History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 49

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 49

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"My countrymen, you call on me for a speech. I have none to give you and have not sufficient time to devote to it if I had. I suppose you are all Union men here (cheers and cries of 'Right') and I suppose you are in favor of doing justice to all whether on that side of the river (pointing to the Ken- tucky hills) or on your own (cries of 'We are'). If the politicians and the leaders of parties were as true as are the people there would be little fear that the peace of the country would be disturbed. I have been selected to fill your most important office for a brief period and am now in your eyes intrusted with an influence which, however, will soon pass away, but should my admin- istration prove to be a reckless one-or what is more probable, a foolish one- if you, the people, are but true to yourselves and the Constitution there is but little harm that I can do."

There are a few old citizens in the city yet living who recall hearing Mr. Lincoln and are very proud of being present to hear the great man.

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THE ILL-FATED "REDSTONE."

In the early days of steamboating the government took no hand worth speaking of in regulating the traffic or the building of the crafts. Engines, boilers and other machinery were placed in the boat according to the ideas of the owner, and frequently the construction of engines and boilers especially was very faulty. Then there was no inspector to look over the machinery and inform the steamboat owners that their boats were unsafe. On account of such conditions, frightful accidents were frequent and often accompanied by great loss of life. In those days people who traveled by boat often had experi- ences that were never forgotten.

The sporting blood in both officers, men and passengers would frequently get the better of their judgment and great risks were taken with the boat machinery in order to forge ahead of their eager opponent. At such times the excitement would be intense and there would be much loud cheering and calls from boat to boat. Inflammable material was used to increase the speed. If the boat was carrying as freight a lot of sidemeat or oil it was unhesitatingly thrown into the furnace to add to the steaming capacity. regardless of owners' objections or danger from too great an amount of steam produced.

In the spring of 1852 one of the boats in the Madison trade was the "Redstone." It was a stern-wheel affair of not a great many tons burden but was well patronized, both in the way of freight and passengers. It was customary at that time to leave Madison for Cincinnati about noon so the boat could be in port in the morning by daybreak. Packets, then as now, were accustomed to land wherever there was a hail, stopping for either freight or passengers wherever a landing was possible, and at that time of the year the river was at such a stage that a landing could be made at most any point.

The boat landed at Carrollton, Kentucky, and took on freight on its way towards Cincinnati and as they untied their lines a boat of a competing line was alongside. Captain Thomas Pate, of Rising Sun, was the master of the "Redstone" and the competition being fierce it was important that he got ahead of his antagonist in order to secure the freight as the boat was hailed from the banks of the river. The other boat was just as anxious to lead as the "Redstone," so a race was commenced. It is said the 'Redstone" used bacon to increase the boiler's steaming capacity. When only a mile or more above Carrollton the "Redstone's" boilers let go with such force that the boat was wrecked and many of the passengers and crew lost their lives. The force of the explosion was so great that it was heard for miles around.

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People living now can recall the dull rumbling sound that fairly rocked houses and chimneys as far as ten miles away.

Capt. Thomas Pate, it is said, was thrown by the force of the explosion about one hundred feet in the air, lighting in the river feet foremost and unhurt excepting a slight abrasion on his forehead. Many who were lost were never found, not even a shred of clothing. Others were cast up by the river and those who were yet alive were picked up by rivermen in skiffs as they floated down the river. Three men from Lawrenceburg on the boat who were taking the trip just for the pleasure of it perished in the disaster. They were all young men of great promise in the community and their death under such circumstances made a profound impression on the community. The names of the young men so suddenly ushered into eternity were James E. Goble, Edmond Durbin and Eli C. Crisman. They were all newspapermen and Goble had, in connection with the late Henry L. Brown, published a paper in Lawrenceburg called the Independent Press since 1850. He had served as First Corporal in Company K, Fourth Regiment, of Indiana Volunteers, in the Mexican War, although at that time only sixteen years of age. Mr. Goble was a half-brother of Frank Goble, the present city clerk, and his mother was a member of the pioneer family of Percival, well known in the early history of the county, Durbin was the son of William S. Durbin, a prominent citizen of Lawrenceburg at that time, and was an older brother to ex-Governor Win- field T. Durbin, of Anderson, Indiana. Crisman was a young man who was at that time in the city and working on the Press. The young people of the town were so deeply impressed with the loss to the city of three such esti- mable young men that they erected a monument over their graves-all being buried on one lot in the old cemetery-where may be found inscribed the fol- lowing :

"Erected to the memory of three noble-hearted young men who were killed by the explosion of the steamer "Redstone," near Carrollton, Kentucky, on April 3, A. D. 1852. May they rest in peace. Eli C. Crisman, born March II, 1830; died April 3, 1852; aged 22 years and 22 days. Edmond Durbin, born April 10, 1831 ; died April 3. 1852; aged 20 years, 11 months and 23 days. James E. Goble, born March 2, 1830; died April 3, 1852; aged 22 years, I month and I day."

Robert D. Newton, who for years afterward resided at Dillsboro. was also a passenger on the boat and suffered the loss of one of his eyes in the catastrophe. Captain Pate was a man of great courage and will power. Although nearing the age limit when the Civil War broke out he recruited a

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company and served his country in that trying period as captain of a company in the Thirty-Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

It took a generation of steamboating to secure regulations that safe- guarded travel as it should and in the meanwhile rapid transit has ended the days of passenger travel on the rivers and the hair-breadth escapes and the exciting scenes of the early days of steamboating remain only in history. It was the palmy days of river traffic, but there are persons yet living who can recall the stories of the disasters in connection with the loss of the "United States" and the "America," the burning of the "Pat Rogers;" the blowing up of the "General Lytle."

Forty years ago there was from Cincinnati a weekly line of palatial steamers in the New Orleans trade; a bi-weekly line to Memphis; opposition lines in the Madison trade, and regular steamers plying in the trade with Louisville, which carried the United States mail to all way points as well as the through mail for points farther on. With all who have passed three score years and ten the stories of the earlier steamboatmen and their hardy brothers, the flatboatmen, linger in memory's hall with a vividness that can never be erased while life lasts.

STORY OF AN ANXIOUS FATHER.

In the palmy days of steamboating it was customary for many of those crafts doing a packet business to stop for every hail and see if they could not obtain business, some of them even going so far as to round to whenever they discovered a pile of freight of any description on the river bank at an acces- sible landing. The river towns, such as Lawrenceburg and Aurora, had in those days a number of men who made their living in river business; indeed it was a fact that most families obtained their living either directly or indi- rectly from the business connected with river affairs.

In the forties there was a family in Lawrenceburg by the name of Seeds, and seven of the boys made their living on the river, one of them by the name of James being a steamboat pilot, and a good one, too. The father, Moses Seeds, was rather an odd character and had a strong lisp in his talk.

The story goes that his son, James, had been away for some time and the father, seeing a boat coming down stream that he surmised might have aboard his son as pilot, hailed it with much vigor and the ready man on watch rang the bell for the boat to slack up and see what was wanted. After it had come close to shore and the headway stopped and the roustabouts stood ready

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with the lines to tie her to the bank, the captain shouted to know what kind of freight they had to take aboard, whereupon Seeds called out : "Don't have any freight. Ith my thon Jim Theeds aboard?" The captain, indignant at being stopped for such a matter, gave vent to some language that was not very elegant and rang the bell for going ahead.

It was said that Moses Seeds was of such peculiar shaped counte- nance that in his old age, after his teeth had pretty much gone, he could hold a quarter of a dollar between his nose and chin without letting it fall. The family has been gone from the county for many years, but the story of how Moses Seeds hailed the boat to know if "My thon Jim Theeds is aboard" remains.

DOG LEG SOCIETY OF LAWRENCEBURG.

Now as extinct as the great auk, the Dog Leg Society lived its time, which was for about forty years following the Civil War. This organization, if it may be called such, sprang into being spontaneously-no one knews exactly how or why. The members were genial souls or they would have never remained faithful to the last. Of philosophy they had plenty and of sophistry and sarcasm and imagination they were likewise plentifully sup- plied. There seems to be no reason for their nightly meetings other than that time passed more pleasantly when they were congregated than it did when they were apart. With but few exceptions they met each night, on the river bank in mild weather and close to a grocery store stove in rough weather.

It is the accepted story of the beginning of the Dog Leg Society that it was a sort of an informal post-bellum meeting of congenial wags who, to a man, chewed a brand of tobacco known as "Dog Leg." This circumstance is given as the source of the "society" and its name. Be that as it may. the meetings continued year in and year out with scarcely a break in their daily regularity. As time wore on it became accepted that Russell Hollister was the leading light in the august body. To him was almost invariably awarded the palm for biting jest and perversions that would make old Ananias himself flush with shame. Uncle Russ, as he was called, was an original raconteur. His ready wit was of the never-failing kind and he was never known to have been placed in a position where his wit did not find a graceful exit. Uncle Russ was wont to offer caustic comments on the events of the day and the scope of his remarks was vast. Nothing escaped. It might be a sermon

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recently preached by some famous divine or it might be a lynching in Georgia. His observations were not carefully considered but they were pointed and they were akin to lightning-they might strike anything.

Perhaps the next best known of the Dog Legs was Jacob Kiger, a good old man, upright in every way and God-fearing. Uncle Jake swore by a Cin- cinnati afternoon paper and each day he would carefully digest the contents of his paper before sauntering forth to the meeting place of the "society." His memory seemed to be most tenacious on stories that bordered on the unusual and he would recite them very deliberately. pausing now and then for the expected comments of Russell Hollister and others. If the story had such unusual features that its veracity might easily be doubted, then Uncle Jake would immediately announce that "you must understand, gentlemen, that I don't know that this is true. I saw it in the --. " The recital of such newspaper stories would immediately arouse the imagination of some of the impressionable and similar or apparently original stories would be told which the listener's credulity must have been hypnotized to accept. In a little while George Preston or Samuel Chapman would intervene with a query that would start genuine discussion. However, such forms of procedure were not the rule. The question box was not, strictly speaking, a part of the Dog Leg Society.

Just before a local primary or a local election it was a genuine treat to attend a "meeting" of the "society" and hearing the terrific grilling the candidates received. For, be it known, the members of the Dog Leg Society were not all of one political faith. It would have been very natural to sup- pose, after hearing the diatribes hurled at the various aspirants for office that the candidates were all ex-convicts and that the city was going down the toboggan for ruin as fast as it could travel.

The "members" were likewise not of the same religious faith and as a consequence the Monday night meetings were intensely interesting. At these gatherings the sermons of the night before were carefully dissected and sub- jected to severe criticism. One listening would think that possibly there might have been something good in some of the sermons but if there was it had been forgotten. They did not hesitate to criticise the theology employed by each minister in delineating his text. But the idea must not be gathered that they were vicious or malicious in their observations. They were kindly old gentlemen who had, from long years of practice, become accustomed to expressing themselves in such language that to the uninitiated seemed gen- erally out of tune with the subject under discussion. It made no difference

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whether they were considering a religious problem or a litter of pigs, the kind of language employed was identical. For this reason the writer chooses not to record any of the many conversations he heard among them-con- versations first heard as a small boy and heard frequently thereafter.

The Dog Leg Society was as much a part of the growth and development of Lawrenceburg as any other similar social activity was a part. It played its own humble role and will live in memory down through years as long as those inclined to remember the queer things of former days will keep its memory alive. One by one the "members" answered the great call and the little band dwindled down until the final Dog Leg passed down the vale and left the memory of the "society" to those of us who have grown up with it and have seen it go.

A RUNAWAY SLAVE STORY.

During the times when the fugitive slave laws were agitating the coun- try, Dearborn county, being on the border, was frequently ercited over stories of escaped slaves. A good joke was one time played on a community in the county (so the story goes) by two young men who were full of pranks and practical jokes. Sometimes the slave owners would offer a reward for the capture of their runaways and this, of course, would excite the cupidity of those whose conscience was none too tender.

The story is one of Judge Cotton's best and can be found in his "Keep- sake." "In a pretty village in Dearborn county, just as the early twilight was coming on, two colored men with slouched hats and tattered garments, both barefoot, might have been seen stealthily shying their way along the out- skirts. They were discovered by some of the villagers and the hue and cry was raised at once that they were runaway slaves, and a number set off in hot pursuit. They were lost sight of in the fast-coming night and it was thought they would soon be found again and could not possibly get away. But not so-they had strangely and suddenly concealed themselves. All the village was soon up and after them in hot haste; every nook and corner, hay- stack and stable was searched to no purpose. 'Jim, get my horse-quick,' said one. 'Well. which horse, Jack?' 'The fastest one, to be sure.' 'Shall I saddle him?' 'No, of course not, the niggers will get clear away if we are too slow.' And directly he mounted bareback, plied his whip to the steed and disappeared in the twilight. One rode to one crossing and another to another. 'If you see them. shout.' said one pursuer. It was wonderfully exciting. this thing of man-hunting the poor escaping fugitives. 'What had become of them?' said

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one. . 'Perhaps you were mistaken; they might not have been negroes.' 'Yes, they were, I saw their legs clear up to their knees. I know they were runaway negroes.' All broke out again in hot pursuit until late in the eve- ning when it could not be kept any longer and three of the men broke out into a loud laugh and shouted, 'April Fool!' 'It was John and Jim, here, that you were after, and I was to start after them, and you all, like April fools, followed me.' And then such another 'ha ha' and screaming and biting of lips and cursing and imprecations, were seldom mixed up together. Some, like John Gilpin of old, were so galled they could hardly stand or walk for a week. All this happened on the first day of April, 183 -. The boys who had started it suddenly divested themselves of their wearing apparel and joined in the pursuit. I conceal the parties lest it should offend."

The Judge in his "Keepsake" tells another story of the fugitive slave times that is typical of the day and generation.

"Two men were making shingles in the woods when what should they espy creeping through the bushes but a poor, tattered runaway negro. Sup- posing that negro catching would be more profitable than shingle making they 'left all. and followed him;' occasionally getting glimpses of him, and then he would come up missing. Baffled in their attempt to take him alone, they gave the alarm, as the prize was evidently too great to be lost, and a 'half loaf is better than no bread.' But while the pursuers were in hot haste after him, others took every favorable position to give him aid; went out with plates filled with victuals, if possible to feed the poor fugitive. At last he hove in sight. was kindly addressed. assured that they would befriend him, showed him the tempting refreshments, and timorously he approached, and hearts of his friends leaped with joy and pity. But no. the poor negro paused, said something about betrayal, and dashed off in great dismay in spite of all the kind assurances of sympathizing friends. This state of things was often renewed and continued for hours. At last the poor negro, surrounded and exhausted. yielded up to his fate, and fell down, and was soon in the hands of his pursuers, who. with a kind of triumphant shout, let all the pursuers know 'We've got him; we've got him' while the lookers-on sighed in sym- pathy and commiseration for the poor fellow. And then, turning him over to see what he looked like, his captors were shocked to hear an uproarious laugh with 'You darned fools. I knew you wanted to chase a negro. and none happening along I thought I would let you chase me.' And who should it be but an athletic young man whom they had taunted with being a friend of niggers."

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GAME-HUNTING STORIES.

Judge Cotton tells of the great numbers of wild turkeys in the country when he, as a young man, came to Manchester in 1818, as follows: "Wild beasts were plentiful, though I took little. My neighbors have taken as many as one dozen and a half of wild turkeys out of a turkey pen at one time; three were as many as I ever got at one time. Now a turkey pen is built out of poles or small logs some ten or twelve feet long, something like a cob house three or four feet high and then covered all over with heavy poles, with a natural or artificial ditch passing under one side and terminating about in the center of the pen; then on the inside it was covered over next to the wall some three or four feet with bark or clapboards, leaving the opening right' in the center. Corn or wheat being thrown in the ditch, the turkeys following it up soon find themselves in the pen and instead of backing out, or going back to get out, they go round and round at the surface, which will nowhere admit of their escape; and they are caught, although all could get out the way they came in if they would look down instead of up. Quails were taken in the same manner upon a smaller scale and sometimes with a' a kind of basket trap set upon a 'figure four,' as it is called. But the most successful and speedy manner was with a net, which being set, the quails by a skillful hand could be driven into it.

"While I resided at Elizabethtown, Ohio, Doctor Brower, who is 'mas- ter of all that he undertakes-a workman that need not be ashamed,' took four dozen-minus one or plus one, I have forgotten which,-at one single drive or haul."

Hunting was good most anywhere in Dearborn county in pioneer days. Judge Cotton mentions in his "Keepsake" that at Dover, in Kelso township, one hunter killed fifty-two deer in one winter and another took five young wolves at a time where the village of Dover is now located. Eulic Burk nar- rated to the Judge a story of the pioneer days which ran about as follows :

"Burk's brother and A. Thompson, while working at a mill, heard an outcry among the hogs and rushing out saw a monster panther holding one of the shoats. The three dogs were on hand in a moment. Panther let up and took to a tree. A shot only broke his fore leg, and in attempting to jump on to another tree and not making due allowance for the crippled leg, he came short of the tree and fell to the ground. The dogs at once surrounded him, but he would have whipped them all easily had not the men come to the rescue. He would catch a dog in his sound paw and actually hold him clear (33)

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from the earth with his sharp claws piercing his victim, and the poor dog calling lustily for help. The panther would throw that one down and seize another in the same manner. The men would not shoot for danger of hitting the dogs, which to a woodsman could not be thought of, so one of the men seized a hand spike and rushed in and dealt the panther a fortunate blow that proved fatal. The beast measured eleven feet from end of nose to end of tail." This all occurred in Logan township.

The Judge tells a bear story narrated by a friend of his by the name of David Williams, residing near Harrihon, and whose descendants are yet living in the township. He said that "Old Aunt Betsey Garritson," now eighty- odd years old, then living in his neighborhood, "went out to bring up the cows with her trusty dog with her. Alone in the woods she was beset with a bear. Jowler stepped in between her and harm, and pitched into old Bruin, 'like a thousand of brick,' who, however, was more than a match for the faithful canine. Aunt Betsey neither screamed or fainted, nor ran away, but flew about and hunted up a good, sound club or handspike and rushed to Jowler's rescue; giving the bear a lick whenever she could get in one without hitting the dog. It began to be so serious that Bruin thought it better to let up on the dog and try Aunt Betsy. Anticipating his action, Aunt Betsy fell back a little with the bear after her. The dog was, however, no sooner up than he had Bruin by the ham string and so having his hands full with the dog, concluded to let Aunt Betsey go. Finally a fortunate blow on his head crushed in the bear's skull and put an end to the struggle." The Judge vouched for the truth of the story and knew Aunt Betsey well.

The Judge in his "Keepsake" speaking of Tavner Cheek, an early pioneer on Wilson creek, says that Cheek told him that "wolves and bears were nu- merous around the mouth of Hogan creek when they first came to the country ; that the panthers kept up a constant pow-wow about the 'Big Lick,' as a lick just above the mouth of Hogan creek was then called. Cheek said they often caught panthers with a kind of a hook set for them, and often shot them. Once when watching at the 'Big Lick' for deer eight wolves came into the lick at once and he shot one of them. He had seen hundreds of turkeys at a time and had seen as many as one hundred deer at a time often in the bottoms and had ambushed himself near the lick and had once shot four deer without being discovered, took his own time and took his own choice out of the lot. Wildcats, of which he had killed a number, were peculiar look- ing animals, dark brindle in color with short tails and sharp claws and so long that when taken by the hind feet he could not raise them clear of the

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 49

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

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