USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County, Indiana > Part 2
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At this point, dissatisfaction began to manifest itself, and Wah-she-o-nas interposed, saying that he did not want to hear that kind of talk ; it was not what he wanted to hear ; it was nothing Mr. Barron was compelled to desist, and the conference at that time closed peremptorily, the chiefs scat- tering in all directions with manifestations of great dissatisfaction and a determination to break up the conference. The guards, however, soon checked the progress of these hot-heads, and brought them again into camp.
Everything was confusion, and all prospects of further negotiations seemed to be at an end. The sequel, however, showed otherwise. Under an order that intoxicating liquors should not be allowed upon the grounds, some fine wines and brandies brought by " Jack Douglass " had been c n- fiscated, and for safety had been stored away in the agent's department of the Council House. To the do. r of this room there was no fastening except the heavy " wooden latch and catch " on the inside, common in those days.
One day. Capt. Bourie came into the room, and said to the Agent that he had a great secret to tell him, and, wishing to have the d or fastened, asked whether it could be locked. He was told that to pull in the " latch string " was all the locking necessary. This being done, Aub-bee-naub-bee, who came in with Capt. Bourie, said to the Agent, that, before he could commu- nicate his secret, the latter must pour out three glasses of wine, one for each of them, before he would tell it. The request was complied with, and then Aub-bee-naub-bee stated that he would bring about an agreement to go into the treaty within an hour. This seemed incredible; but he went out, and in a short time the chiefs and head men were seen seated all around the council fire. Soon, Aub-bee naub-bee rose to speak. Before he had spoken many works, Wau-ban-she, a big chief, and considerably fractious, com-
manded him to stop his talk and sit down : that they did not want to hear him. Not daunted at this, Aub-bee-naub-bee deliberately stopped, but only for an instant. Straightening himself up to his full height his command- ing figure exhibiting a firmness of purp. se not to be trifled with. Display- ing conspicuously two long knives in his belt, on the left side, and bringing the two horse pistols on his right side to the front, he took one of the knives, with a blade some fifteen inches long, in his left hand. Thus, bristling with arms, his eye flashing fire, and his features rigid from the coolness of his determination, he turned around, defiantly, facing Wau-ban-she, Wuh-she-o- nas and the other fractious spirits, and, in language not to be misunder- stood, thus addressed them : '. Now show me the Indian that will tell me to sit down, until I get through." That was enough. Quailing under his fierce gaze, they said not a word, nor again attempted to interfere. Huving spoken a few minutes, explaining in detail the plan and purpose of the pro- posed treaty, he closed. In a little while, all the provisions contemplated were agreed upon, and all the extensive domain around Chicago, down to the borders of the Tippecanoe River-as designated in the treaty of that date-were sold and transferred to the United States, and the treaty satis- factorily concluded.
BOILING A BABY. V
In October, 1881, the late Gen. N. D. Grover, at that time Indian Agent, located at Logansport, in company with a young man from Baltimore-an Agent of the Government, in charge of a large amount of money-were en o ute for Chicago with a supply of change for the disbursing department of Ithe Northwestern Agency at that point. The route lay along the Indian trace, the only line of travel between those points. When about half way to Chicago, night was likely to overtake them before they could reach any regular stopping place for travelers.
Early in the evening. they reached the wigwam of an old Indian chief, well known to the General to be highly honorable and trustworthy. Accord- ing to custom, they applied for accommodations for the night. Permission was readily granted, and the squaws set about preparing the evening meal for the guests.
During the progress of the cooking, the young man was seen to watch the operations with intense interest, though little attention was paid to it, supposing it was mere curiosity. He grew fidgety and pale, indicative of acute suffering. Though very hungry, he seemed afraid to touch s me hom- iny that was cooked, and dished out in wooden bowls. Finally, the Gen- eral, seeing the young man's pallor and indisposition to eat, knowing he was hungry, asked him the cause of his sudden illness. Having, in the me in- time, also noticed that the youth had been eyeing, with fearful interest, the process of boiling something in a kettle near by, the General became some- what alarmed as to his condition, lest some terrible malady had suddenly overtaken him. The young man answered his question by pointing to the kettle he had been watching so intently. Seeing something resembling & baby's hand thrown above the service by the boiling water every few mo- ments, he whispered, almost breathlessly, with fear unmistakably impressed on his countenance, "Cannibals ! Cannibals ! they are boiling a negro baby, and are going to eat it, and give to us to eat ! Why, they are heathens, and eat one another: and we, too, will be murdered and eaten !" He continued to grow still more excited as the boiling went on, and stoutly insisted on leaving at once, before they were murdered.
The General, observing his continued trepidation and discomforture, ex- plained to him that what he saw in the kettle was only a skinned raccoon, that animal being often cooked and eaten by white people. This quieted him somewhat, but there was still a tremor about him that destroyed his appetite. The squaws soon discovered the cause of the young man's con- duct, and manifested a good deal of merriment. Pointing to the kettle and then to their own hands, they would exclaim : " Muck-she-as-pin ! " (black raccoon), seemingly much delighted with the young man's cause of fear- eating a 'coon, supposing it to be a baby.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. BY THOMAS B. HELM.
ECURRENCES to the past, with the recollections and associations whi- R make it pass in lifelike review before our mental vision, will continue to be, as of yore, a source of interested satisfaction, especially when they connect themselves with incidents reflected back from our own experiences. These reminders vanish with the life of the participants, when no land- marks remain to us save the pictures faintly delineated on the tablets of memory, the impressions of which are only retracings from the modelings of others. To preserve these from oblivion, before they have lost their dis- tinguishable originality, is the love-labor of the faithful historian. History fails in her mission when she fails to preserve the life features of the sub- jects committed to her keeping.
Local history, more than any other, commands the most interested atten- tion, for the obvious reason that it records our own, with the experiences of others who, in times past, traveled life's rugged pathway, as our companions, acquaintances or friends. The recital of incidents which connect the past with the present, causing us to live over again the happenings of other days, never fails to bring in its train a thrill of interested satisfaction, the lack of which makes the details of general history so dry and lifeless. With these thoughts, then, as an epitome of what is aimed to be done; we enter upon our labor of love.
By ordinance of the Legislative Assembly of the Commonwealth of Vir- ginia, dated the 20th of December, 1783, the " territory northwest of the river Ohio," better known as the Northwestern Territory, included " within the limits of the Virginia charter," was ceded to, and by a deed signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, Delegates from the State of Virginia, on the 1st day of March, 1784, transferred to the United States. The territory thus acquired, comprising within its bounda- ries the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, was, by a further ordinance of Congress, dated July 13, 1787, ratified and consented to by the Commonwealth of Virginia, December 80, 1788, authorized to be divided into States not more than five nor less than three in number, to have a republican constitution. and be admitted into the Confederacy " on equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever."
Accordingly, on the 11th day of December, 1815, pursuant to the fore- going provisions, a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress for the admission of Indiana into the Union as a State, was passed and received the approval of James Madison, President of the United States. Indiana having thus complied with the provisions of an act to enable her to form a Constitution and State government, passed April 19, 1816, was admitted into and took her position among the States of our national union.
After the cession by Virginia of the territory northwest of the Ohio River, a treaty was made and concluded at St. Mary's, Ohio, between the United States and the Miami tribe of Indians October 6, 1818, conferring, in addition to the cession of other territory lying north and west of the Wabash River, certain general rights upon the people to pass over and through territory not yet ceded. By this treaty, the land in what is now Cass County-lying on the west of the line, commencing at the common cor- ner of Sections 18 and 14, 23 and 24, in Township 26 north, Range 1 east, and extending due north al .ng the old Indian boundary-was acquired. The boundaries were surveyed by William Harris, Deputy United States Surveyor, in the latter part of the year 1819, and the subdivision lines by Henry Bryan, also a Deputy United States Surveyor, in 1821. In due time, these lands became subject to purchase at the Crawfordsville Land Office.
By a subsequent treaty with the Pottawatomies, on the 16th of October, 1826, that part north of the Wabash River was acquired, except those pri- vate grants or reservations made by certain provisions of the treaty to specific individuals. Other rights were acquired by treaty with the Miamis, on the 23d of October following Through the agency of these and other treaties since made, the enti e territory of Cass was brought within the domain of civilization, furnishing homes for the hardy pioneers who have since settled within our borders.
Pursuant to the provisions of the act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, approved December 18, 1828, and the act amendatory thereof, approved January 19, 1829, Cass County, on the 13th day of April, 1829, assumed the prerogatives of a separate jurisdiction. The officers for the new county, elected on that day, were the following : John B. Duret, Clerk and Recorder ; Hiram Todd and John Smith, Associate Judges ; Job B. Eldridge, Peter Johnson and John McGregor, Justices of the Peace; and Chauncey Carter, James Smith and Moses Thorpe, County Commis- sioners, the latter, in their order, to serve three, two and one year respect- .vely.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Prior to the treaties of October 16 and 23, 1826, with the Pottawatomies and Miamis, no permanent settlement had been made on any portion of the territory of Cass County affected by the provisions of them. A settlement, however, had been made about the middle of August preceding, by Alexan- der Chamberlain, then recently from Fort Harrison Prairie, on the fractional east half of the east half of Section 35, Township 27 north, Range 1 east, on the south bank of the Wabash, immediately opposite the mouth of Eel River. On that tract he built a cabin, which, when occasion required, was metamorphosed into a " tavern," notwithstanding its small proportions. The following Spring, "hotel" prospects looming up rapidly, he built a double cabin of hewed logs, and two stories high, when he commenced " tavern keeping" in earnest. He purchased the tract on which these primitive buildings were situated, on the 25th of May, 1825. He had pre- viously, on the 23d of December, 1824, purchased the west half of the frac- tional east half of the same section, upon which, after the sale of the first tract to Gen. Tipton, he erected another double cabin, an exact counterpart of the first, and there " kept tavern," also. Mr. Chamberlain, therefore, was the first permanent settler in Cass County, though not the first to put up a building. In the Fall of 1824, Edward McCartney built a small "trading house" on the north bank of the Wabash, in front of the resi- dence now occupied by Frederick Seybold, Esq. This building, however. was not designed for a domicil, and never used as such, except temporarily by Joseph Barron, Sr., while his residence, a little farther up the river, was being prepared for occupancy, in 1827. Next to Mr. Chamberlain came William Newman, who, having entered the east half of the northeast. quarter of Section 33, and, & little below Mr. Chamberlain, on the 10th of December, 1825, put up a cabin thereon in the Winter of 1826-7, and moved into it with his family.
About the same time, Mr. James Burch settled a little lower down the river, on the same section, and built a cabin on the site now occupied by Benjamin Simons. Mr. Burch remained there but a short time, selling out his interest to Christian Simons, father of Benjamin, who settled there in the Spring of 1828.
On the 27th day of March, 1827, Maj. Daniel Bell pitched his tent and commenced the erection of the first cabin between the rivers, inside the present limits of Logansport. This cabin was situated near the line of the canal, a little to the east of Berkley street. Shortly afterward, Hugh B. McKeen built a trading house on the bank of the Wabash, the site of which is the south end of McKeen street, near the intersection of Canal.
During the Summer of the same year, Joseph Barron, Sr., settled, with his family, on the north side of the Wabash, just below the mouth of Eel River. These constituted the first settlers of the territory now occupied 1.y Cass County.
PIONEER LIFE
in all time has been characterized by incidents peculiar either to the locality or the make-up of the pioneers themselves. Western pioneer life has been subjected to conditions common to the experience of all. The pri- mary element in the composition of those who have battled successfully with the privations and hardships incident to settlements in the wilderness, with- out companions, save their " household gods," the inhabitants of the forest in human and animal form, away from the echoes of civilization, depending for protection and the means of subsistence upon his own good right arm, inured to toil, was " pluck," backed by a deliberate purpose to succeed. Thus endowed, the pioneer, having first determined the spot where his home shall be, makes an " opening " in the woods, and then builds his cabin after the prescribed model. Descriptively, it was composed of round logs, "chunked " and daubed, with a door cut out on one side large enough to permit ingress and egress, with a small section cut from an upper and a lower of two adjacent logs for a window, on another. Several logs were entirely cut away for the fire place. Connected with this " hole ' on the outside was a chimney, the base of which was of heavy puncheons, surmounted by numerous " rounds" of small split sticks embedded in " cat and clay ;" the " back wall and jams" being composed of dirt, pounded and pressed, and the hearth of the same material, moistened to the consistency of thick mud. The door and floor were made of puncheons, hewn to make them even and match. The cabin was covered with clapboards, held down by " weight poles," kept apart by the refuse of clapboard timber.
The furniture was alike unique and peculiar. Blocks of wood or benches, instead of chairs, the table being generally " the old family chest." The
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY.
bedsteads were made of two poles, one end of each occupying a common post, the other occupying holes in the adjacent walls, in the corner of the room, clapboards serving the purpose of bed cords.
The cabin being completed and furnished, clearing a " patch " was the next thing in order ; then scratching the ground among stumps and trees, and planting his first crop of corn. Before this first crop matured, supplies were necessarily drawn from other available sources. For the first settlers of this county, the chief sources of supply were the Deer Creek and Wea settlements, and the usual means of transport were furnished by pirogues " poled " up the Wabash, or by ox wagons, bringing a quantity sufficient for present demands.
After the first crop was harvested, there was generally a sufficiency for home consumption stored away and husbanded with scrupulous care. The deficiencies were procured from older settlements. The forests generally supplied the "meat tub," from their store of wild animals, game, etc., in quantity and quality according to the demands.
As settlers increased in number, a common cause was made in meeting the wants of each other, helping for help again. The idea of helping another for a pecuniary consideration never obtruded itself in those pioneer days. No greater insult could have been offered then than a hint that money was to pay for a neighbor's help.
If a cabin was to be raised, all the occasion demanded of the neighbors, far and near, was a knowledge of the time and place; distance was nothing, and other less pressing engagements had to succumb to the needed assistance required by neighbor A. This fact was fully verified in the case of Alexan- der Chamberlain, the first permanent white settler of this county, in 1826. Then there were no neighbors or assistants nearer than the " Deer Creek settlements," twenty miles below. When it was known that " neighbor Chamberlain, at the mouth of Eel River," was to have " a raising," the Robinsons, Baums, Ewings and others turned out a full band of "log cabin builders," and the first house was thus completed on short notice. So with others, in those days of " mutual aid associations."
EARLY MARRIAGES, ETC.
The first marriage celebrated in this county was on the 1st day of Jan- uary, 1829, at the cabin of Major Bell. The wedding was a double one, and the parties to it were Charles Polke and Lovisa R. Smith, of the one pair, and William Scott and Otilda Lockhart of the other. Rev. James Crawford, of the Presbyterian Church, at Delphi, performed the joint cere- mony, in the presence of the mutual friends of the parties assembled for the occasion, the license having been procured at Delphi, in Carroll County, under whose jurisdiction the territory of Cass County then was.
After the organization of the county, in April following, the authority to solemnize marriages was acquired by application at the office of the Clerk of the Cass Circuit Court, the parties being residents here. The parties who, contemplating marriage, procured the authority here were Alexander Wilson. son of Gen. Walter Wilson, and Miss Matilda Thorpe, daughter of Moses Thorpe, at that time one of the County Commissioners. This mar- riage was celebrated on the 28th day of May, 1829, Associate Judge Hiram Todd performing the ceremony.
The next marriage under the new jurisdiction was between Thomas M. Berry and Hannah Binney, and solemnized by John Scott, as the record discloses, on the 7th day of June, 1829.
On the 4th day of July, 1829, the third license, in course, was issued by the Clerk to Andrew Waquire and Almida McMillen. This twain was made one flesh on the evening of the 5th, Job B. Eldridge, one of the three first Justices of the Peace of the County, officiating. This was Job's first effort in that line, and, to guard against possible failure at the critical moment, he conned over in his mind an appropriate ritual and committed it to writ- ing, then to memory: Upon the evening in question, he approached the scene of the marriage feast, the cabin being already filled with the invited guests. Before entering, he thought it advisable the refresh his memory. Having satisfied himself that all was right with his newly composed mar- riage service, he entered the room, the guests seated all round in a circle, the bride and groom occupying the center, ready for the ceremony and awaiting his coming. At once he was ushered into the midst of the charmed circle and desired to proceed. He arose to do so, but his mind was vacant. He had forgotten his piece-in open sea without a compass. Escape through the crowd he could not, and to sink through the puncheon floor was impos- sible. In his emergency, every form of ceremony within the range of his observation passed through his mind with the velocity of lightning, leaving only blank darkness behind. Time was passing, and the delay was becoming burdensome. Job knew no such word as fail. So, finally recovering him- self without exciting suspicion, a brilliant idea struck him and he embraced his opportunity. Addressing the parties, he proceeded : "You have joined hands. That is an emblem of fidelity. I expect you have talked the matter over before. Then, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I pro- nounce you man and wife." The agony was over, and Job was the lion of the occasion. These parties were never divorced.
The fourth pair were Murray C. Woodworth and Abigail Branson. They were married on the 11th of July, 1829, by John McGregor, Justice of the Peace. The fifth, John B. Duret (Clerk ) and Miss Elizabeth B. Bell, daughter of Major Daniel Bell, who were married on the 23d of September, by John Smith, one of the Associate Judges. The sixth and last during the first year of the county's existence, were William G. Van Doren and Mar- garet Tolbert, who were married on the 20th of December, 1829, by Judge Smith.
THE FIRST BORN.
The first white person born in Cass County was Sarah, daughter of John, better known as " Jack," Smith, on the 15th day of February, 1828. The family were then living in part of Major Bell's cabin. Gillis J.
McBean, son of Gillis McBean, County Agent, was born on the 30th day of December, 1829, and was the first white child born within the limits of the " Old Town Plat " of Logansport.
FIRST DEATHS AND BURIALS.
Logansport and its immediate vicinity having been the portion of the county first settled, it was also the portion likely to be the locality where the first births and deaths should occur. We have seen that the first born was here. It is also true that the first death, of which we have any account, was here also. This first was a child of Jack Smith, which died in the Sum- mer of 1828. The exact place of its burial is not now known. The next was a man who died at Chamberlain's Tavern, south of the Wabash, some time after, in the Fall of the same year. His was the first burial in the " Old Cemetery."
James Foster, a resident of this jurisdiction, died at Miamisport, on the night of December 23, 1828, and was third in order. He was buried on the 25th, by Tipton Lodge, his death and burial being the first in the history of that Lodge. On the night after the burial of Mr. Foster, Robert Hars, also a member of Tipton Lodge, died, and was buried with Masonic honors on the 27th, the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist. As the county in- creased in population, the ratio of mortality increased also, and further note of individual deaths need not be made in this connection.
GINSENG FACTORY.
For some years anterior to 1830, the digging, collecting and refining the root of the ginseng plant had been the means of an extensive trade along the Upper Wabash bottoms. At that date, James Blake, afterward of Indian- apolis, having had a manufactory of this article on the farm of Gen. Mil- roy, in Carroll County, removed his works to this county. The business was very lucrative, and, except the Indian trade, yielded the largest revenue of any other calling, and was the means of saving a homestead to many a poor settler.
OLD TOWN.
Ke-ne-pa-com-a-qua, or Old Town, was the name of an Indian village on the north bank of Eel River, covered by the reservation to Mau-chin-e-ques, in the treaty of October 16, 1826, with the Pottawatomies. A century or more ago, it was known as a point of considerable importance, being a kind of branch headquarters for the Indians of the Upper Wabash, where the plans for numerous depredatory expeditions against the white settlers along the Virginia and Kentucky frontiers were concocted. Such was the state of public feeling in reference to the source of these depredations, that Presi- dent Washington, in 1789, directed an inquiry concerning the intentions of the several tribes along the Wabash. The inquiries being unsuccessful, an expedition against this and other Indian towns of the vicinity was fitted out, under his direction. Accordingly, on the 1st of August, 1791, Brig. Gen. Wilkinson left Fort Washington (Cincinnati) with about 525 men, directing his march toward this village. On the 7th, at a quarter of 5 o'clock, only six days from Fort Washington, he struck the Wabash at the very point where he had aimed, less than two miles above the mouth of Eel River. His attack upon the town was decisive and of short duration, meeting with little or no resistance. The destruction of this town, near a century since, entitles our narration of it to a place in the history of Cass County.
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