USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of DeKalb County, Indiana : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns and biographies of representative citizens : Also a condensed history of Indiana > Part 39
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"There, too, was the fair woman standing on the moon, clothed with the sun and crowned with stars. There, too, was Michael and his angels, chafing for a fight with his dragonship as soon as orders could be obtained from headquarters to open out on the enemy. And last but not least of the hideous things on that chart was the devil with his cloven foot. There are many here to-day who heard these lectures in the log-cabin school-houses, and yet remember that horrid chart, and the blood-curdling harangue of the reverend gentleman as he tried to terrify men, women and children into re- pentance, on the same principle that the bee-keeper scares an out- going swarm of bees into a new hive, by the hideous noise produced by the united efforts of his entire family on tin pans, cow-bells and dinner-horns. One could almost hear the approaching echoes of Gabriel's trumpet while looking at that chart and listening to the speaker's terrifying portraitures of the horrors of the 'last day.'
"None of the modern improvements and discoveries to aid in the cause of a practical education were then known in this county. No graded reading books or spellers, no blackboards, steel pens or mathematical frames, no globes or varnished pointers. Then, we had pointers, fresh hickories cut from the adjacent thicket with the jack-knife of the teacher. But they were not used as the orna- mented pointers now are, to demonstrate mathematical problems on the blackboard, and to trace out the course of rivers and mountains, and the most practical and direct route across the continent, or around the globe, upon an outline map suspended on the wall, but
Yours Reply John Bull 6º Recorder
yours truly Delice Butt
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they were applied to the backs of the wayward youth to demon- strate the propriety of searching for the most direct route to obedience.
" And these pointers were effective, too. Two of the qualifica- tions for teaching that were indispensable then are now entirely obsolete; the applicant for the position of school teacher must then be able to make a goose-quill pen, and possess the muscular power to wield a hickory whip. But the educational facilities of this country have changed since then. The old log-cabin school-house has disappeared, and now beautiful structures of frame or brick dot our country thickly over. The sassafras benches have given place to easy and convenient seats and desks, and apparatus by which the intelligent teacher may illustrate the sciences adorn the school-room in abundance. * * *
" A little of the rough-and-tumble life such as the pioneer ex- perienced is requisite to develop the courage, the moral back-bone, the self-reliance and industry, the patience and perseverance neces- sary to usefulness in life. The meetings in the old log-cabin school- house were conducted with a zealand pathos that we do not wit- ness now in the fashionable church. The average congregation then did not comprise more than twenty-five or thirty persons on ordinary occasions, but their earnestness and zeal would exceed the aggregate zeal of an ordinary congregation of 300 persons of the present day. There is many a gray-haired and sun-browned pio- neer before me to-day who, near half a century ago, has assisted in the singing of ' Old Hundred,' 'Lenox,'.or the long-meter doxology in those old-time meetings until the very atmosphere around them was filled with such a spirit of goodness that every one who in- haled it was made to feel that it was good for him to be there.
"There was more real, solid, soul-stirring hallelujahs in one of those log-cabin protracted meetings on a cold winter night, under the management of some of the pioneer preachers, than Moody and Sankey ever produced, when at the acme of their fame as revivalists. The early preachers have nearly all gone to their reward. Gabriel Williams, Lewis Hicklin, Henry Kunler, Ladd Thomas, Cyrus Alton and James Hadsell are numbered with those who have passed through the chilly waters of the mysterious river. Jonathan Thomas, Elder Ward, John McCurdy and James Cather, who were among the pioneer preachers, are yet with us, and continue their life work in trying to better the condition of those around them by both precept and example.
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"The pioneer merchants (store-keepers we then called them) were N. L. Thomas, of Newville, whom we familiarly called 'Uncle Ladd,' and Thomas J. Freeman, of Auburn; both men, of some consequence in their time, have long since gone to that country from which no traveler returns. * * The pioneer store in the eastern part of the county, the one kept by Ladd Thomas, occupied a room about fifteen feet square, and $200 would have purchased every article he had to sell. He made his regular trips to Fort Wayne at stated periods, riding an old black horse, familiarly known as 'old Jack' by all the early settlers, and carry- ing with him his purchases of produce, consisting of deer and coon skins, beeswax and ginseng roots. These he exchanged for such articles as he kept for sale, and freighted old Jack with his pur- chases on his return trip.
"I said old Jack was familiarly known to the settlers. Uncle Ladd, as he was called, was a Methodist preacher, and, in addition to his business as a merchant and his services in the pulpit, he preached the funerals and solemnized the marriages for all the settlers in the east part of the county, and when he went from home to attend to these duties old Jack was his only mode of convey- ance. The old horse seemed to have the ability to determine the difference between a funeral and a wedding, and it is not strange that he had, when we consider the fact that when Uncle Ladd at- tended a funeral he went alone; but when called to officiate at a wedding the whole family went with him, and old Jack's burden, like Job's, was grievous to be borne; and like one of olden times, he might have exclaimed : 'It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.' I have often seen old Jack, on Sunday mornings, passing my father's cabin home, on his way to a wedding, with the whole family, consisting of Uncle Ladd, his wife, two sons (David, who died at early manhood, and Newton, now a prominent lawyer in a Western city), all perched upon his back. Pardon this digression, but as the old horse will be remem- bered by so many persons, he deserves a passing notice.
" The storekeepers in the pioneer days were required to procure a license from the county commissioners before commencing business, and in their applications for the license they were re- quired to enumerate the articles they proposed to sell, and state the amount of capital invested in the business. And in compli- ance with the law, Thomas J. Freeman, the first merchant of Au- burn, on March 7, 1838, applied for a license to sell foreign
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merchandise and domestic groceries, with a capital of $175; and was required to pay for that privilege the sum of $5.00; and his traffic in time-pieces was restricted to one dozen for the year. The opinions of the people have changed greatly since then, for at that time Mr. Freeman was permitted to sell intoxicating liquor without a license, but was not allowed to sell tea, coffee and sugar without a permit. Now the dealer may sell the latter without a license, but must pay for the privilege of engaging in the liquor traffic.
"Then the shoemaker, following the example of the itinerant preacher, went from house to house with his kit of tools and made the shoes for the several families comprising his list of patrons. The ladies had not then acquired the habit of crowding a number four foot into a number three French kid shoe; but the shoes were manufactured to fit the foot and not the eye, and were made of substantial material, impervious to wet and cold. And equipped with a pair of these shoes, the pioneer's wife could walk a mile through the snow without being placed under the doctor's care for weeks following. But these pioneer customs, together with the log-cabin homes, and log school-houses, have passed away and now live only in the fond recollections of the few old settlers who sur- vive. The wilderness we then loved for its native grandeur has disappeared, and in its stead the cultivated field with its waving grain, the beautiful homes and pleasant little towns have sprung up.
"The winding wagon road, meandering around the swamps and creeks through the woods, can no longer be traced by the 'oldest inhabitant.' The old Indian trail can no longer be found, but the commodious highways permeating every part of the county fur- nish a comfortable route for every man to travel upon. The mail carrier, with his horn and saddle-bags, bringing us the news of important events, at the rate of three miles per hour, has been supplanted by the elegantly equipped mail coach, carrying the news of the world at the rate of sixty miles per hour. And not contented with even that rate of speed, science now supplies us with the telegraph; and later with the telephone, by which we may converse with our friends at a distance of what was, in pioneer days, a four-days journey. * * *
"Yes, indeed, great changes have taken place since the pioneer days; and we, too, who yet survive, of the early settlers, have changed. I well remember these old men and women here to-day, now with white hairs and trembling and uncertain step, when in the vigor of early manhood and womanhood, with a courage
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scarcely exceled by the man who braves the cannon's mouth, they left the tender associations of their early lives and came to this county, then a wilderness, cheerfully and uncomplainingly, endur- ing its dangers and its privations for a grand and noble purpose. A few of the old pioneers yet remain with us. They are the true heroes of this country, more deserving of adulation and more worthy of landatory honors than the heroes of the battle-field. To them we owe a debt of gratitude that we can never pay. As they go down to the grave, one by one, we see the land-marks of the civilization of this country disappear. The civilization remains for us to enjoy, but the motive power that planted it is fast reced- ing from our midst.
"Each year, as we meet, we notice the ranks are being thinned. Here and there we see vacancies, where the year before sat a pio- neer. To-day we will, no doubt, for the last ti me take the hand of some one of this noble band of heroes, and ere another annual re- union shall take place it may be said of some of these good old people present to-day, 'Their life work is done, and they have gone to their reward.' My friends, let us remember that we owe a duty to these old pioneers; that to them, to their sacrifices, and patient and unremitting industry, we are indebted for all there is of the blessings of civilization that surround ns. Let us spare no pains to make the remainder of their paths through life pleasant and en- joyable. Let us imitate their industry and integrity, their virtue and frugality, laboring to make our lives as worthy of imitation by those who follow us when we are gone; and hoping that it may be said of us, truthfully, when our life work has been finished, as it can now be said of the pioneers, that the world has been made better by our having lived in it."
After a recess and refreshments, officers were chosen as follows : President, Dr. J. H. Ford; Vice-President, William Henderson; Secretary, W. H. Dills; Treasurer, Cyrus Bowman; Biographer, D. Z. Hoffman. As Executive Committee : Butler, P. Noel; Jackson, William Carr; Concord, R. Culbertson; Newville, James Platter ; Stafford, C. R. Wanemaker ; Wilmington, south, P. B. Nimmons ; Wilmington, north, W. L. Blair ; Auburn, J. R. Cos- per ; Waterloo, John Butt ; Keyser, B. F. Moody; Richland, N. Griffith; Fairfield, G. W. Husselman; Smithfield, J. E. Thompson; Franklin, M. Waterman; Troy, W. R. Emerson.
Section 9 of the Constitution was amended so as to read as fol- lows: " All who were residents of Northern Indiana prior to any
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annual meeting of the society, and who are residents of De Kalb County, shall be considered members of the society." It was also voted that the president and secretary be members of the executive committee, and that the president be chairman, and the secretary, clerk thereof.
The Biographer reported the following deaths of pioneers: Henry Feagler, born May 24, 1816, died June 16, 1881 ; John Platter, born Nov. 23, 1809, died Oct. 28, 1881; Aaron Osborn, born Feb. 12, 1793, died Feb. 8, 1882; John Osborn, born April 19, 1817, died Dec. 23, 1881; Daniel McClellan, born in 1816, died in 1881; Louisa McClellan, born in 1831, died in 1881; Sarah Strohl, born Sept. 5, 1810, died Sept. 30, 1881; D. Harding, born Sept. 12, 1802, died April 23, 1882; John N. Miller, born in 1819, died Jan. 31, 1882; Sarah Learned, born April 30, 1818, died Sept. 13, 1881; Lemuel Flint, born April 6, 1798, died March 14, 1882; Samuel Headley, born Jan. 30, 1808, died July 22, 1881; D. Stambaugh ; Eveline Houlton, born Feb. 28, 1807, died Oct. 13, 1881.
Among the notable ones present at this meeting were Mrs. Maria Smith, widow of Francis Smith, who was the bride of the first marriage, by virtue of a license issued in this county Sept. 7, 1836. She is the daughter of J. J. Gunsenhouser, of Stafford Township. By a curious coincidence, the last marriage license issued prior to this meeting was dated June 14, 1882, and issued for A. B. Countryman and Mary Gunsenhouser, a niece of Mrs. Smith.
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
The most successful meeting the association has held was June 21, 1883, at St. Joe; and this was the fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of De Kalb County. The meeting was held in a grove of apple-trees adjoining the town, and was called to order by Dr. J. H. Ford, President, who made some remarks appropriate to the semi-centennial of the county's settlement. After the usual open- ing exercises, such as singing, etc., General Blair was introduced as the orator of the day. It had been raining steadily all the fore- noon, and this now increased to a brisk shower. The crowd, how- ever, persisted in standing out in the rain and hearing, and the orator did the best he could under the circumstances, speaking most of the time with an umbrella held over his head.
After the speaking the audience adjourned to dinner. There was plenty of provisions, but some difficulty was experienced in finding a dry place to sit down and "set the table." All were
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finally accommodated. Immediately after dinner a shooting match and tub race were held, for those interested. On reassembling at two o'clock, Rev. A. H. Widney, a pioneer of this county, though now in the Illinois Conference, was introduced. After some re- marks, he read the following poetical sketch, which is so full of pathos and humor, and allusions familiar to the pioneers, that it is worthy a place here. It is entitled
"THE WOODS OF ST. JOSEPH."
"Forests and streams of my childhood hours, Home in the depths of the wildwood bowers, Paths that were trod in my boyish days, Curious, crooked, winding ways. Scenes of the cabin, the clearing, the camp, Life in the forest shade, sunless and damp, Such is the picture we paint to-day, Such are the scenes we would fain portray. Men of those good old honest times, Worthy a place in these simple rhymes, Building their cabins and taming the soil, Brawny and bronzed were these sons of toil, Letting in sunlight wherever they came, Laying foundation for fortune and fame. Women, the mothers and wives of old, Weave we their deeds in ' Cloth of Gold.' Patient and prayerful they plodded along, Weeping at times and then singing a song; Gently they guided the stubborn will, They have gone-but our mothers rule us still. Boys in their blue drilling pantaloons, Whistling their old-time rustic tunes, Hunting the cows by the tingling bells, Stinging their feet in the nettley dells, Perpetually moving their hands and their jaws, In fighting mosquitoes and eating black haws. Rosy cheeked girls in their home-spun gowns, Sweeter than belles of the cities and towns, Dropping corn in the furrowed fields, Gathering the fruits which the forest yields, Plying the home-made hickory broom, Or taking a turn at the old-time loom, Baking a 'pone' on the broad clay hearth, Half is not told of their real worth. But that broad clay hearth has moldered away And her raven locks are thin and gray. But, may I tell it, one winter night, When the snow lay deep and the stars shone bright, Our Nancy sat in a straight-backed chair And somebody's boy in another chair;
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The fire burned low, he rose to go, Murmuring, 'It's growing late you know.' Then to his question she answered 'yea,' And they wedded forty years ago to-day. The river St. Joseph, untrammeled came down, From the swales and swamps; it came leisurely down, By the leaves and grasses discolored and brown; On its banks there was neither clearing nor town, But the settler came and the forest fell, Little by little the great trees fell. He was short of money but rich in trees, And the lack of that was the fate of these. He took a thirty-foot poplar log And made him a thirty-foot pirogue, And back and forth, again and again, He rowed and he poled to famous Fort Wayne. Poplar and walnut and cherry and ash Fell by his ax with a roar and a crash, And were drawn by the steers on the ' beautiful snow,' To the bluffs of the river-the river St. Joe, And were sold and rolled into the river St. Joe. Poplar and walnut and cherry and ash Were sold and rolled in his pocket as cash. Meanwhile did the boys and the girls of St. Joe Go forth to the forest with digger and hoe, And gather the ginseng, the yellow puccoon, And the bleeding roots of the red puccoon. Thus they laid the foundation of thrift and wealth, Not neglecting the simples that minister health. Ah, we shook with the 'agur,' I tell you we shook; And the bitters were made, and the bitters we took. There was prickly ash berries, cohosh and snake roots, And that which gives modern men ' snakes in the boots,' And a villainous jug with a stopper of cob That gives out its contents with a gurgle and sob. It was fire, it was gall, oh, the horrible stuff, But we took it and lived, and I think that enough. I have joined the Good Templars and rinsed out my mouth In the cleanest of springs in the North and the South. But I cannot forget it, the gurgle and sob, Of that infamous jug with its stopper of cob. But I mind me to-day of early schools, With rigid masters and iron rules. The low, log school-house with puncheon floor, Its cob-and-clay chimney and clapboard door; Its teetering benches and sloping shelf Where this trembling had learned to bend itself To the marks and pot-hooks and curious art, And the copies that spoke through the eye to the heart. Ah, the cork inkstand and the gray goose quill, And the maple-bark ink, I can see them still;
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I can feel my awkward knuckles snap 'Neath the tutoring touch of the ferule's rap. I seem to be writing with tongue and pen, The same old words that were written then; I seem to stand as a boy once more, Inside the open clapboard door; I see the forms as I saw them then,
They are girls and boys, not women and men.
I hear their well-known voices shout
When the day is past and school is out. I feel the touch of the ' tick a tag,' I hear the merry victor's brag, I am boy again for I breathe the air Of my boyhood's home, and from everywhere
I gather in with a happy song
The bits of my boyhood I've scattered along.
I have come again as a boy to find The boys and girls that I left behind. We've had our share of the bitter fare,
With flecks of sunshine here and there. So thanking God for this festal day, And chasing all cankering care away,
Let us drink a toast-in sassafras tea- To the pioneer of thirty-three: Here's to brave John Houlton's memory."
The Biographer reported the following names of pioneers who had died within the year: Abraham Reaver, Christian Sheets, Mary Dickinson, Isaac Cool, Caroline McGinnis, Lydia Hoffman, Eli Welch, John Brandon, Mary Woodcox, Major S. W. Sprott, Daniel Cool, Isaac Kutzner, James McCrum, Sophia Leas, William McQueen, William Crooks, Minerva Wanemaker, Arlina Bartlett and Samuel D. Long.
The following officers were chosen for the year 1883-'4: Presi- dent, William L. Blair; Vice-President, Orrin C. Clark; Secretary, William H. Dills; Biographer, John Butt; Treasurer, Cyrus Bow- man. The following were elected as members of the Executive Committee: Butler, Joseph Shryock; Jackson, William Carr; Concord, Jacob D. Lieghty; Newville, James Platter;" Stafford, Henry R. Wanemaker; Wilmington, Nathan H. Mathews and Charles Hanes; Auburn, Samuel W. Ralston; Waterloo, Henry Willis; Keyser, Elias Fisher; Richland, Gilbert Showers; Fairfield, J. M. Brumbeck; Smithfield, Wellington M. Farrington; Franklin, Miles Waterman; Troy, W. R. Emerson.
MEETING AT WATERLOO.
The seventh annual meeting was held at Waterloo, June 5, 1884,
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HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY.
and was attended by a fair number of the early settlers of De Kalb, and a few of the pioneers of Steuben. Judge John Morris, of Fort Wayne, had been selected as orator for the occasion, but was kept away by the funeral of his old friend and former partner, Judge Worden. This funeral also accounted for the absence of some others, including the Secretary. After dinner short addresses were made by General Blair, of Waterloo, E. D. Hartman, of Auburn, and George Harding, of Orland, Steuben County. At this meeting, gloves were presented by Edward Wright, to be awarded to the oldest settlers present from the two counties. Samuel Wasson, of De Kalb, and George Harding, of Steuben, were the recipients.
The officers elected for the year 1884-'5 are as follows; Presi- dent, Orrin C. Clark; Vice-President, Nelson Griffith; Secretary, William H. Dills; Treasurer, Cyrus Bowman; Biographer, John Butt.
The Executive Committee for the current year is as follows: But- ler, Philip Noel ; Keyser, B. F. Moody; Jackson, William Carr; Con- cord, R. G. Coburn, Dr. J. Emanuel; Newville, George F. DeLong; Stafford, George Webster; Wilmington, N. H. Mathews, W. L. Blair; Union, S. W. Ralston, Henry Willis; Richland, T. D. Daily; Fairfield, Willard Childs; Smithfield, Henry McClish; Franklin, Miles Waterman; Troy, O. P. Learned.
It is to be hoped that this association will long maintain a use- ful and profitable existence.
CHAPTER X.
AGRICULTURE .- RAILROADS .- WAGON-ROADS.
ADVANTAGES OF A RURAL LIFE .- FERTILITY OF SOIL IN DE KALB COUNTY .- VARIETY OF CROPS .- CROP STATISTICS .- LIVE STOCK. -AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY .- BEFORE THE WAR .- REORGANIZATION. -ANNUAL FAIRS FROM 1871 To 1884 .- RAILROADS .- LAKE SHORE & MICHIGAN SOUTHERN .- GRAND RAPIDS & INDIANA .- WABASH, ST. LOUIS & PACIFIC .- BALTIMORE & OHIO .- WAGON-ROADS .- DIFFICULTIES IN EARLY TRAVEL .- DISTANT MARKETS .- FIRST ROADS .- FIRST BRIDGES.
AGRICULTURE:
The basis of a county's best prosperity is good soil and industri- ous skillful cultivation of the same. Creditable agriculture is bet- ter for a locality than the vicinity of railroads, manufactures, public institutions, mines, or a capital of a State. For it is upon tillage of the soil that all these ultimately depend. The farmer is the only man alive who is really independent, though he does not al- ways appreciate his advantages. There is no more honorable, prof- itable, healthful free life than that which the scholars and wise men of all ages have landed and honored-and practiced, when possible. How many of our bankers, judges, and professors lead a semi-rural life! All who can. Cincinnatus, of ancient Rome, Washington and Horace Greeley of national fame in America, and hosts of others whose names crowd forward in quick succession in our memory, bear testimony to the many advantages of a life " near to nature's heart."
The soil of De Kalb County averages full y as good as the re- mainder of our fertile Northwest, and all cereals and other staples are profitably grown here. Agriculture in De Kalb County may be said to date from 1834, as potatoes were that year raised from seed brought in the year previous by John Houlton. Deprived of access to store and shop, the pioneer drew from soil and forest a supply for every want. Step by step needs have been supplied, till our intelligent farmers, in dwellings, fences, fields, machinery, stock and crop stand forth in truth independent and progres-
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sive. Log houses and rude log stables yet exist, but the tasteful frame and enduring brick farm-houses are the rule.
From the forest trees for an unknown period, each autumn a heavy coat of leaves had fallen, and these leaves and decaying vegetation of all kinds enabled the settler, on removing the timber, to find a soil of great fertility. Hence, large crops resulted from the rudest sort of cultivation. One settler planted five bushels of potatoes on the 8th and 9th of July, 1837, and in the fall dug eighty-six bushels from the earth. This was before the days of the Early Rose and kindred prolific varieties of this valuable tuber. Corn was early introduced, and wheat soon became a staple crop. Prior to 1849, the steady stream of immigration created a home market which consumed the products of the county. Whatever of surplus remained was exported by teams to Fort Wayne, Toledo and Hillsdale.
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