wished a little sport. The bill eventually passed both houses (as Mr. Townsend thought), while the bill was under consideration in the Senate. A reso- lution was offered and passed, admitting Mr. Townsend to a seat, and as a member of the Senate during the pending of his bill. A committee was appointed to conduct him to a seat, as Senator, pro tem.
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Early Reminiscences.
After the passage of the bill in the Senate (which was late at night), Mr. Townsend, with others, was appointed by the chair as a committee to wait on the Governor and request his signature, that it might become a law. Mr. Townsend (with tears of joy in his eyes) presented the bill to Governor Whit- comb for his signature, and was not willing to take any denial or excuse until the Governor had to tell him he was the victim of a hoax.
Mr. Townsend died about fifteen years since (1854), at a good old age, leaving a large and respectable family living on White Lick, in Hendrick's County, all of whom are prosper- ous farmers and in good circumstances; and if this should meet their eye, I hope they will take no offence at my noting the part their father took in the early history of Indianapolis. With all his peculiarities he was an honest man and a good citizen, which is more than I could say of the person whose name stands at the head of the preceding chapter.
JOSEPH PRYOR DUVALL,
Father of the well-known detective of that name, came to this place about the year 1821. He was a Kentuckian in every sense of the word, and was from near the "Stamping Ground," in Scott County, a section of Kentucky noted for its "sharp-shooting rifles," fine horses, and pretty women. Mr. D. provided himself with oue of each of the former before he left " Old Kentuck," but neglected to secure one of the latter. However, that deficiency he supplied soon after his arrival here, in the person of Miss Sally Wood, daughter of David Wood, Esq.
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