USA > Indiana > Madison County > Historical sketches and reminiscences of Madison county, Indiana : a detailed history of the early events of the pioneer settlement of the county, and many of the happenings of recent years, as well as a complete history of each township, to which is added numerous incidents of a pleasant nature, in the way of reminiscences, and laughable occurrences > Part 6
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PECULIAR DEATII OF W. A. WIIITAKER.
On Sunday, July 12, 1866, W. A. Whitaker, who lived about three miles from Anderson, met with a peculiar death. Hle was sitting in a rocking chair, and in leaning backward, his chair became unbalanced, and he fell over back ward, strik- ing his head against a sewing machine in such a manner as to cause concussion of the brain, from which he died in a few minutes. His remains were interred in the cemetery at Ches- terfield, by the Odd Fellows, of which order he was a mem- ber. He had many relatives and acquaintances in the com- , munity.
KILLED BY A RAILROAD TRAIN.
J. G. Starbuck, a brakeman on the Big Four Railroad was killed at the crossing of the l'an Handle, on Ohio avenue at Anderson, on Tuesday morning the 2-1th of June, 1884 .. He was making couplings in the vicinity and in passing between two freight cars caught his foot in a "frog," and before he could extricate himself, he was caught by a moving train and knocked down, the car passing across his body. He was. picked up immediately after the occurrence, but within a few minutes life was extinct. His remains were removed to Win- chester, Indiana, near which place he resided, and where he was buried. He was an experienced brakeman and held the position that he then filled for several years. He was about twenty-nine years of age and left a wife in humble circum stances, but no children.
CHAPTER LVI.
A FEW LANDMARKS AND OTHER INTERESTING MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY OF ANDERSON TOWN- SHIP.
A LANDMARK IN MADISON COUNTY'S HISTORY.
The old Moss Island Mills that stand now silent and almost deserted, near a beautiful little island in White river, three miles west of Anderson, have a history clustering around them that when referred to brings back recollections of the long ago. They were erected before the railroads were thought of, but about the time of the agitation and construction of the canals ; and in fact were' built for the purpose of catching the trade incident to that enterprise. The western branch of the canal passed near these mills, which were located at the near- est available place in the neighborhood of the intended canal, which would give them a splendid outlet through which the surplus product could be shipped to other ports.
They were built in the year 1836, by Joseph Mullinix. . Since that time they have passed through the hands of many persons, some of whom have been prominent men in business, political and social affairs. Frank Davis, I .. Brown, Vanpelt & Wyman, John Garretson, James Hollingsworth, Isaac P. Snelson, Nichol & King, Traster Bros., A. E. Russell, William B. Allen, William C. Fleming, Elias Seward, William Dove and Reuben Pulse have each owned the plant. The mills con- sist of a large flouring mill with a saw mill attached, having water motive power. Steam had not come into use when. these mills were erected, and they ground the " grists" of the people by means of the old water wheel, while the jolly miller watched and took his " toll " when the hopper was emptied.
While there are many happy memories attached to this romantic spot, there are some of sadness as well.
While some of the owners of this property made money, others lost. The improved machinery in mills of the present day, to a large extent killed them off as merchant mills, and
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the fact that they were so far from the railroads put them to disadvantage as to shipping, so they have at this time but little to do outside of a small neighborhood grinding. These mills are alluded to elsewhere in these pages.
A WINDMILL FACTORY.
Prior to the time that the grain separator and threshing machine were combined, there was a great demand for fanning machines, or wind mills, as they were called.
A factory was located in Anderson, and stood on the corner of Main and Ninth streets, the site of the present loca- tion of Daniels Bros'. drug store. It was operated by Wolf and Sherman, and a large and lucrative business was the result of their undertaking. It was destroyed by fire in 1851, this being the starting point of the conflagration which swept the south side of the public square, a full account of which is else- where given.
The senior member of the firm was Adam Wolf, a capi- talist of Muncie ; the junior was Thomas S. Sherman, the father of Charles L. and J. E. Sherman, well known to the people of Madison county.
J. E. Sherman is a resident of Alexandria, and was the first mayor of that thriving city, and Charles L. Sherman has for many years held the responsible position of book-keeper of the National Exchange Bank of Anderson.
Laura, the only daughter of Mr. Sherman, is the wife of ex-Senator A. E. Harlan of Alexandria, a prominent business man, capitalist and stock breeder.
Mrs. Sherman, the widow, is now the wife of William G. Kelley, a merchant of Alexandria.
THE FIRST FOUR-STORY BUILDINGS.
Up to the time of striking gas in Anderson, there were but one or two buildings in the city that ran above two stories in height. One was the Odd Fellows' Hall, situated at the corner of Ninth and Meridian streets which is now occu- pied by the " White House" dry goods store. Another was on the corner of Eighth and Main streets, known for many years as " Union Hall," and which was occupied for a long time by the Masonic Order. When the city began to take on a boom after the discovery of natural gas, many three-story buildings sprang up in different localities, but the first struc- ture four stories high was the Masonic Temple on South
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Meridian street, erected jointly by the Masons and the Ander- son Loan Association during the years 1895 and 1896. The second was erected by John W. Lovett at the corner of Eighth and Main streets, in the year 1896, and is one of the largest and most commodious blocks in the city. We merely make mention of the two buildings as in years to come it may be interesting to the people who live in Anderson to know when and where the first buildings of this description were erected and who the parties were who built them. Should Anderson keep on in its present march of progress it may be within the next decade she will have " sky scrapers " in the shape of nine and ten-story buildings, and perhaps become a rival of Chi- cago. While we do not make this a prediction we sincerely hope that it will come to pass.
The first three-story building erected in Anderson was the old United States Hotel at Ninth and Main streets, in 1852.
THE PIONEER DAILY NEWSPAPER.
Landmarks have been established on every hand by the different branches of civilization and industry, and the many enterprises of the county have each had a starting point, to which the citizens look back with pride. The press has also its pioneer history which has to a limited degree, been dealt with elsewhere; but in this article we wish to speak especially . of the Daily Bulletin the first daily newspaper ever estab- lished in Madison county. There have been other daily papers printed at various times prior to its existence, but they were only for a special purpose, as a rule being gotten out for the period of a week at a time during the county fair, or on similar occasions. The Bulletin is entitled to the honorable title of pioneer. It was the first daily paper in the county that " come to stay," and has through all kinds of weather, fair and foul, stemmed the tide, and is one of the solid institu- tions of the county. It has handsome and well-equipped quarters on Eighth street, where it daily issues its publica- tion. The Bulletin has no politics, yet it wields a mighty influence in the political field. It is outspoken in its advo- cacy of any candidate whom it thinks is the best man for the place, often coming in contact with a personal friend in its support of a candidate for political preferment. The Butletin is always on the alert for news, and gives it without fear, favor or affection. It has on all occasions guarded the inter-
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ests of the people and has never hesitated to call down a dereliction of official duty, although sometimes undergoing the painful task of chastizing a friend, or even a relative. This has made it a journal of the people. It has enjoyed a large circulation from its infancy to its present days of full maturity.
J. W. KNIGHT.
C. R. CRAVEN.
.
DORY BIDDLE.
The originators of this journal were Dory Biddle, James W. Knight and Charles R. Craven, the two latter being prac- tical printers. Mr. Craven several years ago retired from the firm, and the remaining members took in new capital and incorporated it as a company, Mr. Biddle and Mr. Knight remaining at the head of the concern, having safely steered it through all its ups and downs, and are yet at their posts guid- ing its destiny. Asto the conception and birth of the Bulle
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
tin, we quote from one of the officials of the company, in his own language :
"The Bulletin, Which was the first daily paper published in the county, came into existence under peculiar circumstances. Dory Biddle, Chas. R. Craven and J. W. Knight had been left out of employment by the consolidation of the Democrat and Review upon which they had been employed. On Friday afternoon, March 15, 1885, they were sitting around a little coal stove in a printing office run by Geo. Winter, in the Odd Fellow's block, when Craven said ' boys let's start a daily paper.' Knight and Biddle agreed. Next Monday Craven and Knight went to Elwood and boxed up the material of a little old office there that had been closed for some time and shipped it to Anderson while Biddle went to soliciting for the new paper. By Monday, March 25, they were ready for busi- ness. The office had been set up in the north-west corner basement room of the new court house and at 4 o'clock that day the first Anderson Daily Bulletin with Dory Biddle as editor, and Chas. R. Craven and J. W. Knight as business managers and compositors, was printed. The paper for the first week's issue cost $7.40. The proprietors had exhausted their combined capital, $27, in setting up the office, and John L. Forkner stood good for the paper bill for them. The paper has been issued every day since and has been successful. De- cember 14, 1886, the office was destroyed by fire and was . again burned in the following August. On account of failing health Mr. Craven sold his interest in the office in the summer of '87 to his partners for $400. The paper is now published by a stock company composed of Dory Biddle, editor; James W. Knight, business manager, Frank Makepeace, Frank Lowther and James E. Burke as active members."
When natural gas was discovered in Madison county the Bulletin was one of the prime factors in bringing capital to our midst to utilize it. It not only made free use of its columns to advertise the richness of our find and to attract the atten- tion of the outside world to the advantages possessed by our community, but the members were also liberal subscribers to the fund to raise subsidies to locate manufacturing establish- ments in our midst.
AN EMBRYO THEATRICAL TROUPE.
Anderson has always held the reputation of being up to -
date in all that was going on. It is not only so now, but
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
away back when it made but little pretentions of being a city the people took a lively interest in what the balance of the world was doing, and were not slow to take up any fad that came along. In the year 1868 there was more than the usual number of minstrel troupes traversing the country, and one of these organizations stranded in Anderson, and some of the party remained here for quite a while.
During their stay many of the young boys became infatu- ated with the stage and the profession of minstrelsy. A primi- tive organization of black-faced artists was formed among the boys, under the name of " Peak & Cart wright's Varieties," the leading lights being John Peak and Charles Cart wright.
Peak has long since died, but his partner is still living somewhere in Indiana.
One of their principal performers was Cliff Dehority, a son of the late Henry V. Dehority. Cliff is yet a living monument of that aggregation, being now a resident of the City of New York.
The company met for rehearsals over the hardware store of John P. Barnes, on the east side of the square, and after a two-weeks' training gave a public performance in Westerfield's Hall to a crowded house. The boys were so well known that a crowd was not hard to " raise" to witness their debut. They surprised even their most sanguine friends in their . proficiency. " Tom " Cartwright, a brother of the proprietor, and Cliff Dehority took the house by storm with their " gags," which were all new and original, and of a local nature that made many good hits.
Dehority did a song and dance that would have been a credit to a professional. It is the opinion of the writer that these boys both missed their calling when they did not adopt the stage as a life work. They evidently had ability away above the ordinary, and might have been the equals of Emmet, Billy Emerson, or Primrose and West.
The performance was so well received in Anderson that the company went to Newcastle and gave a one-night's stand, where they were well received and cheered to the echo.
After coming home the party disbanded and the name of Peak & Cartwright's Varieties is only a thing in the mem- ory of the old timers of Anderson. "Tom " Cartwright after- ward learned the art of telegraphy, which he followed until
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
his health failed, and he died a few years ago at the home of his father, Fred Cartwright, in Alexandria.
John Peak was the son of the late wife of W. L. Philpot, by a former husband, and died in Louisville, Ky., at the home of a brother.
CHAPTER LVII.
FIRES AND CASUALTIES.
BURNING OF THE BORING-HANNAH BLOCK.
On the 7th of December, 1890, the Boring-Hannah block, on the north side of the square in Anderson, was destroyed by fire, entailing a large loss of property. The fire originated in the basement of the building in the bakery of William Williams from a burning gas jet.
Before the fire department could respond the building was in flames; a heavy gale was blowing, making it quite a bad fire to control. The fire was kept within the bounds of the building, doing but slight injury to adjoining property. The Daily Bulletin occupied the entire second floor and was totally destroyed, losing all of the files and other property that insurance could not replace. The office and material were covered with insurance, and so far as the property that could be restored by the purchase of a new outfit the proprie- tors were made whole. This was the largest loss sustained by any one affected by the conflagration.
Williams' grocery was destroyed entirely, but was covered by insurance.
W. S. Shirk had a jewelry store in the building and suf- fered considerably from smoke and water, but his goods were many of them saved from destruction. The damage to the building was fully insured.
James W. Knight. one of the proprietors of the Bulletin, was sleeping in the building and was awakened by the smoke and gave the alarm. Ile hastened to the room of Fletcher Layne and a young man of the name of Harrison, who roomed in the bakery on the floor below, and aroused them just in time to save their lives. They were almost suffocated and were lying on the floor in a helpless condition. They were taken ont more dead than alive and cared for until they were restored to their normal condition.
The building at the time belonged to R. H. Ilannah, of
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Alexandria, and James W. Sansberry, of Anderson, who im- mediately re-built it.
The Bulletin showed its usual pluck by getting out its regular daily edition as if nothing had happened. The Daily Herald and the Democrat kindly assisted them in their trouble, which was properly appreciated.
The Lion Store, adjoining, was also a sufferer to a consid- erable extent by smoke and water, but was insured.
The Bulletin removed to its present site on Eighth street and was again burned out on the 14th of August, 1891. The last fire was fully as disastrous as the first, but the paper survived and is still one of the institutions of Anderson.
The building in which the Bulletin is now situated has gone through two disastrous fires, an account of which ap- pears elsewhere.
A HEADING FACTORY FIRE.
Twenty years ago Madison county was heavily timbered with oak and other valuable woods. The forests were then within sight of the court house. Lumbering interests were carried on largely, prominent among which was the stave and heading factory of C. T. Doxey & Co., south of the Big Four railway, and which was lately occupied by J. L. Kilgore's heading establishment. On the night of January 3, 1873, an alarm of fire was heard to ring out, and it was soon ascer- tained that the factory of Doxey & Co. was enveloped in . flames. Every person within sound of the alarm rushed into the streets and hastened to the fire to render such assistance as they could, to help subdue the flames. There being a large amount of shavings and other combustible material in the fac- tory, and a high wind blowing from the south-west, it was but a short time before the factory was totally consumed and nothing was left but the machinery to tell where this industry once stood. The loss was estimated to be about $8,000, on which there was an insurance of about $3,500. This fire had the effect to throw a large number of workingmen out of employment in the dead of winter, which was a great hard- ship upon them. At that time there were but few manufac- turing establishments within the limits of Anderson, and there were a large number of men and boys employed by Doxey & Co. in this factory. Be it said, to the credit of Major Doxey, that during the cold winter months he contributed a large amount of money to those who were thrown out of employ-
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ment, and who were unable to take care of themselves. The factory was afterwards rebuilt, and was for a time owned by H. J. Bronnenberg, and then passed into the hands of J. L .. Kilgore, who ran it until timber became so scarce that it be- came unprofitable.
BURNING OF THE ADAMS BLOCK.
At the corner of Eighth and Main streets, the present site of the Phoenix Block, was at one time a two-story busi- ness building consisting of four store rooms on the first floor, the second story being used for a public hall and offices. The building was erected in 1867-8 by Robert Adams, a once prosperous woolen manufacturer who lived north of Anderson on Killback. On the 16th of August, 1838. this structure was wiped out by fire which occurred about 4 o'clock in the morning when there was but little stir over the city. The fire department was summoned and worked hard to save the other buildings on the north side of the square. Randle Bid- dle, who was then night-watchman, was the first to discover the fire. Ile turned in the alarm, but from some cause it did not work perfectly and it was some time before the depart- ment responded. Among the occupants of the building at the time were Joseph Carr, Samuel Sykes and Benjamin Roadcap, who had rooms on the second floor. William Roach, Justice of the Peace, had his office in the room occupied by Judge Richard Lake, in the front of the building. Purcell & . Ehli conducted a cigar manufacturing establishment on the upper floor. In the lower part of the building Mr. Pat Ske- han had his grocery store. William West conducted a barber shop also in one of the lower rooms. There was also a dry goods store, all of which were burned, entailing in each case quite a loss.
The building at the time of the fire was owned by Cap- tain Frederick Tykle, of Middletown. Immediately after the disaster Captain Tykle visited the scene and made a proposi- tion to his son-in-law, Hon. John H. Terhune, that he would transfer to him the real estate, providing that he would place a building thereon, which agreement was entered into, and work was immediately commenced. As a result, the hand- some pressed-brick structure, known as the When Block, and which was demolished by the explosion of natural gas a few years later, was erected. When the When Block was de- stroyed Mr. Terhune at once put up another building which is
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
known as the Phoenix Block, and is one of the handsomest in the city.
A. F. AND M. WORKS DESTROYED BY FIRE.
The Anderson Foundry, that occupied the grounds of the present establishment of the same name, was, on the night of December 14, 1871, destroyed by fire.
It was then owned by James and Abram Michner, who afterward moved to Kokomo, Ind., and engaged in a similar enterprise.
They sold out the stock in the plant in Anderson, and the company was reorganized. In the year 1876 John HI. Terhune became interested in the business with the Ilon. Edgar Hen- derson, Samuel Kiser and others, and this became one of Anderson's greatest money makers.
The fire above alluded to was a severe blow, not only to the proprietors, but to the employes as well, who were thrown ont of work for considerable time.
The buildings were immediately rebuilt and work re- sumed as soon as they were ready for occupancy.
This establishment has become famous the world over on account of its brick and tile machines, which are used in every State in the Union and many places outside of the United States.
BURNING OF THE WALKER WAREHOUSE.
Alfred Walker was once the owner of the farm on which the beautiful suburb of Evalyn is now located. He had erected on this a palatial residence which he made his home, and which has since gone into the possession of Dr. William P. Harter.
Besides being a farmer on an extensive scale, Mr. Walker was also a dealer in grain and owned a warehouse, situated at the crossing of South Main street and the Big Four railroad. On the night of December 14, 1874, about half past 10 o'clock, the citizens were aroused by the alarm of fire. it was soon discovered that the Walker warehouse was burning. The fire had made such progress before the alarm was given that all attempts to stay the ravages of the flames were futile. The whole interior of the building seemed to be ablaze, and the flames had burst through the roof before any one arrived at the scene of the disaster. An effort was made by George Craycraft to enter the office and save the books, but on account
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
of the great heat from the flames, he was compelled to desist in his purpose.
The fire was undoubtedly the act of an incendiary, as there had been no fire in the stoves for several days, and the engine had been silent for nearly two weeks.
Mr. Walker carried an insurance of $2,000, while his loss was estimated to be in the neighborhood of $6,000. Besides the building, there were several thousand bushels of corn, wheat and other grain in storage for which Mr. Walker had to stand the loss.
Alfred Walker was the father of Mr. Frank A. Walker, the Anderson attorney. Mr. Walker is well remembered by the old citizens of the county. Ile died in St. Louis a few years ago.
ADAMS' HEADING FACTORY BURNED.
The extensive heading factory owned and operated for many years by the Adams Bros., at the crossing of the Big Four and Pan Handle railways was, on the 5th of September, 1887, the scene of one of the most destructive conflagrations that ever took place in Anderson. Early in the afternoon the people were alarmed by a cry of fire, and a huge, dense, black column of smoke was seen arising toward the heavens from the crossing. It was soon after ascertained that the heading factory was on fire. A drought had for many weeks been prevailing, and this made the factory and all the sur- ' rounding buildings an easy prey to the flames. It was esti- mated that at one time six acres of ground were in a mass of fire. The saw dust, the shavings that were lying on the ground, and other debris, together with a number of freight cars which stood on the tracks, were consumed.
The fire was discovered shortly after the local freight train on the Pan Handle railway had passed, in some stacks of heading at the south-east corner of the yard, near the building. It had caught quite low down near the ground, . and when discovered, was rapidly mounting upwards on the stack. The fire department was at once called out, but little could be done to quench the flames, owing to the fact that there was so much inflammable material in and about the building that no earthly power was able to subdue them. In . a brief period the buildings were destroyed, notwithstanding the fact that the roof and part of the side walls were made of iron. There were on hand more than a million pieces of 37
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
heading and four hundred cords of bolt wood in the yard. There were about forty loaded cars on the side-tracks at the time, but an engine on the Pan Handle railroad track suc- ceeded in hauling several of these to a place of safety. The factory was one of the best in the country, and was supplied with the latest improved machinery, and all that was left of it was a mass of twisted iron that could only be sold for old metal. The loss of the Adams Bros. was estimated to be from $25,000 to $30,000, with an insurance of only $2,500.
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