USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 2
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438
Sims, Alfred 513
Sims, John A. 487
Singleton, Thomas C. 596
Small, Joseph 575
Smiley, Roland M., D. D. S. 430
Smiley, Wilson S. 457
Smith, Cecil S.
461
Smith. Edward B. 433
Smith, John T.
703
Spencer, John H.
566
Stalcup, Stephen 684
Standiford, A. L. 462
Stillwell, Jacob C. 595
Stuckey, Charles L. 536
Sutherland, William M. 592
Swann, Silvester
504
Swinda, William H.
709
T
Taylor, James P.
645
Taylor, Louis G.
544
Taylor, Oliver A. 655
Thias, William
680
Thomas, John
417
Todd, George F.
689
1
U
Ulrich, William E.
560
V
Vance, Oliver M.
635
Van Trees, Warren
393
Veale, Zadock D.
505
W
Wadsworth, Thomas G.
484
Walker, Oliver
454
Waller, William S. 385
Wallick, Oscar M.
648
1 Walls, John W. 620
Weaver, Jacob C. 675
Weaver, John W.
686
Weaver, Levi W.
668
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Whisman, Sylvester A. 325
Williams, William H. 562
White. Florian B ..
629
Witsman, James
403
Wichman, John
402
Woodling, Haman
470
Willey, Joseph
545
Williams, Adolphus G.
459
Y
Williams, John Willis
527
Yenne, Charles H., M. D.
423
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
The first white men to set foot upon the Northwest Territory were French traders and missionaries under the leadership of La Salle. This was about the year 1670 and subsequent discoveries and explorations in this region by the French gave that nation practically undisputed possession of all the territory organized in 1787 as the Northwest Territory. It is true that the English colonies of Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts claimed that their charters extended their grants westward to the Mississippi river. However, France claimed this territory and successfully maintained posses- sion of it until the close of the French and Indian War in 1763. At that time the treaty of Paris transferred all of the French claims east of the Mississippi river to England, as well as all claims of France to territory on the mainland of North America. For the next twenty years the Northwest Territory was under the undisputed control of England, but became a part of the United States by the treaty which terminated the Revolutionary War in 1783. Thus the flags of three nations have floated over the territory now comprehended within the present state of Indiana-the tri-color of France, the union jack of England and the stars and stripes of the United States.
History will record the fact that there was another nation, however, which claimed possession of this territory and, while the Indians can hardly be called a nation, yet they made a gallant fight to retain their hunting grounds. The real owners of this territory struggled against heavy odds to maintain their supremacy and it was not until the battle of Tippecanoe, in the fall of 1811, that the Indians gave up the unequal struggle. Tecumseh, the Washington of his race, fought fiercely to save this territory for his people, but the white man finally overwhelmed him, and "Lo, the poor Indian" was pushed westward across the Mississippi. The history of the Northwest
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Territory is full of the bitter fights which the Indians waged in trying to drive the white man out and the defeat which the Indians inflicted on general St. Clair on November 4, 1792, will go down in the annals of American history as the worst defeat which an American army ever suffered at the hands of the Indians. The greatest battle which has ever been fought in the United States against the Indians occurred in the state of Ohio. This was the battle of Fallen Timbers and occurred August 20, 1794, the scene of the battle being within the present county of Defiance. After the close of the Revolutionary War the Indians, urged on by the British, caused the settlers in the Northwest Territory continued trouble and defeated every de- tachment sent against them previous to their defeat by Gen. Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Although there was some trouble with the Indians after this time, they never offered serious resistance after this memorable defeat until the fall of 1811, when Gen. William Henry Har- rison completely routed them at the battle of Tippecanoe.
TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO ( 1670-1754).
Ohio was the first state created out of the old Northwest Territory, although Indiana had been previously organized as a territory. When the land comprehended within the Northwest Territory was discovered by the French under La Salle about 1670, it was a battle ground of various Indian tribes, although the Eries, who were located along the shores of Lake Erie, were the only ones with a more or less definite territory. From 1670 to 1763, the close of the French and Indian War, the French were in possession of this territory and established their claims in a positive manner by exten- sive exploration and scattered settlements. The chief centers of French settlement were at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Fort Crevecour and at several missionary stations around the shores of the great lakes. The French did not succeed in doing this without incurring the hostility of the Iroquois Indians, a bitter enmity which was brought about chiefly because the French helped the Shawnees, Wyandots and Miamis to drive the Iroquois. out of the territory west of the Muskingum river in Ohio
It must not be forgotten that the English also laid claim to the North- west Territory, basing their claim on the discoveries of the Cabots and the subsequent charters of Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. These charters extended the limits of these three colonies westward to the Pacific ocean, although, as a matter of fact, none of the three colonies made a settle- ment west of the Alleghanies until after the Revolutionary War. New York
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sought to strengthen her claim to territory west of the Alleghanies in 1701, by getting from the Iroquois, the bitter enemies of the French, a grant to the territory from which the French and their Indian allies had previously ex- pelled them. Although this grant was renewed in 1726 and again confirmed in 1744, it gave New York only a nominal claim and one which was never recognized by the French in any way.
English traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia began in 1730 to pay more attention to the claims of their country west of the Alleghanies and north of the Ohio river. When their activities reached the ears of the French the governor of French Canada sent Celeron de Bienville up and down the Ohio and the rivers and streams running into it from the north and took formal possession of the territory by planting lead plates at the mouth of every river and stream of any importance. This peculiar method of the French in seeking to establish their claims occurred in the year 1749 and opened the eyes of England to the necessity of taking some immediate action. George II, the king of England at the time, at once granted a charter for the first Ohio Company (there were two others by the same name later organ- ized), composed of London merchants and enterprising Virginians, and the company at once proceeded to formulate plans to secure possession of the ter- ritory north of the Ohio and west of the Mississippi. Christopher Gist was sent down the Ohio river in 1750 to explore the country as far west as the mouth of the Scioto river, and made several treaties with the Indians. Things were now rapidly approaching a crisis and it was soon evident that there would be a struggle of arms between England and France for the disputed region. In 1754 the English started to build a fort at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of the present city of Pitts- burgh, but before the fort was completed the French appeared on the scene. drove the English away and finished the fort which had been begun.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-63).
The crisis had finally come. The struggle which followed between the two nations ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the French from the mainland of America as well as from the immediate territory in dispute. The war is known in America as the French and Indian War and in the history of the world as the Seven Years' War, the latter designation being due to the fact that it lasted that length of time. The struggle developed into a world-wide conflict and the two nations fought over three continents, America, Europe and Asia. It it not within the province of this resume of
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
the history of Indiana to go into the details of this memorable struggle. It is sufficient for the purpose at hand to state that the treaty of Paris, which terminated the war in 1763, left France without any of her former posses- sions on the mainland of America.
PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY (1763-64).
With the English in control of America east of the Mississippi river and the French regime forever ended, the Indians next command the attention of the historian who deals with the Northwest Territory. The French were undoubtedly responsible for stirring up their former Indian allies and Pontiac's conspiracy must be credited to the influence of that nation. This formidable uprising was successfully overthrown by Henry Bouquet, who led an expedition in 1764 into the present state of Ohio and compelled the Wyandots, Delawares and Shawnees to sue for peace.
NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND QUEBEC ACT.
From 1764 to 1774, no events of particular importance occurred within the territory north of the Ohio river, but in the latter year (June 22, 1774), England, then at the breaking point with the colonies, passed the Quebec act, which attached this territory to the province of Quebec for administrative purposes. This intensified the feeling of resentment which the colonies bore against their mother country and is given specific mention in their list of grievances which they enumerated in their Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War came on at once and this act, of course, was never put into execution.
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
(1775-83).
During the War for Independence ( 1775-1783), the various states with claims to western lands agreed with the Continental Congress to surrender their claims to the national government. In fact, the Articles of Confedera- tion were not signed until all of the states had agreed to do this and Mary- land withheld her assent to the articles until March 1, 1780, on this account. In accordance with this agreement New York ceded her claim to the United States in 1780, Virginia in 1784, Massachusetts in 1785 and Connecticut in 1786, although the latter state excepted a one-hundred-and-twenty-mile strip of three million five hundred thousand acres bordering on Lake Erie. This
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
strip was formally relinquished in 1800, with the understanding that the United States would guarantee the titles already issued by that state. Vir- ginia was also allowed a reservation, known as the Virginia Military Dis- trict, which lay between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, the same being for distribution among her Revolutionary veterans. There is one other fact which should be mentioned in connection with the territory north of the Ohio in the Revolutionary period. This was the memorable conquest of the territory by Gen. George Rogers Clark. During the years 1778 and 1779, this redoubtable leader captured Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes and thereby drove the English out of the Northwest Territory. It is probable that this notable campaign secured this territory for the Americans and that without it we would not have had it included in our possessions in the treaty which closed the Revolutionary War.
CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.
One of the most interesting pages of Indiana history is concerned with the capture of Vincennes by Gen. George Rogers Clark in the spring of 1779. The expedition of this intrepid leader with its successful results marked him as a man of more than usual ability. Prompted by a desire to secure the territory northwest of the Ohio river for the Americans, he sought and ob- tained permission from the governor of Virginia the right to raise a body of troops for this purpose. Early in the spring of 1778 Clark began collecting his men for the proposed expedition. Within a short time he collected about one hundred and fifty men at Fort Pitt and floated down the Ohio to the falls near Jeffersonville. He picked up a few recruits at this place and in June floated on down the river to the mouth of the Tennessee river. His original intention was to make a descent on Vincennes first, but, having re- ceived erroneous reports as to the strength of the garrison located there, he decided to commence active operations at Kaskaskia. After landing his troops near the mouth of the Tennessee in the latter part of June, 1778, he marched them across southern Illinois to Kaskaskia, arriving there on the evening of July 4. The inhabitants were terror stricken at first, but upon being assured by General Clark that they were in no danger and that all he wanted was for them to give their support to the American cause, their fears were soon quieted. Being so far from the scene of the war, the French along the Mississippi knew little or nothing about its progress. One of the most important factors in establishing a friendly relation between the Amer- icans and the French inhabitants was the hearty willingness of Father Gibault,
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
the Catholic priest stationed at Kaskaskia, in making his people see that their best interests would be served by aligning themselves with the Americans. Father Gibault not only was of invaluable assistance to General Clark at Kaskaskia, but he also offered to make the overland trip to Vincennes and win over the French in that place to the American side. This he successfully did and returned to Kaskaskia in August with the welcome news that the inhabitants of Vincennes were willing to give their allegiance to the Americans.
However, before Clark got his troops together for the trip to Vincennes, General Hamilton, the lieutenant-governor of Detroit, descended the Wabash and captured Vincennes (December 15, 1778). At that time Clark had only two men stationed there, Leonard Helm, who was in command of the fort, and a private by the name of Henry. As soon as Clark heard that the British had captured Vincennes, he began to make plans for retaking it. The terms of enlistment of many of his men had expired and he had difficulty in getting enough of them to re-enlist to make a body large enough to make a successful attack. A number of young Frenchmen joined his command and finally, in January, 1779, Clark set out from Kaskaskia for Vincennes with one hundred and seventy men. This trip of one hundred sixty miles was made at a time when traveling overland was at its worst. The prairies were wet, the streams were swollen and the rivers overflowing their banks. Notwithstand- ing the difficulties which confronted him and his men, Clark advanced rapidly as possible and by February 23, 1779, he was in front of Vincennes. Two days later, after considerable parleying and after the fort had suffered from a murderous fire from the Americans, General Hamilton agreed to surrender. This marked the end of British dominion in Indiana and ever since that day the territory now comprehended in the state has been American soil.
VINCENNES, THE OLDEST SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA.
Historians have never agreed as to the date of the founding of Vin- cennes. The local historians of that city have always claimed that the settlement of the town dates from 1702, although those who have examined all the facts and documents have come to the conclusion that 1732 comes nearer to being the correct date. It was in the latter year that George Wash- ington was born, a fact which impresses upon the reader something of the age of the city. Vincennes was an old town and had seen several generations pass away when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was in Vincennes and vicinity that the best blood of the Northwest Territory was
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
found at the time of the Revolutionary War. It was made the seat of justice of Knox county when it was organized in 1790 and consequently it is by many years the oldest county seat in the state. It became the first capital of Indiana Territory in 1800 and saw it removed to Corydon in 1813 for the reason, so the Legislature said, that it was too near the outskirts of civiliza- tion. In this oldest city of the Mississippi valley still stands the house into which Governor Harrison moved in 1804, and the house in which the Terri- torial Legislature held its sessions in 1805 is still in an excellent state of preservation.
Today Vincennes is a thriving city of fifteen thousand, with paved streets, street cars, fine public buildings and public utility plants equal to any in the state. It is the seat of a university which dates back more than a century.
FIRST SURVEYS AND EARLY SETTLERS.
The next period in the history of the territory north of the Ohio begins with the passage of a congressional act (May 20, 1785), which provided for the present system of land surveys into townships six miles square. As soon as this was put into operation, settlers-and mostly Revolutionary soldiers- began to pour into the newly surveyed territory. A second Ohio Company was organized in the spring of 1786, made up chiefly of Revolutionary officers and soldiers from New England, and this company proposed to estab- lish a state somewhere between Lake Erie and the Ohio river. At this junc- ture Congress realized that definite steps should be made at once for some kind of government over this extensive territory, a territory which now in- cludes the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and about a third of Minnesota. Various plans were proposed in Congress and most of the sessions of 1786 and the first half of 1787 were consumed in trying to formulate a suitable form of government for the extensive terri- tory. The result of all these deliberations resulted in the famous Ordinance of 1787, which was finally passed on July 13, 1787.
ORDINANCE OF 1787.
There have been many volumes written about this instrument of gov- ernment and to this day there is a difference of opinion as to who was its author. The present article can do no more than merely sketch its outline and set forth the main provisions. It was intended to provide only a tem- porary government and to serve until such a time as the population of the
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
territory would warrant the creation of states with the same rights and privileges which the thirteen original states enjoyed. It stipulated that not less than three nor more than five states should ever be created out of the whole territory and the maximum number was finally organized, although it was not until 1848 that the last state, Wisconsin, was admitted to the Union. The third article, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- tion shall forever be encouraged," has given these five states the basis for their excellent system of public schools, state normals, colleges and uni- versities. Probably the most widely discussed article was the sixth, which pro- vided that slavery and involuntary servitude should never be permitted within the territory and by the use of the word "forever" made the territory free for all time. It is interesting to note in this connection that both Indiana and Illinois before their admission to the Union sought to have this pro- vision set aside, but every petition from the two states was refused by Con- gress in accordance with the provision of the Ordinance.
FIRST STAGE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ORDINANCE.
The ordinance contemplated two grades of territorial government. During the operation of the first grade of government the governor, his secre- tary and the three judges provided by the ordinance were to be appointed by Congress and the governor in turn was to appoint "such magistrates and other civil officers in each county and township as he shall deem necessary for the preservation of the peace and good will of the same." After the federal government was organized a statutory provision took the appoint- ment of these officers out of the hands of Congress and placed it in the hands of the President of the United States. All executive authority was given to the governor, all judicial authority to the three judges, while the governor and judges, in joint session, constituted the legislative body. This means that during the first stage of territorial government the people had absolutely no voice in the affairs of government and this state of affairs lasted until 1799, a period of twelve years.
SECOND STAGE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ORDINANCE.
The second stage of government in the territory was to begin whenever the governor was satisfied that there were at least five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one and above. The main difference be-
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
tween the first and second stages of territorial government lay in the fact that the legislative functions were taken from the governor and judges and given to a "general assembly or legislature." The ordinance provided for the election of one representative for each five hundred free male inhabitants, the tenure of the office to be two years. While the members of the lower house were to be elected by the qualified voters of the territory, the upper house, to consist of five members, were to be appointed by Congress in a somewhat complicated manner. The house of representatives was to select ten men and these ten names were to be sent to Congress and out of this number five were to be selected by Congress. This provision, like the ap- pointment of the governor, was later changed so as to make the upper house the appointees of the President of the United States. The five men so selected were called councilors and held office for five years.
INDIAN STRUGGLES (1787-1803).
The period from 1787 to 1803 in the Northwest Territory was marked by several bitter conflicts with the Indians. Just as at the close of the French and Indian War had the French stirred up the Indians against the Americans, so at the close of the Revolutionary War did the English do the same. In fact the War of 1812 was undoubtedly hastened by the depredations of the Indians, who were urged to make forays upon the frontier settlements in the Northwest Territory by the British. The various uprisings of the Indians during this critical period greatly retarded the influx of settlers in the new territory, and were a constant menace to those hardy pioneers who did ven- ture to establish homes north of the Ohio river. Three distinct campaigns were waged against the savages before they were finally subdued. The first campaign was under the command of Gen. Josiah Harmar (1790) and re- sulted in a decisive defeat for the whites. The second expedition was under the leadership of Gen. Arthur St. Clair (1791), the governor of the Territory, and was marked by one of the worst defeats ever suffered by an American army at the hands of the Indians. A lack of knowledge of Indian methods of warfare, combined with reckless mismanagement, sufficiently accounts for both disasters. It remained for Gen. Anthony Wayne, the "Mad Anthony" of Revolutionary fame, to bring the Indians to terms. The battle of Fallen Timbers, which closed his campaign against the Indians, was fought August 20, 1794, on the Maumee river within the present county of Defiance county, Ohio. This crushing defeat of the Indians, a rout in which they lost twelve out of thirteen chiefs, was so complete that the Indians were glad to sue for
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
peace. On June 10, 1795, delegates from the various Indian tribes, headed by their respective chiefs, met at Greenville, Ohio, to formulate a treaty. A treaty was finally consummated on August 3, and was signed by General Wayne on behalf of the United States and by ninety chiefs and delegates of twelve interested tribes. This treaty was faithfully kept by the Indians and ever afterwards Little Turtle, the real leader of the Indians at that time, was a true friend of the whites. While there were several sporadic forays on the part of the Indians up to 1811, there was no battle of any importance with them until the battle of Tippecanoe in the fall of 18II.
ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The first governor of the newly organized territory was Gen. Arthur St. Clair, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, who was appointed on October 5, 1787, and ordered to report for duty on the first of the following February. He held the office until November 22, 1802, when he was dismissed by Presi- dent Jefferson "for the disorganizing spirit, and tendency of every example, violating the rules of conduct enjoined by his public station, as displayed in his address to the convention." The governor's duties were performed by his secretary, Charles W. Byrd, until March 1, 1803, when the state officials took their office. The first judges appointed were Samuel Holden Parsons, James Mitchell Varnum and John Armstrong. Before the time came for the judges to qualify, Armstrong resigned and John Cleves Symmes was ap- pointed in his place. The first secretary was Winthrop Sargent, who held the position until he was appointed governor of Mississippi Territory by the President on May 2, 1798. Sargent was succeeded by William Henry Har- rison, who was appointed by the President on June 26, 1798, and confined by the Senate two days later. Harrison was later elected as the first dele- gate of the organized Northwest Territory to Congress and the President then appointed Charles Willing Byrd as secretary of the Territory, Byrd's appointment being confirmed by the Senate on December 31, 1799.
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