USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Indiana : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
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" The Banner will be printed once a week. at $2 por anni. if paid in advance: or, $2.50 at the end of six months. If pay ment be delayed till after the expiration of the year. $3 will be required. Delphi, Ind .. February 2. 1836."
In the meantime, the press and materials had been sent for. brought by steamboat, and landed at the wharf on the Wabash River ut a point very near where Franklin street. extende.l. would strike the left bank of the river, some time in the last part of February or first of March. 1836, at the time of the carly freshet was a very ditheult task and a very tedious oue. It was brought. : however, not far from the last of March, and deposited in the upper story of Lewis Martin's stororoom. recently occupied
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
in a state of abject confusion-the types were pied, sorts disar- ranged and the press greatly demoralized. It was an herculean labor, and required not only a good expenditure of time, but ex- traordinary patience, to get everything in order and ready for nse. The Rubicon was passed, however, and the task completed.
When all this had been accomplished, and preparations were being made to commence the issuing of the new paper at an early date, a proposition came from some of the political leaders in the connty, in the interest of the Democratic party, to the publishers, suggesting the propriety of publishing a partisan paper. This was declined for the very good reason that the proprietors. though Whigs, had agreed with their patrons to publish a neu- About the time of the suspension of the Oracle, in 1839. A. D. E. Tweed. formerly of Cincinnati, the business partner of George W. Pigman in mercantile pursuits, purchased and brought here a complete newspaper ontfit. and commenced the publication of the Carroll Express, a political as well as a county paper, under the patronage of the Whig party, of which it was the ad- vocate. In the campaign that followed, in 1840. which resulted in the election of Gen. William H. Harrison to the Presidency of consideration of its readers in this county and elsewhere the lead- ing issues that distinguished that venerable party from those cham- pioned by the supporters of the Democratic policy. As the organ of the Whig party in Carroll County. it did efficient work, and secured for itself a liberal patronage. tral or non-partisan paper. and were not disposed to break faith with them at the very ontset. Upon the rejection of their pro- posal, those party leaders, with the view to secure so valuable an auxiliary in the work of enlightening their constituency on the points in issue between the two great political parties, offered to purchase the entire establishment and take all risks. This prop- osition was likewise refused. Seeing that all such efforts were vain, and still desiring to seenre such efficient aid as might be i the United States. it took an active stand in presenting for the derived from a party organ, determined to and did send for press. types. etc., with the necessary outfit, for a Democratic newspaper office. The material arrived in due time. and, with little delay, the new establishment was ready to issne its paper, announced to be called the Delphi Oracle.
As has been already stated. Messrs. Webber & Clymer were ready to commence the publication of the Western Banner, on the plan and terms indicated in their prospectus. Accordingly, the forms were made up and ready, by the aid of the press, to stamp up- on the moistened sheets, in legible characters, a review of the pros- pects, plans and issues of the day. The morning of Friday, June 24. 1836-St. John's Day-witnessed the appearance of Vol. I. No. 1, of the Western Banner. Thereafter, it made its appearance weekly, with comparative regularity, to gladden the hearts of the proprietors and relieve the wonted anxiety of expectant readers. With the eighth number, issued on the 26th day of August. Dr. Webber, having disposed of his interest to Mr. Clymer. ceased his connection with the paper. In abont two weeks, perhaps, with the issue of the tenth number. the Banner appeared in a new dress, with new press and type, making a very presentable appear- ance. At the end of the first volume. finding that the enterprise was not a paying one. Mr. Clymer sold the establishment. good will. etc .. to the proprietors of the Delphi Oracle, when the Ban- ner became a thing of the past.
It has been a question quite considerably discussed. of late, whether the Banner or Oracle issued the first paper. As a ques- tion of historic interest. it matters little which of them is entitled : the Delphi Journal. on Thursday, the 14th of November. 1850. to precedence in that regard. It is, nevertheless, a fact that will not be seriously controverted, that the credit of inaugurating the enterprise which secured to the people of Delphi a newspaper- the first published here -- belongs to the proprietors of the Banner, especially Dr. Webber, exclusively, considering the issne fully. From the best data now obtainable, the first number of the Oracle was issued on Saturday. July 2. 1836, one week and one day after the first number of the Banner. This fact is derived. from the Oracle itself, the major part of the first and second volumes of which are the property and in the possession of the writer hereof.
The publication of the Delphi Oracle was commenced under the magagement of Mr. Robert C. Green, who came to Delphi, as he himself states, about the last of June, 1836. It was issued under his name as proprietor until the close of its first volume, when
the paper was sold and transferred to Henry B. Milroy --- a half brother of Gen. Robert H. and Maj. John B. Milroy -- and he as- sumed the editorial charge with the second volume, commencing in July. 1837. He continued to be the proprietor and manager of the Oracle during its second and third, and until the fourth number of the fourth volume. issued on the 24th of October. 1839, when the publication was suspended in consequence of the delinquency of subscribers and the want of general patronage. It is proper to say. in this connection, that the Oracle, during its existence, was generally ably edited, and the mechanical ap- pearance was equal to that of the better class of papers in its day.
After the Erpress had been in existence for a considerable time. Mr. Tweed sold the establishment to Mr. R. C. Green. the former proprietor of the Delphi Oracle. Although Mr. Green, in his earlier newspaper experience, had espoused the canse of the Democratic party, in later days, when he became connected with the Express, he changed his political affiliations and advo cated the principles and policy peculiar to the Whig party dur- ing his connection with this paper. On the 15th day of August, 1842, the proprietorship of the Express changed. Henderson Dunkle, who had learned the arts and mysteries of printing in this office. having purchased it, became the publisher and man. ager of the paper. continuing in those relations during the suc- ceeding four years. or until August, 1848. at which time he sold the office to Charles A. Naylor. a nephew of the late Judge Isaac Naylor, of La Fayette. Mr. Naylor changed the name of the paper. and it was thereafter known as the Delphi Herald. He continued the publication of the Herald during its first volume, in 1849. when he transferred it to Thomas B. Helm, who then became its editor and proprietor. Before the end of the second volune. the publication was suspended. and the office was soon after sold to James B. Scott. who commenced the publication of The Journal, since that date, during a period of nearly thirty- one years and a half, has been issued regularly, scarcely, if at all, failing to make its usual appearance weekly on publication day. The management of the Journal has continued in the hands of Mr. Scott uninterruptedly, except that, in the year 1863, Daniel Fichthorn, a former employe in the office, rented it and conducted the paper for one year. Again, in June. 1865, T. H. B. McCain bought the office and conducted the paper for six months, at the end of which time he sold it back to Mr. Scott, who still owns and manages the affairs of the well-conducted paper and success- ful printing house which the Journal is known to possess. In all its appointments, the office outfit of the Journal is as nearly complete as any found elsewhere of equal patronage. The pro- prietor is perhaps the oldest newspaper publisher in the State ----
A,B,Crampton
A. B. CRAMPTON.
The subject of this sketch was born in the city of Elkhart, Elkhart Co, Ind .. March 8. 1844. His father, Henry Crampton, was a native of Vermont. spent the greater portion of his life in New York State, and moved to Elkhart at an early day in the history of Indiana, where he pursned his vocation in life, which was that of a carpenter. The tastes of the sire in the matter of life pursuit did not cling to the son. The young man Crampton yearned for a knowledge of the " art preser- vative of arts." and so it was, at the age of eleven, he became an ap- prentice in the printing business. After becoming somewhat expert as a compositor, he secured employment at Three Rivers, Mich., and aided in getting out the first paper published in that city. His educational advantages having been very limited, and having, by industry and economy, saved a small sum of money from his earnings, he determined to devote some time to the betterment of his intellectual attainment. He had about completed his arrangements to enter Notre Dame, when the storm of civil war burst upon the land, and, at the immature age of seventeen, he enlisted, in June, 1861, in Company F, Forty-eighth Indiana Tufantry. He was appointed Color Sergeant, and was after- ward promoted to the subordinate but responsible station of Orderly Sergeant of Company A. He went with the regiment to the field, and arrived at Fort Donelson the day after the surrender. The regiment, after participating in the siege and capture of Corinth, participated in the marches and counter-marches attendant upon the military opera- tiens in 1862 and 1863, which led to the opening and possession by the National authority of the Mississippi River. Mr. Crampton was at his post in the skirmishes and battles at Iuka, Corinth (second), Forty Hills. Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills and in the siege of Vicks- burg. After the surrender of Vicksburg, the regiment moved across the country to Chattanooga, and, while in that vicinity, engaged the enemy at Missionary Ridge. Thence it moved to Huntsville, where it went into winter quarters, and, in January, 1864, veteranized and went luone on veteran furlough. On the 8th of February, it was publicly received aud welcomed, at Indianapolis, by Gov. Morton and staff. It
then returned to Georgia, participated in Gen. Sherman's grand march to the sea. From Savannah, it marched through to Washington, and was soon after transferred to Louisville, Ky., where, on the 15th of July, 1865, after a long, honorable and arduous service, it was mustered out. Mr. Crampton served with the command four years and one month, and was at no time on detached duty. May 1, 1865, he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company A. After the termination of his military service, he located in Logansport and resumed the printing business as a compositor on the Journal. He was in like capacity connected with the Pharos of that city, and also with the Plain Dealer at Wabash. Becoming somewhat wearied of type-setting, he found relief in accepting a situation as commercial traveler, and pursued this business for several years. He then became business manager and city editor of the Pharos at Logansport. After four years' service in this capacity, he assumed the management of the Times, and, April 4, 1879, moved to Delphi, where he has since resided. Mr. Crampton, in his political affiliations, has always been uncompro- misingly Democratic, yet of that school which followed the lamented Douglas in support of the Union, first, last, and for all time. For six years, during his residence in Logansport, he was a member of the City Council, and, for a like period, he was the Chairman of the Central Committee of Cass County. In the memorable campaign of ISS0, h- represented the Tenth District on the State Central Committee.
Gifted by nature with a genial and generous nature. the benevolout orders very naturally engaged his attention, and he holds active inen! bership in three of the leading fraternities. As a Mason, he has ad vanced to the honors and rank of Knighthood. He is a member in the subordinate and encampment branches of Odd Fellowship and is also mu the order of the Knights of Pythias.
He was united in marriage, September 5, 1566, to Miss Lovisa E. Alford, a daughter of the gentleman to whom he was first apprenticed. born in Erie. Penn. Two children, the fruits of the Hai n are noll living-Charles C. and Lovisa E. Mrs. Crampton 15 at. 9.4 . memur of the Baptist Church. Mr. Crampton is a man of great meer, ip hi- business pursuits. Though not a professional writ. r. t. ยท is the
happy faculty of giving easy and graceful diction to his ter pas and this combined with a courage in the expression of his conviction have rapidly moved the Delphi Times to a commanding place among the Democratic papers of the State.
Jas. a. Sims
ATTY. AT LAW
CAPT. JOSEPH A. SIMS.
The subject of this biographical sketch was born in Frank- lin County, Ind., on the 26th day of August, 1828. When five years of age, his parents, John Sims and Irene (Allen) Sims, moved to Tippecanoe County, whence, after a residence of one year, they removed to Union County, and permanently located near the village of Fairfield. In the month of Septem- ber, 1849, Mr. Sims left the parental roof, and, locating in Delphi, Carroll County, where his brother, Lewis B. Sims, had preceded him, began the practice of law. In 1853, he was appointed Clerk of the House of Representatives at Indianapolis, serving one term. Excepting this interval, and his absence from Delphi, while serving on the field of battle in the war of the rebellion, he has continued uninterruptedly in the practice of his chosen profession, always ranking as one of the strongest members of the Delphi bar, and enjoying, for the most part, a lucrative and successful practice.
At the commencement of the late war, he recruited the Twenty-fourth Battery, Light Artillery, consisting of 156 men; was chosen its Captain, and mustered into service at Indianapolis on the 29th of November, 1862, remaining in camp in that city during the winter of 1862. On the 11th of March, 1863, the battery departed for Louisville, Ky., and, on the 11th of May, it engaged the enemy at Horse Shoe Bend, on the Cumberland River. In August, the battery marched with Gen. Burnside's army into East Tennessee, and was the first battery with that army that crossed the Cumber- land Mountains. On the 2d of September, it reached Loudon,
and, marching from there, participated in the engagements at Philadelphia and Sweetwater, on the 14th of October. Capt. Sims also commanded the battery, while it actively engaged in the defense of the garrison and works during the siege of . Knoxville, the 17th of November to the 14th of December. On the 5th of December, the battery left Knoxville in pursuit of Longstreet's army, marching through a number of towns in East Tennessee. During December, 1863, and January, 1864, the battery marched and encamped in the mud and snow, entirely destitute of tents. Nearly all of the men were without overcoats, and very scantily supplied with other clothing, and were almost entirely dependent for rations upon the country, which had already been overrun and robbed by Longstreet's army. As a result of these deprivations, Capt. Sims was attacked with typhoid-pneumonia at Strawberry Plains, Tenn., and was compelled, on the 24th of January, 1864, to resign command of the battery and return home.
Capt. Sims has been twice married, and has two children -Joseph A. and Lewis B., born of the first marriage.
He is a brother of Lewis B. Sims, a prominent lawyer, and one of the leading members of the Delphi bar ; also, of Rev. Charles N. 'Sims, D. D., Chancellor of the Syracuse University, New York.
Capt. Sims is a man of strong convictions, and outspoken in his opinions. He possesses a genial disposition, an easy, approachable way, and a strong aptitude for humor. With a robust constitution, and the burdens of life resting lightly on his shoulders, he bids fair to live to a ripe old age.
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DEER CREEK TOWNSHIP.
at least, one who has been thus professionally engaged for a period of years, successively, as long as any other in In- diann. Although now in his sixty-seventh year the fifty- seventh of his printer's life-he makes full time each day at the cuse.
To take the place of the Oracle as the organ of the Democratic party in Carroll County, the Delphi Bulletin was issued, under the editorial and general management of Jerome B. Kenneday, the first number appearing on the 15th of December, 1839. After the issue of the first number, the paper was put under the control of J. H. Elliott and Matthew Simpson, and so remained until the 28th of November. 1840, at which time Matthew Simpson became the sole proprietor, with Lovi S. Dale as associate editor.
The Bulletin continued to be issued for a number of years, when the publication was suspended. and, soou afterward, the Western Republican, also a Democratic paper. took its place, the first num- ber of which was issued on the 24th of September, 1846, by Jo. soph R. Horsley. The Republican was neatly printed, and edited with more than average ability. After being issued something more than two years, the publication ceased. and. on the 24th of February, 1849, it was succeeded. as the Democratic organ, nu- der the management of Jonathan C. Applegate and Milton R. Graham, by the Delphi Weekly Times. The paper contimed to be published regularly, under the same control. until the year 1850. when Mr. Graham disposed of his interest to Mr. Apple- gate, and. shortly after. Mr. J. McCarthy became a partner. and the firm was known as Applegate & McCarthy. After a year or two. the establishment passed into the hands of Joseph R. Hors- ley. the proprietor of the Western Republican, who maintained 1857: then Mr. Graham re-purchased the office and paper and assimned the entire control. which he held-except during a brief period while the civil war was in progress, when the paper was con- ducted by John C. Odell. and subsequently by Patrick H. O'Brien -- until April 1. 1879. In the meantiine. however. from Decem- ber 10. 1875. to the time when he parted with his entire interest. Mr. Jasper Keyes, afterward of the Monticello Democral. was a partner with Mr. Graham. The partnership continuing but about one year. iu July. 1877. A. R. Bell assumed the manage- ment of the concern as a partner of Mr. Graham. In July. IST8. the office passed by lease into the hands of the Times Publishing Company, composed of J. A. Cartwright. E. H. Gresham. John C. Odell and C. R. Pollard. with J. C. Odell ns manager, and A. R. Bell. editor. At the end of nine months, the lessees stepped aside to permit of the transfer of the office to Adelbert B. Crampton, the present proprietor and manager, the transfer being consummated on the 1st day of April, 1879, as above indicated. In April, 1882, the Times will have completed its thirty-third volume.
In 1841. the Delphi Oracle was revived by James Coleman and published for a few years. but whether the new Oracle was the outgrowth of the old one. and subsequently merged into the Western Republican, is a question not readily nuswered. Both were Democratic papers, and as such. no doubt. served the pur- pose that induced their coming forth. having been conducted with respectable ability.
In addition to the papers above named, others have been com- mencod, and, having been issued for brief periods. eventually succumbed to the pressure of circumstances induced by the want of sufficient remunerative patronage.
DELPIHI BAR.
Of the members of the legal profession who have resided and practiced law in Delphi, anything like a complete list it would be impossible now to make up. since the records of such are very inconipletc. Under the circumstances, therefore. it will be the purpose to note only those whose identity is satisfactorily. es- tablished. giving snch facts relative to the position held by them respectively, and whatever of their history enn readily be obtained. In the early days of court practice in Carroll County. the busi- ness was usually transacted by members of the bar from abroad, who were in almost constant attendance upon the sessions of our courts: hence, for the first few years, the business of a strictly local character was so meager as to offer few inducements for members of the profession to locate here, and. as a consequence, no trace of local attorneys in those primitive days is to be found. The first to locate here, so far as has been ascertained. was Henry Chase, who came to Delphi in the spring of 1830. His office was located in a little one-story frame building, the gable fronting the street, on the north side of Franklin street. opposite the court honse. He was a man of marked ability, a successful practi tioner, and a man of great executive force. In 1834, he left Delphi and went to Logansport, where he resided for many years. serving, at one time, as Judge of the Circuit Court, the place now filled by his son. Hon. Dudley H. Chase.
Probably the next attorney who located here was Albert L. Holmes, who had his office in the second story of the building occupied by J. P. Dagan & Co. as a storeroom. He came at an early day in the history of Delphi and commenced the practice of his profession, ultimately seenring a profitable business. Ho an attorney and comselor. He died many years since, but he is still remembered by our older citizens.
the control until the return of Mr. Graham from California. in . was a man of fine attainments, and ocenpied a leading position as
Andrew L. Robinson engaged in the practice of law here not far from the same period, and was quite successful in his profes sion. During his career. he figured somewhat extensively in polities, in which department he attained to considerable emi- nenee.
Hiram Allen stands recorded, also, among the very early at. torneys who located in Delphi. and. in the course of his long career, took high rank among members of the profession on the Wabash. He spent the greater part of his life here, and, during that period, secured and maintained a very Incrative practice, and his name still holds a place in the memory of the older prac- titiouers at this bar. He died many years since. in this city.
Aaron Finch and Nathaniel Niles located here about the year 1836. subsequently forming a partnership as n law firm. They appear to have been mon of respectable legal attainments, nud, so Far as now appears to the contrary, enjoyed a good share of the local and general business. How long they remained in Del- phi does not now appear.
Horatio J. Harris, too, was one of the early practitioners nt. the Carroll County bar, and, being a man of superior ability, ho wrought out for himself a reputation as a lawyer and advocate far above mediocrity. His business was not wholly local. but ex tended into the jurisdiction of other conrts quite frequently. He, too, was a politician, and devoted much of time and energy in that sphere of action.
Lewis B. Sims commenced the practice of his profession here about the year 1846, and hns since that time been constantly and actively engaged. His great experience has enabled him to make
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
his practice compensatory. To-day he manifests much of his early energy, and is rarely nnengaged.
.. .. .. About the year 1848, Jonathan C. Applegate came to Delphi and engaged in the practice of law, having previously been a student in the office of Hon. Caleb B. Smith, at Connersville, . ';Ind. He was an active and zealous student, and spared no pains . to qualify himself for his chosen profession. He served one term as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in this district. aeqnit- ting himself with credit. He filled other important positions to the satisfaction of his constituents: gaining considerable reputa- tion as a politician in the management of the Delphi Times, of which he and Milton R. Graham were the original projectors. He died several years since.
William Potter was among the early attorneys in Delphi, com inencing the practice here not far from the same period. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, was a forcible speaker, and controlled a respectable share of the public patronage.
At a little later period, Joseph A. Sims opened an office here und commenced the practice of law. He has since, by diligent. labor, acquired a fair reputation in this special field. He enjoys a liberal proportion of the legal business transacted in this juris- diction.
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