USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 5
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The Spanish-American War of 1898 has been the last one in which troops from Indiana have borne a part. When President Mckinley issued his call for 75.000 volunteers on April 25. 1898. Indiana was called upon to furnish three regiments. War was officially declared April 25. and formally
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIAN.1.
came to an end by the signing of a protocol on August 12 of the same year. The main engagements of importance were the sea battles of Manila and Santiago and the land engagements of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Ae- cording to the treaty of Paris, signed December 12, 1898, Spain relinquished her sovereignty over Cuba. eeded to the United States Porto Rico and her other West India Island possessions, as well as the island of Guam in the Pacific. Spain also transferred her rights in the Philippines for the sum of twenty million dollars paid to her for public work and improvements con- structed by the Spanish government.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
It is not possible to trace in detail the political history of Indiana for the past century and in this connection an attempt is made only to survey briefly the political history of the state. For more than half a century Indiana has been known as a pivotal state in politics. In 1816 there was only one political party and Jennings, Noble, Taylor, Hendricks and all of the politicians of that day were grouped into this one-the Democratic party. Whatever differences in views they might have had were due to local issues and not to any questions of national portent. Questions concerning the improvements of rivers, the building of canals, the removal of court houses and similar questions of state importance only divided the politicians in the early history of Indiana into groups. There was one group known as the White Water faction, another called the Vincennes crowd, and still another designated as the White river delegation. From 1816 until as late as 1832, Indiana was the scene of personal politics, and during the years Adams, Clay and Jackson were candidates for the presidency on the same ticket, men were known politieally as Adams men, Clay men or Jackson men. The election returns in the twenties and thirties disclose no tickets labeled Demoerat, Whig or Republiean, but the words "Adams," "Clay." or Jackson."
The question of internal improvements which arose in the Legislature of 1836 was a large contributing factor in the division of the politicians of the state. The Whig party may be dated from 1832, although it was not until four years later that it came into national prominence. The Democrats elected the state officials, including the governor, down to 1831, but in that year the opposition party, later called the Whigs, elected Noah Noble governor. For the next twelve years the Whigs, with their cry of internal improvements, controlled the state. The Whigs went out of power with Samuel Bigger in 1843, and when they came into power again they appeared
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
under the name of Republicans in 1861. Since the Civil War the two parties
have practically divided the leadership between them, there having been seven
Republicans and six Democrats elected governor of the state. The following
table gives a list of the governors of the Northwest Territory, Indiana Terri-
tory and the state of Indiana. The Federalists were in control up to 1800
and Harrison and his followers may be classed as Democratic-Republicans. The politics of the governors of the state are indicated in the table.
1787-1800
July 4, 1800-1801
1801-1812
1812-1816
1816-1822
I822-1825
Feb. 12 to Dec. 11, 1825
1825-1831
1831-1837
1837-1840
1840-1843
1843-1848
1848-1849
1849-1857 1857-1860
1860-1861
1861-1865
1865-1867
1867-1869
1869-1873
1873-1877
1877-1880
1880-1881
1881-1885
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA.
Of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio-
Arthur St. Clair
Of the Territory of Indiana-
William H. Harrison John Gibson (acting)
Thomas Posey
Of the State of Indiana-
Ratliff Boon, Dem.
William Hendricks, Dem.
James B. Ray ( acting), Dem.
James B. Ray, Den1.
David Wallace, Whig Noah Noble, Whig
James Whitcomb, Dem. Samuel Bigger, Whig
Joseph A. Wright, Dem.
Ashbel P. Willard, Dem.
Abram A. Hammond (acting), Dem.
Oliver P. Morton (acting), Rep. Henry S. Lane, Rep.
Conrad Baker (acting), Rep. Oliver P. Morton, Rep.
Thomas A. Hendricks, Dem. Conrad Baker, Rep.
James D. Williams, Dem.
Isaac P. Gray (acting), Dem.
Albert G. Porter, Rep.
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September 12 to December 5, 1822
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-January 14 to January 16, 1861
Paris C. Dunning (acting), Dem.
Jonathan Jennings, Dem.
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Isaac P. Gray, Dem. 1885-1889
Alvin P. Hovey, Rep.
1889-1891
Ira J. Chase (acting), Rep. Nov. 24, 1891 to Jan. 9, 1893
Claude Matthews, Dem. 1893-1897
James A. Mount, Rep. 1897-1901
Winfield T. Durbin, Rep.
1901-1905
J. Frank Hanley, Rep.
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Thomas R. Marshall, Dem.
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Samuel R. Ralston, Dem.
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1913-
A CENTURY OF GROWTII.
Indiana was the first territory created out of the old Northwest Territory and the second state to be formed. It is now on the eve of its one hundredth anniversary, and it becomes the purpose of the historian in this connection to give a brief survey of what these one hundred years have done for the state. There has been no change in territory limits, but the original territory has been subdivided into counties year by year, as the population warranted, until from thirteen counties in 1816 the state grew to ninety-two counties by 1859. From 1816 to 1840 new counties were organized every year with the exception of one year. Starting in with a population of 5,641 in 1800, Indiana has increased by leaps and bounds until it now has a population of two million seven hundred thousand eight hundred and seventy-six. The appended table is interesting in showing the growth of population by decades since 1800:
Census Decades.
Population.
Increase.
Per Cent of Increase.
1800
5.641
1810
24.520
18,879
334.7
1820
147,178
122,658
500.2
1830
343.03I
195,853
I33.I
I840
685,866
342,835
99.9
1850
988,416
302,550
44.I
1860
1,350,428
362,012
36.6
1870
1,680,637
330,209
24.5
1880
1,978,30I
297,664
17.7
1890
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2,192,404
214,103
10.8
1900
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2,516,462
324,058
14.8
1910
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2,700,876
184,414
7.3
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIAN.A.
Statistics are usually very dry and uninteresting, but there are a few figures which are at least instructive if not interesting. For instance, in 1910, 1,143,835 people of Indiana lived in towns and cities of more than 2,500. There were 822.434 voters, and 580.557 men between the ages of eighteen and forty-four were eligible for military service. An interesting book of statistics from which these figures are taken covering every phase of the growth of the state is found in the biennial report of the state statistician.
The state has increased in wealth as well as population and the total state tax of six thousand forty-three dollars and thirty-six cents of 1816 increased in 1915 to more than six million. In 1816 the only factories in the state were grist or saw mills ; all of the clothing, furniture and most of the farming tools were made by the pioneers themselves. At that time the farmer was his own doctor, his own blacksmith, his own lawyer, his own dentist and, if he had divine services. he had to be the preacher. But now it is changed. The spin- ning wheel finds its resting place in the attic : a score of occupations have arisen to satisfy the manifold wants of the farmer. Millions of dollars are now in- vested in factories, other millions are invested in steam and electric roads, still other millions in public utility plants of all kinds. The governor now receives a larger salary than did all the state officials put together in 1861, while the county sheriff has a salary which is more than double the compensation first allowed the governor of the state.
Indiana is rich in natural resources. It not only has millions of acres of good farming land, but it has had fine forests in the past. From the timber of its woods have been built the homes for the past one hundred years and, if rightly conserved there is timber for many years yet to come. The state has beds of coal and quarries of stone which are not surpassed in any state in the Union. For many years natural gas was a boon to Indiana manufacturing. but it was used so extravagently that it soon became exhausted. Some of the largest factories of their kind in the country are to be found in the Hoosier state. The steel works at Gary employs tens of thousands of men and are constantly increasing in importance. At Elwood is the largest tin plate fac- tory in the world, while Evansville boasts of the largest cigar factory in the world. At South end the Studebaker and Oliver manufacturing plants turn out millions of dollars worth of goods every year. When it is known that over half of the population of the state is now living in towns and cities. it must be readily seen that farming is no longer the sole occupation. A sys- tem of railroads has been built which brings every corner of the state in close touch with Indianapolis. In fact, every county seat but four is in railroad connection with the capital of the state. Every county has its local telephone
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
systems, its rural free deliveries and its good roads unifying the various parts of the county. All of this makes for better civilization and a happier and more contented people.
Indiana prides herself on her educational system. With sixteen thousand public and parochial school teachers, with three state institutions of learning. a score of church schools of all kinds as well as private institutions of learning, Indiana stands high in educational circles. The state maintains universities at Bloomington and Lafayette and a normal school at Terre Haute. Many of the churches have schools supported in part by their denominations. The Catholics have the largest Catholic university in the United States at Notre Dame, while St. Mary's of the Woods at Terre Haute is known all over the world. Academies under Catholic supervision are maintained at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Rensselaer, Jasper and Oldenburg. The Method- ists have institutions at DePauw, Moore's Hill and Upland. The Presby- terian schools are Wabash and Hanover Colleges. The Christian church is in control of Butler and Merom Colleges. Concordia at Fort Wayne is one of the largest Lutheran schools in the United States. The Quakers support Earlham College, as well as the academies at Fairmount, Bloomingdale, Plainfield and Spiceland. The Baptists are in charge of Franklin College, while the United Brethern give their allegiance to Indiana Central University at Indianapolis. The Seventh-Day Adventists have a school at Boggstown. The Dunkards at North Manchester and the Mennonites at Goshen maintain schools for their respective churches.
The state seeks to take care of all of its unfortunates. Its charitable, benevolent and correctional institutions rank high among similar institutions in the country. Insane asylums are located at Indianapolis, Richmond, Logansport, Evansville and Madison. The State Soldiers' Home is at Lafayette, while the National Soldiers' Home is at Marion.
The Soldiers and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown, is main- tained for the care and education of the orphan children of Union soldiers and sailors. The state educates and keeps them until they are sixteen years of age if they have not been given homes in families before they reach that age. Institutions for the education of the blind and also the deaf and dumb are located at Indianapolis. The state educates all children so afflicted and teaches them some useful trade which will enable them to make their own way in the world. The School for Feeble Minded at Fort Wayne has had more than one thousand children in attendance annually for several years. Within the past few years an epileptic village has been established at New Castle, Indiana, for the care of those so afflicted. A prison is located at
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Michigan City for the incarceration of male criminals convicted by any of the courts of the state of treason, murder in the first or second degree, and of all persons convicted of any felony who at the time of conviction are thirty years of age and over. The Reformatory at Jeffersonville takes care of male criminals between the ages of sixteen and thirty, who are guilty of crimes other than those just mentioned. The female criminals from the ages of fifteen upwards are kept in the women's prison at Indianapolis. A school for incorrigible boys is maintained at Plainfield. It receives boys be- tween the ages of seven and eighteen, although no boy can be kept after he reaches the age of twenty-one. Each county provides for its own poor and practically every county in the state has a poor farm and many of them have homes for orphaned or indigent children. Each county in the state also maintains a correctional institution known as the jail, in which prisoners are committed while waiting for trial or as punishment for convicted crime.
But Indiana is great not alone in its material prosperity, but also in those things which make for a better appreciation of life. Within the limits of our state have been born men who were destined to become known through- out the nation. Statesmen, ministers, diplomats, educators, artists and literary men of Hoosier birth have given the state a reputation which is envied by our sister states. Indiana has furnished Presidents and Vice- Presidents, distinguished members of the cabinet and diplomats of world wide fame; her literary men have spread the fame of Indiana from coast to coast. Who has not heard of Wallace, Thompson, Nicholson, Tarking- ton, Mccutcheon, Bolton, Ade, Major, Stratton-Porter, Riley and hundreds of others who have courted the muses?
And we would like to be living one hundred years from today and see whether as much progress will have been made in the growth of the state as in the first one hundred years of its history. In 2015 poverty and crime will be reduced to a minimum. Poor houses will be unknown, orphanages will have vanished and society will have reached the stage where happiness and con- tentment reign supreme. Every loyal Hoosier should feel as our poetess, Sarah T. Bolton, has said :
"The heavens never spanned, The breezes never fanned, A fairer, brighter land Than our Indiana."
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY.
LOCATION AND SIZE.
Decatur county is in the southeastern part of Indiana, one county removed from the Ohio boundary, and two removed from the Ohio river. Its greatest length is twenty-one miles, greatest breadth the same. Its area is approximately three hundred and seventy-five square miles.
GEOLOGY AND PHYSIOGRAPHY.
Geologically, there is very little difference between this county and Jennings. In the deepest stream beds in the southern part of the county the soft limestones of the Hudson River formation appear. These outcrops are small and of no practicable importance, since they contribute nothing to the soils and are in themselves of no value. The southeastern third of this county is underlain by the Niagara limestone, perhaps the most valuable stone in the state, after the oolitic. In Decatur county it lies, as a rule, close to the surface, usually at depths of four to twelve feet on the level, out- cropping on stream banks, and occasionally being found only at depths of thirty feet. It is a very valuable rock commercially in this county, being quarried extensively at Newpoint, Westport, St. Paul and in many small local quarries. The product is used for building stone, especially for trim- ming, for abutments, for flagging in sidewalks, and in a crushed state for macadam and for concrete construction. From the standpoint of soils, it is of importance chiefly from the fact of its resistance to weathering, which has resulted in very flat uplands. The northwestern half of the county is underlain at depths of five to forty feet by the corniferous limestone, a softer rock as a rule than the Niagara. Finally, the entire surface of the county, except near the streams, is covered with a mantle of glacial waste, which effectively covers the underlying rocks over practically all the county.
-
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
The topography of the county is a product of two great factors-the Niagara limestone and the arrangement of the drift. The latter is disposed in belts of one to five miles in width crossing the county from southwest to northeast. In the northwest corner there occurs a till-plain where the sur- face is nearly level, rolling in gentle waves and only a little broken by streams. Then comes a belt about four miles in width of upland-a glacial moraine. This is followed by another till-plain, from six to ten miles in width, gently rolling, with occasional knolls and swales, somewhat cut by streams. This is followed by a second ridge, averaging five miles in width, with the remain- ing southeastern corner occupied by a flat plain of loess. Under the last fea- ture lies the Niagara limestone, at an average depth of seven feet. The streams are comparatively of little importance in this county as agents in bringing about the present surface, since this surface would be practically the same if the streams had not come into being. Their courses have been largely determined by the belts of drift.
TIIE SOILS IN DETAIL.
In describing the soils of this county, one can do no better than take them in their order from one side of the county to the other. At the outset. it is evident that one factor which has been of the first importance heretofore will have little to do with the soils here, namely, the character of the under- lying rock. It is probable that not an acre of tillable soil in this county has resulted from the disintegration of the underlying rock, but has, on the con- trary, been carried here through the agency of the ice from some region to the north. We shall begin our discussion of the soils in this county with a soil which is known as the Miami clay loam.
This soil occurs in a small area in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. It is part of the great area of this soil which occurs in Ripley county. It is there described as a yellow clay, sometimes almost white where it is dry, with mottles of darker yellow in its deeper portions. This soil is underlain with blue till, and in most places grades into that form of glacial waste imperceptibly. It consists almost entirely of clay, with a small admixture ( usually less than five per cent) of sand. There are practically no gravel pebbles in it. It is a pretty good material for tile and brickmaking. and has been used considerably for that in the past. From the farming standpoint it is poor. Grasses do fairly well, and wheat. Fertilizing must be constantly done, and. away from the streams, tiling.
MCCOY'S LAKE.
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
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THIE MIAMI SILT LOAM.
This soil is distributed so as to cover almost one-third the area of the county. It forms a belt in the southeastern part of the county, almost the full width of the territory on the south, and narrowing to about five miles on the north. It must be understood that this soil is not uniform through- out its extent. An average sample would show about sixty per cent clay, twenty per cent silt, fifteen to eighteen per cent fine sand, and some little gravel in spots. As one approaches the Miami clay loam, however, this com- position changes until the sand is reduced to five per cent or less, and the clay correspondingly larger in amount. It is impossible to use any hard and fast rule in separating these areas, but the presence or absence of gravel pebbles gives about the line as mapped. Going to the northwest, as one approaches the ridge, this soil becomes sandier on account of the outwash from the moraine, and is to be distinguished from the Miami sandy loam because the latter has no clay subsoil, while the silt loam has.
The Miami silt loam is a yellow to brown soil with a subsoil usually darker in color, and much streaked and mottled with iron oxide. A few con- cretions of bog iron ore occur in this soil, and a good many glacial pebbles. Rarely bowlders are found, sometimes of large size. The subsoil grows heavier and more tenacious as one digs deeper, and at four to eight feet is a very stiff clay. It is not, however, blue till; and this character serves to distinguish the Miami silt loam from the Miami clay loam. The farming value of this soil varies considerably with reference to the place of observa- tion. Down near the Miami clay, this soil is very much like its neighbor- poor, ill-drained and not valued very highly. It is flat and swampy by nature, due to the closeness to the surface of the Niagara. Tiling must be resorted to constantly, and the soil is so poor that often a field will not repay the expense of drainage. Practically the only good crops are grasses, and some- times wheat, if fertilizer enough be used. As one approaches the ridge, however, the increasing percentage of sand results in a looser soil, permitting much of the rainfall to soak into the soil; tiling helps here, also. Then the Niagara is here somewhat deeper, and the surface, therefore, more rolling. In this sandier region corn can be grown with success, as well as wheat and grass. Some of the best farms in Decatur county are in this region, close to the foot of the ridge. They owe their superior fertility solely to the out- wash from this ridge, for at distances of two to four miles out from it corn
(5)
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
makes only half a crop. It is said that one can tell within five rows where one soil begins and the other ends.
UPLAND CLAY LOAM.
A belt some four miles in width succeeds the Miami silt loam, which has been called here the upland clay loam. It has been so called for two reasons. First, much of it is really upland, standing visibly higher than the till-plains on either side. Secondly, the knolls appear to be principally clay, and very often are entirely of that material. It must not be understood that this belt is a continuous ridge, extending as a well-marked divide from one corner of the county to the other. It is, on the contrary, a belt of hill and hollow. It is made up of a great number, possibly five hundred, low, rounded knolls, with swales or sags between. The knolls average, perhaps, thirty feet higher than the plains, and the swales are probably about at the plain level. The soil of the typical knoll is yellow in color at the surface, grading into a darker yellow at depths of two to four feet. It is made up principally of clay, with a good deal ( about ten per cent. ) of fine sand in its composition. Besides these, it contains, here and there, small pockets of gravel, and often, at depths of sixteen to thirty feet, a gravel base ; and huge boulders are often found in these gravel bases. In the swales, the soil is sandy, with little clay in evidence. It is black or brown in color, due to the presence of much humus. Usually, at depths of six to ten feet, sheets of clay are found, which dip upward in every direction, forming a little saucer-shaped depression, in the middle of which lies the lowland. Many of these little hollows were unodubtedly, in a former age, lakes. Some of them are still marshy, and practically all require tiling. The soil here is remarkably fertile, ranking with any in the state. It is great corn soil, and is rarely planted to anything else, unless it be clover. The knolls, on the other hand, are better for wheat and grass. A\ farm in this belt is a joy forever, with its capacity for varied crops, with its excellent drainage, and the abundance of pure water which can be had by driving wells into the gravel at the base of the hills. Very little fertilizer is used here aside from the barnyard products and clover. There are many fine farms in this belt.
MIAMI SAND LOAM.
The Miami sand loam occupies a belt averaging five miles in width lying west of the ridge soil. It is, as the name implies, a "light-colored glacial
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DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
soil." It is, however, light-colored only on the knolls and knobs, which occur plentifully in its surface, interrupted by extensive lower grounds. It is a typical till-plain, uninfluenced by anything except glacial action. In general, it would be called level, varying throughout the county probably less than fifty feet between its highest and lowest points. Yet there is not a flat farm in the area, and not many single fieldis so flat that cultivation is difficult. A good deal of tile is used in the lower grounds, and is said to yield a high income on the investment. The knolls, which make up perhaps ten per cent of the total area, are far less fertile than the lowlands. They contain con- siderable sand, and give up their water content easily, either by evaporation into the air or by conduction into the nearby lowlands. In a dry summer, even of average dryness, they therefore usually yield far less than the swales. They make up so little of the total surface, however, that one forgets their shortcomings on account of the superior excellence of the lowlands. These areas, which often are two hundred acres in extent, are the banner corn soils of Decatur county. They are carefully farmed also, being put in clover every fourth or fifth year. Oats are good here also, and, over this soil area, wheat yields well enough to be a very important crop, especially on farms where the knoll land is much in evidence. Occasionally throughout this area occur drumlins, whose graceful swells have tempted every farmer owning one to build his house upon it. Some of the famous farms of this county have, as no little part of their claim to honor, the beautiful situation of the homestead on one of these hills, commanding a view of every field of the estate. A particularly large and beautiful one of these drumlins can be seen from the cars of the Big Four railway and the interurban about one-half mile east of Adams.
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