USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 6
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Samuel Culbertson and Jesse Jones, were from the settlement at the forks of the White river. The former was the son of Josiah Culbertson, a worthy citizen of Daviess county and a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and the latter a son of Ebenezer Jones, who lived in Daviess county from 18II to 1863.
BURIAL PARTY AMBUSHED.
The country immediately around the encampment, a short distance above the present site of LaFayette, was finely timbered and to all appear- ances a body of rich land. Some of the men strayed off from the main body for the purpose, as they said, of looking at the country. While one of these parties, consisting of three, was out some distance from the main body, they were fired on by the Indians and one of their number was killed. His name was Dunn. Upon the return of the two survivors to camp, sixty men were detailed to bury their dead comrade, and the men from this part of the country were part of this detail. Approaching the spot where the slain man lay, they discovered an Indian mounted on quite a fine horse. Dropping their burial tools, they. in a very tumultuous manner, started in pursuit. The Indian at first kept a northeast course, but gradually in- clined to the north until he arrived at the head of a ravine running directly west to the Wabash river. He entered the ravine, which was quite steep at the sides. and covered with timber and thick underbrush. When his pur- suers had proceeded about three hundred yards down the hollow, they re- ceived a very heavy fire on both flanks, which added much to their disor- der and confusion. A general rout ensued, and every man who could, made the best of his way back to camp. Those who effected an escape had to cut their way through the enemy's lines. The next day almost the whole army went out to bury the dead. who were found much mutilated, and some that were reported missing never were found.
OCCUPATIONS OF EARLY SETTLERS.
The early settlers of Daviess county were largely from Southern states. It is estimated that about one-half of the first settlers were from South Carolina and one-fourth from Kentucky and Tennessee. The principal in- ducement that brought these people was that they might obtain cheap lands and establish homes for their families. Finding a desirable location in the primitive prairie or the unbroken forest was the first concern of these pio- neers : the next concern, and the most important, was to find means of sub-
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sistence for the family. In the accomplishment of this purpose it was neces- sary to use all the ingenuity and all the means nature had placed within their reach. Timber must be cleared and the prairie lands must be broken and all brought to a state of cultivation. In that period of Daviess county history implements of industry for this kind of work were few, and of a very crude sort. The cabins, which served for domiciles were built of round logs. These logs usually were not hewn. The roof was made of clapboards. held in place by poles. The spaces between the logs in the side of the cabin were filled with sticks and clay. The fireplace at one end of the cabin was, of course, indispensable, serving both heating and cooking purposes. Square openings for the one door, and probably two windows, were cut in the side of the cabin. Greased paper, instead of glass, was the material used for windows in the primitive cabin, and skins of animals were used for the door openings. Some of the more pretentious cabins had glass windows and doors made of sawed lumber; the doors hanging on hinges of rawhide, with a rawhide latch-string hanging outside. The synonym for genuine hospitality, "the latch-string is out," had its origin from this kind of a door in the pioneer cabin. The floor of the primitive cabin generally was of clay, hard packed, though some cabins had floors made of puncheon, hewn with the broad-axe and laid on sleepers.
THE FIRST SAW-MILL.
The first lumber was made with the whip-saw. This kind of a saw continued in use for some time after saw-mills had been introduced. It is. generally conceded that James C. Veale built the first saw-mill in Daviess county, some time between 1808 and 1810. This mill was located on Veale's creek, but did not make enough lumber to supply the demand. Slabs from this mill were in great demand for the flooring of cabins, being more desira- ble for that purpose than the roughly-hewn puncheon. Veale's mill was car- ried away by a freshet, in the spring of 1812, and after a considerable time was rebuilt. The second mill of this kind was built, also on Veale's creek, by Eli Chapman, in 1815. It was of greater capacity than Veale's mill, fur- nished more lumber, and continued in operation for a longer time. The third mill was a different design than' either of the two mentioned. The motive power, instead of being water, consisted of two or three yoke of oxen haltered within a tread-mill. This ox-mill was located in the town of Washington, and was erected by William McCormick. The next saw- mill of the pioneer period was erected in Washington by B. Duncan, Wil-
EVIDENCE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY PROSPERITY.
MOONLIGHT ON WHITE RIVER.
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liam and R. Graham, and J. Thompson. This was the first mill to manu- facture lumber for export, considerable quantities being shipped down the river to a mountain market. In the course of a few years steam saw-mills began to be erected and superseded, to a large extent, mills operated by other motive power. In the time further back than is within the memory of anyone now living, the lumber business was one of the important indus- tries of Daviess county.
THE FIRST GRAIN MILLS.
The first mills to grind both corn and wheat were turned by hand. Richard Palmer is credited with having been the pioneer in the erection and operation of a mill of this kind in Daviess county. His mill was built on Palmers creek, on land afterward owned by William McCluskey. This mill was equipped with a bolting apparatus and other facilities for the manufac- ture of a fairly good article of flour, for those times. Another mill was built on this same creek, on the Hawkins farm, by William Hawkins. Both of these mills were built, it is said, in 1816. The Palmer mill was built of round logs, without chinking, which made it a rather uncomfortable place in which to do business in cold weather. The Hawkins mill was neatly built of hewed logs and was much more convenient and comfortable. The old- fashioned tub wheel was used in both these mills, the tub wheel embodying substantially the same principle as the turbine wheel of modern times. The capacity of each of these mills was about two and one-half bushels the hour. While they were both equipped for the manufacture of flour and corn-meal, the latter product was most in demand. Very little flour was used by the pioneer families. Wheat bread was regarded as a luxury, only to be in- dulged in, if at all, on special occasions. Corn-meal was the staff of life; corn bread, the corn-dodger, the hoe-cake, the johnny-cake, as made by the thrifty housewife of those times, being the food that furnished the brawn and muscle for the men who cleared the forest and cultivated the fields in the early days of Daviess county.
EARLY CLOTHING MATERIAL.
The question of securing houses in which to live, and the food necessary to sustain life, was not the most perplexing problem of the pioneers. Houses easily could be built, sufficiently stable to afford shelter for the family, from material with which the forest abounded. Food for the family was produced
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with slight labor from the fertile soil, supplemented by the abundance of wild game in the forest. But the material from which the necessary clothing could be made was not so easily obtained. Flax was the principal depend- ence at first, and its cultivation and manufacture into fabrics was attended with no little exertion and anxiety. The cultivation of cotton was attempted. As most of the pioneers had come from states where cotton raising was the chief agricultural industry, cotton being then the principal fabric from which clothing was made, they, very naturally, tried the experiment of cotton culti- vation in their northern homes. But the experiment was a failure. The seasons were too short, the facilities of separating the seed from the cotton were too meager, and this line of industrial effort was abandoned after a few years. Wool was found to be the main dependence for clothing. But the raising of sheep in sufficient numbers to supply the demand for wool had its difficulties, on account of the abounding wolves, with an inherited appe- tite for fresh mutton. The protection of sheep, however, was an absolute necessity in order to secure the necessary wool, and this protection was afforded. In time a combined warfare on the wolves resulted in a decrease of these pests, and in an increase of the necessary sheep. As the production of wool increased, carding, spinning and weaving, became an almost daily industry in every house. At first all this was done by hand, but, in 1815, Eli Chapman put up a carding machine, in connect with his saw-mill, on Veale's creek, and did a large and profitable business in wool-carding. Deer skins, bear skins, and the skins of other animals were largely used in the manufacture of clothing for the men. Clothing from such material had the quality of being cheap, warm and durable, and especially adapted to the rugged work required of the pioneer.
All the fabric for clothing, from the material from which the fabric was made, was made by the women. Linsey-woolsey, as it was called, was the common cloth from which women's dresses were made. The chain of this cloth was of coarse cotton, and the filling of wool. Blue, turkey-red and copperas, were the favorite colors of this rather fantastic cloth. The loom was a necessary article of furniture; as necessary as were the bed and dining- table. The loom and the spinning wheel of that day filled the place of the piano and phonograph of the present day.
EARLY FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY.
Another difficulty experienced by the pioneer farmer was in the prepara- tion of the ground for seed; as the plow, harrow, and other farm implements.
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were neither so common nor so perfect as they are at present. Plow-irons, hoes, mattocks and similar implements were brought here from their original homes by the settlers, and by dint of ingenuity and hard work the latter man- aged to stock them, or furnish the necessary wooden parts to fit them for the uses intended. The wooden parts were made from green timber, worked into the desired shape by the broad-axe and draw-knife, the dependable tools of the mechanic of those times. The implements thus made were unwieldy and unshapely, but service rather than shape was the point aimed at.
The first and only thrashing-machine made in Daviess county, according to an old historical authority, was invented and built by James and William Thompson, in what was known as the McTaggart barn, a building thirty by forty feet in size. Thirty feet of the west end of the barn was used for the horse-power. This horse-power was a large driving-wheel, sixteen feet in diameter, with gearing and belting, by which the thrasher and cleaner were propelled. The cylinder of the thrashing part of this machine was a wooden shaft, three feet long, moving on an iron axle. From each end of this wooden shaft projected eight arms, to the outer ends of which eight ribs were fastened. The ribs were faced with heavy hoop-iron, and as this cylinder, or reel, revolved, the sheaves of wheat were fed into it through rollers, and thus the grain was beaten out of the straw. The grain was. separated from the straw by passing into a hopper, through a wire grating, three feet wide and six feet long, fixed in the floor, the straw being passed' out of an upper window in the barn. From the hopper, the grain was fed to the cleaner as fast as thrashed. Two horses were required to run this- machine, and it required six hands-three men and three boys-to perform the necessary labor. The thrashing of one hundred bushels of wheat was. considered a good day's work for this outfit. The first portable thrashing- machine was introduced by a Mr. Parsons. This was a four-horse-power machine, with a center gearing-wheel, driving a shaft which operated an iron cylinder by which the grain was thrashed out. To the center driving-wheel were attached four arms, or shafts; to the outer end of each of these arms. one of the four horses was hitched; these horses, moving in a circle, the wheel was made to go around. A driver stood on a platform over the driv-" ing-wheel in the center, and it was his duty to see that the horses kept moving. This machine only thrashed the wheat ; the sheaves being fed into the cylinder,. the grain, straw and chaff all coming out in a pile together. The man with the rake separated the straw from the wheat and the chaff, as it came from the machine, and the fanning-mill, operated by hand, did the rest. Because of the manner of its operation, this machine was known as the "straw --
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piler," by the people of that period. Some of the citizens of Daviess county can measure a memory of thrashing-machines from the "straw-piler" age, to that of the "cyclone" thresher, operated by steam power. The improve- ment in farming implements, farm machinery and methods of farming, has kept pace with the improved facilities in every other industrial vocation, for the past seventy-five years; and the farmers of Daviess county have kept fully abreast of the times.
CHAPTER IV.
CREATION AND ORGANIZATION OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
Knox county, out of which Daviess county was created, as a civic organ- ization antedates both the territorial and state governments of Indiana. It was laid off and organized in the spring of 1790, by Winthrop Sargent, secre- tary of the Northwest Territory, acting under special instructions from Governor Arthur St. Clair, who was then at Kaskaskia, organizing St. Clair county. The county was named in honor of Gen. Henry Knox, then secre- tary of war of the United States, and originally embraced all the territory now constituting the states of Indiana and Michigan. Daviess county was created out of territory belonging to Knox by "an act for the formation of a new county out of the county of Knox," approved on December 24, 1816. The measure creating the new county came under the category of special laws, and is of sufficient value and interest to deserve preservation in these pages.
AN ACT FOR THE FORMATION OF A NEW COUNTY.
Section I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indi- ana, That from and after the 15th day of February next all that part of the county of Knox which is contained within the following boundary shall con- stitute and form a new county, viz: Beginning at the forks of White river, running thence with the east fork of White river to the mouth of Lick creek; thence with said creek to the line of Orange county; thence north with the said line to where it strikes the west branch of White river, thence down the said west fork to the place of beginning.
Section 2. That said new county shall be known and designated by the name and style of the County of Daviess, and shall enjoy all the rights and privileges and jurisdictions which to a separate county do or may properly appertain or belong : Provided, always, That all suits, pleas, plaints, actions and proceedings in law or equity which may have been commenced or insti- tuted before the 15th day of February next, and are now pending within the said county of Knox, shall be prosecuted and determined in the same manner as if this act had not been passed: Provided, That all taxes of whatever
(6)
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nature or kind assessed or which may be assessed previous to the said 15th day of February, or now due, or which may become due before that time within the bounds of the said new county, shall be collected in the same man- ner and by the same officers as if the aforesaid new county had never been enacted.
Section 3. That William Bruce and Henry Ruble, of the county of Knox; David Robb and William Barker, of the county of Gibson, and Thomas Fulton, of the county of Orange, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to fix the seat of justice for said county of Daviess; and the several sheriffs of the counties of Knox, Gibson and Orange shall notify the said commissioners of their said appointments; and the said sheriffs shall receive from the said county of Daviess so much as the county court of said county of Daviess shall decree just and reasonable, who are hereby authorized to allow the same out of any moneys in the county treasury, not otherwise appropriated ; and the said commissioners shall on the first Monday of March, next, meet at the house of Alexander Bruce, of said county, and shall im- mediately proceed to establish the seat of justice for said county of Daviess ; and until suitable public buildings be erected, so as to accommodate the courts aforesaid, the said courts shall meet at the house of said Alexander Bruce, and shall then adjourn the said court to the courthouse, after which time the said courts for the county of Daviess shall be holden at the county seat as aforesaid established: Provided, that the agent or person appointed by law to lay off the town and sell the lots at the seat of justice of the county of Daviess, shall reserve ten per centum out of the proceeds of the sale of the town lots, and shall pay the same over to such person as shall be appointed to receive it by law, for the use of the public library for said county, in such installments, and at such times, as shall be prescribed by law.
Section 4. Refers to Knox county.
Section 5. That the said county of Daviess shall constitute and form a part of the representative and senatorial district for the county of Knox.
ISAAC BLACKFORD, Speaker of the House of Representatives. CHRISTOPHER HARRISON, President of the Senate.
Approved : December 24. 1816.
JONATHAN JENNINGS.
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DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
MEMORIAL TO CAPTAIN DAVIESS.
This county was named in honor of Captain Joseph H. Daviess, who was a brave and intrepid soldier. He was killed early on the morning of November 7, 1811, while leading his men in a desperate charge in the battle of Tippecanoe. The state of Illinois also named one of its counties after this pioneer hero-warrior, this latter county appearing on the map as Jo Daviess county.
Daviess county, Indiana, when first formed, contained all of its present territory and also all of Martin county, except that portion lying south of Lick creek; all of Greene county, east of the west fork of White river, and all of Owen county, east of the west fork of White river. At the time of its enaction Daviess county was about fifty-seven miles in length and in its great- est width about thirty-one miles. It is now twenty-eight miles in length, from north to south, and in width eighteen miles.
The organizing sheriff of Daviess county was Obed Flint, who was com- missioned by the governor of the state and authorized to call an election for the selection of county officials. The sheriff performed his duty by selecting the day and pasting notices for the first election held in this county. On the appointed day, which was in February, 1817, the electors of the county met at their several polling places and elected William Ballow, John Aikman and Ephraim Thompson, county commissioners ; William H. Routt, James G. Read, associate judges; Emanuel VanTrees, clerk of the board of commis- sioners and ex-officio clerk of the circuit court.
THE COUNTY SEAT.
Two persons from Knox county, two from Gibson county and one from Orange county were mentioned by name in the act enacting the county, to serve as commissioners to select a site for the county seat. Only two of them, however, laid a claim for their services in this capacity, namely : William Bruce and Henry Ruble. If the others performed the office assigned them, no record is extant to that effect. Be that as it may, Emanuel VanTrees and Peter Wilkins donated to the newly-formed county thirty-seven and one- half acres of land for a county seat, and on the 17th day of March, 1817, the board of commissioners ordered that Emanuel VanTrees "shall survey the land given as a donation for the county seat." On the 18th, the board "pro- ceeded to lay out the town and ordered the survey, and called the name
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thereof Washington. And the survey was performed by Emanuel VanTrees until finished."
The foregoing quotations were taken from the minutes of the board of commissioners, the original entries being in the handwriting of Emanuel VanTrees, and it is of record that when the seat of justice was laid off and platted it was given the name it always has borne. Previous to this event, however, the town of Liverpool was laid out and platted in the fall of 1815, by Isaac Galland, David Flora and George Curtis, the same being a tract of land containing forty-nine and sixteen hundredths acres. The plat of the town is thus described in the Knox county records, the land then being part and parcel of that county :
"A plan of the town of Liverpool, in Indiana Territory, as laid out in the forks of White river, in Knox county, by Isaac Galland, George Curtis and David Flora. It contains one hundred and eighty-six lots, each one being sixty feet in width and one hundred twenty feet in length, each street sixty feet wide, to remain open and common highways forever. Lots 61, 62, 63, 64, 97, 98 and 99 to form a public square, to remain for the benefit of the public forever." Adjoining this strip of lots on the north the town of Washington was laid out; immediately Liverpool lost its identity and was henceforth known and designated as Washington.
FIRST COURT HOUSE.
The first building in which court was held in Daviess county and which by courtesy became known as "the court house," was a log structure, the home of Alexander Bruce. This primitive and temporary temple of justice stood on the southeast corner of Main and Second streets and was used by the county for court purposes from April 21, 1817, until 1825, when the first court house built by the county was finished.
In May, 1818, the board of county commissioners asked for plans to be submitted for a court house, which was designed to be two stories in height, thirty-five by forty-five feet, ground dimension, of brick construction. (For full details of plans see chapter on Political History, under. early proceed- ings of the board of commissioners.) James G. Read, an associate judge and prominently identified with the county's early history, was awarded the contract for the sum of two thousand nine hundred seventy-nine dollars, but did not turn the finished work over to the county until several years had elapsed.
The foundations for the court house were laid in the fall of 1818 and
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the building was partially completed a year later. But, by reason of various causes and excuses, this much-needed official building was not ready for occupancy when the year 1824 rolled around, six years after the laying of the foundation. One reason for the delay was probably the extremely low condition of the county treasury and the public credit. In the year last men- tioned, a contract was let to the lowest bidder for furnishing the court house and in the following year the building was occupied. But in order to com- plete the work the board of commissioners permitted a subscription paper to be circulated, by which means a small amount of money was secured for the purpose. The inducement held out to subscribers to the court house building fund was the promised remission of taxes equal to the amount of each indi- vidual subscription. The structure stood on the "public square," donated for the purpose, as has each of its successors.
SECOND COURT HOUSE, BUILT IN 1841.
The county's initial attempt at building a court house did not prove a very flattering success. There always seemed to be something wrong with the structure and the roof had a chronic habit of leaking. It was an incon- venient, uncomfortable, cheerless box of a concern, to say the least; and not many years after its occupancy the need of a better and more commodious place for the county's offices, safe receptacles for the county records and actions, and a light, airy and habitable courtroom, became apparent. In January, 1835, John Murphy, George Roddick, Daniel McDonald, George A. Waller, Barton Peck, James Whitehead and John VanTrees, were appointed a committee to report on the advisability of building a new court house. This committee was practically unanimous in favor of the proposition and so reported its deliberations to the board. Thereupon, John VanTrees, Barton Peck and James Braza, in May, appointed a committee to superintend the work of constructing the new court house in contemplation. Advertisements appeared in the newspaper, calling for bids for the contract, to follow plans and specifications already prepared, but the actual work was delayed. In September, 1837, the Washington Philanthropist contained a call for bids for constructing the buildings and in November of that year the committee was instructed by the board to proceed without further delay, and was authorized to borrow one thousand dollars or one thousand five hundred dollars for the purpose. Contracts were let, Lewis Jones taking the brick and stone work, and the firm of Whitehead & Berry, the woodwork. Jones complied with his contract and turned over the finished product in November, 1838, for
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