USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 11
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Born in Kentucky in 1800 ; died near Kingston in 1879.
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dred years have elapsed since that day and no records are available to trace the mysterious seven families.
It is taken by common consent that the Fugit family were the first real settlers in what is now the township bearing their name. John Fugit, and his two children, John and Mary, came to the township in the latter part of February, 1819. They selected a site for their cabin and, while engaged in putting it up, were joined by Griffy Griffith, his wife and son, Ishmael. The Griffiths located one mile west of Clarksburg, where they lived until the death of the father and mother.
After Fugit and his son had their rude cabin ready for occupancy, the whole family, consisting of the father, mother, four sons and two daughters, made this township their permanent home for a number of years. The Fugits entered no land and citizens of the township have never agreed as to the exact spot where the old Fugit cabin stood. Some have maintained that they settled northeast of Clarksburg, while others hold that they located one mile east of Clarksburg on land later entered by Benjamin Snelling. Still others believe that the Fugits squatted on the old Luther Donnell place. Strange to say, neither James L. Fugit, one of the sons of the old pioneer, nor Mary, a daughter (who became the wife of David Garrison ), could identify the exact spot where their father had settled. They had removed to Clay township in 1825 and when they revisited their first home in the county, several years later, the surroundings were so changed that they were unable to agree as to where the family cabin had stood. It is probable that it was on the Donnell farm, which had been entered by Thomas Donnell. Sr., in 1822. They doubtless purchased the improvements on the place from Fugit.
At the first election in 1822, John Fugit was chosen associate judge. His daughter. Sarah, married Joseph Webb, and this was the first marriage in the county. The license was secured at Brookville in the fall of 1819 and the marriage took place presumably in the log cabin in Fugit township. John Fugit died at Milford (Clifty) in 1844. At the present time the Fugit line is not represented by any male bearing the name in the county.
Shortly after the Fugits and Griffiths had located here, in the spring of 1819. they were joined by five other families: John and Elisha Jerrett (Gerrard), Jesse and Cornelius Cain and William McCoy. John Jerrett died in the spring of 1820, and was, as far as is known, the first one to die in the county. A daughter of Jerrett, Nellie by name, was born in the fall of 1819 and was the first white child to be born in the county. The Cains settled near Spring Hill, but a few years later moved into Rush county, where
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Jesse lived until his death. George Cain emigrated to the west and within a few years the family name disappears from the records of both Decatur and Rush counties. McCoy first located near Griffith and then moved over into what is now Adams township north of Downeyville. The McCoy family have been prominently identified with the history of the county from its beginning down to the present time. Ishmael Griffith married a daughter of William Walters, near Kingston, and at his death left two sons, John and James. John was accidentally killed near Downeyville and James served in the Civil War as a member of Company F. Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry. This disposes of all the important incidents connected with the immigrants of 1819.
During the spring and summer of 1820 the land in this county was surveyed by Col. Thomas Hendricks and in October of that year it was placed on sale at Brookville. However. before the land was formally opened for settlement the settlers began to pour in at a rapid rate. In the summer and fall of 1820, the following families located in what is now Fugit township : Seth Lowe, William Custer, George and Samnel Donnell, James Saunders, Nathan Lewis, James and Moses Wiley, Robert Hall, Rev. James Hall, David Stout, Joseph Rankin, John Bryson, Adam Rankin, William, Joseph and James Henderson and Joseph A. Hopkins.
LAND ENTRIES.
The first land entry was made on October 9, 1820, by James Wiley, who entered one hundred and sixty acres in section 1, township 10, range II. John Shelhorn and John M. Robinson entered tracts shortly afterwards. From the 9th of October. 1820, to December 31, there were forty-eight entries in what is now Fugit township, while there were only forty-five entries made in all the rest of the county.
These forty-eight pioneers were as follows: James Wiley, John Shel- horn, John M. Robinson, George Kline, John Bryson, James Saunders, Joseph K. Rankin, Thomas Martin, Griffy Griffith, David Martin, Cornelius Cain. Joseph Henderson, Edward Jackman, William Henderson, William Lindsey, George Marlow, Adam Rankin, Joseph A. Hopkins, Thomas Throp, Samuel A.' Githens, Robert Imlay, Daniel Swem, John Hicklin, Aquilla Cross, William Custer, John Shutz, Martin and Alexander Logan, James Logan, William Pruden, John Dawson, Elias Garrard, Charles Collett, John Linville, James Hobbs, Jr., Robert E. and Henry Hall, Thomas Hall, Moses Wiley, George Donnell, John Smart, Robert and John Lockridge, Richard
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Tyner, George Cowan, James Henderson and Nathan Lewis. The striking fact of these entries is that practically everyone entering the land was a bona fide settler on the land he entered. Only two or three never became residents of the townships.
During 1821 there were fifty-nine additional entries in the township- tluns making a total of one hundred and seven entries before the county was organized in the spring of 1822. As a matter of fact, there were a number of entries in the township between January 1, and May 14, 1822, the date on which the township was formally organized. It seems there were only thirteen entries during the whole of 1822.
The fifty-nine entries of 1821 were as follow: James Oliver, David Robertson, Samuel Marlow. Henry Glen, Jacob Blacklege, John Wilcoxon. Jesse Womack, Robert Wilson, Adam R. Meek. George Marlow, William Braden, Jacob Underwood. Columbus McCoy, Hugh McCracken, Nathaniel Smith, Henry McDaniel, John Lockridge, Jacob F. Miller, Isaac Donnell. John Hopkins, Zenas Powell, David Caldwell, Lewis Hendricks, Charles Swerengin, George Kendall, John Chanslor, Samuel Donnell, Thomas I. Glass, Jonathan J. Stites, William M. Smith, John Thompson, Thomas Cross. William M. Smith, Seth Lowe, Thomas Hamilton, Cyrus Hamilton, James Moss, Peter Miller, George Kendall, William Lippard, Jesse Cain, Jesse Robinson, George Conner, William Penny, Henry Roberts, William Snelling, Edgar Poe. Sampson Alley, Edward Davis, William Marlow, Benjamin Snelling, George Craig, James Sefton, Daniel Bell, Daniel Ryce, Frank Kitchin, Nathan Underwood, Ralph Williams, James Caldwell, Samuel Donner and David Robertson. It will be noticed that some of these men entered more than one tract in that year; some had entered land in the previous year also.
The entries of 1822 were as follow : David Vancleave, James McCracken. R. B. Donnell, Andrew Calloway, John D. Henry, John P. Mitchell, John Smart, Joseph Snelling, William Kennedy, Sarah Linville, Mary Muuns and William Munns. The year 1822 practically closed the sale of govern- ment land in Fugit township. Not all of the land was yet taken, but that which was left was a narrow strip on the eastern side of the township, known as the "Poor Woods," and was not entered until after the thirties. Most of it was taken up by German immigrants, who have succeeded in making it as productive as most of the rest of the township. The first German settlers in the township were George Schellings, Antwa Charles and John Arnold. They were stone masons and found plenty of work in their profession. Else- where in this volume is a special chapter on the German element in Decatur
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county, together with a list of the Germans who became naturalized citizens of the county.
It might be well at this point to make mention of the colored settlement in Fugit township. Early in the forties a few colored families located a few miles east of Clarksburg and by 1852 they numbered about seventy-five souls. Some of them owned small farms, but the most of them depended for a liveli- hood on working on the farms of the white citizens. They took an active part in helping fugitives slaves to make their way across the county and over into Union county. Their participation in the "underground railroad" enterprise is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. When the fugitive slave law of 1852 was passed many of them left the county, some going to other parts of the state and many of them finally reaching Canada. There is now only one left in the township. Margaret Wilson, of Kingston.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
As has been stated, Decatur county began its independent career on May 14, 1822, on which day the commissioners held their first meeting. On this day the whole county was divided into three townships, Washington, Adams and Fugit. The county commissioners appointed officers for each town- ship, those for Fugit being as follows: Isaac Darnall, inspector of elections ; Henry Hobbs, constable ; Thomas Throp, superintendent of the reserve sec- tion ( school section) in township 11, range 10: William Custer and Joseph Henderson, overseers of the poor: William Leopard, Robert Emily and George Marlow, fence viewers. On this same day ( May 14. 1822) the com- missioners ordered elections to be held at the house of Thomas Throp, the first election to be on June 1, following, for a justice of the peace.
EARLY INDUSTRIES.
The first store in the township, and perhaps in the county, was started at Spring Hill by James Conwell, of Laurel ( Franklin county), in 1823. Conwell was a thrifty trader and established the store here as a branch of his large store in Laurel. He placed Martin Benson in charge of the store at Spring Hill. The first postoffice was at this place and John Bryson became the first postmaster. Bryson was later an associate judge. Nathan Lewis had a corn-cracker, operated by horse-power, early in the twenties. Later Lewis converted his mill into a bark grindery and pulverized slippery elm. dogwood and sassafras barks for the Eastern markets. Edward Jackman
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was the first to install a carding machine and found plenty of business to keep him busy. William Henderson was interested in a number of enterprises; he operated a grist-mill, a carding factory and a distillery and found a ready sale for the products of all three establishments. He was located a short dis- tance east of Spring Hill. \ grist-mill was operated at an early date about a mile south of Kingston by a man named Smith. Lewis Lacker opened up a tan yard on the farm later owned by Everett Hamilton and furnished the community with leather for several years. Joseph Henderson opened the first tavern in the township a short distance cast of Spring Hill.
EARLY SCHOOLS.
The early settlers of Fugit township were very much interested in edu- cation and shortly after they located here they began to make provisions for educating their children. In 1901 Camilla Donnell. a descendant of one of the most prominent families of the township, prepared a paper on the "Early Schools of Fugit Township," and the historian is indebted to her excellent article for the main facts concerning the schools of the township. Just where the first school house was located is not definitely known, although it is certain that schools were kept in log cabins for some years before a school building was erected. There appear to have been three or four schools in operation in 1823-24 in as many different neighborhoods. They were situated in the midst of thick woods and blazed trails led the way to the school house door. The first school in the Kingston neighborhood was held in an empty log cabin on the line between the farms then owned by Seth Lowe and Aquilla Cross. Whether Samuel Donnell, a man well known in early religious, edu- cational and reform movements, or Samuel Henry, an intelligent farmer and excellent scholar, was the first teacher has not been established. Both taught at one time or another in the township. Elijah Mitchell, who taught at various places over Decatur county, was another of the early wielders of the rod. Still other teachers were the Misses Howe, two Eastern women, who conducted a school at the home of the first Presbyterian minister, Mr. Lowry. All the schools were subscription schools up to 1832 and the teacher was usually compelled to take his pay out in farm produce. In about 1832 the township was organized into school sections and received a small amount of money from the sale of school lands. A few school houses were built in the township about this time and three months sessions were held. Most of the buildings were also used for subscription schools for a few months in addi- tion to the three months of public school. In 1833 the first brick school
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house in the township, and probably in the county, was erected on the farm of Cyrus Hamilton, in the field southwest of his house. Rev. James McCoy, Elijah Mitchell, Davis Henry and many other excellent old pioneers taught in this building.
A second district school building was built a little later on the old Throp farm, near the homestead of Andrew Robison. It was known as the Robison school house until its subsequent removal to Carmel. A third school house of the early days stood on the farm of Martin Benson, later owned by Warder Hamilton. The salaries of these faithful teachers were very meager. The mother of Camilla Donnell ( then Mrs. Minerva Bartholomew), who taught at the brick school house and also at the Benson school, received only eiglit dollars a month. But it must be remembered that able-bodied men were glad to work for twenty-five cents a day in the early history of the county.
About 1845 a school was established by Rev. King, a Presbyterian minister, in the town which still bears his name (Kingston). A private school was also taught by Rev. Cable, another Presbyterian minister, near Kingston. These two excellent schools so weakened the Brick, Benson and Robison schools that they were finally abandoned. The houses were sold or moved away and the district school was permanently established in the village of Kingston about 1852 or 1853. Rev. Benjamin Nyce, an educator of great originality and ability, became its head, and it entered on a career of unparalelled usefulness and prosperity.
In 1853 William Dobyns, for Clarksburg, Thomas Hamilton, for Kingston, and James Bonner, for Spring Hill, were appointed a board of township trustees, one retiring each year. Their duties were to arrange the township into school districts, provide suitable buildings and engage teachers. Other members of the school board at different times were Henry Kerrick, S. A. Donnell, J. H. Cartmell and George Kennedy. This board of three members continued at the head of the township schools until 1859, when Luther. Donnell was elected trustee under the new law. He had complete charge of the schools of the township and since that time the affairs of the schools have been concentrated in the hands of one man. While the board of three had charge of affairs, the Kingston school was established in the Presbyterian church, which had been bought for that purpose.
The new Constitution of 1852 provided for a system of free public schools and funds were set aside for one building for each school district. The public-spirited citizens of the three larger districts-Clarksburg. Kings- ton and Spring Hill-raised enough money by private subscription to erect
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two-story buildings in their respective towns, the law providing only suffi- cient money for one-story buildings.
The first Spring Hill school was housed in one of the traditional empty log cabins. It stood on the big hill, just east of the present road, on the farm of James Martin. It was begun not earlier than 1824, since its first teacher, Thomas Meek, the assessor of a large part of the Spring Hill community, did not emigrate from Kentucky until 1823. Its second teacher was William Marlow. Another early school was held in the old Bryson homestead, but the Martin school seems to have been the forerunner of the Spring Hill district school.
Probably as early as 1835 a district school house was built on the farm of Adam Rankin, not far from the present school site. It was afterward rebuilt and enlarged and remained in use until the erection of the two-story brick building early in the Civil War. It was burned down in 1894 and replaced by the present one-story building. Among the teachers of Spring Hill may be mentioned some men who later made a reputation in the world -such men as Stanley Coulter, now of Purdue University; Rev. Thomson, of Tarkeo, Missouri; R. M. Miller and Marshall Hacker were principals of the Spring Hill school at various times.
The Carmel neighborhood was the home of John Bell, one of the earliest and best-known teachers in the township. Its early school history has been lost in oblivion, but it is probable that early schools were held in the cabin near the home of Andrew McCoy and in a deserted shop on the McCracken farmı. The first district school in the Carmel neighborhood was built on the farm of Jacob Miller sometime in the thirties. It was probably in use until the fifties when it was succeeded by a second building. The third building is now in use, a neat and comfortable structure which meets all of the modern requirements.
The Clarksburg community had some of the earliest settlers and undoubtedly some of the earliest private schools. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to get exact data concerning them. The best known of these schools was held in a cabin on the farm of Luther Donnell. Another early private school was held in the home of Nathan Lewis. It is probable that the first district school was located on South Main street, in a building which had been used as a residence. Mrs. Minerva Bartholomew taught in 1837 in an empty shop in the eastern part of the town. The forerunner of the present village school was located opposite the residence of J. N. Moore. Among the early teachers of Clarksburg may be mentioned Elijah Mitchell. John Bell, Joseph Rankin, George McCoy and Nimrod Kerrick. Of these
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early teachers Nimrod seems to have been the most successful and best beloved. A two-story brick building was erected in 1856 in Clarksburg on the present school site and remained in use until about 1880 when a four- room building was erected. In 1910 a modern, eight-room brick building was erected.
Sufficient has been said of the early schools of Fugit township to show that its public-spirited citizens were keenly alive to the value of good schools. The fact that so many men and women have gone out from the schools of the township well equipped to take their place in the world is ample evi- dence that the schools have been doing their work well. Clarksburg now has a consolidated school and gives a four-year commissioned high-school course. The schools will rank well with any in the state and the citizens of the com- munity may take a just pride in the work they are doing. There are seven teachers in the town and five teachers in the rural schools of the township in 1915.
CHURCHIES.
The history of the many churches of the township may be found in the special church chapter. Fugit township has been a peculiarly religious community. Most of the carly settlers were Presbyterian in faith, although the Methodists and Christians have been strong enough to establish churches. The Germans who settled in the county were nearly all Catholics and they support a strong congregation at St. Maurice. At one time or another there have been three Presbyterian, two Methodist, one Christian and one Catholic church in Fugit township.
The officers of Fugit township are as follow: Trustee, Albert T. Brock; assessor, David D. Morgan; advisory board, Clinton B. Emmert, Walter Scott and Carl E. Brown; supervisors of roads, Frank Winger, John Han- diges and Jacob Mauer.
KINGSTON.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Fugit township is the pretty little village of Kingston, which was laid out in 1851 by Seth Lowe and others. It was one of the first settled points in the county and there was a straggling village there many years before it was formally platted and an attempt was made to make it a town of any importance. The town has grown up around the Presbyterian church, formerly known as the Sand Creek congregation, but now called the Kingston church. The complete history of this interesting church is given in the church chapter elsewhere in
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this volume. A general store, run by W. K. Stewart, and a blacksmith shop, operated by Harry Walker, are all the industries of the town at the present tinie. The town has a population of about fifty souls.
ST. MAURICE.
As its name indicates, the town of St. Maurice is of Catholic origin. It was laid out by D. Montague, August 12, 1859, primarily because of the Catholic church which was located here. It is in the south central part of Fugit township and is the center of the Catholic population of this part of the county. The present enterprises include the following: General store, Frank Kramer ; tailor, Martin Moser ; saw-mill, Benjamin Moorman; black- smith, Albert Walke. There are less than fifty people in the town.
SPRING HILL.
A postoffice was maintained at Spring Hill in the northwest corner of Fugit township, but it has long since been discontinued. The first settlers of Decatur county located near this point and the first store in the county was established here by James Conwell. When Clarksburg began to grow in importance, Spring Hill rapidly declined and today there is only one build- ing left on the site of the once thriving village -- the Spring Hill Presby- terian church, the most beautiful country church in the county. In this case the best part of the village has survived the longest.
CLARKSBURG.
The town of Clarksburg was laid out, April 9, 1832, by Woodson Clark, who had, however, bestowed his name on the little village prior to that date. Clark erected the first house and James Wiley, who entered the first land in Fugit township, put up the second log cabin. The town is one of the oldest in the county and had it been fortunate to attract a railroad it would undoubtedly have become a trading center of importance. It is surrounded by a rich farming community and the high character of its citizens from the beginning has made it a favored section of the county. Its churches and schools have always taken a prominent part in the life of the commu- nity and their influence has been such that the people of Clarksburg and Fugit township have taken the lead in many of the religious, educational and reform movements in the county. Much of the early history of the town is
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covered in the discussion of Fugit township, while the churches, schools and lodges are treated in special chapters.
Clarksburg has always been an excellent trading center, despite the fact that it is several miles from a railroad. Daily hacks make the trip to Greensburg, and now a large automobile truck makes a round trip daily with freight and passengers. The main industries of the town in 1915 are as follows : AApiarist, Alexander Walker ; bank, Clarksburg State Bank, A. T. Brock, cashier ; barber, Clarence Cornelius, George Rogers; blacksmith, W. WV. Gross, John Brodie, Charles Brown; carriage painter. Elmer Hutton ; carpenter, James Moore, Morgan & Hall; drugs, A. C. Shumim; flour-mill, C. B. Emmert : garage, C. C. Jeffrey Smith, French & Martz: general store, Fred Lampe, Homer Russell, D. R. Higgins : hardware, H. C. Doles ; hotel, Mattie Miller ; harness, James 1 .. Burns; livery, Jasper Jackson, George Davis; millinery, Mrs. Emma Shumm ; paper hanger, C. L. Sample: paint- ers. A. C. Burns, John Bruner, John VonRissen, Glen Gross, M. B. Hite ; photographer, C. B. Harrell; pool room, Waldo McGuire; physician, C. M. Beall. Prosser E. Clark, W. E. Thomas, J. L. Smith; restaurants, Morgan Brothers, Monte Linville; saw-mill, C. B. Emmert ; stone and brick mason. Peter Christy; truck driver, Oscar F. Kuhn (daily auto trips to Greens- burg ) ; veterinary, A. E. Alexander ; well digger, J. W. Christian.
The town receives a sealed pouch daily from the Greensburg postoffice. J. L. Smith is the postmaster. The town has never been incorporated.
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JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
Jackson township was established by the board of commissioners, March 3, 1834. It is bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of the county, thence north to the township line, dividing townships 9 and 10, thence east four and a half miles to the center of section 2, on the north side thereof ; thence south to the Jennings county line; thence west to the place of beginning. These limits have never been changed.
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