USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 14
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Washington township as originally laid out embraced the entire south- ern half of the county and contained more square miles of territory than Adams and Fugit combined. It comprised the territory from which the townships of Washington, Sand Creek, Marion, Jackson, Clay and a part of Salt Creek were later formed.
On May 2, 1825, the board of justices re-defined the limits of Wash- ington township as follow: Beginning at the county line on the township line dividing townships 10 and 11, range II; thence west on the township line to the southwest corner of section 35 : thence north one mile ; thence west two miles; thence north one mile; thence due west seven miles to the north- west corner of section 29, range 9, township II; thence south six miles to the southwest corner of section 20, range 9, township 10; thence due east to the county line; thence with the county line to the place of beginning (volume I, page 136).
But this was not to be the final boundary of this township, for, in 1836, Salt Creek township was organized and Washington underwent another change of boundary. The limits of the township as permanently defined are as follow: "Beginning at the northwest corner of section 29, township II, range 8; thence south six miles on the section line dividing sections 29 and 30, township II, range 8, to the northwest corner of section 29, township 10, range 9; thence east nine miles to the Salt Creek township line; thence north on the section line dividing sections 22 and 23, township 10, range IO, to the northeast corner of section 34, township 9, range 10; thence west two miles: thence north two miles; thence south one mile; thence west to the place of beginning."
Washington was one of the three original townships laid out by the board of county commissioners of Decatur county, when it held its first meeting at the home of Thomas Hendricks, May 14, 1822. The two other townships were Fugit and Adams. The board fixed the first day of June as the date for holding a township election for selection of two justices of the peace and fixed the place for holding it at the residence of Thomas Hen- dricks. Richard J. Hall was appointed inspector.
This township is located in almost the exact center of the county and contains fifty-four square miles of territory. According to the census report of 1910, the entire population of the township, exclusive of the city of Greensburg, was one thousand four hundred and eight. The entire town- ship is underlaid with a bed of limestone, which has proved of utmost value in the construction of highways.
On account of the good roads, the productivity of the soil, and nearness
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to the county seat and shipping facilities, land in Washington township has always commanded a high price in the real estate market. Most of the farms have good buildings and are well improved. As a result, farms frequently sell at one hundred and fifty dollars an acre and even higher figures.
FIRST SETTLERS.
The first settlers of the township were Thomas Hendricks, Elijah Davis and Benjamin Drake. Thomas Ireland, Samuel Logan and Samuel Hous- ton came about the same time. Houston was a surveyor and is supposed to have been the first justice of the peace in Washington township. He died a few years after the organization of the county.
Hendricks himself was a surveyor and had surveyed the greater por- tion of Decatur county for the federal government in 1820, when engineers had been sent out to run lines through the "New Purchase." His assistants were Houston, the two Stewarts, Logan and Sam Gageby. Ile was by all odds the leading spirit in the new community, as he came of stock richly endowed by nature for leadership. He was a brother of William Hendricks, second governor of Indiana, and an uncle of Thomas A. Hendricks, later vice-president of the United States. He built the first house, conducted the first tavern therein, and later opened the first hotel in the county on the site of the present DeArmond Hotel. He entered the first land in Washington township in October, 1820.
About the same time, Rev. James Lathrop, a Vermonter, who had reached Dearborn county, entered land in Washington township and then went back to Dearborn county to bring on his family to the new settlement. While making preparations for his removal, he fell ill and died. The respon- sibilities of the head of the family of ten children then fell upon his son, Ezra, father of Rev. James B. Lathrop.
Ezra Lathrop, with a younger brother and a hired man, then came to Washington county and made preparations for caring for the remainder of the family, when it should arrive. In the spring of 1821 the widow and family came to Decatur county and settled on land that had been entered by her husband and improved, through erection of a log cabin, by her sons.
Next among the early settlers came Henry H. Talbott, a young Vir- ginian, who promptly made love to and married one of the five Hendricks daughters. The two Stewart brothers had previously formed matrimonial alliances with the Hendricks family. Talbott possessed an excellent educa- tion and was unusually adept with a pen. He was clerk of the county for a
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long period, and his early records are still considered marvels in penmanship.
Talbott was an unusually talented representative of a type that made its presence felt in each new community in the days of county organization. They were the seekers after office, and early records of Indiana counties show that it was a very common custom for politicians failing to land jobs, in one county when it was organized, to quit the county and try their luck again in the next one organized. Talbott, however, had not yet attained his majority when he came to Washington township. Talbott and Robert Murphy, who came with him, boarded at the Hendricks house. Talbott brought some goods with him and started a store, which may have been the first one in the township, although this distinction is also claimed for a man named Riley. The next newcomer was David Gageby, who had resided at Vernon. He started a cabinet shop on the northwest corner of the public square. He was later joined by his brother James. David then turned his attention exclusively to carpenter work, leaving the management of the shop to his brother. Other early settlers were Martin and John Jamison, hat- ters. In 1821, William Lloyd settled on what is now called the Madison road, about two miles south of Greensburg. He brought with him from Jefferson county, where he had stopped a few months, a number of hogs and cattle. Rattlesnakes killed off a good many of the cattle and a good share of the hogs wandered away into the woods and were lost.
Thomas Perry emigrated from Bath county, Kentucky, to Washington township in 1823 and settled four miles east of Greensburg. Samnel and John McConnell, two other Kentuckians, also came about the same time. Both were powerful and muscular and possessed great physical courage. It is related that, while living "on the dark and bloody ground," John McCon- nell was once beset by two Indians. He whipped them both and took away from one a very business-like war club, which he preserved as a trophy of the encounter.
Others who found homes for themselves in Washington township before the organization of the county were Rev. John Strange, John House. Samuel Anderson, Jeptha Conner, William Bell, Daniel McCormick, Joseph English, John Messinger and David Messinger. Most of these settled in the southeastern part of the township. Still others who settled in the town- ship about this time were: Abraham Garrison, Thomas Chinn, Benjamin Walker, Benjamin Drake, Otha White, Paris Aldrich, George Hopkins, Robert Elder, John Hazelrigg, Matthew, William and James Elder, Thomas Doles, John and Elijah Davis and John Robbins.
Before John McConnell settled here, the land he later occupied was
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held by a squatter named Gartin. William Ross, first sheriff of the county, and William Parks, a member of the first board of county commissioners, were among the earliest to arrive.
Washington township has two villages marked on the inap. The first of these is McCoy, which was platted on August 11, 1871, by J. C. Adams, but this failed to materialize and at present nothing remains to give sem- blance to a town. Quarry Switch was the point where the switch from Harris connected with the Big Four. At this point the Big Four branches, the Columbus, Hope & Greensburg branch going west and the Michigan branch going south.
The officers of Washington township are as follow: Trustee, Charles S. Williams; assessor, Henry C. Snell; advisory board, Dan S. Perry, Joseph B. Kitchen, Charles I. Ainsworth ; board of supervisors, P. L. Doles, Oliver A. McCoy and Nathan Vandivier ; justices of the peace, William W. Dixon and Thomas W. Hamilton; constables, William Dorsey and Reuben Smalley.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CITY OF GREENSBURG.
SONG OF AN "INLAND TOWN." Apropos of the Flood of 1913.
If I could write a poem like Jim Riley ust to write, If I could ketch his rhymin' scheme in which the words unite With a movin' kind o' music that'll start your sluggish blood- I would sing a song of Greensburg where we didn't have no flood. The scen'ry 'long ole Gas Creek don't compare with Brandywine, And we're glad the bloomin' Wabash and Ohio, broad and fine, And the other ragin' rivers are miles and miles away- Ruthier be an "inland town"-kind o' like it thataway.
A little taste o' trouble 'mong our neighbors, left and right. Helps us 'preciate our home town more'n oratory might. When the trains are kind o' backward and we're missin' half our mail. When the juice is off the cable and the rust is on the rail, Then we realize the blessin's and the comfort's that we've got- There may be places just as good, but there's heaps o' them that's 110t. We hev counted all our noses and we've called our little roll. And there's nary one a missin', not a single bloomin' soul. Now the streams are in their channels and the trains are comin' back, And the juice lias hit the trolley and the rust is off the track. -Smiley Fowler.
The original plat of Greensburg was located on the southeast quarter of section 2, township 10 north, range 9 east. This tract was entered by Thomas Hendricks on October 27, 1820, and there is little doubt but that this shrewd Yankee selected this particular tract because he thought it would be near the center of a county, which would be organized within the the next few years. At that time the territory now within Decatur county was a part of Delaware county, then unorganized. Franklin county had
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civil and criminal jurisdiction over this part of Delaware county, and all marriage licenses and town plats are found recorded in the court house at Brookville up until Decatur county was organized, in the spring of 1822.
Greensburg was laid out on August 26, 1822, by Jolm B. Potter, and, so tradition says, was named, at the request of Mrs. Thomas Hendricks, in honor of her old home town in Pennsylvania. An interesting story is told regarding the naming of the town. Mrs. Hendricks had four charming daughters, all unmarried, and the question of the selection of the name for the new town was left to a vote of the men of the town, most of whom were unmarried. Seventeen of these men were young unmarried fellows and the desire to stand in the good graces of the four handsome daughters was the decisive factor in the selection of the name of Greensburg.
The act providing for the organization of the county made provision for a commission of five inen to locate the county seat, and this commission reported on June 14, 1822, that they had selected Greensburg as the seat of justice. Thus the hopes of Hendricks were realized and the first settler had the satisfaction of knowing that he had been fortunate enough to enter the tract on which the future county seat was to be located. Unfortunately, records are not available which will disclose the early history of the town. It takes no stretch of the imagination to picture the log cabins which clustered around the public square. In fact, it was not until 1860 that the last log house on the public square was razed. It stood on the west side of the square, north of the alley, and had been occupied for many years by W. T. Green as a chair factory. The lot is now occupied by the meat market of McCormick & Richey.
It is interesting to note the prices paid for the first lots sold in the embryonic city. On July 28, 1822, the county board of justices appointed John D. Potter "to proceed immediately to laying off the town of Greens- burg, to-wit : Public square in the center and lots extending two squares north, two squares east and two squares west." He laid off sixty-four lots, eighty by one hundred and sixty feet. He was ordered to have thirty-five acres grubbed, although the persons doing this work had to agree to wait one year for their pay. The sale of lots took place on the first Monday of Septem- ber, 1822, and on that date thirty-six lots were sold, most of them being around the public square, although a few were sold on Broadway, Franklin and North streets. The highest price paid for a single lot was the one now occupied by the DeArmond hotel, the drug store of Joseph Moss and Eubanks' grocery. Thomas Hendricks bought this lot for one hundred and twenty-one dollars. The cheapest lot brought twelve dollars and forty-six
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cents and is now occupied by Dr. J. H. Alexander on East North street. The lot on which Col. Thomas Green's home stand's brought twenty-four dollars, thirty-seven and one-fourth cents. The lot occupied by Wirt Woodfill's store, the Kessler bakery, the Habig real estate office and the Knights of Pythias block was sold to Barlow Aldrich for eighty and a half dollars. However, he repented of this rash act in bidding so liberally and refused to give a note for the same. This lot was later sold at a private sale. The thirty-six lots sold on this first day brought one thousand, five hundred and seventy-two dollars and eighty-one and one-fourth cents. The records dis- close the fact that not one of the lots is in the hands of any of the heirs of the man who bought it at this sale. It was not until the May term, 1823, of the county board that Thomas Hendricks received the residue of the thirty dollars, forty and one-fourth cents which he charged the board for surveying the town and for whiskey which he furnished the agents on the days of the sale of the lots.
EARLY GROWTH.
The town had a steady growth from the beginning, and, on February 4, 1837, fifteen years after it was laid out, it was incorporated by an act of the Legislature. James Blair, Caleb Luther, Isaac House, John Thom- son, James Freeman, James Lusk and William B. Ewing were appointed to serve as trustees until January, 1838. The legislative act further provided that tippling houses should not be licensed for less than three nor more than ten dollars a year.
From a local paper of 1844, it has been ascertained that the most prom- inent business concerns of Greensburg at that time were as follow: D. Stewart & Sons, drugs and groceries; A. G. Stout & Company, general store ; W. P. & J. F. Stevens, dry goods ; Henry Sefton, plow maker ; Lathrop & Cooley, hat factory; J. & W. W. Freeman, general merchants; Bryan & Hueston, Forsyth & Gilham, Hall & Callen, tailors; John Mackey, saddler ; Belmont & Ricketts, cabinet makers; Robinson & Houser, carriage builders ; I. T. Gibson, grocery: J. S. Scobey, J. & S. W. Robinson and S. Over- turf, attorneys. A gazeteer of 1845 credits Greensburg with a population of twelve hundred and says that the flourishing town had seven blacksmith shops, employing a total of seventeen men; four wagon shops, employing ten men : four shoe shops, with eight men ; two cabinet shops ; two tan yards and two carding machines.
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QUEER REGULATIONS.
Some ludicrous ordinances have been gleaned from the old records of Greensburg. In 1857, an ordinance was passed limiting the speed of all vehicles to four miles an hour, and it appears to have been more rigorously enforced than the speed laws of today. The records disclose one citizen who drew a fine of one dollar for venturing to drive at a perilous speed of more than four miles an hour down the main street. This ordinance soon disappeared, however, and the citizens were free to travel on the streets at a more rapid pace. In 1861 an ordinance forbade owners of hogs to permit them to run at large unless they had rings in their snouts. Old residents tell how the pigs of the citizens around the public square rooted for grub worms in the court house yard. Convenient mud holes were provided on the streets around the public square for the pleasure of the hogs. In 1862, Marshal Eudaily took up some hogs belonging to G. B. Roszell for not wearing the required rings in their snouts and advertised the ringless porkers for sale. Before the day of the sale, however, the owner slipped the hogs out of town, and for a time the city meditated bringing suit.
INCORPORATION.
Greensburg was incorporated as a city in 1859, and the first city election resulted as follows : Mayor, R .B. Thomson ; clerk, F. M. Weadon ; treasurer, B. H. Harney; assessor, Amos Sparks; engineer, D. Batterton; marshal, George Pilling ; councilmen : first ward, D. Lovett and Thomas Sefton ; second ward, D. Moss and I. T. Phares ; third ward, J. A. Boyer and Henry Doles; school trustee, B. WV. Wilson.
The corporation has grown steadily from year to year since that time and fully merits the title of city. As its railroad facilities have improved, factories of various kinds have been located in the city, and today thousands of dollars are paid out weekly to workmen in a score or more establishments. The seven thousand people who claim Greensburg as their home are justly proud of its industrial position, of its schools and churches, its well-managed public utilities, its enterprising merchants and the general high standard of citizenship which prevails.
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FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The Greensburg fire department was organized in 1874, with Arthur Hutchison serving as the first chief. This was a volunteer company, made up of three hundred men, who served without any remuneration for their services. A hand-power engine and one thousand feet of leather hose were purchased for six thousand dollars. Later, cach volunteer fireman who was a property holder was exempt from taxes to the value of seven dollars and fifty cents, but non-property holders received nothing for their services.
Some years later a horse was purchased to pull the hose reel, but the hook-and-ladder was still pulled by hand. After the city waterworks was installed in 1889, the engine was disbanded and a new wagon and hose were purchased.
The fire chiefs who have served since Mr. Hutchison are as follow : D. C. Elder, Ralph Buckley, W. I. Johnson, W. S. Harvey, James Randall, WV. I. Johnson and the present incumbent, Joseph Kelly. Tom Morgan drove the first team and he was followed by Dick Morgan, William Weathers. Bill Dwire drove the hose reel wagon and was followed by Bud Alyea, Bud Short and Link Beeson. The present drivers are James Robbins, driver of the hook-and-ladder wagon, and Robert Alexander, driver of the hose wagon. These men stay in the fire-engine house and receive sixty dollars per month. Mr. Isaacs was the first engineer and was followed by Mat Jackson, Billy Tussey and William Kirkpatrick, who served until the water- works was put in.
The present volunteer fire department consists of the chief, assistant chief and sixteen members of the squad. The chief receives one hundred and twnty-five dollars per year for his services, the assistant chief receives seventy-five dollars and the members of the squad receive sixty dollars. A complete list of the fires is kept. From 1882 until 1902, there were two hundred and forty fires. The year 1893 had the greatest number in any single year. There were twenty-four in that year, seven of which came in August, two on the 10th and two on the 11th.
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
The police department in Greensburg began with one marshal, who, alone, kept the quiet and peace of the town for a number of years. Later, another man was added to the force and two men served in the capacity until 1904. George Dickey was the first chief, with four men under his
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charge. He began his term as chief in 1906, and served for four years, although he was on the force for eight years. W. I. Johnson, the present chief, was appointed by the mayor in 1910. John Louden is the day police- man, who assists the chief. James Underwood and Harry Lacey serve as night men at the present time. The headquarters of the police force are located in the city hall.
WATERWORKS.
The Greensburg waterworks was organized in 1889, and the plant was completed in 1890. The Greensburg waterworks is a private corporation, with the following officers : David A. Meyer, president : Harry Emmert, vice- president and general manager : J. B. Kitchin, secretary and treasurer ; Will H. Robbins and W. W. Woodfill, who complete the board of directors.
The water is taken from thirty wells, which are the property of this company. The entire cost of the plant is placed at two hundred thousand dollars. Two large reservoirs, with a capacity of one million gallons, are provided in case of fire and also to insure a surplus supply. There are eighteen miles of mains, which cover the entire town and furnish water for private use and also for factories. railroads, etc. A direct-pumping system is used and two pressure pumps, with one and one-half million gallons capacity per day, respectively, have been installed. This company furnishes its patrons with water at a flat rate or by meter.
STREET PAVING.
The first street paving in Greensburg was done in 1909, when Main street was paved with brick throughout its entire length of one and one- eighth miles. An interesting fact concerning the paving of this street relates to that part traversed by the interurban traction line. The track had been laid several years previously, but there seems to have been nothing in the franchise which they got from the city of Greensburg to compel them to pave their own tracks. Neither was the traction company compelled to do any repairing along their right of way. In 1913, Broadway, Franklin and part of North streets were paved with tarvia. The other streets of the city are well graded and macadamized.
CITY HALL.
The Greensburg city hall is located on the west side of South Broadway. in the first block off the public square. It is a brick structure and was
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF GREENSBURG. 1594.
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erected in 1874 at a cost of eight thousand dollars. It is two stories in height, the first floor being devoted to the fire department and the second floor to various city offices. The mayor, chief of police and city clerk have private rooms, while there are bedrooms for the drivers of the fire-trucks. The largest room is the council chamber, which also serves as a city court room.
SEWERAGE SYSTEM.
Greensburg began the installation of a sewerage system several years ago and has added to it as the corporation limits were extended and the population increased. Owing to the fact that the city is not on a water- way, it has been compelled to provide an artificial means for the disposal of its sewerage. This is done in what is known as a disposal plant, which was installed in 1906-7, at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars, and has proven very satisfactory. The disposal plant takes care of the sewerage by auto- matic syphons, and for this reason the plant does not need the constant atten- tion of an attendant. The street commissioner, who has general charge of the plant, makes daily trips to it in order to see that it is working properly.
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY IN 1915. Abstractors-P. T. Lambert, J. H. Parker.
Agricultural Implements-Bonner, Hart & Ryan; H. O. Craig & Com- pany.
Art Studio-H. M. Aultman, J. W. Beck.
Attorneys-T. E. Davidson, J. K. Ewing, Oscar G. Miller, Goddard & Craig, E. E. Hite, Tremain & Turner, Lewis A. Harding, William F. Rob- bins, Osborn & Hamilton, J. H. Parker, M. C. Jenkins, F. Gates Ketchuni, Roy E. Glidewell.
Auctioneers-Earl Storms, A. F. Eubank, Earl Gartin.
Automobile Dealers-E. E. Arbuckle, Roy Privett, Mrs. C. C. Low, Harlan Overleese, Miss Anna Stewart, E. C. Phelps.
Auto Garage-Goyert's Rapid Garage and Auto Agency, Frank Mc- Cracken, Roy Privett, A. P. Powell.
Automobile Radiator Company-Take-Apart Radiators.
Bakeries-Gem Bakery, Henry Kabey, Zoellner Bakery, F. Kessler.
Banks-Citizens' National, Greensburg National, Third National, Union Trust Company.
Barber Shops-George O. Baumgartner. W. E. Golay, W. F. Martin, WV. S. Meadows, J. F. Strausburger, James Andrews.
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