USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 26
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ELDON.
This is another town predicated on the proposition that the Wabash & Erie canal was going to do wonderful things in the way of development of the country and in the building up of prosperous towns and cities along the route. David H. Kennedy, William S. Turner and Seth H. Cruse were so impressed with that idea that, in 1857, they laid out, in a very elaborate manner, a plat for a town at the intersection of the canal and the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, and called the place Eldon. The plat showed eighteen streets and fifty-six blocks, divided into lots. It was a very beautiful plat, as it appears on paper, with lines carefully drawn and the names of streets and numbers of lots distinctly marked. With this plat in hand the possible purchaser would have had no trouble at all in locating his lot. But the collapse of the canal marked the failure of the scheme to make a metropolis of Eldon. If there were any purchasers of lots shown on this artistic plat the purchaser had little concern about the location of his purchase.
ELNORA.
Elnora is a live, enterprising town in Elmore township. It sprang into existence with the completion of the Evansville & Indianapolis railroad, in 1885, though a postoffice and two or three stores had been established on the site of the new town for several decades previous to that time. The name of the postoffice was Owl Prairie, but the hamlet was called Owltown. September 25, 1885, William C. Griffith and A. R. Stalcup laid out a town on the site of this little hamlet, the town plat comprising nine blocks and fifty-three lots. With wise foresight the founders realized that the new town could not outlive the gibes and ridicule suggested by the name of Owltown, and so they gave the new town the more sensible and appropriate name of Elnora. On the 1st of January, 1886, the name of the postoffice was changed from Owl Prairie to Elnora.
Elnora was incorporated in 1892, the election for corporation officers being held on January 6 of that year. The following were the first officials : Thomas J. Payne, Newton Shake and Milton P. Toliver, trustees: E. E. Earle, treasurer ; Isaac Todd, marshal; Byron Green, clerk. At the meeting of the board for organization, July 9, 1892, Thomas Payne was elected president. Jasper Whitman, T. M. Sears and Lee Wadsworth were elected
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school trustees. Howard Williams was appointed by the board as corpo- ration attorney.
The Elnora Citizens Bank was established, January 1, 1903, by James. B. Abell, Aaron Hitchcock, Henry H. Beever and Harry Hitchcock. This. was a private enterprise, with James B. Abell as president ; Aaron Hitchcock, vice-president; Harry Hitchcock, cashier; H. H. Beever, assistant cashier. The bank began doing business in a frame building, located on the site of the present building, a one-story brick building, erected in 1908. The bank. was reorganized in 1905, under the new banking law of the state, the list of stockholders being increased to seven at that time. The present officers. are : Samuel Shufflebarger, president ; Ransom Pope, vice-president ; Harry Hitchcock, cashier; Myrtle Winklepleck, assistant cashier.
William Smeltzer built a small electric light plant in 1905, which served the town for lighting purposes until it was destroyed by fire in 1910. The plant was rebuilt, and two or three years later was sold to a company, com- posed, in part, of some citizens of Elnora. This company erected a new modern plant in the fall of 1914. This plant was built at a cost of about thirty-five hundred dollars and is now operated by the Elnora Electrical Com- pany, of which Sam Shamffelberger is president, and Charles Ross is secre- tary and treasurer.
The two elevators in Elnora do a good business in handling the grain, of which the surrounding country is very productive. The excellent ship- ping facilities afforded by the two railroads enable the elevators to pay the farmers the highest prices for their produce. The merchants of Elnora are generally prosperous, many of the business houses being brick buildings and of modern structure. The Methodist denomination has a new brick church, erected in 1911, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. Prior to that time the Methodists worshipped in a frame church, erected in the fall of 1887, at a cost of one thousand one hundred dollars. Reverend Hawes was the first pastor, followed by Miles Wood, L. B. Johnson, A. D. Hartsock, H. H. Allen, H. N. King, S. O. Dorsey, Reverend Louther and others. Rev. S. J. Shake is the present pastor; the membership is three hundred, with a Sunday school enrollment of two hundred.
The Christian church is probably the oldest religious organization estab- lished in the vicinity of Elnora. Nearly fifty years ago this denomination built a small one-story frame church northeast of the town. Several years later there was a division in the society and another church was built by the faction that withdrew from the original society. One of these churches.
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was known as the "old" and the other as the "new" church. A frame build- ing, erected several years ago, serves as a place of worship for the Christian denomination in Elnora.
A two-story brick school building, with modern equipment and an effi- cient corps of teachers, leaves nothing to be desired in the way of educa- tional advantages. Elnora had a population of nine hundred and sixty-one,. according to the census of 1910.
EPSOM.
This town got its name on account of the water from a well that was. dug by a Mr. Pace, having the taste of the famous Epsom salts. The town is located about two miles from Cornettsville, in Bogard township. In its. early days the town was nicknamed "Tophet," and it is still recognized by that town. ' The first settlement was made by Peter Yount, about 1815 or 1816. Epsom never made pretention of being other than a small hamlet, with a few scattered dwelling houses. But it has maintained its existence all these years and has made some progress. In the way of business enter- prises it has three stores, a flour mill, and a coal mine near by. It also has a good two-story brick school house, with a commissioned high school, and two churches, one Methodist and one Christian, both frame buildings.
FARLEN.
Farlen is, or rather was, located in the eastern part of Madison town- ship. It had a postoffice at one time, also one store, but these have long since passed away and Farlen is in the "has-been" class.
GLEN DALE.
This town, of romantic name, is located in the central part of Harrison township, eight miles southeast of Washington. It has something less than a dozen dwelling houses, two stores and a blacksmith shop. It has a two- room public school building with graded schools, and a three-year high- school course. The one church is a frame building maintained by the Methodist denomination. A Masonic lodge and an Odd Fellows lodge have been maintained there for many years. The Odd Fellows lodge was organ- ized in 1862 and the Masons in 1878. Each of these orders has a building in which their respective meetings are held.
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GRAHAM.
This is a flag station on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad. It is a good shipping point for the products of farms near by.
HYATT.
Hyatt, a station on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad in Steele township, has one store and an elevator. A considerable amount of grain is shipped from this place, and it is a convenient point for the shipment of melons, which are extensively cultivated in this vicinity.
HUDSONVILLE.
Hudsonville is located in the southern part of Harrison township. It was laid out by Nelson and Daniel Jackson. It has one store, a concrete- block school house of one room, and a frame Methodist church building. About a half dozen houses are sufficient to shelter all the inhabitants of Hudsonville.
JACOB.
Jacob is on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad.
JORDAN.
Another station on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad, located in Washington township. During the fifties and sixties a large flour-mill was located there. This mill was built by James Spink, who afterward sold it to M. L. Brett. A slaughter-house was one of the big industries of the place in the early days. Flour and meat were shipped from there on the canal, as long that famous ditch would hold water.
LASCA.
This was formerly a postoffice in the northwestern part of Van Buren township. It was named by Oliver H. Fulkerson, a Van Buren township teacher. He took the name from one of Longfellow's Indian poems. At one time there was a little cross-roads store at this place, but it is a thing
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of the past. A two-room brick school house affords facilities for the train- ing of the youth of the community.
LETTSVILLE.
Another name for this town, and the one by which it is generally known, is "Hole-in-the-Wall." How the place came by this hyphenated cognomen is related by a historian familiar with facts: "Years ago, at Lettsville, a low-down saloon was kept in the basement, or a cellar, of a dwelling. There was no outside door to the cellar, and the proprietor, to remedy the defect, knocked out enough bricks from the wall to make a passage large enough to admit a man. On account of this circumstance, the place took the name of 'Hole-in-the-Wall,' which clings to it to this day." There is nothing of Lettsville now, not even that hole in the wall.
LIVERPOOL.
Liverpool was laid out before Washington and the plat is now a part of Washington, as is more fully described in the chapter regarding the county seat.
MARSH.
Situated on the township line between Bogard and Elmore townships is Marsh. A former postoffice at this place has been discontinued; only a little crossroad store there now.
MAYSVILLE.
This town was laid out in 1834 by John McDonald, on the land of Charner Hawkins. It was situated on the Wabash & Erie canal, and, in the days when the canal prospects were bright, Maysville was the most important business place in the county. But its business and bright pros- pects vanished when canal navigation closed. A few tumble-down houses remain as relics of a once thriving town's greatness as a business center. There is a brick school house there, and a strong congregation of Methodists, with a' frame church building. The pumping station of the Washington waterworks is also located there.
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
MONTGOMERY.
The town of Montgomery is located in Barr township, on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, seven miles east of the county seat of Daviess county. It was laid out by Valentine B. Montgomery, on land owned by him in 1865, and from him the town took its name. The town dates its origin, however, from 1854, at the time when the Ohio & Mississippi rail- road was being surveyed through the county. The first house was built in that year by James C. Montgomery, a brother of Valentine, who used the house for a dwelling and also for a small store in which were kept supplies for the contractors and men working on the railroad. When the railroad was completed through the town, in 1857, there was a population of about twenty, occupying the four houses that were then in the town. According to the United States census, the population of Montgomery in 1890 was four hundred and fifteen; in 1900, six hundred and sixteen; in 1910, five hundred and eleven. The decrease in population in 1910 is due to the transitory character of many of the residents who are employed in the coal mines near by.
When first settled, the town was literally "in the woods," a heavy growth of timber surrounding it on all sides. Timber, at that time, was an incum- brance to landowners. After the railroad was completed a considerable impetus was given to the place, houses springing up on every side; the mechanic, the merchant, the dealer in country produce found Montgomery a desirable place in which to carry on their various vocations. Valentine Montgomery did an extensive business in the buying of grain at that station, shipping it to Louisville and Cincinnati.
Among the first marriages to take place in Montgomery was that of Patrick McCarty and Elizabeth Morgan, daughter of Col. James Morgan, one of the most prominent citizens of the county. Mr. McCarty, the party of the first part in this matrimonial contract, afterward represented the county in the Legislature. James McCarty, son of the union referred to, was the first child born in Montgomery, the date of his birth being 1857- The McCarty family removed to the West sometime in the sixties, where they or their descendants are still living.
In 1869, while Lloyd Clark was trustee of the township, the first public schools of Montgomery were founded, and these schools have always been a credit to the county. They have kept well in line with the advance of educational methods in the county, and now the town can boast of a fine two-story brick consolidated and high school building, and certified high:
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school. A fine two-story parochial school building, the property of St. Peter's Catholic church, in which a school was conducted for several years, is not now used for school purposes. The school was discontinued on account of the removal of many families from the town and vicinity. St. Peter's Catholic church is a large brick building, accommodating a large congregation. The United Brethren is an old organization here. This organization has a frame church, erected about 1882, and a membership of sixty-five. The congregation never had a resident minister, being supplied by ministers from Washington.
One of the prominent industries of Montgomery is the Harris & Bell flour mill. This mill was built by Josiah C. Harris in 1876, operations having been begun in November of that year. It is a five-story brick build- ing, with a basement. As first constructed it had four runs of burrs, and cost eighteen thousand dollars. About twenty-five years ago the equipment was remodeled, at a cost of about thirty thousand dollars, by putting in the roller process and complete modern machinery, which made it a mill of one- hundred-barrel capacity. Another remodeling in 1915 increased the capacity to one hundred and twenty-five barrels. Josiah C. Harris, the founder, died in 191I. E. C. Harris, a son of the founder, and two daughters of W. E. Bell now own the property and conduct the business under the firm name of the Harris & Bell Milling Company.
The First National Bank of Montgomery was established in 1901, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, with Dr. J. M. Crawford, presi- dent; S. L. McPherson, vice-president; C. C. Martin, cashier. This bank went into voluntary liquidation in 1911 and the building and assets of the concern were purchased by the Farmers and Merchants Bank, a private bank established in December of that year. The officials of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, at the time of its organization, were: Oliver Walker, president; S. L. McPherson, vice-president; B. L. Spaulding, cashier, later succeeded by John W. Rudolph. Capital stock, ten thousand dollars.
The business of Montgomery is largely dependent upon the mining industry, that being one of the most important coal mining towns on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Montgomery is also fortunate in being situated in the center of an excellent farming section of the county. The agricultural resources of the surrounding country are hardly surpassed by any part of Daviess county and the shipment of the products of the farm, stock and dairy products, from that point is hardly excelled by any other shipping point in the county. Montgomery was incorporated in 1870. It is located in the geographical center of Daviess county, and is exactly midway
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between Cincinnati and St. Louis, the terminus of the main line of the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad.
ODON.
The town of Odon, in Madison township, is the next important in size to the city of Washington. It was laid out in 1846, by John Hastings, on land formerly owned by Dr. J. Townsend. The town was first called Clarks- burg and the postoffice established there was called Clark's Prairie. In 1880 the name of the town and the postoffice was changed to Odon. Doctor Townsend was the first settler in the town, which at that time contained thirty-six lots, according to the original plat as surveyed by P. S. Agan. Additions were made by Henry B. Kohr of nineteen lots, in 1866; sixteen lots by Howard Crook, in 1867; eleven lots by Olly Crooke, in 1868; eight lots by Z. V. Garten, in 1877, and forty-two lots by Hugh McCoy, in 1875. Several additions have been made in later years, indicative of the town's steady growth. The first merchants of Odon were Howard Crooke and Z. V. Garten, who were engaged in business there in 1855. John V. Smith established a weekly newspaper in Odon, in 1855, called the Prairie Scorcher, but there is no evidence that it ever did anything of the kind. The Odon Journal, a well-named and well-conducted weekly newspaper, has furnished the town with local news for several years.
The town of Odon was incorporated on June 20, 1885. The first board of trustees were: Dr. John Dearmin, John Smiley and Samuel Dunlap. W. L. Stoy was elected clerk; C. L. Pierson, treasurer; Wiley Edmonson, marshal. At a meeting of the board, December 2, 1885, W .. R. Neenimer, Caleb Odell and Joseph Kinnaman were elected school trustees. The First National Bank was first established as a private concern by Howard Crooke. It continued until the death of Mr. Crooke, about 1895, and then passed into the hands of other parties. The present organization was effected about a year later, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. The first officials of this organization were: Lowry Cooper, president; Harry H. Cook, vice-president; Walter C. Garten, cashier; Alex. O'Dell, assistant cashier. On June I, 1909, the capital stock was increased to fifty thousand dollars. The present officers are: Alonzo A. Lane, president; J. M. Winkel- pleck, vice-president; B. D. Smiley, cashier; Miss Flossie Winkelpleck (who, on January 13, 1913, succeeded Alex O'Dell), assistant cashier. The Farmers Bank is another financial institution of the town. This is a private concern with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars, under the management of the following officials: Lowry Cooper, president; Reason Bennett, vice-presi- dent; J. A. McCoy, cashier. This bank was established, January 12, 1914.
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Roy F. Myers built an electric light plant in 1912, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. It is well equipped for service and furnishes light for the town and for private consumers. Among the other industries of Odon are a planing-mill, a saw-mill, a brick- and tile-factory and a monumental works. The town also is well provided with churches. The denominations most largely represented are the United Brethren, Methodist and Christian. Each of these has a strong congregation and a comfortable house in which to hold services. A more detailed history of the churches of Odon, and other towns, will be found in another chapter in this work. The secret and benevolent orders, so largely represented in Odon and other towns, are given proper mention under another chapter heading.
Odon is situated in the center of a splendid agricultural country and has a large trade from the surrounding farming community. The comple- tion of the Southern Indiana railroad, now the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern railroad, gave an outlet for the products of the surrounding farms and made Odon a splendid shipping point, the one thing that the town had long needed. From this point is shipped grain, stock, poultry and other produce, bringing trade to the town and a considerable revenue to the rail- road. The population of Odon has had a steady increase in the last three decades, as shown by the United States census. In 1890 it had seven hun- dred and sixty-four; in 1900, nine hundred and twenty-three; in 1910, one thousand sixty-four.
PLAINVILLE.
Plainville is on the line of the old Wabash & Erie canal, and was quite an important business point more than fifty years ago, with a number of stores and a good flour-mill. It went into decline, however, like many other towns, with the ill-fated canal, that cost so many millions of dollars and hundreds of lives to build, only to be abandoned shortly after its completion. Notwithstanding the adverse conditions, resulting from the collapse of the canal, Plainville continued to be a trading point, with one or two stores and a postoffice. The completion of the Evansville & Indianapolis railroad (now the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad) through Daviess county gave Plain- ville quite a business boom, and a number of new buildings were erected in the fall of 1885. The railroad made the town of considerable importance; the price of lots increased and the town doubled in population in a few years. Among the important business industries of the place is the Plain- ville Milling Company's plant, a three-story brick building, erected in 1910; a canning factory, an elevator, lumber yard, automobile repair shop, besides several lesser industries. There are several business houses representing
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lines of trade adapted to the community. Excellent educational advantages are afforded in the fine brick school building, an efficient corps of teachers being found in the different grades, and in the commissioned high school. The religious denominations represented are the Methodist, Christian and Brethren, each owning a good frame building and supported by a substantial membership. The secret orders are also well represented. The Farmers Bank was established, April 13, 1908, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars, represented by about forty stockholders. The first officers of the bank were Nathan E. Killion, president; Charles A. Banta, vice-president ; Ernest E. Killion, cashier, and R. Elmer Killion, assistant cashier. The present officers are the same, except that Mr. Banta has been succeeded by John S. Goshorn, as vice-president.
RAGLESVILI.E.
Raglesville is a pretty little village, of something less than two hundred inhabitants, situated in the northern part of Van Buren township. It has a three-room brick school house; a Methodist church and a United Brethren church, each a frame building; two or three stores and a blacksmith shop. There is a fine coal mine near the town, and it is claimed there is not a better quality of coal produced in the county than that which comes from this mine. An old history of Raglesville coupled a brass band with a flour-mill that was formerly located there, as one of the important industries.
Raglesville was laid out under the name of Sanford, June 21, 1837, by Ozias Crooke, who was the first school teacher, and also the first merchant in the place. Crooke kept a general store there in 1840. The first settler in the vicinity was Asbury Sims, in 1832.
SANDY HOOK.
Sandy Hook is a station on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad, in Veale township, a few miles south of Washington. Travelers on the railroad observe that all the trains stop at Sandy Hook long enough to allow them to read the sign board giving the name of the station.
SMILEY.
Smiley was formerly a postoffice in Van Buren township, but when the rural route system was introduced Smiley lost its postoffice and the Smiley postmaster lost his job.
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SOUTH WASHINGTON.
South Washington is situated on the Petersburg road, one mile south of Washington, and has a population of about one hundred. Thirty-two lots were laid off as a town by Levi D. Colbert, in 1874. There is a two-room brick school building located there, where school is conducted regularly for the education of the children of the community. There is no postoffice or church building in the place, the people of the village obtaining their mail by the rural route, and their religious teaching from ministers from Wash- ton who hold occasional preaching service in the village.
THOMAS.
Thomas is a station indicated by a conspicuous sign board, located on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad, in Washington township.
TRAINOR.
Trainor was formerly a postoffice and a cross-road store, situated in the southeastern part of Bogard township, but there is nothing of the kind there now. A brick school building and St. Michael's Catholic church are located there.
TOM'S HILL.
This was a collection of houses, a saw-mill and stave factory located near the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, on the west branch of White river. The place and all the surrounding belonged to the estate of Elisha Hyatt, and the inhabitants were all tenants of his and employed by him in the operation of the mill and factory. Tom's Hill was formerly a busy place.
WACO.
A former postoffice at Waco has been discontinued. Waco still holds its place on the map, however. It is located in the southwestern part of Harrison township, and contains a little store, a brick school building and a frame church, belonging to the Christian denomination.
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