USA > Indiana > Madison County > Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana: A Detailed History of the. > Part 80
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Stilly was a peculiar looking man, not being possessed of an over-bright intellect, and it was an easy thing for him to impress upon the jury that he was non compos mentis. The event of which we speak took place in the year 1851, when the late William Roach was Sheriff of Madison county. For several years prior to this time there had been a bad gang in Pipe Creek township, who had given the Sheriff and other officers a great deal of trouble. They were connected with similar organizations established in Wayne county, and to the west as far as the Wabash river. Horses were stolen along the eastern border of the State and run to this county, and after they had been rested up a little were taken to Logans- port and other towns along the Wabash river. There are yet living many citizens in Pipe Creek township who could sub- stantiate the existence of such a band if they were placed upon the witness stand. They were generally desperate, reckless men such as are usually engaged in that calling, and the neighborhood was in great fear of them. Very often persons, whose horses had been stolen, would pursue the thieves through Anderson on towards the west, but generally with poor success, inasmuch as after they reached this neighbor- hood they would generally be lost sight of.
The cause of Stilly's incarceration was that a valuable horse had been stolen from a farmer in this county and run to the rendezvous near Frankton where Stilly at that time lived. It is said that one of the leaders of the band induced Stilly to take the horse to Logansport, where he sold it. The owner pursued him and arrived soon after Stilly did. He recognized his horse on seeing it and established its identity and secured it. He also caused Stilly to be arrested and brought back to Anderson for trial, while the man who had really stolen the horse escaped. Before the trial came on Stilly's attorney had a pri- vate interview with him in which he asked him if he could not play the insane act on the trial. The idea was favorable to Stilly, who answered that " he could try mighty hard and thought he could make it work." When the trial came off a large crowd was in attendance. From the very first Stilly played his part to perfection. He would look silly and indif-
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ferent at every thing around him; would twist up small bits of paper between his fingers and holding them up between himself and the light, would laugh like an idiot. He cried during the course of the trial and acted so strangely that he almost convinced the people and the jury that he was insane. When the argument began Stilly's attorney made a very elo- quent address to the jury in his behalf in which he pictured the great injustice that would be done to humanity by commit- ing to prison this unfortunate, insane youth. He spoke feel- ingly of the great wrong it would be to punish his client for committing an act that he did not know was wrong. When the jury retired for deliberation, they were very much divided on the question of his alleged insanity, and could not reach a verdict for several hours. However, a verdict was at last agreed upon and he received a sentence of two years in the penitentiary and was taken by the Sheriff and two other pris- oners overland in a wagon to Columbus, Indiana, and then by rail to Jeffersonville prison. The prisoner behaved very well during his confinement and learned the trade of a cooper, which he for several years afterwards followed when he returned to Anderson.
James Stilly was one of the greatest fishermen that ever lived in this county. During the summer season he would go along the banks of White river, month in and month out to indulge in his favorite sport and rarely ever returned without having a long string of fish. He never referred to his early life, and after his discharge from prison was always a quiet inoffensive citizen and lived a rather exemplary life.
Stilly was the man who saved the old Baptist church from fire, a circumstance we have already spoken of in another place in this volume.
INCENDIARY FIRE.
A destructive fire, which is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary, occurred on a Saturday night in November, 1857. The building burned was a new one just erected, and was owned by Quick & Murphy. It was a large structure containing a store, warehouse, railroad ticket office, and post-office, all under one roof. Nothing in the building was saved. The proprietors had just moved into their new headquarters, and had stored their warehouse with supplies, and had on hand a large stock of dry goods and groceries. The loss was estimated to be about $5,000, with no insurance. Suspicion rested on two parties who were engaged in keeping
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a saloon, or doggery, in Frankton, named Isaac Sigler and John Ravy. It is said that they had threatened Messrs. Quick & Murphy with their vengeance only a short time before this occurrence. Sigler and Ravy had both been previously arrested, charged with tearing up a railroad switch at Frank- ton. Sigler gave bail, and Ravy, in default of bail, was lodged in the county jail. This is said to have been the cause of their purpose to burn the building. Sigler and Ravy were both tried for the crime of arson, but in consequence of insuffi- cient evidence were acquitted.
Sigler and Ravy were afterwards arrested for robbing Atherton's store at Frankton, and convicted. Sigler was sent to the State's prison, where he died, but Ravy made his escape and afterwards fell from a railroad bridge and was killed.
In an issue of an Anderson paper of November 27, 1857, we find the following editorial : "The citizens of Frankton having endured a low groggery, kept by an Italian by the name of John Ravy, until forbearance ceased to be a virtue, the ladies of that place a few days since boldly walked into his saloon and quietly poured out the disgusting compound." We are informed by a friend who chanced to be in Frankton at the time, that the act was done in a quiet and orderly man- ner, and that the ladies deserved credit for the manner in which it was performed. Ravy is the same person who was connected with the burning of Quick & Murphy's store.
A BURGLARY.
We find, in the Anderson Standard, the following account of a robbery committed at Frankton on August 12, 1858 :
" On Tuesday night, last, the store of Messrs. Atherton was robbed of $6.15 in cash and about sixty dollars worth of goods. On Wednesday James and Isaac Sigler, of that place, were arrested and the money found on their persons, and the goods were found secreted. They were detected by means of a plan laid by Officer Raney, of Cincinnati. Frankton had been for some time infested with housebreakers, and the citi- zens secured the services of this officer to ferret out the crime, which resulted in the capture of these two persons. Two other persons were suspected as being accessories to the lar- ceny, but made their escape. The two Siglers were brought to Anderson, and tried before 'Squire William H. Mershon
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and were bound over to appear before the Circuit Court, and in default of bail were placed in jail."
On the 2nd of September, following, James and Isaac Sigler were tried in court for the above robbery and were con- victed and sentenced to the State's prison for a term of two years each. They were safely lodged in the penitentiary at Jeffersonville on the Saturday following their conviction. Isaac Sigler is the same person suspected of burning Murphy & Quick's store, referred to formerly.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
This township contains an area of twenty-eight and one- half square miles and is situated in the eastern central part of the county. It is bounded on the north by Monroe township, on the east by Delaware county, on the south by Anderson and Union townships, and on the west by La Fayette township. The land is as rich and productive as can be found in Central Indiana, and hence the township was christened " Richland." It was organized in 1884, or about four years after William Curtis entered and settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 31, where he built a log cabin-the first erected by a white man in the township. Soon after Mr. Cur- tis located in the township, David Penisten entered a part of what is now known as the David Croan farm. John Shinkle was the next settler. Following these two early settlers came John Beal, William McClosky, James and William Maynard, Adam Pence, Joseph Brown, Joseph Bennett, Peter Keicher, Samuel Stephens, J. W. Westerfield, John Hunt, Christian Lower, J. R. Holston, Thomas Thornburg, Michael Bronnen- berg, Randolph Chambers, Jonathan Dillon, John Coburn, Weems Heagy, Jacob and Michael Bronnenberg, Jesse Fork- ner, Jacob Stover and others. The first settlers were com- pelled to cut their way through a dense forest as the township was heavily timbered and the underbrush so thick that travel on horseback or in wagons was impossible. In the fall of 1880 the State road from Shelbyville to Fort Wayne was laid out and, as it passed through this township, the settlers soon had an outlet to Anderson.
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Big and Little Killbuck flow through the township and are its only streams. The former in an early day furnished water power for several mills, all of which have disappeared save one, the Broadbent Woolen Factory. Among the mills that once stood on the banks of this unpretending, but impor. tant stream was a saw-mill built in 1833 by Matthew Feni- more in the extreme south-west corner of the township. Soon
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after this mill was built, William Curtis and James Barnes erected a small grist-mill near by it. These mills both used the same dam, but divided the water until the saw-mill was abandoned. The grist-mill was afterward purchased by Rob- ert Adams, an Englishman, who, in 1850, converted it into a woolen-mill, which he operated successfully for many years. This mill was situated at the intersection of the road now known as the Alexandria pike and the road running east and west along the south line of the township. It was destroyed by fire in 1876. It was thought at the time that the fire was the work of incendiaries, and a number of the employes at the factory were arrested on the charge of arson, but nothing could be proved against them and they were acquitted. Ben- jamin Walker built a saw-mill on Killbuck on Section 28 at an early day, and in 1840 added a carding machine, which he operated with indifferent success for a few years. Not long after this John B. Purcell built a woolen factory near the same site, which he operated for several years, when he sold the property to Stephen Broadbent.
CHURCHES.
A small class of Methodists was organized at an early day in the edge of Monroe township and their meetings were held for several years in private houses. The class or society after- ward held its meetings in the Holston school house for a num- ber of years and in 1860 erected a neat place of worship on Section 8 at a cost of $1,200. This church was christened " Wesley Chapel," and is as widely known as any place of worship in the county. The membership at the present time is about thirty. Among the early ministers who held services regularly every two weeks at this church were Revs. B. H. Bradley, Isaac King, H. Smith, Joseph Marsee, J. H. Hall, J. R. Lacey and J. H. Jackson.
In 1832 the Asbury M. E. Church was organized by Elias Hollingsworth and Joseph Barnes near the Union township line, and in 1833 Elias Hollingsworth, Samuel Shinkle and Joseph Barnes were selected as a Board of Trustees for the purpose of erecting a permanent place of worship. On the 28th of December, 1833, Joseph Barnes and wife deeded to the trustees one and a half acres in Section 28, on what is still known as the John Nelson farm, where a log church was sub- sequently erected. Meetings were held here for many years, Elias Hollingsworth officiating. In 1870 the society built a
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
new place of worship on the bank of Killbuck, a short dis- tance west of the old meeting-house. This building cost about $1,500, and was dedicated September 13, 1870, by Rev. Dr. Bowman, President of Asbury, now DePauw, University .. Among the early members of this church should be mentioned the names of Samuel Shinkle, Joseph Barnes, Daniel Goody- koontz, David Tappan, and their wives. The church main- tained a flourishing Sunday school for many years.
In 1854 Hiram Chambers and wife, John Chambers and wife, Susan Chambers, Mary Chambers and Nancy Scott organized what has since been known as the Chambers Chris- tian Church. Hiram Chambers deeded the society a small piece of land on Section 27, and in 1869 a place of worship was erected there at a cost of about $1,500. .
What was known as the Wesleyan Camp Meeting Asso- ciation flourished at one time in this township, and meet- ings were held annually for many years and were largely attended by people from all over the country. Meetings have not been held for several years past. The camp grounds were situated on the old J. R. Holsten farm near Wesley Chapel.
THE SCHOOLS.
In 1858 the township had 401 children of legal school age ; in 1868 it had 398; in 1872 it had 386, and in 1896 it had 239, or a decrease of forty-three per cent in thirty-eight years. The township has seven school buildings, five of which are brick and two frame, and employs seven teachers. Mr. Joseph Keicher is the present trustee of the township.
OTHER STATISTICAL MATTERS.
The population of the township in 1850 was 850; in 1860 it was 926; in 1870 it was 1,056; in 1880 it was 985; and in 1890 it was 891.
The value of lands in the township in 1896 was $524,865; value of lands and improvements $555,085; total value of tax- ables $663,605.
VILLAGES.
In 1885 Zimri Moon laid out a town on Section 15, which was afterwards known as " Moonville." From 1838 to 1840, or during the time of the construction of the Indiana Central Canal, considerable business was done here, but with the col- lapse of that enterprise Moonville began to decline and is today a village of memory, as its houses long since disappeared and
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
its site is now devoted to agriculture. The farm where the village stood is owned by Joseph Hancock, of Anderson, and his son, William H. Hancock, cultivates it. Among those who did business in Moonville were Abraham Adamson, Nathan Williams, James Trimble, and James Swaar, Riley Moore, Samuel and Joseph Pence, John C. Gustin, and John Winslow. The late John W. Westfield was the only resident physician the village ever had. He practiced his profession here in the latter '30s. At that time the locality of the village was very unhealthy, but it is now one of the healthiest sections in the country.
One of the noted characters of Moonville was a man of the name of Zachariah Cook who kept a lodging house on his farm near the village. Mr. Cook had a handsome daughter, Eliza, who was a general favorite and is still well remembered by the old-timers in that and other parts of the county. She was a fearless horsewoman and won many premiums for superior riding at county fairs.
The authors are indebted to Joseph Hancock and Wesley Dunham, of Anderson, for information concerning this once interesting village.
PITTSBORROUGH, A ONCE THRIVING VILLAGE, NOW OBLIT. ERATED.
Pittsborrough was a village situated on the Alexandria turnpike, just north of the present site of the village of Pros- perity, in Richmond township, on the old Beal farm. John Beal was one of the founders and sold considerable real estate in the town. It was in the days of the building of the canals through the country, and towns sprang up all over the county near the scene of the works. Pittsborrough contained several houses, stores and a " tavern." Of course it had its place where liquors could be had by the small, and Jeremiah Judd was the man who dealt it out to the thirsty laborers on the public works. At the March session, 1839, he was granted a license by the Board of Commissioners, as follows :
"On petition presented and duly supported by a com- petent number of freeholders, it is ordered that Jeremiah Judd be allowed a license to vend groceries and liquors by the small in the town of Pittsborrough, in said county, for the term of one year from this date."
It is said that Sims Garrison also kept a place there, but
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
there is no record of his having obtained a license in the courts.
Among those who once owned real estate in this village were William Coburn, John Beal, Ninevah Berry, Sims Gar- rison, James Carroll, Martha Shinn, Lewis Maynard and Isaac Snelson. Many others held lots there whose names do not now come to mind.
James Hollingsworth, an old resident, says many fights occurred in this place during the construction of the canal between the different sets of hands employed, generally hap- pening on pay day. The stores and business houses were log cabins, such as were common in that day. There is nothing now left, save tradition, to tell where Pittsborrough once stood.
MOUNT PLEASANT.
Among the many towns and villages that sprang up along the route of the projected canal that passed through the county, Mount Pleasant, in Richland township, is one that is almost forgotten. It was situated in the neighborhood of the Dillon and Thornburg farm, adjoining the Jacob Bronnenberg land. Joshua Shinkle, who is yet living in Anderson, owned the land prior to the laying out of the village. It was not a suc- cess as a business venture, as but few lots were disposed of. It came too late in the days of canal fever, as the work had been abandoned in 1839, the year it was laid out, and the enter- prise was never resumed. John Thornburg purchased a lot and built a house there, which was the only residence in the town. All traces of the place as a town have long ago been obliterated, and it is only now and then that an old settler calls to mind that there was ever such a place in the county.
PROSPERITY.
Prosperity, the only village now in the township, was founded by John Beal and Hiram Louder, who opened up a small general store there at an early day. The place pros- pered for a time and a postoffice was established for the con- venience of the inhabitants and the farmers of the surrounding country. In the course of a few years, however, the postoffice was removed, and the place went into a decline, from which it has never recovered. The individual who gave the place its name is not known, but it has been suspected that he was something of a wag.
The township has furnished a number of county officials
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
since its organization, as follows : Dr. John Hunt, State Sen- ator and Treasurer of the county ; Hon. David Croan, Repre- sentative; John Coburn, County Commissioner; Weems Heagy, County Treasurer, and Jacob Bronnenberg, County Commissioner.
Among other citizens of the township who were well known and highly respected in their time were B. F. Walker, Dr. William Parris, Samuel and Madison Forkner, Peter Keicher, Isaac Sellars, John Nelson (known throughout the county as "Hog" John on account of his extensive dealings for many years in hogs), John Matthew, Staman Croan and Joseph Pence. The. late Dr. William A. Hunt was also a resident of the township for many years. Of the old-timers who are still living may be mentioned John and James Black. lidge, Curran Beall, Chauncy Vermillion.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The first schoolhouse in the township was erected in the fall of 1881 on the Harrison Canaday farm, and the first school was taught by an Irishman in the spring of 1832. John Tread- way taught school here in 1884.
The first birth in the township occurred in 1832, a daugh- ter being born to Mr. and Mrs. John Parker.
The Nelson graveyard, on Section 15, was the first in the township.
The first graded country school in Madison county was taught by W. M. Croan at " College Corner" schoolhouse, in which the first graduating exercises in the country schools of Madison county took place.
The first house erected in the township was built by James Curtis, and stood where the barn on the old Robert Adams farm now stands.
At the March session, 1884, Richland township was formed and bounded by the Board of Commissioners as follows :
" It is ordered by this board that a new township be organized in the county, to be known as Richland township, to be bounded as follows, to-wit : Beginning at the southeast corner of Section 83, Town 20, Range 8 east, running thence east with the line dividing Townships 19 and 20, north to the east line of said county, thence north, with the county line, to the northeast corner of Town 21, on said line, thence west to
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
the northeast corner of Section 4, Township 21 north, Range 7 east, thence south to the place of beginning.
" And all elections held in said township shall be held at the house of Peter Ehrhart, until otherwise ordered and directed."
THE OLD KILLBUCK WOOLEN MILLS-ONE OF THE LANDMARKS.
Away back, perhaps as far as 1838, Benjamin Walker, an old citizen of Madison county, who in an early day lived in Richland township, but who ended his days in Anderson a few years since, erected a dam across Killbuck and built a small saw-mill for the purpose of doing the neighborhood saw. ing. It was a rude affair, but served well the purpose in its day. After running it for several years he sold the mill and site to John Purcell, who, about the year 1840, transformed it into a woolen-mill and " carding machine," where he did business of that kind for several years. He afterward sold the mill to Stephen Broadbent, who has for forty years done the carding, spinning and weaving for the north part of the county. It is the only factory of this kind now in Madison county.
Mr. Broadbent has, in a quiet way, made a handsome for- tune by operating it.
It is known far and wide as one of the best mills of its kind in the country. Mr. Broadbent not only does a local trade, but is a large buyer and seller of wool in season.
Mr. Benjamin Walker, the first owner of the property, was the father of Mrs. Nathan Armstrong and Mrs. J. E. D. Smith, well known in Anderson and vicinity.
The scenery surrounding this old mill is one of varied beauty. In the summer time, when the trees are bearing their . foliage and the fields are carpeted with their green coverings of grass and growing grain, the little mill situated on the rip- pling stream would be a subject for the artist's hand that could not be surpassed in Madison county.
Richland township, besides being one of the wealthiest, can also boast of having the only woolen-mill in the county.
This mill is spoken of in the general history of Richland township.
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ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS-FATAL ACCIDENT TO SAMUEL EPPARD, ONE OF MADISON COUNTY'S OLD AND RESPECTED CITIZENS.
Near Little Killbuck lived Samuel Eppard, an old and respected citizen. He was one of the oldest inhabitants of the neighborhood, and was generally liked by all. On the 20th day of August, 1887, Mr. Eppard had gone down the road from his residence, and was about to cross the iron bridge that crosses the stream at that point, where he met Wilson Heagy and John Staggs, with whom he indulged in a pleasant chat. During the conversation Mr. Eppard took his seat on the rail- ing of the bridge, and in some manner lost his balance and fell over. The descent was about twelve feet to the ground, where he struck his head on a stone, killing him almost instantly. He breathed but two or three times when he was picked up by Wilson Heagy.
He was a widower, and left two sons to inherit his pos- sessions. He was seventy-two years old, a native of Virginia, . but had lived in Madison county for nearly forty years.
Coroner William Hunt held an inquest, and a verdict of accidental death was returned. Samuel Eppard will be remem- bered by the older citizens of Madison county as an honest, upright business man, and one who attended strictly to his own affairs. He was a good neighbor, and was generally beloved by his acquaintances.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH-MISS EMMA THORNBURG TAKES HER LIFE WITH A PISTOL.
For many years the family of Thomas Thornburg resided on a farm on the Killbuck turnpike road in Richland town- ship, being one of the wealthy and highly respected families in that locality. They reared a large family of children who were most genial in their associations with one another, and kind and generous to others. The Thornburg home was in all respects a model one.
Several years ago a mysterious package was left on the door step of the Thornburg residence which, on investigation, was found to contain a newly born infant. The particulars of the life and death of this unfortunate child can best be given in this volume by quoting an article on this subject which appeared in the Democrat of the 14th of March, 1879:
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