Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana: A Detailed History of the., Part 7

Author: Forkner, John L. (John La Rue), 1844-1926
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Anderson, Ind. : Forkner
Number of Pages: 1055

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Mr. Mortimer Atherton, who lives on North Meridian street in Anderson, has a vivid recollection of all the details of this affair and says that the officers' posse captured about a half peck of bullets from the rescuing party. many of which had been moulded to fit shotguns. The residence of Mr. Willis G. Atherton stood on part of the ground now occupied by the Bronnenberg block on Main street.

THE ANDERSON HYDRAULIC.

A number of years after work on the canal had been abandoned, certain individuals considered the feasibility of completing that portion of the work lying between Anderson and Daleville and using it for hydraulic purposes. Nothing

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

came of the scheme, and it was finally dropped. In 1868, however, a number of public-spirited citizens began agitating the question of utilizing the canal. Great interest was taken in the matter by the citizens of Anderson and vicinity as it was thought that the enterprise, when completed, would result. in making Anderson a city of the first class. Public meetings were held at which the speakerslocated mills, factories and other enterprises without number along the hydraulic. Anderson was pictured in glowing colors as the " coming city " in the State. Finally on the 19th of December, 1868, " The Ander- son Hydraulic Company " was organzied with capital stock subscribed to the amount of $64.000. The city of Anderson subsequently subscribed $20,000 and issued bonds for the amount. The board of directors chosen by the stockholders was comprised of the following persons : Peter Suman, Wil- liam Crim, H. J. Blacklidge. N. C. Mccullough, George Nichol, Samuel Ilughel and James Hazlett. The board organ- ized by electing N. C. Mccullough. president, William Crim. treasurer, and C. D. Thompson, secretary. The company pro- ceeded to let contracts for reconstructing the canal and a large force of hands was soon employed on the work.

The canal extended from a point opposite the village of Dalevale in Delaware county to the city of Anderson, being about eight miles in length. To the disappointment of many the work did not progress as rapidly as had been anticipated and people generally began to lose faith in the benefits that would accure after it had been completed. In the meantime the funds of the company had been gradually reduced and by the time the work had progressed far enough to turn in the water the announcement was made that they were practically exhausted. Water was turned into the canal from White river at Daleville on the 4th of July, 1874, but the banks gave way at several places and it became necessary to shut off the water. The places that had been washed out were repaired but again gave way to the pressure of the water when a second attempt was made to flood the canal. The stockholders had lost confidence in the practicability of the scheme and refusing to contribute further assistance, that which was to have been the glory of Anderson was abandoned. Eighty thousand dollars were expended on this work. It was afterwards sold by the sheriff of Madison county to Edward H. Rogers to sat- isfy judgments held by him against the company for labor and materials furnished for its construction.

CHAPTER XIII.

RAILROADS IN MADISON COUNTY-WHEN CONSTRUCTED- INCIDENTAL MATTERS.

The Indiana Central Canal project had been abandoned but a few years when the subject of a line of railway extend- ing from Indianapolis through Madison county on to Belle- fontaine, Ohio, absorbed the public interest along the pro- posed route. Madison county had no market for her produce. which was increasing yearly as the county developed, and the prospect of securing a railroad was hailed with general sati -- faction by the people. There were " croakers " then as now who were opposed to public improvements, and many of the objections urged against railroads in general, and the con- struction of the Bellefontaine railroad in particular, in the light of subsequent events, are amusing, to say the least. Several citizens of Anderson, who were " molders of public opinion " in their day, opposed the construction of the road for various reasons. One who had occupied several of the most important offices in the county, and stood high in the confidence of his fellow citizens. did not want the road built for the reason that the cars would run over and kill the chil- dren ! Another prominent citizen urged that the benefits of the road would not justify the expense to the people, declar- ing that one train could haul all the produce of the county for twenty years at one load! Other objections were urged against the building of the road, but the masses of the peo- ple were in favor of it, and we find that at the June session. 1849, of the Board of Commissioners, the following : " Ordered that the County Commissioners, for, and on behalf of the county of Madison, take and subscribe the sum of $15,50, which, including the sum of $500) heretofore subscribed. makes $16,000, as stock in the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad Company, to be paid in four equal annual install- ments, and to be expended within the county of Madison." Citizens generally subscribed for stock in the company. and the railroad was built, that portion of it passing through

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

Madison county being completed in 1852. The road now be- longs to the Big Four system, and is operated under the name of the C. C. C. & St. L. railway.

The first station, or depot. built along the line of this road in Madison county, stood about where the present hand- some Big Four depot is located in Anderson. The first agent at .Anderson was Philip Siddall, long since deceased, but who in his day possessed qualities of the heart that rendered him . popular with all classes of people. He was the first telegraph operator at .Anderson, having learned the art of telegraphy shortly after it had been adopted by the railway company to facilitate its business. Telegraphy, that is electro-telegraphy, was at that time in its infancy-the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore having been established in 1844-and messages were not received by sound as they are at the present time, or as they were several years after Professor Morse's invention had proven itself the greatest triumph of modern civilization, but by means of characters indented by the instrument on a narrow strip of paper or "tape." Mr. Siddall became very proficient in receiving and transmitting messages by this method.

EXTENT OF TRACK.

This branch of the Big Four has nearly twenty-one miles of main track and about six miles of side-track in the county, and is one of the most profitable roads belonging to the sys- tem. It is connected with the principal railway systems of the country, and so far as its business in Madison county is con- cerned, enjoys a prosperity at the present time as compared with its early history that approaches the marvelous. Statis- tics and other information showing the amount of traffic, both freight and passenger, enjoyed by this company at the present time will be found in the history of Anderson township.

THE P. C. C. & ST. I. (PAN-HANDLE).

What is now known as the Pittsburg, Cincinnati; Chi- cago & St. Louis railway has been operated under various names, having frequently changed ownership, but it now be- longs to the Pennsylvania system. This was the second road built through the county, having been completed in 1855. It was projected as a connecting line between Richmond and Chi- cago by the management of the Columbus, Piqua & Indian-

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

apolis, and the Richmond & Covington lines, the two latter lines being consolidated in 1864. The road passes through the county from the southeast to the northwest, having about twenty-two and one-half miles of main track according to the last statement filed with the auditor of the county by the general superintendent. The company also has about eight miles of side-track. and, at the present time is in a flourish- ing condition, doing an enormous amount of business in the county.

The first agent of the company in the county was Henry Pyle, Esq., who kept his office in a freight car that had been removed from the track and placed at the side of the track about where the present freight depot in Anderson now stands. This depot was also used for the accommodation of passengers up to 1894, when the present passenger depot. just east of Fletcher street, between Ninth and Tenth streets, was erected.

While other enterprises have made rapid strides, and the hand of progress can be seen on every turn, the railroads have not been asleep in the last forty years. There is as wide a differ- ence between the railroad equipments and the mode of railroad management, as there is between the fine coach drawn on the streets today and the old wooden axle carriage of that day. The comparison of one is only a comparison of the other. To illustrate : The Pan-Handle railroad was constructed from Richmond to Ilagerstown in 1550-51, extended to New- castle in 1852, and reached Anderson in 1855. The equip- ments of the road at that time would be a curiosity to the pres- ent generation. The first engine that ran on the road was called the "Swinett." It was a very small affair, not much larger than one of the large traction engines in use now for the pur- pose of running threshing machines. It had no pilot, or "cow. catcher" in front, like the engines of to-day. No coal was used in those days. The smoke stack on the Swinett was a large affair, spreading out at the top, with a large sieve cover- ing it to arrest the escape of sparks and ashes.

The " Swinett" coming down the road made much the same appearance of a country boy at a county fair with his pa's plug hat on. At night when she was steamed and her fire-box stuffed full of dry wood, as she sailed along through the darkness, she left a string of fire coals streaming over her back like the tail of a comet, often setting fire to strawstacks, barns and fences, and clearing everything in her way. She

78 HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

had painted on the side of her " tender " the picture of a man with a pig under his arm, the tail in his mouth and he pick- ing on the pig like a banjo. Thus it took its name " Swi- nett."

The "Swinett" had a twin sister that came on the road about the same time, named the " Julia Dean." She was rather smaller, but much handsomer, from the fact that her smoke stack was painted red. As she came sailing along she looked like a sugar trough with a stovepipe stuck up in the center of it. She, like the " Swinett," had no pilot in front. If either of these engines ever struck a cow it was simply a question of which went into the ditch, the cow or the engine.

The people of those days called a locomotive a " bulljine." " It was a great treat for the youngsters to go to town on Sat- urday and see the " bulljine " come in. After these rude, ill- shaped engines had served their day and the road had reached further into the fields of prosperity, new and modern engines were placed in service. While they were considered in their day the finest in the land, they would suffer in comparison with the monsters of to-day.

Every town on the line of the road of any importance was anxious to have an engine named for it. The officials, of course, in order to please their patrons, named an engine after the county seats through which the road passed. There were the " New Castle," the " Logansport," the " Anderson " and the "Chicago," all handsome pieces of machinery. Then there was the " S. Fosdick," the largest engine of its day, named in honor of a railway official. But of all the locomo- tives that ever skipped along the rails of the l'an Handle rail- road, from the time the road was first begun up to date, the " ()ld Hoosier" took the "cake." She was the favorite of all the engineers who traveled the road. Mark Smith was the engineer who handled her throttle. He was as much a favor- ite as was his engine. Every woman, man and child on the road knew Mark Smith, and loved him. The " Hoosier " had a whistle that outwhistled all others. People used to say that the whistle of the " Hoosier" when it was thrown wide open would shake the beech-nuts off the trees along the road. .

John Smock was the first engineer to run an engine on the road. Ile came to the road with the Swinett and stayed with it as long as the engine was in use and for sometime afterward. Smock was a terrible swearer. It is said that he could curse the old Swinett until it would begin to move, without fire,

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

water or steam. It was his delight to see a team of horses skip out over a cornfield along the road when scared at the cars. He often blew the whistle when there was no earthly need of it, just to scare somebody's horses and see them run.

Among the early engineers on the road was a man named Skinner. He for many years ran the " Old Chicago." She was a monster for that day, built for a passenger run. Extra large drive wheels, with the gearing or side rods inside of the drivers. Skinner was an awful man to swear. Ile made the air blue when anything went wrong. A man by the name of Grimes was also an early engineer.

Tom Clark was the first conductor on the road. He was a whole team by himself. He knew everybody on the road, and everybody knew him. He swore, chewed tobacco, smoked and drank good liquor, and had a good time generally. He retired many years ago, and lived on a farm near Richmond, where, it is said, he died some years ago. There was only one train each way a day from Anderson to Richmond. It was a mixed train of freight and passenger cars. Tom Clark was the only conductor, and ran the whole business. After- ward separate trains were made up exclusively of passenger coaches, and more conductors were needed.

Then came John C. Huddleston. Charley Lincoln and Eli- jah Holland, of Newcastle. " Lige " wore a blue cloth " spike-tailed " coat with brass buttons, with a beautiful growth of red whiskers to match. Then there were Thomp. son, Plimpton. Muchmore, Billie Patterson, Bogart and others whose names are now forgotten. Bogart was a little New York dandy; looked like he had just come out of a band- box. He was unused to Hoosier customs. The boys along the road used to have lots of fun at his expense. They " kid- ded " him in many ways,

Thompson died of hemorrhage of the lungs while in the service of the road.

Plimpton was an eastern dude, brought out here by some of the stock-holders and placed on the road. He was univers- ally disliked by all of the patrons of the road as well as by the crews who ran the trains.

John C. Huddleston is still living a retired life in New Castle, and is one of the largest land owners in Henry county. He has acres and acres of Blue river bottom land that one can see as they near New Castle on the Pan Handle train. It looks like the Garden of Eden. He had his foot cut off at

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

Knightstown in 1860 by the cars running over it. It is said he was there on some political business and did not want it known, but the accident brought it out.

Billy Patterson was the favorite conductor of his day. Everybody was for Billy Patterson from one end of the line to the other.

There was no telegraph line on the road then, and a con- ductor had to be " up to snuff " to run a train. It was no boy's play in those days to be a conductor.

The engine " Anderson " did service for several years on the road, and was a general favorite among railroaders as well as the public. She finally ended her existence by suicide about the year 1860, exploding her boiler while standing on the track in the town after which she was named, while her en- gineer was eating a lunch in a small restaurant or lunch room kept by " Buff " Dehority, situated near where Wellington's flouring mills now stand opposite the l'an Handle depot. She was blown into fragments. The boiler was completely demol- ished and thrown in all directions. H. J. Daniels, ex-post- master of Anderson, kept a grain house near there, and was a witness to the explosion. No one 'was hurt, but everybody for a great distance was badly scared and shaken up.

A tragedy of enormous proportions came near being en- acted while the road was being constructed. There was a deep cut to be made just cast of Hagarstown through the farm of Hugh Allen. The contractors had their stables and boarding houses erected on the farm, spending all of one summer and part of one winter there. There was a man by the name of William Babbitt, who now lives in Dayton, Ohio, who was the " boss" on the work. All of his men were Irish who had not been long in America, brought here by the many public works going on at that time. Bab- bitt was a good, kind-hearted man, dearly beloved by all his men. Any one of them would have laid down his life for him. From some cause Babbitt was removed from the work, and a man by the name of Sam Finney took his place. This did not suit the men. Finney was a gruff, rough-spoken man, tyrannical in his manners, and was no time in incurring the dislike of the men. Matters grew steadily worse until open rebellion came near being the outcome. Something occurred that so enraged the men that a secret plot was laid to kill Fin- ney. It is said that at night after work had been abandoned

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

a grave was dug in the bottom of the " pit " and plans were laid whereby Finney, when he came to work in the morning, was to be killed and his body buried in the pit.

There was a man on the work by the name of McDonald, a Scotch-Irishman, who knew of the scheme. He, at the risk of his own life, slipped in the night over to the house of Hugh Allen, where Finney boarded, and told him of the awful fate that awaited him if he went to work in the morning. Finney was brave as a lion, and was not to be scared. He went next morning, armed to the hilt, and met the men, telling them of the conspiracy, and that he knew of their designs many days before, and defying them, he bluffed them out. He was removed from the job and someone else put in his place, and all went on in peace. There are, perhaps, some of the Irish people yet living in Madison county who remember this occurrence, as several of them helped to build the old l'an Handle road. McDonald, who gave the affair away, would, no doubt, have suffered the penalty fixed for Finney had he been known to have divulged it. What became of Finney the writer does not know, but for the remaining years of his existence, from that memorable night, he owes to McDon- . ald, the Scotch-Irishman.

Col. Ninevah Berry was one of the first mail agents on the road. He was elected treasurer of Madison county while running on the road, and John C. Huddleston, while con- ductor on the same train, was elected treasurer of Henry county. James Blanchard was the first superintendent of the road, and a man of the name of Tinney, who had one " squint " eye, was the first road-master. . All of the older people re- member Tinney. Ile was a good business man and an un- ceasing worker. Tinney was a nervous fellow and could not endure tobacco smoke. One time he was coming up the road on a local freight, riding in a caboose. Tom Clark, the conductor, had a boy, who was a brakeman, and he was a "devil." He was smoking a " barn yard regalia," making the air blue with smoke. Tinney drove him out of the car with his cigar, so he crawled up on top, shutting the door and fastening it outside He took a board, placed it over the stove pipe and sat down on it, so the smoke from the stove could not escape. He smoked Tinney until he got to the next station, when he got down, asking him how he liked that kind of smoke.

John C. Huddleson ran the first regular passenger train 6

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

into Anderson over this road. Thomas Clark was the first conductor, but ran a " mixed " train. Huddleson is now over 80 years old.

THE CINCINNATI, WABASH & MICHIGAN R. R. ( MICHIGAN DI- VISION OF THE BIG FOUR).

In 1869 a proposition was made to the people residing in Anderson, Monroe and Van Buren townships, looking to the construction of a line of road from White Pigeon, Michigan, to the city of Anderson. The company as originally organized was known as the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Cincinnati Railroad. About the same time a proposition was made for the construc- tion of a road through the county known as the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad, and at a special session of the Board of Commissioners held on the 12th of October, 1869, we find that a petition was presented to the Board asking " that an election be held on Monday, November 15, 1869, for the purpose of taking a vote upon the question of appropriat- ing $147,000, by Madison county, to aid in the construction of the roads above named." The election was ordered and resulted in a majority in favor of the proposition. A tax levy was made in accordance with the result of the vote but a num- ber of persons brought suit to enjoin the collection of the tax and after a few years of litigation the supreme court decided against the company and the tax that had been paid to the county treasurer was refunded to the tax-payers.

Nothing further was done towards building the C. W. & M. road until 1874 when another petition was presented to the Commissioners at the March term of that year asking that an election be held in Anderson township on the 2nd of May for the purpose of taking a vote upon the question of donat- ing $28,000 to aid in the construction of the road. At the same time similar petitions were presented from Monroe, Van Buren and Boone townships, the subsidies to be voted upon in these townships being respectively $24,000 in Monroe, $8,000 in Van Buren and $7,500 in Boone. The election was held in accordance with the order of the commissioners and resulted in favor of granting the appropriations in Anderson, Monroe and Boone townships. The proposition was defeated in Van Buren township by a vote of 90 for, to 120 against. There were complaints of illegal votes being returned in favor of the appropriation in Boone township and they were not considered

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

in the count thereby defeating the proposition. Another elec- tion was held on December 15, 1874. in Van Buren, but the proposition was again defeated. Aid was subsequently voted in this township, however, and the work of extending the road from Wabash south was begun. The road was com- pleted to Anderson in 1876, intersecting the P. C. C. & St. L. about two miles north of the city of Anderson. An arrange. ment was affected with the P. C. C. & St. L. road by which the C. W. & M. used its track into Anderson, until the latter could construct a bridge across White river and extend its track into the city. This arrangement lasted for several months, or until the C. W. & M. bridge was completed and a depot had been erected on the east side of the road between Fifth and Sixth streets. This depot was subsequently burned, but as the road was leased at the time by the Big Four, was not rebuilt. the passengers and freight being handled at the depots of the latter company.

The first president of the C. W. & M. road was Mr. A. T. Gardner, of Michigan, a gentleman of the highest probity and moral worth. He had been very active in his efforts to complete the road to Anderson, and he had no sooner seen the work accomplished, which was early in May, 1876, than he was taken suddenly ill of fever and died at the Stilwell House (now Doxey) after a very brief illness. His remains were taken to his Michigan home for interment on the first passenger train that was run over the road between Anderson and Wabash, and were accompanied as far as the latter city by one hundred of Anderson's business men and prominent citizens.

THE SOUTHERN EXTENSION.

It was the design of the original company operating the C. W. & M. to extend the road as far south as the Ohio river, and into the city of Louisville, Ky., but nothing was done until 1890, when work was begun on the extension. The work was pushed with all possible vigor, and in May, 1891, it was announced by the company that the road was open for traffic from its northern terminus. Benton Harbor, Mich., to Louisville. Ky.

The C. W. & M. division has thirty-one and one-half miles of main track in the county. It does a large business both in handling freight and passengers, and is said to be one of the most prosperous lines of the Big Four system.

HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.

CHICAGO & SOUTHEASTERN (ANDERSON, LEBANON & ST. LOUIS R. R.).

The agitation of the construction of this road was begun in 1870, but owing to various circumstances the work of building the road was not begun until 1875. At the Septem- ber term, 1871, of the Board of Commissioners, Colonel T. N. Stilwell, the first president of the road, and its most active promoter, presented a petition numerously signed by promin- ent citizens and tax-payers, asking the Board to order an e'ec - tion for Anderson township, the same to be held on the 21st day of October, 1871, for the purpose of taking a vote upon the subject of appropriating money " to aid in the construction of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis railroad." At the same time a petition was presented to the board by a number of representative citizens and taxpayers of Stony Creek town- ship, asking that an election be held on the same date in that township, for the purpose of voting a tax of 20 per cent. on the taxable property of the township, to aid in building the road. The Board ordered an election held in each town- ship, which resulted in favor of granting aid to the road. The construction of the road was begun at Anderson, but on the refusal of many to pay the tax voted, the inability of the company to raise other funds necessary to the accomplish- ment of the work, together with other obstacles that were continually arising, very slow progress was made in carrying out the designs of the original promoters of the road. The management of the road changed han is several times, and was finally completed to Brazil, Ind., in 1893, by Harry Craw- ford, sr., of Chicago, who had acquired a controlling interest in the stock.

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Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana: A Detailed History of the., Part 7

Author: Forkner, John L. (John La Rue), 1844-1926 Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Anderson, Ind. : Forkner Number of Pages: 1055

Author: Forkner, John L. (John La Rue), 1844-1926
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Anderson, Ind. : Forkner
Number of Pages: 1055