USA > Indiana > Monroe County > Bloomington > Historic treasures: true tales of deeds with interesting data in the life of Bloomington, Indiana University and Monroe County--written in simple language and about real people, with other important things and illustrations > Part 9
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It seems that the purpose of this movement was for increasing the sources of better educational systems and morals than was afforded by the denominational and educational organ- izations of the country at that early time. This idea was propagated through a, tendency of the thinking people of the day to unite means and influence in the formation of what was called a "Community," for this advance purpose.
Horance Greeley Interested.
Many families, in all parts of the nation, would place their property in charge of a committee enpowered to manage the common interests and benefits. These people would farm to- gether, eat and work together in all things. They were governed by a constitution and by-laws which were binding upon all alike.
Men as eminent as Horace Greeley, Charles Fourier, and the Owens, of Posey county, Indiana were connected with organizations of the kind, and used their very best efforts and en- deavors to render the system suc- cessful. Every means possible was used to make the system popular and universal throughout the United States.
"Blue Springs Community."
One institution of this kind bloomed forth in Monroe county, Indiana, right in Van Buren township, in 1826, and was called the "Blue Springs Com- munity." A man named Berry, who came from Vermont to Indiana, headed this colony.
Those desiring to become affiliated with this movement as members of the organization, gathered at what soon became known as "Harmony" (where the village later called by that name is remembered today). The members placed their property in common, erected dwellings, laid out a public common or square, started one of two stores, opened an excellent school in a log school house, erected for the pur- pose, and soon were in a seemingly flourishing condition. The first life seemed to thrive more than could be expected in the backwoods, for there was much to discourage the growth of this charming enterprize in the early times.
Be it remembered that Indiana, and Monroe county especially, was a very new country in 1826, and to establish and maintain such an institution where the purity of intention and pur-
pose and performance was made the sole condition of membership, might be considered as a big undertaking today, but more so then.
Neighbors Laughed.
The neighbors laughed and made much fun of the pretentions of the communists, and scornfully predicted the speedy or ultimate dissolution of the community. But the members, with noble intentions, went to work resolutely, determined to do all that was in their power to make a success of the attempt they had made for the betterment of conditions for their fel- low-man and the future generation.
The first year, things went along sinoothly, or until cold weather came on, when many families left for their former cabins.
Some conflict had occurred, mis- understandings through human im- perfections crept in. And, when the spring of 1827 arrived, all attempts to continue the community were vol- untarily abandoned.
The seeming failure of this noble ef- fort on the part of the communists has been a sincere regret with many of
the purest-minded citizens of Monroe county.
But, as we look through the ages since that historic page in the county's life, we of today can readily see that the effort upon the part of these peo- ple was not an utter failure.
We can see how the seed of better morals, better education and better living conditions which they planted has had an influence in the magnifi- cent educational institutions now sit- uated in the county.
All these things have only helped add to the renoun of Bloomington and her citizens for their merit as people of high intellectual attainment and good moral virtures as a community in which to rear a family.
Upon further investigation we find in an old record the following:
Dudley C. Smith (first school tea- cher) father of Dudley F. Smith and grandfather of Ulysses Howe Smith
Bursar of Indiana University) and Dr. Rodney Smith (cousins) married Elizabeth Berry, of English birth, whose brother founded the in- stitution called "Harmony" where everything was in common.
"GOD'S ACRE" IS BURIAL GROUND FOR HEROES OF REVOLUTION
Plot Deeded to Descendants of Dunn Family Forever-University Campus Now Surrounds It-Three Sisters Who Aided Washington and His Troops Buried in Campus Cemetery.
Back in the early twenties, when the east side of Bloomington was all farm land, Samuel Dunn and his wife, Elizabeth Grundy Dunn, purchased 160 acres of land which later became known as the old Dunn Farm. The farm extended from what is now E. Tenth street to E. Third street and from a line running north and south somewhere near the present Phi Delta Theta house to what is now Dunn street.
Farm Passes to Heirs.
The farm was willed to a son, Geo. C. Dunn, who fixed the limits of the Dunn family burial ground and deeded it to the descendants of Samuel and Elizabeth Dunn forever.
As Bloomington spread toward the Dunn farm, his son, Moses, sold what lies between Dunn street and Indi- ana avenue for city lots.
At this time the University was located where the high school building now stands. In 1883 one of the col- lege buildings burned to the ground and Moses F. Dunn sold a part of his farm for the new site of Indiana Uni- versity. (An account of this fire and the transactions following are given in full in another article.) That is, he sold all except the graveyard where his family were buried. This he could not have done had he so desired, be- cause of the terms of the deed of George G. Dunn. For this reason the plot of ground called "God's Acre"
does not belong to the University and never will.
Three Sisters Buried.
In the stone wall surrounding the graveyard is built a three-faced stone upon the surface of which are carved the names of three sisters, Ellenor Dunn, mother of the original owners of the land, Jennet Irvin and Agness Alexander.
These sisters were pioneers of the Shenendoah valley in Virginia and were born subjects of King George of England.
During the Revolutionary war, they and their families gave important as- sistance to Washington and his army. They spun, wove and fashioned gar- ments for the soldiers, and when the army was stationed in their viciuity, they cooked food for them.
As soon as one batch of food was cooked and on its way to the soldiers, the women prepared another batch. This was kept up for days at a time.
Later the sisters moved with their families to Kentucky and from there to Indiana, settling in the small vil- lage of Bloomington.
When the sisters died they were in- terred in "God's Acre," the little cemetery in the heart of what is now the University campus.
Indiana University bears the dis- tinction shared by few schools in the , country, in having on its campus a
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Historic Treasures, Compiled by Forest M. "Pop" Hall
First Presbyterian Church.
Church of Christ. (As they appeared in 1921).
St. Charles Catholic Church.
cemetery, in which are buried three heroines of the Revolutionary war.
Only one persons was ever buried in the cemetery who was not a direct descendant of one of the three sisters. This was a sister of a man who mar- ried into the family and having no other living relative, was buried in "God's Acre."
Many students do not even know that we have a little cemetery on our
campus. This little plot of land, ac- cording to the cornerstone of the wall, was "set aside by George D. Dunn for perpetual use as a cemetery."
About ten years ago, when Indiana was playing Northwestern at base- ball on Jordan Field, a little funeral procession drove up to the graveyard. Instantly the game was suspended un- til the procession had moved away .- Indiana Daily Student.
EARLY-DAY PREACHER SERVED HIS FLOCK FOR THIRTY-THREE YEARS
In the fall of 1835 a call was issued by the Associate Reformed Church of Bloomington, Indiana, to the Rev. William D. Turner, who had been do- ing much faithful service in various churches of Ohio and Indiana after having been licensed to preach the Gospel by the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church at Xenia, O.
The Rev. Mr. Turner came to Bloomington, Indiana, and was or- dained and installed in the pastorate of the congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church on
June 16, 1836, where a relationship was formed which lasted as a work of loving kind- ness and fellowship for an unbroken period of thirty-three years. Here he found the field for the great work of his life, and the congregation of his church is a fitting memorial and proof of the extent and solidity of his en- deavor.
The Bloomington pastorate was
the first and only charge this teacher of the Holy Bible ever held. He found the congregation a poor and strug- gling flock of Christians in that pion- eer period when he came to the field, but through his personal endeavors more than any other element, he saw the congregation grow to a strong and influential body of workers for Christianity.
With the Rev. Mr. Turner, as with the majority of the early-day min- isters of the Gospel in the old Hoosier commonwealth, he was com- pelled to supplement his income by some secular industry. He chose the farm, garden and nursery business as a means of financing for his ne- cessities, and became a master of this industry. He still made the minis- try his prime work, and never let other things interfere with his en- deavors in the Lord's work, or allowed
a secondary enterprise to interfere with his religious work.
Health Failed.
The Rev. Mr. Turner's physical constitution was naturally robust, and the general health of his life had been good up to 1858, when he was attacked by severe ophthalmic dis- ease. This caused him great phy- sical suffering and disqualified him for his work for about three years. He found no relief from this disease through home treatment, and finally sought the services of a specialist in Cincinnati, where he found partial relief, but not complete recovery of his health.
He continued to preach in the Bloomington church until 1869, when the infirmities of age had grown upon him to such an extent that he felt he could no longer minister to so large a congregation as his flock had grown to be, and his resignation was accept- ed by his congregation with much re- luctance. After this, however, he continued to aid in the church work whenever occasion demanded his ser- vices.
Takes Up Bee Culture.
The Rev. Mr. Turner, although re- lieved to some extent from his pas- torial duties by the acceptance of his resignation, continued to superintend his secular interests with his usual skill for fourteen years, adding bee raising to his former industrial acti- vities.
Of Irish parents, this pioneer cler- gyman of Bloomington and Monroe county was born in Pendleton Dis-
1
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Historic Treasures, Compiled by Forest M. "Pop" Hall
trict, S. C., August 25, 1806. The parents were of staunch old Presby- terian stock, and had emigrated to America at a very early day and set- tled on a farm in South Carolina. They had come through that period when their religion was subject to persecutions of all kinds, and had come through the trials faithful to the ideas they held as sacred as their lives. It was in such family environ- ments that William Turner grew up in the beliefs of his parents, whose religion was alike true and strong. Under these happy and restraining influences the boy passed his early days.
Soon, in the maturing youth, the fruits of his early training began to manifest itself, blossoming into a de- sire which sprang from the young mon's ambition to serve his Creator and Redeamer in teaching the Gospel to fellow-man. To fit himself for this work the boy eagerly embraced the advantages of the common schools and at the age of nineteen years he began a classical course of prepara- tion at an academy in Tennessee, where he studied for three years. After the academic study, young Tur- ner entered the Miami University, sit- uated at Oxford, Ohio, from which institution of learning he was gradu- ated in the class of 1831. He next took up studies in a theological sem- inary at Allegheny, Pa., and after completing the course in this school, was licensed to preach the Gospel by the First Associated Presbyterian Church, at Xenia, Ohio.
Married in 1834.
During his college days young Tur- ner had taught school during the va-
cation periods in helping finance his education. In 1834, he married Miss Julia Ann Woodard, a native of War- ren county, Ohio, a daughter of Lewis and Eliza Woodard. This union was blessed by the birth of thirteen child- ren, and the following, with their mother survived the death of the father: Martha E., Harriet A., Laura L., Clara M., Ella A., and Anna A., six daughters.
On the Sabbath day, August 5, 1883, the Rev. William D. Turner was in his accustomed place in the church and taught a class in the Sabbath school2 but, on the following day, August 6, 1883, while in the office of his son-in-law, Dr. Weir, in Bloom- ington, he died.
By this good man's death Monroe county lost one of its greatest fac- tors of the moral influence the peo- ple had depended on through the many long years of his tireless en- deavor. He had been a Republican and was a zealous anti-slavery advo- cate, and his preaching was filled with a persuasive eloquence which caused him to be lauded wherever known.
The widow and Miss Clara M. Tur- ner continued to reside on the home farm which the Rev. Mr. Turner had established near Bloomington until the death of the widow who had lived beyond the alloted three score and ten years at the time of her husband's departure of the earthly life. One other daughter was married to the Honorable Franklin Landers, of In- dianapolis; one was the wife of Dr. Weir, of Bloomington, and another was the wife of the Rev. Mr. Foster, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Congregation in Tears as New Fairview Church Burns -- Wonderful Initiative of People
Bloomington Fire Follows Christmas Program-Loss Estimated at $50,000.
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With practically every member of the congregation on the scene and in tears, the Fairview Methodist Epis- copal church, situated on West Eighth street in Bloomington, was destroyed by fire at 9:30 p.m., Dec. 25 (Christmas), 1921, with a loss esti- mated at $50,000. The structure, insured for only $15,000, was built seven years ago, after many sacri- fices by the members of the con- gregation.
The fire started from an over- heated furnace and was discovered a few minutes after the congregation had left the building, the annual Christmas entertainment of the church having been held during the evening.
Soon Out of Control.
The fire was out of control of the local department, almost from the start and in a few minutes the build- ing was a mass of flames. A high wind was blowing and houses in the neighborhood were saved only by hard work, one of these being the parsonage to the south of the church
and occupied by the Rev. W. C. Mor- gan, the pastor, and his family. The church was situated on the top of a high hill and the fire, visible for many miles, attracted thousands of persons to the scene.
Practically every member of the congregation lives within a few
blocks of the destroyed structure, and it had not only been a church but had been a great social center as well. The members for the most part repre- sent families of men employed in Showers Bros. factorv. Many of these being unable to make money contri- butions when the church was built, gave their personal services, by work- ing on the structure at night. While the building was in flames men, wom- en and children of the congregation gathered around the pastor, in tears, and when the fire was over he raised his hands in prayer, asking that his people receive courage and strength to hold together as a congregation and build a new church.
First Work in 1913.
Work on the Fairview church was started in 1913, the structure taking the place of a small wooden building. Much of the stone and material renre- sented gifts. Only last June the con- gregation made the last payment on the debt and held a great celebration when the mortgage was paid off and burned. The Rev. Mr. Morgan has been in Bloomington four years, com- ing here from New Albany.
One fireman was overcome by smoke during the fire. On account of the danger from live wires, the electric current was shut off from the northwest part of the city during the night.
(Thirty-six hours after their church had been destroyed by fire, twenty-five members of the Fairview Methodist church congregation marched on to the site of the burned building and started with their own hands the erection of a tabernacle which was completed Wednesday night, of the same week, in time for the weekly prayer meeting. A meeting had been held on Monday afternoon at which it was decided not to accept the offer of other church buildings of Bloomington congregations for temporary use, but to erect a tabernacle at once. The lumber was ordered and delivered on the site at daybreak Tuesday morning. The working party was headed by the Rev. W. C. Morgan, the pastor, and the bosses on construction work were three deacons of the church, Wil- liam Downey, Parker Torrence and Charles Jones. The work was rushed day and night and a call for volunteers from other churches was issued. The congregation also voted to re- build the church and to spend $65,000 on a new building and community house. The won- derful courage and ability of the people of this Christian body in meeting adversity with de- termined effort not to be downed gives the right for using this account in the columns of this book).
Fairview M. E. Church, as it appeared before fire destroyed the beautiful edifice on Christmas night, December 25, 1921.
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Historic Treasures, Compiled by Forest M. "Pop" Hall
COED SIXTY-NINE YEARS OF AGE-ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN GRADUATES OF INDIANA IS NOW "TAKING" WORK
Bloomington Resident Attends Class in University Where Her Grandson Is
a Freshman-Tells of Life of the Men Who Labored for Humanity- Pays Tribute to W. B. Rogers.
A fellow-student with one's own grandson is an honor rare, indeed; but this, after having married a grad- uate of Indiana University, on one's own graduation day, and having the gratification of seeing five of one's own children graduate from the same college, then have three sons-in-law who were Indiana graduates, is a record of devotion to one's Alma Mater worthy of respect in all time to come.
Sixty-nine years of age, possessed with the urge to write, which had been ever put back for duties that seemed more pressing in rearing her family; and with activities, always urgent in the Christian work as wife of a min- ister of the Gospel, Mrs. Emma R. Clark, '73, one of the first women to graduate from Indiana University, and a resident of Bloomington, is again a "student" in the great educational institution, in an endeavor to become more finished for the accomplishment of her literary ambition.
Attended Seminary.
"In the spring of 1868," said Mrs. Clark, in an interview "my father moved his family from near Spencer, Ind., to Bloomington, in order that we children might have the advantages of higher education. I attended the old Seminary for two terms in the building which still stands just north of the post office. Then I entered college."
"Were you among the first women to enter Indiana University after the school was made a coed institution ?" was asked.
"Yes, I was one of the first women that entered that institution as a stu- dent, and with Miss Dodds. and Miss Luzzader, completed the first dozen women graduates from Indiana Uni- versity, with the class that received degrees in 1873. I was married on the day of my graduation from the University.
"Have you spent all these years since, in Bloomington? Are you a native of Indiana, and were your par- ents Hoosiers by birth ?" were the next questions pressed upon her.
"No, Bloomington has not always been my home. Mv father, T. C. Jen- nings, with my mother, were among the early settlers of Owen county, Indiana. having moved to what is now Cataract when there were no houses in the settlement. Mv father and his men came first, and lived in covered wagons until they had erected a log cabin, when my father removed his family to the new home from Louisville, Kv., where they had lived until this time, 1842.
"In 1863, we moved to a farm of 640 acres my father had purchased near Spencer, Ind. My first school house was a little one-story frame
building, which had been named "Hardscrabble" by the teacher, Miss Howe, who had such a hard time in making fires in the school. When my father moved the family to Bloom- ington, in 1868, in order that we chil- dren might have the advantage of a good education, there was one man in Bloomington, whose character still impresses me by its noble traits, his name was William Clark.
"This man was one of the old blacksmiths of Bloomington. When we came he was choir leader of the Christian church. Along with being blacksmith, he was also wagon- maker-in those days the whole wagon was made by hand. His shop was sit- uated where the Salvation Army Cite- dal is now, later he moved the shop to West Seventh street, where it still stands. In later years he often over- hauled and repaired the wagons of Gentry Brothers shows after their summer travels. He would frankly tell his customers if he considered their wagon unworthy of repairing, and made many friends through his truthful dealings. He was a man of high ideals. liberal, and zealous in welfare work of the church. One de- sire of his heart was to see prohibi- tion of the liquor traffic before he died.
"While Mr. Clark. Sr., was leader of the Christian church choir for thir- tv years, his wife, all of his living chil- dren. and four grandchildren were members of the choir. One of these grandchildren is now a song writer and poet of prominence at the present. time, reflecting the musical traits of the old choir leader.
"Of the immediate family of 'Billv' Clark. as this man was fondly called bv Bloomington people, but two daughers now live, Mrs. A. R. Van Forsen. of Winona Lake, Ind .. and Mrs. W. P. Rogers, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
When William Clark moved from Bruceville, Indiana to Bloomington, in 1846 he brought with him a baby son. only eight weeks old. This boy grew un in Bloomington, and went to school in the davs when the first railroad was being constructed through Monroe county. As did many other boys of the community. he worked at times in the Holtzman woolen mills, where he narrowly escaned accidental loss of one of his hands. He also worked in his father's wagonshon, and later served an ap- prenticeshin for the cabinet-maker trade in the shon of Showers & Hon- dricks (later Showers Bros.). until he was seventeen years of age. when the dreadful Civil war broke ont.
"This son. Thomas J. Clark, when not vet eighteen years of age. enlisted in the 10th Indiana Cavalry. on De- cember 9, 1860, remaining in the ser-
vice of his country until the close of the Civil war and was mustered out at Vicksburg, August 21, 1865. After returning to Bloomington, this young man entered Indiana University, from which institution he graduated in 1872, taking the first honor of his class. He then began teaching in the high school at Vincennes, Ind., and was later made principal of the school. Here it was that the young man be- gan preaching the Gospel, in the First Christian church of that city.
"On the date of July 3, 1873, the following year, this young man and I were married. By the way, that was the day of my graduation from Indiana University, and indeed it was a proud day for me as his bride. After re- turning with my husband to his charge in Vincennes in August of that year, we spent twenty-one happy years in that city where he served the church during that time, all of our five child- ren having been born in that city."
"But when did you return to Bloom- ington?" was the next query made of our interesting fellow-student in "Short Story Writing."
"My husband accepted a call to the Bloomington First Christian church in 1894, much to the regret of our loving friends in the Vincennes church, with whom we had been so closely associated in the Lord's work through the twenty-one years of our residence there. The Rev. Mr. Clark, my husband, ministered to the people of Bloomington for fourteen years, seeing the church grow from a con- gregation of five or six hundred to thirteen hundred members. During this period we saw four of our child- ren enter Indiana University and graduate, our youngest daughter not having graduated until 1916.
"We have done well by our Alma Mater, for not only our family were all graduates of Indiana University, but our three sons-in-law, Thomas S. Gerhart, Wilbur Fisher and Robert E. Neff, are graduates of the dear old college; and now, one of our grandsons is a freshman in the Uni- versity, while I, his grandmother, am taking this class work as a means of developing into a finished writer.
"In 1908 my husband accepted a call to Albion, Ill., where we served the church for nine years before re- turning, in 1917 to our old home town, where we expected to spend the re- mainder of our earthlv days, my hus- band having developed heart trouble which had resulted in our deciding that it was best for him to retire from ac- tive work. But, after a short illness, he left us, January 23, 1918. after a life well spent and lived wholly for the betterment of the world and hu- manity."
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