USA > Indiana > Madison County > Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana: A Detailed History of the. > Part 87
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
After attaching himself to the Democratic party, he be- came one of its leaders in his neighborhood. His counsel was always sought in every political campaign. He was one of the best workers in the party in Union township. While he never cared for office himself, he glorified in the success of his friends. Uncle Bill, as he was familiarly called, was one of the old-time fellows in his ways-built on about the same gauge as the late Colonel Berry, Joseph Howard, and such men as they, who came here about the time he did.
WILLIAM JOHNS.
He despised a dude or a fop ; he was not opposed to neat and tidy dress, but any thing that bordered on foppishness disgusted him. He not only enjoyed joking others, but if it came on him it was all the same. He used to relate an occur- rence that took place with him when he was a young man, that he would laugh over heartily.
According to his story, he was rather a wild young man, not very bad, but full of fun. Among the young people with whom he associated, was a dashing belle, with sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks, with whom he was in love. . He was her escort to all the apple-cuttings, husking-bees, log-rollings and wool-pickings. His love was fully reciprocated by the fair one, but like all cases of true love, it did not run smoothly. Her father was a local preacher. He knew Uncle Billy's short-comings and wild disposition. He seriously objected to
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his attentions to his daughter and so notified Billy. He was warned not to come about again, but the girl clung to him and they would meet at the gatherings in the neighborhood, in spite of the objections of the stern parent.
Things went on in this direction, until at last they reached a climax. One Sunday the two lovers met at a country meet- ing. After the services, Billy concluded he would boldly take his girl to her home, meet her angry father and take the con- sequences. So they strolled up the road, as lovers naturally would, until they came in sight of the house. They saw the preacher out on the wood-pile in front. Billy made up his mind that he would play the old man a big game of "bluff." He did not mention it to the girl, but marched squarely up to the preacher, staring him in the face and said :
" Now, sir, you have indulged in a great many inuendoes about me, and have forbidden me to come to your house. I am here to say that I am as good as you are in every respect. I owe you nothing. I care nothing for you, but I like your daughter. I have come to give you the d-dest licking you ever had."
Billy began to make motions to take off his coat, but he never got it off. Something like a cannon ball struck him between the eyes, and the stars immediately came in sight. When he came to, he was on the opposite side of the road, with the preacher rubbing him back to life. Billy said if a mule had kicked him it could not have killed him any deader for the time. If lightning had struck him he could not have been more surprised. He supposed that when he tackled the preacher for a fight, he would either knuckle to him and apol- ogize, or run, but in this he was mistaken.
Billy's motto ever afterward was, " Never tackle a coun- try preacher for a fight." Billy and the preacher afterwards became good friends, but he and the girl " fell out " and never married. All old-timers will remember Uncle Billy Johns.
A SKETCH.
Dr. Valentine Dunham was one of the old-fashioned coun- try doctors, who lived in Union township for many years, and practiced the profession of medicine among his neighbors. Instead of going to a drug store and having his prescriptions prepared, he carried an old time pair of leather saddle-bags which he threw across the back of his horse, and rode astride of them through sunshine and storm, night and day, healing
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the sick and afflicted, who appealed to him for medical service. He was not a graduate of any medical school, but had an extraordinary amount of old fashioned common sense.
His father, who was also a physician, died in 1850, and left his medical books and surgical instruments to his son, from which he gained all that he ever knew about the science of medicine, having no instructor whatever.
He died at his home in Union township, on the 22d of January, 1882, at the age of sixty years. Of a family of twelve brothers and sisters he was the last with but one exception, Ex-Mayor Dunham, who is now a resident of Anderson, and a Justice of the Peace. He was married in 1852 and raised a large family, his wife having died in 1878.
Dr. Dunham was engaged in the practice of medicine for nearly forty years, and in his neighborhood was looked upon as being the father of medicine. Although he was not an educated man, his general good sense gave him about the right idea what to do in any ordinary case of sickness. He was quite successful in his practice, and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his brother physicians throughout the county, who upon the occasion of his death met and passed resolu- tions of respect to his memory, the committee consisting of Drs. William A. Hunt, Horace E. Jones and Jonas Stewart.
Dr. Dunham was a frugal man in his habits and had amassed quite a fortune, being one of the largest land owners in his locality, and at his death left his family a snug compe- tency, which they at this time fully appreciate and enjoy.
DEATH OF A PIONEER.
In the Anderson Standard of June 24, 1858, we find the announcement of the death of one of the earliest settlers of Madison county, as follows :
" Died in Chesterfield in this county, of an affection of the heart, Betsey Makepeace, wife of the late Amasa Makepeace, aged seventy-four years.
" The subject of this notice was born in Norton, Massa- chusetts, June 3, 1774, where she was married about the year 1800, and shortly afterward, with her husband, moved to Ches- terfield, N. H., where they remained until the year 1818, when, being unfortunate in business, they concluded to seek a home in the far West. Accordingly they packed up their goods and with a large family started for the headwaters of the Ohio river, which they reached after a long and tedious journey.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
They made the journey by means of their horses, traveling in a wagon until they reached the Ohio river, when they con- structed a raft, making their way to Cincinnati, which was then but a mere village. From Cincinnati they went to Leba- non, Ohio, where they remained two or three years, when they removed to Madison county, Indiana, where they remained until the time of their death. The husband's death preceded that of his wife by ten years, having lived together nearly fifty years. Mrs. Makepeace had therefore shared the toils and troubles of a pioneer's life. She was one of the first settlers of the county, the red man holding possession of the forests when she first beheld them.
" May her memory be still fresh in the hearts of those who have received many a kind word and encouraging coun- sel from those lips that are now cold in death."
The Mrs. Makepeace above referred to was the mother of the late Allen Makepeace, who for many years lived at Ches- terfield, and died there in the year 1872. Chesterfield was a mere Indian trading point at the time of the arrival of this worthy couple at that place. Mr. Allen Makepeace was a merchant in that village for nearly half a century, and amassed an immense fortune, which he left to two children who survived him, the eldest of whom is Elvira J. Corwin, wife of John E. Corwin, former President of the Madison County Bank, but now residing at Middletown, N. Y., and their son, Quincy Makepeace, who yet resides near the old homestead in Chesterfield.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP.
This township was organized March 4, 1887, and named in honor of the eighth President of the United States at the suggestion of George Moore, one of the earliest residents of the territory comprising the township.
The township originally contained all of the territory lying in Congressional Township 22, Range 8 east. The rec- ord for its organization is as follows :
" On petition filed, and due deliberation thereupon had, it is ordered by the Board that Congressional Township No. 22, north of Range 8 east, in Madison county, be organized into a township, to be known and designated by the name of Van- Buren township. And it is also ordered that they hold an election. in said township at the house of Hiram Palmer, therein, on the first Monday of April next, for the purpose of electing township officers and one Justice of the Peace. And it is ordered that the elections in said township be held at the house of said Hiram Palmer until otherwise directed. And it is ordered that Hiram Palmer be and he is hereby appointed Inspector of Elections for said township until a successor shall be chosen and qualified."
The township contains twenty-five square miles and is situated in the north-east corner of the county. It is bounded on the north by Grant county, on the east by Delaware.county, on the south by Monroe township, and on the west by Boone township. The topography of the township is similar to that of the other northern townships of the county, being generally level, well watered and originally heavily timbered. The soil is principally black loam and well adapted to the cultivation of cereals, particularly corn and wheat, large crops of which are produced annually, especially of corn.
According to the best information obtainable the settle- ment of the township began about the year 1830, when Thomas Gordon, Jacob Davis and Hiram and John Palmer emigrated from Virginia and settled in the county just north of the pres-
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
ent site of Summitville, on Section 20. Between the years 1830-36 quite a number from Virginia settled in the township, among whom were John and William Kelsey, who located on Section 8 ; Thomas Cartwright and James Blades, who located on Section 31 ; John Cree, who located on Section 17; Samuel Fenimore, who located on Section 20. The latter came from Ohio, and chose as a location for his future home a spot on the Fort Wayne trace, where he erected a log house, which he subsequently converted into a tavern for the accommoda- tion of hunters and travelers over the trace. This was the first inn, or tavern, in the township. The locality was after- wards known as " Old Wrinkle." In the fall of 1836 John Moore, of North Carolina, settled in the same neighborhood, also Robert Robb, of Johnson county, Indiana. They were soon after followed by Ephraim and Madison Broyles, John Shields, David Culberson, John M. Zedeker, Harrison Allen and Zachariah Robinson. Many of the first settlers after- wards removed to Illinois and Iowa, particularly the latter, when those states were organized, believing that better oppor- tunities awaited them in the " prairie country." This disposi- tion to follow the " star of empire " was not peculiar to the early settlers of this township alone, it may be observed, as many of the first comers to nearly all of the townships in the county afterwards " pulled up stakes " and went farther west. Occasionally one would return and settle permanently, but not often. They preferred a country where it did not require so much labor to prepare the land for a crop.
From 1839 immigration to the township increased year after year. School-houses were erected and churches organ- ized. In every township but this it has been an easy matter to ascertain when and where the first school-house was erected. But in this township there is so much diversity of opinion on the subject among the old-timers and their descend- ants that but littie definite or satisfactory information can be learned about the matter. It is sufficient to say, that a small log school-house was erected at an early day, about a mile and a half north of where Summitville now stands. The name of the school teacher was George Doyle. In 1858 the number of school children in the township was 256; in 1874 it was 386, and at the present time the school enumeration shows that there are 516 children eligible to the privileges of the public schools. There are eight school buildings in the township, including Summitville, and ten teachers are employed. The
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Summitville schools are graded and compare favorably in every respect with the schools of other towns in the county.
CHURCHES.
The early settlers in the township enjoyed religious serv- ices, without regard to their denominational predilections, long before a religious society had been organized. Itinerant preachers, during the pioneer period, would visit the township from time to time, when word would be sent out to the set- tlers that religious services would be held at a certain private cabin or log school-house. During the winter of 1859-60, a Christian minister of the name of George Newhouse visited the township and held a number of meetings, which resulted in the organization of a society composed of about sixty mem- bers. A log church was afterwards erected, about one mile north of the present site of Summitville. Samuel Moore, Pleasant Victory, John Beck and Philip Cramer were among the most active members of the society.
STATISTICAL.
The population of the township in 1850 was 406; in 1860 it was 672; in 1870 it was 874; in 1880 it was 1,691, and in 1890 it was 1,979, including the town of Summitville.
The total value of lands, as taken from the tax duplicate of the present year, is $416,595; value of improvements, $975,065 ; total value of taxables, $639,930.
SUMMITVILLE AND VICINITY.
The original name of this town was " Skipperville," but was afterwards changed on account of its proximity to the " cone," or summit level, of the State, a point two miles north of the town, from which the waters of Mud creek and Black creek flow in opposite directions, the former emptying into Pipe creek and the latter into the Mississinewa. Aquilla Moore, the oldest living inhabitant of the township, came to this part of the county and settled in the neighborhood of where Summitville now stands in 1836.
On his seventy-seventh birthday, the writer sat beneath the shade of a spreading cherry tree in the grounds surround- ing his residence, and elicited from him much information in relation to the town and its surroundings.
Mr. Moore is an exceptionally bright gentleman, and has a wonderful memory for a man of his advanced years, being
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
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able to go into the minutest details of the happenings of the long ago.
John Palmer and Isaiah Davis were the first settlers, and came to this vicinity in the year 1835, and located about two miles north, having removed from the State of Virginia.
Robert Robb, the father of Mrs. Aquilla Moore, came here from Johnson county in the year 1837, and started the first store in this part of the country, north of Summitville about two miles.
Aaron M. Williams was among the early settlers, and erected the first and only tannery in this neighborhood, which he operated together with his farming interests for a good many years, and was for a long while engaged in the dry goods and merchandizing business, and kept a place to lodge the weary traveler. He sold the first town lots in the place, and was really the founder of the village. No regular plats of the lots were laid off, but when a man purchased one, Mr. Williams would stake off the amount and size of an ordinary town lot and describe it by metes and bounds. This manner of proceeding has since given the assessors and county officials much trouble in assessing the real estate in the place.
Summitville proper was laid out in 1867, by Aaron M. Williams. Henry Roby was the first merchant in the town, and opened business in November, 1867, and did quite a thriv- ing trade, and was succeeded by Aquilla Moore & Son.
Samuel Fenimore was an early settler and lived about two miles north of Summitville, being one of a number of large land owners and thrifty citizens of that locality. Prior to the lay- ing out of Summitville as a town, and before a settlement was made there, there was an old staging station kept near that place by Aquilla Moore, where the stage that ran from Ander- son to Marion made a change of horses and stopped for feed and dinner. William Pittsford, Richard and A. J. Hunt, the Anderson liverymen, were among the prominent stage drivers of that day. The first stage coach that passed over the line was driven by the late Colonel (). H. P. Carey from Marion to Anderson. He owned the stage line for a number of years, and operated it until he volunteered his services in the army during the late war. The last one was driven by Walker Win- slow in 1876.
When Aquilla Moore first settled in these parts, there was no mail route between Summitville and Anderson or Alexan- dria, the mail came there via Strawtown, being carried on
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horseback over roads blazed out through dense forests. Daniel Dwiggins was the first mail boy to deliver mail in this section, and Elijah Williams was the next ; both are long since deceased.
One of the first physicians in these surroundings was Dr. S. B. Harriman, who died in Richmond, Indiana, a few years since. He was succeeded by C. V. Garrett, John Wright, W. V. McMahan, M. L. Cranfill, S. T. Brunt and T. J. Clark. The first doctor in Summittville, after it became a town, was Dr. Cyrus Graul, who established himself here in 1867.
William Wellington and John S. Moore started the first grist mill in the township in 1854. It was a small corn cracker with a saw mill in connection with it. They did a very thriv- ing business for a number of years. Farmers came for quite a distance from the surrounding country to have their sawing done, and have their grists ground.
The first flouring mill was built in Summitville by Col- umbus Moore in the year 1868. It was of an improved pat- tern and for many years enjoyed an extensive business.
The first ministers of the gospel in this locality were William Brunt, a brother of the late Thomas Brunt and Peter Casteel. The old timers are not able to agree as to which of the two was the first.
In the year 1868, Columbus Moore was appointed the first postmaster in Summitville, receiving his commission from Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. George Moore, the father of Aquilla Moore, was one of the first Board of Trustees of Van Buren township, and died at the residence of his son about eighteen years ago.
At the time he was an incumbent in this office, each town- ship had a Board consisting of three Trustees.
At an early day Aquilla Moore and his neighbors hauled wheat raised upon their farms to Hamilton, Ohio, the nearest market, and sold it for thirty-seven cents per bushel.
. The first railroad agent in Summitville was J. P. Smith, who came to this place on the completion of the C. W. & M. railroad in 1876. The first grain warehouse was built by James H. Woolen about the time of the building of the railroad. Harrison and Reuben Allen were also early settlers in the immediate vicinity of Summitville, having moved here from North Carolina in the early '40s.
The only newspaper published in this place is the Summit- ville Wave by George P. Louiso, which was established in 1890. It is independent in politics and enjoys a large circulation in
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the town and surrounding country. In 1888 the Summitville Times was published here by J. A. Wertz, lately connected with the Anderson Bulletin and other Anderson publications. The first paper published here was by a young man of the name of Pinkerton, in 1885.
Summitville from the time of its first location as a village grew very slowly and made but little progress until the time of the perfecting of the C. W. & M. Railway, when it took on an air of prosperity for a short time, and remained stationary until the discovery of natural gas, when it at once entered upon another season of rapid growth, and it is at this writing one of the liveliest and most enterprising towns in Madison county, having many industries, fine school buildings, brick paved streets and handsome residences, and many fine brick business blocks erected on its main thoroughfares.
It was incorporated as a town on the 31st of December, 1881. The first Board of Trustees was elected on the first Monday in May, 1882, and took the oath of office before Miles F. Wood, a Justice of the Peace, on the 3rd day of the same month. The first Trustees were Moses Stone, George W. Fear and Joseph A. Allen. The Board organized by electing Mr. Stone, President ; Frank Hernley was the first Clerk, and W. H. Williams, the first Treasurer, and J. M. Williams, the first Marshal of the town.
The present officers are William Howard, Clerk ; Vin- cent R. Love, Treasurer, and Jeremiah Simons, Marshal. A. F. Kaufman, Eddie E. Thomas and William J. Peale are the present Trustees. The School Board is composed of Rob- ert Mclain, John M. Gordon and George W. Green.
A question was raised as to the legality of the incorpora- tion of the town, and therefore an act was passed by the Leg- islature of 1895, through the influence of Hon. J. M. Hund- ley, legalizing the same.
The following industries are located at Summitville : The Central Glass Company ; the Crystal Window Glass Company ; the Rothschild Glass Company ; W. C. Fear & Co., saw, lumber and planing mill ; W. W. Van Winkle, saw mill ; and L. R. Webb, flouring mill ; the Summitville Brick Fac- tory ; and last, but not least, the Summitville Tile Works, owned solely by Samuel C. Cowgill, being the largest manu- facturer of farm tile in the United States. It was erected in 1880, commencing in a small way, but has grown at the pres- ent writing to be of huge dimensions. Mr. Cowgill employs
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, on an average about one hundred men all the year around, and has a weekly pay roll of $500. L. R. Whitney is the general book-keeper and business man of the institution, to whom we are under obligations for valuable information, and for having shown us through this establishment. We are also indebted to Mr. George Whitney and J. A. Allen for much information in reference to this place.
Summitville enjoys the distinction of being the home of several secret societies. The Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 361, was organized on the 5th of May, 1892. It has a large membership and is in a flourishing condition. J. D. Arm- strong is the Chancellor Commander, and A. H. Jones, Keeper of Records and Seals.
The Improved Order of Red Men, Lodge 149, Neoskaleta Tribe, has a membership of one hundred, and was organized in the year 1893. James Farmer, Sachem.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Summitville Lodge No. 475, was organized in the year 1875, and has a member- ship of seventy-five. It owns a handsome lodge property, built in the year 1892.
The Methodist Episcopal church, the Presbyterian church, the Baptists and the Wesleyan Methodists, each have congre- gations here and own their own houses of worship.
Summitville has two banks, both of which are on a sound financial basis, and enjoy a large patronage in the community and the surrounding country. The Citizens' bank has a cap- ital of $25,000. J. T. Sullivan is president, and A. B. Hard- grave, cashier.
The Summitville bank has a capital of $24,000. William Warner, president ; Maurice Warner, cashier, and O. E. Gor- don, assistant cashier.
The person familiar with the appearance of Summitville twenty-five years ago, and who has waded through its muddy streets during its early existence, could hardly imagine that it would in so short a time become the handsome, thrifty busi- ness center that it now is, and from all indications we predict a great future awaiting it. Many accidents and incidents that have occurred in its early history are detailed elsewhere.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS-KILLED WHILE CUTTING A TREE.
Mr. Jesse Buller, a young man about twenty-three years of age, working in Van Buren township, near Summitville, was instantly killed the 15th of January, 1878, while cutting
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trees in the woods. He was in the act of felling a tree, when it lodged against another one near by, and in trying to dis- lodge it a falling limb struck him on the top of the head, crushing his skull, from the effects of which he almost instantly died. Young Buller was working for a Mr. Eli Neal, who was with him at the time, and seeing the falling limb called to him to get out of the way, but it was too late,-the limb struck him before he could make his escape. Mr. Neal ran for assistance, which was near at hand, but the unfortunate man had breathed his last before aid could reach him. He was a young man, well liked and respected. His home was in Fairmount, Grant county, a few miles north of Summitville. The Coroner of Madison county held an inquest, and a verdict of accidental killing was rendered.
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