USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Indiana : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 39
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Not far from the same period, perhaps a little later. Isaac Griffith brought another small stock of goods for the accommo- dation of the settlers, and established a store for the deposit and sale of dry goods, groceries, etc .. and such other staple articles as the demands of trade required, adjacent to and south of the mills afterward owned by himself and Mr. Halsey, on the creek cast of town. Before the location of these stores, in which the neces- sary supplies for the settlers were kept. all these had to be pro. cured from Crawfordsville and La Fayette. the nearest accessible points.
In April, 1827. Dr. John M. Ewing, the first practicing phys- iciau in the county, came to Deer Creek Township and established himself. Since he had the whole field to traverse alone, his practice became quite extensive, but not. as he alleged. very lu- crative, for he was a man very charitably disposed. and performed a large amount of service for which he received no other com. pensation than his inward consciousness of baviug discharged his duty faithfully. Dr. Ewing married Lydia Anu. third daughter of Henry Robinson. on the 3d of January, 1829. and . confinned
to reside here until some time after the death of his wife. which occurred on the 25th of October. 1850. He afterward went to Illinois, and when the rebellion bruke out. he entered the army as a member of the Ninth Indiana. a short time prior to the bat. tle of Pittsburg Landing, and was appointed Hospital Steward, in which position he soon after died.
During the winter of 1827-28. there was much rainy weather, : and the lowlands were greatly affected by high waters. In Jau- . uary. 1828, as a consequence of these heavy rains. the water in the river and creeks rose so high as to inundate the Wabash and Deer Creek bottoms, doing much damage. During that period, the water came up and rau into Mr. Baum's kitchen. situated, as
terprise, and left to succeeding generations a monment as en- I we have seeu. on the low grounds adjacent to Deer Creek. 1 like incident occurred there a few years later.
A post office was established here on the 3d of Jaunary. 182S. and Abner Robinson was appointed Postmaster. The office was situated near the old mill first built by Mr. Robinson's father. It was a very satisfactory evidence of Govermental favor, and was highly appreciated by the people, who were especially inter- ested in its establishment.
Among the formidable annoyances to which the carly settlers in this neighborhood were subjected was the presence. especially during the first warm weather in spring. of numerous rattle- snakes - a fruitful source of danger. and required the exercise of meommmion caution in working among the weeds and undergrowth that pervaded the settlements. Their den was situated on the Wilson farm. east of Delphi. not far from Deer Creek. Not many persons were bitten by them. but great fear was entertained lest
they should find their way. nuobserved, into the settlers' cabius. as they sometimes did and bite the children, who would be un conscions of the danger that threatened them. These welcome reptiles were finally hunted down and destroyed, as the surest way to become rid of their presence. It is believed that now many years have elapsed since any of their class have been dis- covered and captured in the neighborhood where they were at one time so vitmorons.
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLHOUSES.
In the article appropriated to country schools and school work in Carroll County, the reader has already been informed that Miss Sarah B. Robinson taught the first school in the Deer Creek set- tlement being also the first in the county. in the sunnuer and fall of 1827. in an old cabin on her father's farm: previously occu- pied by the family. It was comparatively well attended, and most of those in the immediate neighborhood who were of proper age were pupils, and received their first school instruction under her guardianship. That she did good work is fully attested by many yet living, who received with satisfaction the elements of an education utilized in an active business life. Sho was sue- ceeded by Aaron Dewey, who took charge of the school in the winter following, and taught the same in a cabin adjoining that in which he resided, within the present limits of Delphi, at the time, however, in the territory occupied by Deer Creek Township.
During the fall and winter of 1828. the first public school building was erected in Dolphi. as a township schoolhouse. prior to the incorporation of Delphi as a town. In the course of time, it became a general public building. and was appropriated to al- most every service, for meetings of all kinds, for courts, relig. ions purposes, etc., in addition to that for which it was built. It was of howed logs, and really a very respectable edifice in the day of its usefulness. The names of the teachers who occupied it from: time to time are not now remembered.
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
Prior to the adoption of the publie school system of 1852, six . gregate product 77,212 bushels; 3, 739 acres of corn, with an buildings appear to have been built for that purpose, in Deer average of 20 bushels on upland and 40 bushels on bottom land per acre, making an aggregate of 117.510 bushels; 1,057 acres of oats, with an average of 25 bushels to the acre, making a total of 26,425 bushels; 815 acres of meadow land, that yielded an average of 1 ton per acre, making a total of 815 tons: 25 acres of Irish potatoes, with an average yield of 70 bushels per acre, making in all 1,750 bushels; 7 acres of sweet potatoes. yielding 22 bushels per acre, in all, 154 bushels; from which it appears that 9,927 acres of land in this township had been appropriated to the cultivation of these several staple products, the rate of yield. in most instances, equal to and frequently above the rate shown as to the same class of products in other townships of the . county. There are few. if any, townships of the county better or more successfully cultivated than Deer Creek; and it possesses, in a very eminent degree, the qualities and varieties of soil cal- culated to produce the various grains, etc .. enumerated above, as is fully shown in the foregoing statement. Creek Township, all of an inferior quality and pronounced "bad" by the incoming school officers. These buildings were presumed 'to be sufficient for the accommodation of the 400 children enu- merated as being eligible to attend school. . That they were not so is best attested by the fact that in most of the districts new ones were ordered to be erected without delay. The report to the State Superintendent in 1855 shows that five new buildings had been in the township within the year preceding. for the ac- commodation of the 236 children who attended school during the current year. In 1856. the report shows that a schoollionse was erected at a cost of $670. and that a tax had been assessed amounting to $519.29, for the purpose of building schoolhouses in the township. then divided into seven districts. Another house was built in 1857. at a cost of $440. and $415 assessed for a like pur- pose -- then there were eight districts. Afterward, in the year 1858, another honse was built in the township, at a cost of $435, mak- ing eight in all; yet, in 1859, a building was erected to supply By the census of 1870, Deer Creek Township bad a popula- tion, including Delphi, of 3, 458; in 1880, it had a population of 1,655. excluding Delphi. the place of one found to be insufficient, at a cost of $700, thus supplying all of the districts with comparatively respectable schoolhouses. During that year, schools were taught in the sev- CITY OF DELPHI. eral districts an average period of thirty-six days, and $400 paid for tuition. Within the succeeding ten years. two additional districts had been formed, and other buildings erected for their accommodation. In 1869. ten teachers were employed in the schools of the township, at an average daily compensation of $2, and schools maintained for a length of fifty-five days, the whole number of pupils admitted being 290, or an average of twenty- nine to each school.
For the year ending August 31. 1872, the Superintendent's report shows that there were schools taught in the several districts of the township an average period of 160 days; that the whole number of pupils admitted toschool in the township was 425, or an average of forty-two and a half to each of the ten schools: that ten teachers were employed, five males and five females, at an average daily compensation of $2: that the number of children enumer- ated entitled to attend school was 441: of these. all attended during the year except sixteen -- the best per cent of attendance, perhaps. found in any district of the county. It is shown, also, by the same report, that of the ten schoolhouses in the township. one was brick and nine frame; that the estimated value of these houses. including the grounds, school furniture, etc .. was $12 .- 000. and the value of school apparatus. including globes, maps, etc .. $500 additional, making the aggregate value of school property in the township $12,500; that there were 550 volumes in the library, and of these 144 had been taken during the year.
By the enumeration taken in May, 1880, it was shown that there were in Deer Creek Township 407 persons between the ages of six and twenty-one years, of whom 222 were males and 185 females: also, that there were no persons in the township between the ages of ten and twenty-one years who could not read and write -- a fact of especial value in measuring the grade of intelli- gence possessed by the people, as well as in determining the inter- est taken in availing themselves of the public school privileges.
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.
As shown by the report from the : Bureau of Statistics and Geology of the State of Indiana for the year 1880, the products of Deer Creek Township for that year were as follows: . 4,284 acres of wheat, averaging 18 bushels to the acre, making the ag-
The territory occupied by the city of Deplhi was originally comprised within the limits of Deer Creek Township as defined by the Board of County Commissioners at the time when the or- ganization of the county was consummated on the 12th day of May, 1828. Three days later, however, on the 15th day of May, at a special session of the board held at the house of Daniel Baum, the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to select an eligible site for and locate theseat of justice of the new county of Carroll having agreed upon a selection, made a report setting forth the result of their deliberations and the conclusions in the premises, in the location of such seat of justice upon a tract of 100 acres, being a part of the northwest quarter of Section 29, in Township 25 north, Range 2 west, of the Second Principal Merid- ian, and the determination of "Carrollton" as the name by which the town was to be thereafter known. This name, though appro- priate in consideration for the memory of the illustrious patriot whose name they gave to the county, was unsatisfactory to the people, and, upon petition, the board, at a special session held on Saturday, the 24th of May, of the same year, changed the name to Delphi, by which it has since been known. Immediately after the selection of this site, the town plat was surveyed, and the public square and the streets and alleys, as by the board pre- scribed, laid out and defined. The first Monday in August, the day of the general election for State and county officers, was fixed as the time when the lots were to be sold, and notice thereof given accordingly. Some lots were sold at that time, and the improving process was commenced, deliberately but earnestly. From that time until the present, the growth has been perma- nent, though 'gradnal, exhibiting, at this day, a beautiful city of fair proportions, the pride of its citizens and the people of the county, who recognize it as their local capital.
During all the period from the date when the 100-acre tract donated by William Wilson as a county seat was subdivided and laid out into lots, streets and alleys, with the " public square," until in the fall of 1835, Delphi was, practically, a part of Deer Creek Township, and yet the seat of justice of the county. Early in the month of September of the latter year, notice was given, pursuant to the law in such cases made and provided, that the citizens of Delphi would meet on the 15th of that month, in ac-
219
DEER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
cordance with the provisions of " an act providing for the incor- poration of towns," and an act amendatory thereto, for the pur- pose of dividing the town into districts, preparatory to perfecting the process of organization. At the meeting held for this pur. pose, William George was appointed President, and Henry B. Milroy, Clork. The meeting then proceeded to subdivide the town into five districts, after which Trustees were elected to rep- resent those districts as follows: First District, William George: Second District, David Henderson: Third District, Henry B. Mil- roy; Fourth District, Samnel Grimes; Fifth District, Andrew Wood. On the 14th of October following, these Trustees met and organized by electing Samuel Grimes, President, and Michael C. Dougherty, Clerk. The next business of the board was to appoint a committed, consisting of William George and Henry B. Milroy, to draft the necessary rules and regulations for the government of the board. A meeting was held on the 17th, at the house of David Henderson, in the Second District, when, the committee having prepared and reported rules, etc., in accordance with instructions, they were severally adopted and the committee discharged.
Much of the time of the meeting held on the 23d of January, 1836, was taken up in the submission and passage of a series of important ordinances for the better management of the affairs of the new corporation, prescribing the duties of officers and for the improvement of the town. At the same meeting, Samuel D. Gresham was appointed Assessor, with Robert Adams and Thomas Cole as Assistants. James P. Dngan was also appointed Corpo- ration Treasurer. At a subsequent meeting of the board, held on the 23d of April of the same year, Mr. Gresham was appointed to discharge the further duty of collecting the town reveune. William McCrery was made Superintendent of the Public Work in progress, while Samuel D. Gresham. in addition to his other duties, was appointed Town Marshal, or High Constable.
On the 14th of May, a re-survey of the town was ordered, and Mr. John Armstrong, afterward County Surveyor, was employed to do the work in accordance with instructions prescribed; and, at a subsequent meeting, held on the 9th of July, Col. Will- iam Crooks was appointed to superintend the proposed improve- ment of the streets.
Pursuant to the act of incorporation, a new Board of Trustees was elected, and, on the 21st of October, 1836, the board so elected consisting of Chevalier Richardson, William H. Buford, Jonah T. Hopkinson, Andrew Sproul and Simeon Sherfey, met and organized by electing for President. Chevalier Richardson; Clerk, Michael C. Dougherty: Assessor and Collector, Samuel D. Gresham: Treasurer, Simeon Sherfey; Marshal, Jonah T. Hop. kinson. On the 13th of May, 1837, a vacancy having occurred in the Fifth Ward by the resignation of Mr. Hopkinson, A. D. E. Tweed was elected Trustee to fill the same. At the same mneet. ing, a vacancy having occurred in the office of Marshal, also, Curtis Keener was appointed. Further proceedings were had at the same session of the board, providing means for facilitating the improvement of the streets and sidowalks, by the appoint- ment of Andrew Davis .to level Main and Washington streets, and of William H. Buford to superintend the placing of ourb timbers, all these measures tending to develop and exhibit thre real spirit that actnated the promoters of an enterprise so neces- sary to the prosperity and growth of the county town. After- ward, on the 1st of July, Mr. Tweed was elected to the Presidency of the board, and James H. Stewart, Clerk.
A third election having taken place for the choice of officers
for the new corporation, on the 13th of November, a meeting was held and un organization took place. The board so elected was composed of the following gentlemen: William Crooks, Aaron Dewey, Andrew Wood and Charles E Sturgis, who elected Will- int Crooks, President, and Charles E. Sturgis, Clerk, of the cor. poration. At this meeting, Curtis Keener was appointed Collect- or, and Aaron Dewey, Treasurer. To fill vacancies in the First and Second Wards, an election was ordered to be held on the 23d of that month by the qualified voters of said wards, in the manner prescribed by law.
At a session of the board, held on the 28th of November, 1838, there were present William Crooks, Aaron Dewey, Alfred Ramey and James Crumley. The meeting being organized, Mr. Ramey was appointed Clerk in place of Charles E. Sturgis, resigned, and Curtis Keener was chosen Assessor and Marshal.
Aaron Dewey was appointed, on the 10th of February, 1838, a committee to interview Mr. Vail. and Mr. Aspey also, contract- ors and builders, and ascertain from them npon what terms they would take the subscriptions procured for the erection of a market house, and complete the work already begun. After consultation with these gentlemen, an arrangement was concluded with Mr. Vail, by which he agreed to accept such subscriptions in payment for the construction of that building, and on the 12th of Febru- ary, two days later, at a meeting of the board then held, a con- tract was entered into between the parties in conformity with the terms of the aforesaid agreement.
Curtis Keer er, before appointed Assessor and Marshal, hav- ing removed from this jurisdiction, on the 30th of March, 1838, George Sherburne was appointed to fill the vacancy thus ocea- sioned.
At the session of 1837-38 of the State Legislature, a new charter was granted, authorizing the election of Mayor, Council- men and other officers prescribed for the maintenance of a city government. In May, 1838, an election was held for the choice of such officers, pursuant to the provisions of said charter. The new organization went into operation on the 18th of May. when William Crooks produced his commission as Mayor, Aaron Dewey, James Crumley and Ambrose Phelps having also produced certifi. cates of their election of Councilmen from their respective wards, appeared, also, and were duly sworn. At the same time, Henry Orwig, having been elected Marshal. Assessor and Collector, produced the proper certificate of his election, and was only sworn. These several officers then entered at once upon the dis- charge of the duties severally assigned to them.
A new election took place in November of the same year, at which the following persons were chosen: Sammuel Grimes, Mayor: with Samuel Grimes. Simoon L. Broadwell, John Brad- shaw and David W. Bowen as Councilnon, who severally ap- peared and were sworn. On the following day. Hiram Allon and Jesse R. Henry, elected at the same time, appeared and were sworn, also. At this meeting, David W. Bowen was appointed Clerk; William McCrery. Treasurer; Edwin R. Davis, Marshal; and Hiram Allen, Corporation Attorney.
At the session of February 25, 1839. Philip A. Clover was appointed Marshal: R. C. Green, Corporation Printer; and Hiram Allen, Clerk.
Among other proceedings noted as having been had under this corporation. the following are given: April 20, 1839, Josoph La Fleur, having paid $35, was licensed to keep a gro- cery, and George W. Goodlander to sell goods at auction. Juno 13, William Brewster was appointed Corporation Surveyor. An-
220
HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
other order of the same date prohibited all persons from selling fresh beef or pork. except at the market hense. on regular mar. ket days.
Several vacancies having occurred in the corporation offices. on the 15th of February. 1840. William Simpson was appointed Mayor. and He ry Orwig, John McCurdy and William Dunkle were appointed Common Councilmen. and all duly sworn.
On the 11th of May, a regular session of the Council was held,. at which there were present the following officers: William Simpson, Mayor; Jolin MeCurdy, Daniel W. Bowen, Henry Or- wig, William Dunkle and Jesse R. Henry, Councilmen. . The routine business only appears to have been transacted at that session. At the meeting held on the 25th of May following, Lewis Martin was appointed Marshal and Assessor, and, on the 22d of June, H. Tuttle was appointed Corporation Clerk.
On the 7th of September. 1840, another corporation election was held with the following result: George M. Maxwell, Mayor; Henry R. Glazier, Jesse Osbourn, David W. Bowen and William Dunkle, Councilmen. Jesse R. Henry holding over. November 12, H. Tuttle was again appointed Clerk. At the same meeting,: among other proceedings had David W. Bowen, Newton H. Gist and William Dunkle were appointed a special committee to ex- amine stovepipes and chimneys, and ascertain whether they were defective and liable to be a source of danger to the buildings in which they were situated. At the same session, Thomas C. Hughes was appointed Marshal, and the Carroll Express was made the official paper of the corporation. to do all printing, etc. Under the law in force at that period, all vacancies could be filled by appointment of the Common Council at any regular meeting, a quorum being present. In case a quorum was not present, and there were vacancies necessary to be filled, an election was anthor- ized to be held pursnant to a notice for that purpose, signed by not less than twenty citizens, at which persons to fill all the va- cancies specified in the notice might be legally chosen. . The fol- lowing is a case in point: There was a general vacancy in cor- poration officers in the fall of 1846, and an election could not be ordered in the regular way: accordingly, the following notice was prepared and signed, bearing date December 31, 1846: "An election for Mayor and Councilmen of the town of Delphi will be holden at the usual place of holding: elections in each ward in said town, on the third Saturday of January next.". Signed by Enoch Rinehart, W. H .. Buford, L. A. Gaylord. M. Simpson, D. R. Harley, N. B. Dewey, A. G. Leadbetter: John Phelps; V. Holt, H. Foreman, W. H. Calvert. Charles Ruffing. James H. Stewart. J. A. Reed, L. S. Dale, Hiram Allen. William Simpson, William Rees. William Potter, N. . H. Gist. An election was held as directed by the aforesaid notice .. At a meeting subse- qnent to that election, on the 10th of March, 1847. there were present of the officers so elected the following: . Levi S. Dale, Mayor: John Boggs, Samuel D. Gresham, Joseph Evans, Jesse R. Henry and Nathaniel W. Bowen, Councilmen. At this meet- ing, E. W. Hubbard was appointed Clerk: Edwin R. Davis, Mar- shal; and Enoch Rinehart, Treasurer. To complete and make apparent the regularity of said election, on motion, it was ordered that the notice for the election of Mayor and Councilmen, before recited, be spread upon the minutes of their corporation proceed- ings, and recorded accordingly. :.
. In the summer and fall of 1849, much excitement prevailed in consequence of the appearance of cholera at several: points . along the canal and river. Several persous had been exposed to and infected by it, from which three or four deaths' occurred in
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this vicinity. . This was a snificient cause for the enactment of the most stringent sanitary. or rather. preventive, regulations by the corporate authorities of Delphi. To meet the emergency, a special meeting was called. for July 25, 1849. At that meeting, all' the officers and members, except Nathan G. Gillam. Mayor, were present. . For the occasion, Levi M. Graham was made Chairman. : After some discussion and many suggestions, the following resolution and order, calculated to meet the issue, were presented and declared upon as the sense of the public, under the circumstances:
Resolved, That the proprietors of the hotels in this place be earnestly requested to refuse entertainment to all persous passing or traveling from places infected with the cholera for any length, of time-say time to get a meal of rictuols.
Ordered, That the Marshal be empowered to prevent canal-boats from putting off emigrants, or transient persons, to remain among us: and that the board co-operate with him in carrying'out said order.
The most notable feature in the anomalous proceedings had by the corporate authorities in the premises, was the proclama- tion of the following ordinance on the ist of August:
Be it ordained by the Mayor and Common Council of the town of Delphi. that all persons passing or traveling from places infected with the cholera, be prohibited from staying in our midst more than time sufficient to procure a meal. of victuals; that all places of public entertainment be required to prohibit the stay of all such persons for a longer time; and that our own citizens, except physicians, be hereafter prohibited from going to, or visiting places, near or distant, where the cholera is prevail- ing. unless there is absolute necessity for so doing; and that any person or persons offending against or violating any of the provisionss of this ordinance, be fined in any sum not less than $3 nor more than $10 for each offense. This ordinance to take effect from its passage.
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