USA > Indiana > Bartholomew County > History of Bartholomew County, Indiana : From the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc. : Together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the state of Indiana > Part 33
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spun into skein; the wool card was then prepared for the filling; and with different kinds of bark, various colors were given to the raw material and made it ready for the loom, which, with its shut- tle flying noisily back and forth soon brought out its yards of linsey striped and beautiful.
The head dress of the women was a simple cotton handkerchief or sun bonnet, and they were not ashamed to walk a mile or two to church on Sunday, carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands until within a few yards of the place of worship, when they would put them on the feet. Indeed, at early meetings it was quite common for nine-tenths of the people, male and female, to be bare- footed. These modes of dress long prevailed in the country set- tlements, but in the town of Columbus the merchants who carried rather large and complete stocks of goods encouraged the cultiva- tion of what they perhaps considered higher tastes in the matter of dress. Some silks and satins were worn, but they were not numer- ous. Whatever material was used, however, was genuine, and there were then no "shoddy" goods. There were many social assem- blies and dances then considered quite elegant, and on these occa- sions the dresses worn, though differing in style, would compare favorably in richness with those of a later day. The newspapers soon filled with advertisements headed, Prints! Prints! and calico, at first costly, became very generally used. In turn it gave way except for common use, through the development of extravagant tastes, to something richer and more attractive. With the won- derful increase in wealth that the years brought it is not a matter of surprise that the pioneers themselves soon departed from the ways which their necessities forced upon them, nor that their de- scendants have continued the progress so admirably commenced.
Amusements .- Pioneer social gathering usually had in view two objects - work and sport. The log rollings, house and barn rais- ings, wood choppings, corn huskings, bean pickings, wool pickings, quiltings and apple parings, while attended with much labor, were replete with enjoyment. In the early settlement of this county all amusement was preceded by work - every good time was earned. No man undertook alone to roll his logs. All joined together and went from place to place rolling. All houses were raised by neigh-
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borly hands. When the crops were gathered the corn was put in' a long pile and neighbors were invited in to husk it, usually after night. Log rollings and huskings were followed by a dance from which the young folks got their greatest enjoyment. Jolm Stader, a cripple, was one of the famous pioneer fiddlers, and his services were in demand wherever he was known. He went all over the county playing at frolics. In the huskings both sexes took part, the huskers being divided into two parties, each with a leader. The lucky finder of a red car reaped a rich harvest of kisses from those of the other sex; the rules governing the quantity of such re- wards, varying in different sections. General Terrell tells of a husking in Columbus, which perhaps may be accepted as fairly representative. "One autumn afternoon " he says "the news went forth to the villagers that John F. Jones (familiarly called Jack Jones ) would have a husking the night ensuing. Everybody went, man and boy. Jack was popular, a great favorite, had been Squire and Sheriff, and of course not to have gone to his husking would have been equivalent to a downright 'miff' or insult. He was partially a farmer then, and the big pile of corn was of his own production. It lay some hundred yards from his tavern in the open air. The night was clear and starlight - yet several lanterns were suspended roundabout to disseminate light to the huskers. The company congregated early. Ike Graves, a very funny, jovial fel- low, was picked upon as one of the leaders -- with authority to take the bottle round; for liquor was a common drink those days, and sold by the landlord himself. Songs were sung, the liquor drank freely and the corn husked. It was a merry time; a perfect reunion of the citizens then living here, and the excitement was ex- ceedingly enjoyable. After all was over most of the huskers dis- persed for their homes. A number, however, repaired to the bar room where a cheerful fire was blazing on the hearth, and plenty of the 'rosy god' behind the bar. The fat and jolly old landlord (we always call fat and jolly folks old) brought out his apples and cider -and the crowd ever and anon would call out something stronger. Things soon were mellowed into an interesting confu- sion - songs were sung, speeches made, and toasts drank. Being under the care of my elder brother, I remained; but as the clock
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struck eleven and the waves of mirth and discord still tumbled on we thought a speedy retreat to our home prudent and 'cut out' accordingly."
When the country had filled up and Columbus had become quite a town, and yet before the railroad had come to divert public attention from local matters, and to interest the people in what was being done elsewhere, the forms of amusement began to degen- erate. Yet withal there was a healthy interest in manly sports. Horse racing was indulged in to a great extent. Races were got- ten up hastily whenever two or more nags believed to be fast were brought together. Nearly every public assembly was fruitful of some game or plan of amusement. Whisky was plenty, and it caused men to do often what they were doubtless ashamed of in sober moments. Elections were always well attended, and with the single exception, perhaps, of muster or training day's, none were more stirring and exciting than those on which the sovereigns as- sembled, ostensibly to exercise the sacred rights of freemen, but really, as the designs of the majority seemed to be, to mingle to- gether in wild confusion, quaff poisonous draughts, swap horses, pitch quoits, play the braggadocia, wrestle and fight. Of all the products of that inventive age in this line, the one which seems least to accord with the ideas of to-day concerning manly sports is described by General Terrell in these words:
" Probably about the year 1838, some reckless and heartless fellows about Columbus conceived the idea of gander pullings - a pastime, which if not the offspring of their own minds, was prob- ably invented by some barbarous band of savages, or handed down to posterity as one of the graces which adorned the character of some ancient and worn-out pugilist, no longer able to fight. It shows how sluggish public opinion was in those days which may truthfully be denominated the dark age of Columbus. On the corner of Walnut and Jackson streets, and opposite a retail liquor store, a slender, supple hickory pole, some thirty feet in length, was securely planted obliquely in the ground in such a manner as to elevate the small end about eight or nine feet in the air. This was the ' gander pole.' On Saturdays, about the middle of the after- noon, a crowd would collect - having previously been willing
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votaries at the shrine of Bacchus over the way -and arrange the preliminaries for the ' sport.' A fine, full grown, full feathered, gander was selected from a flock close at hand collected for the occa- sion; a strong thong of leather was fastened to both his feet and se- curely tied to the elevated end of the pole, leaving the poor bird suspended, head downwards. A gantlet or open column of by- standers was then formed some fifty or seventy-five feet in length, terminating a few yards beyond the suspended gander. A vaunt- ing hero would then mount a horse, and starting in at the extreme end of the gantlet, ride full tilt up the open column, while the by- standers on either side would belabor his steed with clubs, canes and bludgeons most unmercifully. Of course the horse ran as fast as his legs would carry him; the rider, on reaching the gander, elevated himself a little in his stirrups and grasped for its neck, endeavoring to wring it off, which constituted the feat. This, how- ever, was extremely difficult to accomplish, requiring considerable skill and strength owing to the go-ahead nature of the horse under such circumstances leaving but little time to get hold of the bird, and still less to give the wring. All competitors were required first to deposit a certain amount in the hands of a banker, which in the aggregate constituted a prize fund to be distributed at the con- clusion of the game among those whose prowess had enabled them to accomplish the feat. Great excitement prevailed in the crowd. Bets were freely made on the gallant pullers; and from the gen- eral excitement prevailing a looker on at a little distance would have supposed that the Olympian feats of Achilles and Ajax never caused more exultation among the throngs of ancient Greece than did these brutish madcaps. This disgusting and uncivilized brutal- ity brought forth a scathing article in the editorial columns of the ' Advocate,' a newspaper which had been started a short time be- fore. This had the desired effect -it checked the 'pullings' entirely."
Of horse racing, General Terrell has written :- "A few years after the first settlement of the county, probably as soon as enough ground was cleared to make a race track, horse racing was intro- duced to minister to the pleasure and excitement of the people, and to alienate the monotony of the fun loving pioneers. The McKin-
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neys were leaders in the movement, aided by Jesse Ruddick the elder, and other owners of running stock. At first, scrub races were run; distance from 200 yards to one-fourth mile, the latter being called a quarter race. The animals were such as were com- mon in a new country, tough, rugged, and unkempt 'critters,' inno- cent of blood or breeding, whose only subsistence was what they could pick up in the wild range and thick underbrush of the woods. But they were plucky, of good wind and for short stretches, made pretty good time. As the country improved and the outlay could be afforded, a better class of horses was brought in, notably, some stallions, whose owners claimed for them pedigrees as long as one's arm, showing high ancestry, fine mettle, blood, bottom, and all the points essential to success on the turf or elsewhere. The Ameri- can Buck, a fine looking blood bay with black flowing mane and tail, a racer, belonged to Ruddick; the Mckinneys owned a large, long bodied animal called from his color, the Mckinney Roan. Other horses of the better class were owned by different persons, and racing assumed for a while a higher standard, though the scrub races were by no means abandoned. I have in my possession the original articles of an association called the Columbus Jockey Club, organized in 1833. The paper is in the handwriting of Joseph Mc- Kinney, then County Clerk, and as it is a venerable and interesting document, I copy it in full and exactly as written.
AUGUST 5, 1833.
" Resolved that the folowing be the rules of the Columbus Jockey Club the first meet- ing to commence on the first thursday in October next & Continue three days three Judges to be Chosen by a majority on Each day by those that have entered their nags for that day.
" First day Any horse mare or Gelding that is in the County at this time one mile & re- pete. Entrance five Dollars. Second Day three year Olds & under one mile & repete. En- trance five Dollars. Third Day two year olds and under one single mile. Entrance three Dollars. description of all nags to be made known in writing by the first Monday in Septem- ber next to DavidDeitz. Entrance fee to be paid to the Judges before the nags start. En- trance forfeited if tha fale to win axcept the nag dies or some of his bones is broken. En- trance forfeited to the fastist nag distance 60 yards. All nags to carry a fethers weight &c.
"At these races entries were made by Jesse Ruddick, David Deitz, James Briscoe; Isaiah H. Jackson, Joseph Mckinney and Gen. Downing. The race course was on Joseph Mckinney's farm in a large cleared field lying east of Washington Street as now ex-
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tended, and north of the Madison Railway as now laid. The track skirted the entire field and was just a mile in circuit. There was no grand stand for the judges, nor seated amphitheatre for spectators; nor was any admission fee charged. It is not probable that much money changed hands, but it may be presumed that a big crowd attended, and that there was much whisky drunk and plenty of fighting as was customary in those times.
" A few years afterward a race track was built or laid out by dig- ging up the dog-fennel in two parallel paths a quarter of a mile long, commencing at the foot of Franklin Street 'under the hill,' then an open common, thence running west and terminating at a point near the old ferry landing just below the present Driftwood bridge. Here, on Saturdays, races between all sorts of old and young 'plugs' of the 'scrub' order took place for several seasons, the hill-side overlooking the track being always well lined with lookers-on. These races were free to all, and untrammelled by reg- ulations other than such as were made upon the spot for the time being. They were kept up until about the time gander pullings were abated, when they were stopped by the same influences, greatly to the joy of good citizens and to the credit of the town."
From these more violent sports in which the men sought diver- sion, it might be interesting and instructive to look upon the picture of a quilting party where the good women of the neighborhood. came together with kind hearts and willing hands to enjoy some hours of work and conversation, and departing, leave permanent and valuable results of their toil. There were few distinctions of birth or wealth or circumstance. All alike were simple in their dress and habits and no exacting demands were made by social form. At the quilting nimble fingers plied industriously until the work was done, when songs were sung, games played, and dancing in- dulged in; indeed, the merriment was co-extensive with the jovial natures of the young folks assembled. Spelling matches and de- bating societies furnished amusement which some considered of a higher sort. Here the training of the intellect was the paramount, ostensible object, but boys and girls not belonging to the same family often came riding one horse. The young folks were gen-
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erally paired, and to bring about this natural selection was perhaps as worthy an object as these intellectual entertainments could have had. But there were vigorous and sincere mental combats that did much to give the people broader ideas and intellectual strength.
"Turning out the school-master" was a form of amusement indulged in by the school children, at stated times. The log school house with its dirt floor, greased paper windows, backless seats, and the master's rods were not designed especially to inspire merri- ment, but the natural flow of spirits and love of fun, which always go with healthy youth, can not be checked by unfavorable sur- roundings. Early on Christmas day the school gathers before the master arrives and bars him out by piling benches against the door. The children yield in all things to the dictation of the older boys, some of them of greater size and strength, perhaps, than the master himself. With anxious look and bated breath they await the coming of the pedagogue. At last he emerges from the woods and comes out on the path leading directly to the door. He pulls the latch and gives the door a push, but it does not yield. Gleeful, but somewhat tremulous, voices from within demand the Christmas treat as the price of admission, and refused in unmistakable stentorian tones. An unconditional surrender is demanded by the attacking force, but the big boys are not awed, and growing bolder repeat their demands good-naturedly, but with no sign of flinching. Perhaps the teacher turns and starts along the path as if for home. Hurriedly the benches are removed; new plans are adopted; some stalwart becomes a self-chosen leader; the resolute band scramble fourth pell mell in hot haste, overtake the retreating teacher, and forgetting the respect they owe his years and learning, throw him down upon the ground and bind him fast. The prisoner, now in- dignant and not yet willing to succumb gracefully, struggles and declines to accede to the reasonable demands of his captors, again repeated confidently. They gather him in their strong arms and start toward some neighboring pond or stream to duck him; or if water be not near they devise some other punishment suitable to the offense, and start out vigorously for its ministration. Now wisdon dictates a change of course; valor under the circumstances is inaf-
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fectual; a surrender under the terms stipulated is agreed upon. A treat follows in which a royal time is enjoyed by both victors and vanquished.
Early Marriages .- The pioneer wedding was one of the inter- esting features of pioneer life. For a long time after the first set- tlement the people married young. There was no distinction of rauk and but little of fortune, consequently the first impression of love generally resulted in marriage. The marriage was generally celebrated at the house of the bride. In the morning of the wed- ding day the groom and his intimate friends would assemble at the house of his father, and after due preparation departed for the mansion of the bride. The journey was sometimes made on horse- back, sometimes on foot, and sometimes in a farm wagon or cart. It was always a merry journey. After the marriage ceremonies were performed, supper eaten, dancing commenced and usually lasted till morning. The first marriage license issued in the county was to Matthew Redwince and Nancy Pitcher, on March 20, 1821. They were married by James Garner, minister. James McCoy and Lucy Berry, licensed March 27, were the next to marry. Then followed the marriages of Edward Davis to Esther White, in March; Squire D. Ensley to Olive Cutler, in April; Jacob Hauser to Nancy Sims, in April; David Burkhart to Kisiah Lash, in June; Aquilla W. Rogers to Nancy Arnold, in May; Hiram Lee to Su- san Dudley, in June; H. H. Lewis to Mildred Harmon, in June; Thomas Dudley to Jane Sullivan, in July; George Stilts to Susanna Carlisle, in July; H. L. Lewis to Esther Osbourne, in August; Christopher Cox to Margaret Pope, in August; Richard Vanland- ingham to Matilda Slusher, in August; Jesse Davidson to Nancy Durbin, in September; Thomas Scott to Eleanor Fortner, in Octo- ber; Isaac Pancake to Micha Lemasters, in October; Solomon McKinney to Rebekah Sloan, in November; Elias A. Brock to Polly Durbin, in December; Tristram C. Lambden to Mary Wall, in December, all in 1821. The ceremonies were usually solemnized by ministers of the gospel, but occasionally a Justice of the Peace was called on to render this service. March 22, 1824, a license was issued to Green Graham and Margaret Petro, which was re- turned to the proper office in due time endorsed as follows: "April
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8, 1824. Executed on the within named parties. Newton C. Jones, J. P."
Trade and Commerce .- The early crops were bountiful. The soil had garnered in its pores the rich accumulations of years, and needed little cultivation to produce a rich harvest. The farmer could chop out a piece of new ground, plant corn and without plowing it, gather an abundant yield. Potatoes and other vegeta- bles grew to an immense size in the fresh soil. In ISI9, corn was worth $I per bushel; pork $5 per hundred weight; flour and other necessaries were correspondingly high in price, and had to be brought from Washington County, some sixty-five miles distant. But this was when the first settlers came in, and before Joseph Cox had tested the productiveness of the rich lands. Soon, however, the little market was too well supplied. Almost immediately the surplus of corn became of very little value; it could not be dis- posed of at any price. Pork was worth but little until the roads were opened up, so that hogs could be driven to Madison. Sur- plus farm products were conveyed by wagon to the same market, and a long procession of wagons wending their way on the old State road to the metropolis on the banks of the Ohio, was not an unusual sight. As the county became more thickly settled, and a larger market was desired, flat-boating was devised to supply the want. January 26, 1824, Flat Rock was declared to be a naviga- ble stream and public highway, from its mouth to Little Flat Rock, and Blue River was declared navigable to the north line of Shelby County.
Every spring flat-boats started out with the high water loaded with lumber, corn, potatoes, lard, chickens, and every sort of country produce, bound for the city of New Orleans. It required about ten men to take an ordinary sized boat to the mouth of the Musca- tatack, and from that point five were supposed to be enough to handle its long, sweeping oars. The Pitchers and Gobles were among those reported to be the best and most skillful pilots of these crafts. A great deal of lumber was shipped by this means from the mills of the Tannehills and Arnolds. Frequently four or five farmers would join together and run a boat in partnership, carrying away their own produce, but more often they were owned and run by
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men who made it a business to buy the surplus produce and carry , it to market. Prominent among the old flat-boatmen of the county Stand the names of E. and B. F. Arnold, Thomas, Robert and Will- iam Pitcher, the Tannehills, the Jones, II. C. Terry, the Thomp- sons, of Wayne Township, Joseph Mckinney, Isaac Boardman, William Singleton, D. Randolph, Thomas Hays, J. II. Terrell, Williamson Terrell, and John M. Gwin. On this subject General Terrell says:
" The boats were generally constructed in the fall or winter, and were from 60 to 125 feet in length. When the bottom or hull of a boat was completed, the neighbors were called upon to assist at the ' turning.' A boat-turning was something on the order of a house-raising or log-rolling, and afforded excellent opportunities for bullies to show their strength. Whisky was generally and plentifully supplied, and not infrequently would the ' gathering ' end in a fight, cr a foot race, or a jumping match, ' sports' peculiar to those times. When the boat was completed and launched (the launch was always the subject of another assemblage of strong men, and frequently the same scenes were re-enacted as at the turning, or a grudge engendered then, was settled), the owner would, as the saying was, ' lie on his oars' until a rise came, when the cargo would be hastily put in, a crew of stalwart men collected and the whole placed in charge of a steersman or practical boatman. Neighborhoods would, on occasions like these, turn out to help their friends off. All was life and jollity, and when the boat was under way, the hearty hurrahs of the crowd on shore would be as heartily returned by the boatmen. Very often a volunteer force would accompany them for a day or two and then ' foot' it home. This was done purely for the 'fun of the thing.' Frequently a fleet of boats, five or six, would leave at the same time. While in the River Driftwood, they only 'run' during the day, but after reaching the Ohio and Mississippi, they rarely tied up except in case of a storm. Sometimes a boat would be ' stove ' or wrecked, for the streams, swollen and rapid, were full of floating trees and hidden snags. Such accidents always fell heavily on the owners of the boat and cargo, no indemnity being provided, the practice of insuring not being followed then. When the boatmen
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returned (they were generally absent two or three months), they would bring back groceries, tropical fruits, new suits of clothes and cane fishing poles. The last named articles were always in de- mand and were rarely omitted. Flat-boating was generally profit- able, and although very laborious and attended with considerable danger, it was fascinating to those engaged in it. The last of the flat-boats, from this county, floated out of Driftwood in the spring of 1844, a few months before the completion of the M. & I. R. R. to Columbus."
The venerable Silas L. Thompson, now residing in Columbus, and bearing his years lightly, was a veteran in this service, having made in all eighteen trips to the Crescent City. He tells of sturdy pioneers, who, after disposing of cargoes and boats, walked back to their homes-all the way from New Orleans to Columbus. In business transactions, at the outset, the coon skin was the most common medium of exchange. It passed current in all business circles and was often forced upon tax collectors and postmasters in payment of the law's demands. It became customary to estimate the value of all sorts of personal property, produce and merchan- dise upon a coon skin basis. Money was little known and seldom seen among the early settlers. There was a system of barter and trade that enabled them to make what exchanges were necessary to supply all wants. Subscriptions to build churches, school houses, bridges, drain swamps, repair streets, employ preachers and teach- ers, etc., were made payable in certain articles called " trade" at " the market price" or " current rates." Farmers paid in pork, corn or other farm produce; a shoemaker, in shoes; a tanner, in leather; a miller, in flour; a merchant, in goods; a doctor, in med- icines and attendance; a laborer or mechanic, in work according to his calling. Horses and cattle were traded for land; rifle guns for town lots and all sorts of "truck " for dry goods and groceries. William H. Stader, a well-known resident of Columbus, says that when in 1822, with his father, he traveled along the primitive road just hacked out in the dense woods, he met but one man between where Walesboro now is and the then little village of Columbus. This man had lost all his family by sickness in the bottom lands and offered his 120 acre farm to Mr. Stader's father for a two-year-old
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