USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 18
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In the sermon at the golden jubilee of Father Sorin, at Notre Dame, in August, 1888, Bishop Ireland spoke of six brothers who came with Father Sorin from France; 1841 as the year of his coming and 1842 as the year he first set foot on the banks of the St. Joe river. This agrees with existing records and traditions, and the names of these six brothers are well remembered by several. The following were named by Miss Lizzie O'Dell, who went to school to these' brothers; Anselm, Gashien, Joachim, Lawrence Vincent, Francis and Marien; one, who was known as Brother Joseph, was teaching at St. Peter's when the above mentioned arrived. He had been connected with the Trappist order of Europe, but could not endure the severities of their rule and left. About ten others joined them, but when they left for the north, these latter, who were young men of the surrounding neighborhood, did not go along, not having taken their obligations. When
ST. SIMON'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, WASHINGTON.
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they left St. Peter's they had the land they were on nearly all in wheat,. having leased much of it in order to have it cleared. There were no Sis- ters of the Holy Cross with Father Sorin.
Father Lalumiere had introduced the Sisters of Charity at an earlier date, but they remained but a short time; later Father Ducoudray induced the Sisters to establish a school here, but they only remained about three years.
St. Peter's cemetery is the most historic of all the parochial burying grounds in Daviess county, because it contains the remains of early set- tlers from other parishes, or at least many of them.
With the beginning of Father Rowan's pastorate of St. Peter's parish marked improvements were projected and 1 fected, in church, school and parish. The prominent improvements which were made during his pas- torate are the interior decorations, the covering of the church with a slate roof, and new oaken seats of superior workmanship. The parochial school, under the charge of the Sisters of Providence, also was established. The elegant home of the priest, erected of brick and stone of the most modern style of architecture, with modern conveniences, stands adjacent to the church on the north side. The whole amount of improvements made by Father Rowan aggregate more than twelve thousand dollars in value. The value of Roman Catholic property, in Montgomery, and the appendix at Cannel- burg, including the quarter-section of coal land, one mile west of the vil- lage, is estimated at fifty-five thousand dollars, which indicates a marvelous growth since its establishment in 1818. The parish is in a very healthy state, St. Peter's being the second oldest parish in the state of Indiana.
ST. SIMON'S CHURCH AT WASHINGTON.
This parish is noted as one of the oldest, strongest and wealthiest Catholic organizations in the state. This influential society had its inception near the beginning of the century, when, in the year 1819, a few Catholic families, who had settled in the vicinity, were visited by Bishop Flaget and united in a body for divine worship. The parish was sparse and scattered, and religious services intermittent and irregular. Ten years later, in 1829, the spiritual impulses of the scattered members of the Catholic society were accentuated and given a new vigor by the visit of Father John Abell, from the diocese of Bradstown, Kentucky, now Louisville, who, in June of that year, preached the jubilee in Washington. During this time and until 1837 the Catholics of this vicinity attended services at St. Peter's, at Montgomery.
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In this latter year the society was placed under the spiritual control of Rev. Simon P. Lalumiere, and the next year, 1838, a house of worship was built. This old church was in use for nearly half a century and was torn down about 1895 to give place for the present magnificent church edifice at Washington. The early years of this church were years of struggle. In 1840 twelve pews accommodated the worshipers. The growth of the church was slow, but constant, and was swelled year by year by the addition of new families, until today the congregation of St. Simon's numbers more than three hundred families, among whom are many representatives of the wealth, culture and refinement of the city. The church is not only very strong financially, but is a power for good in the community, exerting a great and constantly-increasing influence in the society of that city.
Following faithfully in the footsteps of the pioneer missionary, Father Lalumiere, the following pastors have served this congregation: Reverends Anthony Parrott, H. Dupontavice, John McDermott, P. Hyland, J. B. Chasse, John Guerguen, Hugo Peythieu, John W. Doyle and W. V. Boland.
St. Simon's church is situated on the northwest corner of Hefron and Third streets, its main facade and entrance being on the former street. Near the front, on Third street, is a side entrance. In point of architecture the edifice is a pleasing combination of the Gothic and the Circle, the roof having the distinct lines of the former and the windows and arches a graceful blending of the two, constructed from plans by James J. Egan, of Chicago. The ground space of the church is one hundred and thirty feet and four inches by fifty-five feet and ten inches. On the southeast corner is the massive tower, with an elevation of one hundred and fifteen feet, surmounted by a golden cross. On the east side is the vestry, eighteen by twenty-two feet, and on the west the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, eighteen by thirty-four feet. The sanctuary is twenty-five by eighteen feet. The in- terior of the church presents a noble and harmonious appearance, and the plan is such as to create the impression of greater size than a view of the exterior would suggest. The first appearance upon entering is one of much effectiveness, and the eye is charmed and soothed by the noble per- spective, which is beautifully strengthened and softened by the subdued light from the magnificent windows. The harmonious effect of these win- dows is particularly striking, creating at once upon the beholder a feeling of proper reverence for the holy spot. The first windows noticeable upon entering the vestibule are dedicated to St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin. On the right side of the hall the first window is a gift of William M. Hayes ; second, memorial of Mrs. Anna Cabel; third, gift of James McMullen; fourth, gift of Alice Maher; fifth, gift of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin
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Mary; sixth, gift of Miss Alice Foster; seventh, gift of Mrs. Harriett Murphy; eighth, gift of Anna Donita Wells. Lighting the altar, and ren- dering especially conspicuous the rear of the church, is a magnificent win- dow, seven by sixteen feet, the gift of Rev. Hugo Peythieu, a former pastor of St. Simon's. On the left, the windows are inscribed as follows: Jacob Zinkan, Hugh McKernan, Ernest A. Crosson, Altar Society, memorial to William McTegart, Sr .; memorial to William McTegart, Jr .; St. Simon's Total Abstinence Society, William Brady. The tower windows were do- nated by M. F. Burke, Mrs. Thomas Dean, Michael Doyle, Mollie Flynn, Rev. Thomas Mclaughlin, Rev. Patrick Rower, Joseph B. Graham and Robert C. Graham. Over the principal entrance are two large windows, memorials to the late James Campbell and Sarah Campbell. Father Doyle furnished the windows for the vestry and the chapel.
St. Simon's church contains one hundred and sixty pews and has a seating capacity of seven hundred. The building was completed in 1886 at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. The dedicatory services were presided over by Bishop Chatard and attended by clergy from all parts of the state, and instructive letters were delivered by Chancellor Dennis O'Donaghue and others. The parish owns considerable valuable property adjacent to the church, comprising the pastor's residence, the parochial school and the school of the Sisters of Providence.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
St. Mary's church (or the German church of the Immaculate Concep- tion), at Washington, dates its formation from about the year 1874. For several years prior to that year it had been evident that the German Catho- lics of the town required a church building of their own, but it was not until the year named that active steps were taken for the erection of such an edifice. Forty German families then formed themselves into a congre- gation and raised a suitable structure of brick, at a cost of thirteen thousand dollars. The erection began in the spring, and, although unfinished, was used for divine services the following December. In January, 1872, the congregation was fully organized by Rev. John P. Sassel, who also started a German school. He labored with heroic self-denial for the welfare of his little flock until his death, on August 10, 1879, and to his earnest work the church is indebted for its permanent prosperity.
Father Sassel was succeeded by the Rev. L. M. S. Burkhardt, in Septem- ber, 1879, and this worthy priest erected the school building in 1881, at a
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cost of four thousand dollars, and a parsonage, in 1885-86, at a cost of three thousand dollars. This building is of brick, is two stories high, and contains eight rooms. Father Burkhardt was followed, in October, 1889, by Rev. William Bultmann, in whose time the interior of the church was fres- coed, and a new organ introduced. Father Bultmann expired on February 14, 1893, and on April 3, of the same year, the present worthy incumbent, Reverend Torbeck, was appointed to the pastorate. Father Torbeck has also labored effectively for the good of the congregation and has placed a furnace in the church and parsonage, and inclosed the grounds with an iron-rail fence. He has also enlarged the school to three rooms, which are in charge of three Sisters of Providence, who give instructions to about one hundred and sixty pupils. The congregation of the church numbers at present about one hundred and sixty families, and the church is practically out of debt.
St. John's cemetery, one mile north of the city of Washington, owned jointly by the congregations of St. Mary and St. Simon, comprises forty acres, ten of which were dedicated by Bishop Chatard on September 15, 1895, and is free from debt.
SUMMARY OF CHURCH HISTORY.
It will be a matter of surprise to the people of Daviess county to know that there have been more than one hundred churches established within the limits of the county during its history of nearly one hundred years. No less than ten different denominations have erected buildings at various places. in the county, and half a dozen other sects have held services in school houses, or other buildings. A study of the religious history of the county reveals some very interesting facts. Many of the churches that were or- ganized and gave promise of permanency, became divided on questions of church policy and disorganization resulted. One of the disturbing elements that caused dissension was secret societies. Another was the question of instrumental music in church worship, and various other questions which would seem trivial and non-essential to most of the church members of the present age. Tenacity of opinion was a marked characteristic of the early settlers, and this disposition was especially manifested in their inherited religious belief.
In consequence of these church dissensions scores of churches estab- lished in the county, with once flourishing congregations, have long ago ceased to exist, their existence and location being known only to a few of
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the oldest inhabitants. For the information of readers of this work and the preservation of these historical facts, a list of all the churches estab- lished in Daviess county is here given. This list is as complete as it is pos- sible to make, and in order to assist in the location of the churches they are arranged by townships and sections.
BARR TOWNSHIP.
Section 9, Amish, Christian ( Antioch) ; section 33, Christian ( Bethany ) ; section 16, Methodist, Catholic (St. Peter's) ; section 10, Catholic (St. Mary's) ; section 31, Baptist (Mt. Olive, No. I) ; section I, Church of God; section 15, Methodist (Morris Chapel) ; Cannelburg, Christian, Catholic (All Saints ).
BOGARD TOWNSHIP.
Section 10, United Brethren (Fairview) ; section 5; Methodist ( Pleas- ant Valley) ; section II, Christian (Concord) ; section 12, Methodist ( Pleas- ant Union) ; section 15, Methodist (Talbert's Chapel) ; section 17, Metho- dist (Pleasant Grove) ; section 21, United Brethren (New Bethel) ; section 30, Methodist (Mt. Zion), Epsom Methodist, Epsom Christian, Cornetts- ville Methodist, Cornettsville Baptist, Catholic (St. Michael's), Amish.
ELMORE TOWNSHIP.
Section I, United Brethren (Mud Pike) ; section 4, Christian; section 22, United Brethren; section 13, Baptist (Friendship) ; section 26, Metho- dist, Elnora Methodist, Elnora Christian (Owl Prairie), Elnora Holiness.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
Section 32, Cumberland Presbyterian (Union), Hudsonville Methodist, Hudsonville Christian, Waco Christian; section 6, Baptist (Aikman Creek), Glendale Methodist.
Section 5, Methodist (Ebenezer) ; section 22, Catholic (St. Patrick's) ; section 22, Glencoe Chapel, Mission of St. Patrick's.
REEVE TOWNSHIP.
Section 3, Methodist (Union) ; section 15, Methodist (Mt. Nebo) ; sec- tion 18, Methodist (High Rock); section 31, Methodist (Oak Grove),
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Alfordsville Methodist, Alfordsville Christian; section 2, United Brethren (McCord) ; section 30, Catholic (St. Patrick's), Baptist (Sugar Creek).
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
Section I, Baptist (Veale's Creek) ; section 6, United Brethren (Friend- ship) ; section 10, Christian, Maysville Methodist, Lettsville Methodist.
WASHINGTON CITY.
Methodist (First), Methodist (Second), Methodist (colored), Presby- terian, Presbyterian (Cumberland), Russellites, Baptist, Congregational, Baptist (colored), United Brethren, Christian, Christian Science; Catholic (St. Mary's), Catholic (St. Simon), Catholic (Immaculate Conception ), Episcopal.
MADISON TOWNSHIP.
Section 7, United Brethren (Pleasant Hill) ; section 13, United Brethren ; section 16, Methodist (Wesley Chapel) ; section 26, Baptist (Mt. Olive) ; section 20, Methodist (Good Hope), Odon Methodist, Odon United Brethren, Odon Christian.
STEELE TOWNSHIP.
Section 25, United Brethren (Otterbein) ; section 25, Lutheran; sec- tion 29, United Brethren, Plainville Methodist, Plainville Christian, Plain- ville United Brethren; section 7, Baptist (Bocum).
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP.
Section 5, Church of God (Shiloh) ; section 9, Methodist (Macedonia) ; section 29, Christian (Liberty) ; section 16, Baptist; section 31, United Brethren, Raglesville Methodist, Raglesville United Brethren, Center Meth- odist; section 8, Cumberland Presbyterian.
VEALE TOWNSHIP.
Section 15, Methodist (Bethel) ; section 21, Cumberland Presbyterian (Mt. Olive) ; section 23, Methodist (Pleasant Hill) ; section 35, Methodist (Cumback).
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, WASHINGTON.
CHAPTER XIII.
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY-EARLY SCHOOLS.
The compiler of the history of the early schools of Daviess county is greatly handicapped, because few records of them have been preserved. The historian must depend largely upon the memory of the older inhabitants who- were born and reared in the county. Some of this educational history has. been collected and recorded in "An Educational History of Daviess County, Indiana, by William K. Penrod, with sketches of the townships by mem- bers of the World's Fair educational committee." This little book of eighty- two pages was published in 1893. Some valuable information has been ob- tained from the files of the Daviess County Democrat and from the records of the Daviess county commissioners.
The first school houses were built where they would accommodate the children of the largest number of settlers. There was no sanitary school house law, laying down rules to be followed in selecting the sites and erecting the buildings and furnishing the same.
In 1846, a log school house was built in Bogard township, within the limits of what is now Epsom. As early as 1820 a school house was built in Elmore township, about three-fourths of a mile northeast of the point where now stands the Hastings school. In 1830 two school houses were built in Harrison township. One was located near where the church at Aikman's. Creek now stands and the other was situated near Hudsonville. No school house was built in Madison township until 1840. It was probably in the- forties that the first school house was built in Reeve township. It was near what is now known as the McCord school. It was about 1834, in the west central part of Steele township, that its first school house was erected. The first house erected for school purposes in Van Buren township was situated about one mile east of Raglesville; it was probably built sometime between 1830 and 1840. The first school taught in Veale township was in a vacateď log church in 1819, while the first school house built in this township was in 1828. As early as 1820, a log school house was erected within three- fourths of a mile of where the Sugarland consolidated school of Washing- ton township now is, and it was in this year that a similar building was erected near what is now the Prairie school house.
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THE PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSE.
These old-time school houses were of the same type. The following de- scriptions of some of these buildings are calculated to give an adequate idea of them. "These were small in size and of poor architecture. The only thing commendable was the huge fireplace, which took up nearly one end of the school house." "They were constructed of round logs, with the bark remaining on them, and sheltered with clumsy clapboards, which were weighted down to the roof. The greater portion of one end of the build- ings was used for a fireplace, while at the other end was a door which was constructed of boards and hung on wooden hinges." "It was built of logs, with a clapboard roof and a puncheon floor. The seats that the chil- dren of pioneer parents sat upon, while getting their dearly-bought educa- tion, were clumsy affairs, made by splitting saplings and inserting legs on the round side." "The buildings erected upon these lots were all log, and part of them unhewn. The manner of lighting and heating was of the rudest type-the principal, and almost the only, reception for light being the door, while the fireplaces, with a width of six or seven feet and built of clay and sticks, furnished a limited amount of heat." "It was a very low house, made of partly-hewn logs, covered with clapboards and heated by an im- mense fireplace which occupied almost one end of the house. The furniture was prepared from saplings obtained from the forest which surrounded the building, with the ax and auger as the only tools. There were but two benches in the house, and these stood along the entire length of the opposite walls with a clumsy, high desk made of rough boards, in front, to serve as a receptacle for a few books." "It was built of logs slightly hewn on one side and put together so that large openings were left between them. The cracks, partially closed by mud and sticks, served as ventilators-letting in an abundance of the outer atmosphere. The floor was made of split logs which were laid with the flat side upwards. Clapboards, pinned together, formed the door. The house was covered with boards which were held in their proper place by poles placed across them and fastened to the rafters. It was partially warmed by a huge fireplace, eight or ten feet in width, placed at one end of the building."
The laws of harmony were not violated in the equipment of these pioneer school houses. The seats were made from the timber taken from the nearby forests. Trees or saplings, from six to ten inches in diameter, were .cut into the required lengths and halved. The flat sides of these halves were
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smoothed somewhat imperfectly with a common chopping ax or, better still, with a broad ax. Legs were inserted in the round side, and there were no backs to these rude seats. These home-made seats required that certain por- tions of the home-made trousers, worn by the boys of those days, be patched frequently. Along one side of the room, wooden pegs were inserted into the wall and a plank placed thereon; this served as the writing desk for the entire school. Maps, charts, globes, and blackboards were unknown to both teacher and pupil of these first Daviess county school houses.
As one writer has said, "They had little money and less time to devote to the work. Much as they believed in education, they found it impossible to educate their children as they wished. As a result, there was far more ignorance in the second generation of Indianians than in the first. The parents simply did the best they could. This applies to teachers, books, buildings and clothing. Hard necessity will explain nearly all their short- comings. That they believed in education, is shown by the laws which they enacted and the letters they wrote. There is no more pathetic feature of our early history, than this struggle to establish schools. The woods, the roads, the streams, and even the wild animals, seemed to oppose, and were banded together to prevent the children from having school."
It was for the settlers of the different communities to determine, with- out the intervention of township, county or state officials, the kind and character of school buildings to be erected. The following sections from the school law of 1843, compared with the school law of three-quarters of a century later, show that the authority in regard to the schools is being cen- tralized. The voters at school meetings possessed the power "to direct the building, the hiring, or the purchase of a school house, or site for the same, and to fix the sum to be expended therefor, or for the furniture and appen- dages thereto, or for a school library or apparatus, and for the keeping the same in repair," and "to determine the amount of work to be done by each able-bodied white male resident of the district, between the ages of twenty- one and fifty years, towards building a school house, not to exceed two days' work each."
THE EARLY TEACHERS.
The biggest element in the success of any school or system of schools, is its teacher or teachers. The early teachers of Daviess county would com- pare favorably with the teachers of any other county in the state. Even this being true, their knowledge of what are today known as the common
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branches, was quite limited. Their knowledge, in most cases, did not extend beyond reading, writing and arithmetic. Some half dozen of these early schoolmasters of Daviess county, who knew a little of Latin and less of algebra and geometry, as one has put it, "enjoyed an enviable reputation for scholarship." The following, from George Cary Eggleston, in regard to one of his teachers, applies to these: "For one thing, the 'rule of three' had set no bounds to his mathematical acquirements. It was wonderingly said of him that 'he knew the whole arithmetic,' and it was darkly whispered that, in addition to that, he possessed certain occult knowledge which in our time would be described as an acquaintance with elementary algebra and the rudi- ments of geometry. I think I do not wrong the good man's memory or be- tray any confidence by saying that I met him many years afterward, when he was an old man and I a college student, and that he then confessed to me that even at the time of my earliest school days he had been able to find out the value of 'x' in a simple 'equation."
Tradition tells us that James C. Veale taught the first school taught in Daviess county. This was before Indiana became a state, and in 1811, the year of the battle of Tippecanoe. It is said that he taught a subscription school near Maysville, in that year. In 1815, John Aikman began a school, in what is now Washington.
It is claimed for Cyrus McCormick that he is entitled to the distinction of being the first Latin teacher in the county. Contemporary with Aikman and McCormick, is the eccentric Thomas Howard, who first agitated chang- ing the name of Liverpool to Washington.
Other early teachers in what is now Washington and Washington town- ship, were: W. G. Cole, Rev. Robert J. Davis, Isaac Heaton, Dudley John- son, W. D. Shepherd and Rev. Hiram Hunter. Some of the pioneer teach- ers outside of Washington township, are, Mrs. Emily Hum and Wesley Skaggs, of Elmore township; Jabez Art, of Reeve township; John M. Strange and Henry Gore, of Van Buren township, and Daniel Jackson, John Stephens and Aaron Godwin, of Veale township.
The methods and devices used by these early teachers have changed; as have the buildings in which they taught, and as have the books and apparatus which they used. Some of these teachers taught "loud schools." In the "loud schools" the pupils were required to study their lessons "out loud." The thought was that the teacher could tell whether the pupils were studying or not. As a prominent writer has said, "The idler who was roaming at one word, or over one line of poetry, or trumpeting through his nose, was, for aught the teacher knew, committing his lesson."
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