History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 43

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 43

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).

According to Judge Burnet, "the first improvement in the navigation of the Ohio was the introduction of barges moved by sails, when the wind permitted. and at other times by oars and poles. as the state of the water might require." These vessels were constructed to carry from fifty to one

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hundred tons. In wet seasons, if properly manned, they could make two trips between Cincinnati and New Orleans in a year. The increased quantity of cargo they carried reduced the price of freight, and enabled them to transport goods from New Orleans to Cincinnati at from five to six dollars per one hundred pounds, which was below the average charge of transporting freight across the mountains to the Eastern cities. From that time, most of the groceries used in the territory were brought up the river by these barges; as the price of freight grew less, the quantity of freight was proportionately increased. The introduction of this mode of traveling the Ohio and Mis- sissippi was an epoch in the history of the West. The barges were well adapted to the purpose for which they were designed, and continued in use until navigation by steamboats could take care of the freight and passenger service of the valley. However, the use of flatboats continued until recent years as a very economical means of transporting the products of the farmer to the lower river markets.

FLATBOATING.

One of the first things the thrifty emigrant did as soon as his crop was laid by, was to commence the construction of a flatboat to carry his surplus to New Orleans, or the "coast," or down the "bayous." They soon became expert navigators and knew the channel of the Ohio and Mississippi, from their home town to the destination, wherever that might be. In low water they would row "headway," as it was called, to hasten their trip. In high water, they kept in the channel and the strong current carried them swiftly on to their destination. In time of high winds and storms, they sought the bank and laid up until the river quieted. In extra high water, boats have been known to float from here to New Orleans in from fifteen to eighteen days without tieing a line during the whole trip.

The business in the way of flatboating was so large during the autumn that the river front at Aurora and Lawrenceburg would be lined with broad- horns loading for the South. At Hartford, several miles up Laughery creek, as early as 1820 it was said that as many as forty or fifty would be loading at one time. These produce boats were usually seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five feet in length and sixteen to twenty-two feet wide. They would be loaded down to draw from thirty to forty-eight inches of water. As railways began to be pushed into the West and South, it was found that freight could be delivered cheaper by rail from other points than here. Then, too, our products found other markets and our farmers changed their method of farming, raising less hay and producing other things.

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THE FLATBOATMEN.

The early flatboatmen were a hardy race. They grew accustomed to dangers and braved storms and other perils of the river, coming home across the country via Natchez and the old trail to Nashville. The first steamboat on the western waters came down the Ohio in 1811. It was detained at the falls by the shallowness of the water and, while waiting for the river to rise, made several trips between Louisville and Cincinnati. It is said that the people living along the river, who had never heard of such an invention, "when they gazed upon the novel appearance of the vessel, saw the rapidity with which it made its way over the waters and heard the strange noise caused by the steam rushing from the valves, were excited with a mixture of surprise and terror." By 1820 the flatboatman found the steamboats making trips between New Orleans and the up-river points of sufficient fre- quency to make it much more expeditious to come home by steamboat rather than via the Natchez trail. Gradually the river has lost its commercial activ- ity, until now even the steamboat lines hold on to their business with doubtful promise of profit.

Flatboating, besides its profit, was a life of adventure and appealed to the young men of the county. It afforded the opportunity of travel and seeing something of the world, as it then was, and at the same time offered a reward for the trip. In those pioneer days the average young and healthy man of eighteen or twenty did not feel like his education was completed. until he had taken a trip down the river on a flatboat. Many there were who arranged to make one trip a year. Flatboat stories were the common subject of conversation about the corner stores, at the cross roads and in the river towns. Many a hand, when paid off at New Orleans, would declare he had made his last trip. but, when once more at home, would stay, only to engage to the next boat leaving for the South, after being home a week or so resting up. The adventurous life on the way was an appeal that he could not resist.

VARIETY OF CARGOES.

From October until spring the Ohio would be alive with produce boats. loaded with every article of produce that is raised in the fertile valley of the Ohio. From Letart and Rome, Ohio, would come the apples: from Dearborn county would go boat after boat, loaded with corn. cattle. hay and potatoes, and so it would go. If the boatmen all got to the market at

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the same time, the price would drop until the profit was all gone. If the upper river froze up, stopping navigation, he could command the top prices for his load and come home with a goodly profit. The hoops for the bales of hay were obtained from the hickory trees and the barrels which were to be filled with potatoes or apples were made from the oak trees. The flat boats themselves were made from the oak trees and the poplar that grew on the uplands. It was a halcyon period, when plenty abounded and adven- ture was furnished sufficient to satisfy the restless.

FERRIES.

At the time of the earlier settlers, travel was interrupted frequently by the want of bridges to cross the streams. Where possible and where water remained the year through, to justify it, ferries were installed. The ferryman paid a license to the county, and charged for his service a fee established by the county. In the doings of the county board of supervisors from 1826 to 1831 may be found many schedules of the ferry charges on the streams of the county, and the granting of licenses to ferrymen.

In 1826 the board ordered "that the ferries shall pay the following taxes to the county for that year: Samuel C. Vance, ferry across the Ohio, $4; Aurora Association, ferry across the Ohio, $2.50; Aurora Association, ferry over Hogan, $5; George Weaver, ferry over Tanner's creek, $4; Isaac Dunn, ferry over Tanner's creek, $5; Martin Cozine's ferry over Hogan, $3; Ezekiel W. Loring's ferry over the Ohio, $4; Lawrence & Harpham's ferry over Laughery, $3; Elijah Hersley's ferry over the Ohio, $2.50."

It was stated, in the matter of rates, that the ferry over Laughery at Hartford, when the water was high or stream overflowed, the rates were dou- bled. The regular rates were: Each person, 614 cents; one person or one horse, 674 cents; horse, man or cart, 674 cents; cart, two horses or oxen. 1834 cents; Dearborn wagon and one horse, 1834 cents; same, with two horses, 1834 cents, wagon and three horses, 25 cents; wagon and four horses, 371/2 cents each head of cattle over five, 4 cents each head under five, 614 cents; sheep and hogs under five, 4 cents; same, over five, 2 cents; children of movers under ten, free.

The ferries over the Ohio were given rates as follow: Single person, 121/2 cents; single person, with horse, 25 cents; horse or mule, 121/2 cents ; horse and cart. 371/2 cents; cart and two horses, 50 cents; Dearborn wagon and one horse, 3772 cents; same, with two horses, 50 cents; same, with three

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horses, 621/2 cents; same, with four horses, 75 cents; each head of cattle up to 5, 121/2 cents; each head of cattle over 5, 10 cents; each head of sheep or hogs, 10 cents; over five, 10 cents; children of movers under 10 years of age, free.

When bridges were first constructed, it was thought proper to charge toll and a two-horse team crossing the Tanner's creek bridge at the location of the present road bridge was charged twelve and a half cents for crossing. In our day it is probable that this would be looked upon as quite a hardship.

In 1828 John Callahan was granted a license to keep a ferry at the mouth of Tanner's creek and to Petersburg, for which he paid the sum of four dollars.

CHANGED CONDITIONS.

Travel has since those days adjusted itself to the conditions, and many of the ferries which, in those days, were a necessity, have long since been abandoned.

The routes of travel and the way of traveling have in the past century been revolutionized. Trails, blazed ways, bridle paths, dirt roads, have given or rapidly are giving place to the smooth, oiled pikes. The horse, wagon and stage coach have gone their way, like the Indian, and given place to the rail- way, the automobile or motorcycle. What the next century may have in store for its people, we can no more surmise than the people of a century ago could have foreseen the things of today.

The old stage line from Lawrenceburg to Indianapolis was, in its day, the line of travel to the North and West, and was patronized mostly by those traveling on business. People emigrating to the West generally traveled in their own conveyance. Many interesting incidents, if they had been taken down, could be told. The drivers were expert and dependable. It was no light undertaking to be ready to drive four or six horses, as the occasion demanded, in storm as well as sunshine; in the blizzard, with the thermometer ranging from ten to twenty below zero, or in the heat of summer, with the mercury at ninety-five to one hundred above. Nor was it a pleasant or safe undertaking to skillfully guide the team during a fierce summer storm, with its glare of lightning, peals of thunder and gale of wind. A coach would hold twenty-one passengers on the inside. On the top were the trunks and two more passengers could sit by the side of the driver. Relays of horses were ready at certain points. And when the coach would arrive, the hostlers would unhitch the tired horses and hitch the fresh horses in a jiffy and the

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coach would speed on with the loss of but a few minutes. Lawrenceburg has one living representative of those stage coach days. John H. Menke, residing on Main street, engaged as a stage driver when only fourteen years of age, and drove for four years. He was the last man on the route to drive, and brought in from Greensburg the last mail overland. It was sched- uled at that time for the stage to leave Greensburg at three A. M. and arrive at Lawrenceburg at twelve midday to make connection with the boats for Cincinnati. In 1853 the last spike on the railroad between Lawrenceburg and Greensburg was driven. Mr. Menke brought the mail one day; the next day, the train from Greensburg brought it in and the days of the old stage coach ended forever. The mails for Indianapolis at one time were carried via Elizabethtown, Ohio, Georgetown and Wright's Corner to ex- pedite the time an hour or more. But after Indianapolis was selected as the capital of the state and the seat of government removed there, the mails from here to that city and from Cincinnati were brought here and thence out the state road. Mr. Menke recalls that some of the hostelries along the old stage route were as follow: Burton's, the three-mile house; Elias Heus- tis', six-mile house; Millikan's, nine-mile house; Oliver Heutis', twelve-mile house; Joseph Steinmetz's, Harris Snodgrass' and Sandford Holly's. the latter being the postmaster at Hogan Hill. The contractor responsible for the delivery of the mails, and who carried the passengers, was Aaron McCall, a brother-in-law of James H. Lane. It took considerable capital to finance such an undertaking. The horses were continually wearing out, and be- coming lame or overdriven, would have to be replaced with fresh ones. The coaches, driven over rough roads and through quagmires, would be in con- stant need of repair. It took several hostlers at the points where the horses were changed. The creeks had to be forded and it was no uncommon thing for the wheels to be pried out of the mud. The luxurious Pullman of today, with its dining-car attached, is a strong contrast to the early stage coach, with its relay of horses and its country dinners at the hostelry where the coach changed horses.

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CHAPTER XXXV.

EDUCATION.

When the first family settled in the Wayne Purchase the problem of education commenced. It continued to absorb much of the thought of the early settlers and is today one of the leading and predominant matters of the state. The free school idea had not yet been worked out to the per- fection of the present day. That has been the result of years of thought. experiment and endeavor. The central thought of the pioneers was to bring the school as close to the family as possible. To provide a fund for the future they very wisely set aside one section in every Congressional township, the proceeds of the sale of which should be a fund for school purposes. They early recognized the value of higher education, but the high school of today was a creature of evolution and the result of years of labor-an idea not thought possible in pioneer days. The Legislature of 1818 at- tempted to provide a central advanced school by creating what was called a seminary fund, which was made up from the accumulation of fines asssessed for misdemeanors against the peace and good order of the state. In order to care for this fund an act was passed and approved on January 26, 1818, entitled "An Act respecting Public Seminaries and for other purposes :

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Indiana-That the Governor of the state be and is hereby authorized and required to appoint and commission under the seal of the state, some fit person in each county as trustee of the public seminary fund therein, who shall within thirty days after receiving his commission, enter into bond with two or more securities in the sum of $2,000 for the proper care of the monies that may come into his hands."

It was provided further that all justices of the peace and clerks of the circuit courts were to annually render a report to the county commissioners of the amount of fines collected during the year, and show by receipts properly given that all such funds had been paid in to the seminary fund. A penalty was attached to the failure of any officer to properly pay over such funds to the seminary trustee. It was further provided that when this fund accumulated to the amount of four hundred dollars or more the county board of supervisors or county commissioners could at their option proceed

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to appoint a board of education, consisting of three or more persons, who would proceed to select some desirable location in the county where they would erect a county seminary.

The records of the county having been burned it is difficult to find out the names of the trustees of the seminary fund in Dearborn county before 1826, but James Walker made his annual report on the 2nd of November of that year showing that there was the sum of $761.47 on hands. The records also show that during the May session of the board of supervisors he was re-elected for a term of three years.

In November, 1827, Walker reports the sum of $824.32, which he reports all loaned out "with the exception of a five dollar note on the Miami Exporting Company Bank of Cincinnati." November 3, 1828, Walker reports the sum of $1,156.82 on hands, with the same five dollar note yet in his hands unable to pass it or loan it. In October, 1831, it seemed that the law had changed and instead of the county commissioners appointing the seminary trustee, he was elected with the other county officers; and Walker was again elected to the place. It appeared, however, that the office had more to do with the management of the school sections in the county than the seminary fund that was received from fines, for on May 8, 1832, Elias Conwell, as trustee of the seminary fund, reports to the board of county commissioners that he had loaned out from said funds the sum of $1,281.741/2, with the same five dollar note on the Miami Exporting Company Bank of Cincinnati. which had been turned over to him from his predecessor.

On May 9 the commissioners took action on account of the amount of funds on hands, and it was ordered that at the next general election the following August the voters of the county elect a trustee from each of the three commissioners' districts, to manage the fund and select a proper loca- tion for a seminary. On January 9, 1833, the records of the board of county commissioners show that these trustees elected the preceding August had selected the town of Wilmington as the proper location for the county sem- inary, and the board proceeded to ratify the action of the trustees by a vote of two to one. George Arnold, of Logan township. first district, recorded his vote against the location.

The commissioners' records say very little concerning the seminary, until, in 1838. it is recorded that the commissioners, according to law. pro- ceeded to appoint the following twelve trustees of the seminary: Daniel Conaway. Robert Moore, Spencer Davis. Benjamin Vail. Nathaniel I .. Squibb, Benjamin Walker, John Tate, W. S. Durbin. John B. Clarke, Aaron B. Henry, Jacob W. Egelston. J. H. Brower.

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EARLY LEGISLATION.

The Legislature at its earlier meetings evidently had in view the idea that the schools should be organized around the Congressional townships. The section 16 in every Congressional township had been set aside as a school section, and in the Legislature of 1824 an act was passed to further improve the opportunities for education among the children, in which it provided "For the incorporation of the Congressional township, by first giving twenty days' notice of such a township election by posting it in at least three public places, that an election was to be held on the school section, when three township trustees were to be elected who should qualify and give bond each in the sum of $1,000." These trustees were to be in charge of the school section, to organize by selecting a clerk and treasurer, make by- laws for the regulation of the township schools, divide the township into school districts and appoint in each such district three sub-trustees, who should within ten days call a meeting of the freeholders and householders of the school district. At this meeting they should, by a recorded ave and nay vote, get the sense of the school district as to whether or not they would support a public school for any number of months not less than three. Fol- lowing this the three sub-trustees were to select a location for a school house at some convenient central spot, and with the labor and contributions of the people in said school district proceed to erect a school house.

Section twelve of the act provided "That so soon as the district trustees shall have performed the duties enjoined upon them by the tenth section of this act, they shall proceed to employ a teacher on the most advantageous terms that they can, contracting to make payment at the expiration of the term contracted for, in such articles and otherwise in such way and manner. as may comport with the decision and determination of the inhabitants of such districts as provided for in the tenth section of this act. A copy of which contract the said trustees shall forthwith transmit in writing to the clerk of the corporation or Congressional township aforesaid; and such recorded contract shall thenceforth be binding upon all parties concerned. Provided, however, That no person shall be employed as a teacher, as aforesaid, until he shall produce the certificate of the township trustees that they have examined him touching his qualifications, and particularly as respects his knowledge of the English language, writing and arithmetic, and that in their opinion he will be an useful person to be employed as a teacher in said school." The members of the Legislature were endeavoring to enable every neighbor-

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hood to secure a school for at least three months in the year, and in its wording of section twelve evidently surmised that the pay might possibly be partly, at least, in some other form than actual money.

Many of the early teachers saw very little money. Some of them were very competent and some very tyrannical. The wording of section twelve of this act just quoted did not contemplate that a person of the opposite sex would ever apply for a position as teacher. It is all worded in the masculine. In those days if women taught school it was always a select private school. A "pay school" it was called.

SOME OF THE FIRST TEACHERS.

The earlier school teachers, before Indiana became a state, taught "pay school"-altogether too little pay it was. One of the earliest teachers was Isaac Polk, who taught on Double Lick run near the Elizabethtown pike. About 1805 is supposed to be the time he first taught. He also taught a school on the Rees land near the present school house about the year 1811. The following is quoted from an early history: "Sometime subsequent to 1793, the year the Hayes, Millers, Guards and others settled at the mouth of the Miami and there established a station, and prior to 1796, the date of their removal into what is now Indiana and Dearborn county, school was taught at the station of Captain Hayes by Isaac Polk. Polk taught in the station and was the first school teacher in the country." He was known far and near as "Master Polk," and was one of the best scribes ever in the country, and it is to be regretted that so little is known of his history. In the Hayes, Miller and Guard settlements schools were taught from almost the very beginning. James Grubbs, who was born in this township in 1805. speaks of attending a school in his earliest school years, that was kept near the state line up in the Hayes and Miller neighborhood, taught by one Britton. This school was held in the round log cabin of that day. Probably one-half mile further west. on the other branch of Double Lick run ( the first was on that stream), he attended a school taught by one Woolsey. Subsequent schools he attended! were further north in Miller township and east in the state of Ohio. Enoch Miller. born in the township in 1813, and a member of the pioneer family of Millers, recalls his first school as one taught in a rude log cabin that stood on the Thomas Miller lands, in which a teacher by the name of Dolly, a Yankee, held sway. He was quite a severe one too, it seemed. So much so, that the boys at one time concluded to somewhat soften him and not longer

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bear his severe treatment without remonstrance. He was "barred out" at one time, but effected an entrance to the house, but was seized by the boys and shown a pile of logs and kindling and came to terms. Daniel Jessup was another teacher who taught in the building on the Miller lands. He is remem- bered as a good man and an excellent teacher. Later a frame building at Hardinsburg served as a place for holding school, and here a one-legged man (name forgotten) taught for a time.

Robert Fowler, of Lawrenceburg (who was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, October 9, 1803, and died on August 24, 1891, in Lawrenceburg), came to the county in 1810. He stated that the first school that he attended or had any remembrance of, was one taught in a rude log cabin that stood on the east bank of Wilson creek, just where the Baltimore & Ohio railway bridge crosses that stream. This house was used as a school house in the winter of 1811 and 1812. The next school he remembered attending was along the road leading to Ebenezer church near the stone residence of Mr. Worley. Joseph Dent was the teacher. An early school was held about half way between Lawrenceburg and Aurora, near the present pike that connects the two towns. Here Isaac Polk taught. About the year 1830 a log cabin school house was built on this section. Section 16 was the school section in Congressional township 5, range I, and corners where the residence of Martin J. Givan now is located. It is probable that the log school house referred to was erected on that section. Mr. Fowler recalled that Alexander Gregg was the teacher there in 1820.

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 43

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123