USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County Indiana, its people, industries and institutions > Part 12
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The third meeting of the society was held on the 14th of June. 1856, in a grove above Delphi. The Hon. Andrew Ingram, of Lafayette, deliv- ered the principal address. A letter was read at the meeting, written by Robert H. Milroy, who resided at Rensselaer. A sketch of pioneer life was presented in writing by Magdalena McCain, wife of Daniel McCain, who resided one mile east of Delphi. This letter is here set out as being worthy of preservation, and gives the reader a clear and graphic account of the trials that the early pioneers endured.
"June, 1855.
A TYPICAL PIONEER EXPERIENCE.
"My husband and myself were both born and reared near Lebanon. Warren county, Ohio, our parents having settled there in early times, and suffered the hardships of a new settlement. When we turned out to seek our fortunes in the world we thought it best, while we were going, to emi- grate still further west. My husband, having been out, selected and secured a home. We accordingly made preparations, and on the 9th of November, 1826, we bade adieu to weeping friends and relatives and to our native country. With two ox-teams we slowly wended our way toward Indiana,
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which at that time was almost an unbroken wilderness, where the sound of the white man's ax was seldom heard, but in the place of it the chirping of birds or the occasional howl of the wolf, the dismal hoot of the owl or the shrill screaming of the wildcat. On the 28th of the same month we landed here on Deer creek, where we still reside.
"I have not many particular incidents to relate during our journey except that the road, if such it could be called, was very muddy and difficult to pass-in many places on account of the trees and gulleys. We had some cold, disagreeable weather and some snow. The night before we reached here we camped near what is called 'Little Sugar creek.' Here a dismal night was passed. It had been snowing occasionally for two days, and after dark the wind began to blow and it blew almost a hurricane.
"It is now more than twenty-eight years, but the tall trees bending over our heads are still fresh before my eyes. It appeared as if every tree would be leveled with the ground by the contending elements; and yet. though there were seven of us in number, there was not even a hair of our heads injured, for He who feeds the ravens is able to save us through the greatest dangers.
"So, we, being spared through that stormy night, soon arranged every- thing in the morning and started again with fresh vigor for our destina- tion, which we reached about the middle of the day. We then pitched a tent and, having everything arranged, I prepared dinner and we ate a hearty meal for the first time at our new home. Kings in their palaces with all their dainties never ate with better relish and with more pleasure than we did, with the hind-gate of the wagon for a table and nothing but the blue heavens over our heads.
A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.
"After we had finished a hearty repast, the men began the work of erecting a cabin-there being five in number, three of them being my brothers-in-law, Joseph, William and Ramsey McCain, having accompanied us. In just three days they had our cabin so that it was possible to live in it, the roof being on, a door cut and on one side an end, the space between the logs filled in, which afterwards received a partial supply of mortar. It then commenced raining, and we put what little we had into our new abode. Right happy were we to have at last, poor as it was, a shelter from storms.
"The next morning two of the men took their guns and went out to
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try their luck at shooting deer, and they had the good fortune to bring one in. It required but a few minutes to dress it. Then the men all went about a mile distant to erect a cabin for William McCain, for it was his intention to move out the ensuing fall. I was left alone with my son, then a little over two years old. We were, of course, very lonely, but being busily engaged, I got along very well, except one little fright. Toward noon, I saw some distance from the home-for I was continually on the watch- two animals, which I knew could be none other but the hungry wolf, smell- ing along the trail of the deer that had been brought in. As one would naturally suppose, I was very much frightened, and for a few moments considered in my mind what I should do. I thought if they attempted to come near or to attack us I would try to scald them, as I had plenty of hot water. But I suppose they deemed it prudent to keep at a tolerable dis- tance, for women are dangerous; they generally fight with formidable wea- pons, such as scalding water or the broom. At length they disappeared and I saw no more of them. This was on Saturday.
"The first of the next week the men finished their cabin, and William and John McCain left for their homes in Ohio, leaving the other two with us. The provisions we were unable to bring with us, such as corn and pork, were to be provided for the winter; and by the time they were hauled up from Wildcat, for they could not be had any nearer, cold weather set in so severe that we were forced to live in our house all winter just as we first went into it. But we did not suffer, for we kept a good fire in one end of the house and left an opening in one end of the roof for the smoke to escape.
THE FIRST MILL.
"There were no mills in reach of us, except Mr. Robinson's mill, which answered a very good purpose for grinding corn, but even that, because of the severe cold weather, froze up and we were obliged to make hominy and pound corn to make meal for bread. We had brought two barrels of flour with us, but that we had to use up immediately. We were blessed with good health and appetites and we lived happy and contented. Neighbors were very scarce, there being no more than ten or eleven families on Deer creek from the Wabash up to where John Odell lived, a distance of seven or eight miles, and but as many more a few miles north of us on Rock creek.
"The Indians were, for a year or two, more frequent visitors at our cabin than were the whites. but they were always peaceable. After a long
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and tedious winter, spring came at last, and brought with it all the comforts and delights that a wild country was capable of affording. My husband cleared five acres for our corn, and he soon made our cabin more com- fortable. He laid a floor, having hauled logs through the deep snow ( for it was over two feet deep) to Mr. Robinson's saw-mill. Mr. Robinson was kind enough to erect a small grist and saw-mill for the accommodation of himself and those who might chance to follow him. We also got a chimney up, and added several comforts that we stood in need of. I believe that I felt as happy as a queen.
"Spring brought with it its troubles as well as its beauties; for the rattlesnakes were so numerous that we were in danger wherever we went. I was continually afraid that our little son, in strolling around, would be bitten by one, or that one might crawl into the house, as they frequently did among the neighbors; but we got along very well in that line.
AN OLD-TIME CRADLE.
"We killed a great many snakes of every description. When I would be out attending to my domestic affairs, working in the garden and milking. I had no one to take care of my infant except my eldest child, and he did it well; for he would sit and watch over his little brother and rock him in a sugar-trough, which was a very good substitute for a cradle. Although many years have passed since those events, yet I can never think of them without a shudder ; to think how easily the Indians might have slipped into the house in my absence and carried off my little treasures. But they were protected and spared, I hope, for better purposes. Our eldest son is now in the West ( Kansas). at a missionary establishment, teaching the young Indians.
"Our family was small when we first came here, having but one child. Our children now number eleven. We came here in high hopes, and our hopes have been in a great way realized. We have labored and toiled and been greatly blessed with health and with all the comforts of life. We have seen the great change from a wilderness to a well-inhabited country of finely- cultivated farms; comfortable buildings, towns and villages have dotted all over the beautiful land. What astonishing improvements in the roads and travel.
CONTRAST OF MODERN TRANSPORTATION.
"For years after we came here, if a man on horseback could ride from here to Lebanon, Ohio, in five or six days, it was considered a very speedy
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trip. And only think of the lazy ox trudging along for weeks, completely worrying down his driver, who, with uplifted goad, with slow and weary steps, is continually trying to urge him on, but to no purpose. Not so with the fierce and warlike iron horse; he goes thundering along at most fearful speed and carries you over the same distance in one day. What a contrast ! It is perfectly astonishing, and yet it is even so.
[Signed] DANIEL and MAGDALENA MCCAIN.
The husband of this intelligent and excellent woman died on Septem- ber 5, 1855.
The Carroll county Old Settler's Society continued to hold its annual reunions, changing the date from June to the second Saturday in August. In 1858 the meeting was held at the grove, east of the home of Samuel L. Milroy, situated on the Delphi and Camden road.
In 1872 the society held its annual meeting at the grove west of Delphi, then known as "Lenon's Grove," and continued to meet at this grove until the year 1902, when the meetings thereafter were held in the public square in the city of Delphi. The annual meeting of the year 1915 was the sixtieth annual reunion of the society.
A LARGE MEMBERSHIP.
During the sixty years more than eight hundred names of persons, who, for at least forty years, had resided in Carroll county have been entered on the roll book. The roll book shows the place and date of the birth of the members, and when they came to the county. It also shows the date of death of members.
During this period of sixty years the following named old settlers have served as president of the society: Abner Robinson, James Odell, Vine Holt, John B. Milroy, Robert Fisher, Samuel G. Greenup, Isaac Jack- son, Dr. Charles Angel, William Young, David B. Julian, L. B. Sims, Isaac Bragunier, Amos Graham, Joseph L. Grantham, John W. Jackson, W. H. McCain, John S. Case, John D. Wilson, John S. Armitage, Charles Buckley, Joseph W. Hanna, A. N. Holmes, William E. Beck. Of the above, Abner Robinson served twenty-three years consecutively; Dr. Charles Angel, six years.
Dr. James H. Stewart was the first secretary, and served twenty-four years. Enoch Cox served three years. John C. Odell was elected secre- tary in 1882 and has been acting in that position to the present date, now thirty-three years.
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THE BIG MEETING OF 1884.
The attendance upon these occasions of the annual reunions has uni- formly been large. The largest meeting, so regarded. was in the year 1884, when the crowd was estimated at ten thousand persons. Since the meetings were changed from the West Delphi grove to the public square in the city of Delphi. the reunions have been financed by the Delphi Business Men's Association, relieving the society of any expenses.
SOME OF THE SPEAKERS.
There are noted the names of eminent men who have addressed the meetings, as an evidence of the efforts to make these reunions something more than a local affair: Judge Andrew Ingram. in 1856; Gen. R. H. Mil- roy, 1857; James Blake. 1866; Charles B. Lasselle, 1869; Rev. Aaron Wood, 1873; Judge D. P. Baldwin, 1875: James C. Suit, 1880; Major J. W. Gordon, 1882: Col. W. C. Wilson, 1884: Col. J. B. Maynard, 1885; Hon. I. D. G. Nelson, 1886; Rev. B. F. Foster, 1887; Col. J. W. Ray, 1888: Hon. D. H. Chase. 1889; Rev. J. A. Maxwell, 1890; Maj. S. L. McFaddin, 1891 : Hon. John W. Kern, 1892; Hon. Milton Garrigus, 1895; Hon. William Cumback. 1896; Rev. D. R. Lucas, 1897; United States Sen- ator C. W. Fairbanks, 1899: Rev. G. W. Switzer, 1904; Judge T. H. Palmer, 1905; Rev. C. McCain, 1906; Hon. M. E. Foley, 1907: Dr. C. E. Scholl, 1909: Rev. A. R. Delong, 1910; Hon. P. H. O'Donnell, 1911; Rev. M. H. Appleby, 1912; Rev. W. H. Hickman, 1913; Rev. I. S. Wade and Hon. A. O. Reeser, 1914; Rev. G. M. Myers, 1915.
The secretary of the society has preserved over one hundred biogra- phies of deceased old settlers.
ANOTHER REMINISCENCE.
At the annual meeting, August 8. 1868, the following letter, written by Frances Sterling. wife of Thomas Sterling, one of the first settlers, vividly portrays the scenes, conflicts and experiences, incident to life of the pioneers. The letter follows :
"On the 16th of February, 1825, I. in company with Mr. Odell's family, left Wayne county, Indiana, to emigrate to the Wabash country. Our journey lasted fourteen days. We had rain every day except two during our trip. The men would cut brush on which to lay our beds to
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sleep. Our clothes would be wet upon our backs in the morning, some- times. The country from White river to the Wabash was an unbroken wilderness, uninhabited except for a few Indians. We got along tolerably well until we got this side of Thorntown, when our wagon broke down; . then I got into John Odell's wagon and rode to Potatoe creek. There John Little met us with a horse and a yoke of oxen.
"My husband went to the South fork of Wildcat creek to old Mr. Odell's, after a wagon. We encamped at Potatoe creek that night. The next morning I started with Mr. Little for his home on Flint creek, twenty- five miles distant. I got on the horse, with my babe in my lap, with Mr. Little on foot in advance. Sometimes it rained and then it snowed as fast as it could come down. I was on the horse from sunrise until dark with a two-year-old child in my arms. You may be sure I was very much fatigued.
CHILLS AND FEVER.
"The next day, March 2, my husband came with our goods. On the day following he was taken sick and kept down about six weeks. We thought he would die. We had no doctor or any medicine. John Odell came to see us and brought a dose of tartar emetic and some blister flies. These, with some butternut pills, composed our stock of medicine, with a bottle of Bateman's drops. which we used as a anodyne. He recovered and we all kept well until August, when he was attacked again with fever and ague, and was very sick for some time. I was confined the 21st of August, and could procure a nurse but for two days, when I had to get up and perform my work as best I could. A man named Luce took sick and died near us. As almost everybody was sick, my husband and myself had to see to him. My husband was sick and my babe was only a week old. We succeeded in getting help to dig the grave of Mr. Luce, and Mordecai Ellis made l'is coffin by splitting a basswood tree, dressing the boards with a broad ax and jack-plane and painting them black. He made quite a decent looking coffin.
A PIONEER MOTHER.
"Another family came to the neighborhood, who settled on Deer creek. on what is now known as the Milroy farm, who all got sick and lost a child, who is buried near the spot we now occupy. Their name was Galbraith. They wanted me to wash for them, as they had no washing done for six,
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weeks. I told them I would try and I did try and performed as large a day's work as ever I did, when my babe was but three weeks old,
"The next December my husband came up to Deer creek and built a cabin. On February 15, 1826, we started for our new home'. We arrived here on Deer creek on the 19th. The weather was very cold, and we stopped at John Carey's and got some fire-we had no matches those times. We drove up to the cabin; I crawled under the wall, scraped away the snow and kindled a fire while the men sawed out a door. The snow was about shoe-top deep in the house.
"We threw down some clapboards and on them we placed our beds. We slept inside, and the hogs outside. The next morning the mud was as deep in our cabin as the snow had been the evening before. The weather was cold. We built a log heap in our cabin, but still we almost froze. My husband would hew puncheons all day and chink our cabin at night. We were nearly three miles from our nearest neighbor.
A LONG TRIP TO MIL.L.
"We brought corn meal with us sufficient, as we thought, to last until after planting; but it gave out, and I had to pound corn in an iron pot with an iron wedge driven into the end of a handspike, and sift it through a basket lid. We used the finest of the meal for breakfast and the coarse for dinner and supper. We got our corn planted about the first of June and then went to mill in a pirogue, down the Wabash, to a little corn- cracker, near where Lafayette now stands. I was taken sick about the first of July, and both our children were sick. I shook for forty days with the ague, without cessation. We then got some quinine, which stopped it for ten days. I got able to ride on horseback and while going to see John Ballard, who was sick at Mr. Odell's, my horse became frightened and threw me off ; that brought on the ague more severely than ever and it held on to me until Christmas. I never saw a woman, except Sarah Odell, for three months. My husband was cook, washerwoman and milkmaid during that time. In October my husband had to leave home for three days and I was left alone with my two children.
DANGER FROM WILD ANIMALS.
"One night our dog fought some animal near the door, which had no shutter but a quilt. I was very much frightened and our faithful dog was
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almost killed. He could not walk the next day. John Ballard stayed at our house after that till my husband returned.
"Forty-two years have passed since those times. I have seen our country rapidly settling and improving. There were but eleven families in Carroll county in 1826. One generation has passed away, another has suc- ceeded. There are but two families left whose united heads still live,- Abner Robinson and ours.
"A few of the old settlers have emigrated to distant lands, but the greater number have passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns. . We who are left expect soon to cross the river and join them in that better land, where sickness and sorrow, pain and death are feared and felt no more." [Signed] "FRANCES STERLING."
BURLINGTON OLD SETTLERS' SOCIETY.
The Burlington Old Settlers' Society was organized in the year 1874, at Burlington, and is composed of pioneers of the counties of Carroll, Clinton and Howard. . The officers were: William Runnion, president; Dudley Millner, vice-president, and Samuel C. Rodkey, secretary. John T. Gwinn, S. C. Rodkey, Clark Gwinn, Susie Anderson, Catharine Smith, James Stonebraker, Sarah E. Robertson, Samuel Fellows, Lydia Harmon. B. Stockton, J. A. Miller. Hannah Miller, O. M. Barnard, Joseph Gwinn, J. M. Darnell, William Harness, Harvey Runion, J. L. Johnson, Isaac Watson, Samuel Weaver, Robert Johnson, A. G. Moore, J. T. Johnson, J. C. Smith and others were members of the society. The meetings are held on the last Saturday of August. at Burlington, and immense crowds attend. The president, James L. Johnson, died on August 3, 1915.
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CHAPTER IX.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF DECEASED PIONEERS OF CARROLL COUNTY.
BENJAMIN D. ANGEL.
Benjamin D. Angel was born in North Carolina, and was there married to Sarah Davis, and to this union were born nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch was one. His father, Charles Angel, lived in southern Virginia, and married a Miss Washington, and. from there moved to North Carolina in 1751.
Benjamin D. Angel emigrated to Wayne county, Indiana, about the year 1815, and was there married on September 16, 1815, to Elizabeth Odell, a daughter of James Odell, Sr., who was born in South Carolina, June 2, 1797, and to this union were born five children. Mr. Angel came to Carroll county, Indiana, in the spring of 1825, and settled on land about one and one-half miles southeast of Delphi, where he died on September 16, 1825, his death being the second occurring among the first settlers. He left surviving, his wife and five children, namely: Sarah, who was born in Wayne county, July 17, 1817, was married to Rev. Nelson Gillam, in Carroll county, March 20, 1840, and died in Marion, Indiana, February 16, 1863, and her husband died in Richmond, Indiana, January 5, 1902; Sam- uel, born in Wayne county, October 4, 1818, and died unmarried in Oregon. May 27, 1856; Charles, born in Wayne county, October 19, 1822, and died at his residence in Pittsburg, April 19, 1902; Ruth, born in Wayne county, December 28, 1820, was married to George Bowman, in Carroll county, September 18, 1848, and died in Monticello, September 8, 1850; Mary, born in Wayne county, October 8, 1824, and died unmarried in Carroll county in 1843.
George Bowman died in Monticello, Indiana, November 30, 1894. The wife of Benjamin D. Angel died on March 10, 1840. Benjamin D. Angel was the first person buried in the family cemetery near his residence, where his wife and many near relatives repose.
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CHARLES ANGEL, M. D.
Dr. Charles Angel was born in Wayne county, Indiana, October 19, 1822, and with his father's family came to Carroll county in the spring of 1825. He obtained his early education in the log school house and from the common school he went to Asbury University, and from there he went to the College of Medicine at Castleton, Vermont, graduating in 1846. He entered into the practice of medicine at Pittsburg, this county, where he con- tinued the practice until his death. He was married to Lucinda Holt, a daughter of Col. Ziba Holt, March 30, 1848, who died on April 26, 1875, leaving one child, Charles F. Angel, a practicing physician, now residing in Delphi. Doctor Angel was married, secondly, to Eliza Dyer, September 5, 1887, who died on June 17, 1908.
Doctor Angel was the owner of a large and fine farm in Tippecanoe township. He took an active interest in obtaining the railroad now known as the Monon railroad, contributing a large sum of money in the incipient stages of that project. He was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died at his residence on April 19, 1902, leaving a wife and one son, Dr. Charles E. Angel.
SAMUEL ANGEL.
Samuel Angel was born in Wayne county, Indiana, October 4, 1818, and with his father, B. D. Angel, came to this county, in 1825. In the year 1849, he, with others, went to Oregon territory, where he remained until his death, which occurred on May 27, 1856. He was never married. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WARREN ADAMS.
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Warren Adams was born in Carroll county, Indiana, December 10, 1831. He was married to Elizabeth Long, December 30, 1852, who died December 18, 1875. He was married, secondly, to Tillie A. Irvine, March 21, 1879. Mr. Adams was a miller for many years and a farmer. He lived east of Cutler, on Wildcat creek. He was a prominent and influential citizen of the county, a member of the Presbyterian church and a Mason. He died on May 2, 1884, leaving surviving, his wife and seven children of his first marriage.
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EMALINE ARMITAGE.
Emaline Armitage was born in Scott county, Kentucky, April 6, 1835, and with her father's family came to Carroll county, Indiana, in the year 1835. She was married to John S. Armitage on March 17, 1859. She was a daughter of Arthur G. Connely, and a member for many years of the Delphi Baptist church. Her death occurred in Delphi, on February 10, 1893, leaving surviving, her husband, four sisters and one brother.
FRANKLIN G. ARMSTRONG. M. D.
Dr. Franklin G. Armstrong was born in Wayne county, Indiana, June 20, 1822. His father, William Armstrong. was a native of Virginia and one of the pioneers of Wayne county, Indiana. His mother was a native of Ohio and her maiden name was Rachael Bright. She, with her mother, moved to Wayne county, Indiana, where she and William Armstrong were married.
Doctor Armstrong. with his father's family, came to Carroll county, Indiana, in October, 1829, and located on a farm east of Camden. He obtained his early education in the log school house and later attended school in Delphi. At the age of twenty years he engaged in teaching school. At the age of twenty-two years he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. J. M. Justice. in Camden. In 1846 and 1847 he attended the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati. He then entered into active practice of his profession in the town of Camden.
Doctor Armstrong was married to Henrietta Robeson, September 3, 1850, and to this union was born one daughter, Henrietta. His wife died ยท on July 11, 1851. He was married, secondly, to Mary J. Tenney, of Ohio. August 24, 1854, and to this union were born seven children, three of whom survived him. His wife died in July, 1893.
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