USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
86
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
which he was paid the sum of three thousand seven hundred seventy-six dollars and twenty-five cents. Not so with Whitehead & Berry, who failed to meet their obligations. Their sureties were finally called upon to "make good," but the county was not able to occupy the building until late in the year 1841. Even then the officials were not properly supplied with office furniture and apparatus, and most of what they did have was borrowed from the Methodist church, in which latter edifice the county officials had found shelter while the new court house was in the course of construction.
PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
As early as the year 1868, the board of commissioners, having in view the construction of a modern and expensive building for county offices and the courts, began to levy a small tax as the nucleus of a building fund. On the first day of June, 1869, this fund amounted to $3,642.82; June 1, 1870, $9,130.57 ; June 1, 1871, $10,678.41 ; June 1, 1872, $14,580.88; June 1, 1876, $56,471.52.
In the month of September, 1873, by a concerted movement of citizens, the need and desirability of a new court house were brought to the attention of the board of county commissioners, which led to the appointment by that body of Matthew L. Brett, Richard N. Read and Joseph G. Thompson, as a committee to mature plans for a building that would meet the requirements of the county and also harmonize with the wishes and tastes of the com- munity generally ; at the same time keeping in mind the financial capacity of the county, and the state of the treasury. A small appropriation was made to defray expenses of the committee in visiting various localities and in- specting court houses in the state, but the contract for the building was not awarded until early in the year 1877, the contracting firm of McCormick & Sweeney being the successful bidders G. N. Bunting was selected as the archi- tect and superintendent of the work.
As soon as the weather became favorable, in the spring of 1878, excava- tion for the building commenced and by the end of the year the structure was under roof and nearing completion. To meet the financial needs of con- tractor and superintendent and to pay for material, the county was forced to place bonds to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars on the market, but before the year had begun to grow old the court house was finished and occu- pied. In the spring of 1878 a two-thousand-pound bell was placed in the tower of the building, at a cost of one thousand five hundred and twenty-five dollars, the present, beautiful and substantial temple of justice standing as a
87
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
splendid monument to the excellent business capacity and judgment of the county's public officials. Taking the material of which it is constructed and the workmanship employed, the building could not today be put up in the same workmanlike manner for double the cost, which was eighty-eight thou- sand twenty-one dollars and fifteen cents, not including the bell.
COUNTY JAILS.
A detailed description of the plans for the first county jail erected in Washington in 1819, is set out in one of the succeeding chapters of this volume. The first move by the board of commissioners in the relation was made in May, 1819, when plans, specifications and bids were asked for by the board for a jail building. The structure was to be built of logs, to be eighteen by twenty-eight feet in dimensions, two stories high, walls one foot thick and to contain a criminals' room and a debtors' room. The contract was let to Aaron Freeland and Jesse Purcell for one thousand and ten dollars, and according to agreement the jail was turned over to the board in a finished condition in December, 1819. It stood on the northeast corner of the tract of land now occupied by the court house, which was early known as the public square.
SECOND COUNTY JAIL BUILT IN 1830.
The records do not state how the county jail happened to get in the way of fire and was destroyed. But that is neither here nor there. The building was leveled to the ground by fire in 1829 and for some time thereafter the clerk of the board, in making up his minutes, often mentioned the bastile as "the late county jail."
The loss of this public institution was quite serious. Although the citizens of Washington and the county generally were law-abiding and peace- loving, still the same could not be said of all. There were unruly ones. Whisky was only worth about twenty cents a gallon and a good many people made daily use of the stuff that both cheers and inebriates. Horse-racing, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, gambling and other intensive amusements were quite rife in those callow days of Daviess county, and now and then hilarity degenerated into misdemeanors and sometimes crime. The need of a place to incarcerate the unruly and law-defying citizens, therefore, went without seri- ous question and the county found itself absolutely compelled to furnish a successor to "the late jail." This necessarily found expression in the action of the board of justices when, in January, 1830, that august body let and
88
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
awarded a contract to James Whitehead, for the building of a jail, same style as "the late jail" and to cost three hundred ninety-eight dollars eighty-seven and one-half cents. The building, as completed in November, 1830, was of logs and was eighteen by twenty-eight feet in dimensions.
THIRD COUNTY JAIL COMPLETED IN 1860.
Daviess county built, at different periods, two log jails, small affairs, one of which was destroyed by fire and the other, as the county increased its population and malefactors became more numerous, was found inadequate and obsolete. Each building was provided with a room for that class of debtors who either were unable or unwilling to meet their obligations and, by reason thereof, were liable to imprisonment until their debts were canceled or compromised. Happily, the law under which unfortunates of this class were deprived of their liberty long since has been abolished and no "debtor's room" figures in modern plans for county jails in the great commonwealth of Indiana.
The county bastile, built of logs in 1830, which lasted until the year 1859, stood on the northwest corner of the public square. The question of replacing this crude structure with one of greater dimensions and more sub- stantial material was considered by the board in the year last mentioned above. Matthew L. Brett and Andrew Martin were appointed by the board as a committee to prepare plans and perform other pertinent duties, among which was the letting of the contract for the proposed improvement. Fol- lowing instruction., this committee presented designs for the jail and awarded the building contract to the firm of Richards & Harris, for the sum of five thousand two hundred twenty-nine dollars. To finance the undertaking the board appropriated the sum of seven thousand dollars. Thomas F. Baker put in the iron work for the cells and when the structure was turned over to the board in its finished state, December 2, 1860, the appropriation had been consumed.
FOURTH JAIL ERECTED IN 1884.
In the year 1883, the board of county commissioners issued twenty-five thousand dollars in bonds, to secure the means wherewith to erect a com- bined jail and turnkey's residence that would meet the requirements of that period and several future generations. These bonds were arranged in series and of different denominations. They sold at a premium, which indicates the splendid financial condition of the county at that time. Brentwood Tolan, of Fort Wayne, was selected as the architect and, although not the
89
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
lowest bidder, the contract was let to J. G. Miller, for the suni of twenty-five thousand five hundred dollars. The old jail building was sold and removed from its site. In 1881 a lot was purchased of Alexander Leslie, situated on the southeast corner of Walnut and Third streets, for which one thousand two hundred dollars was paid, and here the present substantial brick county jail and sheriff's residence combined, was constructed, the same being com- pleted in 1884, at a total cost of twenty-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty-six dollars.
THE COUNTY INFIRMARY.
In all communities under civil government it is necessary and obligatory to provide ways and means for the care and comfort of the unfortunate citizens, who are incapacitated by disease, physical or mental deformities or the ravages of time. Some time had elapsed after Daviess county had gathered well along on its way in growth and prosperity, before the author- ities were called upon for assistance by a helpless or indigent person. When the time came in which it was apparent that public assistance to the needy was inevitable, certain persons in the community, willing and trustworthy, were empowered by the trustees of the townships to render assistance to worthy mendicants, in the way of food and shelter. For the first three years of the county's existence the expense in this relation was negligible. In 1835, the amount of money expended throughout the county in public charities only reached the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. But the system of provid- ing for the poor was inconvenient and unsatisfactory, so that, in March, 1841, the board of justices issued bids for the sale to the county of a tract of land, to contain either forty or eighty acres of land. A committee made up of Joseph Warner, Samuel Kelso and Abner Davis, was appointed in June, 1842, to examine several tracts of land offered for sale and after con- sideration, the board purchased eighty acres, three and one-half miles south of Washington, in section 14, Veale township, the price being two hundred and eighty dollars. Half of the farm was secured of David Hogshead and the other "forty" of Lewis Jones.
On the county farm when purchased were a small house and barn. Will- iam T. Wallace and John Bishop were selected as a committee to superintend the construction of other necessary buildings, but if any were put up no record of the fact has been made. William Harlin was appointed superintendent of the infirmary and. in 1843, he managed the farm and the two inmates of the newly-erected eleemosynary institution. Hamlet Sanford and Joseph Allison were selected as the "visitors," or inspectors and, while in the per-
'90
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
formance of their onerous duties, the "visitors" found three inmates on the farm in 1845. The superintendent reported for the fiscal year 1846-7 that the institution's expenses amounted to four hundred ninety-two dollars and six cents. In 1848 Dr. Samuel W. Peck was appointed county physician.
John Jones was the superintendent in 1853 and was under contract to maintain the inmates at one dollar and thirty-five cents each per week and have the use of the farm. There is nothing to show what profit Mr. Jones made out of this contract or whether any of the inmates were able to walk at the end of the year. However, the old farm, by the year 1864, proved a failure in serving its purpose and was sold to Thomas Cunningham for one thousand dollars. Another place, containing one hundred acres, situated in section 12, Washington township, was bought of John McCarey, for which three thousand five hundred dollars was paid. Later, different tracts of land were added to the farm which now contains two hundred and forty-four acres, a part of which lies in section 13, and valued at forty thousand dollars.
On this county farm was built, in 1866, under the superintendency of a building committee composed of John Hyatt, Dr. G. G. Barton and R. A. Clements, a large brick building, in which were dormitories, sitting-rooms, dining-rooms, kitchen, and living-rooms for the superintendent and his family.
That structure stands today and is performing the duties for which it originally was intended, although sadly out of date in its arrangement and appointments. Some minor improvements have been made to the farm in recent years, but nothing over which the county particularly exults.
Quill White, the present superintendent of the Daviess county infirmary, in his report for the year 1914, stated that the farm's receipts for that year amounted to two thousand five hundred sixty-nine dollars and thirty-three cents, and the amount disbursed was three thousand five hundred twenty- four dollars and fifty-three cents.
CHAPTER V.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
It will have been noticed, that, when the county was organized, a board of commissioners was elected, whose office was to transact the county's busi- ness affairs. Under this commissioners' system, some of the most important details, pertinent to the starting of the county's governmental machinery, were inaugurated and carried into effect. This system was continued until the fall of 1824, when, by reason of complaints and grievances set up by cer- tain of the taxpayers, the office was abolished and in its stead was created, by the Legislature, a somewhat similar body, clothed with the same duties, authority and responsibilities as its predecessor, and named the board of county justices, which was made up of the oldest justice (in point of service) from each township, whose members elected a presiding officer with the title of president of the board. This ruling body remained under the law until September 1831, when the board of commissioners again was placed at the head of the county's affairs, only to be superseded once more, in 1836, by a board of justices, which performed its functions until September, 1842, when three commissioners took their seats and conducted the business of the county under the system first adopted.
THE COUNTY COUNCIL.
From 1842 to 1899, a period covering fifty-seven years, the board of county commissioners held full sway and carried on the county business in its own way, being deterred in its methods only through fear of each mem- ber's constituency. From time to time members of the board displayed qualities and performed official acts that were quite reprehensible and, it is said, more than one left the county without warning or ceremony. The tax- payers, as a rule, were long-suffering and patient, but the time came when patience ceased to be a virtue and the Legislature finally was prevailed on to pass a measure restricting the power of the board of commissioners. This "happy consummation" reached fruition when the General Assembly passed an act entitled "an act concerning county business," approved March 3, 1899. The first section reads as follows :
92
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Indiana, That there is hereby enacted in the several counties of this state a body to be known as a county council and styled according to the name of the county, etc."
Under this law the board of county commissioners was commanded to meet within twenty days after the act went into effect and divide the county into four districts, from each of which a member should be returned by election to the newly-created council and, in addition thereto, three council- men at large, to be elected by the voters of the whole county. The salary for each councilman is placed at ten dollars per annum and the time for opening the session of the council is designated as the first Tuesday after the first Monday of September, of every year, "for the purpose of fixing the rate of the tax levy and making appropriations." Section 15 of the act, a very important one, is as follows :
"The power of fixing the rate of taxation for county purposes, and for all purposes where the rate not fixed by law is required to be uniform through- out the county, shall be vested exclusively in the county council ; and neither the board of county commissioners, nor any county officer or officers, shall have power to fix the rate for any purpose whatever. The power of making appropriations of money to be paid out of the county treasury shall be vested exclusively in such council, and, except as in this act otherwise expressly provided, no money shall be drawn from such treasury but in pursuance of appropriations so made."
Section 32 of the act declares that "the county council shall have the exclusive power to authorize the borrowing of money for the county"; and. in section 29, the language is plain and unequivocal in defining the reason for the measure as follows: "The intent of this act is to place limits and checks upon payments out of such treasury and not to extend or increase them."
On Monday, August 7, 1899, the county council of Daviess county, Indi- ana, by order of the board of commissioners of said county, met in the circuit court room in the court house, in the city of Washington, Indiana, the fol- lowing members being present: John G. Leming, George W. Smith, James WV. Cain, Andrew T. Myers, Frank B. Arford. John Downey, Anderson Veale. The council then adjourned to meet in regular session on the first Tuesday, after the first Monday in September, 1899. The following, in the relation, is taken from the council's record of proceedings :
"Come now the members of the Daviess county council, this the 5th day of September, 1899. The meeting is called to order by John Downey, presi- dent, in the chair, with Robert Russell, clerk of the council, present upon call
93
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
of the roll, the following members are present and answer to their names, towit : John Downey, James W. Cain, John Leming, Anderson Veale, George W. Smith, Frank Arford, Andrew T. Myers." The members of the council all being present, that body immediately began the business for which it was created.
EARLY BUSINESS PROCEEDINGS.
Below are presented some interesting details of the proceedings of the county's business agents during its formation period, the following being excerpts from the early proceedings of the board of commissioners. Under date of March 15, 1817, there is the following entry :
"State of Indiana,
"Daviess County.
"At a meeting of the county commissioners of said county, the commis- sioners being present, William Ballow, John Aikman and Ephraim Thomp- son, and they received the report from the sheriff respecting the county seat of Daviess county, and made the same publicly known, then adjourned to Monday next, nine o'clock. Accordingly they met on the 19th instant, and ordered that Emanuel VanTrees shall survey the land given as a donation for the county seat of Daviess county, given by Emanuel VanTrees and Peter Wilkins, and found the same to be thirty-seven acres and one-half and thirty- two [the latter figures probably that many one-hundredths]. The commis- sioners then proceeded to appoint an agent for said county and unanimously agreed that John Allen, senior, shall be the agent, who, accordingly, came forward and gave his bond for twenty thousand dollars, and his security were James Samuel J. Kelso, and Peter Wilkins; and then ad- journed to the 18th instant at 9 o'clock. Accordingly met to [by] appoint- ment and proceeded to lay out the town and ordered the survey and called the name thereof, Washington. And the survey was performed by Emanuel VanTrees until finished.
"The commissioners appointed the public square to be between Main street and Walnut street and between the lots numbered 44 and 45 and 64 and 65."
"Monday, the 12th day of May, the commissioners met agreeable to act of the Legislature, at the court house, in our said county of Daviess, and pro- ceeded to business. Ordered that a township be laid off, towit: Beginning at the range line of ranges 7 and 8, township 2, sections 7 and 8; thence east running with the section line to the corner between sections 10 and II ; thence
94
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
north with the section line, including all the inhabitance north of the be- ginning line and to be called the township of Washington.
"Further ordered that a township be laid off, towit: Beginning at range 7, thence down the west fork of White river to the injunction [junction] ; thence up the east fork to the mouth of Aikmans creek; thence up said creek to the head; thence to the corner between sections IO and II. To be called Veel's [Veale] township."
"Further ordered that a township be laid off, beginning at the mouth of Aikman creek and running up said creek to the head; thence on a direct line to the mouth of Lick creek; thence down White river to the [place of] begin- ning. To be called Reeves [Reeve] township."
"Further ordered that a township be laid off, towit: To commence at the section line between sections 10 and II; thence north with the said line; thence east to range [Orange county, now] line, and with said line to Lick creek; thence down said creek to the mouth; thence on a direct line to the beginning. To be called Perry township."
[This subdivision of the county extended into what subsequently became Orange county, which was part and parcel of Daviess at that time.]
"Further ordered that the following be the number of justices of the peace to be elected in each township in said county, towit :
"For the township of Washington, three justices of the peace; town- ship of Reeves, two; township of Veele [Veale], two; township of Perry, two.
"And further ordered that elections be held in the different townships of said county of the first Saturday in June, next, 1817; and be it further ordered that the sheriff be [ordered] to advertize the election at the following places, towit : Which are hereby established : For the township of Washing- ton, at the court house in Liverpool; Veele [Veale] township, at the house of James Veele, junior, now John Colemans; Reeves township, at the house of Martin Palmar; Perry township, at the house of Henry Hall.
"And be it further ordered that William Palmar and Aaron Freelan be and they are hereby appointed constables for the township of Washington; and for the constables of Veele township, William Veele is hereby appointed ; for the township of Reeve, John Davison is hereby appointed constable; for the township of Perry, William Hays."
"The commissioners met on the 13th of May, agreeable to adjournment, and proceeds to appoint listers of taxable property in the several townships, towit: for the township of Washington, Vance Jones ; Veele, James C. Veele, junior; Reeve, Mason Ballow; Perry, George Mitcheltree. Ordered that
95
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Thomas Bradford be and he is hereby appointed inspector for Washington township, on the first Monday in June, next election; Joel Halbert, inspector for Perry township; Henry Edwards for Veele township; William Ballow for Reeves township.
"Further ordered that overseers of the poor be appointed in each town- ship, as follows: Washington township, William Hawkins and Ebenezer Jones; Veele, John Coleman and Jolın Evans; Reeves, James Aikman and Joshua Reeves; Perry, Joel Halbert and Frederick Shaltz.
"Ordered that the clerk shall alter the number of justices of the peace in Washington township from two to three."
SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS.
Then follows a list of appointments for road supervisors in the various. townships, also agents for the same. At this session of the commissioners' court an important measure was passed in the appointment of Ebenezer Jones, treasurer for the county, "for the time being by law." It should here be stated that G. L. VanTrees was the first clerk of the board of commissioners and the foregoing extracts from the minute book of that important body were recorded by him. To proceed with the records :
"June, the 28th, 1817. The county commissioners met and proceeded to lay a tax on the taverns in said county, that is to say : The taverns in Liver- pool shall pay twelve dollars annually, except Miss Ogden; she and the tavern keepers in all other places in this county shall pay ten dollars, that is, for the present year, and each tavern keeper shall sell for no more than the following rates, that is to say: For whiskey, per half pint, twelve and one- half cents; rum, brandy or wine, per half pint, fifty cents ; twenty-five cents per meal for breakfast, dinner or supper; for lodging, or bed, twelve and one-half cents; a horse to hay or feed per night, thirty-seven and one-half cents."
The prices quoted above seem ridiculously low to the present-day reader, especially the rates set. for ardent drinks, but these were the days before "Uncle Sam" took over the control of the manufacture of spirituous, vinous- and malt liquors. Before the inauguration of the tax, good whisky could be obtained for twenty cents a gallon, so that the prices laid down by the board of county commissioners were quite liberal for the dealer. The rates deter- mined for the guidance of tavern keepers in providing food and provender for man and beast would seem, at this day, to have been a little arbitrary.
96
DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA.
However, the traveling public of the twentieth century would hail with glee legislation somewhat on the same line.
The time and attention of the board for some time after its organization were employed in hearing and granting petitions for appointing viewers and hearing reports in relation to these primitive but needed improvements. As a matter of fact, road building is about the first thing to be considered in a new settlement and the authorities in all new communities legislate liberally for roads and bridges.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.