USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume II > Part 34
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This little township was exclusively rural, having neither village nor per- manent postoffice within its limits until after the construction of the Big Four rail- road through the central part of the county, unless a half interest in the old town site of Centerville, on the line between Blue River and Stony Creek townships, for many years extinct, could have been claimed as a village. Since the building of the Big Four Road, the prosperous and beautiful town of Mooreland has been es- tablished and the postoffice has been re-established at what is now the village of Messick, formerly a neighborhood cross roads.
The census of 1870 showed a population of 861, the smallest number at that time, of any of the thirteen civil divisions of the county. Of this population, 13 were colored : 7 foreigners, 25 Virginians ; and 70 North Carolinians. The pop- ulation, according to the census of 1890 including Mooreland, incorporated, and the village of Messick, was 1,032 ; census of 1900, 1,053.
The farms and improvements on the tax duplicate of 1870, were valued at $269,250, and the personal property at $88.990; total, $358,240. The tax dupli- cate for the year 1904, township, town, and village combined, shows as follows: value of lands, $458,220; value of improvements. $37,070; total, $495.290 ; value of lots, $9,160 ; value of improvements, $32,160 ; total, $41.320 ; total value of per- sonal property of all kinds, $190,620; value of railroad property, no electric lines, $98,040; total value of taxables of all kinds, $825,270; less mortgage exemptions, $43,700 ; leaving net value of taxables for the year named, $781.570. Total taxes levied for the year 1904, township, town and village combined, which taxes in- clude all items enumerated in Dudley Township, with the addition of corporation bond, and street tax for the town of Mooreland, $13,267.09. Total polls in town- ship, 135 : tax, $2.50 each ; polls in Mooreland, 76; tax, $3.25 each.
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HAZZARD S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
At the time the township was established, all elections were ordered to be held at "the home of Philip Moore or at the Meeting House nearby," and they so continued to be held there until after the establishment of Mooreland as above men- tioned, since which time the voting has all been done at Mooreland where there are now two precincts. Vote for 1904, West Blue River precinct, 145; East Blue River precinct, 174; total, 319.
CORPORAL CO. D
ATE
CO.
PR
S
HEPPERD
BOWMAN
LIEUTENANT CO. K
.
1
OHN
E.
COOPER
JOHN
W.
MSCORMACK
PRIVATE
co
CO. D
& THOMAS J. COOK
PRIVATE
Co.
GREEN BERRY
W. HEDGES
ISAAC
N. WRIGHT
070S
MYERS
147th INDIANA INFANTRY.
MU
N
ATE CO. D
PRIV
CHAPTER XXXIX.
COUNTY BUILDINGS AND COUNTY CHARITIES.
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE-THE SECOND COURT HOUSE-THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE-THE NEW ADDITION TO THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE-EARLIER CLERK'S AND RECORDER'S OFFICE-EARLIER AUDITOR'S AND TREASURER'S OFFICE-THE COURT HOUSE SQUARE-THE FIRST JAIL-THE SECOND JAIL -THE PRESENT JAIL-THE PRESENT JAIL SITE-THE STRAY PEN-THE COUNTY ASYLUM - SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE COUNTY ASYLUM-THE FIRST ORPHANS' HOME AT SPICELAND-THE AGED PERSON'S HOME AND ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR THE GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH OF THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA-THE BUNDY HOME AT SPICELAND THE COUNTY BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS.
Section six of the act, providing for the organization of the county of Henry, made it the duty of the commissioners to provide for the erection of suitable county buildings within one year after their election.
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE.
In obedience to this provision, the commissioners, in February, 1823. ordered that :
"The agent of Henry County shall offer for sale to the lowest bidder in the town of New Castle, the building of the court house of Henry County, of the following dimensions, to-wit : being logs twenty two by eighteen feet, each log to face not less than twelve inches at the little end, being seven inches thick, twelve rounds high, with a cabin roof to consist of eleven joists, to be four inches by nine, the joists to be eight feet nine inches from the floor, etc., etc."
The sills of this imposing structure were to be of durable timber, one foot from the ground, with a good rock or stone under each corner, a puncheon floor below and plank floor above, with two windows above and three below, consist- ing of twelve lights each ; and they further instructed that the, "Sale of the above described building be on the Wednesday after the second Monday in May next, with a good door three feet wide, six feet, six inches high."
At the May term following, the board rescinded the above order and at once substituted another with further and more "workmanlike" specifications. In these specifications, the side logs were to be twenty six feet long, and end logs twenty feet, while they were to face at least twelve inches in the middle, and sills and sleepers to be of good durable timber, and to be placed on six suitable sized stones, the floor to be of puncheons hewed smooth and solid, and the lower story
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
to be at least nine feet between joists. The second floor to be of plank, and the second story was to be at least five feet from the floor to the top of the last round of logs, "or square." There were also to be two doors so cut as to make the center of the door "nine feet from the end of the building" (which end is not specified), but they were to be "so hanged as to open on that end of the house intended for spectators," and they were to be hung on strong iron hinges, with a "good lock on what may be considered the front door," and a bar so as to fasten the other. This time there were to be two fifteen-light windows, and a strong partition of banisters, at least four feet high, to separate the court from the spec- tators, with a strong gate in it, fastening on the inside, and the second floor was to be reached by a "good strong set of straight steps, commonly called mill steps." The building was to be "well chinked and daubed and covered with good oak boards confined with sufficient weight poles."
The order for letting the court house provides that it be "advertised in three of the most public places in the county, and in the Western Times, a paper published at Centreville, Wayne County, Indiana," and it was, in "height, ma- terials and construction, to be similar to the court house in Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana."
This building was ordered to be placed on the southeast corner of lot four, block twelve, which located it near the southwest corner of the new addition to the present court house and immediately across the street, north of the Alcazar theatre. So soon as the building was covered, the contractor was to receive twenty dollars of the "purchase money," and it was also stipulated that it was to be completed before the second Monday in February.
According to arrangement, the Agent did "sell the courthouse," on the 14th of May, 1823, to George Barnard, for two hundred and forty seven dollars, and in May following the commissioners adjourned from the house of John Smith to the new court house, which they formally accepted, as it was done according to contract. Once established in a building adequate to the wants and fully com- porting with the dignity and wealth of our flourishing county-one that cost them a sum about equal to the tax duplicate for three years, it cannot be doubted but the commissioners felt immeasurable relief. Doubtless the tax-payers grum- bled at the extravagance of those fellows who could thus squander two hundred and forty seven dollars, and they were soon rewarded by being permitted to retire to the rest and quietude of private life.
This log building, Henry County's first court house, was ready for oc- cupancy early in the year 1824, and it was used for the transaction of all the business of the county, until after the second court house was ordered constructed in 1831. Between the determination to build a new court house (1831), and the time when it was ready for use, in the Winter of 1836-37, the first court house came to be regarded as unfit in which to hold court, and accordingly in 1834. as related by Judge Martin L. Bundy :
"The Board of County Commissioners procured for a court room, which was so used until the new building was ready for occupancy, the old frame Methodist Church, a small structure which stood where the City Hall (Old Methodist Church), now stands. At the first term of court held in this church, Charles H. Test was the presiding judge and William J. Brown, then of Rush-
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
ville (Father of Admiral George Brown, of Indianapolis, retired) was the prose- cuting attorney. My father-in-law, Abraham Elliott, appeared as counsel for Peter Winslow, a colored man who shot at a constable about to levy an execu- tion on his property. This I think was Abraham Elliott's last appearance in court as attorney."
It is remembered by persons now living in New Castle, that after this first court house was vacated by the county, it was repaired and occupied by Samuel Graham, an English weaver who came to New York in 1833, and soon after to New Castle, where he wove coverlets and where he probably had his place of abode. A number of people in New Castle, and probably elsewhere in the county, now hold as heirlooms, fine, old fashioned coverlets woven in white and blue, with appropriate patterns, and date, the handiwork of Mr. Graham, a well re- membered citizen and the father of William D. and the late Thomas R. Graham. After Mr. Graham's vacation of this old log building, remembered as standing as late as 1850, it may have been and probably was used as a residence.
It is mentioned in one of the preceding paragraphs, that the county com- missioners in May, 1824, "adjourned from the house of John Smith to the new court house," the first one built. This shows that the board of commissioners had found a new place for business and had moved from the house of Charles Jamison. The history regarding this removal is furnished by Judge Martin L. Bundy who in answer to the inquiry, "Who was John Smith?" says:
"Well, he was the son of John Smith, a little old man who was the proprietor of, and laid out Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, and whom I remember as far back as 1825. His son, John Smith, built a house and owned the lots where my son, Eugene H. Bundy, and his family now live, opposite, but a near neigh- bor of Charles Jamison. His house was larger than Jamison's which may have been the reason for the removal. Smith left New Castle, prior to 1833 and settled in Wabash where he lived for many years and where he died. The only two things that I remember about Smith were that he was very deaf and that when he made a visit to a neighbor, his parting salutation was, 'take notice.' I am not sure that he was in any way distinguished, nor do I remember his vocation, if he had one."
The jail, court house, and stray pen, or pound, being completed, a "long spasm of retrenchment and economy" occurred, until the county, fast becoming rich, began to grow proud, and, in 1831, ordered the building of a
SECOND COURT HOUSE (BUILT OF BRICK),
which was to be "forty feet square, walls included," the foundation "to be dug eighteen inches beneath the surface of the ground, the walls to be two feet thick from the foundation three feet up," the lower story to be fifteen feet high, and the upper story to be twelve.
This time, instead of a "cabin roof" sufficiently weighted down with poles, it was to have one of good yellow poplar "join shingles," eighteen inches in length, "to be pitched from each square to the center," the whole to be surmounted with an eight square cupola, eight feet in diameter. to "arise" twenty feet, eight feet of the distance to be enclosed with "Venecian blinds," and said cupola to be
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HAZ/ ARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
surmounted by a suitable cap from which was to be raised a spear bearing a wooden ball, ten inches in diameter. "nicely gilt," and still above this a heat vane and higher yet "a cross with a gilt ball on each end," and the whole surmounted with a "neat cap" on top of the spear.
Let the reader picture to himself the transition from the little cramped up, cabin roofed, puncheon floored, chinked and daubed, poorly lighted, hewed log concern, standing high and dry upon six "nigger heads," and an outside chimney, to this spacious brick, with twenty three windows of twenty four lights each, and a large folding door and "fan light" above, with foundations hidden away the enormous distance of eighteen inches under ground, and the whole surmounted with a cupola, which, for architectural design and finish, must have been the wonder of the age, and he cannot but be struck with the amazing strides in the paths of luxury taken by our forefathers. We are amazed at the old fellows, not one in twenty of whom had anything better than a cabin at home, to be willing to undertake the erection of a "temple of justice" of such proportions and at such an enormous cost, as it seemed at that time, as there were but seventy five dollars and three fourths of a cent in the treasury to commence on.
The building was, nevertheless, sold to one Nathan Crawford, in the latter part of the year 1831, "he being the lowest bidder," for the sum of $5.315, to be paid on the first of January each year, for five years, as follows : in 1832, $400; in 1833, $700; in 1834. $1,000: in 1835. $1.200; in 1836, the balance. The walls were to be up and covered and all outside wood work was to be completed January 1, 1834, and two years was to be allowed for finishing off the costly interior. In short, it was expected that the contractor would "push things," and spend something like a thousand dollars a year. Robert Murphey was allowed $2.50 for furnishing the design of this elaborate structure. About nine o'clock, on Thursday morning, January 7. 1836, Nathan Crawford moved the commis- sioners, Robert Murphey, Tabor W. McKee, and John Whittaker to take the job off his hands; which they promptly declined to do, and declared that they had examined the "said court house" and "are of the opinion" that it is deficient in almost every particular, that the "roof leaks," plastering is not neatly done; and carpenter work ditto, and that the "contract is forfeited in toto, and the materials out of which said house is constructed are, in a great many cases, deficient." This was "rough" on the said Crawford, but he had to bear it till the March term. when a compromise was effected, and the building was received at $4,500, which was docking him $815 only.
The second or brick court house was destroyed by fire, about the time of the assembling of a county convention, on February 13, 1864.
THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
After the burning of the second court house in 1864, the commissioners rented the Murphey Hall, now occupied by the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, which by adoption, became the court house of the county and continued to be so used until the new court house was ready for occupancy in 1869. At the time of the conflagration, some of the public records and a great mass of official papers, stored away in one of the jury rooms, for want of room elsewhere, all more or less valuable, were lost or destroyed.
897
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The commissioners, Morris F. Edwards, John Minesinger, and Elias Phelps at once set to work to devise ways and means for the erection of a new building dedicated to justice. There were several essential points to be secured in this proposed edifice. It must be free from dampness, which would destroy the precious records of the county, on which so much of the "peace and quiet" of our community depends. It must, of course, be fire proof, and sufficiently com- modious for all legitimate purposes not only now, but for many years to come ; must be of durable materials, and last, if least, it must be "good looking," a monument of the enterprise and taste of the people of one of the wealthy counties of the State. All these prerequisites, when the addition, completed in 1905, is con- sidered in connection with the building, have been faithfully complied with. The main building as completed in 1869 is sixty six feet wide by eighty two feet in length, while the tower, which serves as main entrance and the initial point of the stairway to the court room, jury room, etc., above adds some nineteen feet more, making the extreme length one hundred and one feet. The height of the walls is fifty feet and of the tower one hundred and ten feet from the foundation.
There is a cellar under the building with a labyrinth of arched passages which contain furnaces and flues for heating every part of the building.
Of the capaciousness and convenience of the rooms for the county officers, on the first floor of the building as completed in 1869, it would exceed the limits of this work to speak more minutely. There is a large fire proof and almost burglar proof vault connected with each of the offices for the storage of the abundant and val- nable archives on file.
The court rooms for the grand and traverse juries, sheriff's room, &c., as first completed, reached by the main stairway, are all worthy of a more extended notice than this work will allow. The court room itself, about sixty five feet by fifty feet, was in 1869 one of the finest and best appointed in the State, both as to convenience and tasteful ornamentations. The fresco painting on its walls and ceiling alone cost about $1,400 and was at that time regarded as a work of art. In August, 1871, Elwood Pleas, in writing of this court house, said : "The entire cost of this magnificent 'temple of Justice,' so well constructed and of such materials as to withstand the ordinary ravages of the 'tooth of Time,' till several generations shall have passed away, has been about $120,000. This is seemingly a large sum, but it must be remembered that everything used, cost 'war prices,' and already, by comparison with other public buildings, it is coming to be regarded as not too large a sum for such a building. Although there has been no little grumbling by some of the tax-payers, it can safely be predicted that the next generation at least, will thank the commissioners who ordered its erection and give full credit to Morris F. Edwards for having efficiently superintended the construction of the same."
NEW ADDITION TO THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
In the Fall of the year 1903, the board of county commissioners, recognizing the inadequate accommodations of the court house, decided to improve the build- ing by an addition to the west end. The contract was let. December 29, 1903. to Patrick H. McCormack and Company, for the erection of the new part. This section of the building is sixty-eight feet, eight inches long, thus lacking but thir-
57
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IIAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
teen feet of being equal in length to the original structure, and of the same width. The new part joins flush with the old and from appearance, inside and out, it is hard to imagine that the two sections were not erected at one time. In style of archi- tecture, the new wing is a duplicate of the original. The completed structure occu- pying the center of the square and surrounded by artistically kept grounds, is massive and imposing.
The work on the new part was begun in the Spring of 1904. The completed building was accepted by the board of commissioners in April, 1905. In comparing the two sections so nearly equal in size, one is impressed with two differences. The first section, a recognized necessity in 1864, was completed in 1869. The other was finished less than eighteen months after the matter was taken up by the com- missioners. The new wing cost $44,000, the old section $120,000-Civil War prices.
The two parts have been made symmetrical in interior decoration, the cost for re-decorating the entire structure, being $2,895. About $4,000 worth of new and modern furniture has been purchased giving the offices all the conveniences of the present time and adding the finishing touches to the otherwise handsome quarters.
The new addition with its three floors and basement contains large and com- modious public waiting rooms and toilets on the basement floor. The offices of the county assessor, auditor, treasurer, and county surveyor, are on the first floor. The Grand Army room, the law library, judge's library, and private office, two jury rooms, a grand jury apartment and consultation rooms for attorneys, occupy the second floor. Large storage rooms for old documents are on the third floor, which is a subdivision of the second story. It also provides an additional room for the county clerk and permits the establishment of a commissioner's court room in the former recorder's office, the recorder occupying the former auditor's office in the old part. The county superintendent has his office in the old office of the county treasurer in the original building. The sheriff's office still retains its former location in the old building.
Hot water heats the entire structure. Every modern convenience has been installed. Marble wainscotting circles the halls. The walls are calcined and fres- coed. The grounds are beautiful. The exterior 150 by 67 feet, is complete and massive, the interior being handsome and convenient.
EARLIER CLERK'S AND RECORDER'S OFFICE.
In the earliest days of the county, the position of a county officer was not a very lucrative one. The records of their transactions were very brief and imperfect, and the business for a whole term of court might have been carried on a few scraps of paper in a vest pocket. One man acted as clerk and recorder and per- formed many of the duties now devolving upon the auditor, an office not created for twenty years after the county was organized. In this state of affairs, some small room that could be rented for fifteen or twenty dollars per year was all suf- ficient for one of the officers, and, in fact, there was but little use for a room, ex- cept at stated intervals, for a few years, and a party having business with the court would be as likely as any way to find its clerk out in his corn field, with a hoe in his hand, or in his clearing, grubbing.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Of course this sort of thing could not last always, and accordingly the com- missioners let the building of a clerk's and recorder's office to Thomas Ginn for the sum of $844. The same was to be a one-story brick building, eighteen feet wide and thirty eight feet in length, divided into two rooms.
EARLIER AUDITOR'S AND TREASURER'S OFFICE.
On the northeast corner of the public square, erected in 1847, by George Lowe, contractor, for the sum of $545, was the counterpart of the last named building in almost every particular.
These little buildings, the first named, immediately south of, and the second, immediately north of the first brick court house and on a line fronting with it, doubtless answered the purpose intended quite well, when first constructed, but the rapid accumulation of records and papers, and the great increase of public buts- iness, and number of persons doing business, had, for a number of years, ren- dered it apparent that their days of usefulness were drawing to a close, when the fire of February 13, 1864, "opened the way," rather unexpectedly, for the building of the present court house.
THE COURT HOUSE SQUARE.
The county of Henry, as the original owner of the townsite of New Castle. reserved the present public square consisting of lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of block 12 of the original plat for the Court House Square, and at that time for other public uses. Later, it was determined that lots 1, and 2, constituting the east half of the square, would be sufficient for all county purposes, and accordingly an alley way ten feet wide was run through the square, north and south, on the line between lots 2, and 3, thus dividing it into two equal parts.
In November. 1835. there was a subdivision made of lots three and four, dividing the same into five lots, three fronting on Broad Street and two on Race Street, which lots from said subdivision were sold by the county as follows : Lot I. July 30, 1837, to David Macy for $50; lot 2, October 5, 1837. to George B. Rogers and Alexander Michaels for $50; lot 3, October 25, 1837. to Jehu T. Elliott for $81 : lot 4, November 1, 1837, to Ezekiel T. Hickman for $100; lot 5. November I. 1837, to John Taylor for $117; total for five lots $398. This property under- went many trasfers and when the time came for the county to use the entire pres- ent Court House Square for county purposes, the west half of the square was oc- cupied by residences of all the parties below named except in the case of Jacob Mowrer who had a residence and grocery store combined, fronting on Broad Street opposite the site of the present Ward Block.
The county bought the property of the respective owners, allowing them to re- move the buildings, as follows : Jacob Mowrer, $1,500; Jacob Byer, $1,000; Helen E. Thornburgh, wife of Alfred M. Thornburgh, $400 : Harmon H. Allen, $600 ; total. $3,500, thus showing a difference of $3.102 between what the county sold the property for in 1837 and what it purchased it back for, less than thirty years after.
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